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Marvel: King of The Swarm Chapter 54: Tireless
🕑 Added 2025-07-05 15:26:16 +0000 UTC"AHAHAH, LIGHT HER UP BOYS!!" Hammerhead shouted as he stood up from behind his desk and pointed one of his massive fingers at Gwen, who had just busted down the doors to his office. To either side of him, Hammerhead's men opened fire, each equipped with machine guns firing a wall of lead that left no room for Gwen to dodge. Fortunately, she didn't need to any longer.
Faster than she could react, the back of her suit split open as two pairs of arachnid limbs emerged, the first looming over her shoulders like curved spears tipped with golden points, and the other two jutting up from below and across her rips like tusks.
The four points met together in front of Gwen before pulling apart, revealing a thick net of webbing created by the spinnerets on the tip of each limb. Gwen braced herself as the bullets slammed into her improvised shield but failed to pierce through the thick webbing.
Gritting his teeth at the sight of his failed ambush, Hammerhead turned around and kicked open an armored weapon crate behind him, reaching in and pulling out a bandolier of grenades, "Choke on this ya broad!"
With a grunt, Hammerhead pulled the pin on one of the grenades before throwing the entire bandolier at Gwen, leaving him and the rest of his men scrambling for cover.
Even without seeing the threat, Gwen's spider-sense rang through her mind alerting her to the impending danger. With a strong flick, her arachnid limbs cast her wall of webbing forward, catching and wrapping the cluster of grenades, making them drop out of the air.
There was a muffled bang a second later, as the ball of webbing suddenly expanded as it contained the explosion, but then it retracted back to its original size without a tear in sight.
Once they realized that the entire office hadn't been blown to pieces, Hammerhead's men popped back up ready to resume their gunfire, but by then it was too late, as Gwen had closed the distance.
Appearing as little more than a silver and gold blur, Gwen's fist slammed into the chin of the nearest henchman with a crack, lifting his feet clean off the ground in a vicious upper cut. She then grabbed him with her webbing, yanking him back down towards the earth before slamming both of her feet into his sternum, sending the man flying towards one of his comrades, who didn't even have time to drop his gun as they both went down in a tangle of limbs.
Still suspended in the air from her drop kick, Gwen didn't wait for gravity to pull her back down to the earth; instead, her archanid limbs anchored her, tapping against the concrete like metal picks as she spun around and launched herself at the last two remaining henchmen who were scrambling to bring up their guns.
To their credit, they managed to get a burst of rounds off, but Gwen had already predicted their moves. Pushing off the ground, her arachnid limbs gave Gwen just enough momentum for her to flip around and grab hold of the ceiling, where she returned fire with her two quick shots from her wrists. The web bullets both hit their marks, clogging the barrels of the henchmen's guns, who didn't realize until it was too late, as they continued firing, only for their guns to explode as the propulsive force had nowhere to go.
Both men hit the floor with a thud and a groan as the smoking remnants of their guns clattered to the floor.
Following their example, Gwen dropped to the floor as well and turned to face Hammerhead's desk, only to find it unoccupied. Gwen's eyes narrowed, and she flipped the desk over with her arachnid limbs, only to find an open hatch leading to a secret escape tunnel built into the floor.
"Damnit!" Gwen exclaimed as she stared hatefully at the tunnel, but didn't bother giving chase, she knew Hammerhead was long gone, "I almost had him!"
Grabbing her head in frustration, Gwen mulled over her failure for a moment before pushing her emotions aside and making a call.
"What's up, spider?"
"I raided Hammerhead's base, but he got away. He had access to some serious firepower, Yuri, and while I'm no expert, I've had enough pointed at me to know the good ones from the bad," Gwen answered as she walked over to the open weapon crate and found more inside, "I'm sending you the location now, there are also a few guys here who'll need a bus."
"Got it sending units your way. As for the guns, we're seeing similar reports as well from other gangs and the mafia. The scary thing is that most of them match the ones you intercepted from the Kingpin a few months ago." Yuri replied with a deep sigh, "Estimates show we're looking at one of the biggest gun smuggling operations in recent years, and we have no idea who's running the show."
"And it's only going to ramp up from here," Gwen muttered as she paced back and forth, "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost wish that Fisk was still around to keep things in check."
"Yeah," Yuri replied before trailing off, and Gwen could almost hear the detective's inner debate, "Spit it out, Yuri, what's on your mind?"
"Well, I was just wondering what your opinion is on Ascend?" Yuri asked tentatively, making Gwen freeze on the spot, "Yuri, you aren't suggesting that I-"
"No, definitely not!" The detective exclaimed before following up a bit timidly, "I just wanted to know if you think there's any truth to their claim about creating superheroes."
"It doesn't matter if they can do it or not," Gwen emphized, "You should know the kind of shady shit that Oscorp get's into, all of this is nothing but one big scheme. If I weren't so caught up with everything else, I would be investigating Ascend and Norman Osborn with his anti-vigilante campaign."
Yuri sighed, "Well, I hate to say it, Spidey, but people are liking the idea."
"I wish I could say I'm surprised," Gwen muttered as she moved over to sit on Hammerhead's upturned desk. "But Norman knows just how to play the right angle to get people to agree with him, and with how much has happened under the current mayor's watch, people are going to look for change, which Norman is offering and so much more."
"Don't lose hope, there's still a long way until June, and a lot can change in that time." Yuri added helpfully, making Gwen sigh, "I want to believe you, Yuri, but I've learned it's best to assume and prepare for the worst."
"I can't fault you there," Yuri agreed with a sigh before seeming to shake the depressive air off, "But can't let that stop us, at the end of the day, we still got people to save and a City to stop itself from tearing apart at the seams."
"Well said," Gwen said with a nod as she stood up, hearing the police sirens closing in, "Alright, looks like your friends are here, I gotta get going."
"Be safe out there, spider. I'll talk to you later." Yuri said her goodbyes before hanging up as Gwen made her way out of Hammerhead's hideout.
---
"Ahahah!"
Gideon smiled as he watched a group of children freed from their afternoon lessons run through one of Sanctuary's inner fields, surrounded by a small forest of golden and purple trees. The laughing boys and girls were being watched by those who had been teachers and caretakers before being cleansed, happy to continue their duty under Genesis' light.
Gideon took the scene as proof of their thriving community, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness and worry as he would be away for quite some time.
'I am grateful for your concern, my son, but do not worry. No one shall harm your brothers and sisters while they reside here.'
Gideon pulled in his gaze as Genesis spoke to him, and the children playing in the field were soon lost among Sanctuary's expanse, an entire realm consisting of trees, grass, and expansive columns where one day, potentially millions would call their home. And suspended from the dome ceiling far above hung a massive cluster of golden crystal, bathing Sanctuary in eternal light, a monolith that people had taken to calling the Heart of Genesis, a manifestation of his eternal grace and promise to protect his chosen.
For the hundredth time, the sight filled Gideon with a purpose that steadied his heart and filled his eyes with a burning inferno one he found mirrored in the eyes of his brothers and sister who had volunteered to join him. Turning to face them, Gideon lifted his crook into the air, "Today we begin our eternal mission to bring the light of our Lord into the Heart of Corruption and save those before the Endless Maws of the Unifying Scourge claim the unworthy. Today we begin the First Crusade!!"
