Jess, Yu and I all stood in silence, watching as Peter fiddled with some of the gadgets we’d brought him. He’d constructed a strange array of scanners against the wall face whilst Jess looked over a computer connected to some kind of hi-tech bracelet via the USB port.

She glanced to Yu, who hummed to himself, munching on a chocolate bar.

“You eat way too much chocolate” Jess whispered.

“It’s not my fault” Yu whispered back.

“Sure”

“I did ask for quiet guys” Peter said by the wall.

“Sorry” they said in unison. I chuckled to myself, before stifling my laughter as Peter glanced back at me too.

We continued to stand in silence watching as the mishappen and bent rock that formed Joshua’s face remained still in the wall. Jess stood slightly away from Yu and I, the ripe smell of rot from the man-spider’s lair still lingering on our costumes.

“So, is it nearly done? Should we do something to help?”

Jess put a finger to her lips then flashed a thumbs up and Yu nodded. I glanced back to the wall fixated on the scanners as they buzzed slightly. The science here was probably way over my head. Yerin would probably get the basics of I though. I froze for a moment, as my heart sunk.

The thought was sudden and sharp, like a splash of cold water to the face. Along with it came a sudden flood of memories with Yerin, a jumble of feelings and thoughts I’d prefer to forget.

I sighed and shook my head, looking to the floor. It was probably for best in the long run.

Suddenly a loud resonant beep pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up, watching as Peter stepped back from the instruments he’d set up, some with flashing LEDs.

“Ow” Yu muttered.

“Sorry” Peter called back. Jess chuckled to herself and started forward, pulling the bracelet off from the cord before handing it to Peter.

“Uh, Joshua, is there some way you could make a hand?” Peter said. He was met with silence, and then the brick of the wall warped a jumbled mess of brick fingers sticking out of it’s surface.

Peter tied the bracelet to the fingers and then stepped back as the brick began to warp and crack again.

I glanced around, my spider sense buzzing as parts of the building shook, twisting and warping in on itself.

“Should that be happening?” I said, worried.

“No” Peter said. “Dammit”

Then a cry rung out, from the wall.

“Joshua!?” Peter shouted. But there was no answer, on a continual screech, the sound of a man in agony.

“Is he in there? What do we do?” Yu said, looking to Peter and Jess.

“We could break the brick?” I said.

“No. He is the brick. Now that we’ve focused him, if we break the wrong part, we could kill him” Peter said.

“Crap” I mumbled. I looked around as the shaking grew again, the web of supports we’d woven looking less and less stable by the second. I readied myself to fire webs, hands raised.

Then the cry was cut short, and the warping of the brick stopped. I looked back to the wall, and watched as a shirtless man fell from the wall and hit the floor with a heavy thud. Joshua.

Peter rushed forward and steadied him with a hand.

“You alright?” he asked. The man turned his head slowly, his eyes wet with tears as he looked down at himself, then up at Peter.

“T-thank you” he muttered, grabbing Peter’s hand tightly. “Oh thank you. Thank you so much”

“It’s no problem” Peter said, as he cried. He glanced back to us, his grin clear even under his mask. We all made our way over, helping the guy to his feet together. Joshua turned to us and nodded in thanks, before wiping sweat from his forehead as he shivered slightly. Peter grabbed one of the tarps that covered one of his machines and draped it over Joshua.

“I can’t believe I’m back” he muttered, smiling to himself.

“It’s alright. We’ll need to double check a few things to make sure this doesn’t happen again”

“This could happen again?” he said, face falling

“Probably not, but just in case you should go see this guy” Peter said, producing a card from his back pocket.

“… Peter Parker?” Joshua said, reading over it.

“Yeah. Great scientist. He’s an expert on negative energy and all that stuff. Can run a ton of tests I can’t, and fix any problems if there are any. His number’s there. I’ll tell him I sent you. He’ll fix you up in no time”

“I- thank you”

“It’s no problem, really. Now, can you get home from here? Do you want us to drop you off”

“I- shit. What day is it?”

“Saturday”

“Dammit. You don’t need to drop me off, but some clothes would be good”

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“Consider it done” Peter said.

“On it” Jess said, rushing for the edge of the building before quickly leaping away.

“I- is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?” Joshua asked, looking between the three of us.

“Just keep the stabiliser on for now” Peter said.

-

“There was a what?”

“Massive Man-spider” I replied.

“Yeah” Yu said. “Like nine feet tall with spider legs, and four arms and venom drooling from it-”

“Yeah, you can skip the whole description”

“Just trying to paint a picture” Yu said, taking a bite out of his chocolate bar.

“Oh quiet” Jess said. “So, wait, what happened again? I didn’t catch what you were saying over the phone”

“The thing tried to kidnap this woman and drag her back to its lair. We managed to rescue her, then we chased the man-spider to its lair, where we rescued those two kids” I said, before shuddering.

“And this was all in the sewers right”

“Yep. It was horrible. Web and festering cocoons everywhere. Some of them were even red with blood and stuff. And the smell. Geez, the smell was-”

“Actually, I don’t want to know” Jess said, shaking her head in disgust.

“Then why’d you ask?” Yu said. Jess kicked him lightly, and I chuckled to myself before glancing out over the city.

The sounds of Brooklyn were beautiful. The sounds of traffic, a siren or two in the distance, and the mutter of people all undercut by that steady and soft hum of wind. It was calming in a way. Felt like home.

My eyes darted to the side, and I watched as Peter swung up, landing on the rooftop we me and the others, before pulling off his mask.

“Thanks for helping me put all the stuff back” he said.

“No problem” I said. He turned to me, smiling.

“You did good today Lucas”

“Thanks” I said, pulling off my mask as well.

“I didn’t except your intro to the to be so visceral, but I think it paints a pretty good picture”

“Definitely” I said.

“Uh, nothing. We’ve patrolled for a bit, but usually we take shifts instead. I might swap it to pairs, but we can sort that out at a later date”

“So that’s it for today?”

“Well, we were supposed to so you more, but today was a bit hectic. We’ve still got tomorrow.”

“Uh, alright” I said, nodding, a slight weariness I hadn’t noticed before announcing itself.

“Thanks for saving me down in the sewers” Yu said.

“No problem, man. Plus, you saved me first”

“Uh we didn’t really talk, but you seem the same. From Peter’s memories that is. It’s a little weird that you’re so much taller than me now though”

“He’s taller than me too now” Peter chuckled. I smiled too standing, as Peter offered a hand. I shook it, smiling.

“Thanks for today”

“It’s good to have you back” he said. I nodded, then pulled on my mask again, turning away from the others as I made for the roof’s edge.

“See you tomorrow guys”

“See you” they said with a wave. With that, I jogged forward then leapt from the building, firing a web as I swung away.

The sounds of the city all swept into one as I swung between buildings, blurred by the rushing winds. I swung back towards, my thoughts drifting to the mundane as I soared through the sky.

Today had been good. Definitely creepy and weird, but good. I’d saved people, more than I thought I would, and I’d survived a fight with a huge Man-Spider. I smelled a bit, but hey, things panned out. Mostly. And things would probably only get better from here. I smiled to myself, then let out a joyful laugh, grinning to myself as I continued onwards home.

It didn’t take long before I reached our apartment building. I landed against the wall, and quickly clambered up the face, before slipping in through the open window. With a sigh I slumped to the floor of my room and stretched outwards.

“What a day” I mumbled to myself.

The door flew open and I looked up to see Sofia and Maria peering inside.

“Hey” I mumbled.

“Did you just jump in through the window?” Maria said.

“Yeah” I said sitting up as I ruffled my hair.

“Well… uh… you okay?”

“Just tired. Is there anything for dinner”

“Big Sis is working late and I’m not cooking” Maria said. “We could get takeout?”

“I guess”

“Hm” Sofia mumbled, narrowing her eyes as she looked at me.

“What?”

“The costume. It suits you more than I expected” Sofia said.

“Oh” I mumbled. “Thanks”

“You do stink though” she muttered

“Alright, get out”

-

Joshua made his way through the streets of Queens. His feet thudded against the tarmac, the second hand shoes Spider-girl had given him already worn ragged. But he didn’t care. He breathed in and out gratefully, enjoying the feeling of his lungs filling with warm summer air. Joshua was alive again. He had a body, and he was loving every second of it.

He turned the corner and someone slammed into him and stumbled, shooting him a glare.

“Watch it!” the man shouted at to him.

“Sorry” he called out, before returning to grinning. He was in too good a mood to be brought down by others’ negativity. He stopped by an apartment building and quickly made his way inside, scaling the wooden steps as they creaked loudly underfoot. He hummed to himself the entire time, then paused as he heard voices. Loud voices.

“I want my fucking money by the end of today!”

That was his landlord. Bernie.

“I fucking told you already. He’s not here. Leave me alone!”

He frowned. That was Reilly. But that didn’t make any sense. She was supposed to be at summer camp.

“Don’t you dare try and shut this door on me!” Bernie shouted.

He barrelled up the stairs and burst into the hallway, the door creaking on it’s hinges. At the first door his daughter stood, forcefully trying to hold the little squat of a landlord, Bernie from entering the apartment. She turned to him and instantly her eyes went wide.

“Dad!” she said her eyes brightening.

“Reilly” he said, his heart instantly softening. His daughter was back home.

“Ah the prodigal son returns” Bernie said, sarcastically. “Where the hell have you been?”

“There was an incident at the site. Why the hell are you harassing my daughter?”

“So? You’re behind on rent”

“And that gives you the right to harass my daughter?”

“I’m not harassing anybody by asking for my money”

“Just fuck off. I’m back now, I’ll pay you, alright?”

“Pay me?” Berine laughed. “That window’s passed buddy. You need to pay me then add a little extra”

“What the fuck d’you mean extra?”

“It’s in the lease shit for brains! I can charge interest on a late payment”

“No way that’s legal”

“Jesus. Somebody didn’t read their lease. Or can you just not read?”

Josh grabbed the man by the lapel.

“Wow, resorting to violence at the first insult” Bernie said sarcastically. “No wonder your wife left you for that-“

Joshua struck him, and the man hit the ground hard. Teeth spilled out of his face as blood splattered across the floor, the hit far harder than expected. Joshua looked down to his first in a mixture of horror and surprise. He hadn’t noticed it before, had been so distracted by the fact he’d been out of that hell of a prison that he hadn’t stopped to really think about the way he felt.

He clenched his fingers again, the sound of his skin grating against itself closer to stone than to flesh. He’d really have to give that Dr a call.

His daughter glanced between him and their landlord, eyes wide with shock.

“It’s alright” Joshua said, helping the man to his feet as he covered his mouth. “You’re alright”

“I’m going to the fucking cops!” Bernie yelled, trying to pull away from Joshua. But Joshua barely felt the man’s attempts to escape. The landlord had been weaker before, but now, against the hard stone and brick of Joshua’s body, his strength was nothing.

“L-let go of me you bastard! I’ll fucking sue!”

Joshua stared at the landlord, then leaned into his ear.

“Go to the cops and I’ll tell them all about the gambling that goes on downstairs” he said. Bernie froze, a look of horror passing across his face. a small smile formed on his face, before he let him go. The landlord cursed and glanced back to him, before scurrying away.

Joshua paused, then straightened out, his back cracking.

He’d always wanted to do something like that. Put his smart-mouth landlord in his place. He looked down to his fist and felt the smile creep across his face. He was strong now. He could feel it.

Maybe he could try a few more things he’d always wanted to do.