[color=pink][h1][u]Saturday, October 4th, 20XX[/u][/h1]
[h3]Greenwich Village, 6:00 pm EST[/h3]
[h3]One month after the Recluse Incident[/h3][/color]

Danny Davis had made a list. That seemed like a reasonable response after waking up one morning with the ability to stick to his bedroom ceiling.

The list had started simple enough.

Web fluid stability.
Adhesion strength.
Dissolution time.
Maximum tensile load.
Do not die.

The last one had been underlined three times.

Now, standing on the roof of an apartment building in a pink hoodie with the hood up, jeans, sneakers, a mask covering his nose and mouth, his fake glasses in his pocket, and a homemade pair of wrist-mounted web shooters, Danny was beginning to think the list had not been thorough enough.

He stared over the edge of the building.

Then immediately took one step back.

[color=pink]“Nope,”[/color] he whispered. [color=pink]“No, that is still very high.”[/color]

He had been practicing for a few nights now. Nothing too crazy. Mostly wall-crawling, testing the web shooters, making sure the webbing actually dissolved after a couple hours like it was supposed to. Caty would probably have opinions about him being out here alone, and MJ definitely would have opinions. Loud ones. Possibly with hand gestures.

Danny tried not to think about that.

He also tried not to think about Dad.

That was harder.

He looked down at his web shooter instead and took a breath. Science. Testing. Controlled variables. That he could do.

[color=pink]“Test seventeen,”[/color] he said quietly, because apparently narrating his own stupidity made him feel better. [color=pink]“Short-distance swing. Low altitude. Minimal screaming.”[/color]

He aimed at a nearby ventilation unit and fired.

A line of pink webbing shot out and stuck to the metal with a soft thwip.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief. [color=pink]“Okay… okay… Good. That worked.”[/color]

Then he pulled.

The web yanked him forward a lot harder than he expected.

[color=pink]“Oh no.”[/color]

He stumbled, swung about two feet off the roof, flailed, and slammed shoulder-first into the brick wall beside a maintenance door. His hands stuck on impact, leaving him awkwardly plastered against it.

For a few seconds, he just stayed there.

Then, muffled against the wall, he said, [color=pink]“Great. Nailed it.”[/color]

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Danny peeled one hand away from the brick and checked it.

MJ: Are you awake?
MJ: Wait, dumb question.
MJ: Are you doing weird spider stuff?
MJ: If yes, I’m mad. If no, I’m still suspicious.

Danny stared at the messages and felt a little guilty.

[color=pink]“I’m fine,”[/color] he said, even though MJ obviously couldn’t hear him.

He was, in fact, not fine.

Before he could figure out what to text back, the buzzing in the back of his skull changed.

Danny froze.

It wasn’t the sharp, painful warning he had started associating with immediate danger. This was different. In a way he couldn’t really explain.

He slowly turned toward the skyline.

[color=pink]“No,”[/color] he whispered. [color=pink]“Please don’t be another symptom.”[/color]

Then he heard it.

Somewhere between the buildings, someone shouted, [color=crimson]“WOO!”[/color]

Danny blinked.

A dark shape swung across the street.

Not fell. Not jumped.

Swung.

Danny stared, because what else was he supposed to do? There was someone else out here. Someone moving through the air like this was normal. Like it was fun.

[color=pink]“Oh,”[/color] he said.

Every reasonable thought in his head told him to go home, text Caty, text MJ, and make this someone else’s problem until morning.

Instead, he aimed his web shooter at the next building.

[color=pink]“Okay,”[/color] Danny breathed. [color=pink]“Just observe. That’s all. Observing is safe. Mostly.”[/color]

He fired.

The webline caught.

[color=pink]“Please hold.”[/color]

Then he jumped.

For about one second, it was amazing.

The city dropped under him, the wind hit his face, and Danny actually swung. Badly, but still. He didn’t immediately die, which counted as progress.

Then he realized the other guy was much closer than he thought.

[color=pink]“Oh, come on.”[/color]

Danny panicked, fired another webline, and overcorrected. He clipped the corner of a fire escape, spun awkwardly, and hit the side of the next building with a sticky thwack.

Upside down.

About three feet away from the helmeted stranger.

Danny stared at him.

He waved awkwardly.

[color=pink]“Hi.”[/color]

A pause.

[color=pink]“I’m not following you in a creepy way,”[/color] Danny said quickly. [color=pink]“I mean, I was following you, technically, but there was this buzzing thing in my head, and you were also swinging around, so I thought maybe…”[/color]

He stopped.

[color=pink]“That sounds bad. Sorry.”[/color]

He glanced down at the street below, immediately regretted it, and looked back at the other guy.

[color=pink]“You are way better at this than me.”[/color]

Another pause.

[color=pink]“Please don’t punch me.”[/color]

[@EnterTheHero]