Sorry for the delay.
"Everyone okay?" he asked, placing concerns of his own condition to the side.
"Been worse." Axel plucked himself off the floor. Blaze got on her feet second, followed by Eddie.
A few moments later, Spider-Man joined them on the edge of the ship's deck. Sprawled out ahead of them was a veritable vista filled with palm trees as far as the eye could see. Overlooking such a view, no matter how pleasant it was, did little to improve their predicament. In fact, the trees towering over the landscape only made their loss of direction more obvious than ever.
Axel and the others jumped down, their fall muted against the sand. Again, Spider-Man was the last to move, but Eddie took no notice and Blaze was by Axel's side as he theorised possible ways through. The teasing slivers of jungle not hidden by foliage promised one thing and one thing only; there would be a lot of ground to cover.
"Spider-Man."
"Aye-aye, cap'n," he said with a mock salute.
"We're sticking together. Blaze, Eddie, you go down that path." Axel pointed to the trail on the right.
Blaze puffed out her cheeks and frowned.
"Is there a problem?" Axel asked, unsure of why Spider-Man and Eddie were whispering to each other. Blaze's cheeks burned like her namesake hearing Eddie imitate what a teenager thought kissing sounded like.
"Well...you know," she said, cocking her head in a suggestive direction. Unfortunately what she was suggesting did not dawn on Axel and he mistook her emphasis for anger, shrinking back.
Meeting the equivalent of a brick wall, Blaze gave up and went off with Eddie into the jungle. Roller skates and sand did not go well together. For the first time, he couldn't overtake Blaze even if he wanted to, and didn't have to awkwardly lift his feet every time he moved. More surprising was the fact Axel hadn't given him the whole lecture about staying close by and not going off on his own. Eddie considered it a secret victory.
Watching the two disappear into the shade, he turned to Spider-Man and said:
"Please tell me you have a plan beyond walking until we find something."
"Axel, buddy, I think we're both lost." In more ways than one, Spider-Man thought.
...
Deeper in the forest, covered in shadows, lurked flowers and plants of all varieties. A few of them shone bright, brilliant colours, none like any he had seen back home in Wood Oak They glowed in what little light there was, and Eddie felt compelled to stop and appreciate them more closely. While Blaze went ahead, he reached for a flower that was in the shape of a heart.
Another hand slapped his away. He spun around, to see that a none too impressed Blaze hadn't gone off as far as he'd thought.
"Hands to yourself, Eddie." Blaze kept her tone firm and low, as if other parties were listening in. "You don't know that those flowers aren't poisonous."
He murmured something under his breath. Blaze caught wind, saw his lips move.
"What was that?"
"I said, I'm sorry, I'll be a good boy from now on." Condescension was dripping in Eddie's tone, but Blaze decided to ignore it and after forcing a smile the two were on the move. Exactly where to was anybody's guess. While the presence of Mr. X goons on the ship was a good sign, it wasn't much more than that. The only indication to Eddie of them moving forward at all was the variety in plant life changing. One plant had dozens of what Eddie thought looked like whiskers flowing from it, and spread an equally exotic scent. Tempting as it was, he willed himself not to go back. He'd been preached to enough times by Axel. He didn't need it from someone else.
Blaze pushed a curtain of hanging vines to one side and stepped with care around a scary-looking fern. Her focus was torn, one eye on Eddie, the other wading through a jungle worlds away from the concrete ones she was used to; trees in the place of skyscrapers.
Blaze's staring must have been less subtle than she thought, as Eddie quirked a brow up at her.
"What?"
"I wasn't looking at you," Blaze lied.
"Was too."
"We do not have time for this."
"You started i-"
Eddie went silent. All of a sudden there was no noise save for the chirps and buzzing of animals. Wordlessly, he pointed upwards. The last time he'd seemed to freeze for no reason, a giant robot hellbent on killing Spider-Man had appeared. Blaze would be remiss to take him lightly.
She followed to where the sky would have been, replaced by the underside of palm trees. Eddie mouthed for her to listen as the silence dragged on, becoming uncomfortable.
There was movement in the trees. Rustling, gaining momentum. Blaze held her breath, the rustling closer to her ear.
A whistle in the air, followed by a dart that grazed her leg. Blaze lost the sureness of her footing and would've fallen over-had it not been for Eddie's hand catching hers. Briefly, they shared a look, and Blaze didn't need to hear Eddie through her hyperventilating to understand his message.
Run.
The two of them took off, like a pack of wolves through the night. Thick branches and hollow logs threatened to trip them up at every turn. At that point, it mattered less what they were running from, and more that they were as far away from it as possible.
...
Silence hung between Spider-Man and Axel. It was worse, if anything, because they both had created it.
"Feels like we've been walking for days," Axel asked to the air and no one in particular.
"I'd say an hour." Spider-Man surveyed the surrounding flora, his head on a constant swivel. "Maybe an hour and a half."
"Think we're making progress?"
"Have to be." Axel thought he heard him wince. "If that ship full of Mr. X's most dispensable was on its way here, then odds are we're going in the right direction."
Rather than be reassured, Axel's fears only heightened. "I'm worried," he said with a hard swallow.
"Hey, we're saving lives here. It's not exactly for the faint of heart."
"I mean," he swallowed again, "I'm worried. Mr. X, he's got my friend. Adam."
Spider-Man stopped, considered telling Axel about Mary Jane, but let him voice his own concerns.
"Even though I'm doing everything I can, Eddie and Blaze, they're trying their hardest, it still feels like it's not enough." Axel balled his fists, knuckles tightening with the lines on his face. "It's like I'm-"
"-Powerless?"
"Yeah." He blinked, stunned; like the word was pulled right out of his mouth. "That's exactly it."
"Axel, you can shoot fire out of your hands. You're one of the least powerless men I know."
Axel could feel laughter rising within him, but he let out a sigh instead.
"We'll get Mr. X, because it's the only thing we can do. And 'cause we're the only ones for the job. Right?"
A smile stole across Axel's face.
"Right."
Just like that, his worry began to fade, and Axel felt more at ease than he had in a while. All because of a guy in a red and blue spider costume.
Said man in costume, however, had problems of his own. He'd hidden it during the first leg of their trek, but Spider-Man was lagging behind with a noticeable limp. Cuts and bruises from his fight with Electra were laid out across tears in his costume.
After walking for too long, yet not long enough, the two came upon a spot distinct from any part of the jungle thus far. Overlooking the horizon was a great waterfall, water sifting through and crashing down from the rocks above. At first, Axel thought it had to be a mirage. He could rub his eyes and there would be no waterfall, no pink-leafed trees surrounding it. When he did, the waterfall hadn't moved an inch. Neither had the pool below.
Spider-Man resisted jumping in and instead gestured in its general direction.
"Let's stop here for a little bit."
Shoes and shirt placed to one side, Axel dipped his feet in the water. The sudden sharpness of cold hit him, air blowing against his bare chest, but it quickly went away and he found himself immersed in relaxation. Spider-Man sat opposite, still in full garb. He did not stay sitting for very long before more important matters required his attention. One of the pink-leafed trees awakened his scientific curiosity and he went over to inspect it.
Maybe I can make a medicine. Just need some Aloe Vera and a knife.
At the other end of the pool, Axel rolled his head back, eyes open but not totally aware.
"Spider-Man? You okay over there?"
He gave a thumbs-up. Axel returned the gesture, and got back to relaxing. Just for a few more minutes. Tempting as it was to stay longer.
An object blazed a trail across the sky, appearing in the periphery of Axel's vision. He squinted and the more he did, the closer the object seemed to get until it was no longer interested in hurtling in a straight line. Then it was hurtling down from the waterfall's peak, deadset on making him the target.
Instinct kicked in. Axel dived for cover behind the nearest bush. His hair whipped back and forth, affected by the sudden presence of what sounded like a localised jet engine. Figuring it was useless to hide, he gave up his spot, getting out from the bush.
What he thought was a jet engine turned out to be a jetpack, worn by a man with yellow hair, orange tips at the end like a ball of fire. A brief glimpse of a face was all he got before the man charged him at full speed.
Axel threw his fastest punch, by no means aiming for a direct hit. In the end, he didn't get a hit at all, as the man pulled back at the last second. Instead of stopping at a simple dodge maneuver, the man full-on did a backflip in midair and catapulted himself in the other direction.
Warning signals went off in Spider-Man's head. He turned around and, with only seconds to spare, ducked. The man with the jetpack slammed through the air instead of slamming through him. Again, he headed for Axel, with the same relentless momentum as before.
Axel remained still. A sneer fell under the man's crooked nose as he closed in for an easy target, and Axel could have sworn he was faster. He feigned a lack of defence, and at the very last second, he drove into the man's stomach.
The force from Axel's fist managed to reverse all of the man's forward momentum. The jetpack no longer propelling him, he crashed into a rock that immediately buckled to the impact and broke off into smaller fragments.
"Yeah! Attaboy, Axel! No clue who that was, but you sure showed him!" Spider-Man cheered.
Not quite as ecstatic, Axel rubbed the back of his head, found it hard to believe that he'd sent the man flying with his own hand. The Grand Upper had knocked Rocky Bear out, sure, but that was different. This was his own, human power.
He looked over to where the man had landed, unmoving. Downed for the count, and one punch was all it took.
A feeling of unease stirred within Axel. This was too easy. It wasn't supposed to be this easy.
The jetpack roared, its engine flaring to life.
...
Blaze sounded as if she was trying to sigh multiple times at once. Eddie sat next to her, slumped against the same tree. He'd never had to skate so fast in his life. Then again, his life didn't often depend on it.
Eddie and Blaze found themselves in a state of respite. No darts raining down from the skies, and no more spears either. At peace, and while that peace lasted, Eddie was going to make the most of it.
"Is it over? Please tell me it's over."
Blaze waited for a sign, and when she heard nothing out of the ordinary, nodded to Eddie in confirmation. He heaved a sigh of relief, while Blaze only wished she could be so relaxed. Them being under attack, and it dying down with no explanation, that was cause for concern.
Rustling in the trees, that gave Blaze equal worry. It didn't pick up at first, Blaze wanting to believe that they really might be at peace, just this one time.
Still, she couldn't deny the truth. The truth of there being someone up on the treetops, and all signs pointed to it being their attacker.
"Yo, Blaze? You alright?" Eddie tilted his head, Blaze staring in the other direction. From his perspective it looked like she was staring into space, but Blaze had her focus on one thing in particular. A vine, swaying ever so slightly as it dangled from the tree's crown.
If she had her vine, then she could get up to the treetops, and then...
Blaze clicked her fingers. *Bingo. Damn I'm good. I should be a detective.*
"Eddie?"
"Yeah?"
"You're going to have to get on my back." After a pause, Blaze remembering how she'd climbed aboard the S.S X, she added "Again."
Eddie hoisted himself onto Blaze's back without question, happy to let her carry him and not be in harm's way. With the kid keeping a tight grip on her shoulders, Blaze grabbed hold of her vine. She pushed off of the tree and built speed up with each kick.
One final push, and Blaze had enough momentum. She flew upwards, through the tree and its leaves, and as she hit her peak Blaze was one with the sky, free as any creature could ever hope to be. Spider-Man could keep his webs. Nothing beat the natural alternative, as far as she was concerned.
While the sun gleamed in her eyes, Eddie's were wrenched shut, and only when he touched solid ground again did he pry them open.
Adrenaline still ran through Blaze's veins after she landed. The energy she possessed would take ages to quiet.
Or someone to take it out on.
A man on the edge of the tree knelt down, rifle placed to one side whilst he proved Blaze right by holding a spear. He appeared to be making some adjustments to the tip before he slowly, meticulously, recognised their presence.
"You must be Blaze. And you are-"
"He's Eddie," Blaze finished, stopping Eddie from going any further with an outstretched hand. "What's your deal?"
"The boss has told me much about you two, very much. But mostly he talked about the girl."
Eddie wasn't sure if he should've been glad or insulted, and ended up with some very mixed emotions.
"You are something of an anomaly, Blaze, to the boss. But, to be honest, he matters little to me."
Blaze stood in place, confused. For someone who worked for the best-paying and most morally bankrupt crime lord in Wood Oak, he didn't seem too enthused by it.
"What interests me is how you fight. I wonder how will you react when backed into a corner? Run away like a tiger cub?"
The man in an animal-print jacket baring his jacket got into a fighting stance, the sharp end of his spear aimed at Blaze's head.
"Or fight back, like the fierce lioness?"
Blaze shot a hard look at Eddie, warning him to get down. He didn't.
The man swung in a perfect arc, and she ducked underneath. He kept up his offensive and swung a second time with Blaze only able to parry that strike and the next.
"Who are you?" She grunted, the spear clashing with her elbow.
"Kraven. Kraven the Hunter."
In Kraven's hand a spear became a baton, one that could be twirled and spun around with deadly efficiency. Blaze's reflexes worked overtime. She was strafing left before Kraven jabbed right, ducking before he tried to make an impression on her ribs. He hadn't hit her.
But in their mad dance of limbs, weapons and their wielders working as one, she hadn't hit him either.
"I should warn you about something." Kraven made a lunge that sliced through the air and Blaze was forced to step back, give up a piece of what little space she had.
"Could we save the conversation until after I knock you out?"
Kraven laughed, a deep rumbling from the pit of his stomach. "The end of this spear has been covered in the secretions of a golden dart frog. Batrachotoxin. One touch of it, and you're paralyzed. Then you will die a slow, painful death."
Blaze twisted to one side, watched the metal end of the spear fly past her ear, so close to death and for such short a time. A gasp caught in Blaze's throat. The spear glided in her direction again and daring to press an advantage with the fraction of a second she had, Blaze threw out a kick that was maybe a bit too haphazard, too spur-of-the-moment. Her leg slammed into Kraven's elbow and lost any impact it may have had otherwise.
"Not bad." Kraven smiled under a full beard, actually smiled - the madman - as he stared Blaze down with wildfire in his eyes. "It's not often enough I get the chance to go against someone closer to my level."
His opponent, or prey, could have said the same. Mad Jack without his knife was just a shell of a man in dire need of therapy, and the bikers on the bridge had put up a less than impressive fight. No one had made her break a sweat. Made her try.
Now Blaze was paying dearly for it.
While she fought for her life, Eddie could only watch, eyes batting back and forth between the two. You will die a slow and painful death, echoed Kraven's words in his head, locking movement away.
A deft punch from Blaze was blocked, Kraven guarded, his spear held sideways. Her intention hadn't been to hit him, however. Not necessarily. He'd taken a step back. While Kraven was nowhere near the edge, if she could just move more, move faster, then maybe she stood a-
"Blaze!"
Eddie calling her name broke Blaze out of her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder and realised why, why her balance felt off. One foot was on the edge, the other not far from joining it. A wave of dizziness hit and then her arms started to flail, her body leaning dangerously far back.
Kraven analysed her helplessness with something like disappointment, but he aimed his spear straight for her heart. It was in Kraven's nature to have his prey die with some honour if they had to. Most did.
Blaze had no control over her world. The more she tried to seize it, the further it spiralled away from her. She couldn't give up, not after everything, not without Adam safe and at home.
She forced herself back into the fight. To Kraven's shock, she rose to full height, steady and leering. Blaze. The name made sense to him now.
So taken aback by her not going for a dive was Kraven that he'd left himself open and unguarded. Blaze sent the spear flying, far away and lost to its owner. Kraven balled up a fist but hesitated, and Blaze took her chance. She struck him with a mean cartwheel kick, her boots driving into his face.
Like she had been, Kraven no longer stood on firm footing, all the power from his stance gone. Just as he made an attempt to retreat, stagger back home with some pride, before a figure approached. Not Blaze, but Eddie.
His legs swept out from underneath him and it was Kraven's turn to be the one falling. As his consciousness ebbed, his last thoughts of his ultimate failure being at the hands of a mere child, he could only hope that Mr. X would be more forgiving to him than he had been to Toomes. There was a moment where he hit the ground and pain surged through his back. After that? Nothing.
Blaze lowered herself down on the vine, Eddie following her example. She studied Kraven for any last signs of movement before turning her sights on him. Eddie understood the look on her face all too well; a countenance of disapproval, a few misplaced words away from explosive anger.
"I don't know what the hell kind of game you were playing, Eddie. Deliberately putting yourself into a situation where you could have been killed," Blaze said, her voice trembling. Eddie prepared for the worst and rose his hands up in self-defense.
Rather than hit him on it, Blaze gave him a pat on the head.
"But it did work out in the end. So I guess I should be thanking you."
Eddie was all things, all at once. His cheeks had turned the same shade of red as his hat, if not brighter. A compliment. A genuine compliment from THE Blaze Fielding.
While he wrestled with his newfound pride, Blaze had already set her mind to bigger things. The path her and Eddie went down had been hopelessly long. She imagined Axel and the Spider hadn't fared much better.
"I wonder how the boys are doing," Blaze said to the jungle and no one in particular.
...
His Spider-Senses kicking in when he needed them the most, Spider-Man twisted in one direction and watched as the man with the jetpack arced right past him. He'd outmaneuvered him and Axel at most turns, but now Spider-Man had a clear shot.
He struck his signature thwip pose, waiting for a rope to shoot out and ensnare him. He tried again, anticipating the rush, the tingle that started in his wrists, but the result was the same.
"Spider-Man! What's going on?" Axel shouted, in position at the far end of the pool. For what reason, exactly, Spider-Man wasn't sure.
"I-I don't know!" He heard a noise this time; a click. That confirmed it. Must be Parker luck, Peter thought grimly. Web-Shooters, you have picked one hell of a time to run out!
Soon after, Axel arrived at the same conclusion. The webs he'd thought to be in endless supply were gone, no longer an option. Spider-Man was too far away, and too slow now, to reach the man.
Axel signalled to him, taking matters into his own hands. "Hey! Jetpack guy! Why don't you leave him alone and go for me instead?"
"The name is Jet!" He growled, watching Axel waving in the corner of his eye. His speed unfettered, but his attention straying.
"Are you not enough of a man then, Jet? Is that it?" Axel asked, pressing the last word.
If there was any universal truth shared by the grunts and higher-ranking individuals that made up Mr. X's footsoldiers, it was a lack of intelligence. Axel may not have been an A-grade scholar himself, but the way some Y-Signals came at him, it was as if they wanted to be beaten up.
Axel's observations were proven right when Jet stopped mid-flight. Snarling, he whirled around, blowing smoke and stray leaves into the air as the distance between him and his target closed. No effort was made on Axel's part to move. He went so far as to do the opposite and actively goad the man, gesturing towards himself. Spider-Man could only look on in frozen disbelief.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Axel, but I think you've lost your mind!"
More than anything else, it worried him that Axel had smiled at being called crazy. Not privy to whatever he was thinking, Spider-Man considered his options. All of them required webs, and if not webs, then more setup than the pace of his foe allowed.
I really, really hope you know what you're doing.
While the Spider stood on the sidelines, Axel continued to make himself a target. He spread his arms wide, marshalling for Jet to fly straight ahead. Into him.
The force of a human rocket transferred from one person to another. What had once been Jet's momentum was now Axel's, forcing air from his chest. All sorts of knots were twisting in his stomach, but only a grimace suggested he had even been in any pain.
Weak but determined arms wrapped around Axel. He could have broken free, Jet's grasp no more ensnaring than thin vines, but he didn't.
The grass formerly beneath his feet escaped as Jet stole away with him into the air. Even Spider-Man zoomed out of focus: first merely shrinking, then a red blip after they passed through the trees, then no longer existing at all.
In being so far away from Spider-Man, from Blaze, from the world down below, Axel found a strange peacefulness. Not quite nirvana, but not exactly dissimilar either.
Jet was grumbling to himself, not believing that Axel could still be conscious. "Not enough of a man, am I? I'll show him...those bastards back at the Stronghold...the boss...I'll show them all!"
Blinding sunlight filtered in from above. Axel shut his eyes, processing the new lead. If the Syndicate's Stronghold was anything like their Headquarters, then Mr. X would be there. That much he knew for certain.
They reached a point where the air around them had gotten thin. Axel could still breathe, but while not impossible, it was still less than comfortable. Jet slowed down to accommodate.
"I'll be a hero," Jet choked. "They'll never know it, but I'll be a hero."
Wouldn't count on it, pal, Axel disagreed. Alright, now or never.
Without access to his arms or legs, Axel resorted to a rather unorthodox strategy, definitely not one encouraged in martial arts schools. He tried for a headbutt. The back of his head collided with and smashed into Jet's face. Jet gasped, saw white, then wordlessly fell into unconsciousness.
Axel could execute the next step of his plan with him incapacitated. Before the arms keeping him in place slipped away, he grabbed both straps of the jetpack and took it for himself. He gulped in the last of the air supply and, holding his breath, angled the jetpack to fly downwards.
A beeping sound fired off. Axel located the siren to a symbol on the side of his jetpack. The fuel gage had gone from bright green to urgent, near-empty red, an omen of many things and none of them good. He held it firm. Roaring had turned into weak spurts with a trickle of fuel left.
Dark thoughts whispered to Axel, telling told him to leave Jet, let nature and physics take their course. What made him worth saving, anyway? What would he be going back to? A life of crime, surviving off of stolen riches?
The jetpack warning signal reached its peak when the fuel gauge emptied. Wind flapped through his gums, hair fluttering in every direction. He cast a glance to his left. Jet in freefall, in a way, finding the peace that he clearly needed.
However Axel sliced it, weighed up the worse cons against the better ones, Jet's death ended up being a net positive. Yet he was the same person making strides in Jet's direction, swimming through the air to him. Axel caught him in a tight hold, his lungs replenishing themselves as he rocketed closer to ground level. Never before, and never with such profuse joy, had he appreciated breathing. He hoped he never had to again.
Upon touching down, the softness of grass against bare feet fast growing in familiarity, he threw the jetpack to the side, saddened by its uselessness to him now.
"You did it, man!"
Spider-Man ran over, becoming noticeably more animated in the time since Axel's leaving and his return.
"Guess I knew what I was doing." A shirtless Axel let Jet slip free from his arms. What happened to him next was up to Mr. X.
Neither Axel nor Spider-Man said as much, but a look passed between them; that was their camaraderie. Their, Spider-Man dared to call it, friendship.
"I never doubted," Spider-Man said, and Axel was compelled to roll his eyes. "Hopefully Blaze and Eddie haven't wandered too far."
A gunshot in the distance, a bird flying out of a tree, and Blaze yelling put that down!
"Or made too much noise," Axel added dryly.
...
Following the sound of Blaze, and after Axel had put his shirt back on (unfortunately for Blaze), Spider-Man and Axel were able to regroup. Together they stood, side by side, in front of the largest hotel in the middle of nowhere that Eddie had ever seen.
Blaze found it odd, odder than the fluid Spider-Man had rubbed over his wounds, to be standing with such unease around her while the others had no problem with it. The last time she'd stood down a building that tall was the Syndicate Headquarters, a year ago. So it wasn't her first rodeo.
Why, then, did that make it worse?
Blaze had no time to process these feelings, to be her own voice of reason or confide in Axel. Phantom hands had opened the doors, ushering them all in.
"This is it." Axel paused, letting the words settle in the air. This was really it. The last leg of the journey.
"We ready, gang?" Spider-Man asked.
"Ready to get my brother back."
"Then let's not waste time," Spider-Man said, and with that, the group entered the Syndicate's Stronghold, unaware of what lurked on the other side.
NEXT: What's stronger than...the power of LOVE?!