Chapter Fifty-Five:
Samantha Arias backed against the wall, this hideous monster coming after her. Sam did not know exactly what she did to cause the monster's wrath. She struggled to stand up and face something out of anyone's worst nightmares.
"What are you doing?" Sam demanded. "What do you want from me?"
"I want your blood," Carnage Queen said. "I know….I know….I know...you're not changed!"
Sam had not changed, however why would this hideous monster know that? There must have been other people who had not been infected by the spider virus, right. Sam's quivering fingers opened and closed, taking in several deep breaths.
"Please, I'm just a normal woman…."
"And that's how you'll die!" Carnage Queen yelled.
The laughter coming from the Carnage Queen echoed as she reached towards Sam's neck. Sam saw her entire life flash before her. Fear, fear, beyond anything she could ever imagine struck Sam, almost paralyzing her because of this fact.
"Keep away from her!"
Carnage Queen sensed a familiar presence. Two feet nailed her in the face and sent the Carnage Queen away from her target.
"Well, you're regressing nicely!" The Carnage Queen said. "But, we'll see if that serum can grow some of those arms back. Or maybe your head."
The whirling of an axe came down close to slicing into Spider-Girl's head. She dodged the attacks, moving with precision. The two standard arms she had shot webbing and launched herself directly into the Carnage Queen.
The Carnage Queen staggered back and then looked around where Spider-Woman had gone. She saw Sam making her way up the steps. At least until the point where the Carnage Queen shot her red webbing at the edge of the steps, and it made it hard for her to move.
"You will not pass!"
"And neither will you!"
The six armed Spider-Girl lowered the boom down onto the back of the head of the Carnage Queen. Carnage Queen crumpled to the ground and Spider-Girl slammed her fist down onto the face of the Carnage Queen. More punches nailed Carnage Queen repeatedly in the side of the face. Carnage Queen staggered and grabbed at Spider-Girl's throat, just barely missing from grabbing her neck.
Alex ripped through the steps, along with Lena, who wielded an extremely powerful sonic cannon and one which packed a serious punch.
"You're not going to harm anyone," Lena said.
Lena's cannon sent the Carnage Queen flying backwards. The Carnage Queen came to her knees, down, but most certainly not out. The trailing of her limbs twisted and reached in to slice at Lena. Lena blasted her back with another couple of shots.
"No!" she yelled.
Alex pulled Sam out of harm's way. Spider-Girl and Lena boxed the Carnage Queen in. Carnage Queen created several razor sharp daggers from her suit and hurled them at Gwen and Lena. One of the daggers knocked the sonic cannon out of Lena's hands.
The buzzing feeling in the back of her head indicated danger in the form of an ax was coming down. Lena threw herself out of the way, to barely get the hang of the spider agility.
Several miniature Carnage Queen dopplegangers charged for her. Gwen reclaimed the cannon and fired it at them. The dopplegangers exploded in one hit.
In through the windows crashed Supergirl who sent the Carnage Queen crashing down to the ground. Carnage Queen rose up, sadistic malice dancing in her eyes. She swung for the fences in an attempt to cave Supergirl's head in.
Supergirl released a prism from her hand and the Carnage Queen had been flooded with super powerful energy which caused her to burn.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Supergirl asked. "How did you survive?"
"How will you survive?" The Carnage Queen asked. "You're going to wish you hadn't stopped me."
Carnage Queen descended into a loud scream, as the pained, but slightly aged, face of Gwen Stacy came out. She broke free from the energy, just long enough for duel sonic cannons to send her careening directly into a box with a sudden thud.
The beam of light trapped the Carnage Queen in the middle of an energy field. Lena took in a deep breath.
"I don't think you'll be going anywhere right now," Lena said.
Lena ensured her visitor was not going anywhere. The Carnage Queen banged against the energy walls, the smoke rising from her body. Highly unstable, both mentally and physically, to put things rather bluntly.
Gwen ignored the very evident fever that pumped through her body. Maggie and Lucy leaned by the door, with Lena, Sam, and Alex at work. She had to finish this, had to finish this, had to help them finish. All of the city relied on Gwen's ability to finish this, for reasons both fair and foul.
She swiped a bead of sweat for her forehead.
"The mutations will start happening within the next few minutes," Lena explained. "If they had not started happening already. Gwen's obviously at a more advanced state, with her infection of Warren's virus triggering a second stage mutation...and I'm afraid she might be regressing even more."
Gwen sighed in and Alex put a hand on her shoulder.
They ran through the training simulation Indigo programmed. It showed the occupants of the simulation gaining spider powers. Then extra arms, and then them mutating into something more hideous. Gwen could not help and groan even more.
"Please tell me we're close to reversing this," Gwen said. "Even there's a chance I'll lose my spider powers…."
"You won't," Lena said. "It's just an antidote for Warren's additional agent."
Maggie could speak for anyone who saw the end results.
"And here I thought Spider Powers would be helpful," Maggie said. "But, if this is going to be the end result, I don't think I want that at all."
"No, I really don't either," Lucy commented.
All of the dreams of being an hero, or at least more of one faded. After the initial rush of getting the spider powers faded, Lucy thought of all of the problems of having such power.
Kara finally spoke up.
"You're not infected...Sam, isn't it?"
Sam's eyes closed and she nodded, doing what she could to help. They had no idea what was going on, any more than anyone else.
"You're the only person in this building who did not get the virus," Lena said. "L-Corp was right at the epicenter."
Sam shrugged her shoulders, she did not have the slightest idea.
"Well, I can't remember the last time I even got sick," Sam said. "But, this isn't any kind of common cold, is it? It's something else entirely."
"Yes," Lena said. "I'm going to want a sample of your blood."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sam asked.
"If it saves lives, it will be," Lena said. "Don't worry, it will only take a minute."
Could it be possible she had immunity to the virus? They had to consider this possibility to be honest, and if Sam was the key to curing them, then that would be the risk that they would have to take, to make sure they had a better world.
An image pops up the television screen, with disgusting green skin, and jagged teeth. The man looked horrifically mutated. Twisted, demented, you can really use any number of adjectives towards him.
"Let me introduce myself my friends. I am the Jackal and I'm here to bring a brand new revolution to National City. Soon all will understand the meaning of my message. You have felt the first changes, those brand new powers are a gift. But, soon will be much more. You will transcend humanity...my army...my new army to create this new world order."
Gwen dropped down to the ground and gave an agonizing scream. The final stage of the simulation played out before everyone, with Gwen thrashing on the ground madly. Her heart raced even heavier with each twist, groaning, moving, thrashing. It was hard for her to breath even.
Spider-Girl's transformation occurred. She ran away from the lab, before her inner nature kicked in and Gwen lost herself to the beast in.
To top off Spider-Girl turning Spider Monster, Lucy and Maggie sprouted extra arms now. They wondered how much more it would take.
"We have a serious problem," Kara said.
Some of the other occupants down in the city streets were far deeper mutated. Lena turned to Alex and Sam.
"Stay there, finish the antidote, I'm going…."
Lena's statement paused long enough for her to sprout the four extra arms as well. Given that her symptoms appeared much later than Maggie or Lucy's, this was not an encouraging design. Lena made sure the Jackal's army did not get in the building, with any number of sharp defenses.
To be fair, Lena had not been close to figuring out all of her brother's secrets, but she figured out a number of them.
Having four extra arms allowed Lena to lock down the defenses, just leaving one exit open long enough for Supergirl to leave.
As Kara went down to assist Astra, Galatea, and Diana on dealing with the mutants, Alex moved over to help Sam finish bonding the antidote.
"We don't have much time," Alex said.
Lena took Maggie and Lucy into the same room which she observed them, and sealed them inside. The Spider-Monster which was once Gwen joined them just as quickly.
The Jackal's dire warnings echoed over and over again. They were running out of time. They needed to hurry.
X-X-X
Supergirl and Wonder Woman pull a group of terrified children out of the way from the spider mutants. Supergirl wished she could calm them down, but she is a bit shaken herself.
"Let's go….go….do any of you have any powers?"
"No," one of them said.
The virus appeared to have been geared to those who have went through puberty, at least that was what Kara could figure. She helped Diana get those children out of harm's way.
One of the spiders shoots a line of webbing at Supergirl. Supergirl blocked it and restrained it in it's own webbing. She needed to remember one thing.
People, they were people, mutated people.
"They're getting worse," Galatea said. "I hope they hurry with the antidote."
"We're going to have to divide their forces in the meantime," Astra said. "The less they can swarm us, the better."
Astra and Galatea created a field trapping the spiders inside. The spiders tried to rip through the light, but a rubber band effect sent them back.
Diana lead more spiders over, and Astra and Galatea played their divide and conquer game.
"Alex?" Kara asked.
"It's slow going," Alex said.
"And the virus is spreading fast," Kara said. "In about the next twenty minutes, there's going to be more spiders than there are actual human people."
"I know," Alex said.
They were not close enough to finish the agent to bond the antidote. Kara watched as some of the hapless six armed people turned into grotesque spider monsters.
"And we have another problem," Indigo said.
Indigo cutting in through the headsets made Kara get on edge. More so than she normally did at any rate.
"Jackal's got a bomb," Indigo said. "The transmission just came in. And we don't know if it's going to hit anyone who did not get hit the first time or not."
Kara just hated the bad news coming in. She was pretty sure this one would end up being more spread. It would not surprise Kara if the bomb's output could spread from coast to coast.
The aptly named Jackal with his army of spider mutants. Jackal just broke out into a smile.
"Those who do not succumb do not survive," Jackal said. "You are running out of people to save. Soon it will be you against them all."
"And then, we will fight," Diana said.
"And then, you will be fools,"
Astra, Diana, Kara, and Galatea stood to fight alone, realizing that it would not be too long before the entire West Coast and beyond would be part of the Jackal's spider army. Jackal broke into a grin.
"I've evolved, and it's time for humanity to evolve with me," Jackal said.
Galatea recognized the hate in the man's eyes and saw red.
"Warren."
Kara's eyes widened, and it all dawned upon her. It made too much sense.
To Be Continued In the Next Chapter.