The circle slowly began to tighten as, one by one, the Sinister Seventeen's members began to rise from their chairs and circle around one. Some cast doubts, picked on secondary targets, but their focus was becoming all too clear.
Some cracked their knuckles, or necks, as they drew closer. Some readied their various weaponry. The Chameleon tugged at his collar.
"You people have no idea, the level of the mistake you're making... you're all being fooled! I know a thing or two about deception. You don't have a, a clue!"
He went ignored. One member drew closer, when suddenly, the Chameleon launched his chair backward with a mighty heave of his legs, slamming he and his would-be attacker into the wall. A scuffle ensued, and before long, with a slight flash of light, there was a tangle of two of the same man rolling across the floor.
The dopplegangers rose.
"It's him!" barked one. "He's the Chameleon!"
"No!" replied the other, in the same voice. "It's him!"
A silence. A hesitation. It was all the Chameleon needed.
He bolted toward the door, sliding between the legs of one attacker before heaving a mighty jab into his testicles and disappearing through the door behind him.
One man thumped the desk with his fist. "Seal off the exits! He's going to escape!"
Another merely stroked his chin, as he walked toward the window. "No... no, let him. Leave the exits be."
A menacing shadow cast across the window of their conference room the moment they saw the Chameleon charge into a crowd of pedestrians below. The shadow gave way to a red and blue uniform that all within the room knew quite well, much to their ire.
The wallcrawler fired a web to the adjacent building as he swung lower and lower, increasing in velocity, when the Chameleon grabbed a random pedestrian and cast them tumbling into the street. His hologram flickered as he tried to disappear into the scattering and panicking crowd, as Spider-Man arced away from him and snagged the pedestrian from the eager clutches of a diesel truck.
The crowd continued to scatter, as Spider-Man continued his arc and landed in the middle of the road. And there, before him, he found himself face to face with a second Spider-Man.
Translucent blades unsheathed at the wrists of the new Spider-Man as the original charged. Launching himself over his foe, Spider-Man crashed back toward the earth, a sure foot leading his path. His opponent dodged lithely and swung a blade, catching the wallcrawler across the face, and then again across the chest before he was able to flip away. He touched at the cut, which had sliced free a large section of his mask, as the copycat charged.
Of course, the Chameleon hardly expected the webslinger to tumble forward before thumping both feet hard into his chest. But, as he launched through the air, he recuperated quickly, firing his own webshooters and swinging his way over to the nearest rooftop. Thinking quickly, he ran over to the nearby water tower as the hero swung up in quick pursuit, and slashed his blades across the supports before kicking it hard to topple it.
Again, the predictable hero altered his actions, turning to fire a new web and catch the dangerous cargo while the gawking bystanders hurried to get clear. This is when Chameleon made his move.
Leaping through the air, he slashed Spider-Man's web before landing upon the hero's back and sinking the opposite blade into his back. Chameleon wrapped both legs around the webslinger as he guided them straight down and allowed his prey to take the impact as they landed prone on the water tower and crashed through it.
When the waves of crystalline water and wood parted, the Chameleon was seen once again, in his true form, one hand pinning the hero's head to the ground and the other preparing for the killing blow, blood still fresh from the first strike.
And just when all seemed hopeless, one crimson gloved hand found itself encased in webbing, and Spider-Man caught the blow before the blade could enter his skull. Rolling, he thrust out his left fist and belted Chameleon with a mighty backhand that sent him skidding across the pavement.
And before the dodgy shapeshifter could react, the spry hero drew a garbage dumpster toward him with his webbing and pivoted, swinging it full force into the rising villain. A metal thunk rang through the air as he tumbled even farther down the street...
...and to both his and the hero's horror, beneath the eager wheels of yet another diesel truck.
Chameleon gasped, groping out at the air, trying to draw air into crushed and decimated lungs, and then he collapsed, still choking on his own blood.
The Chameleon (KevinM; SS-alligned cowardly tracker) has been RUN OVER BY A GODDAMN TRUCK. A.K.A. Modkilled.
And in their ivory tower, the Sinister Seventeen twiddled their thumbs.
"I guess we got that one wrong."
Another checked his watch. "We don't have long before nightfall. Not long at all."
The deadline remains the same.
