A/N:
This was the very very first thing I ever wrote for FireWeaver that spiraled the whole story off. At first it was just a fun little concept I wrote down and didn't intend to really do anything more but as I progressed I was like "dang now I really want to see how this all plays out and what happened," and thus FireWeaver was born.

I'm gonna put a spoiler warning because while a lot of the stuff changes in the actual story, it does give away some major plot points too. You just won't know which is which.

Here we go~

****Fire-weaver and Spider-man 2099 are in the middle of downtown Nueva York in the midst of battle.****

"...My boyfriend has been staying out late without telling me lately. I can't help but get the feeling that he's hiding something from me" Fire-weaver said, slinging a web that hooked onto a goon's shoulder, before she pulled him into her fist. "I mean I can't really be mad because I'm one to talk, but I just can't help feeling curious, you know?"

Her unwitting partner, spider-man, who looked- and was- nothing like the classical one with his inverse red and blue suit, only focused on knocking out two more men, their futuristic goggles cracking as they landed on the ground.

"Why are you telling me this again?" He said, dodging a blast from in front of him.

"I don't know, because you're a guy?" Fire-weaver rolled her eyes beneath her mask as she gave a swift kick to the armed burglar who shot at him.

"Not all men are the same." Spider-man responded, his voice increasingly monotone, if that was possible. He webbed up the burglars they had incapacitated, tying them to a pole as sirens rung in the distance.

"Gee no way, I'll be sure to remind you of that the next time you ask me for relationship advice." Fire-weaver sighed, despite knowing he would never do such a thing "I'm asking because you're a guy who has his own share of secrets. Come on, can't you at least give me some kind of assurance? Am I being crazy? Is it nothing- or am I being cheated on?"

He sighed, his shoulders sinking before he thought for a moment. A part of him could relate to what she was asking. Even though he never shared things with her, he had his own similar problems in his relationship.

"Look, maybe he wants to tell you but just hasn't found the right moment to... or maybe, he simply can't."

The spider-woman sighed, slinging a web and swinging herself up to a low roof top. Spider-man followed.

"What if it's worse than I think. Or what if he refuses to tell me? Can I really say anything when I'm literally playing a hero behind his back?" She crossed her arms, sitting on the edge as she looked out over the city.

It hummed with so many noises she was still getting used to. It wasn't that much different from her New York, but Nueva York still had so many new colors, new lights and hover ads and cars that looked sleek and unreal. Half the buildings that towered around her hadn't even begun construction yet back in her world.

Spider-man stood beside her, looking out at the city, not sure what it must look like behind her eyes.

"Does it matter honestly what he does? What exactly are you going to tell him when you have to go back to your dimension?" He crossed his arms, his mind running with different predictions of her response.

She kept silent for a time, maybe calculating the exact same thing he was.

"That's the part I've been trying not to think about." She finally admitted. "It was easy a couple months ago. My whole heart was back in my New York- my world. But now, half of it lies here. How do I tell someone I'm beginning to fall for that I'll be taking the definition of long distance to a whole new level?"

Fire-weaver looked back up at him. "Especially when I'm from forty years before he was even born. Crazy right? He'll probably call me a cougar."

Spider-man couldn't help himself but crack a smile beneath his mask. He never laughed at her jokes, but the idea of her being a cougar struck him as amusing.

"You got yourself into this mess, parcerito. I warned you about getting involved in my world." Spider-man sighed. "Look, if the guy loves you, he'll understand. And he sure as shock wouldn't be cheating on you."

She smiled and stood up. "Thanks. I should get home now, you aren't going to try using Lyla to track me again will you? Would hate to have to go through the trouble of scrambling your device again- it's really hard to maneuver around your cameras."

He shook his head. Though he was tempted to, he respected her wish to have her own independence from him.

"No, I'm done trying that- plus Lyla refuses to tell me anyway. She likes you more than me I think."

Fire-weaver smiled. "Well, thanks for chatting. And let me know if there's any updates on that whole 'returning to your dimension' thing. I'd like to know my due date with... well, wrapping things up here."

He nodded at her. Fire-weaver, better known as spider-woman in this world, swung, gripping the silk in her hands on instinct and weaving through buildings like second nature.

It had been eight months since she ended up stranded here. Her alter ego, Esmerelda Costello, had been in the middle of a shift at her local cafe, trying to earn extra money so that she could quit her job at Spectre, a genetics and pharmaceutical company, when she heard glass breaking and saw a car go flying through the window.

Luckily there hadn't been any business inside the shop, and her quick reflexes helped her dodge just in time as it hit the register. She remembered the way her pulse raced and she took off her apron, running to the back store's closet and stripping into her costume. She put the mask on, and there she was- spider-woman.

When she left the shop she saw her new wannabe nemesis, Halcón, a man with a brown suit and foldable glider with razor sharp talons, flying through the city alongside Roulette, another enemy who wore purple clothes and a painted black and white face, his greasy black hair combed back as he shot psychic blasts that sent vehicles, like the car in her cafe, flying into the air and crashing into buildings.

She leapt into action- because that was something she had been used to now. She had been spider woman for over a year, ever since her co-worker and roommate brought home an extinct, radioactive spider that bit her. That is, all before a portal swept her up and left her waking up in a whole new world, and a whole new time.

Fire-Weaver swung through Neuva York, the memory fading as she paid closer attention to her location. She trusted spider man, but she wanted to be extra careful with anyone else who may be watching her.

She dove into what felt like an alley, landing and looking around the dark blue buildings before she approached a dumpster. There was no cameras in this area, so she swiped her backpack and changed into her normal attire.

She paused, putting on the golden chain around her neck. Her fingers felt shaky, unsure. Her vision filled with the kind face of a smiling woman, her hair dark and curly just like Esme's. That was new. Why was Esme thinking of that now?

She finished clipping the necklace on and put it beneath her collar, putting her backpack on and walking into the side door of the building. The bottom floor was abandoned, without any cameras.

The bonus was that it was connected to Neuva York's old subway stations, back from a time long ago when such transportation hadn't been upgraded into the flying subway they had today.

It's new purpose, was to help Esme slink around this futuristic city without anyone- especially Alchemax, noticing her movements.

She quickly tapped down the steps into a lower room, a wall that had blocked off the entrance to the subway looking back at her with a gaping hole in the middle. It was large enough for her to fit through, and she entered the massive room where passengers used to purchase their tickets, the help desk to her right.

She moved through the tunnels on muscle reflex, knowing the turns like the back of her hand now. Soon she was to her next destination, tapping up the steps and finding herself in open, not so fresh air. It still stunk of city, no matter what dimension she was in, nothing changed about that. Especially in the lower levels of the city.

Esme walked onto a platform into the brisk air, cars whooshing past. She stood beneath a canopy, and waved over a hover cab.

"I'd like to go to la rio restaurante, please." She spoke to the cab's ai. It hummed in response and drove across the non existent road, taking her back into the city. It was a hassle she always had to take a route out of the city just to go back in, but it was necessary to keep her identity secret.

She looked out the window, seeing a pair of green eyes looking back at her. She pressed her finger tips to the window, the face turning from hers and into a handsome man, his dark hair slick back and his eyes a chestnut brown. His face was fuzzy in the window, and she wondered why she was imagining him at a time like this.

But he was, after all, her boyfriend.

The cab slowed to a stop in front of the fifth story of a building. Esme tapped her watch, courtesy of a friend, and checked the big block letters of the time: 20:30 PM, MARCH FIFTH, 2101. Just five minutes late, no sweat.

Esme stepped out, the sound of the car door breaking the fragile hum of the world outside. People walked to and from the double doors of the building. Eight months ago, Esmerelda half expected the people in this future to have their hair in vibrant colors or extreme hair styles, wearing leotards or high colared shirts with exaggerated sleeves and pops of color- and she had been half right.

The future wasn't so much different from her time, but it definitely hadn't fallen short of feeling like a cut scene from the decades old video game "cyperpunk". But she was almost accustomed to it now, and even blended in, thanks to spider man's advice and her own research on the latest fads and trends.

She walked through the double doors, the reflection of the glass catching her red and yellow outfit, that almost made it look like she was wearing a leotard beneath an asymmetrical skirt. It felt weird to say the least, but comfortable. Her yellow heels clicked on the tile floor.

Esme walked through the hallway past shops and other accommodations, before taking a turn and seeing a bigger wall with a mosaic, the double doors glass and sliding open for her as she walked in.

"Good evening madam," A young woman at the register began.

Esme smiled brightly. "Hi, I'm meeting for a reservation. A table for Esmerelda and Mi-"

"Oh, yes right this way madam" the woman gestured and walked her past several tables with distracted customers, heading to a door that lead to a balcony with a view of the Brooklyn bridge- at least, the new and shinier rendition of it.

The door opened and Esme looked at the expanse of the glimmering lights on the river, before turning and seeing a man with his back faced to her. She walked over, feeling happy as her earrings bounced on her ears.

"Sorry I'm late, you know how it is at work." She began, grabbing a chair across before he stood up.

"Here, let me."

Esme looked up at his chestnut eyes, soft and kind as he pulled her chair out from the table for her. He had a strand of hair on his forehead, defying the rest of his slick back brown hair. In the twinkling lights of the city his tan skin was filled with orange and yellows, his eyes almost amber from the interior of the cafe window behind her.

"Miguel." She murmured, awed as if it was the first time she was looking at him. The first time she had seen him, eight months ago.

Eight months ago, July eighth 2100.

Esmerelda Costello slunk through an alley way in downtown Nueva York, pulling a ratty cloak over her head while avoiding the bright lights of the holographic billboards above.

She couldn't think, couldn't figure out how she got here in this strange city- strange time. She didn't even know if this place was even the same world as hers. Everything seemed to bright and loud, so opaque and bursting with so much light. This was nothing like the New York she knew. Where were the acrid fumes that you could taste, the hot dog stands and loud taxis that honked in traffic or the blaring radios that sang of the news or some run-of-the-mill rising artist?

There was no ruckus in the streets- the fly boys they called the public eye made sure of that- and no blaring engines of the cars. There was still traffic, still food stands- just more, futuristic. Floating on the sky, walk ways held up by beams of light. Wide dividers of grass and foliage were also something she wasn't quite used to. Everything felt cleaner- smoother. At least the upper levels were.

And then there was simply Esme. The anomaly in this other worldly place. At first she felt, jarred. Scared. Alone. But then she felt determined. Whatever thing she fell through into this place in time, she was going to find it again.

She found a section of the city she knew was a shelter building for the homeless- at least used to be, if her memory served her right, and snuck in, using the cloak more for comfort than a disguise at this point.

People seemed to be busy muttering to each other about charts and helping young and old alike, their garments much more worn and battered than the previous civilians she had seen in the city.

She snuck by, following a woman pushing a clothing hamper into what she assumed was the laundry room. Esme ducked inside once the woman left, and scrounged for clothes. She felt bad stealing from the only donated clothes they must have had, but her conscious allowed her considering she was homeless too in this world.

After pulling the clothes over her costume, she opened the door- or slid it open, and looked both ways down the hall before darting out.

Once outside, she could finally breathe and get her thoughts organized. Okay, first thing first, she needed to figure out where she was. How did she do that, though?

She tried to think back to when she arrived here. The billboard she saw when she arrived had already informed her that this was definitely New York- but now called Nueva York. It was an interesting name change, but she dug it.

Now to explain the new garments and lifestyle of the city. She assumed it was the future, but what year in the future? How far had she traveled? In her time they were just beginning to invent the hover cars, and initiating a new building project to transform New York to be more suitable for the change. She guessed that neuva York was the fruitage of such plans.

She had so many questions, and who better to ask than someone homeless just like her?

She saw an older man sitting on a bench by himself, reading a newspaper that seemed to hover like pixels in 3D, above a watch he held in his hand instead of wearing it. Borrowed, perhaps?

Esme walked up to him.

"Excuse me, can you tell me what's in the news today?" She asked. Asking the date was too cheesy to her, and she wanted to avoid drawing attention.

"Uh, let's see. There's a new clothing store opening up on 41st street. Young gal such as yourself would love that." He added after reading the small text, squinting his eyes.

"That sounds great, can you tell me when it's opening up?" She asked, trying to look closer at his screen.

"Ah, July 10th it says. So you could probably see the grand opening a couple days from now." He hummed, his wrinkled finger tapping to the next page.

So, there was the month and day. Today was July eighth. But what year?

She got distracted as she sat next to him, reading the paper as he switched pages. Her heart almost stopped. Her eyes widened.

There, in broad, capital text, was a title that read; "MARKING THE FIRST YEAR OF SPIDER-MAN'S DISAPPEARANCE: UNRAVELING THIS WEB OF MYSTERY"

Spider man? In her time, she was the only one called spider woman- the only one with the name spider at all. No such thing as "spider man" existed- or at least not yet. Who was this guy?

"Hey, that text about spider-man. What's that about? I just moved here." She asked, looking at the older man. Even if he wrote her behavior off as strange, she didn't see the harm anymore considering he was homeless and had no one he could tell.

"Ah, he disappeared back in 2099. After a massive fight with the goblin. Bizarre being, he just showed up for a few months, disappeared for a few months, came back- and poof. Never saw him again. At least, so I hear." He sighed. "Strange times we live in. Very strange times."

Esme's heart fasted. Not only did she find out she was over forty years in the future, but there was also someone like her- or used to be someone like her. Spider man. Was his abilities like hers?

Or was he simply a rip off of her old name? Did she even exist in this world at all? If she did, Esme would be about sixty five years old right now. Maybe she could start there. If she lived through this whole ordeal, and went back in time, then her older self would surely remember it, right?

Unless that disobeyed the rules of time travel- she wasn't sure. Or perhaps she should look for spider-man instead- see if he had any clues about her.

Esme leaned back on the bench and rubbed her eyes, all these new devices giving her a headache.

The old man hummed away, seeming to forget her presence as he read on. Something struck out to her though. The article was talking about where spider man was last seen- where his favorite places were, and so on. Huh. That could be a start.

"Hey, could you tell me more about this spider-man? What's the article saying? I'm a huuuge fan of these sorts of things." Esme said, leaning in and batting her dark lashes at him.

The old man smiled and nodded. "Sure, sure. It's nice to have some company- no one your age seems to give a shock about the news anymore."

Huh. "Shock", now that was a new thing she'd have to remember.

"Thanks." she peered closer, examining the text. It seemed like a baloney article, taking snippets of rumors and mixing it with facts, acting as if either had any substance to it.

There was a photo, a man dressed in a costume kind of like hers. A dark blue suit with red markings, and an emblem on his chest that was a clever symbol of a spider shaped as a skull. Guy had taste, she dug it.

He wore a mask that covered his entire head, his eyes drawn with a red silhouette without any visors- interesting.

Was the guy blind? Maybe he didn't need to see- or maybe the fabric was something different than her world, maybe he could see through it. She wasn't sure, but she thought it was an interesting costume design.

What stuck out to her though was the webbing flowing from his back like a cape, and the building behind it that read "Alchamex".

According to the article, it seemed that almost all of spider-man's battles took place relatively close in the area the photo was taken. But, Esme knew that what the reporter didn't mention, was that it seemed to be connected back to that building. "Alchamex." She wondered where she had heard of that name before.

She thought for a moment before remembering that that building was exactly what she had seen as she fell through the sky.

Esme wasn't allowed to further dive into the thought before a huge bright red color filled the holo screen, flashing an alert.

"What's that?" Esme covered her ears, a loud alarm following the alert.

"It's an alarm warning us to stay inside." The old man yelled above the noise, tapping the alert and swiping to the left, popping up video footage of a birds eye view of Nueva York, somewhere near by. And there, flying below, was Halcón. Her Halcón.

"What the h- shock." She blurted and caught herself. 'Esme you have to fit in, remember?'

But her mind was overpowered with panic as she realized that, she hadn't been the only one transported here. Halcón, and what appeared to be Roulette below him, were causing terror through this New York. And what was worse- they had no spider-man to protect them.

"Is there anyone to stop them?" She spoke aloud, unsure if even the old man knew.

"I... no, no, there's no one. Nothing like this has happened in the last year- that was the nice thing about spider-man leaving. Everyone else seemed to as well. But these things- what *are* they?"

Esme didn't give a response, dashing away and going into an elevator. So much for her new clothes. She reached the roof, spraying a web on the camera in the elevator as she stood below it. She then took off her clothes and revealed the fiery red and orange suit beneath, flames up her legs, forearms, and on her chest with the void areas being brown.

She held up her mask, matching the brown, orange and yellow colors of her costume with the red webbing, inspired by the ballet costume she had worn on her first encounter as a superhero, and put it on.

She leapt out as soon as the elevator hit the top floor, running across the empty roof and leaping off, her wrist releasing a strand of web that connected with an opposite building across from her. She fell for a moment, before she felt the tug of the silk catching her, her body swinging through the air. She let go, and repeated the movement.

With every swing she combined flips and arched in the air to increase her speed, heading for the area she saw in the footage. There was a tall red building near them- and she knew exactly where that was. Near the place she fell through the portal.

Even if Esme had gotten lost, she wasn't for long as she heard the tell tale noise of explosions and debris crashing.

Esme turned the corner, and her blood drained. Halcón, which to her had been just another wannabe super villain with boot leg gadgets, had gotten an upgrade. Of course he did.

He must have arrived before her and had been staking it out to better his gear- because who wouldn't in a world that was far more technologically advanced than theirs.

His glider was now a pair of literal metal wings, material more like daggers filed away between his flight feathers. His brown mask was now a helmet with red aviator goggles, the strap around his chin.

He wore a coat with a fur collar and lining, and strapped from his shoulder to across his chest to a satchel on his side was a bandolier, filled with shiny gold cartridges of who knew what.

In his hand was a only what she could describe as something that looked like a firearm with a barrel in the shape of a triangle, neon yellow light inside of it and etched around the outside of the gun.

And not to mention his talons- they looked way scarier than what she had faced before.

Roulette too- he was cloaked in a black suit with a purple tie, wearing a bowler hat with a purple sash. Hiding his greasy hair, she couldn't blame him. Dude needed a shower.

And the first thing these two newly upgraded villains did with their newfound look and abilities? Wreak havoc. Of course.

Halcón dove down, cackling as he terrorized people running away in the sidewalks, screaming as he snatched the closest woman he could get his hands on and flew back up.

"Hey look what I got, a carcass to chew on!" Halcón cackled, dangling the woman by her leg high up above the buildings. She screamed in terror, a hair pin dropping past her eyes.

"Hey! Didn't anyone tell you that it's rude to play with your food?" Fire-weaver yelled, sweeping through the air and shooting a web that latched onto the woman before her foot collided with Hacón, hitting with a loud crack.

His hand released the woman and Fire Weaver flipped through the air, her web pulling the woman with her and into weaver's arms. She landed on the roof and set the woman down.

"Run along little lady, before mister pigeon over there tries again." She said, pointing to the roof exit.

The woman didn't even acknowledge fire-weaver, immediately running.

Halcón scrambled, looking around before spotting where spider-woman went. His eyes landed on her, one of the glass on his goggles cracked.

"You! You're here!" He yelled, shocked.

"Me! I'm here!" She mocked, shooting a web aimed at his face.

This time he was ready and ducked beneath it.

"You won't underestimate me this time, spider woman! I'm a new me, a new Halcón! And you'll pay!" He screeched, sounding almost like a hawk as he dove for her.

She rolled her eyes and flipped in the air, dodging him by a hair as she breezed between his wings, landing behind him as he flew past the spot she had been standing.

"Sorry, it's not tax season and you don't look like a debt collector." Esme quipped on instinct, trying to hide the skip in her pulse. She couldn't deny this guy was definitely much fiercer, and harder to put down.

"Always running that mouth."

She turned, realizing there was someone else on the roof with her now. Roulette.

Her eyes widened and she crossed her arms to brace the bolt of energy that swept her off the roof, a bright purple glow clouding her vision.

Crap.

She fought off the cloudiness in her head and flexed her wrist, shooting a web to catch hold of anything. She did, and felt her weight crash against a building, breaking glass and landing on who knows what floor.

Weaver grimaced, using her arms to lift herself off the glass. She looked up, seeing Roulette standing at the edge of the roof, his hands omitting a more powerful energy than he had before.

"So what, there was a market full of these new gadgets and abilities when you guys showed up? If so, where do I sign for the upgrade?" She grinned beneath her mask, standing up as she yelled.

The people around her peaked their faces above their desks and cubicles. Guess she landed in an office building.

Weaver leapt out of the window, using her webs to pull herself back up to the roof, launching herself into the air with a spin as she dodged more purple blasts.

When he paused and gave an opening, she aimed her wrists at the ground at his feet, pinning him before diving to launch herself at him.

Just as her foot was about to collide with his chest, she felt a warning go off in her head. She listened much too late, feeling the pain in her arms before the rush of air as she was dragged out of her movement, talons digging through her costume and drawing blood.

She was tossed, catching sight of Halcón as she flew through the air. Weaver caught herself before she could collide with anything, using her webs to pull herself the opposite way of the building she was hurling at.

"Hey, no tag teaming!"

"Give up, spider woman! We are no match for you- we're the big leagues now! And you're just a B-lister!" Roulette cackled.

"You know, the villain monologue wasn't cool back then, and still isn't now!" Weaver called, swinging through the air and going for Halcón first.

She felt her spider sense go off again and dodged in time of the blast. She was getting the hang of this-

CRASH! She didn't even register the hit before she felt the sharp pain all throughout her body as her back collided with concrete

. Her eyes clenched close, an iron tang on her tongue, her stomach aching. Her hands gripped the concrete, latching on to keep her sliding down the building to the hundreds of feet away ground. Her vision was blurry and her head was throbbing.

"It's over, pequeña araña*." Halcón spat, swooping towards her and grabbing her weak body. This was not good.

(Little spider*)

She gripped his talon on her arm defiantly, trying to will her strength to return and pull him off of her. But it was no use. She was severely under prepared for this- mentally and physically. And they had taken advantage of her blunder. Evil didn't take it easy on you just because you weren't in your timeline.

"Cállate" she said through grit teeth. This was going to suck, but it was the only thing she had left to do.

Weaver gripped his talons, her skin buzzing with energy. Her wrist ached as her grip kept hold of him, the bird like foot quickly covered in a chemical before- BOOM.

Weaver fell through the air, knocked back by the small explosion. Hacón was screeching in pain, his leg bleeding severely as he tried to salvage what was left of his metal talons.

Beneath her gloves, she knew her hands were burned from the use of her defense mechanism. The power of the bombidier spider. A long extinct, species of spider from her world. Only, the one Spectre had managed to bring back to life had accidentally been exposed to radiation, then escaped its containment before making its way to her co workers bag and hitchhiking it back to their apartment, where Esme soon after, was bit.

The kickback to using her explosive power was that it hurt herself in the procsss, which was why she used closed range explosions like that as an utmost last resort, and relied to coating balls of web before throwing it, the friction lighting the fluid and causing an explosion. She called it web grenades.

"Y- YOU!" Halcón screeched. "HOW-"

He cut off as she shot a web to his mouth, shutting him up fast.

"Yeah, you don't really listen, do you? I thought birds were supposed to have excellent hearing." She swung up, completing her arc through the air before landing on top of his back, grabbing his arms that worked tirelessly to maneuver his wings.

Roulette ran across the roof towards them, materializing steps mid air of purple energy and running up them, heading straight for her and a tumbling Hacón.

Weaver narrowed her eyes, focused as she gripped one wing with her hand and used her other to throw one of her web grenades at roulette, deterring him for a moment as he dodged the explosion.

Her hand continued to break Halcón's wing, sending him whirling in a dive, going down the hundred stories worth of feet that would soon end in pavement.

Now for her favorite part. She let go of his wing and leapt off, webbing him up with two threads in one hand while her other latched onto a building, sliding down the wall as she fought the momentum of their fall. She shot more webs at a building's balcony beam, the material groaning slightly before catching her and Halcón's weight.

Now that he was webbed up in a cocoon, she decided to deal with Roulette.

"Hey, Imbécil! How about you knock it off with the light show and actually work with me to get back to our New York? I mean what's the point of all the destruction, don't you want to go back?" She looked up at him, the villain still leaping on his purple steps towards her.

"Why would I want to go back? This place has everything I need! So much energy, new technology- we can be invincible here!" He laughed wildly, his upgraded black mask having a screen where his face would have been, a digitized eyes and mouth cackling like some video game character.

"That's-" she paused, cut off with the sound of things- flying motorcycles, with men in green suits and visors beneath their orange helmets, driving them and quickly gaining speed towards her and the two villains.

"See, this is how I know you didn't think this plan through. Did you ever pause to think that perhaps with the upgraded technology, there would also be an upgraded police force?"

Fire-weaver leapt off the side of the building she had been perched on, leaving Halcón hanging before she whipped up more webs and shot at Roulette while he was distracted by the new appearance. His body thunked against the building, struggling as he realized too late what had occurred.

She landed on a roof further away, watching as the police, and what she could only describe as hover bikes, stopped in front of the subdued villains.

"Hey fellas, nice to meet you-" she cut off as their guns- or blasters, aimed towards her.

"Unregistered person! Put your hands up! You are under arrest for disorderly conduct and violating the peace!" One man, his suit more formal than the rest, shouted at her.

She raised her hands. Looks like this New York wasn't so keen on superheroes here, either.

"Look boys, I'm not from around here. Neither are these two villains, but don't worry I've got them all handled and if you could point me in the direction of whatever whacky portal you've seen, we'll be right back to our time." Fire-weaver said casually, trying to get them to relax.

The men looked at each other hesitantly before looking back at her. Their blasters were still raised, but their determination was wavering for the smallest moment. And that was enough.

She dove from the roof, the array of shots missing her as she practically flew through stories of buildings, the pavement getting closer and closer. With a whoosh of the wind, her hand clutched on a strand of silk, catching her body in a sweeping arc just feet away from the ground.

Weaver swung back into the air, gaining distance from the speeding pursuers.

"Hey fellas I think you're going over the limit!" She yelled back, though she doubted they could hear her.

She swooped past a corner, feeling smug as she was beginning to lose them. Soon, she no longer heard them chasing her completely.

It was a good start. She got rid of her two villains from her world, and let the cops handle it. Now she needed to get back to finding her answers.

-•-

Miguel O'Hara rubbed his temples, sitting behind his desk as the last meeting of the day finally fizzled out from his screen, his eyes dark with exhaustion.

His executive office of Alchamex, on the top of Babylon towers, was dark, the only light from the holo screens that flickered with video footage of the city and data sheets.

His hands lowered and he looked to his right, the screen switching to images of Manhattan. Just as his eyes caught sight of the soaring creature above the city heights, he heard the tell tale sound of explosions beyond his window.

He stood up quickly, dashing to the window. It slid open automatically, showing him the city skyline with smoke rising in the distance. He looked back at the footage on his desk.

"Lyla, zoom in on section-" he cut off. Right. Lyla wouldn't help him. She was still mad at him for powering off the ai after their latest argument.

He sighed and tapped the screen himself, zooming in on the form of a man with metal wings sprouted from a backpack, the gears oddly reminiscent to the vulture's.

This guy however, was dressed in a retro outfit, like forty years older. A brown leather jacket with neon yellow that ran up the sleeves, fur on the collar and red suit beneath. His scarlet hair combed back and wearing aviator goggles- even more ancient than the outfit.

Another form leapt up beside him, shooting blasts of purple energy. Guess the guy really loved the color, because his shoes, gloves, jacket and tie were purple with a black and white suit and- was that a bowler hat?

Miguel shook his head. They were causing such chaos. He instinctively wanted to do something, to gear up and leap into action- but his head and heart were conflicted. Fear took the final vote. He sat down slowly, and rang to alert the nearest fly boys of the disturbance. They could handle it.

Neuva York didn't need spider-man.

Just as he was pressing a button on his holo screen, something slammed into the bird like man, a blur of orange, brown, and yellow. Miguel quickly focused the camera, catching sight of what looked like a woman in a costume swinging on- was that webs?!

Questions swam in his head and he tried to get scans on her, but something was interfering with his scopes. Frustrated, he tried to zoom in more on the footage. She looked perhaps 5'6, maybe 5'7. Thin, agile, athletic.

And her abilities weren't like anything he knew from the spider man in the past, or his fellow allies. On the surface she seemed like a normal spider woman, but Miguel replayed the footage as soon as he saw the bird guy- named Halcón apparently, pin her down and her hand cause some sort of explosion.

On the replay, he could see her release some sort of spray, before sparks ignited and caused the contained explosion, launching Halcón and her away from each other. That had to have hurt, Miguel thought.

What was more impressive was the way she harnessed this ability and combined it with her web fluid, throwing balls of silk that ignited at the right friction from the force, deterring the second villain, roulette, from reaching her while she gripped Halcón's wing.

Miguel tapped a com link to the captain of the fly boy squad heading to their location.

"I want all three under custody, and the girl brought to me." He quickly ordered, his eyes still fastened as the battle went on. They definitely were not from Neuva York, let alone his time.

Again, he tried to get reads, check the temporal analysis, but again something was interfering with everything.

This was weird. Really weird. Too coincidental, too many probabilities. And not enough answers. Something was wrong.

Again, his thoughts went back to his suit. He clenched his fists, turning away from the idea both physically and mentally as he remembered the last time he dawned the mask.

'Never again.' He thought to himself. 'It's cursed. It's better this way, the public eye can handle things.'

But could they? He watched as they chased after this mysterious, fiery spider-woman, and as she quickly escaped capture. He still had his cameras on her, but eventually it was like she could easily find all the blind spots in the city and avert him.

She turned a corner, and in the next blink, she was gone. Vanished. Miguel let out a heavy, frustrated sigh and gripped his desk, leaning over and closing his eyes.

Well, at least he had the two scum bags captured. But he really needed to intercept this woman- see how she got here, help her get back. As the CEO of Alchemax though, not as spider-man.

He sighed. "Lyla, I need your help."

A moment passed, before a yellow light materialized in front of him, a woman sitting on his desk with long blonde hair and pink heart shaped glasses, her designer clothes a pale yellow.

"What do you say?" She asked, crossing her arms and leaning forward.

He rubbed his temples. "Sorry."

She hummed and put a hand to her ear. "Sorry, what was that? You're mumbling."

He huffed in frustration. "I said I'm sorry. Can you help me, por favor? There's a new hero, and I can't get any signatures. Nothing is working."

Lyla grinned. "Why don't you just go and have your 'friend' find out for you?"

He pressed a hand to his face. "No, we aren't going over this again."

"Or what, you'll power me down again?" Lyla crossed her arms.

He winced and looked away, ashamed. "I said I was sorry for that. But I won't apologize for refusing to put on the mask. I can't. We'll have to find a different way."

"Well you better figure it out, because our two new villains just escaped from custody." Lyla popped up a new surveillance camera where the two had once been wrapped up in webs against the building, disarming several fly boys and taking off into the lower depths of the city.

"¡Maldita sea!" Miguel slammed his fist against the desk. The public eye couldn't do anything right.

Lyla hummed and fizzled, reanimating on his shoulder. "Relax Miguel. You knooow, there's a pair of blue tights waiting for you somewhere-"

"No! I told you already, I'm not going back to that. Never again." He gripped the edge of the desk, closing his eyes as if he could unsee the memories.

"Dana wouldn't have approved." Lyla crossed her arms.

Miguel grit his teeth, giving her a glare that spoke levels. "Lyla, don't."

She sighed and moved to stand behind his desk. "Look, I'll try to fix the specs on the temporal analysis, but it'll be awhile. Something is interfering with it- probably too much energy for it to handle, or maybe there's nothing at all. I'll find out. Meanwhile, you need to find that woman. If you won't catch the villains, she's proven to be the only one who can. And you'll need her help."

He sighed as she disappeared, sinking into his chair and holding his head. He looked up to his desk, his eyes reflecting the soft yellow glow of an image in a frame, the picture changing every five minutes to a distant memory that felt like forever ago.

This time, he could see him and a woman, Dana, her smile as mesmerizing as he remembered. Her dark hair falling in short waves that framed her face, her light blue eyes glimmering in the sunlight. His arm was around her, his lips pressed against her forehead in a loving peck.

Miguel's chest tightened, and he swiped the image away. That was the last time he ever got to see her smile like that. Ever got to hold her and make her laugh. That was probably the last time he even felt happiness.

Miguel looked back out the window, the last remnants of smoke disappearing as the public eye dealt with the damage.

He couldn't put on the suit, because all it ever seemed to do was bring him pain. Hurt those around him- or worse.

A/N: aaand that's the end of a very long oneshot. That's all I wrote down before deciding I'd make it into a whole story including Esme's backstory and Miguel's internal struggle before the transportation to another dimension. Hope you enjoyed the ride, check out the full story, "FireWeaver", if you enjoyed this simplified version.

Caio Bellas~
-Eden