“Who the hell are you?”

I ignored the question, still struggling for air as I attempted to pull away. The foot on my back only grew firmer.

“Hey” the attacker said, their voice chilling, “I asked you who the hell you are?”

Before I could respond a roar echoed through the room.

“REVERSO!”

Instantly the weight on my back disappeared and concrete exploded off to my left. I was quickly pulled to my feet and Cindy looked me over.

“Shit” she said, her eyes wide as she looked over my bloodstained hoodie, the white spider symbol stitched into the surface dyed an iron red. She glanced over to the human sized hole in the floor, then back to me. “Can you make it away on your own?”

I nodded. It definitely wasn’t true, but now didn’t seem like the best time to tell her I felt like I was dying. I was probably doing better than I thought.

“Go. Quick” she said.

I stumbled away, still clutching my chest. Everything felt heavy, but I pushed forward, climbing through the hole above me before reaching the shattered glass I’d been punched through. I came to a stop at the edge, quickly wrapping my torso with web before swinging out into the open.

I swung slowly, but the pain was too great, forcing me to land. I stopped against a building face, only a few metres from the floor, my chest feeling heavy. I could barely move, barely breathe, and with every second the pain grew worse. No way would I be able to get away like this. Shit.

A boom echoed above me, and I glanced back, spotting Reverso in his black and green armour smash through the window as he flew forwards toward a flailing Cindy.

She tried to dodge his attack mid-air, but her movement slowed, and he slammed into her, both of them crashing into the building opposite. People cried out, some running quickly away from the danger and others pointing upward at the chaos, frozen in panic.

A few people looked to me as they ran, their faces filled with confusion and hope. Their gazes brought a sudden weight I’d forgotten. The expectation of responsibility.

I’d forgotten because of the relax atmosphere with everyone else, even after I’d stopped the bank robbers, but people were expecting me to save them from things like this. Even if I was hurt. Even if I’d been told to run. Even if I had no idea what the fuck I was doing.

It’d be stupid to help. Really stupid. But I definitely wasn’t going anywhere, and people were in danger. Maybe if I helped Cindy, if we worked together we could get Reverso away from here. Or at least stop him from damaging more stuff until the others got here.

I nodded. That was a solid plan. Now, time to follow through. I pushed off the wall slightly, but my chest instantly squirmed with pain, and I barely caught myself before falling from the wall.

“Easier said then done” I mumbled.

Suddenly a loud series of booms cracked through the building behind me and I looked to it again. I stared in disbelief, watching as the light on the surface shifted to reflect more and more of the road below.

“Holy shit” I muttered. The top part of the building was falling. Literally falling forwards into the street. Now people were really screaming.

How?! Was this Reverso guy really that strong? Didn’t matter. There was a building falling, about to crush people. I stood quickly, only to be brought back down by the pain. Crap. I glanced up as Cindy emerged from the building, fighting Reverso as she simultaneously struggled to fire webs to stop the building from collapsing. She wouldn’t be able to do both. I had to help.

I hit myself in the side and then, with a burst of strength I forced myself back to the sky. Half my mind was fixed on the pain, but the other half on the mountain of glass, metal and concrete falling towards me. I swung across the street, firing as much web as possible, leaving a large net of web in my wake as I swung upwards towards it.

I could see the net in the reflection of the glass as it slowed due to Cindy’s webs. From the reflection alone, I could tell it wouldn’t be enough. When Cindy’s webs broke the net would collapse like tissue. I swung up and landed on the surface of the building. Rushing up the side, I fired strands of web onto buildings all around and attaching them to the glass beneath my feet.

My veins burned and my hands trembled with adrenaline as I raced up the side of the building, slowing it bit by bit. I didn’t dare think about the pain in my side now. There was too much at stake for me to mess up.

Suddenly my spider sense buzzed. I continued running but glanced behind spotting Reverso. He flew towards me, laughing with a manic glee and I felt the presence of his power start to grow in my mind, before Cindy slammed into him and the feeling disappeared. I continued racing upwards as the building began to slow at my makeshift web.

Finally, I reached the top and leapt from the structure landing on the roof of a side building. I spun quickly and fired as much web as possible, catching the back of the structure. Then, anchoring myself against the building’s lip, I pulled. My arms shook as the strands grew heavier, straining against the buildings weight.

But the building slowed further. As I held the web, pulling with all my might to hold everything up, some strands snapped, and the concrete beneath my feet cracked. But it was working. I just had to hold on for a few seconds.

My entire body protested and the pain centre in my mind burned with a fury as I forced myself to focus on holding up the building. Finally, the weight weakened, and the building slowed to a stop. With a gasp I webbed the collection of strands to the building, and fell back, crashing to the floor.

Endless blue sky stared back at me as the roar of blood rushed through my ears. I felt light-headed. Really light-headed. But I’d stopped an absolute disaster from happening. Wow. I’d actually stopped a building. Well part of a building. The semantics didn’t really matter, I’d just saved a ton of lives.

Wait, Cindy was still fighting Reverso wasn’t she? Crap. I tried to sit up, but my body didn’t respond, too weak to do anything. My spider sense blared and someone shouted out to me. Before I could do anything, I was yanked away by a web and clasped tightly.

Then I was falling again. I slowed suddenly and skidded across glass. I was on top the broken building again. And Cindy was ahead of me, beating the shit out of Reverso. The villain went down and she spared the chance to look back at me.

“Run!” she shouted, before returning to her fight.

Again, I tried to force myself up, but my body still wasn’t listening. Shit. I slumped to the floor again, breathing heavily. Well, if I wasn’t going anywhere, I might as well help out as best I can. With an effort I angled my arm right, then fired a web at Reverso.

It caught his leg against the ground as he attempted to jump. It slowed him down and Cindy hit him with a powerful blow. But my moment of triumph was stripped from me almost instantly. Reverso tanked the blow and instantly backhanded Cindy hard, sending her flying.

He shot towards me, in his weird half fly, half fall, cackling. Crap. I scrambled desperately, but only succeeded in rolling over as he slammed his feet through the glass where I’d laid. I waited for him to attack again, cowering as I protected myself. But nothing came. I peered up at him confused.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Seriously?” he said scratching his head. “You’re way better than this. I spent the last month preparing for this and your just… man. I wasn’t even sure if it was you or some imposter with the mask. I mean you stopped the building so I’m pretty sure it’s you, but… “

He surveyed me as I lay on the floor breathing heavily, before kicking me. I skidded across the glass clutching my side as my body shook. “Bad day, huh?”

He planted a foot on my back as I struggled to crawl away, cracking the glass beneath. I grit my teeth as tears welled up in my eyes. God, I hated this. Feeling so small, so weak, so helpless all over again.

“This is no fun” he said, taking his foot off my back. Then he kicked me off the building face. I cried out as I fell, my limbs dragged by the wind as I spun downward toward the ground. Even in my weakened state, my survival instincts were overpowering and I threw out an arm to fire a web and catch myself.

But I felt the presence of his inversion, then everything twisted. As I aimed out ahead of me, the wrong hand shot forwards, releasing the web as my other hand grasped at air. I fell, my body a mess of confused limbs as I tried and failed to gain control of myself. Then I crashed against a car hood, hard. Pain rolled over and through me and I lay still as unconscious threatened to take me.

I coughed hard, before my breathing even out. Everywhere hurt. Waves of pain from all over growing and dimming with each second. With blurry eyes I looked upwards, searching the sky. I found him quickly, watching Reverso fall towards me. Shit.

If I didn’t move he was gonna crush me. Suddenly Cindy shot out of a building and slammed into him mid-air. They fell quickly, crashing onto the ground across the street before almost instantly breaking out into hand to hand.

He roared with laughter as Cindy attacked, her usually graceful movements slower, uncoordinated. It was his power. Had to be. The ability to reverse things. But then how the hell had he brought down the top of building? Even with super strength that wasn’t something you just did.

Did it have something to do with the first earthquake I’d felt? I didn’t know and I was in too much pain to think. It didn’t matter. Right now, Reverso had his back was to me. He probably thought I was out of the fight. Anyone should be after that fall.

But I wasn’t. Through sheer dumb luck I hadn’t died, and through even dumber luck I was still conscious. He wouldn’t be expecting me. If I could just get up, I could catch him off guard. It probably wasn’t smart, but screw that. Nobody got to kick me whilst I was down.

The car creaked as I tried to force myself up. My entire body roared in protest, even my spider sense warning me it was dangerous to move, but I pulled myself out the wreckage anyway. I fell to the floor, then forced myself to one knee and looked up at the two.

As they battled, I waited for the right moment. Finally, it came, he stumbled backwards as he blocked a punch from Cindy. Without hesitation I leapt forward, cracking him over the head with a fist. He stumbled forward and Cindy sent him to the floor with a powerful straight.

He crashed to the floor, before bouncing right back up, returning an equally powerful punch back at Cindy, sending her flying. Then he spun to me, his wild eyes now clear with his mask lenses shattered.

“That’s more like it!” he roared, throwing a punch. I blocked it with my arm but stumbled backwards. He moved forwards, cackling as I swung wildly to keep him at bay. But my movements were muddled, confused both by the pain and his power. He simply waited, ducked underneath a swing and hit me with a jab to the face.

The punch was weak, barely enough to knock a regular person down. But it sent me stumbling backwards into a car. I fell and caught myself, holding onto the hood hard enough to dent it. As I breathed heavily, blood dripping through my nose one thought went through my mind.

Why had I wanted to do this again? I couldn’t remember.

“Come on. Get up. You don’t get to get me that good then just bow out” Reverso said, the excitement in his voice palpable.

“Fuck you” I mumbled.

“That’s more like it. Now come on! Come at me!” he roared, slamming his fists together.

I chucked the car at him. For a moment I caught the look of surprise in his eyes before it crashed into him and skidded across the road. I fell to my knees breathing heavily, my arms limp at my sides.

But before I could get a moment’s rest, the car was thrown on it’s side and Reverso stepped forward, shaking an unscathed arm. Really? He’d been like three feet away from me.

No wonder the others had been worried about this guy.

As he shook his arm, his eyes locked onto mine, and he raced forward, fists clenched. Shit. Suddenly his body jerked back, as Cindy emerged from the building, pulling him back with a web. She slammed a fist into him and he flew forwards. To me. I had another chance.

With a sudden burst of energy I leapt forwards. Reverso started to slow and fly upward, away from me. But it wasn’t fast enough. It took his power a moment to take effect, and that meant I’d reach him before he got away. I had him. And he knew it too. I could feel his inversion start to take a hold of me as I neared. But it was too late. I threw a fist and-

Suddenly everything shifted. It felt wrong for a second, like my insides were attacking themselves, my body pulling itself apart, and then it felt right. The presence of the inversion, of whatever Reverso could do, fixing whatever was wrong with me.

He cried out in agony, grabbing the sides of his head and we crashed into each other and fell to the floor. Both of us lay there, for a second before I rolled over onto my back, Reverso unmoving.

Cindy rushed over to us, one fist clenched, ready for action as she pulled me away.

“You okay?”

“No” I said, coughing as I sat up, only to immediately lay back down. I looked to the side, at Reverso through the cracked lens of my mask. “Did we get him?”

“I think we-“

Suddenly I glitched again, this time the feeling far worse. I cried out, grabbing the sides of my head as my body rejected itself.

-

I fell to the floor, the sounds of screams and chaos echoing through my mind. I looked down at my trembling hand, before pushing myself off the floor.

“What the? You okay man?” Yu said.

“I’m fine” I lied. My fists clenched in frustration. I the hated glitching. It was the kind of feeling you got when you got poisoned. The feeling of slow death. Except this time it was much slower and there was no antidote. I was dying bit by bit and there was nothing I could do about it. I hated it. Feeling so small, so weak, so helpless.

“What even was that?” Yu asked.

“A glitch” Peter said, looking at me concerned.

“And that just… happens? All the time?” Yu asked.

“They’re getting more frequent, but I’m fine” I said shaking my head.

I turned away from the two and stalked over to the window of the base. I stared out over the skyline, and my frown deepened. This one had been different. For a moment, I’d felt something. Something pulling at my core. It’d felt right, then wrong, and I’d just glitched again. Maybe something good was happening?

I doubted it. And even if it was, I couldn’t rely on dumb luck to get me out of this. I had to look at things objectively. When I framed things right, it reminded me of the dire circumstances.

Things really weren’t looking good. Peter didn’t have anywhere near the resources as Gwen, and the only other heroes to help him were Jess, and Mr Symbiote – who was definitely more of a threat than either Jess, Peter, or Yu himself were willing to recognise. I grit my teeth.

Somehow this world was so much worse than my own. More crime, more villains, and less heroes. Probably because Emi had died, and this world’s me had been a coward. I paused, my mind flashing back to the dinner I’d had, the smiling faces of family members I hadn’t seen in years. He was a coward, sure, but I guess to some degree he’d the right idea.

Suddenly my spider sense buzzed faintly. I focused for a moment, listening to what it was telling me. Sirens. There was something happen off in the distance. I hesitated, glancing at my mask in hand.

I didn’t have to do this here. I could go back to NYTA, and just lounge about. Or I could even call up Big Sis and other family and just have a meal. I could pretend this was the life I’d lived. Nobody expected anything from me.

My fists clenched tighter.

“What a stupid idea“

“Eh? You say something?” Yu asked.

“Sirens” I said, pulling on my mask.

“Is that a good idea? I mean Jess’ already ou-”

“She’s closer to Queens. I’ll make it there first”

“At least take Yu with you” Peter said.

“I don’t need help” I said, curtly.

“Uh… didn’t you say you have a team?” he said.

“It was Emi’s idea” I said, before leaping out of the building.