Felix, still processing the recent events and Mister Negative's lightning-based powers, remained silent even with the princess against him. The rooftop offered a brief respite, especially for the royal woman of Kenya.
"Haa…ha…" Ororo caught her breath, smiling. "I must admit, I've never been swept off my feet like that before," she said. "But maybe it's a New York thing. Do you make a habit of rescuing people in such a spectacular fashion?"
Her gaze lingered on Felix, a mix of curiosity and playful interest. The distant sounds of police activity and the city below served as a backdrop to their impromptu exchange. Yet, despite Ororo's attempts to engage him, Felix remained silent.
Undeterred, Ororo leaned in slightly, her expression inviting. "What's your real name? Or do you prefer to keep that a mystery too?"
Felix's masked face gave away nothing as he continued to observe the Empire State Building. Her hand went down his chest, a motion that caught his attention.
"Oh? Interested?"
What a minx, drawing circles on his chest, coaxing his attention through her sultry voice. His interest, though piqued, wasn't high enough and he gently pushed her back. He turned his back to her and leapt off the Herald Towers. Ororo went wide-eyed, running up to the edge to try and find him. From her perspective, he was gone, having disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Thwip! Thwip!
Webs flew from his wrists as he swung and flipped through the air. 'I should try to find Mister Negative and—huh?'
Hardly ten seconds into web-swinging and his Spider-Sense suddenly went off. He didn't know where or what was going on, and a second later, his line of webbing broke. His vision became a shade of blue and he slammed into what felt like a brick wall.
'What—!?'
"Found you."
Felix had been caught in a blue sphere, trapped mid-swing. He was carried over to a nearby rooftop as if in a floating hamster ball.
"This is Psionic Hyperspace Force Field," Herbie declared. "Only one woman in the world possesses such powers…"
"Another spider-freak…what's it take for you people to leave my turf?" The woman responsible for the barrier glowed with an arm outstretched. She was blonde and donned a skintight white superhero with blue running down the middle. A green cape also functioned as a hoodie, fluttering in the wind as she floated.
"...Susan Storm."
His spider-suit interface identified her face instantly. Herbie made a small note that they hadn't seen her since he and Liv left with Shuri. 'She was supposed to be at the party…she was supposed to be trapped with everyone else....but she wasn't.' His eyes narrowed. 'How is she here? Why is she wearing her super suit again?'
Susan Storm was a social media superhero who retired last year to commit to being the ambassador of Latveria. She was a VIP for a reason; both in a social media and political sense. She represented a terrifying aspect of the future generation. A hero with amazing super powers and a social media account that could influence millions.
"I made Gwen Stacy disappear for a reason," Susan said, scowling. "But as soon as my brother and I appeared, criminals went underground. We couldn't find them and we were forced to retire. Today was supposed to be my day. The triumphant return of the Susan Storm, saving a delegation of royalty!"
The barrier grew smaller and smaller, threatening to crush him to paste. His Spider-Sense flared up, screaming danger, danger! Susan landed on the rooftop, smirking.
"Got nothing to say?"
"..." Felix stood in the barrier, trying to think of a plan. He blanked out the second Herbie began explaining her powers in detail.
"The cells of Susan Storm's body produce a certain energy manifestation, the cells of her brain produce a different, more potent manifestation. Estimated range: ten metres."
"Not much of a talker, eh?" Susan smirked. "That's good. Dying without last words makes it easier on me—"
He shoved a hand through a barrier, effectively breaking it. Like with the glass at the Empire State Building, he tore through it with his bare arms, causing the female hero to fly back into the air.
"What? How did you…!? Not even Gwen Stacy—"
She summoned another barrier around him and then summoned three more. A thickness of barriers that his arm wouldn't be able to penetrate through in one fell swoop.
Felix punched the barrier and recoiled back. 'It's pretty tough,' he said to himself. He rolled his arms and readied a second punch.
Bam! A crack formed. Bam! The crack spread. 'Oh, wow! This barrier is amazing! Ha, I can really let loose with this!' The muscles in his biceps coiled and he struck out another punch. The first layer of barriers finally broke.
"As if I'm going to let you!" Susan grit her teeth and replaced it with seven new spheres. Felix wasn't deterred. On the contrary, he was thrilled at the challenge and so Herbie intervened.
"Reminder on how to throw a proper punch. Step one," Herbie's calm voice announced, guiding Felix through the motions. "Ensure your feet are shoulder-width apart for balance. Step two, keep your knees slightly bent to generate power from your legs." Felix adjusted his stance accordingly. "Step three," Herbie continued, "rotate your hips as you throw the punch. This adds torque and increases the power of your strike. And step four, don't forget to pivot on your back foot for maximum force."
One. Bam! Two. Shatter! Three. Shatter! Cracks spider-webbed across the spherical shields, the force of his punches going beyond the one barrier they made contact with, and eventually shattering one after another. Upon the fourth punch, he was free and Felix lunged forward and then jumped high in the air. The gap between him and Susan narrowed, who had remained ten metres up to keep in range for her barrier.
Her hands glowed and she threw tiny force fields as projectiles. Felix swerved through the air and narrowly dodged them, his arm outstretched and connecting a line of webbing between himself and Susan. With a strong pull, she came reeling towards him and grunted as he landed a punch.
She had summoned a barrier around herself at the last second which took the brunt of the attack. Felix, however, wasn't done yet. He continued to reel her in, continued to punch and kick her. Susan tried to fight back but a close-quarter tussle in the air was seemingly impossible to win when her opponent had a Spider-Sense that told him exactly when she would counter-attack. They were falling, falling, falling, and in a second Susan was going to crash into the ground.
She let out a roar and momentarily became invisible. Felix grabbed her face, implementing his web-crawling powers to keep her in place, and slammed her into the rooftop. There was a second of stillness. The retired vigilante growled, her blue eyes glaring up at him, unable to speak due to a firm hand on her mouth.
The way she looked at him…the blonde was the personification of a crazy chick.
"Her armour is reminiscent of Victor von Doom, ruler of Latveria," Herbie declared. "Victor von Doom died under mysterious causes two years ago. The country is known for selling military-grade technology and has served as Stark Industries greatest competitor. Many rumours persist regarding them supplying weapons to rebellions all over the world."
'Victor von Doom, huh?' His grip tight, Felix stared down at the woman beneath him. 'Susan Storm is the current ambassador of Latveria. Was she a student of his?'
"Three years ago, social media influencers Sue and Johnny Storm visited Latveria as part of a publicity tour," Herbie continued. "A visit was confirmed, therefore establishing a connection and therefore a possible mentorship relation."
'What should I do with her? I assume it was Susan that leaked the charity's information to Mister Negative as a way to kick-start her vigilante career again. She mentioned fighting Gwen too…is she even a good guy at all?'
Susan's voice muffled through his hand, to no avail. His grip was too strong and if he wanted to he could crush her skull.
'But killing a social media influencer would be bad press and make things unnecessarily complicated. There's no CCTV footage on this rooftop. Luckily for me, Herbie recorded everything from my perspective so I can blackmail her however I like.'
His grip weakened. Sighing in his head, Felix got up and walked away. Susan snarled at him, managing to sit upright but failing to move her legs.
"I'll remember this!"
He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. The blonde paled. The arrogance and vanity in her eyes vanished, replaced with unadulterated fear. For a second, she thought she was going to die.
As if.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Felix shot out four balls of webbing and tied her limbs to the ground. "You—" Thwip! He shut her mouth too, then leaped off the rooftop and web-swinged back to Daxter Lab.
***
"A few bullet marks…not bad for my first big mission."
He stared at the black spider-suit, which was stored in a glass container. Since he stayed at Daxter Lab like a second home, he was able to change from his suit to a comfortable black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. The sunglasses connected to Herbie, called the Fantastic Glasses, were safely hooked to his shirt. His eyes scanned the black suit and other than the bullet mark on the shoulder, waist, and temple, it was squeaky-clean.
He headed to the Fantastic Computer and plopped down on the comfortable chair, sighing. "That was one hell of a night. First, the stuff with Shuri and learning that Project New Element was being watched over by Norman Osborn himself. Second, the literal gangster attack on the Empire State Building, and to top it all off, a fight against a fellow vigilante who apparently planned the whole gangster attack so that she could profit from it."
Another sigh left his lips and he pulled his legs up to sit crisscross on the chair. What a life he had. "I searched for Mister Negative too. Couldn't find him. The guy literally disappeared with the strike of lightning."
'There's Czarina too…' The hot redhead with the nice cleavage and mysterious background. 'There was nothing on her. Nothing at all. It's…it's highly likely she's the traitor.' He put a hand to his forehead, sighing for the third time.
After that, he narrowed his eyes and got to researching.
"Herbie, pull up everything you have on Czarina Belova, Mister Negative, Emma Frost, and Norman Osborn."
"Affirmative, Dr. Faeth. Loading…loading…scanning…scanning…" The massive monitor pulled up one empty profile, one small profile, and two large profiles. From left to right, it was Czarina, Mister Negative, Emma Frost, and Norman Osborn. "Civillian Czarina Belova has no verifiable information on her."
"Nothing? But we're connected to the NYPD, no?"
"Loading…loading…facial data has been cross-referenced for a second time. Czarina has no criminal record or any history as a witness."
"That's not…completely odd. It's possible this is her first crime," Felix muttered. "Pull up emails on Czarina. Key words…how about spider? And element?"
Thousands of emails suddenly covered the screen. Felix squinted and skimmed through much of the information. For ten minutes, he read through the emails and found…
"Nothing. There's nothing suspicious here. She uses element a lot as a normal word and spider was mentioned twice due to some infestation in the building. Czarina is squeaky clean." He crossed his arms. "Suspiciously clean."
Herbie chimed in, "There is no medical history and no insurance history of Czarina Belova until she joined Oscorp."
"When was that?"
"The first email regarding her employment was a year and a half ago."
"Czarina did mention that…" Felix trailed off. "Pull up her resume, will you? It should be in one of your first emails to Oscorp."
The resume was…fine. The companies she listed were Russian and locally based. Technically, there was nothing suspicious.
"But is this really enough to become a secretary at Oscorp." Felix paused, then remembered her wonderful face and smell. "Right. She has decent credentials and literally looks like a photoshopped Vogue cover model. The male employers were probably drooling at the sight of her."
So while there were problems with her, there wasn't anything that pointed to her as a traitor. "What clearance does she have?"
"Level five."
"Way less than us scientists." Felix leaned back on the chair, thinking. "Alright. Put her on the list of suspects. Oh, place her next to Dr. Octavius. There are too many questions that I want answered for her to be ruled out entirely."
Czarina Belova was slotted next to Olivia Octavius in his list of "Oscarp Traitors". It wasn't a comprehensive list and was numbered at five suspects. From top to bottom, the list went as such: Olivia Octavius, Czarina Belova, Elsa Brock, Cindy Moon, Maria Hill, Kavita Rao, and Barbara Morse. Although after today, his suspicion of Olivia Octavius had gone down.
'Liv seems well-meaning,' Felix thought. 'The emails on the day of the attack were suspicious, but what if she really was just concerned about Project New Element? The only issue is how she escaped. Liv got taken by Crossbones' guys and returned to meet us. How? How did that happen? I assume the higher-ups at Oscorp know, including Norman Osborn. Actually…maybe Liv only told Norman Osborn.'
"Pull up Norman Osborn's profile."
Here he was: the man at the top of New York. The man who was, for all intents and purposes, his boss. Middle-aged and lean with red-hair done in waves and equipped with a face that never smiled. In every photo of him, there was either a scowl or neutrality. According to his autobiography, his father was a failed business and it was because of his failure that Norman was inspired to do better. He graduated with a Ph.D. in nanotechnology from…
'The Massachusetts Institute of Technology…' Felix stared at the screen, his expression empty. What a funny coincidence. He shook his head. 'Nevermind that. Norman Orborn couldn't be the traitor. Literally, the spiders are his from a business standpoint. Why would he attack his own tower? That would be the dumbest shit ever. It's why I didn't include Alistare—the dude got shot. If he had some deal in the background, then why wouldn't he have some assurance that he wouldn't get injured? It's the same for Osborn, an attack on his company is figuratively shooting himself in the foot. There's no logic to it. No, more than likely…'
"Someone attacked Oscorp Tower because of Norman Osborn. They attacked because they had a grudge. Mister Negative, for example, seems to be one of those people," Felix said.
"Although many investigations have been conducted on Norman Osborn, none have bore fruit. His net worth is stated to hover between nine and twelve billion, but many dispute this due to his tight relationship with the American government. He is known for firing and laying off employees if necessary," Herbie elaborated. "Thus, there can be many reasons for Mister Negative's grudge. Additionally, images of Mister Negative are distorted due to his powers. Therefore, facial recognition is impossible."
"You're right, even I had a tough time looking at him. It's like…the world was glitching around him." Felix turned to his thoughts again. "Lawsuits. Pull up every lawsuit that Norman Osborn has received."
"Loading…loading…"
The monitor was filled with over fifty different lawsuits. Felix sighed and kicked back. "So there's a lot. Great." In spite of his words, his mind and eyes went to work. Sure, he could have Herbie give him a rundown but artificial intelligence only worked so well. Sometimes, there were things only humans could see. In the end, after half an hour, he found nothing. Specifically, nothing for Mister Negative' s grudge. Whatever it was, it was buried deep.
"Lastly, Emma Frost. Any ideas on her magic?"
"Not magic, but mutant powers," Herbie corrected.
"Mutant? What's that?"
"On other Earths, they are theorized to be either: one, an off-shoot of the Homo sapiens species, or; two, an evolution of Homo sapiens known as Homo superiors or Homo Mutatis."
"A new human species? On other Earths?"
"Information regarding the multiverse can only be accessed with Master Control," Herbie said. "However, there have been records of mutants on this Earth—Earth 65."
"Like who?"
"Dr. Richards encountered Wolverine, a SHIELD agent that was immortal and capable of retractable Adamantium claws."
"When was that?" Felix asked, curious.
"SHIELD had been the primary organization during the hunt for Spider-Women. They were aware that she made contact with Dr. Richards and thus sent several agents for investigation. Their investigation was marked with threats, which was when Reed witnessed the claws. The SHIELD agent known as Wolverine left several hair strands and saliva."
"Saliva?"
"Dr. Richards had been eating a bag of chips, which Agent Wolverine stole. The leftover saliva helped us determine that he is indeed a mutant with the X-gene."
"X-gene…that's the source of their power?"
"From our analysis, the X-gene is not a natural disposition of the Homo sapiens. It was an implanted gene that was forcibly activated."
"Any information on Wolverine?" Felix vaguely recalled he was amongst the notable members of SHIELD.
"Affirmative. While SHIELD has covered up most data, the NYPD has personally kept tabs on him." The profile of a bearded man with stylized, pointy hair appeared on the monitor. His alias was stated to be Logan. "Officer Grimm investigated him, as have several officers in the past decades."
"I see. So he's in his forties?" Photos from the past couple decades flipped through the screen. The Wolverine from the 1990s looked exactly the same as the one in 2020. "Or is he some kind of immortal?"
"Unconfirmed," Herbie replied.
"I would be able to confirm it with Master Control," Felix muttered.
Master Control. The ultimate database with the ultimate supercomputer. Access to satellites and government files with a short verbal command. Even the bank account of Reed Richards couldn't be fully accessed unless he had Master Control. At Doctor-level access, his funds were limited to two thousand dollars a month. For the month of May, he had spent his whole budget on the shipment of materials for his suit's Detective Mode. The process was long and egregious, the shipments hopping from delivery service after delivery service in order to hide his tracks. By the end, it would arrive on his doorsteps without anyone knowing who it was for, why it was there, and what was inside.
"How do you know Emma is a mutant? I'm not a mutant, for example, right? Nor is Susan Storm, unless I'm wrong."
"Information on Emma Frost is difficult to find. However, by digging through online libraries, I have found local articles announcing that the daughter of the Frost family had mental issues in elementary school. The NYPD also has a teenage juvenile case where she attempted to blackmail another woman over her affair. These two cases were swept but the records remain. While not impossible for Susan Storm to have been hiding as a mutant, it is unlikely considering she has been a child actor. The spotlight has always been on her yet she has had zero articles of the media accusing her of wrongdoing. Other than the NYPD observing her for vigilantism, Susan is totally clean. Put simply, it is likely she received her powers in the late portion of her life."
"Her powers consist of invisibility though. That's exactly the kind of ability that goes under the radar."
Herbie conceded, "Then perhaps Susan Storm is a mutant too."
Felix exhaled. Why did everything have to be complicated?
***
That night, Felix walked back home. He didn't call a taxi or jog over, he walked while occupying himself with his thoughts. He wore a black jacket that he had forgotten from last week. In all honesty, it was more of an accessory than anything. Recently, Extremis learned to regulate his body temperature to the point that he was largely unaffected by the cold. He hadn't noticed the new feature of his body till a couple of hours ago when he ran back to Daxter Lab for his suit. Even though he had been jogging in a suit, he felt nothing from the midnight chill.
Lost in contemplation, his brownstone apartment came into view before he knew it. The familiar sight of the building caused his heart to swell comfortably. Home was coming. However, as he drew closer, his eyes picked out an unexpected figure.
Seated on the steps of the brownstone was Rio Morales, her expression a mix of weariness and concern. Her dark brown hair, usually done in a ponytail, was let loose as she gazed upon the stars. She let out a sigh and looked, coincidentally catching his eye.
"Felix," Rio greeted with a fake smile. "Hi! How are you?"
"It's three o'clock, Rio," Felix said, genuinely worried. "What are you doing out here?"
"Ah, it's nothing." Her forced smile did not convince him in the slightest. "Really, it's nothing."
Felix stared at her. The Puerto Rican woman looked…scared. On instinct, he sat next to her, took off his jacket, and put over her shoulders. "It's cold," Felix said.
"Oh, thank you." She smiled at him appreciatively. Then, her smile fell and she sighed. "I'm sorry, I just…Miles got hurt again," she said in a small blur. "I just…he's not a bad boy. Please, believe me."
"I know. It's New York." Felix stared at the street across from them. "Crime is going crazy."
"Right? There's been no sign of any vigilante lately. I know there were those brothers and sisters, what were their names…?"
"Susan and Johnny?"
"Yes, them! They barely stuck around. They gave up after a couple months." A sigh of frustration came from her throat. "I heard it was because they didn't get enough social media traction, so they quit. Some heroes they are." Rio blew out a breath of cold air. "I just wish there was someone out there, you know, looking out for the city."
"Like Gwen Stacy?"
Rio bit her bottom lip. "I hate to admit it…but Miles was right. Yes, someone like her. Someone that keeps going no matter what."
Silence dawned upon them. "It's getting late," Felix said, breaking the tension. "We should go inside."
"You're right." Rio got up, holding onto his jacket. "Ah, here—"
"It's alright, you can keep it."
"Oh, but—" She was cut off by Felix putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Call it a late Christmas gift."
"Really?" Laughing, she raised a brow. "Christmas gift? Now?"
He patted her shoulder, grinning. "The Christmas spirit is everlasting."
Together, the two went inside, walking up the stairs and parting once they reached their respective doors. Rio sent him one last wink before heading inside. Felix responded with a small wave.
Unbeknownst to Felix, he had forgotten something very, very important in the black jacket. As Rio put the jacket on the rack, a box fell out of the left pocket. Blinking, she crouched down and picked the box up.
She blinked once, twice, three times, before her cheeks went red. What she held in her hands was a rarity. An expensive piece of protection that few women ever saw in their lifetime.
An XXL condom.
Rio was aware of the four main sizes: snug, standard, large, and extra-large. Snug for one inch in width and up to five inches in length. Standard for one and a half inches in width and five to seven inches in length. Large for two inches in width and seven to eight inches in length. Extra large for anything above that and extra-extra-large for…well, she didn't know. She had never seen this size of condom before. She had no idea what it was meant for other than for a really, really big dick.
Gulping, Rio got up, holding the box close to her face and growing redder by the second.
"E-even Jefferson only used XL condoms…I didn't think I would ever…" Swallowing thickly, Rio shook her and hurriedly put the condom back where it was. "I-I'll pretend I didn't see that."
Despite her words, Rio Morales would think about it for the rest of her night.
Whether it was a superhero or something else, Felix Faeth was uncontested.