Night had fallen. Less than five hundred meters from Xi Nian's apartment, in the neighboring complex, a room was quietly lit.
Gwen, having finished dinner and a shower, had changed into her long, comfortable pajamas and lay face down on her bed. She buried her head into a plush toy, her youthful body completely still. Yet the rhythmic kicking of her legs against the blanket betrayed the worries she was trying to hide.
"Gwen."
Officer George, still in his uniform, knocked lightly on her door and called through, "Want a cup of hot cocoa?"
"No, I'll get fat," she replied weakly without moving.
George smiled, a little puzzled. "Who said when you were little that you wanted to live in a castle made of chocolate and cake and be a princess?"
"Dad, stop bringing up my past!" Gwen protested, embarrassed. "Especially…," she hesitated mid-sentence, her words trailing off.
George sighed. "Especially at school. And, when that boy was around, right?"
"No, it's not like that. He's known for a long time anyway." Gwen's tone was low, and the plush toys beneath her face trembled slightly.
"Gwen," George said firmly, taking a deep breath as if making the most important decision of his life. "If you really like Xi Nian, then show him how you feel! I'll always have your back."
Inside the room, the plush toys stopped trembling, and after three seconds of silence, they were tossed off the bed.
"Dad! What are you saying?!"
Gwen jumped up. The stuffed ducks sat on the blanket, and she crushed a pillow in her hands. Her face burned bright red, either from hiding too long or from having her feelings exposed—steam seemed ready to pour off her cheeks.
Golden strands of hair stuck to her sweating face.
"I… I don't… like Xi Nian!" she blurted, but the hesitation in her words made them sound weak and pale.
"Alright, alright, I'm just saying 'if,' that's all," George said, understanding.
He was about to say more when his pager beeped urgently.
"This is Chief George. What's going on?" he asked immediately.
Gwen inside the room went silent, sensing the urgency.
"A woman in a strange costume just fell from the sky and robbed an armored truck?" George's serious expression deepened as he listened to the report.
"Understood. She's not far from my location. I'm on my way!"
He set down the pager and called inside, "Gwen, I have to go out. Stay home and be safe."
"Okay, Dad. Be careful," Gwen replied.
"Will do." George nodded and hurried out.
Inside the room, Gwen's face cooled slightly. Thinking of her father's words, she whispered, "A woman falling from the sky?"
"Could she be a mutant or a superhuman?"
Her brow furrowed with worry. Superhuman individuals were rare in this world, but they existed—and Gwen was one of them.
She quickly went to her wardrobe, pushing clothes aside to reveal a hidden compartment. Inside was a full black-and-white Spider-Woman suit.
The suit was white from neck to chest, black from the abdomen down through the legs. A hood covered her head, and inside the hood was a black-and-red spider-web pattern. Along with the suit, there was a pair of green, low-top shoes.
Gwen quickly put on the suit, taking a few bandages from the drawer to tape herself up. Her pajamas and inner clothes scattered to the floor as she donned the Spider-Woman uniform.
Wearing the suit, she crouched low, moving like a stalking spider, silent as she approached the window.
Turning the radio to a classical music channel, she created the illusion of doing homework. She pushed open the window, glanced at the closed door, and using her hands to grip the ledge, swung herself out nimbly.
Though not as high as Xi Nian's apartment, her building was still ten stories tall, nearly thirty meters off the ground.
Upside down, the city at night reflected beneath her. She leaped ten meters out, just before falling, flicking her wrist to shoot a nearly invisible white web that latched onto the neighboring building's ledge.
Pulling herself along the resilient web, her small body adjusted mid-air, swinging toward the street below where police sirens wailed.
At the intersection, parked cars blared alarms as pedestrians screamed and fled. In front of the central bank, an armored truck had a massive dent in its supposedly bulletproof roof. A woman in strange armor, wielding a vintage longsword, lay sprawled atop the damaged truck. Bills flew out of the broken compartment, showing the force of her fall.
Indeed, this "strange woman" was none other than Xi Nian.
No wonder people misjudged the gender. His skirted armor was distinctly feminine, and the silver hair draped over his shoulders left little doubt.
"My God!"
"Who… who are you?"
Two heavily armed SWAT officers stood nearby. They froze for a few seconds, then drew their guns. Their trembling legs betrayed their fear.
"If I told you I accidentally fell from my sixteenth-floor apartment, would you believe me?" Xi Nian thought to say, but speaking would reveal his true identity—a boy, not a woman.
And no explanation would make sense anyway. Falling from sixteen stories and remaining unharmed was absurd.
After less than half a second's thought, Xi Nian ignored the aiming officers. With incredible speed, he flipped off the truck, sprinting down the road.
His speed was so fast he left afterimages. By the time the SWAT officers reacted, he was already ten meters away.
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