Marvel’s Omnitrix [A Ben 10 x Marvel Isekai] Chapter 87 87: [87] The Detective and Her Alien Partner

—

The elevator to Trish's apartnt building moved at a pace that could generously be called "leisurely." With every floor, it groaned like it was reconsidering its life choices.

"Nah, I think the stairs would have been faster," I said as I leaned against the back wall, still feeling the lingering warmth from our rooftop encounter, both physically and emotionally.

"Just stay put."

"Jessica, your elevator needs therapy," I replied, watching the numbers crawl upward. "It's clearly depressed."

She snorted, keys already in hand. "No shit. Building's from the 1940s. We're lucky it moves at all."

"I could fix it as Upgrade. One rge and this thing would shoot up like a rocket."

"Please don't. Mrs. Kowalski in 4B would have a heart attack," she said, but the soft giggle that left her lips told that she'd considered it.

The doors finally parted with a reluctant sigh, and Jessica led the way down a narrow hallway to the apartnt.

Thinking back, had I ever been inside during daylight hours? I think once, but things were so ssy we didn't notice when the night fell.

"Trish is away at so radio conference in Boston for the weekend," she explained, unlocking the door. "Don't judge the ss. That's all ."

The apartnt that greeted us was a study in contrasts. There were Trish's carefully curated designer furniture and art pieces provided the backdrop, while Jessica's influence was evident in the functional chaos scattered throughout. Case files were spread across an expensive coffee table. A worn leather jacket hung off a kitchen chair. The walls featured Trish's tasteful art collection, except for one corner that held a single frad photo of Jessica and Trish from years ago.

"My corner of the kingdom," Jessica said, gesturing to the living room area that had clearly beco her makeshift office. "Trish keeps threatening to hire an organizer."

"I might agree with her."

"Make yourself comfortable," she said, tossing her keys into a bowl by the door. "Want a drink? I've got… Uh, beer and whiskey. Maybe so expired orange juice."

"You should keep so tea, at least. But water's fine," I replied, wandering toward her desk where more files were stacked beside a laptop that had seen better days. "So this is where the magic happens, huh? Detective Jones' headquarters."

"Hardly magic," she said, returning with two glasses of water. "More like where I waste hours sorting through cheating spouses and insurance fraud. Ugh, it's so boringgg, Ben."

Her reaction made laugh. She cleared a space on the couch, shoving aside what looked like case notes and a well-worn copy of "Basic Private Investigation Techniques." The dosticity of the mont struck .

Jessica Jones in her natural habitat, letting this botherso see the mundane side of her extraordinary life.

I had half expected her to walk out on during that rooftop talk, not going to lie. I'd begun the conversation with that in mind.

"So," she said, all business despite all the sweaty businesses that just happened between us earlier. "Professional ti now."

"Let's go."

"This Black Cat you ntioned, if that's really who we're dealing with." She pulled out a manila folder from a desk drawer and spread its contents across the coffee table.

Police reports, insurance claims, and grainy security footage ford a mosaic of evidence. Jessica pointed to the first photo, showing a shattered display case. "This was the Peterson Gallery on Fifth. Half a million in diamonds gone in under two minutes. No alarms were triggered, nor any fingerprints left. Nothing on cara except..."

She slid another photo forward. A single fra from security footage showing that sa shadow I'd spotted in the park.

I leaned closer, studying the blurred shape. "Whoa. She sure can move."

"We're not sure it's a she, yet, stop staring at their ass."

I shrugged. "Anyways. The movent is too fluid and too perfect. Either this is soone with enhanced abilities or soone with years of professional training. Maybe both."

"My thoughts exactly." Jessica flipped through more photos. "What's interesting is, despite having these skills, this person doesn't do bank robbery or stuff of greater monetary value. It's mostly jewelleries they're after. Four hits in the last month. All high-end jewelry, all pristine jobs. It's like they're not just stealing but performing."

I nodded, examining the evidence while my mind worked through what I rembered about Black Cat.

I knew her from the wiki, from word of mouth, the Spider-Man PS4 ga, and from many internet forums, but I hadn't really gone deep into comics to read about her. However, I think I know enough.

Felicia Hardy, cat burglar extraordinaire, sotis Spider-Man's ally, sotis enemy, but always complicated. In the comics, she had probability manipulation powers that gave her "bad luck" abilities. It wasn't an active power, it was just there. But did this universe's version have those powers, or was she just extrely skilled?

Better not to make assumptions. "Any patterns to the targets?"

"Besides expensive shiny things?" Jessica pulled up her laptop, showing a map with the robbery locations marked. "All within a ten-block radius of Central Park. All with state-of-the-art security that sohow failed at the exact mont of the theft."

"Aha. Which ans either our thief has inside knowledge of each system..."

"Or tech that can disable them," Jessica finished. "Either way, they know exactly what they're doing."

Or power. Probability Manipulation. This exact power worked in the sense that bad luck would strike her "enemies" in a way that was improbable but not impossible. So when she fled, it could just happen to be the exact ti when the caras weren't spinning, or the exact angle the cara couldn't see, or the exact minute when the cara was malfunctioning.

I frowned and picked up one of the police reports, scanning it quickly. Sothing caught my eye.

"Wait, the system logs at the Cartier store showed a power fluctuation exactly 3.2 seconds before the theft."

"And?"

"The sa thing happened at the Peterson Gallery, too. Didn't you notice? It says 3.2 seconds." I grabbed another report. "And here too, at Tiffany's. Huh. That's not coincidence. That's a signature."

Jessica's eyes lit up with that detective fire I was coming to admire. "A calling card."

"Or maybe a technical limitation," I said, my mind racing. "What if their tech needs exactly 3.2 seconds to override the security systems? That's the kind of detail most thieves would vary to avoid detection, but this one either can't or won't."

"So we have a thief with a pattern and a potential technical constraint." Jessica was already typing notes. "Not bad, Ben. That gives us sothing to work with."

I watched her work, enjoying how Jessica worked so differently from my usual approach to problems.

Typically, I'd just transform and tackle issues head-on. But Jessica's thodical detective work was opening up new possibilities. Maybe I could learn sothing here. Since this wasn't so crazy murder scene where we were running out of ti, I decided not to transform into Greymatter. Sotis using my own brain was needed.

"Maybe we should check out one of the cri scenes," I suggested. "I've got an idea that might help."

Jessica glanced up from her laptop. "Funny you say that, actually. I was thinking the sa thing. The owner of Esposito Jewelers gave access for tonight. They were hit three days ago."

"Perfect." I tapped the Omnitrix. "Let introduce Upgrade to their security system, and we might get so answers they missed."

"Upgrade… You ntioned him earlier too. Help rember, that's the liquid tal one, right? The one that rges with technology?"

I nodded, pleased she rembered. "Galvanic chamorph. He can interface with any tech and enhance it. Or in this case, maybe extract data that seems lost."

Jessica closed her laptop with a decisive click. "Then we have a plan. Jewelers at 8, after they close." She hesitated, then added with a slight smile, "Not exactly how I imagined spending the evening after our talk, but..."

"Hey, co on, didn't I co here because you asked for help with this case? I don't mind a cri hunting date night. Solving mysteries with a beautiful detective is just my stuff." I grinned. "There are worse ways to spend a night."

The smile she gave was worth more than any stolen diamonds.

****

Esposito Jewelers occupied a narrow storefront wedged between a high-end boutique and an artisanal coffee shop that probably charged more for a cup of coffee than I spent on food in a day. The store's facade was modest compared to its neighbors. Still, the subtle security asures, including reinforced glass, hidden caras, and a door thick enough to stop a truck, told a different story.

"Mr. Esposito?" Jessica called as we entered through the employee entrance, her PI credentials having gotten us past the initial security.

An older Italian man erged from the back room, his weathered face creasing into a frown. "Ms. Jones. And this is...?"

"My associate," Jessica said smoothly. "Technology specialist."

I offered my hand. "Ben Tennyson. Thanks for letting us look around after hours."

Esposito's handshake was firm, his eyes asuring. "For three generations my family has run this store. Never a robbery. Then this happened... ghost cos in and takes my grandmother's diamond collection like it was nothing." His accent thickened with emotion. "The police, they do nothing. And insurance company asks too many questions."

"You can rest assured. We'll do what we can," Jessica assured him. "Could you walk us through what happened?"

As Esposito led us through the store, I noted the security setup. High quality caras covered every angle, motion sensors, pressure plates under display cases. State-of-the-art stuff, not the kind of system amateur thieves ssed with.

"Everything normal that day," Esposito explained, gesturing to a now-empty display case. "I close shop at six, set alarm, go ho to my wife. At 2 AM, police call. Say alarm goes off, but when they arrive there is nothing. Door still locked and windows intact. But this…" he tapped the glass case, "Empty."

Jessica crouched, examining the case. "No signs of forced entry?"

"None! Is like... ghost!"

"Or soone who knew exactly how to get in and out," I murmured.

Jessica nodded toward the security panel. "That's our starting point. Mr. Esposito, would you mind giving us about twenty minutes alone? We need to run so specialized equipnt."

I was unsure if such a request would be followed, given a thievery had just happened. But Jessica's reputation was cleaner than I realized. Once the owner retreated to his office, Jessica turned to . "Alright, show what Upgrade can do."

I grinned, feeling that familiar excitent build. "One alien tech expert, coming up."

The Omnitrix's familiar weight shifted under my fingers as I turned the dial, cycling through silhouettes until I found what I needed. The green flash enveloped , and my body lted into sothing new, a liquid tal form with circuitry patterns and a single green eye.

"Upgrade!" My voice had a chanical quality now, echoing slightly.

Jessica took a step back, eyes widening despite having seen my transformations before. "Wow. That never gets old."

"Just wait till you see what I can do." I moved toward the security panel, my body flowing like living rcury. "Let into their systems, and I'll find what our cat burglar didn't want us to see."

As I rged with the security console, the world changed. It didn't take much effort, if any, to take full control over this 2010 Earth Tech. Digital information flooded my consciousness, ones and zeros transforming into coherent data streams. I could feel every connection, every circuit, and every hidden pathway within the system.

"I'm in," I announced, my voice now coming from the speakers. "This is... interesting."

"What do you see?" Jessica's voice sounded distant through my digital awareness.

"The cara footage was compromised, just like the reports said. But not hacked in the traditional sense." I followed the data trail, my consciousness moving through the system like water through pipes. "Soone physically accessed each cara."

"That's impossible," Jessica countered. "There are twelve caras in this store. No one could access all of them without being seen by at least one."

"Unless they were fast enough to get to each one between fra captures." I focused deeper, finding sothing odd. "Wait a minute... there's a pattern to the disruption. Every cara experienced a precise 3.2-second loop, but they didn't all go offline simultaneously."

"What does that an?"

"In simpler words, it ans our thief accessed each cara individually, in a specific sequence. Starting with the rear exit cara, then moving clockwise around the store, ending with the display case cara. Oh, they're good." I pulled my consciousness back slightly, processing what I'd found. "The timing is too perfect. Almost like they were dancing through the blind spots."

As I continued probing, sothing else caught my attention. "And there's more. The alarm system logs show it was disard for exactly 47 seconds during the theft, then reard. But here's the weird part… the disarm code used was legitimate."

"Legitimate?" Jessica's voice sharpened. "As in, soone had the actual code? Not so hack?"

"Yup. But according to the logs, it was entered from the main keypad by the front door… which ans they had to be inside the store already."

I separated from the security panel, my liquid form reassembling into Upgrade's odd humanoid shape. "Soone got in before closing, hid inside, then executed the perfect theft. But how did they leave without triggering the motion sensors?"

Jessica was already moving toward the display case, examining it with new purpose. "If they ca in legitimately and had the alarm codes, they must have had inside information. An employee, maybe?"

"Or soone who can extract information sohow." I followed her, my single eye scanning the room. "I'm thinking technology. So kind of device that can read electronic signals, maybe even clone security cards or extract keypad entries."

Jessica's fingers froze on the edge of the display case. "Ben, look at this."

I knelt beside her, focusing where she pointed. There, almost invisible on the glass, was a tiny scratch. Intentional, precise, forming what looked like a stylized cat's paw.

"A calling card," I breathed.

"She's not just stealing," Jessica said, sothing like professional admiration in her voice. "She's signing her work."

"Classic cat burglar," I agreed with a scoff. "See? I told you it's the Black Cat. What I don't understand is why leave evidence at all? Why risk a signature? Have you encountered similar situations before in your career, Jess?"

"Yep. They do it for the sa reason people climb mountains," she replied. "Because they can." She pulled out her phone, searching sothing quickly. "Given the thief seems to be doing this for passion rather than pure monetary value, I have a guess what their next target might be."

"Damn."

"There's a major exhibition opening tomorrow night at the tropolitan Museum. The centerpiece is the 'Twilight Star' diamond, supposedly worth eight million."

"Let guess. High security, prestigious venue, valuable target?"

"The trifecta." Jessica showed the screen. It was an invitation to a charity gala coinciding with the exhibition opening. "Based on the pattern we've uncovered, it's practically gift-wrapped for our thief."

I raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we need to crash a party."

"Black tie," Jessica pointed out, a hint of amusent in her eyes. "Not exactly your specialty, is it?"

"Don't worry." I grinned, tapping the Omnitrix. "Breaking and entering is mine."

As we left the jewelry store, the city lights reflected off the glass storefronts like stars fallen to earth. My mind raced with possibilities for tomorrow night. Whoever Black Cat was in this universe, she was about to discover that so creatures in the night were even more unusual than her.

And unlike her previous targets, this one would be ready.

**

**

**

Author Note: 💔Did not et the goal, quite far from it than usual. Tomorrow's goal is Top 3 too, let's do this!