Reticence Saga

Severed Web

Chapter 28: New-Gotham (Part 2)

Lady Nega looked down at a sample from Skyla with a frown, watching as the energy-infused cells flashed out of existence. "Urgh..." she muttered.

Nightclaw said behind her, "I warned you to use just one element."

"Hey there's precedent for this," snapped Lady Nega, "Cynder could use four elements."

"Because they were given to her by an expert of dark magic," said Nightclaw.

"And I'm not?" asked Lady Nega, her eyes glowing dangerously.

"Not on Malefor's level, no. He literally cheated death...twice," said Nightclaw calmly.

"It's not impossible for dragons to have more than one element," said Lady Nega, "You remember Sonia's kid, Therma?"

"She was born with only two elements," said Nightclaw.

"So why not have four?" snapped Lady Nega.

Nightclaw said, "Because, at the end of the day, you aren't an expert in genetic splicing."

"YES I AM!" snapped Lady Nega.

"Megan, you're a sorceress. That's a completely different field from genetics," said Nightclaw, "You've been lucky with the minions you've had up to this point. But this time you've pushed it too far."

"So? We'll start again," said Lady Nega.

Nightclaw said, "She'll explode and take out half the city...and we still don't have the launch code for Omnirus's ship. We'll be caught in the blast. We need to find an expert. I mean, you wanted to find this Dr. Cuvier. Look, couldn't we just guess at the launch code?"

"Don't be stupid. Omnirus has a genius IQ. He won't use an easy to guess password," snapped Lady Nega.

"Fine. Then shall we focus on the more immediate problem?" asked Nightclaw.

"Our new member of our happy family exploding," said Lady Nega.

"Precisely. So can't you just remove her extra elements?" asked Nightclaw.

"Not a chance. They're part of her now. We could dampen a few of them..." said Lady Nega thoughtfully.

"Then please do. I'd rather not be near her when she goes mega-typhoon," said Nightclaw.

"Okay...put out the word. Hopefully she'll tempt Cuvier to contact us," said Lady Nega before saying calmly, "Now then, get Antumbra and Iceshaide up. I'm not risking those heroes getting in my way."

"I'm not sure if we can find them first," said Nightclaw.

"Don't worry," said Lady Nega, "We know where one of them goes."


"I never thought I'd go back to school after that incident with the Center. I swear to God, if this has an anti-paranormal force underneath it, I'm nuking the block," said Matt darkly, him and Chloe looking up at where Chloe had led them, before he asked, "Are you sure he's here?"

Chloe said, "Don't doubt the nose."

From the outside, Hamilton High didn't look much different from high schools of the 2010's. Chloe was quick to notice the change in fashion of the students.

"Get the feeling we're out of place?" asked Peter, in his civilian duds, the three getting a few looks.

"I dunno...feels like school. For example, I see at least one jock," said Matt.

"I guess letterman jackets never go out of style," said Chloe dryly.

"Ok, let's find our contact." said Matt, the three walking forward, Matt tapping at his wrist computer. "Aaaand we're on the school security and have been for several months," he said smugly, before noticing their looks. "I didn't always have Chip and Techo to do my hacking," he said in a hurt voice.

"I'll be more impressed when you get us out," said Chloe.

"This isn't Paradise Falls. This is a high school," said Matt, the trio walking in, Chloe sniffing the air with her eyes closed before walking down a corridor. To the passing watcher, it would seem, walking with her eyes closed, to be a recipe for disaster and a sore face, except she seemed to be able to sidestep anything. People would walk at her but she'd just seem to not be where she was meant to be for a collision.

She only broke her concentration when she heard a familiar-sounding voice. "Yeah right. Like it could have been the Spider-Man," said a female voice.

Chloe froze up. Tenebra? Here? She looked around before spotting a dark-skinned young woman. Chloe tensed, ready to generate a lightning bolt. But then she took a better look. No, not Tenebra. Couldn't be her alternate either. Must be one of those cosmic coincidences.

She yelped as she was pulled back, Matt hissing, "No light shows." before he peered round the corner. "Alternate?" he hissed.

Chloe shrugged before she sniffed and peered round the corner again. "That guy," she said, pointing to the young man with the 'Tenebra' clone.

Matt saw who she was talking about. Black hair, piercing blue eyes, looked like the type that could be the new Batman. "Ok...super rules. We wait till we can get him alone and then we talk to him about our plan to find Megan," whispered Matt.

"Yeah, just let him know we know his biggest secret," said Peter dryly.

"Like I said, somewhere private where it won't result in rumbling. We can't exactly wait for tonight," hissed Matt.

"I wonder how much cafeteria food has improved in the future," said Peter.

"He's moving. Come on," hissed Chloe, walking round the corner and into the jock from earlier.

"Hey, you new here, babe?" asked the jock.

"Wow, straight to 'babe'," said Chloe, unimpressed.

"What's your name?" asked the jock with a smirk.

Chloe said, "My name's 'Spoken For'. Is your's 'Creepy Jerk'?"

Matt said, "Sis, we have something else to do, remember?"

"I have to deal with this bozo first," said Chloe.

"C'mon, just brush him off and walk away," said Matt, "It's not that difficult."

At that, a blonde girl in a rather revealing pink tank top walked up to Matt and said, "Hey, you new here?"

"Yes," said Chloe, still glaring at the jock, before saying, "This is my brother, and...our...cousin." pointing to Matt and Parker

The blonde girl gave Peter a brief look and said, "Huh."

Then she turned her attention back to Matt and asked, "So, want me to show you around the school? I know where the quiet places are."

"Spoken for, I'm afraid," said Matt politely.

"Is she here?" asked the blonde.

"No, but she would slow-roast me the instant she suspected something," said Matt.

"She really would," said Chloe.

"Guys, we have to talk to someone about our homeroom, remember?" said Peter pointedly, "Do you know who that guy with the brown jacket is?"

"McGinnis? They want you to talk to him?" asked the jock incredulously.

"Yeah...he's the one who's supposed to show us around," said Chloe carefully as she steered her mind around the lie.

"So they send you straight to the juvie?" asked the jock.

"Nelson, leave it alone," said the blonde, "Terry's not that bad a guy."

"You're only saying that because he aced Family Studies for you, Blade," said the jock.

"Look...we just need him to show us around," said Matt in annoyance.

"He's over there," said Blade, pointing.

"Thank you." said Matt with a nod.

As the three of them turned to go, Peter felt that familiar tingle. He opened a nearby locker door, which Nelson's fist impacted against. "At least Flash didn't try sneak attacks," said Peter as he walked away.

"And I think his phone still uses a plasma screen," muttered Matt, clicking his finger with a faint spark, smoke coming from Nelson's back pocket. "Oopsie," Matt said innocently, the trio heading into the room McGinnis had gone into.

"Honestly you two..." muttered Chloe.

"Hey, the only thing high school girls have to worry about are catty remarks," said Matt.

Peter shrugged before, as they walked in, he said, "Ok...so how do we get his attention?"

"First of all, how do we lose her?" asked Chloe, noticing that the Tenebra-soundalike was also in the room.

"No idea, I left the mind wipe glove at the ship," muttered Matt.

Peter saying, "You have a mind wipe glove. It's that like a neura-"

Chloe, however, just walked up to the two. "Excuse me, can we talk with Terry in private?" asked Chloe.

"Geeze, rude much?" said the girl in annoyance.

"It's fine, Max. I know them," said Terry, though the glare he was giving said it was not fine.

"Erm...it's about the...after-school work. Something came up," said Chloe.

"These guys someone you met on your night job?" asked Max.

"Yeah, I..." said Matt, pausing as he made the connection, before he said carefully, "She knows about the...after-school work?"

"It's not just him by himself," said Max.

"Good, no more double-talk," said Matt with relief.

"So you're what? The new Robin?" asked Peter. Max threw a book at him that Peter easily caught.

"Ok...let's get the culture shock out of the way," said Matt.

Chloe checked the door was locked before saying, "We're from another dimension."

"Ruled by an evil warlord?" asked Max dryly.

"No, but not from lack of trying," said Matt casually, before pointing at Peter, "He's from the dimension next door...local hero."

Chloe cleared her throat and said, "I'd that's a lot farther than you think."

Peter rolled his eyes before saying, "Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

Max's eyes widened. "For real? You're not just saying that?"

Peter glanced around before easily jumping up and clinging to the ceiling. "Left my web-shooters in my other pants," said Peter.

"Comic fan," said Matt and Chloe to themselves.

"Oh, wow..." said Max, leaning against a desk, reeling from the implications. Then she frowned and said, "Wait, does this mean that there's some world-ending crisis that's going to happen?"

"Don't think so...I mean, usually not," said Matt, looking at Parker. "That didn't happen the last time you went dimension-hopping, did it?" he asked with concern.

"Well, I wouldn't say world-ending," said Peter as he dropped off the ceiling.

"Someone's going to explode," snapped Chloe, deciding to cut straight to the point.

"How big?" asked Terry.

"Well, considering the elements involved...imagine a Class-10 hurricane springing up right in the middle of the city," said Matt.

"Megan goofed up her new toy. NegaMorph says unless something's done, she could explode at any point," said Chloe gravely.

"And let's not forget that Omnirus still needs to power up an extremely unstable hadron reactor so he can leave town," said Matt.

The reactor that made the Terrific Trio," explained Parker.

"I think we can relax about the reactor," said Terry, "Gordon has her best men watching over the research center. He won't be getting in there that easily."

"And if this Lady Nega is really wanting Cuvier, we just have to find him first," said Max.

"And how do you propose to do that?" asked Matt.

Terry smirked and said, "The classic way."

"Oh, you mean the fun way," said Matt.

Chloe slapped the back of his head before saying in Avalarian to Matt, "Yes...let's draw more attention. There were Combine agents at that bar that me and Parker found..."

"Good think I've got a lead," said Max, "There's always new splicers popping up. Unless more geneticists have moved into town, Cuvier's still supplying."

"I'm guessing there's already a top 5 list," said Matt.

Max opened her laptop and said, "Some of the freshest splicers seen on the streets. Of course, we still need to ask them all-"

"That one," said Matt, promptly pointing at one.

Chloe looked and said, "Really?"

"Yes," said Matt resolutely.

Chloe folded her arms in frustration and said, "No."

"Yes..." said Matt, grinning maniacally.

"Urgh...I still think we should have someone watching that reactor," Chloe sighed.

"I'll do it," said Peter, "If that reactor needs to be shut down, you better have a science whiz to do it."

"I'll go with him. I know Omnirus's tricks," said Matt.

"Fine, that leaves the three of us to deal with Lady Nega," said Chloe.

"I'll go grab my-" started Max.

"Not you, Max," said Terry.

"I'm with him. Lady NegaMorph's taking this to a whole new level. It'll be dangerous," said Chloe.

"You said 'the three of us'," said Max accusingly.

"NegaMorph, he couldn't really come along," said Chloe.

"Doesn't really blend in a high school," said Peter.

"He's a giant shadow blob," said Matt.

"Well, 4 feet tall," said Chloe.

"Needless to say, he might stand out a tad," said Matt.

"Though not as much as the guys we're chasing," said Chloe.

"Yeah, if you see a gargoyle, it's real," said Matt a tad sarcastically.

"And there are a big pair of birds-" said Peter before pausing and looking towards the window.

Matt paused before following Peter's gaze. "Erm...McGinnis...you have any of your work gear here? In case of supervillain attacks?" he said carefully.

"Only if they go to school too," said Terry.

"Ok, ok...which button's the fire alarm?" asked Matt. Terry looked out the window to see, coming up the steps leading to the school, Antumbra and Iceshaide. "Someones been hacking the infonet," muttered Matt.

"There's no way Terry could have been exposed," said Max, "Everyone would know."

"Not Earth's infonet," said Matt.

"I think I see Matt's plan," said Chloe, sending a lightning bolt into a chair, igniting it. A second later, the fire alarm began to buzz. "Less civilians," she said.


To their knowledge, Gotham City was always having trouble with criminals and villains. And yet, Iceshaide and Antumbra were a little confused why the students here looked so surprised to see them. "You think it's because we're in broad daylight?" asked Antumbra.

"Probably...I thought hybrids were common here," said Iceshaide, smirking at a group of students before she snapped "BOO!" making them jump back before whispering, "Batman's a student here? Pull the other one."

She and Antumbra sniggered before they turned. Two police cruisers had pulled up. "Who snitched?" Antumbra said loudly, as the cops got out.

"Freeze!" yelled one.

Iceshaide smirked, "You just can't resist an opening like that." before she swept an ice beam over the cars.

"Is that Mr. Freeze?" asked one of the students.

"Don't be stupid. Since when is Mr. Freeze a chick?" said another.

"In more ways than one," said one of the dumber jocks.

Antumbra turned to look at them at that, his eyes purple before he waved his arm, a bust of wind knocking them over. "Ok, we're not here for a spectacle," said Antumbra as a ball of shadow appeared in his hand, "If anyone wants to run screaming in terror, this is your cue." With that, he threw the orb at the school doors.

The ball hit the doors dead on, the doors crackling with purple lightning for a second before they exploded in a purple fireball. Needless to say, this got the kids running. "Why is it you need a fireball to move people nowadays?" Antumbra muttered, looking at a scanner. "He's still in there," he said.

"This still feels...kinda wrong," said Iceshaide, "I mean, Batman doesn't go to high school. This is more like a Spider-Man thing."

Suddenly, her face got covered in webbing. "You rang?" asked Spider-Man, swinging out.

Antumbra turned to fire several black pulses of energy. "Good news, we're not after you. Consider this a 'we won't hunt you down if you leave' deal," he snapped.

"You're attacking a high school. What self-respecting hero would just leave?" asked Spider-Man before webbing one of Antumbra's feet to the ground.

"We're only after one person!" snapped Antumbra, trying to free his leg, the webbing on Iceshaide's face frosting up before shattering.

"Little pest," she snarled before yelping as a plasma and a lightning blast both hit her at the same time.

Antumbra glared up at the dragon-armored figures. "This is your own chance to walk away," said Lazard.

"We can't...really," said Antumbra, grinning, as Iceshaide readied an attack.

"Have it your way," said Moonshock before sending a lightning bolt that forked and hit both of them.

The two juddered before slumping down, Lazard saying "All clear." picking up Antumbra's scanner before melting it, "And info is fried."

"We could have tracked it back to her," said Spider-Man.

"Doubt it," said Lazard, "Besides, the people she got that info from are probably going to show up looking for the hackers."

Iceshaide, meanwhile, was coming round unnoticed. "Too...easy," she managed, readying her hand to flash freeze them only for a batarang to nail her wrist down, her turning to see Batman. "Oh nuts," she muttered.

"There are easier ways to get into detention," said Batman.

Iceshaide hissed, a ghost of a collar appearing around her neck before she swung her spare arm around to attack. Batman jumped backwards before throwing a smokebomb in her face.

"Hey, you've lost. Stay down," said Batman, as Iceshaide coughed, who managed "I said...we can't...stop."

Just then, Antumbra woke up and shot dark flames at Batman. Batman just barely dodged them before throwing an ice capsule at Antumbra. Antumbra managed a yelp before he was frozen. "Ok...this is fanatic even for Lady Nega's pets," said Lazard with concern.

"I think she's feeling backed into a corner," said Spider-Man.

"She...made us..." managed Iceshaide, her other arm batarang'ed down.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry you ended up that way," said Lazard.

"Just a moment," said Moonshock as she tilted her head, "Are you seeing this?"

Lazard paused before trying to look through different filters. Something was appearing around their necks, but he couldn't quite get a clear visual of it.

"They really can't stop..." Moonshock said in horror.

Just then, NegaMorph's voice was heard on their comms, "Guys, can you please wrap this up? We've got authorities coming."

Batman had attached devices to the frozen cops, "They'll be fine in 5 minutes. We should probably be gone by then."

Then a calm voice said, "I think they meant us." What looked like a cat splicer wearing a black business suit standing in front of the demolished school doors, before several white armored troopers seemed to step out of the air. "The commander would like a word," said the cat smugly.

"Will it be a civil word?" asked Matt frostily.

"That depends, captain, if you cooperate," said the cat, the troopers leveling rifles before saying, "All of you, if you please. And that includes your amorphous friend."

"Guys...guys, you still there? I think they may be-" began NegaMorph's voice on the com before there was a click and NegaMorph finished, "Oh, blitznak."


"Ok...why the hell were we slumming it under a cornily-named coffee shop and our mortal enemies get a phase-locked bunker?" snapped Chloe as they were led along a brightly-lit corridor, a mix of anthros walking back and forth.

A small part of Matt was annoyed, but understanding why the guards with them were all aiming at Batman and Max.

"She doesn't even need to be here," said NegaMorph, "She's not even his actual sidekick. She's tech support." Max shot him a dark look, one that definitely that self-regenerating mutant or not, she'll make him pay for that.

"Shut it, general," snapped one of the guards, prodding him along before they were led into a well-manned command room.

"Commander," said a voice, the command chair turning to reveal a fox anthro with a wide grin. "The great Captain Lynch, walking into my city...and getting not one but two dimension's heroes involved," he said cheerfully, "Where are my manners? Captain Sachek, at your service."

Matt eyed Sachek with a critical eye. He wasn't completely sure if Sachek was actually in a cheery mood or he was just putting up a brief front before he got nasty.

"Now, let me guess. You're here cause not one, but two of your rogues are loose in my jurisdiction," said Sachek, his eyes getting cold but the smile not vanishing.

"If it makes any difference, one of them didn't come here voluntarily," said Chloe.

"I don't care. You are all trespassing. There's two splicers in my cells that are using DNA from the border dimensions and a lunatic eyeing that hadron reactor in District 209 and I get the distinct feeling that if it wasn't for you, they'd be somewhere else," snapped Sachek.

"We've been trying to get Lady Nega back to her original self," said Matt.

"And doing a bang-up job," sneered Sachek, before looking at Batman and Max. "Take those two to mind wipe," he snapped.

"I wouldn't try that," said Batman, "We have a better lead than you do."

"Really, And what lead is that?" said Sachek.

"Where Lady Nega and her new minion will be going," said Batman.

"We can track them down any time we want to," said Sachek.

"Could you track them down before she explodes?" asked Max.

Sachek paused at that. "Explode?" he said weakly.

"She's got some girl hooked up with the power of four different dragons," said NegaMorph, "And they're not sitting together well."

"That's insane. She recreated a Shar?" said Sachek in horror.

"She had a few of the basic materials," said Matt, "But I don't think she's really thought it all the way through."

Sachek turned to an underling. "Get every team out there looking for her...now!" before he said to them, "I assume you want something in exchange."

Matt thought this over. Of course, the first thing that came to mind would be dropping all the charges put up against them. But there were those who had greater needs. "Those two you have in the cells, maybe this new Shar as well, they deserve better than this," said Matt, "They didn't get to choose to become, er, different species and they probably won't have a chance at a normal life. And I know the Combine are a lot more open to different races..."

Sachek seemed skeptical. "You want me to give them asylum?" he said disbelievingly.

"They can't go back home, they can't go back to their old lives. But with you guys, they'd have a better chance for normalcy," said Matt.

"All I can do is make the offer," said Sachek after a minute's pause.

"Well, they've got runes of compliment on their necks, so they have to be removed first before you can give that offer," said Chloe.

"Already seeing to that, general," said Sachek coldly.

"Ok, so about Lady Nega herself..." started Matt.

"She's broken the law in confederacy space. She's mine," said Sachek calmly.

"She's not herself," snapped NegaMorph.

"Talk to someone who cares," said Sachek.

"Listen, her original self is still in her," said Chloe, "It has surfaced...for brief, tantalizing times."

Sachek paused before saying, "You have 24 hours to get your fight out of my jurisdiction...after that, your asses are mine."

"Right, we better get started," said Matt, standing up.

"I suppose you'll also want to show mercy for Omnirus," said Sachek dryly.

"Not particularly," said Matt, "But we know how to fight him a lot better than you do."

"Just...get out," sighed Sachek, before snapping at Max, "Get away from that console. Will someone throw these apes out?"

"Don't you have a henhouse to rob?" asked Max dryly.

"GET OUT!" yelled Sachek, the guards grabbing everyone (well everyone except Batman, mercs of all types have common sense after all) before pushing them out and back into the city.

"Man...are you sure you aren't from Nullspace? You annoyed him like a professional," said Matt happily,

"Well, I wanted to make sure it'd be a reference he could get," said Max.

"Worked fine. Now we need to find Omnirus and Lady Nega before tomorrow, which will be when the Combine turn this city upside down..." said Chloe.

NegaMorph added, "And that's if that dragoness doesn't explode and turn this place into a parking lot first."

"Ok, first thing's first, we need to find Cuvier," said Batman, "And for that, we need someone who's seen him recently."

"He's down in that new building project on 12th and Main," said Max cheerfully, holding up a combine tablet.

"Is that..." began Matt.


"Where the hell is my data padd?" snapped Sachek


"Huh, maybe you should make her a sidekick," said Chloe.

"So she swiped something," said NegaMorph, "That doesn't mean she's good in a fight."

"You can survive being frozen and shattered, right?" asked Max.

"Yeah. Wait, why do you-" started NegaMorph before Max took an ice capsule from Batman's belt and threw it into his mouth.

"I like heeeeeeuuuurk!" said NegaMorph through one of his other mouths before he froze solid.

"You stole a connection to the Combine infonet. We'll see Sachek's goons coming a mile off," said Matt happily.


Some people wanted to splice themselves to become more beautiful, at least in their eyes. Others spliced themselves to make themselves tougher. Hogwar definitely fit into the latter. Not much other reason for making oneself look like a warthog.

It had knocked a couple of points off his IQ though. He had been planning to go to that bar in the abandoned subway called The Ark but a friend had said some sort of fight had caused it to burn down. Another boring night staying in and watching that dramatization of the Imperium invasion on the vid.

Hogwar snorted as he had another handful of pork rinds. Part of him wondered if he really ought to be eating those now. But pork rinds weren't real pork, right?

He paused as he thought he heard something from the kitchen, getting up slowly and picking up the pistol on the table next to him. While not as obvious as dogs, pigs have a very acute sense of smell. And warthogs are no exception. Hogwar sniffed the air. Definitely strangers in here.

He slowly headed out into the kitchen, sniffing the air, aiming his plasma pistol before he spotted a shape and fired, the burst shooting out only to shoot off at a right angle. "Boo," said the splicer, and it had to be a splicer judging from the reptilian eyes. Hogwar turned to run and ran into a black shape that grabbed him.

"Quite a pigsty you have here," said Batman conversationally.

"Hey, I know you. You got nothin'. I ain't harmin' nobody. Go chase a Joker!" snapped Hogwar with far more bravado then he was feeling.

"You sure about that?" asked a guy in a Spider-Man costume, "I hear that splicing's illegal around here. Unless you were born with that pretty face."

Hogwar snorted and said, "You goin' to some comic convention, kid?"

"I could ask you the same question," said Spider-Man, "Are you going with Timon or Rocksteady?"

Hogwar paused as his porcine brain tried to process this. He slowly mouthed out Spider-Man's insult before snapping, "Hey!"

"This is your contact?" said a voice from the shadows, Hogwar just seeing several rows of eyes that chilled him to the bone, as the voice said, "The guy looks like he has a room temperature IQ."

"Actually, pigs are pretty smart animals," said Spider-Man.

"Domestic pigs, maybe. But I wouldn't apply that to warthogs," said the dragon splicer.

"I think we can jog his memory," said Batman.

"You can't scare me," sneered Hogwar before yelping as Batman grabbed him, picking him up by his shirt and walking over to the window and holding him out. Hogwar lived on about 4 city levels up. The drop below him would leave alot of time to have his life flash before his eyes.

"Start talking. I'm in the mood for bacon," said Batman.

NegaMorph tapped Batman on the shoulder and said, "Are you new to this interrogating thing?"

"It's worked before," said Batman.

"Yeah, but this won't get everything out of him," said NegaMorph before grabbing Hogwar and throwing him into a corner of the room. NegaMorph advanced towards the splicer, the room seeming to get darker, "This is how you interrogate someone…"


"...and...I got the serum from him...said Doc Cuvier makes em down on the east side at ground level..." shook Hogwar, his eyes pinpricks.

"East side isn't narrow enough," growled NegaMorph, "Anything else?"

Hogwar shivered before saying, "I've been afraid of wolves since I was 5. I can't stand dogs at all. Even my landlady's terrier creeps me out."

One last voice said, "Then you'd better narrow this down." Hogwar turning to see a humanoid female wolf slicer glaring at him who added, "Before I get huff, puff, and chew your head off."

"Try and think hard," said Batman, "Not sure if I can keep these two in check for much longer."

"Ok! Ok! He's using his old clinic! Figured nobody would look for him there!" yelped Hogwar.

"He would have been noticed," said Batman.

"There's an old bunker underneath it..." screamed Hogwar as the wolf splicer snarled and bared her considerable teeth.

"Easy there," said Batman, "I think he's telling the truth."

"Huh, never thought that Batman would be the good cop," commented Spider-Man.

Matt shrugged. "It's a learning experience for us all," said Matt before his comm beeped. "Hello, CPS taxidermy, you snuff em, we stuff e,." he said, noticing the call was on a Combine channel.

"Lynch, where are you? We're picking up energy signals from that hadron reactor. My team on site isn't responding and backup's 30 minutes away," said Sachek's voice.

"We had to follow up on a lead first," said Matt.

"I don't care. I'd prefer it's handled before the Combine army arrives. They will glass that thing...and...and you're the closest," said Sachek's voice, desperation in his tone.

"Unless it glasses us first?" asked Matt.

"Lynch, there's at least 5 major apartment buildings in the blast radius...and you know what section 31 will do: exactly what your Darkrift would. Urgh...never thought I'd beg a NSC'er...please...please…" said Sachek in a tone that made Matt pause.

"I'll be there," he said, before heading back into the room. "Omnirus has gone to bad timing classes. He's at the reactor...and there's a Combine fleet army ship on the way," he said.

"Ok, we've got no time to waste," said Spider-Man, "Let's get going."

"Just one last thing," said Matt. He pulled out an apple and stuffed it into Hogwar's mouth. "Try and eat healthier," he said.

"What about that dragoness...and Megan?" asked NegaMorph.

Matt paused, "Me and Parker can handle Omnirus."

"Yeah, shouldn't take long, right?" asked Spider-Man.

"Yeah...yeah...probably," said Matt, jumping out the window, before flying up in feral form, heading off into the city.

"Good luck with your thing," said Spider-Man before swinging after Matt.


Since the citywide ban on splicing, all genetics labs were now under closer scrutiny. The Chimera Institute has been boarded up and the city was looking to see if anyone would buy it before it was demolished.

"This place gives me the creeps," muttered Chloe, peering down from a rafter.

"You should have seen it before it was shut down," said Batman.

"No thanks," said Chloe with a shudder. NegaMorph looked at it and thinking how the place reminded him of an Empire facility, before the trio noticed a hidden panel in the far wall slide open, two German Shepard splicers walking out.

The three of them stayed back in the shadow, but the first splicer was sniffing the air with interest. Chloe paused, sniffing her arm before hissing, "NegaMorph...knock them out before he spots me."

NegaMorph aimed before sending two knockout fangs into the splicer's neck. The splicer paused, feeling his neck before falling sideways. Fortunately, his fellow didn't see that. NegaMorph pulled him through the shadows before the dog could notice.

"Sneaking around in the shadows won't do us any good if they smell us coming," said Chloe, "We need to hide our scents." Chloe fished in her armored pocket, pulling out a small device. "Please let this work," she muttered, dropping it, the small canister hissing as it fell.

Batman put a hand over his nose, but he couldn't really smell anything. Or even see any gas. Asides from the small hissing sound, he wouldn't think anything was happening.

The second dog splicer sniffed before shrugging and walking back. "Psylock gas, Combine use it to hide things. If you don't expect something, you won't see it. Might have...borrowed it from a guard," muttered Chloe.

"I could use something like that," commented Batman.

"Nullspace tech...plus that's all I could swipe," said Chloe.

The guard said something just then. They looked to see Lady NegaMorph, Nightclaw and, looking ill, the dragoness walking up.

"We don't have time for secret passwords or whatever you guys have here," snapped Lady Nega, "I have to see the doctor now!"

"The doc don't see people on command," snarled the dog splicer, before Lady Nega smirked.

"Ok, I'll leave her here. I mean she'll only explode soon, take out half the city down to the bedrock," she sneered.

"I don't care if she's having a baby, which she doesn't even look like she is," snapped the dog splicer.

"You do realize you, your boss and anyone you know will go up with her, right?" said Nightclaw.

"Does this look like a delivery room?" asked the dog.

Lady Nega groaned with frustration before snapping, "We're not being allegorical! She is literally going to explode like an atom bomb!"

"Wait...as in..." said the splicer.

Nightclaw said, "Mushroom cloud...Hiroshima ring a bell?" The dog gulped before taking out a communicator.

"Imagine if she actually was-" started Nightclaw.

"I'm not," snapped Lady Nega.

The splicer walked back. "The doc's gonna see you...but it'll cost you. Hope you brought your credits," he said, opening the secret door.

"Money won't be an object," said Lady Nega.

"Then come on," said the splicer, waiting till they were last down before following. The door had almost slid shut when a batarang flew down and jammed it before it could seal.

Fortunately, Chloe had brought her own stealth tech so she could sneak in with Batman and NegaMorph. The stairs behind led down into a badly lit corridor, though light was shining from a half-open pressure door that was half-open.

At least the corridor itself wasn't that creepy, if you didn't mind the various pictures of satisfied customers hanging on the wall. Chloe paused for a moment to look at the various part-animal people. "Too much money, too little to do," she muttered.

"And dangerous," muttered Batman, the three peering in to see the dragoness being helped into a seat, a surprisingly well-dressed human working on an injector gun.

"I have to say, for an amateur, I am impressed. She is an impressive specimen," he was saying.

"That's Cuvier? I was expecting someone more..." NegaMorph looked at Cuvier up and down, "Ok, he's pretty sinister. But I thought he'd be less human-looking."

"Guess he managed to fix himself," muttered Batman.

"Do I want to know what he looked like before?" asked NegaMorph.

"No," said Batman flatly.

"Your mistake was too much power," Cuvier continued. Lady Nega fumed as he injected the dragoness. "There, she won't explode now. Now I assume you didn't come looking to get him with something any black market geneticist could help with," he said smoothly.

Lady Nega sighed and said, "Well, my supplier's cut me off and I thought I could cut out the middleman."

"I assume Batman shut your supplier down," said Cuvier, in an annoyed tone.

"Some other hero," said Lady Nega.

"Yes, they do tend to multiply," sighed Cuvier, before saying, "I assume you have something...less exotic then your friends."

"She tends to lean heavily towards-" started Nightclaw only for Lady Nega to backhand him.

"All I need is what's on this list. I can do the rest," said Lady NegaMorph, passing over a sheet of paper.

Cuvier smirked, "Paper...how quaint."

"Data can be easy to intercept," said Lady NegaMorph.

"Wise words indeed. This should be simple enough. Now about payment," said Cuvier, looking at Skyla and Nightclaw. Lady took a protective step towards Nightclaw. "Just some blood samples. That's all," said Cuvier with a smirk.

"I don't think my blood would be that easy to work with," said Nightclaw.

"You're not taking his blood...or hers..." snapped Lady Nega.

Cuvier's eyes narrowed, "You're asking a lot for someone who's not willing to pay for it."

"I have credits, enough to buy a small private island miles from here," said Lady Nega, tossing a few cred chip cards at Cuvier.

Cuvier caught them easily. "As useful as creds are, there are some things that money can't compare to," said Cuvier.

"My lady, you can't let him. The damage he could do..." muttered Nightclaw.

"What are you planning to do with it anyways?" asked Lady Nega, "I've seen your employees. They aren't organized enough to be an army."

"Why would I want an army?" laughed Cuvier, Lady Nega and Nightclaw exchanging a glance that said 'Uh oh...thi's guys in it for the 'art'.'

"Incidentally, has anyone ever told you how picturesque you are?" asked Cuvier, holding up his fingers like a camera lens.

"Erm...no, now can I please get that list?" said Lady Nega.

"In good time," said Cuvier, "We're still haggling, aren't we?"

"You're not getting Nightclaw's DNA!" snapped Lady Nega.

"Then how about yours?" asked Cuvier.

"I beg your pardon?" said Lady Nega out of shock, adding, "My DNA is not for sale."

"I did say you have good features," said Cuvier.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," said Lady Nega.

"Nor will paying nothing," said Cuvier.

"Excuse me, you've already fixed my minion. What's to stop me just knocking you senseless and cleaning you out?" said Lady Nega smugly.

"My other patrons won't take kindly to that," said Cuvier.

"Really? Skyla, up and at em!" snapped Lady Nega, before pausing as Skyla snored.

"I thought it would be wise to sedate her," said Cuvier smugly.

Nightclaw growled, his eyes glowing white before he noticed more canine splicers coming out of hiding places. "My laaadyyyy..." he said warningly, noting the blasters they all had.

"You have no idea who you're messing with," growled Lady Nega as shadows started rising.

Cuvier sighed, pressing a button and floodlights turning on. "Your blood, if you please," he said as the shadows were banished.

"I'm not giving it up that easily!" snapped Lady Nega, her eyes glowing before shooting heat beams. A second later, she was dogpiled.

Cuvier readied an injector gun. "This will only hurt a pinch," said Cuvier.

"This won't," said a voice. Cuvier looked up just in time to be slugged.

His splicer minions backed up, staring at Batman, Lady Nega scrambling up and into someone who grabbed her. "Going somewhere, niece?" snarled NegaMorph.

"Seriously? You followed me all the way here?" asked Lady Nega in annoyance.

"Yes, niece. I want to have a word with you about what your new pet tried to do," said NegaMorph darkly.

The dog splicers seemed to be unsure about fighting, more so as Chloe landed, though a few were looking a little entranced. Chloe gave out a loud growl, causing a few dogs to yelp before dropping to the floor, showing their bellies.

"So, I go to jail, dear uncle?" sneered Lady Nega.

"I'm going to upload your brain and flush out all the filth that's cluttering it," snarled NegaMorph.

"No!" snapped Lady Nega, before glaring at Nightclaw "Help me!" she snapped.

"Uh...how am I supposed to do that?" asked Nightclaw haplessly.

Cuvier, meanwhile, was coming round, his form seeming to...squirm. "Cuvier, you're looking better than I last saw you," said Batman, "Then again, anything at all would be an improvement."

"No thanks to you and that mutt of yours," said Cuvier calmly.

"So this is what you're up to these days? Handing out splice jobs for crooks?" asked Batman.

"I wouldn't have to stoop so low if that near-sighted DA didn't ban my art," snarled Cuvier.

"Maybe if you bothered to deal with the aggression problem, he wouldn't have," said Batman pointedly.

Chloe couldn't help but notice Batman's caution. "Dude, the guy looks like he prefers to lift a pen over a gun," she sneered, grabbing Cuvier's wrist.

"Young lady, while I admire the sculpt of your form, your observation prowess needs honing," said Cuvier before extending large claws on his other hand and slashing at her.

Chloe staggered back, clutching her hand out of surprise, before gulping as Cuvier seemed to grow. "What was done to me is not so easily undone, even with your 'medicine'," sneered Cuvier as his legs outgrew his pants and became a long snakelike tail, "But it can be controlled and mastered."

"Oh not twice," muttered Chloe before she was knocked flying.

Cuvier rose higher as his clothes tore from his growing body, revealing a mix of snake, tiger, and hawk. "You won't have your meddling mutt to save you this time," roared Cuvier before he lashed out at Batman.

"No...his weakness is dogs? Someone call Lassie," said Chloe dizzily from where she'd landed, an imprint in the wall above her where she'd hit.

"For crying out loud, Chloe!" snapped NegaMorph. He would have gone to help, but suddenly his niece wriggled like an eel in his grip.

"I'm not giving this body up," hissed Lady Nega, heat raying NegaMorph in the face and scrambling loose. "Nightclaw, grab Skyla, we're leaving!" she snapped.

"Er, right," said Nightclaw before heading over to Skyla, who was half-draped over a table, "Er, are you feeling well?"

Skyla looked over at him with a goofy grin. "I can smell colors," she whispered, Nightclaw sighing and draping her over his shoulder.

"Well, at least she's not going to explode," said Nightclaw.

Lady Nega, meanwhile, was blasting NegaMorph over and over. "You think you can change me back into that weakling?" she sneered before looking over to Batman. "Plus your friend looks like he'll need help," she sneered, her, Nightclaw and Skyla melting into the shadows.

"You can't keep her! She's too unstable!" snapped NegaMorph.

"Not anymore. Take the tab for us?" laughed Lady Nega's fading voice.

"You're not getting away that easily!" snapped NegaMorph. But then he was dogpiled by the dog splicers.

A second later, they were blown back. "I am not IN THE MOOD!" he snapped, glaring as an Alsatian splicer lunged at him, NegaMorph stepping aside and letting the splicer's momentum carry him into a shadow portal.

"Craig! Where'd you send him, you demon?" snapped one of the others.


GCPD Central was usually pretty quiet this time of day, and Commissioner Gordon treasured those small moments of peace. The criminals of Neo-Gotham were for some reason being quiet, as if sensing something big. "All quiet, commissioner. Even the Jokerz are laying low," said an officer, giving her a mug of tea.

"I'd say it's nice to have a peaceful night, but experience has taught me that just means something big's about to happen," said Gordon.

"Maybe it's just a quiet night? We used to have them in Metropolis," laughed the officer before a shadow in the corner of the room grew and a surprised dog splicer ended up rolling across the room to end up upside down against the far wall.

It opened its eyes to see Gordon and the officer aiming before grinning and saying nervously "Is there a problem, officers?"


"He's fine. He was lucky," snarled NegaMorph before snapping "AND I'M NOT A SMEGGING DEMON!" before lunging at them.

Meanwhile, Batman was dealing with Cuvier. He was a lot more experienced than the last time they fought, but Cuvier was still a deadly mix of the best predators in the animal kingdom. "There are no serums to overdose me with, no chemicals to try and burn me with. This time I have the advantage," Cuvier was boasting.

"You're cold-blooded, you know that?" said Batman.

"Yes, that will be the cobra DNA," sneered Cuvier, aiming a blow that Batman managed to just avoid.

"Thought so," said Batman before throwing some ice capsules at Cuvier.

Cuvier roared, trying to recoil from the ice on his arm before slashing out, forcing Batman back before smashing the ice off his frozen arm. "You'll pay for that," he said darkly.

"I hear tigers and hawks have sharp vision," said Batman.

"Mine are the sharpest of all," boasted Cuvier, "Even your invisibility won't hide you from me."

"But I want you to see this," said Batman before tossing something at Cuvier.

The small capsule flew into Cuvier's face, a blinding flash illuminating the room like it was midday, coupled with a deafening bang, Cuvier writhing, covering his eyes.

"Yeah, the thing about super-sight is that it's super-sensitive," said Batman, "But I bet you can't even hear me right now."

Cuvier roared, slashing out, his claws hitting a junction box. Sparks flew as Cuvier was lit up. Fortunately, the voltage threw him clear before it could get lethal.

NegaMorph walked up at that. "Oh, I needed that," he said to himself, cracking his knuckles before looking at the unconscious Cuvier. "Nice," he commented.

"Figured if we ran into Cuvier, he'd put up a fight," said Batman, "I'm just glad I didn't have to set anything on fire this time."

"Yeah. Shall I call the cops?" asked NegaMorph, adding "I think he's a bit too big."

"We still need to round up his workers," said Batman.

"Taken care of," said NegaMorph. Batman looked around, NegaMorph grinning. "When you can make your own portals, clean ups are pretty easy. I sent them to Police Plaza."

"Must be crowded there by now," said Batman.

"Probably..." said NegaMorph innocently.


"Another one, Commissioner," said the officer, just after there was a crash and a yelp, two cops going into Gordon's office before dragging another splicer out, this one with the office's lampshade wedged over its head.

Gordon had seen a lot of strange things, both as commissioner and as Batgirl. This was probably in the top 10. "Keep an eye out for more newcomers," she said, "I need to make a quick call."


"They should be in lockup by now. Though I musta miscounted. Sure there was one more," said NegaMorph.

A whimpering male voice said, "There is..." the two walking over to see the German Shepard splicer from earlier stuck in the bear hug of a yellow-scaled dragoness. "I only told her my name and now she won't let go," he whispered desperately.

"Uh...Chloe?" asked NegaMorph.

"I fouunnnd Chriiiis...he's my new teddy...he's so fuzzy." said the dragoness happily, the splicer making an 'ack' noise as she squeezed him, the splicer hissing "Call the poliiiiiice."

"Is she ok?" asked Batman.

"Mild concussion, she'll be fine later," said NegaMorph before taking a few pictures for future blackmail.

"What about me?" whimpered the splicer.

"See if there's a crowbar around here," said NegaMorph.

"I don't wanna die by snu-snu," whimpered the splicer.

"Ookay...let's get her off," muttered NegaMorph, readying a crowbar before jumping back as Chloe, still with the smile, bit the end of it off. "That said, she has deserved a little down time," he said nervously, looking at the sheared end before he muttered, "Least the others can't possibly be doing any worse."


Lazard and Spider-Man landed outside the reactor lab. "Deadpool's right. Superhero landings are murder on knees," muttered Lazard with a wince before the two took in the sight. The blast door was in the middle of the alley, covered in green webbing, two fox Combine troopers out cold in the corridor beyond, red alert lights flashing.

"Looks like he's been practicing," said Lazard.

"Well, when you first get a new toy, would you be able to resist playing with it?" asked Spider-Man.

"No, I would not..." muttered Lazard, his form flickering back to human, his AI saying "Hostile data attack, defense mode, all powers offline."

"Ah nuts, well if there's ever a time for this armor," muttered Matt, activating it. The armor quickly covered him up, giving him the appearance of an armored anthro dragon.

"Does that hurt your ankles?" asked Spider-Man.

"Not really," said Lazard, "Now let's go catch-" Suddenly, the armor's optics flickered as a few error messages appeared on his HUD.

"Oh, not this piece of junk too," muttered Lazard, thinking, 'I wonder if I ever got a receipt?'

"You ok?" asked Spider-Man.

"Just a few new computer bugs," said Matt, "You'd think Wakandan tech wouldn't have this kind of thing."

A second later, Matt staggered back, white bolts causing sparks off his armor, rapid fire dull 'thuds' heard as two fox Combine slowly advanced down a side corridor firing.

"OI!" snapped Matt before aiming one arm. Hopefully he can get some plasma firing. A burst of white light shot out with a boom, sending Matt spinning into the wall and knocking the Combine it hit down the corridor, sliding unconscious the last few feet. His fellow watched before aiming at Matt, a rising whine coming from his rifle before, with a boom, a white orb began bouncing down the corridor.

"Ok, weird," said Spider-Man before spinning a few webs in its path.

The orb ripped through the webs with ease. "Keep away!" yelped Matt, rolling to the side as the orb bounced off where it had seen, the Combine merc still firing with an angry snarl.

"We're not the one you're supposed to be attacking, remember?" said Spider-Man before sending a web-blast into the merc's eyes.

The merc staggered back, tearing the webbing off before seeing the orb heading for him. "Duck!" yelled Matt.

Spider-Man webbed the merc, pulling him to the side, the orb narrowly missing and, with a bang that left a faint lowering hum for a second, vanishing. The merc, its helmet gone to reveal a young and frightened vixen's face, was staring before looking at Spider-Man. "Zax tri," she said in Combine, nodding her head, before pausing and scrambling for her pistol and getting web cocooned to the wall for her trouble, the angry Combine yelling what were probably rude words till she was gagged.

"I'm gonna assume you said 'thank you', but I don't trust your sense of gratitude," said Spider-Man.

"Zax tri was 'thank you'. The rest were profanities," said Matt, looking at the other Combine and cuffing it with its own cuffs. "Dipshit Combine," he muttered, taking the pulse rifle.

"I guess the Combine don't really repay favors," said Spider-Man.

"Oh they would, but when it comes to humans, it's always 'shoot first'," said Matt.

"Wait, why?" asked Spider-Man.

Matt said, "In the bad old days, they'd cause dimensional warp storms on planets and dimensions they wanted to invade. Story goes they invaded an Darth and one human managed to defeat their entire occupation force; the so-called Freeman. They never lived it down."

"So not friendly aliens," said Spider-Man.

"They can be," said Matt, "They act with more diplomacy than they did before. But they still hate humans."

"Sachek set us up?" said Spider-Man.

Matt shook his head, "No...Vulx would rather kill themselves than do something like that. Omni musta jammed the original team's coms."

"Which probably includes their translators," said Spider-Man.

"Most likely," said Matt, finding a floor plan, "Let's see...looks like we need to go down a floor."

"Ok, I think the stairs are over there," said Spider-Man, pointing.

Matt turned the pulse rifle on the door, blasting the lock off, "Let's go."


Omnirus had been getting quite a lot of mileage out of this new Spiderdactyl form. Energy webs sure did come in handy. So did having four arms when it comes to multitasking.

"Access denied," said the computer for the umpteenth time, Omnirus glaring.

"Ok, I'll give this world something; good cybersecurity," he muttered, before a blast narrowly missed him, turning to see three Combine running in firing. "I don't have time for this," he squawked before shooting energy beams from his beak.

One of the Combine hissed, thrown on his back by the blast, another being hit in the arm while the third rolled to the side, still firing, only to be hit by some webbing and thrown into the other remaining Combine, all three out cold.

"Maybe now I can concentrate," said Spiderdactyl as he turned back to the computer.

He tapped away before finally the computer said, "Access granted. System online."

"Finally," squawked Spiderdactyl, "Now to get this thing charged up."

"Arming primary coils...startup may commence in 3 minutes," said the computer before a blast of webbing covered the main startup controls.

"Hey!" snapped Spiderdactyl.

"Sorry, you know what that thing will do to the city," snapped Matt, he and Spider-Man heading into the room.

"I need it on long enough to charge up my pod," said Spiderdactyl, "Is that too much to ask?"

"Having it on for one minute could irradiate the place," snapped Matt.

"I'm willing to take the chance," said Spiderdactyl.

"And that attitude is why you're going in the brig," snapped Matt.

"Not without a fight," said Spiderdactyl, "I've been getting some practice with this guy and I'm ready to take it to the next level." He pressed on the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, making four spikes pop out. Then a green wave swept over him. It made his body a lot bigger and bulkier, his blue fur turning orange. His four arms grew much longer and bulkier than his legs, which looked pretty tiny in comparison. His tail disappeared, but his wings grew even bigger, claws appearing on them as they became more mobile. The crest on his head grew bigger as his beak became blunter and a large pair of mandibles appeared beside it. Now Spiderdactyl looked like a monstrous combination of spider, pterosaur, and orangutan, with the large mandibles resembling cheek flaps and his wings doubling as spiderlike limbs.

"I forgot he could do that," squeaked Matt.

Ultimate Spiderdactyl roared and pounded his chest with his four hands. He was about to charge them when he paused, clutched at his chest, and yelled, "OW!"

"He's out of practise too," grinned Matt, Spider-Man swinging up and webbing the hands Omnirus was clutching his chest with.

"Chest thumping hurts more than it looks," snapped U-Spiderdactyl.

"Maybe it's because you did it with closed fists instead of doing it with cupped hands like a gorilla. And I don't think orangutans even do that," said Spider-Man.

"They also don't do this," said U-Spiderdactyl before his lower beak and mandibles spread open before shooting a very large glob of silk at Spider-Man.

Matt winced as the glob scored a direct hit, webbing Spider-Man to a wall. "Hah...not so funny when it's you, is it?" laughed U-spiderdactyl, before a pulse blast bounced off him, turning to see Matt firing. "Not that I'm complaining but guns are a little lowtech for you," he commented .

"Says the prehistoric mismatch," said Matt.

"Hey, I'm higher up the evolutionary chain than you," said U-Spiderdactyl, ripping his hands free, "Not that I need to be to toss you around like a ragdoll."

"Try it and I'll eat you!" snarled Matt, though something about his tone seemed fake to U-Spiderdactyl.

"Then how about you put down the gun and we fight hand-to-hand?" challenged U-Spiderdactyl.

"Oh, sure, go up against the four-armed ape. That's real smart," said Matt sarcastically.

U-Spiderdactyl reached his wings over and grabbed Matt. "Make that six-armed," he said before throwing Matt aside.

Matt spread out his arms in panic, his palms blazing with energy that slowed him down before he became part of the wall. "Oh thank God," Matt muttered, before trying the repulser and getting embedded in the wall, made worse that the shot missed.

U-Spiderdactyl made a hooting laugh. "What's the matter, Lynch?" he asked mockingly, "Incompatible software?"

"More than you know," winced Matt, trying to get the armor to respond.

"You're making this too easy," said U-Spiderdactl before swinging an energy whip at Matt.

Matt yelped as the whip shot round his wrist, before the words 'siphoning' appeared in his vision. "Your whips use plasma energy, don't they?" asked Matt.

"It's star energy!" snapped U-Spiderdactyl.

"Which basically makes it photon energy," said Matt, "And photon is categorized under plasma."

"Oh no," muttered U-Spiderdactyl before an orb shot back down the whip and threw him into the reactor console before two web strands hit his chest and electrocuted him.

"Shock the monkey," said Spider-Man playfully.

"You...little..." began U-Spiderdactyl, managing to reach up and tear the webbing loose. "I'm trying to be merciful here!" he snapped, before a repulsor blast hit him.

"Hah...got you that time!" snapped Matt, readying another shot.

"I'm losing my temper," snarled U-Spiderdactyl as he opened his beak and shot an energy beam.

Matt yelled as the blast hit him, knocking him flying. This time U-Spiderdactyl paused. Matt, even on his worst day, coulda just bent a plasma beam at a right angle. There was only one reason why he wouldn't...or couldn't… The alien hybrid began to grin

"So you do have compatibility issues," said U-Spiderdactyl as he lurched towards Matt, "Maybe you should take that armor off and have it looked at." He grabbed Matt's gauntlets and started pulling on them, though it looked like he was also trying to remove Matt's arms.

To Matt, it also felt like he was having his arms removed. "Get ooooffff!" he yelled.

"Not such a tough guy now," sneered U-Spiderdactyl. Just then, a webline hit him between the shoulders. "Seriously? Up your game, kid," he said, "You think a little webbing's gonna hurt me?"

"Probably not, but the retraction might," said Spider-Man.

"Retraction?" asked U-Spiderdactyl before he was suddenly yanked backwards. U-Spiderdactyl was sent flying into a spinning stabilizer with a crash.

Spider-Man swung down to Matt. "I'm ok...shut that thing down," panted Matt, happy that his arms were indeed still on.

"No problem. It's only a nuclear reactor," said Spider-Man, "There's gotta be some failsafe switches around."

On cue, the wrecked stabilizer was thrown between Spider-Man and the controls, Omnirus, back in his experiment form glaring madly. "That's it! I am not losing my chance to ditch you all!" he snarled.

Matt muttered, "Come on, you piece of junk. Give me something that can stop him." pressing at the Wakandan language set buttons in the hope of hitting something. "You'd think Shuri would have the decency to write this in English," grumbled Matt before something lit up. "Oh please tell me it's a weapon," he said, in desperation.

Omnirus ranted at Spider-Man. "I just wanted to leave. The reactor had a good chance of working fine long enough for the refueling..." he snapped, tearing up some metal and throwing it so hard it embedded in the wall.

"Uh, let's take it easy," said Spider-Man nervously, "No need for a tantrum."

"Tantrum? TANTRUM?" snapped Omnirus in rage.

Just then, the armor let out a 'ping' and a thin blue beam shot out of the gauntlet. Omnirus was about to take a swing at Spider-Man, but then the beam hit him and he froze in place.

"Can't...move...you...jerks," rasped Omnirus.

Matt stared at his gauntlet. "Ok...remind me when we get home to ask Shuri to tell me how to set the instructions to English. I like this armor," he said cheerfully, walking over to Omnirus and tapping him. "Put him in the pod?" he suggested.

"Eh, why not?" asked Spider-Man, "He'll be easier to carry."

Omnirus just glared as he was picked up and tossed into his open pod, Matt lasering 'do not open till Xmas' into its hull. "Ok...now let's shut this thing do-" began Matt before the glowing giant orb of the reactor blazed brightly.

"Uh...how dangerous is this thing again?" asked Spider-Man.

"You know about how Banner became the Hulk by the narrowest of chances?" asked Matt.

"Yeah?"

"This is even worse odds."

"Let's find the off switch," said Spider-Man, the two running over to the controls.

"Why is there never just a nice normal off switch?" snapped Matt.

"You mean like that?" asked Spider-Man, pointing across the room to the shutoff switch on the wall.

"Ok, what idiot puts the shutoff switch way over there?" asked Matt incredulously, "Ok, we need to get to that switch. I got the armor. I got the best chance." Just then, he got webbed up. "Hey!" snapped Matt.

"You said no armor's good against hadron radiation," said Spider-Man, "And that means it'll only slow you down. But I've got the speed, agility, and reflexes to get to it."

"Lemme go!" snapped Matt, arcs of lightning, hadron energy flashing around. "Urgh...don't let even one of those arcs hit you. You'll regret it," Matt sighed.

"Yeah, I was lucky with that spider bite," said Spider-Man before he started across the room. True to his word, he was light on his feet. But more importantly, his spider-sense warned him of where not to be. Even so, it was very close.

Matt looked between Spider-Man and the reactor. He didn't need his armor to tell him it was about to go off, already a dome of pure energy was slowly expanding. "Any time today!" he yelped.

Fortunately, Spider-Man had crossed the room. Though his spider-sense was throbbing like crazy as he got to the lever. Not saying pulling the lever was a bad idea, but he needed to do it really soon.

Matt closed his eyes, the field about to engulf him, a little part wondering if he'd be turned into something sentient, before he heard a lowering hum, opening his left eye to see the reactor powering down.

"Phew, nick of time, right?" asked Spider-Man.

"I'll let you know when my heart levels out," said Matt, "And don't move yet, there's still an active field."

A rising hum began again, the pod crackling with energy before a purple-ringed hole appeared below it and it fell in. The two ran over, getting a brief look at a coastline city from above the clouds before the portal shrank to nothing.

"Where'd he go?" asked Spider-Man.

"No idea," said Matt. He paused before saying "And quite frankly I don't care."

Then the two heard dozens of boot falls, a dozen Combine mercs, led by Sachek running in. "Well...it seems we owe you two...humans," he said.

"Oh, nothing fancy. Plus it's the kid who pulled the lever in the end," said Matt, aiming a thumb at Spider-Man.

"Well, I did what any concerned superhero would do," said Spider-Man.

"Good. Someone escort these two morons to their ship," said Sachek.

That took the bluster out of Matt and Spider-Man. "We save the city and they call us morons?" grumbled Matt.

Though as they were leaving, Sachek said to Spider-Man, "Good work. You might be one of the greater heroes yet."


"Ok, ok, we need to turn this damn thing on!" snapped Lady Nega, the group walking towards Omnirus's ship.

"We still don't know the start up code, ma'cherie," said Nightclaw.

Skyla paused, "Wait a second...you're leaving?" she said, backing up a step.

"You think we were going to move here?" asked Lady Nega, "A tempting idea, but I'm not established enough here. This was just a trip to get new supplies and new minions."

"We're still missing Iceshaide and Antumbra," pointed out Nightclaw.

"Screw them, they're too immune to my loyalty spells. Skyla's worth a hundred of them," snapped Lady Nega, before turning to Skyla who said "N...no...I'm not going."

"I didn't ask for your opinion or your choice," said Lady Nega.

"I'm not gonna leave," snapped Skyla, the wind around her picking up.

"Yes you will!" snapped Lady Nega.

"Make me!" snapped Skyla.

Nightclaw said warningly, "Ma'cherie..."

"You asked for it!" snapped Lady Nega as the shadows loomed up around Skyla. Skyla's eyes glowed before a tornado sprung up around her, lightning causing brief flashes of light.

"Oh dear," said Nightclaw before hunkering down.

Lady Nega managed to raise a ward around her just before a blown dumpster pancaked against it. "I'm not going anywhere!" snapped Skyla, her voice echoing.

Lady Nega glared and snapped, "Fine! Stay here! Doesn't matter where you go. You won't be able to go back to your human life anyway and the Combine will be on you like rats before long."

"Wait...what?" said Skyla, the tornado around her vanishing as her concentration broke, before Lady Nega blasted her off her feet.

"Come on, Nightclaw," she snapped.

"But we-" started Nightclaw.

"It doesn't matter!" snapped Lady Nega. The two ran into the ship, the door sealing behind them. "Ok...ok...if I was Omnirus, what would I have as the startup password?" snapped Lady Nega as they ran onto the bridge.

"101010?" suggested Nightclaw.

"What?" asked Lady Nega flatly.

"No one would ever think to try a simple password," said Nightclaw.

Lady Nega began typing it in. "He has the intelligence of Gray Matter. No way he'd-well I'll be darned," she said in surprise as the consoles unlocked.

"Like I said, no one would think to try a simple password," said Nightclaw, "Sometimes the best place to hide is right under someone's nose."

Lady Nega glared before saying sulkily, "Oh shut up and plot a course out of this backyard dimension."

"Er, are we coming away from this with anything?" asked Nightclaw.

Lady Nega growled before saying, "Oh shut it."


Skyla's head swam a little as she woke up. What was it that crazy demon lady was saying? And what was that noise?

Her vision stabilized before watching in horror as the demon lady's ship began to lift off. "NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!" she yelled, the ship lifting off. "No..." she whimpered, staring as the ship flew off into the sky, hearing the sound of wings and footsteps before an armored hand fell on her shoulder. Skyla turns to see one of that jerk's enemies, a squad of white-armored figures and the rest of the jerk's enemies in front of her. "I...I just didn't wanna be weak..." she whimpered.

"Take it easy," said the guy in the dragon armor softly, "No one is going to hurt you."

"Don't talk down to me like some kid," snarled Skyla.

"Relax, Lynch," said the black creature, "She's not going to explode on us."

"Shut up, NegaMorph," snarled Matt.

Skyla snapped, "Yeah, shut up."

"Everyone shut up," snapped Batman before he walked up to her. Skyla gulped and backed away. Weather dragon powers or not, she didn't like being in the shadow of the Dark Knight.

"I...she said I can't turn back," said Skyla, scrambling back.

"She's probably right," said the guy in the dragon armor with a sigh, "Shar nanites don't just go away. And she can't be skilled enough to have left you a human form, considering she nearly overclocked you with elements."

"What's gonna happen to me?" said Skyla in a gloom-filled voice

"I suppose we'll have to-" started the armored dragon.

"She will come with us," said a fox man sternly.

"Pardon?" asked Skyla.

The fox walked forward, "Skyla? My name is Sachek. You're more than welcome in the Combine Confederation. We don't judge on looks for a start," he said kindly.

"Sachek, a word please," said the armored dragon.

"You don't have a say here, Lynch. This isn't the NSC. This is my backyard. If she wants to come with me, there's not a thing you can do to stop me," said Sachek coldly.

"I think I do have a say if your people are planning on reverse-engineering her. Which could involve cutting her open to see what makes her tick," said Lynch.

Skyla yelped at that, Sachek looking shocked. "The hell is wrong with you?" he snapped.

"I know how the Combine work," said Lynch, "I won't have her death on my conscience."

"Why the hell would we kill her? How would we kill her when we can just take a blood sample?" said Sachek

"Don't play cute with me. I've been with your interrogators," growled Lynch.

"I'm not military," said Sachek. Matt just tapped on the badge on Sachek's chest. "Mercenary, just like you. Combine likes us to look military, that's all," said Sachek.

Lynch seemed to ponder this before saying, "Mercenary standards are not universal..."

"You know what a vulx's word is...and I give it. She'll be fine," said Sachek.

"I want to hear it in full," said Lynch.

"I swear on the goddess kitsune that she will live a full and happy life," said Sachek.

"And what about the other two?" asked Lynch.

"If you wish...but again, the choice is theirs. As it is Miss Skyla's," said Sachek calmly.

"Fine, but I'm holding you to it," said Lynch, "If I hear anything's befallen them because of what your higher-ups want, I'm coming for you personally."

"Please, I gave my word," said Sachek with a smile before looking at Skyla, "Well? The offer is open, young lady."

Skyla looked thoughtful before asking, "What do you have to offer?"

"A life of luxury and comfort. A roof over your head," said Sachek.

"And the catch?" asked Skyla.

"Nothing mandatory..." said Sachek.

"I think I'm interested," said Skyla.

"Welcome to the Confederation." said Sachek, the gang glaring, before Sachek said, "Now then, as for you lot, please, PLEASE get the hell out of my jurisdiction. I need to arrange some fake IDs for three new members."

Lynch sighed and said, "Fine. We need to catch our runaway sorceress anyways."

"Fine, out of professional courtesy, our comm systems appear to be down. Could be a few hours before we can call command about you," said Sachek innocently.

"Good. I just want to say goodbye before we leave," said Matt. He turned to Batman. "This was...interesting," he said.

"Yeah. This doesn't happen often for me," said Batman.

Chloe, meanwhile, said quietly to Skyla, "Try and keep with Sachek. Vulx are the only trustworthy species in the Combine." Skyla shrugged.

"And about those other two," started Matt.

"Maybe you should leave them be," said Spider-Man, "You kinda did a lot to disrupt their lives."

"I just want things to end on a good note," said Matt.

"I'll...make sure they're ok," said Skyla.

Matt said, "Ok, out of interest. Did you have an actual name? Skyla seems...homemade."

Skyla grinned, "Dad used to call me Eris."

"Well...storms are associated with chaos so I guess that works," said Spider-Man.

"Yeah, whatever," said Matt, Skyla and the Combine leaving. Matt paused. "No...no," he said with a grin, shaking his head.


There's the other half of this chapter. Batman Beyond material featured here are the the lab where the Terrific Trio were created, Dr. Cuvier, who survived the end of 'Spliced', Max Gibson, who was surprisingly unfeatured in 'Return of the Joker' and 'Epilogue', and a bit of reference to 'The Once and Future Thing'.

Anyways, this is the start of another multiverse-spanning arc, though less connected to Spider-Man than his previous dimension-hopping trips. As for what happened to Omnirus, well, let's say I'm planting the seeds of the future in the past. But we're not going to be seeing him again for a good long while. I'm going to be updating more frequently this month. Keep an eye out for more chapters and please review.