Chapter 5

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A week later, and things were quiet... too quiet.

After having Mysterio arrested, Peter had anticipated the next domino would fall a little more quickly. Usually, for every victory of his, it seemed the universe was keen on throwing something back at him quickly, especially when things seemed to be connected. He'd learned to roll with it over the years, even appreciate it in a way. The sooner his next challenge came, the sooner he could overcome it, and ultimately put a stop to whatever was happening.

Whoever the true mastermind behind these tech thefts was, however, they seemed content to hold back for now. The briefest flicker of a thought crossed Peter's mind at one point that maybe he had scared them off. Perhaps his catching of Mysterio had removed a more vital piece from the puzzle than he thought. Of course, he immediately put aside such foolish thinking; it was much more likely that whoever was behind this was carefully planning their next move, biding their time.

Very few of Peter's enemies would be so willing to use this strategy, so that narrowed down the list already. However, it seemed like he encountered someone new almost every week, so for all he knew, it could just as likely be someone he'd never fought before. He needed more hard evidence before he could form a real theory, something that just wasn't coming right now.

Still, Peter was content with the quiet nature of the city right now. As satisfying a feeling as taking down some big bad was, he found he enjoyed his time as Spider-Man the most when he got to help out in the little ways. Sometimes it meant saving a small business from having their livelihood stolen from them when thieves came to clean them out; sometimes it was helping an old lady cross the street or walking a kid home. With the larger threat not showing itself right now, he'd had plenty of time to do all those things and more.

Of course, this also meant more time to himself as Peter Parker as well. Outside of visiting May, he mostly focused on either his work at the Bugle or whatever upgrades to his web shooters or other gadget related things he was working on. He was especially spending a lot of time on increasing the range from which his spider tracers could broadcast their signal. If he did come on another supervillain, assuming he couldn't put them away then and there, the next best thing would be to attach one of these to them discreetly and track them to their hideout.

In addition, Peter also continued his search for a job where he could use his science degrees. Though his undergrad and graduate work were both in biophysics, he was open to chemistry and even something engineering-related as well, having a lot of practical experience in these through his constant tinkering with the devices he'd made to assist him as Spider-Man. Unfortunately, Peter couldn't exactly put that on a resume, and outside of his degrees, he hadn't been able to get much experience other than a required internship or two that he'd barely completed due to constant superhero interference.

As busy as all this kept him, Peter still managed to find the occasional time where he didn't have anything in particular he was doing. Granted, it wasn't much, but still, he had the occasional time in the day/night where he needed a break. Sometimes he would call May, but most of the time he would just kind of do... nothing.

For the most part, he appreciated this time. It might be the understatement of the century to say that his life was BUSY. Even in times like this, it took some work to actually allow himself to relax. Still, the escape of just watching Hitchcock movies or snacking to keep up with the demands of his increased metabolism only did so much. Peter was finding it hard not to let all his thoughts bottle up inside, and he made a point to only share so much with his aunt. Even after years of her knowing his secret, he was still trying to protect her from worrying too much.

At the end of the day though, with his crazy life, he was certainly not going to complain about a little peace and quiet.

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