Swinging practically all day was seriously tiring. Seriously tiring. My arms and legs were tired, my entire body aching dully. The quasi-flying method and travel was cool and all, but man did it take a lot of strength, especially for the longer webs. I hadn’t even used my superstrength in years.
“You alright?” Cindy asked as I lay on the floor, breathing heavily.
“Yeah” I said, breathing heavily. She
“It’s probably best if we head back now, the sun’s starting to set”
“Right, right” I mumbled sitting up. I stretched out my arms, then rolled my neck. Various joints cracked throughout my body and I shuddered. Cindy offered a hand. I took it, standing. I groaned with the movement of my arms. Man they ached.
“You sure you’re alright to swing back?” Cindy asked.
“I’ll be fine” I said. Cindy nodded back. Then she started for the edge of the building. Her steps were quick and sharp, like a ballerina’s, right up until she leapt forwards. She floated out into the open air, then fired a web and quickly pulled away. I followed suit.
But my steps were heavier. Less practiced. Still, there was a keen grace to them, one that came naturally. A part of the power. I came to the building’s edge and dived forwards. The air buffeted me. It’s harsh winds pulling at my body. But instead of fighting it, I flipped, embracing the disorientation.
Then I fired a web, yanking myself forwards. I shot through the air and fired another, shorter web, smoothly transitioning into a simple swing. Far less graceful than Cindy. But still effective.
I followed behind her carefully. Together we swung through the city as the sun dipped below the horizon sending the sky into a deep blue as the number of lights everywhere began to come to life. But the sights ended just as they began. We reached HQ, dropping down through a ceiling hatch. I came to a stop, breathing heavily, my hands on my knees and my head down. From the lighting and the lack of noise, everybody had likely gone home.
“Oh, you two are finally back” Gwen said, from across the loft at her workstation. Scratch that then.
“Yeah, Lucas said he really wanted to get the hang of it” Cindy said.
“Did it take you that long?” an unfamiliar voice said. I glanced up, furrowing my brow. A woman stood next to Gwen in a predominantly dark blue and vibrant red spider-suit staring at me intently. She looked strikingly similar to my sisters. The clone. It had to be. What'd her name been again?
“No, he got it pretty fast, but we just swung around for a few hours so he could get better” Cindy said. The clone didn’t seemed to be impressed with the answer. Or me for that matter. Her gaze was piercing, a look of judgement. I straightened out, dusting myself off with one hand as I pulled the web mask off with the other.
“Oh right” Gwen said looking up from her work “Lucas, Rosita. Rosita, Lucas” Gwen said, glancing between us.
“Uh… hi” I said, my voice weird. I sounded more tired than expected. Felt it too. I stared awkwardly as Rosita continued to glare at me. Huh? Was she just not going to respond? I spared a glance to Cindy, who caught the look.
“She doesn’t really get along anyone but Gwen” Cindy whispered to me.
“Oh”
“I heard that” Rosita said, her voice cold.
“Ha. Sorry” Cindy chuckled awkwardly. Rosita grumbled before looking back to Gwen. They talked to each other, their eyes scanning over the workstation.
“So do you want to eat something? I there should be instant ramen, but there might be some hot dogs in the fridge” Cindy said.
“Nah. It’s later than I expected. I’m just gonna sleep”
“That’s fine” Cindy said. “Night”
“Night” I responded. I glanced to the couch. Litter and crumbs caked the surface. Great. Guess I was sleeping in the room tonight then. That wouldn't be weird. Wouldn't be weird at all.
“Ah…” Cindy said, tapping at her phone.
“What?”
“It’s... Emi sent a message. She asked to do combat training with you tomorrow“
“Oh. Is she really good at that here too?”
“Yeah”
“Nice. Sounds great”
“It wouldn’t be… an issue?” Cindy said tentatively.
“Oh. No” I said. “Probably not”
“Ok. I’ll let her know. See you” she said, tapping away at her phone. Then she leapt up onto the ceiling, climbing back to the hatch as it opened. “Gwen, Rosita, see you tomorrow”
“Bye Cindy” Gwen said. Rosita simply grumbled a reply. Then Cindy leapt away, disappearing as the hatch closed. Wait, had she only come back to HQ to supervise me? Oh. I felt kind of bad now. I shook my head. It was probably for the best given how badly a mid-air glitch could be. They weren’t too frequent, but you never knew.
I looked back down from the hatch over to the other two. They muttered to each other, their gazes fixed upon various devices on the table. I had a few questions about how soon I’d be able to get home, but they could wait. The pair were busy. I slinked towards Lucas 2’s room and stopped at the door.
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“Goodnight” I called out.
“Goodnight Lucas” Gwen responded. Rosita gave a quick nod before I entered Lucas 2’s private quarters. Despite yesterday’s grievances I instantly slumped down onto the bed in front of me, my breaths slow and steady.
At least I was tired. That meant a good night’s rest, which I’d need especially given tomorrow I’d be doing actual combat training. That was probably going to be fun as well. I closed my eyes letting myself fade into sleep. The last thoughts that came to me were of Yerin and my family. Then nothing.
-
I stood atop a building on the upper east side, the hot summer sun beaming down upon me. I wore the same outfit as yesterday, but the makeshift mask had been replaced. The signature purple mask, almost identical to the one I'd worn back home adorned my face. Cindy hadn't been there to make the makeshift mask for me, and I hadn't wanted to waste Gwen's time.
But none of that was important. The combat training was. With a laser focus I listened closely to Emi's words as she floated nearby by, her wings fluttering quietly.
“You’ll want to put your dominant foot forwards, but rest your weight on your backfoot”
“Like this?” I said, changing my stance.
“Close but try and stand on the balls of your feet. It makes it easier to move” Emi responded. I nodded and shifted my weight.
“Now take your forward most hand and do a quick punch forward”
“Like this?”
“Perfect. That’s a jab, it’s just a checking punch, but it works wonders on people who can’t defend against it”
“Ok”
“Now follow up the jab with a punch from your other hand. Throw your entire body into it this time and make it just as fast but stronger”
I nodded. Then, with focus, threw a quick jab and then follow up punch.
“There’s no need to pull your arm back so far. It works a bit better if you twist your upper body more. And lean into it”
I nodded then repeated the same motion, the sound of my fist cutting through the air crisp.
“That was great” Emi said. “That was a straight. Now for an uppercut it’s the same type of punch but you start a bit lower and throw it upwards. For a hook, same thing but sideways”
I threw a couple of punches, getting more into the feel of things. Huh. This felt easy. A little too easy. Was I even doing it right? I glanced to Emi who nodded satisfied.
“Now we’ll do a kick. Two kinds. One with your foremost foot, a quick checking kick, like a jab. Think the stomping motion but forwards”
“How's this?”
“Close, but try not to lean back so much”
“This better?” I asked, repeating the motion with a finer awareness.
“Perfect. Now the second kick is closer to a regular kick. Use your back foot to kick in an arc across the air in front of you. Try to shift your weight as you do it to get more power”
“Across?”
“Ah. I say across because it helps with the follow through. Imagine someone in front of you and then kick through them rather than stopping where you’d hit”
I nodded, then kicked in arc, swiping my leg through the air smoothly.
“Bingo”
“Nice. What next?”
“You’re set” Emi said clapping her hands together.
“Huh?”
“That’s it”
“Really?”
“Well, you’ll have to practice improve your form slightly, and there’s more complex stuff like grappling but I doubt I’ll have time to teach you before Gwen gets you back home. Either way it should still be good enough for the most part”
“Ok”
“Simple right?”
“Yeah… are you messing with me?”
“Nope” Emi said with a grin. “I know it’s not a lot, but you can do quite a lot when you string together a few punches and kicks”
“Like a combo” I said throwing a quick one-two followed by a forward kick.
“Yep. Plus given how agile all you spider-people are, you’ll have no trouble dodging if you make a mistake”
“I guess” I said, looking to my hands.
“Don’t worry, seriously. Even. It’s better than nothing”
I nodded, then furrowed my brow.
“What about you, what kind of fighting style do you use?” I asked.
“Why’d you want to know?” Emi responded.
“Future reference. A few jabs and kicks might be good for now, but I’ll have to improve eventually”
“Ah, my fighting’s a bit different. I came up with a slightly different fighting style for Kasun and I since we can fly, but it’s still based on kickboxing”
“Wait you made up your own martial art?” I said, looking to her.
“I wouldn’t call it a martial art, it’s just a fighting style that takes kickboxing and incorporates some grappling and the ability to fly”
“I mean that’s pretty cool. Not everyone can just do that”
“Hm… I guess I never thought about it like that” Emi said, her grin growing.
Suddenly the world shifted, and I cried out as my body crackled with energy. I fell to the floor, and then it was over. I blinked breathing heavily. Emi was already at my side, her wings fluttering heavily.
“You ok?” Emi said, worried.
“Yeah” I said staring at my hands. I flexed my fingers and stood again, letting out a forced laugh. “I guess I’m not getting used to that”
“Probably not. We should take a break”
“I’m fine to continue”
“And I’m hungry. It’s lunchtime. You want a burger?” she said.
“That place near that one deli? Joe's?”
“Yeah”
“Wow” I said grinning. “I can’t believe you have that here too. I haven’t been there in years”
“Trust me, they’re still amazing”
-
We sat side by side, eating our burgers atop the roof of the Flatiron in silence. The air was peaceful, a nice calm having settled over us. I looked out over the city then took a small bite out of my burger. New York really was so big.
“You ok?" Emi asked.
"Huh? Yeah"
"Quick question, are any of the buildings different here?”
“A few, but most are the same” I responded.
“Still a great view, right?”
“Yeah…” I trailed off. My gaze remained fixed on the city as I stared off into the distance silent.
“What’s wrong?” Emi asked.
“Nothing I just… it’s a lot of ground to cover. A lot of people, that’s all”
“Well, you’ve got us to keep you company” Emi said with a grin.
“I guess” I mumbled in response. Emi parsed over my face, her smile disappearing as she furrowed her brow.
“You’re still frowning. What’s up?”
“I just… I can’t believe I left Pete deal with all this alone”
Emi stayed silent, still watching me closely.
“I mean… it was really selfish, no?”
“Well, you came around to it eventually” Emi said.
“I mean, yeah, but what if I lose my way again. If I skip out on hero stuff because it gets too much. I’m not like the me here, I…” I let out a sigh hanging my head. I couldn’t believe I was already thinking about this. I'd made my whole declaration yesterday.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with quitting”
I glanced to her, surprised.
“What?”
“I mean I quit for a while right after I started college”
“Really?”
“Well, I’m about as dumb as a brick. I needed the time to study so I didn’t have to drop out”
“You’re not dumb”
“Tell that to my professors” she joked. We both chuckled, but the laughter quickly subsided and I continued to stare out at the cityscape ahead of me. Emi hit me lightly on the shoulder. “All I’m saying is it’s ok to take a break. Plus, we’re all gonna have to retire one day.”
I nodded coming to more of an understanding.
“Thanks” I said.
"No problem" she said. "Oh, and you’re not that different”
“Huh?”
“Earlier, you said you’re not like the you here. You’re not that different“
“Really?”
“Yeah. I mean you’re different in some ways, but you feel similar. I don't know. I think you’ll be just as great a hero” she said grinning. I smiled slightly, her grin infectious.
“Emi, you have no idea how happy that makes me”