Chapter 25: The Whiplash Escape
"Alright, today's the day Vanko gets his starring role. And by 'starring role,' I mean 'publicly makes fools of the US government while simultaneously confirming my subtle sabotage of his tech.' It's a win-win, really. For me, anyway. For the guys in suits trying to keep him contained, it's going to be a very, very bad day. And I'm just here to make sure it's a perfectly orchestrated, hilariously chaotic bad day. Popcorn, anyone?"
The courthouse buzzed with a tense energy. Ivan Vanko, shackled and escorted by heavily armed guards, was brought before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Justin Hammer, slick and self-assured, sat nearby, ready to spin Vanko's testimony into a triumph for Hammer Industries. Alex, once again, was a nondescript face in the public gallery, his "Omni-Network Manipulation (Strategic)" poised for action.
The proceedings were predictable: Vanko, defiant and sneering, spoke of his father's perceived wrongs and Tony Stark's supposed theft. Senator Stern and his colleagues postured, attempting to assert authority over the dangerous individual.
Then came Vanko's moment. With a concealed device, he made his move. The lights flickered. A low hum filled the room. This was Alex's cue.
He didn't stop Vanko's escape. He enhanced it, but with a twist. As Vanko's device began to affect the cell's controls, Alex remotely initiated a precisely timed, localized power surge throughout that section of the courthouse. It wasn't enough to trip the main breakers, but it caused every electronic screen, every digital display, to momentarily flicker. And during that flicker, as if an old, malfunctioning projector had caught a rogue frame, a single image flashed across every screen: a triumphant, cartoonish rubber chicken, wearing a tiny, absurdly oversized top hat. It was there for less than a second, an unexplainable ghost in the machine, causing a collective, bewildered gasp from the observers.
"Ah, the top-hatted chicken! A new classic. Because if you're going to cause a mass prison break, you might as well do it with a touch of surreal elegance. It's about branding, people. Consistency is key, even in chaos."
As the guards moved in, confusion compounded by the bizarre visual glitch, Alex subtly manipulated the security camera feeds. For a split second, a feed showing a guard advancing on Vanko would momentarily become a kaleidoscope of distorted colors. Another camera would show the guard's head appearing to spin 360 degrees. These were not complete blackouts, but brief, sanity-questioning distortions, designed to make the security detail second-guess their own vision, creating hesitation and allowing Vanko those crucial extra seconds.
"What the—?!" a guard shouted, shaking his head as he saw his reflection briefly replaced by a pig's snout on a nearby security monitor.
Vanko, meanwhile, was clearly frustrated. His devices, subtly corrupted by Alex's earlier sabotage, weren't working quite as seamlessly as he intended. A remote control he was using to unlock a door hesitated for a crucial beat, forcing him to hit it multiple times, his face contorted in a snarl of annoyance. The digital tools he used to bypass security systems kept throwing cryptic error messages: "Access Denied: Blame the Squirrels."
Alex also ensured that as Vanko made his escape, his path through the courthouse's less-used corridors was riddled with minor, yet infuriating, digital malfunctions. Doors would momentarily jam. Lights would flicker erratically. An automated cleaning drone, activated by Alex, would suddenly appear and block a hallway, forcing Vanko to kick it out of the way with a furious snarl. These were all small, compounding annoyances that would make Vanko's "triumphant" escape feel less like masterful vengeance and more like a series of increasingly frustrating technical difficulties.
"See, Vanko, this is what happens when you don't thoroughly debug your revenge plot. You get stuck behind a rogue Roomba. It's humiliating, isn't it? Almost as humiliating as being a grown man who designs electric whips. Almost."
The chaos rippled through the courthouse. Alarms blared, guards scrambled, and the media, bewildered by the visual and audio anomalies, struggled to make sense of the scene. Vanko, fueled by rage and sheer force of will, managed to escape, but it was far from the smooth, terrifying breakout he had envisioned. It was a messy, glitch-ridden, slightly absurd affair.
Alex watched Vanko's escape, knowing it would lead directly to the Stark Expo showdown. He had ensured Vanko got out, but that his path was paved with digital thorns. He had also ensured that the government looked utterly inept in the process. Another masterful stroke of strategic mischief. The stage was now perfectly set for the inevitable confrontation, a confrontation that would be defined not just by the clash of titans, but by the subtle, infuriating legacy of the invisible phantom.
[Mischief Target: Ivan Vanko | Annoyance Level: High - Frustrated by Technical Malfunctions, Humiliated by Chaotic Escape.]
[Mischief Target: U.S. Government/Security Forces | Annoyance Level: Volcanic - Publicly Embarrassed, Incompetent in Handling Escape.]
[Calculating Rewards...]
[Reward Acquired: 280 Mischief Points]
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: "The Warden of Absurd Escapes"]
[New Plot Alert: The Stark Expo Showdown. Opportunity for high-stakes, public intervention and final sabotage.]
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