Title: Saving Gwen
Author: Prairiedog prairiedog@redstone.net
Summary: Spider-Man had only one chance to save the life of Gwen. In the comics, he blew it. But what if he didnt?
There are two people in the world. One that likes reading forwards, one that does not. If you find yourself in the second category, skip past the following verbiage to get at the real story.
Foreword
A long time ago, in a comic far away, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) had a romance with a woman named Gwen Stacy, a strong woman who frequently organized demonstrations as well as participating in them. This Gwen was quite different from the reportedly current insipid versions of her seen in flashbacks.
She died in Amazing Spider-Man 151, when she was shoved off the top of a bridge by the Green Goblin towards certain death below, it wasn't the impact with the surface that killed her, it was Spidey's webbing fatally de-accelerating her. The blame goes to Green Goblin, but Spidey loses one of his best friends.
This plot is can be seen as the starting point as what is now known as the 'Gwen Stacy Syndrome' Check the references at the bottom of the document for more about that.
Disclaimer: Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy and Timmy are property of Marvel Comics. No infringement upon their copyright of these characters is to be implied. This story makes use of these characters, and as such is copyright by me. It may not be reproduced except of non-profit, non-cash transmission such as a mailing list, fanmagazine, or e-mail. Please contact author for archiving permission. Prairiedog is not the narrator in the story. P.O.V. means 'Point of View'. And now for the story.
Brooklyn Bridge (Washington St. Bridge) Tower B 2:48 P.M.
The Villain Green Goblin is holding Gwen Stacy Hostage, confronting him is SPIDER-MAN. On the bridge below the tower is the news crews and the CROWD. Hovering in a helicopter over the and past the bridge is the SKYCAM, another news crew with television cameras. The Bridge is over water, a drop from this height would be fatal.
Green Goblin bats Gwen Stacy with one of his monstrous wings, she slides through the air and is knocked over the side of the edge of the building.
SPIDER-MAN
GWEN! NO!
Gwen's body fell like a sack of potatoes from the top story of the building, awkwardly turning slightly as her knees whack against the edge of the small walling, which causes her to fall off backwards, head first. This is the classical 'damsel in distress' routine, play it dramatic and keep down the corniness.
TIME- 00:00
SKYCAM VIEW
We see a small spider, with its antenna flailing around it as it drops past the glistening windows of the sky scraper. Its Gwen, and she is still unconscious. As well as falling towards a sudden impact below.
CROWD P.O.V.
The crowd is still looking upward towards the reported fight scene, none of them have reacted as yet to Gwen falling. They continue staring dumbly upwards, like vultures coming to feast on the emotions of violence and death.
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V. - THOUGHT BUBBLE
Okay, gotta think here. I only get one chance to do this. If she drops, she's dead. Cant web her, it'll snap her neck. Gotta do something..
SPIDER-MAN
I've got to catch her -- --
SPIDER-MAN turns from the Goblin and running towards the edge of the roof, flips over its edge and jumps downward off the top of the sky scraper towards Gwen, narrowing his body shape to maximize his velocity. He dives like a Olympic swimmer, doing the high dive. Webbing shoots from his left hand to the roof top behind him as he speeds towards the ground, it grabs hold of the roof edge and stretches.
GREEN GOBLIN SHOUTS MOCKINGLY TO SPIDER-MAN'S DEPARTING FIGURE
"She's dead!"
TIME- 00:02
SKYCAM
We see a small narrow cigar like shape, shooting towards the pavement. Its Spider-Man. We also see Gwen, falling like a sack of potatoes towards the ground. Not much detail can be seen. The skycam operator is trying to adjust the focus to catch the action, but we still don't see much detail beyond basic clothing color. And a slight green spot at the top of the building, the Green Goblin.
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
We see hear the departing echoes of the Green Goblins incomprehensible shout. The skyscraper stretching right and left, like a giant glowing playing field. From Spider-Man's perspective, he is flying over a flat surface made of checkered squares, towards a hard to see lumpy object, Gwen who is growing slightly in size as he accelerates and nears her. There is a mighty sound of wind.
SPIDER-MAN THOUGHT BUBBLE (directed towards himself):
move, Move, MOVE
GWEN P.O.V.
She is facing mostly head down towards the sidewalk, at about 60 degrees, and slowly turning in the air, Her eyelids flutter as she slowly comes out of her stunned state, she isn't quite out of it yet.
CROWD P.O.V.
Nothing much, they are as yet too far away to see much detail. What they are seeing is a dark blob trailing a line of cord, chasing a larger blob close to them. This isn't close up time for them. We can see in the distance, a young mother standing by the side of her son in a wheel chair.
TIME- 00:03
SKYCAM P.O.V.
After seeing the building with a green speck towards its top, we zoom in towards Gwen, we can see her features more clearly now. The skin of her face is rippling from the wind streaming by her, her eyes are partially closed, still unconscious. She takes up about one twentieth of the screen.
TIME- 00:04
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
His legs are bent slightly as he streaks through the slight atmosphere, his uniform slightly wind distorted. He face through the mask is calm. He knows what he should be doing, and he is doing it. There is a slight edge of concentration, almost fearful of the lives that hang in the balance on his eye patches.
SPIDER-MAN yelling from the agony of concentration to save Gwen's life, and the strong possibility of his imminent death.. not to mention the rush of jumping off a sky scraper with only a thin line of webbing to stop you from smacking into the ground.
Yeaghrehaaah!
SPIDER-MAN shoots another strand of webbing out from his left hand which lays close to his body, pal facing upward. The webbing splats against the concrete frame of the building and digs in.
TIME- 00:05
CROWD P.O.V.
They are visibly beginning to react, a few hands point upwards at the spectacle. Their eyes are either disbelieving or callous as they watch the 'entertainment'.
A young mother covers the eyes of her son with her hand, he is a little boy in a wheelchair. He looks like has leukemia. He looks sadly upwards, at a small legend about to die, and a woman he barely knows.
YOUNG MOTHER begins to say softly,
Dont...
TIMMY leans starts to move his head slightly to the side, so that he can see the end. He does not want to be blind at the death of Spider-Man. We see the hand, giant from our perspective covering up half the panel. Through it we can dimly see the falling forms of Spider-Man and Gwen.
TIME- 00:06
GWEN P.O.V.
Her eyes are now slightly open, we can see the spark of consciousness in her eyes. They look slightly drugged or dazed. Since she is in free fall as well as upside down, she obviously will have a hard time figuring out what's going on in the time left to her. At the top of the frame we can see SPIDER-MAN's right hand stretching out as he uses his left one to control the webbing coming out. His expression is anxious, but he hasn' t yet had time to go into shell shock- it ain't over yet.
TIME- 00:06
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
The spectators can be seen looking upwards gawking at the sight, a few of them are starting to step backwards as they see the human bodies rush down at them. Gwen is not looking at Spider-Man, even now she does not realize fully what is going on. Gwen is about ten feet away and closing, Spider-Man stretches downwards towards her left leg with his right hand extended, he looks like he is trying to catch her before she goes splat. Gwen if anything, is looking at the sky scraper across the street, moving upwards from her P.O.V.
CROWD P.O.V.
They await, the curious thrill seekers and the passively recording newsmen the scene unfolding before them. The police are looking up out of their windshields at the scene, a few are outside looking up. The men at the barricades are distracted by the sight, but a few of them still haven't reacted yet, too busy to see what is happening.
YOUNG MOTHER
Look...
TIMMY continues moving head to the side so that he can see what happens. He has partial vision through his left eye of what is going on.
TIME- 00:07
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
He is now free falling right behind her, he quickly aims and shoots his webbing webbing and ties Gwen, who is about thirty feet away, to himself. The webbing sprays all over his body and hers, for maximum surface area coverage. He's making a crude tandem harness.
SPIDER-MAN THOUGHT BUBBLE
Gotta connect, gotta wrap, gotta de-accelerate. Spidey Powers don't fail me now!
GWEN P.O.V.
Her eyes flutter open and she blearily looks up (down from her angle) at Spider-Man, her eyes are filled with tears as she slowly begins to realize what is going on to her, but all of this is so sudden. She doesn't know what to think... and even then she doesn't have time to think it.
SKYCAM P.O.V.
We are now zoomed totally in. We see Gwen facing downward, awkwardly wrapped in a webbing attached to Spider-Man who in turn is attached to the top of the building by thin webbing. Spider-Man is still facing downward, right hand stretched forward in front of him, Gwen upside down a few dozen feet in front of him. They are both covered with a thick webbing coming from Spider-Man's right hand, and he still lays it on layer after layer as they continue their downward rush towards death.
TIME- 00:08
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
His eyes are narrowed in concentration, he doesn't fear anything. He doesn't have time to worry. His left hand has up to this time lies close to his left side spooling out two lines of webbing. Now the first line draws tight, and stops expanding. His left arm snaps outward, as his and Gwen swing to the left of the panel, turning on their mutual center of gravity. His left arm still spools the second line to the building, and it is unaffected by the sudden snap. He looks... like he is pushing aside the knowledge of his imminent demise from his actions to save Gwen.
Spider-Man Thought Bubble
Now do I wrap the little webbing under the big webbing or the other way around?
SKYCAM P.O.V.
We now have a close range on Spider-Man and Gwen, they are heading towards the ground at a slight angle to the right of the frame. They are still in freefall, as Spider-Man quickly loses altitude as he plunges towards Gwen. There is now only one line connecting him to the building, and his left arm appears to be injured, as it is splayed out at a odd angle as Spidey and Gwen enter the final seconds before the crash.
CROWD P.O.V.
YOUNG MOTHER finishes sadly, her attention more on what is taking place above her then shielding the eyes of your youngest beloved child...
...Timmy
TIMMY P.O.V.
By this point Tommy has craned his head to the side so that he can look up at Spider-Man, he's truly likes this guy. The hand now covers a third of the panel, a mere symbolic gesture. We have a blurry vision of something that looks like a hourglass with larger then life colors and lined with dark lines, the spider webbing. Tommy can't see that well, but we see through him.
TIME- 00:09
GREEN GOBLIN P.O.V.
He is standing near the edge of the pylon, leering and looking downwards. Looking particularly nasty he shouts downwards at the falling duo,
"I said she would die, and now you take her death upon yourself!"
Green Goblin dissolves into nasty laughs at the pitiful scene, but we cant spend much screen time on him.
TIME- 00:10
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
Spidey has tripled the amount of webbing around him and Gwen, the de-acceleration harness looks complete. It looks horribly crude, and both of them are still pointing downwards, but Spidey is attempting to get Gwen into a position where she would absorb most of the shock on her back. Spidey is swimming through the webbing to a position underneath her, so that he will form a crude cushion for the hard impact. His eyes show the chained weariness, a ad look that is preceding his death. He does not look handsome, except in a noble, but drained way.
GWEN P.O.V.
She sees the webslinger working to save her, her eyes are now fully open as she realizes what the hell is going on. As she sees the taught mask of Spider-Man, as well as feel his right arm pulling himself into the webbing beneath her, she whispers..
GWEN
Parker...
SPIDER-MAN notices this and his eyes widen in a mixture of fear at his impending appointment with death, as well as the sudden revelation. As he passes her, his eyes match hers through the white gauze of the suit, there is no time for words. Only a brief look of love. As he completes getting his right arm through the webbing, he shoots another strand from the other side of Gwen, now making two strands that now support them.
CROWD P.O.V.
Spidey and Gwen are about two stories from impact, they can be clearly seen in this brief snapshot of history. Spider-Man is two thirds underneath her, his left arm bent upwards at a very odd angle. Will Gwen make it? Or will she be doomed to have everyone's last memory of her tinged with the thought that she was always needful of rescuing, always the damsel that needed saving?
Everyone has by now cleared a small space for where the impact will happen on the bridge. It is a sad circle, a circle of death. The people look sad, and a little awed at the mystery that apparently will take place.
TIMMY is about to cry, but he is only on the verge of it as yet.
TIMMY'S MOTHER looks very sad for the nice superhero who isn't doing very well at the moment.
SKYCAM P.O.V.
We are looking at the skycam crew, who we haven't seen fully yet. Its a cargo helicopter with pilot in front, and cameraman in the cargo area, catching the scene below.
The Cameraman has tears coming down his cheeks concerning what he is about to witness.
The Pilot is looking out, at the unfolding drama. His bent cigarette is on the verge of falling from his mouth as he gazes with a stunned sadness at what is about to happen.
SKYCAM P.O.V. PILOT THOUGHT BUBBLE
Spidey cant die, the old webslinger just cant!
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
He is now almost completely underneath Gwen, shielding her from the ground with his body. He is still continuing to wrap the webbing around them and her, creating a sort of support structure for the single line now splaying in front of Gwen, from Spider-Man's left and right hands. Upon those lines will their life depend.
TIME- 00:11
There is the solemnly sad start of a ponderous church bell about to be rung in the distance, it has not yet completed its song though. It marks the beginning of the end time for Spidey.
There is a loud SNAP as his last line stops playing out and de-accelerates both of them violently more. It is the sound of his arm being broken and torn partially out of its socket. There is a even louder and more sudden CRACK as his right arm breaks from the other line suddenly being stopping the flow of the cord. They are now only a few stories from the street, the faces of the people below can be seen looking upwards, pale like unripe potatoes growing under a harvest moon.
SPIDEY & GWEN P.O.V.
Gwen manages to work right hand around to Spider-Man's right arm, she gives it a brief squeeze of acknowledgement and of love. She does not have time for anything else. Spidey's arms support her, his torso cushions her. Upon him she will fall.
SPIDER-MAN P.O.V.
His eyes are wide and accepting at the fate he has chosen. He looks brave, but the pain can be seen around the eyes of his mask.
The immediacy of his death is upon him, the skeleton face of death can be seen in his real eyes. He is about to meet death in great pain, what shall his thoughts be?
SPIDER-MAN THOUGHT BUBBLE
This day we shall be together in paradise....?
(...)
TIME- 00:12
CROWD P.O.V.
We hear the sad tolling bell in the distance spreading its way across this four page giant pull out panel, and we gaze upon the broken form within the circle. We do not see the impact, it is mercifully hidden for us between the panels. The people are gazing at the fallen hero, either hardness or love in their eyes. There is nothing else. Timmy is crying. His mother is crying. A few woman are crying.
Peter's Arms are spread across the concrete, flat. Blood comes out of his costume, it stains it and pools on the ground. His head is still mostly in shape, but the rear fourth of the skull is squashed almost flat. There is little blood from his head, except from the impact wound, and his mouth.
The impact squished his insides, bleeding them. It comes from his mouth, and through his mask on either sides, trickling sadly down the side of his head. The lines of blackness upon his head now appear instead of disguise, more like a crown of thorns, collapsing around his head and constricting it.
If he isn't dead, he's certainly doing a good imitation of it. He doesn't look like he was turned into hamburger, but if he is going to move, it certainly wont be outside of a hospital ward. When he gets out of his coma. If he ever does. They all stand in a deep circle, being kept out by police. A few people empowered by a mixture of love and grief rush start to rush past the guards to weep over his body. Damn it, he's dead. He has at least a few people out there who liked him. Most of the people crying stretch their arms out futily to his body, incapable of exercising the strength to get past the guards.
A little boy is wheeled to the edge of the circle.
A bell finishes its toll.
A superhero lays broken.
And this story is done.
[Insert line here]
Afterwords
Gwen Stacy again is unconscious and in a serious physical condition, but this is where her helplessness will end, it shall not continue. After she recovers from her numerous injuries, she will eventually enter life again. Gwen's and Peter's story is not fully written, that story is yet to come.
Peter Parker will lay half inside death's door for a month before finally lapsing into a coma. He will remain in that state for many months, with his recovery
taking years.
Timmy will eventually grow up to be the vice editor of Peter Parkers old newspaper. He will remember the day that Spider-Man risked his life to save just one other human being, just one. That lesson will be carried with him in his life, as he struggles onward past the obstacles that face him.
The Pilot will eventually work at a homeless shelter, and bring happiness to the poorest of the poor. He will be loved by many. His sudden and violent death seven years from now will be mourned by the whole city.
The Cameraman will go home, and try to forget what he just saw. He will succeed, but along with his forgetfulness, his marriage will break up from the stress placed upon it, as well as its un-cared for state. He will eventually be re-concialed with his life, and spend his retirement years surrounded by his visiting grand children who will crowd around him in his sunny garden looking at what painting he is creating.
References:
Woman in Marvel Comics - Gwen Stacy http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2855/gwen.html
Superhero Marriage and the Gwen Stacy Syndrome http://www.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=163435186