Spider Gwen: Bushido Chapter10:JACKPOT (Patreon)

“I still cannot believe that these guys that look like they came out of a manga comic book were able to mop the floor with us…” said Gwen while tending her own wounds “I mean, you’re supposed to take a direct hit from a tank without breaking a sweat. Here, they were able to hurt you badly…”

“These guys must be packing next level shit. I heard Nick has weapons tailored for each one of us capable of killing us if we go off the rails and become evil or crazy…or something like that. Now that some got stolen and landed in The Hand’s claws really raised the stakes.” replied She Hulk as she calmed herself and slowly shrunk back to her Jennifer Walters form in order to tend her wounds easier and also grab some breakfast. Her human form needed less food to feed and also allowed her to recharge her energy.

“We need to change tactics. Right now, we danced with death one too many times and all for nothing.” said Gwen as she poured herself some coffee and began massaging her still bruised thigh. She was not in her Spider Woman suit, only in her black sports bra and underwear, she could see all the bruises and cuts that her body sustained during the fight. The damage that her body took had to be massive if her healing factor was struggling to close her wounds. Taking the tub of cream on the coffee table, she then began nursing her injuries, with Jennifer helping her with the bruises on her back where she was unable to reach on her own.

“Sorry about that…thought that  rushing in and grabbing Otomo would be a piece of cake, it would have saved us time, but I was dead wrong…” admitted Jennifer as she was patching Gwen’s wounds the best she could, causing some unexpected pain from the disinfectant.

“She Hulk admitting she was wrong? Ok, now i am really getting worried about our odds in this mess…” replied Gwen in a joking manner trying to ease up the tension, after seeing how serious and a bit worried the lawyer got all sudden, something that was understandable, considering that they pretty much survived because the Samurais spared them and didn’t even bothered to finish them off right there on the spot.

“Hey, everything is fun and games until you face something that can kill you… and for that, some seriousness needs to be added to the equation… that should be enough” said Jennifer on a very serious tone after she finished to patch Gwen’s back before stashing everything back inside the medikit she got from her room, “Not a top notch nurse work, but i think your body can pick up the rest.”

“Thanks for the patch.'' Despite her shortcomings, Gwen was very glad that she had someone like Jennifer on her side. Being a superhero that is considered as an outlaw vigilante and a cold blooded murderer is for the most part lonely. Having a reliable partner was a more than welcome addition.

“Dealing with super agile and nimble ninjas with high tech kinetic weapons is one thing… But Samurais with full plate high tech armor and adamantium blades that also can do the same thing as the kinetic gauntlets? That’s when you enter the “Oh Shit” zone.”

“How did you know they have adamantium blades?” asked Gwen as she picked a jelly and peanut butter sandwich in order to quell her creeping hunger.

“There’s only one thing in this world that can cut my green skin… and my cousin’s. And that’s Wolverine, well, his claws, that is. It doesn’t have to be sharp to inflict damage. Captain’s shield is hard enough to give me a severe concussion if he hits me a couple of times. And he did once when I really crossed the line.”

“Let me guess… you were flirting with him, and he didn’t appreciate it. '' said Gwen as she munched on the sandwich while she rolled her eyes at the idea,

“Hey! Is it not my fault that he is a VERY handsome looking dude who doesn’t know when or how to take some hints!”

“Sounds more like you were trying to rip his pants off and he just used self defense…” Gwen chuckled as she finished the last piece of her sandwich. But before the lawyer could justify her not so modest behavior, a notification popped up in her laptop, receiving an email and getting her attention. Jennifer went in order to see what she got and much to her surprise…

“Ahm, hot stuff? You might wanna read this…” she said as she handed the laptop to Gwen, who was cleaning her mouth with some tissues after eating the sandwich. Giving it a look, she saw this wasn’t some love letter or anything silly. Most of the email was a large cluster of numbers and letters, like it went through an encryption program, but in the middle of the mess there was a readable message in bold:

*******************************************************************************************************

“YOU WILL FIND ALL YOUR ANSWERS UNDERNEATH THE DOJO NEAR THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE ON WALL STREET”

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“What the-... who sent this?” asked Gwen in confusion over reading what looked like a tip-off. Looking at the sender, it showed no email address, as it looked like it was sent via a third party app that was hiding the sender’s ID.

“I have no idea who sent this, but I know what dojo he’s talking about.” replied Jennifer as she accessed a map webpage showing Manhattan “That place has been disused for decades until a judo club from Japan renovated and turned it into a prestigious dojo for international competitions. Hard to enter though, it’s membership only and security is quite tight there. Tighter than my wardrobe.”

“Any way to sneak in?”

“No, Matt paid top dollar for state of the art security. From the outside it looks like a friendly members-only club, but in reality is secretly guarded by both private security, but also most likely Hand warriors watching from the shadows. Now the regular guards are there more as a front to make it look like it is secretly guarded by a legitimate company, but scratch the layers and you will find a whole Ant hill.”

“Great! Just great…” replied Gwen in a sarcastic tone, visibly annoyed over this little detail “...so, what is the plan? Simply ask them nicely to let us in or steal someone’s membership card?”

“Actually… I got an idea, hot stuff!” said Jen while rushing towards the kitchen counter and returning with a leaflet featuring the Hand- controlled dojo “There is Matt’s charity event happening later today over there, we could disguise ourselves in traditional Japanese kimonos and infiltrate the building while blind man is busy with his show. We’ll be able to blend in nicely.”

“This isn’t going to work…”

“Trust me on this one. We’re going in today. And I got just the disguises for this little operation…” said Jennifer with a mischievous smile as she kept looking at the webpage announcing the event. After finishing her coffee, she went back to her bedroom and began searching for something in the dressing quarters.

Meanwhile, Gwen was still massaging her thigh where one bruise was still bothering her along with a strained leg muscle, while listening to some news to make time pass by a bit. She could hear the anchor narrating the events that happened lately, mainly about the incident at the Murder INC headquarters near Bryant Park and the Bratva assault later on a unknown convoy, speculating an incoming gang war between the Russian mafia and a gang still unknown to the public. She gave a sigh of relief after the report over these events passed, as none said anything about her involvement. The last thing she needed was to be in another spotlight and give J Jonah Jameson another week of reporting on her and add more fire to the fuel.

Another news story was about the car chase she was part of when Castle saved her and Fred from corrupt cops and Hand mercs. The anchor revealed that corrupt SWAT Corporal Jerry Murphy was transferred to a prison hospital to await trial for the attempted murder of both Frank and DeWolf. He and several of his corrupt colleagues were in a pretty bad shape after they crashed back in that chase, with Murphy ending with both his legs paralyzed after they got crushed in the impact. What was a surprise for Gwen was that in the interview, Castle never mentioned Spider Woman or her involvement, taking all the credit along with Jean for Foswell’s rescue and recovery operation. She knew him well enough to know he or DeWolf weren’t career chasers and concluded both were covering her this time, something she never thought seeing from someone like Frank. If this was a sign that he was also beginning to be more understanding towards the wanted webslinger, that was still unknown.

“At least I got some breathing room, no cameras, no eyes on Spider Woman…” said Gwen to herself while she got up and began to walk the strained thigh muscle off. After a few physical exercises and also some stretching, it seemed it was doing the trick. Shortly after, she found herself in front of the mirror next to the penthouse entrance. Looking at her reflection, she began to re-examine both her face and muscular body, reflecting on what Liz said. All this time she tried to hide or at least push to the back of her mind this slight increase in height and muscle definition, but now looking herself again in the mirror while only in a pair of black bra and underwear, she thought giving a shot and thinking the positive side, just as Liz saw, even if it was just a little joke to cheer her up.

“Hmm… maybe with some more sunbathing or spray tan I could make this ghost skin back to my old self… plus maybe some slight lipstick…” talking in a half-joke half-serious manner while playing with her hair a bit. Suddenly, this also gave her an idea, and after arranging her haircut a bit, she finally started to show a slight smile of hope when she saw the hair she arranged was covering her scar and completely white eye quite well. If needed, an eyepatch wouldn’t be a bad idea as well, it will at least cover the nastiest part, if she could find a patch that would hide from viewers but still make her be able to see through. With a slight increase in confidence and willing to see more of the funny side or at least think positive, she began to do some poses similar to how She Hulk did, flexing her own muscles, amazed on both her front, back and even sides “... guess i could do well in the fitness magazines world, or even in some competitions. Or try a part time job as a fitness instructor. Have to admit, I do look really good.”

The daydream came quickly to an abrupt end when she suddenly noticed Jen standing at the entrance of her room, looking at her with the biggest ‘shit eater’ smile she has ever seen. “Oh, please continue! I am enjoying this… ‘Showcase event’ of yours…”

Gwen’s face went completely red as she tried to come up with some excuse, but only an incoherent babble of words came out from her mouth. However, Jennifer just laughed a bit and decided to just forget what she saw, as she proceeded to leave some bags on the floor, showing their contents to Gwen.

“This isn’t gonna work, Jen. They’re not morons.”

“Trust me, Gwen… this will be the perfect infiltration operation.” replied Walters before shoving her hands in the bags.

Later that day, the dojo near Wall Street was starting to fill up, at least the areas that were open to the public. Crowds of people from the city and tourists as well gathered inside to see exhibits of Japanese culture and there was also a demonstration where two warriors in traditional samurai suits were having a sparring session with harmless wooden katanas. Little everyone knew that those weren’t actors, but Hand members that were doing a show in the open, under the disguise of a charity event. Even Matt Murdoch was present, serving some champagne and talking with businessmen or some members of the public while getting ready for his charity speech. This was part of his plan to maintain the public on his side by giving the impression of an upstanding citizen, a philanthropist, while hiding his real self under this mask. Little he knew was the two women that were dressed in traditional Japanese attire passing next to him were there for more than just culture. They had head gear that covered most of the faces and the traditional umbrellas were also adding to the difficulty of identifying them.

“I can’t believe this is actually working…” said Gwen as she and Jennifer were walking among the crowd, attracting some discreet looks, but more for their traditional attire. Some tourists even took some photos of her and Walters.

“Shh, keep it down until we put some distance between us and Matt. So far, he seems to be busy with the press, best to slip to the back of the dojo while he and his entourage are distracted” replied Jen while taking a few looks before hiding her face again with the umbrella. Eventually, both heroines in disguise managed to slip past the crowds and any security by sneaking through a backdoor. However, this was the easy part, the hard part was now to find anything that might help them nail Murdoch. Finding ninja equipment in a place like this wouldn’t stick, not even for a bond hearing, they needed some hard evidence to tie him to the title of the new Kingpin of crime. Gwen was still skeptical of the anonymous email, from her perspective, this could be a way to lure them into a trap.

“Ok, team leader. Where do we start?” asked Gwen, as the heroines now stood in a long hallway with several sliding shoji doors. The translucent sheets on these doors showed no movement in any of the rooms, lowering the risk of getting caught.

“Well, let’s try door #1...” replied Jen as she opened one of the shoji doors, revealing nothing more than a simple museum filled with simple Japanese exhibits, nothing special “...ok, then door #2.”

Over the next half an hour, both heroines were pretty much turning the place upside down, searching every room in order to find anything that can nail Murdoch and The Hand. So far, it seemed as if they were drawing the short straw, with the only result being leaving the entire place in disarray.

“This is getting ridiculous. We’re being taken for suckers…” said Gwen as she got more and more frustrated as she and Jen were searching the last room: a large mediation room. Eventually, she accidentally tripped and nearly knocked down an old statue, but caught it before it could fall and break. But as she tried to put it back, she noticed something strange on the floorboard “Ah, Jen, you might want to see this…”

Approaching Gwen’s position, Jen also noticed the cause of her partner’s intrigue: a piece of Japanese writing burned on the wooden floorboard. It looked old and worn out and a faint footprint gave the clue that it might have been stomped on it with force quite frequently.

“Ok, if this opens a secret lair like the ones from Indiana Jones or Lara Croft Tomb Raider, then I swear that I am going to take a break from taking dates and flirting, for at least a month!”

“Don’t make a promise that you know you can’t keep…”

Both joked a bit before stomping the engraved board just like it looked it was done so far. After a few seconds of disappointing silence, a dragging sound was heard behind them. Turning around, both Gwen and Jennifer could see the floor beginning to sink, forming a set of stairs, with the statue of a samurai warrior slowly sinking out of sight into the hole that was forming in front of them. After a minute, it looked like a basement entrance formed right in front of their eyes.

“Making their way down the stairs, the two heroines could see it was quite a walk. It was like they were three stories underground and this large chamber at the end of the stairs was like reaching the end of a quest in a video game.

“Wow… take a look at this…” whispered Gwen as she saw several rare Japanese artifacts, along with several empty crates that looked like they were from SHIELD storage “...Hello smoking gun.”

“Where’s smoke, there is fire. And here it is…” replied Jennifer as she began to look through folders and paperwork stored in some filing cabinets “All paper, nothing digital. Clever.”

“I think this SHIELD crate is enough for Nick to have a word with Matt…”

“Not really, Spidey. He can claim his cleanup crew found it in the street and he simply took it for storing garbage. We need some hard evidence to show he is the new Kingpin of Crime. And I just found what we are looking for.” replied Jennifer, showing some folders with the ‘motherload”: contracts showing Matt’s involvement in taking over Fisk’s shell companies and his involvement in brokering several protection services between The Hand and Oscorp, with payments being handed over in cash in cities far away from the USA, such as London, Rome or even Bucharest, with the help of Ivanovic and Murder INC. Further documents proved involvement in freeing Rita DeMara and the sabotage that let her loose, resulting in her apparent death and the Helicarrier’s destruction.

“Holy damn… we hit the Jackpot!” said Gwen, pulling out her phone, taking pictures of some of these papers “I'll send some of these to Marc so he can send in the calvary and raid this place. Murdoch’s finished!”

“Let’s hurry and take as many pics as we can.” At this point, Jen took out as many papers from the cabinets as she could and placed them on the floor, while Gwen was taking pictures and sending them to Agent Specter at a rapid pace, before giving him a call.

“Hello Gwen. What’s with all these messages that are about to crash my tablet?”

“Marc, we got it, all the evidence we need to nail Matt to the wall and cripple The Hand! Get to the dojo near the Stock Exchange!”

“You better be right about this, Matt is a real shark when it comes to lawsuits.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just get the search warrant. We’re getting out of here before someone sees us!” replied Gwen, but before she could even make a step, the alarm went off. Turns out Jen took one folder that was a decoy with a hidden alarm in it, setting it off.

“Shit!” said Jen as she threw the decoy and began hearing the alarm getting louder and louder “Suit up Gwen. Time to go green and bust us out of here. I’ll punch a hole and we can escape via the sewer.”

It sounded like a good plan, but before she could even grow into She Hulk, an electrical dart hit her from the back, electrocuting the lawyer and causing her to fall on the ground unconscious. At this point, Gwen took her disguise off and put her mask on, as she had her Spider Woman suit underneath, ready for battle. She could pick up Jen and make a daring escape, but she ended up knocked out as well by a blow to the back of the head, falling to the ground as well.

“Master, we got the intruders. Bringing them upstairs now.” said the ninja that came to investigate, looking at the heroines laying on the floor, talking via an earpiece.

“Good. Lock up Walters somewhere she cannot escape, we will flush her into the ocean once we are done here. Bring the spider to me. Time to end this.” replied Murdoch before excusing himself to the public and requiring them all evacuate the dojo due an unexpected problem that just appeared.

Drifting from barely conscious to unconscious, Spider Woman could feel herself dragged by the arms by two Hand samurais, but was unable to fight back, the blow was more than enough to completely numb her. Eventually, she felt thrown forwards on the ground, hearing a discreet laugh in front of her. Trying to get up, she saw a pair of expensive shoes and raising her head, someone in a red business suit and red sunglasses. The man in front of her was Matt Murdoch himself and from the smile on his face, it looked like he was pleased to finally see a downed Spider Woman at his feet.

“Well, well, well… what do we have here…” said Matt as he kept looking at Spider Woman struggling to get up, still dizzy from the blow she received to the back of her head “It seems that the Spider got caught in her own web…” before she could even react, Matt delivered a severe kick to her abdomen, making her gag and cough due the force of the blow as all the air from her lungs came out “Just got the chance to stomp like the insect she is!”

Matt proceeded to grab her by the neck as he got close to her “Do you have ANY IDEA how much money and resources I had spent, just because you wanted to be a god damn hero!?” the webslinger was brought back to the floor hard after receiving a punch right in the face. Despite his appearance, Matt seemed to have an amazing strength for being just a lawyer, “Trust me, that amount of money spent doesn’t even justify this beating…”

As Spider Woman tried to stand and counter, she was greeted by another powerful kick to the head. In any other circumstances, she wouldn’t let this slide, but her body was still feeling weak after the beatdown she received in her fight against the Samurais. Coming here while still not fully recovered was a huge mistake…

“But, it is a start, if it were up to me, I would torture you until you beg for me to end your misery… but no time for that, is something that I can’t afford right now…”

“Master Murdoch…”

“Ah, you came just in time, Otomo.” Matt greeted his second in command as he entered inside the room with his group of Samurais, all wearing identical garments and ornamented suits “I have an opportunity for you, to right the wrongs you had committed.” snapping his fingers, one of the ninjas brought a sword to Matt, who them tossed it at Otomo “Our enemy, the person who was responsible for the setbacks to our organization, the one that you left alive… is now here. Otomo, show your dedication and loyalty now… and kill her”

Looking down at the person he is supposed to execute, Otomo saw a helpless Spider Woman, struggling to get back up, only failing repeatedly. At some point, he made eye contact with the webslinger and as he looked at her all helpless and defenseless, he could only stand still and clench his sword, like he was about to make a decision.

“Otomo! What are you waiting for? One strike and it is done! It’s not that hard! Do it already!” said Murdoch, as his impatience turned in anger over Waka Gashira’s hesitancy. But then, much to his shock, Yamaguchy simply impaled his sword in the ground and backed off.

“No! I will not do such a dishonorable thing!”

To be continued.

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

A new lead on The Hand, one that will go bad.

previous chapter https://www.patreon.com/posts/spider-gwen-86776841

sorry for the 2 month delay, Had a full meltdown followed by a period of severe depression (better now with medication). Chapter release schedule resumes as usual until the current arc is finished