For weeks, a rumor had been drifting through the hazard zone's underbelly.
Sophia's diner network talked about it, and Reyes had dropped a few off-record mentions—a kid in red and blue swinging between buildings, webbing up low-level muggers with far too much enthusiasm.
A kid crawling around Manhattan, Adrian smiled.
Still he ignored it—until a Tuesday night patrol near Kowalski's bodega.
His Six Eyes picked up an armed robbery two blocks away. But before he could leap across the roof, a second signature converged on the same location.
It moved with an erratic, bouncing trajectory across the skyline. It read as distinctly, unmistakably non-human—yet entirely different from a curse.
Someone's already on it. And they're moving like they're having fun.
Adrian reached the scene just as a figure in a vivid red-and-blue suit dropped from a fire escape directly onto a gunman's shoulders.
THWIP! THWIP!
Webbing erupted from the kid's wrists, pinning the gunman's arms to his sides before the man even realized he'd been targeted.
"Hi! Hello! You're being arrested!" the figure chirped, dropping gracefully to the asphalt. "Well, a citizen's arrest situation. I'm pretty sure it's legal. Or at least, it hasn't stopped me yet!"
He webbed the gunman's boots to the pavement for good measure.
"Also, pro-tip: robbing a convenience store on a Tuesday is terrible time management. Nobody carries cash this late in the week."
Adrian watched from the shadow of an alleyway, cataloging the scene with wary curiosity.
The acrobatics. The webbing. The sheer, unrefined energy in every motion. Spider-Man.
He flared his Six Eyes. There was zero cursed energy. Just raw, heightened biology layered over a surprisingly standard human framework.
Adrian stepped out of the shadows.
The masked figure spun instantly, reflexes firing at an absurd, superhuman threshold. His hands dropped into a defensive stance, wrists raised.
"Whoa! Okay," the kid said, eyes widening behind the white lenses of his mask. "You're either backup I didn't know I had, or this night is about to get way more complicated."
He squinted at Adrian.
"Blue eyes. Really blue eyes. Unsettlingly blue, actually. Wait... you're that vigilante guy, right? The one the news keeps being weirdly vague about?"
"Something like that," Adrian said, keeping his hands open and visible, his thoughts running wild. "Heard the alarm. Looks like you had it covered."
"Yeah, mostly. Webbing works wonders on guys who forget how to act tough once their arms are glued to a mailbox." The kid gestured toward the swearing robber. "I'm calling it in anonymously and swinging off. You can take credit if that's your whole brand."
Adrian almost chuckled. Classic Spidey "Keep it. I have enough publicity."
He studied the masked kid, curiosity overriding his usual caution.
"How old are you?"
The kid stiffened slightly. "That's a weird question for a guy wearing a dark hood to ask."
"I know you're a teenager," Adrian stated. His Six Eyes caught the subtle shift in center gravity—the tense, defensive posture of a kid trying to look bigger than he was.
"Okay, look, you're wearing a hood and acting like a shadowy conspiracy guy," the kid countered, crossing his arms. "I have a full-face mask and a secret identity. You have half a disguise and glowing eyes. You're not exactly subtle."
He tilted his head.
"Plus, I definitely have way better insurance than you, given the whole 'unregistered government experiment' vibe you're putting off."
Adrian let out a dry, genuine laugh. It was the first lighthearted moment he'd had in weeks.
"Fair point," Adrian admitted. "I don't have insurance. Cursed spirits don't respect deductibles."
The white lenses on the kid's mask widened. "'Cursed spirits?' Okay, that's a new one. I've heard rumors about you fighting monsters, but nobody's ever used the word 'cursed.' That's oddly specific for random internet gossip."
Sharp kid, Adrian noted. He acts goofy, but he's paying attention.
"It's a long story," Adrian said quietly. "You're good at this, though. The webs, the movement. Been at it long?"
"A few months," the kid said, his bravado dropping just a fraction. "Started small. Bike thefts, muggings... It's been kind of lonely, honestly. Not that I'm asking for a mentor! Just... nice to see someone else out here who gets it."
He scratched the back of his neck.
"That whole 'secretly terrified but also this is the coolest thing ever' feeling."
Adrian's gaze softened. He saw the isolation clearly—the same crushing weight he'd carried before building a small circle of trust.
"It gets easier," Adrian told him. "Not less scary. Just easier to carry. Especially if you have someone in your corner who knows what you're actually going through."
"You have someone like that?"
"Yeah," Adrian said, thinking of Sophia. "It matters more than you think."
The kid went quiet for a moment.
"Yeah... I have an aunt," he muttered softly. "She doesn't know. About any of this. I don't think I can ever tell her. It'd break her if she knew how close I get to dying sometimes."
"Your call," Adrian said neutrally. "But hiding it from everyone forever gets heavier than you think."
Distant sirens began to wail, echoing off the high-rises.
The kid perked up, snapping back into his energetic persona. "That's my cue! Anonymous tip window is officially closing!"
He shot a line of webbing toward a rooftop ledge, testing the tension. Before leaping, he turned back.
"Hey. Blue-eyed guy. If you ever need backup on something too big for one person... I don't have your number, obviously, but the city isn't that big. We'll run into each other."
"Probably," Adrian agreed. "Stay safe out there. Actually safe."
"Tough crowd!"
The kid yanked the web line and catapulted into the air, vanishing into the night with a joyful yelp that echoed off the brick walls.
Adrian limped through the front door of his apartment an hour later.
Sophia set down her book the moment she saw him, her brow arching in surprise.
"You look almost cheerful," she noted. "That's new. What happened?"
"Met a kid tonight," Adrian said, falling onto the couch beside her with a sigh. "Actual teenager. Swinging around in a homemade spider suit, fighting crime for fun."
Sophia blinked. "Please tell me you didn't adopt a vigilante sidekick without asking me first."
"No sidekick," Adrian chuckled, resting his head against the cushions. "Just... someone else out there doing his best. And he's just a kid trying to help."
Sophia smiled, her expression softening with quiet relief. "Good. You deserved something nice tonight, Hayes. Don't let it be a one-time thing."
Outside, across the sprawling skyline of Manhattan, a masked hero swung home through the cool night air—unaware that he had just met the only person in the city who understood exactly how heavy that mask could be.