Pyrrha returned to MJ's apartment late at night and quickly went to the spare bedroom, shedding her armor and collapsing on the bed. The next morning, she was surprised to find herself on her back, under the covers. "Mary Jane must have come to check on me at some point. That was kind of her." She said, getting up and getting dressed, walking out into the living room and looking into the kitchen, where MJ was cooking breakfast. "Thank you for adjusting my sleeping position." She said.
"Hey. Don't sweat it. From the sound of things, you were beat when you got back to the apartment. What happened after that stuff with Officer Davis?" MJ asked.
"It's quite the story. I should also probably let Peter know as well." Pyrrha stated.
"I was about to call him." MJ said, carrying over two plates of food containing two over-easy eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausage links and some hashbrowns. She dialed Peter's number and quickly took a few bites, putting the phone on speaker as he talked.
"Hey, MJ. Pyrrha probably with you, too?" He asked.
"Present." She said.
"Yeah. She has something to tell you, too. But first, did you see my story?" MJ asked.
"Yeah. Robbie should be pretty happy." Peter said.
"It was a very good story." Pyrrha praised as well.
"Thanks. It kinda went viral. Mayor Osborn just announced he's giving Officer Davis a medal this afternoon." MJ told them.
"That's wonderful. He certainly earned one." Pyrrha said.
"But isn't Osborn's campaign rally this after- Oh. I see what he's doing." Peter said, instantly realizing it.
"I think we all do." MJ said.
"Trying to make himself look good by honoring a hero for his campaign." Pyrrha realized, a bit disappointed. She didn't like taking shots at anybody, but this feels like something Weiss' father would try. It was well-known he was trying to get an Atlas council seat the last several times they were open.
"But, I'm covering it. Care to join me?" MJ asked.
"Of course. And it'd be a good place for Pyrrha and I to meet back up." Peter said.
"Right. But before we see you there, you should be careful. You've surely heard of the large trunks on various rooftops?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, of course. why?" Peter asked.
"Well, a mercenary known as Taskmaster has been placing those all around. They were meant for you, but I answered one and he's taken an interest in me. Still, you are his main target, so you should be careful. He's willing to go to dangerous lengths to complete his mission. He even broke open the vial of sand on Avenger's tower and forced me to fight Sandman." Pyrrha warned him.
"You fought Sandman!?" Peter and MJ both asked in shock.
"Are you alright?!" MJ asked.
"I'm fine. I was lucky he didn't have much sand and I had the right equipment for the situation." She explained.
"Still, I never thought someone would release Sandman. Thanks for the tip, Pyrrha. I'll see you at the rally." Peter said.
"Of course." Pyrrha agreed as they hung up.
"Okay, next time, LEAD with that kind of info. If I'd have known that, I would've had you tell him about that before I went on about my story." MJ told her.
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said, a bit embarrassed. Suddenly, Pyrrha's phone received a call. "Hello?" She answered.
"Arkos. It's Jeff." The officer announced his identity.
"Oh, officer Davis! It's good to hear from you. And congratulations on your medal!" Pyrrha congratulated the man.
"Appreciated, but I'd rather be be in another gunfight with the demons. Public speaking's got me a little shaken up. But anyway, Fisk's construction site, Consolidated Shipping is under attack by the demons. My wife won't let me get away to play hero. I already told Spider-Man. He's on his way, too." Jeff informed her.
"Understood. I'll be there as soon as I can. As for the public speaking, your wife and son will be there, right? Also your friends on the force? Just imagine they're the only ones there and you're just talking to them." Pyrrha advised. Her way of getting through her commercial tapings for Pumpkin Pete's cereal was to tell herself only her friends would see these commercials.
"Thanks. That's WAY better advice than Spidey's. He told me to imagine everyone in their underwear." Jeff said.
"I've heard that advice before. It always seemed inappropriate to me." Pyrrha said.
"Glad we can agree on that." Jeff said, before they both hung up.
"They're hitting another Fisk place?" MJ asked.
"It make sense. Fisk had the biggest supplies of weapons you could possibly find. So taking for him is to ensure they get the best quality items." Pyrrha said, hurrying and re-equipping her armor, before flying off into the distance.
Soon enough, Spider-Man had arrived at Consolidated Shipping and saw the Demons had overrun the place. He quickly used a perch takedown on one demon, then a simple web-strike takedown on another, but he hadn't ensured the coast was clear and a third Demon spotted him and took aim at him. Luckily, before he could call for him, a metallic bang was heard and the Demon dropping his gun, swaying dizzily from side to side, before collapsing, revealing Arkos to be right behind him. "Hey. Perfect timing." Spider-Man said. "So, you really fought the Sandman? What happened?" He asked.
"Taskmaster had a large trunk, about the size of one of his challenge computers, half-filled with sand. It was enough for Sandman to remake himself. Luckily, I had my dust rounds capable of turning him to mud or glass. Also, he wasn't the smartest opponent I've ever faced." Pyrrha said, trying to be gentle about how she said it.
"Yeah. I think his brains got turned to sand in that accident, too." Spider-Man said. "But this Taskmaster guy sounds like no joke. We'll need to be ready for him in the future. Here, this should help even the odds." He told her, handing her a pair of gauntlets, several vials of a silver liquid and a dozen small items that look like they can be stabbed to walls. "Those gauntlets have some pretty powerful magnets in them. They can't quite stack up to your semblance, but it should still help you for throwing around anything that weighs less than a ton. Careful, though. If you lift something too heavy for too long, they'll overload and have to cool down for a few minutes." Peter said.
"Incredible." Pyrrha said in awe.
"And that's a liquid metal. Throw it on anyone and they're basically a yoyo without a string. You can use it to throw guys around like how I do with my webs. Last but not least, trip mines. They're like mine, but they shoot out tiny magnets that stick to guys, before pulling them in and trapping them to the mine." He explained.
Pyrrha was shocked, but smiled. "Thank you, Peter. I was worried I was beginning to rely on my semblance too much. Back on my old world, I really preferred to use it sparingly." She said.
"Well, now you can again." He told her, before webbing back up to the rafters. Pyrrha did the same, throwing a vial of the liquid metal onto a demon and using the glove to slam him into a wall, beam, before sending his body behind a pile of wood. Peter then webbed up another one, bouncing his head off the beam Peter crouched upon and webbed him again to hang him upside down from the beam. Pyrrha then used one of her new trip mines to trap a demon against the pillar he was standing near. Spider-Man webbed up yet another bad guy and Pyrrha used the gauntlets to pull a crane's hook down onto a pair of demons, knocking them out as well.
They then made their way through a small, window-like opening to get to the other side of the structure, where they saw several demons with machine guns approaching an unarmed, surrendering Fisk thug. "Please! You got what you came for! You don't need to kill us, too-!" The thug pleaded, but one of the demons bashed the butt of his rifle into the thug's face, knocking him down, preparing to fire on him.
"Not today!" Spider-Man said, launching himself forward, webbing the thug's legs as he went over the rafters, attaching the thug to it and swinging around to kick the thug who would've shot the thug, knocking him out. Pyrrha then dropped down and threw her shield low to the ground, taking the legs out from under a demon with a shield, using her gauntlets to pull the shield back and hit the thug in the head as he fell, knocking him out. She the rushed in as another demon with a rifle took aim at her, using her shield to block the bullets, she then knocked the gun out of his grip, getting a few hits with the flat side of her sword and finishing him off with a back-flip kick.
Spider-Man then shot a web line and zipped past one of the thug's he was fighting, hitting him with a haymaker while flying by him, turning and zipping by with another haymaker, of course using hitting the demon with another haymaker on the way past, turning one last time and putting him down with a jumping roundhouse kick. However, as they were busy with their targets, the last demon of the group had thrown a grenade. While normally not an issue for the heroes, this one was filled with the strange negative energy and blasting both of them back. However, the quickly recovered, Spider-Man attaching a web line to the demon's face and yanking him in for Pyrrha to finish with a shield uppercut.
As this happened, a phone fell from the hanging thug's pocket, which Spider-Man quickly webbed and pulled towards himself, answering a conveniently timed call, which turned out to be Fisk himself. "Hey, Willie. Nice jumpsuit. Slimming." Spider-Man joked.
"Should we report that he has a phone in prison?" Pyrrha asked.
"Eh. Let him have small comforts." Spider-Man said.
"Both of you, stay out of my business." He snapped, about to turn away.
"Wait! The demons... Who's their leader?!" Peter asked.
"Why should I tell you?" Fisk demanded.
"Because you're a business man and these men are stealing your business. You also claimed to love this city and they're destroying it." Pyrrha told him.
Fisk seemed to consider this for a moment. "Well, it seems you finally have a voice of reason on your side, Spider. Keep my men alive and maybe I'll tell you." Fisk told them, before hanging up.
The two heroes then split up and cover more ground, as there were multiple fight occurring all around the structure. Pyrrha flew through the air and landed in the middle of a fire fight on another part of the building at about the same level they were on before, but much further away. She landed on a metal beam and dropped down on a demon, knees fist, before flinging her shield at another one and further away and knocking him off the edge, but managing to throw a trip mine to save him and stick him to the wall. She pulled the shield back and beat down another couple of demons in front of her. The last demon threw a grenade, but she hit it back with her sword, the explosion knocking him out.
Suddenly, the helicopter that had been flying around the building suddenly came close and the demon in the back pulled out a rocket launcher and fired at the floor around her, causing Pyrrha to fall to a lower level. She soon recovered, however and rushed towards another couple of demons shooting guns at someone she couldn't see. She rushed in, jumped, flipped, and shot her legs out, driving both into the side of a demons' head to knock out. She then took out the demon who'd been standing right beside him as well with a quick and efficient combo. The last two demons she was up against had shields and one of them created a shockwave of energy from the shield, which Pyrrha blocked, but it still sent her skidding back into a pillar with enough force to crack it.
She was a bit dazed, but quickly shook it off and recovered, ripping their shields away before rolling forward and uppercutting one with her shield, knocking him back and into the air, allowing her to turn her attention to his partner and land another powerful combo, ending with another shield bash to knock him back into a wall. The other demon got back up and tried to fight, but Pyrrha delivered a side kick, knocking the wind out of him, before spinning and knocking the demon out with a powerful reverse roundhouse kick. "Hopefully this will make you consider a career change." Pyrrha told him, before going to look for any more trouble.
Meanwhile, with the web swinger, he was on a different building, landing in front of a demon and taking him down with a web strike attack, turning his attention to demons fighting Fisk's thugs off to the side and firing a web bomb, restraining to of them. He then attached web lines to one, swinging him around and knocking other demons down before throwing his victim and sticking him to a wall, before moving to the other webbed up demon and bringing him down with a quick combo. A demon with a kama, who had been knocked down from the other demon getting swung around got back up and swung at Spider-Man, but he jumped back and webbed his face, bringing him down with a combo.
Another demon threw a grenade at Spider-Man, but it was quickly webbed up and returned to the sender, knocking him out. Peter then went after an unarmed demon, landing a few punches on him, before going under his legs and taking him out with a couple kicks to his back. He landed a few quick hits on another unarmed foe, before grabbing a nearby barrel, swinging it around and knocking out his target with it. He then dodged a barrage of fire from a far away demon with a rifle, at which point two more demons with kamas attacked him, but he fired a web bomb at one of them, webbing them both and sticking one to a wall, before taking out the other with a back-flip kick, followed up with a jumping, spinning rear kick to the back, knocking him into a wall.
He slid under the legs of another demon and took him out with a pair of kicks to his back, then taking out the last demon who was shooting at him with a web impact, sticking him to a wall. "Stay here and wait for the cops." He instructed, before heading higher up the structure to stop any more gang violence.
Pyrrha soon reached a cross section connecting the two buildings. She noticed a pair of demons near a girder held up by a crane, using her gauntlets to spin the girder and take out the two demons. She then flung her shield at another demon and managed to knock him out just as he realized what was happening. She pulled the shield back and rushed in, slamming her shield into another demon, landing a few side kicks on his knee and side, before extending her spear and spinning with the weapon held out wide, knocking the demon down and out easily. She then threw some liquid metal on another demon, sending him to the floor with her gauntlets, then knocking him out with a back-flip kick.
Suddenly, the helicopter passed over her and dropped off a demon brute with a sword. Pyrrha briefly had flashbacks to Beacon, Ursai being released from bullheads by the White Fang, then Penny and finally, her own demise at Cinder's hands. This left her distracted as the demon landed, releasing a powerful shockwave that blasted her back a ways. She quickly recovered and looked up to see the Demon brute rushing at her, preparing to throw a left haymaker at her. However, she ducked under this, spinning and hitting him in the stomach with her shield. She was now behind the thug and extended her spear, jabbing him with the butt of the spear twice in each kidney, before delivering a stronger jab in between his shoulder blades, sending him to the ground.
A couple more demons ran onto the scene with guns. Pyrrha flung her shield at one and knocked him out, but the others were still more than ready to take her out. Fortunately, Spider-Man swung in from nowhere and knocked one away with a web swing kick, using his impact webs to blast another one to a wall and hitting another one with a quick pair of jumping spin kicks. "Got your back! But still watch your back!" He called to her.
Pyrrha looked over her shoulder just in time to see and avoid another haymaker from the demon, jumping up, landing on her knees on the demon's shoulders and leaning backwards, pulling the demon's head back with her legs, causing him to lean back, putting her hands on the ground and bringing her lower body over her, throwing the thug behind her with her legs in the progress. It took some effort, due to his size, but she'd been able to do the same to Ursai before. She then noticed Spider-Man had seemed to have forgotten about one of his demons, as one was about to shoot him in the back, but she quickly threw a vial of the liquid metal at the thug's mask, catching him and using her gauntlets to pull the thug, headfirst into a steel beam, knocking him out. "Got your back." She told him.
"Very nice. That should be all of them. Now maybe we can get some answers from Willie." Spider-Man said.
"At this point, it's the least he can do." She agreed.
Spider-Man then called up the crime boss. "Fisk, your men are safe. Now what about the leader of the demons." Peter said.
"Maybe he's there. Maybe he's not. Check the roof." Fisk ordered.
"Do you ever think he doesn't really know what he's talking about and simply makes it sound like he does?" Pyrrha asked.
"I've definitely asked myself that once or twice. But the chopper landed on the roof, so it's our best bet." Peter said as the two rushed up to the top.
They were just in time to see a demon with a katana slice down on and kill one of Fisk's thugs, hurrying back to the chopper. "No!" Pyrrha shouted. She was going to use her semblance to stop the chopper, but she was forced to dodge an RPG and several shots from the demons.
Spider-Man, meanwhile, had landed on a nearby generator, firing a few web lines at the chopper as it was taking off and connecting it to the generator. However, the demon with the RPG just shot it at the ground in front of Spider-Man and the generator, blasting the wall crawler back while pulling the tower over the ledge, now dangling from the helicopter like a wrecking ball. And as its first act of destruction, it slammed into a massive crane, severely denting and damaging it, to the point it could no longer stay up and began to fall. "Oh, come on!" He groaned, getting up and webbing the crane, starting to pull it back, but it's clear he was slipping and probably would slide off the edge before bringing the crane to a stop.
On top of that, the crane's hook now swung around hazardously, coming right at the wall crawler. "Look out!" Pyrrha warned him. After a split second hesitation and a visible shudder, Pyrrha used a strong burst from her semblance like what she used against Penny to blast back the hook, causing it to loop around the crane several times. "I've got this, you get ready to web it back in place!" She told him, using her semblance and struggling greatly, but managing to get the crane back in its previous position. "Now! Hurry!" She shouted.
"Got it! You're the best, Pyrrha!" Spider-Man said, diving off the building and firing several webs to keep the crane connected to the building so it wouldn't fall on anyone. He then webbed back up to the top of the top of the building as Pyrrha dropped to one knee, her aura shimmering weakly around her, barely still up and active. "You did it, Pyrrha. Way to use that magnetic personality of yours." He told her.
Pyrrha groaned at this. "No more puns right now, please." She said.
"You gonna be alright?" He asked.
"I had to use almost all of my aura for that. I can maybe take another rocket from the demons or stop the helicopter for a minute at most. Luckily, the gauntlets should be able to pick up my slack. Let's hurry. That helicopter is a lot more dangerous now. I'd recommend NOT giving it a wrecking ball next time." She said.
"Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Since when can helicopters carry something that heavy?!" Peter countered as they took off after the chopper.
They were in hot pursuit for a good few minutes, before getting a call from Yuri. "I'm getting reports of a... helicopter with a wrecking ball?" She asked.
"Yeah. I know. Things with the demons got... Complicated." Peter told her.
"I'm sorry! We tried to stop it BEFORE it had the wrecking ball, but there were a few issues." Pyrrha said.
"Sit tight, Yuri. We got this." Peter said.
They continued their pursuit, but after a few more minutes, they received another call from the Captain. "That helicopter's destroying the city." Yuri said.
"We know." Peter confirmed.
"You two need to take it down!" Yuri said frantically.
"We know." Pyrrha assured her.
"Maybe you can superhero a little faster!? Arkos, don't you have magnet powers? PRETTY sure helicopters are metal!" Yuri said, practically in hysterics now.
"I'm sorry! I don't have any aura left. I can't use my powers." Pyrrha explained.
"We're working on it, Yuri! We'll call you when it's done!" Peter assured the Captain, before hanging up. As luck would have it, as soon as they were done with the conversation, they realized how close they were to the helicopter and wrecking ball. "Now's our chance!" Peter said.
"Right!" Pyrrha said, using her gauntlets to magnetize to the generator as Spider-Man got onto the helicopter. Pyrrha landed on top of the generator and sliced away the webbing, sending her and the generator into a free fall, but managed to stop it with her gauntlets, gently stopping the generator on a rooftop. Although, using her gauntlets on an object that heavy brought the overload warning into the yellow. Pyrrha then used her gauntlets to fly back up and get onto the helicopter, clinging onto the left side as Spider-Man stuck to the right side, having knocked out all the extra demons except for the pilot and one more sword-wielding demon.
Fortunately, Spider-Man webbed the sword against the side of the helicopter as the demon tried to take a strike at him. With the weapon pinned, Spider-Man had plenty of time to pull out the right side engine of the helicopter as Pyrrha used her sword and stabbed the other engine. This caused the plane to spiral and start to go down. "Okay, Arkos! We gotta plan! And plan fast!" Spider-Man told her.
Pyrrha thought quickly and looked down to her gauntlets. "I really hope you have a lot of faith in these!" She said, using them one more time, holding the helicopter in the air, slowing its descent and stopping all moving parts, such as the blades and pushing them to their absolute limit, the gauntlets quickly overloading. "Make a web! Quick!" She shouted.
"You're the boss!" He said, making a massive web below them. With that, the gauntlets finally gave out and the chopper descended, taking both demons and heroes along with it. Fortunately, the web held and the chopper was suspended in the air several dozen feet above the road. "Not a bad call, chief." Peter said as they stood on the side of the up-turned chopper, lightly punching Pyrrha in the arm.
"Let's not celebrate just yet. We still need information from the demons." She said as they entered the helicopter.
Spider-Man then moved closer to the sword-wielding and removed the mask. "Man, these things are so awesome. Where do you get them?" Peter asked.
"A bit on the imposing side for me." Pyrrha said. Suddenly, the sword-wielder awoke and swung at Spider-Man, who caught the blade, but a rise in the amount of energy in the blade burned the webhead's hands, forcing him to pull away and allowing the demon to strike again. "Look out!" Pyrrha warned as she blocked it. She prepared a counter strike, but before she could land the hit, the Demon sent a surge of energy through his sword, blasting her out of the chopper.
"Arkos!" Spider-Man said, punching the demon in the head hard enough to knock him out and webbing him in place, before diving out after his comrade, firing a web line at her, which thankfully hit her. "Pyr- I mean, Arkos! You okay? You're not hurt?" He asked.
Pyrrha was shocked at everything that happened all at once: the initial energy blast, being launched from the chopper, the sudden fall and the equally sudden stop. As now, all she could see was the street below, as well as her arms and legs dangling below her, quickly realizing her situation and facepalming. "Only my pride." She said. Yep, the web line that stopped her from, perhaps not death, but certainly a painful fall, likely with broken bones, had attached itself to nowhere else but her butt, leaving her to dangle in front of a good portion of the city by her backside. Fortunately, everyone seemed far more concerned about the helicopter in the giant web strung up between two buildings than the armored warrior strung to the chopper.
"Hey, don't worry about it. There are whole websites dedicated SOLELY to all my greatest web swinging fails and slip-ups over the years." Peter assured her as he pulled her up, holding her bridal style before swinging away.
"Oh, MJ showed me some of those sites. She actually has a few folders on her computer dedicated to them." Pyrrha said.
"I'll be mad about that later." He said, calling up Yuri. "Captain, we caught the bad guys, but..." Spider-Man started.
"But..?" Yuri asked, sounding concerned and annoyed.
"They aren't exactly on ground level. They'll be a bit hard to reach. Sorry again!" Arkos apologized.
"Yeah, you might wanna bring a ladder." Peter agreed as they swung off.
"Well, I suppose the only thing now would be to get to the rally." Pyrrha said.
"Right. We'll stop off at MJ's real quick so you can dump the armor and I MIGHT just delete those folders, then we'll be on our way." Spider-Man agreed.
"Peter..." Arkos said, annoyed at the dishonest ulterior motive.
"Okay, I'm kidding. Just the armor, then." Peter said.
And so, the two quickly made the stop and arrived at MJ's apartment, allowing Pyrrha to perform a quick wardrobe swap and the two soon reached the event. "Hey, wasn't sure you were going to make it." MJ said as the two came up to her.
"Things got kind of hectic at work." Peter said.
"Yes. It certainly didn't go how we expected today to end up." Pyrrha agreed.
"Yeah, I heard about a lot of that." MJ confirmed. "So..?" She asked.
"Is HERE the best place to talk about this?" Pyrrha asked, concerned for two reasons: one, they were talking about VERY private business while absolutely SURROUNDED by people and two, they were being rather rude talking at a ceremony meant to honor a very good man and someone she would consider to be a good friend.
"It should be fine as long as we keep our voices down." Peter assured her.
"Right. So, what do you two think?" MJ asked again.
"I think this gang war may finally be over." Peter said.
"It's still far too early to say for certain, though. We don't even know who the leader of the demons is. And for every crime we manage to stop, it seems they're always bringing down another armored car or raiding the last of Fisk's warehouses. If this is a gang war, Fisk certainly seems to be on the losing side." Pyrrha countered.
"Okay, fair enough. And I guess there are still some loose ends." Peter agreed.
"Loose ends?" MJ asked.
"Well, a truck pulled away from the scene, from a company called Consolidated Shipping. Something's not right about it, I just don't know what." Peter said.
"That seemed to be the most normal thing about that entire situation." Pyrrha stated, confused.
"Sometimes it's the most normal thing that's the most out of place." MJ explained to the younger redhead. "But maybe after this, we can grab some coffee. Figure this out together." MJ offered.
Pyrrha, no stranger to hints ranging from subtle to JUST below DOWNRIGHT OBVIOUS! JAUNE, YOU IDIOT! ...Sorry, ahem- Pyrrha picked up on the indication. "Perhaps I should speak to Yuri about it later while you two figure things out. A fresh opinion from a professional could be just what we need." She said, nodding as she saw MJ mouth out "Thanks."
Back up onstage, the mayor took the stand, with Jeff standing just beside him. "Well, thanks Jim. I couldn't have said it better myself, but I'll try." Osborn said, turning to the man of the hour. "We all know, that officer Davis is a hero..." Norman went on.
"But, maybe instead of coffee, we could have dinner, instead? I could come over... I'd cook." Peter offered. MJ looked to him, her expression difficult to pin. It looked like she was about to smile, but there was also something that gave off a "REALLY..?" kind of vibe. "Or we could meet at a totally neutral location and have a normal meal cooked by professionals." He tried to recover, causing MJ to laugh a bit.
Pyrrha had to jump in at this point, both to stop Peter from making a bigger fool of himself and point out an important issue. "I don't think I'll be able to convince Captain Watanabe into anything that could take up the whole night..." She said. She was all for giving friends space on their date, but an overnight thing would prove A LOT trickier.
Back to the stage, Osborn was now facing Jeff. "For acts of extraordinary bravery, above and beyond the call of duty, it is my privilege to present officer Jefferson Davis with the Department Metal of Honor." Norman declared as he began to pin the medal on Jeff's uniform. His aide came over and began to tell him something, which he at first ignored, but soon agreed and shook Jeff's hand, directing him to the podium before hurrying off.
"That's strange. The mayor seemed to be all about getting as much publicity as possible, yet he suddenly hurried off after the biggest moment." Pyrrha said, slightly suspicious.
"Yeah, that's not like him. Important business call, maybe." Peter guessed.
"It'd have to be PRETTY important to drag him away from this." MJ countered.
Jeff then took the stand. "Uh, thank you Mr. Mayor. I share this honor with my family: my wife, Ria and my son, Miles. I could not do what I do without their support." He said.
Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at this, remembering thinking a very similar way about her old team. Jaune's friendship that allowed her to make so many other friends and create incredible experiences, Nora's constant upbeat attitude and optimism that helped Pyrrha whenever she felt down and Ren's calm and distant, yet warm and open personality, as well as his incredible cooking skills. He could certainly teach Peter a thing or two. She wiped away a tear as she strengthened her resolve to one day get back to them.
However, this warm moment was suddenly cut short when Peter lurched forward, clearly having a powerful episode from his Spider Sense, putting Pyrrha on high alert as well. Peter made his way towards one demon, who'd just stepped out of a truck, who had a dynamite belt on and was charging it with huge amounts of negative energy, before noticing several others, including one who appeared to be Martin Li himself, although her had no dynamite belt. Then finally, the last one he spotted was the mayor's aide, standing right next to Jeff. The honored officer quickly pushed down the bomber and dove into one of his fellow officers to get him out of the way.
Peter also turned back to MJ and held her close, protecting her from any oncoming blast. Pyrrha then noticed a bomber standing beside a family, rushing over and pushing the bomber down with all the strength she could muster, grabbing the family and throwing them down as well, although this stopped her from being able to escape herself, taking a considerable brunt of the blast, causing her to pass out.
When she woke up, she fought back the dizziness and insane headache, as well as the ringing in her ears and noticed she was buried under rubble. Several large slabs of concrete with steel rebar sticking out of them. Fortunately, they were stopped from outright crushing her by some scattered pieces of steel high beams and girders. This also gave her enough space in the gaps of her confinement to witness more demons slaughtering any injured around the scene. Pyrrha tried to free herself from her confinement, but while she was certainly strong, she was no Yang or Nora and her aura was out from the explosion, preventing her from easily freeing herself.
Suddenly, she noticed a dark-skinned boy around Ruby's age up front at the stage where Jeff had been speaking. Remembering the fact that Jeff had a son and that this boy looked quite a bit like the officer, Pyrrha could only assume that was Jeff's son Miles. And unfortunately, being up on the stage made him clearly visible to several demons. One of them knocked the boy to the ground and tried to finish him. Pyrrha now frantically struggled against the debris trapping her, unless she would allow this boy to die. Still, no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't move the enormous weight around and on top of her.
Fortunately, Miles was spared from death by a shout from Martin Li. "Enough! We have to leave. Now." He told his demon thugs.
"Martin Li? The man who runs the F.E.A.S.T shelter?" Pyrrha asked quietly in shock. The way Peter described this man, as a paragon of justice, at least on Peter's level, maybe even beyond. She couldn't believe it. Still, the demons quickly dispersed and finally, Pyrrha moved the right pieces of debris, lightening the load and allowing her to find the strength needed to free herself. She then hurried over to Miles. "Are you alright?" She asked him.
"I'm fine, but... My dad..." He started, getting up and looking around. He soon spotted his father and ran over, dropping beside him and rolling him over, finding him unresponsive and covered in blood. He would repeatedly call for his father and shake him, desperately trying to rouse him, but all in vain. Pyrrha quickly realized what was happening and put her hands to her mouth in shock and horror. Jefferson Davis, the officer who had saved her and Spider-Man, a man she'd come to know as a great man in so little time of knowing him... was now deceased.
A/N: Oh, man... This was a heavy chapter. I wanted to save Jeff, I really did. But his death is the catalyst for so much in the story, mainly Miles' ENTIRE involvement, it just simply could NOT be circumvented without ruining the story. But still, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
Also, I know I've already asked quite a lot of you guys, but I'm proposing another challenge! Don't worry, it's not another "subscribe to my channel and I'll update more" challenge. You've all been enjoying this story, so I was thinking "I wonder if they would enjoy it if it was a DIFFERENT RWBY character". So, that's what this challenge is: basically swapping Pyrrha out with another RWBY character. You could have Blake using Gambol Shroud to swing through the city like Spider-Man, or Yang brawling with the criminals alongside the webhead. I'd love to see what any of you could come up with. If enough of you take the challenge, stories like these could maybe even rival the explosion of the RWBY X Arkham stories! I know you all can do it! I believe in you! Let's see what you've got!