Spider Quinn 17 Tempestuous Origin of Mysterio Part 8

 

In the cabin, Jane was growing tired of waiting for rescue. She paused in her umpteenth defense of Daria and looked at the approaching storm.

 

“Storm, so what?” Kalina said.

 

“It’s just the sort of thing SpiderGirl or the fourth vigilante could use as cover in a rescue attempt,” Jane answered.

 

“Are you sure?” Kalina asked.

 

“Yes, I have met SpiderGirl,” Jane said.

 

Oliver spoke up. “This is a lot different to stopping muggers, stopping that Green Goblin and rescuing kittens from trees.”

 

“That’s true,” Jane said. “But I don’t doubt that she could do it, despite Quentin’s illusions.”

 

 

“They’re now talking about possible rescue,” SpiderGirl said as rain started to fall.

 

“I’d say that’s as good as invitation as any,” Ninja Talon said.

 

“Another minute.”

 

 

The Enigma and Dafoanairi felt the rain as it began to fall. “We’re almost there,” The Enigma said.

 

“We might get soaked, but it will be worth it,” Dafoanairi said.

 

Lightning streaked across the sky and the thunder soon followed.

 

 

As the thunder sounded, SpiderGirl flipped open a hatch on the roof of the cabin. She went first. Ninja Talon followed closely.

 

They came down through the roof space down to a hallway. But then SpiderGirl’s Spider Sense tingled. “He knows we’re here.”

 

Ninja Talon took out a bo staff. “I’m ready.”

 

A door opened and a figure with a fishbowl helmet stepped through it. “SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon. I knew you would show up at some point.”

 

“And you are Quentin Beck,” SpiderGirl said. “Why are you doing this? Why abduct the critics and Jane Lane? Why target Tempest?”

 

“You would love to have the answers to that, wouldn’t you?” the figure asked.

 

“And how did you get the layout of the stormwater system?” Ninja Talon asked.

 

“Same answer,” the figure said, before pressing a button on one of his gauntlets. The walls around them started to shift. “Now, how can you find them if you don’t know what’s real?” He then laughed and left.

 

“By not using our eyes,” SpiderGirl said as she closed hers and listened.

 

“Inuition?” Ninja Talon said.

 

“And we can feel where the walls are.”

 

“That too.”

 

“And we can call out to them, orient ourselves that way,” SpiderGirl said.

 

“Of course. Jane!”

 

“Oliver! Kalina!”

 

 

Jane heard SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon. “In here!” she called out.

 

“You need to be louder than that,” Oliver said.

 

“Then cover your ears,” Jane said. “JANE LANE IS HERE.”

 

 

“There!” SpiderGirl said.

 

“I hear her,” Ninja Talon said. She reached out and took SpiderGirl’s hand.

 

SpiderGirl then found the wall, and lead her friend along it.

 

 

At the same time, the Enigma and Dafoanairi reached the edge of where the traps were. The storm was still picking up. “Are we going to wait, or?” Dafoanairi asked.

 

“No,” the Enigma decided, as lightning struck nearby. “I’ll set some of them off, and try to disrupt them. Then you can go in. I’ll follow behind.”

 

“Got it.”

 

The Enigma then fired a projection, setting off a mist between them and the cabin. However, it was clear to her and Dafoanairi that the rain was having an effect on it. "This time I don’t have to hold back telekinetically.”

 

“I still don’t want you accidentally hurting Jane.”

 

“I won’t aim in the direction of the cabin.”

 

“Good,” Dafoanairi said.

 

The Enigma then started pushing outwards telekinetically.

 

 

SpiderGirl felt a door handle. She then opened it. “Jane?”

 

“SpiderGirl!” Jane said as the two heroines entered the room.

 

SpiderGirl opened her eyes and saw that Jane was none the worse for wear. “Good, you’re safe!” she said as she pulled Ninja Talon into the room.

 

 

Ninja Talon looked around the room. She saw Jane, Kalina and the two male critics. “Now to get you out of here.”

 

“I guess you haven’t planned for that,” Jane stated.

 

“Let me think,” Ninja Talon said.

 

“If we can get the window open, we can then swing up onto the roof,” SpiderGirl said.

 

“I tried that,” Jane said. “It’s shatterproof and is locked.”

 

“I’ll try anyway,” SpiderGirl said.

 

 

SpiderGirl went closer to the window and then shot a few webs at it. She then pulled. It budged and then fell in. The storm then started entering the room.

 

“Are you sure about this?” Kalina asked. “Going out into the storm?”

 

“Yes,” SpiderGirl said. “Trust me.”

 

“It won’t be that difficult,” Jane said as she went over near the hole in the wall.

 

“Um, I’m afraid of heights,” Kalina confessed.

 

“That does make it a little difficult,” Jane said.

 

“Enough, Lane!” Kalina said.

 

“There’s something else,” SpiderGirl said as she looked out the window.

 

“What?” Ninja Talon asked.

 

“The fourth vigilante is here, triggering the outside traps with her powers,” SpiderGirl said.

 

“So?” One of the male critics asked.

 

“She wants to be my rival,” SpiderGirl answered. “But we can still do this.”

 

 

Dafoanairi saw that a window had been pulled inside. ‘It’s likely to be SpiderGirl,’ she thought. She saw that the Enigma was busy clearing traps.

 

The Enigma was growing annoyed. How many of those traps did Beck deploy? ‘He’s definitely getting help from Oscorp!’ she groused to herself as she angrily ripped up soil and threw it aside.’ Where there weren’t illusions, the ground was becoming a muddy quagmire.

 

 

Dafoanairi looked. “I guess I have to risk it, to help SpiderGirl,” she thought. She took out a coil of rope and tied it to a tree trunk nearby. “I hope this is long enough.” She then held on to the other end as she plunged into the fray.

 

 

Peterson and some other officers parked near the cabins. “We will wait until the FBI gives the go ahead,” she said.

 

“Understood.”

 

 

SpiderGirl leaned out the window and saw that the Enigma was preoccupied dealing with the illusions in her vicinity. ‘It should be safe,’ she decided. She shot a webline up to the roof. ‘But then I’m not sure I have swung in a storm like this before.’ She shot a couple of additional ones.

 

“Ready?” Jane asked.

 

“Of course,” SpiderGirl said. “I’ll take you first.”

 

“No, take Kalina first,” Jane said. “Then we can proceed in order of abduction.”

 

“Why?” Ninja Talon asked.

 

Jane shrugged her shoulders.

 

“OK, Kalina!” SpiderGirl said. “Before Beck knows what we’re doing.”

 

“Right!” Kalina said. She walked over, grabbed onto the superheroine and closed her eyes. “Now!”

 

“Not so tight!” SpiderGirl said. “Here we go.”

 

 

SpiderGirl swung, and Kalina’s scream, along with the thunder, almost overwhelmed her.

 

She set her down on the roof. “Ow! My hearing is enhanced, you know!”

 

Kalina huddled on the roof, shivering in the rain, her eyes remaining closed. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

 

“I’ll get Oliver.”

 

 

Ninja Talon looked out the window as she waited for SpiderGirl to come back. A flash of lightning and she saw Dafoanairi approaching. ‘That’s going to make things interesting,’ she thought. She still didn’t think she was Daria. She glanced at where Jane was guarding the door.

 

 

Dafoanairi saw SpiderGirl swing back into the room. She looked up at where the critic was huddling on the roof. ‘I have to get there,’ she decided. She looked at where the Enigma was still battling the traps. ‘Just as well these Doc Martins are waterproof,’ she thought, as she was wearing her usual boots, which were easy to hide with the cloak. She then realised that the rope had run out. ‘Just as well I have a spare.’

 

 

“Ok, Oliver,” SpiderGirl said.

 

“I’m coming, I won’t scream.”

 

He then held on and they swung up.

 

 

Kalina was afraid and soaked. She winced as another peal of thunder crashed in around her. She was afraid to open her eyes, to see the height she was at. She then heard SpiderGirl land with Oliver. “OK, I’ll get the other critic and Talon will come with Jane.”

 

“Be quick!” Kalina said. “I want out of this rain.”

 

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” SpiderGirl quipped, before she swung back down.

 

Oliver than tried to take one of her hands, but she swatted it away. “Leave me alone!”

 

 

The Enigma came up to the door and pushed it in telekinetically. “Quentin Beck! You, like, have made me mad!”

 

“The fourth vigilante! I would have thought your name would be known.”

 

“I don’t seek the spotlight as much as SpiderGirl! But I’m not giving my hero name to you.”

 

“No? Then I’ll give you my villain name,” Quentin said.

 

“So, you’re saying you’re a villain?” the Enigma asked. ‘Protection!’ she thought and raised a forcefield around herself as usual.

 

“Yes. Call me Mysterio!”

 

“Mysterio, sounds better than Green Goblin at least.”

 

“I’m not like the Green Goblin!” Mysterio said.

 

“You didn’t destroy the Historia, but you have disrupted it.”

 

Mysterio turned away. “You’re distracting me! SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon are rescuing the critics and Ms. Lane.”

 

“They will take the credit, but that is, like, worth it for Jane and the others to be rescued.”

 

“But can you keep distracting me if you don’t know where I am?”

 

“You’ll find that I have powers of perception,” the Enigma said.

 

 

At the same time, SpiderGirl, Ninja Talon and Jane swung out of the cabin, and onto the roof.

 

“I’m glad to be out of there,” Lane said.

 

“But now we need to get away,” SpiderGirl said.

 

“There’s a boat nearby,” Dafoanairi called from down from the ground.

 

“Is there?” Ninja Talon asked.

 

“I saw it as I approached. We can go back to Lawndale, up the creek, in it,” Dafoanairi said.

 

“That will work,” Jane said, “Even in this weather.”

 

“No!” Kalina murmured.

 

“Where’s the fourth vigilante?” SpiderGirl asked.

 

“She went inside. She’s distracting Beck,” Dafoanairi answered.

 

“Then we need to get a move on,” SpiderGirl said. “I’ll bring you up here.”

 

“Sure,” Dafoanairi said.

 

‘If she is Daria, she could put me in a difficult position,’ SpiderGirl thought as she swung down.

 

 

Dafoanairi let go of the rope and held onto SpiderGirl as she swung them both up onto the roof. ‘There’s something about her,’ she thought, once she had a footing. She wasn’t sure what to make of that thought. ‘I’ll think about it later.’

 

 

Mysterio had activated illusions in the cabin’s main room. But the Enigma refused to let herself be disoriented. She closed her eyes, and listened and used her enhanced perception to ‘see’ where Mysterio was. She could also tell that, the other three vigilantes were on the roof with Jane and the critics. “I’m sure they have escaped by now.”

 

“They are on the roof,” Mysterio said in a pompous tone. “They haven’t escaped yet.”

 

“What, you have illusions on the roof?”

 

“No, but I can still catch them, and I have more than illusions to work with.”

 

“Not if I take you down. I will do anything to make sure that they get away,” the Enigma said,

 

 

SpiderGirl looked at the boat and back at the roof she and the others were still standing on, despite the intensifying storm. The trees between them and the boat were swinging wildly. “We have to make a move, now,” she decided.

 

“I agree. It’s risky now, but we have to do it,” Ninja Talon said.

 

“I don’t see any other way either,” Jane said.

 

SpiderGirl looked at Jane, and she knew Dafoanairi was looking at her too.

 

“What? I’m not only an artist. I run for fun too, and sometimes climb things,” Jane explained.

 

“Got it,” Dafoanairi said.

 

“Right, Talon and I will fire a zipline and a webline to the same tree at the same time,” SpiderGirl said. “Do you have more rope, Dafoanairi?”

 

“One more loop, just as well I prepared for this” Dafoanairi said.

 

“Spidey can take Kalina and Oliver. Dafoanairi can take Jane and I’ll take the other,” Ninja Talon said.

 

“That’ll work,” SpiderGirl said. “You two go first. I think Kalina’s going to take some convincing.” She looked at Kalina, who still was huddling with her eyes closed.

 

“She’s had it the worst,” Jane commented.

 

 

At the same time, Leung and his fellow officers arrived. “Report,” he said to Peterson.

 

“Most of the vigilantes are there,” Peterson said.

 

“Which ones.”

 

“The fourth vigilante is confronting Beck. SpiderGirl, Ninja Talon and Dafoanairi are in the process of rescuing the abductees, but the storm is making it difficult.”

 

 

Leung grabbed the binoculars and saw Ninja Talon shoot a zipline to one of the trees behind the cabin. “We’ll give them another ten minutes. Then we’ll go in.”

 

 

Mysterio tried to tackle the Enigma, but her forcefield held. “I might not be able to take you down, but that doesn’t mean I can’t stop the rescue.”

 

“I’m sure I can take you down, but I’m not sure what my powers will do to you.”

 

“Heroism, funny how morals get in the way.”

 

“Antihero, but morals are what’s between that and being a villain. I may want to confront SpiderGirl sometime, but I don’t want to take her out,” the Enigma said.

 

“You’re all talk,” Mysterio taunted.

 

“I could squeeze that fishbowl helmet of yours, but I won’t. I could also tear this place down around you, but some of the others are still on the roof.”

 

“You’re still holding yourself back.”

 

“I don’t want to join you,” the Enigma said as she broke the windows, letting the rain and wind in. “That will disrupt the illusions.”

 

Mysterio turned around and started walking away.

 

The Enigma smirked and caused him to trip.

 

 

Ninja Talon and the critic swung up to a tree.

 

“This is dangerous!”

 

“Better than staying there,” Ninja Talon said.

 

 

“We’re next,” Dafoanairi said to Jane.

 

“I know,” Jane said as she looked at where SpiderGirl was trying to sooth Kalina.

 

“Just as well I can do this,” Dafoanairi said as she lassoed one of the trees. She pulled and the rope held. “Ready?”

 

“As I’ll ever be,” Jane said.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Jane grabbed hold of Dafoanairi and they then swung into the trees next to Ninja Talon. ‘Dafoanairi is just using wits and a staff. She’s ill prepared for something like this,’ she thought.

 

 

“Kalina?” SpiderGirl said. “I’m going to need you to hold on again. Can you do that?”

 

“I think I can. You don’t know what it was like. He wanted me to critique his own ‘plays’. He is all sparkle and no plot.”

 

“Like some of Hollywood?” SpiderGirl asked.

 

“Worse,” Kalina answered as she stood up. She still didn’t open her eyes.

 

SpiderGirl sighed and stepped closer. “I’m right here.”

 

Kalina threw her arms around her.

 

“Now you, Oliver,” SpiderGirl said.

 

“Are you sure?” He asked.

 

“Enhanced strength, remember?”

 

“OK,” Oliver said. He threw his arms around SpiderGirl and Kalina and SpiderGirl then swung away, next to the others.

 

 

The Enigma knew when that happened. She then pulled down some of the ceiling on Mysterio, who was still trying to get up from the trip, and turned and dashed out the door as she opened her eyes. She kept the forcefield up to shield herself from the rain and debris.

 

 

“The fourth vigilante has come out,” Peterson said.

 

“Then my team will move in now,” Leung decided. “Before the storm gets any worse.”

 

“Good idea.”