The Amazing Spider Mare: Sinister Secrets

by SuperPinkBrony12

Shocking Developments

Copper Top's drawing turned out to be just the kind of lead the two superheroes needed. Sure enough, a warehouse greeted their eyes as they reached the outskirts of Ponyville. And it seemed to be deserted, at least on the outside.

"Typical. It's always a warehouse or some other shady building in the middle of nowhere," Spider Mare commented to Black Cat. "No one ever thinks to make their hideouts more subtle. You might as well put up a huge neon sign that says 'Bad guys hide here!' or 'Come and arrest us, we're up to no good!'"

Black Cat simply shook his head. "No one ever said these criminal types were smart. Oh well, guess we'll have to teach them a lesson, again," He proceeded to suggest. "You know, we could try to spice it up a little. Use the front door for a change. They'd never expect it."

Spider Mare laughed and shook her head. "Not our style. Besides, if I know these criminals like I think they do, they're probably hoping we'll come in through the front door or a window so they can ambush us."

Black Cat sighed a little. "Guess it's the rooftop vent again."

Spider Mare nodded. "Exactly. Now come on, they won't be hiding in there for much longer. And who knows, maybe we'll get some information out of them." Then she shot out some of her webbing and climbed to the warehouse roof. Black Cat followed.

It took them a while to find a vent that led inside the warehouse. The one they found dropped them on a second floor balcony near the back, overlooking the interior. What they saw on the inside made the two crime fighters almost gasp in surprise and amazement.

Various masked stallions (and even some mares) were rushing about, shouting orders back and forth to each other. All sorts of crates and containers lined the back of the warehouse near the loading dock. The rear door looked ready to slide open at any moment, no doubt to allow the escape vehicle to enter. And most noticeable of all, a series of conveyor belts hummed as they brought forth more of the colored crates and containers. When one reached the end of either belt, a noticeably buff stallion (most likely an earth pony since he didn't appear to have wings or a horn) picked them up and carried them to wherever they were needed. He did so with the greatest of ease and would come back for more every other minute or so, as if he'd committed the timing of the belts to memory.

"This warehouse looked a lot smaller from the outside," Black Cat quipped to Spider Mare. "It's like an entire factory in here."

Spider Mare nodded again. "They've definitely been here a while. And from the looks of things they're getting ready to move out."

"What do you suppose is in those containers and crates?" Black Cat wondered.

"Hay if I know, but it can't be anything good. We've got to stop them!" Spider Mare firmly declared.

A grin formed on Black Cat's face. "Great! Then it's time to give Twilight's new tools a field test! Those creeps won't know what hit 'em!"

But Spider Mare threw up a hoof, blocking her partner. "Hold it, Cat! There's way more of those thugs than there are of us! And in a warehouse like this we're not gonna have much room to move around. We'll need to thin the ranks a bit if you know what I mean."

Now it was Black Cat's turn to nod. "Indeed I do," He knelt down to adjust a setting on his staff. "I think it's time some of these guys learned to cool off."

---

Spidey and Black Cat then broke off, taking separate parts of the balcony and the ceiling to survey the still unsuspecting masked ponies below.

Eventually, Spider Mare made the first move. Lowering herself to the ground, she quickly wrapped her hooves around one of the goons so as to keep him from screaming for help. "Silence is golden, buddy." She whispered, quickly webbing him up and shooting a web mask over his face to keep him from doing anything other than mumbling.

Not to be outdone, Black Cat made quick work of three thugs. Shooting a small ball of webbing at their hooves, it quickly expanded and burst open! The unsuspecting ponies had no time to react before they were frozen solid, silenced before they could say a word.

Spider Mare took down two more patrolling thugs, planting a ball of impact webbing on the back of one guard as he turned towards another. The ball burst and ensnared the two, causing them to bump heads and be knocked out.

Black Cat swung out from a ledge, kicking a goon from behind and then tying him up with webbing. Unfortunately, he was spotted while doing so and an alarm sounded.

Spidey sighed. "So much for stealth. Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." She jumped down from her perch to join Black Cat.

"Ready to do this, partner?" Black Cat asked.

"You know it!" Spider Mare nodded in proud declaration! "Just watch out for these guys, it looks like some of them came prepared with weapons."

Black Cat grinned. "No problem, I'll take care of them," He proceeded to chuck a ball of webbing at one of the goons, causing his weapon to jam. That gave Black Cat an opening to swing forward and attack. "Didn't your mother ever tell you to leave your toys at home? Oh, let me guess, she told you you'd shoot your eye out."

As for Spider Mare, she managed to yank a baton with an electrical current flowing through it and then flipped over the back of the guard as he charged up to her to try and retrieve his weapon. A few swift punches felled him easily. "Too slow!" Spider Mare taunted.

The rest of the goons proved to be almost as easy. Despite having the superior numbers they were no match for Spider Mare and Black Cat's skills (plus, seeing so many of their comrades be defeated or removed from the fight so easily unnerved them and made them careless). One by one they fell like dominoes. And with a single well placed toss from Spider Mare, the electrical baton hit the alarm's switch box and shorted out its circuits. Without power the alarm shut down.

---

Spidey quickly set to work on extracting information. She grabbed one of the unconscious thugs by the leg, shot a stream of webbing towards the second floor balcony's guard rail, and strung him up so that he hung upside down. She then hoisted herself up to the balcony, and lightly slapped the stallion. "Hey, wake up!"

The goon opened his eyes. But he took one look at his surroundings and freaked out, flailing about helplessly! "No! Put me down! I'm afraid of heights!"

"I'll let you down soon enough," Spider Mare threatened in a noticeably serious tone. "But I want answers, and you're going to give 'em to me. Who are you working for and what's in those craters and containers?"

The guard shook his head. "Nu-uh! I'm not telling you anything! The boss made it clear, if I talk I'm a dead stallion!" He began to plead. "Please, just let me go! I didn't even wanna do this! I had no other options, a stallion's gotta eat and food ain't cheap! I was gonna quit as soon as I got paid! It wasn't my place to ask questions!"

"But you had to know something! Someone must've mentioned off hoofedly what you're doing!" Spider Mare demanded. "Now tell me! Who's your boss, and what does he or she want?"

The thug gulped. "I... I swear I don't know what he looks like! Never even met him face to face! All I know is, I was gonna get paid a fortune to ship these crates and containers to Manehattan. The boss was gonna take it from there, don't know what he meant by that. It's what his enforcer told me, and he told me if that I valued my life I wouldn't ask anymore stupid questions."

Sensing that her current line of interrogating wasn't producing any meaningful results, Spidey decided to switch up tactics a little. Her voice started to take on what sounded not unlike a taunt as she casually commented. "Alright, I guess I can't force a confession out of you. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever hung a pony upside down before. I sure hope that webbing holds, I'd hate for it to break."

As if on cue the webbing started to stretch a bit and a sickening tear sound echoed in the stallion's ears. It was enough to unnerve him completely! "No! I don't wanna fall! A-alright... alright! I'll talk!" Panting heavily he blurted out. "Boss calls himself Mr. Negative! His base is in Ponyville, but he's been thinking of expanding! And he hired some guy called The Shocker to make sure no one messes with him! That's all I can tell you, I promise!"

"Smart move," Spider Mare commented to the goon. "Don't worry, I'm sure the police won't be too hard on you when you tell them your story," She lowered the thug to the ground. "Now to find out who this 'Shocker' pony is."

---

Suddenly, Spider Mare felt a tingle in her head! She swung away from the balcony, just seconds before a huge electrical blast would've struck her! "Whoa!" She exclaimed. "Thank you 'Spider Sense'!"

Meanwhile, Black Cat found himself face to face with a most unusually dressed stallion. He had a yellow face mask with matching sleeves for the arms and legs, with two metal gloves, and a red jacket. His face mask had goggles and what looked like wire nets. "Well well! If it ain't the menace herself and her little cat too!" The stallion remarked in a low, almost gravelly sounding voice.

Black Cat eyed the stallion. "You must be The Shocker!"

The stallion nodded, before he turned a knob on his belt and another surge of electricity hit Black Cat in the upper chest, knocking him back! "Well, ain't you a bright little cat!" Then he taunted. "How did you like that? Very painful, or just sort of painful? You tell me!"

Black Cat stumbled to his hooves. "I'm being harassed by a walking electricity plant," He groaned. "Sorry to break it to you, pal, but the whole fish net thing isn't exactly scary."

Spider Mare jumped down, delivering a kick to The Shocker. "Black Cat's right. You don't frighten me," Then she turned to Black Cat. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Black Cat groaned a bit. "It definitely stung, but I think he's just getting warmed up. You gotta be careful."

The Shocker laughed. "Your little cat friend's right, rancid wall crawler! I'm only getting warmed up!" Turning the knob on his belt he added. "I'm turning up the juice for this one! It'll do a whole lot more than tickle, I can tell you that much!"

Spider Mare jumped back. "Try it! I'll dodge your blasts every time, Shocker!"

Shocker just laughed again. "You can try. Besides, who says I need to aim for you? I've got my sights set on a bigger fish to fry!" He aimed his gloves at Black Cat. "What's it gonna be, wall crawler?! Will you risk your partner's safety to ensure you're not harmed? Or will you recklessly throw yourself into the line of fire to save him from the shock of his life?"

Black Cat leaped to his hooves and quickly shot a ball of webbing! "I'm not completely helpless, Shocker! Don't assume I'm the easier target!"

Shocker quickly shot his electricity at the webbing ball, causing it to explode and generate a smoke like substance. "Clever move, kitty! But you can't hide from me forever! I promised the boss I'd take care of you do gooders, and I ain't about to disappoint."

"There's a first time for everything, pineapple head!" Spider Mare shouted as she snatched up Black Cat and swooped up to the balcony.

Shocker growled. "Don't call me a pineapple head! You'd better think twice before you mock me, web head!"

"Oh, but mocking is what I must do!" Spidey shouted, before turning her attention to Black Cat. "I think I know how to beat this clown, but I'll need you to distract him. You up for it?"

Black Cat nodded. "One distraction coming right up. He won't get the best of me a second time."

"Just be careful, he's not fooling around. The suit protected you once, but it won't protect you a second time," Spider Mare cautioned as she pressed a button on her shoulder, dawning the familiar white with black lining that was her spidey armor. "Keep your distance, and don't let him read you. At the least if he catches on to me, my spidey armor can absorb the worst of the blast. We really should look into getting something like it for you."

"Nah, not really my style," Black Cat declared as he leaped from the balcony and with his staff he swung up toward the ceiling. Then he called down to Shocker. "Oh you-hoo! Mr. Zappity Zap!"

Shocker aimed his gloves and fired at Black Cat's location, only for Black Cat to swing out of the line of fire. "Hold still, Black Cat!"

"Sorry, never was good at that!" Black Cat taunted as he stuck out his tongue. "Only way to stop me is to catch me! Sure hope you've got some spare batteries."

"Joke all you like! When I catch you, you'll fry!" Shocker bellowed at the top of his lungs. "I ain't met a prey yet that I couldn't catch!"

---

As Black Cat was busy swinging back and forth, keeping Shocker busy, Spider Mare was preparing a surprise to take down Shocker.

Shocker suspected nothing as Black Cat leaped and swung all around the warehouse, continuing to taunt him.

Spider Mare had to resist the urge to giggle. "He has no idea what he's in for. Just hope my spider strength comes through for me." She thought, waiting until The Shocker was (unknown to him) directly beneath the crate she was now perched atop. A few kicks knocked it loose, and then Spider Mare swung out from it as she used her webbing to bring the crate crashing down!

The sound drew Shocker's attention! As expected he quickly threw up his gloved hooves and with his electricity he was able to destroy the crate before it could ever hit him. "Nice try, but you can't get rid of me that easily!"

"Wasn't trying to," Spider Mare grinned as she swung round towards Shocker. "You fell for it." She kicked him hard! Unfortunately, the kick was a little too hard. Shocker was launched right into some of the containers. He smacked into them, stumbled back, and fell to the ground.

Black Cat quickly inspected him. "He's still breathing, but it looks like he won't be waking up from his little nap anytime soon."

Spider Mare sighed as she deactivated the spidey armor. "Guess I don't know my own strength sometimes. He was probably our best lead as to who or what this 'Mr. Negative' is and what he, she, or it is after."

Black Cat shook his head. "We won't get any answers out of him now," Then in the distance he heard the sound of sirens and approaching carriages. "And unfortunately, it looks like the police are coming fast. We'd better scram before they get the wrong idea."

"Yeah. Copper Top may be on our side, but there's no telling how much influence that'll get us with the rest of the Ponyville P.D.," Spider Mare commented. "Guess we'll have to call it a night. Still, with any luck Copper Top will be able to extract more information from the guys around here, and will have a new lead for us within the week." Then she and Black Cat swung back up to the second floor balcony, ready to leave through the same vent through which they had entered.

Author's Note:

This isn't the last you'll see of Shocker. In fact, Shocker is one of the oldest and most reoccurring villains in Spider Man's rouge gallery (I believe he's usually a member of the Sinister Six, but like with some villains he has multiple characters that don the persona).

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, this is a great job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up. Loved the fight in the warehouse, as well as the interrogation scene AND the fight with Shocker.

And, I'm off to the next chapter.