MARVEL: TÁXI DRIVER SYSTEM

Julian furrowed his brow when he heard the sound from the system. "Is this it now, then?"

Emily glanced his way, still holding the backpack. "Do you always talk to yourself while driving?"

"When my life turns into a bad TV show episode, yeah, I talk to myself." Julian replied, swerving to avoid a pothole. "Now, are you going to tell me what's in that backpack, or should I just guess?"

She sighed, looking exhausted. "I told you it's complicated."

"Complicated can mean a lot of things. Complicated like 'I did something illegal'?"

"To be honest, my first guess would be... gold bars," Julian said, trying to get her to tell the truth.

Emily finally relaxed a little, leaning back in her seat. "Neither of those... it's more like... something I wasn't supposed to have, but I couldn't leave it where it was."

Julian snorted. "Ah, yeah. That's not suspicious at all."

"Do you really need to know right now?" Emily stared at him with an expression of both exhaustion and frustration.

Julian raised one hand, pretending to surrender. "Okay, okay. But if more thugs with knives or, I don't know, ninjas show up, I'll need more details."

She smiled. "I promise there are no ninjas."

"And what about the thugs...?"

...

As soon as Julian turned a corner, he noticed a black car with tinted windows tailing him closely. He furrowed his brow. "Uh, Emily... is that car behind us your friend?"

She quickly turned to look, her expression changing. "Damn it. They found us."

"'They'?" Julian said, accelerating.

"Can you drive fast?" she asked, gripping the door handle.

"I can, but my car wasn't made for chases. This is a taxi, not a Batmobile!"

The black car sped up, getting even closer. Emily opened the backpack and pulled out what looked like a small electronic device with blinking lights.

"I knew there was something techy in there!" Julian exclaimed. "What is that? An interdimensional portal?"

"It's a prototype... stolen," she admitted, not looking at him.

"..."

"My life wasn't complicated enough, I guess."

Before he could say more, the black car tried to force them off the road. Julian spun the wheel, narrowly avoiding a trash can.

"I hope this is worth it, because if I survive, I'm charging extra for the ride!"

Julian stepped on the gas, making his small car shake as he swerved around a parked truck. "Just so I get it... what exactly does this thing in your hand do?"

Emily held the device, trying to figure out how to use it. "It's Chitauri tech," she said seriously. "Remember the 2012 invasion, when New York almost turned to dust?"

"I think I was a little busy to go to the movies back then..." Julian muttered.

"What?" Emily asked, confused.

"Nothing, forget it," Julian replied, continuing to drive.

"It's not just a battery, it's an energy cell they used to power their warships. It's active, and these guys know how to turn it into weapons. Do you have any idea what something like this means in the hands of people like them?"

Before Julian could answer, the black car reappeared in the rearview mirror. A rear-end collision nearly made Julian choke.

"Turn here!" Emily pointed to a narrow street. Julian yanked the wheel hard, the taxi almost tipping over as it took the curve. The black car tried to follow but got stuck between two poles.

"Ha! Never thought having a small car would save my life," Julian said, patting the dashboard as if the car were a dog.

Emily looked back, relieved but not relaxing. "They've got more people. They always do."

Julian snorted, pushing the pedal down. "So, what's the plan? Are we just gonna drive forever until the tank's empty?"

"Stark Industries," Emily said, biting her lip.

Julian choked and then let out a dry laugh. "Stark? Seriously?"

"You want to take an alien battery to the guy who's basically a magnet for trouble?"

"He's the only one who can help," she insisted. "Or someone from his team. I was heading there before these guys found me."

Just then, lights appeared up ahead. There were cars parked, waiting for them.

"Ah... shit!"

Julian shook his head. "I don't think we're making it to Stark."

A bead of sweat trickled down Emily's forehead. "No, we can't let them get this."

"You're surrounded."

"Get out of the car and hand over the goods."

Five men, holding guns, slowly approached the car. Their expressions showed they were confident—after all, there was nothing Julian and Emily could do.

However...

Boom!

A trash can lid flew toward one of them, knocking him away.

Then, a white wire wrapped around the guns of the other four, yanking them out of their hands.

"Hey, why are you carrying these dangerous things through the streets at night?"

A figure landed in front of the taxi, and as soon as Julian looked at him carefully, he knew exactly who it was.

"This homemade suit..."

The figure wore a red hoodie, red gloves, and blue pants.

"Hey, Emily, don't worry. We're safe now," Julian said, sighing.

Ding!

[Hero Card Unlocked: Spider-Man]:

Congratulations! You unlocked a Hero Card, find a specific number of Cards to unlock a rare ability.]

[Hero Cards (HCD) found: 1/12]