STATIN ISLAND


Inside his barn workshop, a jumpsuit-wearing Adrien was once again hard at work. But instead of on his workbench, he was high above the floor and floating in the air with specially placed metal rings surrounding him. Because the disgraced former inventor was now up in the air thanks to wearing the metal, electromagnetic harness that he worked day and night—a device which, much to his delight, allowed him to float in the air. The harness was not the only thing that a grinning Adrien sported, for the two knife-feathered wings were attached underneath his arms and to the back of the humming harness. At this moment, Adrien was testing his new device's abilities that gave him the ability to defy gravity.

Pleased to see that the generator in the harness was functioning correctly and that he remained airborne, it was time to begin the next testing phase to see if he could achieve true flight. He threw his winged arms backward, propelled him forward, and flew straight through one of the rings. He then did the same with the rest of the rings, all while displaying great agility and control of how fast he was going. After going through one ring in a corkscrew motion, Adrien performs a graceful backflip in the air, then nosedives downward, and just as he is about to hit the floor, he pulls up and lands safely on his feet.

Though glad that he had a long-lasting generator and fully flexible wings that helped him steer and maneuver, Adrien felt there was one thing left he had to test before he could declare the harness fully ready to be used outside his workshop. Namely the mechanism in his wings, which he affectionately called 'the switchblade' mechanism. And he performed this by using the tips of his middle fingers to double-tap two small buttons on a small black strap wrapped around his hand and wires connected to the wings' inner circuitry. This caused his wings to retract backward and lock in place, looking like poles that attached to the back of his arms.

Now convinced that he had a fully functional harness that enabled him to fly and two wings that he could retract at will, Adrien allowed a sinister grin to appear on his face. He could safely say that this experiment of the weapon he planned on exacting revenge on Norman Osborn was a success. "Beautiful," said a satisfied Adrien. "Now all I need is for that component to be delivered here."

Suddenly, as if on cue, Adrian was alarmed by a sudden knock on the door. While alarmed, he was also confused, for if this was the person who delivered the component he spoke of, he remembered that the people at the Black Market told him that they would knock on the door in a certain way, as if a secret code. This could only make him realize that it must be someone else behind that door, which caused him to become nervous immediately. For this reason, Adrien quickly ran to the door, and upon sliding up a peephole that he had installed, he could see that no one was standing there. Assuming that the person who knocked was short, he looked down and saw that it was a brown box at the bottom of the door.

Though Adrien was baffled that the some sent from the Black Market could be so careless about how they left merchandise, he simply shrugged, opened the door, and looked around to see if anyone was in the area. After confirming that there wasn't, took the box in and shut the door.

Once inside, Adrian brought the box to his workbench, then pulled out a knife and slid it down the middle of the box to tear the tape that held the top together. "So much for 'secret codes'," said Adrian, disgusted by the delivery person's lack of discretion. "But it doesn't matter; once I install this, I'll finally be ready to end Norman's life for taking ten years out of mine!" As he opened the box, Adrien was stunned at what he saw inside, but it soon turned into an aggravated grimace as the surprise he got was not pleasant. He then looked at the part of the box that had the address, something he should have checked at the beginning, and recognizing the name, he picked up his plug-in cordless phone, dialed the number, and placed the phone up to his ear.

It wasn't long before Adrian could hear the person on the other end pick up. "Hello, Tom, it's Adrien," he said, trying to sound pleasant to mask his annoyance. "Listen, I think I got a package that was supposed to be sent to you. Yes, I'm afraid I did open it, sorry. The reason being is I'm expecting a package myself, and I thought it was it. No, no, you don't have to come over," As he continued, Adrien reached into the box and pulled out a white bottle that contained pills. "I'll bring your Testosterbro pills to you. Yes, don't worry, I'll be careful. Yeah, we can keep this between us. All right, see you in a few minutes." With the call concluded, Adrien irritably hung up, placed both the phone and the bottle on the table, and proceeded to remove the wings and harness so he could bring the pills to this Tom, who lived in a house just a few miles away from his barn.

However, before he could remove his invention, Adrien was again alerted by five knocks on the door, in a rhythm resembling the song 'Shave and a haircut.' There was no doubt that this was the delivery that Adrien was expecting, which made him let out a silent groan as he cursed himself for making such a mistake. Nevertheless, Adrien quickly shook it off, walked back towards the door, and gave it two knocks, giving the song the 'two bits' ending and thus completing the code.

Afterward, Adrien cautiously opened the door and spotted a pale-skinned man with blonde hair, dressed in black clothing with black sunglasses and holding a box that was indeed what Adrien secretly ordered. The man in black was perplexed in seeing what Adrien was wearing but then remembered that he gets paid to deliver a package and not judge, thus clearing his throat to regain his composure. "Your package, Mr. 'S'?"

Adrien took the package with a scoff, then pulled out a roll of three hundred dollars from his right pocket and handed it to the man in black, who took it and quickly placed it into his coat pocket.

After accepting his payment, the man in black noticed the bottle of Testosterbro pills still in Adrien's left hand and raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Also trying to get back in the game with the ladies, I see?"

This comment only added to Adrien's aggravation and thus looked at the man with a narrow brow. "They were brought here by mistake."

"Sure it was," The man in black retorted with a smirk. "But you know, we have our hands on pills that work much better than those! In fact, for an extra three hundred bucks, I can bring -."

Before the man could finish, Adrien responded to the offer by slamming the door in his deliverer's face. Though he finally got what he ordered, a grumbling Adrien had to put it on hold. Because he had to remove his wings and harness and deliver Tom's 'special package.' But before doing any of that, he placed the box right next to the one thing that required the component that he ordered.

It was that of a helmet that was at one time used by a jet fighter pilot in the air force but was soon discarded and placed in the junkyard where Adrien found it just a month prior. And thanks to the former OsStorm co-owner's eye for detail, the helmet now had a new appearance. That it was painted green, had a black visor, and a silver flight mask that resembled that of a beak. And once Adrien was ready to resume his work, he planned to install the component to activate the inner workings of the helmet. Then, he would go after Norman and change his prey to his predator.


FORREST HILLS, QUEENS


Back in the ever-peaceful neighborhood, Peter was now just a few feet away from his house. But this time, he was not swinging to his home as Spider-Man but was instead walking toward it dressed in a grey hoodie jacket, with his over his head to hide his face, blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a black backpack. If this were nighttime, Peter would have no problem swinging in and out of his house in full costume, mainly because it would be too dark for the neighbors to see, and everyone would already be asleep. But swinging out of the house in broad daylight, he knew that it would be a significant risk, and he hoped and prayed that nobody saw 'Spider-Man,' a total stranger to the Parkers, leave their house by exiting the window leading to Peter's room. With all this in mind, Peter concocted a thinly conceived plan before leaving the house to deal with the Shocker, the alias of the now apprehended Herman…


BEFORE THE FIGHT WITH SHOCKER…


In his basement workshop, Peter rushed to put on his costume. As he slid his mask over his head to complete the Spider-Man guise, he quickly grabbed his backpack and, in great haste, grabbed the jacket and jeans that he forgot to add to his dirty laundry and brought them with him as he ran up the stairs to his room, exited the window and made his way to the bank…


AFTER THE FIGHT WITH SHOCKER…


Once he left Herman to the police, where they had their fight, Peter arrived in an alleyway right across the street from the bank, where thankfully, the officers still in the area did not spot him. There, he landed and hid behind a dumpster bin where he placed his backpack. Now out of taking a moment that there was no one in the alley, Peter removed his mask, which revealed his now swollen black eye and bloodied lip, resulting in two overpowered punches from Herman's gauntlets. He then removed gloves and web shooters and placed them nearby for a moment, all so he could take out his clothes and quickly put them on. Now in 'civilian mode,' Peter placed the hood over his head, put his mask and gear inside the bag, zipped it closed, stood up from the dumpster, and ran out of the alley with the bag in tow. As he lost himself in the crowd that was gathering near the bank, Peter proceeded on his task of walking back to….


FORREST HILLS


…Such a walk from quite a distance would cause anyone exhaustion, but for Peter, not so much. In fact, of all the things Peter was grateful to have gained from the spider bite, super-human endurance ranked high at the top. Especially when, in his rush to gather his clothes, he forgot to bring his phone, so he could call a Lyft, just as he forgot to bring his camera so he could record the action and receive another check from the Bugle. But even though the walk didn't tire Peter, his fight with Herman did, and when he finally arrived at the front door of his house, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Now home, Peter eagerly walked up to the doorstep and proceeded to reach inside his pockets to pull out his key so he could unlock the door, go inside, and take a nap that would last the entire weekend.

However, much to his shock, Peter didn't feel the key in his pocket, and it soon turned into horror when he couldn't feel it in his other pocket either. And it wasn't until he realized something that made him shut his eyes in frustration. "Great," he thought as he took a deep breath to try to calm himself and not pound his fist through the door. "What's better than forgetting to pack your camera? Why, forgetting to bring the key to let you into your own house, of course!" There was another way to get inside, but Peter felt it was too risky, especially with the sun still out and leaving him visible. But, much to his dismay, he didn't have much choice. And so, a reluctant Peter walked away from the front door, then went around the corner and arrived in front of the cellar entrance to the basement, which had a new digitized lock, courtesy of his first paycheck from the Bugle. After looking from side to side to find no one walking by, as well as looking behind him and through the window next door to see that Anna Watson, who, as far as he knew, was the only person in the Watson home, was nowhere to be found.

Now knowing that it was safe to act, Peter bent down and put in the combination, which was the date he learned the true meaning of responsibility, while at the same time, he lost his uncle. It was a grim reminder that was still painful to this day, but he still chose to keep it in mind so as not to stray from his promise and, in this case, open and remove the lock. All this allowed Peter to pry open the double doors and the stairway leading to the basement, then shut the doors once he was inside.

Once he arrived at the basement, the still irritable and exhausted Peter placed his bag on his worktable, where he caught a glimpse of the camera that he had forgotten. As Peter let out an exasperated breath, he saw another glimpse that made him pause. Namely, a picture of him when he was five years old, with a much younger May Parker and a smiling Ben Parker, a pudgy light-skinned man with grey-black hair, all at the Stark Expo. It was indeed one of the happiest times of Peter's life. So much so that he calmed down and smiled a little. As well as came to this realization regarding his today. "Well, maybe it's best if I didn't get a video of Spidey today," thought Peter as he took off the hoodie and revealed the red and blue upper half of his suit minus his gloves. "I mean, as far as Aunt May knows, her nephew is still at home, which he still needs to clean up. And the last thing I want to do to her more stress by making her think I snuck out just to record two costumed guys fighting. Especially one wearing gauntlets that shoot blasts strong enough to take down a tank."

To help him stay positive, Peter turned on his TV to catch his favorite program, 'Genetics, building blocks of life,' hosted by a grey-haired, light-skinned male scientist, Dr. Aaron Warren. Peter felt more relaxed as he heard the show's theme song and began to remove his shoes and pants, all so he could get out of his costume completely. "And besides, knowing my luck, I'm sure I'll get a chance to make more videos tomorrow. And as much as it pains me to say this, J.J. knows I'm his number one guy for Spidey videos. There's no way he hates me so much that he's willing to accept videos from any random person with a camera."

At that moment, Peter's pleasant mood vanished when he heard the theme song of his favorite stop and was replaced by the loud, bombastic shouting of J. Jonah Jameson himself. "THIS JUST IN, NEW YORK!" Jonah barked, loud enough to startle Peter and make him turn to the TV. "The living embodiment of anarchy known as Spider-Man once again spins his heinous web all in our great city! And the target of his newest rampage? The JT National Bank in Queens, along with…" Jonah paused for a brief moment to look at a piece of paper so he could say the name of Spider-Man's 'assailant,' albeit having difficulty reading the handwriting. "…the Shocker? Shopper? Shimmer?" Jonah gave up trying to pronounce the name and thus crumbled the paper and threw it to the side as he faced the camera. "The idiot's name is Herman Schulz, he wears an ugly yellow costume, but according to sources, he wears a pair of gauntlets that can send cars flying. And as you'll see on this newly acquired footage, he used these said gauntlets to aid Spider-Man in robbing the bank and terrorizing civilians!"

When the words 'footage' and 'Spider-Man robbing a bank and terrorizing civilians' reached Peter's ears, it shocked the young man straight to his core. "Say what?!"

The report then cuts to the footage of Herman blasting a police car, sending it airborne, and Peter, as Spider-Man, caught the vehicle in mid-air and landed right in front of the shocked and scared crowd that was in danger of getting crushed. "There was no doubt that the Wall Crawling criminal was about to smash those civilians, no doubt to send a message that he is someone to be feared! Luckily, more police arrived on the scene and chased those two hoodlums away, and like the coward he is, the Web-Head discarded his hired help and was forced to leave the money behind to make his escape and try to commit more acts of terror another day!"

Upon hearing Jonah's words, Peter went from being shocked to absolutely livid. "WHAT?!" The incensed Peter thought. "That is SO not how it happened?! Who even recorded that?!" While consumed with anger and disbelief, Peter looked through the corner of his right eye and spotted the mirror he set up to try on and fit his costume whenever he installed new gadgets. And it was here that he saw his swollen left eye and cut lip, which only angered him more. "Oh great! Now, Aunt May will never believe I stayed in the house when she sees this! How can things get any-?" Suddenly, Peter realized what he was about to say mentally and immediately stopped himself. "NO!" Peter thought as he held up his hands up in a 'stop' motion. "No, no, no, no! I've had a hard enough day as it is! No way, am I tempting Fate this time!" With that declaration, Peter calmly turned and walked up the stairway to the upstairs kitchen. "I can figure out the whole footage thing later! Right now, I'm just going to focus on cleaning up the house for Aunt May as I promised her." Peter maintained this calm and collected mindset as he reached the door and used his right hand to turn the doorknob. "And as far as my face goes, maybe I can tell her that while I was vacuuming, I slipped and hit my face on the-."

As Peter opened the door, he received yet another surprise when he saw the entire kitchen covered with bubbly foam, which resulted from him unknowingly placing the washing machine tablet into the dishwasher as he rushed to the bank. It was a sight that instantly killed the calmness that Peter tried to maintain, and he soon found himself in disbelief and aggravation at how his perfect day off quickly fell apart. So much so that the upset young man looked up at the ceiling to address Fate herself. "OKAY, NOW YOU'RE JUST CHEATING!"