Chapter Fifty-Four: Crime Wave Part Two.
Officer Jean DeWolff decided to conduct her own investigation. It was hard to believe something from seven years ago was returning back to haunt her. It just went to show you the past could come back and haunt you in the worst possible way.
The officer thought she hit a dead end tunnel. Then she stopped and frowned. There was the sound of running water on the outside. She had got enough keen instincts being a cop to understand when something was not on the level.
She gripped on a heavy handle and pushed the door open. She entered the room and showed up just in time to see Spider-Man trapped inside what appeared to be a water tube. And what was worse, was it appeared to be boiling him. She heard the agony, and it was one of the most gruesome things she ever encountered.
"Hang on," Jean said. She charged forward, to try to break him out.
The water rose in the air and it formed a barrier in front of her. She turned around and saw the face of Morrie Bench.
"Well, if it isn't the rookie cop who pushed me in the water," Bench said. He looked at her with disgust. "I see you've moved up in the world. You're the head of the Spider-Man fanclub at the NYPD aren't you? Well, I'll show you how powerful I am."
DeWolff drew her side arm, but then she realized doing so would be foolish. There was no way she could shoot water. A large arm shot out and a hand gripped her, pinning her against the wall hard.
Spider-Man realized his goose was cooked literally. His electronic equipment was not working as much as he planned. He tried to figure out what he was doing.
"Let her go!" Spider-Man yelled. He dropped to his knees and breathed. He could feel the pain and it appeared the boiling water closed in to crush him.
The ceiling above them was blasted and Spider-Man felt himself fall to the ground. The fact the cool air rushed around his body showed one thing. He was free from the cage and he couldn't believe it.
'Finally, got out of there,' Spider-Man thought. His body ached and the web slinger dripped with sweat. 'Why do I feel like my clothes are going to be a lot lighter from now on?'
Jessica was on top of Bench and she nailed him with a venom blast. It looked like he had an extraordinary amount of trouble trying to hold himself together, and Jessica lifted her hand again, nailing him with another intense venom blast.
Bench screamed in pain and Kara was there. She already got Jean out of the way. Her lips pursed and she blew at Bench's body.
The cold air caused his water body to freeze. Kara smiled when she saw her handiwork there. She lifted her fist and punched the ice, causing several ice cubes containing Bench to fall down onto the ground.
"You know, I really hate crushed ice," Jessica said. She reached forward and helped Peter up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I got water in my ear, and….I think I accidentally swallowed a part of a super villain," Peter said. What Peter said caused Kara's nose to curl up. "I know, sounds bad, doesn't…."
No matter how bad what Peter said sounded, he couldn't dwell on what occurred for more than a couple of seconds. His spider sense assaulted the back of his head.
Several ice cubes shot at him at the speed of light. Peter avoided the ice cubes before it took him out.
'Of course, frozen water is still water, and he can still control it,' Peter thought.
Kara used heat vision to take out the cubes one at a time. Jessica stood by her side and took it out with her venom blasts.
The battered form of Bench made his way down the drain below. Peter tried to catch him, but found to be just as futile as anything else he tried during this entire adventure.
Kara threw her hands up into the air and looked rather agitated.
"I really thought freezing and smashing him would work!"
"Good idea in theory, but not so much in practice," he said. The web slinger put his hand underneath his chin and pondered.
Bench didn't seem like the brightest bulb in the box. A statement which might have been an understatement, but he found much to be true. He was somehow able to get control of some very dangerous powers.
Powers, Spider-Man reminded himself, powers could be even more dangerous in the hands of people who knew what they were doing.
Peter closed his eyes. He really hoped the tracer was active. Something told him though Bench wasn't going to sulk back into the sewers. He was going to regroup and take the fight back to him.
Let him do it, see what happened.
Spider-Man was on the chase for Morrie Bench. He swung on the webs far, with Kara right behind him. Jessica took the ground patrol and Chloe was on mission support.
"Good thing the tracking device didn't get damaged," Chloe replied.
"Well my mother made it," Kara said. "And I helped….a little bit."
"More than a little bit, I think," Peter said. was beside the point though. They needed to find Bench. "He's heading for the park, isn't he?"
"If you mean the one with the big gigantic fountain, than yes he is," Chloe informed him. "I think if you go around to fifth, you might be able to cut him off."
No tracking device was precise, but this one was pretty good. It allowed Peter to maneuver into position when he kept swinging quickly.
His spider sense went off and he turned in time to see a fire hydrant rumbling. A hand shot out of it and punched Spider-Man in the chest. He landed on his back and hit the ground hard.
The web slinger felt like he got the wind knocked out of him. A sewer manhole launched off. Spider-Man dodged it and it slammed into the street with a large smack.
Spider-Man pulled himself up and he could see Bench's blue blur of a form shoot himself into the park fountain.
Bench going near even more body wasn't good at all. His spider sense started to sing, really badly. Spider-Man thought his head was going to split open from how loud it was getting.
Then he saw the large water monster. He was about ten foot tall and he started to laugh.
"I'm going to drown you and this entire city!" Bench yelled. He raised his hand and slammed a large gusher of water down at Spider-Man . The web slinger tucked his head and rolled out of the way just in the nick of time.
"Yeah, you're well on your way of being something else," Spider-Man said. He shot his web lines through Bench's body.
He didn't know why in the world he thought it would work. The web slinger dodged his attacks, and found Bench was getting more powerful, the more water he absorbed.
"With this power, I don't have to worry about entire cities!" Bench howled. "The entire world is my oyster and soon everyone will bow down before Hydro-Man!"
"Hydrant Man?" Spider-Man asked. He wasn't sure if he heard him right on account to having water in his ear. "Well, you've got fans among the dog population of the world, I'll give you as much."
HYDRO-Man raised his arms and gave a loud roar. He slammed his arms onto the ground and tried to crush Spider-Man.
'Okay, Spider-Man, think,' he thought to himself. He watched Bench's attempts to try and flood the city for reasons of being a criminal.
With Kara and Jessica dealing with civilians, he could focus on trouncing the bad guy. The only problem is he needed to figure out a way to do so.
He swung over a sandbox and he saw Bench's foot slam down onto him. The criminal's foot solidified, with the sand mixing into him. It created a mud luck mixture stuck to the ground.
"Not bad, maybe I should have brought Sandman along for this mission," Spider-Man said. He started kicking Bench in the foot.
He howled in response and tried to pull his foot up. He was clunky.
'Well, that gives me an idea,' Spider-Man thought to himself. He swung off to one end. He really hoped he could make this one work.
The web slinger motioned for his adversary to come over. Perhaps he could make this work.
Bench followed him into construction area. Spider-Man swung onto one of the beams and launched it at Bench.
It nailed him right in the foot and the beam was dragging on the ground. He stepped forward. "You'll pay for what you'd done, Spider-Man!"
"Oh really?" Spider-Man asked. "Would you take a check? I'm a little strapped for cash right now."
He shot webbing against the beam and yanked it. It caused Hydro Man to fall down into a giant pit, where there was plenty of dirt.
The water got intermingled with the dirt, and caused a mud bath to be created. Spider-Man swung back.
"Not too bad, but I think we can do better," Spider-Man commented. He reached behind him, shooting a web line. He yanked the lever for the cement mixer.
Bench looked up and he could see the cement pouring down. It mixed with the water and caused him to solidify into a statue.
The web slinger stepped back and saw Bench secured, frozen in time. He was a statue and he was not about to escape any time soon.
Jean DeWolff arrived at the edge just in time. She frowned. "Better call it in."
Morrie Bench was kept in a specially secured cell at the Ravencroft Institute for the Mentally Disabled. It was funded by Wayne Enterprises.
A gorgeous dark haired woman in her early twenties frowned and held a pen. She made a note. Bench, now liberated, twisted into a scowl and he slammed up against the containment unit. He had been blocked off from all moisture, only allowed enough to survive.
"Doctor Kafka, what is your prognosis on the patient?"
Doctor Ashley Kafka turned around and she saw the chief doctor. He was someone who was here for a long time. In fact, his grandfather founded this very facility.
"With time and resources, there might be a cure found for him, Doctor Ravencroft. Only when he is cured of his mutation, he will be able to be placed under therapy."
"Make sure to keep monitoring him until day arrives," the doctor said. "I trust you understand the type of care these…high level patients need. All of them are in here, because of Spider-Man. He's the common topic of interest comes up every time we have an interview with them."
Ashley frowned. "They also have issues before Spider-Man came into their life. Mr. Bench was a mob hitman long before Spider-Man even came into the scene."
"Yes, but he is an interesting subject and a catalyst," Ravencroft told her. "Doctor Hamilton in particular is chomping at the bit to study Spider-Man and see what makes him tick. What attracts many women into his web."
Ashley had to admit she held on a bit of curiosity to Spider-Man, a very professional curiosity granted.
"I'll be heading home," Ravencroft said.
"I will as well, once I make my rounds," Ashley said. "Good night, Doctor Ravencroft."
"Good night, Doctor Kafka, drive safely."
Ashley turned around and could see Spider-Man standing at the edge of the hallway. She approached him, and she was surprised to see him, especially at this time of the night.
"Doctor Kafka," Spider-Man said.
The woman stepped back, adjusting to the sight of Spider-Man turning up before her.
"Spider-Man, we were just….talking about you," Ashley said. She frowned when she looked at him. "Nothing bad….but there have been a lot of people who are curious about you."
"I know, but ….not why I'm here," Spider-Man said. "I'm here to talk about a transfer you made out of Ravencroft….regarding a high risk prisoner. Someone who would be up for the death penalty if he didn't get declared criminally insane."
"I'm…..well I'm not sure if I can tell you, you know doctor-patient confidentiality issues," Ashley said. She hated not helping Spider-Man, but she had an oath and she was going to take it extremely seriously.
"I understand, but….Cletus Kassady," Spider-Man said. Ashley frowned. It was obvious she was rather uncomfortable with this. "The name rings a bell, doesn't it?"
"Cletus was a rather troubled patient," Ashley said.
"He killed twenty five people, mostly women and children, before he was brought to justice," Spider-Man said. Spider-Man should know, he was the one who took him down. He didn't want to argue with the good doctor. "And he got transferred out of Ravencroft."
"He got transferred out, the management thought he wasn't a good fit, and he….hurt the other patients when he was left unsupervised," Ashley said.
She was his doctor for about six months and it was a six month experience she would never forget. His previous doctor left a shaken mess and offered his sympathies when Ashley took over.
She recalled his words of warning. He never believed in true evil, but when he looked into those eyes, he saw true evil.
"I can't offer you much information, mostly because I don't know," Ashley said. "I wasn't informed I was off working with him, until he was gone."
Ashley walked over towards her office and Spider-Man followed her. She needed to get her things before she left for the time.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," Ashley said. She looked at him and could see from his body language he was agitated about something. "You've seemed rather out of it lately…..do you want to talk about it?"
"Just have a lot on my mind," Spider-Man said.
"Well, if you want to talk to anyone, my office door is open…..I know you're not a patient, but we can make arrangements," Ashley said. He looked at her. "I'm interested in seeing what makes, you, you….."
"You know, there are far easier ways to get me on your couch," Spider-Man said.
Ashley shook her head in response. She tried to disregard his obvious attempts to flirt, but the young doctor smiled.
"Well, just think about it….maybe we can go out for coffee, at least. We've been having these late night meetings, and….I' m concerned as a doctor you're taking them much too seriously."
She took a moment to gather up her things and she shook her head. She wondered what gotten into her. Ashley prided herself on being a professional and here she was, hitting on Spider-Man. Who was gone, he pulled a disappearing act. But given security was making their rounds, perhaps it was for the best. Technically, he wasn't permitted to be on the premises, so these late night meetings could get her in jobber.
"Great, you scared him off, good one, Kafka," she murmured underneath her breath. She decided to lock up for the night.
She passed the night security guard and issued a rather casual goodbye. The scene was rather dark tonight. Ashley opened her car door and suddenly, she felt dizzied. It felt like something cracked her in the back of the head. She dropped to her knees.
"You got her, Vertigo."
"I don't know what Doctor Essex wants for her. She doesn't have the meta gene, does she?'
"I learn not to question him, just follow his orders. He mentioned needing a therapist to help him….work through the kinks. And we have one now."
Amanda Waller sat in her office. She spoke on the phone, sounding very heated as she did.
"There are several scientists who had been on the watch list and they've disappeared….I want to know why. Keep me updated. If it's Essex behind this, then we'll deal with him."
She hung up the phone. Waller hated when things spiraled out of her control. During the entire Goblin fiasco, ARGUS had been devastated. She learned Nick Fury had been running SHIELD despite it being an outlaw group. She didn't have the final piece of proof to tie it together though.
Fury disappeared yet again. If Fury's disappearance didn't cause Waller to have flashbacks to her marriage, she didn't know what did. Fury wasn't around half of the time and the other half of the time where he was around, it wasn't good news.
She shifted her focus to the other problem, the Avengers. Tony Stark had been a royal pain in her ass and he was getting worse now he had his Avengers to back him up. There was a part of Waller respected the other Avengers, even though she thought they were misguided.
The world needed checks and balances and she needed a team to counteract the Avengers, in case they went rogue and they would go rogue. The only problem was she needed people who were both powerful and expendable.
There was a knock on her door. Waller cleared her throat. "Come in."
The door opened and a woman entered the office. She was an extremely gorgeous woman with blonde hair. She was dressed in a professional business suit, with glasses and her hair tied back. She looked like a doctor.
If one looked closer, there was something fairly unsettling about her demeanor. She sat down in front of Waller.
"Amanda Waller, I have to say, it's an honor to see you in the flesh at last," the woman said. "But why?"
"I'm creating a contingency plan in case the Avengers go rogue, and other heroes….are a concern," Waller said.
"Spider-Man?" she asked.
"Yes, Spider-Man is among the top of the list of concerns I have, but Stark and his Avengers are what this project is geared towards," Waller said. "I'm recruiting people who I think would be a good fit to a team. And I knew you and your skills would make you a perfect fit."
The woman was curious, even more so, when Waller placed down a folder in front of her. The woman picked up the folder and thumbed through it.
"You do realize I had been fired from Arkham Asylum because my methods were considered to be too radical for them," the woman said.
"Yes, among the other more reputable places you were let go from," Waller said.
"One could argue you should be the one who should be up for therapy for enlisting the help of a woman who Arkham didn't even want to touch, instead of….." the woman said. She frowned. "Cletus Kassady? Well interesting."
"Not my first choice for this team," Waller said. "But the person backing me made a strong decision, and it's hard to tell Mr. Luthor no."
"Are you sure about this?" the woman asked. "I should point out I was discharged from Arkham. A place where the staff of today becomes the patients of tomorrow. And Kassady…why not go all out and track down the clown?"
Waller grimaced. She'd rather put a bullet in her head than even willingly work with the Joker. Thankfully, Luthor agreed he was too unstable and didn't suggest it.
"If you don't want to be a part of this, all you have to do is ask," Waller said. "But, I need a qualified doctor to help….keep my patients on track and you're the best person for the job."
"Well, thank you," the woman informed her. "And I guess I can work with you, with your little Suicide Squad."
"its official designation is Project Thunderbolt," Waller said..
"Well, you're sending people up against the likes of Thor and Hulk if they go rogue, so Suicide Squad seems like a good enough designation as any," the woman said. "So, where do I sign on the dotted line?"
"Here," Waller said. The woman's hand pointed to the paper. She smiled and shook the woman's hand. "Doctor Karla Sofen, welcome to the Thunderbolt Initiative."
A dark haired woman felt rather disoriented. She was in a cell and didn't know how much time had passed since the moment she was put inside the cell. The one thing she knew was it had been a long time.
She was in the parking lot, having stopped at a gas station and she got herself something to eat. Before she got back into the car, she passed out, and then she was here.
Caitlin Snow wondered why she incurred the wrath of some really awful person. She heard the rumors of scientists being captured, but she never thought it would happen to her. Yet it did and she was here, for some reason.
The footsteps approached her cell and it caused Caitlin to tense up. She saw him and he opened the cell this time. He was a figure dressed in all black. He had pale skin with dark hair. He resembled a vampire, but he looked like something far worse than a demonic blood sucker. He entered the cell and closed the gap between himself and Caitlin.
"Good evening, Doctor Snow," he said. "My name is Doctor Nathaniel Essex, but you may call me Mister Sinister."
Funnily enough a name like Mister Sinister didn't inspire all much hope within her. She shivered in the cell.
"I've been studying your DNA and found it fascinating," Essex said. "Some of the scientists didn't last too long before they perished. But, you seem to be made of stronger stuff. So perhaps you'll be more fortunate."
Caitlin's hand rattled when she tried to pull herself away. Essex held a syringe in his hand. He paused for a moment.
"You're life has been a tragic one, plenty of heart break, and the few good things you've had, pulled away," Essex said. "The strongest will survive."
"Please, don't hurt me," she whispered. She wondered why it was so cold in here.
"Hurt you?" Essex asked. "I'm here to help you, help you become what you could be. What you should be."
He rolled back her sleeve and exposed her shoulder. She gave another shiver when Essex smiled and prepped her. There was a glowing green liquid dripped from the syringe he clenched in his hand.
"Either you have it within you, or you don't. Either way, the resulting study will be fascinating."
She screamed and felt him jam whatever was in the syringe in her body. Caitlin felt her body size up and all of the body heat rush out of her.
She opened her eyes and looked at her hands. They looked deathly pale. Her dark hair now resembled the color of an icy, winter mountain.
What did he do to her?
"Discovery requires experimentation," Essex said. "See you in seventy two hours, if you're strong enough to survive."
To Be Continued on September 27th, 2015.
