Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.
Welcome to 2020 folks, here's to it being better than 2019...not that that is a terribly high bar to clear. At the very least I get to bring in the year with one of the highlight setpieces of the game that was also used in the E3 Demo. While I couldn't fit a puddlegate joke into the chapter it wasn't through a lack of trying. Still, this year is shaping up to have some stuff to look forward to, DOOM: Eternal, despite the dumb name, is something I've been looking forward to since finishing the reboot in 2016. Halo: Infinite, while also competing for the dumbest name award, is also slated for this year. I want to be hyped for it, and then I remember Halo 5. For those of you lucky enough to not play that dumpster fire, I'll explain the magnitude of its shittiness with one simple fact. When your advertisement campaign tells a better story than the game it is advertising, you are in trouble.
Out of all of the unnecessary sequels, there is one I am optimistic about, Top Gun: Maverick. I love the original, it's over the top characters that helped form the basis of Matthew 'Marauder' Cooper, the dogfights with the F-14 Tomcat are legendary, and of course it featured an amazing soundtrack. It should say something then, that on a soundtrack with 'Playing With the Boys', 'Mighty Wings', and 'Take My Breath Away' that one song was played three separate times. If you are like a friend I had in college that thoguht 'Danger Zone' was something Archer said when he was trying to be cool, then I truly pity you. This song is great and one of Kenny Loggins' best and it always be tied to high octane and high flying action, which is what prompted its selection for this chapter.
Power Without Question – Chapter 30: Danger Zone
You'll never know what you can do
Until you get it up as high as you can go
Out along the edges, Always where I burn to be
The further on the edge, The hotter the intensity
Highway to the danger zone
From a rooftop perch, Spider-Man watched Mary Jane climb into the back of the ambulance containing Officer Jefferson Davis just as the doors were shut. "She's good" he observed as he heard a faint chuckle behind him before a sharp hiss. Peter turned to see his friend still sitting down, his pants a dark crimson as two or three empty syringes lay off to the side. "You okay Coop?" asked the wallcrawler, concern in his tone.
The helmet bobbed up and down. "Yeah, the numbing agent is starting to ware off, I should be able to get moving in a few minutes" he explained as he moved his legs a bit to show that he was getting better. As soon as he had gotten up out of sight the man had collapsed as the adrenaline wore off and Peter had insisted on taking him to a hospital, but the Texan had been even more insistent that his own first aid would be enough.
Spidey had gone down when he saw a familiar head of red hair and now that he was back with the Marauder, he had a thought. "Did you call MJ and tell her to come down here?" he asked as the Pilot shifted a bit.
"Yes and no" answered the Renegade gunfighter as Peter could imagine the smirk behind the helmet. "I just told her we found ourselves into trouble and about our help. But I didn't tell her to do anything" he said smugly.
Peter merely shook his head, "don't say it" he snapped, knowing what the Marauder would tell him next.
"I'm not going to say anything" retorted Matthew, much to Peter's relief. "Only because you already know that I'm right." Spider-Man knew that the Marauder was right. He still had feelings for MJ, it had been a challenge to move on and seeing her again had only caused old feelings to come back to the surface. But seeing her put herself in danger again only served to reopen old wounds. "Listen Pete, you already tried to block her out once and look how that turned out. Now that this really is her job it only makes sense for you two to work together."
Spider-Man didn't respond for a moment as he mulled the words over. He couldn't get her involved, it was safer that way, and if he got her killed… "She's more likely to get herself killed if she doesn't have any backup" said Cooper, almost as if the Pilot was reading his mind. Though, in all fairness, this wasn't the first time they had had this conversation. "Listen, you remember how I got here? It was because I died. Did I die because I did something stupid or dangerous? No, I died driving home to see my family, the same drive I had made a dozen times before. You see my point?"
"No" replied Peter with a shake of the head, "not really."
There was a shrug and a sigh from the armored renegade. "You don't have to be doing something dangerous to get killed" he said sadly. "You can go through life like you want or like others want, you end up at the same place either way" said the Marauder, remembering his own brush with death. "I say each one of us should choose, cause when all's said and done…I gotta live and die with my choices, not yours, not anyone else's. It's the same with you…it's the same with her."
Peter looked at his helmeted friend, knowing that the Texan was just as stubborn as he was and had dug in his heels on the topic. MJ's words from a few moments ago replayed in his mind, the closer I get, the better chance we have to stop them she had said. "I'll think about it" he admitted reluctantly, the words placating the Pilot.
After a moment of silence, the Pilot grunted as he pulled himself to his feet, taking a few steps gingerly before turning back to the Wallcrawler. "Well I've had enough fun for one day and I'm sure Felicia is getting worried" he said before looking back down at his bloody fatigues. "I'll probably have some explaining to do as well" he muttered as Peter grinned behind his mask. "No use putting off the inevitable, take care Spidey" said the Marauder before giving a quick salute and jumping off the backside of the building and towards one of his many hidden passages.
Peter pulled himself to a perch and yawned lightly. "Man, I'm beat, time to head home and get some sleep" he said to himself drowsily. He was so tired in fact, that he decided to take a page from Cooper's playbook and took an underground train. Ironically enough, he spent part of the ride sitting next to a guy in a terrible fake spider-man costume.
When he did end up at his Chinatown apartment it had been sixty hours since he had left it to bust Kingpin. Shambling up to the door in casual clothes kept in a bag placed strategically on the rooftop, he inserted his key to the look only to find that it didn't turn. Taking a moment to check that he was alone, he easily shoulder checked the door open and stepped inside to the now barren apartment. His landlord had finally evicted him, and everything he had ever owned was gone. Sighing in disbelief, he could hardly believe it, "oh come on" he said to nobody as he jogged out to go hunt for his stuff.
Following Matt's logic, he started with the simplest and most obvious place, the dumpster. When he opened that to find it empty, he hastily pulled out his cellphone and called a group of people who had, knowingly or not, helped Spider-Man out quite a few times over the years. "Empire sanitation, this is Eddie" said a very weary voice on the other end of the line.
"Yeah, hi, uh…" began Peter as he thought how best to word his predicament. "I'm trying to track down some items that were accidentally picked up from a dumpster outside my apar…"
He didn't get to finish, getting cut off when the man's 'bullshit tolerance' had been depleted. "Dumpster number" he said simply.
"Uh, hang on" replied the vigilante as he looked for a number before flipping up onto the wall behind the dumpster and using his feet to lean it forwards and see the number inscribed on the back. "Six four four seven six" he rattled off.
"That's route thirty-three, trucks already left its shift. If your stuff's not there, then you're outta luck" informed Eddie as Peter quickly scaled his former residence and got back into his somewhat filthy suit.
"Wait" said Peter suddenly as he got changed, "wait, please, this is important" he begged. "Can you at least tell me where the truck is?"
There was a sigh on the other end of the line as Parker thanked his lucky stars his suiting up process was much simpler than Coopers. "Alright…looks like it should be at the municipal garage on Bowery and Grand" informed the operator as Spider-Man clung to the side of a wall.
"Got it, thanks Eddie" said Peter with a tinge of hope as he clicked off the phone and tossed it in the bag. "Municipal garage, Bowery and Grand" he repeated to himself before he started Webswinging, "not a problem" he added sarcastically.
The city whipped by as he took a mental inventory. His priority was his Spidey-drive, the data on that couldn't be replaced and would take months to replicate. That meant all he had to do was find a two-ounce flash drive in a thirty-ton garbage truck. Once he arrived and looked in the empty vehicles, he realized it would be helpful if they hadn't dumped the trash from the garbage truck. Growling in frustration, he tried to avoid panicking as he used his built in suit phone to dial a number.
"Empire Sanitation, this is Eddie" said the exact same man in the exact same tone.
"Sorry, is there any chance the truck isn't at the garage?" he asked quickly.
"Sure, I guess" he replied, though he sounded tired and anything but sure. "Just means that it'd be somewhere in west Chinatown."
"Great! I'm headed there now" said Peter as he pulled himself up into the vent and went out the way he came in.
No sooner was he out of the building when his phone rang again. "Hey, it's a long shot" said the gruff tones of the ES operator, "But sometimes the guys stop for pizza before they drop off."
"Really?" asked a hopeful webslinger, anything to narrow his search area would be a major boon. "I'll check out the pizza shops. Any idea which one?" he asked optimistically.
"One of the mom and pop joints I think" replied Eddie as Spidey swung northwest.
Usually he needed to know physics and hand to hand fighting as Spider-Man, never would he have guessed he'd have to rely on the same knowledge that he usually only used when he and Matthew got hungry when patrolling together. "Jerry's?"
"No, that's uptown" replied the operator dismissively.
"I mean original Jerry's" clarified the webhead.
"Oh, right" said Eddie in thought before sounding unsure. "No, it started with an 'L' I think."
"Larry's?" asked Spidey.
"That's on the East Side I think."
It was right about this point that Spider-Man decided that New York's Pizza shops needed more name variety. "Uhh…" he said pensively, thinking about it once more he finally remembered one of the ones he used to frequent with Harry and MJ, "Leo's!"
"Leo's…" said the operator, tasting the name on his tongue. "Yeah, that might be it. Man, I love Leo's" he said, clearly distracted by the prospect.
Peter chuckled inside his suit as he changed directions and made for the pizza joint. "I'll pick you up a pie" he promised as he dropped down to the street, "I owe ya.'"
"No worries" replied Eddie dismissively. "Hope you find what you're looking for."
"Thanks Eddie" replied Peter as he strolled up to the parked group of sanitation vehicles, much to the amusement of passersby who were busy snapping pictures of him on their smart phones. A quick inspection of each truck revealed nothing he recognized as his own as he fought to hold in a curse. "C'mon Eddie, you're my only hope" he said as he leapt up and clung to a building, dialing that same number once again.
"Not there either, huh?" greeted the operator knowingly.
"You sure they were around here?" asked Peter desperately, this was getting ridiculous, and that was discounting that he was searching while wearing a web covered onesie.
"Well, the guys might've switched routes due to the upcoming Osborn rally" supposed Eddie as he flipped through a binder of some sort, the rustling of paper carrying over the line. "If your pickup was on route 35 they'd be dropping off at the incinerator right now."
"INCINERATOR!?" exclaimed Spidey in shock as he mind dove straight into full headless chicken blind panic mode.
"Over by Manhattan bridge" explained Eddie as Spidey got moving the instant the words were out of his mouth. "Better hustle" he encouraged, though he clearly had no idea who he was talking to, there were very, very few who could hustle like Spider-Man.
And hustle Spider-Man did, arriving at the incinerator only to be greeted by an unexpected sight. Almost as if the men had heard JJJ's podcast and were playing an ironic joke on him, four men were all brandishing guns while wearing a tracksuit and gold chains as they surrounded the overall wearing sanitation worker. Screaming in like a bird of prey, the wallcrawler took down the leader immediately before flipping up and over the thug to his left and unleashing a series of blows that sent him flying into the third man. As that final attacker staggered back to his feet he was instantly webbed up and tossed carelessly into the truck, sticking to the side.
"Thanks Spider-Man" said the sanitation worker as he was helped to his feet and rubbed his bruised ribs tenderly.
Peter looked at the knocked out gangbangers before refocusing on the civilian, "you okay?" he asked.
"Fine" he grunted as he tested his arm, "this gang's been terrorizing the whole neighborhood for the last couple of days. There's probably more of them on the way…" he said as Spider-Man winced, he had probably just jinxed it.
Now thinking he was also working against the clock he quickly got back to the real reason he was here. "I'll keep an eye out. Hey, mind if I look around for some, uh, some personal items?"
"Sure, have at it" said the man with a knowing smirk, "I gotta go file an incident report" he said tiredly as he headed inside with a wave. As soon as he was gone, the hero began tearing through the trash until he spotted a familiar looking bag and nearly hollered for joy.
"Please be here…please be here" he begged as he sifted through the bag and soon came back up with the small and ordinary looking USB stick. "Yes!" he said as he jammed it into the slot on his wrist and saw the contents flash up on his HUD. "Looks like everything's here" he said in relief as he scrolled through the files. "Hey look, and old gadget prototype" he muttered as he looked back down in the bag and saw a disassembled arc grenade Cooper had given him. "Hmm…I think I can make this work" he mused as he pulled some spare web cartridges from his wrist band and set to work.
He had to improvise a few other parts, such as the trigger mechanism, and jury rig a compressed air cannister to fire the web out of all the holes the grenade casing already had for the electrodes it would normally use. No sooner had he had the device finished and was tossing it idly to get a feel for its weight than he had the perfect opportunity to test it. "Look! It's that guy who thinks he's Spider-Man!" called out an unpleasant voice from behind him. "Ice him."
Spidey looked at the six men arrayed against him before turning his head to look at the makeshift weapon in his hand before idly tossing it on the ground in between the two parties before flipping behind a pole and into cover. With a loud 'pop' of compressed air, the grenade went off and Spidey peeked out to see how it did. To his utter shock, all of the tracksuit wearing attackers were webbed up snugly either to trucks or cars with two exceptions, and those were quickly fixed. "That was easy" mused Spidey, "no wonder the Marauder always leads with one of those."
Of course, as he swung away he was confronted with another problem. "Where am I going to sleep?" he wondered aloud. "I guess I could try MJ's" he supposed as he began heading that way. Once he was halfway there he started trying to plan ahead. "Alright, how am I going to talk my way onto MJ's couch? Let's see…'Hi MJ, it's Peter…any chance I could stay over tonight…' no that's too formal" he groused as he continued to think on it. "MJ! I was just in the neighborhood…ah that's lame." He was running out of time; he was getting close to his intended destination. "Hey MJ! Now that we're talking again, I thought maybe…okay that just sounds pathetic" he chastised.
"Why am I making this such a big deal!" he shouted, thankful that his altitude and speed meant nobody could hear him talk to himself. "We're just friends, right? Friends crash on each other's couches all the time. It's not weird or anything, it's just a couch" he said, hoping that hearing it would make it true.
It didn't.
"MJ's couch, ugh, what am I thinking?" he groused as he finally came to a stop on the roof of her building when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw the story MJ had written had just been published, because friends had that setting on their phones, right? "She's probably busy with work, maybe Matt has a safehouse I could use?"
Of course, the guy had a dozen of the damn things. They all took a huge amount of work to set up and maintain, which was another reason why the Marauder never attempted to have a proper job. Parker then pulled out his phone and saw the time staring back up at him, "11:00? Damn" he muttered. His excursion hunting for garbage meant that Cooper was probably long in bed, and the normal human needed his rest if he was going to keep up with the breakneck pace at which events were happening. Fatigue and injury as a result was a much greater risk for the Marauder. "Better not disturb him, Matt needs his beauty sleep after all. I wish Harry was in town, I could crash with him."
Idly opening his phone, he saw an unexpected icon at the top of the screen. "Hmm…someone left a voicemail. Number's blocked though" he said to nobody as he selected it and waited for the message to play.
"Hey there Spider…long time no see" purred a familiar voice that caused Peter's eyes to widen as questions began to queue up at the back of his head. "Miss me? Come to this address…" said the message before ending, checking his texts he saw a message from a blocked number that gave an address and frowned as he put it into his HUD and began swinging.
"I think I know that voice" he murmured. What was happening? Felicia had been going straight for months and now she was reaching out and playing games with him again, why? Did Matt know? No, if Matthew knew something, he would have mentioned it. Somehow Matthew managed to crack the manipulative part of Felicia, she had always been honest with him, or had she? With the thought of sleep well out of his mind, he began making his way to the specified address.
Those thoughts were disrupted when his phone rang in his hear, seeing the caller ID the wallcrawler immediately accepted the call and MJ began speaking in earnest. "Hey, so this gang war between the Demons and Fisk is really heating up" she said as he scaled a building and launched himself over the roof into another swing, though he could feel himself slow.
"I know" replied Peter in weary tones, "according to Coop, even Shocker's a part of it, got roped into running jobs for the Demons."
"These guys are serious" murmured MJ in realization, "do they just want to replace Fisk?" she asked.
"That'd be bad enough" agreed Peter. That point would be something he'd have to discuss with Yuri and Matt, hopefully between the three of them they could decipher what was going on. "Hope it's not something worse" he muttered before hanging up, his destination in sight.
Setting down on the rooftop he saw a familiar set up, a mat, toolkit, high power camera and magnifying lens on a tripod as well as a cooler with snacks and drinks. Most prominent was a voice recorder with a sticky note on it that read 'play me.' Obliging, he pressed the button and listened. "Hello Spider, been thinking about you a lot lately, the old times in general. I miss those old times, maybe it's time to…get back in the game" said the recording coyly.
The recording ended with a click as Spider-Man sighed, "Black Cat…don't tell me she's scoping out places to rob. She promised she would give up that life, she's kept that promise for months." Reluctantly, Spider-Man crouched down to look through the camera, panning it around. If Felicia really was back to her old ways, she would leave something for him specifically. "What was she looking at?" he wondered as he settled his view on a particular piece of graffiti, a woman with a familiarly shaped black mask. As he zoomed in, he saw a glint from a cracked open door and snapped a picture. "One of her cats" he said in realization, "packed with range extenders and used to harvest RFID signals."
Stepping back from the set up, he sent a text to Yuri with the location and what to expect. "Felicia's too smart to be putting herself at risk like this…she must be desperate for some reason" he reasoned, though something felt off, even in that line of logic. "Better keep an eye out." He was distracted by an incoming call from Yuri, who seemed to be working really late tonight. "Hey Yuri, could you do me a favor and check for any reports of cat burglaries in the city recently?"
"Why?" asked Yuri, "is there something specific you're looking for?" asked the Captain as there was the sound of her sipping what Peter guessed was a coffee before there was typing and Watanabe answered. "Seems we've had a few, four in the last two days. Security systems disabled, no witnesses, items stolen include jewelry, artwork, and…antiques…" she read, though her voice trailed off. "You don't think it's her…do you?"
"I do" he replied grimly.
"Shit" cursed Yuri, "on top of everything else…wait, what about the Marauder? Has he said anything about this?" she asked.
"I'm not sure he knows" admitted Peter, feeling sorry for his friend. "I'll ask him about it tomorrow, but I don't think she's done, far from it. But she isn't doing this for no reason, we need to figure out her endgame."
"No 'we' for this one Spider-Man, we're spread too thin with the rise of the Demons. Nonviolent cat burglaries are way far down on our list of priorities" explained Watanabe. "And even if they weren't the Marauder would get involved and it wouldn't lead to anything. I'm not wasting time or resources on this one. Sorry" she said, though she wasn't very apologetic in her tone. Not that Peter could blame her, she had to make the hard decisions, and against many of those this must've seemed like an easy one.
Though it didn't mean that it had to be his decision too. "It's alright Yuri, let me know if something changes" he said before ending the connection in favor of another incoming call from his last remaining relative. "Hey May" he greeted, "you're calling late, what's up?" he asked, it was almost midnight now.
"I thought we were going to meet up for dinner tonight" she said sadly.
"Oh…right" he replied lamely, the grogginess of his mind stifling any other answer that tried to make its way to his mouth. "I'm sorry, I forgot. It's been a hard day – we lost funding at the lab" he explained.
"Oh Peter…I'm sorry" replied his aunt, who seemed incapable of not caring.
"I uh…also kind of got evicted from my apartment" he admitted, the words tasting sour on his tongue.
"What!?" exclaimed May in exasperation. "Do you have a place to stay tonight?"
"Actually…no, not really" he confessed. "I hate to ask but any chance you have room at the shelter?"
"Of course" responded his Aunt, as if the answer should have never been in doubt. "Feel free to use the couch in my office" she offered without hesitation.
"Thanks May" he said sincerely before hanging up and swinging towards FEAST, happy that this very long night would be coming to an end.
When Peter awoke, it was to the sight of May's office, an envelope with several hundred dollars on the table propped against a cup of coffee while May herself tapped away at her keyboard from her desk. Instantly becoming fully alert, he sat up and swung his feet down onto the floor. Meanwhile, Aunt May smirked knowingly from her seat as she went back to her work and Peter picked up the envelope. "I can't take this" he insisted.
His aunt gave him a look that plainly said that he wasn't going to win this argument, "you can, and you will" she stated flatly as Peter sighed in acceptance.
Standing as he still stared down at then envelope dumbly, Peter approached the woman, "I'll pay you back" he promised weakly, automatically, even though there was no conceivable way for him to do so. "Soon" he assured, despite knowing deep down that he wouldn't be able to.
May just shook her head in disbelief, "just ask for help next time" she said, as if that would be payment enough. Peter smiled sheepishly as he tried to come up with some reply but couldn't, at least not before he saw a sad look in May's eye. "You are so much like Ben" she stated wistfully. "You have to learn to swallow that Parker Pride and accept that you're human, just like the rest of us."
"That's just the nice way of telling you stop being a stubborn jackass" came a drawling voice from the door. Peter turned to see Cooper standing in the doorway, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, wry grin on his face. Parker slumped a bit, knowing that they were saying the same thing, and both right despite the stark contrast of their respective deliveries. "Shake it off Parker, here, this should help" as he flicked his wrist and tossed something from one of his coat pockets that Peter caught.
Staring down, Peter realized it was a wad of cash, the band holding it together had the amount, $5,000, stamped proudly on it. Before he could respond, a hand clamped down on his shoulder, "try not to spend it all in one place, alright?" Peter made to hand it back, he didn't need all this charity, but the hand squeezed tighter, "none of this bullshit you like to pull either. You're going to take that money, let me take you to my place, and stay there until we get this shit sorted out, got it?" said the Texan in a tone that brokered no argument.
Peter looked to May, but it seemed, judging by the content look on her wizened features, that this was at least partly her doing, and her nephew would be getting no support from her in what was a very one-sided argument. But his Parker Pride demanded he try anyway, but the attempt was ended prematurely by a knock at the door. "Martin!" greeted May as all three turned to the suited philanthropist.
But out of the corner of his eye, Peter noticed how the Texan stood, squared up to Li, knees relaxed, arms crossed, right hand dangerously close to the pistol he undoubtedly had concealed in his open jacket. Most worrying were the narrowed blue eyes, no gleam of humor, not bright with life, but hard and calculating, as if he were sizing up Li, and his stance meant that the Marauder was ready for a fight if one should come.
But why?
"Sorry to interrupt…" apologized the suited man as he looked at Cooper and the two Parkers in turn. "Just wanted to let you know I'm headed out of town. You're in charge while I'm gone" he informed calmly, looking at May.
"Well you can count on me" assured the woman as Peter looked back at Cooper, who had merely tilted his head ever so slightly. In that moment Spider-Man would swear that the blue eyes were glowing softly, and the man next to him wasn't Matthew Cooper anymore, it was the Marauder. "How long will you be away?"
Li grimaced, "I really don't know" he admitted before turning away. Only at that point did Cooper start to relax, if only a little bit.
"Is everything okay?" Peter asked cautiously, unsure of what was going on that he didn't know about.
Li paused, turning back slowly and forcing a faint smile. "It's some personal business I've been planning for a while" he explained in vaguest possible terms. "But…please take care of this place" he asked sincerely, "it represents the best part of me" he said sadly as he placed his hand on the wall and gave one last smile and nod before leaving.
"Well I guess I better get busy" said May before returning to work as Matthew not so subtly encouraged Peter towards the door. Peter's mind was elsewhere however, his friend was acting strangely and there was still the matter of whatever game Felicia was playing to consider as well.
Suddenly, his phone beeped in his pocket as he pulled it out and accepted the incoming call from MJ. "Hello?" he asked as the two began to move through the shelter.
"Hey, did you see my story?" asked MJ excitedly, the pride in her voice meant Peter couldn't help but smile, despite the grim visage on the face of the man next to him.
"I did" he replied as they began to make their way downstairs. "Robbie must be pretty happy right now" he guessed.
"Yeah, it kinda went viral" she humble bragged, not that he had a problem with that, she more than earned her time in the spotlight. "And get this…Mayor Osborn just announced he's going to give Officer Davis an award this afternoon."
"Wow" said Peter in acknowledgement, not at all arguing the fact that the man deserved it. His actions had saved not only Peter's life, but everyone on the subway below when he knocked that truck off course. But then a memory made its way to the forefront of his mind, "wait…isn't Osborn's campaign rally this after…Oh, I see what he's doing" said Peter in realization.
There was a grunt from next to him, the Pilot seemingly none too happy with how events were playing out. "Yeah, we all do" agreed Mary Jane sadly. "But still a pretty cool moment for Officer Davis and his family" she said, trying to lift his spirits, or maybe her own as she was partly responsible for a hero being used as a political tool. "I'll be there covering it – wanna join me?" she suggested tentatively.
Peter, meanwhile, lit up like a Christmas tree, which didn't escape the Pilot's notice despite his eyes still checking all the corners and angles as the two made their way outside. "Yeah, of course" he said, knowing a ribbing was coming. "See you there" he said before hanging up and sitting quickly getting into the waiting Shelby Mustang parked outside the Shelter.
This would be an interesting car ride.
Despite everything, the sound of the Voodoo V8 roaring to life never failed to bring a smile to Matthews face. The pony car hummed, waiting to break out into a full gallop. Sadly, the car wasn't on the open range, but confined streets and was thus restricted to a lazy trot. Leaving the car in second gear as the fast Ford moved lazily, Matthew turned to his passenger. "Li's hiding something" he said without preamble. Hiding his smirk as Peter turned to him, the Marauder continued. "You know how he told you the mask you showed him might be connected to dangerous people?"
The webslinger nodded slowly, "yeah I remember, what'd you find out?"
Cooper shook his head, "everyone who saw that mask came back with the same thing" he said grimly. "Nothing" he revealed flatly, "until the Demons showed up that mask had no relation to any criminal elements. All I got back was that it was used in Chinese stage productions." The Texan then turned to look at the Queens native, "every. Single. Time."
Peter furrowed his brow, "what are you saying Coop?" he asked. "Do you seriously think that Mr. Li is…involved with the Demons somehow?"
A frown formed on Matthew's face, "I'm not sure, it could be anything, including nothing" he admitted. "But it's just nagging at me, there's no way he could have known, you asked him first thing in the morning, right after the Demons first appearance, before it had been widely reported on. For him to give you that warning…something doesn't add up" asserted the Pilot.
"I think you're grasping at straws Coop; I think it was just something from Li's past coming back to haunt him" responded Peter dismissively. Matthew shrugged, if anything, Matt thought Peter could let his own opinions of people cloud his judgement and, since he didn't have a spider sense to let him know when he was about to be stabbed in the back, he would remain on high alert.
The drive was as pleasant as driving through Manhattan with a six speed could be, and the nervousness of his passenger didn't escape notice. "So, uh…Felicia called me last night" he began hesitantly, as if he was walking into a minefield. Cooper kept a straight face despite the smirk he wanted to put on because Parker was right, just not for the reasons he thought.
"Really?" said Cooper casually, feigning ignorance about the entire thing. He didn't particularly like misleading his friend, but the ends justified the means. "She say anything interesting?"
Peter scratched his head nervously, "she did actually" he admitted before swallowing nervously. God, the guy really did have a problem with harsh truths. "You wouldn't happen to know if she was up to anything? Like, as the Black Cat?"
The Gunfighter furrowed his brow, "you're sure?" he asked, getting a nod from Peter as he turned back to the road before grunting dismissively. "Not that I know of, but I'll handle it…let me handle it" he said brusquely. He saw Peter look like he was going to argue and cut in, "that wasn't a request. I'm telling you Parker, stay. Out. Of this" he ground out, sufficiently cowing the wallcrawler.
But Matthew also knew his friend well enough to know that he wouldn't take no for an answer. He would keep looking for Felicia's sites, follow the trail of clues, and pick up the breadcrumbs she left behind.
He allowed himself to feel content, so far everything was going according to plan.
The next few hours were spent getting the things Peter would need set up in one of Cooper's safehouses located near the Columbus Circle. One of the many pieces of infrastructure built to sustain a never completed metro line offered underground access and was part of a bodega, resulting in numerous entrance and exit points. Cooper had already retrieved the bag of spare clothes on the roof of Peter's apartment, and that was soon joined by emergency shopping runs to get hygienic products and supplies for making web fluid.
The safehouse still had the basics that the others did, cash, fake IDs, guns, ammo, and medical supplies, but Cooper found he didn't use this one much, he had another nearby that enabled him to move his cars as well. At some point he wanted to tally the millions he had pumped into this system, but another part of him really didn't want to know at all.
With the set up mostly complete, Cooper's phone came to the life with the opening chords of For Those About to Rock as he looked down to see that he was getting a call ID'd as a NYPD request. "Go for Marauder" he said in greeting, knowing that most officers preferred a curt and professional attitude.
"Marauder" said a familiar voice in greeting, "it's Jefferson Davis."
"Officer Davis" greeted Matt as he saw Peter walk in and take a clear interest in the conversation. "For what it's worth, that was some damn fine work last night, you can certainly ride with me anytime" he said seriously. "And congratulations on the award" he added. One of the benefits of his arrangement was that he rarely had to give written reports, sure he gave verbal ones and sent helmet cam footage to Yuri, but he avoided paperwork like the plague. Despite that, the first thing he had done when he woke up this morning was to submit a full report of last night's events with the specific recommendation that Officer Davis receive official commendation and recognition for his actions.
If Davis slammed his car into a speeding truck and then engaged a gunman with fisticuffs, then the Marauder could fill out a few documents.
But the man merely chuckled weakly, "I'll be glad when it's over" he replied evenly. "A truck full of armed Demons scares me less than public speaking" admitted the Cop wryly.
Cooper laughed heartily at the admission, "I knew there was a reason I liked you Davis" he quipped before seeing Parker signaling to put it on speaker. "Hang on a sec, I got Spidey here with me and I'm going to put you on speaker."
Setting the phone down on a cabinet, the two friends gathered around it. "Alright, good, I'm calling about something else" he said, causing both men to flick that mental switch as they prepared to go into the breech once again. "I just got a tip that Demons are moving in on a Fisk Construction site in Midtown. Wife'll kill me if I ditch the ceremony prep to play cops and robbers, but I thought my friendly neighborhood partners would want to know about it."
The Gunslinger and Webslinger exchanged knowing looks before Cooper nodded his assent. "Alright Jeff" said Peter, "we'll suit up and swing by, let you know what we find." Cooper was about to hang up when Parker spoke up again. "And here's a tip for public speaking: just picture everyone in their underwear" he advised before thinking it over and beginning to verbally backpedal. "Wait, not Osborn, and not…"
"Jesus H. Christ" muttered Cooper, cutting off the tangent before it spiraled too far out of control. "Listen, it's just like shooting. Keep your breathing even, hands steady, mind clear, and eyes down range. You do that and just let the rest fall into place" advised Cooper seriously.
Peter cocked his head, "is everything like shooting to you, Marauder?" he asked sarcastically.
"You're only saying that because you can't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside" retorted Cooper with a lopsided grin. Peter was actually competent with a firearm despite his aversion to them. Davis laughed heartily on the other end before the connection was cut. "Come on, let's head back to my place and suit up."
The Marauder and Spider-Man arrived at one of the construction sites that Fisk hadn't acquired from Cinderblock. It was a massive pair of partially complete skyscrapers in the middle of downtown Manhattan, a prime location for whoever controlled it. With its commanding vantage and being easily fortifiable it would make for an ideal stronghold. Such an outcome couldn't be allowed, it fell to the two vigilantes to secure the site.
Posting up on a nearby building, Cooper checked that nonlethal rounds were loaded in the Softball and Volt while Spidey remained on the lookout, pointing at something down below. "Consolidated Shipping" he said aloud as Matt spotted a cargo truck leaving the site in an all too familiar paint scheme.
Making a mental note as he zoomed in with his Visor and grabbed a few snapshots, his attention was suddenly caught by the familiar chatter of automatic weapons fire and the flickering lightshow from muzzle flashes coming from across the street. "There's the music, time to dance" drawled the Marauder as that familiar clarity began to set in and the two crossed over to the construction site and had a look inside. Activating his cloak, the Marauder saw a group of Demons dumping a bullet ridden body in a corner. Emotionlessly, he flicked the safety of the energy actuated SMG off, he didn't care that Fisk's man was dead, but there were targets and he had a job to do.
"Jeff, we're here" said Spider-Man over a comm line as Cooper grit his teeth and held his fire.
"What do you see?" asked the Cop as the Demons spoke in Mandarin.
"Demons are here in force. Heavily armed, estimate Company strength" reported Matthew as he flinged out a pulse blade. "They've engaged, confirm either civilian or Fisk casualties" he rattled off as he did a mental tally of the illuminated Demons.
"You got this?" asked Davis as Cooper looked back to see Spidey, in a spare classic suit, drop down and nod at the Pilot, who nodded back and raised the SMG.
A cocky smirk flickered across the Marauder's face, "we got this" both said at the same time. Peter streaked overhead before slamming down into tail end Charlie. The other Demons turned just as Matthew vaulted over the portable generator he was behind, Volt already spitting out its distinct blue tracers and slamming into the next two Demons as Cooper leapt up onto a pillar and then across to a wall as Parker swung forwards. The next group didn't fare much better as an impact web sent one slamming into a shipping container as a stream of tracers stunned a second before an armored green blur slammed into a third, a smash of buttstock to the mask ending any resistance.
Spider-Man engaged the last two, hitting one with a burst of electric web to stun him while he hit the second with a string of powerful blows, culminating in a roundhouse kick that sent him flying into the stunned Demon. Without hesitation, the pair moved forwards, Cooper not even pausing as he slammed a fresh magazine home before leaping through a gap after the Webhead. Spider-Man once again struck first, leaping into the fray as he webbed up a Fisk Construction worker and pulled up out of harm's way before coming down in front of a Demon squad. "Alley-Oop" called Cooper as he tossed an arc grenade.
With acrobatic ease, Spidey leapt up and webbed the grenade, snapping it down dead center, stunning the entire group as the two vigilantes set to work. Cooper tackled one demon to the floor before grabbing him by the mask and slamming his head repeatedly into the concrete when another jumped onto his back. The Marauder was driven to the floor as he gripped the arms wrapped around his neck and pulled to loosen the grip as he got his legs under him. Once on his feet, the Pilot fired his jump kit and threw both men skyward as the Renegade leaned back and slammed the Demon hard into the concrete pillar behind them. The sound of ribs breaking followed by labored breathing was overpowered by the sound of the mask shattering as the Pilot dropped his boot on it.
"So…." Drawled Cooper as he turned to regard the man strung up from the ceiling as Spidey hung inverted beside him, "who's your friend Spidey?" asked the Pilot dryly. Before Peter could reply, a phone fell from the worker's pocket, ringing and buzzing as Spidey quickly shot a webline out to grab the phone and pull it to him. "Well, you gonna leave me in suspense?"
Peter flipped the phone around so Cooper could see the screen, "just not much to say" said the webslinger with a shrug. The word 'Unknown' was displayed on the screen as Spidey turned the phone back around and answered the call. "Hey Willie" greeted the wallcrawler.
"You" returned the deep tones of Fisk, though the Marauder smirked in satisfaction at the inklings of irritation he heard in the voice.
"Nice jumpsuit" complimented Spider-Man sarcastically, "slimming."
"Stay out of my business" returned Fisk bluntly as Cooper jumped up and ripped the phone from Peter, much to the wallcrawlers chagrin, as he returned to ground and flipped the phone around to see Fisk in his orange RAFT jumpsuit. "And you as well" sneered the imprisoned crime lord.
"Fisk" greeted Cooper neutrally, "the enemy of my enemy." Fisk merely snorted in derision but offered no counter as the Marauder continued. "I only have one question, the Demon's Leader, who is it?"
The man's face twitched in irritation as his eyes narrowed, "keep my men alive and maybe I'll tell you" he ordered tersely as the connection was terminated and Cooper tossed the phone on the floor before readying his weapon.
"Saving bad guys from other bad guys. Not how I thought today would go" mused Peter as the Marauder grinned behind his helmet. "Sensors show two groups pinned down in each building, divide and conqueror?"
Softball in hand as he gave the drum a slap, causing it to spin as the Gunfighter nodded in agreement. "Let's rock" he called out as Spidey fired a webline and ascended straight up while Cooper charged towards the edge, STIM pushing him even faster as he used his grapple to slingshot himself up. A shootout was happening on the skybridge as Cooper raised the grenade launcher and came to a hovering stop before raining four shock grenades down on the Demon gunmen before grappling himself to the far skyscraper.
Firing a hologram as he landed and activating his Cloak, he rolled away as the Demons turned to engage the decoy and grouped up nicely for him to empty the remaining two grenades into them before he fired his jump kit and leapt in. Left fist cocked back, he slammed it into a scythe wielding demon as he slid through the group and jumped back away, using the wall to turn around. With licks of flame coming from the pack on his lower back, Cooper spun around and kicked a recovering demon away as another came at him, fists glowing ominously as the Marauder drew his MK6 and snapped a round into his knee. The mask wearing man stumbled as an exoskeletoned arm wrapped around the man in a chokehold before the Pilot pistol whipped the Inner Demon across the head, knocking him out.
The sound of an approaching helicopter caused the Renegade to snap his eyes to the sky as a massive man dropped from the chopper. He towered over the Pilot, who placed him not that far short of 7 foot and 350 pounds. The man bellowed a battle cry as he charged the Marauder, his fists blazing with black fire as Cooper leapt and rolled into a crouch, electric smoke grenade in hand.
But the sound of a door opening caused the SRS Pilot's plans to change as the Demons that exited did so into a cloud of crackling smoke. His respite was brief as he was soon forced to dodge again as the Brute charged him once more, but this time the Pilot went on the offensive. In his crouch, the Pilot fired his grapple at the wall, digging his feet in and pulling the cable taught as the Demon blundered into it, tripping and flying into the smoke, straight into one of his comrades. Hurriedly, the Pilot stuffed more grenades into the R-6P before firing them into the dissipating smoke, the shock grenades sticking to their targets before detonating as arc energy leapt from Demon to Demon before all fell to the floor, limp.
Jumping down, he fired his grapple at a Demons as Cooper pulled himself towards the man, SMG blazing at the others before he slammed into the suited man before planting two shock rounds in his chest. A bullet snapped past him as he swung the weapon around and fired, putting one down as two more ducked behind cover. "Can't hide from me!" snarled Matt as he tossed a gravity star at the edge of the pallet and triggered the Volt as the two men were picked up like ragdolls and dragged into the open.
But the sound of the Chopper had the Pilot swinging his eyes to the sky and triggering his STIM as he slid behind a pillar before the Helo appeared. The helicopter slowed to a hover and remained stationary long enough for a man with a rocket launcher to fire at the spot the Pilot had been standing in, knocking open a hole in the floor before departing just as quickly. Reloading his weapons, the Pilot dropped down the hole to the floor below where the last of Fisk's men was. Charging around the corner, he saw a man in neon safety vest stumble as he ran and fall to the floor in the open, Demons bearing down on him.
Raising his hands as he prepared to Die, the bullets fired at him were caught by the A-Wall the Marauder tossed out before sliding into cover behind it, firing a burst at each of the exposed gunmen before the others took cover. "Do bad guys ever learn? Asking for a friend" said a familiar voice as a red and blue blur flipped through a gap in the wall, webs firing from his wrists as Cooper slung the Volt over his shoulder and dragged the wounded man into cover. "Fisk" said Spider-Man as the phone connection clicked in Matt's ear. "Your men are safe. Your turn. Who runs the Demons?"
"Maybe he's there, maybe he isn't" responded the Kingpin cryptically. Cooper couldn't help but grind his teeth in frustration. "Check the roof" he suggested before the line went dead.
"Fucker" ground out the Marauder through clenched teeth.
Peter chuckled next to him as he waited for the Texan to reload his weapons. "Pretty much" he agreed before turning to the Gunfighter, "I almost missed these cryptic Fisk talks" he muttered. "Shall we?"
"Don't leave me behind" muttered Cooper as he fired his grapple and began to climb the partially complete tower, thankful for the number of places for him to bury the axe he held in his left hand as the pair ascended. Looking up, Cooper could see the distinct sight of rotor wash on the roof, "Scratch that!" he yelled over the comms, "leave me behind, slow that thing down!" he barked.
In an instant, Spider-Man shot ahead and was on the roof as the Marauder saw a massive barrage of webs tether the chopper to a huge generator on the roof. The turbine engines strained against the artificial silk and for a moment it looked like they would lose. But, as Cooper often said, firepower solves many things, and a rocket streaked from the helicopter just as the Marauder fired his grappling hook at the bird. As the gap closed on the chopper, time seemed to slow as adrenaline pumped through the Renegade Gunfighter's veins. The blazing rocket slammed into the roof, destroying the anchors for the generator and causing the tension in the webs to rip it from the rooftop as it swung like a pendulum.
Straight at Cooper.
Disconnecting the grapple and thankful the axe was still in hand, the Pilot took the impact head on, getting the wind knocked out of him as he grunted through the pain and brought the axe down as he hung precariously from the spinning generator. "Attach the webs to the FUCKING ROOF NEXT TIME!" he shouted, not even sure if his comm was on and not particularly caring.
Grunting as he pulled himself to the top of the dangling generator he looked back in shock as one of the massive construction cranes was falling, though there was the silhouette of a man running along it, shooting bursts of webbing to break its fall. Seeing Peter had that situation well in hand…ish, Cooper got back to his own predicament. He still had his weapons, but the Volt and arc grenades wouldn't take down a chopper. There were a half dozen HE grenades in his belt for the Softball, but taking down the Helicopter in such a crowded metropolitan area would result in an unacceptable amount of collateral damage.
Though there were more immediate problems to worry about, the added weight from the cargo Cooper was clinging to meant the Chopper lost altitude, now between buildings as the Generator swung freely. Eyes widening behind his Visor, Cooper saw the oncoming impact with a building, Matt pulled the axe out and fell away just as the cargo smashed into the building, raining rubble down as the Pilot fired his grapple to the next structure to dodge.
Wallrunning in hot pursuit and thankful the added weight slowed the Helicopter down, Cooper's Comm beeped in his ear before Yuri spoke to both vigilantes. "I'm getting reports of a…helicopter with a wrecking ball?" she said, her brain clearly wondering who put a question mark on the internal teleprompter.
"Yeah, things with the Demons got…Complicated" explained Peter weakly as Cooper activated his phase shift to avoid the rubble from a destroyed Water Tower as he parkoured over the rooftop before leaping off and firing his grapple as he was ripped back to reality. "Sit tight Yuri, we got this" assured the webhead.
"We got this?" questioned Cooper as he saw the generator slam into another building as he keyed his STIM and felt the chemical cocktail rush through his veins, even going so far as to dump out and reload half of the Softball's chambers with HEDP rounds. "What's the fucking play?" he asked, hoping his arachnid themed friend had a plan, because the Pilot sure as shit didn't.
A window in his HUD was showing the chopper's flight path as BT crunched the numbers to try and extrapolate a destination, but it seemed to be flying almost randomly. They know they have a tail realized the Marauder. "I'm still working on…woah rockets!" called out Spidey as a streak of black sliced through the sky where the superhero had been a moment before. The generator turned an Osborn billboard into firewood. Both Spider-Man and the Marauder had gotten as close as they could, but still had no way to stop it.
The Gunfighter was so focused he didn't even hear the comm registering in his ear until Watanabe's unamused tones were filling his helmet. "That helicopter is destroying the city" she said, worry etching itself in every syllable.
Cooper dodged a rocket before a mix of "No shit" and "I Know" was thrown back over the airwaves at the Captain. Both knew that if they didn't get a handle on this soon, they would both be fucked seven ways to Sunday.
"You two need to bring it down" she stated as she got the same mix of "no shit" and "I know" in reply. "Maybe you both could super-hero a little faster?" she 'suggested' helpfully.
"Until this fucker takes that thing over the water, we can't drop the bird" snarled Cooper as he slingshot himself around a corner. The Texan grunted as his boots slammed into a building and he began wallrunning again his STIM pushing him even faster. "Otherwise I'm open to suggestions" he ground out.
"Damn" cursed Yuri as she saw their predicament. The two vigilantes kept up the pursuit, but all they could really do was bear witness to the destruction as the seconds dragged by and eventually turned to three minutes. "Shit, we don't have a choice" she said with a sigh, "Marauder, you're cleared to engage, take it do…."
"No, wait!" shouted Peter desperately, cutting off Watanabe. "I have an idea! Call you when it's done Captain" he promised before unceremoniously cutting the connection.
"So…" began Cooper as he waited to hear this plan and got nothing, "how much of a plan do you actually have?" he asked dryly, Softball still ready and in hand.
There was an awkward silence over the comm channel. "Ehh…sixty, no wait…seventy percent of a plan" assured the webslinger as Matt couldn't help but groan in reply. "Great! I knew you'd go along with it. Okay, when I say, I need you to hijack the helicopter. I'll handle its attachment."
"The attachment you put there" groused Cooper with only a hint of actual malice behind the words as he switched back to the Volt. He could still feel the daggers being glared at him from behind the narrowed eye lenses. "Ready on your mark" he reported curtly, slipping back into the Gunslinger's Trance.
"What's Mark ever done to you?" quipped Peter weakly, it seemed Matthew wasn't the only nervous one. The two slowly switched so that Cooper was in the high position as Spidey descended about 40 feet and fired a webline to pull himself to the generator. "MARK! MAR…oh crap" he muttered into the comm as the inertia from his impact drove the generator into a building, slicing through the webbing that connected it to the chopper.
This is gonna hurt realized Peter in some far back corner of his mind as he felt the massive generator swing, he was fairly confident he knew the limits of what his webbing could do, and every second that thing hung and every swing it took only reinforced that he really didn't. The elastic property of it meant that in it's weakened state the thing swung farther than he expected and plowed straight into a high-rise office. On impact, a corner hit first, causing the rectangular contraption to bounce and begin to roll. How does a square thing roll? wondered Peter, ignoring the science of it as he leapt off to avoid becoming a smushed Spider-Man and taking off in a dead sprint, finding himself recreating a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even with certain disadvantages, like corners, the generator was hot on his heels as he leapt up and off a pillar to clear a desk before rolling to a halt, his sixth sense instantly becoming silent as he stayed low and watched the bright yellow machine tumble overhead.
Snapping his head up, the white eye lenses widened as the severed pendulum smashed through a window, shattering the glass as the Webslinger snapped off a pair of weblines to ensure he followed the generator out the window. Letting himself get pulled out the window, the generator and passenger plunged several stories until it crashed into a roof of another office building, only this time it thankfully landed on its flat side and came to a stop immediately. Flipping off, Peter turned to look out the window and saw the helicopter still in the sky, only it was bobbing in what wasn't a terribly reassuring fashion. "What in the..." muttered the Webslinger as he tore off to try and get back to help his friend, but hopefully the Marauder had it all under control.
The helicopter lurched as the grappling hook buried itself in the fuselage and Matt swung through the skyscrapers, planting his feet against a window and cracking the glass as he shoved off and closed the gap even further. Getting closer he could see that the starboard doors were closed but the others were open. Firing his kit, he swung around, Volt blazing from the hip as he slammed his boots into a man holding a rocket launcher, kicking against the opposite door.
Proximity alert flashing, he held his left hand up to block the incoming scythe as he spun on his heels, finger not letting off the trigger of the energy SMG as he sprayed arc rounds through the cabin, pumping at least four into the suited man before a fist slammed into his back. Normally such an attack wouldn't phase him, but the energy in the punch sent the Marauder off his feet and between the two seats in the cockpit.
The Pilot was too busy wrestling the controls to do anything about the intrusion, but the Co-Pilot charged up a punch, but not before Cooper drew his Data Knife and buried it in the man's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain as the blade dug in and was twisted before it was ripped out. "You want some too?" taunted the Marauder as he leapt back into the cargo space to the third and final Demon who reached for a sword as Cooper drew his Tomahawk and crouched down.
With a cry, the Demon charged, sword scraping the roof of the helicopter before it came down, caught in the bend under the axe head as the Pilot rammed the knife forwards towards his gut, the Demon using his freehand to block it. Grinning evily, the Renegade Pilot stepped forwards and slammed his helmet straight into the mask, stunning the swordsman before ramming the knife into his swordarm. As soon as the weapon was dropped, he kicked the legs out from under him and rammed a knee into his gut on the way down.
Turning back, he got a shot in the chest, literally, from the pilot as the Demon held a pistol in hand. Acting on instinct, the Marauder grabbed the gun hand and pushed it away, the Demon still firing wildly as rounds tore through the controls. Fist crackling with artificial lightning, the Texan buried his fist into the pilot's side, causing him to spas before he slumped over unconscious. Vaulting into the co-pilot's seat, Cooper was confronted with a problem, "Spidey, you do realize I don't know how to fly, right?" he asked as he tried to decipher the words on the controls…which were all in Chinese. He wrapped his hands around what he thought was the collective, or was it the cyclic?
"What?" shouted Peter as Cooper heard a thunk on the outside of the copter and the control shuddered in his hands. "I thought you were a Pilot?" asked the wallcrawler as Cooper looked out the windscreen to see that they had gained some altitude and were clear of the tall buildings, which made for a few hundred less things he was likely to crash into.
The helicopter lurched unexpectedly as Cooper tried to get the hang of controlling the machine, but the subtle vibrations only began to get stronger. "I'm a TITAN PILOT you ass" grunted Cooper as he tried to steady the bird with the foot pedals, but the craft was beginning to fishtail more and more despite his efforts.
An immense wave of heat rushed past as a blast of black energy slammed into the controls, causing them to spark and wobble freely, unconnected to anything as the craft began to spin violently. By more reflex than anything, Cooper twisted in the chair and fired the smart pistol into the wounded man's thighs, putting him down…again. "Can you stop that? I might be sick" said Spider-Man.
They had maybe 15 seconds, and Cooper only had one idea. "I think so, the manual way" he replied as he kicked the door open and leapt out, burying his axe in the aluminum skin as he took aim with the Softball. "Get ready to catch two falling pieces" he yelled out as he fired the three HEDP rounds at the joint for the tail section. Each of the three adhesive grenades stuck fast to the helicopter before detonating.
The grenades weakened the frame enough for the force of the spin to shear the tail off. Without a tail rotor the craft went from spinning and falling to just falling. "Oh yeah, this is much better!" yelled out Peter sarcastically. Cooper remained silent, at this point he was just along for the ride and he needed Parker to focus if it wasn't going to be a one-way trip. "Need a plan, need a plan real fast" muttered Peter as he crawled towards the shattered windscreen. He fired two weblines at buildings and attached them to the falling helicopter. "I guess this IS THE PLANNNN!" he shouted as he pulled with all of his might to avert a full-on crash.
Slowly the helo began to slow, but not enough to prevent the twisted and buckled tail rotor from shredding the street and snapping completely off. Immediately switching his axe to his right, Cooper fired his grapple and fixed the distance, the enhanced cable fighting with his exo as he kept the section from crashing back to ground. "Come on Pete, you got this…yougotthis yougotthis yougotthis" chanted Peter as he added his own cables to the mix as the pair catapulted the tail up and Spider-Man webbed the entire thing to the side of the building, Cooper giving him a deadpan look at how utterly bullshit his webshooters could be.
Still affixed by the two weblines, the chopper pulled out of his dive and began to go over the top of the loop. Both vigilantes bailed as it began to descend, Cooper going spread eagle as he was reduced to spectator. "Please don't screw this up…" Spider-Man said quietly into the comm as he unleashed a barrage of webbing that caught the chopper with a fifty feet to spare.
Both vigilantes landed on the suspended Helo in their own versions of a three-point stance. Spidey stayed low like a predator perched atop a vanquished foe while the Marauder was on one knee, left hand grabbing hold of a handle to steady himself as the grenade launcher was pointed skyward, safe but at the ready. Cooper turned to Parker, filtered voice dry, "if this was seventy percent of the goddamn plan…I don't really want to know the other thirty."
Cooper's Logbook – Grenadier: R-6P Softball AAGL
While technically the AAGL stands for 'Anti-Armor Grenade Launcher' I prefer to call this the 'Anti-Anything Grenade Launcher.' Six shots from its awesome rotary magazine that will remind many of the Milkor M32, it functions off of the same principal, but with small upgrades by being lighter, more compact, more ergonomic, and having more ammunition types. HE Anti-Vehicular, smoke, EMP, slugs, ARC, Tear Gas, even buckshot to turn it into a massive shotgun. It's most common choice is a 'sticky' HEDP that is adhesive coated and has a time delayed contact fuse. This round is what gives the R-6 its 'Softball' name, favored for it's hefty high explosive charge by skilled users, the downside is the slow velocity as the rounds arc through the air like those large, neon yellow sports balls…and hurt even more when it hits you in the face.
Rugged, reliable firepower then, with a healthy amount of versatility thrown in too. But really, who can deny the pure greatness of high explosives. Flash followed by earth shaking force, an ignition of primal sense. While the Greek gods may have gifted mankind with fire, blowing shit up is a uniquely human innovation. The only thing better than one explosion? Six in rapid succession.
Though the reload after that is a bit of a bitch, but I guess I can't have it all.
Closing Notes: That will do it for this chapter, I don't have too much to say so this'll be pretty brief. If you have something to say then don't hesitate to review or shoot me a PM. But with 2019 having just finished I wanted to say thanks for the support, even if you haven't done anything other than read it's still nice to know that people enjoy this. As for what's to come, this year will mainly be focused on getting through the events of the game, I don't have any other stories planned even if I have had some ideas.
Next week? There's no crime if you do not get caught. I am the law, We Burn.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.