I don't own Marvel.
Spider-Gwen is based off a0040pc's interpretation of the character.
Soph, Nando, Kimmi, and Joy all belong to Flautist4ever.
Chapter 8
A few weeks ago…
With some free time on her hands, Spider-Woman swung over the streets of New York heading to where she was sure she'd find the meeting place. She couldn't believe that in this universe her friend Doctor van Dyne had been married long enough to have a daughter who was now an adult. Of course that would mean the Janet of this Earth was now a senior citizen, but she had learned to accept the differences of other universes.
As she managed to make it to the upper side of Brooklyn, she found a nice secluded alley where she could change out of her uniform into civilian attire. Since that was a bit time consuming Gwen had found a shortcut that worked for her. By slipping a skirt on and some shoes the black of her uniform would make it seem like she was wearing leggings. All she had to do was take the gloves and web shooters off, and of course hide the hood and mask. No one would ever suspect that the blonde girl joining the crowd of pedestrians was in fact a superhero from an alternate dimension.
Thankfully she wasn't too far from the place she suspected she would find the Wasp. At first she thought a building like the Museum of Natural History was the place, but then she remembered a small bit of trivia about the hero in her universe. It was risky, but she had learned to accept risks. Pausing outside the door of the building, she opened the door and stepped in.
"Welcome to Fairy Gowns." The cashier greeted with a smile. "Do you need help finding something?"
"Just browsing today." Gwen wasn't completely lying. They didn't have a fashion place like this on her Earth, but it was a nice difference. The dresses here ranged from prom to wedding, and each of them looked like something someone would use for an animated princess film. There were styles celebrating cultures from across the world, and she was surprised to see a Wakandan style dress here.
"Good guess." Someone said behind her. "But people would complain if you wore a dress inspired by Wakanda."
Turning, Gwen smiled when she saw who it was. "It's you."
"Yes, it's me Mrs. Susan." She gave a quick name as she added, "Been here long?"
"Just got here. Waiting for Glory as she wanted to compare dresses." She had gotten good at telling lies when she needed to, and she wanted to sell the story for anyone who might be listening. With that they browsed around for a little bit, comparing prices while lowering their voices to speak with each other.
As they looked over a dress that came from Latveria, Hope said, "I'm impressed you thought to come here."
"I almost didn't, but then I remembered something she once shared back home." Gwen whispered before saying, "This is a nice dress."
"A little pricey though, just like everything from the country." The Wasp added to the story before continuing their real conversation. "My mom used to say, 'A true genius finds a way to balance fashion with brains'. I'm just surprised this place exists in your home too."
"It doesn't. This just looked the nicest." She explained before moving over to another dress. "I could see my cousin wearing this for her wedding."
After a few more minutes, Hope pulled out a phone as if checking to see if she got a text message. "Oh, dear. Glory has to cancel. Emergency came up."
As they left the store Gwen asked, "So why were you at that auction?"
"There was a component I needed. Fisk's advertiser called it an element mimicker. It pretty much can mimic the chemical properties of any element in existence. My father can't get his hands on any iridium, so we thought that could make a good substitute."
"So when's the next auction?"
"There isn't one. That's the strange thing. All auctions have been called off, and we need that element mimicker."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to find out where Fisk is keeping it and take it."
"But why? Would you mother want that? Why isn't she the Wasp?"
Looking at her, Hope then opened up. "She used to be, but when I was a little girl she and Dad left for a secret mission from which only he returned. He told me she went subatomic. She shrunk so small she fell into a place called the Quantum Realm. We thought she was gone forever, but then someone we knew went subatomic and came back. Now we believe Mom could still be there, and we're trying to build a tunnel to get to her."
That made a lot of sense to the teenage superhero. If she had lost her father she'd probably move heaven and Earth to get him back if she learned of a possibility to do so. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I'll let you know when the time comes."
"Okay. Oh, and FYI your mom called this Quantum Realm the Microverse in my dimension."
"That sounds like a better name."
Present day…
As Spider-Woman watched Peter getting ready for Homecoming, she couldn't help but wonder what her friends were doing back in her dimension. She heard time could move differently between dimensions, and hoped that she wouldn't get back to find that fifty years had gone by and her earth was now a dystopian society run by Ultron.
Her Spider-Sense then told her she was joined by someone else like her. "Hey, Peni."
"Moshimoshi." She greeted her in Japanese before switching to English while making herself comfortable on the robot's arm. "Think what we've been trying to teach him will stick?"
"If he's anything like us he'll step up when he's needed."
"Good. I just hope they choose to send us home before much longer." The anime-like girl looked at her friend before adding, "We both miss our New York."
"I'm sure we'll be back before you know it." Spider-Woman comforted her before she sensed someone else nearby. Turning, she found a tiny woman hovering a few inches from her face. "Wasp! A little space please?"
"I was looking all over for you." Wasp said. "I found it. I know where the element mimicker is, and I'm going to get it."
"We'll come with you." Spider-Woman said, not wanting her new friend to go it alone. "If this Kingpin is anything like the one back in my dimension he will have added safety measures to counter superheroes."
"Great. Let's go."
"Not yet. First I need to get Pe-Spidey."
"The kid?" Gesturing to the window, the tiny superhero continued, "I can't believe that's Stark's scrapped project. Saw it on the news that his Spider-Man failed."
That made Spider-Woman's eyes narrow. "Failed? Project? Is that all my friend is to Stark? I did not travel across dimensions to learn that not only is my friend alive, but has powers too, just to have him get dissed by the Avengers."
"What do you mean, alive?" Someone asked from the window. Too late they realized that Peter was there at the window ready for his date. From the look in his eyes he was taking the news hard. "Gwen, am I even alive in your dimension?"
"Pete, I-."
"No excuses. Yes or no?"
"... No. You're not."
With an expression like Christmas had been canceled forever, the teen hero asked, "How? What happened?"
"... I couldn't save you. And then…"
"What? You thought you could make it right by treating me like your Peter?"
"I thought I could help you become the hero you wanted to be." That was true in a way. Ever since she learned that her friend turned himself into a monster to be a hero like her she had been trying to find a way to make up for her failure. Because she didn't recognize him their battle had taken the life of her friend, and she was New York's Most Wanted.
Turning away, Peter said, "Well, I'm not. Stark says I'm not-."
"Who cares what Stark says?" She blurted out. "What matters is what you think of yourself!"
"Says the one who can't forgive herself." Peter's words stung Spider-Woman more than any attack from Yellow Jacket or Shocker. With that he turned away, making it clear that he was going to Homecoming instead of helping them.
Under her mask, tears began to to form in Gwen's eyes. Turning away from the window, she said to the two other heroes, "Let's go."
As Peter arrived at Liz's house, he could feel his hands getting sweaty. He was about to ask out one of the hottest girls in school, and yet he couldn't stop thinking about his words to the counterpart of one of his friends. It had been hurtful and shocking to learn that his counterpart in her dimension was dead, but had that really been cause to snap at her? She and Peni had been doing everything they could to help him be a better Spider-Man when Iron Man bailed, and he came to view them as his friends.
Too late now. He had knocked on the door and Liz answered. The teen's jaw dropped when he saw her in the lavender dress because to say she was gorgeous would be an understatement. "Peter. Glad you could make it. I was afraid you'd bail because you're hardly around."
"I'm sorry. Tonight I'm all yours. I promise." The teen promised as he was let inside. He had been to a few parties at her house, though Flash always used them as excuses to make fun of him. Tonight, he would finally meet her parents as he took Liz to Homecoming.
As Peter presented her the corsage a new voice spoke up. "Liz. Don't forget to give your old man a smile for the picture." Turning, Peter was shocked to see Liz's father was of a different ethnicity. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'This is my date's dad?' Well, lo and behold."
"My real dad ran out several years ago, but my stepdad gave support to my mother and I when we had none." Liz explained. "Even allowed us to keep her maiden name."
"Well, Liz Toomes doesn't sound as good as Liz Allen." Mr. Toomes smiled as he held the camera up. "Now how about a smile from my princess for her big night?"
As the two of them posed, Peter couldn't help but think about her father. Something about him seemed familiar enough that his Spider-Sense was going off warning him about danger. But what was dangerous about her father? He seemed like a nice guy.
"Thanks for agreeing to take us to Homecoming, Dad." Liz smiled once the photo was taken.
"It's my pleasure. I've got a flight I need to catch tonight, so I can drop you off and then make my way to the airport." With that they all headed out to the car. As Toomes drove through the city, they chatted about so many topics that Peter should've relaxed around this guy. He couldn't understand why his warning system was going off like an alarm at a bank robbery.
As the three heroes made their way through Fisk's office building, they found that the security had been upgraded to a whole new level. The men were firing lasers at them to the point where one would think they were on the Death Star. No sooner had they entered the building than the three of them had been shot at, so each of them had to fight for their lives.
Finally, they made it to the research and development floor where Fisk had his men work on the tools and weapons in secret, under the pretense that they were working on better construction equipment. Once the guards were taken down the three began searching frantically for the element mimicker. "Scanning, scanning, zero results." Peni said from inside the Sp/dr robot. "I don't think it's here."
"No. It has to be." Wasp said as she began throwing stuff around. "Without it I'll never see my mom again!"
"You three the pests Fisk wanted me to take care of?" A familiar voice asked. The three of them looked to see someone from the auction standing there. "I half-expected the bug boy to be with you."
"Didn't want to help." Spider-Woman frowned underneath her mask.
"Relationship problems?"
"None of your business."
Holding up her fist to the man, Wasp threatened him. "Tell me where the element mimicker is or you'll learn what it's like to get stung by a six-foot wasp."
"That the doohickey they say can power a portal?" The man asked. "I've seen them using it during tests, and I don't want that thing out there. I got a nephew, and if he got sucked to the other side of the planet or worse I'd lose it."
Something about his voice sounded familiar to Spider-Woman, but she didn't push it. "What are you getting at?"
"Fisk had Schultz move it with Gargan and some other guys for one final test. He wants to weaponize it as a black hole generator."
"A black hole?!" The three heroes were beyond shocked, even though the expression of Sp/dr's helmet was priceless to see. "Is he crazy?"
"That's why I'm talking to you. I was going to buy these crazy gear from him, but if he's willing to build something that could wipe the city off the map I want nothing to do with him."
"Do you know where they moved it to?" Spider-Woman asked.
"Some high school. Says the disappearance of a bunch of kids will help provide cover for their operations."
While the students danced away at Homecoming, The Band of Idiots played away on the stage. Joy had been so happy when Principal Chu had agreed to to let them play for tonight, but what had made them all happy was that their sponsor Martin Li had also agreed to be there tonight. He insisted the four of them had worked so hard at F.E.A.S.T. that they need to take some time doing what they loved. And what they loved to do was rock.
Nando was singing the song while rocking out on his guitar with Soph. The dark-skinned boy made his well-kept wavy hair bounce while he sang the song for tonight. Although he kept his gold Harry Potter style glasses, he had exchanged his red hoodie and embroidered jeans for a fancy suit.
Soph still stood out with her hairstyle. Even though she was in a green dress for tonight, she still kept her blonde hair cropped and short at the sides topped with a fauxhawk with green highlights at the tips. Dress and all she looked like someone who dropped out of school long ago, even though in truth she still attended.
Kimmi pounded away at the drums in her frilly blue dress that she had gotten for tonight that matched the bow in her curly brown hair. More portly than the rest of her band Kimmi still provided much of the heart of the group by almost making sure the beat and the music matched the mood they wanted.
All three of them were people Joy loved playing with because they all helped bring out the music that was in her soul. Even though she was in the background playing on the keyboard she still felt they were all in harmony. Tonight they had one goal: make the student body of Midtown High dance their hearts out with the ones they asked on dates.
As they finished the current song their sponsor then took a microphone. "Thank you, Band of Idiots, for that wonderful song. I know how much Simple and Clean is popular with all of you, and it makes me happy seeing you taking the time to get to know each other. Each of you has a special future ahead of you. Each of you is the hope and the future of the planet, and that is why I am donating five million of my family's funds to your school to help advance the curriculum. Build up your minds, build up your communities, build up your future."
As the students applauded Martin Li for his words and contribution, Peter then noticed Harry was standing by himself. "Excuse me." He apologized to his date before going to check on his friend. "Hey, Harry. Why are you here by yourself? I thought you were coming with Gwen."
"Didn't you hear? She's sick." Harry answered. "She was barely able to apologize before she had to get off. Her dad finished the call and explained she wouldn't be coming tonight."
"Harry I'm sorry to hear that."
"That's life. Sometimes things just don't go your way. You'd better get back to Liz before she thinks you bailed on her."
With that the two friends separated from each other to get back to the dance, but as Peter walked his Spider-Sense went off the charts. Pushing through it he managed to get back to Liz who expressed concern at Peter's apparent pain. As he tried to make sense of what he was feeling the south walls exploded in a wave of black energy. Moving in front of his date, Peter managed to protect her from the flying debris, but his heart cried out in pain when he saw Harry get hit by the energy as was Mr. Li.
As everyone who was able to stand tried to make sense of what was going on there was a great suction that began to pull them towards the source of the explosion. Many students grabbed a hold of whatever they could to try to keep them from the force that held them, but several were still pulled out of the gym into whatever it was. When it stopped, it seemed as if the shadows around them began moving, and taking on a life of their own.
Spider-Sense going crazy, Peter looked at his date. "We need to get everyone out of here. I can't explain it but I just know we're all in danger."
As the teachers who were present tried to keep the students calm the suction came back on, sucking more students towards it. Just as a screaming girl was about to be pulled into the darkness a webbing shot out and caught her. As she was secured, everyone look to see a white-and-black clad hero leap in firing strands of webbing. "Everyone grab a web. It'll keep you from getting sucked in."
As the remaining people obeyed the hero, Peter took the time to duck out and run to the spot where he hid his new suit and web fluid. As he pulled them out from underneath a set of lockers he quickly changed into them and swung outside as if he was coming in. As he landed near Sp/dr, he asked, "What's going on?"
"Weapon detonation. Supposed to generate a black hole, but the energy readings are unlike any I've seen." Peni said from inside her robot. "My guess is they set it at a power level that it should not have been set."
"Can we turn it off?"
"Yes, but we need to find out where the blast originated."
"South side." Zipping over to where it was, Spider-Man himself almost got pulled in. Thankfully he was able to catch himself before he was pulled into the unknown. As he swung through he found some of the students who were pulled out of the gym clinging onto the remains of walls to save themselves. Once he webbed them in place he continued on his way when this massive suction sent him flying.
As he stopped himself from getting pulled forward into what was left of the bus parking lot, he heard a familiar scream. Turning the webhead's eyes widened as he saw it was Joy who was getting pulled forward. Shooting out some webbing he tried to save her from getting pulled in, but the line was cut as soon as it reached her. "No! Joy!"
As she vanished into the blackness, two figures then stepped out. One the spider-themed hero recognized as the Shocker, but he looked different now. Not only was his outfit a mixture of black and white colors, but his gauntlets seemed to have mutated into cannons, and his eyes seemed to be seething black smoke.
The other guy, the one who cut the line, looked like he was coated in black armor. His hands more resembled the claws of a lobster… no, a scorpion because that's what the long thing coming out from his rear was. A tail tipped with a bayonet-style stinger that was now pointed at him. "What's the matter bug? Upset you couldn't save someone?"
"Who the heck are you? And what's wrong with you Shocker? I thought you were more into gold." Spidey tried to quip to calm himself down. "I know people say black and blue's supposed to be the new look, but I didn't think you'd actually try it."
"It's because of Gargan here. He set the Warp Cannon to overdrive thinking it would open a black hole so much faster. As you can see it only gave us an upgrade." Shocker said as he held a cannon up and fired. Leaping out of the way, Spidey found himself slammed down as the tail grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
"I don't know what this substance is, but I feel powerful. Like I can finally live up to the nickname people gave me. Mac Gargan has evolved into something more than human. I am now the Scorpion!" With his new name the maddened human lashed out with his tail again, forcing Spidey to leap out of the way.
Images flashed inside the mind of the hero of the worst moments of his life. The day his parents died, the day Uncle Ben was taken from him by a random thug with a star tattoo, the day when Stark removed him from being a potential Avenger. He felt his rage coursing through him at an unprecedented level, and unbeknownst to him the same black energy which had taken control of the criminals was starting to wrap itself around him.
As Spider-Woman and Sp/dr swooped in, they felt their anger and pain come up as well. Inside her robot, Peni did a quick analysis. "Spider-Woman! I've run an analysis on this substance. It appears to have an abnormal effect on emotions, making a person angry and rage driven. What's more, it seems this black hole of theirs is a portal to another dimension. If we don't close this door there's a ninety-five percent chance that everyone in this school will end up becoming rage zombies."
"This day just keeps getting better." Spider-Woman said. "I'll help Pete take down these goons. You find the machine and try to reverse this." As she swung over to the villains, she focused her attention on the counterpart to the one who annoyed her so many times. "Shocker! I've got a shocking revelation for you!" She said as she drop kicked him.
As he took aim at her, she fired so much webbing at the cannon that it backfired and exploded, burning his hand. As Shocker cried out in pain, that earned Scorpion's attention. With a sadistic grin the villain shot the tail forward and stabbed the superhero in the back. With a cry of pain, the feminine spider hero turned and fired webbing at the villain, but he managed to pump some of the dark matter into her bloodstream.
Her cry of pain did do some good. Peter, who had been wallowing in his own pain and anger, heard the cry of a friend. Then, he remembered the good times he had with those he lost, and those he had. As he began to shake the anger away, he remembered the words that had been spoken to him: "If any has the ability to make a difference in the lives of others, then it is their duty to do so. With great power there must also come great responsibility." He thought he had to be responsible to everyone, but he saw now he had forgotten his first and most important responsibilities: caring for his family and his friends.
Using his webbing to latch onto two points of the opposite wall, Spidey took aim at the Shocker who was now taking aim at Spider-Woman with his remaining cannon. With a slingshot motion the webhead propelled himself so hard into Shocker that the dark helmet broke upon contact with the wall. As the villain slid unconscious, Spidey ran over to his friend. "Gwen? Gwen?"
"Peter?" His friend answered before crying out in pain. "I'm… sorry… I failed you."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said before. You've been trying to make me a better Spider-Man, and I've been a jerk about it."
"I… deserve… it…" with a scream of pain, Peter could see some throbbing along her sides. Then, to his surprise four more arms erupted from her. "Can't save you… can't save myself… always hunted… always the villain… always a monster… be a monster…"
"Stop, Gwen. It wasn't your fault. You won. I won't let you give in to the darkness."
"Too late." Scorpion's words made Peter remember the battle wasn't over. "She's becoming what Shocker and I became." He then jerked to the side as something small hit him. Wasp!
Shaking his head, Peter said, "No. I won't let her darkness take her!" Sliding underneath the claws, Spider-Man webbed the tail and pulled it forward just in time for one of Scorpion's claws to cut it in two. While the villain screamed in pain Peter delivered an uppercut that sent Scorpion flying backwards.
Quickly webbing Scorpion and Shocker to the ground, the webhead turned back to his friend where Wasp was back at human size. "Come on, stay with us. You didn't fail."
"Yes, I did." With another cry, brown fur began appearing on her extra arms.
"This darkness must be causing her to mutate. The longer she lingers on her negative emotions, the faster she changes into a monster." Wasp analyzed.
Putting his hands on Spider-Woman's shoulders, Spider-Man began to tell her, "Listen, Gwen. I am sorry I let you down. If I hadn't been so caught up in my life, I would've realized how much helping meant. You've been so good, teaching me how to web swing, how to make a web grenade, how to tell the difference between someone stealing a car and someone who accidently locked themselves out. But all this time I just focused on me instead of those around me. If there's anyone who doesn't deserve your forgiveness it's me. You may not have been able to save your friend, but you did save me from myself. So stop focusing on your failure and focus on your success."
His words seemed to have some effect because the hairs that were covering her arms stopped, and even began to recede. Pulling up her mask made it seem like she was going to go for a kiss, but then she began to vomit up the black stuff. Peter couldn't tell if that meant he was curing her or not, but he prayed to whatever powers were in the heavens that he was. However, the black material she vomited up began to cover him and Wasp, and the material from the portal increased in intensity.
Then, just as the world was going dark, a light shone from the hole accompanied by inspiration organ music like from a church. From that light came more rays that reached out and drove away the darkness. As they touched Gwen, she cried out in pain, but the arms shrank down until they were no more, leaving her with the two she was supposed to have. The two were also sure they saw the dark matter that Scorpion injected into her get pushed out by this light.
As the light shone brighter the three of them saw something else in the dark hole. It looked like a series of massive webs, but images flashed by. They saw a Spider-Man with claws coming out of his wrists, a Spider-Man with a red spider logo on a black suit, a Spider-Man dressed completely in black with a trench coat that made him seem like a character from a noir film, and other versions of Spider-Man with different designed suits.
"Good lord!" Wasp said. "They go on forever. An infinite multiverse!"
"Got it!" Peni said as a ray of light hit the machine where she was, and the dark matter began falling back into the hole. From it emerged… "Joy?! You're alive! Dress is ruined, but you're alive! And… oh, my heavens. Is that what I think it is?"
"Holy sh-!" Joy's cuss was cut off as there was a big boom as the hole closed, knocking them all forward.
As the police and Damage Control arrived on the scene, the heroes made their escape. As they looked down on the scene, Peni spoke up from the top of Sp/dr's head. "I'm afraid it's not good. Several people are unaccounted for. Sounds like seven people, maybe thirteen, are gone."
Pounding the ledge they were sitting on, a good chunk broke off from Peter's frustration. "If I hadn't tried to take some personal time none of this would've happened."
"Now you're starting to sound like Spider-Man." Gwen said. "There's no way you could've known Kingpin was going to do that. None of us knew he'd try to suck a school into a black hole."
Flipping the cylinder that was the element mimicker, Hope added, "No doubt he was trying to cash in on the parallel dimension craze. Must've figured the feds would pay top dollar to get their hands on such tech."
"So now what? You have what you want? Are you going to go?" The blonde superhero asked the daughter of her friend.
Placing the mimicker into a purse, she answered, "We've come this far into the fight. May as well see it through to the end. Besides, my mom would not be happy if I didn't finish something I started."
"How? We don't even know where Kingpin went." Peter said.
Peni, Gwen, Hope, and even the Sp/dr robot all looked at each other before they gave a knowing grin. "We know someone who does."
I'm sorry if the action in this chapter was lackluster. I was up way past midnight writing this.
I wasn't going to have Scorpion suit up in this story, but as I wrote about ripping a door into a dimension that should not have been accessed the idea of him getting powered up by a dark matter came and it just flowed from there.
I just hope everyone is okay with me creating tension between Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. I was trying to create a low point for them, and then tried to create a situation where he makes up for it by stepping up as Spider-Man. You could say Peter's about to take his true leap of faith soon.
As for some of the students who disappeared, I'm still trying to decide on an exact number. However, I'm strongly considering making Kamala Khan one of the students who will be reported missing. I just need other ideas as to who could've ended up on the missing list. I'm considering having Cindy Moon be another student who vanished as a result of Kingpin's actions. If you have any other ideas please let me know either in a private message or in the reviews.
Hopefully I'll be able to get the story done in one more chapter. For now, I need to get to bed. I probably ruined my plans for tomorrow
