Chapter 3-2

David had to make haste if he wanted to be on his date on time. He became Spider-Man and swung to the roof where he promised Black Cat he would meet. He swung down to the roof and he stayed perched down on the ledge. He waited patiently and looked from left to right before staring off into space.

It would be...awkward...if I came here alone on this date. If that were to be the case, then the next time I find Black Cat, I'm going to -

"Hello, Spider."

-spend a night in Heaven with her.

"Hey there, Cat." He somersaults off the edge and uses his enhanced senses to deduce that Black Cat is behind him. "I know you're behind me."

She somersaults beside him. "What's you been up to lately?"

Spidey faced her and smiled. "Killing those who deserve it, got into a tussle with a supervillain, you know, ordinary stuff."

"Did you hear about that new supervillain flying around on a glider?" She wraps her right hand around his chest, "The Daily Bugle is calling him the Green Goblin."

"I hate the Daily Bugle," Spidey said, "They are adding bad publicity to my name."

"Why do you care about publicity so much?" Her hands raised to his neck area. "Why should it care that the Daily Bugle is slandering your reputation?"

"Libel," he corrected, remembering what Eddie told him, "Slander is spoken."

Spidey removed her arms from him and sat down on the beach chair. Black Cat sat beside him in a second chair.

"What are you going to do about the Green Goblin, Spider? Is he much of a threat?"

"He is," Spidey answered, "he is a threat. I have to kill him."

He rested the back of his head on his hands and sighed. If he were on the beach then he would've been sunbathing.

The date is going well so far. I like hanging out with Black Cat but there is one thing I do wonder about….

"Why did you want to hang out with me?" He watches her bat her eyes. "You could've just swung off."

Then I would've declared you guilty, guilty.

"It's the thrill of risks," she sighed simply, "The guarantee of always being safe or always being in danger is just boring to me. If it's a practical guarantee that one thing or another will happen then I hate it. I like the fact that hanging out with you is a risk."

She's probably arrogant because she has her bad luck powers and she humiliated me with them.

"Besides, you're not cruel enough to kill me."

You never know. I've tortured and killed plenty of dogs in my time; maybe cats would be a step up.

"Well, I only kill bad people," Spider-Man said and shrugged.

"Am I bad?" she purred.

Spidey snapped his head towards her. Had he not been wearing his mask, he would've flashed the cheekiest grin he ever had at her. He sat up and turned to her, leaning forward to whisper, "I think you're one naughty cat."

"Ooh, where did this spider come from?" She winks.

The beach chair shattered and took Spidey to the ground.

"I warned you that black cats are bad luck."

Goddamn it. She's teasing me on purpose with her superpowers. It's kinda kinky and I like it. Spider-Man's got a hot girlfriend.

"Then, could you make it up to me by letting me take you on a ride?"

She nods.

"Ready?" He wrapped his hand tightly around Black Cat's waist and he suddenly got a feeling in his heart that he could not explain. His heart was pounding and he realized the smooth and silky skin his gloved hand was touching. He touched his heart area and his breathing became rapid and shallow.

"Cat got your tongue, Spider?"

He could not hear Cat's sweet and beautiful voice but he was in a state of bliss.

What is this feeling? It's so beautiful. I don't want this feeling to end, I'll even do ecstasy just to keep this feeling in my chest. This is the first time I've felt this and I can't believe how I feel. I feel like putting Cat on the ground and fucking her into oblivion. Fuck on the first date, that would be something...maybe I should do that...but if I do that, without her verbal consent, I'll be breaking my own rules because Spider-Man does not rape. But then again, do I necessarily need verbal consent if we're both kissing and hugging and laying on the floor with me on top of her, thrusting my tongue in and out of her mouth like a butcher blade?

"What are you thinking, Spider?"

I want to fuck you senselessly.

"Is this your first time with a girl?"

Yes.

"Is this the first date you've been on?"

Yes.

"Are you having dirty thoughts?"

Oh...hell...yes….

She runs a finger down his chest. He winces at the sensitive feeling stirring up inside him.

So...hot...I think she entranced me in a love trap.

He leaned in to kiss Black Cat before he froze.

Wait a second, did I say "Love"? Is this the feeling of love? The desire to fuck someone until they can't walk? Is that what true love is? It can't be and why is it called lovemaking? Why is fucking called lovemaking? Is it called lovemaking when a rapist takes a girl's innocence? If babies are made from love, then why do rapists have children? Why do parents hit their children if they are a creation of their love?

"I can't read you anymore, Spider, what are you thinking?"

What I'm feeling isn't love, it's just excitement. I should've known, I got my hopes up too high and now I was shot down like a military jet. I suddenly feel turned off, I feel cheated, destroyed, dropped into a bottomless abyss, falling for eternity. I'm back to feeling empty.

"Did I ever tell you that I like the mysterious silent type?"

Okay, the feeling's back.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to wait on our web-swinging date." Spidey finds the will to speak once more. "Kitty, would you be a good little pet and help me out with something?"

"And what do you need help with, Spider? Getting off?"

Spidey laughs. "No, but I need help getting experience." He closes in on her. "I want you to run away as fast as you can and use your bad luck powers on me or whatever they are."

"Why? Looking to get a little masochistic tonight, Spider?"

Spidey nods. "Something like that. But you've seen that flying green guy on the news, he fought me. He's stronger than me, faster too. Very agile as well. And he's got mini WMDs at his disposal. And he's outsmarted me a few times in combat. Whenever I kill people, they're regular human beings so they don't put up much of a fight. But I've never fought another superhuman before. And you're superhuman. Maybe not to the same degree but you have powers that give you an advantage."

He leads her to the wall and kabedons her. "So, I have a proposal for you. If you help me build up my XP, hone my combat skills, and sharpen my Battle IQ, then I'll give you a big reward."

"What kind of rewards, Spider?"

"If you beat me, I will swing away and I will let you rob any bank or museum that you want and I won't interfere. But... if I beat you, then I will personally swing you over to whatever place you plan on robbing. Of course, there will be some rules, like, no stealing from innocent people. But either way, you could steal millions tonight. Whether you have an audience depends entirely on you, however."

Black Cat's jaw drops. "Are you serious? You're going to let this naughty kitten steal?"

"Only from assholes, my perfect delectable kitten." He moves in on her, his face inches from her. "I promise, kitty."

Black Cat licks her lips and lets out a soft sigh. "Wow, Spider, I never knew you had it in you. You are no lightweight."

"I've killed 72 people; I'm pretty sure a lightweight can't handle the weight of that knowledge." He's half an inch away from kissing her pretty red lips. "So what's going to be, kitty? Yes... no... maybe so, don't know?"

"I don't know, Spider, I'm not sure you can keep up with me."

"Only one way to find out."

"Yes." She took a finger and dragged it across his chest. "Only one way to find out, Spider." She winks at him.

The light from above falls. Spidey leaps back and Black Cat makes a run for it. Black Cat runs over the edge and dives off. Spidey follows. Black Cat throws a sticky grenade onto Spidey's chest. It detonates and sends electricity traveling all over his suit. He jolts and falls the rest of the way down. He survives the fall from the tall building and lands on top of a dumpster.

Should've expected that.

Spidey leaps to the roof, with some parts of the building breaking away from the wall, before he makes it to the top. He sees Black Cat running and he fires a web at her, only for his web-shooters to malfunction.

She used an EMP grenade on me, interesting.

He leaps to the other side of the building and sees the cracks in the spot he's about to land. He narrows his eyes and shifts his footing at the last second. He lands on the roof and when the surface breaks apart, he is already leaping after Black Cat.

Black Cat uses her grappling hook to get from building to building while Spidey parlors from rooftop to rooftop. Spidey leaps thirty feet in the air and a bird flies in his face. He smacks the bird away and lands on the same rooftop as the running Black Cat.

Bad luck powers. Her powers are extremely dangerous and very versatile. It's like... she can override plot inconveniences in a movie. If the character doesn't have the key to open a door, she can use her bad luck powers to destroy the door. Or, if the number one assassin in the world is hunting after the protagonist, one bad dose of bad luck and the big bad assassin is reduced to the same threat level as a faceless red shirt.

So, her power is basically giving herself plot armor. Interesting. So then, how can you defeat someone with plot armor? You can't. But... depending on the kind of plot armor, it can be manipulated. If it's plot armor for surviving, that's one thing but plot armor for winning is another thing. And in Black Cat's case, she's using plot armor to win AND survive.

Is it possible her powers change? Are her powers helping her win or survive? So far, based on what I've seen, her plot armor powers are being used to slow me down so she can win. This may be wistful thinking but... if I change my tactics from trying to beat her to killing her, then maybe I can override certain bad luck abilities used against me.

Or, what if I do the reverse? If I'm NOT trying to kill her, any misfortunes used to slow me down-

Spidey smacks himself upside the head. "Overthinking."

Spidey lifts his mask to shoot webs from his mouth. He aims directly at Black Cat and fires a web. The web gets caught by a pigeon passing by. Spidey yanks the webbing from his mouth before maintaining his hunt for Black Cat.

Okay, now there's one more thing I need to confirm.

Spidey launches another web but this time, launches it at the top of a building to his left, one block away from Black Cat's position. He manages to fire the web and it sticks to the wall.

Yes, so that's how her powers work. Her power is versatile but... if she's using her powers for the sole purpose of defending herself, then her powers will protect her from any attacks directed at her. This means... if I want to beat her, I have to attack her without actually attacking her.

Spidey shoots webs in her general direction but doesn't aim for Black Cat specifically. Some of the webs managed to hit the path in front of her but she avoided them and continued running across the rooftops. Spidey continues to leap after her and when she uses her grappling hook to look for an alleyway, Spidey makes a spider-web with his organic webbing and falls in it. He drops to the ground and chases Black Cat on foot.

The balcony overhead disconnects and almost falls on him. Spidey moves out of the way and watches as she runs up the wall using a grappling hook. Spidey maneuvers around a dumpster to jump to the wall and scales it, only for the wall to come apart before him.

He leaps to the other building and jumps to the very top. On the rooftop, he loses his footing and falls. He grabs onto a balcony, which disconnects once again but he manages to leap to the roof.

How am I supposed to attack her without actually attacking her? Until I find a way to beat her, I'm just going to keep looking like an idiot if I keep chasing her. If I want to beat her, then I'm going to have to lose today and then observe.

There was a reason I told her that if she won, she could rob anybody she wanted; I wanted to see how her power was used on other people.

He lands on the rooftop with Black Cat on the opposite end. She stands on the edge and faces him with her arms out.

"What's wrong, Spider, finally admit defeat?"

Spidey holds his hands in surrender. "You are superior, Black Cat, you have defeated me. And for that, I admit that you won this little battle."

Black Cat smiles and sashays. She heads to where he is and puts a hand on his chest. "Well then, Spider, it looks like I get to rob anybody I want then."

"Yeah." He leans in. "You are truly a versatile character."

"Thanks, Spider, you're not so bad yourself."

"I appreciate the compliment." Spidey takes out his spare web-shooters and installs them. He pulls his mask down and sets his web-shooters up. Once the effects of the EMP grenade were off, his web-shooters were working once more. "But, when you start hanging around me, you'll discover things never end with just one round."

Black Cat's eyes brighten. "Oh, is that so, Spider?"

"Yes, very much, kitty. I've always been a believer that things should never repeat themselves. The stakes should always be higher. That's why, for the next round, I'll offer an even bigger reward."

"And what would that be, Spider?"

"You'll have to wait and find out, kitty."

"Keeping me in suspense... I love it, Spider."

"Yes, you should." He waves her off. "Go on then, crawl away like the cat you are."

"I thought it was spiders that crawled, not poor innocent beautiful kittens."

"Poor and innocent are not what I would you to describe you, kitty, but beautiful on the other hand..." He is inches away from kissing her lips. "You are such an exquisite creature."

She backs away slightly, her face taking on a reddish hue. "Words are words, Spider, any chance you can back up your words with actions?"

"I would... but until I have you pinned underneath me, we will both have to wait."

"I'm a very patient kitty, Spider." She drags her finger along his chest. "See you around, Spider."

Black Cat dives off the roof and vanishes.

Spidey smiles behind his mask.

Black Cat... your performance has shown things about you that I find to be useful. Though you have an idea of how your powers work and know how to use them, you lack experience of your own. Physical experience, yes, you do have but superhuman experience, you lack. You don't seem to understand the potential you have. You can cause anything in the general vicinity to become a weapon and yet, you're barely scratching the surface. You could cause pile-ups or even helicopter crashes with your power. You're strong but you don't know how to wield them properly.

Either way, my mission is complete. My mission was to gain experience and I did. Thank you, Black Cat, for helping me build up my XP. I'm going to use what I learned to destroy you next time and hopefully, I'll have you pinned under me.

Spidey continues to smile.

And the odds will be higher next time because she'll have slightly more experience in escaping from a superhuman like me. So the odds will be even... perfect.

And as for Green Garden Gnome, the next time I see him, I'll be ready.

The Dante Residence

David swings home with a bottle of milk in his hands. He takes out his phone and opens his notes.

His notes read 'David 6:41 - Get milk - Passtime activity - bring milk home-'

I have perfected the art of making alibis. With a little bit of this and that, I know how to keep a consistent life with my alter-ego. Anything that David Dante is doing in his civilian life, I'll jot his down, and then when I'm done being Spider-Man for the day, I'll check my notes and make sure to resume or finish whatever Davey was doing. And in this case, I went out to buy milk.

David walks through the front door and checks his watch. Mia was sitting at the kitchen table and looking at her son.

"Where have you been?"

David smiles. "I got the milk."

"Thank you."

David puts the milk in the fridge before turning to the stairs. He pauses when he sees his mother fidgeting with her hands. "What's wrong, Mom."

"Sorry," Misa stutters, "I'm still a little shaken up by what happened at the fundraiser. I almost fell to my death."

"I wouldn't have liked it if you fell to your death, Mom. Honestly, you make my life more enjoyable and you're irreplaceable."

"I'm grateful that Spider-Man saved my life."

You're welcome, Mom.

"I'm grateful for him too. Let's just hope that next time, you won't be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That flying green guy," Misa hisses, "I don't like him."

David looks at her. "Well, he is a mass murderer so - "

"He reminds me of the man that killed my husband. Remember what the police said about the same who killed your father?"

He nods. "Every word."

"He's killed almost twenty people before he killed Jim. I'm glad he fell out a window... but him being dead isn't going to bring my husband back."

"The best thing you can do is move on."

Misa looks at him.

"I know I sound cynical but it's the truth. If someone is dead, you can't bring them back to life so there's no point in dwelling. I understand that as a human, you don't move on so easily. You're allowed to grieve but try and remember that your late husband would want you to be happy."

"And he would want you to be happy too, Davey," Misa reminds him, "as long as it is nothing too troubling, obviously."

"Yeah, that too."

"By the way, where were you?" Misa asks suddenly. "At the fundraiser, when chaos broke out, where were you? It's like you just vanished into thin air."

As a mother who loves her son, obviously, she would put her son's well-being above her own in a crisis. She was more worried about me than herself when that green guy attacked us. You can become invisible from a crowd but you can't become invisible from your mother, no matter how chaotic it is.

"I was moving with the crowd that evacuated."

"But when Spider-Man put me down, the crowd already evacuated outside and you were just barely coming out of the building."

Women ARE much more observant than women. If Mom was on the police force, she would be the only cop in the station would would see through my disguise. I gotta be very careful with what I say. Maybe...

"I went back for you." David puts his hands in his pockets. "When I saw that you weren't with the crowd, I went back upstairs to try and find you. By the time I got there, you were already falling over and Spider-Man was saving you. That's why I took forever to get out of the building."

"Oh," Misa sighs. "You went in to save me?"

"Yes."

In a way, I'm lying but also telling the truth.

"I wish you didn't put yourself in danger for me."

"But I would rather you live than die. After all... you're irreplaceable."

"And so are you, Davey." She gets up and hugs him tightly. "I love you, Davey."

David hugs her back. "I know. And I will take care of you, Mom. I'll make sure life is convenient for both of us."

"I will too, Davey."

Upstairs

Locking himself in his room, David turns on the news on his TV and takes note of the flying green guy.

According to photos that were taken by one Eddie Brock, the flying green guy was called 'The Green Goblin'.

The Green Goblin... it has a nice ring to it.

He saw the headline. 'Spider-Man Vs. Green Goblin: Serial Murderer vs Mass Murderer.' He rolls his eyes. He takes out a piece of paper and begins drawing.

I will admit that, even though we are superhumans, I can't deny the fact that our costumes look very weird. I'm a spider fighting a man dressed as a goblin flying on a glider, dropping pumpkin bombs. We live in a theatrical world where people care more about appearances than substances. Then again, I will give credit when credit is due. After all, I was barely making dents in his costume and his pumpkin bombs were dangerous. And the glider is versatile.

He draws a picture of Green Goblin.

And as for Black Cat, she is in peak human condition but against someone like me, she stands no chance in a one-on-one confrontation. And she's using her powers to disrupt her enemies rather than fight.

He draws a picture of Black Cat.

I like Black Cat and I'm intrigued by her. I'm... curious about her. But... I already lost to her twice; I can't lose to her a third time. No, I won't lose to her a third time. The first time, I was caught unprepared. The second time, I went in blindly without a plan. If I want to take down Black Cat, I need a plan. I already have an idea as to how her powers work but I need more observations.

He finishes both pictures and rubs his chin.

I don't know where Green Goblin is but I'm sure he'll make another appearance and when he does, I'll kill him. As for Black Cat...

He draws a knife impaling Green Goblin in the eye.

As for Black Cat...

He takes the drawing of Black Cat and holds it up.

...she's a criminal so that means I should web her to the wall but at the same time, she could be useful in more ways than one. And not to mention the fact that she's sexy.

He kisses the drawing on the lips.