Chapter 17
Third Person POV
No matter what news station one looked at, they were all telling the same story, even many channels situated outside of New York. Everyone was interested in the news of another superhuman, another Spider-person, no less, and one who seemed not too unlike the Spider-Woman.
The only real difference that anyone could determine so far was in the very different appearances of their costumes. Other than that, they seemed quite similar at a glance, from the webs they swung from to the main features of their suits. And, of course, the fact that they both seemed to hate each other, if the images of their fight on the news were any indication.
Occasionally, the news would also mention that the captain of the PDNY had been killed during the event when Spider-Woman dropped a wall on him, even if it had seemed like collateral damage rather than anything intentional, but the news stations didn't dwell on that fact for long. They knew that their audiences were more interested in hearing about this new "Spider-Man" figure, and any talk about the police captain's death was easily glossed over with simple excuses. It was always, "Police die every day," or "He's probably already been replaced! Get back to the Spiders video!"
The most common claim, however, was that it had been an error on the captain's part. Public opinion seemed mostly agreed upon the fact that "He should've known better than to get in between two super-freaks who wouldn't care if he got hurt." And indeed, it appeared like he had made a most foolish decision in putting himself between two superhumans who were too focused on trying to kill each other to worry about what happened to the "lesser mortals" around them. Seeing as the captain had been one of the most vocal against Spider-Woman, most people thought that he should've known that she wouldn't care if someone like him got in the way.
In fact, it seemed like there might be only one person in the whole city who was even slightly bothered by the unexpected death of Captain George Stacy, and it wasn't for the reasons that one would expect.
Holding his head in his hands, his fingers running through his combed hair and ruining his immaculate appearance, Matthew Murdock looked up as his operative, Aaron Davis or the Prowler, turned off his phone to silence the latest news story. Both Aaron and Matt's adopted father, Wilson Fisk, stood silently on either side of the Kingpin of Crime as he processed this latest news, neither of them wanting to disturb his thought process.
When he finally spoke, he said something that neither of them had expected. "Enter," Matt ordered, apparently speaking to the empty room.
A second later though, the reason for him to say what he had said was made clear as the command was obeyed, the office door opening to permit entrance to a familiar figure that neither Prowler nor Fisk had known was outside.
Spider-Man looked terrible. His suit was torn all over and covered in bloodstains, the few remaining pieces of the suit hanging in rags from his body. Through the rips in the suit, one could see Caucasian skin running up the arms and brown hair poking through the top of the damaged mask. But most notably, coming out of a metal plate on his back were four stumps of metal and wiring, all of which were waving around in the air frantically, like destroyed mechanized arms from an assembly line that were all eager to get back to work. In each of his hands, Spider-Man was holding the remaining parts of the destroyed arms, two long strips of metal in each hand.
Still, despite the shockingly spent appearance of the Kingpin's foremost operative, he stood tall and proud as he approached his boss's desk. When he arrived in front of Murdock, Spider-Man halted and waited in silence for Matt to speak first. However, to his dismay, Aaron would be the first one to speak, folding his arms across his chest as he smirked smugly at Spider-Man and said, "The cells are ready, Doc. So where's the 'fruit' you promised to return bearing?"
Spider-Man glared at Prowler but did not respond, and soon returned his gaze to Matt, who had his hands clasped in front of himself as he deliberated what to say.
Finally, Matt let out a deep breath and said, "You know, Otto, you've always been impressive. But going out and doing precisely what I told you not to? That takes a special kind of bravery."
Having flinched upon hearing the name that Matt called him, Spider-Man corrected, "My name is Spi-"
"Your NAME is OTTO OCTAVIUS!" Matt yelled, slamming a fist down on his desk. Then he stood up, placing one palm down on the desk and leaning forward as he pointed a finger into Spider-Man's face and continued, "You're not Spider-Man! Because Spider-Man doesn't fail me! Otto Octavius is the failure!"
Faster than the eye could follow, Spider-Man dropped the destroyed metal arms in his hands before one of his fists abruptly shot out and punched Matt in the face with a right cross that knocked the Kingpin backwards and onto the ground several yards away, his circular glasses falling off his face as his head was whipped backwards.
Immediately, Fisk and the unmasked Prowler stepped protectively in front of their boss, Fisk cracking his knuckles and Prowler snapping out his claws in challenge to Spider-Man, but then they stopped and turned around for further orders upon hearing Matt sitting up on the ground. To their confusion, Matt just waved them off and told them, "No. Do nothing."
Aaron and Fisk shared a look of concern but quickly obeyed without question, stepping aside once more to allow Spider-Man a clear path.
Spider-Man wasn't fazed by any of this, however, and kept his eyes on Matt as he silently stepped forward and slammed one of his hands down on Matt's desk, sticking his fingers to the wooden surface, and roughly threw it aside with his great strength, causing the desk to crash into the corner and crumble under its own weight. Spider-Man then continued walking towards Matt as the Kingpin slowly climbed back to his feet, and once he got close to him, he reared back a fist to hit the crime boss once again, even harder this time.
But this time, the most incredible thing happened. As Spider-Man let his fist fly forward, his blind target suddenly reached upwards with his own hand to catch Spider-Man's arm by the wrist, then pulled him forward under his own momentum, flipping him involuntarily by the arm, and then kicked Spider-Man sideways while he was in the air, ripping the costumed man's glove off as he sent him flying across the room and into a glass case holding an expensive ceramic vase, all of which shattered under Spider-Man's body.
Completely uncaring about all the money he'd just thrown down the drain, Matt smoothed down the creases in his suit with a sigh, tilting his neck to the sides to make his neck crack in preparation for what would come next, and began approaching Spider-Man, kicking his red-and-white cane aside as he went and stopping next to where his glasses lay on the floor. With a single precise movement, Matt stepped on the wire temples of his glasses, causing them to flip upwards into the air, where Matt effortlessly caught them with the hand not holding Spider-Man's glove before placing them casually back over his eyes, obscuring the unseeing organs once again behind the circular red lenses.
Spider-Man laid chest-down on the floor and watched Matt do this with a glare of deepest loathing being conveyed through the damaged lenses of his mask. Not seeming at all intimidated, the physically-impaired man spread his arms at the superpowered one and said, "Come on, Otto. Give me your best shot."
All too eager to do just that, Spider-Man launched himself towards Matt with a yell of rage, but just before he could tackle him, Matt dropped down to the ground on his back in a smooth dodge, and after Spider-Man had finished soaring right over his head, Matt flipped back up onto his feet and tugged lightly on the ends of his sleeves in a bored sort of way, showing how unimpressed he was.
Further angered at that, Spider-Man spun around and yelled once more as he thrust a powerful fist at the back of Matt's head. Still not even facing Spider-Man, Matt tilted his head sideways to avoid the punch and once again grabbed Spider-Man's wrist before tugging hard and flipping the man over his shoulder. Not one to go down so easily, Spider-Man used the grace that his powers afforded him to do a flip and land on his feet despite being thrown off-balance and spun around once more to face Murdock, but Matt interrupted whatever move he was going to do next by flicking Spider-Man's torn glove in his hand, automatically extending the claws in the fingers, then threw the glove forcefully at Spider-Man so that it impaled itself into the man's shoulder and caused him to stumble backwards in pain.
As Spider-Man was still trying to recover from this injury, Matt stood up straight and told him, "When I was a boy, my biological father was a boxer. 'Battlin' Jack Murdock', they called him. After he died, I took up boxing myself. To this day, I still practice my punches every morning."
Spider-Man pulled the clawed glove out of his shoulder with a low grunt, trying to act like he wasn't listening.
Matt, however, knew that he was in fact hearing every word and continued, "When I became the Kingpin, I used my new fortune to employ all of the best fighters I could get ahold of around the world, training me in more forms of combat than I could ever actually need to use. I even took part in ancient ceremonies and rituals to allow me to surpass the physical limits of humanity. But despite all my training, I still don't have the kind of power that you possess, Spider-Man. You could pulverize me with one punch if you wanted to. You could avoid every single move I make against you. You could break every bone in my body with one arm tied behind your back. But not if you can't hit me. And it's easy for me to avoid your attacks when you're angry. Now, Doctor, you asked me to keep your ego in check, and that's what I'm going to do. Even if I have to humble you by letting Spider-Man get beaten up by a blind man."
Spider-Man definitely didn't look happy about it, but after a moment of silence during which Matt's expression was frozen in confident determination, Spider-Man finally lowered his head in concession and spat out, "Yes, Mr. Murdock."
Nodding his head with satisfaction, Matt turned around and walked back over to his chair, which now sat in the back of the room without a desk in front of it, and sat down in it as he said, "Good. Because we have business to discuss."
Spider-Man stood up and pulled his torn glove, still dripping with own blood, back onto his hand as he walked over to stand between Fisk and Prowler, facing Murdock and ignoring the glances from the other two men.
Meanwhile, Matt continued, "The world now knows about Spider-Man, making our usual, more secretive methods of operating less useful to us. The death of Captain Stacy, while somewhat enabling for a limited time, will soon make things even more difficult for us. This city, particularly the PDNY, will begin arming itself against enhanced individuals, knowing that their number is growing. I predict that practically as soon as Captain Stacy's replacement has been sworn in, they will begin a purge of the city to wipe out the growing number of threats. The Raft will likely be moved to a more secure location. Criminals and superhumans alike will be dealt with swiftly and harshly, and that… would be bad for business, seeing as we deal in both of them."
There was a short silence, and then Aaron asked, "So what do we do? Move out of New York?"
Shaking his head, Matt answered, "No, we've built too much here. Worked too hard, for too long, to acquire all that we have. We will have to fight for our right to remain."
At that, Fisk cleared his throat softly and said, "Matthew. We have a certain amount of influence over the police, but Captain Stacy always stopped our advances in the higher levels of authority. We simply don't have enough power-"
"Not with the police, no, but we also have an army," Spider-Man cut him off.
Gesturing gratefully at Spider-Man, Matt agreed, "Exactly. With the combined efforts of Spider-Man, Prowler, and Mr. Morales and Ms. Stacy, we've successfully taken command of over eighty-seven percent of all organized crime in New York City. Combined, that's more than enough chaos to turn the entire city on its head, especially with Captain Stacy out of the picture. And with Spider-Man, Prowler, and any other superhumans that join us at the forefront of the assault, we can take the entire city for ourselves, lock down Manhattan under our control."
"We'd need to coordinate the takeover from here," Fisk pointed out cautiously, but Matt could sense his excitement building beneath the surface. "If we did this, our criminal enterprise would no longer remain hidden. The police would have all the evidence they'd need to walk right in here and arrest us."
"If we wait, it'll only be a matter of time until we're evicted or arrested anyway," Matt reminded him. "This way, we can strike first, while the police are vulnerable, and gain a firm foothold in this war before most people even know that it's begun. By that time, the police won't be able to get anywhere near here. They'll be too busy putting out fires."
"Spider-Woman and her pet Prowler will try to stop us," Spider-Man added. "And with Captain Stacy dead, we no longer have our leverage over the former. Our ruse from a few days ago is now useless to us."
Looking at him, Prowler said, "Not entirely true. She and my nephew matter to each other. If we can find a way to get ahold of him, that's how we can control her."
Matt thought about it for a moment, then stood and said, "Then that's what we'll do. Spider-Man. Go repair your suit, then get me that weapon we discussed. Prowler, head down to the Raft. Disengage the communications with the mainland, hot-wire the all-clear signal, then kill all of the guards and free every prisoner."
Prowler was silent for a moment, then asked, "Kill the guards?"
"As I said, their positions there are about to be terminated anyway. We'll be doing them a favor," Matt excused easily, then turned finally to his foster father and said, "And Mr. Fisk, if you would be so kind, please make the appropriate preaparations for my familiar friend. Just in case."
Fisk gave a nod of agreement, clearly knowing what Matt was speaking about without any further elaboration being necessary.
Finally, Matt looked at all three of them and announced, "This is what we've all worked for. The end of the road we chose to pave. Each of us has a role to play, and if we play it well, we'll be in full control of the greatest city on earth within 48 hours from now. So go, my friends. It's time to defend our kingdom."
Miles POV
"Victory!" Miles cried as he opened the door and stepped inside the stash, wearing his civilian attire and triumphantly holding aloft a heart-shaped box filled with various pieces of chocolate, already having been informed by his scanners that Gwen was awake and waiting for him inside despite the fact that it was early morning, before the sun had even risen.
As he closed the door again behind himself, he then began to narrate dramatically, "Fresh from his quest, the daring knight returned bearing gifts for his lady, from the spoils of treasure he acquired along his way. And rightly so, for his quest was most successful, and he cried, 'Though I can give you only treasure, I ask for something far more valuable in return. A kiss, mi jeva, I beseech thee for a kiss, and I'll-'"
He broke off quite abruptly at that as he entered the room and laid eyes on a sight that was most unnatural for him; Gwen was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall and her arms hugging around her knees, which were tucked in close to her chest. In one of her hands, she held a small, unfolded piece of paper while the other hand held her mask, and though her face was practically expressionless beneath the hood she still had pulled over the top of her head and she refused to even look at Miles, he could still see the red around her eyes and the wet streaks of tears running down her cheeks.
Immediately forgetting his playful monologue, Miles took a few long strides until he was by Gwen's side, then kneeled next to her and set the box of chocolates down on the room's single chair next to himself. Miles gave Gwen a quick glance up and down her body looking for any injuries, trying to determine why she had been crying, but found only a few scratches and scrapes on her suit, probably all from their recent fight with Spider-Man. Okay, so she wasn't crying because she was hurt, but then why was she?
Not acknowledging the way that Gwen still wouldn't look at him, Miles asked her, "Gwen? What's wrong? Cuéntame, y lo haré mejor."
Gwen remained silent for another moment, then said in a monotone voice, "You can't fix this, Miles. But what you can do is tell me where I can find Murdock and his band of psychos."
Miles hesitated, then asked, "You just want to hear about Murdock's base?"
"You said you found it, right?" Gwen asked, finally turning to face Miles with a glare replacing her usual smile.
Rather unnerved by the sight, Miles responded, "Well… Yes, but hold on just a second, Gwen. I'm kinda getting the sense that there's something we need to talk about before we-"
"No time for talking. You need to tell me where Murdock's hiding, and you need to do it now," Gwen demanded, cutting him off as she climbed to her feet. "You're going to tell me, and then you're going to wait here while I go kill them."
Miles opened his mouth to request more details, but paused as he processed the last thing she'd said and questioned, "'Kill them'? Like… with jokes? 'Aah, please stop with the puns! You're killing us!'"
He smiled at her and tried to play it off as a joke of his own, but Gwen didn't smile. Instead, she just continued to stare at him angrily and said, "No. I mean that I'm actually going to kill them, and good riddance. They've all done too much damage to this city, hurt too many people. And prison's too good for them after all that. Even your uncle, Miles."
Perhaps it was the completely serious way that Gwen was saying all this, a behavior that she never exhibited. Maybe it was how she threatened Miles' uncle's life without even a twitch in her facial expression. But whatever the reason, Miles finally began to consider that maybe this whole thing of Gwen's was not actually just some joke, that maybe she actually meant it. And that idea only confused him even more.
Looking at her uncomprehendingly as he stood up, Miles said, "O…kay, I think I'm missing something here." Suddenly having an idea to get back into a world that made sense, Miles turned around and grabbed the box of chocolates that he had gotten for Gwen and held it out towards her, saying, "Here, maybe you should take one of these first, and then we can talk. Remember how I promised to get you chocolate? Well, I did! And I'm pretty sure it's from the same place your dad gets it, I can't really be certain."
Gwen looked down at the box sadly, perhaps due to how hard it was to resist partaking from it, and took a deep breath before she said, "Yeah, it's from the same place. But there's no time for that now. Miles, just tell me where-"
Starting to get annoyed with Gwen's insistence on this single matter while he still had no idea what was going on with her or how to help, Miles set the box aside and cut her off by quickly saying, "Okay, look. I don't know what's happening here, but before I tell you anything, I just have one question: Since when does Spider-Woman suggest killing anyone? I'm supposed to be the scary one. You're kind of stealing my thunder right now, Gwen."
"Look, we can talk about it later, okay?" Gwen argued impatiently. "Right now, I need to go and finish this."
"You know, you've already tried going after Murdock alone once, and it didn't end so well," Miles reminded her. "That's why we were going to go together this time."
"Yeah, well, the plan's changed, because you're not coming with me," Gwen insisted sternly.
Throwing up his hands in exasperation, Miles asked, "Why? Why would we change the plan and lower our chances of winning? Look, no offense, but if you run into Spider-Man, you're going to need help, even if you were fighting to kill (which I still don't really understand). And between a crazy genius that can do everything you can and more, my uncle whose powers are almost the same as mine, Murdock's dad, and whatever else he has protecting him, neither of us are getting close to the Kingpin alone. You need me."
"You're right, Miles, I do need you," Gwen agreed, stepping towards him and making him back away under her glare. "I need you right here, where I know that I can come back to you. Where I know that you're not going to get hurt."
"Gwen, if you went alone, you wouldn't be coming back at all. And me potentially getting hurt trying to prevent that from happening is what I signed up for," Miles said determinedly, planting himself in place to keep himself from continuing to be pushed back by her.
However, Gwen didn't seem to appreciate that response and prodded him in the chest with her finger as she said fiercely, "That is not part of this. You don't get to let yourself get hurt protecting me, Miles!"
"Why not?" he questioned. "We're partners, and I know you'd do the same for me."
"But I'm-!" Gwen started to argue, but stopped herself before she could finish it.
Still, Miles predicted what she'd been about to say and finished for her, "You have superpowers and I don't. Is that it?"
Gwen looked away, and after a few seconds drew in a deep breath and admitted, "Miles, beneath all your gadgets and armor, you're still just a normal human. A normal human that I really care about. And if I'm going to walk into the lion's den, I'd rather do so knowing that the people I care about are somewhere safe, far away."
"Well, too bad. Because no matter where you're going, I'd always choose to be right by your side while it's happening, where I belong," Miles disputed. Then, when she still looked dubious about his claim, Miles added unthinkingly, "Wherever you're going, I'm following. I'm just gonna follow you everywhere, the rest of my life. I love you, Gwen Stacy, and no number of crazy, superpowered criminals and murderers is going to keep me from facing each and every one of them with you."
For a moment, Gwen was speechless, and Miles knew why. He'd just said the dreaded "L word", the day right after they officially started dating. Many would certainly say that it was much too soon for that, but despite how it had just slipped out, Miles didn't regret saying it. He knew it was true, and he'd done this job long enough to know that every day they survived was a blessing to be cherished. Like Gwen, he'd also considered the very real possibility that one of them might not survive their war with the Kingpin and his forces, and this was perhaps what he most wanted Gwen to hear before such a thing could happen.
After a brief moment of silence, Gwen stepped up closer to Miles, looking at him with her shining eyes that were still beautiful even when they were ringed with red, then bowed her head sadly as she extended the piece of paper in her hand towards him.
Accepting the unspoken offering, Miles reached out and took the paper, then turned around and held it up in front of his face as he began to pace through the room while he read the words written on the surface of the page.
The note read, Captain George Stacy. You've irked me for the last time. You slander mine and Spider-Woman's names in the public eye, calling us criminals, detestable, dangerous. Well, now I'm going to show you how dangerous I really am. If you venture to Brooklyn Visions Academy, you will find two students missing. The first is me. The second is someone very close to you. If you get the police involved, she dies. If you continue to pursue and harass myself or Spider-Woman, or damage our names any further, she dies. You will make no demands of me and trust only my word that she will remain alive so long as you behave yourself. And don't test me, or I'll start sending her back piece by piece to keep you content. Signed, the Prowler.
As he finished reading, Miles lowered the page in shock, understanding its implications, and asked Gwen without meeting her eyes, "Is this why you were crying? Where did you get this?"
After a second's pause, Gwen quietly answered, "My dad had it. I took it from him when he… He was at the science center yesterday."
Disgusted by what he was seeing and hearing, Miles asked, "So Murdock's people (probably Spider-Man, he's the only person who talks like this) gave your dad this note to… What? Blackmail him?"
"It's why my dad was being nice when talking about us for once yesterday," Gwen explained in a voice devoid of all emotion. "Spider-Man threatened him by saying that his daughter was in danger."
His face blanching upon realizing something else, Miles looked back at the note and added, "And he let him confirm that you were missing by going to our school. So he must've seen that you were gone… and also-"
"You," Gwen finished for him. "Spider-Man helped my dad realize that you were the Prowler, and told him that you kidnapped me."
His head spinning from this new information, Miles backed up on unsteady legs until he fell down on the couch behind himself, then placed his head in his hands and said in horror, "Your dad knows who I am. I think I get why you were crying now. How can we possibly fix this?"
However, Gwen surprisingly told him in a pained voice, "That's not what I was crying about. And honestly, I doubt it's going to be a problem."
Still missing the emotion that he was so used to Gwen exhibiting, Miles looked up at her and asked, "Oh, really? Your dad almost didn't let me take you to Homecoming because my outfit looked too nice. But yeah, I bet he'll be thrilled to hear that you're dating a supervillain."
"You're not a supervillain," Gwen argued instinctively.
Scoffing, Miles said, "Even if I'm not, have fun convincing your dad of it."
That sentence seemed to snap Gwen back to the original conversation, and she shook her head as she began walking towards Miles and said, "Whatever. You got your answers, Miles, now give me mine."
"'I got my answers'?" Miles asked disbelievingly. "I asked you why you were crying and all you told me was that your dad knows I'm the Prowler, but apparently that's not-"
He abruptly broke off in the middle of his sentence however as Gwen suddenly grabbed him by the sides, her hands on his shoulders, and lifted him off the couch and into the air, holding him firmly in place as she shook him and sternly ordered, "Miles, just tell me where Murdock is! Tell me NOW!"
Startled into speech, Miles finally gave in and said, "Alright, alright! He's in a complex in Hell's Kitchen. It's his and Foggy Nelson's office building, this huge law firm place called the King's Counselors. It's a little on the nose, if you ask me, but-"
Once again, Miles was silenced as Gwen threw him back down onto the couch and began walking towards the doorway, apparently having heard everything she wanted to hear. However, Miles wouldn't make it that easy, and remembering the last time Gwen had gotten this mad at him in oddly similar circumstances, he looked after her and asked, "Hey, don't I at least get a kiss goodbye?"
"I'll give you a kiss after I get back, when Murdock and Spider-Man and Prowler are all dead," Gwen responded, not pausing to glance back at Miles.
Rolling his eyes and getting to his feet to follow after her, Miles said, "Alright, can you stop being so dramatic? We both know you're not actually going to kill them, you're just going to flick them on the nose, maybe smack their hands and scold them a little, and send them to prison."
"Not this time," Gwen said, finally turning to face Miles as she opened the door, raising the previously-faint sound of the rain falling onto the roof, and began to step outside. "The time for half-measures is over."
And then she was gone, closing the door with a sharp crack behind herself, and Miles was left staring after her in growing trepidation. Surely she didn't… actually mean that, right? No matter how hard he tried, Miles couldn't imagine that Gwen, his Gwen, would actually take a life. It just wouldn't be like her. But then, something had messed with her badly during his short absence, and while he didn't even know what it had been, he couldn't know to what extent it might have affected her.
Wanting to make sure just in case, Miles suddenly made a quick dash for the doorknob and pulled it open to step outside as well, immediately getting soaked by the downpour, where he could see Gwen approaching the edge of the rooftop, getting ready to swing away towards Murdock's base.
Before she could get away, however, Miles began walking purposefully after her and called out, "Gwen, wait!" Then, to his surprise, as Gwen spun quickly around to face him, he felt both of his hands get tugged upwards by something that pushed his entire body backwards with the force of it. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, but then he looked up at his hands pinned to the wall behind his back, both of them held up and to his sides by a large glob of webbing that covered his palms.
Confused, he looked back at Gwen to see her lowering the arm that she'd used to shoot the webbing from, and he asked her, "Gwen? What are you-?"
"You're not coming, Miles," Gwen cut him off. "You're staying here, and I'll explain everything when I get back."
Concerned by this new behavior, Miles asked, "Gwen, you're not… Are you really going to kill them?"
"I'm going to try. And if I can manage to do it, I'll have saved the world and… my world, all before breakfast," Gwen responded, sounding scarily determined.
Touched as Miles was to be considered one of the primary reasons that she felt she had to do this, he also knew that he had to get the message through to her that she didn't. Spider-Woman was his hero because she was supposed to be an ideal, something better than he was and everything he strove to be. The fact that she didn't kill was probably the only reason that Miles had yet to actually take a life despite his aggressive fighting style, at least knowingly. Killing had always been a questionable task to Miles, but Spider-Woman doing it? The very idea was just… wrong, unthinkable.
Trying to plead to the better side of Gwen that he knew must still be inside her somewhere, Miles said, "Look, Gwen, just hold on a minute. This isn't the sort of thing that we can just rush into, we need to think about this…"
"I have thought about it. And it's not our decision, Miles, it's mine. I'm going to kill Murdock and all of his crazy followers, and I'm not going to let anything get in my way."
She sounded so certain, so set on this path that she'd chosen, and Miles could tell that he wasn't managing to convince her. Perhaps he would be able to connect to her better if he got closer, but she wouldn't be letting that happen if she could prevent it. There was only one option.
Trying one last time to make Gwen change her mind, desperate for the situation not to escalate, Miles told her, "Gwen, I can't let you do this."
She regarded him for a moment, then turned away and began to resume her departure as she threw back, "I can't let you stop me."
Looking down sadly, Miles quietly said, "Then I'll just have to do it anyway."
He couldn't move his arms in their current position as they were held by Gwen's webbing, but fortunately, he didn't need to. He simply gave a mental order to the device implanted in the back of his neck. However, this order was not the usual one. Instead of forming the Prowler mask over Miles' face, the device simply blinked with magenta light underneath his hair. It was sending out a silent signal, one that was received by two different devices. On each of Miles' wrists beneath the sleeves of his jacket, dual silver bracelets suddenly began blinking with magenta light in a dotted line all the way around the bands, in sync with the device on his neck.
Truly, they were actually somewhat larger than Miles would've liked, more like Spider-Man's vambraces - though they were slightly more compact - than they were like Gwen's web-shooters, but Miles hadn't been able to figure out how to make them any smaller than this. They served his purposes well, however.
In the next second, the wristbands opened up on the sides and began to rapidly unfold thin plates of metal, one after the other, climbing up and wrapping around Miles' hands, then the fingers. As thin as the plates were, they easily cut through the webs holding Miles' hands against the wall even before he had his claws ready, and he finally donned his mask as well as he stepped away from the wall and stood tall and firm as he began approaching a stunned-looking Gwen, the magenta lights around his eyes and wrists glowing brightly in the rain and darkness. He had been hoping to surprise her with the news that he had completed his new compact gauntlets design, and while this certainly wasn't how he foresaw it happening, Miles was glad that he'd had a trick up his sleeve to combat Gwen's new knowledge of his own abilities, as she had clearly thought him unarmed when she stuck him there.
Stopping a few yards from Gwen, Miles pointed a finger at her and said, "You're not going anywhere. Not alone. Come with me, and we can talk this through, and then we'll go after Murdock together."
Unfortunately, Gwen didn't seem willing to accept that deal, and she quietly said, "No," before turning around and attempting to shoot a web to get away. However, she wasn't the only one who'd gained an extensive knowledge of her partner's abilities, including their limits. In a blur of light, Miles jumped towards her and leapt over her head to cut the web line before it could be used to get her more than a few feet into the air.
He then landed once again on his feet in front of her and turned to narrow his eyes at her as he said, "Perhaps you didn't hear me. You're staying here. I'm not gonna let you leave until we discuss what's going on with you like two civilized teenagers in ridiculous costumes."
Gwen looked him in the eyes and said hesitantly, "Miles, I was serious when I said that I couldn't let you stop me."
"What a coincidence, I was being serious too," Miles responded. "And if there's one thing that my Gwen would know, it's that telling jokes doesn't mean I'm not taking things seriously. You're the one who taught me that, Gwen, and if you forgot? I'll have no choice but to remind you."
Gwen took a deep breath and looked down as she said, "I don't want to do this, Miles. But I hope you'll understand soon that you left me no other choice."
And with that, Gwen shot a web onto Miles' chest from less than two feet away and quickly pulled herself towards him before kicking him in the chest, knocking him backwards and making him flip over onto his front, where he dragged himself to a stop with his claws stabbing into the ground beneath him, creating some sparks between the stone and the metal grinding together, sparks which were quickly snuffed out as they fell on the now-soaked rooftop.
He was still in shock as he looked back up at Gwen, not just because of the mind-boggling speed of her attack, but also because he honestly hadn't expected Gwen to actually attack him. He knew that normally, she never would, after all they'd been through together. Whatever was going on with her, it was messing with her much more than he'd suspected.
He didn't have long to think about it, however, as Gwen swiftly followed up her first attack with another, tackling Miles before he could recover and sending them both rolling across the rooftop. His defensive instincts kicking in, Miles waited until he landed on his back, then tucked in his legs and kicked Gwen off of him and straight up into the air with a blast from his shoes.
While she was in the air, Miles then brought his feet down beneath him and slammed them against the ground so that they fired and picked him up before automatically making him do a backflip in the air before he landed back on his feet. Gwen also managed to stick her landing in her usual three-point crouch, which was unexpected as Miles had put minimal power into the blast he'd hit her with, not wanting to hurt her.
Miles held out a hand towards her like he was warding off a wild animal, a comparison he hated making though he knew that that was exactly what was happening here with Gwen not in her right mind, and tried to reason with her. "Gwen, look, this is crazy. I don't want to hurt you, and I know that you don't want to hurt me. Why can't we just talk about this? What would your dad say if he saw you acting like-?"
Gwen didn't let him get any further than that, however, as she leapt towards him once again with a yell of rage. Great, she's been taking anger-not-management classes from Spider-Man, Miles thought to himself sarcastically just before Gwen reached him.
However, once she got there, he didn't attempt to meet or return her strike with one of his own. Instead, he just sidestepped, letting Gwen's fist go harmlessly through the air where he'd been a moment before, then dashed behind her and grabbed both of her wrists to hold her in place as he whispered next to her ear, "Gwen, this isn't you, and you know it. Spider-Woman's not a killer, and you'd never forgive me if I let you become one."
"Isn't she?!" Gwen cried angrily, fighting his strength-enhanced grip futilely. "They're all so quick to believe that I kill everyone who happens to die around me! Why shouldn't I just give them all what they want?!"
"You can't let people like Jameson get to you, Gwen," Miles warned her.
However, just then, Gwen figured out a way to escape, jumping up and aiming her body away from Miles as she placed her feet on his chest, then sprang away from him, forcing him to release her so he wouldn't hurt her. She rolled back to her feet upon getting away from him, then glared back at Miles and said, "It's not just Jameson! It's everyone! No matter how many lives I save, even my enemies', this whole city still calls me a killer! And I'm tired of being blamed for destroying this city when all I do is sacrifice EVERYTHING to protect it! At least this way, they'll have a real reason to hate me!"
And with that said, Gwen ran towards Miles yet again, but this time, when he tried to dodge, she shot a web to either side of him so that one was bound to grab him, and one did, which Miles tried unsuccessfully to cut off of himself before Gwen yanked on the cord hard, pulling Miles through the air towards her, then gave him a downwards punch to the face that planted him headfirst into the ground.
Of course, his mask protected him for the most part, being designed to handle the repercussions of seismic tremors, but the pain (not just physical) of the punch that would've killed him without his suit awoke some terrible, uncontrollable anger inside him. He remembered the last time he'd hurt like this, just under a year ago, and he remembered the promise he'd made himself then.
I will never let someone hurt like this again.
Yet here he was, feeling such incredible pain on the outside and the inside, and his rage welled up inside him as he recalled the steps he'd taken to ensure that he could protect those who got hurt like this.
Gwen POV
Oh, no. What'd I do?
That was what went through Gwen's mind immediately after she'd committed an unthinkable act: Hurting Miles Morales, her sole friend and beloved boyfriend, the last person she had left in this world.
Planting his fists against the concrete beneath him, Miles began to slowly lift himself back off the ground as he heard Gwen above him stuttering, "I… I'm sorry, Miles, I didn't mean-"
He didn't hear her, however, and she was cut off as one of Miles' clawed hands shot upwards to grasp her by the throat, pulling her off the ground as he climbed back to his feet. Gwen began clutching desperately at his hand, trying to make him release her and let her draw in another breath, or perhaps to let her speak, but it was too late for that.
She had chosen violence over words, a language that Miles Morales tried to avoid, but one that the Prowler was well acquainted with. And the chill that now went through the air as Miles held Spider-Woman up high and glared at her with narrowed eyes signaled the arrival of the real Prowler, a being that didn't need words or jokes and certainly never listened to the pleas of his enemy.
He pulled Gwen's masked face up close to his own and let out an instinctive growl that his mask changed to make it sound like it belonged to something inhuman, the worst of all predators, then tossed her aside roughly. Gwen rolled back to her feet on landing and unsteadily tried to once again find her balance as her anger began returning, her regret fading away as Miles had now been the one to attack her.
She turned back around to face Miles just in time to step aside and dodge a flying kick from him. After he'd missed, however, he immediately landed back on his feet and turned back around to stare Gwen down menacingly, who raised her arms defensively and tried to ignore the memory of how Miles had technically defeated her in all of their previous encounters. But then, she also remembered what had happened yesterday, and why she needed to reach Murdock. Miles' life may depend on her getting to the Kingpin, even if he was the one trying to stop her, and that thought filled Gwen with a fresh resolve to win this particular fight above all others.
Miles looked at her silently for a moment, then gave her a "come at me" gesture with one of his hands and said, "So you're a killer now? Show me."
Aggravated and determined, Gwen didn't hesitate to meet his challenge and quickly closed the distance between them before throwing a punch at Miles' chest, then his head, both of which he dodged with his infuriatingly speedy reflexes. Then, on her third punch, Miles' hand reached up to catch her attack before it could reach him, her fist making a pitiful clang against the metal covering his palm, and then he leaned in and told her, "You're stronger than this. Stop insulting me. Stop holding back. Or you'll die."
His other arm then shot up and hit her in the gut hard, not enough to send her flying away as he could've done, but still enough to daze her. His hand holding her fist released her and instead hit her with a right hook across the face, knocking her head sideways and causing Gwen's anger to build.
With a yell, she reared back a punch and threw it towards Miles' ribs with the hope of knocking him away under the power of her rage, but his hand grabbed her wrist before she could hit him and pulled her arm down before one of his legs flew upwards to knee her in the stomach, making her double over, and then his free hand hit her in the chin with an uppercut that launched her painfully upwards. Then, while she was in the air, Miles jumped up above her and blasted her back down into the ground with his shoes.
Gwen landed in agony on her back, making a wide splash of water around herself from the impact, and a moment later, Miles fell down to land in a crouch over her, then grabbed her by the throat and made her look at him as he growled, "You think that saying you're now a killer makes it true? You think it's a simple choice? You think taking a life is easy, something that just anyone can do? It's not."
Hardly able to listen to what Miles was saying as her vision began swimming from loss of oxygen, Gwen opened her mouth and tried to say something to him, but all that came out was a strangled gasp.
After another second, Miles looked down at his hand on Gwen's throat before his narrowed eyes lessened in intensity and instead widened in realization before he released her abruptly and said, "Wait. This isn't-"
He didn't get any further than that, however, as Gwen took her opportunity to roll back underneath Miles and plant her hands on the ground next to her head before planting her feet on Miles' chest and launching herself upwards, kicking him off of her. As Miles crashed to the ground several feet away, Gwen landed on her feet and began walking towards him swiftly, now breathing heavily and eager to even the score.
Seeing her ominous approach, Miles pushed himself up into a sitting position with one hand as he held out his other hand towards her and said, "Gwen, wait-"
But at this point, Gwen was done listening. Shooting a web onto Miles' chest, Gwen pulled him upwards and caused him to stumble towards her as he landed on his feet only for Gwen to stick out her arm as she rushed to meet Miles, his face crashing forcefully against her super-strong arm and causing him to get knocked down once again onto his back, crashing to the ground with a grunt of surprised pain.
Once again, Gwen didn't let him get his bearings and began walking away from him while she casually shot a web line backwards to stick to the front of his mask before she tugged on it and once again pulled him back to his feet. She then turned around to face him with a glare and ordered, "You want to see what I can really do? Then fight me."
When Miles didn't immediately follow the command, instead just approaching her cautiously and saying, "Gwen-", Gwen responded by stepping towards him and heave-kicking him in the chest, knocking him backwards and sending him skidding across the wet rooftop.
Before he could even come to a stop, however, Gwen shot another web onto his front and pulled him back towards her but then spun around and punched him back in the other direction, then repeated, "Fight me."
Stubbornly getting back to his feet, Miles looked sideways at her and said simply, "No."
Spreading her arms out to her sides and approaching him, Gwen said, "You want to see how I become a killer? Then give me an excuse to let it out! Fight me!"
He still made no move against her, and as Gwen got impatient, she let out a roar of anger and jumped towards Miles, grabbing him by the shoulders and tackling him to the ground. She then kneeled over him just as he had done to her, but instead of choking him, she began to punch him across the face, back and forth as she yelled at him, "Fight me, Prowler! FIGHT ME!"
Finally, he made a move of his own, but rather than doing as Gwen had ordered him, Miles did something unexpected. With a mental command, the armored mask covering Miles' face and protecting him from the worst of Gwen's strikes hissed open and folded back around into its casing on the back of his head, revealing Miles' bare face to Gwen's view, immediately making her instinctively halt her attacks as she stopped seeing the face of the Prowler and instead saw only her friend.
Miles looked back up at her with confident resolution, ignoring the heavy rain falling on his unprotected face, and said, "No. Because you're not my enemy. You're mis ángeles, and I promised I wasn't going to hurt you anymore."
For a second, Gwen was frozen, her fist still raised helplessly in the air, though she knew that she could no longer use it. And without any means of venting her frustration, her anger fading away and thus taking her only remaining defense from her pain with it, Gwen lowered her arm and tears filled her eyes as she fell down and began crying on Miles' shoulder.
Despite him not knowing why she was falling apart like this, Miles immediately wrapped his arms around her, one around her waist and the other holding her head close to him as he began doing his best to comfort her, softly muttering things like, "It's okay, Bochinche," and "I'm here. I'm always here."
Well, the former may not be true, as Gwen knew that it was most certainly not okay and perhaps never would be, but the latter was comfort enough. Having Miles here with her as she went through this meant the world to Gwen.
After a few minutes, Gwen found the strength to climb off of Miles, though he grabbed and held onto her hand as she moved to his side and pulled up her mask to let her tears escape her face. She then looked over at him, and seeing the bruises on his face, she winced and began apologizing, "Oh, Miles. I'm so sorry, I wasn't-"
"Gwen," he cut her off quickly. "Are you okay? Or are you going to be? Mentally or emotionally or whatever this is?"
Knowing what he was really asking, wanting to know if he could trust her not to lash out in anger again, Gwen looked down at Miles' fingers intertwined with her own and gave his hand a light squeeze, nodding as she quietly responded, "Yes. Yeah, I think I'll be alright."
Nodding back in satisfaction, Miles said, "Then I'm fine. If you're okay, then I'm okay." He then smirked at her and said, "Besides, I got in a few hits of my own. Sorry about that."
Not wanting to hear his apologies though after what they'd both just been through, Gwen looked back towards the stash behind them and told Miles, "We should probably get back inside before we get sick or something."
Miles looked at her in confusion and asked, "Aren't we going after Murdock?"
"It can wait until it's not raining like this, maybe even during the daytime later today," Gwen answered as she got back on her feet and offered a hand down to Miles, which he accepted gratefully after looking at Gwen in surprise for a moment. Frankly, that was understandable. A moment before, Gwen had seemed impossibly determined to reach Murdock and Spider-Man and the rest of the criminal empire taking root in this city as soon as possible. But while that was still true, Gwen also knew that they had worn each other out by fighting one another needlessly and they would both need to be at the top of their game for what came next.
Besides, Gwen still felt rather emotionally unstable and would certainly appreciate getting to spend some more time being relaxed by Miles' presence. And speaking of Miles, he probably needed some answers about what was going on with her, and while Gwen knew that it would probably be difficult for her to talk about it, she also felt that Miles had to know, and at this point, he more than deserved it as well.
As they were both somewhat injured from their fight, Miles and Gwen both put their arms around each other to help one another stand upright less painfully as they walked back into the stash, their other hands holding onto each other in the front, though that was for a different kind of support.
When they'd gotten inside and closed the door behind them, they walked over to the couch before finally releasing each other, Gwen lowering her hood and Miles' gauntlets folding off of his hands and back inside his sleeves before he pulled off his jacket and draped it over the back of the room's chair so it could dry before falling on the couch with a light groan, unknowing and uncaring that by taking off his jacket, he had once again revealed his impressive arms to Gwen's sight.
Blushing slightly as she tried to ignore it and sat down by Miles' side, Gwen looked down at the metal vambraces running up Miles' forearms. She'd seen how Miles had realized his objective of making it so that his gauntlets could shrink down into bracelets, and decided to comment on it in a hopeful attempt to delay the conversation she knew she really had to have with him. Also to distract herself from the feeling of Miles' firm arm muscles pressing up against her side before she lost control and said or did something stupid.
"The bracelets look like they're working nicely," Gwen told him.
Looking down at his new vambraces himself, Miles said, "Yeah, I guess. I was kinda hoping I'd be able to make them more… bracelet-y, but it was just too much metal. It would've looked like I was wearing heavy-duty weighted bracelets or something. These ones don't look quite as normal as I wanted, but I can easily hide them under long sleeves and most importantly, they work."
Gwen nodded in agreement and continued pretending to examine the workmanship of the gauntlets in their dormant form for a moment as she tried to think of something else to talk about, but too late.
"So, Gwen… Can I ask you something now?" Miles questioned.
Gwen wanted to refuse, already knowing what the question was going to be and that she didn't want to have to talk about it. She also appreciated the way that Miles indicated that he would be patient to wait for answers if she didn't want to talk about it now, but if not now, when? She doubted that the prospect of having this talk would ever get any easier, and it was something that Miles certainly had to know.
And so, looking down in silent resignation, Gwen nodded her head and closed her eyes to fight back the tears that just kept threatening to return like they would never end.
Speaking cautiously, Miles asked, "Gwen, when I came back here earlier, you were clearly… a bit upset. And I get that you probably don't want to talk about why, but if I want to try to help, I need to-"
Feeling like her composure was about to be lost entirely, Gwen cut him off with a whisper. "My dad's dead."
Stopping what he was saying immediately, Miles asked quietly, "What?"
"My dad's dead," Gwen repeated in a slightly louder, but much more hoarse voice, some tears managing to escape her eyes again as her saying the words made it feel much more true, the reality of it coming crashing down upon her. Still, she tried to hold out despite how she began to tremble from the pain inside her and began to explain to a shocked Miles, "The wall… Last night, that wall I told you I could… I couldn't, and now, because of me, my dad's-"
She couldn't say any more past that point and her voice broke off as the dam finally broke, and Gwen could no longer hold it all in. Her tears began flowing freely, Gwen no longer being strong enough to stop them, but as she began to fall forward in an attempt to hide her face in her hands, Miles abruptly reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her head against his chest just like he had done outside, and though part of Gwen wanted to push him away and keep him from seeing her in this state, the other, stronger part of Gwen was just desperate for something to hold onto right now, and there was nothing she could think of better for the job than Miles.
She remembered her dad's final words, words that she would never repeat aloud, especially not in front of Miles. Not knowing her situation, he had begged Gwen that his daughter should be kept away from Miles, and Miles could never know it, or else Gwen knew that he would blame himself for George being there yesterday, trying to catch him. Besides, what good would it do to tell him? Gwen was never going to stay away from Miles, or make him think that he had to stay away from her. She couldn't. He was all she had now.
After a few minutes, after Gwen had managed to calm down somewhat in Miles' protective embrace, he quietly told her, "It's not on you, Gwen. What happened to your dad? It's not on you."
Struggling to believe him, Gwen scoffed and told him, "He died saving a little boy's life. That boy's mom said that I… I killed him, and… maybe she's right."
"She's not," Miles firmly argued.
Shaking her head, Gwen said, "I was there, I should've done more, I should've-"
"Hey, hey," Miles cut her off, reaching up to tilt her chin up and make her look at him in his eyes that still showed nothing but sympathy and love. "Even Spider-Woman has her limits. You did everything you could and more. And you know how I know? Because you always do. Even if your dad hadn't been there, you would've killed yourself before you let anything happen to any of those complete strangers. But you can't do everything, not alone. So no more splitting up, yeah?"
Gwen smirked slightly at that, grateful for Miles' efforts to help calm her mind, but said, "Miles, we can't do that. Being able to do two jobs at once is one of our biggest advantages."
"Doesn't matter," Miles said sternly. "I don't want something like this happening again. I want to be able to keep my eyes on you at all times." He then shrugged and added, "Besides, it's good material for my sketchbook."
Raising an eyebrow at that, Gwen she asked him in a voice that was equal parts flattered and exasperated, "Miles, you're not seriously still drawing me in your sketchbook, are you? You see me all the time now."
His eyes suddenly brightening, Miles said, "Oh, that reminds me!" He got off of the couch abruptly, making Gwen fall over in surprise with him no longer underneath her, and crossed the room before grabbing something from underneath the box of chocolates he'd gotten for Gwen, then came back over to her and kneeled down in front of her to hold up the brand-new sketchbook in his hands.
"I got a new one!" Miles announced excitedly, grinning widely, but his expression soon fell as he looked at Gwen's unimpressed face and he realized, "But… this… probably isn't the time for that, is it?"
"Not really, no," Gwen answered with a shake of her head, propping herself up on her elbow.
Now embarrassed, Miles gestured weakly back at the box of chocolates on the chair behind him and tried to excuse himself by asking her, "Do you want some chocolate now?"
Oh, he was so adorably out of his element now, acting like a child caught drawing on the walls, it made Gwen want to laugh despite her grief. Or perhaps that was the point? Maybe Miles was trying to distract her mind from her recent loss? Or maybe he was just managing it accidentally.
Either way, it helped Gwen realize something about Miles that she might actually have known for some time now and had never admitted it aloud: She shared the feeling he'd declared about half an hour ago. She loved Miles Morales, a different kind of love than she was familiar with, but one that she knew couldn't be anything less. He didn't make the pain of her dad's death vanish, no more than he had done when he had assured her of her innocence in Peter's death, but he definitely made it significantly easier to bear.
But now, the number of tears Gwen had shed in the last few hours were starting to get to her, bringing on a powerful headache, and she knew that she needed it dealt with if they indeed hoped to defeat Murdock and bring down his criminal empire later today. She also knew that she would have an easier time falling asleep on her trusty comfort cushion.
And so, acting annoyed to hide her amusement at Miles' behavior, Gwen sat up and glared at Miles as she roughly pulled his new sketchbook out of his hands before setting it aside and telling him, "No, Miles, I don't want some chocolate."
He looked at her in surprise and perhaps some wariness, probably worried that despite her apparent progress, she may be reverting back to her more aggressive, angry self, but then, Gwen just patted the cushion next to her, the spot that Miles had just vacated, and continued, "I want your butt back in this seat, and then I want you to stay still while I take a nap. Think you can do that?"
Miles continued to look shocked for another second, but then he just smirked and told her, "Yeah, I think so."
"Good," Gwen said as she moved aside so Miles could get back in his seat, then laid her head down on his lap once he'd done so and closed her eyes as her breathing immediately began to slow, her body eager to get some rest after the extremely taxing last few hours.
Before she could doze off completely, however, Miles reminded her, "I love you, mis ángeles."
Smiling in satisfaction and newfound comfort, finally able to temporarily put her dark thoughts and instincts away with Miles being with her, Gwen quietly responded, "Yo también te amo, mis demonios."
She felt Miles shift to look down at her upon hearing that, probably processing her own declaration with stunned disbelief as well as trying to connect the dots as to why she had called him what she had, and she imagined that he smiled down at her before she felt his hand come up to begin gently rubbing up and down her back, helping to soothe her into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
Third Person POV
Wilson Fisk entered his adopted son's office inside the King's Counselors compound, doing his best to hold in his excitement, and predictably found Matt staring out the window at the city. That was how almost everyone would find him, which many would consider to be odd for a blind man, but Wilson was one of the few people who knew why he really did it.
In truth, Matt wasn't looking at the city. He was indeed as sightless as a person could be and thus could not experience the city with his eyes. But he had found a different way to accomplish it. Here, in Matt's office at the compound, and also in his now-demolished office back at Fisk Tower, Matt had requested special vented frames to be put around his windows.
It would be a strange request to any experienced designer of such fancy yet natural buildings, but few architects would be foolish enough to argue with Matthew Murdock's bank account. One of the many privileges of being the most accomplished lawyer on the face of the planet, as well as the son of one of New York City's most celebrated philanthropic billionaires.
The custom vented windows were shaped to capture and amplify echoed sounds for several blocks around the buildings, and even allowed small amounts of all different kinds of scents to penetrate the room. Of course, the builders had warned their rich contractor beforehand that by the time the sounds or smells reached the room, they would be too faint to register with anything less sensitive than advanced scientific equipment, but Matt had insisted that he wanted to experience the city he loved at all times of the day, in any way possible. So he had overridden their protests and gotten his special window frames put in, and those who installed them could hardly complain. They'd been paid well to humor the blind man's unrealistic dreams.
Fisk could also see Foggy standing to the side of the room with one of his hands grasping the other in front of himself, indicating that Matt would soon be attending to some matter of business, but since he did not stop Fisk or give him any warning, the larger man just continued to step forward until he was standing right behind Matt. Not bothering to announce himself as he knew that Matt surely already knew he was here, Fisk informed him, "Your 'familiar friend' is ready, should we need his help, Son. And I also took the liberty of sending all of your daytime employees home before we begin."
"Thank you, Dad," Matt acknowledged without moving from where he stood.
Following Matt's gaze out the window, gazing over the city below (though with a view that didn't quite compare to the one from Fisk Tower), Fisk commented, "This is the day, then. Isn't it, Matthew? The one we've all been waiting for?"
"The one both Kingpins always foresaw, the one we both worked towards for years," Matt finished for him, clearly in an equal measure of awe at the thought of what they were about to do.
Wanting to relieve himself of his final concerns, Fisk hesitantly said, "You know, Matthew… This was originally my vision. And I'm happy to share it with you, the last family I have now that your mother has passed, but this could be your last chance to back out and leave it to me to finish this. After all, unlike me, you have somewhere else to go. You have a home."
Matt was silent for a moment, then said, "This is home too. My city. I've worked long and hard to get here."
"But if this plan doesn't work, the Kingpin will be gone," Fisk warned. "If Ms. Stacy and Mr. Morales manage to interfere, we will lose all of this."
Matt processed those words for a second, but remained silent.
Knowing that his boss was deep in thought but would ultimately decide that he could never abandon this plan when he was this close to potential victory, so close to succeeding on the path that his adopted father had started and thus giving himself permission to go home as Wilson knew he truly wanted to, Fisk turned to leave the room.
However, turning his head to the side and speaking to get Fisk's attention before he could leave, Matt asked, "Actually, Dad, if I could ask you to do something?"
"Of course, Matthew," Fisk responded immediately, freezing in place to hear the Kingpin's request.
Looking back out the window, Matt said, "Just in case… Do you remember that one case me and Foggy couldn't win in court? I'd like you to make a call to Ryker's. Remind Officer Suarez of that file we have, and ask him to do me a favor. Quietly. And then ask Wesley to arrange an ambulance for Officer Suarez. I get the feeling he's going to overdose on his medication tonight, and we'll need to be ready to pick him up fast. Sadly, he won't make it to the hospital, but with him will die any uncontrolled knowledge of our new friend on the outside. On the off chance we need to move along with Operation: Checkmate, I want to have my rook in place beforehand, preferably without my enemies seeing it."
Immediately understanding, Fisk opened his mouth to protest this plan, being familiar and not particularly fond of the "rook" Matt spoke of, but then just bowed his head in acceptance of his son's wisdom and authority and said, "Of course, Matthew," before he turned and left the room in a hurry to carry out this new order despite his own misgivings.
After he was gone, Matt stared outside in silent reflection. He was not the type of person to rush into decisions, yet he could also be extremely decisive when it came down to it. Both of those qualities were necessary for an effective Kingpin. He needed to be ready to make tough choices that would have massive impacts when certain crucial times arose, and this was certainly one of those times.
As soon as he gave the order, the world, particularly his world, would change forever. Matthew Murdock would make a dramatic transformation from a world-renowned lawyer into the greatest crime boss in history. Though the preparation had taken years, it would take less than 48 hours for Matt's plan to assume complete control over the city.
Of course, the transition wouldn't be quite as smooth as he had once hoped. He had hoped to control all of the city's police, or at least enough of them to order the synchronized executions of all the ones that continued to resist him. Instead, there was a legitimate concern that some of the police may actually survive the inter-precinct shootouts with their dirty fellow cops that had successfully been bought and try to fight Murdock's conquest.
One of the Raft's inmates, the Scorpion, was now dead at the hand of Matt's own right hand man. Without him, the number of supervillains Matt could employ for this venture had fallen by a considerable percentage taking into account the fact that there weren't many people in the Raft to begin with, the city having been introduced to supervillains less than a year ago at this point.
And the Spiderlings, one of Spider-Man's side projects that had eventually become essentially the Kingpin's personal army, had been reduced to half of their maximum strength and numbers by their fight with Spider-Woman and the new Prowler.
Those two individuals were Matt's greatest concern. The reason he was choosing to act now was because he knew he would likely not get a better chance, and not just because of Captain Stacy's death. Mr. Morales and Ms. Stacy continued to elude and frustrate him, and every effort taken so far to capture or at least defeat them had ended in failure and cost Matt valuable resources. Ultimately, it had all been a waste.
Part of Matt was frustrated with himself for even continuing to pursue this once he had determined that Spider-Woman would prove uncontrollable to him. But he'd been unable to accept that thought, the idea of anything in this city, in his city, being beyond his reach and influence. So instead he'd tried to eliminate her as a threat, only for her to escape his best operative's custody and begin continuing to threaten his plans.
Wherever they were now, Spider-Woman and Prowler would certainly try to stand in the way of Matt's plan. But at this point, Matt was content to let them come. Perhaps they would be flattened by the scale of Matt's takeover. The Kingpin felt that even with his resources depleted, he was still on course to win this war. The surviving refractory cops, if indeed there were any, would still stand no chance against the rest of Matt's forces. The combined powers of the supervillains that remained in the Raft would be more than enough to subdue the city. And the Spiderlings, even with their power reduced, were completely loyal to Matt, proven through questioning periods with each of them given by Matt himself, and were all carrying some of the most powerful weapons ever designed, stronger than any of the hardware the United States military used, capable of leveling entire city blocks when given some time and set to decently high power levels.
And even if anyone, superpowered teenage vigilantes or otherwise, managed to get anywhere close to Matt… Well, they would be in for a surprise. But the rest of the game was now prepared, so it was time for Matt to stop thinking and make his opening move.
Matt tilted his head and quietly called, "Foggy."
Immediately, his dutiful partner in their shared law firm walked over to Matt while pulling out his phone and calling a number, then handed the phone to Matt so that the taller man could hold it up by his face. The phone rang for only a single beat before it was picked up, and a distorted voice asked, "Yes?"
Smiling pleasantly, Matt said, "Prowler. Are you ready at the Raft?"
There was a second's pause, then Prowler's voice responded, "Yes, sir. If you want to wait, this is our last chance."
However, with his mind already made up, Matt simply said, "Do it," then hung up the phone and handed it back to Foggy, who pocketed the device and exited swiftly with his task accomplished while Matt kept facing towards the window, seemingly looking outside to anyone who didn't already know that he was blind.
However, a moment later, massive bursts of flame began launching out from all sides of the Raft super-prison on its secluded island, and though even the startled screams of numerous civilians outside were muffled from in here, Murdock seemed to know exactly what had happened anyway. A grin gracing the face of the blind man as he faced the explosions that he could hear all the way from here, the fiery light reflecting off the red lenses of his glasses, Murdock recited, "'And he saw the light, and it was good.'"