Chapter 40: Sinister Six - Part 8

I watch the red mask in front of me… Redcap.

A cracked red mask.
A black suit of armor, dirty and battered.
The plating on his right arm is wrecked, mangled beyond repair.
In his left hand, he holds a knife that’s practically scrap.

Looks like his right arm is completely unusable… it’s just hanging there.

He’s clearly severely wounded.

…And most likely, the one who inflicted that damage was—

“Where’s Jessica…?”

“…Jessica Jones, huh. If you’re that concerned, why not head down and see for yourself? If her treatment was delayed, she might be dead by now… might already be a corpse, even.”

…The death of a comrade.
The moment that possibility crossed my mind, a chill ran down my spine.

I remembered what the Punisher said.
This guy’s goal… is to kill me.
If that’s the case, then Jessica must’ve gotten caught up in it.

Beneath my mask, I grit my teeth.

Right in front of me lies the body of Mysterio, his abdomen slashed open so deep you can see his insides.
Next to me, Harry’s face has gone pale… he takes a step back.

…Right, this is probably the first time Harry’s seen a corpse.
I’ve seen them before… because I’m a hero.
But this isn’t normal. This is messed up.

Harry speaks, his voice trembling with fear.

“…Why did you kill Mysterio…? Wasn’t he your ally?”

“…He wasn’t. I only joined the team to kill him. He was never a ‘comrade.’”

His tone is cold. Steady and detached.

…Even in such a state—completely wrecked, barely holding together—
Why am I still scared of him?

“…Did you kill my father?”

Though he’s almost certain already, Harry asks as if confirming it.

Redcap glances at me briefly, then speaks.

“So, you heard. It’s true. Harry Osborn… I’m the one who killed your father, Norman Osborn.”

“…I see.”

Harry lowers his gaze.
From where I’m standing beside him, I can’t see his expression.

“So, what now? Harry… The man was scum. Are you really going to risk your life fighting me for his sake?”

It’s almost like he’s provoking him, watching for a reaction.

I panic and call out to Harry.

If he kills someone here… if he gives in to that anger…
He might fall back into being the Goblin again—I just know it.

“N-No, Harry! Don’t do it! If you give in to that…!”

“It’s okay. I know… Spider-Man.”

Harry speaks calmly to me.
…Surprisingly calm, and that reassures me a bit.

Then, he lifts his head.

“But even knowing that… I still want to kill him. I want to crush the bastard who killed my father. I want revenge.”

His eyes… have returned to that same madness from before.

“Wait—”

Before I can even get the words out, Harry charges at Redcap.

From the protector on Harry’s right arm, a concealed knife shoots out.

He swings it with force, aiming straight for Redcap.

“…So that’s your answer, Harry Osborn.”

Redcap blocks the attack with the black, twisted knife in his hand.

A loud clash rings out—both knives snap and shatter.

Harry’s weapon breaks, and he falters for a split second—
That’s when Redcap’s left arm shoots out.

He grabs Harry by the neck and lifts him into the air.

“Ah… guh…”

Harry’s taller, but even so—Redcap’s grip is absurdly strong.
Harry’s face contorts in pain as his windpipe is crushed.

“S-Stop!”

I finally move, taking a step forward—

“Don’t move, Spider-Man.”

Still choking Harry, Redcap turns to face me.

“Move even a little, and I’ll snap his neck. Don’t think you can save him in a surprise move… it wouldn’t take me a full second to kill him.”

…I freeze.

If I move and Harry dies…

The thought terrifies me.
If Harry dies because of my mistake…
I wouldn’t be able to face her—Michelle.

I’m disgusted with myself, but I can’t tear my eyes away from them.

“Well then, Harry Osborn. Let me, your senior in villainy, teach you a lesson.”

“W-What… are you…”

Redcap seems to loosen his grip slightly, and Harry’s breathing evens out.

Despite my fear, I listen closely to his words.

“Here’s a question. A villain is someone who breaks society’s rules. So then, why shouldn’t you break those rules?”

“That’s… obvious…”

“A question demands an answer. That’s incorrect.”

Redcap tightens his grip again.

A sickening grinding noise follows.

“Guh… ahh…”

“Ha-Harry!?”

“…Let’s resume the lesson.”

Once again, Redcap loosened his grip.

…That’s when Harry and I realized it.
If we didn’t answer the question correctly… he’d kill us.

“The reason breaking the rules is frowned upon is because… within human society, within the community that is civilization, if we don’t mutually respect the laws—those rules—then the weak will be the first to be slaughtered.”

Harry gasped for breath, still struggling.

“That’s why the weak shout, ‘Be good,’ ‘Don’t become evil.’ That’s the first reason. But there’s another… not just to protect their ties to others, but a more selfish reason as well.”

Redcap glanced at me.

…I didn’t understand what he was getting at.

“Why must one not become a villain? Why must we not deceive, or kill others? The answer is—”

Redcap stomped on Mysterio’s corpse.

“Because they’ll be devoured… by someone even more wicked, more cunning, more brutal than themselves.”

“Ugh… ahh…”

Harry let out a frightened sound.

“Norman died for that reason. He was a villain… but someone more powerful found him a nuisance, and I killed him. Just like this man at my feet.”

The vacant, dilated eyes of the corpse stared blankly at Harry.

“Now then, Harry Osborn. Which are you? A clueless boy who idolizes villains… or a truly insane, bona fide criminal?”

Redcap leaned in close to Harry’s face.

“‘I’... no… I…”

“Well? What’ll it be? What will you do, Harry—?”

“That’s enough.”

A voice rang out, and a metal baton flew straight toward Redcap’s head.

“Tch.”

Still limited to using one arm, Redcap dropped Harry to the ground and swatted the baton away.

I shot a web toward Harry and yanked him back to my side.
His breathing was rough—partly from being strangled, but fear was a big part of it too.

“…It’s been a while, Daredevil. Seems you haven’t changed a bit… I’m relieved.”

Standing before Redcap now was Matt… Daredevil.

“And you… look like you’ve changed quite a bit. You seem more emotional now.”

“…Shut up. I haven’t changed.”

Despite the irritation in his voice, Redcap didn’t charge at Daredevil.
Because I was still here too.

Now he was caught between the two of us.
And with his injuries, he couldn’t afford to make a reckless move.

“I thought you weren’t the type to torture people more than necessary… I’d like to know what changed your mind.”

“I haven’t changed. I act when I deem it necessary, that’s all.”

“…Is that so.”

Seeing that Harry had caught his breath, I moved a few steps away from him.
I positioned myself on the opposite side of Redcap, with Daredevil forming the other point of a triangle.

I was blasted backward and slammed into a wall.

The impact exceeded even the shock absorption rate of my protective suit—I couldn’t help but cough.

“Tch! Freakin’ occult nutjob…!”

I spat a curse at the guy in the yellow mask… Iron Fist, the one who’d sent me flying.

“Surrender. Herman… was it?”

…And somehow, he knows my real name.

Must be Spider-Man’s doing.
Seriously, that guy pisses me off.

“No, I’m the Shocker… and I refuse. I haven’t lost yet.”

I crank up the output on my Vibro-Shock Gauntlets.
…It eats through power fast and puts serious strain on my body, so I try not to do it unless I have to.

I raised both gauntlets toward Iron Fist and unleashed a shockwave blast.

“Pointless.”

His fist glowed with energy as he deflected my shockwave.
The redirected blast gouged a hole in the wall behind him.

Then, slowly, he started closing the distance between us.

…I just need to lure him in a bit more.

“D-Dammit!”

I fired another shockwave—this time on lower output—while pretending to panic.
At the same time, I ejected the cartridge battery from my gauntlet and swapped it with a fresh one from the belt around my waist.

By then, Iron Fist was within arm’s reach.

“…You’re going to sleep now.”

He drew back his fist to strike—

“Heh heh…”

“…? What are you—”

I smashed both gauntlets together and fired shockwaves simultaneously from both arms.

The shockwaves collided mid-air, and instead of forming concentrated blasts, the energy was dispersed in all directions—up, down, front, and back.

Until now, Iron Fist had been able to deflect my shockwaves because they were focused bursts.
But by making them collide and scatter, I turned it into a chaotic, uncontrolled release.

Both Iron Fist and I were sent flying and slammed into concrete walls.

“Guh!?”

“Ugh!”

But I’m wearing a shock-resistant suit.
It’s designed to absorb impacts in case the gauntlets ever misfire.

I recovered immediately and aimed my gauntlets at the do-gooder hero in front of me.

“Tables have turned…! You’re the one taking a nap now!”

I pulled the trigger to unleash another shockwave—

And then.

A sharp gunshot cracked through the air.

“…Huh?”

…Then came the pain.
An excruciating jolt tore through my abdomen.

Blood.

I was bleeding.

“Ahh!? What the hell…!?”

My legs gave out beneath me, and I crumpled to the ground.

I could still breathe…
It wasn’t a fatal wound.

But still—
This was bad.

“God… it hurts…!”

It hurt too much.
I couldn’t stay standing.

I rolled onto my back and checked the wound.
Probably shot from behind… it went clean through my abdomen.

A bullet that pierced even my shock-resistant suit…
No way that came from some cheap pistol.

Had to be a rifle round.

“…I thought we agreed. No killing, Punisher.”

Punisher…?

I looked in the direction Iron Fist had turned his head—
There was a man behind me.

Wearing a shirt with a skull emblazoned on it…
And holding a gun.

"You're a picky bastard. I helped you out, you know."

"I didn’t need it."

"...Yeah, well, let’s just say that’s how it was."

Even as the conversation in front of me pissed me off, I kept my cool and thought things through.

…I already knew Spider-Man had several allies.
This guy was supposed to be fighting Venom.
I saw it before we entered this abandoned building.

Why...?

As I was thinking that, Iron Fist spoke on my behalf.

"Punisher, what happened to Venom?"

"Him? He ran off."

"...Figures. The host didn’t have a grudge against Spider-Man to begin with... He must’ve kept his head."

Tch! Damn it!
That bastard ran!?

…Yeah, well, if Redcap hadn’t been there, I probably would've run too.

Still, even if that’s true, it pisses me off.

Punisher opened his mouth.

"Anyway, let’s head upstairs and support the others. Luke captured Rhino. That leaves just Mysterio and Redcap."

The fact that they already saw me as one of the losers rubbed me the wrong way.

...And realizing I was just dead weight to Redcap... it stung—and pissed me off.

I was seriously pissed—at myself, and at these guys.

"Ugh... guh..."

Blood poured out of my mouth as I twisted in pain.
...It hurts like hell, but... if I don't do something now, I’ll regret it for sure later.

Seeing me like that, Iron Fist turned back.

"...Punisher, can I treat him first?"

"Tch, we don’t have time. Do it later."

…Figures.

"Ugh... I’m dying... I’m gonna die...!"

I deliberately let out a pathetic whimper.
It’s humiliating.
But I can’t afford to care about pride right now.

"No, we should treat him first after all."

"...Do whatever you want."

Iron Fist came toward me.
I didn’t know how he was gonna do it, but it looked like he was going to patch me up.

As expected of the goody-two-shoes hero.
Makes me wanna puke.

Iron Fist placed his hand on me... some kind of glowing energy flowed into me... huh, so his way of healing is some kind of occult stuff after all.

“Heh... you’re... a good guy.”

I said that, but he ignored me.

The wound in my stomach was almost healed.
I still couldn’t stand... but then Iron Fist let go of his hand.

He used some kind of cloth—like a sash around my waist—to tie my hands behind my back.

I see. So he’s not a complete idiot after all.

He just gave me the bare minimum treatment and planned to keep me out of action.

But, well.

I’m—

I can attack with just one finger.

I activated my gauntlet with its output maxed.

...No doubt this is going to wreck this whole abandoned building.

But, well, Redcap should be able to handle it.

In an instant, an overwhelming shockwave hit me and... those goody-two-shoes heroes in front of me.

Concrete cracked and peeled back, rebar twisted.

The roar blew out my ears, ringing filled my head.

Heh, serves them right.

Watching their shocked faces satisfied me... then I passed out.