So it's been a while since I've updated, and I sincerely apologize for that. As some single reviewer pointed out, they seem to think I have too much on my plate. Well, disregarding that comment, I can update stories whenever I want to. So I apologize to everyone else for the two-month long wait, and I hope you're all not too mad at me for that...

Title: Corpse Flower

Rating: M

Summary: My mind is a dark place, an endless abyss filled with horrors that no sane person could ever dream of. Everything I care about is gone, and I am constantly on the run as I struggle to control my demons. But my dark past is rapidly catching up with me, and my sanity continues to slip by the day. It hasn't helped that I'm now stuck with a bunch of egotistical superhumans, either. I just hope I don't end up killing them, too.

Warnings: Schizophrenia, Extreme Gore, Masochism, Sadism, Torture, Graphic Descriptions of Illness, Graphic Descriptions of Corpses, Slight Necrophilia, Hallucinations/Delusions, Unreliable Narrator

Author Notes: Heed the warnings, as always. Also, since Tony is introduced in this chapter with some form of drink, I'm going to get the generalizations out of the way. In Iron Man, he drank a malt scotch on the rocks, hot sake, champagne, and something that may be Laphroiag 17 year malt. In Iron Man 2, there's champagne and a dirty martini with lemon, and in the Avengers, it's champagne and then the scotch he offers Loki before they fight. So I'm gonna go out on a slightly risky limb here and say Tony drinks. So now that I've pointed out what's been in the movies, I'm just going to refer to whatever he's drinking as scotch because I'm too lazy to point out anything else.

Also, thanks so much for the support for this story! It really means a lot!

Enjoy!

This one was a strange one, all right. He'd never seen one like him before.

The young man before him twitched in his seat, his hooded gaze fixed onto the floor. He seemed dazed as if his thoughts were elsewhere, and his long raven hair covered part of his face.

The man sitting at the desk before him sighed, leaning heavily against his balled fist. "Why do you want this job, exactly?"

Ice blue eyes widened momentarily and the teen jolted in his chair, nearly rocking backward and catching himself before he fell. "I just need a job. I don't have any money."

"And your parents or your family members couldn't give you anything? A job was your last choice?"

The young man scowled, rage and despair flashing in his eyes. "They're dead."

"Oh." The interviewer gave a melancholy smile that didn't reach his eyes. "My condolences, Mr..." He glanced down at the file before him, narrowing his eyes and adjusting the glasses perched on his nose. "Fenton."

The teen shuddered, grimacing deeply and shaking his head. "Daniel. Just Daniel."

"Very well." The man rose to his feet and held out a hand, nothing but cold determination and irritation in his eyes. "Come along, then. You'll start today."

Daniel rose to his feet, wringing his hands together as he breathed heavily. "Where are we going now?"

"To meet the rest of your the people you'll be working with."

I don't know what to do anymore. I just know that I have to stop this horrific madness before I lose all of my sanity.

Each broken body gave off a putrid stench, but I suppose my sense of smell had been numbed. I couldn't smell the rotting flesh, nor could I taste it. But I knew it was there.

I moaned softly as crimson flickered in and out of my vision, and my legs threatened to give out as a maniacal laugh echoed in my head.

What have I done?

What in the world have I done?

"Monster!"

"Freak!"

"You're nothing but a circus act!"

Everything had gone downhill after the incident with the meteor and the gathering of the ghosts that had helped save my planet. Because soon after that seemingly heroic event, my dark side had returned.

He left nothing but devastation and ruin in his tracks, and of course, there was the fact that he had ruined my reputation. I had been a hero, although I had not truly felt like one, and the praise and thanks every second of the day was something you could get used to.

I paused as more bones crunched beneath my feet, and pain flashed through my body. My breath hitched and I gasped hoarsely as my throat tightened.

Monster.

Freak.

Abomination.

Heat washed over me, and I came to a stop at the edge of the cliff at the end of the clearing. Beneath me, there was a vicious drop below, waves slamming against the dark rocks.

How easy it would be to just fall and forget everything...

We will break you. We will tear your wings from your back and crush your spine. We will leave you helpless and ragged on the edge of the universe until you know nothing but the cold, cruel emptiness of living without anyone caring for you.

My body was shaking harder now, violent and unrelenting tremors that made me sway on my feet.

Daniel...

I shook my head, fire radiating through me. No...he couldn't catch me here. I was supposed to be safe here. No one could bother me.

Daniel...

"Leave me alone." My broken voice echoed dangerously loud, sending a sudden throbbing through my head.

Daniel.

No. No, no, no, no, no.

Daniel, wake up!

I woke with a start, sweat drenching my body and a chill crawling its way down my spine. Sirens wailed in the distance, and the thick and cloying scent of mold, rain, and earth filled my senses.

Daniel, you must stop doing this. You can't keep hurting yourself.

Shut up. I grimaced as I sat up fully, my side and neck complaining as they stretched out.

I had traveled to a city on the opposite side of the country from where I had killed that federal agent woman, planning on laying low for a while. It would be risky to become familiarized with anyone or anything too much, but because I had needed the money, I applied for and had been accepted for a job serving drinks at a local cafe a few miles from my hideout.

The hideout itself was not all that great, but it was enough to protect my weakened body from the elements. It was a roof over my head, however leaky and rotten it may be, and I was able to not worry about having someone watching me all of the time. The agency the woman had belonged to seemed to ease up on their search for me, but I still made it a habit to keep out of camera range and police view.

Groaning as I shakily rose to my feet, I yawned and ran my hands over my face in an attempt to clear the ever-persisting fatigue from my body. Easing only a bit of my exhaustion, I glanced out of a hole in the wall nearest me to check the time. Sometime around noon, based on the position of the sun. It was something the Master had taught me a while ago when I had lived with him a while back.

My senses flaring, I tensed as a chill passed over me.

You know, some people are just born with tragedy in their blood, my dear Daniel. It isn't a thing to beat yourself up about.

Ignoring the thunder-like voice in the back of my mind, I let out a deep breath and stretched once more, stepping out of my makeshift hideout and readying myself for another lonesome day in the cruel, unforgiving world.

They broke the wrong parts. Oh, how they had broken the wrong things. Our wings were broken, but they had forgotten about our claws.

They left marks on our bones.

We left marks on their minds.

Tony Stark paced back and forth in his laboratory a glass of scotch in his hand as he muttered under his breath, a clipboard holding numerous design schematics clutched in his other hand.

~Round and round the blackberry bush the baby boys are running...~

He continued pacing and ignored the incessant ringing in his earpiece, jotting down a few notes and frowning deeply.

"Sir, are you going to get that?"

"Not now, Jarvis." Scratching absentmindedly at chocolate-colored hair, the inventor chewed on the tip of his pen before taking a swing of his drink.

"I must warn you, sir, it is apparently of the utmost..."

Tony sighed and ran a hand over his face roughly, slamming his glass on the desk surface. "Put them on hold and play the elevator music. They can wait, and I'm busy."

"Stark, I swear if you put me on hold with that elevator music, I'm gonna put so many bullets down your throat you'll be..."

"Fury! That you? I could've sworn that you had keeled over and died from old age!" Tony grinned widely, pausing in his walking to lean against the desk. Despite his jovial tone, he winced and brought a hand to his head as a painful throb traveled through his head.

~One by one, they fall and they're dead, and that's the end of the story!~

"You've been ignoring my calls for the past hours, and I'm about ready to send SWAT in on your tail. Get to the Helicarrier now before I—"

Tony groaned heavily and threw his hands up into the air. "It could have taken you any longer to cut Eyepatch off, Jarvis."

"My deepest apologies, sir, but there was something blocking my transmission feed. I was working on overriding it when—"

"That's enough, buddy. I'm heading out now. Lock the doors and turn on the alarms for me, would you?"

"Very well, sir."

With one last glance, the scientist let out a heavy sigh and headed out.

Maria Hill glanced up from her seat as the doors to her office hissed open. A slight frown pulling down her lips, she set down the manila file in her hands and straightened fully with a determined interest burning in her eyes.

Tony Stark waltzed into the room, his hands clasped tightly together in front of him and his fingers twitching against each other. He was dressed as normal in an expensive, tailored suit with a white button-up shirt beneath it, but the way he was holding himself made the SHIELD Lieutenant hesitate.

"Where's Fury?"

Maria spun around to see the scientist standing above her, his head cocked to the side as his eyes scanned the paperwork spread out before her. "Stark, you can't just—"

"—you see, he was the one that called me here, so if he isn't here, then I'll just take my leave."

Hill sighed in exasperation as she rose to her feet. "It won't kill you to wait a minute. The Director's taking care of some things, but he'll be back in a moment. In the meanwhile..." She kicked out a chair from the nearest desk and waved a hand towards the seat, smiling widely. "Take a seat and get comfortable."

"That won't be necessary, Agent Hill."

Nick Fury stalked in, Coulson on his heel as they both came to a stop near the desk.

Tony grinned lazily and leaned against the desk, brushing his hair out of his face with a casual sweep of his hand. "My, my, Fury. You sure took your sweet time getting here, didn't you?"

"Spare me the whining, Stark. I was busy cleaning up one of the messes your team made on the other side of the world." Fury glared at the man as he crossed his arms over his chest, the look almost immediately making Stark stand down and hold whatever comment he had been about to say. "Agent Hill, did you give him the file yet?"

"No, sir. You came in before I could, and Mr. Stark was being rather uncooperative," the woman replied, ignoring the wounded protest the scientist gave at her remark. She turned and picked up the file she had set down mere minutes ago, holding it out to the billionaire.

Tony took the file and frowned as he set it down on the desk, turning to stare intently at the SHIELD Director. "You called me here to read some file?"

"No. I called you to look at this file and tell you not to tell any of your team, including that damn computer you've got following you around everywhere," the dark-skinned man growled, meeting the inventor's stare without a moment of hesitation.

"Fine."

Maria frowned and leaned forward so she was in eye contact with the brunette. "You're seriously agreeing to this? To lying to your teammates?"

"Teammates? They've been more like collateral damage in the past few months," Stark muttered, running a hand over his face in a way that displayed his exhaustion. "They're all doing their separate thing right now, and they're not even staying at the Tower, so it's not like I would have anyone to tell." He yawned and stretched, grunting as something cracked back into its proper place. "So, what's this about, then?"

"His name is Daniel Fenton, currently seventeen years of age, from what our intel gathered." Maria flipped open the file, pointing to an image of a pale, raven-haired young man with endless ice-blue eyes. "He's on the run from multiple crimes he committed and from some government organizations that want his head."

Tony didn't immediately respond as he narrowed his eyes, tilting his head this way and that as if the gesture would allow him to see something that wasn't already there. "What exactly did he do?"

"Murdered his entire hometown, to start," Coulson spoke up, his bland eyes glinting in the fluorescent lighting of the room.

"This kid? He doesn't look like much, though." Stark continued staring at the image, feeling something akin to a chill crawl its way down his spine.

"You of all people should know that looks can be deceiving," Fury cut in harshly, his voice ringing with a powerful efficiency. "Keep reading."

Tony glanced down at the file again, his eyes widening as he stopped on a boldly-printed line. "Species unknown?"

"We're not sure if he's an alien, a metahuman, a mutant, or a mix between something. But all we know is that that kid is far, far from being human." Maria reached over and turned a few pages, stabbing a finger at the paper. "That's a list of all the SHIELD agents he's killed. It goes across everything on the radar, from decapitation to exsanguination to being skinned alive. This guy is not somebody to mess with and he doesn't play around."

"And your best agents couldn't deal with him? I mean, besides the ones that are on my team?"

Coulson stepped forward, his expressionless face bathed in harsh light and contrasting shadow. "That's why we called you here. We need you to track him down."

"And risk being killed by something that could be a vampire, for all I know?" Tony's eyes were hard but questioning as they darted between all three of the government agents. "He's drained people of blood before, as I see here."

Fury narrowed his eye and scowled. "You wear a metal suit. It'll take a while for him to even get to your neck, assuming he doesn't tear the thing to pieces beforehand."

"Not helping, you know." Tony stood abruptly, stuffing his hands into his pockets and strolling out into the hall.

Maria frowned and raised her chin. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going home."

Coulson tilted his head to the side as his lips attempted to twitch into something like a frown. "We need an answer, Mr. Stark."

Tony paused with his back to the three. "Yeah, and you'll get one once I've gotten my beauty sleep and come back all dressed up and nice for you."

He glanced over his shoulder and smiled widely, waving a hand in the air as he continued walking. "Bye, now."

"We're just going to let him leave, sir?" Hill demanded, fixing her stern yet irritated stare on the director.

"For now, yes. He's obviously not going to listen. Damn hero complexes," the one-eyed man muttered, stalking out of the room and vanishing down the corridor.

I leaned heavily against the nearest table as the world spun around me, twisting and writhing as pain pounded throughout my head.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I flinched and jerked away as a hand landed on my shoulder, fighting the urge to bare my teeth. One of my coworkers, a naive young man by the name of Gerard, was staring at me, concern in his eyes as he stood there with an empty tray in his hands.

I gasped, forcing my breathing to return to normal as I nodded. "Yeah. I'm...I'm fine."

"You sure? The boss told me you have some medical issues. If you want to take a breather, that's—"

"I said I'm fine." I narrowed my eyes and glared at the man, clenching my hands into fists. "Don't bother me again."

Gerard noticed the action and raised his hands, backing off the slightest bit. "That's fine, man. I was just checking. Sorry to bother you."

I watched as he turned and headed into the kitchen, my shivering increasing to harsh and brutal tremors that wracked my entire frame.

Calm down, Daniel. Nothing bad happened, right?

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching before I slipped out of the cafe.

I didn't bother to respond as I braced more of my weight against the table, digging my nails into the smooth wood and leaving deep furrows in the glazed material.

"Daniel."

I tensed as the voice of my mind—you have no mind; what are you talking about; you are controlled by no one—sounded behind me. But my body decided to be uncooperative and I moaned softly as my legs threatened to give out beneath me.

"Sir, are you okay? Do you need help?"

Help? For what?

Oh, wait. I'm alone in an alley, aren't I?

Huh? No—I'm not here...just...just leave me be—

The heat was boiling deep within me, and my other side was starting to become restless. I was just so, so hungry—and there was a meal right before—

No!

No, no, no, no, no!

Wrong.

That's wrong—

It's wrong.

—no, so right—

go ahead and do it

You know you want to, my dear boy.

Crimson stained my vision, an all too common occurrence, and then I was lurching forward, pinning the unfortunate man to the wall behind us.

I moaned softly—breathe and writhe in ecstasy, my dear, and consume his very being—as the scent of his fear wafted towards me, throwing my head back as I dug my nails deep into his skin. He arched his back and cried out, but I muffled his useless cries with a punch to the stomach that rendered his respiratory systems incapable of performing their task.

Daniel, we don't have time for this. There are cameras nearby.

I don't care! We don't care! Just finish it.

There was a slight hesitation. I cannot give you any more power in your weakened state, my boy.

But you don't want to kill him, do you? Look at yourself, you pathetic little worm.

I groaned and bared my teeth, saliva dripping down my chin as I glared viciously at the man beneath me.

He didn't even have time to scream before I tore his body to pieces and bathed in his blood.

I haven't actually decided what Avengers movie this takes place in. Originally, this story's predecessor was a mix between Danny Phantom and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but I think it'll be easier to stick with the movie universe. Also, apologies if Tony was out of character. I really haven't written him in a while, and the closest thing to the Avengers I've seen recently was Doctor Strange, and I can't even call that scene a real "Avengers" moment. I recommend seeing Doctor Strange if you haven't already; the lovely Benedict Cumberbatch is the star, and I adore him!

Okay, enough of my fangirling. Review and tell me what you think!

PS. Also, I'm not giving a definite time span for the posting wait between chapters since that'll no doubt irritate some people...so be patient, okay?

PPS. The Avengers aren't officially together in this story, but they are, if that makes sense. They're kind of off doing their own things right now, but this whole thing with Danny/Dan will eventually flare up and bring them together.

Any concerns, comments, polite suggestions, leave them in a review or PM me! :)