"To get back the Iron Fist."
Chapter 11
"Inner fight, the first victim and a solution."
Peter knew he made a mistake. A very, very, BIG mistake.
Usually when people made something wrong they had two options: Confess it and tell the truth or hide it till you get a better idea.
This time however Peter couldn't do any of these.
He couldn't use the "tell-the-truth-and-maybe-we'll-forgive-you" way because he was stuck somewhere deep inside Danny's head, unable to get out and warn the others. Tell them that Danny isn't really Danny. Tell them they were fooled. That Danny made alliance with the devil so that he of all people could be safe for another hour.
And he couldn't use the second one as well, not anymore...he was thinking of a solution ever since Danny and Daniel left the mindscape. Five hours ago. He knew that because he wore Uncle Ben's old watch on his right ankle ever since the older man died. And so far nothing smart and clever came up to his mind instead of the lousy attempts of his brain to make him feel better.
He snorted and the sound of the snort echoed through the endless space around him.
They weren't even funny.
God if only he was a telepath! He would be able to warn the others from the inside!
But he wasn't a telepath.
He was Spiderman.
The teenage webbing hero with a giant sense of humor and…
Useless powers.
At the infirmary
Daniel smiled with Danny's mouth and answered his friends with Danny's voice. They still didn't detect the difference between the two.
Fools.
They swallowed the bait the minute it landed in front of their noses. He let Danny take control for a mere second or two, he knew they were desperate enough to believe whatever he said.
So he made up a rather juicy story on how Danny found hidden strength deep inside in mind and was able to defeat the big bad Daniel.
Ava was the first one to question his story asking if he really is Danny but he eliminated all her doubts using the "tell-me-something-only-Danny-would-know" trick. He spent his whole life with the boy so there was practically nothing he couldn't find an answer for.
Then Doctor Strange asked the question he was waiting for.
"If you are Danny then why didn't you free Peter from your mind scape?" To that the teen made a sad "I'm-sorry" look.
"I didn't figure out how to free him jet." He looked up at them trying to hide the glint in his eye and his usual insane looking smile from pressing its way up to his mouth. "But I'm working on it." He added and watched hope glint in their eyes with a delicate blue light.
Fools.
Danny's mind
Another hit echoed through the emptiness that was quickly joined by a painful scram.
Peter was hitting the so called "walls" for more than half an hour now. And by every hit the bones in his hands became more brushed and soon will be broken if that "hitting" won't give the effect Pete was hoping for.
The more the blasted demon stayed beyond the mindscape the more Spiderman was losing hope in catching his attention and forcefully making him come back.
"Aww…what's the use?" He groaned after letting the metal cuffs kiss the "walls" for the last time. "Everything is going as that bastard planed! He broke Danny's spirit, manage to convince the others with a barely believable story of his "magnificent" victory over him (Daniel), and now is probably walking around the HQ waiting for the perfect moment to kill Ava."
He leaned on the cold "walls" and let his back slip into a sitting position.
"DANIEL!" It turned he had to use something he wanted to use only as a last resort. Yelling. "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME QUITE WELL SO ANSWER!"
In the infirmary
Daniel had to admit. Peter had a pair of goddamn strong lungs. It took him all his will power to block out his constant screaming before it dis concentrated him enough to make something slip through his guard. Like his famous insane looking smile, or the kill loving sparkle in his eyes.
He was in the hallways when Pete started his private mental assault.
He barely stopped his hands from covering his ears when Luke was leading the team to the gym, it was so ear-piercing.
Good thing Danny-boy had will power training in kon-lon. Thanks to him it took only half the effort of an untrained human to block the yells.
But still…his ears are so sore he could practically hear whistling whenever Sam or Ava spoke. In Luke's case it was more like pulsing banging in the background than whistling.
The situation almost made him regret placing Ava as his prime target instead of Peter. He of all people knew that loud noises make Danny louse focus when meditating or training due to his higher than average trained in kon-lon hearing ability's. And considering that Daniel and Danny are in fact the same person that also works on him pretty damn well.
Damn you Pete! He cursed in his head.
"The pleasure is all mine demon!" Peter's voice answered and Daniel could almost hear the smile of triumph on the bastard was most likely wearing on his blasted face.
That made him want to go back to the mindscape and squish the spider like the bug he is.
But unlike Danny he wasn't stupid.
He knew what the hero wanted and he wasn't going to give it to him.
Nice try Pete. He thought smirking as he punched the punching bag. But I ain't Danny-boy. Those tricks won't work on me.
"You're just embarrassed the pathetic "bug's" idea worked on you." Peter barked back.
But Daniel hardly listened, instead he focused on forming a plan to extinguish ol' Danny's team before those fools realize something's up.
Heh seems like plenty time to me. He thought with a silent chuckle.
He didn't realize though that the others already considered him to be the intruder instead of the Iron Fist they know.
What gave it away you ask?
Well he didn't speak in "fortune-cookie-nonsense" and used a kathana blade instead of his hand-to-hand combat skills during training.
Even Fury thought that was unusual since he never saw him use swordsmanship with a katana or just about any blade during his time in the HQ and this is probably one of the very few moments he actually understood the blond teenager.
"Guy's this is clearly a fake." Sam whispered to Ava and Luke. "Or he simply ran out of fortune-cookies." He chuckled quietly.
Ava growled and elbowed him in the guts making the poor Nova hiss in pain.
"No time for jokes now Sam." Fury ordered him sternly. "I talked this situation over with and we believe we finally found a solution to this problem." The remaining kids looked up at him eyes glowing with hope. "Although this idea seems to be the only way out, it's so risky it may not be worth it." Silence filled the room.
"So…what's the idea?" This was Sam's question but Fury knew it was on everybody's tongue.
He took a deep breath before speaking.
"We both agreed that the best way to get Spiderman out of Danny's subconscious AND get rid of Daniel for good is by preforming an exorcism."
Again silence filled the room.
"Um…okay but what are the risks?" Again Sam seamed to outrun the others in terms of asking questions. "I saw exorcisms being performed on TV a lot of times and always the victim survived and lived to live a semi normal life."
"I can't disagree with you Nova but you're forgetting that Danny's situation is different than the ones you saw. The people on screen were possessed by an evil spirit from the outside. Let's not forget that Daniel is the embodiment of his evil spirit, which makes him a demon from the inside. The same one that is dominating over his good side to make matters worse. Making an exorcism to separate Daniel from Danny will be like tearing out a piece of his soul. And since Daniel is dominant it would be a large piece. We are not sure Iron Fist would survive the procedure and even if he did, we don't know how his body will take having a large piece of its soul torn out and how it will survive with not only ONE spirit though it was used to having more but also the weaker one of the two. Plus he'll have to go through months or even years of mental and spiritual rehabilitation before he'd turn into the Daniel Rand we all know and love. The risks are of him being permanently spiritually crippled, scarred for life, mentally broken beyond repair, not able to move his body or activate his signature Iron Fist which makes him close to useless in a team full of heroes." He paused to let the new info settle in their heads.
"So…what do we do?" He asked and the three remaining heads looked up at him. "Do we prosed or wait to see what happens?"
Only silence answered him.