Felicia Hardy and Agent Shadowcat walked through the glowing marble lobby under fake names, fresh clothes, clean hair, and not a speck of blood left to betray what they had just done. They looked like tourists—exhausted tourists—dragging two heavy "luggage" cases behind them.
No one noticed the distortion of air gliding silently at their heels. No one noticed Spider-Man following them invisibly, keeping pace with every step.
They reached the elevator. Rogue mashed the button with the limp impatience of a woman who'd killed her way through a palace and wanted nothing else but a mattress. Felicia leaned her shoulder into the wall, her exhaustion hidden behind a flirtatious smirk that meant absolutely nothing and absolutely everything.
The elevator dinged. They stepped inside. The invisible third passenger did too. The ride up was silent. The girls were too tired to speak; Spider-Man simply didn't.
At their floor, they hurried down the hallway. They entered their room, shut the door, locked it twice, slid the chain over, and only then—
Thud.
Both cases of Vibranium hit the carpet.
Rogue dropped face-first into the nearest bed, boots still on, limbs splayed like someone had unplugged her soul.
"Wake me when the world stops tryin' to kill us," Rogue mumbled into the pillow. "That surgery fucked me up more than I realized…"
Felicia threw herself onto the other bed, bouncing once before sprawling with a relieved groan.
'Herbie,' Spider-Man asked his AI friend, 'What is the state of the Wakanda airspace?'
'IN FULL MILITARY ENGAGEMENT. YOUR JET HAS SENT BACK HOME AS YOU WISHED.'
In other words, all according to plan.
"We stay two nights," Felicia said, eyes already half-lidded. "City's locked down, airports crawling with security, and I don't feel like being detained by a bunch of cops with itchy trigger fingers. Better to play it normal… act like a couple of vacation girls."
She winked toward the empty space by the wall.
"Thank you, by the way, for volunteering for night watch. Very chivalrous. Very bodyguard. Very… spider-y."
Rogue was already snoring.
Felicia exhaled, rolled onto her side, and let sleep claim her.
One by one, their breathing settled.
The plan after this was to split the Vibranium. Although Felicia was a thief, he was confident she wouldn't try something stupid and try and steal them all. Especially considering her vendetta against the Auction Master wasn't over. She needed allies.
Spider-Man crouched, then sat cross-legged on the floor between the beds, hands resting on his knees, as still as a statue. His Spidey-sense flickered softly around him. It was an eternal alarm system. If anyone breached the door, the window, the hallway, or even the floor below, he would know.
He closed his eyes.
For one heartbeat, the room was dark and quiet. Then he opened them again…
Whoosh!
….and the world had changed.
He was no longer sitting on hotel carpet. He was kneeling in warm, violet sand beneath a sky full of impossible stars. Before him was a black panther, the representation of the great god Bast. There was no fog to obscure the beautiful animal. The panther's eyes glowed like molten silver. Her silhouette flickered between panther and goddess only twice, to show him he was in her company, and settled on panther.
Spider-Man—Felix—exhaled.
"I had my Symbiote take only a tiny sip of the fruit," Felix said, voice echoing strangely in the spirit air. "I wanted to see if my hypothesis was correct."
The Heart-Shaped Fruit. The kings had used it for centuries not only to gain strength, but to commune with the gods. That was why the fruits had been guarded. Why they couldn't simply be discarded. They were the last line of connection, the emergency bridge to Bast and her pantheon.
Felix had used the smallest fraction of that window.
"It's been a while, Bast."
"It has, Spider. When I asked that you protect my children."
Her emotions were clearer now. Without the fog, without the blur, everything felt right. This was how communion was supposed to be.
"T'Challa and Shuri," Felix nodded. "Yeah. I did."
"You did more than protect them. You preserved a nation that teetered on the edge of bloodshed."
The sand glowed faintly beneath them.
"You have my utmost gratitude, Spider."
"You do. And I'd like some answers. I'll cut straight to the point: you told me there were three Heart-shaped Fruits. Three fruits of your family."
"Yes…"
"I saw four down at the pedestal."
Bast blinked twice. He saw and felt the confusion.
"You said you've communed with T'Challa, right? Did you tell him to grow the fruits?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I doubt it. I know, because otherwise, why ask an American for advice on how to grow it? If he has a god? Let me guess you did not deem him ready yet."
"It was that…and more. It was…because of this world."
"Right. Your connection to this world is weakening. You live here…" Felix looked around. "Wherever here is. I suspect a higher dimension. Whatever it is, it's where you gods live."
"And where the dead reside," Bast added. "Things…are not so simple. An unquenchable greed has taken over the hearts of humans. In previous empires, power was consolidated. Now—"
"They want to share. You think people should inherently be ruled over," Felix pointed out. "As gods, it comes natural to you. To rule. To make others rule. To gift them."
"..."
"You don't understand the qualms of the ordinary people. Having an empire, a royal family, people inherently superior to others, it begs for conflict. It's what caused all this in the first place."
He was right on the dot judging by the brief pause. "I…have known this. But…none have spoken this to me. You are correct, Spider. My job now should only be to hope and to look over. Not to select or to rule as I have been. The world has changed since my times. I suppose it is fate that I was to wind up here. To be…simply of aid."
He breathed a little. He was glad Bast understood.
"But…this world…has been losing its magic because of a shroud," Bast continued. "This, I believe, is what I must aid you in. To help you understand. You see, soon, magic and hope have been losing so faith that I believe the souls of this world will not even be able to go to heaven or hell. They will simply cease."
What? Pushing aside the actual confirmation of heaven and hell, what in the world was the reason for the world's decreasing magic?
"Is it because of the Devil?"
"I believe so. It must. He is why this world is so sealed from the multiverse. From my memory, it happened not too before the beginning of your journey, Spider."
"Before I got bitten…"
"Yes…"
Fog began to manifest. Their time was coming to a close. God dammit. Maybe he should have taken more of that juice—no, no. The whole point was to get red of this.
"Is that all you can tell me?" Felix said, only to have to repeat himself when Bast failed to hear him. "Anything! Give me anything!"
The fog thickened. Only the black panther's shining eyes could be glimpsed. "Spider, think of your Bridge. She and the Devil…have made contact. Yes, I believe that has happened! Beaware."
The vision ended. Felix was back in the hotel room. He put a hand to his face.
"The Bride…does that mean…?"
Gwen Stacy?
Colluding with the Devil?
***
Morning sunlight bled through the hotel curtains in soft gold bands when—
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Felicia groaned into her pillow. Rogue jolted awake with a muffled, murderous noise.
Spider-Man was already alert. He leaned slightly toward the door from where he sat cross-legged. His Symbiote rippled, ready.
"I've gooot it." Felicia pushed herself upright, shoved hair out of her face, and slinked toward the peephole with the tired annoyance of a woman who really didn't want to murder someone before breakfast.
A hotel security guard stood outside, uniform crisp, expression strained with worry.
Felicia cracked the door open, just enough to show her face and the strap of a satin robe that did wonders for disarming men.
"Morning, officer. Is there a problem?"
"Terribly sorry, miss," the guard said, voice taut. "Emergency sweep. There was… ah… an incident in the capital last night. Coup attempt. The government's asked us to double-check identities of all foreign nationals staying in the city, briefly. For your protection."
Felicia widened the door an inch, leaned casually against the frame, and let a soft, sympathetic gasp escape.
"Oh no… that sounds awful. Of course." Felicia flashed her ID. A fake, but flawless. "Here. I'm traveling with a friend, but she's dead asleep. Hard day yesterday."
The guard hesitated. Felicia pushed the door wider.
Rogue was sprawled on the bed like a corpse, hair a mess, one boot dangling off the mattress, snoring into a pillow.
The guard blinked. "Ah—yes. I see. That's fine, miss. Everything checks out."
"Thank you for checking," Felicia said, lowering her voice into something smooth and reassuring. "Stay safe out there, okay?"
"I— right. Yes. You too."
The the guard hurried off down the hall. Probably to check on the next foreigner.
Felicia closed the door, twisted the lock, and exhaled in relief. Spider-Man uncloaked beside the wardrobe with a soft shimmer of dissolving invisibility.
Rogue sat up, rubbing her face. "Well ain't that a lovely way t' wake up. What'd I miss?"
Felicia stretched, spine popping. "Coup attempt. Pretty muc what we expected. Now…" Her eyes glinted and pointed to the suitcases on the floor. "We need to split the Vibranium. And we keep tabs on each other until this blows over."
"Tabs?" Rogue yawned.
Felicia grinned. "Yeah. I'll go out later and buy some burner phones. Just in case."
Spider-Man lifted a hand. Three tiny, sleek mechanical spiders crawled from his palm and onto the nightstand, each the size of a coin.
Felicia grimaced. "Oh. The spider-bot things. Right. Err…guess we'll take it." Felicia crouched down, lightly poking one with a fingertip. The bot wiggled its legs at her.
She flinched. Rogue snorted.
"Still are creepy little fellas," Felicia muttered. "But… alright. Effective. Plus, if I drop it, I won't be screwed."
They slid two of them into their pockets. The third remained on the table, tapping its tiny metal feet like an overeager puppy.
Which was when he received a call.
"CALL INCOMING: NORMAN OSBORN," Herbie informed him.
The ladies didn't notice or care as Spider-Man walked to the balcony, slid the door open, and stepped outside. He turned invisible mid-stride, the shimmer coating him until only a faint ripple remained.
The balcony door clicked shut behind him.
Felicia and Rogue exchanged uncertain glances.
Outside, Spider-Man settled with crossed arms. The city wind brushed over his invisible form.
He weighed the pros and cons of answering. Eventually, he accepted the call.
"Hello, Dr. Faeth. It's been a while. I hope your out of country vacation has been going well."
Yes, it had. Yes, it had, Norman.