Chapter 15
New Friends
(Costa Mesa, CA)
August 7th
Since arriving in California, the Team spent their time resting after the fight against the villains in Miami yesterday. Like Oliver had promised, the group were going to spend the rest of their vacation at his part time home in Costa Mesa.
Located in Westside, the house was luxury-filled, with many rooms built for the Billionaire including a lounge bar, gym, game room, and swimming pool.
Peter spent the morning sleeping, so by the time he woke up it was almost 11:00. After getting dressed in some clothes lent to him by Bart, he went downstairs to the kitchen.
"Hope there's some orange juice in here," Peter said to himself while looking through the fridge.
"Check the back, it's next to the milk," someone said, which made him turn around.
"Oh hey...um it's Jamie, right?" Peter replied, and he saw the young man nod yes to him.
"I imagine trying to remember so many names can be tough. Especially for someone new to this world," Jamie said as he ate a protein bar.
"Yeah...One minute I'm on alien planet in space, next I'm in California on another Earth," Peter stated as he poured his glass of juice, then sat down at the kitchen counter.
"Speaking of which, how you feeling after yesterday?" Jamie asked.
"A little better so far. But it's still a lot to take in. Learning that other Earths exist, along with people and places that I never imagined were real."
"Like Martians for example?"
"Yes, and I have met aliens before, but none of them were from Mars. And based on what Dick told me, I take it there's other alien races known to this universe?" Peter questioned.
"That is correct. In fact, it's because of aliens that I have superpowers," Jamie replied as he stood up and lifted up his shirt, showing that on his back was a blue bug attached to him.
"WOAH! Jamie are you okay?" Peter asked, looking a little freaked.
"Yes I'm fine, and before you ask. It's not going to kill me or lay eggs inside. This is called a Scarb. It's a device created by an alien race called the Reach. When it attaches itself to someone, they are given control of a body armor that allows one to fly, create various weapons and enhance their strength."
Hearing about these things reminded Peter of the armor that Mr. Stark was wearing from before. "And you're in full control of that Scarb?"
"I am, but awhile back I wasn't, due to the Reach's actions. But that's a story for another time," Jamie said as he lowered his shirt down.
"So if those are your powers, which ones do your friends have?" asked Peter.
"I'm glad you asked that!" a new voice said, which made both Peter and Jamie turn to see the girls enter the kitchen.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask about us," Cassie said as she grabbed an apple. "To begin with, I have super strength and flight, and also special bracelets that can deflects bullets and other firearms."
Once she was done, Cassie let the other girls go next.
"As I told you yesterday, I'm a Martian," said Megan, who happened to appear in her green martian form. " And our powers include telepathy, shape shifting, and telekinesis."
"Also, and I know this is coming late, but I wanted to apologize for looking at your memories without asking you first. But it was the only way for us to learn about what you were talking about, Peter," Megan added sincerely.
"I will admit, it was a shock to learn about you reading my mind yesterday. But like you said, you needed to find out who I was. However I would like you to ask me, before doing so again in the future," Peter answered, to which Megan agreed, then sat down as Zatanna spoke next.
"I've been trained in the ways of magic," she said, then spoke some words that allowed her to conjure up some apple juice in a pitcher.
"Cool, that's some interesting magic you can do," Peter noted as he looked at the juice.
"Thanks. The magic in this world is different, as those who use it have to speak the right incantations to make it happen," Zatanna stated as she poured him a drink, then herself.
"So, are you a sorcerer then?" Peter asked.
"Actually, I'm a Magician. There's a difference between the two. Mostly in appearance and power level."
"Well, I think you make a great Sorcerer or Sorceress, I should say. Especially with your good looks,"Peter commented, but stopped when he realized the last thing he said. Hearing this made him blush hard, as did Zatanna.
The other girls noticed this and they were surprised at Peter's remark. 'Only here one day and he already has his eye on a girl,' they all thought with a slight smile.
"...So what other powers do you ladies have?" Peter asked as he wanted to change the subject.
"Actually, me and Barbara don't have powers. We're able to hold our own with skills in hand-to-hand combat and weapons training," Artemis answered as she gestured to herself and Barbara.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know," replied Peter.
"Hey it's okay, you don't need superpowers to be a hero. As long as one is willing to do the right thing, that's what matters," Barbara said with a serious look.
'That sounds like something Captain America would say!' Peter thought as he took in Barbara's words.
"Ah, glad to see you're up Peter," Dinah said as she and Oliver came in.
"And since you are, we thought today would be a good day to take you shopping. If your up for it?" Oliver asked.
"Yes please. I do need some clothes of my own, so I don't keep borrowing from the guys," Peter responded as he got up.
"Good answer kid. Now let's go," said Oliver, and the three departed.
Driving in Oliver's SUV, the two adults took Peter to South Coast Plaza, a very large shopping mall, where they bought him new clothes, shoes, a cell phone and whatever else he needed.
Due to the years of bargain shopping with Aunt May, Peter wasn't used to going to stores that had top of line clothing and high tech devices. He had also never been in a mall like this one before, and he took note of the various stores there. One of them that made Peter happy was a LEGO store that sold many of the same sets that he built with Ned back home.
The two adults could tell that Peter looked happy as he eyed the various sets in the store. "If there's any you would like to get, feel free to do so. And don't worry about the price, I've got it covered," Oliver reassured him.
Hearing this made Peter pinch himself to make sure it wasn't a dream. After this, he grabbed three Star Wars sets and an Architecture set of New York City. Once they were done, the three finished up their shopping, then they went to grab some lunch at Big Belly Burger.
As they ate, Peter got to know more about this new world as Oliver and Dinah told him about the Justice League. They spoke of the various heroes including Batman, The Flash, The Green Lanterns, Captain Atom, Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Black Lighting, Red Tornado, Doctor Fate and others.
For the young Avenger, it was cool to learn about these new heroes and what each one could do. Some of their powers and skill sets reminded him of the heroes from back home.
"I wonder how they're doing right now?" he wondered to himself. But Peter decided to put the thought off, as he continued to eat. As Peter did, Oliver and Dinah told him a little about themselves.
Oliver spoke of his life in Star City where he ran his family's company, Queen International, which had been started by his late father Robert Queen. After his father's death at sea, Oliver took over the company and used its resources to aid him as the Green Arrow.
Dinah revealed she also lived in Star City, where she worked as a therapist helping those in need. In addition, the heroine also owned a flower shop near her home that did very well.
Hearing about their lives was interesting for Peter. "Oliver reminds me of Mr. Stark in some ways, and Dinah is like Aunt May in the way she is always help those in need," he thought with a smile.
After finishing lunch, the three left the restaurant and returned to the car. A short drive later, they found themselves back home. Peter put away his new clothes, then activated the cell phone. He was about to ask Oliver and Dinah for their numbers, when he heard someone knock on his door.
"Hey Peter, are you free?" Recognizing the voice as Barbara's, he said yes as she opened the door.
"What's up?"
"Well, when I saw your memories yesterday. I was curious about your suit's interface," she replied.
"Oh you mean Karen," said Peter.
"Yes, I was wondering if you would like some help checking your suit's systems. We can see if she's still running.."
"Yeah sure, Let me grab my suit," Peter answered as he grabbed it from the duffle bag, then followed Barbara to the garage in the backyard.
The two found Dick and Conner inside working on Oliver's vintage Camaro. "Okay and that should about do it," Conner said as he rolled out from beneath it, then noticed Peter and Barbara setting up on the nearby table.
"Tech stuff," Dick said to him which made Conner nod in reply as he got up to head inside and clean himself up. Dick stayed behind, and he watched Barbara and Peter work.
"Okay, let's see what we got here!" Barbara exclaimed in an excited way. Upon opening up the suit carefully, Barbara and Dick looked at the intricate system of wires that connected across Peter's suit.
"Impressive. This suit's systems are much different then I thought," Dick noted as he looked it.
"I agree, now let's see where it is?" said Barbara as she searched for a USB port. Finding one, she connected a transfer cord from her suit's gauntlet. Peter was amazed at this, and he watched a portable screen appear to which Barbara started up a connection.
"Wow, where did you get that?" Peter asked.
"It was given to her by the person who trained me," Dick answered first, as Barbara took over.
"We use this holo computer's on missions. It allows us to stay in touch and check out any systems we need too," he continued.
"Cool, think I could get one of those?" wondered Peter.
"I'm sure we can work something out."
Before Peter could ask anymore, a ping was heard and the two turned around.
"I think I found it," announced Barbara. The three looked as an image appeared on the screen which showed a bright blue SI logo.
"It look's like Karen's systems were disconnected from her original server. I'm going to connect it with mine for now," Barbara added as she worked on getting connected.
"And there we go!" A new screen appeared and they saw a voice line, which was flat at first.
"Karen, are you there?" Peter asked cautiously
"Hello Peter, I am here," a female voice said as the lines moved up and down. This made Peter happy and he smiled at the sound of Karen's voice. Dick and Barbara remained silent as they watched this.
"It's good to hear you again," said Peter.
"Same here, but Peter, it seems my systems are not connected to the Stark Industries network. But to a unknown one, do you know why?" Karen asked.
"...Well that's a long story Karen. So let me start from the beginning," Peter answered first, then told her about the events that happened while she was offline. While Peter did this, Dick and Barbara left the garage to give them some privacy.
Once Peter finished his story, an awkward silence followed, as Karen didn't answer for a bit. "So based on what you were told, we are both stuck in this other universe due to the actions of Thanos," Karen stated, to which Peter responded yes.
"I know it looks bad, but the people I've meet are nice and they're heroes like me. In fact, it's because of one of them that we got you back online."
"I am grateful for that. I'll need to thank them later on," Karen added as she asked Peter how he was doing now.
"So far, I'm okay. I do miss Aunt May and Mr. Stark, but knowing that you're here makes me feel better Karen," he answered with a smile.
"Good to know. When you have the chance, Peter, I'll need to link myself to the Iron Spider Armor as Mr. Stark wanted me to aid you in it."
Nodding to this, Peter and Karen then talked about other things in general for awhile. Outside the garage, Dick and Barbara overheard the two talking.
"Once he's done, were going to need to tell him about the Team and who our enemies are," Barbara said to Dick, who agreed with her as they walked back to the house.
To Be Continued.
(Author's Note)
Hi everyone. This month marks the one year anniversary of when Web of Courage first started.
Since then, it's grown in popularity thanks to all of you, which has surprised even me. So I wanted to thank you for supporting the story and following it. It means a lot.
In the last Chapter I brought in Black Panther and Shuri into the story. For those wondering why I did so, it was to give the King of Wakanada an epic new adventure with his sister.
Like many, I was saddened to hear about the passing of Chadwick Boseman as he was a talented and gifted actor that left us too soon. I'm looking forward to the upcoming Black Panther Wakanda Forever and seeing how they honor the character in it.
The next chapter will see T'Chala and Shuri awaken as they start to learn about being in a new world along with Peter, getting to know his new friends and about their mission to fight the Light.
Til then, Stay tuned.