Julia sat between Senator Harrison Mann, and The Prowler. Dr Jack Kale, and Senator Dianna Smith, sat across from her, an empty seat between them and Kingpin at the head of the table.

Behind him stood Blinker, Black, and Munn, their fine suits and shirts pressed, donning sunglasses as they stared forward silent oozing the aura of quiet intimidation Kingpin liked oh so very much. And in the corner, his assistant – Hildy - typed away as she parsed over documents and emails for Kingpin. Likely in preparation for his upcoming mayoral campaign.

Meanwhile, the man himself read over a newspaper, the steady turn of the pages the only sound beside the typing. Slowly he stopped, closing the paper before dropping it to the varnished oak table. Julia glanced at the first page headline.

THE NEW SPIDER-MAN: OF EVILS UNKNWON

“Jameson” he muttered to himself a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “When are we gonna get that guy a drink, eh?”

Senator Mann chuckled but the others all sat in silence, non-daring to speak. Kingpin grunted dismissively before leaning back into his chair, folding his hands as he began to hum an old jazz song to himself.

Julia clenched her trembling hands tighter. She didn’t know how she’d gotten herself into this position. One second, she’d been a respectable scientist in a new and burgeoning field of research, giving talks about the future of teleportation technology and dimensional travel as a guest speaker at universities. And then, she’d been a fugitive. On the run for causing ‘extensive and prolonged threat to the security of the city’, according to official listing the MDA.

Everything had been ruined. All because of a few miscalculations and a contaminant on the portal array. It was stupid really, trying to get the machine to work in such an environment, she shouldn’t have even considered opening a portal.

It didn’t matter now anyway. She hadn’t meant to tear a fabric in reality, but she had. And the MDA didn’t care about intention. People were scared and it was their job to stop that. So she was a fugitive, a threat to the city that’d be apprehended on sight.

That’s why I’m here, she thought. Because I’ve got nowhere else to be. That was true even before all this.

She sighed internally. She didn’t get why the MDA were after her. They were meant for metahumans, and she wasn’t one. Just a scientist who’d unlocked the key to interdimensional travel. Well half of it anyway. They probably classed advanced science and metahumans as the same thing.

Suddenly the doors opened wide and Black cat walked in, some of her usual swagger gone, replaced by tiredness.

“And what time do you call this?” Prowler said, looking to her as she sat across from him.

“There was a thing with my girlfriend’s brother” she muttered. “Don’t bother.”

Kingpin sighed, then brought his hands together, looking over the table before nodding to himself as the doors closed.

“I guess we can begin” Kingpin said. “Thoughts anyone?”

“So, what… whole thing’s a bust? Do I just kill her now” Prowler muttered, his feet still on the table.

Julia’s blood ran cold.

“Did I say you could speak?” Kingpin muttered, annoyed.

“I’m just saying what everybody’s thinking”

“Do I pay you to think?”

“What?”

“Do I pay you to think?”

“…no?”

“Exactly. I pay you to kill people and steal. I pay Harrison to think, I pay Dianna to think, I pay Jack to think.”

“You don’t pay me sir” Jack muttered, still reading over his notes.

“I… right. I compensate Jack with resources and protection from the law. My point is Prowler, I pay Julia here to think. Especially about interdimensional travel. So if I’m going to ask anyone about it, I’ll ask her. Capiche?”

“…fine”

“So, what do you think Julia?”

“Me?” She squeaked.

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“Yes”

“Oh… right” she muttered, teeth chattering with nerves, “Well… uh… we… I-I… we… t-there were…”

“Oh, for god’s sake” Black cat muttered, “Couldn’t we have done this over zoom or something?”

“She’s got a point” Senator Mann said, sparing Julia an annoyed glance. She looked down to the table as other mutterings of annoyance came from around the room.

“Stop” Kingpin said. “Dr Fines, please, ignore them. Speak”

She Julia her eyes glued to the table, aware that everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to say something.

Only the sound of Hildy’s keys tapping away filled the room. She hated it. She hated every second of it. But she had to bare it. She had to bare it because he was paying her to continue her research and it was guarantee no one else would. She just had to grimace and hold on, figure out how to make the technology accurate, and then… then she could escape this hell.

Then she could free her love.

“T-he… the experiment was successful”

“How?!” Prowler cried.

“Let her finish” Kingpin said.

“The experiment was successful” she said firmly, some annoyance leaking into her voice. “W-we managed to control the warper’s functionality, create and control anti de-sitter space with intention to allow for an opening at a specific time. The size, exact space, and exact amount of warping weren’t accurate, nor the depth, but with a few adjustments it will work. It will. Give me three months and I’ll not only make it work but be able to get you hundreds of versions of exactly the people you want and prevent the free distortions from tearing apart the city. I promise”

“See?” Kingpin said, looking to Prowler. Prowler simply shrugged in response and Kingpin chuckled.

“Right. Now, Black Cat, Jack you said you had something for me”

“During the attack, my surveillance scanners-“

“Rats. Surveillance rats” Prowler interjected.

“… my surveillance scanners picked up a suspicious amount of NE in the lab. The right kind of stable NE helix that it had to be the result of something under active cloning. I had Black cat go investigate, and she found what I thought she would. They had our tech”

“What?” Prowler said.

“That’s not the worst part” Black cat said. “There were emails between an employee and their boss complaining about methods used to acquire the tech. They even didn’t make it. They bought it from people who stole it from us. The Bugrock mafia.”

“And you got all this by going through the burned building? That’s a lot”

“Got it from a half burned computer, and the machine Jack says was one of our cloners. Fortunately, Spider-Man left the place untouched. Didn’t even have it guarded by a police security detail like usual. I was in and out, easy“

“That’s strange” Senator Mann muttered. “You think he wanted you to find it?”

“No. It was the new one,” Black Cat said. “Purple and black with the torn up suit. He’s probably not a scientist like the red and blue one. Didn’t know what to look for.”

“And what about this guy they warp brought through?” Kingpin said.

“Cops have him” Prowler said.

“Can we get him?”

“Not our guys” Senator Mann said. “Plus, even if it was this was public. We’d have to wait until he gets charged and then hope we can haggle with a prison before he gets transferred. If it’s not the Hortz-Bruig, we’ve got a chance. But if it is I doubt o- the people in the MDA will-”

“Stop” Kingpin said, stilling the room. “This Bugrock Mafia? Who’re they?”

“A new gang. They’re-“

Blinker was cut short by a buzzing phone. Kingpin’s.

“Sorry, I’m getting a call” he muttered. He slowly pulled out his phone and sighed before answering.

“Evening honey. How’s everything?” the cheer in his voice was instant and grating, a complete tonal shift from the grim and calculating atmosphere of the room. The others sat in silence as the man forced a laugh, turning away from them in his chair.

“What? No, no everything’s fine sweetie. I’m fine. No… I’m fine, I’m…. everything’s fine”

He went quiet for a moment his chair creaking as he leaned forwards.

“Monopoly?” he said suddenly, sighing. “Alright. I’ll make it an early night tonight” he said, forcing a smile. “Right. Right… right. Night honey. Tell Richard and Damian I’ll be home soon. Bye”

He hung up and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before muttering something about colleges.

“Right” he muttered, turned back to the others. “Where were we?”

“The evidence Black Cat found in the wreck and who the Bugrock Mafia are”

“Right. Word on the street?”

“Their leader, a new guy. He’s calling himself Hammerhead” Blinker said. “He’s got a guy, right hand, called Tarantula. Both metas. Powerful.”

“New guys… and they’re behind the break ins on the labs?” Kingpin said. “Isn’t Scorpion doing his job?”

“They probably know about the locations of and have intimate details of the layout” Dr Kale said.

“A tombstone associate?” Kingpin muttered.

“Maybe. But I doubt it, when Might goes after gangs, he doesn’t miss heavy hitters. They likely lucked out and found some old blueprints. It’s not a problem” Kale continued.

“Not a problem?” Prowler said, clearly annoyed. “They broke into some of the facilities and are trying to steal King’s cloning!? And you say it’s not a problem?”

“It’s no-”

“Do you have any idea what could happen?” Prowler continued. “What if Spider-Man catches these guys and finds us through them? Huh? You remember what your slip-up cost us last year?”

“That’s enough, Prowler” Kingpin said, leaning back in his chair. The room went silent again, except for Hildy’s typing as Kingpin looked to the paper on the table.

“Who even are these shmucks? What are their powers?”

“We think they’re part of the new crowd that’ve been getting the bug powers, like Spider-Man. Tarantula’s got spider claws or something, but we don’t know about hammerhead”

“Insects…” Kingpin grunted in response, the tone enough to send a chill down Julia’s spine.

“You want me to kill them?” Prowler muttered. Kingpin waited a moment, before grumbling to himself. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m thinking” Kingpin muttered in response

“Boss these guys are out there right now. Just say yes”

Kingpin looked to him suddenly, an intensity to the look that Julia almost let out a gasp. Then, slowly, Prowler pulled his feet off the table and straightened out in his chair. The room was silent a moment, even Hildy’s typing stopping. For the first time Julia could sense the fear she held within herself, shared by the others.

“No. Don’t want to kill them” Kingpin muttered, looking to Prowler then Julia, and all the other faces in the room. “I need new allies. Strong and smart allies. They operate in lower Manhattan and seem to know what they’re doing. We’ll stop trying to work the cops over there and bring these guys into the fold. They want money? Tech? Power? I’ll give them all of it. As long as they operate under me”

“And if they won’t?” Prowler said.

Kingpin suddenly smiled, a horrific expression devoid of joy, filled instead with only a deep and unsettling depraved pleasure.

“Then bring them to me. Alive”