(Previously on Animal Instincts: Infected Humanity) –
Then Spider roared loudly, crawling up the wall as he did so. Cap was shouting into his comm with Taskmaster, Electro was cursing saying "he looks so much creepier in person", while Widow raised her wrist defensively in front of her. Then the room burst.
Rhino came charging in through the wall, pieces of shrapnel and debris raining down on those closest, whereas Tiger, Zabu, Triton, and Squirrel Girl came pouring in from the hallway. Squirrel Girl chittered frantically, scurrying up the wall next to Spider. The Infected regarded them with cold, killer eyes.
These were people in THEIR home. Invading THEIR territory; and the Infected did not like that.
Up ahead Vulture was starting to fly crazier, looking conflicted between the regular people and the Infected. Widow and her group were horrible out-numbered, the entrance doors were still not working, and now they had to keep not only Vulture from leaving the Academy, but six other mutated, feral creatures as well.
With one last blood-pulsing roar, Spider jumped from his perch on the wall, down toward the group. The Infected followed after him with an excited cry.
And all hell broke loose.
(Up in the tricarrier)
"What the hell happened?" Nick Fury demanded, watching as his agents worked furiously to get the monitors to the Academy back up and running.
"Our systems crashed, someone hacked into the Academy mainframe and cut our connection to it. We're blocked from all the video-footage, and our control over the building." The agent close to Fury frantically explained. She, along with the row of computer agents she was coworkers with, had her fingers flying across the key-board as they desperately worked on getting past the computer viruses firewall.
Nick Fury cursed colorfully, running a hand along his bald head before taking a long, deep breathe to calm himself, and exhaling slowly. "How long till you can get our systems back online?" he asked. The agent shrugged, her eyes never left the screen as codes and numbers flew across her vision. "I think I know a way to get past the firewall," she said. "Give me 15 minutes."
"You have 10." Nick replied.
The agent bit her lip nervously, glancing at the Director with a sliver doubt, "Sir, this firewall is very-"but then she stopped herself. A hard look of determination gleamed in her eyes, and she set her steady gaze back on the screen. "Consider it done Sir." She corrected herself as she set back to work.
The agents gaze was fixated back on the screen, completely ignoring the man behind her. Nick nodded and stepped away to let his agents do their job. In his ear piece Cap was yelling: Any progress with the controls? Things are getting tough down here!
"Hold the Infected down there for 10 minutes." Nick ordered. "The controls will be back up and running by then."
Copy that, Cap replied.
For a moment the only sounds coming from the comm were the grunts, curses, and the occasional hiss of pain from the Avengers (and villains) below; Nick paced along the tricarrier, walking up to the giant glass windows and looking down at the Academy. He heard the teens run up behind him, "Director Fury is there anything we can do?" Powerman asked.
Fury shook his head, "The Infected already have taken a dislike to anyone sent in there, over-loading them with too many 'enemies' will make them go crazy and lash out even more."
Agent Venom made a noise of frustration.
The villains in the room were all up as well. Besides Doc Ock was in the labs with Curt Connors, but Kraven, Beetle, Scorpion, Sandman and Shocker were all up and trying to figure out what was going on. "What is happening?" Kraven demanded. He probable only sounded concerned was because he wanted the Infected all to himself!
"Calm down Kraven." Fury snapped, briefly turning to glare at the hunter.
Kraven growled back at the Director, but didn't push him anymore. Fury turned back to watch the Academy, just as something hesitantly stepped out into the light.
It was Spider-Man; said arachnid was looking around in wonder. He couldn't see the tricarrier because the cloaking devices were up. Nick Fury cursed loudly, "Spider-Man is out of the Academy, this is now a Code Red."
"Don't you mean a code green?" Hulk asked in his comm.
Ignoring that statement, Fury shouted "Hulk, deploy. Go NOW! Do not let Spider-Man get off the Academy."
"Got it."
Captain America buzzed back to life over the comm, Fury, we've lost visual of Spider-Man. I repeat, we lost visual of Spider-Man. We need back-up!
"Already done." Fury assured.
Nick Fury glanced outside in time to see the giant, green goliath jump from the tricarrier and onto the Academy with a loud "RAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Spider engaged combat with the human using a shiny, circular thing as a weapon. Or, Captain America and his 'shield' (?), as Peter called him. Spider felt it as his fangs filled with poison, he dodged a kick from the 'Captain' and waited for an opening to bite.
Hey now! Peter chided. You can't bite CAPTAIN AMERICA. He's a living legend He's THE Captain America! You bite him and it's like biting freedom and liberty, heck you might as well bite and eat a bald eagle!! The symbol of our NATION!
Spider ignored Peter's prattling; this was an enemy in HIS home. Spider wasn't just gonna ignore that because Peter liked some odd looking human with a circle.
SHIELD!
Whatever, Spider had to defend his territory, and let all the intruders know that HE was in charge around here, and HE would not be intimidated into submission. The Captain jumped away from a punch coming from one of Spiders arms, but stumbled when Spider clipped him with a talon. Seeing an opening to his side, Spider lunged with his fangs poised and ready.
NO!!
Unfortunately Spider never got him. There was a loud zap (his spider-sense tingled) and Spider felt a thrill of energy course through his body. It sent his body flying back, both buzzing with slight pain and vivacity as his nerves prickled. Spider hissed sourly at Zappy, who flew away as he was attacked by Squirrel Girl.
Heehee, don't you mean Electro.
Same thing; Spider heard the Captain give Zappy a half-hearted thanks before he jumped back toward Spider. The arachnid dodged the circle – uh shield – as it bounced off a wall and went back to the Captain's awaiting hand. How did it to that?
Honestly Six Eyes, I've always wondered the same thing.
Spider jumped back onto the wall and shot several strands of webbing at the Captain. The human dodged most, but one caught his arm and he fell as the appendage stuck fast to the floor. Spider jumped back down from the wall, and right above the fallen Captain.
His fangs dripped poison; a few drops fell onto the Captain's clothes and sizzled. Spider reached down to finish off his victim (Peter all the while yelling at him to stop), but then the Captain's unrestrained fist came flying from the side and caught Spider in the face.
The human packed a harder hit than Spider realized.
Spider chided himself for forgetting about the free hand, but screeched in pain when the Captain grabbed his shield and slammed it into Spider's head. Several of Spider's fists flew out to hit him, but the Captain narrowly dodged each one. Spider hissed in frustration; why did they have to move so much?
The Captain rolled away; Spider crouched low and hissed at him again. The two circled each other; the Captain had his shield up and poised defensively in front of him. But before either could make a move, there was a shriek and a sonic blast erupted right in between them both.
The Captain was flung back, and Spider was thrown a little ways away. Spider looked up to the assailant; it was the flying creature similar to his Pack.
Vulture? I can't believe they got him too. Peter mumbled sadly.
Vulture shrieked again, this time hitting closer to Zappy. The flying mutate was getting worse, from where he stood Spider could see its blood-shot eyes; he could sense the fear and anger radiating off Vulture. As sad as it made Spider, he couldn't have him flying around like that; it was hurting his Pack too.
As if making a point, Vulture shrieked a sonic blast at Bones (That's Taskmaster!) which hit Tiger as well. Bones managed to flip off a wall and landed safely back on the ground, but Tiger flew back and hit into Zabu (who had been in combat with Red) (I think you mean Black Widow), causing both to fall in a piled heap on the ground.
Yep, Vulture needed to be stopped.
Spider grunted at Rhino, who was swinging his horn at Zappy fruitlessly. Rhino stopped what he was doing and turned to face his leader, Spider hissed at the Captain and Rhino immedianly understood. Shaking his head back and forth, and pawing at the ground with his feet, Rhino charged the Captain; who cursed in surprise and rolled out of the way.
As soon as the Captain was preoccupied, Spider jumped up on the wall and crawled up on the ceiling. Squirrel Girl was up there too; she was baring her teeth at Vulture with her tail bristled like spark, prickly needles. Spider softly, but firmly, growled at Squirrel Girl to step down. Squirrel Girl's eyes darted to the Alpha and she happily complied.
With one last hiss at Vulture, Squirrel Girl jumped passed him, zipping along the beams of the ceiling until she crawled her way back to the fight below. Vulture regarded Spider with distrustful eyes. He squawked uncomfortable, his flapping increasing and becoming erratic. Spider hissed loudly, he bared his fangs at Vulture, hoping the creature would step down.
Instead it riled Vulture up more, and he sent a sonic blast at Spider. The arachnid was quick to dodge; Spider jumped from the ceiling and landed on one of the horizontal beams. Vulture followed close behind, swooping in to try and rake his claws across his towering foe.
But Spider swung in and out of the beams, going in loops and (accompanied with the tight space) made Vulture's flying harder. Although Vulture did get a lucky hit, and scraped his talons along Spider's chest, ripping the little remaining fabric there and catching flesh below. Spider hissed sharply at the sting, one hand faintly going up to press against the wound.
When his hand came back it was matted with a thin sheet of blood. Spider glared and growled at Vulture; that stung. A LOT!
Vulture seemed happier about it though, and felt that he could go in for another strike. But this time Spider caught both legs before the talons could reach him, and swung Vulture into a beam. The bird-mutate gave a sharp cry of surprise and pain, before Spider webbed one of his wings and wrapped it around Vultures own body. He then did it to the other wing too, and finished it off by wrapping Vulture it a tight cocoon.
Only Vultures face remained visible; said creature was shouting and blasting everything in anger as he squirmed fruitlessly. Spider bound Vultures beak shut with one last web and sticking him neatly along a beam in the corner of the room, away from the fight.
Once Vulture was secured, Spider glided along the beams and gazed down at the fight below. It was going well for his Pack. Squirrel Girl and Triton were teaming up on Zappy, knocking the glowing human back and forth among themselves and dodging arches of energy. Rhino had the Captain cornered in the room, the two in a lock between Rhino's horn and the Captain's shield. Zabu was playing a game of dodge with Red, both maneuvering their way out of stings and claws. Tiger was chasing after Bones, the two weaving in and out of the others locked in combat; Bones would whirl around at random to fend of Tiger's claws with some pointy things.
Spider hated those pointy things.
Ugh me too! Knives and swords are the worst!
Spider debated on whether he should help take down Zappy or Bones, but went still as a statue when he felt something odd and unfamiliar. It was a cool, gentle sheet of wind that rolled along his body and softly rustled his hair, leaving his hot fur feeling chilled, but in a good way. Spider perked up with interest; he sniffed a few times, before taking a deep breath of air. It was also cool and crisp and expanded within his chest, leaving a pleasant feeling humming within his body.
It smelled nice too, something fresh, tinted with water and...salt; nothing like the dusty, cramped air that Spider was used to within his home. Distracted, Spider gave his Pack one last glance to make sure they were okay (which they were) before following the scent away from the fight. Spider crawled along the beams and ceiling; now that he wasn't preoccupied with protecting his territory, Spider noticed that the silver walls he was used to seeing were open and a bright light was leaking into the room.
Jumping down just in front of the oddly, bright light, Spider tilted his head in confusion and sniffed it a few times, just to make sure it didn't smell weird or dangerous. It didn't smell like anything. Hesitantly, Spider touched it with his hand, and immedianly drew back.
It was warm.
That's sunlight genius, goodness you act as if you've never seen– oh...I guess this is your first time ever really seeing sunlight, isn't it?
Sunlight? Hmm...this definitely was new to Spider. There was none of this within his hard, dark, and gray home. Slowly, Spider put his hand in the sunlight again; he flinched, but did not draw back this time.
Spider twisted his hand within the snug sunlight; it felt...nice. He put another hand in the sunlight, then another, and soon enough his entire body was engulfed in its warm and gentle caress. Another breeze drifted over Spider, and the wonderfully watery, salty smell was back, stronger this time.
Stepping farther into the sun and out of the shadows, Spider winced as the sunlight struck his sensitive eyes. He blinked and squinted frantically for a few minutes until his eyes adjusted. And once they did, Spider couldn't help the amazed humming that sounded within his chest.
He was standing on a platform to an incredible tall building over-looking an immense body of water. This wasn't the kind of water Triton swam with, but this was the kind that he yearned to bask in. Spider could hear the water rolling and crashing around the metal complex far below, he could smell the salty fresh air.
The ceiling above him was a beautiful, deep blue speckled with white. Spider reached back into Peter's memories, looking for the names of the things he was seeing around him. It was...the sky. The sky was blue; and the white things...those were clouds!
The giant pool of water was called the Ocean...or Sea...Spider was still uncertain about which to call it. And the metal compound Spider stood on, and what he knew had been his home this whole time, was: S.H.I.E.L.D Academy?
S.H.I.E.L.D like Captain America's shield? Why would it be named after the Captain; Spider didn't like that and refused to refer to his home as such. Spider looked around the sky, twisting his body to see as it went on for miles. He came across a sudden, and very bright, circle in the sky, so intense that Spider was forced to look away.
What was that? He searched through Peter's memories.
The...Sun?
Yeah, and unless you want to go blind, I suggest not looking at it directly for a long amount of time.
Whoa. Spider kept gazing around until he saw a very obvious cluster of...buildings. They rose up high and gleamed in the sunlight. Spider could smell a faint underline of something unclean and rotten come from that direction, but it spiked his curiosity no less.
Spider wondered what was over there...
Whoa, whoa, whoa – NO! You can't leave the Academy, you were freaked out enough with that Agent, so there is no way I'm going to let you loose on New York.
As if Peter could stop him. At the mention of the Agent back in the Academy, Spider could taste the venom on his tongue as his stomach ached with something he's been constantly denied.
No, no, no, no – t-turn back around, go back in the Academy, come on, uh...uh y-your Pack! Yeah, you're Pack. You can't leave them behind! Right?
Peter was right, Spider couldn't leave his Pack behind, especially at the mercy of those...those freaks!
You did not just refer to Captain America and Black Widow as freaks. I mean, Taskmaster and Electro I understand, but not those other two. They're AVENGERS for crying out loud.
Which was why Spider was going to bring his Pack with him.
Yea-WHAT!? No, that's not what I mean either! Oh this is bad, very, very bad. Oh, Nick is going to kill me!!!
Before Spider turn back to help his Pack, his spider-sense tingled and he heard a loud "RAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jumping back, Spider flipped through the air and on the wall as something big, green, and dangerous landed on the spot Spider had been close to. The impact dented the metal ground.
The giant stood up tall on its feet; it was big, bigger than Spider, and hard packed with muscle. Spider hissed so low and threateningly, he even surprised himself. Who was this stranger? Why was it here? What did it want? It was crazy, after being Alpha, the protector, and superior over his Pack for so long; it was odd feeling low compared to this creature.
Which is when Spider realized that he actually felt...intimidated! This green monster was intimidating to Spider and made every protective, Alpha nerve in his body burst to life.
"Hey there Spidey." It spoke, soft with a deep voice. "It's just me, Hulk. We're buddies, remember?"
HULK! YAY! You're here!
Spider hissed in reply, refusing to be scared. He slowly crawled down the wall and back on the ground, watching Hulk for any sudden movies. Spider's arms and legs were stiff but ready for action. "Come on Spider-Man, I know you can here me." Hulk continued, holding both his hands out in a friendly gesture. Spider wasn't going to fall for it.
Yes, I can hear ya Big Guy! You just...can't hear me...
Spider regarded Hulk coldly, he really didn't like him. Hulk even smelled like a threat, even when he showed no signs of aggression. Hulk took a step forward, all while whispering soothing things that confused Spider. Shouldn't this creature be attacking? Was this a trick to catch Spider off-guard? Did this – this Hulk wish to take Spider's Pack as his own? To take Spider's place?
No! Spider wouldn't let it happen.
He hissed again as Hulk got closer, taking the hint the giant took a step backward – only slightly easing Spider's tension. "It's okay, I'm a friend."
Yeah right, only Spider would be the one to determine that.
But Hulk's not hurting you, and he doesn't want to take your Pack either. Peter soothed. Just listen to him, and don't attack! I'd rather not have my body beaten to a pulp, even if it's mutated and now has its own subconscious mind.
Well...Peter did have a point. Hulk wasn't looking like he was going to attack. But how did Peter know if Hulk wasn't aiming to distract, and then take his Pack?
Because I know Hulk, he is our friend. He just wants to help.
Help? HELP WITH WHAT? Why did Spider always hear that stupid word! He didn't need help with anything, he was perfectly fine, and his Pack was perfectly fine, none of them needed HELP.
Okay, okay – bad choice of words on my part. Just...just work with me here...please?
Spider glowered in annoyance; Peter has never really pleaded before, mostly just yelled and berated...ugh, fine. Spider would wait and see what Hulk wanted. Slowly, Spider regarded Hulk with a (slightly) softer expression and stopped hissing and glaring. He lowered his arms and stood up on his two feet, looking at Hulk expectantly.
Well...
Hulk smiled, "There you go. Now, you need to go back in the Academy Spidey. Do you understand?"
Good, good. Okay, everything is fine, see? Hulk's not gonna hurt us.
Well, yeah...but he was talking stupid.
Oh stop being a sour-
But Peter was interrupted as his spider-sense tingled again and there was a sudden bright bolt of lightning, and a loud clap of thunder that soon followed. Spider was momentarily blinded by the light, but he heard a sudden clang on the metal and smelt a new threat appear, accompanied with a burning stench.
"Friend Hulk!" someone boomed. "Heimdell has informed me that our Avengers team is facing a crisis. What must I do to help ease the situation?"
"THOR!" Hulk bellowed. "NO! GET OUT OF HERE! I ALMOST HAD HIM CALMED DOWN!"
A tall, (not quite as big as Hulk) man wearing a red cape and holding a metal and wood weapon in his hand, the metal still occasionally sparking with energy. The man – Thor, Hulk called him – frowned in confusion. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I almost had Spidey calmed down!"
"The Man of Spiders? Whatever did he do to have you, Hulk, attempt to soothe him?" Thor laughed lightly, before turning and facing Spider. A look of horror passed over Thor's face as he noticed the familiar red and blue tatters of a suit. "Odin's beard!" Thor shouted. "What in all of Asgard happened to you Spider-Man?"
Hulk faced Spider as well, and his face went slack "Oh no."
Spider was back in a defensive position, his body rigid with alert tension. All of his eyes were blow wide, his pinchers quivered threateningly, poison was dripping heavily from his fangs and forming a puddle at Spider's feet, his arms were hoisted up again and his fur was raised on end.
Spider growled deep and powerfully. They were threats, both of them. Hulk was merely trying to trick Spider until his loud friend arrived. Spider felt stupid for falling for it.
No, no its not what you think! He was just-
Spider hissed so harshly that Peter went quiet immedianly. "Spidey, come on, stay with me." Hulk urged. "I'm just trying to help."
Help! Ugh! That was it, Spider had enough! Red crossed his vision; Spider felt blind with rage. His claws dug into the metal on the ground, easily slicing through it. Spider boosted himself forward with an ear-splitting howl and raced to the two threats.
This ended now!