W-well, even though at this point, I shouldn't be surprised with meeting the other street-level heroes. But it was still a… weird feeling to see one right in front of me, not on a screen, but here, right before my eyes.

And it only got weirder when it's Daredevil, physically holding me down.

"Daredevil?" The devil of Hell's Kitchen asked, releasing his hold on my body. "That's a new nickname."

…Oh, so he didn't have the Daredevil name yet. It's a bit awkward but just tried to get through it.

"Y-yeah, 'The Devil of Hell's Kitchen' is just a bit too long," I nodded, standing up with a bit of stumble. "But never thought I would meet you in person though, you're kinda a myth for the street."

"You sure are," Cat replied, giving her hand on my shoulder and helping me regain my balance. "But we need to get out of here, right now."

"Agree," Daredevil nodded, pulling out his twin sticks before he turned to us. "And I actually have something to talk with you two, but getting out comes first."

Uh… What? Wait, THE Daredevil had something to talk to me and Cat? No, that came second, the fact that he even cared enough to know about us was… Great, that meant I'm getting popular, both in a good and bad way.

Well, after those fights with Doctor Connor before, it's expected.

"Okay, we can talk later, getting out comes first," I said, pulling the edge of my gloves and sprung to my feet, Cat and Daredevil immediately followed.

Just for insurances, I used Spider-Wave to detect if there were any more guards or just goons waiting for us. And… shit, they definitely found the old set of guards Cat and I took down.

Because right now, around fifteen more guards were waiting on the seventh floor.

Stopping before the door leading right to the guards, I exchanged a look between Cat and Daredevil. Cat looked nervous, while Daredevil just nodded without clear emotion. He probably detected those guards with his super hearing.

"How many of them?" Cat asked.

"Around fifteen," I said, glancing over to Cat's utility belt. "Cat, do you still have more of those 'silent flashbang'?"

"I didn't expect to have a big fight, but I do bring one more," Taking out another flashbang, she tuned someone of the said flashbang. "Maximum flash and remote control, this should work with them."

"Wait, those flashbangs got these kinds of features?"

"Dad was kinda extra with his gadget," Shrugging, Cat pulled the pin and held the lever tightly. "Ready when you two are."

"Wait, flashbang would mess with my hearing," Daredevil said, stopping both of us.

"Don't worry, it's soundless," I reassured, glancing over to Cat with a small smirk under the mask. "We used it just a bit ago, and you didn't get any interference with your hearing, right?"

"Yeah, I didn't get any."

"Then it's fine, Mr. Devil," Cat said with a smirk, readying the flashing as I turned the doorknob. "On three, Noir. One two…"

"Three!"

Without a second thought of hesitation, I opened the door just barely enough for her to toss the flashbang. And she threw that without a second thought, as I closed back the door. As Cat pressed something on her arm, maybe detonating the flashing.

"Now!"

Following her signal, the three of us burst through the door, running as quickly as we could toward the guards. And it didn't take long for my fist to find its target.

One of the guard's torsos.

Feeling my Spider-Sense's warning, I immediately jumped with a backflip, dodging a blinded fist. Then I fired a web-line that attached to his back, pulling him down and webbed him up on the ground.

And from the corner of my eyes, I could see Felicia's legs wrapped around another goon's neck, twirling around before tossing him elsewhere. And at the same time, One of Daredevil's sticks hit another goon's jaw.

Okay, they're handling themselves well, got your mind back on the goons before you, Ethan.

Without another hesitation, my eyes scanned the other goons approaching me. And my fist immediately collided with his stomach, and then an upper hook right in his jaw.

"Noir!" Hearing Cat's calling from not so far away, I saw her use her legs and yanked a goon into the air. And I used a different goon's shoulder as a stepping stone and jumped, grabbing his collar and slammed him to the ground. Webbing him up before my feet even touched the ground.

Landing on with a smooth roll, I felt my Spider-Sense buzzed again. They recovered quicker from that flash than I thought… but not that it'd change anything.

Tightening my fist, I pulled back and dodged a knife slash from a guard, and returned the favor with a fist to his stomach. And not letting him have any time to recover, I grabbed his collar and stuck his jaw. Just as I thought, it knocked him out instantly-

BAM!

Before I could do anything with the sudden buzzing from Spider-Sense, a fist as hard as steel picked my abandonment. And sent me flying through the air before landing a foot or two away.

S-shit, I-I thought he just broke a few of my ribs… How the hell did he just punch this hard from nowhere? Dammit, got up now Ethan, NOW!

"Leave this bug to me, all of you take care of the cat and the devil," With my vision cleared up from the sudden pain blasted through my body, it was a… man who's literally 'Hulk without the green skin' slowly walked to me. "So this is the power Blue Ice gave me…"

Thank you for exposing your power's source, persudo-Hulk. But… Stood up, Ethan! It's now or never-

Feeling a tight choke around my head, the persudo-Hulk easily lifted my entire body into the air. "I'm gonna have a great time with you…" Even though I could see it, but he definitely was smirking.

Without a second thought, his fist stuck my body again and again. And pain kept exploding in my body, no way to break free with his tight grip on my head. Even after I tried punching his arm again and again.

C-c'mon! J-just break out from his grip! I did that with fucking Rhino and Lizard, he's just someone with too much steroid. I-I could do it, remember how you broke out of Lizard's tail, Ethan?

I could do it, c'mon!

…

Wait, my hands… it was the same feeling when Lizard's tail choked me… This might work.

Tightening my hand into a fist, I punched his hand as hard as I could. And just as I hoped, his grip loosened and I immediately broke out. Firing a web-line and gaining some distance between us, I took a closer look at my hands.

They were vibrating like crazy, almost like a huge amount of kinetic energy was stored in them and they had to do it to keep it in check… Wait, kinetic energy? Maybe it was the same as shockwave.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to stand up before pain suddenly shot out through my body. And my leg gave out slightly, making me kneeled with one knee.

Feeling the worried gaze cast on me from Cat and Daredevil, I shook my head and hoped they got what I meant. I could still go on, they should focus on the rest of the goons first.

Thankfully, they did.

"I guess you hurt me more than I expected…" Trailing off, I steeled myself and stood up again, as the vibration intensified in my fists. "But bring it on."

With that said, I sprung to my feet, through the pain filling my entire body, and dashed. And with each step, I could feel the vibration keep intensifying. Seeing how the persudo-hulk pulled back his fist and ran, I complied to my Spider-Sense and ducked down.

Dodging the said punch, I landed my fist to the stomach of that goon. And I could feel the around my fist blasted, as the energy was released in an instant. And sent him back a few feet away.

Okay… just as I thought, the blast of kinetic energy basically made my punch feel like a car crashed to him… but not the entire body, just that spot. Well… it's a miracle that he could still stand after that, but that's more because of those Blue Ice.

Not letting him to have a breather to recover, I sprinted and struck his body again. Then again, and again. Feeling my Spider-sense buzzed, I rolled away as his fist struck back and crashed to the ground. And I immediately webbed his fist to the ground, no way I was going to let this chance slide.

Feeling the energy built up in my leg, I dashed with an air blast behind me. And my fist collided with his chin, sending out a large shockwave and knocking him down.

Once I could see him just slumped down like a puppet with its string cut, I looked over to Cat and Daredevil's direction. Thank god they dealt with the rest of the goons.

Just the adrenaline in my body ran out, and the pain came back and hit me like a massive truck. As my knees gave out and I collapsed to a kneeled position, Cat's immediately ran over to my side and helped me stay straight.

"It's fine, I just got the wind knocked out of me-"

"No you're not, Noir," Giving me concerned eyes under the mask, she grabbed my arm and placed it over her shoulder. "I need to get you out of here, c'mon…"

With a small nod, I tried to stand up again but failed. Just as another pair of arms caught me, the one from Daredevil. "This doesn't feel like just got the wind knocked out of you."

"I know… that guy got… Let's just focus on getting out of here first, okay?"

"Yeah, shame that we can't get those guys to the cops…" Trailing off, I saw Daredevil subtly turned in the direction of those goons. And I heard a few weak groans from them.

But either way, we got out before anyone else could come and find us.

After hopping between a few buildings' rooftops and such, we entered a small apartment in one of those buildings. And if my prediction was right, it's Daredevil… or Matt Murdock's apartment. Wait, it was obvious in the first place.

Letting me down on the couch of the apartment, Felicia took out some pills from her utility belt and handed it to me. "Some painkiller, I always have them in case I need it myself," She said, and I nodded as I took the pill, lifting up the mask as well.

"Thanks," Nodding, I took the pill and ate it, and the pain did lessen for a small bit. "Seriously though, you just always have the right thing at the right time."

"I guess I'm just really lucky," Cat giggled. "Cat is known for being lucky, right?"

"Well usually it's the opposite, but you're an exception here," I smiled, shifting my body and winced at the sudden pain shot up. "Ahh shit… it still hurts…"

"Of course it is, you dummy."

"Sorry…" With a sheepish smile, I carefully shifted my body again and found a comfortable posture to lay on the couch. "I think it'd take a day or two, but… that's not the worst thing out of that trip."

"The worst thing out of that trip is that you two are now definitely on their radar," Daredevil chimed in, holding a box of first-aid equipment in his hand and handing it to Cat. "Here. You're gonna need it."

"Thanks," Taking the bandages from his hand, Felicia turned to me and gazed at my suit. "I… you know the drill, and… I can take it off from you if you need to."

"N-no, I can take it off myself," Shaking my head, I reached to the zipper on my suit and unzipped it. And powered through all the pain each movement made (the painkiller helped a bit), I took off the upper half of my suit.

The mask stayed on, by the way.

And… it looked better than I thought it would be like, maybe the enhanced healing helped. Even though the bruises and bleeding were still clear. And without a second word, Cat opened the first aid box and started working on my wounds.

"Thank god there are no cut or bullet wounds…" Murmuring to herself, she got a few bandages and covered the bleeding wounds. "But… it's still weird seeing you half-naked with that mask… kinda funny if you ask me."

"Well I can take it off if you want me to-"

"No! We're not alone here," Shaking her head, she turned to Daredevil who returned to the kitchen. "He's going see our face-"

"Actually, I'm blind," The devil in red suddenly spoke up, holding two cups of water in his hands. "So no need to worry about letting me see your face, I can't see it anyway."

"O-okay," With an awkward nod, we stared at each other for a moment before we took off our mask. Even though for her, it's just that nano-tech… half mask. She still kept the goggles on. But then I noticed the cup of water in his hand.

"Here, it's for both of you," He put down the cups of water, and sat down before us.

"Thanks," We both nodded in unison, as she finished patching me up.

Sensing how both of us were readied to talk per se, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen gave out a small sigh. "First, you two should know how dangerous Dead-Bridges is, right?"

"Yeah, they're on the top five list of 'most dangerous criminal organization in New York', after all," Cat said. "And they're also the sole supplier of Blue Ice."

"Which is bad enough," I added.

"…Seems like you did research, and knew what you're going to," Shaking his head, he stayed silent for a moment before 'looking' up to us. "Then why? You two can stay with smaller criminals and maybe some enhanced one like the Lizard a while go, but why?"

However, before I could think of anything to say, Cat opened her mouth first. "…Because the Blue Ice they're spreading is slowly grabbing New York to anarchy," She said, with resolve in her eyes. "Just look at how one guy with Blue Ice dealt with Noir, if any kind of low-life criminal can get their hand on them… you know what I mean."

"I see," Nodding to himself, he turned to me. "Noir?"

"I… I just don't want Cat to go into this mess alone," I answered honestly, there was no reason for me to lie to him. "When we first met, she was already dealing with them… And I just… barged myself to be her partner. In a good way, of course."

"…And I made a promise with her, and I don't want to betray that promise, not at all," Continuing, I tried my best to keep my attention onto the devil himself, and away from Cat. "But not only that, it's because of the test subjects they used to make Blue Ice in the first place. I want to help them… at least get a resemblance of a normal life."

For a long, long moment there, Daredevil said nothing. It was like someone judging me from top to bottom, which it kinda was, obviously. But after the said moment, he nodded. "I see… Judging from that persudo-Hulk guy you thought, things are definitely getting worse from here."

"Yeah, we're just lucky that it's only super strength this time," I nodded, still feeling the dull pain in my body. "Who knows what they'd hold next time."

"And you two aren't going to stay out of it, right? Even if I told you two to get out of it," He said, keeping his 'glance' onto me. "But I wanted to let you know, it's not something that someone as inexperienced as you can easily handle, Noir."

"I know, I don't think I'm even three months into working as a hero, and I already got myself into things like their radar," With an awkward laugh, I rubbed the back of my neck. "One hell of a career path, isn't it?"

"Now that you've put it this way… it kinda is," Cat nodded.

However, the Devil just sighed again and shook his head. "At least you two still have some positivity. But from the look of it… Noir, you're gonna need some training. Even with your super strength, it won't matter if you miss."

"But I am doing that already," Cat suddenly said. "So… I appreciate that you'd take your time and help him. But… yeah."

"It's fine Cat, I can have two people training me on fighting, after all," I reassured her, though a bit hesitant, I still rest a hand on hers. "And hey, at great it takes a bit of workload from your shoulder."

"…Fine, but now you owe me a favor," With a 'hmph', Felicia pondered before a small smirk appeared. "I'll remember it."

"I know," With that said, we just stared at each other for a moment, before a knowing smile crept onto our lips, and we chuckled. "Just save it for something big."

"Yeah-"

Before Cat could continue, Daredevil interrupted us with a loud cough. "I'm sorry for interrupting your moment there, but can we go back to serious business," Deadpanning, he turned to me, and he took out a small card and handed it to me. "Here, since you agreed to it, find me here once you're all healed up."

"O… okay, thank you," I took the card from his hand and… it's just an address, or somewhere in Hell's Kitchen. "Uh… Should I come in masked or not-"

"Doesn't matter. Just come in as soon as you're all healed up."

"…Thank you," With that said, I took a look at the clock hanging on the wall, and… shit, it's this late already?! Thank god tomorrow isn't a school day though. "But uh… it's time to go, thank you for your offer and help patching me up."

"But I don't think you're-"

"I should be fine, at least fine enough to get back," Standing up with a bit of difficulty, I grabbed the suit and put it back on. And Cat followed me as well, putting on her mask again. "I'll see you soon then, Daredevil."

Seeing a nod from him, me and Cat left through the window and went back to my place.

[The next day, Morning]

When I woke up, the concerned face from Rachel was the first thing I saw. And… she probably saw the news or just found out about my… business last night. N-not that it's important, Rachel came first.

"H-hey, you're not gonna pull a sleeping beauty on me, right?" I asked, sitting up on my bed tiredly. "Sorry, bad joke."

"…At least you still can make some," Rachel sighed before a smile crept on her face. "Then… everything's alright, right? After your… 'date' with Black Cat."

"I uh… both good and bad news," Letting my back rest upon the wall, I found a bit of difficulty on looking at her. "You want the good part, or the bad part first?"

"Bad part first, then we can think about how to deal with it."

I nodded. "Well… the Dead-Bridges implanted some tracker on you and the rest of the failures. There's only four of them left, by the way."

To say that Rachel paled at this new, was a giant understatement.

"W-what?!" She exclaimed, as the possible consequence of this revelation ran wild in her head. "T-then that mean they know where I am, and everyone… Catherine, you, a-and Betty-"

"Don't worry, you destroyed your tracker, unknowingly," I reassured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "When… when you killed that guy to get out. Your electricity seemingly destroyed it."

"I… That…" Trailing off, she took a breath of relief. "That means we're safe, right? They won't get to them, right?"

"Yeah, I hope so."

"Then… what about the other good news?"

"…Well, we also got the tracking location of the other four subjects," I said, glancing over to the USB I left on the table behind her. "There's… only four of them left."

"Tracking location…" Repeating my words, Rachel's eyes widened in realization and horror. "No wait, that means THEY know about the location too!"

…Shit, I didn't think of that! Shit shit shit, I messed up again!

"You're right, I need to get there now."

Eyes widened, I hopped off my bed and scrambled to the laptop. Opening the file in the USB, I hastily copied the location to my phone and took out my suit. "How's Catherine, by the way?"

"Still asleep, I'll tell her that you left for some morning run," Rachel answered without missing a beat, walking to the room's door. "And… just please, find them before Dead-Bridges did. And we still have the… me helping you thing that we needed to talk about."

"I know, I'll be back soon… I hope so."

"You better do," With a small nod, she left the room and left me alone.

And okay, I needed to be quick, really quick.

Changing into my suit in less than a minute, I put on the mask and emerged from my room's window to the fire escape. Then I web-zipped myself to the rooftop of the building, checking the map for which direction to go.

And… okay, if I was quick enough, it should be around an hour. Then let's not waste any more time, and… maybe that weird shockwave power I had could help as well. It's not the best time to experiment with things, but if my theory was right… then it'd make me get there quicker.

Narrowing my eyes, I broke into a sprint and built up the shockwave energy in my legs. After using it in the fight, this was a bit easier to do so. Once the energy hit its cap, and I was right next to the edge.

And I jumped, before realizing that I forgot to release the stored energy. But still, it was much higher than I usually did, similar to a charged jump. Then… about the energy I stored in my legs… Wait, maybe I could do that!

Firing a web-line and adjusting my direction to the one I intended to get there, and I released all of the energy I stored downward. Just as I thought, I leaped again in mid-air with a loud 'boom'.

O-okay, I could do that. Wow, that's really cool. U-uh… now, time to go on.

With the help of those shockwave powers, I got to the location much quicker than I intended to. And it was a half-abandoned apartment building, sitting in the middle of Upper West.

And great, the location wasn't just a 2D form like Google Map. So… it's the apartment on the third floor, got it.

I crawled to a nearby window that had a good look into the apartment and checked a spot to slip into. Which led me into an opened window, even though… it felt a bit too convenient.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Feeling the ground below me shook slightly as I stepped into the apartment, I kept my steps slow and scanned through the entire place. And the first thing that caught my eyes were… a wall of bullet holes. However, it looked like they never hit anyone, just straight to the wall…

Wait, it looked weird… maybe…

Using my Spider-wave to see how deep those bullet holes were (since it's wave-related, I might use it as a sonic radar). And… Wait, all of them had the exact same depth. The wave reverberated and replied at the exact same moment.

That's weird, really weird. Even though the fact that there's no blood here in the first place was weird enough-

Before I could even finish my thought, my Spider-Sense buzzed. It's someone from behind!

Eyes widened, I immediately rolled away and barely dodged a slash. Dammit, I shouldn't keep my attention solely on the bullet holes, but at least I dodged it-

Narrowly dodged another strike, I noticed that 'blade' wasn't some usual blade. It looked like the person's arm just merged into one giant blade! It's like something out of that Prototype game!

Wait, concentrate!

Immediately, I looked back and fired a web-line- Shit, Spider-Sense-

Before I could realize what just happened, I felt my entire body get grabbed and flung into the side-wall. "Ow, wait for a second-" Ignoring my words, the attack just held his blade right before my face.

No, it wasn't a 'he', it's a 'she'.

"Who the fuck are you," The girl with arm-blade asked, holding the blade at where it stayed. "Why are you here, and are you with Dead-Bridges?"

"I-I'm here to check if-" Cutting my reply shot, my eyes widened under the goggles.

…Wait a second, no fucking way. She sounded much younger than I remembered, but I definitely remembered it.

"E-Eveline?" I asked shakily, seeing how her eyes widened in return. And her arm-blade retracted and morphed back in her arms. "I-is that you?"

Eyes widened, Eveline just took a few steps back and shook her head in disbelief. But just a few seconds later, she grabbed my suit and held me up, the blade was just inches away from me again.

"How do you know my name," Anger and anxiety clear on her face, she extended her blade a bit closer to me. "And give me a reason to not stab this right into your head."

…Fuck it, she would understand that I needed to keep my identity a secret.

"Because you wouldn't want to," I took off my mask in one go, watching as she backed away in shock, the black morphed back into her arm, again. "I… never thought I'll meet you like this…"

However, Eveline just lost her balance and slumped down, her breathing quickened.

Shit, she's hyperventilating! So this carried over to this universe… okay, you remembered what to do, Ethan. You've done this before.

"Eve, follow my breathing," I quickly crouched to her level and comforted, taking in deep and slow breathes. "In, out, in out…"

And thankfully, she followed and slowly calmed down, not before her eyes scanned over my entire costume. "…I'm definitely dreaming," She plainly said, her gaze turned back to my eyes. "And I thought the arm blade and superpower thing is weird enough."

"I know, the fact that you're younger than me is weird enough too-" Interrupting myself in mid-sentence, I just realized how much of a fuck-up I just did. Shit shit shit, I totally didn't just give hint that I'm not from this universe.

Okay, just tried and find an excuse to justify it-

"Wait, younger than you-" Before I could think of an excuse, she sat up and stared at my eyes. "Ethan, don't lie to me and tell me, when was I born?"

Wait what? Why would she just ask me when she was born- Wait no… don't tell me that it's 'that' version of her… But… I never knew the birthday of this world's Eveline, the only answer I could give is the one… from back then.

Swallowing a lump in my throat, I answered the only date I remembered of her.

"…May Sixteenth, 1998."

Or in other words, she should be 21 years old, not… around my age as she was now.

And at the moment those words left my lips, Eveline's eyes widened in realization and teared up. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "I-it's you… I-I thought it'd be only me in this universe…"

It's… no way, it's really her. So I wasn't the only one who got tossed to this universe, Eveline did too. Clutching my eyes, I wrapped my arms around her too. And we just let this moment play out, words really couldn't express how we felt.

After a while, we released each other from the tight hug. "…So… hey there, sis," I said awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Even though I'm the older sibling now, not you anymore."

"Nope, it's just this universe's variant of us, I'm still your older sister by heart."

Wait, what's a variant?

"Uh… what do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion. "Variant?"

"Oh, it's something from the Loki show and uh… if my memories serve me right, it's basically a version of a person in a different timeline," Noticing how my face just looked more confused from her… explanation, Eveline tilted her head. "Wait, didn't we… watched the Loki show together?"

"…A Loki show? I thought they just announced it a year ago…" Trailing off, a different, but terrifying thought came into my mind. "Wait, you didn't get transferred to here in 2019, right?"

"Uh… no, it's 2021 for me."

Then wait, so the whole 'universe tossing' didn't obey the rule of time. It just tossed anyone from any time into this mix.

"Well… it's really weird… that we got here at a different point of time-" Interrupting myself, I stopped and looked around. I swore that I just heard something…

Huh? Beeping-

I felt my Spider-sense buzzing, and I looked down and immediately used Spider-Wave. And it's a bomb, right below where we sat. Without a word, I immediately put on my mask and grabbed ahold of her. "A bomb is below us."

Not waiting for Eveline to say anything, I put on the mask and jumped out of the window with her in my arms. Just as the bomb exploded.

Feeling the gravity below pulling both of us to the concrete ground, I immediately fired a line of web and stopped our fall. O-okay, so it should be fine… Until Eveline accidentally held my torso too tight. And I accidentally released the line of web, as the gravity pulled us again.

Our hold on each other slipped off, and Eveline immediately turned her fingers into a steel claw. And clawed into the wall, stopping her fall as I stuck to the wall next to her. And we finally took a small breath after a few seconds, the rubbles settled.

"Dammit, I guess the wound still wasn't fully healed…" Murmuring to myself, I took another deep breath to calm myself as we dropped to the ground. "It's fine, I never told you that anyway."

"Wait, a wound-" Stopping her own words, Eveline came to my side and glanced at my abdomen. "What happened?"

"Basically, I got into one of Dead-Bridges' facilities last night for any info on you and your friends, that's actually why I'm here in the first place," I explained, resting an arm on the wall as I kept trying to calm my breathing. "I kinda got found out and had to fight my way out… so… that's why."

And… just as I thought, Eveline was in shock, total shock. To be honest, I was starting to feel bad for making her kept being shocked by the revelation, one after another. But… well, maybe that's how Aunt May felt when Peter inevitably revealed his Spidey business to her.

"…Just… please don't tell me you're alone with this," She said with clear difficulty, swallowing a large lump in her throat. "I'm not ready for a heart attack."

"N-no, I'm with Cat and Daredevil on that trip," I said, only to be met by a confused look from Eveline. "U-uh… Oh, by 'Cat', I meant the Black Cat. We er… we've been partners for a while now."

"…At least you got some partner, or just helps in general…" Giving out a breath of relief, Eveline slumped down the wall behind her and sat down. "But what did you find about us?"

"That you and the other three failures had a tracker implanted," I answered honestly. "And other than… Rachel's being toasted by her electricity, the one in you is still working-"

"So my assumption was right, they did put something in us," She interrupted me, rubbing the back of her neck. "No wonder they just came in last night"

And this time, it's my turn to be completely confused.

"Mia? Who- wait, what?"

Eveline just looked away, as if she tried to avoid remembering what happened. "…Basically, some men from Dead-Bridges are to us, and opened fire."

Wha- Wait shit! I WAS too late-

"Before you fully freak out, let me continue," She interrupted my thought, maybe I was too obvious with it? Even with a mask? "We took care of those guys myself, and now we're looking for a new place to live, at least for now."

"But Eveline, Dead-Bridges have some tracker implanted in you, there's… they can find you whenever they want," I said, seeing how her entire feature just froze.

"I know, but… we don't know where the trackers are," Eveline sighed. "I guess we'll just have to deal with them for now… until anyone of us found out a way to deal with them."

"Rachel can help, her power can destroy those trackers," I said. "Just… let me come with you-"

"They won't trust you, Ethan. Even if I am putting my trust in you because of who you are, but… it's not the same for them," She interrupted me, giving out a long breath. "I'll try to think of a way to tell them about you. And… can we talk some other time? Like… tomorrow night?"

"If you need to, then yeah," I nodded. "How about Delmar's Deli and Grill, over at Queens?"

"Delmar?"

"That place where Peter blew up in the movie, the one with Vulture."

"Oh, that one," She nodded in realization, she leaned closer to me. "Did uh… the whole plot of Homecoming happen here as well?"

"Yeah, it did… Weird that Liz Allen came back and stayed in Midtown three months later though."

"Okay, I… I gotta warn them about the tracker now, we can talk more about it later," Hearing the siren approaching where we were, Eveline felt her feet start moving away. "Tomorrow night at Delmar, I'll remember that."

"I know you would, sis," I said, without any doubt or hesitation.

And she just nodded with a small smile, one that was quite rare even in the old world. "…Thanks, Ethan."

With that said, she put the hood over her head and sprung to her feet. And her figure quickly disappeared and dissolved into the crowd of onlookers.

[Meanwhile, some other apartment inside Hell's Kitchen]

Opening the door to their new apartment, the other three enhanced-teen stepped into their new place to live. After the whole shootout and subsequent slaughter of those Dead-Bridges henchmen, they immediately decided to move to somewhere else. And… this apartment was the only one that they could find right then and there.

To be honest, the fact that the landlord even let them rent this apartment was a miracle. If Scott remembered right, it's only because their apartment was next to some 'unstable PI lady'.

Not that it mattered right now. The thing that mattered was that they would be safe for now. With Mia destroying the tracker, for now, they were off the grid and safe.

It probably wouldn't last long, but at least they could take a breath from all those crazy things happening around them.

Placing the case of money down inside one of the rooms, Scott opened the case and sighed. Inside the said case, only half of the money had left. And judging from how much it was in the beginning… they only had around ten thousand dollars left.

Of course, it would still be enough for the four, but… not really for too long.

Peeking over his shoulder, Connor also sighed at the sight of diminishing money before them. "…How much longer we can last without trying to find any more money?"

"Around a month, and worse if we count rent."

"So… maybe I'll try to find a job or something," Connor suggested, running his hand through his hair. "Like a waiter or something like that…"

"Yeah, but let's just wait for Eveline to come back first," Scott nodded, closing the bag and putting it inside a nearby cabinet. "If it's about all of us, we should make those decisions together first."

"I know, but still… I just have some bad feeling about letting Eveline stay over at our old place-"

"GUYS!" Interrupting the two boys, Mia's gaze was locked onto the TV before her, eyes widened. "L-look at this."

As the two teenagers rushed to her side and watched the news playing before them, the sight of their old place was clear. And… with dark smokes emerging from the inside, as the floor burn and engulfed in flame.

And Mia quickly turned up the volume of the TV, just so they could hear what the news was talking about.

"…According to nearby residents, it seemed like an explosion happened a moment before. Currently, the NYPD is investigating this incident in the direction of 'pipe explosion'…"

"…Shit, Eveline!" Scott exclaimed, readied to run out of the apartment before Connor caught his shoulder. "Wha- Connor, what the hell are you doing!"

"First, it might be a trap for us, and second… cops are there," The said boy replied, his eyes narrowed at him. "Just rushing won't do anything, and the cops would just toss you out-"

"But still, it's Eveline we're talking about-"

Before Scott could finish his word, someone suddenly knocked on the door. "Hello?"

As the trio turned over to the front door that they left open, a woman was leaning against the door frame and gave them a tired and annoyed look. "Please don't tell me Eugene put you kids as my neighbor…"

"Uh… we're sorry, but we ARE the neighbor of you, miss…" Trailing off, Scott quickly glanced at Mia and Connor for help, only to be greeted by a shrug. "Uh… how should I call you?"

"Jessica Jones," The woman sighed, running her hand through her hair. "But man, how low Eugene must be to rent a place for kids out of all people…"

With that said, she straightened herself from the door frame and left, closing the door behind her with a soft click. And as their eyes returned to the news before them, Mia heard her own voice again, ringing from behind.

"Hey Mia, we got something serious here."

Surprised, she turned around and saw Red sitting on the ground, rubbing the back of her neck. "Huh?"

"I was having suspicion about how the Dead-Bridges found us, and… I felt it."

"They seemed to have implanted something in our neck, right next to our spine."

"…Wait what?" Eyes widened, she leaned over the sofa and walked to where Red was and crouched to her eye level. "You're serious, right?"

"Of course I am, Mia," Deadpanning, the replica sighed. "I… I hate to speculate or theorize, but… it might be some kind of tracker."

And in response, Mia found herself in loss of words, from the shock and… fear. That meant… the Dead-Bridges always knew their location, and moving here meant nothing.

However, before her thought could continue further, the voice of Scott snapped her out of it. "Mia? You're alright?" He asked, concern was clear on his face.

"You… you're still Mia, right?" Connor added, but instead of pure concern… Mia could also feel a sense of nervousness in his voice. Was he… scared of her? Or was he scared of Red? "But you're alright?"

"O-of course I am, what's the matter with you two?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Trailing off, Scott seemed to be struggling to find a better wording of what he was going to say. And Red just gave him an unimpressed look in response. "You suddenly just start talking to air for some reason…"

"And it's kinda creepy, y'know," Connor added, rubbing the back of his neck. "Especially after we watched those horror flicks…"

"But… can't you guys see Red as well-"

Before Mia could finish her sentence, the door opened with a clear 'clang' and the sound of wood bending. As it interrupted their conversation and took over their attention, the three saw Eveline burst into the apartment.

Through her sweat-filled face and panting breathes, it was clear that she came back in a hurry.

"Eveline!" They exclaimed in unison, relief clear in their face. "we're worried about you!"

"I'm sorry, but there's something more important here," Eveline said with a small smile, but it was quickly replaced by a frown and a worried look. "…My suspicion was right, they did put some kind of tracker in us before."

As both Scott and Connor widened their eyes in shock, Mia and Red exchanged a glance of realization.

Just as they thought they could finally have some time free and alone in the world, their past just couldn't seem to leave them alone.

(To be continued)

And by that (and after around 2.9 months), Chapter 19 and Chapter 3 rewrite is finally here!

And it's also the longest chapter by far too XD.

Anyway, first thing first, Merry Christmas everyone!

I guess this is the Christmas gift I'm (not planning) to give to you all XD.

Sorry for taking this long though.

So I've watched No Way Home last week, and... it's really good! I'm not going to spoil anything here, but it really is a good and interesting way to end a Spider-Man trilogy. And thank god they break both the 'Third Movie' and 'too many villains in one movie' rule too!

And I would be lying to say I didn't picture a version of No Way Home with Ethan in it XD. It'd just take a very, very long time to get there (if I'm going to do it in the first place).

And... yeah, that's how I think of No Way Home there, without giving out any spoiler.

Review Responses:

Call-Me-Author-Boy: Well uh... that's awkward. But thanks for binging it though. I hope you like both Chapter 19 and Chapter 3 rewrites.

Death Fury: Thanks! Especially for sticking with me through everything.

Guito248: Well, Ethan is getting some training, and thank god he didn't beat Ethan's ass to the ground XD.

Shredded Metal: Oh, I do admit that Catherine is a bit stupid for doing that. But she does have a reason for doing so (doesn't justify it, just kinda... tell her side of the story). So.. yeah.

Raidentensho: Um... whether Silvermane's syndicate would appear here... I'm not sure. And the same could be said for White Tiger too since I'm concrete on the pairing with Ethan being Felicia. But things might change down the line.

Bashleyz: Um... thanks.

OutlawSnide7: Well uh... that's a lot. And please use punctuation next time, it's a bit hard to read. Anyway, onto the thing itself:

First about Green Goblin and Hobgoblin... that's an interesting idea to put both of them in. And it fits with how I planned for the Dead Bridges' leader to be like. So I'm not sure whether it'd be Ethan's next villain, but it's definitely on the list (a high ranking too XD).

As for Silver Sable... I'm not really sure about this one, but Felicia might get some villains on her own terms down the line. So yeah.

As for Infinity War and Endgame... Well, I did think a lot about how to put Ethan into IW and Endgame. And there is a bit of plan about it. Just that right now the story is more focused on the smaller scale thing without bringing in the whole MCU.

As for Carnage and Venom, your suggestions actually is interesting. And ironically, Carnage would be interesting with Ethan, especially with his personality and how everything affected him. So yeah, I am kinda planning on a symbiote arc later on, just maybe like a while later. Like maybe like a few arcs from now on.

bauers374: So uh... to clarify the perspective of the story, everything is in Ethan's POV, and other than that it's all third person. I never liked hopping between different characters' POVs, so that's how I do it.

Well now that you put it that way... Ethan really is Batman with Spider-Man's power XD. A shame that he couldn't use 'Batman'.

Oh, the chapter 3 rewrite is here, and I've fixed both of these issues. So check them out if you want to.

...That makes me chuckle. And that's a nice reference to Revenge of the Sith XD.

pyrojack25: Yep, so now both Felicia and Matt are helping him on the physical part. And yeah, with this world being basically a merge of everything, he'd definitely not know everything (besides, I don't like those 'I know everything' kind of SI/OC fics. It just makes the OC a Mary Sue). And oh, the Ethan we're following is not a genius at all, he really is just a normal guy who was tossed to a version of himself. So the 'not a genius' part is intentional.

admiralkizaru15: Uh... yes?

Overall, I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and all kinds of reviews are welcome!

(P.S. Please don't spoil No Way Home in the review, there are people who still haven't watched it.)