The Legacy of a Hero
Chapter Twenty-Six
Heather was frozen. For a long moment, she stared at the name blinking from the 3D model, unsure how to process the bomb Tony Stark had just dropped on her. Peter Parker was not her father. Her dad was someone named Ben Reilly, who was apparently a clone of Peter. That both explained a lot, and nothing at all.
Before she could even register what she was doing, Heather had commandeered the massive computer in the med bay, searching their database for 'Ben Reilly'. She could feel the two Avengers behind her, watching her, but she ignored them. Her search inquiry came back faster than she'd expected and she slammed a fist into the console, a small dent forming where her hand had landed.
"What the fuck is this?" She exclaimed, turning to Tony and Bruce, gesturing at the holoscreen angrily. She'd never considered herself much of a potty mouth, but this day just seemed to be made for testing her patience and it was wearing rapidly thin. The file for her father was a single paragraph which read: Ben Reilly alias Scarlet Spider. Clone of Spiderman. Possesses all the same powers as Spiderman. Location and Status: Unknown.
"Spiderman is," Banner sighed. "Private. Technically, he's in the reserves of the Avengers. He's willing to help us if we call, but he is notoriously territorial and private. He does not call us, we call him. He doesn't like someone else fighting his battles for him, so you can imagine how few and far between those calls are. Any files he has with us are kept to a bare minimum."
"You guys know that Peter got cloned, even know the guy's name, but don't know anything else? How is that possible?" Heather demanded.
Tony was massaging his forehead like he was fighting a migraine. "Technically, Peter has been cloned many times. Like I said, the Jackal was brilliant but a nutjob."
"Didn't he clone Pete's ex-girlfriend too?" Banner asked, looking at Stark.
Tony looked to the side thoughtfully. "I think so," he said slowly.
"Can you two please focus!" Heather snapped. "Peter is missing and my real Dad has been MIA for the last ten years of my life and I want to know why. He," She stopped, her throat suddenly tight as tears pricked her eyes. "He wouldn't just leave me," she said hoarsely.
She knew it was true the moment she said it. Her father had been her best friend. In her mind, she could see her dad as clear as day, and suddenly the differences between him and Peter were so obvious she couldn't believe she'd missed them. Ben's hair was a couple of shades lighter brown, almost dirty blonde compared to Peter's brown. Ben's eyes, while blue like Peter's, had a tinge of green to them in certain lighting, and there was a smattering of freckles across his nose that became more prominent in the summertime.
It wasn't just physical appearance though, it was the way the two men carried themselves. Peter walked like the weight of the world was trying to crush him, but Ben had a lightness to his step and demeanor even when he was tired or upset. Heather had very clear memories of her father coming home tired from a long day of teaching and grading papers, and yet his weariness melted away when he laid eyes on her and her mother in their old apartment.
Wait... Heather looked sharply at her companions. "Does my Mom know?"
The two men shrugged helplessly. "I cannot emphasize enough," Tony said, clearly annoyed but not with her. "Ridiculously secretive and protective."
Bruce added, "We've never had the pleasure of meeting your mother, but we know who she is and she knows of us, I'm sure. Whether she knew about the clones, I couldn't tell you. You'd have to ask her."
Heather waved the suggestion off. "One disaster at a time. As much as I hate to say this," she rubbed her eyes and cleared her throat. "My dad can wait. I have to find Peter, because I think he's in trouble. And if he's not, then he will be when I find him," she added darkly.
"We've already started the trace," Bruce offered, getting up to check on a program which had been running in a corner of the screen. He tapped it and read some text boxes that the computer offered. "Here, warehouse district by the docks," He tapped and brought up a map of the city, pointing to the area as the computer zoomed in on the satellite photo. "He's been all over that area by the looks of it, and it seems like he's still there."
"Good enough for me," Heather said, pulling her goggles back down.
"Wait, you can't go alone," Tony said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I won't be alone," Heather smirked and pulled her phone from her belt, typing out a text.
"We could help too," Tony frowned at her.
She shook her head. "I appreciate it, and if it gets really dicey I'll call you guys. But I don't think I need the Avengers today. So far, everything that's happened has been happening in the background. Someone else has been pulling these strings."
"What's your theory?" Bruce asked curiously.
"Okay," Heather started, pacing as she talked. "So, someone is trying to seize control of Chen's slice of neighborhood, and they tried to use his daughter. With him out of the way, that would leave just one member of their triad standing, and I'm sure it wouldn't take much to topple him. I originally thought it might be Chen's brother trying to grab all three territories from his siblings, but I really don't think that's the case."
"Why is that?" Tony asked, pulling up the files that their team kept on the crime lords. Stephen Chen and his two brothers' photos came up on the display.
"I can understand maybe holding Chen's daughter as a bargaining chip," Heather said, pointing at the picture of the brother who wasn't in prison orange. "But why hire outside thugs who clearly wanted to rape her? Why not keep it in-house? The Chen's very clearly are people who don't trust outsiders, at least from what I could find. I think someone else was trying to push Stephen into giving up his portion of the territory. I don't know who exactly, yet, but I think it's too much of a coincidence that at the same time a gang war is brewing, three different former and/or current members of the Sinister Six have been trying to grab a significant amount of cash."
Tony brought up the group's file and the mugshots of the criminals made Heather's skin crawl. There was Electro, Hydroman, Scorpion, Rhino, Doctor Octopus, and Mysterio. Beside the pictures of each criminal was a small text box listing powers or abilities and current status. Electro and Scorpion were listed as being recently incarcerated back in their old cells, but all the others were listed as missing.
"Wait, when did Hydroman escape?" Heather frowned at the screen. "I fried his butt a couple of weeks ago."
"Apparently he escaped while in transit to prison," Tony shrugged. "It happens."
"Great, just what we needed in the midst of this shit storm, a flood," She took a deep breath to center herself and felt her phone buzz in her hand. She looked down at it and smiled. "Gotta run. Thanks for everything guys."
"Call us!" Bruce emphasized in case she'd forgotten. "Really, if you need anything just call. We'll be there as fast as we can."
"Don't do anything Peter would do," Tony added. Heather wasn't sure but she thought she saw a hint of anger behind his eyes. Neither of the men had said as such, and yet she had a feeling they wanted to have a very long talk with Peter Parker.
Get in line, Heather thought as she raced out of the building.
The warehouse district in the setting sunlight was creepy and foreboding. The shipping containers, some stacked as high as skyscrapers, cast long shadows amid their maze like corridors.
Black Widow jumped and landed on the arm of a crane, surveying the urban landscape. She could just make out the dark waters of the harbor between towering stacks, and as she scanned the area she could see a handful of night workers milling around. Tucked further away from the water were a series of warehouses, all in varying stages of needing repair. She used her webbing to climb to the top of a shipping container stack for a better vantage point.
Once on top, she could see better that there was one warehouse that was positioned the furthest away from the others and looked the most disused. Despite the handful of broken window panes though, she could see lights were on inside. Bingo, she thought.
It took her a few minutes of parkour to reach the building, landing on the roof with what she hoped was a gentle enough thud. There were three skylights set into the roof to help alleviate lighting costs, and she hurried over to the closest one.
Peering in, she felt her heart constrict. The four remaining members of the Sinister Six were spread out across the warehouse. In the center of the room, almost directly beneath her, Spiderman was strapped to a table by thick looking metal restraints, head lolled to the side. Either unconscious, she thought, or faking it really well.
"Well that seems bad," someone said next to her.
Black Widow fell back onto her behind in surprise, never having heard Robin sneak up on her. "Shit," she hissed, her heart thudding wildly in her chest. "Don't do that!"
Robin smirked. "Sorry. So what's the story? You weren't super detailed in your text."
Widow got back to her feet and crouched next to him once more. "Short version: that kidnapping and murder I've been trying to solve? These guys are behind it, or at least tangentially related to it. Spiderman figured that out one step ahead of me. Instead of telling me where he was going, or even maybe asking for backup from someone," she gestured at the warehouse floor below them. "He did that." She looked over her friend's shoulder and frowned. "Where's Batman?"
"Out of town," Robin shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry. It's just me."
"No, no it's okay," She reassured quickly. "I guess I was just expecting both of you to come. But one is better than nothing. I've got other friends I can call." She pulled out her phone and scowled. "Seriously? No signal?"
Robin brought up his holo computer and started typing. "Could be they're jamming any signals except their own as a safety measure. How did you even find your dad?"
Widow's jaw tightened but she decided now wasn't the time to correct him. "I had some smartypants guys I know trace his DNA's radioactive signature and it led me here."
"So, what's the plan?" He asked.
She sighed. "I have no idea, I was sort of hoping you would have one." She ran her hands through her hair, trying to gather her scattered thoughts.
"Are you okay? You don't seem very aster," Robin asked and she could almost see his left eyebrow raise.
"I'm peachy," Widow growled.
He held up his hands, "Hey, I'm on your side. Remember?"
"I know, I know," She leaned her forehead against the glass pane. "I'm just tired. I want this nightmare to be over with."
She felt him pat her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get your dad out of this and those guys will pay. It'll all work out." She gave him a wan smile. Not exactly the nightmare I was referring to, but yeah, this needs to get wrapped up too. I just wish I knew what happened to Ben… she shook her head to dispel the thought. She'd have time to confront Peter and get her answers after this was all over.
"Any chance you might be able to tap into their power source and cut it off?" Widow asked, a plan slowly taking shape in her mind. "Even if we could just knock out the scrambler they're using, that would help a ton. We could get the NYPD and the Avengers here to do clean up, after we get Spiderman clear."
Robin was already back at his wrist computer, tapping furiously. "On it."
"Okay, what else can we -?" Widow stopped short as the giant computer Doctor Octopus was standing at suddenly blinked and a video call was established. On the screen she could see a very large, bald, African American man in an impeccably tailored suit, and he did not look happy.
"Who is that?" Robin asked, still typing.
"Dunno, but I want to find out," Widow tested the edge of the skylight, finding it locked with a simple padlock. Hoping this wasn't going to be too noisy, she gripped both hands around the lock and pulled down sharply. The metal broke away like fragile clay pieces in her hands. Dropping the debris, she carefully lifted the skylight up enough that she and Robin could hear the conversation happening below.
"...Of all the incompetent, unprofessional, ridiculous schemes! I should know better by now not to trust you imbeciles with anything!" The man on the video call boomed, smacking a fist on the desk he was seated at which crunched in protest under the abuse.
"Chen still refuses to bow to your demands, eh?" A voice with a German accent asked, and Widow identified it as Doctor Octopus as he turned away from the screen to rub his jaw thoughtfully.
"Of course he refuses," the big man continued. "You lost our one bargaining chip against him!"
"It's not our fault," the Rhino protested in his thick Brooklyn accent.
Hydroman walked closer to the huddle around the computer, making puddles everywhere he went. "You told us to make it discreet, so the Doc here hired some guys to take care of it, so no one could trace it to you."
"It is not our fault he hired horny morons," Mysterio added, folding his arms. It seemed like he might be glaring in Doc Ock's general direction, but his crystal ball shaped helmet made it impossible to tell for sure.
Octopus whirled on Mysterio, his mechanical arms snapping menacingly, but before he could do the illusionist any harm, the man on the video call interrupted. "Enough! I am done playing games. If it's war Chen wants, then it's war he'll get. The Kingpin always gets what he wants."
The men all grinned gleefully at that, like Christmas had come early for them.
"What do you want us to do with the webhead?" Hydroman asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Spiderman, who had just begun to stir from unconsciousness.
"He has been a thorn in my side for far too long," The Kingpin smiled. "Kill him."
"Got it," Robin hissed, and the warehouse plunged into darkness.
AN: This took me a bit to write out I will admit, but I almost feel like it will be easier moving on from here. Maybe, we'll see. In case you're wondering, my Kingpin is definitely based on Michael Clark Duncan's portrayal in Daredevil. It was just such a good fit, he filled the role perfectly, plus there's too many white guys in comics let's be real. I've been bouncing between my two current WIP and I think it's been helping to keep the inspiration flowing, so I may update TTF before this, it'll just depend on my mood. Hope everyone had a great weekend, and reviews are very much appreciated! ^_^