He had expected this.
Retaliation.
It was how it always went.
If they were attacked, criminals always retaliated because it was the only way they knew how to survive. Nothing could be left unanswered even if it took days, weeks, months or years. Even the smallest of offences were paid back in full with interest.
Looking around, Scott was already beginning to understand how events unfolded, but there was little in the way of clues to go off. A few bloodstains and feathers, a tooth here and footprints all around.
But common sense and intuition made the puzzle reveal itself even with many missing pieces.
Warren was prideful, but not to the degree that he wasn't willing to recognise his own faults and work upon them. Yet his pride did make him unwilling to follow orders unless he recognised the superiority of his leader, though that had only been when he was younger and more immature.
Scott had known these things and that's why he acted the way he did. He showed Warren that while he was good, Scott was simply better. It was simultaneously a means to push Warren to improve himself and also make him a better team player.
When Warren refused to join the X-Men and instead wanted to stay behind in New York City, Scott knew that eventually he would be hunted down by the man Tombstone was working for. It was only natural for it to happen, but he had not expected them to act so soon.
But Scott was beginning to understand why and how they did.
The Grady Gang weren't behind this, they didn't have the manpower nor the infrastructure to respond so rapidly. They had been failing to take out Warren up until this point and the chances of them being able to suddenly land a crippling blow were slim to none, especially on their own.
However, the man Tombstone was working for was the most likely option. There were a small number of people in New York that had the skill to pull off this move as to respond to something like this meant having no bigger problems to deal with. This meant they were powerful and Scott had an idea of exactly who that was.
Kingpin.
He was a dangerous man, even Cyclops had been aware of that. Smart and powerful in all the right ways, enabling him to become a big player in the world itself.
From what Scott had begun to understand, it was likely that in order to appease his wounded pride, Warren went out to fight against criminals. But unknowingly and unexpectedly, was lured into a trap.
As a recognisable figure and someone who enjoyed being seen, locating Warren was never going to be difficult. Scott had found him easily enough and purely by coincidence, for someone like Kingpin who was actively looking for Warren and with his resources, it would be even easier.
Warren was young and inexperienced.
He couldn't recognise ambushes for what they were, so he walked right into it and paid the price.
But more importantly, Scott let him.
Clenching his fist tightly, Scott looked upon the streak of blood that led towards the door of the roof. He had been injured and laid to one side, a dried pool of blood remaining where he had been, but then he had been dragged away.
He was conscious, Scott could see the finger marks left in the blood streak from where he had tried to stop them from taking him away. It all painted a vivid picture in his mind and Scott looked towards the group of men resting unconscious against the wall.
They were men that had been sent to clean up the scene and would probably not have all the information. But what they did have was what Scott wanted to know and he'd get it out of them.
-X-
As the car pulled up to the side of the street, the door opened up and out of it stepped a man in his mid-forties with short cropped brown-ginger hair that was slicked back. Reaching for his waist, the man buttoned up his suit, smoothing it of any creases and running one hand through his hair to make sure everything was in place before making his way up the stairs to the entrance to the large building before him.
It was busy all around him, a few bodyguards in front of him, parting them out of the way, a few more behind him to ensure he was protected. But everyone moved about their own business, typing away at their phones or rushing down the stairs to the next appointment.
Entering the building, he took a look around the room, noticing a few well-dressed men sitting down and looking right at him. Upon noticing his entrance, they all rose up and moved towards the elevator, he followed them where he entered the small space, the doors closing while he was standing at the front and another man at his side.
"Wesley." He greeted, much tenser than the man at his side who seemed relaxed as he watched the floors tick by.
"Norman." Wesley greeted.
"I was not aware we would be having a meeting today," Norman replied, trying not to show his nervousness as the floors got closer to the top. "When I received a message it was certainly surprising."
Wesley chuckled lightly, pulling out his phone and checking the notification he had received. "Yes, well things like these tend to happen, it's life." He returned, paying the bare minimum attention to the owner of Oscorp. "Besides, he is displeased with the lack of progress you have been making on the task we gave you."
"So, he sends you to come to speak to me."
Pocketing his phone, Wesley checked his watch as the elevator came to a stop. "I never said that." The door then opened, Wesley and the men who had accompanied him came out Norman hesitated when he saw the large, heavy-set man talking amicably with his secretary.
He was huge, leaning against a cane with a large suit, looking like a severely overweight man that looked to have never seen a gym in his life. But Norman knew this man and what he was really capable of, adjusting his collar before finally taking a single step out. His footsteps hesitated when the man turned, eyes looking upon him after Wesley reached him.
"Norman." The large man greeted, his voice jovial but his face indifferent. "I'm glad you could make it."
"We have had an amicable relationship for some time, Wilson," Norman replied. "I am more than happy to come for a meeting, especially with the profit our partnership has brought for us both. Shall we head to my office and have our meeting there?"
The smile Norman received was dismissive. "Of course."
The walk was quiet, Norman pulling ahead and hoping to get into his office where he felt safer, not in small part due to the traps he had there. Upon coming inside, Norman took a seat behind his desk in the large, expensive leather chair in an office that overlooked the city of New York City and the entirety of the borough of Queens.
Wilson meanwhile moved to sit down on the comfortable chairs across from them, while Wesley headed towards the small bar he had at the side of his office, pouring drinks for two.
"Now, Wilson..."
"Do you remember our arrangement, Norman?" Wilson questioned, the tap of the cane against the ground as he rested it on the side of the chair making him flinch. "Then why is it you are three months behind schedule?"
"Things are not that simple." He responded quickly, knowing he needed to run damage control. "We have..."
Wilson accepted the glass presented to him by Wesley who sat down across from him with his own glass. "Excuses do not interest me." He interjected, Wesley setting down his briefcase on the coffee table and unlocking it. "You were to provide us with super-powered mercenaries as a response to the Fantastic Four's rising popularity and success. Not to mention the Mutants that are appearing across the world. Yet I have received nothing despite investing millions in you."
"Progress is slow without proper understanding of the scientific and technological requirements to make super-powered individuals," Norman explained. "The Fantastic Four have not revealed how they received their powers and we know little about how Mutants have come to be. But we do not have the means to locate Mutants either. Without these things, the only way to create superpowered beings is from what we know of the Invaders and our initiative."
There was a pause.
Then Wilson indicated with his hand, Wesley rising up and handing Norman a file that he took hesitantly, looking to Wilson questioningly. Nothing was said and so, Norman leaned back and opened the file, reading through it quickly.
His eyes widened in surprise, looking at the two men across from him dubiously, before reading through it in-depth once more. "How did you manage this?" He wondered, placing the file down on the table as he considered what the contents could offer him in terms of scientific advancement.
"How is unimportant," Wilson replied, rising to his feet. "But now you have the means to create the superpower mercenaries. If I do not see results by the end of the month, our arrangement will need to change. Perhaps your son could be better served as head of Oscorp."
Norman said nothing, falling quiet as Wilson and Wesley left.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Norman reached for his phone, calling his secretary outside. "Please contact Otto and tell him to come to my office immediately." Placing the phone back down, Norman placed the file to one side before pulling out a phone from his suit pocket. "Joseph, did you manage to acquire any suitable individuals for the prototypes we have prepared?"
There was a pause of silence, Norman listening to the person on the other end of the line speak, a smile slowly growing on his face. Not long after, the door opened and in stepped a small, hunched figure of a man with large glasses that looked around nervously.
"Very good," Norman responded. "I will send some men to collect them soon, the money will be prepared in full." Placing the phone down, Norman then handed the man across from him the file. "Have you seen the news upon the Avenging Angel, Otto?"
The man opened the file, nodding his head silently. "How did you get this?"
"An anonymous donation," Norman said vaguely. "Is there a way to replicate his abilities?"
"I believe there is," Otto stated, closing the file. "I will speak with Mr Toomes and see if we can engineer a flight suit with similar abilities. But we will need to provide a large, secure room for us to study the way his body moves in flight in order to streamline the production of a suit."
"Use the third laboratory, we have tested the strength suits ability down there and is both large and secure enough to let the Avenging Angel spread his wings," Norman explained. "I will expect you to work upon this closely Otto, as you have done with our other projects. Find out what you can about how his abilities came to be and see if there is room for replication."