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I stand outside of the Paramount Building, marveling at the gleaming white architecture rising in the middle of New York City like a obelisk. Of course, I also marvel at the force field surrounding the building, keeping me from getting inside and stopping Arcade once and for all.

"Knock, knock, Arcade!" I pound against the barrier closest to the front entrance of the tall building. "If you don't let me in I'll huff and puff and blow your house in!"

He probably never thought I'd be here, or at least not this quickly. For all I know he ran once he saw me moving this way. Still, I'm not sure I believe that. He's crazy, sure. He wants to be a mass murderer for sure. But he's also a showman. He believes in this stupid game he's constructed. If I beat him, he'll let me in.

At least I hope so. Otherwise I don't know how I'm going to save all those people right behind me. 

"How did you find me, Spider?' Arcade's voice echoes above me. I look up to find another one of his drone faces floating above me, grimacing. "You're not cheating, are you? I hate when people cheat in Murderworld."

"Okay, first," I roll my eyes, "if I can cheat in a game called 'Murderworld', I'm totally gonna do it. But no, I didn't cheat. I just had someone lend me a strategy guide. You can't punish me for that one."

"No, I can't, but I can kill you," the drone face turns to a smile. "Come into my castle, Spider. I've prepared for you. There's absolutely no chance you'll ever leave...except in a body bag."

"Ugh," I grunt. "Just open the door, weirdo. I have people to save."

The force field in front of me dissolves away, giving me access to the building. Pushing my way through the rotating front door, I find the lights to be off on the inside. Once I pass completely into the building, the force field reforms behind me, trapping me inside.

Suddenly, the lights blare on, and screens hastily constructed in the lobby of the building spring to life. On them, dozens of visions of Arcade's face appear, laughing at me with a maniacally wild look in his eyes, "Welcome to the final level, Spider-Woman! I've been waiting for you, even if it isn't as long as I would have liked. Here, inside one of New York's architectural marvels, you will come face to face with one of my greatest challenges. It is here you will be required to clear floor after floor of my genius. Will you be able to do so? I doubt it, but let's find out!"

With that the screens flicker off and a doorway across the entryway from me illuminates, showing me the way forward. Not wanting to let Arcade off the hook that easily, I hop up to the ceiling and crawl towards the closest air vent, thinking that would be better than going wherever Arcade has planned. The great thing about these big old New York buildings is that the HVAC systems are these huge, sprawling caves in order to move the most amount of air they can. That's handy for getting around.

Unfortunately, when I touch the metal grate covering it, an electric shock shoots through my body. I feel my muscles spasm uncontrollably, and I lose my grip of the ceiling. I fall hard on the stone floor below, and groan, "Ugh. You have got to be kidding me."

"Uh, uh, uh, Spider-Woman," Arcade mocks me over the building's speakers. "No shortcuts this time. You'll go through my challenge, and you'll like it."

Damn. The bastard saw that one coming. I guess I can't get off that easily. I'm sure I already cut half of his stupid game out of my night. This much I'll have to do all of.

I go through the illuminated door, finding myself in a stairwell on the other side. Climbing up to another door with it's own, personal spotlight, I go through and find myself in a wide open, huge atrium. I can see more of his force fields re-configuring themselves above and around me, reaching up all the way to the top of the building. The path forward is clear. He wants me to climb to the top, through his newest maze of death and horribleness.

The gentle, sloping ramps up towards the ceiling continue, leading me up and up at a much slower rate than I would like. Every so often I have to hop over a gap or duck under an obstacle, but other than that I haven't seen anything even remotely resembling a challenge from Arcade.

"What do you have up your sleeves, you weirdo," I muse as I continue my climb.

That's when the first barrel comes screaming down the hole I'm about to climb up through.

My Spider Sense explodes with a warning, and I just manage to get out of the way of the bouncing barrel. It's made of the same energy the force fields are, so it bounces right off of them, losing none of its momentum. I feel its weight as it rushes past me and continues down towards the ground floor. It's followed by two more. 

The last one clips my foot as I attempt to hop over it, sending me into a faceplant on the energy barrier below. Stars explode into my vision, and it takes me a moment to regain my wits. Just in time to get out of the way of another barrel. And that's when the realization hits me.

"Donkey Kong."

I'm in a gigantic, life-sized game of Donkey Kong, and I'm Mario. This is really way too weird. Even for me. 

"Okay, Arcade," I snarl as I regain my footing and break off into a sprint. "Time to go Jump Man on your ass."

Once I realize what's going on, I start blowing through the obstacle course like a hot knife through butter. I go up, over, and under the barrels with ease. I may not be the best Donkey Kong player that's ever lived, but I can hold my own. Plus I don't need to cheat like Billy Mitchell, so at least I got that going for me.

Of course, once I'm halfway to the top, a red light draws my gaze towards where I've been. The platforms I've already come across are systematically turning red. That's definitely not something I remember happening in Donkey Kong. But I've played enough games to know what it does mean. Red means dead. If I touch one of those platforms, I'm probably gonna come out of the encounter worse for wear. And in this situation, I don't have another life to try again.

"You're doing quite well, Spider-Woman!" Arcade sounds annoyed. Good. "But will you be able to make it all the way to the top? Everyone in Times Square is holding their breath waiting for find out!"

"You are a sick bastard, you know that?" I shoot back at the villain as I hop over a gap, the platform behind me turning into a deadly one right before my eyes. 

"I can't help myself when a good pun rears its head," Arcade titters. "But the button to let all of them go is right at the top, Spider-Woman! You're almost there! You'll almost be the hero you always hoped you'd be!"

All he does is mock me. All he does is play on my insecurities. I can feel the anger bubbling up inside me as I make my way up towards the top. But that's probably what Arcade wants. He wants to goad me into making a mistake by making me angry. It's the exact kind of thing Sensei has been warning me about. As I continue my climb, I begin breathing deeply, remembering my teacher's lessons. Arcade continues to taunt me, but as I center myself, his words become farther and farther away, almost as if he was falling into a large hole. I like that mental image.

A few more levels of platforming, and I reach the top. There, in front of me, is a big, red button. It's a bit obvious and cliched, sure, but I don't expect anything else from Arcade at this point.

As I approach, however, the level I'm on transforms into a huge arena, and the button is encased in force fields. 

"Oh come on, man," I grumble as Arcade appears before me, clad in a mech suit that looks exactly like Donkey Kong. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I assure you, I am not!" he shows off his mechanical marvel. "I promised Murderworld viewers a final showdown, and a final showdown they shall get. What they won't get is a happy ending!"

He comes at me, but it's clear the suit he has isn't up to snuff compared to the other things he's thrown at me. He swings about wildly, trying to connect with his fists to no avail. He has a canon on one arm that fires the barrels at me, but at this point he's not going to hit me. It's clear to me now that he never intended for me to get this far. Cutting out whatever else he had planned has worked out to an incredible level, and now I'm gonna be able to save all those people.

I'm feeling good, but I still wouldn't mind teaching this maniac a lesson.

Landing on the canon arm, I rip apart the circuitry on the weapon. It begins to vibrate uncontrollably, and I see the panic in Arcade's eyes as he begins to eject. When the suit begins to open, I snag him out of it, and put distance between us and the mechanical suit. It shatters into a million pieces, and the force field around the button disappears. I press it, saving the trapped partiers before turning to Aracde.

"Game over, pal," I crack my knuckles. But as I do, Dragon's words once again come to me. Arcade is beat. There's no reason to beat down on him. Especially when it would be broadcast around the world thanks to his camera drones. But I can do something else to humiliate him. "Come on, we're going for a ride."

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As the relieved partiers count down to the new year, many of them laugh as the squirming form of Arcade, now webbed to the Times Square Ball, drops with it.

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[b]The Next Day[/b]

"Gwen!" my dad's voice comes from down the hall. "Mary Jane is here to see you. Can I let her in."

All I want to do is sleep more, and I'm sure this is not going to be a fun conversation. But I definitely cannot deny MJ after running out of the party last night. I still don't exactly know what I'm going to say to her about why I left, but I'll figure that out on the fly. That's basically how I live my life now anyway.

"Sure, Dad, let her in."

My best friend comes in and takes a seat on the bed next to me, "You look like hell."

I chuckle nervously, "Thanks. Didn't sleep well."

A long, awkward pause forms between us, and I try to fill it, "Listen, I'm sorry about last night. I didn't want to bail like that. It's just that I like to be home for my dad on nights like th-"

"Gwen," MJ cuts me off. "It's okay. I get it."

I look at her confused, "Huh? You do?"

"Yea," she looks into my eyes with her deep, green ones. A smile forms across her freckled face, "You're Spider-Woman."