Chapter 18: Team Up?
Midtown burned under the weight of a monster's rampage.
Ark swung through the thick smoke, his heartbeat pounding in his ears as the Lizard's guttural roars echoed through the streets. The chaos below was worse than he'd expected—cars crushed, storefronts leveled, the air thick with dust and fear.
And there, right in the heart of the destruction, stood the Lizard.
Twelve feet of muscle, scales, and pure rage. Curt Connors was gone, replaced by a towering reptilian brute with claws that shredded steel and a tail that left craters in the pavement. The monster lashed out at everything in sight, sending terrified civilians scattering.
Ark perched atop a flickering streetlight, watching grimly.
"Doc Connors," Ark muttered under his breath, narrowing his lenses. "You've really outdone yourself."
---
Suddenly, the Lizard's head snapped toward a trapped family huddled by an overturned taxi.
Without hesitation, Ark moved.
Twin webs shot out, yanking the Lizard's head away just as he lunged. Ark flipped down, planting both feet squarely into the monster's jaw—but it felt like kicking solid rock.
The Lizard barely flinched, but Ark's system immediately chimed.
> [Target Identified: Lizard]
Trait Available: Regeneration (Passive)
Cost: 3 Trait Tokens
Copy Time: 10 Seconds
(Insufficient Trait Tokens. Current Tokens: 2.)
Ark's heart sank.
"Seriously?" he muttered, flipping away to avoid a brutal swipe. "One token short?!"
---
Nearby, a news van screeched to a stop.
"Get this on camera! We're live!" a reporter barked, as her cameraman scrambled to record.
Ark barely spared them a glance, too focused on the Lizard roaring and charging once more.
---
Then the air shifted.
Another figure dropped into the chaos—swift, silent, landing between Ark and the monster.
Red suit. Twin batons. Devil horns.
Daredevil.
Before the Lizard could react, Daredevil struck with brutal precision, slamming a baton into the creature's knee, forcing it to stumble.
Ark blinked. "Daredevil?"
Daredevil didn't answer immediately, already weaving through the Lizard's wild swipes, striking nerve clusters and joints with calm, surgical strikes.
"I heard the destruction," Daredevil said between attacks, his voice cool but sharp. "You're out of your depth."
Ark grunted, flipping over a tail swipe. "Yeah, well, welcome to the club."
---
As they fought together, Ark's system pinged again.
> [Potential Trait Detected: Daredevil]
Trait Available: Radar Sense (Passive/Active)
Cost: 2 Trait Tokens
Copy Time: 10 Seconds
Ark's mind worked fast. He couldn't afford Regeneration—but this?
"Perfect timing."
He initiated the copy.
> [Trait Copy Initiated: Radar Sense]
Copying... 10 seconds remaining.
He kept moving, ducking and weaving, keeping the Lizard occupied while the system worked in the background.
Daredevil was a force of nature—every movement perfectly balanced, each strike landing with ruthless accuracy.
> 6… 5…
Ark used his webs to pull debris away from trapped civilians while dodging the monster's rampage.
> 3… 2… 1…
Suddenly, the world changed.
> [Trait Copy Complete: Radar Sense (Passive/Active)]
Remaining Trait Tokens: 0
Ark's senses exploded outward.
He could feel everything—every heartbeat, every breath, every shift of air pressure. The city unfolded around him as a living map in his mind. He could sense Daredevil's fluid steps, the frightened civilians nearby, and the Lizard's every twitch before it happened.
"Oh… this is cheating," Ark muttered, grinning beneath his mask.
---
With his Radar Sense now fully integrated with his Spider Predator Instinct, Ark moved like lightning.
He ducked under the Lizard's claws, flipped between its legs, and fired webs with pinpoint precision. His body reacted before he even thought to move.
Daredevil caught on quickly, syncing his strikes with Ark's newfound flow.
"Pin him down!" Daredevil ordered, his batons slamming into the monster's jaw.
"Already on it!" Ark shouted back, trapping the Lizard's limbs in thick webs.
---
But the Lizard wasn't finished.
With a guttural roar, the monster broke free, tail smashing through nearby support beams.
Ark's Radar Sense flared.
He turned toward the news crew just as debris came crashing down toward them.
Without hesitation, Ark fired a rapid webline, yanking them to safety before the rubble could fall.
Daredevil immediately took the opening, driving both batons into the Lizard's exposed side to stagger it.
---
The battle raged, but Ark and Daredevil now moved as one.
Together, they pummeled the Lizard, forcing him back step by step.
Finally, Ark launched himself high into the air, twisting mid-flip before crashing down with a devastating dive kick, slamming into the monster's skull with bone-cracking force.
The Lizard collapsed.
Daredevil finished it with a brutal double strike to the back of its head, knocking it out cold.
---
Silence fell across the street.
Civilians peered from hiding places. Sirens wailed in the distance.
Daredevil turned to Ark, his voice steady but slightly impressed.
"You've got talent," he said, his tone neutral. "But you need to call for help sooner."
Ark chuckled under his breath. "Sure thing. I'll send you a text next time."
Daredevil gave a faint nod, then disappeared into the shadows as quickly as he'd arrived.
---
Ark's system chimed softly in the aftermath.
> [Trait System Mission Completed]
Mission Type: Emergency
Objective: Investigate Unstable Mutagenic Signature
Status: Success
Rewards Granted:
3 Trait Tokens
1 Random Trait
Remaining Trait Tokens: 3
Random Trait Reward Acquired: Mind-Body Synchronization (Passive)
Trait Description:
Enhances the connection between your mind and body, allowing near-perfect coordination, seamless execution of complex movements, and heightened control over physical actions. Also sharpens mental clarity during combat or high-stress tasks.
Ark grinned beneath the mask.
"Not bad at all."
---
His gaze shifted toward the unconscious Lizard.
The system chimed again.
> [Target Identified: Lizard]
Trait Available: Regeneration (Passive)
Cost: 3 Trait Tokens
Copy Time: 10 Seconds
(Trait Copy Possible — Sufficient Tokens Available.)
"No way I'm missing this twice."
He activated the copy.
> [Trait Copy Initiated: Regeneration]
Copying… 10 seconds.
No interruptions this time.
> [Trait Copy Complete: Regeneration (Passive)]
Remaining Trait Tokens: 0
A deep warmth spread through Ark's body—a steady hum of resilience now rooted deep within him.
He took a slow breath, flexing his fingers as he felt the regenerative trait settle.
"That's gonna come in handy."
---
As emergency crews swarmed the scene, Ark disappeared once again, slipping into the night.
But the city wasn't done talking.
---
[Later That Night — News Broadcasts]
Across TVs and phones everywhere, the fight replayed.
First came the calm, measured voice of Lois Lane, reporting live on Metropolis' network.
"Tonight, New York was rocked by a terrifying incident involving Dr. Curt Connors, who transformed into a monstrous creature after a failed experiment. The situation escalated rapidly, with civilians caught in the crossfire," Lois reported, her tone professional and composed.
Footage showed Spider-Man and Daredevil fighting side by side.
"Two vigilantes intervened—Spider-Man and Daredevil—working together to subdue the creature. Sources confirm this is the first recorded collaboration between the two."
She glanced slightly off-camera before concluding, "While questions remain about their methods, tonight's outcome speaks for itself—without their actions, countless lives would've been lost."
---
Then came the other side of the coverage—loud, aggressive, and biased.
J. Jonah Jameson blasted across the screen, already red-faced and furious.
"SPIDER-MAN STRIKES AGAIN!" the headline screamed.
"I TOLD YOU!" Jameson shouted, slamming his desk. "I WARNED YOU this masked menace would bring chaos to our city!"
Behind him, looping footage of Ark swinging through the battle played endlessly.
"And NOW," Jameson roared, jabbing a finger at the screen, "he's teaming up with other vigilantes! This Daredevil nutjob, fighting monsters in the streets! Is this heroism? Or is it reckless lunacy that's drawing even more danger to our city?!"
His voice echoed in the broadcast studio.
"MARK MY WORDS—this isn't the end. It's just the beginning of trouble!"
---
But Ark wasn't listening.
High above the city, perched alone on a rooftop, he watched the quiet streets below.
Another fight survived.
Another step forward.
And whether they liked it or not… the world was starting to take notice.
---
[End of Chapter 18]
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