A few minutes ago when-
Taylor was taken hostage by the one called Trickster. She knew him from PHO. As someone active in PHO like most of her age who had an interest in capes, it was within expectations for Taylor to recognize the villain.
The ‘Travelers’ were a rookie villain team that would rarely appear on PHO, but they had some levels of notoriety since New York. It was mostly conspiracy theories, but there was reason to fear the Travelers.
Currently, Taylor had real reasons to be scared of them.
Trickster who was Travelers’ leader was pointing a gun at her, her body turned away from him. She was tempted to use her insects to see him, but she heeded his warning. She believed he would pull the trigger if she showed any signs of moving, controlling her insects, or just speaking.
In the end, that didn’t stop her from accumulating insects at the hidden gaps far from his perception… like under the concrete floor, and the gaps from under the windows.
Taylor needed only a single opening, and she would retaliate. But Peter was so competent she didn’t even need to put the effort. Taylor didn't need to test her luck as Trickster disengaged and talked to her.
"Your friend got us good," Trickster remarked as he adopted an annoyed tone. "This is what's going to happen. I will drop my gun down, you will face me, and then I will throw you a remote. It is a rigged remote used to control the camera at your 9 o'clock. I am dropping my gun, you can now slowly turn around."
Taylor did as he instructed, and then it went on as Trickster said it would.
The final result was Trickster scurrying off, while she used her insects to scout and secure data on their surroundings. She was tensed, but she knew she was safe. She had Peter.
So when Peter arrived back in his familiar Iron Spider suit, she was surprised that he brought another person with him: a little girl with dark brown hair.
“How are you, Taylor?” asked Peter.
“I am fine, but who is she?” Taylor saw the little girl clinging to Peter, her small hands grabbing his wrist. “And the Travelers? This attack? What is going to happen now?”
Life was going too fast for Taylor, and she sensed another ‘escalation’ in her life coming at her with extra spice, nothing sweet, and would never been nice.
“First, let’s do introductions… This is Dinah Alcott, she may provide us important insights to this attack.” Peter removed the helm-part of his armor, it withdrew from his face in a sand-like manner, contracting back to his suit. “And Dinah, this pretty big sister here is Taylor.”
Okay, calm down Taylor. Don’t blush for being called ‘pretty big sister’, but damn she must be blushing judging by the weird look the little girl was sending her.
…
..
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Friday— April 15th, 2011.
COIL’S FEARS.
2:15 PM.
The Present~
Coil paced frantically in his darkened control room, his eyes flicking between the monitors displaying various scenes across the city. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he muttered to himself, his carefully constructed plans unraveling before his eyes.
It should not have been like this: Spiderman would never kill.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it," he cursed under his breath, his voice echoing in the empty room. His mercenaries had failed him, the Travelers had failed him, and now his carefully crafted facade was crumbling. He knew he was losing control, and panic clawed at him like a relentless beast.
For the first time, his power had failed him. He had seen it, the Iron Spider forced into a corner unable to do anything as Taylor Hebert was made hostage. The boy was a textbook-Ward despite not being one. And with someone important to him taken hostage, he was forced into a situation where he had no choice but to be passive. It took Coil many iterations to pin down the Iron Spider. It was unnerving as to how he had ‘no history’, perhaps like the Travelers, he was ‘literally’ not from around here.
Coil from behind the scenes had given instructions on how to take down the Iron Spider, strip down his ‘iron’ and kill him. After so many tries from his mercenaries, Coil had known that the Iron Spider was still a difficult foe considering his latent Brute Ratings that Coil only found out the hard way.
Left with no avenue, the Iron Spider was whittled again and again by the Travelers until he was on his last legs.
While the Iron Spider was dying, Dinah Alcott was successfully retrieved by his mercenaries without being able to connect with the Spider. Even if the Travelers somehow failed to kill the Iron Spider, it would have been a great boon for Coil as he had acquired Dinah by that time. From the split-reality that Coil peered through, he had marvelously killed the Iron Spider and acquired Dinah Alcott.
That was why he had so eagerly pushed on this operation; he motivated the Travelers that by killing the Iron Spider, he’d help them.
Coil wanted to throw the Undersiders at the Iron Spider too, but in that iteration, they didn’t help at all, but worsened it. Coil was so-looking forward to killing the Spider as he had truly been spooked by him…
And oh lord, he was right to be spooked.
It all started when Peter killed Trickster’s clone, showing an obvious intent to kill. This was not supposed to happen. This was not how this happened in Coil’s split-timeline. From there, everything went wrong for Coil.
He watched in the monitor screen as the Spider took a hostage of his own, and threatened Trickster in return. At this point, Trickster was no longer listening to Coil. It was a complete reversal of trust. And then… The Travelers disengaged, while Ballistic and Sundancer retreated on their monstrous dog.
“Get out of there, the mission is canceled.” Coil ordered the mercenary that he sent to monitor the entire fight to make a run for it, but he was too late. “Get out of there, I repeat.”
The Iron Spider appeared on the monitor screen connected to the mercenary, his expression was grim and determined. He was not in his armor. He was merely a teenager: brown hair, blue eyes, yet his gaze seemed to pierce through the camera, fixing directly on Coil as if he could see him through the screen.
Coil felt a shiver run down his spine at the intensity of that stare.
The Spider spoke with a voice that carried a weight of authority and conviction. "I will find you."
Coil clenched his fists, feeling a surge of frustration and anger rising within him. He had meticulously orchestrated every move, manipulated every event to his advantage, but now it seemed as though his carefully constructed web of schemes was unraveling before his very eyes.
Unbeknownst to Coil, his power never stood a candle to Peter Parker’s spider-sense. The super instinct that Peter wielded was so strong it could tap on the fringes of the multiverse and possibly pierce through it. Peter Parker’s spider-sense would be forever outside Coil’s perception, and it was a power never have been connected or associated with any entities. It was a power that was Peter’s alone, one brought by fate and not circumstance. Every time Coil had split the timeline, he would never be able to replicate Peter’s true abilities, not to mention the peak of Spiderman’s abilities.
To surmise, Coil messed with the wrong hero.
For Coil, it would only get worse.
He was regretting it; he should have sent his every resource available to him, sent all of his mercenaries, the Undersiders, and every cape under his thumb: Circus, Chariot, and every member of the Travelers from the clone-maker to the sorry recluse brat.
On the other screen, he saw Dinah becoming more motivated as she eluded his mercenaries. She was getting closer and closer to the Iron Spider. Options. Coil needed options. He was becoming desperate. Even if he had his mercenaries chasing Dinah to retreat now, Dinah would still end up finding the Iron Spider considering the distance was quickly shortening between them.
Like Coil, Dinah had also become desperate. The little girl knew wherever she was heading was her saving grace, and she would do anything in her power to get away from Coil.
Options. Option. Coil didn’t have an option anymore: if he couldn’t have it, then no one could. He called to his mercenaries. “Change of mission parameters, kill Dinah Alcott.”
“No, you don’t.” It was the Iron Spider’s voice answering him.
His systems had been hacked before Coil knew it. Coil stood, leaving his chair dropping to the ground.
The Iron Spider had already retrieved his armor, and he came swinging on the mercenaries attempting to kill Dinah Alcott. This was the most terrible development that Coil could imagine... Once the Iron Spider took hold of Dinah, it would only be a question of ‘when’, before Coil was put behind bars.
Coil killed off his computer and unplugged every wire. This place was lost to him. He had been very careful, something a paranoid Thinker should be proud of, but Coil felt exposed. He realized his preparations were not enough. Yes, he was in an isolated space conducting his operation. Yes, the building where he was doing his operation was brought under an untraceable fake identity. Yes, he had an alibi readied before coming here.
He was prepared on the occasion he had been compromised, but it never had crossed his mind it would happen. He was a perfectionist. He was meant to be invincible, having overwhelming power in the form of ‘freedom’, yet now, he felt so caged. The ‘escalation’ would only get worse from this point forward.
He knew when to escalate or de-escalate, and right at this moment, he knew the only option for him was to de-escalate. But he wouldn’t make it easy. This was now a fight for survival. There was a ‘Thinker-power’ out there that could counter him so perfectly. Being fed with ‘misinformation’ was Coil’s greatest kryptonite.
There was no going back from here. The unwritten rule could go and fuck themselves.
Coil's hands shook as he dialed the number on the burner phone, his mind racing with thoughts of escape and survival. His carefully constructed empire would crumble around him, and he knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to survive this.
As the phone rang, he clenched his jaw, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end was tense, awaiting instructions from their leader.
"It's Coil," he said tersely, his voice betraying none of the panic coursing through him. "Change of plans. Initiate Protocol Omega. Burn everything. Leave nothing behind."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before the subordinate responded, their voice filled with uncertainty. "But sir, what about—"
"No questions," Coil interrupted sharply. "Just do it. Now."
No traces that could connect to him— that was his no. 1 priority.
And the no. 2 priority was retaliation. He dialed another number on the burner phone. “This is Coil. I will send you data on two particular capes and their civilian identities. I want their lives destroyed, razed to the ground, and exposed to the world like an ugly festering wound until it was scarred into something unrecognizable.”
“This is Tattletale speaking… uhhh… Are you serious? I don’t like jokes…” Tattletale sounded scared, and she was right to be scared, because Coil was angry… very angry.
“Do it,” Coil said with finality. “Spread it in the social media, news outlet, PHO, everywhere, and I will let you go. Your freedom will be once more yours, Tattletale. Don’t fail me.”
With that, he ended the call and pocketed the burner phone, his mind already racing ahead to his next move. He knew he couldn't stay in Brockton Bay any longer. The Iron Spider was unexpectedly a force to be reckoned with, and Coil had underestimated him. But he wasn't defeated yet. He still had resources, connections, and a mind honed for strategy.
As the flames began to consume the building behind him, casting flickering shadows on the empty streets, Coil disappeared into the dusk, leaving behind nothing but ash and chaos in his wake. The game had changed, but he was determined to adapt, to survive, and to reclaim his lost power from this disadvantaged position.
For now, he’d run desperately, he’d make excuses. He would rebuild somewhere, lick away his wounds, and once he was strong enough and that the Spider had weakened, he’d return stronger.
Coil swore he’d kill the Spider himself. Not now. Not today. But he would kill him. He would slaughter him. He would make the Spider watch as he ground his loved ones to dust. He wouldn’t leave his bones to feed the dogs. He would be invincible again.
He would come back. Not now. Not today.
But Thomas Calvert would come back, if not stronger, then with more cunning, more resources, and more schemes. And perhaps— more wicked than ever.
...
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#Intense Coil #Spidey Villain Comparison, any similarities? #Coil running away is smart TBH #Spidey’s W or L? #Looking forward to the next arc: Bakuda Bombings
