Why now?
Why this!?
If I had a penny for every time I thought this, I'd be a freaking millionare.
I swung at high speed.. scanning every part of Time Square as I dove past lights and sounds, the screens illuminating me as I landed in the middle of the street, a taxi honking at me
"HEY WEB HEAD!! OUT OF THE WAY!" roared a taxi driver.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled back. "THERES A BOMB!!"
"What!?"
I held myself back from yelling again. It was too late to evacuate people, just screaming this out now would only cause a panic. There was only one thing I could do and that was diffuse whatever explosive was-.
"Vmmmm Vmmmmmm!"
"Master your phone."
I turned to look at Saber. Rain was coming down hard now and I could barely make her out through the water streaming down my lenses, her armor flashing with light from the sights around us.
I nearly fumbled for the phone in my backpack, only to realize I could just tap the answer function on my mask, which I did.
"HELLO!?"
"Spider-Man, good, it seems I have your attention." Moriarty's voice came through calmly.
"How did you get this number!?" I snapped.
"Is that truly important right now? I merely called to give you some important clues, after all where's the fun in playing detective when the criminal's hand is never revealed?"
"What!?" I exclaimed.
"You'll find that the location of my bomb is relatively... easy to find... but diffusing it is another matter."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
And then I heard it..
"Master.. that sound.."
I heard a noise falling down from the sky.. the sound of... Jet engines!?
"Yes.. it would seem like folly if you only got to face the false lancer in this Grail War.. Peter Parker." Moriarty said.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!" The center of Times Square exploded as something slammed down into it from the sky, trailing jet propulsion rockets, sending cars flying.
On instinct I hurled out webs, catching the cars in large nets before they could reach the screaming confused citizens.
From the rubble, Ms M. rose.. looking different now.
Her eyes were covered with an armored mask designed in the same way as her veil, but with silvery armor covering her body, her retracted blades equipped to her wrists, what smelled like rocket fuel hissed from her body as she stepped out.
She looked the same as that day.
The same as when she killed-..
I felt my mind flash with memories that filled me with a combination of fear and bitter remorse.
"Well.. I thought this war was supposed to be secret." I said.
"In a world filled with superhumans.. witnesses are not something I suspect Osborn regards as too much of an issue." said Saber with a glare. "Just another day on this world.. right?"
"Fair point." I said.
"Beep.. beep beep.."
Wait.." I said. "There's something el-."
"MASTER!" Saber growled, brandishing her wind blade as she stepped forward. "Behind me!!"
My spider sense got wind of it before I saw it.
There was a strange disc-like device attached to Ms. M's.. or perhaps I should say True Lancer's chest, counting down with a red digital timer.
True Lancer smiled. "Now you see Moriarty's game, do you not? Spider-Man.. Saber..? Rest assured this bomb's power is not enough to destroy me.. however, the mortals who cover these streets.."
"Okay, when I said I wanted to end up on a cool Youtube Challenge, I think they took it a LITTLE too far." I said. "So will Mr. Beast give out 10,000 free Iphones if we disarm it off you?"
"Ever the joker, even in the face of death." said True Lancer with a chuckle. "Ah yes, you were like that when we first faced each other. Even after your dismal defeat, I must admit to admire that you still retain your sense of humor."
Anger seethed through me. I knew I stood no chance. But.. Gwen's face kept flashing before my eyes.
I stepped forward..
But in that moment an armored glove grabbed my arm.
"Spider-Man." Saber's voice came in softly.
Somehow, my anger began to cool as that voice permeated the noise of fury rushing through my head. It was as if her voice held a key to the locks all over my psyche. Cutting in calmly and without trouble.
"Do not let Moriarty's game rile you." Saber said quietly. "You are Spider-Man. You are needed. If you lose yourself now, these people will die."
She was right.
I couldn't let myself fall to the twisted game being played here.
Rin and Assassin were doing their best to sweep for the bombs, and I needed to do the same. There was only one person here who stood a ghost of a chance of taking on Lancer.
10 minutes left... 9 minutes 59 seconds.. 58 seconds..
"Saber.. can I count on you?" I asked.
"Do you even need to ask?" Saber said.
"No. I guess not. Just.. don't die." I said.
"I have no plans to leave you today, rest assured." Saber said. "Go!"
Lancer smiled and her dual blades slid out of her wrists as Saber slowly strode towards her.. a police Helicopter's light was now shining down on her and Saber.
"Well our fight certainly won't be private as I hoped." said True Lancer. "But I shall enjoy it nontheless, spawn of my origin. "
"Where did you get those swords?" Saber growled as she approached, a ruthless power seeming to erupt from her.
"Hmm, it is only obvious why you would ask, but rest assured, they are but copies." said Lancer.
"Who are you?" Saber snarled.
Lancer chuckled. "Call me Lancelot."
"SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" Saber's wind blade became golden blade of light as she hurled Excalibur into the dual blades, which created a shockwave as they blocked the attack.
"You'll regret answering in such a manner." Saber's eyes lit with fury as the ground cracked around her and Lancer's feet. "First you stain your hands with murder, and now with lies."
"Oho..?" True Lancer erupted back as Saber launched herself forward, and shockwaves shook all of Times Square as Saber and True Lancer hurled into the air and became super sonic blurs, clashing into each other and creating multiple sparks.
As the fight started to grow ferocious, I grabbed a nearby stunned looking officer by the shoulder.
"GET PEOPLE OUT OF HERE!" I yelled. "Tell them to take shelter inside! The city's filled with explosives! And there's one on that fighter jet knight lady! "
"Ya kiddin' me Spidey!?" snapped the cop. "How are we supposed to-?"
"Just do what you can!" I yelled as I swung into the air. "I'll handle the rest!"
As I swung away down 5th, I called Rin. "Tell me something good!"
"We've found 2 bombs so far, far apart, one of them was in Central Park." said Rin.
"And did you diffuse them!?" I asked.
"Well.. uhh.. not a bomb expert so I did the next best thing.."
"The next best-?"
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!"
The sky shook and my ears nearly split apart as I tumbled through the air and slammed against the wall of a nearby building, clinging to it with all my spider grip strength..
I looked up in a daze where a huge flash had just lit up the clouds.
"You.."
"Assassin threw it.. uh.. as high as he could." said Rin, sounding like she was ready to vomit. "Ugh.. holy shit, that.. blast radius was huge.."
"Good idea.. but man if one of those goes off.." I whispered
"HALF the city will be in cinders.. just WHY is Moriarty doing this!?" Rin exclaimed. "Is Osborn hoping to try and kill us while we're stretched thin!?"
"I don't know!" I yelled. "Just get back to me when you find any more bombs! "
"Found one!" Rin said.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!" Once more I felt my ears nearly split as the sky was alit with another bomb going off right in the sky above New York.
"JEEZUS! WARN ME!" I roared.
"What!? My ears are ringing!" Rin replied.
"OH NEVERMIND!" I roared.
*****************
She was strong... stronger than me? I wasn't sure, but each time we hammered our blades against each other, it was far more apparent that I was fighting more than some mere pretender.
Her blades.. they couldn't be.. and yet, they looked just like his..
Arondight.. The sword of Lancelot, knight of the Lake. My brother in arms. My-.. no.. this couldn't be real.
And yet each time we hammered our blades against each other, I felt the power of the Lake within each strike, the craftsmanship of the fairies.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!" our blades collided in mid air again, hers glowing a dull blue, while mine shown a radiant gold.
I charged a mana burst through my body, pressing her two blades back and hurling an energy blast from my blade.
The False Lancelot's two blades moved like a pair of scissors, cleaving the energy apart as she was forced to the edge of the square, her metal boots digging into the asphalt, throwing rubble into the air.
She let out a grin. Her cheek was bleeding from a nasty cut I had given her, but she wasn't fazed. She was enjoying this battle.
While I on the other hand, could feel nothing but rage.
A servant forced to obey I could understand. But why..?
Why could somebody like her..? Somebody who dared to wield the blade of that man.. or blades that resembled that man's.. who wore the armor of a knight.. willingly serve a master who would kill an innocent in cold blood!?
"You're unsteady.. your attacks are becoming frenzied, rampaging like a wild beast." said Lancer. "Come now Caster, that's not like you."
"Caster!?" I snarled. "Do you mean to mock me?"
"Oh, forgive me, you remind me of somebody." said Lancer. "But enough of this veiled dialogue. Let us truly battle. I shall introduce myself properly. I am Tam Lin Lancelot, a pleasure to meet you."
As I heard this.. gold light began to explode from my blade... and my hands began to clench around my sacred sword's hilt.
I had told Peter to be calm
I had told Peter that he mustn't submit to anger..
But it hadn't been just out of some sort of kingly wisdom I held.
No.. it was also because I knew, that if he lost it, then with the BOTH of us enraged, things might not turn out in our favor.
"I'm sorry Peter.." I whispered. "I really am a hypocrite aren't I?"
I raised my blade and gold light charged until a pillar exploded into the sky.
"Sh-she's activating her Noble Phantasm NOW!!?" Lancer exclaimed.
"EXCALIBURRRRRRRRR-" I roared.
"Gargoyle! DESCEND!" Lancer yelled.
I swung my blade without remorse, concentrating the energy with all the skill and training I could muster, willing the energy slash between the wrecked cars without touching a single civilian, aimed solely at Lancer.
A strange silvery flash flew down from the sky, leaving a sonic boom in its wake as it fell in front of Lancer.
My condensed energy split around the silvery device.
A shield!? No.. I could feel it, it wasn't a shielding device, but rather.. a Mystic Code of some sort that could redirect the power of the Inner Sea rather than attempt to tank it.
When the dust cleared I was looking at a strange winged glider-like divice with large draconic wings made with interlocking plates and strange rockets humming along its edges.
Lancer leaped onto the glider, her feet planted on its wings. " The Gargoyle utilizes the power of the Inner Sea to fly.. by repelling gravity through repelling the inner sea itself. As such this Mystic Code is the natural enemy of that blade. You won't kill me that easy. Besides, this bomb-."
"-Won't matter if I obliterate you along with it." I finished.
"Hmph, so it's that way isn't it? Well you have 7 minutes left to attempt to.. obliterate me.. as you so put it." said Lancer.
Lancer shot into the sky, riding the powerful glider as its magical rockets exploded with blue light, turning her into a blue meteor that zigzagged through the air before shooting down at me.
I charged my blade with gold light and this time I didn't condense my attack, hurling out a full power Noble Phantasm attack into the sky where I knew nobody would be in the way.
But as she descended, Lancer swung her glider up with her feet to aim its bottom at me, Excalibur's power once more splitting around the device.
Just where did she get such a powerful Mystic Code!? Was it part of her Noble Phantasm!? It couldn't be. Even though Lancer in her own way resembled a modern aircraft, it was only a passing resemblance. That device itself was definitely a modern invention, unlike her.
And to do something as insane as channeling or repelling the Inner Sea to fly. The inventor of such a device would have to be a lunatic, a genius, or both.
Wait.. the magical energy coming from the craft.. it didn't feel like it was operating independantly of her..
"That thing.. its.. made from pieces your own body!!?" I roared.
"Noble Phantasm.. erupt.." Lancer growled. "The Wings of Albion, stained by the Age of Man. Twisted innocence. I will never again be the same.. ALBION WING FORM ONE: JADE GOBLIN FANGS!!"
The craft lit up with powerful blue light, but the light then shifted and became green, giving the craft a flaming appearance as it shot down at me with speed greater than even my own eyes and instinct could catch.
Lancer's armor changed into a Jade color.. and her visor glowed, extending into what appeared to be a strange mask shaped like a vicious fanged beast.
"It has been 20 years since I last used Master's Glider.. truly you have given me a fight worthy of my strength.. unlike your worthless master.." said Lancer. "The Strong Fight the Strong, and the weak must allow the strong to fight for them, That is the way of things.. ISNT IT!? AVALON LE FAE!?"
I charged power into my blade again.
If I didn't time this right, I would be diced meat on the pavement before disintigrating into prana.
I closed my eyes and breathed in.
Until I felt the magic close in, its burning heat, searing my armor.
I leaped into the air, Lancer soaring just below me, the wings of her glider disintigrating the cars next to me into pure cinders.
I grabbed Lancer's shoulder and stabbed Excalibur into the body of the glider, hanging on for dear life as we shot straight into the sky.
"WHAT!?" Lancer screamed as we exploded further and further up, till we had long surpassed the clouds and the globe was visible below us.. the stars sparkling up ahead.. Icicles began to form on my armor as a deathly cold took us.
I grabbed the explosive that was still beeping on Lancer's chest with one hand while I withdrew Excalibur from the glider leaping straight into the expanse of space, the thin air pressing into me as I kicked off from Lancer's chestplate like a spring board.
As I leaped high above the Stunned Lancer, I swung my blade back as I threw the bomb straight at her head.
"Sheathed in the light of the planet.. A Torrent of Shining Life..."
"WAIT WAIT!! AT THIS RANGE YOU'LL ALSO BE-!?" yelled Lancer. "Wait.. don't tell me.. GAH! INNOCENCE ARONDI-"
"TAKE THIS!!" I roared. "EXCALIBUURRRRRR!!"
I was bathed in powerful gold light and the both of us were blasted by the light erupting from my sword which cleaved into the atmosphere itself, cleaving through like a giant golden dagger the size of a city.
The blast sent me flying.. as a jade meteor hurtled towards Earth..
I couldn't control my ascent from the force of unleashing the holy sword's power as I found myself skyrocketing into thinner and thinner air, ice now caking my face and body. Soon .. I would be-..
"KRAFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!" Thunder erupted, lightning exploded past me as a strong muscled arm grabbed me before I could hurtle out further.
"HAHAHA! By Odin's Beard! You are lucky I sensed the power of your Noble Phantasm from here, or you would have very well been on your way to this realm's moon!"
"Y-you're.." I caught a glimpse of long flowing blonde hair, and a winged helmet as a handsome man in gleaming armor with a red cape and a short handled war hammer in one hand held me by the waist under his arm.
" Now fair warrior queen." said the god. "Now prithee tell me.. where can I set thee down? And upon our landing, would you perhaps appreciate assistance?"
"Y-yes please." I said. "And.. um.. New York if you would."
"HAHA!" The god tossed his head back merrily and grinned at me. "Very well! Then let Thor, The God of Thunder himself, be of assistance!"
*******************
"NOW!!"
Disgust filled me..
It filled me as Rin threw the disc-like device counting down and I let loose my web, using all of my strength to hurtle the explosive into the atmosphere.
"Its high enough, set it off." I growled.
"GANDR!" Rin hurled a magic bolt at the device, as it hit the clouds and another explosion created a blinding white light above us.
"As if New York needed any more light pollution." I growled as I landed in the street, my master in my arms.
My masked lenses zoomed down the streets, but I didn't need my gear to know where every single bomb was.
My Danger Sense.. I used to call it a Spider-Sense when I was more foolish... it guided me to it. It tuned me to it. And I embraced it, the feeling of danger so that I could fully see what threatened me.
It hurt like hell, it felt like screaming reverbrating in my very skull, and this technique was like diving into raging bullhorn to attempt to grab the one pressing it.
I doubt I ever would've used it had I not grown desperate enough in the past. Or the Present.. or the Future.. I honestly couldn't tell.
"Assassin!?" Rin exclaimed.
"3 more.. two blocks over, one block to the right, another on top of that water tower." I said. "Move."
"THAT MANY!?" Rin yelled. "We've hit over 25 bombs! And all of them had the same amount of time left, at this rate-!"
"New York will burn to the ground." I snapped. "Yeah, I've noticed. I don't get it at all. Moriarty Wants that Grail. He wants it bad. Doesn't he know he'll be taking himself out along with us if he-?"
I froze.
"Hey Assassin, what're you-?"
"Rin." I said. "Do you trust me?
There was a pause.
She had no reason to answer this question with a yes.
She could feel it in me.. I knew. The constant disgust. The feelings of hatred that rang sharply through my bones with every word I spoke.
When she first summoned me, she had said this.
"I.. feel like everything you look at, is something you just hate.."
Well, she wasn't far off.
No, it was because I knew that everything I looked at, from the shit that churned out of factories that adorned our homes, to the clothes on our backs.. to the lives we built.. was built of the very crime and evil I sought to dispose of.
This world reeked of sin.
And it would continue to reek ever more no matter how much I tried to clean it up.
You couldn't clean the world, you could merely cut off all the shit that made it worse.
"I.. do."
I felt stunned as these words reached my ears through my mask.
I turned to look at Rin. "You.. do..?"
Rin nodded. "Whatever you have planned, just.. keep me in the loop okay?"
I nodded. "Listen carefully to me Rin, there's something I need you to do okay? And it's imperative you do it. "
"Th-that is?"
"Find Peter Parker, get to him, get to him as fast as you can, do not leave him alone." I said.
"And what are you going to do-?" Rin asked.
"It's time I showed my Trump Card..." I growled.
The man seemed intrigued when I returned and stood before him on that street, having not moved from his spot after we had gone to look for the bombs he set.
"Back..? Without your master?" Moriarty smirked at me and stroked his mustache in an almost mocking way. "Interesting. Don't tell me you actually mean to defeat me directly."
"Well that's for you to decide." I said quietly, placing my hands behind my back and strolling slowly as I circled the disgusting man. "You see I may look like Spider-Man, but I ain't him. I believe in more permanent solutions."
"I see.." said Moriarty. "But you must know if I die, you will lose information on the bombs, crucial information."
"I don't need you alive to know where the bombs are or how to get them." I said. "But if you make it easy for us, I might just stay the hand of the reaper a little longer."
"I'm a servant Spider-Faker." said Moriarty with a chuckle. "I am already in the Reaper's clutches, as are you."
I felt the twinge of danger and automatically I moved from side to side, a blur as bullets from the cane rifle hurled past.
"Your combat abilities don't hold a candle to mine. Even being a knight class ain't enough to me.. vermin." I growled.
"Hmmm.. perhaps my theory of your identity is wrong. He would've made a dumb joke." said Moriarty. "Or perhaps you are.. something far different."
"People can change.. " I said. "Come on then.. you're supposed to be the smart one right? Figure it out.."
Moriarty sighed and bowed his head quietly. "Well, I suppose it was going to come to this eventually wasn't it? After all.. I am the only one whose deduced it. I warned my master.. I warned Osborn. The most dangerous servant in this Grail War is not the one who holds all the power.. but all the cards.. Lost Belts.. Singularities... it matters not what your origin is.. Spider... what matters is the reason you were summoned as an Assassin."
Moriarty glared at me viciously and pointed quietly at the gun holstered at my hip. "So... tell me.. what are you doing lugging that thing around so casually like it is nothing!?"
I took the gun from my hip and spun it in my hand. For all appearances, it looked like a normal modern gun. I couldn't even tell what model it was, but it looked like any gun a robber on the street would carry, and I had seen plenty of those kinds of guns carried by plenty of criminals.
"Good eye." I muttered. "I suppose you know what it is. Funny, if I lost this somewhere in a pile of guns, I wouldn't be able to tell any of em apart. Not like I CAN lose it anyways. Think of this as a shackle.."
"A shackle?" growled Moriarty. "The Black Barrel.. A SHACKLE!?"
"Hard as it is to believe, it is my price.. for trying to Heal The World.. for putting the world above her." I said. "She should have mattered to me more.. and Peter just can't see that.. and that's why I hate him so much... me and him we can never see eye to eye."
I holstered the gun. "Sometimes to save the world, you have to first save yourself. And that's just not possible for me anymore."
Moriarty chuckled. "Very well.. I do not understand your intentions fully.. but I suppose I have no choice but to kill you. The King of Uruk is already a threat enough without one who carries the Black Barrel running around."
"And that's why you misunderstand me.. why you underestimate me. You still think that the Black Barrel is my asset. No.. it is my curse." I said as I drew my blade from my back.
"SHEEEEEEENNN!" Sparks jumped from between us as Moriarty closed the distance between us in a flash. I deflected his cane's blade in an instant before he spun it and sent it flashing at other intervals, forcing a skilled barrage of stabs.
I dodged each and every strike, parrying each one.
While he wasn't as strong or fast as a typical lancer, I had to admit he was frighteningly deadly. Each strike had a particular nerve or tendon in mind, each a particular weakness.
Moriarty was the rival of Sherlock Holmes after all, both of their observation skills were legendary. Of course Moriarty had taken the moment before we clashed to ascertain where all my weaknesses were located, checked me for any injuries he might exploit.
But in life, he was just an old man.
In life, I had the speed, strength and agility of the craziest Spider in the multiverse. An Avatar of Neith. One of the chosen. Which meant as a Servant, I was only that much faster, that much stronger.
Moriarty was far too easy.. and also.. far too predictable.
In an instant I hurled my blade to my back and deflected a bladed knife sailing at me, pulled along by an invisible string.
"HMM!?" Moriarty's eyes widened as I deflected his deceptive attack. "How? I made sure that your Spider Sense couldn't detect it by imbuing it with the proper mystic codes.."
"You kidding me? I'm fighting Moriarty.. the most famous deceptive genius in fictional literature.." I growled. "As if I wouldn't expect such a fucking obvious trope. That's the problem with being famous. Once you get to a certain point.. even the least obvious becomes obvious!"
"Well then, I suppose you don't mind more.." Moriarty's eyes flashed as he grinned and clenched his hand, silk string pulled from his fingers.
Multiple knives closed in on me, but I dashed forward, swinging my blade to and fro, deflecting the blades and weaving my body through them.
"He's.. faster than Ms. M!?" growled Moriarty. "RRAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Moriarty's arm flew through the air as I cleaved it apart from his body, his blood flying across the street.
"WHY!?" Moriarty roared, clutching his bloodied stump, his cane clattering to the ground. "You won't get the explosive locations out of me.. killing me.. SOLVES NOTHING!!"
"Who says this is a killing?" I growled. "No.. this is an interrogation.. and I'm the torturer.."
I strode forward as I flicked the blood from my blade. "I'll cut.. and cut.. and cut until you tell me something.. anything.. a lie.. a truth.. I don't care.. I just want you to at the very end, see every shit sin you've committed for what it was right before finally, I drive my blade between your eyes and you think no more.. how slow it takes.. how fast I go.. depends on how cooperative you are."
Moriarty grinned wildly at me and began to chuckle.
"Oh look, somebody's finally lost it. Good, no sweat off my back.." I said.
"Fool.." Moriarty muttered. "Have you even asked yourself why I became a Lancer!?"
"You are supposed to be a Caster.. but Fisk wanted something with more combat capability.. but also the mind of a criminal, it's far too obvious.. its why that Dragon Child shared her class container with you."
"HAHAHA! That is only part of it.." Moriarty growled. "I am Master Fisk's .. secret weapon. An amalgamation of servants centered around the core that is James Moriarty.. how else do you think a shadow of a fictional character would even be capable of being summoned from this dreary Throne of Heroes..!?"
"What!?"
Moriarty tore his shirt open, revealing a strange mark.. a command spell!?
He clutched his chest and let out a gasp. "CLASS SHROUD.. LANCER.. SHATTER!!"
"SHEEEEEN!!" around Moriarty, a glass skin seemed to crack apart and then shatter into silvery dust.
He rose up.. wearing a dark trench coat, and a darker black cape.. half his face was covered in black bandages.. or bindings.. a strange material neither metal or cloth. Strange reddish eyes opened on various parts of his black cape which fluttered with no sound.. he was like a shadow on the very existence of the planet. A blot.. an error on reality that shouldn't be there.
"Allow me to truly introduce myself." Moriarty said, taking a bow. "James Moriarty.. class Foreigner."
"You're.." I growled.
"A mistake realized too late, is always the result of a careful successful plan of the enemy in my opinion." said Moriarty. "They say failure is a lesson, but in this case, I doubt you'll be living much longer to learn from it."
Moriarty raised a hand to the air as shadows and smoke began to fill the street. "Dracula.. Vortigern.. Moriarty.. Cthulhu.. I am the bane of the detective. The thing that no sleuth can hope to defeat. The shadow at the end of their story.. the unsolvable.. the unknowable.. the cosmic.. I am the face of Cosmic Horror.. The Ultimate Gateway, to the knowledge that none should have.. I am the shadow rising from Innsmouth.. Shadow over Britain. "
A towering shadow rose from behind Moriarty.. spreading great shadowy wings as a massive red eye, whose very sight was darker than the void of space, and yet somehow brighter than the very sun.. opened in its center.. the cry of some great monstrous cosmic entity echoing throughout New York.
The entity grew taller and taller till it both towered over skyscrapers, and yet somehow remained small enough to fit in that area of street. Existing as multiple dimensions.. so much so that merely looking at it would've driven me insane had I not trained myself to look upon Theoretical Gods like the ones I had killed in my lifetime.
"Well.. what do you think?" Moriarty's voice echoed in the din. "Would you like me to explain my Noble Phantasm? Or would it just sail over your head?"
"Honestly doc.." I pulled the gun from my holster. "I've seen enough.. and I don't fucking care."
"Hmph.. well then.. I was curious to see if this Noble Phantasm could match that insane weapon of yours." said Moriarty with a grin. "Now then.. let the shadow consume.. show them.. THE TRUTH!!"
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The creature let out a horrid cry. It wasn't ordinary sound.. the waves.. I could see them as multicolored sonic power... Psionic Waves.. even I wouldn't be able to beat back a psychic attack that potent.
I raised my gun and pulled the trigger.
A black blast of strange energy erupted from the barrel, and tore straight through the psionic blast.
"SPLIT!!" Moriarty snapped his fingers, and the shadow pulled itself into two halves, letting the black blast sail between its two parts..
"The Black Barrel.. a weapon that inflicts the concept of death on its target, forces a lifespan on it, and then depletes that lifespan." said Moriarty. "It is a God Killer.. Not even the All Father could ever hope to defeat it with his Dark Magic.. and yet.. you wield it.. a mere Totem of Neith. But this is not any god you have ever faced.. you face the Ultimate Gate..The Omnipresent.."
And yet you had your beastie dodge my gunshot.." I growled.
"No harm in being cautious!" Moriarty snapped his fingers as the shadow reconstituted itself and hurled out its black wings, sending giant shadow tendrils from its wingtips from all directions at me.. wrapping and going around skyscrapers to come at me from all directions as fast as bullets.
I dashed at Moriarty, flipping and jumping and hurling past the tendrils as they came at me from everywhere, smashing into the street and throwing rubble into the sky.
Black tendrils..
Hmph..
Way to remind me of THAT monstrosity...
I killed that one too though.
I twirled straight into the air and twisted in the sky upside-down, aiming the gun right at Moriarty.
"BAAMMM!"
Another black streak erupted down at Moriarty.
Moriarty's eyes flashed and he and the shadow disappeared in a flash. They reappeared a ways down the street as my gun tore through the earth.
Teleportation hmm?
I landed cautiously on the street as Moriarty seemed to quietly consider me.
Two shots fired. Both misses. I needed to make sure they all counted. It was obvious he was afraid of the Black Barrel. But he was also aware that the number of shots I could fire in a single sitting had to be limited. He was probably trying to wait me out before outright attempting an attack..
I needed to use that.
I hurled my wrist into the back of the gun, and fired a glob of webbing into the ammo canister.
"What?" Moriarty muttered, raising an eyebrow.
"Bind.. death on its very destiny.. Web of Shadows." I fired the Black Barrel again, and this time, a huge black web shape fired out.. made of interlocking black beams.. carving across the street.
"URGH!!" Moriarty tilted forward but gasped in surprise.
The webbing twisted space and time as it traveled across its path. Of course he wouldn't be able to teleport.
The only way through it was-
The shadow shrank in size until it was only around as tall as Moriarty himself as he wove through a gap in the black web as it passed him.
"Heh.." I smiled under my mask.
I hurled myself forward.. holstering my weapon, drawing my sword.
"Oho!? Out of ammo!" Moriarty grinned as he sent his shadow forth.
"Idiot!" I slashed apart the shadow and it split in front of me, allowing me to hurl straight into Moriarty and grab his shoulder.
"That blade!? How did it-!" Moriarty let out a roar as images flashed through my head..
I saw them all...
every bomb..
in the entire city...
"You.." Moriarty growled. "Your Spider Sense.. is capable of sensing what is in my head through touch!? Hah.. i see now.. the Black Barrel was a ruse to make me lower your guard when you stopped using it.. but it matters not. You saw how many bombs there were didn't you?"
"2000.. set from the day you were first summoned in case Doctor Strange ever entered the Grail War with a Saber Class Servant.." I growled back. "Of course.. you always planned on reducing New York to cinders.. because.. the Greater Grail isn't just New York is it..? It was just the starting ground.. The True Grail is.."
"The entirety of America.." Moriarty smirked wildly. "Oho that is a very convenient power.. you are definitely different from the other Totems.. Neith's Chosen."
"I ain't just a totem.. " I growled. "But you haven't won.. Every bomb is toast now that I know where they are.."
"You aren't that fast.. how can you hope to-?" Moriarty muttered.
I thrust Moriarty back as popped my knuckles. "Like I told Rin.. its time for my Trump Card."
I began to step forward.. as I did, I focused my being.. myself.. all of it.. into my Noble Phantasm.
It wasn't my cursed gun that would save us.
No.. it was something that as part of my being was more duty than curse.. A Sacrifice.
"There are many totems that balance fate.."
I chanted as walked forward, and webs began to "thwip" onto the ground behind me.. striking the ground in my wake and tightening as I continued on my path.
"I am but one of many.. forever weaving.."
The webs thickened and more and more webs began to surround us as the sky disappeared and the city did as well.. now covered in a forest.. no.. a sky.. no.. a world of webbing, enveloped in a scarlet and orange light of hope..
"Neith's chosen awaken... DESTINY'S WEAVE."
Moriarty and me were now in a world with webs.. bathed in strange sunset light.. but looking between every gap in the webs.. one could see that we weren't alone.
Figures were standing beyond each web gap.. like windows..
"Fascinating.." Moriarty whispered.
"Each and every strand of web is linked to the Throne, to the Shadow of Spider Totems.. both living and dead." I said. "Their shadows emerge as servants.. and they give me what I need."
Spider-People.. in varying costumes.. they stepped out of the webbed gaps, some of them variations of Peter Parker, some of them.. different. Men and women, all of them possessing spider-powers in one way or another.. an Army.. A Spider Army..
They surrounded Moriarty and his shadow which was now shrinking in the strange light.
"This world.. don't tell me.. The Loom of Life and Destiny itself as a Reality Marble? The will of the Other? of course my god is merely a shadow itself.. it cannot exert its true power in the territory of another.." growled Moriarty. "Y-you.."
"Thanks for telling me where the explosives are... "I growled. "We'll take it from here.."
WIth that, the numerous men and women wearing spider themed outfits came like a tidal wave down on Moriarty and the shadow..
*****************
I gasped as I landed on the street, the God of Thunder at my side. I stood up, staring at the street on Times Square looking absolutely chaotic with cops everywhere.
"The bombs!" I gasped, as I looked at one of the passing officers. "What is the situation!?"
"Saber and.. Th-Thor!?" the officer exclaimed. "Well we haven't found anything else, but-."
"Tell us what you know at least!" Thor said confidently. "The Avengers are currently fighting a great foe, but I can peel apart from the pack long enough to assist in this matter."
"Well.. y-you see.. they're.. being handled.." said the officer. "By.. b.. by.."
"SPIDER-MEN!! SPIDER-MEN EVERYWHERE! MENACES ARE IN THE STREET!! CALL THE ARMY!! CALL THE NAVY!! CALL THE DAMN COASTGUARD!!! RAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
J Jonah Jameson ran past, his face looking scarlet red, and blood pouring from his nose as if he was in the middle of a worsening Anurism.
"THIS IS HELL I TELL YOU.. HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL!" Jonah fell face forward as paramedics gathered around him, looking disturbed.
And I looked up.. to see hundreds.. of people.. web slinging in various costumes.. some of them looking like variations on Peter's design. spreading throughout Times square.
"They've.. they've all been swinging around for the past 10 minutes.. like.. just taking out the bombs like that.." stammered the Officer. "I.. I have no idea where they came from.. but I think I even saw a Spider-T-Rex swing by somewhere.."
"Is.. that a pig?" said Thor, pointing at one of the crowd of swinging figures.
"P-Peter..?" I whispered. "What is happening?"
*****************
Not a single bomb.
I hadn't found a single one..
I don't know what was wrong with me.. while Rin had been finding em left and right.. for some reason every street I swung down was explosive free..
And not just that.. no matter where I stopped.. no matter where I went..
"The people ain't here.." I muttered.
I perched on a nearby lamp post, folding my arms.. Everything was quiet.. too quiet.
What was going on?
Then it hit me.. I wasn't alone at all. Somebody was here.
And she was there..
Standing under a street light, shadowed by an even larger figure.
I landed on the street and stood to face them, as they stared quietly back at me.
"I'm starting to see a bigger picture here.. or a smaller one." I said. "This entire threat. Don't tell me.."
Rogue smiled at me half heartedly. "Heya Peter, figured it out yet?"
"No.. or maybe a little.. enlighten me." I said as I glared up at Berserker who didn't seem to take any notice of me at all.
"This entire setup.. was originally designed to take on Doctor Strange if he became a master. The point... is to use Strange's heroic side to separate him from his Servant while focusing on dismantling an impossible amount of bombs within New York.. and then.."
"Let me guess." I said. "Divide and Conquer am I right?"
Rogue sighed. "I did warn you Pete.. but you just didn't listen. Only either the Servant or the Master needs to die.. and where Osborn is concerned... if you weren't on board.. well.. it's the master"
Berserker let out a ferocious roar as Rogue stepped out of the servant's way.
"Welcome to your grave Spider-Man.. this is where your Grail War ends."