It didn't take long for Peter to make it to the location of the explosion: one of the city's largest banks. On the outside, there wasn't much that looked damaged, which likely meant that the explosion that he'd heard had likely been primarily targeting the vault inside. It was no wonder he'd heard it then, given how thick the vault door likely was in a place like this.

Hearing the police sirens closing in, Peter decided to let himself in and see if he couldn't save them some trouble. Entering through the big door, he quickly ascended to the roof to get a better vantage point while also hopefully making it less likely to be scene. He made his way straight to the vault, discovering the door having indeed been blown open. Sure enough, Peter was not all that surprised to discover none other than Shocker strolling out of the vault, carrying two massive bags in his hands.

"Wait... you actually found REAL cash in there?" Peter teased, drawing his opponent's attention. "That's impressive; I didn't think they still kept any back there. I thought everyone just invested or otherwise went digital anymore."

"Well, if you're expecting me to share, I wouldn't count on it, bug," Shocker said in jest back to him. Peter just shook his head.

"So disappointing; I mean seriously, even after everything you've done for me after all these years? Well, guess that means I have to take you in!"

Webbing at the bags in his opponent's hands, Peter pulled them away while simultaneously yanking himself forward, intending to kick his opponent back into the vault so they could hopefully keep property damage to a minimum for once. Unfortunately, when he struck the man with a powerful kick from both feet, a blast only returned the favor right back at him, sending Peter flying and tumbling across the floor. Before he could even react, another one of Shocker's vibro-blasts came for him, hitting him right in the chest and sending him out the door and crashing into the side of a vehicle, collapsing onto the ground.

"Man," Peter moaned as he forced himself to his feet, "what was that?"

"How do you like my new upgrades!?" Shocker shouted as he strolled out of the building. Peter watched as the police tried to get him to stand down, only for Shocker to simply raise one of his fists and emit a blast that tore one of the emergency vehicles clean in half, the two parts torn to shreds. He then appeared to turn his aim towards the scattered police who'd ducked for cover.

"I don't think so!" Peter said. Shaking off the lingering feeling made by the impact, he quickly made his way towards his opponent, who took notice of him and turned his weaponry towards him. Peter managed to avoid the powerful blasts, sliding underneath Shocker, shooting webs at his ankles as he did so. Thankfully, his suits new protective abilities did nothing against them since they themselves were so minor, allowing him to yank his enemy back into the building. Shocker tumbled along the floor, his suit's new energy shielding bouncing him off the ground before he finally used his vibro-gloves to stabilize himself, ending up back on his feet.

The first objective had been completed: get himself and Shocker back into the building so it was just the two of them again. Now for step two: take Shocker down... however that would look...

"Man, not only are your gauntlets even more powerful now," Peter commented, "now your suit protects you too? Seriously, where's my power upgrade; I think I'm pretty overdue at this point!"

"Just goes to show that it pays to know the right people," Shocker boasted. He then unleashed another blast at him, which Peter leapt out of the way, running along the wall as he stayed just ahead of it. He wasn't really sure off the top of his head how he was going to take Herman down this time, but his new upgrades had clearly even made him even cockier and more talkative than before. That was something that Peter knew he could use to his advantage; it was just a matter of using it to lead him into just the right situation.

Surveying the area around him, he put together a plan.

"Come on, Herman," Peter jabbed as he leapt into the air, swinging a head of the blasts still. "Even with all those upgrades, are you seriously telling me that you still can't nail me? Come on, seriously, give me your best shot!"

"Oh no, you can't make me fall for that again!" Shocker retorted as he came a little closer to where Peter had perched himself. "I know exactly where to avoid so that we keep this place standing for as long as it takes to get rid of you."

"Oh really, Herman?" Peter said, feigning insult. "I'm not some punk kid anymore; I don't need to resort to tricks..."

He was in position.

"Uh huh, sure," Shocker replied. Before the man could charge up more blasts from his gauntlets however, Peter webbed the bank's large curtains off from the window area, bringing them down on top of his opponent, temporarily blinding him.

"Guess you really do know me after all!" Peter shouted, already leaping to the next phase of his plan. He knew that he would only have an extra spare second or two as he moved over to the busted vault door, which was lying on the ground just behind his opponent. Just as Shocker got free, Peter lifted it up; the man had just barely turned around before Peter dropped it straight on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

"There," he said, "that should ground you."

Unfortunately, Shocker's protective energy from his suit was still active, and his gauntlets were now jammed against the vault itself, charging up rapidly. Realizing his opponent would break free again if he didn't do something, Peter squatted down before leaping high up into the air. Webbing at the floor, he pulled himself down, slamming his feet down with all his might against the vault door, causing Shocker's suit to finally give out, the villain's arms falling behind him as his head collapsed against the floor behind him.

"Now," Peter said, coming over to the man. "Maybe you can actually stay behind bars this time, please?" He then went out to tell the police that it was safe to arrest him now, and things proceeded without incident after that.

"Thanks Spider-Man," the lead cop told him as they prepared haul way the man... again.

"No problem," Peter said. "I just wish I knew where he got those most recent upgrades from."

Another cop then came up to the lead guy, whispering something discreetly in his ear. It was tempting to try and listen in, but Peter refrained out of courtesy. The downward shift in expression on the face of the one he'd been talking to just now indicated that it wasn't good news though.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"Apparently, while we were all here dealing with Shocker, there was a robbery downtown," the cop explained. "A bunch of medical and lab equipment was stolen."

The man then turned and headed off, probably to conduct his own investigation of the matter, leaving Peter to stand there, dumbfounded at the realization that apparently Shocker was just a distraction.

He'd been played.


As M.J. wrapped up helping another customer, she took a moment to go see Liz. It was rare for the two ladies to work directly together in the same store anymore, but since it was the day of one of their big sales that was being especially publicized they thought it would be best, with someone else taking point at the other store, given that everything seemed to point to this spot being the much higher trafficked store.

"It feels like every woman in New York is here," Liz said, pretty much confirming those suspicions.

"That's good, isn't it?" Mary Jane questioned.

"I mean, yeah," Liz replied, "but given how cramped it is in here, I wondered: should we consider renovating the building to fit more people?"

"No," M.J. replied point blank.

"Okay, how can you say that so confidently given what we're looking at right now?" Liz questioned.

"Liz, we're about to open two new stores in Harlem and the Financial District, plus we're in talks to open in Brooklyn and Queens as well," M.J. explained. "More options will spread our customer base out a lot more, so we'll be fine."

"I guess you're right," Liz replied, letting out a breath.

"I'm sorry; I forgot that you have claustrophobia," Mary Jane said.

"I don't have claustrophobia," Liz tried to assure her business partner. "It's just that on days like this I feel a little cramped is all."

"Uh huh," M.J. replied, not buying what her best friend since childhood was selling. Before Liz could interject though, both ladies noticed another customer enter. He was one of the few men who'd come into the store that day, only this one was without a woman at his side who'd clearly brought him along for the ride. As the guy came closer, Mary Jane recognized the guy at Mark Allan, Liz's younger brother. He swiftly made his way over to the two ladies.

"Hey, Mark," M.J. greeted politely. The man barely even looked at her, instead marching right up to Liz and insisting that the two of them have a word. The man's demeanor was hard to ignore; he seemed especially tense, something clearly weighing on his mind. He and Liz stepped outside the building but were still within view from the window as they spoke. M.J. tried not to watch, glancing back to make sure there wasn't a customer who might need her, but something about Mark's frantic nature in the discussion disturbed her.

"Hey."

M.J. glanced over, almost caught off guard to find Peter standing there, his camera strapped over his neck.

"Hey!" she said quickly, realizing that she'd been caught staring. "Sorry, I was just..."

"Watching out the window?" Peter questioned.

"No," M.J. said. "Well, yeah kind of. Liz and her brother are out there talking."

"I was wondering who that guy was," Peter replied.

"He came in all tense, almost like someone was after him or he had something driving him crazy. I can't explain it, but I don't have a good feeling about it."

"Sounds like someone else is developing their own special sixth sense," Peter joked. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's fine, and if it isn't, I'm sure she'll tell you."

"You're probably right," M.J. replied.

"I usually am," Peter said, M.J. giving him a look as she threw one of her signature lines back in her face.

"Don't you have a job to do?" she questioned. Peter obliged, beginning to move around the store, snapping shots here and there of customers shopping and being helped, as well as the sign for the sale they were having that day. Taking her own advice, M.J. decided to follow suit and get back to her job, checking in and making sure a couple of customers were doing okay, even offering her opinion between blue and black basketball shorts for a young girl who'd come in with her mother. It wasn't long after that that Liz came back into the store, with Mark having left. It took another forty-five minutes or so before M.J. was able to break away though, finally approaching her friend.

"Everything okay with Mark?" she questioned. "I know it's been a while since I've seen him, but he didn't seem quite like what I remember."

"It's fine," Liz said. "He's just... he just needs to figure some stuff out right now, that's all."

"Does he need, like, a job or something?" M.J. asked. "I know that we're a women's store, but I'm sure that we can find something more behind the scenes for him if he nee..."

"No, nothing like that," Liz assured her. "Look, I'd rather not talk about it, if that's okay?"

M.J. nodded, choosing to honor her friend's request despite her gut telling her that something was off about this whole thing. Peter then came up to the two of them.

"Well, I'm off," he announced.

"Get everything you need?" M.J. asked.

"I think so," he reasoned. "I better run and get to Robbie."

"By the way, I've heard a couple of people in here talking about Spider-Man stopping Shocker at bank downtown. Sounds like he did some good work," M.J. said, trying to affirm the good her husband had done while keeping his identity intact.

"Yeah," Peter replied, "actually, I hear he might have a little following up to do about that one."


Peter landed on the window of Tombstone's office, not even pretending to be discreet as his fingers and feet thudded against the glass. The light blue-skinned individual, who was on the phone at the time, spun around in his chair, shooting a glance at him before rotating back around, pressing a button at his desk to lower the window.

"Very good," Peter heard the man say as he crawled inside. "Let me know when you're up and running." The man then hung up the phone.

"Let me guess, that was your point of contact on that lab robbery your guys just took care of while I was busy with Shocker?" Peter questioned pointedly.

"If you're going to make a habit of accusing me of things during every visit, maybe I should stop letting you in," Tombstone replied, his voice stern yet also seemingly attempting to be friendly. Peter wasn't buying it though; he flipped down off the wall so that he was in front of the man's desk.

"You know, I've seen this whole thing before, the whole 'nice man running an empire' façade," Peter explained. "Wilson Fisk did it for years, but you know what he never did? He never purposefully endangered civilians by giving a man like Herman Schultz bigger and better weapons to get what he wanted."

"Wilson Fisk left this city in an even bigger mess than he found it," Tombstone explained, moving away from his desk and towards one of the office windows. "In his case at least, you are right; before he was brought down, this city was dying. He claimed to be making things better for the people, but really, he was only ever out for himself, all while doing endless press and charity events to make them all think he was a man of the people."

"It almost sounds like you were one of the people to drink that Kool-Aid," Peter said.

"No," Tombstone said, "it was obvious to me what kind of a man he was, because I never saw any of the things he promised. That's why I decided to build my own empire, only unlike the former Kingpin of crime, I am going to use my resources to actually make a difference in this city."

"Really?" Peter questioned. "Then why had I never even heard of you until last year?"

"Don't worry," Tombstone replied, "you can watch tonight's news to get all the answers you'll need."

Before Peter could even question why he brought that up, someone poked their head through the door, drawing his attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said. "Mr. Lincoln, I just wanted to inform you that the crew from the Globe is downstairs."

"Thank you," Tombstone replied. "Send them up."

After the man took his leave Tombstone turned back to Peter.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, gesturing towards the window. As much as Peter wanted to take his chances at humiliating Lincoln in front of the press, he knew that the odds were far more likely that he'd be the one made a fool of, so he opted to take his leave.


Hope you continue to enjoy it! I'm really looking forward to getting deeper into this one!

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

"For what I received, I have passed onto you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve." 1 Corinthians 15:3-5