After the aftermath of the Battle of New York, Phantom decided to go report back to the Guild before she went on her next job as she would usually do. She drove up to Tahawus and put her bike into the garage. She made a call to have one of her colleagues to have her picked up in a town nearby to take her all the way up to the Little Moose Wilderness area where the Guild Main House was. The house was in a very remote area that didn't have neighbors except for over an hour away in different directions. There were several different Guilds of training young mercenaries in the arts of assassinations, hijacking, hacking, interrogating, and other extreme procedures that seemed sinister for children to do. Each Guild had a different set of values and therefore had different aliases for their agents as well as their Guild names. Her Guild was known for complete mission accuracy, stealth, and even massacres. They were known as the Erinyes. Those who are sent out to commit the greatest of sins, but do not seek forgiveness. As Phantom watched the outside, she thought about her life and offers that she had been given.
She didn't even know what a Guild was until she was approached by the recruiter years ago. She did her training with a year, one of the fastest her guild had ever seen, and went out to the field. Her specialty was psychological interrogation. She remembered the day she was recruited. It was straight after her life went to hell after her family was massacred. She lost her parents first, and as her angered spiked, she took out their assailant. Her assailant was persuaded to do it by a figure that she has been hunting down for years, still unable to capture the bastard. She wanted to know why it was her parents. Her mother was just a performer while her father was a scientist. Her mother was more well known than her dad, but her dad was the main receiving target for the people who wanted information from him as well as to get even. At least, that was what she was told by a fellow agent during an assignment who held the puppet strings. During her families funeral, she was trying to be assigned to a foster family before her god family could take her, but no one wanted her. She was considered the walking black plague since the death of her immediate family. After her parents died, she went to go live with her mother's only living relative, her father, who died the next day of a heart attack. None of her father's family wanted her, because her dad was considered a "freakish black sheep" in his own family. While she remained the only one at her parents burial site, which they never got to use due to the bodies "disappearing," she was approached a young woman who had no emotion within her eyes. The woman told her that they have been watching her for some time, but now was as good as any to consider their proposition.
The woman told her that the assailant who killed her parents wasn't the one who played the mastermind. The woman even gave her photos of her brother speaking to the figure as well as video conversations between the two. The agent just wanted her father's files and her fathers alive, originally. The assailant didn't want that, but rather just wanted both of her parents to die against "the crimes that they caused against him." The puppet master then asked for Phantom to be the one to stay alive rather than her father. That was what bothered her the most. They didn't care who was going to stay alive as long as they got her father's research and genetics. The woman said that if the girl wanted her true revenge, she would have to learn how to hold her own against someone like the woman. Phantom, being blinded by anger, hatred, and vengeance, agreed and went with the woman.
The training was very rigorous. It was way more intense martial arts training than what she received before. She was beaten nearly to death more times the one. The trainers would train them with vital interrogation methods that would involve burning, slicing, electrocution, drugs, beatings, and breaking of limbs. This was to make sure that their future targets couldn't obtain any information if the agent was capture. This was also to train their trainees to learn how to mask whatever emotions that should have come easily to normal people. Their policy was that with no emotions came no attachment, therefore no reason for fail an assignment or showing fear. Phantom was also put through a newer program of mixing the genetic schematics of the trainees. Chemicals, brain electrocutions, more torture than the others, and even as far as exposure to gamma radiation to alter Phantom's genetics. It wasn't as much as what the Hulk had to go through, but enough to alter her natural mutation. They would take her to one of the training houses in Arizona, a very remote desert area. That's where they did the gamma radiations. They also used weather endurance training areas, such as Arizona within July and deep within Alaska in the middle of February. They put so on winter garbs while in Arizona and only the trainees in their underwear. The trainers would also force the trainees to learn a language while they "trained" their future agents. With more advancements with technology, the trainees would have to do hacking assignments with electrocution shackles attached to their wrists and if they weren't fast enough or if they did something wrong it would send extremely painful shocks through their bodies, scorching their wrist with burns. They would never take them to the hospital, they would just wait to see if the trainee had the will and drive to survive those kinds of beatings. Phantom, having only vengeance and desire in her mind, survived everything.
When her driver, a member of the Erinyes, finished the drive to the main house, he turned to tell her, "Phantom, Master is not happy with you. Just to give you a fair warning, prepare for punishment now." Phantom nodded at her colleague. Kisin was one of the older agents still around. He was really tall and skinny with extremely paled skin with no hair, like a skeleton. His eyes were as black as night and held no emotion. When Phantom came into the training program, Kisin was the one to train her and break her many times to prepare her for their careers. While seeing him break her, she saw his lighter side when he was beating her, because he held back some of his punches. Ever since she finished her basic training, she would communicate with Kisin and another colleague who finished his training around the time she arrived and started hers. She would talk to some of the children who were going through the training. She just tried to help them get through the training and the mental breakdowns late at night. She wasn't close to many of them except for one girl who was currently shadowing Phantom's career. When Phantom nodded her head at Kisin, he just put his hand on her shoulder, and she left his car and went back inside of the dark mansion. The mansion was huge and dark, but completely covered by trees so that no one could see the house from the skies.
Phantom had to do the secret knock, stomp, clap, and kick sequence to get into the house. When the door opened, she glanced down to one of the younger agents who was only around seven years old. The girl had the most gorgeous natural curly blonde hair that was dirtied by her current training. Her crystal eyes looked up and greet Phantom with no emotion, "Welcome back. Master wishes to see you, immediately." Phantom just stared down the girl and stated, "What I do with master is none of your interest, Corrine Dollanganger." The child glared and Phantom threatened, "Do I need to report your emotions showing, Corrine?" The child muttered no, walked to the next room to the left, and allowed Phantom inside. When Phantom shut the door as quietly as she could, but managed to hear a babies wailing going through the mansion. Some of the teenagers who were impregnated while on their assassination assignments had to deliver their children and report back to the field as quickly as they were able. The Guild doctors would decide whether the child would be able to be an agent or a liability, most of the time, they were liabilities, so the doctor would either send them off to foster care, or… make it a task for finalizing a young recruit's training.
Phantom came through the house and immediately reported to her guild master's room. Phantom knew her master the longest before anyone else in the guilds. The coordinator who came to recruit her in to the guild. Her master was a woman who was in her fifties who was a spy for hire over her lifetime. She was very well at hiding her native country, accent, and native language. She had the most dirty blonde hair that got darker over the years. She had natural beauty that never deteriorated over time. She just aged with complete grace, but it wasn't her beauty that made people noticed her. It was her eyes. She had the most vibrant green eyes that anyone would have ever seen. To a non-agent type, they would have looked calm and peaceful, but to any agent: they would know that they held experience and completely sinister thoughts. Phantom grew up with this woman, she saw what that woman was completely made of. She was one of the creators of the child guilds within the United States. She stated that she had the guilds within the old country and that it was a great opportunity for her to become a master for one, but that required obtaining young agents. If a young agent went through the training and couldn't make it through their training, they would have to eliminated. Those who needed to eliminated were assigned to the ones who needed a final assignment, and the Guild Master, who went by the name of Apophis, would assign the tasks.
Phantom waited at the outside of the door trying to calm her heart and mind down from the experiences that she had to endure from her training. After a minute of waiting, she went into the room and saw her guild master sitting at the desk. Phantom held no emotion within her eyes, kneeled to the desk, and reported, "I've returned, Master. I have your payment within this flash drive, ready to transverse to the house account." Her master was quiet for a moment, until she heard the nasally strained voice stated, "Rise." Phantom rose from her position without looking at her master. She then felt an intense slap against her right cheek, but she didn't allow her head to move to the slap. She didn't allow the slap to phase her or her emotions, while her master began to chew her out, "You were only supposed to retrieve a stolen item. It was supposed to be an in and out assignment! YOU BROKE THREE OF OUR RULES, PHANTOM! STEALTH, QUICK RESULTS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU WERE COMPROMISED! NO EMOTIONS, NO ATTACHMENTS! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!" Phantom remained silent for a moment and replied stoically, "I went to retrieve the item as instructed, Master. It took only two days to retrieve the item. One of the most quickest calls and response assignments done in this facility. I did what I had to, to get my results." Her master then turned to her and glared, "You. Were. Seen. That is against our policies. As soon as this went public, you should excused yourself from the assignment and left." Phantom desperately trying not to let her anger show, explained, "If I would done that, you would never gotten paid for services, and then still be mad." Master, feeling as if Phantom was going to rebel, finally questioned, "And your compromise?" Phantom thought about it for a second and replied, "I did what I had to, to get the job done. I worked with whoever my buyer wanted me too. We fought together and that's it. No one knew my name, nor where I came from. I came back here ready to work, and that is all." Phantom then was met with another slap and her master stated, "Well, since you have the nerve to talk back to your master, I think some proper training is in order for you to relearn your place among our ranks."
She then snapped her fingers twice and two of the agents walked in. It was two large male teenagers who Phantom knew because they were the second and third most requested agents, behind Phantom. The bigger one, who stood at six seven, had very dark red hair, dark brown eyes, and many scars on his muscular face. He went by the name of Balor. Next to him, was a slightly shorter Hispanic man with less scars on his face. He had hair as black as night with black eyes to match. He went by the name of Zipacna. Both of them together had the partner name among assassins called, "The Iron Giants," on the fact that they were huge and the fact that they could put a hole in iron. Phantom just glanced at them, bowed at her master, and walked out without a fight.
They kept quiet until they led me to one of the punishment rooms. The punishment rooms were in the first basement, which led down to the catacombs below for the punished rooms. When agents were being punished, they would go to the catacombs to serve their punishments while receiving their "training." It was where the young ones were trained to become agents. Phantom was taken to a lone room with a bucket and a hanging rope. The Iron Giants told her to hold her position until the punisher came. Phantom waited in her exact spot, unwilling to move an inch until she knew the punisher would arrive, less she face more punishment. A cloaked figure came in but Phantom kept her eyes forward. "Strip," a low old masculine voice spoke. Phantom did as she was told, stripping down to her black sports bra and black bikini undies. The cloaked figure then walked in front of her and stared into the eyes as she only kept it straight against the wall. He had a weary face that has seen its own time of casualties and faults. The biggest scar was from his right jaw that ran all the way across past his eyebrow, without any hit to his eye. He had a thick white mustache and beard that reached down to his chest. His eyes looked gray, but everyone at the Guild knew he had perfect vision. He reached up to Phantom's face and grabbed her by her jaw, making her face look straight at his face, while she kept her gaze at the position where it was previously. His hands were wrinkled out and had many scars upon them from his years of doing their type of work. He let out a giant sigh and spoke, "How can you as young as you, cause so much trouble in the Guild?"
Phantom didn't show any sign of listening, so he grabbed her body and she remained motionless. He hoisted her ankles to the rope, tied her ankles, legs, arms, and hands, and hooked her hands to the bottom of the barrel so that she couldn't remove them. He grabbed to sticks that were attached to a battery and had yellow sponges on them. He pressed them against Phantom and bolts of electricity went through her body, into the water, and back up again. She held in the pain as long as she could, but then Phantom after receiving this torture for over three minutes straight let out a pain-filled screech. "Were you compromised, Phantom?" The old man questioned with no emotion. Phantom wouldn't allow herself to whimper and responded straining, "I wasn't compromised, Shinigami." The old man named Shinigami responded, quietly so that the cameras wouldn't hear, "I know." He then hit her again. Phantom's body spasm out a little, until she eventually shrilled in pain. Shinigami then stopped and whispered, "You're a threat to Apophis. That's why you're here. She knows you could take her if necessary." Shinigami then shocked her again and didn't speak for the rest of the session except for the standard questions that agents are asked when the Guild thinks they have been compromised. This process lasted for what seemed like over twelve hours to Phantom, but it only lasted for three hours. After all of the shocks and questions, Phantom's body couldn't stop shaking due to all of the wrecked nerves. Zipacna came back, carried her down to the catacombs, and placed her within her cell.
Her torture went on for about three months of intensive disciplinary retraining to be an agent that the Guild, until they trusted her again to do assignments. She was sent back out to the field around August to go to Washington. She had to kill one senator along with his corrupt haft bastard siblings. All of them were taking part of some mob type business and a woman hired her to avenge her dead husband. Phantom did her usual. Torture them for info, get names of others in the industry, decapitate them, and drop them off to her hire. It was a simple assignment and Phantom had more lined up for similar drops. Info, decapitate, deliver, all of those types of assignments were just running together for five months. Phantom stopped counting how many she killed after her seventy-third assignment.
She didn't ask questions. She never answered her phone that Tony gave her, which lucky the Guild knew nothing about, never contacted any of the Avengers, and never stopped her search for her parent's killer. She did however decided to listen to the voice messages that they left her. Each one, mostly from Steve and Tony, would tell her how life was going and to call them back to confirm that she was still alive, and they would be incredibly long due to Tony not installing a timer for voicemail. Each of the Avengers called her and she could tell what they weren't telling her by their tone of voices and how they acted when they called. When Natasha called, all she wanted was the information about the Guild. She was the most honest of all the Avengers about her intensions. Clint would tell her S.H.I.E.L.D.'s progressions and how things were going with Fury as well, as assignments she should avoid so that she wouldn't interfere with S.H.I.E.L.D., him, or Natasha. Thor, bless his soul, left letters with Tony, who read them to her before talking about his day. Thor's letters made Phantom want to smile mostly because of how normal Thor was acting after the Battle as if nothing happened, and a little due to how Tony would read them with his Shakespearean voice and snide comments. Bruce would call and tell her about his medical research, to call him back, and locations of where he stored medicine for her to find. Steve and Tony would leave her at least one voice mail a day, if not more. Steve would prattle on about new things that he was learning about the Modern Day. He was fascinated by everything such as a toddler would and that would make want to smile again, but she wouldn't allow herself. Tony was the worst of all of the Avengers. He wasn't the same after the battle. He seemed okay at first, but then his voice slowly was becoming strained and she kept hearing more and more work sounds in the background whenever he called her. He would make silly jokes that never made sense, even for his sense of humor, and confess that he really just wanted to see her. Phantom knew she couldn't, due to the Guild finding out, so she just thought that he needed his own space.
One day in December, Phantom was stationed over in Malibu for another assassination upon an ex-governor of California, so she decided to take a drive on her daytime to see the surrounding of Miami. She made a stop at a McDonalds and decided to check her voice mail again. She wanted to listen to Tony's first because she saw that his was incredibly short compared to the other times he called her and it was late at night, rather than during the day. When she connected the earbuds to the phone, instead of Tony's voice, she heard a woman's. "Hello, is… *sniff* is this Phantom?" Phantom paused for a moment. The woman seemed to be sobbing over the phone, sounding heartbroken over something. "My name is Pepper Potts… and, I'm worried about…T…Ton….Tony. He's.. he's… not sleeping and, and, and he won't… stop working. His new suit almost killed me tonight, and… and… I don't know if I can do this anymoooooore…" The woman known as Pepper continued to sob into the phone making incoherent sounds that Phantom picked up as confirming Phantom's theory that Tony is slowly losing his mind and that she doesn't know what to do. Pepper explained how Tony would talk about Phantom to her and maybe if she couldn't get to him, maybe Phantom could have. Phantom listened to the recording a few more times to try to get the full picture of what she was stating and what she was going to get herself into.
Afterwards, she decided to call out, "Jarvis, can you tell me about Stark's health since the Battle of New York? Sleep, diet, social, whatever is necessary for me to know." Then the AI reported, "Mr. Stark has had approximately 63 hours and 13 minutes of sleep. He eats one full meal a week with Miss Potts except for last night, but he eats tiny snacks throughout the day as well as fast food that is delivered to his house. The only social experiences he has is with Miss Potts, Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Happy, and you daily. Thor comes by once a week to deliver your letters. Finally, Mr. Stark works within the Iron Man Work Shop 99% of the time. He has had several anxiety attacks, and calms down when he is in the Iron Man Suit." Phantom then thought immediately, "He goes in the suit because he feels safe and secure in it. That was what he had on when he fought at New York so it make sense that he feels stronger and safer in it." Phantom let out a giant sigh and then hopped on her bike, and drove to the mansion.
"Jarvis, I need any news about Stark within the last 168 hours," Phantom spoke to the earbuds, hoping that he heard her while she was driving through traffic. The AI then told her that there were videos to be played and Phantom requested, "Can you just play the audio through my earbuds? I can't watch it while trying to drive there." The AI then set up the video's audio and played it through her earbuds: "Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward. So I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's no politics here. It's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me. And on the off chance you're a man, here's my home address. 10880 Malibu Point. 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked." The audio kicked off and Phantom muttered out, "Dammit Stark." She then drove even faster to get to Tony's house as fast as she can while trying to get her facts straight, "Jarvis, he was talking about the Mandarin Terrorist Group, right? They haven't exactly attacked on Stark, nor did I know that they had any beef against Stark. So, what exactly did they do to piss the man off?" Jarvis then stated, "Mr. Happy was attacked by one of their members and is currently hospitalized." Phantom then let out another deep sigh and everything just made sense in that moment.
She then arrived to his house, ordered Jarvis to let her in, and walked in to see no one in the main area. She heard Tony's voice come from the downstairs and immediately went down to it. She walked down to a virtual map of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and saw Tony complete distracted by his current research of the barrage of images. She just watched him go to work on his crime scene trying to figure out who or what did this. She already had a vague idea of what this was due to her Guild's work with Mandarin and the information they provided. She then heard him ask if Jarvis has ever been to Tennessee and Jarvis reported to arranging a flight, so Phantom chose to speak up with a country accent, "I wouldn't peg you for the country star-type, Stark." Tony immediately whipped around and saw his favorite teen standing away from him with no emotions, with her hands in her short black short pockets. "PHANTOM!" Tony yelled running over to her and sweeping her in a non-returned hug, not even thinking. "IT'S BEEN FOREVER! WHEN DID YOU GET TO MALIBU, HAVE YOU BEEN GETTING MY MESSAGES, WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED ME BACK?!" Tony asked with no patience in his voice. He pulled her away to look into her emotionless azure eyes and she replied, "It's only been seven months, I got here this morning, yes, I've gotten all of your almost hour long messages, and I couldn't. I've been working." He was about to say something snarky back until they heard a ding from the house. "Are we still at ding-dong? We're supposed to be on total…" Tony then began to stomp his foot against the ground, "security lockdown. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?" Jarvis tried to make up an excuse but Phantom already ran upstairs with her scythe ready and intact for whatever.
Phantom ran up to see a woman enter the house, and before she got to the living room, she snuck around the brunet woman, and place the scythe blade against her neck. "Who are you and what do you want?" Phantom questioned the intruder with venom laced in her voice. "Right there is fine," Tony stated walking up to the two women. "I got this Stark," Phantom told Tony. The woman tried to speak but Tony beat her to it, "Uh, no. My home, my protection." Tony then began to analyze the visitor, "You're not the Mandarin. Are you? Are you?" Phantom commented snidely, "Really? Yeah, Stark she is the biggest terrorist right now. She's going to kill you with her heels." The woman then shook her head, Tony made a gesture to Phantom, who led the scythe away from the woman. Phantom walked over next to Tony while the woman, who looked very relieved, smiled and stated, "You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?" Tony shot back, "Don't take it personally. I don't remember what I had for breakfast." Jarvis then informed Tony on his breakfast and that made Tony remember while Phantom stated, "Wow, I heard you've been eating nothing but fast food." The woman then looked at Phantom and stated, "Okay, look, I need to be alone with you, someplace not here. It's urgent." Tony knowing what the woman was planning stated, "Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing," Phantom gagged at the comment, "But now I'm in a committed relationship. It's…"
Two bags then dropped from above and Phantom caught them both with her right hand extended to her side as Tony continued looking up, "With her." Then the voice that Phantom heard over the phone yelled out his name. Tony came out of his suit, Phantom put down the bags, and looked over to the staircase to watch a redheaded woman come down the stair while questioning, "Is somebody there?" Tony told her, "Yes it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely." Then Tony pulled the intruder known as Maya over and pled quietly, "Please don't tell me there's a 12-year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met." Maya replied, "He's 13. No, I need your help." When Tony asked what for and why, Maya replied, "Because I read the papers and frankly, I don't think you'll last the week." Tony tried to assure her but Phantom interjected, "No Stark, you're not. That's why I'm here. This woman named…" Then the redhead interrupted, "I'm sorry, with Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests." Phantom, who recognized the voice, stepped forward, and stated, "I got your message Miss Potts. My name is Phantom, and I've come at your request to help Stark." Peppers eyes then got teary and she immediately hugged Phantom, whose body tensed up and looked at Tony with no emotions. Tony looked completely confused by the situation, but Maya just stood there. "Wait, wait, wait. Did I miss something? Phantom, how do you know her?" Tony questioned. Before Phantom could answer, Pepper stated, "I called her to come here and help you. But now you have an old girlfriend…" and then the two began to argue with each other while Phantom analyzed her surroundings.
She watched the TV and saw something odd and then she whipped around to see a missile heading towards them. "GET DOWN!" Phantom yelled at the top of her lungs while using her newly enhanced abilities to put up an extra earth wall between where the people were and where the blast would go off. The blast went off and Tony used the suit to surround Pepper to protect her from getting hurt. Tony hit the wall, while Phantom hit the wall above his fireplace and quickly recovered back to her feet. Phantom looked outside to see three choppers coming to the house and she knew what she had to do. The ceiling began to collapse and Phantom saw Pepper protect Tony within the suit. Phantom looked outside and used her abilities to grab one of the chopper with water connecting to the ocean and drag it down. One of the other choppers fired into the house, but Phantom used her earth abilities to hold her feet to the ground. Then a hole came in the middle of the room and Tony told Pepper to get the woman Maya out while he was going to go around. After Tony took down one of the other choppers that came towards the house, Phantom grabbed Tony, knowing that if they were seen, they would have been killed on sight, shot their bodies up to the sky and flew at a speed just to get away from the terrorist.
She flew until nightfall and eventually used up her energy to the point where she pasted out mid-flight while Tony took over for the landing, holding her in her in his arms as he fell on his back. "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Jarvis told him their location, Tony got upset, questioned, Jarvis told him about the flight plan, and Tony was just confused on the situation. He gently placed Phantom next to him and stated, "Open the suit." The suit opened and Tony realized how cold it was in Tennessee around Christmas. Tony thought about going back in the suit until Jarvis powered down too. Tony realizing his situation began to shake Phantom stating, "Phantom, wake up. Don't leave me again." Phantom mumbled for a minute, rolled her body over, and began to eat the snow beneath her face. After a minute of doing so, she moved her body a little to consume some more, and more, until finally she was able to fully stand on her own. "Sorry about that, I just needed some energy. That was a long flight. Where are we? I flew as far as I could in the direction that Jarvis needed," Phantom asked while noting her surroundings. Stark just stood up, put a rope around his suit and began to walk towards the city lights. Phantom just followed behind him.
"So, you gonna tell me what's been going on these past few months, or am I supposed to guess?" Phantom questioned with no emotion while they were walking. "I don't know what you're talking about," Tony lied while walking. "The 63 hours of sleep within 7 months, the constant snacking rather than full meals, the nonstop building of suits, need I continue?" Phantom stated his health progress report. Tony stopped and Phantom continued, "I know you have PTSD and you wear your suits to feel safe and secure. I do the same thing, but with my face mask. It's a normal response to traumatic experiences." Tony turned and bargained, "Your story for mine?"
Phantom, knowing that Tony needed to hear a sad story to relay his, decide to tell him her story, "There was scientist and his wife, and she was beautiful. A foolish scientist and his wife, she and their children were his life. And they were beautiful, and they were virtuous, but they were naïve. There was one child who saw their naïveté. A pious, vulture against the law. Who with a gesture's call removed the sister from her place. Then there was nothing, but to wait. And they would fall so soft, so young, so lost, and oh so naïve." Tony then put his arms around Phantom, and questioned, "And the daughter? What happened to her?" Phantom then continued, "That was many years ago. I doubt if, anyone would know." Tony just shook from emotions and stated, "Phantom, was the daughter you? What happened to your brother? Your parents?" Phantom just was quiet and she stated, "My brother killed my parents. Then I killed my brother in retribution. Afterwards, I joined the Guild to find out who convinced my brother to kill my parents. That's my story. Yours?" Tony told her, "I keep feeling like the aliens are going to come back and we will be going to war again. I keep seeing the ship from the wormhole and thinking that there are more than that for another battle. I'm worried that once I let my guard down, that the invasion will continued." Phantom then put her arms around Tony and stated, "Stark, you can't let fear dictate your life. If you do that, you'll never be able to thrive or to live. Think of Pepper, think of the Avengers, think of yourself. Freaking out over what ifs, that's not you. You are Anthony Edward Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. God of Style, King of Swagger, Dictator of Sass. You are a force of nature and if you ever, EVER, need to be reminded of that, I'll be there to slap some sense into you and get you back on your bitch feet, understand?" Tony let out a small laugh, nodded, and stated, "You haven't changed a bit. Is that how you live life?" Phantom remained quiet, knowing how exactly she has been living the past couple of months, in the same emotion that Tony had: fear. His fear made him stay up and not sleep just like hers did when she was younger, but now she just tries to keep moving forward.
After their embrace, she and Tony continued their march back to civilization. During the time Tony kept asking Phantom questions, "Sooo… have you kept touch with anyone?" Phantom, knowing that Tony was a jealous child, answered, "Oh yeah. Romanoff and I constantly talked about Celebrity man crushes while braiding each other's hair. Legolas and I had a Lord of the Rings marathon, of which he kept pointing out why Orlando Bloom isn't a fit archer. Bruce and I had some nice whiskey while talking shit about how anger is effective. Thor and I would fly in the skies singing "A Whole New World," with me explaining why it was a mag carpet making them fly. Steve and I went out clubbing at least once a month and I would have had to drag him off of some desperate woman. How many suits have you made?" Tony began to laugh at Phantom's sassy comeback. "Sounds like some fun times. I made 42 different models." Phantom raised her eyebrow and stated, "Ugh, that seems extensive. Can you make me a pair of boots with gloves, a breathing oxygen mask, a watch, a new com, and do some electric work on my scythe?" Tony got all bright eyed and stated, "YES!" Phantom, knowing that this helped Tony a little bit, smiled at his happy eyes. The rest of the time they walked, Tony would just continuously talk about what all new inventions he was creating for Stark Industries. When Tony got tired, Phantom took the line and dragged it the rest of the way.
After a few moments of walking they made it to a Texaco Gas Station. Tony went over to the American Indian statue and took the poncho to warm himself. He looked at Phantom who only wore her standard black turtleneck that cut off below her chest and her standard black short shorts. "Aren't you cold," Tony questioned the young mercenary. "Stark, I had to be in my underwear while lying in the snow during the Alaskan Winters. I think I'll be okay," Phantom reassured the billionaire. Tony went into the phone booth, which Phantom was surprised was still around, and called Pepper to relay his message: "Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So… First off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid, and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmastime and the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe, that's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian. Phantom is with me and she is safe, a little damaged, but she's a trooper and will be okay." The line then cut out. Phantom was leaning against the booth outside fully listening to Stark's phone call.
He went over to the suit to continue their walk for shelter, Phantom unstrapped the scythe from her back, handed it to Tony, hoisted the suit onto her shoulders, and began to walk with Tony following her. "Holy shit, this is fucking heavy. You swing it like it's a damn stick. How fucking strong are you?" Tony complained while straining with the scythe. He looked at her physical body, her arms were tone, but they didn't bulge out like a weight lifter. He could tell that she definitely grew since the Battle, but he didn't want to push that issue. "Stark, I'm carrying your fucking suit without any problems. Trust me, that scythe is nothing compared on how much I have to lift with my work." With that they continued on their walk when Phantom began to explain, "You know you can't keep that promise with, Pepper, was it?" Tony asked her what she was talking about, so she explained, "You can't have a normal life and still be known hero without consequences. Think about it, how many times have you had someone come after you since you've come out as Iron Man? Pepper is a walking target to get to you. She will never be safe. That is just a fact; trust me. I had to do revenge assignments against targets just to cause someone grief. I'm sorry, but normalcy and heroics don't go together." Tony remained quiet for the rest of the walk, but deeply thought about what she told him.
They eventually made it to a house in the country with a large, locked garage. Phantom kicked the door open while still having the suit on her shoulders. They went inside, and Phantom placed it onto a soft non-leather couch. Phantom walked over to Tony snatched her scythe, and placed it onto a table. Tony took off his poncho and left it outside. Tony sat down next to the suit, and finally noticed that Phantom had blood on her shoulders. "The suit must have scrapped her up as she carried it here," Tony thought to himself. Tony looked over to the suit, made it look forward, as if it was a person. "Stark, you need to get cleaned up. You got dry blood on you," Phantom stated nonchalantly. Choosing to listening to her, Tony went over to the table and began to take out some of the glass in his arm.
Some little boy then walked in and told them to freeze. Phantom just raised her eyebrow at the kid while Tony, who had a similar look in his eyes, just looked at the boy. The boy threatened them both not to move, and Phantom, seeing no threat, began to laugh at the child while Tony held up his arms saying, "You got us. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge it's gonna diminish your FPS." The kid fired it at a glass bottle to prove his point, while Tony replied, "And now you're out of ammo." Phantom took a step forward to get the gun from the kid and the child had another potato and fired it at her. She just caught it without any other thought and the kid looked immediately scared of her while she stated, "Nice try, kid. Trust me. This won't do a thing to someone like me." She grabbed the gun from the kid and he asked Tony, "What's that thing on your chest?" Tony explained to him what it was and the kid just asked what it powered and Tony showed him the suit. The kid immediately knew exactly who both of them were and explained, "Oh, my god. That… that's… is that Iron Man?" Tony explained, "Technically, I am." The kid handed Tony the newspaper and stated, "Technically, you're dead." The head stated that the Mandarian killed Tony, and Phantom watched over the boy who was checking out the suit. The kid asked what happened to it and Tony answered, "I built him. I take care of him. I'll fix him." Him and the child then began to build ideas off of each other. The boy then ripped one of the fingers off and Tony got upset, "Not a good idea. What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain. He's been injured. Leave him alone." The boy apologized and Phantom, not being the sentimental type, questioned, "Why are we acting like the suit is your child?" Tony looked at her like she was offended and responded, "He is one of my children. Except I don't have to feed him, bathe him, or dress him." Phantom wanting to be an ass replied, "Technically, you do. You wash dirt off them, you do need to charge, or feed them. And they dress you." The boy then began to laugh at their interaction.
Tony then decided to ask the young boy playing with the broken fingers, "So, uh, who's home?" He explained the situation, along with telling Phantom and Tony that his dad left their family. Tony, not knowing how to respond, states, "Which happens. Dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it." Phantom then knocked Tony in the back of the head, which made him yelp out and ask why she did that. "No need to be a pussy about it," Phantom shot back at him with an intense glare in her eyes. Tony then turned to the child and stated, "Here's what I need. A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich." Phantom then hit Tony on the head again and stated, "Stark, he's a kid. I can get you that damn shit, but first you need to thank the kid for putting us up." Tony then muttered thanks and the child asked, "What's in it for me?" Tony presented the boy with a weapon and Phantom was about to hit him again, until the boy took it accepting Tony's deal. Phantom was at her wits end until Tony asked, "What's your name?" The boy told them his name was Harley and he asked about theirs. Tony answered, "The mechanic. Tony." The boy then looked at Phantom and stated, "I already know you. A lot of girls at my school look up to you. You're Ghost, right?" Tony snorted at the boy and Phantom corrected, "It's Phantom. Right idea, just wrong name." Tony then stated, "You know what keeps going through my head? "Where's my sandwich?"" Phantom who was happily irritated by the man stated, "I will make your damn sandwich, Stark. Just give me a minute. Mind walking me to the kitchen, Harley?" The little boy got up and took her inside his house.
While they both were inside, Phantom took out the bread, a tuna can, mayo, an onion, sweet relish, eggs, American cheddar cheese slices, tomato soup cans, a tomato, jalapenos, and two boiling pots. She began to boil the eggs, while dicing up the onion, and the boy asked, "Why doesn't anyone know much about you like the other Avengers, Miss Phantom?" Phantom didn't even turn around, but answered, "It's just Phantom. No formalities please. I'm not an Avenger. I worked with them during the Battle of New York, that's it. I'm a hired professional, therefore I go where I'm paid. I'm not a hero, I'm a mercenary. Do you want a sandwich too? I'm gonna make some tomato soup with grilled cheese, if you want that instead." The boy agreed to the soup and grilled cheese. "You want your grilled cheese spicy or normal?" The boy was confused by the questioned and answered, "Spicy?" Phantom smiled underneath her mask and stated, "I'll make you both. This way if you don't like the spicy, you will have an alternate." While the eggs were still boiling, she put the can of soup into the other pot, and began to slice the tomato into thinly sliced pieces and chopped ones, while the pepper and jalapeno were chopped. She took out the skillet, spread a giant slab of margarine onto the outside of five bread slices, and placed the bread onto the cooking skillet. After a moment of stirring the soup, she put the cheddar cheese on the cooking bread, and then put the chopped onions, jalapenos, and tomatoes on top of four of five in processed grilled cheese. She then put another slice of cheddar cheese on top of all the sandwiches, waited while stirring the soup, and put the other margarine spread bread to finish it off and she flipped all of the sandwiches to the other side, showing that one side was completely cooked. While those cooked, she used the time to work on the haft way cooked Campbell's Tomato Soup. She added some diced tomatoes, a bit of the cream from the fridge, and some of the basil leaves that was inside the cabinet. The boy heard Phantom sniff, and she took out three plates and put two of the spicy sandwiches onto one plate, one plain and one spice onto the other, and one spicy on the final one. She quickly cut the sandwiches in haft, and went back to finishing the soup. She took off the soup and poured out three bowls and put some shredded cheddar cheese on top with a single basil leaf on each bowl. She went over to the eggs, drained the water, and peeled the eggs without hesitation. "Isn't that burning your fingers," Harley asked her with concern. Phantom just kept going and quoted, "If I touch a burning candle, I can feel no pain. In the ice or in the sun, it's all the same." She finished the peeling and she quickly chopped up the eggs, two out two slices of bread, spread the tuna along both side, put a light spread of mayo on one side, and the onion and sweet relish on the other. She finished Tony's sandwich and cut it in haft and placed it next to the spicy grilled cheese.
She then gave Harley his tomato soup and grilled cheese, smiled sweetly, and suggested, "Harley, why don't you go out to go get Mr. Stark and tell him to come inside and eat?" Harley nodded and went out to get Tony. Phantom watched him go, and then when she found the coast clear, she went out the frontdoor and made a call to one of her colleagues from the Guild on her burner cell. After a couple of rings, a young male with a lighter voice answered, "Hello." Phantom feeling a little off about the pleasant greeting, stated, "Shouldn't you wait for the person to state their business, then do the standard riddle, and then the pleasantries?" The boy was immediately excited over the phone yelled, "PHANTOM, YOU'RE ALIVE!" Phantom felt offended and questioned, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" The male voice on the other side was quiet for a moment and then stated, "You didn't report in. The governors house was found burned to the ground with his head missing, but no one heard from you. Master knew you were alive, but she is pissed. She stated that as soon as you come back, you will go back to punishment or possibly worse." Phantom was tired of living by that woman's way. She was the most sought after agent within the Guild and Phantom had a guaranteed success policy, unlike some of the other agents. She made the most money on assignments, and yet it was never enough for the greedy bitch. Phantom exhaled an agitated sigh and stated, "I'll do what I can." The boy on the other side remained quiet and stated, "There's no way you will get out alive." Phantom feeling sad by his proclamation, knowing that it meant no, replied, "So this is it. I'll see you around." The boy then tried to get her to listen, but she just hung up the phone and went back inside. Little did she know, Tony was leaning against the back wall with the window open a little to listen to her conversation.
Tony looked at her with a knowing look and questioned, "You're leaving your guild?" Phantom nodded and stated bluntly, "I've been compromised." She then went back into the kitchen and presumed to eat the meal she prepared. She undid the latch on the lower part of her mask to make it loose and able to eat while concealing her identity. Tony came in a little later, sat down, and looked at his dish. "I thought I stated that I wanted a tuna sandwich," he stated confused. Phantom knew he was only trying to lighten the mood, so she replied, "And I made you one. I also had you a spicy grill cheese with tomato soup, because it's cold outside and we walking in that snow for over thirty minutes. You need to warm up a bit and so does Harley." Tony smiled because he knew deep down that Phantom actually really cared. She came to see him after hearing that he wasn't acting right, she protected him from his house being destroyed, and with trying to get him to eat more than a sandwich to get up his appetite. He inhaled the scent of the food and it reminded him of when his nanny made him special food for different weather situations. He ate his tuna fish sandwich first and noted, "You didn't put celery in it, but some hot sauce?" Phantom replied with eating her grill cheese, "They didn't have celery, and that is how someone I knew always prepared it. A dash of hot sauce, 3 boiled eggs, and I switched the celery for onions and sweet relish. It adds more flavor to it." Tony note that it taste better than any other tuna sandwich he ever had, but he wouldn't admit it to her. He finished it and grabbed haft of the "grill cheese." He examined it and stated, "This isn't a normal grill cheese." Phantom stated bluntly, "No it is not. It is a "spicy" grill cheese. Just dip it within the tomato soup and try it. I think you'll like it." Tony did what she required and the soup and sandwich were different from any other grill cheese and tomato soup he ever had. The sandwich was indeed spicy, but the cheese from the tomato soup and sandwich balance it out. The tomato soup was softer and creamier than normal, but it coated the sandwich really well and with the extra shredded cheese that melded slowly on top, made it have a nicer feel and taste to it. Phantom observing Tony questioned cocky, "Good?" Tony blushed, turned away from her teasing gaze, and replied, "It's alright." She wanted to laugh at his expression, but she chose to conceal her emotions and just kept eating. Tony waited a moment until he felt himself about to explode and questioned, "Do you really eat with that thing still on? You just undo the flap at the bottom, keep the top on to keep your identity a secret, and eat?" Phantom only stated, "Yep. What about yours, Harley?" Phantom asked the young child who was sitting quietly eating. "It's really good, Phantom. Maybe you could teach my mom how to make it," Phantom smiled at him and stated, "I'll write down the recipe."
After Phantom finished eating, she wiped her mouth with a napkin, re-latched the mask at the bottom, picked up her dishes, and went to clean. She took off the shackles that remained on her wrist, so that way they would not get all sudsy with the dish bubbles. She allowed the dishes to soak with very hot dish water, and went into the dinning room. She grabbed the empty plates and was about to go back to the kitchen when the young child spoke up, "Wait Phantom. You don't have to do the dishes. I can do them." Phantom shook her head the young child and stated, "No we're your guest. Besides, I made the mess, so I'll clean it up. You need to finish eating your soup. After I finish cleaning, we'll go to town, get Mr. Starks supplies, and I'll get your mom the ingredients I used for the meal today, okay?" She then went into the kitchen and presumed to clean the dishes. While eating, Tony was about to ask the child about his mom, until he heard a female sing from the kitchen acapella:
[Phantom: There are few who deny at what I do
I am the best
For my talents are renowned far and wide
When it comes to surprises in lit night
I excel without ever even trying
With the slightest little effort of my ghost like charm
I have seen grown men give out a shriek
With a wave of my hand and full place moan
I have swept the very bravest off their feet
Yet, year after year,
It's the same routine
And I've grown so weary of the sound of screams
And I, Phantom, the mercenary queen
Have grown so tired of the same old thing]
"She has such a mature voice. With the way she speaks, you wouldn't think of it as rich as her singing voice is," Tony thought to himself. Tony then heard the water go off from the kitchen as Phantom continued:
[Phantom: Oh some where deep inside of these bones
An emptiness began to grow
There's something out there far from my home
A longing that I've never known]
The water then stopped and there was the light squeak against the plates as if Phantom was hand drying the dishes.
[Phantom: I'm the master of fright
And a demon against light
And I'll scare right out of your pants
To a guy in Kentucky
I'm Miss Unlucky
And I'm known throughout England and France
And since I am dead
I will take off your head
To recite Shakespearean Quotations
No manner or man can scream like I can
With the fury of my recitations]
The squeaking stopped and Tony saw Phantom walk in. "You boys done?" Phantom asked nonchalantly. The boys both nodded their heads, and she took their bowls to the kitchen and presumed to clean and sing:
[Phantom: But who here could ever understand
That the mercenary queen with a skeleton grin
Would grow tired of her crown
If they only understood
She'd give it all up, if she only could
Oh, there's an empty place in my bones
That calls out for something unknown
The fame and praise come year after year
Does nothing for these empty tears]
She then came in and asked, "You boys ready to go?" They both nodded and Phantom immediately took one of the cars that didn't look like it was within use for the rest of the evening. It was unlocked and it made Phantom upset because she kept pointing out why exactly they shouldn't leave their cars unlocked. She went inside, hotwired, and drove the boys into town.
