Leap-Frog's Interlude

A lot of bad decisions start with "I was drunk and said something stupid." and the same went for Vincent Patilio.

Vincent liked to take his friends out to nicer restaurants and bars now that he had more money to spend since working with Adrian and the boys. Tonight's bar of choice was Clover Club, it was getting late so the boys packed around a table and ordered drinks. A night of drunken shenanigans ensued for the group, as Vince tried to impress his friends.

"Look I told you I can't talk about what I've been doing the last month or so. Top secret man."

"Oh come on, you've been acting different ever since you got your new job. You even dress different!" Vanessa joked, causing the group to laugh.

"I discovered what taste is, what can I say?"

"Please Vince?" Vanessa begged, "Give us something!"

Vince took a sip of his cocktail. "Okay fine, but only cause I'm with such great company."

"Oh shucks." Brian said sarcastically, "Just tell us!"

"Okay okay. There's this guy I know, I work with him. He's been building something absolutely incredible. I mean, again I'm not supposed to talk about it but - you guys promise to keep this between yourselves right?"

"Mhm." The group agreed.

"Good. It's a device that I shit you not can take an object like this spoon." Vincent held the spoon up to the group, "and make it so that you could put your hand through it. Like turning stuff into ghosts!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes! I'm not pulling your leg, it's real." Vincent took another drink. "You'll hear about it on the news someday."

"Well I'll be on the lookout for it, but what do you do at this company?"

"Uh." Vincent hesitated, "I manage marketing for the, for the gadget."

"Really?"

"Yeah, haha."

The night continued and after a few drinks the group decided it was late enough and to all go their separate ways. Brian approached Vincent outside.

"Hey Vince!"

"Yeah?"

"You want me to give you a ride?"

"Nah I'll be fine with a taxi. You shouldn't be driving anyways."

"Shit I'll be good man, my place isn't far from here."

"Just be safe bro."

"You too, night."

"Night!"

Vincent flagged down a taxi and hopped in the back seat. "Ten Nineteen Lexington Ave."

"Got it." The taxi driver muttered.

The taxi started to drive off and Vincent's phone rung in his pocket, it was his father calling. "Hello?"

"Hey Vince, I know it's late. Are you busy?"

"No, I'm just in a taxi on my way home."

"Ah good. Your mother and I decided we're going to take a trip to South Dakota for a week."

"Uh, why?"

"To see Mount Rushmore!"

"Oh."

"Yeah, I was calling to see if you wanted to come with us."

"Nah I'm good."

"Oh, well alright then. Is everything okay with you?"

"Yeah everything is great dad, and it's going to be even better."

"Yeah? I'm happy to hear it. Call me sometime okay?"

"I will."

"I'll let you go, have a goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too dad. Goodnight." Vincent hung up the phone, leaned back in the seat of his car and let out a long tired sigh.

----

Vincent didn't intend to fall asleep in the car, but the night drive and the quiet hum of the engine caused the tired drunk to fall asleep. When he woke up again Vince had no clue how much time had passed, only that he was suddenly jolted awake by a voice saying "We're here."

"Oh? F**k I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"It's okay."

Vince looked around and didn't recognize his surroundings at all, instead of his family's condo he found himself in a dark parking lot behind some buildings. Vince felt an overwhelming sense of dread come over him as he realized what might be happening to him.

"Uh, where are we?" Vincent asked nervously.

"Just step out of the car."

Vincent didn't move, fear had taken over him.

"Step out of the car. Don't make me ask again."

"O-okay."

Vincent stepped out of the car and immediately felt a knee drive into his chest, followed by several punches to the face and sides. The beating was overwhelming, he fell to the ground and cowered as the men kicked him.

"Okay that's enough." The driver ordered, causing the men to stop brutalizing him. "Bring em' inside."

Vincent felt a ringing in his ear, one of his eyes was bloodshot and his chest was flaring up in pain. Two men dragged him by the arms across the pavement, the movement made him feel nauseous so he closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was in an empty car wash with all of the lights off except for a single lamp. Vincent was made to sit on a metal folding chair and his hands were tied behind his back.

"What's going on?" Vincent asked, nobody responded. "Please, I didn't do anything, there has to be a mistake! I swear I swear!"

"Oh, there's no mistake." A man with a deep voice spoke out from the darkness.

The thud of heavy footsteps echoed throughout the lifeless room as a freakishly tall, muscular man dressed in a suit and tie walked towards Vincent. Once they were face to face the light of the lamp shined on the man's face giving Vincent a good look at him; the man had a long gaunt face, a stubby nose, and white hair. His skin was a gray like wall of stone, his eyes were tiny red pupils. Vincent thought to himself that he had met the Grim Reaper himself.

"Do you know who I am?" The gray man asked.

Vincent, too scared to speak, nodded no.

"You can call me Tombstone. Do you know why I brought you here today?"

"N-no."

"I got a call tonight about a drunk jackass in our bar rambling about a machine that might be useful to us. He said it makes objects passable."

"Yeah…"

"I'd like to have it, so you're gonna bring it to me."

"Uh, I don't think I can do that…"

"You don't think? The alternative to doing this for me is much worse, I promise you."

"Uh."

"Did you like how my men handled you out there?" Tombstone motioned to the parking lot. "Cause that was only a taste of what could happen if you defy me."

"Okay okay. I'll get you the device."

"Good. Take him home."

The men untied Vincent and helped him up from the chair, but before he could leave Tombstone put a hand on Vince's shoulder, bruising it with a grip.

"One more thing." Tombstone grabbed a phone and slipped it into Vincent's pocket. "So we can contact each other."

Tombstone gave Vincent a pat on the back and let him go.

----

In the present day Jamie and Vincent sat in an abandoned building close to the warehouse. Jamie was keeping an eye out for anyone wandering around looking for Vince, who looked bruised and battered after his fight with The Black Tarantula.

"Status on Spider?" Jamie spoke over the comms.

"Last thing I heard was that he was near the apartment. Hasn't contacted me yet." Phineas responded.

"Okay. Leap-Frog talked to me about the stolen tech, he gave me a hell of a story. I'll be in touch soon." Jamie said before hanging up the comms.

"Do you get why I did it?" Vincent asked. "Now that you know everything."

"You should've talked to us. We could've helped you."

"Easy to say when it didn't happen to you."

Jamie knew that Vincent was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. If put in the situation, would he do the same thing? His loyalty told him no, but his fear and self preservation said otherwise. Suddenly it wasn't so easy to blame and villainize him, even if he still wanted to smack him across the forehead. Jamie wondered to himself if Vulture and Tinkerer would be willing to let this all just be water under the bridge, but he had a feeling they wouldn't. Even if they did forgive Vincent, they certainly wouldn't give him the particle ray back. From all perspectives, Jamie knew that this wasn't going to end well for Leap-Frog.

"You need to leave New York." Jamie warned.

"What?"

"Tombstone's men will be looking for you, and Adrian isn't going to give that guy the particle ray just cause you made a deal."

"I know but, this is my home. My family's here!"

"They gotta leave too."

"What?!" Vincent started to shout.

"Shh!" Jamie put a finger over his mouth, "You think he's not gonna come after your family?"

Vincent got quiet, he considered the bloody reality of his situation. The idea of his mother and father being butchered because of his stupid mistake was unbearable to him.

"Okay, but how do I get them to leave with me?"

"You tell them what you did."

"No."

"Vincent you gotta put your pride aside, you f**ked up, big time. You gotta face the music dude."

Vincent looked down and sighed, now it was his turn to acknowledge that Jamie was right. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Good. I'll help you get out of the city."

"You're a good guy Jamie."

"Don't push it."

Their conversation was then cut off by the sound of a car engine, Jamie creeped over to the window to see what was going on. In front of Vincent's warehouse turned part time crime headquarters were two vehicles that parked in front of the door. A squad of six men dressed in dress pants and suit jackets walked over to the door and made their way inside.

"His men are here." Jamie informed Vincent.

"Shit."

"It seems like Tombstone didn't plan on attending the deal himself huh?"

"That's a relief."

"Yeah, let's get out of here while they d**k around in there looking for you."

"Okay."

Just then a bomb exploded with a loud BOOM, Vincent and Jamie fell through the floor and slammed onto the floor beneath them. They hit the ground with a hard thud and laid there stunned. The pair looked up and saw Tombstone holding a detonator in his hand with two armed thugs behind him. Tombstone gave them a toothy unsettling smile.

"I think Vincent here forgot to mention an important detail," Tombstone bragged, "I gave him a phone to use. I've known his every move since this all started."

Jamie groaned in pain, "Don't get too cocky Tombstone, this is a shitty place for you to die."

Jamie quickly got to a knee, he aimed his gauntlets, focused his energy into a blast and fired it at Tombstone and his men. All three of them were hurt by the blast, but Tombstone was able to resist most of it while his goons were knocked off their feet. Vincent got to his feet and leapt at Tombstone, driving a kick to his chest. He could feel how tough his skin was, it felt like he had kicked a brick wall. Luckily the strength of the leg bracers was enough to protect his foot and force Tombstone to stumble back.

Leap-Frog's kick put Tombstone in a good position for Jamie to run in and knock him out, but one of his thugs had picked himself up from the ground and was grabbing a gun from his waistband. Jamie had to let the opportunity pass as he used his vibro-shock gauntlet to knock the weapon out of the man's hand before he could shoot Vincent.

Leap-Frog put those taekwondo skills to good use, delivering two powerful strikes to Tombstone's head and arm. Tombstone returned the favor with a wide swing that missed due to a well timed jump out of the way from Leap-Frog. Tombstone charged full speed at Vincent the moment he jumped back, by the time Vincent's feet touched the ground Tombstone had his hand around his neck. Just the grip alone could have broken the windpipe, but Vincent was lucky.

Shocker grabbed the goon's gun from the floor and fired the entire magazine into Tombstone's back. The stone giant didn't flinch, he simply smiled at Shocker while holding Leap-Frog by one arm.

"You just ruined a good suit."

Shocker's heart sank at the disturbing realization of how powerful this opponent truly was, he was starting to wonder if Tombstone was actually a dead man walking and that's why he couldn't be killed. Leap-Frog took the distraction as an opportunity to deliver a swift kick to the jaw, freeing his neck from the giant's grasp in the process. Shocker sprinted forward and delivered a vibro-shock powered punch to the face with all of the force he could muster. The shockwave was overwhelming, it forced Tombstone onto his back and sent Shocker flying in the opposite direction.

Jamie managed to land on his feet, and saw Vincent run up to the prone Tombstone and raise his boot to stomp on him. Tombstone came to his senses at the last possible second and caught the boot before Vincent could stomp on his head, he twisted the foot at the ankle causing Vincent to scream in pain. Shocker ran to attack Tombstone but was tackled by one of the thugs, they wrestled for a bit until Shocker managed to free an arm and knock him out with a single punch.

Leap-Frog's right foot was bent in the wrong direction, Tombstone picked him up and slammed him onto the ground with enough force for him to hear something crack. In a last ditch effort to survive, Vincent pulled out his dad's 9mm pistol that he stole from the glovebox after he left for the trip. He fired rounds into Tombstone's face and upper body. Most of the shots merely bruised the giant except for one, a lucky shot that took Tombstone's left eye.

"Agh! F**k!" The gangster yelled in pain.

In an absolute rage Tombstone got on top of Vincent, knocked the gun out of his hand and savagely beat him. When Jamie saw what was left of Vince he stopped in his tracks, horror washed over him as there was nothing left of the man's head when Tombstone was done.

The sight of Leap-Frog's dead body sent Shocker into a blind rage, there was no time for him to process that someone he used to call a friend was now dead. He instead sent a flurry of punches at Tombstone, and did enough damage to send him reeling back and bleeding from the nose. In a split moment Jamie made a grave mistake; he overestimated how much damage he had done to Tombstone. Feeling confident, he neglected defense and charged at the wounded gangster to finish him off but was met with a fist to the face that felt closer to a brick being thrown at him. The room went dark, and all Jamie could hear was a low hum as he felt a sensation like he was drowning.

Jamie wouldn't stay conscious for much longer, and given everything that had happened… maybe that was a good thing.