Whatever had started the fire had definitely been some kind of bomb. The building was clearer now, half the top building face obliterated, a ruin of glass. The plume of smoke rose high in the air, clear against the grey-blue of the sky. It was thick, acrid smoke, black, with clear wisps of heat and fire, underneath it on the top of the building. And it was spreading fast.

  Fortunately, right now it was only the top floor. But it meant we had to be quick. I pulled myself along, faster, practically flying through the streets. Below people pointed out the large plume of smoke as it rose into the air, some cheering as Miles and Lucas appeared, swinging up the building face, towards the fire.

  They disappeared quickly into the black smoke, and I watched, still swinging, as flashes of green lit up some of the windows, the glowing holding for a few moments before fading. My spider sense tingled, warning me of danger even from this distance.

  “Crap” I mumbled.

  I curved over a building before pulling myself along with another burst of web, finally reaching the taller skyscrapers. I swung fast looking down below as people filmed the building, or simply pointed and stared at the smoke.

  “Get away!” I shouted. “Run!”

  The people didn’t listen, cheering instead as I swung past. I shook my head, then looked back up, glimpsing the dark fog of smoke between buildings before finally swinging around onto the street.

  The building was taller than I remembered. I’d only been once during a middle-school field trip, but I hadn’t exactly been thinking about it in terms of scaling up the side. This was without a doubt the tallest building I’d ever scaled. I gulped, before reaffirming my swings with a steady resolve.

  With a muttered half prayer, I shot upwards, swinging around the building as I ascended towards the fire. More flashes of green appeared within the building, as the glass rattled and the metal shook.

  I needed to hurry up. I rushed up the face of the building as my suit almost came to life, a sudden awareness of the space around me solidifying in the forefront of my mind. I bounded up the glass faster, using a mixture of leaps and webs as I scaled up the building face almost upon the fire now.

  “Thanks Squeak” I muttered. He rarely ever gave me focus mode. This meant things would be dangerous.

  Suddenly my spider sense blared and I slowed to a stop. Then the glass above shattered in a flash of green and orange. I shielded my eyes from the flash of light, holding myself close to the glass as shouts echoed out above me.

  As the glass passed, I looked up watching as Lucas and another figure clad in orange and green fought atop a spinning glider. They curled through the air, both shouting as they tried to guide the glider before finally crashing back into the building in a mess of fire and glass.

  Instantly I shot upwards, leaping into the building side through the wash of fire as employees inside screamed. My spider sense blared, and I dodged a punch before a glider slammed into my side. A hand grabbed my neck and wrenched me upwards as my feet left the floor and I came face to face with another.

  A man with an orange and green metal mask. He flew upwards, slamming me into the ceiling as I tried to pull away, then pulled back his fist.

  My spider sense rang out, louder than ever and instinctively a sharp point solidified around my hand. Instantly I stabbed the arm grabbing me. With a roar he dropped me to the ground, his glider continuing onwards before he spun around and coming to a stop. He stared me down before grabbing at his arm and screeching.

  I looked too the employees as they scrambled, a few panicked ones banging on the elevator doors as others. My eyes fell to a women cowering under a desk.

  “Run!” I shouted, as I leapt up, readying myself to fight the glider. Then the villain threw a bomb at me. I leapt back, yanking the woman with a web toward me before grabbing her as I turned. Lucas shouted from behind me and a web latched onto my front as I was yanked forward. I crashed to the ground as the heat slowly left me, breathing hard as my ears rang. Above Lucas shook me and the woman, the fear in his voice palpable.

  “You ok? Spider-Man? You o-“

  Then he was gone, the glider jetting past in a rush of focused flame and metal. I sat up, watching as they crashed out of the building, and spiralled upwards before more debris fell out of the air, the building shaking.

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  Damn this guy was fast.

  “You ok?” I muttered, looking down to the women, She nodded. “Good. Now go. Quick. And tell the others to take the stairs”

  She got up quickly before sprinting away as the building shook above us, more flashes of green from the bombs followed echoing through the space.

  I blinked hard, catching a sudden wave of tiredness before rushing forward and leaping out the window. I landed against another whole in the building, before slinking inside.

  Silence met me, the surroundings suddenly eerily empty. I looked around, the flames dancing across pools of liquid as smoke poured outwards. The suit protected me from the smoke, but the vibrant flames kept me wary. I could even feel hints of fear within the suit.

  What the hell was going on? I raised my fists, creeping forwards bit by bit as my heart began to thump harder. Suddenly a cackle echoed out behind me and I spun around, only to be met with nothingness.

  Crap. Had the bomb had some kind of hallucinating side-effect? I spun back around, feeling out with my sense. Nothing. No, not just nothing it was- a flash of green echoed out to the side, and I jumped my fingers sharpening into claws.

  The light faded quickly, and the surroundings grew even quieter. Not even the screams of civilians or crackle of fire could be heard. I felt colder suddenly, like something was being taken from me beyond just heat.

  “Spider?!” I called out. “Spider-Boy!?”

  The halls remained silent. I closed my eyes sensing out again. Nothing. How was that even possible? I jogged forward again frowning, as the sound of my footsteps grew more and more distant, even my breaths far away echoes.

  “H-hello!?” I cried out.

  Yu.

  My eyes widened. Squeak had talked. But how? I was in my costume form?

  “H-hello? What’s going on?”

  Wake up.

  “What? I’m awake?!”

  Wake up immediately you fool. Get up.

  “How?”

  I was met with silence again, a sudden eeriness to my surroundings. What the hell? I was asleep? When had I fallen asleep? How did I wake up?

  “Hello?!” I called out again, my voice echoing outwards. No. Just shouting wasn’t going to work. I had to do something else. But what? What would Jess do? I didn’t know. Dammit.

  “Think” I muttered. “Just think you idiot.”

  “Hello?” a voice said behind me. I spun around, coming face to face with an older Latino man dressed in a white lab overcoat. He looked like a doctor.

  “H-Hello?” I mumbled back surprised. He turned to me slowly, eyes wide in confusion and fear. He raised his hand towards me as he muttered to himself, a glimmer of wetness in his eyes.

  “T-there’s someone else here” he muttered. “I- y-you-”

  “Are you okay?” I muttered stepping forward.

  He went to say something, then a flash of green washed over my face, carrying with it a burning heat. I cursed, shielding my face before blinking hard as I looked around.

  The space was still the same, but everything had darkened now, even the flickers of white and blue flame in the room behind me. And something was terribly, terribly wrong. I felt off. My stomach doing flips as my veins began to slowly fizzle with heat.

  And there was something else. A taste in my mouth. Iron. I could taste iron. The taste of iron swirled within my mouth as I coughed, suddenly falling to one knee as my head spun.

  “What the hell?” I muttered. I coughed harder, blood seeping to the floor from my mouth as my ribs squirmed around in my chest, practically stabbing at my organs. I let loose a strangled scream as my body began to almost coil into itself, my bones cracking as black ooze seeped from the fractures. Shit! Holy Shit! What the hell was happening to me?!

  Get up.

  “W-what?” I mumbled. Squeak had talked again. And he’d sounded scared.

  Get up now! Quickly! Time is of the essence!

  “What’s happening? What’s happening?!”

  GET UP!

  My head jerked back and eyes flew open, settling on my hands grasping at sandy gravel. I blinked, frowning as blood pooled onto the floor from my clawed hands, my suit warping as the symbiote recoiled all across my body. From something I couldn’t see.

  It took me a second to gather my bearings as a cold washed over me, carrying the scent of smoke as the wind howled in the background. I stood slowly, the spinning of my head settling as I finally looked up. My eyes fell upon the urban sprawl of New York in its entirety. I was on the Oscorp roof.

  “Holy shit” I muttered, looking down to my hands. What had happened? Did the bombs really have hallucinogenic effects? Or had I taken a hit to the head? I glanced back, a charred hole in the ground through which smoke poured upwards, the grey and black plume blotting out half the sky.

  I wiped at the blood from my mouth stepping back from it before looking out again to New York. This time I spotted him, the gliding figure as he flew away gripping at dead arm. Crap. I’d gotten so lost in my own world he was getting away. I tensed preparing to leap forward and fell, crashing to the floor as I breathed heavily, my legs and arms still shaking.

  “Crap” I muttered. My body was exhausted. Completely and utterly beat. How? What the hell was happening to me?

  “Spider-Man!?” A voice called out behind me. I looked back, my breaths still heavy, as Lucas and Miles emerged from the charred opening.

  “You, okay?” Lucas said rushing forward.

  “I- yeah” I muttered. “Just- Squeak’s acting a bit funny”

  “Squeak?”

  “The suit.”

  His gaze lingered on it as it warped, before his eyes moved to the bloodstained claws. He stopped back, hesitant then looked back to Miles.

  “Alright” he nodded, his voice suddenly reserved. “Just- we should probably get you to back to HQ.”

  I nodded then looked back to the flying figure as they disappeared in the distance. Just what in the world had that bomb done to me?