All characters are 18 years old or older. I hope you enjoy this fourth installment of this series. Please feel free to comment and vote.
Training Day:
The party at the Sanctum broke up. I contacted Gwen and filled her in on everything that we knew about Mystique and her pals. She wanted to shadow me for bit and see what she could learn. I think she wanted to know why I was sporting web shooters now. That talk had been put off for long enough in her book. I caught up with her while she was on patrol. She was clearly upset, and I could feel it radiate off her in waves.
"Well?" She asked while we found a nice tall and quiet place to talk. "What gives Ghost?"
"Have you ever heard of Princess Shuri of Wakanda?" I replied with a question of my own.
"She is brilliant! Everyone calls her the next Toni Stark. What does that have to do with anything? Wait, did she build those?"
"In a nutshell yes. She feels guilty about the theft of vibranium and how it is being misused. We brainstormed aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier about a new weapon system for me. You were brought up and she pondered vibranium webbing but found it too expensive and wasteful. I asked about a webbing that might share some of vibranium's qualities without having vibranium in them. Since Spiderman teams up with Fury on occasions they have access to his webbing formula and web shooter schematics. It was a spontaneous event I assure you."
"How cool is that?!" Gwen said reverting to a fan girl for just a moment. "Black webbing though?"
"I like black. It is kind of my signature." I said as she suddenly spun around. "Spidey sense?"
"Yeah. Oh, hey look a stealth drone. That doesn't look like anything I've ever seen flying around the city before." Gwen commented as the silent craft hovered close and deposited the object it was carrying.
"That's because I designed it." Shuri voice came over the drone's speaker system. "I thought the Ghost Spider might be feeling left out and we sisters need to stick together. There is a built-in smart system that will explain the upgrades."
The drone flew off at an incredible speed and quickly vanished from sight. Gwen opened the box and began jumping up and down much to my delight. Shuri had designed her a combat suit. It was as clingy as the old one but with high tech improvements. There must be a boss battle building I thought to myself. Gwen looked around but we were out in the open. I provided a solution. I molded the shadows into a hexagonal structure big enough for her to strip down and change into her new costume. She never hesitated. She bolted inside and a minute later emerged in a dull gray costume. It had her classic built in hood, mask, and everything.
"Initiate start up." She said and the surface of the suit rippled. "Choosing color scheme." The surface sparkled and a moment later she was back in her traditional colors. "Initiating stealth mode." She vanished from sight. I used the shadows to track her movements but even that was difficult. "Boo." She said from behind me. "My new web shooters are integrated into the suit! I can choose what color webbing it produces! It feels like a second skin and you can manipulate shadows. I didn't know that you could do that."
"I did it when we first met." I said surprised.
"Oh that," Gwen replied her voice quavering. "I thought that was some kind of dimensional thing."
"I try to keep my skills a secret. Makes combat more fun." I said.
"Maybe we could spar sometime?" Gwen asked.
"I'd like that." I replied.
"Great! Let's get started! Follow me!" She said tossing the box that had held her costume up into the air.
"Whoa!" I said as something small tumbled out of it. "Got it!" I said as I launched myself at it and scooped it out of the air. After a quick shoulder roll, I came up holding it. "I think it is a thumb drive. I didn't know Wakanda technology uses these. I'd have thought they would have moved past them." I turned it over in my hands and chuckled.
"What is so funny?" Gwen asked doing an incredible forward somersault and landing next to me. I pinched the top of the drive and held it up. "Okay." She said as I showed her the first side that had the image of a sheet ghost with a smiley face. The other side of the drive had a red ball of fire. "Oh, that is so cute! Is it an upgrade?"
"I am thinking it is." I said as a port popped open near my left wrist. "Here goes." I said as I slid the drive in, and the port closed.
"Hello Ghost, this is Shuri." Her voice came over my suit's built in speakers. "I hope you find this. I felt bad that your friend might run into trouble being near you. I have every confidence in your skills please take care of the lioness cub. She is fierce and capable, but I fear her lack of experience may hinder her for a little while. As I speak that fine looking suit, I made for you is being tweaked a little. I was playing around with some artillery impact studies and spotted a potential improvement you might find interesting. I am having your suit reorganize itself into a honeycomb shape to better displace and spread kinetic attacks against your sexy self. I bet that raised your blood pressure a few points." She laughed so hard I had to wait for her to recover. "The other major upgrade is a program I wrote for my brother to improve his reaction time. It takes probability theory to a whole new level. Think of it as your own, I hate to use the word spider, but instinctual warning system. Your combat HUD can attempt to predict an opponent's actions before they happen. It might be a little buggy at first." The message paused again and then without warning her voice returned. "All done! Go get them Tiger!"
Gwen stood there waiting patiently. I told her the minor upgrade was complete. I also told her that Shuri had called her a lioness. Gwen liked the sound of that.
"Thumb drive!" I growled. "I feel so damn stupid!"
"What are you talking about?" Gwen asked looking me over. "I like the new hexagonal design in your suit. What thumb drive are you talking about?"
"This one." I said pulling the flash drive I had taken off the dead cop months ago when I returned from training with Asajj and Nightwind. "It was at the beginning of the vampire attacks. Let's see what is on it."
The port opened and withdrew the drive that Shuri had sent and inserted the other one. A tiny holographic projector came online and displayed a small window for Gwen and me to see.
'Display files? Y/N?'
"Yes."
'Six folders available.'
The folders were labeled by the five Burroughs that made up New York and the last was a ledger of payments. Each of the five folders listed shipments that included everything from drugs, to human trafficking, and lastly weapons from none other than Latveria. The payments folder included a dozen bank accounts and the numbers listed were staggering. Pity I didn't have Archimedes to help me scroll away that money into an offshore account. Not very heroic I know, but I could live an easy lifestyle with all that money.
"You should contact Fury or Black Widow at least." Gwen suggested and that's when my greedier side reared its ugly head.
"What happens to all of that money?" I asked her.
"I don't know." She replied and then continued. "You want to keep it."
"How many charities could benefit from that kind of money?" I asked and I felt her falter. "If we turn it over to S.H.I.E.L.D. what happens, the bureaucrats allocated to who knows what or where. We could do some real good with it."
"I see your point. I don't want anything to do with it." She stated firmly. "I leave it up to you and your conscience."
Moral dagger to the heart. I did the only thing I knew would satisfy Gwen and part of my conscience. I called Shuri. She replied quickly and I heard running water in the background.
"Hello? Oh, Ghost man what can my delicious self do for you?"
"I need some money routed to an offshore account, stealthily. It is dirty money and I want to use it for some good." I said and then continued. "Is your delicious self naked?"
"Uh huh," she purred. "Hold on, tying into your suit... ooh I see it. Damn! That is a lot of zeroes. I see what you mean about dirty. Give me a moment. Logging into the accounts... a little digital misdirection... and presto! The money is now in these Swiss Bank accounts. Login and passwords being sent to you. What are you going to do with it?"
"I think a philanthropic trust for those in need. I might set up a dojo and teach when I retire. I feel most of it should go to those in the greatest need though." I said and felt Gwen's and Shuri's approval. "Some of those delivery times haven't occurred yet."
"I've sent that data to Natasha Romanov. Call me again, and soon Ghost man." Shuri purred before ending the call.
"Happy?" I said and Gwen hugged me. "Alright... fine... lead the way."
I followed her the best I could. We were heading into Queens to train. We proceeded south across the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and deep into Queens. It wasn't until I saw the house that I realized it was Aunt May's house. We were going to be training with Spiderman himself. Our suits could camouflage as street clothes and Gwen walked up and knocked on the door. A moment later Aunt May opened the door and she pulled Gwen into a big hug. This version of the May was of a forty something brunette with honey colored eyes and a sweet disposition.
"So, who are you handsome?" May asked and Gwen instantly went on the defensive.
"May! This is..." She stopped and looked at me. "I just realized that I don't know your real name."
My HUD kicked in stopping the scene. The screen read no civilian information available. Shit! I had worked so much on my hero identity I never created my normal alter ego. I delved into the background creation kit. I activated the interactive version to speed things up. I was thrust back into the white room where a female version of the Vision stood waiting.
"Hello. Welcome to the Background Creation Kit. Newer users will be familiar with this format and are able to tweak their current background. Established characters or those over level ten may not have had access to this feature when your initial character was created. We are sorry for any inconvenience. Let's begin, shall we? What is the name you wish to use in your mundane life?"
"Um... I guess we'll stick with the Stan Lee naming convention. How about Danny Davis?"
"Excellent! Danny Davis is a great name! What event began your desire to become a hero and or gave you your abilities?"
"Great question let's see... my shadow abilities have an occult origin and I was trained off world, so it also has an alien concept too. Can my race be non-human?"
"Absolutely! Listing potential alien races. Please select the species your prefer." It said and the interface offered three categories to begin my selection. One was near human, the second was demi-human, and the last non-human. There were a ton of races to choose from. With the combined history of the both Marvel and Star Wars universes to pick from it was a daunting task. "Can I pick attributes I want to narrow down my options?"
"Of course, we realize the task is intimidating." It replied. "You can either speak or select through the interface your desires."
"Let's see... fast, not just speed but manual dexterity as well. I'd like to be strong, but it doesn't have to be like Hulk strong. Good looking is a must like ruggedly handsome. Hold on... is the Dark Elf race available? That would be freaking perfect!"
The interface stalled and a window popped up reading Administrative Assistance Required. I guess no one asked for that one before. I pulled up the file for them and looked it over. It was a nice fit. They had enhanced senses, speed, durability, and were marked as gray and black morality. Their tech was on par with Asgardian and that was a little overpowered.
"Hey, I don't need access to their tech. I'm cool with just the racial features."
"Your choice has been approved. You are an orphan. You are a foundling discovered and raised by Asajj Ventress your primary master. Your only link to your people a small sphere of exotic matter that houses a very simplistic Svartalfar A.I. and was programmed by your parents to teach you the Dark Elf language, culture, and warned you against interacting with Asgardians. The sphere is amorphous and can take on nearly any form or whim you desire. Warning: Asgardians will attack you on sight if they learn you are a Svartalfar. What is your Dark Elf name?"
"Oh... Feanor Firemane. How does that sound?" I asked and the interface looked at me.
"Are you a ginger? Firemane indicates red hair. Are you a ginger?"
