Authors Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.
I saw Wonder Woman '84 this past week and...wow. I liked the first, even if I had issues with the third act, but this movie has very few redeeming qualities. I wasn't exactly optimistic about Rogue Squadron before but now I have absolutely no hope for it and that's a damn shame. If you haven't seen WW84 I can't recommend it at all, I would instead advise you skip it in favor of pretty much anything else.
ScreamingStuka: Glad to hear you liked it, especially since there will be more tank stuff than dogfights by the time I'm done. This is my first time doing a tank thing and so I played it safe with the BF3 dialogue, but now that I have a good feel for things I'll try to vary it up and do my own stuff in future segments.
Theother1. gater: Thanks for the kind words man, and I'm always glad to convert someone to the glories of the new Swedish Power Metal Empire. My favorite tune of theirs is Bismarck (which has the greatest music video ever) followed by the entire Carolus Rex album, but Attack of the Dead Men is up there for me too. It's great to hear that I nailed the combat sequences, the aim was always for a more 'grounded' take to them and it really is good to hear that you think it landed. Hopefully you'll stick around for the sequel too (assuming I actually get there). Titan vs. Titan is coming, but hopefully the planned upcoming Titan vs. T-84 segment will tide you over till then.
Jacksonian Democracy: The aim with that was to hold true to Felicia as she is written in the game this story is based on while also giving her a chance to course correct and get a bit of redemption, a lot of people have told me that it didn't quite land and I haven't been able to really figure out what would be the best way to change it to still meet both of those goals. And yes, Cooper does have a soft spot for the pretty ladies, that was just as much a way to differentiate him from Peter as it was him to show that Matt isn't a straight and narrow type, he does what he wants.
Now, it's been too long since I've gone with an AC/DC track and I'm going back to the always reliable well that is Highway to Hell for the last single the band released off that legendary 1979 album. Famously, it was performed by the band on the show 'Top of the Pops' less than two weeks before the lead singer, Bon Scott, tragically passed away.
The song itself is classic AC/DC, great work on the twin guitars by the Young brothers and Scott's great vocals are what stand out. Hearing Scott recount his experience with a gorgeous woman is what the Aussie does best and while the song is somewhat overshadowed by 'Shook Me All Night Long' off Back in Black, that doesn't mean it's bad, far from it. But yes, pondering the title and lyrics, it should come as no surprise that there is Explicit sexual content at the very end of this chapter. I wanted to get one last lemon in before the drought that will come with the City That Never Sleeps DLC storyline and it comes here just after Felicia's POV.
Power Without Question – Chapter 79: Touch Too Much
She had the face of an angel, Smiling with sin
A body of Venus with arms, Dealing with danger, Stroking my skin
Let the thunder and lightening start
It wasn't the first, It wasn't the last, It wasn't that she didn't care
She wanted it hard, And wanted it fast, She liked it done medium rare
Seems like a touch, a touch too much Seems like a touch, a touch too much
Too much for my body, too much for my brain, This kind of woman's gonna drive me insane
She's got a touch, a touch too much
Norman Osborn hummed in approval at the latest financial reports pertaining to his company, even with the PR disaster that had been the past November, Oscorp was already back in the black and well positioned to make not just a full recovery, but an expansion as well. Silver Sablinova had shocked the world when Sable International rolled into Symkaria two months ago, but her lighting success in the opening stage had since been followed by an expansion and solidification of the ground she had taken, and the war had slipped the general public's mind as it slowed. What hadn't slowed was the consumption of ordinance that Oscorp was producing for the war and the interest that other groups were showing in Oscorp innovations after seeing what they could do in Symkaria. Everything from small arms to artillery shells came from Oscorp and its subsidiaries to be processed and improved before being shipped out from New York Harbor and other nearby ports to begin making its way to the front lines in Symkaria.
Part of him wished that Otto were here, sitting here and forced to see his success despite what him and his cabal of psychopaths had done to try and take him down. But the CEO quickly perished the thought as he read through the latest trial of the newly formed Oscorp Heavy Industries division's first product, the Mako. The preproduction vehicles were performing acceptably as faults were identified and corrections prepared, and even in this early stage they were attracting interest from several countries seeking a more mobile alternative to the Canadian LAV III.
Additionally, the much more ambitious Project Olympus was also going well, with a preproduction batch of the fully integrated individual battle armor system having just come off the assembly line. A full 100 suits that offered protection, strength, sensors, and firepower equivalent to an IMC Stalker to anyone who wore them. Osborn was hoping that this project, intended for and funded by Sable International, would give Oscorp a market all to it's own. Everyone wanted to outfit soldiers with Iron Man armor, but Stark's refusal and the prohibitive cost of recreating it in any sort of numbers made that idea impossible, but Olympus could offer a middle ground that was affordable enough to come to fruition, with Oscorp being the sole supplier.
However, it wasn't all going perfectly, "sir, your 11 o'clock is here," alerted his assistant over the intercom. Norman pursed his lips and set aside his work and straightened his coat in preparation for this meeting. He knew what this meeting would be about, there had been some disturbing discrepancies in the shipping manifests, for reasons he was still investigating, not all of the supplies that had been produced actually arrived at their destination.
It was a concerning trend that had been going on for a month and a half and the numbers were only increasing with each passing week. "Send him in," instructed Osborn as the door swung open and the commanding figure of Director Nicholas Fury strode in with his singular eye fixed on Osborn. "Director Fury," greeted Norman Osborn with forced warmth as he stood and buttoned his suit jacket, but Fury was still stern faced as Osborn suppressed a grimace, "please take a seat Director."
Seemingly reluctant, the Executive Director sat down opposite the CEO and eyed him seriously, "Osborn," began Fury coldly, "I'm this close to personally kicking your ass all the way back to a holding cell in the Triskelion," he said as he held up a hand with thumb and pointer finger scant millimeters apart. "For the sake of my foot, and your ass, you'd better have a damn good reason for the shit that I've had come across my desk."
Osborn sighed at the Director's bluntness but couldn't blame him either as he replied "I don't have a good reason. My company's investigation is still ongoing, but I assure you that I am trying to get to the bottom of it." Fury snorted and Osborn narrowed his eyes as he elaborated, "this contract is what is keeping my company afloat Director, do not think me so shortsighted as to intentionally sabotage it," said Osborn with a scowl, "I may take risks, but I am not a fool."
"Jury's out on that," growled Fury as he worked his jaw while Norman's face remained still and placid. What he had neglected to mention was that, in a move to cut costs, he had trimmed down the Oscorp Internal Affairs department and that was coming back to bite him now. "What has your investigation found so far?" asked Fury suddenly, "if you're not shorting Sable International, then what is happening?"
Osborn grimaced, "someone is stealing from me," he admitted, "I haven't figured out who or how yet, but the investigation has confirmed that our facilities are shipping what we claim they are to the ports…"
"So, the problem is here in the city?" asked Fury, and Osborn gave a terse nod. The Director leaned back in his chair and let out a sharp breath before giving the CEO a single eyed sideways glance, "and I don't suppose you've gone to the NYPD for assistance…" Osborn didn't offer an answer, but that was answer enough for the Director, who shook his head, "of course you haven't," he muttered before meeting the billionaires gaze, "you dumb bastard." Osborn's hand clenched reflexively under his desk at the insult, but held his tongue as the Director continued, "by your own accounts you've already lost enough rifles, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, and god knows what the fuck else, to equip a battalion and you're not even close to figure out who has this stuff or where it's going yet you still won't call in the police?"
"The scandal that would ensue if the NYPD investigates Oscorp again…" began Osborn only to be abruptly cut off by the Executive Director.
"You'd better get this under control by the end of next week, either by yourself or with the help of the NYPD," he said, or rather demanded as he stood up and began walking towards the door, not even looking back as he added, "or you'll have every single Oscorp property swarming with federal agents the following Monday."
One of the perks of becoming an Associate Editor at the Daily Bugle was that Mary Jane got her own office. Sure, it may not have been much bigger than her old cubicle and it didn't even have a window, but it was a constant reminder that she was moving up in the world, and it was hers. And it was obvious to anyone who came in that it was hers too, from the three small plants that she made sure well always green to the half dozen photographs of her with either Peter, her friends at the Bugle, or amongst those who resisted the IMC. The wall visible from the door had the various headlines she had written framed there as a little way for her to show off her accomplishments. Behind her desk was a bulletin board where she organized her investigations, though that one was currently blank since her focus had been on other projects at the moment.
As she finished reviewing a new staffer's piece on the way the new Mayor was recovering from Devil's Breath, Mary Jane heard a knock at her door, "come in!" she called as she typed up the last of her critiques and sent it back to the staffer to get a few corrections made as the door opened and the Editor and Chief strolled in casually with a file in hand, "Robbie!" greeted MJ with a smile, "what's up?" she asked.
"I got something I want you to look into," began the older African American gentleman as he sat down, "depending on what you find it might be that new assignment you've been pestering me about the last couple weeks," he added. Instantly, he had the redheads attention as she sat up in her chair and grabbed a notepad and pen, flipping it open to write down anything pertinent as her boss opened up the file he had brought with him. "You ever heard of the Maggia, Watson?" asked Robbie as MJ nodded and he continued, "you hear of them recently?" he asked.
The Associate Editor furrowed her brow as she scribbled down the heading 'Maggia' on her note pad and went to her computer and pulled up her email, "now that you mention it Robbie, I've had a few people talking about them. Mainly in that they've actually seen them for the first time in…forever, basically," she summarized. Scrolling through her messages to the ones she had saved because they stuck out to her at the time, Mary Jane found the first and scanned through it before noticing a pattern in the bunch, "people are talking about them now being the ones trafficking drugs and guns now that Fisk has been put away, but that's the thing," she said as her eyes met Robbie's, "the only people talking about this are the regular ones. I haven't seen any of my sources in the Police talking about this, and I have one in the organized crime division."
Robertson nodded as he thumbed through the file and pulled out a few papers and passed them across Mary Jane's desk, "I went through our old files on them, but I've heard the same things, which has me worried," he admitted as the Associate Editor read through the information that Robbie had brought to her. "Because in the time that I knew them, they never did anything on the down low…unless it was something big," he revealed lowly, "and I'm afraid that's what's going on."
"You think they're trying to replace Fisk?" asked Mary Jane as she scribbled down notes from the paper she had read, noting the different families mentioned as she looked up at Robertson to see him shaking his head. "What then?" followed up the redhead, "something bigger than that?"
The Chief Editor didn't give a straight answer, instead just passing the entire file to Mary Jane, "I'm giving this assignment to you because if it is something more than that then I want it to be us who are covering it," he said as he pushed his chair back and got slowly back to his feet. "I know how you are Mary Jane," said Robbie in a low, serious tone, "but be careful when it comes to these Maggia types," he encouraged seriously before turning and heading for the door, only to stop at it and turn back to add one last thing. "Oh, and if it does turn out that they're up to something, you may want to give your…special friends…a call."
"I will," promised Watson with an affirming nod that her boss returned before opening the door and heading back out. As soon as it closed behind him, the redhead threw open the file and began going through everything pertaining to this new assignment, quickly starting to sort through what stuck out as most relevant to her. Grabbing a box of push pins from a desk drawer and one of the photos, she turned to that big blank board that she knew wouldn't be blank for long, after all, now she had work to do.
In the dining room of the Monteverde restaurant, owned by one of those Maggia families, that family's top members were gathered around the circular table, covered by white linen cloth topped by many empty plates as the men, dressed in their finest tuxes, sipped at the wine from the family importer as the Don at the head of the table stood to speak. Joseph Martello, standing six feet and five inches tall, towered over the other men at the table, and weighing 290 pounds, he had the stature to match his intimidating presence. Face badly scarred and given a distinct shape from the metal plate in his forehead, the appropriately named 'Hammerhead' raised his wine glass, "a toast!" he declared. "To the good old days of the past, and the better ones yet to come!"
As one, the men drank to their Don who then began to speak. "This has been quite a year, hasn't it?" he asked, getting a round of nods back from the seated men. "But life goes on. A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms." That declaration drew a few smiles and nods, "enthusiasms…enthusiasms, what are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy?" he asked as he reached under the table, "baseball!" he declared as he produced a wooden bat and held it up for the others to see, drawing a round of roaring laughter.
Hammerhead smiled with a sharklike flashing of teeth as he began to circle to table and the men seated at it. "A man stands alone at the plate," he began as he held up the bat, "this is the time for what?" he asked before pausing to see if any of the seated men had an answer. When none came, the Don continued, "for individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field? What?" he asked as he came to a stop behind a particular man who had a cigar in his hand, "part. Of. A. Team."
The men at the table nodded, understanding what Hammerhead was getting at, "yeah, teamwork," said one, getting a few hums and nods of agreement. The Don, satisfied, continued walking as he tossed the bat up in the air casually.
"Looks, throws, catches, hustles, part of one big team. Bats himself the live long day, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and so on. If his team doesn't field, what is he?" he asked, "you follow me?" The men nodded again. "No one. Sunny day, stands are full of fans. What does he have to say?" asked Hammerhead as he came to a stop again. "I'm goin' out there for myself. But, I get nowhere unless the team wins." There were a few nods from the men at the table as Hammerhead gripped both hands on the handle of the bat and swung at the back of a man's head, a man who Hammerhead knew had been taking more than his allotted cut. The wood cracked on his skull, sending him down face first into his plate before the bat was swung again, the impact shaking the table as blood flew across and stained the linen, and again, and again as blood poured from the crushed part of the man's skull and pooled on the table under his slumped over form.
When Hammerhead was done, he looked up at the faces of the rest of the shell-shocked men there and said, "you all better remember that," as he held the blood stained bat in his hands.
Wiggling his fingers inside the armored gloves of the Velocity Suit, Peter couldn't help but smile just a little bit as he picked up the armored mask and pulled it on, though while he struggled to do up the latches that connected it to the armor that covered his neck. That was a relatively minor flaw that he would work on, but it was the only thing that had gone wrong so far and as the HUD inside the mask booted up and he felt the suit come to life around him as the battery packs between his shoulder blades began to bring the motors and gyros up to full power. Even then, Peter could feel the suit emphasize his movements, even the small ones as he paced around the laboratory felt notably different, and kinda weird. "Yeah, this is pretty cool," he said with a bit of self-satisfaction that lasted precisely up until he saw that he had a text from MJ that read 'I want to leave at 7:30. Don't be late plz!' It was Friday evening after all, and if his girlfriend wanted to go out, then he was willing to take a few hours to go along with that.
Looking up at the clock on his HUD, the queens native could feel the color drain from his face as he saw it display '7:23' and said "Oh crap." He went to power everything down when realization dawned, the suit was working and working well, "let's see what this thing can really do," he said. Not wasting another second, he turned and made for the exit, feeling the way the Velocity suit worked around him as he stepped out into the spring evening as the sky darkened over Manhattan. Scrapping his foot against the ground as he checked that his webshooters were ready, the Webslinger took a breath before sprinting forwards and leaping off the roof as he fired a webline and swung, the additional weight from his armor causing him to have even more momentum that carried through the swing and after he let go, causing him to fly even further, crossing blocks in the blink of an eye.
Reaching a corner he flicked his wrist and loosed another webline to get him around the corner, only he flew around it faster than he expected and he felt his sixth sense hum as he quickly cut the line and flipped around so his feet hit the side of the wall, only he felt the gyros and servos come into play as he was able to maintain his balance and momentum despite the extra weight of the armor as he sprinted down the building and leapt off.
The blocks flew past as he passed traffic and pedestrians in record time, the Velocity Suit more than living up to its name when a familiar icon popped up on his hud, "a robbery? Right now? Really?" he asked as he reluctantly cut the line and stuck to the wall above the afflicted pawn shop. Dropping down onto the street, he peered through the ajar door and made out four men in stereotypical tracksuits and hoodies, two stuffing whatever struck their fancy into sacks while the other two took to the jewelry cases with crowbars, shoveling various items into their own bags as they went. Pushing on the broken door, the Wallcrawler stepped inside as the door hit the bell hanging from the doorframe, announcing his appearance to the four criminals as they all spun around to face the Webhead. "Hey guys, I was just looking to see if you had my commemorative stamp and…wait a second," he said, pointing a finger at each of them, "none of you work here, do you?" he asked.
Eventually, the criminals gathered their wits and responded to the appearance of the Webslinger and all turned to face him, "Spider-Man!" shouted one of them as he clenched his hands around his crowbar. Peter watched as the guy seemed to swallow and take his brave pills and charge at the Wallcrawler as he wound up and swung his weapon as hard as he could as he shouted "Web this!". The implement slammed square into Spider-Man's chest only to register as a 'thunk' as the weapon bounced off and barely left more than a scuff on the Velocity Suit.
"Wow, thanks for the help testing the armor," replied Spidey chipperly, seemingly unfazed as the advanced materials and structure of the Velocity Suit absorbed and mitigated the kinetic energy of the impact, meaning that the man inside took relatively little of it. As the man with the crowbar tried to register what had happened, the Wallcrawler fired a line that ensnared the crowbar and ripped it away, sending it skidding across the floor as the bewildered looking criminal stood there agape as Spider-Man dropped down and did a sweep the leg kick before standing up and throwing a quick series of punches that knocked the wind out of the criminal receiving them before he fell on the ground groaning. A second of the robbers grabbed a mirror from beside the counter and charged at Spider-Man as he finished off the first goon and slammed it into the hero's back as the first hit the floor, with the sound of shattering glass more noticeable to the Webhead than the force of the impact. "Heh, kinda nice to be able to take some hits," mused Spidey casually as he rounded on the second attacker with an over the top bicycle kick that had him slam the top of his armored shoe into the man's skull and put him out cold, "should've armored up years ago."
One of the two remaining men reached to his waistband for a weapon and Spider-Man got serious, digging in one foot and sprinting across the small store to the thug, rocketing up to top speed before realizing that he had already closed the gap. Unable to pull up in time, Spider-Man put his shoulder down and slammed into the man, even if his target was larger and heavier, the advanced armor more than made up the difference, transferring momentum to the man the Webhead had just hit and sending him flying back, slamming into the wall before slumping to the floor. The final criminal looked torn between running and fighting before finally cocking a fist back, but not before Spider-Man went low, trying to slide between his legs, only he failed to pull it off and instead ended up doing a chop block as he took out the man's legs. "Little stiff," grunted Spidey as the last criminal fell on top of him and the Webslinger tried to get away and back to his feet only to feel those same speed enhancing servos fight him every inch of the way. Then things got a whole lot worse as he felt his joints heat up and saw smoke rising from parts of his suit as those same parts sparked angrily, "ouch, I hope someone didn't order cooked spider."
The last remaining thug looked down at the struggling Arachnid and then the door before deciding to seize the opportunity and make a break for it, forgetting to even grab one of the half-filled sacks of looted goods before scurrying out the door and into the night. Gritting his teeth, Spider-Man realized that the suit had overheated from the heavy use, and perhaps some of the capacitors had been damaged in the fight, though he would have to take the suit apart to check that. "That could have gone better…" he muttered before realizing that he had to cut the power to his suit. "Aw crap," he groaned as he strained against the stiffened suit, bringing his right arm up towards his neck and the emergency power cutoff switch at the base of it, fighting the smoldering circuitry the whole way until his finger hit the small armored button and pressed it down, forced to hold it for three seconds as the heat at his elbow and shoulder joints got worse until the entire suit powered down.
Now only fighting the weight of the suit and not its overheated mechanical components, the Webslinger was now able to get to his feet despite the crispiness that he felt at his joints and shook out his arms and legs as his eyes saw an antique clock. "7:29!" he exclaimed as he rushed out the door, now relying on solely his spider enhanced physiology to carry him, "now I'm definitely going to be late." He didn't even have his mask phone to call MJ and let her know the source of his issue as he fired a webline to pull him up to a streetlight and spring off it before flailing a bit, struggling against the stiffness of the suit as he fired another webline and pulled himself up higher into the skyline. While it was only a third of the way of his entire journey, it took almost as long to cover as the first two thirds before his stop since he was now working against the stiff and hampering Velocity Suit instead of it helping him along.
Without his HUD, he didn't know how late he was when he saw Mary Jane's apartment come into view, but one thing that was rapidly becoming clear as he soared through the air was that he still wasn't used to the extra weight and hadn't lined up his swing right and overshot her window, instead having to stick his hand out to latch onto the brick and stop him cold in a move that would have pulled the arm from a normal man's socket but only knocked the wind from the Wallcrawler. Slowly working his way across the brick to the window, Peter undid the latch clumsily since the hardened fingertips of his gloves didn't offer the best tactile feedback and pulled the window open before trying to flip inside. Only he didn't quite tuck his legs in enough against the stiff armor and his foot caught the windowsill, causing him to tumble and wind up sprawled across the floor. "Ugh…" he groaned as he craned his neck to see a rather less than amused Mary Jane staring down at him as she tapped her foot impatiently, "hi MJ."
She looked poised to ask what had happened before evidently thinking better of it, "I don't even want to know," declared the redhead as she came out from the kitchen, clearly already dressed for their planned night out. A tight skirt that stopped six inches north of the knees and a top that had the sleeves rolled up at the elbows to expose her toned forearms and deep cleavage that made her modest b cup breasts look really good, especially as she bent over to get a look at him. Peter was really happy that the suit's armor was quite rigid in that moment as he unlatched the mask and pulled it off, hoping that he wasn't blushing too badly. "How do I get you out of this thing Tiger?" asked Mary Jane as she bit her red lipstick covered lip.
"Latches on the top," he replied as he sat up and undid the one that connected the armor sitting on his shoulders and pulled off that section, "and then with that off I can just slip out of the rest, it's one piece," he began as he held his right glove with his left hand and pulled one arm out and doing the same with the other so that the inner layer was now set under his armpits, "it should be a piece of cake." Now he only had to get off the rest of the suit and he tried pulling it down, only the stiffened servos made it extremely difficult. Fighting the charred electronics, Peter flopped back down on the floor and wiggled about like a dead fish as he slowly worked the suit off while Mary Jane tried to stifle her giggles of amusement at the sight. "Almost…got it…" he grunted before he finally got his legs free and he escaped the powerless and stiff suit.
"Flattering," quipped Mary Jane with a hint of huskiness that caused Peter to blush again as he realized he was just in his boxers and his girlfriend was ogling his defined muscular chest, "but as much as I could look at that all night, we have to get going," she said before grabbing a shirt and pair of pants he had left there, "here."
Smiling sheepishly, Peter dressed quickly, one of those odd skills he had picked up because of his time as Spider-Man. Pulling on some casual dress shoes and grabbing his phone and wallet from the compartments in his suit, he gave MJ a kiss that she happily returned as he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her towards the door, "where are we going again?" he asked as the couple made their way out the door.
Mary Jane locked her door as she gave her answer, "we're meeting a couple of my friends from the Bugle at this club over on the east side, it's at the top of one of the skyscrapers, it's called 'The High Life,' I think." Peter tried to think of why that sounded familiar as they made their way to the elevator and began to descend when it hit him.
"Oh yeah, Matt was telling me about that place," said the wallcrawler as the lift carried them down and pinged as the doors opened to reveal the ground floor of the apartment building. "Apparently both him and Felicia really like the place. He says they have good mixed drinks, or rather that Felicia likes them," he quickly amended, not ever recalling an instance where he had seen the Texan with a mixed drink, always preferring simple beer or whiskey. "Though Matt said he just likes it because it's the only place in town with Lone Star." Both of them shared a laugh at that as they made their way outside and Peter hailed a cab, "would you mind if I invite him and Felicia?" asked Peter.
MJ nodded quickly, "good idea Tiger, maybe we can convince them to pick up the tab."
As soon as the traffic light turned green, the red and black Viper snarled as the back tires dug in and launched the car forwards off the line as the revs shot up to the redline and Cooper pressed his left foot down and yanked the shifter into second as the 8.4L V10 bellowed brilliantly. With the throaty sound echoing off the buildings before, sadly, he was up against the speed limit and rapidly approaching the traffic ahead and was forced to slow down, albeit reluctantly. Matt grinned as he gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat, "god I've missed this," he said as he pressed the clutch in and stabbed the throttle, letting the V10 rev and making the rest of the car vibrate as a result.
"Driving the car?" asked Felicia as Matt turned to look at the smirking and smoking hot woman in the passenger seat, "or seeing me in a dress like this?" she purred as she arched her back to strike a pose as the car came to a stop at another light. Even in the dimly lit interior of the Viper, Matt could make out the form fitting one shoulder mini cocktail dress she wore, black velvet clinging to every exquisite curve from her breasts down to her waist, hips, and ass, before stopping not far past her plump derriere.
Cooper couldn't help but grin as he moved his right hand from the shifter to her leg, caressing it as he ran his fingers along the inside of her thigh up towards the hem of her short dress, "tough choice," drawled the Texan as he ran his finger in circles over smooth skin. He heard her breath hitch before he quickly pulled his hand away and put the stick shift into first as he rounded the corner, "but since I prefer seeing you without the dress, I'm going to say driving the car," he answered with a cocky smirk while guiding the V8 Eater into a parking garage and bringing it to a stop in a parking space.
As the two got out, with Matt in a grey blazer, plain black shirt, and casual khaki pants, Felicia walked around the back of the car, running a finger over the curve of the rear of the Viper as she spoke, "I'm glad you're enjoying your ride cowboy," purred the platinum blonde, "because I'm going to enjoy taking you for a ride later tonight." With that, the vixen pressed up against his side as Matt's lips met hers and they exchanged a brief but smoldering kiss.
When it broke, Cooper grinned confidently, "I can't wait," he answered as he gave her ass a squeeze before wrapping his arm around her and leading her inside the elevator in the parking garage that would be the first of three they would need to take to get to The High Life.
Ascending the skyscraper, the couple soon reached the entrance to the club and went straight inside, with Matt giving a curt nod of acknowledgement to the bouncer as he pulled the velvet rope back to let the couple pass. One of the reasons that Matt liked this place was that it didn't always have EDM, usually going for a more subdued atmosphere, such as tonight, where a smooth jazz filled the air. Felicia sauntered through the club like she owned the place while Matthew matched her pace with confident strides as they made their way through the establishment until the found Peter, MJ, and a few other acquaintances that the Texan recognized from a few other times like this. "Howdy y'all," drawled Matt as the couple sat down alongside Peter and MJ, with the two women between the two men. Across from them were Betty Brant, Gloria Grant, and Ned Leeds, each with their own drinks. A waitress quickly appeared, and Matt simply said, "a cosmo for her and a Lone Star for me," he ordered as the waitress quickly went to fetch their drinks.
"Been a while Cooper," began Leeds. Matt had met the Daily Bugle's webmaster a few times, and while the guy came off as fairly sharp, he was the type who was most comfortable behind a computer. "You get up to anything interesting lately?" he asked as Matt and Felicia's drinks arrived.
The Texan took a sip of his beer, keenly aware that he was going to have to drive home as he lowered the bottle before answering. "Nothing that exciting," answered the Pilot truthfully, the new year had been quite slow. He still worked with Peter and the NYPD, but the Marauder hadn't been needed for anything really exciting since Octavius had been put away, with most of his action being breaking up small time drug deals, the occasional armed robbery, and one high speed chase. It wasn't like he had gotten a proper job in the meantime either, a bit of wise investing meant that he wasn't hurting for cash in the slightest. Osborn may have been an unmitigated asshole, but at least he was good at making Cooper money, which was better than most of the other people that the Texan deemed 'assholes.'
The conversation ebbed and flowed for almost two hours, with Felicia ending up on Matthew's lap before she turned to the redhead on their right and asked, "what are you up to Red? You got yourself a new scoop yet?" The associate editor was leaning against Peter while the Queens Native happily munched on the appetizer that was sitting in the middle of the table.
Matthew continued to nurse his beer carefully as he heard MJ answer, which was given with only a slight slur. "Just started working on a new one," replied the woman, "and I think it's going to be an interesting one." Coming from her, that got Matt's attention and he turned to her, even as he kept an arm around his girlfriend. Mary Jane finished off her mixed drink before elaborating for an expecting Felicia, "people are saying that the Maggia are back and making waves again," she revealed, and Cooper tensed immediately. He felt a delicate hand cover his own and give it a reassuring squeeze as the redhead continued, "I've only been looking into it for a few days, and most of that has been spent on background research, but I know something is up."
Matt could almost feel his face blanche at that thought, memories of Mathilda came flying back to the forefront, seeing what Hammerhead's gang had done to her before leaving her as a grisly warning to him. Felicia and he had been working on various plans to deal with the Maggia for a while, but they had all been made with the idea that they could enact them on their own time. But that worry quickly turned to anger, he could not just sit back and let this happen and already his mind was moving to think of what he had to do. "That sounds like it could be fun," replied Felicia, "make sure you let us know if it is."
The heiress then turned around to look at the Texan, and even though he forced a smile, he could tell from her expression that she probably saw the murder in his eyes. Cooper could see her frown slightly, clearly worried as he forced himself to take a breath and relax as she brought her hand up to caress his cheek, but it was clear that his mood had changed and she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I think it's time you take me home Cowboy." Matt nodded tiredly, the fact that her tone was missing a seductive allure made it clear that she knew what he wanted to do. She gave him a short but tender kiss before turning back to the rest of the table. "Good catching up with all of you, but I'm starting to feel frisky and need to take him to help with that little problem," she purred with a wiggle of her hips before she got off his lap and slipped out of the booth.
Matt pulled his wallet from his pocket and told the rest of the group, "sorry to leave y'all all of a sudden, but I know better than to argue with her when she's like that," he explained. Picking out a few $100 bills and placing them on the table, he added, "that should cover us and help y'all out. Take care folks," he drawled as he gave the group a wave and slipped out of the booth.
Linking arms with his girlfriend, the two made for the exit, and once they were well out of even Peter's extensive earshot, Felicia asked quietly, "you going to be okay Matthew?" Her tone was soft and even had an underpinning of genuine concern that gave the Pilot pause.
"Yeah," answered the Marauder, "especially once we have some idea of what we're going to do about them." When he didn't get an immediate answer back, he followed up by saying, "that is, if you're still up for this…" he prompted.
To his relief, she shook her head, "still up for stealing millions from the crime families that took my father from me? You could bet that sexy ass of yours on that Stud," she assured as Cooper smirked a bit. "And I want payback for what they did to her too," she added, without the seductive lilt, "I want to make them hurt."
"Then we'd better get to work," agreed the SRS Pilot, "start getting a game plan together and setting it up, hopefully we can beat these sonsofbitches to the punch." As they passed the exit and stepped into an empty elevator to take them back down, Matt sighed deeply, "I didn't expect to get any sleep tonight because I'd be spending it with you," he admitted, "I just thought it would be because I'd be spending it in you," added the Texan with a small smirk.
Felicia smirked up at him in return as she twisted and pressed herself into him as his hand trailed down to the small of her back and she pressed her lips to his for a brief but exciting moment before pulling back. "Forget who you're dealing with? We're going to have to work hard to get ready and after that…well I'm going to need some serious stress relief."
After a long weekend of planning, going through everything they had on the Maggia from her earlier heists as well as from the various cameras, bugs, and wiretaps she had left in their various homes and businesses, Felicia was confident in the basic plan. In short, the Maggia had secured their 640-million-dollar account with 5 encrypted data keys on thumb drives, one to each family. The overall plan was for the couple to steal those drives and use them to force the families to come out and get them back, at which point Matt would have his shot at taking them down.
Not that either of them was expecting things to be that easy, and Felicia had scrutinized the most likely possibilities before they both put their heads together to design ways to counter them. While the weekend had been spent planning, the following Monday and Tuesday had been spent ensuring that they had the equipment they might need in place as well as preparing for some of the possible consequences of the oncoming storm. Cooper had been busy making sure his guns were ready while Felicia had given her gear a nice shine, she had to look her best for a job this big after all.
Still, that didn't mean that she was treating this like 'just another job,' because she didn't clean out her penthouse for 'just another job.' "Hey Darlin," drawled her cowboy as he leaned against the doorframe at the entrance to her walk in closet, his tight workout shirt giving her a delicious view of his defined chest. "That's the last of the boxes out there," he reported, "you sure you want to leave the furniture?" As many great memories she had in this place, the heiress was not opposed to some new scenery, after all, she would have a hunk of a Texan to serve as both eye candy and her stallion to use for when she needed some fun.
The platinum blonde seductress shook her head, "I'm sure. None of it is anything that special," she replied. As she made her way through the penthouse, she was finding that was true of most of her things. Couple that with how she lived a relatively spartan life, and there really wasn't all that much to pack up, which was a bit of a shame, she loved to see Matt when he worked up a sweat. "Don't go too far cowboy, I'm just going through my wardrobe," she said, as she seemed to have enough clothes and jewelry to make up for her lack of housewarming items. When Matt said that 'her body was her temple' there might have been a bit of literal truth to it, even if he probably meant it differently. Still, she was trying to prioritize what she would need most if she had to leave this place behind, "I forgot I had these," she said as she pulled out a pair of lacey crotchless panties and held them up for him to see, "worth keeping?"
"Oh fuck yes," answered Matt huskily before asking, "why haven't I seen you in those before?"
Felicia replied with a Cheshire grin before bending over provocatively, folding up the underwear and putting them in her 'keep' box as she replied "because Stud, you're a lot to handle as it is. I don't need to give you any help," she replied as she went through the rest of that set of drawers and folded up that box. "Almost down Cowboy, just one more dresser and that rack and that should be everything," she finished as he picked up the box, "then we get to have some real fun."
"Can't wait babe, I'll be right back," he drawled before turning and heading out, Felicia appreciatively watching his ass the whole way.
She had been honest when she said he was enough fun as it was, but that didn't mean she didn't have a few items for when she had to deal with partners who weren't quite as exciting as the Pilot. Grabbing another box, she opened the drawer that had those toys, quickly packing away those to make sure they remained a surprise in case she did ever use them with Matthew, Felicia felt heat pool between her legs as she finished her task. "I'm such a naughty kitty," she mused as she finished, running her hand through the back of the drawer to ensure she got everything, only to feel fabric brush against her fingers. Trying to pull it forwards, the fabric was heavier than it should have been, almost as if something was sitting on top of it. Finally pulling it forward, Felicia found that the offending fabric was another pair of crotchless panties, only this time with black lace instead of the red of the earlier pair. Further cementing the heiress' earlier self-assessment, the weight proved to be a leather collar that was bejewled with the words 'Naughty Kitty' in big silver letters, which stood out against the black leather.
Looking up to the last rack of clothes, she saw a black leather suit with white fur trim that she hadn't worn in years and smiled deviously as a plan took shape. Now moving with more intent to finish her packing, she was dead certain that if this was the last night she spent in this penthouse, then it would be one to remember.
Stepping off the elevator after driving the Raptor back to his warehouse and taking the Mustang back, Cooper opened the door and stepped inside the penthouse, only to find it darkened and quiet. "I'm back Darlin," he called out as he walked further inside, "Felicia? You there babe?"
Thankfully, the heiress' sultry voice flowed through the penthouse not long after, "back here cowboy, I just need your help with one more thing." Cooper turned towards the hallway that led to her bedroom and dutifully made his way towards his girlfriend's voice, walking into the room that now just had her well used king-sized bed and barren walls. "Little farther Matt," prompted Hardy from her closet as the Pilot went into the walk-in space, which was similarly dimmed.
Trying to peer through the darkness to see his girlfriend, Matt suddenly felt a presence at his flank as he turned to it and was met with a kiss from a pair of familiar lips as Felicia pressed herself against him and forced him to stagger back from the surprise assault. While her experienced hands quickly pulled up his shirt as the back of his legs hit something and he stumbled back, only being caught by what was clearly a chair as his shirt was pulled off and tossed aside. When the Pilot tried to stand up, he felt a pair of gloved hands on his bare shoulders, "hold your horses cowboy, I want you to stay right there for me, okay?" she asked, whispering breathily into his ear and sending a chill down his spine and his blood the same direction. Cooper forced his hands to grab the armrests and squeeze so hard his knuckles went white, but he managed a nod anyways, his face brushing against the platinum haired vixen. "Good, I'm going to turn on the lights now. I want you to see what I have to show you."
Swallowing, Cooper could feel his quickly hardening member strain against his sweatpants, but when the lights came on and Matt saw Felicia, he could have sworn his cock try to rip clean through. "Fuck me," he muttered as he blinked a few times, clearing his vision to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, they weren't.
"Oh, I will stud," assured Felicia in her sultriest seductive purr, as she wrapped her hair around a finger playfully. The Black Cat was wearing a skintight black leather catsuit that hugged her powerful form like her current gear, but without her hood, any of the light flexible armor plates, leaving the material smooth and able to hide none of her curves. Cooper wasn't looking at her curves, he was looking at her cleavage, revealed by a deep 'v' that trailed down below her breasts, so deep that he could clearly see that there wasn't any fabric of a bra on her pale skin just as clearly as he could see the white fur that lined that cleavage as well as lined the ends of her sleeves before the white gloves took over. Felicia's piercing green eyes peered out from behind a thin domino mask to watch him look her over as she spun on her heeled shoes. "You like? It's my old costume from when I first started," explained the vixen as she strutted towards him before leaning forwards and resting a gloved hand on each of his thighs, also giving him an even better view of her tightly constrained tits as she asked breathily, "what do you think?"
Numbly, Matt carefully brought a hand up and ran a finger along her jawline until he reached the end of her chin and tilted her head up to give him a clear view of the black leather collar that wrapped around her elegant pale neck. "I like it a lot," he finally managed with a bit of a grin as he read the words on the collar, 'Naughty Kitty' and felt his member strain against the cotton confines of his pants.
Felicia leaned in closer, placing one hand on the one Cooper still had on the armrest, pinning it down as she ran her other teasingly against his cock, "I can tell," she purred while she put a leg outside his and swept his together before settling down on top of them, his free hand finding it's way to the small of her back to keep her close to him. "You know one of the advantages of this costume? It's easier to get out of," she teased seductively as she moved her hand from his crotch to the zipper at the center of her body, "want me to show you?" Matt's mouth was so dry that he couldn't verbally respond, so he simply nodded as he tried to pull Felicia closer, only for the Platinum blonde to dig her heels into the floor and resist his arm as she slowly, teasingly, pulled the zipper down.
As he heard the 'tick' of each bit of the fastener came undone, Matt realized that he had been holding his breath as he watched more of her smooth milky skin be revealed, all the way down to the top of her navel until the zipper reached its end, just above the point that would tell him if she had anything at all on under the catsuit. Like dismounting her motorcycle, the Thief smoothly swung one shapely leg up and over Coopers to get off, but she didn't stop there, twirling around to end up with her back facing him and her legs between his knees, her back arched to give him a close up of her leather bound bottom, the material covering it hugging her shapely rear tautly, with no crease in sight. That view only went away as she sat down, pressing that ass into his rock hard member and slowly wiggling her hips as his hands instantly came to them to hold her there as she continued to tease. After Felicia leaned forwards to make sure he couldn't peak over her shoulders, Matt could still her work her left arm free, that half of the top of the catsuit falling off her shoulder to make it clear she in fact did not have a bra on as she worked the other arm off let the suit fall away, hanging about her hips as she stood up, bare back facing him as her hands came to her breasts before she turned around, flashing him a wicked smile. Her hands failed to entirely cover her breasts, but did preclude her nipples firm view as she held her full and perky tits for him. "Mhmm, you like these tits, don't you stud?" she asked as she squeezed them and played with them, letting the supple flesh flow between her fingers, "like to see them do this…"
Only then did her hands fall away to reveal her tits in their full glory, the nipples that capped them standing erect before Felicia shimmied her shoulders, causing those wonderous boobs to hypnotically shake as only all natural flesh could. When they finally stopped swinging and came to a stop, Felicia smiled seductively, "but I think you'll like to see them do this more." Dropping to her knees, she grabbed the waistband of his sweatpants as he subconsciously lifted his hips and felt her pull down is pants and boxers in one go, letting his throbbing cock spring free. "Beautiful," whispered Felicia as she wrapped a had around his member and planted a kiss on it's head, "I love seeing your cock like this, all rock hard for me, just as much as you like my tits." She then reached down into her ankle high boot and pulled out a small bottle as she brought her other hand up to her mouth and pulled off the white glove she wore with her teeth before squirting some of the clear liquid onto her bare hand. Wrapping that hand around Matt's erection, he felt a chill from the lube as she stroked him firmly, but he couldn't focus on that as Felicia upturned the bottle and emptied the rest of its contents onto her tits before tossing the empty vessel aside and yanking off her second glove the same way as the first and then using both hands to rub the lube into her creamy flesh until they shined in the light of the closet, "how about we put them together?"
With that, she leaned in and wrapped her two terrific tits around his cock, smothering his manhood in soft and smooth feminine flesh, capped off with a lecherous smile that made his erection twitch against its pleasurable prison. Felicia didn't wait to turn up the heat and worked her breasts up and down his length erotically, using her hands to press her tits together with his cock caught in between. "That feels so good babe," managed Matt through clenched teeth as he ran a hand through her platinum blonde hair, "fuck you are a naughty kitty," he grunted as his balls churned. "I'm gonna cum…" he warned.
But that only made Felicia pick up the pace, "do it stud. Give me that cum!" she ordered, and Matt couldn't hope to resist his sultry lover any longer. A string of hot seed spurted out of his cock and fell across Felicia's chest before it was joined by several more ropes that painted those thoroughly claimed breasts with his own seed. Felicia was breathing heavily as she ran her finger along her collar bone, scooping up the cum and then sucking her finger clean with a wet 'pop' before saying, "as tasty as the cock it came from," she purred.
Felicia went to scoop up more of his seed only for Matt to say, "stop," lowly, barely getting the word out through his haggard breathing, but the vixen complied. "Leave it there," he ordered lowly as Felicia raised a questioning eyebrow, "wearing this tells me you're naughty," he said as he wrapped a finger around the leather collar and gave it a tug, "but wearing that tells me you're mine."
The Black Cat, from her knees before him, smiled, "marking your territory, eh stud?" she asked with a gleam in her eye as she stood back up, cum still running down her breasts, "well let me show you what you just claimed." Turning, Felicia then bent over provocatively, her ass clearly straining against the bottom half of the catsuit as the top half hung from her hips while she slowly worked off each shoe and tossed them aside before reaching back up and hooking her thumbs into her suit and pulling it down, slowly revealing the lacey black panties she wore. As the leather gave way to lace that barely covered the pale flesh beneath that made up her perfectly formed rear, she revealed one last surprise. Halfway down her firm ass, the panties split open in the middle in a cutout that gave Matt an unobstructed view of her wet womanhood as the leather was slipped down her bare, toned legs and pooled on the floor at her feet.
Arching her back, the platinum blonde reached to her rear and grabbed an ass cheek with each hand, spreading them wide, and the slit in her underwear along with them. "I know you're an ass man Matthew, and are a sucker for this one, go on, feel how firm it is," she beckoned, and Cooper did. As he kneaded her supple flesh, Cooper watched Hardy turn her head and lick her fingers before bringing them between her legs and running them along her lower lips before one finger, and then two, slipped into her slit and extracted a moan from the seductress as her other hand pinched an erect nipple. As she spread the lips of her juicy cunt and extracted her fingers, Matt could see her arousal drip from her womanhood, "I'm so wet for you stud," she cooed as she looked over her shoulder, "so now I need a nice hard cock for me."
To make that happen, Matt watched her sit down on his lap, his cock pressed to the slit in her crotchless panties, able to feel the heat radiating off her pussy and ass as she wiggled her hips, grinding her most intimate region against his slowly stiffening manhood. Matt brought an open hand down on her bottom, making it shake against his cock from his spank, "you want a hard cock? Keep doing that with that ass of yours darlin," he drawled as he reached around to fondle her tits. He pinched a nipple, drawing a gasp as she picked up the pace, doing her best to smother his cock with her ass and pussy, but the now fully erect cock pushed back as Matt began adjusting his hips, trying to guide his cock inside of the pussy it was so close to.
But a petite hand soon wrapped around his member and guided it through both the slit of her panties and then the slit of her pussy, slowly lowering herself down to envelop his throbbing erection in a sheath of warm and moist flesh on all sides. Matt continued to cup and fondle her breasts from behind as her ass settled on his crotch and Felicia shuddered as she was completely filled and fully aroused. "Fuck yes stud," moaned the platinum blonde as she lifted her ass before dropping back down, her ass bouncing inside her lace panties as it impacted his hard body, "you fill me so good!" she screamed as she dropped down and filled herself again, again, and again, driving Cooper further into her cunt with each self-impalement. The sounds of slapping flesh filled the air, only contested by panting breath from both of the lovers as Matt's cock slid in and out of Felicia's slick pussy. The sight of the Black Cat's panty clad ass bouncing on his dick as he fucked her drove Matt crazy as he leaned forward, pulling Felicia to his chest as he suckled on the flesh of her collar bone, marking her skin as his hands continued to squeeze her cum covered tits. Matt could feel Felicia's cunt clench around him as she screamed out, "fuck! I'm cumming! I'm cumming on this big dick!"
The Black Cat came down one more time as Matt pinched her nipples, twisting them to further drive her over the edge as her pussy tried to milk his cock of more cum, but Matt held firm as she rode through the wave of her orgasm and came down, relaxing against his muscular torso as he continued to tenderly caress her breasts. "It feels good to have you cum around my cock darlin," drawled Cooper huskily as one hand trailed down her body to rest on her cunt, which was still split open by his manhood, "a naughty kitty like you needs a naughty kitty like this."
A sultry and satisfied moan flowed from the slightly parted lips of the woman sitting in his lap, sounding like music to his ears as she slowly recovered, every one of her small movements caressing his still stiff member with her slick walls. "And you have a nice long thick cock like a hung stud should," she moaned, "and since it's splitting me open, I can tell it's still hard. And this naughty kitty wants her cream."
"You ready for another round then?" asked Matt as he felt the need to empty his swelling balls surge inside him, and as soon as Felicia smirked and nodded he went to work. Reaching forwards, he grabbed each of her legs, hooking his hands under her knees and pulling them up until her knees were pressed to her shoulders, her legs framing her tits and fully exposing her pussy, which he could see in the mirror that covered the door. "Look at that view," said Matt lowly, his voice husky as Felicia looked at the reflection of her pulled into a full nelson while her pussy was stuffed with a thick cock that dripped with her arousal. "Hold on tight sweetheart, I want you to watch me fuck this pussy like I own it," he growled before thrusting his hips up, driving the head of his cock all the way to her far wall as she screamed out.
"It's yours!" she cried out, her hands pressed almost painfully into Matt's thighs, her nails digging into his skin like spurs as he rutted into her, his arms still pinning her legs to her chest as he thrusted his manhood deep into her tight snatch. "Fuck that pussy stud!" she moaned as she was bounced up and down by his vigorous assault. Felicia's slick cunt, already soaking and loose, offered no resistance to his cock as her breasts bounced violently in time with each thrust while he felt her legs thrash and kick against his arms as he pounded her pussy relentlessly. "Ah…ahh…oh fuck…Ah!" screamed Felicia as he felt her writhe around his member and her lust gnarled face stared back at him from the mirror. "Cum in me! Cream my naughty pussy!"
Matt couldn't hold out after hearing the need in her cry and slammed into her harder, ramming his cock all the way in before almost withdrawing it completely before it was driven back in, "argh!" roared Cooper as his hips slammed forward in one final thrust that triggered Felicia's orgasm. The Platinum blonde stiffened, her legs straightening as her toes curled and her cunt clamped around him and his cock erupted inside her pussy.
While he could feel his dick spurt deep inside the Black Cat's depths, Matt was more focused on watching Felicia's spasming cunt erupt with her own arousal, spraying the fluid all over the floor ahead of them as she cried out in ecstasy before collapsing against him, her beautiful body splayed out atop his. As his softening manhood slowly slipped from Felicia's cunt, followed by a drip of his seed and her arousal, Matt finally managed to speak. "That was hot," whispered the Texan throatily, still drinking in the air that smelled of their lovemaking, one hand was wrapped around her sweat shined stomach while the other rested against that leather collar around her neck, "you really lived up to this."
"Hmmm," answered Felicia contentedly as she fondled one of her cream coated tits, "you enjoy watching me get fucked like that? Or was it that getting fucked like that made me cum so hard I squirted?"
"Both," returned Matthew with a cocky grin as he gave her body a squeeze before and his fingers worked their way under her panty's waistband. "Though I like these too," he admitted as he let the band snap back to her skin, "they make your ass look good and give me easy access to your pussy."
"Just what I want from my panties," purred Felicia as she craned her neck around and sought his lips with hers, a heated meeting followed as they explored each other's mouths with their tongues, hungry for each other as their bodies rested before the next round. When the Platinum Blonde pulled back, breasts heaving with each heavy breath, she said, "I'm ready for bed. And by that, I mean I'm ready for you to fuck me into it."
Matt sighed at the woman's insatiable appetite, "lookin' to get your money's worth out of it, huh?" he asked as he snaked his muscular arms under her and stood, holding Felicia bridal style as made his way towards her desired destination.
But the heiress laughed airily at that thought, "I did that long ago cowboy. I'm just curious as to how much it has left to give." Matt grinned, eager to see if they could reach the mattress' breaking point.
Cooper's Logbook – Organizations: The Maggia
The five independent crime families that operate under the banner of the Maggia are the longest running organized criminal group in New York City and can trace their roots back past their heydays in the eighties, sixties, and twenties to go all they way back to the late 19th century. While in those early days the families had to contend with the Irish Mob, all five remaining groups are descendants of either the Sicilians or the Italians. Over time the exact nature of their operations changed, but the families always had a few reliable calling cards that saw them threw the decades. Gambling rings, protection rackets, loan sharking, prostitution, and narcotics are staples of all of the families, though each one branches out in their own ways. Some do more legit business, owning restaurants and bars that make money in addition to doubling as money laundering fronts, while others have their fingers in arms dealing, executing hits, and information brokering. The only thing they all have in common is that they don't get along that well and usually agree to not step on each other's toes, both in terms of territory in the city and in business.
But that diversity and hands-off approach was what led to problems for them in the mid nineties as they were pressed in on two sides. On one hand a reinvigorated NYPD, with mayoral support and the efforts of a few dedicated officers, started to crackdown on them, hard. Shutting down fronts and arresting more and more valuable members, while the crooked cops and judges that had served the families so well were either deftly avoided by prosecutors or rooted out alongside the men that had paid them off. From the other end, a new player in the Criminal underworld was slowly putting the screws to the Maggia: Wilson Fisk. The Kingpin of crime built up and ran his empire with ruthless efficiency and strong leadership that allowed his syndicate to outmaneuver the more fragmented Maggia Families and their complacent Dons until Fisk had cemented himself at the top.
For decades the Dons were forced to operate in the shadow of Fisk, with some complacent and content, expecting to wait out the Kingpin while others attempted to gain more power, mainly by expanding into areas that Fisk refused to. Prostitution was one area the Kingpin stayed out of and that caused some Dons to expand there, Hammerhead notably took things one step further and dallied in human trafficking.
Hammerhead, that sonofabitch and his fucked up face is one of the biggest cocksucking assholes I've ever had the displeasure of coming across, and I've met Norman Osborn, Kuben Blisk, and Wilson Fisk.
But just because he's the worst of the bunch doesn't mean the others are saints. All the families have kept New York's concrete shoe makers in business though the years and their loose ends litter the bottom of the Hudson. They've extorted good, hard working people since their inception and exploited anyone they can lay their hands on. They murdered a teenage girl when they couldn't sell her to the highest bidder. All of that in an attempt to reclaim their position atop the criminal underworld.
And now that they have, they also get my full and undivided attention.
Closing Notes: Alright, that's all the setup for the DLC, and by that I mean I was reminded of how great a movie 'The Untouchables' is and, we'll say 'was inspired' by one of the best scenes in that film. Seriously, if you haven't seen The Untouchables then go do that. The bit with Spider-Man's suit breaking down is inspired by a similar sequence in the Velocity comic miniseries. Otherwise, there wasn't a lot of really interesting stuff in this chapter from a story perspective. I will say that there won't be much of the Symkarian Civil War for a while as the focus is squarely on New York, though there will be one chapter in Symkaria before the end of the City That Never Sleeps cycle.
Curious as to opinions regarding the lemon, something very different than the last one, and for those of you who preferred the style of the previous one, don't worry, there will be more like that in the future. The aim is a mix of the two styles, but if you have any thoughts on this style and what parts you like and don't like for the future ones like this then let me know. I definitely did a few different things so I want to know if any of them worked.
I can't guarantee the long term upload schedule as school resumes, but I should have the next two chapters out at the usual time as we begin 'The Heist.'
Running out on the edge, I see the world in Neon Red.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.
