Complicated Circle
"Spider-Man, listen up. We can't let Hammerhead continue to arm himself." Yuri demands, "And those burrowing tanks will tear apart out lockup."
"That's not good," Peter replies, sitting on a lampost coming from buying an old man a hotdog since he didn't have any money. It's his job, he supposes. Plus, he pretty much inherited Tony's wealth so now, he just wasn't on a budget anymore. No more DIY's on suit gadgets or having to minimize necessities like food and electricity for his Spider-Man suit. He still lived in May's apartment but it didn't bother him. He even helped down at F.E.A.S.T. for Mr. Li.
He stands on one foot before jumping into action as Yuri speaks more, "I'm spreading the remaining Oscorp gear throughout the city, make Hammerhead thin his men out."
Peter lands on a building, "Okay, what do you need from me then?" He asked in reply.
"Protect the transports," Yuri requests, "We'll have multiple runs in transit at once; Be ready to back up any get into trouble."
"You can count on me," Peter answers, swinging through Central Park.
"Once the gear is relocated," Yuri finishes, "We'll focus on Hammerhead, stay sharp. Lives are on the line."
Peter notices the change in her tone, once again. He didn't like how "overly determined" Yuri was to get Hammerhead behind bars. Even if she wants him behind bars. Peter had his run-ins with his own villains who emulated Yuri's tone. Rhino, who wanted to get the rhino suit off but used it to almost kill Spider-Man (He has the rhino horn) or Scorpion who wanted to kill Peter because he was responsible for his eye going blind.
Yuri sounded like those two and Peter could use more examples.
Peter decided that he'll talk to Yuri after the whole mess is over. They may have had tough footing sometimes, but Yuri is still his friend and he cares about her.
-
I'm just hungry. Peter thinks as he chases the truck of stolen gear. He manages to land on top of the truck and peeks down in typical Spider-Man fashion, "Hey, is this subway?!"
He releases a web and throws one of Hammerheads henchmen out before swinging around the truck and kicking the other man out. He goes back and sees the driver and decides to cooly but forcefully insert himself through the front seat saying, "I wanna drive!" And proceeds with most of the strength he has to kick the driver out.
He hops outside the empty truck and with his bare hands, stops the truck and hops back on the top of the truck, feeling proud of himself. Man, he totally deserved some subway after he did that.
Then, Yuri calls him.
"Good timing, Yuri! I just-"
But Yuri cuts him off, "THEY WERE KEEPING YOU AWAY! AND WE FELL FOR IT" Her voice nearly cracks, "GET BACK. NOW."
"Shit. Shit. Shit!" He murmurs and jumps into the air, on his way to Yuri. She calls again and Peter can hear the ambulance in the background and even police sirens. He feels droplets of water soaking his latest Spider-Man suit and still, Peter was entirely convinced that Thanos' snap left chaos.
It left chaos for Spider-Man and the NYPD to fix. He knows Thanos is dead. Nebula sadly told him that Thor sliced his head cleanly and some of the mad titan's blood was on her clothing and face. She didn't know what to do except to close his eyes because even with the torture, Thanos raised her. Raised her wrong but raised her, regardless.
Now whenever Nebula would visit Earth, Peter made sure she's loved in his small ways. Such as playing paper football or baking cookies (Nebula would burn the cookies and feel bad but Peter ate them to prove that they weren't bad) or even just watching Disney Princess movies.
"Why did the boy kiss the dead girl?"
"Because it's true love."
"That's necrophilia."
Peter just laughs, "Snow White was in a coma, remember? Only a true love's kiss would-"
Yuri's voice snapped him out of reality, "I need first responders and make sure the ER's clear and knows what we're bringing in," Yuri starts to lose her breath, "Knows what we're bringing in-" The call abruptly ended.
Peter frowns and focused on getting there but also why he had to get there. Yuri mentioned that the Oscorp gear was getting thinned out. There would be no gear at the precinct because Yuri removed it from there and into different locations.
Why would Hammerhead hit the precinct?
-
Peter arrives at the disaster. Not the precinct, but a disaster of a precinct.
He sees the building not completely demolished but he can see wires and foundations of the building breaking apart. He can see little spurts of electricity and odd energy. Black and white. He sees blood on the pavement and first responders surrounding the injured and dead. Peter can also see henchmen. Hammerhead's is easy to recognize because it was either suits or classic gang clothing (hoodies, pants, and shoes) but the others?
They had black ink colored suits with shoes, the only white were the shirts and the masks. But the masks? They were demon masks. Different designs but all shared the same color scheme of black and white. He slowly shuffles to one of them and picks their mask off but in return was the same henchmen awakening and grabbing their sword.
Peter looks at the sword in awe. It was so cool. The sword looked similar to an Odachi and Peter had to dodge constantly and it had the same energy of black and white infused in it. Before Peter could land a hit, the man halts and falls to the ground. He sees Yuri with her gun smoking.
Well, not her gun. But an Oscorp gun. White and heavy with purple streaks along the middle. He observes Yuri. She held her head high but her eyes were beginning to convert to a deeper red, She had her legs placed on the ground and if you didn't stare long enough, you didn't notice her feet wobbling. You can notice her hand trembling on the handle but if you didn't dismiss the big Oscorp gun, you wouldn't see it.
Peter took his attention away to see first responders doing their job. He looks at the bodies on the floor and sees why Yuri was close to her breaking point. Oh, so close. He looks at Yuri again. But doesn't examine her stance or her body but instead, her teary eyes dangerously close to releasing tears.
He looked into her eyes and sees fear and anger.
Peter felt his stomach turn, "I'm so sorry, Yuri... I should've-"
"He knew what he was doing," Yuri dismisses the apology, "He went straight for the cases marked with Project hex." Yuri proceeds to walk towards Spider-Man and past him too. Like, she didn't even want to talk to him.
"Have any idea what that is?" Peter asks, ignoring the sudden tense air between both of them.
"Not a clue, but he has it now." Yuri sharply answers and drops the big Oscorp gun in exchange for an even bigger gun.
Peter's spidey sense was alerted. But it wasn't major like the snap or when there was a bomb near Morgan's first recital. It was mild. Like the ocean trying to swallow Peter but Peter stays afloat. He stays with the flow but control. "We have to go get him." Peter said.
"I know." Yuri says.
"So, where are you going?" Peter asks, following her.
"To teach a lesson in fear."
Peter's eyes go wide as she said those words and sped up to close the car door Yuri opens, "You don't want to do that." He said softly, "Deep breath, remember?"
Yuri looks at him. The way she does is different. Instead of fear, she looked at him with her eyes narrowed as she grits her teeth and threatens him, "You can move. Or I can arrest you."
Peter didn't expect that from her. He backs up, his hands up in surrender, "Yuri, we need to work together." He desperately tries one last time.
"You need to stay the hell out of my way." She piercingly responds and gets in the cop car and drives away.
Peter watches her and sighs, before looking down at the ground, "This could not end well." He whispers.
- 7 MONTHS BEFORE THE SNAP -
"Hey, Spider-boy? Spider-Man?"
Peter looks up and sees an Asian woman. She had long jet black hair, a leather jacket with a plum shirt and black combat boots.
Peter had just finished fighting one of the muggers and looks at her, "Ma'am, Are you okay?"
"I'm the police," She says and takes out her badge for Peter to show. From Karen, it was official, "You know, if you don't want to be tracked down from the cops for ... this," The officer points to the scene, "You might want to at least web them up using your webs and use less of the force because you are sending criminals into hospitals. Plus, if they fall you should have some web to catch them mid-fall."
The officer had pretty good ideas. Some he can take to Tony or his mom, "Oh... Uh, thanks," He says quickly shy, "Is there a reason why you're doing this?"
Guess Peter asked in the wrong way because he can visibly see the fire in her eyes, "Because you're actions make me file more papers, I want less of that."
Peter nods. Guess he never had an officer actually side with him before, "Well, thank you for the tips officer...?"
"Captain Yuri Watanabe," She corrects and puts her hands out for Peter to shake, "Nice to meet you, Spider-Man."
-
- 6 MONTHS BEFORE THE SNAP -
"Spider-Man, I got reports that there's a RHINO terrorizing the town?"
"Working on it!" Spider-Man shouts as he was playing the rodeo with Rhino. Aleksei was getting ready to run again and Spider-Man was between a kid and Rhino. Sure, he was scared but he knows that if someone is bigger, you HAVE to be faster. He knows he can win, he knows.
Rhino runs and Peter grabs the kid before swinging and putting the kid where the police squad was and rejoining the fight.
"SPIDER-MAN?!"
"I'm doing well, Yuri!" Peter replies before seeing Rhino stuck in liquid concrete, "Huh."
"What is it Spider-Man?" Yuri asks.
"I'm done with the job, buuut."
"But what?"
"You might need to bring construction." He says before running and jumping up to web sling home, ready to talk to Natasha about defeating a Soviet Rhino.
-
- 5 MONTHS BEFORE THE SNAP -
Peter sits down on the rails in his Spider-Man next to Captain Yuri Watanabe who was standing and smoking a cigarette. She was dressed in a rosy shirt and a nice pastel jacket with jeans and converse shoes. Her outfit reminded him of his mom who didn't like the color pink but would burst out in Spring colors (grey).
"Thought you said you're quitting smoking," Peter said quietly.
They both watched the sunset, the sky turning into a coral and honey color. He could see the buildings reflect the sky and planes going into the clouds.
"I was, but the NYPD is a stressor," Yuri replies just as quiet, "And Hammerhead too. I'm just trying to get his enforcer. I know he's killed someone, but the police said it was suicide. How coincidental can it be a witness who was apart of hammerheads crime family commit suicide?"
Peter shrugs, "I dunno. But that sounds kinda dirty. Look into it, That isn't coincidental."
Yuri looks at Spider-Man, clearly shocked, "Should I?"
"Definitely," Peter replies, "How about the one where a Maggia informant disappeared months ago? He's a literal Maggia informant for Hammerhead!"
Yuri stays silent.
Peter lets himself stand on the rail, "Why are you so hellbent on Hammerhead and Maggia families?"
Yuri looks at him again as he walks and flips on the rail, "Well, it's a personal matter plus, no one is going to do it, right?"
Peter stops and glances at Yuri, "We are going to do it, remember? You and..."
"Please don't." Yuri begs.
"Spider-Cop."
"I want to push you over the rails, now."
"But you won't do it because you love me!"
"I tolerate you."
-
Gwen watches as Peter enters through the window. He took off the mask and Gwen grasps his cheeks. It was wet and Peter looks at her with such grief as if he just lost a loved one again.
"What happened?" Gwen questions in concern,
"Is Harry here, yet?" He asks.
"No, but he'll be here in twenty minutes, he couldn't leave because his dad wasn't home yet." His dad was there but he decided to drop me off home.
"Oh," Peter said, "How far are we in the project?"
"We? You mean me?" Gwen asks with a smirk, "Just put your name on it and we're done."
"How long has it been since our last meeting?"
"With Harry, just last week. Just with you, two nights ago."
Peter sits down and lets himself slide off the couch. He looks at Gwen again and asks, "When do you give up on a friend?"
Gwen takes a seat and takes Peter's hand. She didn't know when to give up. Gwen barely had friends despite being in cheerleading and the top of her class. She had acquaintances but never friends. The only ones she managed to get them close were both Peter and Harry.
"Well, I think you should never give up a friend no matter what. If they lead on a path dark, you should try your best to pull them away and get them on the bright path. But if they messed the friendship up so hard that it's impossible to fix, then bid goodbye." Gwen gives. She wasn't the best. She didn't know Peter's friend and didn't have experience but Peter needed her advice. Who was she to decline?
Peter lays his head on Gwen's shoulder and Gwen laid her head on his head.
Peter looks at her hand and plays with her fingers. Gwen just intertwines her fingers with his and they just stayed like that. They stayed like that. Just handholding and physical contact in silence until Harry knocked on the door. Peter whined about Gwen having to pull herself away but she couldn't leave Harry outside.
She goes and opens the door and sees Harry.
They all sit on one couch, their project finished watching Parks and Recreation.
It was until thirty minutes someone called Gwen that she had to go to her room.
Norman Osborn
Gwen picks up.
Norman Osborn was incredibly rich as Gwen learns. She also learned from their first night together that he doesn't wear condoms and his kid is Harry (who is currently watching Parks and Recreation with Peter). "Yes, daddy?" Gwen asked.
"Make yourself available at seven through twelve. I'll pay you six figures by the time we're done. My kid is at their friends' house right now doing a project, so we're free." He stated.
Gwen nods, "Anything you want me to dress in?"
"Just in your thong and casual clothes, baby." Norman says, "Someone will pick you up in five minutes."
"Okay, bye." They both hang up and Gwen hurriedly changes into her thong and casual clothes (which were sweatpants, a tank top and a jacket toped with shoes) and she runs out the room and looks at Harry and Peter.
Peter, who wasn't in his Spider-Man spandex but instead a white shirt and hello kitty pants (Courtsey of Gwen's bigger sister) and was fast asleep and drooling compared to Harry who wasn't even sleeping but was alert and almost trying not to wake up Peter as Andy said something dumb but funny.
"I'm late for work," Gwen whispers to Harry, "If Peter asks, I'm working a deal and won't be back till midnight."
Harry gives her a thumbs up.
"Also, foods in the fridge." She said before opening the door and locking it and running down to the elevator and getting down to see a black car awaiting her. She goes to the window and the window goes down.
"Norman Osborn?"
The driver nods and Gwen gets in the car.
Gwen breathes in. She just pulled herself into a complicated relationship, did she?