Chapter 6: There Are No Happy Endings for Spider-Man
I couldn't wait for you to come and clear the cupboard
But now you're gone and leaving nothing but a sign
Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines
Because I miss you all the time…
Gwen took a deep breath as she stood on the edge of a neighboring building overlooking the Central Bank of Brooklyn. She needed to make a distraction to give Noir time to find out what Spider-Woman was up to. Her blue eyes turned cold as she lifted her helmet and snapped it in place.
"This should do the trick…" Prowler said, lifting a clawed hand and snapped her fingers. The movement triggered a signal that traveled to the remotes she had placed all around the bank and the buildings she had intentionally and quietly evacuated over the last two hours. Less than a half a second later, all but the building she was standing on exploded violently.
She glided down to the center of the destruction and started walking toward the ruins of the bank just waiting for the 'thwip' to sound. The only question was which Spider would come first. She'd love for it to be her.
She lazily turned her head when she heard the first echo of web shooting through the air, and caught Spider-Ham by the throat.
"ACK!" He gasped when she squeezed her fist around his throat and narrowed her eyes.
"This isn't your fight, Porker," Prowler growled, her eyes glowing red, "I didn't want to do this. Remember that." She said before she slammed him to the ground.
She broke out into a run when she heard more webs flying. She lacked the forewarning of a spider-sense, and she wasn't as strong and fast as she had been, but she knew these people. She had fought and worked with them for almost two years. And they didn't realize she had that advantage.
Next came SP/DR Unit 0.1a. The massive blood red and dark blue mech was intimidating and armed to the teeth. Prowler simply stared back up at it.
"This was an impressive way to rob a bank," the voice of Peni Parker spoke from within the mech.
"Step aside, Peni," Prowler growled, flexing her claws "Unless you want me to send you to Addy and your Aunt May…"
Peni hesitated in confusion for a moment unsure how this criminal knew so much about her. "I cannot let you rob this bank," SP/DR armed itself and took a fighting chance.
"I'm not robbing a bank," Prowler laughed, "I'm looking for one of you…"
"You found me…" Peni narrowed her eyes and sat forward in her control pod.
"Unfortunately…" Prowler said almost sadly before she leapt toward the robot, going right toward the chest.
Peni wasn't expecting such aggression and gasped when the claws cut through SP/DR's armor like a hot knife through butter, ripping the control pod open.
"NANI?!" Peni gasped.
"Doesn't matter how big the snake is…" Prowler said, grabbing Peni by the collar, and pulling her out of the machine, control wires ripping as she went. "Go for the head." she said, punching her in the face, just hard enough to knock her out. She rode the falling robot to the ground before she tossed Peni's unconscious body across the ground.
Prowler looked at her for a moment before sighing sadly. "I'm sorry, Peni… I'm going to fix this…" Prowler said softly, before she turned toward the sound of someone else landing behind her.
"'ello, luv," Spider-Punk said, staring Prowler down. "Can I 'ave this dance?"
"ah, Hobie… finally a challenge…" Prowler popped her neck. "I'm interested."
Hobie pulled out his guitar and leapt toward her for a bash, the eyes of his mask widened when she deflected it. "Nice try." She said, making a slash toward him which he back flipped away.
"Tit for tat, Oi?" he asked landing crouched with one hand on the ground.
"I'd rather not do this," Prowler popped her knuckles.
"A bloody nice thought, innit?" Spider-Punk asked, firing off a pair of weblines, one catching her glove and the other her shoulder. She gasped when he jerked her off her feet and flew toward him.
"Wanna know another bloody nice thought?" she asked, twisting in the air, to land her booted foot right in the center of his face. "Not using moves you taught me? Bloody nice thought, innit?" she asked as the anarchist fell.
"That leaves only three left," She said, "hmm" she glanced up and saw Spider-Man India on a damaged light pole playing with his band and threads. "Here to take me on, too, Pav?" she asked, glaring up at the Spider.
"Oh, would love to! But I'm just here to distract you," Pavitr replied, tossing his band into the air juggling it.
"Distraction from the distraction…" Prowler asked in amusement. "Clever girl…" She said, before Spider-Woman swung kicked her across the ground.
So, get away
Another way to feel what you didn't want yourself to know
And let yourself go
You know you didn't lose your self-control
Let's start at the rainbow
Earth 65
Spider-Man Noir entered the bedroom that looked like the bedroom of a teenaged punk/emo girl… that a tiger had tried to escape from. "Interesting…" the detective whispered to himself as he looked at the destruction. Everything in sight was ripped and destroyed.
Everything but… "hmm…" Noir picked up a polaroid photo of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, from the softer facial shapes and the shorter hair he surmised it was taken during their first 'trip' to Earth 1610. Next to it was a notebook with Miles Morales' name written on the front. Noir narrowed his eyes when he flipped through the book, many pages were ripped and destroyed, with the exception of pages with sketches, drawings and portraits of Gwen Stacy.
Noir exited the bedroom and noticed the rest of the apartment was clawed and shredded. His concern began to rise for George Stacy, Gwen's father. The living room, kitchen and bathroom were all clawed and in disrepair. He slowly opened the master bedroom door and found the walls and most of the furniture had the same claws and tears, but the bed was untouched, and on it laid George, perfectly still and staring at the ceiling.
Noir feared the worst but was shocked to find a strong pulse. He snapped his fingers before George's face and he kept the same dazed expression. He finally shook and slapped the man and he blinked a few times before he sat up quickly.
"Mr. Stacy, are you alright?" Noir asked cautiously.
"Gwen?! Where's Gwen?" George asked in confusion.
"Not here, what happened?" Noir pressed, helping the man sit up.
"She… she came back from doing her Spider-Woman stuff… and she was… something was wrong," George shook his head, "Something was wrong with her. Something bad…"
"What was wrong, tell me so I can try to help her…" George looked around.
"She… she came back angry. Something had her upset bad. She was… wanting to kill someone…" He held his head as he explained, "She kept ranting about some 'stupid girl' wanting to take Miles from her. And she was mad that … someone wouldn't let her kill her. When I scolded her for wanting to take a life in cold blood… she went berserk… I never seen anything like it…"
"She tore the place apart and knocked me down…" George continued, "She … she kept saying that if she screwed up, he'd die and she couldn't deal with it. And kept insisting he would love her for her… for who she really was… and she'd protect him from what this guy wanted to do. It didn't make sense… She was ranting like she had lost her mind."
"Do you know where she was going?" Noir asked, trying to get anything that could help them out of her father.
"No… it was just… she was all over the place, mostly acting scared at Miles and angry at this other girl and… even angrier at someone she called her boss… wait…" George rubbed his eyes. "She said he should have his set up at Nueva …"
"You've been very helpful, Mr. Stacy," Noir said, "I'll help your daughter… she'll be home and back to normal soon. I promise."
"Please, bring my girl home…" He asked, terror still in his eyes. "She's all I have left…"
Noir tipped his hat to the man, before opening a portal to Earth 928. He was not prepared for what he found.
Turn away
Another way to be where you didn't want yourself to go
And let yourself go
Gwen gasped as she lay between ruins of one of the buildings she destroyed. "It's over, Prowler, I won't let you touch him. He's mine." Spider-Woman growled stepping toward her.
"I'm tired of running," Prowler forced himself to her feet.
"Bout time, it's all you've ever done," Spider-Woman said in amusement. "Run from Peter, run from your dad, run from Miles, run from the Society. It's all you've ever been good at. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad that Miles honestly thought you two were the same."
"Why are you mad?" Spider-Woman asked seeing Prowler tremble in anger. "I'm the Spider-Woman you always wanted to be. I'm actually like Miles. I'm a hero. I'm there for him. I held him in my arms while he worried for his mother. I put him first. He loves me." She touched her chest, "I make him happy. And I would never betray him. I would never do him like you did. So why do you keep fighting? I'm giving him what you wanted for him!"
"I… want my life back…" Prowler growled, before leaping toward Spider-Woman with a growl, "GIVE ME MY LIFE BACK!" She shouted as Spider-Woman caught her and rolled across the ground.
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU DESTROY WHAT I'VE DONE FOR HIM!" Spider-Woman gripped Prowler and kicked her back, "I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM AGAIN! I WON'T LET ANYONE HURT HIM AGAIN!"
Prowler landed on her feet and leapt back toward the white clad Spider and managed to grab her by the mask, jerking it off her face. "Give… me… my… LIFE BACK!" Prowler yelled throwing a punch that Spider-Woman dodged, and counted with a uppercut to her chest.
"NO! I'M HAPPY!" Prowler saw her own face contort in anger and insanity, "I'M FINALLY HAPPY! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ETERNITY I'M HAPPY AND I WON'T LET YOU OR ANYONE TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!"
HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU," Prowler screamed back, grappling with her, "HE THINKS YOU'RE ME!"
"I AM YOU! JUST THE ONE HE DESERVES!" Spider-Woman yelled back, before someone grabbed both of their shoulders and shoved them to damaged wall segments and webbed them both up.
Both women turned their heads to see Spider-Man standing there looking at them passively.
"Miles…" Spider-Woman said pleadingly, "Why did you do this? She's the villain! It's me…"
"Define me…" Miles asked, not removing his mask.
"Miles… It's me…" Spider-Woman's eyes filled with tears, "It's me, baby. It's me, Gwen Stacy… Spider-Woman… please, baby, it's me… it's really me…"
Miles didn't even acknowledge her begging as he turned toward Prowler and slowly walked toward her, and Gwen held her breath as he approached.
He reached up and removed the helmet, and Gwen shook her head to keep her hair from her face.
"Who… who are you?" Miles asked.
Gwen couldn't look him in the eyes. "Tell me, who are you?" Miles pressed.
"Don't listen to her!" Spider-Woman yelled, straining against the webbing. "She's a liar! She lied to your face! She lied and betrayed you! Over and over and over! She let you…" she stopped herself and widened her eyes.
"She let me what?" he asked Spider-Woman before turning back to Gwen, "You let me what? What did you let me do?"
Gwen's own eyes began to fill with tears. "You let me what? Gwen?"
She closed her eyes tight and swallowed hard. "I…" She tried to force her voice to work, "I… let you … die."
Miles pulled off his mask and rubbed his face. "How… How did I die?"
"MILES! PLEASE!" Spider-Woman begged.
"You saved everyone…" Gwen replied softly.
"DON'T! HE'LL COME FOR YOU! HE'LL KILL YOU! I CAN'T LOSE YOU, PLEASE, MILES PLEASE," Spider-Woman spasmed and fought, "I LOVE YOU! I REALLY TRULY LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!"
"Why haven't you told me till now…" He asked softly to Gwen, ignoring Spider-Woman completely at this point.
"I didn't know…" Gwen closed her eyes tight, not wanting to meet his gaze like this again, "how to tell you…"
"MILES!" Spider-Woman's eyes began to glow red, and the white of her uniform began to turn crimson. "ALL OF THIS… IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!"
"It's… for your own good…" Gwen repeated, taking her back to when she said the same thing to Miles on the train. Pure rage flowed through her as she readied her claws and tore out of the webbing. With a primal scream she dove toward Spider-Woman with every intention of killing her right there.
Spider-Woman couldn't get a word in edge wise as Gwen started punching her face. "YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE THAT! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT!" Gwen screamed at the top of her lungs as she unleashed rage, she didn't even know she's bottled up, "I DON'T GET TO DECIDE THAT! I DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT! I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT! I … I don't… I don't…" she collapsed before the battered red Spider-Woman and began to cry, "I don't have the right… I don't deserve it… I don't deserve him…"
She sat on the ground and sobbed, watching the tears mix with the blood that was now on her claws resting on her knees. She stiffened when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.
"It's ok…" Miles said, pulling her to him, letting her head rest on his chest. "It's ok…"
"I want to fix this…" Gwen relaxed in his embrace, "But I'm no closer now then I was before…"
"I don't understand… any of what's going on… my mind is so hazy, but I know this isn't right…" Miles said softly, "what can I do to help?"
Her eyes blinked when her glove began to beep. "Noir?" Gwen asked, pressing a button.
"Found him, Gwen, but it's bad." Noir's voice spoke, and it sounded like he was in a fight.
"Where is he?" Gwen asked hurriedly.
"Spider Society, Nueva York, Earth 928, hurry!" Noir said quickly before the line was cut.
"We have to get to the base…" Miles said, helping her up.
"Do you have a goober?" Gwen asked, picking up her Prowler mask.
"Yeah…" he said, showing his wrist. "So… she's … you?" He asked, looking at the unconscious Spider-Woman.
"No…" Gwen said, tears in her eyes, "She at least tried to be good to you…"
She shook her head and put her helmet on. "Let's finish this."
Is that a compromise?
Earth 928, Nueva York, The Spider-Society HQ
"What the…" Miles asked as they stepped through the portal to find all the Spider-Man laying on the ground. He and Prowler quickly ran to check and were surprised to find them all with strong pulses and breathing. Just seemingly asleep. "Something's wrong… stay frosty…" he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Times like this I miss my Spider-Sense…" Prowler said, walking behind Miles over all the many unconscious bodies.
It was eerie and hauntingly quiet as the two made their way into the central chamber. "It's him…" Prowler narrowed her eyes on the man in red standing before a large pedestal that seemed to be drawing energy from the hologram of the Great Web of the Multiverse and feeding into him.
"Nice of you to finally join us…" Mephisto turned toward the two. Miles and Gwen glanced around to see Miguel in full costume holding a dazed Noir down on his knees between Peter B Parker and Jessica Drew.
"I am a man of tradition, so I'll do the traditional 'villain monologue'," Mephisto smiled at the two. "I'm sure you're aware already that this was more than about bringing back your friend, right?"
The two remained silent and stared him down.
"Several years ago, I had allowed a universe to be destroyed. The world Miguel O'Hara here was hiding in. I'm sure you remember dear Miguel's sob story." Mephisto said to the silent Spider-Man from the year 2099. "What he didn't tell you is I offered him a deal… not unlike I did with you, dear Spider… Just had to make most of his actions unconscious... as he technically is now... morals and such..." he said to Gwen. "He would organize this society around this temple. He would solidify the Canon Points, or Canon Events. You all believed it so easily, all but you dear Mr. Morales anyway, that these events had to happen without fail or else the universe would collapse. That was, as you've learned, was a lie. I feed off suffering… and no suffering tastes as sweet as that of a tragic hero. As sweet as Spider-Man. And there are just so many of you!"
"So, in exchange for his servitude, I would reunite him with his dear Dana…" Mephisto made a face, "Oh, he probably told you the story of a daughter or something of the like. I guess he couldn't even bring her up in conversation. No consideration for the one he so called loved at all. You understand that sentiment, don't you sweet Gwen?"
Gwen flexed her claws but Miles put a hand on her shoulder. "So why did you put me through this?" she asked angrily.
"Miguel here, made a mistake in recruitment for his society… brought in a Spider-Man who became Sorcerer Supreme instead of Steven Strange. In an act of volunteer service, that Spider-Man put a magical barrier around this particular universe. So here I was, a delicious banquet prepared… but I couldn't get to it… I needed a key. I needed one of your… Goobers you call them? Quant…"
"All this… for my teleporter?" Gwen trembled.
"No, not all for that, that was primary. But … you were in the perfect place to have some delicious pain," Mephisto smiled, "two birds with one stone and all that."
"So then, kids," Mephisto smiled evilly, "What have we learned today?"
"Yea, we learned you like the sound of your own voice," Miles crouched down, "I'll hit him high, you hit him low, Gwen."
Spider-Man fired a webline and swung toward the demon while Gwen made a dash for him. Mephisto growled when Spider-Man kicked him in the face, and Prowler slashed his chest.
Prowler flipped into the air and brought both claws down across his body before Spider-Man slammed him with an electrifying venom attack.
"You think you can fight me?" Mephisto growled as his skin turned red and a pair of curved horns appeared on his head. "I can end this with one move…"
"Big talk, horn head," Spider-Man said, landing beside prowler.
"Shame for you, I can back it up…" Mephisto manifested a rolled parchment in his hand. A parchment Gwen instantly recognized He smiled at Prowler as he tore the paper in half.
And I'm aware that you were lying in the gutter
'Cause I did everything to be there by your side
Gwen watched as her claws and armor faded away and suddenly found herself in her Spider-Woman costume.
"G-Gwen?" She turned her head to see Miles pulling his mask off, blood coming from his mouth and a large blood stain growing on his side.
"MILES!" Gwen cried, catching him before he could fall.
"Gwen… G-Gwen?" Miles gasped in confusion and pain.
"Don't… don't leave me again… stay with me…" Gwen begged holding him and trying to ignore Mephisto's laughter.
So when you tell me I'm the reason, I just can't believe the lies
And why do I still want to call you…
"NO!" Gwen cried out, firing a webline and zip lining toward Mephisto, ready to end this once and for all.
I don't know why I'm no one…
Mephisto met her in the air with a clawed hand, slashing her abdomen and sending her tumbling across the floor, leaving a trail of blood.
So, what do you wanna do, what's your point of view?
There's a party, screw it, do you wanna go?
A handshake with you, what's your point of view?
I'm on top of you, I don't wanna go
"M-Miles…" Gwen pulled off her mask, coughing up blood. She looked up to see him a few feet away still lying deadly still.
She summoned what strength she had left and began crawling toward him, a trail of red behind her.
'Cause I really wanna stay at your house
And I hope it all works out
But you know how much you broke me apart
"In every other universe, Gwen Stacy falls for Spider-Man…"
"Miles…" She shallowly breathed as she struggled to drag herself to him.
I'm done with you, I'm ignoring you
She finally made it to his side, struggling to breathe, drops of blood falling to her chin with every exhale. "M-Miles…" She gasped softly as she took his hand. Faintly smiled as he squeezed her hand back.
"Gwen…" he breathed barely above a whisper.
"And in every other universe… it doesn't end well…"
I don't wanna know…
To Be Concluded…
Next chapter: Who was the other Spider-Woman? Is Mephisto's plan truly foolproof? Can this tide be turned What will be the price victory?
Song used in this chapter: "I REALLY WANT TO STAY AT YOUR HOUSE" – Rosa Wilson
