The Spider & The Butterfly

To Chase A Black Cat: Part 1

"Ah the Manhattan skyline. Isn't it beautiful?" Peter narrated as he swung across the city. "You know, most kids are either sleeping in, watching cartoons, or playing video games Saturday morning, but not me." he said as he perched on a building's edge. "For your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, I got to watch over an alien girl, and chase after a crazy cat lady thief, all while doing my usual duties." 

Peter had instructed Star EARLY in the morning to work on her costume and stay out of trouble. Since she was pretty visibly cranky at the request, he could only wonder how long that will last. He'll have to deal with it later. Now, he has a cat to catch. 

"Now according to the tracer I put on her, she should be right around..." he said while scanning the buildings below. "There." Spider-Man leapt down to the streets, and made his way through the commuters, apologizing for everyone he bumped into. He proceeded to walk into a Verizon store to witness it being robbed in broad daylight. 

"Stop her!" an officer cried. "She just stole the next generation phone prototype!" The officer, his backup, and the Black Cat turn to the entrance to see the vigilante standing there. 

"Way ahead of you pal." Spidey reassured as he jumped onto a desk. "Don't look in her eyes. Don't look in her eyes. Don't look-" he told himself to avoid her powers. 

"Yoohoo!" Cat said, her eyes taking the same appearance as their first encounter. 

The hero face palmed. "I looked into her eyes." he grumbled before leaping forward. Cat front-flipped towards the exit. Spider-Man shot out webbing, but missed Black Cat, immobilizing an officer instead. "Quit!" he complained before turning and missing again, taking out the other officer. "Sorry. Wasn't me. Well it was, but she gave me the bad luck."

This time he carefully aimed two weblines and cut off Black Cat's escape route. Using said lines, he slingshotted himself at her. Cat ducked last second, and the arachnid hero flung himself into a wall of cardboard. 

Spidey grunted. "Who makes a cardboard wall?" he whined. The thief blew him a goodbye kiss then ran out the door. "Free phones for everyone!" she called and people filed in to get a piece of the cake. Peter had to push his way out. The Black Cat was gone and the tracer lost the signal. 

"C'mon Spidey. You're better than this." he groaned. 

At the Parker household, Star was in her magically created loft working on her costume. 

"Hmm. It could use more...pink." she said searching through a box. "Aha!" she said as she pulled out a pink mask similar to Black Cat's. 

Suddenly, her door opened and Peter walked in. Star turned to face him from her desk with a smile. "Oh, hi Peter!" she greeted. Peter continued past her and collapsed face first on her bed. 

Star, oblivious, kept her smile. "Did you get em?" she asked. "No." Pete muffled through the cover. Star stood up and skipped over to him to give him a pat on the back. "Need help?" she offered with a grin, hoping he'd say yes. 

Peter lifted his head and turned to look at her. "Got your costume done?" he asked with a brow raised. 

Star glanced to the side. "Well, no. But." 

"Then that's your answer." Peter simply declared before putting his head down again. Star rolled her eyes in response. "Come on!" she pouted. "You can't keep going at this alone. I'm a big princess." 

Peter looked up. "And I'm responsible to make sure your cute self doesn't get royally hurt." "Wait what did I say?"

Star tilted her head curiously. "You think I'm cute?" she asked. 

Peter's face turned bright red. "I-I uh. I mean that you shouldn't because..." He shook his head to regain some composure. "Ah forget it. I'm going out again. Call me if you need something." The boy hurriedly left the room. Star stared out the way he left before shrugging, and getting back to work. 

Back in the city, Spider-Man was once again chasing after a signal. This time in a comic book store. Inside, Black Cat was strutting to the front, gaining the attention(in some cases, admiration) of those inside. 

Cat simply approached the counter and picked out a comic that had the green scaled monster Abomination on its cover. "I've been looking for you everywhere." she said. She winked at the clerk and simply walked away without paying. 

"Isn't that comic book, like, priceless?" the female clerk asked. The male clerk cupped his face in his hands. "What comic book?" he said dreamily, earning a slap outside the head. 

Cat was walking down the street, comic book close, when a familiar red and blue figure landed in front of her. "Hello." Spidey greeted in a playful tone. The girl took a few steps back. "How do you keep finding me?" she asked. 

"I'll tell you if you tell me how you keep giving me bad luck." Spider-Man answered. 

"Sorry. But I will tell you this." The latex wearing thief said as she took another step back and glanced to the left. A semi truck was approaching the stop light. "You're not the only one it works on." she answered, her eyes taking the golden hue. Mysteriously, a tire blew on the truck. 

"Ol' Shirley's gone flat!" the driver exclaimed. The truck tipped on its side after hitting another car and skidded towards Spider-Man and civilians. Black Cat used the distraction to escape while the passerbys started screaming. Peter's spider sense went off. "Okay. Maybe bad luck could be a real thing." he said. 

The world slowed for Spidey's perception. "Have to prioritize. Grab only the people in the danger zone. Old man, Mr. Vest, purple-haired lady, tank top kid." he said quickly, taking note. "Whoo! A new issue of my favorite comic is out." he said glancing at the comic in the kid's arms. 

Spider-Man launched weblines at the two men, flinging them back into a web net out of danger. He dashed forwardand into a flip midair, webbing the other two out of danger and into another net at the side of a building. He then positioned himself onto the side of the truck and fired two lines to slow it. The hero strained as he neared closer and closer to a building, and it stopped mere inches away away from him being crushed in like an Oreo. He crawled to the top and pulled the truck driver out. "We're okay. We're both okay!" he called to those looking, earning applauds in response. 

"Boy, looks like I made some fans today." Spidey said as he pulled up the tracker on his mask's display. "Gone again." he said in disappointment. "Oh well. Might as well get some food first." Spider-Man then swung off. 

Back at Star's room, she finally had her costume completed. The leggings had the same color scheme as the dress. The wings were magicked to grant her temporary flight and decorated with loads of glitter. Her eye mask was pink. And her wand disguised as a scepter with pink sapphire at the tip. To hide her distinguishing hearts on her cheeks, she had picked flower stickers to put over them. 

"Finally." Star said before flopping onto her bed. "That took for-e-ver." Now I can go help Peter!" she squealed. Suddenly, barking was heard downstairs, and Star's smile turned to a slight frown. "Oh right. I have to walk the puppies. Then I can help him!" She quickly left the room to prepare.