Wait, so you agree with the idea that the power vacuum would lead to gangland warfare in the streets? I dunno, I'm fine with either scenario but I do need justifications. The MCU show just had the criminals replacing the current gangs that were deposed, no gang war at all. I'm torn on which logic to use since Gwen's off in comicbook land while Noir falls under the more cynical logic present in Daredevil and Punisher.
A justification...well naturally I would be using comic book mentality that by trying to fix something in the grand scheme of things the 'status quo' would come with a revenge making everything horrible in a different way.
Kinda like if Joker died, Superman would become a dictator a la Injustice.
Without organization, however, the incompetent ones are actually picked up by the cops, the competent ones lose support and are thus thinned out as well, and any new organized crime has to start from scratch.
It is very much Caesar's Legion, but less a cult of personality, and instead a self-supporting structure. You pull out the load-bearing strut and things start to wobble.
A justification...well naturally I would be using comic book mentality that by trying to fix something in the grand scheme of things the 'status quo' would come with a revenge making everything horrible in a different way.
Kinda like if Joker died, Superman would become a dictator a la Injustice.
So this is full on comic book logic then? Got it. Still, this is what you think/prefer would happen? I would've thought readers would like a sense of victory for the heroes.
Without organization, however, the incompetent ones are actually picked up by the cops, the competent ones lose support and are thus thinned out as well, and any new organized crime has to start from scratch.
It is very much Caesar's Legion, but less a cult of personality, and instead a self-supporting structure. You pull out the load-bearing strut and things start to wobble.
I think it is a cult of personality to a certain degree. One thing that's made increasingly clear is that for all his talks of nobility and honor Kingpin is very much a psychotic manchild whose pride is his downfall - a pragmatic criminal would have contingencies in place, but Kingpin's such an egomaniac and believes he and no one else can be Kingpin that his organization is doomed once he's gone.
Now I'm not sure if this applies as well in Spider-Gwen since he goes to jail while letting Murdock run his empire, but there are heavy indications that Fisk's still the real leader and it's temporary until he gets out of jail again; and given that he's still relaying orders I have to assume his 'jail time' is basically the luxury prison suite people like Al Capone enjoyed. Still, Murdock does seem to be making a power play given that Fisk very clearly wants to kill Spider-Gwen and yet Matt keeps bringing her in as an apprentice. Something tells me this is gonna be troublesome later...
So this is full on comic book logic then? Got it. Still, this is what you think/prefer would happen? I would've thought readers would like a sense of victory for the heroes.
Well yeah, but the comic logic of 'bad guy replaced by worse guy' leads to the idea that one can never achieve victory or a happy ending. Batroc says it best:
Incidentally it's also why, as far as the fic is concerned, cosmic entities like Thanos, Galactus etc etc don't exist; it makes all the struggles of the protagonists moot when some butt-munch eats the planet just cause he has the munchies. I'm trying to keep it contained to humans v. humans, which lends more weight to their individual struggles. Even Gwenom's power is limited by her own humanity not allowing her to be omnipotent and stopping crime permanently.
You definitely should; it starts off shallow at first but the later arcs really go up with character development. The latest one even shows how freaking scary a 4th wall breaker can be:
Incidentally I'm forced to wonder who the hell the wife is Miles is talking about here since they were kinda leaning towards Spider-Gwen a few months ago. If it is her then...well, I guess Gwen died. Again. This poor woman cannot catch a fucking break.
We know that there is a world where she and Miles married, and apparently that one is a utopia where things worked out. I'm calling shenanigans; unless they somehow managed to stamp out all evil there ain't no freaking way they created a utopia. Crime is inherent, you can't just wave it away with Superheroes...
I dunno, it just feels like Bendis was really slamming this pairing down as the next big thing; tying them to a world where they're world famous heroes credited with helping create a utopia? Unless these two have the power cosmic, bullshit.
Calling it hot garbage at all seems rather cruel, but yeah it does delve more into her character after a while. Most notably where we see what life was like for her before she became Gwenpool:
Basically it shows what kind of person would have to be insane enough to embrace leaving their life forever: rather than being glorified Gwenpool is shown to be a loser who refuses to become a functioning member of society and runs away to comicbookland to try and escape into a fantasy. It also introduced her little brother who acts as a foil, meaning he's very much interested in escaping the comic book world and finds his sister's psychotic actions to be goddamn terrifying.
Okay, so I mentioned a side-story before and...well, here it is. To avoid clogging up this thread I decided to make up one for it. So...yeah, hope you guys enjoy
Alright, so...anybody here have any knowledge of X-Men media? I've never been much of a follower of it aside from watching a few episodes of X-Men: Evolution and now I kinda need some info on specific groups/individuals, most notably the Weapon X program and the Purifiers.
Alright, so...anybody here have any knowledge of X-Men media? I've never been much of a follower of it aside from watching a few episodes of X-Men: Evolution and now I kinda need some info on specific groups/individuals, most notably the Weapon X program and the Purifiers.
So I read through some chapters of Ultimate Avengers and...wow, I knew everyone (except Thor kinda) was an asshole in that team, but these guys take it to new lows. Captain America is a racist, sexist, jingoistic asshole; Hank Pym is an unrepentant wife beater; Tony's an overconfident alcoholic, Nick Fury commits genocide to make a point, Black Widow is evil etc etc. They make the cast in this fic seem healthy and well-adjusted...
Still, the one person that stuck to mind was Ultimate Hawkeye, and purely because he's basically Bullseye-lite. I mean the dude comes across as violently deranged, revels in combat to forget the grief of his dead family, shows a degree of sadism and once ripped off his fingernails and used them as projectiles to escape capture. This dude is basically Bullseye on the side of good.
...Which now makes me regret that I didn't look sooner because thinking on it using Hawkeye instead of Bullseye might make more sense, narratively speaking: he's well-known as a hero, his SHIELD ties would help show-off the dark sides of the org and he'd be the perfect foil for Kate in the Avengers with Gwen getting the younger, less experienced and more idealistic Hawkeye while Noir gets the older and far more deranged one who rips fingernails off for an advantage. It would also explain the fallout Kate mentioned earlier.
That and his costume is boss.
Chapter 74: Clean-Up Crew
Bennet's Guarantees was a small, indistinct building that looked for all the world like a proper place for business. Hell, for all Spider-Man knew it might have been - easier to keep out of the public eye when you looked like you had nothing to hide. It was how Felicia and Fat Larry got away with their speakeasies before Prohibition finally ended...well, that and a handful of long green that the police chiefs couldn't ignore. Not even old man Stacy could turn his head at that.
Spider-Man let Shadowcat go in first before quickly following after her. He felt uncomfortable going in openly without his mask - the plan was for them to pretend to be new prospects of 'the old CM' looking for a quick gig. Infiltration wasn't his specialty, and judging from what he'd seen of Shadowcat he doubted it was hers, but beggars couldn't be choosers here.
The inside of the place was warm and inviting; almost creepily so. Small paintings hung on the cream colored walls and the couch and glass table on one side was just modest enough to be reassuring. Behind the front desk sat a dame comfortably in her 50's wearing a casual gray suit, her short gray hair tied in a bun and the thick rims of her glasses reflecting the front of the computer screen.
She looked up and he spotted the nametag (Margot, apparently) clipped to her chest, "Can I help you?" she asked, a warm smile on her face. For brief moment he wondered if she really knew what her boss did or Fly was just spouting whatever he thought was the truth to try and get them to back off. He shook the thought away; last thing he needed was to start worrying about things he couldn't control.
"Yeah, we're here to see the old CM." Shadowcat leaned across the desk and gave the receptionist a cocky grin. He liked to think that she was just playing the role of the overconfident criminal, but that would've been a load of crock. As far as he knew her - which admittedly wasn't very long - it was clear that she was always that carefree, which was more than a little creepy considering her work consisted of assassination and torture with a little kidnapping and blackmail on the side.
The woman's smile remained and she stood up quickly, gesturing to the door to the backroom, "Yes, of course. This way please."
He and his 'partner' shared another look before they made their way to the back entrance. Again he was forced to wonder if the old dame knew they were being led to some depraved bastard creating oversized flies or if she was just another pawn. Back home he'd always made sure to go after criminals like Osborn's freakshows who had no defense of ambiguity.
His question was answered as soon as Shadowcat twisted the knob. The door inched open and his spider-sense immediately blared, followed by the almost imperceptible sound of sliding metal, 'Shit.' He turned around quickly and grabbed the receptionist's outstretched arm and twisted it upwards, eliciting a cry of pain quickly followed by the muted discharge of the silenced handgun she held in said hand.
Shadowcat quickly followed his lead and kicked the door down. Spider-Man barely caught sight of the half a dozen suited goons on the other side holding the same pistols before she jumped towards them, claws drawn.
Spider-Man smacked the struggling dame unconscious pried the gun from her grip. Shadowcat sliced through the two closest suits and they fell in a torrent of blood and screams. Following her lead, he aimed towards the next two's heads and fired, the sound of bullets impacting through blood and bone reaching his ears before they crumpled to the ground to join their buddies.
Shadowcat charged towards the last two and they fired desperately, the closest one again falling to the ground as she sliced through his stomach, "Die, you fucking freak!" The last one finally managed a shot at her shoulder and fired.
He expected the bullet to phase through her, and judging by the look of shock on her face it was clear she did too. Instead it impacted against her shoulder and drew blood, "Fuck!" She aimed a sweeping kick at the suit's legs and stabbed the claws into his neck just as he hit the ground.
She didn't scream or cry, but the shock was clear all the same. Shadowcat made her way towards him and grabbed the gun from his hands, shooting the unconscious dame in the head before he could say anything, "...Was that really necessary?" She ignored him and examined the magazine, her face morphing into a scowl as she piled the remaining bullets onto her palm, "Why are you looking at that? Did-"
"Shut the hell up for a second." She sniffed the bullets and muttered a curse under her breath, "Damn it, someone told this guy we were coming."
"How'd you figure that?"
"This." She dumped the bullets on the ground and took a frustrated breath, "Vibranium bullets...even a handful of vibranium costs an arm and leg, so you aren't gonna find many people who'd use the stuff as bullets when anyone else wouldn't see a difference." She looked down at the gun with a frown before tossing it away, "Someone told this guy we were coming. It's the only way he knew to buy a batch of this stuff. Peggy really needs to clean her mess up."
"Sure you didn't just forget to turn yourself into a ghost?"
"Ha, ha..." She rolled her eyes and pressed a hand on the bloody right shoulder, "This thing's gonna be a pain in the ass, but we gotta keep moving. We turn around now and this guy leaves."
"You said yourself he was tipped off. What makes you think he's still here and hasn't packed his bags?"
"Cause even if he did leave he couldn't have taken all his stuff with him. Peggy told us to go after this guy a few hours ago; enough time to buy some bullets, not enough time to recover all the machinery he'd need to do stuff like turning that guy into an overgrown house fly." She took a deep breath and stood up straighter, "Wouldn't hurt to check anyway. If we're lucky he smashed all his stuff and did our job for us, but I wanna make sure."
"Not gonna bother arguing; I wasn't the one that got shot," He looked at the bloodstained jacket and frowned, "You sure you can fight like that?"
"Probably better than you can, bub." She snorted and rolled her eyes. Before he could snipe something back she removed the hand covering her shoulder and he blinked when he saw the nearly healed hole.
"What the hell?" He was no stranger to quick healing, but even then it took a while - hours or days, not seconds or minutes..
"I heal fast." She smiled wryly before quickly zipping up the jacket to cover half her face, "A bit of a pain now since it means we can't get the bullet out. With this thing inside me I can't phase through stuff, but any hit I take I can heal from." She manifested the claws again and swiped them through the locked door at the other end of the small room, "You just worry about yourself."
"Right..." He put on his mask.
The inside was a winding set of metal tunnels that looked completely disjointed from the front up top. Spider-Man held the gun tighter to himself as Shadowcat led the way, her eyes narrowed and her posture low. The constant whir of machinery all around him quickly gave him a headache, which wasn't helped by the smell of copper that came from his 'partner'.
"This place is a maze..." he muttered. One hallway led to two or three more divergences and Shadowcat's uncharacteristic quiet was having the opposite effect to what he expected, "Hey, you know where-"
His question was cut off when she suddenly stopped and clawed through a square inch of the metal wall. His first thought was that it was a show of frustration, though that was quickly proven wrong by the sudden displacement of air and the wall to her left suddenly pulling up, "Secret room. Can't beat the classics, huh?" She nudged her head, "Come on."
The inside wasn't much better: rows of computers, capsules that reminded him of the one the Slant's cabal put him in and a desk full of papers; probably research notes by the looks of them, "Must be where he made flyboy." Shadowcat picked up a stack of papers and quickly leafed through it, Peggy's gonna want these, but everything else is fair game. Lets tear it all down."
Destroying the laboratory was almost mundane after everything else. Shadowcat did most of the heavy lifting. clawing through the machinery and pods alike while he just made sure to damage anything she left behind. It reminded him back when he hung out with Davis and his gang: throwing stones through windows, painting on walls, stealing what wasn't nailed down. Petty vandalism, and they found a joy in it that he never really understood.
The boredom didn't last long. Shadowcat held up a hand and pressed a finger against her lips, gesturing to the door at the other end of the room. Spider-Man nodded and lowered himself into a crouch. His spider-sense told him that there were three of them; less than the circus of clowns they dealt with earlier, but still enough that he didn't want to be careless.
He waited till they were fully in the room before he struck. The first two were tangled up in a net of webbing and the last one soon found his head getting to know the nearby wall, his nose twisted from the impact before he lay unconscious on the ground.
"Huh. Nice job, partner." Shadowcat knelt by one of the struggling guards and brandished one of the claws against his eyes, the suit immediately turning still when it lowered and stopped only an inch from his eyeball. All three of the rent-a-clowns were wearing masks designed like crude skulls, but any intimidation was immediately lost considering the way two of them shook and the fact that one of them wasn't even conscious.
"Right, lets make this simple." His 'partner' swung the blade tauntingly over his eyes, the tip just barely grazing cloth, "One of you is going to tell me where your boss is." She shifted to the other bound suit and pressed the tip of the claw to his nose, "I only need one, though, so the one who doesn't tell me loses both of his eyeballs and maybe a little something extra depending on my mood. So...who wants to talk first?"
Whatever they were about to squeal was drowned out by the sudden peal of laughter that came from behind them. Spider-Man shifted his attention from her interrogation to the telescreen that hung on the wall.
Seeing Crime Master again shouldn't have bothered him - especially considering the one he knew was dead - but he couldn't stop the burst of white-hot rage when he saw his ugly mug dominating the entire screen, his hands steepled together in front of him smugly. Even now he remembered Robbie's empty, brain dead stare or the way the cowardly bastard tried to use him as a human shield.
He took out his revolver and fired, the three bullets hitting against the surface harmlessly and causing nothing more than minuscule cracks, "Well, that's rude." Crime Master chuckled. His voice sounded different - rougher, less refined from the one he remembered who was trying to put on airs. The low rasp almost made him pause at how different from what he expected.
"A fancy television. Guess that means you were too much of a coward to stay here." Shadowcat stood and sneered up at him. Her expression shifted slightly when he chuckled again, "What's so funny?"
"All of this, really," he replied airily, "All I did, all the people dead and the secrets sold, and instead of S.H.I.E.L.D bearing down on me I gotta deal with a teenager who has a chip on her shoulder and a guy who dresses like he came from the 1940's. I mean I'm an aficionado for the classics, but don't you think the trenchcoat is a bit much?
"Say that to my face, you Nazi fuck..."
"Nazi? Well now, that's just insulting. I'll have you know I have no interest in fascism; it runs against my beliefs." He sat up in his seat slightly and looked down at him, his expression unreadable underneath the mask, "You know, I don't know what my boy sees in you. Way Jack was talking you'd think he was in love. Talks about you day and night, he does. Says he finally found his arch-enemy-"
He was done listening to him. Spider-Man turned around to the other door before his spider-sense suddenly blared.
The door in front of him was suddenly covered in a thick metal wall with the one Shadowcat broke apart earlier doing the same, "I wasn't finished talking, kid." Crime Master's voice had taken on a harder edge. It reminded him of a parent scolding their kid, "Again, really not seeing the point of my boy's interest in you. What kind of hero can't even exchange in some proper bantering?"
"Right, just ignore me then." Shadowcat rolled her eyes, unsurprisingly flippant despite the fact that they were currently trapped in the room, "Look, lets just skip to the part where you're on your knees begging us to let you live and offering money, drugs or whatever else you're packing. It always ends the same way."
He laughed again, but this wasn't the same low chuckle as before. This one was loud and unrestrained, his head rearing back in addition to the loudness of the gesture, "Oh, that's a good one! See, boy, this is how you do some proper back-and-forth!" He shook his head and continued, "Ah...it's a shame I have to kill you both now."
Again his spider-sense flared, which was quickly followed by what looked like white gas seeping into the room. Without another word he ran to the closest door and rammed his shoulder against it only to grimace in pain at the impact that ran up his shoulder.
Shadowcat was no better. She materialized her claws and attacked the door with a frustrated scream, but apart from some scratches along the surface it refused to budge, "What the-"
"I came prepared, my dear. I thought the Vibranium bullets would've made that obvious," Crime Master taunted, "This is my experiment room, so I always made sure that it could safely contain anything inside in case of...failures." He clicked his tongue when the two of them attempted to break the door down again, "Honestly, don't you kids ever listen? The gas kills slow...might wanna save your breath."
Seconds passed and slowly but surely Spider-Man felt his strength waning. There was no pain, no feeling of his lungs burning or the blood running down his nose like Uncle Ben's tales of the mustard gas bombardments in the trenches. Instead all he felt was a rising sense of fatigue followed by his limbs feeling like they were being weighed down by chains.
Shadowcat remained standing longer, but even then her strikes became slower and soon she was forced on her knees like he was, her breaths shallow and barely heard over Crime Master's laughter. Prick was getting off on them dying...
"I gotta say, this is almost depressing. Look at you two: like two mice who walked right into the trap!"
Spider-Man tried to drown him out and focus. There had to be a way out... "Damn it..." He beat his knuckles against the walls weakly. The door was reinforced, but what about the wall? It was still metal, but there had to be...
He only managed four hits before his strength finally faded and he collapsed face-first into the ground. Was this how it would end? Memories of Sandman caving his face in at Crime Master's orders returned. He remembered something his uncle told him once - it wasn't death that scared him, it was dying. Leaving his loved ones behind, leaving the world in agony...it was almost prophetic considering how his life ended.
He'd almost faded completely before he heard them - explosions, each one larger than the last. Crime Master's laughter ended just before he heard the deafening explosion from behind him.
His body refused to move; he couldn't even nudge his head to the source of the footsteps. Spider-Man could do nothing but cry softly as a pair of hands grabbed his shoulder and hoisted him up, "Hold on...!" A voice whispered in his ear just before he was hoisted up over someone's shoulder. At the back of his mind he wondered why she sounded so familiar before she suddenly turned and ran.
The ground passed him by rapidly followed by the sounds of someone behind him screaming for his rescuer to wait up. She yelled something back he couldn't make out before she eventually stopped and placed him on the floor with his back against the closest wall, "...ight. It'll be..." Her voice faded in and out. He barely caught sight of her grabbing a syringe from the hooded man next to her before she stabbed it right at his chest.
The pain from the needle was sudden and intense, but God help him it was more comforting than he wanted to admit. Spider-Man shot up suddenly, his breaths ragged and his body stiff, "Easy, Pete. It'll be alright..." The dame put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Across her shoulder he saw Shadowcat standing up shakily and batting away the other guy's attempts to help her. Given the lack of syringe she probably healed on her own.
His first thought was to ask her rescuers who they were and how she knew his name, but his spider-sense flaring again put a stop to that. He saw three blurry figures running down the length of the hall and he moved, "...Down!" He pushed his rescuer aside and raised his revolver. Three bullets left and all of them hit their mark, the thugs stopping in their tracks as the bullets hit em square in the chest.
More were coming. His rescuer's head snapped to the other end of the hall and her eyes narrowed. Before he could even attempt to reload his gun she jumped and propelled herself to the end of the hallway using webbing that ejected from the tips of her fingers, "Really bad timing, guys!" She kicked the closest goon straight into the wall before she flipped over to another and slammed him the ground.
The other man grabbed his shoulder and pulled him up, "Alright, move! We need to get out of here-"
"No." Shadowcat forced out. Her voice held no traces of her usual mirth, replaced instead by fierce growl, "I'm gonna gut that masked bastard like a fish. We ain't leaving till he's dead and this place is burned to the ground."
"That's-"
"I agree with her." He cut him off, "Crime Master's dying. Thanks for your help, but-"
"Alright, shut up for a second." His first rescuer said as she landed nearby, feet and knuckles bloody from her recent fight, "You two nearly died, and if it weren't for Gobby's pumpkin bombs you'd both be dead. Think maybe cutting your loss isn't the smart play here?"
"Thanks for your concern, darlin', but this isn't my first near death experience, and my partner's already got experience on the 'being dead' part of the job." Shadowcat materialized her claws again, "You two wanna cut and run be my guest, but I ain't leaving while that bastard's still breathing. Don't worry about payback; I know who you are, Spinerette. I'll be sure to return the favor."
"That's not why I did this!" she snapped, her brows furrowed in annoyance, "Look, we need to get you two out of here and then I need some answers from you." She turned to him now. Even with the red scarf covering half her face he could practically see the frown she was sporting, "This is-"
More thugs arrived and cut off her spiel. Shadowcat jumped towards them and sliced the foursome into bloody bits before she ran down the hall without looking back. Spider-Man grit his teeth and followed after her, ignoring the cries of both his rescuers for him to slow down. His body still felt heavy and a part of him was tempted to cut and run, but he'd be damned if he let Crime Master breath no matter the world he was in.
He didn't know if Shadowcat knew where she was going or she was just looking for anyone to attack for payback, but in the end he followed her all the same. Anyone who got in their way found themselves at the end of her claws before he could even raise his gun to take aim.
Shadowcat stopped eventually, sniffing the air for a second before she sliced the closest wall and kicked the metal down.
The inside was different from the lab. It was wide with metal walkways weaving around above them in a circle. Spider-Man pressed the gun closer against himself and winced at the overwhelming heat and the smell of something pungent in the air, "What the hell?" He eyed the large vats next to the walkways and muttered a curse under his breath. What little he managed to see made it clear what it was, "Acid..." Why in the hell would they have acid here?
His musings were cut short when he heard a distorted laugh from behind him. His spider-sense flared and before he could move the air suddenly displaced and he found himself flying through the air after someone grabbed his collar.
"Hey, Spidey, didn't expect to see you so soon!"
The one who grabbed him wouldn't have looked out of place in the prison the agents used to coop up all their freaks. Spider-Man didn't let himself get distracted by the flaming pumpkin mask and pulled out his gun, firing it at the burning mask and forcing him to let go. He flew through the air briefly before he landed on the walkway with a grunting roll.
Spider-Man flipped back and avoided the candy that melted through the metal, "I gotta tell you, man, I'm really glad you didn't retire! You know how bored I've been? I tell ya, killing police officers and random schmucks just doesn't do it for me anymore. I want someone who'll fight back, ya know? It's damn buzzkill when everyone just begs and cries."
He bit his tongue to keep himself from asking what the hell he was talking about and ran down the walkway towards him. He couldn't fight him while he was on that damn broomstick, 'Got one chance at this.' He jumped high and attached a net of webbing to the back exhaust. The flames quickly burned through the dark silk and he ejected more and more.
"Didn't you already try to play tagalong, man? Didn't end so well for you last time!" He flew in a chaotic circle around the room and Spider-Man held on tighter as they rushed past the vats of acid. Shadowcat was nowhere to be seen, though he couldn't worry about that now. Right now he had to focus on making sure this bastard didn't dunk him in one of those vats.
His laughter was cut off when two lines of webbing tagged him right on the chest and pulled him off his broomstick. The jack-o-lantern screamed briefly before he landed on the walkway with a painful crash. Spider-Man tugged the broomstick towards the wall before letting go, landing a short distance in front of the crazy shitheel just before the makeshift glider made impact and exploded.
His scarfed rescuer landed beside him with a graceful flip, "You really need to listen. That's twice I've saved you."
"Guess I owe you twice now."
"...Ow." The flaming pumpkin raised himself up into a shaky stand and laughed, "No fair." He leaned against the railing and looked at them both, "2-on-1, Spidey? I thought we had something special! Think I should even the odds, don't you? Ready to meet some old friends, Spidey?" He tapped something in his gauntlet and then...
Nothing. The overgrown pumpkin looked down at his gauntlet and tapped again, but his spider-sense remained silent, "Come on you stupid-"
"None of your little pals are coming. Gobby's jamming your signal, so it's just us three here."
His rescuer jumped toward him and kicked him right in the face. How he managed to remain upright he had no idea, and he didn't want to wait around to find out. Spider-Man rushed forward to join her and decked the jack-o-lantern right in the gut, which she followed up with another kick right to his head. He didn't know if the fire was really there or not but either way he didn't want to risk it.
The smiling bastard didn't even get a chance to fight back. As soon as one of them finished a hit the other immediately continued, knocking him back to the edge of the walkway in a flurry of punches, kicks and tackles, "You're gonna pay for what you did!" She delivered a punch to his jaw that broke through the surface of the mask and knocked him to the absolute end of the walkway.
Spider-Man saw a glimpse of the face underneath, though he quickly wished he hadn't. The skin was burned and leathery with wisps of hair that barely hung onto his head. What drew his attention most was the jaw, which looked as if it'd been stapled to the upper half of his face with crude binding while the missing mouth and unnaturally exposed teeth gave him permanent grotesque smile.
"What I did?" He leaned back on the railing and laughed. Without the voice distortion it sounded wheezing and desperate, "You talking about me killing those people or making your boyfriend cry?" The exposed eye shifted to him and he let out another wheezing laugh, "What was it you said, Spidey? That you were done playing hero? Sure didn't stop you here, huh?"
He charged, one hand raised and brandishing a knife. Spider-Man kicked him in the chest and he flew back, falling through the railing entirely and down onto the open vat of acid below.
Spider-Man turned and blocked out his screams and ignored his cries for his 'daddy'. His rescuer winced and looked away, her eyes shut tight in complete opposition of her earlier behavior, "...Fuck." She brought both hands through her face and took a deep, shuddering breath, "God damn it..."
"Getting second thoughts?"
"No, it's just..." She shook her head, "Nevermind, let's get your friend and get the hell out of here."
Finding Shadowcat was easy enough - they just had to follow the trail of bodies and screams. Spider-Man stepped past the ajar door and winced at the smell of blood that permeated the air. He counted at least half a dozen bodies laying around the room, though it was quickly overshadowed by the sight of Shadowcat keeping an unmasked Crime Master pinned to his fancy chair with a pair of claws through his right hand.
He looked different from the Crime Master he remembered. The one who took the Negroes for experimentation was tall and well-built with a head of dark hair. He wasn't German himself despite his Nazi leanings, but it hardly mattered. This one was shorter with a head of shocking white hair; he looked more like he would've fit in more with the Friends of New Germany than his other self did.
"Who's your mole inside S.H.I.E.L.D?" She twisted the blades through the skin when he remained quiet. Crime Master screamed and trashed, but she kept him pinned down, "Not asking again. After all the crap you pulled I'm not in the mood for games."
Their gazes met. The last time he'd locked eyes with Crime Master he'd pleaded and begged for help even after all the atrocities he pulled. This one was defiant even through his pain, his lips curled into a bloody smile just before Shadowcat twisted her claws around again, "Haha...you're here to kill me, aren't you? Fast or slow I'm dying anyway...so do your worst."
Shadowcat's scowl worsened. His rescuer raised a hand towards her, but before she got anywhere his 'partner' manifested claws in her other hand and stabbed him through both eyes.
His screams were mercifully brief. Without much care she willed the claws away and let his body fall onto the ground in a heap, "That's that, then..." She turned around and met his rescuer - Spinerette, she called her before - with a raised brow, "Something wrong? You look like you got something to say."
"You know we could've arrested him, right?"
"That's not what S.H.I.E.L.D sent us here for, sweetheart." Shadowcat shrugged lightly, "Mission was clear: wreck his stuff and kill the man himself. Trust me, if it was a snatch and grab I would've done it."
"What, S.H.I.E.L.D just sent you here to assassinate the guy?"
"Yep," she said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Spinerette was silent in the face of the blunt answer, "Might be a bit shocking for you, but not everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D is in it for the hero gig. I do the dirty work they keep out of sight from their precious snowflakes like you and Spider-Woman and I get paid good for it. You got any complaints take it up with Peggy."
"I...no, that's not what I'm here for." She shook her head, "Look, I came here to ask questions." She turned to him now, "Who are you? I know Spider-Man, and you're-"
"Lemme save you some time: this is the original Spider-Man back from the dead and the one you've been hanging around with was a clone...I think. Either that or he's another zombie." Shadowcat clapped her on the shoulder and smiled lightly, "It's not that complicated if you think about it."
"I...what?" She looked like she wanted to say something else but Shadowcat was already out the door before she could get past a few stuttered remarks, "W-Wait, what? This doesn't-"
"Make any sense? Believe me, I thought the same thing." Spider-Man clicked his tongue, "...Actually, I been meaning to ask something. We met before? I swear your face is familiar."
"More than you think..." She laughed bitterly and undid her scarf.
His first thought on seeing the face underneath was to pull out his gun and shoot, and he actually was halfway to doing that before she suddenly put her hands up, "I'm not my evil twin!" she stated quickly, "Look, I'm like you: I came from another dimension. She took me from my bunker and- look, you know this story, you lived it, too!"
He wanted to refuse her explanation, but honestly it fit the rest of the absurdity of this place so far, "...Yeah." He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. She'd saved him twice now. The Slant he knew wouldn't give a dollar away if her life depended on it, "...I gotta go."
"W-Wait, we need to talk-"
"Go to the Blue Swallow Motel in Manhattan in a day or two. Right now I just wanna forget this all happened..."
He ignored her continued calls for him to wait and went past her buddy in the hoodie without another word on the hall. Mission accomplished, right? So why did he feel like the entire thing was a waste of time?
Spider-Man stopped when he saw the spilled acid at the side of one of the vats. By itself it wouldn't have been worth a second glance, but the melted pumpkin mask lying on top of a particularly large puddle caused him to pause, "Probably just spilled on his death throes..." He shook his head. Now he was just being too paranoid. Surviving and acid bath...it was as absurd coming back from the the dead.
He tried not to think about it too much.
"You ready?"
"Stop asking and just stick it already."
Of all the things he thought he'd do for someone, pulling a bullet out hadn't been one of them. He and Shadowcat met back up at his motel room, though his first thought when he saw her was hardly relief. Maybe it was cause she killed her way through easily two dozen men less than an hour ago or maybe it was cause she was trying to dig out a bullet with one of her claws when he walked in.
So now here they were sitting across one another and trying to pry out bullets with nothing more than a kitchen knife, a pair of tweezers, some alcohol, a lighter and a bottle of painkillers.
"You'd think getting shot once would stop you from getting shot again considering what happened..." All things considered she'd been pretty lucky: two bullets (one on the front of her right shoulder and another at her back), both of them in non-vital areas. Considering the amount of resistance they met and her tendency to run ahead it was nothing short of a miracle that she only got shot twice.
Of course it didn't make digging them out any easier, especially not when her skin healed faster than a druggie on nose powder.
To her credit Shadowcat didn't scream when the heated blade dug into her skin. At worst her hands clenched and her lips pursed tightly even as drops of blood trailed down her arm and chest, "Almost there..." He wasn't exactly experienced in this, but he'd had to dig shrapnel and other things before when he got careless. Thank god for whiskey...
The first bullet came out with a meaty pop. Spider-Man winced and dropped the bloody bit of metal into the bowl full of water, "See? Easy peasy." Shadowcat grinned up at him. Despite the rapidly healing wound and the blood on her white tanktop he found himself laughing softly in response. She was a tough one, that was for damn sure.
"Right, where's the next one?"
"On my back, about mid-center."
He was going to ask her to hike her undershirt up a bit before she suddenly pulled it over her head and tossed it in to the corner seemingly without a care. His eyes widened slightly at the brief glimpse of her breasts hidden behind the black bra before she quickly lay face down on the bed, "It's in this spot." She tapped the center of a small blood splatter just under the clasps.
Spider-Man swallowed before shaking his head forcefully. God, he needed to get a grip. He wasn't the same teenager who froze up just because Felicia took off her nightrobe. 5 years passed already, he needed to grow the hell up.
The next incision and removal was more precise now that he'd gotten used to it. He sliced through the indicated area and dug around for the bullet and apart from some slight squirming Shadowcat was as still as could be, "You ever do this before?" he asked. Making conversation while he was digging around her insides was bizarre, but if she considered it such she didn't indicate it.
"Sometimes. When the guys who made me tried to get their 'investment' back they used Vibranium to keep me from phasing through everything. Didn't really have many people to rely on to do it for me, you know? Hospitals asked questions." She paused slightly before continuing, "What about you? You ever have to do some emergency worst aid?"
"A bit. My uncle taught me some basic first aid since we tended to help the bums out; they couldn't afford hospitals either." He pulled out the bullet and let it join its brother on the bowl, "I try to avoid getting hit. I can't heal from getting stabbed in seconds like you can." He watched as the cut turned from severe to non-existent over the course of a minute, "Still hard to believe it's real."
"Seeing is believing, bub." He dabbed some cotton some filled with alcohol at the recently healed wound to wipe away the blood. She didn't even flinch, "I'm not the only one like this. You should see Logan one day; that guy can ignore pretty much anything except a nuke going off in his face...and I'm guessing he can actually survive that if he really wanted to."
Nukes. The things that won America the 2nd world war...going back home would definitely be bittersweet knowing what he did.
He finished cleaning up the wound and made to stand before she suddenly sat up again, "Hey, doc, still need a little help here." She gestured to the dried blood caked on her right shoulder down to her chest.
She could've fixed it herself easily from her position, and judging by the teasing smile on her face she probably knew it too, "Right, almost forgot." Spider-Man rolled his eyes and started dabbing at the blood, keeping his eyes firmly set on the completely healed wound. The last thing he needed was to let his mind fall into the gutter.
Of course, that was much harder when she suddenly placed her hands between his legs and squeezed.
"What are you-"
His words were cut off when she pressed her lips against his in a sudden kiss. It wasn't like with Felicia; that was slow and seductive, a way for her to ease him into the act. Shadowcat was quick and fierce, prying open his mouth with her tongue and barely giving him a chance to breath.
The rational part of his mind wanted to push her off and forget this ever happened, but the feelings of lust and frustration quickly swam to the surface. 5 years he'd spent trapped in that butcher shop, 5 years where he was strapped down for experiments with his every move in that cramped cell watched by a surveillance camera that deprived him of any sense of privacy. The only woman he ever knew was the Slant, a fact she taunted him about more times than he wanted to remember.
Shadowcat smirked against his lips and traced her fingers against the length of his hardening cock, his erection pressed against the fabric of his trousers, "Should we stop?" she asked, her tone almost taunting. She reveled in it, wanted him to admit that he wanted her.
His response was to bite her neck. Spider-Man tasted sweat and a few traces of blood and was rewarded by a heady breath, "I'll take that as a no." Her bra fell next and his hands ran up her sides before they rested on her bare breasts. He could feel her nipples hardening against his palms and he took a deep breath of the heavy air. This was almost familiar now.
His eyes drank in the sight of her pale body as she led them towards the Queen sized bed. He didn't know why Felicia was doing this, and God help him he didn't care. Peter took a deep breath of the intoxicating perfume and shivered slightly as she traced a perfectly manicured nail down his jaw. She had all the power here and she knew it.
"Peter..."
He stood up quickly, though Shadowcat wasn't bothered by the sudden shift. Instead she wrapped her legs around his waist and continued her assault against his mouth. Spider-Man tried to focus, tried to move them towards the bed that didn't stink of blood and alcohol, but between their tongues beating against one another and the way her fingers dug into his shoulders he only managed to smack them to the closest wall.
Shadowcat grunted slightly at the sudden interruption, but instead of a reprimand she simply pushed him on top of the bed and straddled him. Despite being a clear foot shorter than him the cocky smirk on her face made it clear who was calling the shots. The two of them shared a look before she went down on him again, leaving a trail of kisses down his jaw to his neck before she stopped at the collar of his shirt.
The sounds of tearing fabric screeched past his ears. Spider-Man just barely saw the near-transparent claws cut through one of the blankets before she brought it down on his shirt with quick precision, "You won't be needing this." She tossed away the tattered remains of the dark brown fabric before she licked her lips, one hand pressed against his chest while the other remained raised with the claws still drawn.
Spider-Man got the feeling this was going to be a long night.
I have used the word cock and nipples in this fic; I have now justified my M rating...it only took 74 chapters, not counting side-stories and the like. Still, I'm slowly working my way up to showing more than the foreplay. Maybe 3 years from now I can actually show some penetration...yeah, not likely.
Anyway, I know the first thing anyone's gonna ask is how old Shadowcat is, so lets get this out of the way: due to comic book time it's hard to gauge how old characters are with any finality, but from what I gathered Laura is 17-19; and given that 65-Shadowcat is basically Laura I'm giving her that same age. Either way she's legal (NYC consent law is 17) and given her usual antics it's unlikely she has no idea what she's doing.
Besides that we made some progress with Jack and PGH - now that the 4 of them took out Crime Master SHIELD can secure the site and recover all traces of the data, basically cleaning up the mess Peter and the others left behind. Sadly I don't think that's the last we'll hear of Jack, though at least he got a good beating out of it.
Next chapter is the setup for the Carnage arc, so we'll be away from Spider-Man and Shadowcat for a bit.
Question:
1. Are you guys fine with the story dragging so far? LG has become pretty disjointed now and I wonder if it's caused people to get burnt out. I tried to make the side-story to try to rectify this, but that didn't get much if any responses. Just wondering if I'm worrying for nothing on the story dragging on too long and needing to be euthanized.
Something struck me as odd about the rapid change in Spider romantic partners it after I read the update, I thought about it and then I noticed there are no non-homosexual relationships on Marvel protags, it's like noticing the penis head in the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" live action movie.
Misspelled, Marvel has no non-homosexual relationships among protags, Peter isn't in a homosexual relationship despite it being the norm, it came across as funny.
Misspelled, Marvel has no non-homosexual relationships among protags, Peter isn't in a homosexual relationship despite it being the norm, it came across as funny.
Ah, it was a comment on the current SJW trend where people established as straight like Ice Man are suddenly turned gay. Am I getting that right? Still, in the fic the only protagonist who's outright bi is Gwen. Cindy is straight while Peter is ambiguous in some respects. Spider-Man's just crazy considering he's willing to sleep with Shadowcat despite seeing everything she did in this chapter.
Yep, I feel very proud of myself for using dirty language this chapter - really living up to my M rating right there As for Jack, he should also be mad at Cindy. She was the one who absolutely fucked him with her interference and she even did more damage than Noir did what with her removing him from the broomstick and smashing his mask open. Spider-Man was basically support.
Well...how many Spider-Man/Spider-Gwen fanfics are there? I counted two last I checked, not including this and Tangled Webs. Easy to be the king when there are almost no contenders. That and I fully tagged this as a Peter/Gwen romance over on ff.net, which is bound to get some raised eyebrows considering their dysfunctional behavior to one another.
Still, what do you think of Shadowcat's behavior so far? Can't help but think she kinda comes across as cartoonish to a certain extent given how often she needlessly kills people.
Ah, it was a comment on the current SJW trend where people established as straight like Ice Man are suddenly turned gay. Am I getting that right? Still, in the fic the only protagonist who's outright bi is Gwen. Cindy is straight while Peter is ambiguous in some respects. Spider-Man's just crazy considering he's willing to sleep with Shadowcat despite seeing everything she did in this chapter.
No actually, I simply hadn't noticed the "all central character romance has to be homosexual" thing until this update made me think about Marvel relationships, which made your Peter the odd man out and I though that was funny for some reason.
Also the "Iceman going against 60 years of character development" thing doesn't come across as weird if you frame it in the right manner, check it like this "Jean Grey accidentally rewrote reality so that it became a thing" bam problem solved, the comic is still pretty bad but that's one less issue.
Yep, I feel very proud of myself for using dirty language this chapter - really living up to my M rating right there As for Jack, he should also be mad at Cindy. She was the one who absolutely fucked him with her interference and she even did more damage than Noir did what with her removing him from the broomstick and smashing his mask open. Spider-Man was basically support.
Well...how many Spider-Man/Spider-Gwen fanfics are there? I counted two last I checked, not including this and Tangled Webs. Easy to be the king when there are almost no contenders. That and I fully tagged this as a Peter/Gwen romance over on ff.net, which is bound to get some raised eyebrows considering their dysfunctional behavior to one another.
Still, what do you think of Shadowcat's behavior so far? Can't help but think she kinda comes across as cartoonish to a certain extent given how often she needlessly kills people.
Still, what do you think of Shadowcat's behavior so far? Can't help but think she kinda comes across as cartoonish to a certain extent given how often she needlessly kills people.
