Liz Allan P.O.V.

'Stupid Parker, how dare he leave while I was talking to him? He usually doesn't behave like that! In the past he was always silent, he didn't even react to Flash's provocations, but after what happened at the party he seems like a different person... Maybe Mary Jane is right. He didn't suddenly change, I just didn't consider him and my opinion about him, like that of others, lingered on what I saw in appearance, so nothing but a simple silent nerd that I see every once in a while around school... But I tried now to talk to him and get to know him, however he treated me clearly as a nuisance! After the conversation I had with the redhead, All I can think about is what happened at the party and what he said about Flash's disrespect of me. Having had the chance to meet him alone today, I thought I could give him some advice to prevent him from being treated like a loser at school, instead the asshole decides to ignore my attempt to be nice to him and leave. Other people, in his place, would be on their knees thanking me just for letting them talk to me! '

As I continue to think, irritated, I head towards my parents and after I sit next to my mother, I snort annoyed at what just happened with Parker.

"What is it, Lizzy? Did something happen when you went to talk to your friend?" My mother asks worried after putting her hand on my shoulder to caress it.

"Sweetheart, is that kid causing you trouble? If I understand correctly he is here as a photographer, if he has bothered you, maybe in order to have some privilege because you know each other, I can ask to throw him out of the auction." My father says.

"No, no, you're wrong, Dad, Parker would never do that, he's a very nice guy. I'm angry because, deep down, the more I think about what happened with him, the more I realize that I was wrong about the way I approached him... I meant well, but I couldn't express it as I wanted because I was a little scared. Since I behaved a certain way at school, I was afraid that he would not take me seriously if I behaved differently. In the end, I still ruined everything..." I say as I watch my hands clasp my knees.

I don't even know why I told them those things, in fact when I realize what I did and look up to look at them, I see that both mom and dad are looking at me slightly startled.

"Stop looking at me like that. I already feel embarrassed for saying such nonsense out loud, if you act like I spoke an alien language, it makes me want to disappear. Forget what I said, I beg you." 

"Lizzy, you don't have to be embarrassed and we didn't want to make you more uncomfortable, we were just taken aback by what you said, you'll agree with us that you haven't been opening up to us like this for a long time, honey. What you said is a symbol of great maturity, not everyone can admit and recognize the mistakes that one has committed, however you must also remedy those mistakes if possible. I am sure that if you can talk about this with your friend as you did with us, he will understand you and you can start from scratch." Mom says with a warm and reassuring smile on her face.

"And in case he doesn't forgive you, I'll have a chat with him!" Dad jokes while showing us his fist.

At that joke, I chuckle and, subsequently, Mom and Dad also start giggling together with me until Dad decides to squeeze both me and Mom in a short but warm hug.

'Hell, now I have not only to thank him for what he said at the party but also for this. It's been a long time since I've been so well with my parents and I didn't think I missed our relationship so much. I don't know if I have the courage to apologize to him now that I feel so in debt and, at the same time, guilty for what happened a few moments ago...'

When we hear the auctioneer's voice, we walk away from each other, with my father's promise that after the auction we'll go for ice cream, and then we start following this boring auction that I decided to attend just to spend some time with them.

The event itself is very boring, although I am intrigued by some pieces that are putting on sale, my attention is more on my smartphone. I use it occasionally to respond to some notification, but I use it mainly to be able to see the time that is shown on its screen, since I can't wait to leave with them.

Every now and then, when I see my parents distracted, I look around, in the hope of seeing Parker, however it seems that he is no longer with that group of photographers and, although I know that I am in the wrong, it bothers me a little that he is clearly avoiding me.

'Unless he got so upset after our conversation that he decided to leave... No, Parker said he was here for work, he couldn't have left because of me, he'd be in trouble no? Maybe I can send a message to M-'

That thought of mine is suddenly interrupted by noises coming from outside the building where we are and, before I could ask my father what was happening, we hear a small bang behind us, this time inside the building.

Simultaneously with that blast, my father takes me and my mother, makes us collapse to the ground and then he positions himself above us, to protect us with his body and prevent us from being hurt, in case that was the beginning of an attack.

After that explosion that knocked the cops unconscious in that area, nothing else happened, the only thing I heard was the sound of the steps of a group of people approaching us.

I could not see anything as I'm covered by my parents, but, between the reassuring words of my parents and the screams of the others present, I can hear that while a part of them barred the entrance from which they entered, other people were taking over the place.

The first to be immobilized by them are obviously the security staff of the building and the police officers who are present here, then they began to immobilize the rest of those present in this room.

While I hear that there is some attempt to rebel against them, they have no problem placating it.

My father, seeing what happened if you did not comply with their requests, whispers to us to do as they say for the moment and, when it is our turn, we let our wrists and ankles be tied with plastic bands from them.

While they sit back in our chairs, as they did with the others after they tied them up, We see the auctioneer being thrown off the stage by what looks like a woman dressed as a nun after she saw that he had hidden behind the cloth where the images of the items for sale were projected.

That nun has her face covered by a white mask, in which red tears are painted that start from the holes for the eyes, and, around us, there are other nuns like her. Along with those nuns, there is also a group of men also with a white mask, but without the red tears.

At one point we see a woman who carries a sword with her heading to the stage, followed by a man in a black suit and a white mask.

When she is in a position where I can see her better, I notice that she is the only one of them whose face is not hidden by a mask.

The right half of her face is white. I'm not sure if it's because of the makeup or it's the color of her skin, like that man, Alonzo Lincoln, who creeps me out just by looking at him.

She wears a fishnet bodysuit and, above it, she wears a small white corset, a black jacket, black pants and a pair of red half-finger gloves, and each of them is made of synthetic leather.

Her pants have the part that should cover the left leg completely cut at the beginning of her thigh and there, as in the other uncovered parts of her body you can see some tattoos, the most noticeable of which is in the area of her navel.

With sure step, together with the man who is following her, she gets on stage and is welcomed by that nun who, after a short bow with her head to show her respect for the woman, She steps back and, with her hands, the nun makes her understand that she can go to the lectern with the microphone from which the auctioneer spoke before their arrival.

Instead of that red-haired woman, the man who was following her is the one going to the lectern, and that nun doesn't like that at all.

There is a brief exchange of looks and words between them that however we cannot hear. Initially only the nun and the man argue, then the man turns to the woman with red hair to talk to her, and eventually the woman with red hair says something to the nun, thus ending the discussion.

Despite the nun's face is covered, anyone would understand that she is against what she was told, however she decides to follow what the woman said, therefore, she lets the man go to the lectern.

"Well, as you can see, your boss has agreed to let me take the lead, so don't meddle any more, or we'll have to cut back on staff real soon..." We hear the man say when he approaches the microphones, then, once he is watching us all, he starts talking to us. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're sorry to put an early end to your little party, but don't worry, we'll entertain you for the rest of the evening~! Before we start playing the game I call the perfect hostage, are there any questions?" 

"What are you doing here? I hope for you that you have a well-structured plan because, after this stunt of yours, rest assured that you will not rest even after you are captured and put in some godforsaken cell." Alonzo Lincoln says.

"Oh, we have a brave man here. Come on, could you help the esteemed Mr. Lincoln stand up so I can see him better when I talk to him?" The man in front of the lectern says, pointing to Alonzo Lincoln.

Following his words, a masked man goes to Alonzo Lincoln and, after grabbing him from the back of his neck, he makes him rise from the chair so that we could all see him staring at the lectern with indifferent eyes.

"Well, I'm glad to see that the new star of New York is a man like you, Mr Lincoln, a determined man who is not afraid of anything. I wonder though, are you sure there's nothing to be afraid of?" The man in front of the lectern asks and, afterward, the man holding Mr Lincoln by the neck draws a gun and points it at the man's temple.

"If killing us was your goal, we'd probably be dead by now, and killing one of those people in here would only make your already precarious situation worse, you don't want that. So what do you want? If you guarantee that you will not harm anyone, I am sure that you will have everyone's full cooperation." Mr Lincoln responds coldly, which is met with applause from the man in front of the lectern.

"Good point, I knew I wouldn't waste time chatting with you, Mr Lincoln. What the man of the moment said is true, we're not here to hurt you, you're just simple hostages that we don't want to bother us until we get what we want. If you're gonna be good kids, you'll make our job easy and we can get out of your hair faster."

"You're fools to think we're going to work with crazy people like you! The police won't be long to arrive-" A man among us hostages starts screaming, however one of the thugs hits him, making him unconscious.

"Well, that's an example of conversations I don't like. Remember not to speak unless asked or to say such nonsense. I take this opportunity to tell you that the police are currently busy in the city's sewers, so they won't be coming here soon to rescue you. Even if they come here, I doubt they'll be able to do anything but make me nervous, and if they will get on my nerves, I could kill some of you to get my spirits back. So hope the police don't come before we're done doing what we came here to do." The man in front of the lectern says in a dark tone, enough to give me goosebumps.

'Maybe making Parker nervous and leading him to decide to leave, kept him from being taken hostage... Wait, if he didn't leave, maybe they might have done-...'

-Mic check, one, two, can you hear me? Yes, my copilot is signaling that you can hear me.-

All of a sudden we hear a voice coming from several speakers installed throughout this building, and this voice inevitably draws everyone's attention, including the criminals, which makes me realize that it may not be a colleague of theirs talking.

-Good evening, everyone, this is Spider-Man speaking to you, and I will be the pilot to end the hijacking of this party. Just so you know, some of our criminal friends who went to find the treasure have already been knocked out, so I'm asking you passengers to buckle up, recline your seats, Stay calm and wait for the other thugs to follow suit. Thank you for your attention and good night! -

At the exact moment that Spider-Man gives us good night, someone, probably Spider-Man himself, has cut the power and, as a result, the lights in the hall and those in the rest of the building suddenly go out.

Now there is such darkness that we can't see anything and my father, who seems to have grasped a hidden meaning in the words of Spider-Man like others, whispers to us to lie on the ground again.

"Go fix the lights, now!" the man who has spoken so far says to his henchmen.

Peter Parker P.O.V.

"Well Cat, Do you have good vision of that room or are there blind spots?" I ask.

I'm attached to the ceiling and I'm standing in front of the secondary entrance to the room where the hostages are. Behind me are all the criminals who came in my direction to go and make the light come back, all tied up and then hung from the ceiling with my webs.

- I have a complete vision of that place, and I see everything clearly. Can you still hear my beautiful voice clearly? - Black Cat responds.

At the moment Black Cat is barricaded in the camera room and, since there is no light, she is the one to be my eyes since the cameras not only continue to work thanks to the ups, but they obviously also have the night vision feature.

In order to communicate with each other, we are using my wireless earphones, which we are wearing one of each. In the past, I modified them to also be able to use them as two-way radios.

"I hear you loud and clear. The ideal would be to at least knock out half of them before they find a way to take away our advantage of the dark, but it might happen that it won't be long before that happens, so be careful and always be ready for phase two. All right?"

-Okay, boss. -

"Well, it's showtime." I say as I sneak in.

With the favor of darkness and with extreme attention to not make noises that can help them capture my position, I move into that room and, thanks to the precise indications of Black Cat and my instincts, I begin to immobilize criminals in that room like the ones I met earlier.

I manage to catch the first two without arousing the attention of their colleagues, who however have the feeling that something is wrong, the third member of that gang that I catch, however, when I lift him, he drops the weapon he was holding.

The sound of the fall of his gun alerts everyone else in the room, who realize that the restlessness they have been experiencing for a while is due to something real and not a simple feeling due to the suggestion of not being able to see.

At that point, knowing that a person who is not on their side has entered the room, a male voice that seems to belong to their head orders everyone to gather in a circle, so that if I take another they notice, and to use any light source they have available at the moment to see where I am.

Some of them pull out a lighter or use their cell phone torch to get a better look, and while that makes Black Cat's work more difficult, since she has more difficulty seeing with these lights in night mode, but, on the contrary, her, I can now locate them more easily this way.

Every time I catch one of those criminals, they catch a glimpse of me and, as I move again outside the range of their light source those who have firearms try to hit me, but their bullets can never hit their target.

Once I'm about to get ready to catch another criminal, I hear their boss complain like a spoiled child to a person, to whom he orders to hurry up and get me, and after those words my Spider-Sense suddenly activates.

As soon as I feel my Spider-Sense activate, from the left wall where I am I shoot two webs and I move towards the opposite wall. As I move, I see a fireball colliding in the area where I was and it sets the curtains that were nearby on fire.

This process in which I am forced to dodge those fireballs is repeated several times, and as well as the curtains with the first, other things have caught fire. Now, because of that, they have enough light to see me clearly.

"Damn, this surprise has taken our advantage away from us. Did you see who was throwing those fireballs or if they used any tools to shoot them?" I ask quietly.

- I did not see clearly who or what produced them, but I am sure they came from the stage area, so the culprit is one of the three people there. By the way, two criminals have just arrived in the room where the electrical panel is, so the lights would be back on soon anyway. I guess we're about to move on to phase two, right? - Black Cat tells me as I see the lights in the room suddenly turn on.

"Yes, as you have seen there are probably people with powers among them, be careful to not be seen by them." I whisper while I think about why the fire protection system has not yet activated.

'In addition to tampering with the cameras, they had also disabled the fire alarm system just so they could fire those fireballs without any problems? No, it could be that they also did it to prevent the alarm from sending a signal to the fire department.'

- You're talking to the best thief around, that's my specialty. See you in a bit, Spidey.-

"Well, well, well. I guess you had fun doing your pranks, but your game ends here brat." Their boss tells me as he comes down from the stage with a red-haired woman next to him, the only one who is not masked among them.

"Man, I knew there was a party here but I didn't know it was a costume party, luckily I'm dressed for this occasion. How about we kick out everyone who didn't respect the dress code and keep the party between us? If you want I can make an exception for your friend, in the end she at least tried to make that half mask with makeup." I say as I descend from the wall and return with my feet on the ground. 

"I don't think it's time to make jokes when people are in danger. If you don't want us to start killing them one by one, you better give up. I promise you that if you do, we'll only kill you like the shitty bug you are."

"First of all, spiders aren't insects, they're arachnids... I don't know how many times I've said it." I say annoyed, after snorting I start talking again, "I also don't think you want to hurt these people, otherwise you risk losing what you came to steal." 

After those words, I take off my shoulders that sort of backpack that Black Cat gave me, then I open it to show them a part of what is inside it.

When they see that painting, the atmosphere in that room changes dramatically and the men who were about to attack me are immediately stopped by their boss, going to indirectly confirm that this is what they were looking for.

Although he has the mask to cover his face like other criminals, it is evident that his mood changes dramatically when he realizes that I am the one who now holds the reins of the situation.

"If you think I'm interested in that painting, you're wrong, I just stopped them to have a laugh at your nonsense. There are other valuables here, it won't change our lives to have one less painting..." He says.

It is obvious that he is trying to bluff, yet I do not think he knows that his body language is betraying his attempt to deceive me.

"Really? I carried this stuff around for nothing? Oh, too bad. You don't mind if I destroy it then, do you? In the end it's an ugly painting and carrying it would just be a burden since you don't care about it." I say while I lift the painting, still half covered by the bag that contains it, towards the ceiling, ready to throw it on the ground.

"Stop, you idiot!" He exclaims almost terrified, then, seeing that I stopped just before the painting touched the ground, he resumes talking to me, "I don't know how you knew we were looking for that painting, but I want to reward the fact that you were able to find out by granting you the proposal you were probably hoping for. You give us the painting, and we let the hostages go, okay?"

"That's a great offer, but no thanks." I say, confusing everyone.

"W-what? You're not interested in saving these people?! What kind of hero would you be?!" the man exclaims.

"I don't consider myself a hero, but I do care that they are safe. I refused because you cannot make such a proposal when you are obviously not on the same level as me. It's like I give gold for candy, it's not fair. It is obvious that this painting, or rather, what is hidden within it is very important to you, and if I don't give it to you, you still won't do anything to these people. Because if you touch anyone here, I will destroy the painting. In short, we are in a deadlock, my dear and stupid friend."

You're going to risk the lives of innocents for this stupid theory, give them that painting, Spider-Man!" Alonzo Lincoln exclaims, supported by some of the other hostages in this room.

"I'm not the type to negotiate with criminals, it happens sometimes, but this month someone has already redeemed this privilege. If I give them the painting, they could still kill you, but as long as I have this painting, it is clear that they will not do anything to you for fear that I will destroy it. So why should I give it to them?" I explain as I close the bag and wear it again as a backpack.

"It's true, and like you said, we're in a stalemate, but there's one thing you don't know, brat. You're lonely, and I can even call in reinforcements that could kill you before you know it. No, I'm not going to have you killed. Instead, I will have you chained up and, in front of you, I will begin to kill one by one all the people who are here, so you will regret not having accepted my act of mercy until the last moments of what you have left to live." He says in a tone full of cruelty.

"Man, you sound like a ruthless villain, it's a shame you're so stupid, 'cause if you weren't, I might have fallen for it. Just as your little friends can get here, so can the police or maybe some of the super heroes in the area. I'm not the one who should be careful how much time he's wasting in this impasse. It's been a while since you broke in, and I've already sent out a distress call, shall we see who comes first between your friends and mine?" I say.

-Gosh, Spidey, I didn't think a pure person like you would be so good at lying. I like your bad-boy side. Anyway, I wanted to warn you that I am at the point we have established, let me know when you are about to join me.-

I don't answer straight to Black Cat to keep them from realizing there's another person in the building who's helping me. I therefore limit myself to make a cough to make her understand that I heard her while I continue to look at that man with the mask and the black suit, since he is silent after what I said.

After a few seconds that person's hands form two shaking fists because of the frustration he is feeling.

"Capture him and bring me the damn painting as soon as possible, no matter what!" He orders his subordinates who are here with us, thus initiating the second phase of my plan.