I stared at the homework in front of me, my expression blank as I tried to make sense of what was happening on the page. For a moment the pieces of the puzzle began to come together, then the smell of Liz’s cooking wafted into the room.

Meat, the voice whispered in my head.

Great, the voice was back. I ignored it focusing on the work in front of me, before glancing to Jess as she scribbled away, the answers coming to her effortlessly. I narrowed my eyes for a moment, then slowly leant over the table, craning my neck to get a better look at her answer. One question wouldn’t hurt.

“Look at your own work Yu” she said.

“Right, right” I mumbled, pulling back. I sat still, ruminating before sighing. She was right. I couldn’t try and cheat my way around this. I had to focus, learn the stuff now, without shortcuts, and I wouldn’t pay for it later.

I grabbed the textbook beside me and opened to the contents, searching for anything relevant. The smell of burgers wafted through the apartment into the room, the presence in the back of my mind practically jumping for joy.

Tasssty Meat

Not now I thought.

But it smells so good. We have not eaten.

Not now.

We require sustenance! We must eat!

Please. I’m trying to work.

The voice went quiet. I sighed, focusing back on the textbook in front of me. But even without the voice and the bouts of gnawing hunger, the words still didn’t make sense. I dropped my pen and stretched out, yawning.

“I think I’m done for today” I said.

“…you’re not even finished” Jess said.

“I know, I know, I just-”

The kitchen is near. We must eat.

“You know, I think I’m gonna become a vegetarian” I muttered.

NO! Meat! MEAT!!

Jess looked up to me, frowning.

“Don’t try and change the subject”

“I’m not, I’ll do the work. But I seriously think I’m gonna become a vegetarian”

Fool!

“Ok. Uh… why?”

"I don't know. I've just been eating too much meat"

You must maintain a balanced diet for health!

I snapped the textbook shut and leapt up onto the ceiling, as my suit pooled out of my pores, covering me before solidifying. The voice disappeared instantly.

“Let’s go out. Take down a few baddies”

Jess frowned.

“And what about the homework?”

I glanced back down to the table, before sighing.

“It’s fine. I can do it tomorrow. I wanted to go out on patrol anyway”

Jess stared at me with that face, that blank face that meant I was being stupid.

“What?” I mumbled.

“This is due tomorrow you know”

“Huh?”

She chuckled to herself.

“I mean we can still go on a quick patrol, but I don’t see how you’re gonna get it finished if we do”

“It’ll be fine”

“Yu, you need to do it”

“It’ll be fine. I promise”

Jess took a moment, then sighed.

“I’ll do this one for you, but you have to promise to learn it properly”

“I will, I will. Now come on, let’s go. The night’s waiting”

Jess stood slowly, before pulling her web-shooters out of her bag.

“At this rate, when it comes to midterms, you’re seriously gonna fail”

“It’ll be fine. I mean we just started the year. How hard can it really get?”

“Wow it’s like you’re trying to fail”

“It’ll be fine”

“Famous last words”

I sighed, before glancing out the window.

“Enough, enough. Let’s go” I said impatiently.

“Alright, let me change then tell Liz”

“Great” I said. “I’ll wait on the roof.”

-

The streets were quieter now that winter had come. Darkness came early, but it was surprising how quickly rowdy and late-night drunks disappeared as summer faded. Well, they didn’t disappear entirely, just went home earlier, and there were far less of them. It was nice knowing I wouldn’t have to deal with.

Still winter didn’t stop the more dangerous criminals, and the drunks that still roamed around could be claimed by the cold if we weren’t careful. It was still important to remain vigilant at all times.

I glanced to Jess as she took another bite of her pizza, looking over her phone with her other.

“Do you have to eat it upside down?”

“I think better upside down” she said, before taking another bite. “All the blood goes to the head”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Right, right”

I looked away, down to the street below before checking my watch. I tapped a few buttons then frowned looking it over.

“Anything new?” she asked.

“The missing purse request disappeared and… oh. There’s a guy on 33rd who says he needs help getting to the hospital. He listed it as low priority though”

“Doesn’t want to pay for an ambulance?”

“Probably. Oh, it says he’s old. Eighty-two”

“Oh” she said. “Hm, might just be for a routine check-up. We can go see him after giving all the jewellery back”

I looked back to the black bag that rested beside me and sighed.

“How many robberies are there?”

“Hey, it’s part of the job”

“I know, but you’d think people would be discouraged you, know?”

“Welp, give the average criminal superstrength and he gets a big head you know?”

“Yeah, but it can’t be that common. Some of these guys are just normal”

“Might feel normal to you, but I’m pretty sure most of them have”

“But there have been like thirty? Forty?”

“Closer to fifteen”

“Still, that’s a lot though? Right?”

“Well, probably not all of them were criminals beforehand. I mean cost of living crisis. People are desperate. You give a guy with a starving family superpowers, I doubt his first instinct is to become a superhero. Everybody knows we don’t get paid”

“Still… we need to figure out how to stop this NE crisis thingy”

“Seriously. What do you think Pete and I are trying to do?”

“Right. Sorry” I mumbled. “It just… I don’t know”

“Like I said, part of the job”

“I mean… sure. But we’re here. I mean Might’s busy with the whole country and stuff, and Athena- I don’t even know. But the crime rate should’ve at least gone down somewhat, right? I mean we’ve been at this for nearly a year”

“People just aren’t afraid of us like that”

“They should be” I muttered. As soon as the words left my mouth I could feel Jess’ gaze on the back of my head.

“Uh… that didn’t sound very ‘neighbourhood friendly’. Should I be worried?”

“No” I muttered.

We sat in silence as I looked to the sky, watching the dark slowly encroach further and further into the territory of day. I glanced at my watch.

“17:45? Wow. It’s so dark already”

“It’s so cold too” Jess mumbled.

“Really?” I grinned. “Can’t feel a thing”

“Ha, ha. Very funny” she said, before

“Dammit my pizza’s all cold. Wait- how did you finish yours already?”

“The suction method”

“The suction method?”

“Still working on the name. Is ‘Absorb method’ better?”

“What the hell is that?”

“A neat trick I figured out. I just take the food and I absorb it straight into my suit”

“That cannot be healthy”

“It’s better than getting indigestion”

“Alright. But isn’t it like… painful?”

“Why would it be painful?”

“Uh… you’re absorbing a whole hotdog into you in a few seconds. That’s… a lot right?”

“Hm, I didn’t think about it like that” I muttered thoughtfully. “Well, it doesn’t matter, cause it’s not”

“Well, it must at least be straining. I mean you’re metabolising the food in seconds, or even faster. That can’t be energy efficient, right?”

“No clue. Squeak does most of the work anyway”

“Squeak?”

“Yeah, the suit”

“You’re naming it?”

“Of course. It’s alive”

“Huh. I guess it is. I wonder if it likes cheese?”

“Cheese?”

“Well, it was a rat before, right?”

“Oh right, Pete mentioned that” I said. “But no, it really seems to like chocolate and m-”

Sirens began blaring in the distant and we both froze before looking to each other. Jess wolfed down the last of her hotdog, and pulled on her mask, as I scanned out with my spider sense.

Without a word to each other we leapt off the building face, swinging down into the street. We swung fast, firing webs quickly as we pulled ourselves along, only a few feet higher than the people below.

The cars came around the corner quickly, a beaten corolla swerving dangerously through the street, slamming into other cars as people cried out, a police car swerved close behind it. We didn’t need to talk, we’d done this enough before. I stopped the car, Jess kept other cars safe.

I shot forward, flying past the cop car, before landing down upon the corolla. I heard fainting shouting inside, sensing as the two people in the front seat moved around desperate. Without a moment’s wait, I leapt back, grabbing a hold of the hood as my feet meet the asphalt.

Strands of my suit shot out, grabbing a hold of the car as I lifted upwards, digging my feet hard into the ground.

But before I could lift the car broke hard, slamming into me. I stumbled surprised and my grip loosened. With my grip on the hood unbalanced, the car swerved dangerously, teetering on two tires. It curved through the road, cutting towards the street as people screamed. Jess shot past, firing web bombs between the car and the road as I grabbed a hold of the boot once again.

I cried out, tendrils of the symbiote shooting out to anchor me to the ground, lifting the car off it’s back tires. The car came to a near instant stop, and I kicked at the back wheels, knocking them both clean off.

With a final sigh, I let go and dropped the car down onto the road. Jess landed a top of the car.

“Everyone ok?”

She flashed me a thumbs up before looking back to the slowing police car.

“Hm. Well, that was qu-”

Suddenly my spider sense buzzed. I leapt back, firing web at the police and nearby civilians as I pulled them back. Then the street below exploded in a mess of fire and smoke, debris rained down upon all of us. I sensed out quickly, watching in confusion as a woman in power armour fought against a guy with a jetpack.

“Look what you’ve done. Let me go dammit!”

“Just stop!” the woman shouted back.

“No! You’re making a fucking scene” Jetpack shouted.

“You’re both making a scene” Jess called out, as she leapt forward. She slammed into jetpack, knocking him to the floor, before firing webs at power armour

“Holy shit!” Jetpack screamed.

“You fucking idiot! Look what you did!” Power armour screamed, ripping the web off of her. “The spider-men are here and now we’re fucked! This is all your fault!”

“Fuck off! This wouldn’t have happened if you’d just given back my money!”

Power armour roared and leapt at Jess. I fired a web grabbing her. But she resisted as I pulled at her, then yanked me forward, slamming a fist right into my face.

I crashed to the floor, stars spinning through my vision as I tried to pull myself off the ground. Well, that hadn’t been any regular power armour punch. Definitely the newest Might tech, with the Farrow seal of approval. Great. Just great.

I glanced up, my ears still ringing as I tried to blink the black spots out of my vision. Jess, the power armour, and jet pack fought amongst themselves, debris flying everywhere.

I forced myself up, then dived into the fray, kicking jetpack back to the ground, before landing atop the power armour. She grabbed at me as I leapt around, pulling at the exposed wires around her neck.

“No! Get off!” she shouted.

“If you stop destroying the city!”

“Goddammit, stop! This was expensive!”

“Expensive? Well next time you get power armour. Invest in a helmet” I said.

“Fuck you!” she screamed. She grabbed a hold me and slammed me hard to the ground. I winced, then leapt off the ground as power armour turned to me, enraged as sparks sputtered from around her neck.

“Well, it’s still working” I muttered. “I guess it’s not that bad”

She roared and rushed me. I dodged a few blows before tripping her. She feel to one knee, then cursed, and her suit beeped loudly. The power armour began to charge up and instantly the hairs on the back of my head stood up. I went to cover my ears, but it was too late. My suit shifted, and then the pain came.

I cried out, falling off the suit as I grabbed the sides of my head. I screamed, writhing around as any sense of balance I had was obliterated, nausea sweeping through me. A fist slammed into my side, and I cried out, before another blow slammed into my face.

The pain only grew, worsening as I tried to protect my attention. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t fight back. Nothing besides the pain existed.

I could feel the pain building up within me, a darkness that I’d felt only once before. Back in Tombstone’s wreck. When Otto had nearly killed me. Fear shot through my gut and I leapt up, pain be damned.

“Stop!“ I screeched. I slammed a fist hard into power armour’s chest and she folded like a piece of paper, sparks shooting through the now caved in chest. Jetpack stared at me wide eyed, then turned to fly away, but I cracked my fist across his back, shearing the jet pack in two.

Sparks flew out and he cried out before crashing to the ground. Jess stuck them both to the floor with a web, before looking to me wide eyed.

“What the hell was that?”

I stared down at my hand for a moment my fist in the shape of a hammer. It dissipated as the symbiote writhed about, before stabilising again, back into hand shape. I flexed my hand, letting the tendrils snake back out, manipulating them with my wind before brining it under control again, solidifying it into a once more hammer then back into my fist.

I grinned.

“New trick, I guess”

“Cool. Next time though maybe don’t smash an unstable jetpack with a ton of explosive fuel inside with a… hammerfist“

“Oh. Uh… whoops”

“It’s fine, you’re usually good about it anyway”

“I know” I said, before looking around. The civilians stood in the street clapping, as the cops stood up.

“Did you call the MDA?”

“Yeah”

“Alright. Come on. We’ve got an old man to rescue. We spent enough time eating”

Jess nodded and we both leapt into the sky, swinging away. As the wind rushed past me, I looked back, frowning. That’d been weird. Really weird. For a second it’d been like-

I cried out dodging a pigeon before quickly righting myself, heart beating wildly as I glanced back at it. Jess laughed from above.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. I was distracted” I mumbled.

“What’s going on with you?”

“I don’t know. It’s winter. The cold’s throwing me off my game”

“Sure” she chuckled. “You sure you’ll be able to carry an old man”

“What? Why am I carrying him?”

“I carried that woman to the hospital last time”

“I offered”

“Yeah, but you didn’t carry her”

“Whatever. I’ll carry him, but it means I pick the next movie”

Jess laughed.

“It was your turn anyway”