174 Villains

Lyle Getz/Leader(?) of AIM

Lyle was sitting in his office at his computer, trying to understand what was happening. He stared at the screen before him, trepidation on his face.

It had changed. The folder had changed once again. And he had no idea how.

No. He had an idea of who was behind this. The Benefactor. That was the name he'd given to the mysterious person who had left the files that had saved AIM, allowing them to create the incredible inventions that let them rebuild.

And now, a folder on MRE's had been replaced with more files on nanomachines. The Benefactor was making it clear that he wanted AIM to complete that project. Lyle got up quickly, walking out of his office with a scowl on his face.

It was a long walk to his destination. On the way there, someone in a lab coat and carrying a tablet came out of an office and almost bumped into him.

"Dr. Getz!" he was a young man, one of the newer medical personnel that had been hired. Lyle couldn't remember his name, just that he was a doctor. "I have a report on Case-243 and Case-244."

"Our guests?" Lyle blinked, intrigued. "Have they woken from their coma?"

The doctor nodded. "The woman has. She's speaking an odd language however. We're attempting to find a translator. Here, look."

He took the tablet and passed it to Lyle. On it was a live stream of a camera inside the medical wing. There was a woman with red hair and beautiful features shouting at a doctor. She looked quite healthy.

"Keep me updated," Lyle said with a smile. "I want to know where the old man and the woman came from. Maybe we can finally get something for our troubles."

"You don't know where they came from?" the doctor looked stunned. "Where did you find them?"

"Classified," Lyle said without skipping a beat.

Extremely classified. If anyone found out that AIM was responsible for Rio, it wouldn't go their way no matter how many US Senators would speak on their behalf. They'd already supplied several advanced forms of weaponry such as their energy weapons, the Microwave Emitting Beam System, or MEBS.

But no matter how shiny the weapon, AIM was on eggshells right now. Their former leaderkidnappedthe president. This was worse. So much worse. People still talked about the Rio Timequake. The numbers were still coming in, but thousands had died in the initial quake. More had died to the monsters, the disease, the falling buildings. Even with the Avengers, BRIDGE, and the armies and emergency support of several nations, not everyone could be saved.

So Lyle would bury the secret deep. AIM would not fall. Not again. The timequake may have been a horrific mistake, but he would find a way past it.

"Keep me updated," Lyle passed the tablet back to the doctor. "I want to know everything about them as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," the doctor said nervously. "Um, I heard there was one patient who-"

"He was a violent maniac, who killed some of our best men," Lyle said firmly. "He's currently running around the Canadian forests and evading our efforts. I have teams hunting him down for now. That's all you need to know."

"Shouldn't we-"

Lyle stopped in his tracks and glared at the doctor. "Get back to work. Now."

"Y-Yes sir," the doctor rushed off while Lyle continued on, hiding his frustration.

That damn wildman was still out there. Teams of trained soldiers were trying to find him, only to be taken out piecemeal by the most primitive traps and tactics. And the maniac waslearning!He was getting better at fighting them!

Lyle shook his head. No matter. For now, he had one other problem. The Benefactor wanted results on the nanomachines. He wasn't sure why, but that mysterious figure was the only thing holding AIM together now. Even if it was one of his inventions that caused the incident.

As soon as Lyle got to his destination, he slammed the doors open.

"Eep!" Monica Rappaccini screamed in shock. She spun to look at Lyle, amazed. "Lyle? What the hell are you-"

"Bring in a test subject, now."

She stared at him, seemingly ready to argue. He looked at her. She shut up and nodded. "O-Okay. Who should be first?"

"The volunteer," Lyle looked around.

The room they stood in was full of computers and scientists. All of them were staring at him, shocked. The second his eyes landed on them, they looked away.

"Lyle, we don't know if these machines are ready," Monica said hesitantly. "If they go out of control, then-"

"Bring. Him. In," Lyle said.

"...All right," Monica nodded to a man standing near a phone. He rushed to make the call.

"Lyle," Monica said later. The beautiful brunette was watching nervously as a man was set up inside a chair. Two metal arms were set up on either side of him, each ending in a syringe full of a yellow glowing substance. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Stop dancing around the subject. Say it."

"You want to insert nanomachines into a human being, you idiot," Monica snarled, losing her false nervousness. Lyle smirked. Honestly, Monica acting so docile had been uncomfortable. Better the bitch he knew. "Nanomachines! The nightmare scenario of all technology, something labs across the country are still working on. Even those catoms BRIDGE use are nothing compared to this. And you want to insert them into a person!?"

Lyle's smirk got a little bigger. "No. I don't."

Monica stared at him, looking befuddled. "What?"

"I don't want to. In fact, if I could, I would wait another year before we started clinical trials. On rats."

"Then why-"

"The Benefactor. Our friend has been insistent. Sending us file after file, even changing files within our computers, all with one thing. Nanomachines, nanomachines, nanomachines," Lyle shook his head. "It's almost childish. All the genius of Tony Stark and half the maturity, which is saying something."

"This is just because you want to please your new best friend?" Monica asked sarcastically.

"Because I want to please the person who is supplying us with technology that dwarfs anything we could have conceived of before," Lyle turned to look at her. For a moment, all he felt was disappointment. All that genius, beauty, and drive, wasted on a woman like Monica. He pushed aside his pity. "Our projects are getting funding, the US government is looking to us to help them in their little war against superhumans. I won't sacrifice that. Not for anything."

He looked back at the scientists gathered around the volunteer. One of them turned and gave him a thumbs up. Lyle nodded.

The scientists quickly rushed away from the volunteer, who was now strapped in his chair and looking nervous. Lyle walked forward to speak into a microphone, his voice echoing. "Mike, you ready?"

"Y-Yeah!" the volunteer said.

"Good. Beginning test."

Lyle's abrupt words were met with panic. "W-Wait, alread-"

Lyle pressed a button. The syringes entered into Mike. He shouted in surprise, then sighed in relief. Lyle knew what was happening. First, the anesthetics were being injected, putting him to sleep. Then, as the volunteers eyes closed and he finally passed out, the nanites began to enter his bloodstream. Lyle looked over at one screen, monitoring the nanites progress.

"We're aiming for something very specific," Lyle whispered as Monica watched. "If the nanomachines can turn Mike into something close to what we want, then we're on our way."

"Why did he volunteer anyways? Doesn't he know how dangerous this is?" Monica asked curiously.

"He thinks he's going to become Captain America," Lyle shook his head. "I tried to explain, but he-"

"AAAAAAGGGGHHH!" Mike began to scream, his eyes snapping open. "A-AAGGHHH! NO, PLEASE GOD, N-AAAAUUUU!" his voice cracked. So did his spine.

"His heart rate is skyrocketing!" Someone shouted.

"Bring up the field!" Lyle barked.

A yellow energy field snapped into place as Mike screamed again. Then he exploded in white and gold light, blinding them all.

"Gah!" Lyle rubbed his eyes, trying to get the spots out of his vision. "Someone get me a visual! Mike! You alive!?"

"I told you this was a mistake!" Monica shouted as she staggered back.

"O-One second!" one of the scientists shouted.

A distorted scream came from the forcefield. The light dimmed, then brightened again. A sound like whispers clawed at the edges of Lyle's hearing. A low growl echoed, then turned into a scream again. A sound like a hand splashing into sewage and pollution came from the forcefield.

A hand slammed into the yellow field. The hand was very normal.

So were the other three that landed next to it. They clenched and unclenched. Another cry resounded. The hands grew larger, smaller, cracked, turned into tentacled limbs, before becoming hand-like again.

Then they went back into the light. And slowly, the screams faded.

"...Holy shit," a woman in the room whispered.

"Nothing holy about it," Monica said.

"Mike!" Lyle barked.

"I'm here."

That voice. It was like a blade slithering along the earlobes. Lyle ignored the feeling that voice caused. Science was taking place, there was no place for fear.

"Mike? Are you okay?"

The light dimmed. Lyle, Monica, and the scientists around them stared at the figure standing in the field.

He was taller now. No. He was floating above the floor. His legs were gone, replaced from the waist down with long thin tentacles that waved lightly in the air, as though they were gently providing propulsion. His body had become thinner, tight with muscle, his skin a pale pink color. Long spindly arms stretched from his back, eight of them. As Lyle watched, the top two arms, near his shoulder blades, twitched and shifted. They'd turned into something similar in shape to a scorpions stinger at the ends. In fact, six of the arms looked more like organic tools or weapons. No. They looked like medical equipment, only two in the middle looking somewhat human. His original arms were replaced with smooth stumps at his shoulders. Like a flying man-spider hybrid.

Mike, or the being that had once been Mike, looked over at Lyle.

"Fascinating," Lyle whispered. Mike's human mouth was now a pink jaw, like that of a demon. His face had a shiny insectoid look to it. A single eye stared at them. An eye shaped like the letter 'Y', glowing with the same golden light that had emitted when Mike transformed. "Mike… How do you feel?"

Mike's new mouth opened. Closed. Then, slowly, with a sound like crackling paper, it began to smile.

"I feel… fantastic."

Lyle crossed his arms. Tests would have to start. But the nanomachines had been injected, and created something new. They were beginning something new. And Lyle was ready to dive into the deep end.

Monica, meanwhile, stared in fear at the new life they had created.

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker

von Strucker walked through the halls of his Syberian base, clenching and unclenching his fist as he strode through the cold, dark concrete hallways. Every once in a while, he would pass an open doorway. Many of the rooms in this place were empty. HYDRA was finding it hard to rebuild, and he no longer had the numbers he once did. He looked behind himself.

On his left stood Laura. The Blood Diamond. The teenage girl was staring at him, her gaze fixed on his back. The poor girl was so throurily mind controlled that she barely understood anything but orders. He'd told her to watch his back, and she took it literally.

On his right stood one of his new acquisitions. It had taken time. But he'd finally woken the Winter Soldiers.

This base held many secrets of HYDRA. But the best was his Winter Soldiers. Men and women loyal to HYDRA. The elite assassins of HYDRA, with the highest kill counts in the organization's history, and enhanced with Howard Stark's perfected Super-Soldier Serum. Created to overpower even Bucky Barnes, himself a trained super-soldier, they were each a force to be reckoned with. Left sleeping in Cryostatis Chambers in Siberia.

Until von Stucker arrived. Now, after careful application of various brainwashing methods, he had finally woken them. And now, HYDRA had five more super-soldiers.

Josef was the man's name, a tall and strongly built man, dressed in dark green armor. He was imposing, powerful.

And far weaker than Laura.

He had to smile at that. The gross truth of the modern age was that a simple experiment could turn the most innocuous of people into the world's deadliest beings. Laura, with her long black hair and petite build, looked more like a high school track star than anything.

A gross truth.

The room they finally entered was large and open, if just as cold as everywhere else. Thankfully it was lit by bright lights. A robot was humming to himself in front of a strange cauldron full of a bubbling fluid. As they walked in, the robot within turned to look at them. The red light on the head of the robot blinked. In the center of it's chest, a screen depicting the face of Arnim Zola gazed upon them.

"Ah, Herr Strucker!" Zola said from his new robotic home. "It seems you have arrived at a rather important part of my new process!"

"Already?" von Strucker was honestly surprised.

"Yes. I must thank your young bodyguard!" Zola pointed at Laura with his left hand. Eerily, his right hand continued to stir his cauldron with precise movements. "Or, I suppose, her 'father'."

"You know how I feel about you calling him that," von Strucker's surprise turned to annoyance.

Zola smirked on his screen. "Herr Strucker, it is the simple truth. The relationship between HYDRA and those we fight has always been complicated."

He stared at Zola for a moment.

The uploaded HYDRA scientist had become… odd. No surprise, considering he had come from a backup of the original Zola. Some of the changes were beneficial. Zola was constantly working, researching, aiding them in the endeavors they had been working for at a pace that dwarfed what he'd once done when he lived in a basement.

Though it probably helped that he had hands now.

Despite his new productiveness, there were problems. Zola had become much more manic. More creative, but also much less constrained, saying and doing things von Strucker had never seen him do.

Such as his strange obsession with family.

"I don't want to have this debate again," von Strucker said. "This foolishness about 'brothers' and 'fathers'-"

"Is necessary," Zola chuckled. "X and I, Laura and Dial. Even HYDRA and BRIDGE. Brothers, fathers, all of us connected by spirituality."

Then Zola pulled out the object he'd been stirring the cauldron with. At the end was a canister that was now empty. "And we can learn from that. Oh yes, we can learn."

Von Strucker hummed. Then he looked at Laura. "Blood Diamond. What will you do if you ever meet Dial?"

"Kill him," Laura said blankly.

"Do you consider him a father, for donating the crystals in your body?"

She shook her head blankly.

"Hm," von Strucker looked at Zola. "It seems you are the only one who has this strange new mindset."

"Genius, as you know, is never appreciated in it's time, Herr Strucker," Zola poked at the liquid in his cauldron. For a moment, the liquid solidified until it was almost gelatinous. A shape like a face formed in it. Then it returned to liquid. "Very nice… The inspiration of this new world has been such a welcome surprise."

"Hm," von Strucker couldn't hide his pleasure. This new creation would be an excellent addition to their forces… The forces that were currently in hiding, chased by every nation on Earth.

Enough. von Strucker walked away from Zola without another word. Zola didn't notice, focused on his creation.

Continuing towards his next destination, von Strucker considered his options. His army was growing, slowly. But as of now, his assets were not enough for full-scale war against his enemies. He needed an army that could defend him against BRIDGE and the Avengers.

The worst was Dial and Iron Man. He had ways to combat every other Avenger, different soldiers or pieces of technology. Thor could be beaten with subterfuge. The Hulk could be countered with gamma enhanced soldiers of his own. But Dial and Iron Man were too adaptable. For different reasons.

Dial was constantly getting new forms, each with abilities that ranged from outlandish to horrifying. There was a team of scientists, soldiers, and two Winter Soldiers working on every single alien Dial had, trying to find a counter to them all. Frankenstrike, Big Chill, Diamondhead, Wildmutt, they were all dangerous for so many reasons. But von Strucker did not fear them as he did two other aliens. Jury Rigg and Upgrade.

For the exact same reasons he feared Tony Stark in fact. There were other geniuses in the world, of course. That new team of Russian heroes had Crimson Dynamo, some reports of a young genius leading a team in Japan, various scientists, engineers, and others across the world. But not a single one had as muchgrowthas Tony and Dial did.

They just kept making more and more insane technology. Tony Stark's was stable and continuously growing in power, Jury Rigg broke the laws of known physics, and Upgrade powered them both up.

He needed an edge. Something out of left field. Not just more of the same. Laura was one of those wild cards. Zola's creation was another.

This was the last.

Strucker entered a room guarded by six men. They watched him carefully as he entered.

Josef growled at them, looking around, while Laura simply followed Strucker.

Inside, stood the Phase Harmonic Teleporter, otherwise known as the Fishhook. It had been left untouched for some time. Not because it was broken, but because almost all the places Strucker would have wanted to infiltrate were defended by a device that sent teleporters bouncing back with changed genitals and polka-dot skin.

(Damned red goblin.)

But von Strucker had made his choice to use it now. To meet his last possible chance to change the game.

A guard walked up to von Strucker, lifting a wrapped object in his hands to present to the leader of HYDRA. He took the long object in one hand. Another guard passed him his gauntlet. It had undergone some upgrades as time passed, becoming a solid red metal piece of armor. All in the service of holding the unholdable.

Strucker nodded to Laura and Josef. The two stood on the sides of the teleportation device, grabbing a handle each. Strucker turned several parts of the machine, aiming it for a certain set of coordinates. Then he grabbed the lever. As one, Stucker, Laura, and Josef lifted the levers. The machine shook under their grips, rumbling like an ancient beast. They lowered the levers. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

They reappeared in a black space. Strucker didn't look around. He knew what he would find. Blue alien symbols floated in the air around them. Laura and Josef stood by his side, waiting for their moment.

"Strucker," a man stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, with the appearance of an older black man, his head shaved smooth. He wore a long black coat that reached down to his ankles.

"Qovas," Strucker said with narrowed eyes.

"We are here. As you requested," the alien looked to his sides.

Five others stepped out of the shadows. Strucker looked across them. The Confederacy. The six leaders of six factions, all working together for a common cause.

"Now Strucker. Speak, and tell us why you have been so foolish as todemandour presence. And to bring two more of your worthless species before us..." Qovas said imperiously. He was the leader of the Remorath, a species of powerful aliens with blades in their arms, beyond human power, and the ability to shut down technology around them.

The others didn't matter. Only what Strucker wanted from them.

"Do you have something for us?" a blue-skinned man, with white makeup shaped in the shape of an arrow going down his forehead, and black makeup around his eyes. He stepped forward eagerly, looking between Laura and Josef. "One of the Inhumans I requested, possibly?"

"Not as of yet," Strucker replied. "Though Laura," Strucker looked at her. "May be of interest to you."

The blue-skinned man's eyes widened with greed. He was a member of the Kree, a man by the name of Taryan. Strucker noted his eagerness quietly as he clutched the wrapped object in his hands.

"Then state your case," Qovas growled. "I know you Terran's have some love for wasting time, but ours is valuable. Or should I kill one of your men to remind you of that?"

"...Have any of you heard of the Omnitrix?"

No one spoke.

"This question is of vital import," Strucker hissed, his cold eyes looking across them. "The Omnitrix. A wrist device of immense power. Alien, in origin."

"If it had worth," the only woman of the group, Estella, said while scoffing, her bright green eyes crinkling in her dark brown face. "We would know of it."

"Yes… If you had as much power as you claimed," Strucker pointed out.

"Whatare you attempting to imply,human?" Qovas stepped forward while snarling.

"I'm implying that you are liars," Strucker said simply. "That you have used your advanced technology to bully weaker minds awed by shiny pieces of metal, claiming you have the power to save us while secretly forcing us to give up our greatest secrets before running off to let us die."

Two of the men looked at each other. Qovas snarled.

"How dare yo-!" the Remorath began to yell.

"If he speaks again, Laura, I want you to cut his right arm off," Strucker said.

Laura didn't reply.

"It seems you've forgotten your place," one of the men, who had dark green skin, said in an almost bored tone.

"No. I've simply begun to step into it," Strucker shrugged. "But then, it's been a rough few months, and I've had enough of pontificating blowhards who are nowhere near as powerful as they claim."

"Enough!" Qovas shouted, swinging his arms down. Two long silver blades sprouted from his fists as he stabbed forward with supernatural speed.

A flash of blue green passed. Qovas gaped down at Laura. Then he looked at his right arm. Laying in two pieces on the floor, rolling back and forth as blood poured out the cuts.. He stumbled back, looking at Laura. She glared back at him. A pair of long crystal blades were sprouting from her fists.

Qovas swung his left hand at her with desperate speed, the claw there shining in the dim light.

Laura's left arm sprouted a crystal shield along her forearm, blocking the blade with ease.

"Take his leg," Stucker said.

Laura ducked and sliced Qovas' left leg off.

He screamed in a pain and horror, falling to the ground.

"Inhuman," Taryan whispered.

"No," Strucker corrected. "She is a product of human science. Proof you all haveno ideawhat you're talking about."

"You think you'll get away with this!?" the green-skinned man shouted.

Stucker smirked, stepping forward. Qovas, growling in pain, lashed out at him on the floor.

The long object in Strucker's hand glowed blue, then fired a single bolt of blue light, ripping Qovas' chest open. The wrapping ripped apart, revealing Loki's scepter.

"No," Estella whispered, staring at the dead Qovas.

"I need something from you," Strucker said with a smile as he stepped close to Taryan. The Kree man stared at him in horror. Holding the scepter high in a red gloved hand, he smiled. Josef and Laura leaped forward past Taryan, and the screams began. "You may be useless in unlocking the secrets of the Omnitrix. But I still have a use for you."

He pressed the tip of the scepter to Taryan's chest. The Kree gasped. And Strucker's smile widened while the scepter glowed an unearthly blue.

Stend

In the jungle of the Savage Lands, in the city of the Saur-Lords, Stend lay in a bed. His body was wrapped in bandages, soaked in blood, makeshift casts wrapped around his limbs.

He didn't care. All he did was stare up at the ceiling. His first demand upon waking had been simple. Carve a symbol on the ceiling above him. One he could stare at for hours. So he could remember. So that the pain had something he could connect to.

The symbol of a green hourglass set in a black symbol.

"Dial…" Stend whispered to himself. "Dial. Dial. Dial. Dial. Dial."

It would continue like this for hours. He slept. He ate. He healed. And he planned.

"Dial. Dial. Dial."