There are times in one’s life when things go in slow motion and Black Cat had one of those moments. That feeling of being pulled in an opposite direction caused her body to turn and start towards Spider-Man with a large amount of force. Her only reaction she could do was turn her head to one side and take the instance punch to the face. Even with her mask, the impact was a painful one and she felt backwards onto the rooftop, motionless for a moment. 

She stared up at the sky for a moment. Peter called her a bitch and he hit her. Then again she triggered it and she knew it. She knew what she was doing and expected the foul language but she didn’t expect the hit. Sitting up slowly she held the side of her face wincing behind her mask in pain. Attention slowly rolling upward as Spider-Man started towards her. She flinched and crawled back slightly with stumbling feet and visibly shaken. As much as she wanted to think that wasn’t Peter… it was…

At least, that was her first impression until she saw him grabbing at his mask. Why… why couldn’t he take it off? Her blue eyes expanded behind her mask. That… that looked like… “No…” She said softly as she watched the tentacles form back into the mask. How did that stuff end up on Peter? How did he not notice?! Was… was that what caused him to lash out so harshly?! Half of her believed it could have been Peter snapping but the other half, that other half always filled with hope, believed that the reaction was the tentacle stuff. She watched Spider-Man take off of the building and almost instantly started after him.

Chasing Spider-Man around New York City was difficult without his increased power but she was able to predict where he’d swing next and launched herself hard enough to tackle him in mid-swing and cause the two to tumble along another rooftop. Jumping up, Black Cat kept her distance. “Listen…” She began in a stern but soft tone.

Reaching up, she slowly pulled off her mask, revealing the face of Lexi Rogers; left cheek bright red and throbbing but she didn’t care, even if she did just spit out some blood. “Listen to me. You’re one of two things right now; you’re either really pissed at me or you’re really pissed at yourself but I need you to listen.”

She slowly placed her mask on the ground next to her, wanting to make it clear that it was Lexi Rogers speaking to him and not Black Cat. “Remember when I was in the hospital and you thought you had lost me… well you did. I did die, and I went to a place that I can only describe as a field with a forest next to it. I couldn’t talk while I was there but I could hear and see; feel and move. Uncle Ben found me. He told me when I came back I needed to tell you something. I should have told you sooner but I didn’t know when would be a good time. I’m going to tell you now Peter Parker and you’re going to listen. Your Uncle Ben has been watching you, and he’s so very proud of you.” Her eyes began to water but she kept her distance from him. “He’s proud of you for taking care of Aunt May, for doing well in school and mastering your gift. He still loves you, and even after this he will still love you and still be proud of you but you have to overcome this. You have to stop.” 

“I have an idea, the suite’s probably not going to like it but it’s the only thing I can think of that will help. We need to get you to Doctor Octavius. He has to have some way of containing it. Now we can do this the easy way were you swing there and I follow you or…” She tapped the ends of her fingers together and her diamond claws came out. “We can do this the hard way.” As timing would have it, she spit out more blood. She was willing to fight him if it came down to it; she’d tie him up like she had done with others in the past and drag him to the lab herself. But this had to change.