Armed & Dangerous Part 8
"So whadda ya plannin' on doin' to me, Squidy?" asked a restrained Flint Marko. He watched as Otto Octavius slowly walked around the dilapidated waterfront building, picking up random pieces of machinery with his mechanical arms.
Otto laughed and replied with, "Just you wait and see. I have plans for you, and trust me when I say that they, well... they aren't exactly legal."
"What?!" screamed Flint, who started struggling against the straps holding him down."Whadda ya gonna do?!"
Otto motioned to the machine he was building with his mechanical arms. "You see this? This is a particle accelerator. It should, theoretically, cause any form of matter to evaporate into a cloud of dust. Buildings, people, cars, etc. I want to activate this over New York, causing everyone to disintegrate. You're just the test subject."
"B-but why?!"
"I used to be the laughing stock. Everyone made fun of me. They all thought I was nothing more than a mad scientist-"
"Well, gee, I wonder why! Ya wanna vaporize the city into nothin'! Ya ARE crazy!"
Otto lashed out at the restrained man with one of the arms. It hit Marko hard, and Otto heard a snap. Marko looked back up at him with hatred while blood gushed from his nose.
"L-let me go, ya sunovabitch!"
"I would, but you'd go straight to the police... or even worse, you'd go to Spider-Man."
"I wouldn't! I'm a wanted criminal, and turnin' myself in would be stupid. Plus, Spider-Man would bring me straight to da cops!"
Otto laughed again. "I'm sorry, Mr. Marko, but it seems as though your luck has finally run out."
Flint stopped struggling, knowing that Octavius was right. He was done for and he couldn't do anything about it. He was powerless.
Gwen laid on her bed, flipping through a magazine. She hated reading them but there was nothing better to do. She could text Peter again, but she already texted him no more than an hour ago and she didn't want to risk bothering him.
Damn, I fell hard for him.
She bit her lip and fluttered her eyes, just like she did the first time they met. She didn't know why she liked him so much, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was-
BZZZ! BZZZ!
She heard her phone buzzing next to her and she reached out immediately, hoping Peter was calling her. She frowned when she noticed the caller ID was Mary Jane, though.
What does this bitch want?
After clicking the answer button, she coldly said, "Hello?"
"Gwen? It's me Mary Jane."
"I know. What do you want?"
Mary Jane gulped on the other end of the line and continued. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry, Gwen. I don't know what I was thinking when I got into your face like that. I'm sorry."
Gwen smirked. "Okay. Is that all?"
MJ sighed and said, "Stay away from Peter."
"What?! You bitch! You're a coward! You have to hide behind your phone! Don't tell me what to do! I like Peter and he likes me and there's nothing your red-headed ass can do about it! Go to Hell!" She slammed her finger onto the 'hang-up' button and threw her phone on the bed while crossing her arms.
"The nerve! I'll kick that girl's ass!"
She took a few deep breaths before she picked her phone back up to text Peter.
"You ready?"
"I guess so, but this is pathetic."
Herman pulled his mask over his face and activated his gauntlets. "Shut the hell up. Banks will come later. We need some practice first, and coffee shops are good for practicing. Now I'll be in and out. Shouldn't take any longer than five minutes. If I'm not out by then, just get away from here."
"I've got it."
Herman, in his quilted yellow and brown suit, turned around and walked into the coffee shop. He aimed his arms at the people inside and screamed, "EVERYBODY GET DOWN! THIS IS A ROBBERY!"
The people inside the coffee shop all dropped to the ground immediately. The man behind the counter had his hands raised and started whimpering, hoping that he wouldn't get hurt.
"Empty the register!" screamed Herman, who aimed his hands at the cashier.
"Okay, man, okay! J-just give me a sec!" he cried.
Herman tossed the cashier a duffel bag and looked around at the people scattered throughout the store. Every single one of them looked terrified.
"This is great! Fill that bag up!"
. . .
Adrian looked at his watch. It had been five minutes already and Herman still wasn't outside.
"Oh, great." he said as he activated his flying harness. He started to levitate off of the ground, and he pulled a ski mask on over his head. He was preparing to leave without Herman when suddenly he heard shouting.
"Herman?" he yelled into the store, worried about his accomplice.
"Help me, bird brain!"
Adrian flew into the store and assessed the situation. Herman was being swarmed by a large number of people, and he couldn't fight them all off fast enough. A few men tackled Herman to the ground, and others stood around the dog pile with chairs and any other items they could use as weapons. Most of the women stood back and watched.
"Get the flying one!" screamed one of the men suddenly. He pointed to Adrian, and half of the men split away to attack him.
"No!" shouted Herman. He started to charge up a blast with the gauntlets by holding down the trigger. A low hum was heard and got increasingly louder and louder. "Get back, Adrian!"
Adrian did as he was told and flew outside. A blast was heard and the walls of the coffee shop started to crumble on the outside. A few men flew out of the door and lay on the ground unconscious. Adrian went back inside to see Herman slowly getting up, dusting his shoulders off, and nervously laughing.
"Well, l-let's grab the cash and get going."
Bodies lay scattered all around the store, and Adrian looked in complete shock. "Are... are they..."
"I don't think so. Just grab the cash."
Adrian did what he was told again. The two men walked outside and looked at each other when they heard sirens blaring in the distance.
"We better go." Herman stated simply. Adrian grabbed Herman and took off, not quite sure what to make of the situation they had just been in.