Returning to the afternoon of the big battle between Shocker and Spider-Man, Police Captain George Stacy stood at the door of an old apartment building in Harlem, taking a deep breath. The mottled walls were covered in cracks, like scars carved into the city's working class. When he raised his hand to knock, his knuckles made a muffled thud against the peeling paint.
The door was opened by an older Black woman with graying hair—Herman Schultz's mother. Her eyes were like stagnant water, as if she had long ago surrendered to fate.
"Mrs. Schultz, I believe you already know what your son has done."
George's voice was soft, yet it cut through the silence like a knife. The air inside smelled of cheap coffee and old furniture. He hadn't brought this mother to the police station; instead, he chose to visit her in person. His police colleagues waited downstairs, ready to deal with Shocker if he appeared—but Herman clearly had no intention of coming home.
"If you're asking about my son's whereabouts, officer, I know nothing," the old woman numbly rubbed the edge of her apron, her voice raspy like sandpaper. "I never cared where they went or what they did, nor did I care if they died in the streets."
"My father died in a gang shootout, my brother was shot, my eldest son was killed by police, and my second son bled to death after being stabbed in an alley."
"...I'm very sorry, ma'am."
"I'm not blaming you, officer. This is the ordinary life of people who live here." Mrs. Herman looked up, her eyes murky. "However, Herman is different. He always thought he didn't belong here, that he wasn't one of us. We have no common language, officer. So, do you think Herman would tell me anything?"
George's pen hovered over his notepad. Outside the window, an ambulance siren wailed, fading from near to far, then disappearing.
"I can't give you anything, officer," she turned and walked towards the stove, her hunched back like a withered tree bent by wind and snow. "Because Herman... has already gotten everything he wanted."
George hesitated, as if wanting to say more. He saw a stack of money pressed inside a cupboard, silently closed the cupboard door, then nodded and left Herman's home.
The afternoon sun streamed into the empty club room after school. The "Super Detective Agency," claiming over twenty members, still consisted of only Jessica and three new recruits gathered around an old desk. Peter suddenly pushed aside the old 'ABC Murders' DVD he was planning to show and pulled out a USB drive.
"I have a new proposal. How about we try to catch Shocker?"
Jessica almost choked on her soda: "You mean, the four of us high schoolers are going to arrest a super-criminal who can blow up an elevated bridge?"
"We're just doing club activities! It's not like we're actually going to go out and arrest him. What could be more meaningful than deducing the whereabouts of an escaped supervillain? Friends? The Avengers and the police haven't caught him!"
"We don't have many clues. What are we going to deduce with? The Daily Bugle's exaggerated reports?"
Faced with Jessica's question, Peter simply smiled.
"I have a friend, uh, her father is the police captain of Midtown precinct, in charge of this case." Peter fabricated a source for his information, though it wasn't entirely made up. Peter Parker might not be able to get any information about the Shocker case from Captain Stacy, but Spider-Man could.
Jessica, unaware of the details, immediately brightened: "You mean... you can get the latest internal police information?"
"Not every time, but this time, yes."
Peter said, plugging the USB drive into the computer. The projector's blue light then illuminated the screen, displaying photos and relevant information about Herman Schultz.
It was truly ridiculous. Before Peter faced Herman, he didn't know much about this villain. With so many Spider-Man villains, who would care about Shocker? In the '94 Spider-Man animated series, he didn't even have his own episode or origin. In the live-action movies, he was a mere extra with Crossbones' gauntlets. Even in the Marvel's Spider-Man game, where he had the most screentime, he had no origin and wasn't even included in the Sinister Six.
Even Chameleon had a solo episode! Shocker didn't!
If I had read more comics, maybe I would have actually learned about such obscure characters, but I was just a casual fan in my past life. You might as well have sent me to the Three Kingdoms era instead of Marvel...
Peter internally grumbled as he played the prepared PowerPoint presentation: "Shocker, real name Herman Schultz, New Yorker, born in Harlem, Manhattan..."
"Wait, it says here he only has a junior high education."
Looking at the projected resume, Harry naturally asked: "Does that mean his equipment was made by someone else?"
"No, he made his own equipment. His criminal accomplices are very sure of that."
Seeing the completely disbelieving looks from his companions, Peter continued to explain.
"Although Herman only had a junior high education, that was due to family reasons that prevented him from attending school. He himself possesses very strong engineering talent. Before becoming Shocker, he used similar vibration-wave weapons and robbed the bank where he fought Spider-Man, where he was defeated by Spider-Man and then arrested."
Jessica immediately asked the next question: "When was that?"
"At the police station, he used a hairpin to pick the lock, knocked out a police officer, stole his equipment, and left the station directly."
Everyone was stunned after hearing this, completely unsure whether to say the NYPD's capabilities were truly lacking or if this guy was genuinely a talent, having managed to escape directly after being apprehended.
"Then his fight with Spider-Man, in between..."
"There was a week in between."
Even Amadeus was shocked by this.
"You're saying a guy with a junior high education, right after being arrested, managed to modify a suit capable of rivaling Spider-Man's in just one week?"
Amadeus couldn't help but mutter after hearing this: "Is talent in New York a bit cheap or something...?"
"Okay, we've got a point." Jessica keenly grasped something: "Guys, this guy built a battlesuit after escaping, and then went straight to the bank where he was beaten by Spider-Man. Did he not commit any crimes in between, and didn't rob anything from this bank, Peter?"
"Uh, yes."
At this point, Peter thought of something: "Actually, I heard Captain George say that after he was arrested, he was initially very calm, but during the interrogation, two police officers didn't believe him when he said he built the equipment himself and mocked him. After that, he escaped."
"So, we're dealing with an egomaniac, perhaps with an inferiority complex. He's somewhat self-conscious because he didn't receive a good education but wanted one, and he gets angry easily when others don't acknowledge his hard-won inventions."
"That's why he targeted Spider-Man," Harry understood: "He's seeking revenge?"
"Or just trying to prove himself." Jessica said, throwing her hands up: "What's the use? The police have access to all this information."
"But the police haven't found him, and neither have the Avengers. Knowing this isn't useful," Harry added: "We need to find him, or... draw him out."
"What if Spider-Man provoked him?"
Amidst the group's silence, Peter suddenly suggested, and Jessica was the first to react: "What?"
"Shocker was almost losing his fight with Spider-Man; he only escaped by destroying the elevated bridge and making Spider-Man save people. So, he didn't actually defeat Spider-Man; he ran away." Peter rubbed his fingers: "What if Spider-Man provoked him again? Would that work?"
"Perhaps..."
Harry rubbed his head: "But how do we notify Spider-Man?"
"There's a website, a website where people express their gratitude to Spider-Man because no one knows who Spider-Man is." Peter smiled: "We could put our theory on that website. If Spider-Man sees it, he'll know what to do."