Chapter Fourteen
Clark, Doctor Garner and Thor rounded a corner at the end of the corridor, expecting to find another hallway full of empty prison cells. Instead, they found themselves in the middle of the Sahara Desert, with purple dragons flying through the sky and polka-dotted lawn gnomes armed with butcher knives running rampant on the ground.
"What in the name of Odin's missing eye?!" Thor exclaimed.
Garner immediately realized what was going on. "Holographic illusions, created by Quentin Beck's holo-cubes," he stated matter-of-factly.
In the center of all the madness, a brawl of epic proportions had erupted. Spider-Man, Cyborg and Black Canary were trying to take on a whole horde of supervillains. Several of them had managed to find their way to the weapons cache where SHIELD had stored the technology they had confiscated from the villains, hoping to adapt it to their own needs. Hence, Beck had donned his Mysterio costume and planted holo-cubes throughout the floor, creating the bizarre visions that were playing out before them.
Another criminal, Frank Schlicting, had gotten ahold of his Constrictor costume. He wrapped his snake-like electrified metal coils around Spider-Man's torso, pinning his arms to his sides and thrashed him around like a rag doll. Jigsaw then jumped in, pummeling Spider-Man in the face as Schlicting held him immobile. Cyborg lunged at Jigsaw in an attempt to help Spider-Man, but the massive Rhino charged out from behind a holographic cactus and swatted Cyborg away like a fly. Black Canary, meanwhile, had her hands full with Typhoid Mary, who psionically hurled razor sharp debris at her as she tried her best to dodge it.
Clark had seen enough. He charged into the fray at super speed, ready to fight. Thor, holding Mjolnir aloft and giving a loud battle cry, followed right behind him.
Just below them, in the deepest sub-level of the Triskelion, Electro found what he'd been looking for. The generator that powered the complex was the size of a small building. His eyes went wide like a kid at Christmas. He could literally taste the electricity that surged through it. His hair stood on end with excitement.
"Finally," he whispered.
Shocker followed behind him, hesitantly. "Come on, Dillon. This could be our only chance to escape. This place is crawling with capes, you know they'll have everything locked down before--"
"Exactly," Electro interrupted. "Which is why I'm gonna juice up. Big time."
He approached the huge generator like it was an altar, treating it with reverence. Then, he held up his hands, and he could feel the static electricity passing back and forth between them. With a demented smile, he clapped his hands together, and sparks began to fly out of the generator and into his body. His eyes lit up and he began to laugh, throwing his head back in pure delight.
Back upstairs, the brawl kicked into high gear. Thor smashed his hammer across Tombstone's face, sending chips of his stone-like hide crumbling off like shards of rock. Clark grabbed Rhino by the horn and flipped him over his back, sending him tumbling head over feet through the air. Black Canary took a shard of metal to her already injured shoulder and shrugged it off, powering through the pain and kicking Typhoid Mary in the face. Cyborg ripped one of Constrictor's tentacles right out of its wrist socket, the electrical feedback sending Cyborg flying backwards. Partially freed now, Spider-Man was able to fight off Constrictor's other tentacle, then swing the villain around with a web-line and throw him straight into Jigsaw's stomach.
As all this was going on, Mysterio's holo-cubes continued to shift the scene. One minute they were in an African mine, the next they were on the moon, then an Amazonian rainforest, then Transylvania. Hailstones fell from the sky, vultures circled overhead, and a light-show worthy of a 1970s disco took place all around them. The assault on the senses was physically nauseating.
Typhoid wrapped her arm tightly around Black Canary's throat, gripping her in a choke-hold. Canary gagged and struggled, thrashing around as she tried to break free. Then, the butt of a pistol cracked Typhoid hard across the back of the head, knocking her out. Canary looked up in surprise to find that her savior was none other than Black Widow, who had joined the fight at some point in all this madness.
"Thanks…?" Canary said, grateful but confused. Widow replied with something in Russian that sounded bitter and unpleasant, then dove back into the battle.
The Rhino got back to his feet and charged at Clark, horn first. Clark swung his fist and connected with Rhino's face, snapping the brute's head back and knocking him flat on his back. Then the Juggernaut, recovered from his knockout earlier by Thor, smashed his fists down on Clark's head, driving him into the ground like a fence post. Clark grabbed Juggernaut by his fists and swung him into the wall, then pulled himself up out of the floor. He grabbed a metal door that had been ripped off from one of the cells and wrapped it around Juggernaut, pinning him down. The Rhino jumped on Clark's back, trying to drive his horn into him. The horn bent back, and Rhino howled in pain as Clark shoved him off again.
The Scorpion lashed out with his tail, smashing it into Cyborg and breaking off a chunk of his metal arm. Then Tombstone grabbed Cyborg's weakened arm and pulled, yanking it completely free of his body, and proceeded to beat Cyborg with his own appendage.
Captain America came charging down the hallway, shield held out in front of him. He slammed the shield into Tombstone's jugular, nearly decapitating him. The force of Cap's momentum knocked Tombstone back against the wall, and Cap delivered a crushing knee to Tombstone's stomach. Then, without even looking, he flung the shield back behind him, sending it straight into Scorpion's forehead.
Sabretooth leapt out from behind a holographic alien landscape, his razor sharp teeth headed right for Cap's throat. Thor swung Mjolnir up from below, delivering an uppercut to the feral mutant and almost taking his damn head off.
"Yo, Cap!" Spider-Man called out. "Did you and the other Ultimates ever think that keeping all these super villains in one place might be, oh, I don't know, a BAD idea?!"
Captain America just frowned, then grabbed his shield and smashed it into Jigsaw's face.
Clark squared off against Mysterio, only to find not one, but seventeen of the dome-headed supervillains standing side by side, arms folded, laughing at him. Certainly one was the real deal and sixteen were illusions, but which was which?
There was a whirlwind blur of orange and black, and suddenly the false Mysterios all vanished, leaving only one startled and baffled version standing there.
"What the-?!" he cried.
Bart Allen popped up behind Clark, juggling sixteen holo-cubes in the air.
"Bart!" Clark cried. "You're okay!"
"Woke up with a bit of a headache," Bart quipped. "Sprinted home for some quick-acting Asprin and got back in the game." He began pelting the cubes at Mysterio with super-speed force. They cracked his helmet as he ran away, screaming like a frightened little girl.
Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man, let out a roar and swung his wrecking ball at Clark's head. The weapon slammed against Clark's cranium, and a huge crack ran up through the metal ball. Creel looked at Clark in pure astonishment. Then, he gripped the chain tightly, his arm and upper torso turning into metal. He wrapped the chain around Clark's neck and began to squeeze. Clark grabbed the chain and pulled, ripping the links apart like wet paper. Creel reached out and found part of the wall, and his skin began to turn to brick. From behind him, Thor brought Mjolnir down on his head, sending shards of brick flying in all directions as Creel fell to his knees, his head split partially open.
The doors at either end of the hallway burst open as a swarm of SHIELD agents rushed in, firing tear gas into the corridor. Clay Quartermain, Sharon Carter and Dum Dum Dugan charged down the hallway followed by at least a dozen other agents, guns blazing. Bullets tore through several of the non-superpowered villains, sending the likes of Jigsaw and Constrictor to the floor clutching bleeding wounds. Bigger bruisers like Juggernaut and Rhino merely shrugged of the bullets and began to tear into the SHIELD Agents, ripping weapons from their hands and breaking limbs with violent fury.
The lights flickered.
"What was that?" someone yelled. "Another power outage?"
Doctor Garner stared out over the sea of brawling villains. In an instant, he realized who was missing. He put a hand on Captain America's shoulder.
"Where's Maxwell Dillon?" he asked.
The lights flickered again.
"Oh God," Cap said. "Someone get down to the generator room, NOW!" he yelled.
Spider-Man leapt to the ceiling. "I'm on it, Cap!" he called out. He fired off a web-line and swung out over the battle scene, trusting on his spider-sense to guide him to the stairwell door despite the illusions all around them. Black Widow took off after him, following close behind.
In the generator room, Electro was soaking up a dangerous amount of electricity. Bolts of pure energy were shooting out of the generator like a fireworks show, coursing through his body. He lifted up off the ground, levitating into the air as he continued to suck in the juice. He rubbed his hands together and licked his lips, savoring every morsel of electricity like a man enjoying a delicious steak.
"Dillon, don't you think that's enough, man? Let's go!" Shocker called out, standing far back in the corner.
"SHUT UP!" Electro yelled back, his voice distorted. "IT'S NOT ENOUGH UNTIL I HAVE IT ALL!"
Spider-Man swung into the room. "Holy moley!" he yelled, sticking to the wall. "Hey, Louie the Lightning Bug! Whatever happened to playing it safe around electricity?!"
Electro shot a bolt out of his hand, nearly frying Spider-Man. Spidey leapt down from the wall and bounced off, jumping and diving through the air as he dodged bolt after bolt.
"STUPID BUG!" Electro yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU!" His eyes were wild, lit up like twin night-lights. He was crazy, intoxicated on the power. His whole body glowed brighter and brighter as current continued to pour in from the generator.
Black Widow raced down the stairs into the room. She drew her gun and pointed it at Electro.
"Svoloch!" she spat.
"Widow, wait!" Spider-Man yelled. "Don't!"
She fired the gun. The bullet pierced Electro's skull. The electricity coursing from the generator into him now went unchecked, unleashed into the room like a tidal wave.
The generator exploded, ripping the entire Triskelion apart in a gigantic fireball.