Twilight followed Stinger's car to an abandoned warehouse on the edge of Greenwich, being sure to stay out of sight of his rearview mirror, primarily by using the rooftops and making sure she never swung far enough back that he could see her.
Once he got back in his car, holding a large metal briefcase she assumed was full of his poisoned bullets, he immediately drove off to where she assumed his new hiding spot would be. As she tailed him she noticed that he seemed to be making some extra turns and unnecessary turnarounds, probably in case a detective or someone was tailing him. "Too bad he's not bothering to look up," she muttered. "For him, anyway."
Eventually he pulled up to an abandoned toy factory on the Upper East Side; clearly abandoned as evidenced by the many broken and boarded up windows, the piles of garbage everywhere, and the absolute lack of human life in the vicinity. Perfect place for a lowlife to stash some damning evidence she mused, using her webs to zip from lamp post to lamp post.
From her perch she saw Stinger push a dumpster aside to get to the door and slip inside. Deciding not to follow the exact same steps as the gun-carrying villain, she instead looked around the outside for an opening. Not seeing any on the walls, she web-zipped up onto the roof and checked the skylights, finding one that had a missing panel that she could squeeze through.
Once she was inside she saw multiple large machines, several conveyor belts, and boxes and bins filled with old abandoned toys ranging from baby dolls to stuffed animals to toy trucks. All of them had clearly seen better days, cobwebs everywhere and mold covering most of the toy parts.
Hearing footsteps she quickly hid behind one of the support columns, peeking out from behind it to keep her eyes on her target. While she kept her eyes on him she reached up to a spot on the neck of her costume and activated the voice modulator. She then reached into her pocket and turned on the voice recorder. This one's for you, Shining.
As he carefully slid the briefcase full of his poison and bullets underneath one of the machines, Stinger said "Alright. Now I just need to wait a few weeks and lay low, wait for the cops to run out of leads. After that, I'll-"
"-be rotting in a jail cell for the rest of your miserable excuse of a life."
Immediately he whirled around, his gun drawn and ready to shoot whoever had spoken.
Only to find that there was no one there. "What the- Who the hell's there!? Show yourself!"
"No thanks. I don't feel like getting shot."
Stinger growled, looking in multiple directions to try and find the speaker. "Whoever you are, you clearly don't know who you're messing with."
"Stinger Scorpio. The Manehattan Police Department's got a pretty big folder on you, and I read through it when I tapped into their network. I know you're a high school dropout, you've been arrested multiple times, but the charges have only stuck once for the homicide that Lieutenant Shining Armor arrested you on." There was a low growl as the speaker added "The same cop that you murdered just two weeks ago. With those poisoned bullets you slipped under that machine."
He caught something by the bottom of one of the pillars, a flash of purple and blue, and he took aim and fired off three rounds. Instead of the sound of bullets piercing flesh, all he heard was the bullets striking concrete or steel. "Is that what this is about? Are you coming after me because I killed some goody-two-shoes cop?"
"Not just him. There's three other people you murdered who deserve justice. Smooth Jazz, age 25, owned a club over in Harlem. Asked the police for help when the Storm King's men started forcing him to pay 'protection fees.' Found dead three weeks later, 2 poisoned bullets to his chest."
"Probably did the city a favor. The food at his club sucked."
"Then there was Cherry Cola, age 34, owned a bodega in Queens. Refused to pay the racket, and when one of Storm King's cronies tried to "persuade her,' she took the guy's eye out with a plastic spoon. Two weeks later she was shot on a rainy night, one poisoned bullet to the chest. Died on the way to the hospital. Then to add insult to injury, someone torched the place afterwards."
He smirked. "What can I say? Torch didn't take kindly to losing his eye."
There was another flash of purple and blue by another pillar, this one a lot closer. He fired, but again all he heard was the bullets hitting steel or concrete. "Before the Lieutenant, there was one other. Hot Scoop, 27 years old, an investigative journalist who was investigating the Storm King. Called his editor and said he found the scoop of a lifetime. Barely a week later he was found dead in his apartment, same M.O. as the other two. Only difference he had was that you put five poisoned bullets into his torso."
Stinger couldn't help but laugh at that. "Get your facts straight, lady. I only put three into that loser. The other two went into the far wall of his apartment." He looked around, not noticing anymore purple and blue, and growled "Where the hell are you hiding?!"
Unbeknownst to him, Twilight had actually began lowering herself down from the ceiling, a web line firmly stuck to the roof while she slowly released it through her web shooter. Once she was down to about where she could look Stinger in the eyes, she replied "Right behind you."
Stinger whirled around, but before he could fire his gun at her Twilight was already on the offensive. She immediately dropped down to the floor, before lunging forward and kicking the gun out of Stinger's hand, sending it skidding across the floor. Once he got over the shock he tried to lash out at her with a punch, but she quickly caught his fist, followed by grabbing his shirt and throwing him across the room. He landed on his back on a pile of discarded stuffed animals which cushioned the blow, but not by much if the groan of pain was any indication.
He quickly got back on his feet, pulling a knife out of his coat and charging at her, but Twilight simply side-stepped his stabbing attempt and nailed Scorpion in the stomach with a punch. She made sure to hold back the majority of her strength so that she didn't kill him, but still put enough force into it to hurt. She quickly followed up with a punch to the chest, and then a kick to the that slammed him into the side of a machine.
He wheezed a little before getting back to his feet. "Wh-who the hell are you," he wheezed out.
"I'm the monster you and the Storm King created," she replied, cracking her knuckles as she advanced towards him. He threw a sloppy punch at her with his left hand, but she simply caught it.
And with an application of what she estimated to be 5% of her true strength, she crushed his hand like a vice grip, a resounding crack! echoing throughout the room before she let it go.
It took a few seconds for him to register it, and when he did he let out a very high-pitched, very unmanly sounding scream. "GAH! YOU BI-!"
She cut him off with a kick jab to his rib-cage, earning another, slightly quieter crack! as a rib broke and he stumbled backwards. "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!"
Coughing, Stinger coughed and spat up a bit of blood. He looked at the mess on his hand...
...and just so happened to notice that his pistol was lying within arm's reach. He quickly snatched it, aiming it at her one-handed. "You fucked with the wrong hitman, bitch!"
He pulled the trigger and fired off a bullet at her, but to his shock she simply twisted out of the way like Neo in The Matrix movies. "You missed," she said as she started walking towards him; slowly, like a lion stalking its prey.
He growled, equal parts frustration and pain, and yelled "JUST DIE!"
He fired every bullet in the clip, screaming at her to "DIE!" with each pull of the trigger.
But it was all for nothing, because she either twisted or sidestepped each and every bullet he fired. As if to really cap off how pathetic he was, the last bullet was aimed at her head from near point-blank range.
All she did was tilt her head and the bullet whizzed right by her.
So shocked he was at this that he didn't have time to react when she grabbed the gun in his hand and tore it from his grasp, before crushing it in her hand like it was made of candy. She threw it to the side, before picking him up by the front of his jacket, hoisting him up in the air with her super strength. He tried to struggle with his good hand, but her grip was like iron and she didn't seem to register his good hand pounding on her arms. "L-let go of me, you bitch! Don't you know who I work for?"
"Oh, I know exactly who you work for, scumbag. He's next."
At that statement, Stinger burst out laughing. "A-are you serious? The Storm King's organization stretches from the sewers all the way to the top floors of the Mayor's office. He's got eyes and ears everywhere, and plenty of scumbags like me who will pop off anyone who dares try and stand against him. Taking me outta the picture's just gonna annoy him. He ain't scared of the cops, the Mayor, the DA, hell he ain't even scared of the President of the U.S! And you? Honey, you ain't even a blip on his radar. You're just a stupid c-"
Before he could finish that word Twilight slugged him in the jaw, knocking out quite a few teeth. She then brought him very close to her face. "I'm not on his radar, huh? Why don't we fix that?"
"How you gonna do that? Kill me?"
"Oh nonono. You don't get off that easy. You've got a lot to pay for, and I'm here to collect. One punch-" she paused, balling up her fist and pulling it back. -for every person you killed over the course of your pathetic life!
The factory was soon filled with the sounds of gloved fists striking flesh, the snapping of bones, and the cries and screams of a man being broken in more ways than one.
"Don't worry, sweetie," Storm Sentry said into her phone. "I'm being extra careful."
"I know, mom," her son replied. "It's just, after what happened to Lieutenant Shining... I just don't want to lose another parent. And neither does First Base."
She sighed, knowing what he was talking about. "I miss him too, Flash. But don't worry. Momma's not dying anytime soon." Her phone beeped, indicating she had another call. "I'll try and call you back, sweetie. I got another call."
"Be safe out there."
"Always."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
Once she ended that call, she picked up the other one, noticing it said RESTRICTED NUMBER. "Lieutenant Storm Sentry. Who is this?"
"I have Stinger Scorpio's location."
That sentence made her eyes widen. "What? How do you know that? Who are you?!"
"That's not important. What is important is that he's currently in an abandoned toy factory on the Upper East Side. There's a sign out front that reads Big Top Toys and has a large clown on it. He's in the main assembly area."
While she was hesitant to trust this stranger on the phone, they've gotten pretty good tips from anonymous people before. It was a pain since it meant more paperwork, but if it meant bringing in Stinger... "Alright. Where in the Main Assembly Area?"
There was a chuckle on the other end. "Trust me. You won't miss him. Also, there's a metal briefcase on one of the conveyor belts. Inside of it is all the evidence you need to put this bastard away for life. And then some.
She finished writing down what she was being told. "Okay. But if this is some sort of prank-"
"Trust me, Lieutenant. It's not. Good luck. Oh, and you may want to bring an ambulance for Stinger."
"Wait, wha-"
Before she could finish her question the line went dead, causing her to curse under her breath.
"Something wrong, Stormy?"
The question came from another cop. She replied "No. In fact, it might actually be something good for us.
'At least I hope it is."
Once she ended the call, Twilight looked up at Stinger.
She had kept her strength dialed back still, but had also put a slight bit more force into her punches. Once she was done beating him to a bloody pulp, she then used her webs to basically cocoon his body from the neck down, before plastering him against a wall. She didn't think he'd be running away anytime soon. Especially since...
"Right arm broken in five places. Both of your legs are broken in seven places each. You've got four broken ribs, and I made sure to crush your hands to the point you'll never be able to hold a pencil again without help, let alone a gun. I'm no doctor, but I'd say it's going to be a long time before you can ever move and/or walk again. Oh, wait! I forgot I also broke your jaw in so many places you'll be eating through a straw for months. All of that, and that's not even taking into account the massive amounts of psychological damage I've done to you too, and that's going to haunt you for SO much longer. As well as the not at all subtle reminder that I could've done so. Much. Worse."[1]
He didn't respond, just looking at her with a look that bordered between terror and unbridled rage. She honestly couldn't tell if he hated her or feared her. Or both. Probably both.
"And now," she said while picking up a can of spray paint she found in the factory's supply closet, one that was still good to use "for one last thing."
Approaching an empty patch of the wall, she reached into her one pocket and pulled out a folded up stencil that she promptly unfolded.
"My signature."
An hour later, the police arrived.
And Storm Sentry and the cops that had entered the building with her couldn't believe their eyes.
Seeing Stinger Scorpio beaten to a bloody pulp and held against a wall by what looked like webs was surprising enough (and incredibly cathartic to them) but the briefcase they found was opened to reveal a stash of bullets laced with poison. "Hot damn, your tipper wasn't joking," one of the other cops said. "The thing does have enough evidence to lock him up for life."
Noticing something in the corner, she picked it up to reveal a plain black flashdrive with a piece of tap around it. The tiny writing on the tape read: Stinger's confession. DO NOT LOSE! Pocketing it, she said "See if you can find anything else on our mysterious 'friend.'"
"I found something," one of the cops said, pointing at the far wall.
Sprayed upon the wall in purple paint, only a few feet away from where Stinger was plastered, was a picture of a spider.
No, not a picture she mused.
A symbol.
She watched from a good distance away as police exited the factory, Stinger being wheeled out on a gurney into an ambulance. Storm Sentry herself personally walked the briefcase to her car, driving off after telling the guys in the ambulance to make sure he went straight to the prison hospital in Ryker's Island. "If anyone deserves to rot in that place, it's him," she muttered.
She swung off, intent on going home for the night. It wasn't too late, though the moon had started to rise. She'd be able to grab her backpack from behind the dumpster behind the apartment building, change, head up the elevator, and just tell Cadance she was at the library before getting a shower and heading to bed.
She stopped that line of thought when she heard a woman screaming.
Without even thinking she swung back around towards the alley it came from, sticking to the wall and assessing the situation.
To her surprise, it was that cross-eyed woman from the train ride, along with her daughter. The girl in question was being held by two large brutish men, while a third brute that she guessed was their leader had the woman pinned down with an absolutely lecherous grin on his face. "Don't worry, luv. You'll be free to go as soon as I've had a little...fun. But if you don't stop struggling, I'll let Bosco back there have some fun of his own with your little-"
That was enough to set off Twilight's hero complex, and with a Thwip! she swung into action. Literally, as she swung down low and planted both of her feet into the leader's face, sending him flying into the side of a dumpster. Once she landed on the ground she fired off two web lines, each nailing one of the thugs holding the little girl. Surprised at this they released their hold on her, and that was when Twilight took her chance and yanked both of them towards her.
Or rather, towards her fists. Which she planted in their faces, knocking the bastards out cold.
Her Spider-Sense went off, and she immediately turned and sidestepped the Leader, who had pulled out a switchblade and attempted to stab her. She grabbed a hold of his wrist before striking with her palm, snapping his elbow and eliciting a scream of pain. She then grabbed and threw him against the wall, unleashing a salvo of web shots that stuck him to the wall. She did the same thing with Bosco and the other guy, sticking them to the floor.
"MOMMY!"
She turned to see the little girl helping her mother up to her feet, rapidly asking if she was okay. The woman ruffled her hair and replied that she was.
Then both of them looked at Twilight. "Are the two of you okay," she asked.
The woman nodded, shaking a little but otherwise staying strong. "Y-yes. Thank you. For saving us."
"It was nothing. I just really don't like rapists."
"I don't think anyone does," she replied, getting a small chuckle from the two of them.
The little girl walked up to Twilight and asked "Are you a superhero?"
She was caught a bit off guard by the suddenness of the question, but she answered "I...Yes. Yes I am."
"Cool! My mommy and I just got saved by a real-life superhero! This is so cool!"
"Dinky," her mother said, getting her attention. "I'm sure she has places she needs to be right now."
"Oh. Okay." Looking at Twilight she said "Thank you for saving my mommy."
Twilight smiled behind her mask, before reaching down and ruffling Dinky's hair. "Hey, that's what heroes do." Looking back at the woman, she said "You two be careful heading home, miss..."
"Derpy. Derpy Hooves," she replied, shaking Twilight's hand. "And I know I already said this, but thank you so much for saving us, Miss..."
Realizing Derpy was waiting for her name, she said the first name that came into her head. "Spider-Girl."