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12:00 PM
Captain George Stacy sat at his desk, buried under a mountain of witness statements.
"Ghost Spider webbed the criminal to the wall. She helped me recover my belongings from an armed thug."
"Ghost Spider stopped the criminals trying to destroy my shop. I'm thankful to her."
"She saved my…"
He rubbed his temples, feeling every one of his fifty-two years. After twenty-five years on the force, he thought he had enough experience to do paperwork for every case possible.
But how was he supposed to settle these reports?
Legally, every "thank you" in these statements was still an admission: assault, unlawful restraint, destruction of property, vigilantism. Even if Ghost Spider had done the morally right thing, she had done it outside the law.
And Ghost Spider wasn't alone in that mess.
The same legal tangle applied to Skullfire. Sure, he had helped people by getting rid of two superhuman monsters, but it didn't excuse the property damage he had caused.
"Alien creatures possessing people. A woman who can stick to walls and lift cars. A man whose head is literally on fire… What the hell is happening to my city?"
He saw a silhouette outside through the glass. A woman holding two coffee mugs pushed the door open with her shoulder. She placed one mug on his desk and went over to sit across from him.
The caffeinated aroma woke him after the sleepless night yesterday. "Thanks, Captain Watanabe. I needed this."
She nodded, still as calm as ever. "Still unsure about Ghost Spider, Captain Stacy? I'd suggest we add her to the criminal database and issue a warrant."
"Ghost Spider cooperated with me. Don't you think we might need her to tackle superhuman threats?"
"It's the only option that doesn't make us look complicit." She gestured at the pile of reports. "The moment she crosses the wrong line, it'll blow back on us. Better to have the warrant on file now."
George knew she was right. He hated that she was right.
"She's still saved many lives, Yuri."
And Ghost Spider wasn't a bad person. He had interacted with her, and knew how much respect she had for the law.
"Doesn't change anything," Yuri replied. "It's your choice, Captain."
He exhaled slowly and put down the mug. "I'll draft the recommendation. DA will probably sit on it for a week anyway."
"Good." Yuri leaned back as her expression softened. "Now, on a completely different note—when was the last time you went home and spent time with Gwen?"
The question hit him like a sucker punch.
"Uh…"
He only remembered occasional breakfasts with Gwen. She had been looking a little exhausted recently, blaming her projects for the stress. He had even forgotten to ask Gwen about her friend, who lived close to Oscorp Island.
"That long, huh?"
"I'll leave early tonight," he said. "After I finish this—"
His radio crackled to life.
"All units, all units—10-13! Roosevelt Island, south end near Main Street! Multiple suspects exhibiting the alien parasite possession! Requesting reinforcements to the scene immediately!"
George was on his feet and moving as soon as the dispatcher mentioned the alien parasite. He had seen the terror they could cause.
Yuri was right behind him.
1:07 PM
George had ditched the idea of taking the tram the moment the first reports came in: the hostiles have made tram stations unusable.
He drove hard through Astoria toward the Roosevelt Island Bridge. This crisis was so big that other commands had already dispatched reinforcements.
By the time he hit the bridge approach, he could already see the smoke plume rising over the East River like a warning sign.
He arrived at the island entry point to find two patrol cars were wrecked like toys. One was flipped on its side, its lights still spinning uselessly. Another had its front end caved in as if someone had punched it. On the street beyond the bridge, a fire hydrant was torn from the ground, water spraying twenty feet high. Cars were wrecked, burning.
An ambulance sat with its rear doors open nearby. Two paramedics were strapping Officer Miguel Santos onto a backboard. George could see the officer's arm being bent the wrong way from fifteen feet away.
"Santos!" George jogged to the ambulance, holding his badge out for the paramedics to stop. "What happened?"
Santos looked up at him with the thousand-yard stare George had seen on soldiers who'd been in combat. The young but talented cop was traumatized.
"Cap... I shot him. Five times." His voice shook as eyes became wet. "The bullets didn't even slow him down. He threw me into a van… I couldn't do anything."
George clenched his fist. "How many alien parasites?"
"Thirty. Forty. I don't know." Santos winced as the paramedic strapped his arm. "Cap, we can't fight these things. Guns don't work."
Another scream cut across the street. Then the shriek of metal being torn apart.
George looked down the road and saw them.
Bikers. Dozens of them. But they weren't normal men—they were the same as those alien parasites, who had tried to rob the bank. The same creatures who had possessed Felicia and her father.
"It's the Freeway Angels gang," Yuri said from behind George. "A white supremacist group."
"All of them are bonded to aliens." George patted Santos' arm and walked off. "Have they trapped civilians?"
"Unconfirmed."
George pushed through the crowd of officers establishing a perimeter. Lieutenant Hernandez was shouting into a radio, trying to coordinate the chaos.
"We need more support. Stronger firepower—Captain Stacy!" Hernandez's relief was visible. "Sir, we've got multiple suspects with enhanced abilities. Patrol units have taken heavy casualties. I pulled them back."
"Good call." George pulled out his binoculars and scanned the streets.
A biker in gang colors grabbed a parked Honda Civic by its rear bumper and flipped the entire car onto its roof. Another ripped a parking meter from the concrete with one hand, swung it like a baseball bat, and smashed a storefront window.
They were laughing, having fun.
The bikers were not killing, they were terrorizing.
"Captain," Hernandez said. "What are your orders?"
"Fall back to the bridge entry," George ordered. "No one engages unless it's to extract civilians."
As officers scrambled to comply, George found himself thinking about Ghost Spider, who had the capability to go toe-to-toe against these monsters.
And Skullfire, who could exterminate them.
Now his officers were being pushed, and all George could do was order them to retreat. Because their firearms were useless.
George caught a figure approaching them slowly. The biggest one he had seen yet. Six-five feet of rippling muscles, his own face unknown under the black suit.
The biker stopped twenty meters away, pointing at George. "You the one in charge, old man?"
George stepped forward, hand instinctively moving to his service weapon even though he knew it would be useless.
"I'm Michael." The biker's deep voice reached them even from that distance, as his long tongue flickered like a snake. "Me and my angels will give this island as a tribute to the Sovereign. So you cops can get the fuck out of here."
"This is not your property," George replied calmly. "And you're going to prison."
"Then come arrest me, cop."
Michael wasn't bluffing. He wanted George to try something.
George heard a dozen officers behind him shift their stances, adjusting grips on their firearms.
They stared at each other across twenty meters. George had faced all kinds of criminals. And he had also learned to read people, to know when they were bluffing. He saw civilians peeking through windows of apartments, faces pale. People hoping the uniform meant something, that the badge could still protect them.
"Your move, Captain," Michael said, spreading his arms wide. "I'm standing right here."
George drew his service weapon, despite knowing what happened to officers who engaged with these things.
But he couldn't stand down.
He held Michael's gaze and removed the safety, then pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit Michael right in his mouth full of sharp teeth. Yet, it had no effect.
Michael shrugged off the impact like nothing.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.
George fired fourteen more bullets on every vital in Michael's body. The other officers fired too, unloading their whole clips in tight bursts.
Michael raised a hand to shield his face, then sprinted, crossing the distance in a near instant. He ignored everyone else and grabbed George's throat, lifting him off his feet.
"Cap—!" Yuri shouted behind him.
Michael continued to shield his face, barely flinching as bullets sparked off the black suit.
Then he launched George backward.
George's back hit a brick and some bones cracked, shattered from the impact. Pain swallowed all his senses. His vision went blank for a second as his face hit the ground.
Blood filled his mouth. His ears were ringing. He couldn't tell which part of him was still working since everything felt numb. Any attempt to get up just stayed in his mind.
A human body wasn't meant to be thrown like that.
Even if he survived, he might never walk again. That was more despairing than dying.
Michael crouched down, grabbed George by the hair, and yanked his head up.
"Let him go!" growled a young inspector, Yuri Watanabe. She held fire as they could accidentally hit George.
Michael didn't look at other officers. He looked only at George, like this was personal.
"George the hero Stacy, I can finish you off right now," Michael said in a gleeful tone. "but I won't."
He pointed at the windows showing terrified faces.
"You'll live to watch Sovereign make America great again."
"Skullfire…" George's lips moved as he squeezed out a weak voice. "Ghost Spider…"
Michael threw his head back and laughed. "They come here, they're dead. Just like you're gonna wish you were."
He released George's hair.
George's head hit the pavement and he lost consciousness.
Michael turned to face Yuri and the line of officers. Spreading his arms, he declared, "Freeway Angels will conquer this land for our Sovereign."
"FOR SOVEREIGN!" The other bikers' roar came from across the island like it was a war cry.
1:24 PM
Yuri watched the medics haul George onto the stretcher with a cold gaze. Only her clenched fists betrayed the anger in his chest.
Stacy wasn't just her captain. He was her mentor. The closest thing she had to a father in this job. And now he was broken because some white supremacist wanted to make a point.
With a shuddering breath, she pushed down her emotions. Now was time to command, not feel sad.
She turned on her heel and stepped back into the street, scanning the scattered officers holding the perimeter. Most of them looked rattled. A few were staring at the spot where George had gone down, like they were still processing it. George was just that well-respected in the NYPD.
"Lieutenant Hernandez."
Hernandez hurried to her, breathless. "Inspector."
"Forget engagement," Yuri ordered. "We focus on containment and civilian protection."
"The bikers are moving fast on that." Hernandez swallowed. "They're herding people back and forcing them to stay put."
"Of course they are," Yuri muttered.
They weren't random criminals. They knew civilians' presence meant anything heavier than rifles was off the table, which were borderline useless against the symbiote suits.
She raised her radio. "All units, listen up. No lone-wolf shit. We are not winning a gunfight with these targets. Accept that right now."
"What do we do, then?" an officer asked.
"What we are doing is buying time until reinforcements arrive."
Yuri looked down the road and watched a biker casually kick a hole through the concrete. The biker laughed like a child.
"They like attention," Yuri said. "So we stop giving it to them up close."
She pointed to the island entry. "Set hard cover behind vehicles and corners. Keep distance. We only move to protect civilians, and we do it in groups."
Her eyes narrowed.
"And we stop them from leaving the island."
1:58 PM
Yuri walked the perimeter with Hernandez as officers worked to fortify the island's exit points. From covers, they had their rifles aimed. Snipers took rooftops to scout threats and fire if necessary.
The tram station and other exit points on the Manhattan side had been locked down. Roosevelt Island was narrow, two miles long, with limited access—the bridge from Queens, the tram from Manhattan, and the subway station at the center. If they held those three points, they held these monsters in these positions.
She couldn't tell if she was trapping the Freeway Angels or trapping herself in with them.
"This is NYPD," the announcement echoed down the streets. "All civilians shelter in place. Lock your doors. Stay away from windows. If you are safe, stay where you are."
The announcement repeated twice.
The Freeway Angels celebrated by revving their engines as if the announcement was their victory. They tore down street signs and bent them into crude symbols, making sure every phone camera saw them.
They were declaring ownership.
And Yuri had to let it happen.
Hernandez approached with a tablet. "Inspector Watanabe, call coming in. It's… it's federal."
Yuri frowned. "Patch it to me."
There was static, then a calm voice came through, "NYPD, this is a federal liaison. You are to maintain containment of Roosevelt Island. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary."
Yuri's grip tightened on her radio. "We are maintaining containment. What we need is a solution."
"You're getting one," the voice said. "Await further instructions."
"What solution?" Yuri questioned sharply. "I need specifics."
"A Federal asset is en route to handle the enhanced threats," the voice said with a faint hint of warning. "Federal authority will assume operational command upon arrival. Acknowledge."
Yuri looked back at the barricades, at the tired officers. None of them looked like they had any hope with that vague response.
"Acknowledged. We'll hold."
The comm line went quiet.
Hernandez stared at her. "Enhanced asset? What does that mean?"
Yuri shook her head, eyes still locked on the island. "Probably someone with superpowers."
"Like Ghost Spider and that Skullfire?"
"Let's hope it's someone like Skullfire, not Ghost Spider," Yuri muttered. "I don't think she can do anything in this situation."
***
Natasha's POV
Natasha walked through the mall, carrying a lot of thoughts in her mind. The most relaxed one was scheduling her day to make sure she was well-rested for the mission tonight.
The most concerning one was the negotiations itself. She hoped nothing went wrong so they could proceed to rescue Clint.
Just as she exited the mall, her phone for SHIELD comms rang. Coulson. Probably asking about her location so they could regroup and head off to Massachusetts to meet Dante.
"Romanoff, where are you?"
"Just buying some gifts for Yelena." She made up an excuse. It always worked. "I'll meet you at the branch in thirty."
She would need over half of that just to drive back and then some to get into her SHIELD uniform. Thankfully, the negotiations were set to take place in Massachusetts.
"I don't need you here," Coulson said, his tone unnaturally serious. "Head over to Roosevelt Island. There's been a situation."
"Situation?"
"The alien parasites have taken over a local gang. They are causing mayhem."
Natasha felt her eyes widen in surprise. "How many?"
"About fifty."
She was three or four hours away from Manhattan. A chopper would cut the time in half at most. By then, the symbiotes would have caused considerable damage.
"I'll be there ASAP."
"NYPD has sealed off Roosevelt Island Bridge and locked down the tram station," Coulson said. "The civilians are counting on you to rescue them from these monsters. Kids are waiting for you."
Coulson used the effective method of tapping into her sense of kindness for innocent kids. He didn't have to. This heavy responsibility was what she had expected after becoming one of the few superhumans working for SHIELD. She wasn't going to shirk away from any fight.
She lowered the phone and considered her options. She looked over her shoulder, back at the mall, and her eyes gleamed with hope.
As much as she disliked his ability to get under her skin, she had to accept his capability. He had reached Manhattan within minutes. He somehow knew about Laura and Wolverine's relationship, and Sarah's connection to the two. And he knew the secrets of her previous work at the Red Room—only top-clearance SHIELD files briefed her life before SHIELD.
Maybe he could get her back in Manhattan before half the city collapsed under the wild symbiotes.
She browsed her recent calls list and hit his name.
***
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