So, I know it's a late chapter, but I'm writing this while it's still Saturday, so it counts. Reviewers:
Oblitus Angeli: It wasn't just freezing. I completely obliterated my computer; the hard drive had to get wiped and everything.
KuriMaster13: I know it was short, but like I said, it was a set up chapter. Also, if I decided to stop working on this, I would get the word out to everybody.
Onwards!
0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Chapter 18
Last Resort
(Spidey POV)
I sighed, heavily weighing the pros and cons of my mission. Though it might tell me where Danny was, it wouldn't help my case or Danny's with the whole 'menace' thing.
I pulled on my costume and headed for the helicarrier. This day was probably going to suck a lot.
"Spider Man, I-" said Fury before he was cut off by me.
"You didn't give Phantom a sporting chance because of Flint, correct? Well, what if by doing that, you were causing someone else to turn?" I said, emphasizing the last part with a dark undertone.
Fury obviously picked up on the darkness hiding underneath and said, "What are you getting at?"
"What if that person was me?" I whispered, staring straight into Fury's eyes.
I'm really going to regret this, aren't I? I thought as I bound Fury in my webs and moved towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. mainframe.
"Backup! Now!" screamed Fury into his watch.
I continued moving, blocking out the alarm and all else except for the mainframe. I arrived and starting hacking into the system, knowing that Fury had almost certainly made a file for Phantom, and therefore probably had his whereabouts, or at least a very good educated guess.
"He's in the Villain Containment Wing?" I muttered to myself, taking off in the direction of the wing.
I heard hundreds of feet marching behind me, which I took as a signal to get moving.
Once I reached the wing, I ran in, skimming through the cells to find the right one. When I arrived at Danny's, I was surprised to see a bunch of flowers in a line infront of his cell.
Danny looked up and a glimmer of hope was visible in his eyes. I quickly pressed the release button for the door, but Danny stayed put.
"Why aren't you moving?" I yelled.
"The blood blossoms! Move them!" Danny yelled back, pointing at the flowers in front of the door.
I didn't question it, knowing that I would or would not get an answer later, depending on whether Danny was in Fenton or Phantom mode. I kicked aside the flowers, allowing Danny to pass. We rushed out of the wing and into the open air, Danny flying and I swinging on my webs.
"What exactly did you pull?" asked Danny as soon as we arrived at our old meeting place, the Daily Bugle.
"Well you see, I pretended to be a villain so I could hack into the mainframe and figure out your whereabouts," I said sheepishly.
"Well, I bet that just destroyed any iota of a good reputation I may have had," groaned Danny.
"If it makes you feel better, I just lost my awesome reputation."
"Why didn't you just hack into the mainframe without the villain stunt?"
"I needed the element of surprise. If I hadn't pulled that, I would never have gotten near the mainframe. Even heroes aren't allowed access."
"I see. Well what do we do now? We can't go back to your house. S.H.I.E.L.D. knows where you live, and they probably already had hidden agents or something stationed there. Even so, we might be putting May in danger if we go back."
"Where do you propose we stay?"
"On a roof?"
"Too obvious. We actually probably need to skip town now, seeing as S.H.I.E.L.D. will undoubtedly send out a search party soon. A very heavily armed search party, might I add."
"Well that's fantastic. For tonight, let's just go ahead and go as far as the suburbs, and we can go further tomorrow if need be."
"Okay."
So, the window of time where I was practically a fugitive began.
The next morning, I woke up to find Danny talking to some hooded lady.
"Erm, Danny, mind introducing me to your friend?" I said.
"Friend? Hardly," scoffed Danny.
"Frenemy?" I asked.
"…Maybe," Danny replied.
"Introductions?" I added, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, well she doesn't have a name," Danny said casually, as if everyone he knew had no name.
"You don't have to talk about me as if I weren't here," the hooded lady said.
"We have to call you something," said Danny.
"If you wish to call me by a name, just call me Hood," she said.
"That's awfully simple minded," I said.
"How about I stick an ectoball into your mind?" Hood retorted.
"Hood is a fine name," I said nervously.
"In any case, I'm not here to help you guys. I'm here for me. I go where the action is (Angela the Herbalist anyone?)," Hood said, looking over her nails like she was bored. "And some nice fighting is going to happen sooner or later with you two."
Danny and I mentally agreed to ignore her and discuss important things.
"Which should we prioritize? Dan or S.H.I.E.L.D.? Both are major threats as of now," I said.
"Dan is still a bigger threat, but we just have to go by the current situation."
"Point. But what if both come up at the same time?"
"Dan, but I guess we're going to find out right about now anyway," said Danny, pointing behind me.