Free Web NovelChapter 49: Ch 48: Lemurian Star Hijack VIII
"Oh, definitely, love. I love punching terrorists in the face."
With that, Spider-Gwen practically launched herself off the floor. She shot toward him like a bullet, pulling her fist back to deliver a devastating right hook.
Luke saw her coming. He instantly raised his palms toward her, blasting a localized, concentrated explosion right into her face.
BOOM!
However, Gwen didn’t stop or even slow down. She tore through the roaring explosion, completely unharmed. Even her white-and-pink suit didn’t show a single scorch mark.
’Ah, yes. The new explosion-proof suit she talked about on our call last time, huh?’ Luke thought, mildly impressed. ’I wonder just how much heat that thing can actually take?’
Luke thought as she barreled towards him.
But there was no time to test that theory right now. As her fist came straight for his face, he braced himself.
He shifted his weight just a fraction, dodging her punch with minimal movement. In the same breath, his hand shot out, grabbing her extended arm and violently yanking her downward, using her own momentum against her.
Veritas was fast, perhaps faster than last time she fought. But Gwen’s reflexes were still better. As she felt her body being redirected toward the floor, she pushed her legs up faster than she could fall.
Smack!
Her boot connected solidly with the side of his mask.
Luke staggered to the side. However, there was no ringing in his ears or the pain he would expect from that kick.
Upgrading the quirk had once again shown its benefits on his durability. Increased durability didn’t mean increased superhuman strength, though.
He had tested his muscle strength, and it wasn’t comparable to Spider-Woman at all. But it still didn’t mean he was weak. In terms of pure muscular strength, he was stronger than Super Soldiers.
But the maneuver had forced him to release her arm.
Free from his grip, Gwen planted both hands on the floor and pushed off with explosive force, launching herself diagonally upward. She spun gracefully in the air and stuck herself firmly to the low ceiling of the ship’s hallway... creating some distance.
She crouched there upside down, looking exactly like a real spider waiting for its prey. She tilted her masked head at him.
"I’ve noticed you copy my moves a lot," Gwen teased, her voice echoing slightly in the corridor. "Don’t you have anything a little more original in that crazy head of yours?"
Veritas simply folded his arms across his chest and tilted his masked head right back at her. "Well, it’s a trick called mirroring, Miss Spider. I read in a book that it builds trust quickly. I’m just trying to establish a connection here!"
He paused. "How am I doing? Do you trust me yet?"
Behind her mask, Gwen rolled her eyes so hard she nearly strained something.
Gwen wasn’t wrong, though. The dodge-and-pull move he just used was the exact same move she had performed so magnificently on him back on the bridge during their last fight.
When it came to hand-to-hand combat, almost everything Luke did was cobbled together from action movies or stolen directly from her.
Luke never had any proper martial arts training.
However, he just hadn’t found a good reason to buy a dedicated combat skill from the Terror Shop yet. Spending 150+ TP on learning how to throw a proper punch felt like a massive waste when other, better abilities could offer combat improvements as a mere side effect.
His quirk naturally enhanced his physical durability, and his reaction speed was steadily climbing thanks to the Flying Thunder God technique.
These side effects were unexpected, but they were welcomed!
Maybe he’ll save enough to buy a base Sharingan. It would easily remove his CQC weakness.
Terror Points were precious. Spending 20-30 TP on items for the next time was alright, but spending that many points on redundant skills was a waste. More so, when things like Terror Shop discount coupons existed.
’But still... this glaring weakness of mine... can’t be ignored for long...’ Luke thought as he looked at Spider-Woman.
Gwen laughed despite herself. "Your understanding of people comes from books? No wonder you’re like... this."
Veritas tilted his head dramatically. "A nerd making fun of me because I read a book. How ironic."
Gwen bit her lip under her mask. ’He just HAS to rub in the fact that he knows my identity at every opportunity, doesn’t he?’
She exhaled sharply, forcing herself to refocus.
There was a very specific reason Captain America had assigned her to deal with Veritas. She was the only one who could reliably draw his focus and keep him occupied.
Her priority was to lure him as far away from the hostages as possible so the rescue team could do their job without any "accidents."
But there was a small problem. A big problem, actually. Well, two big problems... both currently lying in a charred heap near the doorway.
Brock Rumlow and Jack Rollins were supposed to cover her. They were supposed to be the ones getting the hostages out while she played cat-and-mouse with the masked psychopath.
Now they were unconscious, their faces melted, their tactical gear fused to their skin.
She had to do something for them as well... the backup teams were probably on their way here, but they would take a lot of time to get them to the medics.
Gwen had to take them to the medics before they died.
Bzzzt.
But, as if the universe had finally decided to do Gwen Stacy a favor for the very first time in her life, the black walkie-talkie clipped to Veritas’s belt suddenly buzzed.
A heavily accented voice came through the speaker.
"Veritas! The American patriot is here! Batroc needs your help, now!"
Veritas casually reached down and unclipped the radio. He brought it up to his mask, never once breaking eye contact with the upside-down Spider-Woman.
"Tell Batroc, I’ll be there..." Veritas replied smoothly. "... in a minute, yeah?"
Then a tiny, controlled explosion pulsed from his palm, and the device crumbled into smoking plastic shards.
Gwen’s eye-lenses widened slightly. ’Of course it’s not going to be that easy...’
She had assumed that he was going to attack her, but instead of that, Veritas just let out a long, heavy sigh and shook his head in disappointment.
"As much as I really, really wanted to spend more quality time with you," Veritas said, taking a slow step backward, "I simply cannot leave my friend in trouble. You understand, right? Batroc is my first-ever friend, after all..."
He gave her a theatrical, two-fingered salute.
"See you in a minute, Miss Spider..."
And in the blink of an eye, he completely disappeared, leaving just his floating phone behind, which seemed to record her reaction to his sudden disappearance before it disappeared into thin air as well.
Just then, the livestream for the people of Marvel was paused for a full minute. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
.
.
.
.
.
[ Server Room, Lemurian Star ]
Having finished her primary task of securing the engine room and neutralizing the terrorists stationed there, Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, had slipped into her actual, off-the-books objective.
Right now, a sleek S.H.I.E.L.D. flash drive was plugged into the main console, rapidly downloading every heavily encrypted file on the ship.
As she waited for the progress bar to inch its way toward one hundred percent, the Black Widow casually leaned over the screen, browsing through the directory trees to get a sneak peek at what exactly Fury wanted so badly.
And then, her highly trained instincts flared.
The air behind her shifted ever so slightly. She didn’t hear a footstep, but she felt a presence... behind her.
Without a single wasted movement, Natasha spun around on her heel, raising her suppressed Glock straight forward, her finger perfectly resting on the trigger.
But her gun was pointed at... absolutely nothing. The space behind her was completely empty.
A fraction of a second later, before she could even process the empty room, a strong arm locked securely around her neck from behind. At the exact same moment, a leather-gloved palm pressed gently... against her right cheek.
’He didn’t rush me. There was no displacement of air, no sound of movement,’ Natasha quickly analyzed. ’He appeared behind me, and when I turned, he did it again. It’s not superspeed. Whoever it is, he teleports.’
"Now keep your hands exactly like that, Agent Romanoff," a voice whispered directly into her ear. Soft, low, and playful. "Keep them still and cooperative."
VERITAS...
Natasha instantly recognized the voice. And because she recognized him, she knew exactly what those gloved hands were capable of.
One wrong move, one sudden twitch of her hand, and that palm against her cheek would trigger an explosion that would tear her head off.
"I want you to do something for me," Veritas continued, his voice surprisingly polite, almost as if he were asking a colleague to pass the coffee. "It’s a very small favor, actually. A tiny adjustment to your current schedule."
Hearing his proposal, she raised a brow.
"I’m listening," she murmured with that calm, sexy voice of hers.
======================
Thanks for reading!
Support me on Pat reon!
pa t reon.com/c/Marveller
Right now 4 advanced Chapters.
