Chapter 2 – Bon Voyage

With an insertion of the key and a twist of the door knob, they entered their cabin. "Wow," Peter commented. MJ simply nodded in agreement. They placed their luggage down and began to explore their room.

Their cabin was about the size of room they had back at Avengers Tower, possibly a bit bigger. The queen-sized bed was off to the left as you entered through what could be considered an alcove which also held a washroom.

A closet was to the right of the bed with plenty of room to place clothing. On the other side of the bed was a beautiful oak dresser. In the far corner of the cabin was a desk with a laptop computer and printer.

"I didn't think there would be a computer in our room." Peter was also impressed with the mini-bar – it had all the amenities of one you might find in a hotel.

"Not only that, but we have internet access as well," Mary Jane said as she began to unpack. "It said so in the brochure."

"Brochure?"

Mary Jane handed Peter the brochure while he sat down on the edge of the bed. "You see, it shows you what your cabin will be like and some of the things we can do onboard while we travel to the Bahamas."

"Ah. You know, MJ, I thought there would be more people about Aunt May's age on this cruise. But when we were in the lobby, I noticed a good share of the passengers were around our age."

"Well," Mary Jane pointed to the cover of the brochure. "This cruise is for people between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. There are all-ages cruises but I think this one was a promotional one."

"I see. What else is there that we can do while on the ship?"

"It's pretty much like a hotel in the water. There's a pool, gym, a few shops and some scheduled events. Speaking of which, there's a costume party in a couple of days that I would love for us to attend."

"Sounds like fun, MJ. Is there a place you can get a costume on board?"

"I would assume so… but I wouldn't worry about that."

"And why is that, my dear?"

Mary Jane grinned playfully. "Because, Tiger, I already have a costume. I took a good look at the brochure, found out about the party and knew it was something that we would both enjoy."

"You're right, sweetheart, I think we would enjoy it. Plus, I have the perfect costume," Peter told his wife, giving her a wink.

"I bet you do," she answered knowing full well what Peter was talking about. "In case you were wondering about what I would wear, you'll just have to wait until the night of the party. I want to surprise you."

"Aw, MJ…" Peter whined. He gave Mary Jane puppy dog eyes to try and coax it out of her.

"No way are you getting it out of me, mister."

Before Peter could respond, the ship's horn blew.

"It sounds like we're about to leave. Do you want to go up to the main deck and watch the ship set sail?" Mary Jane asked, trying to get Peter's mind of her costume choice.

"Might as well," Peter replied.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Peter."

Mary Jane grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up from the bed.

When Peter and Mary Jane arrived on deck, they saw several of the ship's passengers there as well waving to people on the dock and throwing confetti.

"You know, MJ, this reminds me of an episode of the Love Boat," Peter mentioned as he too joined in waving at the well-wishers.

Mary Jane thought about that for a moment and agreed with him, "You're right. Who would have thought that we'd be doing something like this for real."

"This cruise wouldn't be the same without you, sweetheart." Peter wrapped an arm around her and hugged Mary Jane close to himself.

"Ditto, handsome." Mary Jane planted a kiss on Peter's cheek for the compliment.

"Aw, shucks. So, what do you want to do once we're on the open seas?"

"Hmmm, let me think for a sec… Maybe spend some alone time with my superhero husband," Mary Jane told him but whispered the last part so only they could hear.

"You have anything in mind?"

"Well…"

The same group of men that was in the ship's lobby had gathered again on the far end of main deck just to see what all the hoopla was about. As they watched the throng of people, they were able to gather together, drawing little suspicion.

"You guys all settled in now?"

The other men in the group answered the boss by either a nod of their head or a simple, "Yeah."

"Good, meet me in the bar in ten minutes so that we can discuss our agenda for tomorrow. Also, I would like the parts that each of you was given to smuggle on board. You did get them through security, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir," they answered.

"Good. Ten minutes… and don't keep me waiting."

A freshly-ordered scotch in front of him, the man in charge waited in an out of the way booth. His pieces of equipment might have been tricky to bring on board but with his years of experience, he was able to easily circumvent the ship's security measures.

I hope those parts they brought are in one piece, he thought as he sipped his drink.

He had already ordered another scotch when a couple of his men started to trickle into the bar. Since the men knew how their boss operated, they found him with no trouble. Soon after, the others arrived and took whatever seating was available.

Their leader took a look at his watch – exactly ten minutes had passed.

"Good work, gentlemen. I like it when my men follow orders because if they don't… Let's just say that they don't ever do it again." He gave each of them a stern look. "With that being said, relax and order yourselves a drink."

After placing their orders, he told his men to slip them the parts that he told them to bring but in the order they received the drinks in order to avoid suspicion. So, when part of the drink order arrived at the table and the waitress went back to the bartender to get the rest, the men with their drinks slipped the parts to their leader. Once the final set of drinks arrived, the rest of the men handed over their pieces.

"What are these for, boss?" one of the men queried, sipping his bourbon.

"You'll see when the time is right. Once you guys are done, just go about your business and I'll contact you when the next stage in my plan needs attending to." He secured the parts in a case that he simply concealed with his jacket.

Once his minions were gone, he finished his drink and left. Back in his cabin, he placed the parts on a worktable that he had set up and then rolled out a set of tools. With his mechanical skill it took little time to put the devices together. Now that his devices were together, it was time to test them to make sure they worked properly. He set up a couple of glasses on his worktable. Setting his gauntlets on a low setting, he fired both of them. A vibrational wave was sent towards the glasses, shattering them with ease.

"Now the Shocker is in business," the man also known as Herman Schultz said with a slight smirk.

AN: I encourage everyone who reads this fic to leave a review to let me know what you think of it. Constructive criticism is fine but no flames please.