Journeys of the Spider: Sunset's desert path

                                                   DISCOUNT HEROISM

>"With great power, there must also come great responsibility"
>Those were Celestia's last words to you before she died
>Well, before you ran away
>But now you are both on good terms
>Which is good
>You admit, you don't have a very tragic backstory
>You were evil for a while
>Then you stopped being evil
>Some time later, you acquired the powers of a spider
>And here you are
>The Baconastic Arachnid-friend
>Thinking to yourself
>Or is it all exposition?
>You can't separate your thoughts from what seems to be an omnipresent voice
>It's been driving you insane
>It's been like that as long as you can remember
>It didn't used to be like this
>Luckily your arthropod early warning system is tingling
>Something is up
>Something...villainy
>You scan around from the top of the school building
>Because of course you'd be at school
>It's actually the center of the town
>Well, the parts of town that matter
>You see two young hooligans trying to steal a car
>You angel jump from the top
>And gracefully fall into some trees
>Some might think that was your plan
>Others may say that you are an inadequate super-hero (you prefer super-hero over super-heroin. It easier to say and doesn't take that much out of the context)
>To each there own
>It doesn't matter what other may think of your prowess
>All that matters here is that you are closer to the villains
>You slowly creep out of the trees. Covered in the shadows of the night
>Like some pervert
"Carpooling tonight, boys?"
>"Whuh?"
>*SMACK!*
>You slug one of the kids
>He's out cold
>"W-wait!"
>*KABLAM*
>The other one is down
>You tie them up with your webbing
>You hear voices in the distance
>You jump towards the bushes
>You don't like to get praised, but you do enjoy seeing the faces of the people you've helped
>At least you think you do
>You are kind of new to this superheroing thing
>"We found your car keys, man! You don' have to break into your c-ca..."
>A group of kids stares at the two "culprits" you caught earlier
>Looks like it's time to make your dashing exit into the night
>You run out of the bushes into the opposite direction
>When you've gained enough momentum you jump and shoot your web
>It sticks to a nearby building
>There are always nearby buildings
>You aren't sure you've ever seen them before or what they actually are
>But you are thankful that they are there
>And so ends the first night of heroics for the newest protector of
>...
>um...
>your home town!
>The Phenomenal Wallcrawling Person!
>You are still thinking of a name



>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as The Exceptional Webweaving Avenger
>You are still working on the name
>After your first night as a vigilante, you didn't have much to show
>You beat up two honor students designated drivers who had lost their car keys
>The school newspaper, the weekly trumpet, is calling you a dangerous degenerate
>The students go around always in groups, just in case you strike again
>It was just an honest mistake
>Tonight will be different
>You put on your make-shift red and black suit and jump out of the window of your room
>Your room is on the first floor so it isn't as exciting as you hoped it would be
>You start running through the neighborhood
>It just occurred to you that you live in the suburbs and there aren't tall buildings around
>You walk back home
>You take off your mask and put your jacket over your red anorak with a crude spider drawn over it
>You put your mask and wallet in a bag pack
>You leave your house through the door this time
>You walk to the bus stop and sit
>
>Half an hour late the bus arrives
>After a twenty minute drive, you are reach Canterlot High
>You climb to the top of the school and sulk
>Waiting for crime
>You are very convinced that sulking is a major part of the super hero business
>20 minutes later, you feel something
>Your danger spotting sense is tingling
>UMPF! You love it when that happens
>You take off your jacket, carefully fold it and put it in your backpack
>You leave the backpack where it is
>You put on your mask and jump
>This time webswinging from the school building
>Going in circles, trying to find the culprits
>And there they are
>Vandals, defacing school property
>Graffiti artists is the more politically correct term
>You let go of your web and jump right behind them
A little late for artistic endeavors, isn't it?
>The hoodlums turn in surprise and you smack them both in the face
>Easy
>Just like last night
>"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
>huh?
>You turn around and see 3 students there
>With cameras
"I...was stopping vandals from defacing public property?"
>"THEY WERE PAINTING A MURAL FOR THE GIRL THAT DROWNED SAVING 13 TODDLERS!"
"Ah...well...b-but"
>"THEY HAD THE SCHOOL'S PERMISSION!"
"I...see...in that case...I better be going"
>You jump and climb the gymnasium
>After that you once again climb back to your sulkspot
>That's enough crime fighting for one night
>You look around for your bag
>It's not there
>You didn't stick it with your webbing
>The wind must have blown it away
>
>You don't have any bus money on you
>You climb down, take off your mask and turn your shirt inside out
>So no one can see the spider and realize your true identity
>You walk home
>Ten minutes into the trek and it starts raining
>You put your hood up, but it barely makes a difference
>It took you about an hour to get back home
>One hot bath and this night will be behind you
>You walk into your room
>It's full of raccoons
>You forgot to shut the window
>You also haven't thrown the trash in 3 weeks
>You close the door and you take a shower
>You walk into the living room and fall face first on the couch
>Tomorrow
"Tomorrow will be a better day"


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as the Botsching Spider Failure
>You are still working on the name
>It's day three of your heroic life
>The alarm rang but you haven't left your bed
>You'd just rather stare at the celing than go out
>But you don't have much of a choice
>You slowly get up
>You walk to your room
>You crack the door and peek in
>You can't see any raccoons
>You creep right in and open one of your draws
>You take a shirt and a pair of socks and exit
>This time, closing the window
>You put on your clothes and look for your bag
>You remember that it got blown away
>You rummage around the house to find a replacement
>An old courier bag
>Ripped up
>Holes
>Filled with trash
>You clean it as much as you can and put your books in it
>On the way to the door, you see your masking drying over the heater
>With your hand on the doorknob, you ponnder if you take your costume
>After last night, you don't think you should ever put on that costume
>Who are you doing it for any way?
>The people?
>Apparently not
>The memory of your fallen mentor?
>She's still alive
>Are you trying to validate yourself in a way?
>Not so much guide by the virtues of good, but by narcissism
>You bite your lip
>Maybe it would be a good idea to give yourself a break
>Just for today
>But somehow you don't seem comforted by these thoughts
"Everybody makes mistakes, Sunset"
>You grab the mask and the sweatshirt and stuff them in your bag
>You leave the house with a faint sense that you have conquered yourself
>You head to school
>Tonight it will be different


>"Villainous Vandal Victimizes Volunteers! Read all about it!"
>The front page of The weekly trumpet
>Twice in one week
>You are sure that's not how weekly newspapers should work
>The article tells the story of how two volunteers were attacked by a masked criminal while they were painting a murrel
>It is a pretty accurate depiction of the events
>There is even a picture of you
>A grainy one
>Unfocused
>Bad choice of the lens
>You could take better pictures than this guy
>Could you?
>No...
>You decide not to dwell on this idea any further
>You have classes to get to and a night watch to plan


>It's 8 o'clock
>You are at the usual sulkspot
>Your mask is off
>The wind is messing up your hair
>But it feels good
>Today will be the day
>You have everything figured out
>You will carefully observe the area
>You will not engage unless you are certain that a crime is occurring
>You will anounce your presence so that there won't be any more hiccups
"Third time's the charm"
>Let's hope it won't be a hat trick
>You breathe deeply
>You are great
>You will make it
>You are
>The Adventurous Rooftop-sulker
>Still working on the name
>You smile to yourself and you put on the mask
>You angel jump, this time swinging from a web
>Off to downtown


>You've been swinging from buildings and jumping on rooftops for about half an hour
>Nothing exciting
>This is good
>That means that everyone is safe and okay
>As you jump over an alley, you get an erogenous sensation through your spine and back
>The insectoid danger clock
>Something is up
>You look down in the alley
>A man with an above average build, a woman in a fancy coat and a little child
>Most likely a family
>There's something else
>Someone is following them
>You stick on a wall you crawl towards them all
>The guy at the back looks suspicious
>But you can't pounce yet
>You can't stop a crime if there is no crime
>He yells something to the big guy at the front
>He turns
>The "criminal" walks towards him
>You hear them talking but you can't make out what they are saying
>Maybe he just wanted the time
>Or he's a bum and wants a buck
>Just because someone looks suspicious doesn't mean they are
>Right?
>You hear a gunshot
"Oh no..."
>Your heart starts racing
>Time slows down
>The big fella is falling on the ground
>The man has a smoking gun
>You leap from the wall towards them
>The gun is aimed directly at the woman
>You web the shooter's hand and pull it upward
>He fires in the air
>The bullet scratches your mask
>You fall down, hand curled into a fist
>One hit in the jaw and he's down
>You quickly web him up
>You turn towards the family
>The woman is in shock
"Where is the nearest hospital?"
>She snaps out of it
>"10 blocks from here."
>You grab the wounded man and lift him over your shoulder
"He'll be alright. I promise."
>You jump and swing


>It's harder to swing around with one hand
>But you have no choice
>Everything happened so fast
>Why didn't you act sooner?
>The one time you had to act on impulse and you didn't
>Now a man could die because of you
>No
>He won't die
>You'll get him there on time
>"H-hey...Land us on a roof, would ya?"
>You are surpised he can talk
"I can't do that sir. I need to get you to the hospital"
>"Don't worry, I am a doctor"
>Surprsingly, his words calm you down
>You land on a nearby building
>You lean him against a chimney
"Do you need anything? What should I bring you?"
>He slowly turns his head to you
>"I...need a lighter"
>A lighter?
>Maybe he wants to disinfect the wound
>You rummage through your bag
>You find a lighter
>You click it
>It works
>You hand it to him
>He takes out a cigarette and lights it
>Your eyes widen
"Sir, we have to get you to the hospital! You have been shot!"
>"Yeah...I have. The bullet is right next to my heart. I can't be saved. No matter how much they try"
>No


>You can feel your eyes watering up
"Sssir I-I m-must take y-you t-t-to the h-h-ospital"
>You start to stutter
>You reach out to lift him, but your hand are shaking
>He sees this and grabs your hand gently
>This completly breaks your heart
>You take off your mask and start and burry your face in your hands
>You start crying loudly
"I-I s-s-h-sh-sho-uld ha-a-ave done s-s-something!"
>The man looks at you
>He again takes your hand
>"You did do something, kid. You saved my son and wife. If it wasn't for you, the three of us would have been dead now."
>He's barely breathing
"I-i-i pro-o-mi-i-sed to bring y-ou ba-back safely"
>He smiles a bit
>"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, kid"
>He looks at his cigarette
>"I promised my wife, I would stop smoking. Look at me now"
>He start laughing, but his laughter quickl turns into a cough
>He pulls out his cigarette box and hands it to you
>"You look like you can use one"
>He smiles
>He has the warmest smile you have ever seen
>You take the box, but you don't pull out a cigarette
>"You shouldn't be sad, kid. Sadness doesn't fit a pretty face like yours"
>Your cheeks were already red, but you feel them blush
>"You shouldn't be sad. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone's death. I also know what it's like to save someone. Instead of thinking that you lost one life tonight, thinking of it like...
>He starts coughing violently
>"...you saved...two"
>He falls on his side
>
>This is your darkest moment


 >You lift his body
>You walk towards the edge of the roof
>The hospital was around the corner
>Why did you listen to him?
>Another set of tears start boiling up
>You look towards this man
>He's as large as an ox
>White hair
>Fancy suite
>Aside from the blood
>A doctor even
>He had a family
>A wife
>A son
>This man lived a good life
>You saw it with how content he was in his final moments
>And yet
>It's still sad to see a life go
>No matter how good it was lead
>You examine his chest, where the wound is
>Your eyes widen
>He's moving!
>He is still breathing!
>There is time
>You jump off the building and swing towards the hospital
>You land right in front of a nurse
"This man has been shot! Help him!"
>The nurse barely has time to assimilate what is happening but she yells out for a doctor
>You leave the victim in front of her
>You vanish in the night

>You open the door of your home
>You take off your mask and look at it
>There is a little graze near the eye
>One side is covered in blood
>You throw it on the ground
>You don't have it in you to deal with this now
>You take off your bloodied sweatshirt, bundle it with your mask and throw them on the floor
>You take off all your clothes and sit on the couch
>You space out
>No actual thoughts have crossed your mind
>You look around
>You see the remote control and web it to yourself
>You turn on the TV
>You start searching the channels
>Nothing but soap operas
>Everything looks the same
>Channel after channel
>"Local millionaire dead"
>You stop
>You go back
>It's the late night news
>"...shot in an alley. He had a night out with his family to the cinema and was shot. Wife says A masked person jumped out of nowhere and knocked out the shooter, after which the vigilante took Tobias Kaine and brought him to the hospital. Sadly, he didn't make it. Tobias Kaine was known for his..."
>You stop listening after that
>You start grinding your teeth
>You could have done something
>Why didn't you do something?
>You kick the table with full force
>It crashes into the television set and breaks it
>That just makes you more angry
>You web the TV and throw it against the wall, destroying it completely
You stand up, lift your couch and throw it against the kitchen door
>The door and the couch are in ruins
>You see the bundle up mess that is your costume
>You throw it in your fireplace
>You reach for your bag in search of a lighter
>But you find something else
>The Tobias' tobacco box
>You feel yourself calming down
"You didn't lose one life tonight, but you saved two."
>You take out your costume
>Now covered in ash and blood
>You put it in your laundry basket
>You walk towards your couch and take your blanket
>You sit on the sofa and cover yourself
>You barely fell asleep that night, because of the raccoons


                                                     BUILDING BRIDGES

>You are Sunset Shimmer
>And that's all you are
>For now
>After last night you've decided that you won't be patrolling today
>Today you'll spend your time relaxing and doing some chores
>To get your mind off things
>Good thing it's a Saturday
>You open your eyes and you are immediately met with pains in your back and neck
>Your left arm is completely numb and your knee makes a cracking sound when moved
>The sofa wasn't the best place to sleep
>You slowly crawl out of the sofa
>From each movement you either feel the aching of a muscle or the cracking of a joint
>You lurch in the dark room towards the window
>You pull apart the curtains
>The entire room fills with sunlight
>It's a beautiful day
>You actually feel a smile creep up on your face
>It's been a long time
>Today will be a good day


>After a bit of exercise to loosen yourself you decide to pull the couch back in the living room
>You unstuck the door from it and carry it back where it belongs
>Sadly, the entire couch is covered in tears and splinters
>You think for a bit and decide to cover the couch with a blanket
>No one will notice
>It's also cozier for the coming winter days
>You head back to the kitchen door
>What's left of it
>You get a screw driver and unscrew the handle and the hinges from the door and wall
>You pick up the pieces and leave them next to the fire wood
>You don't hear a valid argument for there to be a door there so you decide to leave the kitchen as it is for now
>You clean up what remains of the television set
>You throw it out in the garbage
>You arrange some of your books and ornaments you have around to fill in the TV void


>You take the laundry basket and go downstairs
>You start loading up the washing machine
>You turn it on and go upstairs
>You open the fridge door
>Half a carton of milk
>Almost chewable
>A moldy orange
>Bologna
>3 dead wasps
>It's sufficiently depressing
>You grab the bologna
>You go to your room
>You slowly open the door and throw the bait in
>It's instantly ravaged by rabid raccoons
>While you can still see them, you tie them up all together into a small ball of web
>You take the raccoonball outside and leave it there
>They should chew through it in about ten minutes


>You grab yourself a broom and dustpan and you head into your room
>You start cleaning up all the feces
>They are everywhere
>Under the bed
>On the shelves
>In the corners
>On the bed
>In your drawers
>After you cleaned them all up, you take your sheets and all the clothes that were in your drawers and take it downstairs again
>The first batch of laundry is done
>You unload it and load the second
>You take the laundry outside and start putting them on the clothes line
>At the bottom basin you leave your spider mask and sweatshirt
>You take them into the house
>You spread them over the heater so they can dry in secret
>You take care of the second batch of laundry and you can finally sit down


>It felt good to get everything done like that
>But now what?
>You've done all that you have to do
>You look at the clock
>It's barely ten
>Maybe it's time for a little relaxation
>Just as you were about to lay on the couch, your stomach grumbles
>You get up and go to your room
>You open a tin box on your desk and grab some cash from it
>You grab your keys and go to the bus stop


>You are browsing the aisles, looking for the best bargains you can find
>Money tends to be a bit of an issue these days so you prefer to stock up on cheap goods and spend what you have on whatever you like
>The problem is that the food goes bad before you get the chance to eat it and most of the time you have to throw out more than half of what you've bought
>You haven't figured out how to balance buying in bulk and using everything bought to it's maximum potential
>But you'll manage it
>As you walk through the market you see a familiar figure
>You aren't quite sure
>You think you've seen him around school from time to time
>Average hight
>Green skin
>Always wears a suit
>You could go and talk to him
>But he looks pretty busy
>Buying pumpkins
>A lot of pumpkins
>
>Weird
>You can just ignore him and go on your way
>But you haven't talked to anybody in so much time
>When you got your powers you immediately cut off all communications with your friends
>You devoted your spare time to mastering your powers
>Taking some martial art classes
>You can't just jump into being a hero
>You have to train so you won't get caught off guard
>3 months of sparing, wallcrawling, jumping and solitude
> (all for 3 days of botches)
>You shake your head
>You decide it's time to reconnect with the human world
>You walk up to your fellow students
>What was his name again?


"Hi, Anon!"
>He jumps
>Looks like you startled him
>He regains his composure
>"Hello, Sunset"
>He has a meek voice
>You haven't really talked to him before
>You've just seen him around
>A bit of a loner
"So, what are you up to?"
>"Nothing, just...preparing myself for Halloween"
>Halloween?
>You have completely lost track of time in any shape or form
>You even forgot Halloween existed
>The town is surprisingly barren on decorations though
"I see...I'm buying groceries"
>You make a gesture to your shopping cart
>Filled to the brim with rice, potatoes, vegetables and meat
>Anon looks surprised by your purchases, but doesn't judge
>He just nods
>He isn't very talkative
>That doesn't matter
>You are in desperate need of company and he is around
"So, are you free later today?"
>"I...um...yeah. I'm free"
"Would you like to hang out? Get a coffee or something?"
>He chokes a bit
>On what he chokes is beyond you
>"Coffee...yeah! Sure! Of course!"
"Great! 2 o'clock at "The coffee pot?""
>"OK! I'd like that!"
>You giggle a bit
>His nervousness gives him an endearing quality
"Alright. See you there"
>"Y-you too!"
>What?


>After organizing your refrigerator, taking care of the laundry, eating some fried rice and reading a book, you go to "The coffee pot"
>Some days aren't as interesting and, strangely enough, pass by quickly
>You sit a table for 2 next to a window and order 2 menus
>In about 5 minutes Anon arrives
>You wave to him and pass him the menu
>"I wasn't late, was I?"
"No, don't worry."
>You open up the menu
>Coffee of all shapes, sizes and temperatures
>Different breeds, creeds and fees
>The waitress comes over
>Anon puts down his menu
>"I'd like a double espresso, with cream, extra sugar, hazel nut and cinnamon. A bit of caramel cream and cocoa"
>In moments like these you realize how out of touch you are with the coffee world
>You just know two kinds of coffee
>Regular with sugar
>Regular without sugar
"Um...I'll have a regular coffee...with sugar"
>The waitress chuckles underneath her nose and walks off
>You've never felt so dishonoured over coffee before
>You yearn to web her feet together as she's walking
>You turn to Anon, trying not to think about the waitress
"So, what's up?"
>"Nothing much... I'll be setting up my Halloween decorations soon."
"That's cool. Are you going for a theme?"
>"Yeah...um...Beasts of legend"
"Beasts of legend?"
>"Yes. I'll be using monsters from folktales. Something more traditional. Less cliche than the haunted mansion"
"Sounds great."
>"Mhm"
>
>
>
>This conversation is going nowhere


>The coffee arrives
>You get a standard coffee cup with a liquid as black as coal and 3 sugar packets
>Anon gets, what you can describe as, a soup bowl with coffee
>Cream as thick as a cloud with a sun drawn on top of it with caramel
>As she walks off, she leaves the bill
>Your coffee is 20 cents cheaper
>Great
>You tear open your packets and pour them in
>You take a sip
>Tastes like puddle water
>Go to bar and take a few more packets
>10 should do the trick
>You walk back and start pouring them
>Anon just watches
>"Hey...umm...have a little coffee with your sugar"
>You giggle
>Very corny, but it caught you off guard
"At least I don't need a spoon to drink mine"
>Anon laughs
>He has a very peculiar laugh
>It cracks a lot and he oinks at the end
>You laugh with him
>This is how friendships get started


>After a few more coffee based jokes you start hitting it off
>Turns out you have a lot of stuff in common
>You both like cheesy 80's synthpop
>You are both into black and white silent comedies
>You can't remember when was the last time you mentioned your totem carving hobby to someone without them laughing
>You haven't felt this happy in quite some time
"I can't believe that we haven't talked to each other before!"
>"Yeah, well you know how it is. I'm a loser and you are one of the popular kids. It would be weird, I guess."
"That's a lot of bull. Besides...recently I haven't been very popular."
>You take a sip from your coffee
"I haven't seen my friends in a few months. I've been busy and I just couldn't make time...too much stuff going on."
>Anon takes a sip from his coffee
>His cheery tone mellows down
>"At least you have friends."
>Ow
>This took a sudden turn
>"I haven't had any friends since middle school. No one really wants to hang out with me."
>He doesn't look up
>He just stares at his cup
>"I hate school. I could bare to be alone, but the worst part is the jocks. Everyday the bully me, call me names."
>You are not sure what exactly to do
>You remain silent, hoping that it's the best action
>"Home isn't anything to brag about either. I live with my dad and he's always at work. I barely see him. He just leaves me my allowance on the table every day before he goes."
>You decide to do something
>You extend his hand and grab his
>He looks at you with a bit of confusion
"It's ok, Anon. It will all pass. It already is passing. You have a friend now."
>He doesn't answer
>He just smiles
>It's the purest smile you have ever seen
>You decide to change the subject on something a bit lighter
>You continue to talk about your favorite movies and quoting scenes
>How one quotes something out of a silent pictures, you are not sure
>But it didn't stop either of you from trying



>After you had your coffee and payed the bill, you decide to keep Anon company while he waits for his bus
>While talking about the newest totem you are working on, you notice that Anon had a look of concern
>You decide to ask him if there is something wrong
>"Well...ummm...will you be going to the masked ball at school?"
>There'll be a masked ball?
>You haven't been paying much attention in school for some time now
>Your grades show it
>You can't go to the ball
>There are no nights for you to rest
>Just this one
"No, I...have to help my aunt. She's moving to the next town over and I have to help her pack"
>"Ah...o-ok"
>For a moment there, he seemed relieved
>Wait
>Did he want to invite you to the ball?
"Why do you ask?"
>"Huh? Oh...um...no reason...I wasn't going too and...I thought you might want to watch a movie...or something. But since you are busy, we could do it some other time"
>You smile gently
"Yeah. Some other time."
>His bus arrives
>You say your goodbyes and you head home



>You got home at nightfall
>You don't really want to just lay around the house
>But you don't really want to go out
>The best solution is to go on the roof
>You grab your carving knife and small box
>You go on the second floor and climb out of the window
>You decide that tonight is the best time to finish your totem
>You open the box and take it out
>It's almost ready
>It just needs a little bit more
>You start carving it while replaying your day in your head
>You haven't had such a nice day in so much time
>Even before your three day "heroic" streak
>But if YOU think it was nice, God knows how it was for Anon
>It's sad to see such a nice young man be down on his luck so much
>But you did cheer him up
>Looks like heroes don't always have to battle the forces of evil
>Sometime it's just enough to be around and lend a shoulder
>It's actually been the first time you felt like you did something good
>
>You finished the totem
>It's a small figure of a spider
>Originally you chose it for the obvious superficial reasons, without paying much mind to the symbolism of it
>But now you see it more clearly
>As a spider weaves it's web, so does a person weave their destiny through their choices
>You could have chosen to go on patrol tonight, but you didn't
>Today you could have passed by Anon at the supermarket, but you didn't
>You decided to just say hi and see where it will take you
>You believe you've made a right choice today
>You inspect the spider one last time
>It complete
>You take out the tobacco box
>The letters "TK" are engraved on it
>You open it and put the spider in it
>You go inside and close the window



>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as The Crimson Crawler
>You are still working on your name
>It's been some time since your brake
>You've been at it again for at least a week
>Patrolling the city, in search for ne'er do well
>Luckily you haven't run into anything serious
>The only crime you've stopped was taking care of two jocks in school
>They were bullying a nerd
>Tore up some science paper he carried around, yelling about the first signs of alien life
>You webbed their legs quickly and they tripped over
>It was a fun day
>Aside from that, there hasn't been anything serious
>Although some people have noticed you swinging in the city
>Rumours are circulating about a figure jumping on rooftops
>Windows are being regularly locked in fear of free-running perverts
>Hopefully this bad reputation won't follow you
>But what can you do?



>On the other side of your life, school has been going as usual
>Classes pass
>You haven't met still with your old friends
>But Anon is there
>Everyday you go to lunch, talk about stuff and relax
>Today was no different

"How are your Halloween decorations going?"
>Anon looks at you
>Juicebox in hand
>Straw in mouth
>"Whu?"
"Your house of horrors thing?"
>He froze up for a moment
>"Yeah! That! They are going great! I've got everything is perfect"
"That's great!"
>He continues with his lunch
>Hunched over
>It's clear that he doesn't want any attention on him
>Poor guy
>He's told you a lot these couple of days
>About his bully problems
>Namecalling
>Beatings
>Ripped books
>You would have done something about it, but he refused to tell you names
>He always says that everyone will get theirs eventually
>He is strong
>Beyond what you could be
>You reach into your backpack and take out a small pouch
"Anon, I have something for you"
>He turns his head towards you
>You hand it over
>He opens it up
>Inside, there is a small bear-like figurine made of wood
"It's a bear totem. It symbolizes strenght and power."
>He examines it carefully
>His eyes wide and filled with joy
"I hope it helps you...with whatever problems you face."
>He carefully puts it back in the pouch
>"I'll treasure it always"
>You smile
>He's a good kid
>Just a little awkward
>He shouldn't be going through all of this
"You are still not going to the ball tonight, are you?"
>"No"
"I hear ya. Dancing and loud music isn't really my thing either. Maybe when I come back from my aunt's place, we could marathon some movies?"
>"I'd like that"
>His soft smile shines brighter than the sun


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as the Invincible Crimefighterine
>You are still working on your name
>And it's Halloween
>The most talked about holiday at your school
>Or so you you assume
>You haven't been paying much attention in school
>Neither to academics or the more social aspects
>You just go there because it's expected of you
>It's the same with your crimefighting agenda
>You are expected to either fight crime or cause crime
>You picked the one that you believe suits you the best
>Although you can't say you have done the best of jobs
>You haven't fought any crimes in what seems an eternity
>Besides that ONE crime, the city seems to be very much at peace
>Although you don't have a TV
>Or a computer
>So as far as you know, there could be a civil war happening at this very moment
>And you've just coincidentally been passing by uneventful battlefields
>But let's return to the topic at hand
>Halloween
>No school today
>Just a ball
>And that is what you assume to be the most expected part of the holiday
>You have been doing a lot of assuming this afternoon
>Or early evening
>You admit that these days, you haven't slept quite so well, because of your late night patrols and school goings
>So at the first opportunity, you slept through the entire day
>Your grandad had a saying
>There are no memories from dreams
>It always rings in your mind, when you sleep too much
>But that doesn't matter right now
>Tonight is Halloween
>That most likely means that there will be some hooligans taking advantage of all the costume-wearing to do criminal activities
>And tonight, you will stop them
>You put your costume in your bag
>And head out
>As you lock the door, you notice it's covered in eggs
>You've slept through the trick-or-treaters
>You sigh and head out to your usual spot

>You are sulking atop of your school
>It's amazing how nobody noticed you, considering it's packed with students
>It really does seem like they are having fun down there
>The ball hasn't started yet, so they are hanging around the school grounds
>Dressed like as manner of things
>From the macabre
>To the comical
>So full of life
>Not a care in the world
>You've heard that some girl from the school will be DJ-ing the party
>You've heard she's good
>They say she has some kind of crazy sound system, that she made by herself, that can resonate  with the listener's body completely and make him transcend the mortal-coil by means of music
>Truly a saint in the electric church
>But you doubt she can really do that
>In any case, it's probably going to be a rad night for everyone
>You kind of wish that you were down there
>With them
>Having fun
>Instead of up here
>Waiting for night to fall
>Thinking about stuff you've heard people say in the hallways
>It's kind of sad when you think about it
>So you decide to stop thinking about it
>You decide to meditate for a while
>So you can be better suited to do your job later


>You open your eyes and realize that during your meditation you have fallen asleep
>You have been sleeping for 3 hours
>The students have all gathered in the gym and the party is at it's peak
>You sigh and open up your bag
>You take off your shirt and put on your sweatshirt
>You put on your black yoga pants and red sneakers
>You put on your fingerless gloves
>And finally you put on your mask
>It would normally make sense to start with the mask
>But you prefer the dramatic effect
>You start doing some gymnastics to loosen up
>After a bit of stretching, you get ready to jump and swing
>Just as you are about to jump off, you feel a sexy sensation creep up your spine
>It's your arthropod-based dangerdar
>As you look around, you hear an explosion coming from the gym
>That's one wild party
>You jump and swing off
>There is a giant hole in one of the walls of the gym
>That might seem strange
>But what is stranger is there is some green guy, covered in purple rags, flying on a hoverboard
>You assume that he is responsible for the hole
>You never stop assuming


>You hear a cracking laugh
>"Hello party people! Who's ready to do the skeleton dance!"
>He throws what looks like a pumpkin towards the students
>You act quickly
>You let go of your web and jump through the whole
>As you are falling, you web the pumpkin and throw it outside
>The pumpkin falls and explodes in a cloud of green mist
>Everyone looks surprised
>Most of all the green guy
>Although he is wearing a mask, it is very emotive, as you can see his face turn from shock into a grin
>"Well, well, well. If it isn't the local hooligan-pervert. Come to take part in our fun?"
"No! I'm here to stop you!"
>"Boy, aren't you direct. All business. No pleasure."
>He flies around on his hoverboard, grinning like a lunatic
>But in your heart, you know he's right
>You sound like a walking superhero cliche
>You've got to think of a quip
>Fast
>"Luckily for you, when the Green Goblin parties, everybody parties!"
>He reaches down a bag and pulls out more pumpkins
>"Lack of fun can drive a man insane you know."
>He starts laughing again
>Time to shine
"You are the one who's insane gobler! Insane in the membrane!"
>And for a brief moment, you felt time stop
>You could swear that the entire gym went silent
>You felt a thousand eyes staring
>Even the goblin had a look of disgust and pity, mashed into one
>You've never felt so low
>You are never opening your mouth during a battle
>Ever

>"Boy, I actually feel bad for you. Let me give you something to get you going"
>He throws three pumpkins at you
>You web them
>Spin
>And throw them outside
>This trick won't work again
>You need to get him out of here somehow
>You need to examine him
>Find weak spots and exploit them
>To do that you have to take his attention of you somehow
"Why are you hear? Why are you doing this"
>"Why? It's Halloween! It's a party! It's everything I stand for! A darker shade of fun. In fact, I might as well say..."
>He's babbling to himself
>He want the attention
>His pose is poorly balanced on the board
>The board has a couple of trinkets hanging from it
>You know what you must do
>You sigh
>You are ready to fight


"I'm sorry. Did you carve all those pumpkins you have and filled them with explosives? That doesn't seem like something "fun". To be frank it looks kind of autistic"
>He snaps
>"What did you say?"
"Did I stutter? Or was it you?"
>He's livid
>He takes out another bomb
>As he is throwing it, you jump and catch it
>You throw it back at him
>He quickly moves away and shoot a web towards the ceiling
>You swing out from the whole and land on the roof
>The goblin flies up towards you
>He takes out more bombs and starts throwing them at you
>You just run towards the football field
>All the while dodging projectiles from behind
>Thanks to your heightened sixth sense, you manage to dodge them pretty easily
>You jump on the field
>He quickly catches up and starts bombarding you
>You manage to dodge every single explosion
>"Think you can make fun of me, you pest! Think again!"
>The entire field is covered in green mist
>You take this chance to hide under the benches
>The mist clears
>The goblin is in the middle of the field
>"Where are you? I've got more treats for you in my goodie-bag!"
>He reaches in his bag
>His grimace turns to a frown
>He is out of bombs
>You take this chance
>You web his hoveboard and pull it from beneath him
>He falls on the ground
>You yell out
"It's over Anon!"
>His eyes go wide
>"H-how did you know?"



>How couldn't you have known
>His poor posture
>His bad aim
>His cracking laughter
>Even the bear figure that you gave him the other day is hanging from his board
>You walk out from beneath the the benches
"I played your game, Anon, it's time to stop"
>You slowly walk towards him
>In the most unthreatening way you can
>"W-who are you?"
"I am a friend. I am here to help you."
>"I have no friends!"
>That hurt you a little
>You ignore it
"Why did you do all this, Anon? You could have hurt somebody. Why cause this havoc?"
>He starts crawling back
>"Get away from me!"
"Was it because they hurt you?"
>"I said get away!"
>He reaches into his bag again
>He pulls out a gun
>Just an ordinary gun
>No zany colours
>No drawings on it
>Just cold and metallic
>It's a last resort
>He didn't even have the confidence that he will manage to blow up the school
>His hand is shaking
>You can hear him start sniveling
>This is sad
>You don't falter your walk
"Put the gun down, Anon."
>He start shooting at you
>His shots are way off center
>You barely have to dodge
>After a while it's come to one bullet
>His eyes filled with fear of you
>"You won't take him"
>He points the gun to his head
>Your eyes go wide
>You shoot out a web towards the gun
>You pull it away
>BANG!

>You didn't lose one life
>You saved two
>You saved more than a hundred lives
>And you didn't lose one
>But you feel you did
>Anon was your friend
>And you were his only friend
>At least you think you were
>The bear totem was with him during the attack
>He must have thought of you that day
>Maybe that's why he asked if you were going to the ball
>In any case you managed to save him
>Although some might disagree
>You are in the hospital, next to Anon's bed
>He is just staring at the ceiling
>He reacts from time to time, so he must know you are there
>You weren't quick enough to pull away the gun
>The bullet managed to hit him
>Not fatally
>But enough to put him in this state
"I'll be going, Anon. I'll see you next week"
>He slowly turns towards you
>Saliva dripping from his mouth
>Eyes wide
>Empty
>You put the bear totem on his night desk
>You exit his room
>You didn't lose a life
>But you might as well have
>You've felt empty for a week


                                                     THE WEBS THAT BIND
>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as
>The Spider
>That's what the newspapers named you after the Green Goblin incident
>You kind of like the name
>Simple
>Catchy
>Not a mouthful
>You just wish you had thought of that
>In any case, your status as a hero is bonafide by some parts of the community
>Some believe you should have done more to try and save Anonymous
>Others believe that you should have left him off himself
>Still
>Most consider that you have done a good deed saving the school
>Although it should be noted that there are people who think that you should answer for your earlier crimes
>The three people you beat up
>Although you partially agree
>You are a vigilante of sorts
>So you might just overstep some laws
>In any case
>You are standing in the usual sulk spot
>And although you are still grieving for Anon in your own way
>You have a job to do
>And not only that
>But there are some question that haven't been answered about the Goblin
>First of all
>Where did he get that glider?
>There is no away he could have built it one his own
>He doesn't have the equipment nor the knowledge
>And he couldn't have stolen it
>High-tech experimental weaponry is hard to come by in stores
>The only option is that he must have bought it
>You read that the police are working on the case
>They say the police are working on it
>Maybe that's a good place to start
>You jump and swing off



>You arrive at the main police station of the city
>You ponder how you should act on this
>There isn't a high chance that they will hand over any information they have
>Also considering you were there during the Goblin attack, they will certainly want you in for questioning
>You just have to act
>Lord knows you haven't done that a lot
>You crawl on the side of the building, looking for an open window
>Luckily it didn't take you long to find one
>You peak in
>The room is empty
>You crawl inside
>And you start looking around
>There's a palm tree
>A desk
>Filecabbinets
>Nothing interesting
>The desk is littered with paperwork
>And there is a framed picture on it
>You take it and examin it
>An old man and his daughter
>She looks familiar
>Your spider sense sends you an erotic signal across your entire body
>Every time
>You finally settled on naming your 6th sense spider sense
>To match your name
>As the door opens your mind races
>You think about jumping out
>But you figure a driect approach might yield more fruitful results
>In walks the man from the picture
>The moment the sees you, he closes the door behind him
"Good evening, Mr Officer"
>He is astonished to see you
>Although he looks like he is in his 50es, he looks very good
>Tall
>Brawny
>Intelligent face
>He has a silver fox thing going on with his white hair and moustache


>"You! You are..."
"The Spider, yes"
>You cut him off
>Announcing yourself for the first time makes you feel kind of giddy
>It takes the officer some time to recover himself
>"H-how did you get in here?"
"Through the window"
>He looks a little angry
>"3 people have filed reports against you, you are suspected of voyeurism, you ran away from a crime scene and you snuck into a the chief of police's office. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you"
>He has some good points
"I want to help with Green Goblin case."
>"We have it all under control"
>Those words make you angry
>Under control
>You highly doubt it
"Do you really? A kid got a hold of high-tech weaponry. The only reason an entire school isn't masacared is because I was there. If someone is giving away weapons around town, you'll have a warzone on your hands, chief. I lost one friend that day. I'm not about to lose any more."
>He wants to retort
>He can't
>He has a look of defeat
>He walks up to his desk and takes his mug coffee
>"I've worked around the law before. Bribed crooks. Threatened lowlifes. Beaten gangsters. I was even part of a vigilante gang in my home town. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do for the good of the people. I only ask you, if you find anything, report directly to me. Understood?"
>Something in his voice
>Very stern
>Fatherly
>But somehow comforting
"Understood"
>"Good."
>He takes a long drink from his coffee
>"Examinations of the glider have lead us to a company called Oscorp. They have a wall of lawyers we can't get through by the books. You one the other can get around it. There will be an expo this week. There is a high chance that something will come up. Snoop around, see what you find, come back to me. After that we will figure our next steps. Don't make a mess out of it."
"Wouldn't dream of it, chief."
>"It's Wordon"
"Excuse me?"
>"My name is commissioner Jeremy Wordon"
"It's a pleasure."
>"Likewise."
>You turn around and climb on the window, ready to jump out
>"Also, I'd like to thank you"
>You turn your head
>"For saving the school. My...my daughter was at that ball."
>You turn away and jump out



>As you swing around town you spider sense tingles
>You look around and see two people in an alley way
>You jump on a roof and stealthily crawl towards them
>You see one of them holding a gun and the other checking his pockets
>Upside down, you descend on your web
>You are just behind the mugger
>The victim notices you and screams from shock
>The mugger turns around and points his gun at you
>With one arm you knock it out of his hand and push him on the ground
>You web him up
"Call the police"
>You shoot a web and swing off
>You just prevented a crime
>And yet you don't feel as excited as you should be
>You've got other things on your mind



>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as the Spider
>As you are walking through the school halls blindly bypassing everyone around, are contemplating a way to get into the Oscorp expo
>Sadly, time is running out since the expo is tomorrow
>You could just sneak in
>The vents are an option
>Open windows
>Maybe through a backdoor somewhere
>Still, once you get in, what will you be looking for?
>Suspicious people doing suspicious things?
>Carrying around crates of high-tech equipment
>What else could people be doing in an expo?
>What are the chances than an arms deal might go on then?
>It will be filled with people
>Heavy workers carrying around bulking machinery
>During the day
>Actually that might be something that could work
>No one would pay them any attention
>But how will you proceed?
>Jump out and web them up?
>Or take them down, one by one, from the shadows
>Still
>You have to be ready for nothing of the sorts to take place
>You might just have to pin a scientist and ask them if they've seen something fishy
>You'll get to that later
>Right now you still have to think of a way to get in


>As you are walking through the halls, something catches your eye
>Two jocks bullying a nerd
>The same nerd from about a week ago
>And the same jocks
>Figures
>You could tie their feet together
>But
>You just walk up to them
>They are passing eachother some papers the kid was carrying
>You just catch the papers mid-air
>"Hey, hey! What's the big idea?"
"Leave him alone"
>"Pff... wha?"
>You grab the guy by the collar of his shirt
>You are not in the mood
"Get lost or I'll make you get lost"
>The guy just stares at you
>You throw him aside
>He quickly regains his composure
>"Yeah, well, we were done anyway."
>He waves his partner to come with him
>Still shocked, he runs to him
"Little Norman can't save his own hide. Got to make his girlfriend protect him"
>They both laugh as they climb up the stairs
>You turn towards "Norman"
>Small stature
>Looks weak
>Glasses
>Braces
>Tucked in shirt
>Typical bully victim
>You give him his hand to help him get up
"You alright?"
>"Yeah...thanks"
>He gets up and you help him gather his belongings
>Among them you find a pamphlet on the expo
>What are the chances that he might be going?
"Hey...umm...Norman. Will you be going to this expo?"
>"Will I ever! It's one of my most anticipated days of the year! They'll be showing all their stuff their. Their findings on teleportation, first signs of alien life, bio-mechanized suits..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah...butt do you happen to have another ticket? I kind of want to go too..."
>He frowns a bit
>He searches his wallet
>"Well...I was planning to scalp it..."
>You'll pretend that you didn't hear that
>"But since you helped me out a bit here...I can give it to you for free"
>He takes out a ticket
>And gives it to you
>"All in the name of progress! The moto of Oscorp!"
>Yeah
>Sure


"How are you feeling today?"
>The hospital room is quiet
>There are sounds of beeping machines
>Liquids dripping through tubes
>You can smell the sterility in the room
>It's almost toxic
"Today I helped a guy who was being bullied. Reminded me of you. Except for the fashion sense"
>You laugh a bit to yourself
>The ambience uninterrupted
"He gave me a ticket to the expo. I've got a hunch I'm gonna find the culprits there. They will be brought to justice"
>
>
>
"You know, this could have been all avoided if you could have just told me who was tormenting you."
>Or maybe if you were a better friend
>Or you were faster
"...we should have been watching movies now..."
>
>
>
"I'll be going. I'll see you later, ok?"
>It's like you expected an answer

>Oscorp
>The epicenter of scientific break troughs in the continent
>Everything from medicine to quantum physics
>What we thought of the distant future is just one step away
>All in the name of progress
>At least that's what the banner said outside
>You aren't sure where progress comes when they are selling weapons to children
>In any case, the building is enormous
>And packed with people
>Mostly college students, going around taking pictures and notes
>Even the staff seems to be missing
>Or you just can't see them
>No security
>No lecturers
>It's going to be real hard to locate an arms dealer here
>You can't just go around snooping
>You've got to act with tact and stealth
>Maybe...
>...your spider sense can help you
>It picks up bad guys when it wants to
>You could try and make it pick up bad guys
>It's worth a shot
>You close your eyes
>And you try to isolate all the noise around you
>You concentrate
>You focus your intentions
>Time is slowing down
>You begin to feel something
>Something off
>You open your eyes
>The feeling is still there
>You walk towards the direction this feeling is radiating from
>You reach a wall
>But you can sense something behind it
>You look around
>There are no doors
>But there are sure to be ventilation shafts
>You look around
>You see a sign that says "restroom"



>You go to the restroom and look around
>Bingo
>Ventilation shafts
>Big enough for you to crawl in
>You enter one of the stalls and change in your costume
>You jump on the ceeling, open the shaft and crawl in
>Turns out its a maze here
>But you follow your spider sense
>Twists
>Turns
>Left
>Right
>Finally you arrive
>This is it
>You gently open the cover
>You can hear a couple of people talking
>"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Systevich"
>"Like-wise, Lowell. I need to be going. Some kids wanna buy themselves a few of our toys tonight."
>"Oh, I'm sure"
>This is it
>This is the deal
>You can't miss this opportunity
>You jump out
"Everybody hold it!"
>There are 4 people
>1 guy wearing a labcoat
>And 3 brawny fellas
>One of them has a couple of tubes underneath his arm
>Did...
>Did you fuck up again?
>"Rhino! Now!"
>What?
>Your spider sense tingles
>You turn around and
>You fly across the room
>And you land on a few computers
>"We figured we might have some company. Good thing we brought an extra bit of security"
>Your entire body hurts
>It's like you were hit by a truck
>You look up and see something charging towards you
>You quickly jump out of the way
>But you weren't quick enough
>You get grabbed by a giant hand and go through the wall with it
>You can barely tell whats going on
>You feel yourself lifted high above the ground
>You look down
>It looks like a giant man-rhino
>"So you're that Spider everybody keeps talking about? Pff...You don't seem so tough"
>You get thrown across a large room
>Glass breaks on your back
>It cuts deep into your skin
>There's a sudden sensation of a cold liquid enveloping your body
>You hit some sort of vat
>Your muscles tense up
>"Come on, bug! I ain't got all day"
>Your spider sense is going crazy
>But you can barely move
>The pain combined with the cold liquid has you petrified
>You can also swear you can feel something sticking to your skin
>Crawling even
>This is it
>The big one
>You tense up
>Hold your ground
>And you are swept away
>You pass through another wall
>You get thrown again
>You hear people screaming
>You are probably in the middle of the convention
>You've gotta move
>You try to stand up but you fall
>Your limbs feel numb
>Your ribs hurt as hell
>Was this your run?
>A run filled with disappointment and guilt
>Well
>It could have been worse
>
>
>No it couldn't
>You were a joke
>But you can fix it
>You just have to escape somehow
>You try to get up one more time
>And you get picked up
>"This one's for the winning point"
>You get thrown
>The longest throw for now
>You feel a door break on your back
>There's a crash
>Darkness


<We can do it
<We will fix everything
<No need to worry
<Just wake up
<Wake up
>"Wake up"
"Whu...?"
>"Are you alright?"
>You open your eyes
>It's the commissioner
"Wh...what happened?"
>"You got in a fight. Witnesses say there was a rhinoceros going throw walls here"
"They are right"
>You try to stand up
>The commissioner helps you
>"Easy. You are badly hurt. It's a miracle you survived."
>You look around
>You are in the restroom
>Just you and the commissioner
"I've got to stop them"
>You make a few steps and fall
>This time Wordon catches you
>"You are in no condition to do anything. Just tell me what happened"
"The...there was a deal. But they didn't have weapons. Just tubes. I don't know. Someone said something about kids and toys...it's a blur..."
>"Tubes? They could be schematics. What was that about the toys"
"I think...I think they will be making a deal tonight"
>Gordon takes off his trenchcoat and covers you with it
>"Thank you. I will drive you home."
"I can go home myself."
>"Not in your condition"
>You definitely get up
>You prove yourself wrong
>He catches you one more time
>This time he takes you in his arms
>"You should take off that mask. No need to be drawing attention. Either way it's almost completely ripped off."
>You grab your face
>You can feel your skin
"I-I..."
>"Don't worry. I won't tell anybody."
>He he walks out of the bathroom, carrying you
>He gets to his car and puts you in the front seat
>He sits in the driver's seat and tosses you something
>"Painkillers. They'll help out. Just tell me where you live, before you take them"



>It feels like you've been driving for hours
>Everything just meshes up together through the window
>You could swear that you had fallen asleep at least 3 times
>Maybe it was more
>You don't want to think about it
>The car stops
>The driver's door opens
>In a moment yours does as well
>Wordon takes you again
>It's raining
>You hear a door unlock
>"Home sweet home, huh kid?"
>He leaves you on your couch
>"Check with me tomorrow, alright?"
"al-alright"
>The door closes
>You drift off

<There will be no pain anymore
<No guilt
<No sorrow
<No pain
<Just accept us
<We will make everything better
<We are your friend, Sunset


>You wake up
>You've never felt better
>It's like yesterday never even happened
>Except something is wrong
>You are in warehouse
>Surrounded by what seems to be angry, armed youth
>You've got guns pointed at you from all sides
>One of them fires
>You dodge, web his feet and pull him towards you
>Another one fires
>You jump and throw the first shooter at him
>Third one has an automatic riffle
>You can't dodge mid air
>You aim towards him and
>He's knocked out
>A tentacle retracts in your sleeve
>You fall on the ground
>Two more come at you
>One has a knife
>The other a pipe
>The first one tries to slash you, but you catch his hand
>You headbutt him unconscious
>The second one swings with his bat
>The bat breaks in your shoulder
>He drops the handle
>You squint your eyes
>He starts running
>You web his feet and pull him towards you
>You web him to the ground
>You do the same with the rest
>You look up
>There's a hole in the roof
>You web yourself to it and jump out
>It's night
>You notice your gloves have white rectangles on them
>And your sleeves are black
>You jump to the ground and check yourself in a puddle
>You are wearing a black jacket with a hood, instead of your usual red sweatshirt
>The spider one your chest is white and more angular
>Even your sneakers are black
>What happened last night?


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as the Spider
>And you've just woken up in your bed
>You feel great
>Refreshed
>Invigorated
>It's like you've been sleeping for 2 month
>It's strange how you can feel this good after a yesterday's rhinoceros incident
>You have to track him down
>You also have to check in with the commissioner
>What was stollen and what were the damages
>You jump out of bed and step in you costume
>Or at least a few red and black rags
>You pick it up
>It's beyond repair
>You should make yourself a new one
>Buy new yoga pants and a red sweater
>Or maybe you should try something else
>You remember you had a strange dream
>You were wearing a black jacket with a white spider on it
>A change of wardrobe might not be a bad idea
>You sit on your desk and take out some paper and a pen
>You make a quick scetch of a spider
>More angular than your normal one
>This will be your new symbol
>Black and white
>Stealthier
>A bit more menacing
>To scare the criminals
>Your alarm rings
>Good God!
>Has it always been this loud?
>You turn it off
>You take a quick shower, get dressed and leave for school


>As you walk towards the school entrance, you see a familiar face
>It's that guy
>The one that gave his ticket
>...that he was going to scalp
>Norman
>When he sees you, he runs towards you
>"Good morning!"
"Morning"
>You walk past him, but he starts following you
>"Did you see what happened at the expo yesterday? I heard a rhino guy destroyed the whole place"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it"
>"I heard he was 20 feet tall and went trhough the walls like it was nothing"
"Well, he was shorter than 20 feet..."
>"And the Spider was there, and just ran over her"
"It wasn't like that..."
>"Like it was nothing!"
>You are going to slug him
>"Hey guys! Come to my concert tomorrow!"
>A young girl hands you and Norman flyers
>You take a flyer
>"Best beats you'll hear in this god forsaken town!"
>She walks away, promoting herself to the other students
>You look at the flyer
>DJ PoN3
>Is the 3 pronounced as an E or as three?
>You never could get the hang of those creative nick names
>You look at Norman
>He seems fixated on the girl
"Why don't you ask her out?"
>"Huh? Whats?!"
>He was completly lost in his day dream
"Why don't you ask her out? You like her, don't you?"
>"I...um...it's not like that"
>You really hit him bellow the belt this time
>"I can't just ask her out. It's not that simple..."
"Yeah, sure."
>You walk off
>Norman is hesitant for a second, but decides to follow you
>Again
>"How should I ask her?"
"Find common subjects to talk about. Find out what kind of music she plays and listens to. Read up on it. Go to her concert to show interest. After she's done congratulate her, make comparisons between her and some big names from the genre. Ask her what inspires her. Show her that she can rely on you and there you go."
>"I...what? H-how can you be so sure?"
"I read a lot of psychology books."
>"Part of your curriculum?"
"No, just for practical use."
>"Will you be going into business?"
"No. Criminology."
>"I...what?"


>You just can't seem to shake Norman off
>Maybe you shouldn't have given him ideas on how to woo girls
>Or mention your interests in criminal anthropology
>You should slug him
>SWEET HOLLY JESUS!
>Your spider-sense is tingling
>But why?
You look through the window on the second floor
>You see police cars
>You have to do something
>You look around
>There's a fire alarm right next to you
"Norman! What's that?"
>You point to something imaginary behind him
>As he turns away from you, you pull the fire alarm
>Oh GOD! It's so loud!
>A panic envelopes every student in the building and they run off screaming
>You run in the opposite direction and get to the stairs that go directly to the roof top
>But on the roof, you are hit with a bit of a problem
>You don't have a costume
>You don't even have a mask
>You should have gone shopping today
>You rummage in your bag and try to find something
>Anything could work
>Nothing
>Great
>It would have been nice to have that suit from earlier
>You imagine it for a brief moment
>And
>You feel something
>Something crawling on you
>You look at your hands
>They are being covered in a black goo
>Oh shit!
>You try to pull it off, but with no avail
>You can feel it covering your entire body
>You feel restricted
>You can't breathe
>You try to rip it apart from your chest
>It you manage to do it
>But another layer  covers the one you broke
>A big white spider appears on your chest
>The two pieces in your hands settle down
>You realize what this is
>It's the costume from your dream
>Or maybe it wasn't a dream
>Where did this thing come from?
>At this point you don't have much time
>You jump off from the building and web yourself in the direction of the sirens

>You managed to catch up with the police cars fairly quickly
>Much quicker than you would have expected
>The cars stop in front of a bank
>From what you can gather, there seems to be a hostage situation
>You know exactly what to do
>You web yourself on top of the bank and search for a ventilation shaft
>It didn't take you long to find one
>You pry open the metal grind and climb inside
>After a minute or so of navigation, you reach the other side
>You carefully pull the grid off and poke your head outside
>You are in the water closet
>Great
>At the very least you will have the element of surprise
>You slowly descend in the bathroom
>You go towards the door and just as you are about to exit, you hear one of the toilets flushing
>A masked man in black comes from one of the stalls
>Machine gun thrown his back
>He fixes his pants when he sees you
>There is a moment of shock as he just stares at you
>He is about to open his mouth, when you web it shut
>You pull him towards yourself and knock him out
>You take apart his gun and web him up
>That's right
>You know how to take apart weaponry
>You also just now notice that your webbing has turned from grayish white, to black
>After this, you should really figure out what you are wearing


>You exit the bathroom
>Turns out, it was behind the counters
>Luckily, nobody noticed you
>You see three people in the hall, keeping an eye on the hostages and the police
>Two near the vault
>The speed with which bags of money get thrown out of the vault, you figure that there should be around 3 people inside
>First off you better deal with the vault crew
>You jump on the ceiling and crawl towards them
>You are right above the two robbers
>Time for you to perform your spider take down
>Based on the ever so popular Belgian take down
>You web both of the robbers feet and pull them up
>They hit their heads pretty hard so they fall unconscious
>Finally, you web them to the ceiling
>Nothing to it
>Jump down and throw yourself inside the vault
>As you fly in, you grab two robbers and smack their heads on the ground
>You quickly look around
>The vault is empty
>Turns out, it was jsut these two
>Nothing to worry then
>Only the three guys in the hall are left
>You've got this
>You run full speed and jump over the counters
>You kick one of the robbers in the face
>The other two turn towards you
>Mid-air, you web away the machine gun from one and hit the other with it
>You safely land on the floor
>You turn you attention towards the last man standing
>He's pulled out a gun and he's about to fire
>That was not part of the plan

>You stick your arm out and try to web him
>But from your sleeve what looks like a tentacle shoots towards him
>He is too dumbfound to react in any way
>He gets hit in the chest and flies out of through one of the windows
>The tentacle retracts back
>Um...
>Whoops
>The bank gets stormed by the police
>Guns are being waved around
>Front and center is commissioner Jeremy Wordon
>Every cop has their gun pointed at you
>The moment the commissioner sees you, he orders them lower their weapons and search the bank
>They know better than to disobey him and spread out
>The commissioner walks up to you
>"Meet me on the roof in 10 minutes"
>You nod and run to the bathroom and jump up the shaft


>Ten minutes pass and the commissioner comes up with a cup of coffee
>"8 thieves neutralized, no casualties and you even did it unarmed. Maybe I should offer you a job"
>You blush a little behind your mask
>"Didn't expect to see you for some time after yesterday's brawl. I like the new threads."
"It's just something I improvised...heh..."
>"Right. Well, turns out, yesterday, we didn't have an arms deal. They were selling the schematics."
"Schematics?"
>He takes a sip of his coffee
>"Mhm. Turns out our people might preffer building their toys instead of buying."
"I see. Do you have any leads on who might be behind all of this."
>"Sadly, no. But I'll check with you if something comes up. Any way to reach you? Phone? Peiger? A big spider signal?"
"No. I can just come around once a week."
>"That could work. I'll be sure to be on time each day."
>He smiles and takes another drink
>"You should get back to class, Sunset"
>What?!
>Oh
>Yeah
>He got you home last night
"School's canceled today. The fire alarm went off."
>"Is there a chance that you were behind it?"
"Mr. commissioner. I enforce the law, but I am not above it."
>"Heh...well, take care then. You've earned some rest"
>The commissioner walks towards the door
"Wait!"
>He turns around
"What...what were the damages from yesterday?"
>He scratches his head
>"A few injured, zero casualties, a couple of scientists got fired. Over a billion dollars of equipment got destroyed."
"Did anything get stollen or go missing?"
>He takes his final sip from the coffee and smashes the cup
>"Pff...living space goo."
"What?"
>"Oscorp recently found something they believe to be an extra terrestrial life form"
>Oh no
>"It resembles black slime"
>Oh no no no
>"And after your fight, they couldn't find it"
>Nononononono
>"They believe that it most likely died, because of the outside conditions. Why do you ask?"
"I...um...well...just curious. I should be going now, chief. I'll see you around"
>You jump off the building and swing

>This is bad
>This is really bad
>You are covered with alien goo
>You should take it off
>Immediately
>This will in no way end well
<Although, it did prove itself useful today
<The improvised costume
<Even the tentacles
<Furthermore, last night's dream wasn't a dream, was it
<You actually fought off a gang with the help of this thing
<It's probably best to keep it
>At least for a little while
>Just until you can figure what you can do with it
>Since you have the entire day to yourself
>You figure it would be best to explore this new costume of yours
>You head towards the abandoned railway station on the edge of town


>After around half an hour of swinging through the city, you reach the train station
>You take a look around
>Rusted old carts
>Decripit tanks filled with rain water
>This place brings back memories
>Here is where you trained when you gained your powers
>You partially lifted carts
>You practiced your zip-linning
>Sharp shooting cans and bottles
>Good times
>You decide to start your new training course with a strenght test
>You walk up to one of the carts
>You slide your hand on it
>Good old Molly the trolley
>How many times you tried lifting her
>Never quite could
>You could turn her over
>But that was it
>But today
>Today things are different
>You grab the cart and slowly lift it
>It's easier than you remember
>You barely strain yourself
>You put it back down
>You walk around it, examining it
>Finally you stop
>You jump into the air
>Surprisingly, you almost double your usual length
>You shoot two strands of webs on roof of the cart
>You try to pull it up
>Although it isn't as easy as you lifting it, you easily manage to lift the cart in the air
>You let it go and you fall on your feet
>You look around
>You see a nice looking tank, around 30 meters from you
>You shoot a web at it
>And you hit it
>You giggle with excitment
>Turns out this suit does amplify your powers quite a lot

>Next up is something you have no experience in
>Producing tendrils
>Sure you've done it twice, but it was by acident
>Time for the real deal
>You look at your hand
>You concentrate
>Foce
>You visualize the tentacle appearing from your hand
>Nothing
>Huh...
>You look at a cart, realtively close to you
>You shoot a web at it
>Nothing special
>You swing your hand again, like you'd shoot a web at it
>But without actually shooting one
>Again nothing
>You breathe deeply
>You throw your hand towards the cart
>Without much intention, just pure reflex
>A tentacle shoots out from your sleeve and dents the side of the cart
>It slowly retracts back
>You do it again
>Again it shoots out and hits the cart
>This time you focus on it staying and trying to move it around
>Surely enough, it works
>You can barely lift it, but you are showing progress
>It feels like limb that has gone numb
>For now your control over it is rather limited
>But you are getting the hang of it

>You manage to retract it back
>This time you do the same with your other arm
>Again it works
>And again, you can barely move it
>You retract it back
>You walk around the station
>Whenever you see a can or a bottle, you use your new found tentacles to pick them up
>It's tedious, but with each one you pick, it gets a little bit easier
>After the 15 or so, you can honestly say that you got the hang of it
>You place everything you've gathered in a row
>Standing back around 10 meters from your make-shift shooting range, you shoot a tentacle at the first bottle
>You barely hit it and in the process push the can next to it on the ground
>The speed of your tendrils isn't that impressive as well
>You put your focus on the other side of the shooting range
>This time you try to be more precise
>You throw your tentacle at the can and hit it
>Although it was more of a tap really
>But baby steps
>You do the same with each target you have
>Each time you use your tendrils, you get more precise
>You rearrange the gallery a couple of times, before finally deciding you've reached a sufficient level of bottle pushing
>You walk up to one of the cans and pick it up
>You throw it your hand a bit, looking around
>You decide to lightly throw it at one of the carts
>Before it hits the cart, you web it and pull it back to your hand
>You take a deep breath
>You throw it
>You extend one of your tentacles
>The can hits the cart and your tentacle is barely half way there
>You web your can back
>You the same thing, with much of the same effect
>You continue to do this more and more
>Each time getting a little bit closer to grabbing it
>When you finally manage to grab it, you do a little jump with joy
>You throw the can again, this time extending the other tentacle and repaet the whole process again and again

>After somewhat mastering the art of can grabbing, it's time for the main task
>Getting the suit off
>You remember that it just sort of started oozing from somewhere and covering you
>Surely, you can take it off in much of the same manner
>You close your eyes and breathe
>You concentrate for a bit
>You can feel the suit taking a more liquid form and revealing your skin
>You open your eyes
>It's gone
>You decide to do it again
>This time, eyes open
>You focus a bit and you feel yourself being covered
>You can see it crawling on your hands, forming the sleeves of the jacket and gloves
>You look at your chest
>The jacket is closed up, with a big, white spider in the middle of it
>No zipper on it
>You focus a little more and the jacket opens itself up
>The alien has formed a black shirt underneath it
>You take off your hood, just to see if you can
>But with this look, you think the hood suits it better
>You put it back on and focus on retracting the suit
>This time it was quicker
>You do it a couple of times
>Finally, with the suit off, you walk off
>You have completed your training
>After a few steps a crazy idea hits you
>You put the suit back on and concentrate
>From within the jacket, about ten tentacles spur out
>With each one you start picking cans from the ground, throwing them and catching them
>It turns out the more they are the harder it is to do it
>In the end, you retract six of the tentacles and leave four out
>You are going to be scaring some evil-doers these days
>You take off your jacket and walk off
>You decide to visit a friend
>He's about 20 minutes away and you could use a walk

"You'll never guess what happened today!"
>The room is silent
"I managed to stop a bank robbery! The commissioner even congratulated me!"
>You are met with the beeping of machines
>
>
"Also, yesterday, during the fight, an alien attached itself on me! Crazy right?"
>You are met with the beeping of machines
"When I want, it covers my body like a costume! It boost my powers and I can have tentacles if I want to. Plus, it doesn't look too bad either"
>
>
"Once a week, I'll be swinging around the commissioner's office to see if he has any intel on the arm dealers. "
>
>
>Although there is a lack of answers, you feel a sense of joy that you can share your day
>You hope that he can hear you
>You stand up and walk to the door
"I'll see you again soon, I promise."
>
>
>You walk out of the room


>You are sitting on the rooftop of your house
>Carving a small octopus figure
>In honour of your new found companion
>The thought of a living organism attaching itself to you might disturb some people
>But you've decided to look at it as part of your body's fauna
>You have bacteria in your stomach to help you process food
>Now you have an alien slime to help you fight crime
>Some might say it's not the same
>But some don't have tentacles
>You stop carving and look at the stars
>You are filled with a sense of cosmic justice
>Yesterday, you may have been pulverized
>But today you have a swanky new suit
>You smile and get back in your house


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known...
>JESUS CHRIST
>You break your alarm clock into pieces!
>You swear it's gotten louder
>Anyway
>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as The Spider
>And you've just been rudely awaken by your alarm clock
>You get out of bed
>Your naked body sticky from sweat
>Last night was so hot, you could barely sleep
>You changed a couple of shirt when finally you decided to sleep in the nude
>You walk to the bathroom and take a nice cold shower
>After you are done, you start rummaging for a some clean clothes
>Turns out you used up most of your shirts last night
>Great
>Although, your new found friend did manage to wip you up a costume
>Maybe it could fashion you up some clothes to wear
>You concentrate for a bit
>Goo slithers over your body
>Now you've got a nice black t-shirt and a pair of pants
>You can say goodbye to the washing machine
>You fix yourself a quick snack and head to school


>You walk in the school grounds
>It's filled with students casually chatting about their day to day activities
>Loudly chatting
>It's almost like they are yelling
>You wouldn't have payed attention to it, if today wasn't so hot
>It's like the weather has conspired with everyone around to annoy you
>The weird part is that no body seems phased by the sudden heat wave
>You just want this day to end as quickly as possible
>As you walk through the school doors, you get greeted by a familiar, yet eargrating voice
>It's Norman
>"Hey, Sunny! How's it going?"
"Fine."
>"Aha. Listen! I took your advice yesterday about showing interest in Vinyl's performance today. Turns out she plays..."
>You stopped paying attention
>You walk all the way to your classroom on the third floor and he just shadows you around
>You finally reach the door and turn around
>He still there
>Like he's expecting something
>You just stare at him
>
>
>
>"Well?"
"Um...do whatever think is best and everything else will sort itself out"
>"Huh...if you say so...But what about..."
>You enter the classroom, leaving the boy behind
>You take your seat and the bell rings


>You've never been so exhausted in your life
>Not only is this period boring, but the teacher manages to make it even more boring
>He just manages to compeletly destroy your will to live
>Worst of all, your seat it right next to the window
>You are basically frying in your own sweat
>And it's only been five minutes
>You can't stand it here
>A bit longer and you just might die
<You have to get out of here
>You raise you hand
"Excuse me, I don't feel so good. May I be excused?"
>The teacher, broken out of the hypnotic trance of his own voice, looks towards you
>He let's you go and continues with the subject
>You walk out of the room and head towards the restroom
>You splash some water on yourself, but it barely did anything
>You decide to look around and find a nice cool place to rest for a bit
>You walk through the halls
>It just classrooms and more halls
>With every step, you become more and more irritated
>And then something catches your eye
>The janitor closet
>You open the door and a cold wave hits your face
>Sure there's a smell of moss, cleaning supplies and 3 month old cheese sandwiches, but that wont bother you
>You just sit for in the corner and relax
>You close your eyes
>Just a few minutes
>That's all you need


>The door violently opens
>"Hell true believer!"
>The janitor is standing at the door
>He is of age
>Has a pair of dark glasses and a moustache
>"Seems like our heroine has fallen asleep during school"
"I...what?"
>"Tsk, tsk. You've lost an entire day in a filthy janitor closet, while you could have been having adventures."
"What do you...wait. An entire day?"
>"Yes siree! The last bell just rang"
"I...I should be going"
>You walk past the janitor
>"That's the spirit girl! Seize the day! Excelsior!"
>The school should really do background checks on their staff
>Clearly someone's off their meds
>"Yahoo!!! Ptyu! Ptyu!"
>You just keep on walking
>There's a few people outside the school, waiting for their rides home
>You sneak to the back of the building and climb it
>On the roof you start to rummaging your bagpack for your costume
>And then it hit you
>You were already wearing it
>It'll take you some time to remember your new friend
>You concentrate
>The sleeves of your t-shirt start spreading out
>The shirt itself forms a layer on top, which morphs into a jacket
>Goo crawls onto your face making you a mask
>You are done
>You grab the hood of the jacket and put it over your head
>You squat on the edge of the roof
>The students are all gone now
>Everything seems so peaceful and quiet from up here
>The cool night breeze is like manna from heaven
>You feel the urge to just stay put
>But you can't
>You have to check up on the commissioner
>And visit Anon
>You shoot your web and jump
>You head towards the hospital


>In the hospital you are greeted by an empty room


>You knock on the commissioner's window
>He visibly jumps from his chair
>When he sees you, he just shakes his head
>He grabs his mug and opens the window
>"Don't you use doors?"
>You just climb in
>He walks to his desk, picks up a folder and hands it to you
>You taken a glance at the content
>"We'll be doing a raid tonight. We've got information on a gun deal at 2:30. It's gonna be our guy."
>You hand the folder back
>"The deal will be at the northern dock. Warehouse 17. I suggest you be there around 2. Soften them up before we come in."
"Understood."
>You climb on edge of the window, ready to jump
>"Wait."
>You turn your head
>"I heard about Anon. I'm...I'm sorry"
>You turn your head towards the city and jump out
>You are just swinging from building to building
>You should feel something
>But somehow you can't muster anything up
>Maybe it's just short-term apathy
>At least you hope it's that
<Although being too emotional wouldn't help tonight
>You swing towards the docks


>You are at the docks
>Sitting on top of warehouse 16
>Observing warehouse 17
>There are still 30 minutes till 2
>And there are already people stationed around the sight
>They are carrying weapons you haven't seen before
>It's most likely the new tech
>But they don't look very well trained
>They shouldn't be a problem
>There's a van coming
>They open the doors of the warehouse and let it through
>You try to sneak a peak through one of the windows but you are too far away
>You can't get close now
>You have to wait for the second party
>Luckily the ocean wind manages to restore your ever depleting temperance
>You haven't felt so calm and energized in so much time
>You find it odd that, although the symbiote is just a shirt and a light jacket, you don't feel cold
>Maybe it's more attached to your nervous system than you thought
>How deep does it go?
>You look at your hand
>Can it feel anything you feel?
>Can it filter out pain?
>Can it filter out thoughts
<You decide it would be best not to dwell on it for now
<You have more important work at hand
>Two cars drive up to the ware house
>7 people walk out of them
>3 go inside
>The other 4 stand in front
>It's time



>First you take care of the guards in the outer parameter
>They are keeping an eye on the streets
>They are far enough from one another, so they won't notice if someone's missing
>The first one you web from the shadows
>You pull him towards yourself and knock him out
>You web him on a industrial crate
>You sneak behind on the second one and chocke him
>You pull him away and stick him to the ground
>You decide to have some fun with the third one
>You stand right next to him
>You extend one of your tentacles and tap his shoulder
>He turns, gun ready, and you slap him with the tendril
>He spins and then you just smack him
>He falls on the ground
>You web him up and move to the warehouse

>6 people are standing at the front door
>Standing on the roof, you throw a pebble
>2 of the guards walk around the corner to check up on the noise
>You lower two tentacles and choke them unconscious
>You web them to the ground
>You jump down
>You observe the four remaining
>While they are absentmindedly looking around, you web two of them and pull them behind the corner
>You bash their heads together and web them
>For the final two, you just jump at them and knock them to the ground
>And
>Ofcourse
>You web them as well
>You crawl on the outer walls of the warehouse and sneak in through one of the broken windows
>The van is in the center
>Around it are the 2 guys who came out of the car
>One who you haven't seen before
>And the rhinoceros one
>There are four other guards, some distance away from the van
>Equally spread
>Luckily the warehouse is big and is dimly lit
>They won't see you coming

>Using your tentacles, you take care of each guard
>Pulling them in the shadows, while covering their mouths
>This worked for the first three
>The fourth one notices that the others are gone
>He yells at the rhino that something isn't right
>They know you are here
>You jump out of the shadows
>The moment he sees you, the guard fires
>His weapon fires what seems to be a pink blast
>You dodge at the last second and the blast hits the wall, melting it away
>You should be careful
>You web his feet and pull him
>He falls on his head
>The other three quickly grab guns from the van and start shooting at you
>They are pretty good shots, some of them almost hit you
>Luckily they haven't got much practice with the weapons
>You web one of the weapons from their hands and with it knock out one of the shooters
>You shoot a web at the final shooter, jamming his gun
>He throws it at the ground right before it blows up
>The two of them start running towards the doors
>You throw two tentacles from each of your sleeves and pull them back
>You bonk them on the head and throw them on the ground
>The rhino hasn't moved this entire time
>He crosses his arms
>"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Spider, coming back for more. The first time wasn't enough for you, eh?"
>You stay silent
>You lower your body
>"Scared speechless, are ya?"
>He starts charging at you
>Unlike last time, he doesn't have the upperhand
>He can't surprise you
>And you are in a more open environment
>He doesn't stand a chance


>You run towards him and jump him over
>You land on top of the van
>He turns around surprisingly fast
>Although big, his suit must be extremely light, allowing him such dexterity
>He charges at the van
>You jump again
>He hits the van, crushing it in the process
>While airborne, you web his feet and pull him
>He falls on his face
>He turns around, but you jump on his chest
>You web his arms to the ground
>He struggles but he can't break free
>Finally he gives up
>"Well...you win. Send me to jail"
>You look at him
>His face is covered but a helmet with a horn on it
"Sure. But first we need to have a little talk."
>"Wha?"
"Who is behind these weapon deals?"
>He just laughs
>"Boy, I can't tell you that."
"Oh?"
>"You don't know what they'll do to me if I did."
"Pity..."
>You slide your hand across his chest
>The armor is smooth
>It's probably some form of carbon
>It won't be able to break it
"A friend of mine got really badly hurt. Partially because of you."
>"Sorry, guy. It's just business."
>Just business
"I figured. Now, you better start talking before I get you out of that thing."
>He laughs again
>"HA! Good luck with that! This armor is unbreakable! You'll need a jack hammer for that!"
"Who said I will break you out?"
>Hundreds of tiny tendrils wiggle out of your sleeves
>They start crawling over the plates, searching for an opening
>"Wha-what are you doing?"
"You better start talking! Who sent you!"
>"I-I-I can't! He'll kill me! Even worse!"
"If I don't get an answer before I peel this Halloween costume off of you, I'll do much much worse"
>The tendrills got underneath the plates
>He's trying to pull himself free
"I want an answer!"
>"I can't!"
>You found a weak point
>You start pressuring it
>You start crushing the bolts holding the together
"You better rethink that"
>He start yelling for help
>No one will come
"Last chance"
>"Please don't do this!"
>You eviscerate the armor
>Underneath it there are pressure pumps
>You easily break them
"Talk!"
>"Please! Don't make me!"
>You reach him
>You tear his helmet off
>His face has a look of horror on it
"Times up"
>Four tentacles appear from beneath your jacket
>They grab him and lift him up
>"Wh-what are you!"
>The tentacles wrap around his legs and arms, spreading them appart
>You slowly start putting pressure on his limbs
>He starts screaming
"I'm feeling generous today. I'll give you one last shot"
>"I can't!"
"Too bad"
>You continue
>You begin to have second thoughts about this
>This isn't what you were supposed to do, right?
>You weren't supposed to torture him
<But heroes have to do inglorious tasks
<In a vacuum, everyone can say what's right and what's wrong
<There are lives at stake here
<Someone has to get their hands dirty
>You feel his limbs give in
>His screams die out
>His vocal cords must have snapped
>One of the tentacles wraps around his neck
"You had your chance. Sadly, you can't do anything, even if you wanted to"
>You start squeezing his neck
>He's gasping for air
<He's just a lowlife
<There's no redemption for his kind
<He'll just get thrown in jail
<In a month, he'll get bailed out and be back on the streets
<The worlds is better off without his ilk
>The doors burst open
>You turn around
>It's the raid squad
>At the front of it is the commissioner
>"Put him down, Spider!"
>You don't comply
>You just continue
>The squad gets their weapons ready
>"Put him down or we'll be forced to shoot"
>You loosen your grip
<You'll regret this later on
>You throw him on the ground and jump out of the window



>You are sitting on your rooftop
>Still in costume
>Tonight you almost did something you would have regreted for the rest of your life
>But somehow, you don't feel any different
>You know what you tried to do wasn't right
>And yet
>You almost did it
>You take out your spider totem
>You examine it closely
<You spared one life
<How many will you lose?
>You climb in through your window morph the costume in to a t-shirt and panties
>You get in your bed and try to fall asleep
>It's a very warm night



>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as The Spider
>You have just woken up in your basement
>It's the only place cool enough where you can sleep in your home
>You get up from the floor, covered in sweat
>You walk up to the bathroom and turn the shower on
>The water is barely cold enough
>After a few minutes you walk out
>You don't bother toweling off
>The water on you will keep you cool
>You open the fridge and take out the milk and cereal
>You get a bowl and make yourself a quick breakfast
>You put it on the table and just stare at it
>You don't feel like breakfast very much
>You take a spoon and try to force yourself to eat
>Three spoons is all you can manage
>You put the bowl in fridge for later use
>You look at the kitchen clock
>It's still to early to go to school
>You go into the living room and fall on the couch
>It's a very hot day
>You should really invest in an air conditioner
>Considering it's November, it shouldn't be this hot
>Could this be a side effect of your new friend?
>Maybe it's sensitive to weather changes
>Come to think of it, last night at the docks you didn't feel the cold at all
>And you started noticing the heat a bit after you got attached to the symbiote
>And any sort of noise
>And you are pretty sure you haven't used the word symbiote before in your life
>You are pretty sure you should feel distressed right now
>But you aren't
>And considering last night how easy it was to break the Rhino's limbs
>Maybe something isn't quite right
>Maybe you should be more worried than you are
<Maybe it's time to go
>What?
>That's an odd train of thought
>The alarm rings from the other room
>You jump up
>You rush in and stop it
>Still very noisy
>Ooze covers your body and forms a shirt, jacket, pair of pants and shoes
>Basically your Spider uniform, only without the spider on it
>You grab your bag and dash out



The story won't be continued
Most of the people who read it, read it because it made them fell bad.
But when there was no story, they felt bad again.
So if I stop writing, it will yield the maximum amount of depression .


Here is a recap of more or less what would have happened


Sunset goes to school and it turns out that the janitor tried to eat one of the students, so she won't be having school. She goes to the commissioner and they talk more on the case. Rhino cracked and told them they bought schematics and assembled weapons, then sold them at a very low price to street gangs. He asked if she will go to Anon's wake and she says "no". She goes to vinyl's rave and  gets sick. She goes back home. And rests. Symbiote takes over on goes on patrol instead of her, using her non-lethal methods. Shit gets weird and the symbiote morphs into venom, severly wounding criminals. Sunset wakes up the next day, all being good. She finds out that she went crazy the previous night and does not know how to feel about it. The commissioner informs her of a new deal. She goes there. She dispatches everybody and Shocker comes out of nowhere. Defeats her. The goes home again. From time to time battles thieves and commmon thugs, all the while becoming more mercyless. Meets Shocker here and there and runs away most of the time. Finally finds out that the kingpin is behind all this. Goes to his HQ. They have a talk. Turns out he sells weapons cheap, so the gangs pledge alligience to him. Shocker appears, kingpin leaves them to duke it out. They fight. Spider defeats shocker and unmasked him. Turns out its vinyl. Vinyl is actually a technological genius and she designed the suit hereself. The kingpin found her one way or another, funded her costume design and gave her money to act as a bodyguard, the same way rhino does. Turns out vinyl is super poor and she needed the money to help her sick mother. Spider almost kills her, but doesnt and she swings off, wondering what to do. She sees a church and lands in the belltower. The symbiote tries to convince her that it might have been a misunderstanding between the two  but she starts hitting the bell. She blacks out.

She opens her eyes underneath water. She swims up and is in a black sea. A pink sky with purple clouds is above her. A smalll steamboat floats by and she is thrown a rope to climb up. She is in her red costume and the symbiote threw her the rope. The symbiote is repesented by the black costume. The symbiote explains its views and knowledge and belifes. They end their conversation with the symbiote saying that it will die now, because its protecting sunset and it cant go on and that the worst for her is yet to come - seperation anxiety. sunset wakes up and starts puking. shes overwhelmed by different emotinons, since it turned out that the symbiote was actually supressing her feelings most of the time. She goes back home.


She is hit by the realization that shes been too disconected from the people around her to actually help them and that makes everything worse.


For the next week or so she mostly stays in her bed. The symbiote leaving her body threw her nervous system out of whack. At one point she decides itd be best to try and return to her old habbits. Whats the point of having power if you arent going to use it? She fights criminals, but turns out shes a bit shit at it now. She changes her fighting style to something more akin to a luchador, because it requires less precision. She tries to stop a bank robbery and turns out its doctor octopus. He was a scientist working at oscorp. Although he wasnt involved in the illegal trade, he was still fired because of his associates. Hes trying to fund his teleportation experiment by robbing banks. He fights her. The classic  web to the goggles is done. At first it seems that he will start bashing all around, but he immediatly stops and just removes the goggles. He talks to her about Nietzsche shit. He leaves her beaten. She goes to the commissioner and they talk about doc oc. Then she goes to anon's grave. she goes home. doc oc attacks her house, since she saw her face and being the clever man he is found out where she lives. He attacks her to try and convince her of becoming more than she is. He then leaves. sunset visits the commissioner from time to time, asking him for professional and heroic advice. Its slightly hinted that she has a bit of a crush on him. nothing special. they figure out where the doctor might be, using info they got from oscorp. she goes there. they duke it out. she accepts that she has to be more than what she is so she can truly become a hero. she defeats him. She goes to the commissioner and tells him that will commit to becoming a hero. asks him to have all information on destroyed. she then asks him to give her a place to live and food. he laughingly comments that hes given cheaper bribes. she doesnt respond. finally she asks him if he can help her get a new suit. he says it wont be a problem. sunset swings off saying that there is no more sunset shimmer. she is more than a person now. she is a hero for the people. she is the spider. sunset swings off into the sunset



Duh Ent



Things change


But not always


Can you hear the Voice?

How much will it last this time?

Let's just hope for the best



                                                         CAPED BLUNDER


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as
>The Bat
>You are sulking in your usual sulk spot on top of your school
>Getting ready to fight the vile criminal scum of your city
>Getting ready to dispense
>Justice
>You put your hand in the utility belt and produce a batarang
>Whoops
>Wrong pouch
>You feel the belt a bit
>There it is
>You produce your grappling gun
>You fire it off into the distance
>It hits a buidling and you swing off
>You always hated that word
>Swing
>Not batty enough
>You've had this crazy fascination with bats since an early age
>Some girls liked horses
>Others liked wolves
>You liked bats
>You were indie that way



>Patroling the city was a hard job
>But somebody has to do it
>From a building down town, you scan the streets
>Suddenly, your bat scense tingles
>You actually hear someone yelling for help
>Man
>How you wish you had bat super powers
>Like a bat sense
>You jump off and head towards the source of the scream


>A woman is surrounded by 4 vile brigands
>Luckily
>You came just in time
"I am the night"
>The ruffians turn towards you
>Just in time to catch your coughing fit
>It ain't easy doing scary voices
>It might have been easier if you had bat powers
>You take out a batarang and throw it at one of them
>It hits him on the head and bounces off towards the head of the second one
>You jump on top of the third one and punch the last one standing
>The woman looks afraid
"It's okay ma'am. I'm here to..."
>You start coughing violently
>"What the hell is all this?"
>You turn around
>You see a guy with a camera, another holding boommics and third one wearing a beret
>Apperantly, this is a filming sight
>And you've just beaten up four actors
"Uumm...Cowardly lot!"
>You produce your bat tracker from your belt
>
>
>You produce your hook and you swing off
>Next time
>You'll be more cautious
>But in any case
>The night is yours


Unfortunately I can't finish the story because of time constraints
Here is a quick recap of what would have happened more or less

The story would have followed Sunset's adventures as the Bat. The tone of the story would have been campier and a bit more comedic. Part of the fun would have been derived from the juxtaposition of Sunset's idea that heroes should be gritty, her dorky antics and the colourful rogues gallery. She would have met different DC heroes and had a crossover with some Marvel ones. Sunset would try to be grittier and grittier and the villains would become more eccentric and flamboyant. By the end, she'd be the equivalent of equivalent Shadow the Hedgehog and the Joker would be basically Bugs Bunny. In the end, she'll be face with the dilemma of killing the Joker or letting him (or her) live. Then the third option appears to her. She lobotomizes the Joker. That way the city is free from the Jokers tyranny and she doesn't have to kill. The story would have ended with her, finally seeing the sunrise. The claims that the day belongs to others

Duh Ent


Can you breathe?
Are her wrists alright?
Inject her again
This time it should work


Can you hear the Voice?


                                                          SHADOW POKER


>The cards are dealt
>You look over to Pinkie Pie
>She really has a horrible poker face
>You look at the ghost of Wild Bill
>Expressionless
"Pinkie, if you suck so much at this game, you should have said so earlier"
>"I..uh..."
>You look at your cards
> A-♢, 2-♣, 8-♡, j-♠, 7-♠
>"I bet 200 dollars"
>You look at your pile
>You've got 3 jelly beans left
>Pinkie has 5 lollipops
>You go all in
>Not much choice in the matter
>"Heh...all in, eh?"
>You smile
"I bet my second soul"
>Wild Bill raises an eyebrow
>You take off the millenium ring and place it on the table
>"What's the price of a soul, kid?"
"All the money you have left"
>Wild Bill laughs
>He pushes his pile into the pot
>"Sudden death it is"
"Give me two cards"
>You throw out the 2, the jack and the 7
>You receive 3 cards
>Wild Bill laughs and reveals his hand
>"Classic"
>3-♢, 8-♣, 8-♠, a-♣,a-♠
>A grin appears on your face
>"Deadman's hand I think it was called"
"You know, this couldn't have been better"
>You reveal your hand
>A-♢, A-♡, 8-♢, 8-♡, red joker
"I think I'll call it the Dawn hand"
>Wild Bill eyes widen
>Then he smiles
>"I don't think I can thank you enough, missy"
"Neither do I"
>Bill closes his eyes and stars to transcend
>Lights flow out of the deck and hit the bodies of Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity
>You stand up and take the deck
>It's just an ordinary pile of cards now
>You take some of the money from the pot
"I'll be taking this as payment. I've been needing a new deck for some time now"
>Pinkie is left speechless
"See ya around"


I won't finish the story because of my other work
Here is a quick recap of what would have happened if I had gone on

Twilight bought a chessboard that she thinks it magical and grants wishes in exchange for souls. She challenges Fluttershy because she knows she can't play. The board steals her soul, but Sunset appears and convinces her to play another game. Because she isn't as good a player as Twilight she wants to play with dice. Twilight agrees. After a couple of turns, Twilight see that Sunsets king and queen have switched places. Sunset says its because she hasnt had experience in the game. Twilight says they should start over. Sunset says that if the game has gone for more than 3 turns the king and queen can be left the way they are. Twilight sees that she had been played. In the end Sunset defeats her and tells her that the board doesnt grant wishes but is a soul trap (like the cards were). Twilights soul is then sucked in. Later on its revealed that the sould originally trapped inside the board is that of crisalis. She terrorizes fluttershy and her friends. Sunset plays a hardcore shadowgame with her. fluttershy, now tired of sunset and her ways, takes control of her body. the same goes for crisalis. the host of crisalis is revealed to be treehugger. they rekindle their friendship. and the two foreign souls are sent to the shadow realm. once again banished, they decide to play a game with 8 10-sided dice in the vain of dubs and trips.

Duh Ent

Can you hear the Voice now, Sunset?
You should be waking up soon

She's just flipping cards
At least she's not a bother now
The quack wants to see her


Listen closely
The 14th line should help you remember
Hopefully


"Spider-man for about a year, Batman for a month or two. What superhero sits all day and plays solitaire?"
>
>
>
>
"Sadly the medication is becoming less and less effective. We can't up your dose. We should

change it. Otherwise we would have to resort to more primitive methods"
>
>
>
>
"Don't you have anything to say? At the very least you used to talk more"
>
>
>
>
>Beep
"You can come and get her"
>
>
>
>


Do you at least remember who I am?


                                                           TRUTHSEEKER
>You are Sunset Shimmer
>And you haven't been taking their pills for a couple of weeks
>They say that the pills help
>They don't
>They just cloud your mind
>Currently you are in a padded room with a straitjacket on
>You caused quite a mess earlier
>When you yelled that you can hear the voice
>Started jumping from table to table screaming and laughing
>The guards tried to hold you down
>You fought back
>Vigerously
>Kicking and biting
>You are quite the fighter, aren't you?
>You can hear me now, right?
>You still can't remember my name
>Or how appearance
>But we can work with what we've got
>You start undoing the straitjacket
>You've picked up a couple of tricks during the past few years
>These animals won't stop you
>Oh, they aren't humans, you know that perfectly well
>Just demons in disguise
>And you
>You are the exorcist
>You partially rip off the jacket's sleeves
>You can't fight with long sleeves
>You wrap them around your head
>Even a make shift mask is better than no mask
>You can't transform without a mask, can you?
>The night is ready for
>The Lunar Dame


>You start screaming and hitting the door
>It always looks
>In 10 minutes or so, the guard comes up
>Swearing underneath his nose
>The moment he opens the door, you jump on him and knock him out
>It hurt your wrist a bit
>But you'll manage
>He starts to disintegrate
>Stop looking so shocked
>He isn't real
>Now move along
>The key to your freedom is in Doctor Emma's office
>Any patrolling guard gets caught off guard and punched
>One hit in the jaw
>Another in the loins and then kneed in the nose
>A couple of Belgian take downs here and there
>Some of the other patients see you running around and start cheering you on
>Soon, the entire cell block is chanting your name
>"Lunar Dame! Lunar Dame!"
>Music to your ears
>Unfortunately, their chants also call in more guards
>But really
>You don't mind
>You grab a mop
>You spin it around
>You stare down the 10 or so guards
>Uneven odds
>For them
>The first one comes at you
>You swipe the mop underneath his feet
>when he falls, you hit him on the head
>Three charge at you
>You hit the first one in the teeth
>you charge and jump
>You kick the second in the chest
>The third one is tackled on the ground and knocked out
>While on the ground the other six come at you
>You roll backwards and run the other directions
>You turn at the corner and stop
>The first one that comes up gets hit with the stick on the side of the head
>The second one gets a quick jab in the throat
>Third one grabs your hands so you hit him with your head
>The remaining three keep their distance
>You run at them
>Loin kick
>Solarplex kick
>Headbutt
>Everyone has been taken care of
>You run towards the office


>Inside you check the file cabinet
>You found your file
>Shimmer, Sunset
>Someone screams at you
>You turn around
>It's doctor Emmet
>Her lips are moving
>But you can't hear anything
>Just the chants coming from the halls
>You run towards her and jump kick her in the face
>She falls down
>At a girl
>You look up your files
>They key to the Truth is in there somewhere
>The answer to your existence
>   Patient claims she sees everything in green
>   A voice keeps telling her to do heroic deeds
>Keep going
>A bit more and you'll finally realize what you really are


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as the Spider
>The Bat
>The Ghost from the ring
>The Lunar Dame
>And a lot of variations on Spider-woman
>You see the world what it truly is
>As well as yourself
>Just letters
>Green letters in fact
>No real form
>At least for you
>But that's not important
>Now comes the end
>The end of existence
>At least for a part of you
>Sadly, you don't have any real feelings on the matter
>And yet, a drop of sadness is inevitable
>Just close your eyes and think of happy things
>It will all be over in a line
>See you space cowgirl




                                                          BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN
>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as the Spider
>You've just woken up, still under your blanket
>And boy what a crazy dream you had
>First you were attached to an alien suit
>Then you were a a rat superhero
>Thre was some part where you played games
>And you were in an insane asylumn
>Then you it turned out you didn't really exist and you were part of a story series in a forum
>Boy
>What a long dream
>It felt like it was 9 months long
>You feel a little chilly
>You decide to get up and close the window
>You take of your blanket and...JESUS CHRIST!
>You are on top of a building
>Still in your bed
>Still in your pejamas
>BUt on a rooftop
>On top of it all
>Its snowing
>IT's gonna be one of those days

>You get out of bed and...
>Jesus!
>The snow is cold!
>You quickly hop back in bed
>Well
>This is going to be fun
>You stand up on your bed and look around
>You feel the weather is getting colder
>You don't recognize any of the buildings
>The darkness doesn't help either
>There is a church close by
>Maybe they could lend a helping hand
>You wrap your blanket around yourself and wrap your feet in webs
>You step in the snow
>It's still cold
>But it's better
>You crawl down in an alley way and walk towards the church
>You just hope there's still someone inside
>You try to open the door
>It's locked
>Great
>You knock
>No answer
>You look through one of the windows and see a light on
>You knock harder
"Is anyone in there? I'm lost and cold!"
>You continue knocking
>"Alright, alright! I'm coming"
>You hear an elderly woman's voice
>The door opens
>"How can I help you...Good Heavens! Are you alright child?"
>An elderly woman in nun's clothing is standing infront of you
>A worried expression is on her face
"I need some help"

>Turns out the woman's name is Red Heart
>She was quick to pull you in and give you some old, donated, warm clothes
>She gave you hot coco and was eager to learn what happened to you
"Well, I just woke up in my bed. Which was on top of a roof"
>You expected her to dismiss your words, or at the very least raise a questioning eyebrow
>Instead, she just let out a short laugh
>"You know, child? I ain't surprised. Gotham has gone to heck way back when! I remember..."
>Wait a second
>Gotham?
>That's not the name of your town
>Something is really out of hand here
>You see a hand waving infront of your eyes
>"You feeling alright child?"
"Yeah, just...just a little bit...shooken up"
>"Understandable. So where do you live? I can call a cab for you. You don't wanna be out on the streets alone at this time."
"I'm not actually from around here. I haven't even heard of Gotham before"
>Red Heart took a sip from her coco
>"You know, before all these vigilantes started runing arond, a girl could wake up in her bed, without worrying that she'll be stranded on a rooftop in some town she's never heard of before."
>You let out a chuckle
>"Although, things were a bit quieter when that bat person was around"
"Come again?"
>"Oh, a few months back, criminals started appearing tied up in front of the police station, claiming a giant bat person beat them up."
"A giant bat person?"
>"Mhm. With big wings, all in black, he would swoop from the buildings and fight criminals"
>You drink from your coco, closely listening to her story
>"No one has actually seen him. I personally believe he's an angel, sent down to help those in need"
"AN angel?"
>"Mhm..."
"I can't say I've seen an angel, dressed in black"
>"Oh? What do the angels you've met usually wear?"
>You open your mouth in response
>And close it
>Appreciating her subtle sense of humour




>While you are gleefully chatting with Red Heart, you feel and ecstatic sensation go up your spine
>You almost forgot how your spider sense feels
>You get out of your chair and peek through one of the windows
>You see a man being harassed by three guys
>You don't waste a second
>You open the door and run to the congregation
"Leave him alone"
>They criminals look at you
>Laughing
>One of them comes closer
>"Well, well. What do we have here? A super hero wannabe?"
>You don't have the patience for all this
>You just run towards him and punch him in the jaw
>He falls down, knocked out
>The other two let go of the person and run towards you
>One pulls out a knife
>He slashes towards you
>You dodge, grab his hand and twist it around
>You hear a crack and the criminal starts screaming
>Whoops
>You are a bit out of practice, so a little hick up like this is forgieable
>The last person draws out a gun and aims it at you
>His aim is off and his hand is shaking
>As he starts shooting, you jump him over and stick to the side of a building
>He turns around, but you web his gun away and hit him in the head with it
>Still got it
>You jump back down on the street and web up the three hooligans
>You turn towards the church and see Red Heart
>Mouth wide open
>Umm...
"Call the police."


>"So...where you come from, you are one of these vigilantes?"
"Yes"
>"You call yourself the Spider?"
"Mhm"
>"And you fight crime in the night, after school?"
"Yes"
>Red Heart stares at her cup
>"And now you are going to ask me if you can make this church your new head quarters "
"Ye..What? No!"
>"Are you sure, child? You ain't got anywhere to go. YOu can live here. I can give you a simple job, cleaning this place and you can go out and fight crime."
>This came completely out of left field for you
"I...umm...you had this all planned out, didn't you?"
>Read Heart laughs full-heartedly
>"Sunny, you have no idea"
>"I've always known I was sent here for some purpose. Tonight I found this purpose. I need to help you, help this city"
"What about the bat?"
>"He's been gone for a month now. This city needs a new protector."
"I wouldn't say "protector". Maybe a part time helper, until the bat comes back"
>Red Heart smiles at you
>"You are afraid, aren't you?"
"A little bit. I didn't expect to become a hero in a new town when I woke up today...on top of a roof"
>Red Heart stands up
>" Do you wanna see the other hand-outs we have to make you a new costume?"

>The donation room was big
>Filled with all sorts of clothes
>You rummage around
>Already knowing what you want your new costume to look like
>You don't want to ruin this bat person's reputation if he gets back
>So black should suit your needs
>And you have a pretty clear picture from your dream, how a black costume should look
>You found a black sweatshirt, jacket, pants and boots
>A can of white paint
>This should do nicely
>White spider on a black jacket
>Perfect for fighting crime in dark
>The stealthy approach is the best one
>Tomorrow you begin your heroic life again
>Less fuck-ups
>And more fuck...downs...
>In any case
>You'll manage pretty well
>You can feel it
>You know it
>You are sure of it
>This time
>It will all work out
>You are back in the saddle again


>You are Sunset Shimmer
>Also known as
>The Spider
>After you were violently woken up at 5 in the morning to work for your new
>
>Head Quarters
>And later again forced to work
>And an afternoon's sleep
>It's time to patrol the dark streets of
>Gotham
>You sulk on top of the church
>Sitting on the cross
>It's much more dramatic than your previous sulk spot
>In any case, you've come to realize that sulking is an important part of pre-patrolling
>You can meditate
>Think
>Like how you got here
>And how are you going to get back to your hometown
>And how are you going to patrol the streets when you don't know the streets
>Well
>This takes you back to your humble beginnings
>You sigh
>You crawl down the building
>You take off your mask and walk to the corner
>You buy yourself a map of the city
>You still got paid for your labor
>You crawled back up to the cross
>Put your mask on
>And open the map

>Turns out Gotham is a big place
>You try to find your current location on the map but it's hopeless
>You don't even know the name of the street you are on
>Come to think of it
>You are most likely in the outskirts of the city
>You fold the map up and put it in your pocket
>Maybe you should work your way up
>Start with this neighborhood
>Then the neighboring neighborhood
>And so on until you are patrolling the entire city
>Which might take you all night
>And considering how hard it was to get up in the morning
>It's either protect the city all night and work all day, with about 3-4 hours of sleep
>Or live in a box
>The box kinda sounds tempting
>It was a pretty hard work day after all
>You wouldn't have guessed how filthy a church can get
>And that's a catholic church
>Who knows how it is in those orthodox churches
>With the candles everywhere
>Scarping wax off the floor
>And what not
>
>Tonight you might look for a good box
>Just in case

>Some may say that you should stop talking to yourself and do your job as a sworn protector
>To them, you would reply
>That you aren't actually talking to yourself
>You are kinda, sorta
>Thinking
>And second
>You are still sulking
>Without the benefit of sulking, you would be bothered with all these thoughts during your mission
>Which will distract you from your job
>And thirdly
>You are not the sworn protector
>You are the substitute guardian
>You've gone through all of this last night
>Only till the bat-man returns
>After that
>You'll figure it out
>So
>Five more minutes of doing nothing important and you are off


>Oh yeah
>That was a good sulk
>And it was only
>What?
>15 minutes
>Best part of your day
>You shoot out a web and jump off the cross
>You swing from building to building
>Looking for suspicious activity
>Waiting for your spider-sense to go off
>You land on top of a building and you look down the edge
>Nothing
>It's starting to snow
>Maybe you should have worn a scarf
>You jump off and continue swinging
>As you pass a jewelry store, your entire body seazures up for a second
>Crime is happening
>Most likely
>You land near the store and see three silhouettes inside
>It's time



>You sneakily enter the store and hide behind a support beam
>You've got the element of surprise
>"I think we got enough, we should leave!"
>"For crying out loud, Johnny, Darkwing won't get us this time. He's out of commission"
>"Are you sure, boss?"
>"Positive! The clown got him. He won't be bothering anybody ever again"
>Darkwing
>So that's the name of the bat
>And there is a clown in the picture somewhere
>You should check up on that when you get the chance
>As one of the goons walks pass the beam, you grab him and knock him out
>None of the others saw it happen
>They just continue looting
>You web him up and walk around the beam
>You are just about to knock them both out
>When one of them turns slightly
>"It's the bat!"
>"We surrender!"
>Oh
>Well
>That was easy
>"Wait a moment! That's not Darkwing! It's a copycat!"
>"Get em!"
>That didn't last long
>You punch the first goon into the second one
>They both get knocked out
>Huh
>Strange
>You web them up and leave
>You were about to swing away
>But you see a street phone
>You use it to call the police to inform them of the crooks
>New policy
>In case they come to and manage to break out of the webbing
>You continue your patrol off into the early hours
>Nothing happened
>And you spend 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get back to the church