Chapter Text
He just looked so pathetic.
All curled in on himself over the dimly lit bartop, at that counter’s lonely little corner while the others shared a hearty laugh at his expense. From your otherwise empty table across the abandoned subway track you couldn’t hear what set them off this time, but by now it didn’t matter. It always played out the same. The lanky, oddly proportioned paper-white man covered in black splotches - the Spot, he called himself - would come in for a drink, then another, the liquor giving him enough courage (or taking away enough shame) to try proving himself to the others, whether by bringing up their shared hatred of Spider-Man, bragging about his obviously exaggerated crimes, or venting his frustrations about the difficulties of life as a villain, hoping it’d strike a chord with anyone nearby.
But, as always, the bartender Delilah had to put an end to her patrons’ fun with a stern word and deadly glare. Grizzly and Molten Man were somehow still amused by the newbie’s dorky demeanor, Spot being an obvious outsider in The Bar with No Name, though she always stuck up for him, perhaps only to maintain the tenuous peace of this infamous villain hangout. Unfortunately Spot not being able to do it himself didn’t help his reputation.
And you weren’t much better than them. Any of them.
Not the regulars because at first you thought you were looking for amusement too, showing up every night and taking a seat in any empty area to wait for the spotted man to show, but when you stopped smirking and started watching you knew you were in too deep.
And you weren’t much better than the newbie himself because, well…
Despite your better judgment you grabbed your empty glass and walked on over, bringing it back to the counter as you took the vacant stool next to Spot. Out of the corner of your eye his… Face hole? He called the markings holes for some reason, which made you feel a way you’d rather not - it shrunk in what you assumed was surprise, and even though he had no eyes he was blatantly gawking at you, his head facing yours as you signaled Delilah for a refill and forced yourself not to gawk back. From afar it had been easy to use him as entertainment, to pity him, from afar he seemed so much smaller, but now that he was right next to you the deep, dark void stared you down from above, and you were starting to rethink coming over. Had he always been so tall? Thankfully the others were engrossed in their own conversation now, too buzzed to care for long about anything outside of their bubble, but the weight of Spot’s gaze didn’t let you get too comfortable even as Delilah slid your full glass over.
Finally he broke the silence, though it did little to ease you. “I’ve never seen you sit next to anybody.”
Your hand tightened around the glass. “You’ve been keeping track?”
“No, I didn’t mean- I was looking, yeah, but I wasn’t like, creeping on you or anything, I just-” He covered the space where his face should’ve been with a hand, sighing as he dragged it down. “I just noticed, okay? When you’re lonely you kind of… Notice other lonely people.”
His comment struck a nerve you didn’t want to acknowledge, but in the end you relaxed, reminded of what Spot was really like. Sure, his appearance was off-putting, but there was a reason no one here was intimidated by him, and everyone in this bar looked silly anyway whether by costume or biology. Even you. Your own getup was simple and black, meant for blending into the shadows when you weren’t using your power, though you once got a passing comment from Hammerhead about playing spy, and you must not have been as good at it as you thought because Spot still ‘noticed’ you. But you supposed it was fair since you ‘noticed’ him too. “And what makes you think I’m lonely? You don’t think I keep to myself by choice?”
“By choice?” He thought on that for a moment. “You don’t seem to be making that choice right now.”
Your jaw clenched. “Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not here to make friends. I just want to know what your whole…” Gesturing to his body, you tried not to let your eyes roam over his broad, bony shoulders and wide torso, over the slight pudge in the middle. Not now, not while he was watching. “Deal is.” Maybe if you got some answers you’d finally get over your dumb fixation, find out he deserved his outcast status and stop caring about what happened to him whenever he was here.
“My hole deal?” His posture straightened. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to talk to someone about this! And you of all people, too! How lucky is that? Everyone else keeps laughing at me when I try, but I knew you weren’t like them! In fact, if it wasn’t for you I’d just be at home working on-“ Pausing, he put up a hand to stop his train of thought. “Getting off track here. You want to know about my holes, right?” Did he have to keep wording it like that? A slight heat crept up on your face as Spot continued unaware, his hands flying around wildly in a breathless rush. “Okay, so, while I was fighting Spider-Man I accidentally kicked myself into one of my own holes. Very humiliating, very painful, not a good place for a foot to go, but it turned out to be a good thing! Because what I discovered was- See, I got transported into some kind of liminal space between dimensions, a sort of nexus of the Multiverse, and if I can find more super-colliders, get more power-“
“Woah woah woah. Slow down.” Multiverse? Super-collider? God, he was one of those conspiracy loons like Kingpin, wasn’t he? This was a floodgate you didn’t even know you opened, and if you didn’t stop him he’d probably go on for ages. “Just give me the short version.”
He deflated. “Oh, right. Sorry. In English, John.” Hand to his chin, he mumbled to himself. “Short version…” Once he knew what to say he perked up again, all at once leaning in toward you, making you lean back to protect your personal space. It didn’t faze him though. Spot remained close as he spoke, slow and serious, like this was the most important thing anybody was ever going to tell you. “My holes can take me anywhere.”
Oh boy.
Getting up from your seat, you took a few steps back. “Nope, too much. I don’t do crazy.”
“Wait!” Spot reached for you, standing up as well, but you only stepped farther back to stay out of his range. “I’m not crazy! Not about this specifically… Please don’t go, hold on, let me show you! Look!”
With both of his arms raised toward you Spot concentrated as the marks on his body gathered at his hands, at his forearms, coating them black while leaving the rest of him blank white. What was he planning? Retaliation for daring to end the conversation early? Maybe he belonged here after all. You wanted to run but couldn’t tear your eyes away, as if you were watching a train wreck that hadn’t happened yet - he was the train and you were the wreck, but you didn’t know what kind of either. No one ever asked him what he could do.
“Hey!” Delilah tried to get his attention from behind the counter, but her booming voice only distracted the nearby customers so they could spectate the scene. “No powers allowed!”
That snapped you out of it, but when you booked it for the exit a wall of pure darkness appeared in your way, and your surroundings, the bar, the entire world disappeared.
And reappeared as you bumped face-first into Spot’s chest.
“See?” He gazed down at you, satisfied now. “Anywhere.”
You could only stare up into the abyss tunneling through his head, unsure whether to be amazed or confused. What just happened? Was that his doing, some kind of teleportation power? Holes through space? The name made sense now at least, but solving that mystery only raised more questions. “What-“
“Out.”
Delilah’s fury made you both flinch, the woman staring daggers into Spot. “Now.”
“I know you haven’t been here long,” you warned him, “but you’ve probably figured out by now that it’s a good idea to listen to her.”
He slumped in defeat. “I’ll go, I’ll go. But before I do…” His next question came out genuine, hopeful, the abyss now searching you instead. “What did you think?”
It was more than the usual villain gimmick, that was for sure, more than a simple command of an element or a piece of slapped-together tech. Much, much more. Raw, destructive power was one thing, but this, the possibilities… In the hands of someone like him…
Before you could gather yourself enough to answer Delilah spoke again, brandishing one of her literal daggers in hand. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“That thing looks…” Spot walked backwards from her. “Uncomfortable.” He turned to you. “How about I just visit you later, show you more of what I can do? Your place, tomorrow night? Alright, I’ll be there! Just wait for me, okay?” Checking Delilah again, he let out a nervous chuckle, then paused to give you a little wave. “Bye!”
He rushed into a portal, blinking out of existence.
After processing everything that had just happened all you could think about was the fact that you never told him where you lived.
Another successful heist.
Well, more of a robbery, but heist sounded better, suiting your so-called game of spy. You didn’t even need the night for cover while you made your way through the streets unseen, nevertheless grateful for its soothing darkness as you arrived back at your lair. Well, more of a run-down apartment, but the crumbling building was the perfect place to lay low between operations. Easily overlooked. Stepping inside your unit, you made sure to lock the door behind you before letting your power fade and opening the bag to admire your loot: just enough cash to get by for the next few months, nothing the bank would be too desperate to recover. The cops knew someone with powers was the culprit but your crimes weren’t egregious enough for them to pursue with any real effort, and on rarer occasions one of the bar’s prospects offered a pretty penny for something more specific - an artifact from one of the city’s museums, a celebrity’s prized piece of jewelry, or even something from another villain. A relatively peaceful life compared to the other baddies of NYC.
You wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Heyyyyy!”
Startled, you dropped the bag and stumbled back to see long, white limbs emerge from a black hole in your living room. Spot crawled out to stand upright, his head almost reaching the low ceiling as he hurriedly turned left and right. “Wait, come back! Where’d you go?”
What was he talking about? You were still-
Oh. Right.
Looking down at the space where your body should’ve been, you willed it to appear again. Your power must’ve triggered on instinct. Once Spot saw you he lit up, walking toward you with arms outstretched. “There you are!”
Still on edge, the sight of him suddenly coming at you sent you dodging to let him grasp at empty air.
For a second he stayed like that, contemplating the emptiness in his arms, and when you realized he had been trying to hug you something equal parts giddy and guilty fluttered in your ribcage. Something you squashed down just as fast. Remembering himself, Spot turned to you with an awkward laugh. “I get it, too soon. Sorry, I just get excited sometimes. Been a while since I’ve had a hug…” Now he contemplated you instead, hands on his hips as he peered down. “So that’s your power then? Invisibility?” He nodded. “That’s neat.”
“Get out.”
“Kind of like this dimension’s Spider-Man, but I assume you don’t have all the… Spidery stuff.”
“Get. Out.”
“Hey, hey, relax!” He threw his hands up. “We made plans yesterday, remember? I was going to show you, we didn’t get to finish our-“
“I don’t know how you found me, but listen, you can’t show up here whenever you-“
“What’s all that?” He pointed at your lumpy bag on the floor.
“None of your business! And don’t change the subject! This is my home, you can’t just-“
The bag fell through the floor, leaving behind a small portal as another opened in front of Spot so he could catch and root through it. “Oh, just cash. And not much, either… I could help you with that.”
“You mean team up? Not a chance. I work alone.”
“Let me guess...” But when he guessed it didn’t sound like he believed it. “By choice?”
You could’ve sworn your eye twitched. Was he doing this on purpose, could he actually see through you, or was he just lonely enough to jump on the little attention you gave him yesterday regardless of what he had to do to get more? With his ability, if he really wanted to pester you, then you couldn’t brush him off like you did with everybody else, so on the chance that this was a simple misunderstanding you tried to explain yourself. “Look, just because I talked to you yesterday doesn’t mean we’re all buddy-buddy. You can’t just break in-“
“Didn’t break anything. The power of holes, baby! And it’s only going to get better. Kind of blew up my apartment last night with a homemade mini-collider after we saw each other, but it was worth it! Check it out!” He showed off his body.
Automatically you glanced, then caught yourself, quickly shifting your eyes away. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“My holes! Look at my holes!”
You covered your eyes. “Oh god...”
“There’s more of them than there used to be!”
“Just stop talking.”
Caught up in his own world now, Spot’s volume rose as he rambled on. “Now I have the juice to get to more dimensions with colliders, and once I’ve found enough I’ll finally get my revenge on Spider-Man! Not only for blowing up that first collider and turning me into this, not only for making me lose my job, for making everyone, even my own family, refuse to look at me, but also for treating me like a joke after everything he put me through!”
Out of nowhere he became quiet. “No one will even look at me… Except you.”
The way he laughed made you glad he didn’t have a facial expression to go with it. “Yeah, you…” He shook a pointed finger at you. “You’ll watch. I’ll make sure of it. That little show I put on for you yesterday was nothing. When you see me, really see me, when you see exactly what I’m capable of you’ll be all over me and my holes. We’ll finally be together, in our new home, and we’ll-“
Together? Did he mean…? “Shut up! Just shut up!” You grabbed the sides of his head, yanking him down to eye-level to make sure he listened this time, to make sure you got your message across once and for all. No matter how much you had to lie. If Spot caught wind of your true feelings you’d never get rid of him, and if you let him keep talking, if you learned more about him and got even more attached, you didn’t know if you could keep things the way they were. You didn’t know if you could keep everything you worked so hard for. “I don't care, alright? I’m not your buddy, I’m not your friend, I’m not whatever else you’re thinking of! I want nothing to do with you! My life is perfect the way it is and I don’t need you in it, so just get out and leave me alone!”
When you finished the room was dead silent, no sound coming out of the open void between your hands, but knowing he could see out of it made his gaze that much heavier as you waited for a response, for him to leave or even lash out. Anything but that lifeless chasm inches away from you. Without his eyes, without a face, there was no way to know what he was thinking. No way to know what was going to happen.
Finally he broke the silence. “Not going to lie, this is kind of hot.”
It took a moment to process, but once you did you seethed, absolutely mortified. “You…”
“I mean, what you said still hurt, but everything else? Wow. Good stuff.”
You shoved him away. “I swear, I’m going to-“
“Going to what?” He stood to full height again. “Yell at me all you want, we can have our fun, but don’t forget I’m still the one with the advantage here. You’re just invisible, but me, I can be everywhere! Don’t worry though, I know how it feels to be invisible too. I know why you watched me at the bar, why you talked to me, why you touched me just now. You want the same thing I do! You just need a liiiittle push out of the ol’ comfort zone.” His next words came out more sincere. “I get being scared of change, believe me, I went through the scariest change there is, but I think you’ll like this one. When I’m done with my plans you won’t be invisible ever again. Not with me around.”
Taking a step back, you narrowed your eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
If he had teeth you were sure he would’ve been smiling. “Just that I won’t let you stay out of sight for long.”
Fixing your eyes to the floor, you tightened your fists, sick of looking at him, sick of being looked at by him, and most importantly, sick of how he made you feel. You had spent years perfecting this lifestyle, protecting your independence. Ever since you got your powers you’d been using them to gain and keep the freedom you once dreamed of, and you weren’t going to let one mistake take that away. Even if you wanted a partner there was no way Spot would stop at simply being a normal, healthy couple. How long had he been watching when you thought no one was looking, when you thought you hid so well? If you had never approached him he might’ve done something anyway, but you weren’t going to stand for this, not after everything you’d been through to get where you were.
You took a deep breath, summoning the fire left within you. He hadn’t won yet. “John, was it?”
His voice gave it away. “How do you…?”
“Loose lips sink ships. Well, you don’t have lips, but you should be more careful with your real identity, even around other villains. Especially around other villains. Just because I’m invisible doesn’t mean I’m innocent, and it doesn’t mean I’ll bow to your whims just because you bothered to look at me. Which I never asked for, by the way.” On a roll now, you indulged in a smile, drinking in his silence. “And you’re wrong about your powers too. You can be anywhere, not everywhere. You’re not some god, and you can’t just take whatever you want. Not from me.”
Spot just stood there stiffly, and you’d never felt so smug in your life.
Then, his tone deadpan, he stated your full, legal name.
Your mouth hung open in shock, the blood in your veins like burning ice as a portal opened behind him and he started to step backwards into it. “You should be careful too. You’re not the only villain here.”
Just like that, he was gone.
And you had a feeling when he told you to be careful he wasn’t talking about your identity.
His name was Johnathan Ohnn.
You were pretty sure, anyway. He wasn’t the only John who ever worked for Alchemax but he seemed to be the one most involved with the collider incident, the secret underground particle accelerator that exploded over a year ago and carved out a burnt hole in Brooklyn. After searching the internet for “John” and “collider” you eventually found mentions of him on some old articles about the company. Not one to keep up with the news, you previously only knew bits and pieces of the incident. For a while afterwards the bar regulars couldn’t stop gossiping about Kingpin’s failed experiment, about Spider-Man’s involvement, multiple Spider-Men’s involvement, wild rumors flying around about what really happened, and you doubted most of their blabber was true. However, back then you didn’t care to find answers for yourself, too preoccupied with your own life.
Maybe you should’ve paid more attention though, because that collider must’ve been the one that transformed John from the bespectacled man with long, dark, wavy hair and a beard smiling shyly on your screen to the faceless villain who broke into your house last night and threatened you with a good time. If he had been living like that for an entire year, ostracized by others and utterly unfamiliar to himself… He didn’t just lose his job, he lost his entire life as he knew it. The thought sat heavy in your heart. His obsession with you, the one person who showed a speck of interest in the new him, might’ve been a long time coming.
But you were still going to avoid it.
Research wasn’t all you’d been getting up to. After Spot’s visit last night you packed a bag of essentials plus the money you stole and snuck out of the city using your invisibility, and now you were checking into a dingy motel for the night before continuing your journey, leaving everything behind. You didn’t leave much though, not physically. Thankfully you lived light, a holdover from when you first got your powers and repeatedly moved around the city, paranoid of someone figuring out your secret if you stayed in one place too long. And, like always, paranoia paid off. Unlocking your room with the motel key, you quickly locked the door behind you and made sure the windows were locked too before closing the blinds, and once your camera check was complete you tossed your bag onto the bed.
It sank through.
You frantically grabbed at where it used to be, then sank down yourself, screaming as you fell through complete darkness and staggered into your apartment bedroom, the bag nowhere in sight. “No no no…!”
“Yes!”
A horizontal hole over your bed spat out Spot, who landed on his stomach and held himself up by the elbows, hands supporting his head as his feet kicked. “What are we arguing about, exactly?”
“Give me my fucking stuff back!”
“Is that any way to speak to your one and only?” With a long, white finger he traced circles into your blanket. “Maybe if you ask nicely…”
Your eyes alone tried to burn a hole through him, but then they wandered. Yesterday you couldn’t really see it, but today he had changed enough for it to be noticeable - Spot really did have more holes now. More black on his body. That was what you should’ve been concerned about instead of the fact that he was on your bed, so you forced your focus back to the issue at hand. The words on your tongue tasted like wounded pride, but he could’ve put that bag anywhere and you’d probably never find it on your own. “Give it back. Please.”
“Hmm…” He tilted his head. “No.”
You barely contained the irritation in your voice. “What?”
“Hey, I said maybe. Can’t have you skipping town before the big day, wouldn’t want to run late just because I had to go get you. But you’ll get it back after! Along with everything else. You know what, it should be soon so just go ahead and start packing your things. And I’ll let you set it all up yourself when you get there, I won’t go through your stuff and mess up your whole organizational system. I know how annoying that is. I’ve already seen all of it anyway, there’s not a lot. Kind of sad, actually. I should get you a gift or something...”
Was this that ‘new home’ thing he was talking about yesterday? As if you’d go anywhere with him. You had something more important to ask about anyway. “How did you even find me?”
“I’ll give it to you, your power made the search… Challenging. But I figured you’d have to stop somewhere eventually, and you probably can’t use your power while you’re asleep, right? Actually, I guess you wouldn’t know because you’d be, well, asleep.” He scooched over on the bed. “Here, why don’t you try it? I’ll tell you in the morning if you stayed invisible.” With a dreamy sigh his mind went elsewhere. “Our first experiment together…”
“I’m not going to-“ You pinched the bridge of your nose, hoping your hand helped cover your embarrassment. “I’ll just leave without my stuff and not stop anywhere.” It’d be a pain but nothing you couldn’t deal with.
“What, and just… Never sleep again? Come on,” he whined, “don’t make me find you passed out in a ditch somewhere.” Then he paused. “Though it’d be kind of cute, wouldn’t it? Nursing you back to health? Could be a real bonding experience, bring us closer and all.”
Crossing your arms, you turned away to keep your expression hidden. “Nevermind. I’m definitely not leaving now.” Not until you came up with another plan, at least. Where were you supposed to hide from a guy who could be anywhere?
Still positioned like some schoolgirl fawning over her latest crush, he gazed at you with that faceless face. “That’s more like it.”
Leaning back against a wall, you sighed. Your entire M.O. was nonconfrontation, no weapons or fighting, just stealth, so you weren’t sure if you could just beat Spot into leaving, especially if he wasn’t lying about fighting Spider-Man. Perhaps eventually you could find a way to use his identity against him, but for now you couldn’t get rid of Spot if he didn’t want to go. At least with you he didn’t seem eager to resort to violence. You could take advantage of that. As long as he was here you could get some information straight from the source, you could talk to him just a little longer. For information. “So… I’m assuming this ‘big day’ is when you get your revenge on Spider-Man. Do I really need to watch? What’re you going to do, kick the kid around a little?”
He waited an uncomfortably long moment to answer.
“You’ll just have to see.”
Now he flipped over to lay on his back, like he had just collapsed onto the bed after a long day. All sprawled out. On your bed. “I’m a little tired of kicking kids around anyway. Had enough of that at the last collider.”
“Wait, you’re actually kicking kids around?” Your fingers went to your temple. “Do I even want to know?”
“Apparently there’s a Spider-Man in every dimension, and a lot of them are teenagers. And they all think they’re so funny…” He groaned. “I’m just ready for this self-improvement journey to be over. That collider was supposed to be it, that one was supposed to give me the last chunk of power I needed, but I have to find one more. One last collider, after all the searching I’ve already done.” Posed like a teenager himself, he almost sounded like one too when he huffed. “Seriously, how many realities does a guy have to look through just to obtain ultimate multidimensional power?”
Multidimensional…? “Great. The Multiverse thing again. You really think it exists?”
At this he sat up. “Of course it exists! I was telling you about it that night at the bar, did you think I was crazy or someth- Oh. Yeah. You did think I was crazy.” Getting up from the bed, you got a stark reminder of his height when he stalked toward you, making you reflexively press yourself into the wall and prepare to bolt, but he stopped far away enough to hold out his hand. “How about I just show you?”
You scrutinized it. “And how are you going to just ‘show me’ the Multiverse? Don’t you need one of those super-colliders or something?”
“I did say my holes could take me anywhere.”
Studying his large, white hand, the significance of his offers weren’t lost on you. Both of them. One of them was a look at something you only considered to be Kingpin’s pipe dream - the Multiverse. Could Spot’s portals really connect to other dimensions? Infinite universes, endless possibilities, countless copies and variations. Infinity itself in the palm of his hand. He really would be too powerful for his own good. It was the other offer though that really got to you, that really stirred up the specific, painful yearning for something you knew you shouldn’t accept: the palm itself. His hand.
He almost sounded as if he was anticipating your answer just as much as you were. “Well?”
It was enough for something inside of you to snap, suddenly grasping his hand in yours, your eyes now focused on where his own should’ve been.
“Show me.”
Who else would get a chance to receive a personal tour of the Multiverse from a man newly forged by its own energy? Anyone would accept it for that reason alone, there was no other reason worth acknowledging, no other one that mattered. Or even existed.
“Oh, uh- I didn’t think you’d actually…” He stared at your hand in his, just holding it, after a moment daring to smooth his thumb over the back as if just now giving himself permission to realize it was really there, your pulse rising as the interaction dragged on. Before you could retract your hand though he squeezed, his grip firm as a hole opened up in your room. “Oh what the heck! First date, here we come!”
First date? “Wait, this isn’t a-“
He leapt into it, pulling you along with him.