Chapter 20

"Ben, no offence, but you are a clone of Spider-Man, and I have seen him get his ass handed to him by The Vulture, the fricking Vulture. That is an old man, the guy is in his seventies, and he flies around thanks to a backpack that also boosts his strength a bit, and he has kicked Spider-Man's ass, so don't try to reassure me." Ouch, I know I am technically not Spider-Man anymore, but I still have those memories.

I can still remember the first time I met old Adrian Toomes when he popped out of a manhole cover and stool some jewels that were being transferred. The only way I could think to stop him without hurting him was to build a device to prevent his suit from functioning. I have since learned that Toomes is vicious and can give as good as he gets.

"Shall I let you in on a little secret? Spider-Man is a good guy, and the Vulture is, like you said, an old man in his seventies who is brittle and fragile. Spider-Man has to pull his punches, afraid he might snap the guy's bones in two or break his spine, so trust me when I say not to worry since I can handle myself against any of the super riffraff Fisk can hire since I am not going to be pulling my punches or holding back. Also, isn't this better? Since we already crossed the line, we can now steal as much as we want from Fisk." I assure her again, but this time based on my power to do violence rather than just avoiding Fisk, hiding and running away.

"Okay, okay, fine, I suppose you are right. And it was getting easy robbing all those small-time crooks. I could do with a challenge. But let's wait for Fisk to send people after us before we start robbing him blind, okay? Just in case he lets us off the hook or has some job he wants us to pull for him. In the meantime, how do you feel about rich assholes who gain all their riches through loopholes, backdoors and bribes, all the while stealing from the poor." Felicia laughs and seems to relax before asking me about possible targets we can go after while we wait to see how Fisk responds.

"Are you kidding me? I did say we could go after any criminals, didn't I?" I say, and she smiles at me.

"Alright, good. We will start on that tomorrow, for now, though. I am going to get changed. You get the snacks and some bowls of ice cream. We are going to watch a movie and get rid of some of this stress." She got up and walked off to her bedroom while giving me my orders, and the strange thing was there was not a single attempt to flirt or seduce me in that whole exchange. I can't say that I don't like it because I do. This just feels more genuine and less like I am in a cage.

I stand up and go to get dressed into something else as well, after which I will get the snacks and laze on the couch to watch a movie with Felicia. Even though I pissed off a big guy like Fisk, I feel better than I did this morning.

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"So, Cat, who have we got here today?" I question. The both of us sat on the edge of a New York skyscraper and peered down at one of the many windows across from us on another building. Felicia uses a pair of high-tech binoculars while I am just using my eyes, but even with my super-powered eyes, I have difficulty properly focusing on something that far away, even if I can see with disturbing clarity. Felicia removes her binoculars and hands them over to me, allowing me to peer through them to see today's mark.

"The thirtieth floor, five windows from the left. This is the study of one Ben Morris, a sleazy politician that is not only racist but homophobic and misogynistic. Today we are going to be breaking into his home and stealing from this dirtbag, who really deserves it." She says while I follow her directions and look in through the window to see a cliche study, which is basically just a wood theme with brown furniture everywhere and everything made out of wood. Really generic.

"Come on, Felicia. We both know that isn't the real reason we are here today. while he does sound like a real piece of work, people are allowed to have their own opinions and views, though this guy probably shouldn't have been allowed into the political game. So what did he do that made him one of our targets?" I remove the binoculars and hand them back to her, and she puts them in one of the pouches by her waist.

"This guy, like most politicians, is a greedy asshole, and he has been abusing his power, dipping into the community pot and stealing quite a bit of money from people who really need it. He just bought a diamond ring for his girlfriend, who is 24 years younger than him by the by, and it is worth around two million dollars, so we are going to steal it and teach this guy a lesson." She stands to her feet, starting to limber up and stretch. I work myself to my feet as well, but I don't stretch, being super-powered means my body is primed for action at any time, as long as I look after it properly.

"Or, having just lost a very expensive ring, he is going to start dipping even more into those funds and taking even more out of those people's pockets to make some money back. I don't know if this is a good idea, Felicia, we would be doing more harm than good, and I don't want to harm any innocents with my crimes." Felicia stops her stretches and turns to me.

"Don't worry. Right now, this guy is stealing just under the limit where he will be caught, and he just spent a large part of his money on this ring. Being the greedy pig that he is, he will start digging even deeper into those funds, which people will notice, and Morris will get caught, and maybe he might even be stripped of his position, though I would not hold out hope for that one, slippery bastard. I know how you work, Ben. I wouldn't bring you to a job that goes against your code or whatever, so chill." She reassures before jumping at me, and I hold her in a princess carry.

"Now, jump over there and stand on the side of the window so I can cut a hole in it, and we can get to work." There is no flirtation or seduction in this. We are actually getting along better after burning that warehouse. Though my position these days has just been demoted to being a scaffold, standing on the side of things so Felicia can stand on my stomach and use me as a platform to gain access to wherever it is she needs to go.

I am okay with it, though. I am actually quite happy with how things are going at the minute.

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John Mormon, Pastor. He is not as bad as some of those guys up in the church can be, what with their wandering hands, but he certainly is a piece of work. He has been claiming donations for a charity, which does not exist, and his wonderful church patrons have been more than willing to fork out for a good cause. He has been doing these kinds of scams for years, interspersing them with actual charities to stay hidden, though he is not as clever as he seems. The idiot has just been transferring the money straight into his account, and no one has ever checked since they are so trusting in their Pastor. And, of course, he has it all tucked away in his safe, so what do you say?"

"He still has all the records which show which charities the money was raised, so we will return the exact amounts to the charities or the closest thing. Even if we are stealing second-hand, I am not stealing from a charity. Let's go."

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"Right, this one is a Lawyer by the name of Patricia Evans. She has been very naughty as of late and has been forging multiple documents to help her clients, who are also very naughty. Not only that, but she points them in the direction of people who would benefit their case, and those clients will get their support by any means necessary. What do you think, Ben, she up to standard?"

"Yeah, let's get going."

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"Pretty little spoiled princess and the daughter of a state governor named Star Grayson. She had recently run over a homeless man, and he died on impact. The death was quickly covered up by her father and forgotten about, no one cares about the homeless after all, and little Star hasn't paid it another thought since. Coincidentally, Star is being courted by the rich son of a CEO who is head over heels for the little bitch, and he just gifted her a Faberge egg worth a cool twelve million. I don't think she deserves that, do you?"

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Bobby Burgham sells cars for way above their worth, slapping on some new paint and fabricating all sorts of documentation for them. Thankfully, more than one car has broken down in safe places because the cars never get very far, and by that point, it is too late. They are already sold. But unfortunately, Bobby also has a severe gambling problem and owes fifty large, which he has hidden away in his garage. If that money were to disappear, he would have to sell his business to repay his debts. I think that would be for the better, don't you?"

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"Janice Portman, an office worker that has been falsifying documents for her own benefit and..."

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"Jared Bowen, a proctologist that has a bad habit of taking photos and blackmailing his patients..."

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"William Forsythe, a gynaecologist...

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"Jane Hemsworth..."

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"Gary Gordon..."

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"Elizebeth Garrison, oh boy, this one is a doozy. You see, Ben, this woman has been-" Before she can finish her words, I quickly jump at her, grab hold of her, and tumble across the concrete top of the building we are on. We narrowly miss an RPG missile that goes straight past us and thankfully explodes in the middle of the sky, unfortunately alerting the masses below.

We both quickly leap to our feet, readying ourselves for the threat that just tried to blow us up into tiny little pieces. We face the direction in which the missile came from, and I can see two distant figures standing there, one with a fancy little hat upon his head and one a head above the other and holding a bazooka that is pointed directly at us.

"Cat, it's-" I try to tell her, but she cuts me off.

"Yeah, I know. Fisk has finally sent his men after us, and here I was thinking that he was going to let us off the hook." She says, tensing her fingers which is the trigger to unleash her claws.

"So, who do you want to take? Big, fancy or how-" I hop to the side, evading a lasso that shoots right past me.

"- about lasso?" I finish my sentence as a man wearing a cowboy hat steps around the corner, revealing himself.

"It's called a lariat, fool," Montanna says as he pulls his rope back to him.

I prepare myself as the man approaches. After all, we face The Enforcers.