Note to reader: Sorry it took so long to update. I had to go on a family vacation for a couple weeks (don't you hate those) and now I'm moving back to school. I should continue to update once I get settled.
Spider-man and Black Cat watched the men through the skylight windows on the rooftop. The men walked past the exhibits heading for the last room of the museum.
Felicia began to pry the window open.
"What are you doing?" Spider-man asked stunned. "These windows are probably alarmed."
"That's why I just cut the wiring." She replied as she finished opening the window.
"Would you mind telling me why we're breaking into a museum?" Peter asked as he watched the Black Cat crawl through the window.
"Look, I know for a fact that these men aren't electricians." This was true. She recognized the one man, Bruno. She had seen him in her mother's office on more than one occasion. It wasn't until a few days ago that she realized he was most likely a criminal. At that moment, the four men dressed as electricians walked up to the two security guards standing in front of a steal door. Before the guards could react, Bruno sprayed them with gas, knocking them unconscious. Felicia looked toward Spider-man and said "Come on."
Peter followed the Black Cat, sticking to the ceiling of the now deserted museum. Spider-man and the Black Cat hurried down past the museum exhibits toward that last room. The four men had typed in the security code and passed through the steal door by the time Felicia and Peter reached it. It was after hours, and the only other people in the room were two unconscious security guards lying on the floor beside them.
The Black Cat took out a flask from her pocket and emptied a fine white powder onto her hand. She blew it onto the security keypad next to the steal door which the four suspicious men had disappeared behind. Four white finger imprints emerged from the dust on the numbers where the man's gloved hand entered the code. Then the dust faded; the numbers pressed most recently stayed illuminated by the dust longer than the numbers pressed earlier. Felicia now had the numbers and their order for the security code. She typed them in again and the steal door opened.
"Wow," Peter mumbled quite impressed by the Black Cat's competence. "Where did you learn that?"
"My father gave it to me and taught me to use it," Felicia whispered proudly as she and Spider-man entered the room. "I'd be happy to lend some to you sometime."
The room appeared to be a sort of control room with several computers and T.V. monitors. Three more security guards lay unconscious on the floor. At the end of the room another door was ajar. The Black Cat crept up and peered into the room behind the open door. Spider-man followed, and put his hand on Felicia's shoulder as he too looked through into the next room which appeared to be some sort of lab. For a moment Felicia forgot about the four men she was trying to stop, and she reveled in the warmth of Spider-man's touch. But then one of the men spoke.
"Get pictures of all of this. Jim, look through those files over there. We need as much information as possible. The boss is going to want to be able to make replicas of whatever they're working on." Bruno ordered the other men as he rummaged through the papers on the tables next to a very sophisticated looking machine.
Peter analyzed the contents of the room and after a moment he recognized the purpose of the half built machine in the middle of the room. Peter made a point of reading several scientific journals and keeping up to date with most of the latest technology. In a recent journal a scientist had talked about how theoretically he had discovered a way to make a machine that could broadcast waves that could track and manipulate electric current. Provided enough energy one could use the machine to selectively cause blackouts with the push of a button or, just the opposite: Pick a building or section of the city and use its electricity against itself creating a huge power surge that could act as a bomb. From what the scientist had written, the technology was still years away. Peter remembered following the man's work only to discover that he completely disappeared from the scientific community only a short time after the publishing of his theory.
"My god," Peter whispered.
"What?" the Black Cat asked under her breath, careful not to let the men know that they were being watched.
"That's the beginning of a very powerful machine. If it's what I think it is, its some sort of electrical current scrambler."
Felicia turned her head in surprise and asked, "How do you know that?"
"I've read up on it." Peter answered as he continued to watch the men in the lab room. He noticed that the Black Cat was still staring at him in amazement. Felicia had never really thought of Spider-man as the kind of guy who knew about technology. Peter sensed the Black Cat's disbelief and he felt that as Spider-man he probably had to explain himself. "I try and keep up with the latest weapon technology. I told you there's more to being a superhero than just a good costume."
Felicia was impressed. She made a mental note to study up on technology so next time she'd have some background knowledge. She had to prove to Spider-man that she belonged, that she was an equal.
Peter then nudged the Black Cat, "I think that's enough watching. We need to put a stop to this unauthorized photo session."
In less than a minute Spider-man and the Black Cat had successfully tied up the four men. Peter investigated the materials in the lab room more carefully. He mumbled under his breath, "It looks like they still haven't found an energy source powerful enough." He didn't realize that Felicia overheard his observation.
Spider-man then walked over to the control room and dialed up the police dispatch, "I'll give you the honors," he said to Black Cat and handed her the phone
"Hello, New York Police Department?" Felicia asked. "Yes, I would like to report a break in to the Fisk Museum of Science. Me and Spider-man managed to tie 'em up. Yeah, there's a new girl in town, boys. You can call me the Black Cat."
"A little over the top, but not a bad introduction," Peter laughed.
"They better learn my name because I'm the new crime fighter in town." Felicia smiled and put a hand to Spider-man's face, searching for the bottom his mask, half tempted to rip it off. "And you better get used to me too, Spider-man, because I'm not going anywhere."
Peter took a step back. "Look, I'm impressed with your skills and that you knew about this little break in. But were still not going to be partners. Come on. Let's get out of here before the cops arrive. I don't know what it is about me, but the police just don't seem to like me."
"How can that be?" Felicia asked sarcastically. "You seem like such a nice guy."
Spider-man and Black Cat exited the museum through the ceiling window. On the rooftop, Felicia stepped closer to Spider-man and grabbed him by the hand "You know, it's still early. I know you don't want to be partners, but maybe we could take some time to get to know each other little better."
"Crap!" Peter swore as he realized what time it was. It had to be past 7:00 and he hadn't turned in his report to Doc Connors. "I've gotta go." Without further explanation, Spider-man swung off through the city leaving the Black Cat alone on the roof.
"Hmmph," Felicia grumbled. Her efforts to get close to Spider-man were not working as well as she had hoped.
Peter swung back to the spot he had earlier stashed his clothes and his report. He had encased them in webbing and stuck them to the side of a building when he had initially changed into Spider-man. He didn't bother changing back. Instead he grabbed his report and furiously swung toward campus. It was dark by the time Peter reached ESU's science center. He scaled the wall and crawled toward the third floor window Peter knew belonged to Doc Connors office. He had already left. Peter was too late. He opened the window anyways and set his report on the desk. Peter then swung back to his apartment, thinking of how yet again Spider-man interfered with his life. But then he thought to himself, if it weren't for Spider-man he would have never met the mesmerizing Black Cat.
To be continued…