Nadia and Gabriel, along with two guards, stood in the elevator, waiting for it to reach Ground Zero. Dr. Kelly had called Nadia, letting her know the algorithm had finished. When the elevator doors opened, Dr. Kelly was waiting for them, a big smile on her face.
"Good news?" Gabriel asked, while Nadia's face lit up with hope.
"Very," Dr. Kelly replied, leading them to the computer. On the screen was a list of information on Spider-Man, particularly his fighting style and habits while in battle. It also has his approximate height and weight, but not much else.
"He favors using the right side of his body. Uses kicks more than hand attacks, gadgets on wrists appear homemade," Nadia read off.
"Doc, I thought you said this was good news," Gabriel said, looking a little confused.
"No," Nadia interrupted. "This works. We can use this."
As they left school for the day, Cooper, Kate, and Seth arrived at a bowling alley. They had decided to hang out for a little while, since they hadn't a lot lately. They bought a lane, gathered bowling balls, and ordered drinks.
Seth went first, knocking down seven pins his first bowl. It left him with three pins spread out evenly. "Aw, dude, come on!" Seth groaned. He managed to knock down one pin his second bowl.
"Ooh, tough luck," Kate said, standing up. "Let me show you how it's done." She grabbed her ball and heaved it down the alley. She only knocked down six pins the first time, but for her second bowl, she knocked down three, the last bouncing a little before settling. She smirked a little as she went back to their table.
"Luck!" Seth joked. Kate shook her head as she laughed.
Cooper stood up and grabbed his ball. He had never been the greatest at bowling, though he didn't mind playing. He set himself up, swinging the ball forward, just like he always had. The ball absolutely flew down the lane, knocking every pin down. Cooper panicked deep down. He wasn't known for getting strikes in bowling, and he just accidentally used his powers to get one, in front of his friends. He slowly turned around and walked back to the table.
"Holy shit! That was insane!" Seth exclaimed, clapping Cooper on the back. "Who knew you had it in ya?" Seth grabbed his ball and took his turn.
"That was impressive, not gonna lie," Kate said, taking a drink.
"Yeah. I guess it was," Cooper replied, still trying to get over his mistake.
A game and a half later, Cooper felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and read it. "I've gotta go," he said, standing up quickly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill, throwing it on the counter. He ran out the door before either of his friends could say anything.
"He's been acting very different lately," Kate said, continuing to watch the door. "Have you noticed?"
"Yeah," Seth replied. "I mean, I figured it was because of his old man, y'know?"
Kate nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Just… where does he run off to?"
Cooper, now in his Spider-Man uniform, swung towards the location his phone had shown. Scorpion had been spotted climbing up the Skye Tower, the tallest building in Grand City. He had a feeling Scorpion was waiting for him. He hoped so, because he wasn't going to let Scorpion go again.
Cooper arrived at the Skye Tower, swinging into it, sticking. He started sprinting up the side of the building, something he had only messed with. Now was a better time than ever. The closer he got to the top, the more he had to tell himself to not look down.
Scorpion looked down and saw Spider-Man running towards him. He grinned nastily.
Cooper saw Scorpion looking at him. This was it. He fired a web at Scorpion, who dodged it. Scorpion jumped down towards Cooper, landing by the ledge. When Cooper got close, Scorpion slammed his tail into the side of the building, Cooper narrowly getting out of the way.
Cooper jumped up onto the roof. He shot a web-line towards Scorpion, pulling him forwards. He went in for a kick, but Scorpion caught it and threw him into a roof vent. Scorpion smirked. Spider-Man had tried to kick with his right leg.
Cooper groaned as he stood up. "So, Scorpion, I've been meaning to ask," he said, dodging a tail attack. "How does that tail work exactly?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Scorpion replied, swinging his tail again.
"I would, actually," Cooper said, flipping out of the way. Cooper had an idea on how the tail worked, but he was trying to see if he could bait Scorpion into spilling. He controlled the tail, that was for sure. It didn't work on its own. Cooper figured the tail was connected via a neural interface somehow.
Scorpion charged at Cooper, who flipped over him and landed on his back. "Not again!" Scorpion yelled, trying to grab at Cooper.
While trying to hang on, Cooper found a spot on the back of Scorpion's neck, a panel-looking piece of armor. Another thin strip of armor ran all the way down the tail, connecting to the panel. This is it, Cooper said to himself. He started pulling at the panel.
"NO!" Scorpion bellowed.
With his spider-sense blazing, Cooper was grabbed by Scorpion's tail and pulled around. He should've been paying attention, but he was too focused on the panel. His arm stuck, Cooper desperately tried freeing himself, to no avail.
"Don't touch that, freak," Scorpion growled.
Cooper glared. Scorpion had his arm wrapped up but not his legs. He should've paid attention. Cooper kicked Scorpion in the face, making him yell in both pain and frustration. Squeezing his arm, Scorpion threw Cooper off the roof as hard as he could.
Even though his arm was aching now, Cooper's plan had worked. He fired a web-line, grabbing Scorpion and pulling him off with him. Scorpion quickly stopped himself, using his tail as an anchor. Cooper web-zipped to the side of the building.
Cooper started running towards Scorpion. Scorpion's tail was currently out of commission, or at least, if he didn't want to fall, it was. Cooper started taking punches and kicks towards Scorpion, who surprisingly blocked a lot of them. When Scorpion threw a punch, Cooper shot a web at his fist and flipped over him, holding his arm straitjacket-style. Cooper punched the panel on the back of Scorpion's neck until it broke, Scorpion yelling each time. He reached his hand inside, pulling the wires, the tail going limp but still holding.
"No. No, my tail. You… idiot," Scorpion breathed heavily.
Cooper climbed off of Scorpion's back and sighed. He had done it, a smile appearing from under his mask. But it didn't last long.
Scorpion's tail suddenly gave out, and he started to fall.
"NO!" Both Cooper and Scorpion screamed in unison. As terrible as Scorpion was, Cooper didn't think he deserved to die.
Cooper started running down the building as fast as he could, but Scorpion was falling fast. Cooper jumped and started to freefall, gaining speed. He shot webs from both web-shooters, both connecting to Scorpion. Cooper pulled. He caught up to Scorpion, grabbing and holding him. He shot another web at the building, trying to stop them. Luckily, they came to a stop, with not a lot of room left for error. Cooper webbed up Scorpion, just to be safe, and took him down to the ground, where the police were waiting.
Scorpion was stripped of his suit, handcuffed, and put in the back of a police car. "This isn't over, Spider-Man!" He yelled as he was pushed inside. "We'll get you!"
"We?" Cooper said to himself, out loud. He sat atop a light post, watching. What does he mean "we"? Cooper asked himself. Was he working with somebody?
Scorpion's suit was loaded into a transport truck. It, along with Scorpion, were taken away.
"Spider-Man."
Cooper looked down and saw his dad standing below, looking up at him.
"Thanks for your help," James said. "I honestly don't know if we'd been able to take him down."
"Of course, Officer," Cooper replied. "He was a threat to innocent people. He needed to be stopped."
James gave a nod, tipping his hat. He turned around and left, leaving Cooper with a grin.
The truck that was carrying Scorpion's armor was suddenly flipped over, a powerful force flipping it. The two officers in the front were instantly knocked unconscious from the crash. The door to access the back was pulled off. The officers that were in the back with the armor were also unconscious. The armor was quickly taken.
Grady sat at his console, overlooking the many screens. He smiled mischievously when he saw the van show up on one of the screens. He ran to the garage door and opened it, letting the van back into the lab, shutting it when it got in. Three men got out of the van, all wearing suits.
"Did you get the armor?" Grady asked.
One of the men opened the van, revealing Scorpion's armor. "Yeah," Carson replied, pulling his yellow mask off. "We got it."
Author's Notes:
First off, thank you to everyone who has read this so far, has favorited and followed, and reviewed. Second off, I'm going to take a quick hiatus to finish writing the next arc, as I like to have the entire arc finished before I publish any of it. Who knows, I may just go on a writing frenzy and finish it quickly, but I may not. So if not, that's why. Thanks again!
