"I've got a hit," Peter says over the comms.
"An apartment complex in Brooklyn. I'll guide you over the GPS, it might take you a bit. Might want to use the subway.""The subway? Seriously?" I respond with incredulity.
"I'm dressed as a superhero. You want me to get on the subway? There's cops down there!.""Hey, I'm just sayin' it's probably the best option," Peter responds with a verbal shrug.
"Otherwise you're going to run out of webfluid. Last time that happened you almost died."I grumble,
"Yea, we need to talk about that. Have you been able to make the solution last longer?""So far? No. But I'm desiging an upgrade to your suit to make sure you can hold more canisters," he assures me.
"Well, at least there's that."I look down to the entrances of the subway as they pass below. This is a stupid plan. I know it is. Peter probably knows it is. Heading down into an enclosed metal tube with the denizens of New York, who are all mostly terrifying when they're not staring at you as you're dressed in this getup, is not great. When you're a wanted "criminal", the amount of police presence usually in the subway is also not going to be the easiest situation in the world. But, it's probably my only option to investigate the Firefly mystery.
I swing perfectly down through a subway entrance, rolling onto the floor at the bottom and dodging a few commuters, all while being grossed out that my soulder touched the subway floor, carbon fiber suit or no carbon fiber suit. The cop at the entrace is surprised as I hop the turnstyles and attach myself to the back of a departing train. I can hear him yell something about staying where I am as I disappear into the darkness of the tunnel.
Welp, guess I can add subway fraud or whatever to my list of infractions. Hopefully I can argue my vigilantism sentencing down to that. Wouldn't be too bad.
**********
"I dunno about this, Hammerhead," Flint Marko worries, looking over the file in front of him yet again.
"I know we need something like this. But...I don't know. Something tells me this is can go to shit about one hundred different ways. I don't want to end up a puddle that gets flushed down the shitter or something."Hammerhead, sitting behind the desk that was once Silvio Manfredi, looks a this friend, studying his demeanor. Flint isn't wrong of course. You never know what's really going to happen with these scientist types. They might be looking at the Maggia's situation as desperate enough to become lab rats for their experiuments. But the Kingpin decides what goes down, and he wants this to happen.
"Flint, I get why you wouldn't want to do this," Hammerhead nods.
"But we don't got no other choice. The damn Silk Cartel's got us on the rope, wheter they got their Enforcers or not. With the Spider-Woman and the Punisher still after us as well, we gotta do something." "Yea, well," Marko mumbles.
"If I die I'm gonna kill you.""That's the spirit," Hammerhead smiles broadly.
"After this, we're gonna find the bastards who killed Silvio. We're gonna kill the Spider-Woman. And we're gonna crush the Silk Cartel. And then we're gonna take over New York."Marko recoils from the words,
"You mean we're gonna take on the Kingpin!?""Keep it down, ya mook," Hammerhead hisses.
"You're damn right we're gonna take on the Kingpin. He don't have superpowers. You will. And when we take him down, we're gonna be the kings of this town."Flint Marko considers his friend's words as he puts the file, marked "Project Sandman", back onto the desk, ready for his future to begin.
**********
Riding on the back of a subway train isn't all that bad. The fact that I know I can do it now is probably a bad thing. I'm gonna hop way too many rides. I'm gonna put the subway under. Hell, the thing is barely staying afloat as-is. Thanks, DeBlasio.
As the train pulls into the station I'm getting off at, I can see the police presence waiting for me. At least a dozen of my dad's task force, outfitted in some SWAT gear I've never seen before. That means it's probably some expensive shit that some military contractor gave them to test out on me. People are doing that with the NYPD all the time. Nothing like some old fashioned police militarization, huh? Nothing fascist about that in the slightest.
Through the windows as we approach, I can tell they're focused on the back side of the train where I've caught a ride. Instead of staying put and letting the see me, I crawl around to the opposite side of the train. Scrambling towards the front of the train, I pry a door open with my bare hands and blend in with the crowd exiting the train.
The people look at me like I have five heads...or that I'm a superhero trying to "act natural". Probably more of the latter, if I'm being honest. Not the most inconspicuous escape plan, sure, but it's better than getting into a tussle with the police. Plus, I'm not the tallest girl in the world, and with my hood up I do a passable job blending in.
As I follow the crowd up, a young woman a few years older than I am nudges me, "That cannot be comfortable."
"You get used to it," I shrug.
"It's kinda like...ballistic-caliber carbon fiber yoga pants.""Really?" she laughs.
"Yea. Protective and comfortable. A girl's best friend.""Well, I know some don't agree," the girl brushes back her auburn hair, "but I really appreciate all you're doing."
I salute as we get to the top of the steps, where a group of police are pushing through the crowd. As I swing off, I say to her,
"All part of being a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Woman!""I still cannot believe you're using that corny line," Pete verbally shakes his head at me.
"The 'Friendly, Neighborhood Spider-Woman'? Really? Brooklyn isn't even your neighborhood!""It's a figure of speech, dearest," I lace my words with as much sarcastic venom as I can.
"Try and keep up. I'm trying to get people to like me, remember?""By being a house wife out of a fifties sitcom?" he fires back.
"Last time I checked, babe, you're the housewife.""Harsh, Stacy. Harsh.""I call 'em like I see 'em, Parker."It doesn't take me long to track down the location Peter guides me to. It's an abandoned apartment complex, but at least this one looks significantly more stable than the one I fought Punisher in. What is it with deranged weirdos and abandoned apartment complexes? Wonder if there are forums where the bad guys exchange abandoned building decorating tips.
"Villaintrist? Too long," I mumble as I head to the roof of the building. From the roof, I can tell someone has set this place up. Internet receivers, solar panels, and more electrical cables than any empty building would ever need. Something's definitely going on in here. The question is what it is.
"I'm headed in. Going comms quiet so I don't alert anyone.""Copy. Be careful."The door on the roof pops open with enough applied force, allowing entrance to the complex. The interior doesn't betray anything weird about the building, save for the mess of wires running from the roof onto the ceiling above. They should lead me to where I'm looking to go. I just hope whatever's at the end isn't too much for me to handle.
Anxiety grows in me as I follow the winding path of cables and wires towards their termination. If the Fireflies really are a cult, there could be a lot of them in this building. A lot of crazy, suicidal, pyromaniacs is not exactly the surprise party I want to be invited to.
Finally, the infrastructure leads to a room three floors down from the roof. Instead of the same apartment front doors I found on the other floors, some hanging off the hinges, others already felled to the ground, this room's door is as high-tech as they come. On the wall next to what looks like a magnetic lock is a keypad.
"Peter, there's some James Bond shit in here.""What?""The door. Magnetic locks like they have in Oscorp for the dangerous labs. Keypad. The works.""Hm," he considers the quandary.
"I mean...can you just bust your way through?""Peter, it's a magnetic lock. There's no way I'm strong enough to get it open," I say as I pull on the door with all my strength.
"I mean they have to be ready for-"Suddenly the magnet pops and the door slides open.
"Okay, well, maybe whoever the Fireflies are, they're not the smartest."The interior of the room that greets me on the other side is gleaming white, like something straight out of Oscorp. The space takes up three apartments, making a fairly sizable land and workshop. Work stations are set up, with different gadgets lined up on them. On one is what looks to be an advanced flamethrower.
"Peter. Whoever these people are, they're not some simple cult or arsonists. There's tech in here that looks military-grade. Possibly flat out experimental.""Super science cult? Can you get me their number?""Funny, but maybe you should find a less illegal club to hang out with?"Before I can say anything else, an alarm begins to sound in the lab. I curse myself, figuring this had to be tripped by me. I turn back towards the door, but find it shut, and heating itself to a red hot state. The edges of the door and its casing are melting together, fusing and ensuring that I won't be able to get out that way.
From behind me, something catches my eye from the window looking out to the street. A man, dressed in black, floats in front of it, some sort of hover pack on his back. Small rotor blades hold him aloft like insect wings. In his hand is one of the flamethrowers in the room, and a gas mask with the flaming eyes from the video on YouTube. He waves at me tauntingly, before taking a device off his belt.
"Shit. He's gonna blow the lab."Without hesitating, I grab one of the tables off the floor, spin, and toss it at the window, which spider-webs from the impact. Breaking out into a sprint, I throw my weight against the weakened window, shattering it and sending me tumbling into the New York air. As I breach the barrier, the lab behind me explodes into a brilliant ball of flame, and the Firefly speeds off using the hover pack.
Not wanting to waste any time, I swing after him. The pack he's using allows him pretty good mobility, but I'll be able to catch up to him, no problem. The key will be keeping out of range of that flame thrower.
"Pete, I'm chasing the guy. He has like, a hover pack.""Seriously? What's he using for lift? How high is he? How fast is he moving."
"Peter, seriously, we need to work on you geeking out over things that are trying to kill me.""Noted."The hovering villain attempts to change course and throw me off, ducking into a small alleyway. It's impressive the control he has over his harness. It seems ungainly, awkward, and not all that user friendly, but he's zipping around New York almost as well as I can.
Twisting in midair, I fire a webline into the alley and yank myself in a beeline to follow him. A piece of fire escape is in my way, and my spider sense gives me the reaction time to grab onto it and use it as a vault. I soar like a missile directly at the Firefly. He must have sensors on the damn thing, because turns to face me and lets loose with a stream of superheated flame from the weapon he carries. In order to get out of the way, I attached a webline to a lightpole below and manage to pull myself to safety.
"Jesus, Kilgore, quit it with the napalm!" I shout out as the Firefly hovers over me.
"You will be purified, abomination," he fires the weapon again, liquefying the pole I'm standing on.
"You cannot escape the cleansing flame.""Ugh, and we all thought Tom Cruise was crazy because he jumped on a chair," I backflip out of the way of another blast, and it melts the asphalt of the road. While I'm keeping this guy's focus on me so far, he's clearly unstable. All it'll take is for him to shoot that thing at another person for this to turn deadly. That gun is way too hot. No one is going to survive a blast from it.
I take cover behind a parked car that is a puddle of molten metal within seconds of a hit from his gun. I need to end this. Now. I dive next to another car, and rip its front door off and toss it at Firefly. He moves out of the way easily, but I expect that. His evasive maneuver takes the rotor on his pack directly into the manhole cover I flip off the street with a webline. The heavy metal disk rips apart the blades of the rotor, sending him tumbling towards the pavement. As he falls, the flamethrower slips from his grasp, and I web it out of the air to ensure he can't grab it again. Firefly hits the street and I web him up to make sure he's not going anywhere.
I approach him, and rip the mask off, revealing a once handsome man, his face covered in horrible burns. Sneering up at me, he growls,
"This is just the beginning, Spider. Your reckoning is coming."Police sirens approach, and I respond,
"Yea well, your prison stay is coming. But first, tell me who supplied you with the tech. You didn't build that.""Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle," he responds with a smile as the cop cars finally get close, forcing me to leave the scene.
"Peter, whoever this guy is, he definitely did not build the weapons. Now we need to find the supplier." 
Izurich,
Morden Man
