[A day after Lizard's battle, Ethan's apartment] (Ethan's POV)
So... life went back on track, if there was even one in the first place. Fortunately, my worry about another villain came in and ruin our day didn't come true, and now I could be a normal teenager for a little bit.
However, I had something else other than focus on Homecoming on the upcoming Sunday (or in other words, the day after tomorrow.)
So, my recent fights with... anyone didn't go too well. Wait, that sounded wrong... whatever. Anyway, I wanted to call Felicia for some combat training.
I knew how weird it was, but Peter was probably on patrol, Gwen and MJ were definitely no-gos. And I didn't were there any good dojo, or just a place to train in. And the Avengers were too high level for me right now to even meet.
So out of all the options, Felicia was the best one right now. And if my memories served me right, she was good at fighting. Maybe Walter Hardy trained her well... Or she self-taught herself.
Anyway, she was the best option right now.
"Hey Ethan, what's so sudden?"
"Uh... Felicia, I'm just curious that... you're free today?"
Okay, she probably wouldn't react too much about it. Yeah, it sounded... really suspicious (not in a bad way), but she's Black Cat of god sake, she could handle this as calm as possible-
"HUH?! W-what, oh! Of course!"
Um... I guessed not.
Internally fearing how she'd react to what I was going to say, I cleared my throat and clarified it. "Cool, uh... I just want to learn how to fight... so... meet at your place?"
"Just to learn..." Upon hearing my explanation, I could literally hear how disappointed she was. "W-well, wait a sec, did you know how to get there?"
Oh right, actually... where exactly did Felicia live? The last time I was at her place was after I lost consciousness, and I didn't take too much attention when I got back to my apartment.
"Uh... actually no," I admitted.
"O-okay, just... I'll send you the address," Felicia sighed. "And oh, I'll open my balcony's door if you... want to swing by."
"Felicia, I haven't done one web-swing before-"
Before I could finish my words, Felicia's own voice overtook mine. "It's just an option if you want to!" She hastily said, and I could just imagine how embarrassed she was. "S-so yeah! See you!"
With that said, she cut the call quicker than the speed of sound. Well, that was a mess of a call. I knew that calling her out of nowhere and asked to come to her house was a weird thing. But... sometimes being honest was the best way.
Okay, stopped with your own justification, Ethan.
Before I could react, my phone suddenly buzzed and showed that Felicia just sent me the address of her... What should I call her... place? Penthouse? Apartment?
Eh, a penthouse seemed to be the closest one. Anyway, stop standing around like an idiot and let's go, Ethan.
Sighing to myself, I put the phone into my sport jacket's pocket and went on my way.
To process to get to Felicia's penthouse wasn't that long, surprisingly. And to be honest, the subway network in New York was just... confusing to get through. If my memories served me right, the only thing that's more complicated than this was the Japanese Railway.
And oh right, I never mentioned this before, but I wasn't living in New York before being tossed into this universe. I used to live in a town located in Oregon. But well, I had been tossed into this universe for a few months now, and there was no sign of me being teleport back to my old house. Maybe the rest of my life would be here.
And the best way to deal with this is just to go with the flow.
Before I realized it, the train stopped at the station I was instructed to. Let's see... so after the train ride, I still had a few more minutes of walk. Or a few more minutes. Manhattan was filled with people, after all. And most of the time I was running on the rooftop, not in the walkway.
Speaking of running on rooftops, I really should try web-swinging... It looked much quicker than what I was doing right now.
Carrying these thoughts as I walked, it took me about ten minutes to reach the building Felicia's penthouse was located. I never had a chance to fully look at it, but the building looked luxurious, really luxurious.
Knocking on the front door of her penthouse, it didn't take long before Felicia herself came out and greeted me. "O-oh hey Ethan," She said, smiling brightly at me. "You're quicker than I expected."
"Uh... it's just a train ride and few minutes of walk."
"I know," She shrugged, grabbing my wrist and led me into the penthouse.
And now I finally noticed what Felicia was wearing. Instead of any house-wear-like t-shirt and shorts, she was wearing a pair of black sports bra with grey yoga pants. And they were emphasizing her feature. On top of that, she tied her hair to a ponytail.
It was just... wow. Wait, no! No lewd thought, no lewd thought about Felicia! She wasn't a fictional character here, she's as much of a person as I was!
However, my trains of thought were stopped as the said silver-blonde suddenly stopped, giving me a confused glance. "Ethan? Something's wrong?"
"O-oh, nothing. You just looked- No, you always looked fantastic!"
W-wait no! Why in the hell did I just say that?! Ethan Turner, you idiot!
"Heh?!" She yelped and blinked for a few moments. But in the end, she just looked away with a shy smile. "W-well, that's unexpected. But thanks." And
Phew... I was still safe. And-oh right, I asked her to teach me how to properly fight. Time to get the topic back on track.
"Anyway-" Feeling my pitch suddenly soared into outer space, I hastily coughed and adjusted my pitch. "Anyway, we can save the talking for later, I wanted to learn how to properly fight. So... I guess we should get going?"
And Felicia just gave me an indecipherable look in return. "Y-yeah, you asked me to teach you how to properly fight, then uh... let's go then."
With that said, she led me into a room right next to the stair connecting the first and second floor. Opening the plain-looking double door, there was basically a mini-gym there. Workout equipment, treadmill, and a small boxing arena sitting in the middle.
"And I thought you've already shown me everything in your penthouse..." I couldn't help but commented, looking around in the brightly-lit mini-gym. "How in the world did your family afford that?"
"My mom is a fashion designer," She shrugged, stopping at the small arena and turned back at me. "Lydia Hardy, heard of her?"
Lydia Hardy- Oh, I thought I had heard about her in some news.
"Yeah, in some news and such."
"Well, she originally bought this place so we could live together, but since her job required her to constantly travel around the globe..." Trailing off, her gaze scanned through the entire mini-gym. "You knew how it ended."
Feeling the atmosphere around us became a bit sour, I hastily changed the topic for something else. "I-I know, at least you have me for today, right?" I said, trying my best to keep my embarrassment in check, and smiled sheepishly.
Wait, that sounded wrong.
Thankfully, Felicia just giggled with a faint blush. "Yeah, at least I got you..." Trailing off and just realized what she just said, she hastily coughed and looked away. "I uh... I didn't mean just you, but also everyone else..."
"Of course, we all got your back," I couldn't help but put a smile on my face, and the giggle was even harder to hold. "Anyway, uh... let's get into what I came for... Wait, that sounds harsh."
"I know what you meant," She said with a faint smirk, gesturing me to come with her. "Okay, so before I actually started to teach you anything, I want you to fight me."
"Wait, Fight you?" I raised an eye, taking off my sport jacket and let it laid on aside.
"Yep, you didn't hear that wrong," Felicia shrugged, still holding the smirk on her face. "I still need to know where your problem lies, and how I can help you improve."
...Okay, that made sense.
"Besides, try not to use Spider-Sense and predict my moves," She added, resting her arms on her hip. "I know who powerful that thing is, and relying on it won't help."
"Don't worry, it only works on people who I viewed as enemies," I reassured her, feeling the soft pads under my feet and put on a simple boxer stance. "And from the look of it, I'm going to get some serious ass kick from you..."
"Well, it depends," With her smirk softened into a smile, Felicia lowered her body and put on her fight stance. "C'mon, try to hit me."
With a subtle nod, I did a small skip forward and whined my right fist, then gave her a straight punch. I knew that she wasn't going down easily, so how would she try and counter-
Before I could finish my thought, Felicia grabbed my right arm and turned around with the momentum. Oh, so she was going to do a shoulder throw- Wait, when did she raised her leg and laid it next to my neck?
And my question got answered in literal seconds, when she brought her leg down with my head. Thankfully, my head didn't hurt too much thanks to the soft pads below us, but the sudden movement to my head still made my head extremely dizzy.
Watching my body just got flipped and crashed onto the soft pads, the white-blonde only gave me a surprised glance. "Uh... I didn't expect you to get down this easy," She lent me a hand, and I grabbed it and sat up. "And just from that few seconds, I already saw some critical mistakes you just made."
"Yeah, even I can sense it..." I trailed off, still feeling a bit shaky from her move before.
"Then let's fix them one-by-one," Giving my head a soft pat, she grabbed my hand and pulled me straight up. "First, it's your footing, they're really unstable."
"And trying to copy how a boxer would stand won't help either."
"I know..."
"Then here, try to do that stance again, I'll try and fix it from here."
[After a few hours]
Ha... ha... Jesus, Felicia's teaching style was... really intense. And my body hurt, mostly from how she beat me and threw me around with her legs. Well, being thrown around by her legs wasn't a... bad thing for the first few times, but it really started to hurt after a while.
And wait, why did I say being thrown around with her legs wasn't a bad thing? I was just making myself look like a pervert.
AHH! Stop being a horny teenager, Ethan!
Laying on the pad and stared at the ceiling above, I couldn't help but sigh. "...I really suck at fighting, right?" I asked, shifted my head and greeted by an amused smile from Felicia.
"I guess so, but at least I can sense your determination," She shrugged playfully. "And the fact that you're not using your Spider-Sense helps too."
"Ah... at least there's some great news," I chuckled, trying and barely pushed myself up from the ground. "Ouch, it hurts..."
"Uh... I might have gone a bit too far..." Trailing off, Felicia's face was visibly filled with worry. "I can get some gel to help with the pain."
"It's fine, I probably will be fine tomorrow," I shook my head, standing up with a slight wobble. "Remember that time the Doctor Connor beat the shit out of me? It only took me about a night to heal most of the damage."
"But it was with me and Peter treating you."
"I know, but also, it's not as bad as how Doctor Connor beat me," I said, resting my arms on my hips and flashed her a smile. "So don't worry about it, but thank you for caring though."
"...I'll take it as an 'I'm fine', just for now," She deadpanned, pinching her nosebridge before she looked like she remembered something important. "Oh wait, I actually have something else for you too."
"Something for me?"
"Yeah, remember that time I said something about your costume?" The silver-blonde asked, tilting her head with a cat-like smirk.
...Oh right, right after the Bayside battle with Doctor Connor. She mentioned how my costume suck and I desperately need a new one, and she was going to make the new costume for me.
OH, the new costume!
"Oh yeah, the new suit... you actually made that for me?" I questioned. "I mean, you don't need to go this far for me, or anything."
"But I want to, Ethan," She smiled for a moment, before raising an eye for some reason. "Wait, what's with this weird nostalgia?"
Shaking her head, Felicia sighed and gestured for me to follow her. "Anyway, I finished it last night, and I was looking for a time to gift it to you. Especially after how Liza- Doctor Connor damaged your suit, you definitely need some upgrade."
"Ahh okay..." I nodded. But from the look of it, she didn't really buy my words.
She narrowed her gaze. "But your legs..."
"my legs should be alright to handle it right now." I gave her the best reassuring smile I could ever give out, grabbing the jacket from the ground and put it back on.
"Don't stress yourself too hard, I know how it'll hurt tomorrow." She deadpanned. "And that's from personal experience."
With a nod from me, we walked into her workshop (as she said), which was on the second floor. Stepping inside, I was met with a mannequin suited in a black suit, or the suit Felicia made for me.
"So uh... here it is," The said silver-blonde showed with a sheepish smile. "What do you think?"
"Hmm..."
Rubbing my chin, I took a closer look at the suit. First of all, it reminded me of the tactical suit Peter got during Far From Home, like... they're really similar at first glance. However, the mask used the same kind of goggle I used in my own mask.
On a closer look, it consisted of a black undersuit with a bulletproof vest over it. And for the undersuit, it looked like it was made from some kind of fabric, maybe it was kevlar? As for the knees, there were both a pair of knee guards and shin guard. And the boot was a pair of leather-made heavy-duty boots, which was suitable.
"Huh, you didn't use spandex or the material you used to make your suit, Felicia," I commented, flashing her a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, you said that you don't want to leave too little for the imagination, right?" She gave out a breath of relief, walked over to the suit and pointed at the vest. "And you prefer practicality over style too."
"Uhh... I am," I blinked, when did I say that to her? I didn't remember saying anything close to this to her, but I did prefer those things...
"You mentioned them when we first met in costume, dummy," Felicia sighed, gently knocked my forehead with her finger. "Right after you caught me getting the USB drive from the store."
O-oh wait, yeah, I did say that when we met for the first time... And she remembered?!
Noticing how my eyes widened in shock, it didn't take her too long to connect the dot. "Oh uh... it just popped up in my head when I was designing the suit."
"Uh... I guess...?"
"Well, anyway, how about you try this suit on?" Clearing her throat, the silver-blonde went behind the mannequin and pushed it toward me. "I had an idea on your size, but I still need some live test wearing."
U-uh... Felicia, I was pretty sure that I never told you about my clothing size, right? Then how did you... Nope, please didn't tell me she... guess my size from only glances?
"Uh... Felicia, I never told you my size, right?" I couldn't help but asked out loud, feeling a lump formed inside my throat. "How could you guessed it-"
Realizing how weird it would be without some explanation, Felicia instantly cut me off with a deep blush. "I know it's weird, but I can pretty much get an idea on someone's clothing size. I guess it's one of the things I got from my mom..."
Well, I could press into this problem, but... I'd just let it slide, just for now.
Shrugging, I took the suit from the mannequin with her help and held it up. Yeah, it did felt like kevlar. And with how easily she could take the suit off from the mannequin with only one or two hook-and-loop tapes... Felicia also had the thought of ease of use in her mind too during the design process!
She really had put a lot of effort into this... and all of them were just for me?!
W-wait, focused back on the thing in your hand, not thought about Felicia might have feelings for me or anything!
Unconsciously shaking my head to clear my thought, I took off my sport jacket and the t-shirt under it. Hmm... so the undersuit was actually really flexible, it wasn't that hard to put on, despite being once-pieced
"Huh, it was easier to put on than I thought-" Interrupting myself, I looked up and saw her burying her face into the mannequin. "Uh... Felicia, you're alright?"
"N-nothing! I wasn't peeking at you!"
"Okay... I'll tell you when I finish changing."
"Yeah, just... take your time, I guess."
With a hesitant nod, I continued my changing while enduring the pain coming from my arms and legs. It was better than a moment ago, but it was still noticeable. At least I still finished putting on the suit, and it actually proved to be quite comfortable.
Stretching my arms to get myself became used to the suit, I noticed two distinct holes at where my web-shooters would be. Oh, so she also had them in mind.
Feeling my mouth curved into a smile, I tapped her shoulder. "Oh, I'm done, you can look now."
As if the in-between frames were cut, Felicia poked her head out and stared at me wearing the suit. "Fantastic! It's a perfect fit!"
Well, I guess her embarrassment disappeared in an instant.
"Then I guess there wasn't any more adjustment needed," She smiled, stroking her chin thoughtfully before flashing me a smirk. "I'll grab a bag for you to put the suit inside, so your secret is safe with Catherine."
"Yeah, thanks Felicia," I nodded with a sincere smile, proceeding to start taking off the suit to give it to her. "And that's pretty much it, right?"
"Yep, that's pretty much it," She nodded. "So, please don't tear this apart."
"Of course, I'll remember not to," I shrugged. "Then uh... should I take this off now?"
"Take this off- Oh yeah, I'll uh... I'll leave you alone for now, can't afford to be embarrassed again," She couldn't help but giggle nervously, sidestepping around the mannequin and left the workshop, not once leaving her glance away from me.
Well, let's not let Felicia wait for too long.
[On the other hand, inside the main office of NCPD.]
Looking at her computer screen sitting on her desk, Yuri Watanabe couldn't help but pinched her nosebridge in annoyance. It was only a day after the arrest of Lizard, or Curtis Connor, and she had to deal with the after report about it all.
"I'm just a lieutenant, why did I have to deal with this..." Feeling a long sigh escaped from her mouth, she shook her head and adjusted her glasses as she put her focus on the laptop screen. "I hate this part of my job."
"But it's still a part of your job, Watanabe."
Surprised by the sudden voice, the lieutenant poked up from the screen and saw Captain Stacy coming in with a cup of coffee and a file on the other hand. Of course, just like before, the captain came in and bought her coffee, just like every time there was a villain-related case.
"Captain Stacy, shouldn't you be looking after your daughter?" She asked, taking off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "You daughter was involved with the battle, after all."
"Gwen's fine, and I couldn't do much either," The police captain shrugged, placing the coffee next to her keyboard. "She was trying to keep Martha safe. While I don't agree with her rushing into Oscorp building without a second thought, I understand why."
"Maybe," Yuri shrugged, grabbing the cup of coffee and took a sip. "But anyway, you don't look like you're just coming here to give me coffee."
"Yeah, but at least you got something else to do now," Captain Stacy sighed with a strained smile, handing a file to her. "So last night, there was a breakout in a warehouse."
"Let me guess, it's related to a gang."
"Yep, Dead-Bridges to be exact."
Widening her eyes, Yuri opened the file and read through the content within it. However, the first picture that got her attention was a photo clipped with the report. It was a picture of the said warehouse, but it was covered with a deep shade of crimson.
It didn't take her too long to figure out that those crimson 'paint' were in fact, blood. And the numerous bodies, and body parts lying around only made it more disturbing. It didn't look like a breakout, it looked like carnage.
"Jesus Christ..."
"I know, some of us straight-up puked at first sight," The captain explained. "There wasn't a single person alive, and as we checked the warehouse, we found out something more disturbing."
Flipping over the pages, Yuri was met with a different photo. This time, it was a poorly-lit basement with multiple cells, and all of them had their door wide open. Some of them had their door busted wide open, but one of them had the door literally missing.
"It looked like someone broke out from those cells," Yuri commented, giving him a narrowed eyes. "So... what about them?"
"The cells are like this when we arrived at the scene," Captain Stacy sighed. "As for what, or who the Dead-Bridges was trying to lock inside... there weren't any sign or clue about where they are, at least for now."
"Then... why give the file to me?"
"Because it's now your case, Yuri," He said, much to her surprise. "Your experience might help the team to finally get out from the dead end. And I guess you're bored with paperwork, right?"
As much as she didn't want to admit it, Yuri was annoyed and bored with the paperwork in front of her. Even though from a different perspective, she was just putting herself in another case right after finishing the last one.
But she wanted to deal with cases instead of paperwork, that's all.
"...I hate how you always know me this well, Captain Stacy," Giving him a tired smile, the lieutenant took a large sip of her coffee and straightened herself.
"But anyway, where's the team? I would like to meet them."
(To Be Continued)
So... for anyone who's confused at the last part, this isn't about the next villain's arc. But the overall Dead-Bridges arc instead. And the villain's arc is still open for suggestions! I think I'll choose one at the end of the next chapter.
And um... sorry for anyone who was looking forward to seeing the suit Felicia gave to Peter in the PS4 game. Since I want to let Ethan be more original and start to have a clear difference with Peter here, he'll be wearing an original suit.
As for Ethan's training, don't worry, it won't just end like that. And Felicia won't be the only person to teach him to actually fight too. So in another sense, Felicia helped him to entry-level, then someone else comes in and continue helping him.
Also, Ethan finally gets a new and improved suit! Even though it's still very basic and not advanced on the tech side, but it's enough for him right now.
Review Responses:
BakaReiiiii: Thank you :)
Kenrio: Uh... that was quite an unexpected take. But actually, I chose to do OC x Felicia because there weren't many Felicia fics. And I understand that Gwen is indeed more popular and loved right now, especially after her great portrayal in Into The Spider-Verse. But with the romance between Ethan and Felicia, I wanted to make Felicia likable and not all just seductive and as the Black Cat we all know.
So if this is not a pairing you like to see, uh... I'm sorry about that.
d1n0s: Uh... Sorry for taking literally over a month to reply, but I've deleted that line. Yeah, it was a bit cringy, after all.
Vulcan205: Um... So first, I don't think Ethan would choose Superior Spider-Man, since not only he is weaker in the strength department, he probably doesn't want to get sued by copyright XD. Especially if he meet that version of Doc Ock in the future.
And Redback Spider... Um... this is a bit awkward, but Ethan was wearing an original suit, and not the Dark Suit from the PS4 game... So I don't think it'll work either. So I think it'll stay as Noir for now. But I'm still open to any suggestions!
And thank you for liking the pairing :) I know that Felicia was mostly overshadowed by other girls inside Peter's life (mostly just Gwen or MJ). And this chapter is literally a giant Felicia and Ethan moment XD.
Death Fury: Thank you :)
Raidentensho: Hmm... Hammerhead or Tombstone... Actually, Tombstone might be a great idea. Especially with his ability to be immune to pain, and being basically the Hulk in human size, it would be a giant challenge for Ethan. Especially with his strength being weaker than Peter already.
And the newly made meta... Oh, did you meant them. Um, I had some plan for them already, but they can show up during Tombstone's arc as a surprise third-party instead.
But thank you for following the story, especially with the embarrassingly long break between chapters :).
anonymous inc: Uh... thanks for the review :)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story so far!
