Chapter 2
Lumi and Peter skillfully swung through the bustling streets, aiming to reach Times Square. Lumi effortlessly ran along the side of a building, leaping off the edge with style, while Peter executed a perfect backflip as he zoomed between towering structures. Suddenly, a phone call interrupted their exhilarating journey.
As Peter adeptly answered the call mid-swing, without missing a beat, he said, "Hello?"
"Parker?" The unmistakable voice of Otto Octavius, their dependable yet stern boss, came through, "Where are you and Hawkins? We need to rehearse the demonstration at least once before the grant committee arrives."
"Uhhh, yeah, sorry... um," Peter stammered a bit in his usual light-hearted manner, trying to concoct a suitable excuse for their tardiness. He deftly shot a web in another direction to dodge an incoming flock of birds while attempting to tune out Lumi's laughter at his predicament. "We'll be there soon, I promise."
With her mischievous wit, Lumi chimed in to save the day. "Peter's just trying not to worry you. Truth is, we're stuck near Times Square at the moment, doing our best to stay hidden until this commotion subsides." She gracefully swung towards a passing police helicopter and clung to its underside to create some accurate background noise, "I bet it's all over the news right now."
There was a brief pause on Otto's end before they heard him switch on a radio, listening intently to news reports detailing the ongoing chaos. With genuine concern evident in his tone, he sighed and said, "Just stay safe, both of you. I'd rather you arrive late than injured."
"Will do," Peter responded before ending the call. Flashing a thumbs-up signal towards Lumi as he zipped past her below, she released her hold on the helicopter and followed his lead. "Let's wrap this up quickly and get to our real job."
"But this is so much more exhilarating," Luck interjected, her voice filled with her characteristic mischievous defiance. Lumi and Peter couldn't help but shake their heads at the symbiote's remarks. They watched from a distance as police were embroiled in an uneven standoff against Fisk's henchmen, taking cover behind their cars as bullets flew.
The situation quickly escalated when Fisk's men retreated to make way for a speeding tanker, which plowed through the police vehicles before toppling over and bursting into fiery flames. Thick, black smoke billowed throughout Times Square.
Lumi and Peter wasted no time, swinging above Fisk's minions with remarkable agility and precision while the thugs approached the grounded officers, readying their rifles. In response, a flurry of webs and tendrils snatched the weapons out of their adversaries' hands, hurling them aside. The final gun was ripped apart as both heroes competed to seize it simultaneously.
Landing between the officers and Fisk's gang, they braced themselves for battle.
"Morning, folks!" Peter quipped as he shot out a web at the nearest thug, yanking him closer while expertly flipping over his head. He landed a series of rapid punches to disorient his opponent before delivering a powerful knockout blow. "Who's up for a piping hot serving of bodily harm?"
"And let's try to keep bullets off the menu," Lumi added smoothly, extending a tendril to snatch a pistol from another goon's grip. She smacked him in the face with his own weapon before flinging it away decisively.
"Well, well, look who's finally nailing those witty comebacks," Peter chuckled. "Let's keep the momentum going, shall we?" Just then, his spider-sense tingled, alerting him of imminent danger. He swiftly leaped onto a nearby truck, using it as a springboard to avoid a hail of bullets that whizzed past him. Swiftly firing two webs to propel himself towards the assailant, he landed a forceful kick to the goon's head, sending him tumbling to the ground. "Sorry pal," Peter quipped. “Bullets aren't on today's special; you just earned yourself a kick to the curb instead."
As Lumi skillfully evaded a forceful attack, she quipped, "Nice to see this customer knows the drill." In a perfectly timed movement, she leaped onto a nearby thug's back, then swiftly let go, causing him to crash into his accomplice. With a cheeky grin, Lumi added, "They must be getting pretty impatient—no respect for queues!"
Peter couldn't help but join in the banter. "Who would've guessed we'd be so popular today?" he said, firing web after web at an attacker until the goon was bound against a lamppost.
"Would you two quit with the puns already?!" Luck snapped in Lumi's ear which Peter could hear through the comms. Her tolerance for quips had reached its limit —she didn't quite embrace humor yet, but that might change as her bond with Lumi grew stronger.
Though aware that Luck would probably scold her later, Lumi didn't let it bother her. She launched herself skyward and delivered a powerful uppercut to one of the last assailants. Floating briefly above the action, she spotted another truck speeding in their direction and kicked the flying goon toward a building while simultaneously shooting out a web to prevent him from crashing too hard. "Looks like we're hitting peak traffic!" she remarked.
Peter responded, "Well then, let's move fast and keep things flowing." He slung a web at Lumi and sent her hurtling toward the oncoming truck. In perfect sync, Lumi used one of her tendrils to grab Peter and pull him along so they both hovered above the speeding vehicle. From above, Peter launched webs while Lumi spiraled around the truck with a long ribbon of webbing.
Once they had finished their teamwork, the incapacitated truck screeched to a halt, and its assailant found themselves trapped inside, immobilized, and webbed to the vehicle's interior through a broken window.
"Spider-Man, Lucky Spider, do you copy?" Yuri's urgent voice crackled over the comms.
Peter's eyes narrowed as he spotted another car full of thugs speeding toward them, only to be halted when Lumi leaped into action. She effortlessly conjured a massive orb of white and red tendrils in her hands and hurled it at the vehicle. The tendrils splattered across the car, instantly adhering it to the pavement. Thanks to Lumi's precision, the goons inside were unharmed, albeit trapped by tendrils snaking through the windows.
Peter shot them a thumbs up, his usual humor shining through, "Wrapping things up here. How about you?"
"...Yuri?" Peter inquired, concern evident in his tone as he noticed the silence from Yuri's end of the comms. Lumi swung gracefully alongside him, brows furrowed in confusion. "What's going on?"
The distant sound of an explosion provided their answer, accompanied by shattering glass and wailing car alarms from the direction of Fisk Tower. Both Peter and Lumi's eyes widened with instinctive alarm as they shared an uneasy glance.
"Yuri?!" Lumi called out anxiously, her tendrils latching onto a nearby building and catapulting her into the air towards the growing column of smoke.
"I knew Fisk wouldn't go quietly," Peter muttered grimly before quickly catching up to Lumi, both of them swinging side by side at breakneck speed toward the unfolding chaos at Fisk Tower.
As they neared the tower, the scene resembled a battlefield. Fisk's henchmen were strategically positioned at windows, using them as vantage points to fire down upon the police officers below. More thugs stood guard at the entrance, using the flaming wreckage of cars and debris from the damaged building as cover.
Despite being armed with only pistols, the police managed to hold their own by using their vehicles for protection against the shower of bullets raining down on them. The helicopter overhead continuously swerved to evade stray gunfire.
When Peter and Lumi finally spotted Yuri taking cover behind an armored truck while giving orders through her radio, they breathed a sigh of relief seeing that she was unharmed. They swiftly landed and clung onto the side of the truck.
"Yuri, are you alright?" Peter asked, his tone carrying a mix of concern and vigilance.
"If Fisk escapes from this building, we'll lose him," Yuri muttered under her breath as she peeked out from her hiding spot and watched more henchmen join the firefight.
Lumi risked a glance over the top of the truck before turning to Yuri. "So, does that mean...?"
"Just do your thing," Yuri replied with a roll of her eyes and a faint smile.
"Yes!" Peter and Lumi whispered excitedly in unison, joined by Luck cheering in Lumi's mind.
The duo then launched themselves into the air using the helicopter above as leverage. This made them prime targets for Fisk's men; as some henchmen began shooting at them in response. While Peter easily dodged bullets thanks to his spider-sense, Lumi was still adjusting to her newfound abilities. Whenever bullets struck her, Luck would use her bio-mass to block them before letting them harmlessly drop onto the pavement below.
Some henchmen were perched on the tower's canopy and had aimed their weapons at Lumi and Peter until suddenly, web-like tendrils struck their faces, forcing them to the ground in an attempt to free themselves. Lumi chuckled, "Oops, should've given you a heads up!"
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Peter called out as he charged towards the last thug on the canopy who tried to flee. With a swift motion, he grabbed the man by the back of his jacket and yanked him off his feet.
"Not sure how he got here, but let's give Fisk a warm welcome," Lumi suggested, zooming past Peter with her arms tucked in. She spun like a drill and kicked through a window, shattering glass into the lobby. Using a tendril to secure herself to a pillar, she swung and landed another powerful kick on one of the goons inside.
Peter followed closely behind, hurling the henchman he held at another group of Fisk's men. As they tumbled to the ground in agony, he quipped, "Thought you might want your buddy back!"
Lumi effortlessly unleashed a massive tendril of bio-mass from her arm, which forcefully slammed into a group of Fisk's henchmen targeting the police inside. Once she successfully restrained the criminals with her web-like structure against the wall, the tendril receded back into her arm. Confidently addressing the nearby officers, she swung into action, announcing, "We'll clear a path, follow us!"
One irritated cop, hiding behind cover and narrowly avoiding debris from shattered ceramics, retorted, "Get out of here, Lucky Spider! Take Spider-Man with you; we've got this handled!"
His partner, also seeking refuge behind the same cover, shook his head at his stubborn colleague. He gratefully yelled out to the heroes instead, "Could you please handle those in the back? We can't reach them from this vantage point!"
"Sure thing, officer," Peter replied with his signature wit and charm. "At least some of you appreciate our help!" He then gave a quick salute before swiftly zipping towards the back of the lobby. It was always hit-or-miss when it came to law enforcement's reactions to their presence.
Lumi had already arrived and sneaked up stealthily behind one of Fisk's goons. She nonchalantly looked over his shoulder and whispered smugly into his ear, "Haven't you got anything better to shoot at?" The goon barely had time to react before Lumi flung him skyward, exclaiming playfully, "Spider-Man, all aboard!"
"Choo-choo! Here comes the Spider-Express!", Peter hollered as he kicked the airborne goon mid-flight with his feet firmly planted against his enemy's stomach. Sending him crashing back down onto another one of his cronies, Peter promptly webbed up both villains ensuring they were securely detained.
"Really, Lumi? How many witty remarks do you have up your sleeve?" Luck playfully grumbled in Lumi's mind. While she teased Lumi, she still appreciated her assistance in the fight. “You know, I could always misplace some bio-mass and give everyone an eyeful of your physique.”
Lumi blushed at the thought, skillfully dodging a punch before retaliating with one of her own. The goon flew backward, landing on a lounge chair in the lobby. She quickly secured him with webbing, catching Peter's chuckle. "Hey, you can't laugh! I bet she teases you the same way!"
Peter grinned as he immobilized two additional thugs by webbing them together and tossing a trash can at them to knock them out, all while covered in debris. "True, but it seems she favors you lately," he said with a laugh. "Anyway, let's continue this conversation when we're not on a crucial mission."
"Speaking of more goons," Lumi glanced up at the ceiling as three more adversaries stepped out of the elevator. She shot a web at a column for leverage and swung herself over to kick two of the newcomers into each other. Grinning, she quipped, "Wrong floor, fellas! Didn't you get the memo about today's lunch special?"
"Absolutely!" Peter chimed in after pinning down the third opponent with his own webbing. "Any henchmen who head there and relinquish their weapons get a lesser beating from us superheroes!" With Lumi by his side, he surveyed the secured lobby and gave her a nod of approval. "All right, now this area's clear."
Just then, a squadron of police officers approached the floor they were on and swiftly made their way towards the elevators before they were abruptly shut down. Their leader ordered them to take the stairs instead. Overhearing this, Peter remarked, "I guess we're more fond of the direct approach."
With his incredible strength, Peter easily pried open the doors while attaching himself to the rear wall. The elevator car wasn't there, so Lumi resourcefully used her tendrils to anchor onto the underside of the absent elevator above them and started reeling herself upwards.
"Spider-Man, Lucky Spider, what's your status?" Yuri's voice crackled through the comms, slightly distorted by their current position.
"We're making our way to the upper floors," Peter responded, his attention focused on climbing higher. Lumi chimed in as she glanced upwards, feeling a subtle vibration in the elevator through her tendril, "Let's just hope nobody decides to use the elevators right now."
Yuri updated them on her situation: "Our helicopters are under attack – Fisk has armed goons on every floor." Upon hearing this, Lumi and Peter exchanged a concerned look.
"Talk about desperate," Peter remarked as he transitioned from crawling to sprinting up the wall. Lumi swiftly reeled herself in to keep pace with him. She quietly added, just loud enough for Luck and Peter to hear, "And desperate people can be even more dangerous."
Yuri must have caught her comment, as a grunt of agreement came through the comms. As Peter and Lumi reached a point where they couldn't directly climb anymore, they smoothly entered an air vent. They carefully listened to Yuri's update: "...and he's throwing everything he's got at us."
"We need to find Fisk and put an end to this," Peter replied, attempting to crawl faster through the vents with Lumi close behind. They both couldn't help but notice how surprisingly clean these vents were.
"Hold on. We intercepted some chatter – they're erasing all their data from their servers," Yuri informed them while they continued moving stealthily. "We need that evidence if we're going to lock Fisk up for good."
"Guess we're taking a detour," Lumi agreed before the comms went silent once more. She looked towards Peter and asked, "So who's handling defense and who's handling tech? I've definitely improved since working with you and Otto."
"Gotten better? Seriously, every time we face off in those lab challenges, you're right there with me," Peter chuckled in a friendly manner, "I could attribute it to luck, but I know it's all due to your incredible skills."
Lumi smiled, remembering their shared past. "Well, having your tutoring back in school certainly helped," she quipped. The two of them had been close friends since childhood. Out of their entire friend group, Lumi was the second person to discover that Peter was Spider-Man; MJ had been the first. With a light-hearted laugh, she added, "And now you're even mentoring me on being a hero, even though our abilities differ since I have luck on my side."
Lumi discovered Peter's secret identity differently than MJ did. Instead of Peter directly telling her like he did with MJ, Lumi ended up learning the truth during an intense situation. Rhino had intercepted an Oscorp truck and tried to steal its contents when Lumi and Peter were catching up at a nearby comic book store. Suddenly, Peter "vanished," and Spider-Man appeared to take down Rhino. During the chaos that ensued, a white and red mass was hurled out of the truck and landed on Lumi.
At first, Luck wasn't as friendly and cooperative as they had hoped. She was frightened and defensive when they initially made contact with her. Consequently, she lashed out at everyone while using Lumi as her host. Rhino managed to escape in the confusion as Peter struggled against Luck. It wasn't until a car alarm went off that Peter discovered the true identity of the person beneath Luck.
Lumi's thoughts about the past were interrupted when she suddenly heard comms going off like a phone call. The image of Aunt May appeared on-screen. Witty as ever, Lumi quipped, "You better answer that one, Peter."
"Umm... hi, Aunt May," Peter hesitantly answered the call, while Lumi tried her best to remain quiet for a few moments. Their attempt at secrecy was challenged as they approached the sounds of gunshots once more.
It came as no surprise when Aunt May's first words were, "What on earth is that racket?"
Peter stumbled, trying to think of a good explanation. "I told you, this superhero movie we're watching has really loud sound effects," Lumi chimed in, coming to Peter's rescue with an airy laugh. "Hey there, Aunt May!"
"Oh, hello Lumi dear!" Aunt May responded brightly, her warmth evident even through the phone. "I was just calling to see if Peter's free for dinner tomorrow evening. Why don't you join us too?"
Lumi grinned at the invitation, replying cheerfully, "I would love to!"
"Absolutely, we'll be there! Oh... uh, we have to run, just realized we're running late for something," Peter said hastily as he swung across the atrium toward an upper floor. He expertly landed on a railing before lunging at one of Fisk's henchmen, efficiently knocking him out with a roundhouse kick.
"Alright then, love you both," Aunt May said warmly before ending the call. "And I look forward to catching up with you too, Lumi."
"I'm excited to see you as well!" Lumi replied with enthusiasm as Peter wrapped up the call by saying 'I love you' back. With focused determination, Lumi followed Peter onto the upper floor and swiftly incapacitated one of Fisk's goons by ensnaring his feet with a tendril and tripping him up.
Peter and Lumi teamed up, swiftly defeating numerous thugs one floor at a time as they charged towards the server room. As Lumi expertly dispatched another adversary, she murmured, “Unbelievable! How deep are this guy's pockets to have such an extensive payroll?”
Chuckling, Peter replied while maintaining his playful tone, “Tell me about it! It's quite tiresome, especially since I'm running out of snappy comebacks for moments like these.” Both of them soared up to the next floor and landed in front of the server room's doors. Peter thought quickly and said, “Hold on; we can't just barge in there – they'll delete the files as soon as we enter. We need a different approach.”
Lumi scanned the surroundings and responded with certainty, “There's a vent close by that we can use.” She pointed towards the ceiling before gracefully ascending to the rooftop. “We've got this under control. You focus on stopping any reinforcements from joining in.” A mischievous grin appeared where Lumi's mouth would be as she added, “I can't wait to see those goons trembling in fear.”