The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 81: Blast From the Past
Fancy Dan wiped his sunglasses with some isopropyl alcohol, as he turned back to Montana and Ox, the former who was polishing his handguns, while Ox was covered in a new plate of armor.
"How do you like it?" asked Dan, putting on his sunglasses again. Ox gave him back a thumbs-up to which Montana chuckled.
"He's not getting away this time," he said, putting his handguns back into their new holster
"Don't get cocky, slick. We did that last time and got our asses kicked by a teenager," replied Dan, eyeing down Montana.
"Not this time," replied Montana, chuckling as he cocked both his handguns and pressed a button on his right wrist. In an instant, the gauntlet on his wrist extended over his entire arm, before the plate of armor at the center of his chest extended over his entire body.
"This memory metal is something else…" snickered Montana, as Ox and Fancy Dan extended their armors too.
"Well boys, shall we squash a spider?" asked Fancy Dan.
Yuri sat in her office, way after hours as she sifted through a pile of files, her eyes heavier than sacks filled with steel. That's when someone knocked on her door.
"Come in," she said, as Detective Macendale walked in.
"Captain, the night shift is here," he said. Yuri slowly nodded.
"Get some rest too, cap," he continued, as Yuri smiled.
"Last I checked, your shift ended hours ago too," she replied. Macendale chuckled.
"Actually, I was doing the same work as you. The body seemed familiar to me too, at least the way it was positioned," he said, putting down more files on her desk, as Yuri sighed in exhaustion and fell back onto her chair.
"If Jean were here, she would've figured it out by now. Hell, she would've caught the guy already. Hell, she and Spider-Man were a dream team," she sighed, pinching her eyebrows. Macendale shook his head.
"She'd admire your dedication," he reassured her. "And I know I have reservations about Spider-Man, but he's also proud of the effort you put in, I know it," he continued.
"Thanks. But it's been hours and I've found like zero connections," she said,
"About that, I may have found something," said Macendale, pulling out one of the files from the pile.
"The Italian mob? What about them?" she asked inquisitively as she read the file.
"Well, in the early 1990s they would do something similar: Hang up traitors, though their skulls were never crushed the way they are now," said Macendale, and that's when it struck Yuri.
"The Italian Mob. Skull crushed in, and that too just the forehead," she looked back at Macendale, horrified.
"I know who did this."
Spider-Man sat on a rooftop, listening to a podcast.
"Next up, does Wolverine trim his claws? And of course, more news on the identity of the Spider-Man! A new theory has been circulating the internet," said the podcaster as Spider-Man sighed.
He switched the podcast and lay on his back, sighing loudly.
"God I miss the days when the only people asking about my identity were New Yorkers and not Joe from halfway across the world," he said to himself, rubbing his forehead through his mask.
"Why did I have a feeling I'd find you sulking on a rooftop like this?" asked a voice. Peter immediately jumped up to his feet and turned around, recognizing the voice.
"Felicia?" he asked, as Black Cat stood in front of him, a smile on her face. "They did tell me that when a guy gets famous he'll forget who helped get him there," she joked, twirling her hair.
"Haha, that's funny," said Peter sarcastically. "Didn't know you were back in town,"
"And I didn't know you were best friends with Captain America now," said Felicia, as Peter sighed.
"We're not best friends, as much as I wish we were. And I'm definitely not an Avenger," explained Peter.
"I know, I'm messing with you. The day you get asked to be part of the Avengers is the day you stop moping around on rooftops," she replied sarcastically, as she took a seat next to him.
"So, any reason you decided to crash my perfectly peaceful night?" asked Peter. Felicia shrugged.
"I wanted to check up on you, especially after everything that happened with Venom," she replied.
"How nice. Now tell me the real reason," he replied. Felicia chuckled and took out her phone, pulling up a picture of a building and showing it to Peter.
"The Bronx Museum. Now you're telling me what places you're going to rob too?" asked Peter. Felicia scoffed.
"You think so little of me, don't you? There's an art piece in there, only it was stolen by one Wilson Fisk himself," countered Felicia.
"So glad to know that even though Willie is behind bars he finds some way to be in my life. How romantic," he replied, as he scrolled through other pictures, including the artifact.
"A mask?" asked Peter, as Felicia nodded.
"It doesn't belong to him, so I'm taking it back. But I can't do it without your help," she said.
"Last I checked, you're fully capable of breaking into museums all by yourself," replied Peter.
"The guards, genius. They patrol 24/7. I can't find a single way to get past them, but then again, I can't stick to walls," she explained.
"Woah Woah Woah, I'm not going to beat up innocent guards for this," said Peter, taking a few steps back.
"If only they were innocent. The museum is also partly owned by Fisk, and one of his subsidiary companies provides the guards. Connect the dots," she said.
Just then, Peter got a call from Yuri.
"I'll see you there in an hour, Spider," she replied, as she walked to the edge of the roof. "And Peter, I wasn't lying," she said, in a lower voice.
"About?" asked Peter.
"Wanting to check up on you," she finished, as she jumped off of the roof.
Peter looked back at his phone and picked up the call.
"Spider-Man, I think I know who was behind the murderer. Any chance you can drop by, so I can show the evidence?" asked Yuri.
"I'm on my way," replied Peter.
Spider-Man landed on the roof of the precinct, where Yuri and Macendale were waiting.
"Ah, Captain Watanabe and Detective Friendly, what's up?" asked Spider-Man.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot," said Macendale, as he stepped forward and extended his hand. "Detective Jason Macendale,"
Spider-Man shook his hand. "Glad you could overcome your arachnophobia," replied Peter, as Yuri cleared her throat.
"Anyways, the killing seemed familiar to honor killings performed by the Italian Mob, way before even George Stacy's time," said Yuri. Peter's eyebrows were saddened at the mention of his name.
Yuri handed Peter a picture, dated 1994, of a body, strung up in the same way.
"Hey, the head isn't crushed in this one," pointed out Peter.
"Exactly. Which is why if the Italian Mob is behind this new body, the shattered forehead has got to mean something," replied Jason.
"And that's when we dug deeper and found this," said Yuri, handing Spider-Man another image. The picture had Silvermane standing with a group of people. The person next to him was a whole foot taller and had an unusually broad forehead.
"That's a whole Uber ride from his eyebrows to his hairline," commented Spider-Man, as Jason unexpectedly chuckled before clearing his throat.
"We looked into him further, he was Silvermane's right-hand man, went by Hammerhead," explained Jason.
"We have a mutilated body with a crushed forehead and a dude with a massive forehead. Are we sure about this, or are we looking too deep into things?" asked Peter skeptically.
"We know it could be a reach, but after Silvermane died the Mob essentially left New York. Maybe this is some sort of message that they're back, with Hammerhead leading them?" suggested Yuri. Peter took another look at the picture of Hammerhead with Silvermane.
"If that's the case, then we're dealing with a ghost from New York's past. This is a first for me," replied Spider-Man.
"A first for all of us," said Jason. "We'll keep out a look-out for this Hammerhead fellow,"
Felicia waited on the roof overlooking the museum with her binoculars, taking notes of the guards posted around the place.
"One 30-degree jump across that railing…24 squared minus 16 squared…17.8 meters…" she thought, planning how she'll get in. Just then, Spider-Man landed next to her.
"You know, the last time we met at this hour, it ended quite well," said Felicia, while Peter shook his head.
"Okay, if I hear another flirt out of your mouth, the deal is off," replied Peter. Felicia rolled her eyes.
"There are 3 guards there. Web them up so I have a clear way in," said Felicia.
"Oh okay, so the cat burglar can be alone in the museum?" asked Peter.
"Did you forget when I helped you beat the Sinister Six? Or saved your ass like 10 times?" asked Felicia, staring at Peter, who sighed.
"Right. Okay, once I deal with the guards, I'm heading in too," said Peter.
"Not so fast. I need you to fry the cameras. There's a generator on the roof that supplies power to the whole museum. Destroy that with this," said Felicia, handing him a small device, that fit into his hand.
"EMP?" asked Peter. "I'm confused, why can't you do this yourself?" he asked. "I mean, I get the guards, but you could easily get on the roof and do this,"
Felicia sighed. "Fine, it's because the mask is in the special exhibit, with a circuit that I don't have the expertise to hack," she confessed.
Peter scoffed. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked, a little confused. "And what's so special about this exhibit?"
"My employer is a…collector. And he wants it for whatever reason," explained Felicia.
Spider-Man sighed. "If there's anything else you're hiding from me," he warned, staring straight into her eyes.
"There isn't," she replied frankly, as she jumped off of the ledge and to the ground. Spider-Man stealthily swung to the roof of the museum, placing the EMP on the generator, and activating it.
The EMP exploded, destroying the generator and killing the lights completely. Peter jumped to the ground, as he webbed a guard to the ground. Black Cat snuck up behind one of them and slammed his head on a nearby wall, knocking him out.
Spider-Man shot two webs at one's legs, pulling him to the ground, while Felicia jumped off of the guy, did a flip, and kicked another guard in the face.
"Spider!" she shouted, as she jumped over a guard and kicked him away towards Spider-Man. Spider-Man did a spin kick and knocked the guard out.
"Forgot how well we worked together," said Black Cat, dusting off her shoulders as they made their way into the museum. A massive mammoth skeleton stood in the center, as glass exhibits laced the walls of the museum.
"Did you know that apparently Captain America and the Red Guardian discovered mammoths alive in Siberia?" asked Spider-Man to Felicia. "Kraven would have a field day,"
Felicia scoffed. "Of course, you'd know,"
Peter raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Spider-Man.
"Nothing, screw it. Let's just get what we need," she said, dodging the question and rushing into the East Asian wing of the museum. The duo made their way to a smaller glass case, which housed a sword and a black and white kabuki mask. The case was lined with a strong cable, which held it tight.
"Well, that's stylish. Your employer must be quite a weeb," remarked Spider-Man, as Felicia pointed to a circuit on the other side of the room.
"That's the circuit I need you to hack. Think you can do it?" she asked.
"Do I think I can do it," chuckled Spider-Man, jumping to the ceiling and removing the junction box, exposing its wiry contents.
"Okay then…the fuse is there…just need to reset the voltage," muttered Spider-Man, as he rewired the junction box.
The cable glowed red as it loosened up off of the cage, as Felicia took off her claws and cut a circle into the glass. The glass gave way as she reached her hand and gently picked up the mask.
"It's even creepier when you hold it," she chuckled, as she showed it to Peter. He examined it as he turned it around. It was rough, almost as if it was made out of wood, but the black and white coat of paint seemed to stick to it.
"This symbol…what does it mean?" asked Spider-Man.
"No idea, I'll ask my client," said Black Cat, reaching for the mask, but Peter pulled it away.
"Uh-uh, not until you tell me who your client is," said Peter, as Felicia sighed.
"Some guy called Uchinaru Akuma, or something like that. Can I get it back now?" asked Felicia.
Peter hesitantly handed it back. "Sounds like a wrestler, what's he like?" asked Spider-Man, as the two made their way out of the museum.
"All I know is that he's rich, and he's a collector. I don't go interrogating them for their backstory," replied Black Cat, as she hopped onto a ledge. "It was fun working together again," she replied.
"Yeah, hopefully, next time it's not going to involve stealing from Wilson Fisk," said Spider-Man.
"No promises," replied Felicia, as she jumped off of the ledge and disappeared.
Spider-Man sighed as he swung away from the museum and onto another roof.
"Just need one month without another blast from the past, now that would be wonderful," he thought, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an energy bar.
"Not that I don't like Felicia, but she's a cat burglar. I should probably be arresting her. Then again, she did help me defeat Norman," said Peter out loud, chewing on the granola bar.
"And I bet this energy bar is just coffee flavoured and doesn't contain any caffeine," said Peter. "That's not gonna stop me from eating it- WOAH!" exclaimed Peter, as his Spider-Sense tingled.
Spider-Man quickly jumped to the side and dodged a bullet, as Montana walked out from the shadows.
"Remember me, spider?" asked Montana.
"Just when I said I don't want any blasts from the past. How's it going, Texas?" asked Spider-Man, readying his web shooters.
"Just swell, even better now that we can have your head!" exclaimed Montana.
All of a sudden, the roof gave way as two large hands grabbed Peter's legs, pulling him down and slamming him into the floor below.
Ox stood over Peter, as he kicked him into a dining table.
"Hulk, is that you?" asked Spider-Man, coughing as he got to his feet, noticing Ox's new metal armor. "Gotta say, looking stylish,"
Just then, a lasso tied itself around Peter's legs as he was yanked to the ground, then flung him into a television in the living room.
"And the lasso…guessing it's Posh Daniel," said Spider-Man, as he backflipped back up.
"That's Fancy Dan, and you're gonna remember me this time," he threatened as Montana pulled out his guns. Spider-Man webbed up the coffee table in front of him and quickly used it as a shield, deflecting Montana's bullets.
"Hey Ox, catch!" he said, as he through the table towards Ox, who simply punched through it. Spider-Man kicked Fancy Dan, who managed to dodge before tying his lasso around Spider-Man's neck.
Spider-Man webbed up Ox's face and pulled him towards Fancy Dan, before wriggling his head out of the lasso, only to come face to face with Montana's handgun.
With lightning speed, Spider-Man pushed the gun to the side, barely missing him as he punched Montana's armor, only to retract his hand in pain.
"New and improved. Keep up, spider," chuckled Montana, as he spin kicked Spider-Man, as Fancy Dan tied him up with his lasso again.
Before Peter could even react, Ox tackled him out of the window.
In mid-air, Spider-Man wriggled himself out of Ox's arms and onto his back, as the two of them crashed onto a car. Spider-Man tumbled off of him and onto the street, trying to catch his breath.
Ox got to his feet as he grabbed Spider-Man by the leg and slammed him into a lamppost. Peter quickly backflipped onto his feet and webbed up Ox's legs, before taking note of his Spider-Sense screaming at him, and dodged to the left, barely missing Fancy Dan's lasso.
"That's some good armor, where'd you get it?" asked Spider-Man, as Montana jumped onto a car and began firing at Spider-Man. Peter shot two precise webs and webbed up the muzzles of the guns.
Ox swept his right hand trying to hit Peter, who dodged it and then webbed his arm to a car, before webbing both his legs to the ground. He then jumped onto Ox and off of his back, diving straight through Fancy Dan's lasso and kicking him in the face.
"All of that and you idiots couldn't cover your faces?" joked Spider-Man, webbing up Montana's legs and making him trip, before spin-kicking him and knocking him out.
Ox broke free of the webbing and charged at Spider-Man. "Ah right, forgot about Bane over here," chuckled Spider-Man as he ducked under his legs, webbing up Ox's neck and pulling him down with a massive heave. Spider-Man quickly webbed all three Enforcers up.
"Let that be a lesson, that the armour doesn't make the villain…or hero…goes both ways!" said Spider-Man, as he walked up to Montana.
"Now then, tell me where you got these resources from," ordered Spider-Man, who simply chuckled.
"You really think we're going to just babble like that?" he laughed, while Dan groaned.
Peter thought for a second. "I mean, I know the other two are buffoons but I thought you were better than that, Montana," remarked Peter, causing Montana to raise an eyebrow.
"The hell are you talking about?" he asked back.
"See, Ox and Fancy Dan are the type of people to suck up to others, but I thought you were smarter than them at least. Man the last six years really made you soft, didn't they?" asked Spider-Man.
Montana scowled. "Hammerhead, it was Hammerhead," said Montana reluctantly, as Dan sighed.
"Well, thanks for the help gentlemen! I'll make sure you have separate toilets for your prison accommodations!" replied Spider-Man, swinging away as he contacted Yuri.
"Yuri, oh boy do I have some good news, it's definitely Hammerhead,"
Hammerhead sat at his desk, a map of New York City sprawled across, as he circled some places and crossed out others. In front of him sat someone else, in a suit and tie.
"I've narrowed down locations we could set up shop. Fronts for our money laundering section," said Hammerhead, showing it to the man.
"Sir, are you sure this is the perfect place to set it up? The owner may be a little reluctant to do so," he replied, his hands trembling a little bit as he pushed the map closer to Hammerhead, who chuckled.
"With the right amount of persuasion, anyone will listen," replied Hammerhead, placing his finger on the F.E.A.S.T shelter.
And that's the next chapter! Sorry about the time between uploads, I've gotten super busy lol. But hey, we're getting closer to unraveling the story, read on to find out!
Wow, things have become super stressful at school, it's my senior year and I gotta begin working on my college applications, school exams, a science exhibition, a 4000-word essay, and independent investigations in each of my subjects all while juggling new friendships and a relationship! So rest assured, it's going to be quite hectic, but I'll definitely try and stay on track!
CT311988: Yep!
Fate-Be Changed: It sure will be!
Marvel Nerd: Thanks man!
SpideyXBC: I hope you liked it! This isn't the last we'll see of her, of course!
Geek4Life: Indeed!
Teller-Story: I do hope you enjoy!
I am the Voice: He's certainly going to be a threat!
Guest: Ahahaha indeed he is!
Yours Truly,
Shadow Strike.
