-Division Agents-
The Cleaners fire their assault rifles as they run towardthe advancing team of Spider-Man and two division agents. One of the Cleaner sweepers ducks behind cover while a cleaner engineer follows him. A few seconds later, the cleaner engineer deploys a makeshift sentry turret. Just in time too, as Oliver comes in running with his shotgun in hand. The turret targets Oliver and beings to shoot. Oliver sides behind forklift truck and hunkers down as the turret fires away. The engineer pokes his head out and shoots his M870 Express shotgun alongside the sentry turret.
"Jesus, these cleaners are crafty." Oliver grunts as bullets bounce off of the forklift. "Freya, I need help over here."
"I've got you!" Freya cries over the comms.
Freya is on the top catwalk where Oliver is on the ground, pinned down by enemy fire. Freya tosses her sentry gun on top of a stack of crates next to the forklift. The sentry gun fires away and takes out the cleaner before targeting the engineer. Oliver gets up from cover and blasts the engineer with his shotgun, making his target fall flat to the ground.
Spider-Man swings around the railyard and briefly observes the fighting between The Division agents and a handful of Cleaners. More shield Cleaners charge from a concrete bridge and run by a gasoline jug. Before Spider-Man could swoop in and take them on, Freya fires at the gasoline jug and sets it off. The Cleaners stop running and start flailing around as they are in flames. Oliver executes them in a bust of gunfire and signals Freya to move up with him as Spider-Man swings around. Spider-Man lands on top of the light post as the gunfire stopped for a brief moment of time.
"Okay, agents. As soon as you lock the situation, I've got a joint CERA-JTF strike force to move in." Faye announces. "They'll take samples from as many refugees as they can find."
"Medical personal?" Jessica Kandel asks on the radio.
"A couple of EMTs in the mix, doctor, yes." Faye replies back.
"A couple. As in only two?"
"The rest are first aid certified. They know how to tap a vein. Get going Agen-"
Jessica quickly jumps in on the call. "Without contaminating the samples, I assume."
"Jesus, she didn't even blink on that one." Spider-Man thought to himself.
"Or infecting themselves, yes." Faye Lau answers before signing off.
"I'll take your word for it."
The comms fall silent for a moment, which receives a sigh of relief from Freya who moves forward with Oliver to take on the advancing Cleaners. Spider-Man drops down to the ground and scratches the back of his head as he hangs back from the action. Normally, he would try to keep the body count the agents leave behind to a minimal, but the agents were doing their best to clear the area. On the coms was Doctor Kandel speaking.
"This is Doctor Kandel. Sample team, can you hear me?"
"This is Mary Jane with Lieutenant Patel speaking."
"Wait, what is she doing out there?" Spider-Man gasps in his head.
"Can you put Patel on?"
"Patel here, send traffic." says the lieutenant.
"Good, listen. I need you guys to log intake from everybody you get a sample from – age, gender, ethnicity, general state of health on a ten-point scale – then label and group the samples according to-"
"Excuse me, doctor, but maybe this can wait until we get confirmation the op is actually complete?" Faye Lau pleads on the line. "There's a bomb our team needs to defuse."
"Thank you!" Spider-Man exclaims in his head as he doesn't say out loud.
"You're saying you don't have faith in your agents and Spider-Man?"
"Just focusing on the task at hand. Lieutenant, you'll radio the doctor as soon the area's secured."
"Yes Ma'am." Officer Patel replies. "Don't worry, Doctor, we'll get it all worked out."
"I hope so." Jessica sighs. "It's only the survival of the human species we're talking about here."
Oliver turns around and waves to Spider-Man to signal him to advance with the agents. Spider-Man nods and runs over as Freya climbs on a stack of boxes to get over to the other side of a tall concrete wall. As Spider-Man climbs up, Oliver and Freya cock their guns. The foreman who armed the bomb starts speaking from a loudspeaker.
"You know the situation." The foreman cleaner says somberly. "It's too late for these people here. They're dead, every one of them. But it's not too late for us and if we do what we got to, it might not be too late for the rest of the country. So go to work!"
Oliver, Freya, and Spider-Man hunker down behind a small concrete barrier and talk strategy.
"We need to get the foreman from the control tower." Oliver says. "He could know how to dismantle the bomb."
"We could take out several of his goons and force him to come down from the tower." Freya looks to Spider-Man. "Then you can swing in and nab him."
"Sure." Spider-Man nods quickly. "Just be careful, Freya."
Freya snorts a little and tosses over a sentry turret on top of the garbage truck parked in the middle of the square. Oliver gets out of cover and deploys his ballistic shield, catching the attention of the Cleaners nearby. The Cleaners start firing at the shield as Freya's sentry turret fires back. Spider-Man zips up to a thrower and throws a series of kicks to the body and head. He glances at Freya who gets up from cover and shoots the Cleaners in front of Oliver's shield.
Finally, two well trained Cleaners enter the abandoned market plaza with the foreman walking behind them. The foreman glares at Spider-Man before slapping a well-made turret onto the top of a makeshift barrier. The turret targets Spider-Man and starts firing as Freya and Oliver deal with the foreman's goons. Spider-Man swings around and dodges incoming fire until he got close. He webs up the turret and yanks it up into the air before swinging it down on the foreman. The Foreman falls onto his back as he is smacked in the chest. He crawls away as Spider-Man lands behind him.
The gunfire falls silent. Freya passes by Spider-Man to head upstairs for the crane controls. Oliver stays behind with the webslinger and grabs the foreman. He pulls him over to the wall as the crane begins to lower the bomb capsule to the ground. Oliver pins him to the wall and pulls out his semi-automatic pistol and points it at his chest. Spider-Man puts a hand on Oliver's shoulder, but the former cop shakes it off.
"This will be a lot easier if you tell us how to defuse this thing." Oliver growls.
"What? I don't know how to disarm the bomb. One of the boys came in and helped me through it." The foreman retorts with a whimper. "Even if I did, I won't tell you. The job must be done."
"Yeah, I hear you guys keep saying that." Oliver sighs, losing patience by the minute.
The crane sets the bomb onto the ground before moving back to its original position. Spider-Man and Oliver take a quick look at the bomb, a clean large silver, yellow, and black explosive with a massive silver canister in the middle. There's a massive black screen on the outside that's blank. Freya begins making her way down with a laptop in her hand from the tower. Oliver presses his gun against the foreman's head and takes a deep breath before cocking it.
"Last chance." Oliver says. "Either you help us do it or we'll figure it out."
"I've seen the bomb. It's a complicated one with a bunch of wires." The Foreman laughs. "I have just two words for you. Good luck."
Oliver smacks the Foreman in the face with a heavy punch, knocking him out. Oliver shakes his head and walks away to the bomb. Freya and Spider-Man move behind him as the former SWAT officer pulls out a pair of wire cutters from his pouch. Freya gives him a weird look.
"You carry wire cutters with you?" She asks.
"Of course." Oliver says as he pulls the lid off. "They would come in handy someday. Alright, let's see what we're working with."
Spider-Man and agent Springfield look over Oliver's shoulder and see the assortment of bunched up wires. Oliver tilts his head to the side of the bomb and studies it for a few minutes. After looking at the wires once again, he turns his head around and looks at Freya.
"Whoever made this made it unnecessary complicated to defuse." Oliver says. "But with that laptop and ISAC's help, I shouldn't have a problem finding the schematics to the bomb."
"And the good news." Freya mutters.
"That's the good news." Oliver replies. "The bad news is that I need someone to cut the wire while I read the schematics from the laptop you retrieved."
"Wait," Freya gasps. "You're not suggesting I do that, right?"
"Yep, I need you to stay here and help." Oliver glances at her with a straight face. "Spider-Man, I need you to keep an eye for anymore Cleaners. I'm not sure if it can be detonated remotely."
Just then, the bomb lets out three loud beeps. Oliver eyes shift to the screen as it lights up in a timer. The screen starts to countdown from two minutes. Oliver curses to himself as Freya sets the computer down. Spider-Man reaches to Oliver's shoulder.
"Oliver, maybe I can help." The arachnid hero offers.
"Just one thing. Can you lift the bomb and see if it's got a serial code?" Oliver asks as he inspects the bomb. "The bomb has been set to detonate on a timer. I find it weird they didn't set it off immediately."
Spider-Man lifts the bomb by its side and glances at the serial number. "You sure you can disarm this?"
"You forgot who you're talking to?" Oliver fires back with a hint of sarcasm. "What's the serial number?"
Spider-Man reads the serial code of serial number, a long string of numbers and letters, out loud to the Division agent. Oliver types in the serial code carefully into the computer. ISAC takes the serial code and begins running it with the Division's database.
"Thank you." Oliver nods to Spider-Man. "I need you to evacuate the civilians."
"You sure you don't need my help?" Spider-Man asks with concern in his voice. "I could have something that can help you out."
"Thanks, but we are on the clock!" Freya shouts out of a nervous break. "Oliver will load up ISAC to help us disarm the bomb."
"Freya is right." Faye Lau says from the coms. "Hook up ISAC and I will help you guys disarm the bomb. Spider-Man, we cannot risk losing you."
Spider-Man nods slowly before he starts swinging over to the shantytown. Oliver plugs ISAC into the laptop as Freya grabbed the wire cutters. She looks at Oliver as he taps into his watch, searching through government databases for well-known and well-made firebombs. Finally, after several minutes of searching, Oliver looks up from the screen. The timer is one minute and thirty seconds.
"So, it's loaded with massive amounts of Napalm B." Oliver notes out loud. "What color are the wires?"
"Silver!" Freya shouts quickly. "They're all silver."
"Damn it! The database says they would be color coded." Oliver says out loud. "Whoever made it definitely modeled it off of something. Can you see if the wires are connected to anything?"
The timer tickers over to one minute. Freya pushes the wires to the side as she looks at one side from the inside of the bomb. She notices the wires come out in bright colors as they are plugged into different colored outlets as seconds count away. What's even better is that each plug has, thankfully, a picture. Two are batteries, a fan, and a flame. Freya breathes a sigh of relief. The pieces are coming together. She relays the information to Oliver.
"Aha! We have a match." Oliver looks up from his computer. "So, we need to trace the wire from the source on the right, go through the middle, and pull it out of the socket at the left side."
"Yeah." Freya laughs nervously. "So, what do I need to cut first?"
"Start with the one connected to the battery. Trace it from the start to the other side."
Freya nods and traces the wire from the start to the other side. The clock ticks over to forty-five seconds before she cuts off the first one. Her eyes dart back to the right and moves over to the left before cutting the second wire. The bomb lets out a beep and flashes on screen that the timer jumped down to twenty seconds. Freya nearly drops the wire cutters in panic.
"The timer jumped down. It's at fifteen seconds"
"Fuck! It must be a collapsing circuit." Oliver snaps quietly. "Ok, cut the fan and then the flame, which must the one that ignites the Napalm B. But be quick about it! We have fifteen seconds left."
Fifteen seconds. Freya starts to sweat and traces the fan wire with her eyes. Her digits rattle as they move to the other side only to find them come out as a red wire. Freya retraces her steps and follows the other wire. Her eyes follow to the other end to find the wire is yellow. She quickly cuts the fan wire.
"Five seconds!" Oliver calls out.
Five seconds. She quickly traces the last wire to the other side as it reaches to three. Two seconds left as she finds her fingers grabbing the last wire and before it counts down to one. She cuts the last wire as fast as she could before glancing at the screen. The screen froze, displaying she had 15 milliseconds to spare. Freya falls onto her back as Oliver looks up from the computer and sees the bomb hasn't gone off.
Oliver lets out a heavy sigh of relief before getting onto the coms and reports the bomb has been defused to Faye Lau. He could hear the sigh of relief from his end of the coms.
"That's great news." Lau reports. "Kandel, the area is clear. Oliver, I need you to remain here so we can take the bomb back to base."
Oliver walks over to Freya who is lying on the ground. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just give me a few minutes to catch my breath."
Oliver nods and stays with the former reporter of the Daily Bugle until she's ready to move.
-Spider-Man-
Spider-Man swings around a crane before he spots Lt Patel leading a group of CERA quickly spots Mary Jane walking through the tent city and lining up people to doctors pulling out needles to take blood samples. Spider-Man crawls down from a steel beam pillar as MJ looks up. She beams a smile to the hero. She separates herself from the group and walks over as Spider-Man drops down to the ground standing.
"The bomb has been defused." Spider-Man reports to the crowd before dropping down to a whisper to MJ. "What are you doing here with CERA?"
"Working." MaryJane answers quietly.
"Why?"
"I got bored of being stuck in the medical room on base."
"But this isn't the New York you know and love." Spider-Man sighs a little, hating to talk to her about this. "As soon as you finish with this, I can bring you back to the base as fast as I can."
"No need! The JTF are here, and I hear you and your friends from the Division took care of a bomb. I've got the protection I need. Besides, this job is important to Doctor Kandel, to save this city from this virus."
"I know, I know." Spider-Man sighs again. "But I could lose you if you go out on missions for CERA like this on a whim."
"Peter, relax." MJ snaps in a whisper. "But I want to do what I can do to help the JTF. Doctor Oxton has been training me through the pandemic to do stuff like this."
Spider-Man falls silent, for a moment. "He taught you to be a medic?"
"Yep." She beams a smile. "I've gotten much better at patching up wounds. Don't worry, I'll be out of here as soon as they are done."
Spider-Man nods quickly. He looks at the people getting their blood drawn before jumping up and swinging. He couldn't argue with her there, especially when she technically lost her job at the Daily Bugle when the city fell to the Dollar Flu. He starts swinging his way out of the Hudson Railyards and finds Oliver and Freya loading the defused bomb onto a pickup truck.
Just then, he hears a cry followed by a gunshot from a nearby building. Spider-Man turns around and swings for the roof of the adjacent building. As he lands on his feet, he spots a man wearing a black hoodie and a scarf around the bottom half of his face and wore grey camo pants. He stands over a man wincing in fear as he holds onto his shoulder.
"Hold it!" Spider-Man shouts.
"Relax." The man in the hoodie turns around to face the hero. He holsters his pistol and holds his hands up. "You remember me?"
"Mars." Spider-Man says. "Strange to see you again."
"That's right." He turns around to deal with the wounded man. "No need to get heroic."
"Who is that guy?" Spider-Man asked. "He looks hurt."
"Just some guy who was watching you and your friends." Mars replied. "That is until I got the drop on him. He tried to shoot me, but I got a clean one off of him."
"And he's wounded while you decide it's time to get questions from him. He's a Cleaner." Spider-Man steps closer. "Probably the one who tried to set off the bomb, which explains why he chose the wrong time to watch for the fireworks."
"That's what he told me when I found him. Said he did it to cleanse the Hudson Railyards."
"You're losing me, buddy." Spider-Man says. "Because all signs point that we found the person who tried to burn it all down. Are you trying to tell me there's something more than what you're telling me."
"Alright, I will tell you what I've learned. My people have been monitoring the Cleaners."
"Wait, your people?" Spider-Man asks.
"Yeah, Mars shakes his head as he begin to explain. "My people, the JTF, have been monitoring the Cleaners. They've been saying something strange about them. All the sudden they are getting their hands on more hardware than normal, and that bomb is a huge red flag that this isn't one of their crafty creations. Someone supplied it to them."
"If not the Cleaners, then who?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to ask him a few questions."
Before he could get to his prisoner, the man in the yellow hazmat suit slumps to the side. Mars rushes over and takes off the mask. There's foam coming out of the mouth. ISAC scans the body before letting out the beep. The announcement the battle computer gave was grim at best.
ISAC: Target deceased. Cause of death, consumption of Cyanide.
"Well, there goes our lead." Mars sighs as he slumps on his shoulders. "At least we know someone is helping the Cleaners."
"But why?" Spider-Man says. "I've seen the caches the Cleaners have been collecting. Just more weapons and explosives."
"Well, someone upped the ante to help those Cleaners. And we need to get to the bottom of it before they cause more damage."
Spider-Man raises an eyebrow under his mask. "What are you thinking?"
"I was thinking we team up on this one." Mars says in a simple way. "I give you intel that is more solid than what the JTF and Agent Lau can give you while you do your thing and report back what you find and eventually, we'll come together and find out who is helping the cleaners."
"Sounds like a good plan." Peter nodded. "You can contact me anytime through ISAC. I'm happy to help."
"Great! I'll be seeing you." Mars lifts his bag onto his back and waves. "Good luck."
Mars turns around to leave the building rooftop. Spider-Man walks to the edge of the building and looks over the empty desolate streets ahead. Those Cleaners are causing more trouble and need to be dealt with. If they can find out who the supplier is, then the JTF can deal with the Cleaners much easier. Just then, he gets a call on his mask. He presses a button on the side to answer.
"Spider-Man, this is Faye Lau. Can you come back to the base? We have a problem."
Spider-Man starts running off the roof and starts swinging for the JTFs base of operations.
-Rikers-
Before the bomb was defused, a meeting took place with the leader of The Rikers and Tombstone in a bar in Lexington Event Center. They both had their people stick around in case something goes wrong. A man in a special light up jacket passes a drink to Tombstone and Larae Barret. The two leaders take a sip of their drinks slowly before they glance at each other. Larae chuckles quietly, making Lincoln laugh along with her.
"What's so funny?" Tombstone asks.
"You haven't killed me yet. You have this bulletproof skin, and you haven't used it to take power. Are you going soft?"
"Killing regular people isn't the same as fighting Spider-Man. Besides, it would be a waste of bourbon to fight in a bar."
Larae nods in agreement, for once in her hardened life. "So, what about Spider-Man? You can take care of that pest problem?"
"I could fry him, if you want." The bartender in the weird light up suit offers.
"No need." Tombstone stretches his body out. "I've got the special dust with me and will distribute them between us and your crew. Spider-Man will be good as dead along with any JTF that dare to stand in our way once we have an army of our people using Grave Dust."
Larae raises her glass. "Death to the pigs."
"Death to Pigs." Tombstone nods. "And hail the Kings and Queens of this city."
Larae grins as the two of them make a toast and drink to that.