WARNING: This chapter contains violence, trauma, and sexual assault. Please proceed at your discretion.
(The next evening, at one of Kingpin's warehouses...)
In the warehouse's packing and shipping area, Shocker and Tombstone hid behind warehouse racks with wooden crates on the racks. With them, there were five armored security guards, readying their assault rifles and shotguns. Shocker came prepared with a gun too, his hand near his belt's gun holster.
"Nervous?" Tombstone asked Shocker.
"Very," he sighed. "I'm just...afraid how today will turn out, Lincoln."
As a response, the pale man put his hand on his friend's shoulder, reassuring him. "We'll make sure they won't get their hands on a bill of lading."
"And those clowns need to die so they won't bother us," Shocker gritted his teeth underneath the mask. "I'm tired of them messing my life."
"Agreed. Let's do our best to stop them. Otherwise, Kingpin won't be happy," Tombstone said. "And Herman? Don't let their...nuisances get into your mind. Try to keep a cool head."
Shocker slowly turned to his friend in disbelief. "Keep a cool head? How the hell am I suppose to do that? They hurt our men and they're ruining my life! And I got the big boss breathing down on my neck!"
"Yes, I know," Tombstone replied in a neutral but understanding tone, "But if you let them get into your mind, it'll only get worse. Trust me."
Shocker couldn't say much on what Tombstone told him. So, he remained silent and they all waited patiently for their enemies to appear.
...
Meanwhile outside the warehouse, the Spider-Men and Black Cat crouched and observed the location from a rooftop not far away. A few armored and armed security guards being on the lookout outside of the building and the small office near it. Nothing much had changed from their last mission.
Seeing this warehouse of Kingpin's this time however, it made Scarlet Spider's breathing going on a fast, uncontrolled pace. He couldn't help but recall his death in the hands of Tombstone before the Other resurrected him. This caught the attention of Black Cat and Spider-Man, who looked at him with concern.
"Scarlet? What's wrong?" Spider-Man asked.
"I... I don't wanna die again," his voice cracked. "When I died, I felt...alone and helpless in this empty space. I thought I wouldn't meet the people I love again."
Black Cat immediately placed her hand on Scarlet's shoulder to comfort him. "Hey, hey... We have each other's back, don't we?"
"I know, Cat. But I'm just afraid, that's all..."
Spider-Man pitied his poor cousin upon hearing those words. "If someone dares to hurt you or even Cat, I promise I'll do some ass-kicking," he said in an assuring tone.
Scarlet Spider chuckled, "You never stop being my hero, huh?" His breathing slowly returned to normal now that he felt safe. "I'll kick some ass if they dare to hurt us."
"Me too," Black Cat joined in. Then they all focused back on the mission. "Alright, this is it, guys. This mission is either gonna make or break our final mission. Remember the plan and stick to it. Let's make sure it won't be in vain." Her friends nodded in understanding. "You all ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," the Spider-Men answered in unison, confidence and certainty in their voices.
"Okay, let's do this!"
"Wait, wait!" Spider-Man interrupted his friends, causing them to turn their attention to him in confusion. He looked at them with such warmth behind the mask. "In case we don't make it in the end, I just wanna say... We've been a great team. And I'm grateful to have you both as my friends," he confessed.
An amused chuckle escaped Scarlet's lips as he already knew how much he meant to his cousin. But for Black Cat, she simply gave Spider-Man a little nod. She still had doubt about her friends in her mind. However, she decided to think about it later after the mission was done.
With that, the trio jumped off the rooftop and swung toward the warehouse's rooftop quickly before the guards on the ground spotted them. Afterwards, they landed safely on its surface and checked the area below the rooftop. They found three pairs of guards patrolling around.
"Guys, a suggestion from me," Scarlet Spider said, prompting Spidey and Cat to turn to him. "Each of us handle a pair and incapacitate them. Knock one out and interrogate the other whether there's a jammer here or not. Instead of one of us, I think we all should ask the same question just in case. And perhaps other questions too. After that, hide them somewhere. What do you think?"
Glancing at the small office for a bit, something suddenly popped up in Black Cat's mind. She gasped inaudibly, recalling the first team-up mission. "Hey, about the interrogation thing. I think we should also ask if the office is rigged, like during our first mission."
"...Yeah, you're right," Spider-Man realized, "We can't afford a mission failure because of a mistake we haven't learned from. If it is rigged, then we focus on the warehouse, just like what we planned. Thanks for bringing it up."
Pulling her custom gun from her holster, Black Cat inserted a cartridge full of jammer rounds into it. "I'm gonna jam the cameras first. I'll signal you when I'm done." She ran to one side and aimed her gun at a camera, before shooting a jammer round. She repeated that to other cameras thrice, before giving a thumbs-up to the Spider-Men as the signal.
"Good luck, guys," she wished for the Spider-Men. "When we're done, let's meet up at the rooftop again."
"Understood. Good luck for you too, Cat," Spider-Man nodded and the trio split up.
Black Cat switched her current cartridge with a noisemaker/sleeping gas cartridge and looked at the pair of guards patrolling the parking area. She needed to separate them, so she aimed the gun somewhere between two cars and shot a small device to that direction. After that, Black Cat popped up the metal claws from one of her gloves, jumped down, and dug the claws into the walls to slow her descent. Upon touching the ground, she retracted her claws and crouched, walking fast to a nearby cover.
From her cover, she peeked out and glanced at the pair of security guards, who were closing in to several cars. Cat took out her smartphone from her pocket and pressed a button on her phone's screen that played an audio clip of a beeping sound on repeat from the small device. To make sure it was audible, she turned up the volume.
"Huh? Hey, David. You heard that?" Andy asked the fellow guard.
"I did," he raised his shotgun cautiously, "Stay back for a bit. I'll investigate." He began walking toward the source of the noise.
She took that as her cue to get out from her cover and walked quietly to Andy. She kept an eye on the other guard too, as he got closer to the noisemaker. Now him merely being a few inches away from it, Black Cat pressed the "SLEEPING GAS" button, causing the device to emit said gas. It made David feel doozy and he fell to the ground unconscious, hidden between two cars.
"What the f- Oh no, no, no." Before Andy could radio to alert the other security guards, he gasped when Cat wrapped her arm around his neck tightly from behind. Her other hand holding the custom gun against the guard's back.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Don't even think about it. Unless you wanna have some deep claw wounds," she threatened him.
"I... Ugh, fine. What do you want?"
"I have a couple of questions. I ask and you answer. Got it?"
Andy snorted mockingly, "Like hell I would." This prompted Black Cat to holster her gun, deciding to use a slightly different approach.
*SNIKT!*
The guard's eyes widened in horror when he saw the claws popping up from one of Cat's gloves.
"I didn't hear that clearly. Say that again," Black Cat said with a stern voice, prompting Andy to relent.
"Alright, alright! I give. Please, don't hurt me," he pleaded.
A smile formed under her mask. "Good. Now, is there a jammer around here? It's been messing with my sonar mode. I wanna find it and you're gonna help me with the jammer," she told him.
"I-It's behind the small office building! I know how to deactivate it!"
Black Cat retracted her claws, pulled out the gun from her holster, and held it against his back. "Just in case you're trying to do anything stupid." And so, she dragged the guard to the back of the office, finding the jammer in form of a secure mechanical box. She nudged Andy's back with her gun, telling him to deactivate the device. He complied by scanning his eyes and fingerprints to validate its multi-factor authentication and pressed the switch to turn off the jammer.
"Thank you. Okay, another question for you," she asked, "I'm looking to get inside the office to get some info. Is the place rigged?"
Andy simply nodded, his hands shaking and covered in sweat. "If you try to access a computer there, an alarm will blare." This confirmed what she had thought.
"Oh great, this is getting more difficult," Black Cat rolled her eyes. "Well then, thanks for the help. Sleep tight." She proceeded to hit the side of Andy's neck with her gun's butt, knocking him out, before hiding him in a safe spot.
Making sure her sonar mode was working, she pressed a button on one of her cat "ears" and turned her eyes to the building in front of her. Much to her relief, she could see the sonar pulses emitted from her AR goggles, showing the rooms and objects in the office. She was able to see through walls with the pulses again. "Good ol' sonar pulses are back," Cat smiled and turned off the mode.
She didn't waste any time and made her way to the warehouse. Raising her arm and aiming at the rooftop, Black Cat shot her wrist grapple gun. A rope came out of the gun and its hook then landed on the rooftop. She grabbed the rope and rappeled up against the wall. When she got on top, she saw her friends already waiting for her.
"What did you get?" Spider-Man asked, his tone was cautious but slightly optimistic.
Cat grinned, "Well, on the good side, I managed to find the jammer and killed it with a little help." This made Spider-Man throw a punch in the air, ecstatic she could use her sonar mode without hindrances. However, Cat's grin soon disappeared when she delivered the bad news. "But the thing is, the office is rigged."
"We both got the same answers as you," Scarlet Spider sighed. "Though I did ask another question to the guard I was interrogating."
Black Cat tilted her head in intrigue, waiting for the answer.
"I asked where the bad guys are hiding. They're at the packing and shipping area," he revealed, "Like last time they ambushed us."
To confirm this, Black Cat looked down and activated her sonar mode. The sonar pulses revealed only seven people in the building, hiding and waiting to ambush them. She deactivated it and turned her attention to the Spider-Men. "The guard's right," she said. "Time for diversion then."
The two spiders nodded. "I'll let you know when it's safe to go inside," Spider-Man told her before he and Scarlet jumped down to the back of the warehouse.
"Now, what can we use to cause some noise?" Scarlet Spider thought out loud as he and his cousin looked around. When they saw a bunch of wooden cargo boxes and crates, Spider-Man snapped his fingers. "There you are," both said in unison, causing them to look at each other and share a giggle.
"We throw and destroy all of these things. Er, maybe not all. And then, we split up and hide in the corner," Spidey suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Scarlet nodded in agreement.
The Spider-Men began to do their part, throwing and destroying the warehouse's boxes and crates to the point of the goods falling out of them. It caused such a loud noise so the two decided to stop and hide in separate corners. Soon, a roller shutter door opened with Shocker, Tombstone, and the others rushing outside after hearing the commotion. They all looked bewildered with what the sight before their eyes.
"The fuck? Who the hell damaged the boxes and crates?!" Shocker cursed, "...Kingpin is definitely gonna kill me..."
While the enemies were confused, Scarlet Spider pressed his earpiece to contact Spider-Man. "Hey. Okay, now that we lured them out, we yank the guards away with our webs. And we make them stick on the ground. What do you think?" he asked.
"I'm okay with that idea. It'll make things easier for us," Spider-Man agreed. "Oh and maybe we make Tombstone and Shocker follow us to the front of the warehouse?"
"Sure. That way, Cat can enter the warehouse safely and do her part. Alright, let's do this!"
From each corner, the Spider-Men spreaded their fingers and aimed at the security guards in front of them. Scarlet Spider focusing on the three guards while Spider-Man the last two guards. They then shot multiple web lines from their fingertips, directed at their targets' back.
"What the?!-" a security guard expressed his surprise. He, along with his fellow, screamed as they got yanked away and webbed to the ground. Shocker and Tombstone turned around because of the screaming, only to find the Spider-Men.
"You..!" Shocker's teeth seethed.
"Heyyy, Quilt Man!" Spider-Man waved mockingly at him with a little sense of mischief. "Oh sorry, we clowns are being itchy with our fingers! Sorry for the cargo, we just wanted your attention."
"And you got it now," Shocker replied angrily before turning to Tombstone, "I'll handle that darned bugboy!"
The pale man simply nodded. "I'll handle the other spider. And remember, try to keep a cool head," he reminded his friend.
With that, the two pursued their respective targets, who ran to the warehouse's front side.
On the way, Spider-Man contacted Black Cat through his earpiece as quickly as possible. "They got the bait. It's time for your turn now. We'll distract them as long as we can, Cat. Best of luck!"
"Thank you, Webs. Good luck and take care!" she replied before leaping off the rooftop, popping up the metal claws from her glove and dug them into the wall to slow her descent. Afterwards, she retracted the claws and proceeded to enter the warehouse via the open roller shutter door.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man faced a furious Shocker. "You up for some...shocking game, Shocky? It'll be fun. We bozos won't disappoint," he teased his opponent.
"No more games! We will kill you spiders and we'll find your other friend," Shocker shot an uncharged blast from his vibro-shock gauntlet but Spider-Man jumped out of the way of the blast. This angered him and he unholstered a machine pistol with an extended magazine, aimed at the webhead, and began to unload several rounds as Shocker let out a battle cry.
"Oh great," Spider-Man muttered before dodging the oncoming bullets. Unfortunately, some managed to graze him in the legs, causing Spidey to yelp in pain. As if this wasn't enough, another uncharged blast shot from Shocker's gauntlet sent him flying toward a wall, before falling to the ground. His spider-sense had alerted him but he couldn't react in time. Spider-Man groaned, feeling the overwhelming pain from his back. When he tried to stand up and looked to see Shocker about to shoot him in the head, Spider-Man shot a web line toward the weapon and yanked it away.
Shocker made a frustrated noise and activated his other gauntlet's energized battering ram attachment. He dashed forward to punch Spider-Man with the ram but the spider managed to vault over him. He turned around and saw his target, who backed further away. Reacting to that, Shocker deactivated the ram attachment and proceeded to shoot two uncharged blasts from his gauntlets, directed toward the red-and-blue hero. Yet, Spider-Man performed a quick barrel roll to the side to avoid his blasts.
"You know what, Shocker?" Spidey's tone changed to a serious one. "You could've used that tech for good. Why use them to be a criminal?"
"Good..? Criminal?" Shocker said those words with such disgust in his voice. "You don't know me, Webhead. I have to do whatever I could just to survive this shitty life!" Shocker continued, "Other people didn't care much for me but the Kingpin. He gave me a new lease on life, so I had to repay him somehow. But you're only ruining my life. The big boss keeps getting furious at me because of it. And you and your friends hurt my men, our men! Why couldn't you leave us alone?!"
For a moment, Spidey stood there, pitying the poor man for whatever bad circumstances he was in. "...I'm sorry for you, Shocker," he said, "But I can't simply turn a blind eye to criminals and those who threaten my city. Because that goes against the teachings of using my power for good."
"Huh. Not bad, kid... But you're in my way. So I have to kill you!"
As Shocker was about to attack him again, Spider-Man shot a web splat to his enemy's face, obstructing his vision. This gave an opening for the hero to shoot a web line to Shocker's legs and pulled them, which made him fall down. Spidey didn't waste time and quickly shot several webs to bind the man's hands and feet to the ground.
"One down..." He turned his attention to Tombstone, busy fighting Scarlet Spider. "One more to go."
...
"C'mon, just where are you..?" Black Cat bit her bottom lip as she searched the bill of lading she needed on a computer from a mobile workstation. Her flash drive was plugged into one of the monitor's port. She sifted through documents and filtered them from most recent to the oldest. Still no results. Her fists clenched and she slammed them on the workstation's desk. "Fuck. Don't tell me all of this is for nothing!"
As she needed to calm down, Cat took a moment to pause and looked around. However, with her being in the packing and shipping area like the last mission, she couldn't help but recall the moment that triggered her traumatic memories.
"Hey, you okay..?"
Those words spoken by Spider-Man and Ryan played again in her mind. Black Cat screamed in anger, trying to silence it. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" But it wouldn't stop as memories of her being touched without consent flashed in her mind too. She could even hear her own cries and pleas for her former friends to stop hurting her, only for those to be ignored. The way she breathed became shallow and rapid. Realizing it wouldn't go away, Black Cat decided to focus back on finding the piece of info the team needed.
It wasn't easy for her. She had to force herself to concentrate as she looked for a certain bill of lading. Yet, a part of her kept screaming that the Spider-Men couldn't be trusted. Black Cat didn't let it deter her focus and in the end, she found a bill of lading for a shipment of weapons, armor, and other supplies addressed to Shocker and Tombstone's HQ. Not wasting time, she copy-pasted the file into her flash drive, installed a virus into the computer to infect the system, and unplugged the flash drive, before hurrying out of the warehouse. Cat didn't even cheer in victory, she simply wanted to get out of there to stop recalling her traumatic memories.
Outside the warehouse, the two spiders were still facing Tombstone. They threw multiple punches at his face and body without holding back. But he managed to block some of their attacks. With the combined strength of the Spider-Men, Tombstone got several light bruises in the process. To stop the duo from surrounding him, he threw a jab and a cross, which sent the Spider-Men flying away to the ground.
"Darn... Even with the two of us, he's still tough," Scarlet groaned in pain as he got up. He turned to his cousin and offered his hand to help him get up. "You okay..?"
"N-Nope," Spidey accepted it and stood up. And they all returned their attention to the one enemy.
They kept their distance away from him, remaining cautious. Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man shot their respective web line directed at their enemy's arms, intending to yank him down to make Tombstone fall. They grabbed each web line and pulled it as hard as they could. But Tombstone also grabbed those and used them to pull the Spider-Men toward him instead. He did it with such ease that both heroes got caught off-guard.
"Oh shit, shit!" Scarlet Spider cursed out loud. Before he and Spidey could get away however, Tombstone wrapped his hands around their necks and slammed them onto the ground, leaving a crack. They couldn't let out a painful yelp as they struggled to breathe, with the pale man's grip getting tighter.
Both Spider-Men could feel Tombstone's hands squeezing their necks harder. This prompted them to shoot a couple of web splats to his face to stop him. He growled and stepped back, trying to get rid of the webbing as the spiders coughed and got up, catching their breath.
"It doesn't matter even if you and Peter team up," the Other spoke to Kaine, "You can't defeat Tombstone and you know that. I am what you need."
"No. I don't need you!" Kaine shut him down. "No matter how many times you'll try to tempt me. Once again, I am not falling for that."
Despite hearing that, the Other simply cackled, unfazed with Kaine's words. "Hah, fine. But perhaps next time, we'll see if you remain true to your words. And when you and your dear cousin are sitting ducks? You'll regret refusing my power." Afterwards, he remained silent. And for a moment, doubts began to pop up in Kaine's mind.
Tombstone ripped off the webbing from his face and looked at Scarlet Spider with intrigue. "Something changed inside you, didn't it?" he commented, "That ferocious strength you had after you came back is gone now."
"So what? Seems like you prefer fighting me when I have it?" Scarlet asked.
The expression on Tombstone's face changed into that of boredom. "Indeed. Fighting against an equal is much more...fair and thrilling. But you?" The man scoffed, "You are not my equal now, just like the other spider. On the flip side however?" Tombstone grinned, showing his sharpened teeth-like fangs. "It makes you two easy targets to kill, so my friend Kingpin won't have to think of you nuisances again."
"Sheesh. You guys really want us dead that bad, huh?" Spider-Man joked.
"Anything to keep Kingpin's empire intact. I bled together with the big boss to make our dreams come true." He bent one of his knees forward, his attention on the duo, which made them cautious. "So I won't let anyone destroy our hard work!" Tombstone then charged toward Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man.
The two vaulted over the pale man just in time and the three turned around to face each other.
"Well, we won't let anyone like you destroy or hurt our city! This is our home, our playground, our responsibility," Spider-Man said.
"And we'll do whatever it takes to stop you all," Scarlet Spider added.
"Even if that means you might not come back to the people you love?" Tombstone taunted the Spider-Men. His words made them freeze in fear, thinking about such possibility. At that time, Spider-Man couldn't help but remember his parents and aunt May. For Scarlet Spider, the people that came into his mind was his mother. They both also thought of their friend Annabelle.
Before Tombstone could attack the two, a couple of rubber rounds shot to the back of his head greeted him. He turned his back and saw Black Cat, aiming her pistol at him.
"Hello there," she greeted him coldly.
Tombstone's expression was a confused one upon seeing Cat, who appeared out of nowhere. Then it suddenly clicked and he realized the Spider-Men were a distraction. Black Cat had sneaked in during the diversion and got her hands on a piece of intel. The confusion now turned into horror. Slowly, his hands closed into fists. Rage began to fill Tombstone as he realized the consequences.
"Damn you!" He was about to rush and attack Black Cat, only to be greeted by several shots of rubber rounds to the face. It didn't hurt him but he had to stop and cover his face as Cat unloaded the whole cartridge. At the same time, he felt two web lines sticking on his back. The Spider-Men didn't waste time and yanked Tombstone down to make him fall.
Black Cat reloaded her gun with a new cartridge and kept shooting at Tombstone to distract him. With this opportunity, Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man shot several webs at the man to make him stick on the ground.
Scarlet turned his attention to Black Cat. "Did you get the info?"
"I did," she replied.
Spider-Man jumped ecstatically and threw a punch in the air. "Awesome!" He couldn't hide his joy with all of them now a step closer to defeating the bad guys. "Alright uh, let's get outta here before these guys kill us-"
The trio proceeded to exit the area and zipped upward toward a rooftop, leaving Shocker and Tombstone alone.
Tombstone struggled a bit before breaking free of his bounds and rose from the ground. He pulled out a pocket knife, approached his friend, and kneeled down. He cut the webbing that bound Shocker to the ground and helped him get up.
"W-WHERE ARE THEY!?" Shocker screamed, madness reflected on his eyes.
"They got away and they know our headquarters now," Tombstone replied in a grim tone. "Us fighting the spiders? It was just a diversion for Black Cat to get in and retrieve a bill of lading that leads to us."
"...What..? It- No, it can't be..." Shocker looked down and fell to his knees. "Fucking hell... We're gonna be done for." He turned to the pale man weakly, "What do we do now?"
"We help the security guards and check up on them first. After that, we..." Tombstone let out a deep sigh, "We return to HQ and deliver the news to Kingpin."
Shocker's breathing became fast as he dreaded the thought of seeing Kingpin's face and enduring his wrath for yet another time. He recalled the string of failures he had, with the trio being the cause of his suffering and misery. Overwhelmed with these, he let out a scream of anguish and punched the ground multiple times before eventually stopping. His gloved hand shook uncontrollably as blood began to seep out and soak the glove.
"Herman..." Tombstone put his hand on Shocker's shoulder to comfort him. But his friend remained silent, shaking his head as he wondered why his life had to be miserable.
"We did it! Oh man. Thank you, Cat. Thank you... We couldn't have done this without you," Spider-Man smiled underneath his mask.
"You're right about us, Webs. We do make a great team," Scarlet Spider chuckled.
"Okay, how about we pound our fists in celebration?" Spidey, along with Scarlet, clenched their fists and extended their arms, waiting for Black Cat to join in. However, she didn't celebrate the victory of their mission. She was quiet, so quiet that it made the two spiders share a worried glance.
Spider-Man turned to her and approach his friend. "Hey, what's wrong..?"
"Something on your mind bothering you, Cat?" Scarlet Spider asked with concern in his voice, "You've...never been awfully quiet before."
"...Yeah, something's on my mind. But I'll be fine, really," she waved her hand and laughed it off. The Spider-Men looked at each other before returning their attention to Black Cat. Both knew she wasn't telling the truth but decided to let it slide.
"Okay... If you say so. But if you ever need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to text or call one of us, alright?" Spidey reminded her, earning a nod from Black Cat.
"Yeah... Anyways, see you later? I'll send the bill of lading when I can."
"S-Sure. And okay, see you later, Cat. Take care," Spider-Man said.
The trio bid farewell to one another before splitting up and swinging their way home. Scarlet and Spidey couldn't stop thinking what was bothering their friend's mind. While Black Cat cried with her doubts and fears kept popping up in her mind.
"I'm sorry for ruining the mood... I'm... I'm sorry..."
A/N #1: Seems like things will only get rougher for both heroes and villains. For Black Cat, maybe it won't get better... The next chapter will focus more on the villain antagonists and the aftermath of this battle. It's not a long one though, so you can relax when reading it.
A/N #2: I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. If you like this fic, favorite and follow it! If you wanna see more of my fanfics in the future, favorite and follow me :3 You won't regret it but I'm not forcing you to do those though. Feel free to share this and leave a comment about your thoughts on this chapter. Anyways, happy (belated) new year! And have a good day/night :D
