“I should explain meself now.” I said. (Continued from here.)

“That would be cool.” replied Peter. He was a touch excited, and very curious.

Peter had brought home a copy of the Bugle that night, in which the cover story criticized the government, and more importantly, the Registration Act. After all, to a journalist, if SHEILD isn't enforcing the Act properly, then the problem must be with the Registration Act itself. I no see the logic, but then, the media and I be two different animals.

That night, we had a celebration. After all, it was our first victory against the government's injustice. Aside from freeing Gohan, that is. After having pizza and talking ourselves stupid (those over twenty-one were aided by wine), Aunt May and MJ went to their rooms, and turned off the light as they went.

Peter and I sat in the dark kitchen, still seated at the table. He had been about to turn in as well, before I stopped him.

“When we fought the squid guy...”

“Doctor Octopus.”

“Right, well anyway, when I was wrestling with him, I kind of made a wish... or something. I admit, Peter, I was scared... scared as a wee lad fighting the town bully. For some reason, I wanted him to feel as scared as I was.

“Then we connected. I no be knowing how it happened. We just... connected. The whole time I fought him, I could feel his pride, his arrogance, and confidence. As scared as I was, I hated that. But when we connected, I had control over what he felt. I made him feel the fear I had. Then I made him feel more.”

“And I know the result.” replied Peter. “It was freaking weird seeing one of my strongest enemies cry for his mommy. Kinda satisfying as well, though.”

“I wonder if he still be crying.”

“Not any more. I have a few contacts. One told me that he recovered... though it took a while. Another told me that they destroyed his arms for good. Ummm...”

“Ummm, what?” I asked. Peter was feeling a mixture of curiosity, and mild fear. Not good.

“I was just wondering if you ever used this... newfound gift. You know, after fighting Ock?”

So that was it. “You be asking, 'have you decided to control anyone else's emotions?' No. I didna' want to find out if I could make the changes permanent. Besides, it just seems wrong.”

“It does present ethical questions. But then, so do Professor Xavier's mind altering powers. Just don't use it on us, unless we give you permission.”

“Why would you give me permission?”

“Well, you can control emotions right? You can exaggerate someones fear, sadness, worry, pain, anxiety, etc. But then there's also the 'pleasant' emotions, right? So you can use that ability as a weapon, but it's good for more than that too.”

“It makes sense, but I think, as a weapon, it should only be used as me last resort. As for those other things... we'll see.”

******

The next day I was watching TV. I flipped to the news channel, and the reporter was saying:

“Downtown in Frank's Jewelry the notorious criminals Electro and Rhino are holding twelve people hostage. This latest incident, which started approximately ten minutes ago, is making many people wonder whether arresting superheroes was such a great idea.”

“The hell it was.” said Peter coming up behind me. The report continued.

“Here's Dan Goodman, live on the scene.”

“Thanks, Linda. Here we see Frank's Jewelry under siege by the NYPD. Electro and Rhino are commonly known as thieves, but they don't seem to be after money this time. They haven't made any demands, and as SHIELD has not yet arrived, we don't know what they're waiting for. It's puzzling, because, frankly, they could plow right through the police force here.”

I turned off the TV.

“They be waiting for you, no?” I asked Peter.

“For both of us. They wouldn't be together otherwise.”

******

Soon after, we arrived at Frank's Jewelry. We took the direct approach to the situation. In other words, we walked in the front door.

“Hi Rhino and Electro.” we said in unison.

Rhino replied, “If you thought you were gonna surprise us with your friend, Spidey, think again. We read the papers, and we're ready for both of ya.”

Spiderman sounded surprised, “Wait, you read? Wow. But you know, that whole 'we read the papers' speech makes you sound stupid anyway... oh never mind.”

Electro butted in, “You all sound stupid. I'm gonna fry you like salmon.”

“That sounded smart.” I said. “Why don't we just get to the fighting? Here, Rhino, think 'fast'.”

Fighting was the easy part. Rhino charged, and I dodged. Rhino went through the wall and out to the side street. Spidey dodged Electro's blasts, swung around behind him and slammed him through the hole in the wall, and onto the street as well. The twelve hostages ran out the back.

Outside, Rhino charged me again. I ran up a wall and jumped down behind him after he slammed into it. Spidey had swung around a bit, but then stood on the street just long enough to toss another one-liner.

Electro took advantage, just like we expected. He launched a vicious electrical strike, but I had already picked up a very dizzy Rhino and thrown him in the way. He went out cold.

I've learned to tell when someone is going to strike. There's a very small emotional build-up right before the strike, but it's enough for me. I felt that build-up in Electro, and threw myself up, dodging the blast.

Before he could strike again, Spiderman hurtled into him feet first. Two more bad guys down. Spiderman wrapped them both in a mass of webs. We dragged them to the main avenue where SHEILD was just arriving.

“Here's an early Christmas present.” yelled Spiderman, and we took to the buildings.

Down below, the SHEILD agents looked grim. Their chief barked an order, and they put the two villains in portable prison cells with power dampeners around.

This entry was posted by Fade, on Monday, September 25, 2006. You can leave your response.