Chapter Ten: Along Came A Tarantula

"Hello, who is this? I'm busy," Blackie Gaxton responded in an annoyed tone over the phone while sitting up from his recliner.

"Relax pal, relax, it's me," Hammerhead spoke over the phone. "How is business?"

"Business? Huh, funny, after that last fiasco at Montana's bar, he fired me and dragged me to the streets. So yeh, just fine," Blackie replied in a depressing tone.

"Good, because I have a job that could make your life more worthwhile. All you gotta do is will you accept it or not," Hammerhead offered.

"At this point, I've hit rock bottom already, so sounds good enough," Blackie responded and accepted the offer.

"Good, I'll see you then in a while. Expect me to show any time," Hammerhead replied back before ending the call.

Two days passed since the "Gwenom" incident, but nothing was totally reported about it as Peter never intended to say anything about it. However, Gwen, who was quickly discharged from the hospital after a day's stay and able to attend school again, still lingers harbors a feeling of guilt for hurting Peter and Kitty, even though they both forgave her.

"Hey there!"

Catching Gwen's attention was Kitty Pryde, casually greeting her with her vibrant smile as if nothing went wrong between them.

"You alright? You look like you need a transfusion," Kitty joked sassily. "Come on, join us!"

Behind Kitty were Peter, Hobie, Bobby, and Liz, who was holding hands with Peter.

"Oh...it's fine, thanks. Um...I'm sorry for all the things I've done. I was—"

"Gwen, for the last time, it wasn't your fault. You weren't thinking straight, that's all," Peter assures.

"Ummmm...I might be in the dark about what happened, but whatever it is, surely you couldn't be the center of the problem," Hobie nervously remarked with a smile.

"Hey, we all mess up a lot, sometimes even before we could realize that we did," Bobby adds.

"It's all good, Gwen, come on. Hang out with us, and you won't be alone messing around," Liz offers with a genuine smile, after having forgiven her for the things she's done.

"R-really…!?" Gwen wishes to clarify, holding her tears from exploding while covering her mouth.

"C'mon, give us a chance, Gwen," Peter reaches a hand out to her.

"Okay, Pete. You win," Gwen accepted in a joking tone while holding Peter's hand.

"Awesome! Say, wanna hang by the Silver Spoon again? I really love their frappes!" Kitty suggests.

"I'm down," Hobie responded with a smirk.

"Gwen, wanna come with us? Or are you busy with something else again?" Peter wonders in a slightly joking manner, since that was the common excuse she made up around him.

"Oh no, I'm totally free this time, Peter," Gwen smirked before trying to quickly organize her locker and place her textbooks inside. "So, shall we get going?"

"Yeah girl! Alright!" Kitty squealed before taking Gwen's hand as they left the campus lively but discreetly.

"Seems it's not just Spider-man I'll have to worry about…."

At the far side of the school corridors, Harry overheard the whole conversation, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists tightly at Peter's great fortuitous events, being in a reliable circle of friends and getting Gwen at his side.

"Wait, this is what you're planning for me? You're outta your mind!"

Blackie Gaxton, after having answered Hammerhead's phone call and unknown job offer, finds himself in the same hidden laboratory where he brought Mark as a lab rat and became the Molten Man, under the directions of the mad doctor Miles Warren and the devious Green Goblin. Before him was Miles with his experimenting paraphernalia behind him on the table and Hammerhead beside him with a smirk.

"Pal, you got a chance that could make you one of the big boys, and that chance is here and now," Hammerhead scolds with his arms crossed. "Don't tell me you're going to back outta this now, are ya?"

"Calm down, sir, he's just nervous and uneasy," Miles assures. "From the looks of things, it was probably a sudden call of sorts, is it?"

"You! I know what you did with Mark, and I'd rather not be a walking freak show. No way!" Blackie protested hysterically as he was about to walk out of the lab.

"But what about the Spider? Ain't he the one who messed with the humble business with yer buddies?" Hammerhead pointed out in a snarky manner, stopping him by the door. "Don't you wanna see that bug suffer?"

"...It depends on how I wanna see that, why…!?" Blackie barked as he turned around and leaned on the doorway.

"Sooo? Why don't we make that happen, with you doing the beating, alright?" Hammerhead smirked.

"How? What do you have in mind? I'm all ears," Blackie responded, taking a seat on a nearby stool and leaning on the table.

"Oh I have something great in mind: what if you could be almost like Spider-man?" Miles suggests while holding the vial of tarantula DNA that was retrieved by the Chameleon, and then puts it in a container before heating it with electroshocks through a device that looks like a pair of blowtorches.

"Hmmmm, I'm listening," Blackie raised an eyebrow.

"You see, I have asked a friend of ours to retrieve this rare tarantula DNA that I've developed when I was working at ESU. With the capabilities of the tarantula, you might be able to contend with the powers of Spider-man," Miles assures after mildly electrocuting the formula and preparing it inside a syringe. "Now then, shall we begin with the experiment?"

After a moment of thought, Blackie Gaxton agrees to go on with the procedure and, with Miles' help, was injected with the formula containing tarantula DNA before looking at his body for any weird feeling or deformities….

"Uh doc, are you sure this can work? 'Cause I don't feel anything," Blackie asks, looking around his body.

"Doc, seems like this is just another fiasco," Hammerhead deadpanned.

"Patience boys, just relax and wait. My friend, try to climb the wall behind you," Miles suggests.

Despite having doubts as he hesitated, he was reminded of the humiliation and losses that Spider-man brought in his life and career before planting both of his hands on the wall. After he's placed his hands, he tries to slowly climb on the wall as he plants a foot on the wall. Feeling the sensation of a tight grip on the wall, he then was able to climb up all the way to the ceiling, looking down on Hammerhead and Miles with a smirk.

"Whoa, now this is an awesome power you've been holding around, doc. If you could use this on yourself, you could have, you know?" Blackie deadpans before detaching himself from the ceiling and lands easily on his feet and hands.

"I wish I could, but I lack the skills to make them more efficient. I assume you can handle these newfound abilities far better than me, right?" Miles calmly replied back.

"I'll test them out on the Webhead when I see him, and give him a piece of my fist when I do," Blackie growled.

"Next time, Black, not just yet. The doc's worries are right. You need to get the hang of it before going out," Hammerhead scolds.

"Fine, I'll do as you say," Blackie gives in, making Hammerhead smirk in response.

"Man, this is a soothing place to just rewind and focus," Peter exhales, sitting on a bench in Central Park and staring at the peaceful environment where families hang out near the stream with the park wildlife within the vicinity. 'I swear, if any villain dares to show up on this peaceful day, I'm gonna—'

"Hi Pete!"

"Petey!"

Out of nowhere, two familiar voices came up at him, making him look in front of him to see Gwen and Liz before his stunned eyes.

"G-Gwen! Liz!" Peter responded out of shock. "W-wh-what are you guys doing here?"

"Well um, we were just in the area to rewind and chat about some important things, but man, it's cool to find you here, Petey," Liz answered with a smile.

"Are you alright, Pete?" Gwen wonders. "Mind if we um, sit with you?"

"Sure! It's fine! Go ahead!" Peter nervously replied back excitedly, making the two girls giggle before sitting at both of his sides, with Liz on his left and Gwen at his right.

Peter's cheeks burn into a light shade of red, being conscious of the two attractive girls beside him before breaking the silence confidently in a way as he did being Spider-man.

"So um, what were you guys talking about?" Peter wonders, looking at the two of them beside him.

"Some of it was just girl talk. Others were concerning relationships, then the last bits were personal," Gwen sums it up.

"Relationships? Personal stuff?" Peter wonders out of curiosity.

"Umm—yeah, about...us…" Liz nervously answered. "Petey, you know that we both actually have feelings for you, right?"

"Ummmmm—yess?" Peter hesitantly replied, not being oblivious to their feelings for him.

"Yeah well um, we thought that um…" Gwen trailed off.

"We thought that we should try to...be honest with each other and be fair towards each other. Towards you," Liz explains.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Peter asks for clarification, wondering what they actually meant.

"It means, Pete, that we will be fair and square in being open with our feelings for you," Gwen explains, taking Peter by surprise. "Although….we might not be the only ones feeling the same way about you."

"Wait, hold up, are you guys for real, right now?...!" Peter hysterically wonders, switching his gaze from Gwen to Liz and vice versa. "Liz, are you really sure about this."

"I am, Petey," Liz replied in a serious tone. "I've been through what Gwen's experienced, and you helped the both of us out through our bad times. So, why not?"

"Umm, I, um, don't I get a say in this?" Peter deadpans.

"Nah," Liz answered.

"Not really," Gwen chuckled.

"..." Peter looks at the two girls at astonishment of their straightforward feelings. "Umm, okay, anyways, you guys talked about some personal stuff, right?"

"Oh yeah, Liz has something that she wanted to open up," Gwen pointed out.

"Mhm, the thing is...I...plan to quit cheerleading," Liz opened up, shocking Peter in response.

"Liz, are you serious? What about—"

"Don't try to talk me out of it, Petey. I know what I want to do, and I've tried enrolling to do other cooler things. But I'm not telling what they are...just yet," Liz confidently replied with a cute wink.

"Wow, alright, you're the girl. I respect that," Peter permitted in an easygoing tone. "But what about your friends and your rep in the varsity?"

"That's nothing big, Petey, I think," Liz reluctantly thought out loud.

"What about Sally?" Peter adds. "Can she understand?"

"I hope she will. She's been my best friend for a long time, she might understand…" Liz trailed off.

Back at the facility where Norman tests out the technology and upgrades of villains and thugs under his command…

"Is it really necessary to wear these tight pajamas?" Blackie groaned, wearing a dark red spandex suit with a huge black spider logo that stretches over his shoulders and his back, equipped with custom-made black gauntlets and greaves.

"Those are not pajamas nor tights. It's a customly tailored suit made of spandex to aid you in combat against Spider-man and his team of heroic freaks," Tinkerer replied in an annoyed tone. "Your gauntlets and greaves are fitted to augment your capabilities in hand-to-hand combat and have retractable stingers. They're laced with a paralysing toxin that can immobilise your foes for a few minutes. You know who to use it on."

"Obviously," Blackie smirked while testing out the retractable stingers on the tips of his boots and the wrists on his gauntlets before shredding a nearby punching bag with a flurry of swift kicks and hooks until all the sand inside falls out, thanks to his new agile tarantula strength.

"Oh and one more thing, wear this," Hammerhead urged, handing out a long black bandana with eye holes.

"You gotta be kidding me, Hammy, I'll look like the Wallcrawler with that on my face," Blackie protested, sheathing his stingers.

"Well, it's better that way. Another impostering incident will keep the Webhead away from the public eye, so you better make sure yer acting is real good," Hammerhead suggested, giving Blackie the mask.

Having made a good point, Blackie was convinced as he tied on the bandana over half of his face with his eyes looking through the wide holes while letting the tail of the long bandana align along his back.

"Pretty snazzy," Blackie commented, looking on his hands and feet, fine with his new appearance.

"So, what are we gonna name him?" Tinkerer deadpans.

"Since the doc gave you tarantula whatchamacallit, let's name you Agent Tarantula," Hammerhead suggested.

"Just Tarantula's great already. Makes me sound like the Spider's worst nightmare," Blackie, now named Tarantula, smirked as he unsheathes and flaunts the stingers on his gauntlets and greaves.

"Lizzy! Are you serious!?"

After another day in school ends, Liz does what she planned to do for herself: quitting her hobby in cheerleading. And as expected, not everyone's alright with her decision.

"Lizzy, wait, did Parker tell you to do this!?" Sally hysterically interrogated, with all the other girls in their cheerleading team listening on in the conversation.

"Sal, I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind. I just don't feel like doing it anymore, that's all," Liz deeply apologizes and confesses. "I was hoping you could understand, Sally. I don't mean to hurt my best friend over something like this."

"Well you did! You could have told me about this anyway!" Sally hysterically replied back.

"Whoa girl! Settle down!" Kitty barked back, defending Liz by getting in between her and Sally.

"This is none of your business! Why do you care!?" Sally hysterically retorted back.

"Because Liz is my friend, so her business can be mine too," Kitty answered back sassily.

"Ours too."

Suddenly, Peter, Gwen, Hobie, and Bobby arrive at the scene to fetch Liz for another one of their planned hangouts, only to witness the argument ongoing between girls.

"Sally, please," Liz begged for her understanding.

"Forget it Lizzy. It's bad enough that we haven't hung out lately, and now you're quitting the team! C'mon girls," Sally hissed, leaving Liz alone with her new crowd of oddball friends.

"Oops….sorry Liz," Kitty apologizes. "I think we took things too far…"

"No, it's not your fault. I've made up my mind already, and I should have expected this to happen...it just...hurts when it actually does," Liz thought out loud with her face lowered before feeling an arm and hand over her shoulders.

"Can't say we blame her...since you're hanging out with us," Peter tries to comfort her. "Liz...I–"

"It's okay Petey..." Liz assures, resting her head on his chest with tears slowly falling from her eyes. "I just...I just hope she could understand…"

"She can, but let's just give her time," Gwen assures.

"Thanks Gwen," Liz thanked as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve.

"Don't mention it, Liz. We're all here for you," Gwen assures with a smile.

Later in the night, at a certain bank somewhere in Manhattan…

"Man, do you got any snacks on hand? I'm famished," a security guard yawned groaned with a grumbling belly.

"Quiet down! Or else Sergeant DeWolffe's gonna have our heads!" Another guard scolded.

Little did they know, someone's inside climbing around the ceiling, waiting to land his sting on those unsuspecting officers.

"Hey, do hear that?" Says the vigilant security guard, looking around with his flashlight on.

"What? Hmmmph—!?"

"Huh!?"

As the officer turns around, he notices his colleague's neck pricked by metal stingers on the hands of a man in red spandex with a huge spider logo.

"What?! Spider-man?!" The officer panicked, trying to reach for his stun gun.

"Not," Tarantula answered back before dropping from the ceiling and sweeping the guard's legs to knock him off his feet and land on his face while rendering him unconscious. "The name's Tarantula, you fat blokes."

With the officers sedated, he simply destroys the locks of the doors with his stingers and lets Hammerhead's masked henchmen enter the bank to steal loads of cash from the vault.

"Well well, quite a weak challenge I must say," Tarantula thought out loud. "Wonder where would the Spider be at?"

"You called for me?"

Startling him from behind was the Webslinger, hanging upside down with one of his witty quips in response.

"Whoa, hey, are you another imposter? I'm gonna sue you for the suit!" Spider-man protested.

Annoyed by his quips, Tarantula unsheathes the stingers on his wrists and on the tips of his greaves before trying to land a flurry of slashes on the agile Wallcrawler, who barely dodged his swift strikes.

"What?! Stingers?! You got stingers?!" Spider-man screamed in astonishment while dodging the stingers by an inch until his spider-themed foe landed a slash across his chest. "Ow! Hey! Lay off the suit man! When did I...whoa...what? What's…happening…?!"

"What's the matter, Spider-man? Tarantula got your tongue? Hahahaha!" Tarantula mocked as he rendered Spider-man sluggish, falling to his knees while holding his aching head from the power of his toxin-laced stingers.

"Hey boss, we got the wads, let's skedaddle!" Says one of Hammerhead's henchmen carrying a bag of cash over his back and leaving the bank.

"Next time, Spider. I ain't done with our payback," Tarantula swore before leaving the scene with the other henchmen.

"Ughhh...should've brought some backup with me," Spider-man groaned as he slowly stands up on his own feet and holds the sore slash wound over his bare chest and torn suit. "Man, just my luck."

"Ughhh, oowwww…"

Another day rises in Midtown High, but Peter seems like he's gotten a hangover after a dosage of poison from his fight against Tarantula last night.

"Bro, what happened last night? Some thug mug you good?" Hobie wonders out of concern upon noticing his fatigued complexion, sitting on the table with Kitty, Bobby, Liz and Gwen.

"Bumped into another new masked thug with poisonous stingers that probably tried to pose like me," Peter briefly explained. "Oh and get this. He calls himself the Tarantula."

"The Tarantula? Dude, sounds cooler than Spider-man!" Bobby geeked out before getting a kick to his shin under the table from an annoyed Kitty.

"Thanks for the encouragement, Bobby," Peter responded in a snarky tone before feeling a gentle touch on his forearm.

"Petey, why didn't you call any of them for help in your patrols? You already know it's dangerous, and it worries us. Me especially, being powerless to help and all," Liz wonders out of concern.

"Sorry guys, I really am. But I just don't want to keep you guys too occupied with my own problems. It's okay," Peter apologizes.

"Dude, I'm always available if I could answer your call. Don't hog all the fun for yourself," Hobie bragged with his arms crossed.

"Yeah man! I'd rather fight than just stick around near Logan in the dorm!" Bobby groaned.

"It's never a dull moment around you, Peter. So share the fun with all of us!" Kitty adds.

"Fine! Fine, you guys win, sorry about leaving without you and enjoying myself," Peter surrenders and accepts everyone's offer to help before feeling and hearing vibrations from his phone in his jacket pocket, picking up his vibrating phone in response. "Sorry guys, excuse me."

Peter then gets out of his seat and answers the phone.

"Hello?" Peter responded.

"Oh, Peter, good you picked up," Foswell sighed in relief at the other end of the line.

"Sir Foswell? What happened?" Peter asks.

"Well, something big, but it's better if you come here to the Bugle for a clearer view. So can you come after your classes?" Foswell requested.

"Copy that, Mr. Foswell. I'll be there. See you 'round," Peter answered back before ending the call and walking back to the table. "Sorry 'bout that, guys. The Bugle called and I have to go. It sounded urgent, so I can't hang out for today."

"It's alright Petey," Liz understands.

"It's okay Pete. We understand," Gwen adds.

"Don't worry bro, we're just a call away," Bobby assures.

"Thanks guys," Peter thanks, breaking a smile.

"You done good last time, Blackie. I mean, Tarantula," Hammerhead joked.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Blackie responded blankly with his arms crossed and then curiously noticed two canisters with symbiotes inside each of them. "Uh, doc, what are those?"

"Don't touch them! They're very dangerous!" Miles warns. "I am reserving them for another plan I have in mind."

"Hey waitaminute, weren't there supposed to be one of 'em? Why are there two now?" Hammerhead points out.

"Oh good question, my friend! I managed to learn how to reverse-engineer the symbiote and allow it to divide into a parent and its child. One of them shall be reserved while the other will be for further studied on how we could try weaponizing it into doing our bidding!" Miles proposes.

"Why not weaponize both of them instead?" Hammerhead deadpans.

"Right, I have only managed success with the daughter symbiote, but its parent is a lot trickier. I may need more time," Miles begged.

"Whatever doc, you just make sure it won't fail on us, or worse, turn on us," Hammerhead warns.

"Y-yes sir," Miles responded.

"Parker! Where are you! You little—!"

"I'm right here Mr. Jameson!"

Answering Foswell's call, Peter meets with everyone in the Daily Bugle for the urgent matter at hand…

"Parker! You just made it on time, and not a second late! I have another huge job for ya, and that is finding pictures of that second wall-crawling menace from last night!" Jameson exclaimed. "I'll expect those pictures by midnight tonight!

"W-what?! Midnight!? S-sir that's—"

"No buts! Or else you're out! Not get out, out!" Jameson barked.

"Ye-yes sir!" Peter complied, gulping down his fear from his anger before leaving his office.

"Talk about having a rough time," Betty joked, leaning on her table.

"Yeah, I know, he could have pushed the job on Ned in the meantime," Peter joked back, referring to Ned, who's known to be preoccupied with finding out more info about Spider-man's identity.

"Oh but it's fine, isn't it? At least you could try asking for some more later on," Betty chuckled.

"Yeah well—"

"Peter! Good that you're here, come here, please," Foswell calls from near the elevator.

"Catch you later, Betty!" Peter bade before going to Foswell.

"See you, Peter," Betty bade back.

"Is there some huge scoop you got in mind, mister Foswell?" Peter joked.

'Well, somehow, but it's dangerous! My informant told me that they're planning to raid a silver cargo ship tonight at around 9 pm and burn it to the ground!' Foswell whispered in an urgent tone after discovering the plans from his alter ego named Patch. 'I was planning on investigating the area, but—"

"No problem, mister Foswell! While Spidey's around, he can keep the trouble away while we're there," Peter assures confidently, knowing this time he will need backup.

"You sound as if you know the Webhead very well," Foswell points out, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey! I have faith in him, more than that loud boss of ours," Peter joked, referring to J. Jonah Jameson, yelling loudly from his office.

"Yeah I guess so, I'll tell you when I get there, but you gotta be careful, 'cause things are gonna be bad news when a fight breaks out," Foswell warns out of concern for the young photographer.

"Trust me, I can handle bad news well," Peter answered back confidently.

After that short talk, Peter left for the elevator and leaves the Bugle before feeling his phone vibrate again and answers it outside.

"Peter?" Gwen called over the phone while reclining on her chair.

"Gwen! I–wh-what's up?" Peter responded, startled from Gwen's sudden call.

"I just wanted to check on you. What happened? Why do you sound surprised?" Gwen wonders.

"Oh um, it's just that...I got another hard job to do for the Bugle tonight about that Spider-poser from last night," Peter replied back. "I might be late rushing back, but I can handle it, somehow."

"Um, if you like, I could help you tonight," Gwen suggests.

"I appreciate the offer, but I got it covered, trust me. Thanks for calling me, Gwen, bye," Peter bade before ending the call.

'Well that went smoothly,' Mania snarkily deadpanned. 'Do you still wanna help him or what?'

'Yes, I–no, we owe him so much, and I want to help him,' Gwen answered.

'You sure it's not because you love him?' Mania wondered.

'Maybe, maybe not,' Gwen joked before blushing brightly and breaking a smile.

'Okay whatever, lovergirl, let's suit up,' Mania then proceeds to instantly envelop Gwen into her Gwenom appearance.

"This time, no tantrums, okay?" Gwen orders as she locks her door and puts pillows aligned across her bed under a blanket.

'Shouldn't you promise yourself that?' Mania backfired. 'Remember, your feelings are what could drive us both crazy, so be careful with what you wished for.'

"Wh-wh-whatever! Anyway, let's go!" Gwen orders, leaving her room through the window. "Can you pick up Peter's presence though? He was your host after all, right?"

'I can manage that, thank you,' Mania confidently replied as they swing away from the house.

Later that night, Peter made a quick call with everyone in the team to meet up on a building that's just a few blocks away from the designated location before donning his Spider-man suit and swinging out of the house as fast as he can. As soon as he reached the meetup point…

"Well look who's arrived," Hobie deadpanned.

"Ha–ha, very funny," Spider-man joked back before looking around. "Where are Kitty Bobby at?"

"On the way," Hobie replied before putting on his mask.

A minute later, Spider-man and Hobie spots Shadowcat and Iceman sliding atop his ice slide and bridges over the building's ledge.

"Wow, looks like the party's almost ready without us," Iceman quipped.

"We're ready when you are, Spidey!" Shadowcat responded.

"Alright, is everyone prepared to have a fun night?" Spider-man wonders.

"Ready!" They exclaimed.

"Then let's move out!" Spider-man commands.

"Don't forget me."

Startling everyone from behind was Gwen Stacy, who's casually standing at the entrance of the roof's stairway.

"Gwen?!" Spider-man and Shadowcat exclaimed out of shock.

"Why is she here?" Prowler asked.

"I want to help. And you can't stop me, Peter," Gwen sternly replied, surprising Bobby and Hobie that they turn their heads towards Spider-man in response to her knowing his secret identity.

"Dude, she knows?" Prowler asks Spider-man in an annoyed and somewhat betrayed tone.

"Y-yeah, forgot to mention that. She had a problem back then, and I had to reveal it to her," Spider-man answered honestly.

"Whatever man," Prowler huffed and waved his hand before turning his attention to Gwen. "Look girl—"

"It's okay, Hobie, your secret's safe with me," Gwen assures, catching Prowler off guard and making him glare daggers at Spider-man.

"I didn't tell her!" Spider-man protested with his hands up.

"Hobie c'mon, I can recognize your voice," Gwen deadpans, giving him and Spider-man "the look".

"What do you–oh…" Prowler suddenly notices that his built-in voice disguiser is still off and then turns it back on, much to his embarrassment.

"Gwen, are you really sure about this?" Spider-man asks for clarification.

"I am," Gwen answered.

"Oh yeah? Then try beating me first. If you can, then you can join," Prowler challenged, getting into an offensive stance with his gauntlets loaded. "Alright, come at me anytime."

In response to his cocky behaviour, Gwen raised an eyebrow and smirked before enveloping her right arm in the symbiote suit and unsheathed sharp talons from her fingertips, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"Oooooh...ok…" Prowler nervously gulped down his confidence.

Suddenly, Gwen stretches the symbiotic hand out to grab Prowler by his gut and keeps him in her tight grip.

"Ow ow ow ow! Okay! You win! You win!" Prowler screamed, struggling in her tightening grip until she released her hold on him.

"Mhm," Gwen huffed with a confident smirk, allowing the symbiote to envelop around her body into her Gwenom suit.

"Umm, Gwenom? Do you have any other suits to try?" Spider-man nervously asks.

"Wow, since when did you have a fashion sense? And I don't really like the name 'Gwenom', okay? I'm thinking…" Gwen trailed off thinking while unconsciously allowing the symbiote to change her appearance into a white full spandex bodysuit with a black spider logo on her chest and a hoodie until her face is slowly covered by the symbiote's mask, along with reddish patterns on her biceps and sides. "Ghost Spider, how about that?"

Again, she made the three guys' jaws drop at her new stunning look, especially Spider-man, who's awfully impressed by her control over the symbiote.

"Wait, you—"

"Uh huh, it stuck with me, and I was able to get it to agree with me. Well, somehow," Gwen shyly answered, getting tackled into a hug by Shadowcat.

"Alright! Now I'm not the only girl in this team!" Shadowcat exclaimed happily while embracing Gwen.

"Well, that settles it, I guess?" Spider-man thought out loud. "So, everybody ready?"

They all nodded in response.

"Okay, let's rock!" Spider-man rallies as he leads the way and swings around with Prowler and Ghost Spider swinging from behind while Iceman and Shadowcat follow atop a solid stream of ice.

"Peter, come on, pick up," Foswell whimpered, trying to reach Peter over the phone.

"Peter's fine, don't worry."

Standing over the cargo crates behind Foswell were Spider-man and his teammates Prowler, Iceman, Ghost Spider, and Shadowcat.

"S-Spider-man! Y-you're here!" Foswell responded hysterically.

"Stand aside from the stage, and watch the show," Spider-man quipped before making their way into the shipment yard.

"You sure this is the place?" Iceman wondered nervously, looking around the shipment yard.

"Yeah, probably, maybe," Spider-man nervously answered.

"Wait, I recognize this area," Prowler says. "My clients–shady ones–commonly wander around here for some reason. Is there anything else you know why we're here, Spidey?"

"I was told that some thugs will show up to raid a cargo ship coming here in like uh...ten minutes," Spider-man answered, looking at the time.

Suddenly, his Spider-sense, along with Ghost Spider's enhanced senses, were both triggered, detecting hostility nearby.

"Guys, scatter!" Spider-man commands, making everyone keep a wide distance and back away from an assailant slamming hard on the yard's pavement.

"Find another playground, kids," Tarantula quipped before unsheathing the spikes on his wrists and the tips of his greaves. "Or else we won't play nice."

Suddenly, groups of armed men entered the scene, surrounding Spider-man and his teammates while pointing their guns and weapons at them.

"Well, any bright ideas in mind?" Spider-man asked, turning to Prowler.

"Got one, right here!" Prowler exclaimed as he quickly threw a smoke bomb, creating a giant smokescreen that startled and blinded Tarantula and his men.

"Get 'em boys!" Tarantula orders, making his men open random fire, giving time for Spider and the others to scatter and surprise their blind foes, knocking every last one of them unconscious until the smoke clears. "Well, that was disappointing."

"Hey, we have a knack at disappointing people," Spider-man quipped until his Spider-sense was triggered and avoided being knocked off his feet from Hammerhead ramming his head at him.

"Spidey!" Ghost Spider exclaimed.

"I'm alright!" Spider-man assured before landing right next to her.

"If you want something done right, you gotta do it yerself," Hammerhead groaned, equipped with a stun gun labeled with the name Trask Industries on its barrel. "I'll handle the kids, you get the job done."

"Not while I'm around!" Prowler roared as he kicked the gun out of his hands and launched several concussive rounds of knockout gas, but was ineffective against Hammerhead's strong forehead before getting grabbed by his neck.

"Not so tough now huh, are ya, little mook?" Hammerhead smirked before taking an ice beam to his shoulder and web bullets in the face.

"Hammy! Boy am I glad to see you again!" Spider-man quipped while firing webs in his face.

"Hey Numbskull! Suck on this!" Iceman quipped as he fires his ice beam and gets Hammerhead's attention before noticing Tarantula leaving the scene. "You girls take on the guy in red jammies! We got this one!"

"On it, need a lift?" Ghost Spider asks.

"Heck yeah!" Shadowcat answered as she embraced Ghost Spider's neck.

While Shadowcat holds onto Ghost Spider, she webs two short stretchy lines and walks a few steps back…

"Ready?" Ghost Spider asks, getting a nod in return. "Liftoff!"

She lets her feet fly and allows the web lines sling her and Shadowcat up high and fast, reaching Tarantula like an arrow until they land some kicks, only to be blocked by his arms.

"You kids are becoming very annoying to me now," Tarantula hissed, unsheathing his spikes on his wrists and the tips of his greaves.

"Careful Kitty, I think they're laced," Ghost Spider warns, wielding a shield made from symbiote webbing.

"Right, like that's not dangerous enough," Shadowcat sarcastically remarked while getting into a defensive stance.

"Eat this!" Prowler barked, trying to point his gauntlet at Hammerhead's face until Hammerhead had enough and threw him into the water. "Buagh! Cold?!"

"Now I'm done playing around," Hammerhead barked before getting his eyes blinded by webs and charging blindly out of rage.

"Iceman!" Spider-man called.

"Got it!" Iceman responded, freezing the floor, making a continuous slippery trail for Hammer head to slip on, following Spider-man's lead.

From there, Spider-man weaves a large spider web from a large empty space between two piles of cargo crates before giving Iceman the signal.

"Now!" Spider-man orders.

"Alright!" Iceman responded, making a slide directed towards the large spider web and letting the thick-skulled thug leader fly high into the air until he landed on the spider web, instantly trapping and immobilizing him.

"You little freaks! Get this off me!" Hammerhead barked, struggling to break free from the web.

"Whew, done with that fool," Spider-man sighed before turning to the other side, where the girls are at a stalemate with Tarantula. "I gotta go help them, you take care of Prowler."

"But I—"

"G-g-go o-on without m-m-me," Prowler orders while climbing up the ledge, drenched in cold water from the sea.

With haste, Spider-man and Iceman go over to assist the girls.

Meanwhile, Gwen, under the guise of Ghost Spider, is barely holding her own in using her new abilities and restrained power in blocking and fending off Tarantula's stingers with a shield made out of the symbiote's webbing. On the other hand, Shadowcat's trying to grab hold on Tarantula's feet while avoiding the sharp stingers from scratching her hands.

"They got it tough," Iceman deadpanned.

"Gwen's still green with this hero stuff. Oh well, let the pros handle it," Spider-man quipped as he cracked his knuckles before rushing into the fray.

"Bro, do we have a–bro!?" Iceman screamed in an angry and annoyed tone before leaving him and just returning to help a shivering Prowler

Having similar powers of Spider-man, Tarantula sensed Spider-man charging towards him and then dodged to avoid the web bullets hurled at him.

"Time for you to face a real spider!" Spider-man roared as he engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Tarantula.

"Ready for round two, Webhead?" Tarantula smirked.

"You bet I am!" Spider-man barked as he fired several web bullets at him.

"That trick's gettin' old, kid. Any other bright ideas?" Tarantula mocked while dodging and parrying the web bullets with his stingers.

Careless while being distracted, Shadowcat's hands phase out of the ground and immediately grabs hold of his ankles before phasing with them down into the pavement, trapping him easily.

"Whoa! What the!?" Tarantula gasped, struggling to get his trapped feet out of the pavement.

"Ghost Spider!" Spider-man called.

"Oh, okay!" Ghost Spider responded.

They both rush to Tarantula and simultaneously land two heavy uppercuts to his chin, instantly rendering him unconscious and catching him by his red spandex suit from letting his head take a dip in the sea.

"Whew, we did it!" Spider-man huffed before pulling Tarantula back and forcefully removing his gauntlets for safety measures.

"Yeah! Not bad for a new crimefighter, right?" Ghost Spider quipped.

"Are you kidding? You did great!" Spider-man complimented. Well, you might need to work on coordination, but overall you–"

"You rock!" Shadowcat shrieked after phasing out of the pavement, startling both of them in the process. "You can make a great Spider-woman in the future! I'm sure of it!"

"S-Spider-woman?" Ghost Spider nervously repeated as she and Spider-man blushed from the name alone.

"Hey guys! I need some help over here!" Iceman screamed while handling Prowler over his shoulders.

Few minutes pass by after the battle's done, Foswell calls the police and informs them to bring lots of jailing trucks to arrest Hammerhead and his crew, including Tarantula. After that was slowly done….

"Peter! Kid! Where–!"

"Am I?" Peter quipped, appearing behind Frederick.

"Gaaagh!? Ugh ogh, Peter, you scared me, I thought you were a goner when you didn't return my calls," Foswell panted out of relief.

"Uhh yeah, sorry about that, mister Fos, but I took great shots right here! You would not believe it!" Peter apologizes and assures.

"Huh oh, thanks kid, you done real good tonight. I'll make sure to let Jameson know to whose credit is due with those shots," Foswell assures.

"Th-that's great! Thanks a lot mister Foswell, but I gotta go! I have to get back home or–"

"It's okay, kid. Take care," Foswell bade before letting Peter leave for home, not knowing that he's actually meeting up with the rest of his team, now in civilian clothes.

Meanwhile, in Liz's room, located in the Allans' residence….

Liz, wearing her favorite green seemingly oversized t-shirt and dolphin shorts, lies across her bed while surfs around her social media account out of boredom while eagerly waiting for something to happen…

"It says that it's going to be here anytime soon. I hope it does," Liz thought out loud before the doorbell rang, making her immediately get out of her bed and grab some leftover cash by her desk to answer it.

As she goes over to the door, she meets a delivery man with a box in his hands, who then blushes and gets flustered at the sight of Liz in her casual clothes.

"U-um, a-are you Liz Allan?" The delivery man asked.

"Yup, that's me," Liz answered.

"I would like you to sign this paper before you could own this package, miss," the delivery man requests, handing her the pen and paper on a clipboard for her to quickly sign and return it before handing her the parcel. "Take care, miss!"

"Thank you, you too!" Liz smiled before taking the parcel into her room and closing the door.

She then proceeds to carefully unbox it and open the covers, revealing a white shiny helmet with a yellow visor; a white sports jacket that's paired with white knee-length shorts; a pair of white rubber shoes with built-in roller skates; and lastly a custom made grappling hook gun.

"Whoa, these actually look way cooler in person," Liz thought out loud, holding the visored helmet while jumping around her room with glee before throwing herself on her bed and embracing her helmet. 'Watch me Petey, 'cause I'm gonna blow you away soon!'

—To be continued


A/N: neostardustdragon101, your dream came true man XD