Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.

Thanks to ravens18 for betaing this chapter.

Not much happening to be honest, but I have heard one of my favorite quotes about American politics from Ben Shaprio and I will now paraphrase it. "People think politics is like House of Cards but it's just not, okay. It's more like Veep." That will probably be the last thing you hear me say about politics because "there are three things you never discuss with people. Religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." If you have never heard that quote than I truly pity you.

As for the title, Micheal Jackson's Thriller is a song that everyone should be familiar with. It's music video has gone down as one of the greatest ever made and the first music video added to the Library of Congress for preservation. It's a great pop song and this is coming from a person who destests pop songs, but this is simply another example of how things have actually gotten worse. Memorable moments include none other than Vincent Price doing a spoken word type bit at the end some great synth work. The music video is far better than most pop videos today and created an iconic dance and looks great, courtesy of the director of American Werewolf in London.


Power Without Question – Chapter 36: Thriller

You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run

You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun

You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination, girl

But all the while you hear a creature creepin' up behind

You're outta time

'Cause this is thriller


High above the city, Norman Osborn looked down from his office at Oscrop Headquarters. Technically it wasn't his anymore since he had officially given up his position at the company, however it remained vacant and free for his use whenever he desired to get out of City Hall and closer to the company that bore his name. Down below he saw the stark white vehicles and buildings of Sable International surround the building and hummed his approval. "You have Standish secure?" he asked of the woman behind him.

The Symkarian straightened, "We have, he is currently located in MOB Yankee" reported the mercenary calmly. "His lawyers have been trying to speak with him, but we've been denying entry so far" continued Sablinova with supreme calm even as Norman turned to face her. "Should we allow them to meet?"

Norman frowned for a moment as he deliberated. "No, I'll meet with his lawyer and explain the delicate nature of the situation" he allayed evenly. Even if she barely showed it, Silver was relieved at the words, she was a difficult person to read, but the stress had begun to take its toll on her composure. "I want your men to stay vigilant and ready for anything" he cautioned as he clasped his hands behind his back and resumed looking out the window over his city. "There are others who will want to talk with Standish. They will be…less polite about it."

Furrowing her brow and frowning, Sable considered the executives words for a moment. "You mean this Martin Li?" she asked cautiously. Both were acutely aware of what the Demons under his command were capable of. But it wasn't the domestic terrorist Osborn thought was crafty or brash enough to try and get at Standish while he was in quite possibly the most secure location in the city. Seeing the Mayor shake his head, Sable's frown deepened as she mulled over who he really meant. "Spider-Man?"

Norman cocked his head at hearing the suggestion, reminding himself that the mercenary was not some stupid jarhead as he shook the notion from his mind. "Possibly" he conceded curtly before turning once again to face her. "The Marauder is a possibility as well" he reminded sternly, "He's never been afraid to step on my toes in the past" added the executive dryly.

A single silver eyebrow raised a few millimeters, but it was enough to tell Norman that Sablinova was less than convinced. Not bothering to hide his disapproval as he narrowed his eyes and the Symkarian swiftly corrected as a result. "I'll have all teams be on alert for any sign of them or their known associates."

The CEO nodded, satisfied as he sat back down at his desk and retrieved a ledger before looking back up. "You may go" he said flatly, the woman turning with a flourish of her coat and marching out of the office, leaving Norman to his work. Glass of bourbon in hand, the CEO looked over the ledger, everything was proceeding smoothly, and once Li was taken care of that would be one less loose end.

The Marauder, however, was another such loose end. The man was simple enough, and it was that simplicity that had Norman classify him as a minor issue. That, when combined with the Titan at his disposal had meant that seeing him dealt with directly was out of the question. Then did the man's simple motives help shield him from falling to his ambitions.

Norman smirked as he recalled the Pilot's bragging, only two things can stop a Pilot he had said, either overwhelming force…or an equal. Osborn may not have had an equal available, but with Sable International present he had the closest thing possible to overwhelming force…and it was all at his fingertips.


Unbeknownst to Osborn, someone was looking back at him from the slowly dimming city. "If only Harry was still here…" murmured Spider-Man sadly as he stared up at the top of Oscorp Headquarters before swinging away. The city he had grown up in and risked his life for on a near daily basis was far different than it had been a few short weeks ago. People were shaken, a paramilitary force that even made his gun toting Texan friend nervous was roaming the streets, and the Mayor had seemingly withdrawn away from the public since the bombing at City Hall.

As much as Harry bemoaned his Father's distance from him and lack of respect for the child that took after his mother, Peter could see that Norman did care. Harry may have disappointed him, but Norman loved his son, even if he had a hard time showing it in a way that felt genuine. The words of Peter's best friend wouldn't have been as effective time and again if the elder Osborn felt differently.

The abrupt ringing of his mask mounted phone knocked that train of thought off the rails. Answering the call from his favorite Cop as he began to swing through the twilight red sky he was immediately greeted by Watanabe's familiar tones. "Hey, do you have time to check something out for me?" asked the Captain brusquely, knowing that Spidey would find it nearly impossible to turn her down.

Didn't mean that Peter couldn't take the opportunity to mess with the usually unflappable policewoman. "No" he answered flatly, though there was a smile on his face as he backflipped happily, much to the amusement of pedestrians down below. "But" he added quickly, not wanting to tempt fate too much, "if you ask nicely…"

Yuri was, as expected, completely unfazed. "Just got a call about a suspicious looking box on a rooftop in Hell's Kitchen. I could call in the Bomb Squad, but if it's just some kid's science project…" explained the Captain before trailing off.

Peter understood the predicament Watanabe was in. With Demon plots coming up every day those men and their specialty were in high demand all across the city, wasting their time with a false alarm was not something that the Police could afford. Of course, Peter would never tell Yuri as much. "Yeah I know, budget crisis, yadda-yadda-yadda" joked the webslinger flippantly."So…?" he prompted.

The woman sighed deeply, Peter knew he was pushing it now, Yuri's legendary sighs could shake the fabric of existence. "Will you…please…check it out?" she asked, pain laced through the words was such that Spider-Man genuinely couldn't determine if it was real or exaggerated.

"There's the magic word" he quipped with a grin delivering his chipper response before the line clicked and Yuri disconnected. When it was just him alone again, he paused on a nearby rooftop to scope out the address and let Spider-Man be replaced by Peter Parker for a brief moment. "I hope it's just some kid's science project" he murmured softly. "Miss those days…School Projects are so much easier than real life projects…"

Running along the vertical wall until he pulled himself up to the roof and looked around before spotting the box. It certainly fit the mold of 'suspicious' considering its rugged construction, yellow marker lights, and unfamiliar symbols. Though once Peter took a breath and began looking closer, the style seemed familiar, and it didn't take long for the webhead to determine what it reminded him of. "It's definitely military grade. Weird…" he murmured, having seen similar secure crates in Cooper's various safehouses to hold the Pilots gear and valuables.

Scratching the back of his head, the eye lenses widened as the lights began to blink and Spider-Man dove away behind a chimney despite the lack of spider-sense. Poking his head back out he saw that the box had opened to reveal a screen and keyboard while the innards of the container were still well protected. "Spider-Man. So, you've found one of my recon points" said a distorted voice, the screen was equally unhelpful, with its image a mix of static and a human figure that was indistinguishable either by inference or intention.

Unsure if the connection was two-way, Peter spoke anyway, since the box had addressed him specifically. "Who is this?" he asked with equally healthy doses of suspicion and caution.

"Wrong question" returned the speaker shortly. This guy was definitely military or similar, sounding even more focused and no nonsense than either Matthew or Yuri, which was saying something. "The correct one is: 'Am I the person who is supposed to be here?' and the answer is 'No'" replied the unknown tersely.

Before Peter could reply and ask what the speaker meant by that, the box returned to its earlier state, sealed up tighter than Fort Knox as it sat on the roof. Standing there dumbly, the Queens native wondered what the cryptic words meant before he slinked off. Usually when some billly badass came into town it was him with a target on his back. Who else could draw that kind of atten…oh.

Punching in a number, the webslinger fired off a line of synthetic silk and jumped off the edge of the building and was already at the bottom of his swing when the call connected. "Go for Cooper" drawled the Texan before Peter heard the beginning of a shout in mandarin that was cut off by a burst of gunfire. "Though I am kinda in the middle of something" deadpanned the Marauder.

Peter rolled his eyes inside his mask as the staccato bursts of gunfire echoed on the other end of the line. Only the Renegade Pilot could be so casual about a life or death situation. Sure, people thought he was, but it was clear to those that knew Spider-Man that it was an act, but the Marauder didn't know how to act, all he did was focus and do what was required, but was always nonchalant about it with the stress never wearing him down.

Or so it seemed.

Peter had thought he noticed cracks beginning to show, and since it wasn't in the man's act, it was in the man itself, and that prospect was more concerning to one of the Pilot's few friends than anything else. "I just found something weird…something you're going to want to hear about" he began as he explained what had just occurred to the SRS Gunfighter. Even if he did have to repeat some that were drowned out by gunfire or grenade going off, he did eventually convey the whole story.

Matthew, unsurprisingly, didn't seem all that concerned, "They're just coming of the fucking woodwork now" he answered dryly before there was a singular final gunshot and there was a peaceful silence on both ends of the phone call. "So, I've got an unknown admirer, they're putting time, effort, and resources into watching me. Military outfit of some type, though we haven't seen anything other than this singular unmanned 'recon point' though there are probably more" rambled the Pilot. The Webslinger knew what was happening, the Pilot was conducting a sweep of whatever area he had just cleared, and repeating everything concisely without any distractions for the benefit of his Titan, who could hear everything the Pilot said but not what he heard. What was surprising was what he said next, "Nothing we can do but wait and let them come to us."

"What!?" sputtered Peter as he came out of a flip and flailed a bit before recovering and resuming his swing. "You, Mr. Go Out and Pick Fights with People, are going to do nothing?" he asked in utter disbelief.

"Yeah" replied Cooper as if it should have been obvious. When Spider-Man didn't answer for almost a minute, the Marauder explained his reasoning. "We have enough on our plate as is dude. If all these guys do is watch then I'm content to let them, if they want to do more than that then they're just going to have to take a damn number."

In the silence that followed the hero mulled over the answer, it was practical and tactical, just like everything else. But there was still enough life in it to not seem cold, though Parkers mind couldn't be stopped from wandering back to earlier that day. "One other thing, did you really have to stab Lonnie?" he asked, making extra sure to do it as glibly as possible. It was always best to gauge things out before Cooper got defensive.

"If I was trying to kill him then he'd be dead" deadpanned the Pilot, okay, feathers have been ruffled noted Peter. "That was dragging out and we had lost the initiative. Sooner or later one of us was going to fuck up and we would be the ones getting carted into surgery" snapped the Pilot defensively. "We had the chance to get it done clean and couldn't make it happen. If you have a problem with that then that's on you."

The tension was thick as Peter contemplated how to respond. Nothing the Pilot had said was wrong, they both agreed on the same line, the only difference was where the line should be drawn. Try as he might, Peter hadn't gotten the Texan to budge any on that front, and now that the Demons were terrorizing the city, he began to fear that line might move the other way.

Before Peter could bring that up, the phone rang again as a picture MJ's smiling face appeared next to the Marauder's poised visage. "MJs Calling, she might have something" explained Peter shortly before accepting the call without waiting for Cooper's response. "MJ! I got Cooper on the line with me" he greeted chipperly, "what'd you find out about Isaac Delaney?"

"Check out the picture I just sent" answered the reporter smugly, sounding quite proud of herself as Peter first forwarded the image to Matthew before opening it himself. He was greeted with three figures dressed in unnervingly familiar attire.

On the left was a man in a labcoat with a lizard mask and tail, a costume Peter found insulting considering the tragic story of Doctor Curt Connors. Front and center was a cheap cardboard simulacrum of Adrian Toomes incredible flight harness he wore as 'the Vulture' when the two had battled a few years back. On the right was the familiar checkerboard pattern, cape, and fishbowl of Parker's least favorite magician: Quentin Beck, better known as Mysterio. The caption said the three were various professors, including Delaney, dressed up for a costume party being held at their workplace and Peter's Alma Mater, Empire State University. All three had their faces obscured, and they still didn't know what Delaney looked like, which lead to an obvious problem. "Which one is Delaney?"

Sadly, the answer wasn't the one he was hoping for. "I don't know" answered MJ with a sigh, "Guess you'll have to go to the party to find out" suggested the redhead.

There was a completely unsuppressed groan from the third person in the call as Peter snickered a bit and smiled, unable to pass up the opportunity to tease his friend. "Aw, look on the bright side Coop, at least we already have costumes" he teased as the Texan grumbled incoherently, widening Peter's smile. "Oh, and we should keep a low profile" added the webslinger.

"Meaning?" asked the Marauder in a worried tone.

"Meaning you can't take your car" answered Spider-Man with the dopiest grin behind his mask.

The SRS Pilot was less than amused. "You can be a real asshole sometimes. You know that, right?"


It was fair to say that the Marauder of Manhattan got his fair share of looks as he strolled casually down the street towards Empire State University. He was dressed in his full combat gear, freshly restocked after he cleaned out another of the Demon cells that infested the island like cancer. Arc grenades and gravity stars hanging off the straps that criss crossed his armor, with pouches for other items filling in the real estate not taken up by the Smart Pistol or Data Knife. Cradled in his arms like a small child was an L-STAR particle accelerating light machine gun. The most sci fi of his long weapons was the one that he felt he could get into the party without raising any questions.

Not that he wasn't raising questions anyways. A group of college girls in stereotypically slutty 'costumes' scrunched their noses as he marched past, still reeking of cordite and phosphorus, his meticulously maintained kit beginning to show signs of the heavy use over the past few weeks. Scorch marks, grazing marks from near misses, fading, and a mix of oil, grease, and blood stains all were strewn about his gear from head to toe. Worst of all was the smell, no matter how many times he washed every piece of gear, that all too familiar stench of violence had entrenched itself into the Renegade Gunfighter.

Though that didn't seem to deter some people. "Wow" said a dumbstruck and wide eyed college freshman as he looked over the battle worn gear. "That looks incredible man, you got every little detail right…" the kid began before proceeding to point out every single one. Cooper was too busy with two things: one was being thankful his helmet had some really good audio filters and the second was containing near hysterical laughter as he looked at the tall and lankey kids own costume. Dark combat pants and boots, black long sleeve under armor shirt covered by a ballistic vest with massive white skull, and what were obviously coins meant to be bullets stopped by the Kevlar. Even having just met the kid about 90 seconds prior the Pilot already determined he was Frank's polar opposite in appearance, bearing, and personality. "Hey, would you mind if I got a picture with you?"

Matthew quickly brought his laughter under control as he nodded and answered, "As long as I can get one with you" he answered as the baby-faced undergrad's features lit up like a Christmas tree. For the guys benefit the Pilot settled into a shooting stance and raised the weapon so it would be in full view as the flash went off.

Cooper then drew his own phone and got a picture of this random college kid with doe eyes, massive grin, and flashing a thumbs up at the camera while the Punisher's skull adorned his chest. As Matt began to send that photo to a certain Marine when the kid asked one more question. "Hey man, how'd you get that perfect battle worn look? I went through three pairs of pants and two vests before I just gave up" he admitted sheepishly.

Even if he knew the kid couldn't see it, Matthew offered a sad, consolatory smile, "The Hard Way" he deadpanned cryptically. The answer clearly threw the undergrad off as he quirked and eyebrow and cocked his head but turned away without asking any further questions.

A new voice caught the Pilot's attention, "Interacting with your adoring public?" teased Peter as Cooper turned around and nodded in greeting, making note that he was wearing his so called 'advanced suit' as opposed to most of the Spider-Man impersonators here in poorly fitting imitations of his older design. "Though it seems you aren't the only Marauder here" observed the wallcrawler.

And he was right, there were a few others kitted out in dark green covered in plastic ammo belts and cardboard grenades, most had a pistol holster on their chests like he did, though their Styrofoam axes were often on their right side whereas his was on his left. He had even seen a rather attractive brunette in a more risqué take on his gear with green daisy dukes and midriff exposing top, plastic pistol partially concealed under her bust. The girl had spotted him staring at her, and since she couldn't see his agape mouth inside his helmet as he sent images of it to Felicia with every gruesome and heinous threat he could come up with to deter the thief, she thought he had been checking her out behind his glowing visor. She said something to him with a seductive smile on her face as he shook his head, more to forget what he had just seen as he turned away and walked on. "I don't think that means much, I'm pretty sure there's at least one of everything here."

Besides all of the Spider-Men and Spider-Women, there were more than a few of New York's villains, a few Avengers, and some movie and television characters too. Cooper had even spotted a few Black Cat imitators milling about, though none did their inspiration justice in his opinion. Peter just chuckled as he clapped a hand on Matts shoulder before throwing a thumb over his own, "Come on, let's get in there. Sounds like quite the party."

The duo made their way up the steps to the entrance with a massive skull sitting on top of the scaffolding archway that led into the courtyard. Heavy electronic beats and a timed lightshow emanated from inside, as far as cacophonies went, Cooper preferred firefights. "Delaney is dressed as one of my greatest foes" mused Peter, though he didn't sound too pleased or amused by it.

The paused at the entrance as each took in the sight before them for a moment. "Time to find out which one" said Cooper as he slipped into the gunslinger's trance, adrenaline seeping into his veins as he grinned cockily behind his helmet. Both veterans made their way deeper into the party, Cooper still amazed that nobody pegged them as the real deal. Felicia had told him the key to spotting who was important at social functions just by how they carried themselves, apparently that was how she decided who to rob when she started. That, or the massive fuck off sized particle machine gun he was carrying.

Some attention was in fact paid to the pair, though not the kind they were used to. Each took great pleasure in pointing out the others less than perfect imitators until Cooper spotted a helmeted figure on the left side under a sign that proudly read 'Mysterio's Hall of Mirrors.' "I'll take this one, you keep looking and radio in if you find Delaney" ordered Cooper curtly. "Move him off site and away from these civilians. If the Demons try something, we need to limit collateral damage."

Spider-Man nodded and the pair split up without further words, even the seemingly childish webslinger was capable of taking things seriously. "Come one, come all! To Mysterio's diabolical Hall of Mirrors!" shouted 'Mysterio' in a modulated voice as Cooper approached the unknown professor.

"Doctor Delaney?" he asked flatly as he not so subtlety scanned the surroundings for any signs of suited men in monochrome masks. If Li or the Demons made a move here, with the area packed full of intoxicated college students, the body count would be high.

Of course, the threat of being knee deep in bodies wasn't known by whoever he was speaking to, so the Marauder didn't get the desired response. Instead, 'Mysterio' stood to his full height, placing his gloved hands on his hips. "Ah, the Marauder, New York's newest hero. Come see if you have what it takes to face the mighty Mysterio!" With that declaration, the costumed man threw a 'smoke bomb' on the ground before turning and running into the funhouse.

Matthew heaved a deep sigh, "Would a simple 'yes' or 'no' have been that difficult?" grumbled the Titan Jockey before he refocused and shouldered his weapon before pressing into the structure at a brisk pace. The modulated voice taunted him until he saw a flicker of movement and reacted on instinct as he moved in for a non-lethal takedown. Diving and rolling forwards as projectiles flew overhead, the Marauder got to his feet and smashed the body of his rifle into the unknown toy to knock from Mysterio's hands before pressing the barrel of the now whining and humming L-STAR into the Professor's chest as he ripped the helmet from Mysterio's head to reveal a short haired woman's face glaring back at him angrily.

"Hey!" she shouted, "What's wrong with you? I worked on that helmet for a week!" Cooper snorted, as if he actually could give two shits about the helmet he passed back to the woman as she pored over it for any signs of damage.

The gloved index finger flexed, feathering the trigger, even if the safety was on the move didn't go unnoticed. "I need to speak with Dr. Delaney. Where is he?" he asked, the veil of politeness growing ever thinner as the woman refused to immediately answer. "Where?" he barked, shaking her from her stupor.

"He's out in the party somewhere" replied the woman as she picked up the toy pistol and examined it. With his answer, Cooper turned to head out the way he came. "Who are you supposed to be?"

The Pilot smirked behind his x shaped visor, "Me? I'm just an outlaw, quickdraw, evil talking bandit man" he quoted with a chuckle before he activated his cloak and vanished, turning to see the woman's mouth agape before he exited back to the main party outside.

As soon as he was outside, his radio crackled to life. "Cooper, I've located Delaney, moving to get him now" said Peter over the comm link. Matthew let out a sigh of relief, especially at the wallcrawlers next words. "No sign of any Demons yet either. We might just be in the clear" he said hopefully.

The SRS Pilot wasn't that optimistic, but at least they had time, time enough for him to plan their next move. "Good work; meet me where we split up. I'll make a call and arrange extraction" he answered before cutting the connection. He needed a good wheelman and a fast car, his first choice was obviously Black Cat and the Widowmaker, even if the P1 was more of a handful than her personal all-wheel drive Jaguar, the thief could handle the 950-horsepower hybrid. But Felicia was currently prepping to infiltrate Oscorp tonight and so herself, her Ducatti, and the McLaren, were all in position for that high-risk job. Ideally, she wouldn't need to make a quick getaway, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to have options available.

As he heard the dial tone on the call to his second choice, the information was pulled up on his HUD. The NYPD had a few Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Interceptors, and even fewer qualified to drive them in the case of a high-speed chase, thankfully, he knew one seriously badass cop who was one of those few. "Marauder, what the hell is going on?" asked the unamused voice of Yuri Watanabe, blunt as ever.

Though Cooper's reply was just as blunt, which was why, he wagered, Yuri liked him more. "Spidey and I found who the Demons are after, Doctor Isaac Delaney. Get one of those Interceptors and come down to ESU to pick him up. No sign of any trouble yet, but…"

"I'm on my way, bring him to 3rd and Wooster" she said simply before there was a firm click, which was when Cooper began to relax. It seemed as if, for once, they would get away with one and come out ahead of the Demons. It should have been easy, the good guys needed to just win once whereas Li and the Demons had to win every single time. Yet, they were still on the back foot.

Those thoughts were rapidly pushed aside as the Peter's frantic voice filled his helmet. "Marauder! The Demons are here, and they have Delaney! Zeek Science Center" he called out as the Gunfighter flicked the safety on the L-STAR and felt a familiar coolness in his blood.

"Going Loud" he replied with a grin, knees flexing and Jump Kit hissing before he shot up and ran along the wall above him, much to the astonishment of people below. Across the square, he saw a red blur shoot up to a second floor window and Cooper fired his own grapple, swinging over the dance floor before disconnecting the line and firing his jump kit and firing the grapple again, the pair reunited as they made their way inside.

Caution was thrown to the wind as they sprinted through the offices, enhanced muscles and servos straining to propel their respective wielders towards the Doctor. Both skidded to a halt, combat boots and spandex screeching in protest as they saw a group of Demons in the atrium below, several civilians huddled into the corners of the room until one stood, only to get pistol whipped across the face and forced to his knees. In a set of moves that the crime fighting duo had come well accustomed to executing, Peter leapt through the air and fired a pair of weblines, one connecting with the pistol aimed at the hostage's head, the other impacting the mask on the Demons face. With a single yank, the gun was pulled away and the wielder lost balance as he stumbled right into the webhead's killer right hook. The others perhaps fared worse as the Kit on Cooper's back flared and he turned to face the Demons guarding the door, shouldering the L-STAR as the kit let loose a continuous stream of flame to hold the Marauder steady in mid-air as he cut loose.

A rain of blue orbs of arc charged particles poured down on the Demons, scorching suits, tile, and walls in a flurry of fire. Two seconds elapsed before the Marauder fell to the ground, L-STAR venting heat as steam poured from the internal components before the weapon closed back up and was ready for more. "Everybody alright?" asked Cooper as he scanned the room.

Aside from the groans of those who had been hit by his sci fi weapon, one woman answered.

"Yeah…I think so" even though she was clearly shaken by what had just happened.

Thankfully, he had a real people person with a pure silver tongue with him. Actually, no he didn't, he had Spider-Man. "Good" answered the vigilante lamely before adding "and…. Happy Halloween." Matthew shook his head as he moved to the double doors that the Demons had lead Delaney through, only to be stopped by his friend. "I'm going to go up top, see what's going on in there. I'll signal you when for to make your grand entrance."

"Save some for me" answered the Pilot with a nod as the webslinger pulled himself up into a vent before disappearing from view completely. "Stand back" he ordered as he gestured with a gloved hand, the civilians immediately moving away from him as a Knock Knock was placed on the door, clacker in hand as he waited.

He didn't have to wait for very long.

The lighting coming from under the door changed from the usual white to red as shouting could be heard inside. Cooper smirked inside his helmet when he heard the distinct sounds of hand to hand combat on the other side. Giving the oversized trigger a pair of squeezes, the charge detonated, blowing the door off its hinges as it rattled the Pilot's ears. The Pilot activated his Phase Shift to get through the doorway unscathed, when he returned he found himself in a room bathed in red light, the backflipping form of Spider-Man tangling with a pair of Demons as the Marauder set his sights on a quartet of gun toting terrorists who had been focused on the door.

They all turned to the Renegade Gunfighter as the Texan and sprinted away and slid into cover behind a counter as a torrent of white tracer rounds flew past the corner as Cooper tossed out a smoke grenade and pulse blade. Faced with a wall of white obscurant, the Demons saved the ammo and held their fire, unable to see their mark on the other side. Their mark, however, had no such issues.

Blue orbs poured out of the smoke as the gun shooting them shrieked in fury while those on the receiving end shrieked in pain as the accelerated arc particles found their marks. "Clear" called out the Marauder as he swapped out the now fired energy cells and wavelength actuator that served as the 'barrel', both of which had nearly melted from the sustained onslaught. Getting a face full of toxic fumes that made him happy for his helmet, Cooper looked up to see Spidey webbing up the last of the Demons.

"No sign of Delaney though" continued the webhead grimly. Matthew had to agree with that assessment, and with three different unexplored exits they could have gone almost anywhere. "Split up, I'll head outside and see if I can see anything, you push deeper inside."

The Pilot nodded, there wasn't a better option available to them. "If you find him first, get him to 3rd and Wooster and into the back of the Police Interceptor waiting there" said the Marauder firmly as the L-STAR closed itself up around the newly inserted parts. Going their separate ways, Cooper selected a door at random and twisted the handle before turning it and shouting over his shoulder "don't wait for me! And good luck."

"Right back at you!" called Spider-Man before slipping out the window the same moment the Marauder went through the door.


Closing the window behind him, Peter took a breath as he looked down at the party still going full swing below. It seemed as if the pulsing music seemingly drowning out the gunshots that occurred inside the building. As Spider-Man began crawling along the side of the building, he was taken back to his time here just a few short years ago as a student. Tests, studying, student life, and sneaking out to do his Spidey work.

He had always intended to come back, maybe as a teacher, maybe just to catch a football or basketball game, but never thought he would be chasing a criminal that had once been the head of a homeless shelter his aunt, best friend, and himself worked at. His life truly was something else, at least the famed 'Parker Luck' was as consistent as it had ever been. Crawling down the side of the building and around some of the decorations, he peeked in a window to see a Demon pointing a gun at the back of Delaney's head as the doctor was forced down the hallway.

Tapping a button on his right palm with his index finger, a pulse emanated from his suit. One of the features that made this suit 'advanced' was the sonar pulse from Matthew's Pulse Blade tactical that Peter had integrated. Even better, it was synced up to the Pilot's HUD so he now could see their target's location. Pausing to get a feel for his surroundings, Parker saw a vent just above him that would let him back into the building.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, the webslinger made his way back into the building and through the airshafts as he tracked the now highlighted Delaney. Soon enough he came to a grate overlooking a server room that the Doctor was forced into before he was thrown down onto the floor in front of a group of shadowy figures. "Who – who are you?" stuttered Delaney as he looked up at the lead man.

"You began working with someone in an OSCORP Lab" said a familiar voice in a hollow and lifeless tone as none other than Martin Li himself stepped forwards and into the light. Black jacket and tie over a stark white shirt gave him the same clean and intimidating look as the goons at his command.

It was clear that Dr. Delaney recognized what his situation was as he tried to crawl back away from Li. Terror was in the academic's voice as he looked up at the philanthropist, "H-how do you know that?" he stuttered as a suited and masked henchman got him to his feet.

The situation was clearly bad and would probably get worse. "We don't have much time Isaac" said Li calmly as he closed the distance before raising his voice, "Tell me his name!" demanded the oriental man harshly.

But either due to defiance or being scarred out of his mind, Delaney offered no answer as he shrunk from Li's gaze. Nodding grimly, Martin looked down at his shoes and adjusted his cuff links before looking back up at Delaney, eyes glowing a wicked white before the rest of his body underwent its transformation. Skin became a shimmering black, hair glowing white as his suit became monochrome, a reflective white jacket and tie over black as night shirt. Vapor seemed to emanate off of him, giving the man an almost ghostlike air as his subordinate cocked a pistol and aimed at Delaney's head.

With a sharklike grin on his face that Peter had never seen before, Martin stepped forwards and placed his negatively charged hand on Delaney's shoulder. To the immense horror of the Queens native, upon Li's touch, the scientist began to transform until his skin glowed like the founder of FEAST. Knowing it was now or never, Peter threw the vent open and jumped down onto of a server. "Show's over Li!" he shouted from his crouch as he looked down at Mr. Negative. The crime boss looked up at him, but instead of responding simply placed one hand on each of the two men next to him. Each writhed in pain before slumping to the floor as Spider-Man jumped down from his perch to confront his foe. "Apparently the show's not over."

Shoulder's tense, the superhero walked forwards until Li balled up a massive charge of white energy in his hand and threw it at Peter, who took the brunt of the impact square in the chest. The wind was knocked out of him in a heartbeat and he felt the familiar ache of cracked ribs as he was rammed into the server behind him by the blast. But the attack was far from a precision one, and the floor, ceiling, and servers behind the intended target showed the scars from the energy hurled at them, steel, plastic, and concrete was turned to black and white slag.

Peter's vision went black for a split second when his head impacted the server behind him, and when it came back he found himself pinned under the server, head spinning and body refusing to respond as his enhanced healing endeavored to put it back together. Li was better, but still spent and clearly winded, on all fours and recovering slowly. Trying to move once again, Spider-Man found he couldn't, he was stuck here at the mercy of a villain and mere yards from the man he came here to protect.

The heavy silence of the situation was shattered by the rapid sizzling pops that were soon replaced by pained screams and shouts of panic on the other side of a set of double doors. Realizing that he didn't have as much time as he thought, Li turned slowly to Delaney. "His…Name" he snarled through strained breaths.

Delaney, stuck in his trance like state, staring blankly into space, offered no further resistance. "Doctor Morgan Michaels" he answered mechanically, voice warbling like Li's as his eyes glowed a blank white.

Satisfied, Li managed to push himself to his feet and looked to his subordinate and nodded. "Thank you" he said calmly as the Demon offered his pistol to Delaney, grip first. The Doctor took the offered weapon willingly as Peter could do naught but watch.

The doors to the room were suddenly knocked clean open as a Demon, suit singed and body limp, flew threw and tumbled across the floor as the Marauder entered, strange energy gun at the ready as Delaney pressed the given pistol to his temple. "Marauder! Shoot Delaney!" shouted Spider-Man in what was one last, desperate gamble at saving the man's life.

Despite making what must have seemed like a crazy request, his friend complied without question or hesitation, swinging his weapon to the scientist. The Marauder pulled the trigger of his gun a fraction of a second before Delaney pulled his, but due to odd characteristics of his weapon's projectile, when the paralyzing arc round hit the back of Delaney, it hit a corpse on the way to the floor.

"NO!" shouted Peter as he tried once again to get out, but his body refused to answer his call and he panted in exhaustion. Across the room, the Marauder had never stopped firing, simply dragging his point of aim across the room, blue projectiles lighting up the room as the combatants scattered in every direction. The Marauder slid into cover and looked over to Spider-Man, as if trying to see if he could aid him. Peter saw a more pressing matter, "Look out!" he screamed.

That seemed to get his friend's attention, as he quickly stood and pressed the boxy weapon to his shoulder, unleashing a stream of blue orbs that put down the first two Demons that had been rushing him. When the weapon was turned to the third one, he had a sickle raised high, an alarm beeped in protest as the weapon opened up to vent heat. Unable to use the gun as an offensive tool, the Pilot used it as a defensive one as he stepped back and grabbed the barrel with his left hand before holding the gun up as a shield.

Screaming incoherently, the Demon buried the blade in the weapon, impaling it clean through and only stopped when the handle of his blade hit the energy gun. With a grunt of exertion, the Texan counterattacked, twisting his whole body to rip the gun, and blade buried in it, away from the Demon. With a flicker of orange flame, the jump kit launched the SRS Pilot skyward as he twisted back around before slamming the stock of the ruined weapon down like a sledgehammer on the back of the Demon's head, sending him into the floor hard.

Discarding the now ruined weapon, Cooper then unsheathed his data knife before switching the multipurpose blade to his left, point forwards, and drew his sidearm, steadying his gun hand on his left forearm. "Who's next?" he snarled in challenge, and it was easy for Peter to see just how immensely pissed off his friend was and knew a bloodbath was coming.

Surprisingly, none of the Demon's took him up on his offer, instead holding their ground and spreading out to encircle the Marauder before the Renegade Gunfighter picked one and charged in headlong. Peter looked around and realized what his friend already had, that Li was gone, and the remaining Demons were playing for time.

Which meant Spider-Man and the Marauder were running out.

Cooper jumped up and came down, planting his boots into the Demon he targeted and driving him to the ground as he turned to the next one up. Firing his pistol into the masked man's foot and forcing him to stumble, the Pilot then slashed the arm holding the sword with his knife. As the unarmed swordsman grabbed his arm to stem the bleeding, Cooper charged his arc knuckles and rammed his fist into the man's gut.

Meanwhile, Peter summoned everything he had in an effort to free himself and help his friend. In what was the most difficult push up of his life, Peter willed his arms to lift his own weight and that of the server on his back as he roared in triumph before pulling his legs forward under his body and firing a webline. The synthetic silk slammed into a Demon's rifle and ripped it from his grasp to fling it into the head of another Demon trying to get the drop on Cooper before he leapt, no, launched himself out from under the server, fist cocked and at the ready as he joined the fray.

With anger and rage making up for his injuries, he was as strong as he needed to be, even if the fog that clouded his mind had not lifted. His first punch connected solidly, cracking the Demon's mask as he spun to the floor and Peter moved onto the next, pulling himself across the room and tackling another Inner Demon before doing a handstand springboard over the man to the wall and planting his feet on that, sticking as he bent his knees to ready his next attack before propelling himself forwards, tossing a trip mine onto the chest of a Demon that activated and pulled him into a server while on his way to a swordsman.

As the masked man squared up to the hero, a pair of web strands stuck to his chest as Spidey shot past before lowering his feet and planting them on the floor and transferring his momentum to the swordsman, hurling him into a server. As he fell, more entered the brawl as Peter found a computer tower and heaved into the next group, taking out one as a grappling hook yanked another away and to the walking pain dispenser that was the Marauder.

Engaging the next group, Peter's higher cognitive functions began to return, and he knew that they needed to finish this quickly. Sadly, for as long as Li had Demons willing to throw themselves at the duo there was little chance of either of them being able to pursue Li. If tonight wasn't going to be a total loss they would need outside help.

Thankfully, his prayers were about to be answered.


"All units: Report shots fired at ESU; we have multiple shots fired at Empire State University. All available units please respond."

The droning and calm voice of the dispatcher was still enough to immediately knock Yuri from her bored daze as she sat in the interceptor, trying to ignore the looks she was getting from the intoxicated college students all around her. Looking up, she saw there was no hope of forcing the cop car any closer to the party and through the throng of people. Face tightening as she felt that surge of adrenaline, she reached over and grabbed her Rhino off the passenger seat and stuffed it in her shoulder holster. "Time to bail their asses out again" she muttered as she threw the door open and got out of the Interceptor.

Shoving her way up the street, inconsiderate of the people in her way as the Captain approached the college. Despite the reports of shots fired, there was no sign of panic in those milling about as Yuri got closer and closer to her destination. Still alert for any sign of trouble, she pulled her buzzing phone from her jacket pocket and accepted the call without bothering to look at the ID. "Watanabe" she greeted curtly, phone pressed to her ear as she kept her head on the swivel.

"Marauder here" came the distorted and filtered voice of the Pilot. "Confirm Demon contacts at ESU, including Li. Repeat: Martin Li is at ESU" he stated before there were screams of pain and the sound of a fistfight in the background. "Seal this place off and don't let that bastard get away" he said with a grunt as there was a single staccato gunshot.

"Li's here?" she said in shock as she picked up the pace to a run, "Outta the way!" she barked as she pressed the phone closer and weaved through the parting crowd. "What the hell's happening? Did you find Delaney?"

"Delaney's dead" answered the Pilot flatly as Yuri shoved a sorority girl out of her way, causing her to spill her drink and unleash a string of curses at the Cop's back. "But this is our chance, we must stop Li here and now" growled the Marauder, knowing this was as close as they had ever been to getting the man sitting atop their most wanted list.

Watanabe couldn't agree more, "Don't worry, we'll get him" she assured before hanging up and putting the phone back. "Dear god I hope we get him" she prayed before upping her pace to a full-blown sprint for the last block and a half to her destination. Only as she got closer, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end from the strange energy that could only mean that Demons were around.

Looking around she noticed something odd, a squad car sitting at the entrance of an alley with the lights off but the silhouette of two officers sitting inside. Getting closer she recognized the number on the car, 3234, and knew the officer who drove that car. He had been assigned the same badge and car number and claimed it was his lucky car, got that number on his weekly lottery ticket.

He still hadn't won.

But that fact wasn't at the forefront of Yuri's mind as she peered through the darkness inside the car, it was the fact that the glasses wearing Hispanic man and his odd facial hair were nowhere to be found, replaced with two hard looking Asian men wearing police uniforms. The Captain walked past, taking a furtive glance at them she noticed the badge on the man in the passenger seat, 3234.

The sight was such a shock that Yuri halted on a dime for a split second before resuming her walk, but it was too much, she had been noticed. A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye forced the veteran cop to spring into action by bounding across the rest of the alley and around the corner just before the black and white tracers of negatively charged bullets ripped through the air. Screams filled the street as people scattered in every direction, pure pandemonium filling every soul there except one.

With a slight scowl, Yuri drew her Magnum Revolver, the comforting weight in her hand calming her nerves as the Demon in the car continued to fire the assault rifle at her. Eventually however, he would run out of ammo, and as Yuri pressed herself into the brick, ignoring the chips of stone that flew scant inches from her face, she bided her time. When the gunfire stop and her gut told her it wasn't just a pause in firing, Yuri spun, exposing the top half of her body as she steadied her pistol and fired twice, planting two big slugs in the shooters chest in the same instant the cop car came to life. Watanabe's eyes widened as she saw the driver stare, with blank white glowing eyes, right at her as he opened the throttle and nearly ran her down as the Captain dove out of the way.

Gritting her teeth and cursing under her breath, Yuri got to her feet and saw two blank white cargo vans take off after the police car, driving very close together and obviously coordinated. All of a sudden, she felt an immense pain in her head, screaming as the gun in her hand trembled, her face twisted in agony as the howling became a ringing before it finally, mercifully, subsided.

Staggering to her feet, she looked up the street where the vehicles had stopped and saw a group of figures climbing into the vans, though one stood out. His entire form was glowing eerily like the eyes of the man she had just shot, his skin black as night as vapor and menace radiated off him in equal measure. Even 50 yards away the glare he shot towards the Captain was enough to send a chill down her spine.

Adrenaline flooded her veins as Yuri quickly accelerated forwards, though she was nowhere close enough to prevent the Demons from getting in the vans, but she might have been able to get close enough to get a good look at the plates. But her charge came to a halt when Spider-Man tackled her, knocking the wind out of her as she looked up at the mask of the wallcrawler and saw him ready a punch she rolled her upper body to dodge.

The blow missed, totally and completely, and Spider-Man cried out in pain as he clutched his now bleeding knuckles as the truth dawned on Yuri. This wasn't the real Spider-Man, this was some schmuck in a knock off costume, if it was the real thing then there would be a small crater in the sidewalk, or her face. Her training took over as she realized she was confronted with and acted, wrapping her legs around the man's midsection she punched him in the face and twisted herself, throwing him to the ground as she got up, rolled him onto his stomach and placed her knee on his back, pinning him to the ground. She pulled out the pair of handcuffs on her belt and was about to read the man his Miranda rights for attacking a police officer when she looked up and saw the situation around her.

Yuri's jaw dropped.

It was sheer chaos and total confusion as a massive brawl had erupted on the ESU Campus and had begun to spill out onto the street. Some part of Yuri's mind found it ironically amusing to see people wearing costumes of the two famed vigilantes, among others, slugging it out, though such thoughts didn't remain in her mind for very long. She saw a female interpretation of the Marauder's kit that left little to the imagination in a catfight with an equally immodest black cat wannabe. Three different Spider-Men were wrestling drunkenly, while two women in cheerleader costumes beat up a skeleton on the ground.

Truth be told, she had seen stranger things as a beat cop.

"Trust me, this is for your own good!" shouted a familiar voice as Yuri sighed and holstered the Revolver and pulled her taser from her belt, shocking the man beneath her briefly before he passed out and stopped struggling. Raising an eyebrow at how easy that was, the Cop got back to her feet and the pattern repeated itself, heavy footsteps and heavier breathing as she turned to see a cheap imitation of the Marauder charging at her, Styrofoam axe held high.

Raising her hand to block it, she shoved the stun gun under her arm into the gap in the heavy plastic armor and gave him a good jolt until he too fell to the floor, too busy writhing in pain to do anything else. Though it seemed there was no limit to the number of people affected by whatever Li had done as another man came at her. Watanabe was taken aback as the man flailed around within the white sheet over his head, obviously intending to be a ghost. But instead of two cut eye holes, the sheet was practically a sieve with a dozen cutouts all over, the haphazard pattern revealing bits of clothing beneath as he closed the distance only to stop suddenly and be yanked away by a grappling hook.

A gloved hand planted itself firmly on the back of ghosts head before slamming him face first into the ground. "And stay down" growled the Marauder, the real one, complete with glowing blue visor, painted helmet art, and massive kill tally on the back of his Dragon Scale vest. Yuri let out a sigh of relief as she sent a curt and thankful nod his way, getting one in return, both crime fighters turned and got back to work.

The three made quick work of the untrained and unprepared students in the courtyard as they cut a swath through the mob with poise and efficiency. Yuri had a newfound respect as she watched the two men use their unique abilities to bounce around and dispatch foes in their different styles. Spider-Man was definitely the stronger and more agile of the two, flowing like water and incorporating his webs as he smoothly transitioned between those coming at him.

The Marauder was faster, seemingly flying around as he used his jump kit, stim, and grapple to bounce from end to end, only slowing to brutally slash through groups, arc knuckles crackling. Seemingly unperturbed by the overwhelming odds as he simply dashed out and came in from a different angle if it ever seemed like he might be overrun.

Without such capabilities, Yuri was relegated to a support role covering Spider-Man's flank from the recklessly charging group. Not to say the Captain wasn't busy, jumping back as one guy drunkenly swung a chair and missed. Watanabe responded by bringing her foot down on his wrist, causing him to let go as she stepped forwards and twisted his arm behind his back. With his howl of pain ringing in her ears, Yuri promptly flipped him up over her shoulder, so he came crashing down onto his back, straight into the chair he had just come at her with. "Nice moves Captain!" complimented Spider-Man as he turned back to face her. "If you can dance like that how come you are always having trouble getting a date to the policeman's ball?"

Yuri sent him a look that was an odd cross of a glare with some bewilderment mixed in, though she quickly recovered. "I still don't see your black and white suit" she retorted with a small half smirk.

The wallcrawler tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I could borrow one…" he mused before turning across the courtyard to see the SRS Pilot throw a man in letterman jacket and skull mask into a table. "Hey Marauder! Any chance I could borrow your suit to take the Captain to the Policeman's ball?" shouted the webslinger.

The Marauder just stared blankly at them for a moment, "If I get to watch her throw you on your ass like that? Then yes" deadpanned the Renegade Gunfighter without a hint of sarcasm or mirth. Yuri snickered at Spider-Mans feigned indignation as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eye lenses at the glowing blue visor. Though before the spandex clad superhero could reply, a massive man in a plush Rhino suit took him by surprise, tossing the webhead like a ragdoll.

"Not this guy again!" moaned Spider-Man as he got to his feet and squared up to the 'Rhino' who practically glowed with Li's strange energy. Spider-Man fired a salvo of webbing at the costumed man as the Marauder and Yuri moped up the other students. Out of the corner of her eye, Yuri saw Spidey toss some strange device that unleashed some kind of force that stopped the 'Rhino' in his tracks as he flailed helplessly against it until the webslinger pounced. "What did Li do to these people?" asked Spider-Man as he fired webs to the Rhino's chest and yanked him from the energy field and slammed him into a wall before webbing him to the brick.

Yuri was about to reply when someone unexpectedly leapt up onto her back, wrapping their legs around her stomach while putting the policewoman in a chokehold. Snarling as her vision began to blur and narrow, Yuri stumbled until she back peddled and slammed into a tree as fast as she could, causing her assailant to let out a high-pitched scream and loosen her grip. With her taser in one hand, Watanabe ripped one arm off her with her free hand and turned to face her foe.

Seeing the woman come back at her, Yuriko sidestepped and rammed her knee into the girls gut before jamming her taser into her exposed back, eliciting another scream as she rolled onto her back and passed out.

Snapping her head up to check her surroundings, Yuri saw with satisfaction that the campus was clear, the only ones left standing were Spider-Man, the Marauder, and herself. With a deep breath, the Captain couldn't help but snicker at the risqué costume and, more specifically, who it was imitating. "Some uh…interesting fans you seem to have Marauder" she said as she tried to keep a straight face, though her smiling muscles were taking no part in such activities.

"He certainly does" agreed Spidey, who was alongside her in an instant before the Pilot soon joined them, shaking his head as he looked down at the woman. "Hey, I wonder what Black Cat would say if she saw this" teased the wallcrawler, though judging by the blank stare of the visor that was sent his way soon after, it seemed as if the Renegade wasn't taking it well.

That was until the helmet tilted sideways, "You're not just jealous I have hotter fans, aren't you?" asked the Marauder dryly. Even the electronic voice filter couldn't keep Yuri from seeing the grin on the man's face.

"No?... no? I mean 'no'" replied Spider-Man, carefully enunciating the word as a statement, though his struggles made it far from convincing.

Watanabe rolled her eyes, "Men" she snickered, drawing the ire of both vigilantes, though she didn't feel threatened in the least. Hell, outside of the Force, these two were the closest things she had to 'friends.' "Now" she said, serious as she returned to 'Captain Mode' and met them eye to mask to helmet, "Who is going to tell me what the hell happened here?"

There was a moment of silence before Spider-Man spoke up. "When the Demons broke into Standish's apartment they were after information on Devil's Breath and they found something, a name: Dr. Isaac Delaney" explained the wallcrawler. Yuri nodded in understanding remembering the events of a few days ago before the vigilante continued. "We saw a post on social media that said Delaney would be here tonight so we came to get him before Li could, but we didn't make it. I saw Li ask him about who he worked with on the project, Delaney said it was Dr. Morgan Michaels."

The Captain processed this, wondering why Li would go to such lengths just to get another name, and what was the man's endgame? Pushing aside those thoughts, she got back to the short term. "You said Delaney's dead?" she asked, getting a nod in return from both of them, "How?"

"Self-inflicted gunshot to the head" reported the Marauder grimly as Yuri cursed under her breath. "He was under Li's control at the time. We've seen him incite suicide before at City Hall" reminded the Pilot, eliciting a scowl from the Captain.

Li had that man throw his own life away in the hopes it would buy him some breathing space, in her mind, the head of the Inner Demons might as well have pulled the trigger himself considering how guilty he was. The sound of heavy vehicles forced her from her angry thoughts and back on track as the first Sable troopers got out of their vehicles. Grimacing, the Captain surveyed the carnage around them one final time. "I'll find Michaels and call when I have something. You two need to protect him and stop Li" she said with fierce determination as her eyes narrowed. There was only one thing left to say:

"No one else is dying because of him."


Cooper's Logbook – Light Machine Gun: L-STAR

Officially, L-STAR is an acronym for LaSTimosa armory Assault Rifle. If you are looking at that an scratching your head at who the actual fuck looked at that and thought "yeah, that's it, put that out" then know that I am too. Not only is it clunky as all hell, but whoever got off with calling this thing an 'Assault Rifle' clearly has never even seen a gun before. This monstrosity is friggin heavy, clocking in at something like 18 pounds, or more than double what an R-201 Carbine weighs. Still, it is fairly short and compact and measures in at 28 inches or 711 millimeters so it is handy for use in close quarters and compact spaces like the cockpit of a Titan.

But that isn't my favorite thing about this weapon. That would be how this thing works. It's an anti personnel particle accelerating energy light machine gun. If you want to know what that means, I don't know. There's some sort of energy cell thing in the stock behind the trigger and a critical component at the 'muzzle' that has some electromagnets to 'shoot' the particles as well as a heat sink of some description. Why do I love that? Because I only know that much after calling in the brain trust, read 'Peter', to take this thing apart and figure it out.

The result of that is the only time I have ever seen Peter Parker be completely and utterly stumped and it was glorious. It only took me about half an hour before I finally started getting some enjoyment out of seeing the Queens native mutter and grumble as he tore the gun apart. He tried and failed to wrap his considerably sized brain around its operation. Safe to say that I raised a glass to whoever at Lastimosa Armory made this thing work that night.


Closing Notes: Hopefully the choice of song makes sense, since the main thing this chapter is a halloween party I wanted a halloween-y song. This setpiece also saw some major differences, mainly by having Yuri show up and help out. It always bugged me that Spider-Man never called in backup, no pun intended, and so I had Cooper do it here. I did generally just have a lot of fun writing all of the stuff relating to the Halloween party, the new costumes and interactions were enjoyable coming up with them. For those who are keen eyed, you may have noticed a bit inspired by 'Die Hard With a Vengeance' on my continuing quest to reference every Die Hard film.

Though this chapter does have probably the most out of left field reference, being the quick mention of something ripped straight out of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I couldn't do a Halloween party without a nod to this piece of my childhood, in the mix of in game costumes and the kind you're more likely to actually see on a college campus was one pulled straight from this Charles Schultz classic.

Next chapter is due up on March 4, two weeks after this one is posted. That one will be the return of everyone's favorite segments from the game, the MJ stealth missions! I can almost hear all of the cheers about that. Wait, those are groans, fair enough. If even that doesn't sound too appealing then don't worry, there is a lot more going on besides.

We'll be running with the Shadows of the Night.

Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.