Peter and Eddie's first stop was a large warehouse in downtown Harlem. It was a place that, if Peter remembered correctly, focused on the storage and transportation of large computer systems. This was, naturally, a place that was likely to attract tech thieves, but offered absolutely no other insights right off the bat. Getting out of the taxi that transported them there, Peter followed his coworker into the building, making sure to have the press pass that hung from his neck, along with his camera, on display.

They came up to the front desk, where Eddie was the one to introduce them and their purpose in coming there. Peter was amazed at how the man seemed to have such a natural talent for just making anyone around him lower their guard and feel at ease in his presence. Maybe he had just judged the proverbial book by its cover, but the lady at the front desk hadn't exactly looked the most welcoming. However, as soon as Eddie spoke up to her, polite yet confident, the woman immediately said she would make a call, and before he knew it, they were on their way.

The two finally arrived at the office of one of the warehouse's primary managers, who allowed them to come in.

"Thank you for your time," Eddie said.

"It's not a problem," the manager replied. "I'm afraid we'll have to walk and talk. I have some things I need to check on as we go. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Eddie replied, and Peter shook his head in solidarity with his coworker's words. He then followed Eddie and the manager as they walked out of the office and along a railway overlooking much of the place.

"Sir, what can you tell us on the record about what happened here last night?" Eddie asked.

"Not that much, honestly," the man replied as they continued. He appeared to scan his eyesight in the direction of a unit of workers before continuing: "The truth is, I can hardly believe it myself."

"Why is that?" Eddie asked, his notepad and pen in hand.

"Well, the security people hardly even saw a thing in terms of the actual robbery, and the cameras were out," the man replied. "Apparently, they too busy being surrounded and trapped by...dragons."

"Dragons?" Eddie questioned, and Peter's suspicions were already brewing.

"I know, it sounds crazy," the man said.

"Sir, in this city, nothing sounds crazy," Eddie replied, "but did they describe anything more? Did these 'creatures' go after anyone or anything other than your security team?"

"No," the man replied, "they said those things just kind of flew around, attacked a few times, then disappeared."

Yep, at this point, it was almost definitely who Peter thought it was.

Mysterio.

"Would you mind if my photographer friend here got some pictures?" Eddie asked, gesturing in Peter's direction.

"Sure, but there isn't much to see really," the man replied, leading them on. They eventually came to the sight of where the devices had been stolen from, but as the manager had said, there was nothing really to see. No damage, no traces of anything; it was as if the stolen tech had simply vanished, another trick Mysterio was good at. Peter snapped some pictures of where the items had been previously stored, and after a couple more questions by Eddie, the two of them were on their way.

"What do you think?" Eddie asked as they exited the building. "Any early thoughts on our man so far? You are the one with the most experience watching both Spidey and his colorful friends at work after all."

"It sounds kind of like Mysterio to me, but I don't think we can rule out other possibilities yet," Peter replied, trying not to sound TOO in the know.

"That's what I thought too," Eddie replied. "I remember reading about him in some of the Bugle's stuff even before I came on board. The guy seems to have a knack for eccentric showmanship in his work."

That was no lie; Peter had encountered the bowl headed villain several times in his superhero career, and he had learned two things very early on: the man was a showman, but also was not to be underestimated.

The interview process continued throughout the day as Peter and Eddie made multiple stops around the city, not just to the locations of the thefts, but also interviewing businesses located near them as well. Everything Peter saw continued to point to Mysterio, as everyone he and Eddie spoke to shared about wild, almost unbelievable things happening to them, like the floor turning into sand or other mythical creatures appearing to attack them before disappearing. Peter didn't get it though; Mysterio wasn't one to steal technology before unless it was something he could easily fence to make money. Some of this stuff could be used in that way, but not others.

The other thing that didn't add up was that, normally, Mysterio absolutely made sure that he was SEEN during such dramatic events. Peter had found out that the man was once an aspiring actor who just couldn't cut it, and it seemed as if every appearance he'd made as Mysterio was to show that he had what it took after all. Often, this was what allowed Peter to catch him in his early days as Spider-Man; the man would frequently go on and on just for show when he could've escaped before Peter would even arrive on the scene. In this case, assuming his theory was correct, and it was Mysterio behind all this, the man seemed to be acting with a greater sense of urgency...which might mean there was someone else involved behind the scenes.

Peter was still processing all these thoughts even as they came out of the place of the most recent theft.

"Well, there isn't much else around here," Eddie said, "except that fashion store across the street."

"I don't know that they would've seen anything," Peter said.

"Still, it never hurts to be thorough," Eddie countered, which Peter could technically say nothing against. While he respected his coworker's thoroughness, he sometimes questioned if some of the steps he took were truly necessary. By all accounts, most of these thefts happened late at night, times when a few of the other places they had conducted interviews at would be closed. This store was likely to be the same, but Peter reminded himself that Eddie hadn't won a Pulitzer for no reason and decided to ignore any further objections his mind came up with.

Following Eddie across the street, they came to the store, "Madeline's Fashion," entering inside. Ignoring the fact that he and Eddie appeared to be the only two guys in the store, Peter walked up to the main counter.

"Excuse me," Eddie said to the lady at the counter, and he introduced himself and Peter, explaining their reason for being there and asking if he could speak to the manager and/or whoever was last there.

"Well, I'm one of them," the woman said, extending her hand for Eddie to shake, which he accepted. "I'm Liz Allan; I'm filling in for one of our staff who had a personal issue to deal with. The other manager was the one to lock up last night; let me get her."

Peter watched as Liz departed from her corner, heading into the store. As he waited for her to return with the other manager, he nonchalantly scanned around the room. While the place was small, it was quite busy. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he remembered the name of this store being in one of the Bugle's "Top 10 New Businesses" section.

It seemed New York's ladies were taking that to heart.

"Gentlemen," Liz said, and Peter turned back to her, "this is Mary Jane Watson; she can answer any questions you may have. Now, if you'll excuse me."

As Liz walked away, Peter could only just stare in surprise. It wasn't even the fact that the woman was extremely beautiful, but he also realized that he recognized her...as the person he almost ran over coming out of his apartment this morning.

Judging by the look she was giving him, she remembered it too.

"Like she said, I'm Mary Jane Watson, but you guys can call me M.J," she said with a bright, confident smile as she offered her hand to shake. "Everyone does."

"Nice to meet you, M.J," Eddie said as he shook her hand, obliging her request. "I'm Eddie Brock with the Daily Bugle, and this is my associate, Peter Parker."

"Yeah, I think we've met," M.J. said, looking at Peter.

"Oh really," Eddie said, turning and raising his eyebrow at Peter. "How so?"

"Oh, uh, we, uhm..." Peter stammered out as he struggled to come up with the least embarrassing answer possible.

"I'm pretty sure we're neighbors actually," M.J. spoke up.

"Oh yeah," Peter replied, grateful for her speaking up.

"Anyway, what was it that you gentlemen wanted to ask about?" M.J. asked

"We are doing an investigative report for the Bugle on a recent string of tech thefts in the city," Eddie explained. "Your business here is just across the street from the most recent one that took place last night. Your friend told us that you were the last one here; did you happen to see anything strange or unusual?"

M.J. looked up, appearing to ponder Eddie's question.

"Not that I recall," she answered. "What time did this happen?"

"11:30 or so, by all accounts," Eddie answered.

"I locked up and left about two hours before that, so it looks like I missed the action," M.J. said.

"I see," Eddie said. "I apologize for inconveniencing you."

"It's not a problem," M.J. responded. "Is there anything else I can help you with? Neither of you would be looking any gift ideas for a special lady in your life, would you?"

"Not at the moment," Eddie said, "but I'll be sure to tell my wife about this place. Peter, what about you?"

"Huh, oh," Peter stammered, his eyes meeting Mary Jane's. "I don't have anyone really, so I'm good."

"I see," M.J. said, looking down for a moment before meeting his gaze again, smiling brightly. "Well, thank you very much for coming. It's not often we have male visitors."

"Not a problem," Eddie responded. "Thank you again for your time."

"Of course," M.J. said. Eddie then turned to leave with Peter following behind, though not before he met M.J.'s eyes one more time.

Once the two men had exited the building and were out of sight from those inside, Eddie lightly hit Peter on the arm.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Looks like life just dropped you a pretty girl LITERALLY right on your doorstep," Eddie teased.

"Whatever man," Peter replied.

"Peter?"

Peter turned to his aunt, realizing that he'd obviously missed something.

"What'd you say?"

"I asked how being back at the Bugle was today," May said. "But right now I'm more concerned about if you're okay after...everything?"

"I'm okay, May," Peter responded, twirling his fork in his spaghetti. "It's just...it's still all a lot to process."

"I'm sure," May replied. "I can't even imagine half of what you've told me."

"It was definitely weird," Peter said, taking a bite of his pasta, chewing most of it up before continuing. "Seeing these other versions of me that exist on other earths, where other versions of enemies I've faced exist too..."

"Well, you're back in the world you're supposed to be," May said, "and your always worried sick Aunt is glad to have you back."

Peter smiled.

"It's good to be back," he replied, "and none too soon either, as it seems I've missed a lot. It looks like Mysterio has been at it again, though from what I learned today, he isn't behaving like his usual self, so I'm thinking that maybe..."

Peter finally looked up to see that his aunt was staring at him, a wide eyed, concerned expression on her face.

"May?" Peter asked, "what is it?"

May rolled her eyes lightly, dropping her head a little.

"I don't Peter, it's just...all you ever talk about anymore is Spider-Man," she said.

"Well, I mean, Spider-Man is kind of the biggest part of my life," Peter defended.

"I know that, and I can't say enough how proud I am of you," May said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "This city is a much better place because of all the good you've done. You've saved countless lives and helped so many others. I just worry that you're not going to start really living your own."

Peter looked down at his pasta once more. If he was honest with himself, he knew she was right, but he still tried to defend himself.

"I have a life, May. I have my own place, I have a job I enjoy, and most of all I have you."

May tilted her head, an expression of pity on her face.

"Peter, that's not a life," she said, "that's a routine."

She really did have an answer for everything.

"I'm figuring it out," Peter defended again. "You know, just taking it one day at a time."

"It might help if you were willing to let some more people in," May suggested. "Even one person could be nice. As much as I want to be there, I had to accept a long time ago that I couldn't always be the one to be there, and that's even more true now than it was before."

Peter nodded; he knew she was right, but he couldn't bring himself to actually say it out loud.

"I don't suppose you've thought about asking any girls out recently?" May asked.

"No," Peter said after a brief hesitation, adding with a chuckle, "I don't exactly have a lot of time for that kind of thing."

"I know," May replied, "and I know the other reason you don't too, but...just try not to rule anything out, okay?"

"Yeah," Peter said, offering a genuine but weak smile. He managed to keep off the subject of his social life (or lack thereof) for the rest of his visit, but the discussion still hung over him even as he said goodbye and walked out the door. Some web swinging would likely clear his head; Peter had found over the years that very little couldn't be solved, or at least relieved, with a little swinging through the city.

First, however, there was one more stop he wanted to make.

Hope you all are enjoying it so far!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:11-12