#GOD POPTART LOOKS SO GROWN AND THAT MAKES ME EMOTIONAL

[intotheelliwoods]

MY SONS!!!!!!

two line art colours in one day!? it's more likely than you think! this time featuring line art by the wonderful @sad-leon with an appearance from @intotheelliwoods 2al sprout and poptart

[click image for higher quality]

[thepumpkinthingart]

"Really-?"

"Really, sorry it had to be this way-- but your 80s fashion is a lost cause." Scott smirked as his brother threw his hands up cursing the sky-his brother he hadn't seen in eight years looked not even a day older. Then again the whole world was well... new... They themselves lost thirty years was it? It was 2023, last he checked it was 1993. Erik really needed to talk to his child about opening up multiverse, this was just yet another life altering thing for the X-Men. In light of their new decade, Scott and Alex had decied to have a Summers day. Just them exploring what this new world had to offer, Brotherly bonding and all.

Also because Alex really needed a new wardrobe. Not because of the early 80s fashion -although that didn't help- but because he didn't exactly have anything other then what he been wearing. No one thought Alexander Summers would be coming back. So keeping all his things wasn't exactly thought of, especially not clothing. This was why the blond was wearing a tight cheaply made red shirt with a large spider like logo. It was the first thing they found off a street vender and Alex was despreate for something that was his that didn't have a gaint cosmic burnt hole on it. It toke them all of a hour to learn who 'spider-man' was and for the summers brothers to debate if this was a dumb kid with too much time or a spider mutant hidding eight eyes behind that wide lens mask and not even to touch the topic for where exactly a mutant spider kid would make webs from. Scott and Alex were suddenly happy to have deadly blast from eyes and chest vs- well -the alternative.

"Ok, but from our very informative cultural experince today-"

"We went to three different malls and found out there is now seventy-five types of poptarts-" Scott shook the shoping bag of seven of said new flavors because neither could agree on fruit ones or chocolate ones. Fruit flavors were obviously superior but Scott will have to argue his stance more later.

"Informative cultural experince- wearing 80s and 90s fashion is 'cool' and 'retro'."

"Sure. Because 'cool' and 'retro' also means looking like a suburban dad that needed to get a hair cut like thirty eight years ago-" the younger couldn't help but snort as the blond looked at him like he suggested murder.

"Don't even joke about that."

Scott couldn't help but to laugh- God, when was the last time his arguments had been over something as dumb as poptarts and bad hair styles and not the risking of lives. When had he last felt like the world wasn't ending..? Scott had been a angsty teen but even then his brother could make him loosen up the edgey teen agnst and laugh. He missed Alex... Of course he knew he missed his sibling but he missed Alex- Alex who pulled him out of the foster system the second he could, Alex who decied to go to college just because there was a chance he could provide a better life for them both, Alex who despite losing his parents the moment Scott did turned to trying to comfort his crying sibling other then dealing with his own grief.

"It's good to have you back. It just wasn't the same without you. I didn't- I just... I missed you." The young summers struggled to keep deeper emotions down. He already had his cry session. Clutching to Alex sobbing like he did as a young kid when Alex showed up at his foster home. Not caring who saw in that moment. Just so scared to let go, like Alex would disappear again the moment he let go. Scott lost everything- everything disappeared on him. His parents, Alex, Jean... God he was glad Peter and Logan wasn't there to witness Scott's whole demeanor break down in seconds. Like he needed to be reminded later on how serious, stubborn and headstrong Scott sobbed into his brother's jacket like a five year old.

"Scotty-"

For Alex not a moment passed by. He blasted the alien looking fucker and then and then he woke up to Raven wide eyed looking at him like she seen a ghost. When he learned that second of nothingness was actually eight years- well Alexander set to making up lost time real fast. Starting with hugging the hell out of his brother and apologize through his own tears. He promised he wouldn't leave Scott, not after their parents and well... Alexander had failed. He left Scott alone. Add it to the list of things Alex has managed to fuck up.

"I'm so sorry... I never wanted to leave you alone. I never wanted you to have to deal with more loss-

"Please don't. Not again- Just don't go blasting at highly explosive high tech machinery. Just.. stay here with me... And next time Charles says don't do something, don't." He gave his brother a pointed look. Even with the red sunglasses keeping himself from blasting everything on sight, Scott's 'stop fucking up' look was on point.

Alex couldn't help but smile. Scott really had grown, huh? It sucked it was without him. But, he was proud. Scott was tough, tougher then Alex ever was. "Course. I don't plan on going anywhere any time soon. Besides- obviously I have to reteach you a thing or two if you really believe fruit jelly poptarts are better then any of the chocolate ones-"

"How the fuck does Hank handle you?"

"Roughly. Didn't you see the claw marks-?"

Alex cackled like the evil shit he was as Scott choked on air. God fucking dammit, he swore the moment he had a pair of sissors someone's precious gold locks were being snipped.

[wherepoetswentodie]

This is a quick Churchtarts thing that literally no one has asked for. It’s been sat in my drafts for like three hundred years and I thought I would actually finish it instead of just stare at it whenever I open my google docs. Anyway. ENJOY. 

-----------------

Chris noticed many things about many people. He told Connor that this was because he cared about his fellow missionaries, and not because it meant that he had the ability to blackmail anyone at a moments notice. 

After six months of being in Africa with the strangest group of boys that Chris had ever met, he felt as though he had more than enough blackmail material to bring both the District 9 Elders and their families down. He noticed that Elder Neeley wasn’t nearly as cold and distant as he seemed, because Chris had witnessed him getting a midnight glass of water with a fluffy blanket draped around his shoulders and a little teddy bear tucked under his arm, and that Elder Schrader had a strange appreciation of boy bands from the nineties and liked to show his appreciation for them by singing in the shower when he thought that no one was listening. Most importantly though, he knew that Elder Price had a secret 15 step nightly hair care routine followed by a 15 step skin care routine, and he was quite looking forward to embarrassing him in front of the entire village with that one day. 

Elder Church, on the other hand, was much more elusive and it was starting to really piss Chris off. 

“You know that Elder Church has never cried once?” Chris casually mentioned to Connor one afternoon when they were watching Elder Price preach in the village square. 

“Pardon?” 

“Elder Church has never cried. Everyone has cried here at least once, but not him,” Chris said, “It’s strange, isn’t it?” 

“Just because he hasn’t cried in front of you doesn’t mean he’s never cried before,” Connor countered, “The world doesn’t revolve around you,” 

“I think you’ll find that it does, actually,” Chris said, his eyes flickering over to where Elder Church was stood with Elder Michaels. 

Without even realising what he was doing, Chris cocked his head to the side, his eyes dragging down Church’s body that seemed to be more leg than anything else. It was almost concerning, the amount of leg that he had. It made Chris wonder what he ate as a child, and why his own parents hadn’t given him the same food so that he could have grown passed 5 foot 5. 

“Stop staring,” Connor chastised, “You’re going to scare him,” 

“Do you think he’s gay?” Chris asked, “I usually get a vibe, but I don’t get a vibe. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him emote, either,” 

“Are we talking about Elder Church or Elder Price?” 

Chris snorted, “Don’t we have such great taste in boys?”

“There’s nothing wrong with having crushes on emotionally unavailable and possibly straight boys,” Connor said, “I don’t think that James is straight though. There’s just...something about him that hesitantly whispers ‘I’m a homosexual, please love me,’” 

“You’re so weird - oh god, oh god, oh god. He’s coming over,” 

“Probably because you’ve been staring at him like a creep,” Connor muttered. 

Elder Church smiled at them, raising his hand in an awkward greeting. Connor muttered something about needing to be elsewhere and hurried away, most likely to stare at Elder Price from a different angle. 

Chris smiled up at Elder Church, “Can I help you, Elder?” 

“I thought - I thought you wanted to speak to me? You were staring at me,” 

“Oh,” Chris said, “I was - nothing. It was nothing. I guess I just zoned out for a sec,” 

“Right. Just making sure that you were, um, that you were okay? Or - Or something..” he trailed off in a frown, “Sorry, this was weird. I’m weird. Sorry. Anyway, I’ll be - I’ll be over there doing...something or...something...um, bye,” 

When Elder Church had all but sprinted away from him, Chris wandered back over to Connor. 

“Elder Church is definitely incapable of emotion,” Chris said, “but like...just normal emotion. I don’t think he has any social skills. Have you noticed that?” 

Connor shrugged, “He’s only just stared saying ‘Good morning’ back to me. Just don’t start prying into his personal life, alright? We all know he had a hard time back home. We don’t need to make it hard here,” 

“I would never!” Chris exclaimed, “I’m only going to flirt with him in the hopes that he has more than his looks going for him,” 

“And in the hopes that he’s gay?” 

“That too,” Chris said, “Call me shallow, but I would like my boyfriend to be attracted to men,” 

-------------------

Chris wasn’t starting to think that thee reason Church never spoke to him was simply because he didn’t like him. He would often find Church having conversations with the likes of Elder Michaels and Elder Price, but never him. And he couldn’t understand why he would want to have a conversation with Elder Price of all people. Chris wasn’t sure that he would want to have a conversation with him if they were the last people on earth.

Determined to get to the bottom of why Elder Church seemed to be allergic to him, Chris sidled up to Elder Michaels one day when he was washing the dishes after dinner. 

“Hello, Elder Michaels,” Chris said cheerfully. 

“Are you ambushing me?” Elder Michaels asked. 

“What? No! Why would - Why would I ambush you?” 

“I don’t know,” Elder Michaels mumbled, “You’re scary,” 

Chris shrugged, “Yeah, I know. I have a lot of pent up aggression because I’m so short. Anyway, what’s the deal with Elder Church?” 

“There isn’t one?” Elder Michaels frowned, “He’s just...James?” 

“Uh, uh,” Chris said, “Don’t act dumb or I will attack you. Does he not like me?” 

Elder Michaels stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter. Chris frowned, growing more and more irate by the second. Was it too much to want to know exactly what was happening in Elder Church’s head at all times so that Chris could know why he never cried and also try and make him fall in love with him? 

“He likes you,” Elder Michaels said, “I don’t think he has a problem with anyone here. He just finds you...intimidating,” 

“I’m not intimidating!” 

“Okay Poptarts, whatever you say,” 

Chris scowled at him and folded his arms, “Whatever. I’m going to find him,” 

“Don’t!” Elder Michaels said quickly, “Please, he, uh - he just got a letter from home. He needs some time to himself. Please leave him alone,” 

“Oh.” Chris said softly, “Oh, right, okay. I’ll, uh...I’ll tell the others to give him space,” 

Elder Michaels nodded, “Thank-you. And, uh, I know that - I know that you like him-” 

“I don’t,” Chris interjected, “I just, I think that he’s - um, I think that he’s a nice person and I, uh, I - I think that...” 

“It’s okay,” Elder Michaels said with a giggle, “He’s think that you’re a nice person, too,” 

“Oh,” Chris said, “Cool. Well, I’ll see you later,” 

“Just take it easy with him, alright?” 

Chris frowned, “Um, sure?” 

It was only when he was half way down the hallway that he realised exactly what Elder Michaels had meant. He gasped and hurried into the living room where he knew that Connor was and dived onto the sofa, sprawling himself across his best friend's lap. 

“I almost have a boyfriend,” 

Connor glanced down at him, “Um-” 

“Elder Church thinks that I’m a nice person,” 

“Okay?” Connor said. 

“In the same way that I think he’s a nice person,” 

Connor stared at him for a moment and then gasped, “Seriously? How do you know?” 

Chris sat up and grinned at him, “Because Elder Michaels told me! So, all I have to do is talk to him and then I’ll have a boyfriend! I mean, I think that’s how it works...is that how it works?” 

“You’re asking the wrong person,” Connor muttered. He seemed to go into a daze for a moment before he turned back to Chris, “Don’t be too forward, though. Or you might scare him off,” 

Chris rolled his eyes, “I’m not going to scare him off,” 

-----------

And he didn’t scare Elder Church off, mainly because he suddenly found that he himself was too scared to even be in the same room as him. Whenever Chris walked into a room that Elder Church was in, he would loudly say that he was in the wrong place and turn right back around. Deep down, he knew that he wasn’t fooling anyone, but was quite happy to pretend that he was. 

“You know you’re probably going to make him not like you,” Connor said from where he was lying on Chris’ bed as though he didn’t have his own. 

“You told me not to scare him off!” 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean don’t speak to him!” Connor laughed. 

“Like how you always speak to Elder Price?” 

“I’ll have you know that Elder Price told me that he liked my tie today,” 

“Wow,” Chris said, genuinely impressed, “Coming from him, that’s like a declaration of love,” 

“I know!” Connor said excitedly, “And then I complimented his hair and he just stared at me for like five seconds and then walked away. Baby steps, I think,” 

Chris sighed and glanced over at the bedroom door, “You sent Michaels to the market today, didn’t you?”

“I think so. Why?” Connor said. 

“Because that means that Elder Church is on his own,” 

Connor looked up at him, his eyebrows raised, “Don’t go and proposition him in his bedroom!” 

“I’m not going to!” Chris exclaimed, already halfway to the door, “I’m just going to talk to him,” 

“Fine,” Connor sighed, “but don’t come crying to me when he gets creeped out because you barge into his bedroom,” 

“I’m not going to barge,” Chris muttered angrily as he walked down the hall to Elder Michael’s and Elder Church’s shared bedroom. 

He hesitated outside of it, realising that he had never actually been inside anybody else’s bedroom before. Maybe Connor was right. Maybe this was weird and he shouldn’t speak to him when he was alone in his bedroom. Then again, the embarrassment of going back to his bedroom without talking to Elder Church far weighed out how embarrassing it might be if Elder Church told him to fuck off. 

Taking a deep breath, Chris knocked on the door and walked in, only to regret it the second he did. Elder Church was sat hunched over on the edge of his bed, his hands clenched in his hair as he sobbed. 

“Oh my god,” Chris said, “Oh my god. I am so - I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to - I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk and - oh god. I’m s-sorry,” 

Elder Church’s head snapped up and Chris grimaced slightly; his eyes were puffy behind his glasses and his face was flushed red. 

“P-Please leave me alone,” he whispered brokenly, “I don’t want to t-talk to anyone,” 

“I feel like  - I feel like I shouldn’t leave you alone,” Chris said, one hand still on the door handle, “You look - You look sad,” 

“How observant of you,” he snapped before his bottom lip started to tremble again, “Oh god, I just - I snapped for no reason, just like - he did that - I’m just...oh god,” 

“It’s okay,” Chris said hurriedly, “What I said was a bit stupid,” 

Elder Church shook his head, “That doesn’t mean I can snap at you for no reason!”

Chris quietly shut the door behind him and walked over to Elder Michaels bed, slowly sitting down on it. He sat and stared at Elder Church for a minute before gently nudging his foot with his own. 

“Why are you still here?” he asked. 

“Cause I don’t think you should be alone right now,” Chris said, “You can tell me to fuck off if you want, I won’t be offended,” 

Elder Church sniffled and looked up at him, “I haven’t cried in ages. I don’t - I don’t like people seeing me cry,” 

“I can close my eyes if you want,” 

“You don’t have to do that,” he said, hurriedly wiping his eyes, “I just - I had a bad phone call with home,” 

“Wanna talk about it?” 

“My mom won’t divorce him,” he whispered so quietly that Chris had to lean forward to hear him, “She told me that she was going to so that we’d be free from him when I got home from here but she won’t, and I just - I don’t want to go home to him. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” 

Without much warning, he burst into tears again, making Chris jump. Chris glanced over at the door, half hoping that Elder Michael’s would walk through it and know how to deal with this. When that didn’t happen, Chris looked back over at James and hesitantly placed a hand on his knee. Spurred on by the fact that he didn’t push him away, Chris carefully got to his feet and put his arms around him. 

Elder Church tensed for a second before he put his arms around Chris’ middle and sobbed into his shirt. Accepting the fact that maybe he was going to be there a while, Chris sat down on his lap, stroking a hand through his hair as he carried on sobbing. 

“It’s okay,” Chris whispered, “You’re okay. You’re safe here,” 

“No I’m not,” he mumbled into his shirt, “There’s lions here,” 

“Okay. You’re safe here apart from the lions,” Chris amended. 

Elder Church pulled away from him and then frowned, “You’re sat on my lap,” 

Chris squeaked a little and jumped up, smoothing his hair back, “Yes. Well, I was - you seemed sad, Elder Church, so I - I wanted to - I wanted to make sure that you were okay and-” 

“You were just sat on my lap, you might as well call me James,” 

“Yeah. Might as well.” Chris muttered, sitting back down on Elder Michaels bed, “How are you - How are you feeling now?” 

James stared at him, “Um, I - I mean, I - you know, I - I’m fine. I’m always fine,” 

“You’re always fine yet you were just sobbing into my shirt?” 

“I’m not very good at talking about my feelings,” 

“Funnily enough, I worked that one out for myself,” 

“But, I, uh...thank-you,” he mumbled, his cheeks turning pink, “For, uh, you know, sitting in my lap. I mean, no! I didn’t mean - I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant - I meant that I appreciate you, uh, being nice and not - not freaking out. It has - it has nothing to do with you sitting in my lap,"

Chris nodded and stood up, “I feel like - I feel like I’ve maybe overstayed my welcome so I’ll just - I’ll see you-”

“No! You don’t have to leave,” James said quickly, “Unless you want to, I mean, if you - if you want to go then by all means leave but if you don’t want to then you don’t...you don’t have to,” 

Chris stared at him for a moment and then slowly sat down again, “Okay. I’ll stay then,” 

They sat in silence for a while, and Chris wasn’t sure if he should try and start a conversation, but what were you meant to talk to someone about after they had just had a breakdown in front of you? Talking about the weather seemed silly, but it didn’t seem nearly as bad as talking about exactly why James had just had said breakdown. 

“I know what you’re doing,” James said, breaking the silence. 

“Uh-” 

“You feel awkward because you don’t know what to talk to me about,” 

Chris cleared his throat, “I don’t - I don’t want to upset you more,” 

James shrugged, “I don’t think you will because...I, uh - you know, I think you’re a - you’re a nice person and I - I like nice people...” 

“Okay,” Chris said, because he wasn’t sure what else he was meant to say. 

“Oh god,” James said quickly, his cheeks heating up, “Oh god. I thought you - I was trying to say - sorry, I think I’ve read the signals wrong. I thought you were - Elder Michaels was convinced that you’re gay and you’re - oh no. I’m sorry. You can leave,” 

“No!” Chris exclaimed, “I think you’re a nice person too! And I am gay!” 

James frowned at him for a second and then nodded, smiling a little, “Okay. Good,” 

Chris guessed that James’ embarrassing blackmail material was that he burst into a fit of giggles after someone kissed him for the first time, he just didn’t think that he was ever going to use it against him. 

[scientifically-strange]

Bored part 3

Danny looked around at the small group that had decided to join, all geared up and ready to go. There were more volunteers than Danny was expecting. When he had asked them who wanted to pay Vlad a visit to help Tony out, almost every hand in the room went up. Thor had just shrugged ad left the room with his poptarts, not wanting to get involved with how mortal businesses work. But Steve had immediately volunteered, and because he did Sam ad Bucky joined in. When Bucky sighed and agreed to come along, Danny didn’t miss the worried look on Steve’s face, but he also noticed how Steve didn’t protest. And then of course Tony was more than willing to fight for what was his. Danny could respect that.

The fastest way to get there was through a portal, but with Vlad’s ghost proof mansion he could probably only get them to the fancy gates. When he told them this, Sam groaned.

“You mean we have to go through one of those gross portal things you shoot out of your hands?” He asked.

“Yeah. Relax, it’s not like you’ll be going to the Zone. Just to Vlad’s mansion. You won’t feel a thing,” Danny said with a roll of his eyes. Bucky snickered as Sam groaned again, and the Falcon couldn’t help but shoot him a glare. It had no heat behind it, though.

Danny held up his hand as it began to glow before focusing his ectoplasmic energy into the portal, imagining exactly where he wanted to be. The circle came out of nowhere, swirling beautifully with foreign shades of green. Danny smiled to himself before quickly turning to the others.

“After you,” he said. They all hesitated for a moment, eyeing Phantom with a sort of worry, but in the end it was the great Iron Man who went first. Then it was Cap, Falcon, and finally Bucky, who hadn’t said a word since he agreed to come along. He tested it out with his metal hand first before walking all the way through. Danny was right behind him, closing the portal behind him.

A part of him was happy to see such a familiar place, but a knot formed in his stomach. It was only familiar because Vlad had this-used to have-this obsession with making Danny his son. Danny couldn’t help but briefly wonder if the cat was still kicking.

The mansion hadn’t changed a bit on the outside. It was still the giant green long and tall silver gates and the red brick walls. Danny walked in front of them, his cape fluttering around his ankles. Vlad had to answer to his crimes, and Danny was more than willing to make him pay up, whether it was ghost related or not. You mess with Danny’s friends then you get the full wrath of the ghost king.

“So, do we just knock?” Sam asked, picking up a rock and flicking it at Bucky. He was completely unfazed by the action. It must have been normal, then.

“Something like that,” Danny grinned. He walked up to the lock, giving it a nice coat of ice before stepping back. He brought his knee up and kicked it as hard as he could. The gates opened with no problem, and they were now horribly dented. Oh, Danny had missed this.

“Looks like he’s not home,” Tony observed. “Should we come back later?”

“Nah, he’ll show up. His sensors have already picked up ghost energy, so it’s not like he already doesn’t know I’m here.”

“Wat about the rest of us,” Bucky said. His gravely voice almost sounded worried, but his face remained completely void of emotion.

“I ind of have to agree with him on that one,” Sam said. “If we weren’t going for stealth then-”

“-You guys worry to much. I said he knew I was here. His equipment isn’t going to pick up on you because it’s to focused on me. Now come on, I know where his lab is.”

They all shared a look as Danny turned and started floating up the long driveway and through the front door. He opened it for them, gesturing for them to enter.

The place was just as massive as Danny remembered, and he couldn’t help the feeling of nostalgia of the first time he ever walked these halls, where he didn’t have to worry about his parents’ old college friend murdering him. Ah, good times.

He led them past the lobby and past the display cases filled with Packers shrines. They didn’t stop until hey reached the den, where everything was coated in a very thin layer of dust. Danny eyed the giant painting of Vlad above the fireplace, his eyes boring into your soul. For a moment Danny thought they flashed red, but no. It must have been in his head. PTSD fro his years of fighting the older halfa.

“Grab onto me,” he said. Iron Man took a shoulder, and Sam took the other. Steve and Bucky each took a hand, and Danny slowly brought them down. Somehow he thought holding four grown men up would be hard, but his ghost strength really paid off. It was almost effortless, really.

After maybe ten feet of dirt it opened up into this blinding white room with equipment everywhere, and old inventions that hadn’t been touched in forever. Over on the far wall was the ghost portal, and on the long wall closer to the exit were several chambers that once held clones of Danny. He walked over and placed his hand on the broken on, thinking of the time he and Dani had kicked Vlad’s butt when Dani was destabilizing.  He let his hand slide down as he continued looking around.

Bucky watched as Phantom walked around like he knew the place. The way he looked at the chamber, the weapons, and especially the large doors off to the side with caution tape around the eight edges. What was that? And why was Phantom so chummy with this place? When had he had time to learn the terrain of Vlad Masters’ home?

“I remember this,” he said, picking up a small cube. He threw it to the ground, and it grew. The top of it had a large hole in it, enough to fit a head, but no more. “See, before I became a full ghost me and Vlad always fought. The whole arch nemesis type thing. He kidnapped me a lot, because I was just a scrawny teenager who had had my powers for a few months. He had had his since his college days though. He used to be a lot stronger than me.”

“Why was he always kidnapping you?” Iron Man asked. The helmet gave a sort of ting to his voice.

“He had a major thing for my mom, who married my dad. Bu my dad was kind of an idiot sometimes. He was the one that caused Vlad to get ecto acne, and Vlad wanted him dead. He wanted to marry my mom and make me his apprentice, so I ended up down here a lot. It was awful. Now though, I almost miss it. I mean, not the whole fighting part, but the adrenaline and such. But I’m all ectoplasm now. It made my core feel good.”

“Your core?” Steve couldn’t help but ask. The boy looked so nostalgic, like he was stuck in the past where everything was right. Steve could relate to that more than he wished to admit.

“It’s like a heart, but for ghosts. When I was a halfa is sat right next to my heart. It’s als what gives me the ability to make ice. Different cores for different ghosts, depending on the obsession or how they died. Sometimes it’s random. I think that’s how I ended up with ice.”

“So you weren’t obsessed with the cold or anything, or died by ice?”

“No, not at all. I was actually obsessed with space. See, my parent had a portal just like this, except the on button was on the inside. It’s what killed me the first time. A part of me feels like I should have gotten electricity powers. But when I died it gave me a new obsession.”

“What was it?” It was Bucky that spoke up this time, eyeing Phantom warily. A look quickly flashed over his face, something to quick to read. If you blinked you would have missed it, but Bucky was searching for that reaction ever since they came down here. His shoulder was starting to itch.

“Something wrong?” Bucky asked. His voice still held no emotion, but he knew how to get into people’s heads. He guessed ghosts weren’t much different after all.

“No. But it-” Phantom sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and Bucky couldn't help noticing how the ghost’s hands wrung. “Don’t ever ask a ghost what their obsession is,” he said slowly. Steadily, like he was trying to choose his words carefully. Like if he didn’t control his language he would blow up in their faces. “It’s very offensive. It,” he paused, opening his eyes and turning to him, “it’s like asking you why you’re alive. Why do you keep living? What is our purpose on Earth?”

That made the other heroes think for a moment. They could all see how it was offensive, ad how it could have gone way worse if Phantom didn’t know how to control himself. After all, he had to. He had to keep up his image, even in front of his friends. But within a few moments he was back to normal. Or at least as normal as a ghost could be.

“It was protecting, by the way. I just-I could never stop myself from getting a cat out of a tree or running into a burning building, you know? It-Your core pulls at you. Going against your obsession could be catastrophic to your very being. I didn’t know anything about that at the time, though. I just...Did. Hell, the media even coined this dumb name for me.”

“What was it?” Sam asked, because now he had to know. Phantom chuckled.

“It was,” his chuckles grew, and his shoulders were shaking from contained laughter, “It was Inviso-Bill! God, I used to hate that name so much! It was freaking genius!” He was laughing now, the kind where you can’t stop, and you’re bending over backwards. It echoed around the room, and as they watched this, Phantom looked twenty years younger, almost like a happy-go-lucky teen. They couldn’t help but crack a couple of smiles.

However all of them instinctively got into their battle stances when a figure in while floated through the large octagon doors, rolling his eyes as Phantom laughed. He was so focused on the ghost king he didn’t notice the few others.

“Daniel, don’t you have a kingdom to be running?” The older ghost snarled. His fangs were bright against his pale blue skin and red eyes, almost matching the white suit he had on, with the long cape behind him. This guy seemed more mildly annoyed at Phantom’s presence than anything. Phantom wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter died down, and he faced Vlad, getting serious now.

“What are you doing buying up Stark shit, dude?” He asked, eaning against the table.

“Nothing that involves a child like you, little badger. Besides, I don’t think you’re small mind can handle it.”

“Well, knock it off, Fruitloop. Give it back to Stark,” Phantom snapped at him. He got off the table and stood to his full height, which was  few inches over the other man. “In fact, I’m gonna need you to give it back to him.”

Sam felt as though he was going to get whiplash from this guy’s mood swings. One second he was laughing his ass off, the next he was deadly serious with a flaring aura. Vlad, however, just scoffed.

“And why should I? It’s not like it involves you,” Vlad sneered.

“Oh, but it does, Vlad.” His voice boomed throughout the old chamber, and Tony was jut going to assume that that was his cue to make themselves known.

“Listen, Drac,” he said, gaining the attention of Vlad. he bared his fangs at them. “I don;t like it when people take my stuff. So why don’t you just give it back, and we’ll call it a day. and my boy Phantom here won’t blow you to bits.” As he talked he walked over, finally putting his elbow on Phantom’s shoulder. Phantom smirked, his confidence growing as the others slowly came as well, surrounding Vlad from all sides.

“The great ghost king couldn’t come by himself?” Vlad haunted. “He needs these second-rate heroes to come with him? How pitiful, really. When you were a halfa you were much more frightening.”

“They came because they wanted to. You know good and well I would have gotten the Fright Knight to come if I needed backup.”

Something shifted in Vlad’s face. Barely, but Bucky caught it. His lips dropped, and there was a brief flash of fear that was gone as quick as it came. So apparently Fright Knight was a big deal. He glanced at Phantom, who seemed to have notice the change in Vlad’s mood.

“Just one little call would all it take. Now, you don’t want that, do you?” Phantom asked, a sickly sweet. Vlad growled at him, but after a few moments of consideration, gave in.

“Very well. But if I see your face in here again I won’t hole back, King or not. Now get out.”

Phantom smirked as he nodded, giving Vlad a lazy two-fingered salute as the others began to get behind Danny so he could take them back to the Tower. Before he flew up threw the ceiling, he grinned at Vlad.

“Well, Fruitloop,” he said, “as always, it was a pleasure doing business with you.”

And then they were gone.

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It was a matter of minutes before they were walking back into the Tower’s kitchen. The phone inside of Tony’s armor rang, and it was quickly answered. Danny tuned it out though, knowing that it was good news about Stark’s business. Judging from the grin on Tony’s face when his face mask pulled back, he was right to assume everything went well.

“Thanks, kid,” he said. Phantom just nodded at them with a smile, and Tony led him to the tbale where everyone else had sat back down.

“So,” Tony said, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Daniel, huh? Makes you sound like an old man.”

“Whatever, Anthony.”

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You know, I really need to work on my essay, not this, but I just couldn’t help myself. You guys are going to be the death of me (hehehe)