Felicia opened the window just enough for her and Peter to get into the safehouse. It was small by her standards, but Peter probably couldn't afford an apartment flat like this anyway.
"Close the window once you've gotten in," Felicia exclaimed to Peter before walking into her room and locking the door.
Peter took one last look at the NYC skyline, the heavy rain and gloomy clouds covering the sun. Crawling into the flat, he closed the window as Felicia had said and took a look around. The flat smelled like cats and expensive room spray.
Walking to the kitchen, he opened the fridge and took a handful of blueberries, throwing them into his mouth without caring that his gloves were covered in dried blood. Closing the fridge door, he walked into the living room and took a look around. It was surprisingly neat for a safehouse. The pillows were perfectly placed, and the books and DVDs on the TV stand weren't messy.
Peter pulled his mask off and was about to sit down on the couch when a familiar voice shouted from the kitchen.
"You're not sitting down in my living room before you take a shower and get that suit off. It's nasty!" Felicia annoyingly yelled from the kitchen, probably making something.
Strolling out of the living room, he quickly realized he didn't know where the bathroom was. Moving to the kitchen, he went to ask.
"Felicia," Peter said, but she didn't respond. The sound of eggs frying in a pan masked his voice. Peter tapped Felicia on the shoulder.
"Huh? I told you to go take a shower," Felicia said, annoyed. Her hair was tied into a quick messy bun, and she wore a grey wool jumper and blue jeans.
"Where's the bathroom?" Peter dryly asked, his posture indicating he was tired.
"It's right next to the living room, on the right," Felicia told Peter. He was about to walk off before she added, "You really need to shave that beard off, and who told you to wear that suit?"
Peter grunted in response and walked to the bathroom. He took off his clothes and stepped into the shower, which was surprisingly big—enough to fit three people. Turning the valve to the hottest setting, he stood under the spray, feeling the hot water wash away the grime and fatigue. The heat worked into his muscles, providing relief after the day's events.
Grabbing a random bottle of shampoo from the shelf, Peter couldn't read the label through the fogged glass, but he probably didn't care. He poured a generous amount into his palm and worked it into his hair, feeling the gooey liquid transform into a rich lather. The scent, a mix of citrus and mint, began to fill the small room.
Peter scrubbed his scalp, feeling the grime and sweat being lifted away. After rinsing his hair, he grabbed a bar of soap and began lathering his body, watching the dirt wash away in the soapy water. Standing under the spray, he let the hot water rinse the suds from his body, feeling clean and refreshed.
Wiping the foggy mirror to see his reflection, Peter noticed his hazel eyes looked tired, and his messy, wet hair drooped into his eyes. Grabbing a razor from the countertop, he applied shaving cream to his face. He started with his cheeks, the blade gliding smoothly over his skin, removing the stubble. He continued down his jawline, making sure each stroke was precise. As he shaved, he watched the strands of his beard fall into the sink.
Once he was done, only a light stubble remained. He rinsed his face with cool water and dried it with a towel, running a hand through his damp hair. Wrapping the towel around his waist, Peter opened the bathroom door and stepped into the hallway, letting the steam billow out into the apartment. He felt the cool air contrast sharply with the warmth of the bathroom, waking him up a bit more.
"You done in there already? I'm waiting," Felicia impatiently exclaimed while knocking on the door. Peter hung the towel on the drying rack and put on fresh clothes, a grey t-shirt, and sweatpants.
Peter opened the door and felt the steam from the shower flow out of the room and into the apartment. Felicia stared at his face; he looked much different without the beard.
"Now that's the guy I fell in love with," Felicia flirtatiously said with a smirk, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Peter pulled away from Felicia's grip, and she let out an annoyed sigh. "Do you even relax anymore?" she groaned before closing the bathroom door.
Peter walked back into the living room and looked back outside. It was still raining heavily, and the fog still covered the sun. He sat down on the couch, his back being comforted by pillows. It was funny to Peter how one of several safehouses that Felicia had around the city probably beat his apartment by a mile in terms of comfort and quality. But this could just be a weird way of venting for him.
"You look like you haven't slept in ages," Felicia joked, sitting down next to Peter and placing a cup of coffee on the table.
"Yeah, I haven't," Peter groaned before fully lying down on the couch, his head resting on the armrest.
"Is the information done downloading?" Peter asked Felicia, who was sipping on her cup of coffee.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Felicia put the cup down on the table and speed-walked into her room.
Peter took another look at the living room. She even had a TV mounted on the wall. It looked pretty expensive too. The coziness inside her apartment was a comforting feeling from the heavy rain going on outside.
"Alright, it's done downloading. Now we just need to see what it contains," Felicia said, opening a cabinet and pulling out her laptop. Placing it on the desk, she turned it on and inserted the USB stick.
Clicking on the folder that had just appeared, it contained a single video. Evidence was still evidence. Felicia clicked on the video and leaned in to watch it. Peter had gotten up from his lying state and scooched closer to Felicia to watch the video.
It started to play.
"Alright, you're telling me you want to take over the entire East Coast with what, 2,000 men? You must be fucking crazy." The voice was familiar to both Felicia and Peter; it was Shocker.
"Which sane man would go to war with numbers as small as 2,000? We will get help, of course," a man calmly replied to Herman's rant.
"Help from who, Al-Qaeda?" Herman was about to leave the building, but the man spoke again.
"Oscorp," the man sternly responded just before Herman left.
"How the hell do you plan on doing that?" Herman replied, going back to the middle of the room.
"You will see. I'll contact you when I need you," the man replied, and Herman left the room.
The video cut out.
Felicia turned to face Peter. "How the hell are they gonna get help from Oscorp?" she exclaimed.
"They'll force them. Harry gets scared easily," Peter responded, picking up his mask and walking out of the living room to get his suit.
"Hold on, what do we do next?" Felicia asked Peter, walking after him.
"Infiltrate Oscorp," Peter told her, putting his suit on.
"Infiltrate the militia's stronghold already? Are you out of your mind?" Felicia asked Peter.
"Yeah—" Peter was abruptly interrupted by Felicia.
"No, we're doing this my way," Felicia exclaimed, walking back to her room to change into her suit.
"Fine," Peter whispered under his breath. He knew that she was right.
Peter waited outside the window, the rain pouring down from the clouds, running down his mask and lenses. He looked down at the city below, noting how empty it was—emptier than he'd ever seen it.
"Hey, you there?" Felicia tapped Peter's shoulder, snapping him back to reality.
"Yeah, I'm here," Peter replied sternly.
"What happened to your suit?" he asked Felicia. She was wearing a different costume, with more fur around the neck and forearms. It looked more practical, probably due to the rain and the larger threat they were facing.
"What, you don't like it?" Felicia asked with a flirty smile, her claws tracing his spider logo.
"No, it's ju—never mind. What's your plan?" Peter asked, looking around the city.
"I was thinking we draw most of these guys into one place and trap them. If we hit the bigger bases, they can't send as much backup," Felicia responded.
"Where do we lure them?" Peter asked, finding her plan vague.
"Let me think," Felicia pondered for a moment.
"Grand Central Terminal," Peter quickly suggested. "It's big enough to house most of their forces."
"And it already has a built-in lockdown system," Felicia added, nodding in agreement.
"Let's get to work on luring them there," Peter said, about to leap off the ledge before Felicia latched onto his back, wrapping her legs around his hips.
"What the hell are you doing?" Peter exclaimed in annoyance.
"Give me a piggyback, handsome," Felicia giggled, holding onto his shoulders.
Peter sighed and leapt off the ledge, shooting a web line onto a building. "Thirty-three years old and I'm giving my ex a piggyback ride," he mumbled under his breath.
"Yeah, you are. Now go faster," Felicia whispered into his ear, playfully slapping the back of his head.
"Do you ever mature?" Peter asked, moving quicker now.
"Do you ever have fun?" Felicia responded, holding onto him more tightly.
"Yes," Peter answered, focused on swinging through the city.
"If it's related to math or science, it doesn't count," Felicia added lamely.
"Eating wheat cakes," Peter replied, still swinging.
"Really? Your favorite thing to do in your free time is to eat wheat cakes?" Felicia asked.
"Yes," Peter answered before landing on a rooftop near Grand Central Terminal.
Looking at the area, it was moderately guarded, with about two towers set up and around thirteen men stationed, along with a few drones.
"Do you think you could hack into their system?" Peter turned to Felicia, who was using her binoculars to inspect the area.
"No, I'm not good with tech, but you could try hacking into their radio station equipment," Felicia suggested, putting her goggles back into her bag.
"How the hell do I get there undetected?" Peter asked.
"I'll cover you," Felicia replied.
Peter nodded before hopping off the ledge, a rare positive response crossing his face.
"Already warming up, huh?" Felicia whispered to herself, looking through her binoculars.
Peter landed on a lamppost, noting that the drones were quite bulky and didn't have a 360-degree view like the ones they had encountered before. He looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one, he jumped off the lamppost and landed on top of a drone. Tearing off a panel, he disconnected a blue and yellow wire and hopped off. The drone's scan light turned off but it remained active, so the guards didn't notice anything suspicious.
Swinging onto another lamppost, Peter saw two men armed with guns. Hand-to-hand combat wasn't an option. He spotted a group of supply crates containing weapons, rifles, handguns, grenades, and flashbangs. He dropped down silently behind the men and made his way to the containers without making a noise. Pulling out a flashbang, Peter threw it between the two men, leaving them dazed.
"What the fuck is this?!" one of the men shouted, shooting blindly. Peter knocked out the other man before he could respond, webbing his body to the container.
"Holy shit, show yourself, you bitch!" The remaining man turned his laser on and looked around frantically. Peter jumped down, landed on the man's back, and knocked him out with a punch to the head, webbing him up.
"Guys, it's Spider-Man!" a soldier shouted. He had been sent to find out who caused the noise.
"How the fuck did my spider-sense not pick that up?" Peter thought to himself in mere milliseconds. He had about one second before the man pulled the trigger and shot at him. Peter leapt onto a wall and performed an off-the-wall kick to the man's chest, instantly winding him.
Landing on the ground, Peter grabbed the man by his bulletproof vest, ready to knock him out with a punch. He heard the safety of a gun click. Quickly, Peter kicked the man's shin and delivered a devastating kick to the side of his head. Turning around, he saw the man he had just winded pulling out a handgun aimed directly at Peter.
"Move, and I'll put this right through your skull!" the man shouted, his voice mixed with fear and adrenaline. Peter knew even the slightest suspicion of an attack would make him shoot.
"Alright," Peter said, dropping his fighting stance. The young man, probably in his early twenties, was scared and nervous—likely his first time in such an intense conflict.
"I'm going to take that gun from you, and you're going to let me take it from you," Peter said calmly. His mechanical lenses went from squinting to normal size. The young man slightly lowered his gun but kept it trained on Peter. Peter raised his right arm and approached slowly.
The man's eyes snapped to Peter's hand, realizing how close he was. He quickly pulled his handgun back up. "I said stay back!" he shouted, stepping forward to intimidate Peter.
"Look, let me take that gun from yo—" Peter's sentence was cut short by a click. Nothing happened; the chamber was empty.
"What the hell? Wait, please don—" Peter quickly incapacitated the man before he could pick up another gun.
"Hey, you guys, check out all that commotion over there. I think the freak's here," one of the men shouted. Peter heard them running towards him.
Shooting a web line onto a flagpole above him, Peter quickly examined the area. "Poor kid, too pure for this world," Felicia said, suddenly appearing next to him like a ghost.
"Did you do that? Empty his magazine?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, just not in the way you expected." Felicia showed Peter a device attached to her wrist, which looked like it shot darts.
"What's this?" Peter inspected the gadget. It was highly advanced, clearly not something Felicia made herself.
"It jams their guns. I got it tailored just for me, one of a kind," Felicia said in a braggy tone.
"Could you use it on that turret guarding the signal jammer?" Peter asked, curious about the device's full capabilities.
"Probably, but it would only last about 30 seconds before it unjams itself," Felicia replied, observing the area.
"Alright, you take out the turret while it's disabled, then you and I take out the guys with the guns. Their weapons are jammed, right?" Peter was about to jump off the ledge but needed to be sure.
"No, I purposely unjammed them so we can die together," Felicia joked sarcastically.
Peter leapt off the ledge and swung over to the lamppost, looking down at the area. The men were sticking closely together, so a well-placed smoke grenade would disorient them and split them up. He turned his head to the left; the turret was broken, likely Felicia's handiwork. Peter grabbed a smoke grenade from an ammunition box, using his webs to pull it toward his hand.
Laying on the lamppost perch, Peter waited for the right moment. "So, what are you guys doing after this?" one of the soldiers asked.
"I'm gonna take a real long holiday in Ibiza, get a tan," another man said.
"What, you gonna go clubbing or something?" the first replied.
"Nah, just the beach, maybe go sightseeing," the man responded.
"Clubbing is lame anyway," another militia man added through his radio, using his drone to watch.
"Focus, the freak could be right here, and we wouldn't notice," the leader shouted.
"Rumors say that cat burglar teamed up with him," the man on the radio added.
"I said focus! How the hell did you guys get picked for this jo—OOF," the leader was lifted up by a web, pulled up the lamppost. Peter quickly choked him out and let him dangle upside down.
"It's him! Spray him!" one of the guys said, turning off his safety. Peter jumped off the lamppost and threw the smoke grenade. They sprayed bullets into the air, hitting nothing.
Felicia pounced on one of the men, quickly taking him out and shooting a net from her wrist gauntlet, stopping a fleeing man. Peter dropped down, grabbed two soldiers' heads, and bashed them together. Grabbing one of the immobilized men by the neck, he threw him into another militia member about to shoot.
Felicia jumped onto a crate and threw a flashbang into a group of five men, leaving them dazed. Peter swung a web onto a man's back and swung him around before launching him into three other men, knocking them all down.
One man remained. He tried to run away, but Felicia quickly immobilized him. With the last soldier dealt with, Peter walked over to the radio station equipment and peeled off the panel. They didn't have time to hack into it properly, so he would have to disconnect a few wires to cause a loud sound to attract the rest of the militia.
Grabbing two wires, Peter confirmed they were the right colors—yellow and red. Once certain, he pulled the wires out, causing a loud static noise to blare from the speakers. Immediately, he shot a web line and swung up to a vantage point.
Landing on the roof of Grand Central Terminal, Peter listened in on the militia's communications. They were already making their way towards the terminal. The plan was working.
"It won't be long until they start flocking here. Then it's child's play," Felicia said, appearing beside him. "I've already got into the lockdown systems, so with one little tap of this button, they'll all be locked in there like mice."
"I thought you said you weren't good with tech," Peter replied, raising an eyebrow.
"You'd be surprised how weak the city's cybersecurity is," she said, perched next to him.
Peter nodded, looking down at the approaching militia forces. Dozens of militia trucks and other vehicles filled with soldiers were entering the building, staying cautious.
"You three, stay out here and check these guys out," one of the commanders said, running into the building.
Peter and Felicia jumped down and took out two of the three men, quickly dismantling them.
The last man tried to call out to the others but was quickly silenced by a kick to the face.
"Are they all in?" Peter asked Felicia, hiding behind a crate for cover.
"Yeah, I think so," Felicia replied, looking around to see if anyone was around.
"Alright, let's get back to safety and lock them in. Are you sure it'll hold?" Peter asked Felicia.
"It will," Felicia aimed her grappling gun, shooting it onto the Grand Central Station rooftop. Peter quickly followed, climbing over the ledge, Peter quickly realized Felicia was nowhere to be seen.
"Felicia?" Peter exclaimed. Once he said that, he heard the terminal lock down, the windows and entrances instantly boarded off. Felicia turned them off.
Before Peter could realize, Felicia pounced onto Peter and pinned his arms to the ground, landing on top of Peter's chest.
"Felicia, stop playing around," Peter tried to peel off Felicia's restraints without using his spider strength to the degree that it would hurt her.
"Come on, Spidey, you need some excitement in your life," Felicia leaned in, her nose only a few centimeters away from Peter's mask.
"I know what you're trying to do. It isn't going to work," Peter felt Felicia's grip loosen, instantly freeing his hands from Felicia's grasp.
"Are you still obsessing over that redhead?" Felicia stood up and looked at the sky; it was going dark.
Peter didn't respond, instead staring into the cityscape. Most of it was desolate, with most of the militia's stronger forces stuck in the terminal. He could enter their stronghold and beat them until he went to sleep.
"Can I cheer you up with a chase?" Felicia walked over to Peter, placing her hand on the back of his head.
"Felicia, sto—" Felicia didn't let Peter finish his sentence and suddenly edged even closer to him.
Felicia raised her hand and traced it to his neck, attempting to pull his mask off. Peter lightly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her arm back.
"Fine then, I guess you don't want your web shooter back," Felicia smirked before she leapt off the ledge.
Peter checked his wrists and saw that his left web shooter was missing. Grunting in annoyance, Peter dived off the ledge and chased after her.
"How the hell does she do this?" Peter thought to himself, jumping off a building and shooting a web line directly at Felicia, trying to pull her towards him.
Once he heard the web attach, Peter grabbed the web with his free hand and pulled her towards him. Felicia's momentum and speed were disrupted, Peter grabbed Felicia by the shoulder and pinned her against the wall of a building.
"Give it back," Peter told Felicia, his lenses squinted.
"But what I just—" Felicia pulled out Peter's web shooter and aimed it directly at his mask, blinding him.
"What the hell was that for?" Peter exclaimed while ripping the web off his face.
"Why the hell not!" Felicia shouted out, already a block away from Peter.
Ripping off the last strands of the web, Peter leapt off the building and slung a web in Felicia's direction.
"You're getting slower!" Felicia exclaimed in an annoying tone, trying to get Peter to move faster.
Peter flung himself over a building and dived down to gain more speed before pulling back up for more speed. He was right behind Felicia now.
Shooting another web line, Peter attempted to catch Felicia like he did last time, but she moved out of the way and shot her grappling gun onto a rather tall building's side.
"Took you a while to catch up," Felicia taunted as she scaled the building.
Peter ran up the building, carefully balancing his speed. He could slip off any moment.
Felicia tried to aim her grappling gun to the ledge of the rooftop, but Peter saw this and took this chance to tackle her off the building.
"Light on the suit, it's expensive!" Felicia laughed out, wrapping her arms around Peter's shoulders as he swung towards a rooftop.
Putting Felicia down on the roof, Peter let go of the web and dropped onto the ground with a light thud.
"Can I have it back now?" Peter asked Felicia, putting his hand out.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, here," Felicia handed Peter his web shooter. He spotted something else—a stack of $10 bills.
"Take this back. I don't need it," Peter put his hand out to Felicia, the stack in his hands.
"No, you need it more than me," Felicia grabbed Peter's hand and pulled his fingers back onto the stack of money.
Peter sighed and put the stack into his pocket, his suit wet from the downpour that was happening, rain running down his mask, his gloves smeared in dry blood.
Felicia knew something was off about Peter. He was staring at the cityscape for long periods of time. He was more ruthless, he stopped making jokes and barely spoke.
Knowing this, she walked over to Peter and lightly grabbed his hand. Peter turned his head to face her, her facial expressions clear of any flirty smirk or smile. She was genuine.
"Yeah," Peter responded to Felicia, his voice dry as if he had just woken up.
"If you need anything, just call me," Felicia told Peter, a light smile on her face.
"I'm so—" Peter's reply was instantly cut short. A beam of blinding light was shoved into Peter and Felicia's face, causing them to cover their faces.
Peter tried to make out the symbol on the helicopter's side. It looked familiar—the bad kind of familiar. It was a Sable helicopter.
"Felicia, move NOW!" Peter urged Felicia, but she wasn't moving.
"I can help. We just took out most of the militia!" Felicia argued back to Peter.
"You'll get obliterated. Just go!" Peter shoved Felicia off the building. He knew she would survive.
Peter quickly shot a web line onto a water tank and flung himself into the sky. He was heading somewhere he could hide.
Peter swung through the streets, the helicopter trailing right behind him. He could feel the light shine on his back, illuminating his spider emblem.
Quickly shooting another web, he dived down and turned a corner, just to be met with another helicopter. It turned on its lights at the sight of Peter and started to shoot bullets at his faint figure.
"How the hell did they know," Peter grunted to himself, trying to shake them off his tail. Quickly making it onto a rooftop, Peter examined the area he was in. There were four helicopters patrolling the area, a few Sable trucks driving around the streets, and a single tank slowly making its way around.
"All this, just for something like me," Peter said, trying to link the dots.
Peter proceeded to leap off the building and continue his escape, now knowing the layout of the area.
Quickly swinging from building to building with high-speed momentum, Peter knew he couldn't slow down. Now that Sable had made their presence even more known in this fight, he knew it was going to be hard taking on both Sable and the militia at once.
Peter swerved around the city quickly, aware with every new web he shot of his wrist devices.
Suddenly, another bright light was cast onto Peter's face. This one was even brighter—it was another helicopter.
"How the hell," Peter grunted to himself. He turned the other way but was quickly blinded again, causing him to fall off his web.
He was cornered on both sides. The only way out of this was to go through the narrow alleyway gap on his right.
Peter quickly gained his composure back and dodged the turret's bullets, his stamina draining with each movement he performed. Shooting two web lines with his web shooters, Peter pulled himself through the alley and into a more open area—a T-section.
Swinging through, Peter quickly picked up the sounds of multiple helicopters making their way down into the street he was in.
Peter realized he needed to do this without getting detected or causing too much noise. Quickly shooting a web line onto a nearby building's side, he quickly but silently crawled past the patrolling helicopters.
Peter checked around and saw that most of the helicopters were passing his location. He was safe.
Climbing onto the rooftop of the building he was on, Peter quickly regained his composure and checked to see if the coast was still clear. Nothing was seen.
Peter's mind raced. What if they had gotten Felicia? How did they know where he was? Were they working with the militia?
Suddenly, five helicopters peeked above the building Peter was on, their lights quickly blinding him for a second. He thought the area was safe.
Once Peter regained his sight, he squinted his lenses and saw multiple armed men on the helicopters, covered in Sable armor, and armed with heavy artillery.
"Spider-Man, you are under arrest for the murder of the Green Goblin. Raise your hands into the air," one of the commanders exclaimed on a megaphone, the deafening noise hurting Peter's ears.
Peter didn't raise his hands in the air. He quickly tried to think of an escape plan. Pure stealth wasn't an option anymore. He would have to swing off, take out a couple of men, until they lost him.
Peter was blocked on all sides, except for a narrow gap between two helicopters on his left. He could probably slingshot himself through there, just narrowly.
"Raise your hands into the air," the man on the megaphone commanded again. Unwillingly, Peter slowly raised his hands into the air.
A few soldiers climbed down a rope and onto the rooftop. They were holding handcuffs.
Before they could restrain Peter, he quickly swept both of the men and slingshot himself through the two helicopters, narrowly missing one of the helicopter blades.
Quickly regaining his composure after a near-death experience, Peter dived down and began his escape, swinging rapidly from building to building.
Peter swerved into a tight alleyway and shot a web line into another T-section, quickly getting Sable off his back.
Peter shot a web line to propel himself through the T-section before he could be spotted, but instead of being met with a narrower area, he was met with a rocket launcher around one meter from hitting his chest.
Peter tried to swerve out of the way, but it blasted into his chest. Peter quickly lost all control of his body, his chest burning in pain. He was sent several meters into the air. He tried to regain control, but the strength from the rocket was stronger.
Peter looked like a comet falling from the sky, crashing into a factory building. Peter's head hit the floor and bounced back up and down like a speed bag.
He tried to lift his body up, but he fell back. He tried again but became even more exhausted, quickly passing out.