Free Web NovelChapter 23: Ch 23: The Confession Train On Bridge V
The deafening roar of the explosion echoed over the East River, followed by a shockwave.
Smoke, ash, and blood rained down toward the river’s water.
Public Comments:
[Ashly: Holy shit!!! ]
[Ivan: Well deserved... I’d say. Such predators don’t deserve to live at all ]
[CaffineWitch: as much as I hate Veritas, him killing that monster brought a relief in my heart somehow... ]
[Ava: What the hell guys? are you all seriously supporting a freaking terrorist? He just executed someone live...]
[Emily: @Ava you’re right what if next day he decides to kill someone because they broke a red signal? ]
[Adorable_filter: The devil of truth executes a monster in human skin and white robe... instead of pointing finger at the jester the evil sympathizer can finger their ass... ]
Gwen hung from a single web-line attached to the bridge, her body swaying in the wind. She winced, watching Patrick Sein’s headless and burnt to a nice crisp body falling into the river.
Gwen’s breath hitched. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs. She had almost saved him. Almost!
The webstring that was attached to Sein’s body was limp now... The man was gone. She stared at the empty space, her heart sinking.
’You know the things he did.’ Veritas’s words replayed in her mind, as if trying to save her from the guilt.
But she instantly crushed that thought. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if Patrick Sein was the most disgusting, evil piece of garbage on the planet. To be executed by a masked terrorist was not justice. He deserved to face justice in a courtroom, not be blown to pieces in the sky.
Luke floated in the air, his white mask and suit were drenched in Sein’s blood. His descent was stopped completely by continuous blasts firing from his palms. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
High above them, safely out of the blast radius, Luke’s phone had nicely streamed the gruesome execution. Now, it floated down rapidly, hovering just beneath Luke’s black formal shoes.
Luke stepped onto the hovering phone. He shut off the explosions from his palms and then dusted off his black suit. And as if by magic, the blood started to clear, and the suit and mask were once again in new condition.
With a simple thought, the phone floated upward, carrying Luke back up until he was hovering perfectly level with the dangling Spider-Woman.
His mask shifted, the black lips stretching into a look of absolute, sickening glee.
"I know I have made you very, very angry right now, Spider-Woman," Luke said, his voice was maddeningly pleasant, "But believe me, this really was for your own good."
Gwen’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her web-string. She glared at him through her white lenses.
"You shouldn’t have killed him," she gritted out.
Veritas just tilted his head back and let out a soft, mocking chuckle.
"Oh, my dear hero. That was simply the result of your own choice, I simply did what had to be done," he said smoothly. "And trust me, after you go home today and see the world with the eyes of people... you will realize just how great it is sometimes to just let someone... die."
He inched closer to her, "You’ll realize, Spider-Woman. If you just use your judgment to stop and think before you throw yourself into danger to save someone... if you just ask yourself if they are really worth the effort... just that tiny little thought..."
He leaned forward slightly, the mask’s eyes narrowing. "It would make this city, this whole world, a much better place. With half your current efforts."
Gwen didn’t answer. She just stared at him, calculating the distance. Waiting for an opening.
But Luke just casually waved his hand, dismissing the heavy tension in the air.
"Anyway, enough about that topic," Luke said cheerfully, crossing his arms behind his back. "Let’s move on and discuss what I actually called you out here for."
"Tell me, Spider," Luke began, his tone shifting back to that of a lively Jester. "Do you also see me as a Devi—"
"You’re a monster," Gwen spat, cutting him off abruptly. Her voice trembled with raw, absolute disgust. "I hate you!"
Luke’s masked face tilted slightly. The black lips on his jester mask stretched into a wide, almost dreamy yet creepy smile.
Then, Luke slowly leaned in, "Oh...?" His voice dropped into a low, husky tone.
"Hate me... more."
Because he was still standing on his floating phone like it was the hoverboard from back to the future, the livestream viewers were currently gifted with a lovely, peaceful shot of the East River flowing below. But they could hear every word crystal clear.
Patron Chat:
[urPP]: chud, get off the fucking phone I wanna see!
[enemies_to_Lovers_enjoyer]: ’hate... me... more...’ omg AHHHH my heart just skipped a beat
[enemies_to_Lovers_enjoyer donated 2 TP]
[greedycat]: stop aura farming over the phone bro T_T show us the juice!
Luke ignored the donation notification ring, but a tiny, satisfied hum escaped his throat.
Luke straightened his back and let out a heavy, dramatic sigh.
"You may think of me as a monster, Spider-Woman," Luke said, casually adjusting his perfectly clean suit cuffs. "But if I really was one, I wouldn’t be nice enough to tell you that the bridge is going to be blown to kingdom come in..." He looked at his completely empty wrist, "...exactly seven minutes and fifteen seconds."
Gwen’s eyes widened behind her mask.
’No... not again.’
Without wasting a breath, she twisted her body and launched a powerful kick toward him. Luke casually leaned back, dodging effortlessly.
But hitting him hadn’t been her real goal. She just needed space.
Thwip!
She fired two webs at the bridge structure and yanked herself upward, launching through the air like a white streak toward the damaged train carriage.
’Odd...’ she thought, glancing back over her shoulder as she closed the distance to the train. ’He didn’t try to stop me at all...’
But she couldn’t afford to think about what he does... hostages were a priority.
Gwen landed gracefully inside the carriage, slipping right through the blasted-open side door.
Twenty people.
Nineteen of them were tied tightly to their seats, faces pale with terror.
One man, the Deacon, was sitting freely, looking completely out of it, eyes hollow and distant.
Gwen had seen his face on the billboard stream earlier.
"Hey, depressed holy man," Gwen called out, already rushing toward the tied passengers. "Why don’t you run away? The whole bridge is about to blow in seven minutes!"
Deacon Paul slowly looked up. For a second, a spark of hope lit up his tired eyes.
"Spider-Woman! You’ve come to save us!" he said, voice cracking with relief.
"Yup! That’s the plan," Gwen replied with a quick nod, flashing a victory sign.
But as she got close to the hostages to free them, her spider-senses buzzed like hornets.
"Wait!" the nun shouted.
She pulled her hands back instantly.
"Don’t touch the ropes!" Deacon Paul shouted, "Or their hands! Look closely, along with that rope, there’s a thin metal wire running through each of them. If you move it too much or break the circuit... the bombs will explode."
Gwen froze. Her eyes followed his gaze toward the hostages, and her stomach dropped. Four spherical orange bombs were attached among them, each one pulsing with an eerie green light at its center.
[Mini Pumpkin Bombs (Pack of 10) - 10 TP]
A Terror Shop item. While nowhere near the devastating scale of Bakugo’s heavy arm bracers, they packed more than enough explosive punch to fit the requirement for this mission.
Gwen crouched down, examining the thin wire connecting the hostages to the bombs.
She chewed her lip behind her mask. ’Okay, think, Gwen. Think.’
There was no way she could untie all nineteen hostages in seven minutes without accidentally pulling the wire or breaking the circuit.
Even with her enhanced speed.
She couldn’t just yank them free. She had to find a way to disarm the bombs completely.
There had to be a master switch. A remote. Like last time.
She could only hope there was one.
"He also planted time bombs on the bridge pillars around the train before he left," Paul added quickly. "He took Sarah, Mary, the robber... and that monster with him."
Paul asked with worry in his voice, "Did you... did you save Sarah and the others?"
Gwen nodded, keeping her voice steady. "Yeah. They’re safe. They’re hanging out right below the bridge."
But the memory of Veritas blowing Patrick Sein’s head off flashed through her mind, souring her expression behind her mask.
But she didn’t bother telling him.
The way he referred to Patrick as a monster, he clearly didn’t care whether Patrick lived or died.
Paul let out a massive sigh of relief, dropping his face into his hands for a second.
Then, he looked back up at her, his expression filled with desperate faith. "Spider-Woman, you are our only hope. Please. Save us somehow."
Gwen put her hands on her hips, shaking her head at her own stupidity.
’Of course,’ she thought, groaning internally.
’That’s why he didn’t bother following me. He knew I wouldn’t be able to just carry everyone out. He planned to drop the bridge AND blow the hostages. He knew to save them... I’d have to go find him again.’
Without another word, she sprinted toward the blasted-open door and leaped out into the open sky.
She was going back to find that bastard. She was going to beat some sense into his cracked jester mask.
So, he won’t mess with her or people like this anymore.
What Gwen didn’t know was that Veritas was a lot stronger than last time.
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