Reticence Saga
Severed Web
Chapter 14: Welcome to Pleasant Hill
"I know that Nick Fury has done a few shady things. I know he had the right reasons for them, but that doesn't mean I liked them. Mostly it involved containing super-dangerous criminals to keep them from escaping. Sandman and Hydro-Man spring to mind, though Hydro-Man was definitely justified. But this latest one really rubs me the wrong way. First off, there was a SHIELD bounty on Lady NegaMorph's head that Deadpool was trying to collect. Yes, that Deadpool. And instead of handing her over to Matt when she was captured, she was taken to some unknown prison. Something smells about this and it's not my costume. I just had it washed."
"I'm...Not even gonna bother," sighed Matt.
"Just summing it all up," said Spider-Man.
"For who? We were just there," snapped Matt. Matt turned and hammered on Fury's door, before, when there was no answer, he tore the lock out. "FURY!" he snarled.
However, the office was empty. "I did mention that Fury was away earlier, didn't I?" asked Spider-Man, "Which was actually something I was glad about when Deadpool was here."
"Better..." snapped Matt, activating his wristcomp.
"Hacking local terminal...partial hack successful," said the wristcomp.
"Only partial?" asked Matt, tapping his wristcomp.
"Well, this is Director Fury's office. If there was one place on the planet where hacking was impossible, it'd be here," said Spider-Man.
"Ok, scan. Keyword: NegaMorph," said Matt.
The computer whirred for a second before it said, "Match located. Communication log between Nicolas Fury and Agent Gorman."
An unknown man's voice was heard saying, "Lady NegaMorph is a threat. We can't just let someone like her run loose in the streets. She ought to be in the Vault."
"That's my call to make, not yours, Gorman," said Fury's voice, "We've already covered this."
"My project could work, Fury. It did work on the test subject," snapped presumably Gorman.
"And that test was enough to convince me that the whole concept is wrong," said Fury's voice.
"You're being foolish. Normal prisons don't cut it. They might as well have revolving doors for cell doors," snapped Gorman.
"And your 'bright idea' would make us no better than Doctor Doom or the Leader," said Fury.
"Fury, please, this could work. Just let me have one criminal to test this on..." said Gorman before the line went dead.
"No further relevant information," said the wristcomp
"Any idea what they were referencing?" asked Matt.
"No, but if Fury compares it to Doctor Doom and the Leader, it can't be good," said Spider-Man.
"Right...what Leader?" asked Matt.
"The guy Hulk hates?" said Spider-Man.
Matt paused, "That's a large list..."
"Anyways, I think we need to look into where Lady NegaMorph was sent," said Spider-Man.
Matt paused. "Wait, Fury is always 30 steps ahead. Why isn't he all over us already?" asked Matt.
"I'm just expecting to ring me any moment now," said Spider-Man. There was a long pause before he said, "Any...moment now."
"This...is worrying..." said Matt with concern.
"Yeah, hair-on-neck-standing-up worrying," said Spider-Man.
"We need to find this 'Gorman' guy...and we have a tracker. Full moon tonight, isn't it? We just need to know where he'll-" began Matt.
Just then, they heard footsteps approaching. "I think we should go," said Spider-Man.
They turned in time for an agent to walk in, with an impressive stache on his face...if it had been the 80's. "Spider-Man, Lazard. What are you doing in here?" the man said darkly, his voice identifying him as Gorman.
"I needed to check with Fury on someone," said Matt.
"Then send a request. As you can see, the Director's not here. He's too lax with you kids," said Gorman with a glare.
"I had an arrangement with him that's being ignored," said Matt.
"And you aren't even SHIELD," snapped Gorman at Matt.
"But I am," said Spider-Man, "And I'd like to know about this as much as Lazard does."
"Classified," said Gorman calmly.
Matt walked forward, "Lady NegaMorph...where is she?"
"How should I know?" asked Gorman.
"You seem to be in charge. She was our target," snarled Matt, pausing to wink at Spider Man.
"Listen, you really want me to call Fury about this?" asked Spider-Man, "Because I have him on speed dial."
"Not till Gorman TELLS ME!" snapped Matt, aiming a punch at Gorman, only to find him...squishier than expected. Matt slowly looked to see his fist was lodged inside Gorman's chest. "This...too much moisturizer or stache shampoo?" asked Matt before Spider-Man webbed 'Gorman' up.
"I'm pretty sure this is not Gorman," said Spider-Man, "Get your fist out of him."
"I'm trying..." snapped Matt, getting angrier. His hand felt like it was stuck in cake batter. And pulling it out was like trying to get it out of rubber cement. And the angrier Matt was getting, the hotter his fist was getting. Faux-Gorman looked down to see his chest starting to bubble at that and tried to get free too.
"Matt, please stop that. Please don't make a mess," said Spider-Man, getting behind Fury's desk.
"Get...off...ME!" roared Matt, a blaze of energy shooting out around the room. That wasn't the only thing shooting across the room. Bits of 'Gorman' were splattering everywhere. All of which had a curious appearance to dough.
"Oh...my...Gooooood…" rasped Matt, sitting in the goo in Avalarian form for the first time since he'd gotten to New York.
"You ok, Matt?" asked Spider-Man, peeking out.
"I feel smaller." said Matt, Spider-Man looking over the desk to see an Alsatian-sized pile of dough, just wings sticking out.
"Yeah, wasn't your dragon form...bigger than this?" asked Spider-Man.
"Furies take it out of a dragon...and by dragon age...I'm barely a teen," said Matt, shaking himself clean.
"Really? I would have thought-" started Spider-Man.
"When I fully recharge, I'll be bigger, alright?" snapped Matt, "And I think the bigger question is what the heck did I just blow up?"
"One of Arnim Zola's toys, " said Spider-Man, adding, "If they're here...we can't trust anyone."
Chloe glared at the clouds. Moonrise had been technically an hour ago but of course... "Bloody weather," she muttered, hearing a knock. "You do not want to disturb me right now," called Chloe.
"Chloe...it EES your significant other...come to check on your wellbeing," said Chris's voice outside.
'That has got to be the worst attempt at trying to get into my room I've heard,' thought Chloe, 'Still, I probably should try to find out who'd try to impersonate Chris.'
She walked over, opening the door to see Chris, his eyes in different directions. "Hello, significant other," he said.
"Ok, whoever you are, take the mask off," said Chloe, grabbing 'Chris's' hair and pulling. Chris's face stretched at that, Chloe screaming and letting go, sending a blast at him which went through him cartoon style and blew up the vending machine in the cafeteria a across the corridor
"That's not Chris! That's not Chris!" yelped Chloe, backing away.
"Yes I am, oh silly friend," said Chris, Chloe noticing the SHIELD crew watching and realizing that there was probably more than one.
"Whatever you are, keep back!" snapped Chloe, "You do not want to mess with me."
"You are needed by the doctor," said 'Chris', moonlight shining in and bathing Chloe who began to twitch.
Suddenly, the feathers covering her body changed in fur and spread to cover more of her. The raptor claws on her foots shrank as they changed into paws. Her tail became less whiplike while her wings melted into her back. Her ears grew back out as her muzzle painfully reconfigured into lupine form.
The 'fakes' just blinked before advancing on her, melting into yellow...dough things. "Ok, no idea what planet you're from, but you're about to learn how they deal with monsters on Nirn," said Chloe with a growl. She sniffed the air before he tail wagged a little. "I smell...dough..." she said, before lunging at the fake Chris.
"That's another knocked out guard," said Matt, dragging a knocked-out SHIELD guard by his collar.
"At least this isn't like last time," said Spider-Man, "Last time, Zola replaced nearly everyone on the Triskellion with a synthazoid and we didn't find out until it was almost too late."
Matt walked in deeper. "I found Chris," he called, dragging the currently human Chris out.
"Usually Zola isn't so sloppy," said Spider-Man.
"Depends what he's after. What if he just wanted certain people?" managed Matt through a mouthful before sighing and biting Chris's leg. Chris sat up with a yelp at that. "Ah, you're awake. What's the last thing you remember?" snapped Matt, though Chris just grinned.
"Someone get on the wrong end of Pym Particles?" teased Chris.
Matt twitched before saying, "I'm not short."
"You're such a cute little guy," said Chris, reaching over and tickling Matt's noise, "Coochie, coochie, coochie..."
Matt paused before headbutting Chris into the closet. "Shut the door behind me..." he said calmly, walking in after him, before adding, "And lock it..."
"But-" started Spider-Man.
"Do it," said Matt.
One center of pain later...
"Ok, there's her rooooooooo-woooow…" said Matt, at the front...and seeing globs of dough everywhere.
"Reminds me of that time Aunt May got the wrong kind of yeast," said Spider-Man.
There was an ominous burp and a pained groan from Chloe's room. Chris, sporting several bites, scorches and scratches, pushed Matt aside and ran in to see Chloe with a bloated stomach in werewolf form manage, "Please...does anyone have any silver?"
"Oh, gross. You ate that stuff?" asked Spider-Man with disgust.
"It smelled...nice..." groaned Chloe, burping.
"Chris, run and get Chloe some Pepto-bismol," said Matt.
Chloe's cheeks bulged at that "RUN!" yelled Chris before she burped up half a black communicator, a red squid insignia on it.
Spider-Man picked it up with his fingertips and said, "Well, this confirms it. Arnim Zola's behind this. The $50,000 question is where is he?"
"I wanna know that answer too. And it's not just about the money," said an irritating voice.
The group turned to see Deadpool. "YOU!" snarled Matt, lunging.
Deadpool flipped over Matt and said, "You are a lot easier to flip over than I remember. Did you lose weight? And height?"
Chris paused before to everyone's, especially Pool's surprise, grabbed him and begged, "Don't...I know what the next joke you are gonna say is...just don't..."
"This is really not the time for it," said Spider-Man, "We've got our own problem right now."
"Don't worry. I can carry Shorty in my utility-" began Deadpool before there was a 'chomp' noise and he looked down to see Matt chomping on his leg. "Oh, that's why you told me that," he said.
"Look, why are you even here? Picking up another bounty?" asked Spider-Man.
"Not this time," said Deadpool, "Didn't pick up the last bounty either. Those no-good goodie two-shoes stiffed me on my big payday. So I went to complain about it. That's when things got messy. The wrong kind of messy." He pulled his katana out of its sheath, which was dripping with synthazoid goo. "It wouldn't be bad but this stuff's so hard to wash off Tina," he complained.
"Please tell me you knew they were synthazoids before you stabbed them," said Spider-Man.
"Of courrrrse..." said Deadpool, muttering to Chris "I totally didn't." causing Chris to stare and take a couple of side steps away from Deadpool. "Anyhow, heard you guys know who owns the gum-gum men," said Deadpool, "Just tell me where he is so I can cut my payday out of his skin."
"Someone from Spider-Man's rogue gallery. Some guy called Gorman might be working for him," said Matt, twitching before growing to human height. "FINALLY!" he snapped.
"Gorman, yes, that's the guy," said Deadpool, "Of course, recent gooey events make me wonder if there is a real Gorman."
Matt looked at the communicator. "Hey, Chloe, think you can trace this?" he asked, picking it up.
Deadpool snatched it and said, "Huh, looks pretty messed up. I doubt anyone would be able to trace it."
Chloe, looking a little better, walked over and sniffed it. "Green pastures...ice cream...democrat...it was in Connecticut," she said calmly, before looking at Deadpool, "You just smell of tacos and insanity."
"Say, that voice sounds familiar. Is your sister a dinosaur?" asked Deadpool.
"I dunno...is your brother Nolan North?" said Chloe icily...literally, an aura of frost forming around her.
"Connecticut doesn't really narrow it down a lot," said Chris.
"It's still a start," said Spider-Man, "And in one of the least likely places we'd look. Except maybe New Hampshire."
"You know, I did read ahead...-" began Deadpool before Chloe's final straw broke and she blasted him through a wall.
"Spider-Man, I will pay you to find a better person to team up with," said Chloe.
"Aw please, I could find that Gorman deadbeat faster than you could," laughed Deadpool, missing the fact that Chloe, Chris and Matt's eyes narrowed.
"Are you trying to goad us into a dumb bet?" asked Spider-Man a little incredulously.
"No, I think he has a death wish," said Chris darkly.
"Don't be silly. I mean, what would a bet be without steaks?" asked Deadpool, holding two big, juicy steaks. "It's a homophone pun, get it?"
Chris and Chloe just nodded weakly. "I don't see anything wrong with a few harmless steaks...stakes," muttered Chloe.
Matt facepalmed before getting a whiff. "Are those mutton?" he asked in a small voice.
"I woulda gotten beef, but they had this big sale on mutton," said Deadpool, "Less fatty too."
Matt nodded before saying in a numb voice, "Steak now or death."
"See ya at Zola's place," said Deadpool before tossing the steaks and running out laughing.
"I cannot believe you fell for that," said Spider-Man smugly before ducking a table, the two werewolves and dragon fighting one another for the steaks, Deadpool having only left two. "Oh come on. Aren't you even considering they might be tainted?" asked Spider-Man.
"SILENCE! STEAK TIME!" snapped Matt, burping a cloud out that literally caused half the desk to melt.
"You ok?" asked Spider-Man with concern.
"Feeling a little heartburn," said Matt, punching his chest. He burped again, a white-hot blast of flame melting a circle in the window. "Ok, think that's the worst of it," said Matt, "Chloe, Chris, you up for hunting?"
"Can't...meat coma…" groaned Chris, burping.
"Tried to warn you," said Spider-Man.
"I know my sister can't be put down that easily, right?" asked Matt.
"It...was...tofu..." groaned Chloe.
Matt's smile froze before he started to look ill, "I'll go ahead...after a brief visit to the little drake's room."
"Maybe I should grab Scarlet Spider if you guys are going to be incapacitated," said Spider-Man.
"He'll...be fine in a bit," said Chloe, a crash heard and a scream, followed by...unpleasant noises.
Matt had learned something from this experience: he can never go vegan. Tofu does not mix well with dragon stomach acids. Which is just as well because he was going to eat Deadpool as soon as he got his claws on him.
"Ok, just follow the smell of Mexican food and chimichangas," he muttered, his eyes glowing red as he surveyed the ground below. "Must...kill...Deadpool..." he said darkly. Deadpool hadn't made it easy, 3 ferries, two trains, 4 busses, and an airplane...urgh even his dragon form couldn't scare the TSA...
"Dammit, Connecticut isn't even that big a state. If it was Rhode Island, this would only take one day," snarled Matt. Then he paused. He just caught the scent of something familiar. His eye slits narrowed as he sniffed, his head slowly turning to lights below, some sort of town. "Megan..." he hissed, before tipping his wings to land just outside the town.
"Ok, have to keep a lookout for any kind of defenses-" started Matt before he suddenly hit something very hard.
There are many grand world changing conversations found in the strangest of places...this was not one of them...
"Give me a go with the camera," said a SHIELD guard at an inconspicuous guard post at the edge of the shield.
"No, it's mine," said the other guard, "You should have gotten your own camera."
"But there's only one view. We're supposed to be doing this together in case Hydra or something comes," said the first, adding, "You always get a go."
The second said, "That's cause I'm a higher rank then you."
"Then how comes you can never hit anything?" snapped the first guard.
"The stungun sights are off..." said the second guard sulkily.
The first said, "Hah, tell that to Gorman. You actually nailed his hair to a wall with a dart. That's why he sent us here."
"If you try to start that conversation one more time-" started the second guard.
There was a loud, glasslike thud outside at that. "Bird," they both said together, the second guard saying, "Your turn," a loud glassy squeaking heard outside.
"Ugh, they're always so...icky," said the first guard.
The squeaking continued, the first guard snapping, "Just do something before our eardrums expl-" before something landed on the hut and them.
After a minute, the weight vanished, someone walking in the direction of the shield aperture, swearing weakly. "Hey...I vote this never happened," said the first guard after a minute, weakly from under the rubble.
"Any landing you can stagger away from...still hurts," said Matt, in a dazed tone. He shook his head, looking around to see...Everytown USA. "Oh my God, I've found Eureka," muttered Matt walking forward.
"Ok, can't let anyone hear me coming," said Matt before a very loud jackhammering not too far away made his teeth rattle.
"THE HELL WAS THAT?" He roared before covering his mouth. "Ok, scout town, find Deadpool, make balloon animals out of his kidneys," he muttered, the sound heard again before he began to sneak towards it.
"Ok, there has to be something nefarious going on," muttered Matt, looking around a corner. All he saw were four big guys working in an excavated hole in the road. "Well, annoying roadwork is kinda nefarious," said Matt. Then the jackhammer started again, even louder as he was closer. "Would you turn it down?!" yelled Matt, "There are decent people trying to sleep!"
"Hey, we gotta job to do," said one of the construction workers.
Matt nodded, "Thank you!" before turning. He got several steps before his brain replayed the conversation. "Wait a second...where have I heard that voice?" he muttered, turning and his tail accidentally clocking two figures in combat gear out cold.
He looked again at the construction workers. Those very broad shoulders looked familiar. He lifted the hardhat off the black worker. "Hey! Gimme that!" snapped the worker, snatching it back.
"I knew it. The Wrecking Crew. What's the plot?" snapped Matt, throwing the hat behind him, hitting a sniper taking aim, the guard next to him saying quietly "Bet you wished you'd let me have a turn."
"Buddy, we're not wrecking, we're fixing," said one of the workers that Matt recognized as the Wrecker, "This watermain ain't gonna repair itself."
Matt blinked, his train of thought derailing. "Pardon?" he said carefully.
"Just be glad it's not a backed-up sewer pipe," said Piledriver, fittingly the one who was using the jackhammer.
"Ok...I'm gonna go now...by the way, scales and wings aren't a problem?" Matt asked.
"Bit late for Mardi Gras, ain't it?" asked Bulldozer.
Matt facepalmed before saying, "Close enough." He walked off, twiddling his finger round his earhole. Two figures made the mistake of jumping him as he headed down the alley back to the main road, Matt tossing them into a dumpster without half a thought. "Bloody muggers," he muttered.
"Just who is this guy?" snapped Gorman, looking at the surveillance footage, "And how is he knocking out my men without even noticing?"
"Lazard, one of those alien mercs," said a SHIELD tech at a control station, everyone wincing as one 'mugger' tried another fight and got...kicked in a certain area by Lazard, another tech saying "Are we sure he's a good guy?"
"Probably not. Keep an eye on him. He might be moving in," said Gorman.
"Wait...we gotta detain him?" yelped a guard before coughing and repeating himself in a less panic-stricken voice, him and the others having not uncrossed their legs since the 'kick'.
"We've got two dozen different supervillains here. He couldn't be harder than all of them," said Gorman.
A new guard said, "Can we wear cups first?"
"Yes, you can," said Gorman with a sigh.
"Oh...and there's a report from Outpost Blue. They're claiming Godzilla stepped on their outpost," said a tech.
"Ok, Megan's gotta be around here somewhere," said Matt to himself. For some reason this town seemed to have alot of burglars and muggers. He wouldn't have kicked the last one but he had called Matt 'shortarse'. "Ok...let's see...if I was Megan, where would I be hiding?" he muttered.
Just then, he heard a school bell ring. He looked to one side to see a high school where class was just beginning. "No...it couldn't be that easy," said Matt.
He turned to see a few children coming out. "Could I really slip in unnoticed?" asked Matt before looking down at himself, "Nah, that'd stretch disbelief too much. Time for a disguise."
He paused as he heard a squeal of happiness at that., turning in shock before he was tackled. "Oh my gosh, Lazard! I am such a huge fan!" said a giddy female voice.
"Erm...ok, Megan?" yelped Matt, trying to remove her.
Megan looked a lot different and it wasn't just because she was in human form. She had 10 pounds of goth taken off her, not dark makeup, no dreads, no jewelry, and no dark clothes. She just looked like a normal teenager and she looked...happy. Very happy. In fact, the happy began to unnerve him. "Megan, so nice to find you finally," he said uneasily.
"You know who I am?" asked Megan, "Oh, what am I saying? I wrote the Lazard fan site. Of course you'd know me."
Matt gulped. Somehow this was far more terrifying then any monster. "Ok...please let go, if that's ok," he said carefully.
"Oh, sorry," said Megan, letting go, "So what brings you to Pleasant Hill?"
"That's this place?" said Matt, his wristcomps AI saying into his head "No such town is on local records...caution is advised."
"I mean, it's great that you're here, but nothing happens in this place," said Megan.
"Really?" said Matt, the VI saying "Scanning subject...chemical imbalances detected." Of course, Megan's brain chemicals would just be imbalanced because of the Virk virus. But Matt wasn't ruling anything out yet. Bur right now, he needed a cover story.
"I'm...just here to...check...in...on...local schools..." he said carefully, trying to negotiate a real whopper.
"Check in on them?" asked Megan.
"Yeah, it's part of SHIELD's new PSA services. They want the younger heroes to speak at schools to...uh...talk about peer pressure and other problems you teens have."
The two watched, locked in a stare before Megan smiled "Cool." turning and missing Matt wiping his brow with a silent 'phew'. "So I guess you ought to talk to the principal," said Megan.
Matt considered this. It was probable that the principal was another brainwashed villain. It was more likely he was one of the jailers here. Either way, his shoddy story wouldn't hold three seconds under scrutiny. "Actually, we prefer to observe the students as one of them, find out what specific problems you're dealing with first," said Matt.
"Great idea, but where will you stay?" said Megan.
Matt twitched, "I shouldn't do that. Secret identity and all that."
"Ok, fair enough," said Megan.
"Well...ok, take me to your principal," sighed Matt.
"Dammit, he's talking to another prisoner," snapped Gorman, watching on camera as Lazard was led towards the school, "And not just any prisoner. I just got that one too."
"Her mental programming held. Zat is all that matters," said a voice from the back of the room.
"Considering the amount of animosity she would normally have for him, that says a lot for the strength of the control," said Gorman.
"Well, ze next test vill be ze principal," said the voice, adding, "Maybe send some men..."
"Ok, this is the principal's office?" asked Matt, looking at Megan.
"Yup, watch out...and don't mention the eye," she said before walking off.
"The eye?" muttered Matt, knocking.
"Come in," said a disturbingly familiar voice.
Matt blinked, shaking his head. "No...it can't be," he said, opening the door, before his snout fell open. "Noooooooo…" he said weakly. Sitting at the desk, in a suit but still with the eyepatch, was Fury. "Tell me this is just undercover," he said, after he'd walked in and shut and locked the door, leaning against it
and off to a great start.
"Can I help you with something?" asked Fury.
"Fury, nobody can see us. What is this? Some SHIELD base or something?" said Matt, sighing with relief.
"This is a high school, young man," said Fury.
Matt paused, carefully rewinding and replaying those words. "What's your name?" he asked carefully.
"Jason Bliss," said Fury.
Matt blinked. "Ooookaaaay…" he said, deciding to humor Fury, "My names Lazard. I'm...just resting my wings. One of your students told me I should tell you."
"You seem to have come a long way out of your way," said Fury.
"Got lost, first time outside New York," said Matt quickly.
"You seem to be more lost than you think," said Fury.
"Indeed, indeed...everything looks the same above cloud level," said Matt conversationally, a partial truth, mostly as he was getting the feeling Fury wasn't buying it.
"Look, I think you ought to leave here. There are students trying to study," said Fury.
"I was hoping to give the kids a lecture on some of my adventures. Something fun for them, just while I rest my wings," said Matt, going for an excuse for more snooping.
"If you had called in about a week ago, I might have been able to arrange it," said Fury, "But you can't be disrupting class now."
"As I said, it wasn't exactly planned. One of the minuses of not having one of those suits Stark uses or a fancy hammer. Tired wings...and I'd rather make myself useful while I'm here," said Matt.
"Well, I can't have you causing a disruption on campus," said Fury, "Maybe I can get you some time to lecture tomorrow, but not today."
"Didn't expect to today. It is late. Tell me, there a motel here that allows dragons?" asked Matt.
"Some anomalies...lucky he gave in," said a tech.
Gorman glared. "Fury's following the stranger protocol anyway," he said, as, after Matt left on the screen, Fury began dialing 911, "Make sure OUR cops intercept him."
Matt walked out, already muttering about how to make up a story for tomorrow before he jumped a foot in the air as Megan, from beside him, said, "How did it go?"
"Fine! I mean, it went fine," said Matt once he sure his heart wasn't going to leap out of his chest.
"So Mr. Bliss didn't kill ya," teased Megan, Matt pausing, before she said, "I'm joking." with a laugh.
Matt glared. "Please not about that," he said, before hearing the sound of sirens approaching.
"911 call detected from Mr. Fury's office," said the VI out loud.
"He called the cops? What sort of superspy calls the fuzz?" Matt snapped.
"Superspy? Maybe when catching kids who are skipping class," said Megan.
Two police cruisers skidded into view, bearing down. Megan watched as Lazard sniffed the air before he began growling, before firing a plasma blast from his palm, sending one of the cruisers into a flip through the air, a second one slicing the other in half.
"Lazard, what are you doing?!" yelled Megan.
"Megan...hide," said Lazard darkly.
"You're attacking the police," protested Megan.
"No I'm not," said Lazard. Megan turned and gasped, several dough-like...things getting out before reforming into several of the town deputies. "I said to run," hissed Lazard, blocking their sight of her by spreading his wings.
Megan decided it was best to listen to her favorite superhero and ran. She ran into an alley and peered out to see the...fake deputies fighting, one turning into a fat...dough boy thing that began to smother Lazard.
"What are those things?" muttered Megan, but she really didn't want to get close enough to find out.
She gasped in horror as one of the deputies injected her hero with something, knocking him out, before a truck drove up, the deputies shoving him in the back before they looked human again, looking around, one briefly looking in her direction, making her duck back.
"Usually when I'm separated from my team, I try to contact them or get them to find me. Usually because I've just been kidnapped by a supervillain. However, Matt just flew off and he didn't leave us much to go on. It's been three days and his sister's getting worried."
"Come on, you outdated calculator," snapped Chloe, Chris holding her back from slashing the computer's screen as it said "431 quadrants remain for scanning...scanning quadrant 107 now."
"Connecticut's not a big state. How could it have not found him by now!?" snapped Chloe.
"It's an old system. This thing was in service when I was a rookie," said Chris, pulling her away.
"We ought to be looking for him on foot then," snarled Chloe.
"That'd take even longer," soothed Chris, looking over at Spider-Man. "Tell me SHIELD has some sort of lead. They're missing Fury now."
"According to Gorman, Fury's on a top-secret mission," said Spider-Man.
"Gorman, as in the same guy you saw splatter into several globs of dough?" asked Chloe incredulously.
"Only Matt and I saw that and it was all gone by the time we got back," said Spider-Man, "I might try to see if Gorman is another synthazoid, but I would get in a lot of trouble if I'm wrong."
"Possible match found...unlisted database located...unable to pinpoint...Possible lead found in database for one Wade Wilson classified as Priority capture. Warning: Unidentified jamming preventing pinpointing source," said the computer at that.
Chloe snarled and lifted up a chair to throw at the computer.
"Analyzing course of action...94.7% success rate for action 3...scanning...Wade Wilson located...transmitting location to wrist computers," said the computer at that, Chloe pausing.
"We are not that desperate, are we?" asked Chris.
"The computer says he's in there," said Chris, looking at a readout, the three looking at an innocent-looking door.
"There could be literally anything behind that door," said Spider-Man.
Chloe walked up and shrugged before knocking, an eye slide opening. "Password," said the guy whose eyes glared, the sound of drinking and music heard beyond
"Let me in, you idiot," said Chloe.
"Hey, you're one of those heroes. Get lost or bring a warrant." snapped the voice, pausing, "That said, the outfit might get you in."
Chris muttered, "Oh no." Chloe's eye twitching before she blasted the door inside with a lightning bolt, 'accidentally' stepping on the bouncer...and boy when a raptor's foot steps on you, you know it
The bar patrons looked up to see who had knocked in the door this time. Chloe got a few lingering stares for being a winged dinosaur, but most just returned to what they were doing.
"Wade Wilson, I want him. First person to say so won't be beaten to a boneless heap," she snapped, noting some of the other mercs were looking at her robes. "Why did that idiot Sauron make it so only this outfit works? I feel like Xena," she muttered.
"I think he's in the bathroom," said one merc, "But you don't wanna go in there."
"WADE, OUT HERE NOW!" roared Chloe in full 'Dakota' mode.
"Just a minute..." sang Deadpool's voice.
Chloe/Dakota stomped towards the bathroom door before opening it, ready for a yell before coughing violently, slamming it shut. "Dear God," she managed.
"Noseplugs are on the counter," said the bartender.
"It smells flammable," snapped Dakota, sending a blast into the door which was blown into the bar, the stench vanishing, though for some reason the flames were purple. "DEADPOOL!" she snapped.
"Occupado!" yelled Deadpool's voice.
Dakota looked ready to yell before she smirked. "Ok...I guess I'll take the money I was going to pay you and leave," she said innocently.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a moment," called Deadpool, "I'll be out in a minute."
Dakota looked at the others before saying, "I know what you're thinking." her eyes glowing the same way she had as Queen Dakota before saying in an echoing voice, "Literally...butt out." The mercs that had shown interest suddenly being interested in their drinks.
Deadpool soon came out of the bathroom, shaking water off his hands. "Hey, Dino-Girl," he said cheerfully.
"Don't call me that," said Chloe flatly. She stomped over before lifting Deadpool off his feet. "Ok, you worked for Gorman. Where's his base?" she growled.
"Babe, if I knew that, don't you think I would have collected my fee?" asked Deadpool.
"You're not stupid. You'd know why he wanted Me...Lady NegaMorph," snapped Chloe.
"Because she's super-powerful and super-hot?" asked Deadpool. The punch sent Deadpool flying back into the ruined bathroom
"I don't have time to bant this around," said Chloe, "You're going to show us where Gorman keeps his prisoner."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a no-go," said Deadpool, "It's a no-man's land. And it's also a no-woman's land and no-dinosaur's land."
Chloe picked him up again. "Or I recreate some scenes from Jurassic Park. You can be the members of staff," she growled threateningly.
"Just a second," said Spider-Man, "Are you saying there's someplace even you can't break into?"
Deadpool glared before muttering, 'Yes'
"Oh, that must grind you hard," said Spider-Man, "You want to get your money but you can't without help."
Deadpool glared further before yelping as Chloe shook him. "You are going to lead us to where he is...understand?" she snarled.
"Look, babe, if I can't get inside, how are you going to get in. You don't really blend in anywhere," said Deadpool.
"That's why you're coming too," said Dakota with an evil grin.
"I don't think you can afford me," said Deadpool.
"Well, my brother's in trouble, so here is my deal. You help us and you'll actually have limbs to count Gorman's money with at the end of this. It's that or a free tour of my digestive system," said Chloe in a sweet voice.
"Well, when you put it that way, I think I'm up for it," said Deadpool.
"Good. Oh, and call me 'babe' one more time and I'll stick your own feet up your butt," said Chloe.
Considering the Triskelion was already compromised, it was decided the coffee shop bunker would be a better place to plan. In retrospect, it wasn't a great decision.
"Ok, Wilson, some of those weapons are literally world ending. GIVE EM BACK...or at least the ones marked 'Do not let Matt touch'," snapped Chloe.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Deadpool.
"Chris..." said Chloe.
"On it," said Chris before grabbing Deadpool by the legs and shaking him.
A dozen pistols and rifles fell out and one orb with the aforementioned warning, Chloe grabbing it before it hit the ground. "Oh thank God," she said, pocketing it. "You can keep...that," she said, holding a plasma magnum before she said "If you help us get find where Gorman has my brother." pulling it out of reach.
"Hmm...interesting form of payment. Not exactly cash, but new toys are always fun," said Deadpool.
"Are you going to help us then?" said Chloe.
"Sure thing," said Deadpool, "Of course you'll be footing the travel expenses."
"Ok...and I get to rip out your spine to be my personal floss if you hit on me, leer, or even think about any form of romantic approach," said Chloe.
Chris leaned in and muttered to Wilson, "She's smiling. That's not a good sign. Just take the deal."
"And before you ask or conveniently not-ask, that also applies to Megan when we find her," said Chloe.
Deadpool glared before taking the gun, and saying, "Ok, so I have an idea where it is. I...might have hacked Gorman's personal computer files to blackmail him into paying me. Talks alot about some town in Conneticut."
"Where in Connecticut?" asked Chris.
"Some mining town that dried up with the mines," said Deadpool, "Or maybe because the original settlers got scarlet fever."
"That...sounds like crap. It's too obvious," said Chloe.
"Ever heard of 'hiding in plain sight'?" asked Deadpool.
Chloe glared before saying, "Ok, so it's the town. Out of the way just enough. So how do we get in?"
Wade laughed before saying, "You don't. It's got a shield to stop anyone sneaking in...unless they squash one of the control huts."
"Matt would have done that," said Chloe and Chris in a matter-of-fact tone.
"So, how do we get in?" asked Spider-man.
Deadpool chuckled, "Well, there are some outstanding bounties..." Chloe gulped.
"Let's not drag any villains into this," said Spider-Man, "I don't think we'll get them to cooperate."
"Oooooh, not villains, there's an open bounty on mutants," said Deadpool evilly, Chris and Chloe staring before hugging each other in terror.
"You know you two aren't actually mutants, right?" asked Spider-Man.
"I'm half-bat/half-werewolf, she's half-raptor/half-bird," said Chris bluntly.
"Who said I was half-bird?" asked Chloe, sounding insulted.
"You're mutates," said Spider-Man, "As in you were mutated, not born mutant." There was a bit of a pause before he asked, "Are you?"
"It's close enough..." said Deadpool, now wearing a gas mask and opening a small canister. "Does this smell like chloroform to you guys?" he asked.
"Oh no, you are not gonna..." started Chloe before she started feeling dizzy.
The three came round to find, in order, Chris hanging upside down from the rooms roof with a collar saying 'Mr. Fluffy', her in a birdcage and no sign of Spider-Man. "DEADPOOL, YOU ARE DEAD!"
"Wait a second? Where am I?" asked Spider-Man's voice. After a few seconds, he faded into view.
A voice from a speaker said, "I found one of Lizard Lady's stealth suit things and put it over your suit."
"DEADPOOL, I WILL EAT YOUR SPLEEN!" screamed Chloe.
Deadpool said, "Good, get into character. I told Gorman that you went nutty again like the Savage Land."
"How did you know about that?" asked Spider-Man, "Did you read the SHIELD files?"
"Oh, I read something," said Deadpool.
Chris snapped, "Why are we in cages, Deadpool?"
"Gorman pays me for bringing in dangerous villains and heroes gone bad," said Deadpool, "I'm pretty sure he'll take in monsters too. Who wouldn't want a dinosaur and a werebat?"
"Half dinosaur!" snapped Chloe.
"Werebat?" snapped Chris.
"Whatever, just be sure to act the part," said Deadpool, the line going dead.
Spider-Man tapped his spider insignia and said, "Huh, why isn't it coming back on?"
"Different stealth tech," said Chloe, "It's your new belt."
Spider-Man looked down to see an ebony metallic belt, a small red dot blinking. "He musta programmed it for us. If anyone else gets in range you-" began Chris before Spider-man vanished, the back 'wall' opening to reveal it had been a trailer, a half dozen SHIELD agents aiming in.
Chloe immediately slipped into 'Queen Dakota' mode. "Finally, which of you underevolved apes is going to release me?" she said loftily. Chris decided he should go along with this, so how would a rabid wolf-bat react? He started giving off high-pitched screeching sounds. "Get that thing to stop!" snapped Chloe, not out of character but not completely ingenuine.
One of the guards walked up, with a tranq gun Chris 'accidentally knocking him flying. "What do you expect us to do with them?" asked one guard, "We're running a prison, not a zoo."
"I am not some animal," snapped Dakota, putting on the show of the 'angry villainess'.
"As far as I'm concerned, you're a pre-evolved parrot," said the guard.
"Look, am I getting paid for this? Gorman still owes me for the Lady NegaMorph job," snapped Deadpool.
"For doing your job for you?" asked one guard acerbically.
"When you say it like that…" began Deadpool's voice, a blam cutting him off.
"Not sure we've got the facilities to hold these beasts in," said another guard, poking at Dakota's cage, "They'd stand out like a sore thumb in town."
"I guess we'll get to test how well that power nullifer works," said another guard.
"Power nullifier?" asked Dakota.
"Something to make sure the prisoners don't cause trouble," said the lead guard, "It might even force you into human form, but I wouldn't hold my breath."
"You leave her alone," snapped Chris.
"So the flying fox can talk," said the lead guard, "Don't strain your wings. If you're lucky, you'll be human again too."
"Course you won't remember," laughed a third.
This was not going the way Chloe had been expected, but she couldn't let her show that. "I warn you, I'm scheduled to fight my sworn enemy Lazard tomorrow and he'll come looking for me if I don't show up," she said in her Dakota tone.
"Lazard?" sneered one of the guards.
Megan wasn't as carefree going back to school. She had told her parents what had happened, but they just laughed it off. And she wasn't really sure who she could trust now. "Ok...ok...maybe the principal will believe me?" she muttered, following the others in. "Maybe I really did imagine the whole thing," said Megan to herself, "Nothing weird ever happens in Pleasant Hill."
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she bumped into someone without looking. "Hey, watch where you're going, geek," said an annoyed female voice.
Megan looking up to see one of the cheerleaders. "Oh smeg," she muttered without thinking, before pausing. "Hey, you aren't Melinda..." she said, spotting the uniform of the cheerleader.
"She got bumped," said the cheerleader, "Just wasn't following the program."
Megan looked around. "Ooookay...and who the hell are you?" she said. Megan and the cheerleaders had long come to the amicable agreement that they despised each other with the force of a thousand supernovae.
"The name's Chloe. You better remember it because it's the name of the new head cheerleader," said the cheerleader.
Megan rolled her eyes at that before yelping as Chloe's eyes looked...off. For a brief moment, they looked like lizard eyes, but she must have imagined it.
"So you'd better stay away from us, loser," Chloe smirked.
Megan rolled her eyes before saying innocently, "Hey...are those split ends?"
Chloe glared at Megan and said, "I'm giving you a chance to not step on any toes. Otherwise, we'd have to hunt you down."
"Hey, Chloe, that's a bit far," said one of the other cheerleaders.
"Everyone needs to know their place," said Chloe.
Megan slowly backed up, the bell ringing, and almost bumping into someone else. "Oh, sorry," said Megan.
"Oh, don't worry about it," said a voice. Megan turned to see a boy who had to be in his senior year, brown hair, blue eyes, not bad-looking.
"Are you new here?" asked Megan.
"Kinda in a transitional period," said the boy, "Name's Peter. What's yours?"
"Erm...Megan. You new here like the new cheerleader alpha?" said Megan, pointing at Chloe and the others.
"Yeah, I just-" said Peter before doing a double-take at Chloe.
"You know her?" said Megan cautiously.
"I think so..." said Peter, sounding not sure if he wanted to believe it.
"You ok?" said Megan, flicking Peter.
"Yeah...anyone else new that you've noticed?" asked Peter.
"Just got in today..." said Megan, leaving out she'd spent most of the previous night fearful that dough people would attack. "Well, first class is science, put this on," said Megan, passing Peter a hard hat from her bag, "We don't have good chemical safety."
"It's a good thing chemistry's one of my better subjects," said Peter.
"Oh, you're fireproof?" said Megan conversationally.
"Oh, Mr. Bleu isn't out the hospital yet?" Megan said, Peter noticing the demonstration table had alot of scorches.
"Unfortunately not, but I'll be filling in for him in the meantime," said a voice. The class turned, Megan's mouth falling open as Lazard, in a lab coat came in. "Class, I'm Mr. Drazal and I'll be teaching you science for the foreseeable future," said Lazard.
Megan stared. There was no way this shouldn't be causing a panic...but nobody was even blinking except the new kid. "Ok...I see Mr. Bleu was showing you the properties of nitro glycerin...which might explain why I'm filling in," Lazard said carefully.
"Maybe we should be at the back of the class," whispered Peter.
"Trust me, these ones are the sturdiest," muttered back Megan before noticing his expression, "Wait...you seeing the winged lizard too?"
"No one else does?" asked Peter, looking around.
Megan looked around before nudging some football jock. "Hey, Chuckles, you see anything off with the new teacher?" she asked.
"That his labcoat is spotless," said the jock.
"Anything else? You know, wings, tail, teeth that could eat us all," said Megan carefully, before seeing the jocks face, "Good grief, how many newbies are here today?"
Peter glanced at the jock and did another double take. "Seriously?" he muttered, "Lazard's the only one who isn't human now?"
"Shh..." said one of the other students.
Megan hissed, "You can see this stuff?"
"I'm wondering why only you can," hissed Peter.
"I'm an insomniac," hissed Megan, "The TV acts weird at night."
"The TV...doesn't have this ugly, scowling face on it, does it?" asked Peter.
"With a really strong German accent?" said Megan, a cough from the front getting their attention.
"Interesting conversation?" said Lazard, a few chuckles heard. Megan immediately sat up straight, blushing furiously.
"Now I have your attention. I'm gonna demonstrate something cool. Little something..." said Lazard, lifting up a glowing device onto the table with effort. "We've all heard of Stark's Arc Reactor tech, but there's other clean tech as well. Plasma for a start, used in experimental Takomak reactors," he said proudly, Megan noticing Peter looked worried. "I made this little thing to show it off. Perfectly sa-...afe?" he said, looking up to see every student was under their desks.
"Oh, ha, ha, very funny," said Lazard, "I know your lessons with Mr. Bleu have been...overly exciting, but I assure you that my lessons are completely safe."
With that, he flicked the switch...
"So...that happened and I now mourn my eyebrows," said Megan in a faint voice, the teachers walking out of the school. For obvious reasons, i.e. the stand-in teacher blowing himself up, lessons had been cancelled.
"Yeah, didn't need a spider-sense to see that coming," muttered Peter.
"What was that?" asked Megan.
"I said I didn't need a sixth sense to see that coming," said Peter, "So...what else weird goes on around here?"
"You know, I didn't notice it until a few days ago, but I have seen a few odd things," said Megan.
"Like what?" said Peter.
"Well, I've seen something on the rooftops at night. It looked like a statue, but it kept moving when I wasn't looking. And then there was the deputies made of dough," Megan said, before sighing, "You must think I'm nuts."
"Not at all," said Peter, "You ever heard of someone named Arnim Zola?"
"Only in history, some Hydra big wig," said Megan, the two walking along.
"If only he stayed history," muttered Peter.
"Sorry?" asked Megan.
Peter said, "Nothing." before his phone rang. "Can you excuse me?" asked Peter before walking away.
Traveller80002/10/2019
The voice on the other end of the call was definitely annoyed, "How much longer? It's bad enough you webbed me to the ceiling but did you have to leave burritos in smelling range?"
"Well, you didn't give me a good impression of your tact or subtlety," said Peter.
"It would have worked. Blow up a few things, unalive some of Gorman's goons and he'd have come running," snapped Deadpool, for it was he, on the other end.
"Did you learn anything about infiltration when you were training at SHIELD or was that first thing you committed to forgetting?" asked Peter.
"You did help me break into Taskmaster's camp, right? Season 2, episode 16?" said Deadpool.
"There's a difference between breaking in and sneaking in," said Peter.
"I still say my way's better. Find anyone?" snapped Deadpool before Megan, walking up behind Peter asked "Hey...who are you talking to?"
"Oh, you found little miss payday," said Deadpool happily.
"Er, I was talking with..." started Peter.
"I really want to help her out, but there's only so much I can tell her as Peter Parker. If it I were Spider-Man, I could tell her what's going on. But I'm not big about revealing my secret identity to anyone, especially a supervillain who may remember this later."
"I could help her. I sometimes actually do heroic stuff in my comic," said Deadpool happily, leaning into the inner thought, only for Peter's shoulder Spide-Men to push him away. "Gee, offer to help." was heard as he was pushed away.
"Ok, when in doubt, turn to the Wheel of Excuses." There was a brief shot of a pile of ashes. "Oh yeah, that finally burned out, didn't it? I still have my Wheel of Explanations, right?"
A mini Spider-Man in a hard hat whispered, "The Wheel of Excuses took it with it."
Megan blinked. "Erm...hello?" she said carefully.
Peter shook his head and said, "Sorry, I need to go meet someone. I'll send someone to help you if things look bad."
"Oh, not a chance. Something's actually happening in this backwater pit and I wanna find out," snapped Megan.
"This may be something too dangerous for you to handle," said Peter.
"More dangerous than a dough boy invasion replacing the Police and overpowering and brainwashing the best hero in the world?" snapped Megan.
"They have Captain America here?" asked Peter in surprise.
Megan snapped, "I meant Lazard."
"Him?" asked Peter, sounding even more surprised.
"Yeah, dragons are cool," said Megan sulkily.
"Ok, brainwashing I kinda expected, but definitely not this."
"So...who were you calling? The voice sounded familiar," said Megan darkly.
"Listen, um... Would you believe I'm an undercover agent from SHIELD?" asked Peter.
"Nope...not a chance," said Megan smugly.
"I really am," said Peter, "This town is some sort of experiment being run by Arnim Zola."
"Where is he? In the TV?" joked Megan.
"Not just your TV," said Peter before looking around, "Come to think of it, maybe we shouldn't be talking out in the open."
"You think the dough monsters are watching?" gulped Megan.
"Arnim is probably in every computer system in this town," said Peter, looking around.
"Oh please..." laughed Megan before her smile faded, "Really?"
"Well, maybe not in every bathroom," said Peter.
"Not that..." whimpered Megan, pointing up.
Peter looked up to see a gargoyle statue perched on the roof. He was pretty sure it hadn't been there before but his spider-sense hadn't gone off. He was pretty sure he knew why as he recognized the gargoyle. "We know you're alive," he called.
The eyes in the 'statue' glowed at that. "Then you're going to get away from her then. I heard who was on the phone," it said in a French accent.
"I'm not here to collect a bounty," said Peter, "This is a rescue mission."
"Forgive me if I do not believe you," said the figure.
"Peter, what is that thing?" asked Megan, fearfully. The creature's eyes turned to look at her at that, a hurt expression seen.
"Megan, I think you know him," said Peter.
Megan looked, the creature saying, "Miss Roph, I am here to help."
Megan gave the gargoyle a perplexed look and said, "Your voice...it sounds familiar for some reason."
"Please, remember, I am loathe to call in those idiots," said Gary.
"It's just...just on the tip of my tongue," said Megan, holding a hand to her head.
The gargoyle landed in front of her, a pleading look on his face. "Please..." he pleaded.
"Uh, I'll just give you two a moment," said Peter.
Megan looked at the gargoyle, something was indeed familiar. "Ok, if you know me, what's my favorite food?" she said accusingly.
"Main course or dessert?" asked the gargoyle, "I know you like a shredded pork sandwich with garlic mixed in and a hot fudge sundae. People say it's not a good combination for your breath, but I've never cared about that."
Megan paused. "Erm...anyone could guess that. What's my favorite city?" she said in an uncertain voice, her head aching.
"Easy. New York. You're comfortable there because you know the alleys like the back of your hand," said the gargoyle.
"Ok, so you know me. So who am I? Some secret supervillain or something?" said Megan, laughing at her joke.
The gargoyle looked uncomfortable for a moment before saying, "You're my girlfriend."
"I'm sorry, what?" said Megan.
The gargoyle shrank a little, losing his more monstrous features and stony hide until he was a boy no more than a year older than her, his long black hair in a ponytail. "Please tell me this rings a bell," said the boy.
Megan twitched as, with a final sting, something partially gave way. "Gary?" she said in shock before falling backwards in a faint.
Gary quickly caught her before she hit the ground. "Oh, Megan, if only you didn't have to be brought here for this to happen," said Gary.
He looked up as Spider-Man landed. "Oh...I should have known you would be here..." he said darkly.
"When I wanted to take her to a correctional facility, I wasn't planning on one run by Arnim Zola," said Spider-Man.
"Who?" asked Gary.
"You know, Hydra scientist, TV face on his stomach, uses living dough men for minions," said Spider-Man.
"I've heard of him. Strange person by all accounts," said Gary in an unsure voice.
"I don't think you've heard enough about him," said Spider-Man.
"He is working with the warden of this place?" asked Gary
"Assuming that the warden isn't under his control," said Spider-Man.
"Urgh, that would explain the police. I thought they were mutants or some SHIELD bioweapon," said Gary.
"You saw the Synthazoids?" asked Spider-Man.
"That's their name? Yes, I saw and smelt them. There's not many around, seems to be only law enforcement. Everyone else is real, locals and villains," said Gary sternly.
"Well, at least I don't have to worry about everyone out to get me," said Spider-Man, "I had enough of that for one lifetime."
"Could still be dangerous though," said Gary, looking down at Megan sadly, "I hope it's permanent for her sake. She wasn't Lady NegaMorph at first. The Virk...we were looking for a cure...she has it..."
"Lazard told me a bit about that, but he didn't tell a lot about what the Virk is," said Spider-Man.
"In a way, he is. Genetic weaponry. The Virk were the next...how does Chip say? The next update. It went wrong," sighed Gary.
"Went wrong how?" asked Spider-Man.
"The Virk program was supposed to remove the flaws of the original Khan program, but it had the side effect of creating a separate personality, essentially giving one's dark side a mind of its own. Unless you have a special amulet or training, you have no chance of keeping the dark side from taking over.
"We crashed here years ago. More then long enough. How could I stop her? Even at full strength, she would swat me aside...and I could never do that." said Gary sadly.
Spider-Man looked away, not really sure what to say to that. Then he noticed something shiny on the ground. "What's this?" he asked, leaning down to look.
Gary peered at it to see it was a colored lens, a contact lens made to look like a human eye, before he gently raised Megan's eyelid to show a reptilian eye. "Like I said..." he said.
"So, you've stayed by Megan's side, hoping she would break free of Lady Nega's control," said Spider-Man.
Gary nodded and said, "The worst part is that I know she's in there and I see the occasional glimpse of her. It's usually when Lady Nega is most satisfied." He looked down sadly. "And here she is: the core of the grand villain for the world to see," he said, "She will not need punishing when this is all over. Mr. Lynch...Lazard knows from experience that he remembered everything his other side would do. She'll remember mutating those poor teenagers into her attack force. She will remember it all."
"I'm...I'm really sorry about all that," said Spider-Man, "I mean, I've seen plenty of my close friends be turned into villains. Harry, Norman, Connors, and try to reach through to them from in the monsters they've become is never easy."
"Indeed. Hopefully Matt is the advanced party," said Gary, innocently adding "The Bladestorm has over 50 medibays..."
"Omigosh, can this story get any sobbier?" asked an annoyed voice.
Gary and Spider-Man turned to see Deadpool at the end of the alley. "YOU!" snarled Gary, transforming back to gargoyle form.
"Oh, so you can look human too. How 'Beauty and the Beast'. I'm talking about the CW show, by the way, not the one with the dancing napkins," said Deadpool.
Gary snarled before lunging, only for Spider-Man to web them both. "Not now, the last thing we need is attention," he hissed, Megan waking up, seeing Deadpool and shrieking, covering her face with her hands, which caused her hands to spark with black lightning. "Whoa, whoa, everyone calm down," said Spider-Man, though it sounded more like he was the one needed calming.
"It's Deadpool! He's a bad guy!" yelped Megan, pointing and a blast of dark energy blasting Deadpool into some dumpsters. "Ok...ow..." he said from the far end.
"Not that I didn't approve that, but this may not be the best time for dark energy," said Gary.
"I...I...I…" said Megan weakly, looking at her finger the same way someone might look at a mouse that had suddenly began singing Pavarotti.
"Megan, there are some things I need to explain," said Gary, "Which would be easier if I wasn't webbed to the wall."
"Gary...you're a gargoyle again..." said Megan.
Gary paused before tearing himself free. "That was...a test," he muttered embarrassed.
"Can we move along already?" asked Deadpool.
"Yeah, so how do I know you two aren't in on this? Where's Peter?" snapped Megan.
"That kid who went to get me?" asked Spider-Man, "Did he mention he was an undercover SHIELD agent?"
"Well...you'd know. Not much of a spy..." muttered Megan.
"Enough to know that this place is being used as a Hydra experiment of some kind," said Spider-Man.
"Point to you, but we need to rescue Lazard," said Megan desperately.
"Right, I'm not sure if I heard this right, but he's apparently a teacher now?" asked Spider-Man.
"Yeah, he blew up the science lab," said Megan in awe.
"Well, that's not entirely unbelievable," said Spider-Man.
"Look, this is nice and all, but can hear dough man sirens," said Deadpool.
"He might have a point," said Gary, "We should probably find somewhere else to plan."
"I know a place," said Megan nervously.
"Lead the way," said Spider-Man.
The hideout was an empty house in the middle of town, a few demolition notices around. "Oh, I like it. It has that 'escape from New York' look..." said Deadpool, poking a piece of wall which crumbled.
"I guess some things are hard-wired," said Gary.
"I like it. Nobody comes here," said Megan happily.
"That's Megan, alright," said Gary.
"Well, let's try to focus on the problem," said Spider-Man, "As in the whole town is under Zola's control. The only thing I'm wondering is why put up a charade at all? Why not just put everyone in those tubes and steal their powers?"
"This town's near a main road. People drive through," said Megan.
"Also, this place isn't 100% Hydra," said Deadpool, "Would Hydra agents be wearing and using SHIELD-issue gear if there was no one to fool?"
"Yeah...maybe it's the sheriff," said Megan.
"Who could just be another Synthazoid," said Spider-Man.
"No, he doesn't smell like one," said Gary.
"He could just be a normal SHIELD agent," said Spider-Man.
"I don't think so," said Deadpool, scrolling through his phone, "Check out who's up for reelection. BTW, don't think he's gonna win."
The others leaned in to see Gorman's face on what was apparently the web page for the town. "That's him," said Megan.
"Well, well," said Spider-Man, "I guess now we'll find out whether Zola is using him or he's an actual accomplice."
"Ooh, I hope he's an accomplice," said Deadpool, "That means I get to un-alive him."
"No. No un-aliving," yelped Spider-Man, Gary and Megan looking confused,
"Ugh, you just gotta suck all the fun out everything," said Deadpool, "C'mon, the guy's a jerk and obvious traitor. He deserves to not be among the living."
"Wait, shouldn't he be just...locked up?" asked Megan nervously.
"See? She gets it," said Spider-Man.
"Oh, it's only because her bad side's locked up," said Deadpool, "Otherwise she'd totally agree with me."
"I don't have a bad side," yelped Megan.
Gary stomped forward and pulling Deadpool with him. "A word in private, monsieur," he said darkly before lifting Deadpool up by his neck once they were alone. "If you tell Megan anything of her current past, I will make you...less of a lady's man," he snarled, showing his claws.
"You know it'll just grow back, right?" asked Deadpool before whispering, "Not something I boast to everyone."
"Not quickly with the amount I will remove," snarled Gary.
"You know she'll remember eventually, right?" asked Deadpool, "When we stop Gorman and Tele-Tummy, she'll get her memories back."
"Not if you do not encourage that side," snarled Gary.
"Ok, but I'm tellin' ya, she's not gonna be sweet and innocent forever," said Deadpool.
"How would you know? You are just some foolish mercenary," snapped Gary, letting Deadpool go and stalking off.
Deadpool sighed and said, "Nearly feel sorry for the guy. Emphasis on the 'nearly' part."
"Look, first we need to work out how whoever's in charge keeps everyone blind. Lazard's supposed to be immune to mind control. It's in his stat card I made," said Megan.
Gary raised an eyebrow. "Pardon'e?" he asked in confusion.
"Yeah, it's all on the fansite," said Megan.
"Fan site?" said Gary.
Megan nodding, "It's run by the official fan club...which...I run."
Spider-Man and Gary shared an unnerved look at that. "Well, it would seem that Arnim Zola has a twisted sense of humor," said Spider-Man, "Which would explain why Chloe is a cheerleader."
"Wait...he did what?" said Gary, nervously.
"And Chris is a jock," said Spider-Man, "Not as big a surprise."
"Phew," sighed Gary to himself with relief.
"Making Lazard the science teacher was though," said Spider-Man.
"No wonder he made that tech thing. He's a superhero," said Megan happily.
Gary said a little forcibly, "I assume the fool knows where we can sabotage this mind control." glaring at Deadpool.
"It's more of a hunch right now," said Deadpool.
"Better than nothing, now speak," snapped Gary.
"Uh, why are we doing all the work? Don't you have your minions?" asked Deadpool.
"Lad...Me...I left them guarding the hideout. Surely Falcore will keep them in order…" said Gary stoically before shuddering as a chill went down his spine. "Oh no..." he muttered.
"PARTYYYY!" called Manticora happily, the warehouse having been turned into a rave, a sign saying STRICT fancy dress. Falcore, to his credit had tried to stop it, which was why the others had duct taped him up and hidden him in a closet
"Wait, did I just tempt fate with the local Lynches? That doesn't count, right? Right?" asked Gary in growing desperation.
The others watched before Deadpool said, "Never tempt fate..."
"Shut up!" snapped Gary before taking in a deep breath, "Let's focus on the present. Where would their control center be?"
"Everyone needs a booster shot at the medical center," said Megan.
"A good place to start as any," said Gary.
"Vat do you mean you cannot find zem?" snapped Zola
"They're not appearing on the grid," said one of the Synthazoid guards.
"Urgh...just in time for zat dumb hero to get hiz booster. Double ze guard at the medical center...and tell Gorman to have his lackies on the lookout," snapped Zola.
Zola had a feeling those dragons would be trouble, but the opportunity to experiment with their unique DNA was irresistible.
"That's the medical center?" yelped Gary.
Spider-Man looking over. "You never went near it?" he asked, the foursome looking at the modern-looking hospital build against the hills.
"It was built on the old mine," said Megan.
"Yeah, there are some creepy implications with that," said Deadpool, "Not to mention not very structurally sound."
"It's like what you'd expect to see in a zombie film. The creeeeepy lab under the innocent hospital," said Megan with an evil grin.
Gary gulped and said, "Well, I suppose we won't have to work our way to the top then."
Deadpool shook his head. "It's your classic evil lab: normal hospital on top, evil monsters just waiting to break out and attack the innocent heroes underneath," he said.
"Hold that thought," said Spider-Man, "Someone's coming." The group hung back as two SHIELD vans pulled up, armed agents getting out, a half-asleep-looking Lazard led out in a trance.
"That can't be the real Lazard," snapped Gary, "Lazard can't be subdued like that. He's immune to mind control."
"And they heard us..." said Deadpool cheerfully, as several guards turned at Gary's angry yell.
"Oops," said Gary meekly. Deadpool of course, drew his swords and jumped out of cover and into the midst with a happy yell. "I guess we help him?" said Gary, one guard running at him and Gary backhanding him away on reflex without noticing.
"Looks like it," said Spider-Man before shooting a few web blasts.
Megan ducked back however, watching as the three heroes, especially Gary, took the grunts to town. Gary particularly scattering three of Gorman's goons like ten pins. Megan almost wished she could help fight, but she barely knew what powers she had, let alone how to use them.
A yell drew her attention, seeing Gary clutching his arm, a black burn on his skin, several more SHIELD agents firing. A surge of grief welled up in her heart before shooting to her hands. "No!" she yelled, dark energy shooting from her hands.
The shooters' guns were blasted from their hands, giving Spider-Man a chance to web them up at that. "Nice move," said Spider-Man offhandedly, not seeing how Megan was staring at her hands like they were smoking guns.
"I...I...I..." stuttered Megan, her eye twitching before on of Gorman's goons grabbed her...a mistake as it would turn out, as his eyes crossed, he glowed, and turned into a surprised pigeon.
"Ya know, I haven't really seen ya do much magic yet," said Deadpool, "I was starting to think that talk about you being a sorceress was just for dramatic flair. Like that Wizard guy. He only uses technology. Doesn't anyone care about mislabeling? Speaking of which, you don't look like a size 36." The last part was addressed to the goon whose underwear he had just grabbed and pulled over his head.
"Erm...I hope it wears off..." gulped Megan.
"I think it will," said Gary, "Your basic transfiguration spells seem to be temporary. You need more involvement to make anything stick."
The last two of Gorman's men were backed up, one holding an unwieldy sniper rifle. "Back up. We're not afraid," said one.
The other said, "Speak for yourself. I'm terrified."
"Guys, just put the rifle down. It's no use at this range," said Spider-Man.
"It's useless at any range with this guy," said one of the goons, the other glaring.
"Just surrender before we have to take away your dignity," said Spider-Man.
"Aw, but that's half the fun. Well, one-third of the fun, really," said Deadpool.
"Wait...we have dignity after a dragon sat on our guard post?" said the rifleless one, the other snapping "Tucker!"
"Which reminds me, where did they take Lazard?" asked Gary, looking around.
"If we say, can we go?" sighed the one with the rifle.
"Yeah, I doubt our presence is a surprise anymore," said Spider-Man.
The two looked at each other before pointing at the lead truck, "He's in the back." before they ran for it.
"Well, at least they didn't take him somewhere else while we were fighting," said Gary.
The back of the lead van was hanging open, Lazard stood in the back, a blank stare on his face. "Ok, so how do we snap him out of it?" asked Spider-Man.
Deadpool studied him for a few seconds before slapping Lazard in the face. Lazard blinked before slapping Deadpool back, sending him flying. Deadpool lifted one finger up from where he landed and called, "It worked!"
Lazard blinked a little but that was all, Gary walking up to him before saying, "I have one guarantee...stand back..." he said, shifting his skin to stone before whispering something.
For a second, there was no reaction, before the van literally exploded. "CHRIIIIISSSSS!" roared Matt.
Gary staggered out, covered in ash. "I hope he remembers to hold back when we encounter Chris," he said.
"Where am I?" snapped Matt, stamping out the rubble in full dragon form.
"What do you remember last?" asked Spider-Man.
"Being talked to by a television," snapped Matt.
"And do you remember where that was?" asked Spider-Man.
"Erm...no. I was stuck in one of the dough people," said Matt embarrassed.
"Well, right now you're in front of Pleasant Hill Hospital and I think it may be the same place where Zola had you," said Spider-Man.
"Really?" snapped Matt, adding, "Nobody goes in my brain."
Megan asked, "Don't we need it intact?"
Spider-Man quickly webbed up Matt's legs and Gary jumped on top of him. "Matt, this is not a 'seek and destroy' mission," said Gary.
Deadpool walked over and sat on Gary, "Yeah, there's some valuable tech that could be sold off later."
"Never, I'm nuking it!" snapped Matt, before Spider-Man said, "What about Chloe?"
"What about her? Wait, where is she?" asked Matt.
"Chris and Chloe came in with us. They...were bait. Deadpool's idea," said Spider-Man.
Deadpool, as oblivious to danger as always, said, "Yup and it got us in."
"Is that him on top of me?" asked Matt.
"Actually, I'm between you two," said Gary.
"Gary, please move," said Matt. Gary paused before moving just as Matt lunged at Deadpool
Sometime later, after Matt had gotten his needed stress relief, he was filled in on what had happened. "So, they made me the science teacher?" asked Matt incredulously.
"Yeah...you blew up the science lab," said Megan happily.
"I see where the intended irony was, but that was still a pretty poor choice," said Matt. He paused. "And my sister's a cheerleader," he said.
"Yep," said Spider-Man. "Is she at least a nice cheerleader?" asked Matt.
Megan laughed at that. "A nice cheerleader?" she managed.
Matt sighed and said, "There weren't any pictures taken, were there?"
"Not that I know of," said Spider-Man.
"Good..." said Matt, though not sounding 100% sincere.
"Were you hoping on getting pictures for blackmail material?" asked Spider-Man.
"No cause I value my ribs," said Matt.
"I'm sure you'll get your chance," said Deadpool, "Because I bet my left foot that she'll be sent to hunt us."
"They're brainwashed, not sleeper agents," said Matt, before saying, "Especially if we're careful. We snatch Chloe and Chris one by one. As far as they know, I'm still brain fried."
"How do we know they're not already taken down there?" asked Gary, gesturing towards the hospital.
"We don't...but if I was Mr. Telly Face, I'd have an army down there waiting for would-be rescuers," said Matt grimly.
"We may need to prepare a bit," said Spider-Man, "Those Synthazoids don't go as easy as you think."
"Yeah...so I guess I'll be Mr. Science for one more time," said Matt gloomily.
"Just try not to blow up anything this time," said Spider-Man.
The next day, the group met up early, Matt looking at the ragtag group. According to Spider-Man there was no guarantee that someone back at SHIELD wouldn't rat them out, meaning no backup...then there was Megan.
He knew Megan was starting to regain her memories, but her other will probably be resuming control as soon they were all back. If anything, she needed to be locked up or at least contained before her Virk side manifested again. She was a literal ticking bomb However, considering their available resources and lack of options, they didn't have much choice but to include her.
He spotted Gary sitting in the rafters, waving him down. "Gary, you know Megan's gonna turn again, right?" he muttered.
"I'm hoping she isn't," said Gary.
"Gary, you know better," said Matt.
"But she's so close to what she should be," said Gary.
"And it's all an illusion. As soon as Lady Nega's awake, we'll have to lock her up till the Bladestorm arrives," said Matt sternly.
"Maybe Megan can resist her," said Gary. Matt raised an eyebrow. "She's got a strong will," said Gary.
"Which means Lady Nega has an equally strong will," said Matt, "And in the event of a tie, the dark side wins."
"I refuse to believe that. You always won," snapped Gary.
"I'm a different case," said Matt, "I have A-001 protection. Megan's strong, but she isn't strong enough."
"I refuse to believe that," snapped Gary.
Matt sighed. Gary's heart was in the right place, but he just refused to face the hard facts. "Ok...we'll discuss this later. So I'm some sort of...science teacher...urrrgh..." said Matt, shuddering.
"Having already blown up the science room at least once, I've heard," said Gary.
"Good," said Matt with a manic smile before looking around and saying, "So...where's Chloe?"
"Well...I was told, but I can't believe it," said Gary.
"Gary, Gary..." said Matt, putting a hand on Gary's shoulder and starting, with glowing red eyes, to push him down. "I've had a bad few weeks. My dear sister got turned into a DeviantArt picture of a raptor. You and Megan turned the local version of me into an insane avian who can literally throw wing blades. Tell...me...where..." he said, the last words said in a voice worthy of Darth Vader.
"She's, she's the captain," said Gary fearfully.
"Of..." prompted Matt.
"The cheerleading squad," squeaked Gary.
Matt stared, twitching before he started to laugh. "Really? Tell me there's blackmail," he managed.
"Er, if you mean someone has taken pictures..." started Gary.
"Oh, if they did..." said Matt, the same smile there as he began to squeeze Gary's shoulder. "There will be nowhere they can hide," he finished darkly. Matt leaned in and whispered, "If anyone's going to blackmail Chloe over this, it's gonna be me and me alone."
"Yes, sir." squeaked Gary, adding, "Please stop grinding my shoulder to dust."
Matt released his grip and asked, "And what has become of her boyfriend?"
"Football team," said Gary, Matt twitched and laughed harder. Gary continued, "As far as I can tell, this an actual town. Most of the people here are just brainwashed residents...and I mean seriously. You walked around in hybrid form and nobody blinked."
"But the law enforcement are Sythezoids, or at least most of them are," said Matt.
"Yeah, everyone was fine till they had to go for mandatory eye exams. That's what Megan said," said Gary.
"Fine, fine. First order of business is finding where Chloe and Chris are. I wonder what Zola could have done with them," said Matt.
"I told you for the fifth time already," said Gary in an annoyed tone.
"SILENCE!" twitched Matt, adding, "I'll just have to go undercover to find out." Gary facepalmed.
"Zola managed to brainwash the town?" said Spider-Man after, with much prodding, Matt had accepted reality.
"And presumably under the hospital, evil army, blah, blah, blah. Does the dragon guy finally get it already?" asked Deadpool.
"I think so..." said Gary.
Megan said, "We can't just rush in. It's just us 4 and I'm still re-learning how to blast people."
Matt nodded, "Last thing we need is Chloe and Chris fighting for their team when this all goes down."
"So we find them, extract them, restore their memories, and take the fight to Zola," said Spider-Man.
"Everyone has to get these follow-up eye exams every week. I mean...that's where you grabbed Matt. You musta needed a refresher. If we grab the two before that, we just wait it out," said Megan.
"Zola could still switch to attack mode before they fully wear off," said Spider-Man.
"So we web them up," said Matt sternly.
"Ok, we just need to isolate them so we don't alert the whole school," said Megan.
"Well jocks and cheerleaders suck at science. This should be easy," said Matt, rubbing his hands together...
"She's supposed to be a cheerleader, and he's a damn jock. How are their papers straight A's?" Matt muttered, checking some homework during break. "Either Zola had allowed some of the intelligence to shine through their brainwashing or they're muscling some poor nerds to do it for them," muttered Matt.
"Chloe and Chris, to my office," he said into the PA system. He turned it off and pulling out a mobile. "Peter? Game on. My classroom, 3 minutes...and tell Deadpool to use rubber bullets only." A groan was heard in the background.
Matt steeled himself. Surely Zola wouldn't have pigeonholed Chris and Chloe into the stereotypical jerk jock and mean cheerleader roles, right? He was sure they were respectable people despite the brainwashing.
The door opened at that. "Ok, like, what's this all about? I know I'm making straight A's," Chloe's voice snapped.
"Then again, Zola might have all the originality of a rerun," Matt muttered, turning his seat and seeing his sister and two other cheerleaders. "This is between me and Chloe. You two can wait outside," he said calmly.
"Where she goes, we go," said one of them.
"Commendable. Go away," said Matt.
"You can say to them what you say to me," said Chloe with a smirk.
"Or you can go to Dir-...the Principal's office with this evidence of cheating I've found," said Matt, stalling as he showed the papers. "Who'd you pay to do the work for you? I might recommend only a suspension," he said, texting under the table, the words 'GET HERE NOW!'
Just then, Chris walked through the door, with two linebackers following him. "Hey, I just told your girlfriend the same thing. This is just about you, leave the goon squad outside," said Matt.
"We go where the boss goes," said one of them.
Matt snapped "ANYONE WHO ISN'T CHLOE OR CHRIS, GET OUT!" putting some dragon roar behind it.
"And I say they stay," said Chloe, her eyes turning reptilian. That was reason enough to worry for Matt, but then he saw her friends also sporting slit pupils. Glancing at Chris and his cohorts, he saw their eyes were turning golden.
"Oh, you guys," he muttered, texting 'Plan B' with a skull and crossbones' out before he said, "Is this how you convinced other teachers to turn a blind eye?" in a dull tone as he concentrated on flowing some energy into his hands. The teens snarled, showing sharper teeth as their faces started distorting. "I know they say high school is a 'man eat man' world, but this is ridiculous," said Matt.
He backed behind his desk as the three werewolf jocks growled, the similar raptor girls snarling. "Hey, eating your teacher is an expulsion address," he yelped. The teen-turned-monsters crouched as they got ready to pounce. "I am not going down like a teacher on Buffy," said Matt, plasma igniting in his hands.
The three looked surprised before Matt grinned "Let me put my hands together." before clapping, a blastwave of plasma knocking them back into the corridor. "Boring plan anyway," he muttered, following them. He was knocked back into the classroom by two werebat jocks. "Hey!" snapped Matt, leaping up before throwing two plasma disks at the two. The cheerleader dinosaurs were the next to try their luck and had an easier time of getting through the door. Matt struggled with keeping the girl's teeth away from his head. "This can't be how I'm supposed to go. Eaten alive by cheerleaders. I'd never hear the end of it," he griped.
Just then, the window was shot open and Deadpool jumped through. "Ah, reptilian cheerleaders," said Deadpool, "Who would have thought I'd be fighting those again?"
"I'm not even gonna ask. GET THEM OFF ME!" snapped Matt.
"Looks like it's bola-bola time," said Deadpool before throwing multiple bolas. The bolas wrapped around the girls' mouths, wrists, and legs, making them fall over.
"Ok, that was cool...with one small critique: YOU TIED ME UP TOO!" snapped Matt, a bola pinning his arms to his sides.
"Hey, I got the worst of them," said Deadpool. Just then, the wolf-bat linebackers barged into the room. "Werebat jocks...ok, that's a new one for me. Awesome!" said Deadpool gleefully.
"But he's got were-" began Matt, before one of the werewolf jocks tried to tackle Deadpool, and, perhaps, making a dreadful mistake: it bit his sword blades in half.
"You...you broke my swords..." said Deadpool in a tearful voice, "And they were collectables..."
The werewolf smirked, spitting the tips out. "Those pieces of junk?" he growled.
Matt covered his face, muttering, "Oh no."
"Buddy, you just made my un-alive list," said Deadpool in a dark tone.
"No un-aliving...dammit, now I'm saying it. That said werewolves can survive most things that aren't beheading or silver," said Matt.
"Ah shoot. I knew I should have brought the silverware," said Deadpool.
"Just get-" began Matt before the other jock tackled him, trying to snap at him before a blast of webbing sealed his muzzle.
"Now is that any way to act before the big game?" asked Spider-Man, swinging in, "You guys are never getting to State with that attitude."
Matt kicked up as Spider-Man pulled, the wolf being lifted off and swung into the others with a yelp, Matt jumping up before pausing, looking around. The rest of the school were just watching emotionlessly. "I swear of any of these guys point at us and shriek..." he said nervously.
"Where's Chris and Chloe?" asked Spider-Man, "Not that we shouldn't keep these guys from causing harm, but we need to get those two back to their proper minds."
"Traitooor!" yelled a female voice, Chloe, in her Dakota form, charging through the crowd. The sight of an anthro female raptor with bird wings wearing a cheerleader outfit was so bizarre, even by Spider-Man's experiences, that he had no choice but to whip out his phone and snap a few pictures, if only to convince himself he actually saw it later.
Matt screamed, grabbing Deadpool. "GET HER, DEADPOOL!" he yelled, practically throwing Deadpool at her.
"Come to Papa," said Deadpool gleefully, holding his arms out. Something about this triggered a reaction in Dakato. She tried to slow down her momentum, her claws leaving long scratches in the floor. Happily she fell over just as Deadpool was about to reach her, the two missing one another.
It also had the bonus of giving Spider-Man a chance to web her down. Of course, Spider-Man wasn't sure how long she'd stay down. "I hope that brainwashing wears off sooner than later," he said.
Matt held up a finger and leaned in, muttering in her ear, "Matt and Kala sitting in a tree..." Chloe's eye starting to twitch.
"Why would that make her-" started Spider-Man.
Matt help up a finger and continued the rhyme. "K-I-S-S-I-N-urk," he said cut off as Chloe grabbed is throat.
Chloe snarled, "You did WHAT IN THE TREE?"
"I thought it was you who disagreed with your sibling's betrothal, not her," said Spider-Man.
"It's two-way," gasped Matt, Chloe shaking her head and looking down.
"The hell am I wearing?" she snapped.
"Well, you remember we were going after Zola, right?" asked Spider-Man.
Chloe paused before facepalming. "Oh crap...where's Chris?" she asked, a shriek getting her attention to see Chris charging her in wolf bat form. "Oh," she said, before tazering him till he collapsed, twitching with spiraling eyes.
"Ok, let's go before the rest of your cheer squad get loose," said Matt.
"Aw...do not go yet. Zis haz been most entertaining," said a voice from the speakers, Zola's.
"You have a pretty sick sense of entertainment, Zola," said Spider-Man.
"Vell, Gorman vants to see if the inmates obey orders. Think...a prison which guards itself." laughed Zola.
"I doubt that's what you're interested in," said Spider-Man.
"Vell, if I get ze chance to perfect my conditioning techniques, all ze better," laughed Zola, Matt twirling his finger round his ear. "I saw zat!" snapped Zola's voice.
"Where from?" asked Matt, looking around.
"He's in the cameras," said Spider-Man, webbing a watching camera.
"Really?" said Zola, before saying, "Destroy zem."
Chloe starting to twitch and grip her head as the others began to walk forward. "HIGH SCHOOL ZOMBIES!" screamed Matt.
"Don't worry. I'm prepared for this scenario," said Deadpool before pulling out a chainsaw.
"No chainsaws!" snapped Matt, before gagging as Chloe grabbed his throat. "I thought you were back to normal," gasped Matt.
Chloe simply proceeded to throw Matt at Deadpool. "You two got a sibling feud or something?" asked Deadpool.
"We have our ups and downs," admitted Matt. Chris began to get up at that, twitching with a spark of electricity every now and then. "Oh look, werewolf," said Matt aimlessly, yelping as two teens tried to grab him, Deadpool yelping as one of the kitchen staff tried to grab and pull him down.
Spider-Man luckily swung down, knocking Chris into some lockers, revealing a small red light at the base of his neck. "These things would be less noticeable without little lights," said Spider-Man before grabbing it. "This may hurt," he said before pulling it out.
Chris's eyes bulged and he screamed, before turning...and the feral tint vanished. "The hell? Oh please tell me we did...are those high school zo...IS THAT FURY?" Chris snapped, pointing.
"Where?" asked Spider-Man, turning. Chris pointed at Fury, in his principal outfit as part of the horde. "Ok, taking picture for proof... Should we rescue him now or get Zola first?" asked Spider-Man.
"Zola!" snapped Matt, struggling with Chloe and her cliché pack.
"Matt, the implant is in her neck," called Spider-Man.
Matt headbutted one of Chloe's minions before tackling Chloe, reaching round to the implant and pulling. Chloe screeched angrily, staggering back and into Deadpool. "Hah...easy peasy," he said, before three of the normal jocks jumped him, one holding up an implant and thrusting it down, a yelp heard.
Deadpool said, "Well...that's just not good at all." as Matt, wearing the same expression as the others stood up and aimed a plasma-charged palm.
"You've gotta be kidding me," said Spider-Man.
Chloe shook her head and turned to Deadpool. "What just hap-" she asked before a blast narrowly missed her. "RETREAT!" she yelped.
"But what about-" started Spider-Man.
"No time!" snapped Chris.
"You lost Lazard?" snapped Megan angrily, the shadows in the warehouse writhing.
"We were outnumbered, heavily outnumbered," said Spider-Man.
"So?" snapped Megan, before Gary said something in French to her, causing her to calm down.
"Look, all we have to do is take that tag off and he's back to normal," said Spider-Man, "But there are dozens of brainwashed people and Synthazoids to put it back on. We need to unplug Zola himself."
"How? He's literally in the computer systems," snapped Chloe.
"Yes, but he has to have one control station to keep everything running," said Spider-Man.
"The hospital." said Chris, saying, "They talked about taking us there after we got caught. Did I really turn two jocks into wolves?"
"I'm not so certain," said Spider-Man, "They probably extracted your DNA and put it into them."
Chloe sniffed Chris at that, "Nope, I can taste jock on his breath."
"Great..." said Chris dourly, "Now I have to be responsible for them."
"At least we know where he is...as long as nobody showed Matt where this hideout is, right?" Chloe said.
"I think they were gonna find us anyway," said Deadpool.
"Why's that?" asked Chloe, "Wait, did you paint 'Deadpool was here' outside?"
"Hey, I have a brand," said Deadppool, Chloe twitching.
Lazard, with some of Gorman's men looked at the warehouse, the entire front painted to show a faceshot of Deadpool, with the word bubble "Vote Deadpool for best cartoon character'. "You gotta be kidding me," he said.
"What? It's not like Megan lives here," said Deadpool defensively.
"YOU DID WHAT?" snapped Chris, before the front wall was blown open.
"SHIELD, drop your weapons!" called Lazard, a hail of laserfire shooting through the hole.
"I don't have time for this," said Chloe as she stared building up electricity for a chain lightning attack.
"There is a sewer entrance," said Gary, headed back as the laser fire intensified.
"Of course there is," said Spider-Man.
"Just give me a minute, I need to free my idiot brother," said Chloe, "Actually, you might want to get out of range for this."
A second later, a huge plasma blast hit her and knocked her across the warehouse.
"Ok, he took less time to charge than I thought," said Chloe, "But a blast of lightning should be enough to fry his tag."
Lazard walked in at that, the team with him. "Dakota...stand down," he said, a blast of lightning fired back which hit a grey plasma shield and earthed.
"Such pure power," said Zola's voice. A chestplate on Matt's chest lit up with the face of Zola, "Have you ever vundered, my dear, vhy he comes out second to you despite his strength, his acquired resistance to electricity? It is his simple feelings of family zat holds him back. But under Zola's control, he feels nozing."
Chloe's eyes narrowed, the raptor side finding the idea of family being so...corrupted disgusting. "You better not have moved into Matt's body."
"Nein, zis is simply a speaking platform," said Zola, "Though ze idea of moving to a stronger body is beguiling. Perhaps ze body of Captain America vould be suitable for my great-"
Chloe glared, firing a bolt that blew out the screen, Lazard staggering back before charging her. This time, Chloe didn't bother with a fancy lightshow. She simply charged up her hands and slapped them onto her brother's neck.
Matt smirked, grabbing her wrist, before swinging her around and throwing her into some boxes. "Don't make it too easy, Dakota," he sneered. A blast of plasma incinerated the boxes, but there was no Chloe behind anything. "Aw nuts..." muttered Lazard.
"Ok...so it turns out my brother pulled his punches all these years," said Chloe, panting as the group headed down what Deadpool insisted on calling the poop chute to everyone's objection.
"Really? It seemed like Silvia always had the upper hand when you fought," said Chris.
"Yeah...I was alot stronger then," said Chloe, in an annoyed tone.
"Come to think of it, if Zola is based in the mines beneath the hospital, wouldn't it be easier for us to reach him from the sewers?" asked Megan thoughtfully.
"They probably use it for ventilation if he's using Gorman's men..." said Chloe thoughtfully before yelping as Deadpool said "He the guy who I'm gonna un-alive unless he pays me." Megan's eye twitching.
"You're pushing our tolerance," said Gary in a dark tone.
"Save it for the dough people." snapped Chloe, her own temper low as Spider-Man nodded.
"Yeah, we're not gonna beat Zola if we fight each other," said Spider-Man.
Fortunately, it wasn't hard to get from the sewers to the mine tunnels. And before long, they reached Arnim Zola's lair. "This is his place, alright," said Spider-Man, "The rows of assimilation tubes are a dead giveaway."
"Hey, there's your werewolf jocks," pointed Chloe to where two familiar faces were in tubes, Chris sighing with relief.
"Oh, I get it," said Spider-Man, "Arnim Zola is creating Synthezoids that have the extracted powers of heroes and villains, but look like ordinary people. The perfect infiltration units, no one would see it coming."
"Quite a collection. I think that's Mesmero in one of those tubes. He owes me $50," said Deadpool cheerfully.
"But he doesn't have all the villains and heroes down here. They're up topside, thinking they're ordinary people. Unless..." Chris paused and sniffed Megan, "Are you a Synthezoid?"
Megan turned to glare at Chris at that, her eyes turning black, Chris staring before he said dully, "Nobody could duplicate her temper."
"So what's the inconsistency?" asked Gary.
Spider-Man thought it over. "Maybe it has something to do with magic," said Spider-Man, "Perhaps Zola can't perfectly duplicate magic-based abilities so he's using Sythezoids to test it first while he keeps the real people out of the tubes."
"They can't all be here. Don't see alot of the townspeople. Probably why those implants are needed," said Chloe thoughtfully, adding, "And why we're not in one either."
"So he just doesn't have enough resources? Lame. Supervillains always have inexplicable resources even if they keep failing again and again," said Deadpool.
"So...we wreck everything?" asked Chris, shifting to his wolf-bat form.
"In order: we get everyone out of the assimilation tubes, find Zola and Gorman, pull the plugs, then we wreck everything," said Spider-Man.
"Do them in whatever order's most convenient? Cool, great," said Deadpool rapidly. With that, Deadpool jumped out before anyone could stop them with a 'WAHOOO' the few synthezoids turning in surprise before they met a ballistic Deadpool the other way.
"Urgh...how is he not dead?" asked Chloe, jumping down and over to the first tube, one of the cheerleaders she'd 'converted'.
"Super-healing factor!" called Deadpool, just as something metal was thrown through his chest, "Owie!"
"You keep helping," said Chris, cheerfully with a little bit of pettiness.
"Quick question: when someone is pulled from the tube, does that mean all the Synthezoids made from them go splat?" asked Megan.
"I dunno, maybe," said Spider-Man.
"Because this would be a good time to test that," said Megan.
"Test it!" snapped Chloe, one of the Synhthezoids trying to smother her.
Chris ran over to one tube and smashed it open, spilling goo and unconscious civilian out. One of the Synthezoids twitched at that, before exploding. "Ok, new strategy," said Chris, "Break open those tubes. And little advice: make sure your mouth is closed when you do." Chloe fired a blast of lightning that arced down a corridor of tubes, their systems shorting.
"And we'll be seeing the Big Tube himself in about three...two..." counted Spider-Man.
The far door opened at that, a large and headless purple and red stylized body walking through, Zola's face on its screen, before it began firing from shoulder mounted cannons. "You vill pay dearly for zis, Spider-Man!" snapped Arnim Zola.
"Then how much will I pay for this?" asked Spider-Man before shooting webs over his video screen.
"Or this?" snapped Chloe, tail whipping him back a few steps, before Deadpool sliced one of the guns off.
"Or this? Seriously, how much do I have to pay cause I still need Gorman to pay up..."
"Speaking of whom, where is he?" asked Chris with a growl.
Deadpool was sent over their heads and out of sight, before he called cheerfully, "Found him."
"Deadpool, we need him alive to answer for what he's done," called Chris.
There was a simultaneous groan and someone saying, "Oh thank God."
"You zink I vill let you destroy my vurk so easily?" sneered Zola.
"Honestly, I would have preferred if you were still at the bottom of the Atlantic," said Spider-Man.
"Did you really zink I vould remain zere forever?" asked Zola as he sent a magnetic blast at Spider-Man.
"Another 70 years would have been nice," said Spider-Man.
"And you had to mess with us. If you'd left Megan alone, we'd have probably not been bothered." snapped Chloe. leaping on Zola's back and trying to drain his suit's power.
"You realize vithout me, Lady NegaMorph vill be free again," said Zola, his voice getting more slurred as his power was starting to fade, "In fact, vhy vait? Let's let her out now..."
Gary looked shocked before a tube at the back hissed, the Megan next to him blinking before exploding.
"No! No! She was...what she should have been..." said Gary, falling to his knees.
"Gary!" snapped Chloe as five red eyes lit in the dark, Lady Nega's voice snapping "Gary, what are you doing?"
"Megan, please tell me that it's you," said Gary desperately, "Please don't be her."
"Gary, you moron, what are doing with these do-gooders?" snapped Lady Nega.
Gary hung his head in despair. "Why couldn't she have been the real one?" he asked sorrowfully.
Lady Nega turned to look at Zola at that. "You...you little RV head. Gary, destroy him," she snapped, her eyes glowing.
Gary stood and glared at Zola. "That I can do without a problem," he said angrily. He charged at Zola turning into his more monstrous form as he went.
Spider-Man readied his webshooters before Chris said, with a smirk, "No...I don't think Gary's gonna be a problem. Chloe, get clear." Chloe turned her head and leapt back as Gary tackled Zola and began tearing into his electronics. "Would that actually kill him?" asked Chris.
"Knowing Zola, he has a backup system somewhere," said Spider-Man.
"Let him continue then," said Chloe offhandedly.
As extremely intelligent as Zola was, even he could be overwhelmed by pure savage strength, especially savage strength with a personal reason to hate him.
Gary definitely had. Zola had literally, even if accidentally, dangled his greatest hope in front of his nose and then dragged it away. He was at the moment though in no state of mind to ponder this as he got a decent enough grip on Zola to pick him up and throw him at a control panel.
The control panel exploded with a lot more force than a computer terminal should have had. It also caused all the assimilation tubes that hadn't been opened to open. The remaining Synthazoids soon melted into puddles of yeasty goo.
"No! You idiot!" snapped Zola, blasting Gary back, a message heard. "Zola, something's happened to the control implants..." over the radio, cut off by manic laughter Chloe identified as her brothers.
"Remind me, how many villains does Zola have here?" asked Spider-Man.
"Too many," said Chloe, the ground shaking.
"Yeah, let's hope that Fury is a fast waker," said Chris.
Everyone's comms beeped at that. It was Fury apparently and BOOOOY did he look pissed. Almost exactly, to Chloe's thinking, how a super spy would react to suddenly walking up in tweed.
Spider-Man activated his comm, quickly said, "Please watch your language, there are minors present," and held it out at arm's length.
"Spider-Man, what the..." snapped Fury, before seeing some of the civilian kids. "Heck are you doing here?" he finished, a little calmer.
"Does the name 'Pleasant Hills' ring a bell?" asked Spider-Man.
"Yeah...town fell off the grid a few months ago. Suspected Gorman after I found the name in his files," said Fury, glaring, "Didn't expect Zola."
"Neither did anyone, until Gorman's dough boy twin tried to splatter me," said Spider-Man.
Chloe butted in, "And brainwashed me and Chris."
"As a matter of fact, there are a lot of villains who have just been let loose," said Spider-Man, "Including the Wreckers, Lady NegaMorph..."
"Hey, Fury! Gorman owes me big money? Can I beat it out of him?" called Deadpool.
"Deadpool…" said Fury darkly.
Deadpool said happily, "I don't hear a nooooo."
"Spider-Man, please tell me this is all just an insane dream," said Fury.
"Afraid not," said Spider-Man.
"In that case, I need you to call SHIELD and send in enough agents to clean up this mess before every worm in this can gets loose," said Fury. He glanced down at himself and muttered, "What on Earth did he make dress as?"
"Principal," said Chris dully.
"Not as surprising at it ought to be," said Fury dryly.
"How's my brother?" snapped Chloe, a scream in the background heard.
Fury looked at it, "He's got things in hand up here. Now call that back up in."
"Gary, we're leaving," called Lady NegaMorph.
Gary, back to his normal gargoyle form, turned to look at her, before saying, "No...I refuse."
"Did that sound like an opening to a debate?" asked Lady NegaMorph annoyed.
"No, I refuse to help you sully Megan's name anymore," snapped Gary
Lady Nega glared, muttering, "We'll see about that." before her eyes glowed...then widened when Gary didn't react. "Impossible...you should obey at once."
"Lady NegaMorph, I've put up with a lot of things just because I wanted to see Megan return. But clearly simple proximity isn't enough to make you turn around and you won't listen to a thing I say. So I'll be staying with the Lynches until we figure out a way to bring Megan back," said Gary.
"TRAITOR!" roared Lady Nega, readying a fireball, only for several bolts of lightning to land near her feet.
"I think Gary's old enough to make his own decisions," Chloe said darkly.
"You're all going to pay dearly for this," snarled Lady NegaMorph.
Suddenly, Deadpool was right by her side. "So, since you broke up with the roof-topper, does that mean your available?" he asked suggestively.
Lady NegaMorph blasted him back. "Not in a million years," she snapped, opening a shadow portal.
"Oh no you-" started Chloe only for Lady NegaMorph to step through and shut the portal behind her.
Gary just hung his head low, a few tears soaking into the floor.
It surprisingly didn't take that long for SHIELD to arrive, though by then some villains had already escaped. Lazard was found bashing Mesmero against the wall. It turned out the mutant had been the reason Matt had been mind-whammied the first time.
Gorman had been found hanging from his underwear from a flagpole...as close as Deadpool had said the 'producers', whoever they were, would let him get to un-aliving.
Of course, Deadpool himself didn't stick around. Apparently, he hacked Gorman's systems, drained his bank account, and skedaddled after leaving a memento.
"Ok...that's why we don't trust Deadpool," said Matt, looking at said Memento, which was a monkey wearing a Deadpool mask. "How did he even..." Matt tried before words failed him. Then Memento shoved a banana up one of his nostrils.
Matt turned to Gary. "Hey...Chloe told me what happened..." he said kindly.
"I really thought there was a chance," said Gary, "That Megan you knew, she was so much like the true Megan."
"From what I know Zola makes some nasty life-like models. You had no way of knowing," said Matt.
"That should have been her," said Gary bitterly, "Why did she have to be the one who was fake?"
"Because if that were her, that would have meant she had been brainwashed by Zola," said Matt. Gary turned to look as Matt said, "She'd have been a kid with dragon and shadow powers, a ticking timebomb with no experience to show her limits. And she'd living on false memories. She wouldn't remember you as you really are. Is that something you could have lived with?"
Gary sighed, "No...No I would not. I must still hope she will one day come to her senses."
"I think we need to find a way to make her senses come to her," said Matt, "Preferably before her uncle gets here."
Gary paused before saying, "Oh no."
There's another chapter, which got a bit more detailed than I expected it to. I hadn't intended for the cruel twist at the end either, but I think it definitely makes the story work more. In case you're wondering, Pleasant Hill does exist in the Marvel verse, it's been the focus of a few comics. There were will be another chapter coming up on Friday so look for it and please review.
Also, I fixed a problem with Chapter 7, so you can read that now.
