[The next day]

I had never expected to say this, but I missed school. Since our battle in the school did make some serious damage (mostly the hole it made coming in and out of Midtown), we had about a week off from school.

'Ethan, what about the Homecoming?'

Oh, Homecoming... Actually, the school was kind enough to change the location of Homecoming. So basically, this year's Homecoming would be held in a party hall in Manhattan. Was it a gift? Actually, I wasn't sure about this.

Anyway, now we didn't have school, what were we going to do during this?

"Ethan! Which dress looked better on Rachel? I need some advice!"

Right, preparing for Homecoming. For me, this was the most boring thing for me to do. Since Catherine already got my dad's (in this world) suit, I was here to give advice for Rachel's outfit.

Sighing to myself, I leaned against the frame of Rachel's room's door with an unimpressed expression. "I don't have one, case closed."

"Aww c'mon!" Catherine pouted, holding the dress right in front of Rachel. "You're the only guy here! Who am I gonna look for advice?"

"I can call someone here if you want," I shrugged, pulling out my phone and scrolled through the contact list. "Maybe Peter?"

"C'mon, you're here!"

"No, I really don't have any comment on it," I deadpanned, raising an eye at Rachel. "Rachel, any comment on your dress? It's YOUR dress, after all."

Her reply was only an annoyed grunt, grabbing a black dress laying on the bed. "I told her I want to wear this one, and I'm not going to Homecoming with a boy!"

"Nah, you're joking, right?" Catherine giggled, cupping my sister's face with her hands. "You're hiding a boy from me~"

"I-I'm s-serious!" Rachel managed to say in between the grunts, narrowing her eyes. "I'm going with Ethan!"

...Wait, what? Oh, she's going with me? At least that's better than a boy...

"Ethan?" Catherine repeated, widening her eyes in surprise. "Wait, so no boys asked you for the dance?!"

"Of course!" She exclaimed, but a deep shade of red quickly crept onto her cheeks. "Ethan, any objection?"

"Well, I'm not even sure whether I'll go Homecoming or not" I shrugged, raising an eye in curiosity. "But hey, you can invite Betty to come with you, right?"

"Shu-shuddup!" Rachel shouted, giving me a death glare. And if looks could kill, I'm already dead, decapitated, and tossed to the river. Or I was ripped apart by Darkskid's goons or something like that... Wait, why did this idea suddenly pop up in my head?

"Anyway, I'm not going to stay for your argument between the color blue and black," I sighed, squeezing my nosebridge as I started to walk back into my room. "I'm going to have something to eat, you two want anything?"

"Um... I want a Filet-o-fish!" Catherine replied with a bright smile, raising her hands up into the air for no reason at all. "And don't you dare to buy anything else!"

"Hey, Big Mac isn't that bad," I argued back, before turning my attention to Rachel. "So Rachel?"

"Just as usual," Rachel shrugged, before widening her eyes in some realization. "Oh, I want French fries on my cheeseburger meal! Don't buy me any corn cup, okay? I had enough of it!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll try to remember," Rolling my eyes in mock annoyance, I entered my room and changed into my casual wear.


Back to Catherine and Rachel, once Ethan left the apartment, they glanced at each other for a split moment before opening their mouth, readied to continue their argument on what to wear. However, the doorbell rang before they could make a sound at all.

Sighing in annoyance, the older woman stood up and placed the dresses on the bed. Walking over and opened the door, she was about to put a rant on the person when she saw who's ringing the bell. However, she could only stare at the person with wide eyes, her mouth opened but nothing came out.

On the other side of the door, Jessica Jones gave out the same reaction to her. And the two stayed in a sense of awkward silence, not willing to move an inch at all.

"Jess..." Catherine murmured, tearing her gaze away from the PI. "Why are you here, you're finally making up for everything?"

However, Jessica only looked down, avoiding any gaze she drawn on her. "I'm working, okay? I'm not purposely coming here."

"Oh, you're working," She deadpanned, crossing her arms. "You're still a PI, right? I have nothing to give to you, Jess. I don't care what case you're on right now."

"...Whatever, I shouldn't be here... not after..."

"Don't, just don't finish it, okay?" Catherine cut her off, clutching her eyes for a second as she took a long breath. "...I was so happy that Rachel's going to her first homecoming, and you're going to ruin it."

"Rachel?"

"Just go, okay? It's none of your business," With that said, she closed the door with one go, not letting Jessica said anything.


[The street] (Ethan's POV)

Sitting in a corner in Mcdonald with my meal, I quietly ate my food when I noticed someone sat down right in front of me. Well, it wasn't like I had anyone with me, why would I even care about it-

"Are you just going to ignore me, Ethan?"

Widening my eyes in surprise, I looked up to the person sat in front of me and... It's Felicia, in her 'shy and timid girl' persona, including those boring glasses.

"Felicia? What brought you here?"

"Nothing," She shrugged as if she just came here for some lunch, but her penthouse is at least twenty minutes away from here... She probably was coming to meet me for something about our hero business.

"I just want to see you, that's all."

O...kay? So it wasn't about our hero business. But then... why the hell would she come here for no reason other just to see me?

"You can just call me beforehand... or something like that," I shrugged, an awkward smile crept onto my face. "Besides, your house is quite a distance away from here."

"I know, but that ain't gonna stop me from coming here, right?" Felicia replied with a faint smirk on her face, resting her chin on her hands. "Besides, I never thought that I would miss school. Weird, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "But... we still have that Lizard on the loose right now."

"You're right..." Shaking her head, she took a big bite in her burger before looking at me again. "But let's just forget 'bout it for now, okay? Maybe we should embrace our 'teenager' side for once?"

'teenager' side...

"Pffft!" Unable to hold my laughter anymore, I just broke down and slammed my head to the table in laughter. I'm sorry, Felicia. It's just... something so funny about it...

"Ethan! I'm serious!"

"I-I know... It's just so out of your character..." Clearing my throat to try and keep my laughter in control, I got up and wiped a few droplets of tears in the corner of my eyes. "But... it reminds me of the first few times we met in costume, y'know?"

"...What? How?"

"Remember that time you tried to be all seductive and ended up being extremely cringy?"

Widening her eyes in shock, I could clearly see a deep shade of crimson suddenly crept onto her cheeks. "Don't remind me of that... please..."

"But... looking back, I think your attempt to be all seductive ended up-"

"No! Just stop talking 'bout it!" She interrupted, hastily covered up my mouth with her hands. "I-it's a memory that I want to permanently erased from my brain!"

Taking her hands from my mouth, I quickly glanced around to see if anyone saw our... interactions. I just don't want anyone to mistake us as PDA'ing.

"...I was going to say you're adorable, Felicia," I sighed, noting that her eyes widened at my comment. W-well, it was usual for someone to feel like this when being called 'adorable', but... I guess it's our thing?

"From your posture, you didn't seem to mean it," Felicia suddenly pouted, narrowing her gaze at me.

"Wha- of course I do mean that. Even if the cringy part shines over it..."

"Hmm..." Further narrowing her gaze, she stayed for a few long seconds before nodded. "I'll let you slide, this time only."

"Yeah..." I trailed off, noticing the fact that we didn't touch our food as we started talking. "Oh shit, they're cold by now."

"H-huh? It's just burger, what's wrong with it being cold?"

"Yeah, I remember leaving a burger alone for an hour, and it tastes awful. At least for me." I shrugged, noting that Felicia just gave me a deadpanned look in return.

"That was you."

"Let's just say this as a cautionary thing." I shrugged again, wiping my mouth with the tissue as I finished the burger. "Maybe it's my own special PTSD about burgers that tastes horrible."

"...You can be so weird sometimes, Ethan."

"Really? did I?" I questioned, taking a sip to my soda as I raised an eye in confusion.

"Yeah, I remember that time you just kept saying things to yourself," Felicia shrugged, resting her chin in her hand as she recollected the memories of my weirdness... whatever that was.

"And that time you give Flash an epic comeback," She nodded to herself. "Never expected you to give him such a comeback."

"Well, that's nothing. I mean both of them."

"Or that time you're this cautious about the school's meal."

"Well, you know how bad the school's meal is..." Trailing off, I just raised an eye in curiosity. "But you seem to always pay attention to me, is there... some reason on that?"

Widening her eyes in surprise, Felicia didn't answer me, and she quickly avoided my gaze. Uh... okay? What's with her sudden change in reaction- Oh, my guesses were right...

O...kay, this was awkward.


"...I hate coming to the sewers," Sighing to himself, Peter crawled on the ceiling as his HUD showed him the way to Lizard nest. "How can I wash the suit without May noticing it..."

"You still haven't tell May about your identity?" Karen asked, earning a shrug from him.

"Why would I? Letting her know about this would only... drag her into more troubles," Murmuring to himself, the Webhead stopped for a second as the memories of that night surfaced. "I already lost one, I don't want to lose another."

"You're right... Tony did give me information about that," The AI agreed. "not that I wanted to, of course."

"I know, you're my personal AI, after all," Noticing the end of his track was within reach, Peter decided to cut this conversation and focus on the reason he returned.

Landing in the nest of Lizard located in the sewer, Spider-Man kept his focus on the words carved into the walls. Just what happened last time he visited this place, it was mostly nonsense with some of them that weren't even readable, and the only word he could make out was 'Oscorp'. However, in the midst of those words, there was a big difference, more and more words weren't craved, but written with blood.

'OSCORP'

'TONIGHT'

"It's not here before..." Murmuring to himself, Spidey took a step closer toward the wall and examined it closer. "Karen, can you determine how long have these words been written?"

A blue outline instantly appeared on his HUD and surrounded the bloody words. "Analysing..." The AI built into the suit answered, scanning the blood for a few seconds. "It's only about an hour at max."

"But... the battle happened yesterday, why would he write this now?" Questioning to no one, Peter rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Did he intentionally hurt himself? Or... did Dr. Connor inside the Lizard fought back?"

"This is possible, but considering how the Lizard acts during our battle in the school..."

"Everything just doesn't make sense..." Muttering, he shook his head and was about to leave when a thought popped up in his mind. "...But wait, what about Martha Connor? Is she still working in Oscorp and not like... taking a break of something?"

"...She's still working," The AI replied. "from the Oscrop servers, Martha Connor returns to work today..."

"Then..." Widening his eyelid, Peter continued looking around for more clue, before landing on one particular word on the other side, the blood used was much fresher and wetter. "Oh no..."

'MARTHA'

"Karen, call Gwen," Spidey said, still staring at the word in shock. "We need to reach Martha Connor, as soon as possible."


[On the other hand, Lower Manhattan]

Hanging upside-down by the chain, Gwen stared at the sunset outside to the warehouse as White slowly descended to her level with its own web. It was nothing but oceans, stretching across the horizon.

"Never thought I would see this scenery upside-down while hanging on a chain," Giggled at her own comment, the drummer shifted her gaze at the spider. "Hey White, you've been awfully quiet today."

"H-huh? Nothing, It seems like you finally got hang to your power."

Tilting her head in slight confusion, Gwen smiled slightly before flipping up and jumped to the ceiling. "Yeah, I guess days of accident tend to do that," She shrugged, slightly wincing as she recalled those... unpleasant memories.

"C'mon, I bet anyone would accidentally stick their hand on the showerhead and broke it." White sighed. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It's bigger than you thought, White," Deadpanning, the drummer caught one of the chains and swung herself to the ground. "Do you know how hard to come up with an excuse to tell dad?"

"Well, you're lucky that we need a new showerhead in the first place."

"And lucky that I'm more used with my power now," Walking back to her backpack lying on a pillar nearby, she was about to pack up and leave when her phone suddenly buzzed.

Raising an eye in confusion, Gwen took out her phone and noticed that it's Martha calling. "Weird."

Pressing the 'answer' button, she couldn't even say a word before Martha's voice overtook her. "Gwen, um... I know it's kinda out of place, but please tell Helen to pick up Billy for me."

"M-Miss Connor, it's only been about a week since the last tim-"

"I know, but... I have something to take care of, and I'm probably going to stay behind at Oscorp for the night."

"Stay behind at Oscorp... but ain't your project ended a while ago?"

"No... it's... it's my mistake, I had to fix it myself."

With that said, Martha ended the call and left Gwen alone, purely confused. "What the hell? Why would she suddenly..."

"Wait a sec! Remember what Peter said about Martha and that lizard?"

"That lizard..." Trailing off, the dots suddenly connected in her head, and she widened her eyes in horror and realization. "She's probably going to get that anti-serum and find... Dr. Curtis..."

"Shit shit shit..." Murmuring to herself, the drummer hastily dialed Martha's number and called her. However, she didn't pick up her call, no matter how many tries she gave. "Dammit! What should I do..."

However, before any potential solution could pop up in her mind, her phone buzzed again. Widening her eyes in surprise, Gwen hastily checked who's calling. It's Peter.

"Gwen! Did you know any event Oscorp is going to hold tonight?"

Confused at his sudden question, Gwen blinked in confusion before shaking her head. "Uh... not that I'm aware of-" Interrupting herself in mid-sentence, she tightened her hold on the phone as she remembered her intention of calling him.

"Oh right, Miss Connor just called me... She said something about 'fixing her mistake' and 'stay behind in Oscorp'..."

"...Oh no... Lizard is going to Oscrop, she's in danger!" Peter exclaimed, and from the background sound, he seemed to be in a rush. "I might not be able to get there in time, call her now and tell her to get away from there!"

"I tried this but Miss Connor is dead-set on staying behind-"

"Dammit," Peter interrupted her. "I had to call Noir and Yuri about this, had to go now."

With that said, he ended the call and left Gwen alone, shocked and hesitating. "Dammit... What should I do..."

"Trying calling Martha again, I guess?" White replied, lowering to her level with its web. "...Gwen?"

"I... I... Dammit," Clutching her eyes and shook her head, Gwen opened the map in her phone and checked how long it was to get to Oscorp. "I'm going to regret doing this."

Leaving a message for her dad to pick up Billy and her coming home late, she pocketed her phone and picked up her backpack.

"Whatever you're thinking right now, I'm all against it."

"But... I might be able to get there in time, and convince Miss Connor to get out of there," Shaking her head out from the though of possible outcomes, she swung the backpack over back and extended a hand for White to climb on. "We can't call her anymore... it's the only way we have right now."

"Let's hope we're quick enough."


[Evening, Oscorp]

Standing in the lab she used to work with Curtis, Martha Connor sighed as she looked at the blue serum in her hand. It was the only anti-serum to that Lizard serum Curtis used, the only chance to get him back.

"...I should've known it," Clutching her eyes in pain, she struggled to keep her emotion in check as she put the serum in her lab coat's pocket. "You're always stubborn, Curt. The hints are there, why did I miss them?"

"...I'm such a failure, as a wife, as a mother," Hastily shaking her head, Martha locked the lab's door and sat down, as if waiting for something to happen.

However, as if the world responded with her action, the entire floor was suddenly filled with the sound of the alarm. Listening to the sound of the alarm and everyone else is scrambling to evacuate, her attention was shifted as someone suddenly hardly knocked on the door.

"Miss Connor, it's Gwen!" The voice of outside exclaimed, kept knocking the door and earned a slightly widened eyes from the older woman. "I know you're in there! We need to leave now!"

"...No way, she came all the way to here..." Shaking her head again, Martha hastily opened the door and confronted Gwen. "Gwen, I didn't tell you to come here."

"Then just answer the call!" The Oscorp intern retorted, grabbing her hand pulled her out from the lab. "We need to leave now, Lizard is already here-"

"I won't leave," The older woman refused, struggling to get her hand free from Gwen's. "I told you it's my mistake, I have to fix it in my own term."

"Does that mean abandoning Billy?" Gwen turned around and glared at her. "He needs his parents, and aren't you her mom?"

Speechless, Martha tried to find anything to retort but failed. "...I... It's for Billy, I had to be responsible, for him, for Helen, for Curt."

"But you're just doing the polar opposite, Martha!" Clutching her hands in her arm, the Oscorp intensified her glare at her. "You're putting your life at risk-"

However, before she could finish her retort, the screaming from outside the lab startled them. "THAT THING IS HERE! RUN!"

Accompanying that screaming, Gwen could clearly see the shadow of Lizard by the door to the lab area. And it's coming toward them.

"H-he's here..."


Yeah, Chapter 13 ended on a cliffhanger... sorry 'bout that. Especially after three whole months of nothing.

After all, I've been working on my Persona fic over these three months (It's called 'Another Thief: Royal Fools', you can check it out if you're interested!)

Anyway, now the final battle of the Lizard arc is around the corner, and Gwen and Martha are stuck in the middle... Would Noir and Spider-Man get there in time? Or did Gwen had to protect Martha herself?

On top of that, Catherine has something in the past with Jessica Jones?

Review Response:

Jackejsh: Um... it's really ironic. But I'm really sorry for these three months of nothing (again)

OGbacon: Ethan would get some classes or training after the Lizard arc, especially with this battle being not easy for him. And yeah, I did want to do a Red-Hood-like costume for Ethan. It looked cool, and intimidating enough to fight in the underworld of crime.

Death Fury: I hope this chapter is also worth it :)

Sir Proto Arthur: Thank you very much! (even though it's really late at this point) Stay healthy as well!

InCK: Well, the original name 'Noir-Spider' is much cringer (and I regretted using this name). But I don't really have more idea for Ethan's hero name, and I'm open for suggestions! :)

marcinkrycki2314: In Ethan's defense, he didn't have a backpack to spare, nor did his outfit was compact enough to stuff in his backpack like Peter. But yeah, coming home in your costume basically means being found out XD Anyway, thank you for liking this fic, and I'm flattered that you placed this as your favorite SI of MCU :D

DevilsArray: If you're talking about Ethan's sudden change of being a hero or not, this would come back later on (you can say this is a Chekov's Gun).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story so far!