Spider Gwen: Bushido CHAPTER 11: ACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

For the next few seconds, both Murdoch and the still dizzy Spider Woman were shocked over what they just heard. She thought it was a hallucination due to receiving so many blows to her head. Murdoch on the other hand was enraged over this brazen show of defiance.

“You dare to disobey my order?! I am Oyabun!”

“Not anymore. You show no respect to our Bushido code and gave the order to do something truly dishonorable: killing someone who is completely defenseless just out of pure spite! On top of over-spending the money and resources of our organization in this deal of yours with these filthy western rats! Matt Murdoch, you have become unfit to be the Oyabun of our organization! As the Waka Gashira, I put you out of the Oyabun rank!”

“How… dare you?! The rest of the Hand will make you pay!!”

“The entire Hand has seen your true self, Matt Murdoch. You have no more respect or allegiance from this organization.” replied Otomo, standing his ground, while the other warriors stood by his side “If you want to reclaim your position, you must prove you are worthy of it. Defeat your enemy on your own abilities in a fair and honorable duel.”

“You’re joking? She is right here, she is down! One blow and all our problems are done!” replied an irate Murdoch, pointing at Spider Woman, who was starting to regain her senses, but still struggling to get back up.

“The reason why she is still alive is because of your own incompetence, she is your problem. You want the leadership back? Prove it.”

“Fine…” Murdoch muttered as he withdrew his own sword “Make no mistake, Otomo, I will not let it slide this defiance to my title. Once I am done with her, you are next.” He declared as he pointed his sword both at Spider Woman and Otomo.

“What-? You want to go full on Japanese duels? How about a fistfight?” said Spider Woman as she managed to get on her feet and saw Murdoch armed and ready to fight. Seconds later, Otomo handed her a sword too while the others encircled them like a ring.

“You will need a weapon, young lady. Fight or die with honor, like a warrior.” said Otomo in a calm voice before bowing for a second and returning to his position, completing the ring. Right now, it was Spider Woman vs Matt Murdoch in the final battle.

Picking up the sword, Spider Woman was now focused on her opponent that was in front of her “You can do this Gwen… you are stronger, faster and better looking than this piece of-” Her thoughts shot down as Murdoch removed the top of his 10k business suit in a single sweep move “Shit…” Despite just using a white t-shirt, Murdoch was in peak physical condition, the result of years of training and combat as one of the Hand’s most prolific warriors.

“I didn’t reach where I am now by just bribing and signing checks, Spider…”  said the corrupted lawyer, spinning the sword around, showing his skill at handling the weapon, much to the webslinger’s shock and surprise.

“No wonder why he hits like a truck…” she muttered as she tried to do the same move Matt did with his sword, albeit in a very poor and sloppy way, nearly dropping it. “Ahm… en garde?” said Spider Woman quite confused over what will happen, raising her sword. She was half-joking, but at the same time quite scared. Facing someone like Murdoch in a swordfight after only a few hours of sword course was a sure way of her ending in very thin slices.

Murdoch dashed extremely fast at Spider Woman, ready to impale her heart with the sword. With her spider sense going off in an instant and at least to some degree recovered from the blows but not fully, the heroine was able to dodge and roll on the ground, evading the killing blow. At this point, she was beginning to realize this is no joking matter: she was in a fight to the death with someone who is much better at wielding slashy things than her and nobody was there to help her out. Otomo and the samurais were simply standing in a circle around them, making sure the fight goes on according to the rules and nobody tries any funny business.

“You are only delaying the inevitable. Spider Woman!” said Matt as he turned around and was ready to strike again “Stop running and start fighting!”

Before she could even respond, Spider Woman found herself seeing her opponent’s blade going straight to her neck. With her superhuman reflexes, she immediately used her own sword to block the strike, followed by more attacks she had to deflect. Out of desperation, she was holding her sword incorrectly. It looked like her hands were twisted, but she didn’t care, as the prospect of being beheaded was a worse fate than some criticism about incorrect weapon wielding. Eventually, her sloppy skills cost her, as a fast kick to her hands made her sword fly away…

“You’re done!”

“So you think…” replied Spider Woman before quickly giving Murdoch a roundhouse kick to his face, causing him to stumble and nearly drop his glasses. Before she could run to retrieve her weapon, she felt sharp pain. Looking at her right arm, she saw some shuriken stars impaled. Murdoch managed to throw some while he was disoriented and two managed to strike her. Quickly pulling them out, she was distracted and didn’t see Murdoch’s kick, getting a hard one slammed right in her face as well. This caused her to fall on the ground. Thinking fast, she responded by giving her a swipe with her leg, causing him to fall as well. Afterwards,she rolled as fast as she could and managed to get her sword back and stand on her feet, resuming the fight.

“This starts to get interesting, Otomo. I thought it would be a quick fight.” said one of the samurais who was part of the ring’s circle “The girl is still alive.”

“We’ll see, Kazuo. Right now, all that matters is the fight goes by the rules.” replied Otomo, looking carefully at each other’s moves, not missing a second on how the battle was evolving. So far, Spider Woman was managing to defend herself and stay alive, all thanks to her managing to learn some of the techniques taught to her by Agent Specter. She hoped her superhuman endurance would last enough to exhaust Murdoch or at least stay alive until Marc and his FBI team arrive to arrest all of them. But for the corrupt lawyer, he wasn’t liking this as he was getting impatient to reclaim his throne. Much to his displeasure, Spider Woman was still blocking and dodging his attacks and showed no signs of exhaustion.

Despite him being pretty much blind, he was perfectly accurate with his strikes, pushing Spider Woman to the edges of the ring. However, she noticed how his strikes were getting more desperate and less coordinated. He wanted to end this now and that’s something that Spider Woman could take advantage of. She had a plan, a very risky one.

“Here goes nothing…” mumbled Spider Woman as she was able to deflect one of his attacks and push him to the side, then jumped back to the center of the ring, using the space now between the two. She then tossed her sword at Matt, who he deflected it with his own without issues.

“You are done for!” he dashed at full speed for a final blow, readying his sword to go straight to her chest, Spider Woman took a deep breath, adopting a position with her hands.

“Now!” Using her spider sense, she was able to grab Murdoch’s sword just before he could even strike and applied the same maneuver that Marc taught her, disarming the corrupt lawyer while slamming him against the ground, making the hard wood beneath crack a bit due to the force of the impact. Murdoch couldn’t help but grunt in pain as everything went in a spiral, only to feel something sharp pressing against his neck: his own sword, being held by the heroine. She won.

“Matt Murdoch, you have lost.” Otomo declared as Spider Woman stumbled backwards, feeling exhausted, tired and out of breath. At that point, every single muscle in her body was screaming for a timeout. She still couldn’t believe how she pulled out that technique, but she did, something that would make Marc surely proud of her.

“Leave now, Spider Woman.” said Otomo in a cold serious tone as he got inside the ring, with some of his men following behind “From this point on, this is no longer your business.” he then unsheathed his sword and he was ready to deliver the fatal blow to Murdoch, who was semi-conscious on the floor. Due to the way that he lowered his head, it looked like he pretty much accepted his fate.

“... No!”

Otomo’s sword was stopped by Spider Woman before it could deliver the final blow, by using Murdoch’s sword. This made some of the members shocked, Yamaguchi included. “You are not killing him!”

“This is the way of the Bushido. He must die for his lack of honor and bringing shame to our organization.” replied Otomo, not retreating his sword one inch.

“I don’t care, this is not how things work here! He’s my opponent, not yours to decide what happens to him! I need him alive so he can face justice! Killing him won’t bring back honor to your clan, nor undo all his crimes!” said Spider Woman, knowing Otomo won’t be able to rebuke this argument, as Matt was still her opponent and it was her fight. At the same time, her stalling paid off, as she heard sirens coming in the distance, a clear sign that help was on its way. For a few tense seconds that felt more like minutes, nobody moved, even Murdoch. For the first time, he lost his smugness and confidence, knowing how close to death he was. But eventually, Otomo put his sword back in the holster and simply gave a bow to Spider Woman.

“His fate is in your hands, Spider Woman. You fought with honor and for that, I congratulate your resolve and honesty. But make no mistake: next time you dwell against the Hand’s goals, we will be enemies again. Goodbye!” moments later, the Samurai leader and his warriors cloaked and disappeared, moments before the doors of the room burst open and Specter’s squad surrounded them, guns drawn. From behind, Agent Luke Cage entered with a pair of handcuffs, arresting the corrupt lawyer. Searching the area, the rest of the team didn’t find anyone else Hand-related, but did find the place Jennifer was incarcerated and also the underground room full of evidence, ready to be seized.

An hour passed since the fight was over and things were calming down. Spider Woman was able to finally relax a bit and allow her wounds to heal. Sitting in one of the team’s cars, she was having some coffee and also patching up the wounds she got from the fight, while listening to the radio, hearing what the squad was finding in the dojo. Apart from the normal talk, she could also hear background calls from police frequencies and one call about a shooting at the nearby Trinity Church did catch her attention for a brief moment, especially after hearing that it happened during a wedding and that the shooter was killed by one of the attendants. However, she felt some sadness after hearing the groom was hit and critically injured. In the distance she could hear an ambulance going towards that area.

“Heya! Heard about the way you kicked Matt’s ass while I was out cold! Great job, partner!” said a cheerful voice behind her. Turning around, Spider Woman saw Walters approaching her, this time in her She Hulk form. Her disguise was still on, or whatever was left from it after it ripped to pieces due to her growing back in her gamma form. A good thing was that she kept her suit underneath the clothes, revealing it completely after she ripped off the rest of the disguise and threw it aside.

“Kicked his ass? No, not even close. Otomo sort of saved me after Murdoch nearly beat me to a pulp. Still… I guess Murdoch’s way of leadership was rubbing the wrong way some of the clan members….”

“Hmmmmmmmmm… You think they took this chance to get rid of him?”

“W-what you mean?” Spider Woman stood up as both watched how Marc’s team was pulling out the crates outside the dojo, alongside with all the evidence.

“That email that I got early… I do have some contacts snooping around here and there in the streets that often give me information about potential crimes about to happen, but they normally arrive as contacts that I can identify…” said Shulkie while grabbing a cup of coffee as she rubbed her neck, still feeling a bit itchy by the electric dart that struck her. “My gut tells me… that maybe we actually got invited at this party after all…”

“You gotta be kidding me…” replied Spider Woman, frustrated as she almost threw her coffee against the asphalt, feeling tricked and somewhat cheated by the fact that the Hand might just used both to get rid of Murdoch.

“Hey, just don’t think about too much ok? Everyone won as far as i can see: The Hand got rid of Matt, and we got the big fish. Trust me, no matter what sort of legal bullshit he can pull out of his ass, it is not going to save him this time… I will make sure that doesn’t happen.”  said Shulkie while giving her a gentle bump on her shoulder, in which Spider Woman responded by hitting her in her abs as hard as she could, both making a few laughs and giggles.

“Then it looks like a victory. How about we let Luke deal with the rest here and celebrate? We could hit the Coney Island Beach and hit the weights there, along with some protein shakes and also score some dates.” said She Hulk, cracking her fingers in joy over the fact it was all over and they won, only to see Spider Woman facepalm herself.

“Ugh... pass. Besides, didn’t you just say that you wouldn’t do any sort of wild dating if we made it out of this?”

“Yeah… I lied, but hey! It boosted our luck in all this, right?”

Before Spider Woman could slap herself harder at what her partner said, she was interrupted by the sight of Matt Murdoch escorted by FBI tactical agents on his way towards the armored truck waiting outside. Also, much to her amazement, several reporters were also waiting at the dojo’s exit and made their way past police or FBI guards, ready to catch a glimpse of the corrupt lawyer being taken away in handcuffs, something never thought this would ever happen, as he was perceived as untouchable.

“Good luck in Ryker’s, Matt. Bet Fisk himself will love to see you again and have a chat about how you stole his empire once you left him to rot.” said Spider Woman in a sarcastic wisecracking tone as Murdoch was being escorted past her. At some point, he stopped walking and took a look at her. Despite him being blind, she could feel his “stare” piercing her.

“You… and that big green piece of shit don’t have ANY idea of what you have done….”

“Oh, we know very well what we have done. And it feels pretty good, knowing you will face the music. Don’t worry, you and your friends can settle things with Li once I put him in jail next.“

“Hear my words you stupid girl. You got played… one month and you will wish you’d have me back! I was keeping him at bay. Now, nothing can’t stop him, not even you.” replied Matt before resuming being escorted towards the exit.

“Not going to happen. Good luck Matt, I got a feeling you’re going to need it.” said Spider Woman before waving at him and exiting via the back door in order to avoid the press and also cops who could try and take her down too, an inconvenience she tried to avoid. Right now, all she wanted to do was to go home, relax and wait for Marc to call and debrief her about what will happen next.

Meanwhile, around the corner of the Wall Street where the dojo was located, a silver Bentley Mulsanne was stationed, with the driver’s window slightly lowered enough for a video camera lens to poke out and film the arrest of Matt Murdoch. The Chinese ethnic driver was calmly looking at the crowd of reporters surrounding Murdoch as he was forcibly put in the back of the FBI truck and prepared for transport, with Martin Li in the back of the car, looking pleased as he saw his enemy brought down.

“Like a well oiled machine. That little tip-off to that green bitch’s fanmail paid off.” said Martin as he was enjoying an expensive drink from his car’s refrigerated cabinet.

“What about Spider Woman? She and her friends won’t take kindly if they find out they’ve been used as pawns.” said the chauffeur, turning the camera off and placing it on the passenger seat before raising the window back to hide their intentions.

“Right now, she’s not a cause for concern. When she becomes one, I’ll deal with her myself.” replied Li calmly, leaning back on the back seat.

“Understood Mr Li. And what we’ll do regarding Matt's Serbian ally and the Russians?”

“Considering what Dimitri just did fifteen minutes ago ... nothing. The Russians are no longer useful to us anymore. Let the Serbian handle them. Come one, let’s get out of here before someone sees us.”

“Right away, Mr Li.” replied the chauffeur before firing up the Bentley and driving away discreetly, leaving the area. The incident Martin mentioned will have tremendous consequences quite soon.

While Spider Woman was busy with Matt’s arrest, someone was about to become the happiest man alive. The man in question was Serghei Ivanovic and was waiting for one more guest to appear, as he was hanging out in front of the Trinity Church, along with other guests. Some of them are familiar faces, such as the Gomez brothers, accompanied by their father as well. Everyone was in suit and tie, ready for the big moment, but someone was being late. Suddenly however, the late attendee was climbing the stairs to the entrance in a hurry. It was Vladislav himself. In full on suit and tie, it looked like he came in a hurry and a bit exhausted. Without his trademark bulletproof vest and tactical gear, the Serbian warmonger looked like a completely different person, looking so out of place from his warfare-ridden habitat. He even made a kind smile when he showed up to his cousin. Some people in the group were taken back by this due to the fact that Vlad wasn’t the type of guy known for smiling at all, he looked like a totally different person.

“You’re late, cousin. Alexandra is waiting. What happened, stopped on the way to deal with your Russian problem?”

“No, it 's over. The Bratva can simply implode without my help. I’m not spending one more second of my time thinking about them. Right now, the thing that matters most is you tying the knot.” replied Vladislav, adjusting the collar of his shirt.

“I’m proud of you, cousin. I really am, come on, let’s get me married.” said Serghei as he opened the church door, leading everyone inside in order to start the ceremony.

The wedding went on as usual, with the priest leading the ceremony in front of the happy couple that was about to unite their destinies for the rest of their lives. Everyone attending was ecstatic and happy over Serghei and Alexandra taking this important step, including Vladislav himself. He was in a more secluded place in the seating area, trying to keep a low profile. Despite this being a very important day for his cousin, he was still cautious to avoid being identified, considering he was at the top ten list of people searched by Interpol, plus any other potential rival criminal that might want to finish some unsettled businesses with him, it was for the best.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” said the priest, giving the couple a smile after he married them. Moments later, Serghei and Alexandra shared a long kiss in the applause and cheers of everyone in the church.

Minutes later, the happily married couple was walking out of the church, surrounded and cheered on by Vlad, the Gomez family and several other attendants. There weren't many guests but for Serghei and Alexandra it didn’t matter, they were surrounded by people who cared about them.

“Congratulations! We’re so happy for you!” said Gomez Sr as he shaked Serghei’s hand, along with more cheers from his sons. This time they were on their best behavior, trying to leave any of the nonsense that they are known for aside… At least until the wedding was over, also the fact that Vlad was constantly looking at the brothers to make sure they didn’t do something stupid. It also helped that Gomez Sr told them that he would gladly let the Serbian teach them some manners and he wouldn’t step in to help them if that happened.

“Congratulations, little cousin. I’m really proud of you. For both of you.” said Vladislav as he embraced Serghei, giving him a friendly pat on the back before embracing Alexandra too. “You take care of my cousin, ok? Keep him on the straight and narrow, not end up like myself.”

“Sure thing, Vlad! I will make sure to give him a couple of punches on your behalf if I catch him doing gambling again…” Alexandra remarked while giving a serious look at Serghei, which made her husband sweat a little in concern. Despite that, everyone started to laugh afterwards, taking it as a joke. Still, Vladislav appreciated the gesture from Alexandra. She was a woman that nobody would dare to mess with, and he fully trusted her to keep his cousin on the straight and narrow.

“Thank you everyone for coming! It means the world to us.” said Alexandra before being kissed again by Serghei, as he was ready to give out his newly-wed speech. Falling back a bit, Vladislav kept applauding along the other guests, happy and proud for his cousin. Until…

“Vladislav?” an unknown man approached the group. Vlad saw him at the church as well thinking he was one of the guests, but he wasn’t sure if he was a known person for Serghei.

“Yes?” replied Vladislav, a bit confused but still distracted by the event, as he kept clapping, not even turning around to see who he was, oblivious to the man’s intentions, presuming he was someone he might know.

“Dimitry Rasputin, peredayte privet…”

Before Vlad could react to what the man said, he pulled out a pistol from his coat and tried to point it at his head. However, on instinct, Ivanovic immediately moved to the side and grabbed his arm, struggling with the assassin over the control of the gun. The gun started to fire as the would-be killer pulled the trigger a few times in an attempt to kill Vladislav, but the struggle came to an end when the Serbian managed to overpower the assassin and shoot him in the head with his own pistol, preventing an attempt on his life.

For a few moments, he simply stood over the assailant’s dead body, shocked over the fact that an attempt on his life was made the second he let his guard down. His military training began to resume along with some PTSD, causing his heart rate to go up. But that trance was broken by a sharp scream from Alexandra, turning around, he saw much to his horror, the cause of that scream: one stray bullet fired from that pistol hit Serghei straight in his chest. He was face down on the ground, completely motionless, like he was dead. Gomez Sr already rushed towards him and began performing CPR and several ways to keep him alive, while Carlos and Diego headed to the assassin’s body, guns drawn, in order to see if was truly dead. Vlad on the other hand, was walking towards his cousin, like on autopilot and in complete disbelief, his world completely coming crashing down as he saw his cousin’s body laying there on the ground in front of him.

“...MIERDA!” shouted Diego, throwing his fedora hat on the ground in frustration before getting it handed back by his brother. Both were extremely angry over this, especially since they’re also experienced criminals. They should have seen this coming a mile away.

“...I followed his plea… I let it slide and tried to forget Dimitri. And he did this! He did this…!” shouted Ivanovic before letting out a scream in pain and grabbed his head, falling on his knees. It wasn’t long before the sound of sirens and people screaming and shouting started to be heard, breaking him out of his trance as he was brought back to the reality of what just happened and in the situation that he is in right now.

“Get up, ese, get up! You need to get out of here before la policia comes.” said Diego as he helped Vlad get back up and urged him to leave the area “No worry, me and Carlos will find where Dimitri is and call you. You just go somewhere safe and lay low until we find this puto.”

“Ok…ok…” replied Vladislav, barely able to speak as he walked away from the scene, completely devastated as he could still hear his cousin’s wife in the distance crying and the sound of sirens in the distance. Walking two streets away, he saw Cage’s FBI convoy speeding past him and not noticing him at all.

“Serghei… I’m so sorry cousin… I’m so sorry…” said Vladislav to himself as he kept walking the empty streets, going through alleyways to avoid being seen. At this point, Spider Woman’s words kept coming back in his head, about actions and consequences and how his criminal business will eventually get someone he cared about in trouble.

“Actions have consequences… actions have consequences…actions…and Consequences…" At this point, sorrow was beginning to be slowly replaced by an increasing level of rage, as the news that Dimitri was behind this began to overwhelm his mind.

“Ok, Dimitri, you want me? Fine. I’m coming for you. This will be my last stand!”

To be continued…

11'th chapter of the new story arc, created by me and https://www.deviantart.com/snarkymofo

Spider Gwen vs Matt Murdoch. One winner, one loser.

previous chapter https://www.patreon.com/posts/spider-gwen-89296455