Polarity

by Chris Myers

When a Romero-style zombie outbreak hits, three supervillains, led by a long time loser, find themselves doing whatever it takes to save themselves, and eventually, the rest of humanity.

29. Meet the Old Boss

Soft and comfortable. These were the best two pillows I had ever put my head on, I thought as I stretched my neck. Sighing, I rolled onto my side, one arm sliding underneath as I fought to get more comfortable. My head sunk into the firm softness. The cover over me was thick, and probably filled with down. "Mmm...I could stay here all night," I murmured softly.

"You've slept long enough, Mr. Schultz."

Funny. I always thought she'd have a more feminine voice...

My eyes snapped open. And I found myself staring at the partition in my warehouse's bedroom.

"What the...I'm home?"

"Yes, Mr. Schultz. Please, can you sit up for me?"

I didn't recognize the voice. Maybe it was one of the survivors Rhino brought back earlier in the night? "Yeah...give me a second." I felt utterly exhausted as I stretched out my arms, waking my body up...

Where was the pain? There should have been earth-shattering pain, because hadn't I been shot in my shoulder right before dislocating it? Was I still dreaming, maybe? No, that couldn't have been the case, because it was my IKEA bed and not the Presidential Suite at the Waldorf. The only pain I was feeling was a small pinch in my right forearm.

"Please, Mr. Schultz. I need to see if we've put all your pieces back together properly." The voice was male, soothing, with an Oriental accent on the American words. Carefully, I lifted my upper body. My usual blanket had been replaced with a thick checkerboard-pattern comforter. The bed creaked slightly as I sat up. Aside from the usual weariness that comes with just waking up, my body was pain free, except for that little pinch. I gingerly put a hand to my chest. Where I expected tightly wrapped bandages, I met only smooth skin. No cuts, no scabs. Looking down caused me to blink in confusion as I took in my unwounded self. What had been a mess of burn marks and talon cuts was now a grouping of light scars, dotting and criss-crossing my torso. And my shoulder...the skin was much lighter where the bullet had entered my body, but I was able to gently roll my formerly-dislocated shoulder without the slightest of discomfort.

The little pinch in my arm stung for a second. When I laid eyes on it, I saw that an IV had been run into my left arm, dripping from a bag hanging on a metal rack.

"If you feel up for it, try to stand up, please."

I turned my entire body, looking now at the man who had been talking to me ever since I woke up. Standing beside the partition was a tall Chinese man, wearing a black suit, that I didn't recognize. He was smiling and motioning for me to get out bed. "Watch the IV, Mr. Schultz," he told as I put my hands on the mattress, and slowly pushed up. I felt my knee pop slightly, but other than that, I almost felt as right as rain. "How do you feel," he asked me.

"Pretty damn good, actually," I told him as I put my hands on my lower back. Blood started to flow and sleep left my body as I stood in my own bedroom. I wasn't even wondering who the hell this Chinese guy was who was so intent on my health. He definitely wasn't one of the guys I remember bring back to the warehouse. I focused on him, trying to job my memory as he simply smiled in return. "Do I know you," I finally asked after coming up blank.

"I don't believe we've met." His skin was worn and tough, but the nails were neatly trimmed, I noticed as I took his extended hand. "My name is Martin Li. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Schultz.

"Herman, please." It was then I noticed that I was only wearing a pair of pajama bottoms. "Can we take this IV out? I'd like to throw a shirt on."

"Certainly." He reached out again, and carefully removed the needle from my arm. "Just hold this piece of cotton," Li said as he pushed it over the small drop of blood, "for a few seconds."

"Thanks." As I held the medical gauze in place, I asked him, "you a doctor?"

"Not exactly," Li smoothly replied. "I'm more of a...homeopathic specialist. James Sanders called for me a few days ago and...bartered for my services. I've been taking care of you for the duration."

"A few days ago?" That got my attention. I pulled the cotton away. One red spot stained the white fabric. "How long was I out for?"

"It's been three days since Ms. Marvel brought you here, Herman."

"...three days?" I looked down and touched the scar on my chest with one finger. "This all healed up in three days?"

Li's response was a sly smile. "I am very skilled at my craft, Herman. I know you have a lot of questions, but please, let's get some food in you first. We'll be waiting in your kitchen when you're ready."

"We? Kinda vague...who's we?" But Li was already gone, stepping behind the partition and out of my sight. Puzzling over my current, wound-free situation, I started to grab a t-shirt from the dresser when I caught a whiff of myself. The stench really could be described as "eu du zombie," because man did I reek.

Even if it was converted and jury-rigged from an old warehouse restroom, the nice, hot shower did freaking' wonders for me, and brushing got rid of that 'just waking up' film that always collects on your teeth, be it morning or evening. The guy looking back at me as I rubbed the week's worth of beard stubble still looked like me, save for the whole bunch of new scars. The longer I stared at my reflection, though, the more I started to really study it. The wall of stuff behind looked a bit off, and as I debated if it was worth shaving, I realized I was looking at...it's my face, yeah, but there were some areas I was seeing in a new light. Literally, the light was shining on me in a weird way. It took me a few seconds, craning my neck to see what was what, before I shrugged it off.

By the time I finished shaving, my stomach was making waves, rumbling loud enough for me to hear over the running water. I changed into a pair of athletic shorts and a gray t-shirt after running a comb through my hair. Li's suggestion to get some good in me was a damn good idea. A ham sandwich was on my mind as I stepped out from behind the partition into the main part of the warehouse. "Excuse me, Flint," I told the Sandman as I brushed passed him.

"No problem, Herman," he told me as he took a sip from the bottle of beer. I headed towards the kit...

...

...

...slowly, I turned around. "Flint?"

The broad form of Flint Marko, much better known as the Sandman, had been leaning against the wall near the partition that made up the "wall" of my "bedroom." He saluted me with the bottle of Budweiser. "We were wondering when the hell you were going to wake up. You just won me fifty bucks. I had 3:30 pm in the pool."

"I..." After a second of confusion, I did the only thing I could do, stepping forward and clapping the silicon-based villain on the shoulder. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, Flint, but what the hell are you doing here?"

"What do you think? Hiding out from the damn zombies," he responded with a gritty chuckle. "When Sanders showed up and told me we were moving all the survivors we could find to your warehouse, I rounded up everyone in my place and brought them over here."

That took me a couple more seconds to process. "Sanders? Speed Demon? Bringing everyone here? I am awake, right? Because, no offense Flint, if I am dreaming, I'm pretty pissed at myself, because you should be Ms. Marvel. And Moonstone."

Another small laugh as Flint put his hand on my shoulder, and gently turned me around. "Take a look, Herman," Sandman said, pointing towards the rest of the warehouse. "See what happens when you sleep in?"

My warehouse was packed with people. Ever been to an underground club or an illegal rave? Take away the music, and that's what my hideout had become. With his arm around me now, Sandman walked me forward, laughing at the stunned look on my face. "Turns out your place can hold a lot of people, Herman."

On the couch in front of me, Speed Demon was holding a video game controller. On one side, his practically life-partner Blizzard was sipping on a cold ice tea. The other side, a young boy, thirteen at the oldest, was slamming buttons on his controller. "Come on, man! You're cheating!"

"I am not! You just suck at this game, kid," James shot back with a smirk on his face.

"No I don't! I'm ranked on Xbox Live!"

"Kid, so am I. Who do you think N33d4Sp33d is?"

"Oh, God, I just imagined how you spelled that," Blizzard moaned next to Speed Demon, holding his head in mock dismay. "Any English major left alive is cringing."

Behind the bickering trio, the Ringer, wearing his green and orange costume, was leaning over a large pot that was simmering on three of my stove's burners. "Mmmm...that smells delicious..."

"Shoo!"

Thwack!

"Ow!" The Ringer pulled his hand back as Anne shook a wooden spoon at him.

"Not done yet," she responded in her Eastern European accent. "You wait until it's ready!"

Near where the Ringer shook his hand, I could make out a steel tentacle waving in the air, and there was only one guy I knew with limbs like that. Indeed, as I craned my neck, there was Otto Octavius, the good doctor. And he was pulling an IV out of the arm of a young black haired woman. "Thank you, my dear," he said. "We were in dire need of that blood type," he said as he wiped her arm down.

Past that? Anaconda was holding a kid in the air, surrounded by other little kids, and a wary looking adult who kept an eye on the Serpent Society member.

And all the way at the other side of the warehouse? Hang on kids, because this is where I was wondering if Li had given me some really strong painkillers, as two guys I never, ever, ever thought I'd see in my life were interacting. Clad in green and violet, Molecule Man was closing the hole in the loading dock door he had made with a wave of his hand, after letting a large golden wheel just roll inside.

"Big Wheel," I said as Jackson Wheele stepped out of his vehicle, turning to help a young man out after him. "That's it. I'm nuts. I've finally snapped and am sitting in Bellevue in a straitjacket."

"Then seeing the Hypno Hustler earlier this morning would have blown your mind." Sandman moved me forward a little bit more. Everywhere I looked in the warehouse, there was a villainous colleague of mine, mixing freely with civilians. Civilians who normally would be running from guys like them were now giving them nothing worse than a wary eye. The air was filled with chatter, normal people talking with criminals, mad scientists, and murderers without apparent fear. And it was all happening in my house. My home.

"How...how did this all happen?"

"I'll let the big guy explain." He pulled his hand from my shoulder before cupping his fingers around his mouth. The fingers turned from skin to sand, extending slightly into a small megaphone. "HEY, EVERYONE! HERMAN'S AWAKE!"

Silence. Just the complete and utter absence of sound after Sandman's echo drifted away. Everyone, from where I was standing, turned to look at me. Every pair of eyes on me for a few seconds of silence. I wanted to take a step backwards, and duck back into my bedroom. I was the center of attention, from everyone...

I don't know where the clapping and cheering started, but within in instant, damn near everyone was putting their hands together for Herman Schultz. Cue dropping of my jaw. The civilians and my colleagues...oh, God, there was the damn Armadillo, putting his claws together for me...and the Needler, the old guy standing next to a really hot redhead who was nodding her approval as our eyes met...and speaking of hot women, Skein was totally shooting me a "come hither" look...and Doctor Octopus, standing next to Hydro-Man, simply dipped his head towards me as his tentacles snapped their approval.

Ok, you want sappy? You want me getting overwhelmed? You want me blown away by this outpouring of support? Well, damn right, this made me feel incredible. Confused, but incredible. I had no idea what these people were doing jammed in my formerly-secret hideout, but apparently, this was a place of safety, a neutral zone of peace since my furniture still looked intact and no one was fighting with anyone else. Me. This was all for me...

Fred was right. I wanted the applause. I wanted the acclaim. And I wanted it for doing things my way, the correct way, the RIGHT way. I had turned this warehouse, a few nights back, into my own personal rescue station, and to this day, I will insist I did it because it was the right and moral thing to do. I sure as hell didn't mean to turn this place into a full-fledged rescue station, but apparently, it had, for some reason, become a beacon and a place to come. I didn't even ponder the logistics of it all, the feeding, the medicine, none of that. The applause may have caused me to blush, but for the most part, I was just stunned by the reaction.

"Move it! Move it! Damn it, get OUT of my way!"

I knew what was coming the second I heard that gravelly voice. I managed to turn and brace myself just as two massive arms wrapped around me and lifted me up off the ground.

"About TIME your ass woke up," Aleksei bellowed as he squeezed me tight. I heard some laughter...good natured...from the crowd. "Jesus, Herman, that's the last time you do any damn thing without me! You could have been killed!"

"Damn it, Aleksei, put me down! Put me down!" I swatted at him half-heartedly. "You look like a big baby!"

"Hell with that," Aleksei said as he put me back down on the ground. "I don't care," he growled, his hands holding my shoulders, audible even over the applause. "Right now, you tell me you're never going out again by yourself, and I'm including climbing up onto the roof!"

"You're embarrassing the lad, mate." One arm clapped around my shoulder, and the other shoved a cold glass of water into my hands. "Li says no alcohol for you while you're still full of antibiotics, so this is the best we got," Fred told me as he drank from his own can of beer. "Drink up."

The water felt great going down. The applause tapered off as I enjoyed the cool liquid. "Oh, that's good," I breathed. "Thanks, Fred."

"No problem, mate. So..." He lowered his voice, speaking in hush tones. "...you gonna make a speech here? You've been the man of the hour for the past three days. People kept trying to sneak in to see you, but Li insisted you get a lot of rest. We had to get Aleksei and Flint to play bouncer!"

"Tell me you didn't turn away any hot blondes, Aleksei..." The big guy, out of his suit, just shrugged at me. "Oh, come on, man...alright, alright," I said as his face got a bit crestfallen, "you were just doing your job, Aleksei. It's all good. Thanks for watching out for me."

I finished my water, looking at the crowd out of the corner of my eye. They were talking a bit among themselves, but the attention was still on me. It was that spotlight pressure, where you're compelled to say something because everyone expects you to. Which might explain Spider-Man...

I stepped away from Rhino and Boomerang, putting my glass down on the table before raising my hands. "Um...hey!" The murmuring quieted down again, all eyes back on me as I raised my hands. "Hey, everyone." Nice opening, Herman. "Um...well, it's great to see everyone here. I don't know where everyone came from, but I just hope someone remembered to charge a cover."

Dumb, dumb, dumb joke. Polite laughter, though. Some of the unease went away. "Alright, I have to be honest. I have no freaking' clue what's going on here...or why you guys are in my house. It's like someone threw a party and no one told me about it." Some more laughter now, along with a few calls of encouragement from some of my colleagues. "So, if you guys don't mind, I'm gonna have...lunch? Or an early dinner. Whatever. And these two guys behind me are going to explain to me what the hell's going on."

It wasn't the best closing in the history of speeches. But then again, I never was much of a public speaker. "Alright, you two," I said to Fred and Aleksei, "let's get something to eat, and then you can tell me all about how my warehouse became the damn Hilton..."

X

"Start at the beginning," I said to Aleksei as I dipped the hunk of bread into the steaming bowl of chicken soup. "How the hell did I get back here?"

The big guy wiped his chin with a napkin as I dug into my first meal in days. "Ms. Marvel carried you. She showed up and got you into your bed. You were in really bad shape, Herman. We tried to clean you up as best we could, but...what the hell happened? Who shot you?"

"I'll fill you guys in after we're done talking," I replied. "Right now, it doesn't matter..."

"Actually, mate, I am curious to hear how you took down the Hulk." That was Fred, sipping on a fresh can of beer. "Think both of us are, actually."

"I didn't do anything but get smacked around by him. It was all Hydro-Man. But," I said, waving my hand, "that's not important." Save for the blood red eyes, but one confusing matter at a time. "They brought me back here? Why the heck didn't they fly me to a hospital or something?"

"They wanted to, mate. She dialed Aleksei here up from your mask's phone and told us where she was taking you. But Norman Osborn must have overheard it. Her and Morris were heading towards a Med-evac unit, but Osborn cut in said the unit was at capacity and didn't have resources to waste on, and I'm quoting from memory, 'a known supervillain who won't follow government directive.'"

Obsorn again.

"Stroke of luck there though. I think Blondie was really letting Obsorn have it when James cut in, and told her to switch to another channel. They kept jumping comm channels until Osborn couldn't catch up, and Speed Demon told her to bring you here. By the time they had shown up, James had gotten in touch with this Mr. Li fella. Apparently, James knew about the guy, and made a deal with him. Couple of minutes after we got you out of your suit and started to clean you up, James calls from outside. It's him, Li, and a whole bunch of survivors from Chinatown way. From what James said, the deal was that Li's group could hole up here with us, and in return, Li would play nursemaid and get you back to health. Guess the guy's a meta like us, because he dragged you back from Death's Door, Herman."

"Either that or that ancient Chinese secret stuff really works," Aleksei chimed in.

"In any case, he sets you up in the back there and brings everyone in through the storm drain, and they were nice enough to bring all their supplies with them in a U-Haul. As he's doing that, Ms. Marvel gets a call from Osborn. And again, quoting from memory, her orders are to 'arrest James Sanders and Herman Schultz for obstruction of justice.' Well, Ms. Marvel just flat out tells him that 'Sanders got away and took Schultz with him,' before cutting him off and letting us know she'd be back. Well, she's flying away, and James just makes himself at home. With me so far?"

"Yeah, Fred." The chicken soup was delicious. I tried to maintain decorum as I slurped it up. "So Ms. Marvel told Osborn to take a flying leap?"

"Not in so many words, but she sure wasn't listening to him. He pulled a switch on everyone that night, and a lot of people aren't happy about it." Fred motioned for a piece of my bread, and tore a chunk off after I offered it to him. "Osborn really pushed the 'everyone to Central Park' thing ever since this whole mess started, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the big central rescue station thing."

"Well, the night you decided to go out and become a human pincushion, Osborn goes on TV and tells everyone if you're not in an official rescue station by that point, you're a liability and are cut off."

I almost spit out the soup at that point. "Wait, WHAT?"

Fred shrugged. "That's what he said, that everyone had ample time to reach the safe zone, and that if you weren't there by now, they weren't going to risk coming to get you."

"But...I mean...that lady in the youth center. She said some soldiers had stopped by and said they were coming back to get her, but never did."

"The black-haired teacher lady? Yeah, Bench brought her and her kids in a bit after Ms. Marvel left," Aleksei added. "She mentioned that thing about the soldiers."

"Anyway," Fred said, "so Osborn pretty much told anyone not under his guns that he wasn't gonna look out for them. You can imagine the damn uproar that caused online. Osborn tried to shut down the damn Internet, it got so damn bad. Anyway, so James decides, since he doesn't have a job working for the feds anymore, he's just gonna put up feet here. All well and good. I mean, it's James. But then Donald..."

Blizzard, a reminder to those not in the know, and I know a lot of people don't know who he is.

"...calls and says he's got a bunch of nurses from an overrun med-evac station, and why the hell wasn't James at their meeting spot? So, half an hour later, Blizzard's sitting here with a gaggle of nurses, and I'm in the middle of offering them a brew when Hydro-Man shows up, and he's got all the kids and teachers from the day center. So, in the course of about two hours, we about doubled the number of bad guys, almost tripled the amount of civilians, and then Aleksei has this gem of an idea..."

That was my cue to give my friend a look of my own. "Really?"

"Don't look so surprised, Herman," he growled good-naturedly.

"Aleksei, you're the guy who though we should stock up on a whole bunch of supplies and you're also the guy who's in one piece while I should look like a jigsaw puzzle." Shooting him a smile, I asked, "So what was this great idea of yours?"

It took him a few seconds to put his thoughts together. "This is a big warehouse. You got a lot of space even with all your stuff here. Even packing in Li bunch, Donald's bunch, and Morris' bunch, there's still plenty of room. We still have a lot of supplies, and everyone who came in tended to bring along some of their own water and stuff. So I just thought about what Abner said earlier about all our friends hiding out and playing good guys like we were, and just...well, I just said out loud."

One large hand swept over the stunning visual panorama that was my warehouse hideout. "Why don't we just make this place our Central Park?"

I blinked. And blinked again. And chewed on my lip for second. "I think I'm following you here Aleksei, but I'm not picking up the trail."

"Look," he said, folding his hands together. The table creaked as he leaned forward on his elbows to make his point. "Whenever I'm fighting a bunch of guys, it's a lot easier for me to take them out if they're all clumped together. Just charge right in and knock 'em around. If they're all spread out, it's harder for me to get them. I still get them in the end, but it takes longer." He nodded firmly to finish his thought.

"Yeah...still not quite following you, big guy. By that logic, you're making it easier for Osborn to wipe us out in one swoop." I turned to Fred. "You with me on this one?"

Fred put his hands up, pushing back from the table just slightly. "This is Aleksei's idea, Herman. Just hear him out. Don't pull me into this."

Aleksei responded with a shake of his head. "I know what you mean, Herman, but Osborn's not going to try anything. Look around you." He waved his hand again, and as I followed, I immediately picked up what he meant. "Doctor Octopus, Molecule Man. Those two alone, I wouldn't want to try messing with. And that's not counting all of us schlubs who actually works for a living," he joked softly. "Look around, Herman. No one's scared. No one's fearful. Nervous, yeah. But we bad guys worked up a lot of goodwill the past few days. I just thought if we packed everyone in here, no one's going to try to mess with us. We're the good guys now..."

"Some of us, mate."

"...Fred excluded, and yeah, maybe guys like Venom or the Punisher. But the rest of us, we did something good here. And it's because of you, Herman." Aleksei pointed a finger across the table at me. "You started all this. You saw how everyone reacted when you showed up. You're a damn rock star right now. From what Ms. Marvel and a couple other heroes we've talked to have said, Osborn's playing his cards right and keeping people safe, but he's checking the pot instead of betting big and trying to save more people. And that's ticking a lot of heroes off. And here you are, risking your butt to save civilians..."

"So basically...we rounded up all the demons to watch the sheep," I mused, "but the angels are on our side."

Fred smirked at my reference. "I don't think Angel's been in the city," was Aleksei's reply, "but for now, most of the bad guys are the good guys, and the real good guys are helping us out." He paused for a second, and shook his head. "Sorry, Herman. I got off track there, rambling."

"Don't sweat it, Aleksei. Seriously, you've heard me talk. So, you rounded everyone up?"

"Pretty much. We put the call out that anyone who could get here safely to come in and bring whatever supplies they could. And after a while, people just started showing up. I think Joystick and Polestar showed up first, but after that..."

"I see the results. But what about the zombies? Aren't they still out on the streets? All those people running around getting here, that's gotta be an all-you-can-eat buffet to those things?"

Aleksei confused me by smiling in response. "Herman, have you seen who we have here? As long as everyone was smart, there wasn't any problems. Most of the ghouls are up near Central Park, anyway. You were right about that. All those people in one place?"

"Yeah...I just hope we don't end up the same way." I finished the bowl of rich soup that Anne had brewed up for me before bringing up my next question. "So, the heroes? They're completely fine with this, and not trying to arrest everyone?"

"It's like Aleksei said, Herman," Fred chimed in. "Look at all this firepower. Hell, Molecule Man alone is enough to make Norman Osborn reconsider his options. Granted, Osborn's ranting up a storm, but it's...it's a controlled rant. He's angry, not insane. But the heroes...well, gee. They just can't find the warehouse to arrest everyone. They're not storming the place because they're afraid of us, or that we have hostages. They're just leaving us alone for a bit." He finished his beer. "Respect from the spandex crowd," he said as Fred snapped open a fresh bottle, popping the cap with the edge of the table. "What a concept."

"Yeah, but they've also been bringing up stuff we need. Sneaking us extra food, bringing medicine, hell, they even brought a bunch of tennis balls so the Ringer could juggle and entertain everyone. It's like..." Aleksei scratched at his chin for a second. "...it's like the West Berlin Blockade I read about when I was a kid."

"Christ. Aleksei's pulling out the history analogies. Now I know I'm dreaming." That got a laugh from the big guy, and as he lightly punched my shoulder, I didn't feel any pain from the gunshot wound. "Alright. So, pretty much, we consolidated everyone's resources into one place. Part of me..." I tapped my fingers on the table. It felt a bit off putting to NOT be in costume. Heck, only Aleksei and I were out of costume. Even Fred was still wearing his Boomerang colors. "...part of me thinks we're flicking our noses at Osborn, and the last thing anyone wants to do is piss off a possible psychopath. But...hell, it never was about us, was it? It was about the civilians. And, on that note..." I reached over and took the beer out of Fred's hand, ignoring the small cry of protest. "...this one's to you, Aleksei. Your plan, and it was a good one. Cheers." I raised the bottle, and saluted my friend. "Your health, Aleksei."

If the soup tasted good, the beer tasted even better. I downed half the bottle in one long swallow. "Damn, that was what I needed," I said, smirking at Fred as I slid the bottle back over to him. "Thanks, mate."

Pause.

"Oh, crap. I'm on anti-biotics, aren't I?"

X

"No, Herman," Mr. Li said, "the anti-biotics I gave you won't react with such a small amount of alcohol." His hand squeezing my shoulder was oddly reassuring, and I felt much better as he patted me firmly. "Why don't you go make the rounds? I'm sure a lot of people here want to shake your hand."

That wasn't a bad idea. "Alright. Hey, thanks for..."

Li waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, Herman. I'm sure you'll find a way to pay me back someday."

X

"Can't you just...I don't know, Owen...wave a hand and make these things disappear? I thought your powers worked on inorganic matter?"

He was probably the most powerful guy in the room, a guy who could make energy and matter appear from nowhere, someone who could rip open a hyperspace portal without a thought. Hell, he even shattered Captain America's shield once.

So when a guy like Owen Reece, the freaking' Molecule Man, shakes his head sadly, it doesn't really do wonders for long-term confidence.

"I've tried, Herman. For whatever reason, something out there is animating dead tissue to the point where it could pass as organic. It's a mockery of life."

X

"Hey, man..."

Jackson Wheele looked a bit sheepish as we stood next to his vehicle. "...the whole thing with me and Spider-Man, and you and the bank robbery...it wasn't anything personal..."

"Hey, it was Vil-Anon's, what, ninth step? Water under the bridge, Jackson." Although...do you know LONG I had been harassed because I had been beaten up and arrested because of freaking' Big Wheel?

No, Herman. Detente, forgiveness...if you could have let Electro go after he tried to kill you, being mad at a guy who had tried to go legitimate seemed like overkill. "Seriously, don't sweat it." I studied the large, round vehicle that was Jackson's namesake. "I gotta ask, though, did you have a problem with hair and guts getting stuck between your spokes?"

X

"Alright, kids, throw me another one!"

Normally, I would have been quietly paranoid about kids running around my warehouse. Not only is there a bunch of very delicate equipment on my workbench, but even after moving all the crates and disarming all the traps to give everyone easy access to the storm drain entrance/exit, I still didn't want the young ones wandering into the far corners of the warehouse, where I still had a few traps. Just in case. Hey, I didn't survive as a villain for as long as I did without a helping of paranoia.

Luckily, my fears were allayed by the actions of several colleagues. The remnants of the Wrecking Crew had set themselves up on the edge of the gathering of people. Anyone wandering near them would get the stinkeye from Bulldozer, who, along with Thunderball, had staked out a couple kegs of beer and were currently working themselves into a pleasant state of buzzedness. I don't know if there were giving the stinkeye because they wanted to be alone or because they were afraid that someone was going to snag their beer, but they kept everyone away from them, and that included the kids.

Who were instead being distracted by a very unlikely source.

A blonde-haired kid, no more than six, giggled as she gently arced a bronze ring towards the Ringer, who easily snatched it out of the air and added it to the four he was already juggling, much to the delight of the gathered children.

X

"I mean," she purred, "I never knew you had it in you."

"I...well, I didn't either..."

Black Mamba smiled at me, white teeth dazzling against her olive complexion. "It's impressive what you're capable of, Herman. I mean, normally I would have passed you off as just a nice guy. You should be proud of yourself. You, Aleksei, and Fred. But this was really all you, Herman, from what Boomerang told me. He talked you up something fierce."

She leaned in closer, her hand squeezing my upper arm, as I beamed at her words. Here was one of the hottest women on the face of the planet, complimenting me while she was sober. Already I was debating how to make a move when she whispered into my ear.

"I have to ask you...is Fred seeing anyone?"

X

"Um...thanks," I said, staring up into the featureless face of the Awesome Android after reading the message on the CPU display in his chest, "but I don't I need a hug, dude. She's not the first girl to turn me down."

X

I felt a hard tap on my shoulder. Turning away from the Prowler, I looked up at Aleksei. "Yo."

"There's a guy up on the roof, who wants to talk to you." Aleksei motioned with his head towards the ceiling. "Says it's important. I think you should go talk to him."

He was trying to be sly and mysterious, and failing miserably. The Prowler chuckled just a little bit when I gave Aleksei a friendly smile. "Alright. I'll head on up. We'll talk later, Hobie," I said, nodding goodbye to the Prowler. Aleksei fell in step beside me as we walked through the crowd towards the stairs. "What's up, Aleksei?"

"Abner's up on the roof with someone," Aleksei responded. A few people in the crowd were acknowledging us, raising their glasses or cup in salute or patting me on the shoulder as we passed them. "They landed a few minutes ago. Something big's going down, Herman."

"Really. Who's with him? One of us, or one of them?"

"One of them," Aleksei responded as we reached the steps. "One of the big them's, Herman. That's why I'm thinking this is big."

"Huh. Well, if you're saying it's big, big guy." I had met Thor and Ms. Marvel. Who the heck was bigger than them? Reed Richards? I started up the stairs, and the metal creaked as Aleksei walked behind me. "Aleksei, you don't have to..."

"The last time you went anywhere alone, you got shot," he responded with a note of finality. Hell, at this point, I was lucky Aleksei didn't follow me into the bathroom when I had to take a leak. But he was right.

The sun was setting over past the Jersey shoreline as Rhino and I walked out onto the roof. The debris from burning buildings and incinerated bodies made the sunset a little more brilliant than usual, painting the roof with an orange glow, casting long shadows behind the two of us. Leaning against one of the nearby heating outtake ducts, the silver-and-black form of MACH-IV looked up as we approached. "Hey, Herman. Nice to see you up and about. Spider-Man said you took a hell of a pounding."

I was going to snap off a smart reply, something so incredibly witty that anyone reading this story would pee their pants faster than a senior citizen with a broken catheter. But as soon as I saw the guy who was standing next to Abner, well, that funny and very insulting to Abner's mother line went right out of my head.

"Oh my God," I spat out instead. "You're him."

"Not exactly," the form replied. He stepped forward, a red gloved hand outstretched. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Herman. You did good work this past week."

I knew this wasn't the guy. He had been shot on the courthouse steps and died bleeding out in a nearby hospital. His body had been buried in Arlington Cemetery, full military colors and honor guard. The day of his funeral, I don't think a single crime was committed in New York City, just out of pure respect. The guy in front of Aleksei and I ain't him, not by a long shot. He picked up the mantle and ran with it, and from what I've heard, isn't doing a bad job.

When Captain America, who ranks up there with the freaking Pope in terms of respectability, puts his hand out, you shake it.

"Wow. Thanks!" Ok, Herman, don't sound like a damn fan boy. "I mean...thanks. But I had help."

"I'm well aware of Aleksei's contributions over the past few days." Was Aleksei beaming? Yeah, the big guy was. "You look well, Herman. I heard from Spider-Man that you got beaten up pretty badly, though."

It was like listening to my Dad. That question-that-wasn't-a-question, made specifically to yank an answer out of you. For the first time in a while, I'm glad my old man and lady had died a few years back. The thought of them wandering around somewhere looking to eat people...well, my folks didn't exactly approve of my life choices, but still, they're your folks. Heck, my old man might have finally been proud of me...

Alright, alright, you didn't come here to hear about my lack-of-major-daddy issues.

"I had a really good doctor," I replied. "I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered."

"That's good to hear, Herman," Captain America responded sincerely. "I apologize for being to the point, but we're very short on time. According to Aleksei, you have about three hundred people downstairs. How quickly can you have everyone downstairs ready to move out?"

Blink blink blink.

"Move out? Like, have them ready to leave?"

"Yes."

I looked up at Aleksei for a second, quickly crunching some numbers in my head. "Um...well, are we talking just the people, or the supplies?"

"Just the people."

"Shi...um...sheesh," I quickly corrected myself, "four hours? Yeah, about four hours."

"That quickly?" Captain America now stole a glance to the side, taking in MACH-IV as he thought.

"Well, yeah. Everyone's about to have dinner, so they'll leave well fed. All the major injuries have been set or taken care of. No bites," I quickly added, "just sprains and cuts and stuff like that. It's just a matter of getting organized and making sure everyone's ready to go."

He nodded firmly at my statement. "Alright, then. Abner, call Iron Man and start getting everything prepped. You think this roof can handle a Quinjet?"

"Easily," Abner replied. "I've seen helicopters land on this roof." After another nod from Captain America, Abner stepped away from us. "HQ, MACH-IV," I heard him say. "We're a good to go, ETA four hours, let's call it 2200 hours..."

"You're going to evacuate us?" That was Aleksei, who towered over the soldier, scratching his chin as he talked. "You're gonna fly everyone off of the roof?"

"Exactly. At midnight tonight, we're going to evacuate Central Park, and that includes everyone you two are keeping safe downstairs. Manhattan's being written off by the government." He must have seen the look on our faces. "I know it's a shock to just abandon the biggest city in the country. But even after everything the armed forces and the Initiative have done, there's just too many zombies and not enough people to stop them all without risking civilian lives. Central Park could hold out, but there's no reason to keep the civilians there anymore. There's really no one else who can make it to the Park left on the island. So, it's time to get them, and us, out of here. And that includes everyone in this warehouse."

It made good sense. Which meant, I had to ask. "Osborn's call?"

"No, Herman, this one's SHIELD's call. Osborn wants to make a stand in Central Park and just whittle the dead down one at a time, and at the same time, write off everyone else outside the barricades. But the rest of the country needs our help, and there are just too many zombies still left in New York. It's better to evacuate the civilians now before anything happens. And there's no way we were going to leave this many civilians and all the villains who came over to help out in the cold."

I found myself nodding along. "Alright. So, what, you're flying everyone out on Quinjets?"

"Out of your warehouse, yes. At midnight, Doctor Strange is going to open a portal in Central Park to a safe zone out on Long Island. A couple of the Initiative teams have cleared most of the island. We're going to move everyone out there before we spread out to the rest the country."

I was never a big fan of magic. Give me Newton's Four Laws any day of the week. Aleksei spoke up now. "How's the rest of the country holding up?"

"Not too well, Aleksei. There's too many zombies and not enough emergency personnel, including superheroes, to go around. Boston was next on our list, but thwey went silent earlier this evening. Philadelphia's still broadcasting, but they're getting stretched thin. We got lucky in New York because of you and Herman. Because of your actions, the villains came on board. People we normally would waste time fighting are assisting us instead. We lost New York City, but we saved a lot of the population. That stands for something, and you two had a lot to do with that."

A thought was running through my head, one that had the potential to throw a huge monkey wrench into the words. And something else I wanted to bring up as well. "I can have everyone, civilians and bad guys, ready to go in four hours, Captain. But there's two problems I can see popping up. One, there's a lot of bad guys down there. And a lot of them have outstanding warrants. What's to stop Osborn or even SHIELD from just arresting everyone?"

"Me." Personally, that's all Captain American needed to say to put me at ease. "This might be Osborn's grand show, but Nick Fury has the authority to suspend those warrants, and as long as everyone keeps playing along and helping out, no one's going to get arrested. If someone tries something or attempts to take advantage, we'll take them down. But as long as they play straight, we'll play straight. You have my word."

I nodded firmly. "Great. That'll allay a lot of fears. Just make sure you bring that in writing four hours from now." I'm glad my voice didn't crack as I talked tough to Captain America.

He studied me for a second. "You don't trust me, Herman?"

"I trust you. I just don't trust Norman Osborn. Or Nick Fury, for that matter."

"Fair enough. You got a fax Machine downstairs? I'll fax it over and make sure you get a copy of the original when the first Quinjet comes. Now, what's the second concern?"

"We got a lot of supplies down there. Medicine, food, and apparently a damn good blood supply. I really don't feel comfortable leaving it behind."

"Yeah," Aleksei chimed in. "Especially since we risked our asses to get some of it."

"I understand, but we're not going to have the carrying capacity. Just getting a couple of Quinjet runs to spare is difficult enough." He shook his head. "Unless you got a couple of flyers down there, we can't bring it along."

I couldn't help but smile. "We have some flyers, Captain, but we got someone better. If we get the stuff to Central Park, can it go through the portal?"

"I don't see why not. Alright, Herman, we're cutting it a bit close on time. I'll get that promise from Colonel Fury to your as soon as I can. Deal?" He put out his hand again, and this time, I gripped it firmly as I responded.

"Deal. We'll be ready at ten o'clock. Women and children first. How many people to a group?"

"Five flights, sixty people a pop. Avengers on each of them. And I promise, no tricks. You've played straight the past few nights, and I'll make sure everyone else does the same."

"Alright." This was Abner, stepping back into earshot of the rest of us. "Five Quinjets, one right after another. First one lands at 2200." He motioned to me with a metal hand. "Try to have the first group on the roof, Herman. We'll land the jets...there," he said, pointing near the spot where, a few nights past, we had shared a few beers.

"Can do," I confirmed. "Four hours. And you guys better be here."

"I promise, Herman, we will." Captain America nodded to me one more time, before MACH-IV grabbed him by the waist. Abner's boot rockets ignited, and soon, the pair soared over Lower Manhattan back towards Central Park, leaving me and Aleksei alone on the roof.

"We're getting off of the island, Herman."

"Master of the obvious, big guy," I responded. Off of Manhattan. Away from the living dead. Away from personal responsibility, which had grown from a handful of people to nearly three hundred while I was unconscious.

So why was I filled with a sense of dread and unease?

Oh, yeah. Because Norman Osborn was still out there. Along with whoever this guy was who was trying to kill me.

"Ok, Aleksei. We gotta get everyone moving. Come on, we're not going to waste a single second..."

X

For the most part, it was going pretty damn smooth. It was those magic words that I said as soon as I stepped down off of the stairs and called out to the entire warehouse.

"The Avengers are coming."

The civilians cheered. And my friends and colleagues didn't get too upset at the thought of people they normally would have clashed with riding in like the cavalry. Sure, there were a few loud complaints, from both civilians ("It's about damn time!") and villains ("I got a warrant out!"). It took Aleksei and me a few minutes to calm everyone down, and by that time, the promised fax from Captain American, signed by Nick Fury himself, had arrived. Like I had hoped, it quelled most of the fears from all involved. After that, it was a matter of getting people organized. Women and children first, but when a few male parents pointed out in no uncertain terms that they weren't going to let their kids out of their sight, we revamped the plan a little bit. At this, there were very few protests. Part of me wants to think that the dead rising from the graves to attack the living somehow brought humanity together, uniting instead of diving in the darkest hours of our species. Part of me knows that some of the acceptance was because, well, they were surrounded by people who committed criminal acts on a daily basis and might not have had a problem smacking someone who got out of line.

Women, children, and the female villains had point, making up the first group and nearly the entirety of the second. From my side of the good-evil line, no one complained or bitched. You expected someone to try to slide or weasel on into one of the first groups, but no one tried. And maybe it's some new found optimism on my side to think it was because of altruism and not because Anaconda, she of the massive steel arms, was leading the first group.

Of course, there's one in every crowd.

"You said women and children first! That guy's standing with the second group!"

"That kid doesn't have a mother, and so her father's going with her. So consider it changed to 'women, children, and single male fathers whose kids are here first.'"

"Mr. Cooper, please, just calm down..."

"No, it's not fair, damn it. I've been here longer than most everyone else who's going before me, and I'm not going to sit around here and wait because of a bunch of yo-yo's!"

Standing near the back of the second group, where we had been dividing everyone into the groups of fifty, the old Herman would have just blasted this guy and been done with it. One good level-one, and I bet he'd try to sue me as he laid on the ground bleeding from his nose and ears. But this was the new and improved Herman Schultz. And sometimes, it's not about force, but the proper application of force.

"How about this, Mr. Cooper? Why don't we take this over to the complaint department?" The balding man looked confused as I leaned to one side, singling out the closest costumed guy. "Hey, Thunderball! This guy's gotta a complaint!"

The green-and-yellow clad villain slowly turned away from where he stood, his trademark ball-and-chain wrapped around his shoulder. "Really," he spoke in a deep baritone. "Who's got a complaint, Herman?"

"This guy!" I pointed with one finger towards a suddenly apprehensive looking Cooper. "He doesn't think it's fair that single dads get to go before he does!"

"Really."

*CLUNK*

"No, no, it's ok," Cooper said as the metal ball bounced off the concrete floor, leaving a crack in its wake. "I can wait. I can wait..." Slowly, without taking his eyes off of Thunderball, Cooper stepped away, backing towards the fifth and final group of people. A few people chuckled as he retreated, including myself.

"Thanks, Eliot," I said to Thunderball.

"No problem," he replied. "Some people just can't wait their turn."

"I know. Hey, can you watch things here for a second? I'm gonna go check the roof, make sure it's fine up there."

"No problem," Thunderball repeated. Behind me, Mysterio and Black Mamba were taking the lead in separating everyone still in the warehouse into their groups. Mysterio had literally just shown up, walking out of my bathroom about two hours ago. The only guy I know who would make a Broadway-level production level of washing his hands. As much as the showman's bombastic style grated on my nerves, if you needed someone to wave their hands and play airline host in getting everyone to stand in line, Mysterio was about the best choice you could make. Having the sultry Black Mamba standing beside him helping separate the crowd didn't hurt, either.

The wind had picked up a bit as I stepped out onto the roof, but I had changed back into my original costume. My backup was still soaking wet, fried, ripped, and would one day probably go in the 'GREAT ASS KICKINGS IN MODERN HISTORY' Museum. But the Mad Thinker had been nice enough to fix my suit during the three days I had been unconscious, and my vibro-smashers had been dried out and running with full power.

And there was Aleksei, also back in his armor. I could easily make him out, towering over the crowd of fifty women and children. There weren't any ghouls up here, but he was keeping a lookout, arms crossed, watching over the flock of civilians When he saw me, Aleksei, his face grim, nodded in my direction, and shot me a thumbs up with a massive hand. I nodded in response before heading over towards the other two men standing nearby.

Fred tied the last knot on the final pallet, tugging the cable to test its strength. "There, mate. Everything should be packed tight. Nothing's going to slide around." Indeed, the cable bit into the plastic wrap that had been tied around the stack of stuff atop the pallet. The cable barely budged as Fred pulled on it. "It's damn heavy though, Owen. They all are." Four more pallets were spread out along the roof, a few feet away from where Abner had designated the landing zone for the Quinjets. Each one was packed with the food and supplies that we had gathered and organized over the past week, with the fifth pallets a collection of ice chests holding the blood and plasma Doctor Octopus had collected. "They ain't gonna let it on one of their fancy planes."

Molecule Man smiled as he also tested the cable. "The problem would come if we had to move all this mass over a long distance, Herman. Remove the distance, and it's child's play." One snap of his fingers, and next to Owen, a dark gray portal was shimmering slightly. "Hyperspace. Where one can tell the laws of physics to get bent."

"Well, look who developed a sense of humor." Seeing the hole in time and space was a bit unnerving. I couldn't even look at it directly, instead focusing on the three scars that ran across the bridge of Owen Reece's nose. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Herman, it's Central Park. On a normal day, it's nothing worse than a pleasant walk."

"Not that, Owen…I mean, being the very first one of us there. If Osborn decides to pull something…"

"Ever seen a gun turn into a banana, Herman? I have." Molecule Man twisted his hand, and the portal seemed to spin in place like a coin skittering across the floor. "Don't worry. Someone has to be the point man, right?"

"I'd tell you to keep a level head, Owen, but it's you. I know you'll be cool and calm." I had to turn away from him as he started to manipulate the hyperspace portal. Each motion of his hand was like tearing a hole in realty, as far as I was concerned. "Hey, Fred," I said, "you got a second?"

"Sure, Herman." Boomerang followed me away from where Molecule Man was screwing with space and time. He came up beside me as I came to a stop. "What's on your mind?"

"Got a question for you. You still got a full charge in your rocket boots?"

"…yeah," he replied after a few seconds. "I haven't done a damn bit of flying in a week. You know that, Herman. " Fred shook his head, looking almost disappointed. "Come on. Just ask whatever you're going to bloody ask me. Don't beat around the bush. You know me too well for that."

"Alright. I want you to go with the first bunch of civilians." He started to protest, but I put up both hands to stop him. "Not on the plane. That might put it over the weight limit. If you fly alongside it, be its wingman…"

"Herman," he quickly interrupted me. "No. Absolutely not."

"Come on, man…I know you're stubborn, but we need someone there on the ground. Owen's good and all, but you…you've been here since the beginning. You're one of us to the civilians, you know. It's like an air of legitimacy," I explained. "If they see you there on the ground when they off-load…"

Again, Fred cut me off. "Herman, I'm not going to Central Park."

"Uh…ok. What?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "You heard me. I ain't going up there to rub shoulders with the capes. Most of them don't place on my list of friends, and I'm sure I rank the same to them. Not going to put myself anywhere near where they can arrest me and toss me back in the Vault once someone figures out how to put the dead back into the ground."

"Oh, come on, man. You saw the paper, Fred," I countered. "Hell, Nick Fury himself signed it…"

"I'm gonna trust a guy who thought starting a secret war with Doctor Doom was a great strategic move? Forget that, Herman. I kept my head down so my neck wasn't on the line. No way in hell I'm going to risk all that now just because Nick Fury says he's not going to arrest me. Soon as you and Rhino are on that last bird out of here, I'm blowing this pop stand and heading for warmer climates. Like Aruba or St. Kitts."

I shouldn't have been surprised in the slightest. This was the guy who left me holding the bag during a safecracking. But…I was a bit peeved. "So that's it. You're just gonna abandon Aleksei and I and go save your own ass?"

"Hey, you two want to go be safe and sound with the Avengers and Norman Osborn, Herman. Far as I'm concerned, they can keep bailing you out. You put your neck on the line this past week, and apparently that's enough to wash away all your sins and make you an honorary sidekick. Ain't my bag, Herman, and you know that. Hell, you of all people should know that. You're just gonna up and take the word of Captain America and Nick Fury that everything's squared away and that it's all rainbows out of everyone's arse. There's an angle, you're missing, and you're too damn caught up in playing hero and being starstruck to see it."

My next words caught in my throat as Fred's words hit a bit close to home. "I…but…ok, ok, maybe you're right. The old me would have been a bit paranoid about all of this. But I shook the man's hand, Fred. And Abner was right there. You're gonna tell me you're not going to trust Abner? And when I was out in the field with…"

"In the field? Christ, you're even talking like them now! Herman, I know how this is going to go. Sooner or later, either everyone's going to hold hands, sing songs, and join up with the Initiative, or they're all gonna turn on you and your ass will end up right back in the slammer. I'm not going back to jail, and maybe a guy like Mysterio or Doc Ock can change his stripes and go straight. The Shocker? Legit? That's a hell of a story. I'd say…two-thirds plausible. Boomerang? Legit? Ain't ever gonna be written, Herman."

I should have argued some more. But just like Fred knew me, I knew Fred. Stubborn as the day is long and always winning to put the knife exactly where it needs to go. Yeah, he was never, ever, going to be on the side of the angels. But…the man was my friend. So, I just threw the friend card.

"You owe me, Fred." He scoffed at me, but I kept talking. "For the past week, I let you stay in my warehouse, asking you just to keep an eye on things. You never had to step outside and risk your neck. And you got to eat my food. And…you drank my beer. A lot of my beer. You owe me for that one."

Boomerang just gave me a stony look. That last a few seconds, before the corner of his lip twitched. "Damn it," he groused, trying hard not to crack a smile, "that's low, Herman. That's damn low."

"Hey, you're the one with a drinking problem, not me."

"Yeah, the problem being I'm not bloody well drunk ENOUGH." He sighed, shaking his head in dismay at me. "Damn it, Herman…why don't you go? I'm sure somewhere there with the first group'll swap out to fit St. Schultz onboard."

"Two reasons. One, if I go, Rhino goes, and, no offense, you don't command the civilian respect we do to help keep everyone in line. And two, if I go first, it's like the owner of the Titanic clawing his way onto the first lifeboat. It's just…tacky. And, well…isn't St. Schultz supposed to set a good example," I teased.

He didn't laugh, but he did, that small full body 'harrumph.' "If I do this, I want you to know that the second you and Aleksei walk out of the last plane, I'm gonna walk up, shake your hand, endure a bear hug from Aleksei, and take off. So if you got anything sappy you want to say, suggest you say it to me now, Herman, because I ain't gonna wait around for long goodbyes."

"Sappy? Me? How about I just say thanks for doing this? I know rubbing elbows with the good guys ain't your style."

"I keep telling people that! You believe they wanted to put me on an Initiative team? No joke, they were putting a team together out in Las Vegas, and I got asked if I wanted to join up and clear my record."

"You're kidding me," I said in disbelief. "They asked you of all people?"

"I know, mate! I ended up saying no by attaching a note to one of my boomerangs and putting it right through Alicia Hill's window. She'd got ice in her veins, but I think I rattled her slightly. One of her eyelashes batted."

After the laughter faded, I said quietly, "thanks, Fred. Seriously. I know this…"

"Sod it, Herman. You're right. I owe you for keeping my ass safe and letting me get pissed on that water you Yanks call beer. Just be aware, mate, this wipes the slate clean. We're even, far as I'm concerned."

"You stick around to shake my hand," I responded, "and take a hug from Aleksei, and I'll consider us square, Fred."

"They're coming, gentlemen." That was Molecule Man, who was pointing north. Fred and I turned as, having passed low over the Hudson River, a snub-nosed silver jet was banking through the air, on final approach to the rooftop. The crowd of civilians, with Rhino at their side, watched, small murmurs of hope rising among them, as one of the world famous Quinjet slowed down. Blue-and-yellow thrusters ignited on the bottom of the plane as it went into VTOL mode, smoothly cutting through the air towards my warehouse.

"You sure the roof will hold that thing, Herman," Fred quietly asked me.

"It'll hold."

Pause.

"Um, Owen…"

After a small wave of his hand, Molecule Man nodded. "If it wouldn't before, it will now."

"Alright! Everyone, just like we talked, single file line! Don't rush, don't crowd, and keep track of your kids!" Rhino's booming voice was audible over the whine of the engines. "Everyone's going to get on board, so don't push!"

The Quinjet hovered over the roof now, slowly descending towards the ground. From the flat underbelly, landing struts slowly disengaged, one under the nose and two towards the engines. The pilot didn't jam the stick or let gravity to the work, carefully nursing the plane onto my warehouse. I held my breath as the struts touched down, taking the full weight of the Quinjet and passing it onto the roof. After a few seconds of not crashing through the roof and on top of my kitchen, the engines powered down, small jets of blue flame the only sign of standby mode.

"Guess I gotta go say hi," I told Fred.

"You do that, mate," he said to my back as I left him. The landing ramp was lowering as I walked towards it. I was a bit concerned about my total lack of concern. Let's be honest, with my luck over the past week, there was going to be a full-blow SHIELD team waiting with plasmathrowers, and my saying 'hello' would be misconstrued as 'I have come to destroy you and all you hold dear!'

I can safely report that it wasn't a SHIELD team that jackbooted it down the ramp, but something much, much better. It was the long-legged form of Ms. Marvel that strode towards me, her blonde hair whipping about slightly in the jet wash. My pace quickened just a little bit, and I met her at the bottom of the ramp. "Ms. Marvel," I said, putting my hand out for her to take. Up close, I could see her form slouched slightly, her shoulders lower than normal. Her hair was tangled and stringy, and one side of her face still sported a nasty bruise. Her firm grip, though and a bright, but tired, smile let me know this wasn't a woman, or a hero, anywhere close to being down for the count.

"Herman," she replied as she shook my hand. "I'm glad to see you up and about. You were in bad shape last time I saw you."

"I had a damn good doctor. And I got you to thank, for getting me back here to get looked at."

"It was the least I could do, after your help putting down the Hulk."

"Next time, cash would be nice," I joked. Christ, what a BAD joke. "What ever happened to the Hulk's corpse, anyway?"

"SHIELD eventually showed up. Thor lifted the body to the street and they burned it. Took an hour." She looked over my shoulder, at the crowd of people who were eagerly staring at her and at the waiting Quinjet. "I don't mean to cut this short, Herman, but we're on a tight schedule here. We have to get these people moving."

"Got it. Come on." I waited for her to walk beside me, and then the two of us headed to where Aleksei was standing. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Fred smirking at me as I was walking a little straighter, my spine stiffer, next to a woman I had fantasized about for a long time. A very long time. But no time for love, Dr. Jones. Maybe for lust, but even then…

The civilians were anxious. They shifted from foot to foot, some of the women holding babies on their shoulders or clutching the hands of their children. Freedom was just a few feet away, beyond an Avenger and a reforming supervillain. Maybe two, since Rhino was leading the proverbial charge. "Is everything ready, Ms. Marvel?"

"Yes, Rhino. Is this the first group?"

"Yeah," he grunted. "Women and children. All civvies. The female baddies are going with the second group, along with a couple of single dads. Everyone else is packed into the last two."

"Alright. Ok, everyone, listen up!" It wasn't Rhino's deep voice, but the call of Ms. Marvel did carry a long way. "I need everyone to walk to the Quinjet! We've got enough room for everyone here, so there is no reason to push or crowd! We're going to be loading one row at a time, that's ten people to a row! Just follow the instructions once you get on board!"

"You heard her! Ten at a time!" Rhino lifted a finger, and quickly counted off the first ten people. After a second, a confused look appeared on his face, and he moved his finger again, mouthing the numbers as Ms. Marvel and I watched. "Um…Ms. Marvel," he asked sheepishly, "are you counting babies as separate?"

"Yes, we are. Don't worry, though. T'Challa made sure we could use the seats as baby seats in case of an emergency. I just never thought we'd have to use them because of a zombie apocalypse."

"Ok." After another round of counting, Rhino motioned with his arm towards the plane. "Alright, you guys are first," he said in a soft voice…soft for him, anyway. "Just follow the stewardess and it'll be ok. Go on." The first group of ten moved quickly, heading towards the awaiting plane. "Next ten," he said, counting off the remaining group, "come on up here."

"You put the Rhino in charge of counting and getting people to move. That's an odd choice." Ms. Marvel watched as the next group moved towards the plane as Rhino moved on to continue splitting everyone up.

"The big guy's got people skills." As we were speaking, Rhino was quietly speaking to a shivering woman, shaking with nervousness as Aleksei tried to sooth her. "He can be really soft spoken when he wants to be. Granted, it's rare. Still, he's better with people than I could ever be. Definitely better than Fred."

"It's your show, Herman, not mine."

"Hey, I'm just getting them on the plane. You're the one who's gotta get them back. And speaking of which…Boomerang's going to fly alongside, if that's cool. He wants out of here badly enough. And Molecule Man's gonna take a trip there with our stuff," I said, motioning to where Owen was moving some of the pallets into place by the black hole. "He'll meet you guys there."

"Alright," she said with a nod. "What about you?"

"Last plane out for me. Everyone else goes first."

"How altruistic of you."

"What can I say? If Osborn tries something, all of my friends will be there waiting to back me up."

"Osborn won't try anything."

I smirked under my mask. "Never, ever hurts to have a backup plan."

She responded with a weary smile, just touching the ends of her mouth. "You would know. We should be back in 20 minutes."

"I'll be here with bells on," I told her as she turned. The last group was now wandering up the ramp way. She brought up the rear, and I watched with rapt attention as Ms. Marvel walked up the ramp, even as it was already sliding shut behind her. "Alright, Owen, Fred, you guys ready to head out?"

"Owen's already gone, mate." Fred walked up beside me, clapping me on the shoulder. "And I'm right behind him. Remember, you walk off that last plane and shake my hand. Got it?"

Squeezing his shoulder in response, I told him, "you just better be there waiting for me, Fred." Aleksei came up beside me as the Quinjet lifted off, taking off vertically from my roof, turning in place to head north even as it rose into the air. Fred nodded to the two of us, and then, with a thought, the rockets in his boots ignited. He quickly rose into the air, coming up to hover beside the jet's cockpit. After a few seconds, with him setting the pace, the two took off, flying through the New York night. As they passed a nearby skyscraper, the lights started to cut out, powering down in sequence window by window, floor by floor.

"I'll get the next group ready, Aleksei," I said as the final floor, overlooking the city from such great heights, went dark.

X

I looked over at Wonder Man, one eyebrow raised. "No. Do not tell me that. Tell me you did not just tell me that."

"Sorry, but we have a problem, Herman." He tapped the monitor at the top of the ramp way. "He makes us too heavy. We've seventeen pounds under as it, and that's cutting it real close."

"Well…can't we dump some fuel or something?"

"What fuel? We're fusion powered."

I looked down the ramp. Aleksei was standing on the bottom, looking at me as the red alarms spun silently along the edges of the Quinjet. "I'm too heavy," he said forlornly.

"No, don't say that. Look, if we're over our limit, what happens?"

"Simple. We don't take off. And if we do take off, we probably don't hover. And if we can hover, we don't fly. And if we do fly, we don't land."

"That's a lot of damn don'ts," I shot back. "Damn it, there's gotta be some weight we can dump off! Come on, man, this is a damn Quinjet!"

"Yeah…but this iteration has a lot more armor on it. T'Challa got tired of people complaining they got destroyed too easily."

I knew there wasn't. I had made a mistake. I had back loaded the bigger guys into the last group. Doctor Octopus. Thunderball and Bulldozer. Big Wheel. Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT! It was an engineering trap, and I had fallen face-first into it!

"Herman," Aleksei said softly. "It's cool. I can just meet you guys up there. Hell, it's not that far of a run."

"No way! No way! Damn it, you said you could get everyone off, and Aleksei's everyone," I yelled into the face of the Avenger.

"Calm down, man," he responded coolly. "Look, we can send a helicopter back for him, ok?" He turned and yelled down the ramp. "Rhino! We'll radio ahead and get a helicopter sent back for you! I'm sorry, but you'd just weight us down too much!"

I was about to argue a lot more. Violently and passionately, if need. Instead, Aleksei stepped backwards, off the ramp, waving a hand at us. "Alright! Just get everyone out of here!"

No arguments, no complaints, no begging, no pleading. Just Aleksei trusting an Avenger, one of the standup guys, that he wasn't going to be abandoned on a TriBeCa rooftop. A week ago, he wouldn't have done that.

Then again, a week ago, Herman Schultz wouldn't have been standing on a Quinjet with a whole bunch of civilians and a couple of Avengers.

I walked down the ramp without a moment's hesitation. "You better make sure that helicopter shows up, Wonder Man, or else you're gonna have a bunch of angry bad guys wondering where the hell we are," I called over my shoulder.

"I promise, Herman!"

"Herman, what…" Rhino started. The ramp way was already raising as soon as I stepped off to address the confusion on Aleksei's face.

"The last time I went anywhere without you, I got shot. Someone has to keep me out of trouble." The ramp snapped shut as I added, "we're a team. You don't go, I don't go. Period."

"Herman…"

"I swear to God, Aleksei," I told him as the Quinjet with the last of the survivors lifted off into the night, "if you get sappy, I will kick you in the balls. I don't know how, but I will."

"…you know, for two guys who are best friends, we both seem to hate having the other say 'thank you.'" The big guy craned his neck as we both watched the Quinjet zoom towards Midtown, disrupting a plume of smoke in its wake. "They're gonna come back for us, Herman." It wasn't a question.

"I'd bet on it," was my response. "Well...looks like we're stuck here for a couple of minutes. Don't suppose you got a deck of cards, do you?"

"They were packed in my stuff."

"Damn. The rest of the beer was with my stuff." I crossed my arms, and looked out at Lower Manhattan. The city blocks were a patchwork of light and dark, burning buildings and dark structures. The brightest lights at the moment were coming from the site of the new World Trade Center. Someone had left all the working lights up, bright white a sharp contrast to the black-and-dull-orange of the south half of the island.

"Feels weird, Aleksei. I lived my whole life here in New York. And now I feel like I'm running away with my tail between my legs." I turned to look at my friend. "I mean, this is the center of the world. Everything happens here. Hell, Galactus, when he shows up, wants a slice of the Big Apple. It's like...it's like we're just giving up."

"Hell, Herman, this city's a graveyard now." Rhino swept his arm over the skyline of the city, from the burning buildings of the Bowery up to the few skyscrapers still twinkling in Midtown. "We're the last people still alive down in this part of New York. I'd bet on it. We're standing on a corpse. There ain't anything left to gain."

"That's...an awfully pragmatic attitude. "

"No, I'm just being honest." He put his hands on his hips, sighing as he took in what could be his last moments in his adopted city. "There's a time to cut and run, Herman. You told me that. Well, if this ain't that time, then you'll have to explain to me why not?"

"Can't a guy feel a bit nostalgic?" Aleksei was right. Hell, he's been more right than I have this past week. But...it's like leaving home and knowing you're never going to come back. I'm never gonna get cheap tickets to Yankees' games anymore. I won't be the only one rooting for the Islanders. Coney Island hot dogs? Forget it. Hell, no more Bar With No Name.

Ok, that twinge of angst is starting to set in. Screw that.

"I can't believe how this all played out, Aleksei. Dead rising from their graves. Norman Osborn trying to go on a massive power trip and pulling it off. Heroes and villains, working together." I smirked at the big guy, my friendliest sarcastic smile. "And your big revelation."

One of Rhino's eyebrows raised as he looked down at me. "What are you talking about, Herman? I didn't say..." He paused for a second, and then his eyes widened. "Oh, that! Come on, man, don't bring that up!"

"I don't know why you're so embarrassed about it! Hell, if I were you, I'd be bragging to everybody I knew! Banging She-Hulk? I mean, hell, you got street cred, everyone would believe you! 'Dear Penthouse, I, Herman Schultz, the Shocker, 12345 New York Way, New York, New York, phone number 555-555-5555, email address , am writing you because I couldn't believe what happened to me today here at a small Southern college in the Pacific Northwest."

"Herman..." Even the slight blush on his face contrasted sharply with his gray suit. "...it...it just got REALLY weird. She shows up, starts drinking with me, and hey, I don't think anything about it, because she's gotten drunk with Blizzard before. We drink, the bar closes, we go to another bar and we keep drinking, that bar closes, we go get breakfast at another bar, and next thing you know, well, we're breaking her bed."

"Aleksei, for you, breaking the bed isn't weird, it's normal."

"That's not the weird part, Aleksei. So it all goes, well, we have lunch, she tells me she'll call me, and I'm walking on cloud nine...and a few days later, I run into the Juggernaut during a job. We go out for a few beers, and he asks me what I'm so happy about. I tell him, and Cain just starts laughing his ass off." Rhino sighed loudly. "He patted me on the shoulder and said 'Aleksei, that wasn't her. Well, it was her, but it ain't OUR her.'"

Aleksei turned to face me, shaking his head. "Alternate dimension. She was from an alternate dimension. I banged her double. And Cain just buys me a beer and tells me he knows this because, a week earlier, he had done the exact same thing."

I swear to this day, I didn't mean for it to come out like it did. "Oh...oh, God. Oh, God, Aleksei. You hit the Juggernaut's sloppy seconds."

"Aw, man! Now you know why I didn't want to say anything!" Aleksei slumped against a nearby air conditioning unit, causing the metal to creak. "I mean, we all pick on each other, but you guys always seem to pick on me the most. The last thing I wanted was to give you and Fred something else to poke at me about."

He just sounded so crushed. Any smile I had on my face or fun in my heart instantly deflated. "Hey, whoa, whoa. Dude, I would have made fun, but I wouldn't have picked on you about it if it bugged you that much. I mean...it's her. Hell, that's closer to her than I ever got, and I paid for a green-skinned hooker that one time."

"Yeah, but you paid her to be the green girl from 'Star Trek.'"

"Hey. Aleksei...we all make fun of each other. You're right. But I do it because you're my friend, ok?" I walked over, and put my hand on the big guy's shoulder. "Seriously. You have a great sense of humor, you're fun to be around when you're not pissed off, you're a walking tank, you've never screwed me over on a job...you got me a damn birthday cake, for God's sake. And you didn't steal it, you actually had it baked for me! You got a kind heart and a good soul."

He brushed my hand away. "Aw, Herman, I know you don't want to be mean. It's just a sore spot, alright? It made me feel really dumb."

"Honestly, Aleksei, you may not be Reed Richards, but you're not an idiot. You had plenty of good ideas this past week. Hell, you were the one who got everyone here in the warehouse, and I never would have thought of that. And it got everyone rescued. It's getting US rescued. So the next time someone calls you dumb, I'm gonna punch them. Twice."

The warm smile I got in return from my best friend let me know everything was alright. "Thanks, Herman. Just...no more jokes about her and me, alright?"

"Alright, alright."

Pause.

"One joke, man, just ONE joke." Aleksei took a resigned breath as I spoke. "Well, I guess we found on that there's one more thing that'll stop the Juggernaut. A pubic female bone."

I thought it was brilliant. Aleksei just raised an eyebrow. "Herman, she WAS a she, she didn't have an ere...oh. OH." He cracked a smile. "That's just wrong."

"Are you kidding me? I think it's brilliant. So we know how what can bring the mighty Juggernaut to a screeching halt. Mjlonir, and her radiated vagoo."

That did it. Rhino threw back his head and let out a loud chuckle. "Nice, Herman. Now I gotta worry if I'm gonna get radiation poisoning."

That made me laugh. "Alright, alright...that was the only joke I'm gonna make. Promise. And I won't breathe a word of it to anyone else."

"I know you won't." He smiled as he gently clapped me on the back. "I just hope the real one hasn't heard about it. That'll be really weird..." Before I could say anything, his head suddenly jerked up. "I think I seen some lights. The chopper's almost here, Herman."

My friend's sight was astute. Coming from the north, the blinking lights of a helicopter heralded its arrival. "Come on, let's go show em where to land," I said to Aleksei. We headed out to where the Quinjets had landed, a wide patch of rooftop that had held up under the strain of the massive Avengers' jets. Aleksei put his hands up, waving them to grab the pilot's attention. He had to had seen us, though, as the helicopter came straight in. The rotor blades were whisper quiet, hardly audible even from a block away.

I stepped back, and Aleksei did as well, giving them plenty of room to land. With almost perfect grace, the pilot set the helicopter down. Almost immediately, the door slid open, and two men in full-body armor jumped out. As I laid eyes on them, I found myself tensing slightly. Full armor, assault rifles and grenade launchers slung across their chests, and dark helmets that covered their entire faces. It was probably just reflex. They looked a lot like the boys from the NYPD SWAT team, or even Code Blue, that I would run in to from time to time.

The guards took up posts on either side of the door, and behind them, a figure wearing dark orange stepped out. As soon as I saw him, I immediately relaxed. "Pete," I called out in surprise. "They sent you to come get me?"

"They figured you could use a friendly face!" The Trapster, who I had last seen passed out at a table in the Bar With No Name, strode towards Aleksei and me, one of the armored figures walking with him. "Glad to see you're in one piece, Herman," he said as he put his hand out towards me.

"I can say the same fo..."

As I took his hand, I felt the needle prick the palm of my hand. The tip had slid easily through the fabric thanks to the firm grip of the Trapster. For a second, my hand flashed warm, like I was holding it over a large flame. Then it spread throughout my entire body with one beat of my heart. Still gripping my hand, the Trapster watched as I sank to one knee, the inside of my body engulfed in a four-alarm blaze.

"Herman," Aleksei asked, puzzlement in his voice. "What's wron..."
I managed to turn my head as the fire line hit my neck. Out of the corner of my vision, I could see the armored figured raising his grenade launcher. I tried to choke out a warning, but my mouth was frozen in searing flames.

*WHUMP*

Aleksei froze for a moment, puzzled. He glanced down to see the black circle attached to his armor, just above where his heart would be. A single blue light blinked in the middle of the circle, catching my eye for a moment. Aleksei raised a hand, going to flick the device off of him, when suddenly, the device spun, and sunk into his armor.

The roar of pain that Aleksei let out, I had never heard before, and I had never heard again. The blue light started blinking faster and faster before Aleksei turned his torso from my sight. His hands were clenched, fingers digging into the plating of his gloves, and his head was throw back, either in extreme agony or intense rage. One foot stepped forward, and the other. Rhino faced his attacker, and let loose a primal scream as he lowered his horn...

*FWUMP*

The back of Aleksei's armor dented outwards. A large bubble appeared on the plating, reaching from his upper back and across his shoulders. The big guy stopped in his tracks. The armored figure didn't move as Aleksei, slowly, tumbled forward. He fell to one knee, a hand going to the opening that had been carved into the front of his arm. His mouth opened, as he tried to say something, anything, but instead of words, blood poured from between his teeth, dripping down his pale chin onto the gravelly surface of the roof.

I could see his life leaving his body. His shoulders slumped, his final breath exhaling as he slowly tipped forward. He landed in a heap on the roof top, his arms curled up on his chest. From the hole the device had made, blood trickled out, a thick red liquid with chunks of bone and internal organ mixed in.

"Alek..." I couldn't even get his name out. My best friend died mere feet from my paralyzed body. My nerves were scorched, every synapse and fiber in my body in flames. It was all I could do to look up at the Trapster, who still gripped my hand tightly. He stared down at me, his face hard, eyes narrow. "Wh...why," I choked out.

"You tried to kill me, Herman. Did you think I've never try to return the favor?"

"Ok!" The armored figure pointed at the one still standing by the helicopter. "You grab Schultz and get him on board! I want dustoff before Systevich reanimates!" After receiving his orders, the figure double-timed it to where I was in the Trapster's grip. Once he arrived, the Trapster let go of my hand. Before I could collapse to the ground, he and the guy had my arms. Together, they dragged me to the waiting chopper. I couldn't even turn my head to see Rhino's body as they pulled me past him. Once at the helicopter, they threw me inside, leaving me to bounce on the floor of the passenger bay.

The guy who had shot Aleksei was the last one on board. He slid the door shut as the Trapster grabbed me and threw me into one of the seats. Without a word, he buckled me in, pulling the straps tight around my body. I could feel the helicopter lifting from the roof, my head lolling towards the floor. I was breathing, but beyond that, my entire body was paralyzed. He tied me in tight, pointing my gauntlets towards myself before yanking the cord tight. "Alright, he's in!"

"Excellent." The murder of Rhino sat down across from me. "Could you hold his head, Petruski. I want him to see me as I talk to him," he said, his voice muffled by the mask.

"If he drools on me, I ain't cleaning it up." One hand pulled my mask back, revealing my face to everyone. "Want me to disable his comms too?"

"Please. And in the future, for what I'm paying you, if I ask you to clean anything up, you'll do it."

"Um...yeah. Ok, sir." The other uniformed guy just sat down next to his partner, staring at me through his visor. I could feel Pete's hands working on my mask, which meant I still had feeling in my body. That was kind of a good sign.

Then, of course, the universe, which I had mistakenly thought I had gotten on terms with, threw me the biggest "F U" curveball it could have in that situation. The figure across from me reached up, and removed his helmet.

"Hello, Herman," Norman Osborn said. "It's so nice to chat with you again."