From The Smoke (Marvel SI)

Chapter 8– First Outing.

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Wait, what the fuck am I doing? I swore that I was not going to do this, that I wasn't going to let her pull me in, let her drag me into an inescapable black hole. I might have been sticking to my principles and rules when I refused to steal from the jewellery shop earlier on, but I am back treading right now. Every second that my lips stay in contact with her is another moment my rules are being ignored and trodden upon, which I can't allow.

I whip my arms away from her as if they were on fire as if she were literal dynamite about to explode, and as if Felicia was sensing my reluctance, her lips part from mine, disappearing as soon as I stopped holding her.

Even though I feel great hesitation now that her lips are no longer on mine, I can't help but feel some relief as well, knowing that I had just dodged a bullet. If there is ever going to be anything happening between Felicia and me, then it is going to be initiated by me, and I can't accept it any other way-

"AGGGGGgggghhhh!" I heard Felicia scream, and she seemed to be getting further and further away, but why would- I realise now that I was the one holding Felicia against me under this archway, I was her only support, and I had just stopped holding her. Then, my eyes which I had closed while kissing Felicia snapped open, and I saw Felicia dropping down through the alley, plummeting towards the ground.

As I watch her falling to her death, facing the sky and reaching a hand out for me, I suddenly see Gwen Stacy, sweet Gwen Stacy, falling in her place, and I am right back at the Brooklyn Bridge, living out my worst nightmare again.

Instinctually my hand shoots out, both of my middle fingers pressed against my palm to let loose a web that would reach out to snag Felicia and save her from a terrible fate. Except I am not wearing my web shooters, which I thank god for because if I had them on, then Felicia's spine would have been snapped in half, just like Gwen's.

I-I can't do that again. I can't have someone killed because of me again because of my actions. So maybe it is a good thing that I don't have my web shooters on me, they are just tools, after all, and they can never be relied upon entirely. After all, other people can use tools as well.

So the only thing I can trust is my own hands and my own actions, I can't trust the actions of other people, and I can't trust weapons or tools that I myself have not created, not even the web shooters because I did not make those, Peter did, and Peter makes mistakes, I am not Peter.

Moving my body, I crouch against the brickwork of the arch, facing towards the grounds and towards the falling form of Felicia. Then, using all my strength, I push against it and shoot downwards towards the damsel in distress at intense speeds, pointing my arms towards her in a diving-like position to boost myself even further. I feel the bricks crack and break under my feet, the arch itself shattering into pieces, but I can't bring myself to care.

I can still remember swinging through the streets as Spider-Man and battling foes, constantly holding back my strength and doing my utmost to not cause any property damage. I don't care about that stuff now. I could give a rat's ass about property damage, reputation and image in the public eye. I don't care about limiting myself anymore. I am going to live with my utmost everything.

I rocket down towards the ground, heading directly for Felicia, who doesn't have any time to react before I reach her. I ignore her outstretched arms, diving between them and wrapping my arms around her midsection when I collide with her though she was already going at a fast speed which offset most of the impact, and I know her suit has some protection. We tumble through the air for a bit, a mess of arms and legs, before I manage to balance myself out and stick a palm to the alleyway wall.

By stick, I don't mean that I use my power, as that would be idiotic at this stage. Stopping our inertia so suddenly is very dangerous. While I would be just fine due to my super-powered body, I don't think Felicia would have taken such a situation into account when designing her suit, which means the inertia would seriously damage her insides.

So instead of straight-up using my powers, I use my insane agility to traverse down the walls, doing a series of flips and springs off the bricks to bleed off the energy and slow down our descent.

This is made a lot harder due to all the debris falling from above due to me destroying the archway, forcing me to make a bunch more manoeuvers to protect ourselves as we move down. Finally, we touch down gently in the middle of the wet alley. I am not even aware of when it started to rain, being so caught up in current events.

The alleyway itself is dark and dingy, so basically just a regular alleyway in New York, right down to the stuffed dumpsters that are so full that they are now leaking garbage juice that is filtering out onto the concrete and into the drains leading to the sewers.

Thankfully I am far away from any of them as we landed in a surprisingly clean space, which is excellent for a New York alleyway anyway. There is rubble from the property damage I caused all over the place, but it has all since landed now since I slowed down our descent.

"Ben, you asshole! What the hell was that!? Why did you just fucking drop me!?" Felicia shouts, now being carried in a princess carry by me. It was just the easiest way to hold her and have a stable grip on her as I followed the treacherous path down through the alleyway.

I would have been perfectly fine with being shouted at by her if that was all she did, it was my fault after all, but she perpetuated her point by giving me a hard punch to the arm, which I think was just uncalled for.

"What, didn't you like the rush? Have a little fun, Licia, wasn't the fall exhilarating? And for the record, I didn't drop you since you never actually touched the ground. This is me dropping you." I perpetuate my point by letting go of her and taking a step back.

Her fantastic ass collides with the ground as she clatters to the floor. I know what I just said didn't really make sense, but I don't care. I have constantly been on the back foot with this woman, and I have to say, I immensely enjoyed being the one ahead now, even with her vehemently staring up at me with frustration in her eyes.

"Now, get up, lazybones. We have got to get moving yesterday. No doubt some people heard or even saw the archway collapsing, and they have already reported it. The police are already on their way. A break-in and then a collapsed archway not too long after. At least a few cops will be checking it out. They will be here soon, so let's get going." I blurt out while quickly making my escape, my escape from her, that is, not the police. The experience of being a vigilante has really clued me into the force's ineptitude.

I can hear her growl behind me, still laid out on the alleyway floor, and I can't help but smile as I jump my way back up to the roofs and then run off into the night.

I know I have just dropped a beautiful woman onto the ground and treated her badly, and I shouldn't be happy about being such a dick. But I am, I am ecstatic at the thought of her having the cushion pulled from under her, and for once, it is her being messed around with.

She has been messing and playing around with me since we met like I am a toy. Well, now she has found out that this toy has retractable claws, sixty different poses and 25 different phrases.

I have really got to tone down the dumb quippy side of me. God forbid I start speaking the stupid things aloud.

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Alright, today is my first proper outing as a thief, and this will be the first proper job we are going to be doing. It has been a few days since the test drive, and I am feeling confident, mainly because this job is more suited to my skill set, and I have the right experience for the job.

It will be just like putting on those same old boots and using them to kick ass all over again, which I don't really want to do, I don't want to slip back into those shoes so quickly, but I have to remember, this time I am not just kicking their ass's, I'm also taking their stuff.

"So, Cat. How are we going to do this? Go in guns blazing, kicking ass and taking names, but only for their headstones? Or are we going to sneak in all sneaky, like by cutting a perfect circle into the glass and climbing the glass using suction cups? You using the suction cups, not me, for obvious reasons. Or do you have an inside man or something? Has he left the back door open for us, and he will take his compatriots on a trip allowing us to go inside and do as we, please? Well, how are we playing this?" I whisper loudly near Felicia's ear, punctuating how quiet I am being by placing a hand in front of my mouth as I lean over.

I know full well that I am being annoying right now, and that is actually the whole reason I am whispering to her because acting like this really rides on her nerves and messing with her is pretty amusing. It is like I have become addicted to it after I dropped her on her ass that night in the alley, anyway that I can just mess with her and catch her on the back foot. Am I becoming a sadist, teasing her and messing with her like this? I suppose it is better than being a masochist, something to think about later.

"Shush, Spi. I am trying to focus, so quiet." Felicia answers curtly, annoyed at my senseless questions. Spi is my codename. It is half of the word spider because, like it or not, that is my powerset, and I will obviously be named after it. Also, this way, it can be mistaken with spy, so when I am called it, that is what people will think. It's a stupid thing, but I guess there is some meaning in it. Felicia was very adamant that I have a meaningful name so that she would have something to call me in the field.

Felicia herself had been wildly off since the day of my test. I had left her in that alley and then ran off by myself, I expected her to catch up to me soon after I left, but she didn't. I guess she was more shocked at what happened to her than I thought. So I got back to the apartment first, and then I got changed into some of the other clothes Felicia had procured for me on her night out. Unfortunately, they are not the type of clothes you would wear out. They are more stay-at-home clothes.

When she did arrive home, I was helping myself to some of her icecreams in the fridge and watching television. I did that just to mess with her more and gave her a casual, oh, you're finally back, but she just gave me a dirty look and then went straight into her room. I smiled to myself when she did that. she didn't try any of her flirtatious tactics or anything and just went to bed. At that moment, I felt like I was onto a winner.

The following day, she tried to use more of her seductress strategies, but I had already figured out my defence. Whenever she tried to do anything like that, I just found a way to completely change the mood and shift the tone, completely upsetting her advances. So, for example, if we are on the couch, and she tries to scoot closer to me, I would just get up, get a snack from the kitchen, come back and sit on the one-seater.

Or when she tried to get super close to me and share the same breath, I would comment about there being no air conditioning, saying it was pretty smelly suddenly, something along the lines of, I think I can smell shit, she would try to ignore it, but I would see her face twitching. So there were quite a lot of these instances over the past few days. I will give her this, she is persistent, but every time she puts it up, I knock it down.

We were on the couch one time, and I ended up dozing off a little. Still, when I woke up not long after falling asleep, I found out that Felicia had wormed her way in next to me and was cuddling into me. Needless to say, I liked the position, but I enjoyed my hobby even more, so after a few minutes of her noticing I was awake and not trying to pull away, which lured her into a false sense of security, I let one rip, no joke I literally let loose a loud fart into the silence of the room.

I continued to watch the TV, acting like nothing had happened, but I kept an eye on Felicia out of the corner of my eye. I could only see the top of her head since she was watching TV when I trumped, and she didn't move or make any motion to say that it had affected her.

But then she slowly turned her head to look at me, and I could see the shock on her face as she looked at me, completely astonished at what had just occurred. She stayed next to me for a bit longer before she made an excuse and left. I couldn't help but feel vindicated.

Watching her get discouraged again and again felt good because I now knew exactly what she wanted and what she was willing to do to get it. She found me at a point in time when I was at my most vulnerable, and she pounced upon me like a lion on a gazelle, but instead of feasting on me like a lion would, she dragged me back to my lair so that I could be a continuous source of sustenance for her.

She planned to manipulate my vulnerable self and develop me into her personal tool. I was going to be to her what Skurge is to Amoura the Enchantress, or at least I assume because that is the worst outcome I could imagine.

Either way, she planned to take advantage of my state to benefit herself. She planned to use her feminine wiles to get me firmly under her foot and then use me for all sorts of sordid misdeeds. But, again, I have no evidence to support this, which is why I haven't gone guns blazing and accused her of anything.

She was definitely planning something, but in all truth, I don't really have anywhere to go, and I need some start-up money to get going wherever I am going, so I will be sticking with her till I have what I need and the tide changes.

Plus, I have begun to enjoy teasing her and messing up all of her approaches. Keeping her on the back foot is very amusing since she is constantly vying for control, and I mess it up for her every time. I know she is trying to control me and make me into her little super-powered henchman, and I should probably be leaving and making my own way, but I am aware of the dangers here.

I want to learn more and accumulate more riches before I jump ship. I know it is dumb, and I can't find the words to explain it, so I am going to stop trying to rationalise it. I am in the Marvel universe, and things aren't meant to be rational here.

"So, uh, when are we going to do this thing, or what?" I ask since we have been sitting on this roof for a while, just watching the warehouse in front of us. Once again, I am back at the docks trying to steal from more thugs. In fact, the warehouse I stole from is about a hundred meters to my left. The police really should keep tight surveillance of this place. It feels like a hotbed for activity.

"It's time. Let's move. Remember, follow my lead." She says before getting out of her crouch and leaping from the building we are on to the next, moving towards the warehouse without looking back to see if I am following.

I move to follow her with great amusement. It seems like my tactic is working spectacularly because that would have been the time to say something. She could have said something like, I hope you're not this impatient in bed, now follow me very closely and stay right behind me. That would be the sort of thing she usually says, but I have worn her down so much that she is not even trying today.

I hop and run across the few warehouses between us and our target before we get crest upon a tall lampost and look down at our targets, it's an ordinary warehouse just like the rest, but there are two shady guys outside waiting by the doors, which certainly doesn't say conspicuous, no siree.

Like anybody is going to believe that, just get some bloody security cameras installed and get two guys inside to watch it. If you need someone to watch the door, get them to protect it from the inside. Why have these guys made everything so obvious?

"Alright, now listen. There are no cameras or surveillance in this place, but there are a lot of guys inside. The guys inside won't have any guns on them, some kind of rule where they have to leave all their guns in a room by the door, but the two guys out front are packing some pistols." She says, which leaves me wondering why they would be so stupid to stow all of their guns away. I know that it might make conflicts inside less dangerous, but aren't they worried about rival gangs attacking them?

"That is why we are going to quietly take the both of them out first, to make sure they won't be around later to use their guns. Then, after that, we will sneak inside and go to that gun room, where we will make sure that the idiots inside cannot possibly get into that room. Then, with that done, we are free to have some fun. we can go and kick all of their asses." She speaks, pulling her whip from behind her and pulling on it from both ends, straightening it as if readying it for battle. The crisp clack as she does so sends a shiver through my body. It sounded a bit menacing.

"Um, why are we going to fight them? I mean, I understand taking out the two guys at the front and blocking off the room full of guns because those can make holes in you. But after that, why are we then going to go fight those guys? We could just continue sneaking and taking what we want and then quietly leave. there is no need to make a scene." I try to make a point. Why do we have to go and have a fight when we can just make a clean break with the loot with no trouble at all? There is no point.

"Well, you know, I have been feeling really stressed lately for some reason. I don't know why. And I have to say, punching the crap out of a guy is a great stress reliever. It really helps to relax the soul, especially when no bullets are flying around to worry about. Why? Do you have a problem with that? Because you should know, Ben, I am in dire need of some stress relief, and I really need to punch someone." Oh, well, that's a veiled threat if I've ever seen one.

She is definitely annoyed by my recent actions, evidenced by how she called me Ben instead of the codename she was so adamant about me having. So maybe I should tone it down a bit and start spacing out the teasing.

"No, no, you go right ahead, please. So far be it from me to stop your stress relief, I will follow your lead." I say as she nods at my words and focuses back on the warehouse, like a hawk watching its prey. I feel like we could have been doing any more sneaky and lucrative job right now, but she chose this one because she will get to knock the blocks off some people. Oh well, we are here now.

Without wasting a second after getting the go-ahead, she leaps from the lampost, leaving me in the dust, eager to crack some skulls open. Then, using her whip with impeccable skill, she throws it out for it to wrap around another lampost and give her a swing which she uses to her advantage. She swings across the street and lets it go when she skims across the ground, right in front of the two thugs who don't even have the time to react before she suddenly leapt toward them.

She quickly punches one in the throat, disabling his vocal cords so he can't call for help, before leaping up and twisting around thug number two and wrapping her legs around his throat before he can even comprehend what has happened. The both of them are so panicked that they don't even think of going for the guns tucked into the waist of their pants, which is unfortunate for them because Felicia is not going to give them another chance.

With her legs wrapped around the neck of thug number 2 by sitting on his shoulders from behind, she leans back, using her incredible flexibility, to reach for thug number one, who is still clutching his throat. The two thugs are facing opposite directions, so when she leans back, she wraps her arms around the throat of thug number 1 and starts to tighten her grip on both of them.

Right now, she is doing a backwards crab pose, but instead of doing it on the ground, she is doing it in the air with her legs and arms constricting around the throats of both thugs, limiting their airways. They are trying their best to free themselves with their hands and keep the oxygen flowing through their bodies, but her grip is like a boa constrictor, and they can't even loosen her grip.

They try their best, but eventually, they drop to their knees, Felicia still maintaining her position even when they lower. Finally, the thugs begin to lose strength, and their hands drop to their sides, with no power left at all, and then they flop over onto their sides. Felicia casually twists as they do so and lands on the floor next to their unconscious bodies in a black widow pose before she rises up and walks towards the door.

She stops at the door and then looks back at me, and I realise that she is still waiting for me, and I am still atop the lampost. I hurriedly jump towards her, not wanting to keep the murderous woman waiting. Felicia is a very fierce, strong woman, and she is ruthless, not someone you want to take risks with. So why the hell am I so attracted to her right now?

 

Chapter 9– Heated Environment.

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Making a giant leap from the top of the lampost, I cross across the sky and land just behind Felicia, who has crouched in front of the door so that she is at eye level with the keyhole, and she is currently busy picking it to gain access. I walk up to her, stepping around the two unconscious dudes that were knocked out in a brutal yet alluring way.

"So, uh, just remind me, Cat. What exactly is waiting for us on the other side of that door? Just so I know what to expect when we barge in and disturb a bunch of crooks, who will not be happy to see us." I ask, waiting patiently as she continues to kneel in front of the door, her rear particularly catching my eye as it is jutting out behind her.

"First of all, Spi, we are not barging in. we are slyly entering through the door. And on the other side of this door, it is very much open, with only the gun room to the left. Apart from that, many crates are stacked up around the place, but they are mainly focused on the sides and in the corners, so it is an open planned space." She speaks, not taking her eye off her work. This is taking her much longer than usual. When she was teaching me about pick locking, she could do it in around five seconds flat. These thugs must have good locks.

"So how is this slyly sneaking in then? They are going to see us as soon as we enter the room, plus there might be some more dudes guarding the door on the other side. I am all for going ham and punching some guys out, but your plan was to block them off from their weapons." The gun thing is more for her sake than mine. I would be fine even if they had guns. I do have my spider sense, after all, and can easily dodge anything they shoot at me. Her, not so much.

"Which is why I chose tonight because tonight is poker night. Every Friday, all of these scum get together and bet all of their ill-gotten cash in a game of poker. But, of course, not everyone can play. They still have to guard the place, after all. This is why the two losers from the last game who went home with the least money are the ones who have to guard the outside door, and I just took care of them. The remaining guys will be too busy playing games to see us enter." She explains. I guess she does her research before hitting a place.

"Alright, so what are we here to steal? And also, how long is it going to take you to pick that lock? I thought you were the world's best thief." I ask because I really don't know what loot we are here for or what is so valuable in this warehouse, and it really is taking her an unnatural amount of time to unlock this door.

"Well, I am here to take a few items of jewellery hidden in some crates, and you can take whatever cash is in there, take as much as you can carry and burn the rest for all I care. And for the record, I am the best thief in the world. I was done with this lock the second you touched the ground. I was just letting you get all your inane questions out before we went in. So now, let's go." She stands up and clasps the door handle. she turns her head to look at me as if asking if I am ready.

"Now, hold on a moment. Why do you get the, I am assuming, priceless jewels while I just get the cash? That doesn't seem fair. it seems like you will get the way bigger cut." I say, and of course, I know that I am just an extra pair of hands. Still, I can bet anything that those jewels will be worth a thousand times more than any cash in there will be, so I would be getting one per cent of the cut, which is way too little. My goal in all of this is to amass wealth to make my life more comfortable in the future. I want to have Donald Duck's levels of money.

"You want the jewels? You don't even have a fence. When you do, then we can talk. And you can get a bigger cut when you do all of the surveillance, when you do all the work, and you bring the job to my door, then you can get a jewel. Now, are you coming or not." She shuts me down hard, and she is correct, but that is why I am here, after all, to learn all the tricks of the trade that she knows so that I can start doing this stuff myself. I give her a nod, and she turns the handle and opens the door.

Widening the door, she sneaks in, and I follow in behind her and then slowly close the door. I looked around the inside of the warehouse and spotted around seven poker tables full of guys laughing and joking with some grumbling and shouting. None of them are paying attention to anything but their own greed. There are stacks upon stacks of crates surrounding the crooks, but there is nothing between them and us, and yet they don't see us.

Felicia signals for me to follow her. It is obvious that we are now in no speaking mode since we don't want to alert the riff-raff just yet, not until we have closed off their access to their weaponry. So I follow her to a room on the left that take up a corner of the warehouse, Felicia opens the door to it and enters, and I follow, closing the door behind me quietly.

Holy crap, this is not a gun room. This is a bloody armoury. All sorts of weaponry sit here, from pistols to machine guns, shotguns, rifles, and sniper rifles, and there is even a goddamn RPG in the corner. What kind of two-bit thugs are armed to the tooth like this?

"Jesus H Christ, there's enough weaponry here to fuel a small army. Why is there so much? And why have they left it all in here? They clearly have a whole bunch of merchandise in there, especially if you have cased the place and see it as a worthwhile target, so why have they just left all of their protection in here?" I question, and I am not being fussy or anything. I am just wary. I have just been brought to a random warehouse and asked to help rob it with no other information. For all I know, she could have some kind of ulterior motive here, and I am a gormless helping hand.

"Well, you know how guys like that are, they commit crimes over money, and some of them out there are raking it in, and the rest of them are losing it out. They have killed over cash before, and most of them are impulsive knuckleheads. in a heated environment like the one out there, well, let's say some might make a rash act in the heat of the moment, which is why it is better that they don't have any of their weapons with them. And they aren't bothered about security because they think they are untouchable, on account of their boss." She looks around at the guns and ammunition, picking up a small pocket pistol.

"Wait, their boss? And who the hell is that?" I question as she plays around with the gun, aiming it at pretend enemies and switching between them suddenly.

"Forget that. It is time to get to work. So? Go on, do your thing." She says, flippantly throwing the small pocket pistol behind her. And then she looks at me, expecting me to do something, making me wonder what the hell I am supposed to do, and with no answer, all I can do is look at her and shrug my shoulders.

"Come on, you know, do your web thing and web it all up so they can't use it. Then we can go out, and you can web up the door as well, and then we can start flattening noses." She makes the web-shooting gesture and everything, waving it at the weapons.

"Uh, yeah, cool plan and all, except I don't have my web shooters. I can't web any of this stuff up." I point out the obvious flaw in her plan, the fact that I don't have my web-shooters as she clearly expects me to for some reason.

"What the hell is a web shooter? Just use all that goo you have stored up in your wrists and web the place up."

"Goo? You mean my web fluid- Wait, is that what people think? That all that stuff is coming out of my wrists?" I say, shocked. Does no one know that I used tech to shoot the web strands?

"Yeah, which I am pretty sure gathers you all that hate because you are different like those mutants. Not many people look favourably of a guy that goes around in a spandex suit that covers everything and sprays white fluid from his wrists, but luckily for you, I am not like most people. Why, is that not how it works?"

"No, that is not how it works. I have some tech strapped to my wrists which shoot web fluid, which is a chemical concoction that I made- Which the original made. That isn't what people really think, is it?"

"Who knows? But if you can't do your job, the one reason that I brought you here, then why are you here? Find a way to keep those thugs from getting to these guns. that is your job." She says, crossing her arms and giving me an unamused look. She must really be frustrated because of all the crap I have pulled over the last few days. she is on edge, and I don't want to sink the boat.

Alright, so let's think about this. My objective here is not to render the guns unusable but to cut off the thug's access to their weaponry. This means I have to stop them from getting into this room, so I have to block the door, which is the only entrance, but if I block it from here, I won't be able to get out of the room.

I give the room another quick scan, and I spot a few small windows on the back wall, but these are just small windows to have some light let in. they don't have handles, but they are just big enough for me and Felicia to slip through. There are a bunch of metal shelves around the place on which they keep the bigger guns. I walk up to one and give it a feel. It seems to be quite tough and quite heavy, which is good.

"Hey, we are going to go out there and kick all of their asses, right? So it doesn't matter if we make a lot of noise as long they can't get in the room, right?" I ask her, to which she nods, giving me the go-ahead to go all in with my plan.

Walking up to the door, I grasp the handle, and then I twist it in the opposite direction that it is meant to turn. Once that is done, I shove the handle further into the doorway, and then just for good measure, I give the wall on the side of the door a good kick, messing with the door mechanism inside. The last action had made a bit of noise, and I could already hear mumbling on the other side of the door, questioning the noise, so I got on with the next step.

I signal for Felicia to move over to the back of the room, which she complies with, and then I pick up the closest shelf and chuck it down in front of the door. It makes a lot of noise, but I don't care at this point. I start to pick up the other shelves and chuck them there as well, barricading the door and keeping the thugs from getting in, and they are trying. They are outside, trying to get in to find out what is making all of the noise.

With the door adequately barricaded and the thugs cut off from their guns, we can finally go and knock the living daylights out of them by going through the other entrance, the non-conventional entrance. I walk over to the back wall and motion for Felicia to back up a bit, and when she does, I leap up and stick my hands to the ceiling. Then, with them firmly attached, I kick out and smash the window. Not caring about the noise, I can hear them start to barge the door, trying to get in.

I quickly smash all the little pieces of glass left in the frame and then signal for Felicia to follow me and then slither out of the window. I land on the ground outside and then run around to the front of the warehouse, side-stepping the two unconscious guys still laid out on the floor. I go up to the door and clasp the handle, waiting for Felicia.

She turns the corner a second later and walks up to stand behind me. I give her a nod, and then I turn back towards the door and twist the handle. I pull the door towards me, opening it.

There are two guys in front of me, looking at me, stunned. one of them in front is reaching for the door, which I had just opened. Our eyes meet, and we don't say anything. the only noise is coming from the bunch of guys behind them trying to get into the barricaded room. I can see them, and if they were to just turn to the left, they would see us too.

"Hey, there. Did anybody order a pizza? Because, guess what?" The thugs look at me stunned, completely caught on the back foot, and they clearly don't know what to do either, as they just stand there like idiots. The thugs behind them looked towards me when they heard me. I did speak quite loudly. Oh well, the time for sneakiness is over. We were planning on having an all-out fistfight anyway.

"It's PIZZA TIME!" I SHout as I rush forward and throw a right hook forward, which catches the foremost thug on the cheek and throws him back into the thug behind him, and they both get blasted away. They tumble for a while before sprawling out on the floor at the feet of the other thugs inside, who look down at the two sprawled out on the floor before looking back up at me. They back away from the gun room and ready themselves. It is obvious that I am stronger than the average man, knowing not to take me lightly.

I straighten my leather jacket before stepping into the warehouse and then holding the door open, allowing Felicia to come in after me. Then I close the door, completely sealing off the only exit out of the warehouse. And then it is kind of like a Mexican stand-off, with Felicia and me by the door looking at the unarmed thugs and them standing by the barricaded gun room waiting for us to do something or demand something.

The two thugs on the floor are brought out of their daze, and they sit up. I know I sent them quite a way, but I, of course, held my punches back a little. I did decide to stop limiting myself and cowering away like Peter does, but I still don't want to kill anyone. After all, a super-powered murderer will definitely get hunted down by some superhero. Better to stay under the radar of those guys.

"What are you guys waiting for? Get those fuckers!" One of the guys I knocked back shouted as they got to their feet, helping his other compatriot up. Hearing the signal, all the thugs roar and then charge towards us, their war cry bolstering their spirits, not that it will help them. Before I can make my move, Felecia rushes past me and towards the mob of thugs, eager to let off some steam and kick some worthless crap bags.

I watch as she leaps into their midst and begins to send out a flurry of powerful kicks and lash out with a bunch of strikes with her claw-tipped fingers, not cutting deep enough to be lethal but deep enough to hurt, though she does get dangerously close to some vital parts. Her hair whips around wildly as she twists and turns, but I manage to glimpse a look at her face, upon which sits a ferocious grin. Clearly, she is enjoying her stress release, feeling all her worries float away as she breaks bones.

"What are you waiting for? Get in here and have some fun!" Felicia shouts amid all the chaos, wishing for me to join the brawl, and this reminds the thugs of my presence, them having forgotten about it while being brutalised by Felicia. The thugs on the edge of the massacre clearly think it better to pay attention to me than her, and they back away in order to face me, thinking that I am the easier target. Well, while I don't want to cause life-threatening injuries, I can still be pretty ruthless just as long as no one dies.

Four thugs break away from the moshpit and run towards me. I run forwards to meet them and show them that I am not the easiest target here. I leap upwards, my knee raised, which smashes into the face of the closest thug right into the septum of his nose. I can feel the bone and cartilage inside his nose practically disintegrate as my knee drives forward into his face, which will surely be disfigured in the future. Yet, strangely, I don't feel the least bit bad about giving him, at the very least, a deviated septum.

Not dwelling on that in the least bit, without missing a beat, I transition into my next move and sweep out with a kick that catches the two thugs on my right in the stomach and blasts them away to whence they came. They move like bowling balls and crash into the gaggle of crooks behind them, giving me a strike as more than ten are knocked down. Felicia had to quickly put her hands on the shoulders of one thug and, using him as a platform, spring up into the air to avoid my two makeshift bowling balls that knocked down their comrades.

She doesn't much care about my interruption to her fun as she simply moves in the air to drive her knee down and knee drops one of them still standing thugs on the shoulder, causing a screeching scream as the man's shoulder is definitely dislocated. Seeing that she is getting back to work, I quickly move to join her and punch the guy still near me that is still standing and send him to his ass.

With that done, I move to join the moshpit and- SPIDER SENSE- I jump upwards, getting out of the immediate danger that was threatening me from behind, but nothing was behind me-

*SMASH!!"

"I LEAVE TO GET SOME FOOD, AND SOME LITTLE PISSANTS THINK THEY CAN ATTACK US!! DIEEEE!!" A man over two meters tall barges through the entrance, like the Kool-Aid man since he destroys the warehouse door, and he runs in at full pelt, not slowing down for anything. he must have seen the two knocked-out dudes outside. He has his arms crossed in front of him and runs like he is a battering ram. Thankfully I jumped just in time as his head just barely moved under my feet as he charged forward straight to the bunched-up thugs.

He doesn't stop his run, though. he continues his run and knocks down a few of his men as well as tramples on some of the ones I had put down just earlier before he stops in the middle of the group. Felicia had the same thought as me. She had enough time that she didn't need spider sense to avoid the man, and she once again sprung up into the air of a hapless thug that was run down a second afterwards.

All of this happened a second after the giant of a man broke through the door, and I was still high up in the air, having used too much strength in my jump. Felicia, in comparison, used the least effort required and only rose a bit into the air, and once the giant had stopped his charge, she came back to earth, and coincidently she was right above the man.

Using this opportunity, she goes to strike the man, using gravity once more to her advantage. She pulls her right knee in and readies her heel to drive into the back of the man's head, but unfortunately, some of the men on the floor that weren't trampled see her and gasp, which alerts the mountain of bricks who looks up to see the foot poised to drill into his head.

Felicia lets loose, and her foot shoots down to impale the forehead of the giant below her, except she is stopped in her track by the colossal hand of the man below her. His hand grasps her calf, and then he spins her and- oh shit.

"Ugh," I grunt as Felcias's back collides with my stomach. I quickly bring my hands up to hold onto her as we tumble through the air. I right myself just in time to land in a crouch, Felicia held in a bridal carry. Note to self, mobility in the air is poor without my web-shooters. I have to find a way to fix that in the future. Felicia quickly pushes me away and stands on her own two feet, probably reminded of the last time I carried her like this and dropped her on her ass.

"So, you wouldn't happen to have a name, would you? It's just, most people with power usually do, and you have some super strength, right?" I ask as I rise out of my crouch, preparing to face my first super-powered foe in this life. Meanwhile, the thugs are all collecting themselves and readying up though they don't make a move, deferring to the strong man.

"Yeah, that's right. I am Man Mountain Marko, I'm super fuckin' strong, and I am gonna squash your head like a watermelon." He growls, slowly walking towards me, cracking his knuckles and readying himself.

"Oh, wow. You must have an epic origin story with a name like that, right? How did you get your powers? Were you buried alive under a mountain and had to claw your way out, unlocking your super strength to do so? Come on, how did you get so strong?" I ask, I really can't help my quipping, remnants of my time as Spider-Man, but I don't care. I like it. Felicia is standing to my side, waiting for the signal to start the battle, letting me take the lead, probably because this guy is super strong.

"Steroids." He answered my question with something that confused me for a moment, and I questioned if I had heard him correctly.

"Oh, okay. I was not expecting that, but whatever. To each their own, I suppose." I suppose in a universe like Marvel, even people taking steroids can get super strong. I guess in this universe, steroids are much more potent, or the steroids unlocked something in Man Mountain Marko.

"Enough talk. I am the Man Mountain Marko, and I will smash you into the ground. SO GET READY TO FUCKIN' DIE!!!" Man Mountain Marko yells as he transitions from his walk into a run and barrels right towards me, screaming that he is going to murder me.

I ready myself and get myself into a fighting stance, anticipating Marko's arrival, I can feel my heart start to beat faster, pulsating in my ears, and I can feel the blood rush through my body like a shot of pure adrenaline. I don't hate the feeling, in fact, I quite like it, and I find myself smiling in anticipation of my first super-powered fight.

Man Mountain Marko finally reaches me and comes in with a straight punch. I duck out of the way and reply with my own straight that wallops him in the chin. I prepare myself for an all-out fistfight, with both of us just smacking the shit out of each other and-

Oh, Marko just collapsed to the ground, out like a light. I quickly bend down to check on him and make sure he isn't dead, but he is just unconscious. I guess he didn't actually have proper super strength, and he was just really strong from the steroids. I am glad I held back a bit, or I would have blown his head clean off.

Rising back up, I look out towards all the thugs, that look shocked that I just put their big guy down.

I guess it's time to clean out the riff-raff.

 

Chapter 10– A Life of Crime.

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"Why the fuck would you do that, Ben? What fucking drove you to fuck everything up?" Felicia screams at me as she paces back and forth across her apartment while I am calmly seated on her sofa, not knowing why she is so bothered. as far as I can tell, I haven't even done anything wrong.

"I don't know why you are so angry, Felicia. You said I could do it. I remember your exact words, take everything you can and burn the rest for all I care. That's what you said, wasn't it?" I state calmly, a vast contradiction to her frantic mood and her fidgeting self. I followed her letters to the order, so I don't get why she is panicking so much.

"I was talking about the cash, the MONEY! It was a stupid figure of SPEECH! You can take what you can of it and burn the rest for all I care. The money, nothing else, certainly not everything in the fucking WAREHOUSE!!" She screeches, pulling at her own hair as she stops pacing and looks at me with a fearsome look in her eyes.

"So what if I burnt it down, you went and got whatever it was that you wanted, and I dragged all of those guys outside before lighting the place up? I truly don't understand, so what if I burnt the rest of it? We were stealing stuff anyway, so what has got you so damn worried?" Honestly, what is her problem? After beating up all those thugs and knocking them out, we got to ransacking the place. Felicia disappeared inside to take whatever it was that she had come for.

I started loading up a few duffel bags with cash for myself, and when they were all filled, I realised how little of an impact I had on the warehouse. The whole place was still full of stuff, and I had barely managed to even take half of the loot inside of a single crate.

I had opened a few boxes of drugs before finding this one chock full of money, and then I had to leave all this stuff here and run away with what I could carry. That pissed me off. The point of me robbing bad people was so that I could get away with it easily, as they won't report it to the police. But also so I would be stopping the bad guys in some way, although profitable, which would appease the parts of Peter in me that didn't want to hurt anyone innocent.

But I would hardly make a dent in them if all I could carry and take with me was a few duffel bags of cash, not when I knew how much merchandise was in this warehouse that was going to go out there and cause damage and bring in even more money. So it is all just in front of me, and I am just going to let it go.

I decided to take Felicia's words to heart, and I dragged all of those guys out of the warehouse, and then I piled all of those crates in the middle of the warehouse and took whatever drugs and shit I could find and poured it all over the containers in the hopes that it is flammable, the stuff certainly was toxic at the very least.

When Felicia came back from wherever she was, I opened a zippo lighter I had found on one of the thugs and chucked it on the pile without hesitation the moment I saw her, and then we quickly ran away, the warehouse going up in flames with all of its contents, with Felicia freaking out until we got back here where she has continued to berate me for a while.

I know it was probably a rash idea to set all that stuff on fire, especially the drugs, because that stuff going up in flames can not be suitable for the environment. I probably just caused a lot of pollution. But you know what, I don't care. I could give a fuck about pollution and the environment, not when people like Tony Stark and Reed Richards exist. They probably already have a solution to it and just haven't implemented it yet, so that sort of stuff isn't my problem. It is theirs.

"Why am I so worried? Why? Because you just blew up the warehouse of a very powerful man and burnt up all his stuff, he is the sort of man that will hunt us for this and make sure we die gruesome deaths, do you not UNDERSTAND!" Again she screams at me, making me very confused since events are contradicting each other now.

"But, you were the one that decided to rob that place. If he was such a powerful man, then why would you choose to rob him and risk such a gruesome death? It makes no sense." Why would she choose to rob this guy if he is so dangerous? Felicia doesn't really kill people, so she should have known that the thugs would report our attack, but she wasn't so worried about that. she only started panicking after I set the place on fire and destroyed everything.

"People as influential as him have a bottom line, but in a world like this, he has to have various bottom lines for multiple people, and the line depends on who you are. With so many powered people in the world and so many dangerous people, he has to adapt to each of them and allow them to get away with a certain level of stuff, or his organisation will be driven into the ground if he bites off more than he can chew. So you and me, we just crossed our line." She says, losing some of her heat and flopping down on the couch next to me.

"Who is this guy then? And why didn't we just rob some other gangs instead of this guy, so we wouldn't have to worry about some dumb bottom lines?" I ask because we shouldn't have been going near this guy at all. If Felicia says he is as powerful as he is, even if we are allowed to act to a certain degree, there is no point in risking it.

"Because this is WILSON FISK, THE FUCKING KINGPIN! EVERY TWO-BIT CROOK IN THIS CITY WORKS FOR HIM IN SOME WAY. NO MATTER WHICH CRIMINALS WE ROBBED, WE WOULD BE STEALING FROM HIM AT THE END OF THE DAY!.. It's why we were only supposed to rob a little from the warehouse, and I said you could burn the cash, things like that are not that much in the grand scheme of it all, and they are below Fisk's notice. But you set fire to the merchandise, and not only that, but you burnt down an entire warehouse, which will disrupt his operations in that area. He won't let things like this go." She starts heatedly before burning out and finishing with a sigh.

Wilson Fisk, huh? I have a few memories of going up against him and his crooks, fighting them all, and even having a slugfest with the big man himself. And being the big meaty man he was, he managed to hold his own, though, against Peter, that isn't much of an accomplishment since he is always holding back. But even after all those fights, Fisk still remained in his position unfazed. It's like all those fat jokes didn't even get through his beefy exterior. Peter really is a bit too innocent and naive for this world, thinking that a fistfight will be enough to stop a man like that.

Even though I knew his title was The Kingpin, and he was a big deal, I never knew that he was the head of basically all organised crime in the city. With the amount of crime that happens in this city, it is hard to believe that most of it is committed under the orders of a single man.

"Wait, what about The Maggia? Couldn't we have stolen from them instead of Fisk? The Maggia is split up into twelve different families who own their own turf. If Fisk owns most of the city, then we could have gone after one of those families. They are much less powerful and dangerous."

"Haa, Ben, you really have a lot to learn about the gritty side of New York. Fisk owns seventy-five percent of this city, with the other twenty-five percent being owned by The Maggia. And that twenty-five percent is further split up between the twelve Maggia families, which is why we robbed from Fisk, understand?" She explains out for me like I am an idiot, except I still don't understand. She clearly sees that from the expression on my face and rolls her eyes before continuing her explanation.

"You see, Fisk owns seventy percent of New York's underworld, which means he has a whole lot on his plate, and he can't oversee every little thing. So as long as no one makes too many big waves, he will let the little things go and not waste time. However, Fisk sometimes seeks retribution for some of those little things, which sends a message, which is why most people don't risk it. But he doesn't go for people like us because we are not worth the hassle, especially for so little. Plus, he can hire us for jobs in the future, and this is the sort of thing he can reveal in a negotiation to get a better deal. So you get where I am going with this, right?" I shake my head no.

"I get why we robbed from Fisk. It was because we were beneath his notice, and he wouldn't have bothered with us if we didn't do anything too big. But I don't get why that rules out The Maggia. the consequences of robbing them instead of Fisk would surely be less." Felicia shakes her head at this.

"The Maggia only own twenty-five percent of this city, and that is further divided between the twelve families giving each family approximately just over two percent each, give or take a few percent since the families aren't all equal. This not only means that all of their manpower is contained within their small turf, but it also means that they only have a little to lose, and they are going to hold on to it for dear life, afraid that they will lose it. So they will fight to protect what little they have. Even the smallest slight will bring down their full wrath as that faction of The Magia will be scared of the other factions and other gangs thinking they are weak and taking their turf, which is why we didn't steal from them." She explains, and it makes perfect sense now.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I understand why it was the best option to steal from Fisk and not anybody else, okay."

"It was a good idea to steal from Fisk, but not anymore. Burning down his warehouse is like a declaration of war. Fisk has to retaliate now. Otherwise, everybody is going to think he is weak, and when you are at the top, you will fight even harder to keep it and get even more than you would if you were at the bottom. We are going to be hunted constantly by Fisk and his men non-stop every time we go out. I hope you are prepared for that." She says pointedly, showcasing her frustration and annoyance.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Fisk and his men will only be looking for us when we are out on the prowl for more loot, at which point we will be stealthy, and anyway, since we will be dressed in our costumes. Not to mention I am with you, and I am super-powered, and together, we can fight off any firepower he sends after us." I try to reassure her because this is my fault in the end, and I don't want her to decide to lay low because I still need to amass money for my future. Plus, I need some proper identification, as accurate as it can get. That sort of authenticity is going to cost the big bucks, and she will lead me to that.

"Ben, no offence, but you are a clone of Spider-Man, and I have seen him get his ass handed to him by The Vulture, the fricking Vulture. That is an old man, the guy is in his seventies, and he flies around thanks to a backpack that also boosts his strength a bit, and he has kicked Spider-Man's ass, so don't try to reassure me." Ouch, I know I am technically not Spider-Man anymore, but I still have those memories.

I can still remember the first time I met old Adrian Toomes when he popped out of a manhole cover and stool some jewels that were being transferred. The only way I could think to stop him without hurting him was to build a device to prevent his suit from functioning. I have since learned that Toomes is vicious and can give as good as he gets.

"Shall I let you in on a little secret? Spider-Man is a good guy, and the Vulture is, like you said, an old man in his seventies who is brittle and fragile. Spider-Man has to pull his punches, afraid he might snap the guy's bones in two or break his spine, so trust me when I say not to worry since I can handle myself against any of the super riffraff Fisk can hire since I am not going to be pulling my punches or holding back. Also, isn't this better? Since we already crossed the line, we can now steal as much as we want from Fisk." I assure her again, but this time based on my power to do violence rather than just avoiding Fisk, hiding and running away.

"Okay, okay, fine, I suppose you are right. And it was getting easy robbing all those small-time crooks. I could do with a challenge. But let's wait for Fisk to send people after us before we start robbing him blind, okay? Just in case he lets us off the hook or has some job he wants us to pull for him. In the meantime, how do you feel about rich assholes who gain all their riches through loopholes, backdoors and bribes, all the while stealing from the poor." Felicia laughs and seems to relax before asking me about possible targets we can go after while we wait to see how Fisk responds.

"Are you kidding me? I did say we could go after any criminals, didn't I?" I say, and she smiles at me.

"Alright, good. We will start on that tomorrow, for now, though. I am going to get changed. You get the snacks and some bowls of ice cream. We are going to watch a movie and get rid of some of this stress." She got up and walked off to her bedroom while giving me my orders, and the strange thing was there was not a single attempt to flirt or seduce me in that whole exchange. I can't say that I don't like it because I do. This just feels more genuine and less like I am in a cage.

I stand up and go to get dressed into something else as well, after which I will get the snacks and laze on the couch to watch a movie with Felicia. Even though I pissed off a big guy like Fisk, I feel better than I did this morning.

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"So, Cat, who have we got here today?" I question. The both of us sat on the edge of a New York skyscraper and peered down at one of the many windows across from us on another building. Felicia uses a pair of high-tech binoculars while I am just using my eyes, but even with my super-powered eyes, I have difficulty properly focusing on something that far away, even if I can see with disturbing clarity. Felicia removes her binoculars and hands them over to me, allowing me to peer through them to see today's mark.

"The thirtieth floor, five windows from the left. This is the study of one Ben Morris, a sleazy politician that is not only racist but homophobic and misogynistic. Today we are going to be breaking into his home and stealing from this dirtbag, who really deserves it." She says while I follow her directions and look in through the window to see a cliche study, which is basically just a wood theme with brown furniture everywhere and everything made out of wood. Really generic.

"Come on, Felicia. We both know that isn't the real reason we are here today. while he does sound like a real piece of work, people are allowed to have their own opinions and views, though this guy probably shouldn't have been allowed into the political game. So what did he do that made him one of our targets?" I remove the binoculars and hand them back to her, and she puts them in one of the pouches by her waist.

"This guy, like most politicians, is a greedy asshole, and he has been abusing his power, dipping into the community pot and stealing quite a bit of money from people who really need it. He just bought a diamond ring for his girlfriend, who is 24 years younger than him by the by, and it is worth around two million dollars, so we are going to steal it and teach this guy a lesson." She stands to her feet, starting to limber up and stretch. I work myself to my feet as well, but I don't stretch, being super-powered means my body is primed for action at any time, as long as I look after it properly.

"Or, having just lost a very expensive ring, he is going to start dipping even more into those funds and taking even more out of those people's pockets to make some money back. I don't know if this is a good idea, Felicia, we would be doing more harm than good, and I don't want to harm any innocents with my crimes." Felicia stops her stretches and turns to me.

"Don't worry. Right now, this guy is stealing just under the limit where he will be caught, and he just spent a large part of his money on this ring. Being the greedy pig that he is, he will start digging even deeper into those funds, which people will notice, and Morris will get caught, and maybe he might even be stripped of his position, though I would not hold out hope for that one, slippery bastard. I know how you work, Ben. I wouldn't bring you to a job that goes against your code or whatever, so chill." She reassures before jumping at me, and I hold her in a princess carry.

"Now, jump over there and stand on the side of the window so I can cut a hole in it, and we can get to work." There is no flirtation or seduction in this. We are actually getting along better after burning that warehouse. Though my position these days has just been demoted to being a scaffold, standing on the side of things so Felicia can stand on my stomach and use me as a platform to gain access to wherever it is she needs to go.

I am okay with it, though. I am actually quite happy with how things are going at the minute.

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John Mormon, Pastor. He is not as bad as some of those guys up in the church can be, what with their wandering hands, but he certainly is a piece of work. He has been claiming donations for a charity, which does not exist, and his wonderful church patrons have been more than willing to fork out for a good cause. He has been doing these kinds of scams for years, interspersing them with actual charities to stay hidden, though he is not as clever as he seems. The idiot has just been transferring the money straight into his account, and no one has ever checked since they are so trusting in their Pastor. And, of course, he has it all tucked away in his safe, so what do you say?"

"He still has all the records which show which charities the money was raised, so we will return the exact amounts to the charities or the closest thing. Even if we are stealing second-hand, I am not stealing from a charity. Let's go."

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"Right, this one is a Lawyer by the name of Patricia Evans. She has been very naughty as of late and has been forging multiple documents to help her clients, who are also very naughty. Not only that, but she points them in the direction of people who would benefit their case, and those clients will get their support by any means necessary. What do you think, Ben, she up to standard?"

"Yeah, let's get going."

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"Pretty little spoiled princess and the daughter of a state governor named Star Grayson. She had recently run over a homeless man, and he died on impact. The death was quickly covered up by her father and forgotten about, no one cares about the homeless after all, and little Star hasn't paid it another thought since. Coincidentally, Star is being courted by the rich son of a CEO who is head over heels for the little bitch, and he just gifted her a Faberge egg worth a cool twelve million. I don't think she deserves that, do you?"

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Bobby Burgham sells cars for way above their worth, slapping on some new paint and fabricating all sorts of documentation for them. Thankfully, more than one car has broken down in safe places because the cars never get very far, and by that point, it is too late. They are already sold. But unfortunately, Bobby also has a severe gambling problem and owes fifty large, which he has hidden away in his garage. If that money were to disappear, he would have to sell his business to repay his debts. I think that would be for the better, don't you?"

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"Janice Portman, an office worker that has been falsifying documents for her own benefit and..."

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"Jared Bowen, a proctologist that has a bad habit of taking photos and blackmailing his patients..."

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"William Forsythe, a gynaecologist...

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"Jane Hemsworth..."

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"Gary Gordon..."

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"Elizebeth Garrison, oh boy, this one is a doozy. You see, Ben, this woman has been-" Before she can finish her words, I quickly jump at her, grab hold of her, and tumble across the concrete top of the building we are on. We narrowly miss an RPG missile that goes straight past us and thankfully explodes in the middle of the sky, unfortunately alerting the masses below.

We both quickly leap to our feet, readying ourselves for the threat that just tried to blow us up into tiny little pieces. We face the direction in which the missile came from, and I can see two distant figures standing there, one with a fancy little hat upon his head and one a head above the other and holding a bazooka that is pointed directly at us.

"Cat, it's-" I try to tell her, but she cuts me off.

"Yeah, I know. Fisk has finally sent his men after us, and here I was thinking that he was going to let us off the hook." She says, tensing her fingers which is the trigger to unleash her claws.

"So, who do you want to take? Big, fancy or how-" I hop to the side, evading a lasso that shoots right past me.

"- about lasso?" I finish my sentence as a man wearing a cowboy hat steps around the corner, revealing himself.

"It's called a lariat, fool," Montanna says as he pulls his rope back to him.

I prepare myself as the man approaches. After all, we face The Enforcers.