Free Web NovelChapter 15: Ch 15: The Daily Bugle Incident VI
"What did you just say?" she whispered, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury.
Luke saw the reaction. He saw the way her shoulders dropped just an inch.
Patron comments:
[ The_Disgraced_One_ : oh nah he just popped ult ]
[ Ark_D_Lucifer : yeah... now she can’t sleep at night.... ]
[ StoneSaysHi: Cut Cut Cut what the fuck was that!!! ]
[The Fool Fan: Ah, yes, the ragebaiting jester... ]
[The Fool Fan donated 5 TP]
[Yeagerist: Is this the climax battle sequence? Tatakae!]
[Yeagerist donated 2 TP]
A couple of donation notifications rang with a pleasant ding, but Luke couldn’t afford to look at his phone right now.
Not when a very angry spider was staring him down.
"How do you know that?" she said, her voice dangerously low, walking slowly toward him.
Luke tilted his cracked clown mask, affecting a casual shrug. "Oh, the important thing isn’t how I know, darling."
He tapped a finger against his temple. "The important thing is that it’s not me who will cause you harm. It’s those very people you’re trying to save. The shitty, ungrateful cockroaches that thrive on hate against you."
"I’m not your enemy, Spider. I’m just the only one honest enough to call these people what they actually are."
Gwen cracked her neck.
Left side. Right side. Slow. Deliberate.
"I can’t believe I’m the one saying it, but you talk too much." Saying so, she launched herself at him.
She was a complete blur. The next instant, her fist was inches from his cracked mask.
BOOM!
Luke fired a medium blast at the gravel, rocketing himself backward just in time. Gwen’s fist smashed into the spot where he had been standing, cracking the solid concrete beneath it.
’She’s faster now,’ he realized. ’And looking at that crack, she’s not holding back much either,’
’Ah, yes! Peter Parker is still alive... her canon event hasn’t happened yet.’
’I have to end this quickly.’
He let loose a massive volley of fiery explosions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The rooftop lit up in bright orange flashes.
Gwen flipped backward, dodging the blasts with impossible grace. She shot a web line at a tall metal tower nearby, using it to swing high into the bright blue sky. She swung in a wide, sweeping arc that brought her boots-first toward his chest.
Luke fired another blast at the ground, launching himself sideways. Her feet grazed his shoulder—close, but not close enough.
She didn’t stop. She pushed—legs coiling, then exploding forward.
Thwip! Thwip!
Two web-lines. One at his chest. One at his ankle.
Luke twisted. The chest shot missed. The ankle shot didn’t.
"Shit—"
He fired a blast at the web, but it held. Gwen yanked. Hard.
Luke stumbled forward, off-balance, and she met him halfway—fist cocked back, ready to cave in that stupid clown face.
He leaned back at the last second. Her knuckles whistled past his nose.
She followed with a flurry of strikes—left hook, right cross, knee to the gut. Each blow came faster than the last.
Luke backpedaled, firing blast after blast just to keep her off him. BOOM! BOOM! The rooftop exploded in chunks of asphalt and fire.
Gwen backflipped away from a massive explosion, landing on all fours like a real spider.
’She looks menacing...’
This open terrace had much less infrastructure to support her style, but she was somehow utilizing those little things to be as precise as possible.
She shot a web line to another metal pole and yanked herself into a high-speed swing.
Luke planted his feet. He curled his left hand in front of his open right palm. Orange light gathered and condensed.
’AP shot!’
A focused ray of explosive energy lanced out and snapped her web line clean in half.
But Gwen was already moving. She somersaulted through the air, using the broken momentum to turn herself into a spinning missile. Her boots connected with his head.... almost.
Luke got his arms up just in time, but the force still rattled him. He staggered. She didn’t stop.
Her other foot swung to his side.
"Oh no you don’t—"
He gasped at the impact, but managed to grab her leg between his arm and side.
Then his hand shot out and grabbed her by her neck.
He lifted her up and used her own momentum to slam her down onto the terrace’s hard concrete floor.
The impact knocked the breath right out of Gwen’s lungs.
Luke was on top of her, his knees pinning her torso down. His forearm pressed on her neck, keeping her down.
"Hah... hah... haah..."
Luke’s chest heaved. He was panting heavily, his breath warm inside the cracked plastic of his clown mask.
Beneath him, Gwen was breathing just as hard. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Even through their masks, they could hear each other’s sharp, ragged breaths.
"Hah... haah..."
Then, Gwen’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits.
She brought her knees up to her chest and kicked out with both feet, slamming them into Luke’s stomach.
Luke flew backward, tumbling across the gravel like a skipped stone. He fired a quick, controlled blast from his palm to stabilize himself, sliding to a halt just before the edge of the roof.
He smiled, ready to throw hands again. But he paused.
’Wait.’
Luke felt something missing... from his chest pocket.
The remote.
It was gone.
Luke looked over at Gwen. She was standing up slowly, dusting off her suit. She looked perfectly calm now. She raised her right hand, and there it was—the remote, dangling from her fingers.
"Looking for this?" Gwen asked, her voice again had that chill Spidey sarcasm.
’Although she did exactly what I wanted, but I never expected she’d do it this way, took me by surprise...’ Luke thought, ’She pickpockets like a pro!’
The minimum time duration for the quest was already over a minute ago, so he wasn’t worried at all.
The remote and the bomb downstairs in the meeting chamber were just props. They were handmade by him from junk, and he had already made sure that they can’t be traced back to him too.
"You’ve got to be kidding me," Luke said, continuing the act. "Don’t press it."
Her thumb pressed down on the stop button.
Beep. freewebnovёl.ƈom
She did it. She actually stopped the bombs.
Down in the meeting room, the digital red timers on the metal cube flickered.
00:45... 00:44...
Blink.
The red lights turned green.
[Alert: Bombs deactivated.]
The hostages cheered! They hugged and smiled and rejoiced. Thanked Jesus and Spider-Woman for saving them.
Mathew, though, couldn’t smile very much.
.
.
.
.
.
Back on the terrace, Luke stared at the green light on the remote in Gwen’s hand.
Then, slowly, he began to clap.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"You... daughter of a bitch, you actually did it," Luke said, his voice dripping with exaggerated awe. "You saved those roaches."
He let out a long, dramatic sigh, shaking his head. "I’m sad my words couldn’t get through to you... But honestly? I’m proud of you. Truly. You stood by for what you thought was right and succeeded."
He placed a hand over his heart and assumed a sad tone, "New York is in safe hands for now. Perhaps, you’d understand me some other day... See you then, Spider-Woman!"
Gwen crushed the plastic remote in her hand, her white lenses narrowing dangerously.
"Not so soon, clowney," Spider-Gwen said, "You’re not going anywhere. You have a lot of questions to answer, and a jail cell to visit."
"Oh?" Luke chuckled, his palms already sparking with that familiar, dangerous orange light. "And who decided that?"
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
Gwen didn’t waste a single millisecond. She fired a rapid-fire flurry of web bullets, blanketing the air in sticky white projectiles aimed straight for him.
But Luke was already moving.
BOOM!
He fired a massive blast directly at his own feet. The sheer force of the explosion shattered the concrete and launched him backward into the open sky, completely avoiding the barrage of webs.
Hanging in mid-air, Luke looked down at her one last time.
"Well then, see you next time, nerd!" Luke mocked, his voice echoing over the roaring wind.
Pop-pop-BOOOM!
Before Gwen could shoot her webs to catch him, Luke chained his explosions together perfectly. He propelled himself upward and away, rocketing into the New York skyline.
Gwen stood at the edge, her fists clenching, ’Bastard...’
Nerd.
His parting words stuck in her mind.
People called Spider-Woman a menace or a freak, some even called her Ghost-Spider... but ’nerd’ was a label for Gwen Stacy.
She stared at the fading smoke trail, a chill running down her spine.
He knew about her father as well...
’Just who the hell is he?’
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Thanks for reading! How was the Chapter? Drop some comments! Reviews... 🙈
Btw,
No Chapter tomorrow peeps, Thursdays will be off days. (Unless power stone goal is reached: 700)
Next Chapter we’ll see a proper public reaction of his city wide stream. l’ll also try to fit Gwen’s Pov post fight.
As for his villain name I’ve noticed you guys were discussing instead of just voting it screwed the count. 🥀
We’re not having votes again, but at least now I know neither Terror nor Varitas got hate. Which is good. I will choose on my own, whatever flows well with the story. End of Dihcussion. Thanks!
Thanks for reading! And thanks for your precious comments. They give lots of ideas!
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