So yeah, it's been more than a year since I last updated. Wow, right? I'll be shocked if there's anyone out there who still wants to read this. But here it is, an update, if anyone wants to check it out.

Chapter Four: Lucky You

"For our Impact Division tonight, we are discussing the situation of one Wilson Fisk, a borderline-billionaire businessman who is running as Mayor of New York City as an independant. However, despite his record as a highly competent investor and businessman, there have been many allegations over the years that strongly imply that Fisk fashions himself as a sort of 'mob boss'. There has been circumstantial evidence that have tied Fisk or his companies to various gang activity in New York City and across the eastern seaboard. Here to discuss this with me is Caroline Seymour, former adviser to the current mayor of New York City who is stepping down in less than three months. Caroline?"

"Glad to be here, J.J.J."

"Let's get to the meat of this issue, Caroline."

"Ha ha, I remember what happened to you a couple of nights ago with that Margaret Huff woman, J.J.J."

"I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Fully understandable. Wilson Fisk, as you know, is larger than life in many ways. He is much bigger than the average human being physically but his intelligence with his investments have been close to unparalleled. He owns everything from a pizza chain to significant investments into various technological companies."

"Yes, but there are many rumors that Fisk got a lot of his money via blood."

"That's the knock against him."

"That's not a 'knock', that's like a sledgehammer to a piece of fiberglass, Caroline."

"Nice analogy. But Fisk is much stronger than a piece of fiberglass, J.J.J."

"You would think that the evidence from multiple eyewitness accounts would be damaging his run for mayor, Caroline. He's being accused of being involved in drugs and assassinations of public officials!"

"There have been no confirmed evidence of this, J.J.J. And, ultimately, his campaign has done a stellar job of clamping down on the negative stories about him."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"That does not surprise me at all, J.J.J."

"That's right - hey, wait a minute!"

No. No. This is all wrong. All wrong.

Not what she wanted. Not how she wanted to put her skills to the test. Not what she wanted her life to become.

She had spent her whole life training as a gymnast. Years of her life have been spent in the gym, on the mats, on the balance beam, on the rings, with men and women with Eastern European accents yelling at her. Her parents had wanted nothing short of the Olympics for her. That was the place where the finest athletes outside of superheroes could compete. Where, for one special moment, the gold medalist could feel mightier than Thor.

It was a life she was becoming sick of. She wanted to escape her parents, escape her thirteen-year-old life. She spent days and nights sneaking out of her parents' house, running across the streets and alleyways and fire escapes, practicing something much different. Something freer. More liberating.

Parkour.

As her life got worse as she inexplicably became taller, to the point where even simple gymnastics were becoming excruciatingly difficult, the more she sought to escape. She knew the day had been coming, that finally her parents would have to give up. That they would have to accept that their family's usually-recessive gene for being tall had wound up becoming dominant in her. Despite her young age, she was already taller than either of her parents, and there was no indication that her growth spurts would stop anytime soon.

But not like this. She didn't want her freedom from her despised lifestyle to happen like this.

Mom . . . Dad . . .

Only her desperation and determination keep tears from forming in her eyes as she runs through the streets of New York City. If only this wasn't nightfall. If only this was in the middle of the day. If only she had any idea where she was going.

But who would be able to protect her anyway? What was she doing other than prolonging the inevitable?

As if to put an exclamation point, the sutra comes right for her head. Seeing it out of the corner of her eye at the last second, the girl ducks just enough to have it impact above her head, and she forces herself to keep running. Even a mere stumble means her death.

She jumps on a dumpster and jumps again onto a ladder towards a fire escape. She climbs like the experienced gymnast she is, and then takes off at a desperate sprint up the escape. From below, she can hear the sutra being forcibly withdrawn from the brick it had been stuck in with a sickening metallic sching.

She's right behind me. I can't stop!

She isn't even in high school yet. Despite spending virtually her entire life in athletics, she's just too young to keep this up for long. Against an adult, she stands no chance.

Especially this adult.

Scrambling to the top of the roof, the girl realizes she's made a colossal mistake. All she's done is put herself on top of an exposed building, without any cover, and even if she can somehow find a building that's within jumping distance, the adult chasing her will be even faster and nowhere near as tentative.

Is this how I'm gonna die?

Desperately, she runs to the other side of the building, but realizes she has chosen a dead end. Turning around, she can see the tall, adult figure of the woman chasing her. The moon is just bright enough to make out the red that signified the woman's infamous uniform.

"P-Please . . . why me?" the girl asks.

"No loose ends," the woman says, and she raises her sutras.

No escape. No weapons. No survival. She's even too scared to close her eyes and wait for it to end.

But as the woman begins her charge, a pair of thin silver strands shoot out, and the woman looks down to where the strands have wrapped around her midriff. She gasps in surprise before she is suddenly spun around and hurled to the other side of the building, and she slides across the ground until she hits the apartment's air conditioner.

The girl gasps in surprise herself. Before she can even register what's happened, a masculine figure appears right in front of her face. She gasps, and she steps back, her shoes backing right to the edge.

The figure's hands grab her shoulders. "Come with me if you want to live."

Suddenly she's grabbed and being carried, and suddenly she's in the air.

She's in the air.

Higher than she's ever gone in gymnastics, or in parkour.

She's on the other side of the street, on a different apartment building.

The figure speaks again. He sounds younger than she expected. "Heh. Always wanted to say that."

The girl looks at the figure's head, and the reflective eyes of the figure's costume are instantly familiar. "You're Spider-Man, aren't you?"

"Yes," he replies. "I am. And you are?"

The girl hesitates. Should a complete stranger, even a stranger, know her name? But at the same time, if she doesn't tell him, how is she going to win the trust of this masked man? Make him want to continue helping her?

After all, the woman trying to kill her is none other than . . .

No choice. There's just no choice.

"My name is Felicia Hardy," the girl says. "Someone is trying to kill me. Can you help me?"

Spider-Man stares at her for a second. Emotionless, expressionless. As if Spider-Man is only a statue, not a living, flesh-and-blood being.

And then Spider-Man speaks.

"Yeah, sure."

"I apologize, Mr. Osborn. There was an unexpected intervention. It's just a setback, nothing to be concerned about."

Norman Osborn frowns. "It is something to be concerned about. You were sucker-punched by Spider-Man."

The assassin sighs. "For the record, I wasn't sucker-punched. He webbed me and threw me aside. That's all there is to it. Nothing I can't recover from. I'll end him too if you wish."

"He has too much value, leave him alive," Norman says. "But I don't mind if you rough him up. Just remember what you have on you. Use it. Give me what I want. "

"Understood," the assassin says. "Moving out."

The screen turns to static, and Osborn only has enough time to sigh before another voice interrupts him, this time from behind. "Elektra is supposedly a highly dangerous individual, but she was caught off guard by a boywith a self-made webbing shooter. You sure you have made the right choice for this?"

Otto Octavius. Such a sickening, withering individual in person. The man was coming apart physically by the day. Norman despised seeing such a pathetic man in person. He much preferred Octavius shut up in the lab, out of sight, almost out of mind.

"I am merely assisting one of my investors with a loose end and she has a highly successful history," Norman replies. "If she cannot get the job done, then it simply shows the value of my spider-soldier plan."

"You did not even know whether Parker would even show up now that SHIELD has him practically under lock and key," Octavius says.

"I know Parker," Norman replies. "He is one of Harry's friends. He's impulsive and rebellious and wants nothing more than to operate on his own tuition. It's admirable and foolhardy. And, even if he didn't intervene, Elektra would've resolved the loose end, and I would just have to wait for another opportunity."

"I don't understand how you have so much patience," Octavius says.

"And I don't understand your failure to see the big picture," Norman snaps, and he sighs as he puts his tablet away. "Now, let's wait and see what happens next. Can a mere boy go toe-to-toe with one of the finest assassins in the world just because of his powers? The end result will, let's just say, be enlightening."

Norman smiles. If he knows Peter Parker like he thinks he does . . .

No. He knows he does . . .

The enlightening results will be pleasing indeed.

You ask teenagers what they do on Saturday nights, they'll say "I go on dates. I play video games. Go watch a movie. Play sports. Or just lay in my room." You know, typical teenager stuff. But not me. No, I play hero, and so suddenly I have to protect this girl from an assassin all of a sudden.

Watching someone play the hero in a movie is fun. Controlling the hero in a video game is fun. Although I haven't tried it, I'm sure dating a hero is fun too. Actually playing the hero for real is not.

I've swung Felicia away from the battle and gotten her onto the ground. "Okay, you gotta fill me in on what's going on, Felicia," I say. "Defending a child from assassins isn't typical Spider-Man territory."

Felicia's hands clench into fists and she trembles. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Look, can I at least know who's after you so-"

"Elektra, okay?"

That name is familiar. Very familiar. And for all the wrong reasons.

We're talking one of the best assassins anyone can hire. Criminals have hired her. So have corrupt businessman. She commands a steep price but it comes with a resolve to get the job done however it took. Most of the time, the victim has no clue she's coming. Felicia here is, let's just say, lucky that Elektra hasn't killed her yet.

And now, because I've saved Felicia's life, I'm now standing in Elektra's highly determined way.

The thought sends shivers up my spine and makes me want to blanch. Great. I'm gonna die now.

"Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. The first night I get to be on my own and now I have an assassin, one of the best there is, wanting to kill me."

"You're regretting saving my life?" Felicia snaps.

I do not want this girl unhappy with me. "Of course I'm not! It's my job. Am I not allowed to rant and complain and whine and otherwise be immature because I could be dead any second?"

"No, you're not," Felicia replies.

She is not happy with me. Not that I'm surprised. This girl is the main target, and I, her protector, is whining about doing that. She's right, I need to shut up and focus and find some way to keep her alive through all of this. I just wish I had a plan.

I look at my phone. Maybe I should give SHIELD a call. Get reinforcements. Lots of them.

But how would any of that help at all? Did any of my teammates have any experience with fighting someone like Elektra? And as far as I know, only Turbo has anything close to invulnerability.

In truth, the person I'd feel most comfortable teaming up with was Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. The way she basically defeated the powered-up Turbo showed some incredible talent and skill on her part. She'd be the only one who had a shot of turning the tables on Elektra. Well, other than Lyra, but Lyra has the "Hulk"-factor going for her.

Too bad both girls are on the other team. Could they help me, even if I asked them? Not to mention I didn't have either of their numbers or emails or even their social network profiles.

Wait a minute . . . there's an idea.

My phone. I'll just find a hot spot, search for their real names and try to find their social networking profiles. They're superheroes, but nobody could link their real names to their alter egos. I'll ask them for help by private message or something, or if I can't do it I'll just ask them to give me a call.

"I have an idea," I say, pulling out my phone.

"That outdated thing?" Felicia asks, one of her eyebrows raised.

"If this is outdated, I'd love to see what you'd consider cutting-edge," I say. "I don't see you pulling out your phone, smartphone, tablet, whatever."

"I couldn't grab them in time," Felicia says, her gaze falling away from me. Her melancholy face and solemn tone give me a small chill. It reminds me of when Uncle Ben died on me. People told me I was doing a lot of the same things Felicia's doing now.

I look at my phone. "Your parents didn't make it, did they?"

A pause. "No," she says softly.

"Elektra's trying to kill you because you're a witness, then."

"Yes. A 'loose end', she told me, right before you showed up."

I have no idea what else to say. Any condolences seem hollow to me. There's only one thing that might remotely help.

"I lost my parents when I was five, six years old. I lost my uncle a year ago, he was murdered too," I say. "I know what it feels like."

"Glad to know," Felicia says, her voice viciously bitter and sarcastic.

Oh boy. That didn't help at all.

Felicia leers at me. "We've been standing here way too long. Let's put it this way, she's an elite assassin, and you leave tracks wherever you go."

That doesn't make sense right away. "What are you talking about? We've hardly been on the ground until now-"

"Your webbing, genius," Felicia snaps.

Now it dawns on me. "Oh."

"Your webbing hangs around for a while, Spider-Man," Felicia says. "She can just follow the webbing in order to track where you're going."

"My webbing is almost translucent," I say, and I spray a small amount right by Felicia to demonstrate that. "I mean, yeah, it's got a silver sheen to it, but you can see the brick behind the webbing, can't you? She'd need eagle eyes to spot it."

"She has them," Felicia says. There's so much certainty in her voice and face that I can't shrug it off. Not completely.

I look back at my phone. "Look, I need a-"

The painful tingle in my head. My Spider-Sense. So painful that I immediately realize that I'm in serious, serious trouble.

I barely jump back in time for a sutra to come directly at my right hand holding the phone. The sutra spears the screen and drives it from my hand, and it smashes to the ground in multiple pieces. I feel a faint pain from my fingertips, and I realize that the sutra skimmed my fingers.

Two injuries in three days. First my toe with Lyra, and now my hand against Elektra. I've heard of having no luck with women but this is going beyond the level of ridiculous.

"It's her!" Felicia shrieks.

"I know that!" I shout. Elektra comes charging at me from the shadows with her other sutra. She's fast, extraordinarily so, for a so-called "normal" human. I immediately aim my webs at her and fire at her midriff, but there's enough room in the alley for her to jump to the side. She leaps at the wall, pivots there, and jumps off the wall right at me.

I pivot to the side, and barely dodge a lunge from her, then kick her in the stomach. She gags from the blow, and then I punch her in her backside, driving her into the ground.

I back up, staying in front of Felicia, and watch Elektra struggle to her feet. The woman was tough. Extraordinarily tough.

I immediately web her up and she cries out a "No!"

She's left on the ground struggling. Felicia yells "She's still armed!"

"I know she'll cut her way out! We need to get out of here now!" I yell, and I grab Felicia and swing out of the alley the moment I hear the swish sound of Elektra slicing my webbing.

By the point she can get up, I'm gone.

Elektra stares at the the sutra she had thrown at Spider-Man just moments ago. She could have killed him instantly, even though he had noticed at just the last second. But orders were orders. Leave him alive. Elektra had won a lot of trust over the years by following orders, and despite these setbacks, she wasn't going to aim to violate her orders. Not yet, anyway. Though if this kid kept interfering . . .

She examines the sutra. She thought she had cut Spider-Man with the strike, but it was so swift, and so thin, that there was no blood left on the sutra. Not what her boss wanted. Her boss wanted something definitive left from Spider-Man, and what she had accomplished was not anywhere close to that.

I have more work to do.

With a sigh, she rises to her feet and kicks one of the phone remnants away in frustration. At least they wouldn't be able to call for any kind of assistance now. She had made sure the girl didn't have the time to grab any technological devices, and now she had taken away Spider-Man's. That meant they were all alone against her.

And she would take those odds.

She was Elektra, one of the best assassins in the world, after all.

We take cover again, this time in the back of a department store, a back end that was thankfully deserted. The tips of two of my fingers are stinging from the sutra cut, and they were bleeding. I need bandages, gauze, painkillers. Something.

"Okay. You were right about her being able to track me," I say.

"I told you so," Felicia says. "How's your hand?"

"I'll live," I say. But it'll hurt. That sutra was razor-sharp.

"What do we do now?" Felicia asks me. "You wouldn't happen to have another phone on you."

"No, I don't." I look at the department store building. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. I need to run back to my backpack which is in the middle Manhattan somewhere, but that was the risk I had to take. I wasn't going to beat Elektra head-on. I needed to try to evade her until I got some help.

"We're going to where I hid my backpack," I say.

"Why? Does it have another phone?" Felicia asks.

"No. But it has my wallet in it. I can buy a cheap pay-as-you-go," I say. "I'll call my aunt, and we'll hide in my house. The backpack has some first aid stuff in it too."

Felicia glares at me. "That's your plan, run and hide?"

"You got any better ideas? I think it's better than fighting her head on!"

"What about her tracking us, genius?"

"I'm going to change into street clothes! Do I need to announce every little facet of my plan to you?" I ask.

Felicia stares at me. "Wait, you're actually going to show your face to me?"

"Yeah. Kinda don't have a choice." I look at her, and sigh. Might as well get it over with now.

I rip my mask off in front of her. Her eyes widen. "Oh."

"I have to protect you somehow, and this is the best way. I'm just going to have trust you, that's-"

"Oh wow!" Felicia cries out all of sudden. "You're-"

My heart skips a beat. There's no way. How could this girl know who I am? I hadn't even met her until this whole thing started going down!

Felicia freezes, and then a wild little grin crosses her face. "Actually, I don't have a clue who you are. Psyche."

She laughs, and I feel my face heat up to the point where it feels like it's going to blow. My heart only feels slightly less aggravated. "What was that for?"

She opens her eyes, but the smile she gives me is sardonic. "I needed to amuse myself, that's why. I haven't had very much to laugh about in the last few hours, you know."

Her comment about her parents being murdered goes through my mind again. I guess there's no choice but to write this off as some kind of coping mechanism. Or perhaps some way to relieve the tension within herself. It reminds me of me, with my wisecracks while facing life-and-death situations. So this is what my enemies feel like when I mock them.

Too bad that what they do is usually so deplorable that I don't have a shred of sympathy for them.

"I get it," I say. "I do the same thing."

"What's your name?" Felicia asks. "Your real name? You don't look much older than me."

"That's 'cause I'm a sophomore in high school," I say. "My name is Peter Parker."

Felicia smiles. "An alliterative name. Somehow that seems right."

That made no sense. "What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing." Felicia sighs. "I'm in my last year of junior high. I was trying to become an elite gymnast before this all happened, but, well . . ."

"You're kinda tall to be a gymnast," I say.

Felicia leers at me. "I know that."

I've struck a nerve. "Sorry."

"Anyway, let's try to get your brilliant plan going," Felicia says, her voice subtly sarcastic and cutting. She walks a few feet away. "I don't have any better ideas, so . . ."

"Okay. But first . . ." I web her and she cries out as she gets pulled back into my arms.

"What was that for, moron?" Felicia yells in my arms.

"We're staying together for right now! In case she attacks again, I need to be able to save you!" I say.

Felicia's face turns red and she looks away. "At least next time give me some warning. Unless Elektra's gonna skewer me."

"I'll see what I can do." I throw my mask back on and aim my free webshooter at the building closest to the department store. I fire as I take off at a run and shoot up into the air.

Felicia grips me just a little more tightly.

Like it or not, the two of us are in this together now.

And, unfortunately, it's probably going to be three of us before long.

This is where the trail led, to the back of some random department store. Elektra examines the scene. It looks like they stopped here for a bit, then took off again.

She examines a remnant of webbing. This one looks fresher than the last ones. They were here not that long ago. I'm really close to catching them.

She sighs as she grabs her briefcase. She has a strong feeling what they're going to do. She had made Spider-Man bleed, and that had to have freaked out the fledging superhero more than if one of his typical rogues had done so. She has a reputation for lethality that no one else he had ever faced did.

So they were likely going to try to hide in plain sight, disguise themselves. The masked webslinger was going to unmask and probably try to disguise Felicia in some way too.

But too could play that game. Elektra yanks out some loose jogging clothes. She needed the flexibility for whencombat re-initiated once more.

They were going to play a game of subterfuge? So would she.

This was her favorite type of kill. The kind that her enemies never saw coming.

"Your bleeding hasn't stopped," Felicia says as she looks at my hand as I throw on my street clothes the quickest I can with one hand.

"No duh. I was cut by her blades," I say. "I have some healing powers, but I don't think the bleeding's going to stop really fast over this one. It's affecting my grip on walls too, I'm slipping a little when I try to climb using this hand."

"That's not good," Felicia says, speaking the obvious.

"No, it's not." I've finally thrown on my clothes, a short-sleeved T-shirt over a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and my Spider-Man spandex is put away in my backpack. "But hopefully I won't have to do any of that now."

"You think it's gonna be that easy?" Felicia asks. "How much money do you have?"

"Fifty bucks on my debit card and ten in my wallet," I say. "You?"

"I have my card but who knows if it's been disabled," Felicia says. "I had like a little more than nine thousand bucks."

Visions of Felicia swimming in a sea of gold coins, reminisicent of a certain cartoon character, quickly shoot through my mind. "What? Nine thousand?"

Felicia just gives me a look. "You did not just say that."

"What do you mean, I-" Then I get it. Speaking of certain cartoon characters . . . "Oh."

Felicia's eyes widen just a bit. "Wait, that wasn't on purpose?"

"Well, it's not every day you meet someone who has over nine thousand in her personal bank account! That's more money than I'll make in a whole year at a fast food place! Seriously, over nine thousand . . . wow."

"Please stop saying 'over nine thousand'."

"I'm not trying to say 'over nine thousand', it's just . . . kinda happening," I say.

"And you just said it again," Felicia says.

"Stop making me say it!"

Felicia facepalms. "Even when you're not trying to joke, you joke. No wonder your entire supervillain lineup are completely out of their minds. You drive them over the edge."

"Where they all conveniently go splat at some point," I say. "Even Vulture, who can fly. Now let's go. If your card doesn't work, I still have enough money to get this done."

"It might be a good idea for me not to use it anyway," Felicia says. "They could have left my card active in order to track it. If we're trying to hide, I say we don't use my card unless we have no choice."

Felicia's right, but that just makes the knowledge of the cash even more painful. "From over nine thousand to nothing. Geez."

"You just had to say it one more time," Felicia says, looking dismayed and ready to facepalm again.

"Yes, I did. Couldn't resist," I say, and I offer her a smile. The benefit of not having my mask on means that I can present myself as a human being to Felicia, not some vigilante hiding behind a mask.

Surprisingly, Felicia returns it. "I'm not surprised."

"Come on, before Elektra catches up," I say, and I lead her out of the alley, holding onto her with my non-bleeding hand.

I can do this. Aunt May is going to kill me for this, but I can do this. I don't have any choice.

Not when I'm up against her, the first normal human being I've ever met who was able to get up after being hit full force by me.

Not when this girl's life is on the line.

Once again, I have to take responsibility for my actions, and for the girl I decided to protect just an hour or so ago. Maybe I can pull this off right, maybe Nick Fury will see that I can be given some space.

And maybe this girl will be able to see tomorrow . . . and start putting her life back together.

Maybe.

Norman Osborn sighs roughly again. How much longer was he going to have to put up with the annoying, incessant clanking of Octavius marching around with his tentacles? It was bad enough when normal people paced, but Octavius made even the loudest stomp seem quiet as a mouse.

"Otto," Osborn says, "Don't you have someplace to be? Some experiments to run? Some simulations to observe? Harry will be back from his date with his girlfriend any minute now, and he's going to blunder into my office like he always does, expecting some kind of approval for going out with a pretty girl."

"I am waiting," Octavius growls. "Waiting on that Elektra woman. What is taking her so long?"

"You don't have any personal involvement in this," Osborn says.

"Yes, I do. You expect me to manufacture your spider-soldier army, after all," Octavius says.

"If and when Elektra gets what you need, I will let you know," Osborn replies. "In the meantime, what I am waiting for is successfully fixing an investor's mistake. That is more important right now. We can always get a sample later if necessary."

"You expect me to remain patient forever," Octavius says. "I can't live this way, Norman."

"You have no choice. Before I rescued you from your wretched existence, you weren't living at all," Osborn growls. It felt like every couple of days that he had to remind Octavius of this. It was going beyond repetitive at this point. If this kept going, Osborn was going to have to find somebody else to make the army he wanted.

"Stop reminding me of this," Octavius snaps.

"You seem to forget your place, Octavius. Now get back to your laboratory before Harry comes back and sees I have a person of questionable reputation and appearance in my office."

Octavius growls, but he clanks away. But, much to Osborn's annoyance, the clanking seems louder, cruder. Intentionally annoying. It makes Osborn's hands turn into fists as he desperately resists the urge to pound his desk.

But the secret door shuts, and Osborn forces himself to relax. Flying into a rage wasn't going to help this time either. It didn't help his wife, and it wouldn't help his son, and most important, it wouldn't help Norman Osborn one iota.

But at the same time, Osborn realizes, Octavius had a point. Elektra was taking her sweet time.

This is the worst part about gambling. The sinking feeling that you have made a colossal mistake and have no choice but to see it through. No adrenaline rush is worth this feeling, none whatsoever.

Osborn stares at the blank screen in front of him. Either his investor was going to call, impatient, or Elektra was going to call back with notice of results or lack thereof.

At this point, knowing what was happening is more important than the unknown . . .

Like that Peter Parker had just used his bank card.

Norman Osborn smiles. You'll be aware soon enough that I own you, Peter Parker. But for now . . . I'll just amuse myself knowing you're completely oblivious to it.

"A hat. The best disguise you can come up for me is the kind of hat skateboarder punks wear," Felicia says with disdain as she stares at the hat.

"The pay-as-you-go cost more than I thought," I say. "I forgot I needed to load money onto it too. Now throw the hat on. Make my investment worth it."

Felicia reluctantly puts the hat on her head. "I feel stupid."

"It's not stupid, it's hiding your platinum blonde hair from the world."

"Which is stupid. You know how rare platinum blonde hair is these days?"

"I don't know if you're saying this for real or whether you're just trying to get on my nerves," I say as I dial Aunt May's cell phone.

"One dinky little hat isn't going to fool Elektra," Felicia says.

"Well, we both agreed it's a bad idea to use your card, so this is the best I can do. I doubt Elektra can magically track my card. She has no idea who I am."

"She will once she sees you with me," Felicia replies.

"Thanks for stating the obvious. Again," I say as I listen to the phone ringing.

Come on, Aunt May. I know this is a weird number. Pick up. Don't put me on voicemail. Please.

I hear her still somewhat-youthful voice. "Hello?"

"Aunt May, it's Peter."

"Peter? Is something wrong? This isn't your phone number."

"I know . . . my phone kinda got a sutra through its screen. I'm in a lot of trouble, Aunt May, and I'm trying to save a girl's life. I can't do this without you."

"Superhero trouble, huh?" I don't need to see Aunt May's face to tell that she's the opposite of thrilled about this situation.

"Yes. Please, Aunt May. can you make it to St. Ann's Church? That's the closest landmark from where we are."

Silence. Then "Fine."

"Thank you," I said.

"We're going to need to talk once this is over," Aunt May says, and then she hangs up. Nothing like a threat to make my night even better.

"Is she coming?" Felicia asks.

"Yes," I reply. "She's not happy, but she's coming."

"Well, at least she's willing. That's not a bad thing," Felicia replies.

"Let's get over to the church before Elektra picks back up on our trail. And keep that hat on. It may be a thin disguise but it's better than no disguise."

Felicia sighs. "Yeah, sure."

We walk then, down the street. I need to keep my focus. Felicia's disguise is thin, it's not going to fool Elektra for more than maybe a second. Hopefully a second is all that I need to save her life and my own. I'm pretty sure at this point that Elektra's looking to have me exit the equation permanently.

Gotta keep looking over my shoulder, to the side, and watch every alley and opening we come across. She could spring from anywhere.

Spider-sense is tingling. That means she's about to-

Behind us.

"Duck!" I grab Felicia and pull her down so we're both crouched, and a sutra goes flying over Felicia's head and bangs off a lamppost and falls to the ground.

"She's here?" Felicia shrieks in both terror and confusion.

"Yes, let's go!" I shout and I pull her down the sidewalk. People are panicking and beginning to run everywhere, and I gotta find my way through this crowd. Hopefully lose her in here.

What if she decides to just kill everyone in the crowd to try to get to Felicia and I, though? It doesn't seem like Elektra's style, though. But what if she begins doing that? What do I do?

I can't take the risk of Elektra killing bystanders.

"Down this alley!" I shout and I pull Felicia to the right. I see a big dumpster the moment I run inside. This is my only chance to end this before people get hurt.

I spin around the moment we pass the dumpster. "What are you doing?" Felicia screams.

"Hang on!" I shout back. That's when I see Elektra. She's changed her clothes, just like I did, trying to appear like a jogger or something, I guess. But I see her face clearly. I know it's her.

I kick the dumpster with everything I have and it shoots right at Elektra. I hear her grunt in pain as she's knocked backwards, perhaps even flattened, by the big blue monstrosity that is likely filled with garbage considering how things are rattling around even after the dumpster settles down.

At the very least, I've knocked her to the ground for a few precious seconds. I need to use them to get away.

"Oh," Felicia says. "That was actually pretty effective."

"Hopefully. Now c'mon, before she gets up." I pull her down the alleyway and we make a left. Gotta get back on a main road and head to the church. If I can make it there, and if Aunt May gets there in time, I'll be able to get us out of this mess. And, for once in my life, SHIELD will actually be useful.

"By the way," Felicia suddenly says as we re-emerge back onto a sidewalk and join the rest of the pedestrians.

"What?" I ask.

"Told you this hat wouldn't fool her," Felicia says.

Something tells me I'm never going to live that one down.

Elektra is furious.

She's an elite assassin. People pay top dollar for her services! She isn't supposed to have her butt handed to her by a teenage boy! By Spider-Man!

She recovered quickly from having the dumpster knocked into her. It took her a few seconds to shake off the mental cobwebs and leap back onto her feet. But by the time she got up and jumped over the dumpster and into the alleyway, they were both gone. They couldn't have gotten far, but they were gone.

And her disguise hadn't fooled them for a second, like Spider-Man's pitiful attempt at disguising Felicia hadn't fooled her.

She runs down the alleyway and looks to her left and her right. No sign of them. The path to the left is shorter, so she chooses the left. They were panicking kids. They'd probably try to get back onto the roads as soon as possible, try to hide among people. However, it was beginning to get late at night. There were only so many people walking the road at this hour.

Not that the strategy would've worked even in broad daylight anyway.

"Okay," she muses aloud. "What do I do?"

She knows her employer is going to get frustrated if she does not provide Felicia Hardy's body in short order.

I can't call Osborn and tell him I'm having trouble again. If I do, he's going to pull the plug on this. That means all of this wlll be for nothing.

No, that isn't quite true, she realizes. No, what will happen is that Fisk won't become mayor. As long as that girl lives, Fisk will have to live with the fear that his true self will finally be publicly exposed. After all . . .

She does not like Fisk. She's technically not doing this on Fisk's behalf. Osborn is the one providing the paycheck, he is the one who hired her to kill people detrimental to Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. If Osborn can do that, he's setting up a gargantuan alliance, and could even be eclipsing Fisk in power.

I truly can't call.

She's only going to get one more shot to finish this. She could tell. Osborn was going to get antsy if she did not report in shortly. She needs to give him good news. She must

Forget Spider-Man. I'm accomplishing my mission. If I have to kill that idiot boy . . .

Her hands clench into fists.

So be it.

"She has not reported in," Octavius says from his perch. "You have to realize what this means, Osborn."

"I do, Doctor," Norman replies. "She most likely is struggling to kill the girl. Parker is proving to be a worthy adversary for our elite assassin."

"You sound pleased by this," Octavius says enigmatically.

"I am," Norman says. "This means the boy's come along even more than I thought he did, if he can hold his own against Elektra. I am sure he is mostly on the defensive, but managing to keep himself and the girl alive is a tremendous feat."

"You are aware that the girl can bring down Wilson Fisk's mayoral campaign and ruin his legitimacy," Octavius says. "Fisk will not be happy with us if Elektra fails this mission."

"Then he's not. Doctor, you should realize that Wilson Fisk doesn't mean anything to me," Norman replies. "I have more money than Fisk can ever dream of. Fisk made his fortune through illegal endeavours, anything legal he owns is merely a front. I am an actual entrepreneur. I have created. And I've done a better job of watching my back than Fisk ever has."

"What if the boy gets SHIELD involved in this?" Octavius asks.

"Elektra's not stupid. She'll bug out, so to speak. And I won't blame her for it. Dealing with SHIELD is not what she was hired to do. And if Fisk doesn't like it, it's not my problem. He can't expose me without exposing himself."

"You're so sure of yourself," Octavius says with a sigh.

Norman smiles, though he does not show this to Octavius. "I have reason to be, Doctor. There's no potential blowback on this. Now please, return to your work. I'm expecting Elektra will either succeed in her mission or withdraw within the hour."

"Understood," Octavius sighs, and then Norman hears the doctor clank away as he goes back to his laboratory.

The reason for this was simple. The one person who could spoil everything was his son Harry. Harry had returned to Oscorp, and the last thing Norman wanted was for his son to blunder in here and take a gander at Octavius. Harry wasn't ready yet to deal with everything Norman had ever done. Perhaps he never would.

Harry has been such a disappointment.

Norman is hoping that Parker will not be a disappointment either.

"How much further?" Felicia asks me as we continue to charge down the streets.

"A couple blocks, maybe more," I reply. Felicia's been getting tired. I'm amazed she isn't completely exhausted by now, she's been running for much longer than I have, and she's hardly had a break to catch her breath. Maybe I should've gotten a sports drink or water for her while I was buying the pay-as-you-go.

Hopefully Aunt May came through. She was the only idea I had left. And SHIELD was undoubtedly listening. If they were, there should be . . .

Ugh. I don't know. Maybe SHIELD's doing nothing. Maybe they won't help me out just to prove a point. Who knows with those guys.

I keep looking over my shoulder, seeing if Elektra's picked up on our trail. I keep seeing nothing, but I can't be too sure. I doubt that it would take a dumpster in the face that would stop Elektra.

"You think we finally lost her?" Felicia asks.

"Never ask that question aloud," I reply, and with good reason. Good things never happen after a question like that gets asked.

Spider-sense is tingling again. Yeah, right on cue.

From the right.

I pull Felicia back just as Elektra, who's changed back into her usual getup, leaps from the alleyway trying to kick us. I've managed to back us up far enough to barely get us out of the way of her kick. But she lands on her feet and quickly pivots towards us.

I still have my webshooters active even though I'm out of costume. I try to web her in the feet but she dodges my attempt and instead comes right at me.

This is gonna-

Blam.

Yeah, that hurt.

She kicked me into the wall. Ow.

Okay, shake it off. Shake it off now. There's no way Felicia will last long without your help. All she can do is run. You can actually fight back!

Where's . . .

There they are!

Elektra's already seized Felicia and has a sutra at her throat.

"You have been extremely frustrating."

Felicia manages to kick Elektra despite dangling from Elektra's left arm, but Elektra just takes it and shakes her head. "Not going to help you, little girl. I've taken worse shots than that. All of your work has been for nothing."

She's going to stab Felicia in the next few seconds. I can see it in her eyes.

I fire both of my webs this time, aiming for her feet again while she's holding onto Felicia. Success!

"What?" Elektra asks, startled.

"The feeling's mutual," I say, and tug on the webs with everything I have. Elektra did not have a firm enough grip on Felicia to take Felicia with her as she's lifted into the air and thrown . . .

Uh oh. Misjudged my throwing motion. I'm sending her right at me!

Roll out of the way!

Crash.

Okay, if getting hit in the face by a dumpster won't stop her, I highly doubt that will. Gotta get out of here.

"Come on, Felicia!" I run towards her and this time grab her and begin running. She looks shaken up.

"Peter . . . Peter . . ."

"It's okay, Felicia. I got you. She won't kill you as long as I'm here, okay? She won't!"

"Peter, she's getting up . . ."

I figured she would do that. She must be the T-1000 in disguise or something! How can she just keep taking everything I dish out! She's an ordinary human, isn't she? No superpowers, just a lot of talent at what she does?

"It won't matter. We're getting out of here-"

Spider-sense . . .

I leap to the left to dodge a sutra aimed at us. I immediately take my left hand and web it, stopping it in mid-air before it would have struck an unsuspecting middle-aged man in the back. He's just walking along staring at his iPad.

I throw the sutra back at Elektra but she actually catches the blade by its handle and quickly reforms her fighting stance. "Thanks," she says.

"Peter," Felicia says from my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Please don't give her weapons back to her anymore."

Of course. "No duh."

Okay, run. Run now.

But run where?

I'm almost at the church! But I'll be leading Elektra to Aunt May if I go there! I can't place Aunt May in danger! What do I do? Just keep running around in circles and hope I lose her?

No. I can't do that. Felicia's exhausted and frankly I'm not sure I can keep this up anymore. I have to disable Elektra for long enough to get the both of us in Aunt May's car and get far, far away from Manhattan. Preferably get to Queens.

No, not only in Aunt May's car. Get in Aunt May's car with enough time to spare that Elektra won't know that we got in Aunt May's car.

The church is right in front of me! And there's Aunt May's car too, in the street parking. I really am so close! Just have to cross the next street and we're there!

And I can't do it! Not with the assassin lady right behind me.

I duck into an alley then. "Peter! What are you doing?" Felicia shouts.

"Just trust me!" I shout. I see weapons everywhere. Trash cans, clothes, even shards of glass. I'm going to need all of them as projectile weapons to try to knock Elektra out, or at least knock the weapons from her hands. Then I'm going to tie her up and leave her here while Felicia and I get away.

I set Felicia down. "Just trust me. It's the only way we're going to be safe once we get out of here."

"O-Okay." I can tell she really doesn't. Frankly, I'm not so sure I trust myself either. The only reason why I didn't make a beeline right for Aunt May's sedan is because I can't place Aunt May in any further danger than she already is.

She rounds the corner and I web one of the garbage cans and throw it at her. There's a resounding, vibratingclang. Her sutra blocked the can, which is not according to plan at all.

The can crashes into the left wall and She has a clear path towards us. I try to web her, but when I try to form a web ball and hit her with it, it becomes quite clear that I've exhausted my web cartridges. I get nothing but a pathetic spittle.

It's as if my web shooters are mocking me while I'm about to meet my demise. Somehow that's fitting.

Elektra just scoffs and smiles. The look in her eyes is almost demented with glee and happiness and . . . I don't know, murder. She thinks she's won. She knows she's won.

No. I can't believe that. I promised Felicia I would protect her. I have to make a fight of it.

I take a can and this time physically throw it at Elektra and she blocks it like she did the last one, this time deflecting it to the right. But I'm already charging towards her.

I slide low and kick her in the shin. Without webs, the only thing I can do now is to knock her out.

But she leaps right above my attempt to kick her. Not good.

As I scramble to my feet I see her with a clear shot at Felicia.

I attack her with my fists and she dodges the blows despite having her back facing me. She grabs me and throws me over her shoulder and I crash into the ground, staring at the night sky and the various fire escapes on the buildings surrounding us.

Oh, I'm gonna feel that in the morning.

I hear Felicia scream. It's not a pained scream. A desperate one.

She's rushing Elektra. I can see Felicia jump over my head, only for her body to pause in mid-air, seized by Elektra's hand, and then Felicia's body is slammed right down upon my own.

Ow.

Felicia's body is not covering my face. I can see Elektra peering over the both of us now, her angry face dripping with sweat.

She raises her sutra. "You've both made me work hard for this. I'll give you credit for that. But there was no way you could win. I took away your backup, Spider-Man. You lost the moment I cut you off from-"

She screams then, and I hear a vibrating, electrical sound underneath the scream.

Elektra falls out of sight then. Was she Tased? Had to be. There's no other way she would randomly get taken out like that.

That's when I see Aunt May's face. "Peter?"

"Oh, Aunt May." I feel nothing but relief. She must have seen us somehow and ran over here to see what she could do.

And then I feel nothing but panic. Aunt May just Tased one of the greatest assassins in the world! If Elektra hadn't had all of her attention fixated on Felicia and I she should have easily taken Aunt May out! How lucky is Aunt May to pull that off?

"You're . . . Aunt May?" Felicia moans. Her head is still resting on my stomach.

"Yes. Peter asked me to help," Aunt May says. "Can you both get up?"

"Yeah," Felicia groans.

"I can get up too. Without limping, I don't know yet," I say.

"She's only going to be down for a few minutes. It's a civilian Taser," Aunt May says. "I don't know what you kids have gotten yourselves involved into but she looks like a professional."

"She's trying to kill me," Felicia says as she gets up. "I'm a 'loose end'."

"Huh." As I get up, I see Aunt May approach Elektra's twitching body. Then Aunt May kicks Elektra in the head, and this time, Elektra seems to fall unconscious.

"That should buy us some more time," Aunt May says.

She turns towards us and smiles. She really seems younger, almost like she's just entering her thirties when she smiles like that, even though she's really forty-four. She really is a beautiful, strong person.

"Come on, let's get you both out of here," Aunt May says.

I'm not going to argue that point out. "Thank you. So very much."

"It's okay. We can talk once we're in the car. And . . . what is your name, young lady?" Aunt May asks.

"Felicia. Felicia Hardy," Felicia replies.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm May Parker. I'm Spider-Man's aunt."

"I can see the family resemblance," Felicia replies.

Something tells me Felicia and Aunt May are going to get along pretty well . . .

Fury just stares at us through the holographic screen. "You can't be serious. The place where that girl belongs is specialized witness protection!"

"Isn't that what you have placed me under after everything that happened a couple of weeks ago?" Aunt May asks. "Wouldn't it be easier to watch the both of us at once? Right now the girl is incredibly shaken up and she doesn't want to leave. Let her stay for now. She can live as 'Felicia Parker' until she decides what she wants to do."

Aunt May's not kidding about that. Felicia's been crying on and off all night and into the morning. Now that she's had time to reflect on what's happened to her, it's been hitting Felicia hard. Both Aunt May and I have taken turns comforting her, and it's pretty clear to me that Felicia doesn't want to leave either.

"That girl is Felicia Hardy. She has a massive fortune to her name and that is likely why her parents were targeted. Not to mention she is a witness. You really sure of what you're getting yourself into, Mrs. Parker?"

"I am. I Tased the assassin, after all," Aunt May replies.

"From everyone's accounts, that was a lucky shot," Fury replies.

"Doesn't matter. I was protecting my nephew and I was protecting her," Aunt May replies. "The last thing that girl needs is to have her life uprooted even more. That's why she is going to stay. I'll give her a week or two to recover and to buy her a wardrobe, and then she can start going to school and everything like an ordinary girl again. What she needs is stability and caring."

Fury shakes his head. "You'e really sure about this, aren't you, Mrs. Parker?"

"Yes," Aunt May says.

Fury stares at her. "Fine. Your wish is granted. But don't say I didn't warn you about the dangers of what you're doing."

"Maybe if SHIELD had actually jumped in to help my nephew I would be a little more trusting of you people," Aunt May snaps.

That one stung. I can see the anger flare in Fury's nostrils and his dark eyes. He's furious over that, and likely pretty embarrassed too. "We're gonna take a long look at that. This will never happen again."

"It better not," Aunt May replies.

"I promise you it won't. Goodbye," Fury says, and the screen shuts off.

"He looked relieved to end the conversation," I say.

"He better be. There's no explanation for what happened there. SHIELD is supposed to be watching over you. Why didn't they jump in and help you out? I just don't understand it."

"Well, Elektra did destroy my phone-"

"It should take a lot more than a destroyed phone to cut SHIELD off, Peter, and you know it," Aunt May replies.

She's right about that. "Yeah, that's probably true."

"Aunt May? Peter?" That's Felicia.

We both turn around and see her. Aunt May had run out to the store right before it closed after bringing Felicia and I home, and had found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that she guessed would fit Felicia, and Aunt May was right. It fit her okay.

"How much did you hear?" Aunt May asks.

"All of it. It's okay." Felicia walks up to us. "I'm . . . I know I'm . . . gonna cause a lot of trouble. I feel like I'm a black cat who's crossed your path. You . . . you guys might get in trouble because of me. But . . . I just want to . . ."

Aunt May places her hands on Felicia's shoulders. "It's all right. I'm aware of the responsibility and I accept it. You can stay here as long as you like, Felicia. We'll even have you adopt our last name if you want."

"You really mean it?" Felicia asks, her blue eyes actually looking hopeful for the first time.

Yes, of course I do," Aunt May says.

Felicia seems to fall into Aunt May's arms then, tears falling from her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you."

Something tells me that this responsibility is going to be a whole lot more than we bargained for. But for now . . .

It's the responsibility we have to take. Because that's what the Parker family does.

For better or for worse.

"He's succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, Director Fury," Carol Danvers says as she peers over the footage of Spider-Man's battle against Elektra. "I can't believe how well he did on his own."

"I have been saying that he is full of potential, Major Danvers," Nick Fury replies. "This battle proves that there is something in him, something resourceful, that will prove beneficial to the world at large. It just needs to be tempered and harnessed and he will be one of the greatest agents in SHIELD."

"He can't know that we were watching the whole time, preparing to step in," Carol says. She bites her lip. "Or that Elektra was clearly feigning unconsciousness as she got up and ran before we could jump in and take her."

"He won't. Destroy all of the footage, videos, notes, everything. Including the backups," Nick Fury says. "We don't need them."

"Understood, Director," Carol says. "Anything else you would like me to do?"

"No," Nick says. "You've done enough as it is."

"Thank you, Director."

He turns and leaves Carol to follow his orders. Carol's a loyal agent, one of the few people he trusts. He knows she will be thorough in destroying everything.

But still . . .

He can't have any further distractions as he's immersed more and more into SHIELD. Felicia Hardy is a big enough distraction by herself. I'm going to need to find a way to separate Hardy from the Parkers so Peter Parker won't be torn between her or SHIELD in a potential hostage situation.

He sighed.

Neither of the Parkers have any idea how important Felicia is. Or who Felicia's parents really are. The Hardys' old enemies may track the Parkers down one day to finish Felicia off. I can't have the Parker kid torn between Felicia and his mission if something were to happen someday.

"Carol," Nick suddenly says.

"Yes?" Carol asks.

"Have Rikki Barnes continue her operations to capture all of Spider-Man's rogues gallery, like she did that one night when she and Patriot captured Rhino. Make them officially sanctioned."

"You sure, sir?" Carol asks, her tone completely surprised.

"I'm sure. No more distractions. Tonight was bad enough as it is," Fury replies.

"Understood," Carol replies.

That's when Fury leaves the room. He knows he's said enough.

Now, the question is . . .

Is whether he can do enough . . .

It was nearly ten hours after she was supposed to report in when she finally did.

"I apologize for my failure. I could not get a concrete sample of Spider-Man or eliminate the Hardy girl," Elektra says. "SHIELD looks like they have placed the Parker residence on lockdown. It will be a suicide mission to kill her now."

"That is not what you're paid to do, I know," Norman says. "You've done enough. Fisk will have to be satisfied with the eliminate of the Hardy parents, that's all."

"Thank you, Mr. Osborn."

"Your payment will be wired to you within the hour. Our association is finished for the moment, Elektra."

"Understood. Goodbye."

The communication ceases, and Norman takes a deep breath and exhales. It's Sunday morning. Should things really be such a bother?

Well, that loose end did need to be cleared up first. He couldn't argue with that.

And he couldn't be angry either. There were plenty of things to be angry with. None of this was going to affect him. None of it.

After all . . . after all . . .

He was a part of much bigger things.

He activated the five silhouettes. They were all waiting for him to report in.

"This is number four," Norman says. "I had some affairs to get in order. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

And that's what they did.

As usual, the voice cast for the new characters (just two of them this time!):

Felicia Hardy - Laura Bailey

Elektra - Vanessa Marshall

I went with a highly deviant take on Felicia here, intentionally so. After all, that's what the USM cartoons do with the pre-existing Spider-Man characters, alter them pretty dramatically. So I decided to make Felicia a young girl. However, she may eventually grow up to be the Black Cat and will have exposure to May Parker's morals for possibly a good long while. Perhaps in the future if there is a Black Cat she will be more heroic than the usual incarnation.

This chapter was also something I had planned pretty extensively. Every 4-6 "episodes" I was going to have a "Spider-Man solo" chapter where he operates independently or seemingly independently of SHIELD. Something more classically Spidey if that makes sense.

Anyway, this has been a long time in coming and I have no idea if/when I'll write more. Let me know if you want more.

Excelsior!