Liz and I sat together, cuddled on the couch watching a true crime documentary. For some reason Liz was obsessed with this kind of stuff. I didn’t mind watching it, but I was mostly here just to cuddle with her. Plus, it was fun to listen to her talk about theories she had afterwards.

“Hey Petey?” Liz said, shifting to look up at me.

“Yeah?” I asked

“Do you enjoy watching this stuff?”

“Yeah”

“Really?”

“It’s not like I have anything better to do” I joked.

She laughed as a pang of guilt passed through my chest.

“Well you can watch something else” she said, before pulling away from me

“Hm? Where are you going?”

“Someone needs to cook. I mean We takeout’s nice and all but we need some actual food” she said with a smile.

“Fair enough. So you cook today and tomorrow, and I cook Saturday and Sunday?”

“How convenient that you get to cook on the weekend?” she said, stepping into the kitchen.

“You know what, let’s cook together” following her into the kitchen. “You decide the meal today and tomorrow and I decide on the weekend. How’s that?” I said.

“That sounds great” she said, pulling me into a kiss.

My phone buzzed loudly in my pocket, but I ignored it. Liz pulled away first.

“You gonna get that? It might be your Aunt” she said.

"Fair point" I responded. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, glancing at it.

“Oh, it’s Harry” I said.

“Take it. I’ll set up while you two talk” she said.

“Thanks babe” I said, stepping out of the kitchen.

I answered the call.

“Hey Harry, what’s up?” I asked.

“Well… I’m good. What about you?” he replied, sounding as tired as always.

“Yeah, everything’s great over here. Why’d you call? Is something wrong?” I responded.

“Yes and no. I was just calling to ask if anything was happening for MJ’s birthday but there’s a few other things that aren’t exactly fun to deal with right now” Harry said. I paused letting out a breath. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about MJ’s birthday. Crap, it was in a week. Thank god Harry had called me.

“Uh MJ hasn’t said anything, but if she hasn’t got anything happening I could phone Kevin and try and set up a surprise party”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Any ideas on what to get her? You know I suck at stuff like this, and I don’t trust _ to not get something way too expensive” Harry said.

“Well…“

“You’re not getting something for the baby?”

“I don’t know. I feel like that’d be in poor taste. I mean she’s only six months along and we could get something for the baby at the baby shower, right?”

“I’ll probably just get her tickets to a play or something”

“Yeah… uh Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Not to bring your mood down, but you sound kind of tired man. What ‘other things’ were bothering you” I asked. He let out a hearty sigh.

“It’s the fund. I can tell you about this, since technically you’re an investor, but please don’t tell this to anyone else, we’re trying to keep it hidden”

“What happened?”

“Well, there were a group of investment managers who were siphoning money from the fund in various forms”

“Shit. How much did they take?”

“We don’t know, but it’s around twenty million”

“What?!”

“I know. It doesn’t help that we’ve had to cover the cost of the accident happening at Sis’ office or that we got screwed when Icarus Labs went up in flames. If things continue like this…” he trailed off.

“Well, I mean there’s still a lot of money left right? I know you started offering scholarships this academic year”

“Don’t say you, Pete. Sure, it was a while ago, but that was your idea” Harry said.

“I… yeah, well my point is y-we’ll bounce back, right?”

“I know I… I just wanted to expand into offering free healthcare outside of disaster relief, but Dad’s cutting the budget again for… well I can’t tell you about that yet. Dad wants to tell you himself”

“Wait what? What’s happening?”

“I… you’ll get an invite soon Pete. There’s gonna be an Event at Oscorp Tower this Sunday. I know how you feel about my Dad but… you should come. Plus it’ll be a nice outing for you and Liz”

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“I… ok” I said.

“Well sorry man, I’ve got to go. I was great talking to you Pete.”

“See you later Harry” I said. The line went dead and I stood still for a moment, staring aimlessly at the floor. I wonder what that was going to be about.

“Petey? What’s wrong?” Liz said, looking at me through the kitchen doorway.

“Nothing” I said forcing a smile. “In fact, we were just invited to a party.”

-

“You sure you can’t stay? It’s late” Liz said.

“I know, but I left some things at home that’ll I’ll need at work tomorrow” I said.

“Can’t you wait till the morning to get them?”

“No, it’s heavy stuff. If I want to get to work on time with the stuff I need to leave super early. I don’t want to wake you” I said. Liz pouted slightly, but I pulled her into a quick kiss.

“I promise you I’ll get here as soon as I finish work”

“You better keep that promise”

“When have I ever not?”

“I’m not going to answer that question” she said. She pulled me in for another quick kiss.

“Bye Petey” she said.

“See you tomorrow” I said.

I turned and made my way down the hall, flashing Liz a smile and thumbs up as she watched me from her doorway. I stepped into the stairwell and instantly made my way up the stairs. I burst onto the roof, the night air cold, even through my costume. I looked out over the Brooklyn, the lights, the sounds, the soft but cold breeze all of it generating a peaceful atmosphere.

I crouched down at the edge of the building.

“If I was Prowler, where would I be?” I mumbled. Definitely not near Downtown, if he could help it. It all depended on the job, and even then, if he was downtown he was definitely slippery enough to get in and out. The question was, what could he possibly be doing in Brooklyn? The Bears had a foothold here, but they’d lose power without Marko. Was it related to that? Maybe. Marko had only been put in prison a day ago, but Prowler worked fast. Maybe there was something here that he wanted to take from the Bears? No way to know. Who else was here? There were those teen metas who were always pulling a bunch of pranks, but they were essentially non entities. Wait, I’d heard rumours there was a new guy trying to start some kind of illegal weapons business. I’d need to shut that last guy down before he got too big. Ever since powers had become more common, gun ownership sentiment had spiked. An illegal weapons dealer would be more than popular. Maybe he was involved somehow. I sighed. I was thinking too much. It was best just to get started.

I stood up and rushed along the side of the roof, leaping onto the next roof over. I flipped and vaulted over obstacles before hurling myself from one roof to the next. I was going for the stealth approach today. Out of sight, out of mind. Suddenly the sound of gunfire and shouts echoed through the streets off in the distance. Shit.

I launched myself off the building and fired a web. I swung around a pole, picking up speed, then flung myself off into the distance. I soared through the air, the lights underneath me, becoming blurs and flashes. I searched quickly for the source of commotion. There. I pulled myself towards the ground with a web and landed on the side of a building.

It was a car chase. Two white vans and a black car sped after a motorcycle. Were they Bears? Wait a second… I’d recognise those colours anywhere. Prowler. I had to be the luckiest man alive. I leapt off the side of the building and swung, snaking between the stopped cars as I made my way closer. The gunfire grew louder as I neared. I watched as Prowler zipped between vehicles, zooming through the streets as cars swerved to avoid him, the two vans and car in hot pursuit.

I swung past the vans and the car, webbing their guns away from them. Prowler looked up at me and sped up, the lights on his bike and armour dimming. Hm, he was going dark now? I glanced back at the chasing cars. Had he wanted these guys to follow him? Didn’t matter. If I stopped him, I’d stop these guys too. I sped forwards, leaping off the roof of a car as I aimed for Prowler. He swerved at the last second and I barely managed to get a finger on the bike as he carried on zipping between cars.

I stayed stuck to it, and as I prepared to flip myself up, he swung his arm backwards, raking debris into my face. I flipped over it and went to fire webs at him when my spider sense buzzed. I covered my face as an explosion of heat blew me backwards sending me crashing into the one of the pursuing vans. I flipped over its roof and then onto the floor. I recovered quickly and fired webs at the van, letting it drag me as the pain subsided. Then with a burst of strength I flung myself over the van back at Prowler. He spotted me and turned his arm towards me, firing small spheres that my spider sense instantly alerted me of. I fired webs at them and they exploded in the air. Shit. I needed to stop this quickly, before bystanders got really hurt.

I fired a webs and slingshot myself high into the air as the smoke cleared. The wind rippled across the slightly loose part of my damaged mask as I soared past the roofs of buildings. I turned back down as I started to descend. Prowler was searching around for me as he continued to shoot down the street at a breakneck pace, the others following. Perfect.

I shot down towards him, readying myself for how much this was going to hurt. My suit would take most of the damage at least. I shot past the building roofs and tilted my body adjusting my landing zone. At the last second Prowler looked up, but it was too late. I slammed into him, and we crashed to the ground, skidding across the asphalt. Even as I skidded, I worked, slowing his bike with webs and directing it to the ground, before it could hit anyone. I webbed it to the floor then flipped up.

Prowler stood up stumbling, the back of his suit sparking. He glanced up at me and instantly shot towards an alley. I tried to web him, but like always he avoided the webs easily, disappearing into the darkness. I glanced at the pursuing vans and car as they ground to a halt, then shook my head. Prowler was more important. I followed into the darkness, listening closely to his almost soundless footsteps.

I leapt over a fence and vaulted up between walls before pulling myself up to the roof with a web. With a roar he slashed at me, but I narrowly avoided and kicked at him. He caught it, but I took the chance to web his foot to the ground. He lost his balance and I hit him, knocking him to the floor. He kicked at me and I jumped back, then he threw more spheres at me. I leapt over them, firing webs at them when they over the alley. The explosion of heat still knocked me backwards.

I got up to see him, leaping between houses. Dammit, he’d improved his claws to cut at my new web formula again. I followed him, catching quickly. He was slower than usual. His suit must’ve been damaged. I fired a web and he barely dodged it, but I whipped it, clearing his legs. He fell, skidded and went off the side of a roof. Before I could leap down my spider sense buzzed. I leapt out of the way as claws slashed beneath me. I landed on top of my assailant. It was Prowler? Wait what?!

He grabbed me and slammed me to the ground. His claws extended again, scratching my arm, but I kicked him off me down into the alley again. What was going on? Had the late nights and all the crime fighting taken their toll? Was I hallucinating? I leapt up and landed on the wall of the opposite building at the top of the alley.

Beneath me, two Prowlers stood, looking up. Everything suddenly made a lot more sense. The one in hide mode handed something off to the other, who then darted away. I leapt downward, firing a barrage of quick web blasts at them, but they both released a bunch of tiny spheres into the air and a wave of heat blew me back again.

I landed on the roof and could hear shouts and panicked cries below. A hole had been blown in the side of the building. I watched as the two Prowlers made a break for it and cursed. I flipped down, landing in the building. A mother clutched her son tightly as they cowered in the corner of the room. I webbed out a small fire and webbed together the cracking parts of the brick as the ceiling creaked. I’d seen this before. The apartment was coming down. I rushed over to the mother and son, grabbed them and leapt out of the building as the roof collapsed. I landed on the alley wall, and quickly leapt up, escaping the dust. I came to a stop on the roof, setting the mother and son down. She instantly checked on the kid, who looked no older than ten, as he stared at me wide eyed. I glanced at the building. Thank God, the ceiling of the apartment beneath had held. I was glad the explosion had only caught the top floor.

“You two okay?” I asked turning to the mom and son.

“Yes I- thank you Spider-Man, thank you” the mom said, breathing a sigh of relief. The boy just nodded slowly, still staring at me wide eyed. I looked back at the building before scanning around the neighbourhood. Dammit. The Prowlers were gone.