6:46 AM. Uptown New York. Babylon Towers. The apartment of Miguel O'Hara,
the amazing Spider-Man of 2099. It
is still quite dark outside but all the stars are visible, and it looks like
it is going to be a nice day without a cloud in the sky.
Miguel does not know this yet, for he is still asleep, and the windows are
darkly tinted, courtesy of his holoagent, Lyla.
Lyla knows that since Miguel became Spider-Man, Miguel does not like bright
lights. In fourteen minutes, Lyla will wake
Miguel up so that he may complete his normal morning activities before he
arrives at work. It would be unbecoming if the
CEO of Alchemax showed up with stubble or a milk mustache.
6:47 AM. Lyla quietly answers a vidphone call from Conchata O'Hara, Miguel's
mother and secretary. Lately, mother and
son have been getting along very well, both in the office and out. Now that
Conchata also knows that her son is the often-
hailed herald of Thor, she has come to accept her son and take pride in him.
She has never called him like this, for she
knows that superheroes and CEOs need their sleep for their upcoming battles
on the street corners and in the conference
rooms. This morning, she has called, and Lyla notes that she seems to be in
a hurry.
"What can I do for you, Ms. O'Hara? I can tell from your breathing that you
are excited about something, but you don't
look happy." Lyla always had an annoying way of understating things at such
times.
"LET ME SPEAK TO MY SON! NOW! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!"
"But he's asleep, and you know how cranky he gets in the morning," Lyla
pleasantly states, even offering a tiny giggle.
Could Marilyn Monroe have done any better?
"Lyla, listen very carefully. I will speak with my son, cranky or not. This
is about Alchemax, and we need him
immediately. So, if you'd like to remain functional for the hundreds of
years left On your warranty, I suggest you let me
speak to him before I PULL YOUR PLUG! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. Maybe crankiness is a family trait,
are you getting enough sleep yourself, Mrs.
O'Hara?" Another small giggle, and Lyla slowly lightens the window glass,
letting in the faintest hint of dawn, which is
enough to disturb Miguel.
"Aw, c'mon, Lyla, what gives? I still had twelve minutes. Do you need your
chronometer recalibrated again?"
"I don't think so Miguel, but I will give my systems another self diagnostic.
Meanwhile, your mother needs to speak with
you on the vidphone. I don't think she got enough sleep last night."
"Yeah, okay," Miguel mumbles as he turns on the vidscreen on the far wall of
his bedroom. "G'morning, Mom, what's the
big idea?" Miguel's eyes have not yet adjusted to the light as he swings his
unwilling body to the side of the bed.
"Good morning, Miguel. I hope you slept well last night." Conchata speaks
just above a whisper, belying her harshness
with Lyla.
"Yeah, I did. Except for some really crazy dream I had about some guy
floating through my apartment" (Was that a dream,
Miggy? See Morbius 2099 UG #4). Miguel turns up the volume. "Why is your
voice so soft? Had to yell at the janitors
again this morning for not emptying your ashtray?"
"No, Miguel, I just wanted to make sure you'd be awake when I tell you that
ALCHEMAX IS UNDER ATTACK! GET
YOUR WEBBED BUTT IN GEAR AND GET OVER HERE! NOW!"
Miguel is awake now. "Ma, what's with you? What are you talking about?"
"TAKE A LOOK FOR YOURSELF!" Conchata switches her viewer to the camera just
outside Alchemax's entrance.
What he sees must be one of his early nightmares as Spider-Man coming true:
there is an army of soldiers attacking the
front door to the Alchemax Tower. The Public Eye and SHIELD are there trying
to hold them back, but Miguel can see
them falling down left and right. These attackers are all dressed in
elaborate Japanese robes, they all have long ponytails,
and they are all brandishing--swords? "MIGUEL, I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF
THIS! THERE IS A MAN WHO
CALLED A FEW MINUTES AGO, BUT HE WOULD ONLY TALK TO YOU! HE SAID HIS NAME
WAS HEE-
CAR-OOO SOMETHING! MIGUEL, PLEASE, HELP!"
And, as if he had just waken up from a bad dream, Miguel jumps out of bed,
eyes affixed to the screen in front of him, and
all he can do is inquire with one word:
"Specialists?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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If Stan Lee had any idea, he'd proudly present
SPIDER-MAN 2099 UG #2 AD
"The Fall of Alchemax" part 1 of 4: "Knowing Jack"
writer: Thomas "Drillnot" Imboden
artists/colorist: no one of consequence
letterer: your own word processor
editor: Gary M. "PeteReilly" Miller
FoA original concept courtesy of Mein Editor
based on what 2099 should have been
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
The shortest path between any two point in space is a straight line. the
quickest path between any two point in New
York (short of a transmat booth) is Spider-Man. Besides the five minute
swing to Alchemax will get him ready for
whatever nonsense Hikaru has unleashed against his company. "My company!
Hah! This was Tyler Stone's company, I
don't ever recall any hostile takeover attempt against Alchemax; it always
stood as the adamantium-plated bastion of
technology for as long as I can remember. I'll bet Dad never had a day like
this."
Arriving at Alchemax, Spider-Man finds the Public Eye have begun to bring out
their most forceful crowd control
ordinance, including the SIEGE (SItuation Emergency GEar) armor that almost
killed him if it weren't for Thanatos. (See
SM2099 #11) Thanatos. There's a name best forgotten. Miguel silently prays
that the omnipotent entity never escapes
his alternate dimension (where Spidey and the Net Prophet left him in SM2099
#13).
Despite the Public Eye's best efforts, it seems as though these new
Specialists are getting through. Spider-Man leaps into
the middle of the action, sending Zaibatsu samurai warriors left and right
from the entrance to the Tower. Spider-Man
grabs one, lifting him off the ground. "What is the meaning of this? Are
you upset because I killed your predecessor?"
(See SM2099 #5)
"This one's blood boils with the memory of this one's slain brother, but that
is not the reason for assault this day. This one
is sworn to follow the dictates of Hikaru-san, and he has demanded that
Alchemax be shown who leads and who must
follow. This one's orders are to capture Alchemax and its figurehead, Miguel
O'Hara. You are not a priority, though this
one may find time to flay you where you stand, and he will surely relish such
vengeance."
The Specialist raises his sword to skewer Spider-Man, but lightning-fast
reflexes, accelerated vision, and many fights'
experience come together to web the samurai's arm to the wall behind him.
"You tell your 'Hikaru-san' that Miguel O'Hara
is in conference, and he will get back to him as soon as he can. If he
doesn't like it, he can talk to me."
Spider-Man turns to a SHIELD agent next to him. "What's the situation here?
When did this start?"
The young corporal, probably just out of training, swallows hard, looks at
Spider-Man, and stutters, "J-j-j-just ten minutes
ago, Mr. Sp-Sp-Spider-Man, sir. We were here before the army started
arriving, but there are so m-many of them! And
those swords--they can cut right through our flak-vests, and some of them
have already gotten inside, and I'm so sc-scared-
-"
Spider-Man interjects, "They're inside already?" Immediately, Spider-Man
jumps up an incredible four stories and begins
to climb to the tenth floor, hoping that he may be able to cut off these
over-dedicated ninjas before they reach his office and
O'Hara not at his post.
More Specialists have arrived, coming by ground and by air. One overzealous
attacker leaps down from his helicarrier with
nothing more than twin sais, blades glinting off the morning sunlight.
Spider-Man sees this coming soon enough, and leaps
out of the kamikaze's way, thinking to himself, >>Who's the madman here?
This guy for jumping from thirty stories in a
vain attempt to kill me or die trying, or Hikaru for demanding these poor
fools give their lives in the name of 'honor'?<<
It is a part of the animal in all of mankind that demands we watch such gory
and awful events despite how such events will
affect our eating and digestive dispositions later. Spider-Man is no
different, as he looks to see the bloodsmear on the wall
that the Specialist will leave. To his wonderment (relief?), there is no
such stain. There is, however, one very irate enemy
looking straight back at him. Using his sai blades, the Specialist slowed
his fall and has anchored himself into the side of
the Tower! "This one is not impressed by your wall-crawling abilities. By
living up to your title as protector of
Alchemax, you have accepted the same fate as Alchemax. This one is sworn to
take any action necessary to insure the fall
of Alchemax and all its champions."
"You guys sure are stuck to your convictions. If you want Alchemax so bad,
let's see how you stick to her as well." An
imperceptibly thin strand of webbing shoots from his wrist, gluing the
Specialist where he hangs. "Now, if you have no
further objections, I have a megacorp to protect."
Spider-Man scurries up faster now, realizing that these Specialists are a lot
stronger, faster, and persistent than their
predecessor. Where did they all come from? Why do they all look so much
alike? No time for those ponderings now as
Spider-Man reaches his office window. Inside he sees his mother quietly
sitting at his desk, puffing away on one of her
illegal cigarettes. Miguel doesn't even know where she gets them.
Conchata O'Hara sees the moving shadow across the floor and turns to find her
son hanging outside the window. She
presses a button on his desk, and the window slides up, offering Miguel an
entrance only he can truly appreciate.
"Sorry I'm late, Ma, but some bullies tried to steal my milk money and . . ."
"Ha! A time like this, and you are cracking a joke. But, you are
Spider-Man, what should I expect? I'm sorry I yelled at
you earlier, but I got worried. I should know by now that Spider-Man always
saves the day, doesn't he?" Conchata puffs
a ring of smoke that wafts to the ceiling, as if she has no care now that her
savior has arrived.
"Ma, how many times do I have to tell you. Just because of this mask,"
Miguel rips off the mask and throws it down on
his desk, "it doesn't mean that the good guys are going to win. I've seen
them, Ma, hundreds, maybe thousands of them,
still coming from all directions. The Public Eye is doing the best they can,
SHIELD is doing all they can, but this is
serious! These Stark/Fuji warriors don't know the meaning of the word
'quit'!"
"Yeah, I know. Now when are you going to get rid of them?" Another ring of
smoke.
"Mother, when are you ever going to understand? It's just not that simple.
Now can you get Stark/Fuji on the line and tell
them that Miguel O'Hara demands an audience with Hikaru?"
"Already did. He's waiting for you on line three." Conchata walks over to
the window to watch the action below.
"Calm down, Ma, I'd hate to see you start to panic." Miguel switches the
videoscreen to show face only (in case he has to
fend off any more Specialists on a moments notice, he can just slip his mask
back on). Hikaru's withered countenance
greets him.
"Good morning, O'Hara-san. I trust you slept well last night?" Hikaru's
pleasantries simply serve to infuriate Miguel.
"Good morning, Hikaru-san. May I inquire as to WHAT THE SHOCK IS GOING
ON?!?"
"Come now, Tyler Stone would not have addressed me in such a brazenly
dishonorable fashion. This goes to strengthen
my belief that Alchemax is not quite the megacorporation that she would have
us believe, is she, Mr. O'Hara? How can
Alchemax become the people-friendly business you have proclaimed if you
yourself cannot conduct yourself in a
professional manner?"
"Shock your rat-biting professionalism, Hikaru! What kind of honor is there
in sending a horde of samurai here to takeover
Alchemax, killing anyone who gets in the way? What kind of honor is that!"
"And, what kind of honor is it, Mr. O'Hara, that would keep Stark/Fujikawa
from its rightful place as the world's leading
technocorp? What kind of honor would have us continue to accept your public
approval kowtowing, your soft approach
of 'people-first'?"
Hikaru's expression gradually becomes more drawn, as a huge scowl takes over
his face: he truly believes that Alchemax
and O'Hara bring shame upon him, his company, his associates, and his
profession! Hikaru is washing away the stains of
what he believes is embarrassment to all involved. Any personal satisfaction
in this inevitable conquest is just absorbed
into his gray definition of honor. Miguel sees this, and he knows he is not
going to be able to argue the point of the waste
of lives and equipment, nor the disruption this will cause to billions of
people worldwide. Miguel, far from the
accomplished master of two-faced diplomacy his father is, can only think of
one course of action.
"Hikaru-san, as CEO of Alchemax, I hereby surrender to my superior at
Stark/Fujikawa."
Hikaru's eyes open wide. His mouth begins to slack open, but the disbelief
is quickly covered by a laugh; a laugh of an old
man who has not done so for many years.
"O'Hara, you are a foolish child. Certainly you must have learned a few
things from Stone. He would never have backed
down from a challenge. You dishonor me, your company, and yourself with such
a farcical ploy. There is no honor in
accepting such a cowardly admission, especially from what is supposed to be
our superior competition. No, O'Hara,
Alchemax must fall at the hands of Stark/Fujikawa, and even though you have
no choice but to do so, please show some
backbone--put up some fight, will you?" More of that bottled up laugh
escapes Hikaru, and the vidscreen goes blank.
Miguel O'Hara's audience is at an end.
"Shockin' son of a rat-biting glitch! You want a fight old man, you got
one!"
Miguel puts his mask back on, ready to make samurai sorry they were ever born
when he notices Conchata, still looking
out the window, puffing away. "Miguel, I still know you will save us from
our darkest hour, but do you think you can get
the lead out? I mean, this nasty Jap here is almost up to the window and I'm
down to one pack of cigarettes left."
With that, a Specialist rears his ugly head in the window; it looks like the
same one he webbed to the wall when he got here.
>>Actually they all look pretty much alike, I wonder why the conformity?<<
thinks Miguel as he jumps in front of
Conchata and the window. Before the warrior can lift his hand to break
through the glass, Spider-Man pushes the button
to open the window.
"All you had to do was ask."
The Specialist bares his teeth in an angry grimace. "Your flippancy will not
endear you to this one, protector of
Alchemax."
"And your plaque build up will not endear you to this one, either." With
that Spidey lands a swift right jab into those less
than pearly whites, sending the Specialist for a nice fall. "Vaya con
carne!"
A couple of SIEGE soldiers fly to the open window. "Spider-Man," says one of
them, "we will protect the office and Mr.
O'Hara's secretary. There are a lot more of these slant-eyes bastards making
their way up through the first few floors. We
can't hold all of them back."
"Gentlemen, your twencen prejudices are most refreshing, but I'll see what I
can do. Will you be okay, Mo--uh, Mrs.
O'Hara?"
"I'll be fine, go get 'em, Spidey!" A little smile escapes Conchata, and
Miguel rolls his eyes underneath his mask. He takes
off for the elevators.
"You know, ma'am, cigarettes are illegal. I could arrest you after this
little takeover bid is finished."
"Oh, all right, have one." She gives each of them a cigarette, and they all
blow smoke rings, trying not to let each other see
just how worried they are.
Spider-Man makes his way down through Alchemax, floor by floor. On each
floor, the Public Eye guards inform him of
their observations. Apparently, the Specialist have not made it much past
the first couple of floors. Those SHIELD agents
are really putting up quite a fight outside. One guard on the containment
floor says that the activity outside has riled up
the patients, but he assured him that they are all still safe and accounted
for. Spider-Man has no time to double check and
merely takes his word on the matter. That floor contains some real psychos,
many of which were incarcerated during
Stone's reign as head of Alchemax. He tries not to think about what would
happen if some of those loonies were to escape;
Venom alone could cause enough chaos to insure Hikaru's prediction of
Alchemax's demise.
It was a couple floors below this that Miguel took a pause. The action was
all downstairs and outside, and there were
supposed to be guards posted at every floor. Here, there were none. This
was the ESP floor--Extra Special Projects.
Miguel spends very little time on this floor nowadays. He avoids it
religiously. This is where he discovered more to the
second coming of heroes than he wished to see. This is where the Net Prophet
was reborn, where Thanatos was exiled.
This is where that egomaniac Jordan Boone opened a portal into another
dimension, Virtual Unreality. No, Spider-Man
would rather like to forget about all that.
But he cannot. It just so happens there are no guards around on this floor.
Why?
A groan escapes a Public Eye soldier. He is slumped in the corner of the
hallway. Spider-Man leaps toward him, holding
his head up. "What happened here? Are you okay?"
The guard cannot open his eyes, but he begins mumbling, "Slithering...struck
us without a sound...big...like a
gorilla...then...crawled into the labs...laugh..."
"You wait here, I'll be right back." >>Like he's going anywhere<< thinks
Miguel. >>Whatever it was, it sure went through
these guards like toy soldiers. Could Venom--<< Spider-Man's thoughts are
cut short as he opens the door to the VU lab
and sees what at first looks like some silly green stick figure playing with
the knobs and dials on the control panel.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Halloween Jack turns around and offers Spider-Man a wide smile and a friendly
hand. "Spider-Man! Well bust my
buttons, it's Mike's own bodyguard and harbinger of the mighty Thor!" Jack
walks over to shake his hand, but Miguel
strikes a defensive pose.
"What are you doing here? What did you do to those guards out in the hall?
Don't you know what is going on here?
Who's your tailor?"
"Whoa, whoa, let's take those questions one at a time! One, I am here to
offer Mike a once-in-a-lifetime partnership
opportunity with the services of the incomparable Halloween Jack! I'm sure
he'll be happy to oblige, we used to make a
great R & D team when I was plain old Jordan E. Boone, super genius. Two,
those guards wouldn't let me in to see my
baby, the Virtual Unreality gate! The nerve of them! I had to discipline
them for their lack of courtesy. Three, I was
meaning to tell Mike about those high-strung 'Hong Kong Phooeys' out there
when I saw him. Do you know where he is?
And four, I make all my own outfits."
Spider-Man heard about Halloween Jack and that mess that Doom helped to
create out in Las Vegas. Now he realized
what he was after.
"Jordan, I can't let you have the VU."
"Don't call me that! I am Halloween Jack; whatever was left of Boone was put
on the shelf when I became Loki, God of
Mischief and finally metamorphosed into the fantastic butterfly I am today."
Jack morphs into a rather large monarch
butterfly, with giant green and yellow wings with black spots.
"Jordan, I don't have time for this. Alchemax is under attack from
Stark/Fuji, and I need to help the police fight back the
samurais--"
"DON'T CALL ME JORDAN!" yells Jack, and the butterfly becomes a rhinoceros in
midair almost instantaneously.
Only Spider-Man's incredible reflexes allow him to jump out of the way. "If
you don't let me have this Virtual Unreality
equipment which is rightfully mine, I will have to tear your head off and
hand it to Mike as my gesture of good will." A
second later, Jack turns into a tiger, and pounces on Spider-Man.
Spider-Man rolls with the giant cat, but the uncanny morphing abilities of
Halloween Jack keep him off guard. That, and
worrying about all those Specialist storming Alchemax, Spider-Man realizes he
has no time for this. He flings off the feline
with his feet, but Jack manages to take a few scratches out of Spider-Man as
well.
"That hurt."
Spider-Man webs the tiger's feet to the floor, but Jack quickly changes into
an eel, easily sloughing off the webbing. Free,
Jack morphs into a giant bear, swatting Spider-Man across the room to within
inches of the Virtual Unreality gateway.
"I will have this equipment, Spider-Man. I must have it to survive. I
cannot stand this life. I am bored. Even with the
powers of Loki, I cannot keep myself entertained; I cannot find enough
mischief to cause to keep going. That is what I was
trying to do in Las Vegas. All that chaos, all that disorder, it
was...beautiful. When Doom destroyed my dream, I didn't
know what to do with myself. I suppose I could have gone to Halo City and
play around with my friends there, but I
wanted more! I wanted unreality! And it occurred to me to come back here,
where it all started. Coming back, I began to
get excited, my blood was rushing--I was alive again!"
Spider-Man vaguely listens to Halloween Jack's soliloquy. He instead is more
interested in the hum behind him. He knew
there were some technicians working on some of this old equipment, but they
were ordered never to allow enough power to
run through the system that may cause the portal to open up again.
"As you can see, Spider-Man, I have reconnected the power to the VU gate. Oh
yes, I fully intend to open her up again,
but not quite how you might think. You see, I don't want to go in there, I
want whatever is in there to come out here. That
sure would liven up this place."
"You are mad! Do you know what's in there? Thanatos told me that that was
what he called Interspace, just before the
nexus of all realities! I'm no Reed Richards, but I don't think that any of
us would survive for long if..."
"What do you know of Reed Richards, Spider-Man?" That must have hit a nerve
in the ego of Jordan Boone, because he
now morphs into a simulation of the legendary Mister Fantastic, throwing an
elongated fist at Spider-Man. Spider-Man
rolls out of the way.
"What does Reed Richards have that I don't? I can certainly imitate many of
his powers, and I am certainly smarter than he
ever was. Why if Reed Richards were here right now--"
**REED RICHARDS?**
The voice fills the room, vibrating all the equipment, even the floors and
the walls. Both Spider-Man and Halloween Jack
freeze at the sound of the blood chilling sounds of a male voice coming
from--where?
**I KNEW REED RICHARDS, LITTLE MAN. YOU ARE NO REED RICHARDS.**
Like lightning, a giant hand reaches through the VU gate and grabs Halloween
Jack, so awestruck that he has reverted to his
original form.
"I told you, Jordan, you were mucking with things best left alone. But would
you listen to me?"
**SILENCE! YOU, SPIDER-MAN, SHOULD KNOW BEST OF ALL WHEN TO KEEP YOUR
INSOLENCE TO
YOURSELF.**
Halloween Jack, paralyzed with this unexpected turn of events, does nothing
to escape the grip of Thanatos.
"Thanny, old pal, I see you have recovered from my venom. I still don't
think I'm going to let you come out to play."
Spider-Man leaps over the arm to where the control panel is.
**NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY FREEDOM AGAIN!"
Thanatos drops Halloween Jack, who just slumps to the floor. The demi-god
reaches to where Spider-Man is, but the hero
flips off the power, and not a moment too soon.
**NO!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, SPIDER-MAN. I WILL MAKE YOUR PREDECESSOR'S
DEMISE SEEM
LIKE A MERCY KILLING WHEN NEXT WE MEET. I NOW SEE WHY MY FORMER HOST BODY
DESPISED
YOU SO PASSIONA--AAAARRRRGGGggghh--...**
And just like the last time, Thanatos's arm is cut off from Interspace as the
power is cut off, and the appendage is
carbonized, dropping to the floor with a most emphatic thud.
Spider-Man drops to his knees, just now appreciating the danger for which he
has once again taken a rain check. He turns
to look at Halloween Jack, who is just sitting on the floor, looking down.
"There, do you see what will happen if your
plans are made into UNreality? Now why don't you just go back home and--what
are you laughing at?"
Halloween Jack was not just staring blankly at the floor, he was smiling. He
was giggling. As scared as he was, as
terrifying as the threat of Thanatos was, Jack liked it! It gave him a
thrill, as if the rush of adrenaline is what he was
looking for.
"No, Spider-Man. I see now that this is what I need. I will have my Virtual
Unreality generating unit, with your
permission or your dead body. It is your choice."
"You are mad, Boone! What kind of monster have you become?"
"THAT DOES IT!" Jack turns into an enraged gorilla and leaps onto the
unsuspecting hero. "Boone is DEAD! I am
Halloween Jack, and I must have the VU." Grabbing Spider-Man with one
muscular arm, Jack uses his other to power up
the gate once more."
"No!" Spider-Man slashes out the fury arm holding him, causing Jack to drop
him.
"Still a little frisky, huh?" Jack transforms his right arm into an octopus
tentacle, wrapping it around Spider-Man's head.
"Perhaps if you just didn't watch what I'm about to do, you wouldn't worry so
much. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"
Spider-Man struggles to get free of the tentacle, using his talons once more
to cut through the flesh and sinew. Jack must
relinquish his hold again, but his tentacle remains attached to Spider-Man's
mask.
Jordan Boone, the man now known as Halloween Jack, stares straight into the
face of his enemy--Miguel O'Hara!
"Mike? Well, how do you like that? It seems as if everyone around here is
getting super powered nowadays!" A guttural
laugh from the larynx of the gorilla does nothing more than enrage Miguel.
Jack looks at the mask in his hand, "Spider-
Man, don't worry about telling Mike about my plans, I've already found him!"
Miguel leaps, kicking Jack in the face, sending him flying from the VU
controls. "You want this so bad, Jack? You've got
it." Miguel reaches for the power dial and gives it a good turn, turning up
the juice beyond safety levels. "By my
estimation, we have about an hour before this lab goes sky high."
"You fool! The VU gate can only handle a precise amount of energy flow to
operate! By flooding more energy into the
system, you'll create a buildup that will be too much for the system to
handle! The resulting explosion will take out the
VU generator itself, and will all go to Hell! Gee, on any other day, I'd
give you a kiss for being so chaotically creative, but I
wanted that generator! I must switch the power back off now!"
"Over my dead body, Jack. Do you think you can stop me long enough to bleed
the energy from the system? I'm not even
sure I can stop the explosion." Miguel's eyes narrow. Jack had seen that
same look from Doom. Jack will not win this
day.
"To Hell with you, Miguel O'Hara. I will come back and destroy you, you and
Spider-Man both." Halloween Jack
changes into a big black crow and flies out of the lab.
Spider-Man slumps against the control panel. He smiles. >>There are some
electrical reservoirs hooked up to this thing to
prevent just such an emergency. They were of course added after the Thanatos
incident to regulate energy fluctuations so
that nothing could come through the gate without extremely controlled
monitoring on our end. Jack didn't know about all
these new safety features, and by the old standards, he's right, we'd be
counting down to Kingdom Come.<< He wipes the
sweat from his brow, breathes a heavy sigh, and goes to power the VU
generator down.
"Oh for the love of Thor!"
Where the reservoirs should have been, there were just wires and tubes. "You
shocking idiots!" He can't really blame
them, but of all the luck, how was he supposed to know that the technicians
were actually going to bleeds the reservoirs
this week? Every so often, the energy cells in the reservoirs would begin to
hold residual charges. This would change the
energy capacity readings over time, making the accuracy of what the
reservoirs were holding inaccurate. Periodically, the
cells needed to be removed, drained, and retested for accuracy. Obviously,
that process was in progress. All Miguel really
has to do is go get the reservoirs, hook them back up, and run the energy
down.
Turning off the power switch, Miguel notices the energy inflow levels are not
going down. "What is this?"
Somehow, the generator was still getting enough juice, and soon enough the
gate would be back open.
**I AM SURPRISED BY YOUR DISBELIEF, SPIDER-MAN. DID YOU THINK ME SO HELPLESS
FROM THIS
SIDE OF THE GATEWAY? SOON, I WILL BE OUT TO GREET YOU WITH THE DEATH YOU SO
RIGHTFULLY DESERVE.**
"I would agree with that sentiment, now that I see Miguel O'Hara, the head of
Alchemax, for what he truly is."
Miguel turns around to find the floating face in his nightmare last night!
"Oh my God, what is going on?"
To be continued in Morbius 2099 UG #4
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