Episode 1: The First Encounter

All Characters belong to Marvel!

Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Dove Cameron as Gwen Stacy

Ross Lynch as Eddie Brock/Venom

Samara Weaving as Felicia Hardy/Black Cat

Marisa Tomei as May Parker

David Zayas as Joseph Hammerhead

Terry Crews as Tombstone

Olivia Munn as Yuri Watanabe

Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds

Dylan Minnette as Harry Osborn

Zendaya as Michelle Jones/MJ

Jaylen Barron as Gloria Grant

Angourie Rice as Betty Brant

Noah Gray-Cabey as Randy Robertson

Jenna Ortega as Anya Corazon

J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson

Andre Braugher as Robbie Robertson

Justin Chatwin as Alistair Smythe

Shaun Benson as Maxwell Modell

Michael Fassbender as Curt Connors

Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan

Tony Revoroli as Flash Thompson

Rick Yune as Martin Li

A little warning before you read, you may want to get out your headphones and listen to some music or something, because this is definitely another long chapter. And I mean 43,000 Words worth of a long chapter.

Other than that, plz enjoy the story!

EDIT: Just came by to update the cast, simply adding Anya's actress, and to let you all know that I am still alive, and far from finished.

---

Ryker's Island... The prison where New York's Worst is held in lockup for their crimes against society as the birds were seen flying above the prison window ceilings, prisoners were seen eating in the cafeteria while many others sat together on their respective tables, there was one particular individual who just sat alone on an empty table being fed his usual prison dish as the TV began to play sports in the background, showing off a baseball game.

"Alright, so the New York Mets have just scored a home run on their game against the Phillies, earning a winning streak out of three for the past three seasons as the Mets sent their rivals right back to Philadelphia! An impressive feat, given by their own standards! We'll be right back after the following broadcast."

As the sports channel began to fade away, the TV began to report the news as a sighting of Spider-Man as the individual continued to eat his food.

"Another Spectacular Save by the One and Only Spider-Man today as he thwarted a hostile takeover at a local pharmacy from two of the Maggia Enforcers."

At that moment, the individual's hands began to freeze, halting his moments as the man turned his head around, facing the TV as two armed thugs in business suits were hanging in the air, tied in Webbing.

"Stan and Jack's Pharmacy, which has been around ever since 1961, was one of the many victims that were targeted for the Maggia's latest scheme to uphold their recently established Protection Racket, made just after the fall of the previous Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk. Fisk, who was revealed to have had a hand in partaking the creation of Enhanced Super-Criminals in New York City, had been found guilty after a stunning testament concerning his crimes was broadcasted in live footage by Spider-Man, who was responsible for his infamous arrest as he is currently residing in the Ravencroft Institute."

Soon, the man began to stand up, getting out of his table as his head was revealed to be somewhat big due to the amount of hair loss on the front side of his face. Added in the face was a scar that was old as a Lion itself while he approached the television, several inmates took notice and began to back away from his path in fear.

"Though the crime spree was projected to increase by 80% after his initial fallout, that was surprisingly reduced to a mere 30% thanks to the combined efforts of the NYPD and the superhero that is known as Spider-Man."

As the individual stopped in front of the screen, the TV showed off a picture of Spier-Man as he was seen displayed in Selfies. His optic expression appeared to be in the form of a shifty brow as the background behind him was simply a street filled with traffic as he looked as if his back was going to fall right on top of a car.

"Spider-Man, who was declared as New York's Hero by Tony Stark just hours ago, is a man whose reputation has completely skyrocketed shortly a few days after the fall of Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin, who was revealed to be the ultimate mastermind behind these strange series of events that took place on the streets of New York as Spider-Man continues on to this day keeping this City safe from Crime, having received such critical appraisal from its citizens and its police, including recently promoted Yuri Watanabe, who was just made Captain after the tragic death of George Stacy, who died in service to combat the deadly incident everyone knows it to be the Goblin Outbreak. Speaking of crime, former Maggia Boss, Joesph Hammerhead, is expected to be released from Ryker's after having served his 25 year Prison Sentence-!"

"Joesph Hammerhead?"

The room fell silent as the man still faced the TV, two guards stood just a few feet away from the cafeteria exit/entrance, having gotten Hammerhead's attention as he turned his head to face the guards.

"It's your lucky day, Joesph." The Guard told him flatly. "Come with us, we're going to be your escort out of the joint."

"...Heh." Hammerhead simply sneered. "What the hell took you so long?"

Soon after, the guards escorted Hammerhead right down the prison block in handcuffs as inmates from around barked from all over, they passed right by the cell of Adrian Toomes, who just noticed the exit of famed prison alumni as he lowered his glasses, taking his focus away from a book based off of Micheal Morbius as he stared at the Mob Gangster's departure from prison. His expression was unfathomed as he apparently knew of what dirty seedy rep the guy has right on his skull while a roommate of his took notice of his stare at him.

"You know someone on the outside or something?" The prisoner asked, taking Adrian's interest away from him as he turned to his cellmate.

"Why do you ask?"

"Ain't nothin' special... Just that you've been looking at him for a while... Usually, that means three things; one, someone's gonna get their skull bashed in. Two, someone owes the guy money. And three, someone in Law Enforcement screwed him over badly. So, did I get at least one of these right?"

Adrian sighed as he bit his lip, looking at the wall of his cell. "...Well, it's actually none of the above, but..." He turned his head away to stare back into the departing prisoner. "There's no doubt that a certain someone I know who will have done at least two of the things you described... And I can't imagine all hell that's bound to get loose for that."

At that moment, the gates began to open as Hammerhead was seen wearing his clothing, being escorted out of the premises while a limousine was waiting just outside for him. Two guards and a driver awaited his arrival as he approached them, the guards opened the door while the driver entered the driver's seat.

"It's good to have you back, Boss." One of the guards told Hammerhead. "The Maggia wasn't the same after you hit the joint."

"I can tell. Which is all the more reason why we gotta talk." Hammerhead said calmly, sitting down on the very back of the vehicle. "But first; let's go ahead and ditch this joint. I'm gettin' really tired of being near this place as it is."

With that said, the group began to exit Ryker's Island Scott free as the guards accompanied him in the back, witnessing Hammerhead take a sip of his Wine. A brand made exclusively by the Maggia as he held the glass in his hand.

"Hmm... Damn, it's been too long ever since I had a taste of this baby." Hammerhead said as he enjoyed his beverage. "It's good to know that some things regarding taste in flavor didn't change while I was gone, don't you boys agree?"

"Yes sir."

"I couldn't agree with ya more, boss."

He chuckled, setting down his glass as he stared out the window, seeing the Island of Manhattan approaching just outside the glass.

"Now... While I was inside the joint, I heard a little birdy told me that Wilson Fisk got what he deserved, involving the loony bin." He turned back to the guards. "Now, was that birdy right, or was he right?"

"Oh yeah. Fisk got taken down after that Goblin Disaster with Norman Osborn. Cops had all the warrants they had on him to put 'im away for good for helping Green Goblin make all those other Freaks in the Raft."

"Not to mention the fact that the Bug tricked the Kingpin into confessing his secrets on live-streaming! Now that was stupid of him to do, thank god I ain't workin' for that Baldy!"

Hammerhead pointed at the Guard who mocked Fisk's mistake. "Thank god indeed, because now you're workin' for me. And soon enough, this entire city is gonna be workin' for me. Now that I'm back, and Fisk is taken care of, it's time to take back what's mine. Anybody asks what's true, then we give 'em the truth; New York belongs to the Maggia. That's the truth right there, no doubt about it. And there ain't no Goblins or Spiders sittin' right on top of my throne, not anymore."

As he grabbed his glass and sipped on more of his wine, the two guards looked at each other as the thought of the Bug started to resurface into their minds.

"Uh... Speakin' of Spiders, Boss... We should probably tell ya somethin'-!"

Hammerhead moaned, pointing at the guard as he quickly finished his drink, putting the glass on the table while wiping off his mouth.

"I know. I watched the news, I heard about our little Bug Problem."

The two looked at each other again, confused by his knowledge of the Spider's appearance as they looked to the Boss for direction.

"So... What would you have us do?"

"What I expect you and all the boys to do; keep doing what you're doin'. This City's too big enough for one dumb Bug anyway. And if he keeps on Buggin' in on our business..." He chuckled, cracking a devious smile. "Then you can rest assured that we'll deal with him accordingly..."

---

Two Weeks Later... Queens, New York.

A red Spider Emblem was placed on the back of Spider-Man's suit as he was seen making a dive from a rooftop. Then just as he reached a safe enough level to swing, he swung right up using a Web Shooter to guide his movements as he shouted out his voice in adrenaline.

Soon, he made his way onto the rooftops, hopping and skipping his way down the path until he made one last jump down the last building, sliding down on the roof to make a zipline in the air, passing by two civilians on the way.

"'Xcuse me, Spidey's coming in the way!"

As he passed by two pedestrians that took their attention, he made his way onto the street, swinging from building to building as he narrowed himself down enough just to reach the sidewalk filled with civilians that were happy to see him outside right in their nearest vicinity.

"SPIDER-MAN!"

"Lookin' good, Spidey!"

"Hello, Pedestrians!"

After making his quip, he cracked out a laugh as he enjoyed the energy of feeling the air pushing right at him while he kept on moving to his destination.

"Hey, Karen! How far am I to the Battle of the Bands?"

"You're only 300 meters away, Peter. Soon, you'll be just in time to join the rest of the Audience attendees."

"Good! Because Gwen would murder me if I was late!" He jumped onto a flagpole, sitting right on top of it as he looked around the street with so much anxiety. "Now, can you check the police scanner for me? See if there's any danger going on? Because I can't afford anything slowing me down while I try not to-!"

Suddenly, an explosion occurred just several blocks away from his current position as people shouted from below, having heard the loud noise drawing from the place of origin as Spidey sighed miserably.

"Try not to be late," Spider-Man said having lowered his brow. "Ugh... I'm seriously cursed... Karen!"

"There's a report of a local Bratva gang that recently performed a hostile takeover the Noguchi Museum located in Astoria."

"Gang assault again?! That's like the millionth time in a row this month!"

"Actually, this would make this the 5th time this action had been repeated at the same location."

"Seriously? Oh... Well, then either way; it's Hero Time!"

He leaped out of the flag pole to swing right down onto the street as his hand slid on the black cement before making a small swing hop on top of a taxi. Then having jumped on a truck carrying a large gas tank, he made one small sprint on top before spinning two webs to pull him up into the air as he flipped with such finesse after pulling off a zipline, seeing a horde of patrol cars ringing their sirens from his area.

Main Street on Queens was a nightmare as the Russians had taken over the bank, having created a large shootout in the area as cops brawled with the Bratva in a deadly firefight, the men inside held hostages inside as they broke down every glass containing precious valuables while the head of the assault stood with his gun ready, overseeing the goods.

"Boss." One of the men called out the leader. "More cops are arriving soon. We should go at once."

The leader nodded, humming as he heard the gunfire going off just outside. "Da... It's time we take leave."

"And what of Hostages?"

The leader turned his head around, seeing the frightened innocents they have in their mercy as he sighed through his nostrils.

"...Take care of them. No witnesses."

The men nodded their heads as the leader turned around to face the opposite direction, hearing the cries of men and women as he waited for their cries to be mixed with the sounds of bullets flying in the air.

...Then nothing happened... Nothing, other than the sounds of men being beaten and scratched to their lives as the leader lowered a brow, having been confused by the transaction that occurred before turning around and widening his eyes to what he had seen before him...

All of his men that were with him on the job; all beaten to a pulp as many laid on the ground or sat leaning against the wall as many occupants whimpered in the confusion of the sudden incident that occurred. Fearing the worst has occurred to him, the leader started pulling out his weapon, turning to the hostages as he assumed the person he waited for.

"Where is he?" He questioned, pointing his gun at the hostages as they screamed in terror. Then he started cursing something in Russian before repeating the same question as he did before. "Where is he? Where is Spider?"

"You're thinking of the wrong species, ugly."

He turned around, raising a brow as a Woman in White Hair was scratching at her nails. Her body slim and pretty as any girl as her gear consisted of a Black and White Suit, with White stripes going around her chest and waist, White Gloves and Boots, and a Black and Yellow pair of Goggles covering her eyes as her smile lightened the entire room she stood inside of.

"In fact; You shouldn't always assume that Spiders tend to make most of the messes... After all..." She started turning around, facing the ringleader of the operation as she continued to smile. "Sometimes Cats can be just as bad as Spiders, don't you think?"

The leader started lowering his weapon, mostly stunned by her unique physical appearance as he just stared at her.

"...What... Are you?"

She quirked a brow, still having that feminine smile maintained at will. "What? Isn't the suit and the talk of Cats not obvious enough for you?"

He gasped in astoundment first... Then he thought back to the men lying on the floor, and his brow became an angry one at best.

"Did you do this? Did you kill them?!"

"Oh, no. No, no, no! I am not that type of Kitty. Although, I do tend to get my Claws dirty-!"

Just as the thug started raising his weapon, she made a backflip kick, pushing the gun away from his hand before flipping herself around to face the man in question... With both claws right on his neck as she got up close and personal with him.

"Especially if a Cat doesn't get treated nicely like all the other Kitties are supposed to be treated."

He gasped as he felt the claws dig themselves into his skin just slightly as he almost stopped himself from swallowing his throat, breathing softly as he held his hands up.

"Who... Who are you?"

She chuckled dearly, shaking her head. "Again, isn't this all supposed to be obvious to you?" She sighed in false disappointment. "Alright, fine... If you're so interested in getting to the point, I'd like to prefer myself as a Cat."

With no warning, she facebutted the Russian Gangster full frontal as he fell down on the floor, knocked out cold while she sighed, pulling her hair back.

"...A Black Cat, to be precise."

Her words echoed into the Russian Bratva as he fell into a void of sleep. While he drifted to unconsciousness, her eyes turned over to one of the hostages. A guard to be precise as she made her way over to him.

"Oh, thank you so much, lady!" He expressed his gratitude as the Black Cat approached him. "Thank you so much, you just saved our asses!"

She continued to make her smile while stopping in front of the guard, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck, making him feel sweaty by her very approach to him.

"Oh, buddy... I wouldn't offer my thanks quite yet if I were you."

All of a sudden, her other hand got out a keycard, making the guard widen a brow before looking down, seeing his way to making access to certain items being stolen right out of his belt as her other hand released his head, she turned around, humming seductively.

"Well, it's been fun, but I think we're just about done here." Black Cat told them flatly without any sign of shame on her face. "Please tell the boys whenever they wake up that I offered my thanks to them for providing the distraction I needed to get what I wanted. I really appreciate that!"

"Oh my god, seriously?"

"What is wrong with you?"

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Hey, aren't you gonna let us out of here?!"

"What the hell, lady?!"

As she grabbed the leftover bags that contained the Museum's merchandise, the guard sighed at the utter humiliation he had endured, seeing the Black Cat making her way to the Museum's most prized possession whilst hearing the hostages making their complaints at the White Haired chick.

While that occurred on the inside, the cops still battled the Bratva from the outside, explosions still popping from their use of Grenade Launchers as cars flipped over sideways from the assault, Yuri ducked her head down having borne witness to such ferocity that had possessed.

"Dammit." She cursed as she fired back at them, using her radio inside the car. "All units, we need back up on 33rd and Vernon! I repeat we need more backup!"

As the crooks fired upon the cops, Spider-Man arrived right next to Yuri as he sat down right next to her with his arms folded together.

"Hey, Yuri. How are you doing? You guys okay?"

She sighed as she shook her head, turning to Spider-Man. "Your timing is impeccable. These Russians are not messing around, they want to get away with the museum's possessions even if they have to do it by force! Not to mention how well armed they are!"

"Yeah, speaking of, where did these guys acquire a grenade launcher?"

"Is this seriously the time to ask questions right now?"

"Ah, you're right! Sorry, Yuri."

She grunted as she nearly felt a bullet pounce right on her head as she ducked her head down. "This firefight is getting ugly. If we don't end this soon, people are gonna get hurt on all sides, whether it's a cop, a thug, or even a civilian!"

"Right... So, does this mean I have your sworn permission to go do, well... You know?"

As she listened to the gunfire, she noticed her men getting pinned down from the debris of bullets and grenades in the air while they were taking heavy fire from the Russians, seeing no end to their reign of violence on the streets as she turned to face Spider-Man with a nod.

"Do your thing."

"YES!"

He sprung right up and jumped into the action, webbing up several gunmen against the ground before proceeding into the upper level, performing an assault as he attacked the robbers that are a part of the attack.

Soon, he rounded them up one by one, taking many armed felons out in one web, one that tied them together so they would all be right behind each other's backs as Spidey landed on the ground, wiping his hands together.

"Well, that was easy!" Spider-Man said in a cheerful manner. "Now, if you'll excuse me-!"

"Don't think this to be over yet, Spider!"

Spider-Man raised a brow. "Uh... Hello? You guys lost, the good guys won. How could you say-?"

Before he could finish asking, two trucks armed with guns arrived on the scene as they burst right through two empty patrol cars, taking everyone by surprise as he turned around to see backup arriving on cue.

"Oh, boy..."

"Everyone down!" Yuri commanded. "We've got Incoming!"

As more criminals arrived on the scene, bullets began to fly once again as one of them was headed right for the Captain, Spider-Man swung over and saved Yuri at the nick of time, swinging themselves over to a safe distance from the reestablished firefight.

"That was a close one!" Spider-Man said out loud as he let go of Yuri. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Yuri answered. "But my men are still getting gun downed here."

"Yeah, speaking of guns; don't you think that this amount of firepower for one museum heist is just a little bit overkill?"

"We'll talk more about that when this fight is over! People are still in danger, both law enforcement and civilian!"

Spidey nodded his head. "You're right. We shouldn't waste time like this, we should end this right now-!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Spider-Man's cell phone began to ring as he widened his eyes at the interruption that caused their current action to cease to a halt.

"You have an incoming call from Ned Leeds," Karen told Spider-Man through his Mask. "And 3 text messages urging you to answer him urgently."

"Who is that?" Yuri asked, causing Spider-Man to be slightly embarrassed.

"Uh... Just a Friend of mine." Spidey told her honestly. "I got to take this."

"Seriously, now?"

"It's actually pretty urgent! Yuri, I promise, it'll only take just a second, I swear!"

"Ugh..." Yuri started grabbing an assault rifle. "Just make it quick!"

She left Spider-Man behind to rejoin her fellow Officers as he answered the phone, pressing it against his ear.

"Hey, Ned! Now's not a good time!"

"Peter, where are you?" Ned asked him as he was seen walking into some type of concert. "This concert is about to start soon, and everybody's asking where you are right now!"

"I was on my way there, I swear! But then something just happened, and then just suddenly-!"

"Wait... Do I hear explosions happening on the other end?"

"Uh... No?"

Before any of them knew it, a car exploded just right behind Spider-Man as he lowered his head down in cover.

"...What was that?" Ned asked, suspicious of him.

"Uh... Just some fireworks?" Spidey told him with a quirky brow.

"Dude... You're Spider-Man right now? Seriously? Now?!"

"Look, Ned, I'm trying to-!"

"Sorry to intrude, but you have another call coming from Gloria Grant."

"Crap!" Spidey sighed. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to put you on hold! Talk to you soon!"

"Peter, wait-!"

He hung up the call to answer Gloria's as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Hey, GG!" Spider-Man said with open cheerful eyes. "How are you guys doing?"

"Peter, where are you?" Gloria shouted as she held on to the phone. "Gwen's expecting you to show up, the concert's about to start in 5 minutes!"

"Is that him?" Gwen asked as she walked over to Gloria. "Is that him on the phone?"

"Yup, feel free to talk to him."

She handed Gwen her phone as she took it, pinning it against her ear in frustration.

"Peter! What the hell? Where are you?!"

"Uh..." Spidey looked around, seeing the Russians trying to shoot at him from the back of the car. "At a Museum... In a shootout."

"Seriously? You're doing this now?!" Gwen looked behind the curtain, seeing dozens of people in attendance. "The MJ's is about to compete in the Battle of the Bands, and you're in the middle of Superheroing at this Hour?!"

"I'm sorry! Really, I'm truly sorry! I was just on my way there when these guys have this bomb in a truck, and they're trying to steal it-!"

"I don't care! Finish it, and get here!"

She hung up the phone as she groaned in frustration, handing the phone over to Gloria as she rubbed her neck.

"Thanks for letting me use your phone."

"No problem."

Gwen turned around, looking at GG. "Hey, how is my hair? Is it crooked?"

"No, but I suggest pulling your Headband back just a tick."

Gwen sighed, doing what Gloria suggested as she turned to a mirror, MJ walked over to the group carrying a guitar.

"What was that about?" Michelle asked out of curiosity.

"Eh, just some boyfriend issues," Gloria told her. "Is the new Girl set?"

"Yeah!"

A girl of Puerto Rican origin came out with another guitar as she sighed, rolling her hair back. "Yeah, I'm all set! And for the record, you guys can always just call me Anya instead of just calling me by the first letters of my initials, right?"

"We know. We only call you that because you're new to the Band, AC."

"It's basically our way of nicknaming our initiates to the Band..." MJ told AC.

Gwen turned around, seeing the Hispanic Girl in question. "Anya, good to have you here!"

"Thanks! This is really good for me to be here, though I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a little terrified right now."

"Thank you for helping us be our 2nd Guitar Player! It was such a big weight off our shoulders to have you rehearse with us all these weeks, you are such an excellent Guitar Player."

"Yeah, and don't be thinking you're the only pissing your pants here, 'cause uh..." MJ nodded, giving a thumbs up. "I'm pretty much shitting myself right now."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "Well, of course, you are. I mean, this Band is literally named after you."

"And that's making me feel any less stressed how exactly?"

"And look at that wild performance from The Dazzler! They're really kicking some serious tunes out of those Guitar Strings!"

The crowd outside the stage roared as the announcer's voice spoke through the building, having heard that their time is nearly beginning.

"Looks like we're about to start soon," Gwen said, getting her Guitar. "Hope everyone's set, 'cause we're about to make some noise!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Woo-hoo!"

The girls of the Band cheered while Gwen just smiled, sighing externally while waiting for Peter to show up.

Speaking of which, Spider-Man groaned as he put his phone away, having read the time, knowing that there is so little left to lose right at this moment.

"Ugh, Karen! I need to end this quick!" Spider-Man told her. "How many am I dealing with?"

"According to my scans, you have at least 14 hostiles armed with lethal weaponry," Karen told him. "You should be able to disarm them in 2 minutes and 14 seconds."

"And how much time would I have to get to the Concert?"

"Around 3 minutes and 46 seconds in counting. I suggest you get to it immediately."

Spider-Man sighed, shaking his head. "Alright... Here goes nothing!"

He swung right out of his spot, coming back into the fight as he accelerated his movements to get the battle to end quickly.

While this occurred, a few unsavory figures were taking advantage of the chaos that was going down and started to raid cell phone retailer store as evidenced by them storing boxes into a truck.

"Come on... I can hear the gunfire dying out, we don't have long." One of the crooks said as he held a gun of his own in hand.

"Cool your jets. Hammerhead will get the shipment of free smartphones, don't you worry about it."

"Hey! We don't say the boss's name out in public, you know that!"

The second henchmen nearly scoffed. "Look around you! There's a shit ton of explosions happening a few blocks away from where we are! No one ain't gonna hear a word what we're saying, and even if they could, everybody's too scared to even come near the stunt those Russians are pulling off."

"All I'm saying is that I don't want to be on "Clean-Up" duty if anyone hears of any witnesses. Now hurry up, and move it! I hate being out here in the snow, it's so damn cold-!"

Thud

The two turned around, hearing something loud bang nearby as one of the men started loading their guns.

"Crap... Was it that Bug who that Albino Luke Cage-looking guy was spouting about yesterday?"

"I dunno... Wait here."

The thug started peering out around the corner as the other continued to pack boxes until a large hand grabbed him by the head and pulled him deep into the shadows, muffling his screams enough where his own partner couldn't even hear him as he turned to see a large dent on a truck's roof. Pulling his gun down, he turned around, checking around the corner for any signs of a certain Web-Slinger.

"Hey, Ruben... You see anything weird-?!"

AAAAAAGHHHHHHH!

As a loud scream took the man by surprise, the 2nd and last thug was seen being thrown towards the wall next to his partner, splattering blood in the process as the body fell into the snow, completely disturbing the man in the process.

"Ruben!" The gangster gasped his name as he knelt down, seeing the blood pouring out from the back of his head. "Holy f... What the hell happened?!"

As he asked the question out loud, a large black shadowy figure was rushing swiftly in the wind, loud enough for the thug to turn around and point his gun up in the air, just trying to find whatever slaughtered his accomplice in cold blood as loud footprints continued from above and center, making him scared straight as the cold air left from his own breath.

"Where are you?!" The man questioned loudly, trying to find the monster responsible. "What are you, another one Norman Osborn's Goblins?! Come on, show yourself, you freak!"

"Can you stop yelling?"

The man screamed, turning around to see a young blonde man with Hazel eyes as he pressed his hands into his pockets, walking over to the thug unconcerned about the gun he's holding.

"I said, stop screaming," The Young Adult said. "My friend, the other guy, he doesn't like loud noises, especially when people like you scream too much, it annoys him so much."

The man shuddered as he pointed the gun at the kid, having mentioned his "Friend."

"Wh... What friend?"

"Say, speaking of friends, yours doesn't seem to be looking alright..." The young adult said as he peered his eyes over to the person known as Ruben. "I mean, wow... That's a lot of blood. I mean, I've seen my fair share of blood man, but damn, I was not expecting a lot."

The thug turned to glance back at his possibly brain-dead partner before pointing the gun back at the blonde.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?!"

The man raised his hands up, keeping calm despite the danger he's in. "Eddie. Eddie Brock, nice to meet you... Mind telling me what's your name?"

"Don't you play games with me, Kid! Was that you?!" The thug questioned, walking closer towards Eddie Brock. "Was this you, or that Spider-Freak?!"

Eddie scoffed, shaking his head. "Oh, man, you are going to wish that this is Spider-Man you're dealing with here, not the other way around."

"So, then it was you, huh?" The thug questioned even further. "What the hell did you do to Ruben, you son of a bitch?!"

Eddie sighed as he saw the gun pointed directly at his head when the man started standing right in front of him.

"...Same thing that We're gonna do to you, from the look of it." Eddie answered as his expression remained unchanged throughout the scene as the frightened crook began to feel a bit intimidated.

"We? We?! Who the hell is We-?!"

A large Black Slimy hand reached out at his neck, and another at the gun, which became crushed by the weight of it as the man widened his eyes while choking, seeing Eddie Brock's entire being transformed into a Black Symbiotic Parasite with Teeth as sharp as a blade as its' White Eyes stared deeply into what may be his next victim...

"We... Are Venom." The Symbiote answered with malicious glee as it began to open its jaw wide, and the man before letting out a blood-curdling cry before the eventual teeth snap bit half of his own corpse in half, as the snow began to fall down in the night and the murder taking place in the dark, where no one would ever see the two men again...

And if irony wasn't so cruel; the only other screams that anyone could ever hear were the screams of a large crowd as the concert has begun for the Band as the MJ's walked out onto the stage, seeing the crowd.

"Alright girls, here's our moment!" Gwen rolled her hair back, tying it into a ponytail. "Let's make this special."

The lights shined upon them as the MJs prepare for their debut performance.

"ALRIGHT, NYC! GET READY TO GET YOUR MINDS BLOWN!"

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

The band began to play their music as the crowd began to listen to their own song.

I'm Standing on the Rooftop

Looking through the City Lights

Listening to City Traffic

When I suddenly start falling down

My Heart's pounding in my chest

'Cause I know that Time ain't on my side

All I feel is the wind blowing at my face

I know I should feel so scared

Yet I don't really care right now

'Cause I'm Flying Through The Air!

I'm Flying Through The Air

I'm Flying Through The Air

Time's not on my side

I'm gonna drop dead instantaneously

So I might as well keep on Swinging

Oh my mind is racing

Gravity's pulling me down fast

Time ain't slowing down for me

I'm helpless to do anything

So all I can ever do right now

Is Fly through the Air

I'm Flying Through The Air!

Oh Whoa!

I'm Flying Through The Air!

Oh Whoa!

Sirens ring through the air

People are screaming in terror

Fearing for my safety

Yet I don't feel scared anyway

Because I'm living in the moment

Freefalling down from the sky

Life expectancy is dropping down

So might as well live in the moment

Falling down from the skyline

Looking through the City Lights

Listening to the City Traffic

Feeling the wind blowing at my face

My Heart's pounding on my Chest

Cause I know Time ain't my side

I know I should feel so afraid

'Cause I'm Flying Through The Air

But I don't give a damn

'Cause I'm Flying Through The Air

'Cause that's the one thing that's clear

And It's Cause I'm Flying Through The Air!

So much time is passing by as I go dropping down

I don't have much time to think

It's all moving all too fast

It's so hard to think about

All the things I wanted to do with the people I love!

To experience all the things that I want to learn

To live all the moments in life that makes it so special

But that doesn't matter anymore

Cause I'm living every second

Flying Through The Air!

I'm falling down from a City Skyline

Looking Through All The City Lights

My Heart's pounding on my Chest

Cause I know Time ain't my side

I know I should feel so scared

But I don't care anymore

'Cause I'm Flying Through The Air

After a moment of performing a mix between piano, guitar, and drum roll music, they ended the song without vocalizing any singing by stringing some tunes.

Once that was accomplished, the music stopped right at the finish as the crowd cheered at their performance, receiving high appraise for their musical debut.

As the band watched, Gwen took a look at the boys in the front seat row, having spotted Peter sitting right next to Ned, Harry, and Randy as they too began to cheer for the band while they dominated the night, causing a smile to form right on her face.

Once the crowd dispersed after some time, the band walked out backstage as the boys went in to greet them.

"Wow, that was epic!" Randy said as he hugged his girlfriend, GG.

"Yeah, you guys really nailed it back there!" Peter said with a similar appraisal as he wrapped a comforting arm around Gwen's back. "You were Spectacular."

Gwen smiled, turning around to face Pete. "So are you... I see you made it!"

"I did... You mad?"

"I would, if you missed it, and if you did, I'd have had to hunt you down and kill you."

The two of them laughed as MJ hugged Harry, smiling at her success.

"Hey, you did awesome out there, Michelle."

MJ nodded, smiling. "I figured singing was always my talent, I just needed the balls to do it."

Harry chuckled, breaking the hug as he looked at the name of the band. "And you managed to pull it off without any of my fundraisings, huh?"

"I figured we could manage... Besides, I couldn't ever ask anything of you that required this much setup anyway, that'd be taking advantage."

"Well, that's just too bad, because I am spending all of my weekly allowances to celebrate."

"Is that the case?"

"Yeah, I mean it."

"Wait, what's that?" Randy asked, raising a brow. "Harry's paying for us?"

"Oh shit, thanks, Harry!" Ned nodded, smiling. "That's awesome!"

MJ tilted her head. "Well, I guess it's too late to take it back, now."

Harry nodded, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, it's too late to take back anything for me these days."

As everyone else was being commended, Anya was seen about to leave when Gloria pulled at her arm to make her stay.

"Hold up, where do you think you're going?"

Anya turned around, shrugging. "I... I got to get home now, it's starting to get late."

"What, for real? After those kickass tunes, we played? Girl, please! We're celebrating tonight."

Anya smiled, rubbing her shoulder. "I, I don't know. I don't want to be a bother to any of you."

"Not unless you're actually invited to come with us!" MJ turned to Anya. "I mean, let's be honest here; do you have anything to do tonight?"

She shook her head. "Not with all the repairs going on in the City, no."

"Okay, then what do you want to do? Sit around at home getting bored all night?"

"Not unless it involves my paranoid Step-Dad expecting me to be home by a deadline to avoid being grounded until I'm 21 years old."

"And what time is the deadline?"

She folded her arms. "..7:30."

"Well, that's more than enough for you to do some fun stuff, for the time being, right?" Peter asked, raising a brow. "I doubt your parents would kill for just trying to have fun, would they?"

She pressed her hands into her pockets, twirling her eyes around just a little. "Well... Is there anything for us to do? All the big stuff in Times Square is still being processed for that Goblin Ooze from a while back."

"Yeah, which is why we're going to a bowling alley that's still open right here in Queens."

Anya bit her lip, letting her hands go of her pockets. "Okay, well... Since you put it that way..."

"Great!" Gloria pulled her along with the group. "Sounds like a fair deal, we have a newcomer on board!"

"Nice!" Harry applauded. "Now real quick; let's start introducing ourselves. I'm Harry, that's Peter, Ned, Randy. Obviously, you know the MJ's, so there's that!"

"Sweet! Uh, you all go to Midtown High School, right? The one over in Queens?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I'm transferring to your guys' school next Monday."

Randy raised a brow. "For real?"

"Yeah! Yeah, my school became closed indefinitely after the Goblin Nightmare went down a couple of weeks back. I've been meaning to ask what Midtown is like."

MJ perked. "Oh, well, that's actually pretty easy to explain, uh-!"

As everyone else began to describe Midtown High to Anya, Gwen started to kiss Peter by the cheek, hugging him by the shoulder.

"I'm gonna go save all our spots at the bus stop, okay?"

Pete nodded his head. "Sure thing."

With that said, Gwen started walking over to the bus stop, seeing the bench entirely empty as she walked around pacing back and forth, looking around to find any sight of the bus while she waited for the transit arrival.

"That was a terrific performance tonight."

Gwen stopped pacing at that moment, having heard a familiar voice as she turned around, seeing Eddie Brock of all people waiting for her in the back with a black leather jacket around his shoulders as she felt the snow blow around her head.

"...Eddie, hi." She blinked, folding her arms. "You... You look good."

"Uh, thanks. I uh, I've been busy the last time we met." He raised a hand, pointing at Gwen. "And so have you from the looks of it. I mean, you finally kickstarted that Rock Band you always dreamed about."

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I uh... A lot has happened ever since my Dad died and uh... I figured that since everyone is still healing from the Goblin Outbreak, I think we could use a little music to distract ourselves for a bit."

"Well, it was clearly distracting."

Gwen swallowed, looking down to stare at Eddie's legs. "Speaking of distracting... How are your legs? Are you walking okay?"

"Yeah. Actually, now that you've mentioned it..." Brock scoffed, raising his hands vertically. "I've never felt better."

"Yo, Gwen! Do you want to bowl, or not? Get your Blond ass over here!"

Gwen turned around, seeing GG yelling at her as she smiled feverously, turning back around to face Brock.

"I uh... I should go."

"Yeah, me too. I've got... Stuff to do with a Friend of mine."

"Friend? You got a new friend?"

Eddie squinted his eyes, making a small smile. "You could say he packs quite the Bite."

"Ooh, well I can't wait to meet him."

"Ooh, you really should be careful what you wish for."

She lowered her smile, pressing a gentle hand on Brock's shoulder as the two met eye to eye.

"You take care of yourself, okay? I'm really am glad that you're doing alright."

Eddie simply nodded his head, lightly holding Gwen's hand. "You just keep taking care of yourself... I uh... I'd hate to see something awful happen to you."

Peter walked over to Eddie and Gwen. "Hey... Everything okay?"

Gwen nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we're all good."

Eddie smiled, turning to Parker. "Hey there, Pete."

Peter turned to Brock, uncertain about his encounter. "Hey, Eddie. You doing good?"

"I'm doing just fine, thanks so much for asking."

"Right." Peter turned to Gwen. "We're ready to go when you are."

"Yeah, I shouldn't keep them waiting." She turned to leave. "See you around, Eddie."

She started regrouping with their mutual friends as Peter and Eddie stood together in the snow, facing each other.

"So uh... You can walk again?"

Eddie nodded. "For a while. Funny how fate works sometimes, huh?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, that's weird."

"You know, when my back was broken, I thought to myself; "Why? Just why me out of everyone on the entire Planet, just why do I get the brunt of everything handed to me?" And yeah, I was mad, maybe a little pissed off, but you know what? Things just worked out for me in the end, you know why?"

Peter folded his arms, curious. "W-Why?"

"Because no matter how little it may seem, no matter how big it looks, no matter how illogical it just sounds in the back of our minds... Whatever decision we made up to this point, whatever friendships we forged, whatever tragedy we are forced to endure, however long any one person tries to explain it all..." Eddie shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. "Everything happens for a reason."

Peter nodded his head, continuing to look at Eddie. "So... Does this mean you're not... Mad anymore?"

Eddie scoffed, raising a brow. "Mad? No..." He smirked. "No, you were just doing your job. Me? I was just being a paranoid jackass who was having the worst of luck ever. I'm happy that you did what you did back there because..." He shook his head. "I don't think I'd ever get such a unique perspective on things, you know?"

Peter blinked, contemplating on what Eddie meant by that.

"...Everything happens for a reason... Right?"

Eddie nodded. "Right."

"Yo, Parker!" Randy's voice shouted out from afar. "You coming or what?"

Peter turned around, nodding his as he began to walk away. "Uh, nice talk, Eddie, but I should be going now."

"Oh yeah, sure... Just one more thing; nice job handling those Russians back there."

Peter stopped mid-walk, turning around to look at Eddie who continued to look so bitterly smug.

"...What?"

"Yeah, the Russians? The ones who tried pulling off a robbery with Miniguns? I mean..." He blew a Raspberry, shaking his head while walking towards Parker. "Where the hell do these guys get all that stuff, huh?"

Peter raised a brow, complexed by Brock's choice of words.

"Uh... What are you... What are you talking about?"

Eddie raised a hand, shaking his head. "Hey, chill out, Dude. Don't be so nervous... After all, it's like We said." Brock began walking back towards the street, his hands covered into his pockets while venturing down towards the crowd. "Everything Happens For a Reason."

As Peter watched, Brock ventured out into the crowd, gazing upon Peter's until after a few people began passing by, Brock vanished out in the open, into the dark. Disturbing Parker in an unnerving way as he barely walked back to the group heading inside of a Transit Bus, taking Gwen's notice as she looked concerned for his sudden change in behavior.

"Hey." Gwen wrapped a hand on his back. "Is everything okay?"

Peter blew out the cold air, lowering his head as he shivered from the breeze. "I... I'm not so sure."

MJ pulled her head out, turning to Peter and Gwen. "Yo... You two wanna come with us? Or do you wanna just stand there out in the cold, gazing upon each other's eyes romantically until you end up smooching lips with each other?"

Gwen nodded, pulling Peter to the bus. "We're coming... Come on, let's go."

She guided him into the bus as they started setting off towards their destination... Everyone minding their businesses as usual... While being completely unprepared for Things To Come.

---

Later, the group headed inside of a Bowling Alley in Queens as they sat on a table, Peter made his turn to make a throw, having earned a full strike when all the pins have been hit at the very first shot.

"Whoa, nice shot, dude!" Ned expressed his congrats as he smiled, seeing Peter score such a nice game.

"Thanks!" Peter turned around, rejoining his friends' post Battle of the Bands victory. "I really nailed it back there."

"Since when you were that good, Parker?" Randy asked having folded his arms.

"Oh? Oh... Uh, I just..." He turned around, seeing Gwen stare at him awkwardly. "...I just got lucky, I guess."

"Yeah, I'll have to side with Peter on this," Harry said in defense. "He doesn't bowl that often, so this was miraculously based on pure luck right here."

As they talked, MJ grabbed a bowling ball and started handing to Harry. "Speaking of luck now's your chance to try proving your point."

Harry blinked. "Oh? Is that a challenge?"

MJ scoffed, shaking her head while smiling. "Quit flirting around, and just hit the pins, will you?"

Harry smirked, pointing at MJ before making his turn on the game. As he left to make his shot thrown, he started to get into position while everyone else talked.

"So, that was an epic concert you made back there," Peter told Gwen, Gloria, and MJ. "For a moment, I thought you were going to make a song about Spider-Man or something."

Gwen chuckled, twirling her hair. "Uh, tempting, but no... That one was for my Dad."

Peter raised a brow, almost stunned by that answer. "...R-Really?"

Gwen nodded as Gloria patted her on the back. "Yeah... That song was pretty much dedicated to how much I'm feeling on the inside, so I figured I'd let it all out while I'm kicking ass... And besides, there are already so many people that have made Spider-Man songs ever since Tony Stark declared him as New York's Superhero."

"She's right," Anya confirmed, sitting next to Ned and Gwen. "There's already a dozen music videos that are based on the Web-Slinger alone. Some of them have like a million hits or more."

Peter raised a brow. "R-Really?" He looked around at Ned, Gloria, and Gwen. "I mean, what exactly are they about?"

Anya shrugged. "Spider-Man... Obviously?"

"No... That's not what I meant."

Ned cleared his throat. "I think what Peter was trying to ask is, what do the lyrics say about him. About Spider-Man exactly."

"Oh... Well, there's a lot of original lyrics. For starters, there's this group called The Tender Box that made this really awesome song, called Spectacular Spider-Man. It's got these solid beats that make you feel like you're living in the moment, you know?"

"I've heard that," Randy said as he got down, handing everyone food and drinks. "That song has some nice beats to it!"

MJ rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well don't get me started with this Lady that plays the Violin. That girl is everywhere."

"Who is?" Harry turned around, having heard parts of the conversation as he moved to join them. "What are we talking about again?"

When the question rose, everyone who knew better began to leave off an awkward silence with most of the group until Anya spoke up.

"Spider-Man. We were talking about a Spider-Man song, and we were just contemplating how many songs there has been ever since the guy rose up in popularity."

Harry blinked. "Really? Just how many songs are out there?"

"Just about a dozen or more. Why?"

"Oh, nothing." Harry picked up his next bowling ball, cracking his neck on both sides. "I mean... I'm just curious as to whether or not there's a song about how Spider-Man pierced a blade right through my Father's chest."

He let out a growl when he made the shot, only scoring like half a spare as everyone watched him vent out his anger before releasing a sigh, turning back around with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"I mean, I'm just shocked that they're making songs about him, you know?" Harry said as he sat down next to MJ while maintaining that well-balanced level of sarcasm. "Seriously, if there ever was a song that actually fitted my interests, then I'm just dying to know about it."

Gloria sighed, getting up to take her turn while everyone looked at Harry quietly, Anya stared at him weirdly.

"Okay... Can someone tell us what you're all about? Because I'm just confused, I don't remember Spider-Man being much of a killer-!"

Gwen cleared her throat, loud enough to interrupt Anya as she tilted her head next to her ear.

"So... You know Norman Osborn?" Gwen whispered quietly. "The one everyone talks about on the news?"

Anya nodded. "Yeah. Isn't that guy supposed to be the psycho who-?"

"That was Harry's Dad."

Anya blinked. "Oh?" She turned around, looking at everyone's expressions. "Ooo..." She turned around, facing Harry as he just sat there with his hands clasped together and his head let down. "Oh... Wow, I think I just botched my first friendly conversation in a long time... Uh, hey, I'm sorry-!"

Harry let his head up, smiling. "No, no! Don't apologize." He shook his head, "I mean, it's fine. I'm used to what everyone says about my Father... From uh, Bloodsucking Anarchist Billionaire, to the World's number one hated Man ever born... Probably and most likely to be the Modern Day Adolf Hitler? I'm pretty sure there are some Hitler references that are relating to my Father being a Dictator, which is actually pretty accurate, considering he once tried to turn New York into his personal Nation filled with Laughing Crazed Trolls, So... If you're ever nervous about talking about all the positive notes about Dad, then do yourself a favor, and don't be scared because honestly, my entire life has gone to hell in the cruelest form of cosmic dynamics because of him, so..." He lifted up a Coke Can, opening up the cap while letting his lips drop down to its regular position. "He can just rot in hell for all I care."

With enough being said from him, he just sat there and sipped his drink, with everyone else just watching him quietly as MJ held his hand softly as a means to provide comfort while Peter looked away without even uttering a word.

After a while, Randy turned his head up, putting up the bold effort to ask a daring question. "So... We get that you're going through a lot, with what your Dad did, but... Why do you hate Spider-Man still? I mean, if you hate your Dad, why continue-?"

"Because my father deserved to die slowly in a prison or have a lobotomy performed on him in a mental institution, not by the hands of some Stranger in a Mask." Harry interrupted. "I get that a lot of people endorse him as a Hero, but believe me when I say Spider-Man is no Hero. He's just like the rest of the people he throws away behind bars."

"But... Are you sure Spider-Man killed your Dad?" Anya asked, tilting her head. "I mean, how do you know that? How are you so sure of yourself that he did it?

"I'm pretty certain that he did."

"Are you certain?" Peter asked innocently. "I mean… What if Anya has a point? I mean, surely, Spider-Man wouldn't do such a thing-!"

"It was him, Peter." Harry turned around, facing Harry. "Trust me… I was there."

Peter fell deathly silent after hearing that claim as he leaned back against his seat, looking at Gwen sitting across from him, who stared back with mutual concern much to everyone else's notice...

"What have you done..."

Suddenly, memories of old beginning to stir up as he found himself standing at the construction site in his Spider-Man Persona. His suit damaged in battle, looking at Norman Osborn's Corpse just hanging on the wall by the Glider that pierced him through the heart until he gazed his eyes over to Harry, who just stood there looking at him with rage.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"Hey."

Peter breathed, turning around to see Gwen whispering to him while facing his direction.

"Your hand..."

"...What?"

"It's shaking."

Peter squinted his eyes before looking down, seeing his hand shaking uncomfortably while Gwen's held his to ease the stress, allowing him to regain some level of ease as he breathed out silently.

"What the hell?"

Gwen held his hand firmly. "Are you okay?"

"...I..."

"Alright…" GG began to speak, having ended her turn. "I'm not sure about anyone else, but I'm not really digging into the whole awkward silence vibe. So why don't we just put our touchy subjects to rest and focus our energy just having fun, agreed?"

Harry nodded his head. "Agreed."

"Awesome! Uh, Leeds?" He turned around, facing Gloria. "I think it's your turn to throw the ball."

Ned nodded with joy. "Sweet! Uh, everyone better brace yourselves, because this is gonna be epic-!"

"Hey."

The group was interrupted momentarily as a man called them out. His expression caused concern for others as MJ stood up, raising a brow.

"Uh, hi… Can we help you?"

"That's him, isn't it? Is that really him?"

"Uh oh…" Gwen spoke with worry. "I think Peter might have broken his high score in that arcade earlier!"

Everybody made an "Ooo" teasing sound, causing Peter to become nervous as he chuckled shyly, standing up to face the man. "Look, dude, don't sweat about it! A game is just a game after all-!"

"I'm not talking about Video Games Bowling! I'm talking about Norman Osborn's Hellspawn!"

And just like that, everyone's cheerful attitude has dropped dramatically as Harry's eyes became grim.

"Well? Is that really him or not?!"

Harry sighed, closing his eyes as he put his slice down on the table, he got up onto his feet, much to the group's disapproval as MJ pulled on his arm, he softly pulled away from her grip.

"It's okay," Harry reassured her before facing the Man in question. "Yeah… You got me… What do you want?"

"...My daughter… My niñita, Isabella… She used to love going to Broadway… But then your Father ruined it two weeks ago when he unleashed that damned gas all over Times Square! And she was right there when it happened! And now…"

The man, who sounded much like a Father it appeared, started tearing up as he gasped, rubbing his eyes as Harry faced one of his Father's victims in his dreaded attack.

"...Now every time she passes by 42nd, she can't help but flinch just standing near it… All those wonderful memories she had; all gone because of what your family did to mine."

Harry held his composure as the man he dealt with continued to stare at him… The anger, the vengeance, he could feel it just standing in front of him as remorse began to dwell from within.

"...I'm… I'm truly sorry-!"

"Sorry? You're sorry?!"

The man's hand slammed on the table, making a loud enough BANG for the entire building to hear as everyone turned to face them, now becoming a scene.

"My daughter has PTSD because of your Father! She can't even sleep at night without worrying about the Duende Verde coming to her room and turning her into a Goblin again! And all you can say about that is that you're sorry?!"

When his voice began to rise, Peter started to get up off of his seat to put an end to this, but Randy set him aside, gently pushing him back on the booth.

"Easy, I got this."

Randy started walking from behind Harry as the man's voice continued to be raised in anger.

"My daughter is 9 years old! She should be out trying to envision her dream, not have constant nightmares about a monster that turned her into one! And all you rich people do is just sit down and relax while everything else burns in hell!"

"Whoa, chill out!" Randy said, trying to calm him down. "The guys responsible paid for what they did."

"Apparently not all of them! Because the bastard's son is still here unpunished!"

"Hey, leave him alone!" Gwen told him, making a stand. "It wasn't his fault, it was entirely his Dad's and Wilson Fisk's! If you want to blame someone, blame them!"

"The Kingpin may have had a hand in turning people into freaks, but Osborn was the one who pushed the button!" The Father clenched his fists together. "His blood reeks off of his son, I can't even bear to even be around him!"

"Alright, then go somewhere else then!" Anya said, counter-meandering his argument, but Harry raised a hand."

"Look, it's fine, I'll walk away," Harry said as a suggestion. "No one's forcing you to be in front of me, so I'll just leave."

"Why? So you can ruin other people's lives as Daddy did?!"

"Hey, that's enough." Randy intervened, standing in front of the man harassing Harry. "You should probably just walk away now."

"No! I'm not finished with-!"

"Either you leave…" Randy spoke, lowering his tone as he took a step closer to the Father as his eyes narrowed to a stern expression. "Or else I'll make you leave."

The Man stared at Randy, hearing his voice sharpen as he scoffed, turning to Harry. "Of course… Typical that you hire your thugs to guard you, huh? Scared to get your hands dirty"

"Last chance, bro." Randy started folding his arms. "Leave."

The man sighed, lowering his brow at Osborn before reluctantly making his step back. Then he turned around and made his leave, exiting the Bowling Alley as Harry sighed, sitting back down.

"Are you okay?" Randy asked, turning around to face Harry.

Harry nodded his head, rubbing his face. "I'm good."

"How?" Peter asked, sitting next to him. "That guy was treating you like trash!"

"Yeah, well that's the bright side of being the Son of Hitler, I suppose." Harry grabbed his Coke and started gulping on it. Tossing it over into the Recycling Bin. "So… Where were we with the score?"

"Is that true?" An employee asked the group, causing the kids to turn her attention along with many other bystanders. "Is he really-?"

"Guys, come on," Ned spoke out, standing up. "Look, he's just a kid. Alright? He had absolutely nothing to do with what his Dad did."

"Says who?" Asked a bystander. "His Father? Green Goblin?"

Harry sighed, standing up. "Look, can we just-!"

"Get the hell out of here, you freak." A woman told him coldly. "We don't want you in here."

"I'll be damned if I ever stand in the same room as this demon piece of shit here."

"Son of a bitch should be ashamed of himself, coming in here."

"Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Little punk thinks he must own the place."

"If he stays for another minute, I'm putting his foot up his ass."

As many of the Bowling Alley's occupants began to rally, voices of disdain towards Harry were heard verbally when people started standing up in front of the group, harassing them further as the Man did before while Peter started getting up, being extremely close to exit the area and put on the Suit when Gwen got up with rage on her expression.

"ENOUGH," Gwen shouted loud enough for everybody to hear, holding out a badge. "My father worked for the NYPD. I know a few contacts that can come right here to put each and every one of you in trouble for just acting the way you are right now! So if any of you don't want to spend a night in jail, or a ticket on your records or even a day spent in court facing District Attorney Jennifer Walters, you people will back the hell off! And if any of you still has a problem with our friend, then why don't anyone of you get the hell out?!"

The crowd started to stifle down, backing up despite having some form of grievance as the group started standing up for Harry, a few even determined to fight for him.

"No."

A voice called out from behind, causing everybody to turn around to see Harry standing up, who was the one behind voicing his disagreement.

"No," Harry said again, grabbing his pizza. "No, it's okay. I'm just about done here anyway."

Peter scoffed, shaking his head. "Harry, come on! You've gotta be kidding-!"

"Guys, it's fine!" Harry pronounced with a clear expression. "It's fine… I'm not feeling well anymore anyway, so it's fine."

With that said, everybody began to back away while Harry grabbed his food and left, leaving his friends behind as Peter followed him out, running into the owner on the way.

"Have your experiences been well here?" The owner asked quietly.

"It was okay," Peter responded, giving him the check. "We'd like to come back here anytime." He started to head for the door when the Owner began to speak up.

"Just don't bring that kid in here again." The Owner remarked coldly, turning to Parker while he turned to face him again. "I don't care who your friends know, I don't want to see that Monster's face in here ever again."

Peter sighed, shaking his head before exiting the building. He turned to the sidewalk, looked around to see Harry crossing the street as he quickly ran to catch up to him.

"Harry, wait!" Peter caught up and walked alongside his best friend. "Hey, come on, why did you leave? Everybody was defending you back there! Everyone, even Anya."

Harry stopped where he was, allowing Peter to catch up to him fully, as he turned around to face his best friend.

"Yeah, they were defending me, Peter... From the majority of New York City who constantly vandalizes my Dad's Building and his Grave, and not to mention sending me death threats to my Email Account 24/7," Harry said to Peter bitterly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm this poor innocent angel who needs pity at a time like this."

Peter sighed, pressing his hands into his pockets. "Look, you were right about what you said in there. Your life went to hell because of what your father had done."

"And everyone hates me and fears me all the same."

"Well, they shouldn't be scared of you, you did nothing wrong! I mean, just why not tell them to rewatch the last press conference he had? He initially said that you had no involvement!"

"Oh, right! Tell them of my innocence based on the words of the Devil! No, uh, Goblin to be precise. If people are like that out here, then there's no telling how my school life is going to be like next week."

"Well, it's okay because we'll be there to defend you, Harry."

"It will be once I transition to boarding school."

At that moment, Peter stopped right on his tracks, being completely stunned by the last word Harry spoke as his friend halted his journey, turning to Parker whose face was filled with befuddlement.

Harry sighed, shaking his head. "Damn, I was… I was hoping to tell you later…"

Peter stared at Harry, sad about the news. "You're… You're not coming back to Midtown?"

Harry moved his lips in a conflicted curve, looking down on the ground while putting his hands clasped together. "...It's not that I don't want to come back." He moved up his head, facing Peter. "But… You've seen first hand how big this has changed my life. My Dad, he… I wasn't lying about what said back there; He didn't just ruin the life of that guy's Daughter, or everybody else's, he also ruined mine in a certain way. He tainted our Family's name when he released a Bioweapon on the entire City, and I have to be the only one who has to live with that."

"Well, it's not fair!" Peter said, walking to Harry. "You shouldn't have to be afraid of people who are afraid of you! It's not even your fault for what your Dad did!"

"Yeah, tell that to everybody at school and to the rest of the World," Harry argued. "For all they know, I am considered to be Stalin's personal Advocate or something. People aren't going to let me have a normal life, things aren't going to be the way they once were, not anymore."

"Just because your Father changed the world, doesn't mean you have to change."

Harry scoffed. "Yeah? Well, how exactly do I defend myself from the millions of people who hate me?"

"By proving them wrong," Peter answered with confidence. "You may be an Osborn, but you're not your Father's Son… You're better than that. You just need to show them that rather than being pushed away like you were back there."

Harry looked away, turning around to face a billboard that had his Father's face on it… With Green Horns added on his head.

"...I just…" Harry began to speak, shaking his head. "I just don't want people to view me as a monster anymore."

Peter sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Then try coming back to school on Monday… Give it a chance, a full week, that's all I ask. Change isn't going to come if we're going to conform being pushed away, it only comes when you're the one who pushes back."

Harry sighed, turning to Peter to talk more until he received a text on his phone... One that was sent by Felicia Hardy.

Tick Tock better move it!

"I uh... I gotta go back. My Dad's Former Assistant has been covering for me back home at Oscorp, I'm not supposed to be out here at this hour."

Peter nodded. "I understand... Do you want me to come with you-?"

He shook his head. "It's fine. I already got a Lyft Driver out on the way over before you caught up to me, so a car should be here sometime soon." He turned around, seeing a car pull up. "And that's my ride. I got to go."

"Okay... Take care, Harry."

Harry just nodded his head, smiling before getting inside of the car, which pulled away at the moment he became a passenger as Peter sighed, looking on with so much guilt built up inside of him...

---

Peter woke up in bed the next morning as he yawned, letting his arms stretch in the air before moving on and exiting his room, entering the living room where his Aunt May was cooking some wheat cakes while the TV was playing the news.

"Reports of Harry Osborn's Sighting at a local Queens Bowling Alley has sparked some negative feedback as many in the area have reported having been extremely hostile towards Norman Osborn's Son. This wasn't the first time this was heard of, as Mount Hope Cemetery owners have reported local pedestrians vandalizing Norman Osborn's Grave; through graffiti art and going as far as to put up a Goblin Mask on top of his tombstone-!"

Peter sighed as he sat down on the table, shaking his head while Aunt May poured him some Orange Juice, having noticed her Nephew's saddened look on his expression.

"Hey what's wrong? You look kind of down."

Peter lowered his head, taking his OJ while May looked at him.

"It's nothing May, I... I'm just thinking about how Harry is doing right now."

May nodded. "Oh yeah... I've heard about what happened, I'm so sorry you had to be there to witness that."

"I'm only sorry that it's happening to him right now. Harry's going through a lot, and I think it's starting to get to him."

May hummed, turning around to open the fridge. "I bet... After all, I can't imagine what he's going through... With everyone pointing the blame on him for what his Father had done... For you letting the Glider stab him right in the heart that night..."

Peter ceased his actions on the counter, raising a brow in confusion as he turned around, watching his Aunt May.

"W-What?"

"You know, I wonder what would happen if Harry ever found out where you really were the night his father died." May began to chuckle darkly. "I mean, I can't imagine the look on his face if he ever found out. I'd bet that'd be a killer for sure, hehehehehehe..."

Peter looked at her as May continued to chuckle in front of the fridge, leaning his head forward to get a closer look. But then he moved back when May turned around, revealing her Green Goblin Face, jump scaring her Nephew as she let out a hysterical laugh. Her eyes glowing Blood Red as she continued laughing in front of her terrified Nephew.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

"May?!" Peter got up, panting while sweat ran down his forehead. "May, oh my god! What happened to you?!"

"What do you think happened?"

Peter turned around, widening his eyes in horror as a figure in the dark stood in front of a dim-lit window, casting a shadow over Parker as his Yellow Eyes pierced into him like a knife stabbing him instantaneously.

"Did you think really think you could've actually done it? Did you really think I was that avoidable? Did you really think..."

The figure walked over to Peter, revealing himself as the Green Goblin as his Monsterious form took center stage in Peter's house of horrors as his smile caused him to tremble underneath his very being.

"That it would be that easy to kill me? Hehehehehehehehehe..."

Peter gasped, shaking his head as he stood back. "You're... You're dead... You're supposed to be dead, I watched you die..."

"Hehehehehehahahahahaha..."

"How are you not dead? Answer me, Norman! HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD?!"

"Maha! Maha! Maha! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Suddenly, the ground began to tear itself from the inside as Goblins crawled up from above, chasing after Peter as he stood back, making his way over to the door, only to find Ned Leeds laughing like a madman as he had grown Yellow Shaped Goblin Ears, looking more of a Hobgoblin rather than a Green Goblin.

"Ned?!"

"Hahahahahaha! What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost, Peter! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Peter panted, standing back before pushing Ned out of the way, moving down to the elevator only to find Gloria, Randy, and Flash also laughing madly with glee as they too have been infected by the Goblin Ooze.

"What's up, Penis Parker?!"

"HAH! Penis!"

"Parker!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Peter gasped, turning around, only to find MJ just standing right around the corner of his apartment with a Goblin Look adorned to her.

"Peek-a-boo!"

"Ahh!"

He turned yet again, only to get grabbed by the collar as Green Goblin smirked at him, looking appeased by Peter's terror on his face.

"Gotcha!"

He threw Peter right onto the floor, causing him to roll down roughly towards the window as the Goblin Infested coup laughed at him mockingly. Friends, neighbors, even family-like Aunt May laughed hysterically as Peter weakly got up, looking out the window to find that New York is once again covered in the same gas that nearly devastated the entire city.

"This can't be..." He turned around, facing the Goblins. "This can't be! We cured you, we cured all of you!"

"Yet we're still here, Spider-Man! And do you want to know why?"

The Goblin King reached out, grabbing him by the throat as he lifted him in the air, pushing him outside, smashing the glass open as he held him several feet above the ground, threatening to drop him.

"You'd like to know why you have lost, even when you thought you have won?"

Peter groaned, trying to effortlessly escape from Goblin's grasp as he looked down, seeing how dangerous a drop it is if he fell as he turned his head around, facing in Norman's malicious direction.

"It's all because of you... Still don't know all of Daddy's Secrets!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Peter watched as the Goblins laughed at him until his hand let go of his neck, causing him to scream as he was moments away from hitting the ruined streets filled with absolute chaos.

"AHHHHH!"

Peter opened his eyes, lifting himself up by the waist as he found himself back in his room, having suffered an immense nightmare as he sighed, shaken from the horrible dream as he rubbed his face, gasping softly until he felt certain he was awake once again to the real world.

As he exited his room, May was in the kitchen having already baked Wheatcakes, Scrambled Eggs, and Bacon while the news began playing the news that didn't involve Harry Osborn this time around.

"Coming up next was Spider-Man's latest heroic display at a hostile robbery gone extreme as the Russian Mafia were seen having donned heavy arsenal in an attempt to steal as many of the artifacts that remain inside of the Noguchi Museum, with only one of the items currently being listed as stolen, due to witnesses having reported a young Femme Fatale who acted like a Cat, who took advantage of the bizarre firefight that was going on just outside their doors. Police are still investigating into this ongoing matter while Captain Yuri Watanabe had this to say-!"

"Hey, Peter!" May turned around, pouring herself some coffee. "I made breakfast."

Peter nodded his head. "Cool, May. That's cool."

He took his plate and started sitting on the counter while May noticed how terrible he looked.

"Are you alright, Peter? You don't look so good."

He groaned, cutting his pancakes up. "I had... A very bad dream last night."

"Oh no! Was it about the Goblin Outbreak again?"

He sighed, taking his glass of orange juice in the air. "Another one."

"Snap." She sighed as Peter gulped down his drink. "That's like the 5th time you've had to experience that."

"Well, I think I can speak for everyone else in the entire 5 Boroughs that I can relate to just about anything that everyone's going through right now."

She took her food and sat in front of Peter as she began eating breakfast alongside Peter.

"You're not wrong... Ever since what happened, people in the Shelter have been experiencing an unprecedented record of PTSD. Some still have nightmares about the infected continuing to claw at our doors just so they could get in."

Peter nodded. "Yeah, Ned and the others told me about what happened. I"m sorry you had to be in the middle of all that."

May smiled, shaking her head. "I wouldn't apologize, Peter. I was where I was at the right time and at the very last minute." She sighed as she leaned back, cutting her eggs. "And God knows what would have happened if I didn't catch that Oscorp package that was delivered at F.E.A.S.T. that night and dumped it inside of a garbage truck, and I'm very glad I caught that, considering what they actually capable of."

"Me too."

They continued to eat their breakfast, with Peter already finished with the pancakes as he moved on towards the bacon and eggs, taking May's complete attention.

"Well, someone's hungry."

Peter wiped his mouth, turning his eyes to May. "It's Pancakes, Eggs, and Bacon, May! I can't help myself when you make a classic combo, you know that!"

She smiled. "Just don't go overboard, okay? I don't want you to end up hurting your cholesterol."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my cholesterol has nothing to worry about."

"Well, as long as you take good care of yourself."

They resumed with their breakfast as Peter suddenly began to pause, turning to the image of Norman Osborn's face on the TV as his Transformation as the Green Goblin was seen through archive footage.

You still don't know... All of Daddy's secrets.

The last words of Norman echoed into Peter's mind as he held the fork in his hand, frozen for a moment as he turned to his food, squinting his brow while his Aunt grabbed her mug and sipped on her coffee.

"...Do you ever think of why my Parents left that night?"

May nearly spilled her coffee as she planted her mug onto the table, blinking her eyes as she gave out an uneasy expression due to the sore subject of Peter's Parents.

"...I thought we were already past this."

"We are... Kind of, I just..." Peter leaned back, sighing. "I mean, I know... I know that Dad left with Mom because of something that involved Norman Osborn, but... Sometimes I just wonder, if... If it was only just Norman that was the reason, that's all."

May looked to her Nephew, sighing heavily as she let go of her utensil and reached out to him by Peter's hand.

"I know it's hard not knowing about the full mystery that went on the night they left... I know because it was hard for your Uncle and me, since they didn't explain everything in detail." May emphasized as Peter placed a hand on his chin. "But we both agreed to each other that if we kept dwelling on it... There wouldn't be a chance for any of us to move forward in the World, because what kind of life would we lived if we dwelled on the Past?"

Peter sighed, lowering his head to face his breakfast... Or what was left of it at least.

"...I just sometimes wish there was something else that he left out... A clue maybe, I don't know."

"Oh, Peter... Ben used to think about all the possible conspiracies that would lead up to your Parent's disappearance. But after a couple of years, he just gave up, saw no point in looking for answers anymore." She stood up, getting off of her chair to stand behind Peter. "After all, he knew that the only thing he had to do in his life was to spend it with you and me... And it was the best life he ever spent, even though he... Sadly didn't get to live through it all."

Peter's heart began to turn sour as the thought of his Uncle Ben began to be put into his mindset.

"...Still... At least he never had the chance to see through the Carnage we had to endure, isn't that right?"

Peter's brow began to raise itself as he cast a light smile at the thought.

"I dunno... Maybe he would have just acted as if nothing happened and it was another day in New York."

May chuckled, raising her head up just thinking about it.

"Yeah... Yeah, maybe you're right about that."

Soon, May began to pull away as Peter finished eating his breakfast, his phone was vibrating on the table as he got a hold of it, seeing that Gwen's text was messaging specifically for him.

Hey, you Adorable Idiot. We're ready for you, so get your butt over here!

May tilted her head. "Who was that?"

"Gwen." He picked up his phone, having finished the last of his breakfast already. "Uh, we're doing this highly personal pet project right now, so I'm gonna be gone for most of the day."

"Ooh, is it about that new clubhouse that you mentioned?"

"Well, yeah, actually it is."

"Could you tell me again what happened to the old one? Because I don't understand why you couldn't just re-use the old one."

"Because the one we used was actually in school, and we can't use it anymore because we'd be trespassing after the Goblin Nightmare closed the school for a while."

"Right. Well, I wish you luck on your Clubhouse!"

"Thanks, May!"

Peter left the apartment, flexing his arms for a bit before getting his backpack containing his Suit. Once he got the backpack, he closed his door, turning to the elevator when he passed MJ down the hall.

"Hey, MJ."

"Hey, Loser."

He stopped in front of the elevator to press a button when he raised a brow, turning sharply at MJ.

"Wait... MJ?"

She turned around, facing Peter. "Yeah? What is it?"

He pointed at her, looking completely confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? I live here. What are you doing here?"

"I live here too, except I'm taking my leave right now." He folded his arms. "Say, since when did you move in here?"

"A couple of weeks ago. Yeah, my family lost the house thanks to the Goblin Nightmare back then. And we were lucky too because the last person who lived here wanted to move the hell out of town after the whole World War Z: Goblin Edition melodrama."

"And that must explain why I haven't seen Mr. Bubniak in a while." He looked at his apartment and the one MJ lives in. "Wait, so if you're living here... And I'm living here..."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh god, here we go."

"Holy crap!" He scoffed. "We're neighbors now!"

"Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn't geek out over this."

"Wha... How are you not reacting to this? You and I being neighbors and all-!"

"So? You and I virtually share the same school together. You don't see me making such a fuss about it."

"Well, that's because you and I also worked together at F.E.A.S.T! I mean, doesn't that strike you as odd?"

She shook her head. "Um... No, not really."

Peter sighed. "Okay, well... I got to go."

"Yeah, me too."

Peter pressed the elevator button, which opened up the elevator. "See you tomorrow at school, Tiger."

MJ raised a brow. "Uh... What?"

"...Tiger?" He twirled his thumbs. "You know, as in our School Mascot? "Go Get 'Em, Tigers!", you know?"

"...yeah, I get what you're doing back here, but the way you said it felt more like a pickup line rather than... You know."

Peter widened his eyes. "Pickup Line?! No, no! Oh god no!"

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

"I mean, I wouldn't do that, obviously because well... You're dating Harry, who's one of my best friends..."

"Yeah."

"And not to mention that I'm currently dating Gwen, who's also your best friend..."

"Uh-huh..."

"And I'm just making this sound a lot more awkward than it needs to be, am I?"

"That sounds pretty accurate."

"Okay..." He let out a whiff of air, stepping back into the elevator. "I'm just... Gonna bounce out of here."

She nodded, squinting her eyes. "That's a good idea."

"Okay."

With enough being said, the two left their separate ways as Peter stood inside of the elevator shaking his head in humiliation.

"...See you tomorrow at school, Tiger?" Peter quoted himself. "Ugh... What is wrong with me?"

He sighed as the elevator reached the first floor, causing him to step out as he walked by to the landlord, one he was vaguely familiar with.

"Hey, Mr. Ditkovich. Nice Morning we're having?"

Mr. Ditkovich turned around, seeing young Parker casually exiting the Apartment.

"Hey! How's your Aunt holding up?"

"Fine, currently eating Bacon and Eggs upstairs."

"Good for her. Has any of you Parkers tried out Ursula's Cookies?"

"Yes! They were very well done, your Daughter makes the best! My Aunt's actually considering asking if she could bake the cookies for the F.E.A.S.T. Shelter."

"Really? When is that?"

"Fairly soon. Probably happen before you know it."

"That's good... Anything else?"

Peter started walking over to the door. "No, I think that's it-!"

As his hand was moments away from the door, Ditkovich stood in his way, folding his arms.

"Are you sure?"

"...The Rent."

"Yes."

Peter nodded his head. "That's right... The rent is overdue, isn't it?"

"I've been very patient with you two, I really have, but you are a month late on rent again. Again!"

Peter sighed, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Ditkovich, things have been so crazy with everything going on after the Goblin Nightmare-!"

"Yes, yes, I know! Goblin this, Rhino that, Vulture where! I've heard so many excuses like that before, yet I get no rent money. It's like being taken advantage of, and I do not like being taken advantage of!"

Peter pressed his hands in his pockets. "Look, May and I are supposed to get this Oscorp Stimulus Check pretty soon, so when it arrives, I promise that-!"

"If promises were crackers, my daughter would be fat!" He pressed his hands into Peter's shoulders. "Now, look, I'm not going to tell any of that to your Aunt because she is just too nice and beautiful to be mistreated in any way, so I'm going to put the pressure unto you until you pay me rent. Got it?"

Peter nodded his head. "Yes, Mr. Ditkovich."

"And don't think this will be a one-time thing! I will keep hounding after you until I get rent! And don't try to sneak past me. I have ears like a cat and eyes like a rodent!"

Peter stood as he watched Mr. Ditkovich give out a hissing expression with his teeth gritted together while staring out at him as he held onto his backpack with just one hand.

"...Thanks Mr. Ditkovich."

"Now scram!" Mr. Ditkovich shouted as he turned away from Peter. "Ursula is currently cooking in the kitchen right now, and I have to make sure she doesn't set the pot on fire again!"

He left for his apartment as Peter watched him leave him alone before turning around to make his leave as the thought of the rent dwelled within his mind, letting out a sigh on his way out.

"Jeez... I thought I didn't have to deal with this until I was an Adult."

---

Later, Peter Parker was seen going through an alleyway in Midtown Manhattan as he casually strolled down, looking to see if anyone was watching. Once he knew the coast was clear, he stood on top of a Sewage Lid, stepping his foot on it hard to make it jump up in the air just in time for Peter to catch it.

Once caught he jumped right through the manhole, closing the lid at the same time as he landed elegantly down the tunnels. There he walked over to an abandoned subway train, walking right inside as he hopped on board, seeing how empty and dark it looked on the inside.

"Hello?" Peter shouted, letting his echo ring through the tunnels. "Hello?"

He cleared his throat, letting out a sigh as he approached a locked door inside the train, knocking on it several times before a voice echoed throughout the train.

"H'chuta apenkee?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Ned, come on, it's me! Enough with the Star Wars Langauge, open the door!"

"Boska! De Wanna Wanga Bantha Poodoo!"

"Ned, I swear, if you don't this door right now, I will tell Karen to delete your subscription to Disney+!"

At that moment, Ned's voice reverted from Huttese into his original English as he sounded a bit disturbed by that thought.

"Whoa... Seriously? Can she actually do that?"

"I don't know, do you wanna find out the hard way?"

"Uh, no! No, I'll open the door right now. Thanks for your patience, sorry for the inconvenience."

The door was unlocked, allowing Peter entry as he walked right in, getting out of the Subway Train and into an abandoned Subway Station, which was ultimately retrofitted into a miniaturized condo for Spider-Man as couches were in place, large Computer Monitors were installed, and numerous other additions such as a fridge, a small lab, a couch, and perhaps a large shelf full of funko pop toys was lying right next to the computer screen as Peter approached the Spidey Squad, who have all been expecting his arrival.

"I see we've got the place all set up," Peter said, sitting down on the couch with a smile. "How we are doing so far?"

"Good." Gwen tapped Peter on the back. "And I think I speak for everyone when I say that this is a lot better than Midtown's Old Theatre on the roof."

Peter nodded his head, smirking. "Yeah, it's a good thing Nick Fury pointed this place out for us before leaving. He listed this Abandoned Subway Station as part of one of S.H.I.E.L.D's Safe Houses, so this makes a great setup for our operations."

"Ditto!" Ned smiled as he tinkered with the Web, using its holographic capabilities. "I mean, we're still running behind on an AC, dealing with all the cobwebs lying around, and of course, all the dust just sitting around, but you know? I think this could be our little Home Away From Home while we're doing Spider-Man business."

"And speaking of Spider-Man business... Check this out!" Gloria lifted a box and put on top of the table, much to Ned's disapproval.

"Seriously? Not on the Futon!"

"Shut up! I've got something important to say here!"

Peter turned to GG. "What's up?"

"This is what's up." She opened the box, revealing Spider-Man T-Shirts inside. "You just became a Fashion Trend. A lot of people are buying Spider-Man Merchandise like crazy! Just yesterday on my way over to the Band, I saw someone wear a Spider-Man Hoodie based off of ComicCosplay's Design."

"Wait, that ComicCosplay's Design?" Ned questioned curiously. "I thought they only made like Spandex."

"Well, they upped their game, which means we have to do the same!" Gloria turned to face the group. "Now, since we can't tell the world who Spider-Man, there's no way for Peter to get paid legally. But, since we're in the Social Media business threshold, I'm thinking that since Ned has lived with Parents are also experienced with selling and making clothes, he could help us sell our own Spidey Merchandise. Help each of us save up money for whenever we graduate from High School and apply directly to College!"

Peter raised a brow. "Really? We're seriously thinking that far ahead of this scale?"

"Well, since most of us Squaddies are responsible for putting good publicity for Spider-Man on the Media, we could probably multitask into doing that, and finishing each other's homework and merchandising. I mean, what's the harm in getting paid, right?"

Ned folded his arms. "Okay, well, that sounds great and all, but what about the MJs? Can't we just siphon money out of-!"

Gwen and Gloria shook heads altogether.

"No."

"Hell no! That shit is sacred grounds."

"It's like our personal holy temple, Ned! How dare you?"

Ned raised his hands up. "H-Hey! I'm just trying to make suggestions, that's all! We haven't actually agreed on anything yet, so we're just workshopping right now."

Gloria just sat down as she placed her hands behind her back. "Well, it's not like we won any money from Battle of the Bands anyway. The MJs didn't get a reward for winning, just the Audience Appeal, that's all."

"Oh..." Ned scratched his head. "Well, so much for that."

Gwen folded her arms. "Well, this sounds all good, but shouldn't we be focused on crime-fighting right now? I mean, we gotta figure out where those Russians got those Miniguns during the Noguchi Robbery last night."

"You're right, Gwen." Peter agreed. "That's definitely something worth discussing, but on the other hand, maybe it wouldn't help to multitask a little."

"Why do you say that?"

Peter sighed, scratching his head. "Has Ned ever told you about Mr. Ditkovich?"

Gloria tilted her head. "What? You mean the Rent Guy?"

Ned widened his eyes. "Oh yeah... He's as grouchy as Jameson! You know, he'd be like, "Where's my Rent?"

"Rent?" Gloria quoted, making a mocking parody of Ditkovich. "Give me Rent!"

Peter smiled as everyone laughed at the subject of his landlord. "Alright, seriously, about Mr. Ditkovich, he's asking for the Rent in my apartment complex. Ever since the Goblin Nightmare, people throughout my home are struggling to pay due to their own share of bills left behind in the wake of the Aftermath, even May is having difficulty trying to pay him back."

Gwen raised a brow. "Well, that's odd. Shouldn't people already have gotten emergency relief funds to help manage their bills?"

"Yeah, that's what also perplexing to me, but we'll sort that out later. For now, if Mr. Ditkovich doesn't get the rent money, he's probably going to evict Aunt May and me, so I have to figure out how to help her the best way I can."

Ned tilted his head. "Wouldn't your Aunt be able to handle this? I mean, she's the one paying your bills after all."

Peter shook his head. "I don't know, Ned. I do know that she's been overworked at F.E.A.S.T. lately, so I don't she's prepared to handle managing money while trying to help others at the same time."

Gwen bit her lip. "Well, maybe we can work something out. I mean, Yuri has some contacts with the bank that owes her a favor. Maybe she can help pull some strings?"

"And Happy!" Ned pointed out. "Happy works for Tony Stark, ish... Maybe he could call him, maybe have Iron Man help out with the rent money?"

"Don't forget about Mrs. Drewman, AKA Agent Jessica Drew," Gloria added while looking at her nails. "She's S.H.I.E.L.D. She could probably work something out for us.

"Okay, first off, Ned..." Peter turned his hip around, pointing at Ned. "Happy doesn't work for Mr. Stark anymore, he works for Max Modell and Curt Connors at Horizon Labs." He then turned over to Gloria. "Secondly Gloria, Jessica isn't even in New York anymore. She's somewhere located in Symkaria the last time I checked." He turned his eyes over to face Gwen. "And third, I can't ask any of you to do that because I know for a fact that the Stimulus Check is coming. Besides, I'm taken care of as far as I'm concerned, so everything's going to work out just fine, I'm sorry I mentioned it anyway. My fault, shouldn't have brought it up in the first place. Now last but not least, Gwen, what did you do to your Hair?"

When Peter asked that, Gwen touched her hair, which no longer had the Pink Dye as her secondary color, but rather a more bright Cyan/Aqua color to it as Ned and Gloria raised a brow having heard Peter ask her that question.

"Jeez, Parker, it took you that long to ask her that?"

"I've been wondering if he's either color blind or just been caught in the moment."

Gwen chuckled softly, rubbing her hair while adding a smile to it.

"You uh... You hate it?"

Peter shook his head. "No, I'm just curious as to when you dyed your hair."

"About... Last Night."

"That recent?"

"I was in celebratory mode, okay?"

"I thought you were in celebratory mode when we were all bowling last night."

"Well, bowling killed off the mood when an angry mob started ganging up on Harry."

Peter's eyes squinted at the memory of the incident of the night before as he lowered his head, rubbing on his neck.

"Right..."

Gwen smiled as she gently wrapped her arms around the back of his neck as a display of affection.

"And besides, I've been meaning to change my hair for a while now, so it's not like it's a big deal or anything."

Ned cleared his throat. "Other than it matches the color of one of your dancing shoes?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Shut up!"

Peter, on the other hand, raised a brow at the mention of that fact.

"Wait, seriously? It actually matches one of your shoes?"

Gwen hummed, pointing a finger at Ned for being a smartass. "Point being, it doesn't matter. I change my hair from Pink to Cyan every now and then, sometimes I just revert to just plain Blonde, get used to it, dude."

As she started to sit down next to Gloria, there was an alert going off on the Web as Ned turned around, sitting down to type on the monitor to activate CCTV.

"Okay, the Web just got a message from Detective..." Ned raised his hand, shaking his head. "Sorry, "Captain", Watanabe. She's asking for Spider-Man to meet her up at the rooftop of the Midtown Precinct."

Gwen rubbed her head. "She's probably gonna talk to you about the Maggia."

Peter turned around, facing Gwen. "How do you know?"

"Because my Father once said to me that Yuri has a lot of baggage towards that group, particularly one that has a Metal Plate inside of his skull." She stood up, facing Peter. "Speaking of, you should probably watch out for her. Now, I personally hate the fact that Hammerhead is released from Prison, but Yuri, oh... She really has it out for the Maggia, so I'm willing to bet there's going to be a lot of deep impulses that are bound to be unleashed."

"Oh, well I wouldn't worry," Peter said as he cracked a smile. "I've known Yuri for quite a while, and nothing ever shakes her."

"Yeah, well I'm hoping after my Father's death, things would be kept that way." She cleared her throat. "Just act like your usual self, as usual, keep an eye out, listen for anything... Weird, and you know... Maybe kick some ass while you're at it."

"That I can definitely do," Peter said while he hummed, stretching his arms up high before he took off his clothes, revealing his Spider-Man Suit. "Speaking of kicking some ass, I gotta go!"

Gwen nodded, folding her arms. "Tell her I said hi." Peter turned around, giving her a weird look before she widened her eyes. "Actually, don't! Please, don't tell her I said anything. In fact, tell her nothing, just... Watch out for her, okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Gotcha." He turned around to get his Sweats from the counter as Ned turned around, raising a brow.

"Uh... Dude?"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm putting on the Sweats."

"While wearing your Suit?"

"What? It's cold out there?"

"I seem to recall that Mr. Stark had implemented a Heater inside your suit." Karen explained as Peter and the others raised a brow.

"Seriously? Since when?"

Karen said nothing, but rather activated a holographic projection of Spider-Man's footage with Iron Man, which surprised everyone inside the Subway Tunnel as they watched the footage play out before them.

"Whoa! You put this into my Suit?!" Peter questioned from inside of the footage as he stood there mesmerized as if he was actually standing there talking to Iron Man way back then.

"I put everything in your suit," Iron Man explained from inside the footage. "Including a heater just in case you get cold or something."

At that moment, Karen turned off the footage as Peter just stood there dumbfounded while everyone else just stared at how quickly he had forgotten.

"...Right," Peter said as he took off his Sweats. "I forgot about that... Thanks, Karen."

"You are welcome, Peter."

As soon as the Sweats were off, Peter put on his Mask as he stood up on top of a train as the group watches him prepare to leave.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later!"

"Yeah, we'll do our thing while you do your thing," Gwen said as he stood next to Gloria. "Smell ya later, Tarantula Man!"

Spidey nodded his head before spinning his webs up towards a vent, making his exit while the Squad was left down in the Tunnel as they moved on with their business.

"So, I have Pizza ordered from Dominos along with some Stuffed Cheesy Bread," Ned said as he turned to the Girls. "Any idea of what to do while we wait?"

Gloria raised a brow. "Uh, depends. Did you give them the address of our Secret Hideout underneath the whole Island of Manhattan?"

"No! Of course not, I just gave it over to the one where our Coffee Bean is."

"So in other words, we wait there while pizza is being delivered to the Cafe. Gotcha." Gloria moved to get Ned's Coat and delivered it to him. "Why don't you wait there and fetch us some Spider-Frappuccinos while Gwen and I sit here reading some hardcore Avengers Fanfic written by this Girl in Jersey Town?"

Ned raised a brow. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. That Jersey Girl makes some good content, you should give it a read sometime."

Gwen cleared her throat as she got her coat. "Actually, I have to go meet up with MJ and Harry right now. Oscorp is apparently having this meeting with Horizon Labs so I have to be there to support both Harry and Max entirely."

"Oh?" Gloria turned around to face Gwen. "So I'm stuck here reading Fanfics all by myself?"

"Sorry." Gwen apologized. "But I promised I'd be there."

Gloria sighed as she just gave her a hug. "Alright, just give MJ a hug for me when you see her, alright?"

"Alright." Gwen left past Ned. "Have fun eating pizza, you guys."

Ned nodded. "Yeah, and coffee maybe."

Gwen left their Hideout as Gloria and Ned were left alone together as Ned sat in front of the computer while Gloria raised a concerning brow.

"...Ahem."

Ned spun around, facing Gloria. "Yeah?"

She tilted a brow. "Aren't you supposed to be on Pizza Delivery shifts right now?"

Ned raised a brow, before widening them. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you; I have CCTV online around the store, so I could spot them so I could leave immediately."

"Oh... That's, actually..." Gloria smiled. "That's actually pretty smart of you."

"Thanks." Ned stood up. "Though, I think maybe you had a good point about Coffee Bean. I'm gonna get us some." He turned to GG. "Uh... Do you want me to pay for it, or...?"

Gloria raised a brow. "What kind of question is that?"

"Not... A highly polite question at all!" Ned shook his head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have even asked..."

Gloria sighed, shaking her head. "You know, I was actually just messing with you about the Coffee earlier man. Besides, you spent enough on Pizza as it is, and I don't need my Broke ass to have you pay for little ole' me anyway."

Ned nodded. "Alright, I'll be back."

Ned began to exit the H.Q. when he stopped right there on his tracks, having raised a brow of curiosity when he heard what Gloria said in her last sentence.

"...Wait." He darted around, facing Gloria again. "What do you mean, you're broke?"

Gloria blinked, turning around with a raised brow. "...Did I just say that?"

Ned nodded. "Yeah... Explicitly."

"Oh..." Gloria sat there for a moment before acting somewhat dumb. "Oh! Uh, sorry... I only said that because well my parents... Haven't paid me minimum wage for a while."

"Oh!" Ned nodded his head. "I totally get that; my parents did the same when their retail store had low sales after the Goblin Nightmare, I'm practically saving up for my School Lunch Money... Though I think I might just spent it all on Pizza though..."

Gloria tilted her head, smirking. "Smart move, slick."

"Yeah..." Ned scratched his head. "Maybe I'll just save my money for lunch tomorrow instead of a... Spider-Frappuccino." He pointed at the Subway Car. "I'm gonna go now."

"Yeah..." Gloria said before getting a text on her phone, reading it to herself. "...So do I, actually." She got up and started getting her gear. "I'm gonna pop right out. Feel free to save us some slices in the fridge."

Ned raised a brow. "Aren't you gonna come back?"

"Not likely." Gloria said while patting him on the back. "Enjoy the pizza, Guy in the Chair."

Ned nodded, mildly puzzled with what happened while Gloria continued to exit with an uneasy expression.

---

Later, at the Midtown Precinct, Yuri Watanabe was seen walking over to the edge of the rooftop while she held out a pack of gum, moving over to lean against the edge of the rail while unaware of Spider-Man simply sitting on the top of the rooftop door.

"911, this is your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Cop speaking," Spider-Man jokingly said out loud while Yuri turned around, hearing another one of his quips. "How may I help you?"

Yuri turned around, facing her back against the rail. "You can help me firstly by not starting off with the Spider-Cop. That is seriously getting old."

"Oh, but it never gets old!"

"Not for you, maybe. Now please stop before I tell you what I told everyone else down in the precinct."

"Ooh..." Spidey tilted his head in wonder. "And what exactly do you tell the guys downstairs whenever you come up here to chew on some gum?"

"That I need a break from their crap..." Yuri said bluntly while turning back around to face the city as Spidey jumped on top of the railing next to her.

"Fair enough," Spider-Man said as he held on to the rail with just one hand. "Hey, sorry I left so fast after yesterday at the Museum. I had an emergency that I needed to attend to, and I couldn't stick around for long."

"It's fine. We handled the rest without you anyway. So far, only one item was stolen from Noguchi, but I'm having a personal contact run that investigation herself."

Soon, he stepped off of the rail to stand over the ledge, leaning against the rail while standing out on the exterior of the ledge where a normal person would fall dangerously into the streets if they aren't careful. "So, why'd you call? Need a date to the Policeman's Ball?"

"I'm sorry, and how old are you, exactly?" Yuri questioned him while raising a brow, to which Spider-Man simply made a nervous moan, which made her crack a smile. "Relax, I'm just making fun of you." She turned her head around to face the city. "And for the record, there is no Ball this year anyway. After the Goblin Nightmare, things became complicated. The Mayor had to reduce our funding in order to save money for the restoration efforts, not to mention how much we spent on George's funeral a couple of weeks back."

Spider-Man raised a brow. "Really? And how are you holding up?"

Yuri unwrapped a piece of gum and started to chew on it. "Financially speaking or morally speaking?"

"Uh... A bit of both?"

Yuri hummed, leaning forward with her arms. "Well uh, financially speaking, I'm doing pretty okay. I'm taking good care of myself, and George's Daughter, so we're doing fine."

"Okay, and morally speaking?"

Yuri stopped chewing her gum for a moment, letting her teeth sink into the gooey flavor before letting out a depressing sigh as she lowered her head, facing down at the streets of New York.

"Morally speaking, well... Things aren't really the same here without George... I'm still getting used to being Captain of the NYPD, with people looking to me for leadership, and I guess you could say that I'm... I'm worried that I might end up jinxing it all up in the long run."

Spider-Man nodded as he looked out into the rest of the City. "Yeah, I understand that feeling... I miss him too, you know."

"Yeah... We all do." Yuri chewed on her gum while she turned around to face the rest of the rooftop. "Moving on, uh... I'd like to talk to you about something."

Spider-Man turned around to face Yuri. "Does it involve that Guy who recently left Jail on Parole?"

"Not yet, though I'm going to get there eventually." She walked away from the rail as Gwen started to get out her phone. "I'd like to talk about a much different subject in hand, one that may involve you in particular."

"Okay... Does it involve me taking a selfie on top of the Empire State Building and posting it on my Social Media account?"

"No. We don't really care about that."

"Alright. What about when I webbed a couple of guys on the hood of a taxi during rush hour? I know that made a lot of people angry, which gave Jameson an excuse to-!"

"Okay, that's something we also to discuss, but I'm not talking about that either."

"Oh... Well, is it the time when I was at that party, and I was web-swinging with that girl that one night-?"

"Would you like to let me finish please?"

Spider-Man sighed as he nodded his head, turning around to lean against the rail, facing Yuri. "Right, sorry... What would you like to talk about?"

Yuri finished chewing on her gum as she spits it out onto the rooftop pavement, letting herself swallow down her throat as she held onto her phone sitting on her waist.

"You didn't happen to pop by in Chinatown last week late at night around 2 in the morning, were you?"

Peter raised a brow. "What? No, I was totally asleep during that hour. Why?"

Yuri sighed heavily as she started to activate her phone. "Well... There was an incident at a store in Chinatown. A witness, Mrs. Chen, was working late when some thug tried to shake her down for money."

"That sucks. Did somebody stop him?"

"In a way, yes."

"Great!"

"But in the way, you would imagine it to be..."

Spidey raised a brow. "Okay, well... How should I imagine it then?"

Yuri grit on her teeth as she handed him her cell. "You should probably just see for yourself."

Spider-Man received the Captain's phone to watch CCTV footage of a man walking into Mrs. Chen's Store as he was seen pointing a gun at her sideways. As he was silently seen shouting at her through the muted footage, a Black Tendril was shown wrapping itself around the thug's arm, letting him drop his firearm as Spider-Man widened his eyes in shock.

"Whoa, what the heck was that?"

"Just keep watching."

He did as he was told as he watched the footage roll out, the Thug widened his expression in horror as a Giant Black Creature appeared on-screen facing it's back on the camera as it used its arm to grab the Thug by the shoulder before the video completely ended, shocking Spider-Man by the sight of such disturbing image."

"Okay..." He turned around, facing Yuri. "What did I just watch?"

"We have no idea. No one even knows, not even the shop lady, she was just traumatized by what she witnessed."

Spider-Man turned his head to face the frozen image. "Wait... What happened next? What happened to this guy?"

"Well... The last time Mrs. Chen saw him was when that... Creature, devoured the Suspect entirely as if he was food."

"Devoured... As in-?"

"Hmm-mm."

Spider-Man cringed as he gave the phone back. "Oh, man... That's just gross!"

"Yeah, well here's the disturbing part. Rumors are unfolding that you were the one that's been devouring Criminals during the night."

Spider-Man widened his eyes. "WHAT? No, why would people think even that?!"

"Well, you did dress up in Black before, so people assumed that there was a connection."

"Connection? How is there a connection-?"

Spider-Man stopped his sentence as his mind trailed off to a familiar Black Ooze that made him turn into a darker version of himself as he once wielded a Black Suit rather than his Red and Blue. Then a vivid image of him being placed against the wall facing a Symbiotic Creature rearing its head over to Peter as they stared at each other right in their eyes before the memories began to fade out of his mind.

"...It can't be..."

Yuri raised a brow. "What?"

Spider-Man shook his head. "Sorry, uh... Did you contact S.H.I.E.L.D? Talked to Nick Fury by any chance."

Yuri scoffed. "Oh, believe me, I tried. Apparently, there was a rumor going around that the Hulk was spotted just somewhere out in the Midwest, and I can't even get in touch with anyone on the phone lines, meaning that they got their hands tied, which also means we're left on our own for the time being."

"In that case, we should probably keep a lookout for that Creature you showed me. After all, I've been deputized by S.H.I.E.L.D, so I'm pretty that technically makes me a Law Enforcement Officer."

Yuri smiled. "Thanks. I'm glad we could count on your support. I have a feeling things aren't going to get pretty when that thing is around."

"Well, that depends on when exactly our uh... Mysterious Monster in Black starts to pop up."

"Well, there have been sightings of a Giant Black Spider-Man popping around at midnight. I have my scouts assigned to every corner in town for the late-night shift, so if that thing shows up, we'll be the first to know." She started putting away her phone. "In the meantime, we should probably talk business with the Maggia. Have you ever heard of them?"

Spider-Man nodded his head. "Yeah, I took down a few of them trying to rob Stan and Jack's. Jonah once took down the head of the Maggia, made a big scandal way back in the '90s."

"Well, that same Head of the Maggia Jameson took down? He recently made parole." Yuri got out a file of Hammerhead, showing it off to Spider-Man. "He was put into Ryker's for about 25 Years. Two weeks ago, he was released from prison, a free man."

"Okay? So that means he probably got out on good behavior."

"Oh, trust me. That man wasn't even raised to be on his good behavior, and I doubt he'll be on his good behavior this time around."

"Alright, so what do you want to do?"

"For now? Keep an eye on the Maggia. I have an idea where he's located, but I don't want to move in without making myself and the NYPD look completely careless of our actions."

"Which is where I come in." Spider-Man jumped around the rail to meet with Yuri. "So, what do I do?"

"Right now, I need you to scope out the Upper East Side for an Auction House located in Museum Mile. Apparently, all the Big Crime Groups are going on a crime spree after you ousted Wilson Fisk as the Kingpin, and they're targeting museums, warehouses, places to search for the right location to steal Fisk's personal inventory."

"Seriously? They couldn't just simply purchase the items like everyone else in town?"

"Not unless people like the Russian Mafia and this mysterious Cat Burglar running around town are also going after Fisk's auction house. They're not looking to share the last time I heard."

"Why bother? What's so important about Fisk? The guy is sitting in Ravencroft right now."

"Well, Wilson Fisk left a lot of things in his absence. Social Security Checks, hidden vaults of money, uncounted safe houses that aren't known to the public yet, practically anything these guys can get to in order to become as big as Fisk once was."

Spider-Man folded his arms. "I don't get it, why start now? They had since day 1 of post-Fisk to try and steal all of his stuff."

"What do you think? Everyone was still healing after Norman Osborn's attack, everything was in limbo during the last couple of weeks, checking for property damage, assessing everything that went on during the Goblin Nightmare... The crooks out there were merely pushing for the smaller, more vulnerable targets..."

"So they bid their time until they were ready to do whatever they wished. But why museums mainly?"

"It's as I said, to steal rare items and to sell them on the Black Market. There's also a rumor circulating that apparently, they're looking for something, but nobody knows what. I need you to look into this as soon as possible."

Spidey nodded his head. "You can count on me, Yuri. I won't let you down."

"You better not. Otherwise, I may as well take matters into my own hands."

"Ooh!" Spider-Man leaned back against the railing while Yuri started to walk back inside of the precinct. "In that case, I'd better not get on your bad side."

"You'd be very wise not to," Yuri said as she turned around and smirked. "Now get a move on, Spider-Cop. There's an auction house waiting for you."

Yuri went back inside as Spider-Man stuck around on the roof, turning around to face the City That Never Sleeps as he pressed on his Chest to activate Karen.

"Hey, Karen? Can you download the CCTV archive footage of the incident at Mrs. Chen's Store?"

"Downloading now." Karen did as she was told as she showed the image of the Black Symbiote in Spider-Man's Lenses. "Like what you see, Peter?"

He shook his head as he jumped on top of the rail. "No... I don't like it one bit. You don't think that-?"

"Hold on." Karen suddenly displayed May's Picture on Spider-Man's Lenses. "You have an Incoming Call from Aunt May."

"Shoot!" Spider-Man jumped over the rail, sitting right on top of it. "Okay, answer it!"

"Putting you through right now."

Karen answered the call, to which May's voice can be heard inside of his Mask.

"Hey, Aunt May!"

"Peter, hi!" May expressed through the call. "I'm so sorry to bother you, but can you come over to F.E.A.S.T? Martin Li just arrived back in New York from China, and everyone wants to celebrate his return by baking him a cake!"

"Cake? Oh, that sounds really sweet, May!"

"It is! And which is why I need you to go pick up some Eggs."

"Yeah, eggs?"

"Yes, eggs! We need them as part of the cooking ingredients, and we just ran out of them this morning! And the Eggs have to be purely Organic if possible!"

"Organic got it," Spider-Man said while nodding his head. "I'm on my way right now. Sit tight, May!" He ended the call as he sighed. "Okay... Eggs first, Estate Sale second."

"I believe she mentioned Organic in a very specific manner."

"I know, I know! I remember."

"Just like you remembered the Heater inside of your Suit?"

Spider-Man raised a brow. "Well, someone's being sassy. Did Mr. Stark add a Behavior Filter into your Programming?"

"I believe he gave me some form of personality function, as he did to my previous predecessors Jarvis and F.R.I.D.A.Y."

"So in a way, it almost makes you, and your A.I. Friends a little more Human, am I right?"

"I wouldn't believe friends would be in the category from where my fellow A.I. would be placed in, but I can believe we are given some form characteristics if that is what you like to believe in."

"Well, in that case, I guess it won't be that bad."

"Now, about those Organic Eggs."

"Right... Getting right on that." Spider-Man moved to spin a web, only to spot a Vehicle in Pursuit as he sighed. "Right after I deal with this."

"Of course."

With that set in motion, Spider-Man spun a web and engaged in a Car Chase while Gwen Stacy was seen arriving at Oscorp as she stopped right in front of the entrance, looking around at the halls once filled with an enormous Goblin Infestation as she rubbed her arms, looking around unnerved despite the danger long gone after the Goblin Nightmare.

"Gwen Stacy?"

Gwen turned around, seeing Felicia Hardy walking toward her with a smile on her face.

"Hi. Harry Osborn sent me to personally escort you into his Penthouse. My name is-!"

"Felicia, Hardy," Gwen told her, nodding her. "I know who you are. You might recognize me from our own Survival Story back during the uh... Goblin Nightmare occurred."

Felicia nodded her head, clicking her tongue while staring at her. "Right... Sorry, I was uh... Unconscious most of the time."

"I remember," Gwen said as she smiled. "Uh, how are you by the way?"

"Fine, actually," Felicia said as she rubbed her hair. "I've actually never felt better than I was before the last couple of weeks."

"Really? What have you been doing?"

"Uh... Stuff." Felicia tilted her head. "Well... Cat stuff, most of the time. You know, engaging in Cat Videos and all those on the Internet." She cleared her throat as she tilted her head towards the elevator. "Would you like to follow me into the penthouse?"

"Sure."

Soon, she escorted Gwen over to the elevator while getting a small glimpse at the news regarding the Noguchi Museum Heist, making her eyes squint at the image before turning back to walk inside of the elevator. While on their way up, Harry was seen standing up in his home living room as he stared out into the window, staring out into the city as MJ was seen relaxing comfortably on the couch eating Chinese.

"Just got Gwen's text," MJ said as she played wither chopsticks. "She's about to come up any second now."

Harry nodded. "Cool. That's uh, that's cool."

MJ sighed as she looked at Harry, putting down her sticks as she stood up and walked right next to him. "Look, it's going to be okay. Alright? It's probably nothing, just some corporate politics, that's all."

Harry rolled his shoulders for a bit before sighing. "I know. I'm just nervous that's all."

"What's there to be nervous about?"

The two of them turned around, facing a man dressed in a Black and White Suit with a Tie around his neck as he had his hands placed inside of his pockets.

"After all, I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve the Company shutting down anytime soon."

Harry sighed, cracking a smile as he walked over to the Man. "Hey, Al. It's good to see you."

"Hey, likewise," Al said as he gave Harry a fistbump. "How are you holding up?"

Harry shrugged as he looked at his friend. "As any sane person would do; act completely scared shitless after learning your Father is a Supervillain transformed into a Goblin sized Maniac."

Al chuckled. "Yeah, well I'm sure the Board would say feel the same if none of them weren't burnt to a crisp back on Halloween." He turned to MJ. "And as for you, I'm sorry. I don't think we've been introduced." He shook out a hand while still cracking a smile. "Alistaire Smythe at your service. But everybody mostly just calls me Al, Miss...?"

MJ smiled, accepting Alistaire's handshake. "Michelle Jones, but everybody mostly calls me MJ, especially Harry."

"Oh? Well, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that's on a Two Letter name basis. So nice to meet you." He folded his arms together. "How do you two know each other?"

Harry scratched his head. "Uh, she's my Girlfriend, from school."

"Girlfriend? Meow, things definitely changed since the last time I came here."

"More than you realized." Harry cleared his throat. "Hey, I heard you were taking over as Head of the Company now that my Father's gone, is that true?"

"Yeah. Hope you're totally okay with that."

"I am. I'm just surprised you haven't jumped ship over to companies like Stark or Roxxon or Alchemax."

"Well, I've grown quite loyal to this Company more than you may realize." He turned to place a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Speaking of, I need to talk to you about something important, is that alright?"

Harry nodded his head, eager to learn anything that involves his Dad's legacy. "Of course."

"Great. Now, look, uh..." He pulled him gently away as they both walked around the penthouse. "As you know, Oscorp's public trust has grown extremely wary after your Father's Attack on New York. The Name Oscorp doesn't sound as cheery as it once was, so I've been talking to marketing, and we're considering that we rename the entire Company." He stopped mid-walk, as did Harry. "Now, I know that this may come to you as a shock, but I want to rest assure you that as CEO, it's my job to set things right. And that means making small adjustments every now and then, but I hope that in the end, you understand that this is all for the best."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I understand. It's probably is for the best, considering the name, Oscorp, sounds more like someone screaming Dante's Inferno rather than it gently speaking Gateway into Paradise."

Alistaire nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, that too."

MJ at that moment started to follow the two. "Hey, pardon for my interruption..." MJ got both of their attention. "But when you mention small adjustments... Just how much of these adjustments are going to affect Harry exactly?"

"That's..." Harry turned around, facing Alistaire, who simply paused for a moment before continuing on. "That's actually a pretty good question. But I'm sure it's nothing too big. After all, as far as I'm concerned, you can go back to doing whatever you'd like to do, such as your decision on whether or not you should attend boarding school. I know that you're still trying to make your decision on that particular subject, but I want you to know that I support you with whatever you want to do as long as you're comfortable with the choice you yourself have made.

Harry sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, Al... I really appreciate everything you've done for me."

"Ah, don't sweat it, pal."

As they all stood together, the elevator containing Gwen and Felicia arrived at their floor, letting them out into the penthouse as the group turned over to the new arrivals.

"Hey, guys," Gwen called out as she walked inside. "Did we miss anything?"

"Not really," MJ said as she walked over to her fellow Drummer Player. "Just some personal conversations among boys, that's all."

Alistaire turned around, facing Gwen. "Gwen Stacy, correct?" He shook hands with her. "Alistaire Smythe, a pleasure to meet you."

She nodded while shaking hands with Al. "Pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Smythe."

Once he finished his handshake with Gwen, he turned over to give a handshake to Felicia.

"And a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Hardy. On behalf of the Company, I'd like to further extend our sincerest apologies for your experience during the Goblin Nightmare."

She nodded her head. "I was unconscious for mostly all of it at that time, so there's nothing to apologize for."

Smythe started folding his arms. "I take it that you never received the email about your fully paid one month vacation now that you are still here in the office?"

Felicia nodded. "Oh, I did! But I mostly spent the last couple of weeks of my free time just exploring home sweet home for a while. And keeping an eye on Harry over there, so I figured since I'm still in town, I could just come right back to work. You know; business as usual, am I right?"

Al chuckled at that sentiment. "Well, in that case, it is directly business as usual, just as you said... On one condition though; as CEO, I'd like to make sure you stay off of the Night Shifts... Will that sit well for you?"

Felicia made a tilted squint before giving a thumbs up. "I could probably live with that."

"Excellent. Now, the guests from Horizon Labs, could you care to give me an update?"

"Yes, they arrived just moments ago, Mr. Smythe."

"Great. Then let us get started on that meeting." He patted Felicia's shoulder. "Just to let you know, this might take a while, Mrs. Hardy, so you have my permission to take the rest of the Day off. I'll be handling things here for the rest of the Meeting." He turned over to Harry. "Harry, nice seeing you again. I'll be seeing you around."

With enough said, Alistaire left to join the meeting while leaving behind the group as Felicia sighed relaxingly.

"Wow. The new boss is definitely nice." Felicia added as she turned to the kids. "Do you guys need anything before I go?"

Harry shook his head. "No, we're fine. Thanks though."

Felicia nodded. "Okay, that's cool." She walked back towards the elevator. "You guys do your thing, and uh... I'm gonna go do my thing, cool?"

MJ shrugged, nodding her head. "Cool."

"Cool!" Felicia exclaimed before clicking her tongue. "See you Cats around."

With enough said, Felicia entered the elevator and left the teens to do as they wished inside of the penthouse. As she was left alone in the elevator, her eyes returned over to her nails as they started to extend themselves like sharp nailed claws.

---

Later, Peter arrived at F.E.A.S.T. as he walked inside in a hurry, rubbing his hair as he used his phone to get into contact on the Web.

"Karen, did I make it?"

"Yes. But you forgot about the Organic Eggs that your Aunt requested."

Peter widened his eyes before squinting his face entirely. "Crap!" He turned around. "Alright, I'm gonna go back-!"

"Peter?"

Peter widened his eyes, turning off his phone to turn around while holding his jacket closed by folding his arms as he encountered his Aunt by the alleyway, giving himself an awkward hippie smile while he's facing her.

"May!"

"Hey, you made it!" She tilted her head. "Did you get the eggs?"

Peter's expression dropped slightly as he narrowed his eyes down to the floor.

"No, I did not," He turned around towards the street. "That's my fault. I'm so sorry; I'm gonna go ahead and rectify that."

"No, Peter, it's okay," May reassured her Nephew. "Gloria stopped by and got them for us."

Peter raised a brow. "Uh... I'm sorry, did you say... Gloria?"

"Someone say my name?"

Everyone turned around, facing Gloria Grant as she was seen standing by with a box full of eggs.

"Here are the Organic Eggs you requested, Ma'am."

May smiled as she received the Eggs from her. "Thank you, dear, you've been helpful."

"It's a pleasure." She turned around, facing Peter. "How's it going, Peter?"

Peter blinked as he just stared at her outside of F.E.A.S.T. "F-Fine, thank you." He tilted his head. "Uh, what are... What are you doing here?"

"Oh, she's a resident here at the Shelter..." May answered, which made Peter feel stunned by that fact while Gloria dropped her head, rubbing her back.

"Uh... What?"

May turned around, facing the two. "I'm sorry, do you two know each other?"

"I..." Peter turned around, facing Gloria who is looking ashamed of her current condition. "I... Know her as Gwen's best friend, if that's what you're wondering."

"I see!" May sighed. "Well, she may have not told you this, but during the Nightmare, her entire family lost their home. They became displaced like many others, so she and her family moved here until they could afford a new home to live in."

Peter sighed as he shuffled his feet in the snow. "That's... That's terrible."

"It is... And..." May turned around, noticing Gloria's distress as she sighed. "God, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be talking out loud like this, it isn't my place-!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Parker," Gloria reassured her as she turned to face May with a smile. "Really, it's quite alright. We should probably move on and get started on the cake..."

May nodded at her wisdom. "Right..." She turned around, facing Peter. "I'll leave you two to it while I go prepare the kitchen."

She went to go inside while she left Peter and Gloria alone together as they stood outside, exchanging a mutual glance at each other.

"...Is it true?" Peter asked with concern. "About... What happened to you...?"

Gloria nodded as she raised her head up, sighing. "Yeah... The whole thing."

He tilted his head. "What about Gwen? Does she know?"

Gloria shook her head. "No... Nobody knows, not even Ned... Or Randy... Or even everyone I ever know in school..."

"Except me."

Gloria bit her lip, turning to Peter while folding her arms. "Um... Would it be cool if you kept this to yourself? I'm... I'm not ready to come clean with everybody just yet."

Peter blinked before nodding his head immediately. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. You can definitely count on me to keep a secret."

Gloria sighed with a smile as she unfolded her arms. "That's... That's really amazing, Peter. You have no idea how much that means to me."

He nodded his head once more before pointing at the Shelter. "So... You wanna stand around in the cold or do you wanna get some cake?"

"I'd love me some cake!" Gloria exclaimed softly before turning to point at Peter. "But please, for the love of God, zip up your jacket, will you? I can see your Suit sticking out as it is."

Peter looked down, seeing his Spider-Man Suit concealed from within his Civilian Clothing as he nodded his head.

"Excellent idea."

Once his jacket was zipped up, he followed Gloria on the way inside of F.E.A.S.T. And later when the Cake was ready, all everyone did was light up the candles as everyone prepared for Martin Li's Homecoming.

"Okay, now on to the side there..." May instructed as she oversaw Cam and Ernie set up a welcome back sign for Martin, smiling in delight when it was placed at the best angle possible. "Perfect! Thank you both, you've been truly helpful!"

Peter was seen running through the cafeteria, getting to his Aunt. "May! Martin's back! He just entered through the front entrance!"

At that moment, his Aunt widened his eyes drastically. "Oh my god! Is the cake ready?"

"Yeah, it's being brought into the cafeteria now."

"Quick, tell them to hurry!"

"Okay."

"But also tell them to be careful!"

"Got it!"

May watched her Nephew help out with the Cake while turning over to Gloria. "Gloria, the lights!"

She nodded her head before shutting them off once the Cake was placed on the table. Soon, after some whispered bickering, everyone was placed into position until a dark figure was seen entering the cafeteria. And at that moment, Gloria switched the lights back on as Martin Li was seen in his Black and White Suit, ambushed by the surprise welcoming party as everyone shouted as loud as they could.

"SURPRISE!"

Party Horns were sounded as Martin smiled, surprised by the welcome as May made the initiative and hugged him around her arms.

"Welcome back, Martin!"

"We missed you, Martin!"

"Good to have you back, Martin!"

Martin chuckled as he pulled away from May, turning to the rest of the crowd.

"Thank you! Thank you, everybody! You are so kind, all of you!" Martin said as he waved his hands to the Shelter's residents and volunteers. "To those who have been here during my absence, thank you for taking good care of this place, and for doing all the good that's been done while I was away. And for those who have just arrived, allow me to welcome each and every one of you to F.E.A.S.T! Each and every one of you has been through an era of crisis and depression, and you deserve so much better than the world could ever give to you. So allow me to give you a welcome hand and give you a home where you belong, but please. Enjoy the festivities, and have a nice day, thank you!"

With that said, everyone started to enjoy some cake as How Our Story Goes by UPPM Records was playing in the background Martin sat down at a table while being joined by May.

"It's so good to see you, Martin." May expressed as she had his attention turned to him. "A lot of things changed while you were away-!"

"I know, but before we get there, I'd like to personally express my gratitude." He held her hand while facing her. "I meant what I said in my speech. You have done such a tremendous job taking care of F.E.A.S.T, especially during Norman Osborn's Terrorist Plot on the City. I mean, if I was in your position, I'd honestly lose my temper very quickly, but you... You've handled it with such grace than I could possibly imagine, and I thank you for keeping this place and its people safe during such a Night of Crisis."

May sighed as she smiled. "Well... It wasn't exactly all handled with grace. In fact, I can vividly remember using a fire extinguisher on some Goblins before smacking one in the face with it."

"Well..." Martin chuckled as he turned to face the rest of the Shelter. "Either way, we all have our moments, and I'd wanted to spend it expressing just how grateful I am at how you kept everything together. It shows me that you have a passion for helping those in need, even when things were hard."

"Well... Even during everything that was going on, all I could think about was my late Husband, about how he would have handled things if he were in my spot, and..." May paused before giving more depth to Martin. "And even though he died long before this ever happened, I'm sure he'd want me to do exactly that if he were in my place. So I'm just glad I was here when I was supposed to be."

"Excuse me?"

The two turned around, facing Peter Parker as he held on a plate of cake in his hands.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met..." Peter said as he put his plate down and shook hands with Martin. "I'm Peter, Parker. I'm Aunt May's Nephew."

Martin cleared his throat. "Yes. Your Aunt spoke very highly of you, it's a pleasure meeting you."

Peter nodded his head. "Same. So now that you're back in New York, what are your plans so far?"

Martin leaned back against the table. "Well, given the recent uprise in Homelessness, I think my purpose here in the Big Apple is painfully obvious that we should move onto Proposition 548."

May widened her eyes. "Martin, are you serious?"

"I've never been more serious than when I first claimed my Parents died when I was a child."

Peter raised a brow. "I'm sorry, what's Proposition 548?"

Martin let go of May's hand. "Proposition 548 is a plan that extends F.E.A.S.T. from not just simply Manhattan, but to all over the rest of the Boroughs. Brooklyn, Queens, Coney Island, the Bronx, places that have suffered during the Nightmare. And I plan on introducing that Plan to the City Council this evening so I can convince them that Proposition 548 is a necessary step that is vital in New York's recovery after the devastation wrought by Norman Osborn, so you'll probably be hearing a lot about on the news in the days that are ahead of us."

"Huh... I thought that there were F.E.A.S.T. Shelters all over the Five Boroughs."

"No, not at the moment. There are currently Shelters located mainly in the Manhattan location, mainly extending from here to Midtown, and Harlem."

"Martin, that sounds wonderful, but..." May interjected. "Do we have enough financial resources to even go beyond the Big Apple? I mean, there is so much that's going on-!"

Martin smiled, turning to May. "You leave the Financial Resources to me. I can handle that front more than anyone else in F.E.A.S.T." He then set his sights over to Peter. "And as for you, I have reason to believe that you take pictures for the Bugle, yes? I can trust that you can get us some front cover photos for the press events?"

Peter nodded his head. "I'm sure I can work out something with my boss."

"Amazing." Martin turned to the two Parkers. "Both of you are absolutely amazing, truly."

May smiled, nodding her head. "Thank you, Martin."

As he gave them his compliments, Peter got an alert on his phone, which popped up a Spider-Man symbol as he turned around to the two.

"Uh, excuse me, I've got to go. I have... Spider-Man pictures to take, and Jameson would have my hide if I didn't give him the visual scoops."

May nodded. "Okay, well you be careful, alright? I'll be sure to save you a cake whenever you return."

Peter smiled. "See you guys later, have fun at the party!"

He soon left them as he started to head over to the exit, moving past Gloria on the way while she enjoyed her cake.

"Let me guess, duty calls?" Gloria questioned as Peter started nodding his head.

"Doesn't it always?"

Gloria hummed as she nodded her head. "Well, when you meet whoever's ass you have to kick, be sure to make 'em pay for it. After all, you are seriously missing out on some good cake right now."

Peter shook his head while groaning. "Please, don't remind me."

Soon, he stepped upstairs on the roof as he started to answer his phone.

"Hey, Karen. What's up?"

"I'm giving you an update on the Wilson Fisk Estate Sale. There was a break-in at Rosemann's."

Peter widened his eyes. "What? How long ago was this?"

"It just started 5 minutes ago. You need to hurry."

"Dammit!" He started to unzip his jacket. "Okay, call Yuri, tell her to-!"

A dark shadow moved right past Peter as he turned around, seeing a Dark figure sitting on top of the Roof. Before its' disappearance, its Pale White Eyes stared out creepily at Peter's Brown Human Eyes before vanishing in the dark, making Peter's skin crawl somehow simply by the sight of such a figure.

"Peter?" Karen called out as Peter stood frozen on the roof. "Your heartbeat is spiking. Are you alright?"

Peter swallowed his throat as he blew into the cold air, letting him see his own breath before turning away, letting his mind forgo the disturbing image he had seen.

"Uh... I'm fine." Peter said to her before nodding. "I'm fine. Did you... Did you pick up something else in this area?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not picking up any abnormal readings. Is there something bothering you?"

Peter looked around one more time before sighing, taking out his Mask and putting it on. "It's nothing. Call Yuri, tell her to send her guys into the auction house, now!"

While he took off his clothing to become Spider-Man, Alistaire Smythe was seen in a meeting with Max Modell and Curt Connors as they each sat on the Board Table while they sat meeting eye to eye.

"As Oscorp Employees, each of you have felt the full brunt of Norman Osborn's abuse of his power over the company. And for that, I'd like to offer my condolences for however long you have suffered under his leadership that made you exit your careers at Oscorp."

Max nodded his head, waving a hand up. "We appreciate your apologies, but what we don't understand is why we're needed here. Why bring me and Curt here into the meeting?"

"Those are very good questions, Doctor Modell, and the answer to those questions is so that as a Company, perhaps we can mend that broken trust that Norman had shattered in his place."

Curt cleared his throat for a moment before leaning forward. "I apologize, but we aren't planning on coming back into Oscorp if that's what your intentions are."

Al chuckled awkwardly as he shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry. Clearly, I've been giving off mixed messages. I didn't bring you both here so I could convince you both to return to the Company. Obviously, you two have a good thing going on aside from that incident with Octavius, and I personally encourage you to continue on with your passion."

Max folded his arms. "Then why did you invite us here?"

Alistaire folded his hands together, leaning forward on his chair. "For a long time, Norman held an iron grip on the company he built up from the ground. Even though it was his foundation that led us here, he failed to grasp the factors that helped us all be here at this moment, he failed to see the people that helped him create a monumental foundation that would eventually have its own name placed as a landmark." He leaned back against his chair. "And because of that failure, and this is only just a mere personal theory of mine; his own desire to be the face of everything his company worked on, his desire to be the only person in Oscorp to accomplished something other than the people who do most of the hard work for him drove him into madness, infecting at least half of the entirety of the 5 Boroughs, all because of that desire to prove himself even though he had proven himself a thousandfold." He pressed his hands behind the back of his neck. "And as someone who spent his entire career as Chief Operations Officer being constantly ignored by the former CEO of this Company, I believe it's safe for me to say that Norman was never one to share all the glory, nor was he one to ever show any kind of respect to his fellow colleagues."

Curt tilted his glasses as he lowered his head. "That's something we can acutely agree on."

"Right?" Alistaire nodded while asking. "That's what I'm trying to say here! See? All of us were victims at one point; not from just simply Norman's Rampage, but to his Ego. The man never gave any of us a chance to rise above our stations, nor had he shown any inclination to do so. But due to that, there have been a few that have risen up to a higher status quo without Osborn's Oversight, and both of you are living proof of that example. Now that he's gone, I think it's time that the Company should move forward without him, to an era where the mistakes of the past can be buried, and forge new alliances that bring about a world where everyone can truly prosper in."

Max raised a brow. "So... This is where we come in, that right?"

Alistaire leaned forward, facing Max's direction. "I know you have every right to be angry with Oscorp's past ethics under Norman's dictatorship. But I can assure you that I am here to rectify the mistakes that were made in the past. And even though you both are highly independent, I only ask that you support us in the days ahead of us. Each of you has made grand achievements after Horizon Labs' launch into the stock market. From Bionic Limb Replacements to Artificial Vibranium known sorely as Riverbium, and such incredible theories, such as Doctor Modell's Theory on the Multiverse, I mean, I just find that uniquely remarkable. My company's reputation, as you already know, is not in the best of places at this time. So it is with my hope that with your company with a high reputation of being one of the few to help out in the City's Restoration efforts, that we may align ourselves into healing the wound that Osborn had struck a hole into. And yes, there's going to be some paperwork regarding a deal, but I assure you-!"

Max raised his hand up. "You don't need to go any further, Alistaire. After all, your reputation proceeds you as it had proceeded us. And from what I gathered, you have good intentions, so I have no reason to worry about your ideas revolving into trouble."

Alistaire raised a brow. "So does that mean I can count on Horizon Labs' support? I've also heard so much about Curt's Upcoming Research into Stem Cell Regeneration from your previous Ted Talk last week, maybe we can work out something with that."

Max rubbed his head as he turned to face Connors. "We'll see." Max then turned his direction back to Alistaire. "First, we'll have to think about your proposition. It sounds great from the way you said it, but again, we have a lot to think about, so you understand."

Al nodded his head. "Absolutely. Please, take all the time you need. You guys know where to find me, or how to contact me if you need to."

With the meeting adjourned, Max and Curt began to make their exit out of the office as they met up with Gwen Stacy standing right around the corner.

"Doctor Modell, Doctor Connors! How did it go?" She looked around, seeing someone missing from the group. "Wait, where's Happy?"

Modell turned to glance at Curt before sharing his glance over to Gwen. "Well, Mr. Hogan's pay got reduced to our injuries at Horizon, so he went on to get a second job, which sounds promising. As for the meeting, it went better than we expected to say the least."

"Alistaire Smythe just gave us a proposition that Oscorp or whatever Norman's Company will be called in the near future, a partnership should be formed between it and Horizon Labs..." Curt informed as Gwen folded her arms.

"Okay, and what are we thinking?"

Max rubbed on his beard. "We're thinking that we may consider that concept. Alistaire Smythe had made good improvements on technology despite Norman's eagerness to steal the spotlight. Now that he's CEO, perhaps we should help him give Oscorp a chance at redeeming itself."

Gwen tilted her head. "Well, that's actually pretty great to hear. Harry would like that, considering everything he's been through with his Father and all. He could use a positive thing going on for him for a change."

"We'll do the best we can, Gwen," Max informed her. "We just need to work out considering more on the propositions that Smythe had in store, and soon enough, we'll work out a deal."

Gwen nodded her head as she turned her glance at Harry and MJ currently sitting outside on the rooftop patio as they stood out in the snow, seeing the two hanging out quietly to enjoy their time together while staring out at the city lights starting to brighten up the night.

"It's getting kind of cold out here, don't you think?" MJ said as she stood next to Harry. "I mean, the sight is awesome and all, but I think I'd like it better if we were looking at it from the inside."

Harry stood there for a moment as he continued to glance out into the City of New York, staring out into Times Square as he leaned against the cold rail, feeling the snowy breeze hitting his face.

"...My Mother..." Harry mentioned randomly. "She used to come to bring me out here to just stand here and watch the city lights... Every night before bedtime, she'd go water the tree behind us, and then we'd come out to this spot and just bask in the world we're standing in."

He turned around while MJ continued to watch him as he started walking over to the tree planted on the roof. He started pressing his hand on it, feeling the cold wood come into contact with his skin.

"After she died, my Dad, he'd... He wouldn't really let me out here after anymore, but... He'd come out here with this glass of water to feed the plant its nutrients, in honor of Mom's memory... He knew she'd want it taken care of, even long after she was gone, so... He took care of it himself personally... Even called the tree Emily after my Mom's name, as if it was a household pet."

MJ started to walk right behind him as Harry knelt down to one knee while having his hand pressed against the tree.

"I didn't think much of it since then... All I know was that he had gone cold... Distant from mostly everyone, especially his own Son... But I'm starting to realize, now after all this time... Maybe this was one of his first signs, you know? Maybe Mom's death was one of the key components of my Dad's insanity... That pivotal moment where he started... Changing."

MJ looked at the tree Harry pressed his hand against before pressing her hand against his shoulder, gently rubbing it comfortably as she tilted her head.

"You couldn't have known it, Harry. No one could have known it, not even you."

Harry sighed, letting the cold breath out before standing up as he raised his head up, looking at the snowy leaves that are continued to be rained on by constant snow.

"I probably didn't tell you this, but... I was considering switching from public education to Home School." He turned to MJ. "So that way, things might be easier if there weren't any problems ahead for anyone. But Peter mentioned that I should stay in Midtown, and... Honestly, I don't know if that's the right thing to do in my case because part of me wants to go back... But the other part of me is afraid because of all this change that's been weighed heavily on me... All thanks to my Dad, currently sitting 6 feet beneath the ground rather than a padded cell at Ravencroft."

She stood face to face with Harry as MJ wrapped her hands around his shoulders.

"Look, Harry, I..." MJ started as she tried to find the right words. "I don't really know the right answers to any of this, but... I do know that if you do switch schools, then... I think that would really bum everybody out, especially me."

Harry slowly began to let his head down, facing eye contact with MJ as he softly held his hand on her wrist.

"And what about you? What do you think I should do?"

MJ swallowed shortly as she stared into Harry's eyes.

"Honestly? It's not my place to tell you what to do... In fact, if anything, whatever you do next should be purely something about what you want to do." She continued to rub his shoulders as they continued standing out in the snow. "So I think the real question on your mind should be what exactly does your heart tell you what it wants?"

Harry let that thought rub into his head as he stood there, contemplating on what he exactly wants to do post Goblin Nightmare...

---

Later, somewhere in Museum Mile, Spider-Man arrived at Rosemann's as he jumped on top of the roof of the circular structure as he contacted Yuri on his Comms once more.

"Yuri, I'm here at the Auction House! I got a report saying that there's been a break-in!"

"Same here," Yuri said on the call. "But I'm only reading it as a silent alarm. I don't want to make a scene if it's nothing, so please, check it out... Quietly."

"Sure thing!" Spidey ended the call as he lowered his arms on the rooftop window, pulling it up to open it himself "And now on to business as usual."

He jumped inside, crawling through the ventilation system until he found a passageway leading into a storage room.

"Karen, talk to me for a second here." Spider-Man requested while quietly ripping open the wall vent. "How many thugs are you detecting?"

"Not many. CCTV picked up only two Vans carrying Maggia Henchmen arriving at the scene moments before the silent alarm was tripped."

"Okay, well this should be an easy trip." He chirped as he got out of the vents and jumped lightly onto the floor. "Can you tell me what everyone's up to right now?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not detecting any movement from behind the doors."

Spider-Man started walking over to the basement door. "What do you mean you're not detecting any-WHOA!"

As soon as he opened the door, a big Maggia Grunt was leaning against it before falling face down on the floor, startling the Web-Slinger as he jumped against the wall, seeing the thug lying there unconsciously as he gasped softly, jumping off of the wall to take a look at something that he did not expect to see.

"...What the hell?"

What lied before him was the entirety of the Auction House littered with empty bullets and a dozen unconscious Maggia who was clearly beaten to a pulp as evidenced by the bloody noses, the scratch marks on their clothing, even the awkward positions of where everyone was sleeping it off. For example, one person is lying against one of the many White Walls where a painting of Wilson Fisk is hung up while another was sticking his butt up in the air next to a cello as a few were laying their heads together on an art structure while one unlucky fella was hanging high in the air on an active slow-paced ceiling fan, taking Spider-Man into astonishment as he looked around at the layout before him.

"Okay..." Spider-Man started raising a finger up. "What happened here?"

"I'm, uncertain," Karen answered truthfully as she scanned the Victims throughout the Auction House. "Though their vital signs appear to be normal, they seemed to have recently been involved in a conflict."

"No kidding," Spider-Man whispered as he looked around at the Auction House, seeing the beaten thugs on display, walking on the Red Floor. "Well... This may not be Art, but I like this somehow."

"Good!" A voice cried out from within the Auction House, taking Spider-Man by surprise. "Because I put up a lot of effort trying to make everyone look silly for the cops, and believe me, it was hard putting up the guy on the ceiling fan without it fall to the ground, so thanks for not pulling him out."

Spider-Man looked around, trying to spot the source of a feminine voice lurking from within the shadows.

"Uh..." Spider-Man cleared his throat, stepping on his feet before raising his voice. "Who said that?"

"I did."

Spider-Man widened his eyes, jumping from a whisper uttered from behind him as he turned around, facing the same Black Cat from the Noguchi Heist as she was hanging upside down from a wire, similar to how he sometimes does it while on a stakeout or personal breaks as the Cat smiled at him from a high angle.

"Spider-Man..." The Black Cat purred as her White Hair hung upside down. "I've read about you on the Internet... Nice moves for a Dork in Tights."

Spider-Man just stood there as he watched the Cat Burglar roll herself onto the floor with sleek finesse, landing on her boots elegantly as he continued to observe this new Character.

"Uh, thanks?" Spider-Man said as he tilted his head, pointing at the thugs lying around on the floor. "So um... Are these yours?"

The Cat unattached herself from the wire while she simply giggled.

"Oh, these guys? No, they're not mine. This was totally Daredevil's Fault, I'm just a witness."

Spider-Man looked around, seeing a guy with his face having a raw scratch mark.

"Okay... Does Daredevil happen to have Claws inserted into his Gloves?"

"I don't know, maybe?" The Black Cat assumed acting stupid as she walked toward Fisk's painting, kicking away the thug leaning against it. "I mean, he is the Devil after all, so I wouldn't be surprised if something Supernatural came out of him."

Spider-Man watched as he walked over to her, seeing her stare quizzically at the Kingpin's Painting.

"So uh... I was told there was an Owner here, where is she?"

"Oh, Rosey Girl?" She tilted her head as she held a hand on her chin. "Yeah, don't worry. She's just sitting in the Closet, that's all."

Spider-Man raised a brow. "Okay, why is she in the Closet?"

"Because the Maggia forced her into it before trying to ransack the place."

"And what? Are you having trouble finding a key for the closet?"

"No, I just didn't let her out, that's all."

"And why haven't you let her out?"

"Because obviously, she wouldn't me want me having my paws all over this handsome devil." The Cat answered as she picked up Fisk's Portrait off of the wall, turning around to stare at it with interest. "Hello, Kingpin."

Spider-Man widened his eyes as he watched her grab Fisk's Portrait. "Okay, shouldn't you put that back?"

"Why should I? Willy Boy's too busy being locked up in an Insane Asylum, why should he care?"

"Because one; you're not really allowed to touch anything in the exhibit."

"Really? Says who? Goblin boy?"

"Secondly, even though I don't like Fisk as much as anyone else, I don't think it's okay for you to just grab it for your own like it's something you buy off of the internet."

"Wow, you say that as if I plan on stealing it." The Thief said as she punctually danced in minicircles, being observed by the Spider. "That's a bold assumption coming from you, Hero."

"Well, I'm saying it because judging by the way you act, you're not exactly in the same category as I am."

Black Cat hummed, quitting her dance to turn her head around to look at Spider-Man.

"Oh, so... What? That makes me a Bad Guy?"

"I don't know..." Spider-Man said as he folded his arms. "Are you a Bad Guy?"

"Hmm... Good question, though kind of hard to answer because yes, I do steal, but no, I don't kill out people randomly like Norman Trollborn, so I tend to just leave that answer left as, "Debatable."

Spidey tilted his brow. "Alright, then what are you doing here exactly?"

She smirked as she was asked that question. "Oh, just having a nice conversation with you, of course... All while smashing this garbage in half."

"Wait, what?"

Before he could object, Black Cat moved to deliver a knee kick up high, cracking Wilson Fisk's Picture in half in the process as Spider-Man's Lenses widened, panicked at the fact that he just stood around while letting her cause property damage as she just stood there a smiled with glee.

"Now that's art."

"What are you doing?!"

"What? I thought I just told you; I'm having a conversation, isn't that obvious?"

"No, that's not what I-" Spider-Man stuttered before groaning while he pressed his hands against his forehead as the Cat pulled something from the broken painting. "Why did you do that for?!"

"For this."

As she answered, she pulled out a hard drive from the half-broken Kingpin Portrait as Spider-Man lowered his brow out of confusion, pulling his hands away from his head while she stood there smirking.

"...What is that supposed to be?"

She sighed as she dropped the broken portrait on the floor, staring at the hard drive with such curiosity.

"To public knowledge, just some standard hard drive. To the Secret Element on the other hand, though..." She peered her eyes over to face Spider-Man's Lenses. "The Holy Grail of every dirty little thing Wilson Fisk kept under his dirty little pockets."

Spider-Man sighed softly before rubbing his head. "So, that's what everyone was after?" He tilted his head. "Who are you?"

"Me? Just Black Cat, though my friends tend to call me Cat for short." She started to simply walk away, turning her back on Spidey. "And as far as I'm concerned, we're pretty much done here."

"Wait!"

Before she could walk away from him any further, Spider-Man spun a web at her shoulder, making Black Cat turn around as she gave out an expression of delight.

"Well! Someone's eager to pet the Cat."

"Look, I don't know what's going on here, but in case you haven't noticed; there have been a dozen robberies over the past week, and you just gave me a clue to what's going on, so I'm gonna need you to hand over that drive to me!"

Black Cat didn't even flinch at his sudden attitude. She just merely purred as she walked backward slowly as Spidey approached her.

"Oooh, someone's playing Bad Spider, isn't he?"

"I'm not kidding around!" He marched over to her closely. "Something's going on, and that Hard Drive is the only answer I have, so give it to me!"

"Or what? Are you going to take it from me?"

At that moment, Spider-Man hesitated for a second as he looked at Black Cat simply staring at him tauntingly.

"Well... Only if... I have to!"

Cat just laughed softly at his shy nature as she took a small step back while Spider-Man resumed his approach.

"Well, in that case..."

"Look, just give me the Hard Drive-!"

As he moved his hand to touch her, Black Cat caught him by the shoulder, pulling Spider-Man down onto the floor as she took him by surprise, yelping from shock while they rolled over onto the floor before he knew it, he was pinned on his back with Cat's knee pressed against his neck as she got out a Grappling Hook from her Belt, staring at him playfully.

"If you really want it that badly..."

Soon, she pressed the trigger, causing a hook to go flying at high-velocity speed towards an open window until it landed on a steel plate that held on a stern grip as she prepared to be launched into lift-off.

"Then you better catch me if you can."

After making that bold dare, she flung herself out of the Auction House as she released Spider-Man from her Grip, making her escape as Spidey quickly stood up, watching her leave with such resourcefulness.

"Holy, shit, I thought I was the only one who does all the swinging..." He said to himself before shaking his head, spinning a web towards the window. "Hey, get back here!"

Once he flung himself out of the Auction House, a chase has been initiated as Spider-Man made a daring pursuit after the Black Cat, who used her gadgets to move across the high rooftops of New York's Skylines.

"Give me that Hard Drive, Cat!"

"Come and get it, Spider!"

She landed on a rooftop to begin to sprint on the cold snow as Spidey chased after her, sprinting after her while Karen began to speak up in the middle of the chase.

"You have an incoming call from Captain Watanabe. Would like me to-!"

"Yes, Karen, put her through!"

She got the message as she contacted the Police Captain as Spider-Man continued on with the chase, seeing Black Cat jump right off of the roof only to use a grappling hook to swing across the street, landing onto another roof while Spidey zip lined his way across.

"Hey, you've been silent for a while. Is everything alright?" Yuri questioned through the call.

"Yes, and not really!" Spider-Man answered as he watched Cat slide across on a vent. "The Auction House is clear, but I'm in the middle of a Pursuit in Progress!"

"Why? Did someone escape with something?"

"Yes, no, sort of, but I have my sights on her!" He answered while he flipped upside on a table.

"Hold on... Did you say, "Her"?"

"Long story, I'll explain later! Just secure the Auction House!"

"Don't forget to tell her about the hostage locked in the Closet."

"Oh, and if anybody asks, the Owner is locked inside of the Closet!"

Once he explained what he needed to, he ended the call as he jumped up high in the air, sliding down on a narrow angled roof as Cat continued to slide down on the snow.

"Having fun yet?" She asked as she jumped off of the roof, moving down to run through a loft with a frozen swimming pool on top.

"I just contacted the cops!" He informed her as she continued to run after her. "They're going to the Auction House where you took that Hard Drive from!"

"Good for them! Did you also tell them how you blushed from underneath that Mask of yours?"

Spider-Man groaned as he shook his head.

"I didn't!" He told her as he saw her use a high tensile cable wire to hook herself downward across a roof. "And for the record, I was not blushing!"

"Oh, sure you weren't!" Black Cat retorted as Spider-Man slid down on the wire behind her. "That's what all the guys tell me while I'm on a date!"

"Yeah, well, this isn't a date!"

"Is it though?"

"What?!" Spider-Man turned from a corner, seeing Cat run on a wall across from another roof as he tried to follow her in a similar tactic. "This isn't a date!"

"Why not? It might as well be, you're pretty much attracted to me!"

"What makes you think I'm attracted to you?!"

"Why are you continuing to chase after me then?"

"Because you have EVIDENCE, that's why!"

"As excuses go, you sure nailed that one!"

Spider-Man groaned in irritation. "Okay, now you're just teasing me!"

"Don't Cats do so always?"

"Okay, you know what?"

Spider-Man, having had enough with the chase, spun a web around a corner where Cat was about to turn to. As soon as she got out her Grappler, Spidey spun a web and pulled it out of her hand, leaving her without her use of escape as the Spider had her cornered.

"Play time's over!" Spider-Man said as he walked over to Black Cat. "Now hand over the drive!"

Black Cat just continued to act cocky as she smirked at Spider-Man.

"Well, don't you treat your women that way all the time?"

"No, and for the record, I already have a Girlfriend!"

"Oh, now I'm jealous." She tilted her head while staring. "Does she know you're out here with me?"

"That's not the point!" Spider-Man groaned as he walked over to her. "Look, it's over, there's nowhere for you to run! Now just hand over the Drive, please!"

Black Cat sighed as she rolled her shoulders down. "Well... Since you used the Magic Word, I guess I could call it a night."

"Thank you!"

She smiled as she started getting out something from her belt. "There's one more thing you should beware though."

"Oh, yeah?" Spider-Man asked, tilting his brow. "What's that?"

She turned her head around, facing Spider with a smirk.

"Cat's got Claws."

Before he knew it, Cat threw out a grenade that caused Spider-Man to be affected by some kind of Electrical Discharge as Black Cat ran off of the roof, jumping towards a Glass Building to pull out her Claws, stabbing the windows before sliding down onto the street, leaving Spider-Man to jump right after her to spin a web.

But as he did so, the Web-Shooters did not function as he realized that the Electricity running through his Suit caused it to disable his Web-Shooters.

"What the FAHHHHHHHH?!"

Soon, he fell down to the street below him, bouncing off of a bus before landing on the snow as he groaned, having felt like his chest got put through a rough bounce house.

"Man... That hurt."

As he got back on his feet, Black Cat landed languidly back onto the surface after scratching the glass building in front of her as she turned to smirk at Spider-Man before turning to run away from him, turning towards an alley filled with construction maintenance.

"Okay, who is this lady?"

"That is unclear," Karen answered as Spider-Man resumed the chase. "I'm having difficulty identifying her, even with the Goggles on her. It appears her Suit is displaying a mechanism that blocks me from gaining public access to her personal databank."

"Well, that's... Interesting, but we'll go over that later!" He jumped over a construction barricade, eager to catch the Black Cat. "What did she do to my Suit?"

"What you're experiencing is an Electrical Discharge left off by an EMP detonation."

"EMP? Jeez, who is she?"

"I thought I just told you."

"Not what I meant!" He groaned as he moved past several construction workers blocking the way. "Okay, looks like we're doing this old fashioned way!"

He chased her through the alley as Black Cat ran towards construction plywood blocking the path, only she could move over to the other side and hop over the top as if it were a fence while Spider-Man did the same, except making several hops just so he could get over the barricade.

From then on, the chase continued as they started running across the street towards an outside mall plaza, startling a crowd as they started to move with lots of Parkour.

"I'm surprised you're not complaining about the cold yet!" Cat said as she moved past the crowd, kicking away some boxes along the way. "Most people would have complained about it by now!"

"Well, normally I have a Heater added into my Suit!" Spider-Man said as he jumped over another barricade. "But you turned that off when you threw that EMP at me!"

"Oh, and what would you have me say about that? Are you expecting some kind of apology?" Soon, she ran towards a trailer truck, sliding down underneath it while Spidey moved to make some flips, jumping over it while catching up with her.

"Look, just hand over the hard drive!"

"Why? So you can hand it over to the cops? Fat chance!"

"Well, if you don't, then I'll tell the cops who broke Wilson Fisk's Portrait!"

"Big deal! Nobody likes him anyway!"

As they ran across another block, they entered through a food market going on at the moment as each of them shoved past a crowd taking videos of the ordeal as Spider-Man continued to run after a very evasive Kitty Cat.

"Yeah, okay, but maybe I'll tell them about that Hard Drive you stole?"

"Sure! Then I bet they'll tell you that No Evidence Lecture!"

"Are you always this Sassy?!"

"Are you always this Stubborn?!"

"Jeez, what are you? A Mutant?"

"Are you?"

"I asked first!"

"Wouldn't you like to know-!"

As she exited to another street, she nearly got run over by a car, stumbling on her feet before drastically flipping on top of a hood as Spider-Man managed to catch up to her, spinning a zip line to pull himself over to Black Cat, tackling her into a window, bursting themselves inside of a dark warehouse as they rolled over on the floor.

Once that occurred, the two of them stood right back up as they panted heavily, staring at each other within the range of their sights.

"Well... Seems like you are this stubborn." Cat said as she cracked both sides of her neck. "Looks like I'll have to play harder to get."

Spider sighed as he rubbed himself off. "Well, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't really think that's necessary."

"Why? You give up that quick? After that wild goose chase, you gave me, you suddenly quit?"

"First off, you started it!"

"Oh, that's highly debatable from where I'm standing."

"And secondly, I'm not really quitting," Spider-Man answered as he got out Fisk's Hard Drive. "I already got what I came for."

She widened her eyes at the sight of the Drive before turning to her Belt, seeing that it was somehow picked out of it during their recent struggle.

"One more thing you should be beware of," Spider-Man quipped as she turned to face him once more. "Spider's got hands... Or technically, mini-sized paws, but I think in my case, I can make an exception."

Her usual taunting expression dropped significantly as she cursed under her breath. "Give that back. Give it back, now!"

"You want it?" Spider-Man questioned before putting the Drive into his Pocket. "You tell me everything I want to know, starting with who you are, and what's exactly on this Drive!"

"Buddy, it's really cute how much you're pulling off that nobility act, but you're seriously out of your depth here!"

"Lady, please! I've fought off a whole army of Goblins just two weeks ago, and I'm still standing on my feet! You wanna talk about something out of my depth, why don't you try me?"

"Look, I seriously don't have time for this shit-!"

Without a moment's notice, big bright lights lit the entire warehouse as the two of them covered their eyes, nearly blinded by the brightness while listening to several dozens of footsteps entering the building.

Once the lights were lessened to a lower tint, the two lowered their hands to find themselves surrounded by armed gunmen as they stood inside of a dim blue-lit building as many were dressed in Maggia Standard Attire.

"Dammit." Black Cat cursed herself quietly. "This is the last thing I wanted to be in right now."

"Okay..." Spider-Man began as he looked around at the thugs pointing guns at him. "So, I'm guessing nobody ain't happy about the two of us barging in onto your lucrative party house, that right?"

As they stood there pointing guns at the two Masked Figures, a loud clap erupted from the back of the building as two large figures came from behind their thugs. One with a Familiar Scar on his face carrying a shot glass and a bottle of wine while the other had Pale White Skin with a high-top fade hairstyle to match the color of his skin. The second following who appeared to be his Boss as the Scarred Mobster grinned while finishing his clapping, facing his newest adversaries before him.

"Well, well, if it ain't the Big Bad Bug I've heard so much about." Hammerhead chimed as he clapped one more time. "Twenty Five Years spent in the Slammer, and the next thing I know, everybody has a Bug Problem! A gnarly one Fisky Boy didn't solve before the Problem festered apparently."

Spider-Man tilted his brow as he folded his arms. "And if it ain't the Big Bad Maggia Boss with one of the cutest Baby Teeth I've ever looked at! I mean, have you looked at a mirror lately? You look like you have serious baby teeth! Have you been receiving Dental Appointments while you've been stuck in prison for two and a half decades?"

Hammerhead chuckled, pointing at Spider-Man for his sense of Humor. "Wow, a Bug with a Mouth. Jesus, you boys really do have a problem, don't you, Lonnie?"

The Man with Pale Skin, AKA Lonnie, merely tilted his head as he stared out at the two unarmed combatants with an unnerving expression.

"Things ain't been the same without you in charge, Mr. Hammerhead..." Lonnie said as his Boss seemed delighted with that answer.

"No kidding!" Hammerhead sighed as he poured out a glass of wine in his hand. "Now, the Bug, I recognize from the Media..." As soon as he finished pouring his drink, he started pointing at Black Cat, who stayed still as he called her out verbally. "But the Cat over there on the other hand? Now I definitely don't remember seeing her around here."

Spider-Man raised a brow, tilting his head. "Wait... So..." He pointed at Cat. "You guys call her Cat, but you guys continue to call me, "Bug"? Seriously? I'm a Spider! Can't you tell?"

Hammerhead shrugged, raising his glass. "What? They're one and the same, aren't they?"

"No, they're not!" Spider-Man exclaimed as Hammerhead took his shot. "Have you even paid attention in school?"

"Not really," Hammerhead answered while finishing his drink, wiping his mouth. "Never was one to pay attention in class."

"Oh, well..." Spider-Man pressed his hands on his hips. "That makes a lot of sense."

"Coming from a guy who keeps talking non-stop." Hammerhead countered. "I'm willing to bet from the way you talk, you're one of those Gen Z types strolling around with your iPhones, and your Androids, and your fancy Remote Control Skateboards."

"Okay, first off, those are called Hoverboards. I think that's what you're interpreting." Spider-Man retorted. "Secondly, my age is none of your concern regardless of what circumstance we're standing in."

"Ah, so you are one of the Younger Types," Hammerhead concluded as he poured another glass of wine. "Typical, it's always the Younger Ones who make things difficult for People like Me."

"Oh? People Like Me who makes things difficult for People Like You, how?" Spider-Man questioned. "I mean, is it low Wi-Fi bandwidth? Long extended lines at a Coffee Bean? A nasty Yelp review or two on the internet...?"

"Bringing in the Fear," Hammerhead answered darkly, to which almost startled Spider-Man in an immediate sense as he passed the Wine Bottle down to Lonnie.

"Uh..." Spider-Man stammered, pointing a finger up. "Fear?"

"See, when I was growing up around these parts, there was this bully who lived off of the corner of Chelsea." Hammerhead began to explain while pacing around with his glass. "Once upon a time ago, back when there weren't any of this... Alien, Goblin, Bug nonsense roaming around the place, I used to walk down across Chelsea to go to my favorite deli. It had such great sandwiches, but I didn't go there for the sandwiches, oh no. I go there mostly because of the Fries. See, that place had one of the best Fries around town, and I just got so addicted to these little sliced Potatoes that you could say that I was somewhat of a Fryaholic back then. Of course, the Bully around the corner would normally make fun of me after making my purchase. Sometimes, he'd wait for me outside, or he'd walk right in and shove me around like I was this... Loser that everyone would make fun of, and I... I just hated him for that."

Spider-Man nodded his head, paying attention. "Yeah, you know... I happen to know my fair share of bullies around these parts."

"Anyways..." Hammerhead continued, sipping down on his wine. "One day, the Bully pushed me to the ground so hard that I ended up getting bruised after that. And so, I got upset and I went home and told my Father sitting down on the couch watching a Yankee Game, begging for his help. Instead, coming from a drunk, depressive old man with having done nothing in his life, the only response I ever got was, "If this punk looks so scary so much, then why don't you stop standing there and make him scared of you?", and then I told him that I didn't know how to do that. Afterward, he just flat out told me, "Then go out there and learn how boy!", and you know what? I did just that. I went out of my lively household, looking for anybody who could help me learn how to make other people scared of me, so imagine my surprise when I met this inspirational man, who everybody called Silvermane at the time."

Soon, he started taking another sip from his glass before throwing it away, letting it shatter to the ground as he continued to make his pacing.

"Here I was, just sitting on the ground crying my eyes out when Mr. Manfredi came to me in this Silver Tuxedo of his. He asked me why I was sitting here acting like a fool, and so I told him of my situation with the Bully, uh... Rico, yeah, Rico. I told him everything about what Rico does to me, and I told him grew so damn tired of being scared of him all the time. So, Mr. Manfredi, being the generous man he was, offered me a hand and asked me where Rico lived. So I showed him where, and soon enough, he walked up the steps and rang the doorbell. Soon as Rico's Father answered, he questioned him if Rico was home, and as soon as he said yes, he asked if we could see him. Once the Old Man called out Rico, he came right down the steps, just in time for Mr. Manfredi to put a bullet on his shoulder."

At that moment, Spider-Man became disturbed by that part of the story as Hammerhead continued to explain his childhood, he looked around at the Maggia continuing to point their guns at him and Black Cat, anxious to take them out.

"Karen?" Spidey whispered. "Are my Web-Shooters working again?"

"Your Suit's functions are still suffering from the EMP Discharge," Karen answered. "I suggest an immediate retreat to be appropriate to avoid further conflict."

"Soon afterward, Rico screamed," Hammerhead continued without stop. "Scared out of mind. Blood splattered on his face and clothes, unaware of what the hell was going on until he noticed me with Mr. Manfredi, and that moment was the first time I ever saw him look like he was about to shit his own pants! But that wasn't the end though, no, no. Mr. Manfredi questioned Rico if he ever made fun of me, and Rico, standing there cryin' like a baby, answered truthfully, and started making these apologies towards me. But that wasn't enough for me, I wasn't satisfied with a simple apology. So Mr. Manfredi went into Rico's Closet to pick up this Hammer. Soon enough, he walked over to me with the Hammer, and told me, "If you wanna stop bein' afraid of him, now's the chance to make him see why messing with ya is a very bad idea."

Hammerhead cracked a smile as he stopped pacing, standing next to Lonnie as Spider-Man and Black Cat continued to stare at him, disturbed by his chaotic nature.

"So, having been given such a generous offer from Mr. Manfredi, I kindly took the Hammer from his hands and walked over to Rico, who was just sitting on the floor now, pleading for forgiveness. Most people, they'd go soft, and they'd probably drop the Hammer down, but me? I was not going soft on him after all the shit he put me through. So I lifted up the Hammer and swung it hard right in the face. His screams were like music to my ears, and I felt this sudden adrenaline rush pumping through my veins! So I started to repeat over and over until Rico was just lying there on the floor with his face getting bashed in with the Hammer. Of course, he never died, he only received Brain Damage after that end, but... In his final moments of any kind of collective thought he had, he looked up at me with such fear in his eyes. And it was that moment where I just realized that this was the moment that I was looking for. This was the moment I learned how to make him scared of me, that he'd never bother with me twice! And as I aged, I started using that handy lesson on anyone else who ever dared to cross me again."

His eyes moved over to Spider-Man, who just stood there with his hands formed into tight fists, prepared for just about anything.

"So... You get what I'm trying to say to ya, Bug?" Hammerhead questioned as he tilted his head while Spider-Man squinted his Lenses into a glare.

"Yeah... I get that at the end of your Story, you ended up becoming a Bully to everyone else in the Neighborhood."

Hammerhead shrugged, raising his hands up smugly. "Well, what can I say? Some people got move around the World with something of a skillset."

"Terrorizing people and unleashing the wrath of God unto them isn't exactly what I'd call a skillset!"

"Well, then we just simply have our own private philosophies, now do we?" He cracked the sides of his head. "And as much as I'd love to debate over and over again, I'd rather I wrap this up. See, what this is right now is my Homecoming party, and I can't have some Bug snooping around in other people's business! So unlike Fisk, I intend to put you down without a second's notice."

With a snap of his fingers, the Maggia began to load their arsenal as Black Cat raised her hands above her head, turning her eyes over to Spider-Man.

"Spider..." Cat whispered as she looked to him for a plan.

"My Web-Shooters," Spidey whispered, raising his hands up too. "They're still not working!"

"So how about this," Hammerhead said as he stood next to Lonnie. "You two morons in tight gimmicks hand over that Hard Drive you so kindly retrieved for us, and we'll give you both a nice, quick bullet to the head."

Soon, the Maggia began to move towards the two with their weapons primed, prepared to smoke them blindly as Spider-Man's Lenses squinted angrily, prepared to fight however he can.

Just as the fireworks were prepared to start, large pairs of Black Webbing shot out from above, taking away everyone's weapons as everyone was surprised by the sudden action, making Hammerhead agitated by that event.

"What the hell?!"

As everyone looked around, they all turned their eyes to Spider-Man, who just widened his eyes in total surprise.

"I... That... That wasn't me-!" Before he knew it, however, another set of Black Webs were fired out, spinning directly at his hands, tying them together as Spider-Man widened his eyes. "Whoa, what the hell?!"

While he was taken back by the Webbing wrapped around his hands, another shot out, impacting him hard as he was pushed against the wall, covered in Black Silk as he was rendered helpless by the attack. As everyone stood back in shock, the entire building began to blackout, leaving them mostly in the dark as the emergency generator kicked in, lighting up Dark Blue lights as everyone on both sides of the conflict looked around. The Maggia pulling out their handguns as they looked around for whatever is hiding in the dark.

"Alright, enough of this shit," Hammerhead spoke as he, along with Lonnie, pulled out their handguns and pointed them around in the air. "I don't know about any of this Bug nonsense, but like it or not, the Maggia is back in town! And that means we're bringing fear back, just like the old days!"

"...Fear."

One of the lights around the building was smashed to pieces, covering the area in darkness as everybody heard a grim, growling voice coming from above as they tried to find the source of what was lurking in there, taunting them like prey.

"You use that word as if you knew the true meaning of the word, Fear."

Another lightbulb was taken out, freaking most of the henchman out while Black Cat started to walk back, leaving the area unseen as she made her escape.

"As if you had lived for Six Hundred Million Years, visualizing what Fear looks like from the naked eye."

As the voice continued to make its haunting presence known, more lights were taken out one by one as the only light there it was coming from the Moonlight shining through the windows as Spider-Man remained trapped against Black Webbing, recognizing the voice the echoed throughout the warehouse.

"No... It can't be!"

"If you truly seek to know Fear, true Fear, at its purest form, then We'll show each, and every one of you exactly what Fear looks like!"

Suddenly, a Maggia's thug was swept up from the ground and being lifted up into the ceiling, screaming while everyone else pointed their guns at the ceiling. Then another fell to the floor before being dragged out into the darkness, scratching the floor as he pleaded for help.

"NOOOOOOO!"

"Shit! It got Archie and Piero!"

"What the hell is this thing?!"

"Anybody got eyes on it?"

"Where is it?!"

Before they knew it, a large Creature descended from high up, jumping two Maggia thugs as it grabbed them by their heads. As everyone turned to point their guns at the Creature, it was revealed to be a familiar Black Symbiote, that doubled in size as its face held White Eyes and Teeth as sharp as a blade as Spider-Man widened his eyes while trapped in his binds, horrified to see one of the worst things he dreaded come back to haunt him while Black Cat was just sitting by a window. Eyes widened by the sight of such a beast.

"...Venom!"

Hammerhead gritted his teeth while pointing his gun at Venom. "Shoot that ugly bastard!"

As soon as everyone opened fire, Venom through the two thugs at the henchmen, knocking several of them down while crawling towards them with such speed, knocking away any obstacle in his path, including Lonnie, who tried to defend Hammerhead, only to be swatted away while getting scratched on by the chest.

Once everyone was out of the way, Venom reached out and grabbed Hammerhead by the neck, lifting him up in the air as Spider-Man struggled to get out of his tight confines, struggling in an attempt to put an end to his rampage.

"Eyes, Lungs, Pancreas..." Venom spoke as he towered above Hammerhead menacingly. "So many snacks, so little time."

Venom opened his mouth to extend his tongue out, licking around Hammerhead's cheek as he grimaced from its direct contact, gritting his teeth as he faced the Symbiote holding him by the throat.

"Do your worst, you Ugly Mother-!"

He yelled out in pain as Venom's hand tightened his grip, giving him the proper motivation to get some "Snacks" when he was suddenly shot in the back by a shotgun. Turning around, he saw a Maggia thug holding a twelve gauge, cocking his weapon before attempting to shoot at him again.

That proved suicidal when Venom tossed Hammerhead to the side of a car, marching his way over to the thug as Spider-Man widened his eyes in protest.

"Venom, no!"

As he tried to get out, his protests were met in vain as Venom opened his mouth, swallowing the thug's head in before biting it right off, taking everyone, including Hammerhead, in shock as the Symbiote devoured his entire head without a second thought, tossing his body to the ground as everyone got up and cowered by the sight.

"Oh my god, it killed Vito!"

"Ugly bastard bit his damn head off!"

Lonnie gritted his teeth, getting out his handguns. "Kill it! Everybody, kill that thing before it kills us!"

"You heard Tombstone! Shoot his ass!"

Soon, everyone unloading their bullets onto Venom, who only roared, unaffected by mere gunpowder as he set on to slaughter the rest, giving no mercy to any that dared assault him.

As Venom continued to tear apart the Maggia, Tombstone snuck over and got Hammerhead by his feet, lifting his arm over his shoulder as they moved out of the warehouse.

"Come on, boss. Let's get out of here."

Hammerhead growled, turning his sights over to Venom brutalizing his men as he tried to lift his gun.

"Gotta... Kill that... Freak."

"Another day, boss. Let the boys handle it!"

As soon as they walked through the doorway, a thug was slammed against the wall, breaking his back as Venom continued to terrorize the Maggia within the Warehouse, Spider-Man pulled against the Webbing in an attempt to escape.

"Ugh! Come on!"

As he tried to move, Black Cat jumped from above, appearing before Spider-Man as she raised her hips from the ground, facing the Web-Slinger.

"So I'm willing to bet that thing isn't a friend of yours?"

Spider-Man shook his head, looking at Cat. "No. And now's not the time, you should get out of here! It's not safe for you to be here, that thing-!"

"Packs quite the Bite, I know," Cat said as she got out her Claws. "But, first things first..."

As she let her Claws out, Spidey widened his eyes, believing that she was intending to do harm unto him. But just as she swung forward, her Claws scratched at the Webs holding Spider-Man in place, freeing him as she stood back, wiping the silk off her nails.

"Next time we meet again, don't say you didn't owe me any favors."

With that said, she ran away, making her exit while Spider-Man got back on his feet to watch her run away. Then he heard the Maggia screaming from the other side as most of them were already taken down, and Venom was just moments away from devouring him whole.

"Shit, Karen!"

"All system functions nominal!"

Spider-Man didn't have to ask twice as he jumped forward and spun a web at the Maggia, pulling him away to avoid being a dinner plate on Venom's menu as he knelt to the floor, glaring at him.

"Alright, buddy, I don't about you, but cannibalism isn't something we do around here!"

The only response he received from the Symbiote was a growling roar being blown at his face. And the next thing he knew, he himself was grabbed by the neck before getting launched up into the air, smashing through the ceiling as people nearby watched in shock, seeing Venom hop from the warehouse and into the city streets, landing on a vehicle, which crashed right into another before spinning his Webs and swinging up high into the air.

Once they were out of sight, Venom carried Spider-Man onto a rooftop, throwing him onto the ground and slamming his foot on his chest, pinning him there while Spider-Man groaned, holding his hands to push against his foot.

"Peter Parker, in the flesh." Venom spoke as he continued to plant his foot on top of Spider-Man's chest. "At long last, we meet again."

Spider-Man opened his eyes, turning to face Venom as he met with his pale Symbiotic White Eyes.

"Venom, nice to see you too! Did you seriously just quote a Star Wars movie? Because I was a Star-!"

Spider-Man yelled out when he felt Venom plant another foot on of his open arms, holding him down as the Symbiote drooled on his Suit.

"Making conversation while having that A.I. of yours switch your Web Shooting Combinations to Tase? Nice try, but We know everything there is about you."

"Ugh... Great, don't tell me you also happen to know where my favorite pizza place is, because now you're starting to make it sound like you've been stalking me!"

"And of course, providing comedy to hide away all the fear pumping into your veins. How typical."

"Yeah, well at least it's better than peeing inside of my tights!" Spider-Man raised a brow. "Wait, now that I mentioned it... As a Symbiote, how do you go to the bathroom-?"

"Enough talk." Venom said as he knelt himself to the ground, leaning his head closely over to Spider-Man. "Here is what is going to happen. You are going to back away from Our business. You will let us do whatever We want, and however We wish, or else We will find you and destroy everything and everyone you hold dear. Do you feel me?"

Spider-Man groaned as he felt Venom pull him off the ground and lift him up high in the air, holding onto his wrist as he stared at Venom holding him at his mercy.

"Why... Why are you doing this, Venom?! What are you even planning on doing?!"

"All in due time, Parker. After all, it is like we told you the other night..." His grip on his neck tightened as his teeth formed a deadly smile. "Everything happens... For a reason."

At the moment he said that was when Spider-Man Lenses began to widen slowly as familiar words began to echo inside of him, having realized just who said those same words just last night after the Battle of the Bands.

"...Eddie?"

At that split second, Venom began to shift half of his face to reveal Eddie Brock placed within his Symbiotic being as Eddie and Venom stared at him as one whole being.

"See you soon... Dude."

And to end their conversation drastically, Venom dropped Spider-Man, letting him go to fall onto the City streets as Spidey widened his eyes and screamed. After a couple of seconds, he spun his web, pulling him over to prevent him from landing hard onto the ground. Afterward, he swung back around on the same rooftop to talk to Venom more, only to find that he had vanished without a trace, leaving Spider-Man in the snow as he looked around, seeing the Symbiote nowhere in sight as he sat down, shaken from that First Encounter.

"K... K-Karen? Can... Can you trace...?"

"I'm not picking up any signals, Peter," Karen informed him. "I'm afraid the Symbiote is long gone by now."

With that said, Peter took off his mask to get some fresh air, looking out into the city as he looked out there, having experienced a deadly encounter, and knowing well that Venom is still out there, planning who knows what he has in mind as his fists gripped the edges of the ledge, letting his breath blow out into the cold wind.

"...Oh, shit."

---

"A shocking development had emerged in Museum Mile tonight-!"

"Reports of Spider-Man going on a wild goose chase with an alleged Cat Burglar, who was rumored to be the same suspect responsible for a stolen artifact at the Noguchi Museum last night, which is currently under investigation lead by NYPD Detective Jean DeWolff-!"

"Witnesses described loud gunshots erupting from inside a vacant building before having seen a Large Black Spider-Like Creature emerge from the rooftop, carrying Spider-Man in its arms as it left behind a trail of bodies that were recently affiliated with the Maggia-!"

"Rumors speculating that former Maggia Boss, Joseph Hammerhead, was at the heart of the slaughter left behind by the Giant Spider-Man, has been said to be debunked since Mr. Hammerhead's Lawyer had confirmed that he was nowhere near Museum Mile when this brutal assault took place-!"

"This is Breaking News at the Daily Bugle, brought you by J. Jonah Jameson himself!"

A live screen showed Jameson sitting on his desk reporting the news as images of Spider-Man, Venom, and Black Cat were shown on the Daily Bugle News.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's face it, we have hit the Jackpot," Jameson said on the news as he had his hands clasped together. "First, we had to deal with a whole night contending with Norman Osborn and his large pack-sized band of Infected Goblins... Then we had to deal with an inevitable crime spree left off by Wilson Fisk after being given his lifelong sentence to Ravencroft... Now, we have to deal with not only women who dress up in Black Leather and wear big long White hairdos, but we also to deal with another Spider-Man, who clearly has a knack for eating criminals for breakfast! Now don't get me wrong, I'm still not on board with the Red and Blue Spider-Man's Vigilante antics, but at least he doesn't perform Cannibalism in broad daylight! I mean, what in the hell is this thing?! Do we even get to call it Spider-Man?! Is it even Human for that matter? Or it one big giant cockroach that was supposed to be made to erase another Cockroach Plague, but ends up evolving itself to where it starts mimicking a normal human being, all while preying on many of New York's Thugs that it has to offer? Either way folks, I suggest you stay wary of the streets from now on, especially during the nighttime because Christmas has gone utterly Red this Year! And honestly, I'm starting to like it better when the Goblins were still around because at least they would have kept Christmas being Green! *Sighs* And speaking Bad Blood, it appears this New Spider-Man has set his sights on over to criminals like the Maggia, who witnesses claimed that they themselves were so scared, that some of them pooped their pants at the sight of them-!"

"Turn that shit off!"

The TV went mute as it continued to display body bags being escorted into the ambulances, Hammerhead was seen sitting in a bar having a shot of whiskey while some of the Maggia, several being survivors of Venom's brutal assault on them, conversed with each other on their experience as many seemed traumatized from their previous encounter.

"Is it true about what the others said? About that Thing eating...?"

"Yeah... Yeah, you're damn right it's true! That Monster ate Vito, then Archie, and Piero! And the rest, it just tore them apart like lambs to the slaughter!"

"We were lucky to even get out of there alive! That Thing nearly bit my head off as it did to Vito before the Bug swooped in to get it away from me!"

"Wait, you sayin' Spider-Man saved your ass from that freak? Why on Earth would he do that?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him yourself, asshole?!"

A Maggia grunt groaned as he rubbed on his arm, sitting on a chair with a couple of his fellow Maggia Members.

"God, my bones are still aching... What the hell was that thing? A Goblin?"

"No way! Those were all wiped out when that colorful Dust Cloud covered the entire 5 Boroughs, nearly swallowed up Jersey Town along with it."

"Well, whatever that thing was, there's no way I'm going back out there, not with that Freak is still lurking through the Dark waiting to eat us! I am not getting paid enough for this shit!"

As the men conversed, Hammerhead stared out onto the screen as he saw a screenshot of Venom hopping from a car while carrying Spider-Man, making him grip his drink tightly as he remembered being held up in the air like he was a mere weakling. As his fist tightened, Tombstone walked over and sat next to Hammerhead, sharing a drink with him while they both stared out onto the flat screen.

"I contacted a few of our Guys in our safe houses... They heard about what happened, so I told 'em to hold off from claiming some of our territories back, give us some time to lay low until we can learn more about whatever the hell it was that attacked us tonight."

Hammerhead remained silent as he continued to stare at Venom's picture on the Flat Screen, letting go of his drink while Tombstone waited to get a response from him.

"...So what happens now, Boss? Do we also lay low, wait for the Spider to get rid of it, or something?"

Hammerhead hummed softly as he leaned back, looking at the screen as Venom's picture began to fade away.

"...No," Hammerhead answered while shaking his head. "No, we don't wait for the Bug to get rid of that thing, no... We have to get rid of it ourselves."

Tombstone leaned forward, pressing his hands on the bar counter.

"How? That thing took out half of a dozen of our boys. Hell, we couldn't even fight back against it."

"That I know so evenly well, Lonnie..." Hammerhead sighed as he turned around to face Tombstone. "That's why I recommend we requesting a meeting from the Committee."

At that moment, Tombstone's eyes peered away from the TV, glancing over to Hammerhead as he seemed surprised by his knowledge of the Committee.

"Yeah, that's right. I know about that Shadowy Organization hidin' in the dark... Thanks a lot for sharing that info with me, by the way. I'm touched you care so much about me."

Tombstone turned his waist around, facing his boss as he felt slightly nervous by the tone of his own voice.

"Boss... You've got to understand, the Committee, they're the type who enforce secrecy on a strict basis. Nobody ain't supposed to know about it, not even the Public-!"

"I get it, Lonnie." Hammerhead interrupted as he watched Tombstone quiet himself down. "I get it... I ain't supposed to know about it, but I do. And you know what? I was going to talk to them later, but given the fact that we're seriously out of our depth with that... Freak... I'm willing to forgo my charming theatrics for once and have a long conversation with them."

Tombstone set one hand off of the counter while letting the other hold onto his drink while remaining close eye contact with his employer.

"Are you sure about this, Boss? Because this is a whole new territory you're about to walk into, and there's no walking back afterward."

Hammerhead sighed, shaking his head as he leaned his head closer to Tombstone so he could whisper to him quietly.

"...I've spent Twenty-Five Years in a jail cell, waiting for my chance to reclaim my throne... I did not spend Twenty-Five Years to just hand over my City, my Inheritance, to an Alien, a Cat Girl, and a Moron dressed up as a Bug! I will do anything, I mean... I will do anything to get back this City, even if it means I have to go great lengths to reclaim it, do you understand me?"

Tombstone nodded his head, sighing softly as he started to turn around, cracking both sides of his neck.

"...I"m gonna go make a phone call."

Hammerhead chuckled, nodding his head. "Be sure that you do."

Tombstone began to leave while Hammerhead remained by the counter, setting his sights once more on the flatscreen as images of Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Venom reappeared on a different news channel. He stood up on his feet, taking a small glance at the three obstacles standing in the way of his path before taking another shot and slamming the glass on the counter, turning away with motivated ambitions.

---

The next day, Midtown High was officially reopening its doors as teenagers began to pile up into the halls, Peter Parker was seen one of the many students returning to class as he walked around carrying his backpack with him when Ned and Gwen arrived, running over to Peter.

"Peter!"

Peter turned around, hearing Gwen call him out before being ambushed by a surprise hug around his shoulders as Peter gently wrapped his arms around her back.

"Oh my god, we heard what happened on the news..." Gwen said as Peter continued to hug her.

"Dude, we were calling you like crazy last night, you never picked up!" Ned said as he rubbed his head. "Where were you after that fiasco with... That Creature from last night?!"

Peter sighed, pulling away as he rubbed on his head. "I... I was at the Subway."

"The Subway?" Gwen asked curiously. "What were you doing over there?"

"I... There was this, Drive. It belonged to the Kingpin..."

"Really?" Ned asked. "What was on it?"

Peter shook his head. "No idea. That's why I'm having Karen download it on the Web. The Servers inside the Subway should give the download an extra speed boost since the bandwidth is Spectacular down there... After that, I just went home and called it a night."

Gwen sighed, rubbing on Peter's head. "Are you okay?"

Peter nodded his head. "I'm, I'm fine... I just want to get on with my day, for now, enjoy my first day back in school." He looked around, noticing that Gloria is nowhere in sight. "Hey... Where's Gloria?"

"Right here," Gloria called out, walking behind Peter. "Guess who just showed up?"

Peter shook his head, giving himself a facepalm. "GG, I'm not in a mood for surprises-!"

"Pete?"

A familiar voice called out to him, making Peter let go of his face as he turned around, seeing a familiar face standing in the same school halls they always walked together in as a wave of happiness began to swell up inside him, forming a smile on his lips.

"...Harry."

Harry scratched his head, nodding while approaching Peter's group. "I uh... I've been thinking about where I was going to get my education, and... I think I'm going to try to go back to where I left off on."

Gwen smiled, turning away from Peter so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders.

"It's good to have you back, Harry."

"Thanks," Harry said. "Though, I'm not sure everyone else shares the same sentiment as you do."

Everyone in the group started to turn around, seeing most of everyone staring vividly at Harry as some casted whispering among themselves.

"Yo!" Gloria called out to the crowd, snapping her fingers. "Y'all got something better to do? Beat it!"

The crowd began to steadily disperse from Gloria's demand as they went on to their separate ways, leaving Harry and the rest of the group alone.

"Well, that was anti-climatic..." Harry said with sarcasm while everyone else turned to face him.

"Look, Harry, we got your back, okay?" Ned told Harry. "That's what friends do."

"Yeah." Peter agreed. "Eventually, people are gonna get over it. They have to, it's just the way of life."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, speaking of the way of life, I'd like to get on with my day as much as everyone else does! Where are we supposed to go?"

Gwen rubbed her hair. "I think we're supposed to spend the entire day in homeroom today."

"That's it?" Harry questioned. "Shocker... I wonder how everyone else is going to react to my clandestine return to Midtown."

"Let 'em think whatever the hell they want."

Everyone turned around, seeing a Girl dressed in fashion clothing as she folded her arms across from the other side of the lockers.

"I mean, if people want to think less of you, then why should you care?" The girl said as she walked over to the group. "You don't know them, and they probably don't know you, so who cares, right? All that matters is that you know your truth, and whatever the truth may be, it's a whole lot better than whatever derogatory bullshit other people's minds have cooked up. And if you feel that makes you an asshole, then fine, be an asshole if you want. My Daddy deals with lots of people like that, and he don't give a damn what they think of him, so being an asshole is kind of like his personal Superpower, well, most of the time really. I don't give a damn what they think of him either, so I guess being an asshole is also part of my personal Superpower, which is pretty useful when I want to own my shit. Can't you kids do the same on your end? You know? Own your shit?"

Everyone just stared at her, having heard one of the wisest speeches ever said from a new girl as Ned raised a hand up.

"Uh... Who are you?"

The girl smiled. "Janice Lincoln." With that said, she turned around, walking on her way to her homeroom class. "It's my first day here."

Everyone watched Janice walk away like she had owned the entire building as she strolled out of their area, having made everyone develop an interest in her.

"...Well, as first impressions go, I thought she nailed it..." Harry spoke as he pressed his hands into his pockets.

"Harry!"

The others turned around, seeing MJ and Randy approaching the group as MJ moved to give her Boyfriend a hug.

"So glad to see you back!" MJ chimed as she hugged Harry. "You had me scared for a moment there..."

Harry sighed, smiling while hugging her. "Someone once asked me what my Heart wanted to do, so this is what my heart wanted me to do."

Peter patted on his shoulder as they both hugged each other. "Alright, well if we all still share the same homeroom class, then I'll be sure to you guys later. I'm gonna go put some stuff inside of my locker real quick, so I'll catch you later!"

Randy widened his eyes, raising his hand up in urgency. "Parker, wait!"

Before he could stop him, Peter was already running upstairs as Randy sighed, shaking his head while everyone turned to him, confused by his current behavior.

"Uh, Randy?" Gloria called out, turning to her Boyfriend. "What's going on?"

Randy rubbed his head as he turned to the others. "Guys, I'm really sorry about this, but... Flash pulled another one."

Ned raised a brow. "Another one?"

"In his locker?" Gwen questioned."

"Yup," Randy confirmed. "Only, it's much worse."

Harry scoffed, shaking his head. "Well, what exactly did he do?"

As they talked, Peter was walking upstairs to the second floor where he reached his locker. But just as he arrived, he saw words spray-painted on his locker as he stood there, reading words he'd hate to read on his own property.

WARNING! HERE LIES THE PROPERTY OF PENIS PARKER!

"...Oh, god."

A loud burst of laughter as Flash was seen videotaping Peter standing at his locker while he was just walking around smirking devilishly.

"Hey, Parker! How do you like your Christmas Decoration? Does it squirt a lot? HAHA!"

"Haha, nice to see you too, Flash." Peter greeted with sass as he stared at his rival. "Don't you have Homeroom to go to?"

"Yeah, I ain't got nothing better to do anyway!" Flash turned around, starting to leave for his class. "See you around, Penis!"

Peter rolled his eyes while Flash left, turning to stare at his locker as he just sighed.

"One day back in school, and already, this stuff happens to me..."

"It could be worse..."

Peter turned around, facing Anya Corazon standing in the hallway while leaning against the lockers.

"I mean, it could have been a nasty Goblin that would have likely carved those words out instead of writing them in the paint."

Peter tilted his head, seeing Anya as he walked over to her. "Hey... Anya, right? We met the other night at the Battle of the Bands."

"With me as an official member of the MJs, I remember... You're Gwen's Adorable Idiota, am I right?"

Peter nodded his head. "That's... Fairly accurate, yes."

"Well, in that case, I guess you might be seeing a lot more of me around, if or when the Band starts performing for the school."

"Yeah, speaking of, how is your first day in Midtown going so far?"

"Me? It's just getting started." She turned to look at the vandalized locker on Peter's locker. "So far, the grade for the initial first impression is going to be a solid C for effort."

"C for effort, huh? That's not bad, right?"

"Eh, it's okay so far. In most schools, I'd grade around C and B. And I am very brutal when I grade stuff."

"Oh, well I better try my best to get that A!"

Anya smiled, shaking her head. "Ah, don't sweat it. I don't take that stuff seriously unless it involves first impressions, and I gave you a B for an Okay Grade."

"Why did I get a B?"

"Because, it's obvious, and I mean it is no disrespect in any way, but it's obvious that you're a nice guy, and you're cute... But you're also a total weirdo."

Peter scoffed lightly. "Well... I guess I have that effect on any girl I talk to?"

"I think you have that effect on virtually everyone you talk to." Anya began to walk past Peter before lightly punching him by the shoulder. "See you at homeroom, Weirdo."

Peter raised a brow. "Homeroom?"

"Yeah, Homeroom. You and I both go to the same Homeroom class, haven't you heard?" Before Peter could ask, the bell began to ring, itching a smile on Anya's lips. "Better hurry to your locker, Moron."

With that said, Peter sighed as he opened his locker and began to put some of his stuff inside. Once he did what he had to do, he closed and locked his locker and headed right for his homeroom class, just in time to avoid being tardy by the late bell.

Once he was inside his homeroom, he began to sit down at Ned and Harry's table as they began to watch the news being displayed on the screen.

"Okay, did I miss anything?" Peter asked, looking at Ned and Harry.

"Uh, nothing much... Other than Al's unveiling reveal at my Dad's Company."

Peter raised a brow before turning to face the TV, seeing Alistaire Smythe standing behind the Oscorp Tower, with a new brand name that has been dubbed, Tricorp.

"As head CEO of the Company, it is my responsibility not as a businessman, but also as a fellow Human Being, that I must attempt to re-establish the trust that was utterly shattered by my previous predecessor, Norman Osborn," Alistaire said as he spoke with the press on Live TV. "By renaming our Company, Tricorp, we seek out hope that it will usher in a new age of Community and Leadership. And I personally believe that together, united, that we will bring about an era of trust and healing. Starting where the scars ultimately began, on the ever so innocent streets of New York, where we plan to unveil our new Satelite Surveillance Towers, which will spread first throughout the Island of Manhattan, and hopefully, for the rest of the Five Boroughs..."

"For those who don't know, that was my Dad's Former COO, Alistaire Smythe," Harry explained with his arms folded. "Current Head of Oscorp, sorry, Tricorp, also known as a longtime friend of mine."

Peter raised a brow, turning to Harry. "Really? I thought I was a longtime friend of yours."

Harry cocked a grin, shaking his head. "Sorry to break it to you, but unless you were there since I was sitting inside of a Crib sucking my own thumb, I'm pretty sure the longest friend award goes to Al."

Ned hissed as he gritted his teeth. "Ouch... Sorry, Peter."

Peter waved his hand away, shaking his head. "Ah, it's... It's nothing, really... It doesn't really matter at all..." He peered his eyes over to a teacher reading a book on his desk. "Who is our Substitute?"

"Oh? Him? Yeah, that's one of our New P.E. Teachers." Ned informed, which caused Peter to widen his eyes.

"What? Did Coach Wilson quit his job?"

"Uh, no," Harry said as he cocked his head. "The school just hired a few more Gym Teachers just to help fill in the already crowded abundance of students that are filling Midtown as big as Time Square."

"Really? What's his name?"

Ned shrugged. "No idea. He just sat there the entire time reading a book, and he's still doing it." He turned to Peter and Harry. "Say, you don't think he'd be okay if we went over to one of the vending machines back, do you?"

Harry squinted his eyes. "It's probably a good idea if we just went with-!"

"The Bathroom Excuse," Peter added, pointing a finger. "Right, I'll go volunteer as Tribute, thank you very much."

"Alright! Can I get an Orange Crush?" Ned asked.

"Sure. What about you, Harry?"

"Coke."

"Okay, Coke, gotcha." Peter stood up. "I'll be back."

He walked over to the P.E. Teacher sitting on the desk reading a book as Peter pressed his hands into his pockets, clearing his throats.

"What?" The teacher asked, not turning away from his novel.

"Uh... Hi! This is going to be awkward, but... I have a serious problem with my... My uh..."

"You have a problem with your what? What do you have a problem with, Kid?"

Peter sighed, shaking his head. "...Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Seriously? Just after the bell rang?"

"I... I have a serious Bladder issue."

"And you choose to wait until after the bell rang, why?"

"...Because, I didn't feel like going until I felt my stomach feeling kind of... Off."

The teacher sighed, putting his book down to reveal his face while his eyes continued to close, completely unaware of Peter's shocked expression.

"Look, I don't know about any of you kids, but if you need to go to the restroom, then for the love of God, just go before-!"

"Happy?!"

At that moment, the Gym Teacher's eyes opened, facing Peter Parker standing before him wide-eyed as Happy Hogan sat there, bewildered by Peter's appearance as both of them stared at each other with surprised looks on their faces.

"...Oh hell no."

"Oh my god..."

"Oh, god, no!"

"Holy shit!" Peter stuttered, pointing at Happy. "What-What-What are you doing here?"

"What am I-?!" Happy scoffed, leaning back on his chair. "What are you doing here?!"

"Me? I go here. This is my Homeroom Class."

"What?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes!" Peter pointed at Happy. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." Happy paused, raising a hand up before lowering it incomplete, utter shame. "...I... Work here."

"...No way."

"Oh my god, this isn't happening to me, right now."

"No, freaking way, you work here? At my school?"

Happy groaned, hissing and shushing Peter. "Shut up, keep your voice down!"

"What happened?! Did you get fired from Horizon Labs?"

"No! No, I'm just..." Harry sighed, giving himself a facepalm. "I... My budget payment at Horizon was tremendously reduced after the Goblin Nightmare, so... I'm forced to work several jobs until things start to soften around here."

Peter raised a brow. "Don't you have an Oscorp Stimulus Check coming to you?"

"I haven't got it yet."

"Oh?"

"But even if I did, it wouldn't necessarily enough for me to pay the rent at my Loft, So... Here I am."

"Oh... Okay, well... Doesn't that tell you that maybe you should-?"

"No..." Happy protested. "No! I like my Loft, okay? I like where I am, don't you dare judge me on how I like to do things!"

"Okay, fine! I won't..."

Happy groaned, turning to lean forward on his chair. "Just... What do you want exactly?"

"Uh... I want to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, sure. Now give me the truth, what do you really want, exactly?"

Peter sighed, rubbing his head. "I uh... I was wondering if I could make a visit to a Soda Machine-?"

Happy blinked. "What? Seriously? That's why you came to me?"

"You don't mind?"

"No! Look, if you want to get a drink, then, by all means, go ahead! Why didn't you just say so?"

"Because, well... Most teachers would normally object-!"

"Well, guess what? I'm not like most teachers! Now please, for the love of God, don't bother me anymore unless it involves... The Extra-Curricular Activity, now scram!"

"Okay, I will! Jeez."

Peter began to turn around, leaving Happy Hogan alone as he sighed, rubbing on his head as Peter started to leave... But not before stopping to turn around to face his direction once more.

"Okay, just one more thing though; if you're having issues with money, why didn't you just go to Mr. Stark and ask-?"

"Kid, I will scream Spider-Man over the top of my lungs if you bother me one more time-!"

Peter raised his hands up, nodding his head in retreat. "Okay, message received, Happy... Er, Coach... Yeah, Coach."

With enough there is to say, Peter left Happy alone once and for all as he sighed in relief, unaware of Gloria Grant making her approach to him.

"Hey, do you mind if we could watch a movie in the background or-?" Gloria's eyes widened, taking her sights onto Happy, who instantly recognized her from the events of the Goblin Nightmare. "...You again?!"

"...What have I done?"

---

Later in the day, the school had finally ended its day and the students were left to venture off onto their daily routine as Peter finally told the Squad about his experience with Black Cat and Venom the night before.

"So, that Symbiote that once pretended to be your Suit... It's back?!" Ned asked questioningly for a confirmation to which Peter responded with a nod. "Oh, god... That is... That is bad... How did it get out?"

"I don't know, but you know what else is bad?" Peter asked sarcastically. "It still remembers that I am Spider-Man."

Gloria folded her arms, looking at Peter. "So, how much should we be shitting our pants right now?"

Ned panicked with a silent exhalation as he rubbed his head. "Oh, no... No, no, no, this is terrible! This is terribly bad! What are we gonna do?!"

"I don't know."

Gwen raised a brow. "Wait, what about the Cat? Does she know too?"

"No! No, of course not," Peter reassured. "She never saw my face, nor did she hear my name, so if there's anything we have to worry about her, is whether or not she's going to steal anything again."

Gloria nodded her head, paying attention. "Okay, so we have a super ultra-talented Cat Thief running around, along with a bunch of Gangsters seeking to become the Next Kingpin, and a Gothic-looking Pennywise the Clown with zero makeup on, moving around with powers similar to Peter's, eating bad guys instead of kids. Gee, what exactly can go wrong, I wonder?"

Peter face palmed himself, shaking his head. "Look, let's just focus on one thing at a time, okay? Venom knows who I am, so that means he knows that you guys also know who I am, so we have to be very careful of what we do."

"You kidding? I don't get eaten alive!" Ned exclaimed. "I'm too young to get eaten alive! Wait, why didn't it eat you alive when it had the chance?!"

Gwen raised a brow. "That's a good question."

Peter sighed, letting his hand go of his face. "I... I don't know. Venom could have killed me when he had the chance to, but instead, he just dropped me off from a rooftop and vanished out of thin air."

"Which implies he's up to something." Gwen assumed. "What is exactly is the Symbiote up to?"

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, I have no doubt in mind that it is no good."

Gloria bit her lip, staring at her group when she received a text on her phone. Once she checked out the message, she started to put it away, turning to her friends.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Cindy Moon, she's planning this protest outside the school about it canceling our Arts program with Sally. I have to be there, it's actually pretty important I attend."

"Okay." Gwen nodded her head. "Okay, that's cool! We can just visit your place later, tell you more about-!"

Gloria widened her eyes, shaking her head. "Uh, no! That won't be necessary. Why don't you guys, just text me or something?"

Ned raised a brow. "Any reason we can't come to your place?"

Gloria grew slightly nervous as she had been questioned about her home. When her arm gripped her other arm, Peter took notice, having known fully well about her current status quo as he took up the need to come up with an excuse.

"Uh, Gloria's Family, they're having this... Thing tonight." Peter said, perking Gloria's interest. "It's uh... It's more of a private event, so nobody outside her Family is allowed inside, so..."

Gwen widened her eyes. "Oh... Well, why didn't you say so, GG?"

Gloria scratched on her hair. "I... I didn't want to feel... Embarrassed to say so..."

Ned nodded his head. "It's all good. We'll just text you the details."

Gloria nodded. "Thanks... Thank you, everybody, for understanding." Her eyes diverted to Peter. "...Thank you so much."

Peter nodded his head. "No problem."

With enough there is to say, Gloria began to leave while Gwen and Ned stuck behind with Peter.

"So... More on with the Symbiote... We know that it needs a Host to move around frequently, and before she left of Symkaria, Jessica Drew was dispatched into Oscorp in an attempt to retrieve the Symbiote just moments before the Goblin Nightmare happened." Gwen said factually. "In my hypothesis, I believe the Symbiote has managed to escape during the Chaos, and it somehow found a new Host, one that was infected by the Goblin Oz."

"Okay, so who could it be?" Ned questioned. "There are millions of people living in New York."

"Yeah, but there were at least a dozen other people present at Oscorp when the Outbreak occurred, so we can go ahead and shorten the suspect list from there."

Peter scratched his head as he looked at Ned and Gwen, standing before them before letting his hands go into his pockets.

"Hey, Ned, actually, I need to Gwen about something... Can we talk to you later?"

Ned turned to look at Gwen before nodding at Peter. "Uh, sure. I'll see you later."

Ned left to leave Gwen and Peter alone together as Parker faced his Girlfriend directly.

"Hey, Gwen..." Peter began, unaware of how he should go about it. "Uh... Do you remember the last time you spoke to Eddie Brock?"

Gwen nodded her head. "Yeah, it was the night that the Battle of the Bands happened, and I met him right after the MJs made the performance. Why?"

"Did he ever... I don't know... Say anything weird, act kind of odd to you?"

Gwen paused, folding her arms. "Well... Nothing much other than act like an over-protective Ex Boyfriend."

Peter sighed. "Okay... What about when he walked? Do you know he managed to heal his own spine?"

"...Not really," Gwen answered, placing a hand on her chin. "But that you mentioned it, he never really explained to me how he managed to walk again, let alone survive an entire building infested with..."

Gwen trailed off when he saw the way Peter looked grim as she stared at him oddly... Until she came to the conclusion of what Peter was thinking.

"...You... You don't think that...?"

"Gwen, I don't think, I know..." Peter said with a warning. "Venom, he's... Eddie Brock is merged with the Symbiote, I'm sure of it."

She scoffed, confused with the way he was saying as she shook her head. "Peter, how can you be sure-?"

"I saw his face!" Peter nearly hissed, taking Gwen a step back as he lowered his voice. "...I saw his face, Gwen. Venom showed me half of Eddie Brock's face before dropping me over 18 stories below the ground, trust me, I am very sure it's him!"

Gwen stood there, feeling disturbed by the news as she turned to her hips, facing the school track field while she processed the information into her brain.

"...Then... Then it makes sense." Gwen concluded, raising her hand up thinking. "That night at Oscorp when he saved me from a Goblin, he... He held such brute force, and he looked like he never had to use a cane before! And not to mention miraculously surviving a trip down a gas-filled medical center, I mean... There was no way he could have survived..."

Peter took in a deep breath, placing his hands on Gwen's shoulders. "Gwen, I need your help. Okay, I need to find Eddie before he hurts somebody else! Do you know where I can find him?"

Gwen sighed, pressing her hands on her head. "I... I don't know, it's been such a long time, and things changed a lot since..." She turned her head around, catching a glance at a screen as she raised her brows wide. "...Oh my god."

Peter raised a brow, confused by her expression until he turned around, seeing Betty Brant sitting on a table facing her back on them while watching Eddie Brock on an iPad.

"That's... That's Eddie!" Gwen exclaimed, facing Betty. "Oh my god, that's Eddie!"

Peter moved away from Gwen, turning his attention over to Betty Brant as he tapped her on the shoulder. "Uh, hi, Betty! Is that Eddie Brock on the screen?"

Betty nodded. "Yeah! Can you believe it? That guy has his own Platform now."

Peter and Gwen mutually widened their eyes, surprised by that update.

"He has his own Platform?!" Both Parker and Stacy shouted in a jinxing manner while Betty continued to nod her head in confirmation.

"Yeah! It's unbelievable. Here, check it out."

She took off her headphones and pressed on the loudspeaker to allow them to hear the video as Eddie's voice began to fill in the atmosphere.

"-Okay, when people ask me about my relationship with J. Jonah Jameson going sour once upon a time ago, yes, I can indeed confirm that the Bugle and I don't necessarily see eye to eye anymore," Eddie said through his own personal Channel, The Eddie Brock Show. "But there is one thing Jonah and I can agree on, and it's the fact that Spider-Man not only poses as a Threat, he's also a Menace in general. I mean, I can distinctly remember a time when we didn't have Rhinos bulldozing all over Greenwich Village, or Sandmen threatening to drown entire Shelters into literal Sand, or people transforming into Green Goblins!"

Peter and Gwen exchanged a look as Eddie continued on to make his speech out for all the public, or rather anyone is able to listen, to hear

"Now, I get he's trying to make a difference and all, but all Spider-Man ever does is bring trouble wherever he goes! In fact, I'm pretty certain that nobody had to worry about men with Octopus Arms until this Guy showed up! So it begs to wonder whether or not Tony Stark was even remotely correct about Spider-Man. I mean, what if he isn't truly New York's Hero? What if he's just like the rest of the people who go around causing chaos wherever they go? I for one know because I provided damning evidence that proved Spider-Man wasn't the man we all wanted to believe him to be, and instead, I end up getting thrown into the dirt because Jonah wanted to provide publicity for his Precious Daily Bugle!"

As Eddie began to make his speech, Jameson and Robbie Robertson were seen at the Bugle watching Eddie's show on the internet as they sat on top of Jameson's desk, watching on his computer to hear him call out Jameson purposely.

"I mean, there are other problems in this city that needs to be discussed! This Black Cat that was on the streets the other night, the Maggia on a crime spree, everyone who's practically a thug, and all Jameson seems to ever care about is talk 24 hours long about Spider-Man! You know, once upon a time ago, that man won a Pulitzer Prize for a Maggia Expose that placed Joseph Hammerhead into prison! Two weeks ago, he was just released after serving a Twenty-Five Year Sentence, and not one word about it on the news, just something you'd read about on a newspaper that isn't on the front cover! I mean, it seems to me that when other problems like that are around, but Spider-Man isn't there, he doesn't really seem to care about it, but when Spider-Man is involved, oh! Oh, nice lovely scoop for the Daily Bugle, because god forbid Spider-Man should not be involved in any way! It's like he doesn't even care about the people of NYC, it's like the only thing he cares about is Publicity!"

Robbie sighed, shaking his head. "God... What does Brock think he's doing?"

Jameson leaned his head back, holding a cup of beer. "What do you think he's doing, Robbie? He's openly declared war on us."

While they both continued to watch, Harry was seen in his limo with Felicia Hardy as his entourage as they both watched Eddie Brock's show on the vehicle's TV.

"And speaking of Spider-Man, am I the only one is scared to say that Spider-Man killed somebody that night at the very end of the Goblin Nightmare? Sure, the authorities say that Norman Osborn was killed by his own Glider, but really? Do we seriously need to trust the very people that deputized Spider-Man as a Government Official! Not to mention the NYPD, who don't seem to be in a hurry to put the Wall Crawling Vigilante in Handcuffs anytime soon!"

Felicia let out a whistle, placing a finger on her chin. "Well, somebody's being honest about himself."

Harry nodded his head, listening to Eddie's words about Spider-Man. "Yeah, well... It's a nice change of pace, all things considered." He turned to the Limo Driver. "Let's stop right here!"

The limo began to pull up to a building completely empty as Harry began to step out into the cold while Felicia followed him out.

"Hey, Harry! Where are you going?"

Harry turned around. "I... This is kind of like my personal place of uh... Meditation. Somewhere I can get a train of thought. It won't take long, I promise."

Harry began to leave Felicia out in the snow while he entered the building, locking the door behind him while putting his headphones back on to listen to what else Eddie Brock has to say while somewhere out in the world, a man is sitting comfortably in his home dressed in a Brown Vest as he held a dagger on his holster, listening to Eddie's Show while his phone began to ring on vibrate.

"So, the reason why I'm talking about Spider-Man like this is that unlike the Bugle, I actually care for my City, so forgive me if I'm taking this seriously. I mean, it's obvious to me that we can't rely on our own Government to hunt down Spider-man, and put an end to his regime now before it's too late! I mean, if there are people like the Black Cat popping up out of nowhere, then who knows who else is gonna come strolling into New York like it's one big Concrete Playground?"

As Eddie spoke, the Man in the Vest answered his phone while he continued to watch Eddie's Show on the TV.

"...This is Kravenoff. What is the job?"

As he spoke on the phone with his Pet Lion roaming around his home, Harry was seen walking in the barely lit abandoned building while he was advancing over to a counter. There, he reached over to get something from underneath.

"And more importantly, what about the other criminals in the City? Like the Maggia? The Russian Mob? Are we seriously going to just sit on our asses while all these people prey on us in the dark, striking fear into our homes while we wait for the NYPD, for S.H.I.E.L.D. to bring us Justice? No! I say we should get off our asses and get Justice for ourselves!"

As Eddie continued with his speech, he began getting more and more views on his vid as Harry reached out to pull out a Handgun hiding underneath the counter, checking its ammunition to see if it is fully loaded. Once he was finished, he put on the lights to reveal a mannequin that is painted somewhat like Spider-Man as Harry began to put on his glasses and headphones.

"And if we desire Justice so badly, then we need to get it now! And if Justice is not served to us, if We the People do not get Justice that we deserve, then We the People should move out and Avenge it!"

Once Harry began to crack both sides of his neck, he positioned himself and began to aim his gun at the mannequin. Once he was ready, he began to pull the trigger, unleashing all of its rounds on the painted figure of Spider-Man.

Soon enough, the memory of Harry's last encounter with Spider-man flooded through his brain as he reloaded and began to fire again in a fit of rage, letting out all of his pent up anger boiling inside of him as he let it all out on the being he imagined as the person who killed his father as if he was still standing on that construction site, seeing the person he had initially trusted having seemingly killed his own father in cold blood, letting a blood-curdling scream as his fury was unleashed without nothing holding him back from his target practice.

As Harry's screams resonated in the background, Eddie Brock was seen somewhere in an undisclosed location as he watched his own video trending on the Internet.

"So, for those who just tuned in and wondered who the hell is this total stranger ranting on the internet... My name is Eddie Brock, and if you really want the truth, subscribe to my channel, The Eddie Brock Show, and keep up with your regularly scheduled news."

As Eddie's video ended, Brock leaned back against his chair as Venom appeared from the side of his shoulder, watching with such amused glee.

"Impressive... You managed to reach over a Several Hundred Thousand Views."

Eddie sighed, nodding his head. "Yeah, well I needed to get people angry, so I'd figured I'd give it a shot."

"Oh, believe me, Eddie... If we play our Cards carefully right, soon enough, everyone will hate Spider-Man so much, they'll want to kill him for us."

---

Hey people! If you just reached the bottom, then I applaud you for reading one of the longest Chapters ever, because this took me a Looong time to write! And if you just jumped right around this corner of the internet out of curiosity, then don't worry, I only write about Twenty Thousand words or less on most of my work, so don't be concerned about any more extensive Episodes for a while.

Now, originally, I was going to go ahead and post this right after wrapping the finale on the Wolverine story, but lately, I've been feeling like I can make a small exception. And if you're wondering if you're reading the same guy who wrote a What If? story and Transformers Animated Season 4 fanfic that got expanded over to the 6th Season, then yes, this is me, but with a new username.

Please let me know your thoughts and expectations for the rest of this season, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day... And apologies in advance for any slow readers that I may have inadvertently taken up everyone's day.

PEACE!