Once he'd left the park, Peter quickly found an alley and ducked into it. Changing quickly, he completed his transformation into Spider-Man as he slipped on his mask before webbing his clothing into a ball on the wall. He then fired a web, pulling himself up and over the building, heading towards his destination.

As he made his way towards the docks, Peter tried to get his head in the game. He reminded himself that he'd known this was likely to happen, that he was always going to have to cut his date with Mary Jane short if he was going to act on Matt's tip. It was just that he hadn't expected things to go so well; while he'd been excited, Peter had also been bracing himself to not even recognize her as a person. Instead, being with her had been like a breath of fresh air, one he'd hated to depart from so quickly.

"It's alright, Pete," he told himself as he swung along, fast approaching the docks. "You'll see her again, and then... well, you'll figure that out when you get there."

A couple minutes later, Peter finally came in for a landing, finding a solid perch spot overlooking most of the area. He soon spotted some guys that he recognized as Fisk goons that he'd even put away before, one of them multiple times even in the last couple of years. That was the thing about these guys: they were like a wack-em-all carnival game, where every time you thought you'd taken one down, they'd pop back up again. In this case, it was due to having a boss with behind-the-scenes connections and influence everywhere, which, to Peter, was even more annoying than what he was comparing them to.

Daring to get a closer position, Peter fired a web, yanking himself quickly down towards a better but still hidden vantage point. As much as he was ready to pounce and just take these guys out, partially to see if there might be a chance he could get back to M.J, he knew that he needed to wait until the merchandise in question was exposed. He needed to be one hundred percent sure for himself that Matt had been right about what was going down and some of the materials being out would at least allow a better chance for the police to actually do something than if it was still locked up.

He then saw two men come together, one of them showing the other a tablet as they appeared to be looking over something.

"Come on, guys," Peter muttered softly to himself. "Show me the goods."

The men then nodded, and the one with the tablet motioned towards another man near a crate. That one then broke open the top, pulling out nothing less than a rocket launcher, taking it in his hands and bringing it over towards the men to display it.

"Matt, old friend," Peter spoke up as he got into position to act, "I have to hand it to you: when it comes to this stuff at least, you really are always right."

Peter extended his arm to fire a web, but just before he could, his spider sense went off so strongly it almost hurt. Next thing he knew, he was leaping out of the way before he'd even fully turned his head to see the danger, firing a web. Before he could swing to safety though, his attacker recovered, suddenly tackling him in the air and sending them both crashing through a window and slamming them into a nearby storage building. Peter managed to kick his opponent off himself, sending whoever or whatever it was flying up into the darkness of the rafters. He quickly got to his feet, scanning the area but finding no one, his attacker seemingly hiding out in the darkness.

Leaping up, Peter landed in the rafter area as well, his eyes beginning to adjust. His mystery opponent remained hidden though even as he crept along, though occasionally he thought he heard something scrambling beside him, only for it to be gone when he glanced over. After a minute though, his spider sense suddenly went off sharply, allowing him to narrowly flip over his opponent. Landing on another part of the rafters, he glanced over to finally get a glimpse of... something in the darkness. He fired multiple webs their direction, but the figure maneuvered around them with agility and precision, and even his own enhanced reflexes weren't enough to save him from being rushed and suddenly pinned to the wall by his mysterious attacker, who had his hands pressed around his throat.

The figure now semblances of light, Peter saw before him what seemed to be someone mostly humanoid but with cat-like features on their face, their body covered in golden fur. He could feel the sharp claws on their hands as well as they gripped his neck.

"Hey, pal," Peter said, struggling to even get the words out against the creature's powerful grip on his throat. "Listen, can we do this later? I was kind of in the middle of busting up that weapons deal outside."

The individual didn't respond, only squeezing harder. Thinking fast, Peter quickly shot a web blast into his opponent's eyes, causing him to roar in frustration. He did release his grip though, allowing Peter to lay into him a flurry of punches that culminated in a powerful strike to his enemy's midsection, sending him flying across the room. He quickly released a series of webs, pinning his opponent to the wall.

"Seriously, just stay here," Peter said. "I promise, I'll give you my full and undivided attention here in a minute!"

Firing two webs, Peter then yanked himself up and out of the building through the broken window by which he'd previously entered. Recognizing he was likely already behind on the situation, he made no effort at stealth, instead landing in the middle of the scene.

"Spider-Man!" one of them shouted, him and the guy next to him drawing their guns.

"Sorry I'm late, fellas!" Peter called out, immediately webbing their guns and yanking them away. "Would have joined the party sooner, but I..."

His spider sense went off yet again before he could finish his quip, this time somehow even more intensely than before. Acting quickly, he leapt into the air, flipping back and landing on all fours just as his mammalian opponent charged him again, stopping and turning back to face him.

"This is going to take longer than I thought..." he muttered frustratedly to himself.

Inserting her key inside the lock, M.J. twisted and pushed open the front door.

"Oh, you're back earlier than I expected," her Aunt Anna observed. "How was it tonight?"

"It was good," M.J. replied. "Peter just had a work thing he forgot that he had to be at. I'm actually kind of tired though, so I think I'll head upstai..."

"Mary Jane," her aunt said, getting her attention before she could get too far. "Sit."

M.J. could do nothing but comply, coming over and taking a seat beside her aunt on the couch.

"How was it REALLY?" her aunt questioned.

M.J. sighed.

"Honestly, it was better than I expected," she admitted. "Almost perfect, even."

"I would think that would be a good thing?" Anna questioned.

"It was," she said. "It's just... I don't know. I can't explain it really; it's like he was holding himself back from me a little at the end."

"I mean, you two did just see each other for the first time in quite a while," her aunt pointed out. "You might just need to give it some time."

"Maybe you're right," Mary Jane conceded. "He's always been this way though, but maybe..."

"What is it?" Anna questioned.

"Nothing," Mary Jane said abruptly. "Listen, Aunt Anna, I think I'll just head upstairs and study some lines for the next round of auditions before I go to bed. We can talk more tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, dear," her aunt replied, the two women meeting in a hug.

"Thanks again for letting me stay here until I get set up with my own place," she said.

"It's my pleasure," her aunt replied. "I'm just glad to have you back."

"Me too," Mary Jane assured her. "Goodnight."

She then took her leave, heading upstairs to her old room. It was strange; even though she'd quickly set some new things up, the room still looked largely like she had left it before taking off for Hollywood. Even being in it brought a sense of comfort as it so often had, the space being a kind of refuge for her when she'd needed it growing up. She stepped inside, glancing around and taking in the view of the place. Her eyes eventually landed on her nightstand, particularly to a picture on it of her and Peter. It was from their college days, with the large open field on the far-right side of campus in the background. She took the picture in her hand, examining it, her mind drifting back to a very, very different time...

Pulling out her handheld mirror from her purse, Mary Jane checked over her makeup one more time. Peter would be there to meet her any second, and she wanted to look her best. It was strange: though she'd been on several dates with a few guys since high school, she'd never really worried about her appearance around one of them so much. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it both excited and terrified her at the same time.

Putting her mirror away, she then spotted him coming up from the other side of the field.

"Hey, Tiger!" she said as she rushed over to greet Peter.

"Sorry I'm late, M.J," he replied. His hair was a little disheveled, but more than that, he looked as though he'd just lost his best friend.

"Hey," Mary Jane said in her usual cheerful, everything-is-right-with-the-world tone. "Turn that frown upside down, Tiger! You're with Mary Jane Watson now, which means..."

"M.J, we need to talk," Peter spoke up, his expression unchanged.

"Oh," M.J. said, admittedly a little caught off guard.

"Listen, I've really enjoyed the few dates we've been on," he began, "but... I'm not sure we're the best fit for each other."

"What do you mean?" M.J. said, fighting to maintain her happy-go-lucky demeanor. "We're like chocolate and peanut butter!"

"No, we're not," Peter said, his tone a little firmer. "We... you're just always happy all the time, and that's great, but that's not how I am, and sometimes it's just... it's just a little too much. I'm glad that life seems to be always perfect for you, but it's not that way for me, and I would just appreciate being with someone who allows that to be the case sometimes. I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel."

For just a few seconds, a few fleeting moments, Mary Jane wanted to challenge Peter on that. She wanted to tell him that her life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, that what he saw was just how she dealt with things, even if it was different from how he did. She didn't want to lose him; indeed, she was suddenly realizing just how surprisingly attached to the boy she'd grown. She wanted to tell him that.

Instead, Mary Jane did what she always did: she rolled with the punches.

"Oh, don't feel sorry for me, Tiger!"

"So... you're not upset?" Peter questioned.

"Of course not," M.J. assured him, "and of course we'll still be friends!"

"Okay, great!" Peter replied. "Listen, I have to get to class, but I guess I'll see you around campus?"

"Count on it!" she replied. Peter then gave her a quick smile before walking past her, with Mary Jane glancing his way. She waited for him to look back, but he just kept on walking, seemingly without a care in the world. She suddenly felt a strange burning in her eyes, some water threatening to escape from them, but she forced it back. He was a neighbor and fellow student she'd see on campus, even a friend...

...but Peter Parker was nothing to be cried over.

M.J. had known what Peter was trying to tell her that day, even if he was too nice to say it properly: she was fake. She was just going about her life like it was all just one big party, never taking anything seriously. She hadn't intended for him to feel like she was doing that with him too, but clearly that was how he'd felt, and really, she'd had no one to blame but herself for it.

Did he still view her that way?

As she set the picture back down, Mary Jane reminded herself that a lot had changed since that day. She'd grown up a lot, and so had he. Plus, Peter had seemed very genuine in his happiness to see her both at the coffee shop and the park. Besides, even if he had been holding himself back, she knew deep down that she wasn't one to talk. After all, she hadn't even told him the full story behind why she came back, even if what she had talked about did play into her decision at least to some degree. But right now, she wouldn't worry about that.

Instead, she would do exactly what she'd said she would come up here for, the thing that had always allowed her to escape from everything else in life: acting.

Peter slammed into the wall hard, having to fight from collapsing into a complete heap on the ground. His opponent was once more coming at him, seemingly no less tired than when this had started. He managed to web and slide underneath his opponent fighting through the exhaustion and the stress of how much time and money it would cost him to fix his borderline shredded costume.

"Seriously, I could recommend a great groomer!" he teased, hoping for SOMETHING to throw his opponent off his game. "That hair will be looking great in no time!"

The man... lion... whatever he was just lunged for him again, swinging at him with his claws that had already landed a few too many times. Fortunately, Peter proved able to stay just ahead of them this time, if only barely. At one point, he jumped to the right just in time to avoid a two-handed strike by his enemy, those claws instead slashing through a night watch stand overlooking the bay. Having already been damaged in the fight, it began a slow descent toward the deck below, with Peter's spider sense alerting him to a man in its path.

Abandoning the fight, Peter moved as quickly as he could muster, firing a web and yanking himself towards the man, snatching him out of the way just in time to avoid the collapsing tower. He then set the man on his own two feet.

"You okay?" he asked. The guy could only nod his head, clearly shaken by the event. Peter then quickly made his way to a higher vantage point, scouring the area for his attacker. Instead, all he was greeted with was nothing; the man, or creature, had disappeared from where he'd last been, and seemed to be nowhere in sight. Likewise, the fight had lasted long enough for the weapons transaction to have either taken place or for everyone to at least get away.

Either way, the night had proven a bust in more ways than one.

Hope you're still enjoying it!

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

"However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived'— the things God has prepared for those who love Him..." 1 Corinthians 2:9