Chapter 3
Phantom was right, Clockwork was pissed. He had gotten out of his super important meeting in the early morning, and the first place he showed up was Stark Tower. Phantom didn’t even wake up when he showed up, but everyone else flipped out.
“Phantom?” Peter asked, gently.
“Huh?” Phantom asked, instantly awake in only the way someone who was conditioned to be afraid even in his sleep could be. As soon as he saw Clockwork, he relaxed. His wings, which had still been wrapped around him even in his sleep, unfurled and he opened his arms like a small child who wanted to be picked up.
Clockwork smiled, calming for the moment. He floated forward and swept Phantom up into his arms, holding the ghost child tightly. Phantom made a contented purring noise, his eyes slipping closed. He wrapped both his arms and his wings around Cockwork, obscuring both of them from view.
“I’m here. Everything is okay now,” Clockwork reassured, his voice like honey.
“I know,” Phantom replied with the utmost confidence.
“Um, not to break up the party, but what’s going on?” Steve asked, looking around in confusion.
“Everyone, this is Clockwork, one of Phantom’s ghost guardians. Everyone, this is Clockwork,” Winter introduced, seeming relieved.
“Scar’s almost here,” Phantom added, his voice muffled against Clockwork’s chest.
“Good,” Winter muttered.
Everyone except Peter and Winter exchanged uneasy glances. Winter was more than used to the ghosts being around, that was part of her career after all. And Peter, by virtue of being friends with Phantom, had met Clockwork and Scarlett on multiple occasions already. The rest of the group was more unsure. Tony had met Scarlett, but never Clockwork, and most of the group had only met Phantom himself. They didn’t have much time to think about it when a green portal opened in the middle of the room and Scarlett came flying out. She looked around frantically, and as soon as she spotted Phantom in Clockwork’s arms she relaxed minutely. Then, she wrapped her arms around Phantom, sandwiching him between herself and Clockwork.
“‘M okay,” Phantom muttered, but made no attempt to pull away.
“You’re still too warm. We need to get you back to Water Rising,” Scarlett murmured.
“Long Now,” Clockwork corrected.
“Water. Rising,” Scarlett repeated through clenched teeth.
It seemed like the two ghosts were going to fight until Phantom spoke up.
“Red Willow. Home. Best place,” he corrected, drowsily.
Clockwork and Scarlett exchanged a glance, then seemed to come to some silent agreement.
“Red Willow, then. We should go,” Scarlett asserted.
Phantom made a discontented noise in the back of his throat. Scarlett and Clockwork both stared down at him, instantly concerned and confused.
“Phantom? What’s wrong?” Clockwork asked gently.
“Spidey?” Phantom questioned, freeing a hand and holding it out blindly.
Peter sprung up and grabbed Phantom’s hand. Phantom squeezed his fingers tightly, clinging to him. Scarlett sighed.
“Phantom, you know we shouldn’t bring humans into the Realms unless we have to,” she said gently, but a part of her sounded resigned.
“I’m calling Obsessions. Spidey’s coming,” Phantom said, uncharacteristic steel in his voice. Peter, for his part, was very confused.
“Um, sure. Coming where, exactly?” he asked.
“Home,” Phantom answered matter of factly, squeezing Peter’s hand again.
Peter looked to Scarlett, hoping for a more logical explanation. She sighed.
“He’s talking about Red Willow. It’s his lair, in the Realms. He’ll recover much faster there. But he won’t go unless you come,” she explained.
“Um, okay. I guess we’d better go then,” Peter agreed, uncertain but willing to trust Phantom.
Clockwork chuckled gently. “Phantom is wise to trust you. We should go. Come, then.” Clockwork gently disentangled himself from Phantom, who floated away from Scarlett as well, still clinging to Peter’s hand.
Clockwork extended his hand and a green portal appeared. Phantom drew Peter closer, up into his arms, holding onto him with shaky hands.
“Wait, can they just..do that? Just take Spiderman with them?” Tony asked, turning to Winter.
“Yes. There’s really nothing we could do to stop them, even if we wanted to. But don’t worry, he agreed to it. They’d never take him if he hadn’t. And they’ll bring him back soon enough,” she answered.
“Huh. Okay, then, I guess. But he’ll be safe, right?” Tony insisted.
“He’ll be very safe. We’ll make sure of it,” Scarlett cut in, her voice sincere.
“Well, okay, then. See ya, kid. Hurry back, you hear?” Tony said, turning to Peter.
“I’ll be back before you know it, Mr. Stark. Don’t worry,” Peter answered.
Clockwork drifted through the portal first, followed by Phantom carrying Peter, and lastly by Scarlett. After Scarlett went through, the portal popped out of existence. Those left in the room exchanged glances and slowly migrated back to their seats.
Peter looked around the strange place he found himself with great fascination. He had heard a lot about the Realms from Phantom, but he’d never been here. The atmosphere was thick and sluggish, but he could breathe fine still. Phantom seemed to move much easier here than he had before, and Peter felt relieved. Scarlett and Clockwork stuck to Phantom’s sides like glue, and they kept looking around and eyeing Peter nervously. Phantom was holding Peter to him tightly, but Peter didn’t mind. He just wanted Phantom to be better.
They weren’t in the swirling green part of the Realms for long. In only a moment, Phantom had carried him through a blue door with a purple handle, Scarlett and Clockwork close behind. The change in Phantom was noticeable as soon as they were inside. His whole posture loosened, and his grip on Peter relaxed, though he didn’t let him go. Peter peered around, intrigued. The sky was lit only by bright stars and moonlight, but it was more than enough to see by. All around him were small to medium sized wooden buildings. Some had cheery paint on them, others were black, and still others were simply wood colored. None of the structures had doors, just door shaped openings. Phantom didn’t touch the ground as he floated, but it looked like it was grass. It was blue, but otherwise, it looked perfectly normal. There were buildings around the houses that suggested a town of some sort. A supermarket, a library, a school.
“Welcome to Red Willow. My lair. Right now we’re in Sekura Loko. It’s a town. Safe place. The people here are nice. You’ll like them, I think. But we can’t stay here very long. We need to get to the Willow. It’s cold there,” Phantom said, sounding dreamy and distant.
“That sounds nice. It’s nice here,” Peter replied, trying to keep it simple and positive. Phantom smiled down at him dreamily and kept floating onward.
Soon, they cleared the small town and were floating through a field of what looked like fruit trees. As soon as they were outside the town’s limits, three people appeared. Except..they weren’t normal. The first one looked almost exactly like Phantom, with the exception of a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt instead of Phantom’s jumpsuit. He also lacked the scars Peter knew Phantom had beneath his jumpsuit. The second was by far the farthest from Phantom. The second was, indeed, a girl who looked to be about Phantom’s age. Her hair was black, hanging to her waist in gentle waves. She wore a jumpsuit the same style as Phantom’s, but plain and stark white. The third wore a black set of what looked like robes that hung to his ankles, with a white cape thrown over his shoulders. His eyes were blue, but the rest of his features looked like Phantom. Peter was very confused.
“Spidey, these are my shadows. They’re part of my lair, and by extension, part of me. They’re intelligent on their own, but they all draw their personality from me. They can feel my emotions, basically read my thoughts,” Phantom explained, seeming slightly more awake.
“Don’t be rude, introduce yourselves,” Phantom said to the shadows.
The one in the jeans and t-shirt floated forward first. “Hi, Spidey, I’m Dawn. I was the first shadow in this lair.”
The girl with black hair was next. “I’m Even, short for Eventide.”
The one in the cloak and cape came forward next. “I’m Dusk.”
Phantom smiled down at Peter and made a contented noise in the back of his throat. Peter smiled, though he knew Phantom couldn’t see it. Dusk floated up to Phantom and nudged his way past Scarlett to press up against Phantom’s side, slipping an arm around his waist protectively. Even was next, pushing out Clockwork. Dawn sighed, patted Phantom on the cheek, and grimaced.
“Still too hot. We can’t stand around here. We need to get to the Willow. Quickly,” he declared, his eyes falling on Peter.
Phantom’s arms tightened around Peter a little, and Dawn sighed.
“Not an option. Got it. At least let me carry him? He’s warming you up too much,” he insisted, gently.
Phantom let out an annoyed little sigh. “Fine. Spidey, Dawn’s gonna carry you. I would let you walk but that’s dangerous. Much, much too dangerous. But Dawn is basically me, so it’ll be okay.”
Phantom gently disentangled himself from Peter, who went willingly enough into Dawn’s arms. He felt embarrassed, never touching the ground, like a child being passed around. Dawn carried Peter in a slightly more organized manner than Phantom had, with an arm under his back and an arm under the crook of his knees. Phantom had more been clutching him to his chest like a teddy bear. Eventide took one look at Peter and slid away from Phantom, sidling up to Peter to rub a comforting hand up and down his arm.
“It’s okay Spider-man. We’re all glad you’re here. We just want you to be safe,” she insisted, her voice airy and oddly soothing.
“Um, thanks?” Peter asked.
Eventide just hummed in her throat and started rubbing gentle circles on Peter’s back instead. Peter felt himself relaxing instead of being embarrassed by the touches. The group started moving forward quickly, much more quickly than they had been before, though none of the ghosts seemed to have to exert any effort to go faster. In fact, Eventide kept rubbing his back as if they were perfectly still. Dusk had an arm around Phantom, and Clockwork had reclaimed his other side. Together the ghost and the shadow seemed to be ushering Phantom forward gently. Peter noticed Phantom’s eyes were drooping half closed, but he kept moving. Please let him be alright, Peter thought to whatever deity may or may not be listening.
It didn’t seem like it had been very long when the group exited the fruit trees into a clearing. The atmosphere changed here. The grass was replaced by something that looked like dark, rich dirt. And soon, there were little flurries of snow falling around them. The only thing that didn’t change was the sky. Finally, Peter spotted what he assumed must be “The Willow.” The tree was huge, dwarfing all the other trees and any tree in the material world Peter had ever seen. It did look like a willow, the branches and leaves hanging down and creating a sort of low canopy. The branches and leaves were, indeed, red. Ice was crystallized on the branches, and snow dusted them with white. Under the branches were banks on banks of snow, the ground itself nowhere in sight, as if a great snowstorm had just ended. Snow still drifted lazily down from the sky in fat flakes, spinning as they fell. It was like a winter wonderland straight out of a fairytale. Peter felt his breath catch at the sight. It was gorgeous. It was also really, really cold, and Peter shivered. In an instant, his suit kicked on and began to warm him.
Phantom sighed, seeming relieved. He laughed, airy and childlike, and flitted under the willow tree, spinning. He opened his mouth, catching a snowflake on it, and he swallowed and laughed again. Then, he flopped backwards into the snow and was immediately buried in the banks. Delighted laughter reassured Peter that he was fine. Peter smiled and chuckled himself, relieved to see his friend acting normal again. Eventide had run off to play in the snow with Phantom, dodging a snowball he threw and shrieking with delighted laughter when she hit Phantom.
Peter was beginning to get sad and feel left out when Scarlett drifted up beside him, a fond smile on her face.
“I feel better, seeing him happy and safe. I can tell you do, too,” she said, by way of greeting.
“Yeah, I do,” Peter agreed.
“Hey, Dusk, get over here and let Spidey borrow your cloak!” Scarlett yelled.
Dusk’s face popped up from a snowbank and he flew over to Scarlett and Peter. Peter looked to Scarlett, wondering what was happening now.
“Dawn, you can put Peter down and go play with everyone else,” she said.
Dawn grinned and bounced with excitement, carefully setting Peter on his feet in the snow. Peter was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t immediately sink in and disappear. Dusk approached and tucked his cloak around Peter’s shoulders, fastening it in the front, before zipping off again. Peter stopped shivering as soon as the cloak was secure. His suit warmer had been on, but the space he was in was so bitingly cold that it could only do so much. The cloak warmed him in an instant to a comfortable temperature, and he stared at it for a moment in amazement before shrugging and accepting it. Scarlett chuckled.
“I see you’re getting used to our ghost weirdness. That’s good. That cloak ties into the lair, which ties into Phantom. He wants you to be safe, so the cloak will keep you safe. Well, not from snowballs, but from anything else. Like suffocating in a snowdrift. So go, throw snowballs with everyone else. Have fun!” Scarlett encouraged, patting Peter on the back.
Peter started to run off, then turned back to Scarlett. “Thank you,” he said.
Scarlett nodded, smiling broadly. “I should be thanking you,” she answered.
They exchanged another nod before Peter ran off, already packing a snowball into his hands. Before he had a chance to throw it, a snowball hit him in the back of the head, and Eventide giggled. Peter laughed, too, brushing snow off his head. Phantom popped up in front of Peter, grinning. Then he turned and yelled, “Superheroes versus Shadows!” before pulling Peter down into a snowbank. Peter felt like he was exactly where he belonged.