Gargan's a jackass. Adrian knows this. Hell, if he could have 'Mac Gargan is a jackass' branded onto his chest, he'd do it in the heartbeat. Adrian Toomes would take a dirt nap letting every soul know how much he hated Mac Gargan.
That didn't stop the assault on the Avengers Tower he had planned from being any less badass.
The attack on Avengers Tower (The name 'The Tower Formerly Known as Avengers' had been deemed too long, even though everyone got the joke) had taken weeks of planning. Adrian had been on the mend during those weeks, and was now back to his old self. He was doubly glad for it, considering that Otto had been thinking about training someone else to use the wings if Adrian hadn't recovered in time.
He had to wonder if sheer spite and jealousy of someone else donning his wings had helped speed up the healing process.
It had taken two more weeks to get everything moved into position. Otto and Gargan were the masterminds behind the logistics of it, although now and then they would go to Adrian for advice on how he could implement aerial support. It surprised him that Gargan would ask him for his advice at first, but the man seemed genuinely want to hear what Adrian had to say.
Of course none of them had the experience Adrian had when it came to aerial logistics, so it wasn't a complete mystery, but Adrian was beginning to suspect that Gargan was much more shrewd than his first impression let on. This relieved Adrian, but also made him nervous. The kill switch was proof that Gargan probably saw through his own false motivation of greed. No doubt there were other bits of insurance that Gargan had gotten for himself to ensure none of the others betrayed him, hidden away somehow that only he knew.
Adrian hated himself for not just flying off, but that voice in his head was always there, reminding him why he couldn't.
Gargan will wait until you're high enough and flip the kill switch. You will fall and die, and even if Liz or Doris are alive, you'll be too dead for it to matter.
A car was out of the question as well. The gas stations had gone dry a good month ago, with diesel being a hot commodity that was now worth killing over.
"Is like Mad Max!" Aleksei had shouted after Adrian had made the observation one evening.
It was. The whole world had gone from costumed bozos dropping entire cities to people grouping up to protect precious resources with guns, knives, and whatever else they could scrap together. Some wild west shit. Real Road Warrior stuff.
They were living the dream now, if that's what you wanted to call it.
Adrian didn't know what to call it, even on good days. Even on days when thoughts of Liz being caught up in all of this didn't make him want to go straight for Gargan's throat. He couldn't, even if he tried. Mac was never without some of his guys around, his loyal thugs from jail and before that, people who know it was better to be at his side than in his way. They'd drop Adrian in a heartbeat if he tried anything.
The rage was just below the surface. Utter fury at being denied the chance to find his girl, his wife – the two people he'd loved more than life itself. He'd kept it deep inside, buried, waiting. Some of it he was saving for Gargan, for when the time was right.
Right now was for the rest.
Avengers Tower had been a hot piece of real estate once New York City had gone to complete shit. As civilians and just regular folks fled, criminals and gangs struggled for turf. Avengers Tower was seen as a beacon – as a trophy. If you had a criminal enterprise in New York City – which there was no shortage of – Avengers Tower was the icing on the cake. The ultimate poker hand when it came to pissing contests. An arc reactor keeping the lights on was awfully nice too.
Adrian could see why Gargan wanted it. Hell, part of Adrian wanted it to. He was tired of living in a warehouse. If Mac Gargan was going to press gang him into his criminal endeavors, he might as well be forced to cooperate with a great view and natural sunlight.
But all of that – the view, the space, the natural light – it could wait. First they had to clean out the rather large group of criminals that were currently calling it home.
Adrian wasn't sure who these people were; they didn't wear anything to identify themselves with. Black ski masks, black tactical gear, a few variations here and there. If Adrian had to guess, they were probably some kind of Hydra-branch leftovers who saw a good opportunity to try and gain some turf. He'd heard word that there were a good number that had gone into hiding after the Triskelion incident that were keeping themselves underground.
He wasn't a saint, but Adrian liked to avoid Hydra leftovers when he could. They were few and far between, but whenever the mention came up for an arms deal, Mason always convinced him to pass. Back then of course, before Pedro, he could afford to pass up a deal here or there. Adrian would have happily cut a deal with them had Mason not been there to say otherwise.
"They're seriously, like, looney-tunes whacko boss. Sci-fi Nazi lizard-people Illuminati stuff." Mason had warned him.
"This from 'Chemtrails are real, man'? Give me a break." Adrian had snorted, but Mason hadn't let up. He'd always had a much stronger moral compass than Adrian – for someone who designed homemade alien weapons. Adrian had dropped a cement ceiling on a teenager after all, and had felt at least 90% justified in doing so. Mason had felt bad for cutting someone off on the highway.
Well Mason, Adrian thought to himself as he circled the tower, if there is some kind of afterlife, you'd better give me some good karma for all these Hydra squatters I'm about to kick off a building.
Right now Rhino was storming up from the ground floor. The elevators had been disabled, meaning poor Aleksei had to climb up each flight on foot. Luckily the suit made it so easy to get up the steps – as Aleksei had happily exclaimed several times at this point. Gargan and Kravinoff were struggling to keep up with him, but the Rhino suit was a little too good at its job of crashing through any and all obstacles. Several times they'd called over the comm for him to slow down so they could climb over the wreckage he'd left behind.
Gargan's 'men', if they were going to be official – were left to clean up the aftermath.
Discount Hydra, as Otto had dubbed them, had claimed the top ten floors, but were in the middle of their own little turf war with some kind of high-end organized criminal front that Adrian wasn't familiar with. Could've been the Italians, or the leftovers from Hell's Kitchen. There were so many groups and factions within the city that even with half the world gone, they were still a force to be reckoned with.
"Guys on the bottom floors aren't packing any Hydra tech but I think I saw some Hammer shit on a guy near the door. Try not to crush everyone, Rhino, we could get some good leftovers from this." Gargan's voice crackled over the comm.
"Bah!" Rhino exclaimed over the comm.
Adrian chuckled to himself. Mama Rhino didn't raise a quitter, that was for sure.
Staring through the HUD on his new helmet, Adrian could see an X-ray of the building and a large white dot steadily moving toward the top. Beneath him were two smaller dots, a green one for Gargan, and an orange one for Kravinoff. Otto really put all the bells and whistles onto his 'new' suit.
The wings were the same, but Otto had insisted on more armored portions for his core and legs to prevent what had happened at New Paltz. He'd done the work for the suit while Adrian recovered, and Toomes couldn't complain a damn bit. He'd been skeptical about the black, clawed gloves that Otto had given him. The 'talons' at the end of each finger were sharp and slick black crescents just waiting to dig into someone's flesh.
"Pull on a talon and there's a switch inside of them. It's sturdier and more reliable than just the touch-technology that went into your last one." Otto had explained when Adrian had given him a look of confusion. "Besides, we have Rhino, Gargan and Kravinoff for ground support. You're our eyes in the sky, for precision strikes and more tactical work. Let the meat shields do what they do best and sponge the bullets up while you wait for the right moment to land a decisive blow."
"This isn't World of Warcraft, Otto – I see your point, but, I'd still feel way better with some kind of sidearm with me while I'm out there. One that I can use with these...fantastic nails." Adrian had muttered, pulling his new gloves on. The black talons were an inch and a half long each. He tried, and failed, to curl his hand and make a fist.
"First of all, I don't play World of Warcraft, and I never would have, PC games-"
"Just get me a damn gun Otto."
Boy did he. Adrian's sidearm was a custom bit of Chitauri tech that Otto had slapped together while riding in the convoy they'd taken down into into the city. For a gun built in the back of a moving RV camper, it was a sleek bit of work. It was built to resemble a pistol, with the trigger guard removed and the grip customized to fit in his gloves. Having it at his side made Adrian feel safer, even when his job was to stick to the air.
Which he was doing, to his credit. Adrian could follow orders.
Rhino was still charging his way up, floor after floor, through gunfire and the occasional grenade. Most floors towards the top were empty. They'd attacked during an apparent stalemate between the two forces. The last of the heavily armed squatters they had to deal with were no doubt at the top, waiting for Rhino.
"Vulture do a visual on the top five floors and the landing zone – check for anything suspicious." Otto called out over the comm.
"Got it."
Swooping closer toward the large helipad that stuck out of the side of the tower, Adrian tugged at a talon to switch his visual displays. The helmet was a mix of gutted Iron Man tech with an F-35 helmet. Otto never disappointed, and the changes gave Adrian a level of situational awareness that he hadn't even thought possible.
He missed his old helmet, truth be told, it was much lighter and less bulky. But, Otto was determined that improvements were needed constantly, not occasionally. He wasn't happy with any of his creations, even the ones he loved. The kid could never be satisfied.
Adrian didn't have any arguments despite missing his old, familiar tech, but that was just him being nostalgic.
As he flipped through the various views that the high tech helmet provided, he checked for any signs of heat signatures, explosives, or chemicals that might indicate some sort of trap set up. Hydra, even discount Hydra, were pretty quick on the uptake. Adrian was sure they'd put up a hell of a fight.
"I'm seeing..."
He counted at least twenty heat signatures as he circled around, but a few were blobbed together – so no doubt it was a few guys crouching near each other.
"We'll go with 25, but there's probably more. They might be packing some heavy artillery Doc, Rhino shouldn't charge in there by himself."
"Yeah well, tell that to Rhino." Otto muttered. "Vulture, coordinate with Rhino. You got enough space to swoop in?"
"I'll make space. Rhino, got that? Wait for the others before you charge in there. They've got heavier ordinance than the thugs downstairs." Adrian ordered, flying between two tall buildings.
It was eerie, flying in the city when it was almost all blacked out. A few buildings still had power, either by a heavily guarded generator or part of the grid that had somehow maintained itself through all of this hell. Those were on the mainland though. On Manhattan, Avengers Tower was the last lit building in any direction.
The night vision on his helmet made the lazy circles he'd been flying in around Avengers tower to be remarkably simple. He'd taken a few seconds to switch it off, and it was complete and utter blackness. The city was an ocean of reflections. Reflections along the glass windows of so many dark skyscrapers that stood, gutted and empty in the moonlight.
He'd switch the night vision back on quickly, lest he crash straight into an unlit building.
He watched as Rhino's marker moved further up the x-ray view of the tower, nearly to the helipad floor. Discount Hydra had barricaded themselves there, and Adrian was growing nervous. The helipad made him worry for Rhino. The suit made him strong and bulletproof, but not fall-proof.
Adrian squinted, flying closer to the helipad, covered by darkness. He tried to focus on some kind of strategy to keep Rhino away from that helipad, or what to do in case Discount Hydra were able to push him off.
He could catch him, of course – but that meant he had to be doubly careful that he didn't get caught up in the fight if he had to dive after Rhino at a moment's notice.
"Vulture! Tell him to slow down! He'll listen to you!" Otto barked over the comm.
Adrian swung away from the helipad, circling around and looking at Rhino's marker, which had reached the helipad floor. Gargan and Kravinoff were several floors beneath him. They were moving, but there was no way they'd be able to reach him in time to back him up.
"Rhino," Adrian called, circling just beneath the helipad floor in quick circles. "You need to wait for the others! You understand me?"
"Suit will protect me!" Aleksei shouted back. Adrenaline and a feeling of nigh-invincibility no doubt were doing wonders for the man right now. "No worries, Vulture – watch me work!" He laughed over the comm before shutting it off.
Shit.
"Doc, I'm going to do a bit of lawn mowing before Rhino gets himself blown up."
"Be careful."
"Yes mom."
Checking the map one last time, Adrian could see Rhino at the end of the hall, preparing to charge. The red-dots had all begun to move, no doubt preparing for the attack. Adrian took note of their locations, then switched the view to just enhanced night vision. No more grid, no more 3D overlays or fancy views. Just the world in front of him in various shades of bright green.
Adrian flew up the remaining length of the building. Once he reached the top, he swung backward to perform a wide loop. The loop brought him up and around, then turned him back around until he was flying straight for the helipad.
He could see six of them – heavily armed, huddled back behind large crates, waiting. One of them had some kind of rocket launcher on him, the others were packing grenade launchers, and…
Was that a fucking mortar!?
No no, that was twelve mortars.
Go big or go home, Adrian supposed. Discount Hydra wasn't playing around. He had faith in Otto's designs, but he wasn't sure that Aleksei himself, stuck inside of the suit, could handle the impact of mortar fire.
Well, time to make sure Aleksei wouldn't have to deal with it in the first place.
Adrian saw a large window on the other end of the floor that he was about to fly straight into. That was good enough, as long as he had an exit route, he could usually play this by ear. He quietly thanked Tony Stark for being a fan of enormous, wall sized windows. It made flying through entire buildings much easier.
Speeding forward, the first fly-through was just seconds, but they were seconds of utter chaos and confusion for everyone else. The Hydra men that had been crouched down near the helipad were the first to be caught in the path of his wings. Various crates were in his way as well, and they were sliced in half just as easily.
As he tore through the room, he managed to briefly glance to his left – over to the actual doorway. He could see rows of charges planted around the door frame. Adrian was moving so fast that he only caught a glimpse of them, but he knew in an instant what he'd seen.
Wrapping his wings around himself, he ducked his head and burst through the window at the opposite end of the room. The glass shattered into tiny pieces, showering down beneath him as he spread his wings back out and began to circle back around for another pass.
"Rhino, they've rigged the door to blow, don't-"
Adrian could feel the explosion, even from up in the air. A split second later as he turned to face the building again, he could see the bright flames, appearing white in his night vision. They centered at the door, where either Rhino had tripped some kind of wire or they'd just detonated them by hand.
"Rhino?" Adrian called over the comm.
No response, only static.
Adrian didn't consider himself a man quick to anger, at least before the 2nd Incident. But, that was then, and this was now.
Sweeping around, he began his 2nd attack. This time, heading straight for the window that he'd burst through earlier. He could see three of them standing upright, firing at something. Hopefully that meant Rhino was still alive, just with a knocked out comm.
Wrapping his wings around himself, he soared through the huge shattered window, spreading them wide and letting the downwash from the rotors blast across the room. It wasn't too powerful, but it was enough to distract the Hydra soldiers.
The three soldiers paused, but only for a moment. They quickly turned and began to fire. Adrian felt a bullet bounce off of his leg armor just before he brought a wing in front of him to deflect the rest. Keeping the wing wrapped around himself protectively, he still had enough lift to propel himself forward and into the trio of soldiers.
The men tried to back up, but he was upon them within seconds. Sweeping his wing off to the side, he knocked them back to the ground, deep cuts from the wings slicing across their arms and torsos. They were still alive, grasping for their guns or trying to crawl away.
Good.
Adrian dropped down, all of his weight falling on two of them. His talons dug down into the sides of either of the Hydra soldiers he'd landed on, while he bent down and dug his talons deep into the neck of the third one.
Otto was right, these things were handy. A little avante garde for Adrian's taste, but, hell – more people knew him as Vulture than his actual name at this point. Might as well run with it.
Rotors blasting, Adrian flew forward, lifting off of the floor and flying over the open helipad. The men squirmed and tried to free themselves to no avail – but grew remarkably still once they realized he'd flown them off the side of Avengers tower.
He released all three without fanfare, without a snappy comment or anything witty to say. Adrian wasn't much for quips. The men screamed, but the high winds drown the sound out quickly, and he was already thinking on the remaining soldiers.
Flying back toward the tower, he could clearly see Rhino charging through the burning door and smacking one of the remaining soldiers so hard that the man was sent flying straight through a window.
Relief washed over him, and Adrian tried his comm again.
"Rhino – you alright there buddy?"
"Am fine! Explosion make things fuzzy for a little bit, better now!"
"Push them towards the helipad, Rhino, I'll pick them off."
"Roger!"
He snickered. Aleksei's enthusiasm was contagious. The man was just so damn happy to be there. He probably would've been just as enthused if he wasn't in the suit. Adrian imagined he would go about the task of storming Avengers tower with a fork with equal ardor.
Circling the helipad from above, it wasn't long before Hydra soldiers began to fall back onto it, becoming more and more desperate as Rhino forced them back. Adrian briefly looked for the box of mortars he'd seen, relieved to see it was one of the boxes caught and shattered in his first attack.
Nearly thirteen discount Hydra were now cowering behind crates as Rhino held his ground and ensured none of them got back under the relative safety of the roof. Not that it had done them that much good before, but having them out in the open made Adrian's job so, so much more pleasant.
Their attention entirely on Rhino, Adrian entered his attack run. Wings spread, metallic feathers gleaming in the dim light from the earlier explosion, he swept through them. Slicing bodies wasn't even an effort for the wings. They could slice through glass, cement – even steel. What was a warm body compared to that? Nothing.
The remaining soldiers trained their fire on Adrian, but he dove down beneath the helipad and was gone from sight within seconds.
As he flew down the side of the tower, Adrian noticed tiny flickers of light on the night vision display. He squinted, then hit his comm.
"Is it raining?"
"Just started." Doc responded, "I think a storm is moving in, I heard some thunder earlier. Make sure nobody drops a house on you."
"You're funny."
Aleksei's voice cut through then, "All soldiers on helicopter pad!"
"Got it," Adrian responded, circling around to the back of the tower and flying up along it. He'd attack from above this time, no doubt they were expecting him from the side as he'd done before. "Just keep them in place, Rhino, I don't want you to go close to the edge."
Aleksei let out an annoyed grunt at being denied the chance to send more soldiers flying, but Adrian knew he'd listen to him.
Soaring up above the top of Avengers Tower, he did a lazy flip in the air. Facing down, he entered into a steep, rapid dive toward the helipad.
Stall at the last moment, sweep across the helipad and take out the rest.
Two of the soldiers caught glimpse of him, somehow. All of them followed suit – at least fifteen men, heavily armed, raising their guns to fire at Adrian. That threw a wrench into things. He was already so close to the helipad, his only option now was to do a deep stall. Turning was an option, but he knew by instinct he wouldn't clear the helipad in time.
Not that Adrian had wanted Rhino to run out onto the helipad in that enormous suit, but he couldn't complain either when he did. Charging through the bodies, Rhino sent several soldiers flying across the helipad and off into the darkness. The others focused their fire on him, but it was useless. The armor was so thick that machinegun fire didn't even dent it.
With the soldiers no longer aiming their guns at him, Adrian entered the stall. Sweeping his legs forward, pulling his torso back, the angle of his wings shifted and the rotors took care of any residual force. He didn't land so much as skid across the helipad – a happy accident thanks to the rain fall – and ended up colliding with a Hydra soldier head on.
The man was quick, and had a pistol drawn before Adrian could sink his talons into him. He fired four shots in rapid succession at Adrian, causing the man to flinch and jerk back. No pain – no warm blood down his body. He'd be sore in the morning, but the surprisingly thin body armor that Otto had forced him to wear did its job.
The soldier paused, realizing that his bullets hadn't penetrated. He darted down to reach for one of the mortars that had been thrown from its crate.
As the soldier ran for the mortar, Adrian reached for his own sidearm, taking aim and firing once. The Chitauri gun flashed hot in his hand briefly before sending a shot at the soldier. It was like a miniature version of the gun he'd used on the ferry, two parallel rays of purple light forming a path for the ray of energy that cut the soldier down as he tried to reach the mortar.
Holstering the sidearm quickly, Adrian took back to the air. Rhino was much too close to the edge of the helipad for his comfort, and there was only a handful of Hydra soldiers remaining.
Adrian began to circle once more, watching as Aleksei held his ground in the center of the helipad. It seemed that even he was getting nervous about being so close to the edge. It must've been raining harder than Adrian realized. He couldn't tell, not with the layers he was wearing. The wings covered most of his back, and his legs were in the talon boots.
"Hang tight there, Rhino, I'll get the ones near the edge." Adrian said, turning in for another dive.
A trio of soldiers was quickly mowed down, having tried to get cover behind some shattered crates and assemble a mortar.
Two more were thrown toward the edge as Adrian circled. Rhino had made quick but short charges to snatch up several nearby soldiers, and had hurled them toward the edge. Adrian was quick to snatch up the ones that didn't fall off, and ensure that they did.
The process of getting rid of the rest of the soldiers took longer than Adrian had expected, but even with Rhino's immense strength and speed, and his own aerial finesse, these discount Hydra men were a slippery, scrappy bunch who were holding on for dear life.
Not that it did them much good in the end. The last man standing was grabbed by Rhino, who threw him straight at Vulture to catch. Vulture hit the thrusters on his wings and sent the man face first into the nearest skyscraper.
"VICTORY!" Aleksei shouted over the comm system.
Adrian winced, but couldn't resist chuckling. Despite hating Gargan and this entire scheme to be some kind of criminal enterprise in the heart of New York, a win was a win.
Circling a few times over Rhino, Adrian saw the man raise his enormous, metal clad arm. Adrian hesitated, the wings were extremely heavy – but – Otto had said the lifting and load carrying capacity of the Rhino suit was some ridiculous number, so Adrian figured he could take the chance.
Carefully descending, he landed on Rhino's raised fist, talons latching down around the enormous metal hand. Relaxing his weight, Adrian brought a wing up over Rhino to keep him from being pelted with rain.
Opening up a private comm line to Rhino, Adrian stared out at the pitch black city as he spoke.
"We did it buddy."
"Victory!" Aleksei repeated over the private comm, laughing. "We are good team, Vulture."
"We are. Good job out there – but, next time, listen to Otto. The Doc knows what he's talking about, you need to listen to him."
Aleksei snorted over the comm. "He's still kid, why should I listen to him? Snooty, tubby boy with bad hair and bad attitude."
"Show some respect, he built your suit for you."
"Pfeh. Built suit for himself. Built suit for Gargan. I get to wear it and do all the work. Is fun, sure, but – not doing it for me."
Adrian tried to sound casual, moving carefully to sit on Rhino's raised hand, wing remaining outstretched over them both.
"What's Gargan got on you anyway, that's keeping you here?"
It was a risk. Aleksei could go run his mouth to Gargan about Adrian even asking, but at this point, he was willing to risk it.
"He friends with Russian mafia, run guns for them for five years or so, always dependable, always good at street level stuff. Get a nickname – Scorpion."
"Because of the tattoo?"
"No no, because of story. You hear of Scorpion and the Frog?"
Adrian shook his head. "'Fraid I haven't."
Rhino offered his other hand to Adrian, the man hesitantly stepping on it, only to be lifted up onto an enormous armored shoulder. Sitting, Adrian brought up both wings around them like a protective dome. He could clearly see the rainfall through his enhanced vision now, which meant it must've been coming down in sheets.
Aleksei stood in the center of the helipad, staring out at the city through his own elaborate viewing system.
"Scorpion wants to cross a river, but can't swim – will drown if he tries on his own. He meets a Frog, and the Scorpion tells the Frog, 'Frog, swim us both over. I won't sting you – if I did, we would both drown.' So Frog agrees, and he lets Scorpion ride on his back, and they begin to cross river. Halfway across the river, Scorpion stings Frog, and as they begin to sink, Frog asks Scorpion why has he stung him, now they will both die. Scorpion just says that he cannot help it, it is his nature to sting."
Adrian lifted the visor off completely, exposing his eyes to the natural light and air outside. The enormous black goggles that fit onto the helmet slid up and back to allowed him to see without impediment. The cool, light air hit his face and he could smell the rain in the air immediately. Even with the recycled air in his oxygen system, just a tiny bit of open space in his helmet let the familiar smell reach his nose.
"So how did that story get connected to Mac Gargan?" Adrian asked as he leaned forward, relaxing on Aleksei's shoulder.
"He was good gun runner for us, and bosses wanted to promote him, give him jobs with more responsibility. Several times they let him try – each time, he screw up. Temper, or violence – he could never negotiate without anger. Could never take no for answer. No matter what tailored suit he wear, what simple task they give him. Answer is always violence." Aleksei paused, sighing. "He is smart man. Very smart. But – not good with people. Even worst of us need to negotiate deal now and then with both sides going home happy. Not Mac Gargan. He sting every frog that tries to help him across river."
"I'm guessing he didn't get a scorpion tattooed on his neck to remind himself of his own personal failures." Adrian ventured.
"Heh – no. He hear men calling him Russian word for scorpion, asks what it means, never asked why. He thought it was compliment."
"So has he got something on you that's keeping you working for him?"
Aleksei is silent for a while, but Adrian can hear another, smaller sigh across the comm.
"...Nothing else left. Gargan and I, sent to jail at the same time. Most other Mafia I knew in jail turned to dust, the rest tell me that there is no point in going back to old way of things. Feel lost, really. Where does person go from something like this? World falling apart all around us. Gargan is scorpion, but his plans give me purpose. Would be lost without something to do. Friends dead, maybe. Family dead, maybe. No way of knowing. No way of figuring out..what to do. But this is easy...do things to distract from thinking about things I cannot change."
Adrian wasn't sure if Aleksei would notice or even feel the hand that he placed on his shoulder, but he did it anyway.
