Chapter 6
GATHERING OF HEROES
Over in the Daily Bugle, many of its staff members watched the match between Spidey and the Iron Patriot in some form or fashion. Some what from the TV’s in the lobby, while others watch from their iPhone’s while at their desks, breakrooms or anywhere else in the building. But in the office of J. Jonah Jameson, mixed feelings filled the room. For as Robbie Robinson watched in worry of Spidey’s well-being, Jonah himself grinned from ear to ear as he watched the Patriot appeared to get the upper hand. “YEAH! ATTA BOY NORMAN!” Jonah exclaimed loudly as he watched the Patriot used his left hand to catch the web-line shot from Spidey, then pulled the Web-Head towards him just so he could use his right arm to give him a hard clothesline. “Now this is starting to get entertaining! It’s about time that someone put that Wall-Crawling freak in his place! In fact, this gives me an idea!” With that said, Jonah turned his attention to his open office door and to a male employee in his mid-thirties and with brown hair, wearing glasses and a suit minus his jacket. “HOFFMAN!”
Upon hearing Jonah scream his name, Hoffman quickly and nervously entered his office, nearly tripping over his own feet once he arrived. “Y-Yes, Mr. Jameson?” he asked timidly, as he usually did in Jonah’s presence.
“Stop the presses, because here’s the title for the next story!” said Jonah as he placed his hand in the air to emphasize the importance of the name of the paper’s soon to be biggest scoop, at least in his mind. “Iron Patriot, the TRUE heroic champ, squashes Spider-Man, the Wall-Crawling chump!”
Robbie gave Jonah a complete bewildered look on how he was ‘jumping the gun’ when it came to the paper’s top headline. “Jonah, the match is still going on!”
Before answering, Jonah looked back at the TV to see the Patriot hold Spidey up over his shoulders, then threw him down to the steel floor, which made his grin become even wider. “Might not be that way for long, Robbie,” he replied, then noticed that Hoffman was still in his office, which made his happy mood quickly turned back to his usual angry one. “WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING THERE, HOFFMAN?! YOU GOT TWO POINT THREE SECONDS TO MAKE OUR TOP STORY HAPPEN OR YOUR FIRED! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!”
“Yes sir!” Hoffman yelped in fear, then high tailed it out of his office and sped towards the elevators so he can run to the printing presses to carry out Jonah’s request.
As for Robbie, he only shook his head in both pity and silent disappointment at Jonah, as he could believe that his hatred of Spider-Man was so great, he would allow it to affect his judgement as editor and go ahead and make a glorified story for the Iron Patriot before the match was even over. He then turned back to the TV to see Spidey himself painfully roll on his stomach to crawl away from the Patriot. “Come on, Web-Head,” Robbie thought. “You never some guy in a robot suit stop you before, don’t start now!”
Meanwhile, back on the main bridge of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrier, Zemo, Maria and the rest of the agents continued to watch the match via the large screen and they soon see the Patriot use his right hand to grab Spidey by the back of his neck and lift him up into the air. However, it was here that the Web-Head, despite that his back was still aching, managed to escape by using his left leg to kick backward and nail the Patriot in the still visible dent in his abdomen, forcing the Thunderbolt to let go of the Wall-Crawler’s neck and thus allow him to drop down safely on his feet.
Upon seeing Spidey get free from the Patriot’s hold, Zemo shook his head in disappointment. “Oh Norman,” he muttered. “You’re allowing a child to make a fool of you in front of the entire world. Not to mention making my decision to cut you loose all the more easier.”
Suddenly, and without warning, Maria started to gasp loudly, until finally, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She then allowed her eyelids to close and her head to droop down, losing consciousness while still standing on her feet.
Something that did not sit well with the shocked Zemo. “What?!”
Not long after that, the rest of the agents on the bridge all started gasping as well, and just like Maria, all passed out at their stations. But most surprising of all, the images on the stations’ computers, as well as the large screen showing the match, all changed to the image of the Vision’s face avatar.
A sight that left Zemo all the more dumbfounded. “What’s happening?!” he exclaimed and received another surprise when he heard the main door burst down, causing him to spin around. Moments later, what the former leader of H.Y.D.R.A. saw next made his eyes grow big.
It was that of Tony Stark, who was now in his Iron Man armor and revealed to be the one who punched down the door. Not only that, but with him were his teammates, the Avengers, namely Cap, Thor, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Hank ‘Yellowjacket’ Pym, the Wasp and the still human Bruce Banner, wearing nothing but his red torn jeans. Also present were that of the new Avengers, which was Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Ant-Man and Wolverine. And finally, Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors, Misty Knight, Sharon Carter, Black Widow and Quake.
The first of the Avengers to address Zemo was that of Cap, with shield in hand and his eyes narrowed at his old enemy. “WE’RE happening, Zemo!”
“Captain!” said the stunned Zemo. “You are cured?! How?!”
Iron Man is the next to speak up, all while charging up both his repulser gauntlets. “You’ll have plenty of time to figure that out Zemo, once you back in your nice cozy cell in Prison 42!”
And Nick decided to be the next to address the masked madman with his cool, calm swagger still present. “So, we’ll give you a choice! You can either come quietly or be taken.”
Wolverine, as if on cue, popped out the claws in his right hand as a way to intimidate the stunned Zemo. “And bub, I’m hopin’ you wanna be taken’.”
At this point, Zemo took a moment to regain his composure and not give his enemy’s any further satisfaction of his bewilderment, then placed his hands behind his back as he glared at the feral X-Man. For he remembered that he had prepared for such a situation and secretly used his left hand to secretly pull out a small device out of his right glove. “Well, you have the opportunity to try, mutant filth! However, in regards to fighting for the sake of both my freedom and the success of my plan, I shall not do it alone.” With that said, Zemo pressed the button on the device, and suddenly, what appeared to be sixteen flashes of light occurred and as they materialized, they are revealed to be the recruits of his NEW Thunderbolts team.
This new team consisted of that of the Serpent Society, such as…
KING COBRA: (a man in green and purple body armor and with his mask looking like that of his namesake.)
ANACONDA: (a large, bulky blonde-haired woman with gold armor and green armor.)
BUSHMASTER: (a large, humanoid snake creature with robotic arms and a long tail instead of a pair of legs.)
DEATH ADDER: (a man clad in purple armor wearing clawed gloves and a green helmet mask with a ‘mohawk’ type fin on the top)
CONSTRICTOR: (a masked man clad in a purple and orange bodysuit and two tentacle-like coils protruding from the back of both of his hands.)
And MADAME VIPER: (a tall, slender woman clad in a green body suit and with match green hair.)
There was another team that made his large group as well, and they were the Wrecking Crew. Consisting of such members as…
WRECKER: (a tall, muscular man wearing a purple mask, green bodysuit and carrying a large crowbar.)
THUNDERBALL: (a large, bulky African American male clad in yellow and green clothing and carrying a large ball and chain.)
PILEDRIVER: (a tall man with blonde hair, wearing red and white clothing.)
And BULLDOZER: (a large, imposing, bulky man wearing an orange bodysuit and donning a silver steel helmet.)
Three members of crime in New York also helped make up this gathering of villains. Which was…
TOMBSTONE: (The former Big Man of Crime, with his chalk-white skin and hair, imposing physique and wearing a black bodysuit as oppose to one of his many tailored business suits.)
SILVER SABLE: (The silver haired daughter of the crime boss, Silvermane, donning her traditional matching silver combat gear.)
And TITANIA: (a tall, muscular, red headed masked woman clad in a dark, purple spikey suit and who was now serving as Sable’s personal bodyguard.)
And the last and final member to complete this team was that of the RED HULK, who popped his knuckles with anticipation in fighting his former ‘teammates’, the Avengers.
Needless to say, this new development caused great worry within the Avengers, especially Iron Man, who looked on with a worried expression behind his faceplate. “Okay, wasn’t expecting this.”
Zemo chuckled once he heard the shocked Iron Man’s statement. “Of course, you didn’t,” he told the Armored Avenger. “After you defeated the original, as well as defective, Thunderbolts. I took it upon myself to recruit these new members. Some of which who have agreed to help me finish you!”
Moments later, Tombstone addressed Zemo with a slight glare, appearing not to fully trust him. “IF you honor your part of the agreement in restoring me back to my position in my syndicate.”
“But of course, Mr. Lincoln. I can assure you, you’re trust in me well founded,” Zero replied, then turned to both him and Silver Sable with a distrustful look on his own. “Just as I trust that the both you and Ms. Manfredi will be on your best behavior when it comes to dealing with our current situation?”
At that moment, both Sable and Tombstone turned to each other with looks of pure disdain. Last time they were together, it was part of a meeting that had not just themselves, but her father and the scientist, Doctor Otto Octavius. She remembered being tranquilized by her old flame, Hammerhead, but she also remembered being told that Silvermane was imprisoned that night. And though Tombstone himself was imprisoned as well, she still held him partially responsible for her father’s imprisonment.
But Tombstone, ever the professional, turned his attention away from Sable and back to Zemo. “Of course. This is strictly business.”
A still bitter Sable said nothing, for she still kept her sights on Tombstone, her temporary partner, but her still sworn enemy. “For now, anyway,” she said quietly, then turned her attention back to the Avengers, then pulled out two metallic-like cuffs from her right side-pocket and placed them over her fingers.
As for Zemo, he was convinced by Tombstone’s words and thus looked back at the baffled Avengers. As he did this, he used his right hand to reach over his left said and pulled out his sword, all the while still holding the device in his left hand. “Well then, let’s get on with it!” Zemo declared, then took a moment to looked around the bridged and saw that its nowhere near the appropriate place to have a battle of this scale. “But let us take this to a place that is a little less…crucial.” With that said, he doubled clicked the button on the device, and moments later, both teams were transported out of the bridge and into an unknown place to have their final showdown.
The digital Vision head is left all alone on the bridge, and as much as he wanted to help them, he knew that he couldn’t. For one, he still had no body, and could not physically aid them if he wanted to. And two, he knew that they would want him to carry on his task in hacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. databanks, to which he was almost finished. However, that still did not stop him from worrying about the superhero team that he regarded as his family, and thus could only sadly say this. “Be careful, my friends.”