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The Following TWO Chapters are available for Patrons.
Chapter 7 (Where the Night Takes Me (1/2)), and Chapter 8 (Where the Night Takes Me (2/2)) are already available for Patrons.
***
Yuri walked with difficulty, feeling the weight of Spider-Man on her shoulders. Despite what she had heard about the hero, he seemed lighter than she expected—or maybe it was just the adrenaline taking over.
Then something caught her attention.
Movement.
Her eyes locked onto silhouettes emerging from the haze of smoke and rain. Men. Dressed in black suits, walking in formation, as if they knew exactly what they were looking for.
Her heart pounded. Cops didn't move like that. Civilians would be running.
'Shit…' Yuri stopped for a second, adjusting Spider-Man's weight on her shoulders. She pressed her lips together, narrowing her eyes as she assessed the situation. Five, maybe six men. Rigid posture, controlled strides. Professionals.
'I won't be able to hide in time.' Slowly, she lowered one hand to her holster, her fingers brushing against the gun strapped to her belt.
One of the men stepped forward, his black shoes making a muffled sound against the wet asphalt. He was tall, bald, with a cold, calculating gaze.
"Good morning, ma'am," he said, his voice disturbingly calm given the chaos around them. "Looks like you found what we're looking for. If you hand him over, we can get him treated."
Yuri lifted her chin slightly, keeping her stance firm. "Didn't know New York had a new authority in charge."
The man smirked, humorless. The others kept their hands near their pockets.
'Guns? Likely.'
"We don't want trouble, officer," he continued. "We just want Spider-Man. You can save us the effort and hand him over now… or you can make a decision you'll regret."
The tension in the air was almost suffocating. 'What do I do?...' Yuri felt Spider-Man's muscles twitch slightly against her. He was beginning to regain consciousness. But not fast enough. 'I'm not giving him up.'
"Is that so?" she said, forcing a smirk while planting her feet more firmly. "Well, I have an answer for you..."
In a swift motion, she drew her gun and aimed at the bald man.
"Go to hell."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The moment the first shot rang out, Yuri dove to the side, pulling Spider-Man with her behind a car.
***
'It hurts… Why does it hurt so much?' Those were Peter's first thoughts as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, like he was looking at the world through a dirty glass pane.
He blinked several times, trying to adjust to the smoke and rain falling over him. The pain was everywhere, a constant, dull throb spreading across his entire body.
The first thing he noticed once his vision cleared was the state he was in. His suit was in tatters—the red and blue fabric shredded in several places, exposing raw, burned, and torn skin beneath.
'How dare they.'
He tried to move his fingers, but his hands were raw, burned, and painfully sensitive. 'I can't feel the ground,' Peter thought, realizing that even though his fingers touched the wet asphalt, all he felt was a sharp sting, as if pressing against embers.
'How dare they.'
'Shit.' Lowering his head, Peter caught his reflection in a puddle. 'My mask…' The entire right side of it was gone, leaving half of his face exposed, covered in small burns and cuts.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Then his hearing, which had been ringing, finally snapped back into focus, making Peter flinch at the sharp cracks of gunfire. He blinked again and focused on the silhouette beside him.
A cop.
She was pressed against the car, teeth clenched in concentration as she gripped her pistol tightly. Blood stained the dark fabric of her jacket, seeping from a wound in her side.
'She took a bullet… because of me,' Peter realized, watching as the officer, wounded and bleeding, kept firing, most likely to protect him.
'How. Dare. They?'
***
The bullets ricocheted off the metal around them, and Yuri flinched as shards of glass rained over her when the windshield behind them shattered.
'Shit, this is my last mag.'
She clenched her teeth, momentarily releasing the pressure on her wound to reload her gun. Her fingers worked with practiced precision, but her heart was pounding.
She knew she wouldn't last much longer.
It wasn't just the pain from the gunshot. It was the fact that she was cornered, injured, and the only ally she had was a barely conscious Spider-Man.
'They're probably waiting for my ammo to run out… because once they rush us at once, we're screwed.' Yuri locked the magazine into place, took a deep breath, and prepared to fire again. But something was wrong.
The gunfire had stopped.
Yuri frowned. 'What's happening?' And then she heard it.
Something moving fast. A dull impact. A muffled scream. Then another. Instinctively, she turned her head—and froze.
Spider-Man was no longer lying by her side.
Her stomach sank as she realized it. He was there seconds ago, barely able to move. But now...
She forced herself to stand, swallowing the pain coursing through her body. Her eyes scanned the scene before her, and what she saw made her blood run cold.
Spider-Man was moving fast through the shadows of the smoke, like a blur. But what caught her attention the most was the way he moved.
He was destroying them.
The first man was thrown against a wall with such force that cracks spread across the concrete. Another tried to run, but Spider reached him in seconds, grabbing him by the collar and smashing him into the ground.
The third had his weapon ripped from his hand before he even sensed the danger, and in a brutal motion, he was launched into the air with an uppercut.
One of the men managed to shoot at the hero, but Peter dodged with minimal movement, closing the distance until he grabbed the weapon and struck the criminal multiple times in the head.
She saw one of the silhouettes trying to crawl away, but Spider-Man dropped onto him like a predator.
One punch. Then another. And another.
With each blow, Yuri saw Spider-Man's muscles tense, his fists stained with blood. His chest rose and fell unevenly, and even from where she stood, she could feel the weight of his ragged breathing.
Fire danced around them, illuminating half of his exposed face—the dark gaze, the hardened features, the fury etched into every line of his battered face.
Yuri tightened her grip on the gun, her fingers trembling slightly as she understood what was happening. Spider-Man wasn't just fighting to survive. He was punishing.
***
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.