David Banner sat at the table in the center of the community dorm room, typing away excitedly on his laptop. It was a state-of-the-art facility, modeled to look like spaceship crew quarters and tucked away in a corner of Stark Tower. There were a few such rooms scattered throughout the building, and they were all co-ed, though the one he sat in was exclusively for interns spending the Summer in the work-study program at Grayburn Labs on the same floor. Most of the other students were out celebrating Independence Day and eagerly awaiting the fireworks that would start the following hour at eight, but David had something he was much more interested in.

“There you two are – come on!” he said excitedly as he saw his friends and fellow interns, Danny and Caty Davis enter the room. He waved them over hurriedly and pointed at his screen. “Okay, so you know that secret meeting we overheard Dr. Sterns planning after Dr. Strom canceled the timeline for human trials? Well, I might have kinda sorta hacked into Sterns’ phone and discovered they are having the meeting in the boardroom on Floor Forty-Three. That entire department is closed for the holiday, so they won’t have any witnesses… Or so they thought.”

David grinned ear to ear, showing his braces as he brought up a window on his screen showing a video feed from the boardroom. “I might have slipped in and set up a few hidden cameras and microphones.” The three of them watched eagerly as Dr. Samuel Sterns came into view on the feed. In behind him walked several other scientists who worked on various projects under the Stark umbrella – Nathaniel Essex, Victor von Hassen, Norman Osborn, and Anton Vanko.

“Wow, some big shots in that room! This should be juicy!” David said with a laugh. However, his face quickly turned to horror and disgust as they witnessed Sterns explaining how he had gone against Strom’s orders and moved Project Terrigenesis to human testing. He detailed how he had placed a few Terrigen Crystals in with the fireworks on Barge R-3 the night before, and how the combustion would cause the gems to exhale the blue mist that triggered mutations. The crowd at Hunter’s Point South Park would be closest to that particular barge when the fireworks started at Eight, and would be their unwitting guinea pigs. The other four men seemed thrilled at the chance to analyze Terrigenesis in a raw and uncontrolled stage.

“I can’t believe they’re gonna…” David had to choke back tears. “Those monsters! There might be a few successful mutations, but most of those people are going to die! We have just under an hour till the fireworks start – we have to hurry! We have to warn them! Come on!” He practically tripped as he scrambled out the door. They tried calling and texting the other interns along the way, but they all seemed to have their phones on silent.

________________________________________________________________________


Donny Blake smiled and whipped his head around as the crowd cheered, rolling into his shredding guitar solo in Jaggerdaw’s final number of the night, a new song they hadn’t shown anywhere else yet. His hair was damp and he was covered in sweat, the band having rocked hard in the Summer heat. The audience thrashed along with them, while a few areas broke into a mosh pit.

(Jump to 02:26 on the video below to listen to the guitar solo I am envisioning Donny playing in this scene)


Amongst the crowd, Owen Blake was beginning to grow irritated at the people moshing around him, the appeal of live music starting to fade. Nearby, Luke Bishop was having the exact opposite reaction, happily crowd-surfing and indulging in the metalhead partying. But then, the song came to an end and the concert was officially over as everyone prepared for the fireworks show to start.

“That was bloody fantastic!” Donny exclaimed as he hopped off stage and walked over to Owen. “The crowd really went for that last song!”

“Yes, yes, you were quite the meathead,” the younger brother replied angrily. Donny threw his hands up.

“What is your problem now, Owen?” he demanded. “You wanted to come, remember?”

“Yes, how forgetful of me,” he snapped back. “Perhaps I simply neglected to recall that birds of a feather tend to flock together!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Donny sighed.

“Oh yes, you require simpler terms,” Owen barked with a snide laugh. “Idiot barbarians tend to attract other idiot barbarians! I am surrounded by morons! Coming to this disastrous concert was a mistake I intend to rectify immediately!”

“Yeah, well, you’re adopted, you know,” the older brother replied smugly as he crossed his arms. Owen turned around and started to walk away when suddenly they heard a commotion.

“Run! Everyone, get away from here!” David Banner screamed as he came running up from the ferry dock with Danny and Caty Davis right behind him. It had taken them forever to get there with the traffic and crowded ferries. “The fireworks on Barge R-3 have been tampered with! That’s the barge that will be closest to this park when the show starts in a few minutes! Everyone needs to evacuate!”

“Slow down there, little buddy,” Luke said as he walked up behind him. “What’s going on?”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but there is a dangerous substance mixed in with those fireworks on Barge R-3,” David explained. “The explosion will cause a mist to shoot into the air, and the wind’s current trajectory will bring that mist directly over this crowd. It’s dangerous! It could be fatal! We must evacuate now! There’s no more time!”

“Okay, I believe you,” Luke said, placing a hand on the young genius’ shoulder. “But we may have a hard time convincing the others. I’ll do what I can.” He turned and started trying to warn them as well, but they wouldn’t listen.

“Damn it!” David cursed loudly. “Nobody takes the scientists seriously anymore! Stupid freaking idiots! Gah! Danny! Caty! Keep trying to convince them!” With no other choice, he turned and ran to the edge of the waterfront, diving into the East River. He swam as fast as he could – which wasn’t very fast at all, mind you – to the barge and pulled himself up onto the deck.

“Hey kid, you can’t be on here!” one of the operators said as he ran towards the fireworks cannon.

“We have to stop the show! Turn the cannon off!” the boy said frantically, dripping wet.

“It’s too late, kid!” the other operator said. “We already started the countdown!”

“Well stop it! Stop the countdown!” David ran over to the cannon and looked in to see if he could make out the Terrigen Crystals quick enough to remove them.

“You stupid kid!” one of the operators yelled just as David took an explosion to the face, stumbled backwards, and fell overboard into the water. The commotion caused the crowd at Hunter’s Point to finally stop and pay attention, just as a giant cloud of blue mist came barreling out of the cannon and rolled in over the park as a thick fog.

Suddenly, everyone found it hard to breathe, feeling like they had just been pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed. Eyes burned, throats ached, and panic quickly set in, all while the fireworks from the other barges were going off as scheduled. Time seemed to stop and start again intermittently as the blue mist spread, dispersing into bright orange flares as it interacted with aerosolized moisture droplets from the eyes, noses, and mouths of the crowd.



And then, just as quickly as it had started, it was gone, and the air was clear again. The other crowds around the river where still cheering at the display in the sky, most of them having not seen the blue mist due to their gaze directed upwards. The television cameras had seen it, however, as well as anyone watching the livestream of the night's events from home.

Everyone at Hunter's Point regained their composure and tried to understand what just happened, and it seemed there were no immediate long-lasting effects… But then many people started bleeding from their eyes, nose, and mouth. Bodies dropped left and right and began seizing, while others seemed entirely fine. The situation was made eerier by the fact that the other barges were still setting off their fireworks, the multicolored lights flashing over the crowd as they panicked.

Along the ferry dock, David pulled himself out of the water, his face horribly burned, coughing up blood. He started crying as he looked over and saw people dropping dead. “Damn it… Damn it...”

Catherine Davis loved living at Stark Tower. There was always something to do, something fascinating to discover, and you would never find yourself bored there. If it was up to her she'd forgo going to Columbia just to spend more time here. It was something she honestly considered after her first week in the internship program. What could she genuinely learn there that she couldn't learn surrounded by all of these amazing scientists? Today she was going to learn more about these scientists than she originally bargained for.

David had told her and her brother that he had something to show them. Most of the interns were out trying to see the fireworks. Part of her wanted to join them and check out Jaggerdaw in the process, but she knew whatever David had in mind would've been far more interesting. When they arrived in the common area they saw David on his laptop in the center of the room. When he waved them over she sped through the room in anticipation and made her stop behind his back. She leaned over his right shoulder and looked at his screen. He immediately disclosed what he had been up to and she was impressed by his initiative and moxie to pull something like this at the risk of getting caught.

She was even more impressed by the catalog of big brains that showed up to this secret meeting. They were some of the greatest minds in New York, maybe even the world. Just what exactly could they be meeting about? Her question was soon answered and she immediately wished she didn't ask that question. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could they put so many innocent people in danger? She wasn't too sure about the others, but she expected better from Norman Osborn. He was one of her biggest inspirations. How could he be on board with something like this?

For a brief moment she was lost in despair filled thought until David yelled for them to come on. Caty looked to her brother and nodded to him before following David out. She hoped they'd be able to get there on time.
________________________________________________________________________


Traveling through New York would've been a lot easier and faster if she could zip through the city instead of being forced to be stuck in traffic. This is why she didn't care too much about driving. People's lives were in danger and the trio had to face their greatest enemy yet. Holiday Rush Hour. They really pushed their luck by arriving too close to the hour, but that didn't stop them from trying the best that they could to get people to evacuate. Most wouldn't listen, but she couldn't blame them. As far as they knew they were a bunch of rambling teenagers trying to pull a 4th of July prank.

Despite all hope seeming to be lost they were at least able to convince one other person of the danger to the point where he decided to help them but they were still running out of time. David knew this and decided to manually stop the mist dispersion. Part of Catherine wanted to stop him from attempting a suicide mission, but she decided to put her faith in him and came up with another plan. Just running around and screaming wasn't going to get the word out in time and there was one location in the park able to reach everyone's attention at once.

While David swam to Barge R-3, Caty ran towards the stage and leapt on board. The roadies and stage crew were in the process of dismantling the set up but thankfully the sound system was still connected. She grabbed a mic from one of them and promised to return it when she was done. She stepped to the edge of the stage and spoke into the mic. She knew she'd reach their ears. She just hoped her words would actually hit. "Everyone! My name is Catherine Davis. I'm a scientist at Grayburn Labs, well an intern, but you all have to get out of here! There's a toxic gas that will release the moment those fireworks go off. You're all in danger. My friend is trying to stop it right now but please... You all need to----."

Before she could get the final words out she heard the sound of a cannon coming from the direction of the barge. They were too late. He was too late... She watched as his body fell into the water and a silent, "David!" tried to force its way from her mouth. She dropped the microphone and jumped from the stage and started running towards the edge of the waterfront. Her body choosing to ignore that she was running towards danger and almost certain death.

She felt someone reach out and grab her hand stopping her in her tracks. She looked back and saw her twin brother Danny. His touch was able to calm her down to her senses, but in an instant she snatched her hand from him. She winced through her teeth and lifted her hand to see a red indention in her hand. Something had bit her. Whatever it was it seemed to be gone now.

Caty turned to the waterfront still determined to jump into the East River after him, but before she could what they came here to stop had officially started.

The park was covered in a dense, blue fog and she found it incredibly difficult to breathe and see. She saw glimpses of people shaped figures near her. All experiencing coughing or crying fits. People just in complete despair. And then it was over. The air cleared and so did her throat. For a moment everything seemed normal. But normal didn't last long as people around them started to bleed from places you're not normally supposed to bleed. Everyone that had started bleeding soon fell to the ground and began seizing. Why wasn't the same happening to her? Wait. Where's Danny? She quickly turned her head to see that her brother was still near her and completely fine too.

"I'm going to check on David. He was at the epicenter of all of this. Check up on the ones on the ground, please? See if you could get the band and the guy from earlier to help."

She continued to run towards the waterfront and was prepared to jump before she saw David climb up on the docks. She figured it would've been faster and more practical to go around to join him. When she reached him she noticed the droplets of blood on the floor of the docks. He wasn't seizing or seemingly shared any of the other symptoms that some were showing, but that didn't mean he was fine either. She slowly approached him from behind. "David? Are you okay? I can't believe they did this... To all of these people. These kids..."

Hunter’s Point South Park
Long Island City, Queens, New York, USA
July 4th, 2023 9:13PM EDT

"Thank you all again for coming out tonight! Have a happy Fourth of July, and enjoy the fireworks!"

With those last words to the crowd, Waylon returned his microphone to its stand and stepped back to exit the stage. He couldn't help taking one more moment to bask in it all: the stage lights, the deafening crowd, his heart pounding as sweat dripped down his face... Was there any better feeling in the world? He was sure that he could perform every day for the rest of his life, and never get tired of it.

Moments after the concert ended, his band members dispersed, and Waylon was the last one onstage. That was typical; even back in their earliest days, he had a tendency linger like that. Back then, he would take the opportunity to help the "roadies" (mostly friends from school) strike the gear. The union stagehands they had now worked like a finely oiled machine, though, and he knew he would just get in the way of their work, so he handed off his guitar, stepped over the monitors and footlights on the front of the stage, and hopped down.

His first instinct was to follow after Donny, to compliment the latter on his performance. Waylon was the frontman and started the band to begin with, but he regarded Donny as the soul of the group. It was thanks to their lead guitarist that they'd found their sound, which in turn lead to the band gaining the popularity it had, which was why they were all there to begin with.

"Yo, Donny-" He started, before realizing that his friend was in mid-conversation. That normally wouldn't have stopped him; he would have gone up behind the other man, threw an arm around his shoulders, and cheerfully interjected himself into the discussion. He wasn't always quite so forward, but being at a concert, where just about everyone was eager for a chance to talk with him, boosted his ego quite a bit. What stopped him was noticing who the conversation was with.

He had nothing against Owen, really. They'd even had a few halfway decent conversation while his friend's brother traveled with the band. However, he could be difficult on a good day, and now it seemed like the two were getting into an argument. Yeah, that was something he'd rather avoid.

"Waylon Maximoff!" A voice from behind him called his name, and he turned around. There was a young woman wearing a shirt from their concert tour last year, holding up her phone. She froze, surprised that she actually got his attention, and he hit her with a charming smile.

"Hey there! Thanks for coming... Selfie?" He asked. She grinned, nodding her head gratefully, and that opened the floodgates for others to start crowding around them. Waylon, being the man of the people that he was, had a reputation for talking to, taking pictures with, and signing things for as many people as possible after a show. The process could be more exhausting than the concert itself, but what could he say? He loved his fans almost as much as they loved him.

Meanwhile, towards the edge of the crowd, a man approached a tall woman and handed her a drink. The guy... Whoever he was... Had been flirting with her for the better half of the night. Petra wasn't particularly interested, but he was of age to buy alcohol from the nearby vendors, and not a terrible kisser, so she welcomed the attention anyway.

"...I see Waylon Maximoff and Donny Blake over there. Wanna try and grab some autographs?" He asked, putting an arm around her.

"Hmm... sure. I have to go to the restroom, though, so you go ahead, and I'll catch up?" She suggested. He agreed, winked, and walked away.

Of course, Petra had no intentions of "catching up," or trying to get an autograph from the guy she'd shared a womb with. She was proud of him. Beyond proud. This was the first time she had seen him live since picking up their fifth band member in London, and she was actually very impressed by how much they'd improved; the recordings simply hadn't done them justice. But this was as good a time as any to ditch whatever-his-name-was, and now she could track down her friends. They'd gotten separated during the concert, but still planned to meet up for the fireworks. After that, they would go to another friend's apartment for Petra's "surprise" birthday party.

She had only moved a few steps when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. A call? She fished the phone out, saw the name "Danielle" on the caller ID, and answered.

"Dani? Hey, I was just on my way over to-"

"Petra?? Petra?!! I-" Came the desperate voice on the other end.

"Dani! Calm down! What's up?" Petra answered, brows furrowing in confusion.

"-are you?? These kids just came through saying how we're all in danger or something, and Steph thinks there might be a terrorist attack or something, and-"

"Terrorists?" Petra repeated, covering her other ear to try and block out the noise from the crowd, "Look, I can't really hear you, it's so loud-"

"We couldn't find you so we just left, but you really need to get your brother and leave, I don't think those people were playing around-"

"Everyone! My name is Catherine Davis. I'm a scientist at Grayburn Labs, well an intern, but you all have to get out of here! There's a toxic gas that will release the moment those fireworks go off. You're all in danger. My friend is trying to stop it right now but please... You all need to----."

The sudden announcement came, interrupted by a boom that made her heart jump. Petra's phone slipped from her grasp and clattered to the ground. She looked on in wide-eyed shock as an odd blue mist settled onto the crowd. People were yelling, coughing... Oh God, her eyes.

It took everything she had to keep from collapsing to her knees. She had to find Waylon.

"Three, four, five, six, seven-" He counted, trying to ignore the stinging in his throat. It all happened so quickly. Before he knew it, a couple he'd been taking a picture with fell over, the woman coughing up blood, the man not breathing at all. Waylon had been a lifeguard for a summer, and so CPR was all he could think to do. He kept going, even when he felt a sharp tugging on his arm.

"Waylon, we have to get out of here." Petra yanked at him again, but her brother barely moved. She knew what he was thinking. She knew, because it's what she was thinking, too. Images flashed in her mind of bombs, and blood, of smoke stinging her eyes and throat and the world crashing down around her-

"Goddamnit, Waylon! He's not breathing! We need to leave, now!" She exclaimed. Finally, he allowed himself to be pulled up, but once he was back on his feet he remained rooted that spot. He blinked slowly, looking around. Where was his band? His friends?

"Chris, Matt, Jess... Donny..?" The others were nowhere to be found, but there was Donny and his brother, not too far away. Waylon started to shove his way towards them, ignoring Petra's protests. "We can't leave without them..."

After his first month in the internship program, Danny Davis knew he loved living in Stark Tower. There was always something new to discover every day. He also loved being out of high school, and being away from the bullies that made his life hell for so many years. Now he was surrounded by his kind of people!

David, one of his fellow interns had told him and his twin that he had something to show them. Most of the interns were out trying to see the fireworks. Danny had zero interest in joining them. Crowded places, obnoxious music, even more obnoxious people, it just wasn’t Danny’s scene at all. He had planned to spend the night in his dorm room playing video games. He knew whatever David had to show them was going to be interesting. When they arrived in the common area they saw David on his laptop in the center of the room. Danny smirked as he watched his sister run up to him, and lean over his shoulder to watch the screen. He could tell she liked him. Danny couldn’t blame her, he was smart and adorable. The braces actually added to it. He would try to go after him too if he had any kind of nerve. He remembered the last time he confessed his feelings to a boy he liked and shuddered. Besides, David was probably straight, and it was against twin code to go after your siblings man.

David told them what he had done, and Danny was a little envious he had the nerve to do that. He knew he didn’t have the guts to pull something like that off. Danny watched the screen and saw some of the best scientific minds gathered in one room. Danny was awestruck. At least until he heard what they were talking about... How could they possibly be so immoral?

Danny frowned, and wrung his hands until David called out to them to follow him. Caty looked at him, and followed. Danny took a deep breath. He still wasn’t sure about all this, but followed after them.

—



Naturally, there was a ton of traffic. That was normal for New York, and on a Holiday especially. They only barely managed to arrive just in the nick of time. Danny still wasn’t sure what they were going to do once they arrived. Were a bunch of partygoers really going to believe a few interns?

David managed to convince one person of the danger. Even so, they were running out of time, so David decided to manually stop the mist dispersion, and jumped into the river. Meanwhile, Caty ran up to the stage, grabbed a mic, and made an announcement for everyone to everyone to evacuate. “P-p-please listen...” Danny mumbled. He wasn’t that good at making impassioned speeches to the public. His sister was better at that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, Danny heard the sound of a cannon before Caty could finish her speech. He saw Caty run towards the river, in a misguided attempt to swim after David. Danny immediately grabbed her hand to stop her. ”Please don’t...” He was about to say something about not putting herself in harms way, but then he felt something bite his hand, and he immediately let go. “Ow!” He shouted, as he winced from the pain. The bite left behind a small red mark. He also saw a spider crawl away and onto Caty’s hand.

Then the park was covered in a dense blue fog. It was hard to see, and even harder to breathe as Danny was having coughing fits. As quickly as it started, the fog stopped. It seemed like everything fine, but that didn’t last long. People around them started to bleed areas that weren’t supposed to be bleeding. Everyone that had started bleeding soon fell to the ground and began seizing. For some reason though Danny was fine, and so was Caty.

Caty ran off to check on David, and Danny took off in the opposite direction towards the stage to see if there were anyone else that weren’t seizing. Danny had to carefully navigate around a bunch of people on the ground having a seizure. “Oh this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all...” He muttered to himself.

Eventually, he made his way to the stage. He was relived to find others that were unharmed. Now comes the hard part, actually having to talk to them... ”Um... excuse me? Um... hi... I-I-I’m Danny... Um... I’m sorry about all of this... This is really terrible. Um... Is everyone alright?” He asked while nervously shuffling his feet and avoiding making eye contact with anyone.

Samira held a hand over her stomach as they left the Michelin-starred restaurant. "That was incredible. I wish my stomach was bigger so that I could have eaten more." She said with a laugh, looking over at her father. The wide grin on his face told her that he felt exactly the same way. "Not only that, but I wish you didn't have to leave." The past 48 hours had gone by so quickly. She finished her exams at her private school in Paris. Knowing that she would be leaving immediately she made sure to say goodbye to all her friends and have everything packed and ready to go. From school, she mother father at the airport where they flew to New York City.

Today was even more hectic. Her father got them tickets for the matinee of the latest Broadway show. Then they rushed over to Casa Enrique to have some of the best Mexican food she had ever tasted before. The lime cured fresh ceviche simply melted in her mouth. It wasn't hard to understand why they were such a high ranking restaurant. Now, the father-daughter pair were walking down the block to Hunter's Point South Park to watch the fireworks. Actually, only Samira would be watching the fireworks. Her father, Enitan would be getting back on a flight tonight back to Paris.

When they arrived at the park, Samira could barely hold back a sigh. This is where they would part ways. From here on in she would be on her own in a brand new city. Part of her couldn't understand what she was so afraid of. This whole plan was her idea. She wanted a summer to fully feel the effects of being a legal adult. The only way she could do that was to go to a place where her father wouldn't be right there to catch her, or criticize her. Since she was going to attend college in New York City, it just made sense to spend the magical summer there as well.

"Samira, don't be so upset. I'll only be a phone call away. And you'll have these." In his hands was a small box with a ribbon tied around it. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously before pulling off the lid. Inside were two slim, steely gray bracelets. She pulled them out of the box and slipped them on, one on each wrist. Simple, yet elegant. She turned her wrists over to examine the bracelets from all angles. "They're vibranium. So that you never forget your home, no matter how far you may go."

The older man smiled down at his daughter, but all she could do was blink to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you." She whispered, her voice thick with emotion. How was she supposed to be upset about her dad leaving when he was so good at encouraging her to try new things? Sniffling, she stepped out of the hug. "How much longer do I have you?"

He checked his wristwatch before responding. "I have to leave when the fireworks start. Traffic is going to be a nightmare."

The voice on the stage drew their attention. "Everyone! My name is Catherine Davis. I'm a scientist at Grayburn Labs, well an intern, but you all have to get out of here! There's a toxic gas-"

Without waiting for more information, Samira ran further into the crowd to try and usher people away. It was obvious from the blank looks on their faces that no one was going to leave anytime soon. She'd rather people be upset about losing their spot for the fireworks if this turned out to be fake than to sit by and watch as people got sick. Each person she passed, she either yelled at them to get back or pushed them to get them moving faster. When the boom sounded overhead she came to a grinding halt. Staring up at the sky, she watched what was supposed to be fireworks quickly turn into a blue fog that covered the entire park.

She couldn't see anything in front of her. Not that it made any difference. She was coughing so badly she could barely stand up straight. Someone ran past her and knocked her down onto the sidewalk. She could feel the cuts and scrapes on the palms of her hands, but she couldn't stop now. She had to find her dad.

By the time she got to her feet the fog was clearing. She looked through the crowd trying to remember which direction she had been running in. That's when the person beside her started bleeding...everywhere. Samira stepped back with a gasp as the woman collapsed and then began to seize on the ground. Within seconds, it was like everyone was dropping to the ground.

Racing through the park and jumping over bodies she found her dad when she spotted the ribbon of the jewelry box on the ground. It was easier to breathe in the thick, blue fog than it was to watch her dad shaking uncontrollably on the ground. She dropped to her knees beside him. Quickly rolling him onto his side all she could do was sit there and hold him, praying that he would be okay. When the seizure stopped Samira rolled her dad onto his back. She was hoping to see his warm brown eyes meet hers. But what she saw instead were cold, lifeless orbs. Pressing two fingers to his neck, she felt no pulse. Her hands began to shake from the shock. She could barely stay still long enough to close his eyelids. She knew her dad was gone. She could feel it. The world got a little bit darker, a little bit colder, she felt empty. "Rest, Baba. You are with Bast and our ancestors now."

Tears were streaming down her face, she could barely see. She used the back of her hands to wipe her face, smearing her makeup across her cheeks. But she couldn't care. She didn't have time to care. Whatever exploded in the sky was what killed her father and she was going to find out who was responsible. Lucky for her the girl who made the announcement from the stage was standing on the docks. She began the long march across the park to find out what she knew. She knew enough to warn people to run, maybe there was something more.

The five scientists sat around the table, watching the wall-mounted television as it played live coverage of the various events around the city. Jaggerdaw, Katy Perry, Andrea and the Honey Bees, and Cowboy Curtis were some of the shows getting major attention. With about seventeen minutes to go before the fireworks started, most of the acts were completing final numbers. The five men couldn’t have cared less about the music, however – they were watching for the results of their impromptu science experiment.

They were all accomplished businessmen as well as doctors, though eventually they all found themselves enthralled by Stark Industries to some degree, whether through trade deals or outright acquisitions of their companies. Still, they had to agree the Stark name gave them more pull than any of them had previously.
















The men conversed amongst themselves for several minutes while the music acts wrapped up, and then suddenly one of the camera feeds snapped back to Hunter’s Point as there was some kind of commotion. Then a young woman jumped on stage and started issuing a warning over the PA system.

“Isn’t she von of yours?” Vanko asked Sterns in his native Russian accent. “How is zis? How did she know vat vee are doing?”

“Damn it, Caty,” Sterns said quietly, shaking his head. “Yes, she is one of my interns. Brilliant young mind.”

“So how does she know what we are planning?” demanded Essex angrily in his English accent.

“We need answers, Sam,” agreed von Hassen, who had a small Latverian/Hungarian accent, but was much less pronounced than Essex or Vanko. The three of them were also the only members of the group not born in America.

“She must have overheard me on the phone,” Sterns said, lowering his head in disappointment. “I thought I was being careful. But I see now I let my anger at Stromm weaken my guard.”

“She mentioned her friend was trying to stop the mist,” Osborn pointed out. “Who else would she have there with her?”

“Most likely her brother Danny and their friend David,” explained Sterns. “The three of them are the brightest minds of all my interns, and David has already spent several years at Harvard College, and… Wait a minute…” Sterns got up and started looking around.

“I never mentioned any specifics about where the Crystals were while on the phone…” he said as he began poking his head around the shelves and cabinets on the wall opposite the television. Then he found what he was seeking. “Aha! The little stinkers placed a hidden wireless camera in here.” He pulled it out, dropped it on the floor, and stomped it.

“So that’s how they knew,” said Essex. The others nodded.

“That means they must have rushed to Hunter’s Point as soon as we mentioned it here in this room.” added von Hassen.

“You know vat zis means, yes?” asked Vanko, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head, fingers intertwined.

“No, Vanko,” Sterns said firmly. “They’re just kids. We’ll find another way.”

“But what if they have been recording the video feed from that camera to a storage drive?” Osborn pointed out. “That could destroy us. Plus we're already causing plenty of deaths -- what's three more?” All five men sat there in silence for a moment.

“Zere is no choice, zen,” Vanko concluded. “Zey must die...”

______________________________________________________________________



“Oh my god,” Donny cried out, finally standing to his feet after a sudden dizzy spell. “What the bloody hell was that mist?!”

“I don’t know – are you okay?” asked Owen, concerned. He had a raging headache.

“I think I’m okay, but you don’t look too good.”

“My head is fucking killing me,” Owen replied, rubbing his temples. “That must have been a biological attack of some kind.”

“All these injured people,” Donny said, a tone of grief in his voice as he looked around. “This is horrible.”

“At least we’re alive,” Owen added. “We should get to a hospital straight away, though.”

“Yeah, that’s – Waylon! You’re okay!” the guitarist was overjoyed to see his friend and bandmate walk up, towing along his sister. “We need to find the others and get some help. I’m sure by now multiple people have called the emergency services. We should do what we can to help.”

“Let’s worry about our own arses,” Owen said, annoyed.

“How can you be so selfish in a time like this?” snapped Donny. The two of them argued back and forth a bit.

Meanwhile, David was still hunched over on the dock, soaking wet, coughing up blood and bawling his eyes out, both because of the horror of the situation and the enormous pain his face was in from taking that cannon head-on. He slammed his fists down repeatedly on the wood.

“Damn it… Damn it… FUCK! AAARGGH!” Blood, river water, and tears pooled beneath him as he wept. When he heard Caty approach, he looked up at her, total despair in his eyes, his open wound visible. A moment later, they saw a young woman approach them who seemed equally distressed.

(this image is special effects makeup)


On the other side of the park, Luke was still struggling to stand, his eyes burning. “Gah! What… What is this?” he grunted and tried to focus, but his vision felt strained. He stumbled through the crowd, accidentally running into Danny. “I’m sorry! Hey, you – you’re one of the guys that was trying to warn us, right?” he asked, squinting. Then he fell backwards, gasping out in pain as his eyes began to glow red.

Danny was relived to find the guy from earlier who actually believed them. That relief was short lived when he saw the guy fall backwards, gasping out in pain as his eyes began to glow bright red. Danny’s eyes went wide with shock, and he panicked. ”Oh god oh god oh god! What do I do what do I do what do I do?!” He paced around in circles mumbling to himself, and panting nervously.

”This is not the time to panic. Think Danny think!” He took a breath, pulled out his phone, and typed up a text message to his sister.

Caty, we got a problem. I found the guy from earlier, and he’s not doing too well. His eyes are glowing bright red. What do I do?!

He hit send, and turned his attention back to the guy. “I am so so so SO sorry this happened! Thank you for believing us. Help is coming.” Emergency services had to have been called multiple times over by now. Help had to be coming, it just had to be. Danny started panting again.

"Donny's right," Waylon interjected. His voice nearly shook with the intensity of the situation: almost unnerving from a man who usually faced everything with a smile. Odder, though, was the distance in his gaze, as if he struggled to focus on the present. "Owen, man, leave if you really want to, but if we don't do something-"

"And what will you do?" Petra asked pointedly, looking at her brother, and then Donny, expression cold. "We aren't scientists, or doctors, and we have no idea what this gas even does."

She wasn't sure if her brother even heard her. She needed to get him out of there, before he had a full-on episode. In the back of her mind, she vaguely remembered therapy sessions, discussions of "triggers" and self-soothing techniques, but there would be time to address all of that when they weren't actively breathing in toxic gas.

Caty was caught slightly off guard by the wound on David's face. She wasn't sure if he was aware of it or not. She didn't turn away from the or him. "Oh David..." She started to reach for his cheek when they were interrupted by someone coming up behind her. She turned to face her and noticed the clear distress on her face. She thankfully seemed to be fine and unaffected by the gas for now. She was likely confused and remembered her from her abrupt onstage announcement. Caty was relieved that people had at least paid attention to her warning. She just wished more had been able to get out in time.

"Are you okay? You probably heard it earlier, but I'm Catherine. What's yo---" She was cut off by a particular ding from her phone. A special alert she set up for her brother's text messages. "I'm sorry. It's my brother. I have to check this." Caty's eyes scanned the message and her eyes both widened with shock and lit up with intrigue at the second to last sentence. She mentally chastised herself for getting even the least bit excited in a situation like this, but she couldn't quite calm her inner scientist.

She opened her brother's contact and called him via FaceTime. She spoke as soon as he answered the phone. "Okay, Danny. I'm going to need you to listen to me. Get him to look down at the ground. I'm not sure what his eyes are now capable of doing, but we don't need anyone else getting hurt in case it goes off. The mist's mutation must already be taking effect. It's likely linked to his flight or fight response. He's freaking out and I don't blame him, but I need you to get him to calm down but for him to be calm you have to be calm too. You can do this Danny, but I'll leave the call on."

So much seemed to be happening all at once. Scores of people were dying, others mutating, and David needed medical attention immediately and for the first time in her life she was in a situation where she wasn't completely in control. In her slight spiral she had almost forgotten the girl standing there. "I'm sorry again. Your name?"

Luke had fallen onto his back, the pain in his eyes suddenly excruciating. They continued to glow red, tinting his vision. Then sounds and smells and even the air on his skin -- it seemed like all his physical senses were in overdrive as he thrashed on the ground. As the pain finally subsided and he felt himself returning to some semblance of normalcy, he noticed Danny panicking and talking to someone via Facetime on his phone.

"It's okay, I'm fine now," he said quietly as he pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his eyes. The red glow seemed to have faded. "At least I think I am. What was that mist? How did you know it was going to be released on us?"

As Samira crossed the park it was one of the most terrifying moments of her life. Not only was she walking further away from her dead father who lay on the grass. She had blood on her hands and she wasn't sure if it belonged to her or if it was the blood that was all over her father's face when she found him. She couldn't stop to think about it though. She couldn't stop to think about any of it. If she let herself process what was going on she would break down hysterically. No one could handle the switch from never seeing a single dead body to literally stepping over them. A few people were still seizing on the ground, but there was nothing Samira could do to help them. There were a few people who seemed to be standing, unaffected but the mist like she was. But the hardest part of it all was the way the fireworks continued to explode in the sky. Each boom resonated loudly throughout the parkland she could feel herself jumping. Would the next firework have that same mist in it? Did the sadistic fucks who planned this find some way to put nails into the fireworks so bits of shrapnel would rain down on them next? The young Wakandan already knew that she would never celebrate another Fourth of July again.

Approaching the girl who made the announcement from the stage, Catherine, and the guy who jumped into the water Samira wasn't able to get a word in before she had to check her phone for her brother's message. "Oh my god." She said as the realization hit her. She had her phone! Fishing it out of the pocket of her jeans, she winced as her hands rubbed roughly against the denim. Dialing 9-1-1, she held the phone to her ear until the operator's voice came through clearly. "My name is Samira Mwangi. I'm the daughter of a diplomat. There's been some sort of attack here at Hunter's Point South Park, where the fireworks are going off." She began to pace back and forth as the operator assured her that someone was coming to inspect the scene as many people watching from home began to call in. This stupid person didn't understand! Trying to maintain her composure, she took a shaky breath. "Stop! You need to listen to me. I'm not some con telling you this because I have nothing better to do!" She said, the French she was used to speaking slipping out in her frustration. "I am here! My father is dead, so many people are dead! You must send help!" Once the dispatch confirmed that multiple ambulances and cops were on their way, she hung up the phone. It may be too late to save most of these people, but hopefully some could still get help.

"Samira." She answered when asked to introduce herself. "My father..." Her voice cracked as she tried to explain the situation. She brought a fist to her lips and forced herself to calm down. She couldn't get answers if she couldn't speak coherently. "You knew what was happening before it happened. What was it? Why am I standing here when so many others are gone?" She gestured vaguely to the bodies blanketing the lawn like snow on a wintery morning. Each time a new firework would explode she would jump and then shut her eyes. Death was death. She didn't need to see it in filters of color as the lights flashed in the sky.

Caty replied with a Facetime call. Danny nodded, but fortunately the guy got up, and seemed to be fine now. “Oh thank god! He’s ok... For now...” Danny said to the phone. He was relieved, but who knows how long that would last. These things tended to be unpredictable. This guy might show symptoms again. Or Danny might suddenly go through mutation himself for all he knew.

The guy asked about what this mist was. Danny adjusted his glasses, and was quick to answer. “Are you familiar with the Super Soldier projects from the 1940s? They performed a variety of experiments to create an ideal human soldier. It’s fascinating stuff really.” Danny clapped his hands excitedly at the thought. ”Um... anyway, everyone thought it was just a hoax, but it was very much real and this mist is the culmination of decades of research and development. It has a high probability to spark genetic mutation. Unfortunately the vast majority of such mutations are unstable and lead to total destruction of DNA. It was never approved for human testing... We just found out tonight that our mentor at Grayburn Labs decided to screw ethics in favor of scientific advancement, and needlessly endanger the lives of so many people, by slipping a few crystallized chunks of the formula into the fireworks on that barge. The crystals reacted to the heat of the explosion, exhaling that blue mist, which carried the mutagenic properties of the formula into the crowd.” He looked up at the guy, and sighed. “To put it bluntly. You might get superhuman abilities from this, or die. Maybe even both.”

Danny blushed when he realized he was rambling. He often did that when he was interested in the subject matter or nervous. In this case, it was both. "Um... I’m sorry for unloading all of that on you. But I think you can understand why I’m utterly terrified right now!”

Samira. It was a beautiful name, but she'd hold that thought for the moment. Caty looked her up and down taking in everything she could. She noticed the blood on her hands and the crack in her voice at the mention of her father. Without Samira needing to explain she pieced it together. Her father was dead and he had died here in this park. She looked back at the franticness and chaos emanating from the park. Others were experiencing the same thing. Their friends and loved ones dying horrible deaths in a moment where everyone was in a celebratory mood. She'd never be able to forgive Dr. Sterns and the other for this.

Caty stood up and fully turned to face Samira. She wanted her to know that she was focused on her and not giving her, her divided attention or partially shrugging her off. "That mist that enveloped the park? It's the culmination of decades of research, developments, and experimentation based on the original Super Soldier serum of the 1940's. Yeah, it was real. Kind of shocked me too. My brother and my friend, David, here are interns at the lab where the latest research was being done. The purpose and the problem? It's meant to spark genetic mutations in individuals to make them 'super', except the mutation isn't guaranteed and it leaves people... like that." She repeated the same gesture that Samira did to display those seizing or already collapsed in death. "We spied on our mentor and discovered that he and a few other scientists slipped a few crystallized chunks of the formula into the fireworks after it was denied for human testing. We got here as fast as we could but it was too late. Too many people died, including your father, and they didn't have to."

Caty was angry, frustrated, sad, and confused, but she had to hold herself together. She couldn't break down in front of them. This wasn't over and the chaos didn't seem to be dying. Their lives and the world would forever be changed after this and it was a lot to take on all at once. Although she may have seemed calmed and stoic on the outside she was crying and screaming internally.

“This is so awful,” David cried, looking back up at the chaos all around them. It seemed the rest of the barges had finally gotten the message that something had happened and the fireworks stopped. Luke followed Danny as he walked towards Caty, and over the next few minutes, most of the other people in the park who were still alive swarmed around the interns as well, frantically demanding answers about what had happened. Most of the panicked questions were directed at Caty, who had been the most visible of the three while up on stage. The voices were pounding against David’s head. He looked down at his hands, balling them into fists. He felt a sudden rage boil up inside of him, clenching his teeth and beginning to breathe heavier.

“Hey, is he okay?” Luke asked, pointing at the young intern on his knees. “His face looks severely wounded.” David seemed to have started hyperventilating, his entire body tensed up. Suddenly blood began pouring out of his nose, but midstream it turned from red to a greenish tint. He began punching the docks below him over and over, letting out a pained scream before he feinted and dropped forward. Luke immediately rushed over to check that he was still breathing. “Well, he’s not dead,”

Meanwhile, Owen had scoffed at Waylon's response and crossed him arms, turning his back to them. Donny disregarded his brother with a wave. "We should help as many people as we can, but Petra, you do make a good point -- we are not scientists. Maybe it's better to go right to the hospital."

Soon everyone began looking up as they heard sirens nearby, the flashing lights of emergency services beginning to appear. Within minutes paramedics and police were swarming the park, and the news cameras from the various events seemed to consolidate in the area. While David was loaded onto one of the stretchers, the reporters began hounding Caty and Danny, pinpointing them after playing back the camera feed from when they first began warning people.

“How did you know this was going to happen?” asked one.

“Is this a terrorist attack?” demanded another.

“Is Greyburn Labs involved in some sort of biological warfare? Why was a civilian location targeted?”

“Is the Ten Rings terrorist cell involved?”

“Why are some people completely fine while others are dead?”

The questions were coming faster than Caty or Danny could adequately answer, it was all so overwhelming. Then suddenly a new presence pushed it’s way into the park – federal agents.

“All right everyone, clear out!” one of the agents in charge commanded the reporters. “You’ll get your answers after we get ours. Listen up, everyone! I know this is a difficult time, but I need everyone to remain calm! If you have any loved ones being transported to one of the hospitals, please go with them. Even if you are not experiencing any symptoms, you need to get checked out as well.”



“Who are you?” Luke asked him as he approached Caty and Danny.

“Agent Castle, FBI,” he replied, holding up his ID badge. “We’re always on standby when major events are happening, just in case. A few forensic experts from the Scientific Response and Analysis Unit will be here shortly, and they will be especially eager to speak with you, Miss Davis. Yes, we saw the livestream as well when you jumped on stage and announced your name and employer.”

______________________________________________________________________



The five scientists had been watching everything unfold on the television, but by the time the feds had swarmed the park, the cameramen were ushered out of the area and the feed was cut.

“So, it looks like there is a potential for one hundred to one hundred and fifty stable mutations, including my three interns,” Sterns said happily. “That also depends on how many survive the night in the hospital.”

“I still zink zey need to die,” Vanko added. “But I cannot argue zat allowing zeir potential mutations to unfold may prove beneficial. However, zey are about to tell zose agents everyzing.”

“So we say they are lying,” suggested Osborn.

“But they may have the footage of us discussing our plans recorded, don’t forget,” pointed out Essex.

“There is no doubt the feds will trace the mist back to Project Terrigenesis and Grayburn Labs,” said von Hassen. “Trying to hide it will only make us look guilty. No, the logical course of action here is to blame it on the interns. Call them out as rogue actors who stole the Terrigen Crystals. Sam, that camera feed your kids put in here had to have been local – check their dorms.”

Sterns nodded and hurried from the room, coming back a few minutes later holding the laptop David had left sitting on the table when he had rushed out of the dorm. “I’ll be damned, you were right, Victor! But the little stinker had the good sense to lock the screen before leaving.”

“That’s fine, we can hack into it fairly easily. All we’re checking for is to ensure they didn’t record the footage anywhere else, and then dispose of the laptop.” replied von Hassen. “Then we need to get to work setting the stage for the kids to take the fall...”

If this were any other sort of situation, Samira would be laughing. The super soldier serum? She doubted its existence. It wasn't hard to. If Americans had come up with something that incredible their technology would be on par with Wakanda's, but it was nowhere close. Now she was being told that it was real. Even worse, it was real and the 2.0 version exploded above everyone in the park tonight. No consent involved, no trials to work out the kinks. A wave of disgust rolled over her when she realized that they were the trials. God only knows what was going to happen to her in 24 hours.

With her phone still in her hand, she unlocked it and opened up a blank text message. "Add your number." She said, handing her phone over to Caty. The rest of the survivors were surrounding them asking a million questions at once. She couldn't even hear herself think right now. She knew she wouldn't get much more of an answer tonight. The crowd in front of them were impatient enough. If the 911 operator was correct, then ambulances would be arriving any second. It would only get crazier from there.

Samira took back her phone right before the park lit up on a flood of lights, some from the ambulances and cop cars, others from the cameras of news crews. They were like vultures. Wasting no time clamoring over anyone and everyone that they could talk to. Samira grabbed Caty's arm to capture her attention for a brief moment. "Thank you for trying." She squeezed her arm with a sad smile on her face. It was obvious to the young woman that Caty and her friends tried to stop this from happening. She wanted to alleviate whatever guilt the poor girl had.

One voice rose above all the rest and demanded the reporters back away. Stepping out of the thick wall of bodies was a guy in a suit. With a flash of his badge, Samira was finally starting to understand just how serious this all was. FBI, science divisions, news reporters, super serum. She looked around the park to see how many ore agents were corralling the reporters away. That's when she noticed the triage. People who seemed fine were getting into police cars and being taken to hospitals. Those with major injuries were being loaded onto gurneys. Samira thought she saw the boy on the docks being loaded into an ambulance on one. But the worst part were the tarps. Giant tarps laid out all over the park. Every time they confirmed another death, they moved the body onto the plastic. She choked out a sob, no longer bothering to wipe the tears from her face. It didn't matter anymore. There were so many more tears to come. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." Without a backwards glance, she ran off to where her father laid. Most of the lives lost would be laying on a tarp, but not her father. Samira would have no problems demanding more for her dad, given his status.

Meanwhile, Cam couldn't decide if he was lucky or unlucky. He should probably start at the beginning. Tonight was the first night he wouldn't have Bob leaning over his shoulder critiquing his every move. He could actually prove that he was more than this punk kid who got lucky on a dare. He knew there was a lot riding on tonight, but he was ready. His first real night on the job was going awesome. He flirted with these models from London. He liked their accents, they liked his hair. He made a ton of tips. This wasn't like bartending at a hole in the wall sort of place. Casa Enrique was pretty expensive. 20% of pretty expensive meant more cash thrown his way. Even the shitty tippers usually tossed him a dollar or two. His award winning smile kept people coming back to the bar for more. At one point he was sure that he had at least ten drinks lined up, each of them different. But it didn't matter. He was on a roll.

Well, he was until he broke the glass in the ice tray. The clear glass blended in perfectly with the ice, so the whole thing would have to be tossed out. Bob fetched a new one and told Cam to take a break after he dumped the ice outside. When he stepped out into the alleyway there was some homeless guy puking by the dumpsters. "Gross." So he decided to carry the tub over to the park. It wasn't too heavy to walk a block away. He could dump the ice out onto the grass for it to melt. He'd even dump it in a corner so the broken bits of glass wouldn't be in the middle of the lawn. But, most importantly, he could sneak a peek at the fireworks. Back home on Long Island people would buy tons of illegal fireworks and shoot them off in the streets. But seeing some sparklers from your backyard versus a totally professional display on the water were two different levels. His snap story would make all his friends jealous.

When Cam arrived at the park, he stood near the back. He couldn't be here too long, and didn't want to have to fight through people to get back to work. The first firework looked really weird. Setting down the tub of ice and glass that was beginning to melt, he reached for his phone to record it. "Maybe this is some new thing they're trying." By the time he had his phone out trying to record the fireworks the fog settled over the park and he couldn't breathe. Doubled over and coughing, Cam could feel the cold through his sneakers. His eyes were watery with tears, but he forced them open to look down at what was causing the cold. He had stepped into the ice tub. Shit.

As quickly as it started, it was gone. The fog cleared and Cam could see again. Great. Now he'd have a wet shoe for the rest of the night and whatever pepper spray he inhaled made him miss the fireworks. His break time was probably up by now anyways. Dumping the tub out onto the grass he stood up and saw people dropping like flies. Was this some kind of a joke? Like those flash mob things? Then he saw the seizures and knew it wasn't a joke. A baby near him started to cry as their mother dropped to the ground. Everywhere he looked people were bleeding and seizing on the ground. He was starting to think he was having a seizure too because his thigh was vibrating. Wait, no. That was his phone. Answering the call without looking at it, Cam was frozen in place.

"Carmine, where are you? You better be back here in five minutes or I swear to God-"

His job! Right. "Bob, I can't. Something really freaky has happened down here at the park. I think people are dying. The fireworks started and then there was this fog and now people are bleeding and having seizures and I can hear the sirens coming. I-I can't come back. I gotta go to the hospital. Whatever made all these people sick, I inhaled it." He didn't even wait for an answer before hanging up. He switched on the camera on his phone and started to record...all of it. Bloody faces, crying family members, stranger seizing on the ground. He even caught the news crews forming a crowd over by the docks. They must've found people to interview already. Then a guy in a suit from the FBI stepped in front of him and demanded that he stop recording.

Cam slowly lowered the camera and ended the video. "I gotta go to the hospital. Get checked out. I was here when the stuff exploded." He quickly turned away from the agent and headed towards an EMT who directed him to a cop car. Cam was terrified that the fed was gonna take his phone. He knows how this works. People record UFOs and the government hacks the videos and messes them up. Well that wouldn't happen to him. He had proof of what happened. Emailing himself the video, he then called his mom. After all, he was going to the hospital to be checked out after inhaling poisonous gas.

"Ma! Ma! I swear I'm fine. They've got me going to the ER at Bellevue Hospital. I promise I won't leave until they check me out. Ok. Love you too." When he stepped into the ER things were crazy. Hospitals were already crazy, but this was on a whole different level. It was like they didn't know what they were looking for. They just knew that people were sick. Cam didn't have much time to observe it though. His family and friends were blowing up his phone with texts asking what happened and if he was okay. Unsurprisingly, his mother told the whole world that he was at the park. Italian families were no joke about drama. He heard from more cousins in the last hour than he had in the last ten years.

When reporters started swarming the scene Waylon felt, oddly enough, a brief sense of normality. If there was one thing he'd gotten used to since getting famous, it was the press. His mind raced as he tried to put together some form of comment for all of this, for the disaster and the blood that was literally on his hands right now, but the here was the first reporter and she... Walked right past him. Huh. The attention focused around the young woman who'd gone on stage to try to warn them all, and the others who were with her.

That was unexpected. He certainly didn't mind, not when he could barely put together a coherent thought as it was, but it felt odd not being the center of attention for once. He wondered if-

"Waylon... I-" And like that, Petra crumpled to her knees, one arm grabbing at his sleeve in a failed attempt to catch herself while the other clutched desperately at her chest. Waylon got down next to her, and realized that she was hyperventilating.

"What's wrong? What's happening?" He frantically questioned.

"I-I-I feel like-" She managed, but she was unable to complete the sentence. Honestly, the only thing she could compare it to was the feeling of having done a line of coke. Except, in this case, it was more like fifty. Her heart pounded in her chest, faster than ever before. Was this what dying felt like?

"Paramedic! We need a paramedic over here!" Waylon shouted even as several swarmed his sister's now prone position. Her body started to tremble, and he lunged for her instinctively, only to be held back. He'd never felt so helpless. What was going on? If that girl was right, there were some... Scientists, who were responsible for all of this? Whoever it was, someone had to pay for the hell that had broken loose around them.

Hunter’s Point South Park
Long Island City, Queens, New York, USA
July 4th, 2023 9:40PM EDT (Tuesday)

"Yeah, it's all very bad... Um... listen... um... I don't normally do this... but um... if you experience any other weird symptoms, and need to reach out to somebody... I could give you my number... Um... only if if you want..." Danny’s face turned red. After the awkward experience of sharing his phone number with a guy he had only just met today, something Danny never thought he'd do, Danny ran over to where Caty and David were. Suddenly, the entire group was swarmed with people asking questions. Most of them directed at Caty, much to Danny's relief. If everyone had come to him with their questions, he knew for sure he would have had a panic attack. Much like David seemed to be doing... He wasn't exactly doing too well. He punched the docks, hyperventilated, and let out a high pitched yell before collapsing. Luke was able to confirm wasn't dead, which was a relief.

Danny went to check on his fallen friend. It wasn't long before he was suddenly surrounded by emergency services and news reporters. All of them hounding his sister and himself with all sorts of questions, while David was loaded on to the stretchers. Danny was overwhelmed with all the questions being thrown his way. Danny grabbed his temples and screamed. "GAHHH! I can't deal with this right now!" He didn't understand how Caty could deal with all this nonsense.

Then, an FBI agent emerged from the crowd and explained that there were people who wanted to talk to them, particularly his sister. Danny didn't know how to process this. He was just an intern, he wasn't expecting all of this to happen. He just stood there, shuffling his feet, and staring at the ground looking nervous about whatever else could possibly go wrong today.

Caty wasn't sure if Samira would believe her. If she hadn't been working with Dr. Sterns herself she wouldn't have believed it either. The awkward pause of silence was almost starting to get to her, but she felt relieved once she told her to add her number. So maybe she didn't think she was crazy. That was a plus for this awful day. Caty took Samira's phone and put in her number. They didn't get the chance to talk further before her brother, the guy from earlier, and the rest of the survivors started surrounding them. There was chaos everywhere but in that chaos they all came to her as a beacon or as a source for answers. The area flooded with voices. Voices that were filled with fear, confusion, anger, pain, and sadness. And she couldn't do anything about them. They were drowning out her own thoughts and it felt like the world was tipping over.

A scream more powerful than any of the others caught her attention. It was David. Something was wrong with him, but she couldn't get close to him. They were crowding her but she noticed that Luke and her brother were checking on him. She was relieved to know that he was at least okay for now.

She felt Samira reach for her phone and had almost forgotten that she hadn't given it back yet. She did so and turned back to the crowd that quickly started to grow. This time with news reporters, parademics, and the police. The reporters and camera crew pushed through the crowds seemingly unconcerned with the well-being of the kids caught in the middle of this mess. They wanted answers and they wanted to be the first to get it. They bombarded her with questions while the ambulances were set up to help anyone that needed it. She wasn't expecting or hoping for a lesson in the duality of man when everyone was in danger from a science experiment gone horribly right.

She ignored the voices and questions from the reporters and really everyone. She knew they were scared. She was too but she couldn't think or focus like this. She started to inhale to bring herself together so that she could handle everything, but when she did she felt someone's hand grabbed her arm. She looked to see Samira who thanked her for trying. Those simple words made an impact. They had failed, but even someone who had lost their father here acknowledged that she, her brother, and David did what they could. They dove into the fire unaware if they'd come out alive. Caty still wished they had known about the plan sooner. So many people wouldn't have had to die. She finally exhaled and returned a soft smile to Samira. "Thank you."

The next guest to this party of doom arrived in expert fashion. Their presence commanded attention and dispersal. You knew that once they got involved things were only going to go a certain way. At least it brought a bit more order. The federal agent in charge spoke and people moved into action. The reporters groaned but knew there was nothing they could do at the moment. Others who had been waiting for answers finally left to get themselves checked out. With the crowd effectively dispersing Caty was glad to be able to breathe again.

Agent Castle introduced himself and said that he wanted to speak with her specifically. But it was his last sentence that really caught her attention. Oh Crap Baskets. What was she thinking? Trick question, she wasn't. Her announcement was broadcast and that meant Dr. Sterns and the others probably saw it too. Not only did she and the others expose their plan, but she definitely exposed Grayburn's connection to it. There was no possible way they'd be able to return to the dorms tonight. They were probably already coming up with a way to kill them. And what they target their parents? She had to warn them or...

Caty looked up at Agent Castle and nodded. "I'll come with you and answer any questions that I'm able to. But in return you have to help us. I don't think my friends and I are out of the woods."

The meeting momentarily adjourned, but one member of this evil cabal wasn't entirely convinced that their plan of framing the children will work. The FBI may have been completely unreliable, but they weren't idiots either. When Victor, Vanko and Osborn stepped out Nathaniel made his move. He walked over to Sterns. He could sense the air of nervousness around the old doctor. He may have tried to hide it, but he was concerned that everything was going to fall apart. They probably would have if he wasn't there.

"You're right. There are a few holes in the plan." Nathaniel said with a disappointed look. "But I've decided to fill them for us. We'll still send someone after the children. In fact I already have someone in mind. We can discuss that in tomorrow's meeting, but as far as framing them that part of the plan is doomed to fail. We give the FBI a target that they wouldn't possibly be able to do anything against. And I have just the one. They'll likely be here with a warrant within an hour. Let me handle everything." His disappointed look turned into a sly, devilish smile. Sterns wasn't sure if he should trust him with this, but Essex wasn't the type to let people down. Especially when he could be brought down as well. The man was without a doubt a narcissist, but he needed this to work just as much as they needed it to.

Sterns sighed and relented. "Fine. Do what you need to do. This better not fail."

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Samuel and Nathaniel were planning to leave for the night when agents flooded in from the different entrances to the floor. The two were surrounded, but at the same time unnerved by their guests. It seemed that Agent Castle had finished with his interrogation of Caty as he was the one leading the charge.

He approached the two with warrant in hand and lifted it and stopped directly in front of their faces. "I'm Agent Castle with the FBI and as you can see we have a warrant to search the premises. If there's anything you want to say in regards to any certain allegations I suggest you do so now or wait until we're back at the station."

Nathaniel spoke up in response. "There won't be a need to wait. We can discuss things in our conference room while your agents conduct their searches. We have nothing to hide." The two scientists led Agent Castle to the Dillinger Room while the remaining agents scurried around trying to find any substantial evidence to use against them.

Nathaniel didn't hesitate to start once they entered the room. "Before we truly begin I want to state that we are not denying that we've been conducting research on Terrigen Crystals under Project Terrigenesis, but we deny all responsibility for the tragedy that took place earlier tonight."

"Is that so?" Castle asked not believing that in the slightest. "Your intern Catherine Davis is convinced that you are. She claims that she along with two others listened in on a meeting you had. I'm guessing in this very room."

"Ah, yes. We did hold a meeting here tonight. I was getting to this point, but recently our facilities suffered a break-in and a number of our crystals were stolen."

"Stolen?"

"Yes, stolen."

"A hi-tech building such as this doesn't seem to be the kind that's so easily broken into."

"Meetings here also aren't so easily spied on, but we both now know that it's possible."

Castle wasn't amused. "If the crystals were stolen how did they know exactly where they'd be released?"

"In the meeting we were discussing possible locations where they might attack. We figured that it would have to be somewhere with many potential targets and those that were preferably young and fit. Today being Independence Day made it the perfect day to release such an attack on the populace. So with some deductive reasoning we came to the conclusion that it'd be at one of the Independence Day concerts. With a few more deductions we figured out that they were targeting Hyde Park. Miss Davis and her friends must have heard us mention it. Are they okay by the way? We haven't heard from them since this all happened."

"More or less. Assuming that everything that you said is true why didn't you report the break in or your suspicions earlier?"

"We simply didn't trust the authorities to handle this. And we weren't ready to reveal the existence of the crystals. Your agents will find that everything we've said to be true. And if you don't have any further questions I would like to go home. It's been a really long day."

"Just one more. Do you have any idea as to who might have stolen the crystals?"

"No one for certain. Anyone who found out about the crystals would want to get their hands on them, but not everyone would want to attack on a holiday celebrating the beauty of our country more than a terrorist. The Ten Tings Terrorist Organization may be the ones behind it."

Castle stared blankly before finally sighing. "I guess that'll be all for now. Don't make any plans to leave the country. Goodnight."

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The mad scientists were once again gathered in the boardroom where they had watched their plans both unfold and unravel at the same time. There was a minor hitch, but things would progress smoothly from now on. They'd make sure of it. They'd first have to make sure that the trio of interns would never be able to stand in their way. Or stand at all. A screen was projected onto the far end wall and the scientists were all looking towards it awaiting for a presentation.

Nathaniel finally spoke up from his position to the right of Sterns. "I do apologize for calling the rest of you in so early, but I felt after yesterday it would be best to get things rolling rather quickly. Yesterday we decided that the interns needed to die. I took the liberty in finding the one to do them in." He aimed a clicker at the screen and pressed a button. It revealed a man with tattoos scattered around his body. His body was that of perfection, because that's what he was made to be.



"This is Adam Dawson. Formerly a decorated war veteran, now mercenary and hitman. The US Military used a recreated version of the Super Soldier Serum on him in the early 2000's. After returning home from war he found that taking orders and killing were two things he did best. He has never failed a mission. I think it'll be interesting to test his record and his serum against three bright minds under terrigenesis."

Osborn and the others smiled at this, but he was the only one to speak. "Essex, your mind is truly diabolical."

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It's been three days since the Terrigenesis experiment. If anyone had shown signs of powers they were doing well at keeping it hidden. Others seemed to have not awakened anything at all. Catherine seemed to be one of them. She had spent the past few days in the hospital watching over David. He had been in a coma ever since he passed out and the doctors had no clue what was wrong with him, but their looks never inspired hope or confidence. Caty made sure to keep Danny close with her as well. She wanted to be home with their parents, but both she and the FBI felt that they would've been safer apart than together. They were only able to spare a couple agents to watch over their parents until this all blew over. Some agents stayed at the hospital for two days, but after no signs of retribution at the hands of the Stark Scientists they were pulled in to help with the bigger mess on their hands. There were whispers of SHIELD being brought in.

Caty was sitting in a chair against the window in David's room. The hospital had given them permission to spend the nights and days there past visiting hours. She was tired of being on alert and started to doze off. The moment she did there was an intense ringing in her head that caused her to keel over and clench her head. "What is---" Before she could get the words out she heard the almost silent breaking of glass behind her. Her head started to clear just a bit. She stood up and looked back at the window. There was a small hole in it almost as if... Someone shot it. Her eyes followed the invisible trajectory of the bullet and noticed another hole in the wall across from it. A sniper, but they weren't shooting again. Was that pain she felt some kind of warning? She didn't have the time to think about it. She needed to get her and her brother out of there.

Meanwhile a figure was on the roof of Lenox Hill Hospital. He held a tablet it in his hand that gave him a view of David's hospital room. In his other hand there was some sort of trigger. Likely connected to the rifle that was aimed at the room. He was visibly confused by the apparent miss. He never missed. He was going to have to personally take care of this. He placed the trigger and tablet in a small bag and tossed them over the side of the building. He double checked the weapons he carried on his person and made his way back into the hospital.