Early the next morning, at the hotel May and Wes are staying, May hears a knock on the door. She gets out of bed and puts a robe on, opening the door as a man wearing a wide brimmed hat and a package in his hands stands about a foot back. "Thank you." She says handing him a small amount of money as he tips his hat and walks away.

"Who was that?" Wes asks rolling over in his bed.

"Just the delivery guy bringing our costumes. Thank you uncle Kaine." She opens her package and takes out her Spider-girl suit along with two black masks. "Catch." She tosses one to Wes, who sits up.

"Cool, but why bring your Spider suit?"

"Got my mask for the wedding and my originals just in case everything hits the fan, which of course is a very good possibility. Don't forget, we're meeting up with Fred and Mia at noon."

"I don't know. Do you really think it's a good idea after what went down yesterday? I mean she seems kind of, punchy."

"I'll admit, she's a little rough around the edges but let's give her a chance. Besides, it'll hurt Fred's feelings if we cancel."

"How exactly do you know him?"

"It's nothing, we kind of dated in middle school is all. It was nothing serious. I haven't seen him since his family moved back to Australia." May pauses and turns to Wes with a smirk. "Wait. Don't tell me you're jealous? It was a while ago and we never even kissed."

"Okay, maybe I am a little. But I trust you. Let me get a shower and I'll be all set." Wes gets up, grabs his towel and heads to the shower. He sticks his head back out for a moment. "By the way, is he..."

"He's Aborigine."

"Thought so." He pops back in as May gets her things ready. Later that day, the two meet up with Fred and Mia at one of the local open air restaurants. "Glad you could make it." Fred says as he gestures the two over to a table he and Mia are at.

"Wouldn't have missed it." The two sit down as May looks over at Mia, noticing the bandage over the cut she had received the previous day. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm doing much better now. Thanks."

"Hey, your move." I man from across the room shouts as May and Wes notice him with three darts in his hand. "Sorry, just one minute." Fred excuses himself as he turns the chair slightly, adjusting his aim toward the dart board on the opposite side of the room and effortlessly drops all three darts into the triple twenty zone. Everyone in the room is left with their mouths agape as Fred gets up, collects his money from the other man and rejoins the group. He notices the other three giving him odd looks. "Amateur darts champion four years in a row back home. My dad used to play a decent game of baseball back in the day, guess I inherited his arm."

"Oh yeah. He was a pretty funny guy. Hey how is he anyway?" May asks.

"Couldn't tell you. Haven't seen him since he left me and mom about four years ago."

"Sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry too much. Me and her are getting by just fine, especially with my new job and all."

"What kind of work do you do?" Wes inquires.

"Private security work. It's not bad work. I do a lot of traveling actually." Fred takes a sip of his drink before turning his attention to Wes. "So what do you do for work mate?"

"Well, it hasn't really taken off yet, but I'm working as a comic writer." This causes Fred to chuckle a bit. "Something funny?"

"You mate. Writing kiddy books. Yeah, that will keep you and the little lady fed and warm. No, but seriously, I'm sure you're good at your little scribbles and all."

"Lay off Fred. Wes does good work and it's really coming together. It's harder than you might think." May says in his defense.

"Alright, apologies Wes. May's a good judge of character. If she thinks you're that good than you must have talent. But you know, me and her used to be pretty close and I got to know if she's being taken care of by the right kind of guy. And there's only one way to figure that out."

May puts her hand over her face. "Please not that."

"What?" Mia asks.

"Hey waiter, bring us some glasses." Fred calls as he continues with his order of items.

"The choke challenge." May says with slight embarrassment as the waiter brings them two large glasses filled with milk, a jar of peanut butter and four thick slices of bread.

"This separates the men from the boys in my home town." Fred says as he slaps two heaping globs of peanut butter onto the slices of bread before pressing them together. "Here's the rules: First fella to finish his sandwich is the winner. You stop to drink anytime before the last bite is swallowed you lose. May you make the call."

"Do we really have to do this?" May asks in annoyance.

"Make the call." Fred says confidently.

May lets out a sigh as she concedes. "In three, two, one, go." She says as the two begin, with many of the patrons drawn to the spectacle. As the two get off to a speedy start, both May and Mia trade stares as the contest goes on. "Sadly this is what you've gotten yourself into girl."

"Is that the best you got?" Fred says with a full mouth.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." Wes replies, his words coming out gargled as his mouth is likewise stuffed as he speeds up. Fred attempts to regain the lead but finds he has overexerted himself. He begins to choke, frantically grabbing the glass and pouring it into his mouth, most of it spilling on the floor as the others cheer Wes on, who soldiers on to finish the remaining bites of his sandwich. He jumps up, opening his mouth to show he has finished before quickly chugging down his glass as well. May raises his hand as she cheers for him. "The winner."

Fred gets his breath back as he stands up and walks over to the couple. "Good on ya mate." He gives Wes a congratulatory pat on the back. "Mayday sure knows how to pick'em."

"You did it Wes. I'd kiss you but you should definitely clean yourself up first."

"Fair enough."

"Well this certainly was...a thing. What do you say we continue on with today's planned tour. There are quite a few sites to take in before the day is over." Mia says as the others nod in agreement. After a long day of touring some of Delvadia's most beautiful sites around the area, May and Wes head back to the hotel.

"That was definitely a day that's going down in the books. The beautiful Delvadian landscape, the amazing art, and to top it off, you beat Fred at his own game. Tell me Reynard Westin, how does it fill to be the new 'Choke Challenge' champion." May jokes, putting on a reporter inflection in her voice.

"It feels great, really great to just be given the opportunity. "Wes plays along. "And I'd like to give a shout out to my girlfriend May Parker. This is for you." He leans in as the two kiss. As they continue May suddenly stops as her spider sense begins to buzz loudly. She moves back for a moment, looking around as she spots someone or something, moving through the nearby trees. "What's wrong?"

"It might be nothing or it might be something. Only a quick web swing will tell. Don't wait up for me." She says as she heads into the room to grab her gear.

LaMuerto Estate

Just outside the estate the thief, Claw sits perched in a tree scanning the area with a wrist device. "It's showtime." He uses a small remote controlled helicopter, hovering it over an area where four guards are making their rounds. It drops a small canister that catches the groups attention as it rolls away. As they give chase he uses a modified grapple gun to fire over the long distance from where he is hidden to one of the balconies they were patrolling. After fastening the other end to the tree he skillfully makes his way across. "Oh yeah. I'm just that good." He says to himself as he reaches the other side.

Claw silently picks the lock to the door before slipping inside. He uses his wrist gauntlet to fire a stream of gas that puts the laser security into full view. He manages to maneuver himself through the field, protecting the Black Tarantula's most prized possessions before finally reaching his goal, a vase shielded by a sheet of bullet proof glass. "The fabled Vase of Galador. Pathetic protection Mr. LeMuerto I must say."

"Unless of course you have a friendly neighborhood Spider-girl to pull a late night shift." The heroine says as she hangs from the ceiling.

"Come all the way to Delvadia just to see me? My dear lady, I am touched."

"Touched in the head for sure. Oh and just to prove that." She uses her web to pull one of the other cases over and into the security beams, setting off the alarms.

"So much for finesse." Claw pull out a device that affixes itself to the case, vibrating at a high rate, shattering it as he grabs his prize and makes a brake for it. "Farewell my lady."

"Not so fast Rembrandt." She fires a stream of webbing to halt him. She quickly finds, however, that he is much more nimble then their last encounter. "Wow, you really do have moves."

"Was there any doubt?" He says as jumps out to the second floor walk way.

"Oh tons. I'm just pleasantly surprised." She races after him as he makes a dash back to his high wire escape route. He stops, placing the vase on the wide railing, then turns and engages Spider-girl in a fast hand to hand exchange. Claw leaps over the young woman as she throws a punch at him, almost forgetting that his prize is in danger. He quickly launches a wrist cable that catches her hand just before it smashes the artifact. "Thanks." She says politely.

"Can't have you smashing my big payday." He hits a button on the gauntlet that sends a jolt of electricity to the heroine, paralyzing her for a moment. The thief quickly rushes to regain the vase only for several guards to catch him in the act. "Gentlemen, I can assure you that there is a completely reasonable explanation for all this." The group point there guns at him from either direction as he holds the stolen item. "I take it you won't be buying that. Oh well. Later." He leans back and simply falls over the edge, surprising them as they see him swing away on his wrist cable, opening fire until he vanishes from site.

Finally getting to her feet Spider-girl looks out at the jungle. "I'm so gonna sue him." The guards then turn their guns on her. She quickly clogs their guns with webbing before giving chase to Claw. "Don't worry boys. I'll have your vase thingy back before you know it." Without much effort she catches up to Claw, casually waving with one hand as the thief is both shocked and impressed. The web-slinger swings around, firing a glob of webbing onto Claw's gauntlet, preventing him from retracting the cable, then swings around and swipes the vase from him, tossing it up and suspending it in a net.

"Not bad." He says as a laser blade extends from his other wrist gauntlet, which he uses to cut himself free, swinging himself onto a branch. Claw then dashes back toward the vase as May follows suit. He uses his wrist mounted blade to keep her at bay, accidentally cutting the webbing loose as the vase plummets to the ground. "Not good!" The two say in unison as they both dive for it. May fires her impact webbing at Claw mid-fall, sticking him to a tree as she focuses solely on retrieving the item before it hits the ground. She is startled as another figure swoops in, saving the vase. She pulls up at the last second, swinging inches from the jungle floor, then catches back up to the mystery savior.

She lands on the branch above him, seeing a man wearing black military garb with a red spider painted on the flak jacket and a blue half mask tied like a bandana. "And who might you be stranger?" She asks him.

"The Tarantula is my name, not to be confused with this vase's rightful owner." He tosses the item back to her. "I am but one in a long line of heroes that serve for the betterment of all Delvadia."

"So you're kind of a police officer?"

"In a sense, yes. I am a symbol of justice for the people. Now I don't mean any disrespect but what is an American doing so far from home?"

"Oh you know a little sun, a little fun." Before the conversation can go further the two look down to see Claw attempting to escape. "Excuse me." She webs his hands back into place, preventing him from using his blade again. "Now what to do with you."

"I don't suppose you'd consider not turning me over to the authorities, like that guy up there?"

"Can't say that there's much choice. It's either him or the Black Tarantula, who you had to be pretty stupid if you thought you were going to steal from him."

"I just thought since the LaMuerto is soon to be departed, he wouldn't miss a few rarer pieces."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't tell them I told you but someone has assembled quite a few high mark hit-men to take the Black Tarantula out on his oh so special day. From what I've gathered from my circles, they've already arrived and it's only a matter of time before the deed is done." As he plans to expound on the situation Tarantula leaps down.

"It seems the owners guard dogs have arrived. I suggest we make ourselves scarce. I'll hand this one over to the proper authorities. Till next time." Before May can say anything else, the other hero and Claw vanish in a puff of smoke. When the guards arrive, all they find is the vase suspended by a web line with a small "You're Welcome" note attached. In the distance, Holger Johanson, The Sniper, having watched the entire show, puts his binoculars away and stealthily moves from the scene.