Summary: Spider-Man tries to save the city.
Notes: 

Finally updated super fast lol

I made so many references guys, hope you understand them. :)

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He realized as he was free falling that he had never been this high up. The Empire State Building brought the entire world into view, the world that he was supposed to protect against people like Paradox. The wind rushed at him, pushing him back with all of its might, possibly warning Peter that he shouldn't go any further- that he couldn't do anything for the people.

For a brief moment, everything was muffled. The noise in the streets was dulled to faint whispers in the back of his head. He could only hear his heart slamming into his chest and throughout his body. His entire being vibrated from his heightened sense. He should have known this was going to happen. He should have prevented this.

Then suddenly, the ground began to meet up with him. He was closing in fast and he stuck his arm out, reaching for a distant building for his webbing to grab onto. He pulled, and the momentum sent him spiraling in a forward flip into the city's burning jungle.

He could hear everything now: the screams, the shouts, the crackling of the fire, the breaking of glass, the crumbling of building's structures, the honking of horns. It was so overwhelming that he didn't know where to begin until the groaning of a large streetlight threatened to fall on top of an older woman, teetering before it came sinking down. The woman screamed, too paralyzed to even move until Peter extended out his arm to grab onto her and swoop her out of the danger. "I gotcha!" he cried as they made their brief journey in the sky before he safely returned her to the ground.

The woman profusely thanked him, hand over her heart as she caught her breath. He simply nodded, knowing that he had to move on fast to save as many people as possible.

Instead of swinging, Peter ran through the street. He leaped over vacant cars and pulled citizens out of danger with his webs. The ground was a smokey haze of fumes. If he didn't have his mask on, his nose would have been burning from the harsh atmosphere.

He came to a halting stop when he approached a building on fire and a crowd below staring above. Peter pushed through so he could get a better look at a scared boy peering out of a window with menacing flames behind him. People were shouting at him to jump and they'd catch him in all of the chaos. Peter went to work. He jumped on the building, defying gravity as he clung on and crawled to the window. "You're gonna be okay just grab my hand-" Peter tried to say as the fire erupted behind the boy, sending him out of the window without his consent.

Peter cursed, watching the boy sail over his head to the terrified crowd below, who suddenly felt unsure about catching him. Peter pushed off of the building in a backflip and he saw the boy and crowd below him, time slowing down. He realized that he was too far from the boy to catch him midair and he panicked with only one thought in mind. "Karen! Trampoline?!" He didn't make any sense with fear shooting through him, but somehow, Karen understood. She loaded an option that he vaguely recognized when he was tinkering with the suit and Peter wasted no time to shoot it at the edge of the building. The web expanded to cover the width of the street, building to building, over the heads of the crowd. They ducked as Peter shot the webbing and the boy slammed into it, only to bounce back up just like he would on a trampoline.

Peter landed on his feet and lurched upward into the air. The boy was safe and Peter could move on. He swung to a new location as a man shouted, "You're the dude, Spider-Man!"

Well, he certainly hoped so.

The following few blocks was a complete blur. Peter couldn't recount how many people he saved because he was working in overdrive, never once stopping to catch a breath because people needed him. He spotted rumble threatening to crush a family and he rushed to help only to stagger backward when he saw a small woman in a black leather jacket lift the rubble and toss it away like it was nothing. She shouted, "Go! Go! Hurry and move!" at them while she helped pick up the little kid and send them along their way. She wiped her forehead with a sigh before she glanced over at Peter. "Nice getup," she said mockingly, her voice gruff and tired, making Peter frown.

"What's wrong with my suit?"

"It's a little much, kid." She pursed her lips, studying him. "But who am I kidding? Mine was so much worse."

Peter cocked his head tot he side. "You're a hero?"

She laughed. "No, not anymore. Not again. But I swear this city never quits to send bull-crap at us." She wiped her gloved hands on her ripped pale blue jeans and rolled her shoulders. "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna do something? We've got a hellhole to clean up."

"Y-Yeah." Peter blinked. He hadn't met someone with powers who didn't claim themselves as a hero before. Her entire demeanor didn't scream superhero either, just a tired, annoyed young woman who probably would rather keep to herself than go outside. There was nothing left to be said between them and Peter moved on, still wondering who she was.

That was when things got only stranger. As he ran down a street looking for any signs of trouble, television monitors roared to life, blinking onto the news. Peter slowed to a stop to check on the progress of the bombings. The reporter was standing in front of a scene with policemen and firefighters alike, working together to help people. She said, "... and here is Paradox with a message of hope to the city." She pointed her microphone to the familiar hero and Peter scowled.

Paradox somehow looked dashing and brave. None of this affected him and Peter knew exactly why. Paradox remained calm as he delivered his message: "New York, today is a terrifying day. So many people are in need of help because of these ludicrous bombings this city has faced. I say enough is enough. I say we need to fight back. There are some of you that are like me, that have powers. I know its scary to come out of the shadows, out of hiding because of who you are, but now is the time."

Under his breath, Peter wondered, "What are you doing?" Next, to him, a couple walked up to the display, staring at the screens, entranced by Paradox's message.

"New York City, today is the dawn of heroes," continued Paradox, "we need to stand together as one and help protect your friends, family, neighbors, and strangers before it's too late. Let today be the day the world accepts who we are and recognize us!"

The reporter pulled her microphone away from him, her eyes wide as she swallowed hard at his words, visibly uncomfortable as she spoke in a shaky voice, "That's um, that's Paradox with a message to the people."

Peter glanced beside him at the couple. They faced each other, a confident look on their faces. The woman's eyes glowed, making Peter blink twice. She stared at him, a smirk on her lips before she turned to her partner and said, "Let's go." Then, they simply vanished into thin air, without a trace except for the haunting stare the woman gave Peter.

Holy crap, he thought, how many powered people are there?

As he continued through the city, he found more and more powered people emerging from the shadows. What was unsettling was how divided they were. Some used their powers to help others around them, even assisting Peter with his work while others went dark, using their powers to steal things in the chaos. Sometimes, Peter had to actually fight them. He wanted their fights over as quickly as possible. He attacked from above more often and tried to enclose their bodies completely in webbing to keep them from moving. A lot of the time, he had them hanging upside down, trapped in a cocoon.

"All part of his plan," Peter grumbled to himself, "he's trying to tear everyone apart."

"Underoos!"

Peter was so caught off guard that he almost missed his webbing on the next building. He clung onto the side of one using only one hand and one foot to keep him upright as he stared above him at Iron Man in the air. "Mr. Stark? What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think?" His helmet opened, revealing his face with... was that worry? "I've been trying to reach you for over an hour, kid."

Peter flushed. "Oh geez, sorry, I went dark because May kept trying to call me and-"

"Dark? No. You don't go dark. You must be out of your goddamn mind." Tony lowered himself so he could be relatively the same level as Peter when they spoke. "She's been calling me and she's worried sick-"

"I know, I know." He sighed, "I left her a message it's just..." He glanced all around them, his body heavy with fatigue. "I had a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, I noticed." He crossed his metal arms over his chest, still stable in flight with his boots. "The assholes who are doing this are getting on my last nerves."
Peter realized that he hadn't exactly brought Tony up to date with everything that had been happening. There was simply too much to explain right at that moment, but he had to try to enlighten him anyways. "Actually, Mr. Stark, the asshole responsible is Paradox."

Tony lifted a skeptical brow before he shrugged it off. "Well, his name gave it away."

Peter was bewildered. He was expecting something along the lines of gasping and slight arguing instead of that. Well, he was dealing with Tony Stark for the matter. "You're not the least bit surprised, sir?"

"Should I be?" he retorted, incredulous. "Some people say they're good and go off and do the things that make 'em bad. Not surprised anymore, can't be I guess. Think you know somebody but you don't know them at all..." his eyes went downcast, momentarily out of thought until Peter snapped him back with his fingers. "Stop snapping your fingers at me, kid, I'm not old enough for that."

"You just kind of phased out-"

"Whatever," he dismissed the thought, "anything else you want to bring me up to speed about?"

Funny, the first thought that came to mind was the fact that Peter had a girlfriend now. Tony would probably be proud of him but the thought of telling that to him at the moment was slightly too embarrassing than he could endure. It was for another time when things weren't crazy and when things were back to normal.

"That place... where you took the other Avengers after we fought them in at that airport... what's it called again? And it keeps powers under control, right?"

Tony stared at him for a few seconds, not betraying his thoughts with his facial expressions as he slowly said, "The Raft and yeah, why?"

Peter narrowed his eyes, remembering Paradox's message to the city as he said, "I think it's going to be a lot more crowded because of Paradox and it's going to start with him."

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May almost sobered up real quick that night. The explosions were all over the news and May had been pacing the apartment, chewing on her nails trying to reach her nephew on the phone. She did not sign up for this. Nope. She did not sign up to raise a superhero.

The one time the little bastard did call her back was the one time she left her phone so she could go throw up in the bathroom. God, it's been a stressful couple of weeks and she was an absolute mess.

Her head was spinning. The floor became the ceiling and she was going to lose her mind out of worry. No more wine. She was so done. She just wanted her nephew back, away from harm and for things to be normal for once.

Normal was too much to ask for apparently because two disheveled kids showed up at her doorstep carrying another person. The sight alone made her want to drink more wine but she wasn't going to do that just after she promised herself to cut back and chill out.

She recognized the pair immediately, "Ned? Michelle? What the- what are you doing here with is that a body?!" she shrieked, backpedaling away from the door.

"She's alive, Mrs. Parker," Michelle reassured her, "just very unconscious."

May swallowed hard then squinted her eyes, studying the girl. "Wait... is that the girl who was here the other day? Liz?"

Ned and Michelle exchanged a nervous glance before he said, "We wish."

She was a superhero's aunt and so she had to do the side heroics that Peter sometimes couldn't do. In this case, it was take in an unconscious girl. May helped them bring her inside and lay her on the couch. She quickly went to go find a blanket and bring comfortable pillows for her. "Help yourselves in the kitchen kids," she called out to them and watched them happily rummage through the cabinets and fridge for snacks. They looked starving.

They settled on chips and sat on the chairs next to the couch, silently eating for a few moments before May obviously had to ask, "What happened?"

They explained everything. Their stupid plan to trap Paradox was bad in words and bad in execution. Sure, cornering him under the stress of lights was good, but May didn't understand how they could have possibly gotten the girl, Anya, from Paradox's... well, his domain. It didn't seem realistic she had to admit. It seemed too risky and it was. It came with the cost of their own friend, Liz, to take Anya's plan. And everything that happened in the city just worsened their luck.

Hearing all of this, May simply shook her head, feeling a headache come on. This was all so much for a bunch of kids to handle. After they explained everything, May leaned her head against the wall which she stood against and said only one word: "Wow."

Michelle asked hesitantly, "I know this is a lot to ask, but can she stay with you? She needs a safe place to stay and I think she'd feel a lot safer staying with you and Peter just for a little while."

"Yeah," May cleared her throat, not quite believing she was agreeing to this. She couldn't just say no. "Yeah, I can watch out for Anya. I'm sure your parents would lose their minds if you brought her home."

Ned chuckled, "I'd be grounded for life."

"Same and she would go straight to the police..." She sighed, "...maybe she should. She should have family that is worried about her."

"Anya's been missing for years but she can't go home until Paradox is stopped, MJ,"Ned stared at the sleeping girl with a frown on his lips. "I-I feel bad about it too but Peter has to save Liz and deal with Paradox first."

Michelle groaned and rubbed her temples. "Just how the heck do we save Liz? She's literally in a different world."

"The upside-down, man," he agreed, "it's like Paradox ripped off Stranger Things."

May considered that for a moment. Peter had forced May to sit down and binge watch Stranger Things during a weekend so at least she understood what Ned was referring to- a dark place of nothingness, a reflection of the actual world. If that was the case, then how could the kids have known about Anya in the first place? She asked that very question to them.

Ned explained, "After um, Paradox sabotaged Liz's aunt's wedding, Peter found the place where Paradox disappeared to. He uses shadows to move and stuff but he kind of leaves behind a goo-like substance. Think Loony Toons and how they can walk through black circles. Peter went through one and found Anya."

May rubbed her arms, thinking. "Then why don't you prompt Paradox to leave a big enough mark for you to travel through?"

"How do we do that?" Michelle looked absolutely defeated. Her shoulders were slumped and there were bags under her eyes. "He's not going to willingly open the door."

"A distraction of course," said May.

Ned shook his head. "We tried that. Liz... Liz was the distraction."

"A poorly executed one, but that's okay, we can fix this." May pushed herself from the wall and began to pace in front of the kids, trying to come up with a better plan. "Peter can be the distraction. They fight, blah, blah, and during the fight, Paradox must create a big enough hole so that I can travel through and find Liz and-"
Michelle held up her hands. "Whoa, whoa, Mrs. Parker. You can't do that."

May's hands twitched. She clenched them to stop the kids from seeing the nervous tick. "I-I can't sit by and do nothing anymore. I can't wait for Peter to call me from the back of an alley to tell me he's okay or he's hurt in a dumpster or not get that call at all. I'm tired of waiting. I need my boy back home and safe."

Michelle pursed her lips. She was internally struggling to come to terms with this until she came to a resolution. "We wouldn't know where they'd fight."

"I can track Peter's suit but I don't think Peter can distract him by himself," Ned said.

Michelle frowned at him. "Why?"

"Paradox just... throws him off. He can never get too close to him and he needs to if he wants to stop him from shadow-hopping." He rolled up the bag of chips and set it on the table in slow defeat with his head hanging low. "I... I have a terrible idea."

May shrugged. "We can tweak up terrible ideas, it's alright, Ned."

"Okay, how about-"

Suddenly, a sharp gasp cut off Ned, making their heads turn towards the girl sleeping on the couch. She sprung up, her hair a wild poof on top of her head, and her chest heaving. "Who-who the hell are you people?!" she gasped. Her head snapped around to survey her surroundings. "Where the hell am I?"

Ned was the first to speak up. "You're on Earth-" Michelle quickly elbowed him. "-in the normal world and not the upside-down." Another elbow.

Anya stared at them, blinking.

May could see the little resemblance to Liz. She was much older than the girl but much fragile and skinner. All bones and no healthy fat- a poor sight indeed. A walking skeleton of the girl, May realized. Soon, she feared, the actual Liz will look exactly like her predecessor.

May kneeled in front of Anya and took her cold, bony hands in hers. She flinched, inching away from May but May remained firm. "My name is May. You've been in the dark a long time, sweetie," she said softly, "but you're going to be okay now. You look hungry, you want me to make you something?"

Anya opened her chapped mouth, unsure what to say before she clamped it shut and eagerly nodded. May smiled at her and rose up to go to the kitchen.

Michelle studied Anya, no doubt seeing her friend in the girl. "I'm Michelle, but people call me MJ. That's my friend, Ned." She jabbed her thumb over to Ned who lifted his hand to a small wave. "Our friend, Peter, saw you a couple days ago. He was wearing that red outfit with the spider on it."

Anya mumbled, "That boy, I remember him. Was he the one who got me out to... wherever here is?"

Ned nodded. "Here is his apartment and May's his aunt."

"I see..." Anya drew a smile, perking up a bit. "Does that mean Nico is gone for good? I can go home?"

Glancing up from the kitchen, May watched Michelle and Ned awkwardly glance at each other. She sighed softly and rummaged through the fridge, looking at her leftovers for Anya. The girl needed some meat to at least start her off the right track to gain some fat back on her. Chicken... mashed potatoes... corn on the cob should work for now.

"Well," Ned pulled on his collar, "Paradox isn't exactly out of business-"

"Paradox?" Anya scoffed, "Is that his name? His alter ego?" Seeing Michelle and Ned nod their heads, Anya shook hers and released a massive sigh. "It's... fitting, I guess. It's dark and unsettling like him."

"He kidnapped you?" Michelle lightly pressed, leaning closer to her. "He forced you in that place after you rejected him?"

Her eyes twitched and she closed them, making Michelle eased back in her seat, probably feeling guilty for even mentioning it. It took her a moment, but Anya responded, "Yeah, yeah but it was my fault. I just had enough of Nico. I went over his house to tell him to stop following me and stalking me like a freak and he was... trapped. When I got there he was in this weird metal casing thing, just frozen. I don't know why, but his mom blamed me for it and screamed at me."

Ned rubbed his chin, eagerly listening. "Did he hurt you?"

"His mother did. She hit me and kicked me, I tried to fight back but then he literally just exploded and he was gone for a few seconds." Anya stared ahead, looking at nothing particular but her memories as she recalled them. "His mom got so angry at me then. She had me cornered... then he literally rose from her shadow and started choking her. I begged him to stop because he was going to kill her..."

She didn't finish but Michelle knew what happened. "He promised to protect you, didn't he? He put you in that world for your own good?"

"Yeah but after he knocked out his mom and started saying the craziest things... that he's all-powerful. He's reborn and he's like a god." Anya's dark eyes clouded just before a few tears slid down her cheeks. "That... that world sucks the life out of you. I never want to back there again."

"You won't." May returned with a plate of piping hot food for the girl and set it on the coffee table in front of her with utensils. Anya stared up at her, her sad, large eyes gazing up at her in disbelief. May's heart ached for her and resented the man that her nephew had been fighting. God, this was so much for kids. May sat down beside her and tucked a stray strand behind Anya's ear. "You won't ever have to think about him again or that place. You're safe."

In a whisper, Anya said, "Thank you." She tightly hugged May before she focused on the food in front of her.

May turned around and asked Ned, "Do you mind finding some clothes for Anya to borrow from Peter's room?"

"For sure, for sure." Ned hurriedly went to the back to Peter's room and began sorting through his closet to find a t-shirt and sweatpants.

May sat beside Michelle, reclining back in her seat as she looked over to Michelle. "How can you possibly date my nephew?" she asked quite randomly.

Michelle's eyes widened in horror. "Um... what?"

"It's just... I get so stressed out whenever he goes out there, flinging and whatever, I can only imagine how hard it must be for you."

"Oh." Michelle's face burned and she rubbed her arm, not making eye contact with May. "I-I don't know. I'm worried of course, but I just believe that he's going to be fine. He has been so far."It was... oddly relieving to hear that from someone else. Of course May believed in Peter, but it was just so hard to really grasp the fact that he was out there, always exposing himself to danger. If Michelle can come to terms with that... maybe she could too. May smiled at her. "After all of this, you two girls and I are going to have a girl's day out. Spa day, shopping day, cake day- we are going to relax until our hearts content."

Anya groaned, "I miss cake."

"That sounds really nice, Mrs. Parker," said Michelle. "Please, call me May." Being a super-aunt was certainly hard work, but rewarding.

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Peter's long night was coming to a close. Less havoc wrecked the streets as dawn slowly emerged over New York. Smoke was beginning to clear but the air was still heavy in grey. Peter finally decided that it was time to go home until a man called out to him. "Spider-dude! Hey! Come here!" A young man stood in an alleyway, eyes darting about every which direction in fear.

Normally, Peter was against meeting with strangers in dark allies but this guy was clearly scared out of his mind, maybe he needed help. Slowly, Peter approached, careful with each step toward him. The guy didn't seem to mind and went straight to talking. "I'm from the Yakuza, I know it's not really your thing but that Daredevil guy has been gone for awhile and I don't know who else to turn to."

"Okay, back up, you're from a gang? Like a literal gang?" Peter made a mistake. He definitely shouldn't have approached him.

"Yes!" The young man exasperated, "Japanese mob, gang, whatever. Doesn't matter. What matters is that prick, Paradox. That guy is a whole other level of crazy that I can't handle anymore."

Peter was interested. "What happened? What did he do?"

He scoffed, "What hasn't he done? That guy has been behind every single bomb threat in the past couple of weeks. He has been forcing the gangs to do what he says because of his freak powers. We hate his guts but we can't do jack about it. We need someone to match him: you."

Peter swallowed hard. He desperately wanted to take down Paradox but he wasn't sure how.

"Hell, people from every single gang in New York will even testify against this guy if it means getting him off the streets. But that doesn't matter if we don't have him in handcuffs." The young man stepped back from Peter, studying him. "You believe me?"

He nodded. "More than you know, I do."

"How are you gonna stop him?"

"I-I don't know yet."

"Better figure out something fast because he already riled up the supers." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, retreating back in the shadows. "The streets are gonna get a whole lot messier because of him." And he was gone.

Peter was renewed with purpose. The long and grueling night he had was slept clear of him. The danger was set to a higher level because of Paradox's message and Peter had some proof to get Paradox behind bars. It wasn't enough, but it was a start. He had to go home and get to work.

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A/N: 

May is finally fully Team Spider-Man! Anya is freed- my girl didn't deserve this mess. Liz is suffering and I need it to stop. Ned and Michelle are the dynamic duo I think we all wanted. The plot thickens and I, for one, am stoked for what's next.