Spider Gwen: Bushido Chapter6:KIND REFLECTION (Patreon)

Half an hour after leaving the airport area, Gwen found herself taking a small break from her Spider Woman persona, enjoying a hotdog and grape juice she bought from the Hot Dog Vendor that set up his stand near the arrivals terminal. It was a smart move, as arriving passengers would be eager to eat a warm hot dog after enduring low cost airline supplied lunch and it was away from any trouble, allowing him to quickly recoup his losses he had during The Outbreak when he had his near death encounter with the venomized Spider Woman. Just on top of the building next to him, the heroine was enjoying the hotdog he sold, overlooking part of Brooklyn.

“Damn, I craved a warm dog for too long.” said Gwen, while munching on the king-sized hot dog. It was a relief, after all this intense activity and calories consumed, she was quite hungry. Leaning against the wall in a spot where she couldn’t be spotted, she was able to even stay in her superhero outfit without her mask and enjoy some downtime, still giggling a bit after her encounter with the Gomez family. Despite the young brothers taking her for a sucker, she found it funny that their father was as stern with them, even as they were adults. Looking at the old Aztec relic she received from Mr Gomez, she found it quite intriguing and after searching it on her phone, found out much to her shock that it was very valuable as it was very rare. The five figure sum shown on her phone made her almost choke on her hot dog and nearly drop the relic. It was more money than she ever earned so far and a welcome addition, maybe enough for a good start in life. However, after a few seconds, she brought herself back to the real world, knowing it would be an act of great disrespect to Mr Gomez if she would sell it. Putting in her backpack for safekeeping and hiding it in one of her hiding spots she had in the city, decided to take it home when she had time and keep it as a souvenir of her encounter with the Colombians.

Her good mood and moment of relaxation was cut short soon, as Vladislav called her again via the modified phone. Was enough for her to lose her appetite and get annoyed.

“What the hell do you want? Another buyer you need babysitting?”

“Come on freak, I’m sure you enjoyed the time you spent with the Gomez family.” replied Vladislav via the phone, in a slightly sarcastic tone “Besides, Gomez Sr just wired me the money for those guns he sold on my behalf and thought I’d wire your 10k cut as pay for a job well done.”

“You can take that money and stuff it where the sun doesn't shine! I’m not your henchman, asshole!” shouted Gwen, visibly irate over his proposal. It was bad enough she had to play ball with him, getting paid for a criminal activity would tarnish her hero honor even more.

“Too bad, I wasn’t joking. Oh well, if you don’t want to be paid for a job well done… then I guess it is fair game to tell you what is actually happening between Murdoch and Li” he replied, sighing in frustration, however, both her and his phone received some sort of notification that interrupted their chatting.

“… wait a minute, I got a message. Hold the line.”

Out of curiosity, Gwen also looked up what she received and opening the message, she was greeted with a shocking photo of a man severely beaten, tied to a chair and threatened with a shotgun. It was the same man abducted as she was escorting the Colombians. Underneath the picture, it was also a message:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Hello Vladislav. Long time no see. I thought I would send you this picture, it looks like Serghei is in a bit of a fix. Your friend, Dimitri.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“The f*ck is this…?” said Gwen, as she got confused, thinking this was some of Vladislav’s employees, but the Serbian’s reaction would let her know this is someone much closer than a simple employee.

“YOU CROSSED THE LINE, DIMITRI!” shouted Vladislav on the other end, a clear sign for Gwen as well that he didn’t take it well. Afterwards, she could hear him dialing a number and calling it, all while their call was still on. The person called answered but whoever was on the other end remained silent, giving her an eerie sensation.

“I got your message, Dimitri, you piece of shit. You’re a dead man. A DEAD MAN! Before you die I’m going to cut your face off. Then I’m going to hang it on my wall, to remind me what a lying, cheating, TREACHEROUS SCUMBAG LOOK LIKE! Goodbye, friend!” shouted Vladislav before hanging up on that call. All while Gwen heard every word. She was used to hearing threats being thrown around, especially at her, but this one was rather upsetling. She knew Vladiislav as someone calm and calculated, seeing him losing his cool like that was a very bad sign and the way he lashed out made her feel quite scared, including the parasite inside, despite those threats weren’t addressed to her.

“Ahem… what… was that?” asked Gwen in a sheepish manner, she tried for a moment to pull a joke or pun, but refrained at the last moment, knowing it would have made it even worse.

“Dimitri went too far and kidnapped my cousin, Serghei. He will use him as bait to draw me in the open and try to take me out…” replied Vladislav, clearly enraged judging by his tone via phone “I knew he would try something like this, but thought his boss Vasily would keep him in check. Guess Dimtri got more powerful as time passed.”

“I guess you got a problem then.”

“Me? Nuh-uh. If I have a problem then YOU have a problem as well. You go and rescue Serghei. Don’t let nobody get in your way towards ensuring my cousin’s safety.”

“No! F*ck that!  How about you deal with whatever issues you have with your enemies yourself? I had enough to play ball with you!” replied Gwen irritated by Vlad’s demands.

“Let me put this in a way that your simpleton bug brain can understand: If you don’t do it, I WILL, no problem. But, unlike you, I have no limits. I will kill every single person that gets in my way, Moskal or not. You want that to happen? No? Then MOVE ALREADY!” shouted Vladislav before suddenly hanging up.

“Vlad… you son of…” she grinned her teeth in anger and frustration but gave a long sigh afterwards,knowing that in a way it was the best option to keep him away from the city “Where do I even start…? I could just go to that cabaret club near Luna Park and shake some Bratvas until someone talks…” said Spider Woman to herself while keeping swinging and web gliding through Brooklyn, trying to find a way for a potential lead, but concluded that this idea might not be the smartest one, the last thing she needed was another faction painting a target on her back. She had to think smart and gain some quick intel, maybe a bit of espionage in order to find where Serghei was held up and hopefully rescue him without being noticed. Changing direction, she headed towards Manhattan, knowing the perfect guy capable of providing intel.

An hour later, Spider Woman found herself back at Foswell’s club in order to catch up her breath and also plan her next move. She thought information from someone with his ear stuck to the ground might give her the lead she needed and Frederick was the perfect guy for this. However, as she was downing some freshly made lemonade to satisfy her thirst, Foswell was clearly not in the best moods, after learning who she was working with.

“Are you f-ing kidding me? After all that happened, after all we’ve been through and you’re working with that murderous bastard?! What the hell is wrong with you??!” asked Foswell in an increasingly irate tone. He had extremely horrible memories and wounds from back in the day when Vladislav tortured him to the point of crippling him.

“Give me a break, man! I’m not happy either, but if I don’t do it, he will. And letting that animal run rampant again isn’t something both of us want it to happen. If he rescues that guy his way, it is EXTREMELY likely we’ll be up to our knees in blood. It’s already bad enough having a war between two sides already…” replied Spider Woman, trying to down some more lemonade.

“Ok… so what you’re gonna do, genius? Wander all over Coney Island and shake anyone speaking Russian until you find this cousin you’re looking for?“

“I…I-I don’t know! I have no clue what to do next. Thought you could provide me with some intel about these guys and where they might have taken this Serghei guy. I really need help with this.”

“Well, you’re out of luck, kid. These Bratva guys like keeping things to themselves. Even when I am here and pretty much everyone in the game trusts me, they still keep their lips glued shut when I am nearby.”

“Try the old warehouse near Lincoln Park in Jersey City, they’re probably holding him up there. The one next to the river.” suddenly replied Jeremy, Fred’s bouncer as he came down the stairs to recharge his headset, surprising both Spider Woman and his boss.

“How do you know that?” quickly asked Frederick, curious and a bit suspicious after hearing this bit of intel.

“I do some eavesdropping and snooping around when they don’t pay attention in order to know who to keep an eye on if they try something in the club. Heard a few of these Russians talking about babysitting some Serbian guy. It could be this Vladislav uncle Fred was talking about.”

“Uncle? What the-?” asked Spider Woman, confused over hearing this uncle/nephew topic once again, but Foswell quickly cut it off after hearing Jeremy’s ways of snooping around.

“You know this eavesdropping is a safe way of getting yourself killed, right? You’re swimming in dangerous waters here and I don’t want to see you in a puddle of blood in some dark alley...”

“Boss, I can handle myself. Besides, isn’t this what your guest wants, a lead?” replied Jeremy, showing Spider Woman a location on his phone “That area looks quiet and is the only warehouse that wasn’t demolished yet. Maybe you got some luck over there.”

“I owe you one for this, Jeremy. Thanks.” Immediately said Spider Woman, after finishing another glass and quickly covered her mouth again before rushing towards the exit, stopping right at the base of the stairs “Fred, I know you don’t agree and I don’t blame you. But I have to do this. If this will help shed light on what is happening now between the Hand and Negative’s gang, and explains why Martin Li is on a warpath, then it needs to be done.”

“Kid… don’t make me regret this.” Replied Foswell in a serious tone, receiving a nod of approval from Spider Woman before exiting the club, heading towards Jersey City.

“Jeremy, STOP getting involved in this! Last time i dare to open my mouth i almost lost my f*cking leg! I don’t want the same to happen to you, damn it!”

“Look, I don't like this more than you, trust me! But if there’s going to be a war about to blow up, helping her might be beneficial for us in the end. Both gangs could end up taken down and driven out of the city! We wouldn’t have to host these goons anymore!” said the young bouncer, crossing his arms as he rested against the wall inside the office. Foswell gave a deep sight as the painkillers mixed with the drink he ingested were starting to take effect.

“Look, I saw this cowboy attitude in others and it always ended badly. I know how this game works and believe me, this is not a game where you want to be on the radar, so to speak. Besides, I highly doubt that the webhead would do something that will change things in this city…”.

“It is worth a shot at the very least, instead of just keeping the status Quo. Time to clean up and make things better for all of us, just as dad intended.”

“Franco, God rest him, I loved him so much but he was too idealistic and with his head in the clouds. Thank God I was the realistic one in the family and kept him tied to Earth.” There was a moment of silence between the two men as Foswell spoke with sorrow in his voice. “You are indeed your dad’s son, you’re naive just like him…”

“If you want to be pessimistic, that’s your problem, uncle, you know more than anyone else that I don't roll that way.”

Foswell frowned in frustration, not only the kid was as naive as his dad… but stubborn as well.

“Besides… Spider Woman is kind of hot.”

“...What?”

“Hey! You can’t blame a guy for at least trying to impress a girl!” Jeremy laughed a bit as a way to sort of justify his actions further. Foswell did understand him, but still wasn’t approving.

“Just… get back to work, kid, you are making my migraine worse.”

Arriving in Jersey City territory after a tedious crossing of the Hudson River via the Holland Tunnel, the heroine began focusing on a plan on how to save the target. She could either go stealthy and get Serghei out of there without the Bratva even noticing. In and out. Or she could go in John Wayne style, take down all the Russian criminals in that warehouse and leave them to be arrested by State Police or Marc’s team. However, that plan would be too reckless, as it would result in Serghei being executed if she were to take that path. As she kept analyzing a viable plan, the encrypted phone rang again.

“You got any leads about where my cousin is?.” asked Ivanovic on the phone in a rather cold and serious manner.

“Y-yes… he’s being held in Jersey City. Heading towards the location now.” replied Spider Woman in a rather hesitant tone. She had to regain her composure, as he just threw her off her pace.

“Good. Bring him to Gramercy Park once you rescue him. My men will be waiting to get him to safety and give you a file with all the answers you seek.”

“Is that it? You will simply give me all the intel I need to understand all this madness happening between The Hand and The Demons?”

“Thought it would be fair enough. And motivate you in this important mission. Now go. I’ll be waiting to hear from Serghei soon.” replied Vladislav before hanging up. At this moment, Spider Woman would only give a long sigh and resume her rush towards the location.

Meanwhile, at the Bratva stronghold, some action was already taking place, as someone very important in the ranks was present to meet the captured Serghei. He was in his mid 40’s, had light brown hair, glasses, 1 day shaved beard and was wearing a dark green business suit. Anyone could smell him from a mile away that he was someone willing to stab anyone in the back without any regret or remorse in order to gain the upper hand or to gain some materialistic gain. The guy was Dimitri Rasputin, the Bratva’s second in command, the same individual who was de de-facto boss of the entire criminal gang. Despite his “friend” Vasily being the leader, Dimitri had no issues or remorse playing him for a sucker, like his own puppet for his own gains.

“Why are you so willing to protect someone like your cousin, Serghei?” said Dimitri to Serghei kneeling in front of the beaten man so he could have a better look at him “He is nothing more than a wild animal, look what being associated with him has brought to you. It would be in the interest of many people, including yours, that you tell me where Vlad is, so I can rid the world of him…”

“I don’t care what he’s done or what he is now! He is still my cousin. He’s family and I love him! I am not going to backstab him like you did!” replied Serghei right before being smacked in the gut by one of the guards, only for Dimitri to calmly raise his hand, ordering him to stop the assault.

“Are you really trying to protect him because of some… family love bond? Or is it because you are afraid of him?” said Dimitri as he pulled a tissue to clean some of the bloody stains on Serghei’s face. It was odd for the hostage how one second he is brutalized and the next his boss is acting like he gives a damn and cleans him up.

“He… he would do the same thing for me if our places were switched. I am not selling him out…” said Serghei, in pain but determined, he expected to receive another round of beatings, but much to his surprise, Dimitri smiled a bit as he said something in Russian, prompting one of the guards to bring a briefcase to him.

“Everyone has a price in this life, my friend. There is no such thing as total loyalty.” replied the Bratva leader, before opening the briefcase, showing what was inside. “100k… and I will take care of all the debts you got. More than enough to set you for life, if you are clever with your spendings.”

For a moment, Serghei looked at all the cash that was inside. He was deep in debt due to his gambling habit and right now, Dimitri was tempting him to betray his own blood for a way out of his trouble. He knew the Russian was trying to manipulate him and immediately looked the other way in order to stop seeing the stacks of money and fall into temptation.

“No! I am not selling him, not for this, nor for all the money you can give me!” shouted Serghei before seeing Dimitriy trying his best not to let his “mask slip” and reveal his true self. He was a psychopath, one of the worst examples of his kind: manipulative, self-centered and a tendency to violence, but he was trying to hide his true nature under the mask of a calm, reasonable and calculated individual.

“You will crack eventually, one way or another…” he sighed before standing up, checking his watch and walking towards the entrance of the room he was held in. Before exiting, he looked back at Serghei one last time “Every man has a price and a weakness my friend. If money won’t persuade you, then I might bring here someone dear to you to keep you company. If you still want to stay silent, then I will start doing some pro bono plastic surgery to her face.” At that moment, Serghei felt shivers running down his spine, as he knew who he was talking about.

“I’ll let you have some alone time and think about it.” said Dimitri before leaving the room and later the warehouse in a silver car filled with heavily armed guards, oblivious to the fact that Spider Woman watched the entire conversation from a nearby disused crane.

“You sure as hell don’t look like a criminal, so how did you end up in this mess, Serghei?” whispered Spider Woman after seeing him tied to the chair through a broken window. At the same time, she also saw a glimpse of Dimitri, the man who caused Vlad and herself the trouble with the Russian mafia. “So, you’re Dimitri… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Vlad: you sure look and smell like a rat from a mile away.” At some point the Bratva leader had a strange feeling that he was being watched, turning around to look if someone was spying. Looking at the crane, he saw nothing, as Spider Woman managed to leap from her spot and land on the side of the warehouse discreetly. Seeing there was nobody, he then got back in the car and left, probably to conduct other semi-legal or even illegal activities, thinking he would return in a few hours to continue persuading Serghei one way or another. He was also betting on Vladislav himself coming to try and save him, only to walk into a trap he set up, not knowing his adversary sent someone else.

Meanwhile, the disused decrepit warehouse seemed to be patrolled by armed thugs while others were stationed at key locations, waiting in position in case Vladislav was to show up. There were snipers in hidden locations overlooking any entrances and also several armed guards patrolling the catwalks and also the rotten mobile bridge.

“You think he will come?” asked one of the guards, patrolling with his partner and trying to find a way to alleviate the boredom.

“Pretty sure he will, Misha. Dimitri just hit him right where it hurts the most: family. He will come running to save him. And once he steps in this place…BAM! Good night for the Slav.” replied his partner, playfully pretending to fire a shot with his rifle.

“I don’t even know why we got to kill Ivanovic. Is not like he caused us trouble. Heard that the hit-job on Mikhail was actually ordered by…”

“Shhh, I would stop there if I were you, Misha. Better to keep this to yourself. Look, I’m telling you this only one time, don’t tell nobody this: Dimitri was behind all of this, he is a real psychopath, one of the worst of them. Now he wants to get rid of Vladislav just because he is the only one that got out alive and can prove he was behind all of this. I know this won’t end well, he will fall one day. But I repeat, keep all of this to yourself. Right now, I have a bad feeling this Serghei affair is bad news.”

“You got that right.” whispered a voice behind them. Before they could fully turn around or even pull out their rifles, each of them received a hard blow to their heads, knocking them down. Moments later, a spray of webbing pinned them to the ground, right before Spider Woman emerged from the shadows. “Ok, two are down, several more to go. If I’m doing the stealthy way, better then call for Marc to make sure these guys don’t come after me.”

After hiding the two Russians and making sure they don’t make any noise or raise the alarm, the heroine then texted Agent Specter, writing it short about what is going on and requesting help, giving him a location of the warehouse for his team to arrive and make some takedowns. Sticking back to the ceiling, she began crawling slowly and took one more look at the layout, access points to Serghei’s room and most important, how many guards were present and their patrol paths, hoping she could sneak past them and make sure nobody spots her. Minutes later, Marc replied with a message, saying that Cage was on his way with “the calvary”. The timer was set, she had to get Serghei out before the main event started.

“Ok Stacy, showtime. Minimum takedowns, get this dude, get out. Well, easier said than done.” She whispered to herself before cracking her knuckles and moving towards the next pair of Bratva members, this time being the snipers patrolling the mobile bridge. With two discrete web shots, she managed to pull them up towards her and web them to the ceiling. With the sharpshooters out of the equation, reaching the room where Serghei was held was easier now, without fear of being shot in the back. “Here goes nothing.”

Leaping from the ceiling and landing on a nearby rotten pillar, she was ready to climb down and go through the door, but stopped at the last moment when one of the ambush teams arrived right beneath her. They were talking about getting some extra smoke bombs in order to prepare the element of surprise for their target. For now, they didn’t notice her, but this was an extremely dangerous moment. She was trying to stay silent, even control her breath as the group was conducting different activities; some were checking their guns while others were slacking off. Eventually, after growing tired, she threw a piece of metal she found towards the end of a catwalk, luring the group to that spot. It was highly unstable, as the structure underneath was extremely rusty, beginning to buckle once they slowly advanced towards the source of the noise. Seeing the structure was about to give up, the heroine discreetly fired another line of web at the last intact beam and immediately pulled it apart. Moments later, before any of those Bratvas could even react, the catwalk gave up, sending them crashing down in a pile of junk, immobilizing them.

“You should have watched your step, comrades.” said Spider Woman in a mocking fake Russian accent as the gunmen were groaning in pain over falling and ending in a pile of scrap and bricks. She then entered the room, but found the chair where the hostage was sitting empty. “What the-… Where is he?”

Behind a pair of old server racks, the Bratva member responsible for surrounding Serghei emerged, this time holding the hostage like a human shield, needles to say that poor Serghei was completely terrified of the situation.

“Come on! Can’t we just all talk it out?” shouted Serghei, trying a futile attempt to de-escalate the situation.

“You weren’t supposed to be here, Spider! Turn around and walk away or this Slavic deadbeat is dead!” said the gangster as he was holding his hostage tight. For Spider Woman, it was a tense moment: she had to act quickly and with precision, as the criminal might have a twitchy trigger finger and kill Serghei. The hostage on the other hand, was scared and kept moving as he struggled to escape his captor’s grip.

Using her spider sense to slow things down from her perspective, she began evaluating her surroundings, looking for something to distract the gunner. Something caught her eye, a little thing that might give her just what she needs: a service valve from the hot water boiler. At first glance, it looked like it wasn’t pretty sturdy due to its age and the small amount of steam escaping from it was indicating the system was functioning and under high pressure.

Shooting a line of web as fast as she could, she pulled the valve apart, creating a large amount of highly pressurized boiling hot steam to engulf the Bratva’s right side, causing him to scream in agony and let go of his hostage. Immediately Serghei got out of the way and sought cover, as the Russian was on the ground, in agony. He suffered some second degree burns from the boiling hot steam that covered part of his face and arm, incapacitating him. Now with the hostage safe, Spider Woman could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing the critical situation was over.

“Put some cream on it in jail, dude. Will go away in a month… I think.” said Spider Woman to the Russian, webbing his leg, allowing him to move enough just to numb his pain. She then turned her attention to Serghei, who now was shyly coming out of cover.

“Thank you! Thank you! You saved my life.” said Serghei, shaking her hand in a very kind manner. For Spider Woman, this was still unusual: Seeing someone that was related to Vlad be this… kind was strange to say the least. He looked like the average citizen, a bit scrawny, and weak, posing no threat at all.

“You’re welcome. We should get out of here. My friends will set this place on fire soon.” replied Spider Woman before ripping out the back door, leading to the emergency stairs. Just then, her headset picked up local police chatter, relating to the request from Agent Marc Specter for local backup. Picking up Serghei, she leaped in the air and webslinger her way out of the area, just as State Police and some of Marc’s team members were about to arrive and arrest the remaining criminals.

“What brought you to save me, Spider Woman? I am not someone important to be rescued by you…”

“You should ask your cousin. He made me come here to save your sorry ass...” replied Spider Woman in a not so friendly manner, but immediately changed it once she saw this response did affect him. “... Sorry, it has been a very long day. I am not in the mood to be a friendly neighbor right now, besides, I couldn't just leave you to those cretins.”

“Look, I know you don’t like my cousin, especially after what he did lately and I can’t blame you. But he wasn’t like this when we were teenagers. To be honest, I haven’t seen him much after the war back home started.”

“What happened to him? You look like someone that couldn’t even hurt a fly in comparison with him.” This began to make her curious about Vladislav’s past. She always thought what made someone like him become such a cold blood criminal, but asking him personally was out of the question.

“When the war started and the first shots fired in our village, my mother used her savings to send me to America. She wanted to send Vladislav too, but he insisted on staying and fighting. He was also a good guy and wanted to defend our villagers, even if it meant risking death. Haven’t heard from him after I left for more than a decade. Even my mother fell months later after my departure when enemy death squads began culling the population. After the war ended, we reconnected but he was a changed man. I don’t know what he saw or did, but he said that everything that was good and innocent in him died along with our friends…” his tone became a bit more sad as he continued his story, “I know he has done very… bad things in life, but I am sure that deep down he doesn’t want any of this to happen!”

“Dude, you’re too naïve. I don’t know how Vladislav was in his youth, but believe me, he is long gone, and I recommend you to stay away as far as possible from him after this…” replied Spider Woman as they managed to cross the tunnel back into Manhattan. Deciding to rest for a few minutes before dropping Serghei off to the location Vladislav provided, she checked her phone, only to see someone tried to call her at least eleven times. The number was Foswell’s and the fact that he tried to call her eleven times was concerning. But before she could even unlock her phone, the number began to ring her up again.

“What’s wrong, Fred? I already saved the dude, dropping him off in a min-…” said Spider Woman via her phone, but she was cut off shortly by a familiar voice.

“Don’t go to Gramercy Park! It’s an ambush!”

“Jeremy? How did you get Foswell’s phone? What are you talking about?” asked Spider Woman, visibly confused over this call.

“Doesn't matter. What is important is you staying away from Gramercy! Heard someone who is Murder INC that came in for a few drinks and deals, talking with his partner that Vladislav plans on getting rid of you once you drop off his cousin. The place is swarming with snipers ready to kill you!”

“Oh for f*ck’s sake! I saved this guy and this is how he shows his gratitude???”

“Ever heard of loose ends? Anyway, I need to go, I don't want to raise suspicions. Fred and I already risked a lot by helping you out.”

“Jeremy, be careful. This is extremely dangerous what you are doing. Look after yourself. And thanks. I owe you.” Said Spider Woman, very grateful that this young bouncer helped her out a lot, despite exposing himself to unnecessary risks.

“Don’t mention it.” replied Jeremy before suddenly hanging up.

“…Great. Just… great…” said Spider Woman as she placed her phone back in her thigh pocket and mumbled her frustration, catching Serghei’s attention.

“What happened? Something wrong?”

“You bet your ass something is wrong!” Suddenly Spider Woman got up as she was a bit too close to Serghei “I saved you from becoming fish food and how is your cousin showing gratitude? By sending me into a trap so he can KILL ME!” Suddenly, she turned around and punched a nearby wall so hard that the concrete cracked and a chunk flew off where she punched it “I should have killed him when I had the chance…”

The tone of her voice changed, now sounding more evil as the symbiote began to crawl under her skin, but stopped once she saw that she was letting herself to be controlled again by her unstable parasite. She decided to calm herself down and lean against the wall, the last thing she needed right now was to get her more dangerous side involved.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like this…”

“You should have let me back there with the Russians…all I was for you was nothing more than trouble…”

“No! Don’t say that…” quickly replied Spider Woman. She spoke in her usual way, as he tried to make him not fall into a depression “None of this is your fault, this is between me and Vlad, ok? I… just need to find a way to not fall into this trap…”

“You can take me to my place in Brooklyn. Is just off the edge of Coney Island, near the boardwalk. My fiancé should be there by now.”

“Good idea. I’ll take you there then.” quickly replied Spider Woman before picking him up and resuming her travel, switching path to avoid going anywhere near Gramercy on her way towards Brooklyn. As she continued her travel, she kept conversing with Serghei, consolidating her amazement on how much of a good man was Serghei: he came to America with nothing, worked hard months to get some cash together to manage buying his first cab, then later another one and ending up buying his first cab depot, sleeping on a couch in his office for years until saving enough money to buy an apartment. Recently, life gave him a hand in the form of his fiancé, a local Romanian woman who worked as a traffic cop in the area and said “yes” when he asked her to join him for the rest of her life in marriage. However, his gambling habit was the one that allowed him to be vulnerable and end up as a casualty in Dimitri’s war against his cousin. The gambling allowed him to win extra cash to put his business afloat, but also made him lose more money that he was willing to admit, up to a point that it became so dangerous that someone like Dimitri was able to exploit this.

Arriving at the apartment block where he and Alexandra lived, Spider Woman landed with Serghei in the alleyway behind his place. It wasn’t the nicest place in the area, but for Serghei and his fiancé it was everything they got for the moment. Her mission was apparently done and she was still alive. But the relief was cut off as the encrypted phone began ringing.

“Where are you? My men are waiting for you and my cousin at the location I told you.” said Vladislav on the phone. Judging by his tone, he was visibly annoyed.

“Sorry, change of plans. Something unprecedented happened and Serghei asked me to take him home.” replied Spider Woman, not mentioning that she was aware of his plan to kill her and also holding her anger towards him for how he was planning to repay her.

“… I see. Is he safe?”

“Yeah, he is safe, a bit bruised but he is safe.”

“Put me on the phone. I want to talk to him right now.” Vlad demanded. Apparently he wasn’t noticing anything dangerous or suspicious, so Spider Woman obeyed and put him on the speaker. As he began talking with Serghei, the webslinger was quite astonished by what she was hearing. It was like a switch was flipped and someone else had taken Vlad’s place, hearing a different version of Ivanovic, one that was extremely worried about his cousin, as he was confused over how Serghei was still in gambling debt despite him sending him money to help him stay afloat. She could clearly hear and see he deeply cared for his younger cousin and his fiancé, but he was annoyed over his gambling habits, growing more frustrated over Serghei’s answers and increased anxiety. This got worse as he got a phone call from Dimitri right in the middle of the conversation. Not wasting one second, he answered it, putting the call into conference mode, allowing Spider Woman and Serghei to hear the conversation, although it wasn’t his intention, but at this point, he didn’t care.

“You really love to disappoint me, Vladislav. You really do.” said a voice on the other end. Spider Woman immediately recognized it.

“Are you disappointed I didn’t find and kill you yet, Dimitri Rasputin? Don’t worry, your time will soon come.” replied Vladislav, with a drop of sarcasm in his voice to mask his anger.

“I went to the warehouse in Jersey City to make sure your cousin was treated with some more… hospitality. I found the authorities raiding and arresting my men and guess what I haven’t found: your dead body. Very disappointing, especially since we were friends. Couldn’t we have just settled this between us like gentlemen and not bring the Feds into this discussion?”

“Don’t worry, ‘friend’, I will settle things with you when the time comes, fear not!” replied Vladislav, visibly angered after hearing Dimitri’s mocking tone and the use of the term “friend”, considering what he has done.

“You have a sharp tongue. It’s only a matter of time until it is cut out of your mouth. Goodbye!” replied Dimitri before suddenly hanging up, leaving Spider Woman baffled and worried, especially when she saw Serghei’s reaction after hearing that conversation. He wasn’t a hardened criminal like his older cousin and that was beginning to show as he was breaking down.

“Man, this is out of control…” said Serghei as he was walking around like a caged tiger, his nervousness increasing.

“I know…”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. Lemme think for a second!” replied Vladislav via the phone, as he began to feel Serghei’s concerns.

“We’re going to die. I don’t want to die, man. Not like this.”

“How would you like to die?!!” snapped Vladislav over the phone, his cousin’s ramblings were really getting on his nerves, impeding him from thinking clearly.

“Drowned in a champagne pool after winning the lottery… I DON’T F*CKING KNOW! I’M SCARED YOU COLD BASTARD! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!”

“Me? Cold?”

“You’re cold. All you care about is revenge and getting it your own way.” replied Serghei in an extremely serious tone.

“And all you care about is money. And gambling it away in some shady den! Oh! Isn’t America great? I get to sit at the table, pretend to be Mr. Rich Big Shot and get into debt with the scummiest criminals in that goddamn city!” shouted Vladislav, slightly distorting the phone’s speaker, as the conversation was heating up.

“Ok! I messed up big time! I know I did! I thought things were different here. I don’t understand this place so well.” replied Serghei, feeling ashamed over getting into this mess “Oh man, what are we going to do?”

“Stop wandering around, gambling your money! Stop getting into illegal card games! STOP SPENDING ALL YOUR MONEY! You got a future wife, you’re about to start a family! Act like an adult for God’s sake!”

“Ok… ok, message received.”

“Thank you! That’s all I ask!”

“And you need to stop thinking about Dimitri and the Russians. Stop all this stuff you’re doing!” replied Serghei, at this time he was trying to stand up to his older cousin and fire back at him over his own life choices, however, this didn’t fell quite good for his cousin, as Vladislav began lecturing him even more. At this point, Spider Woman could barely keep her mouth shut and not intervene in what was clearly a family matter, but she felt she had to act in Serghei’s defense.

“Hey! How about taking a look in the mirror before saying one more thing to your cousin, for Christ sakes?” shouted Spider Woman, as she was unable anymore to stay silent.

“You stay out of this! Mind your own damn business, you freak!” quickly replied Vladislav, visibly irritated over her intervention.

“No! You already dragged me into this, so for once shut up f*ck up and listen! Yes, your cousin made a mistake, but don’t forget it because of his affiliation with you, that Dimitri guy is what made him a target! You are at war with the Bratva, not Serghei, but he was affected too! Your career is what painted a target on you and him! Don’t forget: it is not just you who is affected, it is also your closest ones! I can’t believe I am the one giving you advice. Actions have consequences! Not just on you, but also on anyone close to you! So shut up and listen to your cousin for once, you ungrateful bastard!” finally feeling quite a relief, like she just vented all her frustration and anger, it was like a weight was lifted. Expecting Vlad to lash out at her for opening her mouth against him,but to her surprise, she didn’t hear a thing from the other end. Looking to see if the connection was cut off, Spider Woman could see the call was still live.

“Serghei… Just, stay out of trouble. I’ll bail you out of debt this time again, but I’m serious: watch yourself, I will call you later.” replied Vladislav before hanging up. At this point, Spider Woman did have a slight feeling that what she said might have impacted him to some degree. All she could do now was to reassure Serghei that if he runs into trouble, he can call her, getting a handshake from the younger Ivanovic as gratitude for the rescue. After watching him reunite with his fiancé and making sure no danger lurked around the corner, Spider Woman left the area, willing to go home and get some more than deserve rest after the events of today, praying her father will stay away from any news channel.

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

Ernesto's identity is revealed, but now Spider Woman is forced to work for him in order to get intel on the incoming war. She will soon find out however, that getting an D and nearly failing Espanol class will come back to bite her in the ass.

previous chapter https://www.patreon.com/posts/spider-gwen-en-84989507