P.S. The rewrite of Chapter 2 is here as well, make sure to check it out! :)


[The next day]

Well, even with the shadows of those test subjects, and Tombstone looming above our head. Life had to continue, that's the pain of having a double life, but I can only deal with it upfront.

To be frank, the thing that worried me the most was Rachel. How would she take the news? I didn't tell her about the news last night, it was her first Homecoming and... I didn't want to ruin her night.

But now I didn't have any more excuse to convince myself not to tell her about them. And there's also one more thing.

The fact that I left those subjects for this long. I should've done something, or just anything. It didn't like hit me when Miss Watanabe told me and Peter about the whole mess, but after a while, it did.

I should just start and figure out some way to get the rest of them out. Yes, there was still the whole thing with Doctor Connor, but...

Those test subjects had to deal with what they did. Even if their victims weren't good people in the first place, but for them, killing someone wasn't a great thing.

As the bell rang and signaled the end of the first period, I hastily packed my books for the next period and went to where Rachel's locker was.

And just as I got there, she was actually talking with Ned Leed and Michelle Jones (I should just call her Michelle, for now). Huh, I guess they became friends after the Homecoming. Well, I was happy for her, Rachel needed more friends, after all.

Feeling a bit awkward about what I was going to do, I walked up with a small wave. "Um... hi, I just wanted to talk with Rachel-"

"Oh, Ethan! We're just talking about you!" Brightened up at my presence, Rachel suddenly hopped to my side, holding a bright smile on her face. "So Ned, Michelle, this is Ethan, my brother."

Uh, what?

"We saw him with you last night, y'know," Michelle deadpanned, her gaze scanned my entire posture before holding out a hand. "Michelle Jones, nice to meet you, I guess. And from the look of it, you kinda fit what Rachel was saying about you."

"Uh, she said good things about me, right?" I said with a wry smile, shaking her hand.

"Of course!" Ned exclaimed, which only surprised me more with his... enthusiasm. "Like... you're like the coolest brother anyone can ask for! At least from what she said."

"Really?" I raised an eye, glancing over to Rachel, and... she was just blushing like crazy. "Oh, uh... thanks for putting me in a good spotlight," I said, giving her an awkward smile.

"I-it's nothing," She shuttered, hastily shaking the blush off.

"Anyway, back to the thing I came here for," I cleared my throat, turning back to my sister. "Uh... I have something serious to talk about with you, so... see you at lunch?"

"Something serious?" Blinked in confusion, Rachel stared at nothing for a few long seconds before nodding. "O-okay, it wouldn't take too long, right? I don't want Betty to wait..."

"Probably, or I hope so."

"Got it."


Watching as Ethan rushed back to his locker in full speed, the three freshmen just exchanged an uncertain glance. And for Rachel, she also felt the gaze coming from both Michelle and Ned.

"So that's how people look like when they're embarrassed… interesting," Michelle commented, as she suddenly took out her sketchbook. "Well, that's a good alternative of people in distress to sketch."

"U-uh…" Feeling the blush deepened into a darker shade, Rachel only looked away, her gaze averted. "Just please don't make my face look… like a fool."

"Don't worry, it's hard to make you look like a fool," Shrugging, a small smirk crept up on the young sketcher's face. "That is a compliment, by the way."

"…I know it's a compliment, but uh…" Trailing off, the raven-haired girl only found her embarrassment deepened.

Thankfully, the bell rang and interrupted them, and spared Rachel from even more embarrassment. And their day moved on.


[lunchtime]

Well, after being anxious about her reaction for the entire time, the bell rang and signaled for lunchtime. Ethan Turner, you had no excuse to chicken out of this, okay? It matters for her.

Meeting her by her locker, we just walked to somewhere that didn't seem to have too many people around. Or with people close enough to overhear our conversation.

Back leaned against the wall behind her, Rachel just ran her hand through her hair. "So... Ethan, what's it about?" She asked, just confused.

"Well, remember that I had to meet Miss Watanabe because of something urgent last night?" I said, my hands inside my pockets unconsciously clutched. "Uh... it's something that you have a part in. Not like actively, just it matters to you."

"Oh... okay," Rachel nodded numbly. "So... what's that about?"

Looking down for a moment, my glance landed back on her eyes. "They got out, I mean those people who were in that basement with you."

And... just as I thought, her eyes widened immediately after my words, and an unreadable expression on her face. "Y-you mean... the other people who suffered as well?" She asked.

"Yeah..." I nodded, and I found my eyes unable to meet hers. "I'm actually trying to find them, so... I know it's hard to make you remember those days, but... I need every information I can-"

"I have nothing about them," Rachel interrupted, shaking her head. "B-back when I'm still there... I never saw them."

"To be honest, they might even hate me for not doing anything for them," She shrugged, giving out a tired laugh. "But either way, just... I need to go, Betty's waiting for me."

With that said, Rachel looked away for a second before walked away, but stopped after a few steps. "Actually... maybe you can start looking for files about us in some other places," She said, looking back with a thoughtful look. "...I overheard some of them talking about it when… I was still there."

"And Ethan," Continuing, the raven-haired girl looked away for a moment, before giving me a determined look. "You promised me that you'll make me something, right? Back when I had to lie to Catherine for your stay in Black Cat's place."

…Oh right, I did promise that… Then…

"I think… now's the time to put that promise to action," Rachel finished. "Those subjects are like me… I can't just ignore them while living this life with you and Catherine."

From her look, she's dead serious to do something about it. But… was she readied to face those things? After all this time, the image of those girls still haunted me from time to time… But from the look of it, even if I said 'no' to her, she'd just do this on her own.

I guessed I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

…To be honest, this wasn't the first time I thought about it, this was the same as that time before the fight with Lizard. But… this mattered to her.

With a sigh, I just shook my head before nodding. "Fine, for real this time. I think I can ask Felicia to help you with fighting as well."

"Thanks, Ethan. Don't forget it."

That said, she went on her way back to the canteen. And… things were definitely getting more and more complicated, but I guessed this was part of being a hero in a comic book universe.

At least it was better than living somewhere like Gotham.


[After school, my room]

After school ended, I came back and immediately looked through my dad's notebook about Dead-Bridges. First, I should probably look for some locations that contained any kind of document...

Felicia could help with that. After all, we met in our costume when she stole some flash drive from them...

Wait, what exactly was in that flash drive?

Eyes widened in realization, I hastily took out my phone and called Felicia. And it didn't take too long before she answered. "Hey Ethan," She said, the surprise clear in her voice.

"Hey Felicia," I said, flipping through the pages of the notebook. "Uh... do you still have the flash drive you stole from that jewel store?"

"Huh? What?"

"I mean on that day we first met, you stole a flash drive from a cover-up store of Dead-Bridges, right?" Holding the phone between my ear and shoulder, I opened a new tap of the map of Manhattan. "I know it's a bit weird, but... I want to know what's inside that drive."

"Oh... uh... You're right, it's a bit weird," Felicia said, and judging from the background noise, she seemed to be scrolling through a pile of something. "Aha! Here it is, but that drive is just locations and description of Dead-Bridges' hideout-"

"And that's what I'm looking for," Unintentionally interrupting her, I felt my inside cringed before checking through my dad's notebook. "I uh… needs some places that might have files stored in them… Or related to Blue Ice."

"Oh… about Blue Ice…" Trailing off, Cat stayed silent for a few seconds. "But… that's a bit sudden. What happened?"

"Well… Basically, some test subjects of Blue Ice escaped," I answered, and internally readied to face her scream… or just anything louder than normal volume.

And boy, she did.

"WAIT WHAT?!" Even with my hand extended to the furthest I could, I still could hear her voice clear through the speaker. And I didn't turn it to speak mode, by the way. "Wait wait wait, you're saying… those test subjects escaped?"

"Yeah… Actually, you heard about the whole massacre in a Dead-Bridges warehouse?" Hearing an affirmative 'Hmm' from Felicia, I continued. "Well, Miss Watanabe showed me photos of the scenes… It looked like those subjects did that."

"…Oh great, fantastic," Feeling the clear sarcastic tone in her voice, a bit of guilt crept up inside me. "Either way, I guess you're tasked with dealing with them?"

"I asked her to handle it myself, to be honest," I sighed. "After all, there's also a potential gang war with Tombstone…"

"…Yeah… and that whole business with Tombstone…"

"Peter is dealing with Tombstone, so I think we can focus more on those subjects," Even though those words were meant to somewhat reassure her… but I didn't think it did the job.

"But that doesn't mean your job is getting easier," Giving out a long breath, Felicia sounded like she was typing something. "Anyway, back on topic… let's see… oh, there are three hideouts that fit what you're looking for."

"Oh, that's great, uh… just give me the location," Quickly wrote down the location of those three hideouts, another question popped up in my mind.

How should I approach those hideouts? After the whole massacre in the last one, they would definitely have increased security measures… I guess I have to stick with stealth then, right? Just like that one time in Animal's warehouse.

Yeah, it's probably gonna be like that.

"So, when are you gonna do something with those locations?" Felicia asked, snapping me out from my thought. "I can't just give you the location and keep worrying about your safety, after all."

"I know you'd do the same for me if I'm coming with you, but…" Trailing off, the silence felt… like she was hesitant. "Well, you told me that you wanted to deal with Dead Bridges with me, right? Even if those test subjects are the priority, it's still related to them."

"So, Ethan. I'm coming with you."

…Well, she had a point, I volunteered to help her, and we're partners in dealing with them. I couldn't just leave her blind while I dealt with this whole 'test subject' problem.

"Well, I'm planning to deal with them tonight," I answered, letting my gaze kept on the location I scribbled down. "And I don't want to stir too much attention about it too. So…"

"We're sticking with stealth, right up my alley," Felicia said, with a clear smirk in her voice (if that made any sense). "Then don't drag me down, okay?"

"I got some experience on that, don't worry too much for me," I laughed, my eyes moved to the window and the scenery outside, the setting sun outside. "So… see you tonight at…"

"The warehouse in Hell's Kitchen, okay?"

"…Yeah, see ya tonight, Felicia."

With that said, I turned back to my laptop and opened a new file. "Well, in the meantime… I guess I should start thinking about Rachel's request…"


[Nighttime, Hell's Kitchen]

Even though I had passed this area a few times during my nights out, but… Hell's Kitchen was a weird place. Maybe it was just my own perception, but this place always felt like a different city than the rest of Manhattan.

Sitting on the edge of the rooftop of the adjacent building of our target, I kept my unmasked gaze on the building itself. Even though it was just a one in three chance that it'd work out, but… let's hope I could find something useful in it.

"And you're about to be late, Cat," I said to no one, taking one last look at the USB I brought before putting it in my pocket.

Speaking of which, with the sound of grappling hook firing and retracting, Felicia arrived with a soft landing in her full Black Cat attire.

"Sorry, I always forgot how much of a hassle to put on the suit," She apologized, sitting down next to me. "So… this is the building, huh?"

"Yeah, officially, it's just another storage facility of some furniture company," I nodded, my thumb brushing the fabric of my mask. "But we both know it's just the front, right?"

"Of course, just like that jewel store," Smirking, Cat took out a small… black thing and put it on her mouth. And it suddenly expanded and formed a mask that covered the lower part of her face, similar to the Winter Soldier.

…Wait, that's new.

Noticed my surprised gaze, Felicia giggled in response. "That's a rare look from you," She said, and her voice was slightly distorted from the mask itself.

"Well, I've never seen you with this mask," I deadpanned, pointing at the said mask. "When did you get that thing?"

"Oh, back when Peter and I were teaming up to deal with some street gangs, Tony Stark insisted to give me this thing," She shrugged. "This is the only thing I've ever got from him, and I just never got to really use this mask."

"But we are directly fighting Dead-Bridges this time, not just stealing an empty store… so I'm using it."

"Well, you should tell me before," I sighed, putting on my mask and adjusted the goggles. "But leave the details for later, let's focus on what we're coming to do."

"Of course, right after you."

With that said, we web-zipped/grappled to the rooftop of the building. Approached a nearby roof window, Cat released the steel claw in her gloves and marked a rectangle along the edge of the window. Then she put her palm on the said glass, and pull a large chunk of glasses off from the window, creating a hole large enough for either of us to get in.

Okay, that was new. Definitely new.

"When did you get all these gadgets?" I couldn't help but ask, glanced at my homemade web-shooters. "It's just making me look... uh… cheap."

"C'mon, gadgets aren't everything," She laughed lightheartedly, patting me on my back. "These are gadgets my dad left behind when he was the Black Cat. This situation is just perfect to use them."

"Well, glad to see that," Sighing, I pulled the edge of my gloves and flexed my fingers. "Ladies first."

"Got'cha," Even though covered by her mask, I could clearly feel a small smirk on her face as she dropped into the facility. And I soon followed her, landing on the steel railing that acted as the support beam of the roof.

Immediately activated my Spider-Wave and scanned the entire space we're in, twelve pulsing red dots showed up in my sight. Six on one side, and six on the other side. Well, it was convenient, albeit a bit too convenient.

"I'll handle that side," I said, gesturing to those guards behind me. "And I guess you're capable enough to deal with the other side, right?"

"Of course I am," Smirking under the mask, Cat turned her attention to the other side. "Let's dance, shall we?"

"Let's dance."

Without another word, we both web-zipped/grappled to our respective group of guards. And I pulled myself to the wall next to those guards, my eyes locked on them.

(Third Person POV)

Yawning, Zack rubbed his eyes as his shift continued on. Even if he was working for Dead Bridges right now, but he had to admit, just standing around with nothing happened sucks.

Pulling out his phone and checked the time, he couldn't help but gave out a long breath. "Great, so around three more hours, and I'll be off from my shift…"

Trailing off, he turned around and continued his patrol, only to be covered by a sense of unease. He couldn't tell why, but… it felt like someone had just gone missing.

"What the hell…" Rubbing the back of his neck, Zack turned back and walked to the last spot he saw a different guard.

However, he was greeted with an empty space, and a gun on the floor.

"What the…" With his feeling of unease only intensified, he tightened his grip on his SMG and ran to the middle of the entire facility.

However, there was no one in his sight, not a single soul. And to make the matter worse, it was eerily quiet. No footsteps, no talking, nothing. He was all alone here.

Until Zack turned his gaze to the ceiling above, and his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Guards hung on the steel beam unmoving, and covered with webs. And some others were stuck to the wall, with the same web covering.

At that second, he realized one thing. He was alone, but not at the same time. Raising his SMG, Zack felt his breathing quickened, and he felt his heart beating.

But before he could react, a lone line of web was attached to his shoulder and a force pulled. His SMG slipped away from his hand accidentally.

"Ah! Help-"

Before he could cry for help, a dark figure in the shadow was the only thing he could see before a fist connected with his face. And his world turned black.

(Ethan's POV)

Knocking out the final guard here, I took out his phone before leaping back to the ground below, just as Cat came up to my side.

"You did great, Noir," She smiled under her mask, and her gaze was drawn to the phone I took from that guard. "So… where are we going next?"

"Uh… just a minute, maybe there'd be something about where those documents are located…" Trailing off, I quickly bypassed the security of that guard's phone (he didn't even set a password or any security measure. So… just ignore the line I said before this one). And… Aha! There they were.

"Okay, so it's on the fourth floor, and around…" Trailing off, I scrolled through the list for a bit more before continuing on. "Two floors below us, and it also labeled which room it is too, convenient."

"Oh okay, just two more floors," Stretching her arms, Cat rested her palms on her hip. "That was easy."

"Just be careful, it's a bit too easy… And I'm having a bad feeling about it," I said, putting the phone back in the poor guard's pocket. "And it's just one floor instead of two, we can skip the fifth floor."

"As much as I wanted to clear this building out, it's too big for just the two of us."

"You're right, it's too much…" Giving out a soft sigh, Cat adjusted the collar of her suit. "But let's go."

"Yeah."

With that said, we picked up our pace and got to the staircases, getting to the fourth floor. And thankfully, the hallway wasn't filled with guards or even close to that. It was basically the opposite here, there was no one.

Sneaking over to the room labeled as 'File room' from that poor guy's phone, I used my Spider-Wave to see if there's anyone there. Yep, three people inside.

"There's three of them," I said, keeping my volume low. "So… we bust through the door and deal with them, or…?"

"Or this," Cat smirked, pulling out a… flashbang from her utility belt. "It's in my dad's old gadgets, and from the notes he left behind, it's also silent to avoid alerting others too."

…Wait, the loud 'bang' should be a key component of a flashbang. Then… how the hell did this thing work? Just blind them with light?

Shaking my head, I pointed at that flashbang, skepticism cleared in my voice. "You're sure that it would work?"

"Of course I am, or I won't bring it out with me," Deadpanned, Cat gestured back to the room. "Just open the door for a bit and let me roll it in the room, then-"

"Then we get in and knock the light out of them," I finished for her, gripping the doorknob. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are."

Nodded, I turned the doorknob slowly and opened a small gap for the flashbang. And Cat pulled the safety pin, rolling it into the room before I closed the door.

Seconds later, a bright flash leaked from the bottom of the door, without any loud bang or any noise at all. But thankfully, the pained cry from those three men confirmed the effectiveness of the flashbang for us.

And we didn't take a second thought before getting into the room, quickly took down those three men with ease and webbed them up.

Closing the door and put those three men on a corner of the room, I couldn't help but gave out a breath of relief. "Well… thank god it actually worked."

"Of course it would work," Giving out a sigh of disappointment, Cat put her gaze onto a computer in the room.

Actually, it was the only computer, not 'a' computer here.

Inserting the USB I brought into the PC, I searched through the file of the computer. It didn't take long before I found a folder with 'Project X Test Subjects' as its title.

I opened the file folder and… that was… a lot more document than I was expecting. There were at least twenty of those subjects!

Then did all of them got out- Wait.

No.

O-other than five of them… everyone else was labeled 'terminated'. N-no, t-that meant… only five of them survived, and one of them was Rachel.

So I only had to deal with the other four… at least I got something out of it… But, if I only found out about it earlier, then it might not be just five of them-

Peeking over my shoulder, Cat's gaze located on the files before her eyes widened. "Wait Noir… did you see that?" She asked, pointing at one of the files named 'Subject R'... with Rachel's face on it. "It's… Rachel?"

…Oh right, I never told Rachel's origin other than Peter…

"Y-yeah, it's her," I hesitantly nodded, swallowing with clear unease. "Before you ask, she did tell me about it… I know she's one of the subjects."

Even though I could see many questions in Cat's eyes, but she just shook her head and sighed. "We can talk about it later. Let's see if there's anything interesting in the file itself."

"Right."

With that said, I clicked into Rachel's file. And… it was a lot of information about her, more specifically, her power. And… no way, she had been captured for… 5 years.

Then it meant that she was captured when… she was ten.

It… it was hard to swallow. Knowing that she's been through those torture for this long… Then… should I let her to go out and-

Wait, what was that?

And Cat had the same mindset as mine, as we both stared at the same word "…Tracker?" She asked, turning her gaze back to me. "Then…"

"No wait, her tracker was broken through," I said, pointing at the word 'destroyed' next to it.

Wait, she didn't do anything weird to break anything though… Then-

Wait.

"I only remembered sparkles, and lightning came out of my fingers..."

Rachel's power was basically a replica of Electro's… Maybe she unintentionally destroyed it when… she killed that person. At least that meant she couldn't be tracked by now.

But… what about the other four subjects?

At that thought, I clicked and opened one of the other four subject's files. And his tracker was still working, even at his moment.

Well, at least now we knew where one of them was, and maybe the other three too. But… that meant the Dead-Bridges also knew where he/they were!

"Noir… we need to get to them ASAP," Judging from what she said, Cat definitely had the same idea as mine. "Before anyone else got to."

"I know," Copying the file and the tracker's data into the USB drive, I removed the drive and left the room with Cat.

But wait, was the corridors… this dark before we got here? Or… who turned off the light?

Gulped uncomfortably, I took a deep breath and put on my battle stance. And Felicia also felt the same feeling of unease as well, turning on her goggle's night-vision, our back practically stuck to one another.

And a sole red point appeared in my Spider-Wave's radius, and the sound of chain rattling with the ground echoed through the entire floor.

…Wait, why was someone there... ? Shouldn't they-

Before I could get my thought together, the said red spot closed in immediately. But even with my widened gaze, I nudged my back and pushed Cat away from me, pulling my fist and struck.

However, that person caught my fist without effort, grabbing my arms and did an over-shoulder throw, and pinned me on the ground.

Recovered from the temporary shock, Cat extended her claw and sprinted, readied to strike.

But before that strike could even connect, the light turned back on, revealing the said person…

And both me and Cat's eyes widened in recognition, the horns on its mask, the red and black leather suit, and how the mask that covered his eyes…

Holy shit.

"D-Daredevil?!"


[Meanwhile, the failure's apartment]

Ever since their escape from the warehouse, everything seemed to be quite… peaceful for a while now. With the money they stole from the Tombstone gang during their breakout, they could sustain themselves for a while. Even if the money was starting to run out now.

But at least… they still got each other.

Sitting around on the sofas, the four of them relaxed and laughed as they played with a stack of cards Eveline bought for them.

"Aha! I won again!" Connor exclaimed in joy, raising his empty hands into the air. "See? I'm the best with tycoon!"

"Yeah yeah, you're just lucky," Scott deadpanned before he smiled at Mia, who only had one card left in her hand. "But you did great, Mia!"

"Uh… it's nothing too impressive," Blushing out of embarrassment, Mia glanced at Eveline's hand, who got the most card left out of all of them. "Um… I can trade my hand with yours, Eveline… you looked like you're about to break into some angry mood…"

"Nah, you don't need to… It's just…" Trailing off, Eveline gave out a small sigh and leaned back. "My trash luck came back and haunt me, that's all."

"Well, it's not going to be THAT bad, right?" Connor said with clear curiosity, tilting his head.

"It IS that bad," Deadpanned, Eveline dropped the cards and laid on the ground, just as the doorbell suddenly rang.

"Hmm? What's going on?" Mia asked, hopping to her feet and hopped over the sofa between them and the front door. Opening the said door.

"Um excuse me, what's the business-"

BANG!

Before she could finish her word, a bullet struck into her chest, sending Mia back to the ground. As the pool of blood slowly covered the ground around her, and through her fading vision, she could see a few men walked into the apartment and opened fire.

But before her senses fully faded, she could feel a pair of hands caressed her face. And the voice of Red whispered to her ear.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of those bastards."

Eyes widened in horror and shock, Scott immediately raised his hand as those guns pointed at them. And a barrage of bullets fired, only to be stopped and suspended in mid-air.

However, Scott gritted his teeth as each additional bullet was added to the mix, sweat formed on his forehead. "…Dammit-"

Meanwhile, snapped out from the shock of Mia being short, Eveline's right arm suddenly merged and transformed into a large blade. Readied to strike.

But before they could do anything else, a crimson blade suddenly impaled the neck of one of the gunmen. And without hesitation, the blade split its victim into two halves, the red blood tainted the ground below.

Shocked by the sudden death of their colleague, the other three gunmen turned around and… only to see Mia standing amidst her own blood.

"Shit, she switched…" Trailing off, Connor immediately grabbed the others and ducked under the sofa. And at the same time, those suspended bullets returned to their original state, flew through the air, and left their mark on the wall and window.

Without a second thought, the rest of the gunmen opened fire at Mia. But the pool of blood below her suddenly emerged and formed a shield, blocking all those bullets fired at them.

And Mia(?) laughed.

"Oh… that's cute, you really think bullets would work?"

With a subtle move of her finger, spikes burst out from the blood shield, impaling the gunmen's chest, right into their heart.

And as those spikes pulled out from those men's chest, blood suddenly poured out like a broken dam from their bodies. And their bodies fell to the ground, lifeless.

Mia moved her hands and manipulated the pool of blood from the ground, and formed into a ball as big as a basketball. Smirking, she drunk the blood, letting the red taint her neck and clothes.

Finishing with a satisfied sigh, she turned back and stared at the other three, who were watching her from behind the couch.

"Take care of those bodies," With that said, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

As the silence crept back in and filled the void that was the apartment, the other three failures found themselves… shocked and horrified.

Those men weren't just normal thugs who just happened to be here… They belonged to Dead-Bridges.

"…H-how the fuck did they find us…" Trailing off, Connor was about to panic when Eveline stopped him.

"They must have been implanted something like a tracker on us, that's the only possible answer I can come up with," She said, her arm reverted from a blade and vaulted over the sofa. "I'll take care of Mia, you two take care of those bodies-"

"But that means this place is not safe," Scott interrupted her with a stern look. "Or anywhere to be honest…"

"I know, but what can we do about it now?" Eveline asked in return, picking Mia up in a bridal style. "At this point, we might just have to keep running for the rest of our life..."

With that said, she walked over to the bathroom and, leaving the bodies to Connor and Scott. Giving out a small sigh, Connor walked over to the bodies and held out his hand.

And in mere seconds, those bodies glowed and burnt into ashes. The only sign of their existence were the clothes they left behind, and the ashes.

"…But that doesn't mean we can't fight back, right?" Connor suddenly asked, causing Eveline to stop in her track.

"I know we can, but… that means we'll be risking our lives every single night facing them," Eveline replied, just turning her head back enough to glance at them. "That means we're gonna be facing a whole Mafia when we're only four teens with some power."

"But… we might have to."

(to be continued)


So after four months, the new chapter is finally here (with the rewrite of chapter 2 as well.)

And uh... it took this long also because this chapter is alongside the rewrite of Chapter 2. Since FFN wouldn't notify something like a complete rewrite/update of a chapter. And a bit, unfortunately, but chapter 3 rewrite and Chapter 19 would follow the same line as well. So it might take a while for them to get out as well.

And Ethan officially met Daredevil now, we'll see how this encounter would go on. Either it turned into a conversation between them, or a fight with them and Black Cat as well.

Not only that, now we got a glimpse of the Failures' power, and their potential... retort to the Dead-Bridges as well. And with Rachel's involvement and such...

So... this arc just got a 'bit' more complicated. Let's hope Ethan could come out alright.

Review Responses:

Raidentensho: Um... *checking the wiki for MHA*It's quite similar XD. And Ethan got a bit more usage out of this power other than just punch as well. But either way, it'll be a bit more interesting, not only on Ethan's side, but the others too.

Yifto: ...You're right, the whole 'just try to protect smiles' reason is quite cringe (this feeling only got intensified after I uh... watched the first few episodes of Ultraman Trigger) So I've changed it to be something else (or just a lack of clear reason, which would be quite important for Ethan's character). But thank you for liking the fighting style, and I'll try to improve the romance side as well.

As for the part on Chapter 3... that part will be one of the biggest changes in the rewrite. Changing it to be something that makes more sense, and gives off a much less bad vibe.

Thanlong90: O-oh uh... well, we met Daredevil (in costume) this chapter... so I guess you can say... you kinda get your wish there.

Death Fury: Thank you! And uh... it's probably the worse timing in the world to respond about the Exam part... but the exam went alright for me, and now I'm a film student. But either way, thank you!

arispuffer: Well, that's quite long, but I'll take it one by one here.

First, thanks for liking the story XD. Even though it's quite uh... self-indulgent. But I'm glad that at least you found it fun to read. Especially binging it in 1 sitting XD. (Even though to be honest, it's not that long)

And um... you're right, the interaction is a bit forced there... I'm trying to make them more natural, so... let's hope this chapter, or the rewrite would satisfy you.

And... well, it's quite easy for anyone to figure out Spider people's identity (at least for Tom Holland's version, and that's the version I chose here). He really sucks at keeping his identity hidden.

But on a more serious note, it'll be something that'd hit them back in the future. Especially Ethan.

And for the Failures, well... Ethan is experiencing guilt for leaving them alone for this long. And this is one of his main motivations to find them in the first place. Even though he might be a bit of an asshole for leaving them, but at least he's... trying to make up with his mistake.

And... yeah, there's really not that much story that going in the direction this fic is going to XD. Well, you can say 'Through the Looking Glass' is going in a... somewhat similar direction with Noir!Peter and Gwen, but there's really nothing like it as of now.

And actually, I did consider putting Miles into the mix, but it'll either be impossible, or be a very late addition.

Remzal Von Enili: Um... I've actually never heard of this before, but... so basically, it's similar to how Lizard is in the comic. Um... Sorry, but I don't think I'll add this concept into the fic. It might change later on, but it's a 'no' for now.

VtrCst: Oh, Ethan didn't get bitten at the same time as Peter, but one year later in a different incident. So during that one-year gap between Ethan and Peter's bite, the original Ethan just studied Spider-Man.

Herodot: Oh, thank you for the advice there, I'll improve upon them in the chapter. And thank you for liking the fic too!

Anyway, I hope you like the story so far, reviews are definitely welcome!