Chapter 2-5

A Few Weeks Ago, Several Hours After The Human Trials

It was nighttime at Hamilton's house, things seemed to be spinning out of control for him. First, he saw a green mask suddenly appear on his desk and had no idea how it got there. He turned away from the mask but there was that cackle in his head that made him alert.

"If someone is there," he yelled in his empty home, "You better show yourself or I'll call the police."

"I'm in here," the voice said.

Hamilton clutched his head. "I must be going crazy, me, a psychiatrist." He heads over to his fridge and he pours a glass of water. He gulped it down in one breath but that persistent laugh was still there.

"Why don't you leave me alone?" he almost shouted in anger.

"Don't play innocent with me! You know what's going on." The voice matched the anger in his voice.

Hamilton threw his glass at the wall in frustration. "Why don't you reveal yourself and stop toying with me?"

"Sure, I'm in your bedroom."

Hamilton doesn't pause for anything as he rushed to his bedroom, loaded for bear. When he ran in there, he looked at every square inch of the place to find not a single soul hiding in his room. Not under the bed, in the closet, or behind his dresser. "Where the hell are you, and don't play with me?!"

"I'm behind you."

Hamilton spun around. "What the hell is going on?"

A mirror with his reflection.

"Did you think that temporary insanity was a one-time side-effect of the Performance Enhancers?" His reflection steps forward and brandishes his devilish grin. "You and I are going to be stuck together forever, Barton."

"I'm talking to a mirror," Hamilton facepalmed with a chuckle. He quickly snapped towards the mirror when he heard the voice talking again.

"I'm not an imagination," the reflection snapped.

Hamilton laughed. "Yeah...not my imagination."

The face in the mirror was becoming angry. "Not only did the Performance Enhancers increase your physical strength by eight hundred percent but it awakened something dormant within you for a long time."

"Haha, I have no psychological problems. I'm completely sane." He held up his hand in a waving motion before he spotted blood on his hand. He thought maybe he cut himself but there were no wounds, indicating that this was someone else's blood. He ran out into the kitchen to look at the bloody handprint on the fridge. "No," he whimpered. He looked at the shattered glass that he threw and found specks of blood on it. He ran into his room and spotted a bloody handprint on his dresser, bed, and on the floor where he looked under the. "No, no, what's going on." He ran into the bathroom to wash off the blood. "No, no, I can't be going insane!" He looked up to find another mirror and gasped upon seeing the reflection's grin. "What the fuck did you do?!"

"Me," the reflection pointed to himself, "I did you a favor. Had that guard discovered you and your brother in the lab, he would've reported it. It was necessary, you do understand that, right?"

"I killed someone?" Hamilton gasped, "I took the life of another human being...I'm a monster." He looked at the reflection in the eyes and glared. "You're nothing but a hallucination, a figment of my imagination, you're only saying what my subconscious is saying. I will not become a puppet to an imaginary friend. I'd liked to see what would happen if I called the police and reported this. I'm gonna shut this down before it gets out of control."

He steps into the living room to pick up his cell phone. He dials 911 and waits for an answer. He listens to the dial tone and taps his foot patiently against the floor. When he heard a female's voice on the other end, everything suddenly went black, and a devilish grin formed on his face.

Several minutes later, the police showed up to investigate.

Hamilton opened the door. "Good evening, officers."

"We caught a call that was cut off from this location," the first officer spoke, "what's going on?"

Hamilton sighed. "My apologies, I was sleepwalking and I must've dialed 911. I am so sorry."

"Sleepwalking and calling the police, what were you dreaming about?"

"I was being possessed, someone was taking over my body." He lowered his head. "I am so sorry for any inconvenience I might have caused."

"It's okay, as long as nobody's hurt then everything should be fine. However, I would suggest dreaming about something more peaceful at night than getting possessed. You know, like fluffy unicorns and a princess with impossibly long hair."

Hamilton laughed. "I'll be sure to remember that the next time I fall asleep." He waved at them. "You have a good night officers."

"Yeah, and you too, sir."

Hamilton closed the door shut and looked around. He turned off the kitchen light before he went into his bedroom and locked himself in.

"So," the voice came back, "how did it feel to get away with your crime?"

"It felt good," Hamilton admitted.

"You killed someone and instead of turning yourself in, you lied. You lied and you walked away from a crime scene."

"Yeah... I did."

Jack walked into the room. "Brother, you have to turn yourself in, because you know it's the right thing to do."

"Shut up, Jack."

"Barton."

Hamilton stood up and faced his brother. "You're not the boss of me anymore, Jack."

"He never was," the voice in Barton's head returned. "He's not on your side, Barton, but I am."

"Don't listen to him," Jack urged, "I'm on your side, Barton, I always have been. I've been there to look after you, to take care of you, to make sure you're doing the right thing."

"And you experimented on me," Barton reminded him.

"No," Jack shook his head, "I didn't experiment on you, YOU did that."

"Now who is the liar, Jack?"

"Brother, please, don't do this. You're a good guy, I know it. Please... please don't listen to the voice in your head... listen to me."

Barton shook his head. "If you're so upset, then why don't you go snitch on me to Mom."

Jack started to cry. "Please."

"Sorry, Jack, but I'm in control here, not you."

Present

Museum

At Nighttime, the museum in Manhattan has very few guards to guard the diamond. It makes things easy for Black Cat to sneak into the building wearing her infamous catsuit with a domino mask and her hair platinum blonde. She sinks her claws into the ceiling from above and moves above the guards, who shine a light in the dark corners.

"These boys got to tighten their security," she mutters as she jumps down after the guard leaves. She looks up to see a display case with a diamond inside. She removes a canister from her hip and tosses it on the ground. A small volume of mist escapes the canister and makes the lasers visible

"Good, a challenge." She somersaults into a handstand in between two lasers. "If I'm guaranteed to win or lose, then it wouldn't be fun."

She performs gymnastic moves across the ground and frontflips over the lasers before she lands in front of the display case. She notices a motion sensor on the device lighting up with a red dot.

"Typical alarm, no fun." She studies the device. "If I touch the display, even with one finger on the glass, then the alarm will go off."

She reaches to her waist and pulls out a small handheld device shaped like a flash drive. She plants it on the motion detector and waits for the red dot to fade.

She touches the glass with her clawed glove. She rotates her hand and carves a circle in the glass. She thumps the glass down with her fingers and reaches inside the display. She pulls out the diamond and studies it in her hand.

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend but to be collected by a guy." She shakes her head in dismay. "Doesn't work well for me." She takes back the device she put on the motion sensor before touching the glass with one finger. The alarm went off.

"This should be interesting."

She backflips over the lasers, remembering exactly where they were located. Once she's clear of the lasers, she runs up to the wall and sinks her claws in them. She climbs up the wall and to the ceiling. She hangs upside-down and watches a small group of security guards stumbling upon the display case. They were getting hysterical over one little diamond that just happened to be worth forty-five hundred dollars.

"When did people obsess over the little things? Besides, a diamond like this can easily be replaced."

She climbs across the ceiling and she climbs out of the open window. Once outside, she shuts it with her feet and jumps off the building. It was a tall building and the museum display was on the twelfth floor but she wasn't worried about falling to her death. She threw a rope out to a building and swung across to the roof. She somersaults to a stop and sits on the ledge.

"I wonder what that spider boy will think when he sees me," she wonders, "If what they say is true, then he won't kill me."

"You got that much right," a voice speaks behind her. She turns around and sees Spidey perched down on the ledge. "Even so, I tend not to kill women if I can help it. Also, I'm not a boy, hence the name, Spider-Man."

She eyes him from mask to toe and smiles mischievously. "Hey there, Spider." She notices the spider symbol on his chest and she smiles, almost as if she is thinking dirty thoughts.

"If I'm a Spider, then what are you?" he questioned.

"I'm just a stray black cat." She jumps onto the ledge and moves across it. Spider-Man follows her.

Man, she is pretty. Too bad she's guilty, guilty.

She stares him in his spider eyes. "Catch me if you can." She winks and jumps off the roof.

A game of cat-and-mouse except I'm the cat. Or, would it be the mouse catching the cat in this case? Eh, I'll just say it's a game of cat-and-spider.

Spider-Man nosedives off the building and follows her. She swings on a rope. Spider-Man shoots a web to a gargoyle which subsequently collapses under his weight.

What the hell was that?

He catches himself on another web and pursues Black Cat across the city. He shoots a web for her but the web launches over her and misses completely.

How did I miss her? Did I apply too much pressure?

He launches another web at her but misses by a long shot.

How can my hand-eye coordination be off as well? They do say that black cats are bad luck.

He catches up to her and swings beside her. Instead of grabbing at her, he just web-swings with her.

She is so beautiful, almost as pretty as Felicia.

"What's the matter, Spider?" she says seductively. "Cat got your tongue?"

Spider-Man misses a web-shot to the crane in front of him. Not only does he miss but his web-shooter malfunctions and he falls.

"Oh shit!"

He lands headfirst into a swimming pool on the roof of a building.

"I think my bad luck powers may have gone overboard," Black Cat says as she jumps onto the roof.

Spider-Man pulls himself in his soaking wet costume out of the pool.

That's the second time I've fallen into a pool due to web-related incidents. Whoever this cat burglar is, she is going to pay big time.

"You work out a lot?"

Spider-Man turns to Black Cat sitting on a chair with one leg up. He smiles under his mask. "You must be the most arrogant person I've ever met, having me chase you down and then soaking me in a chlorine pool. It's not right, it's completely twisted." He shrugs. "But hey, a guy swinging on webs crushing people with ATMs is also equally twisted." He sighs. "I'm curious about you. There's something about you that I find intriguing." He flexes. "And these muscles don't come from nowhere."

Actually, I got bit by a spider and they just appeared so yeah, they do come from nowhere.

"You got a girlfriend?" she asked as she stood up.

Spider-Man climbs out of the pool and walks over to the cat burglar. He is taller than her by a foot and he likes looking down at her. Being taller than she was starting to make up for the bad luck she bestowed on him.

Speaking of which…

"Do you have a superpower?"

"I asked first, Spider." She takes one of her fingers and drags it playfully along his chest. She taps his spider symbol.

"I do not have a girlfriend," he answers, "because fate has saved me for you tonight."

Her eyes light up and she smiles. "Really, why do you say that?"

"Do you have superpowers?"

She called herself a black cat and whenever I was around her, bad things started happening. Once was a coincidence, twice was by chance. But three times...

"It is bad luck to cross the path of a black cat," she says simply, "I mean, isn't falling into a pool bad luck enough?"

Spider-Man smiles under his mask.

I know that she is a cat burglar who just stole from a museum but at the same time, she is so beautiful and she has superpowers as I do. Yeah, she is guilty, guilty but I can't help but feel drawn to her. I feel like I know her like it was destiny for us to be here. I feel like while David Dante spends his life pursuing Felicia Hardy, Spider-Man gets to interact with the dashing and dazzling female cat burglar who turns him on. My innate sense of justice says to web her to the wall but how could I resist her I just want to grab her by the throat and kiss her until her lips melt into mine.

She catches him staring off into space. "What is going on in your head, Spider?"

Spider-Man turns on the charisma he spent several years developing.

"Why did you steal from that museum, kitty? I'm curious."

"They can afford it," she chuckles, "this diamond is only worth forty-five hundred dollars. Besides, the people who run the museum are very wealthy so this will barely faze them in any way.

"Did you hurt anybody? Are you violent?"

She brandishes her claws. "These babies haven't given anyone so much as a papercut."

"What do you intend to do with that diamond?"

"Keep it as a trophy. My first trophy."

Spidey nods. "Why did you steal it?"

"Because I like stealing, why do you like killing?"

Spidey nods once more. "Touche, kitty. I like killing people," he tells her bluntly. "I enjoy killing people in the most gruesome way possible." He leans in. "But I'm curious about you. You know that I'm a killer yet you're choosing to stay by my side then run away. The fact that a non-violent person like you would willingly choose to approach me, in spite of my reputation, proves that you're a little messed up in the head."

Black Cat looks at him in his spidery eyes. "I'm not messed up."

"A cat burglar approaching a killer is messed up. Or maybe you're just overconfident because you know I won't kill a non-violent criminal like you." He chuckles. "Ooh, man, so many things to consider and so many differences in opinions might arise." He eyes her chest. "I've been active for almost three weeks and here you are, wearing a sexy catsuit and bestowing whatever your superpower is on me."

"Life is unpredictable, Spider, but that's what I like about it."

Like me, she is an anti-hero. I find myself drawn to her like a moth to the flame and yet, I can't find the will in me to web her to the wall. She is very intriguing and I want to see what else she has in store for me. Based on her wording and how everything went haywire for me when chasing her, I believe she has the ability to bring misfortune to her enemies. If that's true... then she can be a very useful ally but her bad luck powers are only a bonus.

"I will not turn you in," he says with confidence, "But in return for letting you get off scot-free, you must do something with me."

She likes this spider. He wasn't some dorky teenager under a mask, but a confident young man. "And what would that be?"

"We go on a date, as Spider-Man and Black Cat. Not as our regular ourselves but as our alter-egos."

"Black Cat," she purrs, "I love that name. And I gotta say, Spider..." She licked her lips before closing in on him, "I thought you were some lightweight under that mask but you've proved me wrong."

"I'm anything but a lightweight," he says sternly, "Count on it."

"When's our first date?"

"Saturday, this same building."

She moves over to the ledge, waving her hand at him as she jumps.

"See ya, Spider."

I lost, my first battle and I lost. But... I can't help but wonder where she got her powers from and how her powers work. If what those comic books say is true then sooner or later, there's going to be a villain, a supervillain that is going to fly into the picture and battle me. If I can't even beat a girl smaller than me then I stand no chance against a supervillain with super-strength.

But our date, that was all a ruse. My real plan was to get her in a spot where I can ambush her. She'll use her misfortune powers on me and then it'll be up to me to defeat her. I'm looking forward to it.

After I beat her, THEN we can become lovers.

Empire State University, Cafeteria

Sitting at a table with a lunch tray in front of him, Barton carefully eats his meal before looking up at his brother, who has no plates or utensils before him.

"Not hungry?" Hamilton questions.

"Nope," Jack sighs.

A middle-aged scientist with salt-and-pepper hair approaches their table. "Dr. Hamilton, is all going well?"

"Yes, Dr. Leland," Hamilton nods, "thank you. How are we doing with everything around us?"

"As well as can be expected but... we have some bad news."

"And what should that be?"

"The military finally pulled our funding." Leland clenches his fists. "After those promising results with the Performance Enhancers, the military just abruptly pulled our funding, no explanation or anything. They just pulled the plug, period."

Jack sighs and looks at his brother. "You did the right thing, brother."

Hamilton ignores his brother's voice and looks down at his food. "Oh well, I'm sure there are other experiments we can work on. Besides, why should the military have Performance Enhancers? Why should they have more power over us?"

"The Performance Enhancers were going to make us iconic. Now... we're generic. But... it's a good thing we planned that fundraiser ahead of time."

Hamilton looks over at Leland. "The fundraiser?"

"We were going to use the fundraiser to raise funds for all of our experiments but now, the Performance Enhancers are our sole objective. But don't worry, ESU is reputable and I'm sure we'll make a lot of money."

Hamilton narrows his eyes. "Really."

"Yes, we can start work on the Performance Enhancers the day after."

Hamilton looks away. "Can't wait for it."

Leland walks away, leaving Hamilton sitting at the table with Jack's voice talking to him.

"You've seen what those Performance Enhancers can do, Barton, you have to do something."

"Yes," Hamilton agrees, "I will not share this power with anyone else."

The Hamilton Residence

Barton Hamilton sits crisscross on the floor with a dozen newspapers in front of him. He has a bowl of jelly beans beside him and he grabs a handful and puts them in his mouth. He turns on the TV and listens to a news report of the Sado-Masochistic Spider-Man stopping a group of non-violent criminals attempting to escape from the police.

He can't put his finger on it but there was something about Spider-Man that intrigued him.

Jack, interrupts his thinking session. He takes careful observations of the mess on his brother's living room floor and carefully puts a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"What's going on?"

"It's Spider-Man," Hamilton says as he takes another handful of jelly beans, "There's something about me that intrigues me so very much." Another handful. "I feel like I've met him but I've never met the Spider-Man in person."

"Maybe he just reminds you of someone you met."

He smacks his brother's hand away with more force than necessary and leaves a red mark. "No, he doesn't remind me of anybody, he gives off the vibes that I've met him." He narrows his eyes at an exclusive Daily Bugle photo of Spidey. "I've been building a profile around Spidey and I can't but help feel that I've met him."

"What have you profiled?"

"Spider-Man is a reckless teenager with a strong sense of justice. Given his vendetta-like relationship with violent criminals, he suffered a personal tragedy involving a violent criminal. His true motive is not to be a superhero and save lives, his true motive is to kill violent criminals and him saving innocent people is a way of hiding his true motives."

"How were you able to deduce all of that?"

"Remember, big brother, I'm a psychiatrist. Not only did the Performance Enhances increase my strength, but they also boosted my intelligence as well. I've studied human behavior for over twenty years so I know what to look for." He puts his thumb to his mouth and bites down, drawing blood. He gazes at the drop of blood on his thumb and he smiles.

"I want to meet Spider-Man in person," he tells him, "I want to get a glimpse of what he is. Not taking out non-violent criminals but I want to see his psychopathic side."

"What makes you think he is a psychopath?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" He looks at his brother with a death glare which eventually turns into a devilish grin. He looks back at the Spider-Man photos and breaks out laughing maniacally.

Jack feels threatened and slowly backs away until he hits the wall

"Spider-Man," he whispers under his breath, "I know you from somewhere, your profile is familiar. I believe we've met as regular people at one time, maybe you were one of my patients." He snickers at the violent thoughts in your mind. "I'll test your mind on every level and you'll never know what grabbed at ya. You'll be begging for death by the time I'm done with you and when you are at my mercy, I will have deduced your secret identity.

"I'm the only one who should have power, not you, not the military, only me."