Author's Note: This one took longer because real life distracts me from the much cooler world of this story.
Lucas grabbed Wednesday by the shoulders and brought the both of them down flat, escaping from being knocked back by Ultraman acting as a missile, leaving the woman he had with him to remain suspended in the air via some sort of rocket heels. They jumped back up on their feet the moment he swooped back around, knocking his fists together and smiling menacingly.
"It's truly nice to meet the two of you." He called from the sky. "But unfortunately, our first meeting is to be our last. Dollface!" He called to the woman from the sky, who reached into a breast pocket and produced what Lucas' farsight could see as a little silver disk.
"Nera!" He yelled, and she reacted quickly, hitting a button on her utility belt the moment the disk left Lady Magnificent's hand. The moment the throwing star-like blades shot out in the villainess's direction, Lucas picked Wednesday up by the waist and swooped down around the side of the building. The disk bomb went off, and they got to watch as a chunk of the building was blown away. Lucas gasped.
"That bitch ruined my Egyptian cotton sheets!" Wednesday yelled in realization, and wriggled out of his grip, shooting out her grapple hook to the top of the building before she could fall more than a few feet.
"Nera, Nera don't!" Lucas yelled.
"It's not any more safe here, Lux. Now, do you have my back or not?" She pressed the retract button and zipped up, leaving Lucas no choice but to follow her. They met Ultraman helping the woman to her feet.
"You-" She took a deep breath and stumbled on her heels. "You're gonna pay for that." She kicked on the Flyers and began to swoop around the building as Ultraman snatched Lux into his enormous arms. "Bitch thinks she can stop me with her little toys?! I am twice the woman-" Lady Magnificent's gloating was cut short by her Flyers sputtering out, causing her to fall hundreds of feet. Ultraman immediately let go of Lucas, going after her at all costs.
"Let's go!" Nera yelled, getting onto Lucas' back with a running leap. He took off a full speed and headed straight towards the ground, only turning out of the complete nosedive when he burst the two of them through a ground floor window, ignoring the startled Buckman office employees.
"It's in the basement, right?" Lucas called back to Wednesday as they approached an open elevator. "Crap!" He cursed when he saw the key card slot next to the B button.
"I've got it." Wednesday jumped down from his back and reached into a pouch on her utility belt, pulling out a key card. "Don't ask."
"So what are we going to find down here?" Lucas asked as they descended down to the lab.
"Answers, hopefully." She cracked her knuckles and stomped out of the elevator the moment the doors opened, smacking the emergency stop button to prevent any unwanted security.
"How exactly do you manage to obtain them?" Lucas asked, rather concerned at her violent stomping through the lab.
"Force." She stopped by a desk that overlooked what appeared to be a hospital room/jail cell, and looked down at a copy of The Psychopathology of Everyday Life by Sigmund Freud. "Joel, I know you're down here!" She shouted in no particular direction.
"In here." Called the young scientist, sounding like he was expecting her. They followed his voice down a corridor and turned into a sterile room. Unconscious on a table lay what was once a human being, who now appeared to have mutated far beyond that. Four humongous arachnid arms crudely jutted out of his sides, occasionally twitching. He appeared to not be more than thirty, but his red hair had receded back into an unnatural point, and due to his mouth being somewhat agape, they could see that his teeth had sharpened and elongated.
"Joel, what the hell have you done?" Wednesday asked coldly. He causally removed his glasses and wiped them on his lab coat.
"Yes, I suppose it would be a bit shocking to some." He said casually, referring to the man on the table.
"A bit?!" Asked Lucas, desperately trying to not be made sick by the sight.
"Oh, Wednesday. Tsk tsk." Joel mockingly scolded her taste in men. She made her hands into fists and began to breath quickly through her nose. "First you choose a far too high-profile rebound guy to kill, and now this. When will you learn?" Wednesday lost it and rushed him, slamming him into a wall and holding him up by the collar of his shirt.
"You stole my research, you bastard!" She accused, and was satisfied to see that there was still fear in Joel's eyes, hidden behind this new facade.
"Well, doesn't this bring on some déjà vu?" He said smugly, and received a slap to the face.
"Easy!" Lucas warned.
"I've got this, Lucas." She let a bit of annoyance show, which she feared would give her ex-boyfriend some sort of false hope.
"Yeah, she's got this, Lucas." Joel said over Wednesday's shoulder.
"And I did not kill Henry...probably." She defended herself.
"Probably being the key word here." Mumbled the scientist, who spared another glance at the famous Lux. "It's nice to see you are so true to your beliefs." This last statement dripped with bitter sarcasm.
"The same could be said about you." Wednesday shot back. "I recall a time when you got an internship here simply for reference on a job application." Lucas had the urge to leave the room, knowing that these two definitely had some issues that desperately needed to be worked out.
"Yeah, well, this serum could easily change the world!" Joel defended. "And none of this could have been done without you." Wednesday rolled her eyes at his attempt to sound ominous.
"Of course not. You wouldn't know about the XK if I hadn't explained it to you." She desperately wished to hurt this man.
"And I wouldn't have a clue of its compounds had you not generously donated a sample." He added.
"We're done here." She deadpanned, and slammed him against the wall one last time before turning away. "Come on Lucas. This was a bad idea to begin with." Lucas turned to join her.
"Wait!" Joel called after Wednesday.
"What?!" She shouted. "Why the hell should I listen to you if you've already stolen my DNA for this?" Joel put his palms up.
"To be fair, you were the one that left your hairbrush at my place." Wednesday glared daggers at him. "And I know for a fact that you can't stop Ultraman and that woman without a basic knowledge of how they work." He led the heroes back down the hall, forgetting his earlier task of refilling the subject's IV.
"Can't we just fight them like we would any other criminal?" Asked Lucas, eliciting an exasperated sigh from Joel.
"You could, but that would probably lead to a slow and painful death once you tired out and Carson got his hands on you." A mock smile spread across his face. "Actually…"
"How do we take them down?" Wednesday said bluntly, growing very tired of Joel.
"Now, I only know that this applies to Ultraman. The new one is a mystery to me." He warned. The heroes nodded, and he proceeded. "Okay, well, it seems that a compound used in the serum-" An extremely loud crash shook the entire lab.
"What was that?!" Lucas asked, looking in all directions. Joel's hand instantly went to the bag of sedative in his pocket.
"Oh no." He whispered, and began walking faster down the hall.
"Joel, what's going on?" Wednesday demanded when there were two more bangs.
"I'm afraid Patrick's awake." He admitted, and ran to his desk, throwing open drawers, looking for something.
"The spider?!" Lucas yelled, and Joel nodded. Plaster exploded out into the hall, and out burst the half-monster. Shrieking, and stumbling on his new limbs, he left a path of a destruction as he made his way to the three young adults and the elevator shaft- his only means of escaping.
"Get out. Now." Joel instructed. Wednesday nodded and ran to the elevator.
"Let's go, Lucas!" She called hurriedly. "Joel can take care of this." Lucas headed for the elevator, and then suddenly changed his mind to ran back to Joel, leaving Wednesday to wait. He looked the young scientist in the eyes.
"How do we stop them?" He spoke quickly, completely unaware of what would happen when the spider got there.
"Copper." Joel said truthfully. "Ultraman has a weakness to copper. If you can throw some pennies at him or something, you might have a chance." Lucas nodded.
"Are you sure you can handle this down here?" He asked.
"Yes." Joel lied, and looked back over his shoulder at the impending doom. "Thank you." Lucas said, and turned to join Wednesday in the elevator, but Joel stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention again.
"Don't do anything to hurt her." Joel half-whispered, knowing Lucas could hear him, and then gave him a light shove in her direction. The superhero spared one last glance back at him before he entered the elevator, and the doors shut behind him.
Wasting no time at all, Joel leapt up onto his desk and began to tear away at the newly-replaced pipes, ignoring the cascades of water the showered down on him. He ran to the basement master controls where he closed off all the doors he could to ensure that the lab was flooded as quickly as possible.
By the time his tasks were complete, the water was up to his calves, and he had just moments to reflect on the life choices that led to this moment. Was this really started with the internship at Buckman Inc., or was it the day he first laid eyes on Wednesday Addams? Was it when they broke up, or was it when he thought that superpowers would make her love him again? He collapsed into a fetal position with a splash.
She'd never loved him; at least, not with the ferocity with which he'd loved her. Deep down, he must have always known that he was never what she needed. Would she work out with Lux? Maybe, but it was really no place for him to say. All he knew now was that he had to go down with his failure.
Joel picked up a broken copper pipe from under the water and decided to make one last futile attempt to hold his ground. "Come on, Patrick!" He challenged. The thuds and splashes that kept getting closer were his only way to measure how much time he had left.
The memories of a pale 12-year-old girl with braids and a woeful disposition were what he kept with him in his last few breaths before everything went forever black.
"Now what?" Wednesday asked the moment she and Lucas were back out onto the New York street. He shrugged.
"You read comic books! What would the Legion of Justice do in this situation?" She asked teasingly.
"Justice League." He corrected. "And I suppose they would come up with a plan that utilizes everyone's strength.
"I think we should split up." Wednesday suggested. "From what we've seen, only one of them can fly now, so only one of us needs to patrol from the air. You can do that, and I'll have Pugsley bring my car." Lucas nodded reluctantly.
"But what if they're still together? Then it would be two against one if we encountered them." He reminded her.
"If we see any sign of either of them, we'll call each other on these." She produced two earpieces from yet another pouch on her utility belt. Lucas put his on.
"So, if for some reason we can't get to the other in time-" He started.
"Don't think about that." Wednesday quickly pressed her lips to Lucas'. "We're connected, so nothing bad can happen to us."
"But if it comes down to it, we can fight for ourselves. We just have to hope that we can catch one of them alone." Lucas added.
"Exactly." Wednesday agreed, and Lucas jumped up into the air.
"After this, you and I are going on a real date. Ridiculously expensive Italian restaurant, evening showing of Phantom of the Opera, the works. I promise." He said with a grin.
"Okay, then don't die." She said jokingly.
"Right back at you."
We officially have 2-3 chapters left! Review while you still can!
(And yes, Joel is dead, just in case you had doubt.)