Taking his new "partner" by the arm, Peter swung the two of them away, eventually landing on a rooftop a few blocks from the scene of the explosion, and therefore, any press.

"Get off me, man!" the Prowler shouted as he jerked his arm free. "What's your problem?"

"Wow, I was going to thank you for your help," Peter explained, "but if that's how it's going to be..."

"Why did you just swing us away, man?" Prowler questioned.

"Honestly, to prevent you from making a huge mistake," Peter replied. "Also, you claiming yourself as my partner is a little strange, seeing as I never got your application or anything."

"I guess I figured that saving your life would suffice," Prowler countered.

"Ah, and now you're holding it against me to try and force your way in," Peter answered sarcastically, holding both thumbs up. "You're doing great so far!"

"Fine," Prowler replied, turning to walk away. "I'll do this on my own."

"Woah woah there, pal," Peter said. "Seriously though, what was that back there? Were you just going to take off your mask right there in front of everyone?"

Counter to his previous quick defenses, Prowler hesitated this time.

"Maybe," he finally responded. "Yeah, I was, and why shouldn't I? Just because you only want your masked self to get the credit and fame doesn't mean I want it that way."

"Fame, loathing, praise, throwing tomatoes at you, it's all the same," Peter said. "Even so, if you think that the mask is simply what I want plastered all over social media, you're sadly mistaken."

"Oh, then what is it?" Prowler questioned, turning to him. There was still a defensiveness to his tone, but also something resembling curiosity.

"It's to protect the people closest to me from inheriting my problems, or more specifically, my enemies," Peter replied, gesturing towards his mask. "This thing is to keep the people I love safe from the people I fight on the streets every night, especially the big bads."

The Prowler shifted his gaze, appearing to glance down and off to the side, seemingly contemplating what Peter had said.

"I'm guessing the idea hadn't occurred to you?" Peter asked.

"No," the Prowler responded, his tone a little dejected now.

"Why do you want to do this so badly anyway?" Peter questioned. "What's the goal here?"

Again, Prowler averted his gaze as he pondered the question before him.

"I... I gotta go."

The purple and green figure then leapt off, flying into the night. Peter thought about firing a web and swinging after him but opted against the idea. Whoever was underneath that costume, they didn't seem like a bad person, just someone who was confused or simply rushed into this without fully considering the consequences. Whoever it was had cooled off significantly though, so leaving them to think things over more carefully this time seemed like the better option.

Peter then fired a web in another direction, pulling himself up and into the sky. It was still early enough that he could still do a good chunk of his usual evening patrol, so he began making his way around Manhattan, scoping out the city in search of any other chaotic events or people making bad choices. Things seemed pretty quiet, which, naturally, left him to his thoughts, which rarely tended to be a good thing.

First off, the thought of what the Prowler had planned to do just continued to boggle his brain. How could someone just so brazenly show their face to the public less than thirty seconds after claiming to have a partnership with New York City's resident crime fighter? What good did they expect to come out of such a choice? Fame? Fortune? A card to get into Avengers Tower as a reserve member, something that had even eluded him?

Still, once he'd settled down a bit, the Prowler didn't really seem like a bad guy, just someone who was a little overeager and maybe had a big chip on his shoulder. Could he have been trying to prove something to someone, including himself? Maybe revealing his face to the press would grant him credit for something he'd been denied by someone else? Even so, the idea of doing something like that just stuck in his head. How could the guy not have considered the potential consequences towards someone he loved? Granted, that didn't stop people like the Fantastic Four or the Avengers, but those were very different situations. If Peter hadn't stopped him and he'd gone through with it, then who knows how many people he'd soon have after his family or loved ones...

...which brought his mind back to Mary Jane. Before he'd left, Peter had been about to tell her the truth about everything. He'd been mere seconds away from willingly telling a person for the first time that he and Spider-Man were one and the same person. Daredevil had figured it out on his own due to his powers, and the Four had found out when his younger, more inexperienced self had become desperate and had no one else to turn to for help once. He'd never actually said the words, "I'm Spider-Man" to another living soul, a fact that had almost changed less than an hour ago.

Yet, after his conversation with the Prowler, the courage Peter had worked up in that moment was beginning to fail. The same thing he'd told his mysterious new potential ally held true for him as well, though he wasn't exactly planning on revealing his secret identity to the masses any time soon. His conversation with Robbie came back to his mind too, his words about what he owed M.J. in their relationship playing over again in his head as well.

Peter then heard his phone ring; at first, he was grateful for the distraction as he landed on the corner of a nearby rooftop, pulling out his phone. He was a little surprised to find that it was Mary Jane though, as if her ears had been burning. He couldn't bring himself to answer initially though, his mind seemingly frozen as he tried to decide what he would say should he answer...

With each ring, Mary Jane's heart rate sped up a little bit. She wasn't sure if it was more the concern of not getting the opportunity to speak to Peter and resolve their earlier conversation or the thought that something had happened to him at the scene of the accident. Both thoughts seemingly terrified her equally, though her fears were soon resolved when she finally heard his voice.

"Hey."

"Hey," she echoed back. "Just wanted to check in. Did you make it to the site in time to get some pictures?"

"Yeah," Peter replied. "It was a pretty crazy scene, really."

"I heard," M.J. said. "Something about a guy in some high-tech suit who works with Spider-Man now?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that yet," Peter insisted almost defensively. "I mean, from what I could tell at least, Spidey didn't seem to warm up to the guy too much."

"Huh, interesting," M.J. said, pressing forward. "Listen, Peter, before you left, you really seemed to want to tell me something, and it seemed to be really weighing on you, so I thought I'd give you the chance to tell me now."

There was no answer on the line, causing M.J.'s heart to speed up again. The suspense was driving her crazy; what if the short time since then had killed his resolve?

"What I wanted to tell you is something that I don't think would be wise to say over the phone," Peter finally replied.

"Oh, okay," M.J. said, bouncing back quickly. "So, how about tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow... yeah, sure," Peter answered, seemingly trying to perk up his tone, as if he'd been caught off guard by M.J.'s suggestion. "Yes, definitely tomorrow!"

"Alright, it's a date," M.J. replied.

"Sounds perfect!" Peter assured her, though she still wasn't quite convinced his enthusiasm was as sincere as he was trying to make it seem. He then said he had to go before hanging up.

Alright that was it; tomorrow, no matter what, Mary Jane was going to get to the truth about Peter Parker.

By now several blocks away, Hobie finally came to a stop on a rooftop, taking a second to let his adrenaline settle back to normal levels. As he finally started to relax, he began to properly think, perhaps for the first time since he'd had this "brilliant idea" in the first place, about the implications of what he was doing. When he'd first put the Prowler suit on, he'd been so certain, so confident that, if he performed some great heroic feat before revealing the face of the man beneath the suit on, it would change people's whole perception of him. Moreover, when he explained the technology and functions of the suit, he'd have people practically BEGGING him to work for them, maybe even as a private contractor who could make his own schedule and choose what jobs he wanted to accept as he crafted different inventions for people.

After his conversation though, he'd realized just how potentially foolish he'd been should he have gone through with it. Associating himself so closely with Spider-Man in front of the world would have made him a target for Spider-Man's enemies, as well as those he loved... like Mindy. Man, if she'd gotten hurt because of something he'd said or done, he would never forgive himself for it. Even more so, without her, he feared what kind of path he would go down, what kind of man he would become. She was his rock, the one who grounded him when he got too high in the clouds, so to speak.

Man, what had he been thinking?

Opting to continue towards home, Hobie resumed his parkouring across the city. Once he got a couple blocks away, he took greater caution in his approach, hoping to ensure that no one saw him enter. When he was certain he could slide in anonymously and without detection, Hobie made his way through his window, his boots landing on the ground without making a noise, a feature he'd built into them that he was now finding especially useful.

Pressing a button on the side of his helmet, the covering rescinded, revealing the man's face. He strolled back over towards the mirror in his room, glancing at his reflection. The suit he'd previously marveled at as his own incredible technical achievement now only felt like a source of hubris, of pride that had almost proved costly. What was he going to do with it now? Spider-Man had stopped him from really making a mistake with it, so he could still put it to use somehow if he wished, but still, after tonight...

Growing more confused and frustrated by the second, Hobie moved over towards his desk, scooping up his phone and dialing his girlfriend. After a few rings, there was an answer.

"Hey sweetie, it's kind of late. Is everything okay?"

"Hey baby," he said. "I'm sorry to bother you; I know you were probably just going to bed to get up early. I just... I need to talk."

"What's is it, babe?" she questioned.

"Mind, I... I almost messed up," he said. "I had a plan, one that I thought FOR SURE would finally put me on the path to success, the path that would help us get married, but I almost made a big mistake."

"Honey, what are you talking about?" Mindy questioned. "What's wrong?"

Hobie let out a silent breath; he might as well just throw it out there.

"Hon, I..."

Suddenly, a powerful surge of electricity came over the suit, causing Hobie to drop his phone and double over in pain.

"AAAAAAGH!"

It stopped after a few moments, but even then, it took Hobie a minute to recover from the burning pain he'd felt seemingly across his entire body.

"What was that?" he wondered out loud. Had something happened to damage his suit that he hadn't been aware of until now?

"Pardon the expression, but... shocking, isn't it?"

Hobie spun around to find none other than Mr. Wesley, who was standing just a few feet outside of his room.

"You?" Hobie questioned, his mind spinning as he tried to put the pieces together. "How did you...?"

"Come on, Hobie," the man said smarmily. "Did you really think that you could receive such a powerful gift and not expect some strings attached?"

"What are you talking about?" Hobie asked, still confused. "This suit is my own invention! How did you do this to it!?"

"You're a smart man, Hobie," Mr. Wesley sarcastically reassured him. "I'm sure that you'll figure it out, but in the meantime, I have some work for you, if you're interested that is?"

"I said I'm never going back!" Hobie cried out, forcing himself to his feet and lunging for the man. His opponent simply lifted his hand, pressing something within it before another series of shocks came through the suit, causing Hobie to crash to the floor, writhing in pain as he did before it stopped.

"Oh, and one other thing," Mr. Wesley said. "With this fancy little button right here, I can cause as much pain for you as I choose to, but let me assure you, I'm a very reasonable man, so I'm confident that we can come to some kind of agreement."

"You..." Hobie growled. "Why are you doing this? Why won't you just let me live my life?"

"Because, Hobie," Mr. Wesley said, squatting down beside him, "you're a man of great talent and potential, one that we would hate to see wasted on some nine-to-five-day job. No, you were meant for greater things, my friend. I'm simply doing my part to help you achieve that vision."

"It doesn't matter," Hobie said, the pain finally subsiding. "You can't stay here forever. Once you leave, I'll just take the suit off. Then how will you be able to control me?"

"Oh, that is a good thought," Mr. Wesley replied. "However, the nice thing about this fancy button here is that, if it doesn't pick up on you being in the suit, then it goes from essentially a glorified shock collar to, well, a bomb capable of taking down this entire building. You wouldn't want to be responsible for the deaths of an entire Manhattan apartment complex now, would you?"

Mr. Wesley then stood to his feet.

"Oh, and don't think you can just be smart and take it to an isolated area," the man added. "I have people watching this building; if they see you trying to head in some particular direction other than one than one we send you on, they'll tell me, and this thing has a wider range than you might think. Can't have the great and powerful Prowler looking all weak and helpless in front of his new adoring public now, can we?"

Mr. Wesley then strolled over to the door, leaving Hobie lying there, defeated and still in pain.

"I'll be expecting your call soon," the man added before taking his leave.

Hope you're still enjoying it!

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

"Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.'" Luke 9:23-24