Gwen continued to look at herself in the mirror and she still continued believe what she was seeing. Just a few moments ago she had seemingly looked normal but now an additional four arms had grown out from the sides of her body. At first she thought that this was some kind of nightmare but as the seconds ticked by she realised that all this was actually reality and not some bad dream.
She brought what was now all six of her hands up close to her face and she began to move her fingers on her new hands. It almost seemed alien to her to have so many arms but it was not alien for a spider. For the last several days she had been feeling unwell and it seems that this was due to her body preparing itself for its recent transformation. She could only assume that the spider bite that had given her the superhuman abilities that she had grown to love was also responsible for this.
Rather than moving away from the mirror Gwen found herself awe struck at what she was seeing. During her cross dimensional adventure with other spider powered people she had seen a couple of them with six arms. This time it had happened to herself and she didn't know how she was going to react.
One positive thought that did run through her mind for a moment was that the additional four arms would make her a unique drummer. Many considered her talented when she only had two arms, she could only imagine what she would be able to do with six arms. She would be able to perform drum pieces which would be impossible for any other drummer to perform. It might even lead her to become known as the best drummer in the world. That would be pretty nice in her mind but of course there were many disadvantages to these arms that were not worth the additional drumming skills.
Suddenly Gwen heard knocking on her bedroom door and she knew automatically that it was her father George. She figured that he had heard her cry of pain and simply come to investigate. He waited until she answered and when he first saw his daughter he didn't think that there was anything wrong. However after a few moments he realised what had happened, her six arms was clear to see and he could see the holes in her bed clothing where the new arms had sprouted out of her.
"My God Gwen," said George in complete and utter shock. He had expected to see that she had fallen out of bed or stubbed a toe. He never imagined what he was seeing at that exact moment in time. "What happened to you?"
"I don't know," replied Gwen. There was a slight hint of fear in her voice. "I was just trying to get to sleep and then these babies just grew right out of the side of me. Believe me I'm just as surprised as you."
"But how could such a thing happen. People don't just grow another four arms just like that." As his time as a cop he had seen several weird and bizarre things but nothing compared to this.
"I don't know, maybe it's something to do with my powers or I could have been poisoned by one of my enemies. I don't know but I think I know someone who can help me." She did have someone in mind but she just hoped that she hadn't gotten past the point of no return. "I might be gone for a while though."
"What where are you going?"
"Probably to the only person in the city who can help me." Already she was moving towards her drawers and taking out her Spider-Woman costume. She was putting it on and when it came to accommodating her new arms she simply tore them through the costume and although it ruined the costume for future adventures she had a spare. She placed her mask on her face and then brought her hood up to complete her costume. Her new arms remained bare which looked somewhat strange in comparison since the rest of her body was completely covered up. She stepped towards her window and she could see that her father was still standing there. He was lost for words and he could only watch as his daughter did what she needed to do. "I don't know when I'll be back but I promise that when this is all over I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Good luck Gwen." This were the only words that he could say as he watched Spider-Woman fire a web-line before swinging out of the room. He ran to the window and caught the shadow of Spider-Woman swinging away. He felt like there was nothing that he could do to help his daughter. All he could do was sit back and wait for her to return as either his normal looking daughter or something much worse.
Spider-Woman continued to swing away and she began to think about everything that had happened to her that day. She had been attacked and almost killed by an evil alternate version of her best friend Peter Parker and now this was happening to her. While she was swinging she instinctively began to use her new arms to try and fire out some webbing but since there were no web shooters on those arms nothing happened. It caused her to nearly fall a couple of times but each time she was able to recover enough to shoot a web line before she struck the ground.
After several minutes of web swinging Spider-Woman eventually found herself at what seemed to be a large mansion. Using her spider sense she began to navigate past all the security devices that had been installed there. It was impossible for any normal person to be able to get by them but thanks to the agility that she had been granted from the spider bite this was almost child's play for her.
This mansion was very famous throughout the city and it seemed to show as all the security there was very hi-tech. However for Spider-Woman her combined abilities allowed her to get past them all with relative ease. She just wanted to get to a particular room that was located practically at the centre of the mansion. This was where she was going to find what she needed.
After several minutes Spider-Woman found herself outside of the door that she had been looking for and quietly she walked through it. She could see that it was lit up and she could see what she couldn't only describe as the lab of a mad scientist. She could see beakers that contained various chemicals and some electronic devices that were so advanced that she couldn't even begin to imagine what they did.
Suddenly Spider-Woman's spider sense began to tingle. Instinctively she jumped out of the way just as a giant foot came down on top of her. If she had been a split second slower she could have been seriously harmed. When she landed back on the ground she looked up and saw the figure of a woman who was easily twenty feet in height. Normally this would catch most people by surprise but for Spider-Woman it had been no surprise. This towering woman was none other than the world famous scientist Doctor Janet Van Dyne. It was her Van Dyne Particles that caused Spider-Woman to become a giant herself for a short amount of time. She knew that if anyone could help her with what was happening to her it would be Doctor Van Dyne.
"Spider-Woman?" asked Doctor Van Dyne. She was looking down at the seemingly tiny Spider-Woman. She was surprised to see her there and slowly Doctor Van Dyne began to reduce her size. "You know you could have just knocked rather than sneaking into the building."
"Well I'm still a wanted criminal," replied Spider-Woman. She was having to look up at Doctor Van Dyne but slowly she was moving her head lower as the giant woman continued to shrink. She lifted up her arms and allowed Doctor Van Dyne to clearly see that she had additional arms. "As you can see I have four problems that I was really hoping that you could help me out with."
"What happened to you?" She was surprised and also by now she had stopped shrinking at a solid six foot in height. It was not her normal size but she didn't feel that she needed to be any smaller than that.
"I don't know, I was just trying to get some sleep and then these four little ladies decided to sprout. Believe me I'm just as freaked out as you."
"There has to be some kind of scientific explanation to all of this." She walked away for a moment and returned with an empty syringe. "I need to take a blood sample in order to see what we're dealing with."
"Any arm will do but don't take too long. Being stuck with needles isn't something I like to fantasize about." No sooner did she say this Spider-Woman felt a small prick in her bottom right arm. She saw as Doctor Van Dyne got all the blood that she needed and then went over to some equipment to register it.
Spider-Woman was having to wait around for several minutes before she finally got some kind of answer from Doctor Van Dyne. The taller woman had been looking at the blood sample under a microscope. What she was seeing was very troubling to her and she knew that it was going to be troubling for Spider-Woman as well.
Eventually Spider-Woman found herself standing next to Doctor Van Dyne who was sitting down on a chair. On the desk was a microscope with two blood samples on their own separate pieces of glass. At first Spider-Woman had no idea just what was going on and she had to wait for Doctor Van Dyne to instruct her.
"Please can you look into the microscope," asked Doctor Van Dyne in a relatively pleasant voice.
"Y-yeah sure," replied Spider-Woman with a hint of nervousness. She looked into the microscope and she could see what seemed to be healthy red blood cells. She didn't get why she was seeing this.
"Ok that is the sample of a regular person." Doctor Van Dyne removed the glass slide and then replaced it with another one. This time Spider-Woman could see the healthy blood cells being attacked with what she could only describe as spikey black spheres. "And this is your blood sample."
"And what exactly are those things?"
"I'm not too sure but whatever they are they seem to be what has caused you to grow these extra arms. I theorize that the spider bite that gave you your powers is the cause of this. Imagine that gaining your abilities was stage one, these extra arms are stage two and I'm afraid from what I can see there is going to be a stage three."
"What's stage three?" She was almost too afraid to ask as she knew that she wouldn't like the answer.
"I don't know for sure but I theorize that you will…" She stopped herself for a moment as she thought of the best way to tell her. "Have you ever seen The Fly with Jeff Goldblum in the lead role?"
"No I haven't." It was one of those films that she had always wanted to watch but simply had never gotten around to it.
"Well the scientist in the film genetically fuses with a fly and transforms into a man/fly hybrid. I fear that the same is happening to you but you're becoming a human spider so to speak."
"What?" This terrified her as she began to see herself transforming into a large monstrous spider. She had thought about some fun that she could have with her additional arms but this transformed into outright fear. "There has to be some way that you can stop this, you're one of the smartest people on the planet."
"I think I can some kind of antidote to what is happening to you but it will take some time before it's complete. I seriously suggest that you stay here until my work is complete. From the blood sample I don't know exactly how long you have before you fully transform into a Woman-Spider." She could see the severity of the situation and she wanted to make sure that Spider-Woman was safe.
"Yeah you're right there." Suddenly both women began to hear something on what seemed to be a radio. It took Spider-Woman a few moments to realise that she was listening to a police radio inside of the lab. From what they could hear it seemed like the Shocker was up to no good again. Already they could hear that the police were overwhelmed by him and were already calling for backup. "Dang and there goes my evening." She began to make her way towards the door but quickly Doctor Van Dyne was able to get her attention once again. There was some panic in her face as she approached Spider-Woman.
"Wait you can't leave, I told you that you could mutate even further. If it happens to you out there things will become much more difficult for you."
"But I can't just leave the Shocker. He's hurting innocent people and you heard that radio he's too much for the cops. Besides Shocker's a piece of cake, I'll just swing by, show him the error of his ways and come back. I'll be ten minutes tops while in that time you can start working on the antidote."
"I guess so." She still thought that it was a bad idea but there was some truth to Spider-Woman's words.
"I promise that I won't be long." She moved herself towards the door. "Besides with these extra arms I'll be able to take him down without breaking a sweat."
"Alright then but I want you back here as soon as possible. There's no telling what could happen if you mutated out there." She knew that if Spider-Woman did fully mutate in the lab that she would just spray her with some Van Dyne Particles and shrink her down to the size of a spider if necessary. At that size she wouldn't cause anyone any harm. "I'll make sure that the defences are off so that you don't have any problems getting in or out."
"Thanks Doc, I'll be back before you can say red lorry, yellow lorry five times in a row." She then exited through the door leaving Doctor Van Dyne standing there for a few moments. She admired Spider-Woman's dedication to helping others but she still felt that it wasn't a good idea to allow her run around while she was dealing with this mutation problem. Despite this she took the blood sample and began her work on the cure.
It only took a few seconds for Spider-Woman to leave the mansion and she began to web swing her way towards where she could knew that Shocker was terrorizing the streets. He had attempted to rob another armoured truck and although he had been unsuccessful the police had not been able to arrest him. His gauntlets had protected him from any bullets and anyone who had gotten too close were instantly pushed away by the incredible force of the gauntlets. Spider-Woman had felt their impact on more than one occasion and it had never been a pleasant experience.
As Spider-Woman swung through the air she began to adjust to swinging with her additional arms. It was still a fairly freaky feeling for her but she was beginning to enjoy having them by her side. However the disadvantages still outweighed the benefits but a part of her would be sad to see them go.
After a couple of minutes she eventually saw all the red and blue flashing lights that were on the ground. She could see some of the police cars below her had been toppled over by the sheer force of the gauntlets. In the centre of it all she could see the Shocker standing there triumphantly, he had knocked back anyone who had tried to reach him and he was feeling pretty confident.
However at first he failed to notice Spider-Woman landing on the ground not far from where he was. Quickly he turned to her and he was shocked to see that she had six arms now, he could still remember when they last met. At that point Spider-Woman had been accidentally enlarged to three times her normal height. He was glad to see her at her normal size now but the additional arms did catch him by surprise.
"Shocker why is it that you always seem to strike at the most inconvenient of times?" asked Spider-Woman. "Seriously it is as if you wait until I'm going through some kind of body shock before you decide to do something stupid?"
"Ah hell," replied Shocker with surprise. He had expected to see her but not like this. Instinctively he fired some powerful shockwaves from his gauntlets straight at Spider-Woman. However she was able to leap out of the way thanks to her spider sense and she landed safely on the wall of a nearby building.
"You almost got me that time Shocker. Just a little to the left and you have hit me for sure. I'll tell you what, I'll keep four of my arms tied behind my back and then you might have a chance."
"Stop talking!" He was getting annoyed and he fired another shockwave at her but once again she was able to leap out of the way. She was able to leap over his head and land behind him. Before he could fire another shockwave she began to wrap him up with webbing. He found his arms forced down to his sides as the webbing completely covered him. Within seconds the only part of him that wasn't covered was his head. "I-I can't move." He was struggling as much as he could but he couldn't free himself. As much as he hated to admit it Spider-Woman had gotten the better of him again.
"Well that's the idea silly." She smiled under her mask but no one could see it. "I would say that this was fun but the problem is that you make this ridiculously easy. Seriously you should consider a career change."
"Freeze!" shouted a voice. Spider-Woman turned and she could see that she was surrounded by police officers who each had a gun pointed directly at her. "Hands up right now!" Each one of them were willing to shoot if need be. A few of them thought that she was heroic but they still had their orders.
"What all of them?" Slowly she raised up all of her hands. The officers didn't know exactly what they were seeing. To them it was like they were seeing some kind of alien from a sci-fi film but it was real life. "Well I would stick around but I have a lot of places that I need to be." She then fired out a line of webbing from her web shooter which attached to a nearby building. "Maybe we can finish this off some other time."
With that she pulled herself up from the ground quickly. The officers were going to fire but there was a chance that they would hit one of their own and so they didn't want to risk it. All they could do was watch as she got away from them again. If anything they were just glad to be rid of her and the Shocker was still there waiting to be arrested. They had to admit that the task had become much simpler with Spider-Woman's help. Despite how some of them felt towards her she was still a wanted criminal.
Spider-Woman swung away as quickly as she could and she was just glad to that she was able to stop the Shocker. She was beginning to make her way back to Doctor Van Dyne's lab just like she had promised but as she went to fire another line of webbing nothing happened. It was too late when she realised that she had ran out of webbing, she began to fall to the ground and there was nothing that she could do to stop herself.
Within seconds Spider-Woman struck the ground and the impact did hurt her. However due to her powers a fall that would kill a human was more of a minor inconvenience to her. But now she did have the problem of having to make her way back to the lab without the use of her webbing. Too late did she realise that she hadn't refilled her web shooters, after everything that had happened that day the idea had simply never crossed her mind as she was going through one big shock after another.
Slowly Spider-Woman began to pick herself up off the ground and her entire body ached. However it wasn't from the impact, she had been feeling this since her arms sprouted out of her body. She began to fear that this was her body preparing itself for the transformation that Doctor Van Dyne had mentioned. She didn't want to imagine what kind of monstrosity she was going to become.
One thing that Spider-Woman did notice was a small flash. When she looked she could see that there was someone standing relatively close to her who had just taken a picture of her on his phone. At first he was thinking that he was just taking a picture of Spider-Woman. However when he saw her arms a part of him was about to freak-out. However rather than just straight out running away he walked away at a steady pace. She just watched him for a moment as the whole thing felt surreal.
Spider-Woman's body was still aching but some of it was thanks to her fall. However rather than concentrating on the pain she tried to make her way back to Doctor Van Dyne's lab as quickly as she could. She had made a promise to her and she more than intended to keep it since it was for the best.
Rather than running all the way Spider-Woman decided that it was best to travel across the buildings. She stepped towards a nearby building and then began to climb up it, she discovered that she was climbing faster. It seemed that she had found another advantage to her additional arms but despite this she knew that they had to go if she wanted to live a somewhat normal life again.
It only took a few seconds for Spider-Woman to make her way to the top of the building and much to her surprise she could see what seemed to be two masked men trying to break through a door. She couldn't believe her luck since she was trying to get back to Doctor Van Dyne but it seemed that this was going to slow her down. She did consider just leaving them to their own devices but she knew that she wouldn't forgive herself if she allowed such a thing to take place.
At first it seemed the thieves didn't notice that she was there and she decided to use this to her advantage. Slowly she crawled along the ground and she seemed more like an actual spider than she realised. However she continued on and climbed above the door that they were trying to break into. She had crawled up from behind so they didn't notice at first but then she stood up and looked down at the men.
"Hey guys I know this is a really nice place to see the city but I'm just not interested," said Spider-Woman. There was a look of shock when they looked up to see her. "Now why don't we back our way back down and we can see what the cops think of all of this, I'm sure they'll see the funny side."
"It's Spider-Woman!" shouted one of the thieves. The second thief pulled out a handgun and tried to shoot Spider-Woman with it. She just leapt over it with some ease and then landed behind them.
"Now that wasn't nice. You could give a girl the wrong idea."
Before they could turn around Spider-Woman punched them both at the same time. The strength that she possessed was more than enough to knock them both out. She also wanted to web them up but when she tried she remembered that she had run out of webbing much to her annoyance.
Instead Spider-Woman picked both men up and she began to run down the side of the building towards the ground. Although both men were larger than her she still more than possessed the strength to easily pick them both up at the same time. She had once picked up a car just to see how strong she had become. There were numerous heroes that were stronger than her but she was no pushover to say the least.
It only took less than a minute for Spider-Woman to make her way down to the ground. Standing not far from where she touched down was a couple of cops who were just buying a cup of coffee. They were surprised with what they were seeing as she saw Spider-Woman placing the two thieves back onto the ground. Quickly they dropped what they were doing and made their way over to Spider-Woman. They weren't sure whether to shoot or listen to what she was going to say.
"Freeze!" shouted one of the officers. He pointed his gun at her but this time she didn't raise her hands.
"Wow there cowboy," replied Spider-Woman. She dropped the thieves down on the ground. Her spider sense was tingling and she was prepared to jump out of the way if she really needed to. "I found these loveable rogues doing something that I think the law looks down on. I'm going to leave them for you and you might never know you might get a bonus out of this." She crouched down in order to prepare for a large jump. "I'll see you again when I've gotten over my little problem."
She then leapt up more than forty feet into the air and attached herself to the building. Quickly she began to climb up it and the two officers went to the unconscious thieves. They removed the masks and they saw that these two thieves were well known to the police and were wanted men. They probably wouldn't be charged for the crime that Spider-Woman had caught them for, however there were still plenty of other crimes that they were wanted for. It wouldn't be as big of a catch as Spider-Woman but it was definitely something that would make themselves more respectable.
Within seconds Spider-Woman was on top of the building again. She was about to continue her trip back to Doctor Van Dyne's lab but she felt somewhat lightheaded and she needed a moment or two to compose herself. She felt sick once again and she feared that she was going to transform.
This only lasted for around a minute though and eventually it began to subside although the aching sensation was still there. She knew that she needed to get back to the lab as soon as possible. Her worst nightmare was if she transformed while away from the lab, then she could be a danger to everyone.
As soon as Spider-Woman felt well enough she continued on with her journey. She ran as fast as she could and continued to leap from one building to another in quick succession. She was sometimes having to land on the side of buildings and had to crawl up them in order to reach the top. She was annoyed over the fact that she had run out of webbing just when she needed it the most.
However as she was running she could smell something that was familiar. It was the smell of smoke and she knew that it meant that there was a fire nearby. She looked over to where she could smell the smoke and she could see that there was a small building on fire. She was tempted to ignore it and just run but she knew that she couldn't do that. Instead she changed her course and made her way towards the fire.
One thing that Spider-Woman hadn't noticed was that there were some hairs growing on her back. She couldn't tell under her costume but if she could have seen she would know that she wasn't far from fully transforming into a spider monster. In this case she would say that ignorance was bliss.