AN: Thank you all for being patient. I have been a busy bee in life these past few weeks. I hope to compensate you with a chapter with some banter, some action, and some plot progression. Have a nice day everyone.
Chapter 9
Spider-Man and Black Cat followed the GPS tracker that she had placed on Mysterio. Keeping out of sight, the two were able to keep a constant distance without having to maintain eyesight of the flying felonious magician. The GPS indicated that Mysterio had been traveling all over the north side of Manhattan, darting in and out of side streets and alleys. Clearly he was a man who did not want to be followed. Spider-Man knew that technology could beat phony magic that Mysterio might be using couldn't beat his and Black Cat's cutting edge technology. Or at least he hoped that Mysterio was using phony magic.
The signal from the tracker led the pair to a small, decrepit cathedral. The old stone masonry was dark with age, but was chipped and worn down from years of wind, rain, and the other forces of nature. The stained glass windows, portraying theological images from various books within the bible were dirty and coated in a fine layer of dust. The plaque on the front door was covered in a layer of patina.
"Huh. Church." Spider-Man stated. "I wonder if this counts as my annual visit to the house of God."
"Wait. What?" Black Cat said confused.
"Aunt May's thing. I told her a while ago that I would go to church at least once a year. I try to keep up with it." Spider-Man explained.
"Yeah. I didn't really like Catholic School. Haven't been in a church since I got kicked out." Black Cat said.
Spider-Man turned his head to stare at his girlfriend. "Whaaaaaa…..?"
"Yeah." Black Cat started. "All the rules, and the codes of conduct. I just didn't really like it for the semester I was there."
"I can't see you at a Catholic School." Spider-Man said bewildered.
"Like I said. Only one semester. The only thing I liked was the uniform. Oh…and the spankings." She said.
The hero stared. Behind his mask his jaw was agape. "What…How…Where…" He stuttered.
Black Cat tucked he chin into her chest and smiled seductively. "I know I still have it somewhere if you want to see it."
Spider-Man continued to stare. "I…um…It's just…" He began to make dramatic hand gestures to the church. "CrackpotCopperfieldistillinthere." He finished in a rushed manner as he jumped up and weblined himself up to the bell tower of the church.
"Oh yeah. I gonna make you scream my name later." Black Cat said to herself and followed him up.
Atop the roof, the two clambered into the bell tower and anchored lines inside of the instrument of music. Before they descended, Spider-Man reached out and tapped Black Cat on the shoulder.
"What?" She asked.
"Remember, it might get a little weird in there, but it's not real. And if it's real, I'm here. If you get freaked out, just keep that in mind." He said reassuringly.
"Thanks Spider."
"Also, fear activates the Sympathetic Nervous System, so you'll probably kick more ass if you focus."
"Is that egghead speak for Fight or Flight?"
"Yep. Now time to reenact a scene from a 007 movie." Spider-Man said as he began to lower himself upside down into the cathedral.
Black Cat grinned. "That makes me a Bond Girl." And she followed.
The two descended down the narrow shaft. If the outside of the cathedral was worn, then the inside was dirty. Dust hung in the air like a light fog. The smell of animal feces could be detected, likely from either birds or rats. The dull howl of air running through the shaft added to the otherwise ominous silence of the night. The only thing that Spider-Man could admire was the intricate reliefs that were carved into the wall. Eventually the two reached the main hall of the church, and they were greeted with a disturbing sight.
The pale orange glow of dozens of lit candles illuminated the site of what many would consider to be a stereotypical satanic ritual site. The pews had been vacated to make room for a massive pentagram on the floor. A matching pentagram occupied the wall above the altar up front. Both appeared to be drawn using blood. The source of the blood was likely from a number of dead livestock rotting against the wall. The scent of decaying flesh was so awful that Black Cat started to gag and heave.
"Oh God. How are you so calm? Can't you smell that?" she asked.
"Yeah. But after you chase The Lizard through the sewer a couple of times and wind up getting thrown in a river of refuse…well…there may be something worse for your sense of smell, but I haven't encountered it yet." Spider-Man shuttered at the memory of being submerged in the foulest smelling concoction that may have ever existed.
"How did you get the smell out?" She asked
"Threw out the suit, bathed in tomato juice, scrub hard."
Black Cat looked at the GPS tracker and noticed that it was directing them to the alter on the stage at the front of the church. The two approached with caution as Mysterio was nowhere to be scene. Spider-Man and Black Cat jumped up on stage and did a quick investigation of the church centerpiece. The tracker in Black Cat's hands said that Mysterio was supposed to be right in front of him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah, fiddlesticks." Spider-Man muttered.
All of the dust in the room began to swirl and converge in the center of the pentagram on the floor. Manacle laughter echoed through the high ceiling. The temperature began to rise and the candles grew brighter. Then in a flash of red light, Myterio appeared. This time his whole body was on fire.
"See your doom. What possible reason could you have to interfere with the likes of a god?" Mysterio asked.
"Still just here to catch you for stealing art." Spider-Man said.
"Seriously? That's all?" Black Cat asked looking at her partner quizzically.
"Legally speaking, he can practice Paganism all he wants, and the sacrifice of animals is legal for religious purposes. Though the lack of disposal probably violates a health code and all these candles are likely a fire hazard. So yeah, were really just here for the art heist." He explained.
"Wow." She said amazed that all of this weirdness had gone on, and Mysterio was still just a thief.
"Enough talk. Face your demise." Mysterio bellowed. The villain threw his arms up in air. "Face the souls stuck in the fires of Hell!"
From the floor a number of skulls began to rise out of the stone floor. Like the man commanding them, they too were ablaze. But instead of laughing, these were all screaming and shouting in pain and anguish. Then with a bust of speed they flew directly at the hero's with the speed of a professionally thrown baseball. To superhero's who regularly avoided gunfire, they weren't fast enough to be a real danger. The sheer volume of the skulls was though.
Spider-Man assumed a fighters stance and began to pivot and duck to avoid the oncoming abominations. His Spider Sense alerted him of danger coming from every direction. Many he dodged, and every once in a while he would throw a punch or and elbow in order to destroy one of the airborne inflamed craniums. Each successful hit rendered the 'souls' reduced to a fine dust.
Black Cat didn't have the benefit of additional senses to detect danger, so the only thing that she could do was dodge the projectiles. He training as a world class gymnast allowed he to keep up her momentum. She flipped through the air, vaulted over obstacles, bounced off the walls, used her grapple to pull herself into the rafters, tumbled and rolled to safely land. The heroine resembled a pinball going for a high score in an arcade. Many on the skulls missed her, and some wound up crashing into the floor, walls, and ceiling with such energy they destroy themselves.
Eventually the number of flying objects began to dwindle. Spider-Man began to feel like it was time to press their advantage. "Cat. Time to make a move!" He shouted.
Both of them jumped into the center of the church where Mysterio was waving his arms and hands like a mystical shaman. Just as they were about to attack though, the area Mysterio occupied filled with smoke and engulfed all three of them.
"Now, now. Hero's are supposed to fight fair." Came the voice of the villain. "I however don't play by a hero's rules. Hahahaha!"
As the smoke cleared Spider-Man and Black Cat saw that they were surrounded by Mysterio's. Six in total. They were all identical, standing in a semi-circle around the duo. They were all posed differently. Some stood with their arms crossed, two had their hands on their hips, one was cracking his knuckles.
"You think you can fight us all?" They said simultaneously.
"Considering we just stopped a massive street fight earlier tonight, yeah. I think we can take you guys." Spider-Man said confidently.
Without hesitating he launched himself into the air, kicking into one Mysterio, jumping off him, and then elbow dropping the second one right next to it. Spider-Man didn't know which one was real yet, but it he would soon enough. Spider-Man threw and uppercut into the stomach of the third Mysterio. That one bend over and made a gasping sound. He then delivered a knee strike to the glass bowl that served as his helmet. Spider-Man then tuned and went back to fight the first Mysterio.
Black Cat started her fight dirty. The other half of the Mysterio's had turned to face Spider-Man and Black Cat used it as an opportunity to kick the first one in the genitals, and sucker punch the second one in the back of the head. While both of those copies were stunned, the last Mysterio turned to face Black Cat. She extended the claws built into her gloves and scratched the chest of the last opponent. A portion of green suit was torn away revealing a metal plate.
"Found a robot!" Black Cat called. She then used pulled a portable EMP generator from her belt and armed it. She jumped over the head of the confirmed robot and stuck the device between the shoulder blades. The device activated and the robot collapsed under its own weight.
"Huh." Spider-Man said. "I didn't expect that to be that easy. You figure he would have insulated all of his animatronics not just the one's earlier." He wondered aloud.
"Damn it." Black Cat muttered annoyed. "He got away." She turned to walk out the creepy cathedral. When Spider-Man grabbed her shoulder.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Somethings not right here." He answered.
"Yeah. Bad guy staged a satanic ritual to and mechanical clones of himself to buy time to escape." Black Cat sighed.
"Maybe. Let's start with what we know. You panted the GPS. We followed it." Spider-Man started. "Now whether or not the Mysterio you planted it on was real or not, the GPS still exists. And the tracker led us here. Following me so far?"
"Sure." She said.
"Now. If we find the GPS, we'll at least find the location he last was before he ditched it."
"Now the GPS was supposed to be on the stage but it wasn't there. But that's might not be true."
"Where are you going with this?"
"GPS's only measure along a two dimensional axis. Most stages have an open area underneath them for a band to play during plays and stuff like that." Spider-Man said.
"SO HE'S UNDERNEATH!" Black Cat shouted, completing Spider-Man's train of thought.
The stage then erupted in a shower of wood and stone. From beneath, Myterio emerged, but not like other others. This Mysterio was easily twenty feet tall. The sheer size of the man would freeze most people in intimidation, but not the two hero's he was opposing. Spider-Man jumped back to get some space, and Black Cat did a back flip.
"Mwahahaha." Mysterio laughed.
Black Cat could only stare dumbstruck. "Any ideas?" She asked meekly.
"Oh yeah. This is easy. Go for the legs. Specifically the ankles and knees." Spider-Man said.
"How do you know that?" Black Cat asked. The biggest thing she had ever fought was Kingpin. Even though Kingpin was large, he was nowhere near the giant size of Mysterio.
"Right. Right below the knees. Just like back at the museum." Black Cat stated remembering the fight earlier in the night.
The two hero immediately latched onto the legs of the green giant. Spider-Man began to fire weblines, attaching one side to each leg. The lines started out too thin, and Mysterio was able to break them just by walking around. So Spider-Man adjusted the nozzle of his web shooter, allowing for thicker webbing. The next series of lines held strong and the gigantic Mysterio began to stumble a little. His massive hands reached down to pull the webbing off, but Spider-Man prevented that by spaying a massive amount of fluid, turning Mysterio's appendages into what resembled massive oven mitts.
"No touching!" Spider-Man shouted.
Above Spider-Man, Black Cat was tearing onto the back of Mysterio's knees. Sure enough, there were hydraulics causing the massive legs to move, and indicating that the giant towering above them was indeed artificial. Less than two minutes of tearing apart the hoses in the joints, and the great green villain fell over with a crash though could surely be heard for blocks.
"Goddamn it all to Hell!" came an angry voice when the dust settled.
Spider-Man and Black Cat walked around to the 'head' of Myterio. The glass helmet had broken and inside was Quinten Beck, strapped into a chair with a control panel in front him, and various art and artifacts in a bag beside him.
"I will mphhhh…." Beck tried to say. Spider-Man had webbed up his mouth and then did the same to his hands.
"Cat, you wanna call…" Spider-Man started.
"Already on it." Cat said using an untraceable phone to contact the New York Police Department.
"Wonderful." Spider-Man said. "See like I said. None of it's real. At least as far as Beck's concerned." He said looking to Black Cat.
"I am so glad that that it over." Black Cat said. "Lets go before too many people show up."
"Agreed." Spider-Man said and followed Black Cat out the front of the church. "Yeah. This probably won't count toward my annual church attendance, I don't feel guilty about going in there."
AN: So this arc isn't done yet, there still needs to be some falling action. Then once again I'll be taking a break to write more story boards for another arc. I already have the general concept down as far as the main plot, but need to plan out pretty much all of the details. It will be different from the past two arc, but not radically so. It will just be a pretty straight forward story of good guys vs bad guys. Anyway, thanks a bunch to everyone for reading, following, and especially those who review (you know who you are at this point).
