In the collapsing zone, inside one of the half-collapsed buildings, noises of destruction and fighting could be heard on one of the upper floors. Inside, Amadeus and Flash wouldn't stop, knocking out villain after villain, over and over.
"Take that!!!" Shouts Flash as he extends his right arm, covering him with black goo. This generates a tentacle that pushes back two villains, covering their chests and launching them towards the wall. They hit hard, causing structural damage by force and fainting.
Amadeus also fought, being in his greenish form, which was still much smaller than that of the original Hulk. He dodged a villain's sword, and with an opening, he hooks the opponent's chin that throws him towards the ceiling, making him pass out too.
Both boys stop for a moment, panting and watching the various knocked out villains scattered around the room.
"I think those were the last of them..." Flash said, with his back to his classmate. He retracted the slime from his arms as Amadeus diminished, returning to his normal form. "Bunch of weaklings."
"Okay, now we find the rest," says Amadeus, turning to Flash. "If we're still in the EDR, then so are the rest. And not everyone has the offensive capacities like the two of us."
"If you wanna find the others, feel free," Flash replied with a contemptuous tone. "But I'm going to crush that devil."
"Huh? You're kidding right? He dodged our attacks like they were nothing," Amadeus tried to justify. "Come on dude, don't be an idiot."
"Shut up! I'd finish him off because he's their entry and exit route!" Flash, even aggressively, tries to explain his reasoning. "If we bear him, we lock them here and they'll pay for what they did!"
While the discussion was taking place, a villain with a an invisibility Quirk, who had been hiding all this time, began to sneak up on the two boys, taking advantage of the distraction to set up an ambush. He descends silently from the ceiling he was attached to, positioned himself behind Flash, removed a blade from his robes, and dropped towards the boy. But what he didn't expect was the boy's perception and reflexes. He quickly covers his arm with black goo, grabbed the villain's head and hit it on the floor with enormous force, crouching in the process.
"Anyway," Flash went on calmly, as he looks at the head of the villain. He was knocked out, overwhelmed by the impact. "If all the villains are weak like this, then the others will be fine."
"Wow, that reaction time was amazing!" Said Amadeus, impressed. "But since when have you been so calm and rational? Isn't your style generally more... aggressive?"
Amadeus tries to find an adjective, but the best he can think of were all the outbursts of fury he'd already witnessed... and they only knew each other for a few days.
"I'M ALWAYS CALM AND RATIONAL, YOU MUTANT AVOCADO!" Flash yelled angrily.
"See, that's more like you!" The boy replied.
"Whatever," Flash got up, throwing his passed out opponent in the pile with the others. "Go look for the others if you want..."
"Nah, I'll stick with you," Amadeus said, following Flash. "I think what you're really saying is that you trust our classmates, and that's the beginning of being able to work as a team."
He transformed into his green form and gave a thumbs up to the other boy, who simply stared at him without showing any expression.
Fire Zone
The three villains present moved in group among the buildings and fires, looking for the girl in white coveralls with the ponytail out. They stop at a crossroads when they realize they've lost sight of her.
"Damn, she's fast!" One of them said, everyone turns to run each one in a different direction to cover more ground. Little did one of them know, that when he passed through an alley, he was hit by a kick in the face.
He staggered backwards; followed by several scratches from sharp claws and another kick that made him fall. Ava gets up and listens to the other villains identifying her position, she turns away and runs again. I have to help others... She thinks to herself without stopping.
Storm Zone
While two villains were looking for the students, one of them was surprised by the boy wearing the black cloak, materialized from the air. He delivers a kick with both feet on his back. The kick itself was nothing very powerful, but it was enough to irritate him. The villain together with his colleague then set out towards the boy who now ran towards an alley, with his cloak protecting him from the rain. But when they see it, they can only see the boy disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. Suddenly, they're both surprised by a shout.
"I am Groot!" The alien teenager threw his arms on the ground, breaking the concrete and making them grow at an insane speed. They ripple across the floor, until they leave and push the two villains towards the wall of a building, making them pass out on impact.
Tyrone then appears beside him, "These are six. We're reducing their number, but slowly." He stared at the artificial rain clouds, "I hope it helps in the long run..."
"I am Groot..."
Entrance
"This ends here!" The villain yelled, appearing in the path of Pietro. His swords were drawn, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the boy. Pietro had no way of stopping, and the ground was too smooth to make such a sharp turn, he would bump into the villain anyway. His only hope was for a miracle to occur. Thankfully, it did.
A red energy passed under Pietro and catches the villain, causing him to rise a few meters off the ground. The boy is impressed by what happened and smiled, recognizing that energy.
"Your biggest mistake was taking your attention away from us!" Wanda said, sweat running down her face. She held a sphere of scarlet energy in her hands, keeping the enemy suspended.
"Go Pietro!!!" She used her last of her strength to send the opponent through the air while her brother continued to run.
Pietro then managed to reach the door and starts trying to open it by force. He was certainly not the most muscular, but he needed to get it, quickly getting excited by the crack he had managed to produce.
"Come back here!" Even in the air, the villain starts to create the black mist, probably preparing for teleportation.
"Not so fast!" Kamala screamed, using her Quirk to increase the length of her arm and the size of her fist. She managed to reach him in the air and grab him completely.
"Luke, Danny!!!" With a quick movement, she throws him towards the two boys.
Without understanding what was happening, the villain found himself falling towards the boy in the mask and the tall one in yellow. They prepare their Quirks, one simply making a fist, and the other lighting up his own. They punched the villain simultaneously, sending him through the air in the opposite direction of Pietro.
The man only had time to register the platinum boy managing to open a gap large enough that he could pass through. He used it to leave the place with uncanny speed.
He will call for reinforcements... He thought as he began to use his Quirk in the air, "Es ist vorbei, it's over."
However, in the middle of the central part of the EDR, things weren't going as well for Daredevil. The blind hero had been completely immobilized and dominated by the giant creature. It forced the hero's body down while twisting his right arm as if it were a dry branch
"Agh!!!" Matthew howled in pain as he feels his bones shatter and warm blood begins to trickle through his fingers.
"You have the ability to confuse the senses of others and sharpen your own. It's irritating for sure, but nothing too impressive," the cloaked villain said, seemingly unaffected by the grotesque scene in front of him.
"When face-to-face with such immense raw power, you're about as threatening as a Quirkless child!" He cackled at his comparison.
Matthew knew he couldn't do anything, he was completely immobilized. He had broken bones and the creature that attacked him wasn't alive, so there was no way to use his Quirk to confuse a machine. His power wasn't a destructive sonic cry, so it was useless against non-living things.
"No, no..." Kei crouched behind the wall, hugging his knees while tears gathered in his eyes. "I can't watch this anymore," he said, feeling dizzy and nauseated.
"Me neither," replied Peter, with firm resolve. He turned to his other classmate, pulling his mask down. An idea had struck, inspired ironically enough by another giant robot he'd faced. But to make it work, he was going to need help.
"Gwen, Kei, I have an idea. But you're probably not gonna like it..."
The robot raised a fist, as if preparing to throw a final punch that would cave in the hero's skull and end his life. But as it hurtled forward, a pink portal suddenly opened in the air. The fist went through it... and the Sentinel punched itself through the top of its head!!!
A second portal had opened above, closing as the robot began to topple to the side.
"W-What!?" Hobgoblin was shocked by the sudden development. Just as quickly, however, a pair of webs latched onto the robot's body. "Who the hell-!?"
But the villain could scarcely react, as a blur of red surged towards him, yanked by the webs.
"Incomiiiiinnnng!!!" Peter roared, the distance between the two narrows he punched with all his strength. It's a solid impact, Hobgoblin's head twists to the side as Peter's fist collides with his jaw. His eyes widened as he fell back off his glider. He hit the ground hard.
Hobgoblin sat up, gingerly rubbing his jaw. He grinned darkly at the boy who landed on all fours. "Well well, it seems we have a new challenger!"
The villain's hood had fallen back, revealing his full face. It was pale, with long ears, pointed teeth, and red eyes.
"Yikes!" Said Peter, cringing under his mask. "I hope that's part of a costume and not your real face. 'Cause you're about the ugliest guy I've seen all day!"
Hobgoblin stood up, "And he's got jokes as well! Oh, I'm going to have fun killing you!" He pointed his finger at Peter and fired a blast of energy.
Thankfully, the boy could tell this was coming with his Spider Sense, and he narrowly dodged the beam.
"Missed me!!" Peter called, teasing the enemy before dodging another shot. "Whoops!!"
"Hey! Hold still, ya little-" Hobgoblin shot a series of beams, while Peter did everything he could to avoid them. Finally, after nearly exhausting himself dodging, he'd managed to get close enough to flip forward and deliver a kick to the villain's body.
Hobgoblin was knocked into the Sentinel, and the villain took a quick look at the damage. The broken arm stuck out of its head, which sparked slightly.
"This was a brand new robot, you know!" He turned to yell at Peter, "Fresh off the assembly line and everything! Never even got to fight Iron Man!"
"You know the funny thing is, this isn't the first time I've beaten a robot like that!!" Peter laughed. "Your tech's barely on par with the big mechas used in the Entrance Exam. So I don't think you have a lot to brag about!"
"Don't mock me, you runt!" Hobgoblin glared, he pressed a button on his glove and his glider came swooping back over. He jumped on it and flew after Peter, who shot a web and swung into the makeshift city.
Now's your chance... Gwen, Kei, make it count!!
Back at the destroyed Sentinel, Kei had invoked one of his stronger drawings. It was now lifting the robot's other hand off of Daredevil.
"He was right, I don't like this..." Kei muttered, helping Gwen pull their teacher away from the machine. He kept looking around, in case another villain spotted them.
"Well it beats fighting him, right?" Asked Gwen, "So less lip, more lift!"
Mr. Murdock began to stir, he'd nearly passed out from the pain. He could barely speak through his bloody mouth, "The villain... Where...?"
"He's distracted right now, but we don't have long," Gwen replied. At that moment, Kei's creation lowered the giant hand back to the ground. "Ok, let's find cover like Peter said," she continued.
"Peter...?" The hero turned his head weakly toward Gwen.
"Alright Scragg, do your thing!" Kei commanded.
His humanoid insect nodded, "The mighty Scragg understands his task!" It suddenly dissolved and turned into thousands of tiny versions of itself. They crawled under Daredevil and lifted his body, keeping up him stable and hovering just off the ground.
"Hhhhnnnn," the Scraggs groaned as they brace with the effort. "The fearsome Scragg recommends this man consume more vegetation..." One of them muttered.
"I haven't perfected this move," Kei went on. "We've only got about 2 minutes before it fades away."
"Then let's get moving," Gwen turned towards the exit. But they're stopped by the sudden arrival of the reddish villain.
Kei immediately felt a chill down his spine, "Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap!!!!!!"
"My, what a sorry state you're in..." the villain comments. "I didn't think Hobgoblin would've left you alive, Daredevil."
"Well, h-he sorta got distracted, Mr. Satan, sir..." Gwen hesitantly replied.
"Oh?" The villain cocked his head, "I am not Satan, mädchen. My name is Azazel. And please, explain how you mean 'distracted'."
"I-If I tell you, will you let us live?" She asked, literally shaking in her boots.
"I have no taste for shedding the blood of children," Azazel bowed courteously. "But I make no promises..."
"Well, our friend kinda punched your boss in the face and called him names," Gwen explained hurriedly. "That made him mad and he started chasing him, after your big robot got destroyed."
Azazel said nothing, as if soaking everything in. Then he turned back at the damaged Sentinel, and pinched between his eyebrows in exasperation. "Gott in himmel," he muttered, before vanishing in a cloud of black and red mist.
Gwen breathes a sigh of relief, and for a moment all was quiet. Then she and Kei began to freak out and hug each other. "OHMYGOD, I thought we were dead!!!" She sobbed.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes!" Kei cried, hugging her tightly. "I am not dying until I get to touch a pair of boobs!"
"Well keep it together, this fanfic ain't X-rated!" Gwen shoved the shorter boy off. "We've got a teacher bleeding out and it's up to us to save him!"
Kei nodded determinedly, and they set off with their immobilized instructor.
Hobgoblin flew through the makeshift city in search of Peter. "Come out, insect!" He called out, "At least make your death memorable!"
"Arachnid!" Peter yelled back, hidden in one of the buildings. "If you're gonna insult me, at least get my species right!"
Going in the direction of the voice, Hobgoblin pulls a pumpkin bomb from his satchel at throws it into an open window. It explodes with an OW!! The blast shot debris and fire out the floor, making the roof implode. He watched the entire building collapse in on itself with smug satisfaction, until he heard a voice...
"Missed again!!!" Peter's voice echoed, making Hobgoblin seethe with anger. He shot several finger beams through random buildings, hoping to hit something. Just then, materializing from the air, accompanied by black and red smoke, Azazel appeared beside the young villain.
"Hobgoblin..." he says, referring to the young villain, but not looking at him.
"Azazel," he replied, scanning the debris in search of his intended victim. "Kinda in the middle of something here. Did you manage to kill Danger yet?"
"The Rescue Heroine will no longer be a problem, she's out of action," he sighed slightly before asking his question. "But what happened with the Sentinel? It was our primary weapon against the Symbol of Hope."
"Yeah well, someone decided to butt in while I was having fun with Daredevil," Hobgoblin glared, shooting a few more beams into buildings. "Is there another reason you're here?"
"Yes..." Azazel cleared his throat. "There were some children that I was unable to transport. One of them managed to escape from the facility."
"You what!? Grrrrrrr..." The young man growled in frustration and he lowered his head. His fists clenched and he began to breathe hard and fast. "Azazel, you idiot! If you weren't a key part of our plan, I'd shoot you without a second thought!!" He said, sounding more furious than at any other moment before now.
But just as quickly, his mood shifted. Giving a sigh, he shrugged and cracks a smile, "Oh well, you win some, you lose some. The damage is already done, and it's not like we're going to take it against several professionals at this point. Let's go home..."
After hearing that, Peter breathed a quiet sigh from his hiding spot. It would all be over soon.
"But first thing's first," said the villain. "No point in coming here if we don't leave a big mark. If we can't kill Iron Man, then we'll just kill everyone else! Is Sentinel's self-destruct sequence still functional?"
Peter's eyes widened in fear upon hearing this.
"Not via remote," replied Azazel, holding up a controller. "Given the damage caused, it'll have to be done in person."
"Ugh, fine," Hobgoblin groans. "Get one of our tech guys to rig it, then start getting the rest out." Azazel disappeared into his mist.
Hobgoblin spun around on his glider, "You hear that, arachnid!? This place is going up in smoke!! And you're gonna be crushed at the center of it!!!" He flies off, cackling manically.
Peter peered out from behind a window, his breathing heavy and his mind racing. The robot's rigged to blow up?!? How much time do we have? I've gotta warn the others somehow...
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Barber's Chair
• Ok, so we have our first Spider-Man vs Goblin fight in the series. Well, not so much a "fight," as a "piss him off until he follows me" kind of thing. But it definitely establishes a few things: Peter's getting better at quipping towards his opponents, and Hobgoblin has a bit of a temper.
