Black Cat approached the back alley of the Bar with No Name, rolling her eyes at Hammerhead's insistence.
"Over here, kid," Hammerhead called out, causing Black Cat to turn and see him approach. "You got the goods?"
Black Cat reached into her bag and fished out the vase. Hammerhead reached for it, but she pulled back.
"This'll make us square, right?" Cat asked. "Once I hand this over, we're done."
"We're done when the boss says we're done."
"Well, if that's the case…"
Black Cat held the vase back out, only to drop the vase, causing it to shatter on the ground. Hammerhead looked at this, his face hardening with anger.
"That was a mistake, Cat."
"Tell him that when he's ready to settle, he can talk to me personally."
With that, Black Cat shot out a grappling line, zipping off into the night as Hammerhead looked up in frustration.
…
The next day, Peter was in the middle of math class, jotting down the teacher's notes as Gwen scooted over to him. Peter glanced over as Gwen jotted something down in her notebook. She lifted it up to reveal she had written something.
"Heard you went out with Felicia Hardy last night."
Peter blinked in surprise before writing something down in his own notebook and showing it to her.
"Yeah, so?"
"You really feel you should be getting involved with her? I've heard things."
"She's a nice girl. Nothing to worry about."
"Just be careful. I don't want you to get in trouble because of her."
"I'm not going to-"
"Mr. Parker. Miss Stacy.
The two froze up, seeing the teacher standing in front of them.
"I take it my lecture isn't riveting enough for the two of you."
"Uh, no Mr. Romita," Peter insisted.
"Yeah," Gwen agreed. "We were just-"
"Passing notes in class," Mr. Romita noted, picking up their books. "Shall we see what was so much more interesting to talk about?"
"Can we not?" Peter requested.
"Miss Stacy notes that Mister Parker is seeing 'Felicia Hardy'. Mister Parker wonders why that's an issue."
Both Peter and Gwen were overwhelmed with embarrassment as their teacher read off their conversation. Several students were snickering to themselves, hearing their conversation read out loud.
"I blame you for this," Gwen whispered.
"Me? You're the one who started it."
"Something else you wish to add?" Mr. Romita asked, causing them to freeze up once more.
"Uh… no," Gwen insisted. "Nothing to add, sir."
"N-nothing at all," Peter added.
"Good," Mr. Romita replied. "Now if there are no further interruptions-"
Mr. Romita then looked up and saw another one of the students, Hobie Brown, watching something on his phone.
"Mr. Brown!" he spoke up, getting Hobie's attention. "Care to tell us what is so fascinating?"
"Uh… sorry teach," Hobie replied. "Just watching this vid about the Shocker."
"Shocker?" Peter whispered.
"He's attacking an armored car. I was just waiting for Spider-Man to show up."
"Oh, I'm sure that's riveting," Mr. Romita remarked, taking Hobie's phone. "But I'm sure it can wait after-"
"Uh, Mr. Romita," Peter spoke up, raising his hand.
Mr. Romita signed in response.
"Yes, Mr. Parker?"
"Can I use the bathroom… please?"
"... very well. But be quick about-"
Peter had already made his way out the door before Mr. Morita even finished speaking. Rand let out a whistle in response.
"Guess he really had to go."
…
Peter quickly made his way down the hallway towards the bathroom, ducking inside. After checking the stalls to make sure no one else was inside, Peter quickly changed into his Spider-Man suit and stuffed his clothes in his book bag before making his way out the bathroom window.
"Of all the villains I've faced that would make a comeback, Shocker wasn't on the top of my list."
He quickly shot a web and swung off.
…
In the city, several cars were overturned and people were running in fear as the Shocker made his way to an armored car. He blasted a hole in the side of it, allowing him to gaze in at the bags of cash inside.
"Nice. This should more than make up for my stint in the slammer."
"I'd argue paying your debt to society would have the same effect," Spidey quipped, getting Shocker's attention as he swung in. "but that's just me."
Spidey then kicked Shocker back, knocking him to the ground, causing him to tumble as Spider-Man swung onto a nearby wall.
"You!" Shocker let out, getting back up. "I owe you big time for putting me away!"
"You know, when we first met, I might have taken that as a threat… ok, maybe not, but more so than I do now. Especially knowing that your real name is Herman."
Shocker just blasted at him, forcing Spider-Man to leap out of the way.
"Sensitive subject," Spider-Man noted, swinging on a webline. "Then again, if I had a name like Herman, I'd be high strung too."
Shocker just kept blasting at Spider-Man, causing the wall crawler to spin and evade midair, not allowing any of Shocker's blasts to touch him. Becoming irritated by this, Shocker aimed his gauntlets down and blasted, sending a shockwave that sent several cars into the air towards Spider-Man. Spidey reacted quickly, leaping from car to car to avoid being hit. Shocker then blasted at each of the cars, blowing them up in the hopes of hitting Spider-Man, but the webhead was too quick for him. Finally, as Spidey landed on a falling car, Shocker managed to blast it, causing it to explode and sending Spider-Man flying through the air. Spider-Man quickly recovered and fired two web lines on the ground, allowing them to stretch before slingshotting forward towards Shocker. He landed on Shocker, pinning him to the ground. He quickly retaliated by uppercutting Spider-Man, knocking him off. Spider-Man rolled on the ground, coming to a stop as Shocker got to his feet.
"So, you ready to call it?" Spidey asked.
"I'm just getting started."
Shocker then punched the armored car, causing it to tumble towards Spider-Man. The webhead quickly leapt up and over the car, allowing Shocker to blast him dead on. The impact caused Spidey to collide with the side of a building before collapsing to the ground. Shocker too this chance to grab some of the money bags inside the van before making a quick getaway. Spider-Man picked himself up, seeing that Shocker had already fled.
"Well… that's fantastic."
How's that for luck? My first rematch with a supervillain and I get creamed. Fortunately, I was about to have one heck of a pick me up.
Spider-Man quickly swung over to where he had webbed his bookbag, pulling it off the wall just as his cell phone started ringing. Curious, he pulled it out and answered.
"Uh… hello?"
"Hey Peter. It's Felicia."
"Felicia? Uh… hey. What's up?"
"I was out in town when I saw Spider-Man smacking down with that Shocker freak. I know you take Spidey's photos and was wondering if you were close by."
Spider-Man looked around for any sign of Felicia, actually seeing her amidst the crowd.
"Uh… not to change the subject, but shouldn't you be in school?"
"Yeah, I 'should', but I kinda had an off night after I left, and I felt like taking a personal day."
"Doubt your mom would agree with you on that."
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. She has meetings with the school board this week, so I can take it a little easy until then."
"Must be nice."
"The best. So, care to join me?"
"Well, that does sound tempting. But I don't know if I can risk it"
"What class are you ditching?"
"Math, but-"
"And what class is next?"
"Uh, Spanish."
"Any absences?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Then you can afford it. Look, you said so yourself. Work keeps you busy, and I can imagine school isn't any better."
"Not… really…"
"Then don't you think you owe it to yourself to have a little fun once and a while?"
I really wanted to say no and just head back to class, but the more I thought about what she had to say, the more it sounded appealing.
"I… guess so. What did you have in mind?"
"Meet me at the corner of Lieber and Ditko and I'll show you."
…
Sometime later, Felicia stood at the street corner, waiting for Peter to show up. As she turned her head, her face brightened up as she saw Peter walking up.
"There you are," she noted. "You gotta be the only person I know who would be late playing hooky."
"Sorry," Peter replied as he walked up to her. "Guess old habits die hard."
"Eh, forget about it. For now, let's grab something to eat."
…
Later, the two made their way to a burger joint. They got their food and sat down to enjoy it.
"Thanks for getting the bill," Peter told her. "Most of my pay goes to bills and-"
"Forget about it," she replied dismissively. "I'm just glad I was able to convince you to come out."
"I gotta admit, my responsibilities have gotten a bit much lately. It is nice to take a little time to myself every now and then."
"See? You're finally getting it. It's ok to get out of your work cycle every once and a while. Enjoy yourself."
"Yeah, yeah. I came out, didn't I?"
"You did, yes. But that's just the first step. I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I'm gonna get you to loosen up."
"Like what?"
Felicia just smirked in response.
…
Later, the two found themselves at a movie theatre, watching some cheesy action movie. They sat in the back row, with a tub of popcorn between them to share. As the two grabbed pieces of popcorn, their hands made contact with each other, causing them to turn towards each other in surprise and embarrassment.
"Uh, sorry," Peter apologized.
"It's fine," Felicia replied. "I… I don't mind…"
After a moment of silence fell between the two for a moment. They held each other's hands, just looking at each other for a minute. Finally, the two leaned in and kissed, completely ignoring the actions on the screen in front of them.
…
After the movie was over, Peter and Felicia walked out of the theatre, hand in hand.
"Alright, I gotta admit," Peter spoke up. "Today was nice.
"See?" Felicia told him. "What'd I tell you?"
"Yeah, well, I'd better get back before I'm in more trouble than I probably am."
"Well if they try to bust you, I can always vouch for you."
"Really?"
"Nah, I'll just say I never saw you before."
"Haha, very funny."
"See ya," Felicia told him before giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Later," Peter replied before heading off.
…
Later, Peter donned his Spider-Man suit again so he could swing back to school.
Had to say, things were looking pretty good. Had a good time with Felicia, and was able to make it back with time to spare. Plus, if anyone asked, I could say I went to get Spider-Man photos.
What could go wrong, right?
…
Finally, Peter managed to get back to school, changing into his civilian guise and made it inside just as the class let out. He tried to move with the exiting students, hoping no one would notice.
"Peter!" Gwen called out, causing him to flinch as she walked up behind him. "There you are. Where'd you go? You never came back from the bathroom."
"Oh, that…" Peter replied, turning around. "I just slipped out to cover that Shocker thing. Figured Spider-Man would show up and… you know."
Gwen suddenly gave him a cross look, much to Peter's confusion.
"Whoa, the 'look'. What? What'd I-"
"You got something on your lip."
Peter raised an eyebrow, pulling out his phone and using the camera to see the lipstick imprint Felicia had left from her kiss.
"Oh!" Peter let out. "Well, Felicia was there as well, and-"
"This is what I was trying to warn you about. Felicia Hardy has a reputation of playing hooky and getting into trouble."
"Oh, come on. She's not that bad."
"She caused you to miss Spanish class."
"She's fun. And in case you haven't noticed, my life has just been one responsibility after another, and I'm tired of it. When do I get to have fun, huh?!"
"And what happens when that fun gets you kicked out of school?"
"Then that'll be a load off my mind," Peter remarked, walking off.
Gwen turned towards him, her face seething with irritation.
…
Later that day, Felicia returned to her house, heading inside and seeing her mother in the living room going over some paperwork.
"Hey mom," she greeted. "How was the meeting?"
"Same as usual," Mrs. Hardy replied. "A lot of talk resulting in a lot of paperwork. How about you? How was your day?"
"It was alright," Felicia replied dismissively as she made her way to the stairs.
"Then why did I get a call from the school that you hadn't shown up for classes today?"
Felicia instantly froze up, slowly turning around as her mother got to her feet.
"Uh…"
"Where were you?"
"Just… out. Look, it's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal? I am trying to run a respectable institution. How do you think it looks when my own daughter is cutting classes."
"It was just the one time. I promise. It won't happen again."
Mrs. Hardy just gave her a cross look before there was a sudden knock at the door.
"We are not done with this conversation," Mrs. Hardy told her, heading to the door.
The opened the door, freezing in her tracks when she saw who it was. A bald, seemingly obese man in a white suit stood in the door way with a crystal tipped cane in his hands and a smug smile on his face.
"Hello Anastasia," he greeted.
"Wilson…" Mrs. Hardy let out in a surprised tone.. "What are you doing here?"
"I've merely come to have a little conversation with your daughter."
"You will not step foot in this house. Leave, now!"
"It would only take a moment," he continued, eying Felicia.
"Leave now or I'm calling the police."
He didn't press the issue any further, simply shrugging before walking out. Anastasia slammed the door behind him before letting out a breath.
"Felicia, go upstairs and pack a-"
By the time she turned to face her daughter, she was already gone.
…
Wilson returned to his car and got inside, not surprised to see Felicia sitting in the seat across from him.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here like this," She told him.
"Well, I felt it was imperative that we talk," He responded. "It's come to my attention that you wish to end our current relationship."
"Damn right. I've paid our little debt to you a hundred times over. I'm out."
"It seems we have a lack of understanding in regards to the nature of our agreement. Something very precious was taken from me. Considering your involvement, it seems fitting you work for me until the debt is fulfilled. And as far as I am concerned… it is not."
"Well what if I decide I'm just done. Right here. Right now."
"That is an option… of course, should you decide to do so, I would be forced to inform the press about the Hardy family's… involvement in certain illegal activities."
This caused Felicia to pause for a moment.
"You… you honestly think you could make anything stick?"
"As blatant as a rabbit in a snowstorm."
That last phrase seemed to get to Felicia, causing her to clench her fist in fury.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked, causing him to smile.
…
Later that night, Spider-Man swung through the city, venting to himself about his conversation with Gwen.
"What right does she have to tell me how to spend my time?" He asked himself. "It's my life! And even if I miss a few classes, so what? It's not like I can't make up my grades later. I'd just like to enjoy myself when I'm not putting my life on the line for the city night after night. Is that so wrong?"
As Spider-Man landed on the side of a building, he turned around so he was facing out, watching the bustling city below.
"I'm not ignoring my responsibilities… I just want a little break every now and then… is that really too much to ask?"
…
Not far away, Black Cat raced across the rooftops, her breathing becoming more and more erratic as she moved.
"Enjoy playing your games, Fisk," she said to herself. "After tomorrow night, it all ends!"
She leapt off the rooftop and shot a grappling line, swinging across the skyline towards her destination.
…
Back with Spider-Man, he was still clinging to the side of the wall, mulling over his fight with Gwen and his budding relationship with Felicia.
"She's not a bad person… so she's a little reckless, she's still fun to hang out with."
He looked up, seeing Black Cat swinging across the buildings, seemingly on a mission.
"Speaking of fun…" he mused before shooting a webline and swinging off.
…
Inside a high class art gallery, a skylight was cut open, allowing it to be opened up and Black Cat to drop down inside. She scanned around the gallery, seemingly searching for something in particular. She suddenly stopped at the sight of one of them, what looked like a white canvas with slight grooves on it.
"Bingo."
She busts open the case and takes out the painting, slowly taking the painting out and slowly rolling it up. She then placed it in a mailing tube and was ready to take off. Suddenly, a shot of webbing pinned her hand to the wall as another web line snagged the tube, yanking it into Spider-Man's hand.
"What do you think?" he mused. "I call it, 'cat on canvas'. Not much of an artist, but I think it works pretty well."
"Cute," she remarked in a slightly cold tone before using her claws to cut herself free. "Love to play Spider, but I'm kind of on a deadline."
"Tell them to take a number," he remarked, leaping down to her.
She leapt backwards as he touched down, landing on the wall and springing off, kicking him in the head. As he rolled backwards on the ground, she scooped up the tube and slung it over her shoulder. Spider-Man quickly recovered, firing several web strands at her, which she was quick to dodge. Trying another approach, he sprung towards her, forcing her to fall back and kick him upwards. He quickly recovered, firing two weblines down at the ground and yanking hard. Black Cat quickly backflipped out of the way as he landed, allowing her to rush forward and slash at him with her claws. He easily dodged and deflected the attacks, noting something off about her this go around.
"You're a lot less playful tonight," he remarked. "What's wrong? Someone forgot to refill your milk saucer?"
"Having an off night. Sorry if I'm not in a fun mood."
"Maybe I can help with that. I hear the lady's wing at Rykers has a sick karaoke night."
Having had enough, Black Cat fired a grappling hook up at the skylight and shot past Spider-Man. She reached the skylight and climbed out, prompting Spider-Man to shoot a webline and sling up after her. The two ran across the roof as a cop car arrived. The officer driving got out and looked up to see Black Cat and Spider-Man swing through the air. Spider-Man swung up close to her, prompting Cat to engage in some aerial combat. The two kicked and struck at each other in rapid succession. Cat tried striking at the webline itself, but Spider-Man saw the attack and quickly dropped down before firing two weblines at her boots, hoping to pull her down.
"Down kitty," he quipped.
The excess weight allowed him to pull her off the line, making them both fall towards the ground. Thinking fast, Spider-Man dove towards Cat and grabbed her, shooting another webline so they could swing through the air.
"They always said I had a knack for picking up cute girls," Spidey remarked.
"I always appreciate a Spider-Man with a sense of humor," Cat retorted.
Spidey landed on the side of a building, still holding Cat.
"Thanks for the save, Spider," Cat remarked. "But I got somewhere I need to be."
Cat quickly fired a grappling line upwards before elbowing Spider-Man in the chest, causing him to fall towards the ground. Spider-Man quickly caught himself and stuck to the wall before he hit the ground. He climbed up the side of the building in order to catch up with her, but by the time he got up there, she was gone.
"Damn…" he let out in defeat.
"Hey, Spider-Man!" the cop called out, getting Spidey's attention. "Down here."
Spider-Man dropped down, landing on a lamppost and swinging around it before springing towards the cop car. He landed on it, meeting the elderly cop as he stood next to the car.
"Evening officer, what can I do for you?"
"Actually, I was hoping I could help you," the officer replied. "You know what the cat burglar stole?"
"Uh… some blank canvas. Not sure why it was on display."
"Ah, I… know the piece. It's called 'Rabbit in a Snowstorm'. Some sort of expressionist piece, I think."
"Is it important?"
"Important enough that someone else made a play for it a couple years ago."
"Really? Think they're connected?"
"Couldn't hurt to look into it."
"Alright. Thanks officer…"
"Mackie."
"Right," Spidey replied as he slung a web and swung off.
As Spider-Man swung away, both he and officer Mackie were unaware that they were being watched by Hammerhead in an unmarked car. Once Mackie got into the car and drove off, Hammerhead rolled up his window and drove off himself.
…
Later, Black Cat returned to her home, climbing into her bedroom window and throwing the art tube into her bed before removing her mask and wig. She then glanced up at her nightstand, seeing a picture of a man with her and her mother. She picked it up and held it up, her eyes focusing on the man, clearly being her father.
…
Several years ago, a five year old Felicia slowly made her way downstairs towards a lit room along the hall.
"You can't keep doing this, Walter!" Anastasia insisted. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"I know what I'm doing Ana. Besides, every job I do helps this family."
"We don't need the money! You're doing it because you feel you have to! It's an addiction to you!"
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it?! You're out there night after night! Risking your life constantly! I don't know if the next time I see you will be behind bars or-"
She stopped when she saw something off to the side. Walter looked in the same direction, seeing Felicia peaking around the corner, as if she was afraid to enter. Walter took the cue and walked over to her, kneeling down to talk to her.
"Felicia, what are you doing up so late?" he asked.
"I wanted to see you daddy," she replied, hugging him. "I only see you at night."
"That's because you and I are most comfortable when we're wrapped in the dark blanket of the night."
…
Felicia looked down at the photo in her hand, smiling intently.
"Guess not much has changed since then, huh dad?" she remarked, placing the photo back on the nightstand before picking up the art tube. "This ones for you…"
