Chapter 48: The Vulture's Lair

Peter used his usual method of finding a ride to get there hitchhiking. 

However, before he arrived, he received a call from Daredevil. 

"Spider-kid, be careful, I saw Adrian Toomes!" Daredevil's voice sounded breathless as if a battle had just occurred.

"Ah? Mr. Daredevil, are you okay?" Peter asked with concern.

Daredevil said: "I'm alright. Shortly after you left, the police came and took away Herman Schultz and Phineas Mason. But before their car drove far, they were attacked by Toomes, or as he's better known - the Vulture. He has a flying suit with huge metal wings and is equipped with certain weapons."

"I guess they're heading your way now. Need any help?"

Peter refused: "Thanks, Daredevil, but I think I can handle it." 

Surprisingly, Daredevil sounded quite enthusiastic. 

"Well, good luck to you then, Spider-Man," Daredevil said sincerely.

After hanging up, Peter looked down. During the call, he had actually arrived near Toomes' weapons facility. 

With Karen's help, he didn't get lost, and didn't need to spend too much time finding the way.

"Karen, activate enhanced recon mode," Peter said.

"Enhanced reconnaissance mode activated." Karen's voice responded, and simultaneously, the spider logo on the chest of his suit transformed into a mini spider-drone that flew out.

All the images detected by the spider-drone were displayed on the lenses of his suit.

With the drone's help, Peter quickly assessed the situation inside the factory. This single-story factory indeed contained many high-tech creations inside. Some combined conventional human weapons, likely ready but unsold prototypes. Others appeared untouched, perhaps recently acquired.

Peter recognized many familiar objects inside, such as Chitauri energy cannons, guns, and even a large piece of a Chitauri corpse - the skin mechanically modified, possibly to study exoskeleton armor.

However, the factory's scale surprised Peter. He expected many workers, but unexpectedly only saw four or five people total. Two were researching while the others sorted materials.

The lead researchers, whose information Peter got from Herman Schultz, were Phineas Mason, a heavyset man wearing goggles busy at a table of high-tech parts, and Randy Vale, a blond-haired man acting as Mason's assistant. 

"Since Toomes hasn't returned yet, let's move quickly before he gets back!"

Peter made up his mind, having Karen rapidly formulate an infiltration plan to assault the weapons factory.

He first snuck in from the ceiling, webbing up and suspending from above those sorting the goods one by one.

Then he captured Phineas Mason and Randy Vale the same way with his stealthy skills thriving under the cover of darkness. 

Interestingly, these guys clearly knew Peter was coming, as he found weapons meant for him within their reach after apprehending them. But they didn't expect him to arrive so quietly and swiftly - before they even noticed, all were already caught in his spider-webs.

On the other side...

Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture, was in as foul mood as he could be right now.

A few years ago, disappointed with society after his company's bankruptcy, he conceived a vendetta against the Avengers and Iron Man. 

So instead of handing over the several truckloads of Chitauri military scrap he collected, he persuaded employees like Phineas Mason, Herman Schultz, Jackson Brice, and Randy Vale to form an illegal weapons workshop, using the Chitauri tech to develop advanced arms for resale on the black market.

After depleting those initial scraps, Toomes also repeatedly hacked and stole from Damage Control's transport trucks, seizing various other high-tech materials like remnants from the Battle of New York, Sokovia's Ultron offensive, and dismantled HYDRA bases.

Thanks to Damage Control's negligent management and his own clever methods, there had been no incidents for eight years as Toomes profited immensely, his whole team living prosperous lives - giving him a sense of accomplishment.

However, wealth and power often inflate egos. Unlike the cautious Toomes, Jackson Brice grew increasingly arrogant with their rising fortunes and high-tech upgrades, wildly expanding his ambitions. 

This guy frequently did outrageous things, like recklessly testing powerful energy cannons in urban areas - a surefire way to provoke the Avengers' deadly response if spotted. Toomes reprimanded Brice over these stunts more than once, but the blowhard always shrugged it off.

And now, something had finally gone wrong! They were being targeted by Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Punisher together!

Toomes didn't take Spider-Man too seriously, as the rookie hero had only been around briefly and accomplished little of real note (the Avengers' Civil War details being unknown to outsiders). 

But Daredevil and the Punisher were all too familiar entities to Toomes, long involved in New York's underground black markets:

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen" and a "dark judge as merciless towards evil as evil itself." Being hunted by those two could mean a grisly end at worst!

Thinking this, Toomes felt even worse. Currently in his Vulture flight suit, at his feet was a pair of "eagle talons" - Ultron robot parts repurposed into makeshift weapons. In each talon, he gripped one of his incompetent henchmen. 

Were this not a crucial manpower moment, he'd have happily dropped and killed the fools then and there! 

After a lengthy flight, the Vulture finally returned to his nearby weapons facility with his two captive men in tow.

(End of Chapter)