"What!" The man enveloped in leaping blue electric arcs, floating in midair, was none other than S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Lincoln Campbell.
He and the bald woman beside him, "Slingshot" Yo-Yo, exchanged a quiet glance. Without making a scene, both of them subtly pulled back, putting distance between themselves and Quake.
"If I remember correctly, Nick Fury didn't arrange things like this."
Quake's brows twitched, her eyes scanning Lincoln up and down. "Is that so? Why don't you contact him and let him tell you himself how he arranged things?"
Crackle! The electric arcs around Lincoln surged even more violently, the look in his eyes changing completely as he stared at Quake.
"Ever since Black Widow and Hawkeye visited the Helicarrier, Nick Fury has been missing. In his place, you and Agent Hill have been issuing orders to everyone."
Yo-Yo Slingshot set one foot firmly against the ground behind her, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"A week ago, almost none of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents even knew who you were. Only a string of security keys granted by Nick Fury gave you authority no lower than his own. But that is no excuse for you to order the deaths of everyone here."
Blue electric arcs sparkled within Lincoln's eyes as he spoke, emphasizing every single word.
"Talkative!" Seeing the two refuse her commands at the most critical moment, a flash of rage crossed Quake's face.
In a flash, she raised both hands. Two shockwaves—far more intense than those of Shocker, distorting the surrounding air into a pale white—blasted directly toward Lincoln and Yo-Yo Slingshot!
Unlike Shocker's broad, uncontrollable shockwaves that widened the farther they traveled, Quake's shockwaves were completely focused into two narrow, concentrated beams.
Crack!
Under the impact, Yo-Yo Slingshot and Lincoln instantly flew backward uncontrollably, crashing heavily into two high-rise buildings hundreds of meters away, their fates unknown.
"The rest of you, execute my orders," Quake commanded, having dealt with the two agents in a single blow, her piercing gaze sweeping over the remaining cybernetically modified agents.
Seeing that these cybernetically modified S.H.I.E.L.D. agents didn't immediately respond, Quake narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Fire!"
Just a moment before Quake was about to move against the others as well, an agent whose face was more than half cybernetically modified suddenly barked an order.
In an instant!
The clanging metallic sounds of mechanical transformations echoed endlessly as these empty-handed cybernetic agents rapidly reconfigured.
Their arms, chests, shoulders, backs...
Without exception, black, gaping gun barrels and cannon muzzles extended from every single cybernetically modified part of their bodies.
On the rooftop of a skyscraper directly opposite the Stark Tower, Madame Hydra sat gracefully atop the kneeling back of a Serpent Society member.
With her legs crossed, she held a whip in her hand, its tip draped casually over the rooftop concrete.
Standing beside her were dozens of other Serpent Society members.
These individuals were not the Serpent Society criminals who had followed the Ryker's Island escapees to Latveria, but a completely fresh set of faces.
Most of these members were female: Horned Viper, Black Mamba, Fer-de-Lance, Coachwhip, Diamondback...
Unlike the Serpent Society members who relied on technological weapons to attack the superheroes alongside other criminals, these women were all physical mutants. Occasionally, when they opened their mouths, hollow fangs and thin, bifurcated tongues could be seen inside.
They belonged to the Serpent Society, but even more so to the "Serpent Squad"—an organization secretly ruled by Madame Hydra!
Similarly, Madame Hydra possessed her own codename: "Viper."
Aside from the Justice League, the Avengers, Captain America's temporary alliance, S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, and Latveria, this was yet another formidable faction on the field.
Facing this group of Serpent Squad women, Doctor Octopus stared ambiguously at Madame Hydra, his mouth continuously muttering phrases about "falling in love with her."
He stood frozen on the spot, the four mechanical tentacles behind him stiff and unmoving.
It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but rather that Black Mamba was holding a large-caliber sniper rifle. The massive gun, nearly two meters long, was pressed directly against Doctor Octopus's head.
"Doctor Otto, you only have thirty seconds left to disclose information regarding Batman," Madame Hydra said, slowly raising the whip in her hand.
"I want to kneel at the feet of Lady Viper and lick every speck of mud off her soles..." Doctor Otto babbled on for a long time, but didn't make a single actual move.
This left Madame Hydra somewhat humiliated and enraged. Her whip lashed down fiercely.
Crack!
The tip of the whip broke the sound barrier, producing a supersonic crack as it struck Doctor Otto viciously across the body.
A flicker of agony crossed Doctor Otto's face. Even though his suit absorbed most of the pain, the sheer impact of the whip still sent a wave of torment through him.
He had been enchanted the moment he encountered Madame Hydra and the Serpent Squad, but even Doctor Otto himself couldn't explain how he had snapped out of that charm.
To avoid giving himself away, he had been racking his brain to spew every ambiguous, embarrassing line he had ever known—interspersing Batman's name every now and then.
Thirty seconds... Will Batman make it in time? A thought flashed through Doctor Otto's mind. He maintained a infatuated expression, gazing passionately at Madame Hydra.
Crack!
Another whip lash landed, this time striking Doctor Otto across the leg.
The excruciating pain almost forced him to his knees, but the sniper rifle pressed against his face by Black Mamba kept him from daring to make a move.
Just as Madame Hydra was about to bring down the third lash, an invisible force suddenly seized the whip midair.
Almost at the exact same moment, Black Mamba—who had been holding the sniper rifle pressed against Doctor Otto's face—showed a look of confusion. She heard an extremely faint, metallic snapping noise.
Before Black Mamba could understand what was happening, the sniper rifle abruptly disassembled in thin air, falling apart into countless individual components.
Doctor Otto didn't know why his reactions were so sharp today. While the Serpent Society members hadn't seen who grabbed the whip or disassembled the rifle, he had seen it clearly:
It was a shrunken Ant-Man and Wasp.
Reinforcement sent by Batman! Doctor Otto's mind raced at breakneck speed. The instant he realized what was happening, he immediately began controlling the mechanical tentacles behind him.
"Head to Times Square!" Janet, the Wasp, shouted at Doctor Octopus.
Once again, Doctor Otto found himself exceptionally clear-headed today. He didn't even waste time dwelling on whether abandoning Ant-Man and Wasp was inappropriate.
With one tentacle forming a shield to protect himself, his other three tentacles raised and slammed down frantically, carrying Doctor Otto as he rushed to the edge of the rooftop and leaped off.
From a building dozens of meters high, Doctor Otto didn't even bother grabbing the wall to slow his descent. Only when he was about to hit the ground did he use the length of his tentacles to brace against the pavement first, dampening the impact of the fall.
Upon landing, he didn't hesitate for a second, sprinting decisively in the direction of Times Square.
However, running on four tentacles was still relatively slow. Doctor Otto simply turned his body sideways, wrapping his four tentacles around himself in a helical bundle. With the tips of the tentacles forming a ring that repeatedly gripped the ground and sprang forward, he went rolling at full speed like a giant, elongated tire.
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