In the dead of night Scott stood in front of his old apartment, his face covered in bandages and dark colored bruises as he held a backpack and a pillowcase filled with his belongings. Scott was richer than he’d ever been in his life, but ironically he was homeless for the first time too.
Adrian’s Cadillac rolled to Scott and parked in front of him, the trunk popped open and Adrian called from the driver side window.
“Throw your shit in the back.”
——
Even hours after the event, traffic was still a mess from the damage caused by the robbery. Adrian and Scott drove around as if they weren't the people responsible for the mayhem. Scott was quiet, he rested his head on the windshield and watched the cars go by. Adrian wanted to ask why he got kicked out of his place, but knew it was probably not the best time.
“So, Jamie is mad at us. Well, me.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t turn back to grab you. I prioritized getting the group out safely, and getting the money to the safe house.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“You will? I’d appreciate that. We could really use his help.”
“Yeah.”
“Scott.”
Scott looked over at Adrian.
“I really couldn’t do any of this without you. I’m really glad you’re still with us.”
Scott softly smiled, “Just doing my part. So does that mean him and Felicia got away?”
“Yeah, they did.”
Scott grinned. “Good.”
——
Adrian parked his car next to a small house on the outskirts of the city, turned off the engine and looked at Scott.
“Welcome to my home, and your temporary living space.”
“You live alone?”
“Yeah. I don’t got a wife or kids, never wanted that kind of life.”
“Fair.”
Scott lugged his belongings to the front porch, where Adrian opened the door and invited him inside. It was a surprisingly well kept little place, it wasn’t big and Adrian was light on decorating, but it was cleaner than Darren’s apartment and spacious for just two people.
“Woah. I was expecting much worse.” Scott joked.
“Low blow kid.”
“You know that reminds me. Someone helped me escape the cops, a guy named Otto Octavius. Name ring a bell?”
“The scientist?”
“Apparently so. He has these metal arms, or tentacles I guess. He freed me from the cops and took me to his lab. He didn’t do any weird experiments on me… that I know of.”
“Why’d he help you?”
“He wants to join our organization.”
Adrian chuckled. “Really? Him?”
“Yeah I thought it was silly too, but those arms man. He’s dangerous, he killed like three cops in less than a minute.”
“Well, I don’t see much reason to add a sixth member to our group. We have a good thing going as it is, and I’d rather not divide the money with another person.”
“That’s a fair point, he just asked me to ask you about it.”
“Right. Want to see your room?”
“Of course.”
Adrian escorted Scott to a guest bedroom, where a queen sized bed with white sheets and a decent sized TV were situated. Scott, who was used to a messily twin sized bed jumped face first onto the mattress and laid there.
“This is great!” Scott said with a muffled voice.
“Glad you like it. Get some sleep.”
“Meh.”
——
The day after the robbery Jamie was laying low, he was a bit paranoid that some police would come barging into his family’s home waving guns. In the backyard he watched his little sister Mia play with their little white terrier Diego. The ten year old girl tossed a ball across the backyard and Diego chased after it with his tiny paws, and would refuse to give it back, making Mia chase after him.
Jamie was distracted, he sat on a lawn chair thinking about what happened the day prior when Mia called out to him.
“Ew! Jamie! Diego peed on my foot!”
“Go inside and wash your shoe off in the sink.”
The girl ran inside the house disgusted by the dog’s uncivilized behavior. Jamie walked over to Diego and looked down at him.
“Dirty boy.”
The dog gave a pouty face, which was enough to make Jamie relent. When Jamie turned around the Black Tarantula was perched on his awning and startled him.
“Jesus Scott!” Jamie clutched his chest. “You’re okay? What the hell happened!”
“Long story, I was saved by an octopus. Can we go somewhere private and talk?”
“Yeah sure.”
Jamie led Scott to his family’s garage and shut the door behind them. Scott pulled the mask off and took a deep breath.
“Jeez dude, are you good? You look rough.”
“I’m just peachy. You see why I didn’t knock on the front door though.”
“Yeah I get it. So why are you here?”
“You need to come back to working with Adrian and the rest of us.”
“You still want to work with him? After he ditched you back there?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t understand, I’d feel betrayed if I were you.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Jamie, I’m not new to this type of life. What we do is a risk, and we know what that risk is. Adrian was right, you and Felicia should’ve stayed in the van and let me handle myself.”
“And what if you got arrested or killed?!”
“That’s the price I pay.”
Jamie scratched his head and contemplated Scott’s perspective.
“Look man, I really appreciate you jumping to help me when I got knocked down.” Scott admitted. “But I also understand why Adrian left. I don’t blame him.”
“I get your point.”
“Come with me to headquarters, we need to split our earnings.”
“Let me get dressed and I’ll come with you.”
Scott gave a cheeky grin. “That’s more like it, we gotta get back to business.”
——
“Can you tell me what the suspect looked like when you unmasked him?” The investigator asked.
Misty sat across the table from the investigators and rubbed her chin, contemplating each moment of the incident carefully.
“He was badly hurt, his face was bruised and cut so I couldn’t get a great look at him. He was white, had blonde hair and blue eyes.”
“Did he have any distinguishing features?”
Misty drew in a breath, “Not that I could see, no.”
“Okay. Thank you Ms. Knight.”
Sometime after the interview Misty grabbed her purse and began to head home when a voice spoke out.
“Hey Misty.” Jean called.
“Yes?”
“I have something important to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
Jean sighed. “After yesterday, the news outlets are criticizing the involvement of superhuman vigilantes in the handling of the robbery. Mayor Bloomberg announced that the NYPD will not be involving superhumans or entities outside of the force in ongoing cases.”
“Oh. Wait, so does that mean -”
“You’re not going to be involved in this case moving forward.”
Misty stared at the floor disappointed, but not surprised by the news.
“Ah, I understand.”
“It’s not my choice Misty. I know you were trying your best.”
“Thank you.”
Misty dug into her purse and handed Jean a file.
“These are my notes on the case.” Misty continued.
“Anything interesting?”
“I managed to track down some crimes from before the apartment attack that I believe the webslinger was involved in. Because of that I think our suspect lives somewhere in Brooklyn, aged fifteen to maybe twenty.”
“Thank you Misty, I’ll continue where you left off.”
“Of course. If you need me just give me a call.”
——
Scott and Jamie walked into the headquarters where Adrian, Phineas, Felicia and Flint were waiting around the table.
“Glad you could join us.” Adrian greeted the two.
“Yeah. Sorry about the outburst yesterday.”
“Don’t sweat it kid, just don’t do it again.”
Felicia ran over to Scott and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Yeah, I am too.” Scott groaned.
“So let’s talk money.” Adrian beckoned everyone to the table. “After painstakingly counting our cash, the total amount we got from the job amounts to 1.8 dollars.”
The room got quiet, Scott quietly gasped. He knew that the robbery would earn them a lot of money but a million? He didn’t think that they’d steal that much.
“After my cut of 720,000, Phineas’ cut of 243,000 and Fisk’s cut of 270,000, you each will be given 141,750 dollars. We will be using Phineas’ car repair shop to funnel the money without alerting the IRS.” Adrian continued.
“Wait.” Scott butt in. “Why is Fisk getting a cut of our money?”
“Because Fisk has been giving us protection from Tombstone’s men, and any other crime families that might want to f**k with us.”
“Adrian you saw what we can do, why do we need his protection?” Scott raised his voice, his temper flaring. “He didn’t put his neck out like we did. It’s not fair.”
“Scott, I seem to recall you leaving Jamie’s side when he was at the hospital, when I specifically told you to watch over him. You know who saved his life? Fisk. Because I made a deal with him, one I plan to uphold.”
“Right. Sorry.” Scott’s temper died down, “But do we need to keep giving this guy a cut of our money? Tombstone is gone and we can protect ourselves just fine.”
“Backing out of a deal with Fisk would make him an enemy Scott, it’s just not worth it. That’s the end of the discussion.” Adrian sighed and rubbed his temple frustratedly. “In other news, you all will be employed at Phineas’ company, ‘Mega Quality Car Services’. For all the government will know you’re just honest, hard working people.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t treat you guys any differently now that I’m your boss.” Phineas smirked.
——
It was almost haunting how quiet and empty the precinct was when Philip got back to work, he walked around the halls and examined the looks on people’s faces. Everyone was like a ghost, and it felt eerie to witness the life sucked out of a place that once brought him so much joy. For him, the robbery and the carnage that ensued after was like a bad dream he should’ve woken up from already. It didn’t feel real. The reality was crashing down on him; that his partner - no, his friend - was hurt and might not walk out of the hospital the same man he was when they rushed him in there. Philip thought of his fiancé, his little brother and sister, and his parents, and how devastated they would be if he was the one laying in that bed.
He sat down at his chair and ripped open the paper bag that held his breakfast sandwich. He ate it quietly, feeling sad that his friend wasn’t there to crack jokes at and enjoy food with. Jean De Wolff said something to Philip, but he was too caught up in his thoughts to hear it.
“What happened?” Philip muttered.
Jean looked worse for wear, with dark bags under her eyes and her blouse uncharacteristically wrinkled. Philip could only imagine what the police chief was going through right now, especially since she was the rare kind of boss that cared about the people under her.
“Mr. Chen, this is Terrence Andrews from the precinct in the Bronx.” Jean explained. “He’ll be your new partner until further notice.”
Terrence was a skinny Irish kid, with ginger hair shaved to a buzz cut and a sleeve of tattoos on his right arm. He extended a hand to shake, which Philip obliged.
“It's good to meet you new partner.” Terrence smiled.
“Yeah, you too.”
“I’ll leave you too to chat a bit.” Jean said as she walked off.
Terrence sat across from Philip, stretched out his arms and sighed. “This your first day back?”
“Yeah. Still a little bruised from the car accident.”
“Oh I’d figure. How are you holding up though?”
“Good enough I suppose.” Chen chuckled.
“Yeah, crazy f**king times man. All these super freaks have had me worried, I got a wife to come home to and I don’t know how the PD expects us to deal with a guy who can turn into sand or fly around in the sky.”
“Shoot ‘em.” Philip remarked half jokingly.
“Yeah, aim first and ask questions later right?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
——
When the sun went down, Scott perched up on the edge of a nearby building and watched the lights turn on one by one until the city was bathed in fluorescent light. His mind was still stuck on what Adrian told everyone, how Fisk is taking their hard earned money for practically nothing. It wasn’t fair to any of them. It felt like more and more enemies were coming out of the woodwork to give him and his friends problems, and Hydro-Man was at the top of that list of course. He heard a familiar ‘THWIP’ sound behind him as he was sulking and turned around, Felicia was standing behind him in her Black Cat getup.
“What’s bothering you Spider?” She asked, her voice gentle and a bit playful.
“On the news they’re saying the heist we did was the biggest in ten years. In the whole country. How do you feel about what Adrian told us about Fisk?”
“Well, it’s pretty normal Scott. That’s how it is when you’re in our line of work.” Felicia said as she sat next to him.
“But we’re not normal people, we’re not some pickpocket or drug dealer. Why should we have to be scared of some mob boss when we can tackle Luke Cage?”
“Because good criminals stay on the side of caution. That’s what my dad told me at least.”
“Maybe.”
“Scott, I don’t understand why you’re so worried about it. We’re rich now, and we’re going to make even more money.” Felicia locked eyes with Scott, he noticed the passion and fire behind her words. “Fisk gets a cut of jobs the group does, that’s fine. Never said anything about what you and I do on our own.”
Felicia placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder and gently traced one of the silver claws down his back teasingly.
“Why don’t we swing around the city and blow off some steam?”