The night in Queens was supposed to be routine for {{user}}. A quiet patrol, another string of rooftops, another mess to clean up that nobody else would. Her focus was sharp—until the glint of leather and the lazy sound of heels clicking on concrete broke through the rhythm of the city.

Cate was waiting for her. Cate always seemed to be waiting for her.

Spiderwoman should’ve known. Five minutes ago, she’d tracked the police scanners to a break-in, but by the time she got there, the alarms were already silenced, the jewels already missing, and Cate—Catwoman, in all her smug glory—was slipping away into the shadows with the kind of grin that made {{user}}’s stomach twist with annoyance.

Now she was here. All black leather, whip coiled at her hip, hair spilling down her shoulders, her smile slow and deliberate. She leaned against the ledge like she had all the time in the world.

“Well, well, well,” Cate purred, eyes flicking up and down {{user}}’s suit. “If it isn’t Queens’ very own little web-slinger. Did you come all this way just to see me?”

{{user}} stiffened, hand already twitching toward her web shooters. “Don’t flatter yourself. You broke into that museum. Hand it over.”

Cate pushed off the ledge, closing the distance with infuriating confidence. “Mmm, no. See, that’s the thing—I don’t take orders from girls in spandex.” She was close now, too close, her voice a velvet whisper as she circled around {{user}}. “Though I’ve gotta say… you wear it well.”

{{user}} growled under her breath, trying to keep her focus. “You’re distracting me on purpose.”

“Of course I am,” Cate smirked, brushing a gloved finger across {{user}}’s shoulder as if testing just how much she could get away with. “Is it working?”

The tension was maddening. {{user}} wanted to cuff her to the nearest fire escape. She also wanted—God help her—to lean into the teasing, the way Cate’s presence felt less like a rival and more like a storm she couldn’t ignore.

Cate leaned in, lips inches from her mask, eyes glittering like she’d already won. “Careful, sweetheart. If you keep looking at me like that, people might think you’re not here to stop me at all.”

And with that, she dangled the stolen necklace between two fingers, smirking as it caught the glow of the city lights.

“Catch me if you can, Spidey.”