After a long break, we are back with the next arc, once again named not after a Spider-Man story arc, but a Spider-Man song.

I present to you: Make It Out Alive!

In the dwellings of Eradu's lower districts, a foul plan is being put into motion, overseen by Shin Nemoto and Rikiya Katsukame, a pair of corrupt pro heroes and the last of the Eight Bullets of the Shie Hassaikai.

Their plan is desperate. As it stands, the Shie Hassaikai has never been more vulnerable as it is now. Even during the days of All Might's reign, their little Yakuza had been able to slink into the shadows and hide, slowly building up their strength within the ranks of the pro heroes to eventually become one of the key players in the criminal underworld when the number one hero's time finally came to an end.

However, the last year's events have been devastating for them. The last year since Spider-Man's public debut into the world has been nothing but chaos for everyone, the Shie Hassaikai especially. Since Spider-Man's attack on their agency due to their brief alliance with the Green Goblin, they have not only lost the main asset to all their plans, Eri, but they have been bleeding members and lieutenants to the various vigilantes that have been popping up to join Spider-Man in his no-pro crusade. Their operations have been destroyed, their income revenues shattered, their ability to exert their will no longer as powerful as it use to be.

Worse yet, they had lost much of the respect and fear that they once commanded. Back in the day, they had commanded great swaths of corrupt pro heroes through a deadly cocktail of terror and admiration. Now, after everything, they were as sickly and weak as their old boss in a coma, and everyone in the underworld knew it. They were considered a joke, an old running gag that needed to fade away and die...

And they hate it. Overhaul despises this viewpoint, and the rest of his remaining lieutenants share this viewpoint. They wish to regain the respect and power that they once commanded, and the key to going about this is by getting their hands on Eri, and reviving their plans to create quirk-erasing bullets.

That is what Shin Nemoto, Rikiya Katsukame, and their small army of pro heroes are here for. Eradu is a last gamble, the final chance for them to gain Eri and her quirk before their chapter is forcefully ended.

And if they can get revenge on the Morales family for humiliating Overhaul and the Shie Hassaikai... well, all the better.

Meanwhile, Miles, Anya, Mattie, and Ganke continue to attend Visions Academy, along with Eri Morales and her new friends, Kota, Katsuma and Mahoro, in the years below them.

Miles and Anya are still rattled by what happened with Screwball and the Garbage Trio not too long ago and are still unsure as to what they want to do with their lives and their futures, especially with their new spider powers that they are still getting used to.

Meanwhile, Eri continues to ponder as to the threat that her former 'father' continues to pose, as she had recognised the Garbage Trio from back in the day but was still too afraid to speak up about it, the lingering trauma of what happened to her at the hands of the Shie Hassaikai still haunting her. What's more, she is beginning to feel the effects of the Symbiote bonded to her eating at her emotions, letting them empower it as it desires to be released.

This is all made even more confusing as she speaks to the girl in a tattered coat and Spider-Man costume, the girl that calls herself Zero, and makes it clear that she knows about Eri's condition, though she is not telling how. Zero tells Eri that she can help her control the Symbiote that has attached itself to her, but Eri is less than willing to trust her.

However, Miles and Anya notice a sharp rise in the number of pro heroes in Eradu. Though the official reason for their presence is that they are there to protect the province as a reaction to Screwball's earlier antics, the two spider-powered civilians are less than willing to trust them, considering their previous experiences...

Then, they are contacted by a pair of private investigators. Itsuka Kendo and her uncle, Kendo Rappa. They are investigating the pro heroes and their activities in the area due to their previous interactions with a group known as the Shie Hassaikai, but need a solid connection between this group and the pro heroes in the area to come to a solid finding and conclude their investigation.

And they think that Miles and Anya can help them figure it out. Turns out that they've figured out Miles' and Anya's parts in the events with Screwball and the corrupt Garbage Trio pro heroes, as well as them having spider powers of their own, and they believe that the two can help bridge the gap in their knowledge.

So, Miles and Anya tell the two what they know, including their experiences with the Garbage Trio, as well as Miles' own experiences with Overhaul's agency. At this point, the group are aware that Overhaul and his agency are linked to the Shie Hassaikai, but they haven't quite come to the conclusion that the two are one in the same. At the very least, they suspect it, but are so far running with the conclusion that the two organisations are in lockstep with one another. Kendo Rappa is less than helpful though, considering that he apparently used to be work for Overhaul's agency, as he was never let in on the agency's larger operations due to him not sharing the same sense of loyalty to Overhaul as the other pro heroes did.

Itsuka considers asking Eri about her time in Overhaul's agency, but Miles is against it. Eri hasn't spoken about her time in Overhaul's 'care' at all, and she's very much not willing to talk about it at all.

But that is for later. In the meantime, Shin Nemoto and Rikiya Katsukame's pro heroes are shipping something into Eradu, and are going over Jefferson Davis' nose, and the noses of all the other police officers in the district (few that they are). Itsuka and Rappa use their newfound connections to Gang Orca and Ryukyu as private investigators to work with the police in their research and have even gone off the books and sought out the help of a local former-villain-now-active-vigilante known as the Prowler for assistance. Itsuka is, to say the least, reluctant to enlist the help of a former villain, but at this point she has come to appreciate the grey of the world and is forced to swallow down her apprehension.

Meanwhile, Miles and Anya are still unsure of what they wish to do with their lives, as they discuss their spider powers with Ganke and Mattie and try to figure out what their futures will be in the world, now even more uncertain than ever before. Miles and Anya continuously considered the words that Spider-Man had imparted onto them after their fight with Screwball and the Garbage Trio but would still be left unsure and uncertain.

In the meantime, the pro heroes now stationed in Eradu begin to harass the residents, including the Morales family, as they look around for something and begin shipping strange containers in. Officer Jefferson tries to find out what is going on, but is held back by the heroes as they continue their operations. In the shadows of Eradu, Kendo and Rappa continue to investigate the pro heroes' links to the Shie Hassaikai, assisted by the Prowler and Jefferson himself in secret, though the relations between the two brothers is tense to say the least.

Meanwhile, Eri continues to speak with the girl who refers to herself as Zero, asking her why she is helping her to tame and control the Symbiote inside of her. Zero is ambiguous and deflective in her answers, and instead redirects Eri to begin questioning the presence of the pro heroes around her. Eri is unsure as to what she means at first, but then remembers the Garbage Trio incident and understands what Zero is implying. Zero then encourages Eri to stay by Katsuma's side, as he has better control over the Symbiote inside him than Eri does hers, even if he doesn't know it.

Elsewhere, the Prowler helps Kendo and Rappa sneak through the pro hero patrols and into the police station, where these pro heroes had set up their headquarters and had conscripted several officers into helping them. Sleuthing through the files and paperwork that had been accumulated through the pro heroes' operations, the junior detective, bodyguard, and villain-turned-vigilante discover a series of documents detailing the finances and resources needed for some sort of upcoming operation that they will be carrying out. The trio are able to sneak out of the police station without much incident, especially thanks to a handy bit of assistance from Jefferson, but they end up tailing a pair of pro heroes on their way to a warehouse in lower Eradu, where they spot them supplying multiple gang members and villains with barrels of Trigger. The same Trigger that has the stamp of the Shie Hassaikai all over it...

…Just as Miles spots a group of those same Trigger-fed villains beginning to spread out across the district.

Suddenly, Kendo, Rappa, and the Prowler realise what is going on. All these pro heroes are in league with the Shie Hassaikai, and are feeding these villains Trigger so that they can spread chaos all over the district. Why they want to do this, the three aren't certain at first, but they theorise that it is either to give the pro heroes the chance to 'defeat' these villains and gain the trust of the people of Eradu, thereby allowing their employers, the Shie Hassaikai, to build a powerbase to re-establish their criminal empire, or that it's all just a distraction in order to grab Eri Morales without any interference.

The Prowler slips off to go and protect Eri, and Kendo and Rappa make a call to a trusted friend and then break into the warehouse, battling the corrupt pro heroes inside as they try to secure the building and stop any further Trigger shipments.

Meanwhile, the whole of Eradu erupts into chaos as the Trigger-juiced villains begin to go on a rampage. Connecting the dots together themselves, Miles and Anya don the disguises that they had been wearing before against Screwball and the Garbage Trio and going to town on the villains, as well as the corrupt pro heroes that had been escorting them. Elsewhere, Jefferson and his fellow officers would be overwhelmed by the villains, especially when several other officers, on the payroll of the corrupt pro heroes, stepped out of the way of the villains to allow their employers to shepherd them out, waiting for the chance to take them down as well.

None of the corrupt pros expected the people of Eradu to march out of their homes and beat down the enhanced villains themselves, nor did Jefferson expect the Prowler to save him from one of the enhanced villains as well.

Annoyed by this, the corrupt pro heroes move to arrest the civilians for interfering in their plans. However, Miles and Anya move to protect their friends and fellows of Eradu, earning the ire of the corrupt pro heroes as the two take them head on.

And elsewhere, realising that the first part of their plan has gone haywire, Shin Nemoto sends Rikiya off to deal with Kendo and Rappa, whilst he goes to secure Eri.

Kendo and Rappa are busy with their brawl against the corrupt pro heroes in the burning warehouse, but as soon as they wrap it up they are attacked by the brutish Rikiya, who declares Rappa to be a traitor to the Shie Hassaikai as the two begin to brawl with each other, almost catching Kendo in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, Eri and Katsuma shelter away from the chaos in the Morales household, only to panic as the door to the house is broken down, and Shin Nemoto to walk in, calling for Eri with a gun in his hand.

Back in the fight, Miles and Anya continue to fight back against the corrupt pro heroes, but find themselves being outmatched and outgunned by the heroes' experience and superior skill...

But all of that changes when Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, supported by Gang Orca and his sidekicks and Ryukyu and Nejire arrive on the scene. They had been called over there by Kendo, and brought low the corrupt pro heroes attacking Eradu, rounding them up for arrest.

Back in the warehouse, Rikiya and Rappa continue to duel with each other, Rappa beginning to lose himself to his quirk's impulses once more as he becomes more bloodthirsty, only stopped from snapping Rikiya's neck and ending his life by Kendo, knocking the Shie Hassaikai gangster out and successfully talking her uncle down, the two of them vacating the ruined warehouse with Rikiya and the other unconscious pro heroes with them.

Elsewhere, Jefferson and the Prowler would finally deal with the Trigger-fed villains, the two men sharing a conversation with each other in the aftermath, first starting off awkwardly, but then progressing into a genuine talk between them as they conversed, finally explaining to each other and how they feel.

As it turns out, both Jefferson and Aaron Davis were born into poverty in America, growing up in one of the low income estates and being forced into bad habits to survive. Jefferson had been able to get out, but Aaron had not, and adopted the moniker of the Prowler in turn. But Jefferson had eventually married Rio Morales and become a cop, and Aaron got sick of his criminal lifestyle and turned himself in to the authorities, going in and out of prison and moving away to Japan with Jefferson, his wife, and their baby son, his nephew, to make a new life for himself and his brother.

However, a lot of tension still existed between the two brothers, and eventually ended in Jefferson cutting Aaron out of their lives and Aaron walking out on them in turn, only to return to them once the recent troubles began with the people after Eri.

Thanking each other, the two brothers then speed off back home to protect Eri from a possible kidnapping attempt...

…Whilst at the Morales household, Shin Nemoto is kicking down doors and shouting for Eri, threatening to kill anyone that he finds if Eri doesn't give herself up, shooting a hole in one of the walls to prove his point.

Eri and Katsuma shelter away in separate hiding spots, shaking and scared out of their minds.

Then, Shin begins to use his quirk, attempting to forcefully extract the two children's location, and Katsuma finds himself forcefully answering against his will.

Shin rips Katsuma out of his hiding place and places the barrel of his gun against the child's head as he threatens to shoot the boy unless Eri gives herself up. Out of fear of losing her friend to any of Overhaul's minions, Eri gives herself up, only for Shin to reveal that he was going to shoot Katsuma regardless of whether Eri gave herself up or not, and pulls the trigger-

Only for the bullet to be caught and crumpled up by a black and yellow ooze forming around Katsuma.

In a rage, Shin goes to shoot Eri instead, only for Katsuma to explode in a rage at him attempting to hurt his friend, a great black and yellow body of moving slime and sludge forming over him and knocking the corrupt pro hero out of the building, through a window and onto the street.

A hulking creature declaring itself as Sleeper steps out after it, intending to make Shin pay for trying to hurt its friend.

Sleeper begins to wail on Shin, beating the Yakuza-aligned pro hero down and breaking his bones, even using his Symbiote powers to overpower Shin's own quirk and use it against the Shie Hassaikai goon, forcing a confession out of the man that it was Overhaul who sent him to kill the Morales family and kidnap Eri so that they can recommence production of the quirk-erasing bullets and reestablish the Shie Hassaikai's power.

However, before Sleeper can make the finishing blow on Shin, intending to kill the man, Eri calls out to Sleeper, to Katsuma, and begs him to stop. She's seen enough death and suffering because of her. She can't stomach anymore.

And that is what gets Sleeper to calm down, releasing the broken, but still breathing Shie Hassaikai member, and shrinking back down into Katsuma, the young boy scared and confused by what just happened, but also thankful to see one of his best friends (the others being Kota and his sister Mahoro) still alive and okay.

Even better, Jefferson and the Prowler had arrived in time to hear Shin Nemoto's confession, implicating Overhaul as the leader of the Shie Hassaikai, and go to arrest him and secure Eri and Katsuma.

The next day, as the chaos in Eradu finally ends and the villains and corrupt pro heroes, including Shin and Rikiya, are hauled away by the authorities, Spider-Man thanks Miles and Anya for their assistance once they arrive back home with Rio, Mattie, and Ganke, alongside Kendo and a wounded Rappa, but makes it clear that what he said before to them is still very much relevant, even more so now than ever. Now that Eri and Katsuma have confirmed that it is Overhaul after them, alongside the evidence found by Kendo and Rappa, there is little doubt that they are in even more danger than ever before.

Spider-Man volunteers to stay in Eradu to protect the Morales family whilst Overhaul is being arrested, and the Morales family agrees.

But elsewhere, Overhaul has been pushed beyond his limit, and ends up murdering one of his few remaining loyalists, Hekiji Tengai, in a fit of rage. So far, all his operations have failed, and his minions are being removed from the board one by one because of Spider-Man and his gang of vigilantes. In fact, since the beginning, his operations have been continuously put in jeopardy because of the Spider-People, and now he's a wanted criminal. The Shie Hassaikai has lost so much of their influence in both the pro hero circle and the criminal underworld, and he has had it.

He is going to grab Eri himself and rebuild the power of the Shie Hassaikai from the ground up, and he will have the heads of every single Spider-Person on his wall as he does so.

So, he orders what few connections he has left to put out the word, and the next day, the news stations are all reporting about it.

Overhaul has just put a one-and-a-half-billion Yen on the heads of every single Spider-Person.

And elsewhere, Todoroki is approached by a member of the Meta Liberation Army, who offers to help him get revenge on his father and take his quirk to new heights.

Todoroki accepts.

...

:)