For 30+ Advance/Early chapters :p
atreon.com/ScoldeyJod
The cool, pale light of the university library faded as Peter and Diana separated, the urgency of the mission acting as a sharp catalyst for action. They exchanged no words, only a long, profound gaze that conveyed the full weight of their shared purpose and the desperate plea for the other's safety.
Peter didn't take the subway. He found the nearest high-rise, and in the shadow of a colossal air conditioning unit, the frantic ritual of transformation began. The suit was a second skin, the mask a mental filter, purging the residual anxiety of his fight with May and the lingering affection of his morning with Diana. He became the scalpel—sharp, precise, and utterly focused. He fired a web-line, the thwip cutting through the evening air, and swung towards the decommissioned research annex, his mind already running combat simulations.
Diana found her moment of peace atop a forgotten gothic spire. The air was colder here, closer to the stars she often sought. She let the mortal facade dissolve, the familiar weight of the armor settling onto her skin like a true form. Her thoughts were calm, a strategic analysis of angles and breach points. She was the thunder, the blunt force required to carve an opening in the formidable Stark defenses. She ascended into the darkening sky, a bronze and golden angel of war, her path a direct, unwavering line toward the tower.
The Stark Annex Infiltration
The Stark Tower Decommissioned Research Annex was not designed to be subtle. It was a brutalist monolith of reinforced concrete and blast-proof steel, built to contain volatile experiments and repel military attacks. The structure, located by the East River near Roosevelt Island, was surrounded by a high-security perimeter: laser grids, motion sensors, and automated energy turrets, all humming with a low, latent power.
Spider-Man arrived first, a crimson-and-blue ghost clinging to the shadow-drenched sheer face of the building seventy stories up. His spider-sense was a constant, low-frequency warning, registering the density of the security grid. He found the main rooftop ventilation shaft—the target where the M.O.D.O.K. asset would be linked to the satellite uplink—and quickly webbed a disguised micro-sensor near the opening.
He saw the convoy approach moments later. It consisted of two armored A.I.M. escort vehicles and a massive, lead-lined transport truck. The convoy drove directly through the outer perimeter, which deactivated seamlessly to allow them passage, signaling that this was an inside job, a carefully coordinated deployment.
"Showtime," Spider-Man muttered into his mask. He had seconds before they reached the interior deployment bay.
He saw his partner approach from the corner of his eye—not landing, but hovering high above the river, a bright star against the ink-black clouds. She was waiting for the perfect moment.
The transport truck pulled into a massive, steel-shuttered deployment bay on the tower's third floor. The shutters began to grind closed. If the truck got inside, the mission would become infinitely more difficult.
"Now or never," he thought.
Wonder Woman moved. She descended from the sky, not in a silent glide, but with a deliberate, audible roar that echoed across the water. She did not land on the roof; she struck the building's exterior reinforced power conduits thirty stories below the deployment bay. The impact was immense, the sound a localized thunderclap that momentarily overloaded the tower's auxiliary systems. Lights flickered across the massive façade, and the automated turrets on the roof spun wildly, blinded by the sudden surge.
The power surge was the distraction Peter needed.
While the A.I.M. escort vehicles were paralyzed by the brief system failure, Spider-Man launched himself from the seventy-story mark in a controlled dive. He plummeted towards the transport truck, firing a pair of ultra-strong, quick-drying web lines. They impacted the back axles of the lead escort vehicle, anchoring it instantly. He hit the ground running, a burst of focused, superhuman speed, and fired a massive, expanding blob of webbing onto the still-open deployment bay door, freezing it half-closed.
He turned his attention to the target—the lead-lined transport truck. He fired the thickest, most tensile web strands he could muster, targeting the truck's wheels and chassis, anchoring the entire vehicle to the concrete. He then launched himself onto the hood of the truck.
"Delivery for Dr. Thorne! Signature required!" he quipped, pulling a structural panel free from the hood, exposing the engine block beneath. He fired a specialized, acidic web fluid directly onto the truck's main engine coil, causing it to smoke and sputter violently before seizing completely. The truck was dead in the water.
Chaos erupted inside the deployment bay. A secondary line of A.I.M. soldiers, protecting the transport, stormed the bay door.
Wonder Woman, having disabled the external security, soared up and landed on the roof of the disabled transport truck, directly beside Spider-Man. She was the thunder, and he was the precision strike. The synergy was perfect.
"The asset is secured inside!" Wonder Woman commanded, her voice ringing with authority. "They will use the auxiliary power to breach the roof hatch!"
Spider-Man's spider-sense screamed. Below the transport truck, a series of welding torches activated with a searing HISS—the A.I.M. engineers were cutting their way out of the truck and into the building, abandoning the compromised vehicle.
"They're taking the asset into the building!" Spider-Man realized, pulling a web-line tight around the main cargo door of the truck. "We need to cut them off!"
But it was too late. A massive, heavily armored panel on the roof of the transport truck blasted upwards, propelled by an explosive charge. From the smoke and fire, the massive, hideous, bobble-headed form of M.O.D.O.K., now seated in a new, fully armed and operational mechanized chair, floated into the deployment bay.
The battle for the Stark Annex had officially begun.
THROW POWERSTONES FOR SUPPORT