The light illuminated the world, a stillness hanging in the air as it silenced all. For a moment, only the sound of Lucas’ breath echoed in his ears, weirdly aware of all his movements and internal sounds. He turned almost involuntarily, and then he was moving. He didn’t have time to realise it before the heat rushed over him, the sensation of burning present for a moment, before the shockwave sent him flying.

  He skidded across the rooftop, carried by the force of the air, slamming into stone before being thrown from the building. Flailing, he fell through the near scorching air, over a sea of shattered glass.

  Then he came to in the midst of rubble, trapped underneath a large chunk of concrete. Panic ripped through him and with a guttural yell he forced the stone off himself. Dust and debris immediately poured atop him, but he fought through it quickly, pulling himself up and out of the mess. But when he finally emerged, he froze, staring up at the sea of green fire that painted the darkened sky.

  Lucas stood slowly, looking to the sky and city with an awed horror. The light from the initial blast had faded, now, but a green hue permeated the sky, like a cloud of energy, slowly spreading among the clouds. And the city – though standing – had been burned. The top of the Empire state and some of the skyscrapers around it crumbling, their glass shells shattered, and the metal and brick closer to the top scorched.

  He looked around, many buildings covered in detritus and debris. From the building he stood atop all he could see was the destruction. Neither Peter nor the Goblin were anywhere in sight. He didn’t know whether to be relieved the throw had saved lives or angered he hadn’t done enough to prevent this. It didn’t matter. Hundreds had to have died in the blast. Thousands even. He hung his head.

  He’d failed again.

  He pulled off his mask, coughing hard as he shook the dust and debris free. It fell from his grasp and he looked to his hands, trembling from the pain.

  “Shit” he mumbled, before coughing hard as he fell to his hands and knees again.

  The symbiote was probably still on the loose out there fighting Jess if the explosion had taken her out. Peter might’ve been knocked unconscious or killed by the explosion, and knowing their luck, Goblin and Scorpion were probably completely fine. There were too many things to think about.

  He couldn’t do it. Just couldn’t.

  Couldn’t even think about prioritising without feeling that paralysing panic start to wash over him. He cursed. Some people were just made for this and some weren’t. He’d tried over and over again, but he wasn’t like Peter, Yu, Jess, Amy, Gwen, Emi or even the other him.

  When push came to shove, he never knew what to do. Couldn’t even come up with a plan. He was always asking questions, waiting for something to happen. And if he wasn’t he was just charging in, hitting things and getting people killed.

  He gripped the debris in hands tightly as blood dripped from his nose. He wouldn’t run. He’d promised himself that. But he wouldn’t do anything. Wouldn’t make things worse like he had so many times. He had to find Peter and then he’d know what to do. He had to find Peter and-

  The crying sounds of a baby pulled him from his thoughts. He looked out behind him, his thoughts falling still as he sensed outwards. There were people out there, crying for help. Desperate to be freed from their half-crumbled buildings.

  He looked down to his mask, staring at his own reflection in the unbroken lens.

  “Right” he mumbled. This wasn’t the time for Lucas’ insecurities. He’d decided to be a hero, and now more than ever he needed to be. He had to get up. He had to do something.

  With shaky, he pulled the mask on and slowly forced himself to his feet. His head spun, ears still ringing, but with a hardened grit, he fired a web and leapt into action.

  -

  Peter awoke to a string of curses. His vision was dark, blackened by an obstacle. He struggled, trying to force himself upwards, and found his body in a tangled mess of limbs and debris. The limbs pushed back against him, moving through the almost sand like mess of debris, fighting and pushing against him until he and his oppressor spilled from the sands detritus.

  He came face to face with the goblin, the green of his mask half melted away, revealing the orange of the wireframe underneath. He roared, his part-melted suit cracking with a series of metal pings as claws emerged from his hands. Peter kneed him hard in the chest, before grabbing his hands at the wrists, holding him back.

  “You fucking bastard!” the goblin roared. “It was perfect and you fucking ruined everything!”

  “Shut up!” Peter roared slamming him down against the roof. The goblin struggled against his grip, and the two rolled, before falling off the roof they’d been on. They fell, exchanging blows, before crashing against a fire escape. Goblin continued falling, pulled from Peter’s grasp as his suit caught the fire escape.

  He hung from it for a moment, watching as goblin crashed atop a car, falling still, before pulling himself onto its ledge. Peter was still for a moment, breathing heavily before looking up at the sky. NE raged, it’s usual, negatives coloured a strange green as it swirled through the blackened sky. The bomb was gone, and the city hadn’t been blown to smithereens.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  They’d saved the city. He looked down, around at the scorched and half crumbled skyscrapers.

  Saved it from total annihilation at least.

  The city probably wouldn’t recover from this any time soon. But a lot of people were still alive. They could remake buildings. Not people.

  He forced himself up slowly, his head still spinning. Hopefully the others were ok. But he could find them later. Now it was time to find and save Yu.

  Suddenly his spider sense blared and he spun around, flipping through the air. The goblin shot past, obliterating the fire escape before crashing hard against the wall face, raking across the brick before soaring off into the sky.

  Peter fired a web after him, and latched onto the glider, wrenched into the air. But the goblin spun around, slicing it with the quick flash of a blade, and Peter fell crashing against a building before catching himself. He glanced back, watching as the goblin soared away with gritted teeth.

  “Dammit” he muttered. “Is that glider indestructible?”

  Then he fired a web and followed after him as he swung towards Yu.

  -

  I was falling. Through a sea of black, my thoughts awash against a canvas of never-ending dread. I was falling. To depths unknown, the oils of evil twisting and turning in a turbulent mess of chaos. Shaping me, breaking me and more. I know only one thing.

  My body has been taken.

  There was no dream, no sanctuary or distraction. No smile of a mother lost, no echoes of the outside, only faded hints of the self, propped up by the burnt ashes of memory. My mind has been lost to the deepest reaches of this endless black abyss and its fires. And I know only one thing.

  My body has been taken.

  Taken. My body has been taken, and my mind lost. To this evil all around me. Stolen by that closest to me. The source of my strength.

  Then light. A brilliant and blinding light. So bright it burns my eyes, sears my retinas, and overwhelms the darkness. Pains within pains. But oh so beautiful. And in this moment, with the light, I remember. The kindness of a father, laugh of a brother, and the smile of a friend.

  I remember the climbing. The boring classes. The days with friends and family. The swinging from rooftop to rooftop. The joy I felt saving people, knowing I made a difference.

  But as soon as it comes, the light starts to fade. Like a dying star, its great green hues disperse, rolling slowly into nothingness as indescribable strength takes the evil surround. And as the darkness grows once more, the memories fade too. Lost as I’m taken even further.

  But even as they fade, I remember only one thing. I have to fight. I don’t know why but I have to. Something is waiting for me. Someone.

  So, I rage. Against the darkness, and its hold on. I rage until I can see that of the outside, and the faded outlines of my own memory. But it is not light that greets me.

  It is a body. A body of red, half broken, and it lays before me, still. A stranger? No. A friend.

  “Jess” I whisper.

  I look down to my hands, the claws of a monster. The blood-stained claws of evil, black wrought with red. I know that I’ve done this. The darkness has taken my body and broken my friend. The pain is instant. A deep and primal hate, captured by an unimaginable guilt.

  I tear at my skin, at the evil, forcing it from my mind as I wrench it from my body. It writhes and withers, shrieks in desperation with pitiful roars, attacking my mind as it fights for control. But the darkness is weak, already half beaten by the light. Overwhelmed. I’m winning. And with each victory, I become more myself. More and more, until it’s only me left in a pool of the black blood.

  I knelt on the ground, breathing heavily as my hands gripped at broken concrete, random splotches of my skin stained a perfect black. Each and every breath felt like fire to my lungs, and the air hot against my skin. But it was just that. My skin.

  I was back. I was alive.

  I looked up, heart thumping painfully against the inside of my chest, and instantly my elation fell away. I scrambled forward towards Jess, her body covered in bruises and burns, deep claw marks raked across her side, partly covered by reddened web.

  “Jess?” I muttered, in disbelief. But she didn’t respond. “Crap. No. No, no, no. Jess. Jess please. I didn’t… I wasn’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

  I looked up, searching for help from somewhere. Then I saw it. The half scorched and crumbling skyscrapers, framed by a rising green hue above that darkened the sky around it. My thoughts slowed to a stop, as a sudden panic grabbed me.

  “What the hell?” I muttered. “What the hell is happening?”

  Suddenly Jess jerked awake, slowly pulling herself up, looking to me half dazed eyes, as she slowly came to understanding.

  “Yu” she muttered pulling me close. I clutched her back, my entire body cracking with the soreness of aches and pains. But as soon as she’d hugged me, she pulled away, looking behind her.

  “Is that… what’s going on?”

  “It’s ok. You’re back and we’re going to go to HQ and sort it out. This isn’t your fault”

  “My fault?” I mumbled, looking out over the chaos. I didn’t understand. I felt as though I was forgetting something.

  “No Yu. No. It’s ok. You’re ok. Now come on. Quick. Let’s go. We need to help you, then we’ll come back and save everyone.”

  “I- there was something I could’ve helped with” I muttered, struggling to remember. “Something I should have helped with. Is it too late?”

  “Come on Yu. Get up.” she muttered, the shaking of her voice filled with a desperation. “Get up dammit.”

  She pulled me up, forcing me to stand. But my legs buckled anyway, weakened by the evil. It was back. Pulling at my memories, separating my thoughts. I could tear it from my skin as much as I wanted, but also long as it was in my mind, it would always fight back. And it still had the strength to take me.

  I shoved Jess away hard, falling to the floor as I struggled for breath.

  “Yu?! St-”

  “You have to get away!”

  “Yu just get u-“ she started, grabbing me.

  “No!” I cried, pushing her back. “It’s still, it’s in my head. I can’t. I don’t understand what’s going on. Everything’s fading and I just… I don’t want to go back.”

  “What? Yu what’re you talking about?”

  “Jess, I don’t… you have to help me” I mumbled my eyes wet. “Everything’s fading. I don’t understand. I don’t want to go back there. You have to help me. Please”

  “Yu it’s ok.”

  “No. I can’t stop it. I don’t know what’s me and what’s not” I sobbed.

  I coughed hard, as tendrils of the symbiote began writhe latching onto me from the patches of black that clung to my skin.

  “Dammit. We need to separate this thing from you now” Jess cried. She pulled something from her watch slapping it to my wrist, before lifting me off the ground. With a speed, she leapt from the building, clutching me tightly as she fired a web off into the distance.

  “No. Go. You have to go” I muttered.

  “I’ll get you to HQ and fix this,” she said “I promise I’ll fix this.”

  Suddenly goblin swooped out of the sky, slamming into Jess as he wrenched me from her grasp. She cried out, desperate, but he slammed her with a fist before throwing a spray of bombs at her as he rose upwards and away. He pulled something from his pocket and stabbed it into my arm. Instantly, my entire body writhed with mind numbing pain, all thoughts – even the symbiotes fading. He looked to me, half sneering.

  “You’re mine now” he spat. “Blame your friends for that.”

  Then my mind faded into nothingness.