The Newyorker: Power play

Darkness

Danny shot up from his bed as a gasp escaped his mouth. Danny caught a glimpse of himself and not only was he drenched in sweat and twitching, but he could also see a thin translucent veil of black energy surrounding his body. He wiped his face with his hands as his breathing slowed down, and he tried to recall his dream. He began to rub his temples when something strange happened.

"Danny," He heard a deep voice whisper to him. His body went cold as he fell off the bed. He backed himself into a corner of the bedroom, frantically searching for the source of the voice.

"I'm going crazy," Danny thought out loud when he realized that he had probably imagined the noise.

"No, you're not," The voice from before replied. Danny almost turned on his powers as he once again searched for the source of the voice.

"Where are you?" Danny asked.

"In your head," The deep voice replied and shortly after, Danny's consciousness was transported beyond his physical body.

He recognized where he was almost immediately. It was the black void where he had fully unlocked his powers and first encountered the black tiger, but it seemed different. There was no blue orb, and the big wall he had broken through was gone. As Danny took in his surroundings, he finally saw something of interest. A large black cage with a black tiger laying down in it. The tiger almost immediately made eye contact with him and, for some reason, he walked towards it.

"What are you," Was the first thing Danny said once he was face to face with the caged animal.

"It's a long story," The tiger replied, and it stood up and walked closer towards the bars of the cage.

"Well, I've got time," Danny rebutted.

"As you've probably guessed, your new powers are because of me," The tiger responded as its eyes flared in a black glow.

"Did Hydra put you in me?" Danny questioned.

"Don't insult me with such speculations. I am a celestial entity," The tiger growled.

"Celestial entity? What the hell is that supposed to mean and why do you keep bothering me?" Danny Asked.

"Long ago, I was trapped in your bloodline during a cosmic anomaly. Ever since, I've been passed down from parent to child, laying dormant until their seventeenth birthday," The tiger explained as it paced in its cage.

"I'm only sixteen," Danny corrected

"Wrong, you turned seventeen the same day you were famed, on February 22nd," The tiger rebutted.

"How can you be so sure?" Danny asked

"I just told you I've done this before and beside I've unfortunately had to spectate your life for the last seventeen years," The tiger said as it sat on the ground

"Wait ancestors? So you were trapped in one of my parents?" Danny as he took a step closer to the cage.

"Yes, in your father, and in his mother and her father and the list goes on," The tiger said as it yawned.

"How far back have you been in my family?" Danny asked as he sat cross-legged on the floor.

"I've lost count," The tiger replied in disinterest.

"Wait, if you were dormant until my 17th birthday, then how have I used your powers before that," Danny asked.

"I'm not quite sure. I theorize that all the experiments Hydra has done on you may have destabilized our connection and caused my energy to leak out of you," The tiger explained.