Another Snip to chapter 40

(Manhattan, Pier 35)

Early in the morning, the sound of seagulls and heavy machinery can be heard over the honking horns of early morning traffic common in the city. Men can be seen working hard on the docks, loading and unloading crates, shouting and yelling. Nobody would suspect anything was wrong, until they got closer and saw that some of the men were armed. 

Up above, perched on a rooftop overlooking the area, Spider-Man, Red Sonja, and Black Cat are peering through binoculars observing the men. 

“Are you sure there are guns in those crates?” Spider-Man questions his thief girlfriend. 

Black Cat glances at her beau with a raised brow, “Are you questioning my ability to get good intel on something so basic?” She playfully inquires. 

“I just don’t want to beat up thugs that are smuggling knock off Prada,” Spider-Man jokes as he puts the binoculars down, “I mean, do you know how embarrassing it’ll be when everyone hears about it.”

“You do realize that counterfeit goods is a billion dollar industry, right?” Sonja chimes in, recalling Mary Janes memories on this sort of thing, “They make almost as much as the drug industry but get less attention.”

“I know,” Spidey tells her, “I’m just saying, it’s not as cool as stopping guns and drugs.”

Cat rolls her eyes at his childish retort. “Can we go and kick their butts now?” 

“Almost,” he states, looking through the binoculars and eyeing the scene carefully. "The markings on those crates. They're the same ones we saw during the Kingpin's last weapons shipment the other day."

Black Cat's smirk becomes smug. "Told you. My sources never let me down."

“Okay,” he says, putting the binoculars away. “Let’s do this.”

In perfect unison, they spring into action. In one graceful leap, Spidey hurls himself over the side of the building, firing webs to swing down toward the armed men below. Sonja wastes no movements as she jumps to the ground, her sword unsheathed and ready for action. Cat uses her grappling hook to effortlessly propel herself forward.

Though surprised, the goons scramble for their guns. Before they can get a shot off, Spidey webs two of them to the idling truck and leaps to kick another in the face. Red Sonja disarms another by slashing through his arm, though doesn’t actually cut the man he still elicits a scream of agony, and easily kicks him in the gut, sending him sprawling backwards into his friends.

As they fight, Sonja glances at Peter with Mary Jane's concern bleeding through her warrior visage. "Have you spoken to your friends?" she asked between punches.

"Not since I dropped the Phoenix bomb," he replies, swinging from the truck’s roof to kick another thug off his perch.

It’s been three days since he told his team all about his situation with the Phoenix and Jean. He knows he made the right decision in telling them when he did. With the Phoenix being hatched and given a physical form, he wouldn’t have been able to hide it.

"You're avoiding them," Sonja accuses, her voice a blend of MJ's empathy and her own blunt edge.

He shrugs mid-air. "I'm letting them cool off."

Felicia joins him on top of the truck, crouched and claws clinging to the roof. "Sounds like someone feels guilty," she teased, flipping down to disable another guard with effortless flair.

Peter opens his mouth to protest but is cut off by a loud crash behind them. One of the trucks roars to life; its driver slammed on the gas in a desperate escape attempt. With practiced coordination, Spider-Man shoots a web at its bumper while Black Cat disables its tires with a well-aimed toss of caltrops.

The vehicle skids and spins to an ungainly stop, inches from the pier’s edge where Sonja had her hand out to stop it for good. Crates tumbled out onto the dock and Sonja pries one open with brutal efficiency. Weapons spill out— AK-47’s, Uzi’s, and rocket launchers.

Spider-Man whistles, “This definitely isn’t knock-off Prada.”