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Found 26 results

  1. When I was in Billund last time I talked with one LEGO designer (he asked me to conceal his name) about new sets from LEGO Marvel theme. I was surprised by information that LEGO is planning to re-release set 76191 this year because it was originally released in 2021 and is still available at lego.com. Here is part of our conversation about it: Tomik: Do you work on any interesting model now? Designer: Actually I work on new version of set 76191 that is planned to be re-released in 2023. Tomik: I own this set. It is Infinity Gauntlet! Designer: Not any more. It's gonna be re-released as Infinity Toilet also known as "Golden Throne of Thanos". Tomik: I haven't heard about Infinity Toilet in any movie from MCU. Can you tell me more about it? Designer: It is no surprise to me. I haven't heard about it either before I started working on this set. It was not shown in any movie but it played an important part behind the scenes. Tomik: Does it have any super power in MCU? Designer: Yes, it can remove all your bad things (you name them) with just one flush. Tomik: It is interesting feature. And what about new LEGO model? Will it feature any interesting functions? Designer: Model will feature opening cover, moving cistern lever, two brown "bad things" and it will be compatible with Thanos Mech from set 76141. It is also interesting that it will be built out of bricks from original set 76191 so re-released set needs just new box design and building instructions. Tomik: It sounds promissing but I still wonder why LEGO wanna re-release this set while it was originally released in 2021 and is still available for sale? Designer: They want to celebrate great success of Infinity Saga and bright future of MCU movies with this set. Designer also showed me this model on his smartphone so I was able to reverse-engineer it for you. Although I tried my best it can be slightly different from final product.
  2. lego_guyon02

    Updating Your MCU Minifigures

    Hello everyone, This thread is a place to share any custom figures or modifications to existing figures from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I hope we can use this thread to inspire each other for years to come! Did you know the Star Wars and Harry Potter themes also have topics like this? You can check them out below! - Star Wars by @Kingslayer - Harry Potter by @Seaber Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- We gotta start somewhere so here's a good chunk of the custom/modified figures from my collection, it's not everything but I hope you'll be able to take inspiration from some of these figures! I'll apologise in advance for the mediocre quality of some of the pictures Black Widow family L-R: Melina Vostokoff, Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow Revengers L-R: Bruce Banner / Hulk, Brunnhilde / Valkyrie, Thor Wakandans L-R: Nakia, Shuri, T'Challa / Black Panther (kinetically powered up), T'Challa / Black Panther Fugitive Avengers L-R: Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Steve Rogers / Nomad, Bucky Barnes / White Wolf Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. L-R: Leopold Fitz, Jemma Simmons, Daisy Johnson / Quake, Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird Earth-bound villains L-R: Grant Ward, Johann Schmidt / Red Skull, Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Ulysses Klaue, Erik Killmonger, Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster Spider-Man villains L-R: Hydro-Man, Quentin Beck / Mysterio, Adrian Toomes / Vulture Space-bound villains L-R: Ayesha, Yon-Rogg, Grandmaster, Hela Black Order L-R: Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight Thanks for viewing and I hope to see some of your customs soon!
  3. Hi everyone :) I'm a Star Wars guy first and foremost, but I started collecting Marvel stuff in 2017/18 in the run-up to Infinity War, and also began building Marvel MOCs. This is the first one I like enough to share it on here. It is obviously based on the Pizza building from the Sanctum set 76108. I used the tan wall-bricks and black windows as a base for the aesthetic of the building. Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place MOC - Presentation Img by Ephseb, on Flickr Front: Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Front by Ephseb, on Flickr Rear, with fire ladders: Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Rear by Ephseb, on Flickr Roof.. Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Roof by Ephseb, on Flickr ...with a secret exit for Spider-Man! Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Roof Trapdoor by Ephseb, on Flickr Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Roof Trapdoor & Spider-Man drawing by Ephseb, on Flickr Minifigures by Ephseb, on Flickr Pepe the Pizza Guy, Spider-Man, Peter Parker, Ned Leeds with his Lego Death Star, Aunt May Interior Pictures, Ground Floor: Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Pizza Place by Ephseb, on Flickr Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Hidden Pizza Oven by Ephseb, on Flickr Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Stairs, Mailbox & Door open by Ephseb, on Flickr Interior Pictures, First Floor, Apartment: Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Apartment 1 by Ephseb, on Flickr Interior Pictures, Second Floor, Peter's Room & Bathroom, Top View: Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - Apartment 2 by Ephseb, on Flickr Better View: Parker Apartment & Pepe's Pizza Place - MOC - It's got a washing machine! by Ephseb, on Flickr I hope you like it!
  4. BardDandelion

    [MOC] Wanda Vision TV

    Hi! Wanted to share my newest MOC - it's based on MCU tv series "Wanda Vision" Hope you enjoy it! ;)
  5. This is my custom Hall of Armor. It took me 18 months and contains 56 minifigs and a bunch of little stories and Easter eggs. Check out the entire gallery at: http://imgur.com/gallery/r6nmMM Or https://www.instagram.com/lukeclixbrix
  6. As a fan of the MCU, have to get this set day one. Here is my video review on 76162 Black Widow's Helicopter Chase. THE GOOD: Excellent minifigures. Especially Black Widow's torso! Great looking helicopter. It lacks interior but it's one of the better helicopter in recent years. Boxart ... I think this has set new standard in box art. THE NOT SO GOOD: Would be nice to have specialised piece for Taskmaster's shield. May be include Red Guardian in the set as well. Overall, I think this set is huge improvement compared to the Endgame sets. The build is good and the minifigures are excellent especially Natasha (A brand new hair piece and head print would even be better but one can never ask too much). To my surprise the actual task master minifigure is looking way better than in photo. It's a shame they didn't include Red Guardian but all good for me as I'm very happy with this set. I'm not usually a fan of Lego Helicopter but I do like this one. This set also is a good example on how to use stickers while not being excessive. And I absolutely love the box art. The price ain't that bad considering the overall building experience and end results. I would totally recommend this set to everyone especially to MCU fans.
  7. With the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home this week, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has conclusively wrapped-up both its third phase and the collective "Infinity Saga" as a whole. So, looking back, what are your favorite cinematic entries into the MCU for each phase?
  8. Here is my review on the final of the 3 Spider-man Far From Home set: THE GOOD: Nick Fury minifigure. The Stark Jet looks nice. THE NOT SO GOOD: No updated Spider-man suit. A terrible Happy Hogan figure. While the stark jet looks nice outside, the inside in a big of a wasted opportunity in my opinion. Overall this is the most expensive yet not the most impressive set from this wave. Having said that, this is still a way better set compared to the disappointing Endgame wave. The stark jet looks nice and very close to the actual jet in movie. Also it's a good way to get present day Nick Fury if you have missed the Avengers Hellicarrier a few years ago. I will recommend this set if you need a Nick Fury figure and you haven't buy the other 2 Far From Home sets from this wave.
  9. Pchan1983

    REVIEW: 40334 Avengers Tower

    Finally built this and here is my review: THE GOOD: Great abstract design and almost look like the real thing if you stand some distance from the build. Exclusive Tony Stark minifig. Micro Quinjet build. THE NOT SO GOOD: Limited availability. This is definitely one of those great promotional gift. It's a must-have if you are a Tony Stark fan. It looks nice from a far and I do believe the quinjet is really an extra mile which gives this small set some additional accent. The only down side is this being limited. If you got this during the promotion, that's great. However, I would recommend you get one only if the re-sell price is not more than 20%.
  10. Another set, another review. 76129 Hydro Man Attack. THE GOOD: Exclusive Peter Parker figure with a half pulled up mask! Great design for the bridge and the building on the side. Love the tower build and the use of new piece to create the arch. Capture the vibe of Venice most importantly. THE NOT SO GOOD: Would love to have a more distinct figure for MJ. (especially hair piece) May be a variant of Mysterio? Too much angular edge on the small canoe/boat. Another great effort from LEGO. Would be even nicer if the RRP is $10 cheaper but having a set with such a great bridge and building on the side (and the build experience was fun too), take my money! I wish they include an unique hair piece for MJ but having a Peter Parker minifigure and the use of the beanie piece is brilliant. Highly recommended even you are not a Spider-Man fans.
  11. Here is my latest review on Avengers Endgame set: THE GOOD: Iron Man Mk.85 A few interesting ways to build things Orange effect parts Extra Ant-Man micro figure THE NOT SO GOOD: Over priced It feels like a LEGO CITY police station rehashed to be Avengers HQ There is a MAJOR SPOILER in the set. (Which I have skip it in my vid review) Lazy attempt in Thanos BigFig A couple of places feel incomplete Overall, another half baked attempt from Lego in my opinion. Infinity War wave was so much better. Only get this set if you really need it and still I advise you wait for discount or clearance.
  12. Here is my latest review, this time on Captain America: Outriders Attack THE GOOD: The new Helmet Printed Avengers logo 2x2 round piece If you are into Outriders Army Building THE BAD: Way over priced Poor printing on cap's face Motorcycle scale is a bit off and the look is dull Overall, only buy this set if you really have to. Just for cap may be but you might able to just get the helmet piece from brick link. The printing is very disappointing but it is not the first time LEGO did this and the price.... (I wish they did something similar to the iron man vs ultron if they decided to not include more variations of minifigures.) All I can say is, LEGO will do WHAT EVER IT TAKES to get us into it. Some people ignore the temptation... BUT NOT US lol
  13. Here is my review on 76124 War Machine Buster. THE GOOD: Great War-Machine Buster build. (Actually looks great if stand side by side with HulkBuster from Infinity War sets last year.) The price is much more reasonable compared to other ENDGAME sets. THE NOT SO GOOD: Re-use of Avengers uniform. More outriders ... (I don't hate them but just feel it's lazy to re-use so many of them in this wave.) Overall, I like it and the war machine buster is surprisingly a refreshing build. It will be great if LEGO includes better minifigures ...
  14. Camellia Café MCU (Micro Control Unit) gives children or students initial knowledge of Electronics. In Camellia Café MCU Laboratory, you will get basic knowledge of Electronics, Mechanisms and Software programming. Servo motor is widely used as an actuator of autonomous cars, robots and droids. A Servo Motor is a self-close loop. But only have a high performance motor is not enough. The motor-driven chips, encoder and algorithm play important roles. All keep servo motor with high accuracy in speed / torque, degree / position, time period feedback control. With Wifi Bluetooth/BLE and Cellular, it will be feasible to manipulate them from PCs, Pads and phones. What’s more, this make it easy to connect to Internet and Cloud Database. Mechanism is the body of Autonomous Cars, Robots and Droids. It is the mechanism that fulfills the movement. Gear, Belt or Chain and Linkage are three major transmission mechanisms. This is a simple gear transmission. Due to different teeth of these gears, the speed is reduced with torque increased. Chain or belt is another type movement transmission. It could transmit movement in a long distance. Worm gear is a special gear. It can only transmit from worm to spur. The reverse is infeasible. Linkage is a third type of movement transmission. Crosshead is another key element. However, we are familiar with numbers and letters. Only with Binary, it is hard for a robot to communication with us. It is the ASCII code that instructs a robot to recognize or display letters. Program, or called Code, is the body of the algorithm. It is the program and code that instruct Autonomous Cars, Robots and Droids to perform their action. No matter Assembly Language, or Objective Oriented / Procedure Oriented Language; no matter C, C++, Basic, Java, or Visual C++, C#, even Swift, Python… Don’t worry about so many types of platforms and codes. If you master one of them, you will be familiar with others. When working, you only need to decide which code language is asked as the hardware / platform requires and as your preference, even new type code is coming, after learning in a very short time, you will get that new and get done with your program. Different hardware and different platforms support different code languages. Some hardware such as the controller MCU in Camellia Café Model uses language which is very close to C. Windows support a lot of languages, C, C++, C# and Visual C++ are fittest. Visual Studio is their develop tool. Android (based on Linux) phones and pads use Java. And the develop tool is Android Studio. iOS or Mac OS (based on Unix) which is in your iPhones, iPads or Macs use Objective-C or Swift. Their develop tool is Xcode. Welcome to Camellia Café !
  15. https://imgur.com/a/h8atH2M It has a weapons rack and a place on the bumper to put a white rope so Spiderman can be dragged along! link to download is here: https://studio.bricklink.com/v2/build/model.page?idModel=49530
  16. I can't be the only one hyped for this movie, right? Here are all the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailers: It looks like it's going to be a movie that's frickin' awesome! (only he didn't use frickin…) Here is a thread where we can discuss the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 film!
  17. If it's ok with you guys, I would like to share some of my customs To make them I mainly used: decals "scotch decals" (thanks to mkeller234) permanent markers (like Stabilo OHPen Universal) You can find MOCs and other stuff on my Flickr page. Baron von Strucker This is my first custom ever. I edited a decal made by Emperor Krulos. Phil Coulson The face is from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent from 76036, the decal of the torso is designed by Concore, and to make the I.C.E.R. I simply painted a custom gun. "Deathlok" Mike Peterson To make the torso I painted a Falcon's one. Iron Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. VS Iron Agent of Hydra The S.H.I.E.L.D. torso was a bit complicated: to make the white of the reactor I had to apply a white sticker between the torso and the transparent decal. Yes, I know I cheated...the Hydra torso is from Iron Skull (76048) Tell me what you think...I hope good things! Coming soon: - Coulson's Energy Shield - Whiplash (Iron Man 2) - Tony Stark racer (Iron Man 2)
  18. It's happening! To sign up, please answer the following questions: 1) Have you played a Mafia game on Eurobricks before? If not, what steps have you taken to make sure you understand the game? 2) Will you be able to actively participate over the next 1-2 months or however long this mess goes on? 3) What is your favorite MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) film? Few notes: I'm super excited to be hosting! I've made up some great characters and my set turned out better than I expected! Come sign up! It'll be fun! Standard rules will apply, mandatory voting and all that. You can see the full rules when I post the C&D thread. Not much has changed. Don't worry. I'm looking for 21 players but I have setups prepared for 17 and 19 players, in case we don't get that many. I hope we don't have to use those.
  19. Well, I had to do something with TLG's Winter Soldier giveaway . This is based on the scene in CA:TWS where Steve Rodgers is pursuing Nick Fury's killer over the rooftops. Enjoy! Thanks for looking! C&C welcome
  20. Yeah it's that time again. Honestly I wanted to go over this some more, but I was running out of steam and I figured this might rejuvenate me. As always please reply if you have a comment, that way I know if I need to improve. This takes place after Kaeru, so you might want to reread it to refresh. Likewise earlier stories like Knifefish, Automaton, and Knifefish 2 are involved, though only faintly. However you might want to reread them since I am working on a big crossover, as I have been saying since like part 3. Anyone without further ado here we go. Little feet darted across the rooftops, scampering wildly. Below dogs barked, sharp piercing noise that made the runner flinch. She stumbled at each sound, before leaping into an open building. She shivered briefly, before rubbing her head. "Okay, this stinks," she decided, "How do I get them out without him finding out? Ugh this is not how I wanted to spend my last years on Earth." She paced around, before leaping out the window and scaling the building. "Okay I need help," she admitted, "So who exactly can I go to? Pretty much everyone has already left, and we don't have much longer so..." She stopped, as she caught sight of a poster lying on a wall. " Hey, it's worthy shot," she shrugged, before scampering away. --------------------- Tokyo Metropolis, an expanded collection of cities, villages, and with an assortment of special wards. Sunlight sprinkled upon it dancing upon the streets. People watched a televised screen as it played the image of a young woman with orange skin and black hair, standing at a conference. Her face was down as her words were translated to Japanese, saying "...This is what bothers me about so many of our portrayals. On popular television we are shown as rude jerks, arrogant and apathetic. Do not mistake a lack of understanding for a lack of care..." Suddenly a young teenager smashed into a skyscraper's base. She barely winced, her body covered by a shell of glowing purple energy armor. She slid down from the tower, landing with a thud on the sidewalk. A headband bound her long black hair, and her eyes were uneven in hue. The purple energy covered her from her head to her feet, all but impenetrable. A dirty jacket lay over her chest, with torn jean shorts covering her lower torso. She was fourteen years old, a runaway. Karuta clenched her fists, causing the construct over her hands to tighten. She didn't know where her powers came from, all she knew is that somehow she was born of two worlds. But she just didn't know what that meant. She had gone by many names since she started fighting crime, Asami and Kaeru were the latest. But she had moved beyond them, despite her young age. Karuta suddenly bounced into the air, narrowly avoiding a lean woman's swing. The older human was dressed in a black and gold suit of armor, smooth against her body like silk. Her face was cloaked aside from her mouth, and she was in her middle twenties. Slug over her shoulder was a bag, an assortment of yin sticking out from it. "Back off kid," the woman said as the two of them eyed each other, "I prefer not to fight children. Just leave me alone and no one gets hurt, alright?" "Please, I grew out of childhood years ago," Karuta encircled the woman, "I cannot just let you walk away." "It's not like it's yours," the woman said, "Or anyone who deserves it. But fine, if you want to fight me so badly, I will oblige you." She barreled down on Karuta, smashing he across the street. Karuta caught herself on the pavement, and slowed the woman to a halt. With a twist Karuta swung her, sending her flying towards a skyscraper. Suddenly the woman righted herself, and froze in midair. "You can fly?" Karuta marveled. "You do not know what I can do," the woman suddenly ignited her hands, before hurling blue bolts of energy at Karuta. The shots absorbed into Karuta's armor, begore the young vigilante bounced into the air to strike the woman down. The woman swiveled away, just as Karuta reached out. With a squeeze she caught the woman, before falling back down to Earth. With a song she smashed the woman into the ground, flinging her again and again into the streets. The woman suddenly muttered something under her breath. Immediately her body ripped free, and she wrapped into a ball of blue energy. With a fury she began to rebound about, smacking into Karuta and smashing against the buildings of the city. As Karuta stood up, she saw rubble falling down towards a group of citizens, watching her fight. Quickly she barreled down to them, before throwing up her arms. With a thud she shielded their bodies, catching the debris. "Run," she ordered, leading them to scatter away. The woman suddenly ricocheted into Karuta, still a sphere of power. Karuta smacked into a tower, leaving her to stumble from the low. The woman recoiled back into human shape, before flying into Karuta. Karuta skidded across the street, landing with a thud. As the woman landed on her, Karuta caught her leg, and flung her into a skyscraper. Both of them pulled themselves up, barely fazed by the battle. The woman smashed forward from the building, knocking into Karuta. The youth swung out her arms to catch the woman, before smashing her into the ground. "You are really strong," Karuta admitted, "What is your name?" "Just call me Go Go Tomago," Immediately Tomago turned back into a ball of energy, and plowed into Karuta. The armored teen went flying, smashing into a tower with a thud. The building shook, even as Karuta leapt off and crashed into the speeding Tomago. The criminal returned to human form, briefly dazed. Grabbing Tomago in her hands Karuta swung her about, bashing her again and again into the ground. The street cracked from the blow, before Tomago managed to catch herself. With a twist she vaulted into the air, hovering upwards. Tomago suddenly charged downward, fists extended. Karuta quickly leapt out to meet her, impacted her fists with a powerful punch. The two fell back, knocked into the ground. Tomago flexed her fists, and declared, "Go Go Tomago." Her body wrapped back into a ball, before barreling down into Karuta. The armored teen pounded into a skyscraper, before tumbling down onto the street. Tomago skidded to a halt, hovering overhead. "Give up kid," she said, "You aren't going to win against me." Karuta stood back up and said, "You are wrong." She quickly charged, slamming her fist into Tonago's exposed face. Tomago smashed into the ground, skidding around. "Yes," she stumbled upright, "You found a weakspot. I'll have to remember-" Karuta smashed her fist into Tomago's head again, plowing her into an apartment complex. Tomago stumbled, before throwing up her hands in front of her face as she recovered. As Tomago stood shakily Karuta swiped her into the air, and began to smash her down over and over. Tomago hit the ground hard, embedded in the street. As onlookers gazed at them Tomago muttered, "You really care this much about money?" "Not money," Karuta, "I saw what you did. If they were gang or Yakuza I would have no problem, but you threatened innocent people. Endangered them in our fight." "Well at least you-ah-ha-aren't a totally fool," Tomago said just as police arrived, "Here I thought you were fighting over a rich man's yin." "I do not work for anyone but the people," Karuta suddenly burst into the air, bouncing away as the police began to bind Tomago. The vigilante jumped off into the distance, leaving the scene behind. --------------------- Karuta walked through the night city, still wrapped in her purple shell. Rain fell down around her, rubbing off of her protective armor. Inside her armor all she could see was shades of purple, color was barred from her world. As she walked she suddenly stopped, and listened. As her eyes looked about they narrowed, then in a burst she sprinted forward. With a leap she jumped forward, before smashing her fist down. Immediately she stood up to reveal a crushed rat, smushed by her fist. She winced at the dead rat, its shattered body lay limp. She grabbed it through her constructs, and stared at it. Finally she walked away, still indirectly clutching the dead rat. She made her way through the city, until finally settling in an alleyway. Looking about, she dragged out a chunk of wood. Ripping it apart she got to work, sparking a fire. As it burned she held the rat to the fire, cooking it carefully. As it cooked she heard something behind her. She turned around to see a similarly aged child, staring at her. Karuta nodded and asked, "Excuse me, are you a runaway?" He nodded, though he wrinkled his nose at the burning smell. Karuta turned back to the rat, roasting it all over. "Are you hungry?" she asked. The child nodded, despite his displeasure. Karuta pulled the rat back suddenly, it's body about evenly cooked. "Don't eat them raw," she ordered, as she pulled out a sharpened stone. She hacked her way into the rat, separating the meat from the guts. Tokyo had an infestation of rats, and over the last year she had learned how to cook them fairly well. She handed him a chunk, even as she muttered, "I gratefully receive." Then she recoiled her armor, and began to plow her face into the rodent. "You a runaway?" the child asked as he looked at his chunk of meat. "Yes," she said, finished with her meal of sorts. She looked at him, before glancing at her hands. "But you are a superhero." Karuta looked at him, "It is a long story. Not everyone appreciates my power, some fear it. I could not stay with my parents." She paused briefly, sure she had forgotten something. "Why are you here?" she asked suddenly. "I don't want to talk about it." Karuta nodded, saying, "Yes. What is your name?" "Akio." "Karuta," she answered in turn, as he started to eat the rat. Karuta was the name of a kind of Samurai armor, and given her powers it was the name she had selected, with help from the press. Akio devoured the rodent with a frenzy. Karuta observed the feast, even as she regrets her armor. "Are you still hungry?" she offered, already listening for rats. "Yes," he said. "Come," she said, "I'll find another." Spotting his look she remarked, "Food is not extremely stable here. The recession has not helped." She flinched a little as well, not liking the look in his eyes, like a dropped egg. "Okay." he followed her out of the gap in the buildings, just as she paused. "What is it?" he asked with wide eyes, "Aliens?" "Not sure," she answered, "But it is fast." She held out her fists in a tight position, ready to strike. Suddenly a blurred figure ran past, darting in a zig-zag. With a flip the stranger touched Akio, before darting off. Akio hit the ground from the raw speed of the strike, half dazed. "What was that?" he asked as Karuta pulled him up. "Not sure," she admitted, "But I think I should find out. Wait here." In a burst she leapt into the air, before landing and rebounding further along. With great bounds she jumped after the runner, even as they weaved. The runner suddenly flipped, rebounding off the side of a building. They vaulted up, landing atop another structure. Immediately they darted forth, jumping across the roofs. Karuta launched herself into the air, crashing atop another roof. She quickly bounced to the next, swinging and thrusting her body with her motions. The runner suddenly jumped onto the side of a taller building, before leaping off onto the street. Immediately Karuta leapt after them, leaping about as the stranger ran. The runner wove into an alleyway, sprinting from the darkness. The purple glowing warrior followed after, her eyes narrowed. There was something off about this runner, something in the proportions. As Karuta landed after a leap she pulled back, before charging fast. She barreled forward, a radiant blur. Suddenly she swung out her arm, catching the runner. "Who are you?" Karuta asked as she looked. It was a young woman, beautiful with long black hair and an orange stripe. "You are wonderful," the runner laughed, "Did you see how fast you were going? You were like 'boom,' and I was like 'whoosh.' Great huh? Okay, second round, let's go!" Karuta held fast, waiting. "Okay spoilsport," the runner laughed, "How about you call my Maiko?" Karuta gave her a stare, before the woman, "Oh come on, I am sure Karuta does not describe you completely. But you are right, I'm not in training." "Why did you beat him?" "Oh I just poked him," Maiko laughed, "I was just moving a bit too fast. I'm sure he is fine." "How are you so..." "Awesome?" Maiko bent her spine, before vaulting out of Karuta's grasp, "Fast? Agile?" Karuta kept her stare, before Maiko smiled, "Oh well, I was hoping to have some more fun before it was time to get to work. Well at least I got a race out of it. Anyway, I need help, and judging from what I've seen you can do it." "What do you need?" Karuta asked, "And please, who are you?" her eyes probing the stranger. Maiko laughed, "It's complicated. But I guess the first thing is that European Gods are not the only spirits to exist." Karuta caught sight of something sticking out from behind Maiko's skirt, and sighed, "Nogitsune?" "Hey I could work for Inari," Maiko defended with a grin, "But good to see you know the stories." "Kitsune," Karuta said, "It is hard not to hear stories. Foxes that live over a hundred years, and gain the power to take human form. Some work for the Kami Inari, others are just tricksters, the Nogitsune." "Yes miss exposition," Maiko sighed, "But seriously I might have made a fairly large mistake which I could use help getting out of." "What have you done?" "It's a long story," Maiko stretched her body, "But the many thing is I accidentally reveled myself to the wrong group of people, and they have abducted our young. Well, younger anyway." "Giri?" Karuta narrowed her eyes, recollecting the organization that studied and experimented with her. "Who?" "Not important. So who is it?" "I think they call themselves Everwraith," Maiko shook with bored energy, "I don't know. My people are pretty good at avoiding humans nowadays, but the foxes too young to shapeshift are really vulnerable." "So where are they?" "So you'll help? Great," she twisted her body like her spin lay in pieces, "They have a facility in Ota, I can show you it." "And why do you need me?" Karuta crossed her arms. "They, um, they have dogs," the fox spirit winced, "So, um, I can't exactly go there." Karuta nodded, before turning to walk away. "Excuse me, don't you want to deal with this now?" Karuta gave her a look, "When I go to war I prefer to know what I am getting into, especially with a wannabe ally. A trickster may live out details and aspects of the situation. Assuming you are a Kitsune." "What do you mean?" Maiko turned after her, "Humans are not that fast. Well normal ones anyway." "I just prefer to get some information first," Karuta answered, "I will meet you back where you jumped the boy tomorrow. But first I need to make sure he is safe." "Oh come on-" "Tomorrow," Karuta ended the debate, pounding into the air. She bolted up and down, headed back toward where Akio waited. --------------------- "Are you ready?" Tsubasa nodded, even as she looked at her arms. "Please," she asked, "You are sure nothing can be done for them?" They were thick and bloated, and had been increasing get thicker over the past few months. "To have so much power they need raw mass," a scientist answered, "You are not magic, you cannot make something from nothing." Tsubasa dipped her head, before focusing on her hands. Suddenly they stretched and shook, twisting into sharp blades. Tsubasa swung her blade-arms about, slicing through the air. Then with a bend her hands twisted, extending into twin balls and chains. "Good," a scientist remarked, "The Knifefish technique was successful. And you were worried that the research would be useless." "I apologize," the first scientist answered, as Tsubasa recoiled her spiked organic balls into her bloated hands, "Imagine what we could have gotten if AIM hadn't collapsed." --------------------- Karuta walked up to the office of the Giri Corporation, headed into the front door. A man approached her, a guard who towered over her natural height. "I am sorry, but no visitors are allowed," he tasted, barring the path. "I need to speak to Mr. Oshima," she grew a purple radiance over her hand, "I need to share some information with him." The man's eyes widened as he replied, "I will inform him of your arrival." She nodded, before growing her shell over her whole body to wait. The man soon returned, saying, "Follow me." She nodded as he turned around. She took a big sigh, before walking inside. The two of them walked down the hallways of the large building, reaching an elevator. As the two of them rode down the man asked, "Um, what was your impression of Miss Leiko?" "Who?" "Tomago." Karuta sighed and said, "I do not know. She was very angry, a little too self centered. But she was not as bad as say the Red Skull." "I see," the man glanced at his hands, even as they reached an underground bunker in the building. "Asami," Mr. Oshima walked up to her, grinning. "Have you come to work with us?" "No," she said coldly, " Just information." "I wish you were not so stubborn," he sighed, looking her over, "Look at yourself, you are dying." Her check had a patch of a green cut, nearly masked under her shell. "I am not returning..." she paused, "...Before I work some things out." "Still," he said, "You shouldn't be living like this. At least become a net refugee, there are worse things." Net refugees were unemployed or underemployed individuals who slept and sometimes lived inside Internet cares, a fairly new phenomenon. It wasn't free, but it was a lot cheaper than capsule hotels. "...I am not sure how young they will allow." "I could find some that would allow you to stay there." "...Alright," she answered, "But we need to focus. What do you know about Everwraith?" Mr. Oshima sat down on a chair and answered, "We have been tracking them a little. They are a group founded by families whose relatives died in Nagasaki and Hiroshama. They are very devoted to the concept of Japan, to worrying levels." "Anything about foxes?" "Yes," he stated at her, "From what our spies tell us, they believe they discovered evidence of Kitsune. It appears to have inspired them to experiment on foxes in an attempt to unlock their genetic potential. That way they can 'protect' us with the power of spirits. Do you know if there is truth to this?" "...A woman claiming to be a Kitsune approached me," Karuta turned away, "I have seen no contradiction in what she told me." Mr. Oshima frowned, his eyes lost. "What did the fox spirit want?" he asked. "Help liberating the foxes," Karuta answered, "Or a least that is what she said." "Could you maybe wait for-" "No," Karuta walked off, "...How is Takuya?" "We have a treatment that blots out the other memories," Mr. Oshima looked on, "He so far seems sane, except for his form. We are not sending him into the field yet, we still need to make sure he can survive." Karuta nodded, before asking, "Will you use him?" "If we can keep him sane," Mr. Oshima answered, "But honestly some us have lower standards of sanity. Aside from you we have no one but villains, America has enough that they can have heroes for show." "Like who?" "Knifefish for instance," he replied, "Surely you notice she goes on very public missions and never kills anyone? Not to mention she is a minority, made her own powers, and supposedly wanted to be a hero because of New York. She has some power and she clearly has an agenda, but she seems like a symbol. And from what I hear from SHIELD, they also just want her to feel like she helps so that they can get her help in making super soldiers." "Does she know?" "I do not know if she is even aware." Karuta dipped her head and said, "I appreciate your honesty." She walked off, heading back to the elevator. --------------------- Karuta walked forward, pacing about. As she walked she heard a tap, as Maiko skidded towards her, "So you coming?" the Kitsune asked. Her tail still crept out of her skirt, a fluffy red thing. "I think so," Karuta said, "But please, I need to know what you are capable of. Show me your transforming." "Cool," Maiko grinned, "So what do you want to see?" "Me." Maiko frowned, "Um, that won't work. You just look...weird. Like two pictures overlaying each other. You're all blurry. I don't even think a nine tails could take your form." "I...can buy that," Karuta looked down, "A man once told me I was born of two worlds. But how many tails do you have?" "Oh I'm just over a hundred years," Maiko tucked her tail in, "Only have two. But yeah, anyone other than you. Or you know, my form." Maiko grinned, but there was a drooping of her ears. "That boy," Karuta said, " Akio." Maiko nodded before folding into herself. Her arms twisted slender and short, as her egs shortened as well. Her chest shrank into herself, as her hair sucked into her face. Clothing recoiled then regrew, as a bump grew on her neck. "Well?" the shapeshifter asked, cartwheeling around Karuta. "You have skill." Maiko grinned as she returned to the shape of a young woman, before shaking herself off. "So are you about ready to help me?" "Yes," Karuta accepted, "But do you have other abilities, like possession?" "Rumor," Maiko said, "We can't possess anyone. Though we can turn into the humans and act crazy, I think my dad spent some years doing that." "Nogitsune," Karuta nodded, "Tell me where I need to go." Maiko grinned, before scampering forward. Karuta followed her, even as a third individual crept along. --------------------- Karuta watched as a facility came into view. It was a large place, cold and hard. It towered over them, even as Maiko hung back. Maiko suddenly winced as she caught sight of a duo of dogs, patrolling under the guiding hand of a guard. She recoiled slightly, looking at the sharp teeth. "You realize you are bigger than them now," Karuta offered. "Doesn't matter," Maiko shuddered, "I still smell like a fox to them. Prey. I...I think you can handle this so I'm going to watch from over here okay? Sounds great-" Karuta caught her arm in her purple construct of a fist. "You are more agile than me. I will need you to free your people while I cause a distraction." "Okay, that is-" "But I need to know," Karuta said, " Why would you have exposed yourself to them?" Maiko scratched her ears, "Um, well, we kind of are leaving. All of us. Even the foxes. It's complicated." "Why?" "Inari is kind of...disturbed by humanity," Maiko looked down and itched her leg, "And I know, Nogitsune are not exactly angelic, but every since WWII humans kind of lost their appeal. The camps this country and others had, the bombs, and then he learned that aliens can be monstrous too. We-our evil is on a small scale, this kind can wipe out planets." "I only just got my powers," Maiko sighed, "And now I have to go? I barely had a chance to do anything with them. So I spent some time about a year ago taking out my frustration in a montage of pranks, and well, I kind of didn't care who saw. So that is pretty much it." Karuta nodded, " And why don't your people that are still there help?" "Oh that isn't really important," Maiko grinned quickly, "Let's just go save them already. Come on, don't we have dogs to deal with?" Karuta have her a look, before slowly agreeing, "Alright I-" She paused, listening. Satisfied she stopped before saying, "Okay, get ready to scale the side, if you can." Maiko nodded, before staring as Karuta rubbed her head and chest against Maiko. "Why are you doing that?" Maiko giggled as Karuta stood back. "To make a better distraction," Karuta began to walk up to the facility, her shell retracted. "Excuse me?" she asked as she reached the guard, "Is this the facility where foxes are being held in an attempt to understand the nature of Kitsune?" "Sorry I don't-" the guard began, just as his ops began to growl and bark. "Another one then," he said, unhooking the canines. The blogs charged, just as Karuta summoned her complete armor. Then with a swing she swept the dogs into the air, knocking them away. "You-then you-" The guard stammered, "But Kitsune don't have that power." "You have a lot to learn," Karuta bounded forward, slamming her fist into the man, knocking him with a thud to the ground. "Good to know Maiko isn't lying though," Karuta flexed her fist, before charging forward, smashing through the doors. Immediately guards unleashed their dogs. Which leapt and latched onto her constructs. With a spin she knocked them off, before punching and kicking the guards to the ground. Karuta sighed as she caught a guard, before slamming him into a wall. Guns were barred from the general public in Japan, not that they would do much good against her. Karuta slung the man into another guard, even as a trio of dogs tackled her. As she spun them off, the dogs pulled themselves off, before getting another sniff. They hung back, confused. She clapped her head, before leaping into another grad. She could hear one of the sentries issuing orders, though it was muffled by the crashing of her fists. Karuta twisted suddenly as a fist smashed into her. She skidded back, shaken. Inside her shell she could not be hurt, but she could be knocked about. Karuta looked around to see a woman, her arms bloated and thick. Her arms were covered in a stretchy material, cloaking them. With a twist the woman flexed her hands, shifting them into ball and chains. "You worked fast," Karuta observed, watching the woman as she spun her changed hands around, "Assuming you are not naturally a shapeshifter." "I am not," she answered, gesturing to the confused dogs, "And neither are you." Karuta shrugged, flexing her purple fist. "True enough," she admitted, "I hoped it would take them longer. Still, I am surprised you managed to make such quick work of Kitsune." The woman swung her fists, bashing into Karuta. The vigilante skidded back, her balance distorted. Karuta pulled herself up, before slamming her fist into the woman. The foe flew down the hall, but managed to roll and land cleanly on her feet. She flexed her weapons back into hands, even as Karuta charged. --------------------- Maiko scampered up the side of the building, sniffing about as she went. Her body struggled not revert as she climbed, her hands shifting back and forth into paws. Her twin tails stuck out behind her, though she kept most of her physical form sealed away. With a a twist she caught a window, and clutched to it. With a twist she swung her body, before shattering through the glass. With a roll she landed inside, before scampering up onto the ceiling. She made her way along, sniffing as she went. Suddenly she heard a growling sound, and a sharp bark. Immediately her eyes widened, as she started to bolt. In a panic she scratched across the ceiling, leaving claw marks as she went. As she rounded a bend she finally saw it, a dog, lean and sharp toothed. It glared at her, before leaping at her. Maiko trembled, even as she heard guards coming towards her. Shaking she dragged herself along, even as the dog followed. "They don't eat people," she muttered over and over, " They don't eat people." Finally she reached a door, as the dog barked below her. With a swing she kicked through the glass, and landed inside. She was on a staircase, built onto the side of the building. She tried to catch her bearings, but did not have tie to relax. Sniffing around she took off, even as she heard the door behind her open. --------------------- Karuta swung her fist at the woman, who blocked with an equal punch. The two stumbled back, even as the woman bashed her fists together in anticipation. The teenaged vigilante suddenly charged, smashing first one, then two fists of purple energy into the woman. The foe blocked, but still skidded far down the hall. With a tightening of her fist the woman ran, before slamming her fists into Karuta. The teenager stumbled back, as the woman swung again and again into her. Karuta staggered about, her body off balance. With a roar the woman caught her, and lifted Karuta over her head. Then with a toss she threw Karuta into a wall, knocking her into an office room. "I find it odd you asked the crook her name but not me," the woman darted forward, ready to smash. "What is your name?" Karuta asked as she pulled herself up, her purple shell protecting her. With a flip she dodged the woman, crashing against the floor. Then Karuta bashed her, knocking the foe into a wall hard. Karuta pounded twice into the woman, before flinging her to the ground. Then with a leap Karuta jumped, smashing onto the woman with her elbow. As Karuta stood up the woman groaned, pulling herself upright. Her hands morphed, drawing some of the growths from her arms into them. Her fists grew to the size of a head each, even as she and Karuta ran at each other. Karuta stumbled back as the fist clubbed into her head, just as the woman followed up with a strike to her chest. "It is Tsubasa," the enemy answered, twisting her arms into a hammer-like shape. Karuta caught the next swing, before swinging her foot into Tsubasa. "I hope not," she remarked at the name, before driving her fist into the enemy's mouth. Tsubasa slammed into a wall, her mouth bent oddly. A muffled roar gagged from her jaw, even as her arms shifted into muscular limbs. With a spin she bashed into Karuta, flinging her hard. Karuta crashed through the wall, landing outside the building. She gasped for air as she smacked against her shell, stunning her. Karuta lay stunned, even as Tsubasa charged. Fists smashed into Karuta, keeping her incapacitated. Her armor held up, but she could not move. And she did not want to see what would happen if she lost consciousness. Suddenly Akio tackled Tsubasa, causing her to stumble. He wrapped his arms around her neck, squeezing. Tsubasa gagged, and immediately swung her fist behind her. The fist smashed into Akio, knocking him against the ground. As he lay scrapped by the street Tsubasa morphed her arms into blades, hooked bony appendages. With a twirl she swung down, forcing him to roll away. He dodged, just as Tsubasa swung again. The hook struck his back, causing him to collapse. As Tsubasa held him up a violet hand caught her arm. Karuta bent Tsubasa's arm, tearing into her other arm with her hook. As the enemy stumbled Karuta grabbed Akio, and lay him gentle as she could waste. "That won't help you," Tsubasa mumbled in a muffled tone, "I can just shape the cut away." "Yes," Karuta answered, " But you clothes are torn. Tsubasa widened her yes, just as a dog leapt onto her arm and bit down hard. "It was not so smart to train them to attack Kitsune," Karuta remarked as the formerly puzzled dogs bit into Tsubasa, ripping into her skin. The foe shoved them back, just as Karuta punched into Tsubasa's gut. The enemy fell back, torn and cut. With a glare she proved her namesake, shaping her arms into large, flat, feathered wings. Tsubasa flapped down, bolting herself into the air. She rose up ahead, flying far out of jumping distance. Suddenly a dart zipped into the air, striking into Tsubasa. As she fell men and woman rushed forward, dressed with the symbol of the Giri Corporation. "Thank you," Karuta dipped her head, "Take care of him." "Of course," medics rushed forward, even as Karuta jumped away. With a crash she smashed into the side of the building, causing it to quake. --------------------- Maiko sprinted on, shifting between running on two legs or four. She scattered in a scamper, plowing into another look. With a skid she stopped, and came to the lock. "Okay, it's easy," Maiko panted, "I mean, dad can do it, he only has five tails on me." She focused on the door, even as her hands shook. Then, rapidly, her index finger morphed into a key. She jabbed it inside, twisting. "Woo yeah," she cheered in English, before slipping inside. As she made it in she found herself in a room of cages. Quickly she slammed one behind her, barricading the door. Maiko breathed out, before looking around. Scores of foxes stood in cages, their ears perked at her. "Okay little guys," she shifted her claws out, "This shouldn't take long." She looked at one of them and winced. "Ugly little children," she laughed nervously, "Bet you can't wait to reach a hundred years." Outside she winced as she heard barking, harsh and sudden. The foxes cowered slightly, as her eyes enlarged. Suddenly there was a great crashing sound, and then a series of swinging and pounding sounds. As Maiko listened a purple fist mashed through the door, before it began to tear the door down. "You alright?" Karuta asked, looking down at Maiko. "Yeah, of course," Maiko answered, grinning. Karuta gave her a look, unblinking. Maiko sighed finally and said, "It's hard, you know. I meSn I am so much,ore than a fox now, so much more. But still, there is a little bit of me that still thinks dogs can eat me, and are bigger than me." Karuta was silent, before turning away and ripping the cages apart. "Listen," Karuta said, "There is a group called Giri, I mentioned them earlier. They are good guys, trying to protect Japan, but they can be rash and desperate. In an afford to replicate met hey drove a man mad, and he has still yet to fully heal." "Okay, why do you bring this up?" "Because they are outside," Karuta answered, "And though I like to believe they would not attempt to experiment on your people..." Maiko frowned as Karuta continued, "They captured a hybrid of human and Kitsune, so they probably will not need to take them. But still, you might want to go out of the back." "Thank you," Maiko grinned softly, "Hey, good luck with the whole vigilante thing. If you ever need my help, well, before we go..." She trailed off, before sprinting off with her foxes in tow. --------------------- Leiko sighed as she eyed the walls around her. She was in a jumpsuit, a white and cyan shade. She didn't know where she was, but a transparent wall surrounded her on all sides. "If I had my battlesuit," she punched the glass barrier, causing her to wince in pain. "Tanaka Leiko," a voice said. She glanced around to see an elderly man. His arm was strangely burnt, almost shriveled. He held something in his hands, wrapped up carefully. Behind him stepped two strange figures, each odd in proportions. One was somewhat hulking in appearance, with a thick head and a large body. His skin seemed almost fluid, a tan chunky ooze. Aside him a woman stood, her black hair tied back. Her arms were thick and bloated, and constantly seemed to shift in shape. "What do you want?" Tomago asked, her arms crossed. "I want to make you a deal," the elderly man said, "We have been trying to access to your suit, but it refuses anyone other than you. It has bonded with you hasn't it?" "Yes," she smirked. "The world is changing," the old man said, "More than ever we need heroes to protect us, champions. Most heroes come from America, from brutes like the Hulk to street heroes like Spider-Man. The Avengers cannot defend all of the world, we need our own protection. And while Karuta is brave and strong, she is still young and singular." "I am going to offer you a deal," the man said, "You will be pardoned and given your suit, if you agree to join our team." "You want me to be a superhero?" Leiko asked, "Will I be legitimate like Thor, or a publicity stunt like Captain America and Knifefish?" "We have four superhumans," answered the old man, "We can't afford waste you on publicity." Tomago opened her arm, placing her hands on the cage. "I would like to be free," she admitted, "Alright. So I assume these are my teammates?" "Yes," the elderly man said as he opened the bag to revel her battlesuit, "Clayhand and Tsubasa. We are working on Karuta, though she is currently independent. She will come if necessary." "Understood," Leiko sighed. "So where exactly did you get that suit?" Go Go Tomago grinned, "It fell from the sky, with a little gray man." Mr. Oshima's face fell into a forced calm, though his eyes grew in fear. --------------------- Karuta collapsed onto a bed, and breathed. "I could do this forever," she groaned, spread out on the bed. Akio hung around her, limping. "You okay?" she checked. "Yeah," he grinned, "That was cool though." Karuta shrugged, plowing her face into a pillow. "So...what is your name?" Akio ventured. Karuta answered automatically, "I gave it up." Akio nodded, sitting down. She sighed finally, "It doesn't matter, but it was Asami-" Suddenly she heard someone babble English behind her. She turned to see an orangish tan woman, at least five years older than her. She was dressed in a shirt with some sort of fish on it, lean and blade-like in shape. Her hand was in her pocket, squeezing something. "I'm sorry," Asami said, "I don't understand-" "I do," Akio smiled, "She says she is looking for you. Well, Karuta anyway." Asami said slowly, "Ask her how she found me?" Akio babbled in English, and the young woman replied. Akio explained, "She says she knows someone who can scan for radiation. She claims to be Knifefish." "Oh, the SHIELD publicity stunt," Asami yawned, "Tell her I am not interested in SHIELD." There was a pause as Akio relayed the message before translating, "Knifefish says she is not hear because of SHIELD, as far as SHIELD knows she is just taking a brief trip." Asami forced herself up and looked over, "I am interested," she admitted, "What does she want with me?" "Knifefish says she is being used by SHIELD," Akio answered, "And she doesn't want to be. She wants to be a...hero? A real one. And she thinks SHIELD can't really be trusted they-Asami SHIELD provoked the aliens!" Asami was fully awake now, her body wrapped in purple. "Why does she work with SHIELD knowing this?" "They are still the best route for helping people," Akio said, "And SHIELD has agreed to help other autistics if she helps them and makes superhumans for them." Asami stared at Knifefish and said, "Please continue." "She wants to form a...team," Akio said, "One that will unite the next time the world is threatened or when SHIELD messes up. A team to protect people and clean up SHIELD's messes. Like...I don't know this word, 'Custodians?'" Asami paused and said, "When the world is in danger I will be there. Tell me where to go then, I will protect people here in the meantime." Knifefish nodded and babbled eagerly, as Akio translated, "Thank you. Good...fortune? protecting Japan in the meantime." Asami dipped her head as Knifefish hopped out, electricity humming at her fingertips. --------------------- Robin stepped out of the Internet cafe and stretched. She kind of stared, while her breath grew tight and her hands clenched. Slowly she returned to the alleyway, walking into the shadows. A bronze robot stood waiting, his body straight. "How did your task go?" he asked. "Still mad," Knifefish answered, "But she is in." Isaac nodded, "That makes four of us." His body opened up, revealing his hollow inside. As Knifefish stepped inside he said. "Those deaths were necessary. I could not disarm them and they could regenerate any broken bones." "Did you try another way?" Isaac fell silent as she remarked, "Still mad." She squeezed her yarn catfish at the thought, even as Isaac took off into the sky, bursting towards America.
  21. Tanma

    Kaeru- A MCU story

    Here we are again, with another story in my saga. Right after the back I want to say there are no mutants as far as I know in my stories. The choices I made with the protagonist were because the choice of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2 gave me precedent, and the character was the best suited for my storytelling needs. Plus pretty much every Japanese character in Marvel is from the X-Men comics, so I didn't have too many options. Likewise I would like to apologize if I offend anyone with this, it was not intended. If it does offend send me a private message explaining what I did wrong, so that I may improve. Also some of you might figure out the twist early, depending on what you know of superhero shows and crossovers. If not, it will be explained in detail in at least the sixth story. I will say part of the reason I wrote this is because of a fondness I have for a certain underdeveloped character, who I cannot write for in her own domain because of my need to be potentially "in canon." Anyway with that here is Kaeru. (it means frog) Originally this had another title, but I felt like Kaeru fit more. Tell me what you think of this, as always. Over two years ago Hisako Ichiki stared in shock, as the story unfolded in front of her. Before her lay the American city of New York City, projected in real time. There in the sky lay a great hole, where tremendous whale-like beasts flew from its reaches. Alien skiffs flowed out of the portal as well, carrying an extraterrestrial army. Her parents sat behind her, with her younger brother leaning against her on a futon. The beige ceiling shone from the light of the television, illuminating the apartment. Her parents held each other, as the alien armada swarmed from the sky on the screen. Hisako watched as a flash of red and gold zipped across the screen. "...the American superhero Iron-Man appears to be fighting the aliens," a reporter stated, "alongside a number of other powered individuals. A new Captain America appears to be-" She could see that Captain America, a man draped in the colors of the American flag. It was probably tacky, but Hisako was busy focusing elsewhere. The man made his way across the battlefield, pulling people to safety. As Captain America protected a teenager from falling rubble, Hisako felt something stroke her. She looked over her shoulder suddenly at the brushing sensation. The others were enthralled by the battle over New York, there was no sign of movement. Slowly Hisako turned her attention back to the screen as well, even as explosions fireballs danced onscreen. As she watched a slithering feeling coiled around her, distracting her. Breathing became harder, causing Hisako to gag. The room seemed to tremor, as the words and sounds of the world began to fade away. With a thud she hit the mat, and began to spasm. Her body flayed and danced, shaking violently. She could see her parents running to her, as she shook on the floor as her brother held her. Lights flashed around her, as her body convoluted. Snatches rushed into her ears, beats and rhythms. Purple flashes burst inside her skull, overpowering her senses. The world melted away under a pounding boom, squishing into ooze. From her spasming body she could see images split and crack. A whistle began to pierce the mad sight, ripping from her mouth. And then it was over, and lost. --------------------- Modern day Bright lights twinkling against a dark sky. Neon glows radiated into the streets, beamed down and across from mighty towers. A bay splashed in the night, lit in patches from the metropolis prefecture. Above the city glistened the moon, bright and round. As the satellite stood overhead there was a tapping across the rooftops. A figure ran along their length, leaping forth. As the figure moved she suddenly stopped, and breathed. She wore a green and yellow jacket, covered in a layer of dirt. A headband crowned her head, and her hair fell from her face. Her eyes gleamed uneven in color, and her age was youthful, just in her teens. Suddenly her hands and feet ignited, as a purple energy coiled around the ends of her limbs. She clasped her hands together, before leaping twenty feet away in a single bound. She landed onto another building top, before jumping again. She soared over the cityscape, leaving a violet streak behind her. Times change. Ever since the Battle of New York the world has felt the sting of fear. Aliens had come from a tear in the sky, endless in number. The only reason they were stopped is because of six American superheroes. And the rest of the world did not have that defense. She bounced again, looking around as she leapt. This was Tokyo Metropolis, capital of Nippon-koku, or Japan as it was known. The city danced in the moonlight, as she made her way in bounds and leaps. She suddenly swiveled as she heard a violent pop. With a tightening of her fists she spun towards the sound, jumping across the rooftops. Her fists radiated purple, clenched in preparation. Since New York, crime had increased across the world. Even places like Japan were crime had previously been decreasing faced spikes. Governments of the world could do nothing against aliens or gods, they couldn't protect their people from the coming storm. And that realization had begun to spread fear to the world. As she bound across the city she listened. She had only normal human hearing, but she was learning to focus it. As she moved across the cityscape she heard another flash of gunfire. Guns and swords were restricted from the general public in Japan, but nowadays the desire for self-defense overruled following the law. She empowered her feet, bouncing from roof to roof. With a thud she landed, catching sight of knives and cold steel twinkling in the night. Two small group of men lurked in the alley, their guns cocked and pointed as knives hung by their sides. "Excuse me," she ordered, "Do not waste your lives. Go home." "What are you?" guns suddenly coked towards her. "A vigilante," her green and brown eyes glanced around, "Quit this violence, it will only weaken us for when the aliens come." "How do we know you aren't an alien?" a man asked coldly. They were teens, though older than her, probably not in the Yakuza. Despite their heightened presence, the Yamaguchi-gumi gang still didn't completely dominate the city, and small time gangs still banded together. However ever day more small gangs joined to Yakuza, for protection from the aliens. "Same reason we know Iron Man isn't an alien," she answered, eyeing him, "Please." Just as a shot fired she was in motion, charging. In a streak of purple she ran forward, slamming her fist into the closest man. As he went flying she held up her forearms, blocking a barrage of bullets with her radiant glow. Quickly she leapt, swinging her foot into another man. As she landed, she flipped herself, streaking violet behind her. She spun her torso, slamming her feet into another fighter before vaulting to the other side. Suddenly her arm exploded in pain as a flung blade drove itself into her shoulder. The vigilante winced, before grabbing the dagger. There was a trembling, before it shattered into splattering of dust. With her free arm she leapt and swung, knocking the fighters to the wall. Her left arm trailed behind her, still bleeding. Flinging her arm up she blocked another knife, letting it clink to the ground reflected. She flipped and bounded, smashing her fist into all of them and sending them flying. Finally she leapt back to the center, the two sides pounded into submission. She tore into one of the fighter's clothes, and began to bind her shoulder. As she twisted her body around her jacket lifted, exposing scars lying across her chest. A few wounds were discolored, poisoned by infection. She took out a deep breath, and looked over her hands. Purple coiled around her limb, as she forced her left arm to move. Then she spun and walked over to an moaning teen. "Please," she hauled him upright, "You will answer all my questions." --------------------- One year and nine months ago She tore into a rotten fruit, biting through the moldy taste. Her eyes locked close, as she swallowed down the food. Shaking off she dived back in, scavenging off the waste of the city. Night had fallen, the best time to move freely. As she dived in she noticed a light beat onto her back. She swiveled, to see a man in a suit behind her. "Sorry," she leapt down, "Do you want something?" The man held a strange device in his hand, which began to buzz as it hit her. "Incredible," the man muttered, "You are a strange girl miss...?" "I don't have a name," she tensed up. Instinctually purple boots emerged onto her feet, as her eyes flickered behind him, calculating. "No need to be worried," he held up his arms, "We have heard of what you can do. The Frog; able to jump ten feet in any direction. It is marvelous." "Please, why are you here?" The Frog asked, her expression hard. "I represent a group of politicians and business men," he said, still open for attack, "We have an offer for you. Japan is currently under protected. Though SHIELD guards our lands, we worry that our lack of champions will doom us. We would like you to help us." "I already protect Japan," she defended. "You almost died in that fight two days ago," he replied, "You are going to get a lot more scars if you just smash into people. You...how old are you?" "Twelve," The Frog answered carefully. "You are young to be on your own." She was silent, her face betraying nothing. "We can help you," the man said, "Give you resources, food, training, let your wounds heal. All we want is to let you be the best hero you can be." She paused, before answering, "...Alright." "Thank you very much," he dropped his arms and gestured for her to come inside the car, "May I call you Kaeru?" "Please, I will walk," she said, "But okay." The man gave her a look, before entering the car. As it started to back up she paused, thing. Then with a leap Kaeru bounced, chasing after the vehicle. --------------------- Modern day "Sir," a man walked up through the narrow hallways of the Giri Corporation, "We have more sightings of Kaeru. She engaged a group of small level gangs, before leaping out of sight." Another man turned around, dressing in a black suit. He had graying hair, black mixed in at points. Glasses hung from his face, hiding brown eyes. His left arm was behind him, unseen. "She grows more bold every day. Are the public still unaware?" "For the moment, though rumors have begun to form." "Send a patrol," the man stated, "Ask the thugs which direction she was headed in. We cannot afford for her to vanish again." "Yes sir." The man departed from the room, already making the call. --------------------- One year and five months ago "You are marvelous," Mr. Oshima said as he watched Kaeru leap and jump. Her feet launched her across the air, allowing her to crash into the trainers. Kaeru stood up and gave a slight grin. Suddenly a trainer knocked into her, forcing her to skid. She slowly pulled herself up, before crashing forward in a jump. As the trainer sidestepped Oshima called out, "You can not just keep crashing. Be too predictable and you will be beaten." Kaeru nodded, before leaping again. As she leapt she swung out her fist, even as the trainer stepped away. She rolled onto the floor, before rebounding off of a wall. With a crash she slammed her fist into the trainer, knocking him across the mat. Kaeru breathed, even as new trainers arrived. "Mr. Oshima," the man turned to see a young adult coming forward with a file of papers, "We are finished with SHIELD's research on the Tesseract." Oshima fished through the file as Kaeru fought on. He sighed, before handing it back. "Barely similar," he sighed, "What is inside you child?" Kaeru bounced onto the floor, smacking her fist into a trainer. The trainer skidded back, even as Kaeru grinned. In a burst she charged, leaping over the trainer before knocking into them with her twirling feet. The young man kept a firm gaze on Kaeru, but kept his mouth silent "You disapprove?" "Apologies sir, but she is not even thirteen," the young man said, "She should not be put into combat. She should be in school." Oshima nodded, "What is your name?" "Takuya Yamashiro." "Why did you sign up here?" "So that our people need not fear the future." Oshima sighed, "Do not worry, we do not plan to keep her here for long. Once we figure out how to duplicate her power we will find a place for her." Takuya dipped his head, just as there was a flash. The two turned suddenly as Kaeru's fist turned purple, smashing a trainer into a wall. Quickly she ran to the man, and began prying him from the wall. "Apologies sir," she said, "I...I did not know I could do that." "Keep running tests," Mr. Oshima muttered to Takuya, "We need to know what we are dealing with here." The young man nodded, before departing the room. --------------------- Modern day Kaeru leapt through the city, moving across the rooftops. Night had fallen again, as the moon began to wane. Her shoulder still winced, but it was a dulled now. The knife had only scraped her, no real lasting damage. With a jump she flung herself onto the side of a warehouse, sealed up tight. With a press of her purple fists she felt the side, and let her fingertips shatter the wall to scrap. She landed below, inside the empty building. Her violet hue recoiled, reentering her body. Kaeru looked around, filling around the floor. Suddenly she heard a click, and her purple glow sprang to life. With a flip she spun around, knocking a man to the ground. "Where are they?" she asked, her purple hand clutching his neck. "What are you?" "A vigilante," she threw him down, "Where?" The man pointed shakily to the back of the wall, to a cabinet. "Thank you," she said, before pounding into his chest. She quickly kicked him in his crotch, knocking him into a wall. As he collapsed Kaeru shoved the cabinet aside, revealing a hatch. Stepping back she smashed through, landing in a layer below. Her arms threw up as she rolled up, just as bullets began to fire. With quick steps she charged, letting the metal rebound off her gauntlet. People scattered as she ran, though most shots bounced upwards. With a swing she smashed her fists into the shooter, knocking him down. As another fired at her she spun, blocking with her foot. Then with a leap she tackled him, plowing him into the wall. As he slid she swung, pounding into his chest. As the man crumbled Kaeru turned. Young foreigners crowded the room, staring at her in shock. "Go," she said, pointing to the ladder, "Go out of the main entrance. Head that way until you reach the train station. Then take a seven mile walk to the left. The people there should help you." The girls nodded, before moved out on mass. One hung back before saying, "Thank you." Kaeru nodded, before letting out a rare grin. She quickly frowned before saying, "Just, enjoy it here while you can." The girl nodded slowly, before departed after the others. The vigilante sighed as she looked at the bludgeoned men, her fists tight. She smashed her fist into his jaw, cracking it. Gradually her hands calmed, before she leapt through the ceiling onto the surface. As she landed her feet and hands recoiled their radiance, and she walked away. As she walked her face settled into her usual stare, focused and searching. As she walked across the city she heard a flood of cars coming towards her. Immediately her legs shifted purple, bolting her onto a rooftop. Quickly Kaeru turned around to see cars pulling up, as men armed with an assortment of nonlethal weaponry emerged. She sighed, before turning away. Then with a leap she leapt across the another building, even as the men and women swiveled after her. A barrage rushed after her, even as she launched herself further. By now they were back in their cars, leaning out to fire occasional shots. Kaeru just stared, before bouncing away. Suddenly she threw herself onto a skyscraper, catching onto a higher peak. Then she leapt again, scaling the tower in jumps. With a flip she landed on the top. As she looked around she sighed, just as a whirl of a helicopter appeared behind her. "Please, Kaeru," a man said from the vehicle, "We just want to talk." "Sorry, Mr. Oshima, but what about them?" she gestured below. "They are scared." Kaeru sighed, "Fear explains, it does not justify. I told you, I cannot work for you. Not after what you did. I protect people my way." "Mistakes were made," Oshima said, "You know we just wanted to protect our home." "Excuse me, but you should have stopped after him," she said neutrally, "We both know that you kept trying. Fear explains." "Please Asami," he said, "Clayhand has escaped." Kaeru swiveled, "Where did you hear that name?" "We have been looking for missing children since we found you," he answered, "Asami Ichiki was the best match." Kaeru scowled openly, startling everyone. "I am not her any more," she said, "I grew out of it. I will grow out of Kaeru too one day. But how do I know Clayhand has escaped?" The helicopter moved forward, as Oshima stepped forward, his graying hair blowing from the wind. Pulling his left sleeve down he showed a shriveled hand and arm, burnt viciously. Kaeru sighed, "I am not so young now...Will you make the woman who left that building are cared for?" "Yes." "Then tell me exactly how he escaped from you," Kaeru asked. --------------------- One year ago "It's a simple procedure," a scientist said as she locked Takuya in place, "It will not take long." Mr. Oshima watched from the side as the device hung. He stood behind a glass barrier, reinforced just in case. "You are sure this is safe?" "It is difficult to be certain sir," the scientist answered, "This radiation seems identical to the kind she possesses, but without knowing how Kaeru was altered, we cannot be positive." Mr. Oshima nodded, before turning to an assistant. "Bring her here." She nodded, before departing. Mr. Oshima stared even as Kaeru appeared, "Excuse me, what is it?" she grinned, before catching sight of Takuya. She tilted her head at the sight of the young adult strapped to a bed. "We are trying to empower him with your abilities," he answered. "...Oh," Kaeru's face fell as she looked at Takuya, "Um, I guess I could use some help when I go back out." Mr. Oshima gave her a look slowly, before stating, "Begin." With a whirl energy surged into Takuya, flowing into his arms and legs. His body shock and spasmed, trembling violently. A wail ripped from his mouth, inhuman and painful. "Please stop it," Kaeru said as the young man's body shook and jerked bout, "You're hurting him!" Mr. Oshima stared for a second clenched up, before saying, "Turn it off." As the machine stopped Takuya fell through his bonds, collapsing on the group. Skin dropped from him, splashing on the floor. The group stared in horror, as he slowly stood up, his skin bubbling into a tan mucky shade. "Two," Takuya moaned in a twisted thick voice, "Two in one." He shuffled forward towards the group, squeezing onto the glass. "Two in one." His body melted further, turning into a gooey ooze. With a shove he splashed onto the wall, seeping in a wall off goo. Kaeru stood back, before turning, "Please, what do we do?" Immediately the glass shattered, spraying the group. Kaeru threw herself in front, blocking the bulk of the shrapnel with her glowing arms and body. The gooey man blasted into her with a oozing fist, knocking her to the wall. There was a sizzling sound, as Kaeru's skin scorched from his acidic touch. As she struggled she managed, "Stop this sir," she pleaded, "Try to think." "Two in one!" he flung her into another wall, even as men backed away. As she smashed the wall her feet sparked purple, before vaulting her into the blob. With a splash she crashed through him, skidding behind. Her skin was burnt all over, though nothing too permanent. As she looked on Takuya reformed, twisting back into a vaguely human shape. He suddenly lumbered forward, moving onwards her. "Two in one!" "Yes," she said before kicking into him. Her foot sank in, trapping her in his chest. With a shove he threw her out, skidding Kaeru to the floor. Kaeru gave a look, before heading to the main part of the room. She spun on her heel, in time to see Takuya still lumbering towards her. She nodded, before leaping into the air. With a swing she smashed the sprinklers, letting water rain down. Takuya oozing and mushed at the water, his body squashing under the rain. With some effort he gurgled forward, swinging his arms at her through the rain. Kaeru leapt forward, splattering him to the wall. As she rolled away he caught her, before slamming her to the ground. With a twist Takuya shoved her again and again, knocking the wind from her grasp. Suddenly men rushed forward, tasers in hand. The electricity pumped into the mutant, causing him to stumble. As he splashed into fluid Kaeru lay on the ground, hyperventilating. "Are you okay?" Mr. Oshima made his way to her as men and woman struggled to collect the goo. Kaeru nodded faintly, even as she stared at Takuya's ooze. --------------------- Modern day Kaeru hung to the helicopter as it flew, refusing to enter its body. As she clutched to the side. Mr. Oshima stared at her, watching the fourteen year old as she clung on, her hands and feet purple. "You can come in." "No thank you." "...Some of us worry you have become too violent." "I fight in proportions," she answered, "Smaller crimes are treated kinder, inhuman acts are pounded in. I am fighting a war." "Have you ever killed anyone?" There was silence before she answered, "No, I have not, there is too much death of criminals already. Some are just disabled or children, they cannot help themselves." "You are a child." "I gave that up when Asami died." Oshima smiled a little, and said, "I still see a little optimism in you." Kaeru paused, before saying, "Where are we going?" "...Clayhand was seen moving towards Osaka," Oshima stated, "He was plowing through the countryside, so sightings have been rare." She nodded before saying, "I can leap the rest of the way. With a shove she leapt off the helicopter, landing onto the city below. With a leap she charged, bounding and jumping across the landscape. --------------------- Less than one year ago Kaeru rolled about on her futon, struggling to stay comfortable. Finally she stood up, and stretched. Coming up she faced the door, making her stumble. With a glance back and forth she opened the door, and crept inside. She made her way down the halls, darting across the corners. She rubbed her eyes at the fluorescent lights, shattering through the dark of night. Kaeru suddenly spotted an intersection between hallways in her path. Peering to the side she could see guards talking. With a pause she ran back, letting her feet turn purple. She leapt, soaring through the gap. As she moved he retracted her glow, keeping her relatively unseen. She moved on, navigating the maze of passages. She had no clue where to go, but she would get there. Suddenly she found herself back at the empowerment room, which still hummed. Curious, she slid open the door, and peered inside. A Macaque lay suspended in the device, energy charging into it. Kaeru watched as the monkey shook and trembled, it's body mad. Kaeru stared in shook, watching the primate. Suddenly she threw open the door, shouting, "What are you doing? You are hurting him!" "Kaeru," Oshima turned, "You should be asleep." "You should stop this," she said, "You saw what happened to Takuya, he turned into mud. It is much to early to experiment again." "We have control of the situation," Oshima said. "Why can't you just wait?" she plead as the monkey spasmed, "I can protect you, give them some time." "You are a child," Oshima rounded on her, "You should not be fighting our battles. You should be protected, not used as a soldier." "You lied then," Kaeru said simply. As Oshima started to speak she ignited with purple, and smashed through the ceiling. Guards spun around at the sound, even as she smashed to the outsides of the building." --------------------- Modern day Kaeru leapt through the outskirts, just as day broke. As she leapt about she landed forward, reaching the city of Osaka. She skidded to a halt, looking over the massive settlement. It was like Tokyo, but perhaps less spread out. As she leapt she suddenly stopped, and clutched her head. "Stupid," she muttered, "If they find Takuya how will I know?" She now stood in an alley, alone. Kaeru leaned onto a wall, and took a deep breath. As she existed she heard footsteps, human in weight. She peered over to see a young man and woman, heading to the curb. Traffic was not too strained, though the vigilante couldn't help but eye all the cars. "Please," she urged them, "Run for shelter. Something is coming." "What do you mean?" the man looked at her. "A battle," she let her legs reignite, startling the two of them, "Please warn everyone you can." With that she burst away, as the woman nodded. Kaeru bounded across the city again, dancing across the rooftops. Then she suddenly swiveled to the side, just as she caught sight of Takuya, his goo blasting through the streets. He seemed much bigger now, about ten feet in height. Cars knocked to the side as he lumbered forward, spreading destruction. With a gurgle he shifted towards Kaeru, shooting his oozing arm at her. Quickly she kept to the side, before leaping through him, bursting him from the impact. She quickly leapt back, landing on her purple glowing feet. Kaeru smacked her hands together, even as Takuya reformed into a human shape. With a squish his arms extended, and shot out at her like water from a pressure hose. Tan gunk splashed before her, as she leapt and jumped about. Kaeru leapt to the rooftop of a building, before flexing at Takuya. With a roar the mutated man spurted at her, squishing onto the roof. As he stood his body burnt into the roof, sizzling the cement. The vigilante began to encircle Takuya with leaps, even as the helicopter showed up. The giant swung his ooze at her, forcing her jumps to scatter in pattern. As Kaeru leapt about the helicopter began to fire a barrage into Takuya. Sparks danced from the impact, as electric bullets struck Clayhand. The mucky man swayed and shook, just as Kaeru burst through him. As Takuya reformed, he trembled and churned from the barrage. Suddenly he spun his arms, before flinging one into the vehicle. The helicopter shock from the impact, as part of its wall dissolved and its body quaked. Kaeru burst through him again, regaining his attention. Her eyes locked onto the vehicle, focusing despite the fight. "Two in one," he churned as he regenerated, "Born of two worlds." "...What?" Kaeru asked as her clothes sizzled from passing through Takuya so many times. She still kept her gaze on the helicopter, despite also watching Takuya. "You feel the beat?" he said, swinging his fists, " the rhythm in the streets! Twin pasts met in one collision. Timelines melt as two in one." "End the fusion," he pleaded, "End the madness! Fix everything! Two pasts!" Kaeru leapt over Takuya , just as the helicopter stabilized enough to fire again. Takuya bellowed as part of his body liquified, before swinging his fist into the vehicle. As he swung Kaeru was already in motion. With a leap she leapt in front of the helicopter, spreading out her arms and legs. As she moved Takuya's fist smashed into her, creating a flash of light. --------------------- One week ago Takuya splashed and churned in his tank, no visible holes in the structure it was built of a strange metal, an alloy designed to resist all danger. There were no holes, only sensors to detect him. But those sensors were weak points, and despite their reinforced design Clayhand had managed to tear into them, slowly but surely. The first time he had done this he what'd reached an electric barrier, which had knocked him out in time for his guards to replace his bounds. This had happened three times, and slowly Clayhand was become resistant to shocks. They still stung and damaged his body, but he was less shaking. Enough for him to resume devouring the sensors, but this time without passing out from the electricity. He could feel the guards moving the sensors, assuming his was unconscious. Quickly he surged, smashing through the gaps. Like water he poured out of the tight container, before blasting the guards with corrosive acidic goo. They screamed as he burnt through them, dissolving them into gunk. With a sloppy sound he absorbed them into his body, increasing his mass. Clayhand oozed forward, burning a hole behind him as he went. "Two in one," he gurgled, "Got to separate one into two." He melted away, to begin his search. --------------------- Modern day Kaeru opened her eyes to see purple before her. As she looked around her she found a faint outline over her whole body, structured like armor. Her constructs had expanded from her feet and hands, forming a complete shell over her body. Even her head was covered by a helmet like projection. She flexed her completely covered arms, as Clayhand blasted her. Immediately she began to burn through him. Shattering his goo. Clayhand fell back, just in time for her to smash through him. Bits of Clayhand rained down, before reforming on the streets below. Kaeru leapt down, smashing into Clayhand. Leaping or ward he barreled through him, splattering him everywhere. Kaeru twisted about and ran into a large chunk, shattering the goo in a small explosion. Even as she spun around Clayhand reformed, dragging a bus over his head. With a roar he threw the vehicle, before charging. Kaeru quickly leapt up, catching the bus before lowering it to the ground. As the riders scattered she was tackled by Clayhand, crashing her into an a hotel. As she pulled herself up Clayhand threw her, knocking her into the pavement. Kaeru stood back up, shaken but undamaged. With a grit of her teeth she charged, punches flinging. Clayhand splattered again, giving Kaeru time. Quickly she ran to the street corner, before spotting a fire hydrant lying on the side of a building. With a yank she ripped it open, just as Clayhand tackled her. Kaeru picked herself up, before smashing into Clayhand with a shove. As he burst she ran back to the hydrant, and began to work. Suddenly the siren activated, causing Clayhand to scream in agony. "Lucky," she observed, before finally bursting forth water. The fluid smashed into Clayhand, dissolving him into mush. He struggled to stay stable, though he was all but paralyzed by the sound. "...Now what?" Kaeru asked herself. Takuya dripped and flattened, struggling to stay stable. "Two in one," he moaned, reaching out towards her, "It's...slipping. Splitting..." His body struggled to stay solid, as his eyes ran into puddles. "Please, try to focus," Kaeru urged him. "We can think," he managed, "Our minds are separate for now. It has been so long." "What did you mean by two in one?" "Memories," he said, "Two sets of memories inside us. One of a world of many superheroes, the other of this world. But it is wrong. Unstable. Whatever accident or destiny made you was stronger. We are sorry..." Takuya collapsed into a mound of ooze, just as men and women rushed over to him. As he stood weak the group rolled him towards a large jug, made of a strange metal. Kaeru nodded, before leaping and slamming Takuya into the jug. As it sealed up she asked, "Can it hold him?" "Yes," an agent said, "It is the same material as Captain America's Shield, he will not be able to escape." "Good," Kaeru said. "Thank you," Mr. Oshima stated as he landed, "I see you have mastered your armor." "...Armor," Kaeru repeated, before saying, "Sorry, but now that Takuya has been contained, I have a country to protect." She stepped back, before suddenly bolting into the sky. Wrapped in her armor she bounced away. Mr. Oshima stared as she vanished, letting out a sigh. As he turned around he suddenly noticed a small crowd of citizens, phones and cameras watching as Kaeru jumped away. --------------------- One day later "This is what I wanted to show you," a strange yellow eyed man said in English as he pulled up a website, "They are calling her Karuta. I believe it means a kind of armor." The image showed a young teenager, fighting a large slimy creature. A woman stared behind him as he watched a video of the fight, filmed on a cellphone. "Any idea who she is?" "No," the man answered, "But I think she is young. Nice to see we are finally getting superhumans outside of the United States though." The woman sighed before saying, "I need to talk to him." "Who?" he asked, "Wait you mean-so we are making our play now?" He grinned at the prospect, even as he pulled up another video. "Not yet," she answered, "But we need to be ready. She could help us. I just would like us to be to do this without that savage." "Agreed," the man said, "He's just a brute. Still, if we can get Karuta it might be worth it." The woman nodded, even as they watched the fourteen year old's battle.
  22. Tanma

    Knifefish 2

    So here we are again for another tale. This finishes the first three stories in my MCU project, so please check out its prequels Knifefish and The Armored Automaton. Please give feedback, and if you can recommend books or sites giving accurate information on modern Japan, please do so. My current designs for the fourth and fifth stories needs that information. Other than that I present my newest story. "Okay, remember," Robin managed as she looked ahead, "No killing unless you have no choice." She flew through the air, inside of a patchwork armor painted bronze. "Alright," Isaac said. The intelligent armor shot through the sky as she rode inside, the pair of them bolting. As they flew they came upon a tower, smoke pouring out of the side. Letters ran down its length, though they were obscured by the ash. Isaac flew into the hole, landing with a tap. Immediately Isaac opened up his back, and Robin stumbled out. As she balanced she patted her chest, feeling a lump where her yarn catfish was held underneath her black and gray uniform. Scars covered her face, burnt in. "Okay, they have tech based off of the Expo drones and early Iron Man Armor," Robin focused, "Crude mechs, but enough to keep the police at bay." She felt around, feeling the electricity of the tower. Below she could sense the mechs, their guns raised to fire over anyone who approached. Robin was a scientist who managed to engineer organic implants that bind to humans. These implants grant the implanted the ability to see electricity and the power to fire bioelectric stings. She was the first to be implanted, and known to the public as Knifefish, the first autistic superhero. "SHIELD suspects ties to AIM," Isaac updated in a boom. He was a cobbled together suit of armor, built from the remains of Iron Man's arsenal and Chitauri technology. The Chitauri were aliens who invaded the Earth fairly recently, led by the Norse god Loki. "Thanks," Robin nodded. "You think they are after a way to stabilize Extremist?" The company that owned the building was infamous for genetic experiments, and the Extremist formula required a lot of improvements. "Or a new superhuman serum," Isaac blasted through some wreckage, "There is a lot of research on regenerative formulas in this place." The two of them ran down the hall, making their way to the stairs. Knifefish scaled onto Isaac as he dropped down, falling through the gap in the staircase. Then as he reached his target his Repulsers fired, levitating him and Robin in the air. The two landed back on the stairs, stepping towards the doors. Knifefish hummed as she stared at the wall, feeling around through the barrier. Suddenly she burst through the door, discharging electricity into a mech. Sparks danced from the bulky suit, as Robin dropped out of the way. As he came up Isaac fired, sending blue energy into the mech. It crumbled to the ground, sizzling. Knifefish felt it, detecting the trapped pilot. With a nod she moved on, with Isaac coming up behind. --------------------- "They're in." SHIELD agents crowded around their monitors as they watched from Isaac's cameras. The duo were moving forward, slipping towards another mech. With a leap Knifefish discharged into the foe, before Isaac unleashed a burst of energy. Across the room an agent asked, "Sir, are you sure it's wise not to send the Bolts?" An agent with black hair and an eyepatch turned to face him, "The Bolts and the Drones are not supposed to be public. We need them for the next big threat, and we need them stealth. The public will not take kindly to mass genetic engineering." "Do they know?" asked the agent. Agent Jackson looked his underling over before saying, "Knifefish is currently informed that we are trying to make superheroes, not soldiers. Whether she believes it, we don't know, but the Automaton does not know about his duplicates. And we prefer they don't find out. Understood?" "Yes sir," the agent answered. "They are just the public image," Jackson muttered, "The clean portrait." --------------------- Outside of the Sentinel SHIELD base a whirling of blades spun as a helicopter landed. From its doors stepped out a woman covered in implants with a yellow suit of armor. As she landed with a thud she walked forward, a red light in her chest aglow. "Who are you?" a SHIELD agent asked, machine gun at the ready. "My name is Agent Georgia," her eyes turned red, "I am your superior. Escort me inside." The agent's eyes turned glassy as he nodded, before leading her forward. Behind her came a trio of men, none in SHIELD uniforms. Together they wheeled crates of supplies, masked from sight. As they approached the entrance another agent asked, "Who are-" "I am Agent Georgia," she answered, "Your superior. I have come to help in the defense of Earth. Inform the others that their superior is coming, then take me to the bulk of your agents." The man activated his earpiece, and began to give a report. Turning to the first agent she said, "Take these three agents to the comms and do whatever they say." Her face scrunched up briefly, though she still calmly walked inside. The agent led her forward, his eyes blank and glazed. Stepping forward she entered a large room, where agents crowded in front of monitor. "Who are you?" an eyepatch wearing agent pulled out a gun. "My name is Agent Georgia," she answered, "I am your ruler. I am here to lead you in the defense of Earth." The agents saluted, even as blood trickled from her nose. "Now," she said, "What resources does this site possess?" --------------------- Knifefish ducked, narrowly avoiding a swinging metal fist. With a push she thrust out her arms, zapping the machine. As the mech stumbled she ran to its back and delivered another shock. The Mach stagger, even as it swung around, knocking her to the ground. Ducking behind desks hid workers and scientists, trying not to be spotted. A few tried to record the fight, but most had the sense to just avoid the fight entirely. As Knifefish pulled herself from the ground missiles soared from the mech. As they neared a blast of azure energy struck the projectiles, bursting them. Isaac turned back from Knifefish as she picked herself up, before he fired a blast of energy into another mech. The mech was knocked back even as Isaac flew into it, smashing its front. As he fired again into it a fist swiped his leg. The third mech began to bash him about, striking the ground. Elsewhere Knifefish ran around her mech, feeling the electricity of the battle. As the mech launched its missiles she ducked, leaving them to slam right behind her. She stumbled forward, but caught herself. While the mech reloaded she pulled herself to it and discharged a strong blast. Sparks emitted as wiring was shot, before the mech toppled over. As she started to run off, the cockpit swung open to reveal a man. Knifefish darted back, before discharging into his chest. He passed out, though his body remained functioning. Knifefish ran over to the mech flinging Isaac, and delivered a shock to its back. It stumbled, freeing up Isaac to break free. As he landed he fired into the mech, blasting off an arm. While the pilot stumbled Isaac flew at the robotic suit, knocking it to the ground. As the mech crashed he blasted into it again, shorting it out. Immediately he rush to the remaining mech, which had begun to run away With a thrust of his wrists Isaac fired into the surviving meh, sending it cashing. As the last foe fell Isaac and Knifefish ran up to each other a dipped their heads, even as the civilians cheered. As Robin felt around Isaac pried open the mechs, taking out the crew. "Threat disabled," he reported. "...Good," a voice stated, "Wait around until the recovery team gets there, we can't afford for that tech to go missing." "Yes sir," Isaac bellowed, before turning to Robin. She was watching the fallen enemies, even as she felt her catfish. Her scars scratched over her face, a relic of an Extremist Soldier's attack. "Knifefish," he stated, "I have to...secure something. Can you watch them?" "Sure," she answered, "Just don't leave without me, you're my ride." Isaac nodded, before departing from the area. --------------------- As Isaac went off Robin turned to the three unconscious enemy agents a civilian came up to her. "Robin, right?" he asked. "Call me Knifefish," she said, not focusing on her lack of a secret identity, "You need something?" "Who is that guy?" "Oh, that's just Isaac," she answered, "His body's made from some of the Iron Man Armor. He is okay." "He's a robot?" Knifefish stared before she said slowly, "He is not a robot, he is an android." "What is the difference?" "Robot is an insult coming from the Czech word for slave. Android comes from the Latin and Greek meaning man." "...Okay." Knifefish calmed and resumed watching the mech pilots. Time passed in awkward silence, before Isaac returned. "I have what I required," he said, "Hopefully SHIELD will send a team up here sometime this day." As he waited police made their way into the room, spotting the knocked out pilots. "I see you have everything under control," a policeman muttered. Isaac turned towards him, "Yes, it would appear so." Knifefish meanwhile was checking a clock, noting the time. --------------------- Robin looked at Isaac, "It's been too long. Call another SHIELD base." The two of them were on a roof, with the mechs in one pile and the bound pilots in another. Isaac nodded before remarking, "I heard you earlier. I was unaware you had strong feelings about the word 'robot.' Despite its origin you realize it's current meaning jus means humanlike machine." "...That is the main definition," she said, "But it also is used to meaning 'emotionless machine.' Which you aren't." She sighed, "It's a insult people sometimes associate with autistics; the robot, the Vulcan. On the other side you have the r-word and savant." "I was unaware of this." "My mom says people don't do it any more and times are changing," she looked away, "That we are so common that they have to change. Will doesn't think so." "Odd," Isaac said. "No, he has had a harder time than me," Robin said, "He moved out because the stress of moving was actually less than being with his birth parents. There are reasons a lot of his family are villains in his stories." "No," Isaac said, "I just spoke to the Director of SHIELD, he was unaware that agents haven't come yet. I believe that can only indicate nothing is wrong." "Agreed," Knifefish replied, "...You were being sarcastic right?" "Director Fury is sending agents to us now," Isaac looked up, "As well as some to investigate the base." "We better join them," Knifefish looked up at the sky, "You know, once the agents arrive." --------------------- Helicopters whirled in as Extremist Soldiers unloaded supplies. An army of the superhumans moved about, incoming from the survivors of AIM. AIM had been a technology group responsible for terrorist attacks and a conspiracy against the United States. After their founder was taken down and AIM was exposed by the superheroes Iron Man and Iron Patriot the remaining workers were on the run. But with the fatal nature of the Extremist treatment and the efforts of superheroes like Knifefish and Iron Patriot AIM had dwindled in number. Now all surviving AIM agents were injected with Extremist, as their leader had commanded. The superhumans were all ticking time bombs, unless they could stabilize the technology. "Any luck with Stark's research on Extremis?" The former superhero had managed to purge the treatment from a user, allowing SHIELD to deposed captured agents. But it alo might help in balancing the formula. "No, Madam." As Extremist Soldiers modified the long range transmitters, Madam Georgia looked on. As she watched her workers, a pair of operatives approached her. A youth was clutched in their hands, struggling to break free. "Madam," one of the AIM acts said, "We caught this kid trying to access the comms." "Who are you?" asked Georgia, "Who were you trying to contact?" The teen winced and grunted. "Go to ---- neut," he answered, "I'm not talking. Give me all the headache you can, I won't give it up." "No," Georgia slipped, "No, no you can't be immune. No, I-we need this. Lock him up, and get the amplifiers ready. We have to hurry, I need to unite the world before it is too late." The agents dragged Will away, as Georgia breathed heavily. "Control," she muttered, "Need to maintain control. Can't let it happen again." --------------------- Robin flew inside of Isaac as they approached the base, struggling to get comfortable. With a twist he dived, landing outside the perimeter. As Knifefish stumbled out Isaac remarked, "Radio signals are jammed." "Okay," Knifefish felt around, "Truth, there is like an army of Extremist Soldiers in there. I thought there was only one left. Even if they built another device, how did they get so many volunteers?" "Truth?" "Sometime you have to see FMA Brotherhood," she backed up as she felt more, "Okay, this is over our heads. We need to get Avengers on this, or Iron Patriot-" "You need to go get help," she turned suddenly, "Just go outside of range, it shouldn't take long for you." "...You are not coming?" "There are a lot of SHIELD agents here," she answered, "And Will. I need to make sure he is okay. I can avoid them long enough to figure out what is going on. You know, maybe. Point is we might not have time to wait. I mean yeah I only write down three-fourths of the Bolt information, but who knows what else they have there." "You were prepared for this?" Isaac focused on Robin, as she looked down "Captain America is the first superhero," she answered reluctantly, "But he was intended to just be a soldier. And you told me about New York. The Chitauri only noticed us because we were using that Tesseract to make advanced weapons." "I have difficulties seeing the difference between a superhero and a soldier," Isaac remarked, "Both defend populations and battle enemies, and both kill. You are the exception." "...A superhero should be a defensive force," Knifefish began to move forward, "To protect first, fight second. Soldiers are meant to fight wars, heroes should save and protect lives." Isaac stared at her, before saying, "At the base SHIELD has records of the regeneration experiments. If they could use them to stabilize Extremist..." Knifefish nodded turning towards the facility. Isaac turned away, before bolting into the sky. In a blur he flew off, as Knifefish crept forward. She made her way towards the base, feeling everyone with bioelectricity. Knifefish finally reached the door, and fired a weak jolt to the electronic lock. As it opened she bolted inside, feeling around for anyone. As she ran she suddenly froze, as she spotted a security camera swiveling about. Feeling around she bolted, just as the camera faced away from her. With a leak she discharged, causing the camera and the nearby lights to spark out. Her hands held out like antennae, Knifefish swerved as she ran, looking for everyone. Bioelectricity roamed over the base, forcing her to duck and weave. As she felt around she ould feel someone in the local brig, contained. Knifefish made her way towards the prison, spotting an unusual soldier guarding the cells. He felt a odd, not human, but not quite a Extremist Soldier, with hotspots on his arms and chest. As she focused she could see Will, glaring. She breathed out, even as the soldier suddenly turned towards her. Knifefish leapt forward, sending a blast into the agent. As she turned to watch him. her eyes widened, as a surge of electricity struck her. "Bolt," she realized, hardening up. The man leapt at her, discharging. Quickly she leapt to the side, tumbling onto the ground. As she pulled herself up she swung out her arm, zapping his leg. As she stood up the Bolt staggered, freeing her to spot a faint spike of electricity in the soldier's ear. Hoping to herself she leapt forward and discharged, frying into the soldier's ear. As the soldier stumbled in pain she blasted again into his ear, letting the earpiece burn into him. "And that is why I don't carry electronics," she said, before kicking him in the crotch. She breathed as Will clapped, "Nice takedown," he said, "Listen, something is going on. I think we are looking at a Loki scenario." Knifefish nodded carefully, Isaac had told the two of them the story. Loki was the brother of Thor, both gods. Loki had lead the invasion in the Battle of New York, but in the build-up he had used his powers to mind control SHIELD agents. Will suddenly smiled, causing Knifefish to shake her head, "No," she said, "AIM probably didn't factor in non neurotypicals in whatever device they used...Isaac. That lab was a diversion." Will nodded, "I thought so. Time for you to save the world?" "Time to stall," she shorted out the lock, "We need to get to communications, the Avengers need to know...but first we need to head to the labs." Will nodded, before following her out into the hall. --------------------- "Attention Director Fury," Isaac hovered over a forest, "Knifefish and I have investigated Sentinel. It appears to be overrun with Extremist Soldiers. Signals are jammed within." "That is all we need," Fury sighed, "The military is sending Iron Patriot, and we've got some of our agents on route. You need to navigate them." "Sir Knifefish has already gone in," Isaac said. "Funny," Fury glared across the comms, "She didn't seem suicidal." "She isn't," Isaac answered, "I suspect she might be after the research on Extremist. She may be attempting to cure the invading force." "You think she can?" "...Not all of them." "Iron Patriot is almost at your location," Fury said, "Get him there with all speed." "Sir." "You won't make a dent in them," Fury said, wait for help. You're no use to us dead." Isaac stared out towards the base, his hand clenched. --------------------- Madam Georgia relaxed as wires piped into her implants, as her soldiers hooked her up to the communication hub of the base. Lights flickered as she started to link in, even as she winced. As she hyperventilated an Extremist Soldier walked up. "Madam, we are having some electrical problems." "A rogue Bolt," she managed, "Get...the others on it." "Madam, why are you doing this. It could kill you." "If we are safe, then I am willing," her eyes looked pale, "Now hurry. I can't risk taking out SHIELD when they arrive. Get our army prepared." the soldier nodded, before departing the chamber. --------------------- Knifefish and Will slipped through the base, her hand guiding him as she felt around. Her eyes were opened, but most of her vision was through electroreception. Suddenly she began to move faster, dragging Will behind her. "Truth. Truth," she muttered, "Come on-" Suddenly she stopped dead short, letting Will drift. As he came back he asked, " What's wrong?" "We're surrounded," she muttered, "Truth, a Bolt is running up, he feels me. We're running now." Will nodded, as the two of them focused. Knifefish took off, running with Will right behind. As they ran Extremist Soldiers swiveled, before sprinting after them. The superhumans pounded into the ground, their footsteps cracking the floor. As the Bolt came up Knifefish discharged into his ear, causing him to collapse in pain. She winced at the sound, before sprinting towards the lab, even as the soldiers charged. Suddenly a fist smashed into Knifefish, knocking her to the ground. Wearily she pulled herself up, to see a fierce Extremist Soldier towering over her. Quickly her hands flew up as the foe punched, sending a jolt down through the soldier's arm. As he winced Will tackled him, knocking the soldier to the ground. Knifefish pulled herself up, before forcing her body to sprint. Her side ached, even as Will covered the rear. "Almost there," she managed as they turned a corner, squeezing Kitty. Suddenly an Extremist soldier ran from the front, causing Knifefish to dodge. As she moved she heard a sick crunch, as the foe slammed her fist into Will. Knifefish stared in horror as Will fell, watching him collapse in pain. As a hand grabbed Knifefish she spun around, before discharging into the Soldier's skull. In a flurry she charged, letting adrenaline take over. She zapped another soldier, and another, before grabbing at Will. Helping Will up she dragged him inside the lab, just as a pack of AIM agents charged. Inside she heaved a table to block the door, before rushing to a lever. With a twist she pulled, as an alarm sounded. "Quarantine!" it sounded, as the door slammed shut with a metal gate. Robin sighed with relief, before turning to Will. He was bleeding from the chest, and the smell of ash came from his blackened shirt. "I'm not feeling so good," he admitted as he sprawled. "Okay. Okay. Okay," Robin held her chest, squeezing her catfish inside the suit, "Wait, duh. Okay, computer." Robin rushed over to a monitor,typing in her username. Quickly she searched through, before pulling up a series of notes on the regeneration formula. "Okay, I just need to fix a serum that turns users into lizard-men," she began to read as she spoke, "With science not in my field that I have never studied before. Please be my cave moment." Tony Stark was the first modern superhero, using high tech armor. However his first suit of armor was simplistic and built together in a cave with a box of scraps. Yet that first suit still possessed the first mobile Arc Reactor in the world, and the cleanest power source at the time. --------------------- As Extremist Soldiers patrolled, there was a twinkling in the sky. As they turned a barrage of missiles flew through the air, pounding into them. With a Thud Iron Patriot and Isaac landed, even as Quinjets began to flew towards them. The jets shifted their engines down and began to hover, even as large guns opened out at their bottoms. Bullets began to pound into the nearest Extremist Soldiers, even as Iron Patriot and Isaac flew into the base. Iron Patriot whirled open his shoulder gun even as Isaac fired blue bursts into two soldiers. As the AIM agents stumbled Ion Patriot fired a missile, ripping a trio of agents apart. "We need to find Knifefish," Rhodes said, "Can you track her? I'm reading at least six signatures." The pilot of the Iron Patriot suit was a soldier who had been a long time friend of Tony Stark. "Bolts," Isaac said, "They are too similar. Their freedom is...curious, though two appear unconscious." "Yeah," Iron Patriot blasted another agent, "And I am reading a lot of SHIELD agents coming towards us." "Loki scenario?" "I really hope so," Rhodey fired a missile at the feet of the coming crowd, knocking them to the loot, "Or lose SHIELD has the worst background checks in the world." As they moved in there was a rush, as a squad of Extremist Soldiers mashed though the walks into the two of them. --------------------- "Madam, the rogue Bolt has locked herself in a genetics lab." Georgia lay in her chair, her eyes red as she twitched. "I'm...I'm...I'm focusing," Georgia answered, "Deal with the other intruders first first first, one Bolt isn't going to hurt us really real fake." "...Yes Madam." --------------------- "Talk to me," Robin said as she separated strands of lizard DNA, "I think that is what you're supposed to do to keep conscious." "Sounds great," Will blinked long and slow, "Did you...did you know at least a third of the soldiers think we are together." "We are." "No," he winced, "Like Almei." "...Never," Robin stated at him for a second, before starting again, "I mean I'm flattered they aren't assuming we can't feel, but you're like my brother. And I couldn't do that to you." "I know," he answered, "Though even I disagree with your con-cough-ception of love." "It isn't love it's lust," her hands were a blur, her clumsiness forgotten, "lust can sometimes transform into love, but it always starts as filthy dirty primal urges." "..." "Will, come on," she said, looking at him frantically as she worked, "Please. Will. William?" She began to hyperventilate as he muttered, "I'm sorry if I pushed you-" "You couldn't if you wanted to," Robin finished, "Not really." She looked over a syringe of chemicals, wincing. "Why couldn't it have been catfish DNA?" she moaned, before forcing herself to inject the fluid into her arm. As she started go automatically refill the needle she grabbed a scalpel and made a light cut on her wrist. As she looked the cut began to rebuild itself, rapidly healing. As she helped she felt around, checking out the Extremist Soldiers outside the door. "Okay," she affirmed, "Everything is okay." Quickly she rushed to Will and injected the serum into his blood. She watched over him, squeezing Kitty tight through her uniform. The soft catfish cough to keep Robin calm, as she watched over her dying friend. --------------------- "Madam," an Extremist Soldier ran up, "It appears that the Bolt is actually Knifefish. She returned already from the diversion-" "You fools!" Georgia's eyes erupted with fury, "And you let her get in a lab? She is god there! Release the drones, take her out and the intruders!" The soldier nodded, before running out as fast as he could. --------------------- Isaac smashed into a wall as an Extremist Soldier tackled him. As he pulled himself up there was a twist as a burning touch singed into his armor, roasting into him. Isaac struggled to break free, just as Iron Patriot flung another soldier into the one pinning Isaac. The android pushed up before blasting the soldier point blank, tearing into her. With a twist Iron Patriot launched a volley of missiles into the incoming Extremist Soldiers, knocking them back. As dust over their vision Isaac scanned forward, before hauling twin burst into a charging soldier. Suddenly red eyes pierced the gloom. In a burst an ebony figure rocketed through the shadows, smashing into Isaac. As he tumbled he caught sight of a robotic drone, roughly identical to him. "What is this?" Isaac stood up, "Why...they made more of me." His sensors poured over the two robots, taking every detail. Just as he prepared for a fight an Extremist Soldier tackled him from behind. As he fell, Iron Patriot blasted the drone, knocking off a chunk of its armor. The robot turned towards Rhodey, before surging blue energy into the warrior. Iron Patriot knocked into a wall from the blow, as a second robot crashed into him from the side. He skidded across the ground, before catching himself. Isaac activated the jets on his feet, burning into the Extremist Soldier. As a rip in her toro emerged he blasted off, tackling the first robot. Isaac swung his fists wildly, pounding into the machine. Behind him he could see Iron Patriot firing missiles into the second done. The robot sparked as its core was ruptured, before blasting Isaac. He stumbled back, as it swung out its leg, knocking him to the ground. Isaac shuddered from the blow, while the robot began to step on his face mask. Twisting his arms up he fired at the robots core at full blast, even as his sensors failed. Feeling the pressure relax he pushed up, knocking the robot off of him. As Isaac turned to help Iron Patriot, a metal arm swung into him. He staggered, to just as spotted the drone, it's left arm dangling by exposed wires. The robot swung again with its right arm, before blasting Isaac in his core. Isaac shuddered at the impact, his power source shaken. Suddenly the second robot smashed into the one armed machine, freeing Isaac to launch twin blasts into the core of the first robot. With a rip it exploded, tearing into the second. Iron Patriot focused his hands and fired his Repulsers into the machine. As it staggered Isaac hurled blue energy into its core, just as Iron Patriot launched a missile into it. With a rip it exploded, tearing it apart. As the two took a moment o recover Isaac managed, "I de-detect abnormal brain Bolt in labs. Possibility it is Knifefish. Go investigate?" "You okay?" "Head in pain," Isaac answered as he touched his bent up head, "Need repairs. Least SHIELD apparently has experience in make me." "Not just that. You just destroyed copies of you." "I not agree to them. Simple programing I sense. They mockery to I. Not true people. Just robots. You kill humans." Iron Patriot gave him a look, saying, "True. Just don't give out on me." The two technological heroes ran down the halls, coming up upon the lab room in question. Outside some soldiers were trying to burn their way in, as a drone watched. Suddenly the machine swiveled, as a barrage of missiles flew into the crowd. The ceiling ruptured, raining rubble onto the group. The debris knocked into the heroes and the group, burying them. Slowly the group picked themselves up, just in time for Iron Patriot to fire a surge of power into two of them. The third soldier leapt on Iron Patriot, as the done and Isaac picked themselves up. Isaac leapt onto the robot, smashing hard into its core. As the robot fell he kicked, before blasting it's core twice. The robot collapsed, just as the Extremist Soldier collapsed. Walking up to the door Isaac smashed it open, for Will to leap at him. "Oh," Will climbed off, "It's you. Huh, looks like SHIELD was making an army put of you." "So it would seem," Isaac looked as Knifefish came up, her hand squeezing the lump in her uniform. "I might have good news," she said, "I have started researching the Extremist purge, I think I can maybe make a dispersal system through the sprinklers." "Right," Will said, "In a short amount of time we should be able to strip all of them of their abilities, except for your drones and Bolts." "So do you know why they are attacking here?" Knifefish asked suddenly, "This isn't the biggest SHIELD base, and the research here isn't exclusive." "Maybe they were after you." "But I was sent away-right," Knifefish glanced at the damaged drone, "Bolts. Duh. Okay...but again they have files on it elsewhere. Probably less guarded places, and if their mind control fails the Bolt guys will quickly turn on them." "Oh, right," Will slapped his head, "She said she was going to unite the world. The AIM person in charge I mean." "...Base po-po-possess ability project signals across world," Isaac turned towards a wall, "If AIM able use power, perhaps they transmit mind control across planet." "Alright," Iron Patriot turned, "Isaac, you're with me. We need to stop that signal. Knifefish, try to depower the AIM agents." Knifefish nodded, before running over to work. Will stood beside her, brandishing a scalpel. Iron Patriot and Isaac took off, clunking away as they ran. Isaac smashed through a door in a rush, charging up towards the communication hub. The two bursted into the room, to find it literally covered in Extremist Soldiers. --------------------- Knifefish turned to Will, flask in hand. "Okay," she nodded, "Now we need to move to...I have no idea where sprinklers get their water." "I do," Will began to run, "Remember 'Of Water and Blood?' I had to make sure you could use the sprinklers to defeat Stingray." Knifefish smiled briefly, chasing after him. Will's stories tended to revolve around Knifefish, even before she was discovered by SHIELD. However ever since the two of them had been forced to flee to SHIELD only Robin had been able to read them. "Okay so we need a blueprint of the building," Will said, "Think you can access that?" "You know I'm not good at computers." "Well then we have a lot of guesswork to do." --------------------- Explosions rocked the room as Iron Patriot launched missiles across the room. SHIELD agents leapt in the way of the explosives, shielding the comms. "Really?" he asked, before switching to Repulsers. Extremist Soldiers charged past the fallen agents, searing heat bursting from the AIM operatives' mouth. "Keep them-ah-ha-busy," the woman in the center ordered, "I need more time!" Blood trickled out of her nose, and her face had started to turn red. Her breathing was irregular, heaving up and down. Suddenly a burst of electricity discharged into Iron Patriot, causing him to spark. As he turned Isaac tackled the Bolt, blasting the mind controlled superhuman in the face. As the Bolt fell another surged electricity into Isaac, causing him to collapse. Sparks dances about him, his systems already devastated by the fighting. As he stumbled Isaac forced a burst from his hand, blowing up the agent's skull. Isaac collapsed on the ground, as Iron Patriot sent Repulser blasts into a charging Extremist Soldier. The AIM agents crashed into a wall, as beams of energy burned through the horde as they charged. With a twist Iron Patriot got a blast free, burning into the comms. Sparks erupted from the monitor, shocking the yellow suited woman. With a shriek she sparked, ripping the wires off her face. Blood oozed from her ears as she shook. "You fool," she roared, "You have doomed the planet!" --------------------- Robin and Will twisted a valve, pouring fluid into the pipes. "Okay, that should do it." "I've got to set it off," Robin started to sprint, "You tie up the Bolts I knocked out." Will nodded as Robin ran off. Knifefish sprinted about, skidding into the room. Her hand flew to her mouth as she stepped into the comms room, which had a layer of goo on the ground. Devastated SHIELD and Extremist Soldiers crowded the floor, torn to bits. As she stumbled an Extremist Soldier tackled her. Quickly Knifefish discharged into his head, stunning him long enough to get free. As explosions rocked behind her she leapt at the ceiling, before discharging. Sprinklers activated, dripping mostly water onto the crowd below. But mixed in came another compound, soaking into the Extremist Operatives. Slowly they stumbled, before collapsing on the floor. As Knifefish landed she spotted Isaac, collapsed on the ground. His electronics were silent, and no lights flicked. "Come on," she muttered, before giving a weak discharge into Isaac. She waited briefly as something thumped behind her, before trying again. Suddenly Isaac flickered and managed, "I-I-I-I-oh. Major repairs needed." "Just lie down," Knifefish sighed, just before a Repulser blast knocked into her shoulder, sending her across the room. As she stood up her tissue began to heal, even as she winced. As she looked she spotted a woman in a yellow suit of armor smashing Iron Patriot into a wall. "Do you comprehend what you have done!" the woman shrieked to the soldier. "No," said Knifefish as she ran up, "What have we done?" She delivered a shock to the stranger's arms freeing Iron Patriot from her grasp. He crashed into the ground, the suit inoperable. "You will die!" "Seriously," Knifefish crashed as a blast of energy knocked her back, "And where did you get that armor?" "You...you want to know? Fine, I'll tell you. I was at the Battle of New York. I was there when the sky burned and gods decided the fate of the world. And you know what I did there. You want to know what I contributed?" "Nothing," the woman said, "I did nothing. I could do nothing. I was just an ant in a tornado. Everyone was. Only the Avengers had any control of the situation, we were helpless. And we will be the next time." "Don't think for a second there won't be another disaster," the woman clenched her fist, "We've been noticed. The aliens will come back, and others too. The only way we have a chance is if we work together. We have to gather our best minds and develop new soldiers, stronger technology. Otherwise the next time we won't have another chance." Knifefish looked about with electricity and said, "AIM did have a mass produced superhuman serum." "And at the time we were still respected," the woman clenched her fist, as the two of them encircled each other, "We even were allowed to modify Iron Patriot. The governments toy! In a few years we could have mass produced proper mechs like this exoskeleton! But then Stark had to reveal Killian's plan and drive us apart." Knifefish continued to feel electricity, and focused on the woman. A spike was gathering behind the woman, radiating energy. Knifefish tensed up, just as a blue burst smashed into the woman. She turned towards Isaac, who had managed to stumble to his knees. Quickly Knifefish leapt, discharging into the AIM Leader's back. The woman spun about, punching Knifefish to the ground. She pulled herself shakily, as the woman fired twin Repulser blasts into her gut. Knifefish crashed to the ground, her chest ripped. She laid still panting, her body slowly squeezing new tissue over the wound. As the AIM Leader charged Isaac fired into her, blasting her back. With a turn she spun, before firing into the android. He sparked, before completely collapsing. Knifefish pulled herself up, crawling over to the AIM Leader, who immediately spun around. With a kick she smashed into Knifefish, cracking her hand. Tears leaked from her eyes, as Knifefish grabbed the leader, and discharged. Electricity parked from her touch as she unloaded, causing the woman to scream. The leader kicked into Knifefish, just as Will tackled her. His fists swinging he tore at her face, squeezing on her implants. She roared as he ripping into the metal, prying into it. His eyes gleamed yellow, his pupils thin. With a surge she blasted Repulsers into him, before flinging him to the floor. Will bent on the ground, even as Knifefish pulled herself up, her chest covered in a faint level of skin. Standing up she leapt, discharging into the AIM Leader's chest. The leader staggered as her radiant core sparked. Energy began to leap from her chest in a strange mist, not unlike the reach of the Tesseract. Knifefish winced as a fist smashed into her, knocking her to the wall. Blood trickled from her implants, even as she struggled to charge. The yellow suit sparked and shuddered, as it's safety's began to kick in. Suddenly Will tacked her, holding Iron Patriot's shoulder mounted gun. With a roar he stabbed it, driving the tool into the mech's core. Fire was born from the armor, slamming Will to the ground. As his skin roasted he looked ahead to see the current leader of AIM, her body torched and tortured. Her body crumbled still and broken. Knifefish pulled herself up, crawling to Will, her chest still devastated. "I'm ah-ha-fine," he managed. She nodded, giving him a hug, before crawling to the leader. Squeezing Kitty, who had survived the fight inside Knifefish's uniform, Knifefish laid her head on the villain. Worry in her eyes she discharged into the Leader's chest, before listening again. As Knifefish felt a faint heart beat she relaxed some, before gulping. She tore some of the clothing off a shredded AIM agent, and bond some of the particularly bad burns. She finally calmed as Will scooted up to her. The two of them leaned there, even as Knifefish looked at the electric dead android. Her eyes were narrow as she stared at Isaac, his body one of many brutalized ones in the room. --------------------- Robin watched as SHIELD agents were bound to tables. The first was slid into an MRI machine, a familiar sight. As the agent lay inside the machine neurologists looked patiently, ready to investigate. Will stood beside her as she asked with a sigh, "Will Isaac and Iron Patriot be okay?" "Yes," Sitwell answered as he looked as well, "The Iron Patriot Armor will take some time to repair however and Isaac will need major reconstruction as well, but both will survive." "Isaac is going to have to explain himself first," Robin decided, her fist clenched. A flicker of the tore apart bodies entered her mind, exploded corpses devastated by her allies. "When did you plan on telling Isaac about the drones?" Robin suddenly turned to Sitwell, staring into his mouth. "We did informed him," he answered, "The data must have been damaged in the fighting." There was a silence before Robin said, "I really doubt that. Then again I don't always get people, I'm still checking out me and Will." "We noticed your experimenting," he said,"you destroyed all the research on the regenerating serum." "Yes," she said, "I didn't want AIM to get the research. And as it turns out it has side-effects in some people." Will nodded, his eyes still golden and reptilian. She could also just about see her reflection, her eyes had a trace of yellow in them as well. "Could you fix it?" "Not my field," she shut him down, "You want a safe serum go to...whatever that company was. Or just put up with Bolts. By the way, has she talked?" "Georgia has been moved to a secure facility," answered Sitwell, "She won't escape." "Yeah," Robin said, "And these agents?" "Hard to say," he glanced at the MRI, "Their minds are several damaged, it may be years before there is any type of recovery." "What are you going to do now?" he asked. "Me and Will are going to talk about writing and stuff," she glared at the thought, "Then when 'murderfest' gets bettered we'll ship back out. Unless you have a reason for us to stop." "No," he said, "We can send you out in the field before then though." "Quinjets are too slow." "We have alternate quicker transportation." "...No robots." "Current Quinjets," he said, "But we have been studying Isaac's design. We can improve them to move at Isaac's speed." "You sure it works?" "Completely." "I will need time to prepare," she said, "But I could use a break from him. Will and me will need a few days" "Understood." As Sitwell walked away Will said, "You know they are making weapons out of you, if they did it to Isaac they would do it to us." "I know," she replied, "But I can't take the research I gave them back. I'm not skilled with computers. And they would probably try to synthesis their own if they had to. The box is open, so all I can do now is hope." "Besides," she said, "The world still needs heroes. And there need to be Autistic heroes, they can't all be neurotypicals. Though we definitely could use some other ethnicities too, even I've noticed everyone but me and Iron Patriot is solid white. Though I heard something about a bird man..." "Wait..." Will said, "You and me?" "...Yeah," she answered, "You have powers too, and you don't like being around these people all the time." "You realize what you might unleash." "No, Will," she was firm, "You aren't a villain. You would never let yourself. Just...don't massacre people. Just, scalpel not sledgehammer.." "Understood," he looked at Sitwell's back as he walked away.
  23. Story time again. This takes place after Knifefish, so go ahead and read that first, I'll wait. Interesting to note part of the reason I wrote this was the ending of Iron Man 3. I really wanted the Gemini suit to have action, perhaps in a later fight against Thanos. Anyway as I get ready to post this I have a question for the readers. Do you know any good sources of information on modern Japan, specifically Tokyo? You see I have already finished the third part of this saga, though for the fourth I plan to move the setting to Japan. So good sources are welcome. Lights flicked, a blue pulsing glow radiating from a table. Tan and purple pieces of machinery laid across, half disassembled. A man and a woman stand over the table, tweaking the alien technology. "Agent Claire, Agent Ben," a man walked up, "We have something new for you to work on." The three of them were in a SHIELD base in the northern United States, away from any major city. "Hey, we have our hands full with this Bake," Claire threw up her hands, "You want these weapons, you need to give us space." "This takes precedent," Agent Blake stood back as other agents wheeled in a covered object. The agent pulled off the tarp to reveal a shattered suit of powered armor, held together with a spattering of golden and black pieces. It's charred body was colored white and gray under the burns, and a gold colored helmet crowned it. "Woah," Claire looked at the advanced suit of armor, "Iron Man?" Iron Man had quit being a superhero last December, destroying all his suits of armor after the fight with AIM. AIM had survived, though its surviving agents had gone underground. "This one sustained major damage in the battle," Agent Blake stated, "It's self destruct orders weren't carried out and it remained almost complete." "I think that's a bit beyond me," admitted Ben, "A lot beyond me." "We have enough knowledge of Iron Man's tech to repair the bulk of this suit," Blake said, "And enough pieces from other suits to fix it. The problem is the power source." "The Arc Reactor was lost, and without it we don't have a source of energy strong enough to power it," Blake explained, "But you do." "So you just want us to hook it to some Chitauri tech to it?" Claire said, "Okay that isn't so hard, right Benny?" The Chitauri were an alien army that tried to conquer the Earth recently, by way of a portal and a Norse god. In the end Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers stopped them, though much of the alien technology was left inert on the ground. Only two people managed to get it working again. "Yeah," Benny answered, "I mean, I think I could. If you have any designs for his armor though I could use the help." "Of course," Blake nodded. --------------------- Static, sizzling in blue. Images and sensors begin to emerge, specks. Heat, burning through in sheer agony. Whirling over a burning island of metal beams and cranes. Humans, but not humans. Their hands squeezing into him... "Burning." He flickered awake, sitting up. Before him he could see a man and a woman, backing away. "Where am I?" he boomed. "Um, you're in a SHIELD lab," answered the woman, "So who are you?" "I...do not know," he answered, standing up, "Who are you?" He had a deep voice, electronic in nature. As he stood he caught sight of his body. It was mostly white and grey, but gold and black also colored him in small amounts. It was metallic, forged of alloys. "Um, I'm Claire," she said, "And this is Benny. I guess we made you?" "...Odd," the android felt his fingers, "I remember being constructed by one Tony Stark." "Well you were first built by him," Benny tapped the underbelly of a desk, "But ah, we turned you back on." "I see," the android looked around. Suddenly displays popped over his sight, scanning the room. He looked over his body, identifying bits and pieces of his cobbled together shape. He asked suddenly, "Why did you rebuild me?" "Well...we were trying to make a superhero," Claire answered. "Superhero?" the android looked up, "Has something happened?" "Well Iron Man quit," Claire shrugged, "So we need new heroes. Knifefish is working on the Bolts, and we were working on you." "Knifefish?" Suddenly SHIELD agents rushed into the room, their sidearms at the ready. "I see I have a welcoming party," the robot noted, stepping forward, "I am guessing I need to come with you?" "Yes," an agent said, keeping his gun up. He walked forward, following the agents as they left. --------------------- The android sat in a glass chambered, small and secure. As he sat he heard footsteps outside. Turning he spotted a girl in her late teens, with black hair, light blue eyes, and a tinted skin with an orange shade. Her face was scarred brutally on her left side, scorched and burnt. As Issac looked he began to detect abnormalities in the youth, first her brain, then her nerves arms and chest. "Hi," she waved, approaching, "Sorry if I'm intruding, but I had to see you for myself." "Do they mean to deactivate me?" "I don't know," the teen stared at his chest, "I'm really sorry, they were just trying to get the armor online, they didn't expect to find you. SHIELD's bosses are talking about you as we speak, though I have no idea what about." "Who are you?" he asked. "Robin Watson," she answered, "Though I also go by Knifefish." "You design superhumans?" "...Yes," she nodded, "I work with genetics, based off of Electric Eels. Only a week ago I injected the Bolts with my implants." "You injected yourself as well." "Yeah," she rubbed her arm, "Oh, are you scanning me? If my brain seems unusual that has nothing to do with the formula, I'm just Autistic, and proud to be." "...Are you a superhero?" Robin looked down, "No. I mean I wanted to be, but I don't do well with travel. And you know, there are plenty of other reasons." "The two of them summoned those agents didn't they?" "I won't know," she looked at his shoulder, "But it's possible." "I don't suppose you would let me out?" "...Depends," she whispered. "On what?" "If they are going to kill you." He stared at her and said, "Why do you want to be a superhero?" "Do I need a single reason?" she stared, "I mean, I can think of four." "Just one." "Well, I was there in the Battle of New York," she squeezed something in her pocket, "Running wildly while the aliens blew everything up. I was so helpless, the only reason I'm still alive is because Captain America saved me. I didn't want to be helpless like that. I wanted to be protecting people alongside him." "Captain America," he mused, "One of the six Avengers and the first superhero." "Yes," Robin nodded, "So do you have a name?" "No." "Oh. Mind if I name you then?" The android turned towards her and said, "Alright. What would you call me?" "How about Isaac?" she asked, "You know, for the writer." Isaac nodded, accepting the title. "Do they fear me?" "I am...not sure," she admitted, "But I think so. There are only a few AI's in the world, and one of them destroyed a town. Another was a hero though, so I could be wrong." "Do you fear me?" "I don't know," she answered, "I don't always know how I feel. But from what I know of fear, I don't think I'm feeling it." Isaac nodded, eyeing her with his sensors. --------------------- "Extremist has a fatal flaw," the woman said as she stood in front of a collection of AIM operatives, "Literally. Even if you can survive the bonding process, eventually you will reject the formula. There are only four Extremist users left to us, ever since Eric was captured by Knifefish. We cannot control the world as we are, let alone defend it." "However there may be a way to perfect the process," she rounded. She wore a yellow power suit lashed over her body, augmented with mechanical implants over her body, " Tony Stark managed to reverse Extremist, removing it from Killain's murderer." A metal band clutched to her head, as her eyes glowed red. "SHIELD took all his data on the cure," the woman said, "If we can figure out how he removed Extremist, we might be able to engineer a way to balance the formula." "Mary, Joe," she said as two operatives moved forward, "Are you up for a little trip?" --------------------- "Hello," an agent approached the glass walls. Isaac stood up, turning to the man. "Is it time for me to die?" Isaac asked. "Not yet," the agent said, "Apologies for your accommodations, we wanted to ensure you could be trusted. Lucky for us you had an unexpected visitor for us to watch." "So may I assume she came independently?" "She did," the agent said, "If we had to send anyone we would have gone with Captain America." "Much of your intelligence comes from a copy of another AI," the agent said, "Who was damaged inside the main shell of your body. Given how we then married your body to Chitauri tech, we considered it safer to be wary." "Chitauri," Isaac repeated, "New York." There was a pause before he said, "Why do you trust me now?"" "We were unaware that you were armed." Isaac nodded and said, "What do you want from me?" "You have given as an opportunity," came the answer, "Stark has been difficult since New York, more than usual. We were worried he might try to repossess you. However, should you have a independent mind, he might be a little less...unpredictable." "Meaning?" "We want you to function for us," the agent answered, "Act as an agent of SHIELD. Help us take down the villains cropping up." "If I say no?" "Depends what you want to do next." Isaac nodded, "You might want to not make reinforced glass prisons. I recollect both Loki and Thor escaping them." The agent nodded, as the door opened. "There is something I want to exchange," Isaac said as he stepped forward, "I would like to wok with Ms. Watson. She is...interesting." --------------------- "No," Robin looked away. She and another teen were sitting in a cabin on separate beds. The boy was typing rapidly on a tablet, head down. "Why?" Isaac said, "I can transport to and from here rapidly. It will take five hours to reach the moon, you will not have to worry about taking vast amounts of time traveling. You would not have to adapt to foreign regions. And since you have completed your Bolt project SHIELD is willing." Robin stared at the wall, before saying, "Look I want to, but I need to prepare myself. It's too rapid. Give me some time to get ready, then I'll go. Hopefully I won't be too much of a wreck." "But you took on the Extremist Soldier-" "Okay, after the first kidnapper I was on edge," she admitted, "I kind of was prepared, I had already brainstormed about how to fight one. But this is sudden." Isaac nodded, "I have a mission tomorrow. Is that too early?" "Yes," she nodded, "But I'll get ready eventually. I probably should get a suit or it. I get to be Knifefish right?" "Of course." --------------------- Isaac flew through the air, his back thrusters propelling him forward. Orange power burst from his hands and feet, bolting him as well. He flew over the Mediterranean Sea in a surge, pushing the water from his velocity. Finally he slowed as he approached land, skidding vertically. In a bolt he flew up, before bursting forward. He flew east, crossing over a dry climate. As he flew he began to scan, finally picking up traces of a signature up ahead. "Detecting energy identical to Chitauri weapons," he bolted across the landscape, "AIM appears to have activated a few left over from New York." "Take them out," Agent Sitwell stated, "You know hat I do with the weapons." Isaac flew forward, before smashing into a cave with explosive force. With a twist he stood up, just as AIM agents recovered from the impact. Immediately they scattered, grabbing their weaponry as they scampered. Isaac rolled to the side as energy blasts flew at him, exploding into the cave. Quickly he ran up, before unleashing a blast of blue power into a nearby operative. The foe crumbled, just as Isaac weaved his way onwards. As he fired into other AIM agents their was a rush in the corner of his sensors, before a burning fist lammed into him. Isaac stumbled back, his side scarred. "Extremist," he said rapidly, looking it over. He could remember. The fight on the oil tower, the soldiers tackling him, ripping at him. Burning into his sensors- The soldier smashed into him again, her fist glowing red. Twisting she kicked into him, knocking the android across the room. With a thud he smashed into the wall, shaking the ceiling Isaac's sensors focused on the soldier entirely, forgetting everything else. Quickly he fired his hands, sending azure energy into the enemy. She winced, before charging him. Isaac activated his thrusters, bolting out of the way. As he flew past she struck his chest, knocking him in a skid. As the lights flickered Isaac pulled himself up, struggling to regain control of his sensors. As he staggered she plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. As he fell she began trip at him, striking into him. She held his arms down as she opened her mouth, unleashing a wave of fire into him. --------------------- Robin watched over Will's shoulder as he began to draw a sketch of her in a uniform. "Maybe," she said, "But it looks too skin-tight. I mean I like snug, but shouldn't I have some protection? I don't have the best reflexes." Will nodded, "Alright Knifefish. I just - you are finally doing it!" "I guess," she squeezed Kitty, feeling the yarn catfish. As she breathed in and out calmly, an alarm began to blare. Robin peeked out of the room in time to see a man charging a group of SHIELD agents, his wounds glowing red. "Extemist Soldier," she closed the door as the last SHIELD agent fell. "Your scars," Will recapped. She nodded frantically, "Okay, what do we do? Captain America is elsewhere, same with Hawkeye and Black Widow. SHIELD doesn't follow Thor or the Hulk I think, Iron Patriot is with the military, and Iron Man quit. And the Bolts aren't ready yet.." Robin stared outside, feeling around. A second spike of energy lay their as well, moving rapidly. "Two," she muttered, "Two of them." "We need to be smart," she leaned against the wall, "Okay, their senses aren't increased right? We can use that. They regenerate, we can use that too. They can get trapped..." She wrinkled her face in disgust as she said, "Okay, I have some ideas." --------------------- Isaac's body twitched as he fought, his systems speeding up. Finally he forced his hand to angle, before firing a blue blast into the soldier's leg. She paused, weakening her grip. Immediately he swung his fist up, striking the upper center of her chest. She paused as he charged, before surging energy into her chest. A tear ripped through her, freeing him to knock her off. She stumbled back even as her chest glowed red. Before his optics her body began to heal, tissue regrowing. Quickly he fired again, blasting into her heart. As the soldier looked own she collapsed, her body unable to heal in time. As Isaac staggered to the Chitauri weaponry, he caught a signal. "Do you read?" a voice asked, panicked. "Yes," he said, sliding two of the weapons inside of his chest. "The base is under attack," the voice said, "Two Extremist Soldiers. Iron Patriot is already on his way, but he might be too late. You're faster." Isaac winced, "Alright." As he stowed the last of the weapons in his chest and arms he took off, flying back towards the United States. --------------------- Robin crept through the hallways, Will behind her. As she made her down she suddenly heard a tapping behind her. She turned to see an AIM operative, clutching over Will's mouth. "What do we have here?" he asked, "A pair of meddling-" Robin kicked his crotch, causing him to loose his grin. Quickly she leapt forward, before zapping the man with her touch. He collapsed, as she and Will leaned into each other. "Okay, come on," Robin and Will made their way forward, finally reaching their target. Robin quickly electrocuted the lock, sizzling it open. The two rushed inside to find an array of weaponry. The two them made their way though the shelves, searching for something useful. Finally Robin winced as she pulled out a tan blade. It was long but thin, and shined with a blue light. It was one of the alien weapons, repurposed by SHIELD. "This...might do," she said with a gulp, "We need seven more." As Will handed her two more staffs he said, "You can do this." "I know," Knifefish replied, "But I don't know if I should." --------------------- Isaac smashed through a wall, skidding inside the base. As he adjusted his sensors sizzled, still damaged. Finally he caught a massive burst of heat rushing around the corner, headed towards him. The android immediately fired from his hands, knocking into the Extremist Soldier. The AIM agent rolled under the fire,before smashing into Isaac. He stumbled, before the foe flung him across the room. As Isaac tumbled he caught himself, and fired into the soldier. The foe stumbled, but already regenerated as she swung her burning fist into him. Isaac smashed through a wall, his body glitching. As he struggled to stand she charged, barreling down upon him. With a push he launched himself away with his thrusters, skidding away. As Isaac stood up his senses flashed. A spike in electricity was coming towards him, above the normal human. He pulled himself together, before firing at the agent. The Extremist Soldier jumped back and forth, dodging his strikes. As it neared he activated his feet, bleating out of the way. Suddenly the soldier talked him, knocking him to the wall. As the foe held him there Isaac heard a sizzling sound, as the soldier lost concentration. As Knifefish discharged into the foe she ordered, "Knock her to the wall." The other teen from earlier was with her, something in his hands. Isaac complied, slamming the foe to the wall. Immediately there was a sharp sound, as a long blade entered each of the soldier's arms. Sparks danced from the weapon, causing a sizzling sound. As the soldier hung to the wall the boy muttered, "That was for her face," before impaling the soldier's legs. Robin winced at the blow, staring at the soldier. The foe struggled to move, suspended against the wall. Finally she breathed out, seeing the persistence of the soldier. "There is another," she said, "He is deeper inside the labs." Isaac nodded as he leaned into a wall. "I am...aware. I..suffered injuries thanks to another soldier." "Sorry," Robin said on instinct, "How bad is it?" "Weapons and core are stable," he said, "My sensors however are damaged." "I can feel him," Knifefish said, "If you want I can guide you." Isaac nodded slowly, before following her deeper inside, with the boy tagging along. --------------------- Isaac followed Robin as she made her way through the SHIELD base. He winced as he walked, feeling his systems suffering. "On the plus side," Robin said, "After this guy there is only one Extremist Soldier left. You know, if that guy from the airport wasn't lying." Isaac looked at her, before seeing a flicker of his sensors. A spike of heat was just ahead, laying in front of a series of SHIELD computers. "I see him," he whispered, causing Robin to nod. "They only have human senses," Robin was soft voiced, "If you are quiet or quick, they won't see you coming." Isaac nodded, before unleashing his energies from his feet and hands. In a burst he slammed through the door, striking into the soldier. The foe smashed through a computer, leaving sparks everywhere. "You freak!" the man pulled himself up as Isaac blasted into his chest. The man gasped, even as his chest began to rebuild itself. With a twist he caught Isaac, before flinging him across the room. As he pulled himself up Robin delivered a shock to him, causing him to fall back down. The soldier pulled himself up, even as Robin backed up. With a glare he charged, even as she bolted out of the room, baiting him away. Isaac pulled himself up, as the boy helped him stand. "I...thank you," Isaac muttered. "Just take out that 'neut,'" the boy said, as Isaac stumbled. The Repulsers on his legs seemed shot, he won't be blasting off for a while. Slowly he began to run, struggling to stay balanced. Ahead of him he saw Knifefish electrocute the solder, before punching him off balance. Immediately she took off, just as the soldier unleashed a wave of fire at her. In a burst the man charged her, knocking Robin to a wall. As she coughed and groaned, the soldier's hands glowed red. Quickly Isaac blasted his chest, before tackling him to the wall. Isaac held the man by the neck while he laid his free hand on the Soldier's chest. With a surge he blasted, tearing a hole in the AIM Agent's heart. The agent tumbled away, just as footsteps rushed behind Isaac. The android turned to see a red, white, and blue suit if powered armor with a shoulder mounted gun. "Iron Patriot," Robin pulled herself up as Will ran up, "Sorry if we stole your thunder." Robin suddenly spotted the soldier with the hole in his chest, and fell silent. Her hand strayed to her pocket, and she squeezed something inside its borders. Will spoke up as she stared, "The other soldier we have trapped on a wall. She is this way." Will grabbed Robin's arm, and the two led Iron Patriot away. Isaac stumbled against a wall, before sliding down its side. --------------------- "Can I have a promise from you?" Robin asked. She was wearing a bulletproof suit, black and gray in color. A cyan lightning bolt lay on her body, completing the costume. "What do you want?" Isaac asked as he lay strapped to a board. SHIELD scientists had managed to make repairs to his body, and now only the Repulsers in his feet needed to be repaired. "Can you not kill people?" she asked. "Why?" he asked, "The majority of known superheroes kill their opponents. Iron Patriot, Iron Man, Captain America-" "I know," she said, "But be better than them okay? It's...there need to be differences between us and villains other than semantics. Sorry if I used that word wrong." "...Why?" "Well I grew up with other heroes," she answered, "Heroes who didn't kill, like the Elric Brothers. And just, you can't learn something from an enemy if they're dead. Or redeem them." "I'm not that naive," Robin defended, "I know sometimes we have to...kill. Just, can we make it a measure of last resort?" He looked at her face, still horribly scarred. Supposedly her body had rejected stem cells, and she had refused plastic surgery. Isaac answered, "I suppose. I was informed I have a mission in three days. Will you be there?" "Yes," she nodded. --------------------- Madam Georgia stood at a platform of the AIM base, hidden inside a cave. She wore yellow armor, with a red radiant core at its center. Implants covered her face, underneath a metal band. Brown hair flopped behind her, as she surveyed her operation below. "Madam," a man ran up to her, "Joe and Mary failed in their mission." She rounded on him, her yellow powered armor shifting. "Of course," she hissed, "Now our list of allies goes thin. But they make us desperate, and that will turn on them. Like it did in New York." "I want every agent converted into Extremist," she ordered, "Everyone left." "Madam, everyone knows it isn't safe," the man managed, "I am not sure everyone will be willing-" "Do you know why Iron Man kept using his unfinished prototype?" she asked suddenly, "When he battled Killian?" "...No." "Because he could control it from a distance," she said, "Implants in his body let him control the armor even if it was on someone else or hundreds of miles away. Imagine that control. An army, able to defend us from a safe distance." "Ever since then I've been designing an upgrade," she said, "It took some time, but the prototype is finished. It burns like a star into my brain, but it works." Her eyes flashed red as she stared down the man, "Everyone will be converted into Extremist." "Of course Madam," the man said, his eyes blank and empty, "I will prepare the surviving agents." She turned away, flexing her armor. "It is time we make our last stand," she stated as she stood in front of a series of makeshift harnesses, designed to empower the user with Extremist, "For Earth."
  24. Okay, its story time again. This time I need to go over a few things, as I often do. One, I came up with this story while half asleep. I wrote most of it when awake and I reviewed it, but if there are gaps in logic that might be why. Also, there are original characters here. I don't like doing that, but I wanted to do an Autistic hero, and there are none. At all. So I made up one. Plus this way I don't have to worry about her being used in the MCU. Tell me what you think about her and the other characters, I may recycle her later for original projects. With that said here is Knifefish. (Its an order of fish by the way) Over one year earlier, at the Battle of New York Explosions rocked overhead, knocking against the streets of New York City. Citizens scampered as the ground erupted in fire and cars overturned. The sky was so clear, revealing all the destruction. Robin stared into the sky as she clutched at her yarn catfish. A powerful blue beam soared into the sky, ending in a tear. This hole ripped through the air, a portal. And through it flew scores of aliens, some atop floating skiffs, others aboard giant whale-like beasts. The invaders flew over the city, raining chaos from energy blasts. Below the beam stood Stark Tower, a new structure designed by the billionaire genius Tony Stark, the first modern superhero and the only public one. Stark currently flew overhead as Iron Man, his red and golden armor worn from the fight. With a twist of his palm powerful energy erupted from his hand, blasting an alien skiff out of the sky. He soon flew out of view, busy fighting the invaders. “Robin,” a voice shook her out of her daze. Robin turned to see Will waving at her frantically, calling her forth. Quickly Robin ran towards him, catfish held tight. Her black hair clung to her head as she sprinted, short against her shaded skin. The two teenagers hugged each other from the side, before looking up at the chaos again. “You got your stories?” Robin ventured, causing Will to briefly double check his pockets. “Yes,” he sighed as he touched his tablet, “And the rest. You have Kitty?” Robin held up her yarn catfish, before the two of them hurried away from another explosion. As the two teens ran, a fleeing woman knocked into Robin. As she stumbled Kitty flew from her grip, landing besides a building. Immediately Robin raced towards the fish, while Will looked around. Robin squeezed her fish as she caught it in her hands, before hearing a cracking sound. Robin looked up to see a chunk of the building above her collapse and fall. The teen stared in horror as the debris barreled down towards her. She could do nothing. She was too slow and not the best balanced. It was the most horrifying second of her life. And then history took two paths. In one, Robin was crushed, dying in her late teens. But in another timeline… A shadow cast over Robin, blocking her view. There was a clunking sound, as the rubble bounced harmlessly off a circular shield, held over her head. She turned to see a man wearing a blue, white, and red suit, holding up the shield. “Captain America?” Robin managed as she gasped. His colors were bright and vivid, arranged with splashes of color. Stripes stood above his waist, and his shield was colored in patriotic hues. He stood so strong, barely slowed down by the debris. “You need to get out of here,” the man said, “Stay off the streets, use the underground to get to safety.” Robin nodded, before running over to Will, who had started to hyperventilate. Robin took one more look at the star spangled man, as he protected a small family from energy blasts. Captain America was the first superhero ever, way back in WWII. But that was almost seventy years ago. So was this his successor? A descendant? Will dragged Robin back to reality, and the two took off. As they ran Robin thought back to that split second and shuddered. Her body tensed up slightly, even as she looked into her catfish. --------------------- Robin felt her arms, as Will wrote on a tablet. He had a soft smile on his face, even as he glanced over at Robin again and again. The pair of them were in Will’s apartment, still within the city of New York after all this time. Robin had Kitty resting on her shoulder, the bristles stroking her neck. “So, how does it feel?” “It feels a little tingly,” she repeated, “I think you asked that already.” “Oh, sorry,” he looked up, meeting her shoulder. “Think you can show me again?” “Sure,” she held out her hand towards a lamp, just as an alarm went off. The two of them flinched, before pulling themselves up. “Door bell,” Will laughed nervously, as he walked over to the door. He sighed deeply in preparation, before je swung it open. A man in a black and white suit emerged from within, though neither of them glanced at his face instinctually. “Robin Watson?” asked the man as he approached her. “…Yes,” she answered, meeting his mouth with her gaze, “What is it?” “I represent the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division,” the man said, “Or SHIELD. My name is Agent Sitwell.” “…Okay.” “We would like your help with something,” he continued, “especially since Iron Man quit being a vigilante.” Robin broke into a nervous laughter, “Why-ha, why are-ha, sorry I just ‘Avengers,’ why are you here?” The Avengers was the team of six superheroes who defended New York during the alien invasion last year, made up of the monstrous Hulk, an archer, a spy, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor; god of thunder. “We have been following you since you joined ESU,” Sitwell said, “You have been doing remarkable things with genetics since you arrived, even by their standards.” Empire State University was a college in New York well known for its genetic research. Unfortunately it had a history of unethical tactics, among at least a few professors. Robin had joined about a six months before the invasion of New York when she was sixteen, and had since stayed with Will Roberts, a close friend. “I see,” she giggled, “Sorry, sorry, this is-ha, inappropriate. Just-ha-ha really excited.” She bit down, and forced her nervous laugh to cease, for the most part. “It isn’t that big of a deal,” she followed his mouth, “I’m just on a Think Tank, most of the work on Knifefish was already done by the time I sighed up. Really there were a lot better researchers than me, they deserve the credit.” “Knifefish?” “It’s the order the Electric Eels belong to,” she answered excitedly, “Like some Catfish, Knifefish can see through electricity. Though only the Electric Eel is known to use electricity for offense and defense.” “The point is, you were able to help make highly efficient electricity producing cells.” “Yeah,” she smiled, “But I mean Albert formed the foundation, and Nicole did the bulk of the work. I just swooped in.” The research was going to be used for microscopic devices in the body, to power them as needed. “SHIELD thinks you can help us on some projects of our own,” Sitwell said as he looked over her carefully, “Regarding the Avengers Initiative.” “You want me to make superheroes,” she held her head with a great grin, “That is-okay that is great. I just-wait, you aren’t pulling me out of Empire State for this right? Or moving me far away? Cause I don’t deal well with change.” “No,” Sitwell stared at her face, “You can continue your education.” “Will she get paid?” interjected Will from across the room. He was staring intently at Sitwell, though his expression was not completely there. “Yes.” Robin caught Will's gaze and nodded, cursing herself inside. "Can I ask a favor in return." "That would depend on what favor you want." "Can you shut down research on 'curing' Autism," she asked, "Helping us adjust is fine of course, but I do not want that eugenics in the world. And I know I will be creating superhumans. So no purges okay?" "If you can give us superheroes then I see no reason why not," Sitwell agreed. “Well before this hallucination can end,” Robin rubbed her arms, “Alright, let’s go make some superheroes.” She grinned, even as her eyes flashed downwards. It was a brief glance, nothing significant. --------------------- Robin glanced around at the men in suits before her and asked, “Um, do they need to be here?” She was in a lab in Empire State, with microscopes and equipment at her leisure. She had been working on the project since the meeting five days ago, though only now had SHIELD moved in. Kitty sat on her lay, upside down. “Yes,” an agent answered, “Ever since December, AIM has been on the move, trying to get as many scientists as it can. We just got to you first.” Robin nodded wearily, rubbing her arms. Last December Iron Man got caught up with a group of terrorists controlled by AIM. The group had possessed advanced genetic engineering called Extremist, though it tended to be fatal to the users. Extrimist Soldiers were stronger than almost any known superhero formula, with super strength, incredibly regeneration abilities, and even the ability to burn objects through touch. After the fight with them Stark had quit being Iron Man, dropping the number of superheroes down further. Getting to work Robin began to shape the artificial cells based off an Electric Eel. Her hands slowly, carefully shifted about the genes, playing god carefully. She had done this all before, but details were different. Hours slipped away as she typed new configurations, sculpting at the building blocks of life. “Any progress?” Robin smiled faintly as she replied, “Yeah, it wasn’t too hard to adapt the cells to the human body. The problem is control. I don’t think most people could be able to manipulate this as is, it might overload them.” “Can you fix it?” “If given enough time,” she admitted. “I’m not exactly Tony Stark. A lot of this is a waiting game, even with the leap I’ve had thanks to my colleagues. Where does that expression come from anyway?” She suddenly grew serious. “Um, if this isn’t classified, did Stark really destroy all of his armor?” “Yes.” Robin just stared at the wall for a time, her expression empty. Finally she sighed and returned to her work, sequencing new genomes from her almost complete research. --------------------- “You think they know?” Will asked as he put down his tablet. Night had fallen over the East Coast, though the hum of the city persisted. “No,” Robin answered, “But I prefer they don’t. What if they don’t care that it isn’t safe?” She held Kitty in her left hand, stroking it with her right. “Do you know it isn’t safe?” Robin laughed, “If I understood neurotypicals at all I would be a lot less paranoid. Honestly it might be safe it might not, but I don’t want to risk it until I am sure. Just need to stall for time until I know how a neurotypical brain reacts.” “You should be standing with them you know.” Silence followed. Finally Robin broke it as she scratched, answering, “No. I would have to travel around a lot, and you know how long it took me to adjust to New York. I would just have panic attacks. It's better I make people who can go save the world.” “Maybe.” “Look I’ve been looking into SHIELD,” Will said suddenly, “Supposedly they formed the Avengers. They knew the aliens were coming.” “Oh,” Robin looked towards him. “Well at least they were prepared.” “Some people thing they were behind some of the Avengers,” he said, “Black Widow, Hawkeye, maybe Hulk.” Robin winced, she had seen the bulky green ogre as it had ripped through the city, destroying aliens but hardly carrying for buildings in its wake. “What was the Hulk then?” “Military Experiment gone wrong.” Robin nodded as she stretched, “Then I should keep quiet. Good. I’m going to go to bed, you?” “I’m going to write a bit more,” he answered, “You mind it if River calls herself Stingray?” River was the name of a former teacher of Will as well as the upcoming villain in one of Will’s series. “It’s your story,” Robin answered, “But yes.” As she walked down the hall, Robin suddenly felt something touch her back. As she started to turn a voice whispered, “Don’t.” Robin tilted her head to see a masked man pointed a gun at her back. She was numb, staring blankly at him. Finally she whispered, “He isn’t involved okay?” “Well now he is,” the man answered, “Turn around and walk out of the-” Robin thrust her arm out behind her, touching the man’s chest. Suddenly a discharge of electricity erupted from her right hand, knocking the man to the floor. Kitty remained clutched in her left hand, squeezed tightly. As he fell stunned she felt his chest, listening. Satisfied with his startled heartbeat she called out, “Will, there was a kidnapper in the house.” There was a great crashing sound as Will raced over, brandishing a lamp like a mace. “…I should call 911,” he stated as he glanced at the unconscious man. “First can you hand me some rope,” she asked. Will nodded, before racing off. As Robin sat on the man she waited, letting her charge build back up. Finally Will return, carrying an electrical cord. “Have it left over from my old tablet,” he gave exposition to no one in particular. Robin began to make random knots on the man’s wrists, bringing them behind him. In the meantime Will pushed the gun away with his foot. “Now 911?” “Now 911,” Robin left the room, pulling out a phonebook. “SHIELD, SHIELD,” she muttered, “Yeah, it’s not here. Guess we wait then.” --------------------- Robin kept her eyes down, this time purposely. “Sorry,” she muttered to herself nervously, feeling Kitty in her pocket. Sitwell glanced at the gesture, but said nothing. They were in a dark room, with a table and a wall of one-way glass. “So how long have you had a completed super soldier serum?” “It’s not really a serum,” she winced, “But I finished it three months, two weeks, and a day ago. I started work on it on the side. Since New York.” “And why didn’t you tell us this?” “Look, I’m not typical,” Robin’s voice changed slightly, “I’m Autistic and proud. Only thing I am proud of, before this. But my brain works differently than most people. So even though the implants work for me, as I said they might not work on a neurotypical. And since I have heard some of the rumors about SHIELD, I felt like you might go ahead anyway.” “What rumors have you heard?” “The Hulk.” “The Hulk isn’t…ours,” Sitwell answered, “But trust me, he is better than the alternative. Tell me, why give yourself superhuman abilities?” “I kind of always like heroes,” Robin looked up briefly, “May Chang, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Captain America, you know? And then New York…” Robin looked at her pocket and said, “I almost died twice in New York, both in rapid succession. I was saved, which is great, but I didn’t want to be saved. I wanted to stand.” “What exactly are your powers?” “Um,” she answered, “I can see through electrolocation, and I can discharge electrical attacks from my hands. I can also choose to make the attacks weak or strong.” “…Was that man with someone?” she asked finally, “Like you know, Hydra or AIM?” “We suspect he was involved with AIM,” Sitwell answered, “So you planned to be a superhero?” “Not after the first few hours of designing it,” she sighed, “I just, what if I have an anxiety attack? And if I lose my stuff I would lose it. Not to mention I would stink at traveling. So it won’t have worked.” “So you just wanted power.” “No,” she said suddenly, “you asked why and did it and what I planned. You said nothing about wants. I wanted to be a superhero. And Will wanted me to be one too, if only to be an inspiration. I just, I don’t think it would work out. Besides, I can help more people making heroes more adaptable than me.” “…Am I going to disappear?” Robin ventured. “No,” he stared again, “But we may have to move you for a time.” “No,” she pleaded, before recovering, “Please, I can’t work with too many abrupt changes.” “The world is changing.” He answered, “It has been ever since Stark built his armor in that cave. We have to change with it.” “I know adaptation is the most important trait,” she said, “But - can Will come if he wants to?” “…I will talk it over,” Sitwell noticed her frantic eyes, “But I can all but say yes.” “Thank you,” she breathed. “But how long until you can ensure the safety of your implants?”” “There is a spectrum of minds,” her voice grew a little strong, before fading, “but I could run through neurotypicals in maybe three days? I haven’t tested people with depression or PTSD though so I would want a full week just in case.” “Alright,” he answered, “But you move to the Helicarrier in two. You can continue experimenting there.” Robin nodded, as she kept her grip on Kitty. "About purging..." she asked. "You created a superhuman," Sitwell answered, "We will keep our bargain." Robin relaxed, a dash on hope on her face. --------------------- “So tell me,” a woman asked as she looked to her fellows, “How exactly did a teenager fight him off?” “Electrocution,” a man answered, “her formula appears to be complete, and probably self-injected. She will not be easy to capture.” “If she has already created a super soldier serum she is more valuable than we realized.” The woman stroked her head, “We still have five soldiers, correct?” “Yes,” a man replied, “we can spare one, however the rest are needed here, until we can rebuild the device.” “Alright,” the woman said, “then send one in.” --------------------- “Here you go,” Will handed Robin a small rectangular box, “Maybe it can help.” The two were aboard a bus, moving towards the pick-up point. SHIELD agents in disguise stood there as well, ready in case AIM made a move. “Thank you,” she carefully unfolded the box to reveal a small plastic catfish. Robin beamed, before side-hugging Will. As she slid it in her pants Will remarked, “So I know you are busy, but you think you could check out my new update? I worry it’s not in-character.” Robin was a major character in his stories, known as the hero Knifefish. “You know me better than anyone, you portray me great. Just, are you ever giving yourself powers? Because I can give you powers and it never comes up. I could give them to you in real life too.” “Robin,” Will looked down, “I…I won’t be a hero. I would probably be a villain. And I don’t want to ever fight you.” “Okay even my self-esteem isn’t that bad,” she looked at his eyes, “why?” “I am angry a lot,” he answered, “you know I don’t like ‘neuts.’ I mean I lash out all the time at ableists, how they screw things up. I know it angers you too but you don’t hate people as much as I do. I probably would become Scar or something and end up hurting ‘neuts’ to avenge my people who suffer at their hands.” “You aren’t that dramatic,” Robin leaned into him, “And Scar ended up becoming a good guy.” “I guess,” Will looked away, “But I don’t want to take that chance.” --------------------- Robin watched as they pulled up at the airport, as rain began to fall. A large jet like vehicle stood before them, but with a hold for multiple people. Squeezing Kitty as she stuffed the catfish down her shirt, she looked at Will. He gave her a side-hug, before the two of them moved outside. As she walked Robin paused, as she felt something behind her. She held up her hands, and began to focus. Electricity sparked from her, as she focused. “Behind us,” she managed, just before AIM agents open fired from the front. Quickly Will grabbed her and the dived behind a bench outside the airport, as the SHIELD agents returned fire. Civilians ran from the firefight, fleeing as best they could. As Robin looked at the attack she felt another spike in electricity, just as a fist slammed into her. She flew across the room, where a few travelers stood cowering. Robin stood up as a man threw Will aside, knocking him into the pavement. The man’s hands glowed red, even as he turned to face Robin.. “Extremist,” she swallowed, just as the man sprinted towards her. Robin ran at him, before darting to the side. As he turned she threw out her hand, swiping him with a blast of sparks. The Extremist Soldier stumbled slightly, letting her run past. Will was still unconscious, but she could feel electricity still flowing through him. The man leapt into the air, jumping ahead of her in a bound. As she turned he swung out his hand, catching her face with his radiant hand. “You will pay for that,” he promised as heat burned into Robin’s face. She moaned, before thrusting both her hands into his chest with as much charge as she could. He dropped her, letting Robin crash on the ground as he collapsed. She felt her face, throbbing against her hands. Her vision was blurred, and her ears pounded. Wincing she stumbled off, even as the Extremist Soldier pulled himself up. Robin began to run, letting her electricity enhance her vision. Suddenly there was a smash as he struck her back, knocking her forward. Robin fell into a wall, dazed slightly. She pulled herself back up, as the spike in electricity that was the soldier charged. Suddenly the blunted sounds of gunfire drew nearer, and the spike stumbled. The SHIELD agents were now attacking the soldier. Robin could see the large spike tear down the smaller spikes of electricity, the Extremist Soldier had turned on the agents. Gulping she ran, before laying a sharp discharge into the soldier’s back. He stumbled, as the other spikes sprinted to a farther range. She quickly pulled back, even as the Extremist Soldier recovered. Robin needed a way to stop him, to trap the enemy. But how? Forcing her eyes to work as she ran, Robin turned to Will. A SHIELD agent was helping him up, even as the others fired on the soldier. Robin nodded at the thought, before turning her attention elsewhere. As she ran she hyperventilated, trying to keep air. Then she spotted it; a plane with a baggage lift. The life was shaped like a large crate, with collapsible beams supporting it. As Robin ran a punch knocked her into the ground. She pulled herself up, just in time for the soldier to barrel down on her. Suddenly an arm pulled her away, as Will yanked her out of the soldier’s fist. The two sprinted, just as the soldier winced from a barrage of bullets. “I need to get over there,” she pointed at the lift. Will nodded, as the two of them ran to an abandoned airport cart. Quickly Will jumped into the pilot seat, as Robin threw herself in the back. As they drove Robin caught her breath, just before feeling the Extremist Soldier. He was barreling down at them down, moving in great earth shattering leaps. Finally they wheeled in front of the lift, before Robin scrambled out. She pulled herself underneath the lift, before calling out to Will, “Run!" “Not leaving-” “Please.” He nodded, “Good luck Knifefish.” He drove off, as the soldier ran onto the lift. Immediately Robin threw herself in front of a beam, before asking, “Why are you trying to kill me, don’t you-” The soldier leapt at her, even as she rolled away. His touch burnt the beam, even as she ran in front of another. “...Need me alive?” Robin finished as the soldier burnt through the next beam. “Alive doesn’t mean uninjured,” he answered as he melted part of another beam, “As long as your brain is okay I’m free. And those shocks really stun.” “Thanks,” she stood in front of the last beam, as the man paused. “I know what you are trying to do,” he walked carefully up to her, before swinging out his hand cautiously. The arm caught Robin’s shoulder, burning into her. Twisting her arm Robin struggled, finally landing a hit on his chest. As he staggered she pulled at his arm, letting it melt into the supporting beam. Robin leapt from the lift, even as the beams gave way. The soldier recovered from the sing, in time for the crate to smash into him. As Robin looked the soldier strained against the crate, holding it just above his body with his hands and feet. As he lay trapped Robin collapsed on all fours, panting. As SHIELD agents rushed to her, Robin noticed another source of bioelectricity. She turned to see a youth, filming with an phone from a distance. Robin waved as she breathed, before noticing her throbbing head. As Will ran up to her she clutched her head. Flinching at the touch she found something unusual. Her heart was pounding, but not necessarily in a stressed way. --------------------- “Oh, good,” Robin looked at the tablet with Will from their cabin, “They got the name right.” They were aboard the Helicarrier, the massive flying aircraft carrier. The vessel floated up in the sky, hovering thanks to massive propellers. On the device was an article showing the footage of Robin fighting the soldier, headline “Electric Vigilante fights AIM Super Soldier.” Listening below it mentioned how the video recorder heard the fighter being called Knifefish, along with other things seen in the fight. Robin felt her face suddenly, still sore and scarred. She pushed Kitty into her face, letting the yarn soothe the pain. Will leaned into her as he remarked, “Well I don’t think you can have a secret identity now. Knew I shouldn’t have posted your stories online.” “They already found them?” she asked. “Pretty much,” he answered, “Though the topic exploded. I do wish more people were asking more about the stories though and less about you. No offense.” “None taken,” she suddenly grinned, “So I’m going to be busy this week finishing my implants. But after that I should have more time.” “Okay,” he said, “I’ll be busy too, trying to get permission from SHIELD to adapt your story. I mean everyone already knows, might as well set them straight.” “Right,” she nodded as the two of them leaned into each other. As they side-hugged the two autistics breathed, looking at the video of Robin in her first fight.
  25. So here we are again, with a new story. This is the sequel to Spiders, an earlier story I wrote taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Rebooted spider-man universe. The premise of that story was SHIELD creating four clones of Spider-Man, and their discovery of this fact. You can find it in my signature, I suggest you read it before checking this one out. This one ended up a bit darker I think than the original, which was odd because I was clinically depressed during the first one and not so much during the second. Not sure what that says about me. I might revisit these characters later, but currently I have a few other projects to do and Wasp week to celebrate. Not to mention the ideas I want to do but can't (Cass, why can't you exist any more!) please leave a comment with your thoughts. With that out of the way I present: Spiders 2 "I'm telling you, it's legit." A man with the tattoo of Iron Man on his shoulder gestured to one of his companions, who stepped forward. The second man walked over to the crate, and slid open the compartment to reveal a human shaped silhouette. The parking garage was cloaked in umbra, with only a few flickering lights from the ceiling. The two forces both carried weaponry on their backs, in this garage in the shadow of a hotel. "Incredible," the tattooed man pushed his fellow aside, "How did you keep it out of the government's claws?" "I know a guy," a black haired woman smirked. "It looks so pristine," the tattooed man marveled, "Does it work still?" "Well it took a hammering in the Battle at Stark Expo," the woman stated, "But my boys and I know a think about Hammertech, enough to get it running." The tattooed man's hand felt the machine, feeling over the device. "Any idea what you gonna do with this?" the woman asked. "Oh, nothing really," the tattooed man answered vaguely, "It just speaks to me, you know? A man built a completely new power of the world in a cave, with just scraps. Ah, if only I could get some of his armor. But this, this is still beautiful." "So no plans?" "Oh I already have plenty of power," the tattooed man shrugged, before turning to the woman, "Now, I believe you wanted this?" He gestured to another companion, who walked up to a truck. With a shove he slid it open, to unveil a tray of green vials. "The good doctor's own concoction," the tattooed man stated, "all replicas of the Hulk's blood." "Impressive," the woman stated as she eyed the fluid, "That should do it." "I am glad to hear it, I was worried I might miss my meeting," the tattooed man nodded to two more workers, who began to haul the crate away. "You should call ahead," a voice remarked, "you still might miss it." Quickly guns clicked and fired out the sound of the voice, while a large figure lunged about in the shadows. Suddenly the tattooed man crumbled as a fist crashed into his skull. "Can you say 'distraction'?" a new voice smirked. Everyone swiveled to see a brief flash of a young burgundy shape, lean and sharp. In that flash it had leapt away, flipping out of sight. The burgundy vigilante twisted their spine into a curve as they returned to the shadows, bending in an inhuman shape. Suddenly four of the guards were clutched by a shadow, and swung into the distance. As others rushed to the spotted the agile darkened red hunter twirled in, before bashing two of the enemies together. "You guys are pretty bad aren't you," the second voice remarked. It was somewhat high in pitch, though there was also a deepness to the edges. As the gunfire swiveled towards them, the black hunter dragged three more guards away. As the last of them crumbled, the woman stated, "Listen, I am Agent Johnson of-" Jess smashed her fist into Johnson's back as she rolled her eyes beneath her mask, before remarking, "Well that changes things." Jess wore a burgundy suit covering her whole, body, except for her tossed brown hair and her exposed fingers. On her chest was the symbol of a ivory spider, while on her face were two white eye splotches "Wait, she is with SHIELD?" Anton asked as the agent fell. Unlike his sister he had four additional arms, and a black suit. With two of his hands he slid his mask up, exposing his eight eyes and her furry skin. "Yeah, we need to move," Jess darted over to the truck, and shifted open the crate. The Iron Drone stared back up at her, causing her to grin. She flung it over her head, and onto her shoulder. From there she raced to the non SHIELD agents, looting their wallets. Anton walked over to the tray of Hulk blood and stated, "We need to take this too." "Duh," she darted off into the night of the city. "Did you know?" Anton asked as he carried the tray in all of his hands. "Know what?" Jess leapt through the alleyways, "That we should stop doing this? Because we should." "Did you know that was a SHIELD trap?" "Your faith in me is astounding," Jess's voice was heavy with sarcasm, "No, I didn't know that was SHIELD. I'm not stupid you know, I get that we need to stay under the government's radar. I'm the one urging you to stop this, you know." "No one forces you to come here." Anton broke his serious face into a soft grin. "You would do this with or without me," Jess shrugged, "And since I doubt anyone is going to miss seeing the giant man-spider..." "It never occurred to the others," his grin grew. "Eh," she answered, "Let's focus on escaping before SHIELD finds out we were here. If they didn't already know." "So you believe my theory?" Anton raised a few eyebrows. "Maybe they are giving us space, maybe not," she shrugged, "But they tried to kill us if you have forgotten, so I don't really care. And Mac is still dealing with what happened to him." "Ahah," Anton said suddenly, "One of them cut my hand when I dragged him away." "Give it a few," Jess offered. He nodded, even as he ran the wound began to seal back up. Anton nodded as they moved, before asking, "So, um, what exactly do you remember of our - his - Peter's life?" "Like I told you," she sighed, "Ever since that mission I remember everything up to the final fight with the lizard. Quit focusing on it. Yeah, we are Spider-Man's clones, but we are not him. Got it?" "I know," Anton answered, "I just...I want to know what he was like, if he would approve." "Eh, he is about as messed up as us," she shrugged as she raced, "Although at least he isn't a clone of himself being actively hunted by the government agency that made him. That would put him over the edge." "You really think he could go villain?" "Maybe," she was bluntly honest, "Not any more, but there was a time. Man, I hate not being able to use my webs." Jess and Anton and their siblings were synthesized from the genetics of Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man. Peter had been mutated by genetic engineering and had developed numerous abilities. His clones had more, modified further by SHIELD and then by Jess. Aside from the obvious change in Jess's genome from Peter, she also possessed spinnerets in her fingertips. She could swing across webs or imprison foes with gooey webbing, but with her brothers and her on the run, she didn't want to leave a trail behind. It had been on their first mission for SHIELD, Jess was overtaken by memories of Peter. She discovered their nature as clones, before SHIELD attempted to terminate them. They escaped, and have been fleeing since. Finally the two young heroes made their way to a barren part of the street, and thrust open a manhole cover. They leapt, landing on all fours at the bottom. As they rounded a corner the pair of them ran into Kaine, his arms crossed. "I see you've been making friends," he muttered, "I take it that it's time to run?" "You really have to ask?" Jess stated as she walked through the sewer, before tossing the drone to Mac. The larger sibling had a stinger-tail growing out from between his shoulders, sharp and pointed. Quickly Jess darted to a corner of their makeshift base, digging her way through the smell that engulfed the tunnel. Besides the stream of ooze her hands caught her prey, a pair of fingerless gloves, with a series of wires peaking out through side of the fabric. As she clutched the gloves she raced to her backpack, before pulling from the bag a pair of jeans and a shirt. Centered on the shirt was the shape of a large green brute: the Hulk. She stripped off her suit, before jamming it within the bag. Immediately she threw on the street clothes, while the others gathered their own supplies. In a matter of seconds she was done, before she flung a worn jacket over her back. Stretching her back Jess looked over her brothers. "You know we have a time limit?" she offered as she slid the gloves over her hands. "Done," Anton finished hiding the vials of blood within his bag, even as Kaine slung his bag on. Mac just clutched at the drone, a bag latched around his neck and arm. With a series of nods the group darted off into the shadows, leaping and running through the sewers. With each bound they moved further into darkness, traveling beneath the city. ------------------- Jess and Kaine scouted ahead, lurking over the rooftops. With casual leaps they bounded from building to building, latching to the sides with their fingers and their raw strength. Behind them crept up Anton and Mac, both a bit too bulky to hide. "Well it took a while," Jess muttered as they stopped, "but I think we avoided all the traffic cameras. You know, maybe." The four of them stood on the roof of a train station, dawn still a few hours away. With some time to relax the youths crouched down, and waited. As Jess stretched she yawned, before gesturing to Mac. He was the largest of the four of them, and wore armor of gold and green, with a grey helmet on top. Mac walked over to her, before handing Jess the drone. From her bag she plucked a dissected gold rod, the remains of an alien weapon. It had been built of the same material of Mac's suit, and had been looted when the group had fled SHIELD. The weapon had been designed to fire energy blasts, though it had been stripped of material by Jess along with nearly every piece of electronics she had found. All in order to make her gloves. As she grabbed the drone she began to probe into it. "Crap," she muttered, "I mean I figured it was fake, but still." "If SHIELD had tech like that we would have been fighting them by now," Kaine grumbled as he peered around. "Still," Anton pointed out she pulled off the metal frame, "It has some electronics in it. So it wasn't all for nothing." "Thank you Ant," she sighed as she dissected the tracer, "So what do you want us to do with it?" "Train," Mac commented as a locomotive pulled in. "We'll wait for the third," Anton decided, "If it doesn't work we should leave it, but we shouldn't leave any systems." He crawled over to the drone, and began to pull into it. "I've got this," Jess swiped it away. As she finished removing circuits and wiring she asked, "You know SHIELD has definitely woken up by now." She jabbed the gear back in the bag, along with the rod. "Right," Anton leapt down, before slipping along the train tracks. The others followed as he explained, "Then we won't wait on the platform. We walk along, then board one mid-drive." "Fine," Kaine said, as the four of them crept along the tracks, going out of the city. As they walked there was a rush behind them. The train flew past, chugging along the rails. Quickly they leapt on, clinging onto the side. They hung on, letting their wall-gripping fingers keep them secured. As they went along they reached an intersection,while another freight train zoomed past. With a leapt they jumped onto the second, now headed in anew direction from the city. The four young heroes climbed up top, reaching the roof the a boxcar. As they rode along Mac asked over the din of the locomotive, "So what we do in three days?" "Nothing," Jess interrupted, "We aren't celebrating anything until one of us actually breaks a year." "We'll see," Anton answered Mac, who nodded in turn. The four of them held on, even as the landscape rushed past them. ------------------- "According to Johnson they took both the drone and the samples of Hulk blood," Agent Hill stated, "before abandoning our plant at a local train station. We think we have their probably location, headed south." Nick Fury nodded, "Well I guess we better go get them, shouldn't we." "Yessir." "Um...are you sure that's wise?" A scientist offered from across the room. "Something you want to add Doc?" Doctor Escarlata winced, "Well...they couldn't just leave the samples once our men were knocked out? Any common criminal could have gotten it." "I get that you don't think they are supervillains," Fury turned, "But if you think I am letting the chance of another Hulk, you are insane." "Oh," Escarlata sat back down. "Find them, and try to get that blood from them without any pointless confrontation," Fury ordered to the agents assembled. As the government agents departed Escarlata asked, "Should we really be letting Reilly go after them too?" "Oh I know this will blow up in my face," Fury answered, "But our 'beloved' council is still sh--ing on me for refusing to nuke New York. They want Reilly, they can have him. Maybe then they will stop telling us how to do our jobs." As Escarlata moved to go Fury stated, "By the way, we looked over the treatments you gave them while they were shriveled up jelly, and it turns out you spent an unnecessary amount of time on their brains." "The first batch was unstable-" "Do. Not. Lie. To me." The scientist looked away, "I...you can't start off a person with no memories and an almost fully formed brain. It...it can drive them mad. It drove the first group mad. So I tried to replicate-" "-The memories of a teenage vigilante who spent his early career hunting down any person who potentially resembled his uncle's murderer," Fury finished. Escarlata looked down as Fury ordered, "The council wants to speak to you." ------------------- Jess fiddled with her gloves as the train zoomed past, tweaking the hand covers with makeshift tools. Her hands carefully moved through them, linking wires together with alien technology. Besides her Anton was using pieces from the alien weapon and the recovered drone to modify Mac's environmental suit. As the first of the clones Mac had several anomalies, and couldn't exit his suit. The tech was salvaged from the 2011 alien invasion, though Anton and Jess were still learning how to use it. Anton nodded to Mac, saying, "Hopefully that should help with the night-thing. You know, you might not need this any more, since Jess gave us the cure-" "Not a cure," Jess commented without looking up, "There was nothing wrong with us." The four of them had suffered accelerated aging while they worked at SHIELD, though a steady stream of drugs kept them stable. Jess had managed to manufacture a drug that stopped their aging, and had the side-effect of improved healing and regeneration. "Right," Anton said, as Mac focused on his helmet. The helm was taken from the remains of the Iron Monger, one of the world's first supervillains. As Mac focused in a sudden flicker his visor lit up, casting light through the night. Mac was the first of them to remember Peter, and so far only Jess had joined him. Mac had suffered far more, his mind constantly barraged by visions of a life that wasn't his. It got to the point that SHIELD locked him up, to let him die in isolation. Mac feared the night. Night was when Peter's uncle died, when Captain Stacy died. Night was when Peter promised to stay away from Gwen, night was when he first fought the Lizard. Night was...tormenting to him. Finally Jess moved back, and slid the pair of gloves back on. "Any particular reason you made those?" Kaine laid on the train, staring at the stars, "Webbing foes up getting boring?" "Webbing leaves a trail," she muttered, "And I don't have an endless supply, I have to generate it. Not to mention SHIELD doesn't know about this." "And Peter never made something like that, right?" Jess blinked briefly, before giving Kaine a look. "Don't you have people to stab or something?" she glared at him, her body tense. He turned to face her as well, their gazes locked "...Hey look, it's another station," Anton changed the subject. Jess and Kaine nodded, their eyes still on each other. Slowly, reluctantly they turned away, and leapt from the train. Mac and Anton joined them, a little outside of the station. As they got up Jess turned to Anton and asked, "Is it safe?" The six-armed youth swung open his pack, and checked through the vials. "They held," he said, as everyone but Kaine sighed out with relief, "Okay, we really need to find a way to dispose of this." Mac nodded firmly, his tail thrashing. "Agreed," Jess's eyes won't stray from the bag, "I for one do not want to make another Hulk." Nods came from everyone, as Mac grabbed the bag. "Banner," Anton decided, "he might be able to destroy this stuff. In theory. We split into groups, see if you can find anything about where he might be." Kaine grunted in response, before walking up to Mac. "Not use smell?" Mac asked as he looked over at Kaine. "No promises," Kaine answered, though he smirked. Kaine had the ability to produce pheromones that could influence Mac, implanted by SHIELD to help control Mac. Kaine back then had a habit of letting Mac off the leash, with one times violent results. "And don't kill anyone." Anton watched as Kaine and Mac descended into the shadows, racing away. With a sigh Anton turned to Jess, and the two of them departed. ------------------- "Back-up is on route," Agent Takuya informed the other SHIELD operatives as their Quinjets flew across the United States, "The Iron-Patriot is being called into action." "So who are these guys?" Agent Prabhakar asked as he cocked his gun. "Superhumans," Agent Carpenter whispered, "experimental superheroes designed after Spider-Man." "We made them to prepare for the future threats," Takuya explained, "Though after they began pushing boundaries their handler ordered their execution. They went rogue, though so far they have kept out of SHIELD affairs. They have instead been trying to stop crimes as they go, delivering murderers to outside police and like." "So then they didn't know it was a SHIELD operation?" Prabhakar asked. "I hope so," Carpenter sighed, "They didn't kill any of our agents, just like when they went rogue. Only one of them, Kaine, has killed before, but they were all Nazis on a mission." "So he is the one to look out for," Prabhakar sighed, "Great, the one with blades." "There is another," Carpenter said softly. The other two turned to her as she explained, "When they went rogue, their handler tried to kill them himself. After binding him to the wall, Jess pumped her webs into his mouth for revenge." "Wait," Prabhakar stumbled, "That is why Agent Reilly can not talk?" "Or eat," Carpenter added, "At least without help. She did not kill him, but she left him in a living death." "Well I will not try to piss her off," Prabhakar muttered, "Why is Reilly here?" "Higher-ups think his experience with them will help," Takuya interjected, "But I worry the spiders are not the ones will will have to be worried about." The other two nodded as they did their last minute checks on their gear. ------------------- Jess and Anton were slipping through the shadows, when the two of them froze suddenly. "You feel it too?" she asked, as her eyes darted about. "We need to find the others," he stated, and the two of them took off through the streets and alleyways. Like Spider-Man himself, the four clones possessed a sense, one that flared up when danger was coming. None of them knew how it worked, but Mac suspected it tied into how Jess and him remembered Peter's life. The two of them leapt and bound over the rooftops, searching for any trace of their siblings. Suddenly Jess shot web into Anton, and yanked him behind an alley. As the two dived behind a dumpster, a voice spoke. "I am Agent Takuya of SHIELD," it declared, "I require you to come with us." "Yeah," Jess called out, "Cause the last time any of us trusted you it worked out so well for us." "I understand your lack of trust," Takuya admitted, "But you have interfered in a SHIELD operation, mutilated over twenty agents, and destroyed a man's mouth." "...Look, he starved our brother," Jess answered, "and when we tried to save Mac he tried to kill us. Yeah, it was a bit too far, but he deserved worse. And it's not like you couldn't fix his mouth? You cleaned up after my training all the time." "He tried to starve your brother?" Takuya asked, "We were...not informed of that." "Then talk to the agents I tied up," Jess shrugged out of sight, "They had Mac in a cage where they could study him while they let him rot. And yeah, I get that he was having difficulties, but there still are a hundred ways better than doing that." There was a pause, before Takuya said, "Be that as it may, you must still come with us. Do you have the blood?" "It's with the others," Anton answered, "Listen, I know what Jess did was messed up. But she has been making up for that, saving lives, catching criminals, we thought we were stopping a trade between criminals last night." Takuya answered carefully, "I understand. But SHIELD needs these questions answered carefully. Please come with us, I swear you will not be harmed." "And what is the proof of that?" Takuya suddenly appeared beside them. "I am willing to be a hostage," he returned, "Should we betray you." "...Thank you for your trust," Anton said. There was a pause, before Anton and Takuya walked towards where his agents stood. Jess hung back, before tensing up and following them behind Takuya. As the light of a SHIELD van, Takuya paused. "I was...not aware you were so young." "Eh, we look old for our age," Jess retorted as her eyes surveyed the agents one by one. There was a sudden rush of sound, when behind them a man landed with a surge of power. He wore mechanical armor, painted in red, white and blue." "... you brought Iron Patriot to bring us down," Jess whispered, "Wow, um, I am going to take that as a compliment." "How is it going here?" asked the real superhero, "Any trouble?" "They have been very cooperative," Takuya answered, "They are willing to come with us, provided I am kept as insurance." "You fine with that?" Iron Patriot asked. "It is understandable," Takuya replied, "And as long as I do not ask for their deaths or harm their brothers, I should be alright. Neither of them has killed before. The other group has the blood currently." "Um, Iron Patriot," managed Jess, "Can I call you that? Uh, what was it like fighting the Ten Rings?" "Yeah," Anton's eyes were big, "Have you met Captain America yet?" "How old are you?" Iron Patriot asked slowly. "Five month-I mean seventeen," laughed Anton nervously, "Why would I say five months, no one is five months old. Except for babies, but we aren't babies. I mean clearly we aren't, right Jess? "Idiot," Jess muttered, thought she was still grinning at Iron Patriot, "Yeah, seventeen." "...Uh huh," Iron Patriot eyed them, searching through his metal mask, "Forgive me if I don't buy that." "Okay, I forgive you," Jess remarked, "What my brother Ant here meant is that he only remembers the last five months, so to him that is his age." "Right," Anton nodded quickly, "Would we be the alternative?" "So, can we just get to the whole talking thing," she asked as she drew closer to Takuya, "I want to get this over with so I can go back to beating up criminals. Okay?" There was a pause, before the agents nodded. As they walked up Jess clasped her head before stating, "Listen, I am getting serious danger-vibes right now, something bad is going to happen. So you might want to prepare for stuff to go down. You know, if it isn't you." "Can you be more detailed?" "Nope." ------------------- Reilly felt at his face through his mask. burnt and twisted. His mind ripped itself back to that day, bound up by webs, strapped to the wall, and then that thing penetrating his mouth and sealing it up with goo. Oh it had tried to justify it, saying that SHIELD cleaned up its webs all the time. That they would know a way to remove the goo. But he knew, he knew it hadn't cared. It twisted him, muting him and ravaging his digestive system. He could only eat with a tube now, and only fluids. Nothing solid, nothing good. Just more goo. Reilly slammed his fist into the wall, before wincing from the impact. He flapped his wrist about in pain, when an agent walked up to him. "Agent Reilly," Carpenter said, " We need to go." He nodded, and followed after the others. ------------------- Kaine crawled about, leading Mac through the city. As he crept across the city Kaine froze, as sharp bony blades shot out of his wrists. "You feel that?" Kaine muttered. Mac nodded, as his tail began to swivel about, probing the area. "I smell Reilly," Mac whispered suddenly, causing Kaine to tense up completely. "So, SHIELD is making their move," Kaine snarled, "Fine. We couldn't run forever." His blades fully extended, Kaine looked around carefully. "Not kill," Mac said as he spun his light around. "Yeah, not the time to spread morality," Kaine rolled his eyes, "Okay, can you figure out where they are?" "Two groups," Mac muttered, "One to east, other with siblings." "Jess will do what she has to," Kaine grunted, "We take out the others." Mac nodded, before the two of them began to leap across the rooftops, heading towards the other group of agents. "What are we looking at?" Kaine asked. "Twenty or so," Mac answered, "Reilly there." "Wonderful," Kaine smirked, "Let's not keep them waiting." "Not control me, right?" Mac suddenly asked. "A little faith would be nice," Kaine muttered, before skidding to a halt atop a rooftop. Looking down he could see SHIELD operatives, panning out around the area. "Not kill," Mac asked as he put down the Hulk blood. "Not promising," Kaine replied, "Monster and all that." With a leap he jumped, impaling an agent in her wrist. As the agents swiveled towards home swung the operative around, using her as a human shield. Then with a toss he threw her, smashing into another agent. As gunfire erupted Kaine winced, shots crashing into him.as he stumbled Mac leapt through the crowd, rampaging through them. As he ran the foes fell to the side, knocked about by the large armored clone. As the agents stumbled, Kaine straightened up and ran at them. With a leap he stabbed another agent's palm, before tearing his blade free and assaulting another one. As he impaled the next foe, Kaine's mind flared up. Quickly he turned to spot a familiar man, with a mask clamped to his lower face. Reilly glared at him, even a he unloaded a ton of bullets "Huh," Kaine glared, "I guess Jess was wrong about her webbing. Or maybe I am not giving her enough credit." In a mad push Kaine charged, letting bullets smack into him. Reilly continued to fire, shredding through Kaine's body. A red mist exploded, even as Kaine ran on adrenaline. He stumbled, before impaling Reilly in the chest. As red dripped over his blade Kaine muttered, "That-ahahah-thing is, this will only slow me-ahah-down." ------------------- "Sir, we are under attack," a call clicked over the radio, "Two of them are massacring through-" "Idiots," Jess tensed up, her body trembling slowly. "Please, don't kill them," pleaded Anton, even as Iron Patriot flew off, "Kaine suffers from a lot of clinical issues, and he can control Mac through pheromones. They aren't evil." "Trapped," muttered Jess to herself. "They are killing our people," Takuya replied as his fellows' guns clicked up, "You are cooperating and are not threats. Please do not change that." "Okay," Anton said slowly, "I know. We aren't fighting. But please, just don't kill them." Jess continued to shake in the background, occasionally cracking the side of a nearby building. "I am not in control of the situation," Takuya said softly, "As much as I want to, I cannot control what happens over there. I do not want to kill your fellows, but my men are defending themselves." "And what if I catch them?" asked Jess through gritted teeth. Anton turned towards her, to see her gaze trailing after Iron Patriot. "If you can help us defuse the situation," Takuya said firmly, "I can promise we will not wound your brothers further." "Great," Jess glared, "That fills me with so much confidence." "I apologize, but there is nothing I can do." "I apologize for having idiots for family," she said as she sprinted towards the faint sounds of gunfire, even as half the agents followed behind her. Anton turned to Takuya just as Jess left, before he remarked, "Look, there is something I think you should know." "Oh?" "I am not sure how much SHIELD has told you about us," admitted Anton, "But don't you wonder why they experimented on four siblings?" ------------------- As Kaine and Reilly lay bleeding, Mac ran about, smashing through the agents. As he ran Mac spotted an agent swinging the Hulk blood bag onto his back. "No," Mac charged, "No more experiments." With a thrust his tail shredded the bag, sending its contents flying. Reilly struggled to sit up, and aimed his gun into Kaine's head. "Muhie muhbumination," he moaned, his eyes dripping. Then there was a smashing of glass, as a vial of blood crashed into his back. Reilly screamed through his mask, even as the fluid absorbed into his skin. He shook, before falling flat on the ground. Reilly's body began to twitch and shake, the world swirling away. There was a strange sound, like a soft whistle. Reilly clutched at his back, even as the tear in his chest began to fill with first tendrils, then tissues, then renewed flesh. He shook on the floor, as new sensations emerged from his back. Sharp blades appeared just out of his line of sight, twisting out from behind him. Reilly clutched at his head, even as thick bristles burst from his head and began to droop over his body. As he thrashed he caught sight of Kaine, who had taken some of the Hulk blood to the face. The clone was screaming in pain, his face melting from the touch. Reilly crawled to his feet, his new spiked limbs tensed up behind him. "Raaah!" he managed as the bulk of the pain tore through him, leaving the agony ripped out of him in a burst. Reilly stumbled, before clutching Kaine in his hands. With a twist Reilly pulled as Kaine's sides, creating a large rip. Suddenly Mac charged, smashing Reilly away. The gamma mutant skidded, knocking Kaine to spasm on the floor. Mac turning about, skidding as bullets ricocheting off his armor. With a shove he tackled Reilly, stabbing him hard before swinging him into a building. There was a thud, as Reilly fell to the ground. Suddenly there was an eruption of fire, as a missile smashed into the ground before Mac. He skidding across the ground, his limbs quaking. Iron Patriot landed before him, it's shoulder mounted gun aimed towards him. Mac stumbled, his eyes flashing to Kaine. Then with a shove he sprinted forward, rampaging towards his brother. As he ran Reilly stood up shakily, before charging after Mac. With a smack Reilly leapt onto Mac, and began to punch and kick at him, struggling to tear at him. As he swung wildly his blade arms pelted against Mac's armor, probing for a weak spot. Finally there was a sizzling sound as a blade arm pierced Mac's containment armor. With a roar Mac leapt against the ground, smashing Reilly into the ground. As he stood up Mac stumbled, his breath shallow. Reilly leapt at him, stabbing at him. Shakily Mac swung down his stinger at Reilly. The gamma mutant sidestepped, leaving the clone's spike to embed itself in the ground. Mac swung out his fists as he struggled to move his tail, even as he strained to breath. With a roar Reilly thrust his blades, impaling his shoulder. Mac stumbled, before collapsing as chemicals spilled onto the ground. His ruptured suit lay around him, suffocating him. Reilly towered over him, his blades ready to sting. "Stand down," Iron Patriot ordered, even as Reilly moved to strike. The mutant turned and snarled, a strange wheezing sound dripping from his mouth. Reilly charged, just as a blast of web knocked him into the ground. Web upon web sprayed over him, binding him in a sticky cocoon. Jess ran from Reilly, racing first to Mac, feeling his pulse. "Come on," she muttered, "Work." "Sis," Mac managed, "I...I be okay. Check Kaine." She nodded, and ran to her other brother, even as the others approached. As she looked over Kaine vomit pushed at her throat. His face was torn up and bloated, twisted and splotched. He lay almost completely still, stopping only to twitch with pain. Anton leapt behind her, running to Mac. Slowly he helped his brother to his feet, as Jess held onto Kaine, as agents surrounded them. ------------------- Jess stared up at Agent Takuya, her arms bound behind her. She sat in a sealed room, five gas nozzles coming from the walls. Across from her was a glass wall, from behind sat Takuya. "How are they doing?" she asked as she rolled her hands behind her. "Mac's suit was repaired before he suffered too much," Takuya said, "Though his body was a lot healthier than when he was last studied by SHIELD." "Says something about your care," she answered. "Kaine?" "You realize your brothers have killed eleven SHIELD agents," Takuya said carefully. "You realize Mac was influenced by Kaine," she replied, though personally she doubted it, "So, Kaine?" "He has suffered extensive injuries," Takuya answered, "I apologize, but it appears his brain has also suffered extensive damage." "Great," she sighed, "Just great. What are you doing about it?" "We are currently just trying to figure out what is wrong." "I suggest you have Ant look him over. He is good with neurology. And 'Tarantula?'" "He is secured," Takuya answered, "Iron Patriot is on hand in case he grows violent and frees himself." "I am guessing you already took a blood sample?" She sighed, adjusting her back. "You are not in the clear you realize," Takuya stated, "You may have no blood on your hands, but you severely mutilated-" "He did it to himself," she leaned back, "Besides, I thought you would have made sure your cleaning methods were safe." "Be that as it may, you purposely caused him harm," Takuya said, "Which can not be wiped away even including his order to kill you. Though I believe I might understand another part of the cause of your anger towards him." "Ant ratted us out didn't he?" she scowled, "Thanks a lot bro." "Why are you upset with him?" Takuya asked, "I would think SHIELD creating living weapons would give you ground. Not to mention the unnecessary modification they gave you." "See that is why it shouldn't be brought up," Jess sighed, "Suddenly we are weapons, things. And for your information I am fairly comfortable like this." "Apologies," Takuya said, "I did not realize." "Eh, at least you haven't called me an it," she looked away, "That's what Reilly did. If you need to know, I am not picky about pronouns, he and she are both fine, but if you call me anything specific go with androgyne." "Alright," he answered, "Tell me, have you seen Mac or Kaine show this kind of violence before?" "You know what happened with Kaine on his first mission," she turned to give him a glare, "But he has not since then. He is terrified of you, thinks of you like Stark thought of New York. But Mac has never done anything wrong." "I see," Takuya replied slowly. "I hope so," she eyed him like a predator, "I am not saying Kaine is a puppy or that Mac is innocent of violence, but they are people. And they are just as messed up and reasonable as that means." "These gloves?" He pointed to a box containing her fingerless gloves. "Stark will figure it out anyway," she sighed, "By the way, did he really destroy all of his armor. Even Gemini?" "Focus." "They are tasers," she answered with annoyance dripping from her voice, "Basically, they draw power from my body's bioelectricity to produce a sting. I needed a way to incapacitate foes without leaving webs everywhere." "Could you make more?" "They won't be as effective without Chitauri tech," she answered, "But yeah, I could."   "While you were rogue you and your brother Anton spent some of your time acting as vigilantes." "So?" she narrowed her gaze. "If you were trying to maintain a low profile, that was not the wisest decision." "Oh, I know," Jess breathed out, "But Anton would have done it with or without me. He thinks he is Captain America or something." "Like you?" "What?" Jess raised an eyebrow. "Our records reveal you have a fixation with several heroes," Takuya answered, "And I have been informed that this was long before you realized your connection to Spider-Man. You would spend much of your training scribbling down drawings of the Battle of New York and of other famous incidents. Even if Anton would go without you, it does not explain why you would go dressed in your uniform." "Think what you like," she turned away, "So you have any more questions or something?" ------------------- Reilly dripped saliva from his cocoon, even as he hung upside down. Suddenly he caught whiff of a sizzling sound, and looked down to see part of his bonds had melted free. Moved he released more acidic venom from his mouth, loosing the webbing over his back and torso. It stung, but it freed his limbs. Then with a twist he hacked with his blades, finally freeing him from the web cocoon. As he stirred he found himself in a sealed room, with a hardened glass wall facing a corridor. "Oh, you're awake," an agent approached, "Sorry about the accommodations, but we have procedures for this sort of thing. Nothing personal." Reilly suddenly felt his head as a sharp pain struck him. Then he was gone, out of the cage and in a smashed room, fighting that clone. The one who mutilated him. Reilly thrashed his blades at the glass as he returned, only for his appendages to bounce back. "Yeah that isn't going to help your case," the agent analyzed the webs suddenly, seeing the puddle of white goo on the ground aside from the shredded cocoon. Reilly suddenly leapt at the glass, letting his mouth drool over it. Smoke slipped out from the glass, as he ate through the seal and it's metal mesh. Immediately the agent pulled out his gun, while he radioed in his spare hand, "Subject Reilly is breaking free," he signaled, "He is dissolving the cage with some sort of acidic saliva." "We are headed towards your position," came the reply, just as the oozing venom melted a complete hole through the barrier. Quickly the agent fired through the crack, piercing Reilly's skull. Reilly stumbled back, before his body began to regenerate itself. As more bullets hit him, he thrust his arms through the hole, and spread them out, tearing out a large exit. With a shove he charged, piercing the agent in the chest, before flinging him into the puddle of melting web. ------------------- "What exactly do you remember?" he asked carefully. She glared as she continued to look away, "Everything up to his fight with the Lizard. Not sure why you care, SHIELD already knows who he is. And I already told them." "So nothing newer?" "I don't have wifi with his brain," Jess controlled herself, "I only have up to whenever you got his blood. I don't know how it works. Maybe it's the whole spidey sense thing, maybe it is the way you grew us, either way I don't care." "Alright," Takuya said before saying more seriously, "SHIELD is in trouble you realize. More and more superhumans have emerged into the world, and it is harder to control them. We have a division devoted to superhumans, but it is understaffed." "And you are telling me this why?" she waited for the suspected conclusion of the conversation, even as she stretched her back. The motion let her hands relax, though she kept a few fingers tense. "We grow desperate," he concluded, "Given the attempted aid you and your brother have been trying to give, we are willing to work with you." Jess glared at him in response, silently thinking. ------------------- "...Listen, you know I want to be a superhero," Anton said, " And I think Jess does too. But you know it is kind of hard to trust SHIELD after they tortured our brother and tried to kill us." "Reilly was given...too much freedom," Carpenter replied carefully, "We did not know much of what he was doing." "I want to believe that," Anton sighed, "Okay, even if we believe you, how do we know you won't try to kill us again? Or Mac and Kaine?" "We are in the middle of a superhuman revolution," Carpenter answered, "We will be imprisoning your two brothers, but if you believe we would waste two successful superhumans when we could learn more from them..." "Well, Jess will be glad for that honesty," Anton clasped his head in his hands, causing Carpenter to stumble back. "Oh, sorry," he grinned sheepishly, "I got free a little after we sat down. But you promise you will not abuse Mac or Kaine?" "I can," Carpenter replied cautiously, "In all honest we want to help them. Mac isn't going to help much research if he can hardly leave his suit, so that will need to be fixed. And Kaine currently is a good opportunity to work on healing someone of gamma radiation poisoning." "That doesn't inspire confidence," Anton massaged his head, "Can I see them regularly?" "Under guard, but yes." "I really want to trust you," he sighed, " Alright." ------------------- "...I did not honestly expect you to agree," Takuya admitted. "Well we both know Ant was going to sign up," Jess shrugged, "And he is going to be far too trusting of you." "I...very well," Takuya answered. "But get this through your head," her tone drew low, "You treat Mac and Kaine with respect, you treat them like people, and you help them get better. Because if I find out you are experimenting on them or something, I will find a way to hurt each and everyone of you and SHIELD as a whole. Okay?" "Uh, okay," he stumbled slight, "Um, what can you tell me about this chemical?" He held up the syringe, causing Jess to sigh. "It's how I helped us heal," she said, "Like I told you back-" Suddenly the lights flickered, and Takuya rose up. "That doesn't sound good," Jess remarked as an alarm began to blare. ------------------- Doctor Escarlata looked down at Kaine as he thrashed. "Hold on," he whispered as he looked at the clone. "What has happened to him?" asked Escarlata as he approached. Kaine's face was twisted and spotted now, and his hair had all fallen out. His eyes shuddered, as he jerked every few minutes.   "You no longer have the rank to-" "Just tell me." "He was exposed to a small amount of Hulk Blood," a scientist answered, "He has actually calmed down significantly. But his brain is still malformed by the accident." "Can you hear me," Escarlata asked slowly to the clone. "Leave me alone," Kaine whispered, "Just...just stop talking. Stop. Please." Escarlata fell silent as Kaine continued, "Stop. Stop. Why won't you stop!" His thrashing picked up speed, even as buzzing echoed across their instruments. "The damage is spreading," a scientist said, "His brain is now dissolving and reforming simultaneously. I-I don't even know what to call this." "Painful?" offered Kaine with some strain. They turned towards him again as his face shuddered . "Are...you alright?" "Sure I feel great," Kaine managed, "Aside from the voices in my head. Or the freaking rash that is my face." "We will do everything we can." "No, you had your chance," Kaine said coldly with his teeth clenched. The systems continued to buzz as he continued, "First one that comes near me ends up in a pool of death." "Wait," a scientist said as the lights flickered, "That isn't just the monitors, thats the alarm." ------------------- Reilly tore through the mob of agents, ripping at them and hurling globs of acid into them. Suddenly an explosion smashed into him,knocking him to the ground. Reilly's flesh began to regenerate even as he turned to Iron Patriot. With a thrust of speed he charged, letting his blade arms hang behind him. As he ran a blast of energy surged into him, knocking him to the ground. Reilly slowly pulled himself up, only to take a miniature missile to his face. Smashing to the ground, Reilly caught his breath as his body regenerated. Glaring he leapt onto the ceiling, and began to crawl away. "That isn't going to help much." Another missile soared through the air, smashing against Reilly. The gamma mutant crashed with a thud, only to see a hole in the ceiling had formed. Quickly he leapt up, and began to race through the above hallway. Behind him he heard a burst of jets as Iron Patriot flew up behind him. Still, the powered armor couldn't fly much in the thin hallway, so Reilly had a speed advantage. Quickly he sprinted, darting into a nearby room. ------------------- "Reilly has gotten loose," Takuya cocked his gun, "Can you-" Jess stood up free and held out her hand, "Slipped out two minutes ago," she said, "The gloves?" Takuya nodded slowly, before sliding the gloves underneath the glass barrier. Quickly she slid them on, before Takuya unlocked her cell. She ran out, joining him in a sprint. Skidding down the hall ran Anton, worried. "Are you okay?" he asked as he looked Jess down. "I'm fine," she sighed, "Can we deal with Reilly now?" Anton nodded,as the three of them ran hopefully towards the gamma mutant. -------------------   "Kill them. Hack them to bits" "Ooh, maybe you could skin them. Then you could make them into affordable coats or even better: Halloween costumes." "Who would want Halloween costumes of a bunch of SHIELD scientists?" "Coats then, spoilsport." Kaine winced as the voices continued to echo through his skull. Suddenly out of the corner his eye the door threw open, as a strange spider-like beast charged in. "Wow, look at all the blood." "Hey, that was our kills, we had dibs!" "Shut up," Kaine snorted faintly despite himself, even as the hairy creature ran at him. "Muhmonation!" it bellowed, flexing it's blades. "Oh, it's you," Kaine managed, "If you are going to kill me better do it fast." "Hey Steve. It's Steve right? Cause you look like a Steve." "Hurry," Kaine winced. Reilly roared in response, before piercing Kaine's skull. A trickling of blood oozed out, as he slowly withdrew his spikes. "Ouch," Kaine remarked suddenly, as his wounds healed. With a roar Reilly assaulted him again, stabbing Kaine over and over. "Oh great," Kaine sighed, "I can't die. Well that is just great." "Isn't it though?" "No consequences!" "Let's kill everyone at SHIELD naked!" "Wait, are we naked, or are the people we kill naked?" "Why not both?" "I like the way you think." "Oh, get a room!" Kaine pleaded as Reilly continued to stab his body. "We have a room, it's called your head." Reilly suddenly lifted the table Kaine was strapped to, and smashed it into the wall. Again and again he drove him into the wall, until Kaine lay upsides down and unconscious. ------------------- Reilly suddenly felt a stinging in his head. He turned to see a scientist, shakily pointing a gun at him. "Stop," he pleaded. Reilly snarled, before impaling the scientist in the shoulder. He threw the man to the ground, just as an explosion rocked the room. Iron Patriot ran up, forcing Reilly to scamper as fast as he could back out. Quickly he raced down the hall, skidding around. Having an idea he hurled globs of acid into the ceiling behind him, wreaking the roof. Suddenly the roof collapsed, smashing into Iron Patriot hard. As the armored soldier pulled himself free Reilly crawled up above, and broke off more of the above floors in the base. The rubble soon left the soldier buried, at least for the moment. Crawling down Reilly raced across, searching for the room he had seen in that vision. As he approached a door he caught two soldiers, impaling them through their throats. Finally he reached the room, just as two of the clones and an agent ran in. ------------------- Jess immediately launched a glob of webbing at Reilly, smacking him in the mouth. The gamma mutant hardly stumbled, before a chemical ooze dripped out of his throat, melting through the bonds. Anton meanwhile rushed towards the wounded soldiers, feeling their necks. "Okay, that is disgusting," she jumped to the side as her head stung, narrowly avoiding a blast of acid. With a flip she jumped over Reilly, pushing off of his head. Reilly wheezed as Jess focused, forcing her body's bioelectricity to channel through her gloves. As he staggered she swung out again, punching him among a flurry of sparks. Reilly shoved back, before spiking his blade-arms forward. Jess jumped and weaved, leaping through the spinning claws. As she leapt Reilly's mouth shot acid, forcing her to roll into the direction of one of Reilly's spikes. The blade pierced her chest, even as she punched him again. The electricity flowed through both of them, leaving them briefly dazed. Reilly threw her quickly from his blade, causing her to land shakily on all fours. Blood dripped from her chest, even as Reilly charged. Bullets smacked into Reilly, causing him to slow. As the gamma mutant turned towards Takuya, the agent rolled out of the way. Reilly swung around to attack again, just as a whip of webbing latched into his back. With a yank Jess swung Reilly through the air, into Anton's fists. Reilly staggered as Anton pounded into him, smashing him against the walls of the room. With a roar Reilly caught himself with his spiked arms, and pushed off into Anton. Briefly paused the clone stumbled before Reilly stabbed into four of his hands. Anton winced, before using his free hands to slam Reilly to the ground. Reilly stood up on his extra limbs, not unlike a spider. With a snarl he stalked over to Anton, lobbing acid at him. As the goo flew Anton shoved himself away, just as Jess pole vaulted off Reilly, stinging him in the process. Reilly winced as Jess landed to the side, her chest still dripping with blood. Anton leapt onto Reilly as she fired globs of webbing, lashing the gamma mutant's spiked legs to the ground. As Reilly stood stuck Takuya open fired, aiming hopefully into his forehead. As Reilly struggled to move, Anton smashed his fist down hard onto his back, even as the gamma mutant struggled to move free. Reilly roared in pain, before hurling blasts of webbing everywhere. Anton jumped back in time to miss the venom, while Reilly drooled onto his imprisoned legs. The goo melted through the webs, sizzling into the spikes. Reilly slowly stood back up on two legs, his spiked arms now twisted and partially melted. As Reilly rampaged towards Anton, webbing lashed onto his back. With a tug Jess sent herself flying, ending her swing in an electric punch. Reilly fell back, before firing a burst of acid at her. Quickly Jess launched her webs, blocking the acid from impact. In the meantime Anton crashed his fist into the mutant, causing Reilly to smash into a wall. The foe paused, leaving Jess to squirt webbing all over his spread out arms, gluing them to the wall. As he lay bound she coated the rest of his body, leaving only his acidic head free. As venom dropped from his mouth Jess walked towards him, and laid her hand on his forehead. Reilly began to scream as electricity pumped through his skull, burning through his body. "Sto-" Jess pulled away just as Anton and Takuya began. She gave them a shrug, before stepping back from the mutant. Reilly lay stunned against the wall, drool oozing from his mouth. "What, you wanted him conscious?" she asked, "Pretty sure he would have escaped." "...Alright," Takuya said as he eyed her, "Come, we must secure him." Anton shook off his limbs, before using his unharmed hands to pull Reilly from the wall. Jess sprayed the mutant with web as Anton spun him, before the six armed clone laid the cocoon of sticky white goo onto his shoulders. ------------------- Kaine stood up shakily, his bonds trashed. As he stood up his head throbbed, still suffering from the violent blows and his constantly reforming head. "Well that was fun. Let's do it again." "Nah, let's carve up Reilly. I mean he did it to us, why not do it to him?" "...Not the worse argument," admitted Kaine as he turned to go, "Probably get a kick out of it." "Oh, you know what we should do?" "...What?" "We should go meet up with father." "Oh yeah, I beat he would be happy to see us." "Or not and it will be one big awkward mess!" "Hijinks will ensue." "Shut up," Kaine grimaced as he lumbered away, slowly picking up speed as his brain reformatted. "Please," a bleeding man managed from across the room, "Don't-don't go. You need help." "You people made me," Kaine said coldly, "Made me to be a weapon. I don't need your kind of help, don't want it. You know, I spared you once, but you still came after us. No more." "I...I am sorry." "Not sorry enough," Kaine walked over to the man, his blades extending. And then his brain exploded. Visions ripped through his damaged mind, stabbing into his core. Uncle Ben lying on the ground pouring out blood, Captain Stacy leaking his life away off the top of the tower, he could see it all. The memories smashed into him, causing Kaine to stumble, "I...I..." He could see the Lizard, fighting the gigantic reptile, he could see his parents leaving. But they weren't his parents. Kaine clutched at his skull as the memories of Spider-Man smashed into him. Jess and Mac rarely spoke about they remembered, and Kaine could feel why. He felt dwarfed, over fifteen years of someone else's life being squeezed into his skull. "Hey, you okay? You went a little crazy." "Yeah," Kaine laughed through the tears, "I...I can feel my brain." "Is it soft?" "Of course it's soft, it's squishy. Haven't you ever seen cartoons?" "No, we were raised in a lab." Kaine snorted, before running out of the room. The scientist struggled to move behind him, but could only lay bleeding. ------------------- Jess paused, as did Anton. The two had begun to heal, though Anton's arms still were crippled and Jess's chest stung. Quickly Anton broke into a sprint, while Jess leapt onto the ceiling. Immediately she took off, catching up to her brother. With her fingers pointed like guns she coated Reilly in a second layer, as they ran. "You sensed something?" Takuya asked as he caught up. "Yeah," Anton skidded to a halt in front of a cell before Takuya began to unlock the door. Suddenly Jess felt a spike of sensation, and flipped to the ground just as Kaine charged from behind her. With a twirl he stabbed into Anton's hand, causing him to let go. In one quick fluid motion he stabbed into Reilly, piercing through the cocoon. She quickly tackled Kaine, who promptly kicked her off. "Traitor," he regarded her. Jess stumbled before replying, "I didn't stab my brother." "You are with the enemy!" his blades leapt out, causing Jess to jump to the side. On all fours she landed on the wall, before rebounding into him. She pole vaulted off him, letting her gloves sting him. Kaine shuddered, before swinging his blade into her arm. Jess bit back tears before using her right hand to grip Kaine's arm and deliver a shock through his body. As he shuddered she forced the blade out, her left arm bleeding. Anton clutched at his arms, now bleeding again, as Takuya forced Reilly through the cell. As he sealed the mutant in he turned around and opened fired at Kaine. The clone jumped and dodged, avoiding the shots. "You're really bad," he laughed as he leapt to Takuya, slamming him to the ground. As he thrust his blade Jess punched him to a wall, before unloading a torrent of webbing into him. As the goo flew Kaine swung up his arms and worked to shred the goo as it came. Then with a shove he leapt, landing past her. Jess twisted back and winced, as she tore into her still healing flesh. With a leap he lunged at the cell, only to chip his blades off the harden barrier. He swung and thrust again and again, just as bullets smashed into him. Kaine turned towards Takuya, bolting towards him as his wounds healed. Quickly Jess shot webbing into his back and swung him to the side. "Looks like your wounds aren't healing fast enough." Kaine charged, even as Jess leapt onto the ceiling, dripping blood from the strain. While he jumped at her she grimaced, as Anton caught his leg. With a twist he smashed Kaine into a wall, staggering him. Jess flipped down as she coated her pierced arm with webbing, before doing the same to Anton's new wound. Suddenly her head tingled, and she rolled out of the way just as Kaine charged. With a shove he jumped and thrust, stabbing Anton through the heart. Time slowed, as Jess ran over to him. Kaine was forgotten, as she struggled to remember what to do. Too panicked to think straight, she reclaimed enough to grab Kaine's blade and force her strength against it, tearing it in two. With half blocking his wound Jess raked her brain, ignoring Kaine as he charged. Suddenly a blast of energy struck Kaine, knocking him across the room. Jess smiled slightly despite herself, as Iron Patriot arrived in front of them. She had more time now. As the real superhero pursued Kaine, Jess began work carefully, thinking with each action. She was better at the genetics and the systems of biology, not the physical and practical. As she worked the spike squeezed out, as the wound healed. Jess relaxed a little, but Anton lay still, immobile. Focusing she slammed her gloves into him, hoping that she knew the problem, and that this would work. Time still flowed strangely, as distant explosions came muted to her. Finally she stood back as Anton gasped. She leaned back in relief, even as SHIELD agents rushed onto the scene. ------------------- "He okay though?" "You know Anton," Jess smiled, before frowning, "He's stronger than all of us. Our former brother got away though." "I...I have hard time believe it," Mac rubbed his head. "Me either," she glared away, before softening her expression. "Mac, Mind if I ask you something?" "You ask anyway." "Right," Jess sighed, "So this SHIELD thing, what do you think?" "We trap," Mac said slowly, "Even if you flee, I and Anton still here, right? You trying best you can." "Thanks," she lay her hand against the cell, "Why did you do it?" "I not want more of us," he admitted, "Want no one else to suffer. To see shadows as death. And they will make more." "Don't I know it," she held up her head in her spare hand, "Look just tell me if they ever touch you or something." "Of course," he lay his hand against her palm through the barrier. She nodded, before slowly walking off. As she walked she came upon an old woman in a wheelchair. "Ah, Jessica," she said, "It will be good to speak to you again." "Whatever," Jess walked away from Webb, "Still not going to be honest with you." "Of course," Cassandra Webb nodded, letting Jess walk away around a curve in the hallway.