Axel had an idea. An idea so crazy, so bold, that it had to work in spectacular fashion or utterly fail. No one had the time to even ask what their next course of action was before he chimed in.
"That boat's our ticket out of here, and we're getting on it." As if the roaring engines weren't enough indication, he gestured to it.
"And just how are we gonna reach it, huh? What, you expect us to swim?" Eddie scoffed, but Axel's expression did not suggest he was joking.
"I'm serious. Now, we can stand around here doing nothing, or we can see where that ship takes us. What's it gonna be?"
While Axel jumped in, thoroughly soaking his white tee, Eddie stood on the edge, unmoving. After being taken as a live hostage by the Vulture, he escaped the old man's grasp - while he was so high up in the air that he felt sick for reasons other than merely being afraid of heights. Sure, Spider-Man swooped in to save him, but the fact remained that he would've drowned, and was mere seconds away from doing so, if not for a timely intervention. Suffice to say, Eddie didn't want to go near a body of water for as long as he could help it. Ripples on the water's surface caused his imagination to assume the worst. Monsters were lurking in that river, and Eddie had no interest in sharing their territory.
"C'mon! What are you waiting for? The longer we take the further away that ship gets!" Axel called out, and Eddie knew he didn't have any choice. Gulping down fear, he extended a trembling foot, convincing himself there was nothing to be afraid of as he readied himself to go in.
Fortunately he wouldn't have to. Not alone, at least.
"Can't you see the kid's scared? He's shaking. It's ok, Eddie. You can get on my back." Blaze's arms were behind her, prepared to lift him up. Appreciating the gesture but not the talking down, Eddie stepped onto her arms and she gave him an upwards boost. He found safety in clinging to her back like a turtle's shell.
"Alright, we're gonna jump now. Ready?"
"Ready!" Eddie responded with an energy that matched his usual confidence.
Blaze launched into the river at such speeds that memories of his recent experience with aqua came flooding back, and he gripped her shoulders all the more tighter. This time around, Eddie did not drown, and instead found himself untouched by the water. Blaze, on the other hand, was waist-deep. An icy sensation chilled her to the bone. Shivering, she pushed on, through the current and past her discomfort, shared by the man leading them. Axel may have appeared unbothered outwardly, but only because a stoic expression was the one he knew best. All at once, every one of his nerves were attacked by an unrelenting, bitter numbness. Adversity had never stopped Axel in the past. His body moved with mechanical regularity, covering large amounts of distance in great, precise strides.
Blaze admired the man from afar. She marvelled at the way he moved; how, despite the uncomfortableness, she knew he had to be undergoing, he showed no signs of being affected by it. Blaze also cast a thought to the spandex-clad figure above. She somewhat envied his position. He was not subject to the unforgiving seas and did not have to force his way through them. Instead, Spider-Man swung with great freedom across a black canvas, and Blaze could only guess at the merry, maybe even condescending expression hidden behind his mask.
When Axel and the others closed in on the moving ship, Spider-Man, who'd been on the deck and leaning back against a guard rail, tossed down a ladder of his own silky creation.
"I'll go up first," Axel said, gently bobbing up and down.
"Oh? And why's that?" Blaze cocked a brow, and her tone suggested curiosity, but her smirk said she knew exactly why.
"Because," he began, cheeks reddening, "well…"
As he attempted to explain, she derived great amusement from Axel falling over his words. Axel Stone, the man who took down Mr X, and was on track to take him down a second time, could not string together a single sentence. He did, however, place wet hands on the makeshift ladder, with Blaze getting on after.
She admired the view...for reasons that had little to do with Axel's form.
Spider-Man looked up from his wrist, staring at a non-existent watch, to see his three fellow vigilantes. Water dripped from every part of their body as their teeth chattered uncontrollably.
"You guys got here quickly." Spider-Man's sarcasm hid his joy at seeing them, even as Blaze coughed up a spattering of water.
"Hey, you try not being able to shoot webs." Eddie jumped down Blaze's back, much to her relief. "Man, if I could do that, I'd probably be swinging around the city all day if being high up wasn't so scary."
Eddie's childlike innocence, especially during the middle of what was, for all intents and purposes, a gang war, soothed the Spider's heart. And yet, he asked himself if Eddie knew the tribulations that inevitably came with having powers, would he be so eager?
Back home, a world away, those born with powers, known as mutants, were treated with contempt and at times physical violence, simply as a result of genetic differences. In its own way, Spider-Man's situation was not so different. Every day without fail there was a false, downright slanderous article proclaiming him as New York's biggest threat, and not the villains he fought to protect it. Spider-Man had to come to terms with the fact some heroes, such as The Avengers, had better public perception than others. Such was life. A cruel, unfair mistress. It was only by chance he was bitten by a spider, passing on its agility, strength, and webs to a then-teenaged Peter Parker.
Spider-Man wouldn't wish his powers, or fate, on anyone. Especially not a child.
A wave of tranquillity washed over Axel and Blaze. The curtain of dusk began to gradually lift, blue and yellow tones replacing blackened nightfall. Axel, Blaze, Eddie and Spider-Man all looked ahead to the horizon as a warm, orange glow bathed their bodies. At that very moment, a new day was dawning. Still, even with the beautiful dawn, a question remained in Axel's mind and had stuck since they left the bridge.
"So, Spider-Man, whatever happened to that Vulture guy?"
"Gave him the standard treatment. Webbed 'em up, left 'em to the police."
"You did what?" Axel turned around, Spider-Man hanging from a ceiling above him. He held back no contempt for Spider-Man's decision. "Should've taken care of the problem permanently. You might as well have just let him go. Criminals never change. Once he's free, he'll go back to being a pathetic lowlife criminal."
"How do you know that?"
"Because in this city, there's no reason to better yourself. Crime is the go-to move. The easy way out. And the police don't do a damn thing about it. Besides, we already take the law into our own hands. We're both vigilantes, aren't we?" His tone was cold. Hardened by tragedy and loss on a scale no young man should ever have to face.
"You're right. We are both vigilantes. We both take the law into our own hands. But people's lives? That's not up for me to decide."
"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree."
"I guess so," Spider-Man said, and both men turned away from each other.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group, but the discussion on conflicting moral codes did not mar the new dawn's beauty. Seagulls flew by and chirped happily. The faint, salted smell of sea breeze lingered in the air. Blaze, knowing her fellow ex-cop was not one to easily relax after a talk involving a city he considered under his protection, rested her head against his shoulder, her soft hair providing a nice opposite to his strong, well-built muscles. She did not disagree with either man. The glow bathing their bodies had transitioned into an arctic shade, soothing any tension Axel still felt.
It did nothing, however, for Eddie. His stomach groaned and he clenched a hand over it, holding back from groaning with it in unison. Hunger got the better part of his promise and while the others occupied themselves with admiring the dawn, Eddie headed towards the ship's interior, creeping away and thinking himself a master in sneakiness. Then a floorboard creaked, and Eddie knew he would be caught.
"Eddie, where ya goin'?" She asked. In reality, Blaze knew he'd slipped away the instant she heard footsteps accompanied by a growling stomach.
"My stomach hurts. Bad. Real bad. And they've gotta have some food in there. So can I go? Please?"
She tutted as she shook her head. "Eddie, you know we can't let you out of our sights."
"Pretty please?" He furrowed his eyebrows together, made sure his eyes couldn't possibly be any larger, and pouted. The old puppy-dog routine. It never failed.
"Eddie…" She said, resisting.
"Hey, there's no problem if someone's watching over the little guy, right?" Spider-Man leapt down from his spot on the ceiling, landing with the assuredness of one who had perfected his craft.
"Can't argue with that. Axel?"
Axel offered a short nod in response, his head turned up towards the sky in contemplation. Perhaps there was some merit to a more peaceful way of justice. Perhaps there wasn't.
"Alright. You two be-"
But by that point, Blaze was talking to the air.
...
Eddie showed no hesitation in taking the first entrance he laid eyes on. The door closed behind them, leaving him and Spider-Man in a room that provided nothing in terms of familiarity. Pitch-black darkness would have left them both clueless, had it not been for Eddie's keen nose. Familiar scents, like freshly baked bread and muffins, wafted past his nostrils, and he was only eager to inhale them. It was a struggle not to salivate off mere smell alone.
"Must be the dining room," Eddie said, taking in the room's aroma even as he spoke.
"Sure smells like it. Let me see if I can find a light."
His costumed fingers groped around in the void for a lever, a switch, anything really, so long as it would bring some much-needed illumination. Eventually, the lights came on and their sight was with them once again. And what a sight it was. In addition to the pastries, the pantry had been stocked in preparation for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, and every other kind of egg under the sun arranged in trays that reminded Eddie of his school cafeteria. Strips of still sizzling bacon on giant platters. Nuts and berries also, but he didn't care for those.
So much food, and in one room. It was almost overpowering. Eddie salivated at the mouth; for a boy who'd eaten not too long ago, you could easily mistake him for a child afflicted with starvation.
Whilst Spider-Man would be lying if he said he wasn't fantasising about demolishing a plate of pancakes drizzled in maple syrup with a side of eggs and bacon, he did not match Eddie's enthusiasm or disregard for the situation. Putting aside just how amazing the cuisine on offer appeared to be, and - his nose indicated correctly - was, he was not supposed to be on this ship, and neither were his companions. Where were they headed? When would they arrive? And how had their infiltration gone off without a single hitch? Indeed, was the buffet simply a lure to trap them?
He did not think, and thus, Eddie did not care. Gliding between tables with a delighted, food-induced smile (they didn't call him "Skate" Hunter for no reason), he grabbed a plate and got to work, filling it with anything and everything. Except for nuts and berries. Eddie existed in his own personal heaven surrounded by the only thing that mattered; food.
Alarms blared, forcefully pulling him out of those fantasies and throwing him back into actuality. Spider-Man assumed a fighting position, preparing himself for the confrontation that would follow their presence on the ship being discovered. Eddie nearly dropped his plate, shocked by the sudden ringing in his ears that persisted even after the sirens came to a halt. Speakers attached to the room's dome ceiling broadcasted a message from...well, somewhere.
"Attention all passengers on the S.S X, this is your captain speaking. We have a couple of stowaways on board by the names of Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding, Eddie Hunter, and Spider-Man. Let's make sure our new arrivals are…" an eerie pause, "...taken care of..." The voice, honeyed and feminine, faded out.
Spider-Man had been right after all. They'd walked right into a trap!
...
"I'm worried," Blaze admitted, standing beside him. "About Adam."
The new day had dawned. Sunlight rose above endless shores, but it did nothing to alleviate either of their concerns, only highlighting the situation's direness. Out at sea, on a vessel taking them far, far out of and away from the city. At the time, boarding the cruise seemed the perfect next step. If that robot in Funland had been Mr X's doing, then it was only logical his influence spread to other aspects of the park. Doubts were beginning to set in for Axel. Blaze's words presented another pressing issue. Leaning over the balcony, Axel's usual stoic expression changed to a far more somber expression. Sirens deafeningly loud for Eddie and Spider-Man sounded to them like white noise.
"Mr X said he was keeping him alive," Blaze continued, "but you know how those criminal types are. Maybe he's changed his mind. Maybe he's dead.
Horrifyingly, her words struck a chord with Axel. He did not face her. Just as he did not wish to face the uncomfortable truth. His best friend may have been reduced to another name on a tombstone. Axel could not, would not, accept the idea of everything they'd done to rescue him being in vain. He was too hopeful.
"He's not dead," Axel said after neither of them had spoken for a while, and Blaze could hear the pain in his throat. "Because if Mr X wanted to kill him he wouldn't have told us to go looking for him. I'm not gonna believe it."
Blaze didn't want to either. Yet, she knew there was a real possibility. Men were prone to irrational decisions, especially men tainted by the allure of power. Fate decided Adam's chances of survival, and when that fickle finger belonged to Mr X, to say his odds were unfavourable would be a grave understatement. If Blaze were being honest with herself, she, along with Axel, would've fought the good fight against his second attempt to take over as Wood Oak's sole ruler without the capture of a loved one being factored in.
The infamous crimelord had no real need for Adam. No, he'd been kidnapped simply because he had enough power to get it done, and, Blaze estimated, Mr X felt some need to prove himself after previous failures.
"It's not that I want that to be the case. It's just-"
"I understand. But Adam's alive. I'm sure of it." He turned his head to the side, facing Blaze. Axel smiled a hopeful smile. "And whatever's out there, we face it together."
Something, perhaps the early morning glimmer in his eyes, or how he retained hope, even in the darkest of times, caused her to return that hopeful smile.
"Together," Blaze repeated.
In the years to come, both parties would wish the moment had been longer, but fate denied them that happiness. Distant alarms developed into shrieks so deafening they could hardly keep his feet planted on the ground, much less think. Senses overwhelmed, they were in no position to fight. Their next challenge aimed to take full advantage of their dazed state.
Neither Axel nor Blaze knew they were about to be put through a test like none other. Next to Rocky Bear, the Spider-Slayer was nothing more than a slight inclination.
...
And, as one duo underwent their trial by fire, another went through theirs. Spider-Man and Eddie's soon-to-be attackers zoned in, closing the distance until the former found themselves slammed against a wonderfully ornate dining room cabinet, which Spider-Man would've taken a moment to appreciate in any other situation. But as things stood, and they stood their guard, he dedicated his attention to the punks before them. Low-life delinquents flooded out from every other room on the ship, drowning the hall in a sea of blue leather. Outnumbered, an outsider might think Spider-Man and Eddie stood no chance of beating them, if they stood any chance of making it out alive. The two shared a nod before all hell broke loose.
Like a pack of wolves, delinquents launched forwards from every angle. Youthful nimbleness allowed Eddie to manoeuvre in ways Spider-Man couldn't, zooming between seas of punks, stopping only to hit them hard and move away fast. Those who were not dropped by his punches instead tumbled down to well-timed roundhouse kicks.
"Hey, nice job kid!" Spider-Man shouted across the room, wincing as another nameless grunt fell face-first into a vat of bubbling porridge. Power Pack would love him, he thought out loud. In contrast to Eddie's blurring movements, the Spider fought slowly. Methodically. For all their eagerness, the grunts, faces hardened as criminal's often were, proved to be no more than what he'd come to expect.
Like lambs to the slaughter, they charged towards him. He returned their assaults in kind. Spider-Man made a game of seeing how many of the look-alikes he could web up at once. So far he'd gone up to five. Maybe he could do ten. Was ten pushing it?
"Thanks!" Is what Eddie would've shouted back, but partaking in battle took priority. Even as he trounced their comrades, more grunts came barreling his way for him to effortlessly floor. Floor them he did. Bodies dropped left, right and centre, forming a pile on the mosaic-patterned carpet. Eventually, it got to the point where he actively skated around them. But in paying too much attention to his footwork, Eddie failed to notice that a few paces ahead stood another grunt, and soon he was the one falling.
With a grin that spoke to more malice than he could voice, the grunt inched towards him. Eddie would have been terrified. But he'd faced Mad Jack and lived, survived being kidnapped and taken so high above the city he could barely breathe by the Vulture. This man didn't strike fear in his adolescent heart. He didn't have wings. Heck, he didn't even look all that tall.
Just as the red-headed delinquent muttered some cliched one-liner, his target's eyes drifted over to a lead pipe that, amidst all the carnage, must have come loose. Eddie grabbed it and whacked him where he knew would hurt the most; his crotch. The hit landed with a heavy, metallic clang, and Eddie winced, watching the man's face go through various levels of pain before his consciousness ebbed.
"Looks like that's the last of 'em," Spider-Man moved from waiting to see if a group of baddies he'd strung up like a pinata (he managed to get eleven webbed up together, beating the target he'd set for himself but not his personal best) would try their luck again to leaping from a dining room set, swung from a loosened chandelier, and then helped his teammate to his feet.
"Y'know, we make for a pretty good team."
"Yeah. We do." Eddie beamed. He'd never heard those words from Axel, or for that matter, Blaze.
Spider-Senses going off on all cylinders, Spider-Man's head whipped around to the hall doors, a woman standing there. There was the click-clack of heels as she strutted in her form-hugging blue leotard and black fishnets, an outfit choice he wouldn't have noted as too out there considering his own, had it not been for the whip she held in both arms. Eddie, however, felt his heart race, and he was not yet old enough to know why.
"I agree."
Spider-Man recognised the voice. Hers and the one that played over the speakers - they were one and the same. That same voice got closer, and soon, very soon, all three of them were face to face.
"You took on hundreds of my men without breaking a sweat. Let's see how well you fare against me!" Her whip began to glow, crackling with...electricity?!
...
Measuring a good seven feet tall and being significantly rotund, Rocky Bear should not have been able to bounce around on the balls of his heels, floorboards creaking underneath him. Yet, he did. Axel looked up at the sneering man whose moustache was thick but head devoid of any hair and immediately felt as if he had shrunk. He was taunting him, swinging his giant fists in the air. Axel appeared composed on the outside. In reality, he found himself barely able to breathe.
"Axel," Blaze said. The terror she felt inwardly did not show on her face. "You don't have to do this alone."
He said nothing in response and instead stared down the tower of a man before him. Blaze understood, not completely, but enough to step back and distance herself from them. The taunting continued. Axel's eyes burned with the same intensity as his fists often did, and he affirmed to himself that no matter the height difference between them, the towering man's arrogance would be unfounded.
"Go on, pretty boy. Rocky Bear let you take first shot." His intonations suggested Eastern European origins. He laughed even as Axel winded his arm back shoulder and ran forward, making a bid for his unguarded stomach.
It did not connect, for he simply twisted to one side with agility comparable to that of a seasoned boxer. Luckily, Axel's momentum failed to carry him over the deck and he stopped, just short of the protective railing - and just in time to turn around, try once again.
Had Rocky Bear been anyone else, he would've complimented the man's speed, in spite of his massive size. As it stood, he'd never made a habit of giving praise to people like him, and didn't intend to start now.
Winding his arm back a second time, he inhaled deeply as though that may give his punch some extra power.
It might have.
A heavy blow to the chest knocked the wind out of Axel, leaving him breathless even after Rocky Bear's had gone from his stomach. He keeled over. That was about all he could do so that the pain did not render him unable to fight. The air had been all but sucked out of him.
"Axel, he's coming back!"
Blaze's warning, for all its good intentions, came too late. An uppercut directly to his jaw - a precise, powerful strike - lifted Axel up and threw him across the deck. Lying down, the sound of the ocean below him was deafening. The searing pain of possibly broken bones in his jaw did not pass quickly, and Rocky Bear offered him little time to recuperate. Axel could just about open his eyes enough to see a round silhouette charging at him. Staggering, but standing on his two legs, Axel winded both arms back, swivelled back on one foot, and faced Rocky Bear. The situation was dire. He still had one last resort.
The familiar tingle of barely contained power surged within Axel's muscles, brimming with energy he did not yet fully realise - but knew in the moment he would need every sliver of it. Tingles in his arms turned to buzzing, and then, Rocky Bear bounding towards him ever closer, brilliant, brightly burning flames enveloped them. Like a weary fighter, one who had truly gone the distance, he unleashed the deciding blow - for him or his opponent.
Rocky Bear had gotten careless, exposed his guard while running, and Axel took advantage accordingly. The first blow landed, wrapped in a crimson inferno. Spittle flew out of his mouth, the stout fighter's eyes appearing to bulge out of their sockets.
Axel didn't stop there, and before Rocky Bear could topple over, or realise just how much pain his body was going through, he followed up with a series of jabs in quick succession. The last punch, imbued with the energy of a triumphant victory cry, filled with the desire to make his opponent feel at least half the pain he felt, thrashed his stomach, piercing through layers of flesh. With a fittingly heavy thud, the colossus fell.
Axel smiled, and from a distance Blaze did too.
Rocky Bear had been downed for the count.
...
Spider-Man ducked, but the woman's whip hummed much too close to his head. It was like some sort of routine. She would send out her whip, it would crack through the air, crackle with the buzzing of electricity, and he would jump out of harm's way, onto the cloth of a buffet table.
Though he possessed the equivalent abilities of his namesake, Spider-Man was only human. He couldn't dodge forever.
"Look, lady, I don't know what you're into, but being whipped really isn't my thing," he joked, as he so often did in these types of situations, much to the woman's annoyance. For the most part her focus was on Spider-Man and not the little boy helping him, not for Eddie's lack of trying. He skidded along the carpeted floor, and, believing he'd escaped her notice, skated behind her.
"Do you EVER shut up?! And for the last time, do not call me lady! Call me...Electra!"
From the corners of her glaring eyes, Electra made out Eddie's speeding form, almost a blur, alarmingly close to her legs. Swiftly, she turned around to strike his chest, knocking him and his lead pipe into the breakfast buffet. Electra hit her target, then, but her anger made her reckless, careless. Carelessness led to mistakes.
Her focus now on Spider-Man, she continued, shooting forth the whip at him in desperation. But he moved with such poise and grace that it didn't matter how hard she tried, or how quickly she could wave around her electrified whip. He simply dived under it, as if he were a spy dodging lasers.
"I can see why they call you Spider-Man, because just like a bug, you are really, REALLY annoying!"
On most occasions, he would have responded with a quip, but Spider-Man contented silently in her anger. Now that he thought about it, Electra's fiery nature reminded him of a certain assassin sharing a similar name. That wasn't all; they also shared a similar dress sense, clothing equally baring, although Spider-Man never knew Elektra to rock a pair of fishnets. But as fun as imagining that was, he didn't want this exchange to be any longer than it had to be.
Swinging from a web attached to the ceiling, Spider-Man leapt forwards, legs first. Just as Electra had gotten careless, he had gotten overconfident. Electra cracked the whip one more time, and this time Spider-Man failed to dodge. Searing lacerations tore through his costume, and as he came tumbling down, the agony, the pain of a shock threatened to overwhelm him. Worst of all, his Spider-Senses helped little in the way of anticipating any further pain. Electra was there in his peripheral vision, whip crackling as she held it with conviction and a terrifying sense of finality, but they did not warn him.
With a rumbling groan, he turned his head, and his eyes went wide. Electra brought down a lashing upon still fresh wounds, then another, and then another, until Spider-Man no longer cared to count. In comparison to his current situation, death seemed like a pleasant alternative.
Eddie heard it all, from the routine, painful cries of his ally, to the delighted cackling of the woman they'd both suffered at the hands of. He wanted to get up, will his body into action. More than anything. He had to. Spider-Man needed him. Just as he too needed the Spider once before.
He stumbled. He winced. He nearly fell, and the thought crossed his mind that he didn't need to do anything and Spider-Man could handle himself, but he ignored it, and the pain exploding in his stomach. It wasn't important.
"What? Are you afraid to fight back? Have you given up?" Electra asked, gloating in the hero's apparent demise. "I don't think you can take much more. One last whipping should be enough!"
But she never would add credence to that phrase. Before her whip came down on Spider-Man, a metal pipe. came crashing down against her cranium. With Electra defeated, just another body on the floor now, Eddie smiled.
"Thanks, kid," Spider-Man said with the groan of aching...everything. "Really saved my hide there."
"Any time. What are friends for?" Eddie welcomed the praise, but part of him wished it was Adam saying those words.
Bodies forming a floor above the floor. Tables split in half. Food everywhere but their allotted trays. As he looked around, Spider-Man wondered if the fake ship had a real cleaning crew.
...
A very proud Eddie and a limping Spider-Man, costume slightly worse for wear, made it out of the buffet hall and rejoined with the others.
"Eddie!" Blaze called. She opened her arms, and he happily jumped into her embrace.
"Lookin' a little rough there, Axel," he said, joking. Spider-Man would've laughed if it didn't hurt so much.
"Likewise," Axel joked back. They were glad; glad to see each other again, and glad they were all in one piece.
The ship came to a violent halt, sending them all lurching across the deck on gravity's whim. The glint of sunshine against their faces gleamed with much stronger intensity. Axel noticed, but could not appreciate, the sandy beaches below.
NEXT: Blaze...Hunted!