Two • Weird
Stephen stood on the rooftop of the sanctum looking out over New York City. There was a heavy feeling in the air, the kind that only he could sense. It was eerie, foreboding, like something was coming. Or perhaps, something was already there.
The door creaked open. He turned around to see Wong peering his head out, beckoning him over.
"What?"
"You should see this."
They went inside. He followed behind as he hurried down the halls, pushing open the door to Kamar Taj and standing at the large stone table. Wong raised his hands quickly, conjuring a map of America in a cluster of orange light. Stephen narrowed his eyes as large, dark orbs began to appear, like ink stains, in and around New York.
"Dark energy," said Wong breathlessly. "I noticed a few began to appear in the early hours of the morning. Now they're everywhere."
"Do we know what's causing them?"
"No. But..." he pointed to one of the orbs. "The biggest hot spot is in the City."
Stephen folded his arms and let out a huff. "Of course it is."
*
Peter Parker sat in the back row of his college science lab, a pair of plastic safety goggles on his face, his best friend Ned at his side. The professor was pointing at the board explaining a chemical equation as the students did anything but pay attention; some were yawning, some playing on their phones beneath the table, but everyone's heads raised in unison as a loud noise echoed through the hall outside.
Peter felt the hairs on his arms prick, a feeling of dread rippling through his body. The professor instructed everyone to stay in their seats as he wandered over to peer through the glass in the door. But as he approached, Peter rose to his feet.
"Don't!"
He was too late, his voice drowned out by the crash of the door flying off its hinges. It knocked the teacher to the ground, rendering him unconscious as the rest of class began to scream.
A young man stepped into the lab, his body flickering like a hologram. The students scurried in fear, hiding under tables and huddling together. Ned tried to peer across the lab, but Peter grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back.
"Is that... Ricky Wheeler?" Ned whispered in a mix of fright and confusion.
Peter glanced over again, watching as he wandered around the lab. Wheeler was a weedy, timid boy that spent the majority of his school and college days stuffed into lockers and cowering in bathroom cubicles. He barely spoke a word, not even opening his mouth when bullies would make fun of him around campus and in the cafeteria.
He disappeared for a moment, reappearing again on the other side of the room as if time had been skipped. Beakers and test tubes shattered as he got close to them, sending shards of glass flying across the lab, even the windows began to crack under the pressure of his presence.
"I've been sent here on a mission," Wheeler began, as if each word was painful for him to speak. "To bring you to the entity... To let it change you like it changed me."
"Dude, you need to do something," Ned whispered.
"I can't suit up here, I need a distraction," Peter replied.
Ned stood up suddenly and without thinking, staring across the room at Wheeler with a blank expression.
"Hey..." he said awkwardly.
Peter rolled his eyes and slunk back towards the supply closet.
"I-I think you should leave," Ned continued nervously.
Wheeler dashed towards him, his body passing through the tables like a ghost. "I leave when our message is heard."
"Uh we... we heard you."
There was a scuffling behind them. Wheeler snapped his head around to see a group of students dashing towards the hole where the door once stood. He pointed at them and suddenly, they disintegrated. Ned's mouth fell open as he watched the cloud of purple specks flutter to the ground, like snow falling from a windless sky.
Wheeler gave a maniacal grin. "Let it be a lesson to the rest of you. When the second snap comes, you'll either be a victim, or a survivor. I chose to survive." He waited a moment. "What do you choose?"
No one dared move, the soft sounds of whimpering filling the room. He clenched his fists and the rest of the chemistry equipment exploded into the same purple dust, exposing people as they crouched together on the ground. There was a collective scream as they braced for his attack, but before he could use his powers again, a voice chimed from the back of the room.
"Hey, how about we take this outside?"
Peter stood with his hands on his hips, his suit covering his face as he smiled proudly at his witty line. But his smile quickly faded when Wheeler began to charge at him.
He shot a web at the ceiling, using it to swing around and straighten his legs to kick him in the back. But instead of knocking him to the ground, he found himself passing through his body and hurtling across the room. He spread his fingers and stuck himself to the wall, looking around quickly to see where he'd gone.
He reappeared inches from his face, so close that Peter could see the dark shadows around his eyes, heavy like bruises, turning the sockets to pits, his deep purple veins visible beneath his skin.
"Dude, what happened to you?"
"The entity."
"Is that some kind of new disease?"
Wheeler snarled and reached out to grab him. But he was swift, dodging him quickly and swinging across the room again. He shot his web at the store room door and tugged hard, ripping it from its hinges and watching as it knocked his opponent to the ground.
"His powers don't work when he's distracted," he said to himself breathlessly, before turning to Ned as he huddled with the rest of his classmates. "I'm gonna distract him!" He stopped, cleared his throat and deepening his voice. "Uh, you there... I'm going to distract him, you get everyone out of here."
"Uh yes, Spider-Man, sir. I will do that," Ned replied.
His acting was terrible, but Peter didn't have time to dwell on it, because within moments, Wheeler had climbed to his feet. He disintegrated the door, drawing the glowing purple specks into his hands and throwing them across the room. Peter's eyes widened as the specks rejoined in the air, stitching back together until there was a large, heavy door flying towards him.
It smacked him to the ground with an unexpected force, knocking the wind from his chest and drawing a groan from his throat.
"Alright," he said to himself. "Molecular manipulation, that's kinda cool."
He rose to his feet, knees bent, fists clenched, and as they began to fight, Ned led everyone to safety.
"Why are you doing this!?" Peter shouted as he bounced around the room like a whippet.
"The entity bestowed a gift upon me. It is my duty to share it with the world."
"Dude, you're like... twenty, why are you talking like a medieval knight?"
Wheeler growled in anger and grabbed him by the throat, turning him into a cloud of particles. He balled them into a cluster and threw them through the window, watching them come back together as Peter landed on the grass outside with a thud.
"Ugh, that felt disgusting," said Peter.
"I could've left you in pieces," said Wheeler as he walked straight through the wall and joined him outside. "But the second snap will spare the strong. So I must spare you too."
"There you go again, talking all fancy and weird." He clambered to his feet. "You know I can't let you go..."
"Let me? That's funny."
Peter pointed his wrists and wrapped him in webbing, bringing him to his knees. But in the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
"Shoulda thought as much," Peter sighed.
A loud noise rattled through the open air. He snapped his head around quickly to see smoke billowing in the distance, the sounds of car horns and screeching alarms echoing from the city.
*
Juno raised her arms slowly, focusing her energy on the space in front of her. Her eyes glazed over with a yellow light and her fingertips began to ignite.
"Nope, you're doing it again," said the sorcerer beside her.
The light stopped, her eyes returning to their usual calm, golden hue. She dropped her arms to her sides and sighed before slipping the heavy ring from her finger.
"I just can't do it," she said. "Every time I try, my stupid powers take over."
"Everyone is capable of this. It just takes focus. The magic to conjure portals resides in our mind's eye; you have to separate yourself from your powers, draw strength from your human side."
"Kinda hard when you don't know what side's the human one."
"You will get there, but it takes time. If you really want to master the mystic arts then you must be patient."
"It's been two years and I can't even make a spark. Maybe I should just stick to what I know, leave the wizard stuff to you guys."
"I'm sure Doctor Strange would be thrilled to hear you calling this 'wizard stuff'," the sorcerer gave a slight smile.
Juno laughed. "I've called him worse."
She felt a presence that hadn't been there before. It was tense and loud, taking up the air around her. She knew it was Stephen; he was somewhere in Kamar Taj, but he wasn't there for her.
She wandered the temple until she found him. He was in the vast, dark library, scouring ancient texts and lifting books from their heavy chains.
"Hi," she said.
"Oh, hi," he replied absentmindedly as he continued to weave between the rows. "I thought you'd be training."
"I was. But I was getting annoyed so I took a break."
"Annoyed?"
"Yeah." She folded her arms and leaned against a shelf. "See, I can mimic almost any power, except yours."
"Mm, well manipulating time and space is a little harder to reenact."
He didn't look at her once as he spoke, pouring his focus into the books around him, a deep line of concentration on his forehead.
"I have a feeling you're not here to see me..." said Juno.
"Unfortunately not."
"What's going on?"
"Dark energy, in and around New York. Seemingly out of nowhere." He finally turned to look at her. "Except evil never comes from nowhere."
She suddenly felt timid in his presence, as if she could feel every ounce of tension coursing through his body.
"Evil?"
"And it's multiplying."
"So what do we do?"
"You do nothing. I figure out why it's here; whether there's been a rupture and it's spilled out, or whether it's forced its way through..."
She followed him as he walked deeper into the library. "Is it time?"
He stopped, pivoting on his heels to face her. "I don't know."
"You said you'd know when the time came."
"I will."
"Stephen, this could be it..."
"And until I know for sure, you stay here. I'm not pulling you out of hiding for something I could handle myself."
"Well what about the Avengers? If not me then-"
"I'm afraid this is a little outside of the Avengers' expertise."
*
The New York high street was rife with chaos. Buildings were destroyed, the air filled with smoke and dust. People were running for their lives, fleeing in cars and calling out for help.
There was a bank at the end of the street; a large, old building with stone columns and heavy wooden doors. It was the last place to feel the destruction of the changed ones. Employees and customers were trapped inside, frozen with fear as the group stepped over the rubble through the hole where the wall once stood, through the smoke and water that poured from burst pipes.
"Sorry about this, guys," said Spencer Wick as he looked around the large foyer. "Some of us aren't used to our new gifts yet."
He gestured to the huge, angry creature at his side. The thing bore his teeth and growled.
"I guess we don't know our own strength," Spencer finished, his mouth curling into a lopsided smile.
The people were terrified as the group stood before them. Spencer in his long dark coat, hair slicked back, bones alight and glowing through the skin on one side of his face. Beside him stood the Monster, with razor-like teeth and eyes dark as black holes, his muscles bulging under deep blue flesh. Wheeler was close-by, his form flickering like a glitching hologram.
There were two women with them. The first was so petite she could have been mistaken for a child; with long dark hair and fists burning with bluish purple flames. Her eyes appeared to be missing, in their place the same intense light poured from the sockets, spilling onto her face like tears. The other woman was stony and quiet, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her jacket as she glared at each terrified face before her.
"J-just... take the money. Whatever you want, it's yours," said the bank manager from behind his desk.
"We're not here for money," said Spencer, so calm he almost sounded kind. "We have come to bring you to the entity."
He raised his glowing hand. But before he could speak again, something flew over his head and landed in front of them. It was a man, with long metal wings strapped to his back and a red, white and blue shield on his arm. He straightened his back and eyed them intensely.
"I don't know where you came from, but it's time for you to leave now," said Sam.
Spencer didn't reply. Instead he gave the slightest chuckle that didn't reach his eyes.
"Your little reign of terror here is over."
"Reign of terror?" He smirked. "You're an Avenger, right? Y'know that's so like you guys... hoarding all the power for yourselves."
He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What?"
"I'm trying to give everyone a fair chance, the opportunity to survive the-"
"Oh my god, you're the 'second snap' guy."
"Ah, you've read my essays."
"I've read your delusional ramblings on a blog."
"Delusional, huh?" He tilted his head, speaking to the Monster at his side. "Get rid of him."
The huge creature let out a growl and bounded forward. Sam raised the shield above his head and dug his heels into the ground as two boulder-like fists came crashing down, clanging against the vibranium. He couldn't move as the Monster continued his attack, forced to watch as the rest of Spencer's group began to walk deeper into the bank.
"Guys... little help?" said Sam through gritted teeth.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Scott Lang replied through his earpiece.
Scott and Hope sized up in the middle of the foyer, moving together through the chaos like a well-choreographed dance.
"Hey Banner," said Scott as they began ushering people to safety. "There's a really big guy in here, I think Sam could use your help."
"Ugh, I'm on it," Bruce replied in his ear.
The ground began to rumble as Sam felt himself loosing grip of the shield. But suddenly, the attack stopped. He straightened his back and watched as Bruce began to fight the Monster, throwing each other into walls and roaring as they brawled. He turned his attention to the other people as Rhodey and Wanda flew into the scene.
Wanda lowered herself to the ground opposite the small woman, deflecting her blue light and firing back with her own scarlet energy. Rhodey landed beside Scott and Hope, his shiny silver suit towering over them.
"I got this," he said. "I'll get everyone out, you guys go help the others."
The couple nodded before grabbing each other and shrinking down.
The battle spilled out onto the street, the Avengers working together to fight off the group, keeping them distracted while Rhodey led the civilians to safety.
Wanda caught the woman in a cloud of energy, lifting her from the ground and keeping her arms tight to her sides. Her brow furrowed when she felt someone behind her, their presence creating a heavy pressure in the air around them.
Peter Parker swung through the air, dropping to his feet beside her. "Hey Wanda," he said cheerily.
She didn't reply, pouring her focus into keeping the woman trapped with her power. He turned his attention to the person behind her. It was Wheeler, raising his hands ready to attack.
"Oh hi, nice to see you again," said Peter.
Wheeler snarled and clenched his fists, pulling them down and watching as the surrounding buildings shattered like glass. The remnants turned to specks of purple light, just like they had done at the college, before scattering and floating away in the breeze.
Peter ran at him, but it wasn't long before he knew he was losing the fight. Wheeler could manipulate molecules, change states of matter and disintegrate anything with the flick of his wrist. Every time he shot a web, the boy would dodge it with ease, he would shatter cars and slabs of concrete, throw the particles and weave them back together just in time to hit him.
On the other side of the street, Bruce continued to fight the Monster. While nearby, Scott and Hope battled against Spencer.
The quiet woman was standing in the middle of the wreckage, observing the war taking place around her. She glanced over as Hope kicked Spencer to the ground, holding him in place as Scott tried to cover his arm to prevent him from using it. She walked calmly towards them, slowly taking her hands out of her pockets to reveal blackened fingertips; they looked as if she had been frost-bitten, the deep, bruise-like colour creeping up towards her knuckles. She reached out and touched Hope on the side of the face, stepping back and watching as she released her grip on Spencer and fell to the floor.
Hope keeled over onto her side, writhing in pain and letting out a deafening scream. It was a bloodcurdling sound, an agonising sound. She had never felt pain like it; it was everywhere, so severe that she was sure she'd rather die.
"Hope!?" Scott shouted as he rushed to her side.
Spencer clambered to his feet, dusting himself off and slinking away.
"Hope? What happened!? What..." He looked up at the woman. "What did you do to her!? Make it stop, make it stop now!"
The woman gave a shrug and backed away.
"Scott, take her back to the ship!" Bruce shouted.
He looked over at the aircraft they had arrived in before scooping up Hope in his arms and hurrying away from the fight. Sam swooped in above their heads, grabbing them and carrying them to safety.
Wanda looked across to Peter as he fell from the sky and landed hard on the hood of a car. Wheeler was walking towards him, his form flickering in and out as he prepared to hurl another attack. She panicked and swung her arms around, sending the small woman hurtling through the air and crashing into him. She ran over, igniting her hands as her eyes glowed red and began shooting blasts of light towards the pair of them.
"I'll take him, you take her," she shouted.
"Yeah... okay... good idea." Peter nodded breathlessly.
"Guys, don't let the other girl touch you," said Scott through their earpieces. "I don't know what she's done to Hope but it's not good."
"Other girl..." said Peter, looking around as he fought. He noticed her walking calmly through the wreckage. "Ah! Other girl. Got her."
He shot a heavy string of web, wrapping her tightly and stringing her up high above the ground. Still, she didn't utter a sound, struggling quietly as she hung in the air. He turned his attention back to the other woman. She was quick and nimble, throwing balls of blue flames at an unrelenting speed.
Wanda had gained the upper hand on Wheeler, catching him off guard and keeping him on the floor. Nearby, Bruce pinned the Monster down, punching him until the ground beneath them began to crack.
Spencer watched on as his team began to lose. Spider-Man making funny quips as he bounced around dodging the woman's power, The Hulk pummelling the Monster into the concrete, Scarlet Witch standing over Wheeler as he struggled on the ground.
A metallic clang sounded behind him. He turned to see War Machine standing there, guns emerging from the shoulders of his suit. Spencer took a step backwards and gave a slight smile as a large black hole began to materialise around him. It sucked him in, and suddenly, he was gone.
Suddenly, the others began to disappear too. Each one melting into a portal of darkness until the Avengers were alone, looking around at the devastation they had left behind.
"What the hell do we do now?" asked Rhodey.
*
The sanctum was quiet, empty and still like a museum after hours. Stephen's footsteps echoed against the dark wood, stopping when he reached the foyer and lay eyes on a face he hadn't seen in two years.
"Mr Parker..." he said, like a doctor greeting an old colleague.
"Please, call me Peter," he said, trying to sound mature. "Mr Parker is my father." He paused. "Or at least it was until he died."
Stephen stared at him quietly, an awkward silence lingering in the air. There were cuts on his face, his hair messy and hanging over his eyes.
Peter cleared his throat. "Anyway..."
"You look worn out, would you like something to drink? Wong makes a great loose leaf tea-"
"Uh no... no thanks."
Stephen walked through an archway and gestured to two extravagant button-back armchairs. Peter sat down tentatively, his body aching, suit squeaking against the glossy leather.
"What can I do for you?" asked Stephen as he sat down opposite him.
"Something happened today. A kid from my school turned up with these... these powers. And he was all join us now, and we were all no, leave us alone. And he was all boom zap pow." He began wielding his hands, acting out the blasts that had destroyed the school.
"Alright, okay, I get it."
"He was one of the people in the city. Did you see the attack?"
"I saw it."
"These guys are weird, man."
"And so you came to me?"
"Well you do kinda specialise in... weird."
Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Do the others know you're here?"
"I suggested it. They didn't exactly object, so..."
He sighed and crossed one leg over the other. "I'm looking into it."
"Th-that's it?" He leaned forward. "You're 'looking into it'?"
"Is that not the answer you wanted?" Stephen's tone was frosty, unhelpful, as if he were irritated by his presence.
Peter waited a moment, taking a breath and pressing his lips together. "Look, sir-"
"Doctor."
"Sir Doctor. I know what happened with your girlfriend was really sad and you're like... ghosting us or whatever, but you can't let a grudge stop you from saving innocent people."
"First of all, she wasn't my girlfriend. Second, I would never refuse to help because of a personal grievance." He stood up and walked slowly to the other side of the room. "This seems to be a dimensional force, a disease infecting this reality. Where it came from or why it's here, I don't know yet. But as you said, this is my department." He turned back to look at him, standing with his hands behind his back. "I'm handling my end, you guys handle yours."
Peter remained seated in the large leather chair, eyes wide and innocent as he watched him leave the room, his flowing red cloak following behind.