Chapter 21: Chaos in New York
The Owl spun around in midair and landed on a nearby rooftop to regain his bearings, leaping high into the air to avoid another tackle as Angel broke into a dive attack as missed him. Reaching into his pockets, the villain drew a pair of shotguns and aimed a few rounds at his opponent, but the mutants flying ability proved formidable. Darting around the flurry of bullets, he attempted to tackle the enemy, but the mobster was unusually quick and managed to take to the air again. Although his formula only allowed him to hover and glide for short periods of time, he was taking full advantage of this limited power to keep the battle on equal grounds.
Leaping from roof to roof, the bird-like man used a complex series of jumps to stay out of range of the flying hero. His power was extremely limited in comparison to the flying mutant, but luckily for him he had been fighting super powered enemies much longer than his younger opponent, and the floating villain was no amateur when it came to dealing with attempts on his life. Using his firearms, he managed to keep the winged mutant on guard long enough to reload and maneuver through the air. Although some would consider it an annoying way to fight, the bird-like gangster knew that in a contest of speed and agility he would lose instantly against an opponent like Angel.
On the ground, the remaining heroes were trying to hold up an onslaught as the chaos escalated. Although both sides were still fighting amongst each other, several members of the two gang factions had diverted their attention towards the mutants and Peter Parker. Cyclops blasted the oncoming robots with his energy beams as Jean crouched behind him, using her own powers to repel the laser fire and bullets. Although the heat was unable to completely shatter the strong alloy the Mega Slayers were made of, the metallic enemies took sever damage.
Hammerhead watched the heroes for a few seconds before making a call. "Forget the laser blasters, just use the missiles and blow 'em to smithereens!" he screamed into the device in his hand.
A few moments later, Alistair Smythe's deep, robotic voice answered back. "We were explicitly warned by Silvermane to avoid unnecessary destruction of the surrounding city. Utilizing such a weapon would risk attracting unwanted attention."
"The web slinger came and brought some friends with him!" the hard-headed villain shot back. "If that weren't bad enough, the fat man sent reinforcements and those super-powered freaks just made things worse. We ain't got a choice if we want to win this fight."
"If you have a problem with my methods, than perhaps I should simply switch the robots to verbal command." The robotics scientist sneered in annoyance.
The thuggish criminal seethed angrily. "If you ain't willing to do it, then just give me control of those piles of junk and I'll take care of 'em!"
"How dare you refer to my beautiful creations as mere garbage! Were it not for these so-called piles of junk, your hopes of winning this petty gang war would be nonexistent!" Smythe's voice replied through the receiver, his hand inches from cutting off the call and ignoring the hard-headed man.
"Just do it!" Hammerhead barked impatiently, his eyes widening slightly as the fighting came closer to his position.
His benefactor groaned with a note of exasperation before answering. "Fine, do as you wish…" he typed in a code into his keyboard, adjusting the mechanical beasts to obey voice commands.
The heroes watched with uncertainly as the robots they were fighting froze in place, but a few seconds later they reactivated themselves, metallic panels on the sides of their head units shifting aside to reveal the presence of voice receptors. Now programmed to take orders from the flat-headed mobster, the robots resume the fight as quickly as they had stopped. Hammerhead reached into his coat and pulled out a small device, which he held up to his mouth to amplify his vocal tones over the din of the ensuing battle.
"Incinerate those bugs!" the villain commanded, causing the metal monsters to react to his commands.
"Look alive, guys!" Spider-Man warned his allies as he moved to the safety of a nearby building, weaving around laser blasts and bullets mid-swing.
At once the six mega slayers sprung to life, holding their arms out towards the mutants. Their arms transformed to reveal large metallic cannons, large blasts of fire erupting from them seconds later. Jean held up her hands to block the flames with her telekinesis, but the four slayers surrounded the two X-Men from both sides and began to increase the intensity of their fiery assault. Scott responded by blasting them away with his heat blasts, distracting the robotic monsters long enough to slip between their legs as his girlfriend levitated over their heads.
The two mutants attempted to escape but three more slayers rocketed onto the scene, releasing another mighty gout of flame as they joined the battle going on below. Peter Parker noticed this and shot out his webbing and wrapped it around the arm of the first robot, yanking its arm into a position so that the flamethrower torched another one of the robots. Although the flames did little damage to the metal monsters, the masked hero had diverted the blast from harming anyone else, but in the process had caught the attention of the robot commander.
Hammerhead stamped his foot in annoyance, sparing a look at the battle from behind a dumpster. "Don't just stand there, you lumps of scrap. Fire the missiles!"
His slayers converted their arms into missile launchers and fired several large projectiles at the web-slinger, prompting him to dodge by jumping to another building. His escape was short lived as the remaining missiles turned and followed him, almost as if the explosive weapons had minds of their own. Spider-Man spared a glance over his shoulder and shot out another piece of webbing, seizing one of the offending missiles and tossing it into another. Although the two exploded on contact, he still had three more to contend with.
Cyclops shot a series of beams from his visor and detonated the missiles before they could catch their target, earning a friendly salute from the wall-crawler. The mechanical slayers turned to attack the mutants, but Jean repelled a few shots and pulled her boyfriend to safety just in time with her psychic abilities, the laser blasts peppering the tiny strip of sidewalk he had been occupying seconds before. The female mutant stepped between Scott and the attacking robots, holding out her hand as if to stop them as she made an attempt to repel the oncoming threat with her telekinetic powers.
She was unable to stop them due to the sheer size of the metal monsters, but due to her focus being on them, she was caught off guard by a mammoth all-terrain vehicle driving towards her at breakneck speed. The Owl had brought the tank with him as a transport for his subordinates, but it was also outfitted for mass destruction and mayhem, constructed out of thick metal allow and equipped with several high-tech weapons.
"Jean, look out!" Scott called out in a panic, his body frozen in terror as the monstrosity came dangerously close to the woman he loved.
The psychic hero opened her mouth to gasp as the vehicle smashed through the Alistair Smythe's squadron of mega slayers, but the masked figure standing on the nearby rooftop flew down on a strand of his trademark webbing and pulled her to safety, the two of them landing on the roof of the opposite building seconds later. Scott cringed slightly as the vehicle missed him, feeling slightly ashamed that he had not been able to help her himself, but was still relived that everyone had made it out in one piece.
"What would this city do without you, Spidey?" Peter Parker commentated with a note of arrogance, casually dusting off his gloved hands as he surveyed the battlefield.
His subject seemed less amused by this statement as she struggled to stand again, her body wobbling slightly as she struggled to gain a footing. "Thanks for sticking your neck out for us again, but is it necessary to boast about it?" she added.
Spider-Man spared a small glance, his posture stiffening slightly for a fraction of a second. "When you're in the business of saving lives, it's important to look at the bright side of things and never give the enemy a reason to see your insecurity. Dwell on the bad and you're bound to lose focus and due in the middle of a fight."
"I guess that makes some kind of sense." She replied with a small shrug.
"That's how I roll." The web slinger answered her with a pointing gesture, although his mask hiding any form of facial expression. "Plus it isn't bragging when you're one of the best crime fighters in this mad house."
Jean watched as her rescuer swung away and rejoined the battle with the remaining enemies on the ground, silently pondering the fact that there was more to the bragging vigilante than he was normally willing to show to other people. They hadn't known him for very long, nor had anyone seen his face, but Angel's opinion of him seemed to be valid. Shifty as he was at times, the arachnid was actually pleasant and well-meaning for the most part, and a reliable partner in the midst of battle. These thoughts floated through her mind for a moment or two, but seeing Scott taking down the remaining mega slayers quickly caught her attention.
"I got these guys!" Cyclops shouted as he beamed the last two slayers with his heat vision as he used the force of the blasts to delay their approach.
The psychic mutant leapt from her perch to assist him. "Go for it, I'll back you up!" she called out to him hurriedly.
Worried for his safety, she descended from the rooftop with a graceful haste and landed beside him, just as the enemy automatons began to fire their missiles. Metal cavities in their chest areas opened to reveal the rocket launchers within, but as soon as they fired, she used her telekinesis to jam the machines so that the weapons wouldn't fire immediately. She had studied such mechanics while helping the professor in the danger room, so weapon functions were not entirely foreign to her.
"Now's your chance… Aim for the chest cavity!" Jean ordered, her voice straining slightly as she struggled to prevent the slayers from defending themselves.
Her boyfriend reached up to his visor, creating a series of powerful blasts which struck the enemy units in the designated area. The force caused the missiles stored within to go off prematurely, frying the inside of the mechanical monster with a powerful series of explosions. The first humanoid robot crumpled forward as if broken, fiery smoke shooting out of the creature's joints as the arms exploded from their sockets, the head of the second slayer rocketing into the air in a similar fashion.
As they finished up with the slayers, Angel continued his battle with the Owl. The mob boss was a notoriously good shot with his pistols and managed to keep the flying mutant off-balance long enough to recover as his levitation ability required him to land between jumps. Warren Worthington had been watching carefully to judge his opponent's attack pattern, quickly coming up with another idea. Using his superior he speed, he waited for the bird-like man to land again and dodged the flurry of bullets, the feat made more difficult by the fact that he was flying towards the enemy instead of fleeing.
"I gotcha!" Angel shouted as he tackled the older man's midsection with full force, pushing him off of the roof he was resting on.
The Owl flipped around in midair and tried to slow his fall, but the winged hero countered by darting behind him mid-fall and seizing the man's arms with his own. Angel increased his speed as he broke into a dive, tossing the villain into the pavement with all of his might as he pulled up to avoid the impact himself. A loud crash reverberated through the air as his opponent collided painfully with the streets below, a small series of cracks running across the surface of the asphalt where his body had landed.
Arms sprawled out against the ground, the bird-like villain let out a squeal of agony and blinked twice before passing out cold. Meanwhile the heroes breathed a sign of relief as they attempted to relax, but the tank-like vehicle from before instead turned on them. The defeat of their leader prompted the thugs to turn their attention towards the mutant. A faint glow emanated from the series of laser blasters as it began firing upon them.
Scott shot a few beams of energy at the monstrous transport, but his attempts were futile as his heat vision bounced off of the machine's armor. Seeing few other options, they turned and fled from the vehicle, Cyclops ducking into an alleyway as it came inches from crushing him while Jean took to the air again.
Before the vehicle could pursue them, Angel flapped his wings to catch the attention of the gunners, using his speed to avoid the death blasts as he worked to distract them from pursuing his friends. As they dealt with the tank, Spider-Man had resumed his battle with the Scorpion, using his powers to dodge and maneuver around the deadly showers of acid which continually erupted from the tail of the villain's suit.
"Whoops… Too slow… … So close…" the web slinger jeered as he leapt from walls to objects, his powers alerting him to each consecutive attack.
Mac Gargan clenched his fists in frustration, his teeth gritting violently. "You little runt! Stand still and we'll see who's laughing."
Spider-Man scurried upwards, effortlessly scaling the wall with his stickiness. "Stand still, you say! Yeah, that's the smart thing to do when there's a homicidal insect trying to kill you!" he rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Are you ignorant, or just plain stupid?"
"I'm gonna kill you or that, web-head!" the villain began to climb after his nemesis, but the hero was prepared for this approach.
The masked vigilante reached into his belt, pulling out a small red cartridge he had been planning on testing. Seeing that the incompetent Scorpion was hardly one of his more deadly enemies, he figured that now would be a good time to test if his hard work in the field with minimal risk. Taking out the cartridge in his left hand, the arachnid replaced it with his new batch and turned on the advancing villain who had reached mid-way up the wall at this point. Placing the tips of his fingers into the proper position, the young scientist fired a blast of his newest webbing.
Although it might not have seemed like anything different, recent encounters had prompted the hero to change his formula to be much stronger, and in addition to this he had also been tampering with the release mechanism as well. The blast of web shooting from his hand formed into a small orb resembling a ball of yarn as opposed to the rope-like quality of his usual material. The projectile hit the Scorpion in the torso area with incredible force, causing him to lose his grip on the wall, but he quickly regained his hold.
"You ruined my costume…" Gargan added mockingly, having expected much worse from his heroic nemesis than a sticky costume.
Spider-Man grinned beneath his mask, although it was invisible to the villain. "Wait for it…" he warned with a sense of amusement.
After a second, the webbing on the villain's expanded like a cocoon, covering his body like slime, coagulating into a much more solid substance almost instantly. The layer of webbing also expanded to cover his tail, his movements greatly restricted. Mac Gargan struggled violently against his binds before tumbling towards the ground, the webbing holding firmly as he joined his allies on the streets below.
Thrashing around violently, the Scorpion glared up at the hero. "What was that crap! You'll pay for this, you son of a…"
Before he could finish speaking, Spider-Man covered his mouth with a streamer of webbing to silence him. Shooting several more layers of webbing onto the captured villain, he made certain that his tail was bound tightly enough to prevent any hopes of immediate escape. The villain's eyes widened in surprise as his nemesis constructed a more traditionally shaped web in the nearby alleyway, picking him up and tossing him into it seconds later. Now rendered helpless for the time being, all the Scorpion could do was struggle helplessly as he was suspended above the ground like a real insect.
"Easy come, easy go…" Peter Parker commented as he left the villain behind.
As he dealt with the Scorpion, the mutant struggled to stop the armored transport coming towards them. While Jean and Angel hovered overhead, dodging the laser blasts coming from the vehicle's cannons, the third member of their group had figured out a way to stop the enemy assault. While the truck's armor protected the main body and structure from his heat blasts, the wheels remained unprotected. Positioning himself, Cyclops used several well-placed blasts to damage the wheels, rendering the vehicle immobile.
"They're all yours, guys!" the mutant called up to his allies.
Jean raised her hands in the air, generating telekinetic force to block the weapons from firing, as Angel few down and forced open the door of the armored truck. Spider-Man entered the back of the vehicle and disarmed the enemy thugs with a few of his web blasts, emerging from the monstrosity carrying the unconscious bodies of the gangsters. The masked hero tossed his captives onto the ground and bound them in webbing, the others joining them moments later. Scott ran up to the group as Jean landed amongst them, all four of which appeared to be relieved by the battle's abrupt ending.
"Phew… All in a day's work." Spider-Man commented, the tone of his voice betraying a grim disposition that he was attempting to hide.
"Now's not the time to joke around." Warren shook his head disapprovingly, exhaling a tensely held breath as he struck a thinking pose. "It doesn't make any sense… The crime lords rarely let a gang war escalate like this, but destruction on this level is beyond anything that we would have expected."
An awkward silence fell between the heroes as they observed the destroyed neighborhood, several houses burning while other buildings had become nothing more than piles of rubble. The smoldering ruin hardly resembled the same place it had been when the gang war first began, but from the use of high-tech weaponry it was clear that both sides were serious about seeing the other destroyed. Usually the other crime lords accepted the Kingpin's rule of New York City, but for some reason it now seemed as though they were willing to force him into submission to take the ganglands from him.
Scott and Jean were hardly familiar with the crime in this city, but Warren was familiar enough with the crime cartel, and Spider-Man had clearly been fighting crime here for even longer. To them it was painstakingly clear that something was amiss if the other crime lords were willing to directly engage the Kingpin in a direct conflict. To challenge a man who controlled the entire East Coast and several criminal ventures around the world proved they must have something up their sleeves. The Maggia had not only obtained more powerful weapons, but suspiciously enough they now possessed the resources to mass produce Alistair Smythe's technology at an alarming rate.
"Would someone care to explain what's going on?" Scott interjected, his words jarring the two local heroes out of their respective trances.
The female mutant standing to his left frowned. "This isn't an ordinary gang war, is it?" he replied with a raised eyebrow.
Spider-Man seemed much less inclined to say anything, although he knew just as little and recent searches hadn't yielded much. If the mutant were willing to share their own stories in full, then there was a chance that they could piece together the puzzle, but Peter Parker had never been a big fan of superhero team-ups in his career, preferring to work alone for personal reasons. He knew that being a crime-fighter would put his loved ones in danger, and feared that getting close to anyone while in the costume would prove disastrous for the people he cared about.
Meanwhile Warren Worthington observed his friends for a minute or two before answering, silently wondering himself the exact details of this strange turn of events. In all honesty he had no clue how Scott and Jean's mission was connected to this chaos. Of course, looking over at the web slinger made him wonder if his fellow vigilante knew anything more. It was pretty clear that Magneto was somehow connected to the series of unfortunate events because Spider-Man had seen him in the city, but until a connection was made, it didn't seem right to involve the X-Men when they had no reason to put their lives on the line.
Taking a deep breath, Angel turned his friends with an apologetic expression. "Truthfully, I feel bad about pulling you guys into this gang war when it really has nothing to do with you."
Jean Grey's expression changed into one of incredulity. "Are you saying you want us to leave you here to deal with this alone? Professor Xavier always taught us to use our powers for good, and as long as we can help out the cause, we will." She replied sternly.
Cyclops glanced between them with a puzzled expression before shrugging. "While we were sent her to investigate the Magneto situation, we can't just ignore it when super powered freaks endanger the lives of innocent people. I have no doubt that the professor would agree with this."
An understanding passed between them as Warren inclined his head solemnly, although knowing that they were willingly involved made him feel a little bit less guilty. With great difficultly, he managed a smile. "Thinking about the last few days, I realize that if you guys hadn't been here, we might not be either." He glanced at the masked arachnid, and added "This probably applies to the both of us."
Everyone turned their attention to the spider-themed hero, who stepped backwards awkwardly, gently scratching the back of his head through the mask. "Yeah, well… I guess that's true. Can't say I wouldn't be alive, but you guys did save me a few trips to the emergency room." He pondered this thought. "To me, that alone is worth more than you know."
Angel responded with a small nod as Jean relaxed her shoulders, the three mutants looking expectantly at Spider-Man. While the fourth member of this group was hardly a friend, he had proven his worth multiple times, and in helping him they had basically been repaying debts for the times he helped them. Even thought they had yet to see his face nor did he ever seem keen on sharing information with them, perhaps the masked hero might have been friends with them under different circumstances.
These thought gave Jean the courage to say something that had been burning inside her ever since their last meeting. "Spider-Man!" she addressed him sternly, causing everyone to divert their attention to her. "If any of our questions are to be answered, we need you to tell us everything that's been going on in this city that you can."
Peter Parker was slightly taken aback by her lack of a choice on his part, subconsciously backing away from the trio of mutants with his hands raised in front of him. When he answered, the web slinger had abandoned any trace of his usual sarcasm. "Look here, I don't have any obligation to tell you guys anything. When it comes to fighting crime, I work alone…"
"Having seen Magneto, you're already a key witness to us. At the very least you seem to have a lot of knowledge about this city." Scott summarized his own thoughts rather quickly.
"I know you're not stupid." Angel added in a hushed voice. "We've all been working on solving cases in this city, but if we pool our knowledge and work together, we all benefit."
"Jean's expression softened a little. "Please…" she begged in a compassionate voice. "I get the impression that our cases are connected, since all of these terrible things started happened after Magneto was sighted in Manhattan. There has to be some connection, and maybe you can help us find out what that is."
Spider-Man contemplated the situation to himself, silently wondering if she was right. Although he knew some things they might not, it was possible that the inverse was also true. Perhaps if they actually discussed both sides of the situation, they could use their own experiences and stories to fill in the blanks. Looking reluctant to answer them directly, he hesitated for a second but ultimately found himself at a loss for a proper answer. Strange as it sounded, he wasn't used to trusting other heroes on the battlefield, his past alliances with other superheroes having been short-lived and far between.
After a minute, the masked hero realized that his air intake had become shallow and wheezy, and allowed himself to breathe freely again. Peter Parker rested his pair of hands on the back of his head, looking slightly nervous by the scenario. "You know, the psychic makes a good point. I actually think that we might be able to help each other out here."
"That's great!" Cyclops added with a relieved expression.
"So does that mean you'll tell us what you know?" Jean piped up with a hopeful look.
"Whoa… You mutants really know how to jump the gun." Spider-Man began with a hidden frown, his ears detecting the police sirens in the distance. "I wouldn't mind helping you guys, but we're in the middle of gang territory and the cops are coming."
Scott shrugged in response. "What do you mean by that?"
The winged mutant stepped between them with a grimace. "It means that the crime lords will probably send people to look for us once they find out we were involved, and at the same time the cops don't appreciate vigilantes no matter how much they need our help."
Spider-Man inclined his head in thought. "Yup… by jumping into the fray and doing what they're too afraid to do, we make them look bad."
Jean Grey raised an eyebrow at her fellow heroes, looking conflicted by the complications. "So what do we do, then?"
The four heroes went over their options quietly, although Angel was the first to answer. "I don't know about you guys, but I built a secret bunker somewhere in this city underneath one of my family's buildings." He explained slowly. "I've been using it to store my costumes and installed a computer terminal to track criminal activity around the city, kind of like a hero's hideout."
"Sounds like a plan." Scott replied, the three mutants turning to see if the masked hero was willing to comply as well.
While they seemed to like the idea, Peter Parker took a moment to consider the situation. "Is the place hidden?" he asked the winged mutant.
Warren responded with a firm nod. "Well, that's usually what the word secret means… I doubt that anyone would even be able to find it unless I led them to the place myself. Even if someone managed to expose the entrance, only I know the pass code to open the bunker."
"How will I know where to find you guys?" Spider-Man inquired.
"Meet us at nine tonight on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan so we can put this case to rest. My family owns several galleries in that area which should narrow your search. Until then, we should split up and continue cleaning up this war." The winged mutant suggested to the others.
The web slinger seemed unsurprised. "That's pretty general, but I always had an eye for picking people out of crowds. If all else fails you can always rob a bank and I'll be bound to show up eventually." He answered sarcastically.
Turning on his heel, Spider-Man grappled away with a streamer of web, heading back towards Queens to check up on his family and friends. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mutants heading back towards Manhattan. He had expected as much after hearing the address of the arranged meeting place that Angel had prepared for them. Needless to say the winged mutant seemed much less afraid of his secret identity being discovered, although the recent encounter made it painstakingly clear that he had money.
Angel lived in Manhattan and mentioned that his family owned some of the galleries in the wealthiest parts of town. He obviously had some sway over the system or at least he possessed the sources to cover up any problems that could arise from his superhero activities. Sighing irritably, the wall crawler wished he could be so lucky as to have billions of dollars to his name and none of the constant financial troubles that seemed to plague his life.
Peter Parker lived his days as a bankrupt college student working at the Daily Bugle just to make ends meet. Having J. Jonah Jameson as a boss was living Hell most of the time, even though the editor didn't seem to be intentionally mean. To the old prickle puss, acting like an evil tyrant and screaming at other people for no apparent reason just seemed to come naturally. If this weren't bad enough, his Aunt May was barely able to afford the mortgage even with the money Peter gave her from the Bugle, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the elderly women alone when she had raised him and give him everything she could after his parents died.
Through all of the hardships His aptitude for science was all that could keep him from going crazy, and ironically had been the source of his spider powers to begin with. Not only did experimentation accidentally cause him to gain these miraculous abilities, but the fact that he also used his knowledge of chemicals and mechanics to make his webbing and shooters. Unlike most superheroes, it seemed as though he was forced to live a much more normal existence when not in costume. To a man like Peter Parker, life was never simple.
After several minutes of flying and running, the mutants had also escaped the crime scene and were now several miles away. Sitting in Warren's car, the trio decided it was better to bring a change of clothing and a less noticeable method of travel to add some anonymity to their escapes. They were heading back to Angel's loft for some well-deserved rest while dressed incognito once again, the winged mutant wearing a coat to hide his wings while the two X-Men had donned their civilian clothing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Scott wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and held her close in the back seat. "Maybe we should just rest for now, seeing how we won't last long out there otherwise."
Jean pushed back more deeply into the warmth of her boyfriend's body, her eyes closing in a tranquil manner. "You know, that actually sounds like a good idea. We'll meet Spider-Man tonight and maybe we'll be able to put these pesky mysteries to rest along with this gang war."
Warren Worthington was happy for his friends, although he deiced not to dampen the moment with the harsh realities of their current situation. He still felt bad for getting his friends involved in this mess, although since the cases they were working on were connected, he had felt a need to help them in any way he could. This had also caused complications, but having grown up with a father who disliked his mutancy, the winged man was glad to see that some people were willing to accept him and help him when he needed it most, even in hard times like these.
A sudden ringing noise disrupted his thoughts, the source of the noise being Jean's cell phone. The red-haired psychic reached for her phone, instinctively glancing at the number on the screen as she opened the face. It was one she knew, but it puzzled her as to why the person would be calling her at a time like this.
Placing the speaker to her ear, the female mutant answered with a friendly "Hello…" She spent several minutes talking before clicking the phone shut, an odd expression appearing on her face.
"Who was that?" Cyclops asked, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
The psychic mutant looked bewildered when she answered. "It was Logan…"
Scott raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking equally surprised by this sudden revelation. "Really now… So what does he want from us?"
Jean shrugged. "I asked him but he says he can't reveal much on the phone. I don't know why, but Wolverine aid he was I the city doing a favor for an old friend, and he thinks there could be a connection between his mission and ours. Says he needs to talk to us as soon as possible…"
"Where is he now?" Angel quipped from the driver's seat.
"Logan called the professor and found out where we were staying, so my guess is that he's probably going to meet us at the hotel later on." She replied with a frown. "I hope nothing bad's happened to anyone."
"Me too…" her boyfriend replied in a hushed whisper. "The last thing we need right now is to deal with more trouble on top of everything we already have to deal with."
Several Hours Later
Hammerhead struggled forward through the doors of Silvermane's office, looking highly apprehensive at the thought of returning to base. Although victory had been at hand during the morning's battle, things had quickly gone down hill when Spider-Man showed up. Still no matter how angry he was for the failed mission, he had an odd feeling that the old man was going to take the recent loss much worse than he did. Pushing his hand against the wooden door, the flat-headed mobster carefully inched his way into the room to see the boss.
The room beyond was a large office with plush blue carpeting and a welcoming atmosphere, the walls lined with various plants growing out of exceptionally large vases, and a handful of expensive paintings. The far wall of the room was covered by the presence of a pristine wooden bookshelf, and the desk in front of it was made out of pure mahogany. There was a single window on the left wall overlooking the streets of Manhattan, but the villainous hit man was more concerned about the figure behind the desk.
Silvermane sat across from him with an emotionless expression, his hands folded calmly on the surface of his desk. "It's good to see you have returned." He began slowly, his elderly voice wheezing slightly. "I trust you've succeeded in securing the designated territory from Wilson Fisk's subordinates."
"Unfortunately it didn't go as well as we'd have thought." Hammerhead responded with a look of apology, the gangster's irritated expression putting him on his guard. "Despite all of his bragging, it turns out that metal-head's junk piles weren't as effective as he said."
The elderly man's glare deepened. "I was deeply concerned when Alistair Smythe told me you had called the mega slayers. Considering that all of my personnel were warned not to do so unless absolutely necessary, you had better have a good excuse for releasing the Maggia's secret weapons. This was done without my prior consent or authorization…"
"It ain't my fault, boss." He burst out angrily. "Our boys were winning until Spider-Man showed up with that Angel guy and two creeps I didn't recognize. It was them that trashed most of the robots."
Silvermane stood up with surprising agility for a man his age, looking deeply angered by this unfortunate turn of events. "Are telling me that there are more vigilantes in this city that we have yet to see?"
The hard-headed minion shrugged, looking concerned by this notion. "I wasn't sure what to think about it either, but didn't Tombstone also mention runnin' into a pair of costumed weirdoes last night in the red-light district?"
This assertion sparked an interest in the elderly crime lord, who sat back down behind his desk and began wondering whether or not this would be a problem for them. Even with help from his new alliances, the Kingpin's gangland forces had fought on par with his own, but the appearance of new heroes seemed t complicate matters further. Not once, but twice these previously unknown vigilantes had appeared on the scene and ruined his plans to seize the entirety of New York for his own criminal ambitions.
"Make ya wonder who these people are?" Hammerhead stated as if reading his employer's mind.
"True enough…" the elderly crime lord replied with a noticeable wince, is fist coming down on the top of his deck with aloud bump. "Nevertheless they will pay for meddling in this gang war, just like Spider-Man and anyone else out there who would be foolish enough to do the same."
"Just so you know, Leland Owlsky and his goons also complicated things. Mac Gargan was sent by the fat man to combat the threat, but we weren't expecting bird man to jump into the fight." The thuggish mobster shot back.
"The Owl has betrayed us?" Silvermane wheezed, looking even more concerned than before.
Hammerhead shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, but who really gives a damn about that ugly mug? I say good riddance to him."
The old man stepped forward from behind his deck, quickly seizing his minion by the throat with incredible speed. "Imbecile! He knew our plans for the city, which is how Wilson Fisk was prepared to counterattack. Not it makes sense why!"
"What the Hell is this?" the younger mobster reached up but was unable to pry his captor's grip loose.
He gasped slightly and struggled to free himself, silently wondering how it was possible that a frail man in his late eighties could have such strength and agility. The fossil of a man seemed oblivious to his struggling, which made little sense until his employer put him down. Reaching up to his suit collar, the elderly gangster gave his subordinate an evil smirk, his hand pulling away the silk of his jacket to reveal metallic plating underneath. Although he was still in shock from the sudden assault, he was even more surprised by this odd revelation and remained unsure of what was going on.
The flat-headed mobster's eyes widened in awe. "What are ya, some kinda robot?"
Silvermane shook his head, looking thoroughly amused. "I hope it never comes to that, but for now I have found a method to temporarily regain my former mobility." He pounded his chest, creating a small reverberating clang. "Using traces of Norman Osborn's technology, my tem of scientists finally complete this exoskeleton designed by Smythe."
"So the getup is basically a tin suit?" Hammerhead rationalized in a dim-witted fashion.
"Far more than that…" his employer replied, pulling off his jacket and gloves to reveal that the metal garment covered his entire upper body except for his head. "Able to be hidden under clothing, this robotic suit has made me more powerful than I ever was. It is bullet proof and enhances the user's physical strength and speed, exponentially."
"Not bad…" the flat-headed gangster replied carefully. "What's the next part of the plan now that we've got enough firepower to topple the big man?"
Silvermane seemed to ignore the thuggish enforcer for a moment as he retrieved his suit jacket from the floor, gently brushing his hands against the surface too smooth out the wrinkles in the expensive silk. He pulled his white gloves back on to hide he metallic exoskeleton from any prying eyes, having accidentally revealed his new strength to Hammerhead during his fit of rage. Despite the bad news, the completion of his secret weapon had brightened up the day so much that he was able to take it in stride, the anger only pulsing through his body for a brief moment.
The elderly patriarch of the Maggia straightened his tie with a confident smirk that had been absent since his youth. "Hammerhead, I need you to round up the other leaders and tell them that the final attack on Crime Central begins tonight. They may be surprised to learn that I will personally lead them during this strike."
"Sure thing, boss man." His minion replied with a small nod. "Once we've taken control of crime central, not even Spider-Man will be able to stop us."
"Which is why we must strike at the core of the Kingpin's criminal enterprise with everything we can muster… I have no doubt that this will be the final battle for control of the city, and to the victor go the spoils." he answered with a spark of malice.
The two men relaxed for a moment, but the sound of someone knocking at the door caught their attention. Without waiting for an answer, the visitor opened the door, revealing the pale face of Silvermane's top enforcer, Tombstone. The albino man stepped past his fellow underling without much notice before sitting in the chair across from their boss, his fists stained in what appeared to be dried blood from the battles he had just fought. Seizing control of the city from the enemy was difficult, and sometimes the violent hit man was forced to crack a few eggs with his bare hands in order to succeed.
"Hope you got a good reason for interrupting!" The hard-headed enforcer warned him.
"This don't concern you, flat face!" his fellow enforcer shot back in is gravelly rasp.
Hammerhead plunged his hand into his suit jacket in search of his pistol, the rivalry between the two hit men becoming more pronounced by the second. "I oughta put one right in between your eyes for that!"
"Go ahead and try… For all the good it will do." Tombstone replied challengingly, his confident expression mocking the other man's annoyance.
"Cease this stupidity and tell me why you're here!" The elderly crime lord barked, his eyes flashing dangerously. When they fell silent, he simply ignored the previous exchange between his lackeys and instead diverted his attention of the newcomer. "Explain, and you had better have a good reason for this intrusion."
Tombstone reclined slightly in the armchair, stretching backwards as if tired by the previous night's festivities. "I secured some of the big man's less minor territories last night." His expression soured a little. "I'm still real pissed that we lost the first sector to the authorities after those two guys chased us off."
"I am well aware of your failure in this regard, but since Hammerhead was also thwarted by unfamiliar heroes during his mission, I assume that there is more to this than meets the eye." The old man discerned.
"No kidding…" Tombstone replied casually, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "I don't much care how it goes, so long as I get to send a few folks to the morgue. The chase is always fun, but the best part of the hunt is the thrill you get from the kill."
Hammerhead remained indifferent to his mutterings about the job and asked what he had been wondering from the beginning. "While we're at it, tell me about those guys that ruined your mission last night."
"I would also like to know more about it." The elderly crime lord reinforced.
The pale-faced killer looked as though he had just been disturbed in the middle of something important, but a glance at his superior demanded an answer. "One of 'em was some super acrobat dressed up like Captain America, and the other guy could sprout claws from his hands able to rip through steel."
Silvermane thought for a moment before turning to the other man. "What about the two new costumed heroes that you witnessed."
His second henchman scratched his head. "Eh, didn't really get a goof look at the costumed freaks considering that I had my hands full at the time." He shrugged a shoulder before resuming his explanation. "I remember a guy that could shoot big laser beams out of his eyes, and a woman who could move stuff with her brain."
The old mobster fell silent for several minutes as he considered the options, his mind coming to a simple conclusion. "It sounds as though these abilities could be granted by science, although I am inclined to believe that they could also have been mutants."
"They're still a threat, either way." Hammerhead deduced out loud.
"I actually agree with the Hamster… Who cares about what kind of powers or how they got 'em!" Tombstone replied with a shrug. He stood up and headed to the door, stopping at the threshold. "No matter who they are, I'll make sure they pay the price for messing with the Maggia. Just give me the word, and these guys are history!"
Hammerhead placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him around so that they were facing each other. "Now just hold on a minute. The boss is planning on attacking the fat man's base of operations, and he hasn't given us the orders yet!"
The pale-faced enforcer turned around to receive a nod from their leader. "You are needed here until we can begin the attack tonight." The old man voiced, making the point very clear.
As Silvio Manfretti approached them again, Tombstone noticing his lack of a cane for the first time that day. The albino mob killer wondered what was going on, but simply ignored it for now. It was still odd for him considering that he had never seen the old fossil move with any fluidity due to his advanced age. Being a frail mob boss in his late eighties, Silvermane was far from his prime and rarely ever left headquarters to do anything in the field. He simply lacked the ability to do so anymore.
The elderly criminal settled behind his desk and began fussing with the papers as he usually did. Raising his arm up, he gestured towards the door. "You two are both dismissed for now… Leave me." He ordered.
The two left without any argument, leaving their boss alone with his thoughts once again. He at for several minutes, silently going over the details of his plan, while believing that either way, things were only bound to get better from this point on. HYDRA had promised him an excellent opportunity in exchange for taking down his arch nemesis, and at the same time he had conveniently received help from Norman Osborn. It turned out that the fool had been desperate enough to take a loan from the Kingpin while believing that he could somehow satisfy the requirements without taking a loss.
Osborn had come to the Maggia, and they had accepted his bargain in order to turn Osborn's misfortune into his own strength. After all, a legendary gangster like Silvermane only made alliances to increases his own influence. These thoughts reminded him of when he was jus starting out as a big player in the criminal underworld. As he pondered the days of his youth, the old man realized that now would finally be able to rebuild is criminal empire, and destroy the Kingpin's in the process.
Meanwhile
Jean sat across from her boyfriend as they took the opportunity to take some well-deserved rest from fighting crime. Ever since they had come to New York it had been one chaotic mess after another, and now here they were sitting in their hotel room with Warren. It was about noon time and the air was tense as they waited for Logan to show up. He had agreed to meet them here on the phone, which was he reason why Angel had agreed to stick around, but they were all hoping that he would show up before it was time to see Spider-Man later on. The enigmatic web slinger was much harder to get a hold of, and they couldn't pass up the chance to hear his end of the story either.
Warren sat on the couch flipping through several news channels, paying specific attention in case any new developments on the gang war happened to appear during the program. So far it seemed as though the news stations had only turned up the obvious, making what little the police were willing to share with the reporters, rather inconsequential to those who had actually been present during the battles. Nevertheless, he continued to search for any small tidbit that might help them piece together the cause of this current situation.
Bothered by the awkward silence, Scott began rubbing the back of his neck with an uneasy expression. "I mean we're already in a major mess with this gang war, not to mention that we still have no idea what Magneto was doing in New York."
"That's the reason why Warren arranged that meeting with Spider-Man tonight, in case he knows something that could help us. Until something new comes up that we can use, I don't see anything more the X-Men can do. Just wait until Wolverine shows up, and then we'll decide what to do next." Jean explained with a weary sigh.
"Speaking of which, what do you think Logan needs us for?" Cyclops asked.
His girlfriend paused again as she thought about his question. Despite having been the person to talk to him on the phone, she realized now how little he had actually said that morning. It seemed a little unlike him to beat around the bush like that, but there were times in the past when the feral mutant had left the X-Men for short periods of time, usually involving the government organization, SHIELD. Nick Fury was an old acquaintance of Wolverine and occasionally asked him for favors which didn't involve the Xavier Institute. Now that she was considering the possibility, it seemed to fit what he had said to her during their brief conversation.
"Do you think it has something to do with SHIELD again?" She voiced her thoughts out loud.
Her boyfriend contemplated for a second before giving his answer. "You know, since Wolverine knows the man in charge, he might have been talking about a mission for SHIELD on the phone. He did say he was doing a favor for an old friend, right?"
Jean nodded slowly. "Yeah… He did." She paused again to take a breath. "It's not much to go off of, but Logan doesn't usually stick his neck out for anyone else except for the professor. Whatever he's up to might have something to do with the mob violence escalating all over the city."
"Naturally he saw fit to give us the head's up." Scott surmised to himself before looking up at his partner, but before he could continue, a loud knock caught their attention. "Speak of the devil…" he added.
Without warning, the door was pushed open, revealing the feral mutant's familiar face. They were naturally unsurprised by his lack of waiting for them to answer the door, but the man standing behind him caught their attention quickly. A tall figure with handsome features and blonde hair followed Wolverine into the hotel suite, his square jaw, broad shoulders, and strong muscular features reminding them of a stereotypical soldier, much like the ones they had seen in historical photographs.
Despite their confused expressions, Logan approached his teammates and seemed to ignore the winged man on the sofa. "In the crappy city, you guys should really consider locking the door." He commented bluntly.
Cyclops stood up aggressively, his previous curiosity surfacing. "We would all appreciate it if you would explain what this meeting is about? The rest of us were still working on our case when you told us to meet you here."
Wolverine growled challengingly, although he calmed down after a moment's pause. "Yeah, sorry about that…" the older mutant relaxed his arms. "As it turns out, my own mission didn't turn out so well, but something told me that you guys might know something that could help me get it done."
"This has something to do with SHIELD, doesn't it?" Jean added with an accusatory note.
Angel looked on with a slight interest, having turned off the television in favor of watching the feral mutant deal with his teammates. He had never really spent that much time with Wolverine during his brief alliances with the X-Men in the past, but from these brief meetings he had always received the impression that the aptly named mutant was grumpy and slightly volatile. He chose not to interrupt the awkward moment, instead diverting his gaze to the other newcomer, who for some odd reason seemed vaguely familiar, almost as if he had seen a picture of the man somewhere before.
"Yeah, I suppose it does…" Logan finally answered looking a little bit respectful of the psychic's display of wit. "There was something that only I could do, and Fury didn't really have any other choice but to give me the job."
"Maybe he wouldn't like it, but I would really like it if you gave us more details?" Cyclops added hopefully.
Jean nodded firmly in agreement. "It might sound like we're prying, but we can't really do much unless you tell us what's going on."
"It ain't all that simple, but there's a reason why I figured you guys might be interested." The former Weapon X began maddeningly. He took a seat across from his former students at the table, but the stares directly at his war buddy made it clear he had yet to introduce him. "Oh yeah, guess I should introduce you guys to my partner."
"That would be nice." Angel commentated from his seat on the couch.
Wolverine just seemed to acknowledge the winged mutant for the first time, having purposely ignored him earlier. "Yeah, I was just getting to that." he answered with a sigh.
Tired of being ignored, Captain America stepped forward so that he was standing behind his old friend. "I'm Steve Rogers, an agent of SHIELD." he replied with a pleasant smile.
Since he was already standing, Cyclops reciprocated the polite gesture and shook the patriot's hand. "It's good to meet you. I'm Scott Summers and my friends are Jean Grey and Warren Worthington." He explained, the other mutants giving the newcomer a small wave as they're names were said aloud.
"It's my pleasure." The super soldier replied, shifting his gaze from one person to the next as he acknowledged their presence.
"Steve Rogers is an old friend of mine from World War II who helped me free refugees from the death camps in Europe." Logan interjected bluntly.
A shadow of amusement flashed across the feral mutant's face as he took in their reactions. The trio of mutants looked a little bit confused by the idea, although it probably would have been more interesting if they weren't mutants. Everyone looked surprised, although considering the group had seen their share of strange things, the idea that a man who looked as though he were still in his prime fought in World War II, didn't shock them like it would most people. His partner seemed a little concerned that Logan had blurted out the truth like that, but didn't say anything to deny it.
"You look, very good for your age…" Jean Grey added with an awkward smile, quietly observing the blonde man for signs of age again. "I don't mean to be rude, but would I be correct to assume that you're not an ordinary human."
Having taken the super soldier formula in his youth, the incognito hero shrugged. "I guess you could say that, but it really has nothing to do with why I still appear young."
"Care to explain?" Scott added in, looking between the former Weapon X and his war buddy for the answer.
The former Weapon X mutant was never the most patient guy when it came time to explaining things, but since his friend seemed unsure of whether to say more without Fury's direct consent, he figured it was probably best if he did it. It wasn't as if SHIELD would ever need to know what happened in this room, but since his buddy was allowed to use his old costume in battle, they probably intended for the truth to come out at some point. Plus if all else failed he could take the blame for his friend later on.
Wolverine groaned with an exasperated expression, although his expression became calmer as he prepared to explain, almost proud. "You kids ever heard the stories of Captain America from World War II?"
"Everyone knows the stories of the legendary super soldier who fought against the Axis Powers during the war!" Jean replied, her hand casually tucking a red stand of hair behind her ear. "It's one of the things they teach in history classes in this country. I mean, they even built a memorial for him in this city."
"Where are you going with this story?" Scott added, his eyes moving towards the stranger as if he had his suspicions already.
"Meet Captain America…" Wolverine gestured to his old friend, who seemed uncertain of how to react to the reintroduction.
After what felt like one of the longest minutes of their lives, Jean blinked twice with a look of disbelief. "I don't see a reason why you would lie, but Captain America supposedly died years ago during the war."
"Every history book says that he and Bucky were killed in action all those years ago." Her boyfriend retorted with a similar look.
"Don't believe everything you hear in school, and try taking it from someone who was there when it happened." Logan replied, looking uncharacteristically calm.
Warren stood up and approached his friends, looking rather unfazed by this sudden revelation. "I believe him…" The others turned to face him, but he resumed his explanation quickly to prevent them from interrupting. "When I was in college, I studied Captain America's feats in a history class. My professor showed me several articles about his supposed death, but the official reports that I found through my family's connections completely refuted this claim. According the military files we discovered, he vanished after the war was over."
Cyclops's eyes widened behind his ruby-quartz glasses, settling on the super soldier again. "I don't believe it… the living legend himself…"
"All right…" Jean began with pronounced interest, her own reaction very similar to her boyfriend's. "The question now is what exactly happened to him after war?"
At this the captain exchanged glances with Wolverine, who seemed to understand immediately what he was thinking. Honestly the feral mutant was never keen on sharing what happened afterwards, and merely shook his head. "Nah, that much is top secret. Pretty much no one else knows, and I'm not about to squeal."
"Well if you're not going to explain, then maybe we should just get down to business." Angel took the remaining seat at the table.
Captain American nodded before glancing at his partner. "I agree completely, but we should begin with what we learned last night."
"First start with your mission." Jean interjected, trying to bring some sense of order back to the meeting now that they had accepted the truth about their new guest. When the others moved their focus to her, she continued. "What exactly id SHIELD send you here to do?"
Wolverine sat back in his seat, pushing the front legs off the ground slightly as he contemplated on how to sum up the facts quickly. "Well…" he began slowly. "It started when Fury came to me with the job, saying that no one else could do it but me. As it turns out, they needed me to track down a master of disguise named the Chameleon using a sample of his clothing as the scent."
"How did that go?" Cyclops questioned knowing the full well what the answer would be.
"Like crap!" the feral mutant snapped, looking as though he had just been slapped.
Captain America tried to rationalize the situation for them. "It turned out that he was in disguise when we found him, seeing how there was no one matching the picture we were given of the suspect." He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. "As it turns out, the bad guy was involved in some kind of mob dispute, and we stumbled in without thinking."
His war buddy shrugged again. "We beat down those punks, but the Chameleon's scent was long gone. Then some pale-faced freak wearing a cheap suit called out an army of killer robots and we were forced to fight for our lives." His expression hardened angrily as he remembered the next part. "Some guy in red pajamas came swinging in like Tarzan and helped us stop the machines."
A dawning realization came to Scott as if he had been splashed with freezing water. "Wait a minute… Did this man wear a mask and stick to objects like a spider?"
"Yeah, and he had a big mouth to boot." Wolverine asked with an irritated look. "Why, you know the kid?"
"He's a hero in this city like me, so I've worked with him before out of convenience. Out of every costumed crime fighter in New York, Spider-Man is probably the most famous." Angel explained calmly. "The boy gets his picture in the Daily Bugle almost every week, seeing how he pretty much has his own photographer."
"He does…" Cyclops added, looking a little surprised.
Jean tapped his shoulder, shaking her head when he turned to see her. "I think we're beginning to lose the point." She chastised the others. "I want to know what happened after you guys were finished fighting?"
To everyone's surprise, Captain America answered. "Spider-Man saved our lives, so I figured that we could ask him about the villain we were searching for. He told us that there was some kind of war going on between several crime lords in New York, and that we had just involved ourselves by rushing the way we did."
Logan folded his arms and slouched in his seat. "He also said that the Chameleon joined up with the same guy that captured me and tried to sell X-23 to HYDRA before this mess began. The fact that the Kingpin was involved got my attention."
"In the meantime, we've been helping Angel to stop this gang war." Jean added with a frown.
"Didn't Chuck tell you to track down Magneto?" their former teacher asked. "What're you doing sticking your nose into this mess?"
"Due to his connection with HYDRA, we think the Kingpin's recent activities might have some kind of connection." She rationalized.
"Spider-Man said that the Kingpin's men captured the man you were talking about after he attempted to rob a museum?" Captain America interrupted.
"What!" the two younger X-Men shouted in unison.
The group looked surprised by this piece of information, although it seemed to connect their respective missions, it made the puzzle even more confusing than before. The three X-Men and Angel sat in thought as they tried to figure out how Magneto could be involved in these gang wars, but when nothing came to mind they exchanged confuse glances at one another. Captain America was particularly stumped considering he wasn't even acquainted with the magnetic mutant himself, but he still hoped that what he said had been helpful to them.
Jean Grey let out a held breath before resuming the discussion. "Are you saying the Kingpin's henchmen might have purposely targeted Magneto?"
"Maybe it has something to do with what he was stealing." Angel remembered the time he had encountered the villain at his own gallery along with Mesmero several months ago. "If I read the story in the newspaper correctly, the museum was a joint project between Fisk Enterprises and Stark Industries. The big man was definitely involved somehow…"
"Don't ask me, bub." Wolverine replied with a frustrated shrug. "There's not much for him to gain by shaking down the old man, although if I could get my hands on that spider twerp long enough to slash the truth out of him, maybe we could find out what's really going on."
"That might not be a problem." Cyclops piped up, looking more optimistic than before.
Steve Rogers leaned forward slightly. "How would that be so?"
"The three of us ran into Spider-Man earlier today while breaking up another gang attack in downtown New York." Jean Grey began. "We had the same idea that Logan did, and after some convincing, the web slinger caved and said he would meet us tonight to see if we can't help each other out."
"I arranged for him to meet us at a secure location to avoid prying eyes." Angel remarked.
Wolverine answered with a bitter scowl, having hated the masked hero's constant stream of sarcasm. "Who knows? Maybe the brat might be good for something." He paused for a second to contemplate the idea. "Might as well go with you guys tonight to see what he knows. It might help me get out of this city faster."
The super soldier standing behind him looked uneasy for an entirely different reason. "I get the impression that he wears the mask for a reason. What makes you think that this man will even show up?"
Warren Worthington sighed in response to his question, looking equally concerned by this fact. "We'll just have to see tonight, because right now, it's the only lead we've got…"
Note to Readers: Phew… This chapter was pretty long, but I'm trying to end this story arc. Sorry for any typos, or mistakes in spelling or grammar, but as usually I do most of my writing late at night. Once the gang war is over and we're out of New York, the story's tone and the characters who get the spotlight will change drastically. We've seen more of the New York Crime Cartel so far, but later on the villains will mostly be Magneto and HYDRA.
I also plan on leaving hints for the SEQUEL to this story at the end of the gang war story arc. Norman Osborn probably won't do much more after this arc, but I can almost guarantee that comic fans will or would love the scene I plan to include with him in it after the gang wars are finally over. It'll be short, but indicative of what's to come for the next story. Tony Stark will play a further role in that story, even though he is only mentioned and shown briefly in this one.
Please REVIEW… I'm at a major all-time low for support at this point. Please tell me what you like about the story, or any ideas you may have that could help. I received only one review last chapter, but it was greatly appreciated. Thanks Quill N. Inque, you have no idea how much it means!