I'm back with another chapter from your favorite(hopefully) story! Man, the MCU is going through some big changes. Good thing two companies made a deal regarding our favorite webslinger. Man, so many things to look forward too.

Anyway, last chapter, Phantom Spider went to see an old face, got a few answers and a lot of questions, and got ambushed. Wonder how he'll get out of this one. Well, go ahead and enjoy.

Chapter 10: Complications

"Okay, three enhanced enemies while trapped in a bank with no way to contact help," Phantom Spider muttered, eying the three wearily. He just met them, but he can already tell that they were strong.

"Not to mention that this appears to be a trap set for you," Ai commented.

"What makes you say that?" Phantom Spider asked.

"Seeing their abilities and guessing their powers, they are perfect countermeasures to your abilities," Ai hypothesis.

"Huh, guess that makes sense," Phantom Spider said. "Guess that leaves me with one option…Tactical retreat!"

Phantom Spider suddenly jumped to the air, firing a web towards the ceiling, swinging towards the door. The big guy suddenly grabbed the girl and threw her towards Phantom Spider. When she was close enough, she swiped her sharp nails towards the web, and cut it.

Phantom Spider fell towards the floor, surprised that his webbing was easily cut, and by her claws no less. He quickly rolled to the ground to avoid hurting himself, but before he could breath, his Spider Sense tingled and the guy with the glowing fist was in front of him, the glowing fist raised.

"Activate Web Shield!" he exclaimed as he raised his right arm. On his forearm, thin metals sprout from it and spun layers of web, turning into a shield. He raised the Web Shield to protect himself as the guy punched it.

Phantom Spider felt the impact spread to his arm as he slid across the floor, the shield torn to shred. He didn't have time to react to his torn shield, due to the girl with the sharp claws was beside him. He narrowly dodged a slash, a few strands of hair getting cut. The girl then elbowed him on the chest, causing him to grunt in pain before he jumped back, only to see the glowing fist guy on his right, throwing another punch. He moved his head, barely dodging the punch, but he could feel the force of the punch, his cheek feeling like it almost hit a burning cannon ball. The guy suddenly threw a kick that hit Phantom Spider's stomach, sending him sliding across the room, just in time to get shoulder tackle by the bigger guy, which to him, felt like getting hit by a bus. He slammed to a pillar, which he used to quickly run to the ceiling, just in time to avoid a punch from the bigger guy, which shattered a part of the column.

"Man, these guys aren't letting me go," Phantom Spider said as he saw the girl use her claws to climb up after him. "Okay, you really need a manicure."

The girl jumped towards him, and he could have sworn she growled like a tiger, claws aimed at him. Phantom Spider started jumping through the air, using the pillars as footholds to get away from the girl, who was keeping pace with him.

Below them, the guy with the glowing fist followed them before he ran towards the last pillar, raising his glowing fist. He punched on the pillar, causing cracks to go upwards before it exploded just as Phantom Spider was about to land on it, blinding him. He suddenly released a painful grunt as he felt the girl's claws racked his back.

The girl then kicked him towards a wall, where he slammed on to it, causing him to fall towards a bench, breaking it in two. He groaned as he slowly stood up, looking at the three people surrounding him.

If they were like the big guy, he wouldn't have a problem fighting them. He had a lot of experience fighting opponents that were stronger than him, always using his speed against them, but he never fought someone as fast as him before, and there were two of them.

"Looks like I have to fight my way out of this," he said as he crouched to a fighting position. "Always wanted to try this. Activate Web Gloves!"

He threw his fists to the side as strands of webs wrapped around his fists until they were like gloves. He punched his fists together, making a loud 'THUMP!' sound. He then got to a boxing pose, waiting for his enemies to make the first move.

Suddenly, Glowing Fist charged towards Phantom Spider, the glowing fist raised. Phantom Spider, who saw that attack a lot, moved his body to the side to dodge the fist. He then threw a one-two punch on his face before delivering an uppercut that sent Glowing Fist flying off the ground, landing roughly.

Nail Girl suddenly charged, her nails sharp, hissing angrily at him. Phantom Spider just stayed calm, waiting for her. When she was close enough, she started swiping her claws at him, but Phantom Spider kept dodging her claws, swaying side by side to avoid her.

"That's right, just keep calm," he kept telling himself. "If they're as fast as me, that means I can avoid them and hit them if I time it right."

He kept dodging until he spotted an opening, which he quickly took. He threw a punch on her solar plexus, causing her to double over. He quickly threw a punch to her head, sending her flying across the room.

"So far, so good," Phantom Spider said as he eyed Big Guy, who ran towards him. Phantom Spider waited until he was in front of him, fists raised high in the air. Phantom Spider stepped to the side as Big Guy slammed the floor, creating a small crater.

As Big Guy stood up, he saw Phantom Spider running around him. Before he could do something, Phantom Spider started throwing punches, barraging him with a lot of punches. He grunted in annoyance as he tried to catch Phantom Spider but was too fast for him. Soon, Big Guy was starting to feel the punches as he slowly kneeled to the ground.

Meanwhile, Skulker was still watching the fight, recording Phantom Spider's movements, to analyze them if necessary.

"Had to admit, this Whelp is more talented than the media portrayed him," he said as he watched the fight. "But he still won't be able to beat my soldiers."

Back with Phantom Spider, he was standing right in front of the kneeling Big Guy, throwing a lot of punches to the man, keeping him down on his knees.

"Damn, it's like punching a steel wall," he thought as he felt his hands becoming to numb, even with the gloves. "But at least he's not invulnerable. If I just keep this up, I can knock him out."

Suddenly, his Spider Sense tingled. He quickly kicked Big Guy, causing him to fall on his back, before he turned around to throw a punch. He saw Glowing Fist in front of him, already throwing a glowing punch.

Their fists met, causing a small shockwave. Unfortunately, Phantom Spider couldn't match Glowing Fist's strength. His arm was blown back, almost ripping out of his socket, the web glove torn apart from his hand, which he could feel was broken.

Before he could react, Nail Girl jumped towards him, a kicked aimed at him, hitting his head, making him fall on his back. Groaning, Phantom Spider looked up, and his lenses widened when he saw Big Guy jumping towards him. He quickly rolled away as Big Guy landed on the ground, creating a small shockwave.

He quickly stood back up as Glowing Fist and Nail Girl surrounded him. Phantom Spider dodged and blocked their attacks, despite only using one hand. He managed to avoid their punches, kicks and claws, and he might have hold on long enough to find a way to subdue them, his Spider Sense tingled.

He could feel the danger, but he was too occupied with the two, so all he could do was brace himself as Big Guy hammer fist him on the side. He heard some creaks, but nothing felt broken, thankfully. As he was flung across the room, Glowing Fist ran after him before overtaking him and punching him to the air. Nail Girl ran on the wall after him before jumping towards him, doing a vertical heel kick that sent Phantom Spider crashing on the hard floor. He painfully got on his knees, coughing and wincing.

"Ai…Damage report…" Phantom Spider said, too much in pain to know which part was broken and which part isn't.

"I detect multiple fractures in your right hand, bruising in your rib cage, back and forearms, several lacerations on your body and a possible concussion," Ai reported in a worried tone. "If you get hurt anymore, it might do some permanent damage, even with your healing factor."

"Tell them that," he panted as he forced himself up. "Damn it."

He tried to look for a way out, something that might help him, anything that could get him out of this mess, but he was greatly injured and surrounded.

"C'mon Phantom, think of something!" he muttered to himself as the three enhanced humans charged, intent on killing him. "Damn it!"

"A shame," Skulker said as he kept recording. "We really had high expectations of you. Oh well, getting rid of you would weaken Stark. Shame I never get to hunt you, Whelp."

As the three of them almost reached Phantom Spider, he was busy trying to think of something, focusing on a way to get himself out of this mess. As he focused, he looked at three incoming attacks.

"Damn, if I get hit by all three at once, I'm gonna be one fried spider," he thought. "Man, I'm about to die, and yet my life isn't flashing before me, guess that was just some bull. But man, feels like death is becoming slow, I mean, even their attacks seems so slow…Wait a minute, what the hell!?"

Phantom Spider's eyes widened behind his lenses as he saw that everything in front of him was slow, like they were in slow motion.

"What's going on? Why are they moving so slow? Is it because I'm dying? Hm…heartbeat? Check. Pain wrecking through my body? Check. So, I'm still alive. Then, what is this? This looks like the Matrix or something."

As the fists and claws neared him, Phantom Spider suddenly moved. Suddenly, he was behind the three people, who suddenly fell on their knees, holding their abdomen.

"What?" Skulker said, shocked at what happened. "He can do that as well?"

Phantom Spider looked at his hands in shocked before at the three people kneeling on the ground. He finally realized that there was a chance to escape, so he quickly shot a web to the ceiling and pulled himself with his one good hand.

Skulker walked towards his fallen soldiers, watching as Phantom Spider swung out Grand Central Station. He grinned at what he just saw as the soldiers finally stood up.

"How interesting," Skulker said before pressing a button from his wrist. Suddenly, all three of them stood straight and followed him out through the back.

Later…

In the Spider's Nest, Danny gritted his teeth as Gwen stitched together the wounds on his back. His right hand was put in a cast and salves were placed on his bruises. Just because he heals fast doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. He needed to fix the bones in his hands so they can heal properly.

He never been hurt so much before. Even fighting the Goblin wasn't this painful. It was only thanks to the adrenaline rush that he was able to get to the Nest. He had Ai call Gwen, who immediately showed up as fast as she can.

"Geez, this is why you need backup," Gwen said as she finished stitching his wounds. Years of patching up Danny made her an expert of emergency first aid. "Maybe I should become a doctor. You seem to need one more than a partner."

"I said I was sorry," Danny said as he slowly sat up, wincing a little. "These guys…they're different."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked as she put away the first aid kit. "Bad guys try to kill you all the time. Nothing seems different here."

"But they didn't feel like bad guys," Danny said as he held the salve on his ribs. "They felt like…machines."

He couldn't explain it, but when he fought them, he couldn't feel them. Whenever he fights someone, he could feel their intent, their emotions, but these guys, they just felt empty.

"I wish I had more on them," he sighed.

"One of them is known as Danny Rand, the missing heir of Rand Industries," Ai's voice said through the computers. "He went missing three years ago, having believed to have run away."

"Wait, how'd you know that?" Danny asked as he and Gwen walked towards the computer.

"I scanned him," Ai replied before replayed the scene in Phantom Spider's point of view of punching Glowing Fist's right fist. "That last impact you had damaged the scan jammer he was wearing, so I was able to dodge him, allowing me to scan him."

"Nice," Danny commented before he typed Danny Rand to the computer.

A few seconds later, a picture of a blond guy with blue eyes appeared with an easygoing expression. If Danny were to describe him, this guy was like those laid-back surfer dudes.

"Hard to believe that guy did this to you," Gwen said, gesturing at Danny's broken hand.

"Any ideas about the glowy fist thing?" Danny asked as he zoom on the yellow aura. "Is it chemical or biological?"

"I can't tell, never seen something like this before," Ai replied.

"Maybe it's mystical," Gwen suggested.

"Yeah. Right. Mystical," Danny said, waggling his uninjured fingers.

"We were invaded by aliens and have a Norse God in the front cover of New York Times, why is magic so hard to believe?" Gwen said, a little annoyed.

"Those were aliens," Danny said. "I mean it's obvious that Thor's an alien. You saw those documentaries on how the pyramids were made by aliens. It's like how Thor's people did in Norse Mythology."

"We're not having this argument again," Gwen said as she turned back to the computer. "So, you think this Rand guy ran to this guy, or was he kidnapped?"

"Maybe a bit of both?" Danny suggested. "Surfer rich kid runs away from rich family, got kidnapped by bad guy, maybe some mind control in the mix, though we're not sure if they're good people."

"Maybe Mr. Stark can help," Gwen suggested.

"…I'm not going to tell him," Danny said, causing Gwen to look at him in surprise.

"Why not?" she asked, confused. "With his help, we can stop those guys from breaking the other hand."

"And he'll tell me to go to the sidelines," Danny said with a sigh as he leaned on his chair. "I'm not a kid that needs to ask for permission."

"But isn't he your boss? You are an Avenger."

"I'm not an Avenger," Danny said with a sigh. "I'm just a friendly, neighborhood Spider."

"Who fought Captain America in Germany."

"…A friendly, neighborhood Spider who was helping out a neighbor in need," Danny corrected himself. "I'll leave the world-endangering crisis to him. My responsibility is in this city."

"Well…if you say so," Gwen said. "Just don't forget that I'm here to help, okay. You are training me, after all."

"Yeah, already learned I need all the help I can get," Danny said, wincing from his throbbing ribs. "We'll continue your training tomorrow. Now…I need some rest."

"Alright, rest well, okay?" Gwen said as she patted Danny on the shoulder and walked away.

Danny sighed as he looked at the time. By now, his family must have heard of the news and were deathly worried for him. When he saw the news, he was surprised that Central Station was empty, except for the damage from their fight.

He really hoped Mr. Stark won't call and ask some questions.

"Call from Mr. Stark."

"Huh…speak of the Devil," Danny said as he had Ai move the call to his computer, not before putting on a loose shirt to hide his injuries. The screen then showed Tony Stark, sitting on a chair, looking like he was inside a private jet.

"Well, you look like crap," Tony commented as he took a sip of champagne.

"That's a nice way to say hello," Danny said, hiding a wince from his injuries. "What can I do for you today, Mr. Stark?"

"I was watching the news when I saw what happened at Central Station," Tony said. "And you look a little worse for wear."

"Me? Nah, I'm fine," Danny said, waving his uninjured hand. "I'm just doing a science project due tomorrow."

"I see, so I guess the tracker in your suit showing you in the Central Station for a few minutes is part of your school project."

"There's a tracker in the suit?" Danny asked.

"I put a tracker in everything I made," Tony said. "So, what were you doing in Central Station."

"Look, it was nothing, just a bunch of punks throwing firecrackers and such," Danny said, lying through his teeth. If he told him about the synthetic drones and the three enhanced humans, he was sure he'd tell him not to go after them. "I just webbed them up and gave them a stern talking."

"…Well, as long as you gave them a good talking," Tony said, a little suspicious. "Good luck with your homework. If you need anything, Happy is always there to help."

With a little wave, Tony ended the call, causing Danny to sigh as he slumped down his chair.

"Great, now his suspicious," he said as he slowly stood up. "I won't be surprise if I see Happy around the corner."

He looked at his belt before taking it off and putting it in a makeshift scanner. A 3D image appeared on his screen. He looked at the structure before he spotted the tracker.

"Ai, can you design a small drone for me?" Danny asked. "Nothing too complex, just something I can use, for distractions."

"I should advice against this but making some blueprints will be simple."

"Please and thank you," Danny said with a grin as Ai appeared in another screen, creating blueprints for a simple spider drone, big enough for the tracker.

He spent the last hour building the small, spider-shaped drone, nothing too complex, more like a toy spider that follows his everyday locations. While the small drone was resting on the desk, Danny was carefully removing the tracker from the belt, snickering as he carefully placed the electronic strand inside the spider drone.

He patted his hands from the imaginary dust as he turned the drone on. The two eyes glowed blue before it stood up, moving around.

"Well then, Mr. Stark, have fun tracking Tracer here," he said, holding out his hand for Tracer to climb on.

He suddenly yawned as Tracer rested on his shoulder. Checking the time, which was nearly past midnight. He decided to call it a night, walking out the Nest, turning off the power.

Meanwhile, in his dark room, Plasmius was looking at the screen of the recent events in Central Station, analyzing the skill sets of Phantom Spider. He kept rewinding to that moment where he suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind his three pawns.

"Impressive," he commented as he played it again in slow motion. "To think he can awaken this aspect of his powers so early. With a little more guidance, he would be a force to be reckon with."

"Are you sure he'll join our side?" a sensual voice said as a pair of slender arms wrapped around his neck.

"He's young and impressionable," Plasmius said as he stood up, removing the arms. "A few forceful pushes and pulls would show him our way is better than Starks. After all…"

Three synthetic drones suddenly jumped from the ceiling and jumped towards Plasmius. He smirked before he disappeared. In a blink of an eye, he was behind the drones, holding a head as the synthetic drones fell to the ground, torn apart limb from limb.

"…who else can he rely to?" Plasmius said, a red glow in his eyes.

"So, what's the plan?" the same sensual voice asked.

"Hm…I have been starting an internship program," Plasmius said as he walked back to his desk, pulling out some folders, smirking.

The Next Day…

"How're you feeling?" Gwen asked as she and Danny walked through the halls.

"I'm a lot less sore than last night, so that's something," Danny said, wearing some bandages on his arm. His body was still sore, but at least he can move.

"Maybe you should take a break," Gwen suggested. "I can patrol the city alone."

"Yeah, and see how well it ended?" Danny said, gesturing at his healing arm. "I'll be fine. I'll just be careful on the swinging arm. Besides, we still need to work on your Training Wheel Protocol."

"I'm about 20% done," Gwen said, checking her phone, using the same app Danny created to check with Ai as well as the status of his suit. He managed to upload the schematics of her suit on his app.

"Nice, let's keep up the work. I'm almost 80%," Danny said, checking on his suit's status. Suddenly, his senses tingled again. Surprised, he looked around and saw Valerie walking towards them.

"Hey guys," Valerie said with a smile. "How's it going?"

"It's been good," Gwen asked as Danny remained silent. "We were just talking about our science projects."

"Oh yeah, I heard you were accepted by the Stark Internship," Valerie, turning to Danny. "How's that like?"

"It's good," Danny said with a shrug. "He gives money, I use that money for my projects."

"Projects like?" Valerie asked in a curious tone.

"You know, mechanical projects, making life easier," Danny said offhandedly.

"Cool, can't wait to see it," Valerie said with a smile. "Well, I better go. See ya guys."

The two watched as Valerie left, Danny's eyes narrowing at her, something Gwen noticed.

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked as Danny turned to her.

"That's the third time my Spider Sense tingled around Valerie," Danny said quietly as they walked to his locker. The last two times, he thought his senses warned him that he was going to bump into Valerie, but not, it seems like they were warning him off her. "I wonder…"

"You're not thinking of spying on her, are you?" Gwen asked as Danny took some books out.

"I just want to be sure," Danny said as they started walking.

The two walked out the school, making their way to Danny's apartment to get something they need for training. As they entered the apartment, they noted a limo parked outside.

"Wonder whose ride is that," Gwen commented as they made their way to his apartment.

"Maybe a land shark who's trying to kick people out the apartments to make condos," Danny joked as he went to the door. Suddenly, his senses tingled, causing him to pause. He looked at Gwen, who also sensed it. He slowly grabbed the knob and opened it as the two tense.

"Ah, Danny, you're back. And Gwen's here too!" Aunt MJ said with a smile as she put her cup down. "Danny, you have a guest."

"Greetings Mr. Fenton," a smooth voice said as Danny looked at the man sitting on the sofa, sipping a cup of tea. He was a man with shockingly white hair tied to a ponytail, black eyes, and a white goatee, wearing an expensive, black suit with a red tie with a ring on his right hand, a green gem on it. "I'm Vlad Masters, founder and CEO of VladCo."

Danny felt like time slowed down as he stared at the smiling man, his Spider Sense tingling, warning him about the man. This was the man who could be the reason why his parents were dead.

"Um…hello, Mr. Masters," Danny said, trying to calm down. "C-can I help you?"

"Actually, I've been keeping an eye on you and thought that you could be a perfect candidate for the VladCo. Internship program I developed to help young minds blossom," Masters said, shocking both Danny and Gwen. "I've seen your grades, and you seem like a young man who can accomplish many things."

"B-but I already got an internship with Mr. Stark," Danny said, trying to sound polite.

"I'm sure someone of your capabilities can handle two internships at once," Masters said offhandedly. "Especially since one of those internships are from Tony Stark's."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Stark has never been the most serious of adults," Masters said with a shrug as he stood up and handing a card to Danny. "Well, if you changed your mind, give me a call. And it was lovely meeting you, Mrs. Parker."

With that, he walked out the room. Just as he was about to leave, Jazz and Mayday came walking in.

"Danny, you're here!" Mayday exclaimed as she hugged Danny's leg with a smile. "Can we play?"

"Hello there," Jazz said as she noticed the man in front of their door.

"Greetings," Masters said as he looked at Jazz and Mayday. "My, what lovely young ladies you are. If you would please excuse me."

Jazz moved away as Vlad walked pass her. Once he was out of sight, she, Danny and Mayday entered the apartment, locking the door.

"Who was that?" Jazz asked, looking at her family.

"Vlad Masters, CEO of VladCo., and a total creep," Danny said, a little annoyed at their recent visitor, looking at the calling card. "Hm…"

Danny and Gwen went to Danny's room to grab his stuff as Jazz took Mayday to do her homework, much to her chagrin.

"So, what were you thinking?" Gwen asked once they were alone, crossing her arms as Danny grabbed some stuff he needed.

"…This internship might be a good chance for me to keep a closer look on Masters," Danny said, looking thoughtful.

"That's a little risky," Gwen said. "If Masters is the one behind the weapons being sold, you could be walking into some serious trouble."

"I'm just gonna find some proof," Danny assured her. "And once I find some, I'll tell Mr. Stark so we can arrest Masters. And if he has nothing, I'll just quit his internship. In and out, easy as pie."

"Can you even make a pie?"

"Don't change the subject," Danny said. "If there is trouble, I'll let you know. You're my partner in crime after all."

"I thought we were heroes?" Gwen said, a small smile on her face. "Fine, but make sure it doesn't end like what happened yesterday."

"Promise," Danny said as he pulled out the calling card, looking at it.

Meanwhile, inside the limo, Masters was twirling a cup of champagne, looking at the various screens in front of him, showing the inside of the apartment, smirking.

"In and out," he said, sipping his drink.

Man, it's getting complicated in here. Danny fought three enhanced humans who are possibly mind controlled, discovered a new power, he started becoming suspicious of Valerie, and Vlad Masters is a being a creep. I guess no matter what version he is, he'll always be the perv who places cameras in people's home. Is Danny outsmarting Masters or is he being played with as the pawn?

Also if you got the boxing reference, good for you. It didn't get the idea from the Matrix about the slow-motion thing, but Bullet Time was described in that movie.

Anyway, next chapter, infiltrating the enemy. See you later!