After a period where news of the Spider Family's alleged misdeeds emerged incessantly, followed by their complete disappearance from New York...
The criminals and supervillains who had previously been deterred by the Spider Family's high-frequency crime-fighting—some of whom had even gone straight—couldn't help but start entertaining wicked thoughts again.
"You're saying that there are no more Spider-Men in New York now, is that right?"
When the Sun that illuminates the World is extinguished, the darkness arrives as scheduled...
First was Hells Kitchen, which had been a focal point for the Spider Family. When the gangs realized that the Spider-Men, who used to drop by every few days to crack down on them, were no longer interfering in Hells Kitchen's affairs, their "triple-high" criminal activities—high profit, high harm, and high coverage—which they had previously scaled back, started up again!
People discovered that the junkies on the streets of New York, who had been reduced to near invisibility over the last few years thanks to the Spider-Men's vigorous clean-up efforts, were once again wandering the streets in droves like zombies...
The air in New York was no longer fresh; instead, it reverted to that nauseating scent of "American herbs" from a few years ago, before the Spider Family ever appeared...
The streets and alleys they often passed on their way home from work were no longer safe; they had once again become spawning points for "Dark Elves." If a passerby entered, the lucky ones were merely robbed of all their money...
The unlucky ones were robbed and assaulted, and the most unfortunate ones never walked out at all, remaining there until they began to reek and were carried out by the Police...
Beyond the rise in ordinary crime rates, the disappearance of the Spider Family also led to a massive increase in the frequency of supervillain appearances and the impact they caused in New York!
Because there were no longer any Spider-Men to intercept them, bank-robbing supervillains—who used to be dealt with quickly in the news—became unstoppable this time. They wantonly took the vast amounts of money people had deposited in the banks and strutted away, seemingly mocking the city's stupidity and ridiculing them for personally driving away their own umbrella of protection!
Losing money was one thing, but even worse were those super-criminals who were simply anti-human. They began to launch wanton attacks on various public places, resulting in numerous casualties.
In the past, the Spider-Men would always appear in time to save them from such dire situations, rescuing their lives time and time again.
But this time, as a super-criminal's fist enlarged before their eyes, there was no Spider-Man to effortlessly catch it for them, allowing them to take for granted the fact that their lives were being saved once again.
This time, there were only blossoms of blood erupting under the super-criminals' fists.
What reached their ears were no longer the comforting words of a Spider-Man, but the terrified screams of others...
Ten days. Just a short ten days.
New York transformed from a peaceful city where one dared to walk alone at night into a den of iniquity where super-criminals ran rampant by day and gang members dominated the streets by night!
Screams, sirens, explosions, and gunshots seemed to have become the city's never-ending symphony...
People began to feel afraid and regretful. They wanted to return to the New York of when the Spider Family was still around—the New York where the air was fresh and people greeted each other kindly...
Not this current New York, where they feared being mugged by strangers on their way to work during the day, and where they couldn't sleep soundly at night even in their own homes, fearing a stranger might break in and shoot them...
Ten days ago, they were still denouncing the Spider Family; ten days later, they were already crying out for the Spider Family to return...
But one day, two days, and then another ten days passed. Criminal activity in New York grew increasingly brazen, yet the Spider Family never appeared again...
New York's crime rate had even soared to the point of being among the highest in all of America, and even the World!
The frequency of super-criminals appearing in the city left the second-ranked Los Angeles miles behind!
Now, the internet no longer calls New York the economic center of the World, but the crime center of the World!
DC Comics' Gotham could now only be called "Little New York."
Parker Tower.
As one of the few enterprises in New York unaffected by this month of turmoil, the chaos had actually made all the employees of Parker Industries even more loyal to the company.
They not only exceeded their daily work quotas but even actively chose to work overtime, wishing they could just sleep at the office.
Because it was simply too terrifying outside—there were armed robbers and murderous super-criminals everywhere!
Once they left the company and lost the protection of the firm's super security team, they didn't know if they could make it home safely. Even if they did reach home, they couldn't be sure if they would wake up again after falling asleep...
Staying at the company at least guaranteed their safety, didn't it?
To this end, Ryan had specifically cleared out several vacant floors and converted them into employee lounges and recreation rooms, so that those who were unwilling to go home after work could stay and enjoy themselves for free, rather than sleeping at their desks.
This move undoubtedly earned Ryan, an owner who rarely made public appearances, a group of die-hard employee fans.
Top floor, Spider Family conference room.
A month had passed since the last Spider Family meeting.
Unlike the last meeting, where every member of the Spider Family was dressed in their spider suits and full of energy...
In the conference room now, although the entire Spider Family was present, not one of them was wearing the spider suits they used to be so reluctant to take off.
Each of them was dressed in casual clothes, looking dejected with downcast eyes and unkempt stubble.
This past month had been a physical and mental disaster for the ordinary people of New York, who lived in fear every day.
But it was an even heavier psychological blow to the Spider-Men of the Spider Family!
They never expected that after all they had done for New York over the years—with members of the Spider Family even rotating shifts 24 hours a day to fight crime and save countless lives day and night...
...it would take only ten days for them to be reduced to a state where everyone despised them like stray dogs!
During that time, hardly anyone was willing to believe they were innocent, stand up for them, or question the videos that clearly contradicted their past behavior...
All there was was an overwhelming deluge of nasty verbal abuse!
Although there was behind-the-scenes manipulation by the Skrulls and media hype, still... in this avalanche that hit New York, not a single snowflake was innocent!
Because when the snowball named "Rumor" rolled down the snowy mountain, almost every snowflake on that mountain believed the snowball and chose to cling to it, allowing it to grow larger and larger...
...rather than choosing to coalesce into an ice wall of "Trust" in the Spider Family to block the snowball from rolling further and stop the rumors...