Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

 

Chapter 23– Targeted.

 

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"Not so tough now, are you, little bat? Did you feel big and tough, scurrying around in the shadows and hiding like a rat? Haha, it should be rat man, yeah?" Bullseye laughs above me, and I feel my blood run cold before the blood leaves my body, seeping through my grievous wounds.

 

"And nobody likes rats, do they? Disease-carrying rodents, running around spreading illness and ruining everything they touch. Rats need to be exterminated with prejudice, and they need to be stomped out!" He slowly places the bottom of his boot on my chest, just above the rebar and slowly presses down on it, causing me excruciating pain as the ribs of the rebar scrape against my insides. But I don't scream, and I bite my lips to keep from doing so, drawing blood. I can't afford to show pain in front of him, this madman, because he will enjoy my suffering, and he will drag it out.

 

"Ahhh, there is nothing quite like beating a stupid piece of shit and showing them their place, gives me a real wholesome feeling. You know, it's too bad I killed my mother in high school... She would have loved this. Joking. She wouldn't a' cared." He starts to monologue like the psychopath he is, his foot still pressing down on me. If I wasn't panicking before, I definitely am now that Motherfucking Bullseye is standing above me, and I am at his mercy.

 

One of the most psychotic fuckers in this universe has me pinned down, and I really don't want to stick around to see what sort of sick things his mind can come up to do with me. My mind is racing, frantically sorting through my options and anything I can do to escape this situation, but I keep hitting a brick wall. He has me stuck down with a piece of metal penetrating me. Not only am I weak from the pain and the blood loss, but my adversary is skilled and lethal, and no half-baked plan is going to stave away his brutality.

 

"Not talking, eh? Well, that's no fun. Come on, give me a little scream? Can you scream for Uncle Bullseye?" He clamps his hand down onto the rebar and starts to wiggle it around, throwing it to and fro as if it were a joystick or the gearbox of a car, widening the hole in me. Blood leaves my mouth, not only from the internal damage from what he is doing but from my own teeth clamping down on top of my lips to keep from giving this asshole any satisfaction.

 

"Aww, so you are just going to be boring then? Oh well, you can lead a man to pain, but you can't always make him scream. Let's end this then, shall we? And then I can go and find something more fun to do." Saying so, he presses down even harder onto my torso, making me scrunch my eyes closed from the pain. And then, when the instance of pain diminishes, I open my eyes, and... there is a barrel pointed directly at my face.

 

"Well, I would love to say it has been fun, but it hasn't. And that was your fault." I am so stunned by the sudden gun pointed in my face that I don't have time to react, and my mind goes blank. I should be doing something, but this life-ending weapon has drawn all my attention, and I find myself unable to move, pinned under its menacing gaze. I have faced guns and bullets before, but always at a distance, and I have never been in such a position before. Dead to rights.

 

"Bye now." I can see his finger move to pull the trigger, and at that moment, my life flashes before my eyes. And it is so dull. There was no excitement, no fun, just fear and cowering and worrying. I'd wasted my life, and the only bits of fun I had were with Felecia and when I wasn't caring about consequences... I'd wasted it, this life.

 

As the finger presses on the trigger, I move. I don't want to die. I want to live. So even if I have left the resolve a bit too late, and even if a bullet is about to fly at my disabled form and end me, and my fate is pretty much sealed, I move because I have to. I know it's stupid, and I hate myself for thinking it, but... you only live once. It is a cringe saying, but I have never understood it more than I do right now.

 

*Bang!*

 

A bullet is fired and suddenly impacts the side of Bullseye's gun, knocking it out of his hand and flinging it into the distance. I chance a quick glance over in the direction the bullet came from, but all I see is a flash of red before it disappears, and I don't spend any longer thinking about it. Instead, taking the opportunity afforded to me, I smash my hand beneath me, shattering the stone, and then I lunge forward, uncaring of the rebar poking out of me and what damage I might incur in doing so.

 

Thankfully, it seemed my rash move worked as the concrete broke apart, freeing the piece of rebar and allowing me to be mobile with it still inside me. However, Bullseye had not been idle. Even taking my own actions, I never took my eyes off my enemy. I couldn't afford to when faced with such a deadly opponent and in such a disadvantageous situation, and it is a good job that I did.

 

Bullseye, aside from quickly eyeing the direction the bullet came from, did not pay further attention to it, and the second that his gun had been blown from his hand, he reached behind him to draw a knife from his back and moved forward to finish me with it instead. He was so fast that there was very nearly no difference between a bullet and the tip of his knife as it sped towards me, however smashing the concrete below me not only freed the rebar but also served to destabilise Bullseye, giving me the time to get to my feet.

 

"Guh." Knowing that Bullseye works best at a distance and that I would only be shooting myself in the foot if I tried to escape right now, I instead rush forward, tackling him before he can steady himself and knocking him backwards. There is no doubt that even close combat at this moment in time is unwise given my current condition, but it is the lesser of two evils and keeping him off balance is my best shot at escape.

 

Pressing my advantage, I throw a right hook at his face, hoping to get lucky and end this right now, giving it all my power and not caring if my hit sends his skull flying off into space. Unfortunately, my advantage was not much, and Bullseye tilted back, narrowly avoiding my attack, more better described as using minimal effort to avoid it. He brings his knife down at me, hoping to plunge it into my neck, but I block his forearm with my own, forestalling that manoeuvre. Nonplussed, he simply drops the knife and grabs it with his other hand, already in the motion of sinking it into my gut.

 

I know from our previous exchange that I am not doing so well right now, given simply by the fact that when mine and his forearms collided, my own very nearly gave way. I had lost too much blood, and powers or not, blood loss will kill you, and right now, I am feeling its effect. My abilities might make me strong, agile and able to take a bit more of a beating than others, but my durability is not that good, as is showcased right now.

 

I can not afford a long, drawn-out exchange right now as I will just continually get weaker as the fight goes on before inevitably falling to his blade, even if I do have some guardian angel looking over me. I need to end this now, but that will be hard to accomplish against a man as skilled as Bullseye. Which means I am going to have to get a little outside of the box and take some big risks; otherwise, I am going to die here. Go big or go home.

 

Instead of blocking his attack, I move my torso in such a way that his knife would be blocked by something other than my hand. It was risky and had a significant chance of failing, given the small surface I was working with, but I had to take my chances. As his knife point hit the flat end of the rebar, shaking my insides, my right hand was free to lash out and punch him straight in the face, sending him flying tail over teakettle.

 

Preparing to act quickly to use this opportunity, I reach my hand behind me to get something from my utility belt. Still, before I can, I realise that I had underestimated my opponent as well as underestimated just how bad I am faring at the moment. A punch with all my power that would usually crush boulders only served to bruise and blow Bullseye away, and that damage wasn't even that bad as he simply flipped and landed on his feet. Instead of securing an advantage for myself, I had given my opponent his best opportunity, and with distance, he would prove to be more lethal than ever.

 

Thinking quickly, I see Bullseye reaching for another weapon, presumably a projectile to kill me with, and so I make a decision, a very rash one that would probably prove to be very painful in the long run. Panicking and knowing that I could be dead within a second, I take the hand behind my back and make a fist with it. And then, performing the most reckless move I ever have, I back fist the end of the rebar behind my back, causing blood to spew from my mouth as it rockets out of my stomach and heads directly on a collision course with Bullseye.

 

Not caring enough to see the result of my haphazard attack, I immediately reach into my utility belt and toss out all my smoke grenades in all directions, and then I bolt away and run for my life. Feeling the gaping hole in my side, I regret my reckless action and feel incredibly stupid since I am very likely to die with such an injury, but put on the spot, I made a decision, a bad one, but it still counts.

 

Moving fast, I know that my spider powers will only keep me going for so long, and I need to get serious medical attention, but I can't just show up at a hospital or something. Questions will be asked, and I don't exactly have a spare change of clothes, so as I sprint, I automatical run in the direction of home. We have a medkit at home that is fully stocked, Felecia likes to be prepared, so my powers should keep me going till I can get there and patch myself up and then rely on my power's improved healing to do the rest.

 

Still, to hold me over for the time being, I reach once more into my utility belt and pull out an injection-like device which I hold over my wound. Using it, a substance quickly comes out to seal over my injury and solidify to keep my blood from spilling out, and I promptly apply it to the hole on the other side as well.

 

This solution is made using the same formula used for my spider web-swinging but modified to have a much bigger consistency to not allow any holes and to be tough and unremovable. Unfortunately, the downside to this is that the solution will only last for a while before dissolving. This is because I had not gotten around to solving all its kinks. It will do for now, but my wounds need to be appropriately treated, and this is just a stopgap.

 

Reaching far enough, I pull out my grapple gun, but instead of using it to shoot up into the sky, I use it to propel myself forward parallel to the ground since I would be making myself an easy target if I tried to start gliding. Then, using my grapple gun, I hasten my pace home, trying to manoeuvre myself between as many buildings and obstacles as possible to give myself some cover in case Bullseye is following. However, given the fact that there have been no gunshots or pursuit after I left, either my efforts to cover my tracks have proven fruitful, or the rebar I shot out of myself actually injured him and prevented him from giving chase.

 

Feeling that I am far away enough now and uncaring about any possible consequences given the fact I have a fucking two-inch wide hole in me, profusely leaking my life essence, I shoot up into the air and start to glide. Then, thankful that the substance is keeping my insides inside, I can afford to go even faster and throw caution to the wind to get back as soon as possible.

 

I am not going to die. Not anytime soon, definitely not today.

 

---

 

Sitting at home, trying to distract myself from all the shit that has been barraging me lately, I keep looking at the television. But no matter how much I try, I can't bring myself to focus on whatever nonsense is being broadcasted right now, more troubled by thoughts of my current problems. Problems, past, present and future, because I just can't catch a break. When one thing seems to be resolved, another pops up to bite me in the ass, and I am constantly just rolling with the punches.

 

When I was a girl, my father was taken away and arrested. Everyone knew, and instead of being the popular spoiled princess I was, they turned on me like a pack of wolves. It was then I realised that people only care about themselves, and if they could get a sliver of cake for rolling over on you, then they would use a steamroller. The older I got, the older I realised you have to look out for yourself and your family if they deserve it. That's what my father did.

 

People reviled him, insulted him and called him the scum of the earth, but he was just doing what the rest of them were, except better. Instead of using roundabout methods like the law, my father took it directly and used it to support his family and give us everything we wanted. And they vilify him because they were all chickenshit to do it themselves, cowards.

 

With my epiphany, I grew up, and I became just like my daddy, and then they all wanted me again. When you are on top of the world, when you are popular, they all want to be in your shadow, but that is just so that they can be in the optimal position to drag you down and try to take your spot in the light. It was foolish, but I let my guard down. I started to trust people, and the things my mother, a lawyer, was telling me wormed their way into my head.

 

I started to think the world wasn't so bleak that maybe I was only looking at the dark side and not the light. That was a mistake. In college, I let people in, and I had friends that I cared about. I started to trust people. I trusted a guy, I liked him, and he took advantage of that. I shouldn't have let anyone in because all they want to do is use you. After that, I grew angry, so I tracked down the man who trained my father and made him teach me.

 

I was so angry, so furious. I worked my bones brittle, I didn't rest because I wanted to kill him, but I also wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of ruining my life. I was going to kill him in the most painful way possible and get my revenge, and then I would move on with my life and forget about him entirely.

 

He died. The same day I was on my way to kill him, the fucking bastard was run over by a car. He died in the middle of the street, getting away with what he did for me and not truly paying for it. Fate played a cruel trick on me and left me with all this frustration and nowhere for it to go. With nothing left to do, I moved on, and I never let my guard down again. I learnt my lesson correctly this time, and I was never going to forget it. Look out for yourself above all else, take what you want and don't care who it hurts because if you don't take it first, someone else will.

 

I haven't forgotten those lessons, and I never will. But it becomes a bit more complex and complicated when the thing you want is another living, breathing human being. I didn't mean for it to start out this way. I was just doing what I always had. When I first met Ben, I thought he was Spider-Man, given that he was dressed as him. And since I always knew exactly how to deal with him, I acted as I usually would. But, since Spider-Man is so gullible and naive, it is actually sweet, not hard to lay on a bit of the charm and get away scot-free.

 

But then this one stole my hard-earned spoils and then ran away, which was when I got the inkling that he was different somehow. A clone of all things, it would not have been my first guess. But seeing him, I realised that I could use him and so easily at that. He was isolated and alone, left with nothing and nowhere to go. He was looking for some direction for anyone because he was suddenly left out in the cold in an unfamiliar world. Even with his powers, loneliness and purposelessness can be damming.

 

So I helped myself and, in a way, helped him as well. I could use a helper for some of the more significant scores as well as someone to be a scapegoat in case I ever needed it. It took some work, and he even quickly clocked on to what I wanted, but I got there eventually. Because he also followed my ideology, he was also looking out for himself, and in that situation, that meant sticking with me and becoming a thief to survive. It was going well. I even stopped with my seduction because we got along and had fun, but I never let my guard down, but then it took a turn at Fisk's warehouse.

 

I never told Ben, but I was there to steal something priceless even Fisk was unaware he had in storage, and I did. But then Ben burnt down the warehouse, and I knew I had to lay low. It didn't matter, however, as it was only a short time later that Fisk showed up, having taken receipt of the goods damaged in the warehouse fire and realised what he had in stock. He showed up and took it back and then, as reparation, ordered me to work for him. Feeling a bit sad but knowing this is what I kept Ben around for, I offered him up as a scapegoat, but Fisk wasn't dumb and refused.

 

What I didn't count on was Ben listening in, apparently at the ready to protect me if I needed it and got the whole show up close. It hurt, for some reason, that he didn't trust me anymore. Knowing that I couldn't use him anymore, I gave him the identification I had prepared for him, something I had planned to give him as a present to get him to trust me even more. It was useless now, and so I gave it to him and prepared for him to leave.

 

But he didn't. He stayed for some reason that was beyond me. He chose to stay and help this villainous woman that just wanted to use him and take him for all he had. The tears I cried after that were real; I don't even know why I was crying. I felt terrible, especially when he started to come home injured from his night out as 'Batman', which he was only doing to help me.

 

I started working extra hard for Fisk, wanting to finish all the jobs he gave me until there were none left so Ben wouldn't have to keep hurting himself. But then I realised without Fisk, Ben would have no reason to stay and would go, which I didn't want, and not even because I wanted to use him anymore. Especially after that trip to the mall, something changed, and I am not sure how to feel about it.

 

I didn't feel particularly averse to working for Fisk anyway, and I would be happy as long as I was paid, and as long as I did the jobs, he will leave my family alone. This is why I started to do my jobs slower because the faster I run out of jobs Fisk wants me to do, the quicker Ben will leave.

 

Even though I am working to keep Ben here, I am not quite sure how to handle him and move forward. I can't bring myself to trust him fully, and I don't think I will ever trust anyone, but I want him all the same. It isn't love; I don't believe so. I am not even sure if I am capable of that anymore. But I want him. However, I know I can only have him if I let him in, and I can't bring myself to do that.

 

Quite a problem, and I don't know how to handle it, so I have just been avoiding it. Instead, I go out and do all the jobs that I couldn't when I was working with Ben to distract myself, finding it easier to waste time as Black Cat. The costume empowers me. It is always so calm and straightforward being the Black Cat, though a new addition to my outfit in the form of the cat's paw earing Ben got me is always around.

 

Every time I feel it jump and skim against my neck, I think about Ben, and all it does is confuse me. I know it would be better if I ditched the thing and just chucked it in a draw somewhere, but I can't bring myself to do it. Instead, I have worn it ever since he gave it to me. It just feels right in my ear: the weight, its sway, everything.

 

"Haaah." Looking to my left out of the balcony window and to the bright moon, I couldn't help but sigh. Because as if things were not worse enough, I had received some news from Fisk in regard to my current employment and my future from now on with him. Honestly, I was worried after stealing that ancient tablet thing for him that it would stop because then Ben would have no reason to stay here.

 

Still, I tried to push past that and tell him earlier about the news, but he blew me off and pushed past me and rushed away off to some dangerous, stupid thing which he is only doing for me. The thought makes me want him even more. The fact he is out there kicking in some poor fuckers teeth for me makes me hot under the collar.

 

Watching the lone bird flapping its wings in the distance with the moon as its backdrop, I make my decision. As much as I want him, I know in the end, it will just end in disappointment and one of us trying to kill the other. I am better alone, and I don't work well in a group. So I will just tell him that Fisk- why is the bird getting bigger."

 

*Crash*

 

"H-Hey, Felecia..." Ben says, crashing through the glass railing onto the balcony, unsteady on his feet and with way too much blood pouring out of him. He wobbles and then slips on a shard of glass, tilting back and-

 

"BEN!" I bolt up and dash towards him, terrified.

 

"Oh, b-bye, Felicia." He falls, and I jump forward to catch him, glad that I am still wearing my enhanced suit with servos inside, increasing my abilities. It allows me to catch his hand, saving him from certain death.

 

Pulling him back up onto the balcony, I get a good look at his injuries. Now it is time to save him from his looming death.

 

---

 

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