Chapter 3.- Claw's revenge.
He was free.
After spending a year in Riverton Prison, Doctor Victor Isaac Scolex, now known as Doctor Claw, was free to put his most evil scheme on track.
Right now, Claw, Sikes, Kramer and a woman with tanned skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes were inside an old-fashioned black car with shiny red trimmings, which also had a very curious emblem on the doors. The emblem was some sort of black cat with yellow eyes put over a red oval.
- Drive faster, Rivera! - Claw hissed with his hoarse voice.
- As you order, Doctor Claw! - The female driver replied.
Claw eyed his mechanical arm. After he was put in prison, the guards had removed his arm and they locked it in the warden's office, where he exhibited it as some sort of trophy.
He was glad that the prison guards were stupid enough to let it in the prison, instead of giving it to his sworn enemy.
He couldn't care less about it anyway, it made his whole plan so much easier.
- So, Doctor Claw, what's the plan now, boss? - Sikes asked.
- First off, we need to collect three different items from Stark Industries, the Bradford Cybertronics Laboratories, Wayne Enterprises and the Riverton Town Hall. - Claw replied without looking at Sikes.
- What?! We're going to be dealing with not only Gadget and the RPD but also Iron Man?! - Kramer let out.
- Stark will not be a problem, he's too busy for now. - Claw said. - Besides, once I complete my new superweapon, not even the Avengers nor the Justice League will be able to stop me!
- What exactly are we looking for, boss? - Rivera asked.
- We need palladium fusion cells, a protonic laser, the world's biggest ruby, and a special object that will complete my superweapon, the NEP.
- What?
- Forget it, just get ready, when will we arrive to the Bradford Labs?
- In a few minutes, we'll be there soon.
Claw smirked.
Just a few minutes separated him from his vengeance and having the first item in his list.
(Minutes later)
The black car with red trimmings, or as Claw had begun to call it, the Claw-Mobile, had pulled off in front of the old Bradford Research Labs.
Claw knew that the Bradford siblings had opened a new center on the west of Riverton, but the thing he was after was being constructed in the old center, the notice that they were building the NEP on the new facilities was just a bluff.
Claw, Sikes, Kramer and Rivera got out of the car, then they started working towards the entrance of the old facilities. The guard tried to set off the alarm, but Rivera pulled out a gun with a silencer and shot him in the head.
- Nice shot, darling. - Claw said.
- My pleasure, boss. - Rivera replied with a delighted grin.
The four criminals kept walking, then Kramer spoke:
- Um, doctor Claw, boss, where did you find her?
- From the same place that I found our the members of the new organization, I have formed. - Claw said nonchalantly.
- But, isn't she a bit... crazy?
Rivera seemed to have heard Kramer, so she rapidly turned and put her gun on Kramer's forehead, with her index twitching threateningly on the trigger.
- Do you have any problem with that, Kramer? - Rivera asked with a grin.
- Now, now, ma chérie, there's no need to kill him, I still need his abilities, Rivera. - Claw said while he kept walking.
- You're really lucky, Kramer.
Rivera put her gun in the holster on her waist, making Kramer sigh in relief, but his relief was short-lived as Rivera punched him in the face, breaking his nose.
- What the hell was that for?! - Kramer demanded while he held his bleeding nose.
- Never again call me crazy, Claw told me not to kill you, but he didn't say anything about breaking your nose. - Rivera said with a nonchalant smile.
- *Chuckle* I knew that adding you to MAD was a great idea. - Claw said under his breath.
Finally, the criminals were in front of the door of the Bradford Research Labs, Claw smirked deviously and then he said:
- Sikes, open the door.
Sikes smirked, he cracked his knuckles and broke down the door with one kick.
Meanwhile, Doctor Brenda Gadget, formerly Bradford, was typing on her computer, her eyes were tired, her body felt numb and heavy, and it was merely working completely out of instinct. Since the creation of the new lab facilities, the Bradford siblings had taken turns watching over the old facilities while they moved all their projects and equipment to the new center. However, sometimes, like that precise night, Nathan was late to take his shift.
- Gosh, just how much time do I have to stay here?! - Brenda shouted. - I'm so gonna kill Nathan for this, he should've been here an hour ago!
Brenda rubbed her aching neck and sighed, she should've known better than to trust her brother when he said that he'd be there in time. Nathan Bradford was brilliant, brave and bold, but if there was something the scientist really lacked was punctuality.
And if there was anything Brenda hated was lack of punctuality.
- God, why is it always me?! - Brenda cursed.
And right in that second, Brenda heard a loud noise, like if someone broke down a door. Her heartbeats skipped a beat when she heard the noise, she knew that something was not right but she had to stay calm.
Brenda stood up from her chair and walked up to the nearest exit, she felt that she had to get out of there, fast. She didn't know why, but she felt that that was the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, her actions were expected.
Once Brenda had tried to make a run for the backdoor, she was held back by a pair of really strong arms, then she heard a bloodcurdling laugh. She was forced to turn and then her eyes went wide open as she let out a gasp.
She just couldn't believe what she was seeing.
- Good night, Ms. Bradford, or should I call you Mrs. Gadget now? - Asked a very well known criminal with his hoarse voice.
- It can't be! You're supposed to be in jail! - Brenda said as she struggled to break free from the arms that held her.
- Indeed I should be, but since I still have a pending matter with you and your dear family, I've come back to solve it.
Claw gestured at Sikes to let Brenda go, then he walked a few paces nearer to her.
- Now, Mrs. Gadget, where is the NEP? - Claw asked.
Brenda gritted her teeth and gulped hard, she knew that if she somehow got out of that situation, she'd kill Nathan for telling the press about the NEP.
- I don't know what you're talking about. - Brenda lied.
- Don't lie to me, Brenda! It was all over the news! I need it to solve the little matter I left pending with Gadget.
Brenda cursed inwardly, she was afraid but stood her ground against Claw.
- There's nothing to solve, Claw! Gadget defeated you and that's it! No matter what you do, you will never win!
Then a woman's hand slapped Brenda hard in the cheek, making her bleed from her lower lip.
- Don't you dare to speak to Doctor Claw in that way ever again! - Rivera warned Brenda.
Brenda spitted some blood and glared at the tan skinned woman that had slapped her.
- Is that all you got?! - Brenda asked with a smirk.
Rivera was about to punch her, but Claw's pincer stopped her arm.
- Don't let her get the best of you, darling, she's trying to kill time for her dimwit of a husband to come rescue her. - Claw said while he let go of Rivera's arm.
- I am so sorry, boss, it won't happen again, I swear it. - Rivera said while she looked at the ground.
- I see, you finally got yourself a girlfriend, Claw, I just hope she opens her eyes and sees that she's nothing but your new bitch before it's too late. - Brenda said with a smirk.
Claw growled and put his pincer around Brenda's neck, then Claw started to choke her. Claw lifted the woman rather easily, and the latter was struggling to break free from Claw's grip, but just like the last time she had tried it, it was pointless.
- Listen, Mrs. Gadget, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, on the first I'll get what I want and you won't be harmed any more, the other is you die and I still take what I want, which one do you choose? - Claw asked threateningly.
- Fuck you... Claw... - Brenda managed to gasp.
- Very well then, have it your way.
Claw threw Brenda away, and the latter fell onto a table that had various matrasses, test tubes and other stuff. The table and all the recipients above it broke; the contents of the matrasses and the test tubes got mixed and created a toxic gas. Unfortunately for Gadget's wife, the recent choking by Claw made her gasp desperately for air, and thus she breathed in the toxic gas. Once the gas entered in her body, she felt how it started to burn her from the inside.
Claw saw what was happening to Brenda, so he gestured Rivera and Sikes to look for gas masks. Few moments later, Rivera found three above a shelf. Rivera took them, she gave one to Sikes and the other to Claw, then they put them on. Meanwhile, Brenda was holding her burning throat as Claw walked over to her.
- Where is the NEP, doctor Gadget? - Claw asked.
- Away... from... your reach... - Brenda said between gasps. - You'll never... get it...
Brenda couldn't see it, but Claw was smirking, then he grabbed Brenda's diary from one of the boxes on her desk and said:
- We will see about that.
Then Claw and his minions ran out of the facilities, leaving Brenda on the ground, who was now coughing and crawling to get away from the nocive gases. Brenda coughed blood now, she tried to move as fast as she could, but her efforts were almost futile. Then, the female doctor fell to the ground with tears in her eyes, she couldn't move anymore, she was too injured to do it. Deep inside, her heart ached much more than her lungs or her throat, Brenda closed her eyes and just accepted her fate, and with her last breath while she was conscious, she managed to say:
- I'm sorry, Gadget...
Few moments later, Claw and his lackeys were boarding the Claw-Mobile, then the evil mastermind pulled out some sort of detonator.
- Au revoir, Mrs. Gadget. - Claw whispered.
Claw pressed the button on the detonator, and then the old Bradford Research Labs exploded, creating a powerful boom that was heard in the whole city of Riverton.
- Get us outta here, take us to the hideout! Quickly! - Claw said to Rivera.
- I'm on it, boss! - Rivera replied while she ignited the engine of the car.
The black car with red trimmings sped off and left the scene of crime, and as they heard a well-known siren, Claw couldn't help but chuckle evilly - I told you I'd get you next time, Gadget, and so I did. - Claw whispered to himself.
(Seconds later)
A black car with silver trimmings almost crashed into a wall if it hadn't stopped right in time.
Not that it would've mattered, the car was too resilient to be damaged by something as common as a mere crash.
However, that wasn't important.
Gadget couldn't have cared less if he had crashed anyway.
The cyborg watched with tears in his eyes as the fire consumed what used to be the Bradford Research Labs. Gadget fell to his knees, feeling impotent to do anything.
He couldn't stop blaming himself, he felt that this was all his fault.
Right in that second, a taxi dropped off a passenger beside the Gadget-Mobile, then while the taxi drove off, the passenger, (who happened to be none other than Nathan Bradford), ran next to Gadget, and couldn't help but shed a tear and kneel to punch the ground, breaking his hand in the process. He didn't care anyway, he didn't feel it.
Nathan and Gadget just cried silently while they watched the fire going on, listening to the sirens of both police cars and firemen trucks, and feeling the cold rain dampening them to the core.
But unlike to what they were thinking, Gadget-Mobile had found a small hope.
- Um, G...? - Gadget-Mobile tried to say.
- Shut it! - Gadget hissed.
- But G, I'm still catching up a signal from a living being on the inside of the BRLs.
Gadget and Nathan seemed to recover their hopes, the two of them glanced at the Gadget-Mobile and Nathan said:
- Ar-are you serious?
- Completely, but there's something you two need to know before you do something stupid like rushing into the building before listening to what I have to say. - Gadget-Mobile said.
Too late, Gadget had already made a dash for the burning building, not hearing that the Gadget-Mobile had called out his name.
- G, no! Wait! - Gadget-Mobile said.
- Why are you trying to stop him, Gadget-Mobile? You know very well that the fire won't harm him at all. - Nathan said.
- No, but his lungs are still organic, as well as many of his organs, and I've detected a very poisonous gas on the inside.
- No!
- I'm afraid that the odds that Inspector G and/or doctor B's chances of getting out of there alive are practically null.
Nathan felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, he tried to make a dash to get Gadget, but a robotic arm popped out from the Gadget-Mobile and stopped him.
- Doctor N, come to your senses! I told you that their chances were practically null, not that they didn't have a chance. - Gadget-Mobile said. - Besides, if there's one man that can save doctor B is Gadget.
Nathan gritted his teeth, losing his sister was bad enough already, but losing her and his best friend on the same night would be unbearable.
Meanwhile, Gadget had broken down a wall to enter into the burning labs, as he didn't have any time to lose.
And even if the smoke was too thick to let him see, Gadget had managed to activate his Gadget-Analyzer, and he had set it to look for lifeforms. However, there was something that Gadget couldn't explain, and it was the sudden itching in his throat. He knew that during the accident on the outskirts of Riverton, his breathing system had taken quite a toll, and as such, it was healed using the Gadget Project. Since then, his lungs were capable of separate the carbon dioxide from the oxygen, and he had never felt anything wrong ever again, not even when he had caught a cold. Until that day, in which he was feeling how the itching in his throat was rapidly becoming a burning sensation.
He didn't know why exactly, but he knew that he had to find Brenda and get outta there ASAP.
- Go go Gadget-Spy-Cam! - Gadget said.
And just like Gadget had thought it would work, the glitches activated the Gas-Mask instead of the Spy-Cam. Gadget coughed a bit, then he kept searching for Brenda, breaking everything that stood in his path.
Few moments later after Gadget had broken down another wall, the Gadget-Analyzer had picked up a life signal. Gadget ran to the place where the Analyzer was indicating him that the lifeform was. But what he found was that said life signal was completely covered by rubble. Gadget started removing the rubble frantically, and then he gasped when he found a bloody hand on the pile he was removing. Gadget soon realized that the hand belonged to his wife.
Gadget removed all the rubble that was over his wife, and once he had freed her, he took off his Gas-Mask and put it to Brenda, then he took her motionless body in his arms and made a dash for the exit, coughing with some blood while he did so.
Meanwhile, Brenda Gadget felt that something was carrying her, and something even more curious was that the burning feeling in her lungs had diminished greatly, also she felt that something was covering her face. With all the strength she had left, Brenda opened her eyes and saw her husband's face. It was covered in soot and ashes, but she could still see the trickle of blood coming from Gadget's mouth. She would've freaked out, but her lack of strength didn't let her.
- Leave me... Save yourself... - Brenda whispered.
Brenda's whisper would've passed inadvertently to a normal human, but Gadget had an enhanced hearing sense, so he heard her perfectly. Though he didn't like in the slightest what he was hearing.
- No way! Either we make it out of here together, or we die together! - Gadget said.
- I... I'm sorry, John... I don't have the strength...
- Don't you dare to die! You can overcome this! I just know it!
- Don't... Don't ever forget... that I love... you...
And with that, Brenda lost her consciousness on Gadget's arms, right when the latter had exited the burning facilities.
Nathan and the Gadget-Mobile sighed in relief, as they saw that the paramedics had arrived and that Gadget had finally gotten out of the building, right before it all came down.
The cyborg ran to the nearest ambulance, he ripped one of the backdoors and hopped in, then he placed Brenda on the stretcher. When the paramedics inside were going to ask him what had he done, Gadget just glanced at the driver with a very unfriendly look on his face.
- Drive! - Gadget hissed.
The driver gulped hard but he ignited the engine of the ambulance and drove off.
Back in the scene of crime, Quimby had arrived, and once he saw that Gadget wasn't there, he walked over to Nathan to try to ask him a few questions. However, the scientist had other things in mind right in that moment.
Nathan hopped inside the Gadget-Mobile and the car ignited its engine to follow the ambulance in which Gadget and Brenda were.
- Hey, Bradford! Wait up, we've got some questions you must answer! - Said Quimby.
- I'm sorry, Chief, I have no time! - Nathan replied while he buckled up himself.
And right after that, the Gadget-Mobile sped off, tracking Gadget's signal.
(Half an hour later)
Gadget was still coughing blood.
He denied to be attended until his wife was out of danger, and as such once the medics had taken her into the emergency room, he had sat down on the waiting room.
Since he had sat down he had just coughed and glanced at the ground.
Nathan had arrived merely thirty seconds behind the ambulance, and he had accompanied his brother-in-law silently.
He was worried sick about his sister and Gadget, the mere thought of losing Brenda made him shiver in fear.
Finally, after waiting for thirty long minutes, a doctor came out of the emergency room.
The doctor took off her mask and both cyborg and scientist stood up quickly, but even if they wanted to ask how Brenda was, the words just got choked on the lump in their throats.
- Are you family of the girl? - The doctor asked.
- Y-Yes... - Gadget said. - How...?
Gadget just couldn't finish the question, he was already too concerned.
The doctor just looked at both of them in the eyes, she sighed, glanced at the ground and closed her eyes while she shook her head from left to right.
- We did everything we could. Her lungs were just too damaged, her body was too injured. - The doctor said. - She couldn't make it. I'm really sorry.
Nathan fell backward with a look of despair while Gadget fell to his knees with tears in his eyes.
The doctor held back her own tears, now she knew first hand how horrible was to give someone the news of a relative's death. During her three years as a medic, she had seen patients die, but she had never been the one to give the news to anyone. The woman sighed, then she turned and left the room while Gadget and Nathan felt that they had entered into a world of complete desolation and despair.
Nathan started crying uncontrollably, he howled in pain and held his legs close to his chest.
But Gadget, he was another story.
His despair, his pain and his grief were being rapidly overcome by his rage, his desire for revenge and his hatred towards the only culprit of Brenda's death.
His eyes burned with hatred, all the liquid components in his organism felt like they were boiling, the burning feeling in his throat and lungs had disappeared all of a sudden, his knuckles were white as he was clenching his fists as hard as he could and his teeth were at breaking point as he was gritting them too hard.
Gadget roared with all the rage that had just built up, then he stood up and started running to the exit, breaking everything in his path once more. The cyborg broke down the main entrance doors and pushed Quimby and Trenton out of his way while he cried. Trenton was about to yell at Gadget what the hell was wrong with him, but he shut up immediately when he saw that Gadget cut a patrol car in half by smashing against it. Trenton was about to follow him but Quimby held him back.
- Chief! We gotta stop Gadget! He's gone rampant! - Trenton said while he struggled to set himself free.
- No, he's not rampant, he's just hurt. - Quimby said calmly.
- Hurt?! He pushed us away, he just caused a mess in the hospital and cut a patrol in half!
- It's only an assumption, but I guess that Brenda Gadget has died. We must keep everyone as far away from him as possible, I've never seen him this angry, and I think that if we don't find Claw before Gadget does, we will never find him, at least not alive.
Trenton stopped struggling, though he hated Gadget, he would've never wished him something like this. And even if he hated Claw too, he definitely pitied him if Gadget ever got his hands on him.
Back inside the waiting room, Nathan was still crying and howling in grief.
He couldn't believe that his little sister, the one that always helped him play pranks on bullies, the girl she always helped him with his Calculus homework, the girl she was always so overprotective of him when she was younger, the girl who had helped in the design of the Gadget Project, was dead.
She was always so cheerful, so positive, she always found the good side of the people, hell, he was sure that even if she put her efforts in it, she would've seen a good side on Claw.
Then a memory struck Nathan's mind.
All the memories about the Gadget Project remembered him of a little conversation he had had with his sister just a few days prior to that day.
(Three days ago)
- Nathan, could you do me a favor? - Brenda asked while she checked something on her computer.
- I'm kinda busy right now. - Nathan said while he was finishing some kind of chip.
- Nathan, please?
- Damn it, I told you to stop using that tone, you know I'll do anything you say when you use it.
- Only if you do me the favor I was asking you.
- Fine, what is it?
Nathan put his soldering iron aside and took off his goggles, then he met stares with his sister.
- Well, could you please use the Gadget Project in me if I ever die or have an accident that could kill me? - Brenda said bluntly.
- What?! Why are you saying such a crazy thing?! - Nathan said completely alarmed.
- My husband feels alone, he thinks that he's not a man, and I keep telling him otherwise. But my words are empty because I don't know what being a cyborg feels like, if only I could feel what he feels, maybe I'd be able to tell him a true advice.
- Brenda, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!
- Please, Nathan, I wanna comprehend what Gadget feels.
- That isn't the only reason, is it?
Brenda sighed deeply. Her brother was right.
- I know Gadget and I've seen his darkest side, if he ever loses me, he's gonna kill the guilty in the worst possible way you could think of, along with anyone that is foolish enough to stand in his way, even heroes.
- Gadget would never kill anyone, I mean, he didn't kill Claw, even with all the bad things he did to him.
- You didn't see him when Claw threatened me and Penny, I thought he was about to kill him. He restrained himself only because he didn't actually kill Penny or me.
- How can you say such a horrible thing about Gadget?
- Nathan, you should know that the people with the biggest hearts are the easier to corrupt.
- Who ever said that?
- I just did, and it's true. Gadget is a great man, but if someone unleashes his whole rage, he will not be able to restrain himself and will kill the one that is stupid enough to make him angry.
- But, Brenda...
- No, no buts, you gotta do it. I don't want to see Gadget turned into a homicide nor be depressed because no one understands him. Promise me you'll do it!
- Ok, ok, I, Nathan Julian Bradford, promise that if you, Brenda Geraldine Bradford, suffer an accident that could kill you, or if you die, I'll use the Gadget Project on you to turn you into a cyborg.
- Great, but why in the world are you using our second names?
- To make my promise official, but we'd need to build another NEP.
- You'll find a solution to that, you always do.
Nathan sighed and went back to his chip, he was rolling his eyes in disbelief at what he had just discussed with his sister, completely unaware of what would happen three days later.
(Present time)
Nathan wiped his tears and pulled out a blue square with a shiny circle in it from his pocket, he glanced at it with his hopes resurging. The scientist stood up rather quickly and pulled out his cell phone. He marked a number and waited.
- Stephen... Yes, I do realize it's late but this is very important... No, I don't care about your jerky! Just come here and bring the team... Exactly, we've finally got a candidate for the Generation 2. I'll meet you at the labs in fifteen minutes, bye. - Nathan said.
Nathan hung up and eyed the object in his hand again. The blue square in his hand was the key to fulfill the promise he had made to Brenda, and he was sure that Gadget wouldn't mind if he had to live with his glitches for a few more months if it meant having Brenda back.
Nathan put the chip in his pocket again and then he ran into the emergency room.
(Meanwhile at the outskirts of Riverton)
Inspector Gadget couldn't think straight.
He was acting merely on instinct.
A killer instinct.
And he was going to the place in which everything began. The cliff in which Victor Scolex and John Brown lost their identities to leave place to the Infamous Doctor Claw and the Famous Inspector Gadget.
Gadget was running while he hissed and cried, he needed to let out a lot of steam.
With all the willpower he didn't know he possessed, he had managed to unleash his wrath on things and not a single being, not even a plant.
However, he still had too much rage inside him.
Finally, after running for five minutes, Gadget saw it.
The cliff that turned him into a hero. The cliff that turned Scolex into a monster.
Scolex.
The mere thought of his name was enough to build up his rage to the maximum.
An impressive lightning was seen, followed by a monstrous thunder.
In the moment in which the thunder was heard, Gadget roared with all his might, even producing some sparks around him.
The cyborg jumped at the cliff while he kept crying and gritting his teeth. Once he was at the bottom of the cliff, Gadget saw the rock that had crushed Claw's arm. He could still see some blood stains on it, even if a year had passed since that moment.
Without a single word, Gadget punched a hole in the rock, then he lifted it as if it weighed nothing and threw it several meters away while he roared once more.
Gadget roared again and charged against the rock, ready to punch another hole into it.
The cop smashed his fist on the rock again, and again, and again. He started smashing the rock until he had reduced it to powder, literally.
The cyborg panted heavily, he inspected his hands and saw that the skin on the was completely torn, he saw blood running free on them, but he still felt nothing. Not even the cold rain that had drenched his clothes. Hell, he was sure that even if a lightning struck him, he would withstand it as if it was a mere spark.
Then Gadget glanced at the rock that he had just destroyed, he gritted his teeth again and he pointed his right arm at the remains of the rock.
- GO GO GADGET-LASER! - Gadget yelled.
And just like he wanted it, his arm turned into his deadliest weapon, the Gadget-Cannon.
Gadget glared at the remains and he started charging his cannon to a point in which it equaled Iron Man's uni-beam in power. Then he let out a battle yell and shot his cannon.
The cannon shot a powerful green round which created a rather big crater, completely obliterating whatever was left of the rock in which Claw had lost his arm.
Finally, Gadget saw his cannon, he returned his arm back to normal, then he fell to his knees and started crying bitterly.
Another lightning was seen, and he yelled out loud just in time to accompany the sound of the thunder.
The rain stopped till the morning came, and Gadget stayed in the bottom of the cliff the whole time.
