Having arrived at the Avengers Tower and slowly descending toward the rooftop, Billy decided to transform outside before stepping into the building. He could already tell his indoor transformations were starting to get on Tony's nerves, and it honestly felt like only a matter of time before the man finally snapped at him for blasting thunder and lightning through the tower every other day. Considering the burn marks he'd already left on a few ceilings and sections of flooring, Billy figured avoiding another lecture was the smarter move.
"Shazam!" he called out.
The moment his feet reached a reasonable distance from the rooftop, the sky above cracked violently with thunder. A bolt of lightning tore downward and struck him head-on, bright enough to briefly wash the rooftop in white. Smoke and sparks scattered across the surface, and from within the fading haze, Billy Batson's teenage form dropped lightly onto the rooftop.
He barely had time to take a few steps toward the entrance before his wrist tech buzzed. Billy glanced down and tapped the side of the device in position with his thumb, bringing up a message on the suitable display. The sender was exactly who he expected.
'Meet me at the lounge.'
Billy stared at the text for a second before letting out a quiet breath through his nose.
'He isn't even trying to make it subtle that he's keeping tabs on me anymore,' he muttered inwardly as he headed inside the tower.
The elevator carried him down within moments, and once the doors slid open, Billy made his way toward the lounge area. The sound of low conversation and clinking glass reached him before he even entered fully. Inside, two men sat near the counter with a bottle of alcohol between them, both already partway into their drinks. One of them, unsurprisingly, was Tony Stark with a glass loosely hanging from his hand. The other was a slightly chubby stranger Billy had never seen before, dressed in a suit that was doing its absolute best to hide the stomach pressing against the front buttons of the coat.
"There he is," Tony said casually, tilting his glass toward Billy as he approached.
The stranger turned in his seat immediately. "Oh, hello there."
Billy responded with a small upward tilt of his chin as he walked closer, his attention shifting between the man and Tony while quietly wondering why exactly he was being introduced to him in the first place.
"This here is Happy," Tony said, gesturing toward the man beside him. "My personal security guard and head of Stark Industries security."
By the time Billy reached them, Happy had already extended a hand out for a handshake.
'A security guard?' Billy thought as his eyes subconsciously drifted over the slightly chubby man again, quietly reassessing him now that Tony had introduced him properly. The suit, the relaxed posture, even the calm expression on his face didn't exactly scream 'head of security' to Billy. Still, after everything he'd seen since coming to this world, he knew better than to judge people too quickly.
'Guess you really can't judge a book by its cover,' he remarked inwardly as he reached out and returned the handshake properly.
"Personal bodyguard?" Billy asked, glancing between the two men. "How come I'm only just seeing him?"
At the same time, his thoughts kept turning over the idea in his head.
'And why would Iron Man even need a bodyguard? Maybe it's more for the billionaire philanthropist side of things during public appearances… but still.' Billy mentally frowned at the thought. 'This is literally the first time I've ever heard of a superhero having a bodyguard.'
"Well, he's been running errands for me," Tony replied casually before taking another sip from his drink. "Besides, he doesn't really come to the tower unless he needs to."
"I'm—"
"Billy, the wonder kid," Happy interrupted smoothly before Billy could introduce himself.
Billy's eyebrow immediately lifted at the nickname, his gaze sliding toward Tony with visible suspicion. Tony responded with nothing more than a shrug of his shoulders and a subtle dismissive wave of his glass, silently telling him not to pay it any mind.
Happy noticed the exchange almost instantly. "You know," he added as both of them let go of the handshake, "from what I've heard, you're kind of a wonder around the team."
"Please don't call me that," Billy said almost immediately, already moving away toward the fridge before the nickname could settle any deeper than it already had.
The refrigerator door opened with a soft hiss of cold air, and Billy grabbed himself a soda while the two older men watched with varying levels of amusement. Just as he shut the fridge door with the can in hand, Tony leaned down and picked up a fairly large shopping bag resting beside the base of the counter.
"Now that that's out of the way, here."
Billy blinked and took the bag from him. "What's this?"
Tony simply gestured lazily with the glass in his hand, silently telling him to open it and see for himself.
Billy looked inside the bag and immediately paused. "...Wow."
His fingers shifted through the contents one piece at a time, surprise slowly spreading across his face. Brand-new clothes. Actual brand-new clothes. Casual outfits too, not random rich people fashion nonsense, but things that genuinely matched his taste. There were hoodies, shirts, jeans, and even two fresh pairs of sneakers packed neatly inside alongside the one he currently wore.
'No more hand-me-downs from Clint making me look like a younger version of him,' Billy thought with genuine relief as he continued going through everything.
"You ran off earlier to help your new buddy," Tony explained, finally elaborating while swirling the drink in his glass. "So I asked Happy to handle the clothing situation while you were gone."
That immediately connected the dots in Billy's head, especially remembering Tony randomly asking questions about his clothes earlier in the day.
"Thanks, Happy," Billy said sincerely as he looked up from the bag.
Happy answered with a small but satisfied nod. "Glad they're actually your style."
He pushed himself off the stool shortly after and adjusted his coat. "If you'll excuse me, I've gotta get going."
With that, Happy gave the two of them a final nod before turning and making his way toward the elevator while Billy remained standing there with the bag still in hand, quietly staring at the clothes again for another second longer than he probably meant to.
"Thanks, Tony," Billy said sincerely.
Tony answered with nothing more than a small nod before finishing off the remaining alcohol in his glass in one smooth gulp. The silence between them lingered briefly, casual and comfortable, before Tony suddenly spoke again.
"So," he said, setting the empty glass down lightly against the counter, "what do you think about Spider-Man?"
Billy leaned back slightly against the fridge with the soda can still in hand, thinking for a moment before answering.
"Well, first off, bug-themed villains have got to be the absolute worst kind of villains imaginable." He visibly shuddered at the thought alone. "Seriously, imagine something like a cockroach-man running around with super durability and the ability to control roaches." Billy grimaced harder the more he pictured it in his head. "That's nightmare fuel right there."
He cracked open the soda and took a sip before continuing more seriously. "But honestly, we only met a little while ago, so I can't really say much about him yet. Still… he seems pretty cool. Definitely feels like a good person at heart."
Tony quietly listened while Billy spoke, nodding once here and there as though weighing the words carefully in his head. "The kind of responsibility that kid's taken onto himself is pretty commendable," Tony finally said.
That immediately drew Billy's attention. His gaze shifted toward Tony with visible surprise, his mind instantly wondering if the man actually knew who Spider-Man was beneath the mask. But remembering the rooftop encounter earlier, Billy doubted the two of them were personally familiar. Spider-Man had practically turned into a full-on fanboy the second Iron Man arrived.
'He was one hundred percent freaking out internally when Tony showed up,' Billy thought. 'Though… Tony did use his tech to eavesdrop on our conversation.'
Billy's eyes narrowed slightly in thought as the possibilities started piecing themselves together in his head one after another.
'From the way Spider-Man talked, it wasn't exactly hard to tell he was a teenager under the mask. Or maybe Tony saw his face when he pulled the mask halfway off on the rooftop before I arrived. That's another possibility too.'
All of those thoughts flashed through Billy's mind within only a couple seconds before Tony continued speaking.
"Choosing to use powers like that to protect his neighborhood instead of abusing them for selfish reasons…" Tony said, his tone calmer and more thoughtful. "Honestly, most people, regardless of age, wouldn't make that choice."
Billy studied him for a second before finally asking, "How'd you know he's a kid?"
Tony leaned slightly against the counter. "He caught my attention a while back," he admitted openly. "Since then, I've kept an eye on him and made it my business to figure out who he was."
Billy's expression immediately turned a little more complicated after hearing that.
'Why does that sound exactly like something Batman would say?' he thought inwardly.
Before Billy could dwell on the comparison any longer, Tony shifted the conversation. "Now tell me about the monster you fought."
What Billy didn't realize was that Tony had actually arrived at the scene moments before the fight ended. He'd witnessed the final strike firsthand— the lightning, the sheer destructive force behind it, and the way the red creature had been completely annihilated by Billy's magic.
Billy exhaled slowly at the question, his expression becoming more serious as the memories from earlier resurfaced in his mind.
"I honestly don't know what that thing was," he began, his tone sounding quieter. "But everything about it felt wrong. Its appearance, the way it moved… even its behavior." He frowned slightly while recalling it. "It was disturbing in a way that's hard to explain. Like something unnatural pretending to be alive."
As the night continued, Billy began recounting everything he had witnessed during the encounter, from the creature's terrifying form to the chaos it caused across the city streets.
"Could it possibly be related to those other monsters? Or at least similar to them?" Tony asked as he reached for the bottle again, pouring himself another drink with habitual motion.
Billy shook his head slightly before taking a sip from his soda. "No. At least, not from what I know." He lowered the can slowly afterward, his expression thoughtful. "Those monsters may have had numbers on their side, but compared to this thing?" He frowned. "They were way weaker."
He paused for a brief moment, his thoughts returning to the fight from earlier that night. Then his gaze lifted and locked directly onto Tony's eyes, the shift in atmosphere was almost immediate as his tone dropped into something noticeably heavier.
"If even a handful of monsters like that attacked this city…"
Billy's voice remained calm, but the seriousness behind it carried enough weight to make the air itself feel heavier around them. His expression hardened in a way Tony hadn't really seen from him before.
"It would be a disaster," Billy finished quietly. "The kind of casualty count that would shake the entire city to its core if those things were allowed to run rampant."
For the first time since the conversation began, Tony found himself genuinely speechless. A cold feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he stared at Billy in silence, processing the warning coming from someone who, by appearance alone, was still just a teenager.
Yet in that moment, Billy didn't sound like one.
The look in his eyes, the tension in his posture, even the energy he gave off as he spoke felt eerily different. It was as though the person standing there had seen things far worse. Like a veteran who had witnessed more than one apocalypse on a scale most people couldn't even imagine.
For a brief second, it almost felt like Captain Marvel himself was speaking through Billy rather than the kid Tony had gotten used to seeing around the tower.
Tony slowly exhaled through his nose before lifting the glass to his lips. "We need to find out what that monster was," he said after a moment, his tone now stripped of its earlier casualness. "Where it came from… and what the fuck is actually going on."
He paused only long enough to finish off the rest of his drink before continuing.
"More importantly," Tony added quietly, "we need to figure out what the hell is coming."
Those words lingered heavily in the lounge long after he said them. Billy remained silent, unconsciously tightening his grip around the soda can as the reality of the situation settled deeper into his thoughts.
It felt wrong. That was the only way he could describe it. Like something massive was moving just beyond their sight, circling them patiently like a predator hidden within a storm. They couldn't see it yet, couldn't fully understand it, but both of them could feel its presence creeping closer with every passing day.
And when it finally arrived, Billy had a sinking feeling it wouldn't just threaten the city. It would threaten everything in its path.
- - -
[Peter Parker's POV]
"Thank God I made it home in time for dinner with Aunt May," Peter muttered under his breath as he slipped through the front door of the apartment.
It had been one hell of a night. Between the fight, the chaos in the streets, and everything involving that horrifying red monster, he'd almost lost track of time. Honestly, if he'd blown past curfew or gotten back any later and heard Aunt May still moving around downstairs, he probably would've skipped the front door entirely, crawled up the side of the building, and snuck into his room through the window instead.
The moment he walked past the door, a warm smell immediately hit him, rich enough to overpower even the lingering scent of smoke and grime clinging to his clothes. Peter inhaled deeply, and his stomach instantly reminded him he hadn't eaten properly all evening.
"Okay, something smells really good," he announced as he kicked the door shut behind him.
"Another thirty minutes and you would've been late for dinner," Aunt May replied from the kitchen area where she was already arranging the table. "Maybe even missed it entirely."
Peter immediately made his way toward her, already grinning despite how exhausted he felt. "And miss your cooking? No chance."
He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before hovering near the kitchen counter like a starving animal drawn toward food.
Aunt May suddenly paused mid-motion, her nose wrinkling slightly. "Peter…" she said slowly, turning toward him with visible suspicion. "What is that smell?"
Peter internally winced.
Yeah, that was probably the mix of sweat, smoke, dust, sewer water, and alien goo remnants still clinging to him.
"It's… a really long story," he answered quickly, already trying to steer the conversation away before she started asking questions he really didn't want to answer. "Honestly, I can't even think straight right now. I'm starving."
It wasn't entirely a lie either.
Still, Peter felt that familiar sting of guilt settle quietly in the back of his chest. Ever since getting his powers, lying to Aunt May had slowly become second nature, and every single time he did it, he hated it a little more.
"You really shouldn't stay out too late," Aunt May said as she turned off the oven and continued setting things up for dinner. Her tone softened with concern rather than anger. "I heard there was some kind of huge incident in the city earlier tonight."
Peter tried his best to keep his expression normal.
"Staying off the streets and making it home on time is one of the ways you can stay safe and away from all the craziness happening out there," she continued.
Peter smiled faintly at that while grabbing a glass from the counter. "With your prayers covering me?" he replied lightly. "I've got nothing to worry about."
Aunt May gave him that look—the one that said she knew he was being charming on purpose.
"Let me just drop my bag upstairs first," Peter added quickly before she could say anything else. "Then I'll come help set the table."
Without waiting long enough for follow-up questions, Peter turned on his heel and headed straight for the stairs, already mentally preparing himself for the absolute nightmare of cleaning up the suit hidden in his bag pack before Aunt May somehow caught a glimpse of it.
"Remember to take a shower before coming down for dinner, you seriously reek," her voice called after him as he climbed the stairs.
He made his way into his room and shut the door behind him, the familiar quiet settling in at once. Without wasting time, he crossed to his closet and shoved aside the hanging clothes, parting them like curtains until he revealed the concealed space behind them.
Kneeling slightly, he lifted a loose wooden plank that served as a false panel in the wall and reached into the hidden compartment. From there, he pulled out his suit carefully tucked inside his bag.
The moment he opened it and caught a whiff from the pits, he recoiled with a sharp cough, his expression twisting in disgust as the full stench hit him all at once—left over from his earlier crawl through the sewers and engagement with the monster while tracking that giant lizard.
"Sheesh… that's brutal," he muttered under his breath, still inside the closet as he folded the suit down to a size small enough to fit back into the compartment. "I'm definitely dry cleaning this when Aunt May's asleep later." Once it was secured, he slid the plank back into place, making sure the hidden wall looked untouched.
With that done, he turned toward the shower, already looking forward to rinsing off the night's grime before dinner.