When we left our heroes: Teresa, Wolverine, Storm, Boomerang, Franklin and the Marauders were having a difficult time against the Upstarts while Kitty is caught in power-dampening vines at the mercy of the Kingpin and Shinobi, with Doc Ock temporarily incapacitated, but our intrepid arachnid hero has managed to sneak inside Fisk Tower and is soon to join the fight, so Ladies and Gentlemen…is time for our Main Event.
Enjoy the reading!
SPIDER-MAN AND KITTY PRYDE: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
Chapter 21: Showdown at Fisk Tower, Part 2 – Layin' the Smackdown
Spider-Man managed to enter the building and make his own way to his part of the fight, all the while his friends and allies are still dealing with the Upstarts, but his main concern is Kate, who is dealing a very grim scenario with the Kingpin, Shinobi Shaw and an unconscious Doctor Octopus.
Thanks to his knowledge of the Tower –back when it was Stark Tower- he gained access to a secret emergency elevator to the helipad and head his way inside. Once he reached his destination, he walks around the site but his Spider-Sense warns him of imminent danger. Spidey looks around, trying to pinpoint the source of the danger and discovers right in the middle of the landing area of the helipad the Chemical Bombing Device that Octavius had set up.
"There's the bomb…and the clock's ticking, but if I'm not mistaken, according to what Kate found when she hacked Otto's servers, I'd still need an eight-letter password to deactivate it" Spidey thinks while he looks at the bomb, noticing how the timer has 10 minutes left on it timer "Better hurry and get the password from the man" he muses to himself while he steps aside and heads to the rooftop access door, but then he sees that Octavius made his own 'rooftop access' way, and he wastes no time in jumping down the 'Rabbit's Hole', or in this case, the 'Octopus' Hole'.
As he goes down, the Kingpin and Shinobi have Kate Pryde pinned down, since she is wrapped in Krakoan Vines that nullify her powers, leaving her defenseless from any impeding attack.
"Please be done with her quickly" Fisk comments to Shinobi, who is holding his sable firmly, looking down at her with a malicious smirk.
"Don't worry" Shinobi replies while he looks at Kate "Battered, bruised, and in pain…the perfect image for your end, Pryde" Shinobi slowly moves the tip of his sable back from side to side in front of her eyes "When Sinister brought you back, you wasted no time in killing my father, and because of you he is exiled in the deep bowels of Krakoa, so it's a shame that he won't see your definite end" he then slowly lifts his sable, while Kate begins to breathe agitatedly, knowing that this could be the very end for her.
"I knew it would be over for me…but I didn't want it to be like this" Kate begins to express in her mind what could be her last thoughts "I only hoped…that he would've come".
"No more comebacks, no more resurrections, neither Sinister nor Xavier will save you now" Shinobi holds his sable ready to make his move "and keep your eyes open, for this shall be the last thing you'll see in your life" he claims but his movement is suddenly interrupted by the distinctive sound of a 'Thwip' that causes him to stop his motion and lose his sable. Right then, the Kingpin, Shinobi and even Kate manage to look the man who interrupted the moment…the iconic arachnid hero in red and blue.
"Excuse me, but the only weapons allowed in this penthouse are either shields, mystic hammers, bows and arrows, and/or million-dollar armors" Spidey quips while he takes Shinobi's sable.
"Spider-Man!" the Kingpin exclaims gritting his teeth.
"Registered Trademark" he quips while holding the sable "Now gentlemen, if you'll excuse, I'm on a very tight deadline so…" he then leaps towards his opponents, rolling to the floor to dodge Shinobi and kick him with a flash kick and then jumps above Fisk "Sorry! Coming through!" then he lands grabbing Kate's sable and in a swift move he cuts the vines that were enveloping Kate "There you go, milady" he comments while he gives Kate her sable.
"Why, thank you" Kate smiles, jokingly giving a reverence and then they both face Shinobi and the Kingpin "Didn't take you for the swashbuckling type, Webs".
"I'll pretend is a lightsaber without the special effects" he quips while he toys with Shinobi's sable, but before they could attack, the Spider-Sense begins to buzz in Spidey's head "Wait, I think we're forgetting someth-ACK!" he failed to finish the sentence when two tentacles move and grab Spidey and Kate from their necks, revealing that Octavius is regaining his consciousness.
"You…Impudent…DOLT!" Octavius exclaims while Spidey struggles, yet Kate manage to phase out of his grab and hits the tentacle with her sable "URGH!" Otto grunts in annoyance as he is forced to release Spidey.
"At least they're still outnumbered, I say we let them duke it out and enter the fray later" Shinobi suggests the Kingpin but he notes that the Mayor is slowly stepping back to his personal elevator "Fisk?"
"A good warrior knows when he is outmatched" Fisk quickly "But I hope to be pleasantly surprised if you leave the battle in victory" he says while he enters the elevator, where his assistant Wesley is waiting for him "Good luck, mister Shaw" he says while the elevator doors close.
"Sir, the situation outside is not faring any better, shall I call for an aerial extraction?" Wesley asks his boss.
"No, head to the underground, let this fight unfold and we'll act depending of the results" Fisk responds, pressing the button for the underground bunker so he could keep his eye on the fight and await for the results, in spite of risking his deal with the Hellfire Trading Company after leaving the Red King to his own devices against Octavius, Kate Pryde and Spider-Man.
MEANWHILE, AT GROUND FLOOR
The fight outside the towers started with a good advantage from the heroes, but the Upstarts went ahead and made a strong offensive to lead the fight; however, there are two heroines who are ready to rejoin their partners. Storm and Teresa managed to clear the skies from the drones and the aerial vehicles from Fisk's Task Force, but once they look down, they see how the Upstarts are giving a beatdown to their friends.
"Is time to take to the fight to the ground" Storm says, while Teresa nods and they both fly down to assist, landing right between Nightcrawler, Iceman and the Von Strucker twins.
"Mind if we step in, boys?" Teresa announces their entrance, face to face with Fenris "Always wanted to cross 'Beating a Nazi descendant' out of my Bucket List" she then pounces against Andreas, giving him a swift punch to the jaw while Storm summons lightning bolts to draw a line and separate the twins. Meanwhile, Iceman and Nightcrawler get on guard and jump in to help the ladies.
Iceman charges his ice and uses his powers to summon a couple of his Ice-Clones to help them out, surrounding her to keep Andrea trapped and reduce her fighting space and constantly hit her with running punches and ice balls, allowing Storm to summon a gust of wind that lifts her up and right then Iceman created a box of ice to trap her as she falls inside.
Andreas tries to regain the advantage with his sword-fighting skills but Teresa surprisingly defends herself dodging his moves and giving him quick punches, but right then Nightcrawler 'bamfs' in and strikes him with quick successive punches, combined with Teresa's hard blows, ending the combo with a double punch from both of them directly into Andreas' nose, forcing him to drop his sword, stumble back and be caught by a 'bamfing' Kurt that then goes up and drops him to another box of ice made by Iceman.
"Danke Schön, lovely Engel" Nightcrawler compliments the agent in his native language, bringing a smile to Teresa's face.
Siena Blaze looks at the rest of the battle and notices the two giant Iceboxes that have captured the Von Strucker twins, but before she decides to take them out, she feels her feet being held by both Boomerang and Pyro.
"Going somewhere?" Pyro quips while holding her left leg.
"Come on, you haven't seen what we're all about" Boomerang comments while holding her right leg.
"And what're you gonna do about it?" Siena asks them with an annoyed tone, but right then the Australian brawlers look at each other and smirk.
"Distract you" they both respond in unison, prompting Lockheed to jump towards Siena, shooting a fireball to her face and scratching his claws on her face. Right then, Pyro stands up and charges his fire against Siena, surrounding her with flames while Boomerang unfold a Bomb-arang that he throws around her.
"Your aim sucks, mate!" Pyro complains, but Boomerang just laughs it up.
"And you call yourself an Aussie? What do you know about boomerangs?" Boomerang comments while Pyro begins to realize his words when he notices how the Bomb-arang flies back and land right at Siena's feet "They always come back"
"JUMP!" Pyro screams while Siena finds the Bomb-arang at her feet right when it makes the 'Beep-Beep-Beep-BEEP!' and explodes at her feet, being protected by her suit of armor but still pushed away a few feet and falling into unconsciousness "And THAT'S how we roll 'Down Under' #$%& +*!"
"You think she'd still hang out with me?" Boomerang asks Pyro, who looks back at him with a face that says 'Really, dude?' while Lockheed flies around to check the status.
Fitzroy sees how Bishop and Franklin Richards are trying to recover after his offensive, shooting another pair of energy beams to keep them at bay while he starts to siphon life energy from the surroundings, but Franklin manages to make another 'Power Quake' with his punches to move the ground and make Fitzroy stumble, giving Bishop the opening he needs to jump at Fitzroy and launch a barrage of punches, charging up energy to finish up with a powerful energy-charged punch that pushes his rival towards one of the destroyed tanks.
"Hey!" Franklin calls Bishop to step aside, seeing how Franklin's hands are glowing with charging energy "Hey greenie, quick question…you ever watch anime?" Franklin asks, but Fitzroy only groans in response "'Cause here comes one big reference" he then poses with his hands as he begins to charge a large energy sphere "Kaa-Mee-Haa-Mee-HAA!" he then shoots a massive energy burst right towards Fitzroy that pushes both him and the ruined tank further meters away, leaving Fitzroy down for the count and Bishop with his eyes and jaw wide open "Always wanted to do that" Franklin laughs, shrugging his shoulders.
Leland begins to look around and all he sees is his fallen teammates, realizing that the Upstarts have failed in their duty of getting their hands on the Marauders, but he could still try to land a win against Wolverine and Emma Frost, but in his distraction, he fails to see Wolverine jumping at his side and slashing his chest, leaving him open for a resounding slap from Emma Frost.
"Is time to face the facts, Harold" Emma tells him telepathically "Shinobi has assembled the worst iteration of his Upstarts ever" she mocks him giving him a punch to his gut, while Wolverine leaps and slashes his other side for further damage "You may reconsider, but I doubt you'll join me after what I'm about to do" she comments while she turns into her Diamond Form and crouches in front of him to give him one hard blow to his crotch.
Leland's face turns into one massive expression of pain with his eyes almost popping out of its sockets because of that low blow, which makes him drop on his knees, served for the final blow with Emma punching him on the left and Logan sheathing back his claws to punch him on the right, causing his skull to be on the receiving end of one very painful equation: Diamond plus Adamantium equals Cracked Jaw and Instant Knockout.
"Did we just made a good fighting team?" Emma asks Logan while she sees Leland's fallen body.
"I…think we did" Logan replies, starting to feel uncomfortable upon that revelation, a feeling Emma also surprisingly begins to share.
"Scott must never know about this" Emma quickly points to him.
"Neither should Jeannie" Logan replies "and it seems that we just cleared the house" he comments while he looks around, seeing the fallen members of the Upstarts.
"Let's not celebrate yet" Emma seriously comments "We still need to help Kate" she says while she looks at the top of the Tower.
"Spidey is already in; we must trust that they can handle it" Logan replies, deciding to let Emma trust both Spidey and Kate.
BACK AT THE PENTHOUSE
The Kingpin has left the scene, so now the battlefield is even. Doctor Octopus and Shinobi Shaw face to face against Spider-Man and Kate Pryde, so now is time to see who will leave the penthouse that once housed the Avengers.
"Seems that you lost your tag team partner, Shinobi" Spidey mocks the Red King "and I doubt that Ock here wants to fulfill that spot"
"I don't care about any alliances, Wall-Crawler" Octavius responds in a menacing tone "My goal is almost at hand, all you'll do is delay it"
"Not if we have something to say about it" Kate interjects and then takes Shinobi's sable from Spidey's hand and jumps to attack against Otto while Shinobi tries to make his move, but Spidey jumps at the occasion and intercepts his attack.
Spidey dodges the first punch but when he tries to land his own strike, Shinobi uses his powers to become dense, causing Spidey to feel hurt as he connects his fist, but thanks to his Spider-Sense he manages to block his following attack.
"You think this will last, Spider-Man?" Shinobi asks while he blocks Spidey's punches "One call and this place will be full of…"
"You mean your crew of terrorists?" Spidey interrupts him while dodging his moves "As we speak your Upstarts are being beaten by my crew of heroes" he then lands a sweep kick on Shinobi's legs "because as a amazing woman once told me…I don't have to do this alone anymore" he then jumps and punches Shinobi in the chest after he fell.
"Who would be that stupid to care for her? Nobody cares for her at Krakoa" Shinobi angrily blocks one punch from Spidey and pushes him back with a hardened fist and pounces at him again.
"Want me to say the list?" Spidey jumps back at his feet and begins to dodge each move as he lists everyone who came to help "How about an Amazing Super-spy! A Fantastic Son of a Genius! A Weather-controlling Queen! The Best There is at what He Does! A Hellfire Queen! A Swashbuckling Elf! A Fun-Loving Hero made of Ice! A Towering Fighter in Red! A Dragon! And two annoying yet well-meaning Aussies!" right when he finishes his list, he makes a cartwheel kick that brings down Shinobi.
Kate on her part, she was handling on the defensive, between blocking some of the tentacles with her two sabers combined with her phasing powers, but she managed to overhear what Spidey said, and she couldn't help but smile, knowing that her good friends came to help her.
"They all came for me…Ororo, Teresa, Frankie, Logan, Kurt, Bobby, Lucas, Lockheed, Emma, and even Pyro and Fred" Kate smiles, thinking about her friends "and it was Peter who made the greatest move…and just like he does, I will use that as my fuel, as my motivation, how the people I love become my encouragement" she muses while she blocks one of the tentacles and cuts the claw, causing Octavius to groan in anger.
"You'll wish you haven't done that" Octavius mutters in anger while he pulls out the detonator "One push of this button and my Bio-Bomb…" he threatens, but Kate reacts quickly by throwing one of her sabers at him, knocking the detonator off his hand.
"You were saying?" Kate mocks him, jumping towards him to dodge the tentacle and regains the sable she threw and then blocks another tentacle, quickly cutting the claws with a scissors move of both sabers "Now you're two legs down, I guess calling you 'Ock' is now a moot point" she quips, making fast moves blocking and swinging her sabers at him, knocking him off by cutting the third tentacle, causing Octavius to land on his feet.
Meanwhile, Shinobi is wearing himself out, failing to keep up with Spider-Man's speed and stamina, even relying on his density is no help against Spidey's quick moves. He clenches his fist ad plunges towards him, ready to give him another punch but Spidey dodges it and causes Shinobi to hit the wall, causing a hole in the place.
"WHOA! I know you're mad at Willie for bailing out but come on, punching at the wall?" Spidey quips, and provokes him to move at him, keeping an eye on him as he notices how fast he is wearing out.
"You are…one truly…pestering…hindrance" Shinobi expresses his anger and annoyance, but he is wearing himself out, and Spider-Man sees the opening he needed to launch a barrage of punches and kicks, a full blown 'Crawler Assault' at him with quick attacks that leave Shinobi without any time to react, just let every punch and kick hurt him, concluding with an uppercut under his jaw that drops him to the floor, with blood dripping from his nose and mouth for the punches "that…was…"
"Amazing? Sensational? Spectacular? Spidey quips while he stands in guard "Oh wait, I think the word you're looking for is Painful" he then clenches his fists "But don't worry, there's more where that came from"
"I…will…kill…" Shinobi tries to stand up, even after all the punishment he received, but in the end he stumbles for a couple of steps and drops face first to the floor, completely knocked down.
"What? No last threatening word?" Spidey mocks him "Well, that was fun".
On the other side of the battle, Kate has managed to defend herself very well against Octavius, knocking him off his defenses and breaking almost all of his tentacles, forcing Otto to shut off his support system and step out to fight with his own body, something he never intended to do, but now has no choice.
"I will end you, you wench!" Doc Ock threatens her, ready to punch her but Kate easily moves dodging his punch, and even puts the sabers aside and lands a combination of punches and kicks that make him wobble back and then she jumps on his back and applies a wrestling hold on him "Wha-What are you doing?"
"Using a new trick" Kate responds as she holds him "Not too long ago I discovered, that my powers have another quirk" she comments as the floor underneath them begins to crack "I can alter my molecules to further dense my body" she explains as the floor keeps crumbling "Which means that not only I can be lighter than air…" Otto falls on his knees while Kate keeps the hold on him "but also can be heavier than stone" and right then, the floor underneath them falls apart and both begin to crash down several floors down until Kate quickly shifts back into intangible, leaving Otto to fall another floor down, writhing in pain at the sudden rush of destruction on his body "Can't believe I'm saying this but…thank you Victor von Doom" she says to herself, recalling how it was thanks to Doctor Doom she discovered more about her powers.
"Kate!" Spidey exclaimed after he saw both of them fall, poking his head out of the large crater caused by that play made by Kate, but now is Kate the one who pops out spooking Spidey.
"Boo!" she jokes, startling Spidey while she laughs, floating back to where the fight happened "You alright?" she asks while she grabs his hand and helps him stand back up.
"Better than ever" Spidey replies while he stands up "How 'bout you?" he asks her, looking at her and smiling under the mask.
"Much better with you here" she replies, even blushing a bit when she realizes the words she used.
"Wouldn't let you go tackle this alone, Kate" Spidey comments "and the rest of the guys must have taken care of Shinobi's crew, which leaves only…" it is then when they both realize that while they won the fight, the situation is not over yet.
"The Bomb!" they both exclaim at the same time and rush to the helipad, Spidey jumping back to the hole le came into the Penthouse while Kate uses her phasing powers to float up there, but unbeknownst to them, Octavius uses the last of his physical strength to activate a small device that puts him the control of the last remaining Baintronics Attack Drones and protect the Bio-Bomb.
One they both reach the site, they head straight to the bomb, but a flock of six drones fly and begin to shoot them, with Spidey jumping to dodge them while Kate uses her powers.
"Kate! You go for the bomb! I'll take care of them!" Spidey warns her, to which she nods and heads to the bomb while Spidey shoots web balls to the visors of the drones, shooting a web-line to two of them and swing them causing a crash against each other, destroying two of them.
"I still need the eight word password!" Kate exclaims while she touches the device and sees the holographic keyboard requesting the password to access to the manual controls.
"Try 'Octavius'!" Spidey tells her while he jumps above two more drones, managing to destroy one of them, while Kate types O-C-T-A-V-I-U-S but not only it warns her access denied, but also cuts short the countdown from 4 to 2 minutes.
"Damn it! I need another one!" Kate complains while Spidey tries to dodge the three remaining drones, grabbing one of them and punching through to disable it.
"Try 'Octopus'!" he tells her, but she replies with an annoying groan.
"That one has seven letters! I need eight!" Kate replies, trying to type D-O-C-T-O-R-O-O but yet again, the warning emerges and now the countdown goes to less than a minute "Spidey! Time's running out!" she warns him while Spidey jumps to force the two remaining drones to crash against each other, now clearing the path.
"Come on, Kate! We can't give up!" Spidey tries to encourage her "We can't lose against the guy who keeps babbling about being our…" and right then is when he discovers that he already knew the password "Wait, that's it" he whispers and then looks at Kate "It's Superior! Superior!" he tells Kate who begins to type S-U-P-E-R-I-O-R and right then, the control switch pops out.
"Yes!" Kate gestures pumping her fist and then holds the switch, flipping it down right when the timer reaches 10 seconds left. The timer freezes and then the device shuts off, deactivating the device and clearing the place from danger, prompting Kate to sigh in relief while Spidey approaches her.
"We did it?" he asks, to which Kate nods in response "We did it!" he jumps to celebrate while Kate stands up and jumps towards Spidey giving him a big hug in celebration, and right then, they both gaze into each other.
"You came for me" Kate whispers while looking at the white lenses of his mask and then she begins to slowly lift his mask.
"Kate, I…" Spidey tries to talk, but he is quickly interrupted by Kate.
"Ssshhhh" Kate shushes him while she lifts his mask enough to set free the lower part of his face and then she comes closer to him, kissing his lips softly, yet deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck while Spidey wraps his arms around her waist as he kisses her back with the same affection. However, their loving moment is interrupted when the sound of a throat clearing breaks the kiss between them and they both turn around to discover a certain teleporting elf nearby.
"AHEM!" Nightcrawler speaks "Sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to make sure you were OK, although I can see that you are very well" he pokes fun at her, causing her to blush while Spidey quickly covers his face again.
"Kurt!" Kate laughs at her friend "Is everything good down there?" she asks him, to which he nods in response.
"The Upstarts have been defeated and served, the local police has arrived but the agent with wings is helping out" Kurt comments, revealing that the NYPD has arrived but Teresa is assisting to control the situation being a Special Agent herself "Is that the bomb?" he comments, pointing at the chemical bomb device.
"It is, already deactivated" Spidey replies "Oh, and down below at the Penthouse you may find Shinobi and Doc Ock taken down" he points down explaining to Nightcrawler.
"Ja, copy that Spider-Man" Nightcrawler gives him a thumbs up "I'll take care of that, and then we'll head to the gate at Washington Square, just so you know"
"Thanks for the heads up, Kurt" Kate replies to her old partner and teammate.
"You're welcome, Liebchen" Nightcrawler smiles at his friend "I'll leave you back to your thing…lovebirds" he jokingly teases them and then 'Bamfs' out of sight to do his work.
"Is he always like that?" Spidey asks Kate, crossing his arms as he looks at her.
"Most of the times, back with the X-Men…and Excalibur" Kate replies shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, at least we now know we won, and it's finally over" he comments while he walks to the edge of the helipad.
"Now what?" Kate asks while she approaches him.
"Now…we make sure the bad guys go where they belong and then we celebrate" he jokes while he grabs Kate by the waist and then they both jump off the helipad to web-swing their way down and at least enjoy another brief moment before bidding their farewells and finally confront their feelings for each other.
And with this folks, the final battle is OVER! That can only mean one thing: Next chapter…is the FINAL Chapter. The end of our love story between a nice boy from Queens, New York and a nice girl from Deerfield, Illinois. Stay tuned for the Grand Finale!
NEXT CHAPTER: SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST!