When Black Cat woke up, he was gone.
Neither of them had meant to fall asleep, but the last thing Cat remembered was stretching luxuriously on her cot (more comfortable than it looked) and watching Spider-Man as he picked through a pack of cards he'd found in her den.
She'd discovered the deck in a box of games at a thrift store, the same store where she'd gotten the rug and the radio. And yes, she'd actually bought the second-hand things instead of pilfering some expensive décor from one of the plush penthouses she sometimes found herself lingering outside off – thank you very much.
"You're missing literally all the nines." He'd said, fanning the deck across the floor, and Cat couldn't remember if she had given a reply other than a shrug.
She had blinked and opened her eyes to find that her lamp had been extinguished. The room was now illuminated by a sliver of white light that filtered through the gap in the door. A house of cards had been built on the carpet, Black Cat was draped in Spider-Man's blanket, and she was alone.
She'd fallen asleep transformed, which had only happened a couple of times, but she knew the end result would be a killer headache. Already she could feel it starting in her temples.
She couldn't detransform yet though. She had to get home.
The snow had stopped falling, but it had collected throughout the night. Great mounds of it buried the rooftops and ledges, and Black Cat had to take care navigating back to her dorm to avoid slipping, or worse, accidentally knocking hard, icy chunks loose and sending them to the unsuspecting street below.
The clock on her nightstand told her it was close to noon when she finally slid through her bedroom window. Her morning class was already in progress, Cat noted without panic – it was a class she could afford to miss. She released her transformation as soon as her boots hit the carpet and stumbled forward to fall face-first onto her bed.
She had been leaving the gym late when Spider-Man had texted her, so as a result she was still in her workout clothes. They were dirty, magically preserved along with the sweat-damp hair at the nape of her neck. Felicia was achy and tired and the headache that had been stirring had arrived in force, but she smiled into her blankets regardless.
He texted me.
In the middle of the night, when he was feeling down, when he could have probably reached out to any number of people in his personal life – he had texted her.
No super-villains or monsters or mission debriefs or disasters, not even a child who had lost their balloon.
He had only wanted her.
Felicia would have wanted nothing more than to lounge in bed relishing that thought for the entire day, but alas, she had another class staring in an hour, one she decidedly couldn't skip, and she desperately needed to eat something. Groaning, she forced herself up and to the bathroom, where she showered, brushing her teeth while the hot spray soothed the ache in her shoulders – her thoughts on Spider-Man all the while.
Last night, as mundane as it all seemed, was the best, most wonderful night in Felicia's recent memory. They'd just sat there, sometimes talking, mostly not, simply existing in each other's presence. It was peaceful, it was nice. It was exactly what Felicia had been missing.
Spider-Man hadn't opened up about what was bothering him and she'd dropped it after a while. She hadn't wanted to spoil his mood further by pressing too much. Something about it had felt dangerous too, like asking the wrong question (or maybe the right one) would end in disaster.
As Felicia finished brushing her teeth and spat into the shower drain, her thoughts strangely turned to Peter Parker.
Peter.
She hoped he was okay, but she also knew better. The look on his face from the night before was still fresh in her mind.
It hurt to lie to him and it hurt to turn him down, not only because it pained her to see a friend so distraught, but because Peter was kind, and good, and smart, and anyone would be lucky to be with Peter…
Anyone but her, that is.
Unless, of course... Peter is Spider-Man.
The thought had been buried so long that Felicia had nearly forgotten it existed. Nearly being the operative word. The truth was it was easier to simply not think about it when she didn't have any classes with Peter.
But the notion had been simmering quietly ever since the day in Oscorp Tower, when Mysterio had attacked. It still made sense in some aspects, but didn't in so many others. At the very least, it would explain why Spider-Man had been so down in the dumps last night.
He did say it wasn't girl problems though… Felicia reasoned as she finished her shower.
It had sounded like he was telling to the truth too, but then again, he could be hard to read sometimes with that pesky mask.
She dwelled on it further as she dressed and ventured into the kitchen. The door leading to MJ's bedroom was closed and Felicia could hear the soft, familiar sound of light snoring from the other side. Quietly, with practiced movements, Felicia finessed together a bowl of cereal and stood in the kitchen, eating slowly while thinking.
If Spider-Man wasn't in the picture, would she still have turned Peter down?
No… I don't think I would have…
The thought filled her with a surprising warmth, but it didn't last long. Whatever hypothetical she drew up didn't matter, because Spider-Man was in the picture, Felicia wanted him – no one else, and a world without Spider-Man is not one that Felicia wanted to be in either.
But if it ended up that she had rejected Peter, who was Spider-Man, so that she could…. date Spider-Man, who was Peter, well…
Felicia wasn't sure she'd ever recover.
A sharp knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.
She set down her breakfasted and padded across the dorm to flick open the locks on the door. Felicia fully expected it was one of MJ's friends, many of whom had the frankly annoying habit of dropping by unannounced, but no – who Felicia saw when she opened the door was far, far worse.
Felicia tried to slam the door closed, but a boot had suddenly wedged itself in the way.
"Ow." Said America Chavez as the door bounced off her foot. "'Hello' to you too."
"You can't be here." Felicia hissed, trying to force the door shut again. "Go away."
"I can't go. We need to talk." Putting her shoulder into it, Chavez pushed hard, forcing the door open and sending Felicia stumbling back a few steps.
Hot blood rushed to Felicia's ears, as hot as the crest around her neck. She knew she could transform in an instant and kick Chavez out of her dorm like a soccer ball, and was maybe two seconds away from doings so when Chavez raised her hands.
"Keep the claws in, kitty cat. We're friends, remember?" She said. "More or less."
"Friends don't break into each other's homes." Felicia spat back, her voice hushed.
Or break into each other's minds.
"Okay, well, we're on the same side at the very least. And I come in peace. Wong sent me."
"So?"
"So it's important. It couldn't wait until the next time you came to the Sanctum and you didn't exactly give us your phone number."
"Fine." Felicia seethed, biting her tongue. She'd had enough arguments with America Chavez to fill a lifetime and knew it would be a waste of breath to point out that a) Felicia had never seen a fucking phone in the Sanctum Sanctorum and doubted they even had one, and b) Chavez had never, ever – not even once – made her feel welcome there. "We can't talk here though, let's go walk."
"No, it's more private here."
"Not with my roommate." Felicia said, gesturing towards MJ's door.
"Ugh, fine." Then before Felicia could say or do anything else, Chavez traced a complex shape in the air with her finger, as if drawing on an invisible chalk board, then snapped her fingers. A shimmer, like a heatwave, rose and settled over the room, encasing the pair of them in a barely-visible dome of hazy air. "There."
"What was that?"
"Secret Sphere of Storaan. It should be enough to keep your roommate from eavesdropping."
"How delightful." Felicia snarled, pacing to examine the edges of the sphere. Up close, she could hear a faint buzz emanating from the shimmer. "So what do you want?"
In answer, Chavez dug through the deep pocket of her winter coat, eventually producing a small puck-shaped object, roughly the size of a CD, but about two inches thick. She spoke as she fiddled with the thing.
"We have..." She paused, apparently thinking of the right word. "detected another crest, a new one. It's close by, but we haven't been able to pinpoint its exact location. This crest has a… oh how can I describe this… an energy that Wong doesn't recognized and that I haven't studied. It feels different, weird, and Wong thinks that we need your help."
She held the puck out for Felicia to see.
It was the color of slate and its face was dotted with many, colorful circles that seemed to move in orbit around the center. Anyone looking at the puck might suspect it was some kind of toy or maybe a funky-shaped cell phone with a cool screensaver, but Felicia knew better. She recognized what the puck was and knew what the little circles meant.
It was a compass that pointed to crests.
"I thought you said that you broke this thing."
"Vermin broke it." Chavez corrected. "This is a new one that I made." She pointed to a circle near the very middle of the compass – black and outlined with white. "This one is the crest of the cat, by the way. And this one here," She indicated another dot, this one a bright, acid green in color, and rotating wildly. Felicia watched it intently as it spun and flipped from one side of the compass and then back to the other. "This one is the new crest that we're trying to track."
"Maybe you need to tinker with this thing a bit more." Felicia suggested. She reached out and tapped the compass with her nail and the surface of the puck shimmered like water. Chavez whipped it away defensively.
"I've tinkered with it enough." She said, stowing the compass away again quickly. "But we still can't get a bead on that crest."
"What about all those other dots - those other crests? Why aren't you tracking those down?"
"We are, but this new crest is our priority for now. We do know that it's here, somewhere in the city, and it's like I said – Wong thinks we need your help to find it, yours and Spider-Man."
"Oh, no." Felicia responded instantly. "You are not dragging him into this. None of this nonsense has anything to do with him."
"This 'nonsense' is an existential threat to New York and everyone in it." Chavez's voice was flat, but her words came quick and her eyes were hard. "This 'nonsense' gave Vermin the power to poison the city's water supply and make thousands of people sick. This 'nonsense' is hanging around your neck right now – Spider-Man's partner." She folded her arms. "I'd say all that nonsense has plenty to do with him, wouldn't you?"
Despite herself, Felicia felt her face grow hot.
"Fine. Point made." She said through gritted teeth. "But you aren't meeting him. Whatever you need from him, I'll pass along."
She knew what would happen if Spider-Man was ever in the same room with Chavez or Wong. They would invade his mind like they'd invaded Felicia's. They'd know his identity in an instant and there was nothing he or anyone else could do to stop them.
Then America would find where he lives and go knock in his door. Felicia thought bitterly. She wouldn't let that happen.
"Whatever. I told Wong you'd say that. So defensive." Chavez sighed, rubbing at her temple. "We don't need too much from you or your little boyfriend, okay? We just need to know if you've seen anything out of the ordinary and ask that you keep an eye out. You and Spider-Man do spend more time out on the street than us, so if anyone was to come across this crest and its wearer – if it has one – it would be you two."
Felicia chose to ignore the 'little boyfriend' comment, as the alternative would have been violence.
"Alright." She said after a moment's thought. While Chavez's delivery and conversation skills left so, so much to be desired, Felicia could see her point – any crest that was unaccounted for was dangerous. "We haven't come across anything stranger than normal recently, but we'll keep an eye out. If we see any signs of this crest, I'll let you know."
"Great, sooo we're done here?" Chavez asked, as if Felicia was somehow the one who'd forced this discussion on her.
"Yeah. We're done."
"Are you going to go out and start searching now?"
"… No. I have class in a bit."
"Class?" Chavez looked at Felicia as if she'd just suggested the moon was made of wax and cheese. "Class. What class?"
"Ethics." Felicia stated dryly. "I'm in college. You're standing in my dorm, on my campus, right now." She gestured to the rug beneath Chavez's feet, a fuzzy, ugly, purple thing that MJ had bought. "I mean, did you not notice?"
"I noticed. I just thought that I had, you know, made it clear how important finding this crest was."
"You did, but I can't just drop everything." Felicia explained. "I have a secret identity to keep, and in case you've forgotten – I don't work for you and your wizard pals, so…"
She trailed off. A small noise, so quiet she almost thought she may have imagined it, made her ears prick – a door swinging on old hinges.
Felicia turned from Chavez's confused expression and stared across he room, to where a man was now standing in the threshold of her dorm. She had never seen a man like this before. He was huge, at least seven feet tall and wide enough to fill up the doorway completely. He had a beard that was long, like his hair, braided and tied with metal beads, and he wore a long fur-lined coat that brushed the floor as he stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind him.
"Is he… a friend of yours?" Chavez asked.
"No. He- he's not with you?"
Chavez shook her head. She took two slow steps back as the mystery man walked across the room.
He stopped a foot away from the edge of the sphere and turned his head slowly from left to right, his eyes passing over the pair of them as he took in the space. Felicia stood where she was and held her breath, near enough to reach out and touch the stranger. Up close, she could see that one of his eyes was a light blue, almost white, and certainly blind.
"He can't see us in here, I guess?" She asked.
"No. He can't."
Felicia wanted to know what would happen if he touched the sphere from the outside, and was about to ask, but then suddenly the man turned and glided to the kitchen. Felicia's half-empty cereal bowl was on the counter-top and without an ounce of hesitation, the man grabbed her abandoned spoon and lifted it to his face. He inhaled deeply.
Chavez and Felicia exchanged a look.
"I think we should get out of here." Chavez said. She started to rummage through her pockets again.
"How?"
"I'll open a portal and teleport us to the Sanctum."
"Ah, of course." In comparison to the events of the last five minutes, the revelation that America Chavez had teleportation magic seemed relatively trivial.
A plan was formed in Felicia's mind. After Chavez had beamed them out of there, she'd transform and come back as Black Cat to deal with this man. She didn't know who he was, why he was here, but she knew he did not belong in her dorm.
Chavez finished picking through her pockets and produced a short length of dark wood. She clutched it tightly in her hand and whispered soft, unintelligible words to the stick, as the man returned Felicia's spoon to her cereal bowl and gazed around the room once more.
There was a whooshing sound and a rush of air burst upwards from the carpet behind Felicia. A door in space had opened, connecting the floor of her dorm to that in the foyer of the Sanctum Sanctorum, but Felicia barely noticed – she was watching the man as he moved, one of his large hands coming up and grasping the handle to MJ's door.
Felicia's stomach dropped. She'd completely forgotten.
"MJ!" Her shout echoed around the inside of the sphere, and Chavez was calling out to her, but it was too late. Felicia was already lunging forward, reaching towards the strange man.
Her fingertips turned to claws just before she touched the wall of the sphere and she sliced through it as if it was made of paper. Black Cat would have sliced into the stranger too, if he hadn't turned – faster than seemed physically possible – and caught her wrists. The man was strong, and solid, but Cat was strong too and she had momentum behind her.
She slammed into the stranger, knocking him into the door. The cheap hinges groaned then snapped, and the door collapsed backwards, sending both Cat and the man tumbling into MJ's room in a shower of splinters and dust.
Black Cat's head snapped up as they landed and she found MJ on her bed, jolted to life by the sudden commotion. Her eyes bulged as she stared at them, her mouth hanging slack in a silent scream. Beneath Cat, the man let out a grumbling noise, a deep laugh that vibrated from his chest.
"There you are." He rumbled. He didn't look surprised in the least that she'd just pounced on him. "Hiding, were you?"
Black Cat ignored the question. She wrenched one of her arms free and held her claws threateningly over his face.
"Who are you?" She snarled.
"Kraven," He answered. "The hunter." His grip on her other wrist tightened like a vice. "Come with me, Black Cat, and I will not hurt the girl."
"I have a better idea." Cat said, and then she slashed.
He shifted under her, moving his head at the last possible moment so that her claws carved deep gouges into the floor. Then his knee came up and pressed against her ribs, shoving her hard enough to send her flying backwards. Cat cleared the entire length of the room and slammed into the opposite wall. Her shoulder hit the media stand, knocking loose stacks of DVDs and books, as well as the large, boxy television.
Chavez was standing next to the portal she'd made in the floor and she raised both her arms, pointing her palms forward. A pinkish bolt of… something flew from her hands and arced toward Kraven as he was climbing to his feet. He rolled, dodging the beam, and it curved past him, punching a clean hole in the ceiling and disappearing into the space above.
Black Cat's heart clenched. She could only hope none of her neighbors were home.
"Careful!" She shouted at Chavez, as she grabbed the television off the floor and threw it at Kraven as hard as she could.
Kraven caught the projectile smoothly and pivoted on one foot before thrusting it at Chavez. She cried out, hands coming up, but far too slowly. The box hit her square in the chest and she fell backwards, disappearing into her portal.
Hissing, Black Cat leapt at Kraven again, her claws aimed directly at his heart. She expected him to dodge again, but to her surprise, Kraven leapt too, and the pair of them met in the air over the portal.
They were falling, grappling and clawing at one another. They passed through the portal together, and then suddenly they were no longer falling, but rising. Black Cat was dimly aware that they'd left her dorm behind for the Sanctum Sanctorum, a fact that only became more apparent when she slammed into the hard tile floor.
The sudden change of scenery didn't seem to slow Kraven. He rolled and pinned Cat, twisting her arms behind her back painfully as he held her to the floor. She snarled and snapped, trying to break free, but he held her firm. He was strong, very strong and panic rose in Cat's chest as she felt something hard and metal clamp around her wrists.
Black Cat roared and bucked and nearly dislocated her shoulders trying to twist herself free. Kraven just knelt with a knee between her shoulder blades, patient, steady.
"Calm yourself." He said. "It is over… my prey."
There was a flash of light to Black Cat's left, followed by a wave of heat. Kraven's weight left her and Black Cat flipped over, just in time to see three tongues of flame bounce off his back.
America Chavez was striding forward, sending more rays of fire in Kraven's direction. He allowed most of them to be absorbed by his coat, which seemed to be fire-proof, but he dodged the last few flames and responded by flinging something small and silver in Chavez's direction.
She was ready this time though. She waved her arm in an arc in front of her, conjuring a glistening purple disk, that blocked the thing Kraven had thrown. It bounced and rolled across the floor and Black Cat saw it was a sharp, metal dart.
"Surrender, hunter." Chavez said, her voice echoing around the entrance to the Sanctum. "You have no idea what you're dealing with."
Kraven smiled, showing sharp teeth.
"Sorcerer," He replied. "I've met your kind before… always so confident." He turned slowly on the spot, taking in the grand staircase, the tapestries, and the weird metal sculpture in the center of the foyer. Eventually his eyes landed back on Chavez. "It makes besting you all the more satisfying. Where is your master, young one?"
It was a good question and Cat was wondering the same thing herself as she strained against the shackles Kraven had trapped her with.
"I'm the master here." Chavez answered firmly, although Black Cat couldn't help but notice the slight shake in her hands.
"Ah, but of course. Forgive me for disrespecting you, master sorcerer." Kraven took a light step forward; Chavez took a step back. "I do not wish to hurt you, but I will, if you chose to stand between me and the Black Cat."
Cat was compelled, despite her better judgment, to take her eyes off Kraven. She looked to Chavez and their eyes met for the briefest of moments. The look on the young sorceress's face was completely unreadable.
"What do you want with her?"
"That is not for you to know." Kraven replied simply.
"I see." The glossy purple shield was still hovering in front of Chavez, but she grabbed it out of the air then and folded it, pressing it into nothing between her palms, before unfurling a glittering sword from the dust. "As much as I'd love to not have to deal with her anymore, I can't let you take her."
"I was hoping you would say that." Kraven smiled again, then he charged.
Black Cat writhed on the floor as they clashed, wrestling with her cuffs. They were tight and felt heavy and an unshakable panic was starting to well inside of her. She felt helpless, watching as Chavez swiped at Kraven, missing every strike, but also managing to avoid the darts that he flung in response – though just barely.
Gritting her teeth, Black Cat planted her feet against the floor and arched her back, straining against her restraints. An inhuman scream tore itself from her throat and she was sure she would break her own wrists, when she felt the cuffs give slightly, bend, and then snap.
She flung the broken pieces away from her and immediately pushed herself into a crouch. Kraven's eyes flicked from Chavez to her and another dart soon followed. Cat pounced, the tip of Kraven's dart hit just above her collarbone and bounced harmlessly off her suit, and she finally, with great satisfaction, buried her claws in his flesh.
Kraven didn't so much as grunt as she sliced into his chest and shoulder. He pushed Black Cat back with an open-palmed strike to her middle, knocking the wind out of her, but Cat refused to loose her footing again.
She surged toward him, adrenaline and rage boiling in her veins, and she swung her claws low, aiming for the soft tissue below Kraven's ribs. He caught her wrists again, but this time she expected it – she drove her shoulder forward and slammed into Kraven. There was enough force behind the blow to lift him off his feet and send him careening into the metal sculpture in the middle of the entrance hall
The sculpture was a tall and thin art-piece made of curling, warped metal. It wavered as if teetering on the edge of falling over, and then seemed to right itself. A dull humm came from it, like the soft vibrations made from lightly striking on a brass gong.
Cat barely heard the noise over Chavez's shocked yell – a shrill 'NO!'.
Pain.
Pain, the likes of which Black Cat had never felt before, erupted all over her body.
She felt like she was on fire – like her skin was melting and sloshing off of her bones in sheets – but she could see no flames. Her ears were filled with the infernal hummm of a thousand demonic bells and she fell to her knees, sure beyond doubt that this horrible, droning noise would be the last thing she ever heard.
Through cloudy vision, Cat saw that Chavez was cradling her head, staggering forward and stumbling, falling on her hands and knees to crawl towards the sculpture that was swaying and vibrating so fast it blurred. Kraven was down as well. Black Cat watched as he fought to stay up on one knee, his teeth bared, as shocking streams of black ichor flowed his nose, his ears, his eyes.
The agony on his face was a perfect reflection of what Cat felt, and it only grew more intense as each second passed.
Spider…
Delirious, she thought of him, for what may have been the very last time.
The humm in her ears had risen to its crescendo and as the noise crested, a flash of brilliant white light filled Cat's sight, and when the light faded so did the pain.
Felicia was left shaking on the floor of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Her breaths came in ragged bursts, and cold inexplicable tears were running down her cheeks. She made to climb to her feet, but a stab of pain at her chest made her falter. Beneath the collar of her shirt, the Crest of the Cat was burning still, searing her skin. In a frenzy, Felicia gripped the hot chain around her neck and pulled the pendant over her head, dropping it on instinct. The Crest was still glowing with a faint light and it sizzled when it touched the cool tile floor.
Someone was groaning nearby and Felicia looked up to see Chavez struggling upright. A bizarre, colorful mist was steaming from each of her pores and her legs shook as if about to collapse, but she staggered forward still. The sculpture had stopped vibrating and Felicia quickly saw why – Kraven had mustered the strength to stand and he had grasped the tall metal figure with both hands, holding it still.
He examined the sculpture thoughtfully.
"What… is this device?" He asked.
"It's a Soulspire. It nullifies magic." Chavez spat.
Kraven let out a low laugh.
"Bold of you to keep such a thing, and foolish."
"It works wonders against evil sorcerers, like you."
Casually, Kraven reached into his coat and retrieved a white cloth, which he used to wipe the blackish blood from his nose and beard. When he was finished, he tucked it away again.
"I'm afraid you're wrong. I am no sorcerer." Then from the depths of his coat he pulled a bundle of silver cords and hurled them in Felicia's direction.
Felicia was too weak to move and too slow without her Crest, so the bolas struck her head-on, wrapping around her middle and lashing her arms to her sides. The whole world tilted as she toppled over and she lay on the hard floor, too exhausted to struggle and cognizant enough to know it was pointless.
Chavez was twirling her arms, conjuring weak, electric blue sparks from her fingertips. The sparks circled around her head like a wide crown, but to what end – Felicia would never know. Kraven whirled and grabbed the Soulspire and, hefting it as though it weighed nothing, he turned and threw it in their direction.
The sculpture landed at Chavez's feet and shattered like glass, throwing a million tiny shards of metal into the air. There was a tremendous sound like the gusts of world-ending storm. The magic that Chavez had conjured fizzled and died and Felicia's vision blurred and warped, losing all color before fading into an oblivion as black as pitch.