Making their way up past the 118th floor, Azari's team continued their trek towards the top. However the fast pace was starting to effect even the more physically gifted students, and they were starting to tire out. Still, they struggled onwards, determined to carry out their mission.
"Seems... we've been... pretty lucky," Laura panted, looking around as she ran. "The path's been clear since we passed the 100th floor."
"Do you think maybe we lost them?" Asked Wanda, running alongside.
"My Spider Sense isn't going off right now, but I doubt we're out of the woods yet," replied Peter.
"For all we know, they're leading us into a trap," Kei put in.
"Exactly," Azari nodded. "Don't let your guard down."
"Still, we're almost there," said Toni. "Just get me to the top, and it'll all be over!!"
They were about to round the corner through the 130th floor, when Peter's Spider Sense tingled. He stuck his arm out and grabbed Azari, "Hold it!!"
The Class President stopped, "What is it? Have you detected an enemy?" The other students slowed as they saw the two boys come to an abrupt halt.
"I'm not sure, but there's definitely something dangerous waiting in the next room," Peter replied, pulling down his mask.
Azari peeked through the door's window, "You were right, there's at least a half dozen robots inside."
Toni crept over to take a look. Her expression went pale, "The villains have activated the Iron Legion..."
"What?? I thought they were decommissioned!?" Peter hissed, worriedly.
"What's the Iron Legion?" Asked Kei.
"When Uncle Tony started making a name for himself as Iron Man, some of his battles could get really intense," Toni explained. "So he developed a series of drones to help with crowd control and to act as backup in case of big numbers."
"Yeah, but he suddenly took them out of service a few years after the Avengers were formed," Peter added. "Rumor was, one of them was overtaken by a rogue AI, and that wound up becoming Ultron. But it was never proven."
"In any case, the remaining drones weren't used in public again," Toni sent on. "I guess he decided to repurpose them as part of the security system here."
"And now we've gotta fight them?" Laura took Peter's place as she peeked inside. "That's a bit of a tall order..."
"Not necessarily," said Peter, his thinking face on. "They might be tough looking, but as far as I know, they never had any advanced weaponry." He turned to Antonia, "Do they?"
Toni shook her head, "They don't."
Peter breathed out in relief, "Then these guys'll be no tougher than the robots we fought in our entrance exams!"
"If that is the case, then allow me to clear this next floor," Azari declared, removing his suit jacket and shirt.
He then grabbed his sash and snapped it out like a towel. The kinetic energy caused the fabric to go rigid and curl up tightly, with the metal pendant stuck to the end altered into a sharp, metal point. The young Prince now held a spear in his hand.
"Oh, that's so cool!" Wanda exclaimed, stars in her eyes.
"Indeed," Azari replied humbly. "When I give the signal, please open the door..."
Peter clutched the handle as Azari got into a position, "Ready?"
Azari, eyes steely and hardened, gave a nod, "Go!"
Peter swung the door open as Azari charged in, spear in hand as he leapt high into the air. "Wakanda Forever!!!" He yelled, throwing his weapon into an unsuspecting drone's head, destroying it.
This of course attracted the attention of the other drones, and they charged in to attack, some of them even flying towards Azari. But the boy was unconcerned, retrieving his now glowing spear and getting into a fighting stance.
The first drone attacked from behind, and Azari struck the spear into the ground, using the kinetic energy to leapt as high as he could to dodge, striking the robotic torso with his spear tip as he came down. The built up energy surged into drone and it broke apart into several pieces.
The next one came flying in from the front, with another coming from the side. Azari swung the spear down like a hammer, crunching the drone's head in. He jerked the staff end towards the ground, once again using the energy to propel himself this time towards the side, landing a powerful double kick into the the drone's chest. Sparks flew everywhere as its power source was destroyed.
Two more came in and Azari swung his staff, striking both in succession. The pendent spear head sliced through necks like butter and the drones collapsed to the ground.
The last one attacked from behind, but Azari pivoted quickly and thrust his spear through its chest, unable to go further. The drone hung in its position until it powered down, and Azari lowered the spear. Placing his foot on the destroyed robot, he pulled out his spear and exhaled, looking around briefly at his work.
"Hey! Can anyone hear me?" The Multiple Man siting up in the control center frantically spoke into his comm, "Something's interfering with the drone's sensors. We've lost those kids!!"
"It doesn't matter," said a voice, older and authoritative. "The plan continues. From here on out, no further comms use. We don't know if one of them is capable of spying on us..."
"U-Um, yes sir..." Said Multiple Man, nervously.
The young heroes in training ran through the 138th floor. Thankfully, there weren't any more Iron Legion drones coming after them, at least for the moment. Just ahead, they caught a glimpse of a green figure enter from a side office. He carried an unconscious woman wrapped under his arm. Her face was unmistakable.
"Aunt Shuri!!!" Azari yelled, his normal stoicism broken by concern for his family. The villain quickly turned back, seeing the rushing students. His face was seen to be serpentine, with a long neck and scaled skin. With wide eyes and a fearful expression, he made a beeline towards the elevator.
"He's getting away!!!" Laura growled angrily, quickening her pace.
"Oh, no he's not!!" Kei exclaimed, as he tore a fresh drawing from his notebook and threw it forward. In a bright flash, a familiar blue monster appeared, slightly larger than its creator. "Hi-Vo, sic 'im!!!"
At his command, Hi-Vo surged towards the villain at high speed, occasionally using its forearms to propel itself forward. Passing by Laura, it was quickly gaining on the reptilian villain, much to his fear.
"I hate petssssss!!" He hissed, frantically trying to run faster.
Aaron Salomon, Alias: Slither. Quirk; Snake. He can extend and wrap his flexible body around an object and constrict himself as a snake can.
At the rate he was going, it seemed as though Hi-Vo would catch up to him, but unfortunately, the snake man had one more trick up his sleeve. "Now!!" He called, nearing the elevator.
At that moment, Peter's Spider Sense began to go off, "Guys, there's some-"
But he was cut off by the suddenness of a heavy blur plummeting towards the group, and nearly directly atop-
"Laura!!!" Kei yelled out in warning, before calling to his monster, "Hi-Vo!!!"
The speedy creature turned and knocked the girl out of the way. It moved just in time, as something huge landed atop Hi-Vo and crushed the monster on impact, the floor cracking beneath its body.
"Augh!!!" Kei yelled in pain, before a sudden burst of blood shot from his mouth. He fell over onto his back, clutching his head and twitching violently. The others looked on in horror.
"Kei!!" Exclaimed a horrified Wanda, "What's wrong!?" She ran over to check on the boy, his hand moving up to cover his mouth.
"It's a side effect of his Quirk," replied Peter, who'd similarly turned back to help. "When one of his monsters is killed before the time limit, he gets hurt! And for him to react like this..."
From within the crater, a huge figure looked up at the group. It was a very obese man with orange hair, and wore a black leotard with a red belt and bracers.
"Heh, looks like we've got a couple 'a brats trying to play hero," the huge figure sneered, picking himself upright. "What should I do with 'em, Slither?"
Frederick Dukes, Alias: The Blob. Quirk; Immovable. His extreme body mass grants him enhanced strength and invulnerability.
Beyond the crater, Slither entered the elevator car with the tied up Shuri. "Our job isss finished," Slither replied with a grin. "Go have fun..." The door closed after his remark, and the car rose quickly within the tube until it passed up beyond sight.
"Sounds good to me," said Blob, cracking his knuckles and walking towards the group.
Laura stared at the unconscious Kei, then back up at the advancing villain. From within her, burst forth an unbridled rage.
"Rrrrrrrraaaauuuughhhh!!!!" She exclaimed, popping her claws and charging at the villain.
"Kinney, no!!!" Azari called after her, but she ignored him. Leaping towards the Blob, she hacked and slashed at his body with a previously unseen ferocity. But the villain merely raised his hands and shoved her back sumo-style. While the movement was slight, his strength was evident as it knocked Laura backwards 20 feet.
"Ugh, ow..." She muttered, getting off the ground and shaking her head. Laura gazed in shock after regaining her senses, "What the hell!? He doesn't have a scratch on him!!"
"You won't cut me with those boney little claws," Blob grinned, stomping his foot on the ground. The floor shook slightly, cracks jutting out towards the teenagers.
"Move!!" Azari yelled, as everyone ran in opposite directions. The exception was Kei, who was still unable to move. Antonia picked him up and ran for cover.
Blob was quick to notice the splitting group. "Where do ya think yer going?" He asked, barreling toward them.
Suddenly, Azari threw his spear to the ground in front of the villain, imbedding into the floor. Blob tripped over the weapon, collapsing to the ground with a loud thud!!
"Little brat!!" He groaned, struggling to get to his feet.
Just then, a series of web lines covered his body as Peter ran around him, creating a web cocoon similar to the one he used in the Sports Festival.
"Hey!! What is this crap!?" Blob strained against the web, and it began to snap apart in places.
"That won't hold him long," said Peter. "Let's get going!"
"..." The Prince looked hesitantly at the villain, and then up beyond where the elevator had gone. Finally, he saw Toni, who was helping a still woozy Kei sit up.
"Antonia!" He hurried over and removed his Kimoyo Beads and placing them firmly in her hand. "You must see this through to the end."
"Wait, what about you??" She asked, worriedly.
"Kinney and I are staying," he said firmly. "The two of us will keep this man busy for as long as we are able."
"Three of us," Kei called over, scribbling quickly in his notebook. "I'm down, not out. And I've still got plenty of monsters I can draw against that fat bastard!"
Laura nodded in agreement. She was eager for another shot at the Blob, and glad to see her classmate back in action.
Azari turned to Peter, "Parker, you and Maximoff must get Antonia to the top floor. Protect her, and rescue Aunt Shuri from the villains!"
Peter nodded, a determined look beneath his mask. Wanda reacted in the same manner, grabbing Antonia as they ran towards the staircase.
Blob managed to free himself from the webbing and stood upright. He angrily swiped a big hand towards the young Prince. The boy brought up his arms to guard, taking the brunt of the impact but still being knocked back a good distance. His tattoos began to glow as he absorbed the kinetic energy.
The villain leapt towards Azari, getting surprisingly high off the ground in spite of his size and attempting to crush him. Azari managed to roll out of the way just in time, the floor shaking from Blob's impact.
"You sure you've got more fight in you?" Laura inquired, guarding Kei as he continued to draw. "You took a pretty bad hit there..."
"That tub of lard crushed my brilliant creation," Kei gritted his teeth, tearing the finished sketch from his notebook. "But I've dealt with worse critics than him!!"
He threw the page forward, and a flash of light nearly blinded the two. A new monster had appeared: a humanoid robot with a distinctly female figure. "Mekara, you're up!!" Kei called.
"He'll pay for his actions toward Hi-Vo!!" The robot said with a mature, feminine voice. Drawing a sword, she ran towards the Blob alongside an eager Laura.
"Ooh I like this one," Laura grinned, popping her claws with a snikt!!
Peter, Wanda and Antonia hurried through the next floor until something caught the boy's eye. This particular level had the look of an empty airplane hanger, with 2 big doors and a platform that seemed to extend outside the building.
"Toni!" He asked, quickly forming a plan, "This was the old hanger for the Quinjets, right?"
"Yes!" She replied. "They used to sit here and that platform would move them outside for takeoffs and landings. Why?"
"Perfect!" The boy exclaimed, running toward the big doors.
"What're you thinking, Peter?" Wanda asked, following her classmate.
"We may have a shortcut," he replied. "But that's only if we can get those doors open."
"But I thought we were trying to avoid being detected?" Toni ran just behind the duo.
"If we can pull this off, we'll be gone before anyone can catch us!" Peter grinned beneath his mask. "But there's no way the system will open them for us. So we're gonna have to do it the hard way."
He made it to the doors and hooked his fingers on the end of the left one. "Do you think you can help pull on this one?" Peter asked. "If we try it together, it hopefully won't drain as much of your power."
Wanda nodded determinedly and raised her hands, "You should step back, Toni".
The girl retreated slightly as Wanda's hands started to glow bright red. A corresponding glow surrounded the door Peter stood by.
"Are you ready?" She asked.
Peter gripped the steel edge, "Pull!!"
With combined effort, they managed to move it open 4 feet.
"Alright, that should be enough for us to squeeze in," he called, bracing himself between the doors to keep them open. "Hurry!!"
The girls ran over, feeling the sudden rush of night air coming at them. Peter strained against the doors as they tried to close shut again. Finally, they passed through and Peter quickly got out of the way as the steel doors closed with a loud slam!!!
"Phew," he said, catching his breath. "Now I know what a door stopper feels like."
"Ok, we're outside. Now what?" Wanda asked, trying not to look down and bracing against the high winds.
"You remember how I beat the 0 Pointer in the Entrance Exam?" Peter leapt up high on the wall shot out 2 web lines that stuck to the building.
The redhead's eyes widened, "Oh boy..." She turned towards Antonia, "You should probably get closer."
Toni didn't need much prodding, given how high above the ground the group was.
"Please tell me he's not about to slingshot us to the roof!!" Antonia said worriedly.
Wanda raised her hands, "Don't worry, I have a way to protect us." A red barrier of energy surrounded the two, "This will protect us from the wind sheer and whiplash."
Peter walked backwards down the wall, pulling the webs as tightly as he could. Finally, he made it down to the girls, straining to hold the web lines. Wanda opened a hole in the red bubble so the boy could get in.
"Alright, welcome to Air Spidey," he said, bracing against the wall with all his strength. "As we prepare for takeoff, I'd like to ask my passengers to please do me a favor?"
"Sure...?" Toni replied, her nervousness obvious.
"Hold on tight and don't throw up," the lenses in Peter's mask narrowed as he pulled further back on the webs. Taking it as their cue, the girls gripped around his neck and under his arm on each side. Finally, Peter released his feet from the wall, and the group shot up like a rocket.
"HOOOOOLLLLYYYY CRRRRAAAAAAAAPPPP!!!!" Antonia yelled, maintaining her grip while Wanda grit her teeth to maintain the shield bubble against the rush of wind. They passed the giant letter 'A' insignia on the building side as they continued their path toward the top.
"Ok, we're almost there!" Peter said loudly over the rush. "Wanda, get ready to open the shield! We're slowing down, but I'm gonna have to launch more webs or we'll overshoot!!"
"Alright!!" Wanda replied, sweat beginning to drip down her forehead from the strain. She dared to slightly raise her left hand, "Say when!"
Finally, the red orb began to pass the roof of the huge building. "NOW!!!" Peter yelled, aiming his wrists.
An opening appeared in the energy and 2 web lines thwipped out and connected to the side of the 200th floor. Their momentum slowed as the webs stretched and the orb came to a stop.
And like rubber bands, they pulled the trio towards the window. From within, Slither could be seen walking by. He looked outside, eyes widening in shock.
"Brace yourselves!!!" Peter yelled, as the red ball of energy crashed through the double paned glass, and tumbled into the off-guard villain. Finally Wanda dropped her hands and the red bubble disappeared, leaving the trio to crash on top of Slither, who was rendered unconscious by the sudden impact.
"Nice landing," Toni said dryly, shakily getting to her feet.
"At least we made it," Peter replied. "And bonus, we took out a villain!"
"Two actually," Wanda nodded, her arm shaking but outstretched and glowing. Towards the end of the giant control room, a Multiple Man struggled within a wrapping of flickering red light.
"Perfect," said the masked boy. "I've got a question for him."
"First thing's first," Wanda's fingers began to twitch. "Can you web this guy up? I'm running on empty."
The trio approached the trapped Multiple Man. Peter shot a few web lines to pin him to the wall, allowing an exhausted Wanda to finally power down her Quirk.
"What the hell's this!?" Multiple Man yelled angrily. "Get me out of this crap, or so help me-"
"In case you haven't noticed Slappy, you're not exactly in a position to make demands," Peter quipped. "Now it's been a long night, and I think we could all use a breather, so I'm gonna let you clock out if you tell us where Shuri is."
"I'm not saying a word!" The villain shook his head, "You kids have no idea what you're dealing with."
"Clearly, you don't either," replied Peter. "If you knew who we were or what Quirks we had, you'd know it's not a good idea to play hardball."
"Ha!" Multiple Man laughed, "You think you're able to threaten me? Go ahead, do your worst!"
"Ok then..." Peter sighed. He crouched down and placed one hand to the floor, while placing the fingertips from his other hand against his temple. The lenses of his mask closed, giving off the look of extreme concentration.
"Hey," Multiple Man looked on curiously, "What're you doing?"
"Calling the spiders," he said.
"The what now?" The villain asked.
"The spiders," Peter replied simply. "I'm calling the spiders."
Multiple Man was incredulous, "What do you-"
"I don't think I introduced myself," the boy went on. "My hero name is a Spider-Man, and you pissed me off. So now I'm using my Quirk to summon the spiders who'll answer my call."
The villain began to get nervous, "Y-Your bluffing!"
"Am I?" Peter tilted his head, "It took a lot of work to get all the way up here. If you think for a second I'm gonna let some henchman like you get in the way, you're sorely mistaken."
He began to approach Multiple Man, crawling slowly and somewhat creepily along the floor.
"How many do you think live in a building like this?" Peter asked, "Hundreds? Thousands? Maybe hundreds of thousands, and all of them ready to act on my command..."
The boy quickly popped up in front of the trapped villain, with fingers wiggling and lenses twitching, "Because I'm Spider-Man!!!"
"Yaaaahhhh!!!" The now horrified Multiple Man screamed, "Okay, okay!! I'll talk!!! She's tied up in that closet over there!!! J-Just call off the spiders!!!"
Peter turned, seeing a utility closet off to the side. "See? That's all we needed to know," he said cheerfully. "Wanda?"
"On it!" Said the redhead, hurrying over. Throwing open the door, a gagged figure tied up in rope slumped over. Wanda shone a light, and a tired looking Shuri glanced up in relief at her rescuer, "She's here! I'll untie her while you and Toni do your thing."
Peter nodded at his classmate before turning back to Multiple Man, "Thank you very much for your cooperation." He began to turn away before being struck by a thought, "Oh btw, I can't really summon spiders. I was just bluffing."
A furious expression took over the villain's face, "Oh... Oh you dirty little ba-mmph!?" His incoming angry rant was cut off as a blast of webbing covered his mouth.
"Uh-uh, no potty mouth from you", Peter said, as he made his way over to the monitor Antonia was working on.
"Nice performance over there," she grinned.
"Thanks!" Peter chuckled, "'Summoning the spiders', jeez what a mook. Anyway, how's it going here?"
"Someone knew what they were doing," Toni replied, looking through everything. "We've got firewalls, sub-programs, multiple password protections, and who knows what else they did to the system. They really did a number on it, so this won't be easy..."
"Great," Peter groaned, looking at the screens and rows of and multiple servers. "So now what?"
"Hey, I said it wouldn't be easy, not impossible," Antonia winked. "That reminds me, I never told you my Quirk earlier, did I?" Peter shook his head in response, and the young scientist approached a server. Then, placing her hands upon it, she closed her eyes for a moment.
Exhaling, her hands phased into the machinery, and her eyes shot open, glowing bright blue. Numbers and coding seemed to pass from bottom to top like movie credits within her vision.
"I call it 'Technis'," she went on. "Basically, it lets me speak computer."
"Wow, that's so cool!!" Peter exclaimed, fascinated by her unique power set. "This means you can hack the system back to normal, right?"
"More or less," Toni replied, adjusting her position. "But it does have its share of drawbacks. Sorting and processing through a constant flow of information is tough on my brain. It's like watching a movie on fast forward and still trying to take in everything. I literally have to think fast enough to keep up with the flow of data."
Peter cringed slightly, "Sounds like a real headache..."
"You have no idea," she said, focusing her eyes. "It was years before I could get the hang of it, and even now I can only use it like once a day before I get nosebleeds and pass out. That's why I didn't try hacking the systems earlier. So if there was ever a time to use it..."
Antonia began to sweat a bit from the effort, but thankfully her persistence was rewarded, "Ha!! There you are!" She pressed the top Kimoyo Bead on the bracelet she wore, "Riri, are you there? I've found the code! Get ready to synchronize restart."
"Perfect!" Riri spoke to the image appearing from her wrist. "We're just about wrapped up on our end too. Let's get started on my mark. Three... two... one... GO!!"
From both levels of the Tower, the two young but brilliant minds set to work and in moments, had the system running.
"Just 2 minutes until it's fully reset, and the system's back in the hands of the good guys," Antonia sighed with relief. "After that, the hostages'll be safe and the heroes are free to kick some ass!"
"Sounds good to me," Riri grinned. "And hey, we've got some good news for Azari! Where is he?"
"He got held up by a villain, but knowing him, I'm sure he's ok," replied Antonia. "What's the news?"
"We found Shuri!!" Riri beamed, "Or, I guess Ava did. She was looking for Pietro, but this is-"
"Whoa whoa whoa, time out!!" Antonia froze on her end on the conversation. "How did you you guys find Shuri?? We just found Shuri!"
"See for yourself!" Riri gestured off-screen, and the Wakandan scientist walked into view.
"I'm glad someone found my Beads!" She said with relief, "But where is Azari? Did you say he's facing a villain!? Which floor is he on!?"
Antonia turned nervously towards Peter, "Um, Pete? I think we-"
"I heard," the boy replied, looking around wildly. "Where's Wanda?? She was just here a second ago!!"
"There!!" Toni pointed upwards, revealing 'Shuri' to be standing on an overhead walkway. An unconscious Wanda was being held up with an arm over her shoulder.
"What did you do to her!?" Roared Peter.
"A mild tranquilizer," 'Shuri' replied. "She'll wake up soon. Thanks for wearing her Quirk out, by the way. It made my job a lot easier."
"What job!?" Asked the boy, lenses narrowing. "What's all this about?? Just who the hell are you!?"
'Shuri' gave a half smirk, and her body began to change. It was as if her skin was like playing cards being flipped over from at once. Her dark skin turned blue, short black hair grew longer and turned red, brown eyes became bright yellow, and her ceremonial Wakandan garb turned into a simple white outfit.
"Who I am is not important," she said, her accent becoming more European. "The one you should worry about, is him..."
At that moment, Peter's Spider-Sense rang louder than it ever had before. He turned toward the direction it came from, eyes widening with fear. He turned and raced towards Antonia, attempting to grab her before it was too late.
Peter wrapped his arms around the surprised girl and spun around. Suddenly, he was hit in the back by a powerful blow that knocked the two out the broken window and into a free fall.
From where the boy once stood, a server tower appeared to be floating in mid-air, until it dropped suddenly to the floor. Just then, a bell rang and the blue skinned woman turned towards the elevator. The door opened, revealing another Multiple Man, this one carrying an unconscious Pietro over his shoulder.
"Your timing's perfect," said the blue woman to her comrade. "Now we have both of them."
"Indeed," said a gravely voice. Floating in from the window, their leader entered the control room. Clad in his red and purple attire, he looked both regal and menacing at once. His eyes were barely visible from the shadows made by his helmet.
"You have all done well," he added, before looking down at the twins laid out on the floor in front of him.
"So what happens now?" Asked Multiple Man. "We got the kids, what's so important about them?"
"That is none of your concern," said the older man. "What happens next is to be between myself and the children. But first, we must leave this facility. While we've delayed their efforts, I'm certain the heroes will attempt to regain control once more..."
Barber's Chair
• Azari's fight against the drones was influenced by Rafiki vs the hyenas in the Lion King.
• Another lesser known X-Men villain introduced in the form of Slither.
• And the big boss makes his entrance!! What does that mean for our heroes? Find out in the next chapter, true believers!! It'll drop in 2 weeks!
