May woke up to her throat burning. She coughed to clear out the water, but that caused searing pain in her ribs. Her aching arms were clinging to a detached door from the car that had hit her, just barely keeping her afloat. Looking around, the most she could tell was that she was in a tunnel somewhere in the city's water filtration system. She found a solid walkway nearby, so she readjusted her grip on the door and weakly paddled towards it.

"Dad?" she called as she pulled herself out of the water. "Dad, are you here?" There was no answer. I've got to call him, let him know I'm okay- well, alive, at least. Pressing the button on her mask, however, she discovered that the communications system in her visor had been damaged. I'll have to run a full diagnostic, see what other damage there is… She went through all the systems, checking their status.

Comms and GPS are down… wow, somehow I can still listen to the news and podcasts, she discovered. Nice prioritizing there, Dad, making the radio more stable than the communications system. At least I can get an idea of what else happened last night… She looked at the date and time in the upper-left corner of her display, and gasped. She had been unconscious for over a day! How had she not drowned, with how much water she had to have taken in, or slipped off the car door? What had happened in the meantime? She immediately turned on the newscast.

"Officials are still searching for the hit-and-run driver from the attack on the Spider Family this past Monday night," the announcer began. "The only thing we have confirmed so far is that they are connected to the group that raided a Terrinc warehouse that same evening, led by the new villain known as Loup-Garou. As for Spider-Girl herself, there has yet to be found any evidence of her body after the massive explosion that occurred during the suspects' attempted getaway. While many remain hopeful that she survived, authorities have pronounced the young heroine dead. This has been your Wednesday morning news."

I'm dead, May gasped, slowly backing up to support herself against a wall. Or, at least the public thinks so. What does Dad think? What has he told Mom? They must be freaking out right now. I have to get home!

Then she had another thought. The driver of the car had obviously been aiming specifically for her; there was no doubt in May's mind to that fact. Coach sent him- sent him to kill me so I couldn't tell Dad what I know about her, Loup-Garou and Grave Dust. If she finds out I'm alive, she'll probably try again- maybe even go through Dad or Uncle Miles to do it.

And if she suspects Spider-Girl is May Parker? Mom, Aunt Hailey, little Jeff… everyone I know could end up at risk. But if she thinks I'm dead… she might let down her guard, and I could look for answers, find out why she's doing this and take her down.

May had a choice to make: she could go home, tell her dad everything. Her family would be at ease, and they would protect her. She'd be safe, but there would be no telling if they would be while Stephens was still free. On the other hand, she could go into hiding, risk her own life to take down a potential drug lord and save the city, all while allowing her loved ones' hearts to remain broken in order to protect them. How was she supposed to choose?

How would Dad choose? May wondered.

"Remember," he had once told her. "With great power comes great responsibility."

"Responsibility for what?" she had asked.

"Responsibility for how you choose to use your powers, and for the consequences of those choices. For better or worse, you are Spider-Girl, and no one else can carry that responsibility for you: not me, not Uncle Miles, you. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

"Good," Dad's face somehow became even more serious as he reached behind him to pick up a box. "Now, before I can give you this suit, you have to take the oath."

"The oath?"

"Yes. Now, raise your right hand, lower your middle two fingers, and repeat after me."

May did so.

"I promise to do everything in my power to protect this city, and to make sure evil doesn't go unchecked."

"I promise..."

I know what I have to do, May decided. This city includes my family, and I will protect them. I won't let Stephens get away with what she's done. Resolved, she braced her injured bones to pick herself up.

First thing I need to do is get out of this suit. She tuned her lenses to cross reference a map of the filtration system with the layout of the city streets. Going as fast as she could without causing excruciating pain, she made her way through the underground tunnels to where she had once hidden a backpack with civilian clothes and cash in case of emergencies. Once she was changed into a casual t-shirt, jeans, and her mom's old Midtown High jacket, she allowed herself to go fully aboveground.

Gonna keep my hood up in case anyone's looking for me, May decided. Confident that she was hidden, she made her way to Greenwich and her father's lab to grab some gear. If she used her key card to get in, the computer would register her entering. Luckily, years ago, Miles had taught her a way to bypass the system and get in undetected. Why, one might ask? Because it was epic, according to Miles. As an added precaution, May hacked into the security cameras to loop video of an empty hall and lab while she was inside.

Once all that was taken care of and she was in, May dug out her footlocker and opened it. She would need what was inside now more than ever: her handmade suit. Designed to be less conspicuous than the one her father had made her, it was black with purple in several places, including her own custom spider logo. Tying it together were a few subtle gold accents. The mask had all the abilities of her original suit's, but installed in the suit itself were some special gadgets that she had designed.

They're not quite past beta yet, she said ruefully to herself, but they'll have to do, especially since I lost my old web-shooters in the explosion. She decided against immediately changing, instead putting the suit carefully in her backpack. Looking back in her footlocker, May saw several small metal discs, less than an inch in diameter, each with the same purple spider as her new suit. My GPS tracking tags. I had almost forgotten about these. They're deactivated right now, so there's no risk of Dad discovering them and blowing my cover, but… Actually, that gives me an idea. She scooped them up.

Satisfied that she had everything she needed, she closed the footlocker, left the lab, and set the security system back to rights. Now, it was her against the city, taking on Stephens and whatever she might throw at Spider-Girl.