Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, was sitting at home during a rainy Sunday afternoon. She was reading the Daily Bugle, hoping to find an article written about the bank robbery that she had busted last night with Spider-man. It wasn’t until a few pages in until she found it.
The article read that a bank was robbed last night by a group of amateur thugs and they were busted single handedly by crime-fighting vigilante the Black Cat. Spider-man also showed up later but to only get in the way for the costume heroine.
Felicia was not happy. She hated how the Bugle always made Spider-man seem like a loser. Spider-man was the reason why she became a vigilante. If it weren’t for him, she would still be out there stealing, even though she didn't mind the fact that she could be out there stealing. She used to enjoy the thrill of stealing in the night, the thrill of getting caught and chased by Spider-man; sure she still played cat-and-mouse with Spider-man once in a while but it wasn’t the same. Spider-man, or should she say Peter Parker, was married to Mary Jane now. Their relationship now wasn’t the same as it used to be years ago.
That was when Felicia noticed an article in the paper about an ancient artifact from Egypt to be displayed at the museum tonight. It was an old lamp only recently discovered. It belonged to some pharaoh who had cleverly hidden it in his tomb from grave robbers. In fact, a legend about how a genie lived in the lamp that granted him three wishes and that he wouldn’t let anyone else touch his lamp but him. Of course the archeologists touched the lamp and nothing happened. But this legend is what makes the lamp so valuable.
“The Black Cat is going to be working tonight,” thought Felicia, “I’m sure someone is going to try to make a move for it.
Felicia got up and made herself another cup of coffee thinking, “Why does the museum always make themselves a target for thieves by parading their valuables everywhere?”
That night, once the museum closed, the Black Cat was perched on the building across from the museum.
“What’s a cat like you doing at a place like this?” asked Spider-man as he jumped next to the Black Cat.
“I think someone’s going to make a move on the lamp tonight,” said a distracted Black Cat. Felicia Hardy was an attractive woman; she could have almost any guy she wanted with her beauty and body. But the only person she wanted was the one in front of her dressed like a spider.
“Look!” pointed Spider-man. Two figures were sneaking into the museum through the roof like the Black Cat thought.
“Let’s go,” said the Black Cat as she swung first.
* * *
“These thieves know what they’re doing,” whispered the Black Cat, “they made careful note of everything.”
The Black Cat and Spider-man were walking towards the Egyptian exhibit when two figures ran into them. The two thieves immediately tried to make a run for it, splitting up. The Black Cat chased the smaller one while Spider-man followed the other one. The Black Cat followed her prey onto the roof where he was cornered.
“Why don’t you be a good boy and give up?” said a triumphant Black Cat.
“Come and get me!” shouted the evil-doer.
The Black Cat jumped at the person and tackled him. He put up a fight but he was no match for her.
“That’ll teach you little boy,” as she punched him one more time. She searched to see if he had the lamp. It felt weird doing a search on him but it was necessary. It turned out he did have it and she grabbed it.
“This lamp would look nice in my living room,” purred the Black Cat as she walked away. She was so distracted that she didn’t realize that the crook was in the way of the entrance back into the building when she tripped on his body.
“Dammit!” she screamed as she dropped the lamp and it broke into a thousand pieces. The Black Cat got up and went to pick up the pieces when she was surrounded by a cloud of smoke. A ball of mist started to gather and a genie had appeared in front of her!
“You have freed me from my eternal slumber!” boomed the Genie, “let me sleep in peace!”
The Black Cat was in awe, she didn’t know whether to be scared or happy.
“I will make your fantasy into reality!!” shouted the genie, “and I will return to fulfill anymore desires.”
The smoke started to surround her as the Black Cat started to cough. She kept coughing and couldn’t breathe. She was choking. Everything started to turn black around her. She could feel her body falling to the ground and passing out.
* * *
As Felicia woke up, she found herself lying on a very comfortable giant sized bed. She was wearing her pajamas and a half-dressed Spider-man in the room.
“Good morning honey,” said the Spider-man as he walked closer to give her a kiss on the forehead, “Glad to see you’ve finally woken up.”
“Spider? Where am I?” she asked nervously.
“Home of course, you’ve must’ve really worn yourself out last night,” smiled Spider-man (under his mask), “I’ll get Mary Jane to make you some breakfast.”
“Oh I get it now,” Felicia thought, “that crook wasn’t really knocked out, just pretending so he could throw some dust on me to knock me out. Spider must’ve found me and taken me back to his place to get better. But I don’t remember him having such a nice guest room, or him calling my ‘honey’ recently.”
Mary Jane came into the room wearing a grey uniform with an apron. “What can I get you Mr. Parker?” asked Mary Jane.
“C’mon MJ, I told you not to call me Mr. Parker, call me Peter,” said Spider-man, “or at least Spider-man when I’m in costume. Anyways MJ, I was wondering if you’re not busy if you could make Felicia some breakfast.”
“Of course sir, right away,” said Mary Jane as she rushed off.
“Huh?” said Felicia, “What’s going on here Peter?”
“You must’ve really worn yourself out last night,” chuckled Spider-man, “from now on, no more intense sex after hard, long night of patrolling.”
Spider-man put on the rest of his costume as he walked towards Felicia, “well Mrs. Parker-Forgetful, Mary Jane needed a job so you came up with the idea of hiring her as our housekeeper. And our other friend Flash Thompson couldn’t find a job either so we also pay him to help out. You’re Felicia Parker, wife of super billionaire Peter Parker. But by night we’re Spider-man and the Black Cat!! We fight crime, steal from the rich and give to the poor!”
It took a minute for Felicia to absorb all of this; somehow that genie must’ve altered reality to make Felicia’s dreams come true.
“Wait, uh, honey, what do you do exactly, y’know, for a living?” asked a still confused Felicia.
“Well, I am the CEO of my own company that’s always making medical breakthroughs. I own hospitals and universities. Well actually I inherited a lot of it from my parents.”
“Um, okay” said Felicia. She realized it would be best to just play along for now.
“Well I guess you won’t be joining me for my afternoon patrol.”
“Yea, I’m still a little, tired.” Said Felicia.
A few minutes later Mary Jane came in with a tray of food. “Here you are Mrs. Parker,” said MJ with a smile.
“Um thanks,” said Felicia, “MJ, can I ask you a favour?”
“Sure Mrs. Parker”
“Does the public … know about Peter and my, I mean, does everyone know that Peter is Spider-man and I’m the Black Cat?”
“Oh of course not, not even Flash knows. Peter’s very careful.
“Thanks MJ, you can go back to whatever else you have to do.”
Felicia sighed with a breath of relief. She could get used to this new life style. She decided to take a tour of her new home. She walked through the many guest rooms, MJ’s room, the enourmous living rooms, kitchens, and everything else. She looked out the window of her penthouse suite. She could see all of the city from there. She found an elevator in one of the hallways. There seemed to be a slot for hands. She put her palm on it and the elevator doors opened with a ding. She stepped in and within minutes she was on the roof. She was on top of the building.
She went back down to her room and checked out her closet. She found her Black Cat costume there along with a photo album. She looked at through the album to see pictures of her wedding to Peter, her parent’s funeral, and Peter’s Aunt May’s funeral.
“I see you’re looking through the old photos,” said Mary Jane as she walked in, “sorry to interrupt, I just thought you’d like some company.”
“Oh thanks MJ,” smiled Felicia.
“You’re really lucky Mrs. Parker, Peter’s really a wonderful man,” said MJ who looked like she wanted to cry, “I’m actually a little bit jealous of you.”
Felicia realized that this Mary Jane, like the other one she knew, loved Peter Parker.