Chapter 49
Not too long after, we reach the bank and prepare for battle.
Ruby: “Black Cat? Stay out here with the police perimeter. He might get out and make a break for it, so I need you to be ready in that event.”
Blake: “Okay. Just be careful. His gauntlets are strong enough to cause these tremors, so they pack a real punch.”
Ruby: “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Once that’s settled, Blake stays on standby perched on a nearby building while I enter the bank from the roof. Inside, I descend from the ceiling upside down as Fifestone walks out of the large vault carrying two large duffle bags full of Lien. “Okay, Weiss. You know the drill.”
Weiss: “Beginning the scan.” Gotta do what I can to stall and keep him here while the scan is underway.
Ruby: “There you are. You know, you're a pretty hard guy to find Fifestone. Long time no see.”
Fifestone: “For once I have to agree.”
Ruby: “Oh, but... I’m pretty sure those don’t belong to you.” As I web the bags and toss them out of his reach. Then I use my webs in a slingshot maneuver to launch myself at him, resulting is us ending up in the vault.
Fifestone: “Grgh! Grah! Get off of me!” He gave me an uppercut that made me hit the ceiling. Once I hit the floor, he moved to hit again where I lie, but I move out of the way when I use my webs to close the door on us.
Ruby: “Whoops! Clumsy me. I’ve trapped us in here. How about a game to keep us busy? Wanna start with 20 questions?” He tries to give me a punch to the face, but I dodge. “No? Then how about some thumb wrestling?” He tries again, but it doesn’t go well. “Okay. Then I guess we’re playing face punch.” I try to punch him in the face, but his helmet is tougher then it looks. He takes this chance give me a charged punch which knocked me back so hard, I blew the door out all the way across the main hall. At least we’re out of the safe now. It took me a second to recover from the attack. “Geez! They really do pack a punch.”
Fifestone: “It’s about time I run into you. Now I can fulfill my deal with Tinkerer. So, let's get this over with!” He fires off a few beams that I dodge before getting in close to land a few blows of my own.
Ruby: “You know, I gotta say, you’ve got one ugly suit!” As I narrowly dodge another beam.
Fifestone: “I have to agree. But I couldn’t care less with the kind of power it has!” He tries to go for another punch that I avoid with a backflip. Getting a good distance, I launch at him with another slingshot move and knock him over to the ground and try to hold him there.
Ruby: “True. The tech is honestly a little impressive. But I can’t overlook how dangerous it is.”
Weiss: “As you should. The scan is complete.” To which he delivers a punch that gets me off of him and we continue fighting. “PENNY was right on the money on how they work. It's all in the drill looking devices on top of his gauntlets. And as for a potential weakness, the gauntlets have a failsafe feature to cease functioning should the outer shell be damaged. It's likely for the user's safety since the damage done could affect the energy’s dispersal.”
Ruby: “I see. So, I just need to damage the gauntlets.”
Fifestone: “This would be much easier if you just sit still!”
Ruby: “Okay, let me think about it.” As I land on the ground a good distance from him. “Okay, I’ve thought about it.” He punched the ground with both fists and sent out a shockwave in my direction that I had to jump again to avoid. “And. I. Pass!” As I swing in close and deliver a hard kick to his back and slam him against the wall, while his arms were still in front of him, resulting in some major cracks in the gauntlets armor.
Fifestone: “Grh! Why you little-!” He tried to use his gauntlets again, but as soon as he tried to charge them, the failsafe kicked in and the power cut off. “Huh? What is happening? What have you done!?”
Ruby: “Aw! I’m sorry. Did I break your toys? How sad. But don’t worry. I’ve got a present for ya right here!” As I give him a hard punch and knock out the front door and onto the street. I follow him outside and use my webs to pin him there. “And stay out!” I swing up onto a nearby lamp post. “He’s all yours officers!” As I swing away and join Blake nearby as we oversee the arrest. Vernal was the one to remove his helmet and reveal his identity to the others. Once we assure the arrest was successful, we make our back for a quick rest. Days afterwards came the news of Fifestone’s case.
Lisa: “A few days ago, the escaped criminal Hanlon Fifestone was arrest thanks to valiant efforts from the Scarlet Spider. However, Fifestone was found wearing a strange suit with unique abilities. The follow up investigation revealed the suit to be responsible for the recent tremors, the shockwave of which were why Mr. Fifestone referred to himself as the Shocker. The investigation of the suit also revealed once again it was the work of the mysterious Tinkerer as his insignia was discovered inside Fifestone’s helmet. Everything Fifestone had stolen under this title has been successfully recovered and returned to their proper places.” Repairs of everything Shocker damaged were immediately underway. But as one storm cleared, another quietly occurs from the shadows. As we see the Malachite Twins in an alley meeting with Jax accompanied by his own entourage.
Jax: “Then the matter is settled. The Maggia will meet with Ms. Malachite within the coming weeks.”
Melanie: “Just know our mother has her reservations about this collaboration.”
Jax: “Believe me, some of us in the Maggia are quite content with this either, but we acknowledge the fact that we share a common enemy, and thus why, for now, we are willing to push back these feelings for the sake of our businesses. These ‘heroes’ have caused us enough trouble. We need to push back.”
Miltia: “For once we agree on something.”
Jax: “Then I look forward to this meeting. Catch you later, girls.”
Melanie & Miltia: “Hmph. Whatever.” As they walk off into the night. Jax also decides to leave it at that as he returns to his limo.
Jax: “Tch. This better be worth it.” And with that, the night is silent... for now.