Smut to start off the chapter, just a warning since there hasn't been much yet.
February 12th 2001, Frost Penthouse, 10:00 PM EDT
After sparring, the two of us headed for my place. "Thanks for letting me come over man." Peter said with a groan. We were both pretty exhausted from brawling with each other, but it was that good post work out exhaustion. "I'm worn out, but I'm also way too wired to sleep. If I went home I'd just end up spending all night on my computer trying to be quiet enough not to wake Aunt May."
I shrugged. "De nada. No reason to thank me. Having a buddy over will be fun. My new place is pretty baller, but it's also kind of empty." Assuming Felicia wasn't around, which I figured she'd have called me if she was. If she had I'd have dropped Peter at home. Friend or not, I was pounding that fat cat burglar ass first chance I got. The sheer jiggle was mindboggling.
He just laughed. "I can't believe you got a new place from this mysterious third teammate of ours. Then again, having seen what you can do even holding back I kind of get it. Exactly how much more power than what you used are you capable of exerting?" He seemed fascinated by my powers. Which I got, they were pretty awesome after all.
"That's...complicated." I answered softly. I glanced around to make sure no one was listening, but we were on a New York bus at ten PM. People had talked about far worse without getting noticed or caught in situations like these. My power mostly comes down to two factors in terms of destructive potential. Full output and safe output. You can think of it like maximum potential and usable potential."
His face lit up. "Ah, I get it. So say you could output a total of a hundred units of damage, if you could quantify damage like that, you might only be able to control ten units of damage." Peter's brain frankly amazed me sometimes. Even in the short time I'd known him he'd demonstrated and almost scary ability to correlate data and sift information from raw facts. I mean, I hadn't exactly been vague just then, but being able to properly extrapolate the details from that one sentence was nuts.
"Exactly." I said with a nod. "Control is the key there. My power is massively dangerous. Not just because of the vibrations and actual damage, but because the shattering of space can expand far beyond what's intended if I'm not careful. Honestly, I've been pushing my usable potential up over the last few months rather than working my max, and I'm going to run up against a wall soon. If we're going to be doing this I'll need to start actually growing again. Physically too, I need to find a way to work out."
Control was important, but fighting Peter was the first time outside sparring with my grandfather that I'd ever failed to overcome an opponent with brute force. I'd been pretty fucking confident in myself, but Peter had really pushed me. Even if I won in the end, it had been a hard battle. Not to mention the bullets from Hector and co. had actually hurt me. Not too badly mind you, just light bruising, but my durability scaled with my strength. I needed to start pushing my body again, making my muscles denser and giving my defense a boost.
We didn't talk much on the rest of the ride, but once we got to the penthouse and I let him in, Peter couldn't hold back a squeak of surprise. "You live...HERE?" His eyes raked over the luxurious furnishings and high quality furniture. "I assumed when you said she gave you a place to crash you meant some kind of apartment. This place is bigger than my HOUSE. " I checked my phone, noting that Gwen had been fine with me rescheduling earlier. With all the stuff going on with Peter I'd decided to push it to tomorrow. I expected her to sulk, but it seemed like she was so embarrassed we were going out the day before Valentines (which I'd forgotten was even a thing) that she forgot to be annoyed.
Tossing my phone and jacket on the couch I dropped down with a groan. "Make yourself at home man. Mi casa es su casa. There's a kickass shower if you want to use it. I was just gonna watch a movie or something. I'm beat. You hit like a fucking truck."
He walked around me and dropped onto the couch. "Yeah, a movie does sound good. What are we watching?" I flipped on the tv, skimming through the guide. Thank the gods for Ozcorp, I couldn't imagine how shitty channel surfing would be without the Oztop box. Being able to fast forward through commercials was great, but the guide was the most convenient thing about the setup. I'd been thrilled this place had one.
I flicked through a few shows and movies before settling on a favorite. "Here, we can watch the Mummy. I love this movie. Brendan Frasier is awesome, and Rachel Weisz is a fucking smokeshow. I would hit that like the fist of an angry god." Peter choked a bit with laughter at the phrasing, but he didn't argue. Not that I expected any straight guy to try to claim Rachel Weisz wasn't sexy in the Mummy.
"Awww." Came a cooing voice from behind us. "You're going to make me all jealous." I jerked and almost fell off the couch whirling to find Felicia, in costume, plastered artfully against the frame of a door in a way that highlighted that fat pawg booty and managed to show plenty of cleavage at once. I wondered if it was uncomfortable to be in that pose, but mostly at the moment I was more annoyed than curious.
Peter looked relatively relaxed. I was guessing his power didn't warn him about any danger. Still, ot was jarring she was able to sneak up on us so easily. Sure, we were tired, but she'd come out of nowhere. I blew out a breath. "Cat. Good to see you. I thought you said you were going to call first. Not that you aren't welcome, but it's not exactly safe to sneak up on a man like me. What if I'd hurt you?"
She pouted sexily. "Awww, do you want to punish me for being bad?" I fought not to roll my eyes. She was playing the sex kitten again, which seemed to be a default setting. Probably because Peter was here and she was feeling off balance. I wondered how much she'd heard of our conversation. Probably something at least.
I turned to Peter with a sigh. "Hey man, watch the movie for a bit? Me and my pretty kitty need to have a chat." I stood up and stalked over, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the room. She gave a ditzy squeak and a giggle as I pulled her out, but once we were gone her eyes sharpened and she glared up at me. I raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm having a friend over. You didn't say I had to keep people away."
She jabbed a finger into my chest. "Because I didn't think I fucking HAD to tell you that you shouldn't bring people to our safehouse. I just stopped in to check up on you, and imagine my surprise when I see you chilling on the couch with some scrawny teenager. Do you fucking realize how bad this will be for me if the Kingpin traces you here and sets a trap or something. Not all of us are bulletproof."
I sighed. "I brought him here because he has powers, Felicia. He's a potential recruit for the team." Peter and I had decided to let her in on the fact that he had powers, though not the details, at least until we knew we could trust her. "Look, I get you're worried. But we need to trust each other. It's your place too, so feel free to drop in. I'll text you if I have someone over who isn't in the know alright?"
She swallowed and nodded sullenly. I grinned. "But I can't help but notice you wore your costume for your visit. Hoping we might get some time for a little...team building?" I put a hand on her hip lightly as I stepped closer, looming over her a bit but giving her room to back off if she wanted. She seemed like a girl who might enjoy the size difference, but I wasn't going to push if she wasn't in the mood.
To my shock she actually flushed a bit. "I...might have been a bit stressed lately. Maybe thought we could blow off a little steam together as teammates." Her eyes narrowed. "But I'm not fucking you with that kid in the other room. Contrary to what you might think I'm not a slut. I just..." She looked away. "I'm not used to having someone to count on. I thought we could celebrate that a bit. You know, just two consenting adults doing some bonding."
I blinked. She must be REALLY lonely to be so defensive about this. I actually felt kind of bad. I reached down to put a finger under her chin, lifting it to look at me as I leaned down for a soft kiss. She groaned a bit into my lips but didn't pull back. I kissed my way down her jaw, pulling her close to whisper in her ear. "My poor little kitten. You've been all alone haven't you. Do you want to spend some time with your new partner?"
She mewled a bit, nodding absently as her eyes lost focus staring off into the room. I groaned because she was right though, if I fucked her here Peter would hear. And I didn't want him getting any ideas. I'd decided to keep Felicia. I'd gotten to her first. Still I was insanely horny. I glanced back to the living room, still hearing the TV going. Then I looked down at her exposed cleavage. "Let me fuck your tits?"
I expected a yes or a no, but Felicia just kind of jerked and glanced back at the doorway. "Billy." She hissed. "What if he catches us?" I suspected this would have been way harder to manage if she wasn't so pent up from her one woman quest for vengeance, but I didn't care that much. I wanted those fat tits around my cock. I reached up and gave one a quick squeeze, getting a slight moan from her. She wriggled cutely. "Don't be so rough with them." Biting her lip, she looked back at the living room door before sighing.
She pouted as she knelt down. Unzipping the front of her costume enough to let her fat jugs bounce free, exposing pretty pink nipples. "Ok, fine. But only because I know you'll be all distracted all night if you don't finish. Once you're done we go back in there and you can introduce me to our new teammate. If I'm sharing this mission with someone else I want to meet them." She reached up to grab her breasts, hissing at the cold touch of her hands, and I unzipped my pants with a grin, letting my cock bounce free.
Being around Felicia hadn't exactly been good for keeping my dick down, and I hadn't nutted in a while. My pretty kitten was staring now, a bit gobsmacked, and I was smugly enjoying the shock on her pretty masked face. I was a big guy, and my dick wasn't small either. Eleven inches was substantial, and I wasn't exactly a pencil dick either. She groaned as she shuffled forward to wrap her tits around me, hissing at how hot my cock was between her breasts.
"Fuck." She moaned softly. "Look at this monster. Maybe I should thank the kid for getting in the way of our alone time. I think if I took this anywhere but between my tits I wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow." She started to move then, running them up and down my cock, and I had to fight back a groan. She had both nipples in her hands, pinching them between her fingers as she stroked me with her tits, and she was wriggling like a naughty puppy, rubbing her thighs together in excitement.
I hadn't had a woman play with my cock since I got to New York, and it felt AMAZING. I put a hand on her face, forcing it up to look at me as she ran her soft breasts up and down me. "Good girl." I cooed. "That's it. Fuck these are even better than I expected. They're so soft. You're being so good for me." Her eyes widened in fervent excitement, and I felt myself get even harder as I saw how much she was loving this. "I wanted this the moment I first saw you. You know how sexy you are?"
She moaned, nodding quickly. "I do. I wanted you too. You're so big and intimidating. I got so fucking wet watching you break into that building. I should have known a man like you was hung like this." She cooed, leaning down to lick the head of my cock where it was pushing up from between her tits. I groaned at the softness of her hot little tongue. "It's ok baby." She mewled. "Just let go for me. Let your kitten take care of her big strong protector. You just keep me safe and let me drink up all that delicious cream."
I was pretty much positive she was manipulating me at this point, but I didn't care. I was getting a competent teammate and the softest hottest tit job I'd ever had. If she wanted a man to play protector I'd be all the protection she needed. Even if I wasn't planning to use any when I finally got to try out that pretty cunt. She worked on my like that for about fifteen minutes. Cooing and whispering and stroking and sucking. Teasing out every bit of pleasure she could manage without letting me actually cum.
Fuck this girl could work a dick. I made a mental note not to insinuate to Gwen that we were going to be exclusive, because there was no way I wasn't getting this every fucking day if I could. I hissed as I felt my balls tighten. "Felicia, sweetie. I'm gonna blow. Smother it with your tits for me so it doesn't get everywhere." She grinned up at me like the cat that ate the canary.
Instead of smothering my dick she pulled away, letting those fat jugs bounce free enticingly for a second before she dove forward like a striking snake. I swear she almost unhinged her jaw as she rolled her throat down my dick like a condom, taking me all the way to the base in one quick move. One hand snaked around to grope my ass as the other fondled my balls, and I had to choke back a groan of joy as I finally nutted down her tight little throat. Felicia worked my nuts with her soft hand, gently stroking and rubbing to wring out every drop before she popped off me with a giggle. Then, without a word, she popped to her feet, stuffed her tits back into her jumpsuit and turned to saunter into the living room, fat ass swaying. I just slumped against the wall. She was REALLY good at that.
February 13th 2001, Frost Penthouse, 10:00 AM EDT
Peter ended up crashing at my place, after slipping back into his house to leave a note for his aunt that he'd gotten up early. He took the fast way, so I barely had enough time to get my dick sucked before he got back, but barely was still enough, and Felicia was happy to tempt me a little further. Sadly, he was back all too soon, and we all passed out on the couch watching movies after a night bonding as a team, which was much easier to focus on after the second blowjob.
In the morning, Felicia and I woke up to find Peter cooking pancakes for us, which was nice, and as we sat down to dig into the hot breakfast, he finally brought up the elephant in the room. "So. We're going to be going after Fisk." Felicia froze, her expression becoming complicated, but eventually she nodded, forcing herself to keep eating. Peter took a bite, chewed thoughtfully, and asked. "What do you know about his operation? Billy came to me to ask about it, but I'm assuming you already have a firm idea?"
Felicia swallowed heavily. "Somewhat. I can tell you the basics of course. Fisk started out in the drug trade, kidnapping mutants to harvest a special hormone from them to create super soldiers. After he built up some steam he recruited a few locals to help him bounce Turk Barrett, one of the local crime bosses, out of town so he could take his place. He flipped one of Barrett's men, Jefferson Davis, and between him and his own crew of monsters he calls 'The Enforcers' established an iron grip on the city's drug trade."
Peter made an interested sound. "I knew about The Enforcers. Never heard of Davis though. He must have been killed or something. These days the enforcers are just four guys. Ox, Montana, Fancy Dan, and Mr. Big. There was actually a break in the Kingpin's operations for a few years after he took down Barrett, from what I can tell he got picked up by the cops and did some time, not that it seems to have loosened his grip."
"It hasn't." I agreed. "No clue when he got out, but Hector the dug dealer was terrified of the guy, and made it sound like he'd always been the one in charge. Seems crazy he was able to arrange all that so quickly if he was away for a few years. Any idea how he managed it?" I directed that question at Felicia, leaving her to answer as I took a bite of my own. These pancakes were really good.
She looked unperturbed. "Of course. He was still running things from prison. Fisk's operation was massive, even being behind bars didn't do much to limit it's scope. Especially since most career criminals have loved ones in prison. He essentially had an entire penitentiary full of hostages. It made keeping control easy." She sneered belligerently. "Fisk is a big fan of those kinds of intimidation tactics. He likes to pretend he's a civilized mobster and a gentleman criminal, but he's never been anything but a vicious, brutal, thug."
Her eyes snapped to me, wide and shining with some indefinable emotion. She licked her lips hungrily, and I had to fight not to laugh at the obvious scheming. She wanted me to beat him for her, that much she'd been up front about. But it was more than that. She didn't just want him beaten. She wanted him broken. Destroyed. She wanted me to crush him. I still didn't know what Fisk had done to her, but it had been personal. She hated him to her core. No wonder she'd been so willing to do whatever it took to get me on board.
Peter just nodded. "I've heard the same. Fisk is a freakishly strong monster about the same size as you, Billy. An inch shorter and about the same weight, he wears it with a bit less...style, than you." Translation, he was fat because he didn't have super condensed muscles, but he was a giant bastard and could still throw his weight around. I wasn't worried, no one my size would be a match for me unless they had superpowers. "The question remains though, what exactly do we do to him? We could just bust up his drug dens and stuff, but that's just ant bites on an elephant. I assume you have some kind of plan?"
For the first time since she'd arrived, Felicia focused fully on Peter, eyes leaving me. "I do." She said grimly. "Specifically, I have a target. It's why I've been scrambling to put together some backup and why I've been so busy the last few days. The Kingpin has a shipment coming in. Something big and important he's keeping hush hush. I don't know what the hell it IS, but I know that if he wants something this badly I don't want him to have it. That's why we're going to bust up his shipment and steal it."
"Cool." I said happily. "That sounds like a fun time." I paused. "It's not tonight is it? Because I kind of have plans I can't get out of." If I canceled on Gwen again I'd probably lose my chance with her, and she was pretty sexy. Felicia gave me a suspicious look, but finally rolled her eyes. "No. Two days from now." She pouted at me. "Though I hope your plans aren't going to extend into tomorrow. I was hoping we could spend some time together."
On valentines. I'd have been offended at the obvious attempt to get more influence over me if I wasn't pretty sure it would involve sex. As it was I was down for that. I'd probably have blue balls after wining and dining Gwen all night anyway. "Sounds like fun. We can do dinner tomorrow." I winked at her. "We can eat here, do you want to cook or should I?" I wasn't a bad cook actually, though hardly at Peter or Aunt May's level.
Felicia's wide grin was almost feline. "I can cook for us. I think I can guess exactly what you'll enjoy most." Her soft purr left little to the imagination about what she meant.
Peter cleared his throat. "Guys? Can you maybe not be openly pornographic at the breakfast table? Some of us are trying to eat." We both snickered at him and he rolled his eyes. Peter gave off serious little brother vibes, and even Felicia was catching some of it I think. "Now, you don't have any ideas what this thing could be?" He asked our platinum blonde teammate. "Because I'd prefer not to just rely on grabbing whatever item seems the most heavily guarded. What if he brings in a decoy? We would have no clue we were grabbing the wrong thing."
Felicia slumped. "I've been trying to find out. Whatever it is, he's being insanely secretive. I wouldn't be shocked to hear he was killing anyone who knows. The closest I got was a minion who works one of his distribution centers. They overheard someone in the chain of command mention the word Zodiac. Sadly I can't follow THAT person because they're dead now. Fell out a window later that same day."
I whistled at that. "Well damn. Seems like he really doesn't want anyone finding out what this thing is." I paused. "That makes me really want to know. Peter, can you like...cross reference the term Zodiac with incoming shipments to find out what it is?"
The little punk actually rolled his eyes at me. "Oh, sure. I'm positive the secret weapon Kingpin is willing to kill to keep hidden is definitely listed on the shipping manifest. Maybe I should try searching for the term secret weapon directly. He might just have used that as short hand." His tone was dripping with sarcasm. Not in a dickish way, but just in a ribbing each other sort of way.
I still flipped him off. "No shit sherlock. But I didn't say to check the MANIFEST. If he's killing people to keep this thing's name quiet then it's clearly something someone would recognize. Those shipments may not list WHAT is coming in, but I bet you can dig up from where. Just cross reference the term Zodiac with the original shipping location of every shipment incoming on the 15th. Maybe it's been mentioned in the news or something, or local history."
Peter and Felicia were both staring at me like I'd grown a second head. I just glared back. "What? I'm not an idiot just because I'm big and tough. I DO have good ideas." I was the leader of this team gods damn it, I would not be relegated to the role of dumb muscle.
Clearing his throat, Peter held up both hands. "Hey no disagreement here. It's just not something I'd considered. Forest for the trees or whatever. It's a good idea though. Hell, we might want to check local folklore too. It might be some kind of magic artifact or something. If he's so convinced that just having this thing is important, it's probably either that or some kind of advanced superweapon."
That one I hadn't considered, and I grimaced. I wasn't a fan of magic. Shit didn't make any sense. Some kind of cosmic force you could tap into? Superpowers should be pulled out of your ass in complete defiance of god and nature, not floating around in the air like invisible gasoline for crazy spells. I admitted some of that was just annoyance though. I had no natural knack for magic, despite having tried a few times. I just had to punch my problems until they went away.
Felicia however, looked excited. "I hadn't even considered that. I have a few contacts who can tell me about magical stuff. Zodiac is pretty broad, I think there are literally whole schools of magic dedicated to stars and shit, but if you Peter can figure out exactly what this thing is I might be able to narrow that down. I might even be able to USE it. My powers kind of come from that side of things. Oh right, I have minor bad luck abilities. Nothing big."
I hummed thoughtfully. "That's good. I kind of assumed your powers were just have supernaturally jiggly tits. Seriously, it's like you're channeling anime physics or something." I paused. "Are you doing that? Is that some kind of magical titty jiggling spell that makes them irresistable or something? Titnosis?" I reached out to cover Peter's eyes. "Look away Pete, her magical mammaries are placing you under her sway, save yourself. It's too late for me."
"You aren't as funny as you think you are." Felicia said with an exaggerated pout. I could see a bit of sparkle in her eyes. "And no. My breasts do not jiggle because of magic. They do it because they're huge. And also because I may or may not have learned to flex my pectoral muscles in a specific way to get a certain effect." She shrugged when we both looked at her flatly, though I'd suspected that already. "What? Bouncing titties make boys dumb. It's a very real advantage in the field, and I need every one I can get."
That made me laugh. Peter just palmed his face. "I...am beginning to regret this decision. Anyway, I'll look into this for you guys. See if we can find out something concrete. Cat, can I get your number in case I need to get you the info?" She looked at him suspiciously, but seeing a complete lack of interest from him at her nearly overflowing cleavage just shrugged (in a suspiciously jiggly way) and held out a hand. When she got his phone she tapped out her number.
"No calling me for anything other than work." She shot me a sly look. "I don't want Billy to get all jealous." She typed the number slowly before stopping and raising an eyebrow. "Or maybe you wouldn't bother. I guess I'm not your type. You like a little spice in your pepper Petey?" She cooed delightedly as Peter's eyes went wide and he dove for the phone. He didn't use his powers, so she was able to snatch it away before he snagged it. "Who's this little fire crotch? She's a cutie. I'd hit it."
Peter's face was beet red. "Give that back Cat. Those are just some glamour shots I helped a friend take. She lives next door to me and wants to be a model, and she knows I take pictures."
Felicia giggled as she darted around the room, flipping through pictures I couldn't see too well. "Oh gosh, is our little Petey playing casting couch with the pretty neighbor girl? 'Gosh Peter, are you sure that directors will ask me to do this type of thing? I've never put one of these in my mouth before'." She was practically falling over with laughter, so he was able to catch her and snatch the phone back pretty quickly, not that it stopped her mocking giggles.
My buddy looked mortified. "It's not like that at all! MJ is a friend, she just asked for my help. I didn't take advantage of her or anything. That's terrible."
Felicia shot him a wicked grin. "Really? So you're completely platonic with this girl. Our boy genius never spanked his super monkey to these pictures? Hell, I'm not usually into girls and I'm tempted to let my fingers do the walking. That ass is tight." Her voice became malicious. "No one would blame you Petey. You're a healthy growing boy. Milking your meat hose to a beautiful girl who literally spread em' and asked you to take pictures is nothing to be ashamed of."
I was trying not to laugh myself, but I cut in anyway. "Alright Cat. Leave him alone." Our poor tech nerd was so embarrassed by all the crudeness he looked ready to faint. "And you." I said to him admonishingly. "She wouldn't fuck with you if you didn't react so easily. I haven't seen this girl, but if she's cute, ask her out already. Worst that happens is she says no. You're clearly interested."
Left unsaid was that he was a superhero with superhuman stamina, and if he couldn't deep dick miss copper top into a drooling sex kitten he should just swear off women forever. I wondered if Gwen knew about red head neighbor girl. Those two were friends for a while before I met them, even if Peter was pretty intimidated by the cop princess too. I'd have to ask her about the neighbor.
Peter looked less appalled and more thoughtful at that, and he was weirdly quiet until he left. I never got to see the pictures myself, but Felicia clearly liked them judging by the deep throating I got from her before she left. Either way, I was pretty happy with the team bonding day. Plus with my nuts drained so well I didn't have to worry about blowing my almost valentines day with Gwen. Now, to bust out some of that cash and go pick out a nice suit. Hoped I could find a nice bag and tall store. Nobody ever had my sizes.
February 15th 2001, Waterfront, 11:00 PM EDT
"This is boring." I said, barely bothering to keep my voice down. I was back in my hockey mask and coat, sitting up on top of a warehouse with Felicia and Peter, who was wearing some kind of blue and red outfit that made him look like a colorblind trapeze artist with a gimp fetish. Felicia had giggled at him for a solid five minutes after he introduced himself as 'Spider-Man'.
My color challenged friend sighed. "Yes. It is. But it needs to be. The shipment hasn't arrived yet. Unfortunately it looks like Kingpin is going to have someone meet it when it shows up, so you'll get your entertainment. Someone will need to distract whoever he sent while Cat and I split up to comb the place for the...what did you call it Cat? The Zodiac Key?"
She gave a sharp nod, eyes never leaving the docks we were posted up near. "Yes. My sources couldn't get me more than the name." Peter's web search hadn't turned anything useful up, so we'd turned to Felicia's magic contacts. Apparently lots of magic stuff wasn't mentioned online, go figure. "I still have no idea what it does."
"It's mystery is only exceeded by it's power." I said solemnly. Both of them turned to look at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes. "Seriously guys? Watch a movie. It's from Dude Where's my Car?" I pointed at Peter. "I'd expect that from him, Cat, but you actually have a social." I paused. "Or I guess you don't otherwise why would you be here. Objection withdrawn."
Peter groaned. "Please don't start talking in courtroom jargon. You've said two words and that's already gotten old." I snickered slightly, trying to at least pretend to keep quiet so none of the people on the docks waiting for the ship could hear us. Not that I was too worried, but I didn't want to scare off whoever was coming to collect it. I was itching for a decent fight.
"Shut up!" Hissed Felicia. "This isn't a fucking field trip. You need to start taking this seriously. These people are dangerous, they'll fucking kill us if they can." She sounded pissed, but more than that, I could hear a tremble of fear in her voice.
I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped, but settled down right after. "Hey." I said softly. "Cool it ok? I'm not going to let them hurt you, and even he doesn't look like much, Spider-Man is kind of a badass. Between the two of us there's no way they have anyone on a level that could threaten us. Besides, I'll be handling whoever comes. Just focus on doing your thing. Leave the violence to me." I shot her a wink. "It IS what I'm here for."
She gave me a small smile, but before she could respond, our attention was stolen by the arrival of a long limo. Peter cursed. He'd been hoping the shipment would arrive before the pickup, so they could snag it without a fight. Sadly for him, that wasn't to be. Still, it was almost here, I could see a light off the coast heading toward the docks, and I was pretty sure that was the boat we were waiting for.
I nodded to the light. "Looks like its on the way in. You two circle around. Don't get noticed. Just get in position to snag the key when it arrives. As soon as the boat gets within easy sight line I'll jump down and distract them. If we wait until it actually arrives they'll look for someone waiting to take advantage, but if we preempt it I should be able to sell the idea I'm just waiting to rob them." The two of them looked hesitant, so I just chuckled and shooed them away. "I told you I'm fine. I've got this. Go." I fixed Peter with a hard stare. "Keep an eye on her just in case. You're almost as tough as I am. Wreckoners need to stick together."
Felicia rolled her eyes at the name, but Peter nodded seriously. He'd though it was awesome when I told him about it, as expected of my second in command. The two of them slipped over to the edge of the warehouse and vanished over the side, where I lost sight of them completely. Not bad. I hadn't even seen where they went. Nice to know my team had skills. With those two gone I just turned back to stare down at the limo and wait for my moment.
It didn't take too long. The boat had become visible in the dark probably twenty or thirty miles out. It must have been moving pretty fast, because the buzz of the motor split the air about ten minutes later, signaling that the thing was close enough for my purposes. The motor noise would also cover my teammates in case they made any noise while I was showing off. Not that I expected them to be loud enough to manage.
After another minute for it to get a bit closer, I stood up and cracked my neck. The limo was parked right out in front of the warehouse, and with my strength, jumping out far enough to land on it was child's play. So, to get the most bang for my buck, that's what I did. I bent my knees and leaped out over the edge of the building. But instead of plummeting right down, I condensed a pair of hypocenters around my feet.
As I crashed down on the hood of the limo, the space under my feet shattered, and the car was torn apart. I focused all the power into a small area, and my control was good enough that most of it just crushed the engine rather than bleeding over and splattering the driver and passengers. There was a low boom as the metal was driven into the ground with incredible force, creating a crater in the concrete of the dockside.
I COULD have done something insane like tried to condense a hypocenter around my whole body, but my control wasn't anywhere near good enough for that. Letting loose that much power, assuming I could even pull that much, would probably knock Manhattan into the fucking ocean or something.
Still, I felt I'd made my point. As I stepped from the destroyed wreckage of the front of the car casually the back of the limo opened and a series of forms spilled out. Five men, rather than the four I'd been expecting. Or rather, four men and something...else. Something blue and glowing in the shape of a person, crackling with electricity and looking REALLY pissed off.
Huh. Hadn't been expecting a mutant. Or at least, I assumed. He was made of living lightning, so he was either a mutant or some kind of magic...thing. Whatever he was, I felt my pulse race as I saw him. He'd floated out of the car, buoyed on a crackling field of warping electromagnetic energy. I assumed he'd been floating inside the limo like that, because I couldn't image the fucking thing would have been running otherwise.
The lightning man didn't appear to be in charge though, as he hung back, floating in the air menacingly as a man in a dapper suit with a wide brimmed hat stepped out of the car. The mobster (because he couldn't have been trying harder to be a mobster if he'd been carrying a Tommy Gun and sneering 'nyah, see') surveyed the wreckage through a frown stuffed with a lit cigar. His calm eyes flicked up to me, and one eyebrow rise imperiously. "And who." He asked, his stereotypical New York drawl condescending. "Are you?"
I couldn't help it. I clapped. "Nice. That was a hard ten in terms of style. Ignoring the damage, sending out the electric dude, the lit cigar, all of it. You clearly put a lot of work into your aesthetic, and even if I feel like you're being kind of a try-hard, I can respect the hustle." I gestured down at myself. "I, on the other hand, prefer to let my work speak for itself. Sure, the hockey mask is kind of bland, but come on, can you really tell me I didn't make an...impression."
I gestured at the massive fucking dent I'd left in the cracked ground. Rather than sneer and dismiss me, the man raked the spot with his eyes and then gave a grudging nod of approval. "It's flashy, I'll give you that. Bit gauche for me, to be honest. I'm one for the classics as you may have guessed. But you kids these days have your own way of doing things. My question remains, however. Who are you?"
I smacked the forehead of my mask like I'd forgotten something obvious. "Oh. Duh. Sorry. I assumed the whole glowing white energy and hockey mask thing would have been iconic enough for you to have heard of me after what I did to Hector. Guess I overestimated the Kingpin's organization. You can call me Cataclysm. I was informed after my little heist that Kingpin would be looking for me, so I figured I'd make my way down to say hello in person, save him some trouble."
The mobsters eye twitched. "Ah. Him. Heard about that. Didn't see any energy from inside the limo. Still, the size and hockey mask do lend a ring of truth to the claim. Probably should have assumed, but honestly, there are so many of you lunatics running around these days who knows anymore."
I gave a sympathetic nod. "It is getting a bit out of hand. I can't blame you really. Anyway, I'm here to say my hellos introduce myself, steal whatever the fuck you guys came to pick up, you know, the usual."
That got another twitch, but to his credit, overdone mob-guy wasn't one to let his emotions control him. "That so?" He said cooly. "Well, that seems a bit premature. Way I see it, you're counting your chicks before they hatch. We ain't exactly pushovers." He snapped his fingers, and his people spread out to encircle me. "But how rude of me. You were so kind as to introduce yourself. Let me do the same. My name is Mr. Big. This here is Electro." He nodded to the blue guy, then pointed to a man with a whip and a cowboy hat, a big bald guy, and a guy in a suit in succession. "And that's Montana, Ox, and Fancy Dan, respectively. We're the Kingpin's Enforcers."
I didn't respond. The time for talking was over. I was surrounded, and while that wasn't enough to really worry me, it did require some focus. To be fair, most of that focus was centered on Electro. I doubted the others (except maybe Ox) were much of a threat. The muscular bald man was bigger than I was, and based on what I'd learned from Peter, he was jacked up on some kind of Mutant Growth Hormone.
Luckily for me, they decided to test my qualifications first. Before Electro or Ox could close in, Fancy Dan slipped a pair of pistols from his jacket and started firing off shots at me. Perfect. With a grin, I turned and hurled myself at Ox in a long, low leap that took me about fifteen feet. I felt the low caliber ammo smack into my jacket in a few places, but it wasn't a threat.
Apparently even Electro avoided getting shot, because he hesitated in midair before lunging after me as Fancy Dan strafed the concrete around us, trying to swing away to avoid shooting his muscular teammate. Ox, for his part, was pretty fearless as he bore down on me, shifting into a boxing stance to try to take my head off with a powerful hook. I didn't bother to put up my fists, just planted my foot as I landed and pushed off again, smashing my shoulder right into Ox's chest.
The big man let out a grunt of shock and pain as my five hundred pound body smashed into him like a fucking wrecking ball. He flew out from the collision in a way that probably would have killed a normal person, but based on the feeling of impact would probably just seriously injure him. I'd at LEAST cracked the fucker's sternum.
With Ox, the major threat, out of the way, I turned on Electro, who had finally gotten back on track and was coming at me fast. Not 'living lightning bolt' fast, thankfully, he was still a solid person. Despite remaining cohesive though he propelled himself forward with electromagnetic force fast enough that he was almost on me by the time I looked. Luckily I don't need much windup. I braced an elbow in his path and condensed a hypocenter.
He smashed into the energy with a shout of pain, bouncing off before taking too much damage sadly, as he used his flight to change directions. Still, his bright blue body had been stained bruised purple where he'd made contact. He floated there, enraged. Fancy Dan had stopped firing and was backing up, ready to let Electro and I duke it out one on one since he'd confirmed he couldn't do shit to me.
Montana had circled around to help Ox up, and the big man looked like death warmed over, but was indeed still alive. I was glad, Peter would have bitched if I'd killed him. I put up both fists and condensed a pair of hypocenters, ready to start round two, when Mr. Big yelled. "Stop!" I hadn't been moving, but Electro was about to, and the glowing man pulled up short.
Mr. Big glared at me. "The timing here is way too coincidental. If he really wanted to rob us, he'd have headed for the boat instead of posting up. This isn't a robbery. It's a distraction. He's stalling for someone else. Ignore him and get to the boat. We need to secure the cargo!" I grimaced. He was right, I should have at least feinted for the boat. But I'd been having fun and got distracted.
Electro turned to bolt for the dockside, but before he could close in, there was a massive terrifying blast of pyroclasmic force. I officially stopped giving a flying fuck about the Enforcers and turned to stare in horror at the blaze as the whole fucking dockside warehouse Peter and Felicia had been searching rained down around us in a sea of burning wreckage. I turned and ran for the blaze.
Fuck, I was an idiot. I should have guessed someone besides us would have made a grab for the key, that the Kingpin would have other enemies. As I made it to the edge of the docks I saw a pair of dark shapes sinking through the water. Peter and Felicia had managed to avoid the explosion but it looked like the shockwave had knocked them out. I dove in after them without thinking, swimming as hard as I could for their sinking shapes. We had to get out of here, hopefully once we did the two of them could tell me what the fuck had just happened.
February 15th 2001, Waterfront, 12:00 AM EDT
Fun fact, five hundred pound men made of solid, hyper-dense muscle, have a REALLY hard time swimming. If I wasn't absurdly strong physically, its possible I wouldn't even be able to do it. Luckily I AM that strong, plus my hands are huge, which kind of helps with propulsion. Still, it was a bitch keeping myself from sinking more than necessary as I swam down to pick up my friends.
Even knowing where they had been a second ago, the darkness of the cold water made it nearly impossible to tell where I was going. I managed to get a hold of them quickly enough not to lose track, but in the abyssal chill of the dockside I had trouble figuring out which way was up.
I could hold my breath for a while considering how strong my lungs were, but the others were unconscious, and would definitely drown if I was down here too long. Luckily, I knew my hypocenters could affect physical matter. Reaching up to put my hands on their heads as best I could, I gently condensed an orb of the least possible amount of force around their skulls.
I'd never tried anything as delicate or intricate as this before, but I'd gotten turned around in the dark and given how heavy I was they might actually drown before I managed to get us out of here. As the hypocenters condensed, the water was pushed away from their heads. The light cast eerie shimmers through the dark water that somewhat allowed me to get my bearings as I swam for the nearest shore.
Since the air issue had been taken care of, I stayed low to the floor of the ocean, trying to avoid whatever the fuck had blown up the warehouse until I could get a better idea what it was and what it wanted. Especially with my friends vulnerable I wasn't eager to get into another fight.
Finally, I saw the sea floor rise. I'd managed to get myself turned around and avoided the docks by accident, coming up on a strip of beach not too many miles away. When I finally found the shore, I dragged the other up out of the water dropping them in the sand near the waterline as I dropped down, exhausted at the swim.
Swimming is hard. Swimming as a five hundred pound six foot nine inch beast of a man is harder. Swimming while carrying two people as harder, and doing it while maintaining a pair of delicate energy constructs was downright draining. Even my stamina had been slightly effected by the effort I'd had to put in to save those two.
Since they were breathing, I left them alone to recover. It was lucky they hadn't drowned while I was recovering them, but Cat had some luck stuff going on from what I remembered, so maybe she did some shit. Since I had time to recover, I did, lying back and letting my energy return as I amused myself by staring at Felicias soaking wet body, since it was there anyway.
It only took a few minutes for the two of them to sputter awake, coughs wracking their bodies despite never having stopped breathing. I didn't know medical shit, but I supposed they might have gotten water somewhere they shouldn't without drowning. Felicia groaned miserably as she rolled over, clutching her ribs, and I frowned and moved to her side. "Cat. Hey, Cat." I waved a hand in her face, forcing her emerald eyes to focus on me. "Stay with me, are you alright? What happened?"
Despite not drowning, they'd been in an explosion, and I hadn't thought to check for concussions or anything. I'd fought Peter before, so I knew he could take a hit, but my pretty kitty was probably a bit more fragile, and the way she was holding her midsection made me worry about internal damage.
"Ribs." She wheezed. "Nothing serious. Just hurts." I nodded, helping her sit up while moving her middle as little as possible. "Someone else showed up, A pair of weird twins in suits. They were throwing around serious firepower, and we barely got clear of the building before they leveled it. Lucky they needed time to charge up or we'd be dead." She spoke slowly, pain twisting her face as she tried to breathe properly.
I was...I was fucking furious. This had been my team's first mission. Our first time out together. It was supposed to be a fun heist to tweak Kingpin's nose. Now some random assholes had blown up two of my team members. Felicia was hurt, Pete was unconscious. These were MY people. My woman. My buddy. MINE. I felt the power inside my churn as hypocenters started to condense unconsciously around my hands, but I closed my eyes and forced the energy down. Control. Control was important. It wouldn't do them any good if I sank New York or something.
A hand touched my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to look down at the bright green ones gazing up at me in concern. "Hey, I'm sorry." Said Felicia softly. "We were supposed to have the easy job and we fucked it up. I promise we'll make it right though." She reached up slowly with a grimace to push a lock of wet hair behind her air. "Thanks for saving us. Saving me."
I felt confusion run through my mind as I tried to grasp what she was saying, before my jaw dropped in dumbfounded realization. "Felicia? Do you think I'm MAD at you? I'm mad at THEM. How dare they hurt my people? My team? My girl?" She blushed at the last bit, but I was too worked up too care, I stood up and started pacing. "I don't know who the fuck these people are, but I hope that key is worth it. They just bought themself a fuck ton of trouble."
She giggled slightly, the sound ending in a grunt as she disturbed her ribs. "Shit. I need to get you two to a doctor." I'd gotten distracted throwing a fit and forgotten most people aren't as tough as me. "Do you know anyone who could help patch you up? Once we have you guys on the mend we can discuss what to do from here." I reached down to help her to her feet, making sure to take as much of the pressure off her ribs as I could, almost lifting her right to her feet.
Swaying slightly, she took a second to steady herself before shooting me a weak smile. I took off my jacket and handed it to her, figuring the thicker material would blunt some of the freezing chill of a February night. She took it gratefully as I walked over and hoisted Pete up over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I left my mask on until we could get Pete out of his costume, since being seen with the team as a civvie would be pure stupid.
It didn't take long to get them back to the car. Felicia had an SUV with tinted windows we'd used to get here. Between that and the parking garage at the safehouse we'd completely avoided being noticed mid transit. "So. Where are we going?" I asked Felicia. I had zero contacts in town, and Peter still hadn't woken up, which was concerning. I wanted someone to take a look at both of them as soon as possible.
Felicia slumped back into the seat next to me with a wince. "I have a friend, she's a nurse. Her name is Claire. She can help us out, I've gone to her for medical treatment before." She rattled off an address before leaning back, closing her eyes to try to focus on something other than the pain.
I heard a low groan from behind me and my eyes snapped to the rearview mirror. Sure enough, Pete was waking up. "Ow." He groaned. "Ow. Ow. Ow." He started to sit up, but fell back down, head still clearly ringing. "That sucked. I thought my skull cracked for a second there. Not fun. You guys ok?"
That startled a laugh out of me. "Us? You're the one doing the snow white impression. We're fine. Cat got a little banged up, and we're going to see her doctor friend. I'm glad you're up though. Can you tell me any more about the twins you two saw? Cat didn't recognize them."
He groaned, putting a hand to his head. "Weirdly yes. I've never met them, but I do a pretty decent amount of snooping online. They own a huge global investment firm called Fenris. Andrea and Andreas von Strucker. WHY they were there or wanted the key to start with I have no clue." His voice hardened. "But I sure as hell intend to find out."
"Speaking of information." I said with a grimace. "What are the chances the Kingpin doesn't assume we successfully stole the damn key and come after us for it?" I had no problem fighting him, but I really would have preferred to do so over something we ACTUALLY stole instead of getting blamed for some snooty German millionaires going Duke Nukem on our asses.
Felicia's face went cold. "Definitely. That fat fuck is prideful as hell. He'll definitely put on a show of hunting us down to save face after it gets out that he lost something he wanted. I'm sure he won't tell anyone what that is, but with the destruction of the warehouse after sending out the enforcers it's going to be clear to everyone somebody bloodied his nose. We're too convenient of an excuse to let go of."
I just shrugged. "That Electro guy was kind of annoying, but other than him none of the others were up to my standards. If he wants to pick a fight he can fuck around and find out." Kingpin had dropped on my list of priorities. I was more worried about finding and pummeling the assholes who had hurt my people. If Fisk wanted to get in my way I'd crush him into meat paste. I wasn't in the mood to deal with some sociopathic butterball with an overinflated sense of self worth.
That got another giggle from Felicia, which was worth it. When we finally got to the address she gave me, I had Peter help her inside to talk to her friend Claire while I slipped out my phone. Which...was ruined. Damn it. Fucking ocean water. Luckily Felicia was all about that prep work and kept burners in her glove box, so I popped a fresh one and dialed Gwen from memory.
"Billy?" Came her tired voice. "It's midnight, why are you calling me? I everything alright?" Gwen and I had gone out on Valentines and had a pretty decent time. She was sweet and snarky and fun to talk to, even if I was pretty sure I wasn't getting in her panties anytime soon. Like I suspected, despite being such a hardass on the outside, Gwen was a virgin and kind of old fashioned about sex.
I'd managed to wriggle her into agreeing we weren't exclusive though, though I could stuff my pretty kitty to my hearts content once I got a chance, not that I suspected that would happen anytime soon with her injuries. One more annoyance to take out on whoever the fuck hired those Germans. "Sorry babe." I said casually. "Just wanted to check in. Dropped my phone in the toilet and this is the new number, didn't want you to think I changed it on you or something."
She giggled sleepily. "Yeah, I'd have had your balls for that. Still, you could have texted me or something? Did something happen?" I was about to tell her no when I realized...yeah. Something had. I was shaken by seeing my friends hurt and I called to check on her to reassure myself she was alright. I hadn't even realized why I was doing it until now, but I had been worried about her.
It was a stupid thing to be concerned about, Gwen was a civvie, and a police Captain's daughter to boot. You'd have to be seven different kinds of stupid to try to rob her house, especially since we had no link between us in my masked identity. I chuckled to myself. "Nah, just a shitty night. Wanted to make sure you were ok." I wasn't touchy feely most of the time, but since I had the impulse I was sure as hell going to admit it. Not having the guts to admit shit you were feeling was pathetic.
Plus, I could almost hear her melt a little over the phone, which was a plus. "I'm fine. If you don't want to talk about it I won't push, but I'm here if you want...like...talk or some shit." The last part came out a bit gruff, because Gwen liked to play badass, but she got it out anyway. She was really pretty damn cute. "Anyway, if not, I'm going back to fucking sleep. I expect you to bring me donuts tomorrow as compensation for waking me up."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course you do. You know, you're lucky all that food you eat goes straight to your ass. You've got some fat little cheeks for such a tiny girl." Not huge or anything, but soft and pillowy in the best way. Gwen may not put out, but she didn't mind some flirting either. She was old fashioned, not shy.
"Guess you better feed me some more huh?" She said smugly. "I know how much you love staring at it. Now begone, I'm trying to fucking sleep." She paused for a second. "And be safe ok? You sounded stressed, and New York isn't exactly the safest place around."
I told her I would before hanging up, turning around and jumping as I saw Felicia leaning against a wall. Her midsection was wrapped in gauze, which was pretty fast. She also was wearing regular clothes and no mask. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Your girlfriend?" She said it a little archly, but not like she was jealous, more like she was reminding me that I should remember I had her too. It was kind of adorable.
"Yup." I said, climbing out of the car. "That an issue?" She pouted a bit, but still shrugged, even though it clearly hurt her to do so. I walked up to grip her chin, tilting her head back for a kiss. "Don't get all insecure on me now kitten. I'll make all your dreams come true, just be a good girl and don't make a fuss." Her cheeks almost glowed red at the words, but she still nodded.
This was why I liked Felicia. She was ambitious and knew what she wanted. She needed my help to crush Kingpin, and she enjoyed my company. She wouldn't endanger that over a bit of petty jealousy. Still, I saw a spark of competitive fire in her eyes as she stared at my phone. She wouldn't cause a problem with Gwen, but I had a feeling once her ribs healed I was going to enjoy her efforts to convince me she was the better woman.
As usual you can read ahead 10k words on pat-reon at that site /malcolmtent