Chapter 69: Chapter 61: A Crowded City
Emergency sirens blared across most of the city. Had he paid more attention, he could have better-monitored groups such as The Sinister Six, but he refrained, wanting to take a more let the world play as it should approach.
"Did I do right?" He asked aloud, his mask of indifference, the cold, calculated face he wore outside shifted. For the first time since waking up here, Cole was conflicted.
He shook his head, his enhanced senses spreading across the city. Outside, screams emanated just below the sound of the city, battles were being fought, families were torn from one another, and here he stood as an outlier, only going as far as the mission parameters required.
He tracked his companion on his H.U.D. Anne and Firestar had easily swept their section of the city. The two worked well together. Kaecillus's situation was different; as a lantern and a master of the mystic arts, he was formidable. His level of power would stand out and draw unnecessary attention.
A sudden thought had caused him to alter his approach to the situation he found himself in. Cole hadn't pushed himself physically. He had fought Rhino and The Morlocks but had yet to go out with his peak physical abilities. He knew he needed more experience and had yet to test his current benchmark, but what if he did that now?
"Slinking in the Shadows is useless against me." He said, staring off into the distance, monitoring the battle of the two arch-nemesis: another explosion, a tumbling Parker, a mad cackling Goblin.
'Do I need to intervene again?' He thought. Recall the Rhino debacle before moving to the side. A clawed hand swiped where he was. His Katana weaved through the air, the blades reflecting the moonlight, and three bodies dropped headless atop the building.
Chimes rang in his head." Yeah. That's useless, too. Your Spawn is no threat to me." He said seemly to himself.
"I will Kill you all." The crazed scientist said, leaping toward him. He observed the man, his head cocked to the side as he measured and noted everything visible to his Enhanced Senses.
"You're currently blessed with a super soldier serum," Cole said, the blade vanishing. Cole stepped forward, his fist planted into the descending beast's gut, and the goblin folded from the blow.
"Jumping at me is stupid." He lectured, stepping back and kicking at the goblin that barely managed to roll away.
"The human remains?" He said excitedly; the proto-goblin regarded him with inhuman intelligence.
"So, not mindless beast after all." He said, appearing in front of the skeptical-looking scientist. His blows landed with everything he had. Ribs broke, and the flesh was parted. Cole's black nails extended, and he raked his claws across the beast's face, blinding him as he moved around it.
Nells Van Ader swiped at him, vicious claws shredding his top. Cole chuckled at the pettiness of the man, wanting to return the favor. He stared at the exposed skin through the sheared top and nodded. His skin was red for a moment before healing.
Ader held the right side of its bleeding face; Cole's attack had blinded the scientist; his claws were deadly; he should have expected that, recalling Haunt being able to shred cars easily with its claws alone.
"Instead of taking the fight to Osborn, you run and attack those that can't fight back," Cole said, jabbing the stumbling scientist as he moved around the wild animalistic attacks.
The red goblin bared its shark-like teeth as it lunged at him under the moonlight. Cole quickly switches between techniques and engages in a fierce battle with the scientist. However, it became apparent that the Ader transformation had not granted him any significant advantages except for the obvious.
Ader slumped, the serum-enhanced endurance spent; the beast had failed to make him work; it would have been better to test himself against someone more capable. Adler dangled in his outstretched arm as he lifted the man from the ground, his grip increasing as he crushed its throat; claws raked at his arms, shredding his overcoat, barely drawing blood from his exposed flesh.
"Don't." A voice said from overhead.
He sighed. The Doctor had been watching him. Sparing the goblin wouldn't stop him from being awarded. Whatever it was had been hidden; he had noticed rewards and path options were now missing when he received some missions; he assumed the System was about to progress again.
The problem was he had no idea what path gave him what, so he had to go off his gut.
As if sensing his dilemma, the Doctor added. "I have something new to test, and he would be perfect. In the worst case, we can kill him later; in the best case, I get another brilliant researcher."
He released his grip, the scientist's clouded eyes sparing with the inhalation of air. "Mishimoto, this partnership hasn't been mutual. What do you have to show for my assistance? I'm aware that you're caught up on current events. I have a Supersoldier Serum already."
'I'm sure Kevin's transformation into an archaic deathlock had been interesting enough for the man. Speaking of Kevin, let me check in on him too. Why I'm at it.' Cole thought to himself, adding another feed to his overlay.
Kevin was lifting weights. The teen had grown a lot; now, he was almost Six-Four, having risen about several inches. He was interested now; he zoomed in and noted the teen had metamorphosed into a body builder-like physique and was benching more weight than a basic sedan would weigh.
His analytical mind whirled as he crunched numbers and applied them to his limited memories of the centipede-enhanced assssin. Kevin had mystical armor that enhanced his serum-granted abilities. Magic once again intrigued him. His impromptu lesson had born fruit, but he still wanted more. He had to sit down and learn more about his capabilities.
The man was silent but still felt the man watching him through the Boas drone. Cole had shifted his feeds, and an image of Mishimoto came on his camera. He was in the Iceberg Lounge. Dana and the Doctor had been arguing. He missed most of it but quickly ascertained what caused the father and daughter duo to argue with each other.
"It's been a while, Ms. Mishomoto," Cole said, causing the young girl to tense and peel herself from the wall; the storm in her facial features shifted to curiosity as she looked around the room.
He chuckled. He now understood Dana's anger with her father. He recalled her father promising her a serum. This was definitely Marvel; only in this universe would a father inject her daughter with a drug that would turn her into a super soldier.
"Your father can watch me because he has access, and I can do the same." He explained.
Dana took another step forward, staring into the screen, her eyes on my figure. He hadn't changed his appearance and was still cosplaying as a Catholic Priest.
"I-I'm close to perfecting the serum." He interrupted before she could ask her question.
"This Goblin Serum is different from the two we were aware of. Imagine extracting the best attributes from the two and making one superior to them. It's Interesting, no? And I would like to study its makeup to further my understanding." He finally said.
"That's not quite what I wanted to hear." He sighed, exaggerating his displeasure. "Ader death would be more rewarding than his survival. I need promises, Doctor." They had yet to learn about the system rewards, so his words were sure to confuse them. His power had changed, but he felt the power activate." Cole said, smiling.
"Were partners already. I can't thank you enough for saving us and still protecting us. My children can live normal lives or normal as one can expect to live after everything. I promise to give you what you want, but what you want is the same thing I want. The Hand will pay for what they did to us."
"That's a deal then, Mishimoto." Cole's power clamped downward, sealing their agreement. He summoned the Sarcophagus. It slid open, and he stuffed the barely conscious red goblin inside.
"All yours, doctor." He said, stepping toward the edge of the building.
He had better rescue Parker now. He didn't like the kid, but what would a world be without Spiderman? He had a feeling he was the reason Parker was unprepared.
Dana had wanted to ask to join him. Her father forbade her, but he had keyed her into something, and it was her job to interpret his words.
Alfred came across some interesting data that caught his attention. He wanted to know why the Howling Commandos captured the infected people in town.
As he flew through the air, he transformed into Todd's persona and asked, "Is there a cure?"
Alfred answered, "Currently, there is no known method to reverse the effects of the infection. However, if there is any chance of finding a cure, it would be through you, sir."
Proto-Goblin coexisted with Homo Erectus, but unfortunately, their existence led to the extinction of three other Homo species. However, Proto-Goblin was unaware of their demise, and neither did Alfred have any conjecture on it. Nonetheless, their impact on the human race left genetic memories in the surviving humans. Norman's absurd experimenting resurrected them.
He had dropped from the sky, crushing a goblin underneath him. He spun his Glock, barking loudly as he executed the party of goblins terrorizing a building. Just irrationally hateful toward humans; it was almost as if by design, the way they attacked, killed, and captured, mainly the women and the young, were spared; the man was either infected outright or killed.
"Y-You're under arrest." A young officer raised his gun at Cole. His partner slapped his Hand down the weapon, firing off a shot.
"Are you crazy? Creatures attacking, and he shows up helping, and you want to arrest him?" He barked at the young officer. "Get back, everyone, get back. We must set up another perimeter and wait for the military or state."
He turned toward me. The bullet had grazed his cheek; he was uninjured, and his skin had grown to resist small-caliber weaponry.
"A few of you hero or power types are helping across the city. Don't harm the citizen, please; stop these things."
"Oh no. Spiderman is down." He turned to a lady with her phone in her hand; people were huddled around her.
Cole hadn't had time to lift off before a red comet rumbled past him. He looked up, his eyes barely able to track her going. Firestar?
"Spiderman is down. I can get there quicker." Firestar said, her bright figure growing small as she headed toward Times Square. Cole had risen from the ground, his mind working alarmingly fast.
"Fate has its way, I suppose he said." Halting in the sky, arms folded. Firstar and Spiderman had been partners; Firestar had also saved his life once against the goblin in his earlier career, as she was already a member of the New Warriors and had some crime-fighting training.
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