We were only a relatively short distance away from the Tower..but we now
had to push past the crowds of people who were congregating and blocking the
entrance of the Tower.
Cops were everywhere as nighttime had shed an eery black canvas over the city sky.
Helicopter lights shone overhead and people talked and gasped excessively.
Once close, we took quick notice of everyone, including the police officers talking on their little walkie-talkies, looking up at the Tower. And so we looked, too.
There stood Loki and Livewire, perched on a ledge above the entrance, Loki standing tall, both arms raised to the crowd, scepter in hand, hording the crowd's attention, with a wicked smile traced across his lips. "People of earth! Your day of reckoning is upon you! Your time of peace is over! The bringers of death are here--you have no salvation! No hope! No future! The time has come for hell to RISE!" "OH, stop being so dramatic!"
Loki flinched and looked around..me and the boys pushed forward.
"Lord, I can't stand you."
He and Livewire's eyes bolted down at the empty space the cops had created in case the two decided to drop down. Speaking of the cops, they attempted to push us back, but we only slid past them, me pushing one aside by the face, and we entered the arena, so to speak.
This was almost insulting to them, crashing in on their little villain speech and making a stand..
despite the fact they literally invited us there.
Loki's gaze narrowed as he zoomed in on us. "...how did you manage to survive?"
I smirked, "Oh, well, you know. I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing your pretty faces again."
"You might've.." Livewire spoke in a unique, peculiar accent. "If you ended up in hell."
"Possibly..wouldn't exactly call myself a hero, to be honest..I'm kind've screwed up. Maybe anti-hero is my style. Maybe I am a villain..maybe I'm a hero. Maybe I'm both. Maybe I'm everything at once. Guess it depends on the day's agenda."
Loki knelt down. "And what is today's 'agenda'?"
I shrugged. "Well for one..tearing every limb off your measly little corpses and setting it all on fire." Loki flexed his brows, "How lovely..yes, but I think you might be painting a self portrait..for it is not in the cards for I to perish..you're not the only one gifted with time."
I tilted my head, "I'll settle for a coma."
He frowned.
Slowly, he rose back up and puffed his chest up, anger visibly swelling within him.
"I've grown tired of your games, you insolent wretch. Why did you come? Please don't tell me it was for that traitorous filth." "Did it ever occur to you that since I am your queen, that maybe you're the traitorous filth? Besides.." I jerked forward a step. "Max was innocent. He didn't do anything to anyone and you killed him. WHY? I thought you wanted to convert him, not kill him!"
"We DID." Livewire spoke.
"We offered the world to him..power and anything else he desired..and despite all that promise, he chose you. Claiming you protected him. Believed in him. And all that crap."
My face melted from its angry expression as sorrow took over.
"....and?" Livewire smiled and then laughed.
"And then we killed the sucker! Pushed him right into a watery electric grave!"
At this, I curled my fists so tightly, it hurt.
"So let me get this straight..." Master stepped forward. "It's join YOU..or we DIE?"
The two only smiled in response.
"And what makes your little group so special to order around the rest of all us villains?"
"Because we are superior! We are the shining future of true justice! Those that delight in killing and revel in blood- those that want salvation- FREEDOM from the oppression of HEROES- will fear no longer of defeat. We are death. We are chaos. We are destruction. We are Cataclysm!"
He said it so dramatically, flinging his arms around like he was a wrestling match announcer.
But the name..the name now stuck. "Oh joy, it has a name now."
"Cataclysm? That's the best you can come up with?"
"It sounds like an infection." Jim spoke. "Of the ear."
"WHOSE cataclysm?" Bane yelled over them. "Who do you intend to descend your revenge upon?"
Loki only smirked, looking down at us like he was a king. "Everyone."
Oh so fearsome..really, I was quite afraid. Except, ya know, I wasn't.
"Yeah, but you're not the leader, are ya?"
He frowned. I smirked.
"You're a scout." "There is no leader."
He stared at me a minute as I continued to smirk and then he lashed forward in anger.
"It is all of us!!" "No no, Loki, don't deny the truth! Think about it. Someone put this together, someone had this grand scheme, to get all the universe's villains, and get revenge and all that. But are they going out themselves and spreading the good word? No..they're dispatching you...recruiting you, sending YOU out to go and do their work. You. are. the lackeys. Believing the deception they put upon you. That you're in charge of your own selves." I chuckled.
"You're being used."
"Silence! You're lying!!" "Oh sure, I'M lying. But it's not about the revenge and the fight for evil they're after, is it? Not about all you guys' rights to be king and queen. It's a wounded ego."
The others looked at me. Yes, I timed that perfectly.
Loki was about to yell further, when Livewire grabbed him by the shoulder, silencing him, and she peered down at us angrily. "They're just provoking us. Trying to get us to turn on the others."
Yeah, I may or may not be trying to grind their gears a bit.
"Enough of this, where is he?!" "If you're referring to Osborn, then ya best go straight to Mordor, cuz I ain't tellin' ya." "You act tough, Demens, but you ain't never faced anything as deadly as us before!" "That's lovely cuz ya know what? I'm adaptable."
Livewire gritted her teeth together, "Then adapt to THIS!"
She shot out an electric bolt down upon the land, which I dodged by mere inches.
I shot my head up at her, tightening my fists. "I'm gonna freaking rip your SPINE out!!"
She flung her arms, grinning wickedly. "You'll have to catch me first!!!"
In that instance, Livewire clapped her hands and bolted down below, zooming as a ball of energy
into the bottom entrance of Oscorp. The people all screamed at this, ducking like absolute wusses. This initiated a chase, which I fell right into.
I immediately ran after her, using all the speed I could muster, and the boys jumped right after me, when Loki suddenly shot down like lightning and missed me just by mere inches with his spear.
The blast he made unfortunately knocked the others down.
I looked behind me, the last thing me seeing was the boys jumping back up and engaging in combat against the Asgardian mischief maker...normally I would run back and kick the tail feather of the jerk messing with them--but I couldn't. I needed to catch Livewire. I needed to stop her.
So I followed her-- followed her right down into the bottom of Oscorp.
~
Livewire had led me into a dreary muggy room full of pipes, steam popping out of a few random places, and there was an unsettling tan light dwindling within the room, as if we had just walked into the heart of a dirty muggy engine room of a ship. The rest of the environment was cloaked in foreboding darkness. But despite the distressing atmosphere, I hurried through the maze of pipes ahead of me that Livewire was effortlessly flying above through an empty road of air.
I chased after the bad female word, clenching my gloved hands as I ran, filled with the ideas of what I would do to her when I caught her. Livewire kept glancing back at me and cackling obnoxiously, no doubt intending on leading me into a trap.
I quickened my pace, nevertheless, because frankly, I was just hellbent to simply hit that chick.
I needed to feel as if I was doing some sort of justice. For Max...
Just as I zoomed through an empty walkway, I skid to a stop at a dead end, and suddenly found myself looking around. I had lost her. "Crud."
I spun in every direction, looking frantically. She's not exactly the hardest person to notice, with her glowing and everything. I was bound to relocate her. I got out my guns out and pointing them in every direction, up, down, sideways. When it happened.
A bolt was shot right at my arm and shocked it to its core, running up and down my limb with the sharpest pain that made me hiss and clench my teeth as I tightened my whole body up.
It caused me to drop my weapon, sizzling with hysterical nerves, and I flashed my gaze at my attacker's direction. Livewire roared with mischievous laughter as she approached overhead and mercilessly within that same second sent out another bolt- one that I managed to dodge by a couple feet. I leapt back and watched her alertly, just as she sent out another.. I didn't have enough time to work out the plan on that one. So I had no choice but to book it in the opposite direction. Livewire had turned the tables and was now chasing me.
Unfortunately for her, I actually was attempting to work up a little plan, and just needed to buy some time to think it through. Although I will admit, having lightning bolts thrown at you repeatedly as you're running and jumping from all sorts of obstacles, trying to think up a way to take out your opponent, IDK man, it was an adrenaline rush, to say the least.
And certainly more challenging than it sounds. I came very close to becoming french toast quite a few times, had I not dodged out of the way from time to time every time she shot out an attack, thanks in part to my many years of Zelda playing.
I will give the girl credit, Livewire was relentless. And I wanted to swat her right outta the air so bad. But alas, I had not the chance. She was right on my heels and was just as freakin' aggressive as me, and that offends me. And gee willikers, it was so flippin' hot, I wanted to scream.
It was as if we were fightin' in a boiler room.
The further I delved into the world of steamy pipeness, the harder it got to navigate and harder it got to dodge her attacks, mainly due to the tight areas that shrunk as I went.
It got so bad, I tripped over a pipe like an idiot, which caused her to catch up with me.
She didn't avoid her golden opportunity to blast me, which was right in my back.
And I was flown by the force right into the wall ahead, so painfully hard, which I immediately tried to recover from. But alas, I was unsuccessful, as Livewire blasted me again and I wound up crawling back against the said wall, trying to operate the limbs I could no longer feel.
Tarnation drat, I was cornered. And I was down one gun that I couldn't even use.
And all the while, I felt a strange, humming surge grow within me, like something was approaching.
Something was about to happen. And it was unclear what it exactly meant. I just knew that Livewire was not the source. Despite feeling this, I hurriedly attempted to recover--only she was quickly drawing near. I gained enough strength to go to shoot her, but she shot at my arm once more and my whole limb went into shock, causing me to once again drop my weapon, me yelling out angrily.
She smiled wickedly as she got closer, holding her hand out to end me, her palm visibly charging for the next assault. I stared at her with murder in my eyes, narrowing them tensely, secretly trying to get my body to operate once more. There was only seconds to act before she shot at me again and it was uncertain whether I would survive the next attack or not..so I waited for whatever was to come to come, expecting the worst cuz that's just my luck.
When suddenly, SLAM!
A blur of blinding electricity tackled Livewire and hurled her violently away, knocking through several pipes that busted them open and the entire scene was shrouded in roaring steam, my eyes still flashing after them. And at once, I knew why I had felt what I felt. That the blur of electricity was no blur at all-- it was Max.
And that's when I realized what Livewire meant..she had drowned him...a watery electric grave..with him having his powers, this could have only meant the two dummies had taken him to the very place he had gotten his powers. To the eel tank.
She had turned him into Electro..and now he was coming after her.
"Max!!" I exclaimed. He shot his eyes at me for just a few seconds, now glowing with a bright blue.
"Run, Sarah!!"
He turned back to her, just in time. Livewire began to fight back, but Electro was more heckin' powerful than her, and defensively flung her all over the place. I was surprised by the quick ferocity Max had gained just by changing, but really, once we're mad and got the power to do something about it, it isn't really all that surprising.
Regardless, this kept her distracted long enough for me to recover just enough to spring up and hobble hurriedly away, running around the wall and proceeding ahead to the other side of the enormous room, with Electro and Livewire battling to my right, straight through the cluster of pipes that all busted upon impact and a cloud of angry electricity hovered past me.
I noticed now that Livewire was attempting to reestablish pursuit of me, and Max saw it, and did not allow it. He landblasted her with full force power, that she roared in pain over, shooting right back at him with pure aggression on her face. Max continued to come at her, trying to drive her attention on him and not me so that I would be able to get away. Max was being a hero.
For the first time, Max was able to turn on someone and experience true power.
Livewire did not stand much of a chance. Still, she fought back hard. It was a literal battle of pure energy. Causing so much heat and energy that all of me felt numb and dizzy, causing me to get a headache from the intense hot temperature.
Still, I rushed further through the maze of pipes and hopped through the open ways they created, trying to distance myself from the two, which I was being successful with. Until I finally lost the two and stopped to gain back some energy, bending over and huffing and puffing as I settled in a particularly empty spot that was surrounded by the mazey pipes.
And I realized...these pipes looked different from the others. Especially when I noticed what dripped from the bottom of one...water..these pipes were filled with water.
And it was there, I breathed life into the plan I so desperately tried to come up with.
To end Livewire once and for all. I knew what to do now.
And just as that happened, I was suddenly grabbed from behind, which I flinched to and swung around--only to face dear Max himself. He had grabbed me by the shoulders, wearing only a trenchcoat and pants, his body now pulsing with pure bright blue electricity, his eyes glowing with pupils that resembled an eel's. All of his hair was gone..and I could see the energy running through his veins in the most mesmerizing way. His touch shocked me, but not in a painful way.
My gaze widened as I tensed my muscles.
"Max! You're alive!!" "Sarah!" He exclaimed in a raspy possessed-like voice. "Of course I'm alive!"
"I thought you were dead!" "Why would you think that??" "Her and Loki told us! They thought they killed you!" "She didn't kill me-- they took me here and tried to get me to turn on you all, but I couldn't..you're my friends. So she kicked me into the eel tank..the eels...they transformed me!"
"I assumed that..but we have no time, she'll be back any minute. Where is she?"
"I lost her." "Good..sort've..look. I have a plan." "A plan?" "Yep...and I need your help."
"How??" I looked all around, then over at the pile of electrical cords sitting nearby. Devious thoughts entered my brain and I smiled wickedly, looking back at him.
"By setting up a web of our own."
~
It wasn't long after that Livewire drew near, seeking us out. She flew angrily through the air, looking in all directions, until she spotted le me ducking out of sight--but it was all a ruse.
She fell into this deception, gritting her teeth and charging her palm up once more with energy to blast me with..until Max suddenly appeared beside her. "Hey princess."
She shot her head at him, but too late, as Max blasted her with his own power, flinging her into a set of pipes that bent upon impact and she fell down, no doubt experiencing sharp pain running up and down her back. She clenched her teeth and looked back up at him as he approached her, spitting out a mouthful of electric blood. He looked pretty ticked himself, though.
"You tried to kill me...you fail to realize you're the very reason why I have these powers now. You turned me into your very doom." "Oh NOW you got the moxie, now that you're all charged up--you were nothing a few hours ago!" "No..just waiting for my true self to come out. And you gave me that." He cocked his head. "I suppose I should be thanking you."
"No one's nothing, Livewire." I said from afar, turning her attention to me.
"Not even you..it's not too late. I'm giving you the chance. Take it, please, before it is too late. Fight with us and stop what Cataclysm is doing. I promise, I'll take care of you."
But she smiled in reply, attempting to crawl back up. "No thanks...I like the way I am."
I sighed, disappointingly, but still shrugged my shoulders in a solemn manner.
"Fair enough..."
I nodded at Max and he nodded back, soon looking back at her.
"It's time for the light show, lady. Don't wanna miss out."
She tensed her whole body up, letting out her palm and creating a small ball of energy that she steadily fed as she made a stance against Max. "Bring it on, you cook. I'm ready to fry your very circuits!" And like that, the battle was re-initiated. They charged against one another and blasted eachother with one another's sheer power.
If they weren't enemies, I'd root for them to marry.
Meanwhile, I was fast at work on our plan, grabbing the cords and tying the ends off to one pipe.
Max flew around, fighting aggressively, which Livewire fought just as hard, sending out bolt after bolt, destroying the environment around them..but Max was slowly tricking her all the while, leading her closer to the empty space I was working from. I snuck underneath the brawling two and climbed all about the pipes, running the cord along the way. I did this repeatedly in random directions, around random pipes, hopping from one spot to the next in a chaotic pattern.
Max then purposely lured her in my direction, now dodging her instead of attacking her, leading her gaze to slowly set on me as she saw I was upto something. As soon as she set her sights on me, she sent out the first attack. I jumped out of the way and kept running the cables along the pipes, climbing one set, onto the next. The mean old witch shot at me repeatedly now, until I ducked out of sight and she descended upon the ground floor, in the center of the empty spot.
And she sought me out. As soon as I did appear, she shot a bolt at me, which missed me.
I appeared again, and she shot once more. She wound up doing this several times , her blasts flying everywhere as I maneuvered away, losing count of the amount of times she shot at me, all unsuccessful. Even so, I dragged the cable behind me and wound up tangling it everywhere, especially across her. She had been vigorous in her vendetta against me, but alas for her..
I had gotten away. I ducked out of sight once again and this time, I did not come back out.
Her attention soon was drawn back to Max's former location, when..she realized..Max was gone, as well. She stood alone in the middle of the empty space. She continued to stand there for several minutes, looking all around at her surroundings. Her eyes now indicated that she had realized..realized something was wrong. She was surrounded by a web of cables that ran even across her, with damaged pipes hissing all the while from the impact of her blasts...and that's when she looked below her and saw that water was all over the floor. Her chest puffed up in a gasp and it was in this moment that I popped back out, this time infront of the huge valve that turned the water on and off. I grinned as she fiercely grit her teeth, clenching her fists. "Yoohoo!"
She shot her head at me, rage filling her expression, "WHAT IS THIS?!"
"Oh nothing..just a harmless little spiderweb.." I leaned against the valve.
"See, I just wanna test out a little theory I have..ya know..playing around with science by using more science..I think the result will come out as a real shock.."
Heh heh..I'm so petty.
In that moment, I turned my attention away from her. "Whatta ya think, Max, ya think it's time to make it rain?!" Max suddenly appeared, causing Livewire to shoot her head at him with widened eyes. And he grinned just as deviously as I was.
Livewire immediately went to move, when I then turned the valve in a haste--the pipes vibrated and rumbled violently and her face dropped in shock, lol..
That's when Max shot out his hand, electrifying both her and the water as it busted out in every direction towards her like a horizontal chain of geysers, dousing her..and she screeched as her entire body was slammed against by sheer raw and infinite electricity, piercing through her, engulfing her in absolute power that was far too great for her to handle.
She threw her arms up, thrashing excessively, her eyes widening from her crazy white balls of light into a haunting black as if her very eyeballs had been roasted to ash, and she screamed in disturbing, horrifying volumes in a manner that gave me unsettling chills as she was clearly dying right in front of us. Her body was literally frying, smoke rising from her body in a brutal overcurrent, her features becoming so inhuman, she had now become a mere dying blast of energy, her hair sticking straight up, catching on fire. The blinding scene reflected off my eyes as I watched her with a racing heart, her screaming ringing in my ears. I felt definite guilt, as this truly was not what I wanted for her..still..she gave me no choice.
The horrific sight lasted only a few minutes until....POOF!
Livewire..Livewire had exploded. She had become a mere pile of ash upon the floor, which sprinkled in a small cloud hovering in the air. The immense energy storm ceased, the electricity sparking here and there upon the ground. All had become silent.
My eyes returned to Max, who's intimidating demeanor fell back to a calm, innocent behavior, now that he was not needed to be a warrior. He blinked profusely at me, "Is...is it over?"
"Max, my dear friend......it is."
I looked back at what remained of Livewire and cocked my head.
"..She had quite the shocking end, didn't she?"
"Please stop."
"Okay."
~ ~ ~
Remembering that Loki existed just outside the building, Max and I found our way back out, after I retrieved my guns, and we rushed to the former scene where I last left Loki.
Which only turned into his former location. For upon exiting the inside of Oscorp and coming out to face the fiend, we found that there was no sign of the trouble maker, anywhere.
Only an empty spot was left, with the cops and cityfolk still surrounding the area, chattering excitedly. "Demens!" The boys called. I turned to find them rushing towards me, coming from the opposite direction. "Boys!" I called back. "Where's Loki??"
"Gone." Master immediately answered. "Gone?!"
"Took off not long before you showed up. Just as we were getting the upperhand, he stopped and stated things weren't over, that he'd come back and get revenge, blah blah blah."
"Oh, what a drama queen. Well, that's too bad..I really wanted to kick his corpse."
"Kiss his corpse?" "KICK, KICK his corpse, don't be gross."
"What's gross, corpse-kissing?" "No, kissing Loki."
They nodded, understandably.
"He put up an excruciatingly good fight."
"Well, phooey. Still..we made it out alive. We won this round, by God by golly."
Joker chuckled, "Where's the chick?"
I turned my head, placing my hands in my pockets. "What chick?"
Joker crinkled his brows, "That Lifetire chick."
"Hm, doesn't ring any bells. All I remember was a faint fragment of burnt toast."
They looked impressed. "My my..such talent. Look at you going on the murder spree."
"Come now, I'm not exactly murdering people who are trying to kill me. Tis self defense.."
"Mmhm, sure, call it what you like, I'm just proud of you, dearest."
"Ugh..well, I certainly wouldn't have been able to do anything without the help of dear old Maxy boy." My eyes turned to him..their's did, as well, just now realizing he was there, and they gawked.
"He's alive?!" "How?!" "The cow kicked him into the very tank that he got his powers."
"Idiot." "Exactly."
I noticed Max looking a bit shy, his pulsing skin sparkling in the light, and he swallowed nervously.
"Boys...gimme a minute. Go make sure Harry and Felicia are safe."
They nodded and quickly dashed off, where I approached the still timid Max, who flinched as I took hold of his wrists. "Max..thank you."
He slowly looked up at me. "...For what?"
"..For saving me..I appreciate it, man." "..Well, you were in trouble.."
I smirked, "..You're a real hero, ya know that?"
"Naw...not me." "Yes, you. You saved me..and the city..Spidey would be proud."
He frowned and looked down, seriously. "We didn't find him..."
"...We will...." My eyes fell. "Until then..Max..the city needs you..these abilities you have..you can use them..you can use them for good." I glared at the staring crowds. "..You can protect them."
He, too, glanced at them, swallowing nervously. "They'll never accept me.."
I chuckled. "They accepted a man spider, k? And even if they don't..I'm viking. I conquer. I persuade. I'll make them accept you."
His eyes returned to me. I laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling.
"If you need me, Max..I'll come back. But until then..you can do this..I believe in you. I've always believed in you." This made him smile. I winked, "See ya, Electro."
Here, I turned, and with a wave of a hand, I yelled out, "HEY PEOPLE! Wanna know who the hero is that saved you?!" My thumb shot back at him as I walked ahead. "Go praise 'im."
They all went in a curious and excited uproar as many rushed and crowded around Max, who jerked at all the sudden attention..of which he grinned to. I didn't know the lasting effect of this, to be perfectly honest. I just knew, at that moment, I did turn one thing around.
In that moment, Max was the hero.
Cops were everywhere as nighttime had shed an eery black canvas over the city sky.
Helicopter lights shone overhead and people talked and gasped excessively.
Once close, we took quick notice of everyone, including the police officers talking on their little walkie-talkies, looking up at the Tower. And so we looked, too.
There stood Loki and Livewire, perched on a ledge above the entrance, Loki standing tall, both arms raised to the crowd, scepter in hand, hording the crowd's attention, with a wicked smile traced across his lips. "People of earth! Your day of reckoning is upon you! Your time of peace is over! The bringers of death are here--you have no salvation! No hope! No future! The time has come for hell to RISE!" "OH, stop being so dramatic!"
Loki flinched and looked around..me and the boys pushed forward.
"Lord, I can't stand you."
He and Livewire's eyes bolted down at the empty space the cops had created in case the two decided to drop down. Speaking of the cops, they attempted to push us back, but we only slid past them, me pushing one aside by the face, and we entered the arena, so to speak.
This was almost insulting to them, crashing in on their little villain speech and making a stand..
despite the fact they literally invited us there.
Loki's gaze narrowed as he zoomed in on us. "...how did you manage to survive?"
I smirked, "Oh, well, you know. I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing your pretty faces again."
"You might've.." Livewire spoke in a unique, peculiar accent. "If you ended up in hell."
"Possibly..wouldn't exactly call myself a hero, to be honest..I'm kind've screwed up. Maybe anti-hero is my style. Maybe I am a villain..maybe I'm a hero. Maybe I'm both. Maybe I'm everything at once. Guess it depends on the day's agenda."
Loki knelt down. "And what is today's 'agenda'?"
I shrugged. "Well for one..tearing every limb off your measly little corpses and setting it all on fire." Loki flexed his brows, "How lovely..yes, but I think you might be painting a self portrait..for it is not in the cards for I to perish..you're not the only one gifted with time."
I tilted my head, "I'll settle for a coma."
He frowned.
Slowly, he rose back up and puffed his chest up, anger visibly swelling within him.
"I've grown tired of your games, you insolent wretch. Why did you come? Please don't tell me it was for that traitorous filth." "Did it ever occur to you that since I am your queen, that maybe you're the traitorous filth? Besides.." I jerked forward a step. "Max was innocent. He didn't do anything to anyone and you killed him. WHY? I thought you wanted to convert him, not kill him!"
"We DID." Livewire spoke.
"We offered the world to him..power and anything else he desired..and despite all that promise, he chose you. Claiming you protected him. Believed in him. And all that crap."
My face melted from its angry expression as sorrow took over.
"....and?" Livewire smiled and then laughed.
"And then we killed the sucker! Pushed him right into a watery electric grave!"
At this, I curled my fists so tightly, it hurt.
"So let me get this straight..." Master stepped forward. "It's join YOU..or we DIE?"
The two only smiled in response.
"And what makes your little group so special to order around the rest of all us villains?"
"Because we are superior! We are the shining future of true justice! Those that delight in killing and revel in blood- those that want salvation- FREEDOM from the oppression of HEROES- will fear no longer of defeat. We are death. We are chaos. We are destruction. We are Cataclysm!"
He said it so dramatically, flinging his arms around like he was a wrestling match announcer.
But the name..the name now stuck. "Oh joy, it has a name now."
"Cataclysm? That's the best you can come up with?"
"It sounds like an infection." Jim spoke. "Of the ear."
"WHOSE cataclysm?" Bane yelled over them. "Who do you intend to descend your revenge upon?"
Loki only smirked, looking down at us like he was a king. "Everyone."
Oh so fearsome..really, I was quite afraid. Except, ya know, I wasn't.
"Yeah, but you're not the leader, are ya?"
He frowned. I smirked.
"You're a scout." "There is no leader."
He stared at me a minute as I continued to smirk and then he lashed forward in anger.
"It is all of us!!" "No no, Loki, don't deny the truth! Think about it. Someone put this together, someone had this grand scheme, to get all the universe's villains, and get revenge and all that. But are they going out themselves and spreading the good word? No..they're dispatching you...recruiting you, sending YOU out to go and do their work. You. are. the lackeys. Believing the deception they put upon you. That you're in charge of your own selves." I chuckled.
"You're being used."
"Silence! You're lying!!" "Oh sure, I'M lying. But it's not about the revenge and the fight for evil they're after, is it? Not about all you guys' rights to be king and queen. It's a wounded ego."
The others looked at me. Yes, I timed that perfectly.
Loki was about to yell further, when Livewire grabbed him by the shoulder, silencing him, and she peered down at us angrily. "They're just provoking us. Trying to get us to turn on the others."
Yeah, I may or may not be trying to grind their gears a bit.
"Enough of this, where is he?!" "If you're referring to Osborn, then ya best go straight to Mordor, cuz I ain't tellin' ya." "You act tough, Demens, but you ain't never faced anything as deadly as us before!" "That's lovely cuz ya know what? I'm adaptable."
Livewire gritted her teeth together, "Then adapt to THIS!"
She shot out an electric bolt down upon the land, which I dodged by mere inches.
I shot my head up at her, tightening my fists. "I'm gonna freaking rip your SPINE out!!"
She flung her arms, grinning wickedly. "You'll have to catch me first!!!"
In that instance, Livewire clapped her hands and bolted down below, zooming as a ball of energy
into the bottom entrance of Oscorp. The people all screamed at this, ducking like absolute wusses. This initiated a chase, which I fell right into.
I immediately ran after her, using all the speed I could muster, and the boys jumped right after me, when Loki suddenly shot down like lightning and missed me just by mere inches with his spear.
The blast he made unfortunately knocked the others down.
I looked behind me, the last thing me seeing was the boys jumping back up and engaging in combat against the Asgardian mischief maker...normally I would run back and kick the tail feather of the jerk messing with them--but I couldn't. I needed to catch Livewire. I needed to stop her.
So I followed her-- followed her right down into the bottom of Oscorp.
~
Livewire had led me into a dreary muggy room full of pipes, steam popping out of a few random places, and there was an unsettling tan light dwindling within the room, as if we had just walked into the heart of a dirty muggy engine room of a ship. The rest of the environment was cloaked in foreboding darkness. But despite the distressing atmosphere, I hurried through the maze of pipes ahead of me that Livewire was effortlessly flying above through an empty road of air.
I chased after the bad female word, clenching my gloved hands as I ran, filled with the ideas of what I would do to her when I caught her. Livewire kept glancing back at me and cackling obnoxiously, no doubt intending on leading me into a trap.
I quickened my pace, nevertheless, because frankly, I was just hellbent to simply hit that chick.
I needed to feel as if I was doing some sort of justice. For Max...
Just as I zoomed through an empty walkway, I skid to a stop at a dead end, and suddenly found myself looking around. I had lost her. "Crud."
I spun in every direction, looking frantically. She's not exactly the hardest person to notice, with her glowing and everything. I was bound to relocate her. I got out my guns out and pointing them in every direction, up, down, sideways. When it happened.
A bolt was shot right at my arm and shocked it to its core, running up and down my limb with the sharpest pain that made me hiss and clench my teeth as I tightened my whole body up.
It caused me to drop my weapon, sizzling with hysterical nerves, and I flashed my gaze at my attacker's direction. Livewire roared with mischievous laughter as she approached overhead and mercilessly within that same second sent out another bolt- one that I managed to dodge by a couple feet. I leapt back and watched her alertly, just as she sent out another.. I didn't have enough time to work out the plan on that one. So I had no choice but to book it in the opposite direction. Livewire had turned the tables and was now chasing me.
Unfortunately for her, I actually was attempting to work up a little plan, and just needed to buy some time to think it through. Although I will admit, having lightning bolts thrown at you repeatedly as you're running and jumping from all sorts of obstacles, trying to think up a way to take out your opponent, IDK man, it was an adrenaline rush, to say the least.
And certainly more challenging than it sounds. I came very close to becoming french toast quite a few times, had I not dodged out of the way from time to time every time she shot out an attack, thanks in part to my many years of Zelda playing.
I will give the girl credit, Livewire was relentless. And I wanted to swat her right outta the air so bad. But alas, I had not the chance. She was right on my heels and was just as freakin' aggressive as me, and that offends me. And gee willikers, it was so flippin' hot, I wanted to scream.
It was as if we were fightin' in a boiler room.
The further I delved into the world of steamy pipeness, the harder it got to navigate and harder it got to dodge her attacks, mainly due to the tight areas that shrunk as I went.
It got so bad, I tripped over a pipe like an idiot, which caused her to catch up with me.
She didn't avoid her golden opportunity to blast me, which was right in my back.
And I was flown by the force right into the wall ahead, so painfully hard, which I immediately tried to recover from. But alas, I was unsuccessful, as Livewire blasted me again and I wound up crawling back against the said wall, trying to operate the limbs I could no longer feel.
Tarnation drat, I was cornered. And I was down one gun that I couldn't even use.
And all the while, I felt a strange, humming surge grow within me, like something was approaching.
Something was about to happen. And it was unclear what it exactly meant. I just knew that Livewire was not the source. Despite feeling this, I hurriedly attempted to recover--only she was quickly drawing near. I gained enough strength to go to shoot her, but she shot at my arm once more and my whole limb went into shock, causing me to once again drop my weapon, me yelling out angrily.
She smiled wickedly as she got closer, holding her hand out to end me, her palm visibly charging for the next assault. I stared at her with murder in my eyes, narrowing them tensely, secretly trying to get my body to operate once more. There was only seconds to act before she shot at me again and it was uncertain whether I would survive the next attack or not..so I waited for whatever was to come to come, expecting the worst cuz that's just my luck.
When suddenly, SLAM!
A blur of blinding electricity tackled Livewire and hurled her violently away, knocking through several pipes that busted them open and the entire scene was shrouded in roaring steam, my eyes still flashing after them. And at once, I knew why I had felt what I felt. That the blur of electricity was no blur at all-- it was Max.
And that's when I realized what Livewire meant..she had drowned him...a watery electric grave..with him having his powers, this could have only meant the two dummies had taken him to the very place he had gotten his powers. To the eel tank.
She had turned him into Electro..and now he was coming after her.
"Max!!" I exclaimed. He shot his eyes at me for just a few seconds, now glowing with a bright blue.
"Run, Sarah!!"
He turned back to her, just in time. Livewire began to fight back, but Electro was more heckin' powerful than her, and defensively flung her all over the place. I was surprised by the quick ferocity Max had gained just by changing, but really, once we're mad and got the power to do something about it, it isn't really all that surprising.
Regardless, this kept her distracted long enough for me to recover just enough to spring up and hobble hurriedly away, running around the wall and proceeding ahead to the other side of the enormous room, with Electro and Livewire battling to my right, straight through the cluster of pipes that all busted upon impact and a cloud of angry electricity hovered past me.
I noticed now that Livewire was attempting to reestablish pursuit of me, and Max saw it, and did not allow it. He landblasted her with full force power, that she roared in pain over, shooting right back at him with pure aggression on her face. Max continued to come at her, trying to drive her attention on him and not me so that I would be able to get away. Max was being a hero.
For the first time, Max was able to turn on someone and experience true power.
Livewire did not stand much of a chance. Still, she fought back hard. It was a literal battle of pure energy. Causing so much heat and energy that all of me felt numb and dizzy, causing me to get a headache from the intense hot temperature.
Still, I rushed further through the maze of pipes and hopped through the open ways they created, trying to distance myself from the two, which I was being successful with. Until I finally lost the two and stopped to gain back some energy, bending over and huffing and puffing as I settled in a particularly empty spot that was surrounded by the mazey pipes.
And I realized...these pipes looked different from the others. Especially when I noticed what dripped from the bottom of one...water..these pipes were filled with water.
And it was there, I breathed life into the plan I so desperately tried to come up with.
To end Livewire once and for all. I knew what to do now.
And just as that happened, I was suddenly grabbed from behind, which I flinched to and swung around--only to face dear Max himself. He had grabbed me by the shoulders, wearing only a trenchcoat and pants, his body now pulsing with pure bright blue electricity, his eyes glowing with pupils that resembled an eel's. All of his hair was gone..and I could see the energy running through his veins in the most mesmerizing way. His touch shocked me, but not in a painful way.
My gaze widened as I tensed my muscles.
"Max! You're alive!!" "Sarah!" He exclaimed in a raspy possessed-like voice. "Of course I'm alive!"
"I thought you were dead!" "Why would you think that??" "Her and Loki told us! They thought they killed you!" "She didn't kill me-- they took me here and tried to get me to turn on you all, but I couldn't..you're my friends. So she kicked me into the eel tank..the eels...they transformed me!"
"I assumed that..but we have no time, she'll be back any minute. Where is she?"
"I lost her." "Good..sort've..look. I have a plan." "A plan?" "Yep...and I need your help."
"How??" I looked all around, then over at the pile of electrical cords sitting nearby. Devious thoughts entered my brain and I smiled wickedly, looking back at him.
"By setting up a web of our own."
~
It wasn't long after that Livewire drew near, seeking us out. She flew angrily through the air, looking in all directions, until she spotted le me ducking out of sight--but it was all a ruse.
She fell into this deception, gritting her teeth and charging her palm up once more with energy to blast me with..until Max suddenly appeared beside her. "Hey princess."
She shot her head at him, but too late, as Max blasted her with his own power, flinging her into a set of pipes that bent upon impact and she fell down, no doubt experiencing sharp pain running up and down her back. She clenched her teeth and looked back up at him as he approached her, spitting out a mouthful of electric blood. He looked pretty ticked himself, though.
"You tried to kill me...you fail to realize you're the very reason why I have these powers now. You turned me into your very doom." "Oh NOW you got the moxie, now that you're all charged up--you were nothing a few hours ago!" "No..just waiting for my true self to come out. And you gave me that." He cocked his head. "I suppose I should be thanking you."
"No one's nothing, Livewire." I said from afar, turning her attention to me.
"Not even you..it's not too late. I'm giving you the chance. Take it, please, before it is too late. Fight with us and stop what Cataclysm is doing. I promise, I'll take care of you."
But she smiled in reply, attempting to crawl back up. "No thanks...I like the way I am."
I sighed, disappointingly, but still shrugged my shoulders in a solemn manner.
"Fair enough..."
I nodded at Max and he nodded back, soon looking back at her.
"It's time for the light show, lady. Don't wanna miss out."
She tensed her whole body up, letting out her palm and creating a small ball of energy that she steadily fed as she made a stance against Max. "Bring it on, you cook. I'm ready to fry your very circuits!" And like that, the battle was re-initiated. They charged against one another and blasted eachother with one another's sheer power.
If they weren't enemies, I'd root for them to marry.
Meanwhile, I was fast at work on our plan, grabbing the cords and tying the ends off to one pipe.
Max flew around, fighting aggressively, which Livewire fought just as hard, sending out bolt after bolt, destroying the environment around them..but Max was slowly tricking her all the while, leading her closer to the empty space I was working from. I snuck underneath the brawling two and climbed all about the pipes, running the cord along the way. I did this repeatedly in random directions, around random pipes, hopping from one spot to the next in a chaotic pattern.
Max then purposely lured her in my direction, now dodging her instead of attacking her, leading her gaze to slowly set on me as she saw I was upto something. As soon as she set her sights on me, she sent out the first attack. I jumped out of the way and kept running the cables along the pipes, climbing one set, onto the next. The mean old witch shot at me repeatedly now, until I ducked out of sight and she descended upon the ground floor, in the center of the empty spot.
And she sought me out. As soon as I did appear, she shot a bolt at me, which missed me.
I appeared again, and she shot once more. She wound up doing this several times , her blasts flying everywhere as I maneuvered away, losing count of the amount of times she shot at me, all unsuccessful. Even so, I dragged the cable behind me and wound up tangling it everywhere, especially across her. She had been vigorous in her vendetta against me, but alas for her..
I had gotten away. I ducked out of sight once again and this time, I did not come back out.
Her attention soon was drawn back to Max's former location, when..she realized..Max was gone, as well. She stood alone in the middle of the empty space. She continued to stand there for several minutes, looking all around at her surroundings. Her eyes now indicated that she had realized..realized something was wrong. She was surrounded by a web of cables that ran even across her, with damaged pipes hissing all the while from the impact of her blasts...and that's when she looked below her and saw that water was all over the floor. Her chest puffed up in a gasp and it was in this moment that I popped back out, this time infront of the huge valve that turned the water on and off. I grinned as she fiercely grit her teeth, clenching her fists. "Yoohoo!"
She shot her head at me, rage filling her expression, "WHAT IS THIS?!"
"Oh nothing..just a harmless little spiderweb.." I leaned against the valve.
"See, I just wanna test out a little theory I have..ya know..playing around with science by using more science..I think the result will come out as a real shock.."
Heh heh..I'm so petty.
In that moment, I turned my attention away from her. "Whatta ya think, Max, ya think it's time to make it rain?!" Max suddenly appeared, causing Livewire to shoot her head at him with widened eyes. And he grinned just as deviously as I was.
Livewire immediately went to move, when I then turned the valve in a haste--the pipes vibrated and rumbled violently and her face dropped in shock, lol..
That's when Max shot out his hand, electrifying both her and the water as it busted out in every direction towards her like a horizontal chain of geysers, dousing her..and she screeched as her entire body was slammed against by sheer raw and infinite electricity, piercing through her, engulfing her in absolute power that was far too great for her to handle.
She threw her arms up, thrashing excessively, her eyes widening from her crazy white balls of light into a haunting black as if her very eyeballs had been roasted to ash, and she screamed in disturbing, horrifying volumes in a manner that gave me unsettling chills as she was clearly dying right in front of us. Her body was literally frying, smoke rising from her body in a brutal overcurrent, her features becoming so inhuman, she had now become a mere dying blast of energy, her hair sticking straight up, catching on fire. The blinding scene reflected off my eyes as I watched her with a racing heart, her screaming ringing in my ears. I felt definite guilt, as this truly was not what I wanted for her..still..she gave me no choice.
The horrific sight lasted only a few minutes until....POOF!
Livewire..Livewire had exploded. She had become a mere pile of ash upon the floor, which sprinkled in a small cloud hovering in the air. The immense energy storm ceased, the electricity sparking here and there upon the ground. All had become silent.
My eyes returned to Max, who's intimidating demeanor fell back to a calm, innocent behavior, now that he was not needed to be a warrior. He blinked profusely at me, "Is...is it over?"
"Max, my dear friend......it is."
I looked back at what remained of Livewire and cocked my head.
"..She had quite the shocking end, didn't she?"
"Please stop."
"Okay."
~ ~ ~
Remembering that Loki existed just outside the building, Max and I found our way back out, after I retrieved my guns, and we rushed to the former scene where I last left Loki.
Which only turned into his former location. For upon exiting the inside of Oscorp and coming out to face the fiend, we found that there was no sign of the trouble maker, anywhere.
Only an empty spot was left, with the cops and cityfolk still surrounding the area, chattering excitedly. "Demens!" The boys called. I turned to find them rushing towards me, coming from the opposite direction. "Boys!" I called back. "Where's Loki??"
"Gone." Master immediately answered. "Gone?!"
"Took off not long before you showed up. Just as we were getting the upperhand, he stopped and stated things weren't over, that he'd come back and get revenge, blah blah blah."
"Oh, what a drama queen. Well, that's too bad..I really wanted to kick his corpse."
"Kiss his corpse?" "KICK, KICK his corpse, don't be gross."
"What's gross, corpse-kissing?" "No, kissing Loki."
They nodded, understandably.
"He put up an excruciatingly good fight."
"Well, phooey. Still..we made it out alive. We won this round, by God by golly."
Joker chuckled, "Where's the chick?"
I turned my head, placing my hands in my pockets. "What chick?"
Joker crinkled his brows, "That Lifetire chick."
"Hm, doesn't ring any bells. All I remember was a faint fragment of burnt toast."
They looked impressed. "My my..such talent. Look at you going on the murder spree."
"Come now, I'm not exactly murdering people who are trying to kill me. Tis self defense.."
"Mmhm, sure, call it what you like, I'm just proud of you, dearest."
"Ugh..well, I certainly wouldn't have been able to do anything without the help of dear old Maxy boy." My eyes turned to him..their's did, as well, just now realizing he was there, and they gawked.
"He's alive?!" "How?!" "The cow kicked him into the very tank that he got his powers."
"Idiot." "Exactly."
I noticed Max looking a bit shy, his pulsing skin sparkling in the light, and he swallowed nervously.
"Boys...gimme a minute. Go make sure Harry and Felicia are safe."
They nodded and quickly dashed off, where I approached the still timid Max, who flinched as I took hold of his wrists. "Max..thank you."
He slowly looked up at me. "...For what?"
"..For saving me..I appreciate it, man." "..Well, you were in trouble.."
I smirked, "..You're a real hero, ya know that?"
"Naw...not me." "Yes, you. You saved me..and the city..Spidey would be proud."
He frowned and looked down, seriously. "We didn't find him..."
"...We will...." My eyes fell. "Until then..Max..the city needs you..these abilities you have..you can use them..you can use them for good." I glared at the staring crowds. "..You can protect them."
He, too, glanced at them, swallowing nervously. "They'll never accept me.."
I chuckled. "They accepted a man spider, k? And even if they don't..I'm viking. I conquer. I persuade. I'll make them accept you."
His eyes returned to me. I laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling.
"If you need me, Max..I'll come back. But until then..you can do this..I believe in you. I've always believed in you." This made him smile. I winked, "See ya, Electro."
Here, I turned, and with a wave of a hand, I yelled out, "HEY PEOPLE! Wanna know who the hero is that saved you?!" My thumb shot back at him as I walked ahead. "Go praise 'im."
They all went in a curious and excited uproar as many rushed and crowded around Max, who jerked at all the sudden attention..of which he grinned to. I didn't know the lasting effect of this, to be perfectly honest. I just knew, at that moment, I did turn one thing around.
In that moment, Max was the hero.
I couldn't refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!
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