Spider-Man: Destiny - Year 1
Chapter 5: Breaking Point
…
At around six in the morning, Adrian punched the tied up and visibly brutalized Sable soldier on top of a tall building. His helmet ripped off, the soldier's blood stained his white and black armor.
"Alright, you wanna just wrap this up already? We've been at this for half an hour now and I'm gettin' hungry," Adrian said.
The soldier spat out blood as his bruised face trembled. "I swear to God, I told you everything I know!"
"Yeah, and most of it is just the same shit we already knew. What else is Sable specifically planning? What's the ultimate endgame for how she wants to take out the Kingpin?" Adrian interrogated.
"I seriously don't know! She barely told us anything, come on! Ple-"
Adrian brutally smacked the soldier aside with his left wing, sending him flying towards the edge of the building.
"You can either make your death slightly less painful or you can have your insides pulled out slowly and right in front of you. You don't just mess with the big man without expecting the worst, most painful types of grief," Adrian threatened.
Adrian then fired a blade at the soldier's leg, causing him to yell out in pain.
"What's it gonna be?"
"Okay, fine, fine! The only thing I know is that there's a secret vault for more of Sable's weapons and some projects we're working on. New prototypes and blueprints for gear and different weapons. All types of shit. Please! Come on!" the soldier confessed.
"What's the address?"
"235 Industrial Way in Queens."
"Finally, something. Took long enough, but thanks. Your boss will be all taken care of, " Adrian stated.
"Please, do-"
Adrian abruptly flew at the soldier before the latter could continue begging. Flying all the way to the harbor, Adrian held the soldier by his neck fifteen feet above the water.
"Don't. Don't kill me, just-"
Adrian snapped the soldier's neck before dropping him into the water. Adrian then proceeded to fly back to Queens.
…
Walking into Delmar's Deli-Grocery less than half an hour later, Adrian put on his Yankees cap and walked up to the counter. The owner, a Dominican man in his 50s, smiled immediately when he saw Adrian.
"Adrian! Clocking in a little earlier than usual today?"
"Hey, Delmar. Yeah, it was a bit of an earlier shift today. Took care of some business, and I gotta get back in the office in an hour," Adrian chuckled.
"I can't pretend like I relate. As busy as it can get here, some of the hours I just spend scrolling through my taxes. The business never ends, but sometimes, I wish it could," Delmar admitted.
"Hey, don't talk like that. This place is great, haven't gone anywhere else for my sandwiches since 2013. Anyway, I'll take the number seven breakfast sandwich with an extra egg, and a black coffee with sugar," Adrian ordered.
Delmar rang up the order. "That will be $13.49."
Adrian handed Delmar a five dollar bill and a ten. "Keep the change. Payday's been great, lately. The clients we've been bringing in… I mean, they can be difficult. But they got heart."
"Thanks, Adrian. And that's great to hear, you deserve it. If there's anyone I've known to be one of the hardest workers, you put 75% of my employees to shame," Delmar chuckled.
"Stop, your team's always done a great job. Again, best sandwiches in Queens!"
"I appreciate the moral and business support as always. That will be ready for you in a few minutes."
"Thanks, Delmar."
Adrian's phone vibrated, and he pulled it out.
BOSS: When it's darker, we're sending them over to the location you provided. Should be productive
BOSS: It's been a very difficult endeavor for the company, but you and Wesley have been more than efficient throughout all of this
BOSS: Keep it up
ADRIAN TOOMES: Will do, boss
"Adrian?"
Adrian looked up to see an employee putting his sandwich and coffee on the counter. Adrian walked over to grab his order, shot a quick "thanks" to the employee, and walked out of Delmar's. Getting inside his car, Adrian drove off and started playing the radio, also taking a bite of his sandwich.
…
For several hours that night, Peter continued working on incomplete prototypes for potential web-shooters. His father's formula on the molecular adhesive and Uncle Ben's former watches were scattered on Peter's desk, as well as his accelerated chemistry notes and various chemicals from his science kit. Peter was also heavily eyeing the descriptive and messy blueprints he had put together.
"This better work," Peter sighed.
Peter poured some methanol in a beaker of carbon tetrachloride, causing a small chemical reaction as a little synthetic fluid started forming. Peter then put a little bit of polyurethane in it, causing it to sizzle a little. Peter poured a tiny amount of the fluid into a compartment on the web-shooter prototype. He pressed the nozzle down, only for a light spark to hit Peter's finger.
"Geez!" Peter exclaimed as he pulled his hand back.
Annoyed, he adjusted the mixture, recalibrated the pressure, and meticulously inspected the microfluidic pathways. Peter disassembled select components of the prototype, subsequently reconfiguring them to achieve optimal synergy with the webbing formula. Peter pushed the nozzle again, causing webbing to shoot out in multiple directions, with some of it sticking onto his face.
"God, stupid!" Peter groaned as he pulled the webbing off.
Sighing, Peter looked over his father's formula again. Comparing them with his chemistry notes, he tried making a few adjustments on a different sheet of paper. Getting tired easily, Peter eventually started resting his head on the desk before falling asleep.
…
On his first day back at school, Peter just silently sat on a sofa in the school library during his lunch period. Eating a sandwich and listening to a podcast about handling grief, Peter sighed and just turned it off.
"Hey, bro. What's good?"
Peter looked up to see Harry coming to sit on the sofa.
"Nothing," Peter murmured, visibly depressed.
Harry frowned. "You alright, buddy?"
Peter sighed. "Just gonna be blunt off the bat, but look up 'Ben Parker Queens' on your phone."
Confused, Harry looked it up, and his eyes widened. "Oh, God. Peter, I'm so sorry. Seriously."
"Thanks."
"I had no clue, man. Can't imagine how tough this is, I'm so sorry, dude. Like, if there's anything I can do-"
"That's nice of you, man. But I'm not really sure if there's much you can do realistically."
"Yeah, I understand. I mean, I can do the best I can. But share what you're willing to. Either way, my condolences," Harry expressed.
Peter nodded. "Thank you."
"You been doing anything to get your mind off it?"
"Aunt May and I have been staying away from the news. We're just trying to support each other without thinking about it too much. I've never really had to deal with this, and God, it's tough as shit."
"I don't doubt that. Well, at least you and your aunt have each other. It's gonna be really hard, but you both have each other to get through it."
"It just sucks, it's like, why us? Why us, you know? I'm not saying it should be happening to anyone, but if you would've met my uncle… God, one of the best people ever."
Harry pat Peter's shoulder. "Hang in there, buddy. Don't forget, I'm always here if you ever need anything. And you got Liz."
Peter sighed. "Well, let's hope. Anyway, to change the subject, what's been goin' on with classes?"
"Not much. Skipping bio as we speak."
"Oh, seriously? How long have you been gone for?"
"Uhh, around ten minutes by now."
"Dude, that's suspiciously long. Teacher's definitely gonna say something."
Harry shrugged. "Eh. Some of them don't really care. Others… will just tell you to go to the nurse next time."
Peter took a bite of his sandwich. "Makes sense. This sandwich has a little extra mustard."
"That good or bad?"
"Good."
Harry stood up. "Sweet. Well, I better get back to class. But we should definitely hang soon."
"For sure. Thanks again, man," Peter said.
"Of course, bro."
Harry walked out of the library. Peter finished his sandwich and started looking through photos on his phone. Once he skimmed through a few of Uncle Ben, Peter turned off his phone immediately.
…
In Spanish class later, Señora Wood was showing the class the movie Selena. Peter was just out of it, resting his head on his desk as he tried to get some sleep. Liz looked over from across the room, concerned.
"Peter?"
Peter slowly brought his head up to see Señora Wood staring at him.
"You okay, Peter?" Señora Wood asked.
"Fine. Thanks," Peter said.
Señora Wood nodded. "Okay. Just making sure."
Peter slowly went back to resting his head again, and ten minutes later, the class was dismissed. Peter was the first one to leave the classroom, quickly walking away.
"Peter?"
Peter turned around to see Liz approaching him.
"Hey, Liz," Peter sighed.
"Look, I just wanted to check in. Is everything okay?" Liz asked. "You seemed really sad in class."
"Uhhh, it's complicated. Just some really bad family stuff," Peter replied.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you want to tell me what it was or?"
"It's kind of private, honestly."
"Fair. Sorry about that."
"No, you're good. I appreciate you checking in. It's just been super, super tough."
"Whatever it is, I'll tell you now it's gonna get better. May not seem like it now, but I promise it will," Liz assured Peter. "I mean, I'm sure you've probably been told that a thousand… million times by now. But I really mean it."
Peter nodded. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
"For sure. I got to go this way, but I'll see you in class tomorrow," Liz said, patting Peter's shoulder.
"Yo-you too. Thanks," Peter replied.
Liz smiled and walked through a different hallway. Peter continued walking down the hall, feeling slightly better.
…
Beneath the shroud of night, a dozen of Fisk's armed soldiers approached the secluded 235 Industrial Way, which was a door to a supposed apartment building. Fisk's soldiers opened the door and stormed inside. Strangely enough, it was an abandoned room with a few weapons crates near the wall.
"Weapons crates found and targeted."
"Let's go. Big win for the big boss."
The soldiers approached the crates, aiming their guns at them. As the soldiers opened the crates, they erupted into a blinding display of fire. The small explosions engulfed or tossed Fisk's men several feet away.
"Gahhh!"
"What the-"
A majority of the soldiers were dead, while some were severely injured.
"Wesley. I-it was a set-up," one of the soldiers groaned through his earpiece. "Ahhhh!"
"No shit," Wesley responded.
At that moment, Fisk's surviving men saw Sable's soldiers storming into the building. Sable's soldiers pulled out their weapons and approached the injured men.
"No! Don't!"
Sable's soldiers proceeded to attack Fisk's men and avenge their own.
…
After another several hours of working on the web-shooters and webbing, Peter continued to test it out. He pressed on the nozzle, and the shooter projected a strand of web, sticking to the wall. Peter pushed the web with enough force to successfully test its resistance.
"My God," Peter whispered in amazement, with his facing forming the tiniest hint of a smile.
Peter put the web-shooters on his arms, and shot a few webs around. He shot a web at his water bottle, and swung it across the attic. Peter then shot a web to the ceiling, proceeding to hang upside down from it. He looked around at all the webs in amazement.
…
"Where are they?!"
"I dunno!"
Silver Sable was fighting some of Fisk's thugs in an alleyway. Sable easily threw one aside and punched another in the face before spin kicking them in the chest. Another thug swung a hammer at Sable, who ducked and stabbed the thug in the shoulder with her blade, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Where would Fisk be keeping his hostages?! Now!" Sable demanded.
"I swear to God I don't know! I really don't! Please! Don't! I'm begging you!" the thug hysterically begged.
Sable dropped the thug to the ground. One got up from the ground and tried to tackle Sable, only for her to grab and pin him against the brick wall.
"Sable," Keating' voice said through Sable's earpiece. "That backup trap we planted a month ago. Well, it ended up being used ten minutes ago."
The mercenary felt her heart drop. "Wait, our soldier. He-"
"I pried it out of one of the bastards. Unfortunately, our man is deep underneath a harbor in Queens. Unless he's washed up somewhere by now," Keating revealed. "I'm so sorry, Sable."
"Okay," Sable responded in a dry tone.
Sable threw the thug to the ground and pinned him down. Sable punched the thug several times in the face, yelling as she let it all out. With the thug now battered and unconscious, Sable stared at her bruised hand. Hearing police sirens, Sable then pulled out her grapnel gun and swung away to flee the scene.
…
The next day, Peter stood on top of a small building. Wearing his makeshift suit and web-shooters, Peter looked ahead at the other buildings. Breathing heavily and trying to calm down, Peter shot a web at the building ahead. After a minute, Peter slowly jumped off the building and swung over to the other building. Peter accidentally bashed against the building as he grabbed onto it. He then climbed up to the top of the building.
"One down," Peter muttered.
Peter shot a web at the next building, jumping off and swinging over to it. He continued swinging from building to building. Eventually, Peter shot his web too low and accidentally hit the wall of an apartment complex. He fell to the patio of an apartment and smashed some plants.
"Owww," Peter groaned.
A woman came out to the patio, shocked. "Who the hell are you?! You broke my plants! Psycho!"
Peter got up and held up his hands. "Ma'am, I'm so, so sorry! It was an accident, I-"
"I'm calling the cops!"
Peter shot a web at another building and quickly started to swing back home. "Have a great day!"
"Screw you!"
…
It was midnight, and May Parker still couldn't sleep, clenching her deceased husband's pillow. Tears rolling down her face, she sat up and turned a small lamp on. She then pulled a photo album out of her drawer, and started looking at pictures of her and Ben. Their time in high school, their 20s, the wedding. Once she got to the point that they first started raising Peter, May closed the album.
"Ben…"
May turned the lamp off and fell back in bed, continuing to cry. Unbeknownst to her, a still-awake Peter could hear May's tears from his room.
…
Later at one in the morning, a man walked out of the train and into the subway station. He looked through his phone as he walked. Unfortunately, the man turned too late to notice a gang of six men stalking him. The man immediately ran as fast as he could, with the gang in pursuit. The man made it up a few of the stairs before one of the gang members grabbed him, throwing him back down.
"Let go of me! Help! HELP!" the man yelled.
One of the gang members pulled out a pocket knife. "Shut up or this goes through ya!"
The gang laughed as another member punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground. They started kicking him down and searching him for his wallet. However, a web grabbed one of the members by the back and yanked him away.
"Gah!" the member yelled as he hit the ground.
Peter then jumped to the ground, dressed in his suit.
"I'm seriously dying to know what the hell kind of pleasure you just get from hurting people. Like, it's because of pieces of shit like you that people like me have to suffer," Peter ranted.
"The hell is this kid talking about?" one of the gang members muttered.
Another gang member pulled out a pocket knife. "Alright, screw this."
The member ran over to Peter and swung the knife a few times, which Peter dodged. Peter countered with a punch to the face, and his enhanced senses warned him to sweep the leg of another member approaching behind him. The rest of the gang ran at Peter, who punched one member across the face and threw another one to the ground. Peter was pushed from behind by a member and punched in the ribs and face by another. Peter shot webs at two of the members, webbing them to the ground. Another gang member tried to kick Peter, who grabbed his leg and threw him to the ground. Peter threw a few punches at another member and shot a web at another one, yanking him over to punch him down. The last member tackled Peter from behind, and they both fell to the ground. The last gang member pinned Peter down and punched him in the face twice, only for Peter to kick him off. Stopping for a moment to pant and catch his breath, Peter walked over to the gang member and grabbed him by the throat.
"The criminal underworld here. Tell me what you know!" Peter demanded.
"What makes you think I'm scared of you, jackass?" the gang member responded.
Peter gritted his teeth under his mask. "Believe me, today is not the day to be pissing me off. I could literally snap your arm in two with one hit, so tell me what I want to know!"
Peter grabbed the member's arm and crushed it only a tiny bit, causing him to yell out in pain.
"Shit, shit! Please! You don't wanna mess with him. I can't-"
Peter threw the gang member at the wall, cracking it.
"Stop messing with me! Last chance, tell me what I want to know. Before I really make your life miserable," Peter threatened, approaching the member.
"Okay, okay! Jesus. I don't know the big boss' name, I swear to God. But I know his people and a lot of the guys in the underworld hang out at some nightclub in Hell's Kitchen," the gang member confessed.
"What's it called?"
…
In her office at their underground base, Silver Sable was looking over the blueprint for their next planned assault on the Kingpin's organization. Keating then came into the office.
"You ready for the weekend?" Keating asked Sable.
"More ready than ever. I just don't know if all the death will ever be worth it," Sable admitted.
"As tough as that soldier's death was, it's only another reason for us to keep going."
"Not just him. Anyone in the Wild Pack that's died so far. Obviously, it's war. And I made that transparent from day one. But even if we all knew what we were signing up for, does it mean anything if it leads to the road of death?"
"At the end of the day, it's war. Like you said. We're all soldiers. Soldiers either die for what they believe in or fight long enough to witness the transformations of their causes. Symkaria deserves vengeance for the blood shed by the Kingpin. The blood from your family." Keating encouraged.
"You're right. We've trained too long and hard to succumb to grief right now. Any one of us would want each other to keep fighting. That damn regime has gotten away with too much carnage to keep being able to function. Saturday, we stick to our plan of infiltrating the Blood Rose Nightclub and downloading the data we need. If we're going to tear him down, we can't forget to authenticate him either," Sable declared.
…
Peter slowly snuck back into his room, climbing in through his window. Throwing his suit off, Peter collapsed in bed. He looked through his notes on his phone, having written down the name of the nightclub he was ready to punch his way through that weekend.
Blood Rose Nightclub
…
Longest break between chapters yet….. been more than a few weeks, which is crazy. Again, sorry about that. If I'm being honest, it's a mix of being a bit busy and my own laziness and brainstorming. I also watch a lot of movies and TV, being an enthusiast. I saw Madame Web, and it was SOOOOO hilariously bad. Also almost done with Season 3 of the OG 90s Spider-Man cartoon. Things in personal life are also going decently well. I got spring break coming up soon, so I promise the next chapter will be out earlier. Chapter 6 will be the midway point for this year, so expect it to be the biggest one so far!
JohnnyPrime - Thanks, glad to hear you're invested thus far! I promise it'll only get crazier from here!
ShadowStrike234 - Thanks a lot man, appreciate it as always! I really tried to make Peter and Harry's friendship feel as authentic as possible, so this is great to hear! The war will only get bigger…
-redbirds12
