Hello, faithful readers. I know you've been waiting a long time for this update, in fact its been a year or so since my most recent update altogether, but real life hit me pretty hard for a while, what with school, work, and video games, but I've finally found some time to update this story, and hopefully others before the year is out. This chapter is a bit on the short side, but I hope you enjoy it.

A few days had passed since the theft of the alien life form brought back by Colonel Jameson, and Manhattan had been abuzz with action. The Spider-Man that had been robbing the town blind turned out to be an impostor, a man known as the Chameleon who was wanted in several countries, add Manhattan to the list after escaping from authorities. While the Spider-Man that had appeared on Mayor Water's yacht –though some would argue it's a ferry- had worn a new black white-accented attire, that was most definitively him once the mask of the fake had come off. Controversy had risen around the web-slinger with the sudden attire change, but that was hardly on J. Jameson's mind at the moment.

"Mr. Jameson, you have another fax," Betty Brant told him as she came into his office.

"Leave it with the others and get back to work," Jameson grumbled as he shredded another bad document. Receiving the recent fax, he once again came face-to-face with the retraction he'd had to publish upon Spider-Man clearing his name. The Bugle in all its history rarely had to retract any of their past statements, and because he'd been so eager to jump all over Spidey's case, every other paper in the city was taking the time to rub it in his face. How you may ask? By copying the retraction he had tried to hide on page forty two in four-point font, enlarging it, and then faxing it to him in a way that he'd have to look at it. "AARGH! That stinking web-head always has to get the last laugh, DOESN'T HE?!" the man cried out as he crumpled yet another copy of his retraction into a wad before slamming it into the trash bin in his office. The next moment his desk line rang, the man picking it up with a loud- "WHAT?!"

"Mr. Jameson, this is Spencer Smythe regarding a certain... retraction your newspaper has been made to publish in light of certain circumstances," a familiar voice from a month or so back rang over the line.

"Haven't heard from you in a while. You figure out where that Spider-Slayer of your went wrong?" the man asked as he drank his coffee, only to spit it out. "I said NO sugar in my coffee! Betty! Fire the coffee boy and hire a new one, ASAP!"

"You made that coffee, sir," the woman replied from her desk, wondering how Mr. Jameson could be so thick-headed at times.

"Like I said during negotiations, the Spider-Slayer Version I was only a prototype, with many flaws of course present in its design. Now that I've been able to observe the recordings from the on-board camera however, I'm pleased to announce that I have a newer, more superior model of Spider-Slayer in the works."

"Well what're you waiting for?! Bring it in so we can teach that web-crawling creep a lesson!" Jameson shouted into the line, Spencer thankful he put his end on SPEAKER so he wouldn't get an earful of Jonah.

"Unlike you, I am not made of money, so unless I receive additional funds for my work, the Spider-Slayer Version II will remain incomplete until I can appeal for a grant to fund my research."

"Rrrrggghh..." Jameson groaned as he cut the end off a fresh cigarette and took a puff behind his closed door, the burning tobacco helping take the edge off the headache that had been brewing since early this morning. The Spider-Slayer Mark I may've looked like something from when he was a kid, but the man couldn't argue with the results; it had definitely captured Spider-Man, who had somehow leapt out of his own outfit before he and Smythe had arrived. If something the man had made himself could do that, than maybe a bit of outside funding wouldn't hurt if it meant capturing that pesky wall-crawler. "Come to my office before closing time. We'll discuss just how much I should donate for this new Spider-Slayer of yours before the week is out," he said before shutting the line.

"So Peter. How you enjoying the new communicator?"

"It's amazing!" Peter whooped as he web-swung through the city. "It fits right inside my mask, and totally hands-free," he said giving the device in his ear a pat. It vaguely resembled a hearing aid mixed with a Bluetooth, but allowed hands-free communication between him and Ben, should he need any provisional support. "I saw you working on the new Web-Shooters, but when'd you have time to make this?"

"I've… made some good investments," Ben replied over the line, hiding just how he got his hands on the tech that went into the "Spider-Comm". "Anyway, you don't need to worry about anyone hacking this. Anything I say on my end is scrambled, before being re-assembled on your end, and vice versa. Complete privacy."

"Dude, you are awesome," Peter returned as he flipped onto a lamp post. "Think you could patch me into police radios too?"

"Maybe later. Right now this is strictly an A-to-B communicator," Ben returned. "By the way… Has Jameson made any big purchases that you're aware of?"

"No. Why?"

"Since the whole Spider-Slayer thing, I've dropped a feeler into his financials, and he liquidated a lot of money the other day. Must've been into cash, because the paper trail goes cold after that."

"Maybe he donated to charity?"

"No. He would've self-advertised if he did," Ben hummed to himself.

"Spider-Man!" Jameson's voice suddenly called out over a loudspeaker, prompting Peter to whirl around, eyes widening behind his mask. Standing on a nearby rooftop was a humanoid shape roughly eight feet in height made entirely of metal, far more articulate than the first Spider-Slayer and more human-like in shape. Atop its head was a monitor, and on that monitor was Jameson's likeness. "I have you this time wall-crawler!"

"Another one?!" Peter gaped before web-swinging away, the humanoid robot leaping at him with foot-mounted rockets as it trailed after him. "How much money does Jameson actually have?"

"Enough that he can fund those things, now keep swinging. You just have to make it chew through enough energy cells and Jameson's money until he decides to call it quits."

"This isn't working!" Peter cried a half-hour later of web-swinging. Whether it was jumping from roof to roof with rocket boots or scaling the sides of buildings like King Kong, the Spider-Slayer Mk II as Smythe was so adamant about making its name known, had pursued Spider-Man for a half-hour non-stop. Were it not for his full-body mutations, the fatigue toxins would've left him a writhing heap by now.

"He must be really determined after last time," Ben sighed. "Try not to needlessly antagonize Jameson this time if you have to pull another Houdini."

"I heard you the first time!" Peter shouted before contorting himself in mid-air, twisting around a laserbeam from the head-mounted beam emitter. "I need another idea here, this is getting really old!"

"Is there anything from the previous Spider-Slayer that might help you now?"

Flashback

"Wait, what do I do with this spider?" he asked after pressing the elevator button.

"Keep it. I've got dozens more back in my lab," Spencer said as the elevator doors closed.

Flashback End

'That's it!' Peter though. "Alright you heap of scrap, you want me, then follow me," he said swinging off. "Ben, I need the address for Smythe's lab. This thing's running on a spider-seeking radar."

"Okay… Tracking now… Got it. You'll want to go to Empire State University. Right across from the labs actually. Smythe's lab is on the penthouse due to his reputation in robotics and his tenure. Get it onto the roof and into the lab through the skylight, and that thing should light up like the Fourth of July. Of course it won't work a second time, so you might want to work on your robot-punching techniques when you get home."

"Got it. And thanks for the backup."

"Thank me after you scrap that thing and get home in one piece. And don't antagonize Jameson again."

True to form, when Peter shoved the Spider-Slayer Mk II into Smythe's lab through the skylight, when exposed to the myriad of spiders from all sides, its sensors overloaded, before the head section exploded like a firework.

"So Ben, what're the odds that the next Spider-Slayer will look like an actual spider?" Peter asked Ben after getting home.

"Pretty high I imagine, given the last one caused thousands in property damage trying to catch you with the then-current design," Ben returned as he worked on the Spider-Comm, trying to mitigate the lag.

"Yeah, well, hopefully the next one doesn't come until after Thanksgiving," Peter said getting a good laugh out of the candid photo he took of Jameson when he pulled the mask off an empty Spider-Man costume.

Another new piece of tech, the "Spider-Comm" is meant to keep Peter in contact with Ben, leaving him hands-free without having to use a cell phone like before. Since last-chapter Ben got a "sponsorship" from Tony Stark, I figured I'd add something like this. As for the Mk II, mind you I haven't read the original comics, but on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 #58 the Mk II had nozzle-like cylinders on the bottoms of its feet, so that's where the idea for rockets came from. Also, since the premise of beating it was really easy, and Peter knew to stay out of arm's reach this time, the chapter was understandably short.

Still, short is better than nothing right? And next chapter we've got the Sinister Six, as well as a surprise guest. Hopefully, the non-canon content should more than make up for the shortness of this chapter.