I didn’t waste any time and started working on my little database the very next day.
Fortunately, the article about the charity event had also been published in the Daily Bugle surprisingly quickly.
It conveniently introduced me to all the people I was interested in.
After that, I simply gathered everything I could find about them online.
Addresses.
Business partners.
The industries they operated in.
The more information I uncovered, the more I realized just how deep a hole I was about to climb into.
If even half of these people were involved in criminal activities, then the criminal empire controlled by the Kingpin was absolutely enormous.
I didn’t overlook Fisk herself, either.
I was very interested in finding out what kind of business connected her to Osborn.
Norma had clearly been less than thrilled about Wilma’s presence.
She had even sent me away as quickly as possible, obviously not wanting me to end up in the Kingpin’s line of sight.
However, I couldn’t find any information about joint operations between Oscorp and Fisk’s legitimate businesses.
That was bad.
It meant the Kingpin had decided to approach the Osborn company from the darker side of things.
I didn’t have to wonder what Wilma wanted from Norma.
Oscorp, even with all its internal problems, was a gigantic weapons manufacturer.
Control it, and you could arm a pretty respectable army.
Fisk wouldn’t just be able to equip her thugs with the latest weapons.
She could also increase her fortune considerably by establishing a lucrative trade network with some very unpleasant people.
And that was only what was visible on the surface.
Then there was the Green Goblin.
The thought of one of the city’s most dangerous women suddenly having an army of psychopaths riding around on gliders was enough to send a shiver down my spine.
And those were only the developments I knew about.
God only knew what else could be hidden inside that weapons giant’s facilities.
Unfortunately, I still had very little information.
But it was a beginning.
A small starting point.
Getting rid of Fisk anytime soon was simply impossible.
This was going to take months, perhaps even years.
Of course, I could just kill her.
But the death of a queen didn’t necessarily mean the death of her kingdom.
Wilma kept the criminal underworld in a state of controlled chaos and, for all her faults, she acted rather rationally.
If her successor turned out to be less thoughtful and level-headed, things could become even worse.
What I needed was one powerful strike that would bring down the entire criminal organization, from the top all the way to the bottom.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough strength, resources, or information to pull something like that off.
That same evening, we went out on another superhero patrol.
We hadn’t been able to patrol as often as we’d wanted during the previous week, so we planned to make up for lost time.
And this time, luck was actually on our side.
Shocker had decided to rob a bank.
Why did I consider that lucky?
The answer was simple.
Her gauntlets.
I’d been drooling over those things for quite some time.
The incident with Connors had made it painfully obvious how much I lacked in terms of offensive power.
If I could get my hands on a supervillain’s weapon, it would solve quite a few of my problems.
Not perfectly, of course.
But it would certainly help.
Besides, my little genius might be able to come up with something interesting once she got her hands on them.
We hadn’t forgotten our plan to create a game, either.
Hopefully, once it was released, we’d have enough money to afford materials for upgrades.
Her costume was interesting, too.
It was bulletproof.
If it hadn’t been, someone would have shot her a long time ago.
I really wanted to find out what it was made of.
There were no visible armor components anywhere on it.
Overall, it looked surprisingly light, yet it still did an excellent job of protecting its wearer.
We positioned ourselves on the roof of a building across from the bank.
The situation was honestly pretty complicated.
It was evening, and a lot of people had already finished work, so the bank was still crowded with customers.
That meant Shocker had a whole lot of hostages.
I doubted she’d start killing them.
Bank robbers usually tried to avoid casualties.
If everything went wrong, killing people would only add several more years to their sentence.
Still, we couldn’t simply ignore the danger to innocent civilians.
“Any ideas?”
Gwen was wearing a mask, but I could still clearly imagine the frown on her face.
Penny and I didn’t answer immediately.
We continued staring intently at the occupied building.
The situation was roughly this:
Shocker and eight armed goons were controlling the lobby, where they were holding the hostages.
Several others were supposed to head for the vault and break into it.
I could see two possible ways this could play out.
The first was that we stayed on this roof and let the police handle everything.
They were obviously better prepared for situations like this than we were, and they would minimize the risk to the hostages.
The downside was that we’d also be increasing the chances of Shocker escaping with the stolen money.
“I have an idea.”
I finally broke out of my thoughts and drew the girls’ attention.
“Actually, I have two.”
I held up a finger.
“First option: we go in quietly. I’ll teleport us to the second floor, then we sneak toward the vault, take out whoever is working on it, and secure the money. We can also deal with any goons who come to check why their friends are taking so long.”
I raised a second finger.
“Second option: we go in loud. I’ll teleport us directly into the lobby. The two of you should have enough reaction speed to web up the gunmen before they even realize what’s happening.”
“And I’ll take Shocker somewhere far away from the building.”
“If she starts firing those gauntlets inside the bank, people are going to get hurt.”
“I vote for the first one,” Penny announced after a few seconds of thought.
Gwen silently nodded in agreement.
I had a feeling my desire to drag the supervillain away and get her alone had influenced that decision quite a bit.
I couldn’t blame them.
Still, the second option didn’t rule out the possibility of exactly the same thing happening.
The argument about how destructive her weapons were still stood.
Besides, I wasn’t sure how the police would react if I decided to pocket Shocker’s weapons for myself.
We started immediately.
With my abilities, getting inside the bank was child’s play.
The second floor was used as an office.
There were rows of desks separated by wooden partitions, a couple of water coolers, a few coffee machines, and not much else.
Unfortunately, there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for us.
There were two goons up here whom I hadn’t noticed from the street.
Fortunately, we hadn’t let our guard down, and we dealt with them quickly.
They didn’t even have time to make a sound.
Their mouths and gun barrels were covered in webbing, and knocking them out with the stun device was merely a formality.
Ordinary people really didn’t stand much of a chance against these girls.
Or against me, for that matter.
My reaction speed wasn’t any different from an ordinary person’s.
I couldn’t dodge a bullet after it had been fired.
But if I carefully watched the direction of the gun, I could easily move out of its line of fire.
We cautiously descended to the first floor, trying not to make unnecessary noise.
Not that it was particularly necessary.
The noise outside the building was growing louder and showed no signs of stopping.
The sirens and the police repeatedly ordering the criminals to surrender actually made our job easier.
Their attention was focused outside.
The tactical units would arrive any minute, and snipers would soon take positions on nearby rooftops.
What was Shocker counting on?
How did she plan to get out?
Either way, we managed to reach the vault without being noticed.
There were three goons here.
One was guarding the entrance while the other two were working on the enormous vault door.
We figured that out by cautiously peeking around the corner.
Of course, there was still a chance there were more of them hidden somewhere outside our field of view.
Fortunately, the criminals themselves solved that problem for us.
They were talking loudly enough that we could clearly hear them.
There were only three voices.
Dealing with them was just as easy as dealing with the first two.
Penny’s spider-sense suddenly picked up danger, and she motioned for us to stop.
We couldn’t talk, but we managed to put together a simple plan using hand signals.
I suddenly leaned around the corner.
Before the guard had time to react, I teleported behind her and knocked out the two women working on the vault.
At the same time, the girls dealt with the one standing watch.
Just like the others, we wrapped the unconscious criminals in webbing, just in case.
Thankfully, they didn’t possess the strength or razor-sharp claws of the Lizard.
Getting out of those webs was nothing more than a fantasy for them.
Then we waited.
Sooner or later, Shocker would become interested in the progress of her subordinates and send someone to check on them.
Ideally, she’d come herself.
The more people we took out here, the less danger there would be for the hostages.
The wait dragged on.
It lasted only ten minutes, but considering the circumstances, those ten minutes felt like an eternity.
We still didn’t have enough experience to remain completely calm in situations like this.
Still, we managed it.
Even though we were noticeably nervous, we waited until another pair of goons finally came to check on their friends.
They quickly joined their predecessors.
That left only six enemies, not counting Shocker herself.
We couldn’t stay here any longer.
Relying on Shocker to keep sending her goons down here would have been extremely naive.
She’d probably realize something was wrong within the next few minutes and try to do something about it.
We risked losing the initiative, and that was something we couldn’t allow.
So I had to put my second plan into action.
Fortunately, we’d already reduced the number of enemies.
That meant less risk for the hostages.
Using my ability, we appeared right in the middle of the lobby.
Shocker was casually strolling around the room.
The situation didn’t seem to concern her in the slightest.
Most likely, she already had an escape plan prepared.
The girls immediately started webbing the nearest criminals, moving as quickly as possible before they could understand what was happening.
I did exactly what I’d planned earlier.
I grabbed Shocker by the back of her costume and teleported both of us onto the roof of the neighboring building.
Honestly, it was difficult to take Shocker very seriously as a threat.
At least, that was based on my memories of the cartoon I’d watched as a kid.
I couldn’t remember a single scene where this character appeared without getting beaten up a few minutes later.
Of course, I wasn’t going to underestimate her.
I only had one life, and losing it in a fight against a villain who wasn’t exactly impressive would be incredibly pathetic.
In every possible sense of the word.
The moment we arrived, I immediately used my stun device on her.
It did absolutely nothing.
Her costume protected her from that, too.
Now I wanted it even more. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
The failure didn’t bother me.
If I’d genuinely believed I could knock her out that way, I would have used it before bringing her here.
“What the…”
Shocker was obviously disoriented after suddenly finding herself in a completely different location.
But she recovered quickly.
She spun around and threw a punch at me.
Dodging the attack wasn’t difficult.
I read the direction of her movement and immediately teleported to the opposite side.
“Do you even understand who you’re messing with, brat?”
Her voice was incredibly deep.
If it weren’t for her rather impressive chest, I’d have assumed a man was speaking.
“The least impressive villain of the modern era?”
I was always up for some banter, especially in a situation like this.
Time was on my side.
Penny and Gwen wouldn’t need long to deal with the remaining goons.
They’d be here any second.
The Lizard hadn’t been able to stand against the three of us, even though we’d needed to use a trick to beat her.
Shocker had absolutely no chance.
“You little…”
She stopped herself.
“Wait a second. I know you.”
She looked at me more closely.
“You’re that weirdo who was messing around with the crocodile at Oscorp, right?”
Shocker had clearly been about to tell me exactly where I could shove my opinion of her and her achievements.
But the moment she recognized me, she calmed down suspiciously quickly.
“Listen, why the hell are you doing this?”
She shrugged.
“You run around the city beating up girls, but what’s the point? There are more goons than you can shake a stick at. You’re not going to accomplish anything, and you’re not getting a damn thing out of it.”
She paused.
“You want to work for my boss?”
“You’ll get paid, and the company will be a hell of a lot better than those two idiots you’re running around with.”
That was bad.
Very bad.
There was always a possibility that she was simply acting on her own initiative.
But the fact that she’d suddenly regained her composure the moment she recognized me suggested otherwise.
Most likely, her boss, Fisk, had learned about my abilities and become interested in me.
That wasn’t surprising.
I could get into practically anywhere.
Stealing was practically my calling.
Exactly the kind of person the Kingpin could use.
The temptation to accept the offer was real.
It was an excellent opportunity to get close to Wilma and find out more about her operation.
But the risk was too high.
I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I could fool a woman that intelligent forever.
Sooner or later, she’d realize I was a spy.
And in the worst-case scenario, she could even uncover my real identity.
“I think I’ll pass.”
“Tch.”
Shocker’s expression hardened.
“Didn’t work the nice way, so I guess you’ll have to come with me the hard way.”
Her gauntlets instantly pointed toward me.
I teleported again.
What followed was basically a one-sided beating.
Shocker simply couldn’t keep track of my movements.
I appeared.
I hit her.
Then I disappeared.
“Think you’re the smartest guy around, huh, brat?”
Shocker paused for another bit of talking.
I couldn’t see how badly she was hurt beneath the costume, which I still hadn’t managed to damage, but her heavy breathing made it obvious she was struggling.
“Let’s say you catch me. Then what?”
“You think I’m going to sit in prison?”
“Not a chance. I’ll be out in a week.”
Maybe she would be.
I hadn’t expected her to receive a long sentence in the first place.
That would have been far too optimistic.
Still, there was useful information hidden in her claim that she’d be released so quickly.
Would she get out before trial or after?
Who would handle her case?
If there was going to be a trial, I’d also be interested in knowing who her lawyer was.
The jury.
The judge.
Everything.
Of course, there was no guarantee Fisk would even bother getting her out.
Like I’d already said, Shocker was a thoroughly unimpressive villain without any personal abilities.
Give ten ordinary goons the same weapons she had, and they wouldn’t be any less dangerous than her.
I decided it was time to finish things.
I brought out my web-shooters, which I hadn’t revealed until now.
I wrapped the villainess completely in webbing, tore off her mask, and knocked her unconscious.
Bare skin was defenseless against my weapon.
Penny and Gwen joined me on the roof shortly afterward.
With six hands working together, removing Shocker’s weapons and handing her over to the police was a piece of cake.