Jess and I sat still silent, shivering in the cold.

“I think we should go” I asked.

“Give it another minute”

“Jess it’s been he hasn’t called and I want to go home”

“Just- give it another minute”

“You look like you’re about to die of hypothermia”

“Just shut up Yu”

We continued sitting in silence. The sounds of the city surrounding us. I looked around, taking in all the lights and sounds. I’d never seen New York like this before. It was pretty. Something about the number of lights, and the way the shone was enthralling. Even with my ear hurting like this, I could stare at it for hours. I glanced up. Could barely see any stars though.

Suddenly Jess jumped up, looking around.

“Jess?” I said. She ignored me, looking around. Fear was etched into her face.

“Jess, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t…” she trailed off, looking around.

“Jess?”

She stayed silent, pulling her balaclava on. I stood, heart hammering in my chest as I pulled my mask on too. Nothing in our surroundings changed, but the shadows of the night seemed to take on a more sinister undertone. My hands trembled, both from cold and now. Shit, was the scorpion guy back?

“We need to go. Something’s coming” she whispered. She reached for me, but a web shot out of the darkness, catching me cleanly as Jess dodged to the side. It dragged me back and I slammed to the ventilation pipe behind me. I groaned, reeling from the shock as the sound of Jess’ cries echoed across the roof. When I opened my eyes, Jess lay on the ground groaning as she clutched her stomach. A figure stood over her. He turned to me, and as he drew closer, I recognised him. Spider-Man. He was wearing one of the older costumes, the first of the red and blue set. From the way he walked forward with purpose, his head leaned forward, the usual big lenses looked focused, intent. Somehow, he looked angry.

Wait, how the hell had he found us?

He came to a stop in front of me.

“Where is she?”

“Eh?”

“Where is she?” he repeated, his tone aggressive.

“I think there’s been some kind of miscommunication” I laughed awkwardly.

“You think this is funny?”

“N-no?”

He stepped forward, grabbing me tightly then ripped off the mask. He let go practically instantly as he stared at my face, the anger dissipating.

“What the hell, you’re just a kid?” he said.

“Uh… what were you expecting?” I said.

“I… not this” he said. Suddenly a buzzing came from his back. He stepped back, glancing to the groaning Jess on the floor, then pulled out phone that had been stuck to his lower back.

His entire demeanour shifted, the anger replaced by relief and he answered the call quickly, stepping away from me, behind the ventilation shaft.

“Liz? Thank god. When you didn’t pick up I thought something had happened” he said, getting further away. Liz? Who was that? I shifted my weight, trying to get a better listen to the conversation. But the web just pulled me back. Crap. I wriggled slightly to no avail, then looked over to see Jess pull herself up from the floor, clutching her head.

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“You okay?” I asked. She nodded, ripping her webbed hand off the floor before standing straight.

“Can I get some help over here?” I asked. She looked at me, then snickered, before glancing past, and raising her hands.

“Jess?”

“You’ll be stuck like that for an hour. Just sit tight” a voice said behind me.

“An hour?!”

“Sorry. It’s just how long the webs last” Spider-Man said, walking into view. As I stared at him, my heart began dancing in my chest. Wow. It really was him.

“Woah, you’re really Spider-Man” I mumbled.

“Yep. Now, why on earth were you wearing my costume? And how did you know who I was?”

“Oh, right. Jess did all that. She’s the main one here. I kind of just tagged along”

“Ok. How did you know?” he asked turning to her. She stared at him blankly.

“Hello?” he said, waving his hand about in front of her. Jess stayed stock still.

“Is she ok?” Spider-Man said to me.

“Uh…” I glanced to Jess. “No. This is probably really weird for her. She’s you. Well not you, but she’s got your memories and stuff, and-”

“A clone?” he said, raising his fists.

“She’s harmless. Actually maybe not… but she’s fine. Well…” I trailed off as she shot me a glare. “Right. Sorry, do you want to talk to him, I’m kind of nervous right now”

Jess looked between the two of us, then looked to the floor.

“I- uh… wow. This is weird” she said. We stood in silence as she scrunched up her eyes and took deep breaths. Then she stepped forwards, took the document from off the floor and handed it to Spider-Man.

“We found this. It’s why we wanted you to call us”

“What is it?” Spider-Man asked.

“… just read it” she mumbled.

Spider-Man took it, opening it. He paused on the first page, before flipping through the rest of the dossier quickly. He reached the end, and snapped it shut before he ripped his mask off and grabbed Jess by the shoulders.

“Where did you find this?!”

Jess glanced to me, but I just stared blankly at Spider-Man’s face. Wow. It really was the Peter guy, Jess had pointed out in the photo online. It was weird seeing it in person.

“We found it in Alchemax. In a random room” Jess said.

“Why didn’t you take this to the police?” Peter said.

“He tried to”

“I got shot by a Captain. He said something about Kingpin”

“Kingpin? Goddammit!” Peter swore.

“Who’s Kingpin?” Jess asked. Peter frowned.

“Wait, when do you remember up to?” he asked her.

“I… uh… I was looking for something. I don’t… I think I was looking for Harry or Liz? There’s memories of more afterwards, but it’s from someone else”

“Shit. They must’ve found my DNA when I was going around saving people. I recognise this guy’s face” he said pointing to Dr Jack Kale on the first page. “I thought he died when the Bears attacked Dr Connors, but I guess I was wrong”

“What about Otto?” Jess asked, a note of desperation in her voice.

“Otto?” I said.

“I’ll have to ask him about this myself” Peter said.

“Wait, he’s back?” Jess said.

“Yep. We’re working with him”

“We’re working with Otto again?” Jess said, her eyes lighting up.

“Yeah. He showed up six months ago. He’d been working abroad but landed a job with Roxxon when he got back. Came to Alchemax and offered all my friends and I jobs”

“Is it fun?” Jess asked. Peter nodded.

“Wait, who’s Otto?” I asked again. Peter glanced to me.

“Dr Otto Octavius” he said. My mind flashed back to the picture in the document. The older renowned scientist.

“Wait you two know that guy?” I said, looking between them. Jess turned away.

“He was our mentor in college” she said. What? Why hadn’t she said anything? Had that been why she’d had such a reaction? Why she’d passed out?

“I have to take this to Otto. This isn’t right. It can’t be” Peter said.

“Wait what?” I said, a sinking feeling growing in my gut.

“He’s right” Jess said turning to me. “He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t do this”

“Wait, a second, just- hold on” I said. "You're not taking it to the media?"

“Yu just trust us on this” Jess said.

“No way. If you guys have an emotional connection to him, you’re the last people I want making this decision. We need to take this to the Bugle o-”

“We’re not taking this to the Bugle” Peter said curtly.

“Ok, but then we’ll post it online or something”

“You could ruin his reputation" Jess said.

“Ruin his reputation!? Jess they were experimenting on people! On clones! I don’t care if he gets dragged through the mud. If he didn’t do it, the truth will come to light”

“I just found out he got back Yu! Let me at least talk to him first. There’s got to be a good explanation to all this. Some slip up. Alchemax using him as a cover for this Jack guy, or using his research without his knowledge” Jess said.

“No! Are you two insane? W-what’s even happening right now? Did we read the same dossier?”

“He can’t have done this. I- he can’t have, ok?” Peter said, looking to me.

“His name and face are on the first page!”

“If he did this, then he’ll tell me when I confront him”

“Would he?! If he was trustworthy he wouldn't have done this in the first place”

“He didn't. And if he somehow did and he lies to me, I'd know."

"You're making a mistake" I said.

"Look I’m not talking about this with a kid. Once this is done I’ll come back and take you home. I owe you at least that much and we'll need to talk about wearing my costume once all of this is over” he said, turning and pulling his mask back on.

“Wait! This is a mistake! Spider-Man, you’re making a mistake!” I shouted, straining against the webs as he leapt off the side of the building.

“The webs will hold for an hour. Just sit tight Yu” Jess said, solemnly.

“Jess wait!” I shouted. She ignored me and leapt off the side of the building, following Peter.

Crap. They'd left me and taken the documents. How had this happened? Spider-Man was supposed to fix everything, not take it straight into the hands of the enemy. I struggled uselessly against the web. Shit. Now I was just stuck here, useless as always. Dammit. I had to get out. Somehow I had to get out and stop this madness.