(The following afternoon...)
"And that'll be...8 dollars for your two hotdogs," said a street food vendor as he wrapped the hotdogs with paper and handed them to a customer in front of his food cart.
"Thanks!" the man wearing a pair of glasses accepted the food and handed the money in return.
"You're welcome. Feel free to buy again!" the vendor said, before turning his attention to the next customer.
The man approached an empty wooden bench nearby and sat down on it. Breathing softly, he looked at the sunny sky above New York City and smiled. He started eating one of the hotdogs as his eyes darted from one side of the street to another. Pedestrians walking on the street corner, some were walking their pet or talking or holding hands. Alongside a few vehicles passing by on the street a couple of blocks away. The usual life of citizens minding their business.
Before he could finish his hotdog, the faint sound of vehicles being crashed and police siren blaring caught his and other pedestrians' attention. They turned to the source of the sound, only to find two cars speeding away from a SWAT van chasing them. The cars crashed some vehicles in front of them, sending the vehicles flying away to the some street corners. The sight made everyone's eyes widened in horror.
The pedestrians gasped and quickly backed away before the vehicles hit them.
But the man couldn't react fast as he was too caught off guard with what was happening before him. A broken car was flying toward him mere meters away. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
Seconds later however, he heard no sound of broken bones. He felt the same, no agonizing pain. Slowly opening his eyes, he gasped and let out a sigh of relief as none other than Spider-Man caught the car and carried it with little difficulty. The masked hero, wearing a backpack, set it down gently on the ground and looked at the man.
"You okay?" Spider-Man asked in a concerned tone.
"Y-Yeah. Thank you!"
Spidey smiled underneath his red mask and nodded. He turned around, shooting a web line to a building from his fingertip and zipped away, joining his cousin Scarlet Spider, who wore a backpack too, in their pursuit of the criminals in the two cars.
"Go get them, Spideys!" a pedestrian cheered.
With the cars increasing their speed and almost endangering civilians, the Spider-Men sped up their swinging pace, trying to catch up and prevent their enemies from causing any casualties.
"Darn it, the web-slingers are here!" One of the drivers radioed his team and the other at once. "Take them out!"
"Oh, with pleasure. They ain't gonna mess with us Hammerhead men!" replied one of the team members.
The criminals proceeded to open their respective cars' sunroof and windows, peeking out and aiming their assault rifles and SMGs at the duo and began to unload their rounds.
Scarlet and Spidey's spider-sense zinged and the two immediately web-zipped to walls of buildings close to them. They ran on the walls to avoid the bullets as they fired back with web pellets, before leaping off the surface and started swinging again.
A few of the pellets managed to stun the intended targets, causing the criminals to drop their weapons along the way.
"Hey, Webs! Just an idea," Scarlet Spider said, "How about if we split up and handle each car? It'll be faster that way."
"Sounds good with me," Spider-Man replied. And with that, Scarlet Spider zipped forward to focus on stopping the second car. When Spidey noticed three criminals from the first car recovering and about to switch to their alternative weapon, he shook his head. "Ohoho, I don't think so!" he landed on top of of a traffic light pole and spun three web lines, yanking the three men away to his position and webbed them together upside down on the pole.
As he glanced at the criminals' clothing style—hat and striped suit, the spider chuckled in realization. "Hammerhead's guys, huh? Man, y'all are still in your Godfather era," Spider-Man mocked the men before swinging away to catch up with the first car, eliciting an annoyed groan from the men.
The driver looked at one of the rear-view mirrors, seeing Spider-Man getting closer. He gritted his teeth and sped up the car much more. He didn't care if this would mean crashing into another vehicle or a pedestrian.
Not wasting time, Spider-Man landed on the ground and shot four web lines directed at the back of the car. He grunted and pulled the web lines with tight grips, his muscles tensing. At the same time, the driver tried to fight back by increasing the speed. No matter his effort, his vehicle couldn't escape from the wall-crawler.
The man stopped his car and exited the car, brandishing an SMG. "You wanna mess with me, bughead? Okay. Say hello to my li-" Two web splats covered his mouth and obstructed his vision. He let out muffled groans as he dropped his weapon and tried to get rid of the webbing from his face, only for a web net to greet him and made him stick against a wall.
"Geez, really?" Spidey shook his head amusedly, "Firstly, I'm a spider, not an insect. Secondly, c'mon man. What are you, Tony Montana?" He turned his attention to the second car and noticed that three of the criminals in that vehicle were already webbed on a wall by Scarlet. He zipped away with a web line and rejoined his ally, intent on assisting him.
As for Scarlet Spider, he was on top of the car and had to dodge a few bullets whizzing past him from the opened sunroof. They came from the driver's pistol, the man had to switch back and forth from firing at the masked hero and keeping his eyes on the road. When he was about to shoot again, Scarlet fired a web line and yanked his gun away. Startled, the driver stepped on the gas. But Scarlet Spider leaped forward a few meters from the car. He turned around and positioned himself, his arms extended and his hands open, ready to stop the vehicle.
Soon, his hands came in contact with the front part of the car. In the process, it almost knocked Scarlet Spider off balance but he regained himself not long after, held said part, and began to exert all the force he could to stop the car. This broke the vehicle's head lights and bumper, and put some dents on its hood.
"You're not going anywhere," Scarlet growled, eyeing him intently.
Startled and reacting on instinct, the driver backpedalled, trying to get away from him, only for the car to stop moving backward. The man looked at the rear view mirror and froze, seeing Spider-Man stopping the car's back part with his own hands. He turned his attention back to the front and his eyes widened in horror. Scarlet Spider had a stinger extruded from one of his wrists and pointed it at the driver in a threatening manner. Realizing his efforts were futile and he couldn't escape the duo, he turned off his vehicle and exited it. He raised his hands, ready to surrender himself and comply to the heroes and authorities.
...
After catching up with the heroes and having the targets arrested, the SWAT team leader took the time to express his gratitude to the Spider-Men. "Thank you... We couldn't have done this without you," said Frank Castle with a smile underneath his mask.
"We're happy we could help you, officer!" Spider-Man replied, "Gotta keep the city safe from the bad guys after all."
"Sir, we must thank you too for keeping the city safe when we can't suit up as heroes however. We can't always be around here as much as we want to," Scarlet Spider said. "We...still have a life outside of being superheroes."
"That's alright. We both do what we do best to protect our home," Frank replied.
As the spiders conversed with the man, they couldn't help but see one of the SWAT officers looking at them with distrust and suspicion. The two sighed softly whenever something reminded them that some New Yorkers didn't trust them.
Frank took an immediate notice and knew what was going on in their minds. "Uh... Look, I know a part of New York and a part of NYPD don't trust you but remember that some of us still appreciate you for protecting the city," he tried to assure them.
"We know, officer... But still, it..." Scarlet's hands shook in anger. "It. Hurts."
"It's...nice to remember that some appreciate us for what we do," Spidey mustered a weak smile under his mask. "Thank you, sir."
"No. Thank you again. You make this city safe for all of us."
"And so do you, officer," Scarlet said.
"Aw, man," Spider-Man sighed playfully, "We're trapped in so many 'thank yous' that we won't be able to continue with our lives and duties." The three cracked a laughter for a moment.
After the laughter died down, Frank cleared his throat and composed himself. "Well, we'll take it from here, Spider-Men. You can do what you need to do now."
"Hahah. Alrighty," Spider-Man nodded, before walking away with Scarlet Spider. "Officer? Love from your friendly-neighborhood webhead!" he saluted.
The man simply chuckled and saluted back. "Love from me and my family. We're big fans of you all!" he told Spidey and Scarlet warmly.
Both spiders nodded at Frank before zipping away with their web lines and swung to a nearby rooftop, landing on the ground. They sat down close to each other, panting after spending almost two hours patrolling around. They took out a water bottle from the pocket of their respective backpacks. The two proceeded to pull up their masks slightly and drank from the bottles.
"That was fun," Spider-Man said.
"And tiring. But thrilling too," Scarlet Spider replied. He and his cousin shared a smile before drinking more and laying their eyes on the buildings of Queens borough. Deep down, they were proud of being able to protect something with their gifts. Their home, their playground, their responsibility.
For a moment, Spidey felt relieved. All the fun and thrill during the patrol, along with saving and protecting civilians. It made him feel rather very alive. It made him forget the pain inside him that haunted him. Right now, he was living in the moment.
"Okay, I guess that concludes our patrol," Spider-Man said to Scarlet Spider. "Let's go straight to-" Before he could finish his sentence, he heard an audible thud behind him and Scarlet. The duo immediately closed their bottles and put them back in their backpack's pocket before standing up and turning around to face who it was.
No words escaped their lips. Anger and bitterness filled the hearts of the Spider-Men as they recognized a familiar masked feminine figure dressed in a black leather outfit, standing in front of them. For Spider-Man, it was as if an old wound reopened in an instant.
Black Cat kept her distance from her former allies and friends, sensing the awkward atmosphere coming from them. Yet, she looked at the two with hope reflected in her eyes, wanting to reconnect with the spiders and start over.
"H-Hey, guys..." she stammered. "...Um, I know I...made a terrible mistake. I should've not mistrusted you out of fear. But uh, I want to-"
"What the fuck...!?" Scarlet's voice trembled with fury. He stepped in front of Spidey protectively. "Didn't I tell you we're done? I already told you not to come to us again. And here you are!"
She sighed, "I know but I just wanna...talk with you two again. It's been sometime..."
"Just leave us... Alone," he said bitterly. Before he could continue, Spider-Man patted him in the back, prompting the spider to turn his attention to the younger one. Spidey nodded at Scarlet that he would handle it instead. For a moment, Scarlet hesitated. But after taking a few seconds to think, he nodded back.
Then, Spider-Man walked to the side and approached Black Cat. "You really have the gall to show up here after what you did to us...to me." His voice was rather monotonous, laced with rage. "You made my life a living hell. Thanks to you, I can't focus on my civilian life. Moreover, I have sleepless nights... I'm trying to forget those but you--!"
"I... I shouldn't have-" Black Cat was interrupted.
"Pondering isn't gonna fix what you ruined. Thank you so much for breaking my trust." Those very words stung Cat's heart. And she stood there frozen, taking in what Scarlet and Spidey said to her.
Looking at her was sickening enough for Spidey, so he turned around to face the other way. "...Just go. Please. I don't want to see you ever again," he begged weakly.
"Spidey..." Black Cat tried to reach out to him for the last time to no avail.
His fists clenched and his shoulder tensed. Spider-Man glanced over his shoulder, anger boiling inside. "JUST GO!" he yelled, "DO I FUCKING NEED TO REPEAT MYSELF!? GET LOST TO WHATEVER HELL HOLE YOU CAME FROM."
It startled both Scarlet Spider and Black Cat. They never saw the spider curse before.
Spidey gasped when he realized what had come out from his lips. "I-I'm sorry," he profusedly apologized.
Choking back tears, Black Cat nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry too..." she replied as she turned around. She glanced at the two Spider-Men with pain in her eyes, before leaping off the rooftop and firing off the grappling hook from her wrist-mounted grapple gun. When she swung away from building to building, only then her tears began to roll down her cheeks.
After that whole confrontation, Spider-Man turned to Scarlet Spider and began to sob, tears running down his cheeks. "...Why is this happening to me?"
It made Scarlet's heart break in two. Seeing his cousin—a little brother of sort—who was once innocent and more positive, it pained him. Scarlet Spider walked fast and pulled Spidey to his embrace, comforting him.
"Goodness... Why? Why...?" Spidey cried out his feelings. "This hurts too much... Too much."
"Let it all out... It's okay," Scarlet assured him as Spidey's cries got louder and uncontrollable. "I'm here for you."
Feeling the warmth of his cousin's embrace, Spider-Man kept on sobbing until he calmed down moments later. Under the mask, he could still feel the wet traces of his tears on his cheeks. And his eyes were red. "T-Thanks for being here for me..." Spidey expressed his gratitude as he tried to compose himself, breathing shakily.
"Anytime... How are you doing now?" Scarlet Spider asked while patting on Spider-Man's back.
The young spider let out a weak chuckle. "Eh, still the same, coz... Goodness, I'm such a mess," he sighed. "Anyways, let's uh- Let's not dilly dally any longer. Anna's waiting for us at her apartment..."
Agreeing, Scarlet Spider released Spider-Man from his embrace. He looked at him with both love and pity. "He doesn't deserve all of this pain... I wish I could bear Peter's burdens," he thought deep down, before finally replying to what Spider-Man had said. "Agreed. We can't make her wait for too long. Otherwise, she'll be late to the music competition."
Not wasting time, the duo jumped off the rooftop and swung with their respective weblines, passing by tall buildings as they made their way to the meet-up location.
Unbeknownst to the Spider-Men however, a small hovering white drone had been recording everything from a safe distance to make sure its multiple rotors spinning weren't heard. It had followed them during their patrol and the pursuit.
After the two had disappeared from its sight, it flew toward a rooftop slightly far from the one where the spiders and Black Cat had met up. As soon as it landed on it, the drone stopped recording and its rotors stopped spinning. Close to it seemed to be an outline of a masculine figure almost invisible to the naked eye, blending with the background, akin to the effect of a lenticular sheet.
"Did you record everything, Chameleon?" Kraven asked through an earpiece.
The translucent figure began to decloak himself, slowly revealing an armed masked man in a dark grey form-fitting outfit with body armor and kevlar knee pads. He held his smartphone horizontally, using it to control the drone earlier.
"I did, Master," Chameleon replied. His voice rather sounded digitized slightly due to the mask. "Did you observe them until the end?"
On another rooftop, Kraven was in his usual hunting attire, wearing a dark brown leather jacket with fur, emblazoned with tiger pattern. He was armed with his crossbow and a pair of kukris. On one of his hands was a pair of binoculars.
"Yes. It confirms our guess that the Spider-Men and the Cat are not together anymore. They are divided." He grinned, "It will be easier to target them. But for now, let us return to our safehouse. We have enough new information."
"Agreed."
With the information they'd gathered, they didn't waste time and returned to their temporary home. Now they proceeded to study their targets further before deciding the next move.
A/N: I hope you like this chapter! (And sorry but I couldn't help insert that Spider-Man 2 reference lmao. The Raimi trilogy is goated AF.) This is probably the first time I wrote action scenes not set in a building since the previous entry in Scarletverse (yes, that's the name of this Spidey universe). I hope it feels dynamic. But also, hoping the character moments shine too. As usual, lemme know your thoughts thru the comments. Feel free to follow and favorite me and this fic too to stay updated!