Vol. 1/ Issue #3: Smell Hydra!

Big Time Heroes - Issue #3: Smell Hydra!

Session 2, Part 1

LISTEN HERE

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....