Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Overclocked Spiders. Enjoy the 4100-word chapter. I do not own Spider-Man, Disney, and Marvel do.
Ghost Spider walked the length of the roof, knowing that her spider-sense was going off like a machine gun for the moment and she could not for the life of her know what was causing it.
It almost made her want to scream only for it to go off again and make her turn in time to roll away from an orb that spun through the air toward her like a giant bomb. She blinked, looking at it before she turned.
There was a figure who landed on the other length of the roof. Dressed in a costume that was half blue and half silver, a giant spider emblem extended across his front, legs tapering around it, and small little web designs coloring their arms and legs.
She blinked. Another spider? There was more like her in New York? Cool, but she kept her fists up all the same, balancing on the soles of her feet.
"Hi." They said, flexing their hands, revealing a small slit on his wrist and gloves that ended in silver dots. "Trying to make a deposit?" They joked.
"Nope." Ghost responded, glancing at them.
'He looks like me without a hood… Is he the guy making my spider sense go off?' Ghost questioned, having no idea the other arachnid-based hero was having similar thoughts.
Ghost decided to act and work it out later as she raised her hand and fired a web line toward him. She blinked as he ducked, almost bending in half as the line missed him.
"I didn't come to fight." He stated before she pulled herself towards him. "H-Hey, chill!" He yelled.
Gwen went to launch a punch only for him to twist, catching it with his foot while planting a hand on the ceiling in a handstand.
"Chill!" He said before twisting again, using the momentum to push her back.
"You fired a web at me!" Ghost yelled. "I don't think you get to tell me to chill." Ghost yelled as he snorted.
"You are standing on a rooftop in broad daylight wearing a black, white, and PINK costume. Do you know how many people do that here? Well, besides street performers?" They asked.
Gwen went to say something but did not as he spun around, landing a kick which she dodged while maneuvering around her.
"Your costume looks like mine." He said, sliding across the roof.
"Same to you, mystery spider guy." Ghost Spider stated.
"Arachny." He stated, gaining a raised eyebrow from her. "What? You have a better name, slippers?" He stated, gesturing to her sea-form green ballet slippers.
"Ghost Spider." She said before launching into a kick which he blocked and then trying to grab his arm only for him to grab her other arm, using his other hand to complete another handstand.
She hummed as he blinked, the black lenses of his mask which seemed to have a sliver spider covering the mouth closed.
"Cool, how about we go grab some pizza and I ask why my spider sense is going crazy around you even BEFORE we started this little routine?" He joked.
She glanced up, her index and pinkie curling up like he often did. His spider-sense went into overdrive as he leaned backward, the object pinging into an air conditioning unit behind him.
It was then he realized she was using it to pull herself closer, tackling him and trying to use the momentum to slam him into the roof. He blinked and twisted in mid-air, planting his hands on the roof, and using his feet to flip her over him.
She slid for a second and landed in a perfect handstand as the two looked at each other.
"So, no?" He joked before he hummed. "How about we start with names? I'm your friendly neighborhood Arachny. And your… Ms. Flippy?" He joked.
"Ghost Spider." She stated as she went to swing at him only for him to block it.
"Ghost Spider? Why do people always pick cooler names?" Arachny muttered as he sighed to himself.
He went to punch her only for her to grab his arm, the two were locked in a stand-off for a moment before reaching up and kicking off the other's foot as they twisted away.
Both brought up their hands, letting web lines loose which the other dodged only barely by twisting to the side. They landed in crouches and stared at each other.
Both panted, taking a moment to collect their breath as he hummed, looking at her.
"Look… I DON'T want to hurt you unless I have to… I am honestly geeking out over your costume and how cool it looks compared to mine… But I am going to take a guess and say you are not going to rob that bank down the road, yeah?" Arachny asked.
"No, you?" Ghost Spider asked.
"Nah, don't need student grants yet." Arachny joked. "So… How about we get some Pizza, we not try and wrestle on someone's roof… And we go from there?" Arachny stated.
Ghost balled up her fists as Arachny held up his hands playfully. She dropped her hands and sighed, a deep breath coming from inside her mask.
"Sure…" Ghost said before she looked to the side. "Got some questions." Ghost stated.
"Yeah…. Me too." Arachny stated.
(5 minutes later)
The two sat in silence, sitting at a table as the man put the pizza down between the two. Arachny awkwardly looked at her for a moment.
"So… Spider lady who looks a lot like me for some reason…?" Arachny joked.
It was clear neither knew what to say. She knew more and more with each passing second what was going on, both had thrown themselves into a fight… Her spider-sense, the living radar in her head? It spun like an alarm bell in her brain.
She was silent for but a reason at the end of this day. There was something about it that had driven her all over the place… She had been too tired, too tired, and thrown off at the end.
She needed to be dealing with chaos at the end of the day, she had been able to try and figure out what was going on.
Ghost looked at Arachny who was silent and glanced at the ground. She seemed to realize that like her? He had no idea what he was doing, nothing at all.
The costume was cool, she gave him a once over and blinked at him as he tried and failed to wipe pizza from his face.
"It is not easy to eat this upside down," Arachny stated to which she hummed.
"You know we aren't friends just because we had pizza, right, dude?" Ghost Spider stated.
"Would you rather we play rock and sock robots or talk about it and ask why we're two people in spider-themed costumes in Knickerbocker Village?" Arachny asked, eyebrow raised.
"Still kinda figuring out your angle, dude." Ghost Spider said.
"My angle…. Is trying to be a superhero… And trying not to fail at it despite having about 3 weeks of being a superhero." Arachny said before he sighed to himself.
He seemed to try and figure it all out once more as he paused to try and figure it out as he fell silent.
He looked at her and then seemed to try and figure it out as he seemed to be more and more tired, more exhausted, more bored, and thrown off than he had been before.
Yes, it seemed only much to try and figure it out. She knew damn well how well that was working out and she was not stupid, neither wanted a fight, not so much when it came down to it…. But she tried.
"So…. Is it fun?" Ghost-Spider asked.
"Yes, you have no idea how much fun web swinging is… Well, maybe you do. I guess you probably have that power as I do… Never knew what I could do until I tried." Arachny stated as he placed another bit of pizza in his mouth.
"You have no idea what you are doing, eh?" Ghost asked as Arachny shrugged.
"If I did? It would not be fun… If I did not? Well, trade secret. You said we are not friends yet so I cannot tell you, can I?" Arachny stated in a tone that told her he was joking.
She snorted through her mask as the two looked over the rest of the city, very aware of the time that it would take to deal with it for now, and for a good reason.
She knew that he was trying to be funny but she could not tell who he was and she knew he could not be with her, it was just invisible chaos for now in its way.
It was not like either had forgotten what needed to be done and would need to be done, they had not. There was a LOT left to deal with and a LOT she could not properly manage.
Both she and he looked at each other, transfixed as to what was possibly done. It was clear both were heroes and they were both of a similar caliber when it had come down to here.
"So, what brings a friendly neighborhood superhero to the humble city of New York?" Arachny asked.
"I could ask you the same." Ghost stated.
"I came here for the lovely view." Arachny snarked as Ghost bit back the ability to giggle. "I was born here…. Kinda just doing my thing to defend my home. It has not been an easy 3 weeks since I started this gig but hey? That is superhero work… Even for rookies." Arachny stated.
"A rookie who decides to confront a possible bank robber with cheesy one-liners?" Ghost questioned.
"You do realize this city has dozens of people in costumes, right?" Arachny asked.
Gwen took another bite of her pizza contemplatively and shrugged before Arachny hummed. both looked over the skyline of New York, guessing there was something out in the city for them as he hummed.
"You have spider sense too?" Arachny asked as Gwen blinked.
"Spider wha?" Ghost stated.
"Little ringing sensation in the back of your neck? Kinda like a little alarm clock? Well, back of your neck, part of your frontal lobe in your brain?" Arachny said.
"Frontal or sensory cortex?" Ghost asked. "I kinda took science classes." Ghost stated.
"I do not know… Anyway, it is like an alarm clock that buzzes the second something bad is going on. Tells you where the danger is?" Arachny asked. "Mine was…. Telling me about you and it is still going off, weird, usually does not do that." Arachny stated.
"Well, mine is pounding like a snare drum at a Whirlwind concert and I assumed it was because you were a bad dude… Dude." Ghost stated.
"Hmm, so you do have powers like me. Huh, did not think the whole 'spider superpowered thing' was its brand… Might need to copyright it." Arachny said before he stood up. "Well? In any case, I need to get back to doing stuff like uh… Getting cats out of trees and saving balloons. You enjoy the pizza, consider it on the house for the mix-up." Arachny said as he stood up.
Ghost watched as he fired a web line attached to a building next to them, bracing for the plunge down the street.
"See you around, Ghost-Spider," Arachny said before finally leaping off and vanishing down the street before firing another web line and swinging down another street.
Ghost looked at her pizza then realized she also had to get back to her patrol… As odd as an encounter with a superpowered kid who also happened to have spider powers.
This city was weird… She knew New York was weird but not WEIRD. She decided she might want to know more about how he got his powers or such.
Could not hurt at the very least, right? The worst was she realized she was not alone and the best way she would find out more about this was to the end. She had zero clue what was going on, only that it could be done when it came down to it.
Gwen was oddly both confused and fascinated by the idea that this had gone on for so long… Then again? It was clear even to him that such a thing would be harder and harder to figure out.
Gwen was silent, very silent, and for good reason. They had a lot of things that she had yet not to understand… One was simply how little she knew about hero work.
Though, to be fair? She had just begun a few weeks ago… Expecting her to be skilled at all forms.
She hummed before she looked to the side, guessing that part of her had to understand what was going on now… It was odd enough that such a thing had been passed on… Much than before long.
She looked around and guessed that all of it up till now was not enough…. At least in her mind when she thought about it to the end.
Gwen leaped from the building and then flew downwards the street on a web line. She had been too tiresome, far too eager to figure it out now, and for good reason.
All of it became harder and harder to deal with… That? And Gwen could guess just how odd it was.
She quickly got back into the mindset of ghost spider, being more amused by this than anything… Gwen paused to think of what was growing in her mind.
What kind of hero was he? She did not know as she had not met him, did not for the life of her understand him… No, she just fought for the good guys… Anything else was not important enough when one considered it now and for good reason.
"Ok, he is going to be on the mind for a long time, isn't he?" Ghost-Spider thought as she perched atop a building close to her friend. "Something about this all is weird…. Something about today is just weird." Ghost-Spider thought as she paused to herself.
All her mind raced with the idea something worse was going on… She had been through too much to be pushed backward like this, it was so odd that even she was confused.
She sighed and then thought more and more of what was growing on her mind… Each little second on her mind was growing harder and harder.
Gwen decided that something else was going on and she needed each day to get better at being a hero.
She raced towards home, racing to see what she could do now…. Knowing that she had to be home soon anyway, there was no time to patrol as she also had to prepare for school tonight… She did not know what was going on when it came down to it.
That did not help at all when push came to shove. He of all people made this up, too much had been left to chance… Now it had become too much for now when it came to it… He had a lot more to see and do.
Gwen of all people was left fully at the mercy of it all when push came down the line when it came down to it.
Arachny… Arachny was a semi-cool name, she might have heard it on the side of a cereal box but it did not instantly make things better.
So much had been beaten into the ground, too eager to figure it out now and for good reason. She knew now that it would become harder and harder to deal with it now… So much had been based on it, so much had been done to fix it.
They held onto it so much that it hurt, so much had been applied to it to the end.
He had a lot of things that had been over and dusted… HE of all people was odd to her when it came crashing down.
He and she were different spiders but spiders were still the same. There was too much that had been going on for her to confirm it but she felt insanely on edge. Her spider-sense had hammered like a drum around him, making her ponder just what it had been.
She and he both needed to think, to understand it better.
Who was he? Why did she bump into her when he did? Who had given him the powers he had? A thousand questions had gone on and she had held answers to NONE of them, NONE of them when it had been decided.
They held onto NOTHING for now… Nothing had been good enough for now, nothing of it all had been enough to make her questions taste any sweeter.
She of all people was too eager to figure something out now. all of it is simply shown through it all.
She and he both knew at the end of the day that such a thing would become harder and harder.
She and he were connected… And that made sense in no physical way now, she did not know him and he surely did not know her… Not at all now, something that had surprised her now and would continue to surprise her.
She did not know Arachny and he did not know her but in some manner? They were drawn together by fate or something, that bothered her in some sort of way when it had come crashing down to the ground.
She had a LOT more to try and figure it out now when it came down to it at the time being.
She would be done and dusted at the time being as she paused to try and figure it out now when it came down to it as of now. They had a LOT more to it now, something she could not leave to chance.
She had more to do, sure…. But she also wished to quell whatever doubts that were active within her mind… Yes, doubt that she had given form.
It was clear whatever had come next. Well, Gwen wished to be ready for it which also meant getting to know the costumed warriors of the city.
So? She swung down the same street Arachny did, flipping and twirling like a ballerina before she unleashed another web line mid-air, twisted so the momentum carried her down the street, and swung around the corner.
Her spider-sense began to buzz and let out a whining noise in the back of her head like a steel drum. Well, it reminded her that Arachny had to be close as she heard NOTHING resembling gunfire, and saw no carjackings or anything resembling a robbery or such.
No, it was clear he was close. Something that she was rewarded with the blue costumed superhero as she spun and landed on the wall beside him.
"So…" Ghost stated as he turned to look at her.
"Did you…. Eat an entire pizza in the span of around five minutes?" Arachny asked to which Ghost shrugged.
"You ate half and I ate half." Ghost stated to which Arachny hummed, clearly a bit caught off guard.
"There are a lot of things which I think we need to discuss." Ghost stated.
"Yeah, your pizza-eating skills." Arachny joked as she glanced at him. "Kidding… What did you want to talk about? I am still surprised to see another person like you running around… Usually, most people do not have my… I do not think anyone has my powers besides you." Arachny stated.
It was not a lie meant to be disheartening now. She knew he was caught off guard now and for good. One usually did not see TWO spider-themed heroes running around New York City.
Granted. They held massive potential in the form of not knowing ANYTHING about each other.
He glanced at her and she glanced back, the edges of their eye lenses making the most awkward of looks to each other at the time being.
"So, you have powers like mine." Ghost Spider stated after a moment of hesitation.
"Well, I have powers… But I would respectfully consider them powers unique to me… Or whatever type of spider that bit me. I do not know much about who or IF they were given to me for any reason." Arachny stated.
It was clear to him that he had ZERO idea of what was going on. In her mind? She found that fair since it could have been something that needed to be done with. Both were somewhat beating down the bush and it was clear the more they focused on it.
The more it became clear to them that such an idea would become harder and harder to understand now and for good reason at the end of the day. Something about it all was odder and odder and that suited them BOTH at the time being.
She and he were two different when it came crashing down to it, they had a LOT more than could have been done and dusted now when it came crashing down.
She and he were both quiet. He and she were silent, both were able to think of it when all was said and done.
She and he were thrown off now, they had a LOT more to try and figure it out now as of the time being. They had a LOT of different things when it came down to it. They had a LOT of different ideas to figure out.
Ghost-Spider looked over at Arachny who had been able to think, he of all people was ready to think and act, to think once more.
"Are you ok? Because I think you are looking a little fuzzy." Arachny said before he sighed, pausing only to lament when it came down to it as of now.
She did not know what was growing for now, they had a LOT more to deal with now, and for good reason. Arachny looked over at her, pausing now, and for a reason she could not have understood.
She and he were in different straights now, they were in the same boat and it was clear such was going to be the case at the time being.
"So…. We have a lot of things to talk about." Ghost-Spider stated to which Arachny hummed.
He seemed to be eager for now. They had a lot of details racing through their minds, something about it all seemed to be done and dusted.
The two spiders lay on the wall, both were confused, fascinated at the time with it all. Ghost-Spider was amused, too interested in the next word, an idea that passed through their heads up and down.
Both were… Oddly at peace with the city. Wind whipped by them, the sound of car horns was heard below and ALL of them were eager to think of it more and more.
Ghost and Arachny seemed keen to simply wait and think for now, think to the end of the day what would become of the city as they lay here, pondering it all.
He said nothing as he looked at the white-clothed spider. He had never been faced with one who was… Like him, to be fair? He had not expected to, not even a damn inch now.
Odd, yes… But not entirely out of the question, they had a LOT of odd things at the end of the day, something that needed to be done and dusted.
He simply stared ahead, keen on rather than NOT knowing for now what was going on… Well, nor or forever would he have been able to get it all the way done.
He was about to speak up again before an explosion cut them off, flinging fire dozens of feet into the air and destroying any tension the duo might have had now.
A LOT of fun if he was entirely honest. All of it seemed to be done with it when it was all said and done… She wished it to be over and she wished to figure it all out when it came down, something about it all came down the line… Something about this made it MUCH harder than before now.
She did not even know what was growing down the path… Something about it ALL seemed to be done and dusted.
Gwen looked to the side, pausing for a moment as she leaped downwards.
Ghost-Spider and Arachny both seemed to leap downwards. She thought of what was growing on her mind.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! The next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will be 900-6500 words. The next chapter will be 900-6500 words and will show MORE of both Gwen and Jason starting to learn more about each other. Until then, Lighting Wolf is out!