(Hours later...)
"And I guess that wraps up your time for today, Mr. Criminal," Spider-Man chuckled and booped one of the four criminals wrapped in his and Scarlet Spider's webbing on the wall.
The other spider turned away and tried not to snort at his cousin's joke.
"Great, now he makes puns?" another criminal groaned, rolling his eyes.
"Or what, you prefer this?" Scarlet walked closer to the group of criminals and a stinger extruded from his wrist. It earned a fearful gasp from them as they looked at how sharp, pointy it was. They gulped and remained silent.
A pat on Scarlet's shoulder prompted him to turn around.
"Okay, okay. That's not necessary," said Spider-Man in a serious tone.
Scarlet Spider leaned in and whispered in a joking tone, "I know. I'm just messing with them." He retracted the stinger quickly.
Hearing that, Spidey sighed and shook his head amusedly. His ears perked up at the sound of police car sirens, he and Scarlet glanced at the two cars coming to their direction.
"Uh oh~ Boys in blue here," Spider-Man teased group as he turned to face them, "say hi to your friends at the prison for me! And your boss Kingpin when he'll get there too!"
Before the Spider-Men could swing away, a window of one of the police cars slid open and a male police officer with greying hair peeked out.
"You two! Wait there!" ordered the man. "I'd like to talk with you two."
The duo found his authoritative voice recognizable. Something they'd heard multiple times in television. And strangely enough, some time during the music competition when the audience applauded their friends. They had a hunch on who he might be. Nonetheless, an order was an order, so they stopped and turned around.
The officer with greying hair wearing a badge and a jacket, with a label attached to it saying "CAPTAIN STACY" all in uppercase, exited the vehicle. Along with a slightly younger brunette female officer in a similar outfit, her label saying "DETECTIVE DEWOLFF."
Their eyes widened in recognition under the masks as the two approached them. "Captain George Stacy? So he's Gwen's father..." That thought popped up the same time in Scarlet and Spidey's minds.
"This could be it, I guess," Spider-Man thought, fear in the back of his mind.
As if feeling the same, Scarlet Spider turned to the younger spider and patted him in the back to assure him. They glanced at each other for a bit, before nodding with confidence and looked at the officers.
"Anything we can help with, officers?" Spidey asked first.
"Perhaps an assist with another raid on a Kingpin safehouse?" Scarlet inquired afterward.
"No, no. Just a talk. That's all," Captain Stacy answered as he crossed his arms. "Look, I...know that the law prohibits vigilantes. And that may mean arresting you-"
Scarlet stepped forward, in front of Spider-Man—no hesitation in protecting him. A sight that made the captain chuckle.
"I'm not done speaking." He continued, "I was about to say that despite the law, I'm not arresting you. I want to thank you two. I believe it's a sentiment shared by some of the citizens. Although obviously there are still crimes popping up every now and then, at least we have the Spider-Men protecting us."
Both looked at him confused.
"And you give us hope too," the detective added, though there was some jadedness in her grey eyes. "Decades of career... So much loss and sadness and...fury," she sighed deeply, as if she remembered something horrible and unforgettable at that moment. But for a bit, her face lightened up. "Then as if a miracle happened, you came out of nowhere and began protecting us. Even helped us with the current crime war with that other ally of yours."
The Spider-Men could only smile in gratitude, knowing that more people supported them. Though the mere mention of Black Cat left a bitter taste in their mouths.
"Thank you, sir, ma'am. That means a lot. We appreciate it," said Scarlet Spider.
"Same here. But we want to thank you too," Spider-Man said. "We...can't be around at times. Because we're just citizens like the others. And you protect us all you can. So thank you, officers."
The captain and the detective flashed a smile in response.
"So the feeling is mutual," Captain Stacy replied. "Alright, you go on then. We'll take care of these criminals."
Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man nodded and saluted. They turned around, starting to run before jumping up and shooting their respective web lines to swing away, with them slowly disappearing from the officers' sight.
The detective glanced at the webbed up criminals, with disgust in her eyes. Fishing a packet of cigarettes and a lighter out from her pocket, Jean DeWolff took one and brought it to her lips. She lit up the end of the cigarette and breathed in and out its smoke, smiling.
When Captain Stacy noticed, he sighed, as if this sight was not new to him. "You shouldn't smoke those," he said worriedly, "they'll kill you, you know?"
Jean chuckled as she understood the references. Nonetheless, it didn't light up her mood. "Living's overrated," she replied.
--
(Meanwhile...)
"Man, quite the patrol, huh...?" Spider-Man chuckled to Scarlet Spider, with a hint of tiredness in his voice as they both swang.
"Oh yeah, indeed. What, can't wait for wheat cakes from your mom?" the other spider teased, though sounding tired too.
"Pfft, c'mon. It's not like your mom won't make you wheat cakes too or something."
Both cousins laughed together on their way home, swinging from building to building and zipped to another city block, firing new web lines.
Unbeknownst to the spiders however, Chameleon and Kraven set their sights on the heroes. In a prone position, they observed the Spider-Men on a rooftop of a taller building with their equipments.
"Targets nearing our proximity," said Chameleon as he looked through a spotting scope on a tripod.
"Copy," replied Kraven, aiming the scope of a semi-automatic sniper rifle toward the Spider-Men's web lines. With it attached on a bipod—resting on the rooftop floor—to increase the weapon's accuracy, Kraven fired two bullets at said web lines, cutting them off.
The spider-senses of both Spider-Men zinged. But it was too late. The two yelped in surprise as they lost grip of their web lines, falling down onto a nearby rooftop on their backs. Muffled grunts of pain escaped their lips, while they tried to get up.
"D-Darn it...!" Scarlet turned to Spidey and asked in a worried tone, "Webs, you okay?" All he got was a headshake as an answer.
Kraven grinned and turned to Chameleon. "Our preys are now incapacitated. Time to get them," he said as he and the other assassin put on their wrist grapple guns.
Then, they aimed at the lower rooftop where the spiders were. Both pulled the trigger and the guns fired a grappling hook respectively, creating a zip line. Not wasting time, they zipped down toward the location and landed with a thud.
When Scarlet Spider heard that very sound, he rose from the floor and faced the two strangers in front of him, glaring under the mask. Although his back and legs ached, he could care less.
*SNIKT!*
Stingers protruded from his wrists, ready to strike the men as payback.
Soon, Spidey rose up and joined his cousin. His hands open wide as Spider-Man prepared to shoot webs from his fingertips any time soon.
However, Chameleon and Kraven remained unfazed at those. As a response, they took out their weapons. Kraven unsheathed a pair of kukris while Chameleon wielded two customized machine pistols, with several types of grenades on his tactical belt. Kraven also carried some throwing knives and a military tomahawk axe with him.
Seeing such weaponry from them made the heroes gulp and start to sweat. Yet, they entered into their defensive stances. Their eyes still on the opponents, waiting for any movements.
"Y-You." Groans of pain escaped Spider-Man's lips. "I don't know who you two are but... Someone must've sent you for a reason. I have a hunch but who are they?" he asked in a no-nonsense tone.
"What do you want from us!?" Scarlet shouted.
"A thrilling fight and your deaths, my prey. For it will bring joy to me, Kraven the Hunter," Kraven smiled with sadism reflected on it.
"You have done so much damage to the Kingpin's organization. Along with shaming the men we trained: Shocker, Tombstone, among others. And so, this...is his prize for you: death," Chameleon answered the Spider-Men, a hint of rage in his voice. "But before that, you may know me as the Chameleon."
Upon hearing that, Spider-Man let out a sarcastic laugh and shook his head. "Prize? We didn't join any contest or anything. You must've gotten the wrong people, unless you Mr. Jungle Man and Mr. Spotless are scammers from the Kingpin." The nicknames he gave earned him glares from Chameleon and Kraven. "Also, us defeating those men must've been quite a hit to your pride, huh?"
Scarlet Spider chuckled a bit at that joke and mockery, and sighed softly, as if it lifted a part of his fear away. Looking at his fellow hero, he said confidently, "But since they wanted a fight, we'll give them one."
Kraven smiled and eyed Scarlet with murderous intention, while Chameleon trained his pistols at the other spider. And the Spider-Men readied themselves with what they had.
But before a clash between the two sides could occur, a sound behind the Spider-Men attracted their attention. They turned around, only to find a zip line from a rooftop slightly far from them. And one familiar feminine figure in black leather outfit zipped down, with one of her hands firing rubber rounds from her late father's custom less-than-lethal pistol at Chameleon and Kraven, stunning them for a few moments. Both spiders looked at Black Cat in a perplexed manner.
"You again?! How did you find us?" said Spider-Man as she landed on the rooftop. "Didn't I tell you that-"
"Later!" Cat replied fast, "Saving and helping you all are more important right now."
Scarlet Spider sighed deeply but he could only nod in agreement with her statement. "I don't like it. But yeah, she's right."
"...Fine," Spider-Man said, annoyance in his voice. "We'll all talk after the fight."
The three turned their attention to their enemies, who already recovered and composed themselves.
Upon seeing the presence of Black Cat, a malicious grin formed on Kraven's face. "Good, now all of you will die tonight!"
"Alright, split up like usual!" Scarlet ordered, ignoring Kraven. "This man with the tiger jacket is my target. No matter what happens, stay on the respective targets!"
Spider-Man and Black Cat nodded. "Cat and I will handle the other one. Okay, let's go!"
And so, Scarlet Spider lunged at Kraven with his stingers. However, the hunter crossed his kukris to block the incoming attack. The stingers were now merely inches from reaching Kraven's face. In that moment, Scarlet tried to scratch and wound possibly while his enemy was resisting said attack.
Kraven laughed in joy as Scarlet growled like an animal. "Such ferocity from a spider. And I, Kraven the Hunter, cherish this moment!" He then kicked Scarlet Spider in the stomach, making the hero stumble away in pain. Afterward, he alternated the grip of one of his weapons and proceeded to slash at the spider. But the latter parried it with a stinger.
In a response to that, Kraven delivered a couple of slashes with the other kukri to one of Scarlet's open vulnerable areas: a limb of his. The masked vigilante screamed, receiving deep cuts on the limb. Blood started to ooze from the wounds. Though thankfully, they closed fast thanks to Scarlet Spider's enhanced regeneration factor. He wiped the blood away and glared at Kraven, as he backed away and watched the man with caution.
Scarlet retracted his stingers and shot two web lines at Kraven's kukris, intending to yank them away. Instead, the assassin dropped them to the floor, much to the hero's surprise. And Kraven grabbed the incoming web lines during that moment, used them to pull Scarlet Spider closer to him before headbutting him and delivering a hook to his cheek, which made the spider stagger and stumble backward. He grunted in pain and looked at Kraven with shock, as this level of power was perhaps near that of Tombstone's punches.
"H-How...could you...?" he asked in disbelief. To which, Kraven responded by pulling out a leather pouch from his belt.
"A mix of herbs from another country I once collected. A long-lasting effect," Kraven answered as he put the pouch back on the belt. "An equalizer, if you will. Shared between me and Chameleon. Yet to a lesser extent for him," he explained. "Now... I've seen the savagery and power you displayed when you become the monster. I am curious to see that myself, to see if you could beat me."
With what Kraven said, Scarlet Spider came to the realization that he might need more power. One he could access through the man-spider monster form after defeating the Other a few weeks ago. That was his only hope in fighting Kraven.
Yet before he could transform, a familiar inhuman voice spoke to him in his mind. "Ohoho, don't bother. Think you can easily get into it anymore? No, no more."
"So you really came back..." Scarlet's tone was full of not just annoyance, but also confusion. "But how?! How is this possible? You returning for the second time?"
The Other laughed at him in mockery. "You don't see it, do you? No matter what you do. You can't get rid of me. I always come back. I always do. Because after all...I am a part of you."
Hearing those words, doubt and fear began to fill Scarlet Spider's mind. His hands sweated, wondering what this meant for him. And wondering how he would defeat Kraven and whether he would make it out alive. But at that moment, he thought of Annabelle, his mother and his cousin. He closed his hand into a fist, determined that he wouldn't meet death tonight.
"What? The Scarlet Spider cannot become the monster he is right now?" Kraven laughed in a mocking manner. "How disappointing. Perhaps you're not worthy to be my prey. Only worthy of a quick, embarrassing death."
Scarlet let out a chuckle as his fist shook in anger, staring at his enemy. "Death? No thanks. I don't intend to die now. And I don't give a fuck with what you want."
Pulling out his throwing knives, Kraven smirked. "That fighting spirit... I like it."
"Will. You. Just. Shut. Up!?" Scarlet Spider rushed toward Kraven with his fist. And as reaction to it, his opponent began to throw the knives at him. But the masked hero dodged them, before letting out a battle cry as he was about to deliver a punch to Kraven's face. And he did, staggering the man and made him drop his throwing knives.
At the same time as the fight between Kraven and Scarlet happened, Black Cat and Spider-Man took on the Chameleon. They ran toward the assassin while dodging the bullets coming out of Chameleon's machine pistols. When the latter ran out of them, Cat fired the remaining rubber rounds in her magazine and Spidey shot web pellets at their enemy.
Taking those hits, grunts of pain escaped Chameleon's lips. He immediately holstered his weapons and pulled out a smoke grenade. Pulling its pin and dropping it onto the ground, the grenade soon unleashed a thick white smoke screen, which covered him. Soon after, he cloaked himself, making an electrical sound.
"Smoke! Don't inhale it. Could be dangerous!" Cat shouted. "Spider-Man, be careful with this enemy. I once heard from my dad Chameleon has a prototype cloaking tech."
"Thanks for the warning," he replied with a neutral tone, still not exactly happy with Black Cat's presence. Nonetheless, he remembered it in his mind.
Black Cat wasted no time in turning on the sonar mode of her goggles to see if she could detect Chameleon in his cloaked mode. But the sonar pulses couldn't even show an outline of him.
"Darn it..." So, she reloaded her pistol and tightened her grip on it, as she and Spider-Man looked around and listened carefully for any sounds of footsteps. Their breaths became rapid, unsteady.
"Just where is he-" Out of a sudden, Spider-Man's spider sense buzzed. However, it didn't point him to his front, right or left. So he turned around and his eyes widened under the mask. The direction of the danger was right behind Black Cat.
"What?"
Spidey shot a web line and pulled Black Cat closer to him with it, causing her to gasp.
"What the heck, Spidey?!" she said.
"He was behind you!" Spider-Man replied, pointing at a certain direction.
A digitized laugh came out of Chameleon as he decloaked in front of the two, a combat knife in one of his hands. "You caught me. Not bad, with that sixth sense of yours, Spider-Man," he nodded at the spider, before a gun slid out of his sleeve and he held it in his other hand.
Seeing the gun, Black Cat pointed her weapon at it and fired a rubber round before the assassin could shoot Spider-Man. It knocked the firearm out of Chameleon's hand. And then, Spider-Man did the same with Chameleon's knife, though with his web pellet.
"Oh well..." Chameleon simply shrugged, though deep down this enraged him that he couldn't trick them. "I must say you two did well as a team. Though pardon me, for that is about to end-" A web splat from Spider-Man greeted his face, obstructing his vision. He grunted in frustration and tried to remove the webbing with his hands. However, Black Cat ran and tackled him, before standing up and backing away from Chameleon.
"Nope. Nah-uh. No more Mr. Invisible Man for now, Chammy," Spider-Man shook his head, before firing a web pellet at the assassin's head to stun him.
Cat simply chuckled hearing Chameleon's nicknames from the spider.
Looking at her, a part of Spider-Man wanted to say he agreed with Chameleon's statement about being a great team. But he held it back, still bitter with her.
However, all of their attention turned to Scarlet Spider when hearing his battle cry. He delivered a punch to Kraven, then another, and another. All of them directed at Kraven's face and ribcages. He finished it with an uppercut to the enemy's chin, causing the latter to fall down on the rooftop floor.
Scarlet Spider turned to look at his fellow heroes, his breathing was rapid. "We should- We should get out of here while we still can!" Black Cat and Spider-Man nodded, and all three of them jumped off the rooftop and swung away as fast as they could.
Moments later, Chameleon sat up and finally ripped off the webbing on his face. He glanced at his beaten half-brother and his eyes widened in horror and shock. "No, no, no...! Master!" Overtaken by fear, he rushed toward Kraven's aid and performed a quick check on Kraven. "Just bruises..." He put two of his fingers on Kraven's veins and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness, you're–"
"Back off, Chameleon! I'm fine," Kraven said and Chameleon heeded his order. He rose from the ground and gritted his teeth in pain, feeling aches from his face and ribcages but he shrugged them off. "They're gone," said Kraven as he and the other assassin noticed the heroes disappearance. "Even if the Spider-Men and Black Cat are divided... They must not be underestimated and we must eliminate them for Kingpin's sake."
"...That we will. Though they might decide to regroup as allies due to our presence," Chameleon replied. Though in his voice was a hint of disappointment, its primary reason being how Kraven had responded to his concern. "I suppose we collect our equipment and return to the safehouse now, Master?"
Kraven nodded. "Looks like we may stay longer in this city. I am not done, for my desire to hunt is not fully satiated. We will not be done...until we make them suffer and take their lives away!"
...
(Meanwhile, on a rooftop a few city blocks away...)
"Okay. Now that we are safe," Spider-Man turned his attention to Black Cat. "Let's talk. How did you find us?"
She sighed deeply, "Listen, I didn't intend to. I just...wanted to clear my mind after what happened yesterday. So I went out, looked at buildings and streets. But then... I saw you two in a fight with them."
"And you wanted to help us in any way you could, to save us..." Scarlet Spider said.
"Yeah," she nodded. "And...I know you two don't want to see me again. But I couldn't just stand on the sidelines, see you get slaughtered by them." Black Cat averted her eyes, "I- I'll just go-"
"Black Cat, wait," Spider-Man called, making her stop as she was about to walk and swing away. "I... Thank you for your concern and for the help," he said, albeit in a reluctant manner.
Scarlet Spider looked at Black Cat and let out a chuckle of disbelief, shaking his head. "Can't believe I'm gonna say this but... I think all three of us got to come back as a team."
Both Black Cat and Spider-Man turned to the spider in surprise.
"Wait, what? Her being in the team again?" Spider-Man asked aloud.
"Webs," Scarlet sighed and stared at him. "Listen to me. I know we still have a problem with her. But–"
Spidey interjected, "No, no, no. We are not having her–!"
Scarlet Spider held a finger up for a moment. "Listen. And do not cut me off." With his words, Spider-Man nodded and stopped. "Okay, good," he continued, "now what I'm about to say is this... Our lives are in danger, okay? And I can't transform into that monster again to beat our enemies fast."
A mix of horror and surprise creeped in Spider-Man. "...The other you is back. I thought– H-How is that possible?" he asked.
"No idea. I guess he really can't be rid of," Scarlet put his hand on his temple, making a frustated sound. "I gotta deal with him somehow..."
Black Cat could only look at them in confusion. "I...really missed out on something, didn't I?"
"Yeah. That last mission one," the Spider-Men answered in unison.
Hearing that, she looked down. "If only I..."
"Anyways," Scarlet Spider clapped his hands to get their attention. "Back on topic, we can settle the problem later, when we can. Cuz we're in danger basically. We are Chameleon and Kraven's targets. And we have two priorities: survive and stop the bad guys."
"To do that, we gotta be back as a team, like you said..." Spider-Man realized, before glancing at Black Cat. "He's right. But you and I, Cat? We're simply teammates, not friends."
She simply nodded as deep down, she felt Spider-Man's anger and poisonous tone stab her heart. "Okay..." was all she uttered.
"I share my sentiment, Black Cat. I'm still not letting go what you tried to do to us. Especially to Webs here," Scarlet said the same, except in a disappointed tone. "But anyways, let's unblock her number, Spidey. All of us gotta communicate again in that secure group chat we made. So we can coordinate and plan."
"Agreed," Spidey replied.
And so, both of them pulled their phones out and did what they had said. They nodded at her, prompting Black Cat to check her phone and sent a text in the group chat.
Black Cat
Test?
The text earned two blue ticks with the uppercase letter "R" above them.
"Okay, it's working," she notified the Spider-Men.
"Good. Alright, I guess we all should go home now. It's been quite the evening," Scarlet Spider said. "We'll have to be ready. Because this...is the beginning of many encounters and fights that are gonna come."
Afterward, the three went their separate ways, leaping off the rooftop and swinging away to their respective houses. As they headed home, they couldn't stop thinking about their problems and the fights that laid ahead of them. And particularly, whether if they could achieve victory against their hunters and conquer their troubles.
- End of Part 1 -
A/N: Anddd that wraps up the first part/act of this fic. I hope you enjoyed this chapter overall, despite the length. I think I'll be taking a lil break from writing to focus on my thesis (cuz I'm on my final semester lol). Or if not, just focus on an original story. In the meantime, feel free to read the previous entries of Scarletverse such as "Scarlet Spider: Sin" and "Scarlet Spider Spider-Man: Enter the Black Cat" to know more of the whole story. As always, lemme know your thoughts thru the comments. Feel free to follow and favorite me and this fic too to stay updated!