A Worthy Opponent

"What kind of proposal?" Asks Isaac, standing before the white-haired thief on a rooftop.

"Before I tell you, answer me this. Why are you a hero?" She asks, stepping closer to him.

"To become stronger." He answers truthfully, causing the female to stare at him for a few seconds with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, that's a first for me. I thought you'd have a boring moral code or something." She says with a chuckle, to which Isaac asks a question.

"Hey, do you know this girl?" He whispers, hoping the feline female didn't share the senses of her mascot.

"Nope, never seen her before. Why?" Answers Darwin.

"Nothing. She just speaks like she has frequent interaction with heroes." He answers, quickly getting his words by after seeing the female start to catch onto his mumbling.

"Anyway, I heard about a street gang planning to hijack a yacht full of rich folks tonight. I don't suppose you'd want to clear your name." As she says this, Isaac can't help but stare at her for a few seconds.

"What's in it for you?" He asks.

"Would you believe I'm just a concerned citizen, trying to do my part in keeping this city safe?" Isaac stares at her with an unamused expression as he squints his eyes.

"No."

"That's a shame. So, what do you say, Speedy?" She asks, reaching out her hand as she smirks, her seductive and soft voice never failing to lower Isaac's guard slightly.

"Be careful, Isaac. Despite how ironic it may seem, you might just be walking into a rat's trap." Comments Darwin,

Isaac stares for a minute before taking her hand.

"Let's go save some rich people." He says, shaking her hand.

"Perfect. The name's Black Cat. Now, I'm under the impression you can fly."

***

At the peak of night, countless well-dressed individuals could be seen boarding a large yacht. The staff of the boat stood at the docks, welcoming the passengers with smiles and early drinks of champagne, slightly stealing glances at each other as the yacht-filled up.

Meanwhile, a block away, two people slowly descended from the sky onto a rooftop. Isaac stretched after carrying the female feline all the way.

"I'm sorry, was I too heavy?" Asks Cat teasingly as the both of them hide behind the roof's ledge.

"Nope. I've made it a personal code of mine not to comment on somebody else's weight." He says, looking over to the docks as Cat shrugs off his statement.

"Expensive suits and sparkling jewellery? I think this is our yacht. What now?" Asks Isaac.

"Now we wait till the yacht sets off, then we fly over and sneak in. Until then, I guess we can get to know each other. After all, this is a Superhero Teamup." She says, resting her head on her fist.

"You, a superhero? Please." Says Isaac, staring at the yacht.

"Hey now, don't judge a book by its cover."

"I literally caught you in the act of stealing from me. Because of you, the whole city thinks I'm a criminal." He says, turning to her.

"It's not entirely my fault. I mean, just look at you. You look more like a criminal than I do." She says, pointing to Isaac's hoodie riddled with bullet holes and his eyes that were covered by shady black lenses.

"It's an interesting look, I'll tell you that." She says with a giggle.

"Look who's talking. I'm pretty sure I saw your outfit on a discount in a Costume Shop nearby." He says, pointing to her black spandex costume and small mask that covered the area around her eyes.

"Well, I never get mistaken for a criminal. I have no problem working with other superheroes." She says, the smirk and voice never leaving, as if this was her default mode.

"Oh yeah, like who?" He says, still looking toward the yacht.

"Oh, I don't know. You wouldn't happen to know Spider-Man, would you…" Before she could finish, Isaac's heart skipped a beat as he darted his eyes toward her, almost giving up their position.

"YOU KNOW SPIDER-MAN?!" He yells loudly, instantly believing her without trouble, even prompting the staff by the yacht to look around.

"You hear that?" Asks one staff, looking toward the nearby buildings.

"It's probably a few loud teens around. The little rascals are on summer break." Says another.

Meanwhile, Cat lays on top of Isaac who has his back to the ground with her hand covering his mouth as they stare at each other. She finally let go and peeked over the ledge, noticing the staff hadn't caught on.

"Do you really know Spider-Man?" He whispers while managing to still cause a ruckus.

"Are you a fan of his or something?" She asks, surprised to see him suddenly change all of a sudden.

"That would be an understatement. How do you know him?" He says, grinning widely, looking straight at her and completely forgetting the mission he was on.

"We have a…complicated relationship. But sadly I haven't seen him in a while. To put it simply, he's chosen to go on…mission with another red-haired tiger." She says, looking away from Isaac who's eyes were practically sparkling as she notices the boat setting off.

"Let's go before the boat gets too far." She says as Isaac remembers their plan.

He holds onto her arms as he starts to fly toward the boat. He was sure not to go too fast, so as not to rip Cat's arms off.

"So, tell me more about Spider-Man." He says as they approach the yacht.

"Geez, you've got some nerves talking about another person with a pretty lady in front of you. You might make me jealous." She says teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so is it true he can command Spiders with his thoughts?" He asks. Isaac was such a fan of Spider-Man, that he made it a personal mission of his to educate himself on every fact about the web-slinging hero, even if they were just rumours.

They finally made it onto the yacht after a few seconds as they made themselves feel at home on the roof.

"What now?" Isaac asks, seeing Cat dangle herself off the side of the roof, peering through the window.

Inside the decorated hall, where a golden chandelier hung from the ceiling, a live performance of soft classical music was played in the corner, as well as the food being served consisting of lobsters, expensive champagne, shrimp and heart-stopping amounts of caviar, a man with a stylish moustache and slick black hair stood upon a small stage behind a podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I please have your attention?" He says with a smile as the music stops and everyone looks over to him.

"It is my honour to be your auctioneer in today's annual Sea's Auction." He says as everyone present claps.

"Now, I won't play dumb, I know why most of you are here today. I can reveal that the rumours of a specific item had some truth to them. Please put your hands together for Posiden's Gem, Sirenstone!" He says as a glass case containing a majestic light blue gem is revealed. The gem itself was a mesmerising, iridescent jewel with hues of deep ocean blues and shimmering greens.

Its surface seemed to shift and ripple like gentle waves, reflecting light in a captivating manner.

"Legend speaks of a powerful sea siren who fell deeply in love with a mortal sailor. In an act of sacrifice, she transformed herself into a radiant gem to protect him from a treacherous storm."

"The gem inherited her enchanting voice and became known as Sirenstone, forever embodying the Siren's love and devotion. It is said that the gem possesses the Siren's essence and can never be replicated." Says the auctioneer as the surrounding people give a small round of applause.

"Before the main event of the Sirenstone, allow us to present our other lesser, but still valuable, products…" Says the smiling auctioneer, but before he can finish, gunshots are heard as the civilians yell and scream at the sudden commotion.

The waiters and staff could be seen holding Uzis as they pointed them at the civilians.

"That's our cue, Speedy." Says Cat, as she flips off the edge and smashes through the window, soon followed by a floating man as he lands in a superhero pose in between everyone.

"Fear not, bystanders. I am here to…" Before Isaac could finish his performed superhero entrance, a civilian recognized him.

"Hey, that's the Weakstone Jameson was talking about. The criminal. He must be behind all this." Says a middle-aged man with a bald head, pointing toward Isaac.

"That's not my name! And I'm here to save you, you ungrateful sh*t." Isaac says, frustrated the name had started to circulate.

"I knew it. This Weakstone is a barbarian. Could this day get any worse?" Says another Male with white hair.

"Alright, next person to call me that gets thrown off this yacht." Screams Isaac as a voice comes from behind the curtains.

"Well well, if it isn't the famous criminal. It's not easy to be mentioned by Jameson." A large man with a scar across the side of his face and a bald head speaks as he carries two large assault rifles on his back, wearing army camouflage gear as he walks toward Isaac, practically shaking the yacht with every step.

"I'm the shot caller around here. If you want to join in the fun, you're going to have to say the magic word, Weakstone." He says.

Meanwhile, the missing Black Cat could be seen on the yacht, outside the hall as she lands two swift blows on a waiter holding a gun, throwing him overboard after she was able to sneak away from the commotion.

She dusts her hands as she darts her head back, hearing the sound of breaking glass, only to see a large man screaming with assault rifles, zooming through the air toward the water as a loud splash can be heard from the sea below.

"Who's next?" Says Isaac as he stares at the waiters who have their mouths wide open.

However, before he can make another move, he is interrupted by the yacht suddenly tipping to the side, causing everyone on board to fall and slide, even flying to the other side of the ship. It was once again tipped over, causing the same commotion.

The previous criminal waiters had dropped their guns, some even accidentally firing at the sudden motion. Not to mention the civilians who were either unconscious or injured.

Isaac looked over the edge of the boat and noticed the sea and waves were in a frenzy, raging as it caused the yacht to almost sink.

The water crashed onto the side of the yacht, washing over anyone nearby, the motion was enough to make anyone vomit countless times in a minute if they were lucky enough to survive the rodeo on deck. The cries for help and screams of fear were all drowned out by the roars of the sea as the once-visible docks disappeared as if they were transported to the middle of the ocean. It didn't help that the power suddenly went out, confusing everyone as they couldn't tell down from up.

Isaac didn't know what to do. It's not like he could carry the ship to safety. Hell, he was having trouble balancing the fact that he had to keep an adequate speed and carry Cat at the same time.

As he thought of what to do, the comotion suddenly came to a halt as the lights came back on and the ship stopped moving.

Isaac looked around the hall, seeing the countless civilians littered across the marble floor, some bleeding while others seemed like they were in deep sleep.

However, that wasn't the first thing Isaac noticed. Instead, it was the…man standing before the podium, staring at Isaac.

Isaac couldn't help but stare for a few seconds as he tried his best to process what he was seeing. The man before him had a lean and muscular physique, which bulged as he wore his attire. A form-fitting green bodysuit with scales riddled across it. As well as a belt and wristbands. However, that wasn't the most noticeable aspect of the man.

Isaac couldn't take his eyes off the small angelic-like wings on both of the man's ankles. This paired with his pointy elf-like ears and sharp green eyes, he looked as if he came straight out of mythology. Before Isaac could say anything, the man's lips started to move.

"Greetings. I've come for what rightfully belongs to the people of Atlantis."

"Be careful, Isaac. That guy is no joke. That's the Prince of Atlantis, Namor."