After I gave the police directions to where the being escaped and thought of possible ways to trace it, I walk away from them, and go in search of MJ who was escorted away to a safe area.
As I guessed the girl did not go home even after what happened, now she is in front of her car, probably waiting for me to return there, since she has already tried to call me a couple of times.
Once I have changed and put the mask and web-shooters inside the backpack, I try to fix my appearance, enough to look like a spectator concerned about what happened and not one of the two participants in the clash that took place.
When MJ sees me coming with the camera hanging around her neck and a worried expression, she smiles serenely, as if she had come to give a lift to a friend she hadn't seen for a while.
From the little I know of her and from this attitude, I already know that it would be useless to talk about what happened, however I cannot help but think about what would have happened if I had been late even for a second.
Despite what I tell her, about how dangerous and reckless it was what she did, she doesn't care at all, her only objection is that I do things like that too so there's not much point in me saying things like that.
"Thanks to me this wasn't your last Spider-Man photo shoot, actually you both should thank me. Tell him next time you see him. But as for your thanks, I'll settle for you planning the next time we meet." MJ says pretending to be haughty.
"I'm sure he had everything under control, you didn't have to intervene. And he and I are not friends, on the contrary, the last time he caught me taking pictures of him, he told me clearly that having paparazzi on his heels is a nuisance for his work."
"Yet you speak as if you know each other well. After all, it seems like you're the only one taking perfect pictures of him, I've seen some on the Daily Bugle website and it almost looks like he's posing for you." Mj says after taking a step forward to get even closer to me.
"Again, we are not friends, I just learned how to position myself and hide so as not to bother and make decent shots at the same time. You, unlike me, have interfered in the clash of those two e-"
"All right, all right. Now get in the car, if we leave now we still have time to take a walk. This way you shake all the tension that you have accumulated while I discharge the adrenaline that still circulates in my body for having saved your friend from certain death. Ok?" She says after taking my hand to drag me to her car.
After taking my smartphone from my backpack, I sit upside down on the lower side of one of the gargoyles in the Chrysler building, and after quickly looking through the latest reports on the communications network used by the police, I see in my news feed the article from today's front page of the Daily Bugle.
' "Spider-Man and his new colleague Lizard sow panic in New York". I must admit that JJ has a talent for naming newcomers. Even though he can't stop painting me as the absolute evil, I can't hate that grumpy guy.'
It's been almost a day since the last sighting of Lizard and they haven't come out of hiding yet, so I just have to wait for someone else to intervene on the matter or someone to spot them.
Apart from that, these days I have continued to investigate some of the information I have picked up on the day of the auction and yesterday evening my research led me to discover some interesting things.
'I should find a way to contact Bla-'
The alarm of a notification on my phone suddenly interrupts the thought I was having and when I see what it is, I read that it is a report of a robbery in progress at a bank located a few blocks away from me.
Without wasting any more time I rush to that position however, instead of finding a robbery going on, I see a group of agents coming out of the bank looking perplexed at the reinforcements who have come to surround the perimeter.
As there is no sign of a breach, the police officers who have searched the bank suspect that there was a breach in the security system of the bank, which mistakenly sent a false alarm to the central.
While they are going through the security footage, I decide to sneak in to personally check that the situation is as the agents suspect, however, as soon as I'm about to enter from the roof, I hear a voice behind me.
"Are you so focused when you're in the criminal-catcher mode that you didn't notice this kitty waiting for you?"
As I turn around, I see Black Cat sitting on the ledge of the structure behind me, watching me amused as her legs swing, just like an excited child.
"Is it yours?" I say after turning my face to her and pointing with my thumb at the bank behind me.
"Yeah, since you didn't ask for my number the last time we met and I didn't know how to contact you, I thought you would come to me if I did that. Honestly, I expected you to have a more surprised reaction when you saw me, not this cool and calm attitude of yours."
Following those words she jumps and then she walks in my direction until there are only a few inches of distance between my face and his.
"Don't tell me I was the only one who couldn't wait to see you again after the huge success of our team-up, sweetie." She says and then she places her right index finger in the middle of my abs.
She lets it flow on my chest but when it comes to the area of my navel, I stop her grasping her wrist. Fortunately, unlike when we met the last time, I manage to maintain a certain indifference when she behaves in this way. However, although she is playing her filrty persona, I sense in her eyes that a part of her is not lying about her desire to meet me again though.
'It seems that she is getting impatient and wants to find those children as soon as possible.'
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I didn't rob the bank if that's what you're worried about. I'm sticking to our deal and acting like a good kitty."
"I guess you have some news, better move somewhere else so we can talk quietly."
"What, I just admitted that I broke into a bank and you take my word that I didn't steal?"
"I said I would trust you and I am doing it, am I wrong to do it?" I say to her, then I keep saying, "So you know a place where we can have some privacy? Otherwise, if you don't want to burn one of your safe-places I can-"
"No, I know where we can go. You would sooner or later succumb to my charms but even if we are skipping stages, I'm excited by your audacity." She interrupts me and, after a brief giggle, she turns around, "Keep up with me, Spidey."
After that she takes a grappling hook from her belt and, in the same way I do with my webs, she starts to move towards a road on my right. It doesn't take long to reach her, however she manages to keep the same speed as me while we move, proving that she too seems to be used to swing between the buildings of New York like me, although she uses only that kind of grappling hook.
"-happy- you-well..."
"What?" I ask after stopping briefly, since I did not understand what he said because of the traffic noise.
"I said you're slow, hurry up," she says after passing me momentarily.
It's not long to get to the safe place of Black Cat, which turns out to be a basement on the outskirts of town, full of boxes and common objects of a normal house, under a tarp even see a Christmas tree.
"The owner is an old lady who was having some financial problems, so I paid her to use this place for two weeks while she went out to spend time with her daughter and grandchildren. Clean money of course. She's a trusted person and we're in a quiet neighborhood, here we won't have any problems." She explains as she takes two chairs to sit in front of a table on which there is a storage tube.
"I just hope you haven't brought something here that might give that lady trouble." I say alluding to something she stole.
"I know these people personally, although I am a stray cat, the people of these lowlands have been my family in some ways, I would never do anything to harm them. I have several dens in the city and also outside, even the goods that I have gathered in recent years are scattered in other hiding places. When this story is over, I'll give you all their locations and a list of everything you'll find. Anyway, this thing is yours. You're good with electronics." she says and then she hands me my wireless earbud that I gave her to communicate with me on the day of the auction.
"We have other priorities now, we'll talk about that stuff when we get those kids safe. What did you find out?" I ask while he sits before me.
"It wasn't easy, but I managed to open the picture." She says as her fingers beat on the storage tube in front of us, "The contents inside were protected with so much care that a small mistake would have burned everything." She finishes as she opens the tube.
From the tube come out some files and when I take them to examine, the first thing I notice is that on each of the front pages there is the logo of Fisk Industries followed by the inscription "Classified information".
"What are they?" I say as I start to browse them.
"I don't know, it's all science geeks stuff but from the little I've been able to figure out they have something to do with experiments and you."
"With me?"
When I take a close look at those documents, I realize that they are research not only the possibility of being able to recreate what made me "Spider-man" but also a mass production of it.
It seems their research, albeit very slowly, was even giving some small positive signals according to these reports thanks to notes from my father that they managed to recover.
However, the research was suddenly interrupted when I managed to have Fisk arrested, who was pressing them to start testing on some human guinea pigs, even though there were not enough data yet.
'The tests would only be assured failures. If I did not stop it in time, how many people would die to have just a few more information... All because of my existence alone...'
Without me realizing it, the sheets in my hands start to crumple as I read them because of the force with which I hold them.
'I was sure that I had eliminated all traces of Dad's research, but apparently I was wrong, there is still some part of it in circulation, even if it is a small part. Although a part of me regrets that day, when I burned his diary, Today I have had further confirmation that I have done the right thing, albeit painful.'
"From the way your attitude has changed, it seems you have understood perfectly what is written on those sheets and it seems to be something really important if you have become so serious and cold. So, would you like to share the information that you understood before you destroy them?" Black Cat says after placing her hands on mine.
"As you guessed, these are documents about me, or rather, they're documents about a research by Fisk in which he wants to recreate what gave me powers and use it to create an army of super soldiers or something like that..."
"Wait a second, so you're not a mutant?"
"No, you're not the first to think so." I say as I remember the occasion when it happened.
'Now that I think about it I have never apologized for what happened, as soon as I have the chance I must make it up to them.'
"So they wanted to retrieve that data for..." Black Cat whispers as she takes her hands off of mine and stands up.
"I think they are looking for these, hoping to find some clue for a solution that will make the serum they have created more stable."
"Wait a second, are you telling me that these are just scientific research and nothing more? There's nothing in there that can help us find them? I don't know, a former Fisk lab where they might go to retrieve something, some name of scientist they're going to kidnap?" Black Cat says as she walks nervously through the basement, her words become more and more filled with anger.
"In a nutshell I'm back to the fucking starting point, with some useless extra sheets while I don't even know if those kids are still-"
"Don't do it." I interrupt her, then I stand up to reach her, "The moment you lose hope, you take it away from them too. As difficult as it is at the moment we must remain positive and not lose our cool, otherwise we do not see things as they are."
"This would never have happened if I had been more careful, it's all my fault if they are in danger, and as time passes the guilt becomes stronger. It's eating me up inside, making it hard to function, to think, to breathe. I have no idea where they are and it drives me crazy. I was so damn sure that I made progress this time, instead I'm here whining while they probably-... You're right, it doesn't help me to think this way. Sorry for the outburst..." Black cat says with her face facing the floor, to avoid making eye contact with me.
"Don't worry, I understand how you feel, better than you can imagine... I hope that after this vent, the burden you are carrying has lightened a little bit." I say after caressing her right shoulder, "Look, are we done here or is there anything else you need to tell me or show me?"
"No, I won't keep you any longer. I'm sure you have a lot of hero's commitments to do... Like defending old ladies from some mugger or something."
"Actually, I'd like you to come with me somewhere, if that's all right."
"Sorry, I'm not feeling it. I would like to go back and look for some other clues about that organization", She replies then she turns around and heads back towards the table.
"Every time you meet me you talk about how we should spend more time together or how we should have a date and now you don't give me some hours of your time? You can't fool me and then break my heart, you're cruel..." I say ironically, pretending to be sad, "Trust me, you won't regret it." I conclude as she turns to me.
Eventually I get Black Cat to follow me and after an hour we reach the point where I wanted to take her, in a small rural area just outside town, which I visited often during the last few days.
When I signal that we have arrived, she sits on the branch of a tree, now stripped of its leaves as winter is approaching.
"Is this where you wanted to take me?" She says exhausted, since she is not used to moving as I usually do with my web-shooters, " You know, if we came all the way here just because you wanted to reassure me in your special place where you come to see the sky or other stuff from a romantic comedy, I think I'll beat you. You could have taken me to a place closer than this, man." she complains while stretching.
"Relax, we didn't come here for any of the reasons you think, or at least, we're not here to see the sky but we are because I want to show you something else." I say as I climb up to sit on the branch she's sitting on.
After sitting in the opposite direction to hers, I beckon her to turn around and with my index finger I point to a building in the distance.
"What is it?"
"According to my research, it should be a deconsecrated and abandoned church."
"Okay, so...?"
"Well, it's not abandoned but it's a meeting place and, I suppose, a shelter for a group of women who have had some bad and painful experiences, such as rape, stalking and other similar misfortunes. Their misfortunes, however, seem not to be the only thing that they have in common, each of them has a tattoo, two hands joined in prayer with a rosary that wraps them."
"It seems to be some kind of cult, so what? Desperate people- Wait a second, you said their tattoo is two hands joined in prayer with a rosary?!" Black Cat asks me surprised as soon as her memory reminds her of having seen a tattoo like that before.
"That's right, it was difficult to track them since they have no criminal record, however I managed to find one of them in the police database and after some investigation I found out that she and her companions meet here every night."
"I can't believe it! Why didn't you tell me something so important before I had a mental breakdown in front of you!"
"Just because you didn't ask me" I answer, and as soon as I see the anger take over Black Cat's expression, I go on, "It's not my fault if you think it's all up to you. I promised you that I would help you, didn't I? Or did you think I was only good at fighting bad guys?"
"Right now I don't know if I want to kiss you or punch you in the face, but I guess I'll decide later." She says then she goes down the branch with an acrobatic leap, technically on par with a gymnastics athlete.
'It seems that now she is no longer exhausted as she made to look...'
"Come on, what are you still doing there? We have nuns that we must make confess!" Black Cat asks impatient when she sees that I have not yet come down.
"I'm coming, calm down or they'll find us before we get to the church."
Once we get to the roof of the abandoned structure, we spend the first few minutes examining the situation through windows whose holes have been covered with plastic sheeting. In that short time, we see some women enter the facility quickly and head behind the altar, where, from the sounds we hear, it seems a group of them have gathered.
"So what do we do? We break in and defeat them before they call for reinforcements or wait the right time to "talk" with one of them to get out all the information she has?"
"Honestly, neither option. If things are as I suspect, it's in the interest of both sides to have a peaceful chat. Don't know if they'll listen to me, but you're with me, that should give me some more chance I hope."
"Don't tell me your plan would be to knock and ask: "Sorry for the interruption, could you tell me where your friends are hiding children and maybe information about a serum that makes people super powerful but at the same time will kill them?" She says as I descend from the roof and head towards the entrance of the deconsecrated church.
"Not really, I think there will be some lively discussions and resistance from them first but then I think we'll have the answers to those questions and more if everything goes as I predict. Since the atmosphere will probably be very tense and it will take a while before they listen to us, can I ask you to have some patience if they were not collaborative and to not give in to any of their offenses or threats?" I ask once she comes next to me.
"You want me to stay calm in front of people who collaborate with those who stole my kittens? Why? I can just slaughter them until they tell me what I want, after all they deserve it." She responds coldly.
"I know how much you care about this, so I ask you to not let it influence you. We do not want to actively seek a confrontation with these people for several reasons, the first of all is that it would alarm anyone who is or are at the head of this organization. Also, although they were "enemies" on the day of the auction, it is not sure that they are even now if things are as I think. Since there is a possibility that you will have to act as intermediary, I would like you to keep in mind these things I told you."
"Uff, all right, all right, I'll be a good kitty and do as you say, after all it's thanks to you that we found them. But I don't understand one thing. Why should they not listen to you? You have a way with words after all and it doesn't seem like you have a past with them"
"The problem is not my ability to dialogue or being bitter enemies but it's another. I suppose you'll notice it as soon as they see me. So, are you ready?"
At his positive nod of the head, made with a decision, I open the door of the entrance and together we enter inside the church and enter into the main space. In place of the benches for the faithful there are scattered pieces of furniture of a house, I do not see beds in sight but I suppose they are in another part of this church that has become their refuge.
In the distance, behind the altar area, we hear the voices of several women arguing animatedly, although we can't clearly hear what they say, we can tell by their tone that there is a mixture of anger, concern and impatience.
'I hope we have arrived at the right time.'
"Hello? Is anyone here? We are two lost sheep, it's possible to have-"
The moment I spoke the first word, the voices we heard suddenly stopped, and in their place I could only hear slight noises of rapid movements. At one point, my words as our advance towards the altar were interrupted by the attack of six masked women, three from in front of us and three from behind us.
I had already sensed their presence, but thanks to their murderous intent towards me which activated my Spider-sense, it was much easier to locate them and predict their intentions. Although Black Cat's reaction to that surprise attack was slower than mine, she doesn't need my help. Leaving aside the fact that Black Cat has shown great abilities in combat, the women who are carrying her have much less hostility towards her.
Me and Black Cat just dodged or fended off their attacks and after I immobilized two of that group of masked women who are attacking us, the other women who were in the room arguing also come to us. Unlike these six we were defending from, the other five women not only have knives of different sizes as weapons, some of them even have firearms, some of them modified.
"Stop now and surrender. If you continue to resist, we will not hesitate to put an end to your raid by more effective methods." One of them holding an automatic rifle says.
The tone of the long blonde-haired woman at my 13 o'clock is so gentle and cordial that it seems almost impossible that she has just threatened to kill us coldly, without any hesitation. Following this request, I and, immediately after me, Black Cat raise our hands to the sky in surrender while a part of the new arrivals go to free their friends that I have immobilized with my webs.
"Is that what you meant when you said there would be a "tense atmosphere"? I think you downplayed it a little too much. " Black Cat whispers to me as we're being surrounded.
"I admit that I may have underestimated the situation a little, but it's not a problem. On the contrary, I would say it is a positive thing. This will make the initial process more difficult but the result will be easier to achieve."
"What's your plan now? 'cause you know, they don't seem to want to hear us."
"Silence, you are forbidden to speak among yourselves. You will speak only and solely when I ask you, otherwise-"
"Otherwise you kill us, we understand. Man, in the house of the lord one should always be welcomed with love, but this welcome does not make me feel much loved. Guess that's why they deconsecrated the church, your customer service is terrible, sisters." I say, interrupting the blonde woman.
Obviously this interruption of mine was not received favourably, although masked, each of the women besides the one who was speaking is clearly furious and confused because of my comment, and among all of them, it is the woman at my side who has the most pronounced reaction.
