Herman sat in the back of the truck, the cold metal walls seeping through his armor and into his bones.
A while ago, he would've thought anyone using a truck to rob a bank had completely lost their mind.
Reality, it turned out, was even more absurd than the movies.
One of Fisk's men, the guy in the purple jacket who called himself the Prowler, had only given him one explanation.
"That armor of yours isn't exactly something you drive a normal car in."
And he wasn't wrong. Herman couldn't exactly spend another hour suiting up outside a bank entrance. The only workable option was a truck, with Herman riding in the back until they got there.
And just to make it worse, by some sick joke of fate, the Prowler had sent an ice cream truck.
The stupid thing was still blasting ice cream truck music.
"Can you idiots turn that damn music off?!"
The Shocker slammed a fist against the inside of the truck. The driver's voice came back through the radio.
"Sorry, man. We don't know how. The thing starts playing the second the engine turns on."
"FXXK!"
To be fair, the Prowler wasn't mocking Herman's overheating problem. Unlike Herman, he wasn't a fake half-dropout who missed school, he was the real thing. The guy genuinely didn't understand any of this tech nonsense. The only reason he'd picked the ice cream truck was because it was the only vehicle he had on hand.
Their target was the New York Union Bank, where Horizon Labs had a large amount of materials stored. The big boss, Kingpin, was interested in something inside one of the vaults. He needed the best lockbreaker he could get, and there was no one better for the job than the Shocker.
The ice cream truck rolled up to the bank entrance with its cheerful little jingle still playing.
The driver and the passenger got out.
By the time the security cameras at the entrance caught two masked men kicking through the glass doors, the blast of a shotgun had already shattered the hanging lights inside.
Herman jumped out of the back of the truck. The moment his armored boots hit the ground, the concrete cracked in a spiderweb pattern beneath him, though he didn't even notice. He walked straight into the bank. By then, his two partners had already gotten most of the employees under control.
"We've got maybe three minutes before the Avengers show up," the driver told Herman. "After that, we're stuck. Can you do it? One lock. Three minutes."
"More than enough. As long as you idiots didn't get the wrong vault."
The bank manager, who had quietly triggered the alarm already, swallowed hard as the terrifying figure in high-tech armor approached him. He had recognized the Shocker from the destruction he'd caused across the city just days ago.
"Where's Horizon Labs' vault?"
The manager hadn't expected that to be the question.
He expected it even less when, after getting no answer, the Shocker casually raised a hand and shattered the bulletproof glass in front of the counter, then asked again just as calmly.
"Where's Horizon Labs' vault?"
The manager practically crawled as he led the Shocker to it.
Herman placed one hand on the vault door. Under the manager's horrified gaze, the metal slowly twisted and warped before Herman ripped the whole door off and tossed it aside.
Inside was the object they'd come for.
It was a... fish tank?
Why would Horizon Labs have a fish tank in a vault?
Herman didn't understand. He picked it up and immediately realized it wasn't glass. It felt like some kind of organic material, flexible and resilient. Probably a sample of some weird new material.
Carrying the tank-like container back outside, he called to Fisk's men, who were still keeping watch.
"Got it. Let's move."
"Good. Hand it over..."
The man taking it stared blankly.
"Where the hell did you get a fish tank?"
"Ask the Horizon nerds." Herman rolled his eyes behind the helmet and shoved the thing into the man's hands. "Take it back. I'll draw off the Avengers if they show up. We split here."
The robbery had gone incredibly smoothly, smoother than even Herman had expected.
He triggered a shockwave and launched himself away in huge bouncing leaps, using the method that was fast and convenient but absolutely terrible for the pavement. The super-criminal would carve a trail of destruction through the streets for the heroes to follow, while the others took the stolen item back to Hell's Kitchen.
That day, crime across New York shot up by four hundred percent.
Almost all of it was bank robberies.
The Shocker appeared in several of them, but until he actually showed himself, no one could tell which robbery he was really involved in. As a result, even the Avengers couldn't pin him down.
"All right, let's review," Tony said, staring at the crime map where red markers were spreading across New York like a rash. His tone carried a mix of disgust and exhaustion. "We're dealing with a one-man wrecking ball now, except instead of luck, the main thing he's got going for him is that no lock in the city can survive his fists."
Steve let out a sigh.
Hank was focused more on the technical side of things. He had noticed that the Shocker had surprisingly good taste. The targets weren't weapons depots. He'd been hitting labs and prototype storage, and most of what got stolen wasn't even military tech.
"And at the same time, the number of bank robberies across New York has exploded," Hank said. "Clearly they're being used as cover for him. The only real targets are the banks where he personally shows up. Most of what was stolen were experimental prototypes and research materials from different labs. A lot of it wasn't even patented yet."
"Someone's hired him," Steve said. "They're after the technology. Based on what we know about Herman Schultz, he's too proud of his own engineering to rely on somebody else's work, and he definitely doesn't have the manpower to organize something on this scale by himself."
As he spoke, he pulled up a list. One by one, the names of New York's major underground organizations appeared. Normally this wasn't the Avengers' kind of case, but if they wanted to know who was backing the Shocker, they needed to dig deeper.
"Hammerhead. Tombstone. The Serpent Society..." Steve narrowed his eyes as the projection shifted to Fisk's profile. "Do we have any specific suspects?"
"I'd be honored to have you working with us, Mr. Schultz."
The table in front of Fisk was covered in food and drink finer than Herman had ever seen in his life. The man himself was built like a wall. Even without the armor on, Herman felt smaller than ever standing in front of him. Honestly, he suspected that even in the armor, Fisk would still look like the bigger man.
"It's an honor, Mr. Fisk," Herman said. "To work for you. I grew up in Harlem. For people like us, you were..."
"Thank you."
Fisk smiled as he picked up his knife and fork, cutting Herman off.
"I'm glad you think so highly of my... accomplishments."
He made a small gesture with one hand, then continued.
"But this is a new era. Everyone knows the old ways don't work anymore. That's why I need you. I need you to open the locks those geniuses hide behind, so we can see what kind of future they're building."
When he finished, Fisk clapped his hands.
The man in the purple jacket stepped out of the shadows and placed the fish tank Herman had stolen on the edge of the table. Then another man was brought in, thin and nervous.
"In this era, anything can create a miracle," Fisk said, glancing at the tank. "Explain it to him, Mr. Beck."
"Oh. Right. Yes. Of course, Mr. Fisk."
The thin man fumbled with his hands, talking in a scattered rush.
"Everything we see is light. Reflected light creates all visible image, so... if we can manipulate light, then... well, image itself is just light, and if we can control light particles..."
"Relax, Mr. Beck," Fisk said, smiling while cutting into a piece of salmon. He even gestured for Herman to eat. "I don't speak science. Can you tell me plainly what this thing does?"
"Oh. Right."
Beck looked like he was barely staying conscious, but he forced himself to explain.
"It's basically a projector, but instead of projecting onto a surface, it projects directly into particulate light structures. It changes how those particles behave. So if the technology is completed, it would let us create three-dimensional images anywhere, images that look completely real even though nothing is actually there."
"Thank you, Mr. Beck. Take him downstairs and let him rest."
Fisk waved a hand, and Beck was led away.
Then Fisk turned back to Herman.
"Now imagine what we could do with a projector like that. If my people can finish it, we can make the world see whatever we want them to see. A Spider-Man burning down buildings. Avengers massacring civilians overseas. People might ignore rumors, but they'll always trust their own eyes."
He smiled.
"Welcome to the new age, Mr. Schultz."
(End of Chapter)
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