Author's note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.
Alright everyone, it's time to laugh at the Steelers! They were so awful Sunday Night that everyone forgot about Mike Vrabel's godawful cowardly punt. Apologies to any Yinzers who might be reading this.
This is officially the start of The City That Never Sleeps DLC storyline, we are back to things being based on events in the game. That also means that many of you who played the game will know what happens, but I suspect that number will be lower than for the main game. Still, I'm curious as to how they'll be viewed both by people who know the story as well as those that don't. That being said, I will be deviating more from the story that the game portrays than I did in the base game for a variety of reasons, from "I think what they did was dumb" to it conflicting with how things have developed in this story. I'm not rewriting the whole thing, just elements that I feel wouldn't work here.
As for the tune, this is another from Miracle of Sound, and it's for Cyberpunk 2077...and I'm not going to say anymore about that. What I will say is that I do want to try mixing up the titles a bit and the tonal shift of The Heist befits something a little different than what I've been doing. So I'm going to do a bit more Synthwave and similar type electronic music at least until Turf Wars.
Power Without Question – Chapter 80: Neon Red
The mind and the spirit amplified
Running out on the edge
Running out on the edge
To break every limit, maximize
Running out on the edge
Running out on the edge
Whether by wire or spitting lead
There is no techno evolution for the dead
Psychotic dreams, a rising dread
I see the world in neon red
Jostling the bolt and bolt carrier of the Hemlock BFR back into place, Cooper then closed up the receiver of the rifle and pinned it back together before grabbing the charging handle and yanking it back, making sure nothing felt off about the rifle he had just cleaned before setting it aside to join the other weapons he had just double checked. While he was confident that he could pull any weapon off the rack and it would operate flawlessly, he would prefer to find out his confidence was misplaced now than later, when his life might depend on his weapons working. He had already gone over the rest of his kit before putting it on, with just his helmet sitting on the table in front of him next to the ammunition and equipment he was going to be bringing with him tonight. "BT!" called out the Marauder as he began loading up, "any change?"
Though you couldn't tell by the steady and deliberate movement he used to slid magazines into pouches and attach grenades to his belt, Cooper was keenly aware that they were racing against the clock. "No change Pilot, there have been no confirmed sightings of Maggia personnel at this time," reported the Titan, who had been given a similar once over. The Vanguard was their trump card that Cooper secretly hoped they wouldn't have to play, because if they did then that meant things had gone seriously wrong.
"That luck will hold," assured Felicia as she screwed a suppressor onto her Five-seveN and slid the handgun into the holster on her leg, "after all, they're going to cross the Black Cat." Cooper nodded, but didn't reply, instead refocusing his attention on his own equipment before the platinum blonde sensed his unease and spoke again, the flirtatious confidence faded and replaced with genuine directness, "don't worry Matthew. We'll get them."
As Cooper seated his Smart Pistol into the holster on his chest, he sighed, "I know we will," he agreed. Looking the woman he loved in the eye, the Pilot continued, "I've been itching to take another swing at these sonsofbitches for a long time," reminded Cooper, "but I never thought that when the time came we'd be cutting it this close. We don't know what they're planning or what surprises they might have in store. What do they have that caused them to take their brave pills?" he asked honestly.
The pair had been spying on the families for months at this point and knew a lot, but it was the unknown that kept Cooper worried. "It's not all of them, it's just one of them: Hammerhead," replied Felicia, the Thief showing off her keen analytical side as she laid it out. "He's ruthless, sadistic, and power hungry. With Fisk out of the way he probably sees an opportunity to expand and make a statement," she surmised quickly, "couple that with the spending spree he's been on and it's not hard to tell he wants to make a big one."
"Yeah but…why now?" asked the Marauder as he opened the passenger door of Widwomaker and began placing guns in the rack inside. "What does he have now that he didn't three or four months ago when the city was getting back on it's feet? Why would he wait for the NYPD to get their act together? Presumably it's what he's put all that money towards, and since Hammerhead probably knows what's going to be waiting for him if he tries something, it probably wasn't all spent on champagne for the after party." Hammerhead had to know that the NYPD, Spider-Man, and the Marauder would all oppose him with everything they had, and that was assuming all the other Maggia crime families agreed to stay on the sidelines, which wasn't a guarantee. Something about all of this just felt wrong to Matthew.
And as he looked over at Felicia, he could see from the slight downturn of her lips and the furrow of her brow that she was deep in thought, evidently it didn't feel right to her either. "You might have a point," she conceded, "Hammerhead isn't that stupid. I'll look into it and see if I can't find out what all that money is going towards, might give us some insight into exactly what his plans are." That put Matt at ease, even if she was a Thief, that didn't make the Black Cat any less capable of a sleuth when she needed to find something out. As he loaded the last of his equipment into the front trunk of the McLaren, he turned back to see Felicia right behind him, smiling sadly as she looked at the watch stitched onto the inside of her gear's wrist, "we need to get going. It'll be dark soon."
"Yeah," he agreed as he shut the trunk, the usual adrenaline surge he had at the prospect of some action was tempered by exactly who it was he was squaring up to, the Maggia had killed Mathilda just when it seemed like she would come through her ordeal. Matt telling her parents that their daughter had died was one of the hardest things had ever done, and the fact that it had happened while she was in his care made payback personal for the Pilot. "Let me know if you run into trouble and if there's any change of plans," said the SRS Major, slowly pushing all of those thoughts aside and making sure they did what they had to do tonight as he walked alongside Felicia towards her Ducatti. "Good hunting darlin," finished Cooper as he leaned down to give her a quick kiss that she deepened into a loving one before pulling back before it escalated further.
"Thanks," returned Hardy as she gave his ass a playful squeeze before donning her green eyed mask and pulling her hood up over her head to cover her distinct silver hair. Throwing one leg up, Felicia then straddled and settled onto the superbike as she gave the starter a kick and brought it to life, "and Matt," she said with a smirk on her face, "give 'em hell cowboy!" she called out.
Cooper barely had time to give her ass a love tap before the Thief revved the motor and shot off, heading up the ramp and out of the basement armory, leaving just Cooper and BT. "You keep an eye on the crime net buddy," instructed the Pilot as he made his way back to the P1, scooping his helmet up off the table as he went. "Let me know if the Maggia, or anyone else, does something. Go ahead and keep tabs on the NYPD response, I don't want to have a blue on blue."
"Understood," responded the machine flatly, Matthew nodding before spinning his helmet and slipping it on, feeling his gear come to life as the neural link was established. "Pilot," broke in the Vanguard suddenly, "what about the whereabouts of Mr. Parker?"
Matt's fist clenched as he almost responded 'no' before taking a deep breath and erring on the side of caution, "track him too," instructed the Marauder as he opened the butterfly door of Widowmaker, "hopefully we don't have to lock horns," he muttered under his breath.
Settling into the driver's seat of the tuned McLaren, the Pilot heard his Titan speak one last time, "good luck Pilot," said the Machine as it gave him a thumbs up. Cooper smiled faintly inside his helmet as he returned the gesture before reaching up and shutting the door. The V8 howled to life behind him before the Hybrid Hypercar headed out into the night.
For the last week, Mary Jane had been compiling everything she could on the Maggia, and only now were things starting to come together to form a somewhat clear picture of what was happening in New York. The board on the wall of her office was covered with a map of the city, with certain areas circled with red marker while others were covered by photos of certain Maggia members that were pinned to the board. Various other sticky notes, receipts, and documents were on the board as well, connected by string and drawn on arrows to try and give some semblance of coherence to the vast array of information up on the board. A tired Mary Jane picked up her coffee and took a sip, letting the caffeine jolt her awake as she picked up a voice recorder and took a breath before striding to the board and taking a breath.
Pressing the button to start it, Mary Jane spoke into the device, "Mary Jane Watson, Associate Editor – begin research notes: My sources are saying that the Maggia are mounting a comeback. The old crime families were all but wiped out in the nineties, but with Fisk put away, they have started filling the void. The old Dons have been working harmoniously for years, but now that there's a power vacuum, there's bound to be a power struggle." The redhead took a breath as she scanned the board once again, trying to decide what else she wanted to make note off. "It's only a matter of time before one of the families makes a move on the others. Better follow up with my sources in the force…" she added, "hopefully we can stop this crime comeback before it even starts."
Grasping the webline tight, Spider-Man swung through the night before letting go of the line, acrobatically corkscrewing through the air before coming down on the corner of a building that gave him quite the view. On his left was the lit up Oscorp Tower, the company name running down the side of the monolithic structure opposite an even taller but thinner building with a distinct profile, capped off by a stylized red 'A' logo that gave away who it belonged to. It had been a slow night, even if the City That Never Sleeps still bustled away below, there hadn't been much for its resident webhead to do.
That however, all changed with a phone call. "Hey Pete," greeted Mary Jane, sounding upbeat, "you know that story I'm workin' on? There's been a development I think you might be interested in."
Inside the bug-eyed mask of the Advanced Suit, Peter raised an eyebrow as he tried to remember all the stories his girlfriend had been working on. "The Oscorp exposé?" he asked, still peeved that Norman had gotten away almost Scott free and half hoping to get a chance to correct that.
"No, the other one," answered the redhead, "about the Maggia crime families."
"The mob?" asked a surprised Peter as he stood from his crouch and paced on the edge of the rooftop, "you were serious about that? I thought they went out with swing dancing. Both times." They had been out of the picture for so long that he had never seriously tangled with them in his eight years as Spider-Man. A small presence coupled with the fact that most of their activities were extortion rackets, loan sharking, fixing betting and the like, lead to them never coming onto his radar, though he did know of a few of the more colorful characters who had a penchant for old fashioned suits.
"They were in decline, but with Fisk and the Demons gone," began Mary Jane, "La Costa Nostra is making a comeback."
"I love it when you talk dirty," quipped Peter as he smiled a bit behind his mask as he heard a ping and a yellow marker popped up on his HUD about 2 kilometers away, it seemed that Mary Jane had a location for him to check out too.
Jumping off the building and doing a roll on the way down before firing off a webline and beginning to swing through the city, Peter was still able to listen to what MJ had to say next. "Easy Tiger," she replied, though she was far from chiding, "so you know the feds raided the Maggia last month…"
"Sure," replied Peter before letting go of the line and flying through the air, "the FBI got a tip about something art related I think."
"Bingo, one of the dons had this lost masterpiece painting called 'The Maria,' and it was seized by the Bureau. One of my sources just got in touch to tell me this, and they even told me what they're going to do with it: it's going on display over at Manhattan MOCA."
Peter grunted as he fired off the next line and swung around the corner, tearing through downtown en route to the Museum Of Contemporary Art. "Aaaand…?" He prompted.
"And it was stolen 14 times in a three-year span from 95 to 97 before it went off the grid completely, at least according to a source at the museum, they're really worried about one of the families trying to steal it back." Peter chewed on that thought as he continued his blitz through the city. "Apparently, the Maria is a portrait of Don Vincente Fortunato's late wife, and whichever family has it holds his favor."
Peter knew enough to recognize the name of the 'Godfather' of the Maggia in New York and just how much that favor could mean to those in the organization. Web zipping to a corner and handspringing off of it, the Wallcrawler found himself on the edge of Central Park and in sight of MOCA. "Sounds like there's more to it an art appreciation. I'll swing by the museum," he promised as the line clicked and Peter was left with his thoughts as he crossed the last 300 meters to the museum.
Landing onto the outside of the wall and sticking to it, Parker climbed up quickly, pulling himself up and flipping over the edge to land crouched on the roof, ready in case anyone was waiting for him. Pausing, he could pick out voices from the courtyard at the center of the museum and carefully crept forwards until he was overlooking the courtyard. Amidst the trees, plants, water features, and modern art pieces was half a dozen men, some of which were visibly armed. All were dressed the same way, work shirts with ties, more than a view had suspenders, but most had a weapon of some sort, be that a crowbar, handgun, or rifle. Quickly tapping the earpiece on his mask to quickly call back his girlfriend, Spider-Man jumped down to land atop one of the modern sculptures as he heard the call get answered. "MJ," he began without preamble, "looks like your source had it right. There's a small army of goons trying to break in. Stay on the line while I take a closer look," he instructed.
"Just be careful," urged the redhead, "if these are Maggia, then they'll be playing for keeps."
Taking a breath, he fired a line at the top of the main building that the goons seemed to be focused on, with two men near the door working it with a crowbar. As Spider-Man swung silently through the air and stuck to the stone above their heads, he was able to hear their conversation. "Hurry up, c'mon!" urged one in a grey shirt, "the Boss wants that painting. We shoulda been in and out by now."
The one in black who had been trying to pry the door open stepped back in a huff, "you wanna try?" he challenged as he shoved the crowbar into grey shirt's chest, "be my guest."
Grey shirt raised his hands and stepped back with a shake of the head, prompting Peter do to the same, "sheesh," he muttered, "some people will do anything to avoid paying full-price admission."
Of course, as the other goons meandered about, one wandered close to the corner where Spidey was without bothering to look up and the Webslinger took advantage. Firing one line to the man's rifle and yanking it up to bash him in the face, staggering him as the second line grabbed him by the base of his neck and pulled him up before sticking the line to the side of the building and pinning the man's arms and legs so he didn't struggle too much when he came around. "What about the guards?" asked one of the remaining thugs.
"Assuming they give us any trouble? Boss says kill on sight," replied another as he rounded one of the planted trees, out of sight of the others as Spider-Man seized the opportunity, firing a line at the ground behind him and launching himself towards the Maggia goon.
Peter slammed into the back of the suspender wearing man and drove him into the ground in what wasn't the quietest takedown imaginable, but got the job done as Peter leapt up and flipped before sticking to the trunk of the tree. "He's not messin' around, huh?" asked the other, only to be met by silence from his buddy. "Luca, you there? Luca?" asked the other as he came around and saw his friend lying limp on the ground before Peter repeated the same move, planting his foot in the back of the man's head to send him down on top of Luca.
With no tall buildings to swing from, the Webhead was forced to remain grounded as he darted across the courtyard towards the next pair and saw one relax against a stand with some bizarre looking sculpture sitting atop it, pulling out a cigarette and lighter. Raising one hand, the Webslinger double tapped the button on his glove to send out a burst of impact webbing that slammed into the man just as he brought the cigarette to his mouth. The cancer stick went flying as the man who had tried to use it found himself stuck fast to the marble, quickly, Spider-Man rushed up towards him to get after his buddy. "Smoking is bad for you," quipped the Wallcrawler as he swept past the webbed up goon and poked his head out around the corner and saw that the fourth goon had his back facing the Webhead. Slipping out from behind the marble, Spidey struck silently, firing out a webline that stuck to each of the man's shoulders before yanking him back and off balance as the Webslinger leapt up, lashing out with a bicycle kick that landed on the man's head and knocked him unconscious before Peter tightened his grip on the weblines, preventing him from hitting the ground too hard.
Jumping up onto a sculpture, Spider-Man looked and saw grey and black shirt still arguing at the main entrance and crossed the distance to the top of the stairs in one superhuman leap. "Guys, guys, do you need some help? Maybe some super strength would solve your problem," he suggested as the two turned to face him with wide eyes. But before they could react, Peter crossed his arms and fired a pair of weblines, one landing on each man's face before he yanked his arms back and caused the two man to bash their heads into the others as both collapsed, "actually, I think what you guys need is some more brainpower," quipped the Webslinger with a chuckle.
But that laugh didn't last long as he looked down at the face of one of the goons and recognized grey shirt. "I know some of these guys," said Peter into the phone, "that's Frederico Frezelli…and this is Sal Patrillo," murmured a shocked Webslinger as he turned over black shirt.
"Those guys are part of Hammerhead's crime family, right? Why would he want the Maria?" she wondered aloud, "Hammerhead's never been one to try and curry favor before, it's not his thing."
While she pondered that, Peter gave the door the pair had been working on a light tug and found it still secure, if a little scratched. "Front door's still secure, better check the other entrances."
Bringing the Widowmaker to a halt, Cooper shut the car down and climbed out when the phone in his helmet rang with a number he didn't recognize. "Hello?" he asked cautiously upon accepting the call, still doing a quick scan of the area to see if anyone was watching him before making his way to the front trunk of the McLaren.
"Marauder? This is Detective Mackey, I got your number from a friend in the force," introduced an older sounding man, rather calm and collected considering he seemed to know who he was talking to.
"I'd wager I know which one too," drawled the Pilot as he popped the front trunk and fished out the Hemlock BF-R, "what can I do for you Detective?"
"Probably best if we spoke in person. Can you stop by the Greenwich precinct when you get a chance?" asked the Detective. "I hear you like meeting on rooftops…"
"So long as I don't have any snipers looking at me," deadpanned the SRS Gunfighter as he slipped a magazine of armor piercing rounds into place and pulled the charging handle back before flipping the fire selector to 'safe.' "I just so happen to be in the neighborhood, I'll drop by in a couple minutes. But let's make this quick if we can."
"No problem, this shouldn't take too long," assured the man before he disconnected the line and left the Marauder alone. With him waiting for the go ahead from Felicia while she finished up her work, the Texan had some time on his hands to hear the detective out. Taking a few steps to pick up some speed, Cooper jumped up, Jump Kit spitting fire as his boots hit the wall and he ran along it, leaping off to hit the one opposite as he ascended into the skyline. Using his Grapple, the Marauder slingshotted himself over the edge of the rooftop, clearing the whole building with one use of the tactical before firing it a second time, pulling his body towards a building across the street and activating his STIM to rush along it at superhuman speed as the handful of blocks between him and the Greenwich precinct disappeared in seconds.
With the building in sight, Cooper bounced form building to building to cover the last 100 yards before using his grapple to ascend towards the roof and activating his cloak just as he crossed the threshold, just in case this was some sort of trap. Thankfully, as Matt came down in a crouch with Hemlock at the ready, he saw the roof was clear save for one man leaning against the railing, and from his white hair Cooper surmised this was his contact. Lowering his weapon, the Pilot approached the Detective under the cover of his tactical cloak. "Detective Mackey, I presume?"
The man turned around to face what looked at first like empty air before the cloak dropped to reveal the Marauder, which barely seemed the faze the cop as he rested a hand on his belt opposite his holster. "Thanks for coming," replied Mackey as he regarded the Marauder with a pair of keen green eyes, "I want to talk to you about the Black Cat."
"I'm…" Cooper fought to suppress a smile as he thought of how best to put this, "already well acquainted with her."
Mackey frowned slightly, which didn't surprise Cooper, most cops would frown upon his relationship with a known thief, but Matt didn't give a shit. The Detective then shook his head, "not the 'new' cat – the old one. 20 years ago," he explained. "I worked the case…"
"Black Cat's a copycat?" he asked, somewhat surprised, sure he knew that Felicia had been inspired by her dad to an extent, but this was news to him. "What happened to the original?"
"He died in prison," replied Mackey quickly as the pieces started to come together in Matt's mind. "But we never found all the paintings he stole. I've got a new lead, but the Department doesn't want to waste resources on an old case."
Matt tilted his head minutely, "this…sounds more like something for Spider-Man, I can give him a call for you…" began Matt, it might even keep Pete busy enough to prevent him from bugging him and Felicia.
But Mackey shook his head, nixing that idea. "I don't trust that webhead," returned the man harshly, "seems kinda…flakey if you ask me. I'd really rather have you take care of this, it's really not anything you can't handle."
"Alright, fine," conceded Matt, "I'll help if I can."
He got a genuine smile in return from the old cop. "I appreciate that. I'm retiring soon and this case…it's my biggest loose end," admitted Mackey. "So I went through the files to give it one last shot. The old Cat preferred to steal art, but right before he got busted, he hit a smoke detector factory," explained Mackey.
"Smoke detectors?" asked Cooper, "seems kinda outta left field."
The detective, however, shook his head, "not really. He stole the Americium-241 inside 'em. We thought he had a buyer for the radioisotopes, but I was watching a movie the other night, and saw something that gave me an idea. What if he tagged the paintings he stole with those isotopes in order to help him find them once he got out?" suggested Mackey.
"Then he'd be a helluva lot smarter than I am," admitted Cooper, though he was already thinking of running that idea past Felicia to see if it would be useful for them.
Mackey chuckled before continuing, "so I was thinking, if we track the isotope, we could find the stolen paintings," he suggested.
"Maybe," agreed Cooper as he pressed a piece on the side of his helmet, "buddy, can we do it?"
"Affirmative, I can have your suit show radiation sources matching that isotope," replied the Titan dutifully.
Cooper gave the Detective a nod, and he seemed visibly relieved, "thanks. The Cat used to live in the Chrysler building, check there first and see if you find anything. If I can close the books on this one, I can retire in peace."
With another curt nod, the Marauder casually jumped up and over the railing before falling towards the pavement below and using his grapple to pull himself up out of his fall and to a building that he ran along with ease. "BT, look up our new friend," instructed the Marauder before adding, "I want to know exactly who we're dealing with."
Peter had nearly completed a round of the building when he noticed something odd, "scratches?" he wondered aloud as he looked at the indentations and climbed up the wall after them, the trail leading him to the rooftop where his eyes were drawn to the skylight, or rather, the giant hole cut in the skylight. A four-foot diameter circle had been cut and the entire piece of glass pulled out and stuck to the outside of the skylight, held in place by four purpose built gadgets. "Is that…?" he wondered as he leapt onto the edge and looked closely at the cut in the inch-thick glass. "MJ, someone cut a hole in a skylight," he reported, "I'm gonna check it out."
Somersaulting inside, Spidey came to rest atop another modern art piece as the redhead replied, "so while Hammerhead's guys were trying to break in the front, someone else slipped in through the roof?"
"Looks that way," agreed Peter as he looked around the interior of the museum, "no sign of anyone…at all. Shouldn't there be guards here at night?"
"Yeah, my contact said they had three but didn't think it would be enough. Maybe check the Security Booth near the entrance. There should be cameras there, too…they would've seen whoever broke in."
The Queens Native swung his head back to the entrance and laid eyes on the booth, covering the distance to it in one single leap. But when he tried the door he found it didn't give, "the Security Booth's secure," he reported, "I'd need a palm print to get in."
"Well any clue about what happened to the guards'll be inside," replied Mary Jane, "is there a way to override the lock?"
"Not without a guard's hand," replied Spidey as he started walking through the museum, looking for anything amiss.
"Actually, just their handprint," replied the redhead, "if you can't find the guards, maybe you can at least find their prints from things they touched."
"Good idea," agreed Peter as he jumped back upstairs to have a look around the second floor.
"Always happy to…lend a hand," replied Mary Jane with a small grin in her tone. Rolling his eyes inside his mask, Peter spied a clipboard and flashlight left on the ground, the light still on.
"This could work," guessed Peter as he turned the thing over and used a special blacklight on his mask to see where the guard had gripped the light. Thinking fast, he pulled the pencil from the clipboard and used his super strength to snap it open and pull the lead out before crushing it and depositing it on a piece of laminate off the papers on the clipboard and wrapped the laminate tightly around the black case of the flashlight. Giving it a few seconds in the tight grip he had it, Peter then unwrapped the laminate and gave it a light shake before holding it up to the light to reveal a passable impression of the handprint that had been on the light. "Got you," he said triumphantly before he looked back down at the flashlight and another thought crossed his mind. "A trained guard wouldn't leave his stuff around like this. Unless they didn't leave voluntarily."
With that thought going through his head, Peter hightailed it back to the booth with his borrowed handprint in hand. Setting the laminate on the scanner, Peter then pressed his own gloved hand down and waited for a moment before the light turned green and he heard the door lock unlatch. "We're in," he announced as he stepped inside.
"Nice! What do you see?" asked the Associate Editor.
"The guards," replied Peter as he quickly knelt down next to one and checked for a pulse, "they're alive. Looks like they were tranquilized," he said as he turned one over to see bruising on his neck, "looks like at least one was choked out, but they still have their tasers in their holsters, they didn't up a fight. Definitely not Hammerhead's style."
Mary Jane then asked the obvious question. "If not him, who?"
Spider-Man took a deep breath as he felt a small hum at the base of his skull, "have you…talked to Felicia lately?" he asked carefully.
"No. Why?" asked MJ before she realized where his train of thought was headed, "you don't think…no, that doesn't make any sense." That may have been true, but that didn't alter the fact that this looked like her handiwork. "Is there a camera feed?"
"Yeah, one sec," replied Peter as he turned to the station that had the display for them, "looks like someone switched off camera 5," he said as he saw the blank feed and went to work trying to restore it.
"Well that's suspicious…"
Peter agreed, and that wasn't all they had done. "Looks like the nights recordings have been wiped, and none of the cameras are recording anymore," he continued as he tried to resume the recording, but an error kept flashing up in his face asking for a passcode, "and locked anyone out of the system with a passcode. I can at least turn camera 5 back on and see what they didn't want anyone looking at." Doing that, he was happy to see that he could at least still do that, and was met with a feed of a painting. "It's pointing at one of the paintings in the exhibit…"
"That has to be the Maria…"
"And no one's stolen it yet," replied the Webhead with crossed fingers. "I need to see this up close, figure out what's so special about it." Jupming up to the second floor and then over the ropes that had the display blocked off from the public, Peter examined the fuzzy looking portrait of a woman. "Looks like a pretty normal painting to me."
"It is, if it wasn't for its ties to the Maggia it wouldn't be all that special."
The screech of tires caused Spidey to turn around, "hang on MJ, someone's coming," said Peter before leaping up out of the display, sticking to the top of some hanging sculpture to stay out of sight. Previously, the Webhead thought breaking in with a crowbar had been an inelegant solution but compared to what was about to happen, those guys might as well have been using a scalpel. The relative sledgehammer in this instance was a pair of big Chevy SUVs that came barreling through the front doors, shattering glass and setting off alarms as they did. With a screech of breaks, they both came to a halt as the exhibit Spider-Man had just vacated flashed an alarming red before security glass emerged from the walls and sealed the painting off behind inches of bulletproof polycarbonate.
"Keep an eye out!" called one of the goons that stepped out of the vehicles, "you saw those webs! Spider-Man could still be around." The troop of goons, about eight this time, jogged up the steps and beelined it straight for the Maria, "aww damnit!" groaned who Spidey now thought was the leader, "they got it locked behind security glass. Hey! Tell Frank we're going to need to break out the big guns!" called the Maggia leader.
Back at the SUVs, one of the men pulled out a bazooka from the back and started lugging it up the stairs as Spider-Man watched from his perch. As the goon reached the same level and settled the weapon onto his shoulder to take aim, the Webslinger got to work, firing a line down at the launcher before looping it over a cable holding up the piece he was standing on before he dropped down, aiming to land right on top of the man holding the bazooka. Since he still was holding the webline, the sticky synthetic silk tore the rocket launcher from the goons grasp, causing him to look up just in time to see the red sole of Spidey's shoe slam into his face and knock him aside. "Please no flash photography or rocket launchers directed at the art!" quipped the Webslinger as the other Maggia goons turned to face him and he crouched down for the ensuing fight. "Time for a demonstration in the fine art of subduing criminals."
A ringing in the back of his head caused the Webhead to dive away, twisting himself around just as a burst of automatic gunfire cut through the air and shattered a sculpture before Spider-Man could send a burst of webbing into the man's face, causing him to drop his rifle as he tried to rip it off. But Peter didn't give him the time to do that, firing another line at his leg and ripping it out from under him and yanking the man across the concrete floor, sending him directly into another Maggia man before firing a burst of webbing that ensnared both of them. Whipping his head around, Spidey caught sight of another man in suspenders beating a hasty retreat while cradling a bizarre red…thing in his arms. "Hey!" called out Spidey as he fired a webline that landed squarely between the man's shoulder blades and pulled himself towards the attempted art thief. Spinning around, the Wallcralwer planted a kick in the man's back that sent him spinning around, arms flailing before the hero followed up with a punch that knocked the art piece loose before it was quickly snatched out of the sky by one of the Webhead's hands and carefully put down, "don't you know you're supposed to look," said Spidey as he threw a punch that connected with the man's jaw before grabbing one of the man's arms, "and not touch!" finished the hero as he threw the man over his shoulder and to the ground before webbing him down.
Turning and sprinting back towards the SUVs that offered the best chance at escape, Spider-Man gracefully swan dove over the bannister as he pulled out a web bomb, dropping it right in the midst of the four remaining goons who were bolting for the exit. The device went off just as he hit the ground, ensnaring the four remaining men in a blanket of white webbing that they struggled against. "Cheer up…" encouraged the Wallcrawler as he casually tipped one goon over then two, both men sticking to the ground and further pinned by another few bursts of webbing before the other two got the same treatment, "maybe they'll have art classes in prison?" he suggested lamely as the four continued to struggle fruitlessly, "yeah, probably not," he conceded.
"Peter, you there?" asked Mary Jane, "you okay?"
"Yeah," he replied, making a show of dusting off his hands, "I think I got them all," he reported as he surveyed the area around him. "Lots of art to put back though," he admitted as he saw a few pieces next to the group he had dispatched near the exit "and they're going to need some new doors."
"What about the Maria?"
"Well let's see…" he said as he retraced his steps yet again up towards the portrait and found it just as he had left it. "Security wall's intact," he reported, "and bulletproof," he added as he wrapped his knuckles against it. "Nobody's getting near the Maria anytime soon," he said confidently before turning around.
"Mission accomplished, then?" asked Mary Jane hopefully.
"I hope…" he began as he heard a crack followed by a 'thud' and began to turn back to face the painting, "so." A circular hole had been cut in the drywall behind the painting and a black clad figure dropped out of it, landing on the fake tree before stalking along a branch on all fours. Feminine curves moved a feline's predatory sway as the hooded figure worked it's way along the branch before turning its head to reveal the green lenses that covered their eyes and the cat ears on the hood, all of which Peter easily recognized. "Yeah…it was Felicia," he said quietly as the Black Cat smirked at him.
Mary Jane, on the other end of the line, was seemingly surprised, "wait, what? Are you sure Peter?" she asked.
"Hey Spider," greeted the thief before Felicia acrobatically flipped off the branch, landing on her feet as a cat always did. "Fancy meeting you here," she said conversationally as she stood to her full height and squared up to him on the opposite side of the bullet proof glass, "I remember you preferring fine art photography to abstract impressionist portraits."
Peter worked his jaw inside his mask as he scrutinized what little of her face he could see, trying to get a read on her, "I also prefer to come during normal operating hours," he quipped before turning serious. "What are you doing here Felicia?"
"Me? I just wanted to get an up close look at this beauty," she replied with a Cheshire grin as her hand swept towards the Maria, "the rumors aren't true you know, about it being Fortunato's wife," she explained casually. "It's a portrait of…well, it doesn't actually matter. So I wanted to see it for myself, I'm curious as to why everyone's so interested."
"I hear that's bad for cats," quipped Peter as his eyes darted towards that damn painting, "does Matt know you're here?" he asked seriously.
The Black Cat cocked her head, "why?" she asked, "you going to tattle on me?" she asked, though she didn't exactly seem worried by the prospect. "Think that Matthew will punish me for being a bad girl?" she asked before licking her lips, "I hope he does." Peter shook his head to try and regain his composure while the thief merely smirked and turned around to regard the Maria, strutting up to it calmly. "It'd be worth it too, after all, this was a lot of fun. It's good to know I still have it," continued the Black Cat as she reached up and removed the Maria from the wall.
"Oh, so you like the look of that and you're just going to take it?" asked Peter sarcastically as Felicia smirked knowingly and turned around, still holding the framed painting, "I thought you said the painting was nothing special."
"It's a good thing I don't care about the painting then," replied the Thief before she held the piece level and slammed it down as she thrust her knee up, splitting the frame and canvas in two on the armored section of her thigh.
The eye lenses on Spider-Man's masked widened in shock, "what are you doing?!" he exclaimed in surprise as he watched Felicia shake the two halves of the painting before something fell from inside and clattered to the floor.
Felicia bent over in her usual fashion and picked the object up in her gloved hand, holding between her clawed fingers as she held it up for Peter to see what it was: a Flash Drive. Smirking deviously, she then placed it in a pouch on her leg and pulled out a small remote in it's place, "I think you have lives to save Spider," she said before pressing a button on the remote.
A pair of small explosions echoed through the museum as Peter looked up towards the source and saw the hanging sculpture he had used earlier begin to fall as two of the cables flailed around uselessly. Below the massive sculpture were some of the goons he had KO'd earlier and Spidey instantly swung into action, firing two wide bursts of webbing at the ceiling as he swung forward and under the falling sphere right as it began to put weight on the webbing that was still attached to his webshooters before another press of the buttons fired follow up bursts at the far wall, suspending the art in a giant web hammock about three feet above the floor. Taking a deep breath to recover from the unexpected excitement, Peter then turned to the display that had once housed the Maria and couldn't help but sag his shoulders. "What the…? Where did she go?" he wondered as he fired a webline and swung across the space.
"Peter?" asked Mary Jane, who had been sitting on the line, listening to at least his side of the exchange, "is everything alright? I tried calling Coop, but he wasn't answering. Even BT didn't pick up."
"Sorry MJ," said Peter sadly, "I just…I don't know," he admitted as he looked at the scratches in the glass that read 'Catch me if you can' written with the claws in her gloves. Before he could comment further, the sound of distant police sirens made him focus on clearing out before the police arrived. "I'll call you back, I need a second."
Cooper ascended the Chrysler building, which happened to be near where Felicia needed him to be anyways and was also the location Mackey had given him to look into. His HUD had an AR display over it that lead him to a power box more than forty stories up, which was supposedly a hotspot of alpha and beta particles as well as gamma rays. "The fuck?" grunted Cooper as he gave the box a kick, only for the box to flex slightly from the impact and make a noise that didn't sound right at all, "it's hollow?"
Giving it another kick, his suspicions seemed to be confirmed and he set his Hemlock down and pulled out his combat axe spinning it around to use the pointed tail to slip under the lid and pry it off, revealing it to be thin sheet metal that housed next to nothing. Lifting his leg, Cooper gave the side a full-strength fireman's kick, bending the metal and allowing him to pry the whole thing apart wide enough for him to reach inside and grab what it was hiding. He had spent enough time with Felicia to recognize what it was, "an art storage tube?" he murmured, which made sense. Just to make sure, he popped the airtight cap open and peered inside to see that there was a rolled-up painting nestled snugly in the container. "I'll be damned," muttered the Major as he put the cap back into place and dialed Mackey, "Detective, I found a painting hidden in a dummy power box."
"Yes! I knew it!" replied the Detective happily, "leave it there, I'll have someone pick it up," he instructed and Matt shrugged before setting it in the corner and out of sight, "in the meantime, here are some other locations that Hardy frequented."
"Understood – wait, did you say Hardy?" asked Matt, his earlier suspicion seemingly confirmed.
"Yeah. The Original Cat's name was Walter Hardy," replied Mackey matter of factly, "I'll pull his files and have some more info the next time we talk." With that the line went dead, replaced a moment later with an alert of a list of addresses and GPS coordiantes from the same number.
Forwarding them to BT so he could come back to them later, Cooper picked up his Hemlock and shook his head at what he had learned, "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" he said sadly.
Safely clear of MOCA as the NYPD began to arrive in force, Peter swung through the city as MJ read a summary of the notes she had on what had just happened back to him, "so Black Cat was the one who went in through the roof…she was working with Hammerhead's guys?" asked the Associate Editor with a hint of disbelief.
"It sure seems that way," replied Spider-Man, "she was probably watching me the whole time I was in there…even had a trick up her sleeve for when I confronted her."
"Alright, just…did she get away with the Maria?" asked Mary Jane, who was taking this as hard as Peter was, the two women were good friends after all.
"She did not get away with the Maria," stated Spider-Man emphatically.
Mary Jane sighed, "good, that means she can't give it to Hammerhead, maybe she's not helping him after all?" suggested the redhead.
It was at that point that Peter swallowed hard and told her the rest, "she did not get away with the Maria because she smashed it and stole a data drive hidden in the frame."
"What?" exclaimed the Associate Editor, "ugh…shit," she finally said simply.
"Sorry," apologized Peter sheepishly. If Felicia was working for Hammerhead and had given him that drive then he would have to stop her, and if Matt was helping her too? But why would he do that? There were so many questions swirling in Peter's mind that he almost slammed face first into a streetlight he was so distracted, so as he flipped over it and pulled himself back up above such obstacles, he focused on the biggest question he had. "So, what do you think was on that drive?" he asked
"Good question," replied Mary Jane, "I'll start asking around."
The phone line clicked dead and Peter was left with his thoughts. Swinging through the streets he finally settled on the one that mattered most. "I really don't want to lose two of my best friends," he prayed quietly as he swung into the night.
"Hey Darlin," greeted Cooper as he stayed crouched on the fire escape, overlooking a group of men below that included a high ranking member of the Cicero family that appeared to be drinking casually, but a half hour of watching had shown them to be lookouts for the business they were in front of. With his Hemlock ready, he asked Felicia, "how'd it go? You run into any trouble?"
He'd elected not to mention the bit of help he'd lent to Detective Mackey, that was a subject he would have to tread carefully on, so instead he focused on the task at hand. "A little, nothing I couldn't handle," she replied easily.
A nagging feeling prompted him to ask, "what kind of trouble?"
There was a sigh from the platinum blonde, but Matt waited patiently for her to answer, "Hammerhead's guys showed up while I was taking care of the security system, they were trying to break into the museum through the front door," explained Felicia like she was personally offended and appalled by their actions, which she probably was. "They weren't a problem for me though, a certain Spider dealt with them," she revealed, which caused Cooper to pale slightly.
"Do you think he was onto us?" asked the Marauder.
There was a slight pause that preceded Felicia's reply, "he wasn't, but he is now," she replied, and Matt cursed under his breath, "it was bound to happen sooner or later cowboy. You let me worry about what happens down the line and focus on getting that second Data Drive."
Matt took a deep breath and shouldered his rifle, settling the chevron reticle of the HCOG on the head honcho below as he said a silent prayer, I hope my friends will forgive me for this, and flipping the fire selector from safe to burst. "Don't worry about that," he assured as his finger curled around the trigger, "going loud."
Mary Jane Watson Research Notes
'Comeback of the Maggia' – The Maria
The origins of this painting are somewhat debated, though most agree about the subject of the painting being the wife of the previous Don Fortuna and mother of the current one, though there are some who disagree with this position. The Matriarch was likely painted before the father of the current Don Fortuna took his position at the top of the New York crime families back in the 70's, meaning it would have been painted in Italy. That has only made it more difficult to determine anything more concrete about things like who the artist was, where the painting was done, or an exact date.
However, it's history is somewhat better documented after the rise in prominence of the first Don Fortuna in 1972. The first few decades of the painting being in America were relatively uneventful until the assassination of the Don in 1995. Police found that the painting had been stolen when they arrived at the scene of the crime, and it wound up in the hands of various other crime families and private collectors over the next 36 months, either by being stolen or 'found' before it was finally declared 'lost' at the end of 1997. The whereabouts of the piece were largely left to speculation as the newly minted Don Vincente Fortuna cemented his place at the head of the Maggia families following the violence of the preceding years. He has since offered a long-standing reward for the return of the Maria to him, but the painting wouldn't turn up again until very recently.
It seems that whenever this painting appears, a lot of violence follows. Hopefully that isn't a sign of things to come.
Closing Notes: Like I said, I want all three DLCs to be an arc when put together, that means I'm aiming to have each DLC done in about four ish chapters. I do have the rest of the DLC arc more or less planned out and I can say that I've had to make the fewest changes to The Heist of the three, though you all did see one of the changes here. That change being that it's Cooper who helps Detective Mackey and not Spidey, which will matter later on. Turf Wars will see more substantial changes than The Heist, and the current plan for Silver Linings is to rework the entire last half of that DLC and I hope I don't have to explain why.
Though I will say, don't expect too much side content to appear, there will be no Screwball, very few of the Random Crime encounters, and probably even fewer Hideouts. This is to keep the story streamlined, for one, and because there are a lot of plot threads and I want to balance them better than the actual DLC did (which is why I will be making large changes to Silver Linings). The only other real thing of note is that I'm going to keep trying out new 'Logbook' alternatives as I am running out of shit for Cooper to ramble about. So now, expect there to be a mix of him, Sable, MJ, and possibly others in future giving exposition about whatever the hell I feel like that week.
For those of you who have any thoughts or questions as this new arc gets under way, feel free to review or PM, as always.
Until next time, as the crew descends into the vibe of a Tech Noir.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.
