Happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to check out my original work, 'Bleeding Green' on Wattpad.

Chapter 4-1

More often than not, it rained on days when a funeral is being held; it's always what they did in the movies, but this is real life. It's December in New York City; we don't get rainy days, we get snowy days.

David bowed his head respectfully as the chief of police said a few words at the casket. David closed his eyes ad listened to the words.

It's been two days since I killed Scorpion and ate Prowler's brain, two days and nothing from Hobgoblin, the copy-spiders, or Spider-Man and Black Spider. Good, I have a cool-down period to plan and kill the copy-spiders but before I do that, I'm going to have some fun.

Almost no one came to Aaron Davis's funeral with the exception of Jefferson Davis, Miles, and their family. A few officers from the police came but it was to give Jefferson a shoulder to lean on rather than mourn Aaron.

Ben Reilly and Cindy Moon also showed but they sat a few chairs away from Miles.

Due to Aaron's condition of death, it had to be a closed-casket funeral but Miles thought that would be best because he didn't think he could look at his uncle anymore, knowing that he had been the Hobgoblin's accomplice. A part of his brain had been racking and nagging at him, saying that Uncle Aaron must've been set up; it had to be that but Cindy had confirmed that the Prowler that fought him went flying into the same building Venom had been in and that the Prowler Venom ate was indeed Aaron Davis. He didn't want to know that but Cindy felt like it was her obligation to tell him.

When everyone began leaving after the funeral, Miles stood at his uncle's casket and put a hand on it, touching carefully for fear he might accidentally destroy it or disturb Aaron in his peaceful rest in peace.

Now's my chance to have some fun with him.

David approached Miles with his hands tucked into his pocket. "Hey, Miles."

Miles looked down at the casket. "Hey, David."

"I'm sorry for your loss. I just wanted to say that-"

"'I know what you're going through'," Miles guessed, "right? You were going to say something like that? Or 'it gets easier with time' or 'it's all part of God's plan'."

"I don't believe in God," David said bluntly. "You know, I lost my father a couple of years ago, I was at his funeral and his grave is around here just a couple hundred feet or so. I had a hard time adjusting to life without him; I was so used to him in my life that when he just vanished I-"

I took on the role of Spider-Man to slaughter those worth slaughtering.

"At least you still have your mother and father," David continued, "be grateful for that. And I know this is something you probably don't want to hear but, your uncle is the Prowler?"

"It wasn't him," Miles said, "it couldn't be my uncle. Not Uncle Aaron, it's impossible."

Denial, anger, acceptance, bargaining, depression. I'm going to try to get him into the depression stage of grieving and let him sit and wallow in that stage for as long as I can.

"I'm sorry," David said softly.

Ben and Cindy approached the two. Ben walked up to Miles and quickly embraced him. Miles returned the gesture and hugged him back.

"Whatcha doing here, David?" Cindy inquired.

"Giving Miles a shoulder to cry on," he answered carefully.

David and Cindy walked away to give Miles and Ben some time to themselves. Once they were about twenty feet away, they began chatting.

"Did you know?" Cindy whispered. "I just have to know; did you know that the Prowler was Miles's uncle?"

David shook his head. "I didn't know any more than you did. I also couldn't help but notice that the Scorpion used to be an associate of Ben Reilly." He narrows his eyes. "Who would've known that the Scorpion was Scarlet Spider's friend and Prowler was Kid Arachnid's uncle." He looked her in the eyes. "Don't worry; their secrets are safe with me and they're not violent criminals. You and Ben and Miles will be spared." He narrows his eyes. "What's your connection to Hobgoblin?"

Cindy narrows her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Both of Hobgoblin's accomplices happen to have some connection to your Kid Arachnid and Scarlet Spider. The odd man out is you; what's Hobgoblin's connection to you? Ex-boy toy perhaps?"

"I don't know who the Hobgoblin is," Cindy answered, "any more than you do."

"Can I take your word for it?"

"Yes, you can take my word for it."

"Is our investigation going to continue?"

She nods.

"What were Miles and Ben's reactions when they found out that people they knew and were even close to were supervillains?"

"Why? What sadistic pleasure do you get out of knowing their reactions?"

"I'm not sadistic, Cindy, I'm just rational. And besides, our meetings are supposed to be a secret and you and I can only be together if you've separated from Daddy Scarlet and little brother Arachnid."

Cindy rolls her eyes sarcastically. "They want the Black Spider, or Venom as he's called."

"Sounds like it'd be much easier to just hire Venom to create carnage so we could work together."

Cindy turns away. "Why are you the way that you are, David? Why are you such a psychopath?"

David leaned in until their noses were almost touching. "I'm not a psychopath; when people think of psychopaths, they think of sadistic evil slashers and serial killers. I prefer to think of myself as a rational and logical person who just happens to be born without emotions. Besides, I'm high-functioning; I can exist in society like any normal person. I'm not evil, I just see the world differently."

"Have you ever wanted to be-"

"Normal? Huh, normal? Normal is subjective and in some cultures, throwing stones at some people is normal to them but sadistic to us. I was born this way so if you think that a therapist can cure me, you're wrong; there's nothing of me to cure. After all, you can't fix what was never broken."

Cindy looked away at the ground. "What if the spider bit someone else that day at the job fair instead of you?"

"Then we'd have a very different Spider-Man." David smiled. He leaned down and sniffed her neck. "You and I… we were bitten by the same spider… that's why you smell so good." He leaned in and turned his head. "Smell me, take a whiff."

Cindy leaned in and sniffed David's neck. "You smell good, David."

"Like chocolate?"

"Cherries."

"You smell like chocolate." David smiled and leaned back. "I promise Cindy, I won't hurt you."

"Physically or emotionally?"

"Yes."

Cindy grumbled. "Whatever."

"We're going to find Venom and Hobgoblin and we're going to kill them."

"I can't stomach the idea of killing another person."

"Why, Cindy? Why can't you stomach the idea of killing another person? Is it because of the superhero standard of never killing or is it because of your hella traumatizing time trapped in that bunker?"

"Yes."

David laughed this time. "I enjoy your presence, Cindy, you're very entertaining and amusing to be around."

Cindy faced David but kept eye contact with him averted. "I-I'm grateful that you rescued me from the bunker. Even though it was an accident but I…"

"Doomed friendship, huh?" David smiled giddily. "You and I, we best friends because of very special circumstances but we can never be. Me, an antihero, and you, a superhero, doomed to be enemies whilst also being soulmates."

"Tsk, that was so cheesy, David."

"Tsk, I know." He looked over to the casket. "Well, I'm going to get going; I got places to be and it's freezing cold out here. Now I wish that it was raining." He reconsidered his thought. "Nah, the rain would be falling hail."

David walked back to Miles and stood before him. He waited for Ben and Miles to finish talking before Miles faced David.

"I hope you get better soon, man," David said. "I know that uh, I talked to you about the F.E.A.S.T. Center but I was thinking that maybe you could go there. The same advice I gave to your friend but I'm giving it to you." For a split second, David looks at Ben before looking back at Miles.

Miles hesitantly said, "I was thinking that but-"

"You should go," Ben said, "it could therapeutic to be helping someone out."

"Yeah," David agreed. "I have to get going but I swear man, I hope you get better soon." David pats Miles hard on the shoulder. Miles winces and grabs his shoulder. "No need to be so dramatic, I didn't hit you that hard."

"No," Miles winces, "I just injured my shoulder a few days ago."

Did you injure your shoulder a few days ago? How did that happen, did your father shoot you in the shoulder when you were standing over your uncle's headless corpse? Jeez, the possibilities are endless.

"Oh, sorry." David tucks his hands back in his pockets. "Welp, see ya. Miles, Mr. Reilly." He looks over his shoulder. "Cindy."

Cindy was the only one who waved back as David left.

When David was out of sight and out of range, Ben decided to speak. "I know exactly what you're going through."

"Do you?" Miles kept looking down.

"I do," Ben nodded somberly. "I lost my uncle too."

"Your uncle?" Miles looked up but still failed to meet Ben's eye line.

"My uncle, it was my fault when he died; had I just not come to school early or wounded him, I would've-" He choked slightly. "I would've saved him. I almost killed the man who killed my uncle but I didn't."

"That guy at the Daily Bugle?"

"Abraham Copeland was his name. I hired a private investigator to find out about Copeland and that private eye's name was Mac Gargan."

Miles finally looked up at Ben. "The Scorpion?"

Ben nodded. "The Scorpion."

"Crap," Miles muttered, "looks like we both got someone in our lives who are supervillains."

Ben nodded. "It appears so. But what I wanted to say is that, when I almost killed Copeland, I had to be talked to by J. Jonah Jameson of all people tell me that if I follow through with it, then I'm not so different from that sadistic Spider-Man. My uncle is watching me from above and he wouldn't like it if I let revenge poison me."

"I want to kill Venom," Miles said, "I want to hurt him and kill him."

Cindy looks over at Miles but says nothing.

"I understand the pain you're going through but…" Ben hesitated. "Crap, I don't want you to go through the same pain as me."

"My uncle, he wasn't the most perfect person but he wasn't evil; he was all about doing good, trying to see redemption. Hobgoblin must've blackmailed him or something because there's no way that my uncle would side with a villain like Hobgoblin. My uncle is a good guy and Venom killed him."

"Listen to me." Ben put his hands on Miles's shoulders. "We're going to stop Spider-Man, Venom, and Hobgoblin, together. All three of us."

Cindy nodded slowly with hesitation. "Yes, we're going to end this battle." She widens her eyes and looks ahead. "We're going to stop Hobgoblin, Spider-Man, and Venom."

"Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, Venom vs Scarlet Spider, Kid Arachnid, and Silk," Ben counted off his fingers. "Three on three sounds like an equal battle."

"Venom is mine," Miles said, "I want to fight him."

"I'll take Spider-Man," Cindy said.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Of course, leave it to the gadgeteer genius to fight another gadgeteer genius."

With Spider-Man

Thank god I'm out of there; keeping a sad face at a funeral for an hour or so straight can be a real pain to my cheekbones. I'll just don my mask and I won't have to bother with doing facial expressions.

The symbiote formed David's mask for him.

Time to go.

Spidey swung away in his black and white symbiote suit. It was nighttime and the symbiote suit managed to add an extra coat of warmth for him so that he wouldn't be shivering. Spidey wasn't swinging aimlessly but with direction as to where he was going.

Hobgoblin has been hanging around in this part of the subways for a good amount of time and the GPS trackers I picked up from Scorpion and Prowler's corpses proved they were down here too. This means that Hobgoblin's base of operations is in the sewers, a fitting place for a soon-to-be-dead rat.

Spidey swung above the ground, shot a web at a manhole cover, threw it in the air, and divebombed through the manhole with the cover falling back into place.

He followed the last known location of the symbiote tracker through this complex maze of subway tunnels before he found a hidden door and went through it.

Inside, surely there were several tables set up with various papers scattered across them. In the corner of the room was the Scorpion costume on a mannequin and in the other corner, the Prowler's costume on another.

Seeing that his spider-sense wasn't going off, it meant that there were no cameras or surveillance of any kind. That meant he was free to search the place with his guard down.

He searched the room, scanning the room for the Hobgoblin's armor. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion when he couldn't find it.

There are two Hobgoblins. After all, Mom did say that she kept him distracted in civilian form yet Hobgoblin attacked Venom in some kind of condo. Either Hobgoblin is an identity taken by two people or he discovered the tracker on him and put it on someone else. Regardless, I have to be careful with killing Hobgoblin; he did pull a bait-and-switch with a random civilian at the bank and pulled a Houdini using Ned Leeds at the condo battle.

Right now, the symbiote tracker says that Hobgoblin, or whoever he was is driving down Brooklyn. Even if it's a double, I have to seize this opportunity.

Spidey found a desk where there were three drawers. He opened the top drawer and found a letter addressed to one 'Daniel Kingsley'. Spidey scrunched his eyes, remembering something.

"Venom, what was the name on the journal you found in Hobgoblin's condo?"

"Daniel Kingsley. Here, I'll send you everything I remember."

A flash of images spooked Spidey and caught him off guard. Now bombarded with these new memories, he narrowed his eyes.

Dr. Hamilton, a psychiatrist? Could it be a coincidence? Then again, Barton Hamilton was a psychologist and the Green Goblin, and this Daniel 'Hobgoblin' Kingsley claims to be a patient of one Dr. Hamilton.

He looked through the envelope to read what Daniel Kingsley got for mail. Nothing but a letter reminding him of some kind of contract deal with Jason Macendale.

He found a second letter addressed to Mac Gargan. The letter was unopened so he held it up to the only light in the room to read.

"'Late on rent… eviction… three months due.'"

He put the letters back in the drawer and closed them. He opened the second drawer and found a journal inside. It was a black composition notebook with no title on the cover. He opened it up and began looking through the first few pages.

The first few pages consisted of nothing more than sketches of a costume of some kind. After flipping through them, he found something on the fourth page: a sketch of the Hobgoblin's current costume. The next few pages were sketches for the Scorpion and Prowler.

"What's the connection," he asked himself. "Why did Aaron Davis and Mac Gargan have to coincidentally know Scarlet Spider and Kid Arachnid in human form."

The page after the last sketch wasn't of Hobgoblin, Prowler, or Scorpion, but of the Scarlet Spider… with a name written underneath.

'Ben Reilly', the Hobgoblin knows that Scarlet Spider is Ben Reilly?

He flipped to the next page, a sketch of Kid Arachnid. 'Miles Morales' was written at the bottom.

And he knows that Kid Arachnid is Miles Morales. What does that mean?

He flipped to the next page, a sketch of Silk with the sentence, 'Who is this bitch?' written underneath.

Then it suddenly all clicked.

Prowler and Kid Arachnid were recruited AFTER Reilly and Morales were bitten by the super-spiders. But that raises the question, where did Reilly and Morales get their powers from? I killed the spider that bit me and Cindy but there were other spiders at that exhibit that the super-spider came from. Years later, I discovered that Barton Hamilton was the geneticist who created the super-spiders.

If Hobgoblin found out that Barton Hamilton is the Green Goblin, then it's possible that he discovered the formula for creating super-spiders.

He smiled.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Hobgoblin created the spiders that made Scarlet Spider and Kid Arachnid."

"What are you basing this off on?"

"Daniel Kingsley, AKA Hobgoblin, was sentenced to years of therapy and his therapist was Barton Hamilton. He was my therapist here on earth and the scientist that created the super-spider that bit me and Cindy." He snaps his fingers. "That's why he doesn't know who Silk is because Cindy didn't get bit by a spider of his creation." He shook his head. "Getting back on track, Kingsley said that he'll find out what he can about the Green Goblin based on his journal entries, and based on his superpowers, he succeeded. He has all the strengths of Green Goblin but unlike Green Goblin, he shows no signs of suffering from a split personality disorder. He perfected the Green Goblin's formula."

He rested his knuckles.

"He must've stolen all of Green Goblin's gimmicks, his formula, and he decided to steal Green Goblin's spot as my most dangerous enemy. But he was smart; he knew that I could beat him because unlike him, I have two years of experience under my belt. Not to mention I've killed both Green Goblin and Detective Octopus. He knew that if he wants to achieve his goals, he was going to need pawns and these pawns are in the form of Scorpion, Prowler, Kid Arachnid, and Scarlet Spider."

He held a finger up.

"However, to give me a hard time, he had the super-spider he created to go out and bite Ben Reilly and Miles Morales. After he studied them to learn about their relatives and past contacts, he chose the two people in their contact who have a criminal record. Gargan for Reilly and Davis for Morales. He chose them because they were easy to manipulate and they could be used as tools against Kid Arachnid and Scarlet."

"And what were they supposed to do?"

"Give me a run for my money. While the two Spider-Men he created are out fighting me and using all they got to try and web me up, he and his partners-in-crimes would rob banks. He would rob banks but only after he stabbed me with this serum that would cause me to lose my powers." He smirked under his mask. "But, there was no way in hell Hobgoblin could've predicted an alien para-" He choked on something caught in his throat. "Symbiote…" he said through clenched teeth, "arriving on Earth and healing up Spider-Man. But then again, the public knows Spider-Man and Venom as two different people but he did manage to counteract the tracker on him somehow, and considering that he was using soundwaves to attack you…"

"Hobgoblin is crazy smart."

Spidey nodded begrudgingly. "He's smart, I'll give him that but with Prowler and Scorpion dead, there's a huge setback in his plans. He wasn't counting on Silk showing up, which is why he stumbled somewhat during the penthouse battle."

He rested his chin on his knuckles. "If I want to know more about this then I better dig up the files Hamilton had on this Kingsley."

"What files?"

"Green Goblin used to be a therapist and he kept all sessions and files of his patients on him. He had files in his personal office and his personal home. I'm going to go to his home to find his files."

"What's that?"

Spidey looked in the direction Venom was gesturing him to look and saw something on the Scorpion's costume. Spidey closed in on it and widened his eyes upon realizing that it was the serum that Hobgoblin drugged him with. He knew this because of the color.

He took the vial of green liquid and rotated it around.

The difference in texture proves that this is not the goo from Scorpion's tail but the serum that Hobgoblin had on his blades when he stabbed me.

He smiled.

So this is the stuff that took away my powers. I'm sure Hobgoblin won't miss this, considering he's not going to use it on himself.

Spidey thrusts the serum into his chest, which sinks in due to the symbiote.

"Let's get out of here."

"What's in the third drawer?"

Spidey looked to the bottom third drawer at the bottom. He moves over and opens it. Nothing, absolutely nothing inside. Spidey was half-tempted to check for a false bottom but he also wanted to get to Hamilton's house and ready whatever juicy details he could on this Daniel Kingsley.

I can't wait to kill you, Daniel Kingsley.

With Miles

Miles sat at his desk, keeping himself busy by doing his homework, distracting himself by piling himself with whatever he could, until realizing that he was writing on homework he had already gotten graded. He suddenly remembered that it was winter break and he wouldn't be going back to school until January.

He touches his shoulder, where his father had shot him. His wound healed up but his shoulder was still sore and when he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw a sad and depressing look on his face, looking like someone who didn't know or forgot how to smile.

When there was a knock on his door, he couldn't hear it. When the knock happened a second time, Miles quickly grabbed his bag and went to his window, and climbed out.

Jefferson Davis knocked on the door a third time. "Miles, are you in there?" he whisper-shouted. When he got no response, he put his forehead on the door. "Miles, open the door, please." Still nothing. He closed his eyes and winced, planting his knuckles into the wood of the door.

"Miles, I am so sorry for everything that's happened lately. I wanted to help Uncle Aaron but I couldn't." He gulps. "I know that you guys were close; how could you not be? He was always better at raising you than I was. When you were little, you talked about Uncle Aaron all the time, about how you wanted to be like him when you grew up."

He looks away from the door. "Uncle Aaron was a good man, Miles. He may have had his faults but he was always a good man, just had bad luck. He didn't deserve what happened to him. Damn it, if I got there sooner, I could've saved him." A single tear rolls down his cheek. "It's my fault that he's dead. Had I just helped him when I needed it, he never would've turned to a life of crime to settle his dues. He never would've been the Prowler had I just reached a lending hand to him." Another tear rolls down his cheek.

"I failed you, Miles." He sniffled. "And for that, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that Uncle Aaron is dead. But I promise to bring the Hobgoblin to justice, and Kid Arachnid. Not for vengeance, but for justice, justice for Uncle Aaron." He lightly taps the door once more. "Just remember this, Miles, I'm here for you whenever you need me."

He turned on his heels and walked away, never knowing that his son had snuck out the window and missed the conversation entirely.

Miles headed down to the F.E.A.S.T. Center per David's suggestion. He didn't stop for anything except streetlights and made no attempts to talk to anyone until he got there. It wasn't his first time coming here; he went here with Ben a few times just a little after the Daily Bugle takeover and he had already been familiar with the place.

Ben was standing near the front, serving coffee and Christmas cookies to homeless people when Miles walked in.

"Miles," Ben called out. "Good to see you here." He walked over to the young boy, holding the tray of cookies in one hand and a thermos of coffee in another. "Another day on the job."

"I guess," Miles said uneasily.

"I know that this isn't your first time here but here." He handed Miles the coffee thermos. "Just, give people their mugs of coffee, and sooner or later, you'll be helping out."

"Wasn't your friend sleeping here in F.E.A.S.T.?"

Ben knew what friend he was referring to. "Yeah. Mac was sleeping here, having no place to go. How could I not have known?"

"How were you supposed to know he was the you-know-who?"

Ben shook his head. "I've been kicking myself for not knowing. I kick myself trying to comprehend the fact that he was a supervillain but there's another piece of me in my mind telling myself to be grateful for helping him here at F.E.A.S.T. and you know what, I'm glad I got to talk to him a little more before he died. I am making a conscious effort here to only remember the good stuff about him and not the negative stuff."

"I'm in the same boat, remembering only the good stuff and never the villain stuff." He clutched the thermos by the handle hard enough to make his knuckles white. "But it doesn't make it any better."

"Then help." He gestured to the homeless people. "Help them."

Miles nodded. "I will."

Without wasting another second, Miles walked around the F.E.A.S.T. center and began pouring everybody their mugs of coffee for the good people. There was a television set up in the corner and there was a woman sitting down switching between channels.

When Zia found a channel that was worth watching, she put the remote down and called out to Miles. "Can you fill me up?" she asked, holding up her mug.

Miles moved over to her spot and poured her some coffee.

"Thank you," Zia said gratefully. "Have you been watching the news lately?" She pointed to the TV.

Miles's heart dropped to his stomach.

A Daily Bugle news report on Mac Gargan and Aaron Prowler.

"-sources are saying that Aaron Davis and Mac Gargan, AKA, the Prowler, and Scorpion, are being investigated via their families and their connections. Davis and Gargan have outstanding arrest charges against them and the charges only seem to be adding up," Jameson reported. "If you ask me, I believe we shouldn't be investigating their families and pinning the blame on them; Aaron Davis and Mac Gargan made a choice to become villains, it is their responsibility for what happened to them. But nevertheless, it is still heartbreaking and tragic for the families of these criminals. Especially Davis's family, whose brother is Jefferson Davis, a sergeant on the police force, and Miles Morales, beloved nephew."

"Can you believe this shit," Zia suddenly said. "He's trying to paint Aaron Davis and Mac Gargan as some kind of tragic figures. Mac fucking Gargan slept under the same roof as me and he was a supervillain with a scorpion theme? Life was bound to end quickly for him." She took a sip of her coffee and winced at the taste, hating it. "And then there's this Aaron Davis guy. 'Oh, he had a choice', 'What a tragedy for his family, duh', you know what, kid? I think that his family is better off without him. That no-good son of a fucking bitch. He deserved to die."

Miles stepped away from Zia and turn and ran off. Ben tried to reach out to him but he was already out of reach and he went after him.

The Previous Day

Zia woke early in the morning to get a headstart of all the people in the F.E.A.S.T. shelter. Being the first one up meant she got the coffee first and coffee early in the morning tasted like heaven, especially when she had plans to make hot chocolate with it.

Unfortunately for her, someone else had beaten her to the thermos of coffee. He already had a mug out and was pouring himself some coffee. Zia went to reach for a new mug when the man suddenly grabbed her hand. Zia looked up at this man and took in his appearance.

It was the same tall man with shoulder-length dark brown hair, stubble, bangs, and an eyepatch covering half his face and right eye. She never caught his name but she saw him lurking around F.E.A.S.T. a few times and considered talking to the man who ran this place but he was away on business. Might as well tell the redhead in charge about this guy.

"I poured you some coffee," he spoke in a deep voice. "For you." He held out his mug for her.

Zia accepted the mug. "Thank you."

"You want to make money?" the eyepatch man asked.

"I don't suck dicks."

"No, none of that. I want you to insult someone."

"Why?"

"Because they deserve it. They're supervillains who have done HORRIBLE things." He reaches into his wallet. "I'll pay you money to insult this particular person. I'll pay you fifty bucks."

She scoffed. "To insult someone, I'll need a little more money."

"One hundred dollars. I'll pay you half now, half after you do the deed." He hands her a fifty. "Here's the deal. When Miles Morales comes into F.E.A.S.T., sit at the TV in the corner of the room and switch channels. When you see Miles, call him over and ask him to feel your coffee mug but only do this AFTER you switch to a channel talking about Aaron Davis and his Prowler identity."

"Why would I do this?"

"Because I want to see him hurt and insulted unlike anything before." He smiles gleefully and sadistically. "I'm giving you free money just for TALKING for the love of god and no matter how you look at it or how you get it, money IS money." He tilts his head like a curious cat. "Will you do it?"

Zia pockets the change. "I will."

"Good." The man pats her on the shoulder. Unknown to her, a black substance seeped into her clothes and bonded to her skin. "Don't try and back out of the deal or I'm going to ask for my money back."

"Free money, can't turn down this offer." Zia walks away after carefully making sure her coffee was hot enough.

David smiled behind his disguise.

Oh man, how I WISH I could see this but if what the symbiote said is true then it can show me images from pieces of itself that are separated from the main body.

With Felicia

Felicia climbed back into her penthouse and put her gear back into her drawer, hiding it from the world, becoming Felicia Hardy once again, Black Cat no more. Despite locking the suit away, when she looked at herself in the mirror, she could still see herself dressed up as Black Cat and the eerie reminder that she was Spider-Man's girlfriend.

She rotated on her heels when she heard the thumping of footsteps approaching her doorway and based on how heavy they were, they could only come from one person.

Walter Hardy opened her door. "Hey, Felicia."

Felicia smiled. "Don't you know that it's rude to enter a girl's bedroom without knocking first?"

"You could hear me coming, right?" Walter smiled at her. "Right?"

Felicia was slightly annoyed with how up-to-date her father was with her keen senses. "Maybe. What's the occasion for barging into my room?"

"How's Spider-Man or that black-suited Spider-Man made any attempt to come near you or harm you?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Nothing."

"I could use an extra set of eyes."

She squinted. "What do you mean?"

"The black-suited Spider-Man killed Scorpion and Prowler; he's going to go after Hobgoblin and the copy-spiders. With our combined eyes, we can have them incapacitated within a day."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, Dad, it's been years since you used your bad luck eyes; what kind of trauma caused your dormant powers to reawaken? Was it the sheer fact of the Black Spider beating the living crap out of a civilian enough to cause your powers to awaken? He's done worse but that's the straw that broke the camel's back?"

"Stay away from Spider-Man," Walter said firmly. "If Spider-Man made contact with you or the Black Spider, who knows what they'll do? And the copy-spiders will try and arrest you. The police are getting some backlash for Sergeant Davis having a relative be related to the Prowler but to have the police captain be the father of the Black Cat, the public will never trust us again."

"So it's a matter of public relations?"

"If Spider-Man or Black Spider put their hands on you, I could never forgive myself. I encouraged you to take up the Black Cat mantle and if you died… I could never forgive myself. The thought of Spider-Man or Black Spider beating you to a pulp, torturing, or even raping you…"

Felicia slightly winces at the last word.

"... the thought alone was more than enough to awaken my powers that I've been working my ass off to stay dormant."

Felicia narrows her eyes, a thought coming to her mind. "I've always had to be more careful because of that son of a bitch spider. Compared to the copy-spiders, Spider-Man and Black Spider are the devils. I've been comforting myself in the back of my mind that since I'm not a violent criminal, he won't kill me. But I'm a superpowered person who is a thief so by that logic, I'm a supervillain, and Spider-Man and Black Spider love killing supervillains." She nodded. "Tell me the time and place and I'll help you bring Spider-Man and Black Spider down permanently."

With Spider-Man

Spidey arrived at Dr. Barton Hamilton's office downtown. Spidey snuck in through the window and dropped to the ground, his spider-sense alerting him that there were no cameras to spy on him. Good, he could search the room in privacy in his black and white suit.

Barton Hamilton's office looked just the way it did when David had sessions with him years ago. He couldn't believe that it's been thirteen years since that doctor diagnosed him with Antisocial Personality Disorder in an unofficial fashion. David had been in this office so many times that he knew it like the back of his hand.

He turned towards the door, which should've had the new doctor owning this office's name on the front door but the name on the door remained the same.

Dr. Barton Hamilton, M.D. and PsyD. I remembered getting confused as to whether he was a psychiatrist or psychologist and when I asked him, he said 'yes'. He was also a lawyer and a geneticist.

Spidey reached to take off his mask but the symbiote had bonded to him. After sensing his wants, the symbiote around his face faded away, exposing his head to the cool air.

David move over behind the desk and looked it up and down, noting that there had not been a speck of dust that remained. David concluded that people must come in day in and day out to take care of the office of one of their best doctors. This room was essentially a memorial to their greatest employee and they were making sure his memory lived on through this spiffy clean room.

David looked to the left and saw the couch that he would sit on when Hamilton had sessions with him but he was not a person for nostalgia.

He opened Hamilton's drawer and found a set of manilla folders out and laid them flat on the desk. There were about eight folders with names written on the front which made it easy for him to read.

'Martin Lawton, Yelena Shotsky, David Dante, Allan Thorton, Robert Cane, Oliver LeRoy, Daniel Kingsley'.

Man, I forget that Ryan's older brother Allan was a sociopath. And I can't believe that all these kids went to my school. But Daniel Kingsley is the odd one out."

Out of curiosity, he opens his folder.

'Date: October 24th, 2009

'Name: David Dylan Dante. Birth, January 12th, 2005. Mother: Misa Dante. Father: James Dante. Hair: Dark brown. Eyes: Brown. Nationality: American. Race: German-American. Condition: Antisocial Personality Disorder. Diagnosed: August 2th, 2009. Causes for concern: Torture and mutilation of animals. Cause of condition: Trait inherited from ASPD paternal grandfather and ASPD maternal grandmother. Threat level: High-risk.

*** Treatment: Teaching subjects the methods of high-function ASPD characteristics.

'Date: April 27th, 2015

'Subject: David Dante. Condition: Antisocial Personality Disorder. Likelihood of becoming a low-functioning psychopath: Low.

(Personal Notes)

'Date: December 19th, 2019

'I like David Dante, he's a good kid, VERY smart. I can depend on him, he is trustworthy and I believe that he can be a good person when he grows up. Disorder spectrum aside, Dante understands family loyalty and seems to be close with his parents in his own way. I want to turn David into a functioning citizen of society. No more having him put down dogs at the pound, only worrying about the future and making a career for himself. He seems to be interested in psychology; I think I can help him in that area.

David nodded and closed his file. As he closed it, he noticed a bulge in the file and narrowed his eyes. He opened the folder to find a cassette belonging to a tape recorder. David pockets the tape before grabbing the manilla folder for Daniel Kingsley.

Now then, let's see what Dr. Hamilton has on Daniel Kingsley.

He opens his file and reads through it.

'Date: March 13th, 2008

'Name: Daniel Audrey Kingsley. Birth: August 28th, 1995. Mother: Rosa Kingsley. Father: Albert Kingsley. Sister: Anna Kingsley (Deceased). Hair: Red. Eyes: Blue. Nationality: American. Race: Caucasian. Condition: Narcissistic Personality Disorder crossed with Histrionic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. Diagnosed: March 12th, 2008. Causes for concern: Drowned sister in the pool on impulse. Cause of condition: Environmental. Threat level: Severe.

The first thing David noticed was there was no cassette tape inside the manilla folder. It didn't matter, David knew exactly where the spare cassette tapes were. He bends down over the drawer and moves the false bottom out of place. There were several more tapes left behind by Hamilton over the years and David quickly shuffled through them.

He froze when he read one name that was not on the manilla folder on the desk.

"Roderick Kingsley?" he read. He picked up the tape before reaching for the tape recorder inside. Before he put the tape in, he checked for a tape reading Daniel Kingsley but there were no tapes concerning anyone named Daniel Kingsley, only several tapes with Roderick Kingsley written across.

"Who the fuck is Roderick Kingsley?"

He puts the Roderick Kingsley tape inside the tape recorder carefully and plays it.