Autobots, Assemble!
Part 2:
Galvatron Rising
Chapter 2
"So precisely who is this 'Wrecking Crew' we will be engaging?" Galvatron demanded over his comm. link as he made his way to the launch bay. The Avengers had gone up top to the Mansion proper in order grab their respective vehicles out of the side hangar/garage where they were stored. Why they didn't just employ the groundbridge they had used to reassemble Team Prime was beyond him, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that villain groups like A.I.M or Hydra could easily trace the massive burst of energy it caused.
Which meant Stark was being cautious and plainly did not want to make a situation direr by adding to the number of problems they were going to have to deal with.
[Not a big threat.] Cap replied. [They're four low threat street thugs enhanced by gamma radiation. Only two of them are armed. Known for their strength but –]
[They aren't really known for being very bright.] Hawkeye finished smugly. [Play your strategic cards right and they'll end up taking each other out by accident. Trust me when I say that energy shield is gonna come in handy.]
[Also they're above taking random civilian hostages to level the playing field. The Wrecker was dumb enough to pull that stunt with Jane a long time ago before our team fully formed and Thor pretty much beat the holy snot out of him.] Stark added in as a vital side note. [Clearly he didn't get memo about not messing with the Asgardian prince's girlfriend.]
The sheer amount of sarcasm in his voice made Galvatron smirk. That was a simple lesson with Thor – mess with the pretty lady paramedic and you get your sorry fender handed to you on a silver platter. Asgardians as a rule tended to be very chivalric it seemed. He filed that information away.
"Would they be bold enough to hold a S.H.I.E.L.D officer hostage?" He wondered curiously.
[I wouldn't say they are above such an act, but I consider it highly unlikely they will do so due to the fact that convoy officers are always armed and have a decent amount of field training, along with being accompanied by a special agent such as Black Widow or Mocking Bird.] Vision informed him rather wordily. [I say it unlikely, but I will not say completely impossible. They simply prefer easy prey.]
Galvatron positioned himself on the modified launch pad. With a gentle lurch it reoriented to face a very large exit tunnel that spilled out into the river. He checked his internal navigation systems, locked onto the distress signal that the endangered convoy vehicle was outputting, and gunned his engine and thrusters.
A load roar echoed around the subterranean launch bay as the alien aircraft shot out in a blur of black and purple. Schools of fish wisely swam out of his way to avoid being rammed. Sunlight filtered through the water above and Galvatron angled upwards towards the surface. He breached the water's surface with a spectacular explosion of water before heading off into the city.
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It took him and the Avengers less than five minutes to zero in on the fighting. Black smoke billowed into the sky from a damaged convoy vehicle. S.H.I.E.L.D officers had taken shelter behind it and were repeatedly firing at a group of villains who were wantonly destroying things. A few officers were already unconscious and suffered broken limbs after clearly trying to charge the criminals.
The officers below spotted the intimidating aircraft in an instant. One of them activated a Bluetooth in his ear and hailed it and the Avengers on the common frequency: [Thank God you're here! I don't know how much longer we could've held out against these maniacs!]
"Tell your men to fall back, Wu. We've got this." Cap said.
[Yes, sir.] Wu replied respectfully. He was seen to motion with his hands and cry out the order to retreat to a safe distance so the heroes could work. The officers seemed relieved for both the aid and the drastically lowered chance of winding up in the Helicarrier infirmary that day.
[Civilians have been evacuated, Agent Wu.] A S.H.I.E.L.D officer reported in. [Area secured.]
[Good.] Wu answered. [That's less for them to worry about. Now we just have to hope that reporters have the sense to stay out of the line of fire…]
[I'll see to that, Wu.] A female voice with Russian inflections told him.
[Thank you, Agent Romanov.] Wu said. [The last thing we need is some half-cocked reporter trying to get good shots and getting caught in the crossfire.]
The common frequency conversation cut off as everyone readied for battle. Wu's men had retreated a good ways down the street and a red haired woman in black Kevlar kept a lookout from atop a nearby building – Black Widow, one of Fury's (if not the best) special agents. She would ensure no one got in the way, and would intervene if the Avengers needed a little help.
"Let's send these bozos back to Ryker's!" Hawkeye shouted from his skycycle.
Hulk growled agreement and instantly leapt for Piledriver, swinging two big green fists at the criminal's face. Piledriver blocked the blows until Ms. Marvel blasted him in the chest and knocked him into the side of a building. He fell senseless to the ground.
Thunderball took notice of the scary looking black and purple aircraft hovering above the streets and took aim, hurling the wrecking ball upwards. To his surprise the aircraft gracefully dodged the attack. Just by the way it moved told him this wasn't your run-of-the-mill jet or pilot.
'If there even is a pilot.' He realized with a shock. Was there such a thing as a haunted jet? This couldn't be one of those Autobots – it was way too terrifying looking for a friendly 'Bot.
[Galv quit messing around with him.] Wasp told him. [Land on one of the buildings and use your holo-form. Remember, you're trying to look like one of us, and also you don't really have any weapons the way you are right now. Just stepping on these guys might kill them – and we don't kill.]
[They're gamma enhanced, but that doesn't make them as tough as Abomination.] Stark clarified.
[Understood.]
The jet pulled back and flew up to the same building where Black Widow was. Soundwave had done some research on her one bored day and he had been shocked to find that she was labeled as one of the deadliest women on Earth. She didn't exactly look the role.
"Ah. So you're the one that Fury warned me not to shoot on sight because you were with them now." She noted while scanning the streets below.
Galvatron hunkered down near her and switched on the holo-form, running over to the edge to see how the fight below was getting on. An aerial surprise attack would be good to use on the Wrecker, who was preoccupied with Thor and Cap. Bulldozer was dealing with Vision and Ant-Man. Hawkeye was helping move the injured S.H.I.E.L.D officers to safety with Panther's aid. Wasp was being a nuisance to all three villains – no surprise there.
"If you take out the Wrecker, the others will scatter." Black Widow told him. Did nothing surprise this woman?
The holo-form gave a curt nod and launched off the roof of the building, keeping his wings tucked in till the last second and then unfurling them just above the Wrecker's head, distracting him. Thor took his opening and brought his hammer down on the burly man's head. The Wrecker blocked it - barely and rather badly. Cap hurled his shield, striking him squarely in the mid-section, winding him, but he recovered quickly enough.
"Heh! So the Avengers have a new black sheep on the team!" Wrecker taunted to the black-winged flier above him.
Galvatron frowned and growled. That sentence alone warned him the villain was trying to antagonize him into a rage, but he was self-aware enough to realize that it was working and properly fight against it. That was one of the oldest tricks in the book.
This man wanted a fight, did he?
Then he was sure as the Pit going to give him one.
With a snarl of rage he swooped down and landed, summoning his energy blade he had been gifted with. He would use the shield only as a defensive item in this fight. Mercilessly he began hacking and slashing and swiping at the Wrecker who struggled to block the blows with his crowbar. Wrecker was an offensive fighter by nature – being suddenly forced into solely defensive moves had thrown him off balance.
It was all too easy for the ex-gladiator to force Wrecker against the side of a building, trapping him. He lifted the energy blade up and was about to bring it down when someone cried out "Galvatron! Look out!"
Something heavy and round and metallic rammed into him with two tons of force and sent him flying sideways and into the side of the damaged convoy vehicle. The vehicle flipped over on itself as the kinetic energy of the impact was transferred and the flier found himself lying on his side, pain lacing through his wings.
Thunderball laughed hoarsely. Wrecker soon joined him.
"This guy ain't so tough after all!" They sneered at him. This earned them another furious snarl as the flier struggled to ignore the pain in his wings and get up despite his injuries. He was not about to go down just yet. He'd dealt with pain far more agonizing over the centuries than possibly broken wings.
"A gladiator of Kaon is not defeated so easily." He hissed, keeping a firm grip on his energy blade. His red eyes flashed angrily, challengingly. It was an open dare for them to do their worst – he would beat them anyway.
"Let's test that." Thunderball smirked. He hefted his wrecking ball and hurled it at him, aiming for his head. Right before his eyes the metal ball seemed to split in two and fly past either side of the Avengers' new guy, falling to the pavement harmlessly. The new guy twirled his blade with a flourish, smirking.
Wrecker charged him with a bellow of anger, swinging his crowbar with all his might. To his consternation it impacted against an energy shield, and the new guy didn't even flinch from the attack. Instead, he kicked him to unbalance him and swung the shield at Wrecker's face with enough force to knock him flat on his back and render him unconscious.
Down the street, the S.H.I.E.L.D officers stared at him in open-mouthed shock. Fury had told them the Avengers had a new member but holy hell was this guy incredible! He'd just dealt with two members of the Wrecking Crew by himself! That was a feat only Thor and the Hulk could boast!
Now that only left an unarmed Thunderball and Bulldozer to deal with, and Bulldozer was more or less dealt with – Thor and Hulk had both ganged up on the wanna-be juggernaut and were bashing him up with help from the rest of the Avengers. Needless to say, Bulldozer didn't stand the remotest of chances.
Thunderball made the idiotic choice to rush Galvatron when unarmed. He swung a right hook at him only to have Galvatron block him perfectly and kick his legs out from under him.
Galvatron planted a foot on the villain's chest and pointed his sword at Thunderball's throat with a smirk of victory. Thunderball's eyes went wide in fright as he assumed that he would actually kill him.
"As I said, defeating a gladiator of Kaon is no small task. Only Soundwave and Optimus Prime himself can boast such an accomplishment. You were doomed to defeat before you even challenged me."
"Y-You're one of them, aren't you?" Thunderball stammered, keeping a wary watch on the energy blade held mere inches from his neck. This new guy wasn't joking around.
To his relief, the new Avenger (apparently named Galvatron) lifted his blade away from his neck and turned to address Captain America, though he still kept his booted foot on his chest to keep him from running off or squirming.
"Captain, I have this one secured." He called over to him. "Are the others dealt with?"
"Yep." The super soldier replied. "Let's drag them over to the undamaged convoy vehicles and let S.H.I.E.L.D finish transferring them. There should be power-dampening cuffs in them. Since yours is still alert, make sure to keep a strong grip on him, alright?"
Galvatron nodded and forced the villain to his feet. Thunderball was wise enough not to struggle and let the black-winged flier escort him over to one of the undamaged vehicles and let him clamp on the specialized cuffs without fuss. He apparently figured out that fighting him was not a good idea.
The S.H.I.E.L.D officers were quick to return to their respective posts and thank the team for the much needed assistance. One of them, upon being told that the new guy was really the holo-form of a Cybertronian, completely geeked out with a very girlish sounding squeal that resulted in pretty much everyone staring at him like he was a nutcase.
"No way! Can I see what you look like – like, for real? I mean what you actually look like?" He sounded British. "I've never gotten to see one your species before! Well I mean I have via the Internet and descriptions from Quartermaine, but never up close and personal!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Fitz. But he is parked up on that building over there with Widow. You can at least get a look at his vehicle mode." Wu said. "I'll have Natasha take some snapshots – ah, with your permission of course, sir."
"I have no argument against it." Galvatron said. "But I say let the scientist have his fun, so I will humor him and drop this disguise."
Fitz gave another girly squeal as the holo-form flickered and vanished. Honestly, if there was ever a man who looked ready to spontaneously combust from sheer pent-up excitement alone, Fitz was it. Galvatron found it quite funny, personally.
Up on the rooftop, Widow turned to the alien aircraft with a sassy-looking smile. "You big suck up. You just want a chance to show off to the resident geek, don't you? And watch him squeal, run circles around you and faint like a fanboy."
The aircraft's engine rumbled in a chuckle. "Guilty as charged, Black Widow. And personally I don't see the harm in it, do you?"
Natasha considered and finally shrugged, sighing. "Fine. Just be careful with Fitz, okay? He scares easy and he's kind of nervy. Be gentle with him."
"I will endeavor not to frighten him." He reassured her. He activated his engine and levitated up into the air, then hovered back down to street level where Fitz was literally bouncing on his heels in anticipation. Was it wrong of him to find that rather endearing? This was practically a humanized, geeky version of the Autobot Bluestreak and it really was rather adorable.
He landed in front of Fitz and let the S.H.I.E.L.D techie run hyperactive circles around him with a camera and scanner.
"Hey! Can I get a sample of your Energon so Simmons can study it? She's been begging for a sample since she heard about your kind. I mean, she's gotten samples from mines and stuff but never a sample from a live Cybertronian. Can I? Please, please, please?"
Galvatron sighed. "Alright, alright. Do you have something to obtain it with?" Primus, it was like dealing with a sparkling. "Or do I have to contact Ratchet for one of his giant needles of death?"
Fitz grinned and pulled out a specialized hypodermic needle with a diamond tip. He skirted around the sentient aircraft, searching for a place to drive it in, but came up empty-handed after five minutes of intense searching. In vehicle mode, a Cybertronian's armor plating covered all exposed lines and proto-form in order to protect it from planetary elements and space phenomena like nebulas and ion storms.
Galvatron gave him a warning to stand back and dramatically reverted out of his vehicular disguise, towering over the ecstatic and awed agent like a titan from mythology.
Fitz squealed again as he gazed up at the black and purple giant, and Galvatron was surprised to find it wasn't out of fright but glee. Widow had told him that Fitz was rather nervy and easily scared, so perhaps she had simply underestimated his bravery in the face of sentient living technology from another planet and the chance to learn something fascinating about said living technology.
Wow. That….actually sounded strangely plausible when he thought about it.
He knelt down and extended an arm so Fitz could reach the exposed Energon line. He hardly felt the tiny hypodermic pierce the line and in only a second or two the techie had his sample.
Fitz sprinted back to one of the convoy vehicles, shouting back at him: "Thanks! You're amazing! She's gonna love this! Be prepared to get spammed with thank-you messages from her for the next week!"
Wasp giggled at the pleased smile on the mech's face. He clearly enjoyed not having people run screaming from him and getting a spastic, friendly techie like Fitz on his side might come in handy later on. Befriending S.H.I.L.E.D agents was typically a pretty hard task due to their suspicion. Fitz would spread a good word about him among the other agents and help his reputation with Hill.
"Come on. We'd better get back. Or if you want to you can guard the convoy from the air and make sure it gets to its destination in once piece." Cap offered.
Galvatron readily agreed, along with Clint and Ms. Marvel. They would provide aerial cover if anything else should go wrong during the remainder of the journey. Everyone else would return to base and monitor for trouble elsewhere in the city.
Clint revved his skycyle's engine and Ms. Marvel hovered above the villain-occupied convoy vehicle. The mech reverted back to vehicle mode and joined them, letting his engine idle until the convoy was ready to depart.
"You're good to go, Wu. We've got your back." Ms. Marvel told him over her ID card.
The vehicles below them shuddered as their massive engines roared to life and started off down the street single file. The three Avengers took off after them, maintaining a sharp look-out for signs or hints of trouble. Galvatron detected nothing on his onboard scanners, so he let himself relax a little.
Hawkeye struck up conversation with him right away. "Looks like you got yourself a fan already. Nice work."
Ms. Marvel smiled at the uncomfortable stutter of Galvatron's engine. His personality had completely changed since his possession by Unicron. Previously egotistical and with a temper to rival the Hulk's he was now toned down and surprisingly modest concerning compliments directed at him. It was encouraging. Optimus would be pleased to hear of his progress.
"One S.H.I.E.L.D technician on my side is hardly applause-worthy, Barton." He argued.
"Not so." She argued. "Technically you've got two – Fitz and Simmons. In regards to the 'evil mastermind with an underhanded goal' that Hill's probably trying to make you look like, that's impressive considering her rank. As Second-in-Command her words carry a lot of weight. Getting those two on your side just like that is a huge accomplishment."
"'Sides, you've got Fury, too." Hawkeye added. "That's the ace up your sleeve: if Hill gives you trouble, he'll defend you simply because we're vouching for you and he respects us. Well, most of us. I still don't think he likes me or the Hulk."
Below, the convoy made a right onto another street. Far ahead, the ocean could be seen shimmering dark turquoise. The destination of some of the prisoners was a large prison out in the middle of the bay called the Raft, while others would be taken to Ryker's Island Penitentiary – after all, the Wrecking Crew weren't the only captured prisoners being transferred.
[Those with the Wrecking Crew split off to Ryker's. Everyone else to the Raft. Avengers, you can pick who goes with whom. We'll wait for a decision if you need us to.] Wu relayed.
"I will accompany those heading to Ryker's." Galvatron told him. "If that is acceptable?"
He got the feeling Wu was smiling on his end. [Fine by me. Having a Cybertronian watch our backs there would be nice, frankly.]
"Then we'll head to the Raft with the others." Hawkeye finalized. He turned to the sentient aircraft at his side, winking. "Have fun. Ryker's is where a lot of Spidey's bad guys are housed. I got a rumor that he's on his way to help test some of the new security systems. Jameson's there to watch. Should be interesting."
And with that, he revved his skycycle's engine and followed his batch of convoy vehicles with Ms. Marvel behind him, the energy manipulator turning and giving him an encouraging thumbs up and a wave back in his direction as she flew off.
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Personally the decision to accompany the Ryker's vehicles stemmed from the observation that Fitz was one of the agents in that particular bunch. One look at the man told him he didn't know how to fight very well, if at all – he was skinny and lanky and almost klutzy in appearance. Simple reasoning told him he was only there to ensure that the power-dampening cuffs didn't fail.
He was rather surprised himself how protective he had become of the planet's dominant species, whereas before he hadn't cared one way or the other. But he was different now, a defender instead of an assaulter.
Fitz kept up a steady stream of comments and questions for him as they continued along. Some of the questions were so technical in nature that he had to confess he couldn't answer them. Wu tried to keep Fitz from pestering the Cybertronian out of politeness, but was surprised to find that Galvatron didn't mind answering.
Galvatron was so busy answering a question that he almost didn't notice the spot of movement on his scanners until too late. He exclaimed incoherently and wheeled around at the last second.
And wound up with a red and blue costumed human impacting into his front end with a loud WHH-THUNK that honestly sounded quite painful to him.
[What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?] Fitz demanded worriedly.
He was relieved and astonished to hear the mech chuckle. "I am fine, Agent Fitz. It would seem I have picked up an accidental hitchhiker who was trying to surprise me. I can only hope said hitchhiker is uninjured as well."
On cue, his hitchhiker groaned: "Owwww." He struggled up to a better position, rubbing his head with one hand while keeping another and his feet on his vehicle mode.
Galvatron was amazed that he hadn't just slid off and fallen to the streets below on impact, but his hands and feet stuck to his armor like little magnets. And the intricate web designs indicated who this was and why that had hadn't happened.
"Spider-Man? Are you alright?" He asked.
The wall-crawler continued rubbing his head, groaning out his reply: "Remind me never to do that again. I can already feel a bump forming, and I just know I'm gonna have spectacular bruises by the end of today. Dunno how I'm gonna explain those to Aunt May. 'Oh! Hey Aunt May! Those bruises are because I whacked into a giant vehicle-formed alien robot while trying to hitch a ride from him! No biggie!'!"
Galvatron sighed in relief. If he'd been out of vehicle mode he would've been smiling. This young man had just rammed into him, had accidently hurt himself in the process, and he was still being humorous and silly regardless of the dull ache his mild injuries were causing him. That was remarkably admirable.
[Hehe. Guess you found Midtown's resident web-spinner.] Wu guessed in a voice that betrayed he was grinning.
"I was going to ask for a ride formally, but you're probably upset at me now." Spider-Man stated abashedly.
"What? Upset? I'm not upset." Galvatron argued. "I'm thankful you are more or less unharmed from that stunt to be frank. You are more than welcome to a free ride to Ryker's. Hawkeye mentioned to me that you were heading there."
"Really?! You mean it?! Thanks!" He replied happily.
He clambered up and scrambled over and onto his canopy, making himself comfortable right smack in the center. He hunkered down with his hands sticking to the aircraft's grey armor to keep him from falling. At least Galvatron didn't have to worry about him losing his grip.
"Consider it my returning the favor for your friendliness towards me on Cybertron, even after all I had done." He said as he started off after the convoy.
Spider-Man's laughter was the most cheerful, spark-lifting thing he'd heard in his long life. Young and care-free and unrestrained, it was the laughter of a pleased child without a care in the world, happy to simply make others happy. "Aw, you're welcome. I'm just a naturally friendly person."
"So it would seem." He chuckled. The hero's mask hid it well, but he could almost feel the warmth from the smile he had on his face.
Something seemed to snap in him emotionally. That warmth reminded him so much of Orion; back when warfare hadn't corrupted his innocent spark, back when they'd been friends working towards a common goal. He shuddered at the uncanny likeness.
"Hey…are you alright?" Spider-Man murmured reaching a hand further up and placing it above, where he assumed, the alien's spark chamber would be located. His simple touch helped to soothe the suddenly upset mech.
"Nothing. I'm fine." He replied, shaking off the quaver in his voice. "Thank you, though. For your kindness."
The wall-crawler pulled back with a friendly nod. "No problem."
They arrived at Ryker's Island Penitentiary without further incident. The convoy vehicles disgorged their occupants and the S.H.I.E.L.D officers set about escorting them inside through security much to the Wrecking Crew's chagrin and annoyance.
Spider-Man thanked Galvatron once more and nimbly leapt off, permitting the sentient aircraft to activate his holo-form and observe the fruits of his labor. It was satisfying to see these criminals off the street. Wrecker and his lackeys were a significant danger to innocents. As for Spider-Man's captured villains that had also been in the vehicles – they looked just as dangerous.
"Come on in if you want!" Spider-Man offered. "I'm gonna make JJ blow his top. You'll love it!"
He strolled inside via the ceiling instead of the floor. It was disorienting to observe for someone who had never seen his powers used so casually – he was literally walking upside-down as though he was walking right side-up!
"I'm betting what you are doing right now causes more than a few turned heads here."
"What? My walking on the ceiling? Psh. Nah. I do this all the time!" He chirped with a short laugh. "Still haven't figured out how I don't get dizzy, though."
"No, not that specifically. I meant your going into a maximum security prison where many of your enemies are incarcerated. I understand is it to help test the security systems, but….even you must appreciate the risk involved. Should a break-out occur – ?"
The wall-crawler nodded grimly. "That's why I'm helping test the security systems that Stark Industries set up – the place switched suppliers once it was found out that Green Goblin was the CEO of Oscorp. If I can't get out then it means they can't get out. I do this pretty frequently, anyway. I'm well known to the staff."
As he said this, a twenty-ish year old female warden strolled down the hall and stopped to greet him. "Hey Spidey! Here for another 'dungeon run', huh? I swear you're going to give Jameson an ulcer before long. Who's your friend?"
Galvatron lowered his gaze rather shyly.
Spider-Man came to his rescue. "Oh! Hey Amanda! This is Galvatron. He's the Avengers' new guy and he offered to protect the convoy on its way here. He even offered me a lift so I didn't waste my web-fluid. And you wanna know the best part? This is just a hard-light hologram – he's really a giant robot. How cool is that?"
Amanda smiled amiably at him. "Nice to meet you. I hope you'll do your best to keep web-head here out of trouble for us. We're pretty certain he does these partly to annoy Jameson when he comes to observe – it's his way of one-upping him without actually getting in his face to do it." She giggled. "Best of luck with the run!"
She waved back at them as she continued down the hall to wherever her destination was.
"Like I said – I'm well known here." Spider-Man repeated with a certain amount of pride. Galvatron smiled faintly up at him. He was rather like Wasp in a way – constantly upbeat and energetic in whatever he did, and possessing a certain, harmlessly brash confidence that complimented his young age.
They turned a few more corners and arrived in a large central control room filled with live camera feed screens. Standing in the middle of the room was a tall man with crisp salt-and-pepper hair wearing a white shirt and tan slacks, his back to them. Monitors sat at various screens around the circular room.
"Oh JJ!" Spider-Man sang innocently, dropping from the ceiling to the floor. "I'm here!"
The man whipped around in an instant, fastening on the wall-crawler with glare that seemed oddly pleased. He grinned maliciously.
"About time!" Jameson said contemptuously. Then he seemed to finally take notice of Spider-Man's dark companion. "Oh don't tell me he has a partner now!" He complained.
Galvatron was liking this man less and less by the second. He was blustering and overbearing and rude and rubbed him up the wrong way the more he spoke. How in the name of the Allspark did the youngster put up with him?
"Respect is a word you clearly do not know." Galvatron snarled, his own anger inadvertently conjuring his energy blade. Jameson took a step back. "This young man risks his own life daily to ensure that innocents are not harmed and all you can do is berate him."
The wall-crawler laid a hand on him in an effort to calm him down. "Easy big buy. Take it easy."
Galvatron growled and dismissed the blade with a glare at Jameson.
"Hmph. What have I been saying all along about vigilantes? They're just as dangerous as criminals, and he proves it! Both of you prove it!" Jameson snorted. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's –" He pointed at Galvatron. "A former supervillain himself!"
It took all of his willpower for Galvatron not to charge forward and toss the man to the ground. Oh, it was so tempting. But doing that would simply add fuel to Jameson's fire, and it wouldn't help his reputation he was trying to build.
"Why don't you come with me, Galv?" Spider-Man hastily offered, more or less grabbing his arm and dragging out of the control room.
As soon as they were out of ear shot of the control room and on their way to the cell the young man was assigned to the holo-form snarled viciously and demanded: "How do you put up with him?"
"By making him look like a total sucker and managing to escape a supposedly impervious prison cell." He replied lightly. "And also sometimes taking out every single escaped baddie if a break-out occurs. You know – the usual. Ticking him off is the best sport ever invented if you ask me."
Galvatron eyed him with no small amount of wonder in his red eyes. If this is what the young man called 'the usual'….But he could understand the pleasure in ticking someone like Jameson off.
"Besides, I really could use the help if that ends up happening." Spider-Man admitted honestly.
He reached the simple cell. Someone from the control room wirelessly unlocked and opened the door, and with a strange sense of humorous finality it slammed shut, leaving the holo-form staring at a white metal door with no windows to the inside.
"How in the world does he expect to escape from that?" Galvatron wondered idly to himself. He'd briefly glimpsed the inside and the walls and floors were bare with no seams to exposed wiring, and only a single security camera silently observing from an upper corner. Vents in the room would no doubt release a knockout gas. Not even the simple furniture could be exploited – they were bolted to the floor.
If he pulled this off then he would officially call the young hero an escape artist to rival Houdini.
Despite being locked in a cell he was still allowed to use his communicator to speak with Galvatron. No one thought it unusual, and the topic of conversation had nothing to do with the escape – he was just telling him about the various inmates the holo-form should be aware of and how best to beat them should a break-out occur. It was literally idle strategic talk to pass the time and keep Galvatron from getting restless.
After all, he was there merely to assist if things went wrong. He was the back-up.
In the control room, Jameson was getting more and more pleased. Almost an hour had passed and the wall-crawling menace hadn't made a move. It was looking like he was stuck there this time around. Stark tech was clearly un-manipulatable and far more reliable.
Then Spider-Man turned to face the camera and fired off a thick glob of sticky webbing, whiting out of the screen and hiding his next actions from prying eyes.
Unseen by Jameson, one of the monitor-watchers grinned triumphantly. "He's started his run."
Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's a look at chapter two of the sequel! I did a nod to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D by sticking Fitz and Simmons in! *smiles* I just love those two, and you will be seeing more of them – plus Coulson and maybe Mae. I will only be using thosecharacters though – the Cinematic Universe is very different from the EMH Universe.
