Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.
Thanks to ravens18 for betaing this chapter.
DoctorWhoXX: Thanks for the feedback. I do agree, that last one was gratuitous, but it was fun, and not everything has to be loaded with meaning. As far as BT fighting Rhino, if you know how to make a fight with a 7 foot tall dude who weighs a third of a ton with armor and a horn against a futuristic walking war machine that is 25 feet tall, weighs 40 tons (120 times as much roughly), and has an arsenal of enough high tech weaponry to make Tony Stark need manhood counseling interesting, then please PM me and I'll make it happen.
No, seriously, I have absolutely no idea how to make that work. The current plan is for BT to simply not be there but people, understandably, want that fight. If Rhino was Paul Giamatti in a giant mech suit thing then I would have no problems with it, but since this story is based on the PS4 game we don't have that. And thank god, I do not want to be reminded of ASM2.
Who's ready for a shootout? Hopefully, because there's a pretty long one to start things off. Of course, I do actually read the reviews, which prompted some of the stuff that comes afterwards. So review to let me know if it works or with any other thoughts or suggestions. One other thing I am wanting feedback for are the parts involving Yuri, Sable, and Norman, since most of those sections are original, not only am I hoping that they are good but that they also fit in with the other parts that are lifted from the game (I'm less worried about Cooper's segments since he's always done his own thing).
I am truly shocked that it took 34 chapters to reach this point, but we finally have a Led Zeppelin tune. Not only is it a Led Zeppelin tune, it is off of their self titled debut album and was the first single released stateside and in fact the only single off the whole album. Now, I'm not the biggest Zeppelin fan out there, but I am a big AC/DC fan, and so if any of you is a smart aleck and you want to piss me off then think that 'Back in Black' is a Led Zeppelin song. Yes, I am still irritated by that lame joke in Far From Home, if it wasn't obvious.
Power Without Question – Chapter 34: Good Times Bad Times
She swore that she would be all mine
And love me till the end
When I whispered in her ear
I lost another friend
Good times, bad times
You know I had my share
With a gentle touch, Cooper's gloved hand closed the door to the McLaren P1 before moving to the front trunk and the equipment stored inside. First out was a second pistol, a B3 Wingman fixed with a suppressor and laser sight, was slipped into a low-slung holster on his right thigh opposite his tomahawk. Following that was a heavily kitted R-201 Special Operations Assault Rifle (SOAR) with optic, suppressor, and underslung electromagnetic launcher. Then came the web gear filled with his normal ordinance in addition to the armor piercing incendiary slugs and nonlethal rubber buckshot for the launcher.
Closing and locking the car, the Marauder slid on the skull adorned helmet as the HUD booted up and he made his way towards the surface. Working the tacpad on his left wrist, he made a call as he began to feel that cold burn of adrenaline in his veins. "SITREP Sweetheart" he drawled before the Black Cat answered.
"Demons are here…and in the penthouse with my loot" she pouted, drawing a small smirk to the Pilot's face as he climbed a staircase towards a maintenance passage and the action. "And Spider-Man is now in the crime-net dead zone, though I don't have eyes on yet" she reported.
Indeed, the crime system in this sector hadn't been fixed yet, Standish was on the list of people Felicia was going to visit when she spotted Demons during her stakeout. "What about Sable's people? Any chance of them getting their act together?" he asked as he checked that the arc rounds were loaded and dropped the bolt on the SOAR.
"Not one" replied Hardy, "Demons have eased off but all of them are pinned down. Police have arrived but are being held up outside…or were, your pal just arrived. You and Spider will have the whole place to yourselves." Cooper merely grunted in acknowledgement as he neared the door into the subterranean parking garage beneath the building. "I'll be watching handsome, put on a show" reminded his lover before the connection clicked off.
Pulling out the pulse blade, the Marauder used the tactical to see what was waiting for him on the other side. One Demon was approaching the Marauder and began to pull the door open, with an evil grin, Cooper gave him help with that, raising his boot and kicking the door open, bashing the terrorist in his face and knocking him on his ass. The masked man tried to raise his pistol only for the Marauder's rifle to cough twice and a pair of arc rounds to slam into the Demon's chest. "Anyone else want some?" he snarled as the -201 snapped up.
A flurry of mandarin came back as the six other Demons raised their own weapons. Two rushed him and got bursts of fire in reply as Cooper strafed to his right and switched to the whip wielding Demon, memories of his previous encounter with that weapon at the forefront of his mind. The shield wielding man put himself between the Marauder and his comrade, armed with an assault rifle. While the masked men regrouped, Cooper slid into cover behind a sedan and dropped the magazine out of the rifle as he took a moment to blindly toss out a smoke grenade to buy himself some time.
Sliding a fresh magazine into the magwell, his attention was caught by the proximity alert flashing in his HUD as he popped his head up to find himself face to face with a monster of a man, eyes of his Demon mask staring straight into the SRS Pilot's visor. The terrorist's massive hands came down and grabbed the straps of the Dragon Scale armored vest and yanked the pilot out of cover before heaving him across the space. Cooper slammed into the ground, him and his rifle sliding in opposite directions.
Malice radiated off the Demon as he stomped towards the downed Pilot, only for the green clad gunfighter to roll onto his back, Wingman in hand as he planted three shots center mass before the staccato thunder of automatic fire echoed in the confined garage. Rounds impacted the pavement near the Marauder, sending shards of concrete up to bounce off his helmet or bury themselves in his armor.
Rolling one and a half times, the Renegade was now on his stomach, B3 clasped in both hands. The shield wielding man was still covering his comrade who readied to unleash another burst with his rifle. Two .454 caliber arc slugs left the suppressed sidearm in quick succession, the first taking the legs out from under the shield holder and causing him to expose the rifleman, who caught the second round in the throat, sending him down as he gasped for air and muscles contracted.
His proximity alert sounded again, but Cooper didn't fight, instead loosing his grapple at the shield and pulling himself away from the heavy right as the energized fists tried to pound him into the pavement. Halfway to the Demon, he disconnected the hook and slid to a stop on the blacktop next to his carbine, picking the weapon up before slamming it back down to drop the bold and seat a round in the chamber before he loosed a burst from the hip at the now charging heavy.
Half of the mag was gone and he had only managed to stagger the walking refrigerator. Reaching his left hand forwards and cycling the straight pull bolt to put a load of heavy hitting rubber buckshot into the launcher. With a 'vhwum' like sound the 00 projectiles slammed into the Demon, center mass. He stopped dead in his tracks as Cooper emptied the rest of the magazine into him for good measure before his proximity alert flashed yet again and he activated his cloak and dodged away.
The negative charged Demon Shield swung through the now empty air, the wielder whirling around to look for his foe as the air shimmered behind him. "Boo" said a filtered voice flatly as the Demon spun to find himself staring down the Wingman with the glowing blue visor behind it. The last of the six rounds in the revolver slammed into the facemask, snapping the head behind it back before the Demon fell to the blacktop.
Cooper kicked the shield away as he dumped the empty cylinder on the floor before inserting a fresh one, the B3 condensing around the ammo before it was holstered, and a pair of red clad feet landed next to the Texan. One of them nudged the knocked-out Demon, "Friend of yours?"
The Marauder snorted in reply as he unslung the Carbine and inserted another magazine. "Nah, we just met" responded the Pilot dryly before dropping the bolt, "wasn't the best of company." The simple greeting over, the two vigilantes walked side by side towards the elevator bank, only for the chime to sound and doors open.
"Wait" called out Spidey as a group of masked men emerged from the elevators, fists raised and glowing. "You guys work here too?" asked Spider-Man before firing a webline to pull himself to one. The Marauder turned to the second group as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and charged them. Jumping up, his kit fired as he cocked his right fist, arc knuckles flickering with energy before it slammed down into the mask of the first Demon.
The grapple was already fired into the ceiling, pulling himself up and away from the Demons as they remained on the ground. Only one of the two extended the length of his dual whips and the black flaming implement lashed up at the Marauder, tip breaking the speed of sound as it sliced across his leg, burning the armor as Cooper dodged out of the way. Another whip came up immediately after the Marauder only for the Pilot to vanish into another dimension, but not before dropping an arc grenade to the floor, stunning the Demon.
Dropping in behind, Cooper phased back in and popped the whip wielding Demon up before activating his STIM pack, the enhancers flooding his veins as he unleashed a flurry of blows with superhuman speed and strength that broke ribs and caused bleeding before landing a knockout blow to the side of the jaw before the Demon slammed into the concrete. A chill flooded his whole body as the STIM was purged from his system and Cooper took a deep breath only to see a disc fly past his head.
Turning, Cooper saw where the object landed, the Demon staring down at the blinking light on his chest in confusion before the trip mine activated, pulling and webbing him to a pillar. "You missed one" quipped Spidey as the Marauder turned back to the Webslinger and drew the Wingman. "Wait, what are you doi…" yelped the Wallcrawler as he ducked out of the way.
The B3 coughed once, bucking in Cooper's hand, the arc round eliciting a roar of agony from the Demon it impacted, the scythe wielding man falling to the floor just behind where Spider-Man was. "You missed one" informed Matthew dryly before holstering the heavy handgun and smirking behind his helmet. The duo then turned their attention to the elevators and the task of getting to the penthouse. "Elevator's won't work, too obvious."
His companion seemed undeterred as he set to work prying the doors open. "But maybe we can sneak up through the elevator shafts" he suggested as the two made their way into the group of shafts. Slowly but surely, the pair made their ascent towards the penthouse. Cooper was having to work a bit harder since he couldn't simply stick to everything while Parker neutralized any curious Demons who poked their heads into the shaft. Passing through a grate they found themselves in a near identical elevator bank that serviced the middle third of the building.
This section went almost as well as the first, the pair moving quickly and quietly upwards until their luck turned as Cooper clambered through another grate. A light panned over him as he heard shouting. Acting on instinct, the Marauder pulled out his pistol and planted a pair of shots into the offending terrorist as he fell back into the hallway and the doors closed, but the damage had been done. "Hey Handsome" purred Felicia over the radio, "whatever just happened in there caught their attention. Radio chatter is lighting up all across the building. It's gonna be a party…have fun" she encouraged before the radio clicked.
"Something wrong?" asked Peter as he noticed Matt had paused to reload his revolver before they entered the final leg of the ascent.
The Marauder chuckled sardonically as he twirled the massive weapon and turned to his friend, "Stay sharp…they know we're coming now" he informed as he opened the hatch into the final elevator bank only to recoil back as a Molotov slammed into the ground and exploded. "And are rolling out the welcome mat" added the Texan dryly before activating his phase shift and leaping past the burning floor and bouncing off the walls.
All pretense of stealth vanished as the pair put the pedal to the metal. Cooper bounced off the walls, jump kit propelling him across the shaft as he used his phase shift to evade incoming attacks while using his Grapple for the occasional momentum boost. Spider-Man web zipped between the steel I-beams, flipping and somersaulting between them as the two kept pace with each other all the way to the top.
Leading the way, Spider-Man led the pair straight past the door that led to the penthouse level and instead entered through a vent above their destination. Waiting for a few minutes for the commotion to quiet down before they dropped down into the lavish penthouse. Cooper's mind was split in two ways, first was the way Demons were patrolling the two floors, seeing how they armed, and points of cover. The second was seeing why Felicia wanted to get into this place so badly.
"There's Standish" called out the arachnid themed ally as he pointed to a circular office with floor to ceiling windows. A middle-aged man with scruffy facial hair and man bun that made Cooper not have any issues with his girlfriend wanting to steal his things was surrounded by Demons and typing on a laptop. "Looks like he needs some help."
Starting with the two Demons just below them, Cooper cloaked and dropped down, the sound of his boots hitting the hardwoods getting the terrorists' attention. With that distraction, a pair of weblines snapped up one Demon. Just as the second tried to call out, a green clad arm wrapped around his neck and squeezed down on his airway while the victim thrashed to no avail. Opening a door into a closet, the body of the Demon finally went limp, though was still breathing as he was dumped unceremoniously into the dark room and the door shut.
And so, they progressed, working from the bottom up as they hunted the terrorists and picked the group apart with ruthless efficiency. Spider-Man would drop a chandelier on a trio of gunmen before saying "Lights out…hehe, good one Pete" only for Cooper to groan in reply before planting an arc round in the back of a Demon's head before cradling the body and dragging it into the shadows.
The Demons weren't completely stupid, they soon realized they were dropping like flies and even knew who was responsible as they brought in reinforcements. Those reinforcements proved to simply be meat in the grinder as the two vigilantes picked them apart with deliberate action. While he was never the lightest on his feet, Cooper's use of his cloak and arc rounds coupled with his training from Black Cat meant that the Marauder misdirected his foes and picked them apart. The Pilot splitting them up so that absolute silence wasn't paramount as he choked out or pistol whipped his mark as the number of Demons slowly dwindled. To achieve the same end, Spider-Man worked from the rafters and ceiling, using his webs to neutralize Demons swiftly.
When the last one was crushed under some modern art sculpture Cooper was sure would get him a lecture from Felicia about how that piece was priceless and a deep look into the tortured soul of someone who actually gave a shit. Both Spider-Man and Marauder regrouped and readied to break into the office when the elevator behind them opened and a sword wielding Demon emerged to challenge them. With a swing of his black flame encased blade, a wave of energy surged at the pair as they dove away before standing on either side of a massive scorch mark.
The Swordsman twirled his sword as he stared them down and they prepared for a showdown. With a quick movement, the Pilot drew the Wingman and unceremoniously planted a shot into the suited man's chest causing him to drop, sword clattering to the floor. Spider-Man turned to the Pilot, eye lenses 'blinking' in confusion as the Pilot merely shrugged nonchalantly.
Both masked men snapped their heads up as a trio of men stampeded towards them wearing the Asian masks and the webhead stepped up, readying his fists before cocking his head and tossing out a web grenade. The device pinned all of them to the penthouse walls before the Wallcrawler turned back to the Marauder and gave him the same shrug.
Shaking his head and chuckling lowly, Cooper and Parker turned to the office to see the executive in his pink button down poking his head up above his desk. Using his enhanced strength, the superhero yanked the power sliding doors open as Standish stood. "It's safe now" assured the wallcrawler, "what were they after?"
The executive looked at the pair, eyes lingering on the R-201 nervously before he stuttered out his answer to the question. "Just – financial records" he answered, trying to sound dismissively casual, though both vigilantes narrowed their eyes at Standish.
"About Devil's Breath" said the Texan in turn, it wasn't a question.
Standish was clearly taken aback as he watched the Marauder move around his desk to examine his laptop while still brandishing his formidable looking weapon, the muzzle pointed to the ceiling. "Ho-how do you know about that?" he asked, looking between the two for his answer.
Spider-Man didn't answer, instead trying to keep the pressure on the CFO. "Why do they want it?" he asked as he looked at the Marauder, who shook his head before turning out the window and flashing his helmet light once.
His action largely went unnoticed as he turned back in time to focus on Standish as he gave his explanation. "I don't even know what it is" he began adamantly, "Mr. Osborn's been pouring money into it for years, but he keeps the whole project a secret" he continued, the other men listening intently. "I'm the only one that has any record of it."
Cooper and Parker exchanged knowing glances, even if they were obscured by their respective skull and spider adorned coverings. "Not anymore" said the SRS Pilot with his filtered voice as he spun the laptop around to show the other two. "The Demons copied your records to a secured server."
Spider-Man immediately took over, scrolling through the information on screen until he found what the Demons were after. "Looks like payroll information…on a Doctor Isaac Delaney. Who is he?" questioned the webhead.
"I honestly don't know" responded Standish nervously. Cooper couldn't tell if he was lying or if his adrenaline had worn off and nerves were catching up to him. The Renegade Gunfighter pegged him for the latter, the CFO was out of his element in a big way.
But there was a complication as the Marauder's radio crackled to life. "Heads up handsome, company's coming. Helicopter full of fodder on its way…where did they get a helicopter? Do you think there's a place where helicopters are left lying around?" Cooper shook his head as he cycled the action on the gauss launcher.
"Hopefully they have more than one" said Cooper dryly before the line clicked off and he turned to the others. "We got incoming" he informed simply just as the Demon chopper arrived outside the window, "Cover!" he barked as he tossed down an A-Wall and returned fire. Tracers ripped through the penthouse, turning the walls to swiss cheese, shattering glass, and wrecking furniture and art pieces as arc rounds pinged uselessly off the metal skin of the helicopter until Cooper got fed up and triggered the electromagnetic launcher. The armor piercing hunk of metal impacted the tail boom at three times the speed of sound, knocking the helicopter off kilter and throwing the gunners aim off.
The three men took that as their opportunity to make a break for it. "MOVE IT!" roared the Pilot as he jammed a red taped magazine into the suppressed Carbine. Spider-Man helped Standish to his feet, but the CFO needed no further prodding as all three sprinted towards the elevator, the rapid staccato hisses of the R-201 clashing against the thundering chatter of the heliborne machine gun. The CFO repeatedly jammed his finger into the elevator call button in adrenaline fueled panic as Cooper cycled the launcher and fired another high powered slug into the nose of the chopper just as the elevator doors opened to reveal the burning inferno on the other side and a rocket streaked from the wounded bird. The Marauder activated his phase shift and dove out of the way as the rocket slammed into the wall while Spider-Man tackled the executive into the elevator shaft, plummeting towards the fire below.
Peter's spider enhanced reflexes were sent into overdrive as he avoided the rubble falling with them. "Try to fall slower!" he encouraged until he was able to land a webline on Standish before turning to land one from his other wrist shooter onto a beam, bringing both to an abrupt halt. "You alright?" asked the webslinger.
The executive nodded wearily, "Yeah, I think so" answered the man as he dangled above the fire below, somehow calmer than he had been at any point previously.
"Good" said Spidey genuinely as he looked around at their surroundings, feeling the sweat on his brow from the heat of their surroundings, "Good. You know, as elevator shafts go…this is pretty nice" he informed just as another piece of burning artwork fell past them, missing by about a foot, causing the hero to laugh nervously at the shocked face of the CFO.
Half an hour later, the Marauder and Spider-Man looked down at the scene below, the Pilot finding himself begrudgingly impressed as Sable troops swept through the area confirming what the two already knew. The Demons had vanished, they had what they came for and they weren't going to waste resources slugging it out with Sable forces or pick a fight with Spidey and the Marauder. Even still, there was one action that Cooper was irritated by. "You two okay?" asked Watanabe.
"We're fine" answered Spider-Man as Matthew continued to scan the skyline. "But we weren't able to get much out of Standish before Sable's guys stepped in and forced us to back off" explained Spidey. Off in the distance Cooper saw a quick series of blinks on a rooftop and blinked his own helmet light once in acknowledgement. "What's the deal?"
Yuri was clearly of the same mind as Matthew. "I get the sense all they care about is keeping him quiet" replied the Captain with contempt. Chances were that she was getting stonewalled too, Sable International troops weren't letting anyone through the perimeter they were establishing.
"Osborn" said Matthew as he turned to Spider-Man. "This has his name all over it. He's trying to keep everything about 'Devil's Breath' close to his chest."
"Whatever the hell that is" said Watanabe lowly, other than the fact that it was very dangerous and developed by Oscorp, they knew next to nothing. Hell, Cooper doubted Sable even knew much more than they did about what she was trying to protect.
"We're working on it" assured the webslinger as he too stood alongside the Pilot. "I think we just got a lead" explained the superhero. Cooper suppressed a snort, calling a name a serious lead was being generous, but it was better than nothing.
Yuri seemed surprised to say the least. "A lead? You sound like a cop."
"Don't you mean…Spider-Cop?" answered the spandex clad superhero.
The Marauder punched his friend in the face.
After shaking off his friends blow and bidding him farewell, Peter watched the Pilot vanish into the distance. The Texan was definitely up to something, but that hadn't been the time to press him on it. Firing a webline and swinging through the night sky to get rid of those thoughts before deciding to get to work chasing down this lead. With the Crime System still spotty, another project he needed to finish, his best bet at finding Dr. Delaney would be good old-fashioned sleuthing and, lucky for him, he had one of the best on speed dial.
"Peter!" greeted MJ happily after she picked up on the first ring, the sound of her voice elevating the wallcrawler's spirits instantly. "What happened with Standish?"
"He's safe" assured Peter quickly as he bounced off a lamppost and soared over the cars on the street below.
There was a sigh of relief on the other end of the line, "Okay, good. And the Demons?" she asked.
"They were looking for a name" replied Peter as he swung around a corner, hanging onto the line of synthetic silk until he hit the apex and let go, flipping head over heels before he fired off another and resumed his swinging. "You got a pen?"
"Yeah, go."
"Doctor Isaac Delaney."
"Okay" replied Mary Jane as Peter imagined her already at work on her laptop. "Who is he? What's his deal?" asked the reporter.
Sadly, there wasn't much more Spider-Man could offer the redhead. "I was hoping you could tell me" he admitted sheepishly.
Peter was immensely relived that MJ showed no dissatisfaction at him leaning on her to pull her weight in their newfound partnership. "I'm on it" she replied with her tenacious enthusiasm that had made her one of the best at the Bugle. "Just gimme a few – oh, and before I forget" she added. "You left that Tracker from Tombstone's at my place. I'll drop it by Dr. Octavius' lab in the morning. Let you know what I find on Delaney" she promised before the line clicked and went dead.
With time to burn, Peter did a bit of Spidey work, busting criminals in the act, hunting down pigeons for an old friend, cleaning up a chemical spill detected by one of Harry's outposts, the usual stuff. Soon, he found himself atop a Police Precinct, tweaking the settings on a crime tower and checking that the area he had been in all night was now covered before something dawned on him.
Cooper had said his system, which was linked to the police one, had pinged the activity at Standish's place. Only that couldn't have been the case because Peter had only just fixed it. Finding himself an overhang, the red and blue clad vigilante hung upside down as he thought back to the events of the previous few hours. "His helmet light" said Spider-Man in realization, he wondered what the Marauder was doing when he remembered someone who liked to communicate like that, "Black Cat."
Felicia had been there, that was the only plausible explanation Peter could think of as he swung back to Standish's penthouse and perched on top, looking for good vantage points as he went down this line of thinking. Black Cat was back in the game, this he knew for a fact, and she was targeting Standish when she saw the Demons and called the Marauder. That meant Cooper knew what Felicia was up to and either allowing or enabling it, but why?
He knew something was off at her behavior, just robbing places for the hell of it wasn't her style. As he swung over to investigate a likely perch he tried to think of a good reason for her actions. When he arrived and saw a familiar setup waiting for him, he shook his head. "What are you two playing at?"
Right now, they were playing at getting some rest in Hardy's penthouse with varying degrees of success. Cooper had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend, her head resting on his chest as he stared blankly up into the ceiling. Reaching over to the nightstand, he took a look at his wristwatch and muttered a curse; he had been awake like this for nearly an hour, unable to close his eyes unless he wanted to be pulled into another nightmare.
They had only gotten worse since the City Hall bombing and the current state of the city practically being one of guerilla war with the Demons. Not in frequency, but when they did occur their intensity was overwhelming, so much so that he couldn't tell they weren't real until Felicia woke him up to get him to snap out of it. Just the thought of it made the Marauder tense, not the fact that he needed help, he wasn't that proud, not the fact that he was being affected by the fighting, that made him human, the fact that this was a problem he didn't know how to face.
Neither his firepower, Felicia's scheming, Peter's intelligence, or MJ's perseverance could see him through this. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.It was a passage from the Art of War he had always believed but had never taken the time to consider what it meant for him.
Who was Matthew Cooper?
A Pilot, the Marauder of Manhattan specifically. A Texan, despite having become pretty well traveled in the past year. He was friend and foe, lover and fighter, hero and villain, and none of those descriptors bothered him in the least, they never had. None of Jameson's ranting had gotten to him.
Minutes crawled past as he chewed on the harsh truths that he found himself confronted with. Cooper, once a soft spoken and bright individual at the start of his career, was now one of the most infamous vigilantes in New York City. It felt so natural that it almost unnerved him as he looked back on it, how easily he had done those things that earned him everything he had. Never once had he looked around and felt pity or remorse or fear, not with the very real possibility of more fighting on the horizon, but now, in this brief moment of peace, he could.
He did feel pity for those he had killed, that they had lost their lives so needlessly. He did feel remorse for his failures, and the innocent men, women, and children that paid the price for them. He did feel fear, but when it came time to choose to be afraid or to take action, he took action.
None of that changed the fact that he was still a killer.
His internal musings were halted as Felicia shifted, now draping a leg across his body and pulling them closer together before she resumed her peaceful sleep. The Thief's action reminded the Pilot of something she was keen to remind Peter of, just because I've broken the law doesn't mean I'm in the wrong.
With his blue eyes open, the Pilot admitted something to himself. "I may be a killer…but I am not evil. I still have people who care about me…and people I care for" he said confidently before his eyes shut and he slipped into a calm, dreamless sleep.
Felicia awoke the next morning and let out a small and content sigh at the sight of Matthew resting soundlessly in bed beside her. After being woken up during the night by his tossing and turning she feared he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep and was relieved to find that was not the case. Giving him a quick kiss, she carefully extracted herself from his embrace before beginning her morning routine while letting the Pilot get all the sleep he could.
Her Cowboy, her Man of War, her Marauder slept peacefully, surprisingly so mused the thief as she got dressed after her morning shower. It was a rare peace for him, and he was more adept at peace than he gave himself credit for, always half-jokingly saying that he was most at home in a firefight. He would never claim to be a complex man, but Felicia had come to realize that he was much more than he let on. Matthew could be aloof at times but was never cold or unsympathetic to those he cared about. For as brutal and devastating he could be in a firefight, Matthew was caring and easy going when not Marauding, even moments before or after in some cases.
There was a phrase he had used regarding soldiers: No better friend, no worse enemy, and Hardy felt that was the perfect description for her lover. He was the steady rock she could lean on and rely on, who would always hear her out before passing judgement. Perhaps most importantly, he understood the reality that they were both necessary evils, and that understanding kept the couple together.
Hardy had breakfast brought up by the building's staff, and like a moth to a flame, the Texan was drawn by the smell of bacon, waffles, and French toast. Giving an appreciative whistle as the sight of his shirtless chest, battle scars displayed proudly as he gave her a kiss in greeting before digging in. Felicia smirked as the two ate while exchanging their usual banter with a bit of flirting from the thief and dry sarcasm from the Pilot. It was as Felicia was readying another innuendo when she noticed a familiar and wicked gleam in Matthews bright blue eyes. "You up for a challenge sweetheart?"
Unable to suppress the shiver that went down her spine, Felicia turned to the smirking Pilot, wondering just what her Cowboy had in mind, she always had fun when he gave her that look. "Always" she answered with a predatory grin, "you have something that needs to be taken care of?" she asked coyly, licking her lips for added affect.
Mouth still fixed in that cocky smirk, Matthew calmly got up and went over to the bags he had brought over and returned with a familiar object. "Thought this might come in handy again" he said as he slid the three-ring binder over to her. "What do you think?"
Felicia didn't need to look down to know what was inside the binder. "Oscorp" she said as he simply nodded while the burglar put the pieces together quickly. "You want to know what they're hiding, this 'Devil's Breath' that Li's after?" she supposed. Inside was everything she had compiled on the corporation's headquarters when the she had infiltrated it last year to dig up Norman Osborn's dirty laundry.
"I know going back a second time is going to be harder, but I need to get ahead of Li" admitted Cooper bluntly. "Osborn isn't playing ball which means I have to force the issue" explained the Marauder as he finished off his food. "Sorry to dump this on you with everything else, but…" he explained before trailing off.
Without hesitation, Felicia reached out with a manicured hand and took hold of the Texans larger paw. Flashing a small genuine smile up at the Marauder and green eyes flickering with mischief, there was only ever one answer she was going to give. "So long as you buy me dinner first."
"What a fucking shitshow" said a very irritated Captain Watanabe as she leaned back in her chair as the other LEOs in the conference room nodded in agreement. The unfortunatefellow who had been assigned to this clusterfuck, a Detective Sergeant Brett Mahoney, stood rather nervously at the front of the room, having given everyone else the rundown of his preliminary findings. Sable International had just received a harsh lesson in Demon tactics, one that the NYPD was well familiar with, but this time had been something different.
Clearly, they had something in mind, because they hit the apartment of an Oscrop executive with at least forty men, most of which had been found either knocked out or webbed up. But the chance to do more hadn't occurred, Silver Sable herself had descended on the CFO's apartment with reinforcements and forcibly ejected the NYPD from the premises. Since then it had been on lockdown, with Standishgone as well, they had no clue what had transpired in that penthouse.
Yuri's frustration was mirrored by all the others present, and eventually a grizzled veteran finally said what they all thought. "These Sable people don't seem to give a damn about 'inter-organizational cooperation' or whatever the hell Osborn called it" he grumbled and the Captain 'hmmed' in agreement. "Though if your source is correct Captain, and this is about 'Devil's Breath,' then we may not be getting any help from on high."
As much as it pained her to admit, the likelihood of Osborn allowing them to do their jobs was slim. Even if they could get a judge to hear them out then the CEO would claim Standish was under protective custody for his own safety and that couldn't be compromised. "Then we find Standish on our own" said the Asian woman firmly, casting a quick glance around the room to gauge the reaction. Not finding any blatant objections, she continued, "pull security cameras and what surveillancetower data we have to track where Sable International took Standish and relay that to me" she ordered.
There was a brief moment of silence before Mahoney spoke up, "Is that strictly legal, Captain?"
"No" replied Watanabe bluntly, "to access that data without clear evidence of a crime in progressis an invasion of privacy and against the law" she agreed. "But if we do this by the book then we'll lose time we don't have, and frankly, nothing's been by the book since City Hall." The reminder of the bombing that signaled the rise of the Demons and caused the arrival of Sable International lit a fire in the officers there, agreeing that even if what she wasn't proposing wasn't right, it was the right thing to do.
"And then what?" asked one, causing Yuri to look to the speaker, "you planning on going after him yourself Captain? Or sending in the attack dogs?" he asked.
The slang didn't catch Watanabe off guard, but it still caused a small spike of anger to hear two men she did call friends be referred to as such. She knew that just as many people on the Force resented the Marauder and Spider-Man as respected and appreciated them. Spidey had been doing this for eight years, longer than many of his detractors had been LEOs, and the Marauder had been far more open and proven his worth in the short time he had been in New York. Still, some couldn't see past the masks, costumes, and gear to understand that there were still men inside all of that.
Yuri, however, had seen the men, radically different as they were. Spider-Man was a bit of a goof who tried to do what was right and the Marauder was a cocky son of a gun who, while less morally stringent, had never faltered when the chips were down. Without both of them…Yuri couldn't imagine how far up shit creek they would be.
Despite that, she kept her face calm as she addressed the question, "I'll relay Standish's position to the Marauder if we find him, but nothing else" she assured, causing those who didn't care for the SRS Pilot to relax. They knew his abilities would be needed, but not giving him anything other than what he needed put people's minds at ease. Not that it mattered of course, he had total access to their systems anyway, if he wanted to find something then he was more than capable of doing so. "Anything else?" asked the Captain, only to get a round of shaking heads back as she stood up, "alright then, let's get to it."
Cooper's Logbook –Submachine Gun: SP-14 Alternator
Otherwise known as the 'Hatchet' for the way it brutally cleaves through whatever it gets pointed at, the SP-14 is a fairly new and rugged Militia design. The main culprit for that reputation is the round it fires, the venerable 10mm auto dates back to the 1980'sand was adopted by the FBI. It's high powerand reliable automatic function meant that it found use in the future to counter heavier armor and the tougher breeds of automated infantry. The feed and firing system are tricky as hell, dual stack, duel feed magazine leads to a twin barrel firing mechanism. Telescopic bolts mean that the weapon is extraordinarily compact, and recoil is only controlled via a rate of fire reduction and spring system.
The end result is a brutally powerful and impressively compact weapon with a few ergonomic idiosyncrasiesincluding being heavy and quite bulky despite its short length. But by far the worst thing about this gun is the way it kicks. Similar to the V-47 Flatline, not only in the recoil mitigation system but the effects of said system, the SP-14 kicks side to side instead of vertically. All the moving mass in the gun combined with effective porting and spring buffers lead to a weapon that is imprecise, and that's being kind to it.
It's not a primary weapon, but as a backup with serious bite it excels. A serious step up from the RE-45 in punching power while not being that much larger, the Alternator is a favorite of Pilots, both titan and aircraft, as well as vehicle crews of all descriptions. However, it did also find favor with criminal elements for the same reasons, reliability, concealability, ease of use, fully automatic fire, and stopping power. From drive by shooters to space pirates and truck drivers to Titan Pilots, this is a gun for everyone. Some Pilots carried two, dual wielding them for extra machismo, and taking advantage of the compactness of the weapon.
Half criminal, half maverick, and all mercenary. The Alternator is a weapon for total chaos.
Ironically, or perhaps not, chaos is where this weapon thrives.
Closing Notes: That 'Friend of yours?' line is from Halo: CE, no, I can't believe I managed to fit it in here either. And yes, a bit after that I was going for a nod to 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' if you saw that, it was intentional. But this is a pretty short chapter all things considered, mostly that long action sequence in the beginning. I'm still Trying to find a good balance of action moments and the more personal type moments to keep things slower and give the story some pace. Let me know if I'm actually getting this right or not.
Next chapter will actually be one of the few to focus on a side quest. As you might have noticed there haven't been too many side activities featured in this story, the pigeions, pictures, research stations, and most of the actual 'quest' activities are all absent. Mostly becuase they don't translate at all to a written story when you don't have the webswinging/wallrunning with tunes on and all that. For those of you who never played the game and are wondering what I'm on about, don't worry really.
Next week, out of the doorway the bullets rip to the sound of the beat, and Another One Bites the Dust.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.