She'd over estimated how long it would take for her to get to Queens.
She had intended to arrive closer to eight, but her phone mocked her with seven twenty-three. She huffed slightly as she realized she could've stopped at her house and had dinner instead of coming here straight after work, but she knew it was too late now. She might as well get something to eat while she waited.
No one paid her any heed as she passed them by on the streets and there was no reason they should. She was pretty, but it would require people's attention to be drawn to her and she made sure they never gave her more than a passing glance. It wasn't that she disliked attention; it was that she needed the anonymity.
She pushed the door open of the first corner store that had some promise and scanned the menu. She made a quick decision as she was too hungry to care much about what she was ordering and she walked up to the counter.
"What can I get you?" The man behind the stand said with an amicable smile.
"Number three," she replied with a small smile of her own, reaching into her pockets to pull out the cash to pay for her sandwich.
"Aren't you cold?" The man asked as he rang her up, referencing how all she wore was a long sleeved shirt with her hoodie tied around her waist.
"I enjoy the feeling of frostbite."
He chuckled appreciatively and she let her eyes travel over the interior of the shop. She smiled slightly at a cat resting near the counter as the door behind her jingled open.
"You're not from around here, are you?" The man asked pleasantly as he took her sandwich from his employee, making her wonder if she gave off some sort of vibe. Or maybe it was just the accent.
"Hell's Kitchen."
She would always relish the slight change in people's expressions when she said that.
She took the offered paper bag with quick thanks before she had to skirt around the kid that was headed towards the counter so she could exit. Once she was outside, she took a deep breath of the cold air before walking down the street with no real destination in mind. She knew where she had to be when the time came and she found herself naturally gravitating towards the address that she'd written on a napkin.
A few buildings away from the place, she sat down on a bench with her eyes focusing on nothing in particular as she ate her dinner. Once she had finished, it became more apparent that it was night and the crowd of people on the sidewalk had thinned out significantly.
It was eight twelve when a car without plates pulled to a stop a little ways away from her. Three teenagers exited and headed towards the alleyway next to the address.
She stood and started walking towards where they had disappeared from her view as she untied her hoodie and pulled it on; reaching into the center pocket and pulling out gloves and a black scarf that covered the lower half of her face.
She stopped at the entrance of the alley and took a deep breath.
"Hey."
The three teenagers jumped and she took in their appearances: they matched the description.
"Chris, Jacob, and Brendon?" She said, already fairly certain but the nervous looks they sent each other confirming it "Listen, guys, I know you need money, but robbing a convenience store is a shitty way to get it. Just, walk-."
The closest one, Jacob, whipped out a shotgun and she sighed. She wasn't surprised, but she'd hoped for a different outcome.
"Alright," she relented.
She grabbed the barrel of the gun while he was still surprised and pulled it out of his hands. She then hit him in the face with the butt, which caused him to stumble backwards with blood flowing out of his nose. She dodged a blast from Chris as she threw the weapon she'd taken away and she kicked him in the kneecap, before standing and punching him in the face; kicking away his gun as well.
They weren't fighters, that much was obvious, and the most they landed on her was a punch in the side from Chris, which was swiftly returned twofold. Once she took the guns out of the equation, it was a quick and easy takedown.
The vigilante took a deep breath and flexed her hands slightly as the post-fight stillness settled in the alley.
"Holy shit, that was awesome!"
She jumped and swung around to watch as a person dropped down onto the closed dumpster and stumbled slightly.
"The way you, like, just," he mimed one of her punches and flailed slightly as it threw off his center of gravity. She felt her head tilt as she took in his bright red and blue attire and floundering movements as he ended up just sitting cross legged "You're like, freakin' Black Widow. Except, you didn't really flip around and choke them with your legs. So, maybe not the best comparison. Captain America! But, without his shield, you know? Like, when he loses it and has to fight normally. But you're smaller than him and probably not as strong, so not so good either. Um…"
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Oh, heh, right," he said, his voice cracking slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck "Um, I-I'm Spider-Man. You're, um, not going to attack me, right? Because, I'm on your side. I think."
"I'm…" She trailed off, feeling at a loss for words for one of the few times in her life "Not planning on it."
"Good! Good!" he said, hopping off of the dumpster and making her realize that he wasn't that much taller than her "W-What's your name? I mean, like, superhero name; alter-ego. Unless you want to tell me your real name, because that's cool too."
"The Black Sky," she said slowly, still feeling like she was dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone.
The goggles on his suit widened slightly, seeming to emulate whatever his real eyes were doing.
"That is so cool!" Spider-Man exclaimed, his movements very animated "How do you even, like, come up with a name like that? That is badass."
"I…" She couldn't help but just stand there and watch the way he jumped around as he continued to go on.
"Where did you learn how to do all that?" He asked, reaching an improbable height as he went from the ground to the top of the dumpster in one easy jump "Did you have training? Cause I'm new to all this and could use some-some advice. Hey, maybe we could work together!"
He jumped down and landed in front of her, which she took advantage of and placed her hands on his shoulders to stop him. He realized what she was doing and stilled, for the most part, and tilted his head at her in question.
"How old are you?" She asked, her hands returning to her sides. He was quiet for a moment too long before he stood up straight with his hands on his hips to buff out his chest.
"Eighteen."
"Alright, so, twelve," she said, making him drop his stance and shake his head vigorously.
"I'm-I'm not twelve!" He protested, which made her cock her head in disbelief "I'm… I'm fourteen."
"Okay," she said, nodding as she thought "You want advice? Go home. If the past five minutes have been any indication, you're not cut out for this."
"Hey," he said, actually sounding hurt "You're a kid too. I can tell."
"First of all, I'm fifteen, so I'm older than you," she said, not caring how immature that sounded "Second, I have years of training. Just because you can put on a bright hoodie and a mask doesn't mean you can save people."
"Hey, wait," he said as the Black Sky turned on her heel to walk away "C'mon, you don't even know what I can do!"
She didn't respond and she expected to be able to leave the alley without a hitch, but no sooner did she think that, was there a strange thwip sound that filled the air. She looked down to see a white substance attached to her hand and leading back to Spider-Man.
"Oh, um, s-sorry," he said, sounding a bit nervous at whatever she was going to do to him for doing that.
Instead of replying, she pulled on it and caused him to stagger slightly before he counteracted it. He dragged her a bit so she was closer to him, but he had to dig his heels into the ground to work against her pull.
For a moment, Black Sky let the tug-of-war continue, but she soon reached into her pocket and grabbed her pocket knife. Faster than Spider-Man could react, she cut the line and he went stumbling backwards. She leapt forward to attack, but he was faster than her and he jumped out of the way. For one second, she was very confused to where the hell he went, until her eyes caught on the red and blue figure up on the side of the building, out of her reach.
"How're you doing that?" She called up to him, her hands on her hips.
"I-I just can," he said, making her nod in understanding; she'd met people who just could before.
"And the sticky stuff?"
"Oh, th-that I made," he said, sounding slightly proud "Webs."
"Smart," she said, simply "But, you hanging around up there? Kind of makes you look like a pus-."
"Hey!" He said jumping down in front of her and immediately getting a kick in the chest, albeit a gentler one than usual. He stumbled backwards into the wall, but bounced back quickly and shot another web at her, which she dodged it this time. She jumped out of the way of another web and kicked him in the side, which made him grunt before she dodged his retaliation and went for a punch.
He caught it.
He easily caught her fist in his hand and before she could fully appreciate that, he used his other hand to punch her in the stomach and sent her flying back into the brick; harder than she could ever remember being hit. It was quiet for a brief moment before he realized what he'd done and he dropped from fighting stance.
"Oh my god, I-I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean-."
"You punch wrong."
"Wh-What?" He asked as the Black Sky straightened up and stretched with a grimace on her face.
"You punch wrong," she reiterated, holding her hand up like for a high five "Try it."
He looked at her for a moment before he gently punched her hand. It was so soft it hardly even classified as a punch, more like a tap.
"Yeah, that's not right," She said, taking his hand in hers and straightening his wrist "If you bend it, you'll hurt yourself. You have to keep straight. Try again."
He hit her again, this time a little bit harder, and she nodded.
"Yeah, that's better," she said, before taking a deep breath and nodding slightly "And, when you're in a fight, don't let them bait you. I didn't even finish my sentence and you were putting yourself out there."
"… Right," he muttered and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"But, I will admit… I may have judged you too quickly."
"R-Really?!" He said, perking right back up "Because, I swear I can do this! I-I stopped a guy stealing a lady's purse earlier and-and-."
"But, you need to chill," she interrupted, her hands up to get him to stop talking "… You're freaking me out."
"Chill. Yeah, I can be chill," he said, putting his hands on his hips and making his body language an emulation of confidence "I-I'm relaxed. I'm chill."
"You're not acting like it, but okay," she said, waving her hand slightly "As for working together, I don't really come to Queens that much. This was special: I had a tip."
"O-oh," he said, sounding disappointed and making her refuse to acknowledge that she felt a little bit bad.
"But," she continued "Who knows, maybe I'll find my way over here more."
"Yeah?" He said, the Black Sky marveling at how quick his mood could snap back.
"Sure," she said, with a shrug as she began to turn away "But, right now I need to go home. So…"
"W-Wait!" Spider-Man called, stopping her in her tracks "Where are you going? I c-can give you a lift."
"Hell's Kitchen," she replied, her eyebrows drawing together "But, you're fourteen. How can you give me a-?"
Instead of screaming, as most probably would, her mouth clamped shut as Spider-Man grabbed her with one arm and lifted them up into the air with his web with other. Her body tensed around him as they swung through the city and her eyes were sealed shut due to the height and the wind that was whipping at her face.
After a few minutes, she forced her eyes open and watched as the lights of New York City rushed by her. She subconsciously tightened her arms around Spider-Man as she realized just how high up they were.
What would've taken her about an hour on public transportation took less than twenty minutes for Spider-Man, who stopped on top of a building and let her go. Black Sky stumbled slightly as she regained her footing and got her thoughts in order. She then leveled her ride with a look.
"Next time, warn me."
"O-oh, right, right, sorry."
.
The door creaked open like it always did, no matter how hard she tried to be quiet. She shut and locked it behind her before walking over to the couch; stripping off the hoodie and long sleeved shirt until she was clad just in her sports bra and her workout pants.
She leaned her head against the back of the couch and shut her eyes as she reassured herself that she wasn't crazy and that what had happened had happened. She could hear the footsteps before she arrived, but she didn't look up until she spoke.
"Jesus, Noriko," Claire Temple said, looking at the bruise developing on her stomach "What happened to you?"
Noriko lifted her head and sent her guardian a confused look.
"I think I just made a friend."