I sigh. "Aunt May is gonna kill me... Nah, Nah, nah. Actually. She's gonna be disappointed in me." I rub my chin in thought as I watch the jewelry store I've been staking out for the last hour. "Well, it was worth it at least, right?" I glance around the parking lot at the other cars around me before pulling down the collar of my jacket. The cold bite of the wind bit through my thin jacket and chilled me enough to make me shiver. But even if I had wanted to stay home today, I couldn't.
"Come on, Jack... man up!" I coach myself. "You're just as badass as Pete is!"
I grab my mask in my pocket once I see a shadow near the store move. If this Black Cat wants my attention... they're about to get it! I smile at the fact my suit is a combo between my normal clothes and my old costume so I wouldn't have to change. Not exactly how I imagined wearing a superhero outfit when I'm fifteen would look like, but beggars can't be choosers, right? I roll my shoulders back with a grin. Yeah, I definitely didn't have a choice...
I leap to a nearby streetlight. Knowing that the Black Cat tends to swipe things from stores on Wednesdays. Watching closely I don't see them. Maybe they're not- I snap into action and land below the light dodging a thrown dart.
"Oh! I didn't know I had a cute little secret admirer!" A voice coos above me.
My eyes shoot upward in shock. There on top of the roof was a woman, dressed all in black. Her face was covered by a black mask but with platinum blonde hair that cascaded freely down her back.
"Um... hi?" I say as I scramble away from her.
The woman laughs. "Oh my! Don't run away little Spider!" she lands in front of me with a smile on her face. Green eyes glinting mischievously. "You should come play with me." I frown at her in confusion. My spider sense is screaming that something is wrong. This was a trap. A trap set up for me to take the bait. A plan to lure me into some kind of fight so she could finish me and snatch what she wants. Just my luck that the second Peter leaves for something in Germany, I'm stuck with a crazy cat lady.
"Uh... no thanks..." I mutter as I try to back away from her slowly but surely. The woman smirks and starts toward me in a predatory way. Like prey. Her footsteps stop when I bump against the wall. Her gloved hand gently touching my chin.
"Oh my... Such a cutie." She purrs. My mouth falls open in surprise. No one, no one ever said something like that to me. And then she giggles darkly. "I just want to eat you up."
My spider sense screams louder and louder. My chest is tight and I shoot up the building, clearing it easily. My head throbbing. 'Dammit! What would Peter do? Wait. I can figure this out. She'll probably go after a bank or something. That'll be easier for me to deal with, right?' But she doesn't. She just marches her way to that store and I leap right at her. I catch her off guard and pin her against the wall. With a gasp, I hold on tight. She freezes in place as my eyes flick from side to side, searching desperately for an opening. There has to be something I can do.
She stares up at me, a smug smile on her face. "Oh wow! Be gentle with me!" She purrs as she wraps her arms around my neck. "You seem really strong!" I grit my teeth. So she thinks that she can just go around and pilfer everyone who gets close enough! I glare up at her and squeeze her tighter. A small whimper escapes her lips. She tries to push against me. She sounds familiar and looks familiar.
"It's not right to do that kinda thing ya know!" I snap. "So go somewhere else and steal from a bad guy or something!"
She laughs and pushes me off her, "You don't get it Spider… I love this. I love taking things that aren't mine! But of course there's something about you I love too!" Her movements are casual and smooth. Then I see it.
A ring box. Taken right from the window without a single alarm going moment passes as quickly as it had happened as we both stare at each other. We lock eyes. My senses tell me I have two choices here. One: Let her hope to god that no one notices, or Two: Keep my cool and fight her. I don't get that chance before she rushes me and forces my mask up. Her lips press against mine in a quick kiss and she jumps off the wall as if nothing happened.
She smiles at me, "See ya little Spider." I stand there stunned, my head pounding. I turn and sprint to the rooftops. Once on top, I breathe a heavy sigh of shame. The Black Cat got away. I did everything right. Everything that a hero is supposed to do! Even though I knew it'd happen, this is my worst-case scenario. What was I thinking, huh?! I pause as I think about my brother's situation. I need to talk to Peter. He knows how to handle situations like these, and I'm pretty sure he's got his own hands full with working for Tony Stark.
I head back home with my head hung low. My suit stuffed into my school bag and my mind whizzing away at how I knew this burglar. How her voice sounded low and sultry and how she seemed so casual about just kissing me and bailing. My stomach churns and nausea rolls as thoughts rush through my brain. What do I do now? The only person I could tell would maybe be Aunt May. Or I could ask my best friend what to do about it tomorrow at school. When I finally get into my brother and I's room and get on the to bunk I remove my suit and slide it under my mattress. I lay back and sigh heavily. All the things I could do and I could barely bring myself to fight a girl. I hear a soft knock and hear on the other side.
"Jacky-pie?" Aunt May calls. "I'm coming in." coming in was my Aunt May. A weird burnt smell follows her in as she fans her hand in front of her face mostly to clear the air. I shuffle under my covers and she swings herself up. Her brown eyes filled with concern as she leaned down a little to look at me.
"Hey…" I sigh as she runs her hand through my brown hair. She feels my forehead.
"Hm. No fever. Are you sure you're okay?" she asks. I nod and she doesn't buy it.
"Jack what's wrong?" she wonders. "Both you and Peter sneak out and your grades are sliding. Even with your friend's help. You're getting a lot less… you. I'm worried."
"I know you are May…" I sigh. "It's just that… that I…"
"Oh wait!" Aunt May brightens. "Let me guess… hmmm… girl trouble!" She grins when I try to hide my face into my pillow.
"Ah ha! You've been seeing someone!" She says victoriously. Her eyes shining behind her glasses. "So who is it?"
I stare at the ceiling. "You wouldn't know her. Heck I don't even know her." May looks at me strangely but nods anyway.
"Well we do know that she's actually real. She IS real right and not an excuse?"
"Yeah. That's the weird bit. She's definitely real and it was so weird. You ever get a feeling you've seen someone before?"
"Well yeah! Was it someone you know?" She then makes the biggest leap in logic ever and blurts out.
"Oh my god it's Felicia right?" I resist the urge to jump onto the ceiling from my bed because that sent my Spider Sense into panic mode. My cheeks go beet red and I roll back over to cover my face.
"She's too busy!" I squeak. "Seriously… Pete and her would be better…" Aunt May laughs.
"Aww… I was just teasing sweetheart!" she gets a little quiet, "Look… I know what you're going through Jack. Peter gets to go to cool places and you're here. But between you and me I think you got lucky!" She ruffles my hair and smiles.
"Yeah… but it doesn't feel like it."
"Not right now but maybe you should start hanging out with your friends more!" she suggests. "Besides you got a play coming up, right?"
"Wait… yeah! Yeah I do. Well… no… our old drama teacher moved to another school so…" I mumble. "So yeah." Aunt May smiles and kisses me on the forehead.
"Jack. It's all gonna be alright. You just focus on yourself and what you want to do. Your brother is himself. You just have to be yourself. Just try your best and everything will work out." She gets down and gently pats me on the cheek.
"Once you feel better, come eat okay?"
"Alright…" I sigh.
"I love you Jacky." She says.
"Love you too… haaah… May…" I yawn.
The next day dawns with me getting a faceful of sunshine and my phone going off. I squint and press it to my ear.
"Yooo… Jack Parker just now waking up…" I groan. Not really wanting to get up. Mostly because my head always feels like it's getting hit with a jackhammer over and over. On the other end a warm summery voice chuckles.
"Awww! Did Jackyboy get up on the wrong side of the bed~?" she coos. I roll my eyes at my best friend's little tease.
"Hardy har Felicia…" I huff.
"Don't forget your little deal with me Jack! Without me you wouldn't be as good as you are now!" She exclaims with a bright tone. I sigh and stretch.
"Yeah. I know." I huff softly. "See you in class."
Felicia giggles, "Sure thing, Jackyboy!"
I hang up and slide on a clean shirt. My morning routine usually starts with breakfast then meeting up with my guy best friend. Peter had Ned and I had my best guy friend. He and I always take the metro together to school. I put on some jeans and my shoes. A pair of beaten up Converse. Aunt May sees me come out of my room. She comes by and hugs me.
"Morning Jack!"
"Yeah. Morning May." I answer. She gets concerned again and I feel her hugging me again.
"Lemme hug the sad outta you! Mm!" She exclaims, almost crushing the wind out of my body. I struggle a little.
"Oh no! May's hugged the sad out! Not my teenage angst!" I dramatically declare. "Alas! I must away with my good friend Edward Brock to our school! For the fair maiden Felicia is waiting!"
"Not without breakfast you're not." She says. "So come on!" Aunt May grabs my hand and yanks me into the kitchen. I get a piece of toast and slather on some peanut butter. Then get another and slather on some jelly. Smacking them together with a cocky grin. May shakes her head in fake exhaustion. "What am I gonna do with you?" She smiles and messes with my hair a little. Making it a bedheaded quaff of brown hair. I cheekily grin and she gives me my backpack.
"See ya later!" I head out the door but before that I stop a little "Oh! Uhh… when's Pete gonna be back?" May shrugs but still keeps the smile on her face.
"He'll be back soon I think. You just focus on you." she pokes me on the chest emphasizing the Focus on You bit. I grin and get out the door and outside. The city dinned all around me as I get to the subway. I try not to jump over the crowds but I knew I had a secret weapon. All of a sudden I see him coming towards me. Big and muscular. His dark eyes are shining as he sees me and breaks into a full on run. He has more red hair than brown but it's styled in a buzz cut. He wears a Midtown High sweatshirt and cargo pants.
"Jack!" He yells.
"Eds!" I yell back, dashing right for him. We meet in the middle body checking each other but at the same time grabbing each other's hand and slamming into each other. We both tumble to the floor laughing.
"Aw man! So… how was your weekend?" he asks.
"Same old same old Eds my man." I say, rocking my hand back and forth as we board the train together. He's way bigger than me. A linebacker body but he decided to follow me into the Drama Club.
"Still. You got the tickets to the Giants game right?" he asks. I sigh and roll my eyes.
"Dude. We're gonna do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. No time for football." He groans and smacks my shoulder jokingly.
"Dammit! I really wanted to see that game!" He fake whines. "Aw whatever! I can watch the game. How's your bro by the way? Still in Germany?"
"Yeah. Kinda jealous he gets to hang out with Tony Stark. Ever since we were kids he wouldn't let me forget that time he wandered off at the Expo and ran into him. Also he got his stuff signed."
Eddie laughs and elbows me a little. "I'm sure you'd do the same if Captain America had something similar!"
I blush a little and cough. "Well! I… Well yeah! Whatever. I just…" I see something click in his mind and he immediately ribs me about it.
"What if Felicia had a-"
"Eddie Charlie Brock I will end you." I snarl as I glare at him with my best death stare. He glares right back and we get into a Glare Off. We get off the train orbiting each other as we go up the stairs.
"Hmmm…" I hum.
"Rr…" Eddie grits through his teeth. We both glare at each other barely noticing Felicia falling in with us. She just got out of the gym and is cradling her gym bag and basketball in her arms. She gets between us.
"Hello?" she asks "Earth to Jack and Eddie?" she waves her hand in front of my face and tries to reach up to get Eddie but he got the memo. I blink and the first thing I see is Felicia smiling at me.
"What? You two got into a tiff again?" she asks with her green eyes shining and a mischievous smile. Her long platinum blonde hair pulled back into a long ponytail. She's wearing her normal white T-shirt and almost gothic black jeans and brown combat boots. She also has a black jacket with a white fake fur collar.
"He started it!" I exclaim. "Eddie said something really dumb!"
"What?! All I said is if Felicia had some sorta like… secret donation thing you would be first in line to do it!" he counters. She looks at me with that same teasing smile.
"Aww~! You're such a sweetie Jacky~!" She coos jokingly rubbing her cheek against mine. Heat rushes through my cheeks and she giggles.
"Gotcha flustered again!" She continues as we get inside the school. The hallways a madhouse with students ducking and dodging with the morning commutes to homeroom. Eddie takes the front so he could form a wall between me and the crowds with Felicia by my side.
"I got you covered Jack." he says. "You and Felicia just stick right by me." Again Eddie is absolutely massive. Kinda reminding me of a character from a series we both like. A manly man with the ability to keep up with monsters with little to no energy. Felicia always flusters me and it kinda makes me embarrassed. We get to our homeroom and sit down together. At least me and Eddie. Felicia has a different one and she goes off towards it. Giving me a wink and a blown kiss.
I blush and Eddie nudges me. "Oooh! She's getting frisky~!"
"C-Come on man…" I mumble. "It's not like that. Felicia's smart. I'm dumb. And… well…"
"Hey! None of that!" Eddie exclaims. "Don't you dare say all that! Youre Be- Jack Parker!" I sigh and we watch as the others fill the room. Conversations and all that filling our ears. He sighs and shakes his head.
"Jack… you gotta love yourself." He says. "You're kinda sad."
"Kinda. Yeah. That's putting it lightly." I say.
He laughs a little and the homeroom rattles on without a hitch. First period had a test and I had passed by the skin of my teeth. I wasn't good at science. Just passable. Not like Eddie. Eds always seems to know the answers mostly because he asks Felicia for them. Second Period literature class is great. Just normal grades. I'm good at that. Third is math and of course Felicia and Peter would work with me to get it in my brain. Now the most dreaded section. The one that made me want to die every single day.
The one class with the most jackass of jackasses that would constantly try to get under my skin. Harry Osborn is the only guy in Peter and Is grade I wanted to punch. That's saying a lot considering how I can leap over buildings and stick to them just as well. He swaggers into the gym. His blue eyes narrow as he sees me "Well Well! If it isn't Ben Parker…" he greets. "How's the game of footsie with Felicia going?"
I grit my teeth and Eddie looks over at me. "Calm down man…" he cautions.
"Well maybe if you join the groundlings maybe you'll see." I snarl.
Harry laughs as he runs his hand through his brown hair. "Oh yeah And let me think… you're going to make me, Ben?" he asks.
"I'll try to." I growl, taking a rubber ball from the floor with the other students stock still from what he called me. Uncle Ben and I share our first names. But since he died I went by my middle name Jackson shortened to Jack.
When Harry found out he just comforted PEter and glared at me like he had some issue with that. He was just a sheltered rich kid with a neglectful daddy. Something about him just made me so angry. He had money. Automatic status. Everything he could ever want. While Pete and I just lost our Uncle at the time. I hate bullies. I hate them with every bit of me. Mostly because this snooty ass is throwing his weight around. I bounce the ball and Eddie tries to toss his at Harry and hit him before I could wallop him with mine.
'Showy bastard…' I think. Eddie's ball whistled by me and got dodged by Harry. He counters with his own ball aimed right for his chest and it hits… My own. The two balls slam together with a satisfying thwack! They fall to the gymnasium floor with them bouncing uselessly. We snatch up new ones and duck and dodge through the hail of them. Eddie gets out most of Harry's teammates before getting hammered in the face by one. He goes down and it's just me and Harry. We glare at each other. Our dodgeballs in our hands. Almost like a Western we stare each other down. I could almost hear the Ecstasy of Gold laying in my ears.
I hover my hand into a throwing stance and my Spider Sense goes off. Vaulting over the ball and slamming it into Harry's shoulder on the comedown. He gets knocked back and I run over to help him up.
"Next time, call me Jack." I say, breathing a little heavier. I hold out my hand and Harry smacks it away.
"Tch. You got lucky."
"Okay. Maybe you should've not called me Ben." I sigh. He just gets up and slinks away. Eddie came up to me and rested his hand on my shoulder.
"Jack-"
"Don't. Okay? Just don't." I huff. "I didn't wanna do that. As much as I wanted to take out that guy, I didnt wanna land him in the infirmary."
Eddie sighs and smiles, "You're too soft. Ya know that?"
I chuckle and he ruffles my hair. "Come on dude. Lets not keep your girlfriend waiting." he taunts and I swat at his arm.
"Hey! I told you it's not like that!" I exclaim.
"It is, Jack! You can't hide it from me!" He points his finger at my chest jabbing it. We walk to the lunchroom with him trying to keep things light and normal. But of course Harry Osborn doesn't take things well when he's humbled.
Eddie and I come into the lunchroom. With that we get our lunch stuff and sit down. We sort of eat but mainly look for Felicia. He doesn't watch for as long as I do but of course Osborn saunters in the very second she arrives. The main character of his own world. Felicia tries to beeline right for us. But Harry steps between her and us. "Hey there Felicia!" He greets her. His gaze on her… well. Eddie and I tense at that. Felicia just deadpans him. Her expressionless face just staring at him like he was a bug on the sidewalk. It makes me shiver. That dead eyed green glare. Her hand ghosting through her platinum blonde hair and loosening it from its ponytail.
"What do you want, Osborn?" she asks.
"I just wanted to know if you were interested in going out to see a movie with me?" he wonders. Being all cutesy and innocent while the smugness comes off him like a coat.
Felicia laughs a little. "Me? With you?" she gasps. "I wouldn't even consider that!" she rolls her eyes. "I already got a guy in mind and it's not you. Bye bye now!"
I see her turn and with her hair billowing she strides confidently over and sits down. Her green eyes locked with my gaze. I blush and she grabs my hand. Gently tracing patterns into it. Her nails are longer than most people. She just traces little circles into my hand. Not minding the fact I'm barely keeping down my food. Felicia smiles and Eddie somewhat nudges me to talk.
"Uhh… Felicia." I start.
"Yeah? What is it?" she looks up at me with a slight amused glint in her eye.
"I… I like your hair… down like this.' I admit. Felicia smiles and leans forward a bit.
"You can feel it if you want." She says. "I don't mind." I reluctantly reach my hand out and I see Felicia sort of… accept it.
Eddie interjects. "Get a room!" before getting a whack from me for interrupting. I wanted to feel it. It looks so soft! It's not fair… but after school today is yet another patrol. Yet another night and afternoon as the Scarlet Spider. I sigh and try not to think about what I just had a hint of. Maybe Felicia and the Black Cat are the same. I mean… looking at her now and what the Black Cat looks like isn't too far off the mark. The other thing tipping me off is the fact that Felicia had bags under her eyes.
I got my suit from behind the school vending machines that they didn't bother to mess with. Getting it on too. It's simple and the mask was a pain in the ass to try to see through. I get ready to launch off and in seconds I'm bounding from roof to roof. My anchor web fading the moment I launch. Mostly because of Peter's regular spider abilities. I'm more of a Jumping Spider based hero. I finally come to a halt on one of my favorite spots overlooking the city. The former Stark Tower. Not a lot of people are here during the day as of now. But I love the view.
I move up my mask and begin to eat my after school meal. May wouldn't get too worried if I ate. If I didn't then it would be a major issue. I eat peacefully and quietly. Not a lot of action right now which is a- That's when my Sense burst into life. Shattering the peace as I feel something horribly wrong going on nearby. I leap off the tower using a bunch of Tether Webs to keep me going. Landing gracefully near the area.
Needless to say, it's really bad. Like 'Peter can handle it' bad. There's five guys and one lone person standing against them. She's not hurt but I don't like the odds she's against. I watch as she stands between them and a few bags of money. They've backed her into a corner.
"Alright, Kitty Cat! Give us our money back!" One of them urges. He's got a knife and he's brandishing it towards her. Making me almost wanna jump in and save the day.
"How about no, boys?" she asks. Her smile is easy. Her stance relaxed and I don't believe how relaxed she is because she seems really confident. I ready my tether webs and shoot them at a nearby trash can lid. I suddenly lash it out and the lid knocks one of them out. Another guy charges right for Black Cat as she breaks his arm in a swift motion. Catching the knife and tossing it aside. She kicks another and cuts one on the face with her claws.
That's when I jump down to help out. My senses are kicking in as I kick one of the duo on the left. She takes out the one on the right and we both end up standing back to back when more start to come.
"Hey, Spider." She says.
"Wow. Seems like you got into the mess of a lifetime." I sigh.
"Tell me about it. Ever hear of Tombstone?" she questions.
"You mean the pizza? What would pizza want with blood money?" I answer. Cat looks at me like I'm from another planet. "It's a legit question!"
The goons around us are getting antsy. "Listen. We survive this and maybe I'll tell you." she says.
"Got it!" I chirp, "Just beat the crap outta these guys!" I crack my knuckles and all the sudden I feel like listening to music. Launching myself at these guys and sending a few flying back with a swinging kick. They try to gang on me but I let them slam into each other. "Ooo! Steeeerike!" I yell. One of them catches me on the cheek with knuckles on the comedown. Cat lashes him with a chain she has and I rebound with double fisted reversal.
Cat smirks at how I work with her, "Self taught." I say.
"Figures. Seems instinctual." She continues.
"Yeah!" I exclaim. Seeing that the fun was over. I sigh and roll my shoulders as the goons all lay there groaning on the alleyway floor. "Despite the cheek hit I think I'm good."
Cat shakes her head in exasperation. "Sheesh. Does anything get you down and out?" she asks.
"Nah! Well… yeah. But I don't trust ya a lick to tell you!" I bite back.
"Aww~ Not even for a beautiful lady like me~?" She purrs, sauntering toward me with her heels clicking on the pavement. She gently places her hands on either side of me on the wall. She smiles and she leans in. Her pretty green eyes staring into the eyes of my mask and I know she has quite a few inches on me in height.
"No! Not at all!" I declare. Shaking my head despite my embarrassment. "Even if you're stunning!" She smiles and gently touches my mask.
"Let me kiss your boo-boo." she says.
I suddenly back up against the wall and crab run back up it. "Not happening! I'm saving that for my friend!" I blurt out. She checks her wrist and grabs the money.
"Oop! Gotta run! Parting is such sweet sorrow my Scarlet Spider!" she squeals as she runs off to take it to god knows where. I just hope I didn't help out a bad guy. Yet the familiarity still runs deep. Felicia couldn't be Cat. She's… She's too busy with school stuff and the Basketball Team!
I still wanna investigate. But that'll be for when I get more evidence. For now… I gotta swing off to another place.