Thankfully there was an entrance to the HQ that didn’t require me to climb up the side of an entire building. The place they’d built it atop was an abandoned set of apartments and we made our way to the hideout via the fire exit stairwell. It’d belonged to some villain called Tombstone apparently and once he’d been arrested the mayor’s office had taken control of all his properties.

This was just one of many left it behind. The team had fixed up a few of the higher floors after their old hideout had been blown to bits two years ago.

“I guess some things never change”

“Why’d you say that?” Cindy asked.

“Back in my universe Spider-Man’s base got blown up as well”

“Hm… maybe that is a thing?" she said thoughtfully. "I’ll have to ask Gwen”

We came to a stop outside a rusted fire exit door and Cindy pressed her hand to the wall on the right side of the door. There was a moment of silence, followed by a small hiss and the metal door shot upwards, revealing the loft.

Pretty neat, I thought, following behind Cindy. As we made our way into the base I noted Harrison and Kasun, along with a few more kids sitting on the couch playing a video game.

Two more kids were with them, both of them in spider costumes. They glanced over at us their eyes widening as they looked to me then back to each other.

One was a white brunette, her costume white and with dark blue trim, and the other was a slightly taller black kid with braids, his costume a deep dark blue and swathes of red along the sides of his leg and torso. Both looked around fourteen or so. Quickly they got up and rushed over to us, their faces filled with excitement.

“Are you really from another universe?” the girl asked.

“Yeah” I said sheepishly.

“Let’s go” the boy said pumping his fist as the girl grumbled. I glanced to Cindy confused.

“They do bets with each other all the time. Just ignore it” Cindy said to me. She turned back to the others furrowing her brow. “Shouldn’t you two be in school?”

“School? No way we were gonna miss this” the boy said.

“How did you two even get out? Isn’t your school really anal about attendance?”

“Well, it’s still lunchtime, and Ganke’s covering for us if we’re late” the girl said. Cindy rolled her eyes, then looked back to me.

“Oh, right. Lucas, this is Mia and Myles. Myles and Mia, Lucas” Cindy said introducing us. They continued to stare at me with a wide eyed and slightly giddy fascination.

“Hi” I said, offering a hand “It’s nice to meet you guys”

“Holy shit this is cool” Mia said shaking my hand.

“Yeah. I mean how did you even get here?” Myles asked.

“No idea”

“Was it some kind of science experiment?”

“Or maybe a whole in space time?"

“Like a dimensional wormhole?”

“Could you even call it a wormhole? How would that even work?”

“Enough silly questions. Shoo, shoo. We have to talk to Gwen” Cindy said, waving them away.

“You’re no fun” Mia said, before the two both made their way back over to the lounge talking between themselves. We turned to the science equipment, where Gwen sat at a lab table working away.

“Hey Lucas” a voice called out from behind. I turned, to see Myles grinning at me. ”Come play some games with us after. I wanna hear about everything that’s different here”

“Sure”

I continued over to Cindy and Gwen, frowning as I took in the strange glowing crystals and other tech on her desk.

“Hey Gwen”

“Hey” she replied, not looking up from her work.

“What’re you doing?” Cindy asked.

“Rosita swung by with a few things I asked for her to find me” Gwen responded.

“Rosita?” I said.

“Your clone. Well our you’s clone. It was a whole thing” Cindy said. I stared at her blankly, but the two simply continued their conversation about the items. Then Gwen looked up at me, taking off her glasses as she sighed.

“Real quick, Lucas, have you still been…” she trailed off, searching for the right word.

“Glitching?” I offered.

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“Yeah”

“I have, but not as often”

“Right…” she said trailing off. I couldn’t tell from her response whether that was good or bad. Probably bad.

“Wait, why’re you both here?” Gwen asked.

“Well Lucas said he wants to help. With hero stuff”

Gwen turned to me with a raised eyebrow, then looked to Cindy.

“She didn’t try to goad me into it or anything” I said awkwardly.

“Wait, you’re gonna fight bad guys with us? Harrison said you weren’t a hero?” Mia called out from across the room.

“Mia this is a private conversation” Gwen said curtly.

“Sorry, sorry” she said turning back to the TV. Gwen sighed then looked back to me, a mixture of intrigue and concern in her eyes.

“Do you really want to help?” she asked.

“Yeah” I said. Gwen nodded thoughtfully. “I haven’t done anything in years so. I’ll be a bit rusty. Probably really rusty”

“That’s not a problem, we can have the others practice stuff with you”

“Really?” I said.

“Yeah. I’m sure everyone would be grateful to help. Plus if you went out and about it’d keep Reverso off our asses” Gwen said.

Cindy nodded before a flash of inspiration passed across her face and she turned to me grinning.

“Actually, I’ve got a great idea”

-

I stood atop the edge of a building, the wind howling in my ears as I trembled violently. I couldn’t tell whether it was from the chill or my fear. I crouched low, my hands and feet stuck fast. Today was my first lesson, swinging. Less than half an hour after I’d told Cindy I’d wanted to help and she’d already brought me out here. Well, there was no complaining now. We probably could've found some smaller buildings though.

“What’re you waiting for?” Cindy shouted from the wall face below. I didn’t respond, unable to. The wind continued to buffet me, throwing my hair around wildly as I remained in a crouch. The clothes I'd borrowed felt unnecessarily baggy, the cold from the winds that cut through them weighing my body down.

I should've taken Cindy up when she'd offered one of Lucas 2’s costumes. Instead, I wore a hoodie I’d borrowed and pair of joggers, along with one of Cindy’s makeshift web masks. At least the mask was a great at trapping heat. Though the small comfort of a warm face didn't exactly help with my fear.

Cindy crawled back up the wall, the concern on her face evident even with the mask.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Is this really a good idea?” I responded, trembling.

“Now’s as good a time as any. Trust me” she said. I looked past her and cursed silently to myself. This was high up. Really high up.

“I mean, maybe we could do something else with the webs first” I mumbled.

“Swinging’s the easiest part. And don’t worry about falling, I’ve got you even if you do. And you won’t” she said. I nodded and leaned forward before quickly leaning back again, letting out a tense breath.

“This was pretty easy the first time” I mumbled. Well, I had done it completely by accident, but after that I hadn’t even really thought about it. Typical for fourteen-year-old me. He’d never thought about anything.

“You’re overthinking this. Just jump and fire a web. Your spider-sense will do most of the work for you. And if you do make a mistake, I’ll catch you” Cindy said. I nodded, then leaned forward again before suddenly being overcome by an instant and incredible nausea.

I stepped back from the ledge my entire body trembling.

I glanced out over the city. Ah screw it. I rushed forwards, and before I could think about what I was doing I leapt of the building. Time seemed to slow as I soared forward through the air, a weightless freedom caressing me. And then gravity took hold and I began to plummet. Fear gripped me and my mind went numb, as I hurtled face first towards the crowded streets of Lower Manhattan.

Cindy’s shout shook me from the trance.

Web. I needed to fire a web. Instinctively my hand shot out as my spider-sense blared and I fired a web. It sailed outwards cutting through the air before hitting a building. Heart in my mouth I continued to descend before the line went taught, and I was yanked forward as I cried out.

I spun wildly as I curved around a building over the streets of New York, a speck against the great buildings around me. But the constant buzzing of my spider senses warned me of my surroundings; right now I was far from any danger. I reached the apex of my swing, and slowed in a moment of tranquillity before I began to fall backwards. I gripped the web tightly as Cindy sailed past me.

“Let go when you get to the end!” she called out. Her words refocused me, and I felt the shakiness of my hands, along with the extra weight my fear brought them. Easier said than done. I continued to accelerate, gripping the web tighter. I continued to spin around, when my spider sense suddenly blared loudly.

Building.

I threw myself backwards without hesitation, before realising what I'd done. My instincts were were only good for getting me out of present danger, not stopping me from throwing myself into more. I flailed as I started to fall, but the flailing only served to send me spiralling further and I spun through the air as I hurtled towards the ground.

Suddenly a web shot out a latched onto my back. I cried out more as my body got yanked back at ridiculous speeds. Suddenly Cindy grabbed a hold of me and we swung towards a building, landing quickly.

I stumbled and fell to my hands and knees, breathing heavily.

“You ok?” Cindy said.

“Yeah…” I said through heavy breaths. I could tell from her demeanour alone, Cindy didn’t buy it. So I straightened out and inhaled, deeply as I stared up at the sky. I'd known it was going to be like this. I couldn't let fear stop me. Cindy was her to save me if anything went wrong after all. I let out the breath and rolled back my shoulder.

"Alright" I muttered

“Lucas?”

“I’m going again”

“Huh? Wai-”

But it was too late. I rushed for the edge of the building and this time leapt off with purpose, rather than to simply get over my fear. I held back a scream as I plummeted and looked around at the buildings above. Then I fired a web. It sailed out be. I spun slightly, but ignored it, focusing on the direction of gravity on my body. As I grew higher I felt it’s tug at my back, and this time I let go.

My entire body thrummed with fear and adrenaline as I began to fall, this time at a much greater speed.

But I fired another web. I stared at the streets below wide eyed with a mixture of fear and shock, and then I curved up and away. I let go as I reached the end of the swing and fired another web. I was swinging. As I swung through the air, the fear remained. But I remembered it. The feeling of freedom being up here brought. I’d practically forgotten what it was like to use my powers.

I continued to swing through the streets watching as people below looked up at me. Eventually the mix of emotions overwhelmed me, and I swung towards a building, dropping out the sky. I landed against the rooftop and almost instantly my legs gave out. I crashed to the floor my entire body trembling viciously.

“Lucas?!” Cindy cried out landing behind me. She grabbed me and quickly searched me over before stopping. “You okay?” she asked, worried.

“Yeah” I said, my breaths still sharp and fast.

“Thank god” she said, stepping back. “You were doing well then you practically dropped out of the sky”

“I was trying to land” I chuckled.

“Oh. Well I know it’s probably scary, but try to come a bit closer. Your spider-sense will tell you when to stop”

I nodded before turning to look out over the city. I let loose an exhilarated laugh as I leant back, looking to the sky.

“I’d forgotten how fun that was” I said. Cindy let out a relieved sigh and stepped back, a small smile forming on her lips.

“Come on, let’s go again”