Chapter 21

HELLLLLOOOOO NEW YORK!, I have returned on time for the end of the summer and the end of that dang hiatus with a bunch of chapters i'm just waiting to post!
Thank you everyone for staying with this story for the long wait, I hope this chapter satisfy's your desire for another chapter and another look into the life our favourite wall-crawling young adult, Peter Parker. As old jolly Jonah would say "Get me pictures of Spider-man!"

To the one person who saw the wrong posted chapter last time and didn't spoil anything, you're goated!

Btw I know I had this scheduled to release on the 14th but I realised a Tuesday release probably isn't the best for most of my readers who are busy during the week so here's a Friday release instead :)

Onto the reviews then shall we. (I made sure the chapter was atleast 5,000 words without the reviews btw, it's 6,730 excluding AN's, before I started them so don't worry about the size of them, I was just so excited to reply to these you all have no idea.)

Frosty Wolf: That's awesome sure Spectacular really was just peak Spider-man cartoon, but it makes me so happy to hear that you're enjoying the story this much so thank you very much!

Yep lots to unpack sure Peter doesn't have a boring life I can say that! In regards to Eddie, we'll have to see just where he ends up won't we ;)

Thank you so much for being so understanding, this review really helped alot when I was struggling to write.

Cha0s4ever: Thanks for the review sure i'm glad you're enjoying it! Hope this update puts a smile on your face :)

Lukesterlord: Ah a good old story binge, it's kinda surreal that my story has that effect but i'm so glad you're enjoying it that much. Oh my god stop I know that feeling, Fighting Crime, Spinning Webs is such an emotional gut punch at times but it's so good! Wow. To be compared to arguably the best Spectacular fic is a huge compliment, thank you! Ngl when you posted this review I had just had a terrible day cause of my psychologist but your review made the day brilliant from that point on so seriously, thank you.

I'll be honest romantic wise there will be some developments but probably not the type you're looking for, the way I have my notes set up is kinda year 1 in story focuses mainly on Peter then year 2 focuses more on the romantic stuff to a higher degree. Obviously there is still some romantic development in year 1 just mainly set-up if you get me?

Now when I saw this next bit of the review I was so happy because...constructive criticism! :D How I long for it lol. I'll admit it's not one of my best scenes yet it's actually quite important plot wise but I can't really say too much more without spoiling stuff so it's just ugh, I tried to have Peters protective instincts come out near the end of the conversation when he asks if she's okay but I can see why that would be drowned out, the feel I was going for was that he was in utter shock but yeah, hopefully my plans to continue that plot point in this chapter give a bit more insight to how Peter was thinking and give him the metaphorical kick in pants he needs!

On the topic of kick in the pants, thank you for giving me one with the constructive criticism, I really needed it to remind me and help drive home that plot point and I think it made the story better because of what you brought up so yeah, you're awesome!

I do have to agree with you, Fighting Crimes Spinning Webs did do the pairing very well but tbh I'm not sure if i'm as good a writer as the author of that lol but I'll give it some thought atleast. I think you'll enjoy the POV shift is all i'm gonna say ;)

No problem, like you I was crushed after reading Fighting Crimes, Spinning Webs and needed more Spectacular Spider-man so I decided to write my own and well the rest is history :) Thank you for leaving such an engaging review! Any feedback is appreciated sure lol.

Misiisii Isme: Howdy, well welcome back sure i'm honoured that you're enjoying the story as much as you are, makes me happy to know that the story is making other people happy sure I hope this update lives up to the hype :) Hope you are doing well also and have a wonderful day.

"Spectacular" = Speech

'Spectacular' = Thoughts

"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote

*BANG* = Important Noise?

-Flashback- = Flashback setting

"I love you" = Written words

{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date

Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.

Living up to the wall-crawling name, Spider-man sleepily and quietly snuck back into his room in Forest Hills through the window, the clock reading 9:59pm as the moon hung obscured in a cloudy sky.

"Aunt May is so gonna kill me" Peter groaned, taking his mask off as he spotted the time before a loud yawn forced its way up and out from his throat.

It was the Thursday the week he'd come back from Florida and Peter was already absolutely exhausted, as he'd thought, whilst he was gone crime had run rampant once they'd realised he wasn't in the city leaving Daredevil, who he hadn't even had a chance to meet up with yet, to carry the strain by his lonesome.
To say Peter felt a bit guilty was an understatement, who knows how many people he could've saved had he been here instead of Florida, being here sure as heck would've helped pay the mountain of bills that had accumulated whilst he was gone...but the more he thought about it, about Florida, the better he was feeling about going.

'Afterall, I not only found Marko but helped him get in contact with Captain Stacy AND I tracked down The Lizard and, with help, subdued him enough to the point where he was captured so they can hopefully begin work on a cure!' Peter thought back to the good he'd done back in Florida before his mind turned the cure for Dr. Connors, Specifically Gwen's declaration to cure the poor man.

"I bet Gwen comes up with a cure first, it's nigh impossible to stop her once she's put her mind to something" Peter said supportively, exhaustion still colouring his voice as he got out of his spider-suit only to freeze at a sudden sound.

*KNOCK, KNOCK*

"Peter, is that you?" The unmistakeable voice of a tired Aunt May could be heard coming from behind Peters door following two knocks causing Peter to wake up at sudden alertness, kicking his suit under the bed before he responded.

"Y-yeah Aunt May, sorry It looked like you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you" Peter replied back quietly, opening his door a smidge at the end to look at Aunt May who stood there in her dressing gown and pyjamas, eyes barely open.

"If you say so Peter just get to sleep soon, okay?" Was all Aunt May said before she turned around heading back to her room for a much needed nights rest whilst Peter closed his door and sat on his bed, his half unpacked suitcase sitting at the foot of it to his left causing his thoughts to start drifting back to Florida, particularly the beach due to his swim shorts hanging out.

'The only 'good' I did on the beach though was bring a smile to everyones face when I had to have that brutal wipe out...well almost everyone, Gwen and MJ atleast didn't seem to find it too funny.' Peter thought to himself slightly bitter, yet his irritation at the lengths he went to to protect his secret was gnawing away at him and souring his thoughts towards the positives of the beach like meeting Felicia, surfing or admittedly getting to see Gwen in her bikinni.

'Kinda hard to think about Gwen in her bikinni without thinking of the other time she wore it...which was nearly her last.' Peter thought to himself as a knot began to form in his stomach, his memories of the descent into the depths of the ocean coming to the forefront of his mind, particularly Gwens brush with death.

'God if I hadn't been there who knows what would've happened to Gwen... ' Peter thought silently, the weight of what could have happened had he stayed in New York setting in and making Peter ever the more thankful that he did actually go down to Florida afterall he didn't know what he'd do without Gwen in his life.
Speaking of Gwen...

Peters eyes drifted over to rest on the infamous hospital card that has made itself a permanent resident on his bedside locker, the card which chased away the nightmares, which reassured him of Gwen's feelings and the card he hadn't taken to Florida when he could've needed it the most after what he'd seen between Gwen and Harry.

'Did I even hear them right, like thinking back on it the male voice had seemed quite forceful ...yet that was Harry, there's no way he'd do anything without Gwen's consent, surely i'm remembering it wrong right?' Peter thought to himself, his mind warring with itself as he tried to remember what exactly had happened that night.

'I even asked Gwen if everything was okay and she said yeah if I remember right, like my first instinct was to check on her...so why do I feel like I let her down?' Peter ruminated as he fell backwards so he was laying on his back staring at the ceiling hoping it would provide the answers he sought.

'She was quick to leave...was it embarassment of being caught by Spider-man or was it taking advantage of the situation to escape Harry? There are so many questions I have about that night and I think my only way of getting answers is to ask Gwen herself... I just don't know how to ask her, If I ask as Peter I risk exposing my secret as Spider-man and that's a whole kettle of fish I am so not ready to handle right now but what choice do I have, it's not like Spider-man can perform a wellness check on a concerned citizen!' Peter continued his mental battle before groaning at the unfairness of the situation, his hands clutching the front of his hair in frustration.

Only for his eyes to shoot open as if he'd been struck by a bolt of lightning.

'Who's to say Spider-man can't perform wellness checks? There's no superhero authority! I'm the friendly neighbourhood Spider-man, if I wanna check in on old man McGuckket over in Queens, or on Depressed Danny in Brooklyn, or heck say the police captains daughter then what's stopping me? Nothing, that's what!' Peter thought resolutely to himself.

'...Now I just gotta figure out how to say it.'

lllllll

Peter yawned as he came down the stairs, fixing his sleeves to hide the spider-suit below as he reached the last few steps of the staircase, nearly missing the final one in his bleary state but catching himself in time.

'Great, post which means...yep, bills. And a stack of them.' Peter thought to himself when he picked up the pile of evil envelopes, reading through the stack of overdue bills from the electric company, the water company, the internet provider etc as he walked into the kitchen where Aunt May sat sitting at the table as she wrote a letter.

"Morning Aunt May." Peter said as he passed by the table on his way to the counter near the back door, turning around so he was leaning against it as he continued reading through the days mail.

"Hmm? Yes, hi Peter." Aunt May replied completely absorbed in her letter, barely looking up the paper before her as she wrote away, to who Peter didn't know but he was too distracted by the envelope with bright red lettering to think about who.

"URGENT"

'Oh great, what's this about?' Peter thought to himself with sarcastic dread as he opened the letters whose red letters implied financial doom for the recipitent.

"Dear Parker Residence,

We here at Draconian Heating must regretfully inform you that your estimated repair costs for the heating and immersion were understated by us and due to a sudden sharp increase in the price of the needed parts, the price of the repair will likewise go up to..."

'1,000 Dollars! They might aswell be robbing our graves...god what are we gonna do, It'll be freezing in Fall and wicked in Winter if last year was any indication.' Peter read in indigninant shock at the exorbitant price as he tried to think of where they were going to get the money, his aunt none the wiser as she continued her writing, pausing every now and then before continuing.

*BRINGGG, BRINGGG*

The sound of Peters phone ringing from his pocket served as a suitable distraction from the bills in his hands as he glanced at the caller ID.

'Ned?'

Looking up from his phone that was being rung by fellow Daily Buggle employee, Ned Lee, Peter decided to head outside once he saw a small frown beginning to develop on Aunt Mays face at his phones ringing.

Closing the backdoor as quietly as he could Peter answered the phone call and brought the phone to his ear, one single thought going through his head 'If this is about my relationship with Spider-man again I might just hang up straight away.'

"Peter! Those were some stellar photos, heck some of them were downright sexy you sly-dog!" Neds voice came in loudly before finishing cheekily causing Peter to blush, having a good idea which photos he was thinking about and the fact that he was supposed to be seeing her tomorrow.

"Anyway I was calling because like I said Peter, stellar job on the photos, there's tons to choose from and I was hoping to pick your brain today for a few hours if you were free?" Ned praised once again before making his intentions known causing Peter to frown.

'Ugh do I really have the time to spare? Trying to stop some crime would not only be morally right...but If I'm lucky I might get some shots that Jamesson will buy which would really help out with these bills, then there's Daredevil and Cletus to think of, all the while I need to figure out what to say to Gwen when I check on her...fucking hell, Ned i'm sorry but it's looking like you drew the short straw buddy.' Peter thought to himself with a wince, the 1,000 Dollars demand staring him right in the face from the heating bill in his hand before he opened his mouth to begin to turn Ned down.

"Of course i'd pay you 100 Dollars for your time, should you accept?" Ned said as he sweetened the deal causing Peter's eyes to comically turn into Dollar signs...atleast in his head they did, realistically they just widened slightly at the enticing offer as he looked at the heating bill before him.

"...You know what Ned, yeah I am free, where do you wanna meet?" Peter replied enthusiastically, letting out a chuckle when he heard a whispered "Yes!" come through the phone that he could imagine was accompanied by a fist pump.

"How about the White Lotus Teahouse over in Chinatown, I know the owners and their jasmine tea is divine, say in an hour?" Ned proposed causing Peter to think over the distance.

"That's doable, sure i'll see you there." Peter agreed before going to end the call.

"See you later Peter!"

*CLICK*

With the click of a button the phone call was ended and Peter was on his way back inside to grab a slice of toast before he left and to put the bills down on the counter when he paused at the back door.

'When Aunt May see's that 1,000 Dollar bill she's gonna be destroyed, and with her heart the way it is, if I wasn't around when she saw the bill... no, this one stays with me, I'll tell her tonight when I get home.' Peter thought to himself, taking the heating bill, folding it and putting it away quietly into his pocket so Aunt May would be none the wiser till he got home.

Opening the backdoor, Peter entered the kitchen again and saw that Aunt May was just licking the envelope, which likely contained her letter, sealed before she turned it around and began very carefully writting an address on it.

"...So that was Ned from the Buggle, he wants to meet up for tea and go over my photos from the holiday, said he'd pay me too" Peter mentioned offhandly as he put a piece of bread in the toaster, his aunt putting the finishing touches on the envelope.

"That's nice Peter, say could you drop this into the mailbox on your way please? I would but i'm afraid I won't have time with me and Anna having that Bridge tournament to go to today." Aunt May replied before inquiring as Peter barely had to think it over.

"Of course Aunt May, that's no problem." Peter answered back right as his toast popped prompting his aunt to clap her hands in delight, a smile blossoming onto her face.

"Wonderful, thank you Peter."

Finishing his toast in record time, Peter accepted the letter from Aunt May, quickly putting it in his messenger bag where it would be safe before he went to head out the door, waving goodbye to his aunt as he did so.

llllll

Getting off the NYC subway at Canal street Peter made his way out of the subway station and up to the streets above alongside the rest of the crowd.

'Ugh wish I could've just swung over here as Spider-man but if Ned got a whiff of that, then he might start making connections again and I don't need that at the moment...atleast Aunt May's mailing Eddie.' Peter groaned to himself to silently before looking at the bright side as he thought back to the address he'd seen on the envelope when he'd went to put it in the mailbox, although he could've sworn Eddie was patient 86, not 63 but he guessed he was just remembering wrong since he hadn't had to use Eddie's patient number in ages.

Making his way down the street, Peter checked his phone to make sure he was going in the right direction and before he knew it 10 minutes later, he was stood outside a quaint looking teashop.
A green sign hung from the top and written in white lettering it said in both english and what Peter assumed to be Chinese: "White Lotus Teashop.", a little white lotus painted at the end as a fullstop.

Walking inside and listening to the little bell ring as he made his way into a medium sized shop with 6 solid wooden tables, depictions of carp swimming up the table legs to become dragons that wrapped around the four corners of the tables.
Sitting at one of these tables was a burnette young woman of about 22 in an emerald hoodie and a pair of jeans, a shaggy black haired young man of a similar age standing chatting with her whilst he was dressed as a waiter, smiles on both their faces even if Peter had to supress a wince at the burn scar over the mans left eye.

"Peter!" Ned said as he waved from one of the tables on the right side, a steaming cup of tea before him as he gained Peter's attention, the wallcrawlers private photographer making his way over at the sound.

"Hey Ned, how're things?" Peter said as he sat down in the chair opposite Ned, hanging his messanger bag off the side of his chair.

"Oh you know the same old, same old with Jonah. Sharp deadlines, high standards and daily threats from him about being fired...yeah, yourself?" Ned replied as a flash of...something Peter couldn't quite put his finger on flashed through his felllow Buggle employees eyes.

"Similar, just add a mountain of bills... and girl trouble." Peter muttered, thoughts still running wild in trying to figure out what to say to Gwen, no matter how he looked at it he just felt himself coming off as painfully blunt and awkward.

"Preach about the bills, New York is brutal to live in! But girl trouble, why Peter, why am I only hearing about this now you sly-dog? Don't you know you can trust this senior with your woes." Ned groaned at the beginning before adopting a coy look that was swiftly replaced with a grin.

"It's nothing Ned really, like It's not interesting I just-" Whatever Peter was gonna say was interrupted by Ned as he cut in in a suave voice.

"Peter, girl trouble is always interesting sure i'm actually in a bit myself now that you bring it up, thanks to you no doubt!" Ned said with a laugh taking a sip of his tea afterwards whilst Peter looked on in confusion.

"Wait i'll explain first and then you can go, but first, tea?" Peter hesitantly nodded. " Wonderful. Hey Zuko! Get your lazy butt over here and away from your girlfriend for 5 minutes to take my friends order!" Ned shouted over at the waiter with the burn scar that Peter had noticed upon walking in.

"Damnit Ned i'm on my break, get Uncle to do it!" The now named Zuko shouted back eliciting a giggle from his presumed girlfriend, the young woman in the emerald hoodie with brown hair and a soft smile.

"But you're right there! Come on, do a man a solid?" Ned urged the waiter who looked like he wanted him to burst into flames if the glare on his face was any indication.

"Zuko is that a customer I hear? Take their order, we have a reputation to uphold afterall!" A kindly old mans voice came yelling out from the kitchen of the teashop causing Zuko to groan and his girlfriend to giggle.

"It's okay Zuko, I'll still be here when you're done." Zuko's girlfriend said with a smile as she got her giggles under control getting a look of betrayal from Zuko.

"Not you too Jin." Zuko moaned before he sighed whilst standing up, walking over to Ned and Peters table as he took out a notepad and pen Zuko got ready to take Peters order.

"So what do you want?"

"Eh i'll have the... Jasmine tea please?" Peter said with a pause as he had to think of what to order, remembering what Ned had suggested earlier on the phone and just going with that much to said Korean-Americans satisfied grin.

"Great another one going for Uncles speciality, why does no-one ever choose the Oolong or the Chai tea? No it's always the Jasmine, swear he's got them hooked on the stuff." Zuko muttered to himself as he wrote the order on his notepad, walking to the back where there was a window into the kitchen and, upon ripping out the order page, attached it to the hanger for his Uncle to see.

Whilst Zuko made his way back to his Girlfriend, Ned took this opportunity to begin his explanation of what he meant by his own 'bout of girl trouble.

"So remember those 'marvelous' photos you sent me? Well there I was scrolling away at my desk at work laughing at photos of a brilliant sandcastle competition when suddenly what should pop up on my screen, but photos of a smoking babe in a bikinni! ...of course Betty happened to be walking by at that moment and saw my screen and now she thinks I was looking at porn in the office." Ned began doing air quotes with his fingers before adopting a grin at memories of the sandcastle competition and Felicia photos, only to groan at the end.

"Pfftt Ouch Ned, couldn't you know just show her the email and the consent form Felicia, the woman in the bikinni, sent in? Surely Betty would understand then right?" Peter barely restrained himself from laughing before he proposed the idea which seemed to light up Ned's whole demeanor.

"Peter you're a genius! I was just saying you sent it to me hahaha" Ned exclaimed before awkwardly laughing as Peters hand came up to slap himself in the face on the otherside of the table, Peter letting out a groan as he did so.

'Fucker was dragging me down with him' Peter thought to himself as he removed his hand from his face right as a door near the back was pushed open, a slightly rotund old man with gray hair done in a top knot with a bald patch on top and a strong set of matching grey muttenchops plus beard combo making his way out of the kitchen with a tray carrying a tea set.

"Sorry about my grumpy Nephew, college is a stressful time, especially his final year, without having to help out here all the time too so please don't think ill of him, he just wants some time with his girlfriend. My name is Iroh, pleasure to meet you." The now named Iroh explained quietly as layed the tea set down on the table before Peter, causing him to give a quick side eye to the couple on the left side of the shop who didn't seem to have heard the old man.

"Nice to meet you Iroh." Peter replied as he reached over to take hold of his white and blue decorated porcelain cup, the smell of jasmine wafting up to his nose the closer the cup of tea got to him until finally it was at its peak as he took a sip, his taste buds being among one of many olfactory senses to erupt in a soothing delight.

"I think he likes it Old Man." Ned said to Iroh getting a belly laugh out of the man.

"I've known you since you were 9 Ned, old is putting it mildly!" Iroh said as he finished his laughing by wiping away a tear that built up from expressing so much amusement.

"You two enjoy your time here, i've got a Pai Sho game to play." Iroh said as he made his way over to the table near the window where the tea shops other two patrons, a man in a three piece suit with a trench coat and short slightly spiked hair sat drinking some Matcha tea whilst beside him sat a somewhat grumpy british man in a green dressing gown, grey shirt and plaid pyjama bottoms.

"Doctor, Arthur, prepared to loose again are you?" Iroh said cheerily as he sat down whilst back with Ned and Peter you could see Ned looking at the secret wall-crawler with a look of anticipation that Peter couldn't understand.

"Annnndd, what's your girl trouble? Gosh Peter did you forget our deal already haha." Ned asked somewhat excitedly. "Who knows, I might be able to help you like you helped me?"

Peter looked at Ned for a second as if weighing his decisions in his mind, was there really any harm in asking for someone elses opinion on the Gwen situation? Atleast so long as he kept his plan to approach as Spider-man a secret it should be fine Peter rationalised.

"...I just don't know what to say to her, my minds like a whirlwind everytime I try think of what I can possibly say." Peter whispered dejectedly but loud enough for Ned to hear him who seemed to be listening intently if the lack of an immediate response was any indication.

"Well, speaking from experience? Asking out Betty was one of the scariest things I've ever done, it was kinda like how you're describing, that feeling of disarray as I tried to figure out how to get the words out of my mouth...it was as if my voice had been stolen for days leading up to it." Ned explained to the wide-eyed Peter who was in partial shock.

"...Until, I realised that sometimes we're afraid to bring things up with the ones we love because we're scared of the answers we could get but sometimes we owe it to not only ourselves but our loves too to try find out those answers, for better or worse." Ned finished uncharacteristically serious.

"So you're saying that I should just ask Gwen the question I have for her because holding onto these questions forever will eat away at me and in the end i'll feel better having an answer?" Peter asked a bit confused only to watch as Ned finished his cup of tea before he continued.

"Pretty much."

"...Thanks Ned, I-i think that was the kick in the pants I needed." Peter replied, a small smile blossoming onto his face as the scent of Jasmine wafted up from the tea held in his hands.

"Glad to help! Now, maybe you can help me some more, so you see this photo at Universal, could you expla-" And off Ned went as he and Peter began chatting away about the photos Peter took down in Orlando, a more comfortable atmosphere settling between the two as they chatted about the photos now that the serious topics had been discussed.

This went on for about 3 hours until Ned felt like he'd gotten a good understanding of the photos and decided to head off to the Daily Buggle office to continue writing the travel article, the two waving goodbye to eachother and Peter happily pocketing 100 dollars for a honestly enjoyable time.

llllll

Spider-man could be seen swinging through Mid-town later that day as the sun began to set, his eyes peeled on the lookout for any signs of crime or ideally the infamous serial killer who'd been stalking New Yorks streets, Cletus Kasady.

'Jamesson had a field day that I was down in Orlando on "Vacation" whilst Kasady was still loose, hopefully if I can catch the deranged psychopath it'll put those articles to bed' Spider-man thought to himself as he swung between the buildings of Mid-town down third avenue alongside the frequent street and alleyway stop.

It was on one of these streets, East 27th Street to be precise that Spider-man spotted his first bout of crime for the evening, a bunch of thugs sat in a beat up and rusted looking Mazda car in brightly coloured adidas tracksuits with black ski-masks on.

"Now what do we have here?" Spider-man muttered as he swung in closer to get a better vantage point on a nearby lampost whilst the thugs rushed into a nearby store called, O'Leary's Liquor with crowbars.
"Well that answers that, doesn't it."

llllll

Inside O'Leary's Liquor, the stores one employee who happened to be working today, a man of about average height with a tattoo sleeve and a slightly bulky frame that no doubt came from carrying in orders was currently wheezing hunched over on his knees after being hit in the stomach with a crowbar.

"Give us the money in the register and safe pal and this is can all be over swiftly, or do we have to wreck the joint to?" The thug in blue, who appeared to be their leader, said as he smacked his open palm with the crowbar he'd just used to hit the store clerk in the stomach before he spotted a name tag on the clerks jacket.

"Come on...Daryl, we're not leaving without that money!" The blue thug paused as he read off the name tag before he wound up for another swing with his crowbar whilst the three stooges of green, red and yellow watched with their own crowbars menacingly.

"Something tells me, you guys might want to try the lottery instead!" Spider-man said from a top corner of the room surprising everyone as two shots from his webshooters latched onto and reefed the crowbar from the blue thugs hands.

"Spider-man!" The thugs shouted as Daryl wheezed out, relief evident in his voice, whilst the thugs in yellow and red charged Spider-man with their crowbars held high.

"Wow now, don't you know those things can be dangerous?" Spider-man said as pushed off the corner and sprung into a kick that socked the thug in yellow right in the teeth, a loud smack resounding throughout the liquor store from the impact that left said thug dazed and confused on the ground.

"You know, with the colour scheme, you guys kinda look like if the Power Rangers descended into a life of petty crime, what Zordon kick your asses to the curb?" Spider-man remarked cheekily as his spider-sense tingled causing him to swerve to the left, narrowly avoiding the swing of the red thugs crowbars before Spider-man shot a web at a bottle of wine on one of the displays along the wall behind him, pulling it quickly.

*SMASH*

And like a bag of doorknobs, the red thug hits the ground outcold, white wine splashed all over his head alongside broken glass where he lay on the floor next to the yellow thug.

"So who's next?" Spider-man asked nonchalantly causing the green thug to take a step back before he made a break for the door, only to find a web catching him by the ankle where he was yanked, thrown and webbed to the roof, his crowbar falling to the floor.

"And then there was one..." Spider-man muttered as he did finger guns at the sole remaining thug, the blue one who looked absolutely furious...or terrified, it was kind of hard to tell with the black ski mask on but what was obvious was the fact that he took the shop clerk hostage, pulling out a gun that he soon pointed at poor Daryl's head.

"Don't move Spider-man! I ain't going back to the slammer you hear?!" The blue thug shouted as he tried to move for the Liquor stores door with his hostage, his eyes trained on Spider-man the whole time all the while Daryl stood ramrod straight in his kidnappers arms...neither of them paying attention to the floor.

Spider-man on the otherhand was waiting with baited breath as he saw exactly where the kidnappers path would take him.

'That's it, just a few more steps and... NOW!' Spider-man thought as he watched the kidnapper step on the crowbar the green thug dropped, something which just so happened to land in the puddle of wine from the red thug resulting in quite the slippery mess, which Spider-man was quick to take advantage off as he yanked the gun out of the blue thugs hands whilst he slipped.

The blue thug landed on the floor harshly, smacking his head against the floor with a loud wallop whilst Daryl made his way over to Spider-man who'd just finished webbing his would-be kidnapper to the floor.

"Geez, thanks Spider-man! If it wasn't for you who knows what would have happened to me..." Daryl said with a shiver running down his spine.

"No problem...Daryl, just doing my duties as your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-man!" Spider-man said as he read off the slightly shellshocked clerks nametag himself.

"Yeah well after tonight I definitely think you take that alot more seriously than Jamesson's been spouting...look if you ever need anything from here consider it free, it's the least I can do for the guy who saved my life" Daryl praised Spider-man sincerly, getting a nod of acknowledgement from the web-slinger before he zipped off leaving the shop clerk the task of ringing the police...and calming his still racing heart.

lllll

Swinging down West 46th Street in Hells Kitchen, Spider-man spotted the building he'd been making his way towards all night, fighting crime the entire way, Nelson and Murdock Law Firm.

Landing softly on the side of the buildings watertower, Spider-man took a glance around quickly to see if it was safe before dropping down to the roof below when it looked like the coast was clear.

"You couldn't keep things covert?"

Spider-man sensed him right as heard him and winced before he turned around to face Daredevil, the frown on his face having been well expected.

"Heeeeyyyy, in my defense, I wasn't expecting to run into Marko, er 'Sandman' down there." Spider-man greeted Daredevil awkwardly before getting defensive, his arms briefly raising in surrender.

"...True, it was most inopportune that you had to run into one of your rogues so far from Manhattan." Daredevil replied as he could only imagine the frustration of running into one of his rogues outside of Manhattan.

"Eh, it wasn't all bad, Marko's got a good heart and something tells me we don't have to worry about him trying to score big anytime soon." Spider-man reassured Daredevil who seemed to contemplate this new information.

"So he wasn't defending Florida Unlimited and/or working for Kingpin?" Daredevil asked seeking clarification, afterall Sandman was a very powerful man in the right enviroment and that was not something they needed being used by a villain like Kingpin.

"Nope, bastards were experimenting on him till he broke out. We don't have to worry about them suddenly joining forces unless mind-control all of a sudden becomes involved." Spider-man said seriously which was pretty impressive given the topic of mind-control but well, he'd seen weirder.

*THUNK*

Daredevils fist made a solid thunk as he slammed it against the wall of the stairwell beside him, whatever pain he felt seemingly being drowned out by the sheer anger he was experiencing.

"Human experimentation now too? Does Kingpin have no shame, no morals or boundarys for the sins he is willing to commit?" Daredevil ranted before he took a deep breath, the red fog that had clouded his blind eyes further dispersing for a moment as he focused back on Spider-man.

"I apologise for my outburst, but back to the matter at hand, did he say anything about Kingpin, or Florida Unlimited?" Daredevil questioned in a more reasonable tone as Spider-man nodded.

"He did actually, he mentioned a scientist who had pale skin, black hair and was very sickly looking and here's the kicker, you know Parker, the guy who takes my photos? He happened to run into a man matching this description down in Orlando whilst visiting his old mentor, Dr. Curt Connors, a man who according to Dr. Connors was reputed to be moving to New York City now that his time as Dr. Connors' lab assistant had finished." Spider-man explained causing Daredevil to hum before ultimately frowning.

"That's great and all but what's the value of this one scientist? His description could match over 20 percent of New Yorkers, it'd be like looking for a fish in one of the great lakes trying to find him and if he knows nothing it could be all for naught." Daredevil spoke as the voice of reason before they comitted themselves to a manhunt.

"According to Marko he was seen ordering around the other scientists that were experimenting on him suggesting he has a position of authority which was reinforced by him saying and I re-quote 'Kingpin doesn't tolerate failures.' which could hint to him knowing atleast something about the crimelord, maybe even being in contact with him?." Spider-man proposed as he adopted a thinking position, head tilted skyward and chin pinched between his thumb and index finger.

"Ah i see now why you mentioned him, that is indeed quite the valuable target. Do you know any more information about this man?" Daredevil asked with a grin on his face, plans already forming in his mind on how to start tracking this man down.

"He was referred to as Dr. M by the other scientists working for Florida Unlimited, but Dr. Curt Connors called him by his first name, 'Michael'." Spider-man informed as Daredevil began muttering to himself.

"The name should help narrow down the search a ton, although Kingpin no doubt did as much of it off the books as possible but still all it takes is one slip up and I can get him." Daredevil adopted a satisfied grin before he turned back towards Peter, having turned earlier when he hit the wall.

"Anything else about Florida Unlimited?"

"They're running a similar operation to the construction site except their front is a catering service which also exports illegal drugs, I left a tip with the local police captain before I left but I haven't heard anything about it since." Spider-man relayed the information he'd gathered before Marko had busted out and provided the much more solid lead to Kingpin.

"Johnson Inc hides a dark secret too i'm afraid, i've only been able to confirm it about the one in Hells Kitchen so far but late into the night, around two in the morning, mail vans pull up containing bodybags that are then brought into the building, now this could just be New York eccentricity but the presence of armed guards makes me suspicious." Daredevil explained his reasoning which got a murmur of agreement from Spider-man.

"I see what you mean, have you infiltrated yet?" Spider-man asked, one black rimmed eye widening to simulate a raised eyebrow.

"During the day as a civilian yes, but I still have yet to infiltrate whilst as Daredevil but I believe my plan is nearly ready to take them on." Daredevil continued.

"Mind If I joined in?"

"I'll take as much help as I can in taking Kingpin down."

And so marked the end of Spider-man and Daredevils conversation, the two's fight for justice reignited with their new information as they got one step closer to discovering exactly who Kingpin was and stopping his criminal empire for good.

Meanwhile, as our heroes plotted something for the safety and good of New York, across the city in Midtown someone was plotting the exact opposite, an act of extreme evil as he stared down the security guard bleeding out below him in the alley.

"Hehehe don't you watch horror movies? Never go to investigate the mysterious noise alone." A red haired psychopath, better known as Cletus Kasady giggled derangedly whilst watching the life blood bleed out from his victim he was using as a seat.
As he sat there Cletus filled a bottle of mysterious liquid with styrofoam and tried corking it with a rag, three completed bottles already sitting behind him.

Cletus gazed up at the orhpanage across the road from the mouth of the alley, lifting the now finished molotov up to his eye as he swirled the styrofoam and alcohol mixture and continued his giggling only to pause at the raspy whisper of words from his seat.

"W...w-who s-said I was alone..." The dying security guard said his final words right as Cletus picked up the sound of movement near the front of the alley, three more security guards and two guardogs roundings the corner in the blink of an eye as he dropped the molotov in suprise, so distracted was he at the thoughts of reinacting one of his childhood crimes.

"Who's there!?"

"Get on your knees!"

"Put your arms up or we will shoot!"

The three security guards shouted at Cletus whilst their guardogs barked loudly, ultimately causing the red-headed serial killer to realise the odds were not in his favour in the slightest, a fact that made him frown deeply, not enjoying being thwarted.

Deciding he didn't feel like dying tonight or being arrested, Cletus went with the tried and true method of a tactical retreat.

How did he achieve this you may ask? Well it started when the security guards finally noticed their fallen comrade.

"H-Holy shit, Is that Jacob?"

"God no, who's gonna tell Queenie?"

"They just had a baby man..."

The security guards were heartbroken and in their shock, lowered their guns an inch but as the saying goes 'Give an inch, Take a mile', something Cletus was very well versed in.

Instantly upon noticing the guards distracted state Cletus rolled backwards from his sitting position, the guards still distracted and then hesitant to shoot lest they hit the body of their deceased comrade when they did come too.
When Cletus rolled backwards however it was as if he vanished into the shadows before the guards who immeditely ran over to see what in the world had just happend and what they saw shocked them.

"Boys...that was Cletus Kasady wasn't it?" One of the security guards hesitantly asked the other two as their guardogs sniffed something.

"Yeah, I think it was." Another guard carefully replied.

"Well I think we found out how he's been getting around undetected..." The first guard of the three said as he shined a light on the open manhole cover that was behind Jacobs body, the entrance into the dark and dank sewers had never looked so much like the gates of hell as they did at that moment for those guards and it was something that New York would be aware of come morning.

For better, or worse.

And that's it folks, chapter 21, whatcha think? I'm pretty happy with it tbh, I think it's a good start to the arc I have in mind and has some action to keep people engaged so yeah let me know what you think! Again, constructive criticism is always appreciated :) I hope you all have a wonderful day btw!

Talk to you later,

LovecraftianShaggy