//------------------------------// // Volume II - Chapter 1: Black Cat means bad luck // Story: The Amazing Sunset Shimmer // by KozLeMage //------------------------------// Canterlot City was beautiful under the thin layer of snow shining in the moonlight. The year is coming to an end and the holiday season is fast approaching, it could be felt all over the city. In the day, families could be seen walking among the crowded streets spending time together and the kids enjoying the snow, making snowmen or snowballs battle. But in the night, the streets were cold and empty. It was in those moments that some people took advantage of the situation, getting ready in the shadows. If some were paying close attention, they might have seen a female figure jumping from roof to roof. She had magnificent silver hair reaching down her back, a rather daring leather suit and a whole assortment of gadgets hanging on her utility belt. She wore a black mask on her eyes to hide her identity. She used her grapple to cling on the edge of the roof and went down discreetly, landing in a desert street. She made her way to the backdoor of the store she was interest in, and looked around if anyone was in sight while she used one of the devices she had on her belt and grinned when she heard it beep. “Perrrrrfect.” She purred. “Alarm and cameras are now disabled. It wasn’t even a challenge.” She put it back on her belt when she didn’t saw anyone, and began to pick the lock. It didn’t take long for the door to let a small ‘click’ to be heard. It was almost too easy. Sneakier than ever, she entered the store with quiet steps. She made her way to the main room, and smiled at the sight of what contained all the display cases present in the jewelry store. She walked toward the nearest one, slowly opened it and began to put all the jewels she could in her cloth bag. Of course, it was easy. She was the best thief in the country. She only failed once but she got over it. As she closed the first display case, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. “You know sister,” The voice said, “If you’re gonna rob a jewelry store, don’t dress up as a jewelry thief.” The thief frowned when she turned around to look at the person who just spoke to her. “Spider-girl.” She said, squinting at the sight of the super-hero. “That’s how they call me.” Spider-girl replied playfully, using her web to slowly land on the ground from the ceiling she was hanging on. “And… You are?” “Me?” She asked, in a sweet and sensual voice. “I’m just…” She took advantage of the situation and sent her grappling hook in Spider-girl’s direction. The young super-hero easily dodged it, jumping back to the ceiling, but the thief used the confusion to her own benefit as she quickly ran under Spider-girl, jumping in the front window of the store. She went through it in a deafening noise, and didn’t waste any more time as she ran in the street. “Damn, she’s fast!” Spider-girl said, surprised from what she just witnessed. She jumped through the makeshift exit the thief had just made, and swinged in her direction when she caught her in sight. “Hey! Wait! I’m not good enough for you, am I?” Spider-girl called. “Sorry young lady,” The thief replied, watching behind her and winking at Spider-girl. “Come back in ten years.” She easily jumped on a wall and used her hook to climb to the roof. ‘How can she be so fast?’ Spider-girl asked herself. She landed just behind her and shot a web in the thief’s legs. The thief, who didn’t saw it coming, felled on the ground and she heard Spider-girl laughing behind her. “You’re not my type anyway, all-leather isn’t really my thing. But I’m not judging.” She always had the easy joke. She used her web-shooters to grab the cloth bag the other girl dropped in her fall. “I’m taking this back, you don’t mind, do you?” “In fact…” Said the other girl, “I do.” She used a smoke bomb, completely blinding Spider-girl, but thanks to her spider-sense, she easily dodged the kick the other girl tried to hit her with. But she was taken by surprise by the speed the thief gave her a sweep with her legs, and Spider-girl felled on the ground, dropping the bag on the side. She rolled to the left to dodge another attack from the silver-haired thief, and got up to her feet. She frowned when she heard her chuckle. She closed her eyes and concentrate herself. If she couldn’t see her, she will feel her. She quickly opened her eyes and dodge a punch on the left, she grabbed her arm, turned around and throw her on the ground. With the impact, the smoke dissipated, and Sunset was standing on top of the thief. The girl snickered. “It seems you’re out of luck.” Sunset said. “Don’t talk to me about luck.” As she said that, her green eyes became yellow, “I’m a very lucky girl.” “What are you talk-” One second. It only took one second. Sunset’s phone started ringing and she dropped her guard for one second. But a second was enough for the girl to push her back and jump on her to punch her in the face. Spider-girl felt like she put something in her pocket before the girl jumped back and called, “Your costume sucks by the way!” When Spider-girl jumped back to her feet, the smoke was totally gone and the thief was gone too. Sunset quickly checked on her left and… “She took the bag…” She quickly ran on the edge of the roof and checked the street, but she knew she wouldn’t find her. She stood there and sighed, she lowered her hood and took off her mask to take a breath. She breathed calmly and closed her eyes. “Where did all these guys come from?” Sunset asked herself more than anything else, pinching the edge of her nose. She put her mask on and prepared to leave when she put a hand in her pocket and felt something. It was a small card with written on it: Better luck next time. - Black Cat Sunset rolled her eyes and threw it away. Another one, just what she needed right now. She jumped from the roof and started swinging through the city, she hoped she could find her but she doubted she would. She took her phone, but not her smartphone, it was a disposable phone. She went through the contact list and called the only number that was registered. It ringed one, two, three times before someone picked it up, “Hi, it’s me.” She said. “So, what’s up spidey?” The Fiend asked, on the other side of the line. “Just patrolling like always, I ran into an interesting specimen.” She heard the Fiend humming, “Develop.” “You… wouldn’t know anyone named Black Cat, right?” Sunset asked, swinging to the left to avoid a bird. “Doesn’t ring a bell.” Sunset sighed, “That’s what I thought. Can you… do some digging?” She heard him letting out a heavy sigh, “If you want.” He finished to say. “That’ll be awesome,” Sunset checked the time and moaned, “Shit, I’m late! Luna’s going to kill me! I’m gonna head home now, call me if you’ve got some news.” “Yeah yeah, Will do.” “Good Ni-” She didn’t bother to finish when she heard him hang up the phone. She didn’t mind, she was becoming used to it. After the events with the Vulture, Sunset and the Fiend were working together to flush out the Green Goblin, but for now, all they have is a name. He also gave her a disposable phone so she can call him if she needed something. They were working as a team, Sunset was on the streets and he was in the shadows. He was good to find information and he wasn’t the type of guy who wants to draw attention on himself, except for Sunset and some bad guys, nobody knew he existed at all. Sunset, on the other end, became quickly the new mascot of the city. Everyone loved her, and it wasn’t surprising to find kids or even teenagers with Spider-girl shirts. It’s only been two months and a half that she started her new profession, and she was, again, the most popular girl in her school. But this time, nobody knew it was her. She also found a part-time job at the Daily Bugle. Sure, they were always discrediting the young super-hero, but they were buying any pictures Sunset had of Spider-girl. And lucky for her, she had plenty of those. She thought it was funny that nobody thinks its strange that she came up with new Spider-girl’s photo every week, like it was the easiest things to do, but she wasn’t complaining, it was easy money. She used that money to bought a new camera, her phone was fine but if she wanted to work there full time, she needed to have better equipment. And of course, there was Luna. Sunset and Luna became very close with each other, almost like sisters. Sunset knew Luna was still sad but, if she was, she didn’t show any sign of it. She was now Canterlot high school’s principal, and everyone agreed that she was doing a fantastic job. But Luna wasn’t as lenient as Celestia, and if Sunset was, even a minute late, she was grounded for the rest of the week. So, Sunset had to reduce her super-hero time, and it was hard to find any info on the Green Goblin if she was out only between nine to midnight. She was also investigating on Discorp, with the help of Twilight. Since Twilight’s boss refused to test the cure on a human being, he just… Disappeared. When Twilight found out she immediately told Sunset, and now Sunset had someone undercover at Discorp. Twilight found the files Sunset wanted and she learned a thing or two about what happened to her, but what she couldn’t understand was why did she survived the bite. She didn’t think about it much though, she was glad she was still alive, and with powers nonetheless. She also found out that, she was bitten by a certain species of spider, but Discorp was working on others, that could possibly give other capacity, and knowing that gave Sunset a cold shiver down her spine. What’ll happen if someone not good as she was, was given the capacity she had, or worse, stronger powers? One thing was certain, Sunset couldn’t let them do that. So, with the help of Twilight, she was going to stop Discorp. And she will find where Dr Conhorse is… And she’ll learn more about the Green Goblin… And she will also find out where Black Cat is hiding… “Urgh.” Thinking about all that gave Sunset a headache. “Seriously… Three months ago, I brainwashed all the student body, and now I’m trying to fight against a big evil corporation. If that’s not a character development, I don’t know what it is.” “… Oh, yeah! Kick start my heart, Give it a start! Oh, yeah, baby! Oh, yeah! Kick start my heart, Hope it never stops! Oh, yeah! Kick start my heart!” As Flash sang his last verse, Sunset finished the song with a riff on her guitar chords and all the instruments gone silent. Flash put his guitar on a nearest table, and turned himself to smile at all the band members. Sunset and Rainbow Dash fist bumped, that made Lyra rolling her eyes as she turned off her keyboard. Thunderlane put his drumsticks on the side and nodded to Red who was giving him a water bottle. “That was perfect guys!” He said too them. “You particularly,” He started toward Sunset, “You surprised me with those guitar skills! I didn’t know that you had improved that much! And this song was a nice choice for the band practice.” Sunset blushed and scratched the back of her head, “I’m not that good.” She stated. “Besides, Rainbow Dash is way better than me.” Sunset said, pointing in her friend’s direction. “Well, duh!” Replied her rainbow haired friend, putting her arm around Sunset’s shoulders, “That’s perfectly normal, I’m awesome! If you want to keep up with me, you’ll have to get, let just say…” Rainbow pretended to think for a moment, scratching her chin. “Let me guess,” Sunset said with a smirk, “Twenty percent cooler?” “Meh, I was going to say fifty percent but…” She couldn’t finish her sentence as Sunset gave her a small punch on her ribs. The girls laughed and Rainbow Dash turned toward Red who was unplugging his bass, “You suck less than I thought you would.” She said taunting him. “Too bad,” Red said, turning his head, shrugging his shoulders, “You suck more than I thought you would.” “You’re just jealous of my awesome skills.” “Humm, nope I’m not.” “Yes, you are.” “I assure you that, no, I’m not.” They continued their argument ignoring the others, Sunset walked next to Flash and hand him a sheet of paper. “Humm, I’ve worked on this those past few days and I would like to have your thoughts on this.” Flash took the paper and read it with a humming sound. “That’s… Not bad at all.” Sunset avoided his look and had a nervous laugh, “Ahah, really?” She asked, playing with her fingers. “Hey guys,” Flash called the others, “Take a look at this.” They all gathered around him to look at the song Sunset wrote, Red took it from Flash’s hand and read it. He frowned and said, “That’s cheesy… But the good kind of cheesy… I guess.” He finished before handing it to Thunderlane, ignoring a ‘humpf’ from Lyra. “I must admit, this is pretty good.” Thunderlane finished to say before handing it to Rainbow, Lyra frowned and crossed her arms in frustration. “Woah Sunny, you wrote this?” Rainbow asked, looking at her friend who was nodding at her. “How? When?” “I started a few days ago… The lyrics came naturally to me…” Sunset admitted. Rainbow took a closer look and smirked, “Is it talking about me and the girls?” Sunset hide her blush by turning her gaze away and quietly nodded. They both ignored Red Light in the back who grumbled while he was putting his bass in his bass case, “It’s the girls and I.” “Welp dude, I think I’ve found who is going to write the song we’re going to play at the Winter ball!” “Wh-what?” Sunset asked incredulous, her red face becoming livid. “Wait guys, It’s not that good.” “Are you kidding?” Rainbow exclaimed, “It’s almost awesome as Awesome as I wanna be!” “The key word here being ‘almost’.” Red said, joining them, a broom in his hands. “Yeah, I’m on the same page with Rainbow.” Flash said, standing next to Rainbow, he looked at Red and Thunderlane and asked them, “Any objections?” “Nope.” Thunderlane said. “To be honest, I don’t care much.” Red also admitted. “I object.” Sunset said, raising her hand. “You don’t get to vote, you’re still the newbie.” Rainbow replied quickly with a gesture of her hand. “So why Red can?” Sunset asked, incredulous. “Because I said so.” Rainbow stated. Lyra grumbled and took the paper from Rainbow’s hand. “It can’t be that good.” She said, taking a look at it. As she read it, her eyes grew wide of surprise, but the surprise vanished quickly before Lyra frowned deeply. “How did you call this song?” Flash asked to Sunset, ignoring completely Lyra’s remark. “It’s called… Hero Too.” She stated. “But it’s not finished yet, I’m still having trouble with the second verse.” “How about you finish it for the ball next Friday?” Rainbow said, taking it from Lyra’s hand, ignoring the look she was giving her. “So, we can play it in front of the other students!” Sunset totally forgot that the ball was in a week. She had to admit that her mind was one hundred percent focused on her hero activities. She also promised to go with Fluttershy. The poor girl was crumbling under the insistent invitations from the boys of the school. It seemed that Fluttershy was pretty popular among them. So, to release her from her burden, Sunset asked her friend out to the ball so they could both go as friends. The look Fluttershy had gave Sunset at that moment proved that Sunset made the right choice. Now, when a boy will ask Fluttershy to go to the ball with them, she could politely decline saying that she already has a date, and Sunset didn’t have to go there alone. It was win-win for both of them. “Hum I don’t know.” Sunset finally agreed. “Okay perfect, we’re all counting on you Sunset.” Flash said, “Well, I’ve got to go or I’ll miss my bus, see all of you tomorrow!” Finished the band leader before grabbing his bag and leave the room. “Wait, did anyone care about my opinion in all that?” Sunset asked to no one in particular. “Nope.” Red, who was cleaning up the room because it was his turn, and Thunderlane said in unison, both smirking at each other. “Gotta go too, I’ve got soccer practice.” Rainbow said giving Sunset her paper back, before turning her head around, and frowned. “Where did Lyra go?” Thunderlane sighed and started to walk toward the exit, “She leaved just before Flash. I’ll go look for her, she’s still mad that we took Sunset in.” “Yeah, no shit.” Rainbow stated, following him, she turned to wave at Sunset and Red, “See ya guys!” Sunset made a peace sign from her hand and then turned around to look at Red who was still cleaning up. “Soooo,” Sunset said, sitting at the edge of a table. She didn’t know what to say, it’s actually the first time she was in a room alone with him, with none of her friend. “What’s up?” She asked. “You really want to know or you asking me this to avoid a cringe silence?” He asked, putting back the broom in the closet. He sat on another table not too far from Sunset’s. “Humm… Both?” “Meh.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. “Nothing interesting to tell you here. And you?” “I personally can’t wait for the holiday break.” Sunset admitted. “Can’t wait to go out and have fun with the girls.” She said, a smile appearing on her face. “Yeah, me too actually. I’m not much of a ‘school’ person, you know?” He said. “Yeah, I figured… Tell me Red…” Sunset started, Red watched her, raising his eyebrows, “Are you going to ask Rainbow to go to the ball? She’s just waiting for it.” “Why would I do that?” He asked, avoiding Sunset’s glare. “Well, it’s pretty obvious for all of us what’s going between you two and…” “I’ll stop you right there Sunset.” He said, looking at the ground, balancing his legs just above the floor from where he was sat on the table. “Rainbow is a great gal’, she’s funny and she’s a good friend all that but… That’s all she is for me. A friend.” “Oh…” Sunset quietly said. They both stood quietly for the next minute before Red decided to broke the awkward blank, “And you, are you going with someone?” Sunset repressed a laugh, “Yeah I’m going with Fluttershy.” Red looked surprise but shrugged his shoulders, “I didn’t know there was a thing between you two.” “No!” Sunset quickly said, “We’re going as friends!” “Why didn’t you ask to someone you actually like?” Red asked her. “Someone I… actually like?” Sunset repeated. “Yeah, there must be someone.” “Well…” Sunset didn’t know why she said those next words but she felt like, she could say it to him, she felt like she could trust him, and besides, he was now officially her friend. “There is that girl…” “Is she hot?” Was the first thing Red asked. “I’m not saying that I’m interested in her but…” She continued, ignoring his remark. “She’s kinda funny…” “She hot?” “She’s smart and she’s able to maintain an interesting conversation…” “Yeah, but she hot?” “I also like the sound of her voice…” “Seems to me like you are interested in her after all.” Red finished to say. “Yeah…” Sunset sighed. “I know.” “…” “…” “So, she hot?” Sunset smirked and rolled her eyes, “Yes Red, she is hot.” “Nice.” He stated with a smirk of his own, nodding at Sunset. “Why didn’t you ask her out?” “It’s… complicated.” “Meh, I think relationships are complicated only when you want them to be.” He said. Sunset glared curiously at him and he shrugged, “Then again, I’m not a relationship expert.” Their conversation came to an end when Sunset’s alarm went crazy, remembering her that her bus was soon here. “I have to go.” She said, taking her stuff. “See you tomorrow Red.” “Yeah.” He replied watching Sunset leave. He waited two more minutes after Sunset’s departure to grab his bag and leave the room, not forgetting to close the door behind him. The school was now deserted as he walked among the silent hallway. As he stepped out of the front door of the school, a cold shiver ran through his whole body. “Damn! It’s freezing out here.” He said to himself, putting on the hood of his jacket. “Better get going if I don’t wanna die in the cold.” Later… Sunset was in her room, sat at her desk. She was working on the lyrics of her song when her disposable phone rang. She picked it up and smirked as she said, “Missing me already?” “If only…” The Fiend said on the other end of the line, “I’ve found some infos on this miss kitty-cat of yours.” “Oh…” Sunset said, dropping her pen on her desk, listening attentively, “So?” “Her name is Felicia Hardy but she goes with the nickname of Black Cat She’s only twenty years old but she’s a notorious thief. No known address…” He said, Sunset heard some keyboard typing through the phone before he continued, “But she’s recently been seen at the Fisk tower… That’s not a good sign.” “Why’s that?” Sunset asked. ‘Felicia Hardy… Where did I’ve heard that name before?’ She asked herself. “It seems she’s currently working for… Well, Wilson Fisk.” “Wilson Fisk?” Sunset asked, incredulous, “That company guy who’s running at the municipals?” “Yeah, that Wilson Fisk.” He stated, “Don’t let his good guy act fool you… He’s one of the worst.” “And why is she working for him?” Sunset asked, “I mean, Wilson Fisk is a pretty rich guy, right? Why did he need someone to steal for him? That doesn’t make any sense…” “I don’t know, but that’s your job to find out. I’ve done my part, bye.” And just like that, he put an end to the call. Sunset rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. She gets up from her chair and stretched her arms, yawning. She gets out of her room and headed down the stairs to the kitchen where Luna was sat on the table, doing something on her smartphone. “Hi Sunset.” She greeted. “Hi.” Sunset replied, taking a drink from the fridge. “How was your day, Principal Luna?” “Oh please don’t talk about work,” She said sighing putting her head between her hands, “I didn’t know how Tia could’ve done this every day, she almost have twice the work I had! But…” A sad look appeared on her face. “Someone has to do it right?” Sunset approached her and gave her a hug, “For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a great job.” Luna smiled and returned the hug, “Thanks Sunset.” When the hug ended Luna turned her gaze away, “I’m still sorry for… You know… Last time…” “Don’t worry about that.” Sunset quickly said, “It’s all water under the bridge.” Luna smiled at that statement and returned her attention to her phone. “What you’re doing?” Sunset asked, looking above Luna’s shoulder. “An article about some… Monster that appeared in the sewers of the city.” “Oh so, it’s not crocodiles anymore?” She asked, joking. A few months ago, they were rumors of crocodiles living in the sewers of the city. Of course, it was just urban stories. There has never been crocodiles, or any reptiles of the sorts. Never. “Yeah, but it seems they’re willing to give a reward to whoever takes a picture of it.” “Yeah well,” Sunset started, heading to her room, “If someone wants to waste their time looking around poopland to take pictures of a monster that probably doesn’t exists, be my guest.” “Okay Spike, just like last time.” Twilight said to the black substance in the aquarium in front of her. She slowly put her hand on the glass, waiting for any response at all. But the black misshapen thing laying there wasn’t moving. Twilight sighed but didn’t push it, there was some days where the black thing didn’t want to cooperate. She grabbed her phone and started typing a message to Sunset. Not even a minute after she sent it, her phone started to buzz. She picked it up and greeted her friend, “Hi Sunset!” “Yo Sparky!” Sunset greeted, “Got some news about your boss?” Twilight sighed, “No… Still nothing.” “Man… I’m sorry… I’m on something right now but I swear that when I’m done with that, I’ll look for him.” Twilight’s mood brightened up a bit, “Really?” “Yeah really! But I’m currently busy with that girl…” Twilight frowned, dropping the papers she had in her hand on the ground, “What girl?” “Well, she calls herself Black Cat, she’s a thief. I ran into her a few days ago.” “Black Cat?” Twilight asked, “Like a super-villain nickname?” “Yeah, exactly like a super-villain nickname. But fiendy-fiend my dude found out that she actually calls herself Felicia Hardy.” “Wait!” Twilight shouted, “You said Felicia Hardy?” “Yeah Twi’, why? You know her?” “It’s… It was my boss previous assistant! She got fired because she got caught trying to steal something! Some confidential information, I don’t really know…” “Wait maybe… She’s got something to do with his disappearance?” “Maybe.” Twilight said. “Okay, now I really need to find her. Gotta go, bye Twi!” “Bye Sunset…” Twilight hanged up and stared at the black thing in front of her. “My life is getting weirder and weirder everyday…” “Alright, you are the best Project Diva player! Happy?” Rainbow said gritting her teeth, bitterness can be heard in her voice. She took her mug of hot chocolate with both hands and brought the hot drink to her lips. “See? Was it so hard?” Red asked a cocky grin on his face. They were both sitting at a table in the sugarcube corner. They’re just returning from the arcade where Red beat Rainbow seven times in a row. Her pride took a heavy hit so, to make amends, he said he’ll buy her a drink at the sugarcube corner. “Next time, I’ll choose the game.” Rainbow stated, frowning at her new video game nemesis. “Meh, whatever the game is, I’ll beat ya’.” Red replied, winked at her, raising his cup of coffee. Rainbow couldn’t contain her smile and said, “Yeah sure.” “Ah! You smiled! A point for me then.” He said, taking a sip from his drink. Rainbow brought her drink to her lips but didn’t drank from it this time, she just put her lips on the edge of the mug, using it to hide her blush. “Hum, Red?” she said, avoiding his look. “That’s me.” He replied. She then looked at him right in the eyes and asked him, “Do… Do you wanna go to the ball? With me, I mean…” This time, it was Red’s time to blush as he started to look away from her. “Humm, sorry Rainbow but someone already asked me and I said yes.” “Oh…” Rainbow’s disappointment could easily be heard, she started to look at the ground. Red bit his lower lip and his gaze returned on the high school girl in front of him. “But if you want I…” He started, scratching the back of his head. “I can… I don’t know… Save you a dance?” Her head rose up in an instant, a bit of a smile starting to make its appearance on her face. “Really?” “Yeah well, if you want.” He said, quickly raising his cup of coffee to his lips, imitating the girl on the other edge of the table. “Y-yeah… I want.” “Okay then.” “Okay.” They both stood there quietly, avoiding each other’s look, both using their mug to hide their blushing faces. “…” “…” “I hope you’re better at dancing than video games.” “Oh, come on!” “NO! NO! AND ANOTHER NO! THAT IS WRONG MISS SHIMMER!” “But please, mister Jameson I…” Sunset tried. “THOSE PICTURES ARE GARBAGE AT BEST, THIS TIME I WANT SOMETHING INTERESTING YOU HEAR ME? LIKE THIS SEWER MONSTER EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT!” “But sir! It’s a-” “THERE’S NO ‘BUT’ HERE MISSY! BRING ME THOSE PICTURES OR YOU’RE FIRED!” The next thing Sunset heard was the bip marking the end of the call. She sighed and let her head drop on her hand, facepalming herself. She hated him. So much. But he was her boss so, she had to do it. Except that, this time, he didn’t want Spider-girl pictures. No, this time he wanted pictures of that sewer Monster everyone was talking about. She stood up from where she was sat, on the edge of a random building, and put her phone back in her pocket. She was glad Rarity made her a thick suit because even with that, she was freezing. She was going to call it a night and go home before something grabbed her attention. She could hear police sirens coming from the street behind with someone yelling, “CCPD! Freeze, don’t move!” Not thinking twice, she shot a web and swinged in that direction. She saw two policemen on the ground, nothing too serious though. And someone running not far away, she recognized easily those long and beautiful silver hair transporting a heavy bag with her, and she started to chase her. She swinged in Black Cat’s direction and called her, “Hey! What a coincidence! I was just looking for you!” Black Cat turned her head to see Spider-girl chasing her and she smiled, “Oh it’s you. You wanted to see me so badly?” “You have no idea!” Sunset said, swinging on the left trying to dropkick Black Cat on the side. The thief easily dodged it with a flip in the air. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to have a chance with me.” She taunted.” Sunset landed not to far away in front of her, “I’ll take you up on that.” She said, smirking behind her mask. They both stood there, glaring at each other, before Black Cat make the first move. She jumped and tried to kick Sunset in the face, sunset dodged on the right and punched her. Black Cat dodged at the last moment and grabbed Sunset’s wrist but Sunset didn’t leave her the time to do anything, she used the fact that Black cat was holding her wrist to sweep her legs. Black Cat dodge with a jump, exactly what Sunset wanted. She grabbed her enemy’s arm and sent her in the nearest wall. Black Cat didn’t look that hurt but she must have felt it. “Humm, not bad.” She said. Sunset didn’t waste more time as she shots balls of web in Black Cat’s direction. The thief avoided every one of them with such agility Sunset must’ve recognized that she was good. As she dodged them, Sunset noticed that Black Cat was trying to put distance between them. Sunset shot a web on a higher wall and swinged in Black Cat’s direction, but just when she was going to get her, she remarked that Black Cat’s eyes, looking straight at her, were becoming yellow. ‘Just like last time!’ Sunset thought. As she thought that, the part of the wall that was supporting her web collapsed. It makes Sunset deflect from her initial path, Black Cat used that to kick Sunset in the ribs. Sunset fell on the ground and dodged another kick from Black Cat while doing a backflip to get up. Black Cat smirked, “Haven’t you noticed? No one’s lucky while I’m around.” “Well, I guess that I’ll have to outsmart your luck.” Sunset challenged her. Sunset ran towards her and tried to punch her, Black Cat dodged the hit and made a kick of her own. Sunset avoided it and tried to punch her in the face, but just when her punch was going to reach Black Cat, she saw that her eyes were getting yellow once again. And from the corner of her left eye, she saw Black Cat’s kick going to strike her right in the face. The time felt like it stopped. ‘Think Sunset.’ If Sunset do punch Black Cat, she won’t be able to avoid the kick, and Black Cat having more momentum on her kick than Sunset on her punch, Sunset knew Black Cat was going to win this confrontation. Her kick was only two inches from Sunset’s face. Then at the last moment, Sunset dodge the kick by letting herself fall on the ground on her back, and then she used that momentum to shoot webs on both side of Black Cat. Sunset send herself forward, her feet striking right in Black Cat’s chin, sending her a few meters away, dropping her bag. Sunset grabbed the bag that Black Cat dropped and she stick it on a wall with her web. Then, before Black Cat could even understand what strike her, Sunset jumped on her back, Black cat having no choice to look at the ground. “Now,” Sunset started. “You’re going to tell me everything you know about Doctor Curtis Conhorse and Discorp.” “And why would I do that?” Black Cat asked, trying to get away from Sunset’s grip. But Sunset was holding her firmly on the ground. “Because if you tell me, I’ll let you go and you won’t have to be arrested… At least, tonight.” Black Cat turned her head too look with one eye at Spider-girl and raised her eyebrows, “Really? You’ll… Let me go?” She asked, skeptical. ‘I don’t like it but… I don’t have much choice, she’s my only lead.’ “Yeah…” Sunset said, looking at her in the eyes. “It’s the lesser evil.” Black Cat watched her quietly for a moment and started to laugh. “What?” Sunset asked abruptly. “You really are interesting Spider-girl.” Black Cat stated between two laughs, “All right then, let me go and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” “That’s not how it’s going to-” Sunset tried to say, but she got cut in the middle of her sentence by another laugh of Black Cat. “Too bad, because it’s my condition. You let me go first, then I’ll tell you everything I know.” She said, a cocky grin on her face. Sunset weighed the pros and cons and, with a defeated sigh, gets up from Black Cat, letting her get up. “Thanks.” Black Cat said, dusting off her pants. Sunset crossed her arms and said, “Well?” “I gave you my word.” Black Cat said, walking toward the nearest wall in the dark alley. She started to lay on it and passed her hand through her long silver hair in a sensual way, looking at Spider-girl the whole time. “What are you playing at?” Sunset asked seriously. Black Cat dropped her smile and rolled her eyes, “Geez’, you’re no fun.” “Excuse me but I’m not in a fun mood since I’m searching for a missing person.” Sunset strike back, walking toward the thief. Black Cat turned her look away, “Yeah, I’ve heard what happened. I’m sorry for Conhorse.” “Yeah, I’m sure you are.” Sunset said with sarcasm in her voice, laying on the wall next to Black Cat. “I really am,” Black Cat stated, “The dude was a good man, a good scientist and… A good father.” “Father?” Sunset asked, taken aback. “Yeah, Conhorse has a wife and a kid.” The silver haired thief began to play with her hair with one hand. “Never saw them though.” Sunset had to refrained herself to hit herself in the face. ‘Of course, he has a family! Why didn’t I think about it sooner!?’ “I heard you were working for him.” Sunset tried. “Yeah, I actually was working for Fisk. He wanted me to steal something called the goblin formula.” “For Fisk uh?” Sunset said. It seemed that The Fiend was right about that one. “And what is that goblin formula anyway?” “I don’t know, I’m just a thief. My job is to enter by effraction, steal something and get the fuck out. Not asking questions.” Black Cat explained, shrugging her shoulders. Then, something strokes Sunset. “Wait… Does it have something to do with… The Green Goblin?” Black Cat’s pression became livid when she heard the Green Goblin’s name. She put her hand on top of where Sunset’s mouth was under her mask. “Don’t mention his name!” Sunset put Black Cat’s hand away and rolled her eyes, “Calm down, it’s not Voldemort.” “No… It’s far worst.” Black Cat said, avoiding Spider-girl’s look. “Do you know him?” Black Cat swallowed the saliva stuck in her throat, “Only by name. But Fisk works with him from time to time…” She sighed and turned her gaze toward Sunset. For the first time, her look seemed sincere. “Listen I said I’ll help you but… Talking about the Green Goblin wasn’t in our deal.” “Come on!” Sunset said, “If you know something, you have to tell me.” “I-” Black cat tried. Spider-girl grabbed Black Cat’s hands and looked at her in the eyes, “Please!” Sunset almost begged her. It took Black Cat by surprise. She closed her eyes and frowned deeply, before letting out a sigh. “Listen…” She started, “I don’t know who he is, and where he is, I can’t help you about that.” Black Cat admitted. Sunset sighed and let go of her hands, looking at the ground. “But.” Black Cat continued, “I know where Conhorse can be. Or, at least, I know someone who supposedly know where Conhorse can be.” Sunset rose her head, “Really?” “Yeah, there is this girl, she used to work with Conhorse on something. Her name was… Starlight Glimmer I think.” She said, scratching her head. “When I used to be Conhorse assistant, I noticed that he was writing to her every week, reporting her every discovery he was making on his work.” “Starlight Glimmer…” Sunset said to herself. Black Cat watched Spider-girl lost in her thoughts before she started couching, grabbing the hero’s attention. “So… We’re good?” She asked. Sunset glared at her for a moment before saying, “Yeah, you can go. Besides, I can still need your help, so it’s better for me to have you here… For now. You don’t seem like a bad person anyway.” Black Cat smile sensually at her and purred, “You won’t regret it.” She said with a wink, caressing Sunset’s face on top of her mask, making Sunset roll her eyes. Black Cat break into a run and quickly disappeared from Sunset’s vision. “I hope I won’t.” ‘The goblin formula… Discorp… Conhorse… Why does everything seem like it is linked somehow?’ Sunset thought to herself. ‘Is the Green Goblin working for Discorp? Or… is Discorp working for the Green Goblin?’