Stacy Family Residence
Saturday - April 12th, 6:40pm
After spending the evening struggling to keep her body from sticking to whatever she touched, and cleaning the bathroom of the webbing she produced, Gwen stayed in her room a paranoid mess from the new changes her body developed.
She put on a hoodie to hide her muscles and sat on the bed with light indications of eye grooves, and her hair was messier than usual.
Her right eye twitches every other second as her head was constantly alarming her of her surroundings, particularly all the noise from outside; a car drives by, her eye twitches; the window blinds gently rattle in the breeze, her eye twitches.
Gwen kept her hands elevated above her lap, careful not to touch anything so that they didn't stick to anything.
'…I'm fine… I'm fine… I'm fine… I'm fine.' She constantly repeats to herself in a desperate attempt to keep herself from freaking out. '…Fine… Fine… Fine… Yep. Everything is fine. It's almost boring how fine everything is today.'
Ding! The doorbell rang.
"AH!" Gwen jumped at the ring, but the moment of her outburst she quickly threw her hand over her mouth worried her parents probably heard her.
She tried pulling her hand away from her mouth only to find that her hand was now sticking to the lower half of her face.
She tried pulling away and yet her hand was completely stuck to her face.
"Gweeen! Peter's here!" Her mother called from downstairs.
Gwen paused at the news and for a moment she relaxed. "…Peter?" She repeats and her hand unstuck from her face. "Oh, thank god." She exhales calmly now that the issue solved itself before she left the room.
She got up from the bed and carefully makes her way to the stairs. She makes it halfway down and stops once she sees that her fancy dressed parents and Peter already gathered in the dining room.
"Hey, hon. You just waking up from a nap?" Her dad inquired as he took notice of her bedhead and hollow eyes.
"…Yep! A nap! That's it. That's what it was. A nap. I just woke up from a nap. Heh." Gwen plainly replied with a shaky smirk.
Her parents and Peter quietly look on as Gwen awkwardly stood there.
"Oookay. Well, we still have some leftovers from last night. So, please, help yourselves." Her mom explained.
"We should be back by 12." Her dad followed up while checking his watch for the time. "Have a good time you two, but not too much of a good time." Her dad directed his eyes at Peter with a squint.
Peter noticed the look and waves his hand dismiss the notion of getting physical with Gwen. "O-Of course, sir!"
"Good boy."
Gwen's mom goes over to her husband and wraps her arm around his. "Pay George no mind, Peter. He's just playing with you." She insists with a smile.
Despite Peter's attempts to take her word for it Gwen's dad was looking at him with a menacing stare.
When Gwen's mom looks up to him, George looks back at her with a smile - feigning playfulness.
Confirming his smile she looks back at the kids, however George goes back to staring down Peter with that intimidating dad look.
After their goodbyes the adults leave to make their reservations.
Once they were gone Peter exhales. "Mr. Stacy gets more intimidating each time I see him. So, Gwen, what do you want to do fir-" Just as Peter goes to face Gwen he was immediately grabbed by the shoulders and shaken.
"Peter! Something's horribly wrong with me and I need help!"
"PleAsE sToP ShAKinG MeEeEeE!"
Realizing what she was doing in her panic she stops. "Oh. Sorry." She moved her hands from his shoulders, surprised they didn't stick to him.
Once Gwen stopped Peter rotates his neck. "Jeez. Why'd you shake so hard?"
"I didn't."
"Uuuuuh, yes. Yes you did. As much as I hate to admit it I'm still built like a twig so it wouldn't take much to break me in half." Peter chuckles, joking with his friend.
Gwen was a twig too, or at least she was yesterday, so hearing that she was roughing him up came as a surprise.
She turned away from Peter and looks down to her palms, wondering if she didn't have control over her own strength, and considering how she beefed up it wasn't hard to believe that was a possibility.
The idea of hurting her loved ones from something she couldn't control was a scary thought which caused her troubled reaction.
"You okay, Gwen?"
"No. Peter, I- I don't know what's wrong with me."
"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with you."
"There is." She turned back to him with a look of certainty. "My body. My body is changing. I completely changed overnight and I don't know who I am anymore!"
Peter looks flatly at Gwen after the explanation, he couldn't tell if she was being sincere when the reasoning sounded so obvious. "Yes, that's called puberty, Gwen."
Gwen's mind derailed the moment he suggested what was going on. She couldn't even muster a response.
"You see, on average, the female body completes this physical process by the age of 15, 16 or 17, but since you're still seeing changes you most likely only have one more year to go. Now, if you start to-"
"Stop." Gwen gestures by holding up her hand. "Just…stop. My word."
"Is that not what you're experiencing?"
"No!"
"Oh. Then what are you talking about? What changes?"
"I think… I think it's best I just show you." She grabbed the bottom of her hoodie and pulls it up, much to Peter's shock.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Gwen, no! Your dad's going to kill-!"
Of course she had a undershirt underneath, a tank top, so Peter's freak out was misled once she pulled the hoodie overhead. All that aside, Gwen reveals her new body to Peter; she outgrew her old top thanks to the increased mass.
The tank top tightly hugged her torso to the point where her abs were visibly outlined on the surface.
She held out her arms as she presented herself. "See?" She turned around and revealed her back muscles. Once done Gwen faces Peter. "I just woke up like this. I don't know what happened."
Peter was left speechless, all he could do was marvel at Gwen's new appearance. It was hard to believe having just seen her yesterday.
"Gwen…you… You're… I mean… What? How?"
"I didn't know what to say at first either. But that's not all, I've been sticking to almost everything I touch."
Just as an example she immediately lifts the hoodie she was already holding, her fingers spread out to show that she wasn't grasping it.
A few seconds pass and the hoodie slowly peels off of her palm with no input from Gwen.
"…Then how come you didn't stick to me when you were shaking me?" Peter asked.
"I don't know. I was surprised myself. I don't have any control over it." Gwen inhales deeply through her nostrils and then exhales out her mouth. "And you know what else? That's not even the weirdest part."
"There's more…?"
Gwen nods and held up her right arm, away from Peter. "Brace yourself, Pete." She grabbed her extended hand with her left and placed her thumb at the center of her palm to apply pressure; a long string of silk was fired from her wrist and launched across the room until it smacked the wall.
Gwen released her thumb and grabbed the end of the web-line, holding it like a rope.
Peter's jaw dropped, his glasses slightly droop down his nose and his eyes were wide open.
"...So, yeah, this is probably the weirdest part." Gwen explained, but no reaction from Peter outside of that frozen shock he couldn't thaw out of. "Peter?"
"…Huh? Oh. I'm sorry, Gwen. I just- Hey, could you get me some water?" He seemed to have mellowed out upon his request, bizarrely calm.
"Water? Um… Sure." Gwen dropped the web and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a bottled water from underneath the kitchen table and returns to the dining room. "I hope room temperature is okay."
"That's fine. Thank you." Peter grabbed the water and uncaps it.
"Huh. Y'know, I thought you'd react a little more-"
Once the cap was off Peter pours the water on himself to the halfway point.
"Ah. There it is." Gwen comments.
Once wet Peter swipes his forearm across his eyes and looks at the thread of web that was now on the floor. "Okay, WHAT?!" He exclaims, returning to shock. "Is that silk?! Did you fire silk from your wrist?!"
"Ssssh! Don't freak out! We don't want the neighbors to hear."
"I'm freaking out, Gwen! I'm freaking out! You shot silk from out of your-!"
Gwen hastily covers Peter's mouth with her hand to keep him quiet. "I know! I know this is a lot to take in, and I'm still having trouble grasping the reality of this myself, but I really need you to keep calm. I have enough anxiety as is, but you're here, and I was hoping you could help me. You're the smartest person I know, Peter. I really need your help. Do you think you can keep calm?"
Peter looks Gwen directly in her eyes and sees that she was hanging onto her sanity by a thread, and once he realized his presence served as an anchor that helped keep Gwen steady he simply nods in understanding.
"Good. Thank you." Gwen dropped her hand, once again surprised she didn't stick.
"…Sorry, Gwen. I just…I've never seen anything like this." Peter crouches down to the web and examines it. "You're shooting silk from your body and sticking to surfaces. It's like you're some kind of spider. A human spider. This is amazing, far beyond anything I can comprehend. And you said you just…woke up like this?"
"Yeah. After Mr. Parker dropped me off I ate dinner, took a shower and went to bed. When I woke up I had this body and was doing all this crazy stuff."
"Have you told your parents?"
"You saw how normal they were before they left. Of course not. I couldn't. Could you imagine how they'd react? The last thing I need is for my parents to think I'm some kind of monster. I didn't know who else to tell, other than you and MJ, but since MJ isn't here I haven't told her yet."
Peter quietly exerts air through from his mouth as a breathless chuckle before further examining the web. "Unbelievable. I honestly don't know what to say. I highly doubt science has an answer for this. Nobody just wakes up with…spider-like abilities."
Gwen wanted an answer, so when she heard Peter had nothing she sighs in defeat. She didn't know what to do and was scared she wouldn't be normal again, doomed to forever stick to surfaces and shoot webs everywhere. She was already unpopular in school she didn't want to be an unpopular freak of nature on top of it.
"Did you develop scopulae pads?" Peter asked.
"Scopu… What?"
"Scopulae pads. They're these dense tufts of hair spiders have on their legs and they use that to climb surfaces and stick to them. The scopulae is made up of setae, which are even smaller hairs, and that is covered in even smaller hair we call setules. When the hair makes contacts with, let's say a wall, they all spread out to create this amazing adhesion. They're able to grip and support themselves using 170 times their own weight. That's the short version anyway, I know you don't like me rambling about specifics."
Regardless of how short it was Gwen still barely followed any of it. Peter mentioned hairs so she looked down to her palms and fingertips, closely examining them, and as far as she could tell she didn't see any hair.
"I…don't think so? I haven't grown any new hair or anything."
"No? We might need a microscope to be sure, but since you're a human the hair shouldn't be too hard to identify. Especially if your anatomy has mutated."
'Mutated,' that word made Gwen cringe in unease.
"Although, not all spiders have scopulae pads. Tarantulas can climb walls because they ooze silk through their feet and use that instead."
"That's a lot simpler." Gwen said, finally something she understood. "But I haven't been using any silk to stick. It only comes out of my wrist."
Peter drops the web he was holding and turns to Gwen. "Speaking of which." He approaches her and closely inspects her forearm. "The silk. How are you doing that?" He gently moves his index and middle fingers down Gwen's forearm in search of any growths or swelling.
"Uuuh. I don't know. I just touch the center of my palm and it comes out."
"How far does it go?"
"I'm…not sure."
"Have you heard of the Darwin bark spider? The females can shoot webs across an entire river. They spray strands of silk in one long continuous flow. The web acts like a sail in the wind, soaring with the wind currents. They can create 25 meter bridges with their silk. It's amazing." Peter's fingers traverse to the lower portion of her arm where he finds that white indication on Gwen's forearm. "What's this?"
"No idea. When I woke up that was there."
"Hmm." Peter further inspects her forearm, his eyes locked on her wrist, but to his surprise he didn't see an orifice for the silk to release. "If you're able to shoot them from your wrist then I wonder if that's where your silk gland is. I can't believe I'm actually saying that." Peter guides his fingers down to Gwen's palm and looks at her. "May I?" He was asking in regards to applying a little pressure.
"Sure." She nods. "But not too much, I don't want to make a mess of the house."
"Not to worry. I volunteer myself as the target." Peter stood in front of Gwen and held her hand with both of his. He gently applied pressure to the center of her palm with both thumbs, but nothing came out. He tried again, with additional force, and nothing. "Hm. Nothing's happening."
"Hold on. Let me try." Gwen offers assistance, she tucks in her ring and middle finger into her palm and instinctively used a specific amount of pressure that actually caused the silk to shoot out of her wrist, the web latching onto Peter's shirt.
"Amazing. Simply amazing." Peter was so astonished he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
He looks at the underside of her wrist while the silk was still hanging out her wrist.
"…Interesting. I don't see any spinnerets, or if there is a spinneret it's naked to the eye. Fascinating." Peter grabs a piece of the web and tried breaking it, but to no avail. "…The tensile strength is out of this world. Look, no matter how hard I…pull, this sucker is…strong! Wait… How am I supposed to get this off? Do you eat it?"
"Eat it?! Eugh! No! Why would I eat it?"
"Spiders are known to eat their own web to recoup some of the energy used when spinning their webs."
"Well I don't. I eat regular food and always will. No webs or no bugs for me."
"No? I guess you haven't adapted any spider behavior then. Not only that you haven't grown extra appendages. Have you felt any different?"
"Not at all. I still feel like me."
"And no sickness? A complete metamorphosis like this and you're just completely fine. Insane."
Gwen doubled tapped the center of her palm and the web hanging from the source of its release was undone.
"Whoa. So cool." Peter comments as he witnessed Gwen undo the web-line. "How'd you do that?"
"I just double tap to release. One tap for shooting and two for when I don't want anymore."
"Seriously? Wow. How'd you figure that out?"
"Trial and error from earlier."
"We have got to go out and see just how much you can do, Gwen."
"What?"
"We need to see the extent of these crazy new powers! You're like a superhero. Or you could be."
"A hero? No. No, no. I don't want this. Could you imagine seeing me in the paper? 'Strange Spider Freak Crawling Around New York,' I just want to be a normal girl dealing with normal problems."
Peter pouts in disappointment. "I think it'd be cool. Okay, okay. Awesome ideas aside, we should go to a remote spot and see what you can do. That way we won't have to worry about messing up the house with webs and whatever else you have under your belt."
Gwen thought about it for a moment and it made sense, especially since her parents were going to be out for the next few hours, so she had plenty of time to try getting this mess under control.
"That sounds like a good idea. Okay. Let's do it." Gwen agrees.
"Yes!" Peter fist pumps, excited.
"Let's do it as in helping me learn to control this stuff, not turning me into some superhero do-gooder." Gwen corrected with her hands on her hips, looking at him with a look of disapproval.
"…Aaaw." Peter hung his head in disappointment.
Before leaving Gwen used a kitchen knife to cut the web she shot onto the wall. It was already a pain getting the web cut, but the silk itself was far more persistent than that of a normal spider so it took more work, but after a while Gwen managed to clean up pretty well save for a few lingering loose strands, but it was nothing she couldn't blame on a real spider.
Peter put on the sweater he brought with him to hide the web that was stuck to his shirt so he wouldn't attract any curious eyes in public.
Gwen put her hoodie back on and slipped whatever shoes she left downstairs on her feet.
Once they were ready the two friends leave the house to find a secluded area where Gwen could freely explore her new abilities.
Freaking out over spider traits was one thing, but once she got outside Gwen was a paranoid wreck now that her mind was registering everything as potential danger. It was like having a precognitive sense of awareness.
Peter acknowledged Gwen's shifty behavior and did everything he could to keep her leveled, and interestingly enough it seemed to work for short bursts, she usually became hyper aware when crossing the street or whenever an impatient horn went off or tires screech.
The friends chose to get away from the city and ventured out to a nearby park, and since the sun was starting to go down there weren't any kids running around.
To avoid watchful eyes Gwen and Peter relocate to a small wooded area not too far from the park.
Remote Creek
6:58pm
"So, what do we know so far?" Peter asked while sitting on a moss covered boulder at the creek's edge.
Gwen begins counting on her fingers. "I can make my own silk; My body sticks to whatever I touch; And my head is constantly alerting me to my surroundings like the world is out to get me, aaaaaand… I think that's it?"
"Okay, it's safe to say you already have a solid grasp on producing your own silk and stuff, so all we need to focus on is finding a way for you to control what you stick to, and getting your thoughts under control when you're in public."
"Easier said than done." Gwen gently rubbed the back of her head.
"Don't worry. We'll get this figured out, trust me." Peter assures with a smile. "All right, let's get you stuck to something. Hmm. This boulder should do."
Peter hopped off the boulder for Gwen to work her magic.
Gwen clenches her fists, worried that she'll be unable to unstick, but no risk taken means no progress made.
She shows a more confident look and approaches the boulder. She lays her hand on the boulder's surface and gives it a second.
Time to see if she sticks - Gwen tried pulling her hand away and nothing, she was stuck.
"Wow. You're actually stuck." Peter closely observes from various angles around Gwen's hand. "You're completely bound without any grip. This is nuts! And so fascinating!"
"Peter, please."
"You're right. Let me not get distracted. Okay, so, all we have to do is figure out how you unstick yourself. You're sure you can't just force your way out of it?"
"Yeah. I got stuck to my towel earlier and tore it in half from trying too hard."
"Jeez. Well, lucky for us a boulder is made out of tougher stuff. Now you can see how hard you can pull without worrying about destroying anything. Just don't try too hard. You don't want your skin to come off."
That wasn't a comforting thought. If anything it just made Gwen not want to make any serious effort to undo the sticking, but she still had to for the sake of getting these new powers under control.
With newfound determination Gwen looks sternly at her hand and gives it a pull; nothing.
She tries again, this time with a bit more power behind; still nothing.
She pulls a few times in a row, using a little more power than last, and yet the outcome was still the same; nothing.
Several minutes later…
"Man. You're really stuck on there." Peter casually comments.
Yank after yank, pull after pull Gwen's hand was still glued to the boulder. The lack of progress was beginning to make her worry, thinking she was going to be stuck for the rest of the day.
"It won't…come…off!"
"Do you remember doing anything specific when you were able to unstick to things?"
"I don't…think so." Gwen continued trying to pull away. "It kinda just happened. Grrrrghh!"
"There has to be something. Let's back track. You didn't stick to me when you grabbed me earlier, right? What was going on through your mind? What were you feeling?"
"Other than being a paranoid wreck? I was just feeling…I dunno, neutral?" She made another attempt to pull her hand away and still no luck. "Hrrrrrrr…! Ugh. All I did was level myself. Mellow out a little. And before you came to the house, back when I was about to take a shower, I wasn't really thinking about my hand sticking to the towel because I fell and bust my butt in the shower."
"Pfft!" Peter tucked his lips in to prevent a laughing outburst at the thought of Gwen's spill. Once he saw Gwen's expression, a sharp stare that playfully dared him to laugh, Peter's laugh subsides into a returning smile. "Right. It sounds like your new abilities are influenced by your state of mind."
"Like a psychic?" Gwen asked.
"Nah. Like any other person. Stress can have numerous effects on us, especially mentally. Using you as an example: You're talented at playing the drums, you could play with your eyes closed and still make a killer beat, but under stress you'd be more prone to make mistakes or even completely botch your performance despite being an amazing performer when your mind is in the right place. You see what I'm saying? Just relax. Calm yourself."
Under Peter's insightful guidance Gwen took a metaphorical step back and cleared her thoughts of the worries she had. Thoughts of being the spider freak everybody feared were replaced with friends and family.
The happy thoughts wouldn't last when the reality of the situation returned. She had spider POWERS. There was nothing a teenager like herself could do to see pass this and just accept it as the new norm.
Gwen's anxiety kicked in. Was she eventually going to sprout 6 extra limbs? Was she going to start eating bugs? If she ever managed to get a boyfriend would she bite off his head for nutrition? Would the world accept her? Would her parents still love their daughter if they found out she was a spider woman? There were too many things to consider, and they all outweighed the good, clouding her mind with greater worry.
Under the influence of her troubling thoughts, and frustration of having all this happen to her, Gwen balls up her free hand and slams it down on the boulder to curse her dreadful luck, however, upon making contact with the large rock it completely splits where her fist impacts, unintentionally breaking the boulder in half with a loud crack.
Realizing what happened both Gwen and Peter freeze as the boulder splits. Gwen's mental state was a complete blank and her hand slowly peels itself off the boulder without her even noticing.
"…Well. That's new." Peter comments.
So she was destroying large rocks with her bare hands now, meaning super strength was added to the list. Once that sunk in Gwen's unreadable expression evolved to increasing panic.
"Gwen. Don't freak out." Peter spoke in a calm voice to keep her leveled.
Gwen slowly turns in Peter's direction with a broken smile. "Pete..."
"Don't freak out."
"I'm freaking out."
"Don't freak out."
"It's happening."
"Remember: calm. Breathe in, breathe out."
She was breathing in and out, hyperventilating.
"Okay, okay! Stop! No more breathing hard. This is a good thing. You broke a boulder instead of something in the house, that's why we're here. Right?" Peter's inquiry was only met with a bizarrely calm yet twitchy Gwen who was holding onto sanity by a hair.
"Why is this happening to me?" Gwen took a seat on one half of the boulder, her panic deflating into depression. "I don't get it. Why me? I haven't done anything. I'm a monster. I'm going to hurt someone, or destroy something."
"Maybe you just need more time to...come to terms with everything that's happening. Once you do we can really settle down and try figuring this out, and by then MJ should be back too. I know it can't be easy finding out you're this super, awesome, amazing spider person now, but you're still you - Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy! You aren't going to hurt anyone. Have a little faith, some confidence."
Once Peter saw that he didn't get a reaction out of Gwen he brings it down to a little, now having a more neutral look.
"Hey, Gwen. Can I take a picture of your forearm?"
"For what?" She asked, melancholic.
"I just want to further examine the abnormality on your arm. Maybe I can try making something of it on my own time. I don't want to keep you out here for long, so with the pictures I can look at it and take as much time as I need to conduct a hypothesis on these changes. Though, realistically, I very highly doubt I could, but it doesn't hurt to try."
"...Sure."
Gwen wasn't really in the mood to care. As far as she was concerned her life being normal was over and there was nothing she could do about it. Gwen rolled up her sleeve and exposes the white marking.
Peter took out his phone and takes multiple pictures, specifically around the wrist where the silk is fired, and even with a camera zooming in as much as it was he couldn't see any spinnerets.
Peter had Gwen fire more web-lines so he could have visual prints of the silk's discharge point, it was just additional cues so he'd have more to work with and piece together.
Peter took a total of 15 pictures of that one arm and once done he offers to walk Gwen home.
Stacy Family Residence
8:03pm
Back at the house, George and Helen had already returned home from their date.
While George was upstairs sprucing himself up, Helen was preparing Sunday dinner in the kitchen. The front door opening and closing caught Helen's attention and she looks out from the kitchen archway to see that Gwen had returned home.
"Gwen, there you are. Where you been? We tried calling your phone."
When Gwen entered the living room she didn't respond, her head was overrun with countless thoughts of her new life. She had a melancholic look on her face and it was noticeable. Her brain failed to register the question and she casually strolls through ready to walk up the stairs to her room.
"Gwen?" Helen immediately spoke out once more when her daughter failed to reply, this time with a slightly elevated tone to get her attention.
"...Huh?" Gwen turns her head to the kitchen where she saw her mom. Before she could climb up the 2nd step she walks to the kitchen. "Hey, mom."
"Did you hear me when you came in?"
"No. I'm sorry. I was thinking about something. I completely zoned out."
Helen took notice of that pensive look and her motherly instincts kicked in. "Is everything okay?" She asked comfortingly. "Where'd you go? Did you and Peter enjoy yourselves?"
"We went to the park, and yes. It was...eventful."
"Did something happen? You look down."
Was it that obvious? Gwen knew she was troubled, but if her mom was pointing that out then she must've looked more bothered than she anticipated. To remedy her mother's concern she feigns a perky smile. "Heh. It's nothing. I was just trying to learn some new tricks that I couldn't get the hang of. I got a little frustrated and came home."
"Oh. Is that all?" Helen then smiled thinking Gwen's problem was deeper, when it really was. "What kind of tricks are you trying?"
"Uuuh. Physical. Some new exercise stuff I wanted to try. I want to get out of this lanky body and start doing something with myself." Of course that was a front, an excuse to convince her parents that she'd be working on her body to gain mass so she wouldn't have to worry about them being suspicious of her growth when inevitably discovered.
"Really? That's great Gwen! Exercise is important, so is a healthy and balanced diet. I can prepare a better meal plan for you, if you'd like."
"I'd appreciate that, mom. Thank you."
"Of course, dear. And don't stress about what you can or can't do today. The best part of being human is being able to achieve and going beyond ourselves, the only price to pay is a little hard work - what's important is doing what you can."
Her mother's support made that scripted smile turn genuine. For all the bad going on in Gwen's head about her spider powers the love and support from her friends and family served as a reminder that there will always be a beacon of light to guide her through the dark. Unable to keep herself away Gwen approaches her mom and brings her into a hug.
Helen, surprised, returns the hug. She was more surprised that Gwen was holding so tightly. "Ooh. Heh, heh. Whatever exercise you were doing must've been working because that's a strong grip you got there, baby."
And then Gwen remembered she had super strength. What was once normal to her before now had to be dialed back a tad more when handling everyday people now. It was something she was still adjusting to. "Sorry." She casually apologized before loosening up and settling into a more comfortable embrace, still happy in her mother's arms.
After sharing a much needed moment with her mom Gwen goes to her room to gather her thoughts. She sits on the edge of her bed and looks down to the floor, thinking.
Gwen spent most of her time trying to cope with her new powers and she didn't get much sleep because of it, but she had plenty of time to think and reflect, maybe if she learned to master her spider abilities she could still live a normal life. Sure, the risk of anybody finding out was scary, but she couldn't deny this transformation was something spectacular.
With these new powers she could do things she never could before and in a way that was exciting. What could a teenager do with superhuman powers? It was beginning to sound like something she'd read in one of her comics.
Several Hours Later
Having woken up at 4am from a restless mind Gwen stayed in her room trying to get the hang of her adhesive hands by playing a basic game of catch with a tennis ball; throwing the ball at the wall and having it bounce back for her to catch. It took a few hours but she was beginning to understand how it worked.
The ability to stick was becoming something she could feel and manipulate at will. The more she practiced the more natural it became, like learning to walk.
Sunday - April 13th
2:24pm
With the bedroom door locked Gwen was still practicing everything she knew she could do so far; Yesterday she was stuck to rocks, but now? She was squatting on the ceiling with only her feet, and with socks on.
How she was able to stick with clothes on was beyond her, but she chose to not try making sense of it - she could do it, that's all that mattered to her.
Bzzzzzt!
The sudden vibration of her phone on the wooden nightstand goes off in the once silent room, spooking Gwen out of her concentration to the point where one foot unsticks leaving her to dangle on the other.
"W-Whooa!"
Bzzzzzt!
Her last foot unsticks and then she drops on the floor.
"ACK!"
Bzzzzzt!
"Ow... Goddamn it." She casually picks herself up like dropping the way she did was a minor inconvenience.
Bzzzzzt! Bzzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!
"I hear you. Shut up."
Gwen walks to the nightstand and picks up her phone to see who was calling her, although she only finds an unreadable flickering screen with cracks in it.
"Right. I keep forgetting I have to get a new phone." She swipes her thumb across the screen and answers the call regardless of her inability to see who was calling. "Hello?"
"Gwen!" An overexcited Peter called her name just barely letting her answer.
"Pete? Um, hey. What's up?"
"Gwen! I have to show you something! Like, now!"
"Now? Sounds urgent. Are you okay?"
"Yeah! I'm great! I just have to show yo-"
Screeeeetch! BEEEEEEEEP! A car could be heard in the background coming to an abrupt stop.
"Hey! I'm walkin' here!" Peter shouts at the barely audible swearing from the driver.
"Peter?" Gwen held the phone closer to her ear to try making out what was going on.
"Yeah! I'm still here, I just ran into traffic! I'm around the block! I'll be there in a few minutes!"
"Wait. You ran out into-"
"Not important! I'll be there in 2 minutes!"
"Dude. What could possibly be so-?"
"2 minutes!"
"But-"
"1 minute! Bye!"
"Would you just-" The call dies and Gwen looks down to her phone. "Wow. He hung up on me. Jeez. I'd better get out of these pajamas."
Since her mom was downstairs Gwen put on the hoodie at the foot of her bed and a pair of jeans. Once she was dressed she makes her way downstairs.
The doorbell rings once Gwen got to final step, her mom looks back and sees Gwen dressed. "You going out somewhere?" Her mom asked.
"No. That's Peter at the door. He said he wanted to show me something so I just threw this on." After explaining Gwen unlocks the front door and sees Peter's disordered appearance.
Peter's hair was ragged and he was wearing the same clothes he was wearing yesterday minus the web on his shirt.
"...What happened to you?" Gwen asked once she opened the door.
"Nothing. C'mon, let me in! This can't wait!"
"Okay, okay. Jeez." Gwen steps to the side and allows Peter to enter.
Peter hurries along and bypass Gwen. He makes his way to the front room and greets Gwen's mother with an affectionate "Hi, aunt Helen," he may have been in a hurry but he still had time to be respectful to the adults.
"Hey, Peter. It's...nice to see you." She was distracted by Peter's unkempt appearance. "Rough day?"
"Yeah, man. You look strung up on coffee." Gwen added.
"My day has been great! All is well, and then some. C'mon, Gwen. I have to show you this neat invention." He upheld the sketchpad he used to create his designs.
Was that all? Gwen was no stranger to Peter's wacky creations, so she rolled her eyes as a means of gesturing a silent 'Of course,' with a smile.
"Hold on you two," Helen held out her hand before they could proceed upstairs "take it out to the backyard. I don't want another electric sponge incident."
"...Not one of my better ideas." Peter laments at the painful memories. So many shocks and unintended electrical fires.
Gwen pats him on the back and walks along to the kitchen so they could head out. Peter happily follows along, confident in this new experiment.
"Okay, Peter. What do you have for us today? Mobile Shoes? Wheelchair Walker? Automatic Gamepad?"
"Don't mock me, Gwen. All of my past failures have lead to this moment!" Peter smirks and sat his sketchpad on the yard table before reaching into his pockets. "Behold...my latest, greatest invention!" He delayed the unveiling for dramatic effect, but a good 3 seconds later he withdraws two black wristband doohickeys.
Gwen would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed. She waited to see if there was more, but that seemed to be it. "...Um. Peter? Those are wristbands. They've already been invented."
"Wristbands? No! Here, just put this one on your wrist. Ideally around the area where the silk expels."
She gives him a look of doubt initially, she didn't want anything to happen to her, like getting electrocuted...or whatever crazy backfire this thing may have, but Peter seemed absolutely confident, more than usual, and she didn't want to ruin the moment for him, so, per his request, she puts the one wristband on - strapping it on her right wrist.
"Cool! A perfect fit! Now, give me your hand for a sec."
Gwen held out her hand and Peter takes out a component to the device, a spring steel that connected to the mechanical 'wristband,' if you could even call it that now. The spring was long enough to extend down to the center of her palm, it even had a strange nozzle on the underside.
"Perfect. Perfect."
"...Peter, what is this thing?" Gwen inspected the device, confused.
"All in do time. Now! Shoot a web."
"Are you crazy? My mom is home. I'm not going to use any weird spider powers now."
"Just trust me on this."
Gwen stares at Peter with a look of disapproval, but he insisted with various body charades, even pointing to the concrete wall that separated the neighbors' yards as a target.
"If she sees us we can just say the device is the reason for for the web. Don't worry so much, Gwen."
With a sigh Gwen reluctantly accepts Peter's request. Taking aim at the wall she tucks in her middle and ring fingers into the trigger and pressed it against her palm; THWIP! A web-line was fired through the nozzle and smacked the concrete wall in the blink of an eye, much faster than the already quick firing natural release.
"Whoa." Gwen was visibly surprised by how quick the web was fired.
"And now we wait."
"For what?"
"You'll see. I think it's best we get comfortable."
For a whole hour Gwen and Peter were just sitting in the backyard, seemingly waiting for nothing despite Peter's insistence - the web-line was still connected to the concrete wall and the device strapped onto Gwen's wrist. They passed the time by having small talk, Peter avoiding any questions Gwen had in relation to this new invention of his in favor of demonstrating it to surprise her.
Peter was heavily invested into his phone for just watching time go by, Gwen on the other hand was constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure her mom wasn't going to come out and see the web.
"...Peter, we've been sitting here doing nothing. Can I get the knife now? I'm getting paranoid."
"Nope. You won't need a knife."
Gwen inclined a brow curiously. How else could she get the web off? It worked before and it's still out and sticking strong.
"Okay, in 3...2...1... Now."
Now she squints one eye at him, confused, but when Peter points to the web Gwen follows his finger where she witnesses the web starting to rapidly degrade until inevitably dissolving into specks, erasing all previous trace of the web.
"What? Wait. What?!" Gwen looked on, amazed.
Her reaction made Peter smile brightly. "Ha! I told you! My greatest invention." He held out his chest with pride.
"This is amazing...! So this little device can get rid of the silk? I don't need to use a knife anymore?"
"That was the goal. But it can do so much more than that, and I have bigger plans for the future. Gwen, meet the P-WS01: Otherwise known as the Prototype Web-Shooters. Whichever you prefer."
"Web-shooters? That's a pretty cool name."
"I know, right?" The smile of pride was beginning to look a tad smug. Peter gave Gwen the other web-shooter and she equips it on the opposite wrist. Peter grabs the sketchpad and flips through the pages until he finds the web-shooter notes and design. There were numerous formulas surrounding the sketches. "I knew you were having trouble with the silk, having to manually cut them and all, so when I went home I created a formula that would help make things a little easy for you - a special acid that would dissolve the silk after an hour so you'd never have to worry about a lingering mess. Touch the button below the spinneret nozzle."
Gwen sees the button and gives it a press, the web-shooter's cartridge compartment pops open and a small capsule pops out.
Peter grabs the capsule midair, having anticipated it, and presents it to Gwen. "This is the capsule that holds the fluid that dissolves the silk you produce. When loading it into the web-shooter the fluid is dispersed when you touch the trigger and combines that with your organic web when it gets fired from the nozzle. Speaking of, the nozzle helps fire the web faster and makes it travel farther distances, think of it as a garden hose nozzle with the jet setting on."
"...I... Wow. Peter... I... My god, I don't even know what to say. This is brilliant! Seriously, this is brilliant! You're amazing!"
"Aaaaw. Cut it out, you're gonna make me blush." Peter bashfully rubs the back of his neck, receiving such high praise from a girl, friend or not, made him feel good, even prompting a small hint of a blush. "Right now, I only have a small number of web-fluid capsules, but I can always make more. One capsule should last you through the week, given that you use it sparingly. I'm trying to find a way to better incorporate fluid consumption so you can get more mileage out of webbing."
"That's cool. But I don't plan on using the webs for anything. It's for emergencies, right?"
"Yeeeeeah. About that. So I've been thinking. You know how certain spiders can fly?"
"Spiders can fly?!"
"Yes. Well... No. Not fly like a butterfly, I mean using air currents to move through the air and travel great distances using their webs. It's called ballooning."
That was information Gwen wish she didn't know. Now she was thinking about tarantulas flying using this 'ballooning' Peter mentioned.
Peter flips to the next page showing sketches of a pendulum and a female stick figure meant to represent Gwen. "You won't be able to balloon with the web-shooters, but you should still be able to keep yourself airborne. That's why I designed it to shoot farther and quicker, so you can fire your web at buildings and swing along. It's basic physics and I think we can really-"
"Gonna have to stop you right there, Pete. That sounds terrifying. Besides my whole plan was to blend in. I don't need people seeing me swinging in the air. That'll attract too much attention."
"That's why you cover your face! A mask. To keep your identity safe."
This was beginning to sound like an excuse to get Gwen into crime fighting. She grew suspicious and was looking less inclined to consider.
Peter, seeing Gwen's face decline in interest, just looks back at her with nothing to say.
There was a moment of awkward silence between them.
"...I'm not fighting crime, Peter."
"I'm not talking about fighting crime though! I'm talking like Tarzan...with a mask on. You know how he swings from vine to vine in the jungle? Well now you can swing from building to building in the concrete jungle!"
Gwen continued looking at him with suspicious doubt.
"...Aw c'mon! I need to gather data on how this could work anyway. Just humor me a little. I went to the trouble of not sleeping just to get these done today."
"Wait. You made these in less than 24 hours with supplies you have in the house? Honestly that's harder for me to believe than waking up with powers."
"That doesn't matter. Just do this for me as a favor. Please." Peter clapped his hands together in a begging kind of gesture, his eyes huge with child-like innocence, rivaling puppy eyes. "Please, please, please, pleeeeeease."
Gwen tried looking away but it was hard to deny such an adorable face, and she hated how much it was working despite her best efforts to not play the fool.
"...Mmmm. Nnnngggh. Gah! Fine! I hate it when you do that."
"Ha! I knew you'd come through for me!" Peter immediately dropped the puppy act the moment of success.
"Yeah, yeah. I swear I'm going to work on a way to build an immunity to that trick. What is it that you need me to do with these?"
Later
"You want me to jump off a building?!" Gwen exclaimed.
Gwen and Peter were standing on the roof of an apartment complex.
"It sounds bad when you say it like that, but...uh, yeah."
"I think the lack of sleep has officially made you lose your mind. You're trying to kill me!"
"No, no! I have it all figured out: you fire a web to the building across the street and when you jump you'll swing across and be able to land safely."
"How did you even come up with this idea?!"
"I thought about it when I looked into spider ballooning, but I got the idea when I saw the old pendulum swinging in the old clock we have downstairs - then I combined the two! Quick, off the top of your head: Picture yourself as the pendulum - if your web is 40 meters long and attached to a 45 degree angle how far would you fall at your lowest point?"
"...I don't know!"
"...Oh. Dang. Maybe this isn't a good idea. Heh. This could've been a very serious accident."
"You think?! Jeez. I'm kind of annoyed I developed everything except super intelligence."
"Eeeeeh. Not to worry though! I'll give you a ton of physics and calculus lessons so you can learn this stuff, that way you'll know exactly what to do. You have to get really good at it because you'd be doing all that in your head while swinging around to figure out the best possible way to move around. You can't let any bad guys get away."
Gwen drops her shoulders and her expression contorts to comical intolerance for the idea. She turns her back to Peter and walks off without a word.
"Oh, crap. Did I mention bad guys?" Peter asked himself. "Gwen? Gwen! Don't leave me!" Peter chases after her as she walks toward the . "C'mon! Think of the possibilities! Spider-Woman! No... That's too generic. Ooh! How about Silk?! Eh, too plain. The Human Spider sounds cool!"
To Be Continued
A/N: Sorry if the pacing is a little off. I'm still new to writing a story based on a Western comic so it may be a little clunky from time to time. Still trying to improve, but I will be revisiting old chapters to fix them up.