After Peni led him away from the school grounds, they made their way back to the warehouse where he had chosen to make his temporary home, a place of solitude away from the world.
She turned to face him, frustration clearly written across her features.
"Why would you do that?" She asked, her voice filled with anger and disappointment.
"Do what?" He asked, genuinely confused by her reaction.
"You used your powers on Flash!," she said, her voice rising with concern.
He frowned deeply, her loud voice irritating him and making him uncomfortable. He didn't like loud noises at all. He slowly walked up to her with deliberate steps and then reached out and grabbed her by the face.
She looked directly at him, fire burning in her eyes with defiance. He grew even angrier at her resistance and refusal to back down. He then suddenly took a step back as a sharp headache came on without warning.
A weird and disturbing image of him eating something flashed before his eyes. More and more images flashed rapidly in his mind, one after another. Each time the image showed a different creature that he was consuming.
"Agh!!!!!??" He roared out in agony, grasping his head tightly with both hands in pain.
Peni ran quickly to his side and tried desperately to help him up, but he kept thrashing violently on the ground. The pain was absolutely unbearable, beyond anything he had felt before. His whole body convulsed uncontrollably in waves of pain.
Until eventually he passed out completely, losing consciousness. His body occasionally convulsed as his muscles contracted involuntarily.
Peni went immediately to his side and held him gently in her arms. She didn't know why exactly, but she felt deep down that she had to help him. She knew from their conversations that he didn't have the best life and had suffered greatly.
She picked up her phone with trembling hands and dialed Clint's phone number.
Ring ring ring
The phone rang continuously in the still quiet warehouse. Each ring making her heart beat a little quicker with worry and anticipation. Then suddenly the call was answered on the other end.
"Peni?" Clint asked urgently from the phone. "What's wrong,"
"It's Adam, he suddenly screamed out in pain and started convulsing violently, and now he's unconscious," she explained quickly, her words rushing out.
"I'll be there in five minutes," he said decisively and hung up immediately.
She patted his head softly and gently, trying her best to comfort him in his unconscious state. She watched intently as his face went through an abundance of different emotions.
Sadness, madness, calmness, joy, then lastly despair washing over his features. She didn't know what was happening to him, but watching as his tears fell slowly down his cheeks, she hummed a calming tune softly. The one her mother used to hum to her before she died all those years ago.
A few moments later Clint arrived at the warehouse. Even Fury had come along with him. Hearing the disturbing news that Adam had gone unconscious so suddenly, he became curious about the situation.
Now he stood in the dimly lit warehouse looking down at Adam's unconscious form lying on the ground. He calculated it to be a traumatic episode of some kind.
"So what happened exactly?" He asked, looking at Peni.
"I don't know exactly, we got into an argument and he suddenly shouted out and grasped his head tightly in pain and fell to the ground. His body began to convulse violently and then he fell unconscious," she explained in detail.
Fury nodded at the explanation, his assumption being the most likely answer to what had occurred, as they talked suddenly Adam's eyes opened, completely bloodshot.
His eyes surveyed the warehouse carefully and seeing Fury standing there, he immediately locked in on him with focus. He had never met Fury before in person. But after not smelling a strong scent coming from him, he calmed down somewhat.
He then focused his attention on Peni. He was currently laying on her lap comfortably. She held him carefully in her arms. He didn't know why exactly, but he felt quite comfortable and safe there.
Seeing that Adam was finally awake, she attempted to stand up, but he grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Why did you stop?" He asked, referring to the humming.
She looked embarrassed by his question.
"You're awake now, you should stand up," she said, trying to deflect.
He didn't understand why him being awake would change anything about the situation. But then his stomach growled loudly. He slowly stood up and walked towards the warehouse door, preparing to hunt and ignoring the others in the room.
Suddenly someone grabbed his hand firmly and stopped him from leaving.
"Where are you going?" She asked, though she already knew the answer to why.
She had felt and heard his stomach grumble loudly. Adam was definitely planning to hunt for food.
Fury and Clint got ready and prepared themselves just in case Adam would suddenly get aggressive with them. Adam slowly turned to face her.
"To hunt," he said simply, as if it were obvious.
She pursed her lips together tightly. She knew he was probably going to hunt someone with superpowers or a monster of some kind. But she also knew from experience that he had eaten humans as well, and she couldn't afford to let him walk freely without proper supervision.
"What are you planning to hunt?" She asked cautiously.
He tilted his head to the side in thought.
"Anything that is worth hunting," he said simply, as if that explained everything.
Fury and Clint looked at each other with concerned expressions. Even Peni looked confused by his answer. They didn't know what exactly was worth hunting in Adam's eyes or what his criteria was.
"Then what is something worth hunting for you?" She asked again, pressing for more details.
He blinked a few times slowly, trying to think about the question. Ever since he had escaped from the facility after killing everyone there except for one person, he had hunted constantly.
Something deep inside was telling him to hunt continuously. But after he hunted a particular species, the feeling subsided for that specific species.
But then an understanding emerged clearly in his mind.
"Strong prey or something with an ability," he answered finally.
Fury noted that important information carefully in his mind for later.
"Why?" She kept asking, wanting to understand him better.
His face which was previously calm and neutral slowly turned ugly with emotion. Anger rising quickly to the surface.
"Revenge," he said coldly, the word dripping with hatred.
They all gulped nervously, sensing his immense power emanating from him. Fury and Clint said nothing at all since they didn't think someone like Adam would even bother to answer them.
"Against who?" She asked again, though much quieter this time.
He clenched his fist tightly, his muscles tightened visibly in what one could only assume was deeply suppressed anger.
But then his hands moved as he ripped off his shirt violently, revealing the numerous scars underneath. His hand passed slowly by them.
"All these scars," he mumbled quietly. "The pain, the torment, my parents, I'll make sure to return it more times than they can imagine," he spat out coldly, though not revealing the perpetrator's identity.
Clint and Fury knew though, they understood who he meant. They gulped nervously, they knew that someone like him could probably never have his mind changed easily. A threat like that couldn't be controlled easily or safely.
And they themselves couldn't kill him even if they wanted to. He was immune to poison and toxins. If they tried to explode him, he would just regenerate completely.
The only thing they could think of that might work was a nuclear bomb, but it was far too powerful and would cause unnecessary civilian lives to be lost.
But Fury felt like something important was missing from the picture. He gulped and decided to trust his feeling and instinct.
"Why haven't you gotten your revenge yet, you should be more than ready," he added carefully.
Adam paused at his probing question. Was there another reason he was waiting? The instincts that had suddenly appeared a bit over a month ago were confusing.
He couldn't understand it fully. He was already strong enough to get his revenge. Why did he keep eating and hunting? A word then entered his mind suddenly, though he didn't know why it came to him.
"To protect," he said unconsciously, the words coming out on their own.
"To protect who?" Fury asked, trying to dig for more information and understand.
"To protect—" he suddenly grimaced as sharp pain shot through his head.
He glared dangerously at Fury.
"You ask too many questions," he said coldly, his voice threatening.
Clint went beside Fury quickly and was in a defensive stance ready to fight if needed. Fury put his hands up in a clear sign of surrender. He knew better than to mess with a mentally unstable teenager with serious anger issues that could kill him with a single punch.
And again Adam froze when he smelled that familiar scent in the air. His eyes turned to Peni who was trying to act innocent and uninvolved.
"That was you," he said, realizing she had done something.
She shook her head vigorously in denial, trying to play innocent. The other two couldn't believe that she was trying to deny it so obviously.
"Ok ok, how about I treat you to dinner," she said with a bright smile, trying to change the subject.
He blinked several times in confusion at her words, trying to process what she had just said.
"A meal?" He asked slowly, trying to understand what exactly she meant by that offer.
A few hours later
Peni and Adam sat together in a small diner. After managing to get some money from Fury, she had chosen her favorite place to eat out and brought him there.
She ate her food happily, savoring each bite. Across from her sat Adam, silent and still. She had ordered food for him as well, but he hadn't touched a single bit of it.
She looked at him curiously.
"Why aren't you eating?" She asked, wondering what was wrong.
He poked at the food a bit with his fork before answering her question.
"These things don't have any abilities and aren't strong?" He stated, as if that explained everything perfectly.
She slumped in her seat. She couldn't believe that he really meant it this far and was being so literal about it.
"How about you eat it for me?" She asked, trying to act cute and sweet.
She only used this particular technique on Aunt May and didn't know if it would actually work on Adam. She was honestly a little embarrassed since there were other people around watching them.
He just stared at her, staying completely silent and not reacting at all.
"That was embarrassing," Maria said from the communication device that Peni was wearing hidden on her.
Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance from the words. Then Adam suddenly moved his hands forward and pinched her cheeks gently, feeling his heartbeat skip a little bit.
"Do this more, I like it a lot," he said with a genuine smile spreading across his face.
Her eyes widened in surprise as her face turned bright red. She had never seen him smile before like this. And a boy had never done this sort of thing to her before either.
"Peni, calm yourself down. Your heartbeat is increasing rapidly. Remember that you're the one that's supposed to take the lead here," Fury said urgently from the communication device.
She shook her head vigorously, trying to clear her mind and regain her composure. After that, she looked up at him carefully. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not, but she wouldn't fall for it twice, she told herself firmly.
She tried to calm down her racing heart and grabbed her spoon and fork, trying to distract herself from the situation. Adam, seeing this movement, copied her actions exactly.
Taking his first bite of the food, he grimaced noticeably. His tongue was extremely sensitive to tastes, and he couldn't stand the overwhelming flavors at all.
He grabbed his water glass quickly and began drinking from it. He then put his utensils down on the table and began walking away from the table. He was hungry and was tired of wasting time sitting there.
Peni, seeing this happen, quickly put money down on the table to pay before running after him hurriedly. He kept walking with determined strides and eventually walked into an alley and began jumping on the walls before arriving on the roofs and jumped around in search of a new scent to follow.
"Adam, come back!!" Peni shouted loudly after him.
He froze in place on the roof and looked back at her standing below. Something deep inside was telling him to listen to her, but another thing was telling him to hunt and find prey.
"Please," she called out again, her voice filled with concern.
This time he actually went back to her. He didn't know why exactly, but hearing the distress in her voice, he decided to listen to what she wanted.
She sighed in relief and smiled gently at him. She didn't know why he actually listened to her request, but she was glad that he did.
Fury, seeing this interaction on the surveillance camera, gripped his arm chair tightly. His excitement was rising dramatically.
His assumption was absolutely right. For some unknown reason, Peni had some level of control over Adam's actions.
"What is it?" Adam asked her directly.
She panicked inside her mind, trying desperately to find a solution to her new predicament. She didn't know what to do in this situation.
"Say you feel hurt," Fury said from the communication device. "And act as hurt and pitiful as possible," he added with urgency.
The other people in the room looked at him with confused expressions, but he ignored them completely. If this worked successfully, then he truly had a chance to control Adam effectively.
Peni pursed her lips together nervously. She didn't know if she could pull it off convincingly. But knowing that he might hurt an innocent person if she didn't, she recalled each of her sad memories one by one.
Until it was when she remembered her parents clearly. Slowly, tears began to fall down her cheeks in streams.
Her lips quivered uncontrollably. Adam, seeing this display, felt a sharp pang in his chest. He didn't like seeing this at all. He tried to wipe away her tears gently, but more kept falling continuously.
She sniffed quietly. Fury and his team, seeing this scene, smiled and celebrated quietly among themselves, not knowing that Peni wasn't actually acting and that recalling her parents actually made her cry genuinely.
Adam moved closer to her and lifted her carefully into a princess carry. People had already seen and witnessed everything from the moment she shouted Adam's name out loud.
They watched in great interest as everything happened before their eyes. Some girls squealed excitedly when Adam suddenly grabbed Peni into a princess carry so effortlessly.
But then Adam jumped powerfully onto the roofs and began running swiftly to her home. From when he had followed her previously, he had found her home location, so he entered the same way she always did—through the window opening.
Closing the window carefully after entering, he put her down gently on her bed and left her room, walking to the kitchen. He didn't know what was wrong with her exactly, but he did what his parents used to do when he was sick.
Peni laid on her bed, feeling confused about everything. She was glad that Aunt May was at work right now, or it would be extremely difficult to explain this situation.
"Good job, the plan worked perfectly. Follow him to see what he's doing now," Fury ordered from the communication device.
She stood up quickly, realizing that Adam was wandering around in her apartment. What if he destroyed something or made a mess?
She ran out of her room hurriedly and began searching for him throughout the apartment. Peeking around a corner, she saw him standing at the kitchen sink with a bowl of water in his hands.
He began to open cabinets methodically in search of something she didn't know about. Fury watched intently from the hidden camera on her button.
He then froze suddenly and turned to look directly at Peni.
"What are you doing?" He asked her curiously.
She blinked a few times rapidly and went back to her act, though this time it was noticeably less believable than before. But Adam wasn't that socially smart, so he believed it without question.
He walked up to her slowly and placed the back of his hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"Your forehead isn't hot," he muttered, sounding confused.
Fury processed his words quickly in his mind and came to a sudden realization.
"He thought you were sick," he said, then an idea formed in his mind. "Pretend you're having a period," he added quickly and urgently.
She blushed deeply but steeled her emotions and prepared herself.
"Cough, I'm on my period." She said quietly, looking away.
He paused at her words, not understanding the situation at all.
"What is a period?" He asked, genuinely confused by the term.
Peni inwardly slumped in defeat. She couldn't believe that she had to explain this particular topic to him.
Knock knock
They both turned, hearing the noise at the door. Peni realized with dread that her aunt was at the door now. She looked back frantically between the door and Adam. She didn't know how to explain this situation at all.
"Go hide in my bedroom quickly," she said urgently, pushing him, though he barely budged at all from her efforts.
But seeing her worried face and panicked expression, he frowned. He believed it was danger approaching, so instead of listening to her instructions, he walked directly towards the door.
She tried desperately to drag him back, but it was completely useless. He grabbed the handle firmly and slowly opened the door wide.
Aunt May on the other side froze completely when she saw Adam standing there. A stranger was in her house. But when she saw Peni holding his hand behind him, her eyes widened in shock.
"Young lady," she said, her voice full of anger and deep disappointment.
"It's not—"
"How could you bring a boy home like this," she said, cutting her off.
"Let me explain—"
"You're still too young for this, how could you be so irresponsible," she continued, not letting her speak.
She entered the house with purpose. Peni followed her desperately, trying to explain the situation, while Adam followed Peni closely, trying to understand what was happening around him.
"You know how hard life will be if you get pregnant at your age," she said seriously. "We are already poor as it is, how will we even get the money to take care of it," she added with concern.
She kept making more and more assumptions rapidly, and Peni kept trying to explain and defend herself. But Adam thought about it differently.
"If Peni gets pregnant, I'll take care of the baby," he said simply and directly.
They both froze completely and slowly turned to look at Adam in shock.
"W-what are you trying to say," Peni stuttered, clearly embarrassed.
While Aunt May thought about it differently. She narrowed her eyes at Adam suspiciously.
"You just say that now, but many boys abandon girls all the time when it becomes real," she said skeptically.
He frowned at her words.
"I'll never leave Peni," he said it with so much conviction and certainty that it made her freeze in place.
May almost believed it for a moment, but still in her eyes that wasn't enough reassurance.
"Do you think that will be enough for a child? You need a stable job and money to support a family," she said firmly.
He blinked a few times at her words, processing them. He didn't have a job at all, but he did have some money he had taken from thugs who tried to rob him. He didn't know the use for it yet, but kept it since for some reason those thugs loved it so much.
He nodded in understanding of what she was saying.
"I'll be back," he said simply as he walked out the door with determination.
Peni was about to stop him when she saw May glare at her intensely. On the other hand, Adam returned to his base location and grabbed the abundance of wallets he had collected before putting them all into a bag made purely out of his webs.
"May, it's not what you think it is at all," Peni said desperately.
"Then what could it possibly be?" May asked, anger still clearly visible on her face.
Peni pursed her lips nervously. She couldn't just say it was for a mission or something like that.
"Say it's for a school project," Fury said through the device.
Peni, hearing this suggestion, suddenly thought of even more ideas to expand on it.
"We're in the same school together, and we have a school project we're working on," Peni said with growing confidence.
Though it was the first time she had lied to May like this, she felt it was to protect her, so she felt less guilty about it.
May crossed her arms skeptically.
"Then why did he say he would take care of you when you get pregnant?"