In Times Square there was a large crowd gathered, surrounded by brightly colored flags and posters announcing the World Unity Festival. Above them a big balloon, a symbol of the meeting organized by CinchCorp were. The official theme of the day was healing around the world and the union of peoples.
There were giant balloons floating above the crowd. The thousands and thousands of people who had left home on that beautiful morning were amused by music, jugglers and clowns, as well as enjoying cotton candy and other sweets.
Five floors up, in the balcony of an old building, had been turned into a special private place for authorities and people with the right connections in high places to sit and contemplate the events of the day.
Among the many peoples and guests in the balcony, were the nine members of the CinchCorp Industries directors's board. Near them were also Sunset Shimmer and her boyfriend Flash Sentry. Sunset hoped she could introduce Flash to her mother, but so far there was no trace of Abacus Cinch, the woman who had devised Unity Day.
Down in the streets, Twilight Sparkle was trying to push her way through the crowds, taking photos of the people, the balloons, the posters, anything she saw and showing the joyous celebration atmosphere of this event.
Watching through her camera, Twilight paced the balcony just as Sunset tried to kiss Flash. He pulled away to avoid the attempt. Twilight felt hopeful again. Maybe Sunset and Flash weren't as serious as she thought they were.
At that moment, Sunset turned her gaze in his direction and the two friends realized that they were looking at each other. Twilight felt embarrassed, as did Sunset. But suddenly something erased all thoughts from Twilight's head.
Her arachnid sense put her on alert. The overwhelming feeling that something terrible was going to happen displaced everything else. Twilight lowered the camera and scanned the area, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary among the merry congregation of people.
Upstairs in the box, Sunset approached Mr. Fargas and Mr. Balkan.
"Have they seen my mother?" Sunset asked the two members of the board of directors.
Balkan and Fargas exchanged uncomfortable glances.
"I'm not sure if she'll be joining us today" Fargas replied, pulling away from Sunset in her wheelchair.
Fargas stopped abruptly and looked up, searching the sky for the source of that loud, high-pitched sound.
"What's that?" he screamed as he spotted a fuzzy mass in the air.
Twilight also looked up and saw a trail of black smoke moving with astonishing speed, darting in and out of the clouds.
On the balcony, Mr. Balkan lifted his binoculars.
"It must be a new attraction for this year's festival" he commented "As if this didn't cost us enough money already!" but he changed her mind when she saw a figure approaching on a familiar shape "Isn't that our glider? The one that was stolen from us from the lab?"
The figure, dressed in black, descended in an arc and then stopped. She remained motionless in midair, just above the balcony. Balkan and Fargas looked at each other worriedly. This black character not only arrived mounted on his experimental glider, but was also wearing the special electronic suit that CinchCorp had developed to control it.
The strange-looking figure wore a grotesque mask that hid its face completely. The mask twisted into a hideous, demonic grin, as if it were a Halloween goblin with red eyes.
This Black Goblin, as the press would call her for days to come, pulled a small round pumpkin-shaped object from her belt. The crowd enthusiastically cheered for this new if somewhat rare addition to the festivities.
The Black Goblin moved his arm a little and the glider did the same instantly, making him fly in a small circle right in front of the balcony of people.
Laughter turned to screams of terror as the Black Goblin threw the strange pumpkin-shaped object onto the balcony.
BUUUM!
The pumpkin-bomb detonated, blowing up half the balcony. From above, large chunks of wood and concrete fell into the street, scattering over the toned crowd that ran along with the artists for cover. Panic took hold of people when they realized that the Black Duende formed no part of the show.
What was still left of the balcony swayed, knocking people down five stories below. Flash fell forward, to the edge of the balcony, while Sunset fell backwards, several feet from him.
On the street, Twilight pushed her way through the crowd, trying to get to a nearby alley.
After a creak, the balcony separated further from the building, descending several meters. Flash fell even closer to the end of the balcony; head of it protruded over the edge... Looking at the chaos beneath him, he saw the crowd made way with difficulty trying to reach safety.
With a simple flick of her right wrist, the Black Goblin flew up into the sky, laughing slyly. She flew in a circle to the frightened crowd, satisfied with the word that the work was causing her.
As she passed the balcony again, the Black Goblin threw another pumpkin-bomb, which landed at the feet of the board of directors.
BUUUMM!
The second pumpkin-bomb instantly volatilized the nine men and women who had called for the resignation of Abacus Cinch. The unstable balcony wobbled and fell a little further.
The Black Goblin dropped her left shoulder slightly and the front of the glider tilted, lifting it up until it was positioned just below the balcony.
On the battered balcony, Sunset crawled toward Flash, who was holding on tightly to the end of the sloping balcony to keep from falling. Before she could reach him, Sunset watched in horror as the Black Goblin slowly rose, hovering in the air and letting out a blood-curdling laugh as she tried to grab Flash's arm.
Suddenly, a pink and purple figure emerged from above, feet first, and struck the Black Goblin, knocking her off her glider.
"I don't know who you are, ma'am" Spider-Girl joked as he landed on the side of a building "But in this city there is only room for one weirdo in disguise... and that's me!"
"She's Spider-Girl!" the crowd yelled "You just gave that black monster what it deserved!"
"Yeah!" a spectator yelled "Spider-Girl! I've seen the picture of her in the newspaper!"
Spider-Girl looked around to assess the situation. She saw Flash on the edge of the balcony, inches from a safe fall to his death. She was about to head there to rescue him from that wobbly platform when the screams from the street caught her attention.
The Black Goblin landed on a large tent, which cushioned her fall. She pressed a button on the wrist of her electronic suit and pointed to the glider, which came flying towards her. However, before she reached the Black Goblin, the speedy glider slammed into the huge globe of the World Unity Festival, knocking it off the cables holding it down.
The huge sphere rolled down the middle of the street, crushing everything in its path. Completely out of control and unstoppable, the balloon was heading towards a boy of about six who, paralyzed with fear, was clinging to his cotton candy.
Shooting a web to a billboard near, Spider-Girl jumped hanging from the filament. She drew an arc with her movement, lifted the boy in her arms and saved him from danger just as the balloon rolled past her, demolishing a row of parking meters.
"Special delivery for you, ma'am" said Spider-Girl as he deposited the child safely next to his mother. Looking back, she saw five armed police officers surrounding the Black Goblin, already outside the collapsed tent.
"Don't shoot! I give up!" shouted the Black Goblin, raising her arms "It's not my fault. The violence of the media forced me to do it!" she then she threw herself at the policemen, who placated the Black Goblin until they held her on the ground.
Spider-Girl looked back at Flash, and as she was about to rise to rescue him from the balcony, she heard screams coming from the frightened policemen. She saw how, with an incredible outburst of strength, the Black Goblin shook the policemen off her like they were rag dolls.
Flash would have to wait a little longer...
Jumping into the air and cartwheeling over the crowd, Spider-Girl landed in front of the Black Goblin.
"How dare you get in my way?" the Black Goblin growled at the opponent disguised as her "What do you want?"
"World peace..." Spider-Girl replied "But I am satisfied with your jaw!"
ZAS!
Spider-Girl delivered such a powerful punch to the Black Goblin's jaw that she sent her flying against a nearby building.
With one leap, the weaver of webs was placed back with the Black Goblin, willing to release him another punch. But this time, a black-gloved hand stopped Spider-Girl's fist, parrying the blow.
"Nice try" said the Black Goblin mockingly, and then she struck.
Spider-Girl was thrown into the air, smashing an ice cream cart as she passed and slamming into a lamppost.
The Black Goblin pressed a small button on her wrist, and once again her glider went into motion. She jumped on him and flew off as Spider-girl is incorporated.
The Black Goblin swung sharply to the left, then turned back to Spider-Girl, which saw two small machine guns out of the bottom of the glider. Machine guns opened fire, hitting the ground surrounding Spider-Girl, and she was forced to jump on one of the nearby balloons while the Black Goblin disappeared into the clouds.
Subject only a few columns still stood firm, the balcony creaked loudly, moving closer to the ground. The sound caught the attention of Spider-Girl as she held the balance on the huge balloon. There were five other large balloons between her and the fallen balcony. Like a pink and purple ball, Spider-Girl jumped from balloon to balloon.
She jumped onto the balcony, but the Black Goblin appeared again out of nowhere, grabbed Spider-Girl by the waist and threw her against a wall on the battered platform.
Spider-Girl landed on the balcony, near Flash, as debris fell around her. A piece of wood hit Sunset's head, knocking her unconscious.
Spider-Girl approached Flash just as the Black Goblin rose on her glider and hovered over the balcony. From one side of the glider, a laser weapon came out that aimed directly at Spider-Girl.
At the speed of light, Spider-Girl fired a glob of sticky cobwebs at the Black Goblin that hit her in the face, rendering her blind.
"No!" howled the Black Goblin, firing the laser in turn. The sharp beam of light missed its target and slammed into the wall behind Spider-Girl. Using her incredible strength, Spider-Girl punched a hole in the bottom of the Black Goblin's glider, and reaching out her arm, she took away a handful of cables.
The glider fumed and sputtered, as he flew away with the Black Goblin desperately trying to blow away the cobwebs of the eyes, and shouting:
"WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-GIRL!!"
Spider-Girl breathed in relief. But at that moment, what was left of the balcony snapped in two, causing Flash to fall over the edge of the platform.
Sunset's eyes snapped open. She was on the part of the balcony that was still attached to the building. She watched in utter amazement as Spider-Girl chased after Flash, diving headfirst into a free fall and leaving behind a strand of cobweb. She caught up with him a few feet from the pavement, holding him by her waist while her cobweb filament tightened to stop the hang of it.
Pulling away as the empty balcony smashed into the street, Spider-Girl and Flash soared above the scene of destruction.
Spider-Girl nimbly advanced between the skyscrapers with the help of her cobwebs, and realizing that they were finally out of danger, she glanced at Flash.
"Are you okay?" she asked as fired another filament.
"Who are you?" Flash asked, still affected by how close he had come to the end of him. That air trip through the tall buildings of the city seemed like a strange dream to him.
"You know me" Spider-Girl replied, landing delicately on the Rockefeller Center garden roof and releasing Flash's waist from his embrace.
"That I know you?" he replied, still perplexed by the whole experience.
Spider-Girl headed towards the edge of the building.
"Of course!" she said, as she shot a new web "Your friend and neighbor, Spider-Girl!" she then she jumped off the roof and disappeared between the concrete buildings of Manehattan.
"WOO-HOO!!"