Peter Parker

As soon as they appeared, the four of us – Shadowcat, Frictor, Frenzy, and I – responded, situating ourselves in Time Square. We were leaning heavily on our powers, and for good reason. With the many inmates in the area, the numbers weren't on our side. They just kept coming. At one point, Frictor was grabbed by four different prisoners while a fifth person ran at him with a steel pipe. I was about to intervene, but I was reminded that Frictor was pretty crafty with his powers as he used them to literally slip out of their grasps before he grabbed the pipe out of the attacker's hands and swung it into his stomach. After he dropped the pipe, Frictor used his powers to decrease the friction on the ground, keeping his ex-captors at bay as he put distance between him and group. My attention was taken away when my Spider-Sense went off. A brick flew right into my head. I shook my head a bit, glad I was wearing my Black Dahlia Armor. I then turned and webbed down the escaped prisoner I assumed was the thrower. All throughout the fight, I couldn't help but think about the situation we were in.

This whole situation was weird to me. Sometime last night, Rikers Island was cleared out from top to bottom, with no cell left occupied and no sign of how every inmate escaped. Fast forward to the present, but all of the 10,000 or so inmates popped up all over New York all of a sudden, still in their prison jumpsuits.

"Am I the only one who finds this situation suspicious?" I grunted out as I kicked one of the escaped convicts into a wall. I quickly brought my hands out and shot webbing towards him, sticking him to the wall he hit.

"This situation's been stinking the moment Buford told us about it!" Frictor yelled back. I looked over my shoulder, seeing him knee a prisoner in the face. My senses went off. I saw two other escaped inmates run towards me. One of them was pulled into the ground and the other was intercepted by a speeding Frenzy, who sent her shoulder into them, sending them flying into a car. I cringed as I heard the sound of metal bending and glass breaking.

"Where the hell is the NYPD?" Joanna demanded as Shadowcat rose up through the ground.

"I don't know if you notice this, but all of New York City is under attack," Shadowcat pointed out. "They're probably spread thin."

"Edith, can you check NYPD calls to see if there's help on the way?" I asked.

"Scanning now," Edith replied. A few moments later, she spoke again. "Officers of the 29th Precinct are on their way. I believe Buford Hollis and Misty Knight are amongst them."

"What's the ETA?"

"About one minute."

"They'll be here in a minute!" As I said this, we all huddled up in a circle with our backs turned to the center as the group of prisoners surrounded us.

"Think we can hold them off for a minute?" Frictor asked.

"Spider-Man, Frictor, you guys are up," Kitty ordered.

"Superdome?" I asked.

"Superdome," Frictor said in agreement.

"Everyone kneel down!" As Shadowcat, Frictor, and Frenzy kneeled down, I used my webbing to form a dome all around us. The dome was rather compact as I used two strands of webbing to keep it from springing outward. Meanwhile, I heard the escaped inmates run towards the dome. I heard them pounding away, trying to break through.

"The ground is ready," Frictor grunted out. "Send it!"

I broke the lines. Suddenly, the dome exploded outward. I looked around as bits of web splattered everywhere. More importantly, the inmates were blown back, with some stuck to walls, vehicles, and the street because of the webbing.

"You got it all over the place," Frenzy commented as she looked around. She then looked at me and smirked. "Having flashbacks?" My lenses narrowed as I stared at her. Underneath my mask, I felt a bit warm in the face.

"Oh ha-ha," I deadpanned. Before Frenzy could tease me even more, I heard the sounds of sirens. Some seconds later, a whole bunch of NYPD squad cars and SWAT vehicles led by an SUV moved onto the scene. As soon as they came to a stop, several officers exited and swarmed in, including Misty Knight, Buford Hollis, and, to my surprise, Yuri Watanabe, who I remembered from the fire that served as the X-Men's coming out party… or return party, rather. Within the span minutes, the inmates were apprehended as we watched. I let loose a sigh of relief. This whole situation could have ended up a lot worse.

In hindsight, that was probably a sign that things were a bit too easy.

As the escaped inmates were being put in the back of the police vehicles, Buford, Misty, and Yuri approached us.

"Guys, we got to stop meeting like this," Frictor greeted with friendly sarcasm.

"Well, maybe if you actually visit me in Harlem with something not heroics-related, we'd meet under more peaceful circumstances," Misty pointed out.

Frictor chuckled. "Touché."

"Hello Spider-Man," Yuri greeted. She tilted her head. "Will I ever get to talk to you in your normal costume?"

"I'm sure that day will come soon," I replied, smiling underneath my mask.

Yuri chuckled before she became serious. "But are all of you okay? You guys didn't get hurt or anything did you?"

"Maybe a bruise here and there, but that's about it," Shadowcat answered. "I have to say, I'm surprised you're here. I thought you'd be in Chinatown."

"I was." Yuri looked over her shoulder. "I was with the rest of the 5th Precinct handling a situation there. Fortunately, both of the Iron Fists and Daredevil were there to help out." She looked back at Shadowcat. "There was also a situation at a bar Jessica Jones frequents, but her and the bartender handled quite easily. So, I was on the way back to the station to await orders before I came across this convoy of cars. So I joined them."

"Nothing like a good 'ole emergency call to get your blood pumpin'," Buford commented. "Though, next time, I'd prefer a cup of coffee."

"I hear that," Frenzy spoke up.

"Fortunately, the heroes of this city responded rather swiftly," Misty noted. "From what I can tell, we basically have this situation under control. We'll still likely be under lockdown for a long while. Even JFK's keeping the planes grounded for the most part, only allowing government vehicles to operate there."

"Pretty drastic, don't you think?" Frictor said.

Misty glared at him. "Frictor, you have to understand. We have to make sure that every inmate is accounted for. While this was obviously an attack that's somewhat coordinated, we can't be sure that none of the inmates tried to leave the city, state, or even the country. Even if we do successfully recapture everyone, that is only half the problem solved. From here, we have to figure out how they were able to slip out of Rikers Island without a trace and why."

Frictor sighed. "You're right." He looked up at one of the buildings. "This whole situation does stink to high heaven."

Misty made a noise of acknowledgment. "Yeah, it does. But, hopefully…"

I felt my Spider-Sense go off. I quickly I started looking around. Buford apparently noticed, because he started to speak as he looked at me. I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. My senses were on 11. That was when I heard it – the sound of a woman screaming out for help. I turned my head towards the direction of screams. Just beyond where the police cars gathered was a woman being dragged off into a black van – an old Astro Van, to be exact.

"I got it!" I yelled out. I then ran forward before I jumped onto one of the squad cars. I jumped form car to car, ignoring the protests from the few officers who voiced their displeasure. By the time I hopped off the last police car, the van sped off. I wasn't too worried. I wasn't a car expert, per se, but I knew enough to know that an Astro Van was far from a supercar. So, as I jumped into the sky and started webslinging, I was able to keep up with the vehicle easily. Even as the driver tried theirs best to make sharp turns to try and evade me, I was able to keep up with no difficulty. Still, my Spider-Sense was practically a siren in my head. I figured whoever was in that van was heavily armed. Making sure to be ready, I stayed on their tail until they turned into an alley.

I swung into the alley. Seeing that it was a dead end, I cut my line and let myself fall. After flipping backward, I landed in a three-point stance before I stood up and walked down the alley.

"Here we go again," I muttered to myself.

As I walked, the Astro Van came to a stop. There was nowhere for them to go. The door opened up. Out of the van came four men. They looked like your typical mercenary group – camouflage pants with boots, brown shirts with somewhat matching tactical vests, ski masks that hid their facial features, and assault rifles.

"Oh, I see you guys have the private military starter kit," I remarked with fake awe. "Nice, nice…" I sighed. "But honestly, guys, I kind of had a long morning. So, how about this? You let the woman you kidnapped go, and I'll act like this was a whole misunderstanding and let you guys walk. Do we have a deal?" The offer wasn't really sincere. Or maybe it was – I just had zero faith that they would take me up on tit. Sure enough, all four of them aimed their rifles at me. "…You know, when this is all said and done, you all are going to be in a cell wishing you took the deal." With that said, I quickly ran forward, going my top speed.

In a flash I was behind them. I grabbed one of them by the back of their collar and tossed them against a wall. They didn't even get a chance to bounce off of it before I webbed right against the spot they hit, quite a few feet off of the ground. As all three of them turned towards me, I grabbed one of their rifles and ripped it out of their hands. I raised my right knee and broke the rifle across my raised thigh before I tossed the pieces aside, grabbed the now unarmed gunman by his right arm, and turned, tossing him in the air in an arc. The gunman landed right inside of an open dumpster. After I shot a web over the dumpster's opening, I leaned backward, dodging a punch. I flipped backward, putting distance between me and the would-be fighter.

"I gave you guys a chance," I reminded them. I shot two strands of webbing at them. After they hit their chests, I cut the lines and yanked the strands, sending the gunmen flying towards me. I caught them with my hands. I slammed their heads together before tossed them off to the side in opposite directions. Without even looking, I webbed each of them down to the spot that they landed on. "Okay, now that that's done…" I turned and walked towards the van.

My senses were going crazy still, so I walked rather slowly. Once I reached the van, I looked inside of it. There was the woman. She was huddled up in the corner, hugging her knees, looking a bit fearful as she looked at me. It took her a moment to recognize who I was.

"Spider-Man?" she asked in a voice that was rather smooth and a bit deep.

I nodded. "That's me," I confirmed. "You can come up now." I stood back as she slowly got out of the van. I got a good look at the woman. She was a black woman, kind of tall, about my height. She had black hair reached down to her waist. She was dressed in simple clothing – a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt that said "I Love New York" (the "Love" was represented by a heart). She was also carrying a rather large purse. I figured she was a tourist. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not, thanks to you." She reached into her purse. "I have to call my husband."

My Spider-Senses went off again. Once again, they were on 11. I looked around, then turned my head towards the sound of engines. Some people were coming, I was sure.

"We can't stay here," I said. "I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

"You are a kind person, Spider-Man." She then sighed. "I'm really sorry that it has to be you."

I turned around. "What do you mean by - ?" I didn't get a chance to complete the statement. White powder was blown into my face. I ended up breathing quite a bit of it in. I started to cough violently as my sinuses and throat burned. I stumbled backward. I looked at the woman. I was seeing double. I tried to move my arms but I was unable to. Moments later, I fell down onto my back with a rather audible clunk. Had it not been for The Black Dahlia Armor, I probably would have been knocked out from the back of my head hitting the pavement. I tried to move, I really did, but my body wasn't moving an inch. I heard footsteps combined with the sound of two vehicles approaching. The mystery woman stood over me, frowning. She had a bottle in one hand and a rag in another. She kneeled down.

"I wish things could have been different," she whispered. She then put the cloth over my face. I wanted to struggle, but I couldn't. Within moments, I started to fade. As I slipped out of consciousness, I heard Edith's voice.

"Spider-Man, I detect unresponsiveness within your body. Are you okay? …Spider-Man? …Spider-Man?! …Sending an S.O.S. to Shadow-"

That was the last words I heard before I was out.