To the Sewers

"I wonder why a super villain would leave a letter for a hero. I mean, don't they usually either try to kill or run away from heroes?" One cop says while standing guard at the crime scene where an expensive statue had been stolen hours prior only to be replaced by a letter and a plush toy.

"It's probably just some sort of a trap they are setting up. Why else would they try to contact a hero." The second cop says lazily.

"Should we open the letter and read it? I am kind of curious…"

"Be my guest if you want to lose your job. The Chief explicitly told us not to touch it until Spiderman arrives."

"Your right." The first cop abandons the idea of reading the letter but suddenly remembers something. "Wait, didn't the chief go on a vacation last week? Why did he suddenly send us a message not to touch a random envelope he doesn't even know about?"

"That does sound suspicious… I saw his Instagram, and he was still relaxing at some beach in Europe just yesterday. There is no way he is back to work yet." The second cop also falls into thought.

That is the conversation I stumbled upon when I reached the auction house that Diana told me about. Luckily I made it here before these guys started reading my letters.

"Hey, guys, I believe you have something for me," I land in front of the two cops startling them out of their thoughts.

One of them quickly points to the pedestal positioned in between them. "Yeah, these were left here in replacement to the statue that was stolen, the toy is the usual calling card the Black Cat leaves behind, but the letter is meant for you."

I take the envelope and rip it open, taking the letter out and throwing the empty envelope into my inventory. I was kind of cautious about using my inventory in the open before, but at some point, I just got lazy and stopped caring. Hopefully, that doesn't come to bite me in the ass before I get strong enough not to care.

The letter left by Felicia wasn't long at all, only a few lines.

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Hey Spider or anyone else who is rudely reading a letter not meant for them (If you aren't Spiderman, put the letter down right now, or if I ever find out who you are, I will rob you of all your valuables).

Anyways, Spider, I need some help, and I think you will be interested, so come to the place where we first met. I will be waiting for you.

PS: The statue is in a dumpster in the back alley of the auction house. It was just a fake, so I didn't care to keep it.

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The first place we met would technically be my apartment, but she doesn't know that. What she probably means is that Kingpin's base we broke into together some time ago.

I threw the letter into my inventory along with the plush black cat toy because I found it cute. Oh, and before I set out, I also let the cops know about the statue being in a dumpster in the back alley somewhere. They'll probably find it.

With my next destination known, I swing my way over at record speeds. How long will it be until I can break the speed of sound while just web-slinging? If I push myself to the max right now, I could probably manage around 30% of the necessary speed with 400 Dex points, so by that, I should be able to easily do it by the time I reach 1000 dexterity. Although saying that, I rarely even bother pushing myself to the limit when just slinging around the city, it's much better to just enjoy the view.

I land in front of Kingpin's old base, which by now is actually abandoned as the police got a whiff of it after our escape and cleared it out.

I look around but see no signs of Felicia anywhere. Just as I'm about to web myself up to the roof to get a better look around, I feel someone landing right behind me.

"How are you already here? I only left that invitation to you around 10 minutes ago, and you almost made it here faster than me. I thought I would have to wait for at least an hour, if not more."

"I'm very quick." I shrug and watch as Felicia's face turns mischievous.

"I don't think that's a quality a man should be bragging about." She snickers at me.

"That's not what I meant by that. If you don't believe me, I can prove it. Hmm, how about Friday night?" I shoot back and see her slightly blush under her mask

"That… at least take me out to dinner first, will you? I may seem flirty, but it's not that easy to get me into your bed."

At this point, she has turned her head away in embarrassment. I didn't realize she was such a glass cannon when it came to teasing, was it always like this?

"Who said anything about a bed? I just wanted to race you around the city to show you how quick I can swing. Get your mind out of the gutter." I tease her further, only causing her to click her tongue at me.

"Tch, whatever. Let's get to why I actually invited you here." Felicia says, reminding me that I'm also kind of on a clock here. "I need your help with stealing something."

"Do I get a cut of the profits?" I ask without delay, causing her to raise her eyebrow at me.

"I would have thought a hero like you would immediately reject the idea and try to convince me otherwise, not try to get a cut…" She sounds as if she didn't expect this.

"Yeah, no, I was just kidding… mostly. "I admit. "While I wouldn't mind the money, I don't exactly want to go about ruining my reputation by robbing a bank or the like."

"It's not robbing a bank. The target is the research of a former Oscorp employee." Felicia explained, making me interested. "I have information that an Oscorp employee who was recently sacked has set up a secret laboratory here down in the sewers to finish his work before Oscorp can finish it themselves and steal all the credit."

"And what's in it for me? Why would you even want me for this? I'm sure you have plenty of experience stealing things, including information, yourself."

"Well, actually, I'm not the first one to attempt this. My informant was the one who helped the Oscorp employee set up their laboratory in the first place with the intention of stealing the research and killing the scientist after, but it didn't exactly work out, it seems." Felicia disclosed, "They sent down a group of men to 'do the job' a few days ago, but all except one were killed in the sewers. The one who escaped lost an arm and seems traumatized, only saying they all got ripped apart by a giant 8-foot-tall lizard."

"An 8-foot-tall lizard?" I inquired with one person promptly coming to mind, Curt Connors.

Curt, however, was still employed at Oscorp when I visited Oscorp Tower with my class roughly a month ago. Had he really gotten fired in the meantime?

"Yeah, I know that may seem a bit unbelievable-" Felicia says, her voice a little doubtful herself, but I stop her.

"I have fought a giant man made out of sand before, what is so unbelievable about an 8-foot lizard?" Something clicks in Felicia's head, and she nods as if that is obvious.

"Right, anyways, this is a great deal, isn't it? I get what I want, and you get to take out a giant lizard before it gets out and becomes a threat to the city."

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Note: A shorter chapter, maybe another one tomorrow.