Chapter 10: Bloodshed at the Bank
The Avengers finally arrived at the bank. Jack O’Lantern saw them and went inside to inform Hammerhead and the others. The double doors groaned open with a metallic screech. Smoke billowed out on the street, thick with the scent of scorched flesh and fear. Captain America (Sam Wilson) stepped through first, shield drawn, wings folded tightly behind him, his face locked in pure horror. His voice was low, shaking with quiet fury “ Dear God…”
The rest of the team followed. Luke Cage’s fists clenched, his nostrils flaring as he stepped over a blood-soaked Spider-Man backpack. Shang-Chi looked away, fists trembling. Moon Knight, silent, stared down at the shattered remains of the family, his jaw clenched. Doctor Strange raised his hand, creating a cleansing wind to push back the smoke. But it did nothing to erase the stench of death. Spider-man (Tom Holland) cried “We were too late.” Suddenly, a sound clapped. From the shadows of the vault, Hammerhead stepped out, coat dusted in ash, but his gold pistol still gleaming. Behind him, Venom (Topher Grace) twitched like a rabid animal, eyes scanning erratically. Venom (Tom Hardy) snarled beside him, breathing heavily, drooling. Above them, Jack O'Lantern dropped into view on his glider.
Hammerhead jokes “Took you long enough, Captain.” Cap then angrily yells “You’re done, Hammerhead.” “Nah. I'm just getting started.” said Hammerhead before charging at the heroes. BOOM! Jack O'Lantern tossed a flaming pumpkin toward the team Quicksilver zipped in, grabbing it and hurling it back up in the air where it detonated harmlessly. Luke Cage then charged Hammerhead, fists colliding with his unbreakable head. Hammerhead staggered back, his enhanced skull rang after that massive blow from Cage. At first Spider-Man (Tobey) and Wolverine team up, with Wolverine using his claws to rip into the symbiote while Spider-Man uses his webbing to restrain the hosts.
Shand-Chi then flipped over Venom (Topher Grace), delivering a flurry of precise strikes; they didn't hurt him, but they kept him off balance. The Spider-men (Tom and Tobey) tag-team Venom (Hardy), webbing his arms, slinging off pillars and slamming his skull into the debris. Doctor Strange opened a portal beneath Jack O'Lantern’s glider mid-air, he dropped like a brick.
Blade and Moon Knight moved quickly through the blood-slick marble of the ruined bank lobby. The floor was littered with shattered glass, torn cash bags, and the mutilated remains of hostages' innocent lives discarded by the monsters they now faced. Moon Knight, draped in blood-splattered white, moved with a savage rhythm fists crashing into bone, crescent darts embedding in throats, faces, and eyes. One goon tried to raise his rifle then a crescent blade pierced through his wrist like a bullet, followed by Moon Knight slamming him against the wall so hard the plaster cracked. "You think Khonshu forgives this?" he growled, standing over the broken body. "He doesn't." The walls lit with a hellish glow, red and orange flickering like a furnace had opened wide. Flames licked along the ceiling, and the sound of chains dragging on stone echoed through the broken vault. "You killed children, You killed innocence."
The goons froze and one turned to run. A chain, seething with hellfire, lashed out and wrapped tightly around his torso, yanking him backward in a burst of sparks. He screamed as the flames bit through his tactical armor, devouring his flesh beneath. Ghost Rider stepped through the fire, his skull burning with unholy fury, eye sockets blazing. He loomed over the chained up goon as the screaming died down into ragged sobs. "You feel that?" Ghost Rider said, tilting his burning head. "That's your soul remembering what it did." He gripped the man’s chin, forcing eye contact. The Penance Stare. The goon convulsed, veins bulging, eyes stretching wide and filling with molten as his sins crushed down on him. Every cry, every bullet shot, every terrified scream of a child echoing in his brain in a never-ending fiery loop. He howled until his throat gave out and the fire burned the guilt into his bones. His body collapsed, smoldering. Smoke drifted up like incense in a church long since abandoned.
The stench of blood and smoke still hangs heavy in the air. Emergency lights flicker across the wreckage. The battle is over, but no one feels victorious. Bodies lie covered beneath blood-stained tarps. Civilians. Children. Innocents. Deadpool stands among them, mask off, eyes wide as he takes it in. Then he fell to his knees. Not because he’s hurt but because the weight of the toll had finally hit. Tears well in his eyes, trailing down the dirt and ash on his cheeks. His swords hang at his sides. “This isn’t what I signed up for…” he mutters, voice cracking. “I just… I thought being on a team with the Avengers would mean I get to be something good for once. Like, real hero stuff. Save the day. Get shawarma, have fun.”
He stares at a small charred corpse lying near a shattered bench. His breath catches about to speak then Captain America, standing behind him, doesn’t say anything. He just lowers his head, and puts a hand on his shoulder, the shield in his other hand trembling with restrained rage. Moon Knight silently turns away, unable to look anymore. Blade is gripping his sword so tight, blood runs from his palm. Quicksilver was helping evacuate the survivors thinking about how even he wasn’t fast enough. The Spider-men had captured Hammerhead. Then Deadpool speaks again. This time, his voice is bitter and cold.“Zemo did this.”
Everyone looks at him. “Zemo hired Hammerhead. Slipped him the Darkhold from Hydra’s vault. That’s how the symbiotes got warped. That’s why everything went full Lovecraft. And Jack O’Lantern? Yeah. Zemo pulled that psycho out of whatever sewer he was festering in too. All of it, the chaos, the bloodbath, it was all just a distraction.” From the corner of the room, Hammerhead, bruised and cuffed, groans. He’s slumped against a broken vault, blood on his face, but his voice is clear. “Yeah… he’s right…” Hammerhead coughs, spitting blood. “Zemo’s buildin’ somethin’. An army. Real nasty types. Killers, freaks.”
“Why?” Cap demands, stepping forward, teeth clenched. “Why cause this massacre?” “To keep your eyes here while he built it,” Hammerhead says. “But he ain’t leading it. Said he needed someone the soldiers would follow. Someone angry. Broken. A man willing to punish.” He looks straight at them. “He wants the Punisher to lead it.” The silence is deafening.” …He thinks he and Castle are the same,” Hammerhead continues, grinning with blood in his teeth. “Both lost families. Both filled with rage. Zemo says he just took the pain and did something greater with it. Says Castle will come round once he sees the big picture.”
Luke Cage approaches, towering and grim. “You’re gonna rot in a hole for this, Hammerhead.”Hammerhead chuckles, low and ugly. “Oh yeah? You really think you’ve won? ”Without warning CRACK! Hammerhead lunges forward and headbutts Luke Cage with a bone-jarring crunch. Most men would break their skull doing that. But Hammerhead’s dome? Is reinforced with adamantium. Cage stumbles back, dazed, cracking through a nearby column, rubble raining down. In a flash, Hammerhead rips his cuffs free, they snap with a groan of torn steel. He pulls a concealed revolver from inside his boot and fires a few wild shots not to hit, just to scatter. “Goodbye, ya mooks!” he roars, turning and bolting into the chaos of the back of the building.
Hammerhead kicks open the side exit, stepping into the rain-drenched alley like he just walked out of a black-and-white gangster reel. His pinstripe suit’s soaked in blood and ash, but he still pops the collar and adjusts his tie like he’s heading to a speakeasy. A sleek, matte-black getaway car sits waiting. 1920s-style, armored up as hell, engine humming. He hops into the backseat. Inside, two bruisers in fedoras await. “You boys miss me?” he sneers, lighting a cigar with shaking hands. The car peels out, tires screeching, leaving the bank behind in the rearview mirror. Hammerhead exhales a plume of smoke. “The Venoms already slithered out. That freak Jack O’Lantern got zapped away mid-fight like a rabbit outta a magician’s hat. The magician was Strange.” He taps the side of his adamantium skull with his cigar. “But me? I always have a way out.” Hammerhead said with confidence.
The fire’s dying down. Fire trucks arrive. SWAT teams move in. But it’s all too late for the innocent. “If he wants a war, we’ll give him one.” Blade stated to the team. The heroes are the only ones standing between the darkness and the light. But the real battle is only just beginning.