The morning after the concert was unlike any other for Peter. It was a Monday morning and he slept in until his usual weekend time of 11 a.m. This time, however, he remembered to sleep in sleepwear instead of his costume thereby putting himself at less of a risk of being discovered. As light poured in from the blinds of his front window, he sat up and stretched his tired muscles, appreciating the rest he got after what felt like a long night dealing with his foes, making plans with his new friends, and regrouping with his old friends to go get a late night dinner at the Silver Spoon where MJ worked. Nothing really important was said during their conversations while they chowed on late night snacky fast food, though he did have fun and couldn't wait to possibly see their live concert next door later in the day.

"Wow, late night strawberry shakes knock me out worse than Shocker's shockwaves," Peter acknowledged how late he slept after his late night snack. "Good news is that Aunt May slept safe and sound knowing I'd be gone long. And today couldn't be a better day to go to a concert next door!"

But then as he sat up to get out of bed and open his shades, he remembered something important; today was the day that he would investigate the crime scene with Mystery Inc. as Spider-Man. If he was caught as the wrong person with the wrong group, things would likely explode into a grand jealousy war between his friends and Mystery Inc. An incident like this would be even worse than the Hulk single handedly taking on the Avengers in the ultimate battle royale.

The sun pouring in warmly through the blinds on his refined spider muscles, Peter turned and witnessed a peculiar hippie-colored van pulling up to the curb in front his front lawn gate. Almost immediately, Peter gasped and ducked to avoid being spotted from the front seat, hoping to God that no one saw him. Taking several deep breaths after his initial gasp, he remained crouched, shocked that Mystery Inc. would arrive so early to have him help investigate the Hex Girls' concert crime scene as Peter Parker.

"Oh no!" Peter expressed in panic, not that he wasn't dressed, but because he wasn't yet in character for his cover-up yet. "I can't let anyone see me without my secret identity! Man, and why did I agree to help them also as myself?!"

It just registered to Peter that he let his own blind "fanboyness" get the best of him the first time he met Mystery Inc. at the signing. He had allowed a blissful moment of blind devotion to his favorite Mystery Gang to grant them access to his number and address just as Scooby and Shaggy idolized his alter-ego enough to accept a card from him. No doubt he must have slept through them texting him overnight as he crawled over to his nightstand Spidey style. He reached for his phone and viewed the screen to find that both Fred and Velma, the two members who liked to take charge, had texted him overnight saying the following:

"Our next investigation will be at noon tomorrow with Spider-Man. Care to help us?"

-Fred

"Hey, Peter. Fred texted you and we haven't heard anything from your face yet. We're just gonna show up around 11 tomorrow and see how you're feeling. Hope all is well!"

-Velma

"Just my luck!" Peter slumped in shame. "If I'd been awake, I'd have said otherwise. I gotta create a diversion fast!"

With enough persistence, and a little luck, hopefully he could pull a masterful disappearing act as Peter in order that he may reappear as Spider-Man - a trick that rivaled Mysterio's disappearances on multiple occasions. His adrenaline kicking in, he bolted downstairs, sliding down the staircase with precision balancing as his aunt happened to be walking by with a bowl of chicken soup. Aunt May's heart leapt, herself jumping back in response. She appeared rather startled that her nephew would wake up so fast and slide down the stairs at an angle that could have potentially caused her to spill her soup all over the floor.

"Oh, dear, Peter!" Aunt May exclaimed. "I was just making an early lunch. What's got you all riled up?"

Despite his desperate needs, Peter found himself at a loss for words. "Well, um…" Peter trailed off when, expectedly, the doorbell rang, his stomach lurching forward forcing him to come up with a last minute excuse on the spot. "That's them! Quick, Aunt May, tell them I can't go and I'm sick, okay?"

Having seen the chicken soup in her hands, that was the best excuse Peter could invent so quickly as he bolted back up the stairs, leaving Aunt May awfully bewildered. "Wait, who's they? Peter!" By the time she finished, he turned to hide back in his room, leaving her with many questions as to who was at the door and whomever he was referring to. With a shrug of her shoulders, Aunt May turned to saunter toward the door, seemingly playing along with Peter's made up story for a change. Her hot soup now in one hand, she used her other hand to twist the doorknob and pulled open the door, revealing the colorful cast that was Mystery Inc.

"Good morning! Mrs. Parker I presume?" the buff young man greeted Aunt May with an adjustment of his ascot. He couldn't tell if he was talking to Peter's aunt or grandma based on her age.

"Goodness!" Aunt May exclaimed once more. "Is this the famed Mystery Inc. that Peter keeps telling me about?" Peter had told Aunt May about Mystery Inc. on a few occasions, but never really bothered to show them to her as she preferred reading over watching Internet videos.

"It sure is!" replied Fred, the leader, introducing himself and the others standing around him in the order of Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby each of whom gave their own waves and remarks.

"What a bunch of characters you are!" Aunt May complimented. "Peter's told me a lot about you all. I'm his aunt, May Parker."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Parker!" he politely shook May's hand. "So, where's Peter today? We were about to bring him on our first investigation to solve the crime at the concert from last night."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Peter wanted me to tell you that he's very sick today," Aunt May told them, buying into sharing his lie. "I've made him soup to help him get better, but that won't be for a while."

Little did they know that Peter was listening in on their conversation from the upstairs ceiling wearing his Spider-Man costume while holding his mask. As bad as he felt for abandoning them as his civilian identity, he wanted to hear their concern to determine whether they did care enough for him behind his back.

At the door, Fred and Velma collectively hung their heads at the disappointing news. "We're sorry he isn't feeling well, May," Fred said. "Let him know we say 'get well'!"

Out of sight, Peter smiled at their fake get well wishes and threw his mask on before jumping down from the ceiling and spinning a web that swung him out of the window.

"I certainly will, Fred! You kids have fun investigating and don't you worry. Peter will be with you in spirit!" Aunt May encouraged as she sent them off.

"Thanks, May! We appreciate it!" Fred said waving and leading the gang off the front porch.

Aunt May couldn't believe the new friends Peter could've made. Based on her first glances, Fred was the most polite young man she ever met, Daphne was an absolute doll, Velma was ambitious, Shaggy was a goof, and Scooby was the most interesting dog she could've sworn said something that sounded like "Hi there!" when Fred introduced him. As interesting of a bunch they were, no one could've ever replaced Peter's high school clique of Mary Jane, Harry, and Gwen for all she knew. As much of a sheltered life as he lead up until recent years, she was glad to see Peter could make friends with folks whom she hardly ever knew. Suddenly, she felt a breeze creep up behind her suddenly signaling her to turn around. Glancing up the stairs, she noticed the back window was open for reasons she couldn't explain. Setting her soup down on the living room side table nearby, she strode up the stairs, grasping her upper body in response to the early Spring breeze that came swirling through her house all of the sudden.

"Oh, Peter needs to consider closing these windows if he doesn't want to catch hay fever or whatever he claims he's got!" Aunt May remarked to herself as she shut the window, unaware of the webs left behind by a certain Web-head swinging through and around her backyard.

Soon as they all made their way off Peter's lawn and threw the front gate, the Mystery Gang gathered in front of their signature vehicle for a reevaluation of their strategy.

"So much for Peter joining us for field research," Velma recalled Peter's reason for wanting to join them in the first place. "Who's gonna be our sixth member now?"

In the midst of all this, Daphne remained the most optimistic. "I'm sure he'll show up eventually. He's only our age so I'm certain he'll get better soon."

"Of course," Fred chimed in. "But then that leaves only Spider-Man to join us in splitting up and looking for clues today."

"I'm only certain he will. He's the only one we haven't heard from yet," Daphne reminded him that he had given the Web-slinger his number unlike Peter who gave them his.

Just their luck, Fred's cell phone began to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he picked it up and viewed the screen, which displayed an unknown number he was almost cautious to answer. "Hold on, gotta take this whoever it is," Fred signaled the gang. He took the call and held it up to his ear. "Fred Jones of Mystery Inc. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Fred, Spidey here. Did you need a sixth member to help you today with your investigation?" Spidey offered, reminding him of last night.

"It's Spider-Man," Fred whispered off phone, getting some excited looks from Scooby, Shaggy, and Daphne all at once. "But of course! We talked about it last night. Are you still in?"

Suddenly, the bunch of them saw Spidey land directly in front of where they stood on the sidewalk talking to them both in person and on the phone all at once. "Am I still in? Of course, I would be!" Spidey hung up, setting his phone in his built-in suit pocket so he could converse with them. "So what's the plan? Are we gonna split up and look for clues Spidey style?"

The gang gave each other excited looks knowing that their hero and newest ally was rather excited to begin the routine. "We usually wait until we arrive at the location of the crime scene to split up," Daphne announced. "In the meantime, feel free to join us in the Mystery Machine if you don't mind squeezing in the back."

For a brief moment, Scooby and Shaggy gave each other electrified looks at the thought of their hero riding with them, but then remembered he was called "Web-swinger" for a reason. "Appreciate the offer, but these Web-shooters aren't just for rescuing damsels like yourself," Spidey said in hopes to lift her spirits despite turning down her initial offer. Daphne blushed, much to Fred's dismay.

"Let's just hope the moment the magician reappears, you'll be the one to web him straight, Spidey!" Shaggy commented with his usual nervous yet excited laugh.

"Reah! Scooby no likey the monsters!" Scooby pretended to talk with broken English for a change.

"Well, no matter what, if you all need me, I'll be swinging high in the sky… above the streets at least," Spidey commented. His comment seemed to cause Velma to hold her hand to her chin, thinking.

"Well, if you're gonna be following us, I do happen to have a means of communication that's more efficient than that clunky cell phone of yours," Velma snapped her fingers as she spoke up.

"Wow… really?!" Spidey exclaimed in his normal tone of voice before reverting back to his disguised superhero tone of voice. "I-I mean, really? You must be a brilliant tech expert then."

"Were you even paying attention last night?" Velma asked in her signature snark. "My tech plus your abilities practically means we'll have extra ground to cover."

The gang all nodded in unison to her idea, confident that they would work well together having Spider-Man guard them like a guardian angel with such a dangerous villain on the loose.

As the gang made their way over to Manhattan, traffic increased with every street they turned onto - something the Mystery Gang wasn't used to in their small town. Spidey, on the other hand, certainly was used to this kind of traffic even though he never had to deal with it directly. Swinging around while waiting for a vehicle to make a turn wasn't exactly Spidey's cup of tea, but he was capable of keeping them within viewing range nonetheless.

"So let me get this straight: you're capable of detecting danger and keeping track of targets by use of an alarm going off in your brain?" Velma asked him over the headset she installed into his suit.

(A nifty gadget; this'll definitely come in handy for while I'm web-swinging and calling people, Spidey thought as Velma meticulously installed on his mask - thank the Lord she didn't try and pull it off.)

"That just about sums it up. It's really hard to explain the mechanics of Spider Sense to someone who doesn't have it, but I'm just happy you're curious," Spidey remarked, feeling a sense of relief that he got an explanation of how his powers work of his chest. He was very much tired of hiding away every part of himself that to share more of his power's traits with Mystery Inc. gave him almost a breath of fresh air.

"Like, if I were you I would use Spider Sense to detect all the food in the world for me and Scoob here!" Shaggy butted in over the headset.

"Reah, and I would be Spider-Mutt! Spider-Man's most loyal rog companion," Scooby responded.

"It's 'dog', Scooby," Daphne corrected him. "There's no such thing as a 'rog'."

"That's what I said: rog!" Scooby tried to correct her through his use of talking with the "R" dialect.

Spidey continued to swing along to their funny nonsense conversation until the NYC Arena was in plain sight, away from all the busy New York traffic. Secretly, hearing them talk was something akin to his days of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid - a period of nostalgia he wished he could return to. There was a certain comradery between them that likened them to the mystery cartoons he grew up watching. Seeing/hearing them interact in person was basically like having those shows brought to life. So, knowing it would be entertaining, he let them talk the whole time until he heard the van screech to a halt over the headset.

"We can put a pin in this for now, gang. We're here," Fred drove the conversation to a screeching halt just as he did the Mystery Machine. This prompted Spidey to swing off one final webline and arch onto the ground in the area in front of the Mystery Machine. Once the gang piled out of the van, they witnessed a discouraging sight ahead of them: the whole area was still barricaded by cops. At first glance, it seemed to be an unfortunate situation in which they would possibly get kicked out before they could investigate. It just so happened that a cop was standing in the immediate vicinity in front of them.

"Hold it!" the cop exclaimed. "This is official investigation only. No bystanders allowed on the premise."

For a quick flash of a moment, Mystery Inc. was bummed that they couldn't investigate the scene. Then, thinking quick like he did, Spidey spoke up. "Pardon me, sir, but they're with me," Spidey told him in hopes it would gain them clearance.

"My apologies, Spider-Man. I thought a bunch of teens and their dog happened to be walking onto the scene without clearance, but, since you're here, I say go ahead." the cop explained turning his eyes toward the psychedelic van. "Also, now I see this is the van of Mystery Inc. so you're clear too!" Unlike some more notable people throughout the city, the cops had an undying oath to respect Spider-Man's presence at the scene of a crime. Gwen's dad, Commissioner George Stacy, happened to be the author of this oath and it cemented itself into the NYPD's philosophy in order that Spider-Man may have protection by and from the authorities. As a bonus, this cop in particular seemed to recognize Mystery Inc. by their vehicle's iconic appearance, which Scooby and the others greatly appreciated.

"Oh, sir, you are too kind!" Spidey commended.

With that, Spidey and the gang strolled their way into the arena, making their way toward the main concert hall in the center. The regular lighting still intact, the place remained wrecked after the other day. People's belongings still littered the floor and the speakers on stage as well as the podium in the center of the room still had yet for a clean up crew to come get them. The place was generally low maintenance that there were now talks about moving the makeup concert to a different area, which had yet to be confirmed. Regardless, the place was still ripe with a vibe that told the crew it was time to investigate.

"Okay, gang. Let's split up and look for clues!" Fred barked at everyone in his traditional catchphrase.

"Somehow, I knew you'd say that, Fred!" Spidey pointed at him. "Not that I care, but I almost wanted to say it myself."

"Don't worry," Fred assured him, laughing. "You can say it next time if you want. Even we get tired of the same old routine from time to time."

"Will do, sir!" Spidey signaled at his now boss - little did he know he was still technically interning as Peter under the mask. "Now then, gotta blanket the area and make out anything suspicious for you guys!"

Spidey spun off on a web line that allowed him to zoom upward toward the ceiling. He stuck the upward landing and perched in the arena's upper balconies as everyone gazed off at him being heroic - Shaggy and Scooby, of course, still being stoked about witnessing Spidey's web tactics in action. "Guess that leaves the rest of us to split up individually," Velma noted. "How about Fred and Daphne go together and I'll go with Scooby and Shaggy?"

"Like, that leaves the splitting up to be very uneven," said Shaggy in his neat and organized OCD nature his skinny thumb pointed at his hero. "Like, how about I go with Spider-Man and Velma goes with Scooby?"

"You'll just get distracted with his awesomeness and/or sneak off to look in the kitchen," Daphne snapped back at Shaggy. "I say I'll go with Spider-Man, you and Scooby go together, and Fred and Velma can look together. Sound fair?"

Fred lowered his head in shame, feeling like Daphne was still betraying him for Spider-Man. Still, as a young man full of respect and some dignity, he tried not to worry about it and accepted the even split between the six of them. "Sure thing, Daph. Now let's get a move on! This case isn't gonna solve itself!"

The rest of the gang proceeded to split in their traditional "Y" formation, Shaggy and Scooby heading to the back of the room, while Fred and Velma fanned out the opposite direction. Daphne, meanwhile, remained in place to call out to Spider-Man. "Hey, Spider-Man!" she yelled. "Can I get a lift on one of your web lines?"

"Sure thing! But they cost five bucks to use!" he said spitting out a webline that fell to the floor like a rope.

Seeing this, Daphne approached the web line, giddy with joy. "Oh, stop! You save everyone for free don't you?" she retorted, trying to be flirtatious and funny all at the same time. Once she grabbed the webline, Spidey ascended her like a circus performer on a swing set. Once more, she swooned at his heroic bravery to keep her from working too much to save herself - something Fred never did. As long as he kept on saving her, she wouldn't need to worry.

At the other end of the room, Scooby and Shaggy continued to search out the area with Shaggy's cell phone flashlight and Scooby's doggish sense of smell. They were seemingly cool with one another despite Shaggy's willingness to go after splitting up with Spider-Man alone. After all, they were pet and owner and their interest in New York's biggest hero wasn't amplified by jealousy in any way. Their friendship was something they treated like a sacred bond that could never be broken.

And, of course, there was food that strengthened their senses.

After only a few seconds of searching, Scooby picked up a smell that struck his senses.

"Shaggy, I smell something!" Scooby perked up.

"Like, what is it Scoob?" Shaggy questioned not knowing whether to be fearful or excited.

Scooby continued to sniff the area until his sense of smell lead him to the closed kitchen door. Without second thoughts, he mindlessly strolled through following the scent trail much to Shaggy's dismay.

"Scooby-Doo! Where are you?!" Shaggy exclaimed barely having witnessed his best friend disappear into the shadows. Since he was so scared of the dark, his thoughts raced with anxiety wondering where Scooby had gone beyond the threshold of the door. Suddenly, the metal divider at the window adjacent to the door began to slide open, revealing that Scooby had gone to the other side and picked out a huge bag of kettle corn from the kitchen. All at once, Shaggy was relieved with joy.

"It's okay, Raggy! I've found food for us both!" Scooby announced with joyful glee knowing the kitchen was abandoned due to the place being on lockdown.

"Like, you rock, Scoob!" Shaggy complimented his longtime companion and pet. "Let's dig in before our bellies get the best of us!"

With that, Shaggy hopped behind the counter to join Scooby in pigging out on the bag of kettle corn, not caring about how much they dropped on the floor. For that matter, they didn't seem to care about the case at hand. All they could care about in that moment was not starving to death under dire circumstances for all they knew.

Meanwhile, Spidey and Daphne investigated the upper balcony lit brightly by the back lights lining the walls. From where they crawled under the seats, the light illuminated the floor like no other as they browsed the place for any potential danger.

"Daphne, you seeing anything?" Spidey called out to her several rows down.

"Nothing yet. Just a bunch of skid marks from the patrons scattering last night," Daphne replied, turning down a row noticing all the black marks on the floor.

"Well, if you see anything, just holler!"

"Okay!" All of the sudden, Daphne looked up and she came face-to-face with Spider-Man's sunglasses lense-like white eyes, both of them startled as their eyes widened and they both yelped. "Sorry, Spider-Man."

"Not a biggie, Daph," Spidey responded, Daphne taking note of his use of the name "Daph". Was he starting to like her too? "I reckon this search isn't going the greatest." He added awkwardly, knowing how great his awkwardness was in front of girls - save for MJ - without the mask.

"Maybe try using your Spider Sense again to cover a bigger area," Daphne suggested neutrally. A pang of guilt nagged at her for the way in which she felt Spider-Man was latching onto her in a way that Fred hadn't yet.

Spidey glanced at the ceiling lamps lining the top of the arena and looked back at Daphne seeing that she, too, was a genius of some sort. "Great idea!" Spidey zipped toward the nearest ceiling lamp, his gracefulness recapturing Daphne's attention. There was a certain blissfulness in watching him act all cool and heroic that she never got with Fred; despite this, she wasn't sure what to think as she got up and proceeded down the back stairwell.

Spidey hung upside down in his usual spider-like fashion where he re-scanned the area with his own Spider Sense. From where he hung out, he scanned the far end corner of the room for any potential dangers or distractions. Through a heat vision-like field of view, he noticed a couple silhouettes hanging out by the kitchen entrance - one was a skinny, shaggy dude, the other a dog. It was clear to him in this moment that Scooby and Shaggy were now slacking off in the kitchen, eating a gigantic bag of something he couldn't quite make out. Based on his experience, he knew there should be no distractions when solving a mystery.

He radioed into Scooby and Shaggy on the latter's cell phone. "Hey, Scoob, Shag - hands off the sweets until we're done with this case!" Spidey called out to them.

From over the phone, it sounded like the duo had spit out their food out of embarrassment since their hero could sense them. "Like, sorry, Spider-Man," Shaggy apologized, laughing nervously. "We'll get back to it right away."

"Me too!" Scooby said valiantly.

Having taken care of that, he hung up and turned to the front of the room to spot Fred and Velma investigating down below on the stage. From his top-down view, Velma was a brown dot surrounded by a red pleated skirt similar to what he'd seen on radars. Fred, meanwhile, was a blonde top molded between broad white shoulders. He didn't need Spider Sense to know that Velma was peering through her camera as they walked about the stage walkway commentating together and looking for any clues. Before they noticed it, Spidey spotted a peculiar remote-looking device right in Velma's path.

"Still nothing," Velma stated, annoyed that they hadn't found anything after an extensive search throughout the trash-filled arena floor in front of the stage. "Wonder if…"

"Velma, watch your feet!" Spidey called out from the ceiling way above her, his voice echoing off the walls similar to how Mysterio's voice boomed by default. Velma gasped at his sudden announcement, stepping backward as she realized she was about to step on a box-shaped brown and green remote-like device with satellites and gadgets extending from its side. Out of curiosity, Velma knelt, tugging at her short skirt, and examined the remote through her glasses and camera. This was vlog material if she ever saw it.

"Jinkies!" she exclaimed as per usual. "Did anyone else see this before?"

"I sure didn't, but look!" Fred pointed kneeling near the edge of the stage. "A nearly invisible strand of string; two of them to be exact," he said noticing two of them extending from where the remote sat.

"Well, now, as short as this investigation was, I think we've found our best first clues for now," Velma stated optimistically. "Thanks, Spider-Man!"

"Whoa, wait!" Spidey said safely rappelling by web from the ceiling. "We're done this quick? But I just started!" He finally landed directly in front of Fred and Velma in order that they saw eye-to-eye.

"Don't worry, Spider-Man," Fred laid a friendly shoulder on the Web-head. "We usually have an initial investigation and study the clues before we come up with a solution to keep the villain away before we then ultimately trap him."

"Oh, gee, who would've thought of that? Mr. 'Don't Worry About A Thing'?" Velma sassed putting her hands on her hips.

"Velma, there's absolutely no need to talk like that," Daphne asserted having just come from upstairs. "We had a great investigation and that's what matters." Little did the gang realize that Scooby and Shaggy had approached them with a gigantic half-eaten bag of kettle corn.

"Like, at this rate, we totally got this mystery in the bag," Shaggy said muffled, his mouth chock full of glutinous kettle corn.

"Reah, and kettle corn too!" Scooby added popping yet another piece into his already full mouth.

"You might want to consider holding off the food until after the investigation next time," Spidey suggested, wising up in hopes to train his fanboys how to be more like him. He didn't know it yet, but he was following Daphne and Fred's wish for them.

Of course, no one was surprised that Scooby and Shaggy had gone off to eat mounds of food rather than investigate. Some slackers they are, Velma thought, but decided not to say out loud for fear of offending Daphne. Even Spidey knew they liked to do this judging by the shots of them eating in Velma's vlogs, footage of which she had been getting since applying Spidey's headset.

"Well now, we'll make sure we can get all the evidence we need before we determine whether to investigate some more," Velma said, ignoring the previous exchange. "And I'll say your skills are top-notch when it comes to displaying scientific methods and what not."

From under the mask, Spidey smiled at this compliment from Velma. He seemed to be the only thing aside from his friend, Gwen, to bring out any positivity in her. "Oh, well, it was nothing," he replied happily. "Thanks again for having me, guys, and call me when you need anything!"

He spun several webs as he made his way out of the massive arena, leaving Mystery Inc. in the dust for good reason. As he broke his way out from behind the barricades of cops and police cars, Spidey swung into the urban jungle of Manhattan, blissful and uncaring of anything else in his life at the moment. He had finally gotten to work with his longtime idol mystery solvers to only scratch the surface of a case at hand. Even if it wasn't the whole case just yet, he knew that figuring out Mysterio's identity could wait until later. After all, it was only a half hour now since MJ and Gwen started their own private concert. No doubt Harry was there already, basking in the joy of hearing them sing and play instruments that were likely causing the elderly neighbors to "keep it down" and such. And, even though he had a viable excuse of needing to do "homework" today, he was hopeful that nobody suspected him doing anything with anybody else - especially if it meant Harry accusing him of liking Mystery Inc. over him. As long as he could hang onto his friends, nothing else mattered.