Well here's the fourteenth chapter to my epic that is Old Hero, New Era. So we finish up the mission in Egypt, we find out why Taskmaster is being hunted by Black Adam and Spider-man realizes that he really hates Waller.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned, or used in this story.
Chapter 14: So the mission is a success...
Cairo Egypt May 23rd 5:12 AM
Spider-man jumped to the left just as Black Adam had tried to rush him with what looked like a super powered cloths line. Thank full Adam wasn't using his full speed as it seemed like he saw Spider-man as unworthy to face with more than 10% of his power.
Not that the assassin was complaining because it made surviving against him a hell of a lot easier. Still if what he heard about Black Adam's anger is true than it won't be long until the ancient man will lose what little patience he has and likely decide to just incinerate Peter and everything around.
'Sometimes I wish I had the strength to bench press a damn aircraft carrier. It would make most of my fights with people like this soooo much easier then…' Spider-man thought tiredly before he saw Professor Zoom race by Black Adam and give him a hell of a right hook traveling at almost 900 miles an hour.
The resulting shockwave from the impact caused all of the nearby windows to shatter while Black Adam was sent flying towards Spider-man. Seeing this Spider-man took a quick look around and saw an over turned car near him. Using his working web shooter he attached a line to the car and yanked it over to himself where he proceeded to lift it and utilize it as a make shift baseball bat just as Adam was regaining his writs and about to stop.
"Oi! Sparky batter up!" Spider-man caught the attention of Black Adam who turned just as the red and black assassin swung the car into him and sent him flying into what looked like a bakery of some sort. "And the crowd goes wild as rookie sensation Spider- ack!"
Professor Zoom used the momentarily distraction to punch Spider-man into a nearby car which caved in on itself.
The speedster from the future appeared over the groaning assassin with a smirk "You were saying?"
Spider-man looked up at the smirking yellow meta "You know it's rude to interrupt a guy show boating you know!"
Spider-man grabbed the partially destroyed car door and used his enhanced strength to rip it off and swing it at Zoom or dodged with relative ease. After several more swipes Zoom placed a bit more distance between him and the door wielding mercenary.
"Is that all you're going to do? Swing a door at me?" Thawne asked with some amusement
Spider-man grinned even though the yellow speedster couldn't see it "No I just had to keep you busy while sir broody regained his bearings"
Zoom frowned at the answer before his widen in realization and turned just in time to be struck by a bolt of golden magical lightning towards the other end of the street. The man tumbled and rolled a good several meters before coming to what looked like a painful stop with smoke rising from his body.
"Wow, surprised that he didn't dodge that… eh sucks to be him I guess" Spider-man said before he then found himself hoisted up by his throat with Black Adam looking at the aged assassin with a look of contempt. "You're not still pissed about the whole hitting you with a car are ya?"
Black Adam growled in response as lightning began to flare off of him.
"Guess so…"
"I will ask this again, where is Taskmaster!" Adam shouted causing some lightning to shoot off him and zap Spider-man slightly
"D-don't know. It's why I was a-asking Zoomy o-over there" Spider-man was able to choke out some words as he felt Adam's grip tighten
"So the yellow one knows of Taskmaster's location?" Black asked
"M-m-mayb-e" Spider-man choked out as his vision began to darken
Black Adam saw that the infamous assassin was about to pass out and released him from his hold causing the man to fall to the ground and take deep breathes. After several minutes of Spider-man struggling to get air back into his lungs he looked up to see Adam looking at him with a curious expression.
"W-what?" Spider-man questioned as he picked himself up
"I am surprised on how easy you are to fight with the reputation I hear you poses." Adam said as he began to make his way towards the still downed Professor Zoom
"Yeah well when your starting to leave the prime of your physical health and haven't had any proper sleep or food in days and have to fight off aliens and super powered people almost constantly you'll start to feel tired to" Spider-man growled out in annoyance before following the demigod.
Peter wasn't lying when he said that his age was starting to affect him. As good as his healing factor is, it doesn't allow him to remain in his physical prime for over a hundred years like it did for the late Wolverine and likely for his successor/clone/daughter.
'Man getting old really sucks… but it definitely beats living for eternity' Peter thought after seeing what happens to many people who were able to achieve 'immortality' and have lived for centuries or longer, it wasn't pretty.
Even Natasha who is older than Peter but looks to be in her thirties from what he's seen is starting to feel the effects of the longevity serum she took decades ago starting to wane. Not that he'd ever say that to her face or think it around her… he isn't that suicidal after all.
'Heh, faced some of the most dangerous and powerful beings in the universe and she's like number two on the list of things that terrify me' Peter thought as he watched Black Adam kick Professor Zoom over so the injured man was looking up towards the two standing anti-heroes or more like super dark hero and an assassin with a heart of gold… most of the time.
"Well now that the whole fighting thing is out of the way, you ready to tell us about Taskmaster?" Spider-man asked as he kneeled down next to Zoom's head while lightning coursed around Adam's body in a show of intimidation.
Zoom spat out some blood before glaring at the two before him "I'm still not talking"
Before Spider-man could respond to that Black Adam grabbed Zoom and hoisted him up to his face "You will tell me where Taskmaster is or I will break you"
Professor Zoom looked at Black Adam for a moment in thought before a beeping was heard coming from Zoom's belt. Spider-man wandered over and listened for the source before reaching for a specific pocket and pulling out what looked like some highly advance communication device.
"What is that?" Adam asked Zoom who had a blank face
"Don't know… read it to me and I'll let you know" the negative speed force user said.
Black Adam looked to Spider-man expectantly as he kept a firm grip on the yellow speedster. Spider-man read what was sent on a small screen.
Job's done. You're free to do what you want.
"Job's done do whatever you want? The hell does that mean?" Spider-man said as he looked towards Professor Zoom with a pointed look
Zoom seemed to think on it for a second before answering "It means later ass clowns!"
Before Adam could respond Zoom held up an arm vibrating into a blur with the negative speed force surrounding his fist and jammed it into Adam's eyes repeatedly at speeds that caused his arm to nearly disappear which caused the ruler of Kahndaq to shout in pain before releasing him and stumbling back while clutching his face. Spider-man dove towards the yellow speedster who simply smirked before he seemingly vanished into thin air
'What the hell…?' Spider-man thought as he flipped himself over midair and landed on his feet and looked around for Thawne. He looked around for any speeding yellow blurs and while almost useless in this particular situation, Spider-man used his spider-sense to see if there was any threats nearby… aside from the cursing demigod nearby who was still clutching his face in pain and having arcs of electricity shoot off him.
"Well, that was anticlimactic. Also why didn't he do that earlier?" Spider-man stated before making his way over to Black Adam cautiously. The man may strike out in anger and without his highly durable helmet on Peter would like to avoid getting sucker punched in the head by a guy strong enough to break Superman's bones. Granted it isn't hard to do if you have green Kryptonite or red sun energy, or are magical in nature, or just really, really strong.
He watched as Black Adam seemed to take several deep breaths before letting go of his face and looking towards the red and black injured assassin. Spider-man was glad he was wearing a mask else Adam would have seen the wince at seeing the damage done to his face. Black Adam's right eye was heavily bruised and had a small stream of blood leaking down his cheek and chin and what looked like puss was leaking out while his nose seemed broken and discolored along with his left cheek with what looked like either friction burns or electrical burns. While he believes that Adam will heal, it looks like it will take a while even with his magical healing factor.
"You might want to get that looked at. But if you plan to rock an eye patch you have my support" Spider-man said before stepping back at the growl Adam released at the poor joke
"I will heal, in time. The same cannot be said for Professor Zoom and Taskmaster when I find them" Adam said as he righted himself up and looked to be prepared to leave.
"What did Tasky do to get on your shit list?" Spider-man questioned as he was curios to hear what it was that the infamous mercenary did to get Black Adam of all people gunning for him.
Black Adam was quiet for a moment before looking to Spider-man with his arms crossed "He tried to have my wife assassinated and encourage rebellious extremists to try and rise up against me in Kahndaq"
Spider-man raised an eyebrow underneath his mask "Why? Is there something there that he wants because even though I don't know Taskmaster other than by reputation, overthrowing governments isn't really his M.O. Hell I avoid those kinds of contracts most of the time because of how bad things can go if you align with the wrong kind of rebels."
"There is nothing to my knowledge that resides in Kahndaq that would possibly interest someone to want to ignite a rebellion in my country. But I will check just to be sure. I haven't spent decades trying to bring peace to my home only to have it all destroyed by some coward in a mask" Adam said before looking towards the Pyramids that were now more visible in the early morning sun as the sandstorm has finally ended.
"Ignoring the jab at me and most heroes and villains in the business, I have a quick question before you leave. How did you know to look here for one of Taskmaster's lackeys, better yet how did you know that Speedy Gonzales was working for him in the first place?" Spider-man asked the ancient fallen champion of Shazam.
"I was contacted by a woman by the name of Waller who told me that you or Zoom will know of Taskmasters location" Adam said as he rose up into the air to return to Kahndaq "It appears that she was both right and wrong" he said before blasting off into the morning sky.
Spider-man watched the man slowly grow smaller while he thought over what he was told. 'So Waller told a borderline homicidal demigod that I might know where a guy he's looking for is and tried to get me killed. Hmm I'm starting to think that Waller want's me dead for some reason. Lady I'm going to enjoy killing you if I get the chance because this was not cool on any level. Well neither was the whole kidnapping and planting a explosive chip in my head but this is ridiculous!'
All of sudden Spider-man's sixth sense went off causing him to leap to the right just as a Phantom grunt landed where he was previously.
"Oh, I forgot about you…" Spider-man started before more flashes filled the street until there were eight grunts, two brutes and a single goliath "Well least I can express some of my pent up rage"
Spider-man looked around his environment for anything he could use to his advantage and saw two old looking motorcycles lying on the ground that appeared slightly damaged.
'Those will work' Peter thought before he jumped to them and grabbed each one and held them in front of him like some pair of shields/weapons.
"Okay just letting you guys know, I've seen my friend Banner do this with tanks but this should still work. Now who wants to be the first to experience my 'Spider Cycle knuckles'? …No wait that name sucks, give me a minute to think of something more badass sounding" Spider-man said before one of the grunts jumped at him at high speeds with its clawed hands extended outwards.
"Raaaaaaaaagh!"
"Never mind!" Spider-man said before he used his right weapon shield to punch the aggressive hard light construct into another Phantom grunt. The impact of the two colliding caused both to disappear in a blind light
The Phantom grunts are growled at the sight of two of their number being 'killed' and decided to all rush Spider-man at the same time. Spider-man quickly scanned the six remaining grunts before shrugging and charged the oncoming aliens with a war cry
"Tally hoooooooooooo!"
Spider-man used his enhanced speed and strength in his legs to meet the charging grunts halfway and used the motorcycle in his left hand to block a powerful swipe from one of the grunts and gave it a savage kick to the chest sending it flying back and disappearing in a flash of light. Spider-sense blaring caused the red and black assassin to lean back at a jarring angle as a Phantom flew over him with its claws brushing across his chest and just barely left any marks on the nearly destroyed armored chest piece. Spider-man righted himself up just in time to use his right motorcycle shield to block a powerful kick from a grunt that sent Spider-man sliding back almost two meters and leaving his arm feeling like it got poked by those electric shock pens.
"Man… you guys are pretty strong at only 25 percent full power, really dreading what 100 percent will feel like" Spider-man said before rolling his shoulders and leaping towards a grunt and using his left arm to punch the hard light construct and then using his right arm to side swipe the grunt away, killing it. Spider-man's trust sixth sense alerted him to two grunts attacking him from the rear which he turned towards and punched both of the Phantoms with enough force to completely destroy the motorcycle being held in his right arm and causing one of them to vanish.
Spider-man held up what was left of the motorcycle's engine before throwing it at the remaining Phantom grunt's head with enough force that the impact completely tore off its head.
"Okay now that they're taking care of-" Spider-man began before his 'spider-sense' blared causing him to turn to the sight of the two brutes charging towards him. One of the brutes lifted up a street sign and used it to swing at the old assassin like a baseball bat.
Spider-man brought up his last motorcycle which was barely holding together to block the brute's attack. The impact knocked the cycle out of the assassin's hands causing him to leap back just as the second brute made a grab for him. Spider-man landed on top of what once looked like a cart for something, food if the faint aroma was anything to go by.
The two brutes looked at Spider-man with contempt as they both spilt off and encircle around him to prevent any sort of escape. Spider-man kept his focus on the sign wielding brute more as it posed the most serious threat between the pair. Spider-man reached for his belt and pulled out a web cartridge that contained his incendiary web fluid. While one of his gauntlets was already out of commission because of these, he wasn't dumb enough to completely forgo using it on the off chance it malfunctions, after all what are the odds of it happening twice?
After setting the cartridge in his web shooter he scanned the two brutes for any possible way to take them down with only a few or better yet one shot so he can focus on the goliath that has been oddly watching the fight instead of aiding its fellow Phantoms. The brute with the sign charged first causing Spider-man to dodge its swipes with the makeshift weapon all the while setting his web shooter to projectile mode. After the fifth swipe Spider-man jumped on to the shoulders of the brute and ripped off the mask that was on its head and aimed his gauntlet at the snarling face.
"You're taking this fighting thing waaaaay too seriously. I think you need to lighten up" Spider-man remarked as he shot the brute in the face repeatedly with his incendiary webs at point blank range which caused the monster's head to catch on fire. The grunts and snarls of pain were quickly silenced when Spider-man lifted the sign the Phantom was using earlier and stabbed the brute in the chest, causing it to topple over and vanish as it 'died'.
Spider-man heard more than sensed the other brute charging and Spider-man turned just in time to block a punch from the Phantom. The blow was absorbed by Spider-man's gauntlets allowing him to punch back with the same amount of forced absorbed on top of his 15 ton punch into the area where the Phantom's solar plexus is causing the beast to hunch over. Spider-man then grabbed the head and using all of his strength he lifted the brute and tossed it towards the standing goliath who used its massive sword to swipe the brute in half, causing it to vanish in a flash of light.
'Not what I was expecting but hey, one less Phantoms to fight' Peter thought with an internal shrug as he watched the goliath begin its approach with its barbed whip being swung over its head. The goliath then cracked its whip at Spider-man who back flipped back several times before shooting the goliath in the head with three incendiary web bullets. Sadly, the goliath's headpiece provided ample protection from most of the attack but it still didn't stop the helmet from catching fire and lilting the goliath's field of vision.
Spider-man smirked underneath his helmet at the sight of the goliath struggling to see through the flames allowing him to better strategize on how to take down the giant ass Phantom. Looking around he saw that he had no weapons he could use since most of the objects were either destroyed from the earlier fighting with Zoom and Adam or when he was fighting the brutes and grunts.
'So… looks like I'm going to have to take this thing down the old fashion way' Peter thought sarcastically as he rolled his shoulders in preparation for his attack.
However before he could something shiny in the early morning sun caught his attention and it was flying right towards the goliath that couldn't see it coming because of its helmet covered face was still on fire and now causing the metal to burn red from the intense heat. The shiny object lodged itself into the leg of the goliath causing it to pause and look down along with Spider-man who saw it was a now beeping boomerang. Before the goliath could react the boomerang ignited into a small but violent explosion that heavily damaged the goliath's leg, forcing it to its other knee and using its sword as a sort of makeshift crutch.
Spider-man looked to where the boomerang came from and saw Captain Boomerang himself running towards Spider-man with another boomerang in his left hand. Harkness looked a little out of it since his scarf and jacket were missing and he seemed to have the beginnings of a black eye. The man came to a stop next to the assassin and tried catching his breath
"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you here?" Spider-man questioned the Australian criminal
"Because…*pant*…. Lawton was… *pant*… getting tired of waiting for…*pant*… you to show up" Harkness said as he finally regained his breath and stood up straighter
"You guys get the shard?"
Harkness snorted "Of course we got the bloody rock, it's why we're here"
Before Spider-man could respond the loud growling of the goliath drew his attention away from his teammate and back to the damaged Phantom. The goliath's leg seemed to be flashing as if struggling to stay together while its helmeted head was now cherry hot red in color as while the flames were still burning and now smoke was coming off the goliath's head as the bandages were now burning along with its synthetic flesh.
Spider-man quirked his head to the side as he observed the goliath before looking towards a tense Captain Boomerang, or more specifically his weapon of choice
"Is that an exploding boomerang by any chance?" Spider-man gestured to the ancient hunting tool in the man's hand
Harkness took his eyes off of the goliath to address Spider-man "Yeah it's me last one… why?"
Spider-man held out his hand and waited for the criminal to get the unvoiced demand. Harkness noticed it and seemed to frown before begrudgingly giving the elder man his last exploding boomerang. Spider-man held the weapon and felt the balance before looking towards the goliath that was now standing but leaning heavily on its sword as it cracked its whip in some form of intimidation.
The red and black clad assassin observed the goliath before shaking his head "Let's see if my lessons with the OG Hawkeye have paid off or not" Spider-man remarked as he threw the boomerang with all of his strength towards the soon to be dead goliath. The boomerang quickly covered the seven meter distance and wedged itself right into the goliath's small partially melted eye hole causing it to growl in pain.
(BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM)!
The explosion completely destroyed the goliath's head and sent bits of metal shrapnel into nearby wrecked cars or slightly damaged buildings with one or two pieces bouncing off what little of the metal chest plate on Spider-man remained. Harkness covered his face at the explosion before lowering his arms to see the goliath's now headless body still standing before slowly falling backwards and vanishing in a flash of light just before it's back could hit the ground.
Harkness let out a low whistle before turning to Spider-man "Bloody good throw chap…"
Spider-man rubbed his shoulder before responding "I'm just glad I didn't miss and the damn thing came back. Because honestly in my state now, I wouldn't be able to dodge something that fast unscratched"
Harkness seemed to mull this information over before putting a finger to his ear "Yes Lawton I have him… yeah we're good… see you and Black Spider there"
Spider-man was watching the exchange with some interest "So, I take it we're done here?"
Harkness let out a sigh "Yeah, we're meeting Lawton back near the pickup zone where we're get our ride to the next location"
The two members of the Suicide Squad began to make the six block trek back towards the area where they we're dropped earlier. The journey was mainly in silence as Spider-man thought over the recent events while Harkness was thinking about what he will do when the mission was over… and we'll leave it at that because it's better not to know what was going through his mind at the moment because yeesh, the man is into some freaky stuff.
After about several minutes Spider-man and Captain Boomerang entered the courtyard that was now better lit because of the morning sun with the sound of the transport approaching from what sounded like the west.
Deadshot who had a few light burns on his vest and his eye piece missing it's lens was currently sitting on a small wall with the meteor shard in his hand while Black Spider was standing across from him with a few tears in his suit and his arms folded and his head lowered as if he was in deep thought. The sound of Spider-man and Captain Boomerang approaching caught both men's attention and a nod to each man was given.
Spider-man decided to ask why everyone was all torn up "So why do you guys look like you went a few rounds with Fire and Harkness has a shiner growing on his face?"
Harkness glowered at Deadshot while the infamous sharpshooter glared back "A goliath was at the excavation site with the meteor and threw a few tankers and bulldozers at us. As for the shiner… Harkness was being his usual self and I got tired of it"
That comment seemed to anger the Captain even more who pulled out a boomerang "You bloody tosser"
Deadshot responded by holding up his still loaded wrist gun and pointed it straight at the Australian criminal's head. At the distance he was at, missing was impossible unless Harkness developed super speed all of a sudden.
Spider-man was about to break up the confrontation before Black Spider beat him to the punch, and by that he neck chopped Lawton who almost instantly loss conscious and threw a small rock into Harkness's head which also served to knock him out. Both men fell to the sandy ground just as the transport appeared above them and began to lower for pickup.
Spider-man looked at the two downed men before looking to the former member of the League of Assassins "Least we don't have to hear their arguing or explain to Waller why Harkness was killed by Lawton"
Black Spider snorted as he grabbed the shard and hoisted up Deadshot with little trouble even though the man weighed almost two hundred pounds of muscle and weaponry ranging from guns and bullets to knives on top of the weight of his tactical gear. "I had to listen to these two argue for over ten minutes before Lawton finally attacked Harkness. Didn't feel like watching a repeat"
"Fair enough…" Spider-man said as he grabbed Harkness by the leg and dragged him to the transport. He would have carried him but honestly the man gets on his nerves, plus he was too tired to carry the hundred and eighty pound man.
Spider-man looked towards the black and purple clad assassin "So where we going next?"
Black Spider kept on walking while he answered "Transylvania…"
The only response he got from his pseudo mentor was a groan of dread and annoyance before he continued "Greeeeat, the one place on Earth I've been actively avoiding and had no intention of ever entering is now the place I have to go to."
Black Spider chuckled as he and Spider-man along with their unconscious teammates entered the transport to see Killer Frost and King Shark already inside.
Frost saw the condition of her teammates "Wow, glad I sat this one out"
"Yeah lucky you Elsa" Spider-man said as he dropped Harkness's leg and plopped himself down on a chair before fastening the harness on "Don't wake me until the briefing starts. I'm too tired to bother with life at the moment"
Killer Frost laughed at Spider-man's statement while said assassin got into a more comfortable position to dose off in before looking to Black Spider who was currently strapping Deadshot into a seat before wandering over to do the same for Captain Boomerang
"…Fun times?" the ice using meta questioned the other spider themed assassin
Black Spider grunted in agreement "For the most part…"
He soon had Harkness secured and made his way towards his own seat where he proceeded to strap himself in as the transport rose up and rocketed towards the team's next mission
Transylvania…
And done.
So yeah apparently Taskmaster tried to start an uprising in Kahndaq for some unknown reason (for now) and the team is off to the land where Vampires, Werewolves and other nightmarish creatures lurk… fun times ahead.
And don't worry Professor Zoom will be returning later in the story, I have interesting plans for the man along with Black Adam and why exactly Taskmaster tried to start a civil war in Adam's homeland.
Also choose who you want as the villain to appear in for the Transylvania mission that can be either Marvel or DC, both are fair game but they have to fit the theme like horror and supernatural. Plus we'll get a little sneak peek at something that will tie into my Venom arc later down the road. And we'll get to see a bit more of the 'mysterious main' villain of this story and no it's not Mysterio just letting you know now.