It wasn't a lie,

But in context it was and that was enough for it to feel wrong for Cindy, saying she was going to meet and hang out with some of Miles's friends. There was a bit of shame from making the inadvertent pun. Knowing the reason why she was going out, part of her wanted to do that conversation over and just say that she was going to meet with Miles's friends.

Donning the costume, jacket and shoes, Cindy waited at her water tower.

With the chill in the air, she felt just how thin this costume was.

Fall was either on the horizon,

Or was coming early.

She contemplated zipping up the jacket, maybe to keep it from catching on anything, but she decided against it.

Besides, it wasn't that chilly yet.

She looked over at her home,

Thinking of her Father -

Should she tell him about this?

How much did he suspect?

Did he suspect anything?

She felt her wrist, the place where her webs primarily shot out of -

Did he already know?

She closed her eyes,

Then shook her head.

Her head perked up when hearing a thump come from atop the water tower.

She smiled, "Hey."

"Hey, yourself." Peter said as he dropped down. "I've thought about it, and I knew why I recognized that costume - some guy who wanted to 'spread the legend' went around dressed as me."

"Was he a goof?" Cindy said, arching her brow, waving a finger at her head.

"Ha, no. His heart was in the right place, but he was merely doing things the wrong way. Saved him from a moment where he realized just how dangerous being like me actually is. Told him to give free self-defense lessons at FEAST, and he still does to this day. Last I heard."

"No wonder," Cindy said, "The mask smelled awful. I'm guessing he ran from one place to another?" Registering what Peter said, her eyes shifted in trying to recall something, but she couldn't grasp it.

"From what I can gather. Pretty fast for a guy on foot. Actually had to follow his trail. If he had webs like us, that would be troublesome. Ready?"

With a single motion of her hand, Cindy made her mask, then looked over, "What's first?"

"Still kinda weird you can do that..." Peter said, "Let's start off slow. Let me see how good you can zip across buildings and rooftops."

"And..." Peter reached up to touch his temple, "Its not like the hologram stuff that Miles had, buuut..." He shot a small projectile from his web shooter at the top of the water tower, from which a green light shone above creating a ring.

All around the nearby buildings, lights appeared showing grey holographic rings, presumably other projector darts.

"Its simple," Peter said, "Smaller - and, uh, way cheaper..."

"Its definitely something." Cindy said, shrugging.

"The first step," Peter said, before leaping up onto the railing of the water tower, then pointed up at the top, "Go on. Green one's the start. I'll be watching up here."

Cindy glanced around at the impromptu course Peter made.

It really was a first step,

Made around her neighborhood,

That she moved into not too long ago.

She took another glanced around the neighborhood, realizing that she still doesn't know much of the local places.

She zipped up to the water tower.

"The moment you go through that ring," Peter said, "The next ring pops up. Count down, here you go - three, two, one - go!"

Peter watched on,

And was pleasantly surprised -

The way Cindy leapt, zipped, even threw herself to pounce at the environment - kicking off the environment, sliding. Peter even wanted to say it was like watching a rock skip on water. Cindy was a natural. He and Mary-Jane had discussed the possible differences of growing up with powers as opposed to obtaining them suddenly then getting accustomed to them like he did, how it would affect a person.

With how consistent Cindy kept her speed showed more credence to this thought. Even using false color to watch the muscles in Cindy's body as she moved. It wasn't that she wasn't as strong as he or Miles, but the fact that she was either subconsciously or consciously focusing her exertion on specific parts of her body to give that same effect or possibly greater. In some cases this was shown off plainly, like where she threw herself over the distance of three houses after miscalculating her jump and landing on a fire escape. As an analogy, Peter thought of putting force on one's fingers when throwing a ball or using one's toes in running or jumping.

When Peter was still in school he had delved into the odd world of Feral Children when he was thinking of that pulp hero raised by gorillas that became popular during the early twentieth century. Children that were neglected or abandoned and raised by animals. He thought about the one boy that was raised by wild Gazelles, who was capable of catching up with his pack and outrun a jeep. Although it was supposedly a hoax, Peter couldn't help but think about the story when watching how Cindy moved.

A grace and finesse that seemed not out of the ordinary when it came to him and Miles,

But now with this opportunity to look at it with focus, the more he saw it from Cindy the more unnatural it seemed to him. He and Miles were fast, there was no doubt about that, compared to a normal person, But looking at Cindy move, it was almost as though he was looking at a Huntsmen spider moving in the body of a human being.

All that, including the fact that Cindy's webs were organic, Peter couldn't help but wonder of Cindy's potential -

Improve what was already there,

And the discoveries that could come later.

But, with how Cindy carried and thought about herself, and the baggage that he could feel bobbing at his mind that she is keeping tightly shut with gorilla tape -

Will she even take the leap?

Having gotten through his own troubles within the last two months, he knew that this stuff has to be let go willingly. Everything has some sort of hold on the mind, but some things the mind clenches for the sake of safety and comfort.

He saw how she glanced at her neighborhood.

He wondered if she knew any of it.

Some first steps are harder for some people,

And some never make that step.

What was going to incentivize Cindy?

He could talk about this with Miles. Or maybe he, himself, could be the one to help her. In fact, it already seemed like a good idea, given the connection they shared. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was some cross over between him in his younger years and Cindy right now.

But, he already knew -

Opening up, was not easy for a lot of people.

Cindy landed back at the water tower and her time showed in his HUD.

"Heh... Miles is gonna be upset once he hears how fast you out paced him in your first course." Peter said.

"Why, cuz he sucked?" Cindy said matter-of-factually.

"Pffft! C'mon, we all gotta start somewhere. Should've seen me when I started out."

"Think I can imagine that - with your magnifying glasses."

"They weren't THAT big like that mouth of your's. B for wit."

"You're grading me?"

"Miles was bad at quipping when he started out. Baby spiders gotta start somewhere."

Cindy winced at that.

"Sorry." Peter said, "So, you ready for big leagues?"

"Big leagues?"

Peter was telling her something,

But Cindy was too busy looking down from the skyscraper to listen.

The ground so far,

Yet so close.

A city so loud,

Yet quieter the more one went up.

She stared.

She felt it.

She lifted her foot, dangling it over the edge.

"Cindy?"

"Yeah?" She said, turning around to look at Peter, putting both of her feet on the roof now.

"Are... you okay?"

"Yeah, just waiting on you."

Peter stared for a moment, the doubt radiating off of him like summer heat, "Okay then." Peter shot another one of those projection darts from his web shooter and it latched onto the lower building nearby.

"Something easy," Peter said, "You said that the webs shooting from your wrist are kinda sensitive?"

"Yeah. It tickles if I touch a the main line, sometimes it makes me shoot another line because of that."

"Which is the 'main line?'"

"Its not the whole line that comes out. Its... I call it the main line because its the one that makes me feel the whole web-line."

"I guess we're getting a look at how spiders feel when they swing then. Okay. Simple swing, nothing big. But, I'll be watching in case your line breaks. Here."

Peter pulled out an ear bud of some kind from his suit and handed it to Cindy.

"Where did you keep that?" Cindy said, taking it and putting it to her ear.

"Utility pockets. Took me a while to figure out how to make em. Lost a, lot, of phones that way."

As Cindy was putting the ear bud to her ear, she felt a tiny button of some kind on its side and pressed it. After a moment, there was a dull clicking like a call being picked up.

"Testing (Testing). Can you hear me (Can you hear me)?" Peter said.

"Yep, and you're echoing because your so close."

Peter zipped to the lower building where he shot the projection dart, he waved, "Sound fine now?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Whenever you're ready, no time limits or anything. Your first swing."

Cindy looked up at the nearby skyscraper and shot her web-line. Once holding it in hand, she ran her thumb over it -

She looked down,

Saw the bottom,

Saw how close it seemed to be,

How easy it seemed,

All she needed...

Was to step off.

Although far up, the city seemed to cry out,

Louder,

Screaming;

The lights - the street lights, the windows, the car lights -

All looking at her,

Bright eyes of expectancy.

The street climbed up the buildings from the bottom, coming higher and higher, talking to her -

'Its okay. Its only one step.'

The black color of the street became wider, yawning out the white of the sidewalk, swallowing the people, the lights, the windows, the cars -

'One step. Just, one, step.'

The black reached up and cupped her cheek -

'Its okay.'

All noise was drowned out by the wind of the breathing, so loud it seemed to be howling in her ears.

Slow,

Breathy.

A storm that howled in its crawl.

'Cindy.'

She slowly took a step forward,

And let herself drop into the dark,

The rushing wind blowing against her the welcoming breath.

She couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything - falling in the dark forever, mind empty and body limp.

'Cindy.'

Then something pulled her arm, veering her to the side.

But it didn't take away the peace, the sensation of nothingness, settling within her.

'Cindy.'

Yes, the place,

This pure place,

It was where she -

"...wall! Cindy, wall! The building!"

She blinked, her head perking up slightly -

Wall?

She looked over -

Thunk!

Startled and feeling the pain suddenly hit her, she felt her face to cope with the pain, only to find that her left hand was connected to the web-line that was connected to the skyscraper she slammed into the side of.

Blinking, the world changed, came into focus -

The skyline,

The blue of the sky,

The buildings of New York reaching into the distance and the water surrounding it,

The building she slammed against - looking inside, she saw that she had startled the people inside and they were now looking at her, she saw someone pulling out their phone. She waved in an apology before holding her face again.

There was the thumping of Peter landing next to her.

He reached out, "You okay?"

Cindy nodded, "Just give me a moment."

Peter gave her that moment before speaking up, "What was that? It looked like... you were here and suddenly you were just... gone."

Cindy paused to waited until the paid faded, "Can we not... Is it okay if I don't swing? I can run and zip to make up for it."

After a moment of thinking, Peter finally shrugged, "Okay. But that's going to be weird for everyone - a spider person not swinging?"

"Mi - The other spiderman's got his bio-electricity. People can handle me being... not like you. As long as I can get from one place to another, right?"

"Sure. If you wanna be serious with this."

"Serious..."

Sirens went off in the distance, diverting their attention.

"Wanna see if this is something you'd wanna do?"

Even though Cindy already knew what she wanted, she made the effort to seem like she thought about it before shrugging, "Eh, why not? How bad can it be?"

"You slammed into a building and said that? You're going to jinx it."

Cindy shoot her web line to a building, "I've had worse." Then tugged it to have herself zip to it, her kicking off the skyscraper and using the reeling of her web-line gave her a boost that shot her across at a surprising burst of speed.

"Bet you have," Peter said to himself, "You're not willing to tell us anything yet." He followed her, towards the sirens.

The officers responded to a call for backup regarding a conflict between heavily armed men in purple shirts against people dressed in red who seemed to be obsessed with fire, using fire adjacent equipment like flamethrowers and branding irons.

When they arrived on the scene, they were greeted with the moment of the purple shirts spraying bullets in the people in red, who were barely being affected by them, if at all. Any clothing that the people in red wore were now fully crimson and sticking to their bodies. But no matter the amount of injury that obtained, they didn't fall. In fact, it only seemed to encourage the people now-in-crimson to press their assault, forcing the people in purple shirts to act on defense.

"What in the world am I looking at?" One of the officers said, all of them feeling that giving the usual spiel wouldn't do anything for the conflict at hand.

That was when they heard the sound of zipping webs and the officers looked up and saw Spiderman,

And the new Spiderwoman, who recoiled and held her nose.

"What in the world am I looking at?" Spiderman said.

"Spiderman!" Called an officer, "Whatever is going on, the guys in red are pressing against the guys in purple."

"Red?" Spiderman said, "The Flame? Alright, we got this, hang back."

Peter looked over at Cindy, "You, too. This -"

Their senses went off -

Cindy's eyes darted to the grenade flying through the air towards them, the Flame Cultist who threw it evidently having stolen it from one of the men in purple. Her body moved on instinct, shooting a web-line to it to snatch it out of the air to throw it back.

"Ci - Spiderwoman!" Peter yelped.

She gasped upon realizing what she had done and tried shooting another web-line in an attempt to catch it again and throw it somewhere else. But it was too late. It landed in the face of the Flame Cultist before exploding.

A crimson inky membrane suddenly fanned out from the Flame Cultist from the grenade's explosion, also revealing that the legs and arms of the cultist remained in place. Giving an image of a crimson sheet with disembodied limbs attached to its corners.

Cindy, Peter, the officers, and the purple shirts stared in shock and awe as the membrane suddenly shot back into one mass, forming a red body with a wet moisture that looked eerily similar to blood, constantly moving - torso, neck, and a head.

"Burn the Spiders!" The cultist exclaimed, as though never had happened to them.

At once, all the other cultists rushed for Cindy and Peter.

White enveloped Peter's suit, forming the anti-symbiote suit, "Stay back, this is too much."

"They want us both, Spiderman." Cindy said, before the cultists were upon them, after dodging a blow aimed for her stomach, "I'll distract the stragglers until you can deal with them. Do your thing, Spiderman!"

Using the tendrils that shot out of his suits, Peter dragged a majority of the cultists to him. Leaving Cindy to deal with six that escaped it.

With her swiftness, Cindy dodged and weaved through the six -

Zipping through their legs,

Twirling over them,

Kicking off of them,

Striking defensively to stop their attacking momentum or zipping them to throw them off balance,

Stunning them by shooting webs in their faces -

Cindy put two fingers together and had her webs build around them before shooting them off as a heavy projectile. It landed on one cultist, throwing them to the ground.

"Huh." She said, "Didn't think that would work. If I can do that then what about..."

She allowed her hands to become swathed in webs to act similar to iron knuckles. Her punches were fast and light, the effect of the web knuckles clear on the way the cultists jerked and jumped their bodies, using the videos she has seen of boxers as reference. The good ol' one-two, one-two.

One of the larger cultists, one of the six, rushed at her. Instead of leaping over or dodging, the heat of the moment made her rush in kind, bringing her web knuckles together and made a wide sweep to hammer them at the large cultist's side.

At the moment of impact, she felt the main line making both her web knuckles tickle her and she clenched her fists instinctively. Her web knuckles exploded, throwing the large cultist to the ground. The other cultists prevented her from fully comprehending this moment and bringing her out of her shock. Soon, however, the large cultist rejoined the fray.

After a moment, Peter had dealt with half of the cultists he had pulled towards him, all proving to have a tenacity that they didn't have before.

"Sleep can do wonders for your mental health, guys. Just saying." He commented.

"Burn the unworthy!"

"Too much sugar, I guess." He added.

Dodge,

Dodge,

Dodge,

Parry,

Off-balance an opponent -

"Getting tired, guys?" Cindy said, "Maybe if you guys weren't cultists you guys would have time to improve that."

Her senses flared up inside of her before the cultist made their mad grins.

Thump-thump, thump-thump -

Her heart beat in her ears,

Her breathing paced.

They were about to do something, but the uncertainty made Cindy panic for a moment. It was the fact that all seven of the cultists had stopped what they were doing and were staring at her with ambiguous intent, unblinking.

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

"Uh... H-hey guys... You're making me blush here, I -"

Red crimson tentacles exploded out from the seven cultists, shooting towards Cindy. The surprise startling her stiff and she could only watch as the tentacles flew towards her.

Thump-thump, thump-thump

"Ssssspiiiideeer...!"

Hearing Peter's voice in such a long, drawn out way brought Cindy out of her stunned state, blinking. She glanced around, everything around her was slowing down to a near crawl. Looking at Peter, he was reaching out to Cindy, even shooting a web to try to get her out of the way of the tentacles still reaching for her, allowing the few cultists that were still fighting him an opening to press forward.

Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump

Cindy winced and felt her chest, felt her heart racing horses inside her chest.

She glanced around again, assessing the situation,

Whatever this was, she wasn't going to waste it.

She dashed off at highest speed at which she could managed with her heart acting in such a way. She neared the cultist closest to Peter and kicked at their leg still on the ground as they were in mid-sprint.

Then the others -

Tugged an arm,

Pulled a head back,

Over-extended a reeled arm,

Snatched a weapon out of a hand and tossed it to the side.

Thump-thump-thump, thump-thump-thump

Cindy grit her teeth and her face twisted in pain, clutching at her chest.

She set her eyes on the seven cultists and shot out a web only to see it shot out slowly. She cut the line from inside her arm and took a step to advance forward but the pain grew unbearable and she fell to her hands and knees.

"-Woman! Huh?"

Boom!

The red tentacles that shot out from the seven cultist dug into the concrete of the street.

The cultists that Cindy adjusted stumbled or fell to the ground.

Peter saw Cindy on the ground, and he saw the cultists getting up, "Don't move!" He cried out as he shot a gadget from his web shooter.

The projectile suddenly shot out numerous web lines that pulled the grounded cultists in and webbed them together. He then leapt in front of the six that tried to hit Cindy with the tentacle barrage and used the tentacles from his suit to snatch them up and slam them down. Soon after, he gripped with the tentacles to try to tear the possible symbiote they have from them when they suddenly dissolved into a red liquid.

The cultists that were webbed together followed suit, their forms hissing as they dissolved.

"What in the world...?" Peter said before his white suit dissolved into his body.

He went to Cindy, "Ci - Spiderwoman." He helped her up, "You okay? What's wrong? How did you move so fast?"

Cindy hunched, her hand pressed against her chest, "I'm fine, just... give me a moment. But... what happened to them?"

"I... I don't know. But looking at what's... left, it makes me wonder if they were really here at all."

The officers earlier approached, asking the same thing.

As Peter told them their thoughts on the issue, the purple shirts approached them from other end, causing the Cindy and Peter and the other officers to be on edge.

"Willie's making a move now?" Peter said, "After what had happened during the symbiotes and Kraven?"

One of them approached, their finger to the intercom in their ear before pulling a phone. They tapped the screen before presenting it, showing a video call of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin.

"Hey, Willie," Peter waved, "Lounging in prison, I see."

"Hmph," Kingpin scoffs, "Lounging... if only you knew. I am the underground that keeps New York safe while you swing above. And I see you have a new protege."

Cindy averted her eyes, not liking the way Kingpin was looking at her.

He looked back at Peter, "I know what happened while I was gone, Spiderman."

"Aw, nice of you to love me so much."

"The black suit?"

As a response, the white anti suit returned, "Never again." His voice stern.

"Hmmm... Finally grown up after all these years? But I'm sure not even you three can handle what is coming. A storm's brewing behind the curtain, Spiderman. The man who calls himself Cletus Kasady."

Peter became silent and his gaze became more attentive, while Cindy glanced between Kingpin and Peter, prompting the man to continue.

"Over the last month and a half while things have become quiet on the surface, turmoil has been spreading in the underworld. His Flame nutjobs have been starting to call themselves 'Chosen' by their 'God', and Cletus is acting as their Enoch. Believe it or not, he's spreading me thin. Hammerhead hasn't been doing well, either."

"...You're working with Hammerhead?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Spiderman. And from what I can tell, we, are going to make a lot of friends in the coming days."

Kingpin reached towards his phone and tapped away before his video call shrank to the corner to reveal a blurry photo -

A ruined dimly lit room with the light above dangling to the side, giving the barest light to show the crimson amorphous thing that nearly blended into the dark of the photo. The thing was humanoid, seemingly in a melting-state, which was contradicted by what could only be claws, the spiraling tendrils roiling from its vaguely humanoid shape. Despite everything that was obscured in the photo, the red gaping maw and the large jagged whites of what could only be eyes gave a bone-chilling gaze at the camera. Although it was only a photo, the sheer intent seemed to bleed through the screen and exude out, making Cindy rub her arms.

"...What is that?" Peter said.

"Our enemy." Kingpin said.

"What's the progress?"

"You can't rush me, Norman. Even with all the resources you've given me, I'm only one man. Oh, if only you had the gall to -"

"I get it!" Norman sighed, tossing his head more than shaking it as he paced back and forth, "I'm already assembling a team to help production."

"And you think your people can fix the imperfections? I told you what would happen, Norman."

"Take that function out, as great as it could be. Time's running out. Wilson -"

"Playing ball with the King now, Norman? That's not like you at all. Not. At. All."

"We don't have the time!" Norman snapped, "My people and his are comparing notes - the red symbiote is vulnerable to ice, extreme cold. The black one was in the same vessel and was likely the only thing keeping it from freezing in space."

"Any principals or notes that you have I can work off of, Norman? You can't expect me to make an ice cream machine out of nothing."

Norman put a folder in a two way chute on the window pane of Otto's cell, "There. Along with reports of the red symbiotes current capabilities."

Hearing this and the specific word choice, Otto stood from his desk and went over to pick up the folder, reading through he came across what Norman meant, "...'symbiotic mass'?"

"The red symbiote's 'Chosen' ones."

"Where did you get this from Wallie?"

"Heh, would you believe me if I stole it from a Oscorp truck?"

"Off'a them? Goddamn, man. You're asking for a deathwish. I hear them lawyers are fierce for Oz."

"All the more, right? Besides, this one of the suits those Spiderguys and that Spidergirl were fighting."

"But didn't this suit kill the guys wearing it?"

"Its a fail safe feature, apparently." Wallie said, "All we have to do is remove it. And the... crushing plate."

"Ffff... Lola ain't gonna like this."

"What the harm? Besides, it not everyday we get to take a peek at Oz tech." Wallie started opening the suit.

"Well... But, ever since we found out Lizzie and Rat were fine -"

"The Spider-Lady," Wallie said, "Yeah. Sounds like a dotting mother, if you ask me. Betch'a guys would with that outfit she wears."

"Well..."

"I would. Don't care if she got mandibles, that body's worth it."

"This why you got no B's, Reggie."

"Ain't a crime to accept how beautiful women can be, Rinnie."

Rinnie shook her head with a sigh, touching her forehead.

"Wallie," Rinnie said, "Really, this feel too risky."

"Just a peek." Wallie insisted, "Its not like its gonna stand up and kill us on its own. Besides, I doubt Oz would wanna keep this anyway. If they put a fail safe on here, they knew it would be disposable."

The wall off to the side glowed purple as a doorway segmented itself open and a familiar girl with blonde hair and glasses walked through.

"Guys," Rafferty said, "I told you not to use this during..." She trailed off once seeing the suit.

Rafferty's eyes became stern and a scowl slowly came onto her face, "Who?"

Reggie and Rinnie pointed at Wallie, were shyly smiled.

"You know I have to tell Lo."

Wallie put his hands together, "Its only a peek I swear, not gonna do anything else. After that... Eh, we can make it a... coat-hanger or, something."

Cindy was listening to her music as she sat on the park bench, feeling that life was coming at her too fast. Although the events that brought her to where she was with Miles and Peter weren't so sequential, it was how big they felt and the impact that came from them that caused that winded feeling.

She should have been slower with all of this,

But how?

Maybe not reveal herself to Peter and Miles the way she did or so soon, it felt,

But given how tactile she was, the truth was going to come out sooner rather than later.

How long would she had hidden the fact that she was their Imposter running at night, dealing with thugs,

Maybe a few weeks longer?

Was there a better way to deal with all of this,

Probably.

But in what way?

Revealing everything.

No!

That... the idea of saying...

Yeah.

Too soon, too hurtful, too harsh. And... she didn't want people to look at her that way anymore...

Those eyes of pity...

Strange how the eyes of contempt were more easy to swallow.

Life really was a strange world of opposites and oddities, huh?

Cindy sighed and closed her eyes, trying to find an ounce of peace within herself, stable her emotions. But feeling a familiar presence nearby she opened her eyes. She looked over and saw a familiar little girl jogging up to her with her father behind her, holding a bag of fast food. A bearded man with glasses was behind him.

"Hi, Cindy!" Marie greeted her, "We just got some food and wanted to eat here. We got some for you, if you want."

"Uh, sure."

Harris and the bearded man caught up.

"Cindy, Marie wanted to come by to see if you were here again. Thank god..." Harris said.

Marie pouted at her father for saying that.

"Oh!" Harris stepped aside and gestured to the bearded man, And, uh, this is my co-worker."

The bearded man stepped forward and held out his hand for a handshake,

Cindy took in and felt something strange about him. She couldn't quite put it into words. For the lack of better words, a fluctuating feeling was the closest way she could define it.

"Hello." He said, with a warm smile, "Marie and Harris has told me about you - well, Marie mostly. I'm Paul Rabin, its nice to finally met you."