Killgrave tilted his head. "Stop!"
I froze.
Or at least I looked like I did.
Body still. Shoulders locked. Head angled slightly down.
His grin stretched. "That is better. See? You aren't so different. You just need the right tone."
[System]: Mmm~ he thinks he owns you. This is going to be so good.
Jessica thrashed behind me. The webbing flexed. She growled, frustrated.
Killgrave paced closer. Socks sliding on the hardwood. His hand held another vial now.
"You are stronger than I thought. Crashing through my window. Webs, flips, the whole acrobat package. Must be quite the show."
He leaned close. Sniffed.
"Smells synthetic. Not cologne. Something else. Polymer? No. Resin? Hm. Could be suit tech. Could be just weird teenage sweat."
I stayed still.
He circled. "You hear me? You are listening. That means you aren't immune. Good. I was starting to think all this work would end with another bloody nose."
He raised the vial. "This? Calms her down. Evens out the highs. I don't like her when she yells. I like her quiet. Gentle. Willing."
[System]: Mmm~ I am compiling forty-seven ways to turn his spine into modern art.
He turned his back on me.
I moved.
Two steps. Arm extended.
Fist hit the back of his head. He buckled. Dropped the vial. It shattered on the floor.
He tried to crawl.
I kicked him in the ribs. His body rolled. Hit the table leg, coughing.
"You!" he spat, voice cracking. "I told you to stop!"
"Did you?"
He blinked.
I reached down. Grabbed his collar. Lifted him with one hand. His feet dangled.
"You really think your voice works on everyone?"
His face twisted. Confused and panicked.
[System]: Mmm~ sugar, he is about to piss himself. Look at that vein on his neck twitch.
"You are lying."
"Try again."
His voice dropped lower. He licked his lips. "Kneel."
I cocked my head.
Nothing.
He screamed. "SIT!"
I threw him across the room.
He hit the bookshelf. Crashed through the shelves. Landed in a pile of paperbacks. He reached for something again.
I webbed his wrist to the floor. He yanked. Could not move.
"You know who I am!" he shouted.
I walked over. Stepped on his wrist.
"Yeah. That is why I am here."
He opened his mouth to yell again.
I kicked it shut.
Teeth clicked hard. Blood smeared across his lip. He groaned. Tried to spit something out. I shoved my foot against his throat.
Jessica groaned behind me. The webbing pulsed with her strength. Almost free.
"Hang on," I said, without turning.
Killgrave wheezed under me.
I crouched. Grabbed his jaw. Turned his face toward the wall.
I sighed. "This wouldn't cause any karmic punishment, right?" I asked System.
[System]: Baby, he is a rapist, torturer, murderer. He is karmically so dark, killing him by torturing him would give you positive karma.
I nodded. Spider Totems or Web of Life or whatever cosmic spider-watchdog nonsense probably would not care, but just in case, I usually avoided murder. Not tonight.
I webbed him again. First the ankles. Then legs. Arms. Chest. One wrap at a time until he looked like a twitching white sausage. His mouth still moved. He screamed something. I slapped another patch of web over it. His eyes bulged. I yanked the cocoon up. Hung him from the ceiling beam. He dangled, twitching.
I grabbed another syringe from the black bag. Same one he tried to use on Jessica. Unlabeled vial. Viscous. Slightly yellow. Probably some knockoff version of a sedative cocktail that dulled willpower while heightening suggestibility. Made you compliant without knocking you out. Syringe beside it. I filled it, tapped the side, held it up.
"Now taste your own medicine."
I walked back to him, crouched near his head. Dug the needle into his neck. Pushed the plunger down. He jerke, muffled scream spilling behind the web. Then he stilled.
[System]: Mmm~ look at him mellow out like a used condom in sunlight. That is submission, sugar. Not the fun kind. The earned kind.
Jessica tore the web like it was wet tissue. Freed her arms. Her hair clung to her neck. Eyes locked on Killgrave, then flicked to me, then back to him.
She didn't charge.
I pulled the couch sideways with one hand, dragged it across the wood. Positioned it just across from the webbed freak swinging like an ugly chandelier. Sat down, just to watch the scene. I pointed at the wall. Golf clubs leaned there.
"Go ahead," I said. "Make it hurt."
Jessica stepped over broken glass. Her knees bent like the stiffness was leaving her body piece by piece. She grabbed one. Swung it lightly, testing weight. Killgrave made a sound behind the web. Not words. More like breath trying to beg.
Jessica's face twitched.
"You don't get to sound human," she muttered.
The first swing cracked against his ribs. Muffled thump. The web cocoon shuddered. His breath wheezed out like air from a dying balloon.
Second swing hit higher. Right in next generation. He jerked, body flexing like he wanted to puke out fear. Jessica stepped back. Oh no, no. She wasn't done yet. For better leverage.
Third swing? That hit his jaw.
Teeth hit the floor. Blood ran down the threads.
She took a breath. Then again. Then again.
[System]: Mmm~ justice golf. Eighteen holes of vengeance. She is swinging like this game comes with orgasms.
Jessica stopped after twenty hits. Maybe twenty one. I was not counting. Her hands were shaking. She let go of the club. It clanged to the floor. Killgrave still moved.
Jessica grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter. Her grip was tight but shaky. It was the grip of someone who was seconds away from making a mess she would never forget.
I caught her wrist. Firm enough to stop the downward motion. "Don't," I said. "He doesn't deserve to dirty your hands."
She looked at me.
That look... it was hard to describe, impossible to fake. Raw. Pure cry of anger carved into her face. It was not just hate. It was every piece of pain that ever touched her, all stacked and shaking inside her bones. The kind of stare that carried more weight than words could ever carry. Fear of what could happen. Grief for what already did. Anger, shame, guilt, and something darker at the bottom. That blend of helplessness and fury people get when their soul snaps but still wants to fight.
"He doesn't deserve to live." Her voice cracked. It was packed with same emotions.
I nodded. "He will not. I promise. But if you kill him now, your already cracked psyche will not hold. Let me do it."
Jessica looked down at the knife. Her grip loosened. She let it clatter onto the ground and stepped back. I turned toward Killgrave. He was breathing through the webbing. Shallow, erratic. His pupils were blown. The sedative cocktail was working, but not enough to block pain. Just enough to keep him soft. Useless. Paralyzed without peace.
I bent down. Gripped his throat.
"Feel that? It is yours. Your creation. You wanted to own her. Control her. Break her. All so you could stroke your own ego and fuck someone into silence."
He tried to flinch. The web held. His fingers twitched.
"You aren't worth another grave. But you are worth a legacy of pain."
I turned to Jessica, "You can wait outside. I will take you to somewhere safe."
She gave one last look at the cocoon swinging like a cheap Halloween decoration, then stepped over the broken glass and out the front door. Just a nod that said she was done with him and everything inside that house.
I closed the door.
Killgrave twitched.
I walked over, grabbed him by the web-wrapped ankle, and dragged him toward the kitchen. His body bumped over the floor like luggage with a broken wheel. He moaned behind the gag, a soft, pathetic sound that barely counted as resistance.
I kicked open the cabinet under the sink. Cleaning supplies. Bleach. Ammonia. Some off-brand disinfectant wipes. I grabbed the bleach bottle, unscrewed the cap, poured it onto the webbing wrapped around his chest. The hiss that followed told me it worked.
"Your body is full of drugs and trash," I said, "but let's see if fear still makes it sweat."
He shook his head.
I poured more. Over his neck. It soaked the fabric. He jerked again.
I grabbed a butcher knife from the drawer. Slammed it into the ground beside his head. The thud echoed. He flinched like it stabbed his soul.
"Let me tell you something," I said. "You think pheromones make you a god. That your voice turns people into toys. But it doesn't make you smart. Doesn't make you untouchable. It makes you lazy."
His eyes twitched. I peeled back a small patch of web from his face. Left one eye exposed. Then slid the knife slow across the ground. Scraped it against the board.
"Do you know how many girls I found fucked up because of you? How many boys you messed with just because you could?" All the people I followed today that were delivering one drug were slaving for this bastard.
He tried to speak. I slapped the side of his head.
"I don't need your story. You don't get to cry. You aren't a victim. You aren't a villain. You aren't anything."
I moved to the fridge. Pulled it open. Milk. Some juice. Half a sandwich. A tray of leftover pasta. I grabbed the juice. Opened it. Poured it into his nose.
He choked. Violently. Muffled coughs behind the webbing.
[System]: Mmm~ nasal orange cleanse. That is a new detox method. Trending by next week.
I webbed his wrists tighter. Slapped his temple again.
"I don't kill for fun. I kill for cleanup. You are a mess, Killgrave."
I reached into the drawer. Pulled out a meat tenderizer.
"They get crushed."
First hit landed on his thigh. He screamed behind the gag. Flesh caved. Bone held. Second hit. Same leg. The sound that came next was not a scream. It was static pain. Wet and uneven.
[System]: Bone fracture. Femur's got a new joint now. Congrats, he bends better.
I moved to the other leg. Hit the knee once. He jerked so hard the webbing creaked.
"Shh," I said. "Save your energy. I am just getting started."
I grabbed a kitchen chair. Flipped it over. Snapped one leg off. Pointed it at his stomach.
"You like to invade people. Time to feel what that is like."
He shook violently. Tried to say something. I kicked him again.
[System]: Your karma bar is glowing. Either you are about to become a saint or a war crime.
I peeled more of the webbing from his face. To see his mouth twitching.
"Speak. One last time."
He coughed. "You... you are just like me."
I nodded. "If that makes you feel better."
Then I drove my knee into his jaw. Heard something snap. Blood spat from his mouth.
[System]: Mmm~ jaw dislocated. He is going to drool his ego out for days.
"You are going to hang in the basement," I said. "Until the cops find your body. Until someone leaks your location to a gang you wronged. Until you rot."
I webbed his cocoon tight. Left one air hole. Then dragged him down the stairs. Basement smelled like dust and rot. No one came here unless they had secrets.
I hung him from the ceiling beam. Dropped a few Black Widows near him, silent, twitchy little enforcers crawling across the concrete.
"Kill him if there is any chance of escape or being found. If not, let him dry and die hanging upside down like the sick parasite he is."
The spiders clicked. That was a yes.
System: Mmm~ nothing like an eight-legged firing squad. Let the venom sort him out.═══════ 🕸️ ══════════════ 🕸️ ═══════
You can read up to Chapter 85...
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