Within This Spider-Verse

Chapter 2: Havoc

High above the New York rooftops, I'm perched under a skyscraper overhang, peering out into the expansive inverse of lit up streets sprawling with constant bustle, honked horns, and the colorful language that I call home.

I've only been a vigilante for a few weeks now but I think I'm getting the hang of it, especially now that I'm used to what Havoc imagines fabric is supposed to feel like on skin. But the thing that took the longest to get accustomed to was the idea of having a symbol on my chest. A spider formed by white, black, and gold symbiotic biomass.

Corny, pay attention, Havoc says through our mental connection.

It's Coryn, I say back.

I know. Now look. Unfavorables over there.

They're people... I say with a sigh. The lenses of my mask focus into the distance where a couple of cars are speeding down streets, rattling with the cracks of gunfire. Bad people, probably.

I see no difference. Now go.

I nod before stepping into a freefall toward the city. Ground approaches fast. Havoc's biomass extends into a tether with a thwip, sticking to the side of a building, before the momentum swings me through rushing air and traffic.

It doesn't take long to catch up to the cars. My feet thud against one of their roofs.

"Ah, shit! It's Spider-Woman!" one of them shouts.

"That ain't no damn Spider-Woman! This one's too masculine to be her!" another chides before addressing me with his finger on the trigger of his rifle, "What are ya some cheap knock-off, copycat or somethin'?"

"Yep," I say.

"Huh, self-aware, I appreciate that," he says before opening fire.

Corny, there is another coming.

Can you be more specific, Hav? I ask, flipping backward onto the trunk, avoiding the initial spray of bullets. Havoc sticks to car metal before connecting a tether to street tar. Moments later, the tether catches and the car stops with a thud.

Another like you, the one with strange priorities towards guardianship.

"Ah, dammit," I mutter, feeling the hairs on my skin stand. The gunman in the car aims for me. My grip bends his rifle barrel before lobbing a piece of Havoc into the window that erupts as a black web, trapping the criminals inside.

They grunt against their restraints to no avail. "Dammit!" they shout, "Shocker! Jimmy! He's on your tail!"

I slingshot myself back through the air in the other car's direction, hurrying to try and finish this. But there's another thwip and I see her soar through the air with the grace of a dancer. Spider-Woman, the one person in this city whose radar I've been trying to stay off of.

I land on the car's trunk, smelling of exhaust. Underneath my own, my gaze meets with the widening lenses of a white mask under a hood. A moment goes by as her lithe figure stands on the car roof and on the points of turquoise ballet slippers while her voice is alight with amusement. "Hey! You're the guy JJJ's been talking about, right?"

"Y-yeah," I mutter, thankful that Havoc distorts my voice, "That'd be me." Hav, don't do anything symbiote-y for now. No teeth or claws.

How dull.

"Alright, new guy," Spider-Woman says, amidst the sound of car screeches and rushing wind, "What do they call you?"

"Co-... Havoc," I answer, "Look, I've got this. I'm sure you have bigger fish to fry."