The Story's Shadow: I like to explore the character's relationships with a person who had a deep impact on their lives. Gwen has her reasons for which you'll see here soon.

Noble Six: Thanks.

Guest: The Inheritors maybe mentioned at some point and there may be a chance for other Spider-Men and The Avengers will be seen again soon.

Earth-45 Gwen's Hideout

A few minutes passed since Gwen Stacey had rejected the offer from Drifter to join them in saving the Multiverse. They were surprised at this but could understand the reasons why.

They were still in the living area, figuring out what to do yet for their next move. Drifter was currently pacing back and forth, not saying a word as he thought about the situation he was in. Normally he'd be annoyed, downright at the fact that a spider would reject his offer as the Multiverse is in grave danger, but instead, he was being calm and thought things out.

The rest of the spiders were either sat down on the couch or standing still as they all didn't know how to react to Gwen's answer, except for a certain spider.

"So…we are leaving yet?" Steam asked as lazily sat on a couch.

"Steam, we can't just leave" Spider-Man stated.

"Why not?" Steam asked in annoyance as he threw his hands in the air. "If she doesn't want to come, that's her problem."

"I hate to agree with Steam, but he's right," Sheriff-Spider said, causing Spidey to look at his cowboy counterpart with shock.

"What?" Spidey exclaimed.

"We can't exactly force her to do something she ain't willing to due," Sheriff-Spider said. "She does have a life here and may not want to get caught up in all this madness,"

"I guess..." Spidey said as he did understand where he was coming from. "But, I think she's more than capable of helping us out, she did back at the bank," Peter said for example. "It's like Drift says, Dark Web is after all of us," Spidey said as he gestured to the rest of the spiders. "It's better we stick together then to fall apart,"

"That's nice," Steam commented as he checked the tip of his spider talons. "Where'd you get that from? a motivational poster?" Steam sarcastically remarked.

Sheriff-Spider sighed at Steams rudeness but was getting used to it. He then turned to Drifter who was still pacing around the room. "Drift" Sheriff spoke to. "What's our plan?"

The veteran spider didn't say anything as he gave a brief look before turning ahead and continued to think things through as he wasn't quite sure how to go through things now that Gwen had rejected the invitation.

"I mean I assume you have a plan for whenever a spider didn't want to come along a trip to stop a mad man," Sheriff-Spider joked without a hint of humour in his voice.

Drifter stopped his pacing and just stood in the middle of the room. Drifter sighed. "I understand why she doesn't want to come with but we can't just let her go, we need her if we're going to stop Dark Web,"

"Why?" Steam questions. "It's like you said, the multiverse is infinite. So can't we travel to find another Spider-Woman who would say yes?"

"That would take too much time to find an exact version of her" Drifter explained. "Besides, my device handpicks spiders who are best suited to take on Dark Web and she's one of them, We can't just go"

"Well, she doesn't seem that keen on coming with," Punk pointed out.

"Well, then we'll try to convince her," Spider-Man said as he stood up.

"How?" Sheriff asked.

Peter then tried to think of something that would convince the blonde to come along and help them. "I don't know...but we can't just leave as Drifter said,

"Yeah, because he's such a good source of knowing people" Steam remarked.

"As opposed to you?" Sheriff-Spider retorted as Steam gave The Sheriff the middle finger.

"I agree with Pete" Hobbie spoke up in agreement with his fellow spider. "We should try and give her good reasons why she could come with, hell, she could even bring her drums and she and I could perform the most kickass band ever in the Multiverse!" Hobbie said with excitement in his voice.

Peter, Drifter, Steam and Sheriff gave the rock spider a deadpan look while Drone's look was more confused if anything. "What?" Hobbie asked.

"Okay, I agreed with you up till the whole band thing," Peter said. He then placed his hand on his forehead and thought. "Okay, we'll keep thinking what to do," Peter said. "Drifter usually the best when dealing with this"

"I don't see how that is possible seeing as he isn't here anymore," Spider-Drone said.

Peter looked up in confusion and turned to see not Drifter pacing back and forth but gone from the room. "Wh...Where'd he go?" Peter asked as and the other spiders, expect for Spider-Drone were also confused.

"I believe he went up to the rooftop," Drone explained as he gestured that the hatch the leads to the roof was now opened.

"Well, looks like he's gonna do the convincing himself," Sheriff-Spider commented.

"Should we go up there as well?" Peter asked.

"I'd let him be, kid," Sheriff said. "Something tells me that he has things handled."

Rooftop

Gwen was sitting casually on the edge of the roof after leaving the spiders after rejecting their offer to come with them to travel to the multiverse. She regretted her choice to do so but she had her reasons why she couldn't help them.

"It's not that I don't want to, I'm willing to help out whoever is in trouble, it's just...too much, considering" Gwen mused as she stared into the night sky

The young blonde's mind was wandering off to other things, she was barely getting used to the fact that not only she was seeing her old boyfriend again, but that they were at least three other versions of him as well as a robot and another familiar looking person she knew.

"Pete, I wish you were here and tell me what I should do, you were always the smart one in the relationship," Gwen mused as she gave a brief chuckle before looking sad again.

She then heard the sounds of footsteps coming near hear. She turned to see one of the other spiders, the one called Drifter as he walked beside her. "Mind if I sit with you?" Drifter asked.

"Um..." Gwen hummed in an unsure tone before giving an answer. "Sure, go ahead" Gwen offered as Drifter sat along with her, joining her as they both watched the stars at night.

"Nice, isn't it?" Gwen said, gesturing to the stars above.

Drifter then took the chance to look at the stars for himself and agreed that they were a sight to see. His long travels to the Multiverse prevented him to just stop and see the sights and beauty of what another world, different to his own could offer.

"Yeah..." Drifter said simply, preferring just for a simple response. "It is nice to see something simple then seeing the extraordinary"

Gwen smiled at Drifter and then noticed his outfit was very different, it didn't look like he had anything to do with the spider name. The only indicator was the mask he held in his hands which had lenses similar to hers.

"So...why aren't you like the others?" Gwen asked.

Drifter looked at Gwen with confusion. "What do you mean?" Drifter asked.

"Well, it's just that they're all dressed in spandex like me, except for the robot," Gwen said as Drifter nodded in response. "Except for you, you're dressed in like I don't know, hunting gear or something?"

Drifter sighed in response. "I did my own Spider-Man suit for a while," Drifter said. "But after a while from fighting Dark Web, I decided to abandon it for a more quieter design,"

"I can see," Gwen said. "You clearly look like a person who doesn't want attention," Gwen joked as Drifter gave a little smile at this.

Gwen then thought to ask him something else. "So, the others mentioned their world," Gwen pointed out, causing Drifter to lose his smile as he stared off into the distance. "Why didn't you mention yours?" Gwen asked.

"Honestly, there's not that much to tell," Drifter said. "It was just like as any world, until...Dark Web came," Drifter said, feeling dread anytime he mentions his name.

Gwen was interested but worried to hear what this spider was like. "You've seen before, right?" Gwen asked. "What's he like?"

A few seconds of silence passed as Drifter came around to answer the question. "He's...dangerous..." Drifter answered. "No one knows where he came from or who he is, he just suddenly came into my world and started to kill off any spider and any hero who was in his path. I managed to survive his slaughter and decided to leave my world to stop him from killing any more like him or me,"

Gwen looked down when she heard this and understood where he was coming from. "I understand," Gwen said. "I get why you and the others have to fight him. But I just don't get why you need me," Gwen said.

"Gwen, you have skills and abilities that are keen to beat Dark Web." Drifter said softly. "You could be saving a whole Multiverse of people. You can make sure that they don't have to suffer from the madman,"

Gwen listened and a part of her wanted to stand up and come along with the rest of the spiders but there was still a feeling of dread within her that made her refuse the offer. "I know you want me to come with you, but I...don't feel like I should be there with you. I'm just not...enough" Gwen said in a sad tone.

Drifter stared at Gwen for a few seconds before speaking again, something that hits a cord to her. "You didn't tell us the whole story..." Drifter suddenly said, surprising Gwen in response.

"What?" Gwen said in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Gwen asked.

"I could tell that there were more to that story that you're letting on," Drifter said as Gwen looked down again in sadness. "And I can tell that the rest of it is painful because it involves someone you cared for,"

Gwen sighed in response at this, not even denying it for a single moment. "Guess I'm not as transparent as I thought," Gwen said as Drifter looked with concern.

"Okay, I'll tell..." Gwen sighed as she prepared to tell Drifter the full story. "Before I got my powers, I was just a normal student, didn't think anything big would happen. Until, I met someone, someone who understood me and helped me to reach higher goals..."

"I have a feeling I know who this is," Drifter said.

"Bingo..." Gwen said. "Pete was, really important to me," Gwen said in a fond tone. "After I got my powers, he wanted to feel the same I did, I just wished I could have told him who I was before..." Gwen stopped herself as she had a painful feeling in her chest.

"Before..." Drifter said in a soft tone.

Gwen then found the courage to speak again. "Before it was too late. He tried, to replicate the same accident that happened to me and it ended up...going wrong" Gwen said as she dreaded the next words she was about to speak. "He ended up becoming this, Lizard thing and went feral," Gwen said as Drifter was slightly stunned to hear this.

"I brought him down and...I ended up killing him," Gwen finished, a sad tone dripping from her voice. "His death was...my fault, I just wished, I could have done something different,"

A few seconds of silence passed as Gwen finished her story. "Gwen...I know you probably heard it before but, I know you feel..."

"Really..." Gwen said as she wiped a few tears away, "How?"

Drifter sighed as he gave his response. "In most common worlds, Gwen Stacy dies and Peter Parker survives," Drifter said. "It doesn't seem to be the case with the others, but happens,"

"Did...Did it happen to you?" Gwen asked.

"...In a sense, yes" Drifter replied as he looked her in the eyes. "Gwen, I understand your pain. You may feel guilty of what happened to your worlds Peter and trust me, it does hurt for a while..." Drifter said as Gwen listened.

"But I know you, and I know that your strong enough to use that pain and turn it into strength and use it to help people," Drifter said to the blonde. "And you can use it now to help us," Drifter said.

"How can you be so sure?" Gwen asked.

"Because for the time I knew you, you were one of the strongest people I knew and you could handle any situation that comes and you face it without a hint of hesitation within you," Drifter spoke, making Gwen feel happy from Drifter's words. "And if you're the same Gwen I knew, you'd feel the same way...Am I right?" Drifter asked.

Gwen Stacey, the Spider-Woman of Earth 45, stood up in response with a confident face on her as she gave one last look to her mask before facing towards Drifter. "Hell yes..." Gwen responded.

Drifter stood up beside Spider-Woman. "So you're coming with?"

"Yeah," Gwen answered. "If the Multiverse is in danger because of this Dark Web, then I'm gonna make sure that he doesn't take any more people"

"Good," Drifter said with a grin. "Let's go back to the others," Drifter said as he walked back to the latch.

"Right behind you, Pete," Gwen said as she firmly held her mask in hand and followed Drifter to join him and the rest of their spiders to stop Dark Web.

Thanks for reading this chapter of Dimension Wars.

I know that this was short, but I figured it'd be fine, considering that most chapters don't always need to be too long.

The next chapter will be the final chapter of this story as I finish up the first part of Dimension Wars. I hope you are there to see the last chapter as I try and finish things for the first part of Dimension Wars.

So next chapter, The Spiders will regroup, The Avengers and New Warriors will converse on what their next move is and Dark Web will tighten his control over the web.