THE WAR OF THE GENIUSES, PART 2: ATTACK THE ENEMY...
Welcome back to the Dark Files.
Today I bring you the continuation of a universe that began in The Sin House but due to the nature of the protagonists, will be shared between this series and its twin.
Today's plot will be about how Peter and his wife Lisa gather their closest acquaintances to plot revenge against DexTron Technologies for having forced them to humiliate themselves in an attempt to stop their attacks against their loved ones, only to be scammed and for the attacks to continue.
As usual, warnings of foul language, mentions of infidelity and villainy.
I hope you like it and, without further ado, I leave you with the chapter...
In the normally bustling nightclub in Queens, New York, known as the Jackpot, a motley group of people could be seen, all of them with a variety of alcoholic drinks, watching with looks of disbelief and disgust the video on the multiple screens of the place, which showed the conversation that Peter and Lisa Parker had with the leaders of DexTron Technologies that very morning.
And when the video ended, the protagonists of said video stepped forward, going up on stage in the middle of the club, accompanied by Peter's brother-in-law and Lisa's older brother, Lincoln Loud, the three of them sighing heavily as they prepared to speak
"As you can see, what we told you was absolutely true." Peter sighed as he, Lincoln and Lisa lowered a glass of lambrusco, a glass of vodka and a glass of merlot to a table on the stage. "That trio of morons is still just as pissed off about losing their internships with Stark thirteen years ago, and now they've launched a multi-pronged assault to attack each and every person we care about, denying them contracts, destroying what they've already built, shutting down the many micro-businesses and organizations we work for... Hell, the bastards went so far as to declare the Jackpot and Lynn's Table health hazard places and had them foreclosed until further notice."
"And as such, we deeply regret all the inconvenience caused by those Australopithecii." Lisa admitted with a contrite expression. "We should have put a stop to them a long time ago. But you can bet we're not going to let them get away with it, much less get away with what they did."
"But for that we're gonna need your help, everything we can get both to keep the companies and organizations we still have afloat, and to get the resources necessary to get revenge on those bastards." Lincoln said. "McAllister, Neutron and Pines have gone too far this time and we have to show them that they should never attack an enemy if they are not willing to annihilate them..."
"Because otherwise it gives them the opportunity to regain strength, regroup, create a strategy and get revenge. Like we're doing right now." Peter said.
"A mistake that we are not going to make. Their company, their lives and everything is going to be obliterated." Lisa declared.
"Luckily, those imbeciles decided to attack six of the greatest minds on the planet, specifically the numbers one, two, four, five, six and eight of the smartest people on the planet." Peter said while gesturing at Reed, Lisa, himself, Twilight, Tony and Norman, respectively. "The most powerful AI in history, two of the most powerful companies and a group of individuals with too many acquaintances and who specialize in all kinds of possible branches."
"And what have you guys planned to start?" Tony asked as he took a sip of brandy.
"I'm glad you asked, because we have certain things we've researched and we know where to strike." Lisa said as she snapped her fingers. "All condensed into a brilliant fail-safe plan that only requires three phases."
"A plan that we haven't named yet, so for now it's simply the Anonymous Revenge Plan and There Will Be Time to Name It Later." Peter said.
At that moment, the screens changed and showed images about various phases of the plan, the first one labeled Damage Control, showing several smart moves to conserve capital, increase the one they already had, and improve their public image.
"First we need to make several capital moves to save and protect Fabulous, Stylish and Miraculous, OsCorp, Tsurugi Electronics, Rand Industries, Stark Industries and Parker Industries from bankruptcy." Lisa said. "The main thing is to keep our respective companies afloat, since they are the main source of income for the plan and for us. With a few mutual investments in certain sectors, the attention of new investors will be attracted and the economic image of said industries will be improved, a little bit of capitalist magic to make the shares worth more without the need to obtain loans or debts."
"After that, to improve the public image and since DexTron Technologies took the Baxter Foundation, F.E.A.S.T. and the Maria Stark Foundation from us, as well as contracts with the Department of Damage Control, the energy sector, the military, S.H.I.E.L.D., and several others, including the one Lisa and I had with Horizon Labs, we thought of a new way to merge all of those ideas to help humanity in a genuine and self-interested way, and in a way to regain the trust of the police, military and energy agencies, and S.H.I.E.L.D." Peter explained. "So, I contacted an old friend, Doctor Phineas Flynn, one of the owners of Carpe Diem Inc., he said he would help us fund a project that Lisa and I had already designed to unify the aforementioned organizations' leftovers. A project we like to call the Future Foundation. A non-profit organization that will help homeless people by providing a place to sleep and food like F.E.A.S.T. did, as well as helping them reintegrate into society with academic and professional training to improve their abilities and helping them get decent housing at a reasonable price like the Maria Stark Foundation did. Likewise, we will help fund future geniuses like the Baxter Foundation did, although this time it will not only be in science but in things like sports, arts, etc. While, in regards to contracts, Carpe Diem Inc. will help us with contacts they have in the energy sector, and Colonel James Rhodes, my uncle Ben, Lieutenant Sarah Lee, and Major Carol Danvers have agreed to talk to their superiors about the variety and superiority of the products we offer to the military and police forces, and how S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to use our equipment, even though none of us design weapons anymore."
"With an improved image and economic stability, I understand that we all had projects we were working on that had to be cancelled due to lack of funds and public interest, as well as several that were stolen during the cyber-attack by DexTron." Lincoln said. "So, what I propose is to mutually support those projects. For example, the new Starkphone can include exclusive designs from the current best fashion designers in the world which are Marinette, Leni and Rarity to promote their new winter line and increase the wait for the new Starkphone model, and we can all start wearing their designs. Kagami and Peter have been in talks to improve the components sold at Tsurugi Electronics, improving the efficiency of microprocessors and so on while keeping costs affordable in the market. And OsCorp and Stark Industries will have to put aside their rivalry and make a sort of fusion to carry out the military and medical technology projects that have been halted."
"What about the little ones like my band or the Rainbooms, or Nino and his DJ gigs? Or the athletes? Or the reporters and the psychologists?" Luna asked as she took a sip of light beer. "Or dad and MJ with Lynn's Table and the Jackpot? What about the little ones, bros?"
"Everything under control, strident music loving sister." Lisa said as three people in suits walked up on stage with them. "For those who didn't know them, I introduce some old friends of mine and Peter's, who will take care of the bad reputation those assholes gave them and all the legal details of the different phases of the plan, and unfortunately other direct victims of DexTron, our trusted lawyers, Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Jen Walters."
"It's always a pleasure to see you." MJ said as she raised her glass of chardonnay in greeting.
"Same here, dear. Now, what we came for..." Jen said as Foggy pulled out several documents from his briefcase. "What we're going to do is a standard process, in this case lawsuits for defamation, unjustified breach of contract and obviously wrongful termination."
"As we speak, our investigation team, with the help of Peter and Lisa's AI, is digging up everything we need to have solid cases and, once we have all the evidence ready and verified before a notary, we will proceed to unleash legal hell." Foggy explained as he gave copies of the demand letters they had drafted to Lynn Jr., Lynn Sr., Mary Jane, Luna and her band, the Rainbooms, Nino, Lisa, Alya and Clyde.
"And believe me when I tell you, Jen and I are especially wild in court. Each of us has won cases against all odds, but together as we are going to be to help you, we will not only recover our reputations and clean up yours at the same time, but sweep the court and make sure that no one else messes with any of us again." Matt smiled as he decisively squeezed the handle of his white cane.
"Well, I see that you guys definitely live up to your reputation and Lincoln proves that the self-nickname of The Man with the Plan was not chosen out of vanity." Harry laughed after having taken a sip of cognac.
"Still, call me skeptical, Peter, because there is no guarantee that all this will work." Norman said as he sighed and lowered his glass of rum. "In fact, there is a good chance that this will go horribly wrong and we will all end up ruined if Pines, Neutron and McAllister launch a counterattack."
"I understand your concern, Norman, but don't worry, I didn't earn the title of the fourth smartest man on the planet just because." Peter said as the screens showed phase two of the plan, named Divide and Deceit. "Well, as Norman already noted, there are many possibilities of this going wrong, which is why phase one and phase two must be simultaneous, thus ensuring that DexTron Technologies will be so busy with their internal and personal problems that they won't have time to realize the first phase of our revenge plan to stop it, avoiding their crass mistake of allowing us to respond to their attack."
"The only bad thing is that..." Lisa sighed, preparing to admit the dark side of the plan. "... It's that we're going to have to stoop as low or lower than them to do it. The plan is divided into cyber attacks to recover the stolen projects and expose intimate and business secrets thanks to K.A.R.E.N. and J.A.R.V.I.S., direct industrial sabotage by myself, Pinkie Pie, Wade Wilson, Luke Cage and his small crew, which will lead to layoffs, but thanks to the vacancies that will open both in the Future Foundation and in all our various companies, we will be able to compensate them greatly, since their current positions are quite exploitative and steal all their ideas."
"That sounds like a good thing." Twilight said after taking a long sip of her Long Island tea. "I mean, aside from losing jobs, if they are going to be compensated with even better jobs, why do you put it as a bad thing?"
"Because the really bad part is that we also have to attack the hearts of Pines, Neutron and McAllister... or well, the black holes that they have for hearts." Peter said.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Sunset Shimmer asked as she lowered her mojito.
"She means that, just like Pines did to me, we're going to destroy their marriages." Lincoln admitted as images of Cynthia Vortex-Neutron, Pacifica Pines, and Blossom McAllister appeared on the screens. "And before you say it's horrible, we know, it's the lowest we've ever stood but... sometimes to fight monsters, you have to become one a lot worse."
"Although to be honest, we'd be doing the three of them a favor." Peter said. "From what we've gathered, the three of them are basically treated like trophies and barely get any attention from those three idiots they have for husbands. Especially McAllister's wife, she's as brilliant a scientist as I am, I mean, she's the seventh smartest person in the world and he doesn't let her exploit that, and I know it's out of envy, McAllister is only the tenth smartest person, even Neutron is higher than him in the rank."
"And unfortunately this is where we have to ask our therapist allies to help us..." Lincoln said.
"We could lose our licenses if we do something like this, Lincoln, it's too risky." Clyde said as he left his glass of schnapps on the table.
"Not really." K.A.R.E.N. said. "All three of them have a history of marriage counseling, couples therapy, and individual therapies, all failed and abandoned. That sets the basis to prove that any advice to go ahead and divorce Pines, McAllister, and Neutron won't be seen as malicious manipulation in a court of law."
"And about that, we'll take care of proving it." Jen affirmed. "Believe me, we've a lot of evidence against them and the more we investigate, the worse it gets for them."
"I don't know, darling, it all sounds very nice, but when you think about it, not only would we be lowering ourselves to their level, but it would be worse because we would be playing with the fates of many innocent people." Rarity sighed as she drank her gin and tonic. "We know that we have the best intentions, both business-wise and with the Future Foundation, and that they have certainly deserved to be absolutely destroyed, but many would see our actions as manipulative, deceitful, and even cruel and illegal."
"We know, and we fully understand any ethically or morally questionable implications of our plan, but, at this point, if we don't stop them once and for all, there won't be a second chance to fight back." Lisa sighed. "Peter and I made a very stupid mistake in believing that their attacks towards us would desist when they were established as a company or when they proved that they could be our competition, but we underestimated their level of meanness and look at all the damage they caused."
"And it's good that you bring it up because phase three will take care of any bad publicity that they may try to create or that the public discovers." Lincoln said as the screens showed phase three, named Clean Slate. "As well as effectively cleaning our tracks and exposing the secrets of Dextron Technologies, Dexter McAllister, Mason Pines and James Neutron."
"And for that, we have to make sure that by the time we get to execute that phase, Eddie, Alya and Sunset's reputations, as well as Matt, Jen and Foggy's, are more than clean, and that the Future Foundation must be well established and funded." Peter said. "For now, old Jonah has decided to help us with J3 Communications, offering employment to Eddie, Alya and Sunset, in exchange for a lifetime exclusive, the fall of DexTron Technologies and everything involved in it. But for the public to believe in an acceptable margin what we will expose, we must have managed to recover the reputations of our friends and prove that the slanders of Mason, Dexter and James are just lies."
"And about any doubts that may arise due to the constant bickering between us and DexTron, or any traces that may remain about our actions, we will simply act as always, saying that what happens to the three imbeciles is a tragedy and that we hope they recover, at least until we expose their lying faces to the public." Lisa said. "Alya, Eddie and Sunset will make sure the public knows. While Matt, Jen and Foggy will be in charge of patenting all the inventions that those bastards have stolen from us and have not put on the market, as well as covering our backs in the legal framework. And finally, K.A.R.E.N. and J.A.R.V.I.S. will be in charge of erasing our digital traces, altering audio and video records where we are seen planning and/or meeting, like now, and that all the investigations we do are stealthy, as if we had never done anything."
"And that would summarize the plan." Lincoln said as the screens showed small diagrams of the different phases. "And now comes the difficult part. We know the enormous moral, ethical, business, capital and effort implications that are required, so we are not going to try to convince anyone to join this crazy and morally reprehensible plan, but we are going to offer you all the support they need and that we can provide to keep their businesses afloat and participate in what improves the public image, without involving them further."
"Obviously, if none of you decide not to support us, nothing will change, we are still friends and if we have to reconfigure the entire plan to do it all ourselves, we will still do it because no matter what happens, DexTron Technologies has caused too much personal and massive damage to our lives, and they cannot be allowed to continue playing with our fates and the fruit of our labor." Peter declared.
At that moment, everyone present in the club looked at their friends with an unreadable expression.
And although Lincoln, Lisa and Peter originally took this as a sign that they were not in on the plan and that they would be alone, Johnny Storm, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, Darcy Helmandollar, Clyde and Lynn McBride, and Ronnie Anne Santiago all stood up, raising their drinks and nodding.
"You do know that even if you jump straight off a cliff into hell, we'll still follow you, right?" Johnny said as he smiled and held his glass of bourbon.
"We've been through thick and thin, Tigers, so don't even dream that we're going to abandon you when you face the biggest challenge of your lives." MJ said.
"I'd say something poetic like Johnny and MJ, but talking isn't my thing, so I'll just say that you have my fraction of OsCorp at your disposal." Harry declared.
"And I may not be of much help since I'm not a businesswoman or a genius like you, but I'll help as much as I can." Darcy said as she raised her glass of sherry.
"I put my license on the line, but what the hell, if you don't risk, you can't win, right Lynn?" Clyde said.
"Exactly, hun, besides, more than friends or acquaintances, we're basically family." Lynn said while taking a sip of her scotch.
"Not to mention, it sounds fun to kick the asses of those pompous, cretinous, sons of bitches." Ronnie Anne said while drinking the rest of her mezcal in one gulp.
Immediately afterwards, Lynn Sr and Ben Parker, accompanied by their wives Rita and May, stood up, all four raising their bottles of dark beer.
"You know that you've always had our support." Lynn Sr. said with a smile.
"And that we have always trusted that whatever you do, it will always be for a greater good." Ben said.
"And I think it was time for you to put a stop to them." May said.
"So you can always count on us." Rita said.
With that said, Lila Osborn, Luna and Sam Loud, Zack and Leni Taylor, Benny and Luan Stein, Bobby and Lori Santiago, Lola, Lana and Lily Loud, Carl and Carlino Casagrande, Billy and Teresa Cranston, and Rocky and Lucy Spokes stood up, smirking and nodding.
"I have nothing more to add than... fuck DexTron Technologies." Lana and Lola said as they downed their drinks in one gulp, a sex on the beach for Lana and a cosmopolitan for Lola.
"And as Johnny and MJ already said, it doesn't matter if you go to hell, we'll be behind you to support you." Lila said as she took a sip of her aperol spritz. "Plus, it's always nice to be considered to destroy someone, it reminds me of my old self, but combined with my new self."
"Morality is overrated. Sometimes you need to play dirty or be an absolute monster to get true justice." Lucy said as she raised her Cabernet Sauvignon.
After that, Marco and Star Diaz, Timber Spruce and Twilight Sparkle, Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer, Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie, and all the other guests also stood up, except for Norman Osborn, who remained seated, crossed legs and arms as everyone looked at him as if urging him to stand up as well.
"Come on, Dad, you and I both know we owe Peter big time." Harry said.
"I know that, Harold, I just wanted to add some drama." Norman chuckled as he stood up. "After all, no one messes with OsCorp without me making them pay for it."
"Let's leave the drama for the press performances we'll pull, Osborn." Tony said before looking at the leading trio. "What do you need to get started?"
"Authorization for J.A.R.V.I.S. and K.A.R.E.N. handle the finances of our companies for the time being." Lisa said. "After that, we will need Danny, Reed, Adrien, Marinette, Norman, Harry, Tony, Pepper, Peter and I to appear in public to introduce the Future Foundation and its headquarters."
"I can lend you the Jackpot to do your press conference and manage the Foundation, after all, my club already has a reputation of being a safe space for anyone who needs it." MJ said.
"And my restaurant can provide food for those who need it in Royal Woods in the name of the Future Foundation, we could even help the Jackpot workers while the false complaint of unsanitary conditions is resolved." Lynn Sr. said.
"Carl, Sunset, Eddie, Alya, I think we have to do some work with Foggy, Matt and Jen." Lila said. "Alya, you can leak all the dark details of DexTron to the public, I can help you make them sound really bad."
"Look at us, we just needed a push in the wrong direction to become a real criminal association." A drunken Pinkie laughed as she sipped her piña colada whole. "By the way, MJ, you are the best bartender in the world."
"Cheese, we don't want a repeat of the Christmas party from a few years ago, please control Pinkie." Rainbow said to her pink-haired friend's husband.
As the mood improved in the nightclub, Peter, Lisa and Lincoln couldn't help but feel happy and satisfied to have friends and family so close.
They had always known that they could count on their support no matter what, but on this occasion, they were especially grateful to all of them.
Since without a doubt, with such a well-coordinated and varied team, the revenge against DexTron would be absolutely devastating.
They just had to make sure that their allies were not hurt or harmed by the plan, no matter what.