Avi2112
patreon
Chapter 230
🕑 Added 2025-06-12 16:53:56 +0000 UTCA few minutes earlier—
“Don’t be stupid, Penny Parker. You can’t possibly stop a robber on your own!” she muttered, pacing the dimly lit alley, panic crawling up her spine.
She glanced around. The alley was empty—just piles of scattered trash and a lone bike resting near the wall. Her phone was gone, likely swimming with the eels where she had dropped it when she was helping Max. There was no one on the street she had come from either.
Should I find a payphone? Or someone to call the police?
But the thought fell flat. Whoever that intruder was, they were clearly heading for the 10th floor—the research labs. There was no money to rob, just sensitive tech and experimental data. It wouldn’t take long to grab what they came for, and by the time the cops showed up—especially with all the chaos going on in Hell’s Kitchen—the thief would be long gone.
She considered running back to alert Max, but she didn’t have a visitor’s pass. Max had swiped her in earlier using his card, and while getting out didn’t require a scan, getting back in definitely did.
Penny bit her lip, fists clenched at her sides.
Maybe she should just wait here for the thief to come back.
But Jessica’s cold, emotionless words echoed in her mind:
“I hate cowards like you, Penny Parker.”
Her pulse quickened.
“You’re taking too long, Penny. Stop overthinking and just do something!”
She exhaled sharply, forcing her breath to steady. Then her eyes widened.
“Oh yeah… I still have that thing.”
She unzipped a hidden compartment in her backpack and pulled out a small plastic packet. Tearing it open, a single white tablet dropped into her palm.
“The super drug Luke gave me for emergencies… this is the lite version,” she muttered with a nervous chuckle. “Well, if this doesn’t count as an emergency, I don’t know what does.”
She hesitated.
Was this really the right move?
Then Peggy’s voice rang out in her memory—clear, strong, and proud:
“You’ve got to believe in yourself, girl!”
Penny’s eyes narrowed with resolve.
“I’m friends with Captain Carter. I can’t back down in these kind of situations!”
Without another second of doubt, she popped the tablet into her mouth and swallowed.
Instantly her brown eyes snapped wide as everything sharpened—the smells, the sounds, the very feel of the air. The world unfolded like a diagram, clean and precise in her mind.
“This is freaking amazing…” she whispered, then wrinkled her nose. “And wow… this alley is disgusting.”
But more importantly—she knew what to do now. Every hesitation, every foggy half-plan, burned away. What remained was clarity.
First she checked the bike. No license plate. No key slot. Just a sleek fingerprint scanner.
“I thought as much… such a cool bike though, would be a crime to ruin it.” she murmured, brushing her fingers over the handlebars. “Lucky for you, I don’t have anything sharp to puncture the tires.”
Next, she reached into her bag and pulled out a red dress, folded neatly.
MJ had given it to her at the school on Friday when her own clothes were ruined in an accident. She had washed it, packed it up to return—and had forgotten to give it back yesterday.
“Well… guess it’s going to help me again after all. Thanks, MJ,” she said, tying it around the lower half of her face like a makeshift mask.
Then she looked at her exposed hands and plugged in her earphones.
“Activate Microbots: Glove Mode.”
From her open bag, a stream of black microbots crawled out like a swarm of insects, flowing over her arms and wrapping around her hands in a snug, armored layer.
“I made this mode for protection… never thought I’d be using it like this,” she chuckled, flexing her gloved fingers.
Penny looked up, craning her neck to take in the sheer, glossy expanse of the Oscorp Tower. Her eyes darted across the structure—searching. Then she spotted it: a maintenance pipeline running vertically along the side. Thin, but bolted securely at intervals. Probably used for water runoff or ventilation access.
“Well, this should be easier than climbing a tree,” she muttered with a nervous grin.
She stepped onto a trash can and launched herself upward, her gloved hands latching onto the pipe. The microbots responded instantly, clamping tight. Her sneakers slipped once, scraping the smooth surface, but she quickly found a foothold against one of the outer grooves of the support rail.
Use the grooves. Minimize sway. Calculate grip fatigue. Time the ascents between breath cycles. Focus on silence over speed.
Boot camp drills. Parkour videos. Climbing tutorials. Every relevant memory filtered to the front of her mind with pinpoint clarity. Her body didn’t hesitate—it moved exactly how she had seen others move, as if she had trained for this moment all her life.
The NZT kept her focused. Calm. Every motion was precise. Mechanical. Efficient.
Higher up, the wind hit harder than expected. Gusts threatened to throw her balance, but she compensated instinctively—hugging the pipe tighter, shifting her center of gravity, always advancing from one secure point to the next.
Five floors up.
She paused at a junction in the piping. The clamps here looked older—worn and slightly rusted.
Too risky to trust it with full weight. Reroute…
Shifting her grip, she crawled sideways like a spider, moving along a narrow maintenance ledge. Her gloved fingers gripped tightly onto two bolted window-washer anchors, then latched onto a sturdier vertical pipe on the adjacent line.
Eight floors up.
Sweat clung to her forehead. Her small body wasn’t built for this kind of exertion—but her arms moved with clockwork precision.
Just a little further. Come on…
Tenth floor.
At last.
She looked over and saw the target window, slightly ajar. The only problem? It was a few feet away, across a smooth, unforgiving gap. No ledge. No handholds. No safety net.
She took a breath. The NZT kicked in, calming her nerves and sharpening her thoughts to a razor’s edge. Her fear faded, filtered away by the drug’s effect.
You’ve seen this done. Ledge jumps. Wall runs. Movie stunts. Parkour clips. Focus on form, on timing… trust your body.
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered.
With a sharp inhale and a powerful leap, Penny launched herself off the pipe. Her gloved hands slammed onto the window ledge—barely—but the microbots gripped tight.
“Woah—!”
Her arms screamed in protest, but she didn’t let go. With a strained groan, she pulled herself up and tumbled through the open window—finally inside the Oscorp Tower.
“I should’ve just waited by the bike,” Penny muttered between gasps, wiping the sweat off her face and her glasses with her sleeve as she stood up.
Then her eyes scanned the space.
“Wait… this is the same lounge that creep took Gwen to for lunch,” she realized, instantly recognizing the layout. Adjusting the makeshift mask over her face, she moved toward the door and stepped into the hallway.
The corridor was dimly lit with a soft ambient glow—just enough to see by. It helped. Her eyes quickly darted to the security cameras mounted along the ceiling.
This is why I needed the mask.
Even if she stopped a robbery, explaining why she was wandering Oscorp at night would be a nightmare. Better safe than viral.
Without wasting time, she made her way to Dr. Connors’ lab.
“Locked… and quiet. Guess the thief didn’t hit this one,” she muttered after pressing her ear to the door.
She continued down the hallway, checking each lab one by one, especially the one housing the Devil’s Breath project.
“Thank God she didn’t go for that… That would’ve been bad.”
But then she stopped.
There it was—the lab with the spiders. Closed, but not quiet. She heard faint movement inside. Footsteps. Someone was still there.
Her body tensed.
She took a step back from the door and shifted into a low, ready stance. Her fists clenched, microbot gloves activated and humming lightly.
Beep.
The door hissed open.
“Freeze. Hands above your head!” Penny shouted the moment the door unlocked.
In front of her stood a stunning woman in skintight black gear, lined with tufts of white fur. Penny instantly recognized her—she was the same biker from earlier. What she had assumed to be silver hair from a distance was actually a lustrous white.
And though she wore an eye mask, Penny could still see that she was beautiful—movie star beautiful. She had just shoved something into her bag and was slinging it over her shoulder.
But it wasn’t just that.
There were black cat ears on her head.
And a swaying black tail behind her.
Penny blinked. What? Was she… cosplaying a catgirl while robbing a high-security research lab?
“Oh?” the woman purred, her sharp blue eyes locking onto Penny. “Who do we have here? Aren’t you the little girl I saw downstairs a few minutes ago?”
Penny tightened her fists. Her heart thudded.
But she was grateful for one thing.
That her face was hidden behind MJ’s red dress.
She wasn’t about to let her face get caught on Oscorp security footage—or remembered by this thief. Secret identities were rule number one in superhero comics after all. Although the same rule must be true for thieves too.
The woman didn’t look threatened at all. In fact, she looked amused.
“How did you even get up here?” the woman asked smoothly, her tone laced with curiosity. Her sharp eyes casually scanned the hallway behind Penny. “Is there anyone else with you?”
“No,” Penny said flatly, standing her ground, “but I’ve already called the police. They’ll be here any minute.”
That was a lie, of course. She didn’t even have her phone. But the woman didn’t know that.
“So if you know what’s good for you,” Penny continued, adjusting her stance to block the hallway exit, “you’ll drop whatever you stole… and walk away. While you still can.”
The woman raised a single brow, a slow smirk curling her lips. “Aw, you’re adorable.”
She stepped forward slightly, the door behind her still open, she didn’t look fazed. If anything, she looked… entertained.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, little girl,” she said, voice like velvet. “You’re not going to stop me. You’re going to step aside, let me walk out that door, and you’re never going to breathe a word of this to anyone.”
“Why would I do that?” Penny asked, a bit confused by how chill she was.
“Because,” the woman said, her voice dropping slightly, “I’ve already wiped all the data from the lab. And in…” —she tapped the side of her bag lightly— “oh, let’s say a few minutes? This whole room is going to go boom.”
She took another slow step forward, her heels barely making a sound. “And when Oscorp investigates the explosion? Do you really think they’ll believe you? A random teenage girl who somehow got inside their secure tower after hours? Who just happened to be there during the blast? No cameras, no security logs, and yet here you are—spouting stories about a mysterious, gorgeous black cat lady who doesn’t show up on any footage? You’ll be their number one suspect.”
Penny felt that her logic was sound, but she didn’t let it show.
“And Oscorp?” the woman added, voice now a whisper. “They’re a lot darker than the rumors say. You don’t want their eyes on you, kid. They’ll chew you up. And everyone you care about.”
Her words hung heavy in the air like smoke.
But Penny didn’t flinch.
“I can’t let you go,” she said, voice steady, knowing that the woman must have the stolen data on her.
The woman’s blue eyes narrowed, her smirk flickering for just a moment. “You really think you can stop me, little girl?”
“Try me,” Penny replied, her NZT-boosted mind brimming with focus and tactical clarity. She flexed her fingers as the microbot gloves tightened around her palms like coiled steel.
“Last chance, girl,” the woman warned, a silky edge in her voice. “Just walk away. I doubt whatever’s in this lab has anything to do with you.”
She placed a gloved hand against the deep cut of her suit, fingers brushing her exposed cleavage with theatrical flair.
“And if you’re doing this out of some misguided sense of justice,” she added with a slow grin, “then let me reassure you—I’m one of the good cats.”
“There’s an old saying…” Penny muttered, a grin behind her mask. “Never trust a cat.”
The woman gave a soft laugh, amused.
“This is your last chance,” Penny continued, voice unwavering. “Drop the bag. Walk away. Maybe the police are already downstairs, or even making their way up, so don’t make a mistake. ”
Felicia’s smirk widened. “Well, I’ve wasted enough time here.”
She took a step forward.
Click.
The lab door behind the woman slid shut with a quiet hiss.
“Microbots: Restrain Mode!” Penny shouted.
The command echoed just as a line of black microbots slithered from her sleeves, lashing out like whips in midair, targeting the thief’s arms and legs with coiling speed.
The woman’s eyes gleamed, wild and delighted. “Oooh… this just got interesting.”
***
I give a heartfelt thanks to my new Patreon Supporters! :)
BrownSpider
Астердис Авентил
You both are Omega level on Patreon and Tier 5 on Discord now!!
***
There is a new Gamma tier, for those of you who purely want to support me and my writing!
Please check it out!
***
There are also new Patreon Benefits Tracker and Chapter Release Calendar Links (Which I update regularly including chapter status) on Discord and Patreon for the Supporters.
More exclusive stuff will be coming soon like Character Profile Lists!
