Lemme tell you, trying to get a definitive idea of which Makluan Ring does what was a very annoying 15-20 minutes of cross referencing. A comic expert had one list and Wikipedia had another…it was a confusing mess. But whatever, back to the extra-long chapter.
Government Bureau
"We'll be making pushes down the various islands surrounding Area 11 and across the pacific islands, multiple smaller resistance groups have them their bases under Prince Clovis' reign. It's about time we did some house cleaning." Darlton placed a castle piece on many of the islands on the map.
"What intelligence do we currently have on the terrorists in these areas?" Cornelia asked as she took a sip from her mug of coffee. It had been a long night of politics and planning. She's been almost dying to get out on the field to do some real work.
"All information is currently within the folders everyone holds. A list of notable officers, estimated force sizes, and other resistances we'll face is made available to each of the team leaders participating. Now as for who will lead, I leave that to Princess…" There was a knock at the door. Three steady knocks to alert the room. Odd, she requested not to be disturbed.
"Guilford check the door. This better be important." Guilford stood up and walked to the door to open it. As he did the room saw no one outside. "Strange I swear…" Another three knocks, but evidently it was not from the door.
"It's not any of us, your majesty." The various captains of the Glinda Knights looked in confusion.
She focused on the sound and stood up, as she did her feet took her to the curtained windows. The sound was coming from the window, but how?
"Your majesty?" Guilford asked, uncertain why she walked to the window. Cornelia threw open the curtains and was met with a black and red mask. Spider-Man. He hung upside down on a wire, he simply waved his hand at her.
"Princess, get behind me!" Guilford rushed to her side and pulled out a pistol.
Spider-Man meanwhile merely pointed up towards the roof, she understood quite well what he wanted.
"This meeting is adjourned; I have an unexpected guest." Guilford looked to argue but Cornelia did not leave room for him to try.
"Princess, perhaps we should…" Cornelia ignored him as they exited the hallway to a nearby staircase.
Cornelia walked up the stairs and to the door leading to the roof before facing Guilford again, "I believe I can handle the spider, and I'm sure he isn't hear to kill me. I will not hear any more of this Guilford." Guilford nodded, finally submitting to Cornelia's order. As he did, she pushed the door open and exited.
On the railing sat their guest, clad in black and red perched like an owl. His white wide eyes would give that impression if not for the lights. "Sorry to interrupt, it was the best way to get your attention without giving off the wrong impression. You wouldn't know how many meetings I accidentally stopped looking for you." Spider-Man rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
"You do realize you are trespassing on military grounds; I could have you shot."
"Yeah, I know. You wouldn't be the first though." Cornelia couldn't help but smirk at the casual way Spider-Man diminished her threats.
"So, why has Spider-Man graced me with his presence? Surely it can't just be a social greet and meet."
"Afraid not, I've been doing some work for the past few weeks." Spider-Man hopped from his ledge holding something in his hands. Cornelia could sense Guilford straighten behind her.
"If that's what you call work, I'd hate to see what overtime is. Everywhere you go there always seems to be some type of property damage." Spider-Man chuckled nervously, he handed her something. "A flash drive?" She asked.
"Information about the criminal underground, everything you'll need to take some people down. The Maggia is an old gang that's been around for decades, everything you need to know is in there. They're centered in the construction of the Babel Tower, I'm about to kick their door in tomorrow morning. The police are corrupt, and I can't trust them. But I can trust you." The word trust was a strong word, to give it to her threw her off.
"Trust me? You hardly know me." She looked up to him with surprise.
"It isn't hard, you're kinda an open book Cornelia." She frowned, not liking the compliment. "Er`, in a good way! Look, just read the files inside it and be ready to make the biggest arrest you will ever see in your life." Spider-Man turned around and dashed off the roof. Cornelia rushed to the railing to see Spider-Man glide through the air out of the government bureau.
"What should we do, princess?" Guilford asked.
"Have the security team scan this for any malware, when it's done, I want to look over the files personally." She handed the flash drive over to Guilford and watched the horizon as Spider-Man disappeared into the night.
x-x
Area 11 Ghetto
Yuri dragged herself through the door to her apartment, it was a long night and she needed some sleep. She walked into the small living room and shrugged off her bag on a coat hanger.
"Hello Ms. Watanabe." Her head sprung up and she turned to see Captain Stacy sitting on the couch with her mother, sipping tea.
"Captain, what are you doing here?" She was worried, George never came to the ghettos.
"Can we talk in private?" Stacy asked her mother; she quietly nodded and left the living room. This left the two of them alone, the air tensed around her.
"What are you doing Yuri?" She sensed it was a rhetorical question, but she wasn't going to bow over now.
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir." She played dumb.
"You know what I mean, you've been running around the settlement as a masked vigilante helping Spider-Man. You haven't been as clean as you thought." George pulled out his phone and faced it to her, it was the day she and Spider-Man busted into the club. She was walking from the inner settlement into the ghetto still in uniform, but as she turned the corner, she took off her mask.
George paused the video and put his phone back in his jacket. "You're poking the lion Yuri, and I won't be able to protect you from it this time."
"Protect me? You have done nothing to protect me from all the assholes in the department, you've kept your mouth shut since I joined the force! And when we have the evidence to take this bastard down you skip on the chance! You're a corrupt cop George, why should I listen to you?" George said nothing as he clasped his hands together. "That's what I thought." Yuri stormed back to the door and picked up her bag ready to leave.
"Don't do this Yuri." George said.
"Dad would be disappointed." Yuri said as she slammed the door shut.
x-x
Ashford Academy, Next Morning
"You've been slacking on your assignments Miles. You may be getting high grades, but you need to actually attend your classes." The words rang through Miles head as he laid his head down at the student council meeting. Responsibilities as Spider-Man has been pulling him away from school and here he was dealing with it.
"We're all set for the dance this weekend; Mr. Thompson has emptied out the gym for the rest of the day, so we won't need to clean up. Good job everyone!" The collective hooray from the rest of his friends rang true as Milly congratulated a work well done. Even Kallen gave a half-hearted 'hooray' from her end of the table. Rivalz was the loudest, eager to show his positivity.
"You okay Miles?" Nina asked, noticing the usually upbeat friend tired.
Miles yawned, "Long night." If you can count trespassing onto the Government Bureau after taking down a notable mob boss as a long night, then it certainly was.
Milly was the only one who understood, looking at Miles with sympathy. "You've all worked hard, so you all deserve a break. Take the rest of the day off, I promise it won't count against your record. Council dismissed!" Everyone got up and left the class, leaving him and Milly in the room.
"How are you holding up?" She asked, sitting beside him.
"Fine, only tired. Thanks for the free getaway, I usually have to make up some excuse."
"So, what's the next step?"
Miles sat up straight and stretched, "They're at Babel Tower, we're planning on going later today." As if on cue his burner phone started to ring. Miles motioned his head to the phone, Milly understood.
"Spider-Man here."
"Plans changed, meet me at Babel Tower now." The call ended, Miles could only stare at the phone in his hand in surprise.
"What is it?" Milly asked.
"The Detective is going to Babel Tower now. I need to leave, now." Miles stood up and left the room.
"Miles," Milly called behind him. "Be careful, and kick ass." Miles nodded and ran out of the school.
x-x
Area 11 Settlement
Spider-Man swung to the corner of a nearby building overlooking the build site of Babel Tower.
"Detective I'm here, where are you?" Spider-man spoke over the radio.
"Spider-Man?" Another voice appeared over the radio.
"Captain?" He asked.
"The Detective filled me in, I said it was a bad idea, but they ignored me." Spider-man scanned the region, looking for any sign of the captain.
"Where are you, I can't find you."
"I'm approaching through the sewers; you approach from above. We'll meet at the base of the tower and find your Detective. Let's move." Spider-Man silently agreed and jumped off his perch.
Stealth was key, so it was good thing Spider-Man had invisibility. The bridge to Babel tower had security out front, he'd bet they were employed Maggia but best to go around them than through them.
'Man, it'd be so cool if I can walk through solid matter.' Miles thoughts drifted as he launched himself to the side of the bridge. Beneath him a single boat was docked, there weren't any Maggia around so whose was it? Maybe The Detective? He had no answers for now.
"Captain, I'm approaching the lobby, how are you?" Spider-Man asked as he swung up a lamppost in the courtyard. It was designed similarly to the Kawaguchi hotel, but wasn't complete. The building was much the same, about half the building was already built leaving another quarter under construction. The only deviation was a particularly furnished floor about halfway up the building.
"I'm coming up through the sewers now, meet me in the lobby." Spider-Man agreed and lowered himself to the ground, keen to make sure he doesn't cause any suspicion. He may be invisible, but he still makes noise.
As he crouched-walked along the edges of the map he spotted people in the lobby. Not just Maggia goons, but Eleven workers picking up bags of cement and leaving. Some were busy furnishing the lobby, others working on the doors. Luckily for him the door to the building had not been installed yet.
"We got civilians in the lobby, watch your targets." He received a thanks over the radio as Spider-Man entered the lobby. He jumped to the ceiling and took in his surrounding once more. There was a single camera in the corner to his right, a handful of Maggia observing the Elevens, and peaking from a doorway was the Captain.
"I see you, Cap, gimme a sec to shutdown the camera and we can take these guys down quickly."
"Go ahead."
Spider-Man crawled to along the ceiling to the camera. It was an analog camera, old but very reliable. Now he just had to make it seem convincing enough to go down.
'Some poor cable management is in good order.' Spider-Man yanked on the pole that attached the camera to the ceiling. It quickly came undone and a whole mess of wires were free. 'Man, half the job is already done for me. Poor wire management always comes back to bite ya.' He only tugged on the wire before it came free. The wire was loose and the camera down, they were good to go.
"Camera down, let's pick these guys off." Cap opened his door a little more, just enough to get a clear target. Spider-Man hung from above them all, ready to drop. "On go. 3, 2, 1…go!" Spider-Man fell on two Maggia, smashing them to the ground. Captain America pounced on the nearest Maggia to him, he moved to his next two target with ease and quickly disposed of them by slamming their heads together.
The Elevens already here were taken by surprise, all of them were panicking. Spider-Man stood up and uncloaked, quick to try to calm them down. Once they saw him, they suddenly stopped, instead of frantic sentences it was more like awe.
"Supaidaman!" One of them said in their closest English.
"Looks like they like you." Cap said.
"I feel touched guys, but I need you all to leave." They looked confused, and the idea dawned on him that they probably don't speak English.
"Aw jeez, none of them understand me, ugh-" Before he could think, the Captain had already started speaking in Japanese. Nothing he could understand, unfortunately. "Didn't know you were fluent."
"If you're living in a foreign land, it pays to understand the language, especially if you're fighting for them." Spider-Man couldn't disagree.
"Alright, we're here…but no Detective." Spider-Man said.
"You wouldn't find her." The two heroes prepared themselves, quick to look around the room.
"Oh, you'd need not worry, your Detective is perfectly safe with me. Well, as long as you do not try anything risky." The voice spoke over the intercom, this was obviously a trap.
"How do we know you aren't bluffing." He asked.
"Look at the TV behind the counter and you'll see I'm very true to my word." They did as they were told, and on the TV stood none other than Silvio Manfredi, alive and healthy. But beside him was The Detective, bound with rope and on the ground. A rifle barrel was pointed at him, he couldn't tell if they were conscious or not.
"You've made your point." Spider-Man relented; no way was he going to be able to take them on by surprise now.
"Good, I'd hate to get blood on my carpet before renovations have been completed. Why don't you come to my office, alone. Don't bother calling the police or anyone from the Government Bureau, I'll be waiting." The TV turned off, leaving the two heroes alone.
"He doesn't know I'm here." Cap said.
"What?"
"You friend must not have told them, or they had no reason to believe I'd be here." Of course, it made sense. Cap only joined on this mission last night. They had no previous interactions before this, for all they knew the three of them never met.
"But wait, how can we know for sure?" Spider-Man asked.
"You took out the camera, they had no eyes down here. I'm sure of it. Go up there and make a scene, I'll come up the old-fashioned way. When I get there, we'll jump Manfredi, and we'll save The Detective." The plan was sound, and Spider-Man had no other plans.
"Alright, get up as fast as you can." Cap nodded.
Spider-Man exited the lobby and jumped onto the side of the building. If he were gonna make a scene it'd be a loud scene. He started to run towards the furnished floor, of what he assumed could only be Manfredi's office. He crashed through the window and took in the situation around him.
"When I asked you to come up, I was hoping you would come like a normal person. But I suppose crashing through my window certainly works too." There he stood, Silvio Manfredi and a dozen of his gangsters with The Detective kneeling on the ground. A gun to their head.
"You know, I wasn't sure you were actually alive. But seeing you in the flesh certifies it." Spider-Man looked Silvio up and down. The man looked no older than 60, white hair, wrinkled skin, but still very healthy.
"Life is a terrible thing to lose, that's why we make the most of it. I raised a criminal empire, and you started a life of crime fighting. Great men, like you and I, are bound to create great things. But I'm not ready to let my grasp go, not yet ready to face that long dark." He pushed the gun closer to The Detective.
"Yet you're all too ready to take it from someone?" Spider-Man asked.
"Oh, but that's what makes death so terrible. It can come in an instants notice. I've spent the better part of decade searching for ways to extend my own. And when I did, I made sure no one will never be able to take it away from me. But that's enough about me, on to you and your…heroics." He spit out the last sentence with such venom.
"Not liking your profits fall?"
"The Manfredi family has already fallen once, it will not fall again. Your predecessor may have driven us to ground, but he's not here anymore. And I'll be damned if a child like you ruins us. So, I have a proposition. Leave us alone and we'll make sure we don't kill Watanabe." He gestured to The Detective.
"Watanabe?" Spider-Man looked at The Detective as Silvio removed their mask. Behind it was the face of Yuri Watanabe, an officer of Area 11.
"Oh, she didn't tell you? I suppose she wouldn't, after all being the police captains lap dog is not something to be proud of as an Eleven." Spider-Man turned his gaze from Watanabe to Silvio.
"Let her go."
"Oh? Is that a threat, no one threatens Silvio Manfredi. Boys, teach Spider-Man a lesson." The gangsters around Silvio pulled out batons, and with a press of the button electricity sparked from each one.
5 minutes ago
On the other side of the building, Captain America had finally reached the same floor. It was very strange to see carpet and rugs when the building wasn't even finished yet. Manfredi must have thought highly of himself.
"The boss has just engaged with the target, everyone, prepare to back them up!" A handful of gangsters nodded and loaded their guns.
"Not on my watch." Cap said as he readied his pistol. Rogers ran out of cover and unloaded, precise with his shots so to not miss anything that would come to bite him later.
"Behind us!" The man was quickly silenced, in fact there was hardly any time to react. Rogers was fast, faster than all of them combined. It took only 10 seconds before the room was cleared.
"Rear guard what is your status?" A radio from one of the dead men asked. Rogers had to move. No doubt there will be more coming to his position.
As he advanced through the building, Rogers kept his eyes up for any Maggia. But as he got closer to the office of Silvio Manfredi, he noticed something odd. Strange relics, a spear here, a sword there. They all looked strange, nothing otherworldly but…culturally different. He approached one of the swords to examine why it had been put on display.
"A sword from ancient Rome, said to belong to it's most successful general." He read the inscription beneath the frame, odd because it looked brand new. The handle itself looked old, but the metal blade left no indication of scratches or dents.
The next display was something like a war-hammer, a warn-down wooden shaft, but the metal end looked just as clean as the sword. He moved to the next, another weapon with similar properties as the others. The hilt of the weapons would look degraded, but their actual metal would look brand new.
Finally, he got to the last display, and in a blink of an eye he understood the reasons for each item. He took the last item if he were right than this fight wouldn't be easy. He strapped it to his arm, it felt just as good as he lost it.
Now
Back with Spider-Man, the last of the gangster fell unconscious from a kick to the face. Leaving Silvio alone.
"Unfortunate, I'll have to reorganize my security team." Silvio looked around him disappointed.
"Give up, I just cleared out the room without a sweat and you're alone. I'd hate to hit an elderly." Spider-Man walked up to Silvio. The man stood a head over him, but he was sure it wouldn't be hard to take down an old man like Silvio.
"Oh, is this the part where you take me in?" Silvio taunted.
"I already alerted the Viceroy of you; they know you're here. I think we both know that Princess Cornelia isn't one to look away from corruption and crime. You either come easy or go down hard." Spider-Man grabbed the collar of Silvio suit, ready to put him up for Cornelia to take.
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Silvio looked at his nails, flippant with the situation he was in.
"Wha-ah!?" Silvio's right hand struck out and gripped Spider-Mans throat. His grip was like steel. Spider-Man pounded his chest, but nothing phased him. Beneath him the unconscious Watanabe was kicked aside, giving them space.
"Do you want to know how I lived this long? How I defied every doctor that's ever seen me. Let me show you." Metal sprung from his skin, ripping his shirt open. Except it didn't come from his skin, it came from beneath it. Soon enough his entire wardrobe exploded leaving in it's place a goliath of a man clad in silver. The only thing left that was flesh was his head, if it even was flesh.
"They don't call me Silvermane for a reason." Spider-Man resisted again, trying to break the grip, but Silvio's only reaction was two slaps across the face. It stung, like he was just hit with a bus.
"H-how?!" He asked.
"A little bit of mad science coupled with an incredibly beautiful little thing called Vibranium. Did you ever wonder what my son did that night those years ago? Blackwing may not be as subtle as me, but he's a good lap dog to send out to fetch vibranium." Silvio slammed Spider-Man into the floor, cracking the tile beneath it.
"Unfortunately, this is where you end Spider-Man. I can't say it wasn't thrilling but you got farther than most. Oh, and when you meet the big man in the sky, tell him to keep waiting." Silvio put both his hands-on Spider-Mans throat, slowly crushing him.
Behind him, Watanabe finally stirred awake. And the first thing that came into her vision was Silvio Manfredi choking Spider-Man.
"Agh, no!" She tried to stand, but quickly realized her hands and feet were tied. She couldn't move.
"Don't move, I'll deal with you next, Watanabe. Just as soon as I finish this one." Miles struggled against Silvermanes grip, but he was quickly losing air. The world was quickly turning black.
You won't die, I refuse to lose another Spider. Live on!
That voice, the same from Shinjuku. His eyes shot open, his body surged with energy, like he just drank a gallon of coffee. Spider-Mans grip on Silvermanes arms tightened, his hands shook. No one could see it behind his mask, but Miles eyes shone a brilliant yellow. Like electricity had surged through his body.
"What the-?"
BOOM
The entire room exploded in bright yellow, and the epicenter circled Spider-Man. Silvermane was thrown back, the energy scorched his metallic body. The glass surrounding the room had been shattered, the carpeting was burned, and any furniture that was previously there was reduced to rubble.
"I don't know how you did that, but I'll be sure you won't do it again." Silvermane strode to Spider-Man, who was struggling to stand up.
"I don't think so!" Another force hit him from behind and knocked him to the ground. That was impossible, the Vibranium in his body was practically immovable.
Silvermane turned around to see a discus fly back to the door. Back to a man in blue and silver and a star on his chest. Immediately he understood he was duped.
"I have to thank you; I didn't think I'd ever find my shield again. Thanks for keeping it in good condition for me." Captain America admired the vibranium shield, the paint was gone, but that was easily fixed.
"Another one? Fine, I'll put down this dog too." Silvermane stood up and approached Cap.
"Careful, this dog bites." Silvermane threw a punch and before he could blink, he'd already been pushed back to the ground. Silvermane had to process what had just happened, angrily stood back up to face the man.
"You'll regret that." Silvermane swept his arm wide, trying to strike from the side. Cap jumped back and threw his shield, the impact pushed Silvermane back. While he was stunned, Cap ran around him and struck his shield behind the metal knee joint, bringing Silvermane to one knee.
"I could use some help!" To his left, Yuri called out, her hands and feet still tied. Cap tossed a small knife at her. Out of the corner of his eye, Silvermane pressed his attack, forcing him to block.
Yuri meanwhile cut the rope from her wrists and ankles. She turned to Spider-Man, who was stirring on the ground. She rushed to his side and shook him. "Wake up Spider-Man, you need to wake up!" She shook him more until he abruptly took in a large breath.
"Ow, that hurt." Yuri grabbed his hand and stood him up. As Spider-Man reoriented himself, Captain America was flung beside them. He ducked and rolled to stand back up quickly but that left Silvermane un-attended.
"I've entertained this fiasco long enough, now you three die." Silvermane pointed his arm to them as it shifted and revealed a rocket. Spider-Man's eyes bulged as he grabbed Watanabe and Cap and jumped out the window.
In free fall the rocket sailed out the window and exploded.
"AH!" Watanabe screamed, Spider-Man grabbed onto her and aimed for a lamp post. To his right Captain America grabbed on, quickly understanding what he was planning.
Spider-Man shot a web-line to the nearest and brought them down safely.
"You good?" Spider-Man asked the two. Yuri, shaving off a few years off her life, nodded. Cap looked back at the building.
"We have to get back up there." Spider-Man agreed, at the building entrance dozens of Eleven workers ran scared. They were running away from something.
"Oh, that doesn't look good." Coming from behind them all was 3 men in ballistic suits and mini guns.
Government Bureau
"The building is still under construction, so schematics are incomplete. This is also the operations of a mob boss, any hidden passageways will probably not visible to us. We will also be constrained, Knightmares will be limited so infiltrations will be our main force. Helicopters will be brought in to enter through the buildings unfinished upper floors." Darlton explained to the many regiment captains under Cornelia's orders.
She already reviewed the data last night immediately after it was cleared by the security team. Right now, was the preparation stage for, that quiet moment before battle.
"Ma'am!" That moment was no ruined by someone barging through the door.
"Private, you better have a good reasoning for interrupting a military meeting." Darlton warned.
"We just received information of explosions originating from Babel Tower, sighting of Spider-Man has been confirmed." That peaked Cornelia's attention, she stood up and looked out the window. She could just barely see the distinct trail of a rocket emanating from the building.
"Lord Asplund," Lloyd's ears perked up at the call of his name. "How long do you think it will take to equip a single regiment to rush to Babel Tower?" She asked.
"Oh, if we're thinking of the average crew…30 minutes."
"How long will it take to launch your Lancelot?" She asked.
"It already has." A silly grin spread across Lloyds face.
"Good, I want everyone ready now!" Every captain in that room rushed out, everyone on their phone making commands.
The Lancelot sped through the streets of Area 11, avoiding the cars and any property damage. It was a thing of beauty.
"Warrant Officer Kururugi, confirm radio contact." The voice of Cecile spoke through his radio.
"Radio contact confirmed, Ms. Croomy. I didn't finish the intel package, care to fill me in?" Suzaku asked.
"Evidence given to us by Spider-Man points the Babel Tower as the base of Maggia leader Silvio Manfredi. Recent police reports indicate that Spider-Man is currently attacking, your mission is to assist him and reduce human fatalities." Suzaku nodded; a job that for once necessitated saving people, that was right up Suzaku's alley.
"Thank you, I'm approaching the operation site." Suzaku made a sharp left and saw a crowd of fellow countrymen running away. The entrance of the building was blocked by three mini guns raining gun fire, some of it making its way to the Japanese running away.
"This stops now." Suzaku told him self as he made the Lancelot leap over the crowd and activated his Blaze Luminous system.
"Damn it we have a Knightmare!" He could hear one of the gunners yell over the sounds of bullets pinging off his shields. To his left he spotted three figures, one he could determine was Spider-Man. The other two were unknown to him, another man with a discus, and a woman in black clothes.
"Hey, White Knight!" His attention was drawn to Spider-Man as he jumped on his Knightmare. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I have to get up to that floor!" He pointed at the building; he could guess which floor he was referring to. He nodded the Lancelots head.
"I got a plan; I need you to throw me!" Suzaku could only look in disbelief, he wanted to be thrown?
"This man is certainly not faint of heart." Lloyd said over the radio.
"I'm gonna do it." Suzaku said as he turned of the Blaze Luminous on the Lancelots right arm. Spider-Man hopped on to his hand, ready to be launched.
"When I'm flying, take out the mini guns they'll probably shoot at me!" Suzaku nodded and pulled his arm back, and chucked Spider-Man in the air.
As predicted the gunners turned their fire to the flying Spider-Man, as they were distracted Suzaku launched three of his Slash Harken, each precisely hit their targets.
Spider-Man on the other hand wasn't out of the fire yet. Above him, the building was littered with Maggia aiming their rifles and rockets out from the unfinished building.
"Let's go Spidey!" Miles psyched himself up as he ran along the building, dodging bullets and missiles on his way up.
Spider-Man twisted and turned like a well performed ballerina, none of the bullets hit him. Behind him the White Knight shot the building with some kind of energy weapon, it was super cool looking, but Spider-Man had to focus on the objective in front of him.
Standing at the top was Silvermane, his face in a permanent frown. He pointed his arm down and launched a missile at him. Spider-Man expected to jump out of the way, but the missile impacted the building before it could reach him. The result was a ton of rubble falling at him.
"Unfair!" Spider-Man cried out as he jumped over the rubble to avoid being hit, except the last of the ruble was larger than the other. There was only one way through, and that was straight.
Spider-Man shot two web-lines at the large slab of concrete and pulled himself to it. He reeled his arm back and punched through, he shot out another web-line and swung back in front of Silvermane.
"You're a pest." Silvermane said as he threw another punch, Spider-Man dodged out of the way and sent a kick behind him. It hardly phased him, however. "You're weak too, you can't do anything to me." Silvermane swung his arm behind him in an arc but didn't connect with his target.
He was right, that metal was strong. Normal punches and kicks won't work. But something had to. Spider-Mans eyes drifted to the scorch marks on the metal, the burns made from that blast he made. That gave him an idea.
"Wanna bet?" He channeled his venom to his hands and put as much power as he could into it.
The two charged at each other, Silvermane swung first. His fist flew over Spider-Man as he threw his fist at Silvermanes chest, the venom had the intended effect and pushed Silvermane back. Silvermane stuck out his other arm, and out came another mini gun. Spider-Man jumped to his right and ran a wide arc around Silvermane.
"Just die!" Silvermane called out as Spider-Man jumped over his bullet and punched him in the face forcing him to stumble back to the edge of the window. Before he could stabilize himself, he turned to see Spider-Man run at him and punch him in the jaw. That was enough to push him over the edge, literally.
"AAAH!" Silvermane fell and fell and fell until his back met the concrete. But he wasn't done, he wasn't going to let the Manfredi family fall because of this bug! He stood back up and aim his rocket arm back up to the building.
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" Silvermane fired off multiple missiles, each hitting the building.
Spider-Man jumped out before one could hit him. As he was in free-fall, he had to dodge the missiles coming at him. Silvermane was wrecking the place, he had to put him down before he caused anymore damage. This time he charged his right fist with as much energy as he could.
From Suzaku's perspective, the scene in front of him was something to marvel. Spider-Man spun around each missile, and his fist was a ball of electricity trailing behind him. And as Spider-Man made impact, a great streak of lightning shone across the sky. Greater than anything he'd ever seen.
"Woah." That was the only thing he could say as the scene cleared in front of him. Silvio Manfredi was beaten, and standing above him was Spider-Man.
"Suzaku, what just happened?" Cecile asked in his radio, the sound of concern in her voice.
"I... think Spider-Man just won." The field was quiet, except for the murmurs of the Japanese and Britanians behind him. A crowd had formed from what remained of the workers of Babel Tower and the nearby populace.
"Roger, the rest of Viceroy Cornelia's forces on a minute away. Make sure to keep the situation cleared for them." In the distance he could hear the sirens of police on their way too.
Steve Rogers stood up from his cover and walked over to Spider-Man, careful to keep an eye on Silvio in case of any sudden movements. "You okay, son?" He asked.
Spider-Man was breathing heavily, his hands eventually fell onto his knees in attempt to feel comfortable. "I just put all I had into that. I feel exhausted."
"You did good, son. Now let's put Silvio under arrest." The two of them turned to Silvio, his face struggled and moved left to right, but his body did not move.
"I think I fried his circuits." Spider-Man guessed.
"You…you did this to me. My growing empire reduced to ashes, no…no I can't let this remain!" Silvio struggled again.
"You're gonna be locked up for a long time, you better get used to it Silvio." Cap said as he approached him.
"No…no. If I'm going down. You will too. Failsafe protocol: Collapse, authorization code: Vibranium." Explosions emanated from Babel Tower; the explosions were so violent the building looked like it shook.
"What did you do?!" Cap shouted.
"If I'm going down, I'm taking as much of you with me." Silvio gave a low chuckle and lied his head on the ground.
"Get those citizens out of here," Spider-Man pointed to the crowd. "I'll see what I can do to stop the building from falling." Before he could walk, Spider-Man fell to his knee. Fatigue was setting in; pain was taking the place of adrenaline.
"Are you alright?" Yuri walked up to the hero, but he stood up.
"I'll be fine. Get the citizens to safety." Spider-Man swung up to the building onto what he counted as the 20th floor. It was a large atrium with three large pillars, each pillar was severely damaged and crumbling.
"Gotta make sure they don't collapse." Spider-Man point-launched onto a railing a few floors above him and started shooting webbing along the pillars in his ear his radio perked up.
"Spider-Man, can you hear me? This is Viceroy Cornelia."
"Cornelia, strange timing, sorry for jumping the gun. But I'm kinda in the middle of something." Spider-Man jumped from perch to perch spraying his webs at any part of the building that looked about ready to collapse.
"That's why I'm here. I have a blueprint of the building on me, I need your help to secure the building long enough until a specialist can arrive. Can you do that?" She asked as concrete from the upper floors started to fall.
Spider-Man perched himself on a pillar surveying his situation. "Already ahead of you, I'm securing some of the-"
KA-BOOM
The pillar exploded faster than he could react. The world around him was full of ringing and dizziness. Spider-man blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. He could distinctly hear Cornelia in his ear but couldn't make out what she was saying.
As he tried to stand his body responded with soreness and pain, "Ow." Spider-Man looked down at himself. His suit was torn, showing a lot of the circuitry underneath the suit and dust in between it all.
"…der-man can you hear me?!" Sound finally returned to him, somehow his radio was still working.
"I'm here, ow."
"Good, the situation just got worse. That last explosion must have knocked something because the integrity of the building is getting worse by the second." Spider-Man turned his head, the pillar that blew up was missing a large chunk of it.
"Yeah, I see it. I'm gonna have to hold it up." Spider-man coughed and walked to the broken pillar.
"Hold it up? We're evacuating people as we speak, you need to leave."
"I saw the size of this building; I'm guessing it'll take out 5-maybe 6 blocks worth of buildings when it collapses. That's a lot of people to evacuate. You won't be able to get everyone out without suffering losses. I'm gonna keep it holding the building up long enough for you to get people out of here. Don't worry, I do this kinda thing every day. I'll be fine…I hope." Cornelia didn't say anything.
"Die well Spider-Man."
Miles leaned against the pillar, breathing in one last time before he stood underneath it and pushed with all his strength. The rebar was pushing into his hands, his knees felt like buckling in, and worst of all he was alone.
"Can't say this is a very pleasant situation." Miles said to no one in particular, "But it beats history class haha-ouch." It hurt to laugh; he'd need to get that check out. If he can get out of here.
"Miles!" Milly's voice came in his ear.
"Oh, hey Milly. Sorry I'm a bit busy-"
"No, you need to get out of there! Why are you still in there?" Her voice was distressed.
"You see me?" He asked, panic filling his head.
"Me and the girls are in the shopping center a mile away. Everyone is evacuating, you need to get out of there."
"Can't, if this building falls hundreds of people would get hurt or even die. I can't let that happen." More debris fell around him. The building was on its last legs.
"But you'll die!"
"I signed up for this Milly, I know the consequences."
"But what about your family?"
"Oh right…well my dad never really liked Spider-Man, so I guess I won't have to tell him now huh?" Miles chuckled.
"This isn't a laughing matter! As your student council president, I command you leave!"
"Your spells won't work this time prez, sorry." Miles' arms felt more like jelly, he was starting to lose his grip.
"No, you can't just-is that music?" The sound of an electric guitar started to play in his ear.
"Hello? Is this the right channel? Spider-Man, helloooo?" A new voice spoke in his ear.
"Who is this?" Above him another large concrete slab fell frighteningly close, but before it could fall on him it was disintegrated in mid-air.
"Oh, there you are. Pleasure to meet you kid, names Tony Stark." Replacing the concrete was a metal man in yellow and gold. Inside of that was genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Tony Stark.
"Oh, well… this isn't really a great situation to meet is it?" Spider-Man asked.
"Not really, Cornelia said she need someone who could help with the situation and since I was in the area, I thought I could lend my expertise." He shrugged as if it was nothing.
"You're the specialist." Spider-Man put together.
"If that's how you want to put it, sure. Is the building empty?" Tony asked.
"I think so, do a quick sweep just in case." Spider-Man said.
"JARVIS is there any life-signs in the building?" He asked.
"Scanning...There are no signs of life other than you two, sir." A voice only Tony could hear spoke.
"Good news, no one else is in here. Stay tight kid, I'll do some demolition work to make the building fall the other way. But when I say so you need to haul ass out of here." Spider-Man nodded.
"Just hurry, I don't know how long I can hold this." Spider-Man said.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll be quick." Tony flew up as JARVIS took scans of the building's integrity.
"Rapid decay has led the building to dissolve very quickly, a well-aimed repulsor blast to the rear pillar and the back sides of the other two will guarantee the building fall backwards into the bay. The bottom half of the building will however fall forwards but will not cause significant damage to the greater settlement." JARVIS highlighted Tony's targets.
"Thanks JARVIS." Tony shot each of the pillars as instructed, the building didn't like that.
"Congrats sir, you've just prevented hundreds of casualties." JARVIS spoke in his ear.
"Well, can't take all the awards. Hey Spider-Man, get out of here, the building is going to topple the other way. Would be a shame if you died." Spider-Man got the hint, he could feel the building leaning away from him.
"Time to get the hell out of here." Spider-Man let go of the pillar and sprint towards the exit. Around him more parts of the building fell, some falling in his path. He could feel the adrenaline returning to his body, his goal was in front of him.
The building around him started to collapse, walls crumbled, stairs fell, and glass littered the ground around him. But Spider-Man pushed on jumping and leaping towards safety.
"I got one shot at this or I'll probably get crushed, here we go!" Spider-Man leapt into the air and aimed both of his web-shooters. Both shot a web-line to the other end of the building and yanked himself.
The pull set him flying, barely dodging the debris around him and escaping the collapsing building.
Spider-Man landed on his back, his eyes to the bright blue sky. "You okay there son?" From the peripherals of his vision, Captain America stood above him.
"My body is sore, and I just took a face full of C4, but I think I'm good." Cap extended his arm and Spider-Man took it.
Finally, he could see the crowd around him. A dozen Knightmares, APC, and Britannian military had surrounded the building. And behind them were countless civilians, Japanese and Britannian alike. And all of them were cheering.
"Congrats kid, you're a star." A slap to his back came from Tony Stark, he waved his hands for the camera's. "You're bigger than Elvis." He said as he draped an arm around his shoulder.
"Elvis?" Spider-Man asked.
"Before your time." Tony brushed off the question and kept a smile up for the crowd.
To his left Cap kept a stoic face as he watched the crowd. Spider-Man awkwardly waved as well. He'd never been appreciated like this before, sure there were some random person here or there…but never to this level. In New York Spider-Man was a crook, a criminal. But in Area 11 Spider-Man was a hero.
"You lived." Cornelia approached with Guilford at her side.
"What can I say, I do this every day." Spider-Man shrugged off Tony's arm.
"It seems so, I have you three to thank for saving all these people." Cornelia said.
"This building would have fell before I arrived; all credit goes to the kid here." Tony said.
"So, it would seem. I don't believe we've met." Cornelia turned to Cap.
"No ma'am," Cap extended his arm, Cornelia met him halfway. "Captain America." Cornelia raised her brow.
"Captain America?" She asked.
"I should let you know, I'm a Black Knight." The scene got tense, Guilford's grip on his gun tightened.
"You're braver than most to tell that to my face." Cornelia said.
"It's to let you know I don't mean you harm." Cap said.
"You're a terrorist." Cornelia rebutted.
"And I could have taken you out, without question. But this isn't the right place, the common enemy has been dealt with. I just thought it would be manners to let you know, wouldn't want your media getting any wrong ideas." Behind them more camera's flashed.
"So, it would seem, where do we go from here?" Cornelia asked.
"I'm leaving, and when I'm gone, we can settle this on the battlefield. Like soldiers." Cornelia chuckled.
"I can't help but agree." The sound of a speed boat came from under them, and sure enough over the edge there it was.
"So, it was yours." Spider-Man said to himself.
"It was a pleasure, Spider-Man." Captain America leaped off the side and landed in the speed boat. As soon as he landed the driver (a Japanese man from what he could see) drove off.
"Should I follow them?" Guilford asked.
"No, he's right. We'll settle this on the battlefield. As for you two, I believe I'm once again indebted." Cornelia said.
"Not like you can get me anything." Tony said.
"Yes, but for you Spider-Man…thank you. If you ever plan to take off that mask and join the military, I could always make room for you in my royal guard."
"The offer is enticing, but I'm where I'm best useful. Gotta look out for the little guy when goliaths like you run around." Spider-Man espoused.
"If you say so, but you should reconsider your place. Seems like you're one of those 'goliaths' as well." Cornelia walked off, Guilford in tow.
"Never seen someone refuse an offer from a princess before, you're one of a kind kid." Tony slapped his back.
"Thanks, I have something to look up on though." Spider-Man moved on in search of someone.
On the other side of the city, the Sinister Six watched the news with boredom.
"We should swoop in now, while he's weak." Electro said.
"It would not be incredibly wise to attack him in the middle of the princess' own military." Octavia said.
"Screw them than, our mission is the bug, we kill him we get what we want." Electro refuted.
"We don't do anything unless the boss man said so." Sandman said, looking to Flash Thompson.
"We stay our hand; I'm cooking something up. That's when we'll attack." Nothing else was said except for the grumbles of Electro missing his opportunity.
Back at Babel Tower (or what remained of it), Yuri Watanabe sat in the back of a hospital van.
"Hey." She looked up to see Spider-Man standing in front of her.
"Hey. Shouldn't you be celebrating?" She asked, a bit of venom in her words.
"Wanted to know you were okay. So, you're a cop."
"Was a cop, not anymore." Yuri said.
"You quit?" He asked.
"Was fired, an Eleven making noise isn't really what people like to see." Yuri admitted.
"What, how can they do that. You're the reason that all this happened, this is as much your success than anyone else." Spider-Man said.
"Not anymore, after this investigation…I don't know anymore. The person I looked up to, Captain Stacy was corrupt. He was a paragon in my eyes, now I can't look him in the eyes anymore. But you, you've opened mine."
"Huh?"
"The system, I tried so hard to uphold said no to me at every turn. I tried to make this case official but was always met with yellow tape. Now that I go outside the law…well you can see the results." She motioned to the crowd that remained.
"Are results the only thing that matter to you?" Spider-Man asked.
"If it means taking down monsters like Silvio…yes. Thank you, Spider-man, but I have to go." Yuri stood up and walked away.
"See you around?" He asked.
"Maybe one day, but for now it's goodbye." Yuri nodded at him and left, leaving him alone.
"Miles, are you there?" Milly's voice spoke in his ear.
"Yeah, I'm here. I'm on my way back."
"You're such an idiot, thanks for not dying."
"Ha, never." Miles chuckled.
8,300 WORDS. Ho-boy that was a long one. Sorry for taking a while but this was a monster of a chapter to write. This brings an end to this arc. I'm really excited for the next arc and what that brings to the table.