It was New Year's Eve and this year Catherine Davis was without anyone to kiss. What was that you asked? What happened to her cloned and newly empowered girlfriend, Elizabeth Allan? Well, you see. Unbeknownst to the Amazing Spider-Twins, their mom and the clone quartet are all Agents of SHIELD. The quartet left shortly after Christmas to begin their training, but told Caty and Danny that they were going to travel the country for a bit and get away from their creator now that they failed their mission. A technical truth, so the twins weren't all too suspicious. It just left Caty in the dumps and on high alert.

She didn't know who their creator was. Just that he went by the name Jackal. She was honestly starting to get tired of these super freaks with a vendetta against her. It was already bad enough that Jameson and the Bugle wouldn't lay off her with calling her a menace. At least MJ was helping Danny look like a hero. She wouldn't be surprised if they ended up having them fight each other soon. She just really couldn't catch a break. It had only been over half a year since she and her brother began moonlighting as costumed superheroes and it was starting to feel like decades had gone by. If she weren't careful she'd start prematurely aging.

A sigh escaped Spider-Woman's mask as she swung through Times Square. All seemed normal. People were having fun below and even noticing her and tonight that happened to be a problem. She was blinded by four spotlights aiming directly at her. She dropped to the ground using her spidey-sense and reflexes to land on her feet. The spotlights followed her and she lifted her arm up to shield her eyes. Just as she did, two of the spotlights left her and pointed upwards in the opposite direction. There was a man costumed once again dressed in green, but this time with a fishbowl for a head and a long, purple cape. Two of the screens in the Square changed to show Spider-Woman and this Mysterious Man respectively.

[color=993399]"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,"[/color] He began to announce. [color=993399]"TONIGHT IS YOUR LUCKY NIGHT, FOR I INVITE YOU TO THE SHOW OF A LIFETIME. WHERE I, THE MARVELOUS AND MAGNIFECENT MYSTERIO, WILL STOMP OUT THE MENACE QUEEN OF PESTS, SPIDER-WOMAN!"[/color]

[color=E137E3]"Oh, you've got to be shitting me."[/color] Spider-Woman said to herself before responding out loud. [color=E137E3]"I'm still not finished with the last one!"[/color]

[color=993399]"I assure you, Spider-Woman."[/color] Mysterio said with a smooth, but almost icy tone. [color=993399]"I'm no criminal of the underworld competing with you for top billing. I'm an entertainer, but it's come to my attention what this beautiful city needs is a hero that'll take out the trash for it."[/color]

Spider-Woman looked down at her costume. [color=E137E3]"I know my costume's kind of dark, but do I really look like a trash bag?"[/color]

The crowd laughed. Caty wasn't sure if it was at her or with her, but it seemed that they were still on her side for now. Maybe if she talked this guy down no one had to get hurt.

[color=E137E3]"Look. You've got the wrong idea. I'm no criminal. I just protect people and stop crime."[/color]

Mysterio paused, confused and slightly irritated. This wasn't how this was supposed to go down. He was losing the crowd. [color=993399]"That's not what the Daily Bugle says. They say you got a police officer and a young girl killed."[/color]

Caty felt a tight pain in her chest. Even though Liz was alive again the feelings and memories of what happened never went away. She still blamed herself for what happened. She already felt that way so why did she have to constantly get reminded of that fact? By Jameson and by wannabe heroes now too?

Spider-Woman lifted her head to face the cameras. [color=E137E3]"A misguided villain calling himself Hobgoblin was responsible for their deaths. He thought I and Spider-Man were someone else and wanted to hurt them. Despite knowing this I already blame myself more than you, Jameson, or anyone else in this city can. That's why I'm out here tonight making sure no one else will go through what they went through."[/color]

Mysterio was getting angry now. He was glad he was wearing his helmet or everyone would see his inability to his his facial expressions. [color=993399]"You really expect us to believe your sob story? Tonight the world will see you for the villain that you are."[/color]

A smoky gas began to fill the area causing everyone in the vicinity to hallucinate, including Spider-Woman. Before the toxins could fully affect her or Jumper she shot a web to the roof of the nearest building. Jumper immediately jumped on the web. [color=E137E3]"I need you to find Danny, buddy."[/color] She whispered to him. He nodded and ran up the string as fast as he could to find Spider-Man.

When the gas fully kicked in she could see what everyone else was seeing, well, almost. She saw a swarm of spiders crawling over the citizens and the square. They were seeing her command the spiders as their Queen. Spider-Woman told herself that none of this was real. Well, the people were real. At least she hoped all of them were real. For all she knew she could be hallucinating all of this. She was getting a headache thinking of all of this. She just needed to focus on helping people and stopping Mysterio. She hadn't seen him since this all started so for the moment she needed to calm down these people and get them to safety.

Spider-Woman walked to the nearest person, a young woman a few years older than her. [color=E137E3]"Hey, excuse me, miss. These spiders, or whatever you're seeing isn't real. Pay attention to the sound of my voice."[/color] The woman screamed at the sound of her voice.

"Stop it! Tell the spiders to stop! I thought you were a hero, but Jameson and Mysterio were right!" The woman exclaimed.

Spider-Woman stepped back. Were they all starting to feel like this? How was she supposed to help them? While lost in thought she felt something latch onto her back. Before she could turn to see what it was she was pulled backwards to the ground and dragged across the floor until she reached Mysterio. She stared up at the giant bowl staring down at her. She wasn't even sure if this was real. This couldn't be real. Maybe this whole thing was a hallucination. Maybe this guy poisoned her earlier and she was just thinking she was in a battle. She could even be sleeping. What if she attacked him and he was a civilian or one of her friends? Was there actually a point in fighting back? The people lost faith in her. It was fine when it was just the news, but if the people stopped believing in her then that only left the truth. That she was a villain. A killer. A menace. Real or not she didn't want to hurt anyone anymore. She just wanted to stop hurting. Someone let the pain stop. All of these thoughts were running through her mind. She wasn't even listening to Mysterio's speech. She didn't even realize he was talking until the end.

[color=993399]"You're not the hero, I AM!!"[/color] Mysterio said before trying to bash her head in with a hammer fist.