Chapter 11. Hydro Man
Chapter 11. Hydro Man
(Damien's POV)
Part of me believed that defeating Hydro Man would be conveniently easy, but a bigger part didn't know how to do it. Despite being blessed with so much Marvel knowledge, I barely knew the guy. In fact, the only time I ever saw him in a story was when Mysterio used drones to make a really vivid image of Hydro Man destroying Venice; and it was a messy scene.
I mean the guy could manipulate any and all water molecules near him. His interaction with larger bodies of water had transformed him into a giant water monster, wreaking havoc with every move he made.
One swing of his colossal arm even devastated a sturdy building as if it were nothing but a piece of paper, and lots of people were in danger of getting crashed.
On the bright side, two rather strong spiders were in the vicinity for the rescue.
"Any ideas on how we're gonna wrap this up quickly?" I asked Spiderman frankly while we used our webs to stop the creaking building from falling,. It was heavy to pull, but more dangerous if pulled harder - risking the possibility of it toppling to the other side.
However, we managed to replace it in a stable position delicately, and webbed it up for increased sturdiness.
"It's just Hydro Man. His plan stinks as usual," Spider-Man remarked once our attention shifted back to the water freak yelling demands. "One zap, and he'll be reduced to a single drop for S.H.I.E.L.D. to deal with."
"Oh," I took the hint, and I was already swinging away in search of some electric cables as spiderman adjusted his web-shooters. One 'zap' meant that Hydro-Man's weakness was electricity. It also made sense since water is a 'good' conductor of electricity.
Electric cables ran along city buildings, typically insulated individually. This made it relatively easy to spot one and dismantle it using my webs, ensuring protection against the risk of electric shock.
As I swung back to Hydro Man with a cable sparking at its severed end, Spider-Man finished calibrating his web-shooters. Together, we unleashed our attacks on Hydro Man simultaneously.
"..a statue of me above the Empire State Building or..-- HHhhsggghhh..." Hydro Man was still making demands when an electric shock-wave coursed through his ionized water body.
Spider-Man was zapping him with two electric bolts from his web-shooters, while the electric cable I had plunged directly into Hydro Man's body was causing some sort of heating effect as different electric currents met.
"Any more demands for New York while vibrating at a Gajillion Megahertz?!" Spider-Man quipped, his words merging with Hydro-Man's yell and the crackle of electricity, creating a strange musical note. "Again."
Hydro Man's body contorted vigorously as the two different electric currents clashed within him. The heat generated from the interaction of the currents caused his body to steam, a visible sign of the intense energy being released. As he struggled against the combined assault, he began to shrink, his form gradually diminishing in size.
Beyond Hydro Man, the city was also feeling the consequences of the electric tango, as most lights in the vicinity flickered and dimmed under the strain of the combined currents. Sparks danced across power lines, and nearby, visible, electronics sputtered and malfunctioned.
I was honestly on the verge of thinking fires would start sprouting and burning the city down, when the impossible happened. Despite enduring so much damage, Hydro Man somehow managed to halt the reaction raging within his body.
Hydro Man's transition from contorting, breaking, diminishing, and even steaming ,was instantaneous, as his 'hhhhggshhsss' became 'hahahas'.
"That was a little more juice than expected, but the Doctor said I could handle any dose," Hydro Man said as the city quieted down and the electricity stabilized. None flowed through his body, despite Spider-Man's web-shooters visibly channeling electricity to him, and my electric cable still plunged into his body.
"That's new," Spiderman's words reaction deja vu to my ears.
"Uh, you did look into the Doctor Octopus situation, right?" I asked Spiderman, surprised, as I tried to comprehend what was happening with Hydro Man and why he wasn't getting electrified despite being in the center of electric currents. This wasn't too far from how Scorpion reacted from Spiderman's webs.
"Um... Responsibilities kinda got in the way of that, but I've been getting the sense that he is on the move for something big," Spider-Man replied as we swung to avoid Hydro Man's rigid water projectiles.
"Yeah, like making your villains less and less immune to your abilities. That's very alarming bro," I noted as a water splash threatened to hurl me toward a post. Luckily, I dodged it with agility.
"What other responsibilities could stand in the way of dealing with that?" I genuinely wanted to know.
"It's better if you didn't know." Spiderman answered cryptically.
"Last demand: No one mourn Spider-Man, or I'll feed you to sharks." Hydro Man looked rather fierce and excited as he shot massive, rigidly shaped water projectiles at Spider-Man.
Hydro Man's projections were made out of water, and they came out from Hydro-Man's wrist. But the way they looked resembled a spider's web, making Hydro Man look like a giant Spider-Man shooting webs randomly.
"I really don't get why you always insist on using your powers like a spider. If they were mine, I'd be more creative," Spider-Man remarked to Hydro Man as he swung toward Hydro Man's face with a kick. However, Hydro Man was permeable to physical attacks, and Spider-Man slid through his head easily.
Meanwhile, I was focused on shattering Hydro Man's solidifying arm with my own fists. I didn't know what he was planning to do with it, but I wasn't curious to find out either. With his arm breaking apart, Hydro Man let out a cry as the pain forced him to bend his knees.
But that was just a temporary thing, because he happened to be near a city flooded with fire hydrants, and it wouldn't be long before he would regrow his arm.
"Since electricity is out of the picture, what other way can we stop Hydro Man from terrorizing us further?" I wondered out loud.
"Let's keep him away from all water sources first," Spider-Man answered while webbing as many fire hydrants as he could to reinforce them, and withstand the water pressure further. However, I went for a different approach.
"What are you doing?" Spiderman wondered as I swung randomly around Hydro Man body and recuperating arm, while the other hand desperately tried to grab me.
"Believing in luck," I answered as I dodged an imminent grab from below and swung between Hydro Man's armpits while spinning to face his front again. By the time I was done with my strategy, I was sure I had done something worthy of a wish.
"Does dehydrating him work?" I thought out loud. "I want to be super sure before making my wish."
"It could if you had the symbol right," Spiderman alerted me to my flaw. Stopping to think about it got Hydro Man's wrath smashing me through a building, and later to the ground, causing my body so much pain.
"You mean, I didn't draw the symbol right?" Despite the immense pain, I was more disappointed by my inability to cast a dehydration spider-spell. Beyond that, I was wondering how Spiderman had known the symbol wasn't right.
But Hydro Man lifting me up with his giant hand and smashing me back to the ground repeatedly didn't give me clarity of thought. And neither did the tingling sensation that crawled through my body afterward, causing even Hydro Man to groan and making him release me.
"For the record, I didn't mean you didn't draw the symbol right," Spiderman clarified too late as he snatched me and assisted me in landing safely.
"But it looks like Hydro Man is re-ionizing again, and re-electrocuting him isn't the worst of ideas at the moment," Spiderman said as he released electric bolts from his web-shooters toward Hydro man.
"You know what's also not a bad idea," I kept the thought in my mind as I maintained a crooked smile while my blurry vision cleared. "Calling in the Avengers. Thor especially."
At this point, I had so much respect for Spider-Man on how he could always take such a beating and still keep up with the fighting. From my point of view, I was only thinking about how a good, warm bath and uninterrupted sleep could save my night.
But what would be the point of having so much great power if I couldn't contribute in stopping a small-time villain with the most ridiculous demands. I had to man up!
And also think of something quick, because Spiderman's zappers had stopped working on Hydro Man again - this time faster than before.
"Okay, Spider-Man, I have had my fill with this one. Time to send this Hydro Freak back to where he came from," I steadied myself.
~Prime
Pure water is a poor conductor of electricity (and so is saturated water).
Chapter 12 free in Patreon.com/sorcererprime as usual