So... this is the rewrite of the second chapter, coming out alongside Chapter 18.
And this is why Chapter 18 took this long. I had to release it on the same day as Chapter 18, or it'll be pointless since... no one would be notified with the updated/rewritten chapter.
And maybe it's a theme going on, but this rewritten chapter would be a bit related to the new chapter. More just with the parallel between the two.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story so far, reviews are definitely welcome!
After the whole ordeal with the girl in the alleyway, I finally arrived at the destination I was intended to come to. Or in other words, a storage facility controlled by the gang 'Animals'.
According to my dad's notebook, the gang's main source of profit was... human trafficking. So they transport girls from different countries, using the storage facility as the main hub before transporting them to other places.
...On top of that, this place seemed to be one of the biggest knots of the entire human trafficking network. And that's why I was going to deal with this here.
Using the shadow as my cover, I scanned the rooftop of the main warehouse. And... okay, so there were three snipers right now, stuck to the shadow and it should be alright.
Finding the spot that's safe for my landing above, I web-zipped myself to the rooftop and focused on one of the snipers. Well, he was alone, a bad decision on your part, sir.
Without hesitation, I fired three lines of web and pulled the sniper up toward me. Making sure that no gap for even a single sound to slip through, I knocked him out with a single punch. Just focus on the jaw, and use a bit of your enhanced strength, they should be out cold.
Tieing the man up on the poster on the roof, my focus was on the next sniper who was alone. Landing with a smooth roll, I dashed toward the second sniper and fired a line of web to his shoulder.
Forcibly turning him around, I wasted no time and knocked him out with another punch. Webbing him up on the ground, the final sniper was right in front of me, still oblivious of my presence.
Perfect, now's my chance.
With my eyes locked onto him, I immediately sprinted as quickly as I could. There were still the elements of surprise on my side, thankfully. Without a second thought, I fired a line of web and pulled, sending his face right into my knee.
Just as I thought, he got knocked out instantly.
After tieing them up with web, I peeked through the window on the roof. Of course, it's filled with guards and some other members of Animals. But well, with what they're wearing, it's so easy to mistake them as just another biker gang.
Wait, I shouldn't comment on their fashion choice.
Unlocking the roof window, I found myself landed on a network of steel beams, which is... suspiciously convenient. Did they ever think about how all this only gave someone like us a massive advantage?
But well, I guessed they didn't think about it. So your fault.
Feeling a smirk crept up under my mask, the first target came into my sight. A lone guard chilling in a corner, out of sight for everyone else.
Web-zipping myself to the wall right above him, and slowly crawled until I was right above him. Without hesitation, I grabbed his jacket's collar and pulled, slamming his head right against the wall before keeping him there with web. It should be high enough to not gain any attention from everyone else.
One down, and I was still clear. Okay, let's keep going.
Right after that, I pulled myself back onto the beams, landing my gaze upon my next target. Another guard who's all alone, looking after a cargo tank just haphazardly piled up over there. And... it felt strange, why would these things here and... lined up side-by-side like this?
Shaking my head, I silently walked to right above the said guard, still on the beam. Okay, it should be easy, I had done it a few times now.
Without a word, I shot a strand of web and connected with his back and pulled. Once my hand grabbed the collar of his jacket, I knocked him out with two hard strikes.
Two down. But still, a lot more to go-
Before I finished my thought, my surrounding suddenly turned into monochrome, and it looked like a wave spread from myself. However, I could also see a red pulsing dot from all the guards... Wait, the spot was located on their chest...
It's the vibration from their heart?
And... how the hell did I do that?
Shaking my head, I decided to focus on the red dots, they're basically markers for everyone in this place... And okay, so sixteen more people in this place, other than the three people who were talking with each other. They didn't look like a part of those guards.
But with the whole place was literally filled with light, it's quite impossible to stealthily deal with all of them... I needed the advantage here. Maybe there would be some ways to shut off all the light...
Thankfully, with the monochrome view this... ability provided, I could see more clearly with pipes and cables... It was probably because of the lack of color.
I followed the cables connected from the light right below me, and ended up on a small breaker box located on the ground floor. It was on the wall, and it would be a bit risky for me to try and turned it off, but... I could try.
Without hesitation, I dashed along the steel beams until I was right above the breaker box. But there were still too many guards for me to even have a chance to get down without being noticed...
Well, either way, my presence here was going to be noticed, maybe a small distraction would be enough.
Hanging upside-down from the beam itself, I lowered myself for a bit before aiming at a wooden box a great distance away from me. It should be loud enough to draw some attention, I hope so...
With that, I fired a web bullet right at the box. And... a-ha, it did grab some of their attention.
"What the..."
Now's my chance!
My grip on the web released and I dropped to the ground with a smooth roll, then I hastily rushed to the breaker box and tore the cover open. And yes, it did get heard by those three people who were just talking.
"...Who the fuck are you-"
Ignoring the yelling behind me, I flipped off all of the switches and webbed it up. And darkness covered the entire warehouse. So did the chaos between everyone in the warehouse.
And the whole wave thingy also came back too, weird. But... wait, it wasn't just turning my view into monochrome and highlighting everyone... It's also a persudo-night-vision.
Nice.
Feeling a small smirk crept up under the mask, I sprang to my feet and rushed toward the group who just saw me. And left no space for a single gasp to escape as my fist connected with their jaws.
Right hook, left hook, uppercut... Got it!
Once the three were knocked out and tied to the ground, I continued through my way and web-zipped myself back to the first floor. And kicked the unlucky guy who just happened to be there right to the wall, with some web to tie him there before web-zipping myself to the metal beam above.
And my next target came into my sight, with him turning on his flashlight. Without a second thought, I instantly fired a line of web and connected with his head, letting his scream of terror riverbed through the entire warehouse as I pulled. Then just like the others, I knocked him out with one punch and webbed him up.
Well, they somewhat knew I was here anyway, why not putting some fear in them? Batman did that, and so could I.
Mere seconds after the scream reverbed, the rest of the guards scrambled to do something to get themselves some lightning. Flashlight on their guns, just a regular flashlight, or even on their phone... All they did was only give me even more information on their location and field of view.
Turning on the wave thingy, I could also see how much quicker their hearts were beating. Mostly fueled by fear.
Now, only twelve people left... Just keep my cover, and I'd be fine.
Adjusting my goggle, I immediately sprung for some lone targets along the beam, webbing their mouth before I pulled him up and took him down. Just like how Noir did it in Shattered Dimension.
One by one, I slowly but surely eliminated everyone in this warehouse with my stealth. Even if after a while, they just start shooting every time they even catch a glimpse of me, which only made it worse for them. And the last few people finally started to get a bit smarter, and grouped up to cover every angle.
But the gap between their flashlight still gave me enough space to take them down.
"Jason! Group together- Mhmm! MHMM!"
Not letting him finished his sentence, I fired a web to his leg and mouth, pulling him into the shadow. Then I fired another line of web to a different guard's back as I web-zipped myself to the beams and yanked him up, grabbing his collar and knocked him out.
"What the fuck is going on…" One of the few remaining guards said to himself, but the despair and fear only grew bigger by the second.
Before long, only one of them still have a gun in his hand, as he frantically swayed his gun around and searched for me. Well, you didn't worry, I'd finish this quick.
Dropping down, I fired a line of web and attached to his feet, pulling him to me until I was directly above him.
Shutting his screams out with a bit of web, I let my gaze rested upon his. "Sorry, it's nothing personal," With that said, I knocked him out cold with a fist to his jaw.
After dealing with every member of the Animals in this warehouse, I tore off the webbing on the junction box's switches and turned the light back on.
Just as I thought, it looked like one of those scenes in a horror movie. With a lot of those guards hung to the railing, some of them were stuck to the wall, some of them were on the ground…
"…At least I didn't get a scratch from that."
Shrugging, I walked around and looked for a place for them to keep the human trafficking victims. And… weird, usually, there would be some kind of basement or things like that. But there wasn't one here-
Before I could finish my thought, a slight vibration was visible in that cargo tank. It was subtle and faintly visible under my uh… vision.
Actually, maybe I should have a name for it. Uh… well, dammit, I'll just call it Spider-Wave for now. I really suck at making names in general.
However, shaking my head and let myself focused on those cargo tanks. I jumped to the first floor and walked up to them, and fired two lines of web on the doors.
Okay, Ethan, one, two!
With a powerful yank, the tank's door got ripped off from the rest of the tank, revealing what was inside. And… no.
It's the victims.
F-from the vibrations from their heart… all of them were just barely clinging to life-
"H… help…"
Snapping out from my thought, I felt my eyes widened under the goggles. Without a second thought, I took a step forward before stopping myself. What could I do here?
D-dammit, I need to call the police now. There were just too many girls here, and… but… I couldn't just use my phon- Whatever, just grab one of the goon's phone!
"I-I'm calling for help!" Rushing to one of the goons I webbed up on the wall, I pulled out his phone and dialed the police.
Thankfully, they responded instantly.
"911, what's your location and emergency?"
"Get the ambulance and the nearest patrol officers to here, now," I said immediately. "I'm in a storage facility in Midtown, the one that's controlled by the Animals."
"Um… Excuse me, the Animals?"
"Yes! That one gang with all those human traffickings!" Unable to hold my anxiety back, I internally cringed at my unintentional outburst. "There are at least 20 girls that need medical attention right now, and maybe some extra patrol cars to get those guards too."
"Wait, sir. Just calm down, I am dispatching officers-"
"Just do it, I took care of those guards, just do as I said," I interrupted her, and my eyes only widened as all of those cargo tanks were revealed to be… victims.
"…O-okay, I am calling the patrol and ambulances…" Trailing off, the 911 operator typed something before returning to me. "Then uh… sir, we have officers and ambulances coming in your way."
"Thank you," Gulping, I tried my best to keep my breathing steady. "Just please, they needed help, just get them here as quick as they can."
As if they just heard what I said, the sound of police and ambulance siren quickly closed in this warehouse. I guess… it's my time to go.
After I quickly 'packed' every goons and those snipers on the ground, I left a small note to point out those girls in the cargo tanks.
"Get the paramedics to the cargo tanks. Sincerely…"
Wait, what name should I use to call myself? U-uh… Just… Wait, my outfit looked like Spider-Man Noir, what I just did was literally how Noir fought…
It's unoriginal, but whatever.
"Sincerely, Noir."
Leaping back to the cargo tank, I crouched down and tried to make myself as comfortable for them as possible. "Don't worry, help is coming."
Hearing the front door of the warehouse being opened and footsteps closed in, I fired a web to the window and left the warehouse.
…Well, I should call it a night. I'd done enough for my first night out, and… yeah.
[The next day]
Just as I thought, my action made to the news. Even though I didn't hear it from the main-stream news.
Walking down the hallway of Midtown High, I opened my locker when a somewhat familiar voice took my focus. Coming from the TV installed above, it was… Betty Brant. The same one in the MCU.
"Rise and shine Midtown High, I am Betty Brant," The said reporter introudced herself. And… from the look of it, it's only her as the host. Where's the uh… Jason guy?
"And another day with only me as the host, just please… I really need a co-host."
Oh, that explained it.
Quickly coughed and put on her 'professional' look, she continued the reporting of news. "Anyway, questions remains as last night, a shocking turn of event transpired."
"Last night, a warehouse, which the gang 'The Animals' used as their hideout and hub of human trafficking was mysteriously broken into. And from the words of authority, it seemed to be the work of a new vigilante which suspiciously have a similar power to Spider-Man."
"Even though uh… I kinda hate that name, but from what little we knew of him, he called himself 'Noir'." And after that, a few long seconds of dead-air stayed. "…Uh… why did you put this in the news, Jason? It's-"
Before I could hear what she was saying afterward, my Spider-Sense rang and alerted me of something. But it was quickly followed by a tap on my shoulder.
"Hey, Ethan," Turning around to face where the voice came from, I came face-to-face with Gwen herself. "So uh… Never knew you're interested in that news segment."
"O-oh, it's just… there's apparently a new vigilante running around, that just got me interesting," Internally cringing at my own lame explanation, I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah."
"You mean that 'Noir' guy?" She asked, air-quoting the 'Noir' part. "Well, dad mentioned him this morning, and he's quite happy that the whole place have been brought down."
"Y-yeah, it's great that those victims got saved…" Trailing off, I turned my focus to my locker. "B-but anyway, uh…"
Thankfully, before our silence could last a single second longer, the bell rang. And Gwen silently cursed to herself before looking back. "So… see you at lunch."
"Yeah, see you at lunch.
After a while, with a few periods' worth of lessons passed, I was finally free for lunch. Like, even though my old school wasn't far from the level of Midtown High, but… it was still a bit too much. Maybe I should ask Peter for help.
Anyway, back on track. Just as I said with Gwen, our little group just sat down at the usual table. And just ate our lunch like usual.
But the silence was broken as MJ suddenly asked, "Hey uh… guys, have you heard the news? With that uh… Noir guy."
"Yeah, it's basically the talk of the town," Peter nodded, taking another bite into his sandwich. "I guess there's another vigilante in this place."
"Dad mentioned how much weight he lifted off from his shoulder," Gwen shrugged. "Well… it's a big blow to the gang that's owning the place."
"Really? It's that big of a blow?…"
"Yeah, it's that big…"
As the talk between MJ and Gwen continued, their voice slowly faded away… for some reason- Wait, why was my Spider-Sense tingling right now?
Without another word, I immediately looked around my surrounding, my eyes scanned through the whole of the canteen. And they landed someone, as my Spider-Sense buzzed the loudest.
It was a girl with silver hair, and she was sneaking glances at my table. No wait, it wasn't on our table, it's on me. However, noticing me returning the gaze she was giving me, she immediately turned away.
…Okay, that was weird, like really weird. Did my other-self did something-
"Ethan!"
Snapping back to reality by MJ's sudden word, I looked back, and uh… they were giving me weird look. Uh… Ethan, kept it cool and it'll be alright.
"...Something's wrong?"
"Well, that should be what we're asking," Giving out a small breath, Gwen moved her head over my shoulder and looked at where I was looking at. "But… something caught your attention?"
"Oh… it's nothing big, so… let's just move on, I guess?"
Please just moved on, please just moved on…
"…You're weird," The said blonde deadpanned, taking a sip of her drink. "Anyway, Peter, how's the Stark Internship?"
…So Peter used the same excuse here too, good to know. Not that I wasn't aware of the true nature of his 'Stark Internship'. No wait, that should be obvious.
Surprised by the sudden question, Peter blinked before nodding. "W-well, it's going great. Mr. Stark is a really nice guy-"
"You said that before," MJ suddenly interrupted, her mouth was full of food (wait, where did she get this much in the first place?)
And for a full five or six seconds, only an aura of awkwardness filled the space between us. Um… I had never expected MJ would be a mood-killer, but uh… here we were.
"Uh… well," As the silence got longer and longer, I finally broke it, rubbing the back of my neck. "Actually, I'm interested as well. It's rare to be a friend of someone working for Tony Stark out of all people, after all."
"O-oh, uh… it's quite fun to work around the tech in the Stark industry too," Peter quickly added, laughing awkwardly as well. "Of course, I don't get any access to the top-level stuff, but the other stuff is nice. Like uh… some stuff related to energy and more."
"And oh, Mr. Stark was quite curious about you too, Gwen."
Gwen blinked in surprise. "What? W-wait what?!"
"Yeah, I just casually mentioned your project a while ago and turned out he liked it," Peter nodded. "But you already are applying for Oscorp's internship with a recommendation, so... yeah."
…Wait, Gwen's internship had a recommendation? I remembered that's why I was Oscorp and got that bite, but I'd never really asked about the internship itself. Hmm… who would that recommendation come from?
"C'mon Pete, just tell me about it sooner," Gwen sighed, brushing her bangs aside. "But getting Doctor Octavius' recommendation is a one in the million chance, so tell Mr. Stark that I'm sorry…"
Oh, it's Otto Octavius. Interesting.
However, before either Peter or Gwen could say another word, MJ suddenly slammed the table and startled us. And she looked like she just remembered something.
"Wait, I remembered!" She exclaimed, miraculously didn't attract attention from others. "Since my brother is coming on Saturday, our band practice is changed to today!"
…What.
"…MJ, seriously?" I deadpanned, and the look only got worse as the said redhead just nodded. "…Oh great… thank god I don't have plans after school."
"You're lucky that I'm the same as Ethan as well," Gwen sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Anyway, what we're playing during the practice?"
"Uh… it's just some covers, like… some Car Seat Headrest songs."
"Oh, Car Seat Headrest, I quite liked them," I smiled slightly, taking a sip of my drink. "So… just them?"
"Of course not! There are also some other bands like-"
"Okay that's enough, Mary," Gwen suddenly interrupted her, and covered her mouth before looking at me. "Ethan, out of all things… you forgot about that?"
"About what?"
"That Mary would get force us here and sat through an hour's worth of commentary about the indie bands she likes," Deadpanning, the blonde released the hand over MJ's mouth. "We've been through that before, we don't need to sit through it again."
"…I-I'm not THAT bad," The redhead pouted, shifting her gaze to Peter. "Peter, I'm not that annoying, right?"
"M-me? I'm uh…" Trailing off, the poor Spider-powered teen just glanced at me and Gwen, before shifting her gaze back onto MJ with an apologetic look. "Sorry MJ, but you can be like that from time to time…"
"Peter… even you…" Finding herself unable to say anything, MJ just… slumped in her chair. But she didn't stay long before suddenly sitting up. "But we're still having our practice today, remember that."
Gwen and I just gave a glance before sighing. "Yeah, we'll remember that."
[After school, MJ's house]
After school had ended, I went back to my house and grabbed my bass and other stuff (actually, it's just my tuner, pick, and my cable) and got straight to MJ's house. And her house reminded me of the one from Sam Raimi's trilogy. Just a bit bigger, and with a separate garage.
Ringing the doorbell, I was greeted by a redheaded woman in her forties. So… if my memories about the comic were right, this should be MJ's mom or auntie… Uh… her name was Anna, right?
"O-oh Ethan! It's been a while!"
"Um… Good afternoon, Ms. Watson," I greeted, avoiding the whole mess of missing information from my other-self.
"C'mon, I've known you since you're in kindergarten, just call me Anna," She smiled brightly, noticing the huge base I was carrying on my back. "Oh, you're joining Mary's band?"
I nodded. "Yeah, they needed a bassist, after all."
"Huh, I never thought you'd even play an instrument, but people change," Anna giggled, stepping aside and let me in. "Anyway, I heard about what happened to you a while ago, how's everything?"
Hmm? What was she talking abou- Oh wait, she's probably talking about the whole Oscorp stuff. Speaking of which, it's been over a month since I got here… time really flies.
"Oh, I lost some memories, but my old notebook helped me regain around…" Trailing off, I gave her a reassuring smile. "Ninety-five percent, so nothing really changed."
"That's good to hear," The older redhead gave out a breath of relief, gesturing to the garage. "Anyway, Gwen got here a bit ago, and can't just leave them waiting."
"Thanks, Ms- Anna," I nodded, stepping into the house and got straight to the garage.
And just as Anna said, Gwen and MJ were already there and waiting for me. Gwen was just playing around with the drum, while MJ was tuning her guitar.
"Um… Hi, sorry to keep you two waiting," I greeted them, noticing a different, and… older amp sitting next to MJ's. "Uh… that's my amp, right?" I asked, opening up the bag and took out the bass.
"Y-yeah, I got that from Anna's old collection," MJ nodded, fine-tuning her guitar and strummed it once. "It should be alright for a bass, at least for you."
"We're not really a professional band or anything, after all," Gwen added, playing a few different patterns in different tempos. "Just three kids messing around with instruments."
"But I trust that we definitely can be something better," The redhead replied, turning her gaze back onto me. "Ethan, if you need to, we can try something more simple for you. Since uh… you probably just had a month worth of experience-"
"You don't need to do that for me, MJ," I shook my head, plugging in the cable, and turned up the volume. "And this might show you where my skill is."
With that said, I immediately broke into bass solo, the one from an Asia band I heard a while ago. If my memories served me right, they were called 'Mayday' and from Taiwan. But either way, to say that Gwen and MJ were shocked by my solo was… a giant understatement.
"…Okay, this definitely does not sounds like someone who started playing a month ago," Gwen finally said after a long moment of silence, pointing her drumstick at my bass. "I… I don't even know how to explain it unless you've always been playing bass in secret."
"But that'd be stupid, really stupid," MJ rubbed the back of her neck, but still flashed a smile at me. "Either way, now that you've shown to be much better on bass than we thought…"
"I have an idea!" She suddenly exclaimed, turning over to Gwen on the drum. "Gwen, start a beat! Any beat will do."
Raising an eye in slight confusion, Gwen nodded slowly and started playing. As her feet tapped along to the beat, the redhead also started playing chords on her guitar, the slightly distorted sound emerged from her amp. And she didn't need to say anything for me to get what she wanted, a bassline that just fit what she was playing.
And I did just that, following the same chord she was playing, and started to add in my own personal flair.
It might (and probably) sounded bad and extremely disjointed, but… it was something made by us. Not following any kind of structure or anything, just three teenagers rocking their hearts out.
And around two or three loops and changes in chord progression later, MJ started humming some melody. It was quite different than how my band back in my old universe went, but it's fun.
I guess I made the right choice for joining MJ's band.
After the band practice, I got back to my house and had a small dinner with Catherine. And did I mention that her food was really good?
Like, they're on the top five of any homemade food I'd ever tasted. Even back in my life before tossed to this world.
After that, and made sure that Catherine was asleep (she always slept early since her job required. If I remembered right, she's a teacher in the Vision Academy.) I hopped back to my room and straight to business.
First, let's see if the infamous Jameson had something to say about me. Opening my notebook, I opened a browser tab to Jameson's podcast, while I looked for the police radio on a different tab.
"Welcome back to 'Just the Fact with J Jonah Jameson'… And today, we have a serious talk…"
And wow, Jameson wasted no time and straight to my work in the warehouse. But of course, it's biased and directly against me. Well, this was the JJJ we're talking about, of course, he'd be biased about me.
Anyway, after finding the right radio frequency for the police radio, I plugged it into my phone, and I used my phone's built-in radio tune to just that frequency. It wouldn't be as good as a full-on police tracker, but that will do for now.
With that done, I put on my costume and crawled out from the room's window. Time to go on a semi-patrol, even though it's more just a run in the night than anything major.
As the incident with snapped web… I chose to just run on the rooftop and web-zip around for now. I might try swinging later, but not really now.
And it was a quiet night, nothing major happened. No report on the police radio, or anything I saw-
Wait, a jewelry store with its glass broken. Well… it looked like a break-in, let's see what actually happened here…
Web-zipping myself in front of the store, I activated my Spider-Wave and scanned for any person inside. And a-ha, there's one.
"Just be quiet and keep the element of surprise…" Mumbling to myself, I was going to take another step when someone suddenly leaped from the store.
"Sorry, comin' through!" that person, which sounded like a girl, said. And she fired her grappling hook and to the rooftop.
Narrowing dodging that person, it didn't take me seconds to figure out who that person was. The silver hair and black suit kinda gave it out, it's the Black Cat, AKA Felicia Hardy.
"Hey, wait!" I yelled, firing my web, and pulled myself to the roof, chasing after her. "Wait up!"
She- she was really quick! No wonder even Peter would have a problem chasing after her, but wait… I shouldn't just run after her, I needed to be more creative. Quickly scanning my surrounding, I fired two lines of web and pulled, launching myself to the edge of the rooftop and launched again.
Soaring through the air, I web-zipped and launched myself again, closing the gap between us. And… Got her!
As my arms wrapped around her, Black Cat and I fell to our face and rolled. Before finally stopped, and… unluckily (depended on the perspective), she was on top of me.
Speaking of her, I also had a closer look at her costume (and overall physical features). So her suit looked similar to the one in the PS4 game, but with a zipper pulled down in the middle of her chest (which uh… were quite developed). And besides, her suit looked more covered with armor too, maybe to block bullets, with a utility belt on her waist too.
And of course, the 'mask' that really had no real use in covering her identity. Maybe that's just a goggle with fancy stuff to help her stealing stuff. And… she looked young, around my age.
"That's new, Spidey," The Black Cat said, sitting up with a small smirk before noticing my uh… different costume. "…Wait, did you uh… did you just got a new suit? You need to refund this right now, it sucks"
"Of course it sucks… I just slapped on some clothes and called it a day," I grunted as the weight of her sitting on top of me remained. "And that aside, I'm not Spidey."
"You're not Spider-Man, then uh… who the hell-" Stopping herself in mid-sentence, the cat thief's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, you're that uh… 'Noir' guy?"
"…Yeah, that's me," I said between grunts, adjusting my goggles. "Nice to meet you, Black Cat."
"Nice to meet you… I guess," Deadpanned, Black Cat did a back-hand flip and stood up, extending a hand to me. "Did I mention that your costume sucks?"
"Yes, you kinda said that four lines ago…" Nodding, I grabbed her hand and stood up as well. But uh… was she feeling my hands? "U-uh… you can let go now."
"H-huh- oh, sorry," Giggling, she released the grasp and stepped back, a small smile crept up. "It's just… you grasp is strong, and quite comforting… for some reason."
…Wait, she wasn't saying it like playful or anything, she's… kinda genuine. Never thought I would put Black Cat and the word 'Genuine' in the same sentence, but here we were.
"W-well, that's weird," I commented, clutching and releasing my hand. "The last time I grasped someone, I smashed his head to a wall and knocked him out."
"…He didn't die, right?"
"Yeah, just knocked out… I guess," I rubbed the back of my neck. "I didn't pull my punches that much, after all."
Black Cat nodded, but not before a smirk crept to her face. "Hmm… so you don't hold back as much as Spidey…" Trailing off, she took a few steps toward me, until we're just breathes away. "I'll let you know a little secret of mine, I like it when someone doesn't hold back that much of everything…"
O-okay, yep, that's the Black Cat I remembered. U-uh… wait, I shouldn't just stand here, be a gentleman and gave her some space-
"I'm fond of you, Noir," Interrupting my thought, she giggled before she fired her grappling hook to the edge of the rooftop aside. "I'm pretty sure that we'll meet again, but… Adios."
With that said, the grappling hook pulled herself and… she tripped her feet and fell to the ground, face first. But thankfully, I was quick enough and caught her before she fully fell.
"…So much for that Adios," I deadpanned as I let her sat down, and I was pretty sure that she saw it through my goggles. "You can just run off, not uh… try to do a Spidey and fail."
"I-it's just one-time incident, I just tripped," Black Cat uh… pouted in return, brushing her bangs aside. "And… it's just… Fine, I wanted to look cool and failed."
"O-oh, I'm not uh… scolding you or anything, just…" Trailing off, a thought suddenly hit my mind. Oh yeah, she was staling from a jewel store, at least I should ask why she did it. "Wait, if I remembered correctly, you were stealing something from a jewel store… You know that's a crime, right?"
"Oh great, it's time for that talk again?"
"Not really, I just want to ask you the what and why."
"The what and why… you're weird, Noir," Smirked, Black Cat shifted her body and pulled out a flash drive. "But that store is just a front for a Mafia, Dead-Bridges to be exact."
…Wait… Dead-Bridges?! My other-self's dad's notebook did mention their name, and… what the hell she was doing with them?
"So you're working for them?"
"No, of course not," Eyes widened, she immediately shook her head refusal. "In case if you don't know, but I quit being a criminal a while back."
"Oh… so you're trying to uh… take them down, alone?" I couldn't help but ask out loud, disbelief clear in my voice. "They're almost on the same level as goddamn Hammerhead, or even the Kingpin."
"But cat got nine lives, so am I," Standing up and stretched her arms, a confidence smile clear on her face. "You should worry about yourself though, Noir. What you did last night definitely caught attention of some big names."
"That's how it always is, I expected that I'll caught some attentions, it doesn't matter whether it's good or bad," I sighed, also stood up and rest my palms against my waist. "But… Nine lives aren't enough for Dead-Bridges here."
"Then what's your proposal? Trying to talk me out of it?"
"From your look, that's pretty much impossible even for Spider-Man," I said, and… that was a stupid idea, but well... my other-self's dad was killed by them. Even though it wasn't exactly my dad, but… I couldn't just let them go on.
From this point on, my life would definitely get at least ten-times more dangerous. But fuck it, I'll do it. "Let's just say… let me be your partner. Two set of brains are definitely better than one."
Eyes widened, Black Cat just stared at me for a few moment. "…You're joking, right?"
"No, I'm serious… as serious as I can be," I said, trying my best to keep my hesitance back from being clear. "Two brains and two pairs of hand are definitely better than just one, as I just said."
"But you're just putting yourself into dangers with no reason," She took a few steps toward me, a hint of disblief still clear in her voice. "I know it's kinda hypocritical for saying that, but seriously, you don't need to."
"Then what if I tell you that I have some information about them?"
"…That sounds like you just make it up-"
"Nope, totally real."
So… it's actually also from my other self's dad's notebook. Out of all mafia and gangs that he investigated, Dead-Bridges was the most documented on that notebook… Maybe that's why he was killed by them in the end.
At least… I should do something to get some closure for him. Even if he wasn't my real father.
"Well… you don't need to agree with it right here, you can think it through-"
"But I get the sense that you might just go on yourself," Black Cat interrupted me, giving out a long sigh. "Then… yeah, let's see if this partner would end well or not."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it will," I smiled under my mask, and I was pretty sure that she noticed it, even if she can't see it clearly.
"Huh, quite confident, aren't you?" With a teasing smirk on her face, she took a few steps forward until we're just breathes away again. And her finger traced alongside my jaw. "Don't let me down then, Noir."
With that said, she stepped back and walked over to the edge of the rooftop, but not before stopped by my words.
"Wait uh… how are we going to contact each other?"
"Check your pocket, Noir," Turning around with the same teasing smirk, Black Cat winked at me. "I'm not just good at stealing stuff."
Not leaving a moment for me to say anything, she jumped off from the building and grappled away. And I was alone again, watching as she soared through the air and landed on a different rooftop.
Just as she said, I reached into my pocket and… she put a small note there without my notice. Well, she was right. And oh, it was her phone number, probably from a burner phone as well.
Well… I was definitely getting myself into another mess. But at least… I wouldn't be alone.
(To be Continued)
