"Speaking of which, have you guys found dates for Homecoming this year?"
Once they snapped into work mode, Harry brought up a crucial, if somewhat awkward, question. Peter's response was to feign ignorance and continue his patrol, swinging between the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Amadeus, on the other hand, had no such reservations, largely because he was in a different boat than Peter and Harry: he didn't even have a candidate in mind.
"Uh, I haven't made any progress. I'm just hoping to find someone before the dance starts."
"You sound pretty unsure of yourself, Amadeus," Harry remarked while using a spider-drone to scan the area for analysis. Lately, the frequency of dangerous incidents in New York had begun to drop exponentially. Of course, they hadn't vanished—this was New York, after all.
But at the very least, the kind of emergencies that prompted a call to the police were becoming fewer and farther between.
Correspondingly, what about the dangerous incidents where no one called for help?
Those were the targets Spider-Man was looking for.
"So, Peter, what about you? Oh, wait, you probably aren't lacking for Homecoming dates."
Harry made a pointed remark, to which Peter Parker could only offer a dry chuckle. He swung into Harlem, a predominantly Black neighborhood. While discrimination based on skin color and stereotypes are fundamentally wrong, there are reasons why such patterns form in the first place.
Without delving into the deep-seated socioeconomic roots, it is a reality in America that crime rates in certain urban communities are higher than in others. On the flip side, the level of solidarity in these communities often exceeds that of others. So, what exactly emerges from a community that is both tight-knit and struggling with high crime?
"Those gang members I investigated last time—I put trackers on all their cars. I planned to dig through the layers to find out who's really behind them. It looks like the legwork is mostly done. These cars don't frequent many places. If I check them one by one, I should find plenty."
"So we can wipe out these gangs in one fell swoop?"
"That depends on your definition of 'one fell swoop.' Eradicating a single gang? Sure. The problem is how to stop new ones from growing and taking their place. A better mayor? A better president? Or changing the whole country? If Cap decided to run for office, he might actually have a shot."
Peter used his webbing to swing toward the first target location, but he kept his second thought to himself: Captain America had no interest in participating in an election.
Steve Rogers always felt a sense of detachment from this era, believing he shouldn't interfere too deeply in its direction. He avoided unnecessary publicity stunts, let alone running for office. Currently, the activities he participated in most were charity, veteran affairs, and anti-invasion efforts; he had no intention of stepping into anything else.
As for the others... well, you couldn't exactly expect Tony Stark to run for president, could you? Best not to even think about it.
"Besides, if you're hoping that busting one or two labs making enhancers will wipe them out, forget it. As long as there's money to be made, someone will always do it. And the biggest issue is that the cops don't seem to care about this either... Ugh, that smell."
Peter activated his suit's air filtration system. The biggest downside to enhanced senses was being acutely aware of every unpleasant detail—smells, sounds, and sights. Sometimes, doing the superhero gig really required a strong stomach.
Peter navigated through a building's ventilation ducts, lost in thought, when he suddenly sensed something wrong. His targets had ceased all movement, appearing stationary on his HUD. Peter let his cameras apply a mosaic filter to the footage before jumping down, letting out a helpless sigh.
The people he had been tracking—this entire gang den and manufacturing center—consisted of seven or eight people. Every single one of them was dead.
"Peter? What are those mosaics..."
"Help me contact the NYPD. Someone beat me to the punch, and they did it like this..."
"Was it an anti-hero?"
Amadeus's question made Peter shake his head as he analyzed the scene via his computer. This wasn't Frank Castle's work, nor was it Logan's. These bodies had their throats slit or chests pierced with surgical precision by a sharp longsword.
Whoever did this was incredibly brazen. A vast amount of cheap chemical equipment and unfinished enhancers were left untouched, as if the perpetrator's sole purpose was killing. Peter narrowed his eyes, surveying the surroundings until he confirmed the point of entry—the door had been sliced clean in half.
"Someone very skilled with a blade. Looking at the bullet holes, these gang members clearly tried to fight back, but it was useless. Did the attacker dodge everything? No, wait."
The number of shell casings on the floor didn't match the number of bullet impacts. While many bullets hit the floor or embedded in the walls, the count was off.
The bloodstains were wrong, too. Even Logan would bleed if he were hit, but there was no "extra" blood here. Skilled with a blade, no blood... Undead Ninjas of the Hand?
Peter froze for a moment, feeling confused. If it really was the Hand, why would they go around killing other gangs? Did they have nothing better to do? According to previous intel, they were supposed to be operating secretly in Hell's Kitchen. Why would they show up in Harlem?
"Peter? Buddy? Why are you so quiet? Did you find something?"
"Yeah. I have a rough idea of who killed these gang members. It's an evil organization, but far more dangerous than common thugs. Hang on, I'm going to check the other gang outposts. Hopefully, this was just an isolated incident by the Hand and not a large-scale offensive."
This time, Peter's worries didn't manifest. The other gang locations were operating as usual. After a brief skirmish with Peter, those thugs were knocked out, disarmed, and surrendered. Only that one unlucky spot had been hit by the Hand; there was no telling how they had offended them.
"But it's quite strange for the Hand to suddenly pop up like this after being quiet for so long. I wonder how the Defenders' investigation is going. I should go talk to Matt and the others. They might know what the Hand has been up to lately. These guys aren't world-ending threats, but it's better to deal with them sooner rather than later."
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