Ok, I have some bad news. Well, good news for me, but bad news for you. I've recently been hired to make approximately 140 drawings for an author that I have to get done by the end of the year. I've started classes again. I also work part time.

That's why I've been gone for so long. I also had to move between apartments during my absence. I'm going to be a lot busier in these coming months than I anticipated. So, obviously, this poor fanfic is going to not be updated as often as any of us would like. I certainly won't give up on it though! So long as I continue to get follows, favorites, and most importantly – reviews, this this WILL continue to be updated.

I don't think this guy has ever heard of the word subtle. This has got to be the most eye-catching tower in all of New York. Not to mention he has his name boldly displayed on its side, as if it needed that. I can't help but see Stark as how Vlad Masters would have wound up if he were gay.

Imagine if Vlad never pined after Maddie. He initially studied ghosts because of her and in doing so, got zapped by the portable portal. I could see Vlad pursuing traditional technology, becoming a billionaire by his own drive, and having his own tower built with his name on it. He'd probably be just as snarky as Stark too.

We came in through the balcony/ceiling. I'm honestly not sure which one it is because of the design of the place. Stark walked down a stretch outside, machines reaching up from the floor and removing his suit in seconds. It was amazing to watch.

He had asked me to return to invisibility before we entered the city so that I wasn't spotted. I agreed. But now that we were here and inside, I immediately dropped it and had a look around. Literally everything looks expensive. The carpet, the couch, and even the hand towel by the sink didn't look anything like something you would find at Walmart. They probably even smell expensive.

An image pops into my head of a maid in a skimpy outfit dashing around with a fancy spray bottle simply labeled "expensive" in cursive font and gold. It smells of cash and a hint of lavender.

I turn to see Stark strutting down a hall like he owns the place… Well, duh. He does own the place, but the saying is still true. At this point, I wouldn't put it past the man to have such a maid… or expensive spray. Maybe deciding to trust him was a bad idea. Could this be a trap? No… surely no one would lead me to a public place to lure me into a trap. Right?

"Ya coming, glow stick?"

Stark is halfway down the hall, standing in an elevator. He's leaning back dramatically so his head remains in the hallway and he can peer at me.

I float after him, landing at his side. The elevator doors close and the suspended box swiftly lowers itself. Where could we be going? I just need information. Could he be taking me to his own super computer? I eventually concede and ask.

"Where are we g-?"

He swiftly turns towards me and says, "I need you to stay here for a minute. I'll be right back."

Before I can fully process what he said, he's gone. The elevator doors only opened enough for him to squeeze through and close again. Wait, what? What could he possibly be doing? Is this a trap after all?! I start to pace, second guessing everything and convincing myself to leave before it's too late.

I'm just about to turn intangible and fly the heck out of there, when Stark re-enters, carrying a large pizza box.

"I'm starving! Sorry you had to stay here, but explaining you to the pizza boy's not the best way to keep a secret."

My tense shoulders drop and I remember to breathe again. The smell from the box quickly fills the small area. My mouth waters and I remember that I haven't eaten since the night before, and it's mid-afternoon now.

He continues on, blissfully unaware that his guest almost jumped ship. "I got the dozen cheeses one, missed lunch, so this takes precedence. Are you hungry? Do you eat? SHIELD didn't feed you, cause for all we know, all you eat is radioactive-"

My stomach decides now was the perfect time to growl unnaturally loud. I can feel my cheeks burn, turning an unusual hue. In my mortification, I swear the sound echoed against the metal walls.

He stops himself to chuckle and send a smirk my direction. "You blush green? That's hilarious. I should get you and tall, angry, and purple pants together. You'd be adorable. Want some pizza? You can eat pizza, right? I got the extra-large, so there should be enough for the both of us. Unless you eat like Thor, cause that's just the thing I need. I swear, if I take in someone else who eats like Thor, I'll go bankrupt. How hungry are you on a 1 to 10 scale? 1 being a mouse, and 10 being a dinosaur. And we all know that dinosaurs haven't eaten in forever, so they've got to be starving."

I don't know how to respond to that. I have no idea who Thor or the guy who wears purple pants are. "Yeah… Yeah, I can eat pizza. I guess we'll see how hungry I am."

The elevator doors open again and he heads straight to a large, reinforced metal door across a short hallway, mumbling all the while about a second Thor. After a quick moment, the door slides aside, showing the largest and most advanced lab I had ever seen. It's got to be 10 times the size of the Fenton's lab, and it's filled with the highest quality tech I've ever seen. Half of it I can't even identify, and the rest are clearly custom made, or he built himself. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

"So," He throws himself onto a chair, the momentum getting it to roll toward a computer station with 3 screens. "What got you snooping into SHIELD?"

I blink at his straightforwardness. "I, uh… I'm… I need to…" I steel my nerves. I won't get anywhere if I beat this around the bush. "I'm from a parallel world, and I am trying to find a way back."

He just stares at me blankly. "Oh, that old nugget. Why didn't you tell me that before I got the armor off? The solution is literally down the block." He stands up and grabs the pizza box he left on the counter, then turns and heads back for the elevator. "I'll introduce you to a strange guy with a strange name. You'll be buddies. He's just as much of an odd duck as you."

I'm finally starting to catch up with his wit. I jog after him, the sudden excitement at the promise of going home giving me an extra bounce to my step. "What do you mean? What's so weird about him?"

His eyes alight with mischief. "Not weird, just strange."

I ask him what he means, but he refuses to say any more, grinning all the while.

3 minutes later, I'm in the back of a car with Stark. The driver had taken one look at me, then his boss, rolled his eyes, then opened the door for us. He never said a word and once the car reached the street, he never took his eyes off of it.

Stark and I dig into the pizza. He asks me lots of questions about what I am and what I am capable of. I really didn't know how to answer him. Even though I trusted him enough to confide my predicament, telling him I'm a ghost, let alone half ghost isn't the easiest thing to say. Something tells me that because he is a man of science, ghosts would be a difficult pill to swallow. So I keep avoiding answering him and he eventually gets the message.

He asks me if I would give him a sample of my blood, which I quickly turn down. He frowns, then changes tactic and asks me about my world. These questions are much easier to answer. Yes, there are other people like me there. We don't have superheroes or supervillains like here. We have the same president and a lot of the same songs and movies.

Before I know it, the pizza is gone and we pull to a stop, parallel to an older building with a window that has an interesting design over it.

Stark knocks 3 times and the doors open of their own accord. I have a quick look around. I feel like I'm in an American history museum. My musing over the building quickly dissipates when I see a man striding in our direction. He has greying sides on his hair and he wears a red cape. I stare at the cape, judging him for how ridiculous it is to have one at all until I realize that it's somehow different. The way it sways with his movements, or the way it flares around him, it's unnatural in the subtlest way. Almost… alive. I decide not to overthink that.

The caped man glances at me then turns to Stark, a corner of his lips raised just slightly. "I never would have expected to see you of all people associate with the dead. Whatever happened to science before fantasy?"

Stark sputters and turns to me with wide eyes. "You're…"

I open my mouth to respond but the caped man beats me to it. "She's a ghost. Specifically, a poltergeist. And a really powerful one if she is this corporeal." He returns his attention to me. "What is your name?"

I straighten. "Dani with an i."

"What brings you here?"

"I…" I glance back at Stark whose jaw was hanging and bobbing slightly, eyes glued to mine. "I accidently got myself on a parallel world. I'm kind of stranded."

The unnamed "strange" man nodded knowingly. "Ah, not to worry, that'll be easily remedied." He pulls his hands forward and performs a series of gestures I've never seen before. Yellow light takes shape in the air between us and turns into a flowing series of symbols. Only my vast history with encountering dozens of unique ghost powers keeps me from yelping and bouncing back in surprise.

After a few moments, Stark jumps to attention again. "Ghosts aren't real."

I roll my eyes at him. "Nah, you're right. This is all just a crazy dream."

He glares at me. "How can you be a ghost? I've never seen anything remotely similar to you."

The caped man interjects. "Some worlds are more prone to ghosts than others. Certain environments can cause more powerful ghosts to form. Every world has a ghost dimension, but some are more closely linked. The more powerful the connection, the more powerful the ghosts tend to be. Theoretically, if a world is close enough to its ghostly counterpart, natural portals between them will appear. If two appear at the same time in the same place, they could be more. Time travel or universe crossing for instance." He looks at me. "I wasn't so sure about that last one, but it makes sense with you here. Is that how you got to our world?"

I can only nod, dumbfounded at the information and his insight.

The caped man continues, "Ah, I've got it. Every dimension vibrates at a slightly different frequency. I've got yours."

He turns and raises his hand, a transparent portal with zipping yellow sparks at the rim appears before the three of us. I've never seen a portal like this. I take a moment to admire it then give the man a hug. He was a bit surprised, but I've always been a hugger. I asked him what his name was.

"It's Strange."

"I know, Stark warned me. But I'd still like to hear it."

He tilted his head then laughed. "Ah, I see. My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. Most people call me Doctor Strange, or just Strange." I can hear Stark snickering at my side. I roll my eyes at him. "Thank you Stark, for bringing me here."

He waves it off. "No problem, kiddo. And call me Tony."

I look at him with a new light. Tony Stark, huh? It has a nice ring to it, though I'll never admit it to the man himself.

I turn to the portal once again. It's strange, (heh) every portal I've ever been through glows green throughout. This one looks more like a suspended ring. I almost wouldn't think it's a portal at all if it weren't for the slight golden shimmer inside. I turn back to the two men to shoot them one last look of gratitude, and without looking back, I walk toward the portal.

My head hits something very solid. In my surprise, I stumble back right into them. They grab my arms to keep me from falling to the floor. I look up. What was once an empty ring, is now filled with something else. A very familiar clock face shines back at me in iridescent green. I glide forward, as though in a trance, Tony and Strange immediately let go as I head back to the blocked portal. I raise a hand to feel it's very solid surface. I whisper, "Why?" The two behind me and the room dissipate from my mind as all I see is the portal and the clock, my only way out.

I throw a punch at it.

"Why would you do this?!"

A kick.

"How could you, Clockwork!?"

I fire a series of ectoblasts, each more powerful than the last.

"I finally had a home… a family… a FUTURE!"

The ectoblasts are now as large as beach balls.

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT FROM ME!"

I take a deep breath and unleash the most powerful wail I had ever accomplished. A thousand enhanced shrieks of agony hit the surface. The clock face is unwavering.

I didn't notice the entire building groan under the strain. I didn't see the cracks form on the walls or the hardwood floor underneath me shatter and fly in all directions. I never saw the ice infest the building everywhere the wail couldn't shatter it on impact. I didn't see the two men behind me kneel on the ground in pain. One of them raises a hand and mumbles something that was lost to the noise, and all I saw was black.

It was far too late for me to see myself fall to the ground, eyes slipping closed as a bright ring appears at my waist.

Extra-long because of the wait, and the pacing works for this chapter. I like to keep you all hooked :D Quality over quantity.

If anyone got the "old nugget" reference, you deserve props.

To be honest, pretty much my only education on the Marvel universe is solely based on the films and Spider-Man comics. (Fun fact, the first comic I read all the way through was the first issue with Miles Morales. What got me into it was the high quality artistic work in that series.) I also have wiki, but while it'll tell me who they are and what they can do, it doesn't say how or what it looks like. So, I'm just going to take pieces from everything and mesh them together, regardless of timelines or universes. Just pretend this is another parallel world if it bothers you. It's not like there's any shortage of those :P

curry-llama: Thank you so much for checking it out! Sorry for the wait. You definitely gave me the idea for the freak out episode here, it worked perfectly for the story. Yeah, I like the idea of a platonic Tony and Dani. Don't worry, it's all no slash. The only exceptions are already established relationships in the Marvel universe. Tony/Dani is just gross. Never thought about the emotion controlling powers doing that. That's morbid, but I guess I never really did clarify. Her own emotional state can have a high impact, so to get it to do as she wants, she has to be calm herself. She can get people to feel what she wants, given the target is capable of feeling that way in the first place, but actions are something else. Someone can be enticed to feel depressed, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will kill themselves. Though, I suppose she could get someone who was already ready to jump off a building to do it faster.

Guest: Yep! You guessed it ahead of time. Good job!

Curiousher: Thanks for the feedback! Sorry I made you wait.