Under the moonlight.
The Empire State Building stood like a monumental tablet, or an ancient, weathered castle.
Felicia's silver hair shimmered in the moonlight like a veil of gossamer.
"Little kitty. My friend told me you were looking for me."
Felicia jumped, startled by Bant's sudden voice. She spun around and saw him standing sideways on the spire's lightning rod at the top of the building, like a black flag.
His black suit traced the contours of his muscles, looking both agile and brimming with power.
He folded his arms, watching her like she was some kind of elf.
And, of course, Black Cat was a creature of the night.
A flash of joy flickered through Felicia's eyes, but she quickly concealed it.
She kept telling herself: a cat must toy with its prey. She must be mysterious, aloof, and in control!
"Seems my little friend is very obedient."
"Of course. Having a weird woman with a blindfold break into your home is pretty terrifying," Bant said, spreading his hands.
"Really? I don't think that's what he was thinking yesterday."
Felicia had a feeling little Ben had different ideas.
"Alright, tell me what you wanted. I'm a busy guy."
"I want to take down the Kingpin, so I need an ally." As Felicia spoke, she flashed her claws.
Seeing Bant again genuinely thrilled her, but she also itched to find out just how wide the gap in their strength really was.
She knew Bant was Spider-Man, but she had no real concept of Spider-Man's power.
She hoped she was stronger than he was, because then she could protect him.
And besides, Felicia dreamed of living two distinct lives: the blonde kitty and the silver-haired Cat Queen. She could even transform suddenly and hit Bant with a Black Cat surprise.
Just thinking about it made her giddy, her silver hair standing on end like a cat's fur.
Bant raised an eyebrow. "That's not the way to ask for help."
"Let me test your skills!"
Felicia dropped into a low crouch and, in an instant, pounced toward him.
She moved fast. The moment her toes tapped the edge, her body was already flying through the air, moonlight glossing over her black leather suit.
Her claws cut through the night like streaks of silver lightning, leaving five white slashes that vanished just as quickly.
Bant spread his hands, leaped upward lightly, and dodged the strike.
"A fierce kitty."
Shing!
The next second, the metal lightning rod was cleanly sliced into several pieces, scattering down toward the street below.
"No throwing objects from high places."
Bant shot a strand of webbing, catching the falling fragments. It was late, but it would be bad if they hit a pedestrian.
Felicia missed her target. Immediately, she extended both hands like a cat, landed, and rolled lightly along the edge of the building to disperse the force.
Then she squatted, turned back, and taunted him.
"Afraid to fight me, little spider?"
After speaking, she frowned slightly, as if unsatisfied with the nickname.
After all, there were two Spider-Men.
Felicia put a finger to her glossy red lips and started thinking. She needed to come up with an exclusive, sweet nickname just for him.
Her lips shimmered like a piece of strawberry candy, making Bant involuntarily recall the Black Cat's kiss from the night before.
Then, as if struck by a great idea, she said,
"How about 'puppy'?"
"If I win, you'll be my little puppy."
Hearing this, the white eye lenses on Bant's mask narrowed. "Make me your puppy? Looks like our little kitty needs a spanking."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Felicia rushed at him again.
Her attacks were fierce. Hardy's training had completely remade her, but having seen how sharp those gloves' claws could be, Felicia kept her hands in claw shapes without extending the metal alloy talons.
She was worried about accidentally hurting Bant.
But to Bant, these attacks were practically nothing.
Instead, it was Bant who held back, afraid of injuring her, his moves restrained.
When Felicia realized she couldn't handle Bant right away, she started increasing the speed and power of her attacks.
She really was as supple as a cat. Even at the edge of a skyscraper, where one wrong step meant a fatal plunge, she moved as if on flat ground.
Bant raised an arm to block Felicia's strike, but she boldly threw herself forward, wrapping her legs around his waist as if measuring him.
Then she twisted toward the inner side of the building, rolling across the floor with Bant and pinning him underneath her.
But before she could gloat, Bant broke free with superior strength, flipped the tables, and pressed her against the wall of the Empire State Building.
He leaned in, pinned against her back.
Then, he gently smacked her rear.
Smack!
In the darkness, the crisp sound echoed.
"Now who's the puppy?"
"You..."
Smack!
"Who?"
Felicia was shamed and furious. Feeling Bant's body heat pressing against her back was already making her a little delirious.
But she refused to yield.
And so...
High atop the Empire State Building, hundreds of meters in the air, the sound of applause went on and on.
After a long while, Felicia covered her backside and surrendered.
Bant actually hadn't used much force. Even when he struck her, it only caused a slight, stinging pain.
But the pain was just one aspect. More importantly, each slap sent an electric, numbing tingle through Felicia, quickly draining her of strength.
If this went on, the floodgates would burst.
"Now you know who's the puppy?"
"Hmph, I haven't given up yet!"
Felicia's legs were weak, and she cast a resentful look at Bant.
What, why were her legs weak?
Bant figured she was probably just afraid of heights.
Half an hour later.
Felicia had recovered.
During that time, she explained to Bant the whole story of why she wanted to go after the Kingpin, though she concealed the part about her own identity.
"No wonder you're targeting Kingpin." Then Bant spread his hands and teased her deliberately. "But why should I help you?"
"Isn't Hacker Spider-Man a superhero?"
"I'm not. You should really take this to the Avengers." Bant pretended to turn away when Felicia spoke up from behind him.
"And what if I offer you a reward?"
"What rew— mmph."
Bant turned, and in that instant, a white figure lunged at him.
Felicia charged at him full force, wrapping herself around him as they both leaped off the top of the Empire State Building together!
Whoosh!
In that moment, the howling, frantic wind screamed past like a piercing gong.
But Bant couldn't say a word. The lower half of his mask was yanked up, and his mouth was sealed by strawberry-flavored candy.
Bant had originally imagined Felicia's lips were like a glittering, strawberry hard candy. Now he realized he'd been wrong. They were soft candy.
In that instant, it felt as if it wasn't just them falling, but the entire upside-down world.
Pop!
This kiss was even shorter.
"You've got about ten seconds to decide!"
Black Cat shouted, straddling Bant's waist as they plummeted. Her voice lingered behind them, unable to keep pace with their fall.
"Do you even need to ask?!"
Bant shouted back.
"Kingpin?"
"Let's kick his ass!"
Then, while still falling, he twisted his body, wrapped his left arm around Felicia's slender waist, and shot a web line with his right. The two of them immediately swung out, soaring through the streets of New York like they were on a swing.
A dozen or so minutes later.
On the rooftop of another building, the two of them landed on the terrace.
Felicia was ecstatic. "Using webs to fly between skyscrapers! I've wanted to play this way forever!"
"Alright, get your head down."
Bant pressed a hand on her head and brought her down with him as they crouched at the edge of the rooftop.
Across the street was the Kingpin's tower.
Even late at night, the top floor of the building was brilliantly lit. If anything, this was the hour when crime truly flourished.
Felicia complained, "Do we really have to lie flat like this? The front is getting a little uncomfortable."
Bant glanced at the spot she was talking about and said, "Isn't that built-in cushioning?"
But to be honest, after becoming Black Cat, Felicia hadn't just gotten a bit taller. Both her upper and lower measurements had swelled significantly.
Blonde Felicia had been a solid B-cup, but now she was firmly a C, pushing for a D, easily surpassing Mary Jane.
"What's our plan?" Bant asked.
Felicia nodded. "Rush in. And take him out."
"And after we kill him?" Bant asked. "Kingpin is the emperor of New York's underworld. Countless gangs operate under his thumb."
"Then isn't killing him an even better idea?" Felicia shot back.
"Killing him is easy. But if Kingpin dies, everyone who wants to take his place will surface. Then gang wars will break out, bringing even more chaos and death." Bant said.
That was the truth.
As much as Kingpin was a villain who deserved to die a thousand times over, he did exert a certain restraining force on the criminal element.
At least with him in charge, the underworld's structure was relatively stable.
"Then what do we do?" Felicia frowned.
Hearing this, Bant immediately answered, "It's actually simple."
"Whether Kingpin lives or dies isn't what matters. What matters is having someone who can replace him."
"You're saying someone needs to become the new underground emperor?" Felicia caught on. She asked, "Do you want to be the king of the underworld?"
"I've got no time for that."
Bant shook his head, then lifted a hand and pointed at Felicia. "Besides, whoever beats Kingpin earns the right to the throne."
"Don't you want to be a queen?"
"Queen?"
Felicia's eyes lit up.
"The Black Cat Queen?"
"That sounds pretty good." She twirled a lock of her silver hair around her finger, losing herself in a daydream of becoming a queen.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
She arched her body, like a beast crouching for the hunt.
The next moment, both of them burst forward simultaneously, smashing straight through the glass of Kingpin's tower.
Crash!
The glass fragments, reflecting the lights, sparkled like fireflies swirling around Bant and Felicia.
/-\
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