The rendezvous point for our team of shining examples of mental stability and well adjusted individuals, is on a roof of an apartment building just two blocks from Oscorp. We wanted to be far enough away so that none of Oscorp's security systems and personnel would detect us lifting off of a building or from the street. Being as quiet as possible is the ideal approach. Get in, get the data and the sample, and get out. Profit.

This is going to go so wrong.

Stop thinking like that Tommy. You got this. They may be dysfunctional, but your crew is-THUNK

I hear the sound of something solid bounce off the door I just opened, leading to the roof. It just missed my head and when I catch it as it's falling, I realize it's a ball bearing. A roiling sea of frustration already rising in the pit of my stomach, I look up to where I assume Bullseye is standing, and stop in my tracks when I see the Daredevil himself, standing right in front of me in his red and black costume.

How did he find out we were here?

"Long way from the ring, Champ." Oh great, instantly recognized.

"Oh great. Don't tell my grandmother you came for me. She's Irish Catholic, and wouldn't let me hear the end of it if she found out she was right." A smirk spreads across his face. I look around to see if Lester is up here, but there was no sign of him.

"Not interested in your grandmother. I'm interested in everything you know about the job you and your crew are about to pull off. Who's involved? What are you after?" I shake my head. There's a chance I can win this fight and get the Hell out of here, but selling out the rest of the crew could be bad for Cindy. They know about her, and I wouldn't put it past them to go after her. I just need to be sure I'm the first to report his involvement. Otherwise, they might think I set him loose on the crew.

"Pretty sure you know as well as I that a guy like me tends to fight solo. This isn't a sports team, and definitely not some pro-wrestling stable. Besides, I don't know what job you're talking about."

"Guys like you aren't alone. Even you prize fighters have a team of coaches, training partners, dietitians or what have you? Jobs like this, even if you are intending to be the face of the operation, there are other moving parts." Daredevil isn't green, that much is certain. But something about his attitude is throwing me off.

"Look. Clearly you know more than you should, but I'm not talking. Can we just get to beating each other up now?" The masked vigilante laughs as he takes a few steps towards me.

"Don't be like that Tommy-boy! Just tell me what I want to know, and you can walk away unscathed and Scott free. No jail time, no bruises, a free and clear man. Free to go back to that pretty girlfriend of yours." I didn't know what I was expecting, but for some reason I didn't think a guy dressed like him and calling himself Daredevil would make such allusions to harming innocent people. I wouldn't say he was my hero, but the saying goes never meet them for a reason I guess. Shouldn't be surprised, this world is always hiding just how disgusting it can be sometimes.

"Sorry, I don't make deals with Devils. Besides, cunt, you threaten my love again, and you're going to wonder why you've survived this long, dressed like that, only to die when I chuck you off of this building." I could be wrong, but there is nothing about this guy that is telling me he has super powers. At least, not physical ones. Then again, I didn't expect Daken to have powers, and it turned out he was a mutant, so what the Hell do I know. Other than I won't stand for this bullshit much longer. Cindy has had nothing to do with this, and I'll keep it that way, no matter the cost.

At this point, Daredevil and I are only three feet apart. I can see his grin on his face. Probably enjoying the fact that he was riling me up. Ire has built up in me pretty quickly, to the point where beating him to death seemed ideal. Just before we started trading blows however, I could see behind him was a dark figure in the sky, flapping it's wings and heading towards us. I smirk, knowing full well that Toomes would have to aid me, considering Chameleon threatened his daughter if he tried to fly away once he got his gear. I am noticing that there is practically no noise when he flies however, which is strange since I know he uses turbines and an engine of some sort in order to propel himself. Which makes sense, seeing as how our bodies weren't really built to be aerodynamic, even if we have wings on our backs. Either way, I had to focus on the challenge in front of me.

"Looks like you've wasted too much time trying to get me to talk. Now you've got a 2v1 on your plate. I was going to let you go if you left me alone, but you threatened my girl. I can promise you that what happens next, won't be pretty." Looking over his shoulder, Daredevil sighs, and turns back to me as he shakes his head and begins lifting his hands up to his face.

"Damn, I was so eager to see how this would play out, but..." Placing both his hands on either side of his helmet/mask thing, he lifts it off to reveal that I was a fool for believing this was a hero at all. "...there's work to do. Money to make. People to brutalize." Fucking asshole.

"You're a pathetic maggot Lester. You're not fooling anybody. Everybody is aware of how empty you are. Inside you is like a hollow chasm that doesn't even run that deep. You just refuse to fill it with anything except bodies and misery." I walk past the bastard without touching him even remotely, refusing the need to shower a thousand times tonight.

As I pass, he give a humourless laugh, but the look in his eyes and the falter of his smirk tells me that he doesn't find any of what was said amusing. He wasn't brushing it off. I struck a nerve. The guy was somewhat insecure about that particular topic. Something I'd store away for future use if I need to throw him off his game.

"Venomous words. Coming from a guy who, frankly, doesn't know anything about me, and used to refuse to talk trash about his opponents before and after matches, shows just how far you've fallen."

"I'd agree with you, but you aren't my opponent."

"What? You mean to tell me we aren't fighting right now because we are apart of the same crew? Does that mean we'll throw down after the job's over? Please. Tell me yes."

I look back at Lester as Toomes lands on the roof, and I couldn't be bothered to even scowl at him. The guy is nothing to me other than another madman that enjoys violence. I know the type to well, but he's taken it leagues further. No doubt he's dangerous, but unless he actually tries to hurt me or Cindy, I'll have nothing to do with him. Not even kill him.

"No. Like I said, you aren't my opponent. You aren't worth it. You're just sick. Something dark has twisted itself inside of you, and you refuse to deal with it. I'm not wasting my energy on people like that anymore. Hence the reason you're getting verbally dismantled, rather than physically." Lester grunts at me before spitting at my feet. Even with his mucus, his accuracy is unbelievable. I'm letting my anger get the better of me.

Truth is. I would love to kill him right here. I don't normally like violence, but people like him bring the worst out in me. Makes me want to get rid of them. So I don't have to feel this way. So I don't make the same mistake I did when I was younger.

"You two done making out? We need to stay focused on the job. One fuck up could spell jail time for life." Looking over at 'Vulture', I see that his get up has changed a bit.

His engine and turbines seem to be gone, while his metallic wings remained, but they had round green lights on both ends of each blade. He still had his talons as well, but his aviator jacket was now over a suit that had a new harness on it with the same green energy as his blades, in the centre. It kind of reminded me of Iron Man's chest piece. His helmet looked similar to how it did before, but it connected to the new harness, and it still had it's signature green glowing eyes. Over all though his get up looked more protective. He also didn't have any controls in his hand like he used to. Instead he had gloves that had a similar green light emanating from the fingers.

"So this is the new suit. Kind of liked the old one better." Lester says.

"You're one to talk. Never made a Bullseye costume, so you're ripping off the guy that locked you up?"

"If we get spotted, Oscorp will be after a bunch of freaks, a nobody, and the Devil himself. We get the job done and I ruin his reputation the same way he did mine. Two birds. One stone."

"Classic. Blame the Devil for your sins. Not his fault your a sadistic idiot." I chirp at him with a smirk. He scowls at me before putting his mask back on.

"Shut up. The both of you."

"You aren't the boss here Toomes." Lester growls.

"Maybe, but if you annoy me enough, I won't hesitate to drop your asses. I'm sure a sick bastard like yourself would enjoy the sight of a person splattered across the pavement Lester, but you won't be alive to enjoy it." Lester reaches down for his escrima stick and I take a step towards him, while Toomes lifts his arms, and his bladed wings react. Interesting. They weren't moving when he was gesturing with his arms before.

"Don't be stupid Lester. We get this job done. We're all rich, and free to kill each other later." Toomes says.

"I'm not that kind of killer. I'm not sloppy... I'm precise. I'm..."

"Nobody here cares. If you want a pal to talk shop with, you can always become pen pals with people like Mac Gargan." Lester growls in frustration as he slides his weapon back into it's holster, and starts rubbing his head through the helmet he is wearing. I really need to stop antagonizing him. Just because I can probably take him, doesn't mean I'd win. Besides, I'm nursing a concussion that's making my memory of our plan sort of wonky and my head still hurts.

I just hope Felicia keeps her word about watching my back.

"Alright. Both of you attach these to your harnesses." Toomes taps a button on his suit and a small compartment opens up. Out pops two small... I don't know what they are. But they are a dull green like his chest piece.

"What's this for?" I ask.

"Are you serious?" Toomes asks bewildered.

"He was probably to busy drooling over Black Cat to pay attention to the briefing." Lester chimes in.

"Shut up, psycho." He chuckles at me as I turn back to Toomes. "I was paying attention. Just remind me so I know we're all on the same page here. It's good to be thorough." Being unable to see Vulture's face makes it hard to read if he believed me or not, but I can hear him sigh through, what I'm assuming is some kind of built in speaker on his helmet. Artificial voice box. Vox? Yeah, let's go with that.

"Fine. My new suit uses anti-gravity fields to fly. Makes way less noise, but uses way more power. This little ditty in my chest generates the energy. It was a S.H.I.E.L.D experiment, or I guess Hydra experiment, I don't know. Anyway, it uses what little info they were able to surmise about Tony Stark's mini-arc reactor he uses to power his Iron Man suits, and some of the crashed vehicles that the Chitauri used while invading Earth. It barely made it out of the testing stages. Quite frankly, it's risky to still use, but after running some tests last night with the engineers and scientists they hired to make this thing, it seemed to work just fine. The two devices I gave you... let's just call them magnets."

"You might have to speak more slowly for him Toomes. Doyle's brain was scrambled like eggs awhile back. He don't think so good no more." This little bitch.

"No need Toomes, I get the idea. Just want to know if we're going to be stuck to you or if we'll be dragging behind."

"Under me. My suit is the focus point, but the reactor in my chest can only charge if it's plugged in to a larger reactor, or by flapping my wings. So, since I'll be flapping my wings so that we can keep the charge going, you can't be at my sides." I nod my head. I probably should have known this already.

"Okay, so the rooftop is where we are going right?"

"Yeah, but only after Black Cat gives the signal that the security systems have been neutralized." With that said, we pull out our comms devices and place them in our ears. Basically tiny earbuds, with a small bracelet to boost the signal and act as a microphone if necessary.

While Toomes is in his Vulture gear, and Lester is dressed as a vigilante, I am dressed like Archer, from the hit animated series, Archer. Black turtle neck, black spotless gloves, black cargo pants, and where I diverge are the black sneakers and the balaclava. I didn't bring any guns, I don't like them, so instead I brought one of those expandable batons, and a knife, if absolutely necessary. I also brought lock picks just in case, but I was certain most of the doors in the building were locked with high tech magnetic locks that require keypad inputs or fingerprint and retina scanners. Maybe all of the above.

The harness is already strapped on, and I vaguely remember that the "magnet", that Toomes gave me actually sits in the middle of said harness. There is a metal ring that looks like a regular part of the material, but the magnet slides in and snaps as it's locked into place. I can feel this warm energy in my chest as Toomes, without warning, activates the gravity field, and lifts us off the ground.

"This feels weird. I don't like it."

"For once, Doyle, you and I agree on something."

"Relax. The both of you. The lack of control you feel being lifted up like this may be alarming, but it's the best and most efficient option we have at the moment. I can only go a certain speed and certain altitude, while lugging both of you around with these magnets. Especially considering you don't have a helmet like mine. You will be fine though, just don't squirm around and you'll stay put."

"What happens if we need to make a fast escape?" I ask.

"The speed I can go isn't terrible, not to mention we'll be flying. If it comes down to it though, I can just carry you. The suit gives me a boost to my strength and speed." Adrian sounds very elated about such an upgrade.

"Feel like you're in your prime there Vulture? How long has it been since you could stand up without your knees creaking like a hard wood floor." Lester jabs. Quite frankly, I couldn't resist being a bit of a cheeky asshole myself.

"When you say increase in strength, do you mean you're super strong? Or, do you just mean that you're back to the average strength of an average young man." I chuckle a bit as Adrian sighs and shakes his head.

"You two sound like my daughter."

"I think he just called us girls."

"I did."

I laugh, while Lester just stands there awkwardly. If it wasn't for the fact that he was a ruthless killer, I'd assume that he was just autistic or something like that.

"Black Cat here. Everybody check-in. Daken?"

"Here."

"Sabretooth?"

"Read you loud 'n clear, pussy cat." I can hear an audible grunt of disgust at that nickname before Felicia continues with the role call.

"Vulture?"

"Check."

"Bullseye."

"Actually, he's dressed as-"

"Check."

"And the Champ himself?" I roll my eyes as I respond in a robotic voice.

"Roger, Roger."

"Cute. You all in position?"

"Daken and I are already inside, had to take out two guards."

"You didn't kill anybody did you?"

"We did. They saw our faces."

"You aren't wearing masks?"

"We don't wear costumes like you lunatics."

"Give it time." Toomes speaks up as he noticeably looks down at his suit, and over at Bullseye. As much as I was willing to make jokes, this is a serious problem.

"You guys realize you just fucked our timeline right?"

"Nobody asked for your opinion, Doyle."

"Well you're getting it anyway. You idiots shortened our time frame of getting in and out. If somebody notic-"

"Shut up, Doyle." Toomes speaks up next. "You don't need to spell it out for us. We're pros. We're aware of the 're arrogance is blinding you to your reality at the moment. Save for the Cat, everybody here, even me, has no problem killing you if you end up becoming a burden. Fucking with morale doesn't help your case, and you aren't as experienced in this kind of life." I groan.

"Seriously? You're okay with them just killing any-"

"Yes." He stops me dead in my tracks. Toomes up till this point has mostly been quiet. Only speaking when he felt necessary. The dressing down I feel like I am about to receive just makes me seethe in anger, but I have been saying that I need to pull back on my attitude a bit. "You need to understand something. We don't know Sabretooth and Daken. Whatever their reasons for being here, and whoever that Logan guy is they are looking for, is beyond us. Cat just wants money, thrill, and valuable things."

"Not necessarily in that order. But please, do continue." I can hear a sense of amusement coming from her end of the comms and I am suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. These assholes look down on me. Their psychologically deranged people and I'm the one being looked down on. What the fuck is happening here.

"As I was saying. Lester wants to get revenge and will kill anybody that gets in his way, so long as it doesn't hinder him, and I just want to see my daughter again. Failing that, secure a future for her. Getting back at Spider-Man wouldn't be so bad either. So even if you and Black Cat won't kill. The rest of us gladly will. I suggest you stop being a nuisance and roll with the punches. Supposedly you were good at that once." A whistle can be heard over the comms and I'm actually fuming. I want to say something back. Retaliate. Fight... but I know he's right, and that I shouldn't.

"If it helps, Champ, think about what you're doing this for. Focus on that. Ignore everything else. If it's a hindrance, adapt. Okay?" Felicia's voice comes in smooth and soft. She's trying to coax peace out of me, rather than delivering a few jabs herself.

"Are we done holding hands? Cause last I checked, the pipsqueak complained about having a shorter time frame. Let's get moving." Creed's deeper and gruffer voice mocked us over the radio and I decided it's time to flip the switch. Something I haven't done in awhile.

"Point taken... apologies. Let's go." I gesture to Toomes and Lester. Toomes nods to me, and Lester just smirks. We get close, and turn away from Toomes. He activates the gravity field one more time and Felicia speaks again.

"Alright boys. Time to get to work. Once Toomes lands, I'll loop the camera feeds on the necessary floors and you can enter through the roof entrance. Creed and Daken will meet us outside the lab where the Serum should be getting tested. None of it seems to be kept in a separate storage area, which makes it difficult for us to access it without alerting any personnel. Luckily, it doesn't matter if we are spotted. All that matters is we escape with the samples and data. Understood?"

"Loud and clear." I respond. The rest respond in a similar fashion. The Vulture powers up his suit, and takes off, with Bullseye and I taking off with him.

It was actually pretty terrifying. Even though I was being secured by the anti-gravity field and the magnet, the lack of being physically attached to anything made me very uneasy. I wasn't necessarily afraid of heights, but definitely didn't like it when I was just floating in the air with no anchor point or parachute to rely on. The fact that we weren't given one goes to show just how much they cared about us surviving this mission. Strange, considering they wanted priceless, cutting edge, and very rare formula.

"How you guys doing?" Toomes asks.

"Never flown like this before. Pretty startling, but I'll live" Decided to give an honest reply.

"So the MMA Champion is scared of heights? Go figure." Lester mocks.

"What did I just say on that roof Lester. I'm not above dropping you." Lester chuckles.

"It's alright Toomes. I've been giving him shit since I met him. Besides, he's completely wrong. As usual. I'm not scared of heights. Humans aren't meant to fly without at least having something attached to them. You have wings. If the anti-gravity field fails, I'm sure you could glide to safety. We just get splattered across pavement."

"Fair point." Toomes replies.

Watching the city below me is remarkable. I've flown on a plane before, but you only get this limited view through a small window. This is so vastly different. The freedom of no longer being restricted to the Earth was something else. Despite the unease, and very real fear that the device responsible for my safe flight could malfunction, I still feel a sense of... calm. Like I was above all the noise that drowned me in stress, expectation, anxiety, and any other problem the modern era affords it's denizens.

If I get the millions promised to me, I'd like to see about getting something like Vulture's wings, even if it's not as good. Just enough to let me glide from rooftop to rooftop.

Looking at the city, I think about what Toomes said. About how he'd basically do anything for his daughter, no matter what. I pretty much feel I would do the same for Cindy. I have done plenty for her. A lot of it she doesn't even know about. Made me think just what exactly Toomes believed he was doing for his daughter, that led him to being beaten up and arrested by the web-head.

"I saw your face on TV after Spider-Man apprehended you. He lit you up pretty bad, but still let you live. What happened between the two of you?"

"I killed his girlfriend." No hesitation. Immediate response, and I didn't really detect a hint of remorse in his voice.

"Jesus Christ. Really? Wait you knew who his girlfriend was? Does that mea-"

"No. Just like I told Gargan after he was thrown in prison, I don't know his identity. I just figured it out by watching him interact with her. She was helping him track me. She probably knew who he was, and even though I was somewhat interested, I ultimately didn't care."

"Who was the girlfriend?"

"I don't know. Never bothered to follow up. I do know her first name was Gwen. He called it out when I threw her off a bridge."

"I don't see how that would have killed her. The guy swings around catching people falling to their death all the time. Unless you interfered somehow."

"Didn't need to. I gave him an ultimatum. Either fight me, and let her fall to her death, or let me escape to go and catch her."

"You're telling me he chose to go after you and let her die?"

"Hehe, so much for being a hero." I ignore Lester's comment in favour of focusing on Vulture's response.

"Shut up, Lester. No. He went after her. He was a stupid kid then. Probably no older than 16 or 17. Assuming he wasn't just some pervert dating a teenager around that age... I didn't find out until after the fact, when he beat the bricks off of me. He tried catching her with his webing, but didn't calculate the force and angle correctly, so he wound up snapping his neck."

"Haha! Amazing!"

"Jesus fuck, Toomes." I crane my neck to look up to the guy, and he's staring at me through those green glowing eyes. "Why did you do it?"

"To prove a point."

"What point was worth a kids life?" He goes silent for a moment. I hold his gaze, and I can tell I'm glaring. I can't help it. He killed a kid. Even if he didn't deliver the killing blow, he set it up so that it would happen. Even if that wasn't his intention, it's what happened.

Spider-Man. I would have killed the fucker if it was Cindy that was in that position.

"That she wasn't my daughter, and my family is the only thing I care about. That even he'd sacrifice strangers, in order to protect what he cares about most. I was already killing by this point, so he knew if he let me go, it was likely more would be hurt or killed." I open my mouth to argue with him, but I somewhat agreed. I wasn't about to sacrifice Cindy in order to save anybody in this State, never mind city. Still, why he was even in that position in the first place, and using a kid as a meat shield... that's just too far.

Instead of voicing my opinion, I've taken the listen of keeping my mouth shut to heart and focused on Cindy. Protecting her. Providing a better future for the both of us. I wasn't about to jeopardize that by mouthing off to the guy carrying me over the city.

It didn't take long to get to Oscorp Industries. We were basically touching down by the time that conversation ended. Toomes, being limited in his abilities inside the building, was meant to stay out here, keep an eye and ear out. Likely we won't be able to leave via the rooftop, but it's plan A. Plan B, if we get into trouble, is get to a window, let him know where we are in the building, and we'll breach through and he'll carry me, and Lester, while Black Cat will use her grappling hook, and the mutants... well they said they'd find their own way out. I'm not even sure how they got inside. Claiming we didn't need to worry about it and that they'd find a way.

Adrian sets us down on the roof and flies off as we start heading towards the door, and I relay our status to the rest of the crew.

"We've touched down Cat."

"One second... aaaand, Cat's got their tongues. Or I guess, eyes in this case. One more second and I'll have that magnetic lock opened for you." True to her word, the moment after she was done the light on the lock turns green and Lester pulls the door open.

"After you, Champ."

"Ladies first, Bethany." Lester grits his teeth as he gives a short fake chuckle and grins like a madman.

"Sure thing." I shake my head. My mouth was going to get me killed. Still, no way I was going to let him take the rear. I didn't trust him to stay behind me and keep his hands to himself.

We descend a stare case for a few flights before hitting a level with a sign that read "BIO-CHEMICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT" This was the floor that was supposedly home to plenty of studies that Oscorp has openly discussed in the media, but one lab in particular was what we were looking for. A confidential lab where they were researching this serum in secret.

"We've reached the 18th floor. Locked door. Same magnetic lock as last time."

"Two seconds." Again, the magnetic lock whirs as the gears turn and clicks, turning the red light to green. Lester opens the door and steps through.

The building's architecture looks sterile, cold, but also new aged. The design isn't just modern, but next gen. A lot of the doors slide open, as opposed to having handles and swinging open. Everything looks to be waxed or glossy. The walls on this level in particular were white, but the lighting wasn't very high. Probably due to it being after hours.

"It's too quiet." I declare. "You'd think a place like this would have some of it's employees working overtime, day and night."

"Is there a holiday we aren't thinking about today?" Lester's question was left hanging. Nobody answered over the comms, which likely indicated the others needed to remain quiet. Although why Toomes wasn't responding at all seemed odd. "Am I Being ignored?"

"Anybody read?" Still silence. "I don't like this."

"One little communication hiccup and you want to tuck tail and run? You prize fighters are real chicken shits when you don't have rules and a ref to-"

"Lester. If these guys have put up a jammer, then we've already been discovered. If it's not a jammer, then the others have been cau-"

"Hey! Stop right there!" Having made our way to a junction, we turn down the left hall and spot three guards. Dressed in combat gear, as a opposed to the typical dress shirt, tie and what have you. Makes sense considering what these guys were guarding.

They unfortunately have pistols pointed at us, and I put my hands up. Caught already. Not even close. I turn to look at Lester, and he was grinning.

"On my mark."

"Do you really think you can throw faster than they can shoot?" I whisper back to him.

"Rush them when I do. Besides, the black parts of my suit are bullet proof. The only red part that is bullet proof is my helmet. I'll disarm them and take the fire while we move in." I shake my head and he growls at me. The guards are approaching us slowly.

"Put your hands up! Get on your knees! NOW!"

"Do as I say or we're either dead, or arrested." Looking between the guards and Lester, I find myself worried about what exactly is going to happen next. I don't want to kill anybody. I shouldn't have accepted this job. But it's too late for regrets. I'm not going to jail.

"Fine. Give the word." Lester's smirk creeps across his face as he steps forward.

"I said STOP!"

Without hesitation Lester pulls a Kali stick and throws it at the wall next to the guards. They fire a few rounds and I drop to all fours, and then start rapidly crawling across the ground for a few feet before standing to charge. In that time, Bullseye proved his name sake. His Kali stick hit one of the guards in the head, while he threw two ball bearings to disarm the other two. The guy was a madman, but he was talented beyond doubt.

Rushing both guards, I reach the first one on the right as he bends down to pick up his pistol. Thankfully he is wearing a helmet, so I just deliver a vicious knee to his head, knocking him out cold. Definitely concussed, but will live. The next guard grabs me from the side, one hand on the shoulder furthest from him, the other holding my wrist, as he sweeps my leg and brings me to the ground.

I use my free hand to grab his body armour and pull, using my strength, weight, and momentum of his throw to try and drag him down with me. I simply off balance him, which is fine, because I ended up landing on my side, painfully, but push through to kick the leg that he's relying on most to keep himself steady out from under him.

Now it's a mad scramble to gain the ground advantage. He and I go back and forth, his skill being better than I had anticipated, even from a trained guard. Not sure he would have made it to championship level, but he is definitely giving this retired championship fighter a run for his money. The excitement that I get to use my training like this again in such a dangerous situation is overriding my concern and fear. I am enjoying myself.

After scrambling around for a minute, I end up on my back, but thankfully am able to get into full guard. He's keeping his head down near my chest, and feeding me body shots. They actually hurt, and this guy is a bit bigger than I am so getting control here is going to be tricky. I feel around for the clasp on his helmet, and release it, yanking it off and I start using it to smack him in the back of the head. He takes two shots before covering up, which allows me to abandon the helmet and attempt grabbing his arm. We wrestle some more but it looks like transitioning will be tricky and probably would be best for me to stay in full guard.

"Ticktock Champ. We ain't got time for this." Lester's mocking tone is irritating so I block out any more heckling. Focusing on my opponent.

At some point the guy sits up and pulls his arm free and I see an opening on his head, so I punch him in the mouth and then wrap my hands around the back of his head, pulling him down while lifting my knees to help drag him towards me. I unlock my guard and rotate my body so I can get my right arm around his neck and place the blade of my wrist and forearm against his corroded artery. Successfully doing that I go to grab said wrist with my other hand so I can apply the guillotine choke, but he uses one of his hands to grab my left wrist. I struggle to slip in the hold and he's trying to push himself up and out but I've got a tight hold with my one arm and have locked my legs around his mid section. My hand can't reach my wrist but it was close enough to grab my other hand, so I pull as hard as I could cup both hands together, dropping my right elbow down and lifting my left elbow up and over his shoulder, squeeze, applying pressure to his neck.

The hold locked in the guy tries to fight for awhile before he realizes he's lost and taps out. I spend a few seconds thinking about what I should do, let him go, or choke him out. Still, he won't stay unconscious forever, and choking out doesn't work like it does in the movies. It only lasts a few seconds. Unless of course they are sleep deprived, or suffered a concussion before being choked out. If the latter is true they'd wake up and just be incoherent, confused, unable to stand for a bit, etc. Either way, tying him up will be necessary.

"I'm not going to kill you. Just choke you out, then zap strap you, so stop fighting me and this will be a bad memory sooner rather than later." The guard goes from tapping the floor and trying to fight out, but he eventually stops and than a few seconds later, goes limp. I maintain the hold for a little longer and than let go, rolling him off of me.

I take a second to catch my breath and start to get up to tie him up when suddenly I hear two gunshots and blood splashes across my mask.

"What the fuck!" I shout and jump to my feet, looking to see who pulled the trigger. I shouldn't have been surprised to see Bullseye placing the pistol in the hands of the guard he took it from, a satisfied smile on his face. "You cunt! I promised him he would live!" Looking down, I see the man I had just choked out had a gaping hole in his head, and so did the guy I had knocked unconscious earlier.

"Like Toomes said. We're willing to kill, and we don't have time to tie them up and stash them somewhere. This isn't the amateur league. This isn't even a championship bout. No referees, no judges, no coaches in the corner. Just us, the job, our payout, and any collateral that gets in the way." With that said he turns around and starts walking towards our destination.

I look down at the guard, and search his pockets for a keycard or something that could help us get into places. I come across his wallet first, and open it up to see a photo of a woman and two kids. A boy and girl, probably no older than 10. A rage boils over in me and I continue looking for his keycard before finding it in his vest pocket. I look at the man one last time as I pocket the metallic rectangle. The brutal image burning into my brain. Then I look away.

I head towards the red and black clad murderer, my fury urging me to take out my expandable baton and beat him to death. Maybe shooting him would be better, but I don't like guns that much, and I'm only a somewhat decent shot. Getting in close should be how I deal with this.

As I'm about to close in on Lester, I see Daken and Sabretooth appear from around a corner down the hall. Daken is carrying a bag, and both men have blood on their clothes. They are dressed in casual outfits. Jeans, shirts, a jacket each, regular shoes. They weren't kidding when they said they don't wear costumes.

"What's in the bag?" Lester asks.

"None of your business." Creed barks.

"Whatever. Keep your secrets then. Where's Cat?"

"Right here." Looking back the way we came, Black Cat is standing right behind us. Her costume is a bit different then it was before. The fur patches on her wrists are replaced with white gauntlets, of which have a grappling hook attached to them. Her knees and shins are covered in a white protective material as well, while the toes of her boots are also white. She also has a bit of a protective layer around her torso and her arms, which are black with white trim around the edges. She still has her deep V-neck lined with fur that she had before. Woman has that protective layering but still has her cleavage exposed. I don't get it, but I also don't get women who wear skirts and dresses in the winter.

"Caught a snag, couldn't respond without giving away my position. They got off lucky, considering what happened to the three behind me." She looked at me with a bit of a frown, but her seductive facade crawled over her face once more. "Hazards of the job really. Let's get moving. With that, Creed takes point, with Daken and Lester right behind him. I go to follow, but Felicia tugs on my arm a bit to slow our pace. I look over to her and she signs to me.

"Did you have to kill them?" I shake my head.

"No. I knocked one out and choked out the other. Lester shot them afterwards. I don't know why. You'd think he'd want to frame Daredevil for robbing Oscorp or something." Black Cat frowns again and breathes through her nose.

"We have to be careful. These guys seem to all be ticking time bombs. I vote that you and I grab the data and serum, and then steal away into the night. I wouldn't count on these guys keeping cooler heads when things pop off." I nod in agreement.

"Agreed. Wait. What do you mean when?" She just smiles at me and winks as we continue. Of course she's got something up her sleeve.

We continue down the hall and finally reach the lab we were looking for. There are only frosted windows, and unlike the other labs, there are no signs indicating what research is done here. That just screams secret illegal research. Shouldn't be a surprise, this floor was more heavily secured then the rest, according to Chameleon.

"I pulled a keycard off of one of those guards. We can try using it." The group makes a path for me towards the door and just as I'm about to insert the keycard, a giant hand grabs my wrist.

Looking up a Creed, he shakes his had and motions me to be quiet. He points to his ear, and and then the room. I quickly surmised he heard a conversation going on. I nod my understanding and he motions for us to move down the hall a bit and around the corner.

"What are you hearing?" I ask.

"Three men talking. One's definitely Norman Osborn. The other two... hold on... A guy named Connors... and apparently, Spider-Man." Jesus.

"Why didn't Vulture warn-" Lester started but Daken cut in.

"Shut up. We're trying to hear them." The two men with super hearing focus again and the hall becomes silent for a moment before both mutants give each other knowing looks.

"The suspense is killing me." I say dryly. Daken releases a rumbling growl under his breath that makes me a bit anxious, and Creed groans.

"Their arguing. Something about a suit, or a 'symbiote', or something like that. Says it's dangerous. That room is almost sound proof. I can barely hear them... wait. He's leaving."

"Which way?"

"He stepped out of that door... and crawled into a vent. The bug barely makes any noise. Hard to track him. As far as I can tell, he's heading away from the bodies. Quiet!" We all press up against a wall in the dark hallway, and silence falls over us. Creed and Daken's heads are facing the ceiling, and they turn their heads slowly, as if they are tracking something. I assume Spider-Man was in the vent above us.

We let a few moments go by before Creed turns to us and nods, indicating to follow.

"Are Osborn and that Connors still in their?" I ask.

"No. Osborn left while we were waiting for Spider-Man to pass us." I took note that Daken didn't mention Connors leaving, which didn't bode well. Seeing what these guys are willing to do, I'd imagine Connors might not survive the night.

And there was no way for me to fight all three of them. I hate this. I do remember though that Lester had a legitimate question about the only member of this crew that wasn't in the building.

"Vulture. You there?" Nothing. Silence. "Vulture. Come in."

"Sorry. Had a little run in with the Wall-Crawler. I got lucky, pinned him down and high tailed it. Easier to do when I can just fly straight up and away form him."

"When?"

"A about 5 or so minutes ago. I don't know where he went after that. He doesn't seem to be around Oscorp."

"Well actually, he was here. Talking to Norman Osborn and some guy named Connors. He just left, so go hide and stay out of site for a few minutes. Sabretooth, Daken. Can you still hear him?" Both men look at each other and tilt their heads slightly. I can tell they are focusing, and both nod.

"Sounds like he's heading to the South side." Creed declares.

"You get that, Vulture?" I ask.

"Loud and clear. Taking cover now. Thanks for the heads up. Sorry I didn't warn you. I didn't think he was heading there."

"It's no problem. Thanks to our more animalistic crew members, we were able to avoid him. Let us know if he spots you. Do as you did before if you can. If not, we'll figure something out."

"Sure thing, Champ. Glad to see you came around to working as a team. And thanks for the heads up."

"Aw, dad's proud of you." Rolling my eyes, I ignore Bullseye and hold the keycard out, hovering over the the magnetic lock. I turn to Creed who nods for me to proceed.

Connors. Whoever you are. I hope you cooperate and don't do anything stupid.