Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 15– Living Merchandise.

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The sight of those dozen people, dressed in rags, connected together by chains with bags over their heads, it made utter rage and vitriol bubble up from deep within my gut. This anger and fury I felt, I felt it because, in a way, I was just like them. To these people here, that chain them up and push them forward like they are cattle, they are nothing more than property, something to be owned.

Just like I was, Miles Warren, the Jackal, created me, and he thought that gave him supreme power and ownership over me, and I can't help but feel in the depths of my being that, for a time, I was. I don't have memories of that, my only memories being those of Peter Parker and the ones from my other world, but I can feel it. Like it was engraved onto my very soul, even if I can't remember it, I know it. I was just like those people down there and was treated way worse, subjected to all sorts under Warrens's maniacal hands.

I want to jump down there, kick the shit out of all the thugs down there, permanently snap half of the bones in their bodies and free the captured people. I want to, but I can't. Those poor people down there are being readied for transport to a place where there are a lot more people being stored, people that are probably in way more pain and suffering. I need to find those people and help them, so, unfortunately, these people will have to wait just a bit longer, as will my fists.

I watch as the thugs force the people into the back of the truck, happy to use excessive force and battering with the butts of their guns to motivate them to move, which makes me clench my fists as I restrain myself from surging forward. Then, finally, they chain each of the, let's call it as it is, slaves to the inside of the truck and then hop back out and close the back of the truck.

At this point, the men go back to the front and get into the front of their truck, and begin to drift off to their following location while the two thugs inside go to close the garage shutters. With no time to waste, I act quickly and leap down from the rafters on top of the two thugs, slamming down on top of them with both of my palms, grasping the back of their heads and forcing them face down right into the ground, knocking them out with a sickening crunch.

With no time to lose, I rush straight out of the garage door and into the street, spotting the truck turning around the corner at the end of the road. I pull out my grapple gun and quickly shoot up into the sky, spreading my cape to begin gliding as I quickly spot the truck moving over to the freeway.

I am high enough up in the sky that I can slowly glide through the air and follow the truck, all the while keeping out of sight. If I need to pick up speed, then I can just unfold my cape and start diving straight down to build up momentum, and then open my cape again and pull up to gain a boost and keep momentum so that I can follow the truck.

For now, I am fine, just floating in the air, and though the truck is far away, I have a clear eye on it, and it isn't on the freeway yet, having hit traffic, so I have enough time to do something really quick. So I press a button on the inside of the right of my cape, and it automatically becomes locked in place and detaches from my arm. And with my arm free and my flight sustained, I reach into my utility belt and pull out my burner phone. I quickly dial in the number and press ring.

"Hell's Kitchen, 32nd Street. There is a gang hideout there, everyone inside is knocked out, and you will find a lot of illegal activities there. This is Daredevil." I say before cutting it off abruptly, not even waiting for the police officer operating on the other side to respond. I called the police and told them about that building to arrest all the guys there, but most likely, they won't believe a call like this, probably getting a lot of hoax calls every day.

That is why I said I am Daredevil since that might perk a few heads and gain some attention. However, I can't count on that bringing everyone out, but they will definitely at least send out a nearby patrol car to the environment to check it out, and they will see the open garage with the two knocked-out thugs.

Since the garage is open and the two guys are knocked out, they will have ample cause to investigate, and they will enter the building proper and find all the other crap, calling for backup and confirming that the call I placed was accurate. All the men inside are all taken care of already, and so they will all be arrested, and there are a bunch of illegal guns and drugs all over the place, plus the secret cellar is still open, which they will investigate and learn that there were people being held there.

Putting my burner phone away and back into my utility belt, I affix my right arm back onto the right side of my cape and press the button to attach it back to my arm. Then, with my flight properly back within my control, I begin to manoeuvre and adjust my course to keep on track, my eye never leaving the big white truck that holds innocent, scared people within.

I will follow this truck to wherever it is going, however long that might take, and when I finally find the storage place for all these humans. Then, I will free the innocents inside and bring the place down around the fuckers that own it.

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Gliding downwards, I gently land on the top of a brick building, my feet slapping down onto the rooftop when I disengage my wings. I don't stop my movement at all and walk to the edge of the building, peering over it to watch as the white truck turns to enter an underground garage that is potioned under an average-looking office building.

The entire street is completely empty and deserted, this is a business district full of offices and shops that have all now closed for the day, and so the garage door is firmly shut as the truck stops in front of it. And yet, after a moment of the truck waiting there, the garage door automatically lifts up, slowly but surely, until it is fully open for the truck to enter, which it begins to do so.

I pull back and run a few meters away from the edge of the building before turning around and looking back at the border. The fact that the garage door opened even though there was no one around leads me to believe that either the truck driver had a remote control to open it up or somebody else did, which means that the door is being watched, so that is not a good entrance for me to take.

And yet, what if this underground parking lot is merely a stop-gap to throw off any would-be pursuers? What if they are about to exit it through another way and continue their drive? I can not risk that, especially with all those people chained to the inside of that truck. I can't afford to take my eyes off of them for even a moment, even if that does mean my cover gets blown.

Thinking so, I quickly sprint forward, and at the very edge of the building, I leap forward, throwing myself off with force, and then I spread my cape, engaging my wings. I zip through the air as fast as a bullet, and I can see the garage door slowly closing as I close in on it. I continue to zoom through the air, and just before the garage doors shut, I disengage my wings and kick forwards, transitioning into a slide on the ground that allows me to just scoot under the garage doors before it closes.

I manoeuvre into a roll after I enter to slow myself down and then swiftly get to my feet and quickly hide behind a pillar, just in case no one has seen me yet. Of course, there is every chance that there was a camera watching that garage entrance, and I have already been spotted, even if I did enter at high speeds, but on the off chance that I haven't been caught yet, it is better to maintain stealth.

Going into a crouch, I start to walk up the pillar and onto the ceiling, maintaining my crouch the whole way. Of course, my walking on walls might be indicative of me being a spider-related person, but there is a whole bunch of technology out there that allows people to do that, so nobody would think twice about it. Though it would undoubtedly look suspicious if I was doing the wall-crawling thing, which is why I am sticking to simply crouching.

People never look up, not till stuff starts to get weird and they start freaking out, which is why I find it easy to sneak straight above the white truck that is just waiting, parked facing a wall for some reason, not moving at all. I drop down from the ceiling, landing gently on top of the truck and then laying flat on it, pressing my face to the top of the truck.

With this, I will just stay stuck to the top of the truck, following it wherever it goes without worrying about falling off since I am literally stuck to the top of it. But as my face is flat against the truck, I try to listen in on the captives held within, but I hear nothing at all, and so I really focus and manage to just about hear some light breathing. The truck must be soundproof, which makes sense since otherwise, they would be risking a lot when driving the captives around the city.

But I am seriously confused right now. Why is the truck just parked facing a wall, like literally right up against the wall? With such dangerous merchandise within and such risks they are taking, why would they just stop in the middle of the transport and park up in this underground parking lot? It just doesn't make sense.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Deciding to try and figure out what is going on, I try to listen in on the guy driving the tuck and his partner, but they seem to be in absolute silence, just having the radio down low and having their windows rolled down and enjoying a smoke. They are not talking at all, and they are acting pretty calm for people trafficking humans, giving me the impression they are used to this and have done it quite a lot, and right now, they are unbothered and apparently on schedule.

With nothing happening, I resign myself to just staying up here for the next couple of hours, ready for the long haul so that I can stay with these captured humans and follow them to their destination. Maybe this is a switch point, where the people will be switched over to another vehicle and transported in that, just to be safe and secure. Whatever is going to happen, I am going to be there to witness it and interve-

*Kssshhk*

I hear a motor suddenly going and then the sound of machinery suddenly moving, and I lift my head up to see that the wall the truck is parked in front of is slowly falling backwards, the machinery chugging and churning to make the wall move. And then, when the wall has moved fully back, it starts to move to the side and reveal a passageway big enough for the truck.

I feel the truck start up again, and then we begin to slowly drift into the darkness, that is before a light pops on, and then another and another before the entire passageway is illuminated, highlighting the path forward. I keep flat against the top of the truck as it begins to chug onward down the new road, and I watch behind me as the section of the wall slowly moves back into place, seamlessly slotting back into position.

There is a way more significant operation going on here than I initially thought. Those guys back at that hideout probably had no idea about this stage and were merely mooks that provided the people. However, whatever is going on here is way more than just a simple human trafficking ring, and this high-tech secret entrance proves it.

Usually, when it comes to these sorts of operations, they have all these people just locked up and chained to the inside of a container at the dockyard, or something, a quiet place where there isn't much traffic, and the traffic that does go through is usually easily bought. I have memories of running into a few of these as Spider-Man and dealing with them, but this is the first time I have seen a set-up like this.

The fact that it was underneath a regular old office building alone would be enough to raise an eyebrow, but it also had a secret wall that blended in seamlessly and opened and closed on command. No doubt that is not on any blueprints of this place. To have such a thing built underneath a part of the city with no one the wiser, and with the way the truck is travelling downwards in a spiral, they have obviously built underground as well. I think I may have stumbled onto something big.

We continued to go round and round for a while, surrounded by nothing but plain grey walls, floors and ceiling, with only the bright white lights sticking out of the top breaking up the monotony, but that harsh white light only worsened the atmosphere. Thankfully, the road soon straightened out, and we were travelling straight, and I was happy to see something new in the distance.

I lifted my head to get a closer look at the new place in the distance, but I was confused by what exactly it was before I figured out exactly what it was. In the space is a checkpoint, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a border since the place ahead of us is a security feature. I can see a contraption filling the area ahead of us, machinery lining the left wall and ceiling before coming down to the floor, attached to a room that fills the right side.

It leaves enough space for the truck to go through and be subjected to the mercy of the machinery. But, whatever it is that the machinery does, I doubt it will be good for me, and that inkling is fed and made into a premonition when I catch sight of the people guarding this barrier. Dressed in a yellow hazmat suit with a square head, a built-in glazed visor, black boots and black gloves, a brown utility belt around their waist, and a black metallic backpack on their shoulders are a bunch of guards, each wielding a high-tech-looking machine gun.

"Damn it, I hate this place. This creepy fucking place with those even creepier motherfuckers lurking around the place and watching us nonstop without saying a word." I hear one of the goons in the front of the truck say, disturbed by the people ahead of us, and rightly so. These AIM soldiers, or scientists or whatever they are, are really strange with how they all stand there in the same sort of stance and move around with the same disciplined movements. Really creepy. I listen in closely to the driver's conversation because I need all the information I can get.

"Shh, man, you don't know if they are listening in on us. All we have to do is drive through there and let them X-Ray the truck to make sure there is no funny business going on, and then we drop off the guys and get the hell out of here." So the driver says to his compatriot, explaining precisely what is going on and informing me just what is going on.

This X-Ray machine is terrible news for me since they will see me on it, but there is no other way in as there are guards everywhere that would see me if I get off the top of this truck. The X-Ray machine covers the entire left side, and the room on the right is entirely guarded. I am between a rock and a hard place.

"Shit, man, what do they even need all these people for? We bring in a whole bunch of these guys every week, and yet they are always asking for more. I am getting tired of this, every week picking up a whole bunch of new people and shuffling down here where they are never heard from again." Woah, this is a weekly thing? This is way bigger than I could have thought, and since this is AIM, we are talking about those people who are no doubt being heavily experimented on, suffering each and every moment of their lives henceforth.

"Don't pay it any mind, Gary. That has nothing to do with us. These are the boss's orders, we deliver a bunch of people to these guys every week, and that is it. Now shut up, and don't do anything stupid." So the driver tells his buddy as they begin to near the X-Ray, panicking me as I have little time before I am found out, and then I won't be able to go any further and help the people within.

Quickly I delve into my utility belt, knowing the exact pocket I am going for, having practised and organised each one meticulously. And so it is with an efficiency that I took out a mini little laser pointer that I commissioned from the Tinkerer, that actually fires a precise little laser that is capable of cutting through anything but the hardest of metals.

Using it, I quickly start to carve into the middle of the truck without hesitancy, assured that all the prisoners are tied to the sides of the truck's insides and no one will be accidentally hurt by my laser if I use it in the middle. Thankfully the little thing proves to be incredibly silent and strong, which it should be as that is what I requested it for. Batman is supposed to be stealthy, after all, and so should his tools.

I quickly cut out a very squiggly circle into the roof of the truck, stopping the laser before actually joining up the point I started at, allowing me to grab the circle and lift it, exposing the insides of the truck without actually ripping it off the truck itself. I then quickly slither into the hole and attach myself to the top and place my hand on the circle, sticking my hand to it with my powers and wrenching it back into place so it won't be shown jutting out on the X-Ray.

I then gently hop down onto the floor of the truck with no one being aware of it. Even the prisoners in the truck were unaware of my presence as my movements were so light, having been trained to be after all of these months of being a thief. I hurriedly seek out an empty space between the prisoners and walk over to it, pressing my back against the side and then slinking down to sit on the floor, taking a similar position to the other captives inside the truck.

Now with this, hopefully, the X-Ray will just show me as another one of the prisoners inside the truck, and hopefully, it won't focus too much on me to get a good luck at me and the things I have on me. Afraid it might make me stick out from the others, I press a finger to the side of my neck and allow my cowl to disconnect from the rest of my costume and quickly place it between my legs, and then cover my entire body with my cape.

I am glad I didn't go through with the decision to lead line my costume since this would prove to be a problem under the X-Ray. Plus, there is no Superman equivalent in this universe that I will run into any time soon. So now, I just have to stay here and keep calm, as well as listen to the world around me with all my focus in case they pick up on my deception, ready to move if my cover is blown, and I need to act fast and protect the people around me.

Like it or not, I have made the decision to be a superhero now, at least for the time being, until this Fisk business is finished, and I will be damned if I don't do an excellent job of it, better than Peter at the very least. I unconsciously start to hold my breath as I feel the truck suddenly come to a stop, no doubt now being inspected by the X-Ray, a moment passes, and nothing happens. I think I am in the clear-

"There are only supposed to be twelve specimens in this delivery. You have thirteen. Explain." I hear a bland voice calmly say, clearly belonging to one of the AIM soldiers that is monitoring the X-Ray device. Clearly, I spoke too soon, goddamn it. Am I just plain cursed? Even if I had changed my name altogether, especially my last name to Reilly, am I forever condemned to have the Parker luck?

"Well, you know how it is. One of the guys must have added another one to the back, we sometimes need to make people disappear, and when people come down here, they are never heard from again. We need to get rid of people, and you want people. It is a win-win. Waste not, want not, right?" The driver hurriedly gets to convincing the soldier, desperately not wanting to get into any trouble and upset his boss. And to be fair, he does make some good points. These guys apparently want as many prisoners as they can get, so why would they have a problem with this?

"...Go on through." The AIM minion says after a moment, waving the truck on through, and when I feel the truck moving again, I sigh a breath of relief. Then, picking up my cowl, I place it back on my head and connect it to the rest of my suit before standing back to my feet after feeling that the truck has moved far enough away.

Jumping back up to the ceiling, I push the cutout circle in the roof up and slink through back to the top of the truck, where I lay down flat, but I still have a ruined truck that has light coming through the top of the vehicle into the darkness. Diving into my utility belt again, I pull out some glue, this item I made myself as a derivative of my web fluid that is permanent and spray it along the cutout circle before placing it back into place.

I then put more glue over the seam to seal it appropriately shut and not let any light through. This way, when they open 5up the back of the truck, they won't see any light entering through the hole now and will be none the wiser to my presence here. With that done, I once more hunker down on the top of the truck and prepare to wait for the truck to arrive at its destination.

I have now infiltrated the facility, and with this place being an AIM-run institute, I must prepare for anything and everything.