New York had a way of turning private problems into public disasters.
Eve Carter learned that lesson at exactly 2:17 a.m., while hanging upside down from the side of a building she absolutely did not remember choosing as a battleground.
Nyx had chosen it.
Nyx usually chose everything involving rooftops, darkness, or the word “ambush.”
Eve, at this point, was mostly along for the emotional damage.
Below them, the city was unusually active for this hour.
Not unusual in the Marvel sense—New York always had something happening—but this felt different.
Sharper.
More focused.
Like something was watching the city back.
Nyx spoke inside her mind.
“Presence detected.”
Eve adjusted her grip slightly, black symbiotic tendrils anchoring into concrete like living hooks.
“I don’t like how you say that.”
“Multiple heat signatures.
Elevated mobility.
One signature is erratic but precise.”
“…That sounds like a problem.”
“It is a problem.”
Eve sighed quietly.
“Great.”
The wind shifted.
And then something moved across the skyline.
Fast.
Too fast to be human.
A blur of red and blue ricocheted between buildings like gravity was a suggestion rather than a law.
Eve froze.
Nyx froze too.
Then, in perfect synchrony:
“…Oh no.”
The figure stopped.
Mid-air.
Upside down.
Directly across from them.
For a moment, everything paused.
Rain hung in the air like suspended glass.
The city noise faded into distant static.
And then the figure tilted his head.
Eve saw the white eye lenses.
The webbing stretched between two buildings like a warning sign.
A voice came through the mask.
“Well.”
A beat.
“That’s new.”
Eve’s stomach dropped.
Nyx whispered immediately.
“Classification confirmed.”
“I know who that is,” Eve hissed internally.
“You are thinking loudly.”
“I am panicking loudly.”
Across from them, Spider-Man shifted slightly on his webline.
Casual.
Relaxed.
Which somehow made everything worse.
“You mind telling me what exactly I’m looking at?” he asked.
Eve swallowed.
Her brain tried to produce a normal response.
It failed spectacularly.
Nyx, however, was less helpful.
“He is observing us.”
“THANK YOU.”
Spider-Man leaned slightly forward.
“So… symbiote situation, or full-on nightmare fuel?”
Eve blinked.
“…Is nightmare fuel a category?”
“It is in New York,” he replied instantly.
That was not reassuring.
Nyx spoke softly.
“He is not attacking.”
“Yet,” Eve muttered.
Spider-Man tilted his head again.
“You’re the one from Chinatown, right?”
Eve stiffened.
“…That’s what they’re calling it?”
“Oh yeah,” he said.
“Internet’s having a field day.
Black Ghost?
Sewer demon?
My personal favorite was ‘budget Venom with anxiety.'”
Eve closed her eyes.
Nyx sounded offended.
“I do not resemble budget anything.”
“Please stop reacting to insults,” Eve whispered.
Spider-Man continued watching them.
“And you’re… talking to it.”
Eve exhaled slowly.
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“That’s usually the part where people run,” she added.
Spider-Man shrugged slightly.
“I’ve seen worse.”
That did not help her stress levels.
Nyx immediately became alert.
“He is experienced.”
“I can hear you,” Spider-Man said suddenly.
Eve froze again.
“…What?”
“I can hear you thinking,” he clarified.
“That’s not how minds work,” Eve snapped.
“It is when you’re thinking at volume.”
Nyx went silent for half a second.
Then:
“…Intriguing.”
Eve internally screamed.
Spider-Man shifted closer, landing lightly on a ledge opposite them.
Still no aggression.
Just observation.
“You’re not the usual symbiote type,” he said.
Eve frowned.
“And what is the usual type?”
“Loud.
Hungry.
Wants to eat my face.
Or the city.
Or both.”
Nyx immediately replied.
“I do not wish to eat his face.”
Eve sighed.
“That is not reassuring, Nyx.”
“It is accurate.”
Spider-Man pointed slightly.
“Okay, I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re not fully in control there.”
Eve hesitated.
“…It’s complicated.”
“That’s what everyone says right before things explode.”
Nyx spoke again, calm but sharp.
“We are stable.”
Spider-Man paused.
“…We?”
Eve groaned internally.
Nyx, completely unfazed:
“Yes.”
Spider-Man went very still for a moment.
Then:
“Okay.
That’s new-new.”
Eve rubbed her temple.
“This is going so badly.”
“You are overreacting,” Nyx said.
“I am being perceived by a man who swings between skyscrapers.”
“Fair.”
Spider-Man crouched slightly.
“So what are you?
Experiment?
Accident?
Alien roommate situation?”
Nyx answered instantly.
“Accurate.”
Eve snapped:
“STOP AGREEING WITH HIM.”
Spider-Man tilted his head.
“You two always do that?”
“Yes,” Eve said immediately.
“No,” Nyx said immediately.
Spider-Man chuckled.
“Okay, that’s actually kind of impressive.”
Eve narrowed her eyes.
“You’re not trying to attack us?”
Spider-Man shrugged.
“Depends.
Are you planning on eating anyone tonight?”
Nyx considered.
Eve answered quickly:
“No.”
A beat.
Spider-Man nodded.
“Cool.
Then I’m not punching you.”
That was the most casual threat assessment Eve had ever experienced.
Nyx, however, sounded fascinated.
“He is efficient.”
“He is insane.”
“Same category in this environment.”
Spider-Man leaned slightly forward.
“So what’s your deal, Black Ghost?”
Eve flinched at the nickname.
“…I didn’t pick that.”
“Yeah, that’s how nicknames work.”
“I hate it.”
“Most people don’t get to pick their reputations.”
That landed slightly heavier than expected.
Eve looked away for a moment.
Nyx noticed immediately.
“Emotional shift detected.”
“I’m fine.”
Spider-Man continued.
“You’re in my territory now, so I gotta ask— are you a threat?”
Eve looked back up sharply.
“That depends on your definition.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
Nyx spoke quietly.
“We do not initiate aggression.”
Spider-Man paused.
“…That’s actually a good answer.”
Eve blinked.
“You believe it?”
“I’ve met liars,” he said.
“You don’t sound like one.”
Nyx sounded almost pleased.
“I approve of his assessment.”
“You approve of everything he says,” Eve muttered.
Spider-Man tilted his head.
“Okay, second question.
Who built you?”
Silence.
That question hit differently.
Eve felt it immediately.
Nyx went still.
Not defensive.
Not angry.
Just… quiet.
Eve exhaled slowly.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
Spider-Man stopped moving.
“…You don’t know.”
“No.”
Nyx added softly:
“We remember fragments.”
Spider-Man didn’t interrupt.
That surprised Eve.
Most people filled silence with assumptions.
He didn’t.
He just listened.
Eve continued carefully.
“I woke up in a lab.
Things were already… wrong.
Then I wasn’t alone anymore.”
Spider-Man’s posture changed slightly.
More serious now.
“Lab in New York?”
“Yeah.”
“That narrows it down to like… four suspects.”
Nyx spoke again.
“They will return.”
Spider-Man nodded slowly.
“Yeah.
That tracks.”
A pause.
Then he sighed.
“Okay.
Look.
I don’t know your full situation yet, but I know enough to say this— if someone made you in a lab, they’re not done.”
Eve felt that in her chest.
Unpleasantly accurate.
Nyx responded immediately.
“We are not property.”
“I didn’t say you were,” Spider-Man replied.
“You implied control structures.”
“I implied people suck.”
That made Eve snort unexpectedly.
Nyx seemed mildly satisfied.
Spider-Man pointed slightly.
“Also, you’re leaking.”
Eve froze.
“…I’m what?”
“Not blood,” he clarified quickly.
“Relax.
More like… symbiote activity.
You’ve got stress spikes.”
Eve looked down.
Black tendrils had started to subtly ripple under her hoodie sleeve.
Nyx reacted.
“Emotional instability.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Spider-Man tilted his head.
“You okay?”
That question again.
Simple.
Not hostile.
Not fearful.
Just… checking.
Eve hesitated.
Then:
“…I don’t know.”
Spider-Man nodded.
“Fair.”
Silence stretched again.
This one felt less tense.
More like pause before understanding.
Then Spider-Man straightened.
“Alright.
I’m gonna do something that might sound weird.”
Eve immediately tensed.
“That’s not comforting.”
“I’m gonna leave you alone for now.”
Eve blinked.
“…That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
Nyx immediately reacted.
“Strategic withdrawal?”
Spider-Man shrugged.
“Call it observation phase.”
He pointed slightly.
“But I’m watching you.”
Eve groaned.
“Of course you are.”
“Not in a creepy way,” he added quickly.
“More like… ‘please don’t become a city-level incident’ way.”
Nyx sounded amused.
“He trusts us conditionally.”
“That’s not trust,” Eve muttered.
Spider-Man started to back away on his webline.
“Also—”
He paused.
Looked at her again.
“You might want to figure out your ‘other voice’ situation before it gets worse.”
Eve frowned.
“It’s not that simple.”
“I know,” he said.
That was it.
No judgment.
Just acknowledgment again.
Then he swung away.
Gone.
Just like that.
City swallowed him instantly.
Eve stayed frozen for a long moment.
Nyx finally spoke.
“He is not hostile.”
“Yeah,” Eve said slowly.
“That’s what scares me.”
Nyx processed that.
“…Explain.”
Eve looked out over the skyline.
“I don’t know what side he’s on.”
Nyx replied softly:
“He did not attack.”
“Not yet.”
A pause.
Then Nyx added:
“He will return.”
Eve sighed.
“…Everyone in this city does.”
Below them, New York continued moving like nothing had changed.
But Eve knew something had.
She had been seen.
Properly.
Not as rumor.
Not as glitch footage.
As something real.
And somewhere far above that realization—
something else was beginning to notice her too.