All of this was bulletproof glass, but in front of them, it was no different from ordinary glass.
Inside the hall.
Kingpin, dressed in a white suit, looked as if he were about to dine.
A massive serving cart sat before him, laden with expensive food and fine wine.
"So you're Kingpin?"
Felicia stood up and asked.
She had seen pictures of Kingpin in the files, but meeting the man in person still left her utterly astonished.
The man before her stood there like a mountain of flesh, radiating an overwhelming presence.
Kingpin looked at Felicia and Bant, appearing both surprised and as if he had expected this.
"I've been wondering when you'd make your move. Or whether I should strike first."
He set down his utensils and poured himself a glass of wine.
The moment the men he sent to kidnap Hardy's people went dark again, he knew someone would come knocking.
"I just didn't expect it to be Hacker and..."
His narrow eyes shifted to Felicia with a look of puzzlement, as if wondering when such a figure had popped up in New York.
"Black Cat," Felicia said.
"Black Cat?" Kingpin repeated the name. The master thief, the Phantom Cat Hardy, immediately flashed through his mind, and he instantly understood Felicia's identity.
"So the rumors were true. No wonder their mission failed."
Though things had come to this, Kingpin would never lose face before his enemies. He drained his glass in one gulp, set it down, and walked around to the front of the cart.
"Hacker Spider-Man, I never thought you'd get involved in this."
In Kingpin's eyes, Hacker Spider-Man had only appeared a few times. The first time, he'd taken down the Green Goblin but hadn't clashed with him.
All this time, while Spider-Man constantly got in his way, Hacker had never shown up. That made Kingpin think Hacker wasn't an enemy.
"I've always believed life is all about deals and interests. I'd like to know what she offered you to earn your help. Because I can give you much more."
"Give me more?"
Bant glanced at Kingpin, who was several times rounder than Felicia, and thought to himself that this lump of flesh was indeed a lot heavier than her.
But what made you, Kingpin, think you could compare to Felicia?
"Sorry, Kingpin. She used a honey trap. I don't even want to imagine how disgusting it would be seeing you squeeze into a tight suit and strike poses for me." Bant covered his eyes, as if shielding himself from the mental image.
Kingpin didn't get angry.
"I have plenty of beautiful women. Take your pick."
In his underground empire, adult services were beyond counting. To him, women were nothing but commodities.
Felicia was about to get angry when she heard Bant say:
"Maybe. But I'm willing to bet none of those girls can do what she does, like smashing your skull with one swipe of her claws."
Felicia: ???
She'd been pretty happy with the first half, but the second half made her composure shatter immediately.
"So there's no deal to be made?" Kingpin asked calmly.
Without waiting for Bant's answer, his left hand was already on the serving cart behind him. He hurled it, loaded with food, straight at Bant and Felicia!
The fight was on!
It had to be said, having a cart over a meter tall flying at you carried a real sense of pressure.
Bant and Felicia dodged to either side at the same time. The next instant, the cart smashed into the wall, crumpling like a crushed soda can. That alone showed the sheer force behind Kingpin's throw.
At the same time, alarms blared throughout the building, and every light turned a flashing red.
Thick metal walls slammed down from all sides, instantly turning the hall into an airtight cage.
Not only that, but several figures emerged from the depths of the hall. Clearly, Kingpin had been prepared.
"Kingpin! I want to kill Spider-Man and Peter Parker, not this Hacker!" one of them roared furiously at Kingpin.
He wore a living armor that resembled a scorpion, and his glare toward Kingpin was nothing short of hostile.
The other was someone Bant had already met: the Rhino.
Aside from these two, there were numerous heavily armed killers.
"Don't be impatient, Mac." Kingpin said. "Kill Hacker first; Spider-Man can wait."
MacDonald, a.k.a. the Scorpion, one of Spider-Man's enemies.
Though Bant genuinely couldn't figure out where this guy had popped up from, and he hadn't heard Peter mention running into a Scorpion lately.
"Wanting to go after Spider-Man is one thing, but what did Peter Parker ever do to you?"
"Shut up!" MacDonald bellowed in rage. "If it weren't for Peter Parker, Jameson would never have fired me!"
In the comics, the Scorpion was originally a private investigator hired by Jameson to uncover Spider-Man's identity. But in this universe, he was an employee of the Daily Bugle.
Back when the Hunter attacked the Bugle, he was the one who revealed Peter's identity.
And that, of course, got him fired by Jameson.
But MacDonald felt he'd done nothing wrong. If he hadn't given Peter up in time, the Hunter would definitely have killed Jameson.
"I saved him, and this is how he repays me!" The Scorpion clenched his fists in fury. "One of these days, I swear I'll skin that old bastard alive!"
"Alright, alright, I get it." Bant waved a hand, gesturing for him to stop.
"I'm not interested in your life story."
Scorpion: ??? Then why the hell did you ask!
Fuming, he no longer cared whether he was facing Hacker or Spider-Man. He charged forward, swinging his fists.
The Scorpion's gear was biological tech, resembling a suit of armor. It granted the wearer immense strength and made them nearly invulnerable.
Meanwhile, the not-too-bright Aleksei also charged at Felicia.
Facing the Scorpion's attack, Bant leaped and delivered a flying kick.
In this fight, he didn't need to transform or use the Ancient Power. He couldn't even go all-out, or the battle would end in an instant.
Anyone who thought Spider-Man was just an agility-based fighter was a genuine fool.
One kick sent the Scorpion flying. After landing, Bant raised both hands and shot two strands of webbing.
In the next moment, Aleksei, who had been charging like a tank, suddenly found that no matter how hard he stomped, he couldn't advance a single step.
Dumbly, he looked back and saw two strands of webbing stuck to his back. Not far away, Hacker held the webbing with one hand, as if he were simply walking a disobedient dog.
"Over here, big guy!"
Then, with a single arm, Bant swung the Rhino like a flail and hurled him at the Scorpion, who was just picking himself up from the wreckage.
At the same time, he shouted: "Special delivery! Rhino Express. No need to thank me."
The Scorpion had barely lifted his head when his face turned green.
Boom! The two slammed together.
Meanwhile, Felicia was darting around, dodging the bullets from the gunmen.
Her suit was somewhat bulletproof, but getting hit still hurt, not to mention her head had zero protection.
She leaped back and forth, kicked over a table in the hall to use as cover, then seized the right moment to launch a deadly attack.
In a flash, Felicia's claws tore through their bulletproof vests and slit their throats. A cat could be utterly merciless!
Right after that, she immediately went for Kingpin.
"Die, Kingpin!" Felicia swung her claws, launching a relentless assault. She truly meant to kill him.
This was the man who had sent people to capture her father. If she didn't kill him, next it could be her mother, or anyone else she cared about.
But to her surprise, Kingpin was incredibly strong.
She lashed out with a fierce kick, her long leg slicing through the air like a whip. That kick had enough force to shatter a normal person's bones, but Kingpin simply ignored it.
He took the blow full on the chest, his massive frame not even swaying.
"What?" Felicia hadn't expected her attack to have zero effect.
Instead, Kingpin swung his own fist. His huge hand, even clenched, was nearly as big as Felicia's face. He threw a punch, the wind howling as it shot toward Felicia's chest.
Felicia hurriedly crossed her arms to guard her chest. Even so, the punch sent her flying. She hit the ground, rolled several times, and only came to a stop after digging her claws into the floor to bleed off the momentum.
Now, it wasn't just Felicia who was surprised. Even Bant was a little taken aback. Was Kingpin actually this strong?
To be fair, the big guy was indeed extremely formidable.
One could say that through sheer physical conditioning, Kingpin had achieved strength comparable to the Super Soldier Serum. He only looked outmatched when fighting Spider-Man, but handling ordinary superpowered heroes was no problem for him.
If Black Cat's abilities were only on par with her comic book version, she stood no chance against Kingpin.
But now, Felicia had been injected with an enhanced serum, and her gear was far superior. In terms of actual combat power, she was probably on Black Panther's level.
Under these circumstances, even if Felicia was weaker than Kingpin, the gap shouldn't be this big. His attention was now completely on the fight between Felicia and Kingpin.
The Rhino and Scorpion scrambled back to their feet. Seeing Bant distracted, they thought they had an opening, so both charged at him from behind to finish him off.
The Rhino lowered his head, his sharp horn like a spear point. The Scorpion bared his venomous stinger, the long tail blade slicing through the air, aimed straight at Bant's head.
Yet Bant didn't even turn around. With a slight shift of his body, he evaded the attack.
He grabbed the Scorpion's tail with a backhand grip, then aimed it at the charging Aleksei and drove the stinger straight into his skin.
"Argh!" The venom instantly spread through Aleksei's body. Not enough to kill him, but it left him furious and in agony.
Aleksei immediately flew into a rage. "You dare hit Aleksei!" "I'll kill you!"
He abandoned Bant and turned on the Scorpion instead. The two of them started brawling on the spot. And Bant didn't even take his eyes off Kingpin.
He felt there was something off about this Kingpin.
In the fight, Felicia used the techniques the Phantom Cat had taught her, constantly redirecting Kingpin's force.
She knew well that her advantages were her agility and the benefits of her suit. Thus, her attacks grew fiercer.
Kingpin had clearly realized the sharpness of her claws, so while countering, he also avoided her attacks.
Seeing that Bant seemed to be staying out of it, he was more than happy to keep it that way. Fighting two at once would be tough, even for him.
But with Felicia's nimble movements, her claws inevitably found their mark. Each time they did, Kingpin's body seemed cut by a blade, blood spurting from the gashes.
His clothes were already in tatters, revealing black tattoos beneath.
"What's this?" Bant narrowed his eyes. He quickly realized those weren't just ordinary tattoos. This Kingpin had undergone body modification, which was why he could hold out so long against Felicia.
But Bant didn't intervene in her fight because of that. If it continued, the winner would be Felicia, barring any surprises.
Kingpin might have enhanced himself, but unfortunately, his tech was nothing compared to the Kingpin of Ultimate Universe 6160. That universe's Kingpin could really beat Peter and the Green Goblin at the same time; even armor-piercing lasers and pumpkin bombs couldn't kill him.
Now that the outcome of the fight was clear, Bant shifted his attention away.
Outside the hall, more hitmen and gang members were gathering because of the alarm. Bant just needed to keep them from disturbing Felicia.
So he spent a bit of time, wrapping each of them up like cocoons and hanging them from the ceiling.
But Kingpin controlled too many gangs. More and more thugs swarmed over, until the ceiling was nearly full. Hundreds, even a thousand guns were aimed at Bant.
"Spider-Man, surrender now! You have no right to barge into Kingpin's territory!"
Bant spread his hands, completely relaxed. "First, even though I'm technically a Spider-Man, I'd prefer you call me Hacker. And second..."
As he spoke, a loud crash came from the hall behind him, as if some massive thing had collapsed.
Bant half-turned aside and made a welcoming gesture. From the darkness, a huge shadow emerged.
"Secondly, Kingpin is already dead." He smiled slightly.
The shadow became clearer, until everyone could see the figure. It was Kingpin.
But now he was unconscious, covered in blood and wounds, held high by Felicia as she walked out.
Thud! Felicia tossed him aside like a piece of trash.
Everyone who saw this felt their pupils contract, as if they had lived through a nightmare.
"Now, presenting the Black Cat Queen!" Bant, alone, applauded for Felicia in the silence, as if celebrating her coronation.
/-\
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