Eren Parker lay in a web hammock that he had created in his room, making sure to stay away from the bed that Johnny had used. The young hero called Cindy Moon, as their time zones had finally allowed them to do so. It was very late in the evening, almost morning for Eren Parker, but in the early afternoon for the secret heroine in New York.
On the other side of the call was Cindy Moon, or rather, the heroine Silk sitting on the corner of a building, wearing her webbed costume. After what happened the day before, Cindy started practicing swinging around the city. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to be a hero, but she knew that if something were to happen, she would need that skill.
Eren explained everything to Cindy. His newly discovered heritage, visiting the Ancestral Plane, Johnny's shenanigans, and even the little details such as how beautiful the country was. Cindy looked at the screen with a soft smile and kind eyes as she watched her lover go on and on about everything. It truly made her happy seeing him speak about the things that made him happy, whether it be science or family.
After a long call, the two said their goodbyes, leaving Cindy to sit alone in her own thoughts. She sighed, looking at the city below her before swinging back home, getting used to the whole traversal method quite easily after watching footage of her partner doing so. The only difference with her method was that her webbing was organic and came from her fingertips, rather than coming from homemade web shooters from Spider-Man's wrists.
Soon enough, Cindy returned home, climbing in from her window in Eren fashion before ripping the webbing off of her body. She arrived just in time too, as she received a knock on her door, telling everyone that dinner was ready.
With her normal clothes, Cindy walked into the kitchen, finding her entire family waiting for her. Her mother prepared Jjigae, a Korean stew, for the family, which was one of Cindy's favorites. "Thank you for making dinner." Cindy told her mother, receiving a smile in response. "You're welcome. I hope you like it."
Everyone took their seats as Mrs. Moon made everyone's bowls for them. Before long, the table was set and everyone started enjoying their dinner together. Cindy was silent, poking at her food with her utensils rather than eating it. There was so much on her mind, that she couldn't help but space out.
"What's wrong, Cindy?" Her mother asked her. "Is there something wrong with the Jjigae?"
Her mother's voice snapped the undercover heroine out of her daydreaming state, driving her to eat the food like normal. "No, it's great." She said, taking a bite of her food, nearly burning her tongue.
Her mother wasn't buying it. She looked at her daughter with an intense stare, as her father and brother ate their food normally. "Are you sure? Your father noticed you've been acting strangely since yesterday."
Hearing this, Cindy's father averted his eyes, not really wanting to probe into his daughter's personal problems. If it was a real issue, he knew she'd speak up, their family dynamic allowed it to be so. However, little did he know that her current issue was something no one could have ever predicted.
"I'm not. I was just nervous. There was this weirdo at the store and he creeped me out that's all. That's why I forgot the milk because I was really trying to get out of there." Cindy lied, hoping that would be enough to get off her parents' radar.
"Did he... did he touch you?" Her mother asked concernedly.
"What? No, no. I was just uncomfortable so I left. That's it." Cindy continued threading the lie, realizing that her plan to get them off her back was backfiring.
"Cindy..." Her father chimed in, finally. "You can talk to us."
"I know. I know I can. I'm fine." Cindy began eating her food faster, hoping to finish quickly so she could escape into her room before they could continue to probe.
"Cindy, we're your parents. We can tell when something is wrong. Is it boy problems? Are you arguing with Eren, maybe?" Cindy's mom asked, embarrassing her daughter.
"Nope." Cindy said before eating two bites from her stew. "Evewything is sewper gewd between us. He is in a twip wite now. Scowlarship." She said with a mouth full of food.
"Then what is it? You've locked yourself in your room all day, you didn't even come in to say hi or good morning. Are you lonely?" Her mother continued questioning her, visibly appearing to be concerned.
"I'm fine!" Cindy yelled, though she immediately began taking it back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. Can we please just move on from this conversation?"
Both of her parents, and even her brother, were stunned. She'd never snapped at anyone in that room like that before. This made it evident that something had definitely changed about her, but no one could pinpoint what.
Cindy cleared her throat, realizing she was basically ruining dinner time with her attitude and personal issues. She looked to her brother before fishing for a random topic to talk about. "Are you excited about high school, Albert?" She asked the fourteen-year-old. He would be starting his first year of high school in the Fall, though this question would only ruin the mood more.
"No... I don't really want to go to that school. Where all those people died..." He told her, referencing the tragedy at Osborn Academy.
"Oh." Cindy didn't even, know what to say. She never thought about how that event would impact those who would continue to walk the halls there. For her, it was going to be nothing more than a distant memory she wouldn't have to revisit, but for them, it would be a daily reminder.
"Ah!" Cindy screamed, dropping her spoon into the bowl as she held onto her head with a single hand.
"Cindy!?" Her dad shouted, reaching out to her. "What's wrong!?"
"It's nothing, just a migraine. It happens sometimes..." She said, though the pain in her head was far worse than any migraine she'd ever had before. 'Is it my sense thing?' Cindy thought, still not having a name for it.
"I need to go lay down... Please, don't bother me." She told her family before abruptly getting up out of her chair, stumbling into her room, and shutting the door behind her. Her family was puzzled. This was very uncharacteristic of her.
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"Don't bother me?" Her mother parroted. "How dare she talk to us like that!" Her mother was almost furious, though Cindy's father attempted to calm her down.
"I'm sure she didn't mean it that way, honey. She did mention it was... you know... that time." He added, however, that last part made his wife roll her eyes.
"That's not how it works! It doesn't suddenly turn you into a disrespectful, rebellious, forgetful-" Cindy's mother kept going as she listened in on the conversation from the other side of the door.
"Dad..." She whispered to herself, understanding that he was trying to stand up for her but probably made the whole situation worse. That's just how their family dynamic was, her mother always worried and overreacted while her father was the complete opposite, often underreacting to things.
With her face still pressed against the door, Cindy winced. Her senses were still going haywire. "What the hell is it?" She whispered, before realizing that her sense was acting almost like a sort of compass. It was pointing her in a direction where it wanted to go, somewhere outside.
It was time for Silk to return.
'If that'll make you shut up.' Cindy told her brain as she began covering her entire body with webs just like she did when saved the clerk at the corner store the day prior.
Now ready to become a hero once again with her body and face covered in a makeshift costume of webs Cindy placed one foot on the windowsill before taking a look at the room behind her. Her plushies, her posters, her sewing kits, and all of her objects representing her hobbies were visible to her. She noticed a picture of her family, making her realize what getting bitten would mean for her family life.
Regardless of that fact, Silk lept from the window, swinging off toward where her senses were telling her to go...
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"Hahahahahaha! Woooooooo! Out of the way peons!" A man, riding through the city on a massive wheel, crushed and rolled his way past the many civilians who were either in their cars or walking along the street, laughing manically as if he had lost his mind.
"I, Big Wheel, have achieved greatness! That's right, world, I am the most powerful being on Earth! Woohooo! No one can stop me!" The man continued to scream like a psychopath as his giant wheel contraption crushed everything and anyone in its path, or at least, he tried to. The vehicle was moving at such an unremarkable pace, most people were able to flee from their vehicles and the rest just simply walked to the sidewalks.
A news helicopter flew over the odd vehicle, presenting it for all to see on the news. The news reporter in the helicopter began to speak to the audience, sounding baffled and just in utter disbelief at what she was witnessing. "There appears to be a man... driving a giant wheel through the city?" The woman's eyebrows were furrowed as she looked down from the helicopter, her expression only becoming more confused when she received word of what the guy was calling himself.
"Big Wheel? Are you serious?" She asked through her headset, and they were very serious. "Ladies and gentlemen, the man you see is calling himself..." It was clear that the woman was trying her best not to laugh. This was no laughing matter, a god above anything any puny human had ever witnessed was now upon them... or something like that.
"He calls himself Big Wheel." The reporter said before busting out into tears of laughter. "Big Wheel!?" Even the pilot and the cameraman were starting to laugh at the ridiculous name.
Before long, millions of Americans were laughing at this self-proclaimed god as he continued to roll through the city, wreaking havoc, though at a very slow pace.
Suddenly, the newslady spotted something in the distance. "Ladies and gentlemen-" It was still hard for her to speak through her laughter. "It appears Spider-Man has come to save us all from this great danger!" She told them sarcastically, only being able to make out the silhouette of a person swinging through the air.
Once the figure was closer, she could see that it was no Spider-Man, but a Spider-Lady!?
"It appears to be someone other than Spider-Man! It looks to be some sort of Spider-Woman or Spider-Girl!" She told the audience, unaware that they were in the presence of the one and only Silk.
"Hahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Yes! I've done it!" Big Wheel shouted, having an almost grotesque expression on his face until he noticed the heroine flying through the air. "Spider-Man!? No... Spider-Woman!?" He questioned. "No matter! I have come prepared!" Big Wheel pressed a button on his contraption, revealing two machine guns, one on each side of his massive wheel vehicle.
"Die Spider-Girl!" He shouted before firing hot lead at the young heroine.
"Machine guns!? Seriously?" Silk thought to herself before clumsily web-zipping out of the way toward another building. She had been practicing her swinging, but nothing could have prepared her for dodging bullets.
"Drat!" Big Wheel shouted, attempting to shoot Silk with his guns but missing every single shot in an embarrassing fashion, tracking her through the air as she outswung them.
Once again, Silk could feel her senses tingle, warning her of something. Someone was in danger, but it wasn't her. She turned around, spotting a traffic jam and a school bus filled with a girls' basketball team stuck in the intersection. Despite how slow Big Wheel was moving, if he were to collide with them, there would be some serious injuries.
Silk's eyes widened upon seeing the situation at hand, driving the young heroine to once again web zip toward her desired destination, this time going away from Big Wheel and toward the bus of teenagers.
"Look!" One of the girls said, pointing at Big Wheel heading straight for them. Everyone on the bus began to panic as they attempted to exit the bus in an unorderly fashion, pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to escape.
Big Wheel was getting closer, still firing his machine guns in the air at Silk as she too swung closer to the bus. "It's now or never!" Silk said to herself before using her webs to slingshot herself downward.
As she spiraled down toward the Earth, Silk webbed Big Wheel's guns, stopping them from spinning and deactivating them before landing between the wheel and the bus and using a single hand to stop Big Wheel in his tracks.
"What!?" Big Wheel shouted upon seeing his godly device being stopped with such ease. She showed no signs of putting in any effort, it was as if she were stopping a very lightweight object from toppling over.
"Cool!"
"Woah!"
"A lady Spider-Man!"
The girls on the bus were amazed to see the heroine save them in such a fashion, wondering just exactly who the girl was.
Big Wheel tried to move his big wheel, but it was of no use. "Time to kick it into overdrive!" He shouted, pulling on the ignition and causing the wheel to spin faster, so fast that it was starting to cause smoke to appear from beneath it.
Silk, however, remained unmovable, glaring at the man piloting the massive wheel with the eyes of a killer lioness. "What is the meaning of this?" She asked the man, webbing the wheel in place so that he could no longer move it. His answer, however, would come unexpected to her.
"I am Big Wheel, and I-" Before he could begin his grandiose proclamation of godhood or whatever, Silk burst into laughter.
"Big Wheel!?" She repeated, holding her stomach with one hand as she tried to contain her laughter. "Your name is Big Wheel!? Isn't that a bit too literal?" She asked, still laughing at the ridiculously stupid name.
Before long, the girls on the bus began laughing at him, as did any onlookers who were watching from a distance or in their cars.
Big Wheel was embarrassed, yet again he was the biggest laughing stock known to man. His whole life he was bullied, made fun of, laughed at, and becoming Big Wheel was supposed to end it all. "Stop laughing!" He shouted, though his pleas only made people laugh at him longer.
In his head, he was supposed to become the next Tony Stark or Reed Richards. A man is known by all for his technological genius, though there was one key difference. Being the leader of the Avengers or the Fantastic Four was far less lame than parading the city as a giant wheel named Big Wheel.
The cops began showing up soon enough, indirectly telling Silk it was time to make her leave. She fired her webbing into the air using her fingertips, latching them onto a building before one of the girls on the bus asked her a question.
"Wait!" The teenager said to her. "Who are you?" Silk looked up at the bus, seeing the many girls in basketball jerseys recording her with their phones, all waiting for her answer. Though she'd uttered her name once before, only one man had heard.
This time, the whole world would know who she was.
Just like before, Silk smiled under her mask, one that was hidden but visible due to the change in the expression in her eyes. "I'm Silk." She said, waving to the girls before slinging herself into the air and fleeing the scene.