"Gwen, what are you worried about now," Andi groaned, typing away on her laptop as she tried to work on her project. Gwen had been changing the lock on their dorm door- something Andi was positive would get them in deep trouble with the RAs if they ever found out.
"I'm making sure no bad guys or spies break into our dorm! You should be happy," Gwen scoffed, tightening screws as she spoke.
"Gwen, any bad guys that can't get past a locked door probably aren't that much of a problem for us anyway," Andi sighed, feeding Mania a square of chocolate as she spoke. The downtime had been amazing and she almost wished Gwen could be wrong about potential new bad guys to fight.
"You're right but you never know with these things! The writers created a whole new alien race just for my comic book. Making one bad guy with a weird power set just to capitalize on our weaknesses wouldn't be a surprise." Gwen finished tightening the screws and gave the outside doorknob a hard yank as she tested its hold.
"And what exactly are our weaknesses," Andi asked, feigning curiosity as she hoped she could keep Gwen talking long enough she could finish her report.
"Um… well Mania's still weak to sonic attacks I guess. And Spider-Man proves all the time that you can punch a symbiote into submission if you're strong enough-"
"Spider-Man punched Venom into submission. She's not Venom," Andi corrected, petting Mania's cheek as the symbiote hissed angrily at Gwen.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, I'm always limited by what the writers will allow me to do. They took away my powers completely when I was with the West Coast Avengers," she grumbled. Andi was used to her being peeved about the time she'd spent with the WCA. She made it clear she wasn't too happy with how she'd been 'written' back then. She closed the door behind her and locked it, testing it to ensure it would hold.
"This is our lair! It's gotta be secure. We can't just have anybody walking in here, they could be dangerous." The doorknob jiggled for a moment and the door opened, Himawari happily strolling into the dorm.
"Alright, that only happened for comedic effect," Gwen hissed, running back to the door to inspect the lock.
"What are you guys up to," Himawari asked as she eyed Andi who was muffling her laugh behind her hand.
"Gwen's worried that three beautiful girls sharing a dorm is too good of an opportunity for some bad guy to pass up. She thinks we're gonna get attacked or something," Andi said dramatically, running her hands along her body suggestively as she spoke. Himawari laughed, her eyes lingering only a little longer than normal.
"Well, you two don't have to worry, you've got a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent as a roommate," she said confidently.
"Hey, how many highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents does it take to restrain a senior citizen with a frisbee in an elevator," Gwen asked curiously.
"Huh?"
"Right, wrong continuity. Never mind!"
"Don't listen to her Himawari, she's just mad her new lock doesn't work," Andi teased, patting the bed beside her for her roommate to come join her.
"Anyway, what's going on with you? We barely ever get to talk. You going home for Thanksgiving?" Most of the students would be home for break, but that just meant more fun for whatever students that stayed behind.
"No, uh… don't really have much family here," Himawari responded, sitting on Andi's bunk, kicking off her shoes and hugging her knees to her chest.
"Oh. Well, what ever happened with that date you went on," Andi offered, trying to get the conversation on anything other than Gwen's terrible construction skills.
"Yeah, I'm still super jealous by the way," Gwen reminded her.
"I don't wanna talk about that," Himawari sighed, her voice wavering as she spoke. Andi still wasn't too well versed on the whole 'feelings' thing, but she knew her friend wasn't often one to be sad.
"If she broke your heart we can go beat her up for you. In our Halloween costumes! She'd think she got beat up by superheroes," Gwen laughed, tightening the last screw of the lock before testing the knob again.
"I really doubt either of you could win that fight, but thanks for the offer," Himawari sighed, reaching for her phone for a moment before deciding against it.
"You two are pretty close, right," Himawari asked Andi softly, not wanting Gwen to hear their conversation. She looked worried and uncomfortable.
"Uh, yeah, usually," Andi replied. She hadn't minded the whole fake dating lie they'd wrapped themselves in to keep Himawari from suspecting them of doing anything heroic, but ever since her meeting with that future version of Gwen, the whole idea of dating Gwen at all made her skin crawl.
"Would you lie to her? Like, if she'd only met one part of you, but you didn't want to tell her about your whole life. Would you tell her the truth even if it meant she'd leave you," Himawari asked, her voice wavering as she spoke.
"Um… If you really like this girl you should probably be as honest as you can with her… did… did you not tell her about your internship or something," Andi asked curiously. She hadn't exactly figured out Coach was a superhero by accident after all, so she knew how difficult it was to keep secrets like that hidden.
"Yes! I mean, kinda? Look, you know some things are… classified. I can't talk to you guys about most things but… I don't know, I thought I really liked her..."
"You guys do know I can read your speech bubbles even if you're whispering, right," Gwen asked pointedly as she closed and then opened the door, testing to ensure the lock wouldn't fail a second time.
"I was hoping you wouldn't be weird about it," Andi responded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Listen up, Himawari, lying to your significant other only opens you up for terrible tropes down the road. Any little lie could really hurt them in ways you weren't expecting. You don't tell them about your internship and next thing you know you're interning for Doc Ock and he ends up making a device that-"
"Gwen!" Andi knew wherever her friend was going with that hypothetical wasn't very hypothetical.
"My point is, you gotta let them know. You think Spider-Man's girlfriend doesn't know he's Spider-Man? Or Miss Marvel's friends? Come on, you've gotta be open with them as often as you can or else no one's gonna have a reason to ship you two." Gwen closed the door behind herself, confident that the lock would hold this time as she moved to sit on Andi's bunk with her roommates.
"Ship," Himawari asked confusedly.
"Gwen's not an expert in making sense," Andi explained. It'd been a few weeks since their fight, and Andi had spent that time doing her best to translate Gwenspeak into regular English for their roommate. She finally understood why Gwen talked the way she did and she felt closer to her, but was a little worried for Himawari since there was no real way she could understand.
"TL;DR: tell the truth now or regret the lie later. Trust me, I can smell a bad trope brewing a mile away," Gwen explained, stretching her legs out as she kicked her feet. "That's why Andi tells me everything," Gwen said with a smirk. Andi couldn't meet her eyes, her stomach churning as she remembered what that future version of Gwen had told her.
"You wouldn't want to ruin your only shot at some guaranteed happiness, would you?"
Andi instead watched as the door fell off its hinges, falling into the room with a loud thud. Himawari stifled a laugh behind her hands as Gwen ran back to the door, desperately trying to fix it.
"Look, this is only happening for a tension break, I know I assembled the lock right- I never even touched the hinges," Gwen whined, struggling to lift the door back into its frame. Andi smiled, placing a hand on Himawari's shoulder.
"I'm starving. Let's help Gwen out with the door and then go get some dinner."
"And then I turned Deadpool on the bad guys! It was one of my defining moments! I sacrificed myself to get back at the villains. I was practically a cooler superhero than Captain America," Gwen explained, watching as Andi read through the third issue of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, trying not to let the events in the book phase her too much.
"But then… none of this ever actually happened," Andi asked, doing her best to follow Gwen's weird comic book rules.
"Yeah it's… it was an alternate universe. So nothing that happened in it happened in this universe," Gwen explained.
"So why do you remember it?" Andi asked confusedly.
"Oh, I read comics all the time to try and see if I'm featured in anything!"
"So you weren't actually there! It was an alternate version of you that did these things, not you!" Andi was asking very specific questions. She needed to know if there was a way to stop the future from happening.
"I guess? I still have a faint impression though. Like, I remember Wade stabbing me. I remember getting possessed by the Poisons during that weird Venom arc too."
"But it wasn't you. You're still here. You're still Gwen even if all those other Gwens died or went evil or-"
"Yes, Andi, I'm still me. I'm never gonna stop being me, and I don't plan on dying anytime soon." Gwen sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why are you so worried about this?"
"I just… wanted to get to know you better. At least as well as you know me," she mumbled, setting the comic down on her lap as she tried to keep a neutral expression. She really didn't want Gwen to suspect what'd happened just a couple days ago.
"Aw, that's sweet. Well, I'm here for answers," she offered happily.
"… that Gwen that I saw drumming… was that another alternate version of you?"
"Ugh not those answers," Gwen groaned, sliding down on the park bench until she was barely seated on it. She was always so animated no matter the emotion- it'd be funny if Andi weren't so worried.
"Why don't you want to talk about that? You made it sound like I… like I let something out."
"You didn't let anything out, and it's not really your fault- we probably would've had to deal with these tropes anyway… You just did some foreshadowing which means that we're definitely gonna have to deal with it at some point," Gwen sighed, looking down at her shoes.
"Gwen. Can you talk to me? Please? If we're in danger-"
"We're not in danger. Ugh. Okay. We should probably be in The Gutter for this conversation," Gwen reached her hand out for Andi to take it. For once, Andi didn't hesitate, letting her friend drag her out of the park and into her weird nowhere space. She knew the rule- only look where Gwen wanted her to look. Finding out any other information might unravel the universe- or so Gwen warned. She never would've taken that seriously before her meeting with future Gwen.
"Not future Gwen. Not our future."
"Okay. I figure we should start at the beginning," Gwen said, dozens of comics zooming past them before one finally stopped in front of her and opened itself. "This is Gwen Stacy. Her very first appearance in the Marvel Universe was The Amazing Spider-Man #31."
"She looks-"
"Just like me. I know. But she's not. You hear that readers? I'M NOT GWEN STACY!"
"Is she your sister or-"
"She's Spider-Man's first girlfriend. His best relationship ever if you don't count him with Shadowcat."
"Spider-Man dated Shadowcat?"
"For like a month in the Ultimates universe. Anyway, Gwen didn't have any powers. And…" Gwen sighed as she flipped to The Amazing Spider-Man #121, the panel showing Spider-Man crying in shock as he held the broken body of his girlfriend. Andi tried to hide her look of shock, in complete disbelief that Spider-Man wasn't able to save someone so important to him. "Gwen Stacy's death is one of the most important moments in Spider-Man's life- hell, it's one of the most important moments in all of comic book history! It ended the silver age of comics! It always sucks whenever female characters get fridged, but this was one of the few times where the growth created a genuinely more relatable character. Spider-Man has been one of the most popular fictional characters of all time ever since."
"But she comes back though, right? You said we always come back if we die," Andi offered. That'd been something that'd deeply unsettled her when Gwen had first said it, but it was something she couldn't argue. So many heroes died so frequently just to return after a couple of years. No one knew how they did it.
"Gwen doesn't come back. She gets cloned, she gets AU versions, but Gwen-616 never gets resurrected. Gwen's death was so formative for Spider-Man she dies over and over again, in comics, shows, books and movies, every time they tell the story. She dies and she stays dead."
"I don't get it. What does that have to do with you?"
"That's where the multiverse comes in. Well, the Spider-verse, really." With a wave of her hand, hundreds of comics scrolled past until Edge of Spider-Verse #2 opened up, a woman wearing a white, black and lilac costume complete with a hood and mask was talking to Spider-Man. "That's Spider-Woman or whatever she's going by these days. Otherwise known as Gwen Stacy."
"Wait, that's not the right costume-"
"Not our Spider-Woman. This Spider-Woman is from earth-65. In her universe, she was forced to kill her best friend- a friend who also exists in this universe. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Gwen was trying her hardest not to give away Spider-Man's secret identity, but she needed to make sure Andi was following along.
"Whoever her friend was… that's our universe's Spider-Man?" Andi looked to Gwen for confirmation, and Gwen could only nod.
"Home stretch. Now that Gwen was… back- or at least a version of her- comic book artists started playing around with ideas. They wanted Gwen everywhere, and everyone wanted to see what she could do. They gave her her own comic, they put her in shows and movies again! Spider-Gwen or Ghost-Spider or Spider-Woman or whatever the hell people wanted to call her was back and she was everywhere! And then there was an… experiment." Gwen turned to Deadpool's Secret Wars #2, tapping the cover a few times until a familiar scene came up.
"I saw this pic of you while I was trying to get us out of the Gutter the first time. What is this," Andi asked, looking at the variant cover with confusion.
"It's me. The first instance of me ever in this universe. I call her Gwen-Prime."
"So you're…"
"I'm real. I mean, I'm from earth-TRN565. It's not exactly earth-1218, but it's as real as can be to me. But I also probably wouldn't be able to exist in this universe without Gwen Stacy…"
"But why were you trying to hide her? If Gwen-65 is from a different universe then you'll never meet," Andi pointed out.
"Andi, you were dragged into an entirely different universe to fight weird aliens."
"Touche."
"If Gwen Stacy ever sees me… considering all of her dimension hopping, she'll think I'm like her… That I'm a Stacy. And considering all the multiversal weirdness that she's been through and my powers, we might completely wreck a few realities by accident."
"So we stay out of her universe. Our universe's Gwen is dead so you don't have to worry. We'll be fine."
"I hope so, Andi. But ever since you opened the comic, I've just been keeping lookout. If we avoid a character arc for too long, it'll end up coming to us. And pissing the writers off is never a good idea." Gwen grabbed Andi's hand and exited the Gutter. Andi hadn't meant to take a look back- she knew th3 risks! But a flash of black and reddish-purple caught her eye. She turned to see a black-lipped smile on a face that looked way too excited to see her. Gwen didn't stop pulling, and Andi was out of the Gutter before she could say a word.
"What are we doing here," Andi sighed. She had homework to finish and sleep to catch up on. The last thing she needed was to be dragged out to some silly frat party. Full of derivative music, cheap beer, and loud twenty-something year old coeds dancing off rhythm as they waited for their flavor of the night to whisk them off the dance floor. Definitely not Andi's kind of scene.
"We're taking a break, Andi. We get one weekend to ourselves. The writers will probably use this issue to let the audience breathe for a bit before things pick up again," Gwen explained, the bounce in her step excitedly picking up as the music changed to a popular Dazzler song. "Come on, even Himawari's having fun." Gwen waved at their roommate who was currently working on her fourth beer pong victory.
"Gwen you know I can't drink," Andi reminded her, her symbiote currently in the shape of a spiked corset and fishnet tights. Liquor just had no effect on her while Mania was around.
"Don't worry about that, I made sure to stock up on some Asgardian mead for you. If this stuff can get Thor drunk it's definitely enough for you," Gwen teased, offering Andi an unmarked bottle from her shark backpack that was surprisingly cool to the touch. "I'm gonna be completely honest. I might've had a sip already. And this music is really fun to dance to," Gwen shouted excitedly, jumping up onto the nearest table and dancing to loud cheers and whistles from the crowd below. Andi looked to Himawari helplessly, hoping her roommate would help her get Gwen down. Instead, the girl gave her an excited thumbs up as she sank another shot into her opponent's final cup, earning another round of cheers from the audience at her table. Andi looked back to Gwen, her face was more flushed than usual and it added a warm glow to her cheeks and jaw. She was wearing a purple cap and a black crop top that Andi was certain must've come from her own wardrobe. Her denim short shorts were cut just low enough that campus security couldn't escort her back to her dorm and showed off her unbelievable legs for the crowd of cheering onlookers, and a pair of purple knee high socks completed her party look. Andi had to admit… she looked good. And the crowd clearly agreed. Two guys climbed onto the table with Gwen and sandwiched her friend, who only laughed and followed their suggestive dance steps.
Andi bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. She could feel her eyes glowing red as she choked down the smoke and fire that threatened to puff up from her throat. A soft cough cleared her mind before she let the thought run any further.
"Jealoussssy issssn't the mossssst tasssssty emotion," Mania hissed, her corset quivering against her skin.
"Jealous? Me? Pfft, I'm not-"
"Sssspare me," Mania said lazily, more interested in the taste of the alcohol Andi held in her hand than her host's inability to face her own feelings. Andi growled before uncorking the bottle. She pressed it to her lips, closed her eyes, and drank down every last drop, not even finding time to enjoy the thick, sweet taste that filled her mouth. The bottle empty she threw it to the ground, shattering it as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and jumped up onto the table, knocking one of the boys to the side and glaring at the other until he got the message and followed his friend off the table.
"You know, just because we came here together doesn't mean we have to spend the whole night together," Gwen shouted over the music, a smug smirk on her face as the song finished, replaced by one with a faster beat and dirtier lyrics.
"Shut up and dance." Andi took Gwen's hand and spun her around, holding her friend's waist from behind as the smaller woman bent over, her cap barely holding on as she smiled back at her roommate. The crowd cheered and whistled even louder as Gwen danced around Andi, practically daring her to impress them with some dance moves of her own. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, Mania all but laughing in her head as she raised her arms to the music.
Andi had never been much of a dancer, but with an alien symbiote elevating her sense of balance, reflexes and flexibility to superhuman heights, it was impossible to be bad at it, even as the Asgardian alcohol started working its magic on her. She swung her hips and danced to the thumping rhythm, the entire crowd cheering them both on as she practically used Gwen as a prop for her own dance moves. Her friend was all smiles, wrapping around her body whenever the song called for it just to be lifted by impossibly strong arms. The song reached its climax, loud guitar riffs and crashing drums filled the frat house, hardly louder than the instigating cheers that came from the crowd. Gwen spun in Andi's arms, playfully looking up into her friend's purple gaze.
Andi knew it wasn't the mead, it wasn't Mania's influence, it wasn't even the Hell-Mark. She knew this was what she wanted before her lips had even met Gwen's. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, hands on Gwen's waist dragging the smaller woman flush against her own body.
"You wouldn't want to ruin your only shot at some guaranteed happiness, would you?"
The kiss was electric. It was real. It was everything Andi had been hoping it wouldn't be and more. It felt so right she could see stars exploding behind her closed eyes. It felt so right, she nearly melted when Gwen's hand came up to caress her cheek, roaring cheers and scandalous whistles coming from the crowd below them. It felt so right Mania drunkenly bristled against her skin…
"Wait…"
The earth-shattering crash nearly deafened her as the building rumbled on its foundation. The table they were standing on tipped over, and Mania was still too busy slurping on the booze in her blood to protect her. She wrapped her arms around Gwen, doing her best to protect her friend from the fall. She hit her head on the floor and the last thing she saw was Gwen's bright blue eyes looking down on her as she jumped over her, shielding her from the blast.
Andi woke up to another crash, jumping back to consciousness in Gwen's arms.
"Get up we've gotta move," Gwen hissed, gun trained on a target hidden in beyond the smoke and rubble.
"Wha's ha'nen," Andi asked groggily, unsure if her tongue was heavy from a head injury or the alcohol still in her system.
"No idea. I'm guessing Captain Marvel- maybe Baby Marvel too- are fighting someone strong enough to take a 100 ton punch to the face." Her theory was proven correct as Captain Marvel crashed at their feet, leaving a crater where she'd hit the ground. The woman shook herself off, wiping blood from her nose as she glanced back at Gwen and Andi.
"Put the gun down and get out of here, kid. We've got this," Carol warned with a nod before throwing herself back into the fight with a glowing fist.
"We can help," Andi groaned, Mania sluggishly crawling over her skin as she tried to suit up.
"Nuh uh! Nope! We're leaving," Gwen hissed, harshly squeezing her friend's shoulder.
"But-"
"No! We get spotted on campus, people are gonna start putting two and two together. Not that I care about secret identities," Gwen reminded her, helping her friend to her feet. "We take Cap's advice and get out of here." Gwen grabbed Andi's hand and pulled her through the rubble of the destroyed building, trying to make their way out. They'd gone less than ten feet before Andi shoved her friend to the ground, the body of a young girl with impossibly long arms and legs sailed through the air right where their heads had been just a moment ago.
"It was Miss Marvel! That's a relief I was scared Cap was fighting Mr Fantastic," Gwen sighed in relief as they continued to crawl towards the exit. Another ten feet before a seismic boom knocked them off their hands and knees, a loud roaring echoing through the entire campus.
"Stand down Ross," Carol shouted, a glowing fist hitting the Red Hulk in the stomach before she followed up with a flying knee to the jaw. The impact sounded like a thunder clap and knocked the red giant back into Miss Marvel, who stretched an arm out to tangle his ankles, tripping him up and knocking him on his ass. "Last chance, Ross. Give up before this gets ugly," Captain Marvel warned, adjusting her gauntlets as her fists glowed with golden energy. Red Hulk spat a tooth from his mouth and grinned maliciously, looking from Captain to Miss Marvel.
"You're goin' soft, Danvers… Bringing a kid to this fight? It's almost like you want me to hurt someone," the man got to his feet, rocks and rubble pulverized to dust under him. He grabbed one of the larger pieces of rubble- a chunk of the roof easily measuring in the tons- and tossed it at the women like an oversized baseball. Captain Marvel ducked under it as Miss Marvel shifted her noodle body to the side. Unfortunately neither Gwen nor Andi were in a position to do the same.
"Fuck!" Andi hissed, her sluggish reflexes hardly giving her the time to connect to her link with Mania. She tried to get the symbiote to envelop her, strengthening her arms and back the way she'd done hundreds of times since they'd bonded, but the black goop merely writhed against her skin, unable to take any real shape under the influence of the Asgardian mead. Andi instead moved to protect Gwen, bracing herself for an impact that would certainly kill them both. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth, expecting to be crushed...
But it never came.
She opened her eyes, familiar blue scales catching the light in the room and shining green in their iridescence. MonStar had leaped in front of them and caught the boulder before it'd crushed them. Her arms shook with the strain, legs and thighs set perfectly under her body to deal with the enormous weight of the projectile. With a look back at Andi and Gwen, she motioned with her tail towards the exit, now only a dozen feet away.
"Looks like you dropped something," MonStar shouted, tossing the rock back with as much force as she could muster, hitting Red Hulk square in the shoulder and knocking him to his knees.
"What are you doing here," Captain Marvel growled, her eyes lighting up with recognition behind her mask.
"Aw, don't be like that, Captain. I even saved the civilians for you," MonStar condescended, grabbing Gwen and Andi by their tops and all but throwing them out of the frat house.
"Now are we gonna put him down before he gets back up or did you two need the exercise or something," MonStar shouted, falling into place between the two heroes.
Andi had to pull Gwen away from the scene by her wrist, practically dragging her roommate away from the building. "Gwen let's go," Andi hissed, tempted to use Mania to help drag her friend away.
"How did she get here so fast? The Marvels make sense- they were already fighting Rulk, but MonStar? Cap didn't even know she was around." Gwen mumbled, looking back over her shoulder as green flames collided with a wall of red fire, the fight heating up in more ways than one.
"We can talk about that later," Andi shouted.
"Where's Himawari!" Gwen dug her heels into the dirt, refusing to go any further.
"She was closer to the exit before the fight! She probably-"
"Called her girlfriend for help." Gwen finally let Andi drag her away, glaring back at the frat house as the roof collapsed in a thunderclap of rubble.