Hello everyone, here is Chapter 6 of the Spectacular Spider-man. After dealing with the Black Widow and finally figuring out who the Big Man really is, you'd think a hero would be able to take it easy with everything taken care of. You'd be wrong. Tombstone is playing cover up and Kingsley went into hiding with his fortune. On top of that, he has to deal with a killer on the loose, Oliver has a crazy stalker and one of the idiots he's taken down gets an upgrade. Life is just unfair, isn't it? Enjoy!

The Spectacular Spider-man: So, I'm guessing I don't get a break?

November 2014-Starling City

Halloween was…well, let's just say it's going to be a holiday Will won't be forgetting anytime soon. Now with the Black Widow dealt with and Smythe having given them everything they needed on the Big Man you'd think he'd be able to take it easy…you'd lose that bet. Will was swinging through the city on the way to meet Yuri and Captain Lance because some…interesting developments have come up in the case.

Yuri and Captain Lance were standing on the rooftop of the SCPD waiting for Will to arrive. The detective took out some sunflower seeds and popped them into her mouth when she saw the look Lance was giving her. "I don't smoke anymore. Have to replace the habit with something and I can't chew Nicorette gum all the time."

Lance held his hands up in surrender. "Fair enough."

The distinct sound of thwipping was heard as Spider-man swung down and landed on the roof railing in a brand-new suit. It was a mixture of dark navy blue and red, but the red parts had a thin black web pattern added in. The boots and gloves of the suit was a mixture of the dark blue and red together while his legs and arms were mainly the blue parts of the suit. His chest, torso, and back were red with the web pattern and his signature spider motif, but black and the legs were extended out over his shoulders and onto his back in a different design. His mask was red as well with the web pattern, but he now had white lenses over his eyes. Finishing the suit were his web shooters and his utility belt. Honestly, it looked like a brand-new Spider-man. (1)

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm late." He flipped off the railing and landed with style and grace. "What's up?"

"New suit?" Yuri asked as Will looked himself over.

"Yeah. Well, the last one was destroyed in the fight with the Black Widow and I wasn't about to look like a zombie or a half-stitched mess, so I got a new suit. I like it. Although now that it's Fall, I am going to miss the sweatshirt. Anyway, what's the emergency? From your message it seems like something bad happened."

"It's pretty bad. Apparently, Alistair Smythe is no longer under the protection of the SCPD. He's been labelled a high valued asset by a government agency and they've taken over custody." Lance told him, showing him a copy of the paperwork that his office received to make it official.

The second Lance said government agency, Will had an inkling as to who took Smythe. "Wait, don't tell me?"

"That's right. ARGUS took custody the night we arrested him. So, we can't have him testify but everything he told us in interrogation is still valid." Yuri explained.

"True, but it might not be enough if we take down Tombstone or use it in a trial. It's flimsy at best and his lawyers would find a way to get it thrown out of court. And to add onto the bad news, I've gotten word that Tombstone has upped his number of donations and charitable contributions to make himself seem more like the good guy. And to top it all off, Rodrick Kingsley's gone to ground." Lance finished.

"He fled the city? Wow, guess he must have figured that with the Smythe's taken care of it was a risk to stay and be associated with Tombstone." Will said.

"Probably. His secretary said that he's taking some personal time and going abroad in Europe to look at his holdings but now that we know he's working for Tombstone I don't believe it." Yuri added.

"Europe? What is it with rich people and Europe? Personally, I'd head to the Caribbean." Will commented before getting back on topic. "That puts a damper in the good mood I had. So, what do we do now? Tombstone told me that as long as I keep stopping his criminal empire, he'll keep sending people after me. Whether they be supervillains like Shocker and the Vulture or another giant mech like the Black Widow, I don't think the city can take another attack like that."

"Your right." Lance agreed with his point and began to think it over. They could try to get Tombstone now but the testimony itself might not be enough and with the progress Watanabe was having with getting people to flip, that wasn't going to help either. And most of the foot soldiers or small fry they arrested were portably too low level to know Lincoln was the Big Man. They needed evidence. "I hate to say it but until we get a good, solid lead against Lincoln then there's nothing we can do. We'll have to go about business as usual."

"I hate that we can't do anything about this." Will told him.

"I know and so do I, but we don't have a choice. He's not just another crime boss, he's connected and if we don't go after him with enough then it's all our heads on the line." Lance explained.

"The Captain's right. We need to do this the smart way." Yuri added. "Tombstone is going to be prepared for you right now, but he doesn't know about us. While you take down his organization bit by bit like you've been doing, we go at him the legal way. When we first started, we didn't know anything but in the course of a few weeks we know more than we ever did. Tombstone may be careful but making his…supervillains is making him slip up. He'll mess up again and we'll get him with enough evidence to put him away for good."

"All right, not exactly what I had in mind but it's a plan nonetheless." Will replied when he remembered something that Smythe told them. "Kingsley may be gone but can you get access to his company's holdings or investments?"

"Uh…I might be able to, but I'd have to stretch it with a warrant. What are you thinking?" Lance wondered.

"Well, before Shocker appeared first came the Enforcers. And before them was that Smythe drone following me. That's how we learned that Tombstone might be looking outside his usual criminal empire for ways to take me down."

"Right, which led to the Vulture and the Black Widow. By the way, my guys are working overtime with everything they found at that warehouse. It'll take weeks to sort all the science stuff they found." Lance commented.

"Which is exactly my point. Tombstone knows that none of his normal henchmen, goons, or lieutenants can take me down. He's been trying for months and no matter how many people he has guarding his fronts or how many guns he gives them they're no match. He's gonna want more supervillains and with Smythe now working for ARGUS he'll need someone new working for him. And Smythe did say Kingsley invested in the science and tech field in the less than desirable area." He said, getting them to see where he was going with his point.

"So, he might use one of the companies Kingsley invested in to do his shopping. Nice. I'll get to work on it." Yuri told him when Will's phone went off with a reminder that he had class in ten minutes.

"All right, got to go. Let me know if something comes up." Will said as he jumped onto the railing.

"Is there something going on in the city?" Lance asked.

"No, I've got class in ten minutes. See ya later!" Will jumped off the roof and swung away.

"How he manages to stay in school while he does this is beyond me." Lance commented before he and Yuri walked back into the precinct.

Will made it back for class with time to spare. Honestly, it was kind of hard to focus on probability equations and applications of quark molecules in Quantum Mechanics after the meeting he had with Lance and Yuri. All of his efforts the past few months against Hammerhead and Tombstone should have been vindicated with the defeat of the Black Widow and the information that Alistair Smythe gave them. They finally figured out who the Big Man was but instead of putting his butt into a jail cell where he belonged, they were stuck trying to find another way of taking him down while Tombstone kept up his charade to the rest of the city. Needless to say, it put him in a mood.

He walked out of his physics class in a rather neutral mood. Normally he would be happy after class, but he was still in a funk. Guess disappointment would be a common thing with his superhero career. He made his way over to the campus's Starbucks to get a muffin, cappuccino and to work on his ongoing engineering project for oscillated pneumatic neural networks for mechanical prosthetics. His research would be developed for new artificial limbs and prosthetics. It would enable the user to move and articulate an artificial limb like they would a regular one via a neural implant. If he got it working, it would help a lot of people who suffered limb lost or handicaps. Just call it another way to help the world.

A few hours at Starbucks and Will was in full science mode. Sipping coffee and working on his project framework on his computer. The trick was trying to develop a circuit system that was powerful enough to deliver the voltage from a power source to the receiver, then have a system deliver the neural signal from the brain to the neural calibration system to actually move the prosthetic limb and have it done within hundreds of a second like real neural networks can. And if the voltage output wasn't right or the calibration screwed up then the system would either fry your brain like a steak or give you a stroke…and that is the best-case scenario.

Will chewed on his pen cap as he looked over the schematics of his design and it still needed a lot of work. He would need Dr. Connors to help him with this because there was piece of this whole thing missing. Maybe a biological grounding mechanism he missed to make up for the voltage output problem? He was soon taken out of his science thought by a tapping on his shoulder. He turned and saw Maya.

"Maya, hey. What are you doing here?" Will asked, giving her a hug.

"Emily and I needed some coffee." Maya pointed to the counter where Emily was paying for their order. "We just got back from the meeting at the Bursar's office."

"Does that mean you'll be transferring here to SCU?" Will wondered as she sat down next to him.

"I'm thinking about it. There's still a lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through but given my prowess on the track field, Emily's guidance counselor is confident I'll get a scholarship." Maya told him.

"Excellent. I know Em will be happy for sure." Will looked back at Emily who was putting milk into her coffee. "I'm glad you two found each other. I've never seen her this happy before."

Maya looked back and smiled. "We both got lucky. I didn't have the best luck in the relationship department before I met Emily."

"Well, Em is special." Will said as Emily walked over with a tray of coffees.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing." Will said as Maya chuckled. Will took a sip of coffee only to see his cup was empty and realized it had been empty for the past hour. "I was wondering why I've been thirsty the past hour."

"Well it's a good thing I know you so well." Emily handed him an extra. "How long have you been here?"

"A few hours, I think. After class I just needed something to keep my brain occupied. I didn't have the best morning." Will told her, taking a long sip.

"Oh, what's wrong?" Maya asked.

"Um…it's just my engineering project. I've hit a roadblock with the problem and can't really do much." Will told her. Emily noticed Will's demeanor and realized he was actually talking about a Spider-man problem.

"What are you working on?" Maya wondered, seeing a whole bunch of science and engineering mumbo jumbo on his laptop.

"The circuitry and neural framework for a pneumatic operated mechanical prosthetic." Will explained, seeing the confusion on both their faces. "Right. Um, basically I'm trying to work out a digital neural framework that would be used for mechanical prosthetics like artificial arms and legs. Essentially, it would work similar to the neural pathways humans have in their body. A neural chip would send a signal from the brain to the artificial limb and whatever you want it to do it would do it. Just like moving or any other normal task we take for granted with our limbs, this would work for artificial ones so you could essentially do all the same things even if you've had an amputation."

"Wow, that's amazing." Maya was not expecting to hear that. It sounded like an amazing project with a lot of great applications for people who have sustained limb amputations.

"Leave it to Will to try and change the world." Emily joked.

"Well, we're all brought into this world to do something and my dad always said that if you can make a difference than you should. With great power comes great responsibility. Mine is my brain and I'm going to use it to help people. The only problem is trying to work out a circuit pathway that is small yet powerful enough to carry the neural signals. The best hope would be to work out something small or else the person would be wearing a neural helmet in order for this to work so I'm working on developing a neural chip. That and if the signal is too strong or the voltage from the power source overloads the neural chip…it would fry your brain like funnel cake." Will told them and they now understood his dilemma. "I am in the mood for funnel cake now."

"That sounds good." Maya commented. "Well, hopefully you'll figure out your problem but maybe you should take a break."

"She's right. Letting your brain relax might do you some good." Emily added.

"You're right. That sounds like a good idea." Will closed his laptop and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the stress of his work still there in the form of a brief bit of tiredness. "If anything, I could use something to eat. How about we head into the city to get dinner?"

"Sushi, pizza or Thai?" Emily suggested.

"Sushi sounds nice." Maya put her two cents into the bucket.

"Sushi at Toro's it is. I'll get Aria and we'll meet you at the bus stop where we'll get Spencer at city hall." Will told Emily.

"Sounds good." Emily and Maya left leaving Will to put his laptop and books away in his backpack before leaving to go find Aria. He texted her and she was in the main building working on something for her writing class.

He made his way over and saw Aria leaving the building with Mr. Fitz. The two were having a funny discussion. Once she saw Will she bid Mr. Fitz goodbye and rushed over, leaping into his arms. Will caught her and spun her around before giving her a kiss on the head. He then noticed Mr. Fitz giving him a weird look before he left. Maybe he was having a bad day?

"Hey, everything ok?"

"Oh, yeah. I've just been stuck on my assignment for my creative writing class. Mr. Fitz has been a big help." Aria told him as the two walked through the quad.

"That's great. What's your story about?" Will asked.

"Oh, it's about the love affair of a beautiful, intelligent, and superpower superheroine and her dim-witted yet lovable boyfriend as she balances fighting crime and living a normal life." Aria said with a smile on his face causing Will to chuckle.

"And I'm guessing the dim-witted, yet lovable boyfriend is named Will?"'

"Billy, actually but close enough." Aria kissed him on the cheek. "Just a joke. I'm actually working on a noir inspired mystery."

"Oh, that's sounds nice."

"Yeah and I heard back from Kingsley Unlimited about my internship and I would have had it only the company isn't looking to take on new interns with Mr. Kingsley going off to Europe for some emergency business. Something must be going on." Aria said which made Will stiffen and she noticed. "Do you know something?"

"Um…heh, funny you should mention Kingsley Unlimited. Is there any chance you can look into a possible internship or part-time job at…literally anywhere else?" He wondered.

"Will, what do you know?" Aria asked.

"It's just that…Kingsley's business trip is less business orientated then you might think."

Will, Aria, Emily, and Maya took a bus into the city to get Spencer at City Hall/Court House. She used to be a general clerical assistant to the DA's office but after the whole Brother Eye thing, Laurel took her on as her own personal assistance after seeing how she handled herself. They were waiting in the lobby of City Hall for Spencer to come down and while Maya went to the bathroom Emily, Will, and Aria were having a private conversation.

"So, you're saying that the company I worked for over the summer and have been striving to get another internship is a front for the big bad you've been fighting for months?" Aria asked for clarification.

"Sort of. I'm not a hundred percent on the specifics but Roderick Kingsley is definitely tied to him for sure." Will told her.

"And you got this from the son of the mad scientist who also worked for Tombstone and created the giant robot that nearly killed you? I don't mean to doubt your superheroing but are you sure you can trust anything he told you?" Emily questioned, making a valid point from her point of view.

"Smythe was telling the truth. I went to talk to Tombstone after taking out the Black Widow and he's the Big Man. He all but confessed it to me. Only problem is that Captain Lance and Yuri can't use that if we take him to trial. And the fact that Kingsley left the city just after I took down the Black Widow and figured out the truth is not a coincidence to this guy. He's probably gone to ground to hide from Tombstone because he's a liability with Smythe taken off the chessboard. Tombstone is playing chess but unlucky for him is that Spider-man is on to him now." Will said.

"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" Aria asked. "I can't believe this is the new normal."

"What was normal?" Will questioned. "Anyway, Lance and Yuri are working up a way to take him down, but it's got to be in a completely legal way. Smythe's testimony is good but not enough to take him down."

"Yeah and given that Tombstone is practically a saint in this city doesn't help." Emily added. "So, what's the plan Spider-man?"

"At the moment, nothing. We wait for Spencer and go to dinner. Tomorrow, I figure out another way to take the fight to him. Tombstone will slip up and that will be my way to catch him." Will said as he saw Maya come back. "But don't worry about it. It's my problem."

"Hey, is Spencer still not here?" Maya wondered.

"Nope, she's probably still working." Aria said.

"I'll go see what's taking her so long." Will told them, heading over to the DA's wing. He walked through and stopped at the reception desk where he saw Spencer staring at some papers. Laurel walked by and saw Will waiting at the reception desk and looking at Spencer.

"Spencer, you have a visitor." Laurel told her. Spencer looked up and saw Will waiting before checking her phone and realized time got past her.

"Oh, crap." Spencer put the files away into the cabinet along with everything else as fast as she could. "Sorry, Laurel but I've got to head out."

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow." Laurel said as she watched Spencer leave with Will. The two talked and Will told a joked making Spencer laugh. Laurel watched them leave and given everything she's seen with Oliver with his team in his bunker, did Will have his own team working for him and did Spencer know he was Spider-man? Perhaps the two should have a talk. Will and his friends went to Tora's for sushi and relax. Emily and Maya were right that it was helping him think straight. He was already working up new ways of trying to take Tombstone down and one way might be taking on Hammerhead.

Line Break xxxxx

The next morning bright and early, Will was donned in his Spider-man suit to take on the last of Hammerhead's construction fronts. Taking it out would send a massive blow to Hammerhead and Tombstone. Luckily, he didn't have any classes today although he did need to head to Dr. Connors lab later to work on the Recombinator. The last construction site was of a high-rise building in the middle of the city, the fancy and expensive part of town. Tombstone really did have a lot of connections.

He was perched up on a steel girder in his new suit as he looked down at the unknowing goons who were about to get the snot kicked out of them. One tap on his earpiece he built into his mask and he contacted the detective. "Yuri, it's me. I'm at the last construction front and this one's big. It's the Vandervort high-rise building."

"Hugh Vandervort is one of Starling's biggest developers, realtors, and businessmen. If Tombstone really does have his hand everywhere then it makes sense, he would do business with him." Yuri said.

"Do you think Vandervort might be working for the albino Frankenstein on his more illegal activities?" He wondered.

"My gut would like to say no, but we can't be sure yet. He might be working for Tombstone or he might be an unwitting pawn. Still this one is the biggest we've hit. My sources say they're running exotic weapons out of that location. Explosives, rocket launchers, and heavy weapons." Yuri informed him.

"Well that matches up with everything we've encountered this year. I always wondered how these idiots got their hands on weapons you don't see outside the military." He said, seeing several lookouts with high-tech sniper rifles. He wasn't a gun nut but a lucky guess that a Barret .50 caliber sniper rifle isn't something you'd buy at a local gun range. "If this is the staging area for all of it then we can cut off Tombstone's supply coming into the city."

"Those weapons need to stay off the streets. By any means necessary." Yuri said. "Do you need some help? This is likely to be his most heavily guarded front."

"Nah, I can handle it. Besides, I work better without worrying about the boys in blue. Keep them away until you get called in. I'll let you know how it goes." He tapped his earpiece and ended the call. "Time to go to work."

He crawled along the rafter and listened in on the unsuspecting idiots below when the lead idiot spoke up over the radios. "Radio check in guys. Remember, to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Hammerhead ain't gonna be happy if this place gets taken out and you don't want that."

"Aw, relax. There's no way the cops are coming here."

"It's the not the cops, you idiot. It's Spider-man. Word has it the boss is pushing overtime on squashing him and the money ain't flowing like it used to. Hammerhead's working on some new things but until then we do our job and make sure this place stays safe." The leader told them.

Unbeknownst to the leader, something grabbed him from the back and yanked him into the air. A few punches and grunts later and he was tied up to a steel girder like a pig on a giant spit roast. Spider-man reached into his jacket and took his phone to finish things off. "Hammerhead's got new plans. Glad to know."

He saw a guard armed with an assault rifle walk up the stairs to do a patrol route on the floor that was almost finished with construction. When he was close enough, he web zipped forward and slammed into him sneakers first, knocking him out quickly and quietly. "Don't mind me."

He quickly jumped up to a steel girder before web zipping to another one and planned his next attack. The guard kept on his patrol route only for webs to yank him into the air and another deluge of webs wrapped him up into a cocoon. One of the snipers looked around and noticed one of his buddies vanished but before he could radio the others, he got a kick to the face and knocked out by Spider-man. "Why don't you sit this one out?"

He tied up the sniper before breaking the .50 caliber sniper rifle in two and throwing the pieces at the other sniper, hitting him in the face and groin before impact webbing took him out of commission. A quick glance around the construction site left about four he could see that were visibly armed with assault rifles. The others were likely armed with pistols or knives. First things first, take out the more armed goons and then the fun could begin. Three of the armed goons were huddled together drinking some coffee while the fourth was doing his job and doing his patrol route. Once he was close, he snagged his foot with a web and yanked him into the air where he quickly lashed out with several punches that knocked him unconscious and webbed to a beam.

"Time to make my entrance." He fired two webs and slingshot himself high into the air. The thugs heard the thwip and whishing sound of something fast and looked up to see a fast-moving blur, but the sun made it hard to see what it was.

"What is that?"

"It's a bird."

"Don't be stupid, it's a plane."

The fast-moving blur raced to the ground but fired two webs at some steel beams to slow its descent and allowing it to swing. Said blur swung into two the goons and sent them crashing into some garage. "Not a bird or a plane but your friendly neighborhood and Spectacular Spider-man!"

"It's Spider-man!"

"Yeah, that's what I just said." He replied, quickly backflipping into the air and landing on a thug's shoulders before leaning back and throwing him face first into his buddy's gut. From that throw, he backflipped three times in a row into a corkscrew spin and double kicked two goons before webbing them and hurling them into a wall.

"He shoots, he scores, and he sticks the landing! And the crowd goes wild!" Spider-man quickly back-flipped into the air to avoid being grabbed from behind by a goon and then web zipped forward, landing a sneaker to the face. He then did a butterfly twist and kicked another goon the face before spinning around into a spinning hook kick and took out three goons at once. "Oh, now that was just beautiful to look at! Standing ovation from everyone, with a minor exemption from the Romanian judge but you can't win them all!"

Soon enough, the elevator to the floors under construction dinged as more goons arrived followed by more coming out of the stairwells. "Late comers. That's a lot of tardy slips I'm gonna have to write. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll all as best behaved as you can while you're in prison, otherwise known as big boy detention."

"Kill that bastard!" A lieutenant shouted as several of the men fired their pistols which led to Spider-man jumping and flipping through the air to avoid getting hit. Some of the goons rushed to pick up the discarded guns off the ground and joined their friends in their firing squad.

Spider-man vaulted off a building beam and spun through the air, firing several web bullets that hit some goons in the face, chest, or groin. He landed on the wall and fired several strands of webbing that hit several guards and with a harsh pull, they were all thrown into their friends. Several gunmen fired at him so he backflipped off the wall and threw down several web grenades that ensnared a dozen of Hammerhead's enforcers. A web-zip takedown took out one of the gunmen and before the others could open fire, the barrels of the guns were clogged up with webbing that unfortunately resulted in a little blowback and those guns destroying themselves. The gunmen were quickly taken out as Spider-man web-zipped forward and kicked their butts. A flying knee sent one goon flying into a trashcan and then an uppercut sent two goons into the air where he drop-kicked both and sent them crashing into their friends. He web-zipped to the ground and slammed boots first into one guy's gut before flipping into the air and doing a corkscrew spin kick that knocked out three goons who tried to rush him.

One of the enforcers was hiding by a pillar as he saw Spider-man take out more and more fighters, so he pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin before taking a deep breath and rushing out from behind the pillar. That led him to getting a glob of webbing over his mouth, a boot to the chest that sent him crashing into the wall and the grenade being thrown high into the air where it exploded with no one injured. Spider-man quickly jumped into a tuck and roll to dodge some pistol fire before rolling onto the ground and knocking one goon onto his back with a leg sweep before dropping into a spinning elbow that hit him right in the chest. He kicked a crowbar away and then kicked the goon in the face before doing a kip-up back to his feet and doing a side flip kick that knocked him out. He fired webbing at four goons and hurled them at a larger group of six that resulted in a large pile of tangled limbs. They were taken care of by a venom blast that rendered them incapable of moving.

He heard more footsteps and saw more guys show up from the elevator and stairwells. "Backups here. Why don't I have backup? Oh right, I'm not completely helpless like you idiots are. Oh, burn." Spider-man quipped as he ducked under a crowbar and punched the goon in the gut before kicking out his leg and throwing him into his friend. He dodged a knife wielding goon and saw another goon rush at him from behind with a baton, so he ducked into split. The resulted in the baton goon smacking his friend in the face. In that split, he punched the baton goon in the crotch and then kicked him in the jaw before kicking him into his friends. A shot of impact webbing made sure they didn't move.

He web-threw several cement mix bags into the air where they exploded and created a large cloud of cement dust which he used to slip away and reload his web shooters. Hammerhead's goons were stuck in the dense cloud dust and couldn't see anything but unlucky for them, Spider-man could adjust his vision and see in the dark and saw them perfectly, so he dived into the cloud and went to town on the idiots. Grunts, groans, screams of anguish, and pain were all that could be heard. One goon tried to crawl away only for a web to snag his leg and drag him back into dust cloud.

When the cloud finally settled, the henchmen and goons were all tied up and unconscious without even a scratch on his new suit. "Man, as much fun as this is and believe me that kicking your butts is always fun…it's getting a little…how should I put this…boring? No, boring's not the right word. Monotonous? Closer…ah, here it is. Easy. Way to easy. The least you guys could do is present a challenge."

He gathered up all the goons and tied them up with webbing before gathering their guns and putting them into a pile along with finding the heavy and exotic weapon crates. Once they were all together, he called Yuri.

"Yuri, it's me. I've got all of Hammerhead's goons tied up and waiting along with all the weapons you'll need for evidence."

"Roger that. We got reports of shots at that location so we're on our way there. I'll just consider this an anonymous tip." She told him.

"That's the last of the construction sites you were looking into, but I don't think that's the end of this. I heard from one of the thugs here that Hammerhead is already working on new way to generate profit. I took his cellphone. I'll have it ready for you when you arrive."

"Roger that. Be there soon." Yuri said before hanging up. He took out his phone and dialed Aria.

"Hey, how's my favorite web-slinger?"

"Doing pretty good. I managed to take down Tombstone's last construction site so I'm feeling particularly happy right now. How about you?" Will asked.

"Well, I'm the opposite of that. I'm stuck doing some math homework. Honestly how any of this comes easy to you is beyond me. I've nearly thrown my notebook at the wall three times." She told him.

"Is Spencer there to help you?" Will asked.

"No, she's busy with something. And Emily is with Maya doing some paperwork for her transfer. And I think Emily is struggling with this math homework too." Aria explained.

"Well, don't worry. I'm on my way back to campus now and I'll help you. And I'll pick you up something to make you feel better. Say…a Magnolia cupcake?" Will wondered.

"You know me so well. Bring me back one and I promise I'll make it worth your while." Aria flirted.

"Be there soon." Will hung up and jumped over to the edge of the building when he heard phone ringing, so he tapped his earpiece. "Hello?"

He didn't hear a response and the ringing continued. That's when he realized the call was coming from the phone he took from the boss of these idiots. He saw it was from a blocked number, so he answered it.

"Jones, what the hell is going on? I've already gotten word the Cops are on their way!" A very angry voice shouted, and Will recognized it as Hammerhead. He may have seen the guy once, but he recognized that voice anywhere.

"Sorry, Jones can't come to the phone right now. He's a little…tied up. But I'm more than happy to take a message Hammerhead." Will joked.

"You. I bet your really happy with yourself bug."

"I have my moments, and this is one of them. It's a funny story. I was at one of your boss's construction sights and you'll be shocked to hear there was shenanigans of the criminal variety. Gasp, I know right? Anyway, TLDR, your construction sites are closed."

"You think that's the end of this? The Big Man's got other sources of revenue and a long memory. He's not going to stop until he squishes you like the bug you are." Hammerhead warned.

"Oh, please like that's the first time I've heard that. And just so you know, spiders aren't bugs, we're arachnids. See you soon, Hammy." Will hung up. "I should really start making a list of all the guys who have sworn to kill me. It'll be easier to keep track of them."

The police soon arrived in force to arrest all of Hammerhead's goons and secure all their illegal weapons for evidence. This was a good bust for the SCPD as it removed a lot of dangerous weapons before they made it onto the streets and in the hands of some bad people. News crews arrived with the police keeping them and the civilians away while they sorted through the scene. With this bust happening at a Vandevort building, suffice to say that it got a lot of people questioning of why they were at a new building owned by one of the biggest realtor developers in Starling. Was Hugh Vandevort a criminal? Suffice to say that the reporters and journalists were having a field day.

Yuri led the other officers in securing the site and making sure that all of Hammerhead's goons were restrained and all guns were being catalogued correctly by people she trusted. The last thing anyone wanted was any weapons mysteriously vanishing enroute to the SCPD. She radioed Captain Lance to give a brief update on the situation as her guys finished moving the last of the evidence from the construction floor to the SCPD trucks for transport when a uniformed officer walked over.

"Detective Watanabe, we found this up there as well. Someone must have left it for us." The officer showed her a bagged-up phone with a note webbed to the side that said deliver to the SCPD.

"All right, I'll take care of that." She said as she called Will on her phone. "Hey, it's me. Did you leave behind a phone for me to look at?"

"Yeah, it belonged to the leader of the guards for this site. Believe it or not, shortly after our conversation, Hammerhead called to see what was going on." Will told her.

"Hammerhead? What did he say?" She asked.

"Not much other than a death threat to me and that this wasn't over. He's working on new revenues for Tombstone but have your guys look at the phone. If this guy was a leader or lieutenant or however it works in Tombstone's organization then his phone might have some useful information for us." He explained.

"All right, I'll get some tech guys I trust to work on it and let Captain Lance know. Nice job today." Yuri told him.

"Thanks, detective. We'll keep in touch." Will told her as he was swinging through the city on his way to pick up that cupcake for Aria before making his way back to SCU.

Like he usually did, Will landed behind the science building with no camera coverage and triple-checked to make sure no one was looking at him before he took his Spider-man suit off and removed a loose building tile where a bag of his regular clothes was waiting for him. Being Spider-man for nearly half a year, he got good at finding hiding spots and having special areas of hidden clothes and items for an emergency. Luckily, only people like him or teachers spent a lot of time at the science building and they never hung out behind the building where the garbage and disposed chemicals were picked up.

He then walked out of into the main quad with the rest of the student traffic and blended in. Just a regular student on his way to the library where Aria was studying. Making his way through the double doors at the front and up two flights of stairs where he saw her at a table, struggling with the math. Honestly, she looked cute seeing the furrowed brow on her face and chewing her pen cap.

She was so busy trying to work out the math that she didn't notice Will sneak up behind her and place the cupcake by her phone. Aria cracked a smile as Will kissed her on the cheek before sitting down next to her. "My superhero boyfriend to the rescue. Thank god, I couldn't take another minute of this torture."

"Well, I'm happy to help however I can." Will replied as the two shared a kiss. He helped her with her homework and just enjoyed some regular life, not knowing the situation they'd find themselves in when they went to Ted's gym later that night for their workout session.

Line Break xxxxx

Will, Emily, Spencer, and Aria were at Ted's gym for their training session. Maya tagged along to watch and if she was transferring to SCU then it could be something to add to her workout schedule. Plus, she didn't mind seeing Emily in workout clothes. Will was there in a tank top and shorts, doing a little stretching as the girls tied their hair up into ponytails when they saw Laurel Lance walk in.

"Heads up." Aria whispered as Will looked and saw Laurel walk in. "Think she's here spying on you for the Arrow?"

"If my hunch is right and they're working together then possibly, but it's not like there's a lot he can't find out now. Besides, I think we're ok." He whispered back as he saw Laurel talking to Ted.

"Hey, guys. Laurel's going to be joining us for our training session. I hope that's ok?" Ted asked as they looked at one another.

"Sounds fine to me." Will told him.

"All right, let's get you guys warmed up." Ted said as he took them through their workout.

Some warm-ups followed by interval cardio and strength training. The girls were doing better than their first lessons that's for sure and had got into the groove of everything. Even Aria who was the least athletically inclined of the group had gotten into a rhythm. Maya joined in shortly after they started, and Emily showed her through what they were doing. A couple that worked out together was a cute sight to see. While they had been training with Ted for only two weeks there was some visible signs of progress like the definition in the girls' muscles, Will was another story. Because of his powers, most likely his accelerated healing Will's progress was moving far quicker than the others. His accelerated healing helping his muscles build up more definition than a regular athlete would. His transformation already put him into great shape, but if he continued on this path then he would look cut and god-like. He was doing pull ups on the rings which wasn't that hard for him but was good for his workout and the girls would get sidetracked every so often in seeing his cut and defined back and arms move.

The training continued on for a few hours with the cardio and strength training moving into sparring in the ring. Will watched Aria and Spencer spar against one another as Ted instructed them on what to do, how to react and on their footwork. He took a swig of water and put tape around his hands as Laurel walked over with her gloves and stood beside him. "I'm surprised to find you here. I figured you'd be busy." She told him.

"Busy with what?" Will asked, taping up his other hand. Laurel took a swig of water as she gave him a look. "Well, a superhero still needs to work out every now and then."

"You know that I know?" Laurel questioned as Will wiped his forehead with his towel.

"Yeah, just like how I knew about Oliver, you, John Diggle, and your sister. Team Emerald Archer may have been in this city longer but I'm a quick study." Will quipped as he put on his boxing gloves and got in the arena.

Soon enough Ted had Will and Laurel spar against one another. Laurel may have been training with Ted longer, but Will was no slouch and kept blocking and dodging her swings and punches.

Laurel threw out a four-punch combo that Will blocked before he threw out a right cross that she ducked and then hit him with three punches to the side before following up with a straight. "Not bad, Laurel." Ted told her.

"Yeah, it's better than not bad." She replied, throwing out a wild right cross that Will ducked and blocked four punches to the stomach before he grabbed her arm and dropped down, throwing her to the ground. Laurel spit out her mouthpiece as Ted pat Will on the back.

"Nicely done with that throw." Ted told him.

"What the hell was that?" Laurel asked.

"That was today's lessons. Fighting's about being surprised and not getting rattled. You look rattled." Ted said.

"Try angry." Laurel corrected.

"Another lesson, then. It's not about you getting knocked to the mat. It's if you get up." Ted told her.

"It ain't about how hard you're hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward." Will added as Laurel and Ted looked at him. "Rocky Balboa."

"Exactly." Ted finished.

"Ok, fine. Then let's go again." Laurel said, getting back to her feet and putting her mouthguard back in.

"Another time. I've got to close up shop." Ted told her as Will and Laurel took off their gloves and got out of the boxing ring. "Nice job today, guys. Get some rest, let those muscles recover and try to get some protein within the hour."

"Yeah, egg whites. They're my new BFF." Laurel replied.

"That sounds gross." Aria commented as she handed Will a towel and water bottle. "But I could use something to eat and I'd rather not wait until we get back to campus."

"Ok, how about we go out and find a food truck?" Spencer suggested.

"I got it. Two blocks from here—Korean tacos." Ted told them.

"Korean tacos?" Will and Laurel questioned at the same time then looked at each other when they said the same thing at the same time. It was weird.

"Trust me. They're heaven." Ted promised.

"Sounds good to me." Emily added.

"All right, follow me. You can leave your stuff here. You can get it on the way back." Ted said as he shut the lights off and led them out of his gym.

Two blocks away and they found some food trucks parked together in a parking lot with tables set up around for people to sit and eat. It was busy which meant the food was good. Ted pointed out the Korean-fusion truck and it smelled good, so they tried it and it was amazing. After a long and strenuous workout, it was a nice relief which would be followed up by a nice shower when they got back to campus. They made their way back to Ted's gym to get their stuff and that's when things took a turn for the worse.

Ted unlocked the gym, walked in and turned on the lights when he froze in place. Will was behind him and saw Oliver standing there in his Arrow garb with an arrow ready to fire next to a dead body hung upside down. "What the hell?" Will quickly stopped the girls and Laurel from coming in as he didn't want them to see what he saw.

"Why'd you kill all those men?!" Oliver shouted.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ted asked as Laurel moved past Will and saw Oliver.

"What are you doing?" Laurel questioned when she saw the dead body. "Oh my god."

"Get out of here." Oliver told her. "Now, Laurel!"

"No! Ted didn't do this. Ted's been with been with me for the past two hours. We had a training session and then we went to dinner." Laurel told him. "And that…he wasn't here when we left."

"She's telling the truth. My friends and I were a part of that training session." Will added and that seemed to be enough to make Oliver lower his bow. Will called the cops immediately after and told them about the dead body they found at the gym and they were on their way with a CSU team and ambulance. The SCPD arrived soon after and secured the area along with any evidence while officers took statements from everyone. The girls were a little shook up, Maya especially since she wasn't used to this, but they were doing better. Captain Lance arrived later just to make sure Laurel was all right. Their relationship was strained but he was still her father. When he confirmed she was all right and she told him everything she knew, she stepped out while Lance walked over to Will who finished talking to his mom on the phone. He'd rather keep her informed then have her find out another way and then chew him out for not saying anything.

"Captain Lance. Wasn't expect to run into you tonight but then again life is full of surprises." Will commented.

"That's the truth. So, what the story on this Ted Grant, guy? Color me a little shocked to find you here the same night as Laurel." Lance pointed out.

"Turns out she's been training with him a lot longer than I have. My friends and I just started two weeks ago. I wanted to sort of solidify my fighting and make sure my friends stayed safe." Will looked back at the girls who finished talking with the officers and grabbed their bags. "We had our training session tonight and Laurel joined in. It ran for over two hours and then Grant showed us this food truck two blocks from here where we got dinner. You can check with the people who run the truck to double-check everything but after that we came back here when we found the body. It must have happened when we left. Is something going on in the city?"

Lance and Will took a few steps to the side to make sure no one could hear them. "We responded to an anonymous tip about Culebra cartel activity an hour ago. Instead of a firefight, my guys found a warehouse full of dead Culebra enforcers. Most of them strung up like our friend over there. Whatever happened it was bloody, brutal, and they ignored the kilos of heroin. I've got Watanabe running point on this now. At first, we thought it was an isolated incident, maybe some rival cartel action but with your guy found the same way, something else must be going on."

Will thought it over for a second to let his growing detective mind assess the situation. "They left the drugs?" He asked and Lance nodded. "So, it's not business, it sounds more like its personal. Like someone was trying to send a message."

"You mean like this?" Lance took out his phone and showed him an image Yuri sent him from the crime scene. It was taken from a high elevation, probably a walkway and had the words guilty written in blood.

"Well, that's not morbid at all. What did Ted say?" Will wondered.

"He says he doesn't know what's going on or who the victim is. You've known him for a while, what do you think?" Lance asked.

"Ted's not behind this. The fact that we weren't even here when this was all happening is proof enough and my spider-sense has never gone off around Ted. He's not the killer." Will said when he noticed the odd look he was getting. "Oh right, you don't know. Spider-sense is just what I call one of my abilities. It's like an extra-sensory ability I developed when I got my powers."

"Extra-what?" Lance was now confused.

"Think of it as like a precognitive/psychic awareness of my surroundings. I'm not psychic by any means, it's more like a highly tuned sixth sense in the back of my head. It gives me complete awareness of my entire surroundings so I can sense things that regular people can't. It helps me navigate the city and web swing through the air without having to concentrate but it's also an early warning system and threat detector. It lets me know when something bad is about to happen like someone aiming a gun at my back and act quicker than a normal person could. It also helps me identify threats easier than a normal person could like identifying armed gunmen that disguise into a group of civilians after I stop their getaway car or just letting me know if someone's dangerous or a threat."

"How reliable is your spider-sense?" Lance asked. He felt like an idiot saying that word.

"Very. Without it, I'd be long dead by now and it's never failed me yet. Ted's not responsible but he might know more than he's letting on." Will stated. "I'll keep an eye on him and find out everything I can."

"Right, keep me in the loop." Lance told him as the two separated. Will and the girls finished with the cops who let them go when there were no more questions to ask. They walked out of Ted's gym and saw the small group of photographers, reporters, and bystanders the people were keeping back. As they walked out and past the police tape, Will's Spider-sense gave out a small tingle in the back of his head. Someone in the immediate vicinity was causing it to go off. He pretended to drop his bag and knelt to pick it up and tie his shoe so he could look around and try to find the culprit and found it in a red-haired woman wearing a red leather jacket. She was the source.

He took out his cellphone and took a quick picture before he got back up and followed the girls. They took a cab back to campus, but Will wouldn't stay there for much longer. When he got back to his room, he put his suit on and made his way back to Ted's gym for any more clues and to see if Ted did anything that could provide some answers.

The police and CSU had finished their sweep and questions, so they left but warned Grant not to leave town. About an hour after the police left, Ted grabbed his jacket and locked up the gym before making his way south. Unbeknownst to Ted, Will was on a roof about three blocks away keeping track of him with his enhanced vision.

"What are you hiding, Ted?" Will asked himself as he began to follow him.

Ted got into his car and drove away with Will taking extra precaution to not be seen so he didn't web sling, just super jumped and parkoured over the rooftops to follow. He wasn't the only one who suspected Ted knew more than he was letting on as the other hero of Starling suspected the same. At Verdant in the bunker underneath the club, Oliver and his team were talking about Ted.

"Have you ever heard of this Ted Grant?" Oliver asked Dig.

"Yeah, I saw his title fight on pay per view a few years back. They call him Wildcat. He's the real deal." Dig said as Felicity brought up old articles on him when Ted was in the professional circuit.

"Body in his gym was strung up the same way that the bodies in the warehouse were. Like punching bags." Oliver said.

"What if Laurel vouches for him?" Roy asked.

"I don't think that Laurel is seeing clearly on this one." Oliver told her.

"If Grant's our doer, he's more than boxer." Dig told them.

"I hacked CSU's files on the warehouse murders. The Culebras were armed to the teeth, but the killer, the psycho mass murder guy, never fired a shot. They were beaten to death by brass knuckles." Felicity informed them.

"That's a pretty specific M.O."

"It matches one murder from six years ago. Same as tonight, Culebra drug dealer. Blunt force trauma, consistent with brass knuckles worn by a left-handed assailant." Felicity told them.

"Let me guess-Ted Wildcat Grant's a lefty." Roy commented.

"They called him the Starling Southpaw." Dig said.

"Well, SCPD never put that together because Ted was never arrested. But maybe there's someone you can go to for information." Felicity said getting weird looks from all of them. "Will was there and he's been going there just as long as Laurel has, and he confirmed that Ted couldn't have done this. You and he are on better terms so maybe he can tell you something."

"I can handle this just fine for now." Oliver told her but before Felicity could roll her eyes or even off up a clever remark her computer went off and the GPS system isolated a tracking beacon.

"He's on the move." Felicity said.

"You dinged him with a tracker?' Dig asked.

"Just because Laurel trusts him doesn't mean that I have to." Oliver replied as he grabbed his bow off the display case. "Talk me in."

Oliver left and used his bike to follow Ted's trail which took him to a storage facility. Being at night, there was no one around so he made his way through the storage facility hallway and found an open storage unit. When he walked in, he was greeted to the sight of another strung up body hanging from the ceiling but the rest of the contents in the unit is what got his attention. Workout equipment along with several medical kits, and desks with various items one would be forgiven for mistaking as the hallmarks of a serial killer. Various masks were adorned on mannequins, brass knuckles and knives were hung on the wall along with newspaper clippings of articles about the work of a vigilante in Starling city years before the Arrow showed up.

He walked forward and knelt to pick up the tracker he placed on Grant when someone grabbed him by the neck and rolled forward, putting him in a powerful neck lock. Oliver managed to spin free and block a punch from Grant who then managed to hit him with a left cross but had his right cross parried and got a bow handle to the face that knocked him onto his back. Oliver got up as Grant held up his fists and squared up to fight. He swung his bow, but Grant ducked and spun around before throwing out a vicious four punch combo to Oliver's face and stomach only to his left cross to get parried and get a punch and bow handle to the face. Grant recovered and threw out a right uppercut that Oliver responded with a punched to the gut and another bow handle to the face when Grant grabbed him by the jacket and did a judo circle throw.

During his fall, Oliver pulled out an arrow and staked a boxing glove onto the end before rolling back to his feet and firing it right at Grant's face, sending the boxer onto his back with a thud.

"Second time I've found you with a body!" The Arrow shouted.

"I've never killed anybody. I'm being set up." Ted told him.

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I used to be a vigilante. I used to be you." Ted explained, giving the archer a momentary pause.

"I'm willing to hear him out." They heard and saw Spider-man in the hallway, hanging upside down from a web. "Hiya."

With Spider-man's arrival and Ted's reveal, things calmed a bit to the point where the Arrow was willing to listen to whatever Ted had to say without punching or shooting him with an arrow. Spider-man walked into the storage unit but fired a web at the ceiling and hung upside down in his signature spider perch. While it looked uncomfortable, to him it was the same as sitting down. "This city's been hurting long before either of you showed up."

"I've never heard of another Vigilante in Starling." The Arrow said.

"I have." Spider-man said as they both looked at him. "I think it was about six years ago. There's wasn't a lot of media coverage on it because it mostly dealt with the Glades and no people of note, so the news crews never showed up. Sure, there would be an article or two on the third or fourth page about gang members being attacked but the police thought it was just rival gang on gang action." He remembered that happening years ago when he was still middle school. His mom was a doctor and back then she tended to a lot of the people who the Vigilante attacked.

"And these are supposed to convince me?" The Arrow held up one of Ted's old masks. "Masks are also useful for serial killers."

"Says the guy currently wearing one." Ted replied.

"He's got you there. And you weren't exactly a clean-cut Robin Hood when you showed up three years ago." Spider-man pointed out only to get a death glare from the Arrow. "Hey, I'm just saying. I've been told that Hypocrisy is like a boomerang. Not sure how that works out, but you get my point. Anyway, who's the victim?"

"I don't know. I've never seen him before in my life, but this was hung around the body that was found in my gym." Ted took out a key from his pocket that the Arrow took. "The key is for this storage locker. He's leaving me a trail to follow."

"Who is?"

"Whoever's setting me up." Ted told him. "Look, I've never killed anyone."

"Except for that drug dealer you beat to death six years ago."

Ted immediately adopted a guilty look after hearing that. "Look, that was a mistake. I may have avoided jail, but I have lived with the guilt of that man's death every single day of my life. I gave it all up after that. I locked this place up and I swore I'd never open it again."

"Who else knows about the locker?"

"No one. This is where I kept my supplies. A safe place separate from my day job as I'm sure you have one just like it."

"Mine's bigger."

"Ok, we can compare lair sizes later. I think the most important thing at the moment would be finding out who's doing this and stopping them before anyone else ends up dead." Spider-man said.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" The Arrow said as he walked out of the storage unit. Spider-man dropped to the ground and followed him out of the unit and out of earshot from Ted. "What are you doing here?"

"That's kind of a stupid question. You saw me at the gym with Ted and I'm sure Laurel already told you that I've been training with him just about as long as she has. He's a good man, Oliver. You didn't think I'd try and figure out what's going on?" Will asked.

"Stay out of this. Your trainer is dangerous." Oliver told him.

"The same could be said for either one of us on a bad day. Besides, Ted's innocent. He's not the one behind the murders." Will definitively put it.

"And how would you know that?" Oliver asked, thinking it was a bit naïve to think that without knowing all the facts.

"Call it a sixth-sense threat detector that proves Ted's not responsible for this." Will said, getting an odd look from Oliver. "You know how to shoot arrows and kick the snot out of bad guys, but you don't know all of what I can do. Ted's innocent. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't. Now, rather than waste time and you trying to threaten me again, I think we should figure out the next clue."

For the next clue, they went to Laurel who managed to get an ID on the dead man in Ted's storage unit. They met her near the storage warehouse on the street where there was no camera coverage. She managed to get the file and raced down to give it to them and saw Oliver in costume. Ted was hanging nearby with Spider-man hanging upside from a streetlight via a web. "His name is Albert Mancini. No criminal record, aside from a few unpaid parking tickets."

"Grant says he doesn't know who this guy is." Oliver said, looking over the file.

"Oh, and now you believe him?"

"I haven't decided yet!" Oliver told her. "Do you know you're training with a vigilante?"

"Former, apparently, and no I didn't." Laurel told him only to see the look Oliver was giving her. "I didn't."

"So, you also didn't know that six years ago he beat someone to death?" Oliver asked and that threw her for a loop. "How many more reasons and I going to have to give you before you stay away from this guy?"

"Ok, you know what? Are you guys just about finished with your little private chat?" Ted asked as he and Spider-man walked over.

"The guy from your storage unit, he has no criminal record. He was a magician. Magician's assistant, more accurately. He worked with a local act before getting cut loose. Mancini hasn't worked since." Laurel told him while handing Ted the file.

"That's weird. Why would our guy go from Culebra cartel enforcers to a random civilian? Did you know him?" Spider-man asked as Ted looked through the file and found a connection.

"Their act was at the Sansa bar. The Sansa Bar's where the drug dealer was murdered." Ted answered.

"You mean the person you beat to death?" Oliver asked.

"Not helping, Robin Hood." Spider-man pointed out. "Ted, are you sure there's no one else who knew what you did years ago? Your vigilante thing?"

"No. I always wore my mask and never told anyone." Ted replied but Will could tell there was something he wasn't saying. "But whoever's doing this is leaving me a trail to follow."

"Then we follow it." Laurel told them.

"We need another minute."

"How do you two know each other?" Ted wondered as Laurel took the file back.

"We used to date." Laurel told him as she and the Arrow stepped aside for some privacy.

"Kind of glad I was single for most of my life if working with your Ex is like that." Spider-man pointed out earning a shrug from Ted.

"What's your angle in all this? Why are you helping me?" Ted wondered.

"Because it's my job." That response got Ted to give him a look. "Friendly neighborhood Spider-man, helps the city, puts the bad guys in jail. Wherever I'm needed I try to be, and I heard what happened at your gym."

"Yet unlike your friend in the hood you think I'm innocent." Ted pointed out.

"Did you kill those men?" Spider-man asked.

"No."

"Ok. Good enough for me." Spider-man replied when his phone picked up another emergency coming over the police band. High-speed chase was going on between some bank robbers and the police. A part of him felt that staying with Ted and Oliver was important but that high-speed chase could hurt a lot of people if he didn't stop them. "I've got something to take care of. I'll be back later."

He super jumped into the air and began web swinging away as fast as he could. While he felt bad for leaving it was the right idea as the high-speed chase was getting more dangerous by the second. The bank robbers were driving around crazy and already had bashed into cars that got in their way while firing their guns at the police. They came along Adam's street as the robber's SUV sped up with the driver smashing into the adjacent cars to get away. The police kept up pursuit but the bank robbers in the back seats opened fire with shotguns and automatic rifles which caused the police and nearby pedestrians to flee in terror. The police tried to pit the SUV only for the driver to smash his car into them, causing one of the cars to veer to the sidewalk where it crashed into some parked cars with the resulting impact causing it to spin through the air into some pedestrians who shielded themselves in terror only for nothing to happen. They looked and saw the police car suspended in the air via webs and Spider-man swing by.

"GO, SPIDEY GO!" They cheered as he swung low to the ground and maneuvered through the narrow space between the truck and its container and came out the other side with no harm.

"WOO!"

He swung high into the air with spins and flips to avoid getting shot at before web zipping to the top of the SUV, firing web bullets at the bank robbers that hit them in the face and arms. He landed on top of the car and webbed the guns of the two bank robbers in the back seats before latching them up onto a streetlamp which resulted in them getting yanked out and dangling in the air.

"WHOA! GET US DOWN!" They got their wish as one of the cop cars in the pursuit stopped to arrest them.

His spider-sense then went off as he saw the driver heading straight for a bus that was crossing the upcoming intersection. "Aw, jeez!" He vaulted and flipped off the car and landed in between it and the bus. The riders of the bus and the driver saw the car coming and all braced for the impact, but Spider-man caught the car and stopped it. Having made it just in time, he caught the car and stopped it before it smashed into the bus and killed a lot of people. The driver was knocked out as he hit the steering wheel when the car was forced to a stop and the back of the SUV was lifted off the ground before it smashed back down but all in all, everyone was safe. He pushed the car away from the bus and rolled his shoulders as he breathed a sigh of relief. He caught that nearly 4,000-pound car going over 60 mph which is like getting hit with 10,000 pounds of force but he did it. Thank god for superpowers.

The police arrested the driver while the bus riders and nearby pedestrians cheered for Spider-man who waved at them all before jumping into the air and swinging away. He got a call on his phone, so he landed on the side of a building and tapped his earpiece. "Yeah?"

"Hey, nice job stopping those robbers." Captain Lance told him.

"Thanks, Captain Lance but I can't help but feel that this call is more than just a friendly chat." Will said.

"Yeah. We went to the storage locker you told us about and found the body and went to the Sansa Bar. We arrested Ted. I just thought you should know given you vouched for him." Captain Lance told him.

"Right, thanks. I'm on my way." Spider-man shot a web and swung away.

Line Break xxxxx

Spider-man landed on the roof of the SCPD and opened up an air conditioning vent which he used to sneak into the building. The interrogation rooms didn't have windows and he couldn't walk into the building so he would have to sneak in through the ventilation system to see what was going on. It was no problem for his spider powers of stickiness. He crawled through the vents and kept moving until he finally found the interrogation room Ted was in. Lance sat across from him and was trying to get a confession out of him, but Ted was being tight-lipped.

"16 murders. 17, counting the one from six years ago. That's more than the son of Sam, less than Bundy. Probably worth a mini-series, huh? Maybe a book?" Lance told him when the door opened and in walked Laurel. "You became a defense attorney?"

"Can I talk to him for a minute?" She asked as he grabbed his files and left, leaving the two to talk alone. Well, not completely alone since Will was eavesdropping in the vent. He quickly sent a text to Lance that he was nearby and getting some information for him before taking out his mini recorder to record the conversation.

"You ok?"

"I'm not the one facing a lifetime in prison. Who's framing you?" Laurel asked as she sat down across from him.

"I don't know." Laurel did not look amused with that response and with everything she was dealing with, she was a little pissed.

"I can't help you if you're going to keep lying to me. The Arrow saw you with him. He knows you know who it is." She said but Ted wasn't budging. "Hey. If the DA's office refuses to seek an indictment, the police have to release you. But first, I'm going to need you to be straight with me. Who was the man behind the mask?"

Ted took a deep breath and judging by his facial expressions, all of this was bringing up bad memories from his past. "His name is Isaac Stanzler. Six years ago, the Culebras ran the Glades. While Spider-man has them on their heels and chasing their tails, back then they controlled everything. I thought it would be a good idea if people could live there without worrying about their kids getting shot. So, I decided to do something about it."

"You became a vigilante."

"Just like Spider-man and your friend in the green hood—without the green hood."

"And what about Stanzler?"

"You know the guy the Arrow's been running around with lately? The one in red? Stanzler was my guy in red. I guess you can call him my apprentice. And one night we decided to go after this drug dealer that was pushing crank near the school. We tracked him all the way to his nightclub."

"And what happened?" Laurel asked.

"That drug dealer…Isaac got to him first." Laurel then came to a realization.

"That murder from six years ago…that wasn't you. That was him." She said as Ted let out a sigh.

"I hung it up after that."

"But what about Stanzler?" She asked but Ted didn't say anything. "What happened to Isaac Stanzler?"

"I told him to get the hell out of Starling. That I never wanted to see his face ever again. I cut him loose. That's why I've been lying to you this whole time, Laurel. Everything that's happening is my fault." Ted told her.

'Whoa. I wasn't expecting that.' Will thought to himself before sending a text to Lance that Ted was innocent, and that Isaac Stanzler is the person they were looking for. Laurel spoke to her father and he normally would be a little more dubious about something like this but with Will having recorded the conversation so he could hear helped persuade him so the SCPD and the DA's officer were going to be dropping the charges. Whether they were going to be pressing later charges about his past vigilante activities is another story.

Laurel led Ted out of the building while Will crawled through the ventilation system back up to the roof…although he did get stuck for a bit. While he was stuck, Laurel led Ted walked out through the side entrance where her car was parked.

"Now, that you're free what do you think Isaac Stanzler is going to do now?" She asked.

"Well, framing me didn't work. I'm almost afraid to think of what he might try to do next." Ted commented when they heard the hammer cock of a gun and the barrel pressed against the back of his neck.

"What I should have done from the start." Isaac turned Ted around and removed his mask. "After you abandoned me, the Culebra family, they wanted payback for the man they lost. They tortured me for months before I escaped."

"Isaac, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Ted said as Isaac placed the gun against his stomach. "You have every right to hate me. But come on, let's talk about this."

"Oh, don't worry, we will. There's so much I have to say before I kill you." Isaac then forced Laurel and Ted into her car at gunpoint and had her drive away. Will climbed out of the ventilation shaft and put the cover back on but saw Ted and Laurel were gone.

"And they're gone." He looked around but didn't see Laurel's car anywhere, even using his telescopic vision to try and look for her car, but it was nowhere to be seen. He super-jumped up onto the radar tower on the roof of the SCPD and plugged his phone into the console to tap into the CCTV footage of the cameras nearby. It took a few moments, but he managed to patch into the city's CCTV footage, so he started with the cameras around the SCPD station which had video of her car leaving with Ted in the passenger seat. He zoomed it and while he couldn't make out who was in the back seat, he did see they had a gun in their hands. Having been shot at by guns the past couple of months, he knew a gun when he saw one and right now Laurel and Ted were being held a gun point. He needed to find them, so he began tracking the car after it left the SCPD until it turned on Parker Avenue got on Route 17 through the old industrial area. "Crap."

He unplugged his phone and super jumped off the radar tower before web swinging as fast as he could. Luckily, it was late so there weren't a lot of cars on the road, but he needed to move fast before he lost their trail. He swung around a corner and raced alongside a building before jumping off and web-zipping towards the roof of a building where he point launched off and dove through the air to pick up speed before firing a web line and swinging high in the air.

He wasn't the only one going to help Laurel and Ted as Oliver and Diggle were on their way to help her. Dig tried to get them to swerve but Stanzler kept them going straight so Dig had to swerve at the last second to avoid getting hit. While he tried to catch up, Oliver came around a street on his bike and chased after them. Stanzler saw he was getting close, so he fired a few rounds from the back seat forcing Oliver to swerve and brake. He tried to get alongside the right side of the car only for Stanzler to grab the wheel and turn it so the car swerve into the bike and knock him off. You'd think that would have put them in the clear only for Roy to show up on his bike and chase after him while Dig picked up Oliver.

Stanzler aimed down the sights of his pistol and lined up a shot at Roy only for a loud thud on the roof to get his attention and Spider-man to peak his head down into view.

"Hi there. Do you mind if I hitch a ride with you?" He grabbed Stanzler by the jacket and threw him out of the car so he tumbled on the street before flipping onto the hood of Laurel's car so she and Ted could see him. "You can stop the car now."

Laurel hit the brakes and the car skidding to a stop. Stanzler got up to his feet and aimed his gun only for Roy to side flip and kick him in the face and knock the gun away. The two vigilante partners got into a fight with it seemingly even. Roy managed to lock Stanzler's arm and kick him in the side twice before throwing him to the ground, but he got back up quickly before parrying some punches and spinning so he got the red clad archer in a chokehold. "Don't you get it? He's using you! You're nothing to him. You were just another weapon in his arsenal. And the second you do something wrong, he'll turn his back on you! He will abandon you!"

Roy stilled himself and threw Stanzler to the ground before quickly socking him across the face with a right cross that knocked him out.

"I'm not you." He said as Oliver walked over. "Don't abandon me."

"Never." Oliver promised him.

Stanzler groaned in pain and tried to get up only for some webbing to pin him to the ground. They looked and saw Spider-man up on a streetlight. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. The police are on their way, so you better get out of here."

Oliver gave him a nod before he and Roy left. He then spared a glance at Laurel and Ted before looking down at Stanzler who tried to get free. "Guess I was right about you. Glad to know my instincts don't let me down."

The SCPD arrived soon after and took Stanzler into custody. With Ted's testimony, they finally had their killer caught and arrested. Lance finished coordinating his officers before glancing over at Laurel who was talking to one of the uniforms about what happened when Stanzler took them hostage. They were still in a weird place, but he was glad she was all right. Before he could do anything, his phone rang and saw it was Will, so he answered. "You're gonna put me out of job at the rate you clean up my cases."

"Well, maybe you can take an early retirement, but I don't think you'd want to do that. I'm liking our partnership, and something tells me this city won't lack for criminals." Will pointed out. He was watching Lance and the SCPD with his telescopic vision from a rooftop a few blocks away.

"Ain't that the truth. Guess you were right to trust your Spider-sense."

"Partially that but I guess I just kept my faith in Ted. Still, glad that this had a happy ending and your daughter is fine and safe as can be." He assured her.

"Yeah, that's twice I owe you." Lance told him.

"You didn't arrest me when I took my mask off and you're keeping my secret. I owe you. If you need anything, just call or you can make a giant sky signal with my spider symbol. That'd be cool." He said causing Lance to chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how the mayor will like that."

"Eh, I had to ask. Well, I'm gonna call it a night. Stay safe, Captain and don't be a stranger." Will hung up and began web swinging back to his dorms to get some rest. It had been a long day.

Line Break xxxxx

Will got a great night's sleep after dealing with Ted Grant's psycho former sidekick and woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and good to go. He went on a morning patrol and luckily things were quiet, so he stopped to get coffee and a bagel before heading back to campus. His morning class was a piece of cake and after he went to Dr. Connors lab to work. He sat at his desk to work his engineering project while the computer worked on calculating the next RNA strands Dr. Connors wanted to test with the Recombinator. Their tumor and cancerous tumor trials were going well for the moment, so they were working on improving the formula for the next batch of tests. They were in a good direction but there was still a lot of work to be done.

So, while computer organized all the information Will was still trying to solve the neural pathway problem for his mechanical limb project. With all the calculations he's run, the neural pathway created wasn't strong enough to send a signal from the brain to the mechanical limb without a large harness or control system. As he was jotting down some calculations in his notebook, Dr. Connors opened the door and walked into the lab.

"Hello, Will." Dr. Connors took off his coat and hung it up.

"Hey, Dr. Connors. How was class?" Will asked as he jotted down some more notes in his book.

"The usual. Some promising young minds in that class along with others who are only taking it to fulfill the requirement. I think I saw a few sleeping." Dr. Connors joked as he walked over.

"That'll teach them to work out their schedule better." He commented when Dr. Connors got a look on what he was working on.

"Neural pathway circuitry for mechanically controlled prosthetic limbs?" Dr. Connors looked at the design and calculations closer. "You're designing internal circuitry and motors that would allow the prosthetic to actually function like a regular limb."

"Yeah. I took the basis for the design like the receivers, transmitter, and motor modules from remote-controlled drones. I've seen some of the newer models and realized that their internal circuitry framework is designed to control and handle flight and maneuverability in the air and lot of them aren't that big. So, if I work it right, I could apply that to something other than a drone." Will showed Dr. Connors the alpha-version computer designs for the limbs. "It's not pretty but it could work."

"This is very impressive Will. This kind of design is something that would usually take teams to do at MIT." Dr. Connors praised causing Will to smirk a bit as he sat back in his chair.

"I guess you can call me a wunderkind." He joked. "The only issue is the neural framework. It's possible to get a signal powerful enough to move the limb and I can work out the articulation after enough practice, but the problem is it would require a large neural helmet in order to make it work. I'm trying to get it smaller, but I've been stuck. I was hoping you could help."

"I'd be happy to." Dr. Connors told him. "This is big, Will. I'm continuously amazed at what your mind is capable of."

"The thing that got my head dunked into a toilet is trying to help the world. I'm glad it came full circle." He joked when they heard a knock on the door and Spencer walked in.

"Hello, Spencer." Dr. Connors greeted her.

"Hey, Dr. Connors. I was hoping you and Will would be here."

"What's up, Spencer?" Will asked.

"I wanted to let you guys know that my parents have spoken to Ray Palmer and the board at Palmer Technologies about your Recombinator work and are interested in funding your research. They were hoping you would come to Palmer Technologies tomorrow to talk it over. Both of you." Spencer said.

"Why me? It's Dr. Connor's project." Will said.

"True but you are his only assistance and you're helping him." Spencer pointed out.

"She's right, Will. A lot of my work with the Recombinator has been a success with your help. We'll be there, Spencer." Dr. Connors promised.

"I'll let them know and they'll send you the information." Spencer said before she left, leaving the two scientists to prepare an impromptu presentation for tomorrow. Around 6pm, the two scientists finished for the day and Will was heading to the dining hall to meet with the girls for dinner when he passed by Spencer's future brother-in-law Ian chatting with some students and he noticed that a lot of them were female students. Sure, they were athletes and he was head of sports science and medicine which made sense that many of his students would be athletes but there seemed to be quite a lot of flirting. Granted, he has only been in one relationship so what did he know.

He arrived at the dining hall where he saw the girls sitting at a table and made his way over. "Hey, girls. Sorry I'm late." He said as he kissed Aria on the cheek before sitting down. "I just made my way through the quad and passed by your future brother-in-law."

"Another reason I'm glad I got my sport's requirement done our freshman year is so that I don't have to deal with Ian." Spencer commented.

"Am I missing something?" Maya was a little confused at what was going on.

"Let's just say that Spencer and her sister don't have the best relationship." Emily explained.

"I try to keep a minimum distance from my sister and Ian at all times. College was supposed to be my freedom, yet they followed my parents and I'm stuck with him and her now for another two years." Spencer added causing Will to look at Maya with a chuckle.

"Welcome to our world. Bet this isn't what you were expecting, huh?" He joked as they got up to get their food.

"All right, I think we can spare a night talking about Ian for Spencer's sanity. Let's move onto something else." Aria suggested.

"So, Maya how are things going with the Bursar's office?" Will wondered as he grabbed a bowl of minestrone soup and some crackers.

"Actually, some good news. They've accepted my application and I found a scholarship that will work for me. I'm going to start classes after the new year break." She told them.

"That's great news. Now I know why Emily's been so happy today." Aria teased as Emily's cheeks turned a little red.

"And Will and I can't thank you and your mother enough for letting me stay here the past few weeks." Maya said.

"Oh, please it's no problem. If anything, my mom likes having you around. She's always wanted a daughter. She's told me that…a lot…right to my face." Will commented. "Anyway, it's no problem. And I you need to stay a little longer I'm sure it's no big deal."

"Thanks, but I'm gonna head back home for now and I'll be back in December when the break starts. I have some stuff to settle at home anyway." Maya explained as she and Emily shared a kiss.

"Well, SCU will be happy to have you and Aria will have another model for her fashion show they pushed to next semester which is a good thing because I would not look good in a dress." He joked.

"Fashion show?"

"My design class is hosting a charitable fashion show with designs the students have done. We were supposed to have it this semester, but some scheduling conflicts pushed it to next one. Spencer and Emily have already volunteered to be models but we're always in need of more if you want to." Aria said.

"Sounds like fun." Emily replied as they got their food and returned to their table to eat, just joking around, and talking. After dinner, Emily and Maya wanted some privacy since she would be leaving soon so Aria and Spencer volunteered to spend the night in Will's dorm room. They'd share the bed and he'd sleep on the floor…or on a web hammock. They did their homework when Will got a call from Lance about a body dropping in the city and it was weird which meant he had a job, so he suited up and headed out into the city.

He swung around a building and landed in a small grassy area next to the train tracks in the old industrial area in the Glades where he saw Lance investigating a body that was dressed in a very familiarly looking green hoodie.

"That's not who I think it is, is it?" He wondered as he walked over.

"If it was, it'd be all over the news at this point." Lance turned the body over a little so he could see his face and it was Isaac Stanzler. "Isaac Stanzler, our crazed vigilante. Odd choice of clothing."

"I thought he was in Iron Heights?"

"Yeah, he was supposed to be. Corrections was transporting him to Iron Heights when he got pin-cushioned along with the two officers. They're all right and in the hospital." Lance told him.

"Any idea who did this?" Will wondered.

"You're guess is as good as mine. At first, I'd thought it'd be Culebra payback for the bodies he dropped but they wouldn't do it like this. Whoever did this when through a lot of trouble to dress him up and dump him like this." Lance said as Will walked over to get a look. While normally a dead body would bring a little shock and it did, being a superhero for this long got him prepared to see this kind of thing. "Someone with an axe to grind against the Arrow."

"Yeah, trying to call him out but why." He said as he looked at the wound. "Is it a warning or a challenge? No camera footage?"

"No, whoever did this knew where the cameras were and disabled them and left no evidence except for this." Lance held out an evidence bag with a red colored arrow in the shape of a spade. "Shaped like a spade. What's that all about?"

"Clearly another message. Not exactly the smartest shape for a projectile so this person is clearly more concerned with saying something." Will suggested when he remembered something from two years ago. "Wasn't there that group of robbers two years ago who had a thing for playing card mask. Um…the Royal Flush Gang? The Arrow did stop them so it could be payback?"

"A nice idea but I called Watanabe and she confirmed that they were last seen in in the mid-west so it's not them. And archery is not their MO." Lance informed him.

"All right, do you mind if I keep the arrow? I might be able to dig up a lead if I look closer." He suggested and Lance agreed. "Don't worry, Captain. I'll find this guy."

"Good luck." Lance said as he saw Spider-man shot a web line and quickly swing away. "I'm never getting used to that."

As he swung through the city, he contemplated if he should tell Oliver that someone was clearly sending a message to him. Things between them were still icy so maybe this would help them bridge the gap and become friends…or at least keep them on the right side so he changed direction and began making his way to Verdant.

Just like Will, Oliver was in his suit out in the city doing his job. He took down some robbers and was currently interrupting a drugs sale between two gangs. The gang members opened fire at him with their pistols only for an arrow to knock them all away. They were each taken out methodically and effectively as he grappled and beatdown the gang members before shooting a runner in the leg to stop him from escaping. He crawled away only for Oliver to punch him in the face with his bow. That's when his comm link went off so he pressed the relay switch on his chest.

"What is it?"

"You might want to come back to the Arrow cave because you have a visitor." Felicity told him.

"Who?" Oliver asked as back at the Arrow cave, she and Diggle were looking at Spider-man who was in their lair, hanging upside down via a spider web.

"A certain spider themed superhero." Felicity answered as Oliver quickly fired an arrow behind his back, nailing a sneak attacker in the arm and pinning him to a crate before he left and headed back to the Arrow cave as fast as he could.

When he arrived, he saw Felicity and Diggle looking at Spider-man who was hanging upside from the ceiling via a web. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" Felicity wondered.

"Not to me. I may as well be sitting down when I do this. Besides, it's a nice thing for my neck." He replied as he saw Oliver walk over. "Hey, Robin Hood. Have a nice night out?"

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked.

"Came by to give you something. And you can turn off the voice changer. You're in your secret Arrow cave now so you can relax, and I didn't come to pick a fight." Will pleaded. Oliver turned off his voice changer and removed his hood before placing his bow in its case. "It's not a bad set up you have here. Granted, my lair is my college dorm room, so this place is like Buckingham Palace."

"How did you get in here?" Oliver asked, still not ok with him here.

"I used this." Will raised up his hand. "I knocked on the back door you have in the alleyway. I can't exactly walk through the front entrance dressed like this. It draws too much attention. And considering you had tall, dark, and menacing over there visit me on my college campus then I figured I'd return the favor. And FYI, for future instances, you might want to avoid sending someone to my college campus to spy on me because none of you really blend in."

"Fair point, so what do you have?" Oliver asked as Will held out an arrow in an evidence bag. Felicity took it to look it over. "Where did you get that?"

"Found it a few hours ago in Isaac Stanzler's chest. Someone trussed him up in your green leather before killing him and dumping his body. Someone trying to get your attention and sending a message." Will explained. That got everyone's attention as Oliver took the arrow to look at it for himself. "Figured you'd deserve a heads up."

"Any other evidence?" Oliver hoped only for Will to shake his head no in response.

"He was taken during transit to Iron Heights. Two corrections officers got arrows as well but they're resting up at the hospital. Only evidence is the arrow. Captain Lance was willing to lend it to me so long as we find this guy." He told him.

"We?"

"Yes, we Jolly Green. I brought this to you as a curtesy since he's calling you out, but this is still my city and I'm going to do my job. Now, you can either brood and be bitchy or we can act like grown ups wearing superhero uniforms and catch this guy before he hurts anyone else." Will said, acting like the grown up of the two.

"He's got a point, Oliver." Felicity commented. Oliver just sighed in exhaustion before agreeing to the point so they could move on.

"All right. If the arrow is our only lead, then let's check it over for a clue." Oliver took the arrow over to a table to look at it underneath a magnifying glass.

"I took a quick glance at it on my way here and couldn't find any distinguishing marks or printings on it. And trust me, my eyes would have caught something so it's homemade. The only odd thing I can't understand is why chose a spade for the arrowhead." Will commented.

"You're right. Hand-soldered out of high carbon steel." Oliver remarked as he looked at the arrow. "Someone took their time to make this but why?"

"Maybe there's something in the arrow itself that holds a clue?" Will suggested so Oliver ripped off the spade arrowhead and began smashing it with a hammer. "I would have recommended a more refined approach but that works too."

After a few more smashes and a shattered spade arrowhead later, Oliver found a small rolled piece of paper hidden inside. "What is that? Is that a note?" Dig asked.

"It's an address. 15 Baron street, apartment seven." Oliver read.

"Let's go, shall we?" Will asked and they did.

He and Oliver arrived at the apartment which Oliver kicked in and saw the room dimly lit with red candles but seemed empty.

"Nobody's here." Will said when they stepped into the bedroom and saw stuff that looked like it was ripped out of Kathy Bates room from Misery. More red candles lit the room and rose petals were scattered on the floor. The walls were decorated with newspaper articles and clippings on the Arrow's actions such as the bad guys he's stopped and people he's saved. On the far wall was a heart collage made up of photos of the people the Arrow saved but they were all female and the outline of the heart was compiled of photos of him in costume. The last thing in the room was a large heart-shaped mirror adorned with his arrows with one more spade arrow in the middle. "Oh, this is creepy. I take it back. This person isn't calling you out to kill you, this is a crazed stalker fan who took an interior decorating class straight out of psycho monthly."

Oliver walked over and plucked the spade arrow from the mirror and realized what it was. "This isn't a spade…it's a heart."

"Guess you've got your own cupid." Will muttered when they heard a ring tone go off and saw it was a from the cellphone placed on a table.

Oliver walked over and answered the blocked number to hear a woman on the other line. "It's you. I can't believe it's really you. Did you like your present?"

"Do you mean Isaac Stanzler, the man you killed?"

"I see the way you take care of your city. Makes me wonder…who takes care of you? I want to help you—to fight with you, to kill for you. Mr. Stanzler was just the first." The cellphone beeped and they got a picture of a man with a bomb strapped to his vest. Oliver showed Will and both realized they had another problem. "He might be the second. I thought we could punish this one together."

"I'm gonna find you."

"Well, that's the idea. But you'd better hurry because I don't think he's got very long." The call ended soon after that.

Line Break xxxxx

The next morning, Will was dressed up in his best business attire. He had dress shoes, khaki pants, a white button up with a dark blue blazer and tie. He was dressed in a more formal matter because he and Dr. Connors were meeting with Ray Palmer and the board of Palmer Technologies about possible funding for their Recombinator project. Will was a little nervous with the meeting, but he was there to help Dr. Connors and talk him up. If there was one thing he could do, it's talk. And lucky enough, Oliver was handling his crazy stalker cupid while he was doing this meeting.

He and Dr. Connors were waiting in the lobby of Queen Consolidated but there were a lot of people moving around including reporters which was weird. Something big must have been going on but before he could even think of anything, they were approached by one of the Receptionists.

"Dr. Connors, Mr. Detmer, if you'll follow me please." She said.

Dr. Connors grabbed his briefcase while Will grabbed a small case holding things that they needed for a meeting but also put his backpack on which had his suit incase something happened. The receptionist led them into an elevator that took them up to the top floor where they saw what looked like a press conference.

"What's going on?" Will asked.

"Dr. Palmer has a small press conference set up to announce Palmer Technologies to Starling City. Your meeting with him and the board will be right next." She explained as Dr. Palmer took his place at the podium with Felicity next to him and a tarp covering part of the wall.

"Thank you all for being here today. A few months ago, I made a promise to revitalize Starling City. But I knew I couldn't do it alone. I needed help. A lot of help from people who are even more intelligent and dedicated than I am. All of us are working very hard with one goal in mind—to save our city. But to do so, Queen Consolidated needs to be something else." The tarp behind Dr. Palmer moved to reveal the new logo for Palmer Technologies, causing everyone to clap. "Now Palmer Technologies, we shall be a beacon of hope for this city and all its citizens in what we can be and what we hope to do."

There was another round of applause as the reporters asked some questions. The receptionist led Dr. Connors and Will into an office. "If you'll take a seat, Dr. Palmer will be with you in a moment."

"Thank you." Dr. Connors replied as the receptionist left them to get back to work. Will looked around at the office and let out a whistle of amazement.

"Wow. This office is bigger than my college dorm room and my room at home combined. This is what millions of dollars gets you." He commented. "I wonder if it would be worth it."

"What do you mean?" Dr. Connors asked.

"I mean, sure all this money is probably great, but it has to come with a lot of headaches as well." Will pointed out.

"True, which is why I have a lot of talented people working for me to help." They heard as Ray Palmer and Felicity Smoak walked into the office. "Plus, the board gets to deal with all the boring details. Dr. Connors, it's a pleasure to meet you. Ray Palmer. This is Felicity Smoak, vice president of Palmer Technologies."

"Hello." Felicity smiled at them.

"Thank you for coming in today." Ray told them.

"Thank you for inviting us. Allow me to introduce my lab assistant and protégée, Will Detmer. One of the finest young scientific minds we have a SCU." Dr. Connors gestured to him and he smiled.

"Dr. Palmer, pleasure to meet you. Ms. Smoak." Will shook both their hands.

"Please, call me Ray. I'm glad you both were able to come today. The Hastings speak quite highly of you two and your work." Ray commented. "Genetic Recombinator therapy treatment is very impressive but Mr. Hastings was a little sparse on the details."

"Well, it's rather complicated work. We've been working on it for months and it still stumps us every now and then but that's the nature of science, I guess." Will joked, earning a chuckle from Ray and Felicity.

"Still, it's why I asked you two to come in today. Palmer Technologies is always looking to help scientists and Starling City and we'd like to help you with your project." Ray told them.

"That's a very generous offer, Dr. Palmer but I hope you'll understand I do have a little trepidation with this offer of yours. It's not uncommon for companies to get invested in scientific endeavors only to steal them right from under your nose." Dr. Connors pointed out.

"Very true, which is why I'm stressing to both of you to just make your presentation to the board and not to sign anything today. I would personally love to work with you both, but it should be on terms that you're comfortable with. So, listen to what the board has to say, and take the contract to a lawyer to look it over so it's on terms your comfortable with." Ray told them as an assistant came over to tell them the board was ready for the meeting.

Dr. Connors and Will entered the board room where the board of Palmer Technologies along with Ray and Felicity listened to their presentation and their work with the Genetic Recombinator. It was important now, especially since Smythe Industries recent PR nightmare after their secret lab explosion in Starling and federal investigations of corruption and supplying weapons to criminals. The board of directors and their stockholders weren't doing that great and all sales with the company stopped and even if they weren't, doing business with them right now would be corporate suicide. So, Dr. Connors work with the Genetic Recombinator was now one of a kind.

Dr. Connors explained the premise of his project like he did during the school tour but dumbing down the science parts a bit so the board could understand. They loaded a small power point presentation that demonstrated their project and their progress so far. Judging by the faces of the board, many of them were impressed and eager to fund a project that could revolutionize medical treatments. A contract was brought up, but Dr. Connors told them he would need to look it over before they agreed to anything and the board was fine with that.

Once the presentation was over, Will packed up everything back in his case while Dr. Connors spoke with Dr. Palmer and a few members of the board. Will locked the case shut just as Felicity walked over to him. "So, college student by day and superhero by night. How do you manage that?"

"It's not easy but it keeps things interesting. And I've been lucky enough to schedule most of my classes for the morning, so I have my afternoons and evenings free." He replied. "How does being Vice President of a company work with your nightly activities?"

"I've had my share of close calls and missed meetings." Felicity commented. "I was a little surprised to hear that you would be coming into Palmer Tech today with Dr. Connors. I don't know many college students who are working with cutting edge genetic technology."

"What can I say? I'm an enigma, one who happens to have superpowers and has been on the wrong side of your boss's arrows on more than one occasion. No offense but Oliver has about as much trust and personality as a cactus." Will told her.

"And you're not wrong. A lot of what's happened to Oliver has made him jaded but he's starting to come around with you…" She said only for Will to look at her funny. "…mostly. But at least he didn't shoot an arrow at you when you were in the arrow cave."

"Fair enough. Anyway, any idea on who the crazed cupid stalker is?"

"Not yet but I did manage to identify the hostage as Joe Gravano." Felicity told him.

"Gravano? I put him away back in August. I thought he was in Iron Heights?"

"He was. His lawyer managed to get him out on bail until his trial next month before he was captured by our crazy stalker." Felicity explained. "I'm going to head back to the arrow cave to work on cracking the sim card."

"All right. I've got a class after I finish with Dr. Connors so I'll drop by and help when I can. That is if Oliver doesn't have an issue with it." He said.

"Trust me, he won't. We're on the same side." Felicity promised as Will left with Dr. Connors and headed back to SCU.

He put everything away back in the lab as Dr. Connors sat at his desk and looked over the contract. "I'll say one thing for certain, Palmer Technologies lawyers are rather thorough."

"Let me guess? A lot of therefore, hereafter, and a bunch of other lawyer jargon that basically says we have their resources to develop our research, but they get most of the credit and money." Will said out loud.

"You're not far off. Guess Dr. Palmer was right. I can't sign this." Dr. Connors said.

"And I'm with you every step of the way, Dr. Connors. Seeing as how neither of us are lawyers or have any experience with the law, maybe we should get a second opinion and some legal help?"

"Do you have someone in mind?"

"Well, Spencer does work for the ADA. Maybe she could get one of her coworkers to look it over and get back to us. I'll call her and see what she can do." Will promised.

"Very good and in the meantime, we continue as if nothing's changed. Science waits for no one." Dr. Connors stated.

"Except for after I get out of my classes." Will joked as he grabbed his backpack. "See you later, Dr. Connors."

"Take care, Will." He bid his assistant goodbye before putting the contract away and bringing up his encrypted file on his cross-species genetic work for limb regeneration.

Will went to class and sent a text to Spencer, asking her for some legal help and advice for the whole Palmer Tech contract. She said she'd talk to some people at the office and see if they could help. He also filled in Captain Lance that they were dealing with a psycho love-struck stalker who had taken Gravano hostage. Captain Lance would put out his feelers to see if he could find a lead on Gravano. After class and checking up on the girls, he went into the city in his civilian clothes and took a bus to Verdant. He walked over to the club and noticed a large collection of boxes and garbage bags with heels walking over to the dumpster in the alleyway.

"Would you like some help?" Will wondered as the moving pile of garbage stopped for a second.

"No, it's ok. I've got this." He heard a female voice reply but then he noticed she'd had some trouble as the dumpster was closed.

"Are you sure because you have your hands full and I don't think you can sprout a third to open the dumper." He pointed out and she stopped.

"Fair enough."

Will grabbed some of the bags and propped open the dumpster before dropping them in while the rest of the garbage soon followed. He closed the lid and wiped his hands clean when he noticed the woman he was helping was actually Thea Queen. Wearing a nice black sleeveless blouse and red and black spotted skirt with short hair, she looked rather put together.

"Thanks." Thea said to him.

"Don't mention it. At first, I was a little concerned that there was a radioactive mutant garbage pile walking around but then noticed the heels. Mutant garbage wouldn't wear heels." Will joked which actually made Thea chuckle.

"Very true. Not the best way to get around if you were mutant garbage." Thea replied as she and Will walked out of the alleyway to the club. "Are you here for the DJ auditions?"

"No, sorry. I'm just passing through." He told her. "I thought Verdant was shut down months ago. I wasn't aware you guys were reopening."

"We are. In fact, our grand reopening is tonight. I'm Thea Queen, owner of the club and don't worry, it'll be better than before after tonight." Thea proudly told him.

"Well, I've never been a party person but good to know." Will joked as Thea looked at him. "Uh…is there something on my face?"

"Sorry, it's just…you look familiar. Have we met before?" Thea asked and he was interested if she remembered him.

"We have, actually."

"Ok. Don't tell me…" Thea began thinking of where she has seen this cute guy before. "I got it. Amber's birthday party."

"Probably not. I was never invited to those kinds of things when we went to Starling Academy." Will told her.

"Ah, so we went to school together. Ok, I can figure this out." Thea promised.

"It's fine, Thea. I've got to go. Best of luck with your club." Will gave her a mock wave and walked away.

"Wait, you should stop by the club for opening tonight." Thea told him.

"I've never been a nightclub person, no offense Thea. Best of luck." Will bid her goodbye and walked down the street while Thea watched him leave. She could have sworn she knew him somehow, but she just couldn't place it. She walked back into the club unaware that Will was watching from around the corner of a building and once she was gone, he went back to the alleyway and knocked on the door to the Arrow cave. He waited a few seconds and heard the lock click which allowed him to walk in where he saw Roy in his Arsenal gear. He walked past him and judging by Roy's expression, something must have happened. He walked over to see Dig and Oliver at the computers. "Did I miss something?"

"We found out who Oliver's lovestruck fan is. Carrie Cutter, former SCPD." Dig brought up her file so Will could see, and he recognized her. "Gravano is fine but she took out Roy and escaped."

"I've seen her before." He said, drawing looks from Dig and Oliver. "She was outside Ted's gym when the dead body was propped up. I wondered why she trigged my spider-sense but now it makes sense."

"Spider-sense?" Oliver asked.

"Extra-sensory sixth sense warning I have to danger and dangerous people. Think of it as an early warning system for me." Will explained.

"Right, like spider's actually have psychic abilities." Dig joked.

"Technically, they do have an early warning system. The hairs that covers up most of their bodies can detect even the lowest level of vibrations on the surfaces they're perched on along with vibrations in the air. So, it fits." Will felt proud of his little science explanation but noticed the odd looks he was getting. "What? I'm a scientist in training so I did my own research into arachnids when I got my powers. Anyway, judging by her personnel records she's had some issues with love before. It says here she was put on limited duty after becoming obsessed with her partner. She got sent to St. Walkers Mental hospital for a psychological evaluation and she left the force soon after."

Oliver nodded before looking around and saw they were one short. "Where's Felicity?"

"She's working tonight. She said she told you." Dig answered.

"Yes, she did." Oliver walked over to grab his bow and even though he didn't say much, Dig had a feeling what was wrong.

"Oliver are you ok? I know this can't be easy, with Felicity spending so much time with Palmer."

"I'm fine." He answered as he walked to the exit.

"Where are you going?" Will wondered.

"The psychiatrist that SCPD sent Cutter to."

"You want some backup?" Dig asked.

"No, I've got it." Oliver left soon after that.

"He's not much of a feeling sharer, is he?" Will asked.

"No, Oliver's tends to keep things pretty close to the vest." Dig answered as Will motioned to the chair. "Go ahead."

"Thanks." Will sat down at the computer and got a feel for the computer system before taking out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Dig asked.

"Keeping Captain Lance in the loop." Will told him as he heard Lance pick up. "Hey, Captain. I've got an idea on the spade shaped archer we have and it's not a spade. Carrie Cutter, she's former SCPD who now is obsessed with the leather-clad Robin Hood. Do you think you can check her personnel file for anything that could help track her down? Old friends, CI's or places she visited a lot before she left the force. We might get lucky. Thanks."

"You and Lance seem pretty chummy." Dig commented.

"Didn't start that way but I think he gave me a pass after I helped Laurel when she took a baseball bat to a dude's head in black leather." He replied and saw Dig's confused expression. "Long story. Anyways, things were a little stressed but we're good now. Besides, if he gets pissed off at me then he can just arrest me whenever."

"He knows who you are? That wasn't a very smart idea." Dig told him.

"I beg to differ. It was the only way I could get him to really trust me. No offense, but you guys keeping his daughter's death from him kind of soiled his relationship with other masked people. And I'm not gonna comment on something that's not my business but I did what I felt was best in the moment."

"Fair enough." Dig said. "So, the mighty Spider-man moonlights at a college student. How's that working out for you?"

"First off, it's Spectacular or Amazing Spider-man. Mighty sounds weird. And second, it's has its own problems, but I've gotten a handle on it. Granted I don't have the money for fancy bases, all this tech, or the weapons you guys have but I make do with dumpster diving, discount/bargain sales and good old warranty violating engineering. Not all heroes are former billionaires." Will pointed out. "Oliver can say what he wants about me not being fit or good enough for the job, but this city is as much mine as it is. Probably more so since I didn't have a lap of luxury for most of my life."

"Yeah, Oliver's got his own issues, but he cares about this city. When you showed up, that definitely threw him for a loop." Dig admitted.

"His loop consisting of turning trying to turn me into a pin cushion despite the numerous times I've helped him and pleas that I'm on his side. At least Felicity was welcoming." Will commented when he got a text from Lance with the names of Carrie Cutter's old CI's. "Lance got me some names of old CI's Cupid used to us."

Will typed in their names and the computer system began tracking them down. "You'd think she might have gone to one of them?" Dig asked.

"Well, she can't go to the police so if you were in her shoes and needed help then wouldn't you go to people who were useful in the past and don't have the best relationship with the police?" Will asked and Dig nodded when the computer brought up some information on one of the old CI's. "Ok, here's one contender. Kirby Bates. Busted for computer hacking and stealing a lot of credit card pin numbers. Don't have a location on him but I think this computer can narrow down a most likely place. I'll start there."

Will stood up and grabbed his backpack before heading out. "Catch you later, Dig!"

Dig waved goodbye at one of the oddest conversations he's ever had but he could admit one thing. Compared to Oliver, Will was a lot nicer.

Line Break xxxxx

Having changed into his suit, Spider-man swung through the city to the location the computer managed to narrow down as a possible location for Kirby Bates. It was a long shot, but his long shots tended to have a way of working out. He arrived at a flop house on Amsterdam street when he noticed the door was open so he flipped to the ground and slowly walked in to see Kirby Bates in a chair with an arrow in his neck and a whole bunch of smashed computers, tablets, and phones.

"Guess she severed that tie." He said to himself as he took out his phone and plugged it into the smashed laptop along with every other piece of tech to get what he could. It took longer than expected considering everything was smashed to bit but he managed to recover enough data on his phone. He called Lance about the dead body before heading back to the Arrow cave…that place really needed a new name. He walked into cave and saw Oliver had arrived a few seconds before him.

"How'd it go with your lead?" Oliver asked.

"Good news and bad news. Good news, I was right and found him at a flop house on Amsterdam. Bad news, she killed her old CI and smashed whatever she had him doing." Will answered, pulling his mask off as he sat down at the computer. "Whatever she has planning next, you're not gonna like it."

Oliver grit his teeth in anger before letting out an angry huff. "We need Felicity here."

"Oliver, she's still at dinner with—" "I don't care where she is! We need her here." Oliver said as he grabbed his bow.

"You mean, you need her to be any place where Ray Palmer isn't." Dig corrected.

"It's not the time, Diggle."

"Oliver, you're in the field without your head on straight. I think this is exactly the time." Dig told him.

"I've got it handled." Oliver told him.

"Doesn't look that way to me." Dig shot back.

"And at the risk of getting shot at with an arrow, you do seem a bit distracted." Will added.

"Stay out of this." Oliver told him.

"Duly noted." Will kept his mouth shut after that.

"What do you want me to say, Diggle? Yes, it bothers me that she is out to dinner with Palmer. Yes, it bothers me that apparently, she is just moving on with her life, but I made a decision! She did, too. And—I just…I want her to be happy."

"If that were true…you'd be with her, man." Dig wisely put only for Oliver to leave. "Where are you going?"

"The flop house on Amsterdam."

"Oliver, she's long gone by now." Dig pointed out.

"Maybe she didn't get that far!" Oliver shouted before leaving in a huff.

"Wow." Will said out loud. "Should I have also pointed out that I managed to recover the laptop data and might be able to find out what she was doing?"

"He still would have left in a huff. Do you think you can find out what she was doing?" Dig wondered.

"Probably." Will plugged his phone into the computer and began looking over the data but ran into some encryptions which he was in the process of trying to break.

"You look like you know what you're doing." Dig commented.

"I'm not an elite hacker like Felicity or that crazy hacker group from a few weeks ago but I know a few things just to make me interesting. Comes with the territory of the DIY superhero." Will explained as he did his best to crack the encryption. On his laptop back in his dorm it would take a while, but this powerhouse set up in the Arrow cave, he was hoping to cut that down.

Half an hour later, he managed to get through the encryption on the laptop to find out what Kirby Bates was working on. It brought up a map with a lot of different reference points. "What is that? A map of the city?" Dig wasn't sure what he was looking at.

"It looks like he was tracking something down." Will then realized what he was tracking as Verdant was marked on the map. "He was tracking down Oliver for Cupid."

"Is that possible?" Dig didn't think that could even work and if it did, why didn't anyone else think of that.

"If you're devoted enough. He triangulated Oliver's originating position by using data on how fast it takes him to show up at certain places all over the city." Will did some digging and also found Cupid's phone signal. "I've also got her phone signal."

"Track her down." Dig told him and Will worked as fast as he could and unfortunately, she was here. "She's upstairs."

"Damn, that's not good." Will said as he quickly began taking off his suit to change back into his regular clothes. He took his button-up out of his backpack and quickly got dressed while keeping his web shooters on but hiding them underneath his sleeves. "I'm gonna head up there and keep an eye on her."

"Then what?" Dig asked.

"I don't know. I'm playing this by ear. Call Oliver. He's gonna want to know. I'm gonna make sure she doesn't start killing people." Will told him as he raced upstairs while Dig called Oliver.

Will headed up the stairs and snuck through the door into the club where he heard club music blaring through the club's speakers. He walked through the club past waitresses and club patrons when his spider-sense began to tingle. One peak to his side and he saw Cupid sitting at the bar in a very nice red dress and heels with her red hair done up very nicely. She was at the bar, probably waiting for a drink but she didn't seem to have any weapons unless it was hidden in her purse. Now that he had his eyes on her, he moved over to a nearby standing table to keep watch when he got a phone call from Oliver.

"Yeah?" Will answered.

"Do you have eyes on her?" He asked.

"I'm looking right at her. She's at the bar dressed in a rather beautiful red dress which would be nice if the circumstances were different. It looks like she's more on a date than anything." Will told him. "She hasn't done anything yet and I don't want to risk confronting her with everyone in the club."

"I'll draw her out. Don't lose sight of her." Oliver answered before he ended the call and Will continued to watch.

Cupid sat at the bar as Thea finished the drink order for her. "One Cupid's Kiss."

Cupid took a sip of the drink and smiled. "Delicious." Thea smiled when Cupid's phone rang so she answered. "Hello?"

"It's me."

Hearing his voice made her smile. "I have to admit, I didn't think a club would be your scene. Hmm…you're always surprising me."

"I'm not there."

"Why don't I believe you?" She asked as she got up and walked away from the bar with Will keeping an eye on her.

"You want to meet me, fine. I will meet you anywhere but that club."

"So, you're asking me out?"

"Where do you want to meet, Carrie?"

"I know a place. Our special spot. But you listen to me lover, I've been burned before. And if you're playing me, I promise you I'll come back and kill everyone in this place." Cupid gave him the location before ending the call and heading out of the club. Will watched her leave and quickly followed when he bumped into Thea.

"Oh, geez." Thea looked and saw she bumped into the guy from before. "Hey. You're here."

"Yeah, um…some friends wanted to go out and I ended up coming along as their designated driver. And considering I saw one headed outside, I better go make sure she's ok." Will told her.

"Ok, if you need anything…um, I still don't know your name." Thea said as he headed to the door.

"Will!" he shouted as he raced out, leaving Thea confused. Will walked out of Verdant but lost sight of Cupid. She must have left in a hurry so he quickly raced back to the alleyway door to the Arrow Cave to get his gear and suit up before heading out to the location where Oliver was going to meet her which was at a subway stop in downtown.

He swung through the air and landed on the roof of a building where he saw Cupid and the Arrow fighting at the old subway stop. The Arrow knocked her down over a subway grate which she broke and sent them falling down onto the subway tracks. She managed to knock him down and handcuff him to the tracks so they could both die together in some weird couple suicide. A web line yanked the handcuff off the track before two more lines connected to the Arrow and Cupid yanked them up out of the subway before they got runover. Oliver landed on his feet, but Cupid was webbed up tight with an extra piece of webbing over her mouth.

"Cutting it close there, Robin Hood." Spider-man told him as Oliver just glared at him while Cupid's muffle screams and curses made him chuckle. "Guess love does make people do crazy things."

He left Cupid strung up there and called Captain Lance to come arrest her. After that, Will and Oliver returned to the Arrow cave. Will only came back to get the things he left so he could head back to campus.

"Well, that was certainly an eye-opening experience. Here's hoping you only have one crazy stalker. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head out." Will grabbed his backpack as Oliver put his bow in its case before turning out to face him. "Is this the part where you're going to say thank you but also tell me that I'm way in over my head and have no idea what I'm doing?"

"Am I wrong in that fact?" Oliver asked and Will shrugged.

"Who knows but I'm sure a lot of people would say the same thing about you putting on that hoodie when you first started." Will pointed out. "Honestly, Oliver I don't know what to say to you at this point, but I've said all I can. I'm not going to stop doing what I'm doing and nothing you can say or do will stop me. This city is as much mine as it yours and I'm going to protect it no matter what. It's my job."

"A job you took on just because you got superpowers?" Oliver asked.

"No, a job I took on because I have powers and I'm not going to sit by when people need help. I'm not sure what Laurel told you when she found out about me, but I didn't put on the mask for laughs or to take away your fame. I did it because I have the chance to help a lot of people by doing what I do and if I don't then I don't deserve this gift." Will stated as he zipped his backup. "With great power comes great responsibility. The second you can finally understand that and not assume the worst of me then we'll be better off."

Will left soon after that, having said his peace. It was time to see if Oliver would finally understand and maybe the two heroes could really start working together.

Line Break xxxxx

Another night in Starling city was nothing new as people were heading home or heading out and the criminal element in the city continued doing what they did best. But Spider-man and the Arrow were there to stop them. Spider-man was swinging through the city on patrol, having just stopped a weapons shipment being unloaded at the docks. He swung through the skyscrapers and tall buildings like a jungle gym, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything out of the ordinary. He nose-dived down the ground before swinging low to the ground, then grabbing a flagpole and spinning around it before jumping high into the air when he heard a boom and saw some smoke coming up from the sewer grates.

That explosion was part of the latest plan of criminal duo Flint Marko and Alexander O'Hirn in robbing a jewelry store. They robbed it blind and carried two large sacks of jewels and gold before blasting an escape tunnel down to the sewer to avoid the cops.

"First time I've even blown my way out of a store." Marko commented as he and his partner jumped through the hole, they made and traversed through the sewers.

"Yeah, Marko. Biggest score we've ever made. I'm loving it." O'Hirn told him.

"And I'm loving there's no Spider-man down here to cramp our style." Marko finished.

"Didn't know you had any style?" they heard as Spider-man lowered himself upside down into the sewer via a web stuck near the manhole entrance. "Hiya boys!"

A few webs later and Marko and O'Hirn were back in SCPD lockup. A place they've been plenty of times because of Spider-man.

"Two bags full of cash and we lost them! I can't believe it!" Marko shouted.

"I can't believe we lost to that little pathetic web creep again!" O'Hirn added when an officer came over to unlock their cell.

"Bails been paid." He told them as he opened the cell door. "Guess pond scum can have friends. Who knew?"

Marko and O'Hirn were confused but didn't look a gift horse in the mouth as they left the precinct to see a female valet driver holding a sign with their names on it standing in front of a parked Rolls Royce like they were at the airport. She opened the door and they got in.

"Get in boys." They heard a deep voice say that belonged to none other than Hammerhead. "Oh, and welcome to the big time."

Hammerhead's Rolls Royce traversed through the city until it stopped at LTL Body Shop, an old rundown garage underneath a bridge. Even if the garage wasn't in the state it was, it's not a place you'd would expect a Rolls Royce driver to go to for maintenance but then again things weren't as they seemed. The middle shutter door opened up and the car drove in before it shut tight. The floor underneath the car began to descend like an elevator until it stopped on a secret sub-level. Hammerhead then got out followed by Marko and O'Hirn.

"Where are we? What's going on?" O'Hirn asked.

"What's going on is you two are getting an upgrade to take on the web head. The Big Man's had his eyes on you two." Hammerhead told him as they walked over to a door.

"The Big Man? Really? Do I get to meet him?" Marko was excited at the prospect only for Hammerhead to grab him by the shirt and pull him down, so they were eye-to-eye.

"No one meets the Big Man." Hammerhead warned him. "Now follow me."

Hammerhead opened the door to show them an underground bunker that had been retrofitted for some kind of lab. Waiting for them were a short, wide-girthed scientist in a lab coat standing next to Roderick Kingsley. Despite the company statement that he left the country, he was actually still in Starling under threat from Tombstone. Now that Spider-man knew who the Big Man was, Kingsley wasn't allowed to leave until he was taken out of the picture or else, he'd end up like the Spencer Smythe. So, Kingsley was still running his company but to prevent Spider-man from coming after him he went underground and used his resources to pull another scientist from a company that he funded to design super mercenaries for Hammerhead to use against Spider-man.

"Are these the two? They don't look like much." Kingsley noted.

"They may not look it but they're tough. And they've got as much of a reason to hate Spider-man as we do. Now, who do you need, Doc?" Hammerhead asked.

Said doctor was Doctor Otto Octavius, former head of Dynamic labs in Starling before being tasked with inventing and designing super criminals for Kingsley and Hammerhead. Under threat of termination, the mild mannered and meek Doctor Octavius was now forced to follow in the Smythe's footsteps and design new weapons for the Big Man. He was a brilliant scientist and engineer but lacked a backbone to stand up for himself which made him easy pickings for Kingsley who honestly didn't care and was more focused on his own survival.

"Well, the armor is rather sturdy and will increase the wearers strength and defensive capabilities so either one will do." Doctor Octavius replied.

"I'll do it. If anyone wants to smash the web creep, it's me." O'Hirn proudly declared.

"Good answer, O'Hirn." Hammerhead led him to the main chamber where he stripped down and was given a special shorts and shirt before being placed into what looked like a giant mold with two containers of a grey bubbling liquid above him. Doctor Octavius walked over to the wall where he buckled a large metal harness onto his stomach and inserted a special circular battery into the front part before pressing a few buttons and it powered up and a spinal brace attached itself to his back and stopped at the base of his skull. Octavius then placed a small control chip into the empty slot of the spinal brace by his skull which activated the neural network control and four mechanical claw tentacles began to move around him with incredible control and precision.

Octavius walked over to the mold that held O'Hirn and used the claws to make sure everything was set and in its proper place. "What's with the arms, Doc?" O'Hirn wondered.

"Oh, these?" Octavius asked as one of the claws lowered a tablet so he could take a look at the data. "A tool of my own design. These allow me to multitask, manipulate difficult objects and work faster. Before we start, I want you to understand that this endeavor will be very dangerous."

"It the armor lets me take down the web creep then I don't care." O'Hirn told him.

"It's not that kind of armor, Mr. O'Hirn. You will never be able to remove it." Octavius warned him, trying to get him to back out of his own free will.

"But it's tough, right Doc?"

"Indeed, but your skin will fuse to the armor. A thick titanium-resin armor. This will be a permanent change." Octavius warned him as Hammerhead walked up to the doctor and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Is it me, or is your boy trying to talk my boy out of this?" Hammerhead asked Kingsley before looking at O'Hirn. "Look, O'Hirn. You'll be tough. Tough enough to bring down you know who."

"When what are we waiting for?!" O'Hirn shouted causing Hammerhead to smirk and Octavius to sigh in defeat. His mechanical arms closed the mold around O'Hirn before he, Hammerhead, and Kingsley entered the control room for the procedure. Octavius pressed a few buttons and the two containers of grey liquid opened up and began pouring over O'Hirn who shouted in pain. The liquid filled up the mold around O'Hirn's body but seeing how much pain he was in, Octavius reached over to the emergency stop button only for Kingsley to grab his hand.

"Let it finish, Otto. We need a super mercenary to take down Spider-man and then we can get back to our regular lives. And I for one am willing to do whatever it takes to take him out no matter how many criminals or doctors we have to go through." Kingsley warned him. Doctor Octavius was too meek to stand up for himself, so they let the procedure finish until the liquid hardened into a thick titanium-resin armor.

"What's with the jungle look?" Hammerhead wondered.

"Well, considering you task was Spider-man I deduced that using a similar creature from the animal kingdom would suffice. That armor is apart of him now. A thick, impenetrable hide. The extras up top provide offensive capabilities, making him unstoppable." Octavius explained in delightful glee. He may not like what he was doing but he took pride in his work.

"Doctor Octavius has his quirks, but his approach has its merits. Your employer will be pleased." Kingsley assured him.

"What's going on?" O'Hirn asked.

"Nothing, O'Hirn. Mind your own business." Hammerhead told him.

"Right. My business. Better get to it then." O'Hirn moved his limbs, breaking through his mold prison with ease before stomping out of the lab and back up to the garage front where he busted through the shutter door to reveal himself in the moonlight. A thick grey armor that made him bigger, taller, and with a large sharp horn on his head, he was ready for business. "Because the Rhino don't want to keep Spider-man waiting!"

Line Break xxxxx

The next morning, Spider-man was swinging through the city for his morning patrol. It was a Sunday, so he wanted to keep busy and but so far, nothing.

"Help! Police!" He swung down and stuck to the side of a building. "They've stolen a shipment of cars!"

At an exotic car dealership, a large truck carrying expensive and high-end sports cars was being driven away by two idiots. "All right, man! We did it!"

They heard a thump on the side of the truck and saw Spider-man's head pop down by the window. "Peak-a-boo!"

"Spider-man!"

"Don't freak! I'll shake him!" The driver began swerving the large truck of cars while Spider-man hung on with no problem.

"Really? This is how we're playing it?" Spider-man asked.

"Oh, I am so out of here." The thug in the passenger seat pulled a lever which activated the ramp in the ramp in the back of the truck. He then opened up the passenger side door and carefully shimmied his way over to a car. Before the driver could do the same, he was webbed to the seat and his hands were webbed to the steering wheel.

"Since you're stuck there, you might as well slow his baby down." Spider-man told him, and the driver slammed on the brake, but it wasn't working.

"It won't stop! I swear!"

Spider-man looked around and saw the brake line was cut. "Oh, the rabbit cut the brakes."

"We're gonna crash!" The driver panicked.

With some quick thinking, Spider-man yanked out the car keys and put the truck into neutral before jumped onto the front of the truck where he fired six web lines from each hand at passing buildings. Then he held on for dear life as he forced the truck to slow down, using himself as an anchor which wasn't easy. The wheels began to smoke, and the groaning sound of bending metal didn't help as they barreled down the street. Other cars swerved out of the way to avoid getting hit when he saw they were coming up to the end of a street and an old blind man was crossing and in the way so he yanked as hard as he could, slowing down the truck even more and it stopped just shy of hitting the blind man who stopped for a moment and continued on his way.

"Whew…." He took a deep breath before webbing the driver completely and swinging after the thief who drove away in one of the Ferraris. Despite him driving as fast as he could, he wasn't able to get far away as Spider-man found him and landed on the roof of the car.

"I'll shake him! I'll shake him!" The guy began swerving the car like crazy but yet again, these thugs were idiots.

"Wasn't this where I came in?" He joked only to hear a truck horn and saw the Ferrari was heading straight for a truck. "Or maybe this is where I go out."

The thug swerved the Ferrari too much to the point where he began to spin out of control, but it swerved right underneath the gap of the cargo truck while Spider-man super jumped over and landed back on top of the car that finally drifted to a stop. He yanked the thug out of the car, punched him in the face and then webbed him upside down from a light pole.

"Ok, that's a wrap. Not at easy as it looks and will mostly likely cause traffic but everyone's safe, so I'll take the win." He swung away from the scene just as the police arrived.

He made his way through the city and landed in an alley where he left his backpack to change back into his regular clothing before heading over to a nearby diner where Aria, Spencer, and Emily were waiting at a table near the front windows. "Hey, girls. Sorry I'm late." He walked over and kissed Aria on the cheek.

"What happened?" Emily asked.

"Hit a bit of traffic." He joked as he looked at the menu to order breakfast. Maya had headed back home so it was just the four of them and they decided they wanted to take a break from the dining hall breakfast. They sat at a table by the window and chatted while eating pancakes and waffles. Will, with his enhanced metabolism and the calories he burnt while as Spider-man ordered a three-egg omelet, hash browns, a side of pancakes and some fresh fruit which he was able to eat with ease. It shocked their waitress who came by to take their dishes.

"Wow. That's some appetite you have there." She commented.

"I had a big workout this morning." He joked as she took his plates and refilled his coffee. "Thank you."

He sipped his coffee as relaxed in his chair. "You ok, Will?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just enjoying the peace and quiet." He told her as the two shared a quick kiss.

"So, what's going on with your work with Dr. Connors? Are you guys going to be working for Palmer Technologies?" Aria wondered.

"We're not sure yet. The contract they gave us essentially has them taking most of the credit and money. Dr. Connors and I just want to make sure we don't sell our souls to the devil before we sign." He answered.

"Well, you did the smart thing by not signing it. And Laurel said she's almost done looking over the contract." Spencer told him when they heard the diner doorbell ding. "Huh, speak of the devil."

They turned their heads and saw Laurel walk in, dressed in casual clothes since it was a Sunday. "Hey, Spencer." Laurel walked over to them. "I'm assuming you're having breakfast after a job well done."

"Beg your pardon?" Will was confused.

"Well, I imagine you had something to do with the insane amount of traffic and stalled cargo truck I had to drive past." Laurel explained.

"Ah. Yeah, this morning wasn't that peaceful. But on the bright side, should be some pretty slam dunk cases for Monday." Will joked. "Thanks again for looking over the Palmer Technologies contracts for Dr. Connors."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I owe you for what you did for Ted." Laurel replied.

"That was on the house. Ted's my trainer and I was always ready to help a friend." He assured her.

"Then I still owe you for the times you've saved me." Laurel added.

"I'll take that." He joked. "How's it looking?"

"Well, the contract is pretty sophisticated and deadlocked once you sign it so it's a good think you didn't. Honestly, you're better going to the next meeting with some legal representation which I'm more than happy to offer." Laurel told him.

"Thanks, Laurel. Glad to know the ADA is a friend of Spider-man. I think I've won over everyone except for Oliver." He told her. "He's still being as welcoming as a prickly cactus."

"You'll hear no argument from me on that one. Oliver can be an ass sometimes." Laurel stated from personal experience.

"And I know it's probably too late but I'm sorry how things turned out with your father. If I had known what was going on, I would have done things differently. I just felt he deserved to know what was going on." Will explained and Laurel nodded.

"Thank you." Laurel replied. "And you were ultimately right all along. I was thinking that I was protecting him when I should have told him the truth in the first place."

"Just give him some time. He's getting better now that we've got something to focus on." Will told her.

"Really? Anything I should know about considering that I'll probably be called in to help at some point?" She asked.

"Laurel?" They heard and saw Thea had walked into the diner as well.

"Thea. Hey, what are you doing here?" Thea walked over and hugged her, and she hugged back. "I don't think we've really hung out since you've been back."

"Sorry. Things have been a little crazy with getting Verdant reopened and everything. I've been super busy." Thea answered when she saw Will at the table. "Hey, there again. Didn't expect to run into you again, Will."

"Hello, Thea." Will greeted her with a small smile before sipping his coffee.

"So, was your friend ok?" Thea wondered as the girls looked at him. "You raced out of Verdant pretty quickly so is everything ok?"

"Yeah, of course. Just too much to drink. Right Emily?" Will asked.

"Huh?" Emily was confused when he lightly kicked her shin. "Ow…right. Right. Yeah, just too much to drink."

"She had to race out to puke. Emily just partied a little too hard too quickly." Will said as Emily kicked him back but he hid his reaction.

"Good to know." Thea commented. "So, I've been thinking it over and even though you've told me your name and that we went to the same high school I still don't remember you."

"Wow." Aria muttered and Emily and Spencer agreed with her.

"I've changed a lot since high school." Will answered.

"Not that you'd remember him anyway." Spencer muttered under her breath as she sipped her coffee, but Thea and Laurel heard her.

"Excuse me?" Thea was a little insulted.

"It's fine, Spencer." Will assured her before looking at Thea. "I'm Will Detmer. We shared the same science and math class all four years and I was the designated science nerd to who helped you and your friends pass science every year."

"I remember a short guy who wore glasses and was shoved into his locker almost every day…" Thea stopped herself when she realized what she was saying. Will took out his phone and showed her an old photo of himself back when he was at Starling Academy. The short, thin, glasses wearing nerd who got picked on relentlessly.

"I've changed a lot since high school." Will told her.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry about that and I'm sorry about everything. I was an idiot back then. You didn't deserve any of that." Thea said, feeling horrible about everything Will went through.

"It's fine, Thea. It happened and I've grown out of it." Will assured her.

"Will, come on." Aria tried to get him to say something.

"Aria, it's fine. I'm fine." He assured her.

"Well, I still think she owes you another apology for the homecoming thing your sophomore year." Emily added.

"Girls, I'm fine. It happened. No need to dredge up the past." Will promised.

"What happened at homecoming?" Thea asked causing Aria to scoff.

"Wow, you still don't remember." Aria stood up.

"Aria, it's fine." Will tried to stop her but Aria wanted to say something.

"No, I think she needs to remember what she did to you. In fact, there was something I promised when you told us what happened." Aria raised her right hand and was about to slap Thea when Will grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Aria, it's fine." Will told her for the thousandth time and she relented.

"What is going on?" Thea asked, completely confused.

"You weren't the nicest person to Will in high school. Just like all the other rich and spoiled kids there you used him just like everyone else did. Despite Will being the nicest and smartest person on the planet, you took advantage of him just to make sure you passed and could coast through high school while he did all the work and those muscle-headed idiots tormented him." Emily explained.

"You asked him to the sophomore year homecoming dance after he helped you pass your biology test that kept you from flunking out and then you ditched him five seconds later." Spencer added.

"But things work out in the end. Will's the smartest guy we know working on a huge science project to help the world on full scholarship at SCU when he was given full rides at ivy league schools but decided to stay closer to home. The other idiots he helped in high school probably flunked out of their colleges and you didn't even get a chance." Aria finished.

"Karmic payback." Spencer said as the girls grabbed their bags and left the diner. Thea was a little shellshocked after the verbal beatdown she got, and she felt horrible.

Will stood up and grabbed his backpack before facing Thea. "I'm sorry for them. They're very protective. Listen, Thea I don't care about what happened back in high school. It was a long time ago, we're both different people and we've both been through a lot. And don't feel like you owe me anything or whatever, because you don't. Believe me, I'm fine." Will assured her. "Take care. Laurel."

He bid them goodbye before paying for the meal and leaving the diner. "Thea, you ok?" Laurel asked, seeing she was grappling with a lot.

Thea wiped a stray tear from her eye and cleared her throat. "I'm fine. And I also feel horrible."

"Don't let that get you down. You heard Will, he forgives you." She said.

"Doesn't mean I forgive myself." Thea told her.

Will left the diner and saw the girls waiting outside. "Well, that breakfast went from zero to a hundred very fast."

"Well, it needed to be said." Emily told him.

"Will, why didn't you tear her a new one. If anyone has a reason to be mad at her, it's you." Aria pointed out.

"Because I honestly don't care anymore. It happened in my past and I'm over it. Thea was a stupid girl in high school and those meathead idiots were idiots. If I see any of those idiots again, I might just beat the crap out of them, but Thea's been through enough." Will answered. "Besides, it's not like we'll be hanging out or see each other in the future."

"You're too nice for your own good." Spencer told him.

"I know. It's one of my charms." He replied when he got an alert on his phone. The police bands picked up a bank robbery. "Seriously? Why can't criminals take Sundays off? I'll see you girls later."

He ran down an alleyway, pulling his suit out of his backpack and stripping down to his undershirt and boxers. He quickly suited up as fast as he could before buckling his utility belt and putting on his web shooters and then put his clothes back into his backpack. He slipped on his mask before webbing his backpack to the side of a building and super jumping high into the air before web swinging to the bank robbery.

A group of police cars arrived outside the bank and set up a perimeter armed with pistols, shotguns, and M-16s. One of the senior officers grabbed a megaphone to address the bank robbers. "This is the SCPD. You are surrounded on all sides. Come out of the bank with your hands up!"

"I'm coming!" A voice shouted from inside the bank before an entire section of the bank wall exploded outward. The cops took cover from the debris as large thumping shook the ground and out walked a large man in a grey rhino suit. The cops quickly set their guns on the large rhino.

"Put your hands up and get down on the ground!"

"Like this?!" O'Hirn shouted as he slammed his first onto the ground, creating a shockwave that shook the ground knocked the officers to the ground.

"Take him out!"

The officers opened fire, but their bullets just bounced off, harmlessly falling to the floor. O'Hirn saw the cops trying to take him out and chuckle. "Hee-hee. Tickles." He grabbed the pavement and ripped out a large chunk before throwing it at one of the cars, causing the cops to run away. "Bring me Spider-man!"

At the Arrow cave, Felicity was at the computer doing her thing while Oliver was training with Diggle and Roy when the computer system got an alert. "What's going on?" Oliver asked.

"Bank robbery and multiple officers under attack." Felicity told him as she brought up CCTV footage. "I'm getting street camera footage now."

The footage appeared on the screen and they weren't sure what to make of it but apparently a large bipedal Rhino man was attacking the cops. "Is that what I think it is?" Roy asked.

"I have officially seen everything." Dig commented.

Felicity began running facial recognition on the Rhino's face and got a match. "Alexander O'Hirn. Career criminal with arrests for robbery, assault and whole bunch of other charges but nothing in his past indicates something like this." Felicity told them as they saw Rhino rip a light post out of the ground and smash the cop cars with it.

"I want Spider-man! Come out you web creep!"

"I guess that answers that. Felicity keep me updated and let me know if something changes." Oliver grabbed his bow off its display case.

"Oliver, you can't seriously think of going out there?" Dig asked.

"He may want Spider-man, but he'll hurt a lot of innocent people unless he's stopped." Oliver pointed out as he quickly got changed.

Rhino was having a ball, smashing the cop cars and sending the officers scattering away like frightened rabbits as their guns were basically useless. "Come out, Spider-man! I know you'll come running the second there's danger! What do you think I am, stupid?!"

"Well, you are dressed stupid." He heard before getting a glob of webbing on his face. Rhino worked to get it off as Spider-man got the cops safely away before landing in front of his new enemy. "So, what do you want with the bank?"

"Nothing. I just want you." Rhino ripped the webbing off his face and glared at the hero. "And payback for all the times you took me down."

"O'Hirn?"

"Not anymore. Call me Rhino!" O'Hirn threw the light pole at Spider-man who flipped over it and then dodged a thrown piece of pavement. He fired two webs and slingshot himself at Rhino but hit with a thud and landed on his back. Rhino brought his fists down to squash him, but he rolled away at the last second and webbed his hands together with a huge ball of webbing only for it to get ripped apart. "Your goops useless now, creep."

Rhino swung and smashed but kept missing as Spider-man dodged. 'Seriously? Tombstone goes from professional mercenaries to O'Hirn. Where's the logic in that? Is he going to recruit Flash Thompson and turn him into the belligerent bug zapper?' he thought to himself as flipped over Rhino and web pulled a manhole cover to his hands. He leapt onto Rhino and smashed the suit only to hear to clang of steel. He swung again but O'Hirn caught the manhole cover and swiped at him but missed as Spider-man flipped and swung over his arm before landing a kick to the face.

All that did was make him angry as he threw the manhole at him like a frisbee which he flipped over and web threw back at him, but it bounced off the armor like it was nothing.

"Ok, if I can't stop this bruiser then maybe my trusty web gadgets will." Spider-man motioned Rhino to come at him which he did in a feral charge. He charged forward with loud thumping stomps as he was tried to trample or gore Spider-man on his horn, but the web head jumped over him and threw down three bombs onto the back of his armor which he quickly blasted with his venom shock. He then web zipped onto the back of the Rhino and slammed his fist into exposed part only to nearly break his hand. "Ow! Dammit!"

He looked and saw Rhino's armor didn't break even an inch. Whatever it was made of, must have been some kind of specialized compound. "Get off you web creep!" Rhino began bucking wildly as he held on for dear life before grabbing onto the horn and flipping off, kicking O'Hirn in the face again. He landed on the ground and fired a barrage of web bullets that bounced off his armor before firing several globs of impact webbing until his shooters ran dry and Rhino was covered from head to toe. He quickly reloaded only for Rhino to rip free.

"I've got to get him out of here until I figure out a way to stop him." He said to himself before charging forward and jumping in the air to avoid Rhino's punch. He swung off his horn and web swung away. "Hey, needle nose! Party's over here!"

He began leading him away from the more populated areas and leading him someplace with a lot less people. Rhino chased after him, smashing through parked cars, trees, and any obstacles in his way. "HA-HA! You like being chased you freak?!"

"You're one to talk. Have you looked in a mirror lately?" He quipped.

"Oh, I may be a freak but I'm not a coward! Even the old O'Hirn never ran away scared!" Rhino shouted as he stopped at a fire hydrant and yanked it off before digging his face into the water.

"Yeah, scared that you'll break through the ground before you even touch me! Keep up, Hippo!" He shouted as he kept leading him away. He turned down a street and quickly web shot into the air to avoid an oncoming truck. Rhino turned the street and let the truck crash into him. The front was destroyed but the driver wasn't injured as he quickly got out and ran away while Rhino smashed it in anger.

"Stupid truck! Made me lose Spider-man!" He shouted as he smashed the front of the truck into pieces before ripping out the engine.

"Uh, O'Hirn over here!" Spider-man waved from atop of traffic light.

O'Hirn glared at him before throwing the engine at him which he easily dodged but saw it smash into the side of a building and drop debris down onto a mother and daughter on the sidewalk so he quickly swung down and grabbed them before they got hit.

"Thank you, Spider-man." The mother said.

"Thank me by running. Go!" He told them as the mother and daughter ran away.

He heard more thumping as Rhino charged and smashed through the side of the building, causing part of it to crumble, including the part he was attached to. Before he could swing away, Rhino grabbed his foot and smashed him onto the ground twice before throwing him a couple blocks away where he crashed into a sporting good store, smashing through a baseball bat display and crashing into a treadmill.

"Ow…that's gonna leave a mark." He slumped up a bit before falling down on his stomach to rest a bit. Lucky for him the store was empty. Some more thumping closed in as Rhino busted through the front door.

"Sucks when the beatings on the other end, huh web creep?" Rhino mocked as he walked over to him.

Spider-man fired a web at a bowling ball display and yanked it over, so it fell. "This always works in the cartoons." The bowling balls rolled onto the ground, but Rhino just stepped on them and crushed them with his feet. "Oh, television cannot be trusted."

Rhino kicked Spider-man in the gut which knocked him against a barbell display and onto the ground. He groaned in pain as he managed to get onto his back and saw O'Hirn's sweaty face glaring down at him. "Remember what I did to those bowling balls?" He raised his foot, ready to stomp on him.

"Wait, wait!" Spider-man begged.

"What?"

Spider-man webbed the shelves of barbells and weights before yanking hard. "Weight!" The shelves of heavy weights fell onto O'Hirn which caught him off guard and knocked him onto the face. Spider-man quickly web zipped out of the store and chilled on a light pole.

"Ow. Damn that hurts." He held his side as he saw O'Hirn bust through everything and glare at the web head when a fast-moving projectile hit him in the chest and exploded. Spider-man turned his head to see the Arrow on his bike with two more explosive arrows set on his bow before releasing so they hit Rhino but again they didn't do anything. "Yeah. Not sure if you've been paying attention but that's not gonna do much."

Rhino grabbed some of the weight plates and hurled them at the heroes, causing Spider-man to flip in the air and the Arrow to dive out of the way but his bike got trashed. He landed on the street and saw O'Hirn break open the vending machine and guzzle down bottles of water.

"How's that for confident? He's already taking his celebratory drink before smashing me…unless that's not what it is. That gives me an idea. Robin Hood, you have any of those flash bang arrows?" He asked and got a nod in response. He looked around and saw a nearby steam tunnel entrance grate. "Good. The second you get an opening, fire as many as you can as close to his face as possible. I've got an idea."

O'Hirn guzzled down his fourth bottle of water when it was yanked away. "All right, breaks over!" He shouted as Rhino barreled out of the store. Spider-man swung through the air and fired down some web bullets before web throwing a mailbox and manhole cover at him which he bashed away. He landed on the ground next to the alleyway and shrugged. "Come on, O'Hirn. You've got to do better than that."

"That's it!" Rhino charged at him at full speed, but Spider-man flipped over so he ran face first into a dumpster. "Egh…what stinks!"

He ripped his head out of the dumpster and turned around only to get hit by six flashbang arrows that concussed and temporarily blinded him. O'Hirn swatted his hands and rubbed his eyes to see Spider-man standing in the middle of the street. "Over here, Moose! Let's play follow the leader!"

Spider-man jumped down into a steam tunnel with Rhino was right behind him. "Think you can hide from me down there?! Think again." Rhino jumped down and was immediately hit by the intense heat and humidity.

"Whoo…hot enough for you?" Spider-man asked, standing on the ceiling. "Come on, you big lug. Let's go for a run!"

He ran on the roof of the tunnel, taking Rhino further from the entrance. Rhino growled in anger before chasing after him. He managed to knock him down from the roof but when he went to gore him on his horn, Spider-man flipped out of the way and he ran face first into a steam pipe which blasted him right in the face.

"ARGH!" O'Hirn ripped his face out of the pipe as the entire tunnel began to fill with hot steam, making it even more hot and his face to literally pour sweat.

"Can't help but notice that you've stopped spouting off. What's the matter? Mouth a little dry?" Spider-man asked as O'Hirn took a few deep breaths before charging forward to punch him only to hit another steam pipe. He swung again and busted open another pipe and then again, so the entire tunnel was filled with steam which began to make O'Hirn slower and sluggish. "You see, my mistake was trying to break open that hide of yours."

"Ha…nothing…can do that. Big Man's…guys…told me…[huff-huff] …I'm…impenetrable…" O'Hirn managed to say but was breathing very heavy at this point.

"Too true and if nothing can penetrate then you can't perspire. Your face is sweating for your whole body. It's probably enough in most circumstances but not in a steam tunnel."

"I've…I've…got to…get…out of…here." O'Hirn stumbled over to the exit only for Spider-man to knock him away.

"Yeah, good luck with that." He said before swinging down and nailing O'Hirn with a drop kick to the face that sent him on his back. That combined with the steam was enough to make him too tired to fight. He stood on top of O'Hirn and sprouted his arms out in glee. "Come one, come all! Before your very eyes! The world's largest dehydrated turtle!"

"I swear…I'm gonna…gonna crush you. Promised…big man…hammerhead…crush you…crush you…" O'Hirn mumbled.

"Are we losing it a bit, Alexander?" Spider-man joked.

"Only mama calls me Alexander. You're not my momma…not my momma…momma…"

"Yes, I think we are."

"Momma…do I have to go to school?" O'Hirn mumbled in his delirium.

"So, Alexander. Tell momma…who gave you the suit?" Spider-man joked.

"New doc…made the suit…works for…Kingsley. Kingsley here…here…here…"

"Good to know." He said to himself before climbing out of the steam tunnel where Captain Lance and a lot of SCPD officers were waiting. "Whew. You're gonna want a truck. A big…big truck."

Spider-man helped them get O'Hirn out of the steam tunnel and tied him up with double the webbing and a few steal beam girders just to be safe before he went down into the tunnels to patch up the damage. While it did take down Rhino, he felt guilty for the damage so he fixed everything as best he could until the city could get professionals to look after it. Once Lance informed the mayor about who caused the damage, she contacted Palmer Technologies and they were going to work out a special containment cell for Rhino at Iron Heights so he wouldn't bust out and since they couldn't take off the suit.

He watched from a nearby rooftop as the police finished up with the scene and Rhino was still unconscious and tied up in the back of a large truck. "Your help wasn't really needed today but nevertheless, thanks." He turned his head and saw Oliver walk over.

"You sure because it seems like you needed some help." Oliver told him.

"Nah, I had it under control. O'Hirn is big and strong now but he's still as dumb as before. Probably dumber." Will pointed out. "Told you I'm know what I'm doing."

"That remains to be seen. Where did he get that suit?" Oliver asked.

"From someone I've been working to take down the past couple of months that you probably had no idea was even around." Will said, catching Oliver's interest. "L. Thompson Lincoln aka Tombstone aka the Big Man of Crime."

"The Big Man of Crime?" Oliver questioned.

"Apparently, he's the secret mob boss that controls most if not all the crime in the city. I've been taking a serious bite out of his criminal empire so he's been sending his super mercenaries after me to take me down. He already sent Shocker, Vulture, and the Black Widow Machine after me but it looks like he's got someone new working for him." Will explained.

"That's not possible. If there was a Big Man of Crime, I would know about it." Oliver told him.

"Just because you've been doing this longer than I have doesn't mean you know everything about this city or whose been here before either of us showed up. You didn't know about Ted Grant and trust me when I tell you that Tombstone isn't one to trifle with." Will cautioned him. "I've already pissed him too much at this point to stop."

End of Chapter 6

1). His new suit is Ben Reilly's Spider-man suit. The dark blue and red one.

Hoped you guys like the chapter. It finished up most of the first half of Season 3 of Arrow except for the crossover and mid-season finale but there's still some time before that happens. So, in the meantime there's still some problems for Spider-man to deal with.

Next chapter, Will explains to Oliver and his team about a threat that's been under their nose this entire time and ends up dealing with Flint Marko again but something's happened to him. Enjoy!

Oliver and Will's relationship has reached equal footing at this point. Oliver's not happy with him still but that's just Oliver's personality and thinking that Will is in over his head and shouldn't be out there. Plus, it's just Oliver's stubbornness and attitude. He's won over everyone else so his actions next chapter will either finally win him over or it might not. Who knows? And Will has finally met Thea. A small meeting but they'll be meeting each other more considering their paths will continue to converge. Until next time! Everyone stay safe.

William Alexander Detmer-Age 20/Sophomore at SCU: Birthday, October 8th, 1994

Moniker: The Spectacular Spider-man

Appearance: Tyler Posey

Uniform: Ben Reilly's dark blue and red spider-man suit with the black spider logo and web pattern. Mask with chrome lenses and built-in Bluetooth earpiece.

Casual outfit: sneakers, blue jeans, black or red t-shirt with blue button-up or sweatshirt.

Weapons: Mark 1 Web Shooters, Web Grenades/Bombs, Spider tracers, acid embrittlement bombs, mini-camera/recording device, spider-thumb drives,

Skills: Genius intellect with 250 IQ, Superhuman strength, Superhuman speed, Superhuman reflexes, Superhuman agility and balance, Super senses, accelerated healing factor, wall-crawling/adhesive stick, Spider-Sense, Night Vision, and telescopic vision, Bio-Electrokinesis/Venom strike-blast

May Detmer: Marisa Tomei

Aria Montgomery: Lucy Hale

Emily Fields: Shay Mitchell

Spencer Hastings: Troian Bellisario

Dr. Curt Connors: Dylan Baker

Yuri Watanabe: Kelly Hu

Disclaimer: I don't own Spider-man, Arrow or any above-mentioned products. All rights belong to their respective owners, I'm just a big fan.