Danny Rand was standing in the locker room, he had his phone to his ear. After advancing to the semifinals, he decided it would be a good time to share information with Orson. His guardian was at work by now, which usually consisted of patrols, so he probably hadn't seen any news from the festival on television. But if he hadn't been in a battle at that point, he would've been able to answer his cell phone. At least that's what Danny expected...
"Hello?"
"Orson!" Danny said excitedly.
"What do you mean? I have to say something else?"
"..." Danny quickly recognized the message he'd helped the older man record for his phone. Danny admittedly wasn't very good with technology, but Orson was a lot worse.
"Well, if I didn't answer, I don't have time for small talk anyway and-"
Danny hung up the phone, reasoning he was probably busy at the moment. So he had to win and come back with the best news possible at the end of the day...
Orson Randall, the Iron Fist, was in the middle of his patrol through the streets of East Harlem. His agency had two missions at the time. First, a vigilante had been wreaking havoc on the local gangs. While this was having an impact against the drug trade, the methods were extremely brutal and several bodies were left shot up in its wake. Orson had to determine the identity of this person and stop the warpath.
The second mission was a bit more complicated. A new villain had been stalking the city, causing the deaths of several low-class heroes. Given the locations of the bodies, they seemed to intersect closely with the vigilante's activity. Was there a connection? This was getting even more dangerous by the day. Orson's goal was to solve both problems.
The middle-aged man was one of the oldest heroes still active. He had brown hair under the yellow mask he wore, as well as his gray eyes. His muscular body was covered in a dark green long-sleeved T-shirt with a black dragon symbol on the chest. On top, he had suspenders with holsters for his two pistols, hidden under a brown overcoat. At his waist, a belt with several pouches, along with brown pants and a pair of black boots.
Scratching his scruffy beard, it was the fifth time he'd walked around these same blocks and until now, had come across nothing suspicious. That was, until he saw a flicker of movement in a nearby alley. Turning around and starting to walk back, he takes out his trusty Walkie-Talkie and talks to his colleagues.
"Investigating movement in an alley at the end of 113th near Second Ave. Over," he said into the radio. There were of course newer devices for this, but he was never able to get along with the technology.
"Understood, let us know if you find anything. Over..." He hears the voice of his partner, Misty Knight.
"Okay, over and out," he put the radio back on his belt and pulled out a pistol.
The alley was a little dark due to the position of the sun, but not enough that he couldn't see. Iron Fist walked cautiously, with his finger on the side of the trigger, not on top. He heard a noise in the back and found a man was left slumped against the wall, beaten and broken. Iron Fist recognized him as a local drug pusher he was investigating. Just then, he hears the sound of combat boots running and saw a figure leaving. He was wearing black tactical armor and a matching trench coat. A large, white skull was emblazoned on his chest.
Suddenly, everything clicks together; the gang shootings, lower end heroes being murdered? Yeah, there was no doubt in his mind. The hero killer and the vigilante were one and the same. And Orson knew exactly who this man was.
Using his Chi, Iron Fist used the wall to propel himself forward. With a long jump, he lands in front of the fugitive, gun in hand. He points it at head of his target.
"It's the end of the line... Punisher," he said, watching the man raise his head and stare at him.
"What do you mean by 'eternal coma'?" Wanda asked, lowering her arms and deactivating her Quirk.
"Part of the Ghost Rider's power, and consequently mine, is something called the 'Penance Stare'..." Reyes began.
"It's what makes criminals see and feel the pain of everything they've done wrong, isn't it?" Claire asked, "I received several cases of criminals in a catatonic state back when I worked at the Hell's Kitchen hospital."
"Exactly, but since I kept my power suppressed for a long time, it accumulated..." Reyes said, feeling the regret of his actions. "I didn't even know I could do it, given how my Quirk is somewhat different from the original. I think it activated unintentionally."
"You still haven't answered me," Wanda began to look annoyed.
"When I released the flames, my accumulated power got out of hand," he explained. "It caused Peter to receive the full impact from a 'Stare', much stronger than anyone can possibly handle. He must be reliving what he thinks his sins are now..."
Peter didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to express anything. And how could he? The only memory he had of his parents were photos and some blurry memories. It wasn't like he had precise memories of things that happened over ten years ago.
But somehow, he knew it wasn't them. He could feel it, he just couldn't explain what they were doing here, let alone explain where 'here' was...
"What are you doing near us?" His 'dad' asked, disgusted. "Get out of here, we don't want you around!"
Peter tried to ignore it; his parents died in a plane crash years ago. He'd gone to the wake, seen the coffins, but the part that kept those memories didn't seem to work at that moment.
Something was holding him hostage to toxic memories and lies he'd told himself. Everything he felt when he was a Quirkless child, who thought he could have saved his parents if he had one.
"When you didn't have Quirk, you could understand," his 'mom' said. "But now, having one, killing someone? Our son, a Murderer?"
Murderer
Murderer
Murderer
Murderer
Murderer
Murderer
Murderer
MURDERER
MURDERER
MURDERER
MURDERER
Sniff... sniff
Suddenly, Peter could no longer see the pair. They disappeared, as if they were never there. He starts to hear someone crying. Peter turned to the side, seeing another person, hugging her knees at a distance.
"Excuse me..." Peter's voice sounded hoarse, it was his own, and yet it was somewhat distorted. He got closer, seeing it was a white-haired woman. She was older, in her mid-fifties. As she turns around, the boy recognized the glasses, eyes full of tears...
"Aunt May?"
"You..." She said, gritting her teeth as she stands up. "You killed him..."
"Aunt May?" Peter took a step back.
"You killed him..." She said louder, raising her head to face him. "YOU KILLED HIM!!! YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND!!! YOU KILLED HIM!!! YOU KILLED HIM!!!"
May threw herself at Peter, her eyes glassy, and tried to scratch his face with her nails. Peter held her wrists, she was stronger than he thought. "YOU KILLED HIM!!! YOU KILLED HIM!!!"
"Peter killed someone?"
"Parker?"
"Killed someone?"
"Peter killed..."
"Killed..."
Peter looked around and saw all of his classmates; Robbie, Flash, Laura, Kei, Seol, Gwen, Danny, everyone. It was like they didn't notice him there, their expressions neutral as they spoke to each other. The words were like a poison in Peter's mind; always reminding him of the worst day of his life.
The gym.
A mugger.
A bullet.
Uncle Ben.
Blood.
A weak pulse.
"...Peter?"
Everything disappeared once more, and the boy was now face to face with Wanda. The girl had the same shadow covering her eyes, and she looked down, not directly at him.
"Wanda..." Peter felt the lump in his throat, but he struggled to speak. "It was an accident I swear-"
SLAP!!!
Peter felt the burning and heat in his left cheek, the one that took the slap. He fell to the ground stunned, not by the force of the blow, but by the person who had given it.
"How could I get close to someone like you!? You're not a hero... You're a villain... A monster!!!" She turned and runs out, disappearing as well.
Peter was on the floor, tears streaming down his face. His chest was tight, the lump in his throat made it hard to breathe. He felt sick, but nothing came out, he couldn't bring air to his lungs. Everything he had done to his uncle...
"Peter?" And there he was, standing by his side. His skin was gray and lifeless, eyes were without color, his glasses broken, clothes dirty, and a blood stain on his chest that was slowly spreading...
"...Ben?"
In the middle of Reyes' explanation, the cardiac monitor connected to Peter went off. His heartbeat skyrocketed and his unconscious body started to shake and move uncontrollably.
"What's happening?" Wanda asked, terrified.
"He's having a seizure!" Claire rushed over to try and hold the boy, "Quick, try to restrain him! He could hurt himself!!"
The two students quickly get to Peter's sides, holding down his arms, legs and torso in an attempt to restrain him. But the boy was very strong, and since he was having an unconscious attack, his nerves were activated without him wanting to. This resulted in movements they were much stronger than they should have been. With a blow from the boy's arm, Wanda was knocked backwards and Robbie found himself with no alternative.
"You give me no choice, Araña..." Reyes said, activating his Quirk. He invoked three chains, which wrapped around Parker. This managed to stop him, at least for now.
"You're hurting him!" Exclaimed Wanda, rising from the floor. She saw Peter was still trying to move, but he was kept in place by his new restraints.
"If you have a better idea, I'm all for it," Robbie said, trying to focus on the current problem of waking Parker.
"What are we going to do now?" Claire went to monitor Peter's vitals.
"Can't you cancel the 'Stare'?" Asked Wanda.
"If I could have done it already, I would have," he said coldly, but soon corrects his tone for the real reason. "I've never used that power before, I don't know how to control it..."
"What about Ghost Rider? Can he?" Wanda suggested.
"He can only cancel what he caused," Reyes replied. "And the technique is very complicated. Even if he was around, he wouldn't be able to teach me in a hurry."
"Can we access his mind?" Wanda asked, this time directed to the nurse. "Something to jumpstart Peter's brain?"
"We don't have anything here that can do that," said the heroine, frantically looking around the room.
"We don't have a thing, so what about a Quirk?" Reyes proposed.
"Professor Frost!" Wanda said optimistically. "We can call her and-"
"It won't work," Claire put in. "Emma can only create a psychic link in conscious people."
"Anyone in the audience? It may be our last chance, even if it's small..." Reyes asked, trying to be rational.
"Wanda! It's your-" Pietro, out of nowhere, appeared at the door using his speed. He stopped what he was saying when he saw the scene, "What's going on?"
"Pietro!" His sister said, realizing his presence. "Peter was hit by a Quirk and is trapped a coma of nightmares! If we don't wake him up, he might be stuck like this forever!!"
"We need you to go to Professor Frost and ask her-" Reyes began, but was interrupted by the speedster.
"Okay, I can't believe I'm saying this, but slow down! I don't understand, Parker's in a coma? What happened?" The boy asked.
"I accidentally used too much of my Quirk and put Parker in a coma," Reyes tried to explain as quickly as possible. They didn't have much time. "If he doesn't wake up soon, he'll be trapped. So our only solution is to try and mess with his brain."
"Alright, calm down!" Pietro puts his hands up, "Do you need to connect to it through his brain? Like, to try and control the nightmare?"
"That's an oversimplification, but yeah." As soon as Reyes answered him, the platinum's gaze snapped to his sister. She looked back at him for a few seconds until he understands what he's referring to.
"No! Nonono! I won't do this, I can't..." She said, walking back a little.
"Yes, you can do it!" The boy puts his hand on his sister's shoulder, "You did it last time..."
"After several failed attempts that only made the situation worse!" Wanda said stiffly, removing her brother's arm from her.
"Sorry, what are you guys talking about exactly?" Robbie asked.
"Her Quirk let's her mess with people's minds," Pietro said, before realizing he could've worded it better. "But not in a bad way! She tried to change my nightmares when we were younger..."
Robbie looks at Wanda, "Can you?"
"I-I can use my Quirk to tinker with the electrical parts of the brain," she replied, crossing her arms and looking at the floor. "By doing some research, I was able to focus on the subconscious areas and try to avoid those nightmares."
"It could work..." Reyes said, looking hopefully at Night Nurse.
"B-But it's been a long time since I tried that. And when I did, I made the situation worse before I was able to figure it out!" Wanda began to despair, without even having done anything.
"Wanda!" Claire came over to the girl, whose eyes became slightly watery, and held her hands. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to, it's your choice. But think about Peter, he doesn't have long. What would he do in this situation?"
"...He would help as much as he could." The answer immediately comes to Wanda. Peter was a hero, he would help anyone in need, wherever it was needed, never doubting his abilities.
The girl looks at the unconscious, trembling boy, who was still trying to free himself from the tight chains binding him. Wanda rose into an upright position, "I'll do it."
She received a smile from Pietro and Claire and a nod from Robbie. Suddenly, the platinum smacks his hand to his forehead when he remembers what he'd come to do. "That's right!" Pietro shouted, "Wanda, your fight's about to start! I was sent here to come get you!!"
"..." Wanda was surprised, had it been that long? But it didn't matter, not anymore. "I can't leave him, not now..." She said, the weight of of responsibility on her shoulders.
Pietro looked at his twin sister. He knew she was doing the right thing, but he couldn't help feeling bad about it, "...What should I tell them?"
"Tell them I forfeit the match. Tell them... 'a hero saves those in need'," she replied determinedly, looking over at Peter.
"Right," Pietro nods, and raced out to inform Professor Frost of the developments.
"I'll need to really concentrate. If it's ok with you, I'd prefer to do this alone," she said, turning to Night Nurse and Reyes.
"Of course..." the heroine said, taking a clipboard and leaving the room. Robbie followed behind her.
"Without eye contact and me concentrating on the chains, you'll have one minute before they're released," the boy said seriously.
Wanda nodded in acknowledgment as he left, closing the door behind him.
"Whooh..." she exhales, trying to get her heart to stop beating so fast and calm herself. "Here we go."
She activates her Quirk, this time without creating the energy spheres. Wanda wraps her hand in red energy, making it tremble slightly with a few movements and sends it into Peter's head. The energy infiltrates through his ears as she closed her eyes in preparation. Now was the time.
.
.
.
Barber's Chair
• Yup, Roberto can use the Penance Stare! Although it seems like he may have overdid it, and it's bringing about some of Peter's inner demons...
