Spider-Man: Black and Blue (AU) Chapter 19: Max Dillon

[Third Person's PoV] 


A towering skyscraper stood tall among a cluster of other beautiful high-rises, but this one in particular stood out — both literally and figuratively.


Plastered boldly across the front for all to see were the words Hardy Foundation, etched in silver against a gleaming black glass facade.


While the building’s exterior exuded wealth and innovation, the inside told a much different story.


Inside, a beautiful and poised woman with a dark tan complexion led a repairman down the hallway. She had draped her blazer over her arm, revealing a sleeveless purple blouse that clung tightly to her frame. Every sharp click of her heels against the polished tile echoed her authority.


“Max, you have to fix the cooling system,” Anastasia Hardy, CEO of the Hardy Foundation, complained with a hardened expression, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. “We can’t function under these conditions. Productivity has plummeted. We can’t even think in this heat.”


“Certainly, Mrs. Hardy,” Max Dillon said, trying not to sound too worn out as he fanned himself with his cap. “I’ll get started right away. But if it’s affecting the whole building, it’s likely a major fault—this might take some time.”


“Patience is the one thing I have very little of, Mr. Dillon,” she said sharply, turning her head slightly but not slowing her stride. “Especially in the middle of a suffocating heatwave. Make sure it gets done fast.”


She stopped at her office door, hand on the handle, before glancing back. “I assume you don’t need a tour to find the cooling units?”


“No ma’am,” Max muttered, adjusting his hat.


With a dismissive wave, Anastasia walked into her office and shut the door behind her with a solid thud. Max sighed deeply, muttering under his breath as he tightened his grip on his toolbox and trudged toward the maintenance elevator.


---


A Few moments Later…


Max wiped his brow with his sleeve, now drenched in sweat as he climbed through the narrow service corridors of the upper floors. The heat was unbearable — it felt like he was working inside an oven.


He finally reached the rooftop maintenance zone, where the building's main industrial cooling unit sat humming and clanking in a sickly rhythm.


“Alright, let’s see what’s got you throwing a tantrum,” Max said to himself as he opened the main panel.


Inside, a tangled mess of wires greeted him, many of them scorched or visibly melted. “Damn, no wonder the place feels like Hell’s waiting room.”


He squatted down, grabbing his voltage meter and wire cutter, and started tracing the damage.


But then something caught his eye—a live wire sparked violently behind one of the capacitors, a cable that definitely wasn’t supposed to be active. Before Max could react—


ZZZTT!!


A massive surge of electricity arced out from the panel and slammed into him. Max screamed, his body convulsing violently as thousands of volts coursed through him. His tools flew from his hands as he collapsed against the unit.


The sparks intensified.


Then came the explosion.


A brilliant flash of blue light lit up the rooftop, followed by a deafening BOOM that sent shrapnel and smoke billowing into the sky. The force flung Max off his feet, his body skidding across the gravel until he lay sprawled, twitching, surrounded by a crackling aura of energy.


Security alarms screamed throughout the building. Within minutes, emergency responders flooded the rooftop. Max was barely conscious, his eyes flickering erratically with unnatural static-like pulses.


“Jesus… Is he still alive?” one paramedic muttered as they rushed toward him.


“I don’t know what the hell happened to him… but look at his skin. It’s—glowing.”


Max's body was scorched, yet strangely intact. Electric pulses still sparked off his skin like living lightning. His breathing was erratic, his skin pale and marked with strange, glowing blue veins that shimmered with residual energy.


As they lifted him onto the stretcher, Max’s eyes fluttered open for a moment before closing and falling unconscious completely. 


…


Later - Hospital ICU 


Max jolted awake with a gasp, his body twitching involuntarily. His breathing was ragged, and a strange buzz echoed faintly in his ears. As he tried to sit up, he realized with growing panic that he couldn’t move—his arms and legs were strapped down.


“What—?! What is going on?!” he shouted, his voice edged with fear and confusion. “Why can’t I move?! What the hell is happening?!”


He struggled violently against the restraints, his muscles twitching with unpredictable spasms. Thin yellow arcs of static electricity crackled along his skin, dancing across the surface of a sleek, reflective suit that encased his body.


A team of doctors and nurses rushed into the room, pushing aside the curtain.


“Mr. Dillon! You're awake—that’s incredible news,” one of the doctors said, his tone a mixture of relief and caution. “But I must ask you to remain calm. Please. Let us explain the situation.”


“Explain?!” Max barked, eyes wide. “I’m strapped to a bed, wearing some kind of—hazmat suit?! What did you do to me?!”


The lead doctor hesitated, clearly nervous. He took a half-step forward but didn’t dare touch Max. “We didn’t do anything to you, Mr. Dillon. But... something did happen. Something extraordinary.”


“Extraordinary?” Max repeated, his voice low and tense. “What’s extraordinary is that I’m still alive! I remember the explosion—my chest, it felt like I was hit by lightning!”


The doctor nodded slowly. “You were. Or rather, something close to it. The rooftop accident subjected you to a massive, uncontrolled electrical surge. But it didn’t kill you.”


He gestured to a nearby monitor, displaying a jagged but strangely rhythmic energy pattern.


“In fact,” the doctor continued, “your body... absorbed it.”


Max blinked. “What?”


“Your physiology has changed. We’re still trying to understand how, but your cells have begun generating high-voltage bioelectric energy on their own. Constantly. Your body is producing far more electricity than any normal human could possibly withstand.”


The nurse near the back of the room chimed in, glancing nervously at the monitor. “We can’t even safely touch you. One nurse received a mild shock just by brushing against the stretcher. And that was through gloves.”


“We had no choice,” the doctor added. “We had to place you in a containment suit to isolate the voltage buildup. And the restraints… they were necessary. Your body began convulsing violently shortly after you were brought in. You nearly flatlined—twice.”


Max lay there, staring up at the ceiling, stunned. He could feel it now—like his nerves were humming, thrumming with energy just beneath the surface of his skin. The air itself around him felt charged.


“I don’t… I don’t feel normal,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.


“You’re not,” the doctor said gently. “You’re emitting electrical pulses even now—enough to short out half the floor’s equipment. We’ve had to reroute everything just to keep you stable.”


Max’s hands clenched instinctively, and thin blue arcs flickered around his gloves. The room dimmed for a moment before auxiliary power kicked in. Everyone flinched.


“I want this off!” Max shouted, twisting again in his restraints. “Get me out of this suit! I need out!”


“You can’t,” the doctor warned. “Without that suit, your voltage could spike beyond anything we've seen. You could kill someone. Or yourself.”


Max froze, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. His eyes locked with the doctor’s. “So what now? I’m just supposed to lie here like a freak of nature?”


The doctor hesitated. “No. We’re going to help you. We’ll run tests—safely. Try to find a way to regulate your condition. Maybe even reverse it.”


But Max could see it in their eyes—the fear. The uncertainty. The doubt.


Something inside him twisted.


“Get Ms. Hardy! She has a team of scientists doesn't she!? This happened because of her! I would have been more careful if it wasn't for her insistence! Get her to fix me!” Max Dillion shouldn't and all electrical appliances flickered sporadically. 


“Ms. Hardy is already covering the bills for your stay here. We're doing everything we can—” 


Max gritted his teeth as he heard the doctor go on and on, ‘Of course she's paying the bills, I'm here because of her! She should also be here trying to fix this! Does she believe that just by paying some measly bills it will solve everything?!’