Spider-man Unleashed

Chapter 13

A bored sigh escaped from his mouth as Peter stepped into the basement, where he managed his technological tinkering. It wasn't as safe as a stand-alone laboratory in a hard-to-reach location, but it was the best he could do with the resources he had. He still had quite a bit of money from his last drug bust, but that was not even enough to rent a semi-decent space officially for the purpose. Buying actual equipment was nothing more than a pipe dream without millions of dollars to fund him.

Though, in the end, it was just a mental exercise, as there was no way he could spend that much money without triggering a tax audit. For a foreseeable future, he was stuck working in his improvised lab. It wasn't as bad as it could be, though. At least, Aunt May lacked the technological aptitude to distinguish between high school science projects and chemically-enhanced web grenades.

He took a seat and started tinkering, as much as he would have preferred to have an after-school date with Gwen rather than spend his time studying. Though, he doubted that it was possible after the hours they had spent in the storage room, with Liz in tow.

Also, even if she was up for it, he needed to focus on his tinkering. Having a diverse arsenal was important, as shown by the late-night encounter where he saved the Black Cat from Kingpin's hands. It wasn't that the grenades were an absolute necessity, he could have handled the situation in several different directions, but the same couldn't be said if there were any civilians to target.

He might have embraced a more utilitarian lifestyle which others might call selfish, but it ultimately didn't change his perspective in life. With great power, came great responsibility. Being a masked vigilante was not the best career he could take. He was sure that if he focused, he could earn his doctorate in two or three years, which could be leveraged for a cushy position in Stark Industries or Oscorp, where he spent his life designing weapons and other dangerous stuff, to ultimately end up in the hands of the gang members that were targeting the civilians. But he still roamed the streets during the night to prevent muggings and other violent crimes.

Still, there was one more important thing. He needed to up his game.

His spider powers were giving him a huge advantage, but as some of the villains he fought against until now showed, they weren't exactly unbeatable. Until now, he managed to succeed through a mixture of perseverance, cleverness, and, as much as he didn't want to admit, a copious amount of luck. But he needed a stronger edge if he wanted to keep winning against villains who were targeting him with tailored equipment to disable his natural gifts. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if a villain discovered his identity, and took someone close to him as a hostage.

He buckled up, and focused on the designs in front of him. To prevent something like that, he needed to be prepared…

😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

Several hours later, he was swinging above the streets of New York, looking for an opportunity to test some of his newest inventions, but that hadn't worked as well as he had hoped. The only thing that he came across was the occasional mugger, which he managed to handle without relying on his bag of tricks.

But then, he saw a familiar figure slipping through shadows of the rooftops, dressed in all-black leather, and a smirk appeared on his face. Maybe the night wasn't going to be as bad as he first feared.

He was good in hiding, enough to overcome the disadvantage of his bright red and blue costume, meaning he was able to follow Felicia while staying undetected. He was tempted to ambush her to teach her another lesson on top of the buildings, but he stayed back, because it would be too repetitive. Instead, he followed her to see where she would end up, ready to stop in case she planned to change her usual operating model.