Karen Page
Karen felt sick to her stomach. Once they had left Josie's bar, the Spider-Man had moved to higher ground, and Karen experienced Hell's kitchen from a bird's eye view. She had to use all of her strength to keep from puking her stomach contents out. It was jolting, like riding a rollercoaster, except she wasn't seated and she couldn't get off. The Spider-Man had tossed her over his shoulders, her head drooped down, swaying with the man's rapid movements.
Karen was so glad when the man finally stopped moving and they had entered what looked like an apartment. This must have been the so-called nurse's place that he was talking about. Why he took her here, she didn't know, but she was going to get out the minute she got the chance.
"See, told you, this lady, affords this apartment. Damn f*cking penthouse suite," said the Spider-Man as they entered through the balcony door.
Karen said nothing. All throughout the journey, the man had chatted casually with her, like they were having coffee at a cafe. The thing was, Karen was too busy freaking out to really pay attention... until now. The man, his voice... it was familiar to her.
The Spider-Man, continued to talk, but his hands were not idle at all. He set her down roughly on one of the many couches in the living room and then pinned her down with his webbing. It was the same as what he had done in Josie's Bar with her and Foggy, except this time it encompassed her entire torso and lower body.
The man then stretched his arms upwards and let out a yawn before slumping into a long couch opposite to her.
"Jesus, what a night," he continued conversing as if they were old buddies, "Most fun I've had in a long time. Even if it is under this stupid mask. Kid has such f*cking awesome powers and he uses it to save kittens on trees. The hell the world is going to. You know, what I would do at his age? So much more…"
Karen continued to say nothing, and focused instead on the man's voice. The familiarity of it was gnawing at her. She knew this voice. Without the screaming in the background, or the overwhelming fear that had taken over her earlier at the bar, she was now able to process that she, in fact, knew this person.
Yes.
She did.
Her eyes widened in realization.
No f-ing way.
Russo?
But that was impossible. The man was in a coma, at least that's what Frank had told her. This of course made perfect sense why the Spider-Man from Queens suddenly turned into a psychopath - it was because a mad man had assumed his identity. The real question, however, was how this had happened. How did Russo get Spider-Man's powers? What exactly was his plan? If Russo was behind the recent arsons, why in hells was he doing it? Karen's mind was reeling with questions and now that she knew who was behind the mask, the fear she felt earlier disappeared.
Russo wasn't a mystery to her. He was just an amoral man out for revenge. This she could understand. Yet at the same time, it also made the whole incident at Josie's really messed up; he'd known the whole time who she was. Why the pretense? Maybe he didn't want to leave a link behind to anyone that it was actually him, the escapee Billy Russo, that was framing the real Spider-Man. Like two birds with one stone. Everyone was chasing the good guy while Russo just took his time causing ruckus throughout Hell's Kitchen for fun.
Karen hoped that the real Spider-Man could take Russo out. Though hopes of rescue for her was slim since who would be able to find her on some random condo in the middle of Hell's Kitchen? No, she had to figure a way to get away on her own.
"What do you want, Russo," she said, not afraid of showing she knew his identity.
The man perked up at the name and then he let out laugh.
"Wow, took you long enough to figure it out it was me. Guess the muffling of the voice in this mask did a number?"
"Yes, and the fact that you were slaughtering dozens of innocent people in the bar. It was kind of distracting."
"I guess so," he said almost in a thoughtful admission. "As in what I want, Karen, it's to have your boyfriend, Castle watch as I slowly mangle your face like he did mine.
Okay, maybe I shouldn't have asked .
"I'm going to fetch him now, actually. He's not to far away," said Russo tilting his head slightly to the side as if listening to something.
A communicator? A tracker maybe? Inside his head ? Seriously that would stretch the imagination a little, yet seeing that Russo had super powers now, nothing really could surprise Karen any more. Was it too hard to imagine he suddenly had a tracker embedded in his head? Was he half cyborg or something?
"How... how have you been tracking us?"
"I'll bet you wouldn't have guessed it, but my trackers are quite unconventional" he said as he opened his palm and there was a spider sitting in it.
God. Did he just hatch that? Was the first thought that crossed Karen's mind. Then the thought of having spiders in her purse . She'd rummaged through that daily, looking for her keys, wallet, everything. How long? And how did they get in there? Thinking about it sent a shiver down her spine. What the hell kind of powers did Russo have? Did the other Spider-Man have this too?
"You … can talk to spiders?"
"Well, not all spiders, only the ones that are mine...our minds are linked somehow."
Karen tried to control the disgusted look from showing on her face as she realized what he was implying...that he really did hatch the spiders. She failed obviously when Russo let out another laugh.
"Am I grossing you out?"
Karen shook her head. Yet her mind screamed, yes, yes, you are!
"You know, I'd love to go into how I do it, but I have to pickup Castle now. Be back in a bit. Don't miss me too much," he said before shot webbing point blank on her face.
As the stick fluid hit her lips, she couldn't help but flinch as she realized it was coming from Russo's wrist. The guy was producing webbing himself. The substance on her face, unlike the sold webbing that encased the rest of her, was hot and sticky.
The former soldier did a mock salut at her before he strutted away and disappeared out the balcony of the apartment.
Karen barely waited a second after Russo left before she attempted to get out of the bindings. She knew it was futile, but she was going to try anyway. It was better than waiting for the man to come back with Castle and follow through with his plan.
The apartment so silent that she could hear the ticking of the grandfather clock located across the room. It sounded like drums to her ears as she strained hard against the solid webbing. But it wasn't any use, only that it was rubbing raw against her wrists. Even if she got her hands out, her legs were also locked into to the couch.
This f-ing sucked.
It felt like hours that she'd been trying to get out, and even without glancing at the clock, she knew a good period of time had past. Russo could be coming back at any second with Frank. And then… and then he was going to get his revenge.
Come on, Karen! You are not going to be someone's damsel in distress. That role for you has gotten old.
She had to get out of this. At least she had to try. Karen could feel a sticky wetness on her hands, and she knew it wasn't sweat. She'd rubbed raw her hands in trying to get out. Well, it was a small price to pay in what was to come.
"Meow."
What the hell?
Karen blinked away the sweat from her eyes and peered down...to see a fluffy white Persian cat staring back at her.
"Meow."
Geez. The cat was hungry.
Wait. If there was a cat... then there must have been someone taking care of it. But what the hell were the chances of the person coming in the middle of the Goddamn night?
The answer came to Karen in the form of rattling keys.
Wow, the universe was seriously listening to her!
Karen's heart thumped in anticipation as the door clicked and opened.
"Marmalade! I'm here. Sorry, it's been such a long night. This… why is the alarm off?" said the voice as the lights clicked on.
Instantly their eyes met and there was fear in them. Karen didn't' blame here in the least. Especially given the fact the woman had a nasty shiner on her temple. That and she was at least 6 months pregnant.
No. The woman had to get out of there.
"Oh God, not again!"
Okay… not what I was expecting.
"The bastard's done enough to me today, and now he's invading my home too? Lord help me that someone has got to put an end to this."
Karen struggled to say something, anything, but the woman shut the door quickly behind her and the lights too.
Smart. Clearly she knew something was up , thought Karen.
"Alright, I'm going to get you out, alright?" She said in a hushed whisper. "He's not here, right?"
Karen didn't even get a chance to shake her head, because the woman answered herself. "Of course he wouldn't be. If he were, I'd be dead. Just like so many of my colleagues. He's a sick man, that other Spider-Man. A real sick one. I'm Nora by the way. Don't worry, I'll get you out, but I'm going to need help."
Even as she spoke, Karen saw the woman's hands weren't idle. Already she was dialing a number on her cellphone.
Yes. Yes. Yes!
The room was so silent as the woman waited for someone to pickup. When it was finally answered, the voice on the phone seemed to echo.
"911, how can I help you?"
"The Spider-Man… he's been in my home, and he's holding a hostage here."
"Yes, of course ma'am."
Damn, did that operator sound bored? Thought Karen. Maybe there were dozens of these reports going on, and only half of them were real.
"Please, send someone here, there is a young woman here that has Spider-Man's webbing on her and I'm not sure I can get it off her. I'm at 160 Leroy Street, 12th floor, penthouse suite. Please, send hel—", but she choked off in mid-sentence and let out an alarmed cry instead. Following Nora's eyes, Karen saw what had shaken her.
Oh, that was why.
In the moonlight, there stood the Spider-Man crouched on the balcony, staring right back at them.
Ah Crap.
They were so close!
Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Getting to the Deborah Lewis's condo wasn't as easy as he had thought. While his body was doing its best to repair the injuries he'd had sustained, there was no way it could replenish blood that had been lost. One good thing was the side wound felt like it had stopped bleeding, and in its place was just a dull throbbing pain. His back and shoulder still hurt a lot, especially when he had to swing from the buildings. Peter had tried his best to reduce the amount of movement that aggravated the injury, but time was of an essence, so he had to toggle between crawling and swinging.
A stupid detail that occurred to Peter only too late after almost halfway to the condo, was that he didn't know the suite number of the apartment. What use was it to know just the floor? Peter figured he'd just have to 'borrow' a phone from one of the penthouse suites and call Ned again.
At last, he saw the condo in his sight, and he couldn't have been any more grateful. He was so tired. And using the term tired was an understatement. His face felt hot and he was incredibly thirsty. Maybe he could get a drink while he was at the nurse's home. Just a sip would suffice.
Peter slowly climbed his way up to the 12 th floor from the outside.
As he did so, he reviewed his strategy: Find the laptop, call Ned to hack it, use info to defeat Russo.
God, that sounded so easy in his head. But actually implementing it was a different story. He was feeling sluggish again and Peter couldn't help but suspect that it had to do with his side wound. While it didn't hurt as much as before, the possibility of infection didn't escape him.
Finally as he reached the 12 th floor, he saw why his best friend had omitted mentioning the apartment number… it was because there was only one. Tall large windows stretched all the way across the whole level indicating it was just one unit. There must have been at least over 20 rooms in there or something to that amount. Now finding that laptop felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way across to the balcony where the door had been left ajar.
Alright Parker, you've got this.
Arriving at the balcony, he pulled himself up to the sill and found himself staring into the eyes of two figures inside the apartment.
Okay…. This can't be good, as he noted they were staring directly at him.
Peter just hoped they didn't rush out to get the authorities before he could explain himself. But given how many people Russo had hurt already, he didn't blame them if they did.
The surprising thing though, was one them started to come his way.
Okay… this could be good or bad. But as the person drew closer, Peter's eyes widened in recognition.
It was the nurse Gibson he had rescued in the fires at the hospital. Also it clicked to Peter that this was the roommate mentioned in the article Ned found.
Fear gripped Peter that maybe the nurse wouldn't be able to tell him or Russo apart. His worry was misplaced because as the door slid open, and he saw kind eyes look onto him, and Peter was assured that the nurse knew it was him.
"Hey, Nurse Gibson."
"Spider-Man," she said, her voice was laced with concern as she looked him over. Peter guessed his blood soaked bandages weren't exactly giving vibes he was doing all that great.
"Come inside, quickly."
Peter nodded and hopped down from the balcony ledge.
"Thanks," he said as he entered the apartment.
Just as he imagined, the place was spacious as he expected on the inside. The living room had high ceilings, and paintings lined expansively across the walls. Where the paintings ended, there were the panoramic windows that gave a perfect skyline view of the Hudson River that the apartment overlooked. It was like a place Mr. Stark would own, and that said a lot about the place.
Peter would have continued to stare in awe at his surroundings, but the moment his eyes cast onto a blonde woman bound down to a couch by webbings, he went right into action.
"Can you get this off her?" Asked the nurse.
Peter nodded, already starting to tear off the solidified webbing off the woman, but careful in areas where it touched her skin. He noted that there were attempts by the woman to get it out of the bounds, but it resulted only in rubbing her wrists raw against the web and causing it to bleed slightly.
The webbing on her mouth, Peter let the woman remove it herself seeing it was different in composition than her bindings.
Peter turned to the nurse and asked immediately, "Deborah, your roommate, does she happen bring her laptop to work by any chance?" He didn't want to seem rude, not to introducing himself to the blonde woman he had just freed, but time was ticking. He was also starting to feel lightheaded, all of which were not good signs and the sooner he found the solution, the sooner Russo could be taken down. If not by him, then by someone else.
Peter's heart thumped as he waited for her answer. If the woman never did that, then it was moot to even find the laptop.
"Debbie does that sometimes, mostly for the bedridden ones at the hospital. She has a soft spot for them."
Yes! This was good.
"Um, Miss Gibson, sorry, can you tell me where it is? I think Russo was turned into an Inhuman by your roommate…and that a video on that laptop might be the only way to stop him. My theory is that the man got his powers watching a fan video's theory about my abilities, I'm hoping that maybe he or she made up a weird weakness too."
Peter couldn't but cringe inwardly on how silly his idea was until he said it aloud.
"Russo, you know who he is?" It was the blonde woman who spoke.
"You know who he is too?" said Peter, turning to her in surprise.
"Yes, I've had dealings with him in the past. Billy Russo and Castle, they were in military together. They have a sordid history and this whole thing, it has to do with him wanting revenge."
"Yeah, and right now, Russo's got him," said Peter feeling a knot in his stomach as he shared the information.
"Shit, this isn't good. That means he's coming back here then."
Peter couldn't help but silently agree with her. That and realizing the irony that he'd literally stumbled into Russo's 'evil lair' while trying to find his so-called weakness.
"Then we have better get that laptop then," said Nora to him with a smile.
Peter couldn't help but feel a swell of relief that someone could trust him with no reservations.
"I'll get it, I know where she usually stores it." She started to move towards one of the bedrooms, but then turned and faced the blonde woman and said, "Miss, can you grab the first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet? I need that with me so I can take a look at Spider-Man's injuries once we're out of here."
"I'm okay," said Peter reflexively and received a silent but stern look from the nurse.
"On it," replied the blonde woman as she moved towards the bathroom. Just before she disappeared into the room, she called out, "I'm Karen by the way. Karen Page."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Page," replied Peter, who couldn't help but remember he had named his suit's A.I. Karen as well. "I'm Spider-Man. Um, the real one."
The two women moved quickly, Peter could hear them rummaging to retrieve the items. No one lagged as they each knew the stakes. While the two had let the room, Peter had made his way to the kitchen, desperately wanting that glass of water. Marmalade the cat shadowed Peter, purring as she rubbed against his leg.
Sorry kitty, I don't know where the food is stored.
Gently picking up the cat, he held her in one hand as he scanned the kitchen for a mug.
He didn't find a mug, but he did find a whole lot of ready to use inverted wine glasses sitting on the counter.
Picking one of them up, he turned on the kitchen tap and filled it to the top. Peeling up his mask, he lifted the rim of the bottle to his lips and took a sip, careful not to spill.
It was like a little taste of heaven – water never tasted so good.
Peter would have continued to drink had his spidey senses didn't suddenly go off on him.
Danger.
There was only one possible person that it could be – Billy Russo.
"He's coming, hide!" He said quickly as he pulled his mask down again. Even as he cried out the warning, Peter knew he was too late, at least for Karen's sake because Russo promptly planted himself outside the balcony, with Frank Castle draped over his shoulders like a rag doll. Marmalade sensed the danger and immediately hopped off from Peter's arms and raced into hiding in one of the many rooms of the apartment.
Smart cat.
Peter couldn't help but feel sick seeing Castle hang limply in Russo's hold.
Oh no...was he dead?
"Geez, you again, kid?" said Russo as he tossed Frank to the floor of the apartment. The former soldier didn't even flinch when he hit the ground. His body remained still-like.
"Oh, you really shouldn't be concerned about him, he's fine. Just a little sick from all the swinging – seems like he's hurled just about everything he's eaten. Gross really if you think about it. Poor folks down below getting a chunk of half liquefied puke."
Peter grimaced at the fine details that the man was supplying. On the back of his mind, however, he was thinking on how to get them all out of there and away from Russo. He felt so foolish in putting them at risk, having them stay even a minute longer there. If they ended up like Colleen… Peter didn't know if he could forgive himself. Subconsciously, Peter's mind had been trying to put away the image of the Asian woman's bloody form on the dojo's floor. Her hitched breath as her friends tried to assure her everything was going to be okay. If anything, it was Peter that should have been on that floor, for seeking asylum like that, putting those people that rescued him at risk.
They paid the price for your mistake.
A flash of Uncle Ben's face came, his prone form, sightless eyes, and it made Peter involuntarily shiver.
No. He wasn't going to let that happen again.
Ever.
At the corner of his eye, he could sense movement and if Peter could sense it, that meant Russo did as well.
But if Peter could distract him enough, maybe…
No. Even as Peter thought it, he knew that Russo had sensed the Nurse's presence.
So he made the first move by firing off his webshooters before the man could move in the direction of the bedroom.
"Run!" He cried in warning to Karen and the nurse, as he used his reserved strength to swing Russo to the farside of the room.
The man was taken by surprise and he actually did fly, but the moment didn't last long; he was back on his feet in an instant. However fast the man got up, the two women were also quick and had managed to grab Castle, while also maintaining a tight grip on a thin laptop. They bolted out of the front doorway of the apartment, and Peter could only guess, making a beeline to the stairs.
Russo wasn't, however, so easy to be detracted from his plans. He reversed roles with Peter by shooting his own set of webbing on Peter and yanked him forward before flinging him hard against the wall.
Peter felt himself fly, roll through the upside down wine glasses on the counter before crashing into the far wall and knocking down a number of likely priceless paintings. Knowing he couldn't afford to waste a second or the two women and Russo would be as good as dead if Russo got to the hallway, Peter went for the man's legs.
Aiming for the ankles, he shot his webbings and managed to root Russo to the spot for a second, before he pulling hard enough to throw the man off balance.
It was a small victory for Peter, but he knew it bought time for the others to get away.
Yet seconds later, Russo was up again, and his body language spoke volumes on how pissed he was.
"You little twit," swore Russo. "I'm going to f*cking rip your head off."
Peter usually had a lot to say, quips that he could say to his adversaries, but at the moment, he was barely able to keep standing.
The only thing keeping him going was adrenaline. Russo, however, didn't go for Peter. The man was smart, and he had figured out what Peter was trying to do. Distract him so that he wouldn't go after the others. But Russo's goal was Castle, and he wasn't going to lose focus.
"I'll come back for you, kid. I believe me, you will wish you were dead."
With that, the man lifted up the coffee table nearby and launched it at Peter before disappearing out the front door.
Peter saw the table fly towards him and thankfully managed to dodge it, though barely. Even as he got to his feet, Peter felt an instant dizziness overwhelm him. What was worse was that in the scuffle, his side and shoulder wounds had both reopened. Fresh blood trickled down from them and then onto on to the marbled floors.
Peter, unfortunately didn't have the time to web up his wounds - Karen, the Nurse, and Castle were in immediate danger. Peter raced out the doorway and saw that Castle was conscious now and had somehow managed to wedge a shard of glass into Russo's thigh.
"Ha, finally made use of it," said Castle smirking proudly at the very enraged Inhuman.
Russo's movement was quick, and within a second, the man had his hand around Castle's throat, tightening it so much that the veins around his neck strained blue. Peter had no doubt that if Russo lost even a slight bit more control, Castle's trachea would be crushed.
Karen rushed forward suddenly with a fire extinguisher in her hands. "Let him go, you assh*le!" she demanded before unclipping it and letting out a sea of foam.
The distraction was enough to make Russo drop his hold on Castle, tossing him roughly against the side wall of the hallway. There was a sound of crack, and Peter was pretty sure that it was the sound of Castle's arm breaking.
Peter looked behind Karen, and saw the Nurse disappear through the staircase doorway, hugging the laptop tightly against her. Karen's quick thinking no doubt helped save the nurse and Castle at the same time.
But now, Peter knew the man was enraged, and his body language spoke volumes to the level of violence he was about to unleash. And the worse thing was his attention was solely on Karen.
Peter knew he had to act now or there wouldn't be anyone to save in the hallway. And given that Russo was blinded by rage, that meant his spidey senses may have been compromised for a small window of time. Shooting his webshooters low, he aimed for Russo's mid-section and he yanked the man forward.
It worked, and the man lost his balance, stumbled and fell. Then he turned his head and looked at Peter, and for once he was really glad that he wasn't able to see the man's expression under the mask… if there was even a face.
"You little shit," Russo spat at him.
Peter didn't waste any time - using his webshooters, he shot webbing after webbing to hold the man down, knowing of course it was nothing but a sticky nuisance. But that was what Peter was aiming for – distraction. He only needed a few seconds, enough for Karen to get past the man and to Castle. Ideally it would have been better if Castle went towards Karen, but the man was barely able to even get up. That meant the quickest way to saftey was back to the apartment.
"Hurry," he urged to Karen who was already by Castle's side helping him up.
Just as the two re-entered the doorway to the condo, Russo had also broken through the webbing Peter used on him. The man barreled towards them and suddenly unleashed something Peter would equate to a web bomb from the palm of his hand. Except unlike Peter's which exploded out a sticky web substance, Russo's launched out small triangular silver shaped webbing that cut like knives. Peter knew that because he barely dodged one, it grazing him in the arm as he grabbed a piece a broken furniture to shield Castle and Karen.
What the hell was that?
He wasn't the only one surprised, though, because Russo, too, seemed in awe of his new found powers.
"Shit, I never knew I could do that."
No… he's got more hidden powers? This was so not fair, thought Peter. Seeing that Russo was distracted, he decided to take advantage of it. Tossing the makeshift shield aside, Peter webbed the most convenient large item in the room: an old grandfather clock, and used it to slam Russo away from the entryway to the apartment. He honestly didn't expect to hit the inhuman, given that the man had the same spidey sense as Peter. But to his surprise, the clock did hit Russo, and it hit hard.
Whatever that web bomb thing Russo had let loose, it might also have temporarily blinded this senses. How long it would last, Peter wasn't sure, but this was a damn good advantage for them. Now that the exit was open, he just needed to hold Russo down again until Castle and Karen got out. Knowing that his webbing alone was not going to do anything to Russo, Peter used himself as the obstacle. With the man down, and slightly dazed from the encounter with the clock, he was able to maneuver himself so that he had the man locked down. Peter was so glad he paid some attention in P.E. class.
Thank you, Coach Wilson!
"Go, hurry!" said Peter as he shot his webshooters at Russo, rooting the man's wrists to the floor. At the corner of his eyes, he saw the two of them race out quickly. They were close, well, Karen was anyway. Russo, however, chose that moment to rip through Peter's webbing. With his palm open, he slammed it into the side of Peter's face, knocking him back, straight into a lovely 70' TV screen. The man then shot out his webbing at Castle, catching him in the leg. Sparing no time, he yanked the former soldier backwards, causing him to fall painfully onto the floor.
Rising up as quickly as he could, Peter went into a flying tackle on to Russo and was able to stop the man from pulling Castle any further. Karen helped Castle up, and there was an exchange that happened between them that Peter couldn't really focus on since he was a bit busy, but the gist was likely: Go now and get help, I'll be okay.
Mr. Castle sure has a lot of faith in me , Peter couldn't help but think.
Before Karen left, however, she gave Peter one last look before reluctantly disappearing through the doorway.
Peter was so glad that she did that because seconds later, Russo broke through his hold and shot a second webbing; this one catching Castle's midsection. This time, however, instead of pulling, Russo simply started to swing the man in a counter clockwise direction.
Oh no, this wasn't good, thought Peter
Moving as fast as he could, Peter managed to grab hold of Castle in Russo's mid-swing, wrapping him in a bear hug as the Inhuman swung out. Peter felt himself scrape across the kitchen cabinets, splintering through the wood and knocking out its contents. It didn't end there, however, because seconds later, he and Castle were launched through one of the large paned glass windows overlooking the harbor.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. Even as they crashed through, Peter didn't even feel the glass shards slice through his already injured back. Instead, fear gripped him as he saw Russo turn his back towards them, starting back to the hallway.
What was going on? Didn't he want Castle alive for his revenge? Why was he... oh no. Russo was going for Karen and Nora. This had been a trap for Peter, because the inhuman knew that he would save Castle, that he would use himself as a shield. He had to keep in mind he was fighting a man with military training.
A crazy suddenly hatched in Peter's mind and he had only a split second to decide.
Yeah, I'm going for it, Peter thought.
With one hand tightly gripping Castle, Peter shot out his webbing towards Russo, just before the man made it out the apartment door.
Gravity did the rest for Peter.
While Russo's strength was back, his spidey senses clearly hadn't completely returned.
Russo let out a surprised cry as he was pulled through very window he had tossed Peter and Castle out through.
There was a slight sense of victory hearing the man's surprise as he fell.
"Shit, not again kid!" He heard the worry laced words cry out from Castle as they plummeted. As they fell, Peter could hear sirens sounding not too far away. No doubt the police had caught wind of what was going on.
"No worries, got it under control," he said reassuringly to the man as he quickly latched his webbing on to an adjacent building, and swing widely away from the falling inhuman.
What Peter had done, no doubt pissed off the inhuman because the man had forgotten about Karen and Nora; his focus realigned onto Peter.
Good , thought Peter. Let's play some tag.
The only problem right now was that he still had Castle on him, and that meant the man was in danger. But Peter didn't know where he could place him so that he would be safe. What if Russo broke off pursuit of Peter and went for Castle, then what? Or what if he did that web explosion thing again like back in the living room? That was a contained area. If it happened in open space the situation could be wildly worse. Not to mention if Russo found out another hidden power... honestly, Peter didn't think he could handle anymore surprises.
What he needed to do now was keep the Inhuman away from the general populous. Not that there were a lot of people wandering around in the dead of night. But the sun should be rising soon, and there would be more people Russo could use, could hurt.
That and the fact that after the last skirmish with former military man, Peter's wounds had all reopened again. He needed to deal with Russo while he still could.
How long he could hold out, that was another question entirely.
Noting his surroundings, Peter recognized that he was close to the Hell's Kitchen Piers now. Suddenly an idea, a dangerous one, popped into his mind. Peter wished there was another way, but he was running out of options.
The silence must have worried Castle because the man spoke, "Kid, you okay?"
"I'm alright, Mr. Castle," he said trying his best to sound reassuring. In truth, Peter was really really not okay. He was at the end of his rope, and running purely on adrenaline. Once that ran out, he wasn't sure what was going to happen.
Castle thankfully didn't question him on it.
"Reason why we're heading closer and closer to the water?"
"I have an idea."
"Care to share? Maybe I can help somehow. I don't want to be no ones burden."
Peter paused a moment before answering.
"We're going to be really really high up, Mr. Castle. I won't drop you, but it might be real uncomfortable for you."
There was a tensing in the man, before he spoke again, "Kid, there's something you're not telling me." Frank's voice was laced with concern that it made Peter scared about what he was about to do too.
Peter didn't have the heart to tell the man, because it scared the hell out of him too. But if it meant… if it meant a way to stop Russo, then he'd have to risk it.
"Don't worry, Mr. Castle, it'll be okay. I'll make sure Russo is stopped, once and for all."
Claire Temple
Foggy Nelson, you damn genius, thought Claire as the lawyer managed to convince the officers there that they, the "Defenders" had nothing to do with anything and whatever they had on them, it was completely circumstantial. In the end, they were all technically free to go.
And they would have left, and were in the process of leaving when a call came in. A 911 emergency operative had called in – Spider-Man had been spotted at 160 Leroy Street. The moment Claire heard that address, she felt it sounded familiar. When the name Nora Gibson came up, she felt a chill go up her spine. Damn it, it had better just have been the kid that showed up there and not Russo. But someone, Claire's gut told her otherwise. The 911 call was made – so it was definitely a cry for help. The reports kept rolling in, Spider-Man, or the Spider-Mans had left the vicinity and they were tearing down at maddening speeds to where analysts triangulated both were headed towards Pier 78 area.
The station was suddenly in a frenzy and immediately Detective Grahams took charge, setting up teams. Within minutes, everyone was deployed, the expressions on their faces, Claire saw the resolve to kill, not taking the Spider-Man alive.
As a nurse, Claire didn't wish ill fate on anyone, but Russo was a monster. What he had done to Colleen and the countless other innocent people, it was unforgivable. No doubt, the officers that had been deployed out to apprehend him felt the same way. What she feared, however, was that the kid, Peter, was the one that had been reported, not Russo. The kid was already gravely injured, and with this much firepower was heading his way and the mindset of take no prisoners, Peter was in serious trouble.
One look at Luke and Jessica, she knew they were thinking the same thing. A slight nod was all that was needed before they all started out the station door together.
Foggy was the one who stopped them with a call, "Hey, where are you guys going?"
Concern etched on the man's face.
"We're going to find your friend and take down Russo," said Luke.
"Then I'm coming too," said Foggy, with equal determination on his face.
