Cruise's End
With most of Shocker's men now in custody, it was time to take the fight directly to him. It wasn't going to be easy and Spider-Man knew that especially from his many battles with the Shocker. Also, there were a number of hostages with the vibro-shock throwing villain and their safety was paramount.
The elevator ride back up to the bridge was a quiet one. Spider-Man was lost in thought as he tried to think of a way to get the hostages out of banquet room with little to no interference from Shocker or his men.
"Spider got your tongue?" Mary Jane asked her husband jokingly.
"Huh," was the webhead's reply as if he had just woken up.
"I've never seen you so lost in thought before. This whole thing with Shocker really has you going, doesn't it?"
"That it does."
It was at that time that the elevator doors opened and the trio got off for their final destination. Before they followed Commander Crenshaw, Spider-Man held Mary Jane back to talk to her privately.
"This is a little different type of scheme coming from Shocker, MJ," Peter told her still trying to figure out a way to bring this situation to an end.
"And you think that means he could be more dangerous than ever?" a puzzled Mary Jane questioned.
"Yes and there are a lot of people with him that he can take his frustration out on. Taking that into consideration, we'll have to figure out a way to get the hostages away from Shocker and his men first."
"Do you have anything in mind, sweetheart?"
"I think so and it will take a little luck on our part to pull this thing off."
"Care to share your thoughts, man of mine?"
"I find some way to slip inside and make sure that Commander Crenshaw has some of his security personnel at each exit point of the banquet room. Then, if possible, I'll try to take some of the Shocker's men out of the way so that they won't be able to do anything to the passengers. If not, then I'll have to distract them all long enough for Crenshaw to coordinate a way to get the passengers out of there. Then, it will be just me and whoever is left standing."
"Don't you think that's a little risky on your part, Tiger? Isn't there another way to go about it?"
They both stopped as they were just outside of the ship's bridge. Pulling Mary Jane off to the side while grasping both her hands, Peter continued their conversation. "With my speed, agility and history with Shocker, I can't think of another way to go about this. Plus this new suit will be a huge advantage especially with what it can do."
"I understand. I don't like it – but I understand. At least you'll have some kind of backup with you."
"That I will, sweetheart and I'll be extremely careful. Spider careful in fact."
Peter's last comment got a laugh from MJ and helped alleviate the tension of the situation.
"I know you will, but it doesn't stop me from worrying about you," Mary Jane told him as she gently squeezed his hands.
Peter gave his wife a reassuring hug before they went in to talk to the Captain.
"What kept you?" Commander Crenshaw asked once he finished giving a report on the current state of affairs to Captain Miller.
"Just trying to think up of a plan to end this situation with Shocker as easily as possible without getting anyone hurt," replied Spider-Man, who took a quick glance towards his wife.
Captain Miller asked, "So, do you have something in mind, Spider-Man?"
"I would like to see the layout of the banquet hall with the number of exits and if there are any other ways in."
At the Captain's request, the First Officer went back to the computer to pull up the information that the webslinger required. In moments, FO Marshall had the layout of the banquet hall printed out.
"As you can see, there are two places where you can enter/exit the hall," she pointed out. "Besides those areas, you might be able to access the hall through the ventilation shafts."
"Where would the closest place to the banquet hall be for someone to get into the vents?" Spider-Man asked knowing full well that the closer the better.
First Officer Marshall replaced the banquet hall layout with one of the air vent system, specifically the ones that ran on the same deck as the hall in question.
"As you can see, any of the neighboring rooms could give you access via the vents," Marshall pointed out.
"Hmmmm, I see," Spider-Man noted as he took a good look at the vents layout.
"What are you thinking, webhead?" Commander Crenshaw asked.
"I was thinking that if I could sneak in, snag some or all of Shocker's men and pose as a distraction to the rest, you should be able to get the passengers still inside out of there. Once that is taken care of, I should be able to take care of Shocker without worrying about hurting any innocent bystanders."
The Commander than asked, "Makes perfect sense, but why should you be the one to go in there by yourself?"
"I've faced Shocker on several occasions and have managed to walk away from those encounters not too worse for wear. Also, I'm fast and agile enough to get through the vents and I can take out more than one man at a time with a handy dose of webbing."
"You've got to admit, Commander, Spider-Man states his case for this operation rather well," Captain Miller told his security chief.
"Besides, I need someone like you to get everyone out of Shocker's way as quickly and orderly as possible. Plus, if there are some of his men that I miss, I'll have you and your men to watch my back while I'm taking care of Shocker," explained Spider-Man.
Crenshaw tried to come up with something to argue the webslinger's point but he came up with nothing. He knew deep down that Spider-Man was right and that he was the best person to start things off in the banquet hall.
For the next few minutes, they worked out a plan of attack. They decided that the best place for Spider-Man to enter the banquet hall was from a vent that was behind the stage area. It was the perfect location because the wallcrawler could easily slip in without being seen.
The next part of their plan was the number of men to have at each entrance/exit to the banquet hall. It was decided that there would be two members of the security team placed inside each doorway, which would mean that four security men/women would be inside with Spider-Man. Outside, there would be four security personnel members by each doorway. The teams of six would be responsible for getting the passengers out of the banquet hall in a quick and orderly fashion.
When all the passengers were out, the security officers would provide any kind of backup that Spider-Man might possibly need and to make sure no one would enter or exit the place without going through them.
Now that the plan was mapped out and everyone agreed upon it, it was now time to set things in motion. Commander Crenshaw divided up his security team into the two groups that would man the entryways and he would be leading one of the groups. It was also decided that the team leaders would be able to communicate with each other and Spider-Man over the radio so that everyone could keep their focus on their given tasks.
"I guess we're ready to go. Everyone, take your positions outside the doorways until I say otherwise. I'll show Spider-Man to the vent he can use to get to the stage," Crenshaw ordered his men.
With a resounding, "Yes, sir!" The security personnel went to take up their posts.
"Good luck, gentlemen," Captain Marshall offered to both the Commander and Spider-Man.
"Thanks, Captain, we can use all the luck we can get," replied Spider-Man as he prepared to leave with bridge with the Commander.
Before they left the bridge, Commander Crenshaw asked this question of the webslinger, "What will be the word for me and my med to enter the hall?"
Spider-Man thought for a minute and then whispered his answer in the Commander's ear.
"You have got to be kiddin' me!" Crenshaw exclaimed once he heard the webhead's signal.
"What?" Spider-Man asked in a sarcastic tone and just barely containing a laugh.
"Never mind, it's just something you would say, I guess." Crenshaw then left the bridge with Spider-Man right behind.
"Captain, I thought that you should know that the Avengers should be on their way and will join us when they can. If we haven't informed you of our situation by the time they arrive, just let them know where we are," Spider-Man told Captain Miller.
"I will," the Captain assured.
As he headed off the bridge, Spider-Man passed Mary Jane. She mouthed the words, 'take care' and was able to snatch his hand for a gentle squeeze. Peter answered back with a squeeze of his own and nodded to let her know that he would be careful. With that, he followed right behind the Commander.
"Here we are, Spider-Man," Crenshaw said once they arrived at the ventilation shaft that the wallcrawler was to use. "Good luck."
"You too," he told the Commander as he popped the vent grate off and slipped inside.
The passengers in the banquet hall were still frightened by what Shocker could do to them. They weren't cowering or anything, but they tried to remain as calm as possible and made sure to stay on the good side of their captor.
"The boss sure is running a tight ship, ain't he, Jono?" asked one of Shocker's four men in the banquet hall.
"Ya got that right, Turk. The dough should be in his Swiss account any minute now and then we'll get our cut of this little operation," replied Jono as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of receiving his payment.
Thank goodness I haven't put on any weight or else this little jaunt of mine wouldn't be far, Spider-Man thought as he made his way through the vent. The shaft wasn't that tight but it wasn't overly big either. Fortunately, his spider-like abilities happened to make crawling though the shaft not as difficult as one would have thought.
It didn't take the wallcrawler long to get to the proverbial end of the line. Before he removed the vent grate, he took a brief look around to make sure he was in the right place.
"This looks like the right spot the First Officer talked about, might as well slip in," Spider-Man said as he quietly popped off the vent grate.
"Did you hear something, Turk?" asked a puzzled Jono.
"Not a thing," his partner replied. "Why?"
"I thought I heard something is all."
"You sure you heard something, Jono?"
"Yes, I'm sure!"
"All right, all right, don't get your knickers in a twist. Let's check it out, then."
The duo were not far from where Jono had supposedly heard the noise, the stage.
"It doesn't look like anything is out of the ordinary around here," Turk informed his friend as he took a look around.
"Let's check behind stage, just to be sure," Jono suggested.
Turk nodded in agreement as they climbed the stage steps to look around back. It was fairly dark back there and without a light switch nearby, Jono took out his Zippo lighter to use as a make-shift light source.
THWIP!! THWIP!!
"Jono!" Turk yelled out before everything went suddenly quiet.
"Where are ya, buddy?" asked Jono as he waved his lighter around trying to find his partner. Unfortunately, Turk was nowhere to be seen. "Come on, Turk. Quit fooling around here. You know the boss doesn't like this kind of thing."
THWIP!! THWIP!!
"I've got a bad feeling about—" was all Jono could say as he was taken off his feet to be hung upside down, a few feet about the backstage floor. "This isn't very funny."
"It wasn't meant to be," a not too far off voice mentioned.
"Who, what and where are you?" questioned Jono as he swayed back and forth.
"Oh, it's just your friendly vacationing Spider-Man who has a few questions for you," the wallcrawler told him face to face as he too hung upside down from a strand of webbing.
"Nuh uh, I ain't saying a single word to ya."
"Suit yourself."
Spider-Man extended his arm and started to spin his adversary around and around. When Jono had finished spinning in the one direction, he quickly spun around in the other.
After several minutes of spinning in either direction, Jono finally had enough. "All right, all right, I'll talk – just stop this crazy thing before I puke my guts out!"
"If you say so, chuckles," replied Spider-Man with a slight laugh before he stopped the spinning.
Now that he was stationary again, Jono took a second before asking, "What do you want to know?"
"How many men does Shocker have out there besides you and your friend?"
"Just a couple of other guys and that's it. The rest are out on all the decks to make sure people stay where they are."
"Excellent," Spider-Man said in his best Mr. Burns imitation. "But those bozos that aren't here have already been taken care of. Just like you."
"There's no way you could've done that."
"No, but I had some help from the ships crew. Now, you are going to provide me with some as well." Before Jono could reply, Spider-Man activated his radio inside his mask. "Commander, there are only two of Shocker's men left to take care of. Right now, I got two more to handle."
"All right, we'll await your signal to clear out the passengers," Crenshaw replied.
Spider-Man ended their conversation with, "We'll be in touch." He then returned his attention back to his upside down adversary.
"There's no way I'm going to help you," Jono spat out as he once again tried to free himself by wiggling around.
"Uh, yes you are."
Spider-Man spun a web and was immediately above Jono. He then cut the web line that held the caught man with one of the waldoes. Jono fell down with a resounding thud.
"Oops, it seems that I am a bit of a butterfingers," the wallcrawler said as he came back down.
"All right, all right, I guess I don't have any other choice, do I?" a sluggish Jono asked.
"Nope."
Spider-Man picked him up and prepared to lure the two remaining men over towards them.
"So, what's your plan going to be?"
"First, I'll do this," Spider-Man covered Jono's mouth with webbing to keep him quiet and then led him over to where the stage curtain was.
"Did you see where Turk and Jono disappeared to?" one of Shocker's men questioned.
"I don't know," his associate began, "maybe they were told to… take a look over at the stage. They must've found something because it looks like one of them is waving us over. Let's check it out."
So the pair went up to the stage and looked around back.
"Turk, Jono, where are guys?" one of the men asked, slightly annoyed.
"You guys better not be kiddin' around, the boss won't put up with this," the other one stated.
"Your friends are a little tied up at the moment but don't worry about that, you're about to join them," a voice explained to them from above.
"What the…" was all one of them got out when they were both pulled up by strands of webbing.
"I guess that webs things up," a triumphant Spider-Man chuckled out as he webbed Shocker's remaining men up and placed them securely with the other two. "Now, it's your turn, Shocker."
"Where in the hell is everyone?" Shocker asked himself as he returned from a restroom break finding none of his men to be seen.
"They're all a little busy at the moment… but maybe I'll do," Spider-Man told his long time foe as he swung in and slammed his feet into Shocker's chest, sending him flying and passengers scurrying out of the way.
Spider-Man turned on his mask-radio again as he kept an eye on Shocker. "Crenshaw, be prepared to get the passengers out of here. I've just got the big bad guy here to tangle with."
"Fine, webhead, we'll be standing by," Crenshaw answered him.
"You are going to pay for that you son of a…" Shocker threatened as he shook off the blow.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really do have a potty mouth don't you, Shockey? Maybe a little webbing will solve that," Spider-Man informed him as he fired some webbing at Shocker's mouth.
Luckily, Shocker activated one of his vibro-shock gauntlets and was able to disintegrate the webbing before it got close to him.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old pal, Spider-Man. Got tired of the old red and blue long johns, wallcrawler?" questioned Shocker as he fired a pair of vibro-shock waves at his enemy.
Spider-Man easily dodged the blasts with a couple of flips and landed on a nearby wall.
"They were a gift and you know how I hate to refuse presents. Here's something I want to give you, Shockhead."
Spider-Man fired several web balls at Shocker to try to throw him off balance. It did to some extent but Shocker used his gauntlets to take care of most of the wallcrawler's web balls.
I got his full attention now, Spider-Man thought as he weaved and ducked from his foes attacks. Time to start getting these passengers out of here.
"Geez, Shocker, what's with you? I thought you would've come closer to tagging me by now," Spider-Man taunted as he hung upside down from a web, several feet away.
"Okay, webslinger, you and your big fat trap asked for it," bellowed Shocker as he upped the intensity of the shock waves.
Dodging the attacks again, Spider-Man also had to make sure that some of the Shocker's blasts didn't find there way towards the passengers. He quickly built some web barriers to separate the battle and the innocent bystanders and it also provided them cover for when they leave the hall.
"Getting better there, Shockster, but you could do better," Spider-Man taunted again and started to lead his adversary away from both exits. "Here, Shocky, Shocky, Shocky. Come here, boy." He ended his last comment with a summoning whistle.
"That's the signal, let's move and get everyone out of there!" Commander Crenshaw informed both his team and the other one.
"You rotten little bug, you'll pay for that!!" Shocker shouted as he upped the intensity of his blasts again.
"For crying out loud, Shocker, I'm an arachnid, not an insect. Can't get that through your thick…" Spider-Man explained as he narrowly avoided a vibro-shock blast.
Between blasts, the webslinger noticed that Crenshaw and his teams were busy clearing out the passengers. He then spun some webbing to protect them like he did with the barriers that were created earlier.
Shocker saw what was going on so he started blasting away at the webbing.
"Crenshaw, you better speed things up a bit. Shocker is getting a little perturbed at seeing his bargaining chips vacating the place," Spider-Man warned as he prepared to get Shocker's focus back on him.
"We're almost most done, webhead. How are things on your end?" Crenshaw asked as he continued to usher people to safety.
"Could be better… Oomph," replied Spider-Man while dodging a blast and getting clipped by another which sent him crashing through a table. He staggered slightly to his feet, snagged the splintered table pieces with a couple of webs and flung them at Shocker. "Just speed things up a bit because Shocker is really letting loose now."
"We'll do what we can. I'll let you know when everyone is out."
"Thanks, Crenshaw. You better tell the captain that his banquet hall is really going to be a mess when this is over."
That brought out a chuckle from the Commander as he renewed his efforts to get everyone out of the hall at a quicker pace.
Once his conversation with Commander Crenshaw ended, Spider-Man renewed his focus on Shocker with some well placed webbing at Shocker's feet while he obliterated the table shards that the webslinger had thrown at him.
"I can take anything you can throw at me, Spider-Man and give twice as much back," Shocker told his enemy and then he noticed that his feet were now covered in webbing thus holding him in place. "You should know this won't hold me for long."
"Here's boots in your eye, Shocky!" exclaimed Spider-Man as his opponent got a face full of Spidey's feet sending Shocker through several surrounding tables and chairs.
But as he was sent flying, Shocker was able to get a couple of vibro-shock blasts off. Even though his spider-sense warned him of the impending danger, the blasts were too fast for Spider-Man to avoid and therefore he got hammered by them.
That didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, Spider-Man cogitated as he picked himself up from the punishment he just received. Tony really knows how to put a suit together.
Shocker, on the other hand, was a little slower getting up. The shot to the face rattled some of his teeth but his costume did absorb some of the impact. Damn, stinking, wallcrawling freak, he thought as he upped the intensity of his vibro-shock blasts to their maximum setting. Let's see you walk away from that, wallcrawler.
"All the passengers are out, Spider-Man," Crenshaw informed the hero.
"That's music to my ears, Commander. Now I can take Shocker down without hurting anyone. Make sure none of your men are still inside because things could get… nasty in here," Spider-Man stated as he avoided Shocker's blast.
"I've heard what you mean. All my men are out now and give that Shocker creep what for."
"I'll do just that and let you know when things are back to normal."
"You ready for a pounding, webhead?" Shocker warned, gauntlets at the ready.
Spider-Man answered him with a question, "It's always with the violence with you, isn't it?"
Shocker didn't reply with words but with a volley of vibro-shock blasts.
The wallcrawler did his best to avoid the blasts but he got tagged by a couple which sent him flying through tables, chairs and anything else that happened to be in the way including the hall wall.
That didn't hurt, much, Spider-Man ruminated as he extricated himself out of the wall just before Shocker continued his onslaught. Now it's time to up my game and end it.
Keeping ahead of his foe's attacks by using his trusty spider-sense, the webslinger again snagged various pieces of debris. When he had got enough, he began tossing everything he placed a web strand on.
Now it was Shocker's turn to go on the defensive as he fired off some blasts and dodged what came at him. Unfortunately, he didn't have his opponent's agility and Shocker got hit twice as much as he dodged/blasted debris. He was able to get a few more blasts out to deflect debris when he got sandwiched between a couple of tables bringing him to his knees.
"Now that almost wraps things up," Spider-Man said as he webbed up Shocker's legs. Then grabbing his adversary by both hands and giving them a crushing squeeze, Spider-Man destroyed the vibro-shock gauntlets. Finally, he webbed Shocker up some more and placed him on one of the few chairs that was left unscathed. "Now don't worry, Shockster, you won't be left here all by your lonesome."
Spider-Man went up behind the stage area and brought out the guys he had webbed up earlier. He gave each of them their own seat around one of the still standing tables.
With everything now taken care of, the webslinger pulled up a chair for himself and plopped on it glad that things were now over. He just propped his feet up on the table when the banquet hall doors were opened and several familiar people came in.
"I guess you don't need our help now, do you?" Captain America asked as Iron Man, Luke Cage and Commander Crenshaw came in, followed by Crenshaw's men.
Spider-Man, in typical fashion replied, "Piece of cake… but what took you guys so long? I could've used your help earlier."
Spider-Man and his fellow Avengers stayed with the cruise ship until it reached port. Once there, they were greeted by several agents of SHIELD who took custody of Shocker and his men. The SHIELD agents also took the disarmed bombs to dispose of them.
Captain Miller publicly thanked Spider-Man for his efforts in foiling Shocker's extortion plot. Several other officers from the cruise ship thanked the wallcrawler as well as several of the passengers. This made Peter feel good about what he accomplished and that he was able to live up to his responsibility of being Spider-Man.
When he finally had some time to himself, Peter was able to get out of his Iron Spider costume and meet up with Mary Jane who was very happy to see him especially in one piece. He needed to spend some quality time with his wife and left the mopping up to his Avengers teammates.
Stark Tower
"There's no place like home," stated a tired Peter as he and Mary Jane entered the living quarters of Stark Tower.
"Amen to that, Tiger," replied Mary Jane who joined Peter on a nearby couch.
"I'll go put your suitcases in your room," Jarvis told the tired-looking pair.
"Thanks, Jarvis and not just for the suitcases but getting word to the rest of the Avengers," conveyed Peter appreciatively.
"You're very welcome."
As Jarvis exited, Aunt May then entered the room and immediately gave her nephew and niece-in-law a warm hug in welcoming them back.
"I am very relieved that you both made it back in one piece," May expressed to them knowing full well what had happened on their cruise.
"So are we and it was a good idea for Peter to bring his costume with him," stated Mary Jane, very proud of what her husband had done on the cruise ship.
"Just like American Express, I never leave home without it," Peter joked which was followed by laughter from all three Parkers.
"I'll just leave you two to rest up after your harrowing experience but I'll be back with some of Edwin's lemonade," May told them as she went out to the kitchen.
"Thanks, Aunt May," Peter said as he rested his head on MJ's shoulder. "You know, I think I need a vacation to recuperate from our vacation."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, sweetheart," Mary Jane replied as she rested her head next to Peter's. "How does Hawaii sound?"
"Not bad but how could we swing that?"
"Well, we do have those complimentary tickets the cruise line gave us for what happened and they do have a cruise to Hawaii…"
All Peter could do was groan irritably thinking that he had had enough of cruises for the rest of his life.
The End
AN: I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I did. Please leave a review because I really would like to hear what you thought. Constructive criticism is always welcome but no flames.