|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 127• Silver

"You wanna tell me your name?" Peter asked the woman standing in front of him. She grinned at him very playfully. "You didn't ask very nicely, bug boy." She told him. She moved past him to sit down on the edge of the building. She happily kicked her feet back and forth in the air. A small breeze of the wind brushed through her hair. It was as if she hadn't been out in the rain at all earlier. Peter's hair was still wet under his mask, and his skin felt a little clammy. But she appeared to be perfectly fine. "Could you please tell me your name?" Peter repeated this time rather politely. She smiled at him, her teeth showing, as she glanced at him from over her shoulder. "Cat." She replied, "Black Cat." Peter furrowed his eyebrows together, and he was certain she could see something on his mask. He was hoping for something else, though; he shouldn't have expected her to just hand over her ID to him. "Black cat... well, that explains the suit," Peter said to her. "Clever boy." He got a little closer behind her. Peter scanned every inch of her he could see with his eyes. Hopefully, his suit was recording all of it so he could look at it when he gets back home or has a little more time and space to think. "I... I um... I'm Spider-Man." Peter told her, feeling a little self-conscious all of a sudden. She chuckled raised her hand, and lifted one of her fingers. "I know that." She said, "I prefer calling you bug boy, though. I hope you don't mind." Truthfully, Peter wasn't sure if he really minded it at all or if he found it a little endearing. "No, no, it's fine." He told her. Deep down, he didn't know why. Y/n was usually the only person who called him special nicknames. He didn't know what to think about someone else calling him nicknames. But he couldn't ignore that little tingle in his chest.

Black Cat, the woman, patted the empty spot right beside her on the edge. Peter gulped and sat down on her left. He could smell her through his mask. She smelled nice. He would never say out loud that another woman's perfume was pulling him in. Her hair was looking even more silver now that he was so close to her. It wasn't a wig. "Is that natural?" He asked her. The woman grinned widely again. "All natural, bug." She straightened her back a little. "Do you like it?" Her flirtatious tone hadn't gone unnoticed by Peter. "It's very special, ma'am." Black Cat looked at the young man sitting beside her. "So polite." She praised him. She leaned on her hands and kicked her feet again. Peter could hear the material of her suit pulling together. So, that's working. "What are you doing here?" Peter asked her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Well, yes, he did. This was his girlfriend's private property, and she showed up out of nowhere. How did she even get here? If Y/n saw this... "I'm here because you are here, silly." Black Cat giggled. Peter wasn't sure what to feel or say about this. A strange woman shows up in strange places and says strange things. Strange gestures and a strange smile. "What do you want from me? How do you even know me?" Peter continued to ask questions. The woman beside him looked at her hands. They were covered in the exact same material as the rest of her body. "You are asking a lot of questions, bug boy. You know, I thought you were fun. I've been watching you. You swing around the city at night. You're catching all the fun bad guys." "You've been watching me?" Black Cat clicked her tongue. "Well, I need to do something with my spare time, don't I?" Peter really couldn't tell what she was trying to do. What does she want?

"So, you haven't been watching me because your boss told you to do so?" Peter followed up. He was getting a little better at his interrogation thing. He remembers his first time very well, but that did not go very well. The guy did answer all his questions, but he was not very intimidated. Mister Criminal. Peter's mind suddenly started to wander off, wondering where Mister Criminal could be right now. He had to snap himself out of it. Black Cat scoffed. "Do you think I'm dangerous, Spider-Man?" She questioned in a mischievous tone. Peter's body language changed. He tried to act really tough all of a sudden. "No." He replied. "Oh, no, you think I am dangerous. I haven't left your mind since you saw me on that rooftop a few nights back." She teased him a little bit. Peter gulped a little louder than he intended, and she heard him. She chuckled and grasped his shoulder very gently. Her hand brushed up and down his arm. "You're sweet." She commented. "Has anyone ever told you that?" Peter shifted a little uncomfortably. "Yes. Someone has." He answered her honestly. An image of Y/n passed through his mind. "Well, they are right, whoever they are." She smiled, "I work for myself, Bug boy. Nothing to worry about." Only more of a reason to worry about it, then. When someone tells you not to worry, you worry. Peter shifted again. He was really trying his best to read this woman. There is something about her. She is new and mysterious. Is she a superhero? Could she be a villain? Perhaps a bit of both? She certainly didn't look anything like any other heroes Peter had met throughout his life. She was dressed in mostly black, the color of the night. Could that mean something? Black Cat saw how Peter was looking at her, even with his mask on.