Chapter Text
Being Taylor Hebert was shit. It always had been, thinking back on it.
That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but this was one of the days that felt like it. I had started out like any other girl. A family. A best friend. A normal girl with normal problems and a normal life.
That all changed when my mother died in a freak accident no one could see coming.
After that brutal slap in the face, everything seemed to come apart. My dad became a wreck. My best friend turned into a psycho and started bullying me every day in high school. All the joy in my life turned to shit. I was a freak. A loser. A nobody.
And then I had gotten powers. I could control bugs around me. At first, I thought it was pathetic, but I was slowly learning all the things I could do with my power, from keeping track of a thousand bugs all at once to having spiders spin me my very own costume.
A worse person would have used this power selfishly. Tried to take revenge on my bullies, or stalk people for blackmail, or just use this power to make money. But I was better than that. My parents had raised me right. And after a particularly shit day, I made my choice. I decided to become a hero.
And then I joined a gang of villains.
It wasn’t intentional. The Undersiders, Grue, Regent, Bitch, and Tattletale had bumped into me on my first night out. I had accidentally saved them by defeating Lung, a local villain, almost by accident, and then things spiraled out of control.
Tattletale, the brains behind the operation, had contacted me and offered me a spot on their team. At first, I had been hesitant—I was going to be a hero, after all. But she had explained it in such a simple way. Heroes and villains were all playing cops and robbers, and as long as everyone stuck to the rules, no one really had to get hurt.
I wasn’t totally sure about that explanation, but after thinking about it, it was a pretty good answer to the question of why grown adults would dress in silly costumes and beat the daylights out of each other.
But there was more to it than that. The Undersiders had a boss, someone moving in the shadows and pulling the strings. If I could find out who he was, I would have proven myself to everyone and made the world a better place all in one go.
I had explained my plan to Armsmaster, the leader of the local Protectorate, as reasonably as I could. He decided to be totally unreasonable about it, all because his bosses wanted an explanation from him that he refused to give, because that would mean giving me credit for beating Lung.
So I decided to prove him wrong. I joined the Undersiders, and we robbed a bank. Pretty successfully too, as all the hostages we had to take got out totally okay, and so did the Wards team they sent after us. Better yet, the Undersiders trusted me now. Or at least I hoped they did.
And I had thrown my name in the mud to do it. I was a villain now. But it was okay, because I was doing it for the right reasons. I was going to betray the Undersiders once I got what I needed, and join the good guys, even after Armsmaster called me a stupid child who didn’t know what she was doing.
Which led me to this moment. When Bakuda, Lung’s subordinate, had decided to take revenge against us and the whole city for beating her boss by kidnapping Bitch. Or maybe it was just to show off. She was a psycho.
She had us cornered, but we managed to flip the script.
Grue had decided to distract Bakuda with his darkness, and when she showed her face, Regent had caused her Jeep to spin out and brought the Tinker down. I had hugged Grue without exploding in embarrassment. We were about to tie Bakuda down and figure out what to do with her before rescuing Bitch and returning home after a long day. It was a triumphant moment.
Or at least it was supposed to be.
There was a flash, and the world went white with pain. Agony spread up my feet, my legs, burrowing into my spine. We had wasted our shot, and Bakuda had landed hers. It was all over—
And just as quickly, the pain started to fade. It was replaced by the wooshing of air and the sensation of falling.
“—ids? Kids, are you okay?” An unfamiliar voice asked. It was male, and on edge, but clear enough to cut through the hurt twisting through me. “I know they tell you not to speak with strangers, but I could really use an answer!”
“We’re fine! We’re all fine!” Tattletale shouted back. She was flying next to us, somehow. “Who the hell—?”
An explosion rocked through the air. I could feel the heat on my scalp. “Hold that thought. And your lunches!”
“Wh—” I tried to speak, but suddenly found myself bouncing through the air as explosions roared behind us. My eyes were closed through all of it, but I still wanted to throw up from the motion sickness.
We dashed left—or at least I think it was left—and finally came to a blessed halt. I could have kissed the ground if I still had control over my body. Thankfully, It no longer hurt so much that I couldn’t see.
We were in another alley, littered with scraps of trash. Grue was lying next to me, cursing in pain. Tattletale was standing, if just barely. Regent, still unconscious, was being gently put up against the wall by our rescuer.
Tattletale was the first of us to get her bearings. “T-thanks for the save. But as I was asking, what’s your name?”
“Sorry about that. The first time swinging is always rough.” The man said as he finished making sure Regent had a pulse, before jumping onto the nearby wall and sticking to it. Our rescuer said with a small laugh. He was wearing a form-fitting red and blue costume with stylised large white eyes, a spider-shaped emblem on his back, and a black web pattern sewing it all together tightly, highlighting his lean muscular build.
“My name is Spider-Man.” Despite all the chaos and explosions he had just rescued us from, his voice was clear. Almost relaxed. He sounded like a seasoned pro. Like he knew how to fix the problem and everything would be okay. “But enough about me. Who—”
Another bomb went off. It belched fire a few dozen yards from us. “Come out, come out, wherever you little bitches are!” Bakuda sang.
The newly dubbed Spider-Man glowered. “She’s a pleasant one, ain’t she? Only slightly out of tune.” He started climbing the wall and used a piece of broken glass as a mirror. “Stay here, I’ve got a fuse to put out.”
“No, wait!” Tattletale yelled before hushing herself. “Listen, my power is to know things, and Bakuda has a dozen traps up her sleeve! She’s activating her bombs with toe rings and her mask, so we have to find a way to disable those! And I can’t be sure, but she probably has a dead man’s switch!”
“Okay.” Spider-Man wasn’t concerned. Like explosions going off a few yards away was just another day in the office for him. “Shouldn’t be too hard. All I need is to hit her fast enough that she…” He trailed off, and I could see a frown under his mask. “What happens if I knock her out? Does the dead man’s go off with a lower heartbeat, psychic girl?”
“I…” Another explosion. Bakuda overshot, but it was dangerously close. “I don’t…” Tattletale’s eyes brightened. “Her mask! It’s definitely booby-trapped! If you try and take it off, a whole lot of people die!”
“How did you know I was thinking about—oh, psychic. Right.” Spider-Man’s brow was scrunching up. “That does make things tricky…damnit, why are the clever ones always crazy?”
Enough of my pain had faded for me to form words. “W-what…” I coughed. “What are you going to do?”
“I can immobilize her if I get close. The problem is the bombs. If I don’t do it perfectly, she can set them off and kill people—she’s the spiteful type, right?” Spider-Man asked. Tattletale nodded. “We can’t let that happen.”
“I see you, you little shits!” Bakuda laughed. She was getting closer. “You can’t hide from infrared, fuckers!”
Shit. We needed to stop her, fast. “I can distract Bakuda!” More insects had entered my range. Not a lot, but enough for a decently sized swarm. “I control bugs! I have enough to get her attention for a few seconds!”
Spider-Man nodded. “That works. Can you make them drop from above? My best angle is rushing her head-on when she looks away.”
“Do it, do it!” Tattletale hissed before I had the chance to look at her for confirmation.
It was just as well, my swarms had been perched on top of nearby buildings. With a quick command, they jumped from the top and descended towards Bakuda.
“Come on, you—ha!” Another explosion rocked through the air. Half of my swarm vanished in an instant. I still sent them marching in, and two more explosions burst. “Was that your—”
Spider-Man was already leaping at Bakuda. I knew it was a bad idea, but I pushed myself out of the alley to watch. After what she put us through, I wanted to watch the bitch hang.
I craned my neck just in time to see a jet of something thick and ropy impact Bakuda’s grenade launcher. It almost looked like containment foam, but more…webby. “Pull the trigger, firecracker. I dare you.” Spider-Man drawled.
“Fuck you fuck you fuck y—” Bakuda was trying to scrape the webbing off her weapon. All she managed to do was get her hand stuck in the stuff. She screamed again when more webs shot out of Spider-Man’s wrist and covered her goggles. “SON OF A WHORE, YOU’RE GONNA DIAAAHHHHHH!”
Before Bakuda could finish her threat, Spider-Man lunged down and threw her into the air. Then, in one swift motion, he ripped both of her pink boots off and bound her toes and feet together. With practiced ease, he spun her around in midair and webbed the rest of her body.
When the bitch finally landed, she was wrapped up like a mummy, desperately trying and failing to break free. Her grenade launcher was still attached to her left hand, with the trigger safely wrapped and away from her other fingers.
Spider-Man stood above her and caught what remained of the pink boots out of the air. “You know, Sparky, I’ve got to commend you for trying to shatter hurtful gender stereotypes about crazed terrorists, but these are just not your color. They really clash with the whole prepper-trying-too-hard thing you have going—”
“YOOUUUUUU!” I could hear Bakuda frothing behind her mask. “I WILL SHOVE A NUKE SO FAR UP YOUR COCK THAT YOUR BALLS WILL—”
“And that’s enough pottymouth out of you!” One last satisfying THWIP shot out from Spider-Man, and there was only muffled screaming from the bomber. “Hey, psychic girl, is she done? No more tricks?” He called out over his shoulder.
Tattletale poked her head out from behind the wall and laughed. It was only a little hysterical. I could relate. “Yeah, we’re clear!”
“Great. Now you stay here and think about what you’ve done, young lady.” Spider-Man said as he trotted over to us. That only made Bakuda struggle more, for all the good it did her.
He reached me and offered a hand. “You all okay? She got you and Ghost Rider in that nerve blast.” Ghost…Rider? I guess the skull on Grue’s motorcycle helmet was…it didn’t matter.
“I’m fine.” I wasn’t, but I wanted to stand and was pretty sure I could. Spider-Man let me up gently. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Great work there, your distraction really helped.”
“I—It was nothing.”
Spider-Man gave a good-natured chuckle. “Don’t go selling yourself short, kid. You did good.” He gave a quick pat to my shoulder and then moved to help Grue up, who was struggling like me. Regent was still unconscious, and Tattletale was staring at our saviour with an intense expression.
I limped over to her. “Do you know who this guy is?” In all my research on the local cape scene, I had never heard of a hero called Spider-Man, or anyone like him.
Tattletale shook her head. “He can’t be a newbie, he’s way too experienced. He also doesn’t match any other cape I know about.” Her eyes narrowed. “So why did he help us?”
Grue was back on his feet and mostly managed to hide his jitters. “Thanks for the save. I thought Regent had taken her out, but…”
“Eh, we all make mistakes when we start wearing tights.” Spider-Man said casually. “Don’t sweat it. You all did the hard parts. I just heard some explosions and made sure she stayed down.” He tilted his head. “What should I call you, anyway?”
“...We’re the Undersiders. My name’s Grue. That’s Tattletale, Regent, and…” He paused when he got to me.
“I haven’t picked a name yet.” I said quietly, feeling embarrassed.
“A pleasure to meet you all.” Spider-Man mimed a tipped hat, before making his way over to a still screaming Bakuda and threw her over his shoulder in an incredibly undignified fashion. She looked like a toddler being dragged home after throwing a tantrum, which was a sight I enjoyed immensely.
“But I really should drop Miss Fourth of July off in her time-out corner. You all wouldn’t happen to know where the nearest jail can be found, and who the local authorities are?”
“...The PRT? They have a big building south of here, you can’t miss it.” I hesitantly said. “Where are you from, anyway? We’ve never heard of you.”
“New York City. I’m—” Spider-Man paused. “Well, sort of. Not this New York—you know what, it’s complicated, let’s leave it at that for now. You all look like you need a nap or five after this meatgrinder.”
“Not this New…” Tattletale trailed off, and then her eyes widened. “That’s—no, that can’t be it!”
“Oh, right. The psychic.” Spider-Man turned to face her. “Feel free to spoil that, but leave a man some privacy, alright?”
It took a minute, but Tattletale’s confusion faded, and a familiar smile spread across her face. “Of course I will.”
“...And now my Spider-Sense is telling me it’s time for me to go before I lose all my dignity.” Spider-Sense? What was that supposed to be? Was he purposefully silly like Mouse Protector?
“I’ll might be staying around this city for a while, so holler if you need anything.” Spider-Man gave us a thumbs-up. “And don’t worry about me stealing your credit. I’ll make sure the suits all know you were the ones who did all the heavy lifting, I promise.”
“Thanks, I guess?” Grue looked at Tattletale, who shrugged. “Who knows what that’ll do to our reputation…”
“Hey, it’s only fair. You’re heroes, you deserve it.”
“What?” My mind went blank. “But I—we—we’re not hero—” I tried, but then I caught sight of Tattletale. Her eyes were wide, and her hand was twisting at her waist. She was trying to tell me to stop, but why—
Oh. Fuck.
We were standing next to a hero who took down a major villain in a matter of seconds. And we were only half conscious.
I was a fucking idiot.
Spider-Man stared at us. Even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I felt them bore into me. Was he already judging us? Judging me? Was he going to turn on us after he had dismantled Bakuda with barely any trouble while Regent was down and Grue and I were barely standing?
I was so stupid. Why did I open my big, dumb mouth? I had screwed everything up, and now—
And then Spider-Man spoke.
“You all helped stop this psycho. I saw what she did on my way here, and I know her type. A lot of innocent people owe you their lives.”
His voice was firm. It was the kind of tone you would hear from Legend or Alexandria on TV after an Endbringer attack. But in person, it seemed more earnest than two people desperately trying to downplay hundreds of deaths with the knowledge that it would all happen again in a few short months.
“We…I didn’t…” Nothing like my voice. I was still quivering in fear. Arguing with him for some stupid reason, like I wanted us all to go to jail here and now.
“You saved people.” He said with a confident finality. “You’re a hero, no matter what anyone says.”
Hero.
The word lingered in the air as we watched Spider-Man jump into the air and swung into the horizon.
He said it so casually. Like it was the most obvious thing.
“Let’s get out of here before the cops show up.” Grue muttered. “We still have to get Rachel.” Tattletale groaned, but she nodded as she pulled Regent up and started dragging him away while Grue hobbled after her.
And I stood where I was, staring up at where Spider-Man had disappeared.
I thought I could be a hero. That once I found out who the Undersider’s boss was and revealed him to the world, I would earn the title and be respected even after becoming a villain. That in order to do good, I had to be bad.
But I helped defeat Bakuda. Even if she had brought the fight to us, we helped save the city. We had done a good thing. I had done good.
Behind my mask, I smiled.