4 - Going Ape

Nate walked through the gates of Empire State University, gazing around at the amalgam of modern and gothic architecture. The courtyard had been divided into dozens of gardens, in the centre stood a massive fountain, water spurting upwards into the air. He glanced upwards towards the rooftops of the many buildings which stretched upwards toward the heavens. He hadn't really wanted to come, not with the men who had attacked the slum James Dayton and his mother had been living in still at large, but his mother had insisted. She said it would be good for him to get an experience of what college life would be like, and to interact with others on his level. He couldn't refuse her without arousing her suspicions so now here he was.

The campus was certainly impressive. It was in a much better state of repair then midtown elementary. Students hurried across the quad, most going about their day without concern. A few stopped to look at him, and he smiled awkwardly as they carried on. Mr McArthur stepped through the entryway of the science building to the north and hurriedly made his way downstairs towards Nate. The teacher waved when he saw Nate standing in place and Nate rushed to join him.

Mr McArthur frowned slightly as Nate reached him. He placed a hand on his shoulder, and gestured to the Science building. Nate nodded and began following his teacher across the courtyard.

"My apologies Nate," the older man was saying. "I did not realise you had arrived this early. One of the students mentioned a boy in the courtyard, and I played a hunch. Lucky for us it was a bunch that turned out to be right". He smiled down at Nate, who smiled bashfully back. McArthur placed a hand once more on his shoulder and led him to a small meeting room.

"I still have a bit of work to do before the others arrive. You just sit tight here and I'll see you when I'm done." Nate nodded and the teacher left the room, whistling an unfamiliar tune as he left. He sat on a nearby lounge, tapping his fingers against the upholstery as he waited. He glanced up at the sound of footsteps and laughter. Two figures stepped into the room. One was a dark skinned girl, who looked as though she were his age. The other, an Asian boy around the same age. The pair were talking and laughing together, as though they had known one another for years.

They stopped when they saw him sitting in the room. "Oh," the girl began, smiling "no one said there would be another one our age." Nat shrugged. The boy rubbed the back of neck and stepped forward, offering a hand. Nate took it, allowing the other boy to shake his own.

"Amadeus Cho" the other boy introduced, before pointing back at the dark skinned girl. "This is Riri Williams." Nate nodded.

"Nathaniel Thomas". He wasn't really all that interested in Cho or Williams. If he were honest with himself, he wasn't interested in his current situation at all anymore. Not long ago, he would have loved an opportunity like this. Now, all he was concerned with was finding the men who had attacked his city. Fighting those men, minimising any damage they had been

meaning to cause had been the most exhilarating thing he had ever done. In comparison, a few college lectures seemed dull by comparison now.

Cho seemed to get the message that Nate would not be any more forthcoming. The other boy frowned slightly, smiled awkwardly and made his way back to the girl, who had found a seat on the other side of the room. Nate had to remind himself not to use his enhanced hearing to listen in on anything they might be saying. For one thing, it was disrespectful. For another, it would do him no good. There was nothing to be learnt from these two. They knew nothing about the assailants who had bought war against the poor and disenfranchised people of New York.

He had been fortunate to get so good a look at the leader's face. With that, VIOLET had been able to hack into the NYPD and FBI's databases and retrieve what little information they had on the man. Vladimir Petrov was a Moscow police officer turned international crime lord. The man was believed to have links to the Pink Panthers, Yakuza, and Russian Mafia among others. Even that was conjecture however, and none of it explained his sudden appearance in Manhattan. He would have to find out from the man himself when he captured him.

–AoS–

Vladimir Petrov crept through the semidarkness of the abandoned station. Claudius and Katerina trudged behind him. Ivan had sent the two gorillas, whose intelligence the old man had somehow enhanced, along as 'backup'. In reality the beasts were there to keep an eye on him. Ivan claimed that an unknown individual had reached out to him, requesting to speak with him concerning their new vigilante. Ivan's eyes narrowed when he thought of Sentinel. Thanks to that meddlesome fool his arm had been replaced by a cumbersome black metal prosthetic, designed by Ivan himself. The gift granted by his ever gracious employer snagged on his shirt sleeve, and rubbed painfully against his stump. Not for the first time he considered removing it and living with the stump, at least until he could get a proper prosthetic. Perhaps when he was done with this current job.

The few lights still functioning flickered and died out. The station was engulfed in darkness. Behind him Claudius growled lowly in his throat. He reached into his pocket and gathered a small piece of wood from the filth encrusted floor. Using the lighter from his pocket, he set the tip of the wood alight. Holding it aloft, he glanced around the station.

A low chuckle resonated from further into the darkness. He glanced in that direction, though he could see nothing. "You think you are amusing do you?" He called into the shadows.

"No. I merely find it amusing that the great Ivan Kragoff would not even deign me worth speaking to himself. He sent the rabble instead." The voice was low and muffled, as though the face of the speaker were somehow obscured. Claudius moved past him fangs bared. A burst of lighting struck the tiles in front of the gorilla's front paw, and the beast leaped backwards with a low chortling growl.

"That is quite far enough, thank you very much." Vladimir reached into his jacket once more, retrieving his Glock. The mocking laughter returned.

"Put away your gun sir. You have no need of it." Vladimir frowned.

"Perhaps not. Yet all the same." He stepped forward, standing beside the silverback.

"You claimed you had something worth saying. Now get to it." More laughter.

"Hasty, aren't we, little man?*

"I am eager to complete my assignment and receive my payment."

"Eager to flee New York, I think."

"Think what you like. I am not the one hiding in the shadows."

The laughter cut off abruptly. He had touched a nerve.

"I hide for your sake, mortal, not my own. You would not like to look upon me."

"Then tell me what I need to know, and I can leave this filthy hole without having to see you. We will both be happier for it, I'm sure."

"Very well. You have had a run in already with the individual these fools have taken to calling Sentinel. You are the first."

"Well isn't that wonderous for me?" He deadpanned.

"If you say so. I have a vested interest in seeing him stopped. Before I kill him, which I'm sure we can agree will be of benefit to you, I shall need data." Now, it was Vladimir's turn to laugh.

"This amuses you?"

"I've seen the sentinel. No man could kill him. No man would be capable."

The earth beneath his feet shook. Claudius and Katerina both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs in their haste to escape. The station, which before had been pitch black was engulfed in the glow of ethereal green light as all around them was engulfed in flame. Despite himself, Vladimir fell to his knees. The flames licked at the ground, and instantly incinerated wood and stone alike. He grit his teeth to keep from whimpering. The eerie silence was broken by the sound of footsteps. He glanced up.

Walking through the fire as though it were not there was a metallic figure clad in a green cloak. Piercing blue eyes peered down at him from slits in the beings silver metallic mask, for surely, he thought, it had to be a mask and not the creature's face. He dropped his gun as it too caught alight. All the while, that cruel mocking laughter had returned. Only now did he realise, it was not coming from within the mask; it was being projected into his very mind.

"As you can see," the armoured figure hissed through the mouth slit in his mask, "Doom is quite capable!"

–AoS–

Mr McArthur returned with a skip as he stepped into the room, once again humming the tune from before. Cho and Williams both stood at once. Nate smiled slightly as he watched his favourite teacher wave at the two goodnaturedly, signalling them to sit. He smiled and leaned back against a table between the three, gesturing for Nate to make his way closer towards the others. Nate nodded, sitting a few chairs away from Cho.

"The unit will take place over the entire weekend. Today we'll work through until 5:00 this afternoon. We'll be meeting here again tomorrow morning, same time." Nate frowned. He had thought this was only going to take a day. Now he would have to waste another day he could have been using to search for the criminals.

Cho raised a hand into the air. Mr McArthur. "No need for that Amadeus, not today anyway." Cho blushed. The boy nodded. The teacher gestured for them to follow as he left the room. They followed him into a large auditorium, and took seats in the front row. There were already half a dozen high school aged students sat in attendance, all chatting eagerly amongst themselves. They fell silent when McArthur entered and strode forward, onto the dais. Nate sat on the end closest to the doorway, Amadeus Cho and Riri Williams a few seats away. Some of the others had bought notebooks, and were opening them now. McArthur glanced at Nate, one of the few who had not produced a book, but said nothing.

–AoS–

He frowned as he stood by Ivan's side, watching the trucks roll through the streets of Manhattan. Doom had advised them to launch an attack on a major public event. He'd claimed he'd be able to kill Sentinel, if only they could give him a means of gathering data. For that, he would need to see the vigilante in action. Ivan, at Doom's suggestion, had seized on this idea. Loading his enhanced apes into three trucks, he ordered the beasts transported to ESU.

The college was holding an open forum for gifted students across the State. A perfect target, one their new nuisance would not be able to resist butting in on when they launched their operation. Despite the Latverian despot's assurances, Vladimir doubted the sorcerer would keep his word and remove Sentinel from the board. The dictator had not seen their enemy first hand, as Vladimir had. He did not understand, for how could he?

One by one, the trucks came to a halt along the curb. Some of the students stopped to look, but most continued going about their day. The trucks shook violently and more students stopped to watch. Within moments, almost all of the people in the courtyard had stopped what they were doing and were watching as the drivers climbed down and began to undo the chains around the back doors. The first Gorilla leaped out of the bed of the truck. The creature stood at its full height, through its head back, and roared. A young woman looking through the front gates screamed and turned to run back into the campus. The ape leaped

forwards, seizing her by the leg and tossed her through the air. Her broken body slammed into a nearby tree.

Within moments half a dozen gorillas were rampaging through the courtyard. Students were running to and fro through the area, desperately trying to find safe hiding places.

–AoS– The first two hours of classes had actually not been as bad as he'd expected. He'd been able - if only for a while - to get his mind off of the slum attack. He was now walking through a small garden outside the cafe they had been brought to for lunch, looking for a seat. He heard his name being called, and spun around, expecting danger. Cho and Williams were sitting on a four person bench on the other side of the garden. The latter - who must have been the one to call him - was waving him over. He hesitated for a few moments before making his way towards the pair.

A scream reached his ears, and he turned in the direction. He stopped halfway towards the pair on the bench. Eyes scanning the area quickly, he enhanced his senses, looking through the buildings. He frowned at what he saw. In the central entrance courtyard were half a dozen gorillas, led by a huge silverback. Students and staff were running everywhere. Some had hidden under seats or in narrow spaces between the walls of buildings, hoping they couldn't be found. He turned to Cho and Williams.

"Thanks for the offer. I just remembered I need to ask McArthur something though. Maybe next time." With that he turned and left the garden before they could respond. He made his way back into the science building, rushing to the top floor. Glancing around, he found an unused laboratory with an outward facing window. He glanced around the room before he entered.

"VIOLET", he whispered, "shut off all the cameras".

"Done, Nate". He nodded, entering the classroom. Pulling the door shut behind him, he tapped his watch. The suit materialised over his clothes and his appearance morphed into the older form of Sentinel. Getting outside was as simple as opening the window and diving out into the yard below. Rolling along the ground and popping up into a standing position, he ran straight for the courtyard.

He slammed into the nearest gorilla as it was about to rake an elderly man in a security uniform across the back with a tree branch. The creature soared through the air like a baseball. Its momentum brought it colliding into a stone wall. He winced slightly. Two more of the apes charged at him. He dodged the first, slamming his fist into the face of the second. He felt fur, skin and muscle give way as the creature was thrown back, slamming into the ground hundreds of feet away.

The gorilla he had dodged wound it's arm around him from behind, and bit down on his shoulder. The beast roared as it realised he was unharmed. It removed its teeth from his shoulder, and backhanded him over the head. He spun around, kicking his assailant in the chest. The animal skidded along the concrete, growling in pain as it went. a piece of jagged metal soared past him, slamming into the ground near his feet. He turned around, following

the arc of the throw. Stood on the pedestal of the fountain, broken trash can in hand was a huge, muscle bound silverback. It roared, and three gorillas charged towards him at once.

The first two both barged him at once, and he felt himself slightly jolted, even as he tossed them aside one after the other. The first picked up a steel lamp post that had been knocked loose during their earlier rampage. The creature inched forward more cautiously then the others, swinging the lamp post like a mace in front of itself. He staggered as the metal struck him in the ribs. The ape swung the post like a bat, sending him flying back into a nearby. The creature chortled in its throat, a sound of amusement. Nate snarled as he ran at the creature, only for it to bat him away once more, like swatting a fly.

He winced slightly as he picked himself up, and leaped onto a nearby rooftop. He frowned as he rolled his shoulders back. The hits were proving little more than glancing blows, doing no major damage, but it was a case of throwing mud at a wall, he knew. Eventually, if he didn't take out the beast, either the lamp post would break, or he himself would break. It was only a matter of which lasted more. He needed to fight smarter, rather than harder. He leaped back down, landing behind the gorilla. He struck it on the back, sending it careening into the ground. The creature snarled, and slung it's weapon wildly. He dodged backwards, only to duck under a slinging steel bench from the silverback which had attempted to hit him in the back of the head.

He groaned. Now there were two to deal with at once. He dodged and weaved, evading strokes as best he could as he waited for an opening. One thing was certain; he needed to learn at least one martial art if he were to continue this 'work'. Finally, he spotted it. The first ape, the one with the lamp post, over extended. Nate struck it's exposed leg with a sweep of his own, knocking it to the ground. Wasting no time, he leaped on its back, slamming its head into the concrete. The silverback struck him on the back, sending him sailing once more through the air. He slammed into the outer wall, and rubbed the back of his neck as he slowly stood up, only to spot the silverback charging towards him. It had tossed the now broken bench aside, electing to retrieve its fellows' lamp post, wielding it like a spear.

He rolled out of the way of the charging animal, which pulled up before hitting the wall. He felt his hand brush something laying in the grass and grinned. He wrapped his hand around the offending lamp post and hoisted it into the air. He swung his new weapon at his attacker, who raised his own to parry the blow. Nate threw his head back, laughing. He was absolutely exhilarated. His day had gone from calculus to fencing a great ape with oil lamps. Of all the things he had been expecting, today was nowhere on the list.

He landed a final blow, sending his foe's weapon careening into the steel fence post, and striking it across the head. It crumpled to the ground, unconscious. A great cheer went up, and he waved at the crowd of grateful staff and students, before dashing off to find a place to change forms.

–AoS– The citizens of the surrounding city of Doomstadt had long since learners to fear the looming gothic towers and black stone of the castle on the hill. For centuries, it had been the centre of power in the small Balkan nation. It had even been used by Hydra during the war, though

local legends disagreed on what they had utilised it for. Legends in the town spoke of damned spirits wandering it's dim halls.

For all the horrors visited upon them, both by king Vladimir, and then by his immediate successor, few in Latveria would deny their newest ruler's effectiveness. The economy had never been stronger, with Latveria skyrocketing into the top ten largest economies thanks to his ingenuity. They enjoyed a state of peace and near to no crime. Still, the doombots patrolling the streets were impossible to overlook. Which, of course, was the point of them. And not even the bravest of souls was willing to even whisper the word revolution.

Indeed, for all his arrogance and eccentricities, victor von Doom was, if not loved, then tolerated by almost.all in Latveria. This, of course mattered not to the dictator sequestered in his castle. Latveria was after all only a means to an end. That end being absolute global dominion. He knew he was the best - no, the only man - to guide humanity into their future. Mankind required a firm hand to push them to their potential. He could provide that.

Of course, there would always be those who would resist. Those unwilling to see the value in his leadership. Like sentinel, doubtless. As proud as he was, Doom was not so arrogant as to not recognise a like minded man when he saw one. Sentinel was not one to be ruled. The vigilante was too powerful for that. Instead, he would need to be removed. Of course, there was still the matter of how it could be done.

There was something curious in this footage. It made him wonder. From what he could see, he had begun to develop a suspicion. It was a simple, only half-formed idea as of yet. Sentinel had not come from off the campus. He could not explain how he knew if pressed for an explanation, yet somehow he knew it. That meant he was either a student, or a member of the faculty. Somehow, he doubted it was the latter. First he would need to discover which building he had come from. That would allow him to eventually pinpoint the other man's identity. Once he had done that, he could quickly learn all he needed of the other man.

Yes, Victor von Doom thought. Soon, Sentinel would be no more. Until then, his alter ego of Arthur McNorman would still be of some use.

A/N: This chapter was originally supposed to be out on the weekend just gone by, but then life happened. I'm still planning on a chapter each week, so expect one next week. Unless life happens again.

Amadeus Cho, age 9 - Jung Hyeon-jun

Riri Williams, age 9 - Faithe Herman