The Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction:
Chapter #6: A Black Knight’s Tale
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Chapter 6
A Black Knight’s Tale
And The Sorcerer’s Apprentices
Gabriel Reyes waits alone in his old lab at Cal Tech, with a gaping MODOC sized hole in the wall, surrounded by police tape. Three people join him in the lab, lead by Tony Stark. With Tony Stark are two young men. One with short brown hair wearing a backpack, and an somewhat heavyset Asian one with short hair and a laptop in a messenger bag style carrier.
Gabriel:
Mr. Stark… Tony Stark… The… Tony Stark… I hope you don’t mind me copying your Mark I Mr. Stark… It was kind of an emergency… Rush job really… I’ll never do it again I swear…
Stark:
Mind?… Why would I mind… You saved a lot of people and made me look good in the process… I consider it a great homage… a tribute… wheelie popping and everything… But we may have to talk about IP concerns going forward… But we can talk about that later… I hope you have a good lawyer… Relax I’m kidding… Mostly… As much as I like what you’ve done with the Mark I design… I’m more concerned about what made it necessary to begin with… This new technology that Fitz Simmons has come up with… has managed to get into the wrong hands in spectacular fashion… And at virtually a record pace… I’m not talking about your hands necessarily… I’ve heard nothing but good things about you… But you were unauthorized… It was a dumb luck happy accident that you turned out so well… But Dr. Rappaccini got a hold of one… And she made the flying giant Mr. Potato Head with it…
Asian Man:
With wicked cool lightening blasts…
Stark:
Ned… We talked about this…
Ned:
Sorry Mr. Stark…
Stark:
They were wicked cool however… But not as cool as the wheelie popping Mark I… But I’m partial… And that is why we are here… This new FSB technology needs to be gotten under proper control… Starting now… Fitz is going to be your new boss… and your handler… assigned by Shield as a kind of Sechovia Accords work release program… sponsored by Stark Industries… I have taken the liberty of purchasing your old lab… This lab will now be yours… Yours and Fitz Simmons… But you will be responsible for running it for us… These two will be helping me back in New York… doing what you’ll be doing here… Ned here is tech support for Spider Man… And he’s also his best friend… And that would be the other one here… Peter Parker… the man behind the spider mask…
Peter:
Mr. Stark!… My secret identity!…
Stark:
Stowe it Parker… You already know his real name… And you may need to work together in that capacity some day… So get over it… I’m impressed with your work… You managed to make four working arc reactors… Out of nothing but FSBs… That little detail was what I found to be the most impressive when I heard it… Can I take a closer look?…
Gabriel:
Sure… Here…
Gabriel puts his hand over the arc reactor in the arm rest of his wheelchair, and it begins to lift itself out of the arm rest, putting itself in the waiting hand of it’s master Gabriel, before separating from the chair. Gabriel hands the arc reactor over to Stark, as he examines it.
Stark:
What is it powered with?…
Gabriel:
Palladium… My FSB actually made Palladium… I was just trying to make a model of it… And the little black box took it the rest of the way… Somehow making Palladium to provide a fuel source… I’m not even sure how… I’m going over some of the documentation that Fitz gave me… Supposedly… This stuff called Zero Matter… which is what these things are made of… can be used as a transient form of matter that can be temporarily or permanently… transmuted into other elements and materials… manufacturing essentially anything potentially… I went by the Mark I specs because I didn’t have any others… I had all of those memorized… But with the Palladium arc reactors… Mr. Black tells me… that I can only use four of them at a time… or they’ll destabilize… And making an element takes a lot of energy in an of it self… But the native power source of the FSB can generate more than enough power to generate the small amount of Palladium needed for an arc reactor…
Stark:
Mr. Black?…
Mr. Black:
He would be referring to me Mr. Stark… I am his FSB…
Ned:
Your magic black box talks to you?… With the voice of KITT from Knight Rider?… How can I get one?…
Stark:
Now now Ned… Cool your jets there… Don’t get too excited too quickly… I made a promise to your mother when you signed on as an intern with me to help out Peter… Do you remember what that promise was?…
Ned:
No hero business… No arc reactors in the chest…
Stark:
Which was a ludicrous suggestion to begin with… But I knew what she meant… Nothing invasive… No heroics… beyond a support role… as an apprentice… And I will be keeping that promise no matter what!… Ned!… Don’t make me change my mind about this!…
Ned:
Yes Mr. Stark… Whatever you say Mr. Stark… But… what are you saying Mr. Stark?… Change your mind about what?…
Stark:
About having Gabriel here issue you your own FSB…
Ned:
So I am getting one?… You rock Mr. Stark!…
Stark:
Now cool your jets Ned!… You’re strictly support only!… Remember that!… I better not see you popping wheelies with this stuff… And absolutely nothing invasive… understand?… Some people I hear have been putting this stuff in their bones… But they have other issues… No heroics!… Support only… And your primary use for this… is to support setting up and running an FSB lab back east… So that neither I nor Peter will have to do it directly ourselves…
Peter:
Wait… So… I’m not getting one?…
Stark:
You and I are going to remain part of the control group for this little FSB experiment… Besides you’re going to be helping me test my nanotech that I’ve been working on… But we both need to work with and be familiar with this technology… So Ned here will do it for us and be our guinea pig… But with nothing invasive… Personally I don’t like the idea of magic based telepathic control… I can’t trust what I can’t understand… Or design better myself… Only I get to play with my head… But Ned’s head is relatively expendable…
Ned:
Cool… I’m expendable… I accept this mission…
Gabriel:
So you want me to issue one to Ned here?… I’ve never actually done that before… I remember the procedure… that Dr. Rappaccini used to give me one… But I’ve never actually done it myself…
Stark:
So it was Monica that gave it to you?… Not Dr. Tarleton?…
Gabriel:
I never even heard of him till Shield mentioned him… How do you know Dr. Rappaccini?…
Stark:
We dated briefly… We were friendly… But she got caught up with AIM and Extremis research… like a lot of good scientists… And she went to the dark side… Not as bad as some from what I hear… But I kind of took that whole episode a bit personally… Although not that much against her specifically… until she turned Alrich Killian into MODOC!… That part is a bit hard to forgive… I hear that your a bit sweet on her… I can understand the appeal… Really… But be very careful of Dr. Rappaccini… She is still at large… And she has the same power you do now… And you know now just what that can do… But never mind Monica for now… I didn’t come here to talk about her… Go ahead and give Ned here his own FSB… Quick… Before I change my mind…
Gabriel:
Sure thing boss… Here… Come here and give me your palms…
Ned walks over and leans down to gives Gabriel his palms. Gabriel takes his original matte black cube and puts it in the palm of one of Ned’s hands with his hand on top of it, then holds his hand over Ned’s other palm, as white sparkles begin to fly, forming a new matte black cube in Ned’s other palm. The white sparkles die down and disappear, leaving nothing but the matte black cube in Ned’s hand, which suddenly chimes in with the voice of Darth Vader.
Darth Box:
Ned… I am… your FSB…
Ned:
I shall call you… Darth Box… Upon this rock… I will build my death star…
Gabriel:
Okay… Now you need to practice with it… The first thing Dr. Rappaccini told me to do with it when I got it… was colonize my wheelchair with it… Is that a laptop?… Try colonizing your laptop with it… Then replicating it… making a copy of the colonized laptop… Make two if you can…
Stark:
You heard senpai… Get to it…
Ned pulls out his laptop and sets it on lab table, he places his FSB on the keyboard, which immediately fires up a holographic display of the contents of his laptop.
Gabriel:
Of yeah… it does that… the FSBs come with built in holographic display… and audio… wifi… satalite… It was made to compatible with all known Midgardian technology… Capable of hacking as well as colonizing… It is primarily a nanotech quantum super computer after all… with it’s own zero point energy like power source… It’s supposedly based on old Howard Stark tech… similar to the original arc reactor designs… Fitz has been bragging about being right about that by the way… He insisted that I mention it… Now try getting it to colonize the laptop… Command it to if you have to…
Ned:
Darth Box… I command you to colonize this lap top… Take it over and make two copies…
Darth Box:
By the will of the force… I will see this done… This has been a momentous day for Ned Leeds… And will soon be momentous day… for FSB laptops…
Darth Box begins to stream white sparkles all over the laptop turning it’s entire surface matte black. The stream of white sparkles continues and forms two more identical matte black laptops, before ceasing entirely as the screens flicker on.
Gabriel:
There… Now you can give Mr. Stark and Spider Man here access to your new FSB laptop’s… And they’ll be able to access your network of FSBs using these additional laptops… And they do network… Their processing power grows with more nodes…
Ned:
Sweet!… Can I get my own armor?…
Stark:
No… No heroics remember?… I’m warning you… Don’t make me regret this…
Gabriel:
You can make just about anything with these… Even arc reactors with Palladium… And I can probably transfer the specs for those directly to your FSB… Fitz just transferred the specs for a colonized Kree war shuttle… The one that was captured by Queen Karnilla of Nornheim… according to him… Here…
Ned’s laptop fires up a holographic display of the Kree war shuttle as colonized.
Peter:
That is so cool… What else can we do with these?…
Gabriel:
Fitz says that you can do basic low level magic with them… like a magic wand or something… It kind of acts like a short cut… It comes with all these Asgardian grimoires… But translated by the box into English… But I’m not sure if I believe any of that… I think I’ll stick to engineering…
Stark:
Speaking of which… Parker… Give the man his homework…
Peter Parker takes the backpack off his back and pulls out a number of examples of arc reactor prototypes of different sizes, as well as a number of prototypes for the repulsers that Stark uses in his Iron Man armor, and sets them on the lab table by the laptops.
Stark:
These are my state of the art prototype arc reactors… that I’m currently field testing myself in order to evaluate them for mass production… This… if I have my way… is the future of energy on this planet… They use a custom element… designed by my father… but difficult to produce… These are fully loaded and fueled with the custom element in question… Colonize them… and everything in this lab… even the walls… Completely take over this space… And see if you can replicate not just the reactors… but the fuel… You’ll find that arc reactors fueled this way are vastly more stable… as well as more powerful… And I for one am dying to see what you can do with them… And I’ll expect full regular reports on your results of course… And you will be required to provide the rest of the FSB using crowd with the specs for them… and whatever else you make here… That’s the gig… understand?…
Gabriel:
Got it… Ride or die right?…
Stark:
Or fly…
Gabriel:
I’m not sure if I like flying… But maybe I’m just doing it wrong…
Stark:
You’ll find a few repulser prototypes that I put into the mix… might help out with your flight issues… when combined with a better power source… from one or more of these arc reactors…
Gabriel holds his original FSB cube on the lab table with his hand on the top of it. The cube begins to stream white sparkles all over the table top as Ned, Peter, and Stark quickly grab up their new FSB laptops. The white sparkles continue to stream to over flowing, going on to cover every surface within the lab, and filling the hole in the wall. Everything covered in the white sparkles turns to matte black, and the hole in the wall is completely filled with more of the same matte black material.
The arc reactors that populate the table top are all turned matte black completely at first before the tops start to emit a white glow again, as the tops become gradually more and more translucent revealing an ongoing arc reactor reaction within them. Voids in the matte black table top are formed, into which the arc reactors sink, embedding themselves into the surface of the table top and arranging themselves in an array in the table top. Additional voids open up in the otherwise solid matte black table top, into which form additional arc reactors, filling the table top surface with them, as they all begin to glow and pulsate in unison.
Gabriel:
How’s that?… I think I did it… Here… Check the specs… If it worked… you should be able to make more with yours… In fact… Either Mr. Stark or Parker should be able to use voice commands with your FSB laptops if you authorize it… They’ll never be able to use the telepathic control… But that shouldn’t necessarily be required to use the basic colonize and replication functions… Stark should be able to make working copies of his arc reactors using your laptop FSB… Or the Kree war shuttle for that matter… if he wants to mess around with that… or whatever other specs might get transferred over to it from here… or from Fitz… Fits said that the Kree tech seemed to use principles of operation similar to the stuff your father had come up with ages ago… But couldn’t use because he didn’t the tech to make it… nanotech in particular…
Stark:
Interesting…
Stark places his FSB laptop back on the table top.
Stark:
Darth Box… Make me a new arc reactor please…
Ned:
Do as he says… By my command… for Peter Parker here too… It is the will of the force… It is my will as your master…
Stark:
Is that really required?…
Darth Box:
I will see it done… my master… Thy bidding… and the bidding of thy servants shall be obeyed…
Ned:
No Darth Box… Tony Stark is my master… Understand?…
Darth Box:
I shall obey your master as my own…
Whites sparkles begin to stream from Stark’s FSB laptop, and form an additional state of the art arc reactor already pulsating with ongoing operation.
Stark:
Bingo Yatze and buzinga!… We’ve got elemental replication!… Perfect!… This is way easier than the methods that I used to make it to begin with… Alright… Time to split up… I have to head back to Stark Industries to supervise repairs and start working some things up with my new toy… Ned… You and Parker go with Gabriel here over to the Johnson Building downtown… Fitz Simmons are building an FSB lab there too… Go along and help out Fitz and Gabriel… Gets lots of practice with your new toy… And take lots of notes… Because you’re going to have to replicate all of this when we get back home… Begun… these nanotech wars have… May the farce be with you… Always… I’m out geeks…
Stark takes his new FSB laptop, and his new arc reactor, and parts company for Stark Industries.
Gabriel:
So I guess we have to get going for downtown… But now I gotta do some upgrading of my primary ride…
The four arc rectors in Gabriel’s wheel chair, all simultaneously expel themselves and separate from his wheelchair and embed themselves in the floor of the lab. New arc reactors form in the voids that they left behind.
Gabriel:
There… I can still use my old Palladium ones here in the lab… But with these new ones I’m not so limited in how many I can use at a time… Ultimately it’s just a limit of space… as a practical matter… I could use a new ride…
A matte black 1964 Chevy Impala convertible, with four arc reactors in it’s wheel hubs, and two more in front in place of headlights, and two more behind it in place of the tail pipes, forms up out of the nanotech covered floor of the FSB lab, but with a void in the seat where the driver sits. On the rear bumper are the custom plates reading ‘RIDORDI.’ Gabriel’s chair rolls up along side the driver’s side door that door morphs away and absorbs his chair into the drivers position, putting Gabriel behind the wheel, before morphing closed again. The newly repaired wall opens up as a garage door forms in the wall, swinging open to allow exiting by the matte black convertible Impala.
Gabriel:
Ride or die bitches!…
Ned:
Shotgun!…
Ned slides into the front passenger side with his FSB laptop, and Peter hops straight into the back seat of the open convertible with his FSB laptop.
Gabriel:
So… Are you really Spider Man?…
Peter:
Yeah… I really am… Do you need a demonstration?…
Gabriel:
No… That’s cool… You just don’t look all that super to me dude… But that’s probably for the best… If you don’t like people knowing about it that is… We’ll just tell people you’re just another Stark intern… Here in support of Ned here… Since I issued him an FSB… You’re here effectively as his support anyway… at least until you put that mask on… Cool?… Spidey?…
Peter:
Cool… Black Smith… That is a cool name by the way…
Gabriel:
I didn’t meant to make it that… I was just making a stupid joke to dodge questions… Now I’m stuck with it… I don’t want anyone to know who doesn’t already know who I am either… Not if they don’t already know or need to know… Cool?… Peter?…
Peter:
Cool Gabe… You’re local right?… Do you know where this Johnson Building is?… besides just being downtown?…
Gabriel:
I know where it is… My brother lives there with his hot mess girlfriend…
Peter:
Hey wait… I’m in support of you here… Dude!… I’m your man in the chair!…
Ned:
Oh my god your right… We’ve totally switched places on this trip… Well man in the chair… or just the man in the backseat at the moment… See if you can use that FSB laptop… And dig up everything you can find on the Johnson Building…
Peter:
Right away sir…
Gabriel:
If you don’t mind… I’m not in a hurry to head over there just yet… I have to have a conversation with my brother… that I don’t want to have just yet… And I need to test out my handiwork here anyway… I was this close to making a hover quad the other night when MODOC attacked… with just four Palladium arc reactors… But they weren’t stable or powerful enough… But with these new ones… I might be able to make a flying car… I’ve heard that Shield has flying cars…. I wanted to see if I could make one… But now I have to test it… If it works… you can have the specs…
Gabriel drives out of the garage door, and it closes and seals itself up, disappearing back into the restored wall. Gabriel pulls out just far enough for the wall to close and seal behind him, then his wheels turn on their side pointing down with the arc reactors in their hubs, thrusting and lifting the vehicle upward as they do. The rear arc reactors begin thrusting as well, thrusting the flying FSB car forward, as well as upward.
Ned:
I totally want the specs for this right now!…
Gabriel:
You got it dude… You know… Technically… I really shouldn’t be doing this… I don’t even have my license…
A different Impala convertible pulls up in front of the Johnson Building, having been waved through the barricades for carrying some familiar faces. Coulson drives with May and Betsy Braddock in the back seat, with May and Betsy wearing shades and hoods.
Betsy:
Do I have to do this?… Mistress May?…
May:
Yes Revanche… You have all the power you need for Revanche… And I promised you that I would help you with that… to make up for using you… But I will be using you… No choice… I need you… And for this I need you to tell the truth to everybody till I say otherwise… Especially to your brother… Like it or not… he’s a part of this… And I need you to get over it… Because I need you here for Simmons… No choice… Now let’s go…
Betsy:
Very well… Mistress May…
They walk up to the glass with a concerned Daisy watching as they do.
Daisy:
Is that you?… Coulson?…
Coulson:
I’m as much me as I’m ever gonna be again… It’s complicated… At the moment Ogun and I have a tentative truce… as we may be stuck with each other for a very long time… I control my body… But Ogun lives in and controls the FSBs in my bones… Ogun seems to be on his best behavior at the moment… But he put FSBs in May’s bones as well… and Betsy Braddock here… We have to talk to Jemma…
May:
You know don’t you?… That Jemma and I are vampires now… Betsy here is too… We need to talk vampire business… with Dr. Simmons…
Daisy:
Sure thing… Simmons has been waiting for you… She’s downstairs in her own lab now… It’s kind of a work release lab slash holding pen… Not just because she’s a vampire… But because of what she did to Fitz as well… She’s become extremely dangerous potentially… But she’s still Jemma… And she’s on her best behavior as well… Come on… My dad’s home too by the way… That’s him passed out on a pair of mattresses over there after gorging on dozens of pizza’s… That’s what my own mother made of him… So honestly… You being vampires doesn’t even phase me… It barely registers… Come on… Lets go downstairs… And check in with Madame Web…
Coulson:
Madame Web?…
Daisy:
You gotta see it to believe it… Did you see the news?… We’re supposed to be getting a visit from the Black Smith later… He’s Robbie’s little brother… Gabriel… as it turns out… Weird huh?… Using Fitz Simmons Boxes… And that freaky flying giant head MODOC… was made partly with FSBs… and partly from Extremis… Made from the remains of someone named… Alrich Killian… from AIM… You people are among the more crazy things on my plate right now… But that’s quickly becoming stiff competition…
Daisy leads them down the stairs to the basement lab of Dr. Simmons. They find her bathed in a red glow, with the only light coming from the glowing red compound eyes of Madame Web’s spider minions, as she sits surrounded by them, with one on top of her head, and two on her shoulders, various others piled on her like a gown of spiders as she sits in a chair.
Daisy:
You have visitors!… Madame Web… May we pry you away from your spider minions long enough for a civilized conversation… She just loves playing with her spiders…
Madame Web:
I’m not playing with them… I’m synthesizing Pym particles… Not stable enough for use with living things… or even undead things… most likely… But very useful for use with my spiders… I’m also digesting forensic data from Fitz preliminary examination of MODOC… Fascinating stuff… Perhaps I may yet get to examine him myself… Although he is extremely dangerous… Barely containable at Shield West Coast as it is… But I’m glad to see that you’re okay May… I feel responsible for you… In more ways than one… Since I can tell that you have FSBs in your bones now too… Care to share May?…
Ogun:
That was my doing Madame Web… I… the immortal sorcerer… Ogun… I control Coulson’s FSBs… And I used them to give them the same treatment that you devised for your self… I colonized their very bones… with the FSBs that I issued to them… A most ingenius invention… It is a truly wonderous power that you’ve helped create… Madame Web… a power that is now mine to wield and explore… An entire world of possibilities has now opened up to me…. thanks to your FSBs…
Madame Web:
Thanks… Your welcome… I think… I have been exploring possibilities myself… Many by necessity… Some by desire… The FSB’s have an entire alien library of navigational charts data and deep background… not to mention portal navigation… They may not use conventional science and technology as we know it… But they have a lot of background information on it’s use by other civilizations… including the Kree… So much information to go over… and to assimilate… I have a feeling that I know what your going to say May… But I’m afraid it’s not a cure… It’s only temporary… I’ve noticed it to… When I bit Fitz again after his treatment… I know I promised myself I wouldn’t… But I couldn’t resist… I noticed the effect it has on me when I’m drinking it… The blood of Black Box Extremis patients… has a near intoxicating effect upon a vampire… Almost as if being alive again… But it’s just temporary… The only way a vampire seems to be able to tolerate Extremis is by consumption of the metabolized Extremis from someone properly alive who has it… And it wears off… So I’m afraid that’s no cure… I’ve also managed to use my FSBs to sythesize blood!… Well enough for a vampire to live off of… But not enough to satisfy… Since you have FSBs in your bones as I do… You can literally make all the fake blood you need in your own bones… But it won’t make the desire for the real thing go away… I can transfer the info to your FSBs… I can do that much at least… But a cure remains illusive… But with the processing power of my spider minions… Who knows… You may find it difficult to stay here… They barely tolerate me as is… We may have to leave here… Much as I don’t want to leave Fitz… We may not have a choice… But we have to stay and meet the Black Smith… He’s Robbie’s brother!… Isn’t that weird?…
Coulson:
Yeah… Weird…
Daisy:
Weird or not… Don’t even think of wondering off on your own again… any of you… This building is now effectively like a Nornheim embassy… Your safer here than anywhere else… So don’t even think about it… anyone… Not even the new girl… We’ll figure this out here… together… Understand… Besides… We have nothing here if not room… I have to go talk to the queen… Nobody leaves!…
Daisy leaves to go upstairs to talk to the queen, now gardening on the roof and making herself at home, with a purple tent pitched on top of the roof, surrounded by her garden, and her war shuttle. Little Karny and Princess Meghan are assisting the queen in the garden, with Snoopy sleeping in the queen’s tent and Capt. Brian Braddock standing watch, when Daisy arrives on the rooftop.
Daisy:
Enjoying the rooftop your majesty?… There are plenty of unoccupied floors still… Even though everybody seems to me moving in all of a sudden… Are you sure you don’t want to be inside?…
Queen K:
Quite sure Mistress Daisy… Quite sure… I prefer nature… I am no sheltered Orchid… Hot house flowers do not make for good queens…
Daisy:
Yes… Well… Coulson has returned… with May… and Betsy Braddock…
Captain Brian:
What?… Betsy Braddock?… What in bloody hell would she be here for?… And with them?…
Daisy:
I don’t know the full story… But… she’s become… a vampire… I think May turned her… But I don’t know… They’re downstairs with Madame Web now… I’ll take you down to them if you can promise to keep a cool head while we sort this out…
Captain Brian:
Try and stop me!…
Brian Braddock rushes past Daisy to storm down the stairs to the basement lab of Madame Web. Meghan runs after Brian, chasing after Daisy and Brian down the stairs, leaving little Karny behind, playing in the garden with her grandmother. Little Karny begins to follow after princess Meghan, but the queen stops her.
Queen K:
Stop right there little Karny!… This is adult business that does not concern you… You stay here with your grandmother…
Little Karny:
Okay grandmother…
As the adult drama looms downstairs, an approaching roar is heard as Gabriel arrives in his flying chariot, hovering over the rooftop, before landing on the roof in a space by the queen’s war shuttle. The queen draws her sword and prepares to defend herself and her granddaughter.
Gabriel:
Wait!… We’re supposed to be here!… Don’t turn us into toads!… We were invited!…
Queen K:
Invited you say?… Then you would be the Black Smith then… Prove it!… Or be toad!…
Gabriel:
Here… I’ll show you…
Gabriel’s seat behind the wheel morphs and shifts into his matte black Mark I FSB tribute armor, with four arc reactors in it’s chest, but more stream lined, without flamethrowers, rocket launchers, or rocket boots.
Queen K:
A black knight of Midgard indeed… You do not disappoint Sir Black Smith… Your skill with the Fitz Simmons Box… is as prodigious as I was told…
The queen puts away her sword.
Queen K:
So Sir knight… Just who are your fellow paladins?…
Gabriel:
Well your majesty… These two… are a pair of Stark interns… Peter Parker and Ned Leeds… Ned here has been issued his own FSB… They’re here to help me help Fitz… And learn how it’s all done in the process… So that they can go back home and do it there for Stark…
Queen K:
The Stark interns?… I talked to Stark earlier today… I was made to believe that the man of spiders would be among them… Is this not the case?…
Peter:
Oh yes it is your majesty!… Sorry… I was trying to be incognito… I don’t like too many people knowing about that… Please don’t let anyone else know… My real name is Peter Parker… I’m only Spider Man when I put the mask on…
Queen K:
I understand Mr. Parker… intern of Stark… Karny will try to remember as well… Won’t you Karny?…
Karny:
Sure thing grandmother… Promise…
Peter:
Cool… I mean… Thanks your majesty…
Queen K:
Did you make this flying chariot of yours?… I sense it was made with the Fitz Simmons Boxes…
Gabriel:
Yes… That’s right your majesty… I made it with the new arc reactors that Stark gave me to play around with… I can transfer the specs to you… and your FSB… The same way Fitz transferred the specs for the Kree war shuttle to me and mine… I think I can even make a hover quad…
Queen K:
What is… a hover quad?…
Gabriel:
Well… I suppose I’ll just have to make one to show you…
Gabriel reforms his armor again into a quad ATV like structure, but with each of his four arc reactors within the spaces normally for the wheels, but pointed downward for thrust, with Gabriel sitting on it’s seat, without armor save for his helmet. Two more arc reactors are formed in the hover quad, one in front aimed ahead, and one behind aimed backwards. The four primary arc reactors begin to fire, lifting Gabriel and his hover quad up off the rooftop.
Ned:
You’re the man Gabe!… I want one!…
Gabriel:
I’ll transfer the specs… For everyone… For the car too…
Ned:
I’m gonna try now!… I gotta practice anyway…
Ned’s laptop begins to stream white sparkles over to form a few arc reactors.
Gabriel:
You’ll need a few arc reactors to start with just to make all the extra FSB material…
Ned:
Right… These are the smallest of Stark’s designs for arc reactors… I’m starting with my laptop though… Then I’ll build a few more of the bigger one’s to build the hover quad… You make this look so easy dude… Peter… help out with your laptop too… They’re already networked…
White sparkles generate four small arc reactors, two each for both laptops, integrated right into the laptops upon formation. White sparkles continue to stream and form six additional arc reactors, which then form a second hover quad in a swirling flurry of white sparkles. Ned forms a Darth Vader helmet mask over his head, and jumps on the hover quad, then takes off.
Peter:
Aww… I wanted one…
Ned:
Keep fabricating!… It will take longer to make things from scratch completely… start with more reactors… And be sure to transfer this stuff to Stark… He’s gonna love this one… The car too…
Peter:
Ai ai… Captain Ned… Fabrication full steam ahead…
Gabriel comes back to land on the roof with his hover quad.
Gabriel:
Pardon my manners your majesty… Would you like to try?…
Queen K:
Perhaps later… For now I’m more interested in your flying car… Could you give me and my granddaughter a ride?…
Gabriel:
Sure thing your majesty… Peter… You can set the fabrication to auto… I’ve authorized you to use that hover quad… if you want to try it while your fabricating… But you might want to opt for a wardrobe change… just in case you have to rescue yourself in a super human manner…
Peter:
Cool… We can form an escort for the queen!…
Ned:
Form on the leader… Stay in formation…
Gabriel:
My apologies your majesty… They are what we call… geeks…
The gap in the driver side front seat seals up amid white sparkles, as white sparkles also stream from the car and cover Gabriel in a new matte black set of armor with four new arc reactors in his chest to replace the ones he left in the hover quad. Fully armored, Gabriel gets off the hover quad and takes his seat behind the wheel of the flying convertible, as the queen and her granddaughter take to the back seat. Peter dashes away for privacy, and switches into his Spider Man outfit.
Gabriel:
See?… This way it’s a proper escort…
The car lifts off as the black knight of Midgard choufers the queen about town in his flying chariot. Spider Man and Darth Ned take of flanking positions on either side of the car as it flies casually around the LA skyline. Down in the basement work release med lab of Dr. Simmons, Fitz tries to play referee in a literal blood feud. Daisy, Fitz, and Coulson stand in between May and Captain Braddock, with Betsy Braddock standing by her sire as ordered, as Madame Web observes.
Captain Brian:
She effectively killed my sister!… How dare you stand in my way?…
Betsy:
I am not dead… I am Revanche…
Captain Brian:
You are psycho!… How could May turn my sister into a vampire?…
May:
How could she and Ogun turn me and Simmons over to be turned into vampires in the first place?… Your sister was twisted long before I got a hold of her… And If you want to know why… you might want to just ask her…
Captain Brian:
Then why?… Why Betsy?… What is this madness?…
Betsy:
Revanche!… Power!… for Revanche!… Power that I now have… I make no apologies for any of it… Nor for keeping it a secret from you big brother… You were not there when mother died… You weren’t forced to bear witness to the atrocity as I did… as the Shadow King made me do… You would never understand Revanche otherwise… None of us have anything to apologize for… Get over it big brother… You’re not my knight in shining armor…
Captain Brian:
The bloody hell I’ll stand for this!…
Captain Brian launches himself at Melinda May in a blind rage, breaking through the human barricade trying to keep the peace. Reacting in blind primal vampire instinct to protect her sire, Betsy leaps in front of May, and inexplicably slices him up in an X shaped pattern, gutting him with her twin sais before she could think about it. After she has a moment to think, she reacts in horror to what she has done.
Betsy:
Brian!…
Maghan:
Brian!…
Dr. Simmons:
Everyone back away now!… I can still save him if we act immediately…
Betsy:
What do you need me to do?…
Dr. Simmons:
You?… Nothing!… You have done enough!… I was referring to them… Come along my spider minions… Time to get to work!… His only chance is Black Box Extremis… I have to give him the full treatment or he’s done for…
The spider minions rush Capt. Braddock, and begin to surround him in a matte black cocoon, bathed in red sparkles, pulsating blue. The cocoon pulsates blue for several more minutes after the red sparkles have died down. The cocoon begins to crack with pulsating blue cracks in it’s surface, before exploding outward, revealing Capt. Braddock with his chest perfectly healed, pulsating blue.
Captain Brian:
What have you done?…
Dr. Simmons:
What have I done?… I saved your life!… You ungrateful ruffian!…
Captain Brian:
Ungrateful ruffian?… You sound just like Merlin…
Dr. Simmons:
Merlin Simmons?… My father?…
Captain Brian:
Your father was Merlin Simmons?… He was a mentor of mine at Oxford… He’s been missing for a few years now hasn’t he?… Went missing supposedly… But with no signs of foul play… He just disappeared… Ghosting me and everyone I knew who knew him… But he was always very secretive… never talked about his personal life… I didn’t even know he had a family… In fact… I probably shouldn’t speak out of turn on the matter… It’s most likely not the same Merlin Simmons…
Betsy:
Brian… I’m sorry… I wasn’t thinking… I… I just can’t allow that… I just can’t let you harm my sire… It’s a primal vampire thing…
Captain Brian:
That’s okay Betsy… I don’t blame you…
Ogun:
If it makes you feel any better… Go ahead and blame me… I made the deal with Lilith… to turn Dr. Simmons over to her… May was just a bonus…
May:
A bonus!?!…
Ogun:
All that was required was that Dr. Simmons have someone close to her capable of fighting… who could be made her slave and protector… The fact that it turned out to be you… was all the juicier… Your mother and grandmother and I… go way back… But you were beside the point… of the deal for Dr. Simmons…
Captain Brian:
What was the point of the deal?…
Dr. Simmons:
Mistress Lilith has commanded me to find a cure for vampirism… Turning me… and making me turn May… was part of her extra incentive program… Skin in the game… even if it is undead skin…
Captain Brian:
Curing vampirism?… Is that even possible?…
Dr. Simmons:
Based upon my preliminary study of the data provided to me by Lilith herself covering everything she had come up with so far… It would seem to me to be a forlorn hope unfortunately… So far I’ve only managed to find ways to manage the condition… But they all involve other technologies that are problematic in and of themselves… in case you haven’t seen the news lately… The flip side of Lilith’s tactic is that she’s given me an eternity potentially to keep at it… Like it or not… the die is cast Capt. Braddock… All we can do now is work the problem… But now because of your ruffian temperament… You’ve added some personal complications of your own by necessitating the use of Black Box Extremis… Fitz tells me that you’ve had a peculiar levitation response to your FSB… With the effects of the Black Box Extremis… not only can you expect your physical strength and power to increase… This may effect other capacities as well… in unexpected ways…
Captain Brian:
I’ll keep an eye on it Dr. Simmons…
Dr. Simmons:
Now I suggest that we all get settled in… and stow the melodrama… I’m tired of patching people up… And I think I’ve violated the Sechovia Accords again… Doctor’s orders!… Now… Everybody out but the vampires!… I need to examine my people properly in private… For science… And for the cure…
Daisy:
Alright Madame Web… Right Brian?… Meghan?…
Meghan:
Come on Brian… You need rest too… No more getting gutted on me… Spider lady won’t always be around to stick your innards back in and patch you up…
Captain Brian:
Okay Meghan… We’ll talk about this later Betsy… in private… after I’ve rested…
Meghan sees Brian to bed upstairs, and Daisy walks Coulson upstairs to the gallery with Fitz to talk. Mack and Robbie sit with the Warriors Three and Mr. Hide playing cards, waiting for Robbie’s little brother Gabriel to show up.
Robbie:
Man… Where is that kid?…
Mack:
Go easy man… Kid did good… whatever the accords may say… He doesn’t need any extra flack from you… for being a defender of innocent people… no matter what the accords say!… Hell… I’m surprised your not all in an uproar about the strange company downstairs… Doesn’t that register?… with the Rider?…
Robbie:
I don’t know what to tell you… I don’t … sense much evil down there… some darkness sure… But mostly just pain… slim pickings for the Rider…
Mack:
Didn’t realize that you were such a connoisseur of pain…
Robbie:
The innocent must not pay for the guilty… That’s the one thing me and the Rider absolutely agree on… But sometimes… it’s not so easy… not even for the Rider…
Mack:
Some evil just isn’t worth catching fire over…
Robbie:
Yeah… Something like that…
Daisy:
Perhaps you could explain that to Life of Brian…
Robbie:
I’m afraid that I’ve got my hands full with my own little melodrama… Who’s late!…
The queen’s escort finally brings her back down to earth in front of the Johnson Building. To the full alert of every Shield agent surrounding them with guns drawn instantly. The Warriors Three rush out to wave off the shield agents. Spider Man and Darth Ned wave to the assembled Shield agents. Just then, lightening arcs explosively discharge over the roof of the Johnson Building.
Spider Man:
Crap!… It’s the roof!…
Spider Man leaps up and leaves his hover quad on the street, and webs his way up to the roof, landing on top of the queen’s war shuttle. Darth Ned flies up to the roof on his hover quad in a panic.
Black Smith:
Your majesty… I’m afraid I need you and the little one to vacate the car so that I can lend assistance… It’s my job anyway…
Queen K:
Understood black knight of Midgard… Come little Karny… Time to go…
Up on the roof they find that the auto replication function for the arc reactors was a little too auto replicatey, having created twenty such reactors, which have begun to destabilize each other without any proper conduit for their power. Ned lands on the roof with his hover quad and rushes over to his laptop to check out the situation, only to be zapped by it. The Black Smith pulls up to hover in his car at roof level.
Black Smith:
You have to give the energy somewhere to go!… With all of those reactors you’ll have to make something big!… Or you could blow the roof!… And yourself with it!…
Spider Man:
Use the force Ned!… Remember the interface!…
Ned:
It’s too unstable… Dammit Darth Box!… Build me a Hulk Buster Deathstar!… Use every reactor here!… Make it as big as you need to!… Make it so!…
Darth Box:
Cannot comply… structure required too large… no time to comply…
Ned:
Can we make the arc reactors smaller?…
Darth Box:
There are limits according to the original specs…
Black Smith:
Did the original specs take into account for the characteristics of zero matter?… Zero matter can act as the ultimate heat sink… and the FSBs are made from it… make your FSB calculate the compactness possible with zero matter construction… It should be a built in function… You should be able to make everything much much smaller with that…
Ned:
You heard master Black Smith… How small can small get with zero matter construction?…
Darth Box:
Not much smaller…
Ned:
Do it dammit!… Give it your best shot… We’ve got nothing else here… And I don’t have any armor if all of these things went off in my face… Make them as small as possible and form them in a spherical arrangement… like a D&D die… Build the smallest Hulk Buster armor you can… that can still contain that!… and it’s energy!… ASAP!…
Darth Box:
Your will shall be done… My master…
The various arc reactors are spread out over the roof like glowing electric melons in the rooftop garden. Suddenly Ned and Peter’s laptops morph and melt over to the various arc reactors, attaching to them, networking them together as they are bathed in white sparkles, forming more FSB material. The new matte black FSB material seems to morph and shift as it forms, pulling the arc reactors together in a spherical array like a twenty sided die, seeming to shrink them as it does so. The twenty sided pulsating power sphere grows increasingly matte black, as a thick hard matte black shell grows around it, and it is subsumed into an ever growing matte black FSB mass, bathed in white sparkles that continue to intensify, growing ever more material. The mass continues to grow until it reaches the approximate shape and proportions of the Stark Hulk Buster armor, which opens up as it continues to grow.
Black Smith:
Get inside!… Get Inside and take control!… Ride it out till it stops!… Ride or die!…
As if in response to the Black Smith’s suggestion, but without a command from Ned, a ladder seems to form and lay itself down before Ned’s feet, allowing him to climb up into the cockpit, which then closes up behind him as the nanotech behemoth continues to grow. Massive repulsers form in the boots and the back. The twenty foot plus and growing matte black behemoth takes off from the roof, heading straight up. The Black Smith follows in his flying car as Spider man joins him in the back seat.
Black Smith:
Ned!… You read me?… Are you in there or not?…
Ned’s voice chimes in from the dashboard of the FSB Impala.
Ned:
I read you… I’ve got control… And it’s almost stabilized… It has to grow a little bit bigger… It’s almost there… I just need some place to set this thing down… But I’m not sure how much space I’ll need…
Black Smith:
Just set it down in the street… The street in front of Daisy’s building is cordoned off anyway… there is nowhere else…
Ned:
Okay I’m landing it…
The now fifty foot plus matte black behemoth stops growing and lands on the street in front of the Johnson Building, followed by the flying car of the Black Smith, with Spider Man still in the back seat.
Black Smith:
Is it stable?…
Ned:
Define stable…
Spider Man:
Dude!… You made a giant robot!… Dude!… You’re no longer the guy in the chair… You’re the guy in the giant robot!…
Ned:
I’m the guy in the giant robot!…
Black Smith:
Right now you’re the guy in the giant nerd fit!…
Iron Man flies in from Stark Industries to investigate the commotion given recent events.
Iron Man:
What is going on here?… Why is my laptop getting updates about giant robot specs and potentially unstable alternative arc reactor configurations?…
Black Smith:
They did it… The Stark interns…
Ned:
Sorry Mr. Stark!… I’m fired… Aren’t I?…
Iron Man:
On probation perhaps… depending on how well you can park that thing… elsewhere!… besides the middle of the street!… Did you think about that when decided to make a giant robot?…
Black Smith:
They didn’t mean to… The auto replication function got out of hand… That was my suggestion… So that’s my fault… Ned had to come up with something big really quick to accommodate all the energy from twenty arc reactors…
Iron Man:
There’s way more than twenty arc reactors in there!… By my count there’s a hundred!… Five clusters of twenty!… Barely contained!… But brilliantly!… I’m totally stealing that by the way…
Ned:
So I’m not fired?…
Iron Man:
Not yet you’re not… That cluster of reactors you came up with to help contain the excess energy?… the twenty sided D&D die?… Sheer dumb luck that it works brilliantly… I’ve heard worse stories… I’ve told worse stories…
Ned:
It uses zero matter… as the ultimate heat sink… By the principles of dark force… Wow… That sounds cool… The FSBs themselves are made from it… So they know how to work with it… to compact the design… the Black Smith suggested it… The twenty sided thing was my idea…
Iron Man:
And it’s a brilliant happy accident… But it is a bit conspicuous… And I’m a flying man in a can… Can you at least break it up in five parts?… One per cluster… So that it’s not just one big Mega Golem in the street!… I’m calling the new arc reactor configuration a Mega Golem Cluster by the way…
Ned:
Wait… Did you say a hundred?… Five clusters of twenty?… I must have over did it once I went for a giant robot to deal with the excess… I started out with only twenty… But I didn’t know how big it needed to be… I’ve always wanted a giant robot… Once I decided to do that… I think I got carried away and the FSB made up the difference… between what was necessary… and what my subconscious wanted… We’re lucky it’s not the Stay Puffed Marsh Mellow Man…
Iron Man:
That’s why you made five clusters isn’t it?… Voltron?…
The large Mega Golem morphs and shifts with an opening forming within the Mega Golem’s chest, along with a long ladder that forms down to the street. Ned comes down out of the Mega Golem, still wearing his matte black Darth Vader helmet, as the Mega Golem morphs and breaks itself up into five Hulk Buster sized solid matte black golems.
Ned:
There… That’s a little better at least… Right?… Boss?…
Iron Man:
Turn each one of those into a flying car… And your journey towards the flip side will be complete… And transfer all the specs to Fitz and the Black Smith kid while you’re at it…
Each of the five matte black golems transforms into flying convertible Impalas, just like the Black Smith’s.
Iron Man:
Well done… My apprentice…
Ned:
Are we going for a ride Mr. Stark?…
Iron Man:
No… And take that stupid mask off!… You’re not suppose to be acting like a hero remember?… or a villain!… You’re Ned the apprentice!… Not Darth Ned!… I’m taking four of these back to Stark Industries to study… Well three of them to study… one of them to drive… I’m leaving one here with you… You still have a job to do here… Remember?… Be sure to show Fitz and the Reyes kid how to make more of those arc reactor clusters… Try not to make any more giant robots will you?… Not unless Godzilla is attacking Tokyo… Okay?…
Ned:
Sorry boss… We met the queen when we got here and… Well… I guess we got distracted…
Iron Man:
She is distracting… Isn’t she?… Very well… All is forgiven… for now… For now I’ll leave you in the hands of the queen… Now behave yourselves!… Both of you!…
Iron Man plops himself down behind the wheel of the lead flying car and retracts his face mask before flying away with four of the five flying cars powered by Mega Golem Clusters, with the other three flying automatically in formation behind Iron man in the lead car. The one flying car left behind morphs back into a matte black Hulk Buster golem, and walks over to it’s master, standing next to the Black Smith’s flying car parked on the street, with Spider Man still in the back seat.
Spider Man:
Well at least you’re not fired… Hey… Gabe… I don’t mean to get personal but… do you use the Mark I style armor to walk?… or just ride?… It’s cool either way… You might want to go back to the roof… to enter the building… I got a little experience with mask wearing… You get used to thinking this way…
Black Smith:
I haven’t used it that way so far… I’ve resigned myself to it I guess… And I just think about getting a better ride… and beating Robbie!…
Spider Man:
You might want to try it… just to hide the fact that you’re in a wheelchair… Unless you want to go public… You might want to walk in through the front door… or otherwise fly to the roof… Your call dude…
Black Smith:
Okay Spidey… I got this… Come on… We’re making all the poor Shield agents nervous out here…
The Black Smith’s armor begins to morph slightly beneath the waste, separating from the seat, and forming a more conventional matte black Mark I style bottom to his armor, as he oozes out of the driver side, with the drivers side sealing up and reforming behind him. He stands before turning and walking, awkwardly at first, if not wobbly, then more smoothly as Gabriel gets used to using his interface that way. Spider Man, the Black Smith, and Ned the apprentice with his pet golem, all file in through the front door, to the amused greeting of the Warriors Three and Mr. Hide, among others.
Fandral:
Is that normal for Midgard?… Whose side was that thing on?… Who can even keep track?… Midgard certainly is living up to it’s reputation for exotic excitement!…
Volstagg:
And cuisine!…
Fitz:
So… Is that as small as you can make it?… That golem?… And I thought the hot rod black knight here was problematic enough… You can put away your armor now Gabriel… Everyone here knows your name… or soon will…
Black Smith:
Cool… I don’t think I like using this thing to walk anyway…
The Black Smith armor morphs and melts away into Gabriel’s matte black wheelchair, with two arc reactors back in the arm rests and the other two on the wheel hubs of his wheelchair.
Fandral:
See what I mean Volstagg?… Will the wonders of Midgard ever cease?… What does the other one change into?…
Ned:
Just about anything I want it to… But at the moment I’m partial to the flying car… We are the Stark interns you’re looking for…
Hogan:
We weren’t looking for you…
Fitz:
But we were expecting you… hours ago… But since you were with the queen… That much can be excused… Nearly blowing up the roof on the other hand… And do you have to wear that stupid bloody mask?…
Ned:
Sorry senpai… But the control interface is telepathic after all… It helps me control this stuff if I have a little bit of it close to my head… A mask seemed natural… And like I said… the control is telepathic… It just reads your mind sometimes… Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve… Or your face…
Spider Man:
Try something more discrete… I know I’m one to talk right?… Try a pair of shades… You can still use heads up display that way…
Daisy:
I shape mine into a necklace…
The matte black Darth Vader helmet morphs and transforms into a large rectangular opaque matte black set of blinder style shades that cover the sides of his eyes as well as the front. And a thick matte black chain forms hanging around his neck.
Ned:
MC FSB… Dude… I can see just like Geordi this way!…
Spider Man:
Engage!… Make it so!…
Queen K:
The Golem Master has skill… As does the black knight of Midgard…
Ned:
Wait… What’s with all the spiders?… I am I seeing this right?…
Dr. Simmons:
Most likely… Those are my spider minions… My FSB drones… Not as impressive… or intimidating… or as over powered… as your pet golem there… But they serve my purposes far better… But I find your developments very interesting nonetheless… Especially this new power supply… A bit too much for a glorified over sized drone… Don’t you think?…
Ned:
That’s just the mobile package for the power supply effectively… That’s the minimum size for stability… To give the energy somewhere to go… It’s a bit bulky but… it makes a great flying car too!…
Dr. Simmons:
I might have a solution for your bulk problem… I’ve been synthesizing Pym Particles!… Not stable enough for anything properly living… But plenty well enough for FSBs and arc reactors… I’ll send you the specs… as Fitz says… Here… Did you get that?… Just be extremely careful with it… And don’t use it on anything you don’t want to lose permanently… certainly nothing that you can’t replace…
Ned:
Cool!… I can shrink stuff!… But I think I better hold off on trying that with one of these power plants till Mr. Stark says it’s Okay… I’m in enough trouble as it is… But think I could shrink Giant robots!…
Dr. Simmons:
Or grow small ones…
Ned:
I should start working up designs… Gundam Ned… Mark I…
Spider Man:
Mark II…
Ned:
In the mean time… We could put a few of these new power plants in here… We’re supposed to be helping out anyway… Not causing more trouble…
Dr. Simmons:
That would be lovely… The infrastructure of the whole building… and every wall floor and ceiling… is now FSB colonized… So that is a lot of FSB to power… It has it’s own internal power… But with more power… and more processing power… virtually anything is possible… And high end laboratories will tend to have demanding power requirements of their own above and beyond… I believe I’ll make a few of my own… for my own lab space… researching vampires and the vampire cure… The garage would make an ideal FSB energy and fabrication research lab… Perhaps it should be repurposed as such… and tied into the grid… to provide a conduit for any excess… Robbie and Mack should still be able to park there… and work on their vehicles…
Fitz:
You’re right my love… The garage can be a dedicated combination energy lab and FSB fabrication lab… I’ll leave the garage to Mack… The basement will be primarily ours my love… Just like old times… But not just for vampire research… But we should probably rig something similar for the queen up on the roof… Since she’s partial to the roof… And she wants to dabble… I suspect she’ll want a flying car now too… I would…
Ned:
Well… Sure… Wait… Vampire research!?!… You do vampire research?!?… On real vampires?!?…
Dr. Simmons:
Yes… As I am a real vampire…
May and Betsy come up from downstairs and walk up behind Dr. Simmons.
May:
As are we… You got a problem with that?… New kid?…
Ned:
None what so ever!… As long as you’re not hungry… We’re to help with whatever you got… if we can…
Gabriel:
So you’re really vampires?… What’s that even like?… Do you kill people?…
Betsy:
Not if we can help it… Not any more at least… And who might you be?…
Gabriel:
My name is Gabriel… Gabriel Reyes… I work with Mr. Fitz here now…
Betsy:
Gabriel… Like the angel?… Do you have a trumpet?…
Gabriel:
Yes… As a matter a fact I do… I had to learn how to use it so people would shut up about the name… Then they just made more fun… But now I play the trumpet…
Betsy:
I play the piano… I’m a concert pianist… Or I was… among other things… I’m not sure exactly now… Your blood smells delicious by the way…
Gabriel:
Uh… Gee… Thanks… I think… Heavens to Betsy Miss Braddock… I do believe you’re sweet on me… or at least part of me… I’m referring to my horn of course…
Betsy chuckles hysterically and awkwardly, as if unaccustomed to laughter.
Betsy:
You should be so lucky Gabriel… You should be so lucky…
Fitz:
Okay… Why don’t we go start downstairs with your new power plants… Dr. Simmons can get her vampire friends situated upstairs… while we get everything set up downstairs…
Gabriel:
You’re going to be living here?…
Betsy:
Apparently…
Betsy pulls back her hood and removes her shades to reveal her long black hair and white cataract covered eyes.
Gabriel:
You’re blind?…
Betsy:
Yes Gabriel… Does that bother you?…
Gabriel:
Not unless being in a wheelchair bothers you?…
Betsy:
I wouldn’t know Gabriel… I’m not the one in a wheelchair…
Betsy and Gabriel both laugh at each other’s stupid jokes.
Fitz:
Alright… That’s enough you two… Gabriel… You help Mack get set up with his FSB in the garage… And I’ll take the Stark interns downstairs with me… Are you gonna wear that thing the whole time?… Peter Park It?…
Spider Man:
Hey!… Does everyone need to know?…
Fitz:
Around here?… Yeah… I think everyone’s had enough of bloody secrets… So hurry up and change… You can at least look semi professional…
Spider Man:
I left my civies on the roof…
Fitz:
Well go get em… And get on with it then… I’m not so much running a lab… as running a bloody daycare… It’s bloody detention!… at bloody Hogwarts!…
Spider Man leaves through the front door to take a route quicker for him, up the side of the building to the roof. Dr. Simmons leads the vampires May and Betsy upstairs with Daisy, and Gabriel bumps his wheelchair into a doorway following Mack, because he was watching Betsy as she walked up the stairs. Robbie follows his little brother and Mack on their way into the garage.
Gabriel:
So how good are you with your FSB?… How long have you had to practice with it?… I understand it’s relatively new…
Robbie:
Is that what you understand?… little bro… Is that what you understood before you got involved with mad scientists?…
Mack:
Hey now…
Robbie:
I’m talking about this Dr. Rappaccini puta!… The one you’re so sweet on… The one you nearly went to jail for… The one that got a bunch of people killed… And nearly got you killed… Seems she has a long history of shady science that other people took the rap for… And now you’re hitting on vampires?… You got some kind of death wish pendejo?…
Gabriel:
At least my head hasn’t starting to catch fire… I don’t think that’s covered in my insurance… Oh yeah Robbie… I caught your act at the airport too… Did you think that I wouldn’t recognize your car Robbie… in spite of the flames… or know your plates… if not the flaming skull… Care to explain that one Robbie?… Since you’re feeling so talkative?…
Robbie:
You don’t want to know about that…
Gabriel:
Well it’s too late for that Robbie… Way too late for that line… And Dr. Rappaccini… is none of your business… Not any more… Never was really… No more than your head catching fire was any of my business…
Robbie:
Funny you should say that… Cause the way I see it… if things had turned out differently… you could have ended up like MODOC… And for the same reason…
Gabriel:
You don’t know that!… You don’t know the work we did!… You never even cared what I was doing at Cal Tech… As long as I was there… And you didn’t have to worry about me… You know what?… I’m not really needed here… And I have another lab to set up elsewhere… Tell Fitz I’ll be back later…
Gabriel’s wheelchair morphs into the Black Smith armor on his body as he stands, then generates matte black roller blades underneath the armor’s boots, and rolls out, leaving through the front door, collecting his car before flying back to Cal Tech. Gabriel lands on the roof of his lab, then the bottom of his car and the roof of his lab morph, and give way to slide Gabriel right down into his lab, still wearing his armor, while sealing up the holes behind him. Gabriel’s armor morphs back into his wheel chair, after setting down on the floor of his lab, as he hears a familiar voice from the shadows of his lab.
Dr. Rappaccini:
There’s my angel face…
Gabriel:
Dr. Rappaccini?…
Gas floods into the lab filling the entire space, knocking Gabriel unconscious.
Dr. Rappaccini:
Sorry my precious angel Gabriel… But I cannot give you a choice… or you might be held culpable… You might be anyway… But you would never accept it otherwise… Either way really… Take him… We leave immediately…
A large matte black golem swoops in from the shadows of the lab, morphing and shaping itself to swallow up Gabriel whole, wheelchair and all, then it mostly retakes it’s previous golem shape, but much fatter. Dr. Rappaccini walks out of the shadows of the lab, still wearing yellow beekeeper hazmat suit sans helmet and gloves, and leads the golem to a wall that opens up a large gaping hole. Dr Rappaccini and the extra fat golem walk out and leave the lab, as the hole in the wall reforms and seals up behind them, leaving no trace of their visit.
Gabriel wakes up in a tent, naked and bathed in a pulsating blue glow, strapped to a padded matte black slab with thick heavy matte black bonds binding his ankles, wrists, and shoulders. A naked woman with light brown skin and long black hair, lays on top of him apparently asleep, while he lay strapped to the slab.
Gabriel:
What the?… Dr. Rappaccini?… Is that you?…
Dr. Rappaccini:
Welcome back… my precious angel Gabriel… My precious pet… I hope that you can forgive me… I hope that… you will understand… some day…
Gabriel’s matte black bonds morph away, releasing him from bondage. As Gabriel’s hands are freed, he puts his arms around her and hugs her slightly as she picks her head up to look at him.
Gabriel:
What have you done?…
Dr. Rappaccini:
I have saved you… I’ve healed you… Can’t you feel it?… Can’t you feel this?…
Gabriel:
Woh… Oh my… I can definitely feel that…
Dr. Rappaccini:
I’m glad you’re fully awake now my pet… I did what was necessary… But I would rather you be awake for this… I must confess… I’ve been longing for this… But I acted out of desperation…
Gabriel:
What did you do exactly?… out of desperation?…
Dr. Rappaccini:
I healed you… By means of an experimental method… Similar to what Dr. Simmons has called Black Box Extremis… It was something that I came upon independently by dire necessity… to save my own life… But once I had the means… I had to save you too… to save you from death forever… We are immortal now my precious… And you can walk… and dance… and give me children…
Gabriel:
Children!?!… We never even dated… let alone talked about children… We only ever flirted… Which was bad enough because you were my boss…
Dr. Rappaccini:
I know… Stupid rules of a society with contempt for science and logic… But I had recruited interns partly based on their potential as mates… Almost all were hopelessly useless in every department… or they wanted nothing to with me by AIM reputation… Call it eugenics if you must… It wasn’t the top priority… But it was something that I was looking for… Then you came along… brilliant… curious… relatively open minded… not to mention cute… And you didn’t care about the past… So I had to have you… in whatever capacity I could get you… When our funding was yanked and we were evicted… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you… Then this magic box dropped into my lap… So I took a gamble… that has paid off!… We are now immortal… And we shall have many children… children that will build an empire of science… free of stupid rules written by the inferior and the ignorant…
Gabriel:
Children!?!… Empire of Science!?!… Have you gone completely nuts!?!…
Dr. Rappaccini:
I knew you would have a hard time understanding… But I couldn’t allow for that… So I’ve been harvesting your seed while you slept… You’ve been very responsive… with good stamina and recovery… I’ve taken multiple samples… I hope that you can forgive me… I could not chance you saying no…
Gabriel:
To what part…
Dr. Rappaccini:
Any of it… But I’m all yours now… I surrender… Take me… And do whatever you will with me… Whatever… However… Whenever… Take me in if you must… I am your slave… But even if you insist on taking me in… there’s no need to go right away is there?… Stay awhile… Be with me… Let me corrupt you a little… my precious angel Gabriel…
Gabriel:
According to the Sechovia Accords… I’m not allowed to intervene in law enforcement matters… I don’t have a badge… So you’re not my problem… technically speaking… I’m not allowed… That’s what they told me when they made me sign the Sechovia Accords… I run a lab… I don’t chase bad guys… MODOC was temporary insanity anyway right?…
Dr. Rappaccini:
For who?… Me or you?…
Gabriel:
Both…
Gabriel does his best to forget that people have died. And Monica does her best to help him. Until Gabriel is exhausted back to sleep again. Gabriel awakens to find Dr. Rappaccini missing from the tent. He then leaves the tent to find her. Outside he finds that their tent is pitched on top of a hill overlooking Cal Tech. He looks out at the LA night lights on a moonlit night, as Monica stands there wearing a matte black skin tight body suit that covers everything from her neck to her wrists, and to her bare ankles, with a matte black hooded cape over her shoulders, and the hood over her head. She wears a rectangular pair of solid matte black shades on her face that covers the sides of her eyes as well as the front.
In her right hand is a large matte black twenty sided geodesic polyhedron orb, like an extra large matte black Dungeons and Dragons die. Monica and her orb are suddenly bathed in light blue electric plasma at a low level, as she lifts up off of the ground, with her bare feet bathed in tiny electric blue arcs. Her amplitude suddenly ramps up, and her lightening arcs grow and spread all over her body, as her cape animates in the lightening.
Gabriel:
Monica!… What are you doing?!?… Another Experiment?!?… Aren’t we in enough trouble?!?…
Monica cuts off all of her lightening, and drops a few feet to the ground. Monica rips the matte black blinder goggles off to run over and kiss Gabriel.
Monica:
Electromagnetic levitation… my angel Gabriel… A new trick I’m trying to master… a new weapon in my arsenal… for my war against ghosts…
Gabriel:
New weapons for war?… Shady lady?…
Monica:
I’m sorry my love… But I have a confession that will no doubt break your heart… But I have done more than accidentally create MODOC… I killed Dr. Tarleton…
Gabriel:
You killed him!?!…
Monica:
Yes Gabriel… And I did it in cold blood… And that single act lead directly to the MODOC incident… Now… On top of that… Dr. Tarleton himself has come back to haunt me… I used my FSB… to colonize the body and the blood… To disappear him… and his FSB… into that big Golem that you called… Matte Black…
Gabriel:
I was joking about that stupid thing… while you knew it was some guy’s remains?…
Monica:
I sorry Gabriel!… I know you’ll probably never forgive me!… But there’s more!… You have to hear the rest!… While I was busy… taking samples with you… the golem… and all the other drones that I made from him… wondered off on their own somehow… And I have no idea where or why!… I need help… And you’re the only one that I can turn to here… As I said before… I am forever your dutiful slave… Take me in if you must!… But we have to stop them somehow!…
Gabriel:
Dammit Monica!… Where’s my wheelchair?…
Monica:
What do you need your wheelchair for anymore?…
Gabriel:
I made my armor from my wheelchair…
Monica:
We were exchanging samples on it earlier… You were strapped to it for a large part of that…
Gabriel:
Dammit Monica!…
Gabriel’s matte black armor with four arc reactors makes it’s own way outside empty, having already morphed into it upon an unspoken mental command by Gabriel. The armor morphs and opens up in the front as Gabriel steps inside of it, before it morphs closed again with him inside it. His armor morphs and shifts again, with the two lower arc reactors shifting to either side of the center axis, of a newly formed rear wheel, of his chopper version of the armor, keeping the other two arc reactors side by side in the front of the chest of the armor. A rear seat and back rest form behind the Black Smith.
Gabriel:
Come on Monica!… Get on!… We’re going home!…
Monica puts her matte black blinder shades back on, and gets on the back of the bike, still holding on to her orb for dear life in her right hand.
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
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