“I- uh… I’m just some guy”

“I got that already, I mean, who are you specifically” she said. I stepped back, glancing further down the alley. There was a fence separating this end and the next. Could I get away from her in time?

“Come on, just tell me your name. I don’t bite”

“I’m nobody” I said, taking a slow step back.

It wasn’t a good idea to just share my identity with some random person. Even if they had just saved my life. I mean it didn’t seem like she was going to hurt me, but this situation was just way too weird. It made me uneasy.

She sighed, pressing her brow to her fist.

“Ok, ok obviously you’re trying to be secretive or whatever, so let’s make this easy. How’d you get the suit?”

“It was in some random alley. In a dumpster” I said. She frowned and just stared at me for a few seconds. Sweat dripped down my face as I stared back, trying to hide my nerves.

“And you just… put it on?”

“Well… yeah”

She burst out laughing and I shrunk away in surprise before my face flushed with embarrassment.

“I didn’t just put it on, ok? I- it was for a school charity event. I washed it a-and stitched it up, and…” I trailed off, realising how stupid I sounded. She continued cackling, practically doubled over. I stepped away, putting even more distance between us.

“Sorry, sorry” she said, wiping tears from her eyes as she straightened out. “That’s hilarious. Either you actually expected that lie to work, or you’re telling the truth. I’m not sure which is funnier”

“It’s not that funny”

“Sure, sure. But anyway, do you seriously not know who owned that costume?”

“I’m mean it’s Spider-Man’s”

“Not that. You know what I mean. The guy's actual name”

“I don’t know who Spider-Man is” I said. She stepped closer, closing the distance in an instant. I jumped back but she grabbed me, her grip like a vice. With a raised eyebrow she inspected my face before stepping back again, bringing her hand to her chin.

“Huh? I really don’t think you’re lying” she said. I gulped but stayed silent. She was fast. Really fast. Her frown deepened and she looked to the floor as her eyes grew distant. Small whispers escaped her mouth as she began muttering. I peered at her face slightly confused. She looked out of it. Well, I wasn’t going to question it, this was my chance to get away. Slowly, I pulled on the mask and tried to sneak past her. Like lightning, her arm appeared out in front of me blocking my path.

“Uh… can I not go?”

“Nope. Just give me a sec” she said, still looking to the floor. Ok then. I stepped away from her slowly, unsure what to make of the situation. It was a little confusing. A metahuman girl had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, saved my life and now she was just holding me hostage because she thought I knew who Spider-Man was. And what was it she’d called me? Peter? Yeah. She’d thoguht I was Peter.

I felt a burst of excitement, mixed with curiousity. Was he Spider-Man? Maybe. but then again she’d given a ton of funny answers to my questions, so I couldn’t be sure if she was just crazy, or actually knew what she was talking about. If she was crazy, I was in serious trouble. But if she actually knew Spider-Man, the real Spider-Man, I could be finally sort this mess out. If she could lead me to him, I could give the costume back. Right now, it was probably best to just let her think and then ask my questions. I could deal with the fact I was definitely late home afterwards.

So, I waited, watching her think out loud. I caught mutterings of stuff. Something about scorpions, fuzzy memory and chemists? It sounded like gibberish. Shit. I probably was dealing with a crazy person. Just my luck. I had to handle a crazy homeless meta right after saving a ton of people from a huge fire. What the hell? When was I going to get a break?

“Ok, I think I got it” she said suddenly, clapping her hands together.

“Eh?”

“I’m gonna need you to give me the costume” she said. I stepped back, clutching the symbol on my chest.

“Please don’t make this difficult. I’m just gonna take it back to the real Spider-Man” she said.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I said, distrust seeping into my voice.

“I’m a clone. Of Spider-Man. Not one of those evil ones. I’m normal, I think. Wait you wouldn’t know about any of that. Anyway I escaped from Alchemax. He works there, if I go back at the right time I can give it to him“ she said.

“Why’re you telling me this?”

“So you trust me. If you give me the costume it’ll make it easier to convince me- I mean Peter, when I find him”

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“Peter? As in Spider-Man?”

She stared at me blankly then cursed under her breath.

“Forget I said that” she said, scratching at her head. “Just give me the costume. I don’t want to have to knock you out then undress you. That’ll just be weird”

My eyes widened and I turned around, breaking into a sprint. No way I was trusting this girl. What if I gave her the costume and the real Spider-Man actual saw the video online and went to the alley? Maybe that was a reach, but then again it might not be. If I gave it to this girl, then this whole thing would’ve been for nothing. Plus, even if she was right, I’d earned the right to give this to Spider-Man myself, no? I mean, I’d stopped a robber. I’d literally just saved people from an apartment fire!

Suddenly I was wrenched off the ground. Crying out I reached for the ground. But it was too late. I flipped, spinning through the air before being wrenched to the side. I blinked, breathing heavily as I was hung, held by the girl as she balanced from the wall. She stared down at me with a mixture of pity and determination.

“Are you gonna give me the suit?”

“I… ok” I said defeated. Who the hell did I think I was? Of course, I couldn’t beat a Spider-Man clone. I was just being silly.

“Perfect” she said. She lifted me up, throwing me over her shoulder before leaping back down to the alley floor. She set me down and I pulled off the mask slumping to the floor. I let out a sigh and stared at it. It was weird. I didn’t want to let it go. Well, I guess it had been kind of fun while it lasted. Being cheered for in the street like that didn’t just happen to anyone.

“You ok?”

“Yeah. I am gonna have to go like six blocks over. All my clothes and stuff are in a different alley” I said. I sighed standing up again, before glancing to the girl. She was grinning her.

“What?”

“I’ve got a great idea” she said.

-

Swinging was horrible. Absolutely horrible. I’d never been so scared in my life. The sensation of rising and falling, moving at ridiculous speeds dangerously close to buildings and some pedestrians was more than enough to give me a heart attack. I clung to the girl for dear life, eyes squeezed tightly shut as she whooped with joy. She’d said this was going to be fun. Why the hell had I even listened to her? Now I knew how everyone else who got carried about by Spider-Man felt. Well, I guess now I knew for certain she probably wasn’t lying about being a Spider-Man clone. Not that it made me feel any better.

Suddenly we took a sharp drop and I let loose a scream before we came to a stop. I opened my eyes, looking around as I pulled out of the foetal position. The girl set me down and burst out laughing again. I scrambled up, dusting myself off as I looked around. We were on the roof of some random building. I recognised the street below. The alley was a few buildings over,

“Is this the street?”

“Yeah. Thanks” I said, resting my hands on my knees. I glanced back at the girl as she flexed her fingers looking at the costume’s gloves. She looked up at me.

“Do you want me to go grab the bag?”

“I… yeah”

“What alley is it?”

“Just a few buildings over. It’s dark blue” I said. She nodded and with a burst of speed rushed forward and leapt from the building.

I watched as she jumped from building to building with a practiced grace. She really did move exactly like Spider-Man’s. I chuckled slightly then fell to the floor feeling lightheaded. My chest was tight. I guess I must’ve breathed in some smoke after all. Sitting up, I pulled the mask off then leaned back, resting against a vent as I looked up at the sky. I didn’t know what to make of today. I’d rescued a bunch of people without dying and now the clone was going to take this finding Spider-Man business of my hands. I mean I should be glad, shouldn’t I? But I wasn’t. I still wanted to help find him. It didn’t make sense. I’d done more than enough already, why did I still want to help. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to just go back home and draw weird sketches all day till I was ungrounded?

It would, but I didn’t want to. There were still so many questions in my mind, still so many things I needed to know. What had happened to Spider-Man? To Peter? I clenched my fists tightly. Sure, I might not be able to do much, but this was the clearest chance there was at getting Spider-Man back. Even if I slowed the clone down, I had to try and help somehow.

A thud sounded behind me and I spun around. The clone walked over to me, bag in hand. She pulled her balaclava off and offered me my bag.

“Nice bag… uh… I don’t think I caught your name” she said.

“Yu. What’s yours?” I asked. She paused, frowning. Oh, right she was a clone.

“S-sorry” I said, laughing awkwardly.

“No it’s ok. I had a few that I was thinking of. Apparently, Mum and… Peter’s Mum and Dad were going to name him something like Jennifer or Jessica is he was a girl”

“Well Jessica’s nice”

“Maybe. A bit long” she said, looking up to the sky. ”Well, I’ll let you get changed, then I’m off”

“Wait!” I said as she turned to jump away. She glanced back, confused and I stared at her uncertain.

“Uh… I don’t exactly want to watch you change…” she said.

“N-no I… I want to help. You can take the suit, just- I want to help you find Spider-Man” I said, almost pleading. She frowned looking me over.

“Why?”

“I just want to help”

“Uh… I did mention there’s like this big mechanic Scorpion guy that guards Alchemax right? Like seven feet tall, with steel skin?”

“W-what? Like those metahuman terrorists from last year?”

“Metahuman terrorists?”

“Yeah you- well Spider-Man fought them. Last year” I said. She frowned confused, before wincing and stumbling, falling to the floor. I rushed over to her as she sat up, pulling away from me.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. You don’t have to help me up” she said.

“S-sorry”

She stood slowly, muttering under her breath before wincing slightly again. She steadied herself against a large pipe and let out a sigh.

“You ok?”

“I’m fine” she said curtly. We stood awkwardly in silence, and she looked up to me frowning. “I usually don’t get help, but considering my memory’s shot, and they’ll probably recognise me, it might need it. I’m not really Peter anyway. You can help”

“What do I need to do?”

“Well you can start by booking tickets for the Alchemax lab tour. I was just going to sneak in since I don’t have any money, but that shouldn’t be a problem for you”

“When for?”

“Tomorrow”

“Tomorrow?!”

“Yeah, the sooner the better. We’ll meet in that alley for… when’s a good time for you?”

“Just after school, I guess? Uh… w-what about the scorpion guy?”

“I mentioned him just to scare you. I doubt he’ll attack us in the middle of the day”

“Do I need to do anything? Bring anything?”

“You shouldn’t. It should be a simple job, just going in, doing part of the tour and then going to someone and asking someone for Peter. We’ll talk to him and sort this whole thing out”

“Oh. Good” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. She chuckled slightly, then flashed me a small thumbs up.

“Well, see you later Yu” she said.

“Wait? Don’t you want the costume?” I said. She looked at me, then shrugged.

“Keep it. We’re meeting up tomorrow and if I have it, I’ll get headaches. Just bring it with you tomorrow” she said.

“Ok. See you then”

She nodded, then leapt off the side of the building and fired a web, swinging away. I watched as she went, feeling an excitement rise in my chest. Wow. I’d actually managed to convince her. Then I heard my bag ring. It was the sound of the Nokia. I closed my eyes and hung my head. Crap.