Web of Spider-Woman

by ComicChick19

Finally! Petra Parker has graduated from High School, and is off to College at Empire State University in Manhattan! But with this new phase of her life comes a new set of challenges, enemies, romance. and adventures! Can she finally achieve a proper work/superhero/life balance? Probably not. Also posted on Ao3 and Wattpad!

2. A New Foe Enters the Battle!

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222; text-align: center;" data-p-id="bdeed6a7d339b919b57ce55d28f9e5b3"Issue 2/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="721ea83056c44d0ecc95017cf0a6370a" Petra hated college orientation. The campus tour was fun, and a little helpful, and she was glad she had ironed out her class schedule, but the rest of it was incredibly dull. Just one boring presentation after another! Although, she had talked to a few of the other incoming Freshmen, and they all seemed to get along fairly well, which Petra was glad for. If this was anything to go by, then College was definitely going to be a lot different from High School, even if she still might have to deal with Flash./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1e974bbd527ca87aeaf5223f06b93211"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Speak of the devil! /emPetra thought as she walked towards the edge of ESU's campus, just outside of Central Park. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"There goes the ol' insufferable blonde now!/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="a5af141c08568506533f761a2a269b2f" Just ahead of her, on the other side of the sidewalk, was Flash Thompson, walking by himself with his hands in his pockets, his gaze cast down at the ground. When he looked up and noticed Petra, he scowled. Petra cracked a smile. Flash and Petra never got along, even way back in elementary school, and when Petra came out in middle school, things didn't get any better. Although his transphobia had seemed to die down a bit, his dislike of Petra was still very much alive. Despite how much MJ continued to worry about not being there as a buffer to shut Flash down, Petra thought she would be fine. She knew how to deal with him now. She actually enjoyed taunting him back, the fact that she no longer took his verbal abuse sitting down still caught Flash off guard./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0479d9f9d79b54a86204f1ab08356ed3" "Well, well, if it isn't Flash Thompson! Still got a chip on your shoulder?" Petra hollered at him./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="90c91b9af2068b3bfb419a8fab42e66b" "Drop dead!" Flash responded, briskly walking past Petra. He seemed to be in an even worse mood than usual today. Petra kept walking./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="424b7aef5bf1bdababb4ed4b205de4fc" Petra made it to the gates of ESU and silently waited for her Aunt May to drive by and pick her up. She would have just changed into her costume and swung home, but May had insisted, claiming that it was a special occasion and that Petra shouldn't have to take the subway home. May complained about Petra taking the subway and being alone in the city a lot, actually. Whenever she would leave the house, she would offer to just drive her, but Petra didn't want May to waste her time, not when Petra could just swing to wherever she was going, at a fraction of the cost of gas. So, Petra would tell May that she would just take the subway and that she would be perfectly fine./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="24acbd28dd192a6266d4b7b9fc9cc187"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" She's always looking out for me. /emPetra thought. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Even when I insist that I'm ok, or that I can take care of myself./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="33f6d534222926e39213124db2ece713"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" What am I doing? I keep going out, getting beaten up, sometimes coming home with bruises that I can't explain to May! /emPetra frowned at herself. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"I keep putting my life in danger! What happens to May when I go out one day, and I just never come back? Because I'll be lying dead in an alley cause' some mugger got lucky? Or because Electro broke out again and fried me to a crisp?/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d8d8576df6c8beffc0b9ccf990383b70" Petra couldn't stop the barrage of guilty thoughts that wove their way into her mind. It happened more and more with each year that passed since she had become Spider-Woman. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"With May's age, and after all the other family she's already lost, I don't know how she could handle that. /emPetra stood there, stewing in her own guilt and self-hatred, all the while she felt like she was baking to death from the intense summer heat. She hated Spider-Woman. No, that wasn't true. She loved being Spider-Woman. What she hated was what Spider-Woman had brought into her life. Misery, bruises, bullets, cracked bones, and fractured relationships./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5779d353bf55e3334e3438cd2dd0b1fb" Petra sat down on the ground, there was really no other place to sit, continuing to wait, and periodically checking her phone to see if May had texted her at all. Still nothing. In the meantime, she started looking around the skyline, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of an Avenger, or the Fantastic Four, or one of the who knows how many superheroes that occupied New York at this point. In the distance, she could make out the silhouette of somebody flying past a few skyscrapers, though they were too far away for Petra to figure out who it was. Maybe it was Thor or Vision. There was no flaming trail or beam of light behind the figure, so it definitely wasn't Jackie Storm, or Iron Man./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="18fa8e07a990516ece23cb7cb0748661" Petra wondered what Jackie was up to at that moment. They had started hanging out a little more often ever since that night a few weeks back, but recently Jackie had been busy with some kind of business with the Fantastic Four. Petra didn't ask too much about it, extra-dimensional invaders, underwater menaces, and Eastern European dictators were a little above her pay grade. Petra felt the ground shaking. It was subtle, and someone without her heightened senses probably couldn't detect it, but it was there. And it wasn't the same kind of shaking that you'd feel from the subway beneath your feet, or a car passing by. Petra stood up and started looking around. A few blocks away, she could hear screaming, and the approach of sirens. Petra sighed, pulling out her phone to text May, sending her some excuse about how she had to leave ESU early, and then booked it to the nearest empty alley./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d2ba210ba5b6df83bf9bddf0956aa0f5" Relying on her spider-sense to make sure nobody was looking, Petra pulled off her clothes, and reached into her backpack, pulling out her suit and quickly pulling it on. Petra webbed her backpack to a wall, before running up it while pulling her mask over her face. She leaped onto the rooftop and then ran to the ledge facing the street, where she jumped off and started swinging in the direction of the disturbance. In a few short minutes, she made it to a nearby bank, where a squad of cop cars surrounded the building, and police had cordoned off the area, keeping the civilians that had stuck around at bay, as well as members of the press, who were just arriving on the scene./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b791f4192a4020155cc592572ca523f7" Petra landed on a roof across from the bank, and took the scene in. A multitude of cops, half of them keeping their guns trained on the bank's front entrance while taking cover behind their car doors. The bank itself seemed to be an older one and looked fancy. Outlines of Greek-style pillars lined the walls, and patterns lined the whole thing. A few of the other cops were arguing with the media, and one of them was shouting into a megaphone towards the bank, though it was hard to understand what he was saying. There were a lot of civilians crowded around, trying to see what was going on, instead of fleeing for safety. A lot of them were trying to record whatever was happening on their phones./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="98692775f5e7cbfb69217a6927ab3879" Petra groaned. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"People these days are morons. No sense of self-preservation! Then again, I'm about to swing into the middle of a bank robbery, so who's the real moron here? /emPetra leaped from the roof and swung to the entrance of the bank./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c7a42cccad6bb1a60ff796df0f338624" Behind her, the cop with the megaphone started shouting at her. "Spider-Woman! Step away from the building immediately, and hand yourself over into our custody! If you fail to comply, we will NOT hesitate to fire on you!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="df7e99d511dfd0cfbc5ce812ef5c9825" "Dammit," Petra muttered under her breath. "Why can't these thick-skulled cops ever figure out that I'm not the bad guy?" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b8c11eb3faaf5e304468d13d57aef1a9" Petra shot a web at the bank, yanking herself towards one of its windows. A few gunshots rang out, but Petra was too quick, and nothing hit her. She crashed through the window and landed on the lobby's marble floor. Before her was a group of hostages kneeling on the ground in a circle, their hands on their heads, with four thugs wearing black ski masks pointing machine guns at them. They seemed to be caught off guard by Petra's flashy entrance, so she took this opportunity to leap at the nearest one. With a quick punch to the gut, the thug was laid out sprawling on the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="561c7139740b576b4f91ac405180a00c" Using her superior strength, Petra snapped his gun in half, ensuring he couldn't use it on her when he got back up. The other three broke out of their stupor and raised their guns, firing in her direction. Petra leaped into the air, her spider-sense and inhuman acrobatic abilities allowing her to twist out of the way of the spray of bullets, although a few managed to knick her, tearing at pieces of her costume and cutting her skin, leaving her bleeding onto parts of her costume./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="36ab1dd06ba4de1f6af87e6d96e0d4a9"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" I'm gonna have to buy more sewing material. /emPetra briefly thought,, while she scrambled for cover behind one of the many pillars inside the lobby. She mentally bashed herself for not setting up any cameras before she leaped in, she could have used some picture money from the bugle. Petra was in a really sticky situation now. Luckily, the thugs seemed to have forgotten about the hostages and were now zeroed in on her. Petra crawled up the pillar, reaching the roof. Just as she was about to jump out and leap at them from above, she was knocked from the ceiling and thrown behind the bank teller's counter by a powerful vibrating blast that left her whole body shaking. Peeking over the counter, she looked to the source of the blast./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ba6d612af8c17432fae8fc6ee129a2e0" Standing at the entrance to a vault with a large bag of cash slung over his shoulder, was a man clung from head to toe in a yellow suit, with what seemed to be lots of foam padding underneath, and a red leotard over the top. Diamond patterns lined the yellow parts, and silver mechanical gauntlets covered his hands./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7547e69d4599155ef1851393ed3583e7" "Ugh, my head." Petra groaned, rubbing the back of her head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e2a17aa820ce7a9462db3608972dfd97" "Spider-Woman!" The strange new supervillain growled. "Get in my way, and I order my men to kill hostages, understand me?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b67870e88f87b9c6157ca06f6f5f0e7d" Petra raised her hands, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to risk anyone's safety./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b164472c692a939a902e1506f1d37945" "Okay! Okay, nobody needs to get hurt here!" Petra quickly pleaded. Her eyes darted to the left, where she could see the thug she had sucker punched in the gut slowly rising to his feet, hunched over and groaning. "Well, except for that guy, I guess."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5513d77fcef09085da0ecb78eca38a59" "Oh, fuck you!" The thug shouted, his arms wrapped around his stomach. Petra would have felt bad, but the guy had been pointing a machine gun at hostages a minute ago, so she didn't really care./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="012c5934615300a7d52b882bea67e60f" "So, New York's got another supervillain, huh?" Petra snarked. She kept talking, all the while the hostages, still being held at gunpoint, stared wide-eyed at the strange interaction unfolding before them. "Why can't you guys ever do anything in like, any other city? I mean, Jersey City is literally right over there! Honestly, I think you guys would fit right in!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="00bf616eb60f0b9d16dccf407136374a" The man in red and yellow huffed in annoyance, while he handed off the bag of money to one of his henchmen. "There are things going on here that you haven't got a clue about. Stay out of it before you get hurt, kid." He started walking back towards the vault, an empty bag in hand./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7132fdd66da92275de28c24eb559f378" "Sorry, Vibrator, but being nosy is part of my nature!" Petra exclaimed, voice mocking, her gaze following him as he walked. The masked man stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at Petra./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="56e10cdc81c55c75f6cf6b9ca848c753" "The hell did you just call me?" He shouted, outraged./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ced99055ecf021d7614839a4faab34ed" "Uhh, I mean, that's your power, isn't it? You shoot blasts of vibrations at people from those gauntlets of yours?" Petra snickered. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="10fd2bec4ec04d4f3b5a811855fbdfd4" This guy seemed really easy to get to. Some of the hostages, and even a few of the thugs, started chuckling as well, trying to hold in their laughter./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="844aafebd397c99b411dd1e9cb9cc71f" "What? No! The Shocker! I'm the Shocker!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4b49f2f79b812c61797fbb30932b257d" Petra shrugged. "I dunno man, I don't think that really fits! I mean, the Shocker implies some kind of electric power! You're not Electro! People are really gonna get confused if you-" Petra was suddenly thrown back by another blast from the Shocker and landed on the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5da91e395a541f54565deebe4de897a7" "Keep up the smart talk and the next one will kill you, understand me Spider-Woman? You can't withstand my vibro-blasts, and even if you manage to hit me, you sure as hell won't do any damage while I keep myself vibrating!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ff451bf75c559395570cc71bb656ebf0" "Unnhh." Petra groaned from the pain. She looked up and met the Shocker's eyes. "That's a lot of talk coming- unh- coming from a guy dressed like a walking oven mitt."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9f9906c65e19d0e1a06f3bb17083da72" Gathering her strength, Petra pushed herself to the side, narrowly avoiding another blast of compressed air. Petra leaped over the teller's counter. Twisting through the air, Petra threw out her arm, shooting a web at one of the henchmen. It hit its mark, and Petra tugged, pulling the thug off his feet and right into her waiting fist. He hit the ground. Petra turned, ready to leap at the others, when her spider-sense came in full force. The Shocker was charging at her, and drawing back his arm to send a punch towards her face. Petra brought up her hands, catching his fist, but it had more strength than she expected, the powerful vibrations from his gauntlet amplifying the force of his punch. Petra was thrown back once again. At this point, she was starting to get really sick of that./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d5bb36e21e480a709f939cf75f702d49" "You sure you don't wanna call yourself the Vibrator? My head is pounding like crazy right now, I think it would really fit!" Petra taunted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f61911513ec32bb521197277d6c8722b" "Shut. The hell. Up! You stupid little punk!" The Shocker shouted, enraged./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="1daa52db5717e456431b9f907bb5ead1"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Okay, how the hell am I gonna stop this guy? I need to take him down fast so that I can take care of the hostage situation! /emJust as Petra finished that thought, a loud em style="box-sizing: border-box;"crack /emreverberated through the air and everything started moving in slow motion for Petra. A hole broke open through one of the windows that Petra hadn't jumped through. A whizzing sound moved through the air. Then, one of the henchmen who was still holding his gun to the hostages started making gurgling sounds. Blood began pooling in his mouth and dripping down his chin. There was a hole in his throat, where blood began to flow as well. His whole body instantly went limp, and he collapsed. Petra could hear heartbeats, not as well as Daredevil could, but she could still hear them, very faintly. His heart stopped beating before he even hit the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bfd78ca239a2c87b5af2e43256dae379" Everyone in the bank froze, staring at the body. Almost simultaneously, most of them turned their heads toward the windows. The shot hadn't come from any of the cops outside. They were all dealing with the now panicking stampede of people outside, who now finally seemed to have enough sense to flee the situation before it got worse, while also looking around and trying to find the shooter./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e9099a17b84533066641ff015c4593d0"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Crack!/em em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Crack!/em Two more shots rang out, and two more of the Shocker's henchmen went down. Panic ensued, as the hostages, now at their wits end, abandoned all precautions and started fleeing towards the bank entrance, screaming at the tops of their lungs. The Shocker just stood there, confused. Another shot rang out, but this time Petra was ready for it. Petra leaped forward and tackled the Shocker to the ground, just as a bullet whizzed by the spot where he had just been standing. The Shocker pressed some buttons on his gauntlets with his thumbs, causing his whole body to vibrate, and throwing Petra off of him. The last henchman left was screaming and ran for cover behind one of the concrete pillars./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7105311c02eb9830a1339f899a131192" "Herman! I think it's him! Let's just get out of here already! This ain't worth it!" He shouted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="93530ea7862ff557a1cb892d236f9a7c" "Not without the money." The Shocker coolly stated./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ba9c704dc8ebb75ad3a41bd0f1069302" Sending a quick vibro-blast towards Petra, forcing her back and away from him, the Shocker made a run for the duffel full of money he had taken from the vault. He grabbed it with one hand and slung it over his shoulder, running to the back of the building. As he passed the vault, he grabbed a small device from his belt, pulled something from it, and then threw it inside. An explosion went off inside the vault a moment later. Petra started to give chase, but as she ran, the last of the Shocker's henchmen cried out for help./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cefbe279dd4c397a513262691890530b" "Wait! Herman! Don't leave me here!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c9488ac587db95c6e104c6507fe4b345" Petra halted and turned to him. He was still behind that pillar, trembling with fear. Every few seconds, another shot would be fired from the mystery shooter, embedding itself into the pillar. A reminder that he was still there, and waiting. Petra shot out a web and climbed to the ceiling, out of sight from the windows. She crawled towards the pillar and then looked down at the henchman. She was about to pull him up with a web, when another explosion rang out, knocking her from the ceiling and sending her free falling towards the floor. Petra used a web at the last minute to break her fall, but she still ended up tumbling to the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fe7127cfd0eb6b0d41f74201ea69bec6"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" The shocker must have left more explosives behind. I don't think this was just about the money./em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cea95c97a15d7820bb2e4300f588dfc1" Petra looked up, and saw that the henchman was now surrounded by burning debris that had fallen from the roof. He had taken off his mask because of the heat, his hair was coated in sweat. He didn't look older than 17, around Petra's age./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d83e83ae516e001569590677b8e45075" "Just hold on! I'm gonna get you out of there!" Petra shouted. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="02bdbd0f1f841ab198c91cf904422207" More explosions sounded off. The building was beginning to collapse around them. Petra leaped into the flames, emerging on the other side and running for the hench. Grabbing hold of him she had him wrap his arms around her shoulders, before shooting a web towards the roof again. With another swing, she sent herself and the henchman flying through the window she had busted through earlier, and they landed on the ground outside. The henchman, still terrified, did not release his grip on her, and Petra had to peel herself away from his grip./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="838dd144b357455d6192a253c67dddd9" "Freeze!" Petra looked away from the henchman and saw that almost every cop outside the bank had their weapons drawn, and pointed directly at her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ac9ed8a8ef45cb846f97c7239626d5ee" "Whoa whoa whoa! Hey! I was just trying to help!" Petra shouted, raising her hands in the air so that they wouldn't shoot./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="34d1f0a6c0ff9e7927e0e6f016b01a0c" "You are under arrest for interfering in an active hostage situation! Keep your hands raised, and kneel on the ground! Resist, and we WILL shoot! Understood?" One of the cops shouted. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5c1a9331e0c39ab2a7e0f3a513ed572b" A few others, still keeping their weapons drawn on her, inched closer, ready to put her in handcuffs. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"One sticky situation after another, huh? What is this, the 300th time the police have tried to arrest me? /emPetra looked around, trying to think about how she would get herself out of this one. She heard one of the cops mutter something about "goddamned mutant freaks." Another nodded along in agreement./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c49d7462cc940a52dfe79b4fc9405d9c"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Crack! Crack! /emTwo gunshots rang out through the air. Immediately after, something whizzed right past her ear, followed by another, and hit something behind her. Petra turned. The henchman had been shot. Once in the heart, and once dead center in his forehead. He fell to the ground. Petra's stomach dropped. A few of the cops swiveled once again looking around for the shooter. Petra used this distraction to web away before they brought their attention back to her. Some of them shot at her, but she was too fast and swung behind a building to safety. Petra looked up. Now that she was outside, she had been able to hear where those shots had come from. She leaped to a rooftop and started looking./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="96de33ea666fd58508ae876dfe53455c" There! On a rooftop a few blocks away, she could see the figure of a man disassembling a few parts of his sniper rifle, packing it away into a duffel bag, and slinging the rifle over his shoulder. Petra started leaping from rooftop to rooftop, closing in on the mystery man's location. He was running with his back turned away from her towards the fire escape. Petra couldn't make out much of him with his back turned, as he was wearing a long dark trench coat. Petra landed on the roof, and just as she was about to make a grab for the man, he turned, with one arm raised, and pointed a .45 pistol directly at her forehead. There was nothing that her blaring spider-sense could do to get her out of that one./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b4f585e02ed20b60d25c8b6feedd0861" Petra had a full view of him now. He had jet-black hair, with a severe widow's peak. His face was molded into a permanent angry frown, and numerous cut marks were lining it, in various stages of the healing process. Under his trench coat, he was wearing a black bodysuit, with white gloves and boots. A white utility belt was wrapped around his waist, with some of the pockets lining up with a white imprint of a large skull on his chest to form large teeth./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9f008c5107a26eff698c39e2956666e0"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Fuck. /emPetra thought. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"It's the freakin' Punisher!/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="89659c77f7e55e697b5435336e6d5bf3" She'd heard all sorts of stories about the Punisher. Back in Midtown, when people weren't talking excitedly about the Avengers or Spider-Woman, they would speak in hushed tones about the Punisher. Sometimes, while playing recon and staking out different criminal operations, she would overhear mournful conversations about dead friends, struck down by him when they least expected it. Entire gangs were wiped out in a night. Petra had heard a lot of stories. She couldn't tell what was true, what was exaggerated, and what was complete myth, but she knew one thing: the Punisher was ruthlessly efficient, deadly, and not someone that you wanted to run into./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3e28a91272791c7487dac85791557b68" "You let him get away." The Punisher said, his voice cold, showing no emotions except for simmering, ever-present anger./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ebf50f4fdc03861f33c9d927289a3a58" "W-what?" Petra stuttered./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e7b887f12c803a1dad4cdfa8f908dc0e""That clown in the costume, he got away while you wasted your time on that low-life punk!" The Punisher was shouting now, visibly frustrated with her. But his body remained calm and collected. He never lost his cool and kept his gun trained steadily on her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="39940e2a012ac0969c1b84b9a46b1629" "I-I was trying to save him! From you!" Petra was starting to lose her stutter, a fiery fury now growing within her. "You killed him! He was just a kid, clearly he was new to this and was in over his head! He had a chance to leave, to do better, and you snuffed it out!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="2a565853b3e2e92111628602541ed2e9" "I've seen this a million times, girl. He would have gone right back and done it again. What's worse is that because of your idiocy, that freak with the gauntlets will be back and keep pulling more jobs for his boss."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f0c9fe3847ac89bf396a16870517d081" Petra was confused now. "HIS boss?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0cb05dbfbd3d29184151fb22b155039c" "The big man, the leader of the operation, whatever you want to call him! Big things are going down, and some new group is making moves for power, right under everyone's noses. And you just let one of their pawns go free!" He was really agitated now./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6a0d8f9ade424af83deee4db4d38887b" Petra flinched but didn't say anything, she just stared the Punisher down. Deciding on a course of action, Petra dodged her head to the left, then grabbed the Punisher's wrist, pulling him forward and into a solid right hook, faster than a normal human would have been able to. The Punisher must not have been expecting this, as he seemed completely caught off guard by this. He recovered quickly though, grabbing Petra's arm and flipping her over his shoulder. Petra landed on her back with a thud./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b2a1af8c0f0ffd1f30f4bcb1f9fcacc8" "Don't get in my way again!" The Punisher shouted. He took off running and jumped onto the fire escape, making his way down to the alley below./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="430a3fd23c3cb5b8cd6c2f1c94d30a26" Petra recovered, standing up and chasing after him. She leaped off the roof and onto the wall of the building next to her, then scaled down. The Punisher entered a nondescript black van, started the engine, and peeled off into the street outside the alley. Petra shot a web and started swinging after him. Petra chased the van for a few blocks, the van weaving through traffic, trying to get away. Just as Petra was closing in, the Punisher stuck his head out the window, aiming a pistol in her direction. Petra's spider sense went off, and she let go of her web line, avoiding the bullet sent in her direction, and dove to the ground. She shot off another and kept swinging towards the van, much lower to the ground now. Her spider sense went off again and dodged another bullet. Several more were fired off in quick succession. Petra kept dodging, but it was really hard when she was swinging mid-air. The Punisher aimed his gun again, and Petra twisted again, but this time there was nothing she could do. Another shot was fired, and Petra winced, bracing herself to get hit./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="170175fe9c95ee02127951c1cc7930d3"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Snap! /emThe bullet hit her web, cutting it and sending Petra plummeting to the ground. Petra frantically launched another web, catching herself at the last minute, but the momentum of the fall sent her crashing into a wall. Petra stuck to it, catching her breath. She looked back to the street. The van was gone. Petra couldn't believe that the Punisher had been able to hit her web! Not only was it a moving target, but it was incredibly thin as well! Petra swung around for a few blocks, searching for the van, but she knew she wouldn't be able to find it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="098be185b471d2f84f75ead5ff6e99a2" Petra swung back to the alley where she had left her backpack and ripped it from the webbing holding it. After slinging it over her shoulder, she pulled out her phone to check her messages. Nothing. Aunt May still hadn't even seen her message!/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="8a2ccf4a9a97d2a94d6a7a1943ecbebd"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Okay, I'm officially worried out of my mind now. /emPetra thought, before swinging off towards Central Park. Petra would have rather avoided it and just swung around, because there was no way for her to swing through it, but sprinting through it from the side that she was on was a lot faster than swinging around it. As she sprinted, people who were going about their days and enjoying the park stopped to gawk at the random superhero cutting through. With her enhanced speed, Petra was able to make the half-mile run in quick time, and soon she resumed her web-slinging outside the park. She made her way to the Queensboro Bridge, swinging through, making her way over the East River and into Queens. Eventually, she made it back to Forest Hills, finally running out of tall buildings to swing from and now jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It was starting to get dark out, and the setting sun cast long, dark shadows over the neighborhood. Petra made it to her home and quickly changed into her clothes on the rooftop. She hopped down in between hers and Mary Jane's houses and then ran to her front door. Unlocking it, she turned the handle and pushed her way into the house./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="71836deb4c72fe3343fffa9b2f98b018" "May! I'm home!" Petra called, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="5941537b2becf96d20732d2b437164d7" She closed the door behind her and walked further into the house, looking around for May. Walking into the living room, Petra found May, sprawled out on the floor face down, right next to the coffee table./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e0c2569d588bb32aad92cd7be67a582b" "May! Oh my god!" Petra screamed, running to May's side. Petra felt like she was going to puke. She turned May over and saw a nasty bruise on her forehead. May groaned and slowly opened her eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="010a1267e050484a80d1cec2a5ecf2bc" "Petra? What?" May's eyes widened, panic seeming to flood through her. "Oh lord, I never picked you up from ESU! Petra, are you ok, you weren't waiting too long for me over there, were you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f6533ca0f67c33f9b0ef2166bed0f6ad" "May, I'm okay, I took the subway home, but you don't need to worry about me! I'm worried about you! What happened?" Petra asked. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Shit, of course this happened while I was gone! If it weren't for the Shocker and the Punisher, I could have gotten here sooner to help May!/em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="ee4c8d5174ff783352a33c35e5847b96" "Oh, nothing, I-I was just feeling a little lightheaded, that's all Petra. I must have fallen and hit my head." May said quickly, trying to shut down the conversation about her health./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="745a744aa69eb5154228aeac4eb59fd0" "This is not nothing, Aunt May! It's not normal! We need to get you to a doctor, I-" Aunt May made a face at Petra, something between a glare and pleading./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7de06bab71c1a7bae3039e672329c700" "Petra, let's just drop this! I don't want you worrying about me, okay?" May begged, bringing a hand up to caress Petra's cheek./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b92247a4b5e6bb4898d08386b8e08dd6" Petra stared at Aunt May, tears forming in her eyes. "I-" She paused to get her breathing under control, attempting to quell the growing panic in her chest. "I'm not okay with this. But I can't make you do anything either."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="e6fda859dcc36e317a02d2879cd29b90" May drew Petra into a hug, and Petra squeezed her tight. The two of them just sat there for a while, on the ground, embracing each other. May and Petra got up, with Petra ushering May onto the couch to rest while she made dinner for the two of them. Petra brought her and May's plates from the kitchen and set them down on the coffee table. Petra turned on the TV, and it opened up on the evening news. Petra and May dug into their food. Petra glanced at May every now and then, not paying any attention to whatever they were talking about on the news. May didn't notice Petra's staring, she just watched the TV, a frown growing on her face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="bfc46df8d93b1ba053076b894d720ea5" "Ugh! I wish they would just stop talking about that Spider-Woman character!" May abruptly shouted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b94f727cc03d2637d38d8f67ef78904a" "Huh?" Petra asked. "What about Spider-Woman?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="43b25cde179f331cbfa5501329b2751a" May kept frowning at the television. "Spider-Woman! That's all they talk about half the time nowadays. Can't anyone see that that's exactly what she wants? She goes around, making trouble and acting like a hero just so she can get attention!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="d97cb5ee64f670f6290f45b42e8ae929" Petra looked at the TV. They were talking about her fight with the Shocker on the news, and speculating if Spider-Woman was really there to stop the robbery, or if she was somehow in on the whole thing. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"They'll really do anything to keep their ratings up, won't they? /emPetra thought./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0953d0915ba927db384be42576b7af31" "But, she saved those people, Aunt May! Spider-Woman isn't the bad guy!" Petra exclaimed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4e8b00fb74a1ef09709863577c70df77" Aunt May shot Petra a pitying look. "Oh, Petra, I'm just so-so scared for you! This-this world that we live in! It's not like we didn't have any problems when I grew up, we were worried about nuclear war, or terrorists, or-or, you know what I mean! There's always been violence in this world, and it's come to New York before! But-but now it's everywhere! All the time! All around us! Every other person I talk to says they've seen Spider-Woman swing past them at some point in time!" Petra flinched at that. May kept going. "Gods and Mole-Men attack the city every other week! And just today, a few blocks away from your college campus, Spider-Woman and some other idiot in a costume were fighting in a bank! There were hostages and now they're saying that people died! Every time you walk out that door, I fear for your life! I don't know if you'll get mugged by some wannabe supervillain, or if you'll be just another casualty in a street battle between the Avengers and whatever new threat has come to New York!" Tears started flowing down Aunt May's face. "That's why I always complain about you going everywhere on the subway, and you staying out all day! I don't want to step on your toes or smother you, but it's just not safe anymore!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6abf3d40ba90ee73490c2da331d4890b" Petra gawked at her. "M-May! I had no idea you felt this way!"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="95e4bae96e373796210afcb031056acb" May sniffled. "It's been haunting me-" May's voice wavered, and she paused. "It's been on my mind ever since the day that Ben died." Petra's heart dropped. May didn't like to talk about that night. Petra only ever got some of the details from the police. A man-the man that Petra had refused to stop from robbing someone earlier that same day- had broken into their home, searching for any money and valuable items that he could get his hands on. He came across May and Ben. When he left their house, Ben was dead, and May was left to pick up the pieces of the home he had broken. When Petra found out what had happened, she had left May, all alone with the police, and confronted the killer. She felt like a jerk for leaving May, but at least she had caught the monster that had done this to them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="834faf4976a2a2677f8c0d7cb6d6ace8" May kept going. "I never told you this- because it was bad enough that you had to deal with Ben's death, but the police told me-" May paused to take a breath. "The police told me that when they tracked down that thug, Spider-Woman was there too." Petra's eyes widened. She didn't like where this was going. "I don't know if she was there to fight him, or if she was an accomplice, or some other thing. But ever since that night, she just hasn't stopped popping up! I can't even remember how many sightings there were of her at your school, or in Forest Hills! One of our neighbors thinks that she lives here! In our neighborhood! One time, when I was in Brooklyn, she swung by and attacked some thugs on the street I was walking on! I can't tell you just how many coincidences there are! Always Spider-Woman!" May wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0e9e6e595694747478e5a8d53228a162" Petra hugged her. "It's okay, May. Listen, it's getting late, and we've both had an eventful evening. Why don't we go to bed and get some rest!" Petra stood up and pulled May off the couch, guiding her towards the stairs, and walking her up towards May's room. May and Petra hugged each other goodnight, and then parted, each going to their respective rooms. May closed her door and sat down on her bed, looking down at the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="363fd2fcb8a0cabb6362c24ab2a730c0" She started feeling dizzy again but fought to keep herself upright. It had been happening for weeks now, but in the last few days, it had gotten even worse. Other symptoms were popping up too. She had been trying her best to hide it from Petra, but her luck had run out today. She didn't want Petra worrying about her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9e083ddc724c951c3b9603c76c78c2c4"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" Petra's always been such a sensitive girl. /emMay thought. She didn't think Petra could handle the knowledge that she was getting sick. But at the same time, May knew she couldn't hide it forever, or else it would just make things worse. For her, and for Petra. May lay down on her bed, covering up for the night and drifting off to sleep./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="fe5b2433a4ac6e020e63ed662134b693" At that very same moment, across the city, a man clad in a familiar red and yellow costume walked into a meeting room and looked out of its floor-to-ceiling window. It was at the top of a skyscraper, with a beautiful view overlooking the nicer parts of the city. All the lights were out, and he could barely see a thing inside the room. Nervously, he sat down in one of the office chairs surrounding the long table that occupied the room. He didn't like being here, sitting in a fancy office like this, in a fancy tower, while dressed the way he was. He especially didn't like being there under the current circumstances./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c9541063892365869e3a2e575c64459e" "Herman, I'm glad you could make it, I wanted to have a little chat about your performance today."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="63e689b684aff148905b99053a8de655" The Shocker looked up. Sitting in the nicest chair in the room, at the end of the table, was his boss. Dressed in his all-white power suit, he was a big, imposing man, with a bald head, olive skin, dark eyes, and a taut frown on his face. Though the Shocker couldn't make out much of his face, he could tell that its expression conveyed a great deal of displeasure./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="28ff2e81e167c5497db6642d0dbbdb86" "Mr. Fi-"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f5f7ddc894df0f065609c1e3a07f615b""Quiet!" The man shouted. "What have I told you, and everyone else in this organization a thousand times before? We do not. Say. My. Name."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="79e2fcb5e15ccd3da4ba236ba0701a92" "I'm sorry, sir." The Shocker quietly muttered./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="0e5b5f181d257a144f2a22100cba4d06" "Good. Tell me, Mr. Schultz, do you recall what I am to be called? Or do you find yourself too forgetful this evening?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7a79b53e754b025953ff204a254f14da" "No! I remember sir." The Shocker said, his normally gruff voice betrayed by his fright. "Kingpin. You're the Kingpin."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="6039f3676df81af886626a95d9a9a1e1" "That is correct, Mr. Schultz. Now, onto the matter at hand. You destroyed the bank. That's good, that's what I told you to do. What I am displeased about, though, is the fact that you only managed to take one single duffle bag full of money, barely enough money to aid in financing our growing operation, and that four of my men are dead!" The Kingpin shouted. "Need I remind you how precious resources are for this organization right now?" He asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="7220b023aff08acd67c480d1abe2000e" "No, sir." The Shocker replied./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="b1121bdb013b88499afd531d6a3cc216" "Then explain to me your performance today."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="16bf526991d83e8d6ca5528421625037" "Spider-Woman showed up, she kept us busy for a while, but I would have had her handled eventually, she couldn't stand up to my gauntlets." The Shocker continued. "We were interrupted by something else. I think it was the Punisher. You know he's been hounding us for a while now. I never saw him, but I can't think of anyone else who's as good a marksman. I was about to take Spider-Woman out, but a sniper started shooting at us. He took your guys out, but I managed to get away, grab the duffle bag, and set off the explosives."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4db9ffdba310b132eab9fa20a6c1bd6c" The Kingpin sat there for a moment, his hands folded and pressed to his lips. "Well, I suppose I can't fault you for Castle's interference. He's been an annoyance for quite some time now. But Herman, I think you're downplaying Spider-Woman's part in this. You may have had her on the ropes this time, but she's proven herself against seemingly superior opponents in the past. What happens the next time you cross paths with her? And I can guarantee to you, Mr. Schultz, that you two WILL meet again."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="f5a474d37542047b7f13cc4f35ae5cf4" "I'll kill her, that's what I'll do. I won't waste any time like I did in the bank, I'll just take her out and be done with it." The Shocker coldly stated, his confidence returning to his voice./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="4140d01fd98b08472956858991f21ecb" "Good, Mr. Schultz. That's what I want to hear. I like your tenacity, you've always been a valued part of my organization. But mark my words, Herman, if you fail me next time, I won't be as forgiving as I am tonight." The Kingpin said darkly, his eyes seeming to pierce the Shocker's soul./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="c34081b09b85fddc3ec75432bf000e1a" "U-understood boss. I won't fail you!" The Shocker stuttered out./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="cb162ae6643469a917abbf4ab6d60811" "Then we have reached an understanding. Thank you for your time, Mr. Schultz. You may leave now."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="3ab83abf097098162275611dcea064c9" The Shocker stood up, walking towards the door, before he opened it, he turned back to the Kingpin. "Sir, can I ask you, why did you want that bank destroyed?"/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="9a874d4579e06e09fcb2182d1565b3a9" The Kingpin looked amused. "It's simple, Herman. I was taking out one of my many rival's pawns. This is a big city, but it's not big enough for me to share with anyone else. That bank was a front for Hydra, there are many "legitimate" businesses throughout the city that they front, and that was one of them. I'm pushing them, and everyone else, off of this island, absorbing their resources, and then taking everything for myself. For this organization. Good night, Mr. Schultz."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" data-p-id="62b1dc3ccfa718c2aea779197796d128" "Uh, good night, boss." With that, the Shocker turned and walked out of the office, leaving the Kingpin by himself. He swiveled his chair to look out the window, and down on the city. Today had been a failure, at least in his opinion. But he was still getting closer to his goal. Soon he'd control every part of the criminal underworld in New York. Then, and only then, would he finally be content./p