When She Meets Him Again

With Wilson Fisk's suppression gone, New York's gang factions were stirring, openly fighting for territory.

The city's security was deteriorating rapidly, leaving Peter Parker feeling frustrated, especially as he realized the error in relying on Norman Osborn's promises to clean up the city's gang problem when he became mayor.

However, the more Peter investigated, the more peculiar things seemed. Mayor Osborn's actions appeared to be causing the gangs to shift their focus externally, as if sensing a threat to their survival under the new mayor.

Among these gangs, the Inner Demons stood out as the strongest. They continuously sent people to seize weapons and explosives from Fisk's control and used those same weapons to attack New York's municipal departments, causing significant damage.

Peter wasn't sure if this was an attempt by the Inner Demons to frame Wilson Fisk, but he had intercepted intel about their next attack and set out immediately to stop them.

The target was a logistics company warehouse on a corner in West Brooklyn, which the Inner Demons had taken over and turned into a temporary stronghold.

Under Peter's watch, shipments of weapons were flowing in from all directions, as if the Inner Demons were turning the warehouse into a full-fledged arsenal, guarded by a large number of their men.

But just as Peter was about to spring into action, wrapped in his Spider-Man suit, several silver armored vehicles crashed through the warehouse doors.

"Wait—what's going on? Who are these people?!"

The silver armored vehicles were equipped with mounted machine guns, and as soon as they broke through the doors, the gunners opened fire. The Inner Demon members, dressed in suits, attempted to retaliate but were quickly gunned down by the concentrated fire.

Peter wasn't sure if they had been killed, but he had no intention of stepping in to save the Inner Demons.

In the past two weeks, these ruthless individuals had attacked over a dozen government offices, with many innocent New Yorkers injured or killed during their indiscriminate acts of vengeance.

Despite Peter's best efforts, he couldn't be everywhere at once—there were just too many of them.

Though Spider-Man refrained from killing, he wasn't about to protect gang members like the Inner Demons.

Curious about the silver-armored assailants, Peter decided to hold off on making his move.

These heavily armed intruders were acting boldly—weren't they worried about attracting the NYPD?

The situation in the warehouse was chaotic. The small team of a dozen people who disembarked from the three armored vehicles managed to hold off the dozens of Inner Demons.

Peter realized this was his chance. He shot out two webs, swung through the air, and landed on the warehouse roof.

He had already noticed the office inside the warehouse—perhaps he could find some useful information there.

But when he entered the office, what immediately caught his eye was a map of New York City pinned to the wall.

The warehouse was packed with neatly organized weapon supplies, but it was the map that Peter focused on.

On the map of New York, several locations were marked in red, with annotations scribbled beside them.

There were six warehouses in the city marked as being under Inner Demon control, all apparently being used to store weapons.

There was also a purchase order for explosives, the sheer quantity of which made Peter's blood run cold.

Quickly pulling out his phone, Peter snapped pictures of everything and sent them to Officer Yuriko Watanabe.

Given their partnership, it seemed better to let the police handle this information.

Originally, Peter had planned to leave, but just as he was about to, the gunfire outside abruptly ceased.

Footsteps approached the door, and then it burst open as several armored, gun-wielding men stormed in.

Peter, still inside, was immediately spotted by the newcomers, who aimed their weapons at him.

"Code SM-041, we've found a strange guy in the warehouse. Should we shoot him?"

The sound of a helicopter's rotors suddenly filled the air, making it difficult to hear what they were saying. But thanks to his heightened senses, Peter caught their words clearly, and his face became perplexed.

These guys were clearly dangerous, capable of taking down dozens of Inner Demons. Peter decided it was best not to engage them head-on.

With that in mind, he shot out a web and pulled himself out of the warehouse, aiming to make a quick escape.

"All units, cease action. Silver Bird has arrived—repeat, Silver Bird has arrived."

It seemed they received a command, as the armored soldiers didn't pursue Peter as he slipped away.

Peter was about to make a clean getaway, but then something in the sky caught his attention—a silver helicopter.

On the side of the helicopter was the name "Silver Sable International," and standing in the open doorway was a striking woman dressed in a long silver trench coat.

She was tall, with a commanding presence, embodying a "warrior queen" vibe.

The woman locked her gaze on Peter, then pulled something from her pocket and hurled it toward him.

It was a small metallic sphere, glinting in the sunlight as it plummeted toward the ground.

Peter stared at the object in confusion, unsure what to make of it or what to say.

What is that—some kind of ball? What harm could it do—hit me with it?

Peter considered the possibility that it was a bomb, but given its small size, how much explosive could it even hold?

The metallic ball smashed into the ground near Peter's feet, shattering into six pieces that spread evenly around him.

For a moment, Peter thought it might release some kind of gas, but nothing happened.

Then suddenly—six steel cables shot out from the fragments, wrapping tightly around Peter, binding him from head to toe.

With a loud crackle, the cables surged with violent electrical currents, shocking Peter intensely.

Peter screamed in pain, his body convulsing as he tried to free himself from the bindings.

Up in the helicopter, despite Miss Stark's repeated attempts to stop Silver from acting, she failed to prevent her from using the little gadget Miss Stark had given her—on Peter, of all people.

These Russians must not know that Spider-Man is New York's friendly neighborhood hero—poor kid.

"Damn it—I told you, he's mine!"

Once the helicopter touched down, Miss Stark rushed over, ignoring all protests, and tore the electric cables off Peter.

At the same time, a black-and-white police car smashed through Silver Sable International's barricade and burst into the warehouse.

"Oh my god, Silver, what have you done?!"

Officer Yuriko Watanabe jumped out of the police car and ran toward Peter.

Spider-Man was New York's most important partner, even if he often took over the police's work.

When Peter had sent her the photos earlier, Yuri had immediately sensed something was wrong and traced the scene to the warehouse.

Everyone in government knew that Silver Sable International had been hired by the city to help clear out the gangs plaguing New York.

But Yuri suspected that Spider-Man might not be aware of this arrangement, and if he stumbled into one of Silver Sable International's operations, they might mistake him for an enemy and take him down.

"Oh, God, I swear my heart stopped for a few seconds—"

While the intense electrical shock might have instantly knocked out a regular person, it wasn't enough to incapacitate Spider-Man completely.

Still, Peter was left smoking from the ordeal, having experienced the full brunt of high-voltage electricity.

"Yuri, Miss Stark—what are you doing here?"

Freeing himself from the steel cables, Peter noticed the two women standing beside him.

"It's... complicated. We'll explain later."

Miss Stark shrugged as she looked at Peter, clearly feeling a bit helpless.

Silver Sable International's security team, after checking the warehouse, withdrew, though they would likely return.

Silver Sablinova, along with Officer Yuriko Watanabe, also left for New York's City Hall.

A few minutes later, Miss Stark's private helicopter arrived, giving Peter his first glimpse of the true power of wealth.

But she didn't let Peter leave. Instead, she took him back to Disaster Control's headquarters.

During the flight, she wrestled with how to explain everything to this unlucky kid.

By the time they returned to the rooftop helipad of Disaster Control's headquarters, Miss Stark had made up her mind. She was going to be honest with him.

The pilot, having received the order, took off in the helicopter, leaving Peter alone with Miss Stark on the rooftop.

She led Peter to a corner of the rooftop, leaning against the rough stone wall as she lit a slim cigarette. She held it but didn't bring it to her lips.

Her blood-red Stark family eyes fixed intently on Spider-Man's mask. They remained in silence for several minutes.

Her sharp gaze was so intense that the poor kid, still recovering from the shock, stumbled a bit.

"So—what were you up to last night?"

After a few more minutes, just as Peter was getting too cold to stand still, Miss Stark finally spoke.

Her first question stunned Peter, leaving him unsure how to respond.

He thought back—last night, he had grabbed a couple of fruit pies from a street vendor near Times Square for dinner.

Then, on his way to investigate a suspicious shipyard, he had encountered a convoy of Inner Demon trucks smuggling weapons.

He had spent a lot of energy taking them down and even saved a heavy truck that had crashed through a bridge's guardrail and almost plunged onto the subway tracks.

There were signs of battle everywhere, and the explosives used by the Inner Demons had caused severe damage, collapsing part of the bridge's guardrail.

"I..."

Looking into Miss Stark's eyes, Peter glanced around at the building, the company's name, and suddenly realized what she was really asking.

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