Summary:Spider-Man and Spider-Girl are at the mercy of the Black Cat…until her bad luck turns on her. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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This was going to be PERFECT.
She was going to pick up a BEAUTIFUL necklace from some (pun not intended) fat-cat Wall Street Legend who had decided to flaunt his wealth by buying up jewelry for his current trophy wife. Since he owned the jewelry AND her, he kept them both in the same place.
However, one of the pieces had belonged to a Pakistani queen, and the sale had been…questionable. He had flatly refused to return the item to the Pakistani government. So…the Paks had chosen questionable means to get it back.
And Felicia Hardy, the Grandmistress of the Art of the Steal, was turning it over in her hands at this moment. The wife was sleeping off a five-wine dinner, and the husband wasn't home. It was definitely too pretty for such a coarse man.
She padded back to the window, slipped out through the cut circle, and moved along the ledge to the small box that held the jammer for the security system. She could leave it here, and no one would know until the morning.
But where was the fun in that? She checked her phone. He should be moving into the area any time now. Three…two…one…BINGO.
With a click, she shut the box off and pulled it from the wall.
Yes, he was doing this patrol route tonight.
After Aunt May had doted on Mayday May for the whole day, getting her clothes and makeup accessories, Peter had said he was going to show a few thing to Mayday. Aunt May had nodded, then toddled off to bed.
Five minutes later, they were both suited up and webslinging. Spider-Man was giving her the ten-cent tour of Midtown, asking her to point out any differences in the skyline, working through Mayday's cover story, checking it for possible failings or leaks.
He was about to ask what she knew about 9/11 when an alert sounded off. "We got a live one, Spider-Girl! Grand Theft, about four blocks south of us!"
Webswinging /never/ gets old. And using it in a new place for the first time is always great. Or even not so new ones. Fortunately, pretty much all of May's knowledge still applies, minus a few small difference. …Well, not so small in the case of the Fantastic Five, but…
Either way, The call coming in on the scanner is definitely excitement worthy. She hadn't really gotten to stretch her webs since showing up, and fighting crime with her not-dad? Pretty good way to start things off. "Gotcha!" She lets go of her latest swing, flipping over to adjust direction mid-air, and heads towards the address Spider-Man called out.
She looked through the night-vision binoculars. waiting patiently. She had to have everything working just so.
Then she spotted Spider-Man and smiled. They had been playing cat-and-spider for a week now, and…
The smile faded. Another Spider-Man? No…no, this had to be one of his female followers. Someone who is about to get a lesson in who the alpha female was. She had a few contingencies planned in case one of them had showed up.
She waited until Spider-Man had spotted her…she could tell…then blew him a kiss and jumped off, firing her grapple gun and swinging away.
Catch Me if you Can, Spiders…
Spidey blinked. He had seen who it was, and hoo BOY this was going to be trouble. He had been playing tag with her for nine days. He had always been "It" and she had never even let him get close.
"The Black Cat! Professional thief! Is there one where you came from?" he said to her as he swung around to follow the fleeing feline. She already had a good head start, and it was going to be the devil's own job to catch up with her.
"Was! Retired! Funnily enough, I know her daughter…" Release, Thwip, Swing… "And she kept asking to be my sidekick! Even bought a costume!" Spider-Girl sprays her next web farther than usual forward, propelling herself forward with a strong yank to try to gain a little ground. This swing takes her further down, the teen actually skipping along the ground for a couple strides before coming up again. "Juicy gossip… later!"
Felicia giggles. She was having the time of her life. So many things were going to come together. She had literally been saving herself for this.
She saw the wide 30-story business building's roof appear in front of her, and hit the concrete roof/helicopter pad and rolls forward to spring up on her feet, headed for the batch of antennae set up for cell towers and other stuff.
She reached the edge…and stopped short. She looked down, then looked behind her, doing her best to keep the sly smile out of her face. it was not easy.
Spider-Man groaned. This was going to be a thing…a LOT of times.
He pointed as they came around one building to see her on another. "She's stopped…probably to gloat. Be careful!"
Spider-Man landed on the edge of the building, landing much more lightly than the Cat had. He took a few steps forward. "So…we meet AGAIN…"
Well, SOMEONE had to say it.
"Does fit her MO, from what you told me." Spider-Girl's own landing is a little flashier, the teen backflipping off her last swing to drop into a crouch, keeping a little behind and to Spidey's right. She'll leave the banter to him, for now. Gives her some more time to think of quips herself… She also sneakily toggles her left webshooter to Impact web.
The Black Cat pouted. "SOMEONE was supposed to have put a wingsuit here for me. It looks like I am going to have to chastise someone for that." She suddenly smiles. "Hello again, Spider. So nice to see you again." She looks to Spider-Girl. "And who is this? Is she your sidekick?"
She moved one careful step backwards.
Spidey sighed. "We talked about this, Cat. I told you I was going to have to bring you in for grand theft if you kept this up." He glances to Spider-Girl, then says, "She's new to the city. Showing her the town." Because the less she knows about May's familiarity with New York, the better. "Spider-Girl, watch her CAREFULLY."
"It's pretty nice. And honestly, I'm feline pretty good about our chances of dealing with you tonight." Spider-Girl is pretty clearly grinning behind her mask. She lifts her hands a bit into a ready stance, legs tensing.
The Cat smiles wryly. "Leave the jokes to your mentor, little girl." She turns her back on them, getting ready to take a flying leap.
Spider-Man raises both wrists. He was going to make sure he got her with the webbing. "Say 'cheese!'" he said quietly, and fired with both barrels.
And things go wrong.
Both webshooters fire and malfunction at the same time, snarling around Spider-Man almost explosively. He is aught off-guard, and tries to move around, but only succeeds in getting himself caught up in his own web.
Spider-Man's eyes go wide. He didn't see this coming. Didn't think it COULD happen. "Spider-Girl, STOP HER!" he called out.
"On it!" Spider-Girl leaps forward, double tapping the trigger to fire the impact pellet… Which detonates about six inches out of the nozzle. Most of Spider-Girl's arm is instantly covered, which then proceeds to stick to her side and the ground as the sudden shift in her weight makes her decidedly not stick the landing. "What the…!?"
The Cat stops, then turns around. She is all smiles again. "Aw, that must be the worst kind of luck. I guess that's what happens when a Black Cat crosses your path."
She saunters towards Spider-Man, tsking and still smiling. "You know, your talents are wasted on all this do-gooding you do. You are a laughingstock, feared, demonized in the press. Why do you bother? You and me, on the other hand…we could do great things together."
She is now standing in front of the pinned Spider-Man, smiling broadly. "Now, then…the man behind the mask."
She reached out, grasped the mask, and slowly pulled it off…
Spider-Man tried to break free, but the webs were too intense. If he had more time, maybe.
And then he was out of time as the mask is pulled off.
He looks at her, trying to manage the disarming smile that had gotten him out of many a lecture.
"Uhhh…hi, there."
Spider-Girl thrashes harder, gritting her teeth behind her mask. She just can't get the angle to hit Black Cat due to the botched landing with her remaining shooter, and her first one's pretty much unusable until they get the webbing off… …She knows who the Cat is. She's pretty sure that Felicia wouldn't use this information for evil, but…
The world stopped. Felicia's heart seemed to freeze in her chest.
In her mind, she had imagined a man like Captain America—blonde or black-haired, heroic visage, steel-blue eyes. A face that went with the lean and powerful physique. A grown man who could keep up with her, who could give her the love she truly deserved, for she deserved the best.
This was not a man. This was a CHILD. A wet-behind-the-ears, boyish-faced…TEENAGER.
She had come to desire a TEENAGE BOY?
She dropped the mask. Her hand went to her mouth as the enormity of it rolled over her like a wave. And then the revulsion hit. Her eyes grew watery, and the hand CLAMPED over his pink-lipped mouth. She made a noise like "…HURGLK…"
And then, in full view of Spider-Girl, the $800-meal from Felipe's restaurant, Wagyu beef and all the trimmings, bolted out of the emergency exit and into Spider-Man's lap…
Peter's smile seemed to freeze at her reaction. And then he saw the green go into her face, and he prayed, *God, not the face, don't let her puke in my face…*
And then his prayers were answered…sort of. It was a good thing he wasn't a sympathy puker, the stuff that came out of her was NOXIOUS.
Spider-Girl freezes for a moment as the Cat loses her Fancy Feast all in Spidey's lap. But then the giggles start, which descend into outright laughter. "What- What's the matter, Kitty? Cat got your tongue?" And that only makes the laughing worse. May doesn't even /care/ that she's glued to a rooftop, this is priceless.
The Black Cat staggered back, actually staggered back, her graceful hipsway a pained stumble away from the both of them. She looked at Peter again, then dry-heaved near the tower. She barely had enough time to make sure she had not forgotten anything before she LEAPED from the building, as if needing to get away from them. From HIM.
A hiss of pneumatic air proved that she hadn't just jumped to her death, but…
Well…a beautiful thief took one look at him without the mask and puked on him, then ran as though he solved problems with a shotgun and she was next.
He spotted the mask, then snagged it with one foot and tossed it up to his head, with just enough leverage for his left hand to pull it down, but not much more.
He looked down again at his lap, tilting his head. "Is…that beef?"
"I think… She thought you were older." Spider-Girl gasps a bit, slowly regaining her composure. "I can't tell from here, and I'm not sure I want to know. But if it makes you feel any better… She was married to Flash Thompson in my universe for a while and had two kids before a messy divorce. He was my basketball coach."
Spider-Man sighed heavily. "The woman who is violently ill seeing my face married my worst enemy. THANK YOU, Spider-Girl. I had a few shreds of self-esteem left and that just cleared them all away…."
Well, this was a rotten night.