A man, wearing a red and black costume sat beside a fireplace, wearing a striped robe with a newspaper in hand. Taking a sip from his drink, despite wearing a mask, the red and black mercenary turned around to see you, the reader, reading this very paragraph.
"Well, well, well. You made it all the way to chapter forty-two. I am so proud of you, you beautiful human, you! Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Deadpool, you know, the merc with the mouth? Anyway, I have a message from the author and he asked me to relay it to you. Alright? Here we go."
Deadpool cleared his throat before pulling a piece of paper out of...
He pulled out a piece of paper so as to not forget a single word of the author's message. "Hello, readers. Thank you for reading and making it this far, I truly appreciate- Okay I'm going to skip this part... let's see... Ah, here we go." Deadpool cleared his throat once more.
"See that title up there, at the top of your screen? It says 'Cindy Moon' in parentheses, yes? That means this chapter will not follow or contain Eren Parker in it. I know, I know, this angers some of you, especially with the whole Dr. Doom, Richards kids, and Wakanda plotlines happening in the main part of the story, but instead of leaving a mean comment about how you don't care about Cindy Moon, you can feel free to skip this chapter. All chapters are important to the story, but if you aren't interested, I can't make you read it."
"From here on out, check the title to see whose chapter it is. If there's no name, then it's a normal Spider-Man or Eren Parker chapter. If it says Cindy Moon, for example, then it is a Cindy Moon chapter. That's all, thank you and enjoy!"
________________
It was a standard, sunny, summer day in New York City as Cindy Moon walked by herself cheerfully to buy some groceries for her parents. Having memorized the items, Cindy repeated the items aloud as she walked, making sure she doesn't forget anything.
"Eggs. Rice. Kimchi. Beef. Milk." The young lady sang out loud before reiterating it again.
"Eggs. Rice. Kimchi. Beef. Milk."
"Eggs. Rice. Kimchi. Beef. Milk."
Before long, she had arrived at the bodega that was not too far from her home, walking in before greeting the worker inside. "Good afternoon, Mr. Gomez!" Cindy said sweetly as she walked past the shop owner and toward the shop's pet cat. "And hello to use Mr. Mittens." Cindy said in a playful voice as she pet the cat on the head. The cat purred upon feeling her hands rub against his ears.
"Good afternoon." The shop owner greeted her, not looking up at her as he messed with something behind the counter.
"Eggs. Rice. Kimchi. Beef. Milk." Cindy whispered once again, walking over toward the area where the milk was stored. She approached the fridge, pulling out her reusable bag with Pokemon on it before opening the door and pulling out a carton of eggs.
"Rice. Kimchi. Beef. Milk." She repeated, leaving off the eggs that she had placed in her bag. As if it were a song, the girl kept repeating it until she found the rice in the back of the store. "There you are..." She uttered in a sing-songy tone before placing the rice in the bag.
"Kimchi. Beef. Milk." She sang, walking with her bag in hand down the aisle until she found the kimchi in a small jar. She placed it in the bag and began walking toward the area with the beef.
"Beef. Milk. Beef. Milk. Beef. Milk" She repeated, going toward the back of the store and picking up a package of beef, and placing it in her bag. The second the meat made contact with the inside of the sack, her ears began to ring, a ringing sensation that nearly brought her to her knees due to the intensity of it.
No, this wasn't her ears ringing, it was her brain making a painful, white noise in her head.
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
Her fight or flight activated, on and on in her head like an alarm. She didn't know why it was happening or what she should do. Every second, her body changed its mind. It was as if there was an angel and devil on opposite shoulders, each telling her something completely different.
"I'm only going to ask you this one time. Put everything from the register in the bag, just listen and no one gets hurt. Alright, boss?" A man, wearing a ski mask, held the shop owner at gunpoint as he barked orders at him.
Cindy's eyes widened, and the weight of responsibility began taking its toll on her.
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
Again, it was as if an angel and devil were arguing in each ear as Cindy watched the man hold the shopkeeper at gunpoint. He failed to notice her, due to her being shorter than the aisles, so she could've easily hidden until the robbery was over and she considered it.
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
Once again, her fight or flight flipped flopped in her brain. The pain was excruciating, the young woman grabbed her head with both hands, feeling her brain pulsating through her skull. She could hear Eren's voice, "When I saw innocent people getting hurt, something came over me and I felt like I had to do something about it."
Upon hearing the hero's voice, the mighty voice of the metaphorical angel telling her to fight began to overtake the cowardly voice of the tiny figurative devil telling her to flee.
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
She heard Eren's voice once more. "I was gifted the opportunity to stop bad things from happening..." Once again, upon hearing his voice, the voice telling her to fight grew louder.
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
šš¶šÆ!
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
"I'll show him by doing everything I can as Spider-Man to protect as many people as possible, even if it costs me my ššŖš§š¦." Eren's voice spoke once more, this time, nearly erasing any doubt Cindy had in her mind. 'Even if it costs me my life...' She repeated in her head. That phrasing terrified her. 'Would I really die just to save people? Would I die to save one random person?' She thought to herself.
Cindy Moon would never, she was too afraid to do so... However, Cindy Moon was no longer in control at that moment.
No, it was someone else.
The heroine deep inside her, the one who was birthed when Cindy Moon was bitten by that spider was emerging from within.
Maybe she was always there, that side of her that wanted to save people, but regardless, this was it, it was time for the heroine within to make her debut.
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
ššššš©!
It was as if the entire world began to slow down around her, her instincts, her senses, they all suddenly became sharp like that of an apex predator. She looked to her left, noticing the single camera that the bodega owner could afford to have in his shop. The young, aspiring hero walked over to the camera's blind spot before dropping her bag on the ground.
Webs began to seep from her fingertips and the first-time hero began covering her body with her webbing.
It only took a few seconds before the girl's body and face was completely covered in her webbing, creating makeshift armor around herself and covering the lower half of her face like a medical mask. She didn't have a costume, and she didn't even know what materials she should use for one, but this would have to do for the time being.
ššššš©!
Her inner voice yelled again, and without hesitation, the young heroine walked around the corner and revealed herself to both men. "Hey!" She shouted, alerting the gunman and provoking him to point his gun at her and immediately fire a bullet.
š©šØšµš®!
The bullet fired, and as if the heroine's body acted on its own, she dodged to the side, narrowly escaping being shot in the chest before extending her hand outward and shooting webs from her fingertips.
In a wink, her webs affixed themselves to the thief's face, causing the man to blindly fire yet another bullet at the young heroine.
š©šØšµš®!
The brave young lady dodged again, this time to the other side before pulling the thug toward her, yanking him as if he were weightless. The hero balled her fist, holding it low and to her side as she stepped forward like a boxer in a low stance. "Hah!" With a warrior's shout, she delivered a mighty uppercut to the bodega bandit's jaw, sending him soaring into a snack rack, and rendering him unconscious.
The newbie hero stood over his body, breathing heavily as her heart rate continued to skyrocket, her chest feeling as if it could explode at any minute. 'I did it...' She thought to herself, looking down at the hand she used to punch the bad guy in the face, it shook rapidly due to the adrenaline coursing through her.
She looked at the shopkeeper with wide eyes, mirroring the exact astonished expression that was on his face "Who are you?" The shopkeeper asked. "D-do you want my money?"
"No..." The lady arachnid informed him, glancing around the shop until she found her reusable bag on the ground, filled with groceries. "I just wanted to buy some things, if that's okay with you."
The shopkeeper began speaking quickly out of nervousness and gratitude. "Please, just take them. As a thank you for saving me!"
"Oh, okay. Thanks." The young lady told him, holding the bag in her hand with a puzzled look in her eyes. She wasn't sure if she should accept it or just pay regardless. 'Well, he did offer...' She thought to herself as she began awkwardly walking out of the store.
"Wait!" The shopkeeper told her, halting her in place with just his voice. "What's your name!?
The hero paused at the door, bag in hand, as she pondered to herself. 'My name?' She thought. It couldn't be just any name, it had to be something cool, something catchy.
'Spider-Girl? Ew, no.'
'Spider-Woman? Arguably worse.'
'The Scarlet Spider? Too lengthy.'
She stood in the same place contemplating monikers until it dawned on her, the perfect title for a hero such as herself. Something simple, unique, and straight to the point.
The heroine turned her head, looking at the man behind the counter before smiling beneath her mask and tilting her head slightly in a friendly manner. "Silk. My name is Silk."
Just as quickly as she arrived on the scene, Silk disappeared, running home with her groceries in hand despite having the ability to swing through the city as Spider-Man does. Once she was out of view from anyone, Silk ran behind her building and removed the webbing from her body before walking into her building as if nothing had happened.
Nervously, she walked into her family's apartment, shutting the door and locking it behind her with haste. "Cindy-" A voice called out to her, startling the new hero in disguise.
"Wah!" She yelped, nearly dropping her bag of groceries on the floor. It was her father, but despite that, Cindy was still on edge after everything that had just happened.
"Oh, sorry, did I scare you?" Cindy's father asked, approaching his daughter and hugging her to calm her down. "I'm sorry, honey." He repeated, feeling Cindy's breathing and heart rate skyrocketing. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
"Mhm." Cindy mumbled, her voice being quelled by her father's shoulder.
"Are you sure? You're shaking and your heart rate is really high." He questioned.
Cindy let go of him, handing him the bag before walking away quickly toward her bedroom door. "Oh don't worry, that's just period stuff, you wouldn't get it, byeeeee."
Cindy quickly ran into her room, shutting the door behind her and locking it before putting her back on it. She slid down the door, breathing heavily as she tried her best to calm down. She took a few deep breaths, finally settling down before she heard her father's voice once again from the other side of the door.
"Cindy!" he said, sounding as if she had done something wrong. "You forgot the milk!"
Cindy whimpered, placing her face in her hands. 'You doofus.' She told herself, learning firsthand how being a hero impacts one's personal life, even in the smallest ways.