DATE: APRIL 11 2015, CASTLE ZEMO, GERMANY, 12H57M (New York time)
Normally, the Masters of Evil come together to deal with matters important to the Black Knight's plans, but today they are in an unpleasant situation.
The Black Knight himself, as well as Dr. Octopus are floating in the air, completely paralyzed, while the White Queen and Baron Zemo sit quietly at the dining room table, eating a delicious steak, as if nothing was wrong.
"I must admit, this is the best steak I've ever tasted. Your cook seems to really devote himself to what he does."
"You can congratulate him personally if you want." The Baron wiped his mouth with a napkin as he smiled at his guest. "Unfortunately, my previous cook had to retire a few years ago, but I'll admit the new one is almost as good."
"And, when you say "retired", you mean..."
"Oh, no, no. I may be evil, but even I would not be so cruel." Zemo smiled, then snapped his fingers so the servant came to take his plate. "He served me for forty years, and he wanted to spend time with his family. In fact, it was he who introduced me my current cook."
"How long will you continue with this insanity?" Octopus exclaimed, furious.
"Take it easy, Otto." Despite being immobilized, the Black Knight remained calm. "In the current situation, the best option is to do what she says."
"After all, how is she doing this? I thought the improved could not use their powers against you."
"Oh, but I'm not using my powers against him." Frost smiled smugly, looking at the scientist. "I can not use my powers to hurt him, though, I'm just restricting your moves."
Octopus felt a little offended that he had not thought of it. Still, he was not happy about being in such a situation.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I think he's right in what he says." Zemo put on his mask again, and looked at the young woman seriously. "I do not mind seeing you punish them, but I do not think I should let such a confusion occur in my castle."
"Well, I think you're right." She put the two men on the ground, and looked straight at the Baron. "Your headband keeps me from reading your thoughts, but as far as I know you have no interest in the personal affairs of other Masters. However, I do not trust our leader, and what I read in Octopus's mind made me furious."
"And what he did?" The knight looked sternly at his colleague, who looked away.
"He helped the fools revenge on the Loud family, something we had already decided not to do." She looked directly at the Black Knight, making him uneasy. "Not to mention the lunch you had. I thought you were better than that, Garrett."
"My dear, I really did not want to make you angry, but you have to understand that certain things must be done for an important cause." The knight sat in one of the chairs, placing his feet on the table. "So, what if I make a proposal that will benefit all of us and still allow Otto and the kids to take revenge of the Loud family without any of them dying?"
Though she knew she could not totally trust the Black Knight, the White Queen was thoughtful.
She did not want the Loud family to suffer from her enmity with the older one, but she still knew that sooner or later she would need the help of the other Masters of Evil.
"What do you have in mind?"
SIMON KIRBY-LIEBER SCHOOL
Silence.
Chandler watches the man in front of him, without breaking eye contact. After a while, the boy realized that nothing was happening.
"So?"
"Well, it was for my partners to appear heroically and help me give you an epic beating, but it does not seem like it's going to happen." The Ant-Man raised his fists in an attacking position. "You're probably new to it, but that's the part where you surrender."
Chandler stared at him in disbelief. Was this guy really serious?
"Hahaha! This was good." The boy raised his fist, preparing to attack. "Was a pleasure to meet you."
With a quick strike, Chandler crushed the hero.
But as soon as he looked, he saw no sign of him. Confused, he glanced sideways, looking for the man in red. He took a few steps, when suddenly he noticed a red blur.
Using his furtive skills, the Ant-Man has grown in size to be able to give a powerful punch in his opponent.
"Is that the best you can do?" Chandler smiled smugly, with an air of superiority.
As if the punch was not enough to be ineffective, it gave Chandler the chance to counter-attack, punching the hero into one of the school windows, right on the third floor.
"Now that he's gone, we can go back to..."
When he turned, Lynn and the other players were gone.
"Dang it!"
.
On the other side of the school, Lynn, Ronnie Anne and the other players followed Rita and the Loud family. Taking advantage of the distraction created by the Ant-Man, the last spectators and the players fled the field, and headed for the exit of the school.
"Mommy, where's Lincoln?" Lily clung tightly to her mother, totally terrified.
"Do not worry sweetie. Your brother went inside the school, and should be safe."
Although she had to keep her other nine children calm, Rita herself was in a panic.
In a normal situation, she herself would be dealing with the green bully, but after the explosion he made she could not use her powers. Never before had the matriarch been deprived of her powers, and now she had to worry about her children.
"I hope you can solve this, Pym."
When they were almost in the parking lot, they were surprised by a crowd.
Confused and disorganized, several parents and students crowded into the gates, seemingly unable to get out.
Rita stopped, then looked up. The sky seemed opaque and slightly reflective, which was a bad sign.
"Dang it! It's a force field. Girls, come with me."
The girls followed Rita, making Lynn and Ronnie's teammates follow them too. Soon, they were all inside the school, toward the auditorium.
As soon as they entered, Rita began to coordinate the girls to make a barricade in front of the door, but barely started and someone knocked on the door. They stood motionless trying to think of a solution when heavy blows were struck against the door. As soon as the knocks stopped, there was a slight buzz, and then the door exploded with a loud sound, leaving a curtain of smoke. Rita handed Lily to Luna and headed for the door with a broom in her hands, followed by Lynn and Ronnie Anne. As soon as the smoke dissipated, they were shocked at what they saw.
Entering by what was left of the door was Marvel Boy and a man dressed in blue and red, holding a strange weapon. Each of them held a small device with the appearance of a small box with several flashing lights.
"Marvel Boy!" Lynn exclaimed happily, approaching the boy. "What are you doing here? And who is this guy?"
"Well, it's a long story." The boy stepped back, seemingly uncomfortable for being so close to Lynn. "I'm in a temporary truce with the Hellfire Club, and pawn is helping me find these little things."
"And what are these things?" Lana asked, approaching the object. "I feel as if I've seen this before."
"And you've probably seen it." Rita was amazed to see the devices, and approached the boy. "These are auxiliary force field generators, similar to what our company does for S.H.I.E.L.D. agentes. The field is maintained by four main generators and a number of auxiliary generators like these." She looked at the henchman, and folded her arms. "What do you know about it?"
Everyone's eyes focused on Kade, who was beginning to regret his alliance with Lincoln.
"Look, I can not tell you much, but the main thing is that my boss wanted to avoid this situation get out of control. As far as we know, there are at least two guys involved in this, and one of them clearly planned this perfectly."
"Then we must suppose it is not the creature that attacked us." Lisa adjusted her glasses, and approached the device. "These devices are clearly far too advanced for an improved bully."
"What do you mean, an improved bully?" Marvel Boy looked at the girl in astonishment.
"A classmate of ours, Chandler." Ronnie Anne looked at him earnestly, her arms folded. "He's undergone some kind of transformation, and now he's looking like a huge green monster."
"Green monster? You mean, like the Hulk?"
"Although he is only a little smaller, our troublemaker is clearly different from him, as well as possessing the ability to deactivate superhuman powers." Lisa picked up her cell phone, and started checking some information. "However, as much as it is fascinating, we must focus on breaking the force field. This is not only keeping us here, but also prevents any kind of signal from being transmitted or received. Still, I believe I can disable this force field if I bring one of these devices to the computer lab."
Everyone looked at the girl with surprise, still a little disbelieving. Still, Rita realized that her daughter was probably the best chance they had at the moment. She looked at her daughters and the children who were with her, and realized that she must take control.
"We need to get organized and take action before the situation gets worse. Any suggestion?
"Well, I have." Marvel Boy caught everyone's attention, making everyone look at him with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "You guys go to the computer lab with the pawn while I deal with this Chandler guy."
"What!?" Everyone exclaimed, we were clearly amazed.
"Marvel Boy, I know you're a brave boy, but this is crazy." Rita looked at him very seriously, as if scolding him. "That kid became a monster, and he was able to take away our powers. How do you expect to face him?"
For a moment the boy was thoughtful, but then he looked at Ronnie Anne. Discreetly, she winked at him, her eyes changing color for a moment. She pointed at her wrist, and he noticed the symbi-watch. He immediately regained his confidence, and smiled.
"Do not worry, Mrs. Loud. I'm sure he will not be able to take away my powers. Besides, I'm stronger than I look."
"(Sigh) Okay, but be careful." Rita leaned over and kissed the boy's forehead, making him blush.
A little embarrassed, he left the auditorium and began to fly through the hallways. As he left, all eyes focused on the boy in the beige mask, making him uncomfortable.
"So?" Rita said, looking at him.
"What?"
"You heard the boy, you're our bodyguard. Go ahead."
"Oh, right. Come with me."
They all left the auditorium, sneaking down the hallways.
They just did not notice Leni and Ronnie Anne heading the other way.
.
"Sir, are you all right?" Larry called his master over the communicator, his voice alarmed.
"Ouch! I've been better, Larry." The hero stretched, feeling a lot of pain in the process. "I know this pain is the product of the artificial body, but it is still unpleasant".
Looking around, he realized he was in a classroom. From the decoration, it was possible to see that it was the French class room. Especially by the model of popsicle sticks of the Eiffel tower that he had broken.
He got up slowly, and realized his left arm was dislocated. Without any subtlety, he used the wall as a support to place the arm in place, which was not pleasant at all.
"Ouch! What is the extent of the damage, Larry?"
"According to the sensors, you have fractured several bones, broken seven ribs and one of the vertebrae of the neck, and that's not counting the internal bleeding. If you were really human, I think you'd already be in the morgue."
"Shit! What about the school?"
"Apparently, a force field is preventing certain people from leaving school, though most have managed to escape. The sensors record about eighty-nine people scattered throughout the school, plus twenty soldiers from the Hellfire Club, the boy named Chandler and a sign that seems to be the same as the Beetle's armor. I also sense the majority of the Loud family heading to the second floor of the school's main building."
"So, the Masters of Evil attacked?" I'll admit I'm surprised."
"Actually, the transmitters on the symbi-watches and the package reveals that the Hellfire Club is here to stop the Masters of Evil. Apparently, there seems to be an internal conflict between them."
"Well, that might be useful." The Ant-Man smiled smugly, and looked out the window. "Where are my Avengers?"
"Marvel Boy is almost out of school, while Miss Marvel and Iron Lady seem to be looking for a private spot to activate their suits."
"Then all I can do is wait." He shrank and called an ant, which flew out of the school. "It's time to see what they learned from me."
.
Carefully, Marvel Boy flew through the school hallways while looking for some sign of his enemies. He was still a little shaken to discover that Chandler had become a monster, but in a way it was funny, since now he was a monster inside and out. Now he understood why the boy had disappeared, but an even more important question was being asked in his mind.
Chandler was a normal boy. How did he gain powers? And who had given these powers to him?
Lincoln was almost approaching the exit from the school when he heard hurried footsteps behind him. He turned with fists ready to fire as he noticed Iron Lady and a wolf approaching him.
"Wow, you scared me." He lowered his fists and smiled at his partners when he realized something was wrong. "Wait, how did you leave without getting any attention?"
"Well, actually, we just slipped away while the others followed that guy with the weird gun." Miss Marvel returned to her human form, and looked earnestly at her friend. "Do you really think we can trust him?"
"I'm not sure, but he does not seem to want to hurt us. He talked to the other guys on the radio, and it looks like half of them got stuck on the other side of the force field, and the ones in here are gathering the parents and students who got stuck here and taking them to the back of the school."
"This is so weird." Leni was completely confused, and was trying her best to try to figure out what was going on. "Like, why are we the only ones who still have powers?"
"It's our suits." Ronnie pointed to her Miss Marvel mask, and then to her left wrist. "I talked to the Ant-Man once, and he said our suits can protect us from several types of threats. Whatever that green glow of Chandler did, our suits must have blocked."
"So what are we waiting for?" The boy raised his arm, then spoke victoriously. "Avengers, A-"
Before he could finish, a green and purple blur passed them, knocking the girls out and carrying the boy out of the school. He was hurled up against the greenhouse, and when he tried to get up he was caught by a large, scaly green hand. The hand lifted him, until he stood face to face with a reptilian monster.
"So this is the famous Marvel Boy?" Chandler looked at him with a mocking smile, clearly underestimating the boy. "I still can not believe he gave you a hard time."
"Do not be overconfident. It was this kind of arrogance that cost me the win last time."
Lincoln looked up in surprise, and saw a new version of an armor he would never forget. In his new outfit, the Beetle appeared to have fewer exposed weapons, but being a slightly wider armor he probably had concealed weapons."
"Beetle? How could you be here?"
"I joined a group with big plans." Hugh pointed his arms at Marvel Boy, pulling the guns out of their hiding places. "Now, I think it's best to end you before your friends arrive."
"Too late for that."
Before the Beetle could fire, the Iron Lady struck him with her repulsor blasts, while Miss Marvel turned into a small black octopus and caught in the face of the Abomination.
Confused by the girl's arrival, Chandler let go of Marvel Boy to try to remove the octopus from his face, thus creating an opportunity for the boy to counterattack. Concentrating as much power as he had, he fired a huge energy blast, which threw the great green monster away, slamming into the force field and then dropping to the ground near the soccer field.
"Good move, partner!" Miss Marvel returned to her human form, and they did a High-five.
"Thanks. Now, help Iron Lady, I'll take care of him."
She nodded and turned into a hawk, going to assist the armored fashionista.
"I just hope the others are okay."
.
After a silent trip through the school, the Loud family and the players arrived at the computer lab, still not fully relying on their guide.
"Okay, we're here." Kade exclaimed seriously as he opened the door. "We're safe, at least for now.
"Gee, you're very encouraging." Luna said sarcastically.
"Yeah, it seems like you pawned your enthusiasm. Get it?" Luan exclaimed cheerfully, trying to cheer the others up.
Everyone just grunted at the comment, while the pawn just looked at her in disbelief.
"Is your name really Pawn?" Lynn asked, a little puzzled.
"That is not my name, but my rank." Kade put his gun in the holster, and went to close the curtains. "Inside the Hellfire Club there is a hierarchy, in which our leader, the White Queen reigns supreme."
"Fascinating." Lisa headed for one of the computers and set the auxiliary generator on the side. "If you follow a hierarchy based on the game of chess, it means that you are in the lowest rank."
"Well, I must admit so." The boy flushed beneath his mask, and assumed an embarrassed tone. "Actually, this is my first mission."
On hearing this, everyone was speechless. Apparently, their lives were in the hands of an inexperienced henchman and a five-year-old girl, and this was really uncomfortable. They sat wherever they could, trying to keep their cool, but one of them watched the pawn. Luna could not explain the reason, but something in the way he spoke seemed familiar.
But something more important caught the attention of the rocker.
"Hey, where are Leni and Ronnie Anne?"
At that, everyone looked around, and they realized they were gone.
"Dang it! They must have gotten lost on the way." Rita could imagine where the girls had gone, but she could not speak. "What do they think they can do without powers?"
"I can go look for them." Lynn lifted her arm, offering herself to the task.
"That makes two of us." Luna stood beside Lynn, ready to go with her.
"Make it three." Luan finished, joining the two.
"Girls, I know you care about your sister and Ronnie Anne, but it's very dangerous to walk around the school in the present situation." Rita looked at her daughters sadly. She did not want more of her children in danger, and she had to keep them safe. "Unfortunately, there is no safe way for you to walk around the school."
"I think I can handle this." Kade exclaimed vigor, making everyone's eyes turn to him.
He approached the girls and removed his belt, placing it on a table. He took a few pieces from his pockets and attached them, mounting a weapon similar to his.
"Being a pawn, there is not much equipment I can choose, so I take spare parts for my sonic gun." He handed the gun to Luna, who took it, though hesitating. "It is locked at level 3, which is enough to stun a person. With that, it will be safe to walk down the hallways of the school."
The three girls looked at their mother with a hopeful look, which Rita could not resist.
"Okay, but you need to promise to stay inside the school. And above all, that you will be careful."
"Yes, ma'am!" The three said in unison, saluting.
They soon left the room and ventured down the hallways.
The three sisters went downstairs to the second floor and began searching for the missing girls when they came across something they did not expect.
"Dang it!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
I had to stop here, or it would be a very long chapter. Still, the next one will not be short.
I also posted a drawing with the Beetle's data on deviantart.
