Big Time Heroes - Issue #3: Smell Hydra!
Session 2, Part 1
Miles is in his homeroom under the watchful eye of Mr.
Brashear. He knows that if Hydra figures out a way to manipulate Dr. Banner and
use that hammer he was wielding, trouble might soon follow that even the
Avengers won’t be able to handle. If only he knew where to find the girl who
he’d helped stop the Hulk. They must go to the school, no way anyone that young
or in that close a vicinity to the school we be in the vicinity otherwise.
Maybe once he found her, they could locate that big green boy who called the
Hulk Father. Miles raised his hand.
 |
| I'm going to need some help. |
“Um, Mr Brashear?”
“Yes, uh, Miles was it?”
“Yes. Can I go to the bathroom?”
“Of course.” Mr Brashear jots something down on a
sticky-notes pad, and then hands it Miles. “Have this hallpass.”
“Thanks!” Miles takes the hall pass and hurries off into the
hallway, relying on his spider-sense to seek out that girl from earlier.
 |
| Finally, some action |
Meanwhile, America awaits in her homeroom brimming with
excitement.
Finally, some action. Hydra means lots of skulls to crack. But if
the Hulk pops up again, a few extra fists might come in handy. If I can search
for this universe’s Spider-man and whoever that big green not-Hulk was, I
should be fine taking out Hydra.
“Ms. Norrin!”
“Yes, America?”
“I have to go.”
“Everyone must stay until their parent or guardian arrives
to pick them up.”
“Well I have to walk home.”
“What?”
“My mom is at work until late so I can just walk home.”
“America if your mother won’t be here until later to pick
you up, I can have one of the officers take you to the local station and you
can wait for her there.”
“Ms. Norrin?”
“Yes, America?”
“I have to go to the bathroom. Like, now.”
“Well here’s a hall pass. Hurry back.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Elsewhere in the school, Skaar sits in homeroom wondering
how quickly he can track his father. He can find him alone, but for now it may
be best to ally himself with the spider hero and the girl from earlier. They
may already know where Hydra lurks. Wherever Banner is, there’s no way he’s going
to find him while stuck in this room. He can definitely escape through a window
in the room, but he'll need a distraction first so as not to alert Mrs. Sarkissian and accrue more detention hours.
He looks over to his classmates Josh and Taniko and an idea sparks. “What’s going on
Caiero?"
"I need to get out of here. I'll pay you and Josh if you start a fight right now."
"I’ll fight for $5,” Josh says.
Taniko tells him, “I’ll fight for $10”. Skaar
offers them $20 to share and slips out the classroom window while
Mrs. Sarkissian breaks up the tussle. He can probably catch the scent of that
spider-boy easy enough…
Crawling across the wall of lockers in the main hall, Miles
spots America searching the halls for him and Skaar. “Young lady,” he says,
trying to spook her. She looks around, but seeing no one, continues on. Spidey
turns visible, drops off the wall, and approaches her. “Hey.”
“Who are you,” America asks him.
“Spider-man,” he answers in the emptied hallway.
Every Earth has a Spider-man, but it’s typically Peter
Parker or Mary Jane. This is definitely a new face to America. “Janitor’s
closet. Now!” She heads away towards the unlocked door and Miles is quick to
follow. Inside, they finally feel safe enough to figure out their next move.
“So what are we going to do about this guy?”
“We need to find the other green dude, not the Hulk, the one
who helped us.”
“Yeah we definitely need to recruit some others.” Miss
America thinks back to the all the heroes she’s met in all the other dimensions
she’s crossed. If only she knew where to find the Young Avengers or Runaways or
the Avengers Academy, any small time group that could help out with a Hydra
battle.
They leave the janitor’s closet to seek out the smaller
Hulk, and almost immediately upon leaving the building they run into a slim boy
about their age, obviously a student. He takes one whiff of them and accuses
them both. “You two.”
“Sup?” Miles greets him.
“Do I know you,” America inquires.
“You should,” Caiero answers.
Looking between the two of them, Miles murmurs, “Well, this
is awkward…”
“Whatever,” America dismisses his statement, “Have you seen
a big green by?”
“You’re looking at this big green guy.”
“Well we should go get an ice cream and talk about this,”
Miles interrupts, wary of the hard expression on Caiero’s face.
“This is not a joke,” Caiero snaps.
“Well what are we gonna do guys?”
“What do you think we’re going to do?” Caiero is looking
greener by the second. “We’re gonna find
Hydra, find my father, and beat this
thing down.”
“Excuse me?” America steps into his personal space. “Your
father just came in here with a hammer and started destroying everything, and
almost you!”
“My father would never do those things to me.”
“Are you sure,” America asks.
“Positive.”
“Fine,” America concedes, giving Skaar his space. “Then are
we going to team-up or not?”
After a thought and heavy sigh, Caeiro responds, “I guess
so.”
“Just to be clear, even though Hulk crashed into the Earth,
you say he’s a good guy so I’ll give him a chance.”
“All this awkwardness is setting off my spidey-sense.”
“Team-up!” America put her hand out into the middle of their
circle, waiting for Miles and Caiero to join in. Miles slaps his hand down on
top of hers. Caiero crosses his arms.
“Hey guys, how about we get some minty green ice cream after
this?”
America leads them towards the football field. Her natural
teleportation abilities allow her to understand Hydra could only have ‘ported
in from a short distance, certainly no farther away than five miles. Skaar’s
tracking abilities help them close the distance on Hydra, and leads them to the
parking lot of a strip mall. The large draw there is a neighborhood Schnuck’s.
Beside it is an Army recruitment center. Through the front window they spy
three men sitting at their desks, quite unassuming.
The group comes together to discuss their plan of action.
“Let’s bust in,” Caiero says, slamming his fist into his
palm.
“No! We need a disguise, try and blend in. Obviously,”
America counters.
“Okay, okay I’ve got a better plan.” Caiero looks over to
Miles. “Can’t you turn invisble? How about I walk in first, you come in behind
me, and while I’ve got them distracted, you knock them out and we swap out our
clothes for theirs.”
“What do I do?” America checks in.
“I dunno? Use the air duct.”
America rolls her eyes at the green-tinted teenager. “Let’s
just get this over with.”
Caiero walks in through the front door, and keeps it open a
few seconds too long to let invisible Miles in behind him. One of the workers
locks eyes with Caiero and smiles. “Hi! How can I help you?” The workers hand
drops under his desk as though he may be reaching for a panic button.
“Oh, I was just looking for the grocery store.”
“Well the grocery store is next door young man.” The worker
looks to his two co-workers.
Miles takes the hint to act. He bludgeons the worker talking
with Caiero from behind. Unfortunately, the worker wasn’t knocked out and his
co-workers are now alerted. Caiero is tired of being puny and transforms into
his hulking green form. Immediately, he slams a fist into both of the other desk
jockeys.
Suddenly there’s a clatter in the air duct. The vent
overhead drops carrying a small blue and red clothed person on top. “Embiggen!”
Ms. Marvel shouts as she grows up to her normal size. Having seen the battle
with the hulk outside of the middle school, she was already en route to
infiltrating Hydra when she came across the heroes. There’s nothing more fun
than a team-up.
“Sup, Spidey?” Ms. Marvel high-fives Spider-man.
“Geez Morales, what
is your problem?” The Hydra desk jockey knocked down by Spider-Man hisses as he
rises from his desk, rubbing the back of his head. Miles recognizes the face of
Eli Bradley, SHIELD Cadet, better known as Patriot. He pushes past Spider-Man
and heads for the breakroom door. He knows there are more employees in there,
ready to burst out at any moment and add to the mayhem. Clearly, he’s going to
need to take control of this situation before the wannabes mess up this
mission.
The force behind the door is too much, but before he can
call for help, Ms. Marvel appears at his side, helping keep it shut. Just then,
Miss America crashes in through the front door. “What’s going on in here?” Viewing
the scene, she smacks the weaker of the two employees and knocks him out.
The remaining Hydra agent makes a last minute strike at
Spider-Man. His Spidey-sense tingling, Miles dodges the blow. Skaar smashes
through an overturned desk and thumps the Hydra agent with a giant green knuckle.
Patriot jumps forward from the breakroom door and finishes off the Hydra agent
before anyone else can be alerted.
Ms Marvel and the rest stack the remaining desks and debris
against the breakroom door, effectively locking the remaining employees away.
Across the short hallway is the unlocked janitor’s closet.
“Who are you guys,” Miss America demands.
“That’s Ms. Marvel. That’s Patriot,” Spider-man introduces
them.
“Well are you guys coming with us?”
“What are you guys even doing here,” Eli demands.
“We’re trying to find Hydra and the Hulk,” America tells
him.
“Fine. Just follow me.” Patriot heads towards the janitor’s
closet.
“Who is this guy? He’s not the leader of this guy,” Skaar
growls.
“I’m the only guy here who can get you where you’ve got to
go.”
“This guys no leader.”
“Look, we never had a leader to begin with. Let’s just work
as a team. He’s offering to help us, it’s your dad that’s in trouble. If you
wanna run off, fine! We don’t need you to help us.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Well how are you going to find your dad?” Ms. Marvel asks.
“Come on Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Where are you gonna go,”
Spider-man pleads for him to stay.
“Look, Chocolate Chip or whatever your name is, you either
work with us and help us find your dad, or we go on without you.” Patriot leads
the more agreeable teammates into the janitor’s closet. Behind the detergent is
a glowing keypad. Patriot puts his thumb on the scanner and the wall opens in
front of them revealing an elevator. Reluctantly, Skaar follows them in.
“I don’t know you two that well so I’m assuming you’re doing
this for the greater good. Don’t disappoint me or there will be consequences.”
Skaar punches the wall of the elevator.
“Is that the Girl from
Ipanema?” America asks, hearing the muzak overhead. Spider-man hums along
for a few bars until the elevator comes to a stop. The door opens to a long
metallic hallway. Watching them from the ceiling is a large black orb, a
security camera no doubt. “Spidey,” America points to the camera, “take it out.”
With a thwip!
Miles blinds the camera. But suddenly his spidey-sense goes off seconds before
he and his teammates hear heavy footsteps from farther down the hallway. “The monitor
room is over here. We need to get in. Let me do the talking.” He opens the door
using his thumb print but the men inside are wise to what happened upstairs and
now they’ve got some amateur heroes to take care of....
