Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.
Now that I've unlocked it, I want to thank Black Ops: Cold War for reminding me just how much of a complete piece of shit the Streetsweeper was in real life. For those of you who have it and have complained about the slow reload, know that it was even slower with the real thing since you had to manually eject the spent cartridges before you could reload the gun.
brownexavier1: I find this interesting, because when I wrote that I took the fact that it exploded for granted without feeling the need to write it. It's just assumed that it went off, and because by that point, everyone (should) know what an arc grenade does, it's simply better for keeping up a fast pace if I just get straight to what happens next. It is odd I did it twice in one chapter.
V-rcingetorix: Yeah, personally I'm a big Sabaton fan, though if you get to here you probably know that by now. Wolfpack is one of their most underrated songs in my opinon but I like it, there is just nothing that sounds quite the same. Though I will get around to White Death eventually, I have something specific in mind for it.
As for the title track, I just put on a spotify synthwave playlist and listened until I heard one I liked, and it was this one. It's not bad, though I can't tell you a thing about it and can't be bothered to google it.
Power Without Question – Chapter 81: Tech Noir
Keep your heart
Out on the road
Will you come
To Tech Noir with me?
You'll be my focus
Could this be, could this be the hard way?
Spider-Man sat down and relaxed, taking a moment to catch his breath after stopping a string of attempted Maggia car bombings using his Spider-Bot to neutralize the detonators before the explosives went off. It had been a good distraction from the questions that continued to fly around inside his head as to exactly what Matt and Felicia were doing and why. But before he could ponder any of those, the phone in his mask rang and Mary Jane's frantic voice filled his ear as soon as he answered. "Peter! The Police scanner just reported an active shootout around Hudson and North Moore."
Just as the words were leaving her mouth, Peter turned that way and swan dove off the edge he had been sitting on before firing a webline to swing over the busy street, "isn't that area full of Maggia?" he asked, though it was wise to probably assume that they had spread throughout the city.
"It is," replied the redhead before adding worriedly, "I think whatever the Black Cat just stole might have triggered a gang war." That prospect worried Peter, it really wasn't Cooper's style to go along with something like that, he wanted to take the fight directly to the bad guys and seize the initiative. So why would he agree to something that would spark widespread fighting and force him to react to it? Assuming that he knew what Felicia was up to at all.
He had just tried calling the Texan ten minutes ago and got nothing, so he had to shelve those thoughts and focus and what was in front of him. "Well, I'm on my way to check it out," he answered as he swung fluidly between the buildings, eschewing any fancy tricks for efficiency and speed, "any other updates on that museum heist?"
"So here's what I got," replied MJ before Peter could hear the rustling of paper before the Associate Editor continued, "none of my sources know what was on that drive in the Maria painting, and nobody is talking about Black Cat being the one to steal it. What they are saying is that Hammerhead now has that drive, and the other Maggia families are freaked out about it."
That made it sound like Black Cat was working for Hammerhead, but why would she do that? Either way, there was still a more obvious takeaway, "it must be pretty valuable if it made a notorious art thief ignore art," quipped the webhead.
"I wonder why she would work with Hammerhead…why not Cooper or us?" wondered Mary Jane. "When I talked to her about it, she seemed like she really cared about making things work between them and I don't see Cooper being okay with this. Maybe there's another angle to this thing?"
Peter considered that, and while for the life of him he couldn't fathom what it might be, if Felicia had come up with some plan and convinced Matt to go along with it, that could explain what was happening. "Maybe," agreed Peter as he swung around a corner, "back when I had to deal with her, Felicia always was one step ahead. I think we're missing something here and it probably has to do with that drive."
There was a hum of agreement, "alright, let's just keep each other in the loop," replied Mary Jane before the line clicked off. It wasn't long after that he heard the distinct sound of gunshots echoing off the buildings as he redoubled his efforts, zipping to a stoplight and launching off it onto a building, running along the wall before as he heard the distinct reports of automatic rifles contrast with the slightly deeper tone of handguns and caught sight of flashing red and blue police lights from the source.
A cop car streaked by below, screeching to a halt to join the first arrival as the two officers opened their doors and rolled out, scampering into cover and drawing their sidearms as a long burst of rifle fire punched holes in the cruiser. When the rifle stopped firing, the four cops popped up and returned fire with their sidearms as Peter clung to the side of a building and surveyed the scene in time to see one of the Maggia gunmen pop up from behind a fountain in the middle of the open space and cut loose with his rifle as more gunmen emerged from the building behind them where Peter could see bodies sprawled out on the sidewalk, clearly dead. "They're not being subtle, better shut this down before anyone else gets killed."
Scanning the area, Spider-Man picked out a gunman on his own in the back and leapt from his vantage, flipping through the air before firing a webline and yanking himself towards the Maggia goon. The Webhead planted two feet in his chest, sending the gunman flying back as Spidey pushed off, back flipping and firing a pair of webs to pin him to the fence the Maggia thug slammed into before landing on the cobblestone. With Spidey sense ringing loudly, the Webslinger rolled away before leaping up onto a wall as bullets snapped past him and he bent his knees before springing himself from the brick and diving straight for a second and grabbing him by the collar, driving him to the ground and killing his own momentum in the process as Spider-Man fell to a crouch. A third gunman tried to bring his rifle up, but the buzzing at the base of Peter's skull caused him to turn around and lash out with a kick that knocked his leg out from under him. The Maggia goon never hit the ground as Spider-Man's fist slammed into his stomach, delivering a fearsome uppercut that sent the man skywards before a pair of weblines yanked him back down to earth to put him down for the count.
Now working off instinct, Spider-Man rolled away, handspringing up onto his feet as the chatter of rifle fire hammered at his ears while he gracefully dodged away and up to a standing position. Once there, he fired a webline at a nearby manhole cover and pulled the metal to him, snatching it out of the air and holding it up as a protective shield just as the gunman that had Spidey lined up fired the rest of his magazine, the rounds shattering against the inch thick steel. In a move that he shamelessly ripped off from the First Avenger, Spider-Man wound up and hurled the manhole cover like a frisby that moved with much more force, slamming into the gunman's gut and causing him to double over and fall to the ground. The circular steel projectile however, began to fall with it's victim and Spider-Man fired another line of synthcitc silk before swinging the cover around to clock the last standing gunman in the side and send him crumpling to the ground where a few more webs kept him pinned. "How does Cap make his curve and bounce?" wondered Spidey aloud as he pulled the cover back to him and spun it around in his hands, "maybe the balance is off," mused Spidey with a shrug before tossing the cover back to the manhole he had borrowed it from.
But the sound of an approaching vehicle had him turn around, "delivery truck," he observed as he instinctively crouched lower in a combat stance, "hope it's those new slippers I ordered." Whatever the truck had was probably for him since he could hear the screech of brakes as it skidded to a halt in front of him and the back of the box truck flew up before a monster of a man emerged wielding a six barreled gun that was almost as big as he was. Peter's eyes widened at the sight of those barrels beginning to spin as the soft whirl of an electric motor filled the air, recognizing the weapon for what it was and remembering Matt describing what it could do. As the muzzle trained on him, he didn't need his sixth sense to know that he needed to move and leapt up and away as the Minigun opened fire, the buzzsaw like sound filling the air as 50 7.62mm rounds were spit out every second at the webhead, the red tracers lighting up the night.
Spider-Man bounced off the top of the fountain before it was promptly reduced to ruble by a deluge of lead mere milliseconds after the Webhead jumped clear of it, flipping through the air and landing on the ground next to it. "My slippers did NOT look like that online. I refuse to sign for this package!" yelled out the Webslinger as he charged forwards while the brute tried to wrestle his weapon back onto the agile hero. Spider-Man didn't give him the chance, kicking the gun down before his foe could pull the trigger and firing a pair of weblines at it, one at the ends of the barrles and the other at the back of the weapon. While the Maggia brute outsized him, he couldn't match super strength, and the Webslinger ripped the gun away as he turned his body and lifted a leg, catching the receiver of the gun with the sole of his shoe and shoving the bulk of the 220 pound weapon pack into the man's face, knocking him out cold as the massive gun clattered to the ground next to him. The area fell silent as Spider-Man looked around, "did I get everyone he wondered, he was sure that he had got all five at the start, plus the guy in the back of the truck, which just left… "where's the guy who drove the truck?"
Looking over at the vehicle, the cab was empty, and so Spider-Man jumped up and stuck to the side of a building to get a better view. Surveying the area, Peter picked out a bit of movement near one of the parked vehicles near where the truck was stopped and focused on in it. It was a man dressed in the defacto uniform of the Maggia with his tie and suspenders. As he placed a hand holding a pistol on the trunk of the car he was hiding behind, Spider-Man sent a glob of webbing to pin it there, catching the man by surprise as he found himself stuck to the vehicle. He slipped as he tried to slink away before frantically tugging at the webs, desperately trying to work his hand free as Spider-Man dropped down and landed on the roof of the car and crept along the top as the Maggia man continued to struggle. Moving in an intentionally unnatural way, the Webhead leaned in close to the drivers face, making him see the narrowed bug eyes of his mask as the Maggia driver tried to distance himself from Spidey before holding up a hand and shouting, "alright, alright, alright! I give up!" he conceded pleadingly before carefully looking back at the Webslinger, "do I get time off if I talk?" he asked meekly.
"You won't if you don't," answered Spider-Man in his best attempt at a tough guy snarl, and while Peter found himself cringing behind the mask, it worked well enough for the terrified man in front of him.
The man sighed deeply and answered, "your buddy, the Marauder, attacked us, killed Sal," spat the Maggia driver. "We couldn't just let him get away with that so we had to come down here and get rid of him."
Spidey's head snapped back, Cooper hadn't been anywhere around here when he arrived, and the Pilot never started a fight that he didn't finish. Starting a fight and then slipping away was a favorite tactic of Felicia, either to make a distraction for him…or to draw security away from her actual target. "Sucker bait," realized the Webhead, "you got suckered," he told the Maggia goon flatly. "The Marauder drew you away from where you were because that's his real target. Where did you come from?"
An answer didn't come back right away, the Maggia man's face dark with conflict before he finally bit the bullet and answered, "the office building west of the bodega on Waverly street." Satisfied, Spider-Man casually flipped himself up and over the top of the driver and landed on the ground before making his way over to the dead bodies as the cops from the patrol cars began to arrest the Maggia he had knocked out.
Calling Mary Jane, he looked down at the quartet of dead men, two of which had begun to draw guns when they were shot and all having three neatly drilled holes in their chests. "MJ, the whole shootout was a distraction," he reported as soon as the redhead picked up and he turned away from the bodies, "Cooper killed four guys to draw out the rest and then slipped away once the police engaged," explained the Webhead as he jumped up and began swinging north towards Waverly. "He's heading to a Maggia front on Waverly street."
"That one belongs to the Ciceros I think," replied the Associate Editor.
"Cooper seems like he's on the warpath. But maybe if I hurry, I can still catch him," suggested Peter as he tore through the streets before his direct path was blocked by a building and he simply landed on the wall feet first before running straight up it.
As he reached the top, he stumbled as Mary Jane asked him the obvious, but no less tough, question. "What are you going to do if you do catch him?"
Regaining his footing and leaping up and front flipping over to handspring launch himself off a chimney before firing a web to swing away, Spider-Man answered honestly, "I'm going to stop him. And then try to convince him to tell me just what they're up to."
Cracking his neck, Cooper gripped the pistol grip of his Hemlock rifle as he watched the digital readout for the elevator climb all to slowly for his taste. Not in the mood for taking prisoners, the SRS Major had strode straight through the lobby and to the elevators before getting in one and ascending to the floor that held his objective, the personal office of one of the Maggia Dons which held, according to Felicia, a statue containing the second drive they needed. He knew that the security that was still in the building after his stunt a few blocks away was probably either waiting for him or would be coming for him, but he chuckled lowly at that thought, "bring 'em on."
The elevator finally began to slow as it 'dinged' and the Marauder took that as his cue to engage his cloak, vanishing from sight as the doors slid open to reveal three gun wielding men waiting for him, in shock that the elevator appeared to be empty. One slowly came closer, gun down, and stuck his head inside the elevator just inches from Matt to look around, "hell if I know," he called out as he turned around and shrugged, "he's not…"
Instead of finishing, his words were cut off by the bark of the Burst Fire Rifle as his head was blown apart, sending blood and brain matter onto his two friends as they hesitated and paid for that mistake with their lives as each got a burst of 7.62mm rounds in the head. Sprinting forwards, the Marauder slid into cover just as the wall ahead of him was perforated with bullets that punched through right above his head. Pulling his pulse blade from his belt, Cooper tossed the kuni into the room and watched the tactical's pulse flow past a shape that seemed like a few overturned boardroom tables and highlight the half dozen men behind them. Snarling behind his helmet, Cooper clenched his left hand and activated his phase shift as he was temporarily ripped between dimensions right as he rounded the corner and charged in. Sliding across the floor, he leapt up over one of the tables in the black and white world and spun around right as he was ripped back from the shift to find himself amongst the Maggia.
They heard the snap-crack of the Tactical and stopped firing, but they couldn't get their guns around before Cooper activated it again and moved to where one of the Maggia gunmen had been standing before suddenly cutting his extradimensional trip short as reality tried to adjust to two bodies being in the same place at the same time before the energy released by his reemergence turned the Maggia gunman to a fine red mist. "Who's next?" asked Matt, his filtered voice snarling as he aimed his Hemlock from the hip and squeezed the trigger, the chest of the man next to him exploding from two consecutive bursts of fire. While firing the gun one handed, Cooper pulled out the A-Wall generator and hurled at the guy behind the one he had just gunned down, who was also next to a wall and desperately trying to get his gun up before he caught the circular device with his teeth, sending several falling to the floor as he clutched his bloody mouth. The pain and shock was so overwhelming that he never noticed the Marauder leap at him, jump kit sptting licks of angry fire as he drew his combat axe and brought it down on the neck of the man, severing an artery and sending blood spurting out as he fell to the floor.
By that point, the A-Wall and come to life, the 'hard' side facing the remaining gunmen as they emptied every round they had in a panic at the Marauder, each one harmlessly bouncing off the orange wall of light as Matt ripped the axe from his latest victim. With the axe still in hand, he brought it to the fore end of the Hemlock and raised it, emptying the last three bursts he had on tap into the remaining gunmen just before the A-Wall faded. "It's the Marauder! Get him!" yelled a new voice as Matt spun to the source and saw another man standing in the doorway that led deeper into the office space holding a rifle.
With no Phase Shift and no A-Wall, Matt reacted by vaulting over the table that the Maggia men had just used as cover right as bullets ripped through the room. "You want me!" called out Cooper over the roar of rifle fire as he pulled a frag from his webgear and yanked out the pin. Only when the fire stopped did he finish, "come get me!" snarled the Pilot as he lobbed the grenade over the table and drew his Smart Pistol, the Hemlock slung over his shoulder, still empty.
"Oh SHIT!" cried out the Maggia man as the grenade rolled to a stop at his feet and exploded, blowing him apart as shrapnel shredded the drywall around him and gave Cooper the opening he needed to stand and jump over the table, hitting the ground and sliding forwards with handgun in one hand and axe in the other. Passing through the gore covered doorway, the Marauder stood and turned to come face to face with another Maggia man, a towering seven-foot-tall one that was covered in blood. Swinging his axe, the Pilot buried the sharpened steel into the man's side, causing him to cry out in feral pain before Matt pressed the muzzle of his gun to the bottom of his chin and pulled the trigger, putting a round through his brain as he fell back. When he did, he revealed the shellshocked goons behind him as Matt leveled the high-tech gun and began to move forwards, firing as soon as it locked on. The three smart bullets all found their mark, dispatching the remaining Cicero enforcers with cold efficiency.
With the entire area silent, the Marauder began looking around to get his bearings and saw an ornate door that must have been his target and approached, trying the knob and finding it unlocked, the Pilot went inside. A massive hand slammed down on his Smart Pistol, knocking the gun away before a second rammed into his side as the blow from the brute sent the Marauder stumbling back, the wind knocked out of him. The sound of massive footfalls caused Matt to spin to the source and see the monster of a man charging him down, as he rolled away, the Pilot lashed out with his tomahawk, slicing an inch deep gash into the Maggia enforcer's thigh. A deep guttural cry of pain filled the room as Matt got to his feet and jumped up, jump kit launching him higher as he brought his knee up into the man's chin and sent him stumbling back into the wall. As Cooper landed, the Maggia man reached to the bookshelf next to him and, with a grunt of effort, toppled the massive cherry piece of furniture over, causing all the books on it to spill out and Matthew to dive away before he got crushed.
Scrambling back to his feet, Matt launched himself forwards, throwing a punch with his empty right hand that connected with the man's chin before swinging his axe for the coup de grâce, but that never connected. The brute managed to block the attack and grabbed the handle of the axe, wrenching it from Cooper's hand as he grabbed the Pilot by the vest and threw him across the room. Slamming into the wall, the Marauder shook his head to clear the fog in his mind as the crackle of static cut in through his heavy breathing and the roar of his foe as he charged the Pilot down. "Pilot be advised, Spider-Man is approaching your position, ETA is 90 seconds," reported BT as Cooper grit his teeth.
Brandishing the Pilot's own axe, the Brute charged him down only for Matt to jump up and press his boots to the wall and leap towards his attacker, his jump kit coming to life to spin him around before he lashed out with a crushing spin kick that hit the brute in the chest and staggered him. As soon as he hit the ground, Matt reached up grabbing his axe with one hand and the man's wrist with the other before leaping up once again and guiding the hand holding the weapon to his knee and slamming the two together with such force that he heard bones break as he ripped the axe free and spun it around. The first blow came down on the man's abdomen, slicing through soft tissue and shredding his intestines before the axe was ripped back out and swung into his chest, cracking ribs and sending bits of bone through the lung they were supposed to protect. Finally, the Pilot jumped onto the desk in the middle of the room and pushed off of that before bringing the axe down on the man's skull, the edge impacting on his right eye, slicing through his skull and into his brain as the eye it hit was crushed completely as blood dripped down his face and his body fell back against the floor with a 'thud.'
Pulling the axe free, Matt moved quickly, sheathing the tomahawk and retrieving his Smart Pistol, taking the time to reload both it and the Hemlock before holstering the pistol and slinging the rifle onto his back. "Statue, statue…" he chanted as he scanned the office and spotted what he was looking for a foot tall piece that he quickly scooped up. Knowing he was short of time, he simply grabbed the whole thing and tore off, activating his STIM and heading towards the stairwell at the corner of the building. Bursting through the doors to hear the sound of voices from below, looked over the edge only to have bullets snap past him as he jumped up onto the wall and began ascending the stairwell. Reaching the top level, he put his shoulder down and bull rushed through the door only to see two men guarding the exit onto the open rooftop.
Reaching down, he unlatched the sole Satchel Charge he carried and lobbed it forwards before rolling and diving behind a vending machine and drawing the detonator, with the statue still clutched in his left hand and the detonator in his right, Matthew squeezed the trigger twice, blowing away the two guards and the door. Certain that the way was clear, Matt frantically got out from behind the coke machine and charged forwards at full tilt before rounding the corner expecting to be met with an open path and not a red and blue clad man in a skintight suit shaking off the effects of the blast.
Reacting on instinct, Matt planted his foot and swung the other around as he ignited his jump kit, launching himself upwards as he twisted and extended his leg, planting his boot right on that white spider in the middle of his friend's chest. The blow staggered the Wallcrawler, but the sticky nature of his feet meant that he held fast much more than Cooper anticipated and he too lost all momentum as he tumbled to the ground and rolled along the rooftop. "Matt," managed Peter hoarsely as he coughed from the kick, "what are you doing?" he asked as he shook his head. At the moment, he was slamming the stupid statue into the roof, shattering it to reveal the small thumb drive it contained. "The Maggia are no joke."
Cooper grunted as he looked over his shoulder and saw two men standing in the doorway, spinning, he brought his rifle to bear and triggered the Hemlock, the weapon barking twelve times in quick succession to dispense a lethal dose of led to the pair. "No shit," he growled as he saw a red glove in his peripheral vision reach out for his rifle before Matt yanked it away. "Stay out of my way," he snarled before adjusting his grip and thrusting the buttstock back and rammed it into the Webhead's gut before getting to his feet and turned away. "As for what I'm doing?" he said as he unlatched an electric smoke grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, "paying off an old debt," answered the Pilot cryptically before sidearming the electric smoke at the Wallcrawler's feet and activating his STIM, taking off like a rocket into the teeming metropolis as he heard the smoke crackle in his wake.
Staggering forwards, Peter fought to stay on his feet as the lightning in the electric smoke snapped at him through his suit, singing his skin as he coughed on the smoke, one arm still wrapped around his stomach which had received a none too kind rifle butt. Making it out of the smoke as it faded, he looked around, but the Marauder was gone. That realization was quicky pushed aside as his sixth sense warbled and he turned around, "Spider-Man?" exclaimed a Cicero enforcer, "he's working with the Marauder! Get him!" Gritting his teeth, the Webslinger turned and threw a punch at the man closest to him before planting a foot and spinning to deliver a kick to the second and firing a webline at his ankle. As the first me the Wallcrawler hit began to recover, Spidey jumped up and wrapped a leg around his head to use the man to redirect his own momentum before planting his other foot to push off and send the Maggia man to the wall as Spider-Man went skywards, backflipping over the top as he brought his arms around to pull on the webline attached to the second, sending both of them towards the brick wall as his other webshooter fired and impact web that ensnared them both.
"You boys sure do jump to quick conclusions," quipped the webhead as he looked up to hear a familiar whirring sound and see another man armed with a minigun standing in the doorway. Eye lenses widening, Spider-Man shot forwards, diving and rolling along the ground to get out of sight of the door as he pulled out a web bomb and tossed it at the brute just as he opened fire. Tracers tore through the air blazing an angry red before the web bomb went off, restraining the enforcer and giving the Webslinger a second to breathe before three more men charged out onto the rooftop.
"Hey Spider, come work for the Cicero family!" called out one, "we'll double Hammerhead's price…" only to be cut off as Spider-Man surged towards him, planting a left jab on his chin before spinning, dancing around the Maggia man to stay out of the gunsights of the others before planting a follow up left cross and jumping up to deliver a knockout spin kick that sent him to the ground before his Spider-sense began to buzz angrily.
Diving and rolling away as the man with a minigun swung his massive weapon like a club, Spider-Man ended up on his feet and leveled his webshooters, firing both rapidly to keep the big man restrained, "I'm not working for Hammerhead!" he exclaimed as he poured it on, "or any other crime family. I'm just…" he continued before there was a 'hiss' as both shooters ejected their spent cartridges and cycled in new ones. Grabbing a suspension matrix, Spider-Man hurled the high tech gadget at the group of smaller goons, the device coming to life as a beacon of blue light that used repulsor tech shamelessly copied from the War Machine suit to lift the men nearby up off the ground and hold them there, letting them flail uselessly against the unrelenting force of the repulsor tech and giving him the time he needed to dispatch the minigun wielding man. "Wrong place," he called out as his webshooters reloaded and he fired a pair of weblines at the small scaffolding behind the brute, "wrong time!" he quipped as he pulled with superhuman strength, bringing the scaffolding down on the brute and pining him under the metal, wood, and supplies.
The last pair of men were still struggling against the relentless push of the suspension matrix before the power pack ran dry and dropped them down to the ground only to get promptly pinned there by bursts of webbing. With the rooftop falling silent, Spider-Man looked around for any sign of the Marauder as he scooped up and repacked the suspension matrix, while the gadget would need a recharge it had worked beautifully and was too expensive to waste. When it was clear that the SRS Pilot was long gone, Peter swung away onto another rooftop and called Mary Jane. "MJ, I ran into Matthew, but he got away with another data drive," he said as he pressed his hand to where he could feel the bruise forming on his chest form the kick the Marauder gave him.
"Really? So he's working with Felicia then," guessed Mary Jane before there was a pause as it sounded like she was jotting something down. "So, it seems like each family has a drive – wonder what's on them?" she mused rhetorically, "did you learn anything else?"
"Yeah," replied Peter as the Pilot's words and actions replayed inside his head, despite watching the Marauder gun down two men without a second thought, it was the words that displayed themselves more prominently in his mind's eye. "Matthew said he was 'Paying back and old debt.'" Taking a deep breath Peter then added, "MJ, that was what Martin Li told me he was doing when he tried to release Devil's Breath at Grand Central."
There was a serious pause from the redhead, "then he probably doesn't owe Hammerhead a lot of money. Maybe Hammerhead is working with them to make a power play on the other crime families? All of my sources are saying that Hammerhead is the one benefiting from this and most think that the Marauder and Black Cat are working for him."
Peter took a deep breath, Matthew, no matter his methods, had been very clear about which side he was on from the start, and it wasn't the side that had Hammerhead on it. "And what do you think MJ?" asked the Queens Native carefully.
The redhead sighed and answered, "I don't think my sources know them like we do Tiger. Felicia isn't stupid, and Matt has enough firepower to beat anyone the Maggia sends against them. They wouldn't work with Hammerhead," answered the Associate Editor confidently. That confidence reassured Peter more than he cared to admit, and he knew that Mary Jane was more likely right than not. "But whatever they're doing is stirring up an already brewing conflict, and the last thing the city needs is a gang war. I don't think they would be doing that without a damn good reason. I'll let you know if I turn up any info on those drives."
"Thanks MJ," replied Peter as he swung off into the city and the line clicked off.
"Pete's definitely onto us babe," said Matthew over the phone to Felicia as he looked around for the source of the radiation that signified a missing painting for Detective Mackey, "I ran into him during my exfil but managed to lose him."
On the other end of the line, Felicia hummed, clearly mulling that over as Matt looked around this section of rooftop and saw nothing suspicious. "Spider's nothing if not persistent. Chances are he'll be hounding us the whole way through unless we convince him to see things our way…"
"Not likely," grunted Cooper as he vaulted over a railing and looked for anything out of place, "he's too righteous to go along with what we're planning."
"Or we could make sure he can't keep following us."
"I'm not killing Spider-Man," snapped Matt hotly, not even willing to entertain that notion.
"Let me finish," chided Felicia coolly, still with a slightly playful tone, "I wasn't suggesting that. There might be another way to throw him off our scent," suggested the Black Cat.
"What?" asked Cooper skeptically, "I'd be happy to hear it if you got it."
"I think we're going to have to go with one of our contingencies," explained the heiress, "Hammerhead's been taking credit for what we've been doing, saying he has the drives we took. He won't be able to keep that secret forever and so he's going to be looking for an opportunity to off both of us. I think I can get him to go for my penthouse," said Felicia. "I'll let you know when I need you cowboy. Right now, I'm about to go grab the third drive."
"Good luck Darlin," drawled Cooper as he saw an odd cylindrical metal tube on the rooftop that seemed to just be bolted down rather than built into the rooftop, "let me know if you need help, I'll start looking into those places where Hammerhead could be hiding his drive," he answered before hanging up. First though, he was focused on checking what this thing was as he threw his weight into it and felt the metal bend as the cap, which should have been welded on, popped off. Looking down inside, he saw another art tube. "Another painting," he mused as he called Mackey, "Detective, I found another painting for you, sending you the location."
"Thanks, that should help me close another file," replied the cop.
But that wasn't why Cooper was doing this, he wanted to learn more about Felicia's father since the woman herself scarcely mentioned him. "How did Hardy die?" asked the Pilot as he leapt off the building and dove down towards the streets below.
"Escape attempt from Riker's…he drowned trying to swim to shore," answered the Detective.
Firing his grappling hook, the Pilot catapulted around and up onto a rooftop where he slid and jumped off, licks of flame propelling him to the wall of the next building that he ran along with practiced ease. "Did he have any family?" asked Cooper, already knowing the answer.
"Uh yeah, he had a thing with Elizabeth Rodney and a daughter," replied Mackey before a short pause, "named, uh…Felicia. I know what you're thinking, she might be the new cat. But I ran a search on her…comes up clean," revealed the Detective, which Matt wasn't surprised at, he had helped ensure that after all.
He even chuckled a bit and replied, "because she's just that good Detective. Chances are the only way you'd find out who she really was is if she let you," drawled the Marauder cockily before leaping across to the building opposite and continuing his wallrun.
Mackey was seemingly less than convinced, "I dunno', it doesn't track…When I interrogated Hardy it sounded like he really loved his kid. Didn't want her mixed up in his work." Matthew mulled that over, he knew that Felicia looked up to her father and had thought he had planted the seed in her mind to become the Black Cat. That didn't seem to be the case. "If you don't mind me asking, it sounds like you've met the new Black Cat…"
"Yeah," replied Cooper, "don't take this the wrong way, but we've been dating for a while now," he admitted. He was willing to take the risk, something about this guy felt off to the Texan and while Felicia always trusted her plans, he preferred to go with his gut and so he was willing to show his hand a bit to see if he could get Mackey to show his.
At first, it didn't seem like he had gone for it. "I see," he answered noncommittally, "but I'm curious, what's she like?" he asked genuinely.
"She's special," replied Cooper honestly, "one of the smartest people I've ever met and can beat you by knowing what you're going to do before you do. I'm man enough to admit that she came out on top the first few times we tangled," finished Cooper.
"Really?" replied a surprised Mackey, "how'd she manage that?"
"I'll put it to you this way, you get up close and personal with her and she becomes less of a Black Cat and more of a Wild Cat," replied Cooper with a slight smile as he remembered the scratches he often had after spending the night in bed with her. "But she's pulled my ass out of the fire just as many times and only robs people that can either afford it or deserve it. She has a good heart. There's nobody else quite like her."
"I know the feeling," replied Mackey before suddenly following up, "uh, gotta go. Talk to you later." The call was suddenly dropped as Matthew kept running through the city, deciding to go grab another painting, Felicia wanted him to keep some distance between them in case he needed to make a distraction.
That was when he heard the crackle of static followed by the monotone of BT-7274. "Pilot, I have run an exhaustive search of the NYPD systems. There are 17 men with the last name 'Mackey' in the department, three of which are detectives, and none of them fit the description of the man who contacted you, nor are they assigned to the Greenwich precinct." Matt had been hoping to just learn a bit more about the man and put his mind at ease, but now it was simply working overtime as the Vanguard spoke again, "analysis: there is a 67.42% chance the man who contacted you does not work for the NYPD and an 83.55% chance he gave you a false name."
"Damn," cursed Cooper pondered what that meant, "maybe he's just using a false name to avoid getting in trouble. See if you can find out if any of the Detectives at Greenwich worked the Walter Hardy case and if that comes up empty work it from the other direction. Check for cops who worked the Walter Hardy case and see if any of them match our man," instructed the Pilot. "Oh, and one more thing BT," added the Major, "see if you can find a picture of Walter Hardy, I want to know what color hair he had."
"My goodness, just how many of these things did I leave lying around?" asked Peter aloud as he pulled a backpack down from a cubby under an old El Train line. Pulling it open, he saw it had a couple squares of a bizarre black fabric inside and grabbed one, running his hands over the bizarre texture of it before realizing what it was. "One of these days I'll work out a fabric that warps sound and light waves," he vowed, now that he had his own lab and a budget of 'not $0.00' it was a distinct possibility too. "A stealth suit would really come in handy." Cooper's Tactical Cloak still fascinated him, but that was centered around an active projection system involving microscopic synthetic crystals woven into the fabric of his fatigues and baked into the plate of his armor. Peter wanted a system that worked passively and didn't require a power source.
Any impromptu brainstorming session he might have started was quickly ended as his mask phone rang and he was forced to put the backpack back. "Hey, Peter, I might've found the Black Cat's next target," informed Mary Jane.
"Really?" asked a surprised but impressed Spider-Man, "how?"
"Because according to police dispatch, there was just a burglary matching her M.O., business with Maggia ties, nobody saw her, security system was disabled and cameras wiped," rattled off the Associate Editor. That did sound like Black Cat alright, and so when a gps marker popped up on his HUD, Peter began swinging that way instantly. "I just sent you the location. If you find her, try to get some real answers…please."
Thankfully, he wasn't that far from the location MJ had sent and he was silently cursing himself for not knowing about this sooner, hopefully he would still be able to catch Felicia, but if the Police already knew about it then she had a few minutes head start, and that was more than enough for the veteran thief. "I'll try MJ," he promised before ending the call and landing on a rooftop overlooking the scene. Police cars were already there, a perimeter had been set up, and inside it was an ambulance. "Felicia, what have you done?" wondered the Webslinger as he engaged the zoom function on his eye lenses to take a closer look. "Cops blocked off the street…and it looks like the security guard was hurt," observed the Wallcrawler as he spotted the white shirted man lying on the gurney behind the ambulance. Webzipping down to a streetlight and handspringing off, the Webslinger stuck the landing opposite the EMT checking on the security guard, causing the EMT to visibly flinch when he looked up from his clipboard to find himself face to face with Spider-Man. "What happened here?"
"Spider-Man, uh I heard someone stole a rare book or something," replied the medical tech.
Peter could probably wager what was inside that book, but that wasn't what he wanted to know, "is the guard going to be okay?" he asked genuinely.
He also let out a sigh of relief when the EMT nodded, "pretty bad case of photokeratitis – basically a flash burn of his corneas. But he'll recover," he assured.
Nodding, Peter meandered through the crime scene, attracting a few odd looks but was otherwise ignored as he went to an alleyway and saw a large black mark on the ground with a yellow triangle labeled '2' next to it. Crouching down next to it, he saw a cylinder in the middle with the label 'M84' barely visible before scanning the residue on the ground, "traces of Magnesium, it was a flashbang grenade, military grade," surmised the Webhead. "This must have been what burned that guard's eyes." Standing back up and looking around, he noticed some distinct scratches on the brick of the building opposite the one Felicia had broken into. With no better options, Peter jumped up and stuck to the wall, following the marks to the rooftop in the hope he could pick up the Black Cat's trail.
Knowing she liked to stay on the ground and use her parkour skills and gymnastics training, Peter followed the rooftop to the next building, dropping down and continuing down that one too and then looking across a narrow alleyway to see claw marks on the next building and nodding, "where were you headed Felicia?" asked Peter to nobody as he followed the Thief's trail, jumping across and climbing up that building and looking around the rooftop until he stumbled across a climbing cable anchored to the roof, "got ya," said Spider-Man as he leaped over the edge and fired a pair of weblines behind him as he leaned forwards to pull his feet to the brick and run 'down' the building.
When he reached the bottom, he found a man laying on the cement and rolled him over to reveal the deep marks on his neck that matched a garrote, though a quick check of his pulse revealed that he was still alive, just passed out from the strangulation. "Looks like a member of the Mauchio crime family," mused Spidey.
Further investigation was put aside when his sixth sense began to buzz and he heard a voice call out "Spider-Man KO'd Vito! Take 'im out!" Looking up, the Wallcrawler saw four men charging at him, similarly dressed to the man before him and wielding an assortment of pipes, crowbars, and baseball bats.
The Webslinger couldn't help but sigh, "…and here come some of his brothers," quipped Spider-Man lowly. "Ever think maybe Vito got Ko'd for acting exactly like this?" asked Spider-Man as he felt his sixth sense buzz and ducked the first swung implement, rolling and using his arms to launch himself up and plant a kick in the chest of the trailing member.
"The Ciceros were right!" shouted a second as Spider-Man twisted and contorted his body out of the way of the retaliatory attack from the man he had just kicked that met only empty air. "Spider-Man's working for Hamerhead!" Gritting his teeth behind his mask, the Webhead turned around and fired a burst of webbing at the speaker that hit him in the face and covered his mouth, silencing him for the moment.
"Like I told the Cicero guys, I do NOT work for Hammerhead," began the Webslinger emphatically as he went back to the man who had just taken a swing at him, planting a webline in his chest before leaping up and flipping forwards while firing a second webline from his other wrist that stuck to the top of his shoulder as Peter pulled while flipping back right side up and using his momentum to whip the guy over the top of him as Spider-Man dropped back down and threw him into the brick wall. "And," he continued as he fired a webline at a bag of cement that was there on the ground, "I'm kind of insulted that you would even think that," shot back the quipping superhero as he swung the bag around and into one of the three remaining Maggia men.
The last two standing didn't seem to get the message though, "the Mauchio family will not stand for this!" said one.
"Yeah, tell Hammerhead he messes with the Mauchio family, he messes with ALL the families," added the second before charging in only for Spider-Man to do a bicycle kick that sent him flailing and flying while the Webhead planted and launched up to the Maggia goon's altitude and delivered a follow up kick to the man's back that sent him careening down the alleyway and skidding along the blacktop.
"Sure thing, I'll be sure and do that," quipped Spidey as he fired a pair of weblines simultaneously at the last Mauchio standing, "when I meet him for the first time!" he finished. Now genuinely annoyed, Spider-Man launched himself forwards as he yanked the last man towards him, slamming his knee right into the Maggia thug's chin and sending him crumpling to the ground in a heap.
Turning back to the area he had been checking out, Peter noticed a black mark on the ground, "tire tracks," he noted. Judging from the width and the fact that there was only one, it didn't take a genius to determine the source, "a motorcycle's tire tracks." If this was Felicia and she had gotten on her bike, she was long gone, even Matt's McLaren couldn't hope to catch her in Manhattan traffic. Next to the track was an old looking leather bound book that Peter picked up carefully and opened to reveal that the middle of the pages had been cut out in the distinct shape of a data drive. "Damn," he cursed lowly before turning back the way he came, "better give this to the police, it's probably overdue."
Felicia reclined on the leather love seat in her boyfriend's armory/basement with her hood and mask off, around her was situated a few monitors to show the feeds from the bugs she had left behind in Hammerhead's businesses and residence, along with the tap she had on his phones, both landline and cell. Gripped between the fingers in her left hand were the two data drives she had successfully gotten away with in just the last few hours, an impressive feat even by her lofty standards. The other hand held an encrypted phone with Hammerhead's cell number already dialed in, she was just waiting for one last thing, and judging by the thrumming of a V-8 she could hear slowly approaching, he was close. Indeed, the low slung dark green Widowmaker prowled back into the space and shut off, the butterfly door opening as her Cowboy emerged and pulled his helmet off, flashing a genuine and confident smile. "Hey Darlin," he drawled in greeting as he made his way over to the seat and sat down next to her before she turned and lay across his lap, her head rest on the armrest. As one of his gloved hands rested on her abs, the other pulled the data drive he had stolen from the Ciceros and handed it to her so she had the three drives nestled between the four fingers of her hand, "you think he'll take the bait?"
"He'll take the bait," replied Felicia confidently, "after all, who could resist what I have to offer?" she asked with a wicked smile that drew a small chuckle from the Marauder as she pressed the 'call' button and pressed the phone to her ear.
It rang enough to peeve the heiress, but when the call was finally accepted Felicia couldn't help but smile a bit at the prospect of toying with the Maggia boss. "Who the fuck is this? How'd you get this number? And what do you want?" snarled Hammerhead angrily.
But Hardy remained cool and calm as she replied. "Hammerhead, Hammerhead," she tutted disapprovingly, "this is the Black Cat calling because I have a few incredibly rare items that you might be interested in," continued the Thief softly, starkly contrasting with the Maggia boss' harsh tones. "Though from the sound of things it doesn't seem like you'd be willing to talk. Maybe I'll have to give old Frank Costa a call and see if he'd be more accommodating…"
"Wait, hold on!" snapped Hammerhead suddenly before he took a deep breath, "I was acting rashly. Please, accept my sincere apologies miss," implored the man coolly, though Felicia could almost see the clenched teeth and shark toothed grin that was probably on the man's face.
Letting out an exaggerated sigh, the Black Cat twisted her hair around her finger before replying, "very well, I accept." Licking her lips as she prepared the sell, Felicia spoke again with deliberate calm, "if you're still interested in what I have to offer then you'll listen to what I have to say very carefully. In my hand I'm holding three data drives that used to be the property of the Fortunato, Cicero, and Mauchio families. From what I understand, you would be very much interested in obtaining them, and luckily for you, they don't suit my fancy, so I'm willing to sell."
"Then you certainly called the right man, miss. I believe that you and me could come to a…mutually beneficial arrangement," answered the Don, clearly trying to contain his excitement at the prospect, which caused Felicia's smile to widen, "were you hoping to talk terms now?" he asked eagerly.
"Not at the moment, merely…gauging your interest," replied Felicia. "And since you responded so well, I'd be willing to acquire the Costa's drive as well, with a corresponding increase in price of course."
In her mind, the Maggia Don was licking his chops, "if you were willing to sell me all four I'd pay a considerable sum," answered Hammerhead, "when would you like to discuss the specifics?"
"Tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. I'll send you the location of the penthouse I like to make these deals in," replied the heiress, "and don't think I'll have the merchandise with me, they'll be in a safe deposit box and handed over once we've come to terms." With that, her smile stretched almost the width of her face since the breadcrumbs had all been laid out. The penthouse was in Felicia Hardy's name, and a few days ago that same Felicia Hardy had opened a safe deposit box at a bank that was a front for a Maggia family. Hammerhead, arrogant as he was, would probably try to outsmart her by doing enough research to figure that out but never think if that was what she wanted him to do. Since he thought he would know where the drives were he would happily try and kill them before sending his goons to knock over another family's bank in an effort to get drives that weren't there. "You may bring one man with you to our little talk, I'll have mine with me too. How does that sound?" she asked.
"Perfect," answered the Don simply before hanging up as Felicia lowered the phone from her ear and sent him the address of her penthouse.
"Let's see if he took the bait cowboy," said Felicia before unmuting the feeds and laying back, looking relaxed but still slightly tense as the bugs relayed their information on a slight delay, but soon one came through.
"Perfect," said Hammerhead as a picture with sound came up on the screen of him in his office with a few of his lackeys. The Don then sneered as he tossed the phone down, "fuckin' bitch," he sneered before his phone beeped, "thinks she's so smart. Let's see how smart you really are for trying to bust my balls. Fredo!" shouted Hammerhead as one of the men looked up from his laptop.
"Yes boss?" he asked nervously.
"I need you to look up an address for me," answered Hammerhead, a bit of his calm returning as he picked up his phone and tapped at it, "find out who owns it. When you do, I need you to find a safe deposit box in that name. Got it?"
Fredo nodded vigorously as Hammerhead smiled once more, "Giuseppe, did any of those shipments we stole have explosives?" asked the Don.
Another man breathed in through his cigarette, "I think so boss," he replied as he took the cigarette from his mouth and blew out smoke while he looked down at his phone, "yeah, we got a whole bunch of stuff. Some C4, Semtex, even a couple of High Intensity Energy charges, why?"
"Cause that was the Black Cat, she wants to meet to sell the drives she's been stealing. Only I'm not going to pay in cash," explained the Maggia crime boss. "Have your boys take some of that stuff and some gasoline then rig that apartment. I want a nice, big, fireball, you got that?" The man Hammerhead had been speaking to nodded simply and stuck his cigarette back in his mouth as the Don grinned evilly and declared, "this city's going to get an early morning wake up call it'll never forget."
Mary Jane Watson Research Notes
'Comeback of the Maggia' – State of the NYPD
With last year being far and away the bloodiest year in the history of the NYPD, a bit of time looking into what the new Mayoral administration has been doing to try and rebuild the department seemed prudent.
Somewhat expectedly, a $6 Billion and 55,000 person organization can't just snap back from losing hundreds of officers and millions of dollars in property damage. The situation has not been exceedingly helped by the Mayor, which isn't surprising. Leading up to the abrupt resignation of Mayor Osborn and his coinciding withdrawal from the Mayoral race, his opponent had been lagging behind significantly in polling partly due to the differences in the issue of how to handle the NYPD. While the current administration has enabled rebuilding to take place, my sources are saying that it's not going anywhere near as quickly as similar programs under Osborn following Cinderblock, and that has bred more than a little resentment within the department.
Supposedly, that resentment goes straight to the top, Commissioner Jean DeWolff, according to my sources, has privately voiced her frustration when it comes to dealing with the City's Executive Branch. [Note: Look more into DeWolff; she solidified her position as Commissioner after her Baptism by Fire due to the Devil's Breath crisis and IMC incursion after the sudden death of Roy Benitez, seems like someone worth looking into.] While this hasn't been clearly expressed publicly, DeWolff's position is clear enough to those in the NYPD that they seem to have instead rallied around her, though that is probably the sole bright spot for the Police right now.
They are understaffed and underfunded, especially considering all of the extra money and manpower it would take to recover from last year. Even worse, it's starting to show. Crime is up despite Spider-Man being more active than he has at any point in the last three years (times of crisis notwithstanding), mainly from petty crime and crimes of opportunity. Muggings, car jackings, hit and runs, all are up by double digit percentages since the start of the new year. Cooperation with other agencies has helped cover up just how dire the situation might actually be, and considering the real possibility of a serious gang war on the horizon, none of what I have found fills me with confidence.
Closing notes: I'm trying something a little bit different with the storytelling, trying to keep the readers (that's you guys) on the same page(ish) as Spider-Man, trying to piece together the finer points of Matt and Felicia's plan. It's certainly been a tricky balance and I'm enjoying the challenge, so let me know what you think of my efforts so far. Criticism here is very welcome, I won't say it hasn't been a struggle to try and write from both sides here. It's also why I'm planning on not really doing it in Turf Wars. Review and let me know your thoughts.
Remember how I said I was going to try and not do just rock songs? Well, I'm giving up on that, so Don't Stop Me Now.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.
