Chapter 15

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 8– First Outing.

Edited: 18/03/2023

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Wait, what the fuck am I doing? I swore that I was not going to do this, that I wasn't going to let her pull me in, let her drag me into an inescapable black hole. I might have been sticking to my principles and rules when I refused to steal from the jewellery shop earlier on, but I am back treading right now. Every second that my lips stay in contact with her is another moment my rules are being ignored and trodden upon, which I can't allow.

I whip my arms away from her as if they were on fire as if she were literal dynamite about to explode, and as if Felicia was sensing my reluctance, her lips part from mine, disappearing as soon as I stopped holding her.

Even though I feel great hesitation now that her lips are no longer on mine, I can't help but feel some relief as well, knowing that I had just dodged a bullet. If there is ever going to be anything happening between Felicia and me, then it is going to be initiated by me, and I can't accept it any other way-

"AGGGGGgggghhhh!" I heard Felicia scream, and she seemed to be getting further and further away, but why would- I realise now that I was the one holding Felicia against me under this archway, I was her only support, and I had just stopped holding her. Then, my eyes which I had closed while kissing Felicia snapped open, and I saw Felicia dropping down through the alley, plummeting towards the ground.

As I watch her falling to her death, facing the sky and reaching a hand out for me, I suddenly see Gwen Stacy, sweet Gwen Stacy, falling in her place, and I am right back at the Brooklyn Bridge, living out my worst nightmare again.

Instinctually my hand shoots out, both of my middle fingers pressed against my palm to let loose a web that would reach out to snag Felicia and save her from a terrible fate. Except I am not wearing my web shooters, which I thank god for because if I had them on, then Felicia's spine would have been snapped in half, just like Gwen's.

I-I can't do that again. I can't have someone killed because of me again because of my actions. So maybe it is a good thing that I don't have my web shooters on me, they are just tools, after all, and they can never be relied upon entirely. After all, other people can use tools as well.

So the only thing I can trust is my own hands and my own actions, I can't trust the actions of other people, and I can't trust weapons or tools that I myself have not created, not even the web shooters because I did not make those, Peter did, and Peter makes mistakes, I am not Peter.

Moving my body, I crouch against the brickwork of the arch, facing towards the grounds and towards the falling form of Felicia. Then, using all my strength, I push against it and shoot downwards towards the damsel in distress at intense speeds, pointing my arms towards her in a diving-like position to boost myself even further. I feel the bricks crack and break under my feet, the arch itself shattering into pieces, but I can't bring myself to care.

I can still remember swinging through the streets as Spider-Man and battling foes, constantly holding back my strength and doing my utmost to not cause any property damage. I don't care about that stuff now. I could give a rat's ass about property damage, reputation and image in the public eye. I don't care about limiting myself anymore. I am going to live with my utmost everything.

I rocket down towards the ground, heading directly for Felicia, who doesn't have any time to react before I reach her. I ignore her outstretched arms, diving between them and wrapping my arms around her midsection when I collide with her though she was already going at a fast speed which offset most of the impact, and I know her suit has some protection. We tumble through the air for a bit, a mess of arms and legs, before I manage to balance myself out and stick a palm to the alleyway wall.

By stick, I don't mean that I use my power, as that would be idiotic at this stage. Stopping our inertia so suddenly is very dangerous. While I would be just fine due to my super-powered body, I don't think Felicia would have taken such a situation into account when designing her suit, which means the inertia would seriously damage her insides.

So instead of straight-up using my powers, I use my insane agility to traverse down the walls, doing a series of flips and springs off the bricks to bleed off the energy and slow down our descent.

This is made a lot harder due to all the debris falling from above due to me destroying the archway, forcing me to make a bunch more manoeuvers to protect ourselves as we move down. Finally, we touch down gently in the middle of the wet alley. I am not even aware of when it started to rain, being so caught up in current events.

The alleyway itself is dark and dingy, so basically just a regular alleyway in New York, right down to the stuffed dumpsters that are so full that they are now leaking garbage juice that is filtering out onto the concrete and into the drains leading to the sewers.

Thankfully I am far away from any of them as we landed in a surprisingly clean space, which is excellent for a New York alleyway anyway. There is rubble from the property damage I caused all over the place, but it has all since landed now since I slowed down our descent.

"Ben, you asshole! What the hell was that!? Why did you just fucking drop me!?" Felicia shouts, now being carried in a princess carry by me. It was just the easiest way to hold her and have a stable grip on her as I followed the treacherous path down through the alleyway.

I would have been perfectly fine with being shouted at by her if that was all she did, it was my fault after all, but she perpetuated her point by giving me a hard punch to the arm, which I think was just uncalled for.

"What, didn't you like the rush? Have a little fun, Licia, wasn't the fall exhilarating? And for the record, I didn't drop you since you never actually touched the ground. This is me dropping you." I perpetuate my point by letting go of her and taking a step back.

Her fantastic ass collides with the ground as she clatters to the floor. I know what I just said didn't really make sense, but I don't care. I have constantly been on the back foot with this woman, and I have to say, I immensely enjoyed being the one ahead now, even with her vehemently staring up at me with frustration in her eyes.

"Now, get up, lazybones. We have got to get moving yesterday. No doubt some people heard or even saw the archway collapsing, and they have already reported it. The police are already on their way. A break-in and then a collapsed archway not too long after. At least a few cops will be checking it out. They will be here soon, so let's get going." I blurt out while quickly making my escape, my escape from her, that is, not the police. The experience of being a vigilante has really clued me into the force's ineptitude.

I can hear her growl behind me, still laid out on the alleyway floor, and I can't help but smile as I jump my way back up to the roofs and then run off into the night.

I know I have just dropped a beautiful woman onto the ground and treated her badly, and I shouldn't be happy about being such a dick. But I am, I am ecstatic at the thought of her having the cushion pulled from under her, and for once, it is her being messed around with.

She has been messing and playing around with me since we met like I am a toy. Well, now she has found out that this toy has retractable claws, sixty different poses and 25 different phrases.

I have really got to tone down the dumb quippy side of me. God forbid I start speaking the stupid things aloud.

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Alright, today is my first proper outing as a thief, and this will be the first proper job we are going to be doing. It has been a few days since the test drive, and I am feeling confident, mainly because this job is more suited to my skill set, and I have the right experience for the job.

It will be just like putting on those same old boots and using them to kick ass all over again, which I don't really want to do, I don't want to slip back into those shoes so quickly, but I have to remember, this time I am not just kicking their ass's, I'm also taking their stuff.

"So, Cat. How are we going to do this? Go in guns blazing, kicking ass and taking names, but only for their headstones? Or are we going to sneak in all sneaky, like by cutting a perfect circle into the glass and climbing the glass using suction cups? You using the suction cups, not me, for obvious reasons. Or do you have an inside man or something? Has he left the back door open for us, and he will take his compatriots on a trip allowing us to go inside and do as we, please? Well, how are we playing this?" I whisper loudly near Felicia's ear, punctuating how quiet I am being by placing a hand in front of my mouth as I lean over.

I know full well that I am being annoying right now, and that is actually the whole reason I am whispering to her because acting like this really rides on her nerves and messing with her is pretty amusing. It is like I have become addicted to it after I dropped her on her ass that night in the alley, anyway that I can just mess with her and catch her on the back foot. Am I becoming a sadist, teasing her and messing with her like this? I suppose it is better than being a masochist, something to think about later.

"Shush, Spi. I am trying to focus, so quiet." Felicia answers curtly, annoyed at my senseless questions. Spi is my codename. It is half of the word spider because, like it or not, that is my powerset, and I will obviously be named after it. Also, this way, it can be mistaken with spy, so when I am called it, that is what people will think. It's a stupid thing, but I guess there is some meaning in it. Felicia was very adamant that I have a meaningful name so that she would have something to call me in the field.