Chapter Seven: Prowling Around
"Petey!"
"Peter!"
In the middle of lunch, Liz and Kitty interrogate Peter at his usual seat and table with concerned looks on their faces, annoyed by last weekend's recent event…
"Who was that girl? Is she your friend or your enemy?" Liz demands.
"She doesn't seem like the friendly girl to, well, us girls ya know. Know any reason why?" Kitty asks with concern.
"Uhhh, I uhhh…" Peter was left to answer to two impatient girls before looking around for Bobby, who happens to have finished his lunch fast to avoid being accidentally caught in the crossfire.
With a hand sign, Bobby says that he is going to check on his locker, leaving him with the two agitated ladies and their bombardment of questions and concerns.
"Later bro," Bobby bade with a peace sign before running away.
"Bro, c'mon!" Peter cried out before being cornered in his seat.
"Peter! Were you listening?!" Kitty demanded.
"Petey, please tell us," Liz asked, but in a softer and gentler tone, caressing his fist. "Just...make me understand the situation, 'kay?"
"...Agh, Liz...I'm sorry about what happened, but this does not seem like the 'perfect' place to talk about it," Peter nervously points out that they're currently still in school.
"Wanna talk about it at the Silver Spoon then?" Liz smiled, eagerly waiting for his response.
"Good plan," Peter agrees.
—
"Maaaan, harsh back there. Sorry bro," Bobby apologizes to himself, getting an English and Geometry textbook out of his locker before noticing Hobie Brown looking through his locker with sadness and stress written all over his face. "Hey Hobie bro! What's up?"
"Ogh!" Hobie backed away into a passive-aggressive fighting stance, startled from the loud voice. "Ugh oh, it's just you Bobby. You spooked me."
"Hehe, I am pretty good at it," Bobby playfully replied before shutting his locker. "Bro, is something wrong? What's with you?"
"Oh, just nothin'," Hobie softly replied before getting his English and Geometry textbook and shutting his locker.
"I just realized, you barely talk too much," Bobby bluntly replies.
"Oh yeah, and I guess you on the other hand talk too much," Hobie smirked sarcastically.
"Hey! I can keep quiet at the right time," Bobby protested.
"Whatever man," Hobie chuckled and shrugged.
"Hey! Hobie!" Kenny called from afar with the rest of Midtown High's football varsity. "You comin' to practice later!?"
"..." Hobie shook his head with regret. "No can do. Folks back home are worried with some stuff."
"C'mon, we'll hang around at the Spoon to talk about it after practice," Kenny suggests.
"Sorry man, I just can't," Hobie refused the offer as he walked away to head for their next class.
"Aw Hobie—"
Suddenly, Bobby blocks the path, allowing Hobie to walk away, leaving him to his own things.
"Back off, Ice Cube, this ain't about you," Kenny barked.
"Dude, you better chill, or I will make you," Bobby barked back. "He made his choice, and he seemed like he's got his hands full. So just leave him alone."
"Yeah well—"
"Easy there, King Kong," Randy intervened. "Dude could use the space. Ever tried noticin' that?"
Left stammered, Kong's rage was further fueled by Bobby's chuckling at his dense idiocy. From a distance, Glory and Sha Shan also noticed the incident and were uneasy about Hobie's condition, knowing that he is a friend to the guys while contemplating whether Bobby was either brave or just quite the risktaker for chesting up against Kenny "King" Kong.
—
"Are the security systems repaired and prepared well this time?" Norman demanded, looking around the LTL Bodyshop warehouse's interiors by the time dusk comes.
"Yeah, and the kid is eager to redeem himself after last time," Hammerhead replied.
"Yes, the kid, uhm, what's his name again?" Norman curiously asks.
"Prowler."
Suddenly, what landed nimbly in front of Osborn from the ceiling of the warehouse was a young man draped in a violet cape, donning a violet mask similar to Spider-man's while wearing green spandex shirt and pants, equipped with violet gauntlets and greaves.
"My codename's Prowler, armed and ready," Prowler formally introduces himself with a voice disguiser.
"Looks promising. But I bet you just don't have the power to easily deal with mutants or superhumans like the Spider-man," Norman sarcastically jeered.
"Mutant or not, I am willing to get the job done...whatever it takes," Prowler assures.
"You better. No pain, no gain. I bet your debts are still giving ya sleepless nights, kid. So you gotta do this one right, clear?" Hammerhead scolds.
"Yes sir," Prowler acknowledges.
—
Shortly after school ended, as agreed, Peter and his friends head to the Silver Spoon cafe to talk about the unknown cat lady assailant…
"So lemme get this straight...she helped you clear your name once when you were framed?" Kitty clarifies.
"Yes, I owed her. Sometimes she's like your everyday petty crook, and then the next day she's a reliable friend," Peter replied.
"Really? Petey, are you sure she's just a reliable friend?" Liz retorted, giving Peter the 'jealous-girlfriend' look with her arms crossed. "Not long before you crashed into my room in your suit, she said I took something irreplaceable to her, mind explaining what exactly…?"
"Oh...that…well uh—"
"Number 15! Order for number 15!?"
The counter interrupts Peter's reply with their order done.
"That's our cue," Peter thought out loud as he is about to go get their order, only to be stopped by Liz.
"I got this Petey," Liz assured, kissing his cheek before turning to Kitty. "Kitty, just make him spill everything, can you do that for me?"
"With pleasure," Kitty smirked as she glared at Peter, sending a nerve-wracking chill down his spine.
"Yeah, I'm interested if you could hook her up with me, Pete," Bobby playfully suggests, getting an elbow to his gut from Kitty.
"Trust me, get on her bad side, and you're gonna get more than just 'cat lady' problems," Peter warns.
While Peter slowly further explains the history between him and the cat burglar, the "In Crowd" enters the cafe with its large group—including Sha Shan because of Flash's persistence—but no sign of Hobie among them. As Liz walks over from the counter with her group order while trying to keep her balance from handling their order, she misses the sign saying "Caution: Wet Floor" and loses her footing from the slippery floor.
"Liz!" Peter cried midway in his conversation while watching over Liz out of concern.
With hasty reflexes, he dashes quickly and catches her waist while being able to catch the tray with their order with his other hand, keeping both her and their order safe. "Whew, are you okay Liz?"
"I-I am, thanks for the save, Petey…" Liz trailed off while staring in awe of Peter in the same heroic light as the hero Spider-man, which obviously displeased some bystanders inside the cafe.
"Lizzy! What are you doing!?" Sally shrieked at the sight of her best friend since preschool to fall for "Midtown's Number One Nerd", and displaying it in public no less.
"Whoo, swift moves bro!" Bobby cheered from their table.
"Here Pete, lemme help ya with that," Kitty walks over to get the tray carrying their set and lays it on their table so that Peter could help Liz stand on her feet.
"Hey, why don't you use those skills back in the tryouts? Could've been a great asset to the team ya know?" Randy noticed.
"It's fine Randy, thanks," Peter replied while helping Liz stand up and keeping her close by gently latching onto her waist.
"Hey! Get your mitts off—"
"Thanks Petey," Liz thanked, cutting off Sally's remarks and kissing his cheek, making him break a smile as they walked back to their table with Kitty and Bobby.
"Alright guys, timeout with the PDA please," Bobby playfully teased, doing the 'timeout' hand gesture.
"Oh grow up will ya," Peter barked, nudging him on the shoulder and making Kitty and Liz laugh along with him, reminding him of his memories being with Gwen and Harry back in their day.
'Gee, I wonder how Harry and Gwen are doing though…' Peter contemplated in his thoughts while being with his noisy companions in a public place.
—
Back at Oscorp, where Donald Menken acts as the current manager to assist Mrs. Osborn and Harry Osborn, the young heir kept another secret that no one knows, not even to his father's knowledge, especially after his supposed demise….
"I'll get him...I'll get him next time!" Harry roared as he opened the secret passage behind the statue that supposedly leads to the wine cellar and entered a room full of Norman Osborn's augmentation gas chamber room, filled with prototype bombs and weaponry, along with another prototype hoverboard and glass boxes containing different helmet models. "He will be sorry…!"
He then pauses and stares at a photo of him, Gwen, and Peter in a small picture frame mounted over a lab table with a downed face.
"Gwen...I'm sorry, but I cannot rest anymore from cowering in fear or sadness. It's time for me to take matters into my own hands," Harry lamented after wearing the armored suit and taking out a new, but much simpler helmet model with a durable jet pilot's visor and putting it on with a tight mask lock, activating its built-in voice disguiser. "And cowboy up…!"
—
Over the rooftops in the dead of night around Manhattan…
"The boss wants the Spider by any means necessary, correct…? Then I'll do it in a way that can make him notice my tracks…," Prowler thought out loud with a plan as he stared down the streets, witnessing a group of men chasing down a lone woman and then stealthily giving chase from the rooftops.
The woman was then cornered in an alley before turning around to the group of men with lascivious faces closing in to pounce on her together.
"Waaagh!" The woman screamed as she braced herself for the horrible atrocity before her until a loud but harmless gas explosion shields her and frightens the men before revealing a green-clothed man with some kind violet Spider-man mask and cape behind the green mist.
"Let's play," Prowler taunted the group of men, causing one of them to come forward and attack him, only to be dragged into an arm lock.
Following after the first guy were the other five with their knives and pipes in hand. Without hesitation, the dark vigilante throws the guy in an armlock to his own friends before equipping his retractable claws and then proceeds to lunge over to the men, lacerating, slashing, and cutting down their clothes and weapons with ease to sedate them with traumatic stress. After that, he easily binds them with a shiny rope that's almost like webbing before being called out by the lady.
"Hey! Who are you!?" the lady hysterically asked after taking a blurry photo with an old qwerty.
The Prowler only stood in silence, turning his head with a serious eye-narrowing gaze before jumping up high to latch onto a wall and then crawling over the rooftops, leaving the woman alone with the incapacitated men until the cops arrived shortly after he left.
"Ma'am! Are you hurt!" Officer DeWolff asked with concern before being startled by the group of rope-bound men.
"What happened here?!" Sergeant Carter interrogated.
—
"Uaaggh, morning Aunt May," Peter yawned, going down the stairs from his room.
"Oh Peter! Good morning! Look at what's on the news last night," Aunt May eagerly suggests, letting him sit on the table with her to take a newspaper with the headlines in bold letters.
"Another Masked Menace! Last night around midnight, a masked man in a cape was found taking down a group of muggers and bound them before the police would arrive…" The newspaper further relayed about the female witness of the scene, describing the appearance of the vigilante and his capabilities, which piqued Peter's interest as he bites into his scrambled eggs.
'Things sure are getting weirder and weirder everyday. I wonder if he's a friend...or an enemy,' Peter thought to himself, sipping on his cup of coffee and finishing his food before looking at the calendar to notice that it is Tuesday then goes to leave for school. "I'm going to school now Aunt May! Take care!"
"Be careful on your way, dear!" Aunt May bade his nephew goodbye.
As Peter opens the door, he gets startled by Liz, standing at his front porch in her favorite long-sleeved red-violet shirt and brown skinny jeans with her arms crossed while giving Peter the waiting look.
"L-Liz! I um, ehehe..." Peter shuddered and trailed off from her sudden appearance.
"Ready for the test, Mr. Parker?" Liz smirked sassily with her arms on her waist.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Peter huffed before locking arms with Liz, on their way to the bus to sit with Kitty and Bobby at the back seats. "But waitaminute, just wondering, why didn't you go to school straightaway?"
"Just to give a li'l moral-supporting push," Liz smirked, snuggling up to his shoulder.
"Today's test will be a snap, watch me ace it," Bobby assures with a fist pump.
"Oh please, I saw you laying on your recliner like a dead person when you're supposed to be studying," Kitty mentioned with an eyebrow raised to him, catching him off guard while making Liz and Peter giggle in response.
"Ah—watch me, alright! I'll prove you guys that I can do it!" Bobby barked, making the three of them laugh at his wild reaction.
In a seat near the door, Gwen gloomily sat there while glancing at Peter's happy face with his new group of friends before averting her gaze to hide her sadness when Peter felt her stare.
'Peter…' Gwen whimpered while hiding her saddened look.
—
After the bus reaches Midtown High and lets everyone drop off to school, they all go to their respective classrooms, and all students in the English class take the test as assigned. An hour passes by, and everyone manages to finish the test either with ease or pressure. The teacher then dismisses the class so that everyone can go to take their lunch break…
"So...how'd it go, Petey?" Liz wondered as she sat next to Peter and Kitty with her lunch in a paper bag.
"Could probably pass, somehow. But I'll most likely fail if you never helped and tutored me back then," Peter nervously replied. "Thank you...Liz."
"Anything Petey," Liz cutely replied, leaning onto his shoulder.
"It isn't hard if you actually study," Kitty points out, eating crackers before giving Bobby 'the look'.
"Psh, that was nothing, watch my score, I'll ace it," Bobby assures.
"Wanna bet? If you did ace it, we'll hit an ice cream shop and I'm paying for everyone," Peter bets. "Buuut, if you don't…?"
"You're on bro!" Bobby accepts the challenge with a fist bump to Peter's fist. "Can't wait to have some dessert on you!"
"Back at you," Peter replied with a smirk, making Liz and Kitty sigh in disappointment.
"Guys," Kitty sighs.
"That's what makes them guys," Liz shrugs.
Suddenly, Bobby notices Hobie at another table with deep eye bags and a gloomy look, which somehow caused him to look into the strange air around further.
"Be right back, gotta raincheck," Bobby assures, walking up to Hobie, who's with Kenny, Glory, and other students, sneaking a seat next to him. "Hey hey! What up everyone!? How was the test back there huh?"
"Pretty easy if you ask me," Glory quickly replied, sipping on a carton of milk. "And you?"
"Watch me, I'm gonna ace it, and I made a bet with Parker on whether I could ace it," Bobby playfully replied.
"You? You think you're smarter against Midtown's best geek, hahahaha!" Kenny blabbed, making Glory irritated from his immature behaviour.
"Maybe, maybe not, we'll just see when the results come out. Wanna bet?" Bobby taunts.
"Oh yeah, Ice Cube?" Kenny snarled, trying to intimidate the cool mutant.
"Kenny, quit it! What's with you about something silly as this!? Ya know what, we're through this time! I look like a complete fool to put up with your childish attitude!" Glory lashed out of anger toward Kenny before walking away with her stuff.
"Glory, c'mon!" Kenny pleaded, but it was a futile move.
"Glory, wait up!" Sha Shan begged, chasing after her along with another female classmate.
From that display, Kenny growled and glared daggers at Bobby with a menacing look.
"Alright, now you're gettin' it, Ice Cube," Kenny snarled, cracking his knuckles.
"Oooh snap," Bobby gulped before hopping out of the seat and running away from the agitated Kenny and other football jocks, forgetting about Hobie.
"He reaps what he sows," Kitty deadpans before finishing her crackers.
"Is he always like that?" Liz asked curiously.
"Oh pfft, you have no idea," Kitty sighed.
However, Peter looked back silently, noticing Hobie's somewhat fatigued appearance, but didn't pay too much mind on it at the moment.
—
"Doctor, what are you working on over there?" Norman wondered, entering his laboratory.
"Oh sir! Why—I am reviewing a certain experiment that Dr. Octavius handled. This one called Project Sandman," Miles replied, checking through his desktop screen.
"I advise you to refer to other plans and projects. That last one was a fiasco. I want the capability to mass-produce super mercenaries, not uncontrollable oddities," Norman warns.
"Sir, that won't seem practical with the presence of the other villains aiming for the Spider's head. I suggest that we try to study each of them and their needs to coax them when necessary while being able to ensure giving the little Wallcrawler more than he can handle," Miles suggests.
"Well you better come up with something good, especially in dealing with his other ' mutant friends'. I've ordered Hammerhead with his lackey on standby, so what about you?" Norman glared at his nervous face, referring to the Prowler under Hammerhead's orders.
"Trust me sir, I got something better in mind," Miles assures, looking through his old experiments involving the use of subdermal armor while reading Dr. Octavius' notes in creating the Sandman. "Although...I may require test subjects as always."
"Hmmmm, I can arrange the candidates for you, so just do your job right like a good doctor," Norman ensured before leaving the laboratory.
"Oh and I will have fun doing it, sir," Miles hissed with a smirk.
—
"Parker! Parker!" J. Jonah Jameson called out angrily from his office door.
"S-sorry Mr. Jameson! I was dismissed late from school!" Peter replied, running to him from the elevator.
"Well! I got a new job for ya! This time, I want ya to get me a front-page worthy photo of the new masked menace in town!" Jameson exclaimed. "And I want one in three hours—no, make that six hours! I think this slick menace is more of a late-nighter than that meddling arachnid!"
"B-but Mr. Jameson I—"
"No buts! Out! Get out!" Jameson ordered.
"Yessir!" Peter ran away straight to the elevator to not look suspicious using the janitor's room to swing down as Spider-man and due to other reasons.
As he descends in the elevator and walks out of the building, he meets up with Kitty, Bobby, and Liz who were all curiously waiting for him after his boss suddenly called him up in the middle of their get-together in the Silver Spoon.
"So what happened man?" Bobby wondered.
"Well apparently, I got an assignment, and it's due tonight: I got to take a photo of another masked fighter for tomorrow's news, so—"
"Oh it's cool bro. We understand, wait...actually...we could help you," Bobby offers.
"Say what!?" Peter was taken aback.
"C'mon, it's just a picture right?" Kitty adds.
"Nonononono, you don't understand, I don't even know if that guy's friendly," Peter protested.
"Peter, you'll need all the help you could get available," Kitty replies in a serious tone, shutting Peter's quippage.
"Petey, let them assist. You can save yourself some time so that your aunt won't have to worry about you getting home late," Liz suggests.
"Ugh, you're right. Okay, you guys tonight are Bugle photographers with me for just this once," Peter sighed in defeat. "But you guys need to have cameras.
"Oh don't worry, we both got our phones," Kitty answered as she and Bobby pulled out their high-tech touchscreen cell phones with HD camera lenses.
'Man, I so need to get a better camera, and fast,' Peter stared and sighed in defeat, seeing how his camera's barely cut for more higher quality photos. "Bobby, Kitty, meet me at the Bugle's top in half an hour, 'cause tonight, we hunt!"
"Yeah!" Bobby exclaimed.
"Alright!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Travel home safe, Liz," Peter bade, helping Liz enter the summoned taxi before being pulled into a quick hug.
"You too Petey, please be careful," Liz bade before entering the taxi to head back home.
—
Half an hour passes, Peter, now in his Spider-man suit, swings his way to the rooftop of the Daily Bugle, where Iceman and Shadowcat are just sightseeing while waiting for him.
"Hey hey hey, am I late?" Spider-man quipped as he landed on the ledge.
"Nah, not really," Shadowcat responded.
"We just got here too," Iceman adds.
"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's go snap some pics!" Spider-man rallies.
"Yeah!" Iceman exclaimed.
"Alright!" Shadowcat exclaimed.
"But wait, you do know I get paid for those photos right? So how much do you—"
"You kidding me? This is probably just a one time deal, so my services are free of charge," Iceman replied.
"Taking photos is nothing compared to doing other boring tasks, like helping a guy shape himself up with discipline!" Shadowcat barked, referring to Iceman, who's nervously whistling behind her.
"Man...thank you guys, now then, let's go boogie!" Spider-man rallies as he swings away.
Shadowcat and Iceman follow him from behind atop his ice slide as they travel around the city searching for their masked menace that looks like the Wallcrawler. High and low, from every corner, they traveled far just to see if the person they're dealing is real and hopefully friendly to avoid unnecessary confrontation, but were pointlessly exhausted after looking around for an hour or so….
"Bro, you sure our mystery man is really, you know, real?" Iceman wondered, looking around the rooftops before descending down an alley.
"Well, the news wasn't much help. They didn't specify where he could appear," Spider-man thought out loud, crawling up a wall to look at the rooftops.
"Nope! Nothin' here!" Shadowcat exclaimed, phasing out of the rooftop in front of Spider-man, startling him and causing him to lose his grip and fall down into an alley, landing painfully on his back. "Oops! Sorry!"
"Oh man, JJJ is gonna have my head if I don't get the photo before midnight," Spider-man groaned before getting back up on his feet.
"Uuuhm, I wouldn't worry about that now…?" Iceman whimpered, tapping Spider-man's shoulder and pointing to a shadowy figure on a rooftop meters away from them.
"Whoa, the odds of us finding him this fast…!" Spider-man's eyes widened as he prepared his camera and set it to fast-burst mode before webbing it to a nearby corner.
Suddenly, the figure pulls out what seems to be a canister and then swiftly throws it at the three heroes from a great distance.
"Apparently, it's him who found us!" Iceman exclaimed, shooting the canister with his ice beam and freezing it instantly before it could detonate.
After that, their mystery man flaunts his cape widely and then hops off the rooftop's ledge, using it to glide straight down towards them before aiming to pounce on Shadowcat with his retractable claws.
"Wha—oh!" Shadowcat then phases into the ground before the assailant could get his claws on her.
"Get away!" Iceman exclaimed as he fired his ice beam at the assailant, who was able to save himself by sacrificing his violet durable cape and dodging the cold beam by wall-crawling.
"He can crawl on walls too? Awww, he must be a fan," Spider-man quipped before wall-running towards him until his Spider Sense is triggered, making him notice his claws before backing away from his sharp weapons. "Whoa!? Is he a fan of Cat too?!"
Careless for a moment, the figure lunges towards Spider-man and easily lands a strong jab to his face, striking him down to the pavement before dodging an array of Iceman's hail missiles. He then throws another gas bomb and detonates it instantly, spreading a knockout gas around Iceman, which immediately causes him to desperately hold his breath.
"Careful! It could be toxic!" Spider-man warns as he shoots web bullets at the assailant, who deflects them with ease thanks to his durable gauntlets, greaves, and athletic combat prowess. "Wow...just...who are you man?!"
Iceman then repels the foreign gas around him with a burst of his own and blows it away with his cold wind.
"Gotcha!" Shadowcat exclaimed, catching him by his feet.
Without hesitation and with his quick thinking, the assailant grabs one of Shadowcat's wrist.
"...I'm sorry…" the assailant deeply apologizes before activating the built-in anti-mutant taser—developed by Trask Industries—in his gauntlet and instantly shocks Shadowcat, making her scream in pain.
"Kitty!" Iceman exclaimed.
"No!" Spider-man exclaimed, preparing to shoot his webs.
The assailant drags the incapacitated Shadowcat out of the ground and then grabs her into headlock with his retractable claws close to her face before backing away from her companions.
"One more move, and this one will get more than a flesh wound," the assailant warns, bringing his claw just an inch close to her face.
"Hey hey easy pal," Spider-man pleaded. "C-can't we just talk this out?"
"There is nothing more to be said to my prey," the assailant hissed.
"Okay okay, just—who are you really!?" Spider-man hysterically asked.
"My codename's Prowler, and I was instructed to take you down, whether you're all alive...or dead," Prowler replied with his voice-disguiser, backing away with his passive aggressive stance while holding Shadowcat in his headlock. "However, I am willing to settle with taking only you down, Webhead."
"Why you—"
'Wait Spider-man, don't you notice anything familiar?' Iceman whispered, pointing out something to the Webhead. 'There's only one guy that I know who does that kind of stance in football…'
'Seriously? Who!?' Spider-man asked before noticing Iceman walk up to Prowler, changing out of his translucent ice form. "Iceman, wait!"
Iceman then freezes one of Spider-man's feet and traps him on the ground, probably thinking that he is reckless when he least expects it.
"I'm warning you, stand down," Prowler warns, putting his claws close to Shadowcat's cheek.
"H-Hobie! I-is that you?" Iceman called out, catching him off his guard momentarily and surprising Spider-man from his response. "D-dude, it's me, Bobby, remember me?"
"Who…?" Prowler denies with his guard back up.
"Dude, release her. You better chill now...or I will make you. And it's gonna hurt you more than it's gonna hurt me," Bobby warns.
"..." Prowler only stood in silence while still holding Shadowcat hostage.
"Bobby, it's me who he wants," Spider-man halted, stepping forward with a risky decision in mind.
"...Dang, it's a shame that a hero like you has to kick the bucket so soon," Prowler lamented before tossing Shadowcat into Bobby's arms and activating his retractable claws. "You are truly unfortunate…by meeting me."
"Maybe so, Hobie," Spider-man responded before unmasking his face, revealing his identity as Peter Parker, his classmate, which slightly caught him off-guard if not for his expected composed and quiet personality.
"Wait, wait, wait...you're Peter Parker….you're Spider-man!?" Prowler hysterically responded, distancing himself from Peter. "Oh shoot, I was going to kill my classmate this entire time!?"
"Hobie, if you want me, you can get me, but leave everyone else alone," Peter begged. "Just...don't speak of this to anyone else, except for those two."
"Pete, what are you doing!?" Bobby retorted hysterically while carrying Shadowcat, who's slowly regaining consciousness at the moment.
"This is the least dangerous option for everyone, isn't it!?" Peter retorted back at Bobby before turning to Prowler, who unmasked his face and revealed his identity as Hobie Brown, staring at his mask.
"Oh...man. Why does it have to come to this…!? I don't want to hurt you or anyone else. I never expected any of this to happen…!" Hobie lamented, keeping his calm demeanor.
"So did we, but I can help you if it will benefit all of us," Peter replied before wearing his mask again.
After a moment of silence, Hobie gritted his teeth while shedding a tear with anger before putting on his mask as the Prowler….
"No…" Prowler replied. "I should leave now, for I have failed my mission. Stay out of my way, and I won't touch a hair on your head."
But before Prowler could latch onto a wall, he was webbed and dragged down by Spider-man. "What are you doing!?"
"Hobie, let us help you, if you have a problem, you could talk to us about it! We're your classmates, and we won't leave you," Spider-man suggested.
"My superiors will be furious about this once they realize I failed my task, so you should stay out of this if you wanna live," Prowler protested.
"But what about you!? Don't you want to live too!?" Bobby retorted.
"I...I can't...I needed the cash...and this is my last resort," Prowler sighed. "But it's over now…"
"No, it doesn't have to, if you stick around with us…." Spider-man suggests as he is offering his hand, with Bobby nodding along.
"...Even though I...was going to tear you apart?" Prowler wondered, confused by his kindness as his classmate nodded his head. "...Fine, but you guys have to be careful. I don't know what awaits me, I mean us, once we get to them. It could be dangerous."
"Well lucky you, 'cause danger happens to be our specialty!" Spider-man quipped.
—
Prowl then enters the warehouse with the sign saying "LTL Bodyshop" and types the passcodes to grant him access inside the secret underground tunnels. He looks for the lit room where he's supposed to meet his superior, namely Hammerhead, who was left standing by the lab's door to watch over Dr. Miles Warren in his research as Norman ordered him to do…
"Sorry I'm late sir," Prowler apologizes.
"Forget that kid, where's your cape? And where's the bug like I asked you to do?" Hammerhead demanded, looking displeased with his arms crossed.
"I...failed sir," Prowler apologizes, causing Hammerhead to raise his eyebrow, with his veins pumping and showing.
"Kid….that was your last chance….wasn't it?" Hammerhead scolded in a tone that shows his silent anger.
"Yes sir. I got cocky thinking I could handle three of them with ease. Just please send me out again, I'll—"
"You blew it...big time…!" Hammerhead scolded. "I dunno how those other clients of yours recommended your services, but no more. You're out. So scram, kid."
"Sir I—"
"Even other mooks can do better than you at your job, better to waste my time with them than you," Hammerhead sarcastically points out, further angering the young fighter. "I had high hopes for you pal, high hopes…!"
"...Well then, allow me to shatter your hopes and dreams," Prowler quipped.
Suddenly, Spider-man, Iceman, and Shadowcat phase down from the tunnels' ceiling behind Hammerhead.
"Take this!" Spider-man tries to punch Hammerhead's lights out, only to feel the rebound from hitting his forehead before being thrown away and gracefully landing next to Prowler. "Ow geez, just how hard-headed are you?"
"Why you little…!" Hammerhead growled. "You ratted us out….but do you really think the popos won't take you in for doin' their job?"
"I don't care, I've made up my mind. But this time, I'm making the right call," Prowler plainly replied, pointing his gauntlet-mounted gas bomb launcher toward Hammerhead. "Give it up. You're outnumbered. There's one of you against four of us."
"Oh you think so, kid?" Hammerhead smirked.
Out of the shadows, the muscle-bound Enforcer Ox appears behind Iceman and grabs him into a bear hug, startling Shadowcat to back away by surprise. She then noticed Ricochet appear and phase through her body before bouncing back beside his beefy ally. Appearing behind Spider-man and Prowler were Beetle and Shocker, both of whom are armed and ready with their energy weapons.
"Iceman!" Spider-man exclaimed, pointing his web shooters at Ox and Beetle.
"Have a nice night, you little mook," Hammerhead curses before entering Miles' lab.
"What's going on?" Miles inquired.
"We're leaving, now," Hammerhead orders, grabbing his arm.
"W-w-wait! My files, let me save my files!" Miles demanded, tinkering with the desktop and causing Hammerhead to groan and facepalm.
—
Meanwhile, there was a chaotic struggle between two sides: Spider-man's team and Hammerhead's posse….
"Come back here you um, human popsicle!" Ricochet groaned, bouncing towards Iceman against his ice pillars.
"Human popsicle? That makes me sound like the Human Torch!" Iceman barked back angrily before shooting his ice beam directly at Ricochet, causing him to fall on his frozen stomach. "Think of something better next time...in prison."
"Iceman, duck!" Prowler warns while battling Shocker.
Suddenly, Beetle charges forth towards Iceman for revenge in the last fight back at Coney Island, activating his array of mounted rocket launchers and then firing it all at Iceman, who tried to shield himself with an ice wall until it shatters, which gave his foe the chance to grab and pin him against the wall by the neck.
"Urgh, ehehe, heyy, long time no see?" Iceman quipped while trying to break away from his grip before noticing him utilize his laser-line blade to impale him with it. "Yikes…!"
"Gotcha!" Shadowcat then grabs Iceman from the wall behind him and phases him safely from the tip of Beetle's blade before phasing out of the wall with him.
"Can't believe I have to deal with you freaks again," Beetle growled, noticing Ox's suit incapacitated from Shadowcat's phasing ability before changing his target aim towards Spider-man and lifting him forcefully off his feet while he was helping Prowler fight against an aggravated Shocker.
"Now this is why the big guys have to listen to me instead of a little kid!" Shocker roared, firing his vibration blasts against the dark-clad teenage fighter.
"Hmph, shows that I could still beat you in your own game, Montana," Prowler taunted, fueling Shocker's anger.
"Why don't I just shut your little trap!" Shocker roared as he angrily fired more vibration blasts at the nimble Prowler. "And allow me to prove to the big guys….that I am better at this field of work than you…!"
"Your choice, pal," Prowler replied back before preparing a huge grenade-sized gas bomb in his hand while dodging Shocker's trigger-angry tantrum. "Spidey, come here!"
"Be right there in a second!" Spider-man replies while dodging the Beetle's hand-to-hand combat skills and returns them with Spider-powered jabbing until he webs his foe's face and slinged himself to kick Shocker from behind and land beside Prowler. "Present! Now what do you have over there?"
"A gift for you," Prowler smirked, giving Spider-man an idea.
The Webslinger then shoots strands of webs at both sides of the tunnel and makes a webbed pad in the center. From there, Prowler places his grenade and then stretches it while aiming at the irritated Beetle flying fast from a distance behind Shocker, who slowly regains consciousness on his knees before noticing the current situation.
"Lights out, Montana," Prowler quipped as he releases his grip to launch the grenade from its pad and hits Beetle at a strong and fast rate, causing a violent explosion around Shocker and Beetle that makes them lose consciousness as they inhale the gas.
"Whoa, what was that!?" Spider-man asks as he backs away.
"Knockout gas, duh…?" Prowler answered.
"Attention: warning, self destruct sequence is activated and counting down in T-minus thirty seconds!"
Suddenly, the tunnels turn bright red and heat up, which startled Iceman and Shadowcat after they were done with their business.
"Okay, there goes the bell, class dismissed!" Iceman yelled as he kicked the paralyzed Ox to lay on his stomach before creating an ice slide to help move him around easily while Shadowcat pushed the frozen Ricochet into the slide and rode on top of him like a sleigh.
"That blasted Hammerhead must've activated the self-destruct sequence," Prowler noticed.
"Go figure, so let's get the heck out of this place!" Spider-man replied back as he webs up the knocked out Shocker and Beetle together, dragging them along.
"Wait, you're taking those criminals with you? Why save them when—"
"That's not how I work, okay," Spider-man silences Prowler.
"...Okay then, lemme handle that. We'll need your strength to pry that door open," Prowler suggests, taking the reins and lets the Webhead lead the way before hitching a ride with their mutant companions.
They all rush to the spot where the doors open with haste and let Spider-man do the heavy work of opening it with his Spider Strength, wide enough for Iceman to make a slide high enough to float over and make it outside with Shadowcat and their stowaways. Prowler, on the other hand, had to fling the unconscious Shocker and Beetle outside before grabbing on to the edge of the opening.
"Attention: Self destruct sequence in T-minus fifteen seconds."
"Prowler!" Spider-man exclaimed while dragging the two unconscious criminals and threw them out of the warehouse.
"I got this!" Prowler responded as he tried to pick himself up.
"Raise your hand!" Spider-man ordered.
As Prowler got up and ran as fast as he could with his hand reaching out to Spider-man, the Webhead shot a line to his hand and arm before pulling him away with full force.
"Three, two, one—"
Suddenly, a huge explosion occurs from under the warehouse and bursts greater than Thanksgiving fireworks, partially damaging the nearby overhead infrastructure roads, but leaving no casualties in the surrounding area.
"Whew, close call," Spider-man panted.
"Yeah...thanks for the save," Prowler thanked.
"Don't mention it," Spider-man replied back.
A second later, police sirens were quickly picking up the pace until they reached the explosion's location, where the Webhead, his companions, and the incapacitated criminals were left unscathed. The police officers immediately arrested, cuffed and grouped the criminals into their trucks before scanning and checking the area.
"Wow, another job well done, Spider-man, and uhm, who are you supposed to be? I recognize those two, but I haven't seen you around here before," George Stacy wondered about Prowler's appearance.
"I...am a nobody, sir, but, I feel a bit responsible for this mess," Prowler admits, shocking Spidey, Iceman, Shadowcat, and the captain himself.
"Why? What did you do?" George asked with his arms crossed.
"I—"
"He led me and the rest of the team to some secret villain base!" Spider-man cuts in, silencing Prowler.
"Oh really?" George wondered, raising an eyebrow.
'Spidey, what are you doing!?' Prowler whispered hysterically.
'What? It is the truth, isn't it?' Spider-man replied back, implying that he won't let him go to jail after the good he did tonight.
"Well, great! Our team will investigate this matter further from here on out. Nice to meet you, um…" George trailed off awkwardly.
"Prowler, just Prowler, sir," Prowler replied, smiling underneath his mask.
"Yeah haha! Alright!" Shadowcat exclaimed, tackling Prowler into a hug around his neck from behind. "We did it!"
"Heck ya bro, rock!" Iceman cheered, leaving him speechless from feelings that he barely experienced as a masked fighter.
"Spider-man...thank you," Prowler thanked, making him smile underneath his mask.
—
"Almost there, just a few more parts necessary for me to make an excellent resurgence for my revenge against that four-legged arachnid!" Doc Ock thought out loud, holding his base of operations In an abandoned storage facility that is near the ocean.
"Doctor, I am doubtful of your plans at the moment. My prey is still out there, and he is no longer alone in his travels combating criminals in the city. I cannot sit here any further! For I, Kraven, shall be redeemed of the honor that was lost!" says the lion mutate companion of Doc Ock named Kraven, remembering his grudges towards the Webslinger.
"How about we make ourselves a deal then?"
"Who goes there!?" Doc Ock hysterically responded.
Appearing from above the facility was the scheming New Goblin, descending before the nefarious eight-limbed genius.
"I believe we all have something very very much in common," New Goblin proposes.
"Oh? And what would that be, stranger?" Doc Ock warily asks with his tentacles remaining vigilant.
"Simple….spider problems," New Goblin smirked underneath his helmet.
-To be continued