The following day, after a nice night out with MJ having a lovely little dinner time with Aunt May who was very happy seeing them both. Peter was still living with her, but she was always happy regardless, seeing her nephew. It was a great night all around and he was hoping to make it a regular thing with MJ, along with Harry sometimes as he still enjoyed visiting even with his apartment, he really loved being around them a lot.
Spider-Man went to see Captain George Stacy, who he hasn't seen in quite a while now since beating The Crime Master, as Peter Park they'd speak, but for him it felt too awkward talking and he was kinda nervous what'd he say, but trouble was afoot. It'd be important going to Stacy for help.
What am I going to even say? Perhaps overthinking this could make my brain explode, I should just let my words come out naturally. I'm great with words! Ah who am I kidding I'm screwed, hope my awkwardness won't be unbearable!
Landing in front of him, he sighed. "Uh, hey Mr. Stacy sir." Peter said awkwardly.
He looked at him. "Long time no see, Spider-Man. I heard you helped Dewolff and Carter with a case, some gang of criminals?"
He nodded to his question. "Yeah, can't even recall their name, but I was happy helping those two out. Feel bad for what happened to that friend of her's Gargon and kicking the snot of him a couple times now. Scorpion, really hoping I'll not have to fight him again and fingers crossed he'll get a cure."
"Indeed, holding out hope for it too." Stacy paused. "Things have been uncomfortable between us, we haven't talked really about all of this."
"You know my identity, right?" Peter asked.
He looked over at him. "Yes, Peter. I know who you are."
"Yeah, I figured as much. How long have you known?" Peter then asked.
"I suspected for a while, but nearing the end of all that business with Ned Leeds, I put it all together. Everything made sense. I was surprised, part of me I believe was in disbelief about it. I've accepted it and I understand why you've kept your secret all these years, it must've been a major weight for you to carry." He said with respect.
Peter shrugged. "Major weight, yeah. I did tell Mary Jane about my identity close to the beginning of all this, certainly helped a lot having her support."
"I'm glad that you had support though all of this. Could I ask why you never shared anything to Gwen nor Harry for that matter."
"Honestly, in the case of Harry I didn't trust him to not blart out my identity and he's not exactly happy with mutants, though I'm not one I was bit by a radioactive spider. For Gwen, I never wanted to drag her into all of this, knowing she'd want to help me out every step of the way." Peter admitted.
"Sounds like Gwen, you made the right call." He replied. "Why did you want to meet now? Was there not any worse threats bothering you the past while?"
Peter shrugged. "Oh, mostly gang issues, people in need, awful drivers, cats in trees, some mutants who caused some trouble and top it all off, a demonic spider lady monster thing tried to kill me. It was horrible and I'd rather not talk about it ever again honestly, I still feel scared by that crap. Anywho, some thieves are planning a major heist and that stuff with Boomerang and his partner is all connected. Said partner has claimed he wants to help bring it all down."
"Should I ask more about that demonic spider creature?" Stacy asked.
Peter stared at him. "Let's never talk about it please, I'm serious."
"What do these thieves want?" Stacy said, clearing his throat.
"Not exactly sure, I can tell you a guy named Herman Schultz will be coming to talk to you, hopefully. I think I gave him the right instructions. My hope was he'll tell you everything he knows and you can set up some official deal or something?" Peter looked around suspiciously for a moment. "Oh yeah, these guys are called the thieves guild, does that ring any bells?"
"Hmm." Stacy said unsure. "Possibly, I believe they might be from the past. A long time ago now." He thought about it.
Spider-Man looked around once again. "Hold that thought, I think we've got someone peeking on us, which is very rude."
"You're sure?" Stacy asked.
"Spider sense doesn't lie to me. Trouble is near, maybe we should talk later, let's see where it leads me." He hopped off the roof pursuing the trouble detected by his spider sense wondering what it was.
Spidey couldn't find anyone, but for someone while he swung he didn't catch onto the next building nearly falling. What the? When was the last time I missed catching a webline? That's basic for me, like moving my legs. He was greatly confused and still felt as if someone was keeping an eye on him. Unable to find them, Spidey gave up and started to swing off again once more, while being followed still without his knowledge.
Peter decided on calling Harry, semi interested to know what he was up to with all the new found freedom he had moving out.
"Hey Pete! Where you been buddy I thought I gave you an open invitation?" He remarked immediately.
"Oh jeez Harry, you know I've been awfully busy!" Peter replied, rolling his eyes at his friend underneath the mask.
"Making out with Mary Jane huh?" Harry joked suggestively.
Peter yet again rolled his eyes. "No Mr. Nosy, for your information I haven't even had my first kiss with MJ. You know I'd tell you immediately when I do!" He reminded.
"Can't disagree with that, fair is fair, I bragged a bunch when I first kissed Gwen, made out and-" Harry was cut off.
"Let me stop you right there buddy, too many details the first time. Your super lucky Gwen didn't kill you for sharing your private life!"
Harry chuckled. "It's our little secret of course!"
"Right it is."
"Anyways Pete, you know I've been thinking about having a party again, something more casual and relaxed. Do you think Gwen would be agreeable for that? I mean we're older now right?"
Peter tried not to laugh to himself. "Harry, you're just about a year older! It's not like much time has passed, though yeah you should ask her if that's something you want."
"I mean, I've got this beautiful apartment all to myself. Lonely up in here, I kinda would just like some friends or at least people to hang around!" He replied.
"Understandable. If she agrees to it, MJ and I would gladly come along."
"Sounds sick!" Harry stopped for a moment. "Should I bag Gwen to let me have the party? I mean I'm really stoked now!"
Peter laughed. "Yeah buddy, if you think that's a good idea! Do it!" He looked over and saw a mysterious woman in black watching him. "I wasn't losing it." He said to himself by mistake.
"What's that pal?"
"Oh uh, JJ's calling gotta go!" He hung up and landed on the rooftop in front of the woman staring her down. "Alright, um, are you dressed like a cat?"
She laughed at him. "I've waited for this, been following you for a few days now, looks like you've finally picked up on it. Could say I've been more bold, less keen on keeping hidden, I hoped you spot me." She said with a beautiful smile.
Peter wasn't sure of how to feel, she seemed harmless and very attractive. "You know, invading my private space isn't very friendly."
"Oh don't be concerned, I don't care about who you are under the mask. I'm sure your life is a lot less exciting." She remarked slyly.
"That's very judgemental, I could be a millionaire for all you know." He pointed out.
"Please, Spider. We both know you're certainly not a millionaire, even if you were, I find you far more interesting with the mask on." She stepped closer.
Spider-Man looked at her unsure. "Who even are you?"
"Me? Call me, The Black, Cat." She smiled coming close to his face.
"Now, now Ms. Black Cat that's a little close for comfort, remember personal space?" He replied, taking a step back.
"Aww, Spider don't you want to have some fun together?" She asked.
Spidey again looked unsure. "Depends on your definition of fun." He remarked back.
"I have multiple definitions of fun." She smirked.
Oh boy. My spider sense isn't going off for her, maybe I'm going to make two friends in two days. My luck's surely turning around. No of course not and MJ, genius. On top of that I just met her! What the heck is wrong with me sometimes?
He backed off again after she put her hand across his chest. "This is fun and all, but I'm going to need to learn more about you before anything else can happen. Stranger danger and all that!"
She sighed disappointed. "I was hoping we'd get to play nice, my friends aren't as big of fans of yours as I happen to be."
"Oh really now, who happens to be your friends?"
"The thieves guild of course, after all I fit in perfectly with them." She revealed a gorgeous diamond in her pocket.
Peter lowered his head. "I'm not going to like where that came from, am I?"
"It'd be very disappointing if you aren't a fan of stealing, it's truly a lot of fun. Perhaps you should try it sometime, the rush is incredible. Not to mention the guild wouldn't be pleased with me if I don't deliver this." She pointed out slyly as can be.
"Ah shucks cat lady, life can be filled with disappointment." Peter replied back, crossing his arms looking judgmental.
"Are you really going to stop me Spider? That'd be very disappointing, imagine how much beautiful music we could make together." She suggested with a smirk.
Peter pretended to think about it. "Na, sorry, I think I might have to ask you to return that glamorous diamond to wherever it belongs."
She frowned and shrugged her shoulders. "I was really hoping I could change your mind, Spider." She remarked and turned to run off.
"Now wait just a minute-" He started to say, reaching out for her and lost his balance temporarily. "Woah, how did that happen?"
"Dear oh dear, silly Spider, haven't you heard what happens when a Black Cat crosses your path!" She exclaimed, hopping off the roof.
"She's joking right? I really hope she's kidding around." He started saying and began to chase after her, jumping on the roof she did in close pursuit.
"Here I started to think Spidey didn't want to play after all." She joked, crossing her arms looking over at him.
"Oh I want to play alright, then I'm going to get you to return that diamond!" He exclaimed feeling confident.
She smirked at him, turning her back. "You forgot, gotta catch me first." Black Cat leaped off the building grappling from buildings.
"Looks like she's definitely been watching me." Peter remarked and continued the chase after the mysterious Black Cat.
They kept on the chase, while Black Cat was laughing at Peter's attempts to keep up, she was surprisingly fast and it didn't help when he got too close some embarrassing bad luck would occur, the worst was slipping hitting a wall and then just about fell off the building, only to somehow trip again and hit the wall. "I'm embarrassed and sad." Peter remarked and kept on going despite all of that. "Please can we talk? Maybe we can come to an understanding!" Peter suggested hopefully.
"Do you want to help the thieves guild?" She asked, shaking her head at him still running away and leaping from rooftops.
"Sure!" Peter said, very unconvincingly.
She stopped and glared at him. "Spider, you're not very good at lying, are you?"
"That was bad, wasn't it?" Peter looked down and when he did, she immediately ran off once again. "Come on!" Rushing after her, it appeared this time, she actually got away this time annoyingly so. "Great, she got away. How the heck could she do that? Does she have super speed? Can fly? Turn invisible! Oh it's gotta be invisibility. Or maybe just like a cat she's very sneaky. Probably why she picked the name." He said to himself shaking his head searching for her, finding nothing, but he did manage to find a note in the spot she made her escape.
It said the following. "The thieves guild isn't a fan of you, primarily it's leader. I'd lay low if I were you Spider, they'll kill you if you're in the way with their grandest scheme. This cat would be heartbroken without her favorite playmate." So it was written.
Great, more people want me dead.
After extensive searching, he found nothing giving up and left the area finding no sign of this mysterious new person, he wasn't even sure of what to think of Black Cat, seemed like she wasn't a foe, but wasn't exactly a friend either.
Later on, he ditched the suit and went to see MJ as usual whenever something weird like this cropped up.
"You've got that look on your face, who'd you encounter today?" MJ asked as soon as he came in through her window to see her.
"This time, an attractive cat burglar. Called herself Black Cat, she pretty much was flirting with me and got me to chase her for a while." Peter explained.
She looked at him with a smirk. "How attractive?"
"Not that much, she was alright. Of course I've seen better, case and point yourself!" Peter remarked with an unconvincing smile.
"Oh my god, how attractive could she be?" Questioned MJ shaking her head at him.
"In fairness, you haven't seen her." Replied Peter.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Did you catch her?"
"No, surprisingly not, she's fast. And more importantly it seems like she's got the power to cause bad luck." Peter remarked, sounding surprised.
"Maybe, or it's possible you were tripping over yourself." She responded jokingly with a cheeky smile. "Seriously, that is crazy she can give you bad luck."
"Certainly wasn't expecting her name to be literally. Didn't see that coming." He responded, rubbing the back of his head. "I ran into the wall a few times from all the bad luck! Very embarrassed. Hope nobody saw it."
MJ smiled. "Wish I did." She joked.
"Ha, ha very funny. Oh and I already told you about that Shocker guy wanting to help bring down the thieves guild, turns out this lady works with them and they've got it out for me. Claimed she doesn't want her favorite playmate to die. So, she gave me a heads up of the trouble coming more way if you know, I keep interfering probably is what's pissing them off. And of course no way I'm back down."
"Sounds like a normal day at the office. Anything else happen?" She then asked.
"Right, yes! I almost forgot, Harry is wanting to throw a party. If Gwen doesn't throw him first of course for asking. Hoping he'll ask smartly!" Peter remarked.
"Knowing him, unlikely. Guess we'll be seeing soon how that'll go." Mary Jane replied.
"Oh right! And I talked to Gwen's dad about being Spider-Man, so that was huge too." Peter remembered.
"Oh? You somehow forgot that?" MJ questioned, shaking her head at him.
Peter nodded his head carefully. "Kinda yeah. I guess a big opse about that."
"It's alright, you've got a lot moving though that head and you've had it knocked around quite a bit too." She remarked, smiling at him.
"Talking to him finally went pretty well too, he was pretty nice." Peter replied.
MJ nodded. "That's good, glad he didn't arrest you." She joked.
He laughed. "Yeah, I'm very glad about it too! I wouldn't look good in jail and being on the run could suck. Not to mention what could happen if my identity could get out!"
"Might do some stupid deal." She replied.
"Probably not, hopefully I'd have more foresight into not making any insane deals if such a horrible thing occurred." He shrugged.
"I was joking, I'm sure nothing like that would ever happen." She remarked.
And Peter nodded.
Elsewhere in NYC, The Black Cat returned to the thieves guild's underground lair as its leader waited for her. Odessa Drake, unknown to people besides ones in the criminal cycle knew her identity.
"I've retrieved the diamond easily as cake. Another beautiful addition for your glamorous collection Odessa." She said, handing it to her carefully.
"Hmm, it's beautiful, thank you dearest cat. Did you encounter Spider-Man?" She then questioned looking at her apprehensive.
"Yes, he's what I imagined him being. Unfortunately as stubborn as I feared too, I don't think he's going to back down. But, do we really need to kill him? You know how I feel about killing." She pointed out trying to get on her good side.
"Felica, my dear. Killing is important at times, especially so when we're about to put ourselves back on the map! Spider-Man can't be allowed to interfere with our trumpet moment! I won't let him!" She shouted completely furious.
She frowned. "Yes of course not Odessa I don't want all your hard work to fail."
"No, you really don't. I have a high respect for you and your father. Respect can always change and your importance." She threatened looking angry and then smiled again grabbing her hands. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll never come to that. Now, go with the others. We have a plan to go over and by the time we're ready, I'm certain Spider-Man will be a distant memory."
Black Cat nodded hesitantly, but listened and left.
However, Odessa had something else to do first, contacting a mysterious ally.
"Thank you for these plans, it's greatly appreciated. This shall give us a chance to rise again, I'm still skeptical of your intentions, no strings attached, seems as if it is a lie." She said very skeptical of him.
"It's correct, no strings are attached. Having your people do that would be beneficial for me and my current plans." He claimed.
"Then we have nothing else to discuss." She hung up.
The man sat in his office, grining at the prospect of taking down a rival by assisting in the thieves guild's nefarious plot.
Thank you as always for reading, hope you all enjoyed the introduction of Black Cat and the continuation of the thieves guild. I'll have more to say about all of that in the next couple of chapters.
Random things, Dewolff's name is messing with my brain, why double ff? Why? I apologize if I've gotten it wrong now a few times.
And said "demonic spider lady monster" will not be followed up on, too scary for me to give more details about it. (It wasn't very relevant) Basically in my head it was a reference to "the other" (unless I'm getting it mixed up with Spider-island, could be) and putting it clear I'll never be dealing with any giant spider genetic crap. Give me the creeps, so no thanks. (Unless I become less scared maybe and insane enough to tackle anything related to that for real)