It was pure chaos.

The Man-Spider’s seemed to come alive, the frenzied bloodlust disappearing, replaced instead by a cold and calculating hunger. I readied myself, preparing to fight, but instead the creatures shot past me in a rush, screeching as they made for the houses and buildings beyond the lab and its surrounding webs.

I cursed, leaping through the crowd, trying to force them back. But there were too many. I could barely make a dent in the number that was getting away. Shit. What did I do? There had to be a way to-

Suddenly my spider sense blared. I dodged an attack, landing slightly separated from the horde, all of them still desperately rushing past. But now, between them, dripping with Man-Spider blood was the largest of the creatures I’d seen yet. It was different from the others. Bigger, stronger, more well fed. I could feel it.

It roared, the sound echoed by the beasts in the crowd ferocity as the laughing man cackled overhead. I glanced up, as the glass exploded and Peter crashed into him, the two falling out of the sky. Then the beast attacked me.

I dodged its first attack, only narrowly missing the second before it’s third forced me to catch it. The creature shrieked, yanking it’s leg back and me along with it, snapping it’s mandibles greedily as I drew closer to it's mouth.

I let go, kicking it's face as the mandibles narrowly missed me. But it reached out with a hand and grabbed me by the throat, a deep insect-like clicking emanating from it as its mandibles opened again. Then a shadow passed over us, and the monster’s head disappeared with a soft whumf.

Joshua crashed to the hardened web, cracking some of it underfoot as I fell to the ground, monster blood covering me.

Before I had time to register what was happening, a flash of blue exploded outwards to my right. I looked over, watching as Miles descended on the monsters still rushing away. Joshua pulled me up, then leapt into action with a single but great bound, crushing the Man-Spider’s easily as he cruised through the air and landed amongst them.

Miles leapt around too, a constant aura of blue electricity crackling around him. He left swathes of smoking monsters in his wake as he moved.

Together the two made the rush seem like light work.

“Geez” I muttered, pulling myself up.

I stepped forward, to join the fray but my spider-sense buzzed, warning me to keep out of the electricity’s range. Of course. Joshua could only fight because he was unaffected, made of stone.

Suddenly my spider sense buzzed, and I leapt back, narrowly avoiding Miles as he drew close.

“S-sorry!” he shouted, before crying out again as he leapt around, toasting more Man-Spiders.

"Holy shit" I muttered. If I got tied up in that I’d get fried to a crisp. He was a walking electrical hazard.

I frowned. Crap, what did I do now?

Cackling rang out from above me and I glanced up, watching as the laughing man chased after Peter as he rushed up, towards the portal. Right. That should’ve been my first thought. Man, all this fighting was starting to make me lose it.

I started up the side of the building then paused, glancing below.

“You guys alright?!” I called out.

“We’ve got this!” Joshua boomed. “Go help the others!”

With a nod I turned around, charging up the wall face. Above the laughing man and Peter traded blows, Peter desperately trying to pull away. I fired webs, catching the laughing man on the back before pulling him down. He slipped against the glass slightly, but barley budged. Shit. He was strong. He cackled, punching Peter back, then looked down to me.

“Oh no you don’t!” he laughed, ripping the web apart. ”One v ones only!”

Suddenly the sound of scuttling reverberated through the glass beneath. I looked to the Man-spider below. One of the big ones. I fired web at its legs, but this one’s pincers were sharpened. The webs were near useless.

It reached me before I could decide what to do and the game of cat and mouse began again.

Window after window smashed as I dodged and the monster stabbed, a trail of clear murderous intent left in it's wake. It was slower climbing up the building face than I was, but not slow enough for me to take my eyes off of it. It seemed smarter too, taking it’s time, shielding it’s eyes from my webs with it's human arms, and carefully tearing apart any webs I fired with its so very sharp legs and mandibles.

I cursed, the sound of laughter and smashing glass above me getting closer. Peter wasn't getting any closer to the roof. I needed to do something Suddenly the window beneath me shattered and I fell down, towards the monster. My body moved almost on pure instinct. Weaving, as I contorted myself, through the mess of pincers and legs. Then it caught my foot with a hand, slamming me into the glass window beneath.

I didn't wait for it to attack again. Instead I smashed my elbows through the glass behind me, leaping off the monster and back, into the building as I fell. It chased after me of course, relentless, stabbing and snapping with its legs and mandibles. But I continued backwards, dodging, ducking, and weaving seamlessly, as its pincer sharp legs stabbed at air.

But it grew more and more cramped for the creature as it followed after me, unable to reach out without losing its balance. It shrieked with frustration, scuttling back and I pounced.

The monster realised too late what was happening and attacked me with as many legs as possibly, balanced be damned. One sliced across my arm, then I was under it, webbing its legs together before sticking it to the ground.

I pulled away quickly, stumbling and falling to the floor as I struggled to breathe. My body shook violently, my hands worst of all. I raised them, then looked to the burning cut across my arm. It didn’t look good.

“I hope these things don’t have poison or something” I muttered, feeling at my back. My hand came away with a thin layer with blood and I cursed. At least I couldn’t feel it all that much. Meant it was probably only skin deep. If it wasn’t… well, that probably wasn’t a good thing.

I stood, then leapt out of the building, rushing back up the face towards Peter and the Man-Spider commander.

His back was turned to me as he fought Peter, still cackling loudly. This time, instead of firing webs at him I slingshot myself up the lab's wall face, prepared to knock him out with one blow. I moved fast, but as I neared he suddenly turned to me. He dodged my feet, but I caught him with a knee to the chin before landing above.

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Peter didn’t waste the opportunity, and a punch square to the face sent the laugher flying through the glass into the lab.

Instantly, Peter looked up at me.

“Can you fight him alone?” he asked.

“What? Why?”

“I’ve got to get to the portal”

I looked up.

“It’s gone quiet. And it’s closed. Well… not closed but nothing’s come through”

“I know" Peter said, his voice tired. "The portal function has stopped, but whatever caused it is still pouring NE into it”

"That doesn’t sound good”

“It’ll explode” Peter said. “A big NE explosion. Probably worse than the BRC”

“Go. Quick. I’ll hold him off”

Peter nodded and started up the wall. As if on cue the laughing commander of the Man-Spider’s crashed out of the glass beneath me. I fired webs at him as he laughed, dodging them easily. As I caught myself on the glass again, he leapt up. I dodged his first punch, then blocked his second before he pulled away.

“Defence? Really?” he chuckled.

“If it works, it works”

“Seriously? That’s so boring. Where’d the other guy go?”

“Forget about him. Fight me”

“This is obviously some sort of trick or something, but I guess I can be done with you quick" he laughed. "I mean you’re already all torn up!”

I punched him clean across the face, and he stumbled only to return an equally fast blow. It knocked me back, then he was on me, hand around my face. I blocked a punch aimed for my solar plexus, then wrenched my head from his grasp, kicking him hard before dodging.

“Not bad!” he cackled, eagerly leaping for me. We met, hands to hands, the force cracking the glass beneath our feet. He continued laughing as we struggled against each other, the rancid and rotting smell of his breath assaulting my nose.

I tried to force him away, but suddenly his grip went slack and he folded. For a moment I brightened with relief, only to have my momentum used against me. He flipped me over before a knee struck me hard in the chest.

I bounced off the window face and fell before quickly catching myself, the wind knocked clean out of me.

Man. What was with all these villains, and heavy hitting blows? He even laughed and smelled horrible too. These portals and their villains who loved exciting fights. Where were they even coming from?

I pushed myself up and he was upon me again, punching and kicking with attacks as heavy as my own. I dodge and weaved, trying not to get my head taken off.

“Y’know my kids seem to really like you! Think I’ll carve you up! Give them a treat!” he roared, claws suddenly sprouting.

He slashed across my front, then kicked me hard. I flew back, crashing against a window before falling to the floor.

My breaths came hard - heavy - and I tried to ignore the taste of iron in my mouth, tried to pull myself up. It was no use. A kick straight to the chest was no joke.

I coughed hard, and as my vision started to focus again, I frowned in confusion before staring in surprise as Joshua fought the monsters alone below, Miles on his shoulder. The asphalt and stone around him rippled, spikes raising out of the ground as they. Behind him, made of asphalt, and stone from the buildings a wall rose out of the ground.

Guess Joshua was stronger than expected.

Suddenly a hand grabbed my foot and launched me. I fired a web, and yanked the Man-spider commander with me. Together we smashed through the wall of the lab, and crashed into the next building over.

A layer of dust wafted through the air, remnants of drywall laying a top me as I took a poorly timed but much welcomed rest. I’d never felt so peaceful in the middle of a fight before. Probably due to head trauma. But peace was peace. It’d have been perfect if it weren’t for that screaming in the background.

Wait, screaming? Oh. This building wasn’t empty. Crap.

I looked up to the creature’s commander as he pulled himself off the ground. He kicked a piece of rubble at me, and started walking over before suddenly turning.

“God! Will you stop screaming? I'm trying to have fun!” he said, turning to a woman in the corner. She continued and he leapt to her, grabbing her.

I lay on the floor, beaten and broken as I watched the woman try to break free of his grasp. Suddenly he unhinged his jaw unnaturally wide, his sharp teeth prepared to bite through her neck. The woman screamed, and suddenly my vision went red. An unholy screech echoed through the room and the laughing man was laughing again.

“That’s more like it!” he roared as I slashed for his throat again.

What?

I paused and looked down to my hands, blood was dripping from the claws. Claws?

“What? Why’d you stop?” he said. I looked up, blood dripping from his front were three deep claw mark cut him from just below the neck to his stomach. What the hell? What was going on?

He lunged at me and I blocked the blow, before stumbling away.

“Defence again?” he cried out. “Come on! You were doing so well”

I wheezed, struggling to control my body and my thoughts as I started to piece everything together. Had I really just lost it that easily? A situation similar to Amy's and everything I thought I'd overcome in the other world just... gone?

“What?” he said, chuckling. “It take a lot out of you? Come on, I’ll show you how to fight. You gotta start like this.”

He jumped back, getting into a fighting stance and accidentally kicked the woman he’d been holding. She screamed, clutching the bite sized chunk missing from her shoulder, before scrambling away.

“Geez, I’m trying to have fun here. Shut up! Or do you want me to take another chunk out of you?” he said, baring his sharpened teeth.

“NO!” I roared, leaping across the room to slash at him. He jumped back surprised, as I rake my claws across his arm. Then he burst into laughter.

“Oh is that it? You got a thing for her?!” he laughed. Then he dived for the woman.

I screeched, diving at him as he reached her. We slammed together hard enough to carry us across the room and shatter the other wall, continuing on well into the street. The room behind us began to collapse and my eyes widened as the woman screamed again.

I fired a web and yanked her out, pulling her close as I fired another to slow our fall. But brick fell upon the web, and it was weak from exhaustion. I didn’t have time to fire another one. Quickly, I shielded her, turning my back to the pavement.

The laughing man crashed to the ground first, crying out in pain. his laughter stopped. Then-

Joshua caught me out of the air, crashing to the ground with a thud. I breathed heavily, then looked up to him as he set me and the woman on the floor. A few metres over, the laughing man forced himself up, cursing. His legs had been mangled by the fall.

“Shit” he mumbled, looking down to his broken legs. He looked back up at me, and through thinly veiled pain offered a thumbs up, then spoke. “Nice move. You’re lucky my web-shooters broke ages ago”

Then the Man-Spider’s rushed us. It was like a switch, one moment they’d been trying to crowd past the wall, and then they were converging on me, Joshua and the woman.

I tried to stand, but fell to the ground. Joshua didn’t. He leapt through the crowd and quickly found himself standing over the laughing man. Without hesitation he crushed him. The Man-Spider’s all around screeched, the sound echoing and loud, before they began to dart around in an unorganised frenzy.

I stared wide eyed at Joshua, as he stalked back over to us, crushing the creatures like bugs on his way. He reached us, and laid Miles down a top me, his breaths shallow.

"Time to get you lot out of here" Joshua muttered.

“His voice” the woman suddenly muttered.

“What?” we both said, turning to her.

“I can hear his voice in my head” she said, blood suddenly oozing from her nose. The bite on her shoulder oozed with pus as black began to spread to the other veins throughout.

"Are y-"

“I-it’s so loud!” she cried.

“What is?” Joshua said.

“He’s in my head! He’s laughing in my head!” she cried. “I don’t- He’s telling them… he’s telling… to eat everyone- I can’t stop it!”

My eyes widened and I looked out at the creatures as their order began to returning, some turning back to us with intent, and others crowding the wall once again.

“I can’t- I can’t stop it” the woman sobbed, blood seeping from her nose.

“I-it’s ok. P- Spider-Man can fix this" I muttered. "You’ll be okay.”

“No,” Joshua said. “Give her here”

“W-what?”

Joshua didn’t ask twice, wrenching the woman from my grasp.

Then he slammed her against the ground, the asphalt shaking as blood spatter over me. All around us the Man-Spider’s released a deafening screech. Then they collapsed, falling silent. Dead.

But I could only look to Joshua, my gaze blank. Joshua back to me and wiped his bloody hand against his overalls.

“Even better than I expected” he said, looking around.

“Why… why did you do that?”

“Any longer and that wall would’ve collapsed"

"But Spider-Man could fix her"

“Would've taken too long"

"But-"

“But what? The kid was doing most of the legwork till he passed out. If that wall fell people would’ve died. This was just easier, no?”

“… easier?” I said, looking to the blood. Then a voice of horror echoed out from above.

“Dammit! What the hell did you do?!”