Fangirl7287: I hope so.
Chapter 6: Hiding What?
(At the Academy)
The assembled heroes were discussing the situation. Many were uneasy about the revelations they discovered.
"What would this… Dracula want with the villains that were locked away?... Breakfast?" Ant-Man asked. "Last time my team encountered him, he took control of them…" Spider-Man said bitterly. "What about you?" Ant-Man replied. "Somehow Spider-Man was able to resist Dracula's compulsion." Werewolf by Night answered.
Everyone turned to look at Spider-Man with shock. It was very surprising that the young hero was able to resist the vampire's supernatural trance.
"How did you resist him?" Falcon asked.
The young hero scratched his head. He was unsure of how to answer the question. At the time he was to busy concerned with fighting the vampire to notice what transpired.
"I uh… I don't know… I was just worried about my friends…" The teen hero stuttered as he recalled the horrible events of that night. "Interesting… it might have something to do with some genetic anomaly in your DNA…" Falcon said. "Hulk's blood was able to counter the vampirism in Black Widow when she was turned." Captain America said. "You were turned into a vampire?!" Agent Venom shrieked. "Wasn't a good day." The spy responded.
Spider-Man was to busy recalling the night of Dracula's attack. When the Howling Commandos engaged his team in a fight; he thought one of them was going to… But he tried to shake that out of his mind.
(No! He wasn't… I thought he was going to… No!)
His team saw their leader's less than happy demeanor had worsened, and the other heroes were picking this up.
"Something wrong kid?" Iron Man asked. "The Man of Spiders doesn't seem well." Thor added. "What's wrong?" Captain America asked.
The young hero didn't feel like answering their questions, he was uneasy already. Werewolf by Night sighed, he knew the answer.
"He's remembering the time when his team was under Dracula's control... We engaged them and he thought I was…" As he was about to finish, Spider-Man interjected by saying, "No! No, no, no, no! I'm just…. I gotta get some air."
The arachnid themed hero walked outside, as everyone watched him walk away.
"What? What did he think you were going to do?" Red-hulk asked impatiently. "During the fight I attacked White Tiger. And Spider-Man thought..." The lycanthrope hero was about to finish when a familiar voice cackled, "That the big bad wolf was going to unalive the pretty kitty! Hahahaha!"
The others turned to see Deadpool joined the conversation. Werewolf by Night glowered at him.
"I wasn't going to!" Jack Russell snarled. "He thought you were going to have a snack!" The mutant mercenary added. "He was just trying to protect her." Werewolf by Night growled as he turned his back to the mercenary.
White Tiger was shocked to hear all of this. Spider-Man had thought she was going to be killed by the lycan and he went out of his way to protect her. She thought her face was getting slightly warm.
'No! Parker should have realized he was going to help me! Stupid idiot shouldn't have interfered.' Tiger mumbled in her thoughts. "Sounds like he cares for you young lady." Captain America stated.
Ava's cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"He should've known I wasn't going to die!" Tiger growled. "Easy girl, he thought you were in danger." Power Man said, trying to calm the feline heroine. "I don't blame him. I would've done the same." The werewolf sighed, not blaming the teen's confusion at the situation. "Back to business!" Tiger hissed.
Werewolf by Night shook his head. He wasn't unnerved in the slightest by White Tiger's aggression and anger. But they had more pressing matters.
"So how are we going to find Dracula?" Power Man asked. "He could be anywhere." Falcon said. "He'll have only a few places where he could be with little sunlight." Captain America said. "It's almost All Hallows Eve… has something planned for that day… That's when the supernatural realm of the underworld is closest to linking itself with this world." Werewolf by Night explained.
Iron Man and Falcon laughed at this. They are men of science and logic, the supernatural and magic were things they considered to be fake. Spider-Man was one of these people as well, but Iron-Fist revealed the reality of the 'other-side'.
"Come on, you're acting like we're in a horror movie. There's some logical explanation for Dracula's plans." Stark said. "Magic and the supernatural can all be explained by science." Falcon added.
Almost everyone in the room face-palmed themselves.
"You two can't be that stupid… look at us! I'm a werewolf! Dracula is a vampire!" The lycan snarled with anger. "Just forget it; you can't persuade these egg-heads. But let's focus on finding Dracula." Captain America interjected. "Indeed... once we find that scum, I'll carve out his heart with my sword. "Blade hissed. "We're not killing anyone. We don't take lives." Cap said, conviction in his voice. "You're a fool to think that he can be stopped if he's left alive!" The dhampir spat. "We've stopped worse than him." Hulk added as he came to stand beside the veteran soldier.
"What? No unaliving joke, bub?" Wolverine snarled.
There was no answer, and everyone turned to look at Deadpool. But he was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Nova said, confusion thick in his voice.
(Outside the Academy)
Spider-Man sat on the docks, his feet hanging off the side. He was lost in his thoughts. The young hero stared at his reflection in the water.
(I'm not upset about what I thought was going to happen to Tiger! I'm not!) (Hey Spidey!)(What?! How?!) (It's me! The guy who wanted to unalive you a while ago!)(Oh.. hey Deadpool…)
Deadpool was surprisingly silent; he didn't expect the 'copycat' to be so... quiet. He did various comical or strange things to get the teenager's attention. But Spider-Man was to busy thinking to himself, his thoughts keeping himself busy.
"You know I'm going to ask White Tiger out!" Deadpool confidently said. "What?!.. I mean... what?" Spider-Man screeched, having been shaken out of deep thought. "Hahaha! I got you?! Hahaha!" Deadpool laughed hysterically. "Oh... good one…" Spider-Man sighed, relief and yet despair in his voice.
Deadpool scratched his head. He thought that would've brought back the Spider-Man he had a 'comedy war' with so long ago.
"You ok Spidey?" Deadpool asked.
Spider-Man was shocked by the concern in the mutant's voice, but he remained silent. He didn't feel like talking.
"Come one Spider-Man, I'm trying to be nice." The mercenary said. "... I'm ok… There's nothing wrong?..." Spider-Man mumbled. "No you're not. Everyone can see it. Why are you hiding it?" Deadpool asked. "Hiding what?" Spider-Man answered with a question. "You really don't know… HA! That's funny! Hahaha!" Wilson laughed.
Before Spider-Man could ask another question few of the heroes inside called for them to come inside.
(Back inside the Academy)
Spider-Man and Deadpool joined the others.
"We've formulated a plan." Falcon started to explain. "What were you doing out there Web-head?" Tiger said as she came to stand beside her leader. "Nothing Tiger... Nothing…" He responded with sadness in his voice.
Spider-Man walked away to stand somewhere else. Tiger's eyes followed him as a strange feeling gnawed away inside her.
"My team and Hulk's will head to the tower to create weapons that utilize the gamma radiation in Hulk's blood to counter-act the vampirism to weaken any of Dracula's minions. And maybe cripple Dracula himself." Iron Man said. "That's it? You've got nothing else?" Hawkeye growled. "Director, I could get in contact with Doctor Strange, maybe he could be of assistance." Iron-Fist called out. "Good idea, maybe he might have some information which we'll need to know." The Director of SHIELD replied, nodding.
Spider-Man stood beside Wolverine who could smell the teen's less than usual 'normal' smell.
"You smell like bad hormones and depression, bub." The mutant grumbled. "Sorry." Spider-Man mumbled. "What, no jokes about me being disgusting? What's wrong kid?" Logan asked. "I'm fine." Peter growled defensively. "Easy kid, no need to get yourself punched." Logan growled back. "I'm not in the mood." The masked hero replied.
Wolverine was a little surprised by the teen's response and demeanor. Something had him off his game and his usual energetic self.
"We'll discuss more later. For now, get some rest. We don't know what is waiting to happen. "Nick said.
Everyone parted ways.
(It's going to be a long night)
To be continued…