New York City was no longer the loud concrete jungle that it once was. Beneath the layer of gas, lay millions of New York residents, all of whom were fast asleep in their own imaginary worlds. Whether it be dreaming of loved ones who've passed, dreaming of flying through the air with powers, or even simply living life as a trillionaire, all of these people were effectively living out their wildest dreams.

Dr. Beck had created a serum that could influence one's acetylcholine levels when injected into them, allowing them to dream happily for eternity. Once he figured out how to turn it into a gas, he was able to release it into the air, allowing everyone to dream while also receiving all the nutrients needed through the mysterious gas.

While Cindy Moon was asleep, Dr. Beck sent his gas throughout the entire city, waiting for it to slowly cover even the tallest of buildings before moving on to the next city. Dr. Beck was able to create a sort of illusionary bubble outside of the city, making it seem as if it were normal until one would step through the wall and immediately succumb to the gas. This bubble also acted as an EMP, blocking all communication with the outside world.

To the outside world, New York City was alive and well, but in reality, this was far from the truth. Many attempted to investigate the city after communications were shut off, however, as soon as they entered the bubble, they succumbed to the Adam Gas.

Silk, swinging above the silent city with her makeshift webbed suit and makeshift gas mask, frantically searched for Dr. Beck in hopes that she could stop him. Unknown to her, despite her dream only feeling like a few minutes, it was actually a week-long slumber. As she swung, she noticed a few survivors on the upper floors of skyscrapers, gazing back at her with hopeful glares as the gas continued to rise slowly.

Unknown to the public and Silk, there weren't many heroes left on Earth due to the fact that there was a looming threat in space, causing S.H.I.E.L.D. to slowly phase out heroes from their home planet. The responsibility of the city rested on her shoulders, and hers alone.

She could tell from up above that the gas was coming from a source and was also rising. Giving it another few days would cause the entire city to be covered in the Adma Gas.

She noticed that the density of the smoke seemed to be growing thicker as she headed North, so she continued following the dense fog until she found herself near the Empire State Building. She could then see the smoke coming from the top before slowly trickling down into the city below.

She approached the skyscraper and began climbing up it, looking inside to see that the gas was also unleashed inside the building, making victims out of the poor employees and visitors inside.

Eventually, she found herself at the top of the building. There appeared to be a massive version of a smoke machine that one would find at a concert, spewing green gas and being guarded by a single man, Dr. Beck.

Although his fishbowl helmet blocked out any of his emotions from being seen by Silk, she could tell by his body language that seeing her here disappointed him. Dr. Beck stood up, removed his helmet, and began to speak to the heroine.

"I've been expecting you, Cindy Moon." Dr. Beck said softly, causing Silk's eyebrows to raise curiously. Dr. Beck laughed at her reaction softly before beginning his misunderstood villainous monologue.

"My job is reading people, Cindy. I figured you were Silk after just a few sessions, I am quite a big fan of you web slingers so I noticed the resemblance pretty quickly. After a bit of digging, I noticed a few connections between your brother and the Green Goblin, who also was responsible for the death of the Spider-Man, may he rest in peace. Silk also was starting to make a comeback after a few sessions, I was glad to know I helped a hero once I saw you swinging by in the city!"

Cindy frowned at him. She had the feeling that if she were to slip up during therapy she might reveal too much, but she was careful during all her sessions. Dr. Beck was just too good at his job.

"Awe, Cindy, don't look at me like that. Listen, I know you might think that I'm a bad guy but what I'm doing here is helping people. I let you experience my Adam Gas so that way you'd understand it. I knew you'd wake up on your own, you heroes always find a way. So, let me know what you think. How were those dreams? What kind of life did you live with your boyfriend, whose name you've suspiciously kept away from me, hm?"

Cindy scoffed at his self-virtuous words. She couldn't believe his arrogance as he spoke to her in such a nonchalant and condescending manner. 'Eren was right, these guys do all have god complexes.'

Cindy began weaving weapons together using her webs, which took time, so she continued speaking to her therapist as she weaved. Dr. Beck clearly noticed but allowed her to carry on due to his confidence.

"Dream? You mean the nightmare?" Upon hearing her say this, Dr. Beck frowned in disbelief. Through his testing, the dreams were supposed to be positive, he'd never experienced a nightmare during the hundreds of self-trials he'd undergone.

"Nightmare? Wait, that's not right. Were these nightmares perhaps involving past trauma, maybe even distorted versions of yourself, friends, family, et cetera?" Dr. Beck's eyes were genuine, he truly didn't see himself as doing anything wrong. He thought that he was genuinely helping the girl at this moment.

"Yes, but-" Silk tried to answer, but she was cut off by the doctor who was speaking to her as if they were in session.

"That's it, then! You still have unresolved trauma, Cindy. We can fix that together then you can dream about-" As Dr. Beck began going into his therapy mode, Cindy took her turn back, not allowing him to spew anymore of his bullshit.

"No!" She yelled, causing the two of them both to stand silently for a brief moment. "I don't want your crazy gas."

"It's not crazy gas, it's a reality gas that changes your perception-" Silk once again forced him to cut the crap and spoke over him.

"I don't care what bullshit you want to call it Dr. Beck. It's wrong. It's inhumane. Please… stop this." She genuinely wanted Dr. Beck to see the error in his way of thinking, however, in his mind, she was the one who wasn't thinking properly.

"I know you've seen their smiles as they sleep, Cindy. They're happy and you can be too, we just need to put in a little bit of work, come on. One more session'll do it." Dr. Beck extended his hand toward her, but she didn't move a muscle.

"No, Dr. Beck. I don't need anything else from you. I already faced my fears. I've already accepted what happened, oddly thanks to your little nightmare. I don't want to be drugged!"

"But if you just let me show you one last time, what a real dream is like, then you might change your mind. You can dream about living a life with your boyfriend, for example. You two could get married, start a family-" He attempted to plead with her by offering her a fairytale, but she didn't buy it and once again interrupted him from talking.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"But he's not there with me! Why would I want to experience that by myself? It's pointless!" Silk was now visibly upset as her eyes watered. She truly wanted to experience that dream, throw away all of her responsibilities as a hero, and see her loved ones again but she knew that if Eren wasn't there to experience it with her, she didn't want it.

"But you won't know!" Dr. Beck was very frustrated at this point. After dedicating his life to studying psychology for over a decade, he thought that he could read people with one hundred percent accuracy. He thought that his way of thinking and understanding the human brain was the only correct way of processing the world. He couldn't wrap his head around why Cindy was denying him.

"But I don't care! I'm done talking with you, Dr. Beck. If you won't stop this, I'll have to stop you myself." As Cindy said these words, she finished threading together her weaponry. In her right hand, she held a sword. On her left, a shield rested on her wrist, leaving her hand free to use for web-slinging.

"You really underestimate me, don't you, Cindy?" Dr. Beck put his helmet back on before extending his hands outward, revealing green energy from his palms. "I'm not some joke that can only rely on tricks if that's what you were hoping for. And please… Call me Mysterio." Mysterio's muffled voice spoke from behind his fishbowl helmet before he used the energy from his palms and feet to blast him in the air as if he were the new Iron Man.

He, like Dr. Doom, studied the art of sorcery alongside his scientific studies. However, his sorcery was far less advanced than Doom's. Doom would scoff at what Beck would claim to be sorcery.

'Mysterio? Seriously?' Silk thought to herself as she webbed the side of the building, swinging herself upward toward him.

The two, now dancing around the needle of the Empire State Building, began trading attacks in this tricky matchup of abilities. Mysterio attempted to shoot his energy beams at Silk, but these attacks were easily blocked thanks to her web shield.

In retaliation, Silk attempted to shoot webs at Mysterio, using her free hand, but he blocked them using a circular green shield that appears to be formed in a similar fashion to Dr. Strange. Both knowing that a ranged battle wouldn't work for either one of them, Silk bounced herself off of the needle while Mysterio dashed toward her using his beams for momentum.

The two clashed in the air, giving Silk the upper hand as she began slamming Mysterio's head with her weapon. His helmet was strong, barely getting scratched from the attack, but it didn't seem unbreakable.

After a few strikes, Mysterio grabbed her sword-wielding hand and shifted their body weight so that Silk was the one falling first toward the green gas below. Using his hand beams, he shot Silk in the chest, sending her flying at high speeds down toward the ground, blowing a hole through the green smoke behind her before disappearing into the green gaseous abyss.

Dr. Beck sighed, looking down at the dense smoke sadly as if he had won so easily. "I'm sorry, Cindy."

As those words left his mouth, five webs attached themselves to his fishbowl helmet, pulling him down into the dense fog below.

His helmet protected him from the gas, however, it was so dense due to it being so close to the source, that he couldn't see a thing as he plummeted downward. He tried to rebalance himself using his beams, but his body crashed into a traffic light, which caused him to flip backward and hit the ground face-first.

𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘱

Mysterio could hear the sounds of webs being shot around the area, seemingly at random. He tried to look around and spot where the source was coming from, but he just couldn't pinpoint the location due to its randomness and the cloud of gas blocking his vision.

He took a step forward, feeling something tug at his leg before he was immediately cracked in the side of the fishbowl by a powerful punch from Silk, sending him directly into a car that was a few feet behind him the whole time, causing the alarm to go off in his ear.

Silk was once again using her webs to sense someone due to blindness, however, this time there was no way that her opponent would be able to retaliate. This gaseous domain under the concrete jungle was now her domain, allowing her to hide in the unknown.

Mysterio attempted to fly upward in hopes that he could escape from the spider's trap. After flying about five feet in the air, his head hit a web, alerting Silk of his new location. Mysterio braced himself for the attack by blocking his face, but little did he know, that this little bit of movement was also being sensed.

From Silk's point of view, she could almost see an outline of his body through the thick cloud of gas. If he were to move his body by a millimeter while he was touching her webs, she would be able to see it. Because of her heightened senses, this fight was nothing more than a game to her.

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

Silk punched the fishbowl helmet-wearing psycho in the stomach, causing spit to shoot out of his mouth and onto the inside of his helmet, before using her weapon to slam down on his head, sending him back down to the concrete below.

Silk failed to notice it, but her mask wasn't completely keeping out the gas, she was taking in gas slowly. This didn't stop her as she continued to stalk her old therapist.

Mysterio slowly got up on his feet, making sure not to move once he was up so Silk couldn't sense him. 'Her mask. She must've been able to create one that blocks out the gas. I wouldn't say it's impossible due to her impressive display of weaving webs earlier. Nonetheless, there's no way it's perfect. If I wait it out then maybe-"

𝘽𝘼𝙉𝙂!

Silk slammed a baseball bat made of webs directly toward the back of Mysterio's massive ball-shaped helmet, sending him flying through her maze of webs until he came to a tangled stop. Knowing he couldn't win by hiding, he decided to use his voice.

"Cindy. I know you can hear me. Think this through, please! Don't you want to be happy?" He pleaded.

"No!"

𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙈!

Silk slammed her makeshift bat down onto his head, finally cracking the glass, but not enough for gas to seep through. Mysterio's body slammed down onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him as he landed on his back with plenty of force.

By this point, Cindy can feel herself becoming dizzy. The gas was starting to take effect on her in small doses.

Now realizing she didn't have much time, she jumped down toward where she thought Mysterio landed and began feeling around with her bat on the ground until she felt it hit something, his massive helmet. She raises her bat in the air, charging up her attack with everything she's got.

"Cindy! Wait!" A voice called out to her. It was Dr. Beck speaking, but whether it be due to it being muffled through his bowl or the gas taking effect, it sounded like Eren for a second.

"Eren?" She slipped up, caught off guard by the voice, however, she immediately realized that her brain was simply playing tricks on her due to the gas.

Hearing this, Mysterio played along, thinking this was his key to victory. 'So that's his name, huh?'

"Yeah, it's me. Cindy, it's me, Aaron-" Mysterio attempted to manipulate the girl, however, his manipulation attempt was interrupted by a bat to the dome.

"RAH!" In a fit of rage, Silk begins slamming her bat down onto Mysterios's helmet on repeat. Although hearing Eren's voice made her slip up, she wasn't dumb enough to fall for such a simple trick. "What kind of idiot do you think I am, huh!?"

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆

Silk continued slamming down on the helmet, using as much strength as she could muster up through her dizziness until it broke completely.

The sound of shattering glass, followed by Mysterio's screams and the sounds of him coughing up gas, signaled Silk to stop her attack. Before the gas could get to her, she webbed Mysterio down to the ground before weakly webbing herself back up to the top of the Empire State Building and taking a few minutes to figure out how to turn off the machine.

After turning it off, she began lying down on the building in victory. After her fight with Dr. Octavius and especially after their rematch with the Green Goblin, she felt weak. She felt as if Eren was the one pulling all the weight and she was the one holding him back. Even after his death, she blamed herself and felt that without him, she was nothing. However, she realized at that moment that none of that was true.

It was at this moment that she realized that ever since she awoke from that nightmare, that noise in her head had stopped. There was no more Silk-Sense Overload either. 'Could it be due to the city being asleep?' She thought to herself. However, this wasn't entirely accurate. It took a long time, but Cindy was finally able to overcome her trauma on her own, ending that noise for good.

It took weeks, but slowly, the gas was eliminated from the city, as well as the illusionary bubble blocking New York from the outside world. During those weeks, Silk delivered supplies to those in need and played the role of New York's new protector in her lover's absence.

The people of New York welcomed her back with open arms, thanking her for being there for them when no one else was. Being so close to people she'd helped, while also being accepted by them, reminded Silk of why she was doing what she did. Being a hero was better than any trick or illusion.