Gwen hung upside down from a web line, staring at the robber who had already collapsed on the floor in pure terror.
“You’re this much of a coward and you still came to rob a place?
Do me a favor and just tie yourself up.”
“Are you a damn ghost?!
You didn’t even make a sound!”
The robber roared and tried to swing the gun toward her.
Gwen’s wrist shooter fired first.
A strand of webbing slammed his hand to the floor.
A few more shots and the guy was stuck flat on his back like a bug.
Gwen casually grabbed two cans of soda from the cooler, paid the cashier, and walked out, still muttering under her breath.
“Ghost… ghost… ghost…”
Outside she almost walked straight into the arriving cops.
Leading them was her own father, Officer George Stacy.
“Robber’s inside.
I already got him.”
Facing her dad in the suit made Gwen’s stomach twist.
She was terrified he’d somehow recognize her voice or her build.
She spoke fast and tried to swing away.
“Wait a second!”
George’s voice stopped her cold.
Gwen’s whole body went rigid.
She turned her head like a rusty robot.
“…What is it?”
“Thanks for the help.
What’s your name?”
For some reason the new masked hero felt familiar to him.
“Just call me Ghost-Spider.”
The second the words left her mouth she shot a web and vanished into the night.
…
On a rooftop a short distance away, Wayne was already sitting on the edge, legs dangling.
Gwen dropped down beside him and pressed one of the cold soda cans against his cheek.
Wayne took it without changing expression.
The chill didn’t do a thing to him.
“Why didn’t you tell Mr.
Stacy?”
“Not everyone operates like you.”
Gwen rolled her eyes.
“If I told him, he’d never let me keep doing this.”
“Scared he’ll worry?”
Gwen went quiet.
Wayne didn’t push it.
She clearly felt the mood getting heavy, so she forced a brighter tone.
“Anyway, forget that.
I just named myself Ghost-Spider.
Thoughts?”
“Sounds fine.”
As far as Wayne was concerned, any codename that wasn’t completely embarrassing worked.
Except that garbage title “I’m Superman.”
“Come on.
One district left in Manhattan.
Place is a little special, though.”
…
Hell’s Kitchen.
Officially Clinton, sitting on the west side of Manhattan Island, west of Midtown.
Everyone still called it Hell’s Kitchen, and for good reason.
Gangs had owned the streets for decades.
Crime rate stayed sky-high year after year.
Gwen had been swinging through it for maybe fifteen minutes and already broken up half a dozen fights, robberies, and street brawls.
All of it was easy work for her.
The crooks were the lucky ones.
If any of them had actually managed to hurt Ghost-Spider, their next opponent would’ve made them beg for a quick death.
After handing another group of tied-up thugs to the cops, Gwen shot a fresh web line and kept pace with Wayne as he drifted beside her.
They were gliding over an old factory when her Spider-sense suddenly screamed.
“Watch out!”
Gwen instinctively threw herself at Wayne.
She bounced right off him and ended up looking like she’d just jumped into his arms on purpose.
Wayne caught her on pure reflex and let the Bio-force field stop every bullet coming up from the factory below.
Gwen froze.
Her whole body went stiff as she realized how completely unnecessary that had been.
At least the mask hid her face… yeah, right.
Cheeks burning under the fabric, she shoved free and shot a web toward the factory.
“I… let’s just go check it out!”
Wayne barely reacted.
His Super Vision punched straight through the factory roof.
Inside, a guy in a red-and-blue spider-suit was dodging bullets while trying to talk a whole crew of gangsters into surrendering.
“Since when is Peter this chatty?”
Wayne recognized the voice immediately.
At school Peter barely talked.
Put a mask on him and suddenly he wouldn’t shut up.
His gaze shifted to the big man in the middle of the circle.
Tall, massive, completely bald, white suit.
Wilson Fisk.
Kingpin.
One of the biggest players in the New York underworld, maybe the whole country.
“How the hell did Peter run into him on his first night out?”
Wayne hadn’t expected the brand-new Spider-Man to crash straight into Kingpin.
Maybe it really was fate.
For two rookies, though, Fisk wouldn’t be a pushover.
The guy could actually fight, and that bulk wasn’t fat.
It was dense muscle.
In the comics he’d even overpowered Spider-Man in a straight strength contest.
Wayne dropped toward the factory.
…
Inside, Gwen came through the skylight the bullets had already chewed open.
She scanned the room and locked onto the obvious boss.
Cut the head off the snake first.
Kingpin still hadn’t noticed the second spider.
He was too busy frowning at the first one.
Where the hell did this freak come from?
A second later he heard movement above him.
Instinct made him raise his cane.
A web line slapped onto it.
Impossible.
The first spider hadn’t fired anything at him.
Kingpin’s head snapped up just in time to see Gwen swinging in, both feet aimed at his chest.
He took the full kick and went flying.
Gwen might not hit quite as hard as Peter, but she still packed around a dozen tons.
Cars and concrete walls weren’t a problem for her.
The kick hurt.
It just wasn’t enough to put Kingpin down.
“Another spider freak?!”
He snarled and waved his men to open fire on her.
Peter, still bouncing between gangsters, looked just as confused.
“A second spider person?
I thought I was the only one!”
He backflipped over a spray of bullets, kicked one thug into a wall, then shot a web toward Kingpin.
While swinging he called out to Gwen.
“Hey!
Hi, I’m Spider-Man!
What’s your name?
How’d you get your powers?
Radioactive spider bite too?”
“Are you always this talkative?”
Gwen twisted sideways, dodged a burst, webbed a gun out of someone’s hands, and whipped it into another charging goon.
“No, usually I’m pretty… uh… okay, maybe a little?”
Gwen just webbed away without answering.
Peter shrugged, then suddenly froze.
Wait.
Two spider people already.
What if there was a third?
He scanned the shadows and spotted Wayne sitting off to the side, casually watching the whole fight like it was free entertainment.