Spider Gwen: Bushido Chapter 3: CONNECTING DOTS (Patreon)

Waking up after a relatively quiet night, Gwen found herself well rested but also concerned. She kept her phone turned off all night long and feared the time when she had to turn it back on again, as Janet was bound to call her after what happened last night regarding her high-tech suit. For at least half an hour, she simply stood in bed and stared at the ceiling, not moving at all, holding her phone in her hand.

“Ahhh… this is bad…” she grunted not knowing what to and most importantly how angry Janet must be, “Come one. Be brave Gwen… you need to face the music” she grinded her teeth after enough courage to turn on the phone as it began to vibrate violently due to the tsunami of text messages, missing calls and voice messages rushing in, not to mention at least ten missed calls from Janet and one voice message from her. Wanting to get over it as fast as possible, she decided to bite the bullet and listen to Janet’s message, knowing what it will be about.

“Gwen, I just came back from therapy and what do you think I have found folded on my bed? MY RUINED SUIT!!! Jen told me everything! How could you be this dumb and fall for her plan to take my suit and use it to spy on some Murder INC goons? You know how much work is going to be needed in order to fix the suit and make it fully functional again?! Anyway… call me when you decide to come out of hiding and bring me up to speed on what the hell is going on now, as Jen wasn’t much of a help due to all the things that came flying towards her head. Don’t make me wait.”

“Well… that wasn’t so bad… jeez…” she said, giving a long sigh of relief and simply stood in  bed, staring at the ceiling. She expected Janet to be angry at her, but it seemed she dodged a bullet, as She Hulk actually took full responsibility and credit for the suit fiasco, potentially saving her friendship with the scientist. She then sent her a text thanking her for taking one for the team and the response came quickly in typical She Hulk fashion. Another thing that made her feel relieved was also the signs showing that Janet was actually feeling better after her mental breakdown and the failed suicide attempt “I guess blind rage is good medicine for depression… heh.”

Minutes later, her phone notified her that she received an email. It was from Marc, containing all the recordings from last night’s operation, all sorted and ready to be listened to. She was hoping it would give her more clues on why Murder INC was in bed with The Hand and how it managed to rise back from its ashes. Getting up and opening her computer, she downloaded all files from the email and put them all in order, preparing two pairs of headphones. She then waited for George to wake up as well, as she thought about asking him for his expertise as a police captain when analyzing all the surveillance files. For the next half an hour or so, Gwen simply played on her phone, looking at some stuff on the internet until hearing the door to George’s bedroom opening. Putting the phone aside and opening the door, Gwen saw her dad, still in his pajamas, trying to wake up, as he looked still half asleep.

“Dad? Got some time to kill? We need to talk.”

“Can’t it wait until after breakfast? Is it about a boyfriend I need to know?” asked George as he yawned and began walking down the stairs.

“God, no! I-i-is nothing like that!.” replied Gwen with slight embarrassment in her tone.

“Heh… just kidding…” replied George, making a joke to relieve the tension a bit, making Gwen blush a bit in embarrassment while trying to not make some sort of annoyed growl “…but seriously, you should also focus a bit on personal life too, not just your hero work. Live your life while you can and enjoy being around someone who loves you, just like I had with your mother. You’ll never know when those good times will come to an end.” said George as he paused for a bit. This part gave him short flashbacks about his wife, filling him with both joy and a bit of sadness, as Helen died way before her time was supposed to come.

“Dad, I … I don’t know how… or if I can do that. Not in my current state. I mean, just look at me. I really don’t think a guy would be interested in someone like me…”

“Well, the Iron Maiden magazines might say otherwise from what I have seen” replied George in a sarcastic tone, trying to change the mood of the situation, which it worked, by making his daughter blush again out of embarrassment “…Can I ask you a question?” he said once again as he sat on the bed close to her. She simply replied by nodding at him “Why do you keep doing this? All this superhero thing? I know that this is a promise that you did to Peter, but when will you say enough is enough? You are wasting your life away trying to be a superhero.”

“I just can’t give up on my word, dad. I-I killed him. Beat him to death with my own fists and webs. And the worst part was: he pleaded for me to stop, but I enjoyed every moment when I was doing it… until I found out the truth, when he transformed back before drawing his last breath. If it were a way I could switch places with him, I would gladly accept my own death if it would bring him back. I can’t just have a normal life, leaving everything that happened in the past. I just can’t! That will follow me all the way to my own grave.” replied Gwen while wiping a tear that rolled from her white eye.

“But what about me? What about your friends? I am your father, Gwen. Every time you put the suit and mask on, I pray that you come back safely home! I always fear one day I might hear on the police radio that you’ve been arrested, shot or found dead.”

Gwen remained in silence for a moment while hearing her father’s words. As much as she tried to contradict him, it was useless, he had a point and all the arguments in his favor, she never considered the enormous pressure that was on George’s head. She loved her dad, but never thought about all the stress he went through ever since getting her powers.

“Can we talk about this some other time? I am…I’m not comfortable speaking about this subject right now.”

“Sorry if I ruined your mood… but I am just worried.”

“I know. Don’t worry. Once this is over, we can have a long chat and some time together. Besides, we got more pressing matters to solve, such as Murder INC being back in business under Aleksey and some mysterious guy who calls himself Ernesto. Get something to eat here and fast. Marc sent me all the intel we gathered last night and I need your help.”

For as much as a couple of hours, both Gwen and George were busy listening and watching all recordings and footage of what happened last night at Foswell’s club: from the moment Sytsevich and his companions arrived, the conversation they had inside the club that got recorded by She Hulk, all the way to the point where they left the area in the luxury car. During all this, George used his expertise and noted any vital information he managed to sift through all the useless background noise and put it all on sticky notes, pinning them on a whiteboard, in order to give Gwen a much clearer picture of important players, descriptions and anything important that might shine light on more clues later.

“How the hell is even possible for someone like Aleksei Sytsevich to walk free after he tried to murder me?” asked George, baffled and angered over seeing footage from Foswell’s outdoor cameras with the gangster leaving the area “Thought an attempt to murder a police captain is a one-way ticket towards life in prison with little to no chance for parole.” Memories from the day he was almost killed by Aleksei flashed back in front of his eyes. It was right before finding out that his daughter was Spider Woman when she revealed herself to him while being held at gunpoint by George, after foiling the attempt.

“According to Jennifer, they have several judges and even DA Foggy Nelson in their pocket. They can basically put anyone they need back on the streets…” replied Gwen, giving a long sigh of frustration, thinking all the time lost getting those criminals in prison and now finding out some of them are now back in business, more dangerous than before “It seems this Ernesto guy is either the financer or the new leader and Aleksei is the new second in command. Now Murder INC has probably allied itself with The Hand and from what we picked up last night, a big gang war might be around the corner. Mister Negative, on the other hand, has the Russian mob on his side. If things escalate as we fear, a gang war of this caliber would be a disaster that might turn New York City into the new Fallujah. This needs to be stopped, fast!”

“Then I should call in the anti-gang division today when I arrive at the precinct and put them on high alert. Could help you out a bit if you find some of these guys, but please don’t get caught.” said George while picking up all the plates and leftovers.

“Thanks, dad. But I got that covered already. As annoying as she is, She Hulk turns out to be a reliable partner. And Marc along with Agent Cage already are on standby with the team if I need backup. But for now, I think the next step is to do some spying on some of the guys who just got out and are back in business.” replied Gwen as she pulled out her Spider Woman costume from her wardrobe, along with a backpack and began tucking it inside, along with a bottle of water, a sandwich she found laying around there that was still fresh… kinda, and her phone, while her dad left the room, knowing it was time for both to get to work “Need to meet Luke and get some gear a bit later, I might have a plan. Is risky, but might work.”

An hour later, the heroine found herself staking out a shady apartment complex in Harlem, one that was coincidentally just next to the partially collapsed building that was the base of the former king of the Viceroy gang, The Soldier. The entire place still looked the same as after her rampage in her Gwenom form, completely sealed off and abandoned, without any more traces of the Viceroy gang. It was the perfect place for the revived Murder INC chapter to set up a base, away from prying eyes or authorities.

Landing on the remnants of the top floor where the Viceroy’s leader’s hideout was, she looked around the place, as many flashbacks of her previous actions when she was under the symbiote’s increasing corruption appeared in front of her eyes. Getting closer to the massive hole that she made in order to reach the parking lot at the lower levels triggered more bad memories. She could feel some tingling sensation on her right arm again… alongside the familiar sensation of the symbiote inside her body reacting to said violent memories. Recalling the events of that day was something that Gwen always tried to keep to the back of her mind. It was as horrible as her beating Peter to death, breaking The Soldier’s back thus crippling him for life, nearly killing his getaway driver and also how close she was to killing this universe’s Miles Morales… without mention the people that might ended crippled for life after her rampage, just like the Soldier..

“I can’t let that happen again…” said Spider Woman while trying to compose herself and fled from the top floor. She wanted the memories to go away, but those will remain in her brain until the day she dies. She had to push them back in the deepest pit of her mind and resume focusing on her objective.

Sticking to the remnants of the former Viceroy base, Spider Woman could just hide in the rubble and wait for her person of interest to appear. Despite all the intel gathered last night, she still needed more in order to connect the dots. First objective was to identify who Ernesto was. Using a special microphone that was used for surveillance, she was able to hear a faint voice via Vincent’s phone not so far away from her position and despite the conversation being in Spanish, she felt like she heard that voice somewhere in her past. She wasn’t an expert in the language, but whoever this Ernesto guy was, it didn’t sound like a natural born speaker, but more like someone who learned how to speak Spanish almost perfectly.

“Where the f*ck did I hear this guy before? Sounds too familiar… who is he?”

Suddenly, her patience seemed to pay off, as the door to the safehouse opened and someone familiar exited the place after looking around to see if it was clear. She recognized him as Vincent, still having that swollen eye socket underneath his sunglasses, evidence of She Hulk’s antics last night.

“Alright, Vinny, let’s see if you give me something useful…” whispered Spider Woman as she changed position while adjusting the portable listening device she got from Luke, similar to the one She Hulk used last night. It was smaller and had a much shorter range, forcing her to stay close to Vincent in order to pick up anything he was saying. After getting ready, she saw the Murder INC captain casually walk the streets of Harlem until he exited the rundown area and entered a much cleaner part of the neighborhood, reaching a parking lot where several cars were parked, some on the ground, others on car elevators. The place seemed ordinary, filled with ordinary cars, except one pristine blue Jaguar F-Type coupe that was sitting on an elevator in a dark corner of the lot.

“I can bet all my money that flashy Jag is his…” mumbled Spider Woman as she kept her eyes on Vincent while hiding in the shadows to avoid being detected. Her suspicion was proven true as the mobster lowered the elevator and drove off in the British made sports car. Tailing him, she had a hard time swinging and gliding with her web wings in order to keep up and still stay close enough to pick up anything Vincent said, as he was taking sharp turns on a regular basis instead of driving straight to his destination. He used a common tactic to see if he was tailed and it was effective to shake off any surveillance. However, he was still oblivious that the heroine was still on his tail, barely keeping up.

“Come on, Vinny… where are you going in such a hurry?” said Spider Woman, as she tried to keep close to the Jaguar while avoiding obstacles such as incoming birds, power lines or other aerial issues. Suddenly, her listening device activated as she heard Vincent’ phone ringing, but much to her disappointment, it couldn’t intercept the call. All she could hear was Vincent talking with the caller about a shipment that he and Aleksei must oversee soon for Ernesto and him getting angry afterwards after the caller possibly joked about his eye injury he still has before hanging up in anger and letting out some swearing.

“I need to get my hands on one of these phones…” said Spider Woman as she kept following Vincent through Midtown. She heard that some crooks use phones with modified software and hardware that makes tracking and listening nearly impossible. She saw some of these custom phones on a documentary, generally used by people who want to live “off the grid”, but also used by cunning criminals to conduct any type of activity without fear of being tracked by police.

Eventually, after leading Spider Woman through half of Manhattan and nearly exhausting her, Vincent stopped his car in Hell’s Kitchen, right in front of an office building where a famous lawyer had his office. The man in question was Matt Murdoch, a famous lawyer who was used to representing notorious criminals, including Wilson Fisk, the former Kingpin of crime, who went to prison for life after George Stacy’s efforts to gather evidence in order to ensure a conviction, thus making his career and earning him the city’s respect. The webslinger always suspected it was him who ordered the hit on her father, as he had close ties to Aleksei.

Rumors stated that he became the new Kingpin after Fisk went to jail, using different legal loopholes to gain control over all of Fisk’s legal and illegal empire, preventing it from collapsing after the leader was gone. Despite some people and conspiracy theories stating how much of a filth Murdock was, the guy always kept his hands clean. No matter how many times the police tried to look for clues that could put him behind bars, the guy was as clean as a white canvas. Being one of the most notorious and well respected lawyers in the country also made things very difficult to put him in court, oftenly ending with him suing back whoever dared to file something against him, and winning.

Sticking to a building across the street, Spider Woman could just sit in the shadows and watch Vincent getting in the building, picking up everything that was being told, confirming he was going to meet with the blind lawyer. After a few minutes in the lobby and elevator, her enhanced vision allowed her to see activity at the top floor office. However, due to the glass being tinted to prevent sunlight from heating the office, prying eyes were unable to see who was inside, but her listening device was more than capable of giving her an inside scoop of what was being discussed.

“… so, I guess everything goes to plan, Norman. Top notch warriors are watching the locations you asked and we already rebuffed a few of Li’s attacks.” said Murdoch as Spider Woman could hear him and see his silhouette walking casually around his office “You’ll see, your investment in my services already begin to pay off.”

“I hope so, Matt. Martin is getting more and more aggressive, he might start to make a big move soon. When that happens, we’re going to need all the manpower you can muster for one big battle that must have one single outcome: Martin Li getting a Texas funeral.” replied Norman Osborn via Matt’s speaker phone. He wasn’t in the office, just merely calling the lawyer, not wanting to be seen associated with him.

“Nothing to be concerned about, if it comes to that. Ernesto did a great job reviving Murder INC despite him being exiled among commies 100 miles off Florida's shoreline and believe me, he really hates commies. Something to do about his home country. Not to mention his expertise and connections gave us some great goodies from SHIELD’s vaults after DeMara trashed them. Good thing she brought all this heat on herself, as history is written by the living and nobody suspects anything. Even Ernesto’s contact in SHIELD who let her go on that rampage is in the clear.”

“You sure she’s dead? If she is still alive, she is a liability, could lead that lizard agent to us and we’ll both end up never seeing daylight again. Maybe you should organize a hit squad and hunt her down?” asked Osborn via the phone, oblivious that he was also caught on wiretap. For Spider Woman, this was a breakthrough, finding out everything that happened relating to Rita’s rampage and her apparent death was masterminded by this Ernesto guy, proving he was not just resourceful, but also well connected. Him having a mole in SHIELD however, has raised a lot of red flags in her mind.

“Norman, relax. I got it covered. She’s pretty much dead, there is no way she could have survived that explosion. But if she is still breathing, she is not that stupid to come back or even open her mouth. She has too much to lose, Fury wants her dissected for sinking his dear Helicarrier.” replied Murdoch as he poured himself a drink from his minibar, just as the door opened and Vincent came into his office “… Oh, speaking of the devil! Vince! Been a while. Damn, what the hell happened to your eye? Got dropped like a cheap date?”

“Not you as well, Matt… wait, if you are blind as a mole, how the hell ya know?” replied Vincent, visibly annoyed by Murdoch’s joke over his injury.

“I have eyes and especially ears everywhere, my friend…” he replied and smirked a bit while taking a sip from the glass, then offering Vincent a drink as well.

“Thanks. Listen… Ernesto’s merch is at your site in Midtown. We’re keeping it there hidden until the ATF will be paid off and then we’ll move it to the Gómez brothers. Just wanted to make sure there are no issues with your… warriors.” replied Vincent, taking a seat on one of the couches in Matt’s office.

“Sure, relax. We’re all friends here, we’re adults. I’m not the type to screw someone like Ernesto. I do like breathing, living and keeping my head on my shoulders. Now come on, get yourself another drink, we have-.” said Matt, his speech being cut short as his cell phone rang, putting the glass down, answering it “Yes? Oh… really? She’s one pesky one, isn’t she?” On the other hand, Spider Woman tried to hear the conversation. The distance was too big and the device was out of range, but she could pick up a faint signal among a sea of static “Well, you know what to do. Kill her.” said Matt as he turned around, looking at the window, straight at Spider Woman. This little part shocked the webslinger and not long after, her spider sense kicked in hard warning her of upcoming danger. Moments later, several shuriken stars went millimeters past her face, sinking straight in the brick wall around her head.

“F*CK!!!” shouted Spider Woman as she immediately darted sideways, avoiding another set of shuriken stars that were close to impaling her chest and fled the scene with what looked like a group of three ninjas on her tail. “These guys again?! Need to shake them, fast!”

Swinging and gliding through narrow places and close to buildings, Spider Woman hoped this, combined with speed and quick changes of directions would shake the Hand ninjas off, but as she stopped for a few seconds on a balcony to assess the situation, she saw her plan wasn’t working, as another set of shuriken stars came at her. She managed to dodge almost all of them, sending them straight through the window, shattering it, but one slashed her leg, causing her to scream in pain. Seeing the ninjas approaching her position, she ripped a bunch of antennas and AC units, throwing them at the pursuers before darting away. Her escape was hindered after one of the ninjas threw another star at her line of web, snapping it and causing her to fall and crash land on an abandoned car in a parking lot.

“F*ck. These guys are like ghosts, they just keep up…” she mumbled as she grabbed her wounded leg. Whatever those stars were made off, they were extremely sharp, as the symbiote inside her body was struggling to close the wound. On top of that she could hear the ninjas approaching by hearing their footsteps. But as she looked around for an escape strategy, she saw a service exit to a nearby subway line and much to her luck, didn’t look sealed off or disused. “Ok, unusual plan but hope it works…”

Getting back up, she then lifted the car she landed on with her enhanced strength then waited for the ninjas to appear. As soon as her pursuers came in sight, she threw the wreck with all her might at them and fled towards the service exit. The car hit one of the ninjas, knocking him down, but the others dodged the projectile at the last moment and came to his aid. Meanwhile, Spider Woman managed to break the lock and force the gate open, making her way towards the subway tunnels.

“Don’t let her escape!” said the ninja as he was helped getting back on his feet by his accomplices and pulled out a katana. The others followed suit as they entered the service entrance as well, following their target via the dark humid tunnels all the way to the tracks.

Meanwhile, in the tunnel leading to the main subway line, Spider Woman was trying to be as quiet as she could, by slowly crawling on the ceiling and listening to any noise. She could hear her heartbeat as she was very scared and tried to calm herself down. She was now in a confined dark space with little room for maneuvers and occasional trains speeding below her. She knew her hunters were close as she heard when one sliced one of the gates she webbed it shut with his katana. Minutes later, she could see them below her, as they were slowly walking with their weapons drawn, searching every corner in order to find her. She could simply stand still and not even breathe as she thought they could even hear her breath, especially in this situation, since she was extremely scared and stressed. Things got worse as one of the ninjas kneeled on the floor, looking at a blood trail that her injury was still leaking, indicating that they were close.

“She’s here somewhere, she couldn’t have gotten far. Find her!” said the team leader as they split and began searching the area, avoiding any incoming train and also making as little noise as possible, like a scary game of predator and prey. They were unaware Spider Woman was above them, hiding in the dark shadows, occasionally lighted by the lights of an oncoming subway train.

For the heroine, she kept thinking on how to escape the situation, as she couldn’t hide forever. Hunger creeping as well after all this running and fighting and a growling stomach would alert them. At the same time, she had to go to Midtown and check out the place Vincent mentioned in order to find the next clue regarding Ernesto’s identity and the organization’s plan.

Looking around, and noticing the tunnel was close to a station, it was the perfect place  where she could switch to her civilian identity and hopefully blend in with the crowd. It was a longshot, but it seemed like the last resort to lose her pursuers. She shot a ball of web towards one of the tunnels in the junction to distract the ninjas, and much to her relief, it worked, as the hunters immediately went to the place where her web ball hit a metal pole. Taking advantage of the opportunity, she quickly crawled on the ceiling all the way towards the station, approaching a security guard who was guarding the platform. Thinking fast, she sprayed some webbing on his face in order to blind him for a moment as she rushed her way past him at full speed.

“Sorry!” she yelled and immediately entered a nearby women’s bathroom, locking herself in one of the empty stalls. Closing the door behind her, she immediately ditched her Spider Woman suit as she pulled out her casual outfit she got in order to walk around undetected. As she got dressed, she took a final look in the mirror, hiding the scar and white eye with a bit of her hair before noticing she forgot something.

“The bag …I need to hide it somewhere…” she said while grabbing it and looking around for a place to stash it. She knew the ninjas saw her wearing it along her superhero suit. if she’d go out with it, her cover will be blown. Thinking quickly, she climbed on one of the toilets, removed a piece of the false ceiling and placed her backpack inside the space between the ventilation tubes, putting it all back together to make it look like it wasn’t tampered, keeping in mind she will have to return to retrieve it later in order to get back her suit and the equipment she got from Marc, hoping none of the ninjas search the stalls.

Meanwhile, the ninjas arrived at the station, as they got aware of the decoy and came to investigate. Walking as a trio, they simply went past the station guard who barely managed to get all the web off of his face and noticed them jumping the turnstiles, attracting the attention of the officer.

“Hey! HEY!” shouted the station employee, getting off his chair and catching up with the ninjas “Don’t know how things are at comic con, but here you need to buy tickets!” However, as soon as he was about to call for backup, one of the ninjas pulled out his katana, grabbed it by the blade and used it like a baton, smacking the security guard over the face with the heavy handle of his sword, knocking him out cold. Picking up the trail of blood left by Spider Woman, the ninjas noticed it was getting fainter, an indication that the wound was healing. They then decided to separate and take different routes in order to cover a wider area, one of them decided to get into the women’s bathroom, suspicious that Spider Woman might be there.

“Hey! Asshole!” someone shouted behind the ninja who entered the bathroom, startling him a bit “The f*ck are you doing here?” Turning around to see who was shouting at him, he saw something that looked like a tall pale emo girl in a shirt, jeans and a small jacket. She looked a bit imposing by her stature, but the ninja decided to ignore the noisy woman.

“I am talking to you, are you deaf or something?” The girl was getting angry at the ninja’s antics as he inspected the bathroom by kicking the door to one of the stalls. After kicking out all the stalls, breaking the doors and finding nothing, he turned around and placed his sword back in its sheath before exiting the bathroom, only to stop close to Gwen.

“The f*ck are you looking at, jackass? You think you can go into the girl’s bathroom and do whatever you want!?” The woman was getting more irritated by the Ninja’s audacity of going to a place that wasn’t meant for him to go, and now standing in front of her “I have eaten bigger men than you for breakfast! You better get the f*ck you here before I f*cking destroy you!”.

Despite her threats, the Ninja didn’t flinch at all as the woman stood her ground against him, but after a couple of seconds of dead stares,  the ninja left and continued his search somewhere else.

“... God! I can’t believe that worked!” exclaimed Gwen, as she laid against the wall, sighing in relief, still baffled that  her rude and intimidating attitude tactic managed to save her cover, plus her bag. But as much as she wanted to take the bag now, it was too big of a risk as long as The Hand members were still around, so she decided to retrieve it later.

Walking away, she moved to a more crowded area near the platforms, where she found a place to sit and rest a bit until the heat died down.

“Finally, I can rest a bit…” she whispered as she took a seat and massaged her wounded leg a bit to relieve the pain while it was still healing. But her moment of relief was shattered once she realized she was sitting next to a familiar face, someone she tried to avoid. The girl in question was Liz, her friend who the last time she saw was when she saved her from being killed by corrupt FBI agent Jimmy Woo. She tried to discreetly get up, but it was too late as Liz immediately saw and recognized her.

“Gwen? Oh my God! Is that really you? What happened to you?”

To be continued…

Third chapter of the new story arc, created by me and https://www.deviantart.com/snarkymofo

Dodging a bullet from the suit fiasco and with all the intel gathered so far, Gwen now has a starting point in uncovering who revived Murder INC and what the end goal is.

It's field work time and it will be no walk in the park.

previous chapter  https://www.patreon.com/posts/83963692