Monday— April 18th, 2011.
BAKUDA’S ANNOYANCE.
2:22 PM.
Bakuda was furious. She stood atop the superstructure in the middle of the boat, her gaze piercing through the window as she watched the smog-like darkness begin to envelop the deck. Her plans were being disrupted, and she couldn't afford any interference. With a growl of frustration, she turned to her ABB thugs.
"Take care of that cape!" she ordered, her voice laced with venom. "I'll deal with the rest."
From the other end of the deck were three monster dogs with the cape called Bitch riding one of them. Bakuda gave Bitch a higher priority considering she was someone who soaked up the damage that the Undersiders had to suffer. Moreover, it would be fun to hit something as big as the monster dogs.
In addition, the ABB goons had no chance against Bitch’s dogs. Bakuda didn’t trust providing tinker tech bombs to her minions while in a boat. Bullets wouldn’t just work on Bitch’s dogs. The ABB thugs would have better chances against the darkness generator.
To conclude, Bakuda found Bitch a more efficient and effective target.
Bakuda was a genius, so of course, she knew how to strategize. Though her arrogance was almost self-destructive, she had real abilities to back it up. She slammed the window adjacent to where Bitch was creating mayhem and saw only half of the deck was superimposed by the darkness.
With an aim-assist retrofitted on her launcher, she was confident she wouldn’t miss.
Bakuda gripped her custom-designed launcher tightly, feeling the weight of it in her hands. The weapon was certainly not a masterpiece but it was a work she could be proud of.
It was a fusion of advanced technology and brutal firepower with a sleek black exterior that belied the deadly potential within. It was compact and could be carried in her arms. Bakuda took some stuff from her belt and added it to the launcher. Bakuda mounted the launcher on her shoulder, boasting an array of attachments, including the retrofitted aim-assist she had recently perfected and a spider-like tripod that would screw itself to the nearest solid structures in optimized angles.
Bakuda’s thoughts were in a whirlwind of speculative fun, entertaining all sorts of bombs to send as a payload. ‘What bombs are best for some monster dogs? Huh? Too many options. Something that won’t destroy the ship, I supposed. Heh~! How about a vacuum bomb? It has roughly 2 meters in diameter when it comes to damage, and that shouldn’t destroy the ship too much.’
“Die,” she whispered with a grin, “Let’s see if you can survive this.”
Bakuda's fingers danced over the controls of her launcher with practiced ease as she loaded the vacuum bomb into its chamber. With a confident smirk, she aimed at the monstrous dogs below, calculating trajectories and potential collateral damage. She held her breath, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Finally, with a swift motion, she pulled the trigger.
A gunshot resounded at the same time…
The vacuum bomb hurtled through the air, but it didn’t make its mark as the ‘thing’ exploded mid-air.
Startled, Bakuda's gaze snapped towards the source of the sound. There, standing a few meters away from Bitch, was Tattletale, her expression unreadable behind a poker face. Anger surged within Bakuda, fueled by the frustration of her game being disturbed.
With a snarl of irritation, Bakuda redirected her focus back to the impending explosion. The vacuum bomb detonated with a deafening roar, unleashing a powerful shockwave that rippled through the air. The force of the blast sent debris flying in all directions, obscuring Bakuda's vision momentarily.
The good news was the dark smoke generated by Grue was pushed away simultaneously, giving her thugs more leeway on how to move and fight back.
Bakuda scanned the aftermath as the dust settled, searching for any sign of Bitch or her monstrous dogs. But to her dismay, there was no trace of them. Growling in frustration, Bakuda turned her attention back to Tattletale who was climbing the stairs on the superstructure and was on her way to Bakuda’s cabin space..
"Tattletale," she spat, her voice dripping with venom, "Annoying, her ability to intuit information was better than I thought, but she wouldn’t be so lucky this time."
With frustration boiling inside her, Bakuda swiftly loaded her launcher with a petrifying bomb, her fingers moving with practiced precision. This time, her target was clear—Tattletale.
Bakuda aimed the weapon at the approaching figure of Tattletale climbing the stairs, Bakuda's eyes narrowed at her target, while she calculated the trajectory, ensuring maximum impact. But before she could even pull the trigger, she was disrupted.
Dark smoke invaded her space, and she didn’t see it coming. Moreover, Bakuda couldn’t pull the trigger as if an outside force was controlling her. From her peripheral vision, she saw Grue and Regent coming out from the smoke.
Bakuda had studied the Undersiders half-heartedly, calling them mooks and low-tier villains. Considering the scale of their plans since she was invited to ABB and the streaks of success they were accumulating from behind the scenes, Bakuda had every right to be arrogant.
However, arrogance was a flaw and something that should have been suppressed and not enabled.
Sounds of shattering glass resounded from behind her. She felt the breath of a monstrous dog on her neck. Bakuda wasn’t even able to turn her head around, but she was certain what was behind her. It could only be one of Bitch’s monstrous dogs, its hot breath sending shivers down her spine.
With reflexes fueled by sheer willpower, she turned around and tried to launch her bomb at the creature. However, she only ended up stumbling backward, her foot caught on a loose piece of debris, sending her crashing to the ground with a grunt of pain.
In that moment of vulnerability, Bakuda's mind raced. Her thoughts were a chaotic whirlwind of panic and bitterness. She couldn't afford to falter now, not when victory was so close at hand. With a defiant snarl, she scrambled to her feet, her fingers fumbling for the controls of her launcher.
While at it, she tried her best to wiggle her toes connected to her toe rings to activate the bombs she planted around the place… but then again, it was futile. Regent’s power was still holding onto her.
Before Bakuda could regain her footing, a strong hand gripped her shoulder, spinning her around to face her assailant. It was Regent, his smirk cutting like a blade through the dark smog surrounding them. Her blood boiled with rage as she struggled against his hold, but his grip was firm.
"Nice try, sweetheart," he taunted, his voice dripping with amusement. "But it looks like your little game is over. Come on, stop struggling, you are below my weight class. I might look thin, but I am still a guy…"
“Where is the feminist movement when you need them?” Tattletale snarkily remarked, walking inside the room. “Let me help you tie her up, Regent. Also, don’t loosen your hold over her. We don’t know if she has hidden trigger mechanisms under her suit. We don’t want her to blow us up. Where is Bitch?”
“Outside, tearing up the rest of the ABB thugs with Judas and Brutus,” helpfully answered Grue.
Before Grue could say more, Regent slumped his shoulders and complained. “Don’t be like that, Tats… You are fully aware my power needs ‘time’ to envelop the other fella, it is hard enough to stay under Grue’s smog, while only walls away from a mad bomber…”
"Don't call me Tats again, I dare you..."
Regent maintained his hold on Bakuda as Tattletale swiftly moved in to secure her. With practiced efficiency, Tattletale bound Bakuda's hands behind her back, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to touch anything else. Bakuda seethed with frustration, but reined in her anger and calmly assessed her situation.
Currently, Bakuda was bound, and restrained… Tattletale was an annoyance, but Regent was of higher priority. Get him distracted or eliminated, and she’d be able to set off her bombs indiscriminately. Using her optics interface, she sent her instructions to the multiple conscripted fellas she had under her.
In order to buy time, Bakuda decides to gloat. “All of you are fools,” she spat, her voice dripping with contempt as she struggled against her restraints. "You think you've won, but you've merely stumbled into my trap. You underestimate my genius, my ingenuity."
Regent rolled his eyes, unimpressed by Bakuda's bravado. "Save your breath, sweetheart," he retorted, tightening his power on her limbs. "We've heard of what you did. Bombing Cornell? And what? Killing a cape’s family? You're not as clever as you think you are."
Grue piped in, “No more bombings from you, Bakuda.”
Bakuda laughed, “Hah! Ha ha ha! Fuck you, Regent! But fuck, that made me laugh hard,” her laughter sounded too cheerful and it didn’t mix well with her voice changer, creating a grating low-pitched laugh. “We will own everything, and Brockton Bay would be the start of our fucking empire. The fire lizard was motivated now more than ever. First, we’ll clean this place of the dissenters, and then soon, we’ll be raising capes of our own! It is unfortunate I didn’t accomplish my objectives, but that didn’t ruin the overall plan, so sucks to be you!”
“She is stalling for time, so call it in,” Tattletale said to Grue.
“To who? The PRT? The Protectorate? New Wave? Wards?” Bakuda grinned under her helmet, and she only felt pleasure as looks of confusion covered everyone’s faces. “Did you think this was some show of power? An angle to re-adjust the status quo and for ABB not to get kicked out? No. This was a fucking takeover! So if you are calling someone, then you better call the Triumvirate!”
“No,” replied a chilling voice. “They called someone worse— someone whom you took her father from. Someone who’d love ripping you to pieces inside and out. Someone like me.”
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Monday— April 18th, 2011.
TAYLOR’S BITTERNESS.
2:30 PM.
Taylor scanned Bakuda with her drone if her helmet had any traps. Finding none, Taylor unmasked Bakuda. It was unexpected, but Bakuda had stronger Caucasian features than Asian features. She had pale blue eyes and straight black hair.
The sight of Taylor blatantly breaking the unwritten rules elicited a frown from Tattletale and Regent.
Grue voiced his complaint, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I wanted to see her face when I murdered her,” simply replied Taylor.
Taylor's fist connected with Bakuda's face with a satisfying thud, the force of the blow sending Bakuda staggering backward. The impact reverberated through Bakuda's helmet, rattling her senses as she stumbled, momentarily stunned by the unexpected attack. Anger flared within Bakuda, fueled by the humiliation of being struck by a mere teenager. With a snarl of fury, Bakuda regained her footing, her gaze narrowing on Taylor with a fierce intensity.
"You brat!" Bakuda spat, her voice dripping with venom as she wiped blood from her split lip. "You'll pay for that! Your daddy would be disappointed in you."
“You killed my father,” Taylor summoned swarms of her insects, “You will pay for my father’s death.”
Peter's armored hand landed on Taylor's shoulder, his grip firm yet reassuring. "Taylor," he said gently, "calm down. We can't let emotions cloud our judgment. You don’t want this, Taylor… Please…"
“You don’t know what I want, Spider, it wasn’t you who lost someone they loved.” Taylor's chest heaved with rage, her fists clenched at her sides as she struggled to contain the storm of emotions raging within her. She knew Peter was right, but the sight of Bakuda standing before her, the person responsible for her father's death, reignited the flames of vengeance burning within her.
Addressing Peter as ‘Spider’ spoke of how much her emotions were dictating her, but it was difficult… Taylor sighed. “Sorry, Peter… I didn’t mean…”
“It is fine,” Peter supplemented quickly.
Taking a deep breath, Taylor forced herself to calm down, her anger simmering beneath the surface as she reluctantly stepped back from Bakuda. The momentary lapse in control had passed, replaced by a steely determination to see justice served. This was the right thing to do, but…
Bakuda, for her part, sneered defiantly despite the blood trickling down her chin. "You think you can intimidate me, little girl? You're nothing compared to what I've faced. YOU ARE NOTHING TO WHAT I CAN DO!"
Peter's voice was calm but firm as he addressed Bakuda. "We're not here to intimidate you. We're here to stop you. Give up. Lung had lost. You are next."
Bakuda shook her head, “You are amazing, Iron Spider, or was it, Peter Parker? Whatever… Few can create functioning nanotech barring the Machine Army… Do you know? The micro-bombs I tinkered on Lung had been inspired by your suit, amazing tech, and those are high compliments coming from me… Well, you seem like a tolerable enough fella. Join ABB, I am sure you’d fit right in regardless of ethnicity. I mean, Lung liked you enough to be this motivated.”
That was distasteful, and here Taylor thought people couldn’t be more provocative.
Regent whispered from the corner, “Is it me? Or was Bakuda flirting with the Spider?”
“Shut up, Regent,” spat Tattletale back.
Not flirting, but most likely being sarcastic, Taylor thought.
Exactly at that moment, a gunshot rang. A bullet landed right on Regent’s shoulder, and tracing its source was from a boy roughly ten years old or below. The gun in the boy’s hand was trembling… The boy had Asian features, and the dots quickly connected in Taylor’s mind.
Taylor recalled her dad in his last moments before he exploded. With ease, Taylor disarmed the kid by using her insects to impede the boy’s vision. Taylor forced the boy on the ground and scanned for his neck. Taylor saw a slight scarring just an inch diagonally under the boy’s ear.
The scarring was the same for her dad.
Peter's movements were swift and decisive as he slammed Bakuda against the wall, pinning her with an iron grip. Bakuda struggled against his hold, her defiance burning bright in her eyes despite the blood trickling down her chin. Taylor, her emotions still roiling beneath the surface, watched with a mixture of anger and bitterness.
“Bakuda!” Taylor screamed. “What did you do!?”
Bakuda's words echoed in Taylor's mind, taunting her with the memories of her father's death. She gritted her teeth, pushing down the overwhelming urge to lash out in retaliation. Revenge wouldn't bring her father back, but justice... Justice was something she could fight for.
When Taylor looked over at the pinned Bakuda, Taylor only saw Bakuda’s eyes smiling like crescent moons. Taylor knew she was being mocked but she resisted the urge to destroy Bakuda here and now.
Tattletale and Grue quickly tended to Regent, assessing the wound on his shoulder with surprisingly practiced efficiency. The air was tense with the threat of violence, but they remained focused on the task at hand. Regent even had the strength to joke despite the pain, “I am so glad you know first aid, boss… You too, Tattletlae… ugh… I am dying.”
“Not funny,” Tattletale sighed. "We are too exposed here, we need to move."
“You can do better, Regent. I suggest you take an acting class because you are not fooling anyone.” Grue added as he forcefully inserted bandages into the hole to keep pressure.
"We need to call the authorities," Taylor said, her voice steady despite the storm of emotions raging within her. "The PRT, the Protectorate... They need to know what's happened here."
“Too late,” remarked Bakuda in haggard breath as the boy exploded.
“Run for cover!” Peter’s spider-sense kicked in, and he let go of Bakuda. He webbed Taylor and pulled. 'Too slow,' he realized, so he ran towards Taylor while at it. He proceeded to disengage his Iron Spider suit and threw it at the boy mid-explosion. The nano-tech barely reached the boy, but it worked to minimize the shock as much as possible. Peter hugged Taylor, rolling on the ground and out of sight.
The blast ripped through the air with a deafening roar, sending shockwaves reverberating through the boat. In an instant, chaos descended upon the deck as debris flew in all directions, while smoke and dust billowed around them like a sinister shroud.
Taylor's heart pounded in her chest as she shielded herself from the blast with her swarm of insects, the force of the explosion buffeting against her with relentless intensity. Through the haze of smoke and dust, she caught sight of Bakuda's twisted grin, her eyes alight with malicious triumph.
Using the chaos as cover, Bakuda tried to escape only to trip over.
Regent groaned in pain from the injured shoulder and the shock, but his power remained holding on to Bakuda. Tattletale worked back quickly to staunch the bleeding from Regent’s overexertion, her movements were precise and efficient despite the surprise. Grue, too, sprang into action, running to Bakuda and pinning her for good.
Taylor checked herself— no injuries, it was a miracle considering she was closest to the boy. She saw Peter heaving, breathing haggardly… Peter was always there to save Taylor’s ass and it was getting redundant. This made Taylor feel guilty. She looked at Bakuda and then at Peter.
In the end, Taylor decided Peter was more important than revenge.
But Bakuda wasn’t done yet. She laughed louder this time in her high-pitched tone, “Ka ha ha ha ha~! That was incredible! But as I said, in the end, it was all futile. The only way you can have a victory over this is for you to kill me, but I warn you… I had a dead-man’s trigger rigged down my heart. You will be amazed at what kind of bombs I have in store for you!”
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Monday— April 18th, 2011.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
2:37 PM.
Peter recovered quickly from being concussed by the explosion. It could have been worse, but he could live with the bruises under his clothes which was more tolerable than letting Taylor die. But then there was the boy and the bomb. The sight of the trembling kid replayed itself in his mind, ‘Focus, Peter! There is time to grieve for later!’
He retrieved his armor from the bloody splotch that was formerly a human being.
Using his armor to encase the boy and contain the explosion had cost Peter a lot of armor's metal. The saving grace was that not one of them died. It was a worthy trade-off. “There is 72% structural damage to the suit,” informed Karen.
Peter only had enough to wear for a helmet and his web-shooters. It looked lame, but it was functional.
“More explosions had gone off, calculating… 87 bombs have gone off two seconds ago… Armsmaster is requesting communications.” Karen rambled on, there was a hint of fear that could even be detected in the AI.
Peter could feel it: the slight swaying of the boat, his enhanced hearing somehow reaching beyond the shoals, and also his spider-sense sporadically warning him from different directions of the bombs that had just gone off.
“Connect me to Armsmaster,” Peter told Karen.
“It was a trap,” came the harried voice of Armsmaster. “Lung had escaped. He exploded and ramped up a second time almost instantly. We lost… Battery. Miss Militia and Triumph are gravely injured… Oni Lee was attacking the hospital where Panacea was working… No news of Panacea yet… We need backup… ABB forces are harassing us, and we are vulnerable. New Wave lost Manpower… New Wave retreated and is on their way to confront Oni Lee. The Wards are engaged from all sides. There are attacks from all over the place, robbery, mass slaughter, and hi-jacking of important methods of transportation. PRT was similarly being targetted, and couldn’t do anything.”
That was too much to take in. They were losing, and that was for a fact.
“We have their bomb-tinker, she was capable of implanting bombs in people and forcing them to work for her. That explains the attacks.” Peter emotionlessly addressed Armsmaster as he walked to Bakuda, and slammed her in the wall a second time much more forcefully than the first time. “Bakuda, what did you do?”
“Are you talking to Armsmaster?” Bakuda grinned.
Tattletale whispered in the free comms, “Bakuda likes to talk, act like you are desperate.”
Armsmaster was still connected to Peter, so he also included him in the general comms and plugged him so that he could hear Bakuda too.
“People are dying, Bakuda! What did you do? How did Lung achieve a second ramp-up like that!? Tell me!” Peter put more force in his grip and threatened to choke her to death. But then stopped when he realized he was killing her.
“HAHAHAHAH~!” Bakuda laughed in a manic girlish cry. “What do you think? Did you think I only stuffed micro-bombs on Lung? I stuffed a nice chunk of a bomb that could ramp up in Lung’s heart, it was totes inspired by Lung’s parahuman powers! Oh, I reckon Lee must have also started on his side. If he did kill Panacea, then there wouldn’t be any safe fallbacks for you heroes anymore! So what now, Spider?”
“That’s impossible,” Taylor gritted her teeth, she must be referring to when she injected black widow venom into Lung. Peter let her be, it was enough she wasn’t going full murder on Bakuda now, but Peter should still prepare for the worst.
“Did you mean it when you said ‘take over’ Brockton?” Tattletale queried, faking a show of annoyance and half-disbelief.
“Oh, silly you…” Bakuda smiled. “Of course, I meant it, we have everything prepared: rich pockets to rely on, an avenue to ensure loyalty, and a timeline to follow… We have plans, and not even my defeat will ruin it.”
“You just love hearing yourself talk, don’t you?” remarked Taylor.
“Huh?”
Peter lets go of Bakuda and webs her mouth, eyes, and limbs. Peter then addresses Armsmaster via comms, “My team will think of a plan of action. I will contact you until then… Also, send the PRT troopers here and secure Bakuda... I don’t care if they are strapped with resources, but they need to get Bakuda out of here. Goodbye, Armsmaster, and stay safe…”
“You too,” and then a beep… Armsmaster disconnected from the comms.
Peter looked at everyone around him. Regent was injured and losing blood. He would need medical attention. Tattletale had bruises under her sleeves and legs. There were even a few lacerations from bullet wounds. She would still be an effective Thinker but her survival rate had diminished.
Peter stewed in his silence.
Everyone looked at Taylor, seemingly waiting for her instructions.
Peter knew he wasn’t stepping up enough, and his subconscious kept on holding him back. He wanted to throw a quip or two, project an image of confidence, and web up his challengers like he used to do, but looking out for Taylor had made him realize there were times he could be uptight.
“Let’s reassess—”
Before even Taylor could speak, Peter cut her off.
“Regent and Tattletale is out of commission. The two of you, retreat. Entomancer, you will go with Grue and Bitch to do rescue missions in the hospital. Convene with New Wave and assist if Oni Lee shows up again. I will provide backup on Armsmaster's matters.”
“Peter,” Taylor stopped herself before she could say more. “I… I will come with you. Your armor…”
“My armor is not a problem. I’ll provide backup with the Protectorate and deal with Lung. You cannot come with me. You tried to kill him. The only reason you didn’t kill Bakuda was because of me… I don’t want you to kill anyone, Taylor.”
Taylor held Peter’s hand, but Peter simply shrugged it.
Peter continued with a steely voice, “Oni Lee might be more dangerous than he appears… The bombs that Bakuda creates are too complicated and require specialized resources. Regent might be right in his speculations that Lee could duplicate Bakuda’s bombs. Take care.”
With Bakuda securely webbed up and PRT troopers on their way to secure her, Peter swiftly swung away from the chaos that engulfed the boat. His mind raced with thoughts of the impending battles ahead. The city was under siege, and it was up to him and the other heroes to stem the tide of destruction.
"Oni Lee? We wouldn't even find anything in the hospi-" Taylor stopped mid-sentence as Peter just turned away from her.
Peter swung through the city streets, while thoughts of worry and dread settled over him like a heavy blanket. The situation was dire, and every second counted. Lung was on the loose, Oni Lee was wreaking havoc, and who knew what other threats lurked in the shadows.
And Taylor... Peter didn't know what to do with Taylor.
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[Very Short Omake]
Regent walked beside Entomancer, and then joked, “Trouble in paradise?”
Tattletale punched him in his bloody shoulder, “Have some sensibility, you idiot!”
“Ouch,” cried Regent as he cowered beside Grue.
