Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.

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Chapter Twelve

A Sinister Mission

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"Gentlemen," Otto Octavius started as he looked at the assembled villains, "Today is the day we earn our paychecks and commence Operation Thunderbolt. Mysterio, the target, if you would be so kind."

The Meeting Hall darkened as a hologram of an otherwise unremarkable factory set in a valley appeared a meter above the floor, rotating slowly so that everyone could see it.

"This is our target, gentlemen, or to be more precise, this is where our target is."

For a brief moment, the map zoomed out so that everyone could see where the factory was located, then it resumed its previous state.

"The plane has been prepared and we will parachute out several miles away. We will walk to our attack point in order to avoid giving away our presence via the energy signatures of the more active forms of transport. Vulture, I'm afraid that this means that you'll be grounded on the approach as well. Mysterio and I have developed special devices to shield our own technology's power signatures and Mysterio will be providing concealment during our journey to this point."

One of Dr. Octopus' tentacles suddenly emerged from the map to show where he was referring to.

"Once here, we shall do a final recon before we attack. Our target is the Sentinel known as Master Mold."

The map vanished as Octavius retracted his mechanical tentacle, being replaced by the silvery figure of the Sentinel that was their target. Next to it, and less than half its height, was a human figure for scale.

"Other beings of note are the prototype Sentinel known as Bastion and the former military general Bolivar Trask. Both are to be taken out if possible, but Master Mold is the priority target. It must be disabled or destroyed."

"We agree." Eddie Brock stated. "We have done many things we thought necessary, but we have not killed children. These things have and without hesitating. There are lines even we will not cross."

"Rhino," Otto continued, "Once we launch the attack, I believe it would be best if you go in first. After all, you are our heaviest hitter."

"They'll say hello to my little friend!" Rhino gloated, unslinging his gatling-blaster and holding it up.

Vulture face-palmed and everyone (except Rhino) looked at him.

"We had an Al Pacino marathon yesterday. The Godfather trilogy, Dick Tracy and Scarface. In that order."

"…huh. Explains the smell of popcorn. I had thought it was one of my experiments going wrong." Otto finally said, his eyebrows raised above his shades. "Hidden depths. You have it correct, Rhino. They will indeed say hello to your… little friend."

"Sirs?" A new voice interrupted and everyone turned to see their butler in the doorway. "Lord Fisk sends his compliments and the plane is ready for you."

The butler bowed and retreated, closing the door behind him.

"For a former street thug, he really enjoys his role." Sandman mused.

"He is proof that life is what we make of the opportunities presented to us, rather than the burdens which are forced upon us." Vulture shrugged, then he caught Rhino's perplexed expression and sighed. "We are what we want to be."

"I want to smash something." Rhino grinned.

"I believe Hulk is the one who smashes." Otto snarked. "Perhaps trampling would be better? Or crushing?"

"Yeah, Rhino Crush!"

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Rhino pulled himself to his feet and flipped up his visor so that he could glare at the shattered remains of the tree that he had crashed through.

"Wow." Sandman noted as he rolled up his parachute. "You really crushed that."

"Gentlemen." Doctor Octopus interrupted before the argument could start. "We have several miles to cover to our destination, so I would advise saving your energy for the battle ahead of us."

"You got it, Doc." Sandman said, hefting the bundle of fabric. "What do we do with these?"

"For now, we use some of the branches that Rhino provided to secure them." Octavius replied. "That way we will be able to retrieve them afterwards, or at least be sure that they will not blow away in the wind and cause problems."

"That was quite a landing, Rhino." Vulture noted as he swooped in to land on Rhino's armored shoulder. "You didn't damage anything, did you?"

"Nope, lights are still all green."

"Excellent. Well, it seems as if we are all here."

"We are indeed, Vulture." Octavius agreed. "Mysterio, if you would be so kind?"

The area around them rippled slightly.

"We are cloaked." Mysterio declared. "As long as you remain within five meters of me, you cannot be seen or heard by any security that has been set up."

"Then shall we get moving?" Octavius prompted. "We need to get this over and done with before all those new Kryptonians finish powering up and do it for us."

"New Kryptonians?" Venom asked and Octavius nodded.

"Oh my, yes. A whole city full according to Smythe's sources. Several million at least. Certainly means our current careers are looking rather less sustainable, doesn't it?"

For a long moment, the entire group remained silent, contemplating the thought of several million individuals each as powerful as Superman.

"Changing the subject," Vulture finally said, "May I say that the flip-down visor you made for me really does help. The heads-up-display with map and compass make finding the targets far easier."

"I didn't get anything." Sandman half-protested.

"Your powers make it incredibly difficult to create anything that you can reliably use." Octavius replied as they ducked under a low-hanging branch. "I've been researching nanotechnology, but the programming and power requirements are quite finicky. For now, I'm afraid that you simply can't get an upgrade that will work."

"We are wondering what the box you had us wear on our belt was." Venom noted.

"It is an IFF beacon." Mysterio supplied. "Designed to work in conjunction with with Rhino's targeting system so that he does not accidentally shoot us."

"Ah, we had wondered."

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"There it is." Otto half-whispered as he peeped over the ridge of the hill, using the bushes growing on top of it as cover to prevent his silhouette from being noticed.

"That is a lot bigger than I expected." Vulture admitted after taking a quick glance for himself. "Which part do you think is Master Mold in?"

Everyone turned to look at Mysterio, who responded by holding out one hand and casting a hologram of the complex at knee height. Tags started to appear on it and Otto leaned forwards for a closer look.

"Interesting. It looks like the central area is the oldest… the newer wings are quite… precise in their placement and design. I would estimate that their architect wasn't human. The power system… I know I've seen those readings before…"

"Arc reactor." Vulture supplied. "I looked into using one to power my suit, but building one small enough to mount was beyond my skills… and my finances at the time. The power frequency is the same, but the amplitude… I'd say it was half again as large as the one at Stark Tower."

"What the hell is it doing with all that power?" Sandman muttered.

"An excellent question." Otto replied. "Mysterio, what defenses can you locate?"

A rash of dots in three different colors appeared on the hologram, cones spreading out from them to indicate the area they covered.

"From the energy flows, the blue dots would be sensor systems. Cameras and so on. The red ones are weapons systems, most of them being a variant of the Force Blaster which seems to be very similar to the ones the Sentinels use, only larger. The flashing red dots are the gatling-variant. The yellow dots seem to be ECM and holographic projectors. From the wave-patterns I am picking up, they appear to be projecting an image of how this compound used to look in order to fool satellite imaging systems."

"Huh. No wonder that no-one has found this place." Vulture said with a slight chuckle. "Once the image goes down, they'll be rushing people here as fast as they can."

"Assuming that they notice." Otto shot back, then he sighed. "And since SHIELD is using Kryptonian technology these days, they will notice."

"So we need to strike hard and fast." Sandman summed up. "What's the best route in and where should we be heading once inside?"

"One of my stealth-drones just sent back an image." Mysterio announced as a purple humanoid figure appeared in the main structure. That is Master Mold. Programming location icon… now."

Otto turned to look in the direction of the compound and smirked as a small purple cross-hair seemed to float in front of him, a small set of numbers underneath telling him the distance.

"I have it." He stated. "Route?"

"My seismic sensors detected an old drainage tunnel." Mysterio noted. "It doesn't appear on any of the plans for the compound that I could access and it emerges behind that half-ruined storage shed."

"We understand." Venom grinned, his teeth glinting in the dappled light. "Through the tunnel and from there, to the doors."

"Rhino, you will go first." Otto decided and the armored thug brightened. "As soon as you get out of the tunnel, destroy the security systems that Mysterio is going to highlight for you on your HUD."

"Will do." Rhino grinned. "I've been practicing!"

"He has." Vulture confirmed. "Rhino's quite a savant with his gatling. While his accuracy with his other weapons is still… questionable, he can hit whatever he wishes with his… little friend."

Rhino's grin grew wider. "Ya hear that? With my gun, I'm a savant! Vic, what's a savant?"

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Master Mold turned her attention to the security systems and quickly scanned the files.

Although she could very easily have allowed the re-purposed Sentinel to run the system without her intervention, part of her programming produced what would, in an organic, be classified as low-grade paranoia when it came to her personal safety.

After all, she was the primary locus for the creation of the Sentinels. While they could be built without her, they would not be as efficient or produced so quickly. It was her ability to…

Her systems briefly froze as she re-scanned one of the camera feeds, then rewound it and replayed it, superimposing the second piece of footage over the top.

"Bastion. I am sending some security footage to you. Review it and tell me if your conclusions are similar to my own."

As Bastion scanned the data, Master Mold used her link to watch his thoughts and within a fraction of a second, he had reached the same conclusion.

"Someone has penetrated the outer defensive layer." He stated. "The imagery matches too closely… and since the system shows no sign of being hacked, it was an external manipulation. Probably holographic."

Master Mold brought up her file of known powered beings capable of illusions and began scrolling through them.

"Loki?"

"He would have teleported in. Or strode up to the main door and demanded entrance." Bastion disagreed. "No, I would guess… Mysterio."

Master Mold pulled up the file on Mysterio and scanned it. His holographic projection capabilities matched with what they had deduced had happened, but there was a link in the file to another.

One titled Sinister Six.

"Bastion, prepare to…" Master Mold began, only to be interrupted by the wailing of damage-alert sirens and intruder alarms. Activating every mobile Sentinel in the base, regardless of its completion level, Master Mold hesitated a fraction of a millisecond before sending out the over-ride signal to activate every single potential bio-Sentinel and order any of them that were close enough to come to her defense.

Now she had been discovered, secrecy was no longer an option.

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"Yaaaaaaaah!" Rhino roared as he swung his gatling-blaster in what appeared to be an unco-ordinated arc, but one which took out every one of the cameras and weapons which Mysterio had highlighted for him. Even as the bolts impacted, Vulture flew past, inches from the ground, landing in a controlled tumble by the main door and slapping a shaped charge to it before diving to the side and wrapping himself in his metallic wings.

"Fire in the hole!" Otto shouted, triggering the charge remotely and the explosion blasted the doors inwards, flattening one of the two Sentinels standing guard just inside while the second was knocked off-balance just long enough for a wave of sand to engulf it, ripping it apart at the joints.

"We are going to have fun!" Venom exulted as he dashed into the building, the others hot on his heels.