Author's Note: Was determined to finish this story before November's end, and from the looks of it I may just succeed! Everyone enjoy the penultimate chapter, some big developments happen here!
Chapter 14: Hail Hydra!
Even with the alarms and other electronic security systems sabotaged by Chameleon and Electro, word of how there was now a team of supervillains inside the White House reached the Oval Office pretty quickly, with Chameleon drawing a firearm of his own and "assisting" the Secret Service Men as they led the president into the White House's bunker. With his signal still being received by the Hydra forces keeping watch in the truck, his position was known at all times, and by extension so was the President's.
Within the hallways of the White House, all hell had broken loose as the members of the Sinister Syndicate threw themselves at the Secret Service agents that had rushed forward to meet them. Bullets were fired in every direction, along with blasts of electricity from Electro as Boomerang also hurled his namesakes. Any that the Secret Service agents dodged simply came back around and embedded themselves in the men's backs, killing them.
For his part, Blood-Spider preferred a more "hands on" approach, zipping towards and taking down any Secret Service agents his allies missed while they covered him with their attacks, ensuring that no one managed to shoot him down.
The Rhino needed no such protection, shielded as he was from gunfire by his armor. With bellows of pure fury the Rhino would charge forward, knocking scores of men aside with every sweep of the massive metal horn on his were demolished as he ran through them, small craters opened up in the floor from where he had stepped, and in all the Rhino found the whole affair to be the most fun he'd had in a long while.
"How's it going outside pumpkin-head?" Blood-Spider asked as he kicked one agent's gun out of his hand and then proceeded to pummel him.
"No drones yet." Came Jack O'Lantern's voice on the other end of the communicator. "Looks like Chameleon and Electro did their jobs as far as taking out the alarms went. They've got no way to call for help until it's too late."
"They'll work around it eventually though…" Blood-Spider noted before moving out of a gunman's path as he saw him aim his pistol at him. A bolt of lightning from Electro struck the man square in the chest and blasted him backwards. "...we're still on the clock here."
And so through the hallways the Syndicate went, continuing to mow down any and all who dared to stand in their way. The Rhino alone caused so much collateral damage the others were afraid he might bring down the whole White House on them.
A new group of men appeared, these ones dressed in suits of body armor and with Kevlar helmets with visors masking their faces. They set up a barricade of riot-shields while some of the men behind them took out long, large metal pipes that could only indicate one thing…
"Everybody scatter!" Boomerang shouted just as the rockets were fired out. He and Blood-Spider dove to one side, while Electro stood his ground and detonated one of the rockets before it could reach him via his electricity. The other rockets collided with the Rhino's armor and blasted him back. Black scorch-marks and scarring now adorned Rhino's steel gray armor, but incredibly the man inside remained untouched, though he did grunt in pain.
"Wow...that kind of hurt."
Wasting no time, Boomerang hurled more of his namesakes at the rocket-men before they could reload. One man was able to block a boomerang with his bazooka, but the other was struck by the boomerang, which embedded itself in his visor and knocked him down. As other men tried to get the boomerang out of the cracked visor, the other rocketman was blasted backwards by a bolt of lightning from Electro.
"Keep pushing! We're nearly there!" Boomerang shouted as he hurled another of his namesakes, this one managing to embed itself in a man's chest and put him on his back.
Meanwhile, Chameleon made sure he was never far from where the President was, always staying closely at his side. He wasn't the only one. Well over a dozen other men with guns of all shapes and sizes were also present, some of them wearing full black ops gear and others still wearing head-to-toe body armor with helmets. One man even had a large riot shield in one hand and an assault rifle in the other.
"Where are with getting a distress signal out?" President Obama demanded.
"Almost everything's still down and out Mr. President." one of the men in black ops gear said apologetically before adding: "Whatever's causing this electrical disturbance has been thorough, we're lucky the lights are still on."
"Then we're on our own." President Obama concluded grimly. At this, Chameleon was tempted to smile, but didn't so as to not risk blowing his cover and end up with over a dozen holes in him.
Back in the hallways, the Sinister Syndicate continued to fight their way through the remainder of the White House's security. Rhino was now going about things a bit less zealously on the account of his now damaged armor, but the others remained as determined as ever, continuing to unleash their respective attacks on the Secret Service and military men standing in their way. Black scorch marks from Electro's lightning now coated the walls and floor, and most everything else in the hallways had now been smashed or blown to bits courtesy of the four villain's rampage. A few small fires had even started, which in turn triggered the automated sprinklers.
The water on his electrical body caused Electro to howl in pain before then unleashing a massive electrical storm, sending out blinding bolts of blue-white lightning in all directions. The force of the electrical burst was such that it blasted Electro's two of "allies" backwards, knocking out Boomerang and short-circuiting Rhino's armor. Rhino grunted in pain, then reeled, swayed, and finally collapsed face-first on the ground, smoke now emanating from his armored suit.
Electro's display of power went beyond hurting his own teammates however, as the sprinklers soon disintegrated in a flurry of sparks and small bits of metal flying in every which way, and then the lights went out as well, only for red emergency lights to come on almost immediately after.
"What's happening in there!?" demanded Jack O'Lantern over the comms. "You're signal's barely coming through, and the lights just got taken out…"
"Electro happened." Blood-Spider replied bluntly, now the only other member of the Syndicate inside the White House that was still conscious. The Taskmaster's pupil turned to look at Electro, and could see him on his knees panting and gasping as electricity continued to sizzle and radiate off of his blue skin.
"I...hate water…" the supervillain mumbled, to which Blood-Spider shook his head.
"Yeah, I gathered that much. Come on, we still have a president to hold hostage."
Electro nodded, and then staggered to his feet. Soon he and Blood-Spider were making their way through the hallways of the White House once more. By this point, the trucks containing the Hydra forces had driven through the front gates of the White House now that the security systems protecting them had been deactivated, and soon Hydra troops were flooding the White House grounds, easily cutting down the few Secret Service Agents who were outside to oppose them. Several kicked open the front doors and made their way inside.
However, the appearance of Hydra soldiers, and Electro's display of power before that, had attracted a fair bit of attention, and police cars had already driven up to the White House. These were soon met with rocket fire and hand grenades from Beetle and Jack O'Lantern, as well as gunfire from the Hydra troops, the combined ordnance going a long way towards keeping Washington DC's finest at bay.
One man though got through, and he wasn't a cop.
A red and white shield whizzed through the air before striking one Hydra agent square in the head and knocking him to the ground. At this, the other Hydra agents looked up and saw a muscular man in red and blue with a silver-white star on his chest jumping up from the top of a car and then down to meet them, feet-first as his thrown shield returned to him.
Captain America landed feet-first onto a Hydra soldier's chest. Captain America leaped off the man (and sent him flying backwards in the process) before landing and then crouching, his shield out to catch a hailstorm of gunfire coming at him in all directions from no less than two dozen Hydra agents. None of the bullets pierced the indestructible shield however, and the distraction allowed the police to open fire on the Hydra agents, gunning down a few and in turn relieving some of the pressure on Captain America.
Now able to really go to work, Captain America threw his shield at the nearest Hydra agent, taking him down with the attack. He dodged and rolled to avoid the gunfire that came at him before his shield returned to him. Soon Captain America was running right towards another two Hydra agents, one of whom up and up ran as the First Avenger charged him. The other stood his ground and got a super strong punch that shattered his visor and KO'ed for his troubles.
Captain America turned to face some of the other Hydra stooges, dodging some of their gunfire as he did. Another shield throw knocked one man's legs out from under him and sent him face-first into the ground. The shield returned to Captain America just in time to allow him to block the gunfire of two other men while he simultaneously evaded the bullets of another. Taking off, Captain America continued to dodge the gunfire coming at him from two different directions before the stray bullets of one Hydra agent wound up hitting and knocking down another.
"Dammit!" the Hydra agent cursed, before Captain America turned around and hurled the shield at him. The shield struck him right in the chest and knocked him backwards before returning to Captain America. The First Avenger then swung out with his shield-arm, the indestructible shield slamming into the heads of the Hydra agents shooting at them and knocking them out.
By now, the fight had gotten Beetle and Jack O'Lantern's attention. Rocketing forward on his jet-boots, Beetle opened fire with wrist-mounted guns, a barrage that Captain America raised his shield to counter. Seeing this, Beetle lowered his weapons and began aiming at Captain America's feet, but the First Avenger simply ran to avoid these shots, moving with such speed that he was already gone by the time the projectiles reached the ground. Looking out at Beetle from the cover of his shield, Captain America isolated where the rockets were coming from, and then hurled his shield at Beetle's jet boots. The hit wasn't completely on target, but the shield still managed to slice against the jet-boot, which in turn succeeded in causing Beetle to lose control. His flight pattern ruined, Beetle found himself pulling back as Jack O'Lantern came in, hurling hand grenades in Captain America's direction.
Seeing the grenades coming in time, Captain America bolted, his shield soon returning to him. As he ran though, a retreating Beetle managed to get off one last attack, namely a wrist-mounted rocket that he fired out. Holding out his shield, Captain America planted his red booted feet in the ground and held firm.
The effect of the rocket colliding with his shield was nothing short of spectacular, with the shield being unharmed but the force of the blast still being sufficient to send Captain America flying backwards and right into the metal gate, which Captain America slammed into with such force he bent the metal.
Staggering to his feet, Captain America could see Jack O'Lantern coming at him, as he did priming another hand grenade. Captain America dived to one side as Jack O'Lantern hurled his hand grenade, rolling as the grenade exploded and took out most of the gate that Captain America had slammed into. Running forward, Captain America looked up at Jack O'Lantern as he flew back in him to get at him. Rolling to the left, Captain America then hurled his shield at Jack O'Lantern's glider. Jack O'Lantern saw the shield coming in time to swerve out of the way, only for the shield to strike his glider as it returned to Captain America. The shield impacted with the glider with sufficient force to send Jack O'Lantern spiraling out of control. Seeing this, Captain America threw his shield again, and this time it struck the glider right on the mark. Jack O'Lantern's glider spiraled before crashing into the ground. Cursing loudly, Jack O'Lantern freed himself from the glider and then turned to confront Captain America. He drew a gun but aimed it at Captain America's feet rather than his shield. Cap evaded the shot and hurled his shield. The shield knocked the gun right out of Jack O'Lantern's hand, and before he could reclaim it Captain America was on him.
What followed was an intense and brutal exchange of blows between the Sentinel of Liberty and the pumpkin-head mercenary as they each employed what they knew of hand-to-hand combat against the other. Both fought fiercely, giving no quarter against the other, Jack O'Lantern fighting with a mix of boxing punches and kicks from Wing Chun. Captain America parried each attack as it came, as he did choosing to keep the pressure on his opponent via the grappling styles Judo, Jujutsu, and and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, also alternating between the three so as to keep his foe guessing. Judging from how he found his opponent slow to keep up and consequently taking quite a few hits, the good Captain's strategy seemed to be working.
More strikes followed back and forth, until suddenly Jack O'Lantern performed what Captain America recognized as a Hapkido move, grabbing the hero and throwing him over his pumpkin head. Captain America landed and rolled backwards. He then stood his ground, waiting for Jack O'Lantern to get closer before grabbing his leg as he struck out with it, and then hurling the mercenary with such force he sent him flying a few feet.
Jack O'Lantern got back on his feet quickly and gracefully, before then running at Captain America again, fists and feet flying. Captain America tanked each strike as it came, or else caught the blow on his shield, which he'd since recovered. Finally, Captain America caught one of Jack O'Lantern's punches, twisted his arm, and delivered several kicks to his stomach area, causing Jack O'Lantern to double over before Captain America threw him over his head.
Back-flipping to put distance between himself and Captain America, Jack O'Lantern readied himself for another series of attacks from the Sentinel of Liberty, which came readily enough. Another series of close-quarters strikes and desperate hand-to-hand ensued before Captain America managed to land a strike to Jack O'Lantern's leg, hitting it with such force it elicited a cry of pain from the villain before a follow-up kick to the chest knocked him backwards. A third kick to the pumpkin head cracked the halloween-themed helmet and at last managed to knock Jack O'Lantern out.
With the last of his foes down and out, Captain America could now focus on the greater matter at hand, namely how the White House was now under siege.
Rushing into action, Captain America took to scaling the walls of the White House to get inside, choosing not to go through the front door on the account of there being a mess of Hydra agents on the other end.
Entering through a window, Captain America raced down one of the many hallways in the direction he knew the President's bunker to be. He didn't get far before he saw two Hydra agents turning a corner and coming face to face with him. Taken aback by the sight of him, the Hydra grunts were too slow to fire before Captain America hurled his shield at one. The shield downed the Hydra agent as the second one unleashed a panicked spray of machine gun fire. Captain America moved out of the way before the man could fire and then used his returning shield to block the follow-up spray. Running forward with superhuman speed, Captain America closed the distance between him and the Hydra agent in mere moments and slammed his shield into him, which in turn sent the Hydra agent flying backwards.
Turning a corner, Captain America was met by more Hydra agents, these ones opening fire the minute they saw him. Cap blocked the bullets with his shield, and then moved and threw his shield. It struck one Hydra agent and then the other before returning to Captain America's hand. As the Hydra agents fell, Captain America continued to run. Eventually, he reached the door to the Oval Office. Knocking on it, he told the men inside of his identity, and to his relief they let him in. He could tell from the looks on their faces that they were relieved to see him as much as the other way around.
"It's good to have you here Captain." one of the armored men said. "We don't know what exactly is going on, but whatever it is it's not only fucked our security systems up pretty good, but it's been plowing through everyone and everything that's been thrown at it."
"It's Hydra." Captain America said. "At least in part. I just fought my way through quite a few of their thugs on my way here. But I also fought some supervillains, Beetle and Jack O'Lantern I think. I've never heard of them working for Hydra before, and definitely have never seen it. That tells me that something else is going on. Another player maybe."
"Well, whoever they are, I hope they don't set foot in here for their sakes. Because I'm really itching to put a bullet in some asshole's head right now, and the guy responsible for all of this sounds like a damn good choice to me."
-X-
"Looks like waiting paid off." New Goblin noted matter-of-factly as he, Baron Strucker, Baron Zemo, and the remainder of the Hydra forces exited their own truck and at last made their way into the White House, and through the front doors no less. They met no resistance, for the Hydra troops who greeted them on the other end had already mercilessly gunned down said resistance.
"Is the president secure?" New Goblin asked the captain of the Hydra force.
"Don't know. We just secured this area…"
"Well then let's find out shall we?" New Goblin asked in a deceptively cordial tone. Drawing his sword with one hand and activating his retractable blades on his opposite arm's glove, New Goblin took the lead, striding forward with confidence as his Hydra "allies" followed right behind him. They didn't get far before New Goblin got the message he'd been waiting for:
"Come in New Goblin, I repeat, come in New Goblin."
"What is it?"
"This is Blood-Spider: we're right outside the Oval Office. Awaiting you and Hydra's support."
New Goblin smiled behind his mask. "Excellent. We'll be there." He turned to the Barons. "There, you see? Our prize is within our grasp."
"I've heard it before." Baron Strucker said, unconvinced. "Experienced it too."
New Goblin said nothing in response to this as he and the Hydra forces continued to make their way through the White House, as they did all taking note of just how badly banged up the Sinister Syndicate had left it. Nevertheless, the group moved forward, until finally they arrived at Electro and Blood-Spider's position, the two standing right outside the entrance to the Oval Office.
"Alright then." New Goblin said. "Let's finish this. Electro, blast that door down." Then, New Goblin turned to the Barons. "I trust your men can do the rest?"
Both of the Barons nodded wordlessly, and New Goblin stepped back to allow Electro to blast the sealed door down. His electricity managed to reduce the door masquerading as a wall to rubble, with more bolts going out to blast back the men inside before they could gun him down. As Electro moved away, the squad of Hydra agents moved in. The air became filled with the bedlam of so much gunfire and shooting as men on both sides were cut down without mercy. The Barons drew their own guns and pitched in, and slowly but surely the Hydra troops began to make some headway. Electro and Blood-Spider also contributed to the fight, and the former in particular proved most effective at taking down the last of the Oval Office's defenders with his electricity, the metal armor of the last few condemning them as it conducted the electricity and shocked them into submission. Another blast of lightning went in Captain America's direction. Though the Sentinel of Liberty was able to block it with his shield, the impact was still enough to send him flying backwards and right out the window, which sent broken glass flying in all directions.
Once he was confident that Captain America was out of the way, New Goblin forced himself through, using his superhuman speed to wade right into the thick of it, brutally tearing into men with sword and arm-blades both. Finally, when the last man fell, New Goblin allowed himself to look around the Oval Office for any sign of the President. Predictably, he found none.
"Evidently the President and the Cabinet moved to their bunker. Not unsurprising. Don't worry: I'm strong enough to give us entrance."
New Goblin walked over to where the hatch to the bunker was, and to the Baron's amazement, used his superhuman strength to wrench it open. No sooner did he did several Hydra agents make their way down. It was only a few moments later that they radioed their superiors to tell them that they had the President and the cabinet surrounded.
"Well, I have to admit Goblin your plan worked. You really did come through in the end. Now the White House is ours, and your future with our organization is assured!"
"Indeed it is." New Goblin said, before then aiming his sword right at Baron Zemo's neck. Seeing this, the purple masked man spun about in an instant, his own sword raised as all of the remaining Hydra agents in the room had their guns aimed at New Goblin.
"I challenge you Baron Zemo, to a one-on-one, right here, right now. The victor shall lead Hydra."
Baron Zemo chuckled. "It seems I was too quick to sing your praises. Turns out Strucker was right about you. You are a lunatic. Why should I indulge you boy?"
"To show you are a man of action who can do his own dirty work?" New Goblin asked in a deceptively conversational tone. "Or are you too much of a coward to face me alone with nothing but that rapier of yours?"
"How dare you schwinehund!" Baron Zemo growled. "If its death by the sword you desire, it is death by the sword you will receive! No quarter!"
No sooner did Baron Zemo finish his sentence did he lower his rapier, and New Goblin readied his own sword as Hydra's leader made the first attack. New Goblin parried the blow, sending out an echo of clanging steel as the two exchanged blows with one another, the battle for leadership silently observed by the rest of Hydra.
As the duel continued, Zemo began to steadily gain ground over his less experienced opponent, driving him back with every thrust that New Goblin struggled to deflect. New Goblin had anticipated this though, and was prepared. Side-stepping as Zemo came at him again, New Goblin attacked Zemo before he could draw his sword back in time, and left a cut on the side of his shoulder.
"Damn you!" Zemo growled before retaliating. Pleased that he had succeeded in angering the masked swordsman, New Goblin continued to sidestep, staying on the evasive as Zemo struck out again and again with his rapier, now fighting with renewed vigor and ferocity. But New Goblin's speed and reflexes were such that dancing around Baron Zemo was a fairly simple endeavour. Back and forth the two swordsmen went, trading blows here and there, but mostly New Goblin remained on the evasive, circling Zemo and jabbing with his sword again and again.
"Stand and fight me dog!" Zemo snarled as New Goblin side-stepped out of the way of yet another sword-thrust. At this, New Goblin chuckled. "Oh come on: I'm not really challenging you that much am I? Please, show me the master swordplay I know you possess!"
"You want my best do you?" Zemo demanded, before lunging forward again. "Then my best you shall have!"
New Goblin saw the lunge in time to side-step, and then parried the follow-up attacks. The Nazi supervillain was now throwing everything he had at his younger foe as far as swordplay went, but still New Goblin was too fast for him. While to Zemo New Goblin seemed to move in an almost blur-like series of motions, to New Goblin, Zemo was so slow he could have been fighting with the speed of a man over twice his physical age.
More strikes exchanged, more blows parried. The clanging steel was filling the air and the combatant's ears both. Round and round they continued to go, until finally, a well-aimed thrust from New Goblin flashed like a bolt of lightning, and succeeded in sending Zemo's rapier flying out of his hand. Zemo barely ducked under New Goblin's follow-up slash in time before diving after his rapier. He grabbed it and then struck out with it like a trapped animal. But New Goblin back-stepped to avoid the strike and then bore down on Zemo again, his sword flashing in a steel blur. Zemo attempted a feeble defense, but it was of little use, and soon Zemo had been disarmed again, the tip of New Goblin's sword now red and aimed right at Zemo's throat.
Zemo looked to his Hydra soldiers for help, but none of them had any to give him. They all just stared at him with their blank, emotionless helmets. And as they did, Baron Zemo couldn't help but appreciate the bitter irony.
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place...it has come full circle then."
"You're old and weak Zemo." New Goblin said, bringing Zemo's attentions back to him. "I'm afraid that your time is over. Your son's now broken body won't save you now."
Baron Zemo pulled up his purple mask enough to expose his mouth, and then spat out a mouthful of blood at New Goblin. "You vill doom Hydra."
"Maybe. But they'll serve me well in the meantime."
And with this simple exchange, New Goblin swung his sword at Zemo's neck in a sweeping arc. In an instant Baron Heinrich Zemo returned to the dead as the masked head was removed from his son's stolen body.
No sooner had he decapitated Zemo did New Goblin turn to his discarded rapier and grabbed it in his free hand.
"I claim this sword, and with it leadership of Hydra for myself. Does anyone object to that?" New Goblin finished his sentence with just the slightest hint of menace, but in light of his decapitating their leader in front of them, it was more than sufficient to get the message across. One by one, all of the Hydra Troopers thrusted their arms outwards and shouted "Hail Hydra!" Soon all of them were doing it in unison.
All except one.
"No!" Baron Strucker roared. "Baron von Strucker bows to no one! Least of all an impetuous brat like you!" Strucker turned to the assembled Hydra soldiers. "You are all traitors to Hydra!"
"Really? Because from where I'm standing I slew Baron Zemo in a fair fight and in doing so proved I was a worthy successor. In losing to me Zemo proved that he was weak and did not deserve to lead Hydra. The only one who cannot accept this, and therefore the only traitor would be you. Hence why you're going to die now."
Snarling, Baron Strucker swiftly took out a pistol and took aim at New Goblin's head, only for a hole to appear in-between his eyes. Blood ran down his forehead and Hydra's other leader fell backwards dead. Turning to the source of the shot, all saw that it was a Hydra Agent who had killed him, only with the man's mask removed it was in fact someone else. A man who bore the image of a target etched onto his forehead.
"I take it no one else wants to be brave and stupid?" Bullseye asked in a deceptively conversational tone. When no one answered, he turned to New Goblin. "Well boss, it looks like Hydra's yours now. And the White House along with it. From the looks of things I'd say you've won."
New Goblin smiled behind his mask. "No, not yet. I have a few more moves to make…"
And then, without a word, New Goblin made his way to the room where some other Hydra agents held the President and most of the Cabinet hostage.
Razor-bats thrown at two of the Hydra agents embedded themselves in the terrorist's heads. A third opened fire with his machine gun but New Goblin had already thought to evade the gunfire. With a sweeping slash of his sword he cut the Hydra agent down, the man collapsing and a puddle of red forming beneath his body. A fourth Hydra agent drew a handgun and aimed it but New Goblin blasted him backwards with a laser blast fired from his gloves. With the four Hydra agents standing guard over the President defeated, New Goblin next moved straight to the still disguised Chameleon. Before Chameleon realized what was happening, New Goblin had plunged his sword right through him. Chameleon gasped in pain and looked up at New Goblin weakly as blood seeped out of his wound and also trickled out of his mouth before he collapsed backwards, a spreading pool of red beneath him. New Goblin then knelt beside Chameleon's body and yanked his mask off, exposing him before the president and the Cabinet.
"I thought so. This here was the cause of your security systems being sabotaged Mr. President. How Hydra and their supervillain allies were able to get in here in the first place."
"Who are you?" The President asked.
New Goblin smiled and turned to the president. "My name is Harry Osborn. I'm considered a criminal at this point, but don't worry Mr. President. This time I'm here to help."
-X-
When Madame Viper woke up, the first thing she felt was pain.
A very sharp, acute pain in her head, which was throbbing. Her vision was blurry, and she felt supremely dizzy. Such was what it was like to wake up after taking a beating from a supervillain with strength sufficient to bench-press over a dozen tons.
"Oh good, you're awake." Came the voice of the Hobgoblin, who strode forward confidently until he was standing right over Madame Viper. She looked up at him and scowled. Finding this amusing, Hobgoblin said simply: "You missed quite the show my dear. New Goblin and the Sinister Syndicate laid siege to the White House and had it in their clutches. And now all of Hydra's under his leadership."
Madame Viper's eyes widened in surprise at this. "What…?"
Hobgoblin cut Madame Viper off by roughly grabbing her jaw and turning her head so that she was looking directly at him. "Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker are dead now. And with them out of the way, New Goblin leads Hydra. But see, he doesn't want the world to know that. So what this means love, is that you, Madame Viper, are our scapegoat. You, will become the new face of Hydra, and you will be the one that the world hunts for. As for New Goblin, well…" Hobgoblin smiled behind his mask. "...he's got even bigger plans."
Madame Viper spat in Hobgoblin's face. "Go to hell." she snarled.
Hobgoblin sighed and muttered: "It takes all kinds." Then, in a blur-like motion he backhanded Madame Viper so hard blood came out of her mouth. He again grabbed her face and forced her to look at him, and she returned his look with a hateful glare.
"Amazing. Still conscious. What a resilient creature you are…"
And then the next thing Madame Viper knew she was out cold again.
-X-
Turning to the news, Peter couldn't believe what he heard:
"Breaking news here at Washington DC! After an intense stand-off between Hydra forces and the Secret Service and Homeland Security, it has been confirmed that the two leaders of Hydra, Wolfgang von Strucker and Heinrich Zemo have both been killed, along with over a dozen other members of the Hydra terrorist organization and the international spy and career criminal Dmitri Kravinoff, better known by his underworld alias 'Chameleon'. It has been confirmed that several other supervillains are now in custody and that President Obama and the rest of the White House's occupants are safe. According to inside sources, their savior is Harry Osborn, former CEO of Oscorp and one of several individuals to use the Hobgoblin identity."
As a dumbfounded Peter looked on, Harry Osborn, still in his New Goblin costume stood before an assembled army of press and reporters and addressed them in a deceptively humble tone: "I know I've done some bad things fairly recently, to which I cannot ever adequately make up for. But I could not stand by while the leader of the free world was threatened by terrorists, supervillains, and neo-nazis. So I chose to do the right thing for a change and come to his rescue. But I warn you: Hydra has not been defeated. No, they are still at large, led by the dangerous and sadistic Madame Viper. And so long as she and Hydra's other remaining leaders exist, this country and the world at large can never be adequately safe from them. Therefore, I humbly request to be allowed to help hunt down and eliminate Hydra once and for all, so that I may finally attain some measure of atonement."
As Peter watched Harry blatantly deceive the entire country, he found himself being utterly dumbfounded at how his friend turned nemesis could be able to spout out such lies without consequence or for that matter that he was even speaking on live television at all and not rotting away in jail forever. Every word that came out of Harry's mouth was just another slap to Peter's face.
"Does he honestly expect anyone to..."
Harry continued, unknowingly cutting his enemy off. "Now I can understand if any of you have reservations, and that is why I have taken steps to ensure that I can become greater than what I was before. No longer am I the Hobgoblin, but rather a new entity. One who is dedicated to protecting the people of this country and keeping us all safe from terrorists like Hydra. An individual known as American Son."
At this, on cue, a suit of red, white, and blue armor landed dramatically next to Harry. The suit bore some resemblance to Iron Man's armor, but with Captain America's color scheme and costume design and featuring a blue helmet with an orange visor that did not cover the entire head. Emblazoned on the blue upper chest armor was a white eagle symbol and connected to the same upper chest armor were two red tubes that snaked around to the back of the armor.
"This armor will allow me to become the hero that you both need and deserve. Alongside the Iron Patriot I will become the leader of the efforts against Hydra...if you will have me that is."
To Peter's horror, people responded with applause and cheering, chanting "Osborn, Osborn" over and over again. Some also shouted out the name he had chosen to give himself. Eventually, Harry continued: "Thank you all for your decision to give me a second chance. But know that I will not be doing this alone. No, it was proven long ago that Hydra is too big for any one man to destroy, something others who's names I could otherwise mention never understood."
Damn you Harry...
"...so to that end I am re-assembling the Avengers! Earth's Mightiest Heroes will live again under my leadership!"
The screen changed to feature the arrival of several new individuals, and to Peter's horror each one wore a costume that was eerily similar to that of one of the Avengers. He recognized the Vulture in a new red costume and Sentry among them, as well as figures dressed in alternate outfits for Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, the Vision, and Wolverine.
"These brave men and one woman have chosen to join me in my fight. Most of you probably already know who they are: they are Hawkeye, co-founder of the Avengers, Ms. Marvel, government agent turned superhero, the heroic android known as the Vision, Wolverine of the X-Men, and the Sentry, perhaps the greatest hero of all."
Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. These people were obviously not the real Avengers, how could anyone else think they were? And yet regardless of whether or not the crowd knew that these Avengers were counterfeits, they still went wild at the sight of the "heroes".
"And yes, even the Vulture is here, now going by the name Falcon. And it is true that Adrian Toomes has been a criminal in the past, but like me he has had a change of heart and now works for the betterment of our society and the protection of our country. I feel for his plight, as it has been my own, so I insisted that he trust me to get him a second chance. And now I have delivered on that promise. Let's give him a big round of applause!"
The crowd went wild as Vulture/Falcon smiled smugly, taking it all in. Peter was utterly speechless. The crowd was cheering a supervillain, a convicted felon, and their team of frauds.
How could they be so damn stupid?
"Colonel James Rhodes, also known as the Iron Patriot, will also be joining me in my war against Hydra. But there is one more member of my Avengers, and I've saved the best for last. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, for the first time: the Amazing Spider-Man as an Avenger!"
Peter's whole body went numb as his ears heard this. His world was like a glass wall that had been shattered by the bullets of Harry's lies and manipulations. His eyes barely comprehended the sight of a figure wearing a variation of his Spider-Man costume that was black in the blue parts and with black gloves instead or red ones swing into action to a surprised and cheering crowd. Bowing dramatically, the counterfeit Spider-Man waved to the crowd and took in the flashing bulbs with aplomb. Peter knew from the black and red that it was Hybrid. He walked up to Harry and shook his hand.
"As you can see, we have smoothed things over and are now on the same side against the common enemy. Together we will bring Madame Viper and the rest of Hydra's high command to justice. None of them will be able to escape us. We will cut off all of Hydra's heads! And none shall come to take their place!"
The crowd went insane. Peter for his part couldn't watch anymore and shut the television off. His entire body felt numb and lifeless, as if every vein in his body had gone dead. It was akin to being in a nightmare, only with no hope of waking up. No realizing that things shouldn't be as they were and that therefore it must not be real. But it was. Harry Osborn had just pulled the wool over the entire world's eyes, and now had his own Avengers team and Iron Man armor at his disposal. It was the worst possible scenario Peter could think of.
And Peter knew then and there what he would have to do.
Author's Note: Wow! Talk about dramatic. And its not even over yet! Nope, there's still one more chapter. Regarding the usual fun facts...
1. Though most who know the character regard him (not unreasonably) as a Spider-Man villain, Jack O'Lantern has also tangled with Captain America before and is considered a Captain America villain as well as a Spider-Man villain. This is why I had the fight between them in this story.
American Son is a real concept in the actual Marvel comics. During the real Dark Reign, Norman Osborn designed the American Son armor for his son Harry to make him the "heart" of the Dark Avengers. Since here James Rhodes is Iron Patriot like in the movie, I figured I'd have Harry Osborn be American Son while leading the Dark Avengers.
3. The Dark Avenger Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and Wolverine are of course Bullseye, Moonstone, and Daken, just like in 616. Because Mac Gargan is an AWFUL excuse for a Venom, I made Ryan as Hybrid the fake Spider-Man instead. Regarding who the Vision is, that's a surprise that I'll reveal later. But its not the original.
4. The Sentry is Marvel's blatant answer to Superman, albeit also seriously messed up and having a very literal dark side called "The Void". He was a part of the Dark Avengers in mainstream continuity, so he's part of it here too.