Capekillers #9

Extract the Toxin, Part Four of Four:

"Collision Course"

By Tim Veselka

Streets of NYC – 15:21

Agent Humphries stared at Lucas' back while they raced along the sidewalk. "I can't believe they let him get away after all our hard work!"

"Yeah, sure," Lucas barely responded.

It seemed to Humphries that Lucas was still simmering after their little exchange. Humphries' heart ached. He hoped Lucas didn't think that he had fallen for him or anything. It was nothing like that. Lucas had come to him as a brand new agent and under his guidance had become an agent of great repute, especially in their native London. When Lucas' hand had been shattered it was almost like watching his own son be injured and worse Humphries felt he only had himself to blame.

"Well," Humphries finally mustered up the courage to say something else. "We'll just have to try to take him on ourselves this time!"

"What?" Lucas stopped for a second in shock. "You mean it?"

"Obviously we can't trust the Capekillers to get our man for us. And nothing is more disappointing than losing a man we've been after." Humphries stated dismissively. "Let's tackle him on our own! You know how much I do love to tackle our man. What do you say, Lucas, should we do it?"

"That's what I like to hear!" Lucas grinned larger than he had all day and turned red as a beet. They resumed racing in the direction Toxin had last been spotted fleeing.

Humphries was terrified at the thought of taking on the symbiote infused Shield agent on their own but nothing was more important to him than his loved ones. That category consisted of two people, his mother, and agent Lucas. Well, his former colleagues Agent Slocum, Agent Brahms, Agent Peacock, and Agent Granger also fit inside that category, as frustrating as they could be. What an idiot thing to do though, his stomach clenched with the thought of fighting Toxin and Lucas getting hurt again.

"Do you think we have lost him?" Humphries asked, trying to mask the hope in his voice. "I haven't seen even a little peep of him. Not since the mall, anyway. Can you imagine, Lucas, if we were retail salespeople?"

"Sounds dreadful," Lucas grunted. "I hear they are seriously underpaid. I need to be able to afford my weekly bird if you know what I mean."

"I catch the drift," Humphries replied dryly.

"You know what," Lucas suddenly slowed his run to a jog. "You are quite right, this is getting us nowhere."

"I am?" Humphries asked gleefully.

"We need to get him to come to us."

"We do?" Humphries' rising heart dropped suddenly into his stomach. "How are we going to accomplish that?"

"I'm thinking." Lucas shushed him. Humphries gasped in offense and held his hand to his chest in protest.

"Agent Mulligan!" Lucas suddenly shouted out, startling Humphries and sending him stumbling slightly back. "If you don't turn yourself into me I am going to have no choice but to go to your family and declare you a traitor and demand that they contact us if you ever show your face anywhere near them!"

"You wouldn't!" Humphries gasped again, this time quietly.

"I would!" Lucas kept shouting.

"Hush, I am not ready!" Humphries grumped at his partner. Just then a crimson and black form sailed from top of a building right toward them. "I think it worked." Humphries gulped and pulled out his standard issue energy pistol. Lucas already had his ready.

"I will kill you!" Toxin screeched as it flew in close enough for them to hear. Humphries believed him. He had just enough sense to glance about for cover.

"Fire!" Lucas shouted. Both agents let loose with a volley of energy bursts. Just in time Toxin lashed out a long rope-like tendril and swung wide to avoid their fire. They kept shooting, trying to follow as Toxin ran along the building wall and jumped down to the sidewalk across the street. If they weren't careful their guns would soon overheat and they would be left defenseless.

"Any ideas?" Humphries glanced at his junior partner.

"I have a few up my sleeve, err arm," Lucas winked at him and lifted his new cybernetic hand. The hand suddenly dropped on some sort of hinge revealing a small barrel at the center of where his wrist used to be. Humphries gaped.

Toxin was charging again and nearly atop them when Lucas let loose with his wrist laser. The laser hissed loudly when it made contact on Toxin's hide. The symbiote hissed back in response. It screeched loudly and flipped backward away from them. Its hand went to its side and glared at them with glowing white eyes. It was at that moment Humphries knew they were in deep shit.

"I have had enough," the symbiote hissed, its voice slithering through the air into their ears. "Maybe if we kill you they'll learn to leave us alone."

"Y-y-you know that's not how Shield works," Humphries stammered out. Lucas glanced at him in shame. "It isn't."

"Oh well," Toxin snarled and leaped toward them again, knocking a motorcycle that was in his way through the air. His fanged mouth gaped widely open exposing his engorged scarlet cone-shaped tongue almost like a bloody ice cream cone.

"Oh! I'm overcome with disgust!" Humphries shrieked like a teenage girl but nailed Toxin directly in the chest with his energy pistol. It had little effect.

"I'm still charging up!" Lucas answered Humphries' question before he asked it. "The laser will be ready in a few seconds."

"We may not have a few seconds!" Humphries' voice cracked as he screeched firing again and again.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Lucas snapped, aiming his wrist at Toxin again.

Toxin raked at them with his glistening black talons, they both stumbled backward, almost falling over each other. Taking advantage, Toxin tackled into both of them, Lucas' laser suddenly shot wildly into the air. Now he had enough time to take them both out.

Toxin swiped his enlarged left arm at Lucas, sending the young Shield agent flying into a cement wall behind him. He reached out and grasped Humphries with his oozing symbiote slowly covering the entire body of the struggling Shield agent. The man gasped and glared at him, vacillating between terror and angry determination.

"I've had enough of you two hunting me down for Shield," the symbiote's rancid breath washed over Humphries' face, causing him to gag.

"If it's not us then it will just be someone else," Humphries managed to choke out. Toxin could smell fear washing over him from the effeminate agent. He licked his fanged lips, it smelled delicious. He lowered his face until it was even with Humphries'.

"I'll take our chances with someone else," Toxin whispered menacingly. "I doubt they could be any more annoying than you two."

"You've got that right!" Toxin turned just in time for Lucas, barely able to stand but pointing his wrist, to fire again.

The laser caught Toxin right in the face. Mulligan and his symbiote screamed in pain, their voices creating an eerie chorus. He dropped Humphries to the sidewalk and staggered away from the agent, still screeching in pain.

"Come along," Lucas whispered gruffly in Humphries' ear and helped his partner to his feet.

Toxin swiped madly at his face, trying to brush away the pain. The two agents advanced on him, guns drawn. Glancing over his shoulder Toxin revealed Mulligan's face, his skin seared away, one of his eyes half melted out of its socket.

Toxin bared his fangs that were slowly growing back in his mouth and screamed wildly at them. They shrank back for the slightest second and Toxin leaped away. The two ran to watch where he fled, but the quickly setting sun disguised the symbiote's exit.

"Damn!" Humphries breathed slowly out air he hadn't realized he'd been holding in.

"I'm sorry," Lucas suddenly said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I insisted we take that thing on our own, it was crazy of me to ask that of you! I mean, you almost . . . Let's never do that again."

"I think I can agree to that," Humphries watched as the sun's rays filtered down through the skyscrapers that surrounded them. It was one hell of a sight.

Fort Raymond

The man who had been known as Don Thomas was more conscious than not today. At least that was how he felt. He was able to keep his eyes open, his head was still hazy and he couldn't remember if the past forty-eight hours had been real or had been one hell of a nightmare. Judging from the surgical tables and surgical instruments that surrounded him it had been all too real. If he was going to escape he was going to need to keep his cool. Funny, he realized other than slightly curious and hungry he wasn't actually feeling anything at all.

Shouldn't he be terrified?

He glanced about some more to see if he was alone in the surgery room. He wasn't. He could see someone in surgical robes walking around his peripheral. What was he going to do? It seemed the harder he tried to think of escape the harder it became to think at all. Something was very wrong. He knew this should have sent a prickling of fear all the way up his spine, instead, it just made him slightly more curious. What had happened to him?

"Ah! I see you are awake!" whoever it was behind him stated. "Do you think you feel good enough to sit up?"

"I feel fine." That should have been a lie but it wasn't.

"Good." The figure drew close and suddenly he felt tugging at his wrists then his ankles. They had buckled him down to the surgical bed. Something bad had definitely happened to him. He would figure it out, in time.

Don sat up and immediately felt dizzy. He reached to the side of his head and held it to stabilize himself. At least he had felt something. He smiled.

"How do you feel?" It was some female doctor.

"A bit dizzy." Why was he being honest?

"That should pass soon," she told him. "You've been laying on your back for over two days now, it takes a bit to get back to normal."

"I'm fine now," he purposely lied, just to make sure that he could. He had one hell of a headache, but somehow he was just glad he could feel it. Something was definitely wrong. He was never one to appreciate any kind of pain.

"Good," the doctor nodded and motioned to two nurses that happened to be passing by. "Let's see if you can get to your feet."

She stood in front of Don and motioned him up, a nurse took each one of his shoulders and helped him up to his feet. He found himself rather steady on his feet, much to his own curious surprise. She waved him forward as she backed up. She motioned to the nurses to let him go as he made his way toward her. He smiled as one foot stepped easily in front of the other.

"You are well on your way to recovery, Mr. Thomas," the doctor smiled brightly at him. He found himself unable to smile back. He was curious why.

"Now, now," came Agent Crowne's disdainful voice. That did trigger an emotion. Rage. It seemed that was one emotion he could definitely feel. Rage, barely contained. "That was his old name, Doctor Haney." Crowne motioned her away from Don with a disdainful flick of his thin wrist.

"You know that you are only allowed to call him by his new name," Crowne admonished and handed Don a mirror. Curious, Don looked at the mirror. What he saw was horrifying. Half his skull had been replaced with a metal casing styled after the superhero Ant-Man. His right eye, or whatever had replaced it, glowed red. The mirror cracked in his vice-like grasp. He turned and threw it at Crowne. The director of Fort Raymond ducked and raised his arms to block it. The mirror glanced wildly off his forearm.

"What's the matter, Black Ant? Don't you like your super makeover?" Crowne smirked annoyingly. "Admit it, you were a nobody, Blue Streak, nobody even knew you existed, not even your creators, Shield, cared. Now you will be known as Black Ant. The name already comes with some notoriety. We did you a favor!"

"What have you done to me?" Don asked in rage. He dove forward, his hands grasping for Crowne's delicate pale throat, so easy to crush. The two stocky nurses smashed into him, holding him back from his murderous intent. "I'm going to makeover your skull!"

"Now, now," Crowne smirked as he lifted some sort of taser or something. "You really should be more grateful, Black Ant, after all if it weren't for me you'd be dead in an unmarked grave for nobodies." Crowne raised the taser just as Don shoved one nurse aside and lunged toward him. Electrical current coursed through Don's cybernetically enhanced body. His human parts spasmed and went weak on him. Dammit, he had gotten so close to getting his hands on that scrawny neck. He fell.

"Welcome, once more, to the Capekillers, Black Ant." That was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

Hood's Hideout

Everyone had gathered this evening, Hood had called them there after all. Griffin fluttered his massive red-feathered wings impatiently as Spider Woman walked seductively by him. He snorted derisively. He might be a beast but he would still never mate with a psycho like her. Lightmaster rolled his eyes at them both. Joystick smirked. Porcupine ignored them all, his eyes trained on Hood, waiting to see why he had been called up.

Hood wasn't so sure about his motley little crew. Still, better than those traitors he had run around with before he gained his powers. He needed more muscle. He had planned to get Toxin by now, and killing Blue Streak might have been a mistake. The idiot had at least usually followed orders, as long as they weren't too risky to his health.

"We need more manpower before we execute my final plan," Hood eventually told his gang, plainly. "We need to get our hands on the symbiote before Shield does."

"We already took them on in their own home turf and we won," Joystick thrust a thumb angrily in the general direction of Fort Raymond.

"Ah, but we lost Blue Streak," Hood reminded her.

Joystick smirked and rolled her eyes at Hood's retort. "Oooh no, what a big loss. I still don't see why we have to get more people on the team. That's less payment for each of us. We can take them, easily."

"What you don't realize, Joystick is that the Capekillers have bolstered their ranks since our attack on Fort Raymond."

"What, another twenty Shield agents?" Joystick huffed. "I'll take them all on myself without even breaking a sweat."

"No," Hood corrected impatiently. "They have a Hulk."

With that statement, everyone went suddenly silent. There were a lot of heroes the Capekillers could have added to their roster that wouldn't have caused them to even bat an eye, but Hulk? Hulk was like a force of nature, how do you fight a natural disaster? Nobody was dumb enough to want to do that. Or so Hood assumed.

"So?" Joystick finally forced out with a shake of her head. "So what, between Griffin, Spider Woman and me, we can take him on." Griffin and Spider Woman looked at each other doubtfully. Joystick ignited one of her energy batons. "I suppose another member wouldn't be too much of a pain in my payout. Let's get this slimeball."

A sharp report sounded outside. Gunfire. Hood immediately grabbed his two pistols and went invisible. Were they under attack? About twenty more shots raining down on them answered that question. The villains all dove for cover at once, colliding with each other. Joystick blocked a couple of bullets with her batons, thanks to her superhuman reflexes. Griffin took one to the shoulder, it didn't go deep thanks to his tough hide. He roared in pain, the sound nearly deafening Hood as he ran out of the room toward the exit to get a good look at their unexpected attackers. It obviously wasn't the Capekillers or some heroes or it wouldn't have been bullets.

"Yo, Hood!" a voice Parker didn't recognize shouted at him. "Get yo ass out here and face some lead justice!" Definitely not Shield or superheroes.

"Who the hell do you think you are, and what do you want with the Hood?" Spider Woman screamed out at their attackers.

"That Ant-Man design you sold my boss was a fake, it was bullshit! How the hell do you think you can rip him off?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hood went visible for a moment, ducking behind a crate outside. "We stole those files directly from a Shield base ourselves!"

"Then they made a fool of you, Hood. Not my concern. My job is to make you pay for making a fool of my boss. You drug him down with you!"

Hood gritted his teeth and went invisible again. He stepped quietly out from behind his crate and took aim.

"You don't even got the balls to respond to me?" the gangster called out. "Shoot the whole place down, boys!"

Hood went visible for just a moment. Enough to startle the gangsters into inaction. "Here's my response, little man." Hood fired a demon-cursed bullet right through the lead gangster's head, it exploded as it exited the back of his skull. He went invisible again.

"Blast him!" some other gangster shouted.

A hail of bullets rained down on his hideout, Hood already having taken shelter behind his large crate. Secretly it was filled with armor for any non-powered goons they might pick up along the way. It was one of the few crates that could actually protect him from the downpour of bullets spraying wood chips and destruction everywhere.

Hood's eyes began to glow a bright yellow-orange. "Earn your damn paychecks!" His amplified voice roared over the gunfire. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He felt alone and vulnerable and there was nothing he hated more than feeling weak or vulnerable.

Joystick's vibrant red energy beam burst forth from a shattered window and slammed right into the middle of the knot of gangsters gathered behind their SUV's. A few went flying to the side, it wasn't likely they would be getting up any time soon. Hood smirked, that was why he employed that annoying bitch, she had more balls than any of the men he had in his employ.

Another blast, this one yellow, kept the remaining gangsters busy so Hood could gain a better position. That one had to be from his newest recruit, Lightmaster. He didn't have a lot of confidence in the man but he was coming through when it most counted.

Where was that crazy Spider Woman? Didn't she have some kind of 'venom blasts' or something like that? Besides she was batshit crazy, she loved violence. He glanced again at the attacking gangsters to make sure he was still clear to run back to the hideout and answered his own question. Somehow the crazy blonde had snuck behind the gangsters using the creepy spider legs that grew from her back. She wanted to kill them upfront and personal. Hood smirked, he liked her style. It really was too bad she was so damn crazy, she was pretty hot, Hood observed as she fell on the men with her green venom blasts, laughing with wild abandon as she did so.

With much fewer bullets raining down on them the rest of the gang burst forth from the now pockmarked hideout. Griffin held Porcupine below him as they flew through the remains of the front window. Glass spun away from them in the air like glittering deadly snow. By the time the two landed there were a measly three gangsters left for them to kill out of the initial twenty-four attackers.

"Sorry I didn't save much for you, my dear Griffin," Spider Woman bemoaned with a wicked smile as Griffin snapped the last gangster's neck. "I just couldn't help myself. There's something delicious about making a man scream before he dies. I just can't get enough."

Griffin ignored her as he dropped the gangster and began to sniff to see if any were faking their deaths. Porcupine hadn't killed a single one. Hood gave him a side-eye that would have been blistering if he had seen it. He knew Porcupine had fought the Avengers and every account said he acquitted himself well, so why had he not been much help so far?

"Now that you all have gotten a taste of fun it's time we take down a harder target," Hood said, making sure to look Porcupine and Lightmaster hard in the eyes. "It's time to go get that Shield agent infested symbiote."

Keens Steakhouse, Manhattan

Keens wasn't quite used to the riotous customers like the two men they were serving now. It was a good thing it was before most of their clientele usually arrived. It was an odd pair, an older man with a bushy white mustache and dressed appropriately for the formality of the restaurant and a much younger redhead dressed in a sport coat and red button-up shirt matched up with a pair of blue jeans.

"To our future endeavors!" Eric O'Grady held up a beer in a toast. A laughing Raul Chalmers returned the gesture with his small glass of rye on the rocks.

"Here's to every mission going as smooth as this one did," Raul took a quick swig but held it in his mouth for a second, savoring how smooth it was, then swallowed and took to cutting his perfectly cooked medium-rare steak.

"I bet we can sell these plans for tens of millions of dollars!" O'Grady gushed. Imagine what he could do with that kind of bread. He'd have a swank pad and a wicked tailor-made suit of black and red, his favorite colors. The girls couldn't resist him then. Everyone knew that women were attracted to rich men, and soon he'd be one of them. He'd throw parties with girls in bikinis in his excessively large personal swimming pool. He'd show everyone that had ever doubted him that he could take care of himself, he could be somebody. No one would ever doubt him again, no one.

Raul laughed with him but Eric noticed with a little tingle to his danger senses that he was holding back. Was he planning to take the plans from him and bolt? Eric would never let that happen, he had sacrificed so much to get himself where he was right now. He eyed Raul, probably called Black Fox for a good reason. Maybe like a black-hearted fox. Ready to betray his trusted partner at any given moment.

Raul suddenly pulled something from his side, Eric tensed. This was it! Raul presented the USB drive that held Ant-Man's plans, the ones they had taken great care to copy for his sake and so they could keep selling it on the black market before it became readily available. By then they would be far away from New York, and Shield, in some no-name tropical country, living like kings of the profits.

"What's this?"

"I know you won't like this," Raul leaned in and whispered gruffly at him.

O'Grady swallowed loudly and leaned in as well. "What are you talking about, old man? What's not to like? We've got a perfect scheme going here. Are you trying to break your deal with me, because if so, I can tell you -"

"I need you to take the plans back to Shield and tell them that you stole the Ant-Man suit only to get them away from Hood."

"Are you insane?!"

"I knew you would react like this," Raul rolled his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean, old timer?"

"You're acting like someone half your age,"

"That's, twelve, thirteen, hey! I am not acting like some kid here! Going back to Shield is goddamn suicide!"

"Not if you bring them back the G.I. Ant-Man blueprints," referring to them by their official codename. Proof he had looked them over well while he had copied them from the thumb drive.

"Why in the hell would I do that?" O'Grady countered.

"There is something much bigger coming, Eric!" Raul explained vaguely. "Something that will get us a hundred times what these Ant-Man designs will get us!"

"Oh, and what's that?"

"I'm not exactly sure on the specifics," Raul told him.

"And you expect me to turn myself in for this, this vague idea of something nebulous out there that just might be very valuable? Especially when I already have something of great value already in my hands?"

"Think of it as an investment," Raul told him. "Besides, we've already copied what we need from the drive. It'll be a nice bit of side cash after the secrets we are taking from the Capekillers base, O'Grady. Trust me."

"And just exactly why should I do that? Because you're a thief? No? Because you conned me into leaving my comfy post? No?"

"You hated that place and you know it."

"But at least I wasn't on run from the largest spy organization in the world! I was a part of it!" O'Grady was turning beet red from frustration.

"You can be that again, just bring them back the blueprints and tell them that you stole the Ant-Man suit only so that you could get that back from the Hood before he could sell it on the black market. It fits almost all the facts anyway. They'll see you as a hero!"

"A hero?" for just a second O'Grady considered it, before guffawing and tossing the idea aside as swiftly as it had come.

"A hero."

"Hmmm . . . "

Streets of NYC, 19:07

Parker Robbins used his magic boots to race along the walls and windows of buildings, avoiding the milling crowds of dumb humanity below. They were like cattle and he was a cowboy, someone who knew their worth and also their worthlessness. He could use the chattel as he always had for millennia or he could feast on them to grant him power such that the Capekillers could barely stand the sight of him!

Parker shook his head. Where were these thoughts coming from? Unbidden they rose to the surface of his mind. He knew better, without these pathetic ghosts of people he wouldn't have anyone to profit from. What was going on? He didn't have time to psychoanalyze himself. He had a plan to execute.

His whole gang was depending on him to keep it together and for the first time in a long time, he was unsure if that was possible. Something was changing him. He had never shied away from violence or even killing but he had never really craved it, and now it was as if every kill was a meal and the longer he waited to kill someone the more 'hangry' he got. Even now he was licking his lips at the thought of finding Toxin.

It was actually the psycho-bitch that was responsible for them finding the symbiote. She had some sort of weird telepathy that she could use to track him. He didn't care how it worked as long as it got him results and if how excited she was getting was any indicator of anything they were getting close. It was about time, Parker was tired of running after this slimy alien. It was about time to take things into his own hands.

That was when everything went straight to hell.

"It's time to stop running, symbiote!" Hood pronounced as he leaped from the wall and landed in front of Toxin. "You're coming with us."

Toxin simply replied with a loud hiss, his scarlet tongue flailing about. Hood wasn't afraid of his black fangs and dripping claws, he had more power than anyone gave him credit for. Hood smiled in response to the symbiote's obvious threat.

"I don't think so, Hood," Agent Harrison proclaimed suddenly as Mimic, carrying the Shield agent, landed behind Toxin. "He's ours!"

Toxin backed up so that he could face both his would-be captors at the same time, his large white eyes darting back and forth between them. He was exhausted from the constant running and arguing with his alien symbiote. There was no way this could end well for him, no matter who took him.

"I don't belong to anyone," he hissed as he extended his wicked claws menacingly. "You might as well all go home."

"You know that isn't going to happen, son," Harrison refuted. "Shield has invested far too much into that symbiote to just let it go like that. I know that thing is influencing you, Mulligan, but you have to fight and come back home with us."

"No!"

"You heard him, Shield," Hood advanced on Harrison. "He doesn't want anything to do with you. He's coming with me."

"No!"

Constrictor came racing toward them, followed by agents Castillo and Cancino. Both were armed to the teeth and wore combat armor. Constrictor looked grim, as did Mimic, Toxin wasn't sure what to make of them. He knew that neither really wanted to be working for Shield but there was nothing to tell him that they cared one iota for his freedom. Why should they? He was one of the agents that had kept them imprisoned and basically used as slave mercenaries. No, he wouldn't be getting any help from them.

He glanced about, trying to find some means of escape that would stop any one of them from following him. That was near impossible, Mimic could fly and even Constrictor could use his coils to access places that most people couldn't get to easily. A rooftop wouldn't do, he would be way too exposed to Rankin's attacks.

Spider Woman came skittering forward on her creepy spider legs that grew from her back. They moved eerily fast and smooth, something was so unnatural about them but somehow they felt familiar to Mulligan. Was it something to do with the symbiote. He didn't have time to analyze and the rest of Hood's little gang joined them. Joystick was dropped from the sky by Griffin as he looped above them and then slowed to land. Lightmaster was right behind him, flying a bit more cautiously than the animalistic Griffin. Porcupine sprinted up from behind them, a little winded from running so far.

"I have you outnumbered and outpowered again, Harrison," Hood smirked, raising his hands to indicate his gang members.

Harrison couldn't deny that the numbers were greater than theirs but they had a secret weapon that he could call upon at any given moment. He didn't want to spoil the surprise yet, but he couldn't wait to see the look on Hood's face when he revealed the Red Hulk. Hood was going to piss himself. Harrison grinned at that thought.

"Outnumbered, maybe, but outpowered? Not a chance."

"Finish them off," Hood thrust a finger at what was left of the Capekillers. "Then we'll take our prize home. Lightmaster, keep an eye on our newest recruit."

"Capekillers, show 'em what you're made of," Harrison commanded.

Mimic launched himself at the villains that charged forward. His first target was the one that caused him the most fear, Griffin. Cal unleashed a stream of ice from his hands, thanks to Bobby Drake, freezing the beast man's wings and causing him to drop from the sky like a rock with an infuriated roar.

Joystick looked in shock as Griffin down within seconds. Obviously, they hadn't caught the Capekillers by surprise this time. She would have to try harder this time. She grinned, she'd always loved a challenge. She unleashed her red energy batons and charged forward, her eyes glued on Constrictor. She could take him out quickly then they could easily take on Mimic and the regular Shield agents.

Porcupine busied himself with the two advancing Shield agents, Cancino and Castillo, firing stunning quills at the pair. They both ignited their energy shield and brushed his quills aside so instead the animal-themed criminal charged toward them with a cry of determination. Lightmaster floated above them all watching Toxin who stood frozen with indecision. Toxin glanced back and forth between the Shield agents and Hood's little gang Lightmaster had just joined.

The floating criminal was already worried that he would come to regret his decision to join Hood's gang, but he needed the money after all. He wasn't given much respect in the criminal underworld, often they called him a pale shadow of the Living Laser, a C-lister, a nobody. It was true that his criminal career wasn't exactly the most successful one but his powers truly were awesome.

The power of light was nothing to sneeze and besides that he was a smart man, having once been the vice chancellor of Empire State University. It was because he was smart he had realized that his best chances of getting rich, without too much personal risk, was to join up with other supervillains and let the more physically geared villains take the risks for him while he contributed using his brains as well as his long-range powers.

He used his powers over light to flash blinding light into Mimics eyes, but his timing was off as it Rankin had just let loose a streaming burst of optic blasts at Joystick while she struggled forward using her batons to deflect his blast. Lightmaster, real name Edward Lansky, could see that the super strong Joystick was actually sweating with the strain of pushing against Mimic's blast. He hadn't realized the Z-list X-Men villain had that kind of power. He wondered if somehow he could use his powers to manipulate Mimic's optical blasts. Still not having taken action Lightmaster turned his attention toward Constrictor who was somehow taking on the psychotic Spider Woman.

As if feeling his eyes upon her Spider Woman glanced up at him with a grimace while she blocked Constrictor's coils with her spider legs. "Hey! New guy! How about a little help down here!" She fired a venom blast at the serpent-themed villain she was fighting, one of his coils merely brushed it aside, much to her irritation. A coil snuck through her legs and she barely dodged in time to avoid getting knocked out.

Lightmaster sneered but nonetheless fired a blast of light at Constrictor but the mercenary, having heard Spider Woman, simply closed his eyes for a moment, continuing his assault on Lansky's teammate. Hood below him hadn't moved since commanding them to attack the Capekillers. He was talking to the uncertain Toxin.

"You know they won't accept you back. They'll tell you anything to get you back now but once you are back under their control they are going to rip that symbiote from you. Do you know that symbiotes, once bonded, won't last long without their host? Sometimes it even kills the host when they are separated."

"How would you know?"

"How do you think I even knew about your existence? I have read every single Shield file on Project: Toxin," Hood explained.

"They wouldn't do that, the symbiote is too precious for them to waste like that!"

"They'd rather have a dead symbiote than one that was out of their control. You know I'm right."

Toxin stood still for a moment, Hood could practically see the wheels turning in their combined brain. Hood didn't care if he was right, he hadn't read every file on Project: Toxin. He just knew a few rumors and urban legends about Venom.

"I've made up my mind."

"Good."

Toxin leaped at Hood, fangs bared and claws extended. Hood jumped backward, drawing his demon enhanced pistols. He didn't want to kill Toxin either. He fired shots at the symbiote's legs and arms. Toxin twisted in mid-air and dodged all but one. One fiery bullet pierced his oozing hide and buried itself in Toxin's shoulder. The symbiote screeched, an eerie chorus combination of Mulligan and the alien's voices. Hood grinned.

Toxin leaped to the side and dodged behind a car. He launched the vehicle at Hood. Hood shot his hands forward and let loose with a powerful fiery blast, slowing the car as it spun through the air toward him. It crashed, flaming, right in front of him. Hood didn't move. Toxin suddenly appeared on top of the upside down car in front of him and launched himself once again at the Hood.

The symbiote's clawed hands were grasping Hood's wrists and spreading his arms wide before he could even get a shot off. Hood opened his mouth and spewed more fire at Toxin's face. Before the flames could reach him the symbiote kicked Hood, hard, in the chest, sending the gangster flying backward.

Next to them, Porcupine was having to physically keep the two Capekiller agents at bay while they used their energy shields and electric batons to pummel at his body. Good thing he was an excellent fighter, he blocked each blow with expert precision the quills on the backhands and forearms he fired at every given opportunity.

The two Shield agents were hammering with their shields and batons and Porcupine was starting to sweat underneath his too warm costume. Mimic and Constrictor were both on Joystick now.

Good, Joystick thought. One of them alone wouldn't be enough of a challenge for me. She might have been kidding herself as Mimic let loose with an optic blast and an ice blast at the same time. He blocked both blasts with her dual energy batons but one of Constrictor's metal coils snaked through her defenses and cracked her across the skull. Joystick stumbled drunkenly back.

Realizing that if he didn't do something now they might lose to the Capekillers, Lightmaster dove reluctantly into the fray. He shot a stream of solid light projection and wrapped it around Castillo, saving Porcupine from a well-aimed blow. Cancino turned to see what had happened to his partner and received several quills in the shoulder for his efforts. He turned back to Porcupine and blocked the next volley of quills with his energy shield. He had to trust that Castillo could handle himself.

Just as the tide turned against them their reinforcements arrived. Hunter arrived with Lucas and Humphries in tow. The three agents opened fire on the criminals attacking their fellow Shield agents. They'd get to the super-powered help once they were sure the agents were safe. They were criminals, after all, fellow Shield agents came first.

"This is like one of those carnival games!" Lucas called out, shooting a laser from his cybernetic hand and shooting and energy pistol with his other hand. One laser seared a recovering Griffin who had just taken wing. The beast man roared angrily and dove into the fray but the Shield agents had managed to overcome Porcupine, five to one. They turned on Lightmaster, Lucas was distressed to find his laser didn't work on Lightmaster, but for some reason his energy gun did. They rained energy hell down on the uppity criminal. Lansky fell before the overwhelming assault.

"Boss!" a recovering Porcupine called out to the Hood.

The red-cloaked gangster was engaged in a dual fight against both Toxin and Harrison. The older Shield agent was in surprisingly good shape and was able to stay in step with the demon-possessed Hood. Toxin had an obvious weakness to fire and especially demon fire, his shoulder still recovering, so he was using hit and run techniques that went against his symbiote's nature but surprisingly the alien didn't complain, in fact, it had been surprisingly silent ever since he had been shot. Something was wrong, it suddenly dawned on Mulligan.

"What's wrong, Toxin?" Mulligan asked his symbiote, talking out loud as he had to concentrate on avoiding Hood's fiery blasts.

Do you think the Hood is right?

"Right? Right about what?"

Will Shield separate us by force?

"No! No, I don't think so," Mulligan responded, growing more unsure with every word that spilled out of his mouth.

You are unsure.

"We'll have to convince them that the best thing they can do is let us stay together," Mulligan reassured.

Or we could run. Right now.

"And when would we stop running?" Mulligan asked. "Shield is everywhere, there is no escaping them!"

We could go somewhere no one is. Deep in the jungle. Somewhere they would never find us. It could be done.

"And hide forever? Your species might be alright with that but we humans aren't," Mulligan declared.

. . . neither are we.

"Boss!" Porcupine repeated, launching some quills at the Shield agents. "I think it's time we got out of here, Lightmaster is down!"

"No!" the Hood screamed in an inhuman voice. The gangster shook his head, his eyes had started to glow orange again. "You're right! Everyone scatter, Griffin, get Lightmaster. Meet back at my place!"

None of the villains needed told twice. Griffin swooped down and scooped Lightmaster up in his bulky red arms and flew away. Porcupine grabbed a car that had been abandoned amidst the fight and left running and sped away. Joystick the only one to pause for just the slightest second and then, taking advantage of her minimal super speed, sprinted away. Spider Woman leaped onto the side of a nearby building and skittered quickly away shouting curse words at them as she went.

The agents turned then and pointed their guns at Toxin who threw up his arms in defense. "Stand down!" Harrison shouted. "He could have run, he could have joined Hood's gang, but instead he chose to stay and help us."

Reluctantly the agents lowered their guns but every one of them kept at least one suspicious eye on the symbiote. Mimic landed. Everyone was silent, staring at Harrison and Toxin, holding their breath. What was going to happen?

"Are you ready to come home, Mulligan?" Harrison asked.

There was a moment's pause, a silence as thick as a London fog. "Yes. I am ready to go back to Fort Raymond." An audible sigh issued from nearly everyone present. They were all exhausted and beaten and sore and the last thing they wanted was to get into yet another fight with a supervillain.

"Then let's go," Harrison welcomed Mulligan with a gesture to join him at his side. Toxin let down his living red mask, revealing the auburn-haired Patrick Mulligan underneath, sweating and obviously nervous.

"I just want a shower," Cancino intoned as they walked back the way they had come.

Fort Raymond - Forty-Five minutes later

Cancino was relieved to see the base up ahead, he felt crusty and he was sure he stank. The Shield armor was great for protection, horrible for comfort, they made him sweat and weighed him down, oftentimes they caused his Shield uniform to chafe against his groin and belly. In short, he hated them.

"Hey!" Castillo grunted from the shotgun seat. "Who is that?"

They all leaned forward to catch a glimpse of a red and black figure standing impatiently on the side of the road. The figure extended his thumb.

"Un-fucking-believable!" Harrison growled. "It's O'Grady! Stop this vehicle now! Everyone brace yourselves for a fight!" The armored vehicle screeched to a halt and everyone piled out as quick as they could.

"Hey, guys, did you miss me?" O'Grady flipped up his helmet, grinned and waved.

Tales from the Hood, part 4:
"Meet the New Gang"

Parker Robbins' Home - Ten Months Ago . . .

"I still don't understand why Pete can't pick up some of the work," Ariana repeated for the fiftieth time. She was goddamn lucky she was carrying my child or I would have kicked her to the curb already. I knew pregnant women were full of hormones and so they had emotional swings and all that crap but Ariana really pushed the limits, always asking for stuff and trying to get him to stay home. Even more annoying, she would cry or throw a fit when she didn't get her way. I wished the baby would hurry up and be born already so I could finally be done with Ariana.

"Look, Pete abandoned me, took off with some of his people and left me high and dry, I couldn't turn my back on those guys for a second!" I lied. Once I had killed nearly everyone those that had survived just disappeared, absorbed into other gangs most likely. I didn't care. I didn't need them anymore. I had a plan.

"How come you didn't tell me, baby?" Ariana asked her face changing from angry frustration to motherly concern, which really wasn't any better.

"You can't stress out while you're carrying the baby, I figured I'd catch you up once the baby was born," I lied again.

"I'm not a delicate snowflake just because I am pregnant!" Ariana shouted her face quickly contorting back to anger. Whatever.

"I gotta go!" If I had to hear one more of her tirades right now I'd shut her up with a hand to the face. That would be a mistake, I didn't want to do anything to risk the baby.

"Parker!" Her voice rose another couple octaves. Screw that, I'm getting out now. "Parker, you get back here!"

I waved a hand in farewell and slammed the door behind me. I clenched my fists and tried to calm my breathing. I felt them get hot, little sparks flying from in between my fingers. No, I couldn't risk revealing myself publicly like this yet. Besides, I had a job to do and attracting attention wasn't in the plan.

Westchester County, Two Hours Later

Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane had once been a normal heavy security prison until Dr. Kafka had gotten her condescending hands on it. She and the military had renovated it to become an insane asylum for those with super powers. It was a perfect place to start building my new gang from the ground up.

I knew of one particular inmate that had gone toe to toe against some of the heaviest hitters out there and come away none too worse for the wear. Johnny Horton, best known as the Griffin. From what I had been able to gather on the guy he had been like me, a no-name regular gangster until he was changed. No one knew for sure if it had been an accident, something he had done on purpose or something that had been done to him. To me, it didn't matter, he had power now and power was all that mattered.

I went invisible as I approached the entrance then used my boots to simply walk up and over the high brick wall that surrounded the institute, simply stepping over the razor wire. As long as I had my hood and boots no one would be able to contain me. I made my way invisibly across the institute yard and simply slipped in behind a guard.

I set off a metal detector as I slipped through while no one was going through. I would have enjoyed watching the ensuing confusion and anger amidst the staff but I was on a mission and the sooner I was done, the better.

They didn't pay their guards here very well. Stupid. That's how I had gotten the map to Griffin's padded cell. I didn't even have to bribe him with that much. I went up the drab functional cement stairs and climbed three floors. They had Griffin on the top floor, not their brightest moment.

I slipped into the hall and went through two more security gates, they were just sitting open with some bored looked guard staring blankly ahead at them, as if that would be enough for any of the inmates if they got loose. I was near my goal. The fourth cell on my left. I skidded to a halt, I had started to run in my eagerness.

I stared into the small narrow bullet-proof window provided to stare into patient's cells before entering. A sad sight Johnny Horton lay sprawled across the floor, thinner than he had been in the news. Probably starving. A large collar was locked around his neck, a red light blinked every couple of seconds. They had a power-dampening collar on him.

I quickly picked the lock, something I had picked up years ago, and opened the door. He didn't even stir. Did they have him all drugged up? I cursed. This might be a lot harder than I had originally thought. I slowly approached, trying to stay quiet, just in case. Suddenly Griffin's red hulking form lunged at me. Giant yellow fangs carrying a bad case of halitosis snapped just inches from my face.

I flinched. Dammit. But I didn't back away. "Griffin! I know you don't know me but I have a job for you!" I shouted over Griffin's snarls as he struggled against his chains that kept him just inches from tearing my throat out. His attack slowed and his eyes closed down to slits. Good, his lack of intelligence had been exaggerated, just as I had suspected.

"I need a team to help me get rich and my first choice to join is you," I told him as Griffin finally settled down and simply glowered at me with his piercing golden eyes. He shifted his weight and tugged at his collar with one of his half-formed hands. I understand what he was asking just fine.

"I'll need you to promise me that you will work for me before I can let you free," I told him plainly. "I think you can understand why."

Griffin studied me for a moment. I could see his nostrils twitching as he sniffed at me, perhaps for some sign of fear. I wasn't scared. I was in no danger with my gifts. I could disappear from Ravencroft any time I wanted. He finally nodded.

I took his collar in both my hands and concentrated. Demon fire poured into the keyhole on the collar and melted the insides of the mechanism. I pulled the collar apart easily. Griffin actually purred and smiled largely. Now I had a little fear in me.

"Free me too!" A woman's voice screeched from out in the hall. Alarmed, I shushed Griffin and went invisible. I ran out to see who had spoken to us. There was a woman in the cell across the hall. She looked pretty, a little old for me but still hot. "I'll work for you for cheap if you just free me like you did Griffin. Griffin came out behind me, I waved him back inside.

"Lady, I don't know you."

"I'm Spider Woman!" she told me.

"I thought she was an Avenger."

"I'm the real Spider Woman!" she sounded a little too desperate. "I have all her powers and the powers of Spider-girl and that other one, Arachne!"

That was an impressive power set if it were true. I could hear a commotion further on down the hall.

"Griffin can fly, do you have a way to get out of here?"

"I can fly, sorta," she offered. Well, it wouldn't take too much effort and another member on my first day would be good if she wasn't any good I could always just get rid of her. Making my decision I busted open her door and melted the mechanism in her collar as well. She smiled crazily at me.

"How do we get out of this hallway?" she asked.

"Stand back, Griffin," I commanded my first recruit. "Get ready to fly!" I lifted a hand at the windowless outer wall and let loose with a huge fireball. The room rocked as the blast hit the way and shattered away the bricks.

Griffin turned to me and smiled, thankful. He stretched his wings for the first time in months and cried jubilantly before leaping off into the air. Spider Woman cackled as she followed after him.

"I've got some telepathy," Spider Woman called back at me as she glided away. "We'll find you as soon as we lose any pursuit!"

I smiled largely as I returned to my invisible state and ran down the cracked and blasted prison wall. Guards just missed me as they came scrambling to Griffin's former cell. "How the hell did this happen? Gorse! Did you forget to secure his collar?" I couldn't suppress a chuckle as they faded from earshot. Alarms blared and armed guards scrambled all over the yard but I just walked casually right past them. Hood's empire had begun.

END

Next: Capekillers: Separation Anxiety: A two-part story arc where Mulligan's worst fears are realized as Crowne decides that Shield would be better off without him bonded to the young symbiote. Is there anything he can do, hell can anyone do anything and does anyone care enough to do something? Hood is pissed they lost both the Ant-Man specs but also the symbiote.