Chapter 19: Master of the Streets
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters or logos.
"Looks like you guys would rather do this the hard way." Wolverine sneered in response to his enemy's answer, an impatient expression appeared on his face. "You know what? That's fine by me!"
The two heroes tensed up slightly as the thugs raised their firearms in his direction, each waiting for the order to fire as their apparent leader stepped forward to join them. Rather than give them the cue to commence their attack, the pale giant waved down their assault with a small gesture of his hand and addressed himself to their unwanted visitors. Tombstone smirked in response to their hostile gestures, finding a sense of amusement in the clawed mutant's death threats, but after a moment or two of waiting, the mob enforcer's indifferent expression changing into a cruel sense of humor as he noted the patriotic hero's costume.
"Well what do we have here?" the pale mobster replied with a smirk, his expression revealing a row of sharp, jagged teeth. "Now we gotta deal with a brooding vigilante and some idiot sidekick dressed in blue spandex. Here I thought that this city had enough costumed freaks patrolling the streets."
"Yeah, this crap coming from some pale dude who looks like the walking dead. That a costume you're wearing, or are you just really ugly?" Logan added nastily, his claws silently sliding into position.
Don't be so hasty to start a fight!" the super-soldier standing behind him hissed quietly.
Logan grit his teeth as he heard these words, but otherwise seemed to understand what his teammate was thinking, and quickly retracted his weapons. "So, I take it you don't know who this Chameleon guy is?" he attempted to buy them some time.
"I just told you punks to get lost! You deaf or just stupid?" Tombstone rasped irritably, the vein in his head pulsing slightly as he crunched his knuckles together again.
Captain America glanced around cautiously, silently observing their surroundings while he formulated a battle plan. The room was a large enough to take advantage of in a large scale battle, but the large numbers of wooden crates and weapons strewn about the area were bound to complicate things. Since they were clearly outnumbered, the best way to approach the battle would be to take advantage of their surroundings, which if done properly could easily tilt the fight in their favor. The enemy appeared to be nothing more than common thugs, a far cry from the days they fought the Red Skull during World War II, but being a soldier had taught the hero that one should never underestimate their enemy.
One of the thugs standing behind the pale mercenary looked apprehensive as he remembered where he had seen the super soldier's getup before. "Hey boss!" the man called out hurriedly. "The blue guy's costume kinda looks like that Captain America guy!"
"You mean that joke from World War II… The freakshow you're talking about died back in the 1940s." Tombstone cocked an eyebrow in confusion as he sized up the enemy, but after a moment the mobster let out a dry chortle.
"Looks like we he's just some diluted fool who thinks he's Captain America." A second underling jeered as several of the others broke out into a chorus of mirthless laughter.
The captain displayed signs of annoyance at their behavior, but unlike his partner he had a reputation for being the rational soldier. Logan glanced over at him as if expecting his old friend to lash out at the thugs for their behavior, but nonetheless he was unsurprised when the super soldier made no move to attack. Both sides having grown bored with this brief conversation, Tombstone raised a hand to silence his minions, stepping back wards with a menacing expression as he slide behind the line of hire. Although he seemed calm at first, this sense of tranquility melted away to reveal a sense of cold fury.
"Kill them!" he roared in his hoarse tones, causing the scene to spring to life on his command.
In a matter of seconds, blasts of energy filled the surrounding air in a flurry of light and noise, the stray blasts peppering walls like Swiss cheese as the laser technology of their blasters pierced the surrounding plaster walls. A storm of blasts came close to doing the same to Wolverine, but his partner jumped forward and raised his shield, blocking the oncoming shower of death as they were forced backwards. The Maggia enforcers continued pouring on the assault, but once their victims were a safe distance, Captain America finally brought his plan into action. Having dragged on the conversation for a few more seconds, Wolverine had given him just enough time to plan a counter.
"Scatter!" the super soldier ordered, causing his partner to dive out from behind the protection of the shield.
"Don't let the other guys escape!" Tombstone roared, signaling them to divide into groups.
The enemy thugs took were forced to change their strategy as their two targets separated, those closest to Wolverine turning the ends of their weapons towards him instead as the others continued to go after the captain. Dodging a weaving with the skill of an expert, the mutant hero danced around their laser blasts with surprising agility, barely escaping death as he took to the defensive. A few of the stray beams had fried small patches of his body, but he responded by diving behind a pile of crates nearest to the door. He hissed as the pain dissipated, his wounds closing up almost instantly, but he couldn't rest much longer as the row of boxes he was hiding behind were reduced to splinters.
Captain America took advantage of the enemy's divided attention as he ran in the opposite direction, using his shield to block as he closed the distance between himself and the enemy enforcers. Several of the black suited men standing closest were caught off guard, never having expected an opponent to charge in so close in the fact of such powerful weapons. Their attacker shoulder rammed one of the men, sending his attacker flying into another of the gunmen, while disabling a third with his shield. Several of the thugs tried to flank him, but were knocked out as a row of crates nearest collapsed and crushed them. Steve Rogers saluted his partner quickly as the latter retreated again, having used his claws to cut down the tower of boxes seconds earlier.
Tombstone sidestepped another falling tower or boxes as the clawed mutant tried to crush him, instead directing his attention towards the mutant. "The rest of you take out the blue guy, the mutant is mine!" he barked angrily, turning to face his opponent. "Nice one… Now it's my turn!"
"Bring it on, you oversized zombie!" Wolverine scowled as the two combatants began to charge each other.
The pale hit man moved beneath his opponent's guard with surprising agility for a man his size, his enhanced strength sending Logan flying into a concrete wall several meters away. The force of the impact has created a series of cracks behind Wolverine's body, but the former Weapon X mutant was hardly fazed at all due to the advantages of his own superhuman powers. Tombstone broke into a sprint, easily caught up with his enemy, before bringing his fist down and smashing a large indent into the cheap substance. While surprised by this sudden display of power, the mutant reacted by kicking the suited killer in the face and sliding between his legs, jumping to his feet and slashing the enemy in the back with his claws.
Tombstone responded by spinning around and seizing his opponent by the throat, smashing the mutant's head against the wall and kneeing him in the stomach, but was forced to recoil as his seemingly unharmed opponent broke free and aimed another series of slashes at his body. Dodging each consecutive attack, the mobster scowled in annoyance as another stab hit the mark, leaving a red line on his chest and cutting up one of his nicest suits. He stumbled backwards as his opponent forced him on the defensive, but the gang leader allowing himself to be cut in exchange for punching his enemy in the face.
A large cracking noise reverberated off the walls as the bone-shattered blow sent his opponent flying again, but this time he fell into a series of crates, which proceeded to collapse on top of the mutant's body. A small series of grunts came from the stack as the weapons and technology contained within spilled out onto the floor of the warehouse, but the pale villain seemed to find amusement in the whole situation. Waiting a moment or two for any signs of struggling, and turned his attention towards the other battles going on. After a moment of waiting he began to walk in the opposite direction, but received a small surprise as a familiar shape burst out from beneath the rubble.
Pushing the remains of the crates aside with surprising strength for a man his size, Logan released his claws and ripped through the remainder of the mess that was still around him, instantly clearing a pathway through the mess with a few swings of his arms. His enemy's eyes widened slightly in surprise at seeing him alive as he stared at the mutant, but at the same time it seemed that the feral hero was also eying him in suspicion. A small trickle of blood ran from the three claw marks left by his adamantium weapons, but rather than fall to the ground, the villain spun around and faced him with a hoarse laugh.
"Is that it, mutant? You can't kill me just by taking cheap shots like that." The enforcer replied with a nasty glare.
Wolverine growled in response to his statement, concluding without a doubt that his enemy wasn't an ordinary human. He had suspected as much upon first seeing the pale-faced murderer's distorted physical appearance and animal-like teeth, but seeing him shrug off a slash to the back without even flinching was something he hadn't expected. The atmosphere grew tense for a moment or two as they began moving around in a circular pattern like two predators preparing to rip each other apart, both men preparing to resume the previous fight. The ill-tempered hero was pretty certain that his opponent wasn't a mutant, but at the same time he was also sure that going easy on such a man wouldn't be a smart idea.
Raising his hands in an offensive stance, the former Weapon X allowed a small bit of his animalistic tendencies to show. "Well seeing how you're not hurt, it looks like I don't have to go easy on you anymore. It's time I started taking this fight seriously."
"Good idea… I was starting to get bored." The pale-faced enforcer replied with an arrogant smirk.
Flailing his arms wildly, the villain began shattering anything within reach with his punches, easily destroying a large piece of the wall that Wolverine was standing near moments before. The hero dodged with a series of small growls as he hated being on the defensive during a fight, but with a swing of his claws he quickly turned the tide of the struggle. Seeing holes in his enemy's defensive stance was rather easy for someone as skilled a fighter as the former Weapon X. Of course this was to be expected due to his vast experience and training over the course of his unnaturally long life.
The battle soon encompassed the entire area as they ran through different rooms, taking stabs and jabs at each other in an attempt to end the enemy's life. While the two combatants continued their fight, Captain America held off the guards in the main room of the warehouse. Keeping on his toes, the legendary hero alternated between attacking and defending, using his trademark weapon as both a projectile and barricade as he ran through the flying energy blasts and took out his enemies, one at a time. Moving behind the large mountain of storage crates near the opposite wall of the room, he maneuvered around the pyramidal structure to avoid death.
"Where is he? Where did he go?" one of the enforcers screamed to the others.
"Fan out… He must've hidden over there." a second, much deeper voice called back, pointing towards the giant stack of boxes.
"If we split into two groups and surround him from both sides, there's no way he can escape." The other man answered. "Get to it, you morons! This freak ruined the shipment, and the boss'll have our heads if we don't eliminate them for messing with the Maggia."
The first man who spoke raised a hand and singled the other thugs to go along with the aforementioned plan. Raising their weapons, the assortment of thugs split up and began moving around the pile, preparing to fire as soon as they had the target in their sights. Meanwhile, the captain sat perfectly still, silently glancing around for a solution to this problem. It was fortunate for him that the enemy was foolish enough to discuss their strategy so loudly, and catching sight of a metal railing above his head gave the patriotic hero a way out. Reaching for a discarded piece of rope on the floor of the old warehouse, the captain managed to catch hold of the bar and vaulted over the surrounding boxes by kicking off against the back wall just as the enemy drew in for the kill.
Among the group a handful of the dozen men noticed their victim escaping "There he goes!" he shouted, causing the others to fire their weapons in that general direction.
Barely escaping the flurry of laser fire, Steve Rogers touched down on the opposite side of the room and tossed his shield at the base of the crates, causing the entire stack to tumble. The men attempted to flee, but the captain kicked the side of the stack with incredible force, causing the entire wall of boxes to collapse on the thuggish enforcers. A series of curse words and bickering could be heard as they tried to escape, but the few that managed to emerge from the chaos were instantly knocked out by the captain. As the blue-clad hero finished up his battle, the strongest of the mob enforcers continued his battle with Wolverine.
In a single fluid motion, the feral mutant stabbed his claws forward and into his opponent's gut, purposely avoiding an instant kill but otherwise hoping to inflict a serious wound. Tombstone scowled as he seized the hero's arm and pried the dagger-like protrusions out of his stomach, tossing Logan across the room with his amazing strength. Wolverine righted his body in the middle of the fall and faced his enemy, immediately noting the villain's change in demeanor. Choking back his pain, Tombstone's mannerisms were much less humorous and much more serious than before, his face contorted with rage as he wobbled slightly with his left hand clutching his mid-section.
"Why you, son of a bitch!" he seethed dangerously, his eyes widening in anger.
Picking up a giant metal rob from the floor, the pale villain swung down at his opponent, but found himself holding a stub as the mutant adamantium claws diced the end of the weapon. The enforcer tossed the remains of his weapon at the hero, but Logan responded by smacking them out of the air with his claws. Tombstone took this moment to tear off the prongs of an abandoned forklift that the warehouse workers had left behind upon fleeing the raid, but Wolverine climbed on a crate to give himself a boost and used his claws to dig into the plaster as the flying parts left a crater where he had been standing.
Logan retracted his claws and returned to his feet, releasing them again to slice through a crate that the enemy had heaved at his head. Bolting forward, he aimed a series of slashes at his enemy's face, getting his opponent to raise his guard in that area while also exposing his torso. Nailing the man in the heart area with a kick, the mutant tripped his opponent with a swift kick to the kneecap. Thrown off balance, the albino man fell backwards but was pushed onto his stomach as the feral mutant rugby tackled him, pushing the villain onto his stomach and placing an adamantium claw to his throat.
"All right, you've got about three seconds to surrender. Move so much as an inch and I promise you'll be missing your head." Wolverine snarled, his metallic weapons pressing against the pale enforcer's skin.
Before either of them could continue speaking, Captain America entered the room with a glum expression. "Looks like you caught the boss, although from your expression something tells me that he wasn't the man we were after."
Wolverine glanced down at the mob enforcer and shook his head ruefully. "Nope, and I can't small the Chameleon's scent anywhere nearby. It looks like if he was here, he ran off during the battle with these street thugs."
At this, the man underneath Logan's claw let out a low hiss-like laugh, prompting an angry glare from his captor, and a look of concern from the blue-clad patriot. "What's so funny?" Steve Rogers questioned with a look of interest.
"You callin me a small-time thug is what." The pale villain replied arrogantly. "All you did was interfere with the Maggia's operations, and once the higher ups find out about this mess, it'll be all over for both you guys."
"Your mobster buddies don't scare us…" Wolverine snarled with a threatening growl.
Captain America knelt down to get a better look at the defeated villain. "We'll ask you one more time…" He paused for a moment. "Where did the Chameleon go? We know he was here."
"So it's like that, eh? Truth is that I wasn't lying earlier." Tombstone answered, silently laughing on the inside. "Don't know this Chameleon guy you keep talking about, but if you're sure he was here, I'll bet he wasn't one of my men. He probably works for one of the other gangs in the city, seeing how he's not on my payroll."
"You sure that's all he knows?" the super soldier turned to his partner with a concerned look.
Wolverine shook his head, but seemed rather calm for the moment. "Maybe not, but I doubt he knows anything that could help us find our target. The only thing we can do is go after the Chameleon before his trail gets too cold. Might be hard now, but if we hurry I might still be able to pick up his trail."
"What are you, a dog?" the albino criminal commented.
Logan looked as though he would have liked nothing more than to kill him on the spot, although he resisted the urge for a moment. "Considering your position, I would shut my mouth if I were you. Either that or I can make you as dead as you already look."
He raised his second claw to strike, but was stopped by his partner. "Just leave this man for the police. We'll figure out a way to keep him here and then contact the local authorities to take care of the rest." The captain spared a glance at the suited man. "If he really as is big a criminal as he says, something tells me the police will be happy to have him in custody."
"All right, but this guy ain't normal. We'd have to find a place to put him till the cops show up, but by then it'll be too late to catch the Chameleon." The mutant answered with a slightly conflicted expression. "Knowing Fury, I doubt he'll be thrilled if the two of us show up without the target we were supposed to capture."
Captain America stroked his chin. "Hmmm... Then perhaps we can..."
"Heh, you two really are stupid." Tombstone replied, the meaning of his words becoming abundantly clear as a loud rumbling filled the room.
Wolverine glanced around, his animalistic sense coming back to life. "You set us up!" he screamed, his eyes darting around as he searched for the source of the noise.
Noticing that his captors were distracted, the villain rolled sideways and kicked Wolverine in the face, leaping to his feet in a single movement. Captain America brought down his shield in an attempt to knock out the pale-faced enforcer, but their enemy broke into a run and dashed for the exit, his cruel jeering echoing in their ears as they attempted to follow. The two heroes ran after him as their former hostage exited the building, but found themselves face-to-face with their previous opponent and six very large robots. The automatons were humanoid in shape and approximately eight feet tall with a bulky stature and glowed vision screens. Behind them all was a large, armored van parked in the street.
"What the hell is going on?" Logan snarled, his eyes widening slightly as their attackers flanked the black-suited mobster protectively.
"Didn't see too many of these during the war…" the captain commented warily.
"Unlike you people, I was smart enough to think ahead and prepare in case any of your costumed freaks decided to ruin my operation. Looks like I was right." Tombstone appeared even cockier than before, especially now that he had the upper hand again. "You guys may have beaten my second-rate enforcers, but let's see how you deal with the big guns."
The two war heroes stepped back as the robotic giants closed in, both wondering if they had been better off staying inside the warehouse and going out through the back. They had a mission, which due to irrational planning and caution had now been compromised. Not only did their enemy probably know they were hunting for him, but he had probably been present to see their fighting techniques while masquerading as a common thug during the previous battle. As these thoughts floated through their minds, the pale monster had already boarded the armored vehicle several meters away. He was holding a small video phone in his hand, talking to someone on the screen, which was too far away for them to see clearly.
Alistair Smythe's face flickered a few times as the phone signal fluctuated. "Looks like you ran into some trouble… I doubt Silvermane will be happy when he hears about this blatant misuse of our precious resources. All of this backup seems like such a waste to secure such a small area in the lowest reaches of New York." He explained cautiously.
"I don't give a crap what you think." The enforcer barked with an annoyed expression. "My strike team ran into a pair of unfamiliar freaks in costumes. I want these self-proclaimed heroes buried and the remaining weapons brought back to headquarters."
The cyborg scientist cocked an eyebrow carefully. "If you insist, then I shall proceed, but what about the men you left behind?"
Tombstone shrugged with indifference. "Don't care much either way. Some of the boys that came with me are probably dead anyway, but if any of the live ones stand in your way during the fight, then go ahead and bury them too."
"Understood…" Smythe replied with a small nod as he pressed the button below the camera's reach, cutting off the conversation immediately.
The mob enforcer gestured for the driver of the armored vehicle to take off as the screen on his picture phone went black, although he looked rather disappointed that he would not get to see his enemies die. Clipping shut his communicator, he pocketed the device and relaxed as the van headed back to their hideout, although considering the destruction that Smythe's Mega Slayer Robots were capable of, he was glad to have escaped the scene unharmed. As the bullet-proof transport disappeared into the sea of cars lining the streets of New York, the two heroes left behind were faced with much more pressing issues.
The mechanical giants advanced towards them, attempting to smash their prey with a series of punches and stomps. Logan lost his footing as one of the robots created a hole near his feet, but rolled sideways along the ground to avoid getting crushed by the others. Before returning to his feet, the feral mutant slashed through one of the metal legs surrounding him, but was forced to dodge as the metal menace tripped and fell in the place where he had just been. A loud thud reverberated through the concrete, but in a matter of seconds the automaton was crawling towards him on its hands in an attempt to finish the kill.
"It looks like we won't be getting out of here without another fight." Wolverine stated begrudgingly, his demeanor much different as the two heroes backed away from the advancing giants. "I was in the mood for a scrap before, but this mess isn't so much fun anymore."
"Are all modern cities this dangerous?" the blue-clad soldier questioned with a half serious expression.
His partner sighed. "Nope… From what I hear, this crazy city is just a really bad place to be if you don't mind your own business. It's safer in other areas of New York, but we just happened to pick the wrong neighborhood to start a scene in."
"Indeed you did, gentlemen." A third voice answered, eliciting a rather confused reaction from the heroes.
They looked up at the robot standing in front to see the pale face of glowing robotic eyes of Alistair Smythe staring back at them from television screen on the android's head. Captain America looked on with fascination as he wondered what the man on the monitor really was, having seen his share of robots but never something that appeared to be both machine and human at the same time. The yellow glow from the scientist's eyes was odd enough coming from a giant robot, but the man's face appeared someone human, although rather cold and angry in contrast to the average human.
"What are you supposed to be?" Steve Rogers questioned the newcomer.
"You have bigger problems right now." The enemy replied, his hands typing in a series of codes into the keyboard of his computer. After a moment, he seemed significantly more cheerful than before. "If you had just decided to die like good heroes, we wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble."
Setting the mechanical monstrosity to manual control, Smythe typed in another command sequence, causing the hands of his personal robot to transform into a pair of rocket launchers, the ends of the missiles moving into firing position. He fired the ammo at his targets, both of whom fled in opposite directions as the heat-seeking projectiles followed them around. Seeing this mutual strength and weakness of his enemy's weapons, Captain American blocked the rocket, creating a gigantic explosion. Although his defensive tool was unscathed, the impact still pushed him back several meters.
"Come get me…" Logan hissed as he stood against the wall of the warehouse.
Planting his claws into the wall, he propelled himself upwards and jabbed them into the wall of another building, catching himself and establishing a safe place to watch as the missile destroyed a large section of the wall he had been standing near. Several of the automatons took this opportunity to enter through the new opening, emerging moments later with armfuls of crates that had been left intact after the recent fiasco. Wolverine moved to attack but was immediately stopped as the puppet master's main robot fired a series of laser blasts via the small gun-like attachments on its wrists.
Captain America blocked the attacks and attempted to take down the monster, but was forced to shield himself as the mechanical fist came inches from crushing him. "You sure talk big, considering these rusty junk piles are about as affective as1940 Panzers."
"The insolence…" the robotics scientist replied with a nasty grimace. "You'll see soon enough the true power of my beautiful creations!"
The supplementary robots dropped their crates and joined with Smythe's main creation, their body parts joining together like some type of mega robot as the mechanical beings fused. After a moment, the components had come together, creating one gigantic mecha with the main robot serving as the torso, the others having converted into the necessary parts for a head, arms, and legs. Although the newly formed monster looked like a larger version of its smaller counterparts, it was overt twice the height and four times as wide as the original series of robots. Several new weapons formed as the transformation continued, the spikes forming on its fists and large numbers of missile launchers protruding from the several segments where the joints came together.
The mad scientist let out a nasty laugh as his gigantic creation bore down on them. "When six ordinary Mega Slayers come together, they form my ultimate creation… The Guardian Slayer!"
"You just made this fight a whole lot easier." Wolverine commented, his claws extending as he
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." The captain replied without so much as a single twinge of fear.
"Die!" Smythe shouted, prompting the machine monster to flail its arms wildly.
Surprisingly enough, the series of blows never connected as a rope-like substance shot out of the darkness and ensnared the robot's legs. The monstrosity creaked a few times before landing with crash on the pavement. Wolverine sniffed the air as an unfamiliar scent filled his nostrils, but he ignored this for now and took advantage of the moment by ripping into the metal giant's body with his claws, savagely striking it anywhere he could reach as the beast attempted to rise. With his talon preoccupied, Logan was sucker punched by the mecha, causing him to lose his grip on the struggling monster just long enough for it to retaliate again.
"Get down!" the blue-clad patriot shouted as he rejoined the fight.
Captain America nailed the monster in the head with his shield, causing it to tumble backwards, but now that there was only one automaton, Smythe was able to place it under complete manual control. Using the remote control by his terminal, the scientist fired up the monster's rear booster jets to prevent it from tumbling backwards, thereby forcing the robot into a standing position once more. Unable to see the entire situation from before, he was unaware what caused the robot to lose its footing in the first place and determined that the best course of action was to eliminate all of the opposition simultaneously.
"It's over!" Smythe announced as he slammed his fist into his control panel, causing his creation to fire off all of its missiles at once.
The super soldier gasped slightly as the two heroes froze in their tracks, apparently surprised that their enemy was willing to set off about a dozen rockets at the same time. Wolverine's eyes widened in panic as the homing weapons burst from the robot's interior and begun their pursuit, all the while growling in annoyance as they took off in the opposite direction. Running down the abandoned streets, they split up to increase maneuverability, darting around power lines and moving in erratic patterns to keep the explosives contained.
Several of the projectiles detonated prematurely, doing very little damage as they showered the area below with shards of metal, while the captain took a few out using his own weapon to intercept them. Logan lifted a trashcan and tossed it as the oncoming threat producing a similar affect by blocking them with other objects. Two more came dangerously close to his body, but before they could explode, a pair of stick threads shot out and wrapped themselves around the missiles. The man on the other end of these ropes swung the pair of missile around, reversing their path and causing them to collide with the Guardian Slayer.
The explosion stunned the robot for a moment, giving the two heroes a chance to see who had come to their aid. Looking towards the nearest source of light, both war veterans were incredibly surprised to find a slightly muscular man wearing a red and blue costume and mask, perched on the street light. The newcomer cleared his throat, discarding the remains of his synthetic spider web with a swift flick of his wrist.
Wolverine sneered at the sudden interruption, and while he would never say it, he was not entirely ungrateful for the help just now. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" he interrogated the web-slinger.
"Talk later!" Unable to answer right away, the masked vigilante jumped to another streetlight as the one he was standing on was blown up by another rocket. All three heroes found themselves facing the enemy robot again.
Alistair Smythe's expression on the robot's visions screen changed drastically. "To think that after all of this, my persistence paid off, and now I get to crush my old nemesis like a bug!"
"You've got a better chance of these killer robots developing emotions." The vigilante retorted mockingly as he swung to safety on his webbing.
Spider-Man shot a large steamer of his webbing at the metal giant, ensnaring it like a lasso around cattle, but the robot responded by snapping the bindings like thread. Seizing hold of the line, it yanked the web-slinger forward and kicked him in the stomach when he was within range, causing the masked hero to crumple underneath the robot's power. It raised a hand to crush him, but Captain America dove beneath the monster's reach and shoved the would-be victim out of the way. Their opponent attempted to bomb them with another series of missiles, but the arachnid-themed sprang back up and wrapped a series of webs around the joint missile launchers.
The feral mutant bolted away as he realized what was going on, signaling his partner to do the same. New York's iconic superhero also distanced himself from the automaton by seizing hold of a lamppost and swinging behind a nearby dumpster, crouching down with his back facing the trash bin and crawling further away. None of them bothered to look back as the robot's jammed weapon's systems backfired, causing the chrome behemoth to explode in a cloud of fiery smoke, leaving behind several chunks of hot metal which scattered across the empty streets. Wolverine sliced through a particularly large sheet of falling metal, while the captain blocked any debris with his shield.
After a moment of recovering from the robot attack, the scene grew quiet. Having temporarily forgotten that they had company, Steve Rogers began looking through the pile of rubble in case the enemy had another scheme, but found nothing suspicious due to the fact that most of the killing machine was now in pieces. Spider-Man glanced around quickly and took the moment to leave, but Wolverine sensed the arachnid's movement and intercepted him. Seconds before his webbing could latch onto a nearby rooftop, the clawed mutant sliced through the thread and leapt in the man's path, his feral expression instantly halting the young hero's escape.
Peter Parker glared daggers at the other man from, although the covering of his mask diminished what little affect it had. "After seeing you fighting that robot I figured you weren't such bad folks, but I really don't appreciate it when other people ruin my dramatic exit." He replied defiantly.
"If you know anything about what just went on here, I suggest you start talking. Refuse and I might have to force it out of you!" Logan released his claws, looking rather annoyed by the young man's attitude. "And don't get all cocky just because you helped us out back there."
"First of all, I don't owe you people anything." Spider-Man waved his hands in front of himself defensively. "Secondly, the police would have been scraping whatever was left of you off the wall if I hadn't showed up when I had."
The arachnid-themed superhero backed away and prepared to make his escape, but the feral mutant's teammate blocked him from the other side. Although his spider sense was acting up around the first man, he didn't feel any hostility coming from the second costumed hero. Steve Rogers shook his head slowly, gently placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder in an attempt to make him more comfortable. The arachnid took a defensive stance and seized the blue-clad man by the arm, flipping him onto the streets.
"You're beginning to push it, bub!" Wolverine screamed, his temper rising.
"Well bring it on, wolfie!" Spider-Man retorted aggressively.
"Logan, stop!" Captain America stood back up completely unharmed, holding his arm out to prevent his friend from ruining a possible lead. Once the animalistic mutant had calmed down a bit, the patriotic hero stepped forward with a small nod and addressed himself to the masked man. "I don't know who you are, but you seem to be on the side of justice, and neither I nor my friend came here to harm the innocent."
The shorter man scowled, but Peter Parker ignored his hostile gestures and exhaled a small breath. Leaping into the air, he clung to the wall of the alley with his powers, feeling slightly more comfortable with some higher ground. "They call me Spider-Man… Not sure if I trust you guys, but maybe we can start by you telling me what you want here in New York."
The two war buddies exchanged pensive expressions as they wondered whether or not it was a good idea to blurt out their objective, although after a moment a grim understanding passed between them. It was pretty obvious that the masked hero they had found didn't completely trust them and probably wouldn't say anything if they beat around the bush too much. Even more noticeable was the fact that the enemy probably heard them back in the warehouse and already knew. At the moment they both had some questions pertaining to the subject of their target.
Captain America glanced around and listened in case anyone else was around, but his friend guessed what he was doing and shook his head, putting the soldier's nerves at ease. "Considering the circumstance of our… employment… I don't think it would particularly wise to tell you our names. However if you must know, we came here looking for a shape-shifting villain named the Chameleon."
Spider-Man's eyes bulged a little behind his mask. "I see…" he replied blandly in an attempt to sound less surprised.
"I take it you know this freak?" Logan raised an eyebrow.
"Unfortunately I've had the pleasure of fighting him before." The arachnid hero replied tactfully. "Even so, I wasn't aware he was back here in New York City."
Wolverine folded his arms and leaned against the wall where the web-slinger was sitting. "We received a tip from… … someone… saying that he was here." he began anticlimactically. "Anyway, me and my buddy tracked him here and ended up in this place."
"We ended up fighting with some large man and his army of enforcers, but I believe that this Chameleon guy must have escaped us during the ensuing battle." Steve Rogers added with a small nod. He shrugged with a puzzled expression. "Either way we were delayed on the way out and the man we were searching of is probably long gone."
The night grew silent again as the masked vigilante considered the two heroes. Although he had a shrewd suspicion that explaining might take time, something in his gut urged him to try. "You said you wanted to know what happened here tonight?" he began maddeningly.
"I did say that earlier, so yeah!" Wolverine seemed greatly annoyed by the repetition. "I suggest that you go ahead and spill before I force it out of you."
"What he means is, that we might benefit from this experience, so we do not make the same mistakes a second time." His blue-clad partner interjected in an attempt to garner the masked man's cooperation.
Spider-Man eyed them carefully, but could detect no threatening gestures, but when his spider sense did not react. "It's not like I think you're lying, but you have to admit that anyone would be cautious if they were in this part of town and just ran into a mutant and a guy dressed like Captain America."
A small silence fell over the trio as Steve Rogers tensed up, realizing for the second time that night that he probably shouldn't have brought his old uniform along this time. Of course, the fact that he was supposed to be dead made it easy to ignore accusations of being the legendary World War II hero. Rather than provide an answer to the arachnid's statement, he moved his eyes towards Logan and shook his head ever so slightly in the case the other hero was watching them. His teammate took the captain's series of nonverbal cues and snorted in response to what the masked man had said. Unsure of what to think about this reaction, Peter Parker chose to ignore it and instead focused on the previous subject.
"All right then… The truth is that I was also searching for the Chameleon when we ran into this mess." The web slinger gestured towards the pieces of the robots lying across the street.
The shorter of the two men sheathed his claws and stepped up, although his air of hostility did not vanish. "Wait, the way you started talking to us earlier, it sounded like there was something bigger going on. Why don't you cut the crap and tell us what's really going on."
"We would also like to know how the man we've been chasing is involved?" Captain America added carefully.
Spider-Man jumped from his perch and landed them, looking a little more relaxed. "To start with, the Chameleon is pretty well-known for working with the world's worst criminals, especially when he's not concocting his own schemes. From what I managed to find discover so far, he was tasked with the operation of this warehouse."
Logan folded his arms grumpily. "You're being pretty vague here... Why don't you try telling us something a little less obvious for a change?"
"Next time, wait for me to finish my story before complaining." the wall crawler sighed, earning him a dirty look from the feral mutant. "The problem is that by running headfirst into this place without considering the consequences. Not only did you allow the Chameleon to escape, the two of you also made yourselves enemies of the Manhattan's crime cartel."
Wolverine snorted again. "You expect me to be afraid of a bunch of small-time mobsters. It takes a lot more than some clowns in cheap suits to threaten me."
"You might want to take this more seriously. After that robot attack, you might have realized that this so called mobsters rule this entire city from behind the scenes." Spider-Man added bluntly. "Those Mega Slayers were the work of another villain named Alistair Smythe, and he's currently been employed by the Maggia to design and build super weapons for Silvermane. These people are currently in the middle of a…"
"Hold on just a second, bub! Who is this Silvermane guy?" Logan interrupted.
The younger hero groaned slightly before resuming his explanation. "If you live on the East Coast, I'd be surprised if you haven't heard about him. His real name is Silvio Manfretti, by far the oldest living relic of the Sicilian Criminals from the early 1900s."
The animalistic mutant paused to think for a moment before a sense of dawning realization came to him. "Yeah… I think I heard of him on the news. They say that the old fossil's been at the center of these Gang Wars in New York for decades now."
"To think that a simple war for gang territory could escalate into something like this." Captain America glanced around at the destroyed buildings, realizing for the first time why there was no one else living on the street block. "So many wars are fought oversees, yet the problem also lies here in our own country."
Spider-Man paused briefly to ponder what was going through the blue-clad hero's mind, but an impatient grunt from the shorter man prompted him to resume his explanation. "What you said about Manfretti being the man behind this mess is partially true, but if his men were attacking this facility, I would personally guess that there's someone else involved in this mess. Believe it or not, the true mastermind behind most of the organized crime in this country lives here in New York City."
"And who would this man be?" the super soldier urged him on expectantly.
"Local philanthropist Wilson Fisk, better known to the criminal underworld as the Kingpin of Crime." Spider-Man replied, his voice wavering with a note of disgust.
Wolverine froze as his thoughts returned to the day they had rescued X-23. The man who had made a deal with HYDRA had referred to himself by that name, while reports from Scott and Jean's recent endeavors in the city had certainly helped to conclude that this was indeed the enemy they had fought. The criminal mastermind had recently fought them in that underground laboratory, but left the scene shortly before they discovered Madame Hydra falling to her death minutes later.
Peter Parker watched the mutant's mannerisms with interest. "Looks like I may have struck a chord back there, am I right?"
"So you mean to say that you know this Wilson Fisk?" Captain America added quickly.
Logan let out a small sigh that sounded more like a growl, but otherwise seemed unfazed by this new development. For the moment he decided not to delve too far into the details of his recent rescue mission. "It's a long story, but to put it lightly my team ran into some trouble with the fat man in the surrounding woods."
The arachnid-themed hero nodded. "Well then you probably know how dangerous his criminal empire really is. Kingpin also has a lot of connections, and regularly deals with some of the nastiest villains you could possibly imagine."
"We came here to apprehend the Chameleon. Although these matters complicate things, I fail to see how they have anything to do with our mission." The captain replied.
Spider-Man took a small breath before continuing. "As I was trying to say earlier, the Chameleon recently ended up on the Kingpin's payroll, and by interfering with Silvermane's goons, you basically landed yourself in the middle of this gang war and made enemies of both groups!"
The patriotic hero glanced uneasily at his partner. "It looks like our chances of success just went down quite a bit." Captain America added with a frown. "What do you believe would be the best course of action from this point?"
"I say if we're lucky, they'll sit back and ignore us. It would sure make things a lot easier if that's the case." Wolverine gave him an indifferent shrug. "If they're dumb enough to come after us, then we might not have a choice but to fight em."
"We've been through worse, I suppose." The captain added with a chuckle.
Spider-Man waved his hand to get their attention. "It's obvious there's no point in arguing with you people. When you involve yourself with the New York Crime Cartel, there's really no chance of winning. All you can do is raise some hell and save a few lives, but no matter which side you stop, the other will be there to pick up the slack and keep going."
Wolverine moved so that he was standing a few feet away from the masked arachnid. "We're not worried about them, but you really know how to make someone repeat themselves, don't you bug boy."
"Show's how much you know, wolfie… I'll have you know that spiders aren't bugs, they're arachnids." He answered before swinging onto a nearby building using his sticky web as a grappling hook and rope. "I don't have anything against mutants, but it seems there's been a lot of them in town lately."
"Wait a minute!" The wall crawler prepared to swing away when Logan caught his leg, pulling him back onto the street. The two heroes fell onto the ground with a thud, the latter having been caught while trying to make his usual departure. The clawed mutant did a double-take. "You've seen Cyclops and Jean!" he sounded equally surprised as the web slinger had a second before.
Spider-Man stood up and rubbed his head, taking a moment to pull a shard of metal out of his shoulder. "Ugh…" He shot the other man a dirty look under his mask before pursuing the subject. "The mutants were with Angel the other day, helping me fight some super-powered weirdoes. They were friends of yours?"
Captain America glanced at his teammate. "I assume they were the teammates you were talking about earlier." He deduced out loud.
"Yup, it's as simple as that." Wolverine began, looking much less hostile than before.
The spider-themed hero was surprised to have run into more of the same mutants, but his thoughts returned to the strangely recent encounters with a group of much less benevolent mutants. It was clear from what the others had said that he was their enemy, but he was still beginning to wonder what was going on with the sudden appearance of so many mutants in New York. After all they were obviously after something in the city, and a certain crime lord also had an interest in them considering that he had captured that magnetic master. Considering the circumstances it just didn't add up, but he figured now was probably a good time to ask as ever.
"Spacing out like that could get you killed in this part of town." Wolverine waved a hand in front of his mask, looking slightly annoyed.
"Have you ever heard of a mutant named Magneto?" the wall crawler blurted out.
For the umpteenth time the last twenty four hours, Wolverine appeared surprised, although this expression was quickly replaced by an angry frown. "You ran into him too? Looks like the others did come here for a reason." He puzzled to himself before looking up at the masked hero. "Even so, how are you involved with him?"
"I tried to stop him from robbing some museums, but the second time the magnet man almost killed me. Lucky for me, he was incapacitated by the Kingpin's lackeys and taken somewhere." Spider-Man replied carefully, finishing his story with a shrug. "Unfortunately for you, I don't know much more about it. They didn't say anything that might've told me what was really going on."
Wolverine mulled these new developments over, asking himself repeatedly why the crime lords in this city would want to take Magneto hostage. Considering all of the facts there were quite a few reasons as to why someone would capture a mutant, and even more as to why they would want Magneto in particular, but at the moment it was clear that this was going to be a major pain in the butt. The captain appeared not to completely understand the significance of these events, even though it was hardly relevant to their own mission. Fingering with the communication device in his pocket, he decided to see what Hank could come up with later, but for now Logan admitted that he was not the smart one of the group.
"Why don't you try telling me what's going on?" the arachnid questioned.
"Hey, I was one asking the questions?" Logan's temper flared up again. He seized the arachnid by the front of his costume and shook him slightly. "For your sake I hope you were telling the truth before."
"Easy there, fido… I don't have a reason to lie" Peter Parker answered before drop kicking his adversary in the chest, causing the other man to stumble back slightly. I can see why you might be upset, but next time, remember to brush your teeth before getting in my face."
Captain America stepped between them, bringing his partner back to his senses. "This man fought bravely when those robots attacked. The least you can do is give him the benefit of the doubt."
Wolverine realized his mistake and released his grip, looking more irritated by his own beastly display than apologetic. "Yeah… Didn't mean to do that." he groaned.
Using his freedom, Spider-Man latched onto a lamp post and swung to the nearby rooftop. He gave the others a small gesture before swinging off into the night. In a matter of moments, his form disappeared over a few rooftops, using his webbing to vault higher and higher until he vanished behind a row of skyscrapers in the distance. Several minutes passed before either of them said something else, but it was ultimately the super soldier who broke the silence.
"So do you believe him…" the blue-clad hero questioned his partner.
"Don't see how it matters, seeing how I've got something more important to worry about. Wolverine dismissed the question before continuing. "Right now it looks SHIELD and the X-Men have a common goal right now. I doubt Fury will be happy about this, but it might not be a such a bad idea if I get a hold of the others."
Captain America wasn't quite convinced, although for the time being he did not argue. "Where are they right now? It's a big city, and you haven't quite explained to me everything that's been going on."
His war buddy nodded. "I'll tell ya on the way, but two things first."
"What now?" the super soldier answered with a curious glance.
"First of all I recommend taking off the costume before more folks start asking questions. Seeing how Captain America and Bucky died in the service, you'll be getting a lot more reactions like the ones we've seen tonight."
He glanced at the costume and nodded firmly. "Well so far people either think I'm nuts, or just some kind of lunatic imposter trying to live a legend."
Wolverine cut through his small talk and continued. "Secondly, I thought of something just a minute ago that you might want to see in the city before I call the others. Either way I think you'll be a little bit surprised by this one…" With this, they prepared to set off on the next leg of their mission. As the two heroes walked off into the night, another meeting was going on several miles across the city.
Meanwhile…
Kingpin had been in his lair coordinating crimes via his network for several hours. The computer mainframe was like a nerve center to his organization, allowing him instant access to almost any piece of information in the world. It was what allowed him to control his collection of less than respectable enterprises from the comfort of his own base, without even getting involved in the affairs personally. If someone wanted to speak to him in person, they would usually come to here, or he would summon them by extending an invitation through his subordinates or communications network. Having spent several hours doing this, the crime lord was preparing to take a break when one of his bodyguards appeared on the main monitor.
The man's face was tough and scarred, with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and a short haircut. "Sir, there's been a breach in security and an intruder is heading your way."
"Who is it?" the criminal mastermind barked angrily at the sudden disruption.
"According to the report issued seconds earlier, it's the Owl. He was seen sneaking around but seems unaware that we've even spotted him yet." His bodyguard looked through some papers before turning his gaze back towards the camera on the other end. "We've mobilized a squadron to defend the inner sanctum."
The large man stroked his chin carefully. "Call off the orders for now… I will deal with this particular threat personally."
"But, sir…" the guard began hesitantly, but a second look at his employer's expression was enough proof that he wasn't kidding. "Yes sir!" he replied.
Kingpin switched off the monitor and moved behind his desk, busying himself with his work as he waited for the imminent threat. Several minutes passed in silence until a creaking noise above his head caught his attention, closely followed by a shape moving through the air. Seconds later, a strange-looking middle-aged man with messy brown hair and scheming eyes seemed to glide from the ceiling like a landing bird. He was about average height, his face lined with age, and he wore a dingy green suit. Setting down on the ground as silent as death itself, the intruder noticed that the large crime lord had his back to him.
"Fisk… We've got some important business to discuss!" he stated in an unusually calm tone.
To his surprise, his intended host turned around with a benevolent expression, looking more amused than annoyed. "I must admit that you have courage coming here, Owl. Did that lowlife Silvermane send you to kill me, or is this merely a social visit?"
"That's not why I came here. Had I wanted to take you out, it would have been all too easy." The bird-like man answered.
"Really now… Would it be?" The Kingpin retorted calmly, his hand retrieving the device in his back pocket.
The green-suited man leapt high into the air to escape, but the large crime lord had been prepared the entire time. Pressing the button on his remote control, he activated a series of security traps designed for the room. Several canon-like devices shot out from secret compartments hidden behind the metallic paneling on the walls, each of them releasing a series of nets. The floating villain attempted to dive out of the way but was ensnared by one of the nets as another series of weapons shot from the opposite wall. While such a simple trap might not have stopped him under normal circumstances, the wire-like capture nets were charged with electricity, which immediately grounded any chance of his escape by surging his body with an incredible amount of electricity.
Screaming and writhing in pain, the villain hit the ground with a loud crash, his body still feeling the aftershocks of the initial charge. His gun few out of coat and landed several feet away as he continued to suffer, and unable to defend himself any longer, the Owl pushed himself into a sitting position and bowed his head towards his captor. This gesture of respect piqued the crime lord's curiosity. Turning around to face the defeated man, Kingpin strode across the floor of his office until he was within a few yards of the perpetrator, appearing slightly amused by the recent events.
The Owl felt the shocks dying down and managed to look up at his host. "Perhaps I was mistaken." He replied, his eyes moving towards the discarded weapon a foot away.
"A rather interesting way to handle the situation." The big man replied with a boundlessly confident expression. "If you still wish to protect yourself, then you are welcome to try again. Go ahead and take your weapon, but I promise you that the moment you fire that bullet will be your last rather than mine."
The opposing villain seemed to glare at his captor, having come here for a different reason entirely. After waiting to see what the larger man's reaction would be, the Owl shifted into a sitting position and kicked his gun away on purpose, hoping that this action would buy him some time to explain. Wilson Fisk raised an eyebrow in confusion, although he worked hard to conceal this and responded by turning off the voltage surging through the capture net with a small click of his remote control device. Moving forward, he pulled the net off of his prey and seized the smaller man by the jugular, tightening his grip slightly in case the villain had any more weapons.
"Very interesting that you would choose to forsake your weapon, especially while cornered like vermin." The crime lord mused loudly. "At first glance, one may think you were telling the truth about having no intention of assassinating me."
"I… … don't... Wanted… to warn you… … Silvermane…" the Owl gasped through hoarse breaths, his failed attempts to pry the larger man's hand off his neck failing miserably.
Hearing this last part, the crime lord turned to the chair in front of his desk and propped his victim into a sitting position. Although Wilson Fisk had released his death grip on the man's neck, robotic tentacles shot out of the chair and wrapped around his arms and legs, preventing the intruder from escaping. Apparently satisfied with the arrangements, the Kingpin sat behind his desk and eyed the prisoner carefully for several seconds, all the while wondering to himself why an enemy criminal like him would have shown up.
"Perhaps you can explain why you broke into my headquarters, now that I no longer have to worry about your escape." The crime lord interrogated him.
Finally catching his breath, the bird-like man out a groan of pain before speaking. "I came here to warn you before it's too late."
The Kingpin sat back in his own seat, folding his hands in his lap. "Too late?" he began with a note of suspicion, his tone deepening with outrage. "You spoke of Silvermane during that ridiculous convulsion earlier. Explain to me what you were going to say before, and choose your words carefully, or I will personally see to your demise."
"Old Manfretti and the others are amassing resources for a major gang war. They're planning on taking this entire city by force." Owl blurted out quickly.
The larger man cast him a pensive expression, gently leaning on his desk in thought. "That senile old fool lacks the power to challenge my empire. Even if he were allied with the other crime bosses, they would still lack the money and resources necessary to take control over my territories, let alone the entire city."
"Silvermane would never presume to do this alone. He recently joined forces with Norman Osborn and HYDRA, and told us that he was going to use Smythe's robotics alongside the technology and manufacturing capabilities of the others together. Sure even you cannot fight against such a deadly alliance."
He looked his captor directly in the eyes, although it seemed to annoy him. The Kingpin slammed his fist down on the desk, causing the ground to rattle slightly. The room had been purposely designed to withstand almost anything, so the damage left behind was minimal. Although the small fit of rage had left a dent, the desk did not shatter like a normal piece of furniture would have. Standing up from his seat, the crime lord moved around his desk and kicked the chair holding his prisoner so that the man was forced onto his side and sent skidding across the room.
"I took special steps to ensure that Osborn would not violate our agreement, nor do I believe that Silvermane has established any connections with HYDRA." Wilson Fisk shouted as he crossed the room. Reaching down, he lifted the smaller man, chair and all. "The only real explanation that I can see here, is that you are lying in order to save your own life."
"You're being a fool!" Owl shot back, looking rather angry and scared at the same time.
Before either of them could speak again, the doors to his office burst open, revealing the odd face of the Chameleon. The blue-clad villain stumbled forward with a slight limp, looking rather disheveled after his recent escape from the warehouse. Seeing his employee's return, the crime lord stopped inches from murdering the intruder. Likewise the Owl was glad for the sudden reprieve from death, but chose to remain quiet for fear of interrupting the much larger man. The shape-shifting villain continued forward with a look of curiosity, but simply ignored the scene and decided to speak up.
"Kingpin, we've got an emergency downtown!" he started explaining.
"Wait one moment… I will hear your out once I am through tearing this assassin limb from limb." Fisk responded as if they were discussing the topic in a casual setting.
Chameleon shook his head quickly. "This is urgent… We were attacked by Silvermane's team at warehouse five in the downtown area." He held out the broken remains of a laser pistol wielded by one of the interlopers. "They somehow managed to get their hand on some advanced weaponry that made our bullets look like toys."
"What!" he bellowed, dropping his prey in surprise.
The Kingpin glanced between his subordinate, the weapon in the floor, and his enemy, his eyes slowly returning on the man bound on the floor once more. After some tense minutes of consideration, the large crime lord reached down and searched his prisoner for weapons before tearing the metallic coils away with his bare hands, instead throwing the bird-like man onto the floor of his office. The man seemed grateful to be free as he returned to a standing position, silently eying the others with a look of apprehension.
"You see, I came here because I want to work for you instead of that fossil, Silvermane." The bird-like man straightened his tie, looking a little calmer than before. "My business ventures are most profitable, but I have no desire to become involved with those head cases in HYDRA along with Osborn and the old man."
Wilson Fisk turned to the Chameleon for a second before returning his iron clad gaze to his former prisoner. Considering that the shape-shifting villain was known for being equally shifty but also extremely valuable, made him wonder if it was worth the risk in trusting the floating villain. His only ability was to levitate for short distances so it wasn't as if his betrayal would mean very much, and at the same time having another pawn he could sacrifice at only time would be helpful. Maybe he couldn't be fully trusted, but it wouldn't be hard to keep an eye on Owl, especially considering that did the same for many of his less reliable subordinates.
"The fact that you came here knowing you might not leave alive, just to warn me of this most heinous situation, does intrigue me somewhat." The Kingpin surmised with a thoughtful expression. "If you really do wish to work for me, then there's the matter of trust, but at the moment I am willing to let it slide."
"You accept my proposal for this alliance." The Owl responded hopefully.
Wilson Fisk stepped over to his chair and sat back down, shifting into a comfortable position as he watched the lesser crime boss. "You will alert your organization to fight against Silvermane's group until the truth of your loyalties becomes clearer. Until then, you will be kept under close watch…"
"Which would mean?" the smaller man added.
"Just continue to go about your business and be ready to carry out my orders. If you mess anything up, I shall send your remains back to Silvermane in cigar box!" the crime king barked, his voice growing louder with each syllable. After a moment his anger dissipated to reveal a familiar sense of amusement. "You have one chance to prove your worth to my organization, and if what you told me is true, failure is not an option!"
Meanwhile…
Deep underground in one of HYDRA's many bases, the group sent to New York to carry out the mission were gathering. The base was very similar to their now destroyed airbase, with metallic doors and a dark décor. There were a number of computers, terminals, and monitors around, but the main chamber only housed two people. Standing by the main screen was Gorgon, the commander ordered here to establish direct contact with Silvermane's Maggia, while Hobgoblin sat with his feet up on the table behind him.
Gorgon paced the floor of HYDRA's New York headquarters, gently straightening his black sunglasses as he turned up to face his superior. "What exactly do you hope to gain by dethroning Wilson Fisk in New York? Just bitter that he beat you at your own game during the tradeoff?"
Madame Hydra's large image on the room's monitor bore down upon the occupants of the room, her expression deathly serious. "Pardon me if I was upset by his attempt to kill me, of course I have long grown used to such things… No… The real reason we have begun this operation, is because we have reason to believe that there are people in that city that have stumbled onto something very dangerous."
The mutant swordsman ran a finger through his long dark hair, gently twirling his blade like a baton as he sheathed it once more. "You don't mean that they…"
"Perhaps!" she interjected quickly. "I would explain more, but considering our present company, I would assume that we would be better of discussing this at another time."
"And what's wrong with me?" the Hobgoblin chimed in, his insane smile deepening with vindictive joy, his hands rubbing together fiendishly. "How can I carry out my mission properly without knowing the details?"
"We know of your past endeavors… Your reputation precedes you." Gorgon replied emotionlessly.
Madame Hydra ignored the smaller conversation going on and speaking as if they had not deviated from the main topic. "Just remember that the Kingpin possesses some important information, and obtaining this data is our main objective."
"Obtaining new information will be essential to the mission, but does Baron Strucker know that you lost our only copy of the Project Rebirth files." Gorgon snidely remarked.
"Unfortunately he does, although this only increases the urgency of your mission." She replied with a grimace.
The red-clad HYDRA commander bowed his head slightly. "As for Silvermane?"
"Do with him whatever you will once his usefulness to us is over." Viper answered in a sinister hiss.
With this message received, the agent straightened his sunglasses and saluted his fellow commander. Aloof as ever she did not return the gesture, and instead chose to cut the line on her end without so much as a glance back. As nihilistic as Viper had always been, her failure to recapture X-23 had made her even more cynical than before, especially after these failed attempts almost resulted in her death more than once. As the screen turned black, the masked villain stood up from his place at the table and turned to leave, using a remote control to retrieve his glider on the way out.
Gorgon noticed him leaving and decided to confront the hired mercenary. "The orders were to remain here until the mission begins… Where are you going? He asked in a cold drawl.
"I'm just the hired help, so there's no reason for me to stick around when there's no fun to be found." The Hobgoblin answered as if his words resolved any issues with his departure. Upon seeing the other man's icy expression, the masked villain cast him a mocking pout before laughing again. "I'll be on call, but for now I'm planning on visiting an old friend."
"Who would that be?" the HYDRA commander questioned with a frown.
"Norman Osborn… … …" the villain replied with a sinister smile.
Note to Readers: Another one down… It felt kind of repetitive but I was just trying to set the stage for the gang war. The pieces are now in place and the first battle has been fought. It's taking longer than I thought, but I hope to close this story arc soon enough and get back to X-23. She's really one of the main points of the story, but properly introducing Spider-Man and resolving the issues with the Kingpin and his enemies seems to be taking time. Either way I hope you guys liked it. Phew, sorry if there were spelling and grammar errors, but it was late at night when I wrote most of this as usual.
I put a lot of effort into getting this chapter out, so please REVIEW. I don't get to many so I appreciate every single opinion, compliment, or even when someone just wants to tell me they liked a certain part or parts of the story. Reviews generally make me want to update faster, especially if I know people are reading my story an enjoying it.
EXTRAS: List of Characters used so far! Felt like I included too many characters and am trying to do the job of more than one comic book author. It can be hard to show every major character and give them all sufficient character development, but I've been trying. Does anyone want to se more of Tony Stark (Iron Man) or are you good with the current hero roster?
X-Men: Wolverine, X-23, Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Storm, Beast, Iceman, Angel, Magneto, Pyro, Sabertooth, Senyaka, Scanner, Seamus Mellancamp, Mastermind, Blink, Gorgon
Spider-Man: Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kingpin, Silvermane, Hobgoblin, Rhino, Sandman, Tombstone, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Alistair Smythe, Alisha Silver, Herbert Landon, Black Cat, Madame Web
Daredevil: Daredevil, Kingpin, Bullseye, Owl
The Avengers: Iron Man, Captain America, Bucky, Red Skull, Madame Hydra (Viper), Baron Strucker