Everything hurt. My feet, my back, my side. Everything. As I swung I’d all but forgotten the cuts on my arms, the pain of everything else far too overwhelming. But I pushed forwards anyway, toward the danger, the sound of voices crackling in my ear through the comm.

Oh right. Comms.

I pressed a finger to my ear and called out.

“Guys!? I beat Reverso. Heading over to Spider-Woman now”

A series of voices echoed back over the comm and I flinched away from it, pulling the comm out my ear. They’d all sounded more surprised than anything. Geez, had they really had that little faith in me? Well I guess I hadn’t exactly had any faith in myself either. I winced as I fired another web, and tentatively placed the comm back in my ear.

“-llo?! Spider?!” Gwen cried out.

“I’m here”

“Thank god. What happened?! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. And so is the city, well… for the most part. A few buildings fell. But barely anyone got hurt.”

“Good” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. ”All of us are heading over to Spider-Woman now. We lost contact about a minute ago. I think the TechHeads left one of their guys there. If it was someone who could take out Rosita's comm on the fly, then probably High-Tank”

"Is he dangerous?"

"...she'll need the back-up" Gwen responded.

I cursed. I guess Rosita hadn’t been ok on her own. No, Rosita didn't seem like the type to just go down, she'd hold her ground until backup showed. She'd be fine, though the thought still didn't make me feel any better for abandoning her. With a grunt of effort, I swung forward faster, picking up speed as I headed toward the smoke in the distance.

As it rose, my eyes remained fixed on it. The black and billowing smoke brought back bad memories of more than just one moment in my life. Alongside the uncertainty, pain and fear, it was enough to make me question turning back. But I didn't. I needed to at least help Rosita before I considered sitting out. I gasped again as I fired another web, hot pain shooting down my arms.

"Man this job is hard" I muttered to myself, the wind roaring in my ears. God, I was glad nobody was relying only on me to save the day, that'd be seriously stressful. I frowned slightly, then winced again. When I got back, I owed Peter a serious apology.

Suddenly everything glitched. My body twisted in on itself as it pulled apart at the seam and I fell out of the sky. This time there was no Rosita to save me. I simply fell, silently, then slammed atop a car.

There was an instant brutal pain, like a sledgehammer slamming against the temple. It was enough to make me black out for a second before reopening my eyes, my ears ringing loudly as my entire body cramped from the agony alone. There were shouts of panic and confusion all around me as I gasped, pulling myself up. A numbness had started to wash over me now, and my entire body shook. It took me a second to gain my bearings and as I did, I instantly knew something was wrong.

Not just from the impact, but something deeper. As the seconds continued to tick by, my body grew number and number, the pain distant from my mind now. I moved to steady myself, and was immediately disorientated. I cried out again, as I glitched, the jolt only momentarily this time. But as I recovered my body still left a trail of faint distorted after images in its wake.

“Ok then” I mumbled, groaning as I rolled off the side of the car. I slumped to the floor and struggled to breath for a few moments before pushing myself up, supported by the door mirror. People all stared at me from their cars and from the sidewalk wide eyed from behind their phones, recording the whole thing. Some help would've been nice, but they were probably just as shocked as me. I stood and made to swing away but glitched again, falling to the floor.

"Holy shit" I muttered. I forced myself to stand again and winced, putting a finger to my comm. “Uh, Ghost…”

“Spider?! Did something happen?” Gwen said over the comm, her voice panicked.

“I..." Actually Gwen probably had a lot more important things to deal with right now, than just me. "Don’t worry... it's- I'm fine... it’s nothing” I said.

“You sure?”

“Yeah” I replied. Then with a grunt of pain I leapt into the air, and fired a web, taking back to the sky. Parts of my body screamed out at me, but the numbness remained, helping me focus beyond the pain. I swung quicker now, with less control, but more focus on the coming danger as I neared the smoke. Then - in the distance - I spotted other spider people swinging, both closer to the danger than me. They came to a stop on a building near the cloud of black, their body language uncertain as they looked to the streets below.

“Wow, that’s a lot of robots" a voice said over the comm "You sure we don’t need Athena, Ghost?”. It was Mia’s, the younger spider-woman I’d seen at the base on my first real day here.

“She’s busy at the Hortz-Bruig” Gwen responded.

“Well… we’re gonna need backup” another voice – Myles - said.

“I see you” I rasped. “I'm just arriving”

“Good" Gwen said. "Don't wait for me guys. Arachnid and I will take a while. There’s a few smaller robot groups throughout downtown causing havoc. We'll be there as soon as we can. Good luck”

"Got it" Myles and Mia replied over the comm before leaping into action. They disappeared from view as I entered the trough of my swing, the wind roaring in my ears. With an extra burst of strength I kicked my legs forward, gaining speed as I rose back up into the air. I shot over a building, flipping backwards before I dived into another swing, flying between buildings toward the heart of the smoke. For a moment it engulfed me and then I was out. As I exited, I looked down below and my eyes widened.

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There were a lot of damn robots.

They crowded the entire street, some with the plastic human faces, and others embracing their metal shine. Rosita fought from the centre of the crowd, ripping the bots apart with claws and sharpened teeth. She cut through them easily, but it was clear she was struggling, the robots forcefully crowding her, limiting her movements. A barricade of cops fired guns at the crowd, shouting panicked orders to one another, as Myles and Mia descended into the fray.

I swung down, past the cops and they cheered a cry of relief as they watched the robots turn their attention completely to the three new spider people. Pushed forward by the cheers, I clenched my fists tightly and released my web. I cut through the air at speed, and slammed to the ground, crushing a robot’s head against the asphalt with a foot. The robots crowded my instantly, but with a new vigour I clawed through them, tearing metal from metal, and wire from wire as sparks washed over me.

But the robots didn’t stop. They fought against me hard, pushing as they crowded around me. I was decimating them, but it was clear they wouldn’t stop coming any time soon. In my current condition there was no way I’d be able to last.

Idiot, of course it’d be stupid to just jump into the fray. I needed to get out of here, and fast. With a quick wide arc kick I created space for myself. In the split second they were off of me I fired a web and pulled myself up. But a robot grabbed me instantly, yanking me back down to the ground hard.

“Shit!” I cried as I hit. I jolted with pain again, but the robots didn't let up, jumping on me, and forcing me to the ground in an attempt to completely crush me. I cried out as their weight grew heavier and heavier, cursing my own stupidity.

Suddenly a burst of electricity shot through the crowd and the robots surrounding me fell dead. I pushed them off me and with a quick web, yanked myself away to a building face. My hands slapped against brick, and I scrambled up the wall quickly before coming to a stop. I took deep but grateful breaths, then looked back at the chaos behind me, searching for the source of lightning. It wasn't hard to find. Mia and Myles fought through the crowd, decimating robots as arcs of yellow and blue lighting shot from their bodies.

“Holy shit” I mumbled. “Spider’s can do that?”

Probably not, but it was seriously fucking cool. And because of them we were winning. Another web shot out the crowd as the robots began turning to the electric duo, and Rosita pulled herself free, stopping against a building across the street. She looked down at the crowd, then spotted me and gestured toward the subway entrance the robots crowded around. They'd placed the bomb in the station underground. I gave a nod in return.

“Spider Kid! White Web!” Rosita shouted out, still pointing at entrance “Cover us!”

“Got it!” they both shouted. Instantly they changed direction, pushing against the crowd as they fought their way to the subway entrance, their lightning growing more potent. Rosita leapt into action, swinging for the subway without hesitation. With a worried cry, I jumped down too, swinging over the robots as they jumped up, reaching for me. I pulled my feet away as my arc brought me closer to them, then pulled myself up as I let go of my web, flipping up and away for the zombies before firing another web and yanked myself forwards. I zipped through the air, practically flying above the robot's heads toward the station stairs.

But Myles and Mia had been slowed down by the crowd. The robots at the entrance stood ready for me and my heart sunk when a sudden large arc of lighting, a mixture of the two colours, shot through the group, blowing them back. I landed amongst the destroyed remnants alongside Rosita, and together we scrambled forward as the crowd chased after us.

We pushed the few robots who’d survived out of the way and leapt down the steps into the station as Mia and Myles protected our backs.

"Come on! Quickly!" Rosita shouted.

Before I could respond a shout of pain echoed out behind me. I spared a glance back, and my eyes widened. Mia had been caught by one of the robots with a sword and laid against the handrail, blood pooling from her front. Myles covered for her, but struggled against the crowd on his own. His bursts of electricity grew weaker and weaker and the robots steadily drew closer and closer. And within the crowd, the robot with the katana stood, shielded by others, preparing another deadly swing. I could tell from here, he wasn't prepared.

Shit.

I leapt backwards, flying up the stairs past Myles and slammed into the crowd. They were knocked back, and I barrelled through them reaching for the one with the katana. But I was too slow. It swung, it's blade quick. I sliced through another robot and cut across me as I obliterated it with a clawed hand. Instantly I went down and the other robots swarmed me, punching and kicking. I screamed in agony, the new pain a top the old too much, but Myles blew them back with a blast of electric yellow. In the moment of reprieve, I looked to the robots, then to him and Mia from the floor.

“Go!” I shouted. He hesitated, wide eyed. "Go!" I roared again. He nodded, and then he was gone, swinging upwards and away with the still bleeding Mia. Relief flooding me, before the panic set. I couldn't get up.

I watched the robots as I cradled the cut, blood still seeping from the wound. They were slow, a few of the ones who’d been damaged by the electricity not having completely fallen. But even the broken ones were enough. I tried to pull away but they were already on top of me, fists and kicks raining on my already beaten body.

I clawed outwards with a panicked roar, but the move only gave other robots an opening to pounce on me, pushing me even further to the ground.

My spider sense buzzed wildly and I screamed, the pain growing worse and worse from the constant assault.

“We’re coming in hot!” Emi’s suddenly shouted, her voice echoing over the comms and in the air behind the robots. A few of the robots turned and in the moment of peace among pain, my spider sense screamed even louder. Danger was coming. With a powerful desperation I pushed the robots still attacking away, before leaping up into the sky.

Emi and Kausn sailed past me as I went upwards, both carrying a smoking car. They dropped it on the robots and with an outstretched hand, Kasun caught me, turning upwards. A boom shook the street and a wave of heat washed over me, as flames shout up from the ground.

But Kasun was faster than the fire. It trailed behind us as he flew upwards, then died back down as he slowed, revealing all the devastated robots underneath the flaming wreck.

He came to a stop at the top of a building and set me down, eyes wide. My ears rung loudly and I slumped against him, my knees giving out beneath me as my feet met the ground.

“Uh... Emi!?” Kasun said, panicked. She looked to us as she floated above, and quickly descended.

“Shit. Lucas? You okay?!” she asked, taking my weight from Kasun.

“Mhm” I grunted, unable to speak.

“Shit” Emi said. “Ghost, Spider’s down. He’s gonna need serious medical attention”

“No. I’m… fine” I mumbled as my consciousness started to fade. Voices crackled in my ear as Emi and Kasun turned to each other, talking quickly. Then Emi vanished and Kasun grabbed me, taking to the sky as we flew away from the robots.

“No” I said desperate as I grabbed his hand tightly.

He locked down to me, his expression clearly uncertain under his mask, but still continued flying.

“The… the bomb” I mumbled, the edges of my vision growing black.

“It’s ok Lucas” Rosita said over the comm. “I got it”

Oh. Thank god. Relief flooded me at the words, and I let go of the nervous tension still keeping me awake. My mind dipped back into numbness and my body went slack. My consciousness quickly faded as the early morning air cooled the blood against my skin.