The first time I fought Scorpion, he had my number, along with Frictor's. The second time, I fared a little better, but I couldn't honestly say I had the fight in the bag. Things were different at this time around, though. This was the first time the entire X-Men team was facing him. And with each and every one of us bringing something different to the table, I was confident that things were going to end up a lot differently.
That didn't mean things were going to be easy, however. Well, at least not TOO easy, anyway.
I felt my Spider-Sense go off. That's when I knew things were about to heat up.
"Move!" I yelled out. Just as Scorpion stopped waving his tail and aimed the tip of it at us, we call scattered in different directions just in time to avoid the burst of green liquid that hit the ground we previously occupied. I looked over at that space on the ground, watching as the liquid easily ate through the tile.
"A highly corrosive agent, huh?" Frictor commented. "Well, that's new." After that, he aimed his shotgun and fired off three shells. Much to my chagrin – and probably every other X-Men's chagrin – Scorpion managed to dodge them all as he zigzagged towards Frictor. I was surprised to see how fast Scorpion was moving. I was about to move in, but Joanna rushed in first. Just as Scorpion closed the distance, Frenzy was right in front of Frictor. She stopped Scorpion in his tracks with a left jab to his face. As he staggered backward, Frenzy followed it up with a straight right to the face that sent him flying back several feet.
Scorpion didn't leave his feet, however. Instead, he skidded to a stop, the claws on his feet digging into the ground and leaving grooves in the tiles. The noise it made me cringe a bit.
"I see the X-Men have another powerhouse in their midst," Scorpion noted as he rubbed his jaw. "Let's see how powerful you really are!"
He rushed in again. I tried to move into intercept him. But in a flash, he grabbed the top of my head with his hand before sent my face into the ground. Good thing I was in my armor – it would have been a lot more painful otherwise. I quickly stood up, just in time to see Frenzy flying backward. With a growl, I ran up behind him. During this, Frictor retreated, readying his shotgun. After the distance between us was covered, I quickly jumped forward and onto Scorpion's back, wrapping my legs around his abdomen as he did so. As my pincers started stabbing themselves on whatever part of Scorpion they could reach, I tried my very best to wrap my arm around his neck for a sleeper hold. During this, I saw a red flash and the sound of a blast. Scorpion was down on his knees. There was a part of me that thought that this could be the end of things.
That part of me was wrong.
Scorpion brought his hands up and grabbed my forearms. He pulled them, loosening the hold I had on his neck. As he did so, he stood back up. Cyclops moved in front of us. He placed his index and middle fingers against the side of his visor before he let loose a blast. Unfortunately, for me, the blast wouldn't hit Scorpion. That's because Scorpion suddenly tossed me in front of the path of the blast. I was blown across the room and straight into the front desk back first. I took a moment to catch my bearing – armor or not, that really hurt. I then stood up slowly.
"Well, that could have ended up worse, I guess," I muttered to myself. I was quickly cut off as another body was slung towards me – this time, it was Cyclops. I was down on the ground again. I groaned in annoyance as I stood up slowly, making sure to allow Cyclops to reach a vertical base. I looked towards Scorpion, just in time to see him picked Frictor up by the top of his helmet before he slammed him down to the ground.
Greenie ran in and went for a flying kick. With next to zero effort, Scorpion caught her by the leg and slung her. Fortunately for her, Frenzy was able to move in to catch her before she land on the ground or hit a wall. During this, Frictor was pulled into the ground, being taken out of dodge by Shadowcat.
"…This is not working for us," I growled out, resisting the urge to rush at Scorpion again.
"It was never going to work," Scorpion replied with a smirk as he turned around and face me and Cyclops. "It's really a shame. The two of you have the charisma and skills to do great things under The Accords. Unfortunately, you guys pissed away your chances. You guys will be dying here."
At that, Cyclops chuckled as he shook his head. Underneath my masked, I bared my teeth.
We had to things the hard way.
"X-Men, commence with Plan 45," Cyclops called out.
"Edith, please ready Gadget 6!" I ordered.
"Working on Gadget 6 now," she replied.
It was at this point that Scorpion was suddenly pulled down into the ground waist deep. As he struggled to remove himself, Frictor suddenly ascended behind him. He aimed his shotgun and fired off three shells into Scorpion's back. Scorpion bellowed as electricity flowed through him for several second. After that, he growled. He pulled himself out of the ground, leaving destroyed tiling and a large hole in his wake. He turned towards Frictor. He looked ready to attack. But he hesitated. He looked over his shoulder. It took me a moment to notice it, but his tail was now down on the ground, limp.
"My tail!" he yelled out.
"Interesting," Cyclops tapped his chin with his index finger. "So I was right – that tail is totally mechanical."
Scorpion started stalking towards Frictor. "You'll pay for this!"
Frictor walked backward. "Now, now," he chuckled. "Being unable to rise for the occasion happens at times. No need to lash out at the other person." With a roar, Scorpion lunged forward and tackled Frictor to the ground. With the memories of that night in Brooklyn running through my head, I quickly rushed forward and…
"Gadget 6 is ready!" Edith announced.
"Thank you Edith," I replied. I grabbed the end of his tail before I turned, sending Scorpion into a wall. As soon as he hit the wall, I brought my arms forward. Instead of webbing, I shot out two small winged projectiles. They sailed through the air towards Scorpion with quickness. Right before they hit him, they exploded, each letting loose a concussive blast. After telling Edith to bring back the original preset, I looked over my shoulder at Frictor, who stood up and adjusted his helmet. "You okay?"
"I'm dandy, thank you," he replied. He took a moment to crack his back. "I'm definitely going to need to that backrub from Greenie, though." I nodded as I turned my head back towards Scorpion.
I watched as the smoke cleared. Once it did, Scorpion sluggishly stepped forward, leaving behind a crater in the wall. Pieces of his helmet started to fall before the whole thing crumbled away. I looked at his now exposed face. I then widened my eyes as I recognized him.
"Mac Gargan?!" I exclaimed. During this, Frictor walked up to my side.
"Mac Gargan?" Frictor repeated. "As in homie who tried to buy alien weapons off of Vulture on that ferry? That Mac Gargan?"
I nodded. "The very same."
At that, he chuckled. "Man, it's good to see that our government is only hiring the finest of people. What's next, Logan Paul as U.S. Ambassador to Japan?"
"You two think you can talk down on me from your high horses?" Mac growled out.
"Had it been anyone else, maybe not," I replied with a shrug. During this, I saw Greenie running in from the corner of my eye. "But since it's you, I think we have the right to talk down from the shoulders of Paul Bunyan's ox." I saw a blur pass my eyes. In a split second, Frenzy slammed into Scorpion, sending him right back into the wall. After she moved away, there was a red beam that flew in low, hitting his shins. Scorpion bellowed out as he fell to his knees. That blast left him open for Greenie. Her left hand was glowing as a vapor rose up from. As soon as she was close enough, she brought her left hand out struck the palm of it against Scorpion's face, leaving a green handprint on it. As she moved away, Scorpion tried to pursue. He only managed to move all of two steps before he dropped down to all fours. He tried to stand up, but dropped down to all fours again before he started to throw up.
Shadowcat finally made her reappearance. She shot into the air out of the ground. After twirling in the air, she threw her two sais into the ground in front of Scorpion. It took me a moment to notice the blinking red lights. Scorpion just finished barfing before the sais exploded, blowing him backward several feet. Shadowcat landed on her feet before she looked towards me.
"Finish him off," she ordered.
I nodded. Using my speed, I quickly covered the distance between myself and where Scorpion landed. I didn't wait for him to stand up. He barely managed to all fours before I punted him upward into the air. As he ascended, I grabbed him by his right leg before I pulled, slamming him down to the ground. Much like in an old Saturday morning cartoon, I quickly turned and used that same leg to send him arcing into the air and slam him face first back into the ground. After that, I released his leg. I jumped upward into the air and aimed my arms downward. I shot out six strands of webbing. The webbing strands flanked Scorpion as they hit the ground. I then yanked on the webbing, sending myself hurtling down towards him. Within a split second, my knees slammed into Scorpion's back, causing him to yell out in pain before he lay limp. I grimaced when I heard the sound of his ribs breaking. Quickly, I stood up from atop of him. I listened for his heartbeat. He still had one.
"Pathetic," I spat out before I webbed him up. I huffed out a breath. "You know, as far as final battles go, this is probably the quickest one I ever been a part of."
"And that is why we don't do that one-on-one stuff if we got teammates around," Frictor stated as he walked up to me. "Obviously, we have our limits and lines we don't cross. But within those lines and limits, we fight dirty. After all, villains, criminals, and the likes hardly fight fair. So why should we?" I tilted my head briefly in acknowledgment. He had a point. The two times before that I was involved in a team coordinated attack, I at least managed to take down Ant-Man and I almost got the Infinity Gauntlet off of Thanos before Starlord provoked him. And Scorpion was not on their level.
The rest of the X-Men joined us. We all looked down at Scorpion as we surrounded him.
"I wish I could say this is the last of him," Cyclops remarked.
"If I wasn't an X-Man, I would have made sure it is," Greenie replied with a sigh. "But I'll settle on taking my name back."
"So what do we do now?" Frenzy asked.
"We go home and leave Hammer to pick up his crony." Cyclops declared. "We did what we needed to do."
So, with that, we walked out of the main building and we made our way home.
…Actually, that's a lie. We made it out to the front of the building, where we were greeted by the rest of Hammer's security forces. Said forces were flanking Justin Hammer himself. All of the gunmen had their rifles trained on us. Hammer didn't look the least bit pleased.
"You must be so proud of yourselves!" Justin yelled out.
"Well, now I am," I quipped, prompting, Frictor to snicker.
"Just let us go, Hammer," Cyclops demanded. "Have you not suffered enough humiliation for one day?"
"You know, you chose the right word, Cyclops," Justin replied. "Humiliation is exactly what I feel at this very moment. Time and time and time and time again, I try to extend to olive branch to you guys. You say you guys want to do good in this world. But not only do you refuse my offer to register, you spit in the face of those who support a law that's trying to prevent another Sokovia from happening!"
"Meanwhile, the Pro-Sokovia accord side is being headed up by Thunderbolt Ross, a man whose causes more property damage in pursuing The Hulk than The Hulk himself causes in self-defense, and uses Hulk's destructive reputation to cover up that fact," Shadowcat retorted.
"Not to mention you, a guy who kidnapped and imprisoned an actual SHIELD agent," Frictor added. "And, lo and behold, neither of y'all are seeing jail time over what y'all did. And you wonder why a lot of heroes and vigilantes don't take your stance seriously."
"Well, I'm past debating with the likes of you," Hammer spat out. "Just surrender. The only options on the table for you are prison time or death."
"Seriously, Justin, let us go," Cyclops warned. "You're not going to like what will happen next."
I glanced at Cyclops. I expected him to be ready to blast away. However, his visor wasn't even glowing. I wondered what he had planned. Well, I was going to find out soon.
"Right now, you're standing in front of a whole bunch of men with guns drawn on you," Justin replied. "As soon as I walk away, they'll be opening fire on you with no remorse here. But I don't want that to happen." He shook his head as his eyebrows furrowed up even more. "No, I want you guys to surrender. Then we'll drag every single last one of you to The Raft. You'll be there for so long that, eventually, you'll lose track of the days. You won't even remember your age. But you won't be there forever. Maybe five years from now, I'll extend you guys another chance to work for the right side – but not before I make sure everyone who has ever worked with you is taken down!"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Cyclops slowly raise his hands. I looked at him, just in time to see slowly raise the bottom of his mask until his mouth was exposed. After that, he took in a deep breath and let loose a rather audible sigh.
"Well, Hammer, can't say I didn't warn you," he stated. He then tilted his head up and let loose a whistle. I tilted my head. I thought Cyclops had gone crazy. A few moments later, I heard two roars from up above. I looked up in the sky. It took me a moment to recognize the shapes against the sun. All I could see was shadows, and very large ones at that. However, as they descended, I slowly started to recognize the purple and green hues. With seconds, two fire balls were let loose. They crashed down behind the army of gunmen, causing them to stumble. Smoke rose from the resulting fire. More fireballs were sent hurtling down. This time, they destroyed several vehicles, resulting in explosions. I smiled. I knew who those creatures were – it was Lockheed and Puff. They were a lot larger, each one the size of a helicopter. As Hammer stared upwards, several gunmen aimed their guns upward. Cyclops spoke again. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Those fireballs were merely warnings."
"What is the meaning of this?!" Hammer demanded.
At that, Cyclops scoffed. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't have a way to ensure our departure?" Hammer stared at us. He looked as if he tasted something foul. "It's over, Hammer. Scorpion has been defeated and cocooned, and a lot of your men have been felled by our traps. Right now, it'll be no problem to leave the rest of you devastated. Just let us go before things get worse!"
"You think this is over?!" Hammer yelled out. "This is just the beginning! All of you are now on my shit list! I'll have you hunted down until all of you are caught! And I'll make sure you guys never get out of The Raft! All of you will – !"
"Spidey, would you kindly?" Frictor asked. Without hesitation, I webbed Justin's mouth shut. Hammer mumbled out frantically as he tried to tear the web away from his mouth. Unfortunately, for him, it was no can do. He glared at me before he raised his right hand and gave me the Hawaiian Good Luck sign. Greenie, in turn, did the same with her left hand, making it glow for emphasis.
"We'll be on our way now," Cyclops declared. "Don't try to stop us. I think this place has seen enough violence for one day." With that, he started to walk. We all followed him. Greenie stopped briefly and glared at Hammer.
"Let it be known – I'm the real Scorpion," she growled out before she continued to walk.
As we walked, Lockheed and Puff landed on the ground next to us. They shrunk down to their normal horse-like size before Lockheed flanked Shadowcat and Puff walked next to Frictor's side and blew smoke into his face.
"Dang it, Puff," Frictor said, playfully chastising the dragon. He gently rubbed the side of her head.
"So, on the scale of one to 10, how pissed off is Hammer?" Shadowcat asked with a chuckle.
"Knowing him, probably a decent 12," Frenzy replied.
"He'll want his pounds of flesh for sure," Cyclops said in agreement. "But for now, we'll let this victory of ours marinate. We go home, we relax, and we'll lay low for a few days to recuperate."
"And then we can finally start preparing for the Valentine's Day dance," Shadowcat replied with a clap of her hands.
At that, Frenzy scoffed. "Kids," she commented. She then smiled as she looked at Cyclops. "We should do something for Valentine's Day."
"It's been a while since I've done something for that time of year," Cyclops mused. He then nodded as he looked over at Frenzy. "Sure."
Frictor, Shadowcat, Gree… Scorpion, and I looked at each other, exchanging knowing looks.
We finally arrived at our vehicles and made our way back to the bunker, evading The Daily Bugle helicopter along the way. Once there, we got changed into our civilian clothes. We all went our separate ways – Kitty drove out with Carmilla, going to a safe house in the Bronx that I didn't know about. Craig and Scott left, heading to the X-Men's home. That left Joanna to take me home in her Hummer EV. The drive was quiet at first. After a few minutes, I spoke up.
"Some crazy stuff, huh?" I said.
Joanna chuckled. "You know, these last several days have been the craziest stretch I've had in years." She glanced at me. "To think it all started with a breaking and entering."
"Unlawful entry, actually."
"Unlerfel entray, ouctully!" Joanna mocked, prompting me to laugh. "Same difference, kiddo."
"I guess," I replied cheekily.
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "But seriously, this would make one interesting chapter to write if I ever decide to work on my memoirs."
"I can see the title now." I brought my right hand up in the air and slowly moved it across the air. "Life of Frenzy: The Joanna Cargill Story."
"Think I'll score an interview on The Daily Bugle?"
"Probably not."
We looked at each other, then laughed for a few moments. After she let loose a breath, Joanna spoke again.
"How are you holding up, kiddo?" she asked.
"I'm good," I replied. "I'm just… I guess I'm just letting everything sink in and…" I frowned. I then sighed. "…Honestly, there's a part of me that's wondering what's going to happen next."
"I think we all know what's going to happen next. Hammer made it clear."
"That's not…" I trailed off. I took in a breath before I continued. "That's not totally what I meant. It's just… whenever I get done dealing with a major threat… something always happen almost right after. When I defeated Vulture, my then crush wanted to nothing to do with me since I ditched her at Homecoming to do so. I, along with a lot of other people, helped defeat Thanos, but Tony Stark was lost at the end and I spent a long while trying to live up to being the next Iron Man before I realized that being Spider-Man was enough. And then, when I defeated Mysterio…"
"That whole fiasco with your identity," Joanna finished for me.
"Yeah… Um…" I trailed off. I looked at her. "I guess… I'm afraid that when I get home… or even a couple of days later, something will happen, and I'd be deep in trouble again. And considering that people close to me got screwed over… and killed… the last time…"
"I hear you," Joanna stated with a nod. "…Look, I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better. But I guess I do know what that feels like?" I saw the frown on her face. "After I killed my dad, I spent years looking over my shoulder. There would be days I go to sleep hoping I didn't wake up, because whenever I did, I'd be thinking to myself… 'Is this the day? Is this the day I get snatched up?' I didn't have a good time out there. So, yeah, I guess you can say I was in that same boat. But… I didn't have people I could trust back then." She turned her head just enough to give me a sideways glance. "… You're in a different place now than I was, I think. You're not alone. You got us. So, if anything does happen, we'll come running, okay?"
"…Even you?"
She chuckled. "Yes, even the woman whose apartment you unlawfully entered." She shook her head. "I know you don't know me as well as the others. But something about you makes people want to look out for you… like a puppy." I laughed as I looked forward. "But seriously, if you need someone to talk to, I got you, okay?"
"Okay."
When I got home, I wasn't too surprised to see MJ waiting for me, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of shorts as she sat cross-legged on my bed. She looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back at her as I walked up to her. She uncrossed her legs and got up from the bed before she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. I cringed a bit – I felt the pain in my back. Suddenly, I have even less regret about breaking Scorpion's ribs. Quickly, MJ pulled away.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Just a pain in my back," I replied. "Scorpion did a number on me. He got it worse though – a lot worse."
MJ frowned. She then grabbed the bottom of my shirt. "Arm's up." I didn't bother protesting as I raised my arms up in the air. She pulled my shirt up over my head. I then lowered them to allow her to completely remove it. After she tossed the shirt on my bed, she walked around. I looked over my shoulder at her, seeing her look up and down my back.
"How bad is it?" I asked.
"It's pretty bruised," she replied. "…Do you have anything for something like this?"
"I have some Biofreeze spray behind the mirror in the bathroom."
"Okay. I need you to lie down on your stomach." I nodded before I walked over to the bed. I crawled onto it before I lowered myself on my stomach. I brought my arms forward and crossed them before I lay the side of my head on them. I watched as MJ nodded before she walked into my bathroom. She wasn't there long before she walked back out, Biofreeze in hand. I closed my eyes, anticipating the feeling of the spray against my skin. But that didn't come first. Instead I felt something warm pressed against my back, followed by the sound of a small. I smiled slightly – I knew that was a kiss. After that, I heard the sound of the spray. I didn't realized how much pain my back was in before I felt the sudden relief. After she sprayed all over my back, she stopped. "Better?"
I nodded. "Much better," I replied. I opened my eyes before I slowly turned onto my back. I looked at her. "I kicked their asses like you told me, too."
She smirked. "Did you, now?"
I nodded. "Yeah. We all did. And now, the only Scorpion I recognize is Carmilla." My smile faded. "How long have you been here?"
"Since this morning, to be honest." Slowly, she moved onto the bed and lay on top of me gently. She placed her hands on my chest, lacing them together by the fingers as she did. After resting her chin on them, she smiled tiredly. "I… I was unable to sleep last night. I was worried something would happen. So, I came over here and just watched the livestream on my phone when morning came around. I may or may not have gorged on your frozen yogurt out of worry. So, sorry about that."
"It's no big deal, Em," I assured.
She scoffed. "It better not be a big deal," she joked. "It's your fault for me being worried. Why couldn't you just stop being a superhero and just be a super IRS agent or something?"
I smiled. "Why, so you can call me a Super Nerd?"
"Yes!" We both laughed for a few seconds. After that, she frowned. "Sorry, it's just I'm…"
"Just worried about me," I finished for her. She nodded. I smiled slightly before I wrapped my arms around her. "No need to apologize, Em. It's just another part of you I love."
She didn't say anything, but smiled bashfully. She then moved upward on top of me and placed a short kiss on my lips. After that, she placed the side of her head on my chest. I squeezed my arms around as I placed my chin on the top of my head. I looked up at the ceiling and thought about the past several hours.
All six of us… well, eight of us, including Lockheed and Puff… we took on Hammer's forces and won. We took on Scorpion and left him broken. And we walked inside of the cursed grounds of Ravencroft without getting jinxed. I still feared that something will happen suddenly. But, like Joanna said, I wasn't alone anymore. Whatever happens, the X-Men and The American Idiots will face it.
Together.
"Can we start focusing on The Valentine's Day dance now?" MJ whispered.
"Yeah, we can," I replied. "Next weekend, I'll go with Ned and Craig so we can go suit shopping."
"I should probably go with the girls to go dress shopping… or suit shopping. We'll see how I feel."
"You do look good in a suit."
MJ scoffed as she snuggled into me more. "I could wear a burlap sack and you'd think it'd be the sexiest ever."
I chuckled as I closed my eyes. "But I wouldn't be wrong."
"Dork."
"Your dork."
"And you better not forget it."
Those were the last words we said before we drifted off to sleep.
