I’m Not Becoming Spider-Man - Chapter 77: Vulture (Patreon)

By the time the weekend finally rolled around, Peter felt like a walking corpse.

"Why the hell is there so much to do...?" He had just come out of Otto's laboratory and was sitting in the reception area of Oscorp Tower, waiting for Gwen to finish her shift.

They were both still students, yet he already felt as if the life had been drained out of him.

Gwen didn't feel like talking after work, either. When Peter spotted her, he handed her a bottle of water. She took it and gulped down a mouthful before they headed home together.

"Tomorrow's finally the weekend," one of them remarked.

"Yeah. And I've got to perform onstage tomorrow..." Gwen replied.

It was some sort of student social event where the four band members were supposed to play. Nothing terribly important, but it would be Gwen's first public performance.

"Did you tell your dad?" Peter asked.

"No. When would he have time to come?"

"I'll ask him about it later, then."

"Don't! Peter, what are you doing? I don't want him watching!" Gwen protested.

"Okay, okay. Good luck tomorrow, anyway."

"You bet."

Back at the apartment, Peter cooked dinner for everyone. Afterward, they went to their rooms to sleep, except Gwen still had a few hours of vigilante work ahead of her.

She was getting used to the routine. Standing on a rooftop with the evening breeze in her face, looking out over the city's glittering lights, she couldn't understand how such a beautiful place managed to have such a high crime rate.

Well, she would handle whatever the police couldn't reach.

...

"Everything's loaded, ma'am," the secretary reported to Norma.

"Good. Send it out." Norma nodded, looking at the enormous equipment inside the vehicle. Once she gave her approval, its doors closed completely.

Two trucks would deliver the finished project's equipment to the military.

Even so, as she watched the convoy drive away, Norma couldn't shake a vague sense of unease.

Surely no one would dare steal something intended for the military?

The escort was staffed by a private security company under Oscorp. Its personnel were well equipped, all of them retired veterans, and Norma trusted them.

She could only hope nothing went wrong.

New York was beautiful after dark. The city never slept, and its dazzling lights were enough to make anyone's head spin.

Adrian Toomes, standing high atop a skyscraper, had a particularly good view.

He wore something resembling an aerospace pilot's flight suit. His sharp eyes surveyed everything below like those of a bird of prey.

"Mason, report," Toomes said through his helmet.

"The convoy's moving. It should reach the Brooklyn Bridge in about half an hour. Uh, by the way, you should be calling me the Tinkerer," Mason said. "And I suppose I should call you by your code name, Vulture..."

"Enough of that nonsense," Toomes snapped. "I'm not letting Norma hand over my inventions to the military without my permission. She'll learn what it costs to throw me out!"

"All right. You're clear to move, Toomes."

"Call me Vulture."

Toomes stepped down from the ledge. Behind him waited a suit of armor with enormous folded mechanical wings. Their cold metallic edges gleamed like the blades of Death's scythe.

Aircraft-grade turbine blades mounted near the center of each wing controlled its flight attitude. But the most important feature was the antigravity system built into the central backpack, the culmination of his research and years of work.

And Norma had kicked him out the moment he completed the project! He wasn't about to let her get away with that.

After leaving Oscorp Tower, he'd immediately contacted his friends and secured support from a certain individual. Now he was ready to reclaim his inventions and the recognition he deserved.

Those individual flight units were his creations. They belonged to him!

Toomes stepped into the center of the suit. Its armor folded around his body automatically, and the helmet snapped shut.

Bzzzz!

The suit powered up. Green light filled the helmet's eyes, an ominous warning of the disaster about to come.

Then the wings rose on either side, sending a violent gust of air across the rooftop.

"Uh, I think you're rushing this, Too... Vulture," the Tinkerer said over the comms. "We only just finished building that suit. It hasn't even been tested properly. If this goes wrong... he won't forgive us."

"Shut up."

Vulture spread his wings and launched into the air. He switched on silent mode and vanished into the darkness of the night sky.

The driver of the first cargo truck had no idea what he was transporting. Not that he cared. It was just a job. Get the goods to their destination and collect his pay. He'd handled deliveries like this before.

Besides, who would dare rob them? The trucks were surrounded by heavily armed security personnel who received excellent pay and benefits. Norma had spent a fortune on them.

With that equipment and firepower, the driver figured they could probably take over a police station if they wanted to.

The convoy rolled onto the Brooklyn Bridge, escort vehicles ahead and behind. The driver idly wondered how anyone might go about stealing their cargo.

Every scenario he could imagine ended with the thieves getting themselves killed.

BANG!

Something struck the roof with a tremendous crash, jolting the last of the sleepiness out of him. He grabbed his radio.

"Loud impact on the roof. Anyone see a problem? Over."

"Th-there's a problem..." The communications officer in the passenger seat of the truck behind the first transport stared at the monstrous shape perched on its roof.

What the hell was that thing?

Vulture dug the tips of his wings into the metal and ripped the roof apart with ease. His foot-mounted claws seized the torn sheet of steel and began peeling it back.

CLANG!

A bullet struck his faceplate, scattering sparks. Vulture turned to look at the security guard who had fired it.

When the guard saw that terrifying armored figure staring straight at him, he swallowed and squeezed the trigger again.

"OPEN FIRE!"

Bullets hammered against Vulture's armor with a metallic rattle. The noise only annoyed him.

Abandoning the cargo compartment for the moment, he lunged at the guard. His enormous talons pinned the man beneath him with overwhelming force. Then he lifted off, carrying the guard into the air before throwing him over the side of the bridge.

"Aaaaaah!"

Hearing the man's terrified scream, the other guards finally understood.

This was no ordinary enemy they could deal with.

Vulture spread his wings and charged at them like a demon, the razor-sharp blades along his gear making the sight all the more frightening.

"Get down!"

He streaked overhead with a shriek of rushing air that sent chills down their spines.

"Vulture, hurry up and finish the job!" the Tinkerer urged.

"I know, Tinkerer. But before you take the honey, you have to get rid of the bees."

"Something's coming your way!" Mason suddenly shouted over the comms.

"Aaaaaaah!"

A scream grew louder as something approached from the sky. Vulture recognized the voice. Wasn't that the man he'd just thrown off the bridge?

The guard came flying back toward the roadway. Just before he could hit the ground, he bounced upward as though off a trampoline. A strand of white webbing had caught him and saved him from the fall.

"Couldn't you just use a gun or a club for your robbery...?"

With a heavy thud, Spider-Woman landed on the roof of the cargo truck.

Gwen stared at the attacker's terrifying equipment and immediately felt a headache coming on.

Seriously, couldn't she just fight ordinary muggers, thieves, or motorcycle gangs?

The easier they were to handle, the better.

This guy, on the other hand, looked like trouble. And while she was still thinking about that, Vulture spread his wings and came straight at her.

Gwen ducked. He swept over her head, and she shouted down to the driver, "Go! Drive! Get moving!"

The driver finally snapped out of his shock, started the truck moving again, and accelerated through the traffic.

Gwen watched Vulture close in from above and drew a deep breath.

He didn't look like someone she could defeat with a quick shot of inhibitor.

When Vulture dived again and skimmed past her head, she had no doubt a direct hit would leave her in pieces.

"Oh, God. Think, Gwen, think..."

The armored figure circled in the sky, piling on the pressure. The Lizard had been strong, but at least he'd fought like a mindless beast, charging recklessly without thinking. That had made him relatively easy to deal with.

Vulture was different. There was an intelligent human being inside that frightening machine.

On his next dive, he seized a chance to attack Spider-Woman from her blind spot.

Unfortunately for him, he knew nothing about her spider-sense.

Gwen flipped out of the way, fired a web onto a section of the bridge, and swung upward in a wide semicircle. Her arc brought her directly across Vulture's path as he climbed.

"Take this!"

Her fist slammed into his faceplate. The blow nearly sent Vulture tumbling out of the sky. He wobbled violently before finally getting his flight under control.

Meanwhile, the Tinkerer warned him through the radio, "Vulture! If those trucks get off the bridge, we'll have a much bigger problem!"

"I know."

Vulture decided to ignore Spider-Woman and concentrate on retrieving the cargo.

But the moment he tried to climb away, something tugged hard on his leg.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going, big guy?" Gwen called. She was gripping a web line whose other end was stuck to his foot.

Annoyed, Vulture pushed his lift system to maximum power. The turbines roared, yet he still couldn't drag Spider-Woman up with him.

"Damn it!" He couldn't believe it. Just who was this girl, and how could she be so strong?

"Vulture, we're out of time!" the Tinkerer shouted again. "Are you done yet? The helicopter's already here!"

The police couldn't get through the gridlocked traffic on the bridge, but their helicopter had arrived. Its powerful searchlight swept down and illuminated Vulture in midair.

"We need to retreat," Mason said.

"I haven't gotten my inventions back!"

"We already got them."

"..."

Vulture looked down at Spider-Woman, still straining against the web line. He suddenly dropped, causing Gwen to stumble backward and fall as the tension vanished.

Then he sliced through the web with his talons and flew away.

"Oh... you've got to be kidding me..." Gwen groaned.

...

At a hidden base, Vulture descended slowly to the ground. The turbines wound down, the armor opened around him, and Toomes removed his helmet.

"What's going on?" he demanded angrily.

"Uh, look. The truck's already back." Mason pointed toward the other side of the base. "It actually worked out all right, Vulture. It's just..."

"Call me Toomes."

He set down his helmet and strode toward the vehicle.

There had been two trucks. One was still on the bridge, which meant this must be the one that had somehow gotten away.

But how had it ended up here?

Did someone on the inside betray the convoy?

Toomes climbed onto the truck's roof. The metal had already been ripped open, confirming it was the very first truck he'd attacked.

He dropped through the opening and found a large crate inside. Someone had opened its lock, though not with a key. The mechanism had been smashed apart.

He pulled open the crate to reveal an enormous suit of heavy white armor. Its helmet had two sharp protruding horns, making the whole thing resemble a rhinoceros.

There was also a canister of green serum beside it.

"These aren't the flying units I came for!" Toomes roared. He climbed back onto the roof and glared at Mason. "Your information was wrong!"

He had come to reclaim the completed personal flight devices scheduled for delivery to the military, not some unfamiliar suit of heavy armor!

"His information was correct."

A clawed hand settled on Toomes's shoulder. Behind him, something glowed with flowing purple light.

"He didn't give you all those resources for free," the newcomer continued. "He expects a return on his investment."

"..."

"Uh, let me introduce you," Mason said hurriedly. "This is the Prowler. He works for him, too."

Toomes jumped down from the truck. "So you were lying to me from the start. You've really disappointed me, Mason."

"Uh..."

"Heh." The Prowler crouched at the edge of the truck's roof, the purple lining of his cloak standing out in the darkness. "Without the Tinkerer, you never would have gotten this far. Mason made the connections for you. That base and the suit on your back were paid for by him. Without his help, you're nothing."

"..."

Toomes looked from the Prowler to Mason's innocent expression. Then he grabbed a bottle of liquor from a nearby table and walked away.

"Increase my suit's lift, Mason. Add that propulsion system you're so good at."

"Oh. Sure..."

"Heh..." The Prowler melted back into the darkness. Shortly afterward, the truck started up and drove off again, as if the base were only a temporary refueling stop.

...

"Gwen! Gwen! It's almost nine!"

Peter's frantic knocking finally startled Gwen awake. She glanced at the spider suit she was still wearing and called out in alarm, "What is it, Peter?"

"Did you forget your performance is today? You've only got half an hour before it starts!"

"Oh... right. I'm supposed to be onstage today... OH MY GOD!"

Gwen scrambled out of bed and began changing clothes.

"Okay, at least you're awake," Peter called. "I'll be waiting in the car downstairs. Breakfast is in the car, too. Hurry up!"

Gwen washed her face and brushed her teeth as quickly as she could. To save time, she climbed straight out the window.

Peter was already waiting in the car by the curb, with Harley yawning in the passenger seat.

Gwen hurried into the back, and the other two turned to look at her.