CH2: Shocking, isn't it?

I first realized I was inhabiting what I used to believe was a fictional universe when I was six years old, and I opened my book on world history (a weird thing for a six year old to have, but not for a reincarnated one that was reborn in a different country and wanted to see things from a different perspective) on a random page, and found Steve Roger's gorgeous masked faced staring at me.

I proceeded to have a discreet freak out for the following week, before investing some more and finding I had no idea what to do.

I decided there probably wasn't much I could do except help Peter be at his best.

Unfortunately, I didn't make sure I was at my best, even though the possibility of me becoming Spider-Man had occurred to me; which is another donation I made to the 'Jake Fletcher is a moron' foundation.

However, I liked to think I was adjusting pretty well to the situation. Or at least that's what I thought myself as I swung throughout Manhattan, humming a song to myself while looking for crime.

"Papa was a rolling stone~" another web attached itself to the corner edge of a building and I swung to the left. "Whe'ever he laid 'is hat, was his home~"

Then, in the distance, I saw a few police cars gathered in front of a bank. I stopped to stand on a nearby wall and inspected the scene, pretending I knew what I was doing.

"Thirty hostages, five armed robbers," a nearby boy in blue conveniently explained to who looked to be his captain. "They haven't made any demands yet, but the negotiator will be here soon in case they do."

That's all I needed to hear. I'd seen this scenario plenty of times, so I knew that if I went to the roof of the building…

Yup, as I thought: there was an unlocked window that honestly didn't have a reason to be this easy to open right there over the bank's front doors.

I entered the building stealthily, with my hood up because I liked how scary it made me look at night (even if it was 04:27 in the afternoon) and crawled to the roof, where I sat upside-down to inspect the situation with my own eyes.

Like the cop said, five armed thugs, and a lot of hostages. And look at that, not a single one of the thugs was looking at the middle of the room. They were all standing in a circle with their backs to the middle, all looking towards the hostages, who'd been arranged in a circle around the robbers.

It was actually rather pleasantly symmetrical to look at from my point of view.

The robbers were talking amongst themselves (enhanced senses could be fun sometimes), but one of them was mostly quiet, unless pushed to talk.

There, a one-of-a-kind chance to play Batman.

I shot two web lines to his shoulders and pulled him up too quick for him to scream before I had my hand covering his mouth. I webbed his mouth shut, rolled him up in the stuff, and hung him from the ceiling. Um, not in the Wild West style of hanging someone. The cocoon made sure his full weight was held up. Peter and I made sure I knew how to do that.

I looked at some of the hostages that saw what I did and were looking at me, and put a finger to my lips and winked.

Most of them just looked down, but a couple nodded and one even winked back.

Yeah, I have no idea how the whole 'expressive mask eyes' thing works. I figure thinking about it too hard might make it stop working, so I just accept it and move on.

Now, eventually one of the thugs would realize what was happening when they tried to talk to quiet boy, so…

"What about you, Wind? What're you gonna do with your millions?" the chattiest one made to nudge quiet boy (or Wind, apparently) and found nothing. As he turned to look, I snatched another one the same way I took 'Wind' and hung him from the ceiling.

Sheesh, that sounds really bad when you're a Clint Eastwood fan. I need to think of a better term. Cocooned him? That could work.

"Hey, where did Wind go?" as the other two robbers turned to look, I snatched the one furthest to my left and cocooned him as well.

And then there were two. They realized all their friends were missing, and started pointing their guns around, asking the hostages if they saw anything. I noticed a few made to point up, but before anyone could ruin the moment, I put two webs on Chatty Cattie's friend's shoulders, made sure he saw them and looked up to find me hanging upside down, surrounded by his cocooned friends, let him scream, then pulled him up and knocked him out with a punch to the side of his head.

Chatty Cattie had turned around when he heard the scream, but not fast enough to see his friend get pulled up. His hands were shaking, and my enhanced senses picked up on the smell of his sweat as I silently crawled down the wall to walk up right behind him, lean in, and whispered.

"Are you scared?"

The high-pitched scream put a spring in my step for the next week.

/ \\\

I was in the middle of punching a gigantic pumpkin with spider legs while wearing a cape made of Marvel comics, when someone shouted my name and I jumped awake.

"Mister Fletcher," my science teacher repeated, this time more calmly, since she saw I was awake. "Perhaps you can tell me what it is about my class that you found so boring you fell asleep in the middle of it?"

I yawned and shook my head to wake up completely. I'd spent too much time webbing around Manhattan the night before (even by my standards), but I wasn't about to tell her that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," I muttered. She huffed and continued the class, and I struggled to stay awake for the rest of it. Peter sent me worried looks the whole time.

Later, at the cafeteria, I struggled to stay awake as I poked my potatoes.

"Dude, I told you about getting home early."

"I know," I grumbled. "New York is so full of crime, dude. No one should live here."

I rubbed my eyes and sipped the cup of instant coffee. Luckily, I'd seen all of this coming the night before and put several bags of instant coffee and a travel mug in my bag, so I was gonna be only slightly fucked up until I ran out.

Flash bumped my head into my potatoes, but I barely noticed, and that seemed to annoy him, as he left immediately after.

I pulled my head out and sighed. "I get the feeling that today is just gonna get longer and longer."

And it did.

/ \\\

It was a fucking relief to be Spider-Man again. Being Jake was getting to be more and more tiring, what with holding back my strength and hyperawareness, being tired and bruised for my masked escapades, and all that effort put into hiding my superhero identity.

Being Spider-Man, on the other hand, was amazing. No rules, no hiding, and I got to take a nap whenever.

I was sitting on some random Manhattan roof, watching the twilight and eating a hot dog with my mask half pulled up.

"Hm, it's the little things," I muttered, sighing happily. Of course, my expression soured when I heard someone scream for help. I tossed my hot dog into a trash can, and jumped on the face of the mugger that tried to get an early start on going to jail.

My day only got better from there.

/ \\\

My back slammed against a locker, and I glared up at Flash.

"What's the matter, Fletcher? Gonna fight back?"

I'd done it before. I would've loved to do it again. But I couldn't be sure that I'd be able to keep a lid on my powers. Impotently, I watched the fucker laugh and walk away, before I sighed and helped Peter out of the trash can that Flash shoved him in.

"Sorry, Pete," I said, looking down in shame.

"It's okay, if you fought back, you'd probably break his jaw." Peter dusted off his dorky sweater vest and punched my shoulder playfully. "Hey, May's making lasagna tonight. I'm sure there'll be enough for you."

"Considering I eat at your place all the time, it's very likely." I said, smiling slightly.

/ \\\

"So, just for the record, this was my first fight against a true-blue super villain," I commented, poking Shocker and watching him swing slightly. "I'm kinda new to this; would you say I did alright? I know I'm not very good with banter, but I think I make up for it with stealth and surprise take-downs."

Shocker stared at me for a while, before doing his best to shrug while cocooned and upside-down. "Well, banter's not all that important. I fought Daredevil, and the guy's all business. As for the actual fight, I'd say you did pretty well. You're a pro at dodging; every time I aimed you were already moving."

"Thanks! I call it my Spidey-Sense, although it's really a mix of hyper-awareness and enhanced senses. It lets me know I'm in danger even if I don't consciously realize it."

"Damn, wish I had something like that."

"Eh, I think you do pretty well with what you have."

"Thanks, man."

"No problem."

I left that alley with a sense of pride in myself and a new friendly enemy. He even indulged me and shouted "I'll get you, Spider-Man!" as I left.

What a guy, eh?

/ \\\

I glared at my homework and at the big red letters decorating it.

"'Do it over'," I read, hands shaking with anger. I was pacing around the ceiling of Peter's basement, waving around the piece of homework. "What does she mean 'do it over'?! Should I do it all over?! Should I do some of it over?! Why do I have to do it over?! Does she think Math is the only subject I have to deal with?! This is bullshit!"

"Dude, calm down," Peter said, looking up at me. "You know Mrs. Green is super strict about homework."

"Screw her, then." I jumped out of the roof and pulled off my shirt and hoodie, revealing my supersuit underneath. "I'm going out; I've got better things than school to do."

I pulled my mask from my bag and left my pants with the rest of my civilian clothes in the corner, before crawling out a window and web-slinging away.

I could probably find someone that needed a beating in no time.

/ \\\

God dammit! For weeks, nothing but baddies popping up left and right and left and right, but now that I need the stress-relief, nothing?!

I needed to calm down. I took a few steadying breaths, stretched my back, and started thinking.

Now, I'd been changing my patrol route every time I went out, which is a nice way of saying that I was just going wherever I felt like going at the moment without a plan in mind.

At the moment, I didn't exactly feel like screwing around until trouble found me. I'd go out and find it for once.

And that meant going to Hell's Kitchen.

The trip was mercifully short, and it was interesting to see the quality of buildings decline steadily until I reached the neighborhood itself.

I took a look around. Let's see, if I were criminal scum, were would I be?

"Please, no! I have a family!"

Ah, probably over there.

I rushed over, eager to have something to do.

Within a few hours, I was feeling relaxed for the first time in weeks. Hell's Kitchen had no shortage of gangbangers to beat up, and I enjoyed myself immensely swinging around and announcing my arrival in each alley with a kick to a crook's face.

I wasn't worried about running into Daredevil. After his identity was made public, ol' Matt Murdock hung up the mask and dedicated himself to full-time lawyering.

"Maybe I should pass around here more often," I mused out loud, watching cops take away the latest dealer I'd found. "Keep the law and order in Murdock's place."

I swung away, deciding to give the idea some thought on a later occasion. At the moment, I had another problem: every dealer I found, I asked where they got his stuff, and what the person that gave it to them was like.

I'd been doing it for a while, and seemed to reach the top with this guy, Alex Grace. My latest whistleblower had mentioned a detailed about him that made me want to rush over to deal with him as soon as possible.

Apparently, Mister Grace enjoyed the company of… younger girls.

We'd see if he enjoyed anything after I was through with him.

/ \\\

I knocked on the window, trying to ignore the smell of smoke. Downside to enhanced senses: stoners are twice as bad company.

I had nothing against Marihuana, but still, you try to be around them with twice the smelling capacity.

Eventually, after plenty of knocking, someone opened the window.

"Hello?"

"Howdy!" I smiled and hoped it came across through the mask. "Is a mister Alex Grace here?"

"Nah man, he lives next door." He leaned out the window and pointed to the next window.

"Oh, I see. Thanks a lot, mister!"

"No problem, bug man."

I considered explaining that spiders weren't bugs, but I figured I shouldn't bother. Instead, I walked over to the next window and knocked.

A man wearing sunglasses, a clean white shirt, a black tie, and a holster with a gun in it opened almost immediately.

"Yes?"

"Is this the residence of one Alex Grace?"

"Yeah, who's asking?"

Instead of answering right away, I jumped as far as I could from the wall, before shooting webs on both sides of the windows and using them to slingshot me through the window.

I smashed feet-first into the guy, and used him as a skateboard to take me to the middle of the living room. I found myself surrounded on all sides by men with guns, and grinned.

"I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!"

I jumped and clung to the ceiling half a second before the first bullet flew. I grabbed one of the thugs with a web shot, pulled him towards me, and knocked him out with a punch before jumping out of the way of the re-aimed guns.

All of that in a few seconds.

I repeated the process a few times, taking them out one at a time before I was done.

Or, well, I was done with the room, at least. I could hear someone rushing out in the hallway.

I kicked the door down and saw the back of someone in a dark green bodysuit, who was shouting for another someone to 'hurry the fuck back to the safe house'. I ran after him, shooting a web to his back and pulling.

When the guy was in reach, I punched him into the ground without breaking stride and used another web to send me rushing forward.

There, punching the call button for the elevator repeatedly was the one and only Alex Grace.

Since his back was still to me, I made sure my hood was on and throwing shadow on my face.

I wanted Alex to remember the lesson I was about to give him for the rest of his sad, pathetic life, and I was going to need the full dramatic effect for that.

I kept walking, and without stopping, I used a web to rush him to me.

I grabbed him by the neck, stalked forward, and smashed him against the elevator doors.

"Hello there, Alex," I glared through my mask, and if the stain on his pants was any indication, my feelings made themselves clear. "Maybe you haven't heard of me, I'm Spider-Man. Now, I don't usually listen to gossip, but a little birdie told me you supply every dealer in Hell's Kitchen, isn't that right?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh? Is that right? Then perhaps you know about something else I heard?" I let Alex go and leaned in so he could see his eyes reflected in my lenses. "It's very important, Alex. You need to be honest with me."

"I-I swear I'll tell you the truth! I know everything that goes on in this neighborhood! What do you need? Guns? Women? Anything!"

"I need to know if something else a little bird told me is true." I gently laid a hand on his shoulder. I spoke with a teasing tone. "I heard you have a taste for, uh… younger company?"

A smile bloomed on Alex's face. "Is that all? Sure, I can get you-"

Before he could say another fucking word, I punched him on the face so hard I heard a 'crack'.

"I'm glad you confirmed that for me, Alex." I cracked my knuckles and used a web to get him to stand up. "It means I get to teach you a valuable lesson about what happens when monsters like you touch kids in my city."

I leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"They meet the bigger, badder monster. In other words: me."

I punched him in the stomach so hard I lifted him, and I was ready to continue, when I heard an awkwardly cheerful 'ding' behind me. I turned to see the elevator was open, right before my Spidey-Sense started ringing at full force and told me to jump away.

I did so just in time to avoid getting hit by lightning.

"Mr. Grace, go! I'll take care of this freak!"

Several things happened at the same time. I realized that the guy in the green bodysuit appeared to suddenly be made of electricity, and thus, was probably Electro. My Spidey Sense started ringing at me again, but I was too surprised to react immediately. Alex made for the elevator. I was hit by lightning.

Anyone that has been electrocuted before can tell you that it's fucking awful. I screamed in agony and found myself suddenly face down in the ground, groaning as my every muscle burned.

"Look, I get it," Electro said, his voice oddly distorted. "Everyone hates pedophiles, even me. But the big boss wants Grace running his narcotics business, and what the big boss wants, he gets."

"Big… boss?" I groaned, slowly moving my hands under me and trying to push myself onto my feet. I didn't manage much success outside of getting my hands under me.

"Yeah, the new kingpin of crime. You chose a hell of a way to start trouble." I barely managed to move my neck in time to see Electro aim a shining hand pointed at me. "Not very bright, but pretty flashy, I'll give you that."

A small, detached part wondered if the puns were on purpose. Then the energy in his hand started building up, and my Spidey-Sense started ringing like crazy.

For a single, horrible second I realized I could easily die here. Just like that. One burst of energy and goodbye Spidey.

Adrenaline flooded my veins, and I managed to find the strength to throw myself to the side.

It felt like my brain was going five miles a second. I shot two webs, one to a vase, and one to the floor a little ways up the hallway. I threw the vase at Electro's head and used the other one to pull myself forward until I was next to a window. I promptly jumped out of it and shot blindly, somehow getting lucky and swinging into an alley, where I landed roughly.

I lay completely still; looking at the window I'd just crashed through. Electro looked out of it, but the poor illumination in Hell's Kitchen played to my advantage, as he seemed to find nothing. He walked away, but I didn't dare move for a few minutes.

Then I curled up in a ball and started crying, my sobs unnoticed amongst the miscellaneous noises of New York at night.

/ \\\

I stumbled into the Parker's front porch. I'd left my suit in my closet, noticing it was slightly burnt, and that it'd need repairs if I wanted to use it again.

'Pretty damn big 'if' there, Jake,' I thought to myself.

(I'd later realize that was the first time in a long time I thought of myself as 'Jake'.)

I knocked on the door, and I heard soft footsteps approaching, before May opened the door and gasped when she laid eyes on me.

"Jake! What on earth happened to you? Who did that to your eye?"

When I landed on the alley, I got myself a pretty nasty black eye.

"Hey May," I said softly, looking down at her slippers. "Is Ben awake? I think I need some advice."

She nodded, and gestured for me to wait inside. I sat on the couch, staring down at my hands. Eventually, I heard a wheelchair rolling in. I turned to look at Ben, and nodded at him. He returned the gesture and stopped next to my couch, staring directly ahead while I went back to looking at my hands.

Eventually, I located my nuts and gathered the courage to speak, even if he might be disappointed in me.

"You know what I do at nights, right?"

"I suspected at the store, but you just confirmed it, so yeah," Ben said, still not looking at me.

"… Sorry I couldn't protect you, Ben. I tried, but…"

"There's nothing to apologize about. You did your best."

"… My best's not enough." I whispered, putting my knees up to rest my forehead on them.

"What's that?"

"My best wasn't enough, Ben." I tightened my hold on my knees and frowned. "As a matter of fact, my best is pretty fucking terrible.

"I tried my best, and you got paralyzed. I try my best, and I can barely manage to function as a person outside the mask.

"I went out tonight and I found this guy, this monster that moved drugs and… he was a pedophile, Ben, and I let him get away because I was stupid enough to let myself be caught off-guard."

"Jake-"

"And as if that wasn't enough, I now realize that if I hadn't let the guy get away, I would've probably killed him."

Ben was shocked into silence, and I kept it. I hadn't realized it until I said it, but now that it was out in the open the full force of my actions hit me head-on.

"Oh god," I let go of my knees and leaned back on the couch. "Ben, I was ready to kill that man. He was a monster but… I was ready to take a life, Ben."

In an out-of-body sort of way, I realized my hands were shaking. "Ben… I put on the mask because I believe that with great power comes great responsibility, but what if I can't handle the responsibility? What if I go wild?"

I realized, a little late, that Ben had pulled me into a hug.

"Jake… I would've never told you that if I knew this is what it would do to you."

To hear that from Ben Parker was a little shocking, honestly.

"It's true that power brings responsibility, but there's more to life than the things you're responsible for.

"You can't just ignore the part of you that isn't… Webster or whatever he's called."

"Spider-Man," I muttered softly onto his shoulder.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is what you carry here," he poked at my chest. "This is the part of you that lectured me about responsibility. This is the part of you that kept standing up for Peter whenever you could. This is the part of you that insists on pushing everyone you meet to be better."

"I don't do that."

"It's also the part of you that refuses to let people finish talking."

I let out a chocked-up laugh.

"The mask isn't what marks you as a hero. It's the fact that you got powers and instantly decided to be a hero that does."

"I still screwed it up."

"Then you do what everyone else does when they screw up. You pick yourself up, stick your chin out, and try again and again until you get it right."

"And if I go too far? If I end up killing someone doing what I think is right?"

"Jake, don't be silly. I raised you to be better than that."

… I don't remember how much time I spent crying on Ben's shoulder. Eventually, I fell asleep on the Parker's couch.

When I woke up, I knew what I was gonna do.

/ \\\

"'The new kingpin of crime', he said?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup," I looked over his shoulder as he fixed up my suit. "I'm thinking there's someone settling in in Hell's Kitchen, and he's going to get the worst of the worst to take over the criminal side of New York."

"Also known as 90% of New York," Peter joked, cutting open a piece of my pants to make me some pockets. They'd need a zipper, but I'd manage.

"Right, that's why it'd be a bad thing if this guy got full control."

"So what are you going to do?"

"First off, I'm going to find Alex Grace and I'm going to kick him in the dick so hard he's gonna start pissing from the ear."

"Ew, gross, but okay."

"Then, I'm gonna start poking around, and I'm going to tear down this Kingpin's empire, brick by brick."

"In that case," Peter stopped working on my costume and turned to look at me, a serious expression on his face. "I'm going to need some more time."

"What'd you need it for?"

"I'm going to make some extra suits. You're going to get in serious fights, and you can't afford to lose momentum every time some asshole makes a rip that shows your boxers."

I smiled at him. "Thanks for putting up with me, Pete."

"Don't mention it," he smiled back.

Now, there was only one thing left to do.

/ \\\

"I'm glad to see you're taking school seriously again, Mr. Fletcher." My teacher said, handing back my re-made essay. "This one was much better than your last attempt."

"I'm glad you think so, ma'am." I said with my best shit-eating grin.

It was the same exact thing I gave her earlier. Mrs. Green was full of shit when it came to correcting works. She just judged it based on how awake you looked when you handed it over. After that, at lunch, I ate quickly, except for the potatoes, which I threw in Flash's face when no one was looking.

Once all my classes were over and I took a few moments to ready myself, I suited up and headed for Hell's Kitchen at top speed.

I wanted to get there before the sun went down.

/ \\\

"So this is all you know?" I asked; taking a hit of the blunt James handed me before I started coughing my lungs out. I have enhanced senses, why did I do something so stupid?

"That's all we've got, man," confirmed Ace, giving me a helpless shrug and taking the joint after I offered it to her. "I wish we had more on that creepy bastard. Fuck, I always thought there was something off about him."

(Basic politeness rule for when hanging out with stoners, don't take it. Wait for it to make the round. Don't ask how I know that.)

"So, what are you gonna do about him?" James, the would-be leader of the group, asked me. He was a tall black man, with Donald Duck tattooed on a bicep, and the kindest personality ever.

"I'm gonna find him, and then I'm gonna kick his ass." I stood up, grabbing a couple of Doritos for the way. "Thanks for the tips and the pot guys. If I gave you my number, could you let me know if you heard something?"

"Dude, you want us to snitch out for you?" asked Duke; speaking for the first time since I met him (which was like, five minutes ago).

"You don't have to if you don't wanna."

"Are you kidding? We get to be informants to a super-hero that came in through our window and smoked pot with us!" Duke now sported the biggest smile ever. "This is a dream come true!"

"Amen to that!" laughed James.

"You guys are the best." I said, before stuffing my face and getting ready to swing away.

"Give them hell, Spidey!" Ace yelled out as I left.

After I realized I was going to be Spider-Man, I briefly considered doing things like the one I knew did. But I know myself better than that. I could never manage to be like Peter in that way.

So, I was going about this my way: getting informants, going around interrogating people, and using fear as a weapon.

Kingpin was going down.

/ \\\

It'd taken a long time, but I found Grace. As much as I wanted to break the absolute monster, he was my only connection to the big man (hehehe, big) himself.

He was tapping his foot, waiting for his contact to appear. Unfortunately for him, said contact was on his way to the police station.

The sun had gone down hours ago, Grace was getting increasingly uncomfortable, and Electro was realizing something was probably wrong.

It was finally showtime.

One at a time, I broke the hanging lamp on the other side of the warehouse from the duo. Grace screamed, and Electro immediately powered up. I waited a second for tension to build, and then I broke the next lamp, making Grace scream again.

The lamps were the only source of light in the abandoned building. Thus, from their point of view, they only saw the building get increasingly dark, with only the sound of glass being smashed and shards falling to the floor to accompany it.

With increasing speed, I broke the lamps, one after another, until the only one remaining was the one hanging right above the duo's heads.

"It occurred to me," I shouted, letting my voice echo around, "That I never asked your name!"

"It's Electro!" my latest super villain replied, and I saw a little smirk under the electricity. Seems he appreciated the theatrics. "What about you, kid?"

I smashed the last light, and then jumped to land in front of them. Now the only source of light left was Electro himself.

"The name's Spider-Man." I dropped the broomstick I used to smash the lamps and jumped back to hide in the shadows. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Of course, Electro went right on the offensive, shooting a lightning bolt at the place where I just was.

Unfortunately for ol' lightning bolt, I was already moving.

My Spidey Sense was useful in a one-on-one fight, but it got too focused. It gave me tunnel vision. Outside of fights, I was aware of my surroundings perfectly, that's how I could web-swing across New York without turning into a splatter.

But against multiple opponents, I was going to be screwed. When I first attacked Grace, I jumped right on the thick of it, and made it out thanks to dumb luck and mook idiocy.

That's why this fight was going to stay between me and Electro.

So, when I noticed Grace was pulling a gun from the back of his pants, I snatched it away with a web line and stuck his feet to their place with two more webs.

"No, I think you'll have to sit this one out, Alex." I webbed his mouth shut before he could speak. "Don't worry, you'll get yours."

Electro shot another bolt at the place where the webs came from, not that I was there anymore. "You sound awfully confident, kid. Remember what happened last time?"

"Of course I do! That's why I did what everyone else does when they fail."

"And what's that?" he asked, amused.

His amusement lasted until I stuck a web to his shoulder, and dragged him in to punch him across the room.

"I got up…"

He pushed himself to his feet, just in time to get a web stuck to his back. Again, I dragged him towards me, and punched him across the room.

"I stuck my chin out…"

Another web, this one to his chest, which I used to pull him towards the ceiling, where I punched him back down.

"And I got ready to try again."

When he landed, Max rolled away and stumbled to his feet, shaken but not ready to give up. He exploded with energy, surrounding himself with so much electricity that I wouldn't be able to get close.

Lucky me, I saw an old locker while I was waiting for them to get here. I quickly picked it up and, before Electro could figure out what that sound of screeching metal meant, I lifted it over my head and threw it as hard as I could.

I only caught a glimpse of his face before the locker hit him, but it was hilarious.

Before it could land on him and squish his guts out, I grabbed it with a few webs and moved it away.

I was better than casual manslaughter.

"You okay there?"

A pained groaned that sorta sounded like 'no' came from the powered down version of Electro.

"You'll be fine. The police will take you to a hospital before they arrest you."

Now that Electro was out, nothing illuminated the building.

Still, my enhanced senses let me find Grace pretty easily.

The sound and smell of urine trickling down his pants onto the floor was unmistakable.

I grabbed his shoulder hard enough that I heard a pop, and leaned in to whisper in his ear from behind.

"I think you owe me a chat, Alex."

A few hours later, the police received a cocooned man with a dislocated shoulder who was ready to confess to every sickening thing he'd done, as long as he was kept far away from any spider-themed heroes.