Altered Visions: A Marvel Fan Fiction Project

Jericho pulled the naked man out of the cocoon by his ankles and watched the cocoon crumbled into dust. Kindly, he wiped as much of the ectoplasm off of the man as he felt comfortable doing. Looking around him, Jericho wanted to make sure no one had seen his activities because solitude in a city was an almost impossible thing. Managing a naked, unconscious man was a task that the shaman wasn’t particularly looking forward to and it was going to be just as impossible. Luckily, the man had flowing gray hair and a long beard that would help in passing him off as a homeless.

Taking off his brown trench coat, Jericho laid it across the man. When the fabric made contact with flesh, the man began to groan. Jericho thanked the spirits that the man had woken up. He had no idea how he was going to explain toting around a homeless man. Why couldn’t the man’s center of power have been located in the desert or some town no one gave two shits about?

Considering his options, Jericho said, “Wake up my friend. I need to know if you can walk.”

“Back among the living. I went to great lengths to bring you back from Hell’s fiery depths.”

Images of fire and rivers of magma filled with screaming bodies flashed in the man’s mind. “I’m back, but…but how? I died.”

“Magic was at your fingertips. You should know better than anyone that the barriers of life and death are fluid.”

The man shook his head and shivered. “Magic? I don’t know magic. Who am I?”

Whitecrow saw that there was work that remained to be done before The Patriarch was back to snuff. “Come with me my friend and I’ll give you all the answers.”

Billy Crane rolled himself from under the Jeep his body covered in grease in dirt. Standing above him was Jason Strongbow, known to most of the public as American Eagle. Billy had known Jason since high school and was still getting use to the idea of his friend being a super hero. It was an even harder fact to accept given that Billy didn’t much care for the damage people like him wreaked, but if nothing else, it was good for business.

Wiping his hands together, Billy looked up and said, “So you guys actually spent the night watching Hellraiser?”

Jason shrugged as he leaned up against the green Jeep. “Yea. It was fun man. And you know Damien doesn’t get out much nowadays.”

Billy nodded as he rose up from the ground and patted his hands on his knees. “Yea I know man. I wish he would just get the hell out of that ratty pawn shop and start living a little. Sometimes I think he actually believes in all that shaman mojo.”

American Eagle cut his eyes at his old friend. “And why shouldn’t he? I mean haven’t you heard of people like Dr. Strange? And I fought fucking aliens man!”

Billy laughed as he began to unzip his Dickie jumpsuit. He knew that American Eagle had seen some things he could only dream of, but that still didn’t change his opinion. “I don’t buy magic for one second. It’s all just really sophisticated science with a set of rules that we don’t understand yet. Magic as you call it is simply another way of manipulating energy.”

Jason wanted to reach out and strangle his friend. They had been best buds since high school, but Billy certainly wasn’t the same guy he had met in 10th grade Geometry. He now owned his own private security firm, Crane Securities that also happened to delve into experimental weapons tech. It made Billy a very rich man and Jason had told himself that money wouldn’t change their friendship. Some days he wasn’t so sure.

Crane was able to pick up on his friend’s annoyance and laughed. “Look man it’s not that I’m saying Strange and guys like him can’t really do what they do, but do you honestly think that Damien is one of those guys?”

Damien held the phone close to his ear and was thankful that he didn’t have any customers for once. “You can’t be serious? Are you sure you felt him?”

The other voice on the line was deep and full of wisdom. “I’m positive. I felt him use his powers for…something. We can’t be sure what yet.”

Cursing under his breath, Damien said, “I knew Jericho was going to be trouble. He’s been growing angrier with every passing day. We shouldn’t have banished him. I would have preferred to have kept him under our watch.”

“The Society voted my friend. We can’t go against that. No matter how much we might disagree.”

Damien sighed. “I just fear we’ve made an enemy we can’t afford to have.”

Jason shook his head. “No I don’t think that. But I don’t want to crush the guy. Sheesh Billy! He’s struggling enough as is. If he has some hope in his pawn shop then who am I to put him down?”

Billy raised his hands up defensively. “I’m not saying that man. Not at all. I’m just saying that you should be realistic. He should be too. Not accepting your money is just out and out foolish. You have New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado paying you to be their official hero. You’re loaded.”

“Not as loaded as you,” American Eagle said. “Hell, you can go gambling with Donald Trump and walk away with a nice chunk of change.”

Billy took the comment for what it was. “I do enjoy a nice bank account, but my real thrill comes from my work. I’m just lucky enough to be making a killing off of it. Guys like you help with that.”

Billy sighed. “Look man don’t get offended. I’m just saying that all the destruction you guys cause makes people scared. And people with influence want security with guys like Magneto and Apocalypse walking around. Can you blame them?”

“I don’t blame them. It just sounds like you’re making us the bad guys in this situation. If I wasn’t around then folks like Magneto and Apocalypse would have you under their heel!”

“Gentlemen, let’s not argue please,” an amazingly handsome Mediterranean man said as he walked up to Billy and wrapped his arms around him. The two kissed passionately and pulling away, the man said, “Nice to see you Jason. You here on business?”

“Good. He needs to be checked on constantly,” Christos said. He had a smile and body right off of a Calvin Klein billboard. Aami had called him “living pleasure food” once and it was an apt description. Thankfully Billy actually cared about him and the feeling was reciprocated. They made each other happy. That much Jason was able to see.

“Glad I’m not the only one who realizes that. I think if I hadn’t of showed up he would have had his head stuck under that Jeep all day.”

“Au contraire my friend. I have a delivery that I have to oversee today. I need to make sure that every spec is absolutely precise!” Billy said wiping some of the dirt he had smudged on Christos’ cheek off. Looking at his boyfriend, you would think he was the kind of guy who couldn’t stand to look at a mud puddle let alone get dirty. But he had just kissed him without hesitation knowing that Billy had been working under a car all morning.

“So whose neck are you going to be down today? The Department of Defense? NASA?” American Eagle asked not even wanting to get into the list of organizations that Crane Securities had dealings with. He was lucky that he was friends with the guy. Tech came his way free of charge.

Christos laughed. “And that nasal voice of his drives me insane. I would rather have someone dig a screwdriver in my ear.”

“You would think that they would be trying to impress me,” Billy said with a nonchalant shrug. “I guess they just know I love this shit and would do it for free if that was my only choice.”

Jason believed it. His friend had always been a fan of technology and would spend many afternoons in the junkyard digging for tossed gadgets that he could play around with. He guessed that love eventually paid off for him. Most people searched their whole lives looking for that one thing that would complete them and give them fulfilling work. Billy had been lucky to find it when he was in high school.

“So what are they sending your way this time? Something that shoots bullets propelled by ethanol?”

Billy chuckled. “Can’t talk about it buddy. They’re paying me to keep my mouth shut.”

“And trust me, he’s not talking. He hasn’t told me a damn thing about it,” Christos said as he unwrapped his arms from around Billy’s neck. “I’m about to make lunch. Would you like to stay and have some with us Jason?”

Christos smiled. “How is Aami? I haven’t seen her since the ski trip. She’s always so sweet.”

American Eagle returned the smile. It was always nice to hear Aami get complimented because she deserved every single one. “She’s beautiful as always.”

Billy wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s hips and pulled him in close. “I guess we’re both lucky. We get these amazing people in our lives who just happen to be hot.”

Christos playfully pushed Billy away. “You’re getting me all dirty. I’m going to have to take a shower before I can even come near the kitchen.”

“OOOOkay…I think that’s my cue to leave,” Jason laughed. “I’ll let you two lovebirds have fun. I’ll probably be back before I leave out on Friday.”

“Alright then. My schedule is actually clear so we should have a double date,” Billy suggested.

“Don’t see what it could hurt. So I’ll see you Friday,” American Eagle said as he walked to the half-lifted garage door. Looking back at the couple he laughed, “Don’t get too frisky.”

The scientist looked down at the papers and threw them into her fireplace. Four men shadowed by the room’s lack of light were standing behind her. “So she’s calling herself Aami Cho now. Could she have not picked a worse name? Really I thought I had bred her with some sense of dignity.”

The men in the darkness remained silent. The scientist sipped on her glass of Chardonnay and continued talking. “She was precious to me you know. I put time and effort into her. I had high hopes for her.”

Sitting down her glass close to the apple scented candle she had just lit, Mother Matrix said, “Find her. Find her and kill her.”

Mother Matrix laughed dryly. “I know how The Four Winds work. Just do what you feel that you need to. I could care less at this point.”

Aami stepped out of the bathroom and spun around for Eliza. She was wearing a sleek black night dress with the tiniest spread of sprinkles. The straps over her shoulder were a half inch thick and the breast line plunged deep revealing the full depth of Aami’s cleavage. If Eliza’s feelings on the dress could be expressed through some physical reaction she’d be as green as a 1940s Martian. She wanted Aami to hurry up and stop spinning so she wouldn’t look so glamorous.

She received her wish and Aami stopped spinning with a giant grin on her face. “What do you think? Do you think Jason will like it?”

Eliza rolled her eyes and adjusted her pink eyeglasses. “You could be wearing an outfit designed by Screech and you’d still make Jason drool. Why are you getting so dressed up anyway? I thought you guys were just going to get some dinner.”

“Dinner with Billy Crane!” Aami exclaimed. “The guy is probably going to take us the highest class restaurant in town. Hell, knowing him he might fly us to some other country to eat.”

Giggling, Eliza fell back on her bed and said, “C’mon you make it sound like you’re about to wine and dine with Bill Gates! Besides, you look beautiful as always. You’ll make a great impression.”

Aami tugged at her shoulder straps. “It’s not like I haven’t met him before. It’s just that Billy’s boyfriend is so damn fabulous and he makes me sick with it. He’s so damn charming and good looking. I know it sounds crazy but I feel inadequate around him.”

Eliza sat up on her bed and gave her a look that screamed confusion. “You feel inadequate around a…gay man? Are you having some doubts about Jason or something because he’s never—

Quickly holding up a hand for pause, Aami said, “No its not! I don’t think Jason’s gay. It’s just that Christos is like this perfect little boyfriend to Billy and I don’t think I match up when it comes to Jason. “

Eliza ran her hands down her face in frustration. “You can’t possibly feel that way! Honestly, you must be dense girl. Jason loves you! Isn’t that obvious to you by now?”

It irked Eliza to no end how insecure Aami was with her relationship. Jason adored everything about her from top to bottom and she still couldn’t get it through her thick skull that he did. She was drop dead gorgeous; she was dating a sexy man who happened to be a rich superhero and she never seemed to catch cramps during that time of the month. What the hell did she have to complain about?

“You know why Christos is such a great boyfriend? It’s because he doesn’t try to be. He’s himself.”

Putting on a pouty face, Aami sat her hands on her hips and said, “Eliza, I refuse to let you turn Lifetime into your LTR. Did Jared ever give you a call?”

“Yea and he’s completely self-absorbed and stuck in high school. If I heard just one more story about how he won the State Championship I was going to scream.”

“Honey he was just trying to impress you. You should have given him a chance.”

Christos stared off into the clear night sky of Arizona and did his best to fight off the images that burned through his mind. The visions were coming more and more frequently now and that frightened him to no end. Only two things could be bringing about the increase in his hellish visions.

Either he was returning to his former state or someone was coming for him. Either way it put everyone he had come to care about in danger, especially Billy.