So here it is, the rewritten version for Chapter 3!

The general story is mostly the same, but a lot of details are changed.

And... Marry Christmas! Even though I'm definitely way too late by now XD.

Either way, I hope you enjoy the story so far!


After the little encounter with Black Cat, I continued my little patrol. After all, the night was still young, and I thought I could bear sleeping an hour later than usual. Just turn your alarm volume all the way to the max, and it should be fine.

Probably.

Running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, I stopped in my track as I came across a robbery scene. More exactly, a convenience store robbery. Like those kinds of robbery where someone just came in with a gun and forced the cashier to give him money.

Right up my alley to deal with.

Without a second thought, I jumped down from the rooftop and quietly opened entered the store. I was pretty sure that the poor cashier did notice my entrance, but kept quiet. Thank you, random cashier.

Leaping and stuck to the ceiling, I crawled until I'm directly above him and fired. With his gun webbed up and pulled away, I jumped back down and webbed his feet at where they were.

"Wha-" Before the robber could even say anything, I webbed his mouth shut and crossed my arms.

"Okay, I know you're quite desperate to do that, but a crime is a crime," I sighed, firing a few more web-line to keep him in place. "And if you really need some money, maybe consider helping in some homeless shelter or something. Crime isn't worth it."

Peeking over his shoulder to the cashier, I saw that he was already calling the cops. "Thanks for acting like I didn't come in."

"U-uh… I guess I'm just good at acting or something like that," The cashier shrugged with slight awkwardness. "But thanks, uh… how should I call you?"

"Noir, you probably heard me on the news," Hearing the siren closing in from outside, I bowed slightly before leaving the store. Then immediately web-zipped myself to a nearby rooftop.

After that, I ran along the rooftops and kept my attention to the police scanner/radio app. However, a buzzing from a car caught my attention, it was an alarm… so someone was stupid enough to steal a car and ruin his chance.

Landing quietly behind the car thief, he was clearly frustrated and panicking, quickly smashing his crowbar to the car window. But for some reason, he just couldn't break it.

Sighing out loud, I rest my arms on my hip and spoke out. "You're using a crowbar and still can't break the car window, seriously?"

With widened eyes, he turned to me and raised his hands into the air. "I-it was my car! I-I just lost my key and couldn't get in!"

"In the middle of the night?" With a raised brow, I said with clear suspicion. "Like… it's midnight right now."

"Y-yeah."

Well, as much as there's the possibility that what he was saying was true, I'm not gonna risk letting the car be stolen because I trusted someone's words. "As much as I wanted to believe you, I gotta keep it safe."

With that said, I quickly fired a web-bullet and tied his hand to the car's roof. "Okay, I'm gonna call some cops, and you can explain it to them. Since I'm not really the best person on this, sorry."

"B-but you're sticking me-"

"It'll dissolve in around an hour, and I'll tell the cops to bring some knives and stuff to cut you out," With another shrug, I pulled out my phone and called the police. "…Hello?"

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Um… I'm with a potential car thief here, but uh… I can't really identify if he's the owner of this car or now," I said, closely observing his reaction. "Can you send someone over here?"

"Sure, a patrol officer is coming to your location right now."

"Cool, awesome," I nodded, noticing how his eyes widened in… shock. "Uh… please remind that officer to bring something to cut the web, I don't want him to want for it to dissolve."

"Huh? Web?"

"Yeah, web. Anyway, have a good night, miss."

With that said, I cut the call and turned my attention back to the car thief. And yep, he looked horrified, so… now he has around 75% chance to be a car thief instead of the owner, or just something else.

"Well, an officer is coming, just explain to him, I don't have the authority here," Noticing a long patrol bike stopped close to where we were, I quickly fired a web and pulled myself back onto nearby roofs.

And yep, that officer definitely saw me, but whatever.

Okay, so… there's still some time left. Maybe… huh, taking some photos of Queens at night sounded like a fun idea. It's rare to walk around this deep in the night, after all.


[The next day, Midtown High]

As much as I wanted to say otherwise, I couldn't really bear an hour less sleep than usual. How the hell did Peter handle it every day? A heavy dose of coffee? But man, it's hard to wake up already.

Dragging my tired body to the hallway of Midtown High, I stopped before my locker and yawned. I should've asked Catherine for a cup of coffee… Or… was there any vending machine with coffee?

With those thoughts occupying my mind, I continued packing my books and notes. Just before someone just bumped into me and fell, her books and notes all clattered on the ground.

"H-hey, you're alright?" Eyes widened, I immediately helped her gather all those book sand notes, handing them to her.

"I-I'm fine, I guess I just-" Looking up, our eyes widened at the same time, and we just froze.

I-it's Felicia Hardy, the silver hair kinda spelled it out, and her 'mask' really didn't mask her face. Even though she was wearing a… boring-looking glasses right now. But wait, how did she hide her uh… 'assets'? Baggy clothes, sports bra, or both? OR hell, literally with bandages or other things to wrap around her breast to make it look smaller.

Wait no, I shouldn't be thinking about those things right now. Back to reality, Ethan.

"U-uh… Here," I awkwardly said, and she just took the book from my hand. However, in her eyes… I could notice something in her eyes, it looked like disappointment or sadness?

But before I could say another word, those emotions immediately got masked with surprise. "…Thanks, Ethan."

And my eyes widened at that word, h-how did she know my name? Other than meeting each other in costume last night, I don't remember anything about her at all. And I definitely never met her out of costume until this moment.

Noticing how I just froze and with my eyes widened, the silver-blonde gulped and tried to think of anything else to say. "It's me, Felicia, Felicia Hardy. We used to be friends when we're young."

…Oh, so that's why. And uh… wow, my other self was friend with Felicia Hardy when we're young… Why didn't he mention anything about it in his journal? D-dammit, now how should I reply to her?

After a few moments of deep thought, I internally sighed. I guessed I had to tell her the truth here.

"U-uh… I'm sorry, I don't remember."

And… shit, she looked like something literally broken inside of her. Dammit, I should just say something to fix it, right now. "U-uh… I think it's just from that spider bite, it messed my head up and I might have… forget about-"

"No, it's fine, it's alright," She said with a forced smile, lifting her glasses and packing her stuff in records speed. "I guess I just couldn't let go."

And without another word, she walked away as fast as she could.

…Great, you've done great, Ethan Turner. Seriously, why couldn't I just inherit the memory of my other self, like any other fan fiction or story… and stuff?

Dammit, I really got to find a way to apologize.

However, before my mind could think of any solution, the bell above rang again, signaling the start of the next lesson. Well… at least I still could think of a way in the lesson, just tried to not look like I was daydreaming.

[lunchtime]

After putting my mind on trying to fix my stupid mistake for the entire morning's worth of lessons, lunch arrived much quicker than I thought. And… here I was, sitting at the same table, with Peter, Gwen, and MJ again.

And it just went the same as any other day, Gwen and MJ engaged in some small talk about stuff, while me and Peter kinda just kept everything to ourselves- Uh… no, not this time.

Hearing the voice of the one and only Jameson, I turned over and noticed that Peter was listening to that.

"Listen to Jameson, seriously?" I couldn't help but ask, grabbing the girls' attention, alongside his.

"Yeah, it's funny to hear how bias he is about Spider-Man," He shrugged. "It's a comedy show, at least for me."

"Well, speaking of Spider-Man…" MJ suddenly spoke up, trailing off to try to be as dramatic as she could… classic MJ (of this world) here. "Have you heard about Noir's new appearances?"

And at the moment MJ mentioned my other identity, our eyes immediately turned on her. "Yeah, heard that he stopped some kind of robbery in a convenience store. And a car thief… if I remember right," Gwen nodded.

Oh, so that person WAS a car thief. Well, that's more on the officer than myself. I just left him there for the cops before he could get out.

"Wow, the news does spread quick…" I murmured, just loud enough to be noticed by them.

"It's actually the same for Spider-Man when he first started," Peter said, somehow able to say those words without a single shutter… Maybe it was a year-worth of hiding his identity, and experience. "The news quickly picked up that there's some new vigilante, then video popping up on YouTube."

"Yeah, it does act like that," Gwen agreed, nodding. "And the rest is history at that point."

"And to be honest, dad was having constant overtime in the station back then…"

As Gwen's voice slowly faded away for some reason, my surrounding was suddenly replaced by a familiar buzzing. Wait, was someone watching me? And carrying that thought, I looked toward where the feeling was vaguely pointed at.

Wait, the silver hair, and those clothes… Felicia Hardy?

And for a moment there, our eyes met and locked onto each other. While mine was a bit more filled with surprise, hers was… filled with sadness and longing. However, the 'lock-on' only lasted for a second or two for us, and she immediately tore her eyes away. Before I could even do anything about it, she already packed her tray and left the canteen.

…Damnit, I definitely hurt her bad with those words…

Should I follow her and- No, that'd link like I was stalking her or something along those lines. Then… should I call her when I'm in costume? Uh… that looks just like I was taking advantage of her not knowing it's me under the mask…

However, before I could come up with a good solution to that, the bell rang and signaled the end of lunch. And… Dammit, I guessed I'd have to see how it'd be tomorrow unless I somehow ran into her tonight.


[That night]

And just as I said a bit before, I went back to patrol tonight. Even though to be honest, it was actually just my third night out in costume. Well, Felicia did have a point, dealing with something like Dead-Bridges from my first few nights out was… something.

Was it right to step into the mess this early?

With the short conversation I had with Felicia replaying in my mind again and again, on top of the question of… everything, I ran and jumped, from one rooftop to another. And it didn't take long before I heard someone's calling. Actually, the word 'scream' fitted better here.

"He got my bag!"

…So it's just some simple bag stealing, easy job.

With my eyes locked onto the lady herself, I followed where she was pointing and found the mugger. Was he running as he depends on his life? Yes. Was his hand holding something that clearly wasn't something a man would use? Yes. Was he- Okay Ethan, you could stop it now.

Leaping from the rooftop I was staying on, I attached to the wall of the building on the opposite side of the street and started running. I had to admit, that mugger was quick, just not as quick as I was right now, or Cat- Wait, focused on your job!

Shaking my head, I fired some web and stuck him to where was standing. And watched as he fell to the ground, face first.

Landing to the spot next to him, I took the bag from his hand with some force and tied him down on the ground. And the lady arrived not long after, panting heavily and using her knees as support.

"Here's your bag, ma'am," I said, handing the bag to her. As she took it without a second thought. "And uh… I'll leave that decision to call the police or not to you."

"Tha-thank you…" Looking up, I could clearly see how her eyes were filled with surprise in a moment. Well, usually people would be expecting Peter to help them, not me. "U-uh… who are you? You don't look like Spider-Man."

"Noir, you probably heard me on the news," For some reason, I felt like this line might become my catchphrase… Wait no, back on track. "Um… I think I… don't have much to say anymore. And um… good night."

With that said, I pulled myself to the roof and left the scene. And just as I thought, a police bike arrived at where the ma'am was not long after.

Okay, one bag thief stopped, time for something else.

With that said, I jumped around and kept my ear to the police radio. Just like before, it was another quiet night. It's good that nothing really happened, for people like us, these nights were a rarity.

"I guess I can take a short break here…" Giving out a small breath, I sat down on the edge of the said rooftop and relaxed. No matter how many times I watched, Queens wasn't a bad place at all, it's quite beautiful in its own way.

"H-hey, Noir," Surprised by the lack of warning from Spider-Sense, I turned around and… it was Felicia, in her full Black Cat costume. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Same for you," I replied, turning back to the view before me. "So uh… what's the matter? You track my location or something like that?"

"Not really, I just happened to see you here, that's all," Shaking her head, she sat down next to me. "I guess it's a small world, for people like us."

"You can say that," With a nod, I turned over to her, and… even if she tried her best to hide it, more to keep the 'Black Cat' Persona up, I could still see a hint of sadness and hurt in her eyes. Maybe that's why she's going out tonight, to take her mind off the mistake I made to hurt her.

Should I… say something to her? What, of course yes! Why was I asking it like a question in the first place?! It's my own mistake, I should be the one who fixed it.

Internally taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth. "You look sad, something happened?"

"Huh? N-no, it's nothing," With widened eyes, she hastily refuted my words, and her eyes immediately glanced away. "…Was it this obvious?"

"I'm just very observant, and the goggles did nothing to help either," Smiling under the mask, I gestured to her goggles. And she blushed in return. "Sorry, uh… did I overstep?"

"No, not really," She shook her head again, her fingers subconsciously caressing the 'mask' she was wearing. "I don't know why, but… well, you seem like someone I can talk with. I guess there's no harm in telling you."

…That's… unexpectedly ironic. I seriously meant that.

Giving out a long sigh, she leaned back and glanced to the night sky. "It's just… something related to me outside of the costume, a bit of a personal thing."

"So uh… I had an old childhood friend, and we've been out of contact for years now," Cat continued. "And now, he straight-up forgot about me."

"I'm not blaming him for anything, it's more just me remembering him for too long, far too long," Even if she tried to play it off like it's really nothing major, but I could clearly see the struggle in her eyes. "So in a nutshell, teenager problem."

"I get that, I'm around your age, after all," I nodded, internally winced at my poor choice of words. "Just… like, even Spider-Man is around our age too."

"Yeah, small world, right?"

"Small world," I nodded again, my brain raced to think of anything to say about our meeting earlier. "But well… I guess you can try and talk with that childhood friend. If you can talk about it to me, you definitely can for him too."

Even though you're already doing just that.

"Maybe, I'm quite different in and out of my costume though, polar opposite if you will," She said, as the trademark 'Black Cat' smirk crept up to her cheek before turning into a sly grin. "Like right now, I can act like I'm all seductive and stuff… even though I always cringe at my acting after a few hours."

Oh, at least she's self-aware on that. And… from the look of it, she wasn't like any other Black Cat I knew from the comic and stuff… at least she's much more sincere and open to others. Never thought I'd describe the Black Cat with those words, but she's really like that.

"Well, I didn't mean like going full-on seductive and things on him, maybe just uh… a bit more confident… if that makes any sense."

Thankfully, she shook her head in response. "Oh, that kinda makes sense for me, just be a bit more open… maybe that'd help."

"I'm sure of it," Smiling under the mask, I adjusted my goggles. "Even though I'm not the best person when it comes to talking about relationships…"

And with the fact that I AM the 'friend' you were talking about, Felicia.

"But at least I feel a bit better now," She responded, with a small, but sincere smile. "Sometimes, that matters more than giving good advice. Maybe that's what I really need, not advice, just someone to talk to."

Surprised by her words, I let my eyes widen under the goggles and froze for a few moments. But not before I quickly snapped out of it. "Well, good to know. At least I did help you."

"Yeah."

With that said, we both just fell into a comfortable silence. We just watched the night sky and the subtle lights that shined upon the street of Queens. It was peaceful, just like how I said it a million times before.

However, our silence was interrupted by a buzz from my police scanner. And I quickly took it out with a raised brow, and was quickly greeted by a call for a serious car accident. Welp, as much as I wanted to stay here with Cat, it was time to get back in and help the city.

Thankfully, Cat sensed that I had to go as well. "I'll go home after a while, don't worry about hurting my feelings for leaving early," She said with a small amused smirk, noticing how my body froze from her words. "And you should learn to be a bit better around people as well, confidence is key."

"I know, but… see you later, Cat."

Once we exchanged a small nod, I immediately went on my way and left the scene. Okay, a car accident at… around fifteen minutes away from here, I should be able to get there before anything bad happened.

[five minutes later, The car crash scene]

Thankfully, I arrived at the scene ten minutes quicker than I estimated. And… it did not look good. A Sadan car crashed with a truck, it's a miracle that all of them were still alive… Wait no, focused on the job, Ethan.

Without a second thought, I leaped from my building and landed before the wreckage, and my Spider-Wave hastily scanned for any the location of passengers.

So… shit, a single mother and her two children (two boys) in one car, and a lone driver in the other. The children first. They need to get out ASAP.

I immediately rushed to the car with the family and to the back, where those kids were located. Then I rest my hands on the car's door and let it stuck, and I pulled. With how strong I was right now, it should be fine to rip a car door out without using anyway web.

And I was right, the car door was ripped off with not that much force needed.

Without a second thought, I reached into the car and gently took out both of those kids… one of them was bleeding from the head, while the other one was having some bruises. Thank god at least they weren't seriously injured.

After checking where's the origin point for the bleeding, I took out the pack of tissue I had and gently pressed it onto his head. And after I used some web to keep in place, I hastily turned my attention to the mother.

Immediately ripped off the front car door with my sticky power, it didn't take me long to identify and find the seatbelt. And I ripped off the belt with ease, carefully grabbing the woman and moving her out of the car.

Just as my Spider-Sense buzzed as if someone like me was nearby. Well, there's only one other person in the whole of NYC that's like me.

Turning back, I saw the webhead himself, just landed behind me. Well, as much as I wanted to talk with him, now wasn't the time. "Save the talk for later, can you help that driver from the other car?" I said, pointing at the truck behind him.

"O-oh right," Thankfully, he nodded and turned to the truck. And firing a few lines of web he pulled the windshield in one go and ripped apart the seat belt. Then he carefully got the truck driver out from the truck, laying him down on the ground. "Karen, what's his status?"

…So that suit AI was here, helpful.

Turning back to the family before me, I used my web to temporarily seal the bleeding wound on her. It wouldn't be good, but it's enough to last until the ambulance arrived. Which luckily… it's right now.

Waving my hand and signaling the Ambulanceman, I let them take care of the family of three, and Spider-Man helped the other driver as well. Okay, crisis averted. Good job, Ethan.

With that, I fired a line of web and pulled myself to a nearby rooftop, just as Spidey landed behind me soon after. "Wait! You're that 'Noir' guy, right?"

Stopping in my track, I turned and faced him. "Yeah, I'm actually thinking of a new name right now… Still hasn't landed on one."

"Then I probably still going to call you that," Shrugging, he walked up to me. "But seriously, you really went and dealt with a warehouse from a gang?"

"On my second night out too," I nodded in response. "One hell of a career path, right?"

"W-well, that kinda is…" Trailing off, he hastily shook his head and cleared his mind. "Anyway, it feels weird to have someone like me…"

"Get used to it, I'm not the first, and probably wouldn't be the last."

Yeah, if I could get bit… then maybe someone else would too. Maybe Gwen, or even this world version of Miles Morales. Or all those other guys… and girls.

"Yeah, I guessed you're not going to be the last," Giving out a long breath, he pondered for a moment before turning to me again. "But dealing with something THIS big at your first few nights here is… something else. Here."

Taking out his phone, Peter typed something before showing it to me. It was a number, just a phone number. "It's the number of my friend in the police," He explained. "She told me that if I found you, I should give you her number, just in case."

"So that I can annoy her?"

"N-no! Of course not!" With his mask's eyes widened, I couldn't help but smile at how he reacted. "L-like she's kinda scary from time to time, just call her when you need it, okay?"

"Yeah… I'm just joking," Keeping that smile, I took out my phone and copied the number. And… I think he didn't recognize my phone, good. "Here, uh… what's her name?"

"Yuri… at least that's how I call her," Before I could react, his phone suddenly buzzed and showed… Aunt May called her. And… he even put a photo of her on the caller screen (It's her from MCU, by the way).

Wow, it's a miracle that no one in our group found out who he was. Other than me, but I kinda cheated my way through, so… yeah.

Now with his eyes widened once more, he hastily took the phone back and uh… talked with Aunt May. And I just stood there and watched him bantering with May. Speaking of which, I actually never met her in person, not that I really had any reason to go his place-

"Noir, I'm sorry but I need to go now," Snapping me out from my thought, Peter clasped his hands together in an apologetic manner. "Uh… you should give a call to Yuri though."

Before I could make a reply, he immediately swung off from the rooftop. And… I was all alone again, standing here awkwardly and alone. I guess the awkward energy from Peter infected me.

Oh right, the call too.

Without a second thought, I looked at the number before calling it. And Peter did say he called his friend 'Yuri', so… there's ninety percent that it was actually Yuri Watanabe. Thankfully, she answered fairly quickly.

"Hello, who is this?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I cleared my thought before speaking. "U-uh… hi, I heard that you've been looking for me. I'm Noir, by the way."

After a moment of silence, she replied. "W-wait, Spider-Man found you?"

"Yeah, precisely," I nodded, not that she could see it. "Either way, Spidey only told me that he called you 'Yuri'. How should I call you?"

"Yuri Watanabe, just… call me whatever you want," She sighed. "I'm just a lieutenant, after all…"

Oh, so it was Yuri Watanabe. Okay, Ethan, be respectful and nice to her. "Okay, nice to meet you, Miss Watanabe."

"…It feels weird."

"I just want to be respectful and all…"

"No, it's fine," For some reason, I could imagine her shaking her head for some reason. "I'll get used to it. And please don't call this number to annoy me either, I've had enough with Spider-Man."

"Don't worry, I won't," With a small smile under my mask, I glanced at the skyline before me. "Either way, I hope we'll work together."

"…Good to know, Noir," She said. "Let's hope we'll work great together."

With that said, she cut the call and I kept my sight to the skyline before me. I really skipped a bit too much with the 'how to be a vigilante 101', straight from small street crime to that whole warehouse stuff…

But I got a feeling that I'd get into a bigger mess, and it looked sooner than I thought.

(To be continued)