Chapter Fifty:
Lab after lab, Gwen Stacy and Barbara Gordon, under the guise of Batgirl and Spider-Girl, made their attempts to hunt down Warren or anything pointing towards him. Unfortunately, the labs had been cleaned out every time. It was to the point which Spider-Girl almost broke down in frustration.
Batgirl put a hand on Spider-Girl's shoulder and pulled her in.
"It's going to fine," Batgirl said.
"Is it?" Spider-Girl asked. "How can one man hide from some of the smartest people out there with some of the best resources?"
Batgirl did not have any answer. She had her theories though. The fact which came back to her, and one Barbara reminded herself constantly was Warren was a genius as well. The sadistic man knew precisely how to stay one step away. And if he found a way to mostly stabilize Kryptonian DNA, and replicate it, who knew whatever else Warren had up his sleeve.
A loud smash echoed with Gwen almost smashing her way into the tunnel. Some of the rocks shifted off to one side.
"Look," Spider-Girl said. "I think I found something."
Finally, hope came to them. Batgirl assisted Spider-Girl and shifted the rocks to the side. Several egg sacs hang from the tunnel and dripped a sticky red fluid. Something about them caused Batgirl to get the creeps when walking down the tunnel.
"Spider sense leaving you alone? "Batgirl asked. "Because, my creep sense is going off the radar."
So far, Gwen's spider sense did not go off. That did not matter though. Gwen swept down the tunnel and moved past the grime and the dust which coated the tunnel the further she walked down. She pressed down onto the side of the door and gave it a nudge.
"We get this door open, we might get answers," Spider-Girl said.
Only, Gwen wondered if it would be answers they wanted to know. Only one way to find out and they would push the door open. The door creaked and caused steam to hiss. Then a cool blast of air came through the tunnel. They walked down the tunnel, ignoring the very unsettling feeling.
Something more unsettling than a feeling hit them. Gwen pressed her hand on a misty tank.
"What is he growing?" Barbara asked.
Gwen swiped a cloud of mist away and came face to face with herself. The spider themed heroine jumped back and walked down. She swiped the tanks clean of all of the mist one at a time. All of the occupants in the tank caused a creepy feeling to spread over Gwen's body.
Clones, clones lining down the wall as far as the eye could see. Versions of Gwen, in various stages of growth. Some of them were young children, some of them were teenage versions, some of them were adults. Each of them made Gwen quiver and shake.
"Someone has an obsession," Barbara commented.
"No kidding," Gwen said.
Barbara put a hand on Gwen's shoulder and tries to get her attention. Gwen followed the progress of the clones in the tank, even though they did not move at all. They were unmoving, unsettling, and Gwen covered the tank with her hand.
"You better get a look at this," Barbara said. "Because, this is seriously creepy."
Gwen wondered what on Earth could be more creepy than seeing several clones of herself in various states. She had her answer when walking over to the edge of the tank and surface. Gwen pressed a hand against the tank.
Red, web lines covered every inch of the tank, and they slammed into the tank. The tank cracked a little bit and slammed into it once again.
"Gwen, we better tell them," Barbara said. "Gwen?"
Gwen's eyes shifted over a milky white. Barbara slapped her hard on the shoulder and got Gwen's attention. The red lines in the tank reminded Gwen of Alex's symbiote. It was something even more hideous though and it reached through the tank, almost shattering the glass into pieces.
Barbara jumped back and threw a disc out out. A loud sonic explosion echoed and caused the symbiote to get knocked back.
The web lines kept stretching out after the initial atttack. Barbara pressed a button on her gauntlet and sent a sonic signal to call for help. They had a feeling they were going to need it.
Especially, when all of the clones in the tank came to life with glowing red eyes. And the red lines blocked their path towards the exit.
"We have to take them down!" Gwen yelled.
"No, just hold them off," Barbara said.
"NO WE HAVE TO TAKE THEM DOWN!" Gwen yelled. "We can't let them escape! No matter what!"
X-X-X
Back in the DEO, Alex, Astra, and Kara suit up, and prepare to go on the hunt with Miles Warren. The door opened up and Diana made her way to jon them.
"Ready to do this?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, we're born ready," Kara said.
"I know I was."
Galatea stepped into the room, in black spandex which covered every inch of her body. Astra, Alex, and Kara stared her down.
"Are you sure about this?" Astra asked.
"I'll be calm," Galatea said. "I know what's on the line. But….I have an idea where Warren would be."
"You do?" Kara asked.
"I didn't before," Galatea said. "But now….I'm ready."
"This could be very hard for you," Alex said.
Galatea knew it would be extremely hard for her to deal with Warren. No doubt in Galatea's mind. Yet, she had to face her fears and face the past. The group of four turned into a group of five. Galatea lead the way, with Alex, Astra, Kara, and Diana following her. They were all ready.
A small, but shrill noise knocked Galatea off balance. She rubbed the side of her ear, groaning, despite herself.
"What is that?" Galatea asked.
"That's Barbara's sonic watch," Kara said. "She ran into trouble."
Suddenly, Alex dropped to her knees and gave a scream of agony. Her symbiote whipped back and forth, accidentally hitting Kara, Diana, and Astra in the face. They dodged the attacks, the tendrils coming very close to nailing them hard.
"I'm sorry!" Alex yelled. "I don't know what's wrong….I don't know why I can't control her."
Alex breathed in and breathed out. Kara grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Are you?" Kara asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex said.
"What was that?" Galatea asked.
Alex thought that was a pretty good question. The DEO agent's heart beat a million miles a minute before going back to a more normal resting rate.
"Kara, you and Astra go ahead with Galatea," Diana said. "Alex and I will be right behind you,"
"Right."
Supergirl, Galatea, and Astra flew faster than a speeding bullet. Diana wrapped her arm around Alex.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Diana asked.
"I'm fine," Alex said.
The symbiote never reacted like this, not in the entire time she had been bonded with it. What the hell was happening? Did someone tamper with it? Alex would have remembered it. The second she stepped towards the door, a rippling feeling erupted from Alex's other.
"I'm good, I'm good," Alex said.
Was she truly good though? That was a bad omen. Exactly what that bad omen meant, Alex could only begin to guess. She clasped Diana's head and they reached the sky.
X-X-X
Gwen dodged one of the battle axes created from her sadistic double. The whirls came inches away from slicing her up. The demonic glare that Gwen's double gave the original chilled her and sickened her.
"I hope they get here soon!" Batgirl yelled.
She sealed as many ot the tanks possible. The Gwen clones in the tank, about the same as the main one that fought Gwen, started to shift and pound through. Barbara really hoped that Warren invested in some good glass. Otherwise, they would be completely and utterly screwed.
"Yeah, likewise!" Spider-Girl yelled. "Look, you're used as a pawn."
The sadistic Gwen just broke out into laughter. She did not seem as so easily swayed as Galatea did. The madness overwhelmed her, with this wretched symbiote wrapping around Spider-Girl's neck like a garrote.
A beam of heat vision sliced through the air and sliced the symbiote. Gwen's double came back and Galatea turned up and kicked her in the face, causing the double to fly into the tank.
"He finished it," Galatea said.
"Finished what?" Supergirl asked.
Galatea released a valve, freezing the remaining clones in the tank. She knew it would not hold them forever. Especially with the Queen loose. What other choices did Galatea have?
"CARNAGE!" the double shrieked in agony.
Two red knives popped up. Galatea and Supergirl caught it and smashed the entity down into the wall. The moment they tried to restrain Carnage, their bodies had been covered in the hardened red substance. Kara barely broke free, breathing heavily like she had bathed in liquid Kryptonite.
"What the hell is this thing?" Kara asked.
Astra blasted it into the wall.
"Dead," Astra said.
Carnage rose up and swung the axe at the general. Astra blocked the attack and popped back up with multiple punches. Each attack sent Carnage up into the air and propelling back down with a sickening smash which rattled her body.
Carnage rose up and came back to crack the tanks open.
"Don't let those things out!" Gwen yelled.
"Trying my best," Kara said.
She hurled as many debris into the path of this Carnage monster. At least until Carnage grabbed Kara by the throat and created radiation akin to the strongest Kryptonite. Kara withered in the attack.
A black spear caught Carnage in the chest and knocked her into the wall.
Off in the distance, Alex appeared, the tendrils around her going completely wild. Carnage's eyes widened and she laughed.
"Other!" Carnage yelled. "Die! Face Carnage."
"Alex, what's going on?" Kara asked.
"Stand back," Alex said.
The sound of Alex's voice darkened and it was not like her at all. Carnage charged towards Alex and tried to cleave her in half. Alex blocked the attack and smashed Carnage around.
The tanks broke open and Carnage absorbed the duplicates of Gwen. She swelled to a standing position, the armor being created with several blood red bone spikes.
Alex sank down to her knees, and screamed in agony. Carnage grew stronger than ever, and Alex's hold on the symbiote grew weaker.
"Alex!" Kara shouted.
Carnage rose up and knocked all of them to the side. Astra, Alex, Kara, Gwen, Barbara, and Galatea all flew back. Diana dodged her attack and came up to engage her. The sword being the only thing to be able to put a dent in Carnage's defenses.
At least for the moment, until several of the Gwen clones dog-piled Diana, forcing them to defend herself.
Alex popped back up, completely covered from head to toe in the black symbiote. Her eyes clouded over, and Alex gave a primal roar. The two faced off, and time appeared to freeze with both of them.
"Carnage rules!" Carnage yelled.
"No!" Alex yelled.
Alex, now gone full on with the symbiote, smashed the Carnage Queen several feet below. Supergirl flew as fast as possible to try and catch up with them. The red net weakened her. Galatea and Astra pulled Supergirl back and caused her to struggle to draw breaths.
"My sister...she's…." Kara said.
"I know, but we have other problems," Astra said.
Gwen's head almost felt like it split open from the spider sense. The eggs hanging above the ceiling started to break open and reveal several miniature versions of Carnage, who looked like ugly deformed babies. Gwen's eyes widened.
Carnage rose up from the depths, holding up Alex's limp body like a trophy.
"And there can only be one," Carnage said. "And I will reign on this new world."
She rose the sharpened arm, ready to stab through and take Alex's heart as a trophy. And then, Carnage would claim the symbiote into her army.
Carnage would be queen over this city.
To Be Continued.