Nights later, Tim is swinging across the city skyline. Beforehand, he mainly kept himself restricted to Queens as to not attract the unwanted attention of the police, but now, that plan was pointless. Tim knew that the police would be looking for him, and he didn't want Forest Hills to turn into a smoking warzone. While swinging through Brooklyn, Tim turns a corner, preparing to swing home, until his Spider-Sense grabs his attention.
"Huh? What's that?" thinks Tim to himself.
He swings downwards towards the rooftop. After leaping off his web and landing with grace, Tim looks around the rooftop, until a fiery glow begins lighting itself at the far end of the roof. It's glow was giving off a fiery orange color. Tim gazed at it for a few more seconds before it disappeared.
"What the..." the web-slinger thinks to himself, confused.
"Wh-who's there?!" asks Tim with a noticeable shake in his voice.
Just then, his Spider-Sense went off, and Tim turns around to see a strange figure ooze out of the shadows. It was dark red, with it's mouth being exposed and with grey skin. It had two horns on it's helmeted head. It's shoulder-blades extended up and outwards. It had two large D's on it's chest, one overlapping the other halfway.
"H-hey, you look kinda like Daredevil-" says Tim before being interrupted.
"Go home, child. You don't belong out here." says the Daredevil lookalike with a flaming billy stick in a cold, rash, demonic voice.
"W-who are you?!" Tim demands.
"I... am the DARKDEVIL, and I have come to sand you back to your video games and army men!" says Darkdevil.
Just then, Darkdevil launches a stream of fire at Tim. He nearly dodges, but still gets hit nonetheless.
"I have seen you in battle, child, and I personally find you... lacking a bit." says Darkdevil.
"L-lacking 'cough' what?" says Tim, still trying to recover from the shock of getting hit.
"Experience." says Darkdevil in a cold, ghastly voice.
"Kay, listen. I may not know who, or what, you are, but I have more than enough experience to whoop you from one side of Midtown to the other side of Times Square!" says Tim angrily.
He then shoots a webline at Darkdevil, who promptly burns it with his billy stick.
"Your statement is as invalid as your webs are against my Hellfire. The real Spider-Man would know that!" says Darkdevil.
"Why are you on my case? What'd I ever do to you?" asks Tim.
"It's not what you did to me. It's what you're doing to your predecessor." says Darkdevil.
"W-what?!" says Tim.
"You lack the experience, you lack the strength, and you lack the knowledge to decipher the line between when you can win and when you can't!" says Darkdevil.
"I may not have as much experience as the original Spidey, but I believe that I have the same amount of courage to do what's right!" says Tim.
"Yes, yes, I am very much well aware of your victory against the new Green Goblin on the Brooklyn Bridge. The victory you made to save your family." says Darkdevil.
"H-how do you know about that?!" asks Tim, surprised.
"You wouldn't believe how fast news goes around in our business!" says Darkdevil.
"What's that supposed to imply?" asks Tim.
"You can find out. IF you submit to a little test of mine!" says Darkdevil.
"W-what?" says Tim. "If you truly believe yourself worthy of the costume you wear, meet me on Pier 73 tomorrow evening... for the ultimate test!" says Darkdevil just as he vanishes into a cloud of smoke and fire.
Tim then stands there, stunned and in disbelief as to what he had just seen.
"I... I guess I've gotta date with Darkdevil tomorrow night!" says Tim just as he spins a web and swings home.
Meanwhile, at home, May is sitting on her bed, sewing what appears to be a mask. A red and black costume, fully finished, sits besides her on her pillow. A pair of red spray paint canisters sit on her burrow.
"Just add in the lenses and we're in business!" says May outloud, placing two plastic mirror lenses over the red mask with black lines.