Dark Aster is a reference to the ship Ronan had in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Episode 54: Favor for a Friend!

Remembering what Felicia said, Peter responded, "Was that the thing Felicia claimed to have given Mr. H?"

Black Cat nodded. "But she gave him a fake one that my Marémon Blaccet made with Swipe, an attack which replaces an item with a duplicate."

To demonstrate, the Blaccet on Black Cat's shoulder leaped down and picked up a piece of loose concrete from the floor with her paws. She pressed the concrete tightly, and two identical pieces of concrete appeared. Next, Blaccet tossed the pieces to Peter, who felt them with his fingers. While one piece was solid, the other was rubbery in texture.

"How could you endanger Felicia's life like that?" Peter said, glaring at Black Cat. "What could you want with the flash-drive?"

Sighing, Black Cat said, "I didn't mean to put Felicia in danger. She and I are close friends, you see, and the reason I had her give the fake flash-drive to Mr. H is because she needs the money it has access to."

"For what?" asked Peter. "And why did Mr. H want Don Fortunato's personal data?"

"Walter Hardy is dying," Black Cat responded in a bitter tone.

Peter hesitated before answering. "How long does he have to live?"

"Felicia told me he'll probably die by the end of the year. So she's trying to collect enough money to bail him out."

"And she's asked you to steal another man's money to do it?"

"Not exactly," Black Cat shook her head and held up the flash-drive she took from Don Fortunato. "Before Don Fortunato left Yortown, he stole a lot of money from the Maggia."

"The Maggia? You mean the big crime syndicate that has influence all over the Marvo Region?"

"Yes, the same one," Black Cat confirmed. "Don Fortunato used to be a member of this group, before he betrayed them and ran off with a significant amount of their collective funds to La Vie City. His agreement to help the Rose deal with the Scarlet Spider was just an excuse."

"So is Mr. H part of the Maggia too?"

"His real name is Hammerhead, and he's a major figure in the Maggia organization. Very few people who've crossed him have ever lived to tell the tale because of the powerful Marémon he has. The Maggia sent him to get the money Don Fortunato stole, and he hired me to steal the flash-drive with Fortunato's personal data that contained his bank information with Felicia being the one to actually deliver the flash-drive to him. But instead of giving him the real flash-drive, I gave him a fake one."

"But Hammerhead knew it was fake the minute he touched the flash-drive, and that's why he kidnapped Felicia," Peter concluded. "Was she kidnapped before I got here?"

"Unfortunately, yes, and there's nothing we can do until I agree to give him the flash-drive," Black Cat frowned. "He also wants me to steal something else as compensation for betraying him, and if I don't do it…he'll kill Felicia."

Peter suddenly had flashbacks to Uncle Ben's death. This made him tremble and clench his fists. "What did he ask you to steal?"

"You know about the Infinity Stones, right? Not the badges, but the real stones."

"Of course I do! Everyone knows them."

"Felicia told me your Asgardian friend was given something by a red-haired girl, and the thing glowed. Now according to my research, Infinity Stones glow when they're close to each other. So I assumed your friend had an Infinity Stone, and figured there was another one close by."

Walking over to Peter, Black Cat pointed to a building in the downtown area of Xandar City. It was a tall monolithic building with a bright yellow star-shaped symbol.

"Inside the Nova Corps headquarters, they have a stone that's closely guarded. Some kid in a red blazer apparently gave it to them a few days ago because the stone was being carried by one of his Marémon inside a metal sphere. The cops speculate the kid's Marémon must have mistook the sphere for an egg and stole it from a store in Wakanda City, as the owner reported a sphere of a similar description going missing a month back, before eventually being caught by Professor Banner from Yortown."

Peter then recalled what Quill said about how Starlure was carrying something that another Marémon tried to steal before he caught it. Combined with Black Cat's description, Peter realized it was Quill who gave this Infinity Stone to Nova Corps implying he passed through Xandar City on his way to Sokovia City.

"But to my bad luck, Hammerhead also knows the Infinity Stone is there and wants me to steal it for him," Black Cat said. "It's going to be a tough job alone, so that's why I brought you here."

"Wait, you want me to help you steal an Infinity Stone?" Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you crazy?"

"Crazy enough to help my friend," Black Cat responded, forcing Peter to look at her. "Don't you want to help Felicia? She reached out to you for a reason, or she would've texted your other friends instead."

Blaccet meowed and rubbed against Peter's legs. Meanwhile, Peter had a lot of thoughts running through his head. First, his Aunt May's harsh words rang out telling him he should not get involved. Yet Felicia's fearful look when Hammerhead grabbed her made him worried about what kinds of horrible things he might be doing to her now.

So after considering all the factors, he said, "You're right. If she needs my help, then I'll do whatever it takes to help her."

"Good answer," Black Cat smiled. "Now let's get you into a costume that you'll need for your first heist!"


In another part of Xandar City, MJ and Thor had found the address on the napkin MJ took from Eddie Brock. Standing in front of them was a black rectangular building with curved walls and a blue neon sign above the front door that said, 'Dark Aster Lounge'.

"This looks creepy," MJ observed. "Maybe we should wait for Peter to show up."

"I say we go in now, before Hamder gets taken by someone else," Thor insisted.

Reluctantly, MJ agreed and opened the door. Inside, the lounge was dark with black lights in the corners and a neon-lit bar. On top of the bar slept a blue beetle with a pair of baton-shaped mandibles and a round head, while a young blue-skinned woman with no hair was cleaning empty glasses.

To be continued…