Chapter 10: Friction 1/2

Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn Entertainment, etc.

Full disclosure, I only picked this song because I liked it in the Ghost Recon: Wildlands trailer. Figured it best to have a change of pace from all of the old rock music and go for a different mood. Though if anyone was curious, I didn't like Wildlands, all it prompted was for me to remember the glory days of Advanced Warfighter and Future Soldier.

God that sentence makes me sound like my old man. Anyway, onto why you are all actually here.

Power Without Question – Chapter 10: Friction

You can't fight the friction

So ease it off and get into the system

We both know you need one

The tip of the needle is taking over you

And your heart is beating 'cause you know that you gotta

Get out of the middle and rise to the top now

"I do not approve of this course of action Pilot" said BT in his 'concerned' tone. "You are still wanted by the NYPD. Kingpin's Syndicate has been fully mobilized and appears to be making final preparations to commence Cinderblock. The injuries you sustained less than 19 hours ago have not yet fully healed. What you are about to do is a serious risk." Cooper tried to turn and give the machine a reassuring look but tripped himself up and nearly stumbled.

He held up a placating hand to the machine as he used the other one to keep himself propped up with the wall and offered a weak smile. "I know BT" said Cooper tiredly. He was dressed in his old gear from Typhon. The red fatiguest, more rigid chest piece, and original helmet.

It was clear the Titan wanted to argue, but before he could, they were interrupted. "Pilot, Felicia Hardy has entered the premises" notified BT curtly. After the Cat Burglar departed earlier, the automated defenses had been updated to not shoot her on sight, unless she stole something.

As he strapped the webgear over his armor he couldn't help but smirk. "Told you Felicia. You can come on in now" he called out smugly, ignoring the pain in his still injured lung. Militia medical supplies was truly wonderful, his ribs were still sore but structurally sound. His lung was slowly healing, as were his legs and arms. Ideally, he would have 72 hours of bed rest, but instead he had been forced to have a diet of nothing but STIMS all day so he could be ready for action tonight.

The Black Cat dropped down through the skylight and right behind the Pilot. "Hey boys" greeted Hardy in full Black Cat kit. "Ready for some fun?" she asked with a playful grin.

"Voice pattern analysis indicates that likelihood that activities you intend by 'fun' would aggravate Pilot Cooper's injuries is 69%" deadpanned the Titan. Felicia tried and failed to hold back a giggle while Cooper merely shook his head in exasperation.

"Thanks BT" said Cooper wryly as he sent a shrug towards Hardy, but there was a smile on his face too. Both outlaws appreciating the moment of levity offered to them. "You ready for this?" he asked as he checked the G2 rifle he would be taking.

"I'm ready for anything" replied the thief seductively. "The question is" she continued as she strutted up to the pilot and placed a hand on his arm, "are you?"

Cooper wasn't sure, be he almost thought he heard actual concern behind the words. He nodded after a moment, "as I can be" he assured. "Went through the stock, bio gel for lung and muscle repair, calcium-carbon injection for damaged bones, enough STIMs and painkillers to bring a rhino back from the dead" he rattled off. He then turned to the items assorted on the table. "G2A5 battle rifle, MK6 Smart Pistol, Mag Launcher, gravity and fire stars, two electric smokes, more painkillers and supplemental injections" listed as he worked his way down the table. "Rations, water, data knife and Combat Axe. Helmet and Jumpkit are fully operational. I've managed to graft an exo skeleton and grapple hook onto my old armor" he listed, completely deadpan.

"I do love a well-equipped man" said Hardy as she eyed the table and its contents hungrily.

Cooper laughed a bit, only to stop when he doubled over in a hacking coughing fit. "Ladies love superior firepower" he mumbled. He then looked up to see a smirking Hardy and took a shot in the dark. "Put the gravity star back Felicia" he said, surprised that the woman kept a straight face. "Please."

Crossing his arms, he sighed in defeat. "At least tell me how many you took so I know how many replacements I need to grab" he pleaded. "And come with me, might as well let you help yourself" he grumbled.

"Two stars" admitted Hardy finally as she came alongside him. "Of each" she added cheekily as they went into his armory.

Cooper came out with the replacement ordinance, while Hardy helped herself to a suppressed RE-45 Auto pistol, electric smoke grenades, and a data knife. The RE-45 was at Matt's insistence, he had asked that Felecia to go back to Perrault's home and gather any information she could, and if she helped herself to any of the items she had missed the previous night, then even better. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Hardy again, the worry in her tone only growing with each time she asked.

"Don't see many other options" admitted Cooper. "I can't stop this alone. Not like this" he admitted bitterly as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I don't doubt your abilities, but this is a whole other ballgame."

He looked down at the platinum haired woman, her lips pursed in distaste, but not voicing it. Both of them knew he was right, last night had proven that her skillset wasn't the one for the job. "Call if you need someone with a more…delicate touch" she purred as she dragged a hand across his back.

"Call me if you want things a bit rough" he shot back as he began loading up magazines and equipment. Hardy turned to leave, strutting towards the door, her hips and ass swaying in time with her step that the Texan watched from the corner of his eye. "And Felicia" he called out, causing her to stop and cock her head slightly. "Stay frosty, stay safe" he said sincerely. He could make out the barest glimpse of a smile on her lips before she departed.

"Once more into the breech."

Sometimes, dealing with New York's vigilantes was a massive pain in the ass. But for Captain Yuri Watanabe, at this moment, the interruption was a relief form the chaos downstairs. She walked onto the roof of the precinct, still stressed as the entire NYPD licked its wounds after the previous night's fiasco. Personally, the events in the alley at the end of the night still weighed heavily on her. Seeing both Detective's empty desks that morning had been a tough sight to stomach, bringing back memories of both of their bodies lying in the snow.

The first thing she had done was go through Johnson's computer, finding ample evidence of the woman feeding Kingpin information on their investigation ever since the events at the Fisk distribution center. Yuri had been kicking herself for not seeing it until the woman had a gun pointed at her. Without thinking, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a cigarette as she leaned against the railing. "Want a light?" came an electronically filtered voice from her left, startling her. The Marauder stood a few feet away, also leaning on the railing, though she quickly noticed there were several differences.

She offered the cigarette to him as he produced a small lighter, a triangle shaped logo with some animal covering one side, as he lit the cancer stick and she took a puff. "New look?" she asked, not wanting to think about the less pleasant things they needed speak about, at least not yet.

"Old one actually" explained the Marauder solemnly. "Should be able to repair my new one in a few days at least, so don't get too attached to this style" he cautioned wryly. Apparently, the injuries he had suffered hadn't dampened his dry humor. He then turned to the NYPD Captain, the familiar X-shaped visor staring down at her. "But I'm not here to discuss my fashion choices. Don't sugar coat it, how bad?"

Watanabe let out a heavy breath. "33 dead, 57 wounded. Our SWAT teams got hit the hardest. No one full squad came out unscathed, right now they're reorganizing" she explained. She noticed his shoulders sag as he heard the news. "Kingpin's guys didn't away scott free either, we've got 49 of them in our morgues. 18 more in interrogation rooms or hospital beds."

The vigilante simply nodded in acknowledgement as he reached into his belt and pulled out an object. "Last night was the prelude to something bigger" he said as Watanabe took the flash drive. "Cinderblock, best guess is it goes down tonight. They have a lot of serious firepower, even after last night we've only seen a fraction of it."

That statement caused Yuri's blood to run cold, the thought that Kingpin's men had even more than what had effectively bloodied New York's finest. Another concentrated action would effectively cripple the NYPD. "What's his endgame?" she asked.

The Marauder shrugged, "Don't know, don't care. Far as I can tell our best bet to stop Cinderblock is to take out the two Lieutenants who are apparently the ones in charge" explained the vigilante. "I heard through the grapevine that Spider-Man had captured some of Kingpin's men last night. Do you know what happened with them?"

The Captain shook her head, "nothing, they posted bail this morning and we had to let them go" she answered with a grimace. The Wallcrawler had already asked her about those same men earlier, and while she wasn't happy with it, there were more pressing matters to tend to. "What does that mean to us?"

"It means that tonight is going to get ugly" he said with a grimace. "With that one in the wind, and likely at his backup, there is no way we can find him. The other, I do know where he is, the Black Cat has volunteered to neutralize him. But taking out one won't stop Cinderblock, what it will do is hopefully allow us to be able to track their movements and monitor communications. We will have the drop on them."

Watanabe pursed her lips, as nice as it sounded, there was one large issue with the proposal. "There won't be a 'we' for this" she said bitterly. "After last night's fiasco there is no way that the NYPD will be having anything to do with you. No matter what" she said holding up the drive, "is on this."

The armored man nodded. "I understand Captain" replied the Marauder sadly, "I'm sorry about this, I truly am. But I can't stop, not now, weather I have help or not." Yuri simply listened, the resolve in his voice was concerning. "Like it or not, we're all stuck here with the Syndicate. On that drive is a list of locations. They're either targets or more likely it's the locations of gangs that received weapons from Kingpin. I'll be taking them out one by one. If all goes well, I can do that before Cinderblock really gets underway. If not…it'll be a busy night for all of us."

Yuri nodded, the plan not that dissimilar to those that Spiderman had pitched several times before. "What about Kingpin himself? Shouldn't going for him directly stop the plan?"

"Sadly, no" answered the Marauder with a shake of the head. "He left yesterday, untouchable." There was an uneasy silence as the vigilante looked over the city. "Thank you" he stated suddenly. When he saw the questioning look she gave he elaborated. "For saving my life in that alley and for letting me go. I know you're putting yourself at risk, I'll try to make the most of the chance you're giving me."

Yuri nodded back, finding it odd how the cities two most famous vigilantes could be so different. Spider man was joking and flippant, always with a quip and youthful enthusiasm. The Marauder's demeanor matched his darker moniker. Dry, cynical, and direct, he seemed more like a grizzled veteran, even if he was the less experienced of the two. That comparison prompted a thought, "can I ask you a question?" said Watanabe suddenly. The visored helmeted turned to her and she could almost imagine the wry smirk behind it before it nodded. "Why do you do this?"

"I'm not sure anymore" he answered after a brief pause, the sincerity of the answer surprising Yuri. No speech about doing what was right, fighting to protect the weak, not even seeking vengeance or enacting his own kind of justice. "Reassuring, I know" he added wryly.

"The honesty is" said Yuri as she continued to smoke the cigarette. "But know that you have support, especially after last night. You could have easily left us for dead, but you didn't" she said, feeling strange about having to give the man a pep talk. "You must have had a reason."

"My dad was a cop, SWAT" began the Marauder.

The Captain didn't miss the past tense. "Was?"

"Died a few months back, no reason for it really" he explained before pausing to take a deep breath and steady his nerves before he continued his explanation. "And now, his sudden death is a reminder that we don't live forever. My old man always told me to live without any regrets. I won't always be around to fix them later. Letting cops, like my dad, die? Well, I don't think I could atone for that no matter how long I'm around."

Yuri nodded in agreement, and with a bit of envy her father was why she was on this path, but fewer fond memories. "One more?" she asked, to which he nodded again. "Why did you pick me to contact? There are plenty of good people on the force."

"There are" agreed the vigilante, "but I have access to your files, your entire files. I read yours after you were assigned to bring me in, and, to put it simply, you remind me of my father. You do the best you can, trying to make the world a better place. The only problem? The very laws that enable you to carry out that goal also hinder you, but you follow them nonetheless." He sighed, "all of that means that, to me, you're familiar, a known quantity, someone I can trust."

"Is that why you gave me the Rambo gun?" she asked wryly.

The Marauder chuckled lowly and shook his head. "No, I also saw your marksmanship scores" he answered with a grin in his tone before he pushed himself off the railing. "I'll be seeing you around Captain. Enjoy the show" he said before he suddenly went rigid and drew his rifle, scanning the rooftops and causing Yuri to go on alert too.

The cause of his distress was soon revealed when a familiar white cable attached itself to the Marauder's leg and ripped it out from under him. He fell on his back and was dragged across the rooftop, coming to a stop beside the stairwell as a red clad super hero landed on the roof. "I'm not sure that performance will get you a standing ovation ya know" quipped the Webhead.

"Spiderman!" shouted a shocked Yuri, causing the vigilante to look her way. "What are you doing?" asked the stunned cop.

"I saw what happened last night Yuri" responded Spiderman, the eyes of his mask narrowing as he looked back towards the Marauder, who had regained his footing and shouldered his rifle. "We both know that he's too dangerous to leave roaming the streets. I've been ignoring him long enough, but that man is a killer."

"And on our side!" defended Yuri without hesitation. "Look, I know you don't agree with his methods, but he saved my life and a lot of my men" explained the Captain forcefully. There was a brief moment before Yuri added a few more words, "I trust him."

For all it was worth, Spiderman didn't seem convinced, but he didn't act as the Marauder stood and added his two cents. "Stand down Spider-Man!" barked the armored vigilante. "I have no quarrel with you."

"I figured that; the gun pointed at me was a dead giveaway" snarked the Webhead. With speed and precision only he could muster, Spider-Man fired off a web and ripped the rifle from the Marauder's grasp. "Now, if you tried to convince me we were actually best buds, I might believe you."

"Something tells me that it wouldn't make a difference" replied the Marauder dryly. "So why are you really here?" asked the vigilante as he raised his fists and settled into a boxer's fighting stance.

The Wallcrawler got low in his own fighting stance. "What have you done with Mary Jane Watson?"

The question came as a shock to Cooper as the fog in his mind from the concussion he had just gotten began to clear. "BT, get Watson on the horn" he ordered in a whisper as the Pilot tried to figure out a way to escape the superpowered vigilante. "This is the first I've heard of that" said Cooper in a regular tone, calm as he could muster despite the long odds he was staring down.

"Wow, feigning ignorance huh?" asked Spiderman in mock shock, "and I thought you knew everything" said the vigilante snarkily.

"Pilot, I have not been able to contact Ms. Watson, her phone appears to be disabled as well" informed BT, causing Matthew to curse mentally.

"Let Black Cat know to search Perrault's system for any info about her, I'll have my hands full." Before the Titan could respond, the Pilot tried once again to avoid having the situation deteriorate further. "I'll find her, now either step aside or make your move. I haven't got all day."

There it was, the ultimatum made, the gauntlet laid down, now it was up to the Webslinger to respond. Instead of doing it with a quip or sarcastic remark, a web line slammed into his armor and Matt was pulled forwards. Instead of fighting it, he decided to use the momentum to his advantage, fired his jump kit and readied a fist. Spiderman tried to throw his own punch when he realized what the SRS pilot was doing, but Cooper was slightly larger in stature and had a bit more reach. The result was that the wallcrawler was stunned before the Marauder slammed into him, his momentum carrying them both towards and then off the edge of the roof.

The two men were still connected by the webline as they fell towards the street. Spider-Man began landing blows on the Marauder's armor while Cooper sought to change the fight completely, firing his grapple into the side of the building opposite the precinct. The two changed directions as the Grapple reeled them, with the Marauders other hand grabbing the synthetic silk line and adding even more momentum to open the gap between the two and slam the Webhead into the building as hard as he could.

But the blow didn't faze the Wallcrawler at all, "Your form's getting better" Spidey quipped before he immediately severed the webline, jumped from the wall and fired another at Cooper. The Marauder released his grapple and fell to dodge before planting his feet on the wall and pushing off, his jump kit firing to boost him to the next building. He rounded a corner and looked back to see Spider-Man still in webswinging pursuit, he either had to completely give him the slip or fight him off. Neither option seemed terribly appealing. He ran along to the next building and made a left turn, activating his cloak and drawing his axe and burying it into the side of the building to bring himself to an abrupt halt.

"Got ya" said Cooper to himself as he watched the Spiderman shoot past before he set off in pursuit, using his grapple to build up speed quickly and begin to close the gap. As the Pilot bounced from building to building, it didn't take long for the Wallcrawler to realize the ruse as he pulled himself to a wall and stuck fast.

Cooper went on the offensive, leaping off the opposite building, poised to strike.

He wasn't the only one however, Spider-Man shot off with surprising speed and the two clashed midair, with Spidey having learned from the first blow to duck as Matt threw a punch that missed before the superpowered vigilante retaliated.

Matt began to miss his prototype armor very quickly as the blows began to pummel his old plate from what felt like multiple directions at once. He tried and failed to regain his bearings or retaliate in some way. His punches and kicks failed to connect, so he switched tactics and tried to grapple with the wallcrawler and managed to hook his arm around the Spiderman's leg and hung on for all he had.

That caused to two to plummet again as Cooper swung himself around and wrapped his legs around Spidey's chest in a John Wick like grapple as the street came up at them. But the webhead was not so easily defeated, he fired a webline and swung the pair towards a wall and it was Cooper's turn to bear the brunt of the impact, knocking the breath out of him and reigniting a lick of fire in his now reinjured ribs.

A spandex clad knee slammed into Cooper's helmet and knocked his head back into the wall as Spiderman fought to remove himself from the grapple, his superior strength and positioning against Matt's exosekeleton and sheer will. The writing was on the wall when Matt lost his grip on the webheads leg and found his right hand webbed to the wall. With all four of his extremities pushing against the wall there was no way Cooper could hold on for long. He needed some way to stun Spider-Man and enable him to escape and open up the distance.

He suddenly had an epiphany, instead of brute forcing his way out he would have to be devious. "Thank you, Cat" he said aloud as he brought his free hand to his belt and found what he was looking for.

"Is she the one who taught you to do this, 'cause it doesn't seem like…" began the webslinger only to be cut off when Cooper pulled the pin on the electric smoke grenade and the two were enveloped in the thick cloud of white before it began to crackle menacingly.

The initial surge of pain caused Cooper to grit his teeth, but unlike Spider-Man, he knew what was coming. Matthew ripped his hand from the webbing and activated his cloak as he fell towards the street, using his jump kit to spin himself around in midair as he pulled out another piece of equipment and hurled the Gravity Star at the smoke cloud. His grapple soon followed suit, pulling himself back towards the deep blue orb. He got closer as the lightning fizzled out and smoke cleared, revealing the red clad hero flailing helplessly against the pull of the gravity star. "You want more?" snarled Cooper as he brought his feet up and felt both connect with the Webhead's jaw, driving him into the wall before firing his jump kit and shooting away as the gravity star detonated and shot both apart.

Cooper immediately went back on the attack, firing his grapple, but missed Spider-Man, who dodged away from the hook as it buried itself in the wall behind the webhead. Matt charged forwards anyway, the Webslinger coming out to meet him in mid air, his own form tense to deliver its own strike.