Andi hated hospitals. So much so she hadn't even been born in one. Something about the buzz of the fluorescent lights or the coughing, crying, whining patients that made her skin crawl. It smelled like sick. Sick and metal and medicine and tears. Lots of tears. Andi paced back and forth in the waiting room, replaying the ambush over and over again in her mind. She'd been so utterly, completely overwhelmed. Even with Mania and her Hell-Mark, she'd only made it out alive because of Gwen.

And now she didn't know if Gwen would make it through the night.

Gwendolyn Poole didn't have any next of kin. She didn't have any family. Not a single person in her KSU file to call in case of an emergency. Not in this universe at least. Not a single person would care about Gwendolyn Poole if she took her last breath tonight.

No one except Andi.

The only sounds in the waiting room were the buzzing lights, her footsteps and frantic breathing, and the tick of the clock counting down another second Gwen was in the operating room. Another second she wasn't okay. "I- I could just run in there and let you heal her, right," she asked aloud, hoping that Mania would be able to help her where modern medicine couldn't. "There's nothing stopping me from doing that."

Except she'd repeated that idea more times than she could count in the short eternity she'd been pacing in the waiting room. It was like she was stuck on loop, repeating the same question and waiting for an answer that would never come. Why?!
"Because it wouldn't be narratively satisfying, babe." Other Gwen flipped through a Daily Bugle newspaper, sitting in one of the chairs as casually as if she were waiting to be served at a restaurant. Andi felt the rage surge inside her before her mind connected dots she hadn't realized were there.

"You! If you're here then- then Gwen's fine. She has to be! I-"

"Soulfire, you changed the future a few issues ago. I don't know what happens any more than you do," she mumbled, turning the page to find a full-page spread with Spider-Man's face on it reading Menace in big bold letters.

"That's bullshit! You know! You have to-"

"Andi. Babe. Don't make a scene," Other Gwen mumbled, nodding her head towards the door to the waiting room. Andi turned, in time to make eye contact with a police officer who was just making her way inside.

"Are you Andrea Poole?" It was a tone of voice that wasn't really a question. Andi narrowed her eyes at the taller woman. She wasn't exactly friends with police officers before they started shooting at her for helping them. These days…?

"I'm not talking to you without a lawyer," she mumbled, turning her back on the officer and going back to her pacing.

"That's not in your or Gwen Poole's best interest," the officer warned her. There was extra emphasis on Gwen's name, and there wasn't the usual pause in between saying someone's first and last names. The officer was watching closely to see if Andi gave anything away. If she hesitated with her next step or twitched or anything, the officer would notice. Andi kept up her poker face. She'd had a lot of practice keeping people's secret identities a secret in the past couple years.

"How is having a lawyer present while talking with the cops not in my best interest," Andi rolled her eyes, but remained as observant as she could. Did this woman know? Had she put two and two together? That Gwendolyn Poole was Gwenpool? Andi was so on edge she almost didn't realize that her Danger Sense was spiking. But… why? Not from the officer but from… behind her? She heard the soft, metallic click of a gun being cocked and quickly took a step towards the officer, putting herself between the woman and Other Gwen. What was she doing?

"Look, uh- Officer Grey," Andi sputtered, reading the woman's name on her badge and pretending that was why she'd gotten so close as she tried to distract her from Other Gwen. "I'm really not in a good mood, alright? My girlfriend and me just got jumped and I really don't feel like talking to a cop when I don't even know if she's okay." That was a decent, sincere reason. Believable, even.

"You told the hospital you two were married," Officer Grey said with a raised eyebrow. The woman's wide, dark eyes were impossibly expressive, and held Andi's gaze without an ounce of accusation.

"We- It just happened. Still not used to saying wife," Andi replied quickly, thinking on her toes to explain away the accidental slip while also keeping the woman safe from the gun trained on her.

"I'm guessing fiancée didn't stick with you either," Officer Grey asked pointedly.

"Is there a reason you're here," Andi asked loudly, not just to Officer Grey, but to Other Gwen as well. Officer Grey looked around the waiting room, spotting Other Gwen who hadn't moved a muscle. But Andi could tell she was waiting for her to move. Waiting for her to get out of the way. But… this was Other Gwen. Gwen wouldn't need a direct angle between herself and Officer Grey. Not if the panels-

Andi lept to the side, hoping that she understood how Gwen's Gutter worked. She winced and braced herself, expecting to hear the firing of a gun and the pain of a bullet ripping through her, but nothing came. She opened her eyes, seeing Officer Grey watching her.

"You jumpy today, Mrs. Poole," the officer asked, observant as ever. Now, with the officer's back towards Other Gwen, Andi watched as three pink bubbles appeared above her head, followed by an even bigger one.

Get out of the way.

"Officer Grey… I feel like I've seen you around before," Andi said, trying to distract the woman from the bubbles behind her.

"I'm doing my best to be seen. I came to Philadelphia to try my hand at becoming the chief here," Office Grey explained, arms crossed over her chest. "Your turn. You claimed that you two were attacked by a group of people, but you're here covered in blood but seemingly without a scratch, while your wife is in the OR… Was this targeted," the officer asked, grabbing her notepad from her belt.

"I- I don't know. They just grabbed us and I couldn't stop them." She'd come up with the story in the first ten minutes of sitting in the waiting room. It didn't sound as good when said out loud for the first time.

"Mhmm." Officer Grey watched Andi with an almost imperceptible look on her face. She scribbled in her notepad, but Andi couldn't tell if she was actually writing anything. "Did they sexually assault her," she asked, not even pretending to look at her notepad this time.

"Wh-what? No. No they-"

"Her clothes managed to survive the attack without being torn at all. Blood was found only on the inside of her top and shorts, none on the outside. To me that sounds like she was clothed after the attack."

Officer Grey was right. Andi had woken up in so much pain she'd puked off the side of the fire escape and onto the street below. She'd opened her eyes and looked herself over, realizing that Mania had managed to heal herself since the fight thanks to the emergency chocolate she kept stored in her back pocket. The symbiote was still working on healing Andi's body, which is what all the pain was about. But then Andi noticed the blood. Gwenpool was lying facedown on the flight above her, dripping blood down through the metal bars onto her chest. She didn't look good.

Gwen kept a spare change of clothes in her shark backpack, and pulling them onto her broken body felt horrible. Andi could feel Gwen's shattered bones shift as she worked, pulling a strangled whine of pain from her friend as she lifted her arm too far above her head and agitated one of her broken ribs. Then she had to swing towards the hospital. Gwen passed out twice on the way, the pain making her yelp before going limp again in her arms.

"Well, you're wrong. We got attacked, they beat her up, and I brought her here," Andi said, stubbornly sticking to her story. Officer Grey sighed and put her notepad away in an exaggerated show of defeat.

"Look, if you want to help your friend, you have to be truthful with me. Who did this to her?" Andi's throat felt dry. Like she hadn't had a sip of water in days. She knew better than to say anything to a police officer. She knew that the woman was just doing her job, and if their paths crossed under different circumstances she wouldn't hesitate to arrest her just as fast as Himawari or Star. She opened her mouth to speak, but before any sound left her lips, Other Gwen cleared her throat loudly from her seat in the waiting room.

"Sorry, the air's really dry in here," Other Gwen said charismatically. Andi could tell she still had the gun trained on Officer Grey. She was still waiting for the smallest opportunity to pull the trigger. Her Gwen only waited like this for comedic timing, like a cat ready to pounce on a toy. But Other Gwen? This was a predator, ready to close in for the kill. But Andi couldn't tell why! Why this one officer? Why did she have to die? The clock ticked another second away, a couple more of those and the pause would grow suspiciously long to the woman standing in front of her. Another pink, fluffy bubble appeared above Other Gwen's head as Officer Grey turned her back on her, looking at Andi. "I am going to pull this trigger in ten seconds. You should move."

"Look, Andrea. I want to help you. I want to help her. But I can't unless you tell me the truth."

8…

Andi desperately watched the pink numbers above Gwen's head count down. There had to be something she could do! Something she could say to make Officer Grey leave!

6…

"I…"

4…

3…

Andi wasn't bulletproof. Not without Mania. And the symbiote wasn't in the best shape to protect her at the moment. She had to move, but this officer… she didn't deserve to die!

2…

Andi threw her arms around Officer Grey's shoulders, sobbing into the woman's chest. The officer looked stunned, but quickly wrapped her arms around the younger woman.

"They held me down and made me watch them hurt her… I tried to fight back- I swear!" With unspoken words, Andi commanded Mania to dig and cut into her wrists. Just as the symbiote finished, she pulled away from the officer, showing the woman the new bleeding wounds that looked like they'd simply been hidden under her sweater sleeves. "They hurt her because of me… I know it… She's in there right now because of me…" As she finished her little performance she could hear Other Gwen grind her teeth, clearly frustrated that she'd been outplayed.

"Okay… it's alright," Officer Grey mumbled, gently patting Andi on the back. "Want to step outside? We can grab a coffee and you can tell me what you remember."

Andi really didn't want to leave- leaving Gwen behind hurt to consider. The thought of leaving her behind with Other Gwen wasn't her favorite idea either. But she needed to get Officer Grey out of here. "I… guess I could use some air," Andi mumbled, letting Officer Grey take the lead out of the waiting room. She cast a glance over her shoulder as they walked out, and Andi caught a glimpse of Other Gwen slipping the gun into the Gutter.

"Well played." Andi grit her teeth as the bubble popped, knowing full well she'd put herself in the line of fire.


"So should I arrest you for obstruction now or are you going to start telling the truth?" Officer Grey took another bite of her bagel that she'd already denounced as not as good as a 'real New York bagel.'

"I don't know what you're talking about," Andi hissed, her nails digging into the soft wood of the diner table. They'd been going back and forth on this for the past ten minutes, having run into the small diner to avoid the rain that'd started the moment they'd stepped foot outside the hospital. It was such convenient timing Andi had almost worried that the rain was Other Gwen's doing. She couldn't do that… right?

"I know when I'm being lied to, Benton, and I don't appreciate it. Not too many shotgun weddings between a minor and an adult happening on the coasts," the Officer stated plainly, taking a sip of her coffee as if it was the easiest conclusion to come to.

"I turned 18 two weeks ago," Andi hissed, her eyes narrowed as she tried to see through Officer Grey's demeanor. How was she able to put things together so easily? Had she really been as careless as Coach had been when she'd met him? No, definitely not.

"Not a lot of time to plan a birthday and a wedding," Grey said with a small smirk.

"What do you want? I told you everything I-"

"Your girlfriend-fiance-wife is under investigation in NYC. Now we can have her extradited to Manhattan when she wakes up, or you can answer some questions."

"How would I know anything about that? That was before I met her," Andi shouted, loud enough to catch some pointed stares from the rest of the customers in the diner.

"Because I've got a feeling she's roped you in on her more… let's say maniacal stunts." Again, Officer Grey's brown eyes were piercing and inscrutable. Oh… that's why Other Gwen wanted her dead. This officer was smart enough to put the pieces together all on her own. Not just Gwenpool/Gwen Poole, but her being Mania as well?

"Not the most tolerant thing to call someone with ADHD." It was a bad deflection. Way less practiced than whatever the officer was doing, but Andi was floundering and needed a moment to catch her breath.

"Cute." Officer Grey brought the coffee back to her lips, taking a long sip. Andi took the time to think about her next move, but then the older woman kept sipping. And kept sipping. And kept sipping. It was making her nervous enough to fidget, Mania gently squirming against her skin as she picked up on her unease.

"You two need to be more careful. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s onto you. And that group you fought is just getting started-"

"We didn't fight anyone-"

"Andi, enough. I was a cop in NYC for five years, I know a Symbiote when I see one. That sweater wasn't a hoodie when you hugged me in the hospital- great acting by the way- and it's awfully dry for cotton after the rain." Officer Grey huffed, dismissively rolling her eyes at Andi before taking a deep breath. She seemed to steady herself before continuing. "I'm trying to help-"

"You pointed a gun at them." The video of the bank catastrophe had been all over the news. Andi still had plausible deniability.

"I know Gwenpool well enough to know she's not going to let herself get shot. And a Symbiote? Please. You were both in public and I still have an image to maintain."

"You're a cop. You don't work with heroes."

"Yeah, we usually don't," Officer Grey mumbled. She looked out the window, watching cars stop at the red light beside them. Their tires shined from the rainwater collecting in dirty potholes on the slick Philly street. The scene looked like something out of an old grim cop movie. "Pyro- a Mutant- was here causing havoc just a few months ago for absolutely no reason. Then an undercover HYDRA cell that turned out to be a bunch of vampires were terrorizing a college. Then the incident with Joystick. Then a resurrected Jack O'Lantern went on a crime spree for a couple weeks. Red Hulk had a boxing match with the Marvels. Shocker stole some experimental tech with an accomplice. The attempted bank heist. An alien abduction…" Officer Grey let the weight of what she was saying hang on for a few moments before turning back to look at Andi.

"I'm an officer. My job is to keep people safe and bring justice to those that break the law. But I can't do that when the people I need to arrest can throw a car at me."

"So your job sucks. What's that gotta do with-"

"I want your help. You and Gwenpool's. Philadelphia is only going to get more dangerous as more super-crime flows in. It's the next logical spot from NYC after Jersey City. No big hero presence here, lots of money, still close enough to NYC to steal and funnel profits to and from. Honestly I'm surprised it's taken this long for things to finally pick up." Officer Grey finished her coffee before setting the empty cup back down. "You're gonna do your vigilante work anyway. I'm not wasting PPD's resources hunting you down when we should be getting ready for the crime wave that's coming. We want the same things, Benton. I'm just trying to get ahead of the curve. Work with me."

She sounded sincere, but… well, Andi didn't have a good track record with cops. She'd been played by a few sincere sounding officers when she was younger and spent a couple nights behind bars for her trouble. This? This was more than a couple nights behind bars. If the police connected her to Mania she'd be a fugitive. She'd have to drop out of college. Go on the run. Not just from the police, but from the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. and a dozen other acronyms that would want her dead or Mania back. And that didn't include what'd happen with Gwen…

"Okay… You have no reason to believe me now. That's fine. Here's my number. Hell, here's an email- you kids still know how to use that, right? You text me day or night, no questions. Catch some shoplifter, we'll bring him in. Getting ready to have a brawl downtown? We'll evac the area. Please, Benton… We need a working relationship here." Officer Grey scribbled her information on the back of a napkin and slid it across the wooden table to Andi. The younger woman let the napkin sit on the table, still not even looking at it. There were a couple things that still didn't make sense.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. does the hero-cop crossover stuff. Why would Mania or Gwenpool need to work with you?"

"Because S.H.I. . don't report to us. They don't care about the lives of a beat cop. You have any idea how many cops I've seen get hurt just trying to set up perimeters while we wait for S.H.I.E.L.D. officers or a hero to handle the situation? I want to save as many lives as possible, and that means working with you directly. Please, Andrea… Please, just give us a chance." Officer Grey's eyes were soft, and Andi's Danger Sense didn't so much as itch. She was likely telling the truth.

"Well… I heard they both got beat up pretty bad earlier tonight, so they're probably not even gonna be around anymore. But I'll pass the message on I guess," Andi said with a noncommittal shrug. She still refused to admit anything, but it was a legally deniable olive branch. She finished her coffee and pulled her hood up over her head, and folded the napkin before tucking it into her pocket. She really didn't want to have to think about hero work right now. Not when she wasn't sure if Gwen would even-

The bell on the door chimed erratically as it was thrown open, a familiar face gasping for breath in the pouring rain. Himawari's dark brown eyes met Andi's, and there wasn't an ounce of the hostility that'd taken up residence in them since she learned her roommate's secret. She could feel her stomach drop- she almost wished Himawari would look at her with that same frustration all over again. This desperation left her feeling empty.

"Andi… Andi it's bad."


"Her face was fractured in three places- the eye socket, cheekbone and jawbone. Her left leg was broken in two places, as was her sternum and three ribs- one of which punctured her left lung. There was some intense bleeding from the ears and we confirmed both of her eardrums were ruptured. There was also some internal bleeding that we can't identify the cause of, and some burns on her hands and back." The doctor briefed Andi on each injury as plainly and delicately as she could. Andi just listened, watching the woman flip through different x-rays as she explained the extent of Gwen's injuries.

"You can fix her, right?" It was all that mattered. Andi didn't care about anything else.

"She's still in critical condition. She's pretty touch and go at the moment and we-"

"Let me see her."

"Miss Benton, we-"

"Please. I just… Please. Okay? Which room is she in, I'll go-"

"Miss Benton!" The doctor shouted for her to return to her seat but Andi was already pushing the door open. She didn't have time for this. She'd find Gwen on her own and use Mania to heal her injuries. It'd be so easy if she could just find her-

"You know I can't let you do that yet, right Soulfire?" That was the voice Andi had wanted to hear, and it made the words it spoke even more frustrating. She turned to face Other Gwen and somehow missed their trip through the Gutter. She couldn't remember Gwen ever teleporting them without touching. It felt as if Other Gwen had just changed the scenery entirely of her own accord instead of pushing them through her dimension of pages and ink and into a new frame. The world around Mania was as alien to her as the eerie black sword Other Gwen held in her hand… And yet just as familiar.

"Where are we," Mania hissed, feeling the way the symbiote around her shuddered and whined and begged to be far away from Other Gwen's weapon.

"My time," Other Gwen explained, casually swinging the sword as if it were a toy. The older woman gave Mania a moment to take in the scene around her. It… didn't make any sense.

They were in Hell, that much was clear. But not her Hell. Not the place of fire and brimstone where she'd escaped from Mephisto just a few weeks ago. No, this place was pitch black, slithering, and full of beings that made Mania wish she was back under Mephisto's shadow.

An ancient-looking, bearded Thanos wearing a broken crown genuflected at the head of a crowd. An impossible version of Dr Doom was in the same position, his head on fire, each of his hands glowing a different color, and wearing what Mania recognized as Dr Strange's cloak. A bearded Captain America wearing a HYDRA uniform, a swastika emblazoned on his shield instead of the usual star, Mjolnir hanging from his waist. A version of Mephisto whose head floated above a missing neck and burned like a torch. A bearded Hulk whose eyes glittered with a level of intelligence that frightened Mania to the core. A bearded man Mania was unfamiliar with, wearing Galactus's iconic helm sitting in a Time Chair. And… Squirrel Girl? Just Squirrel Girl? Feeding an acorn to an excited looking squirrel as she looked down at everyone from her seat on the arm of the throne the group were kneeling at.

"Gwen…"

"Not Other Gwen this time," she asked with a smirk. She tapped Mania on the shoulder, and the symbiote hissed as it reeled from her touch, still focused on the sword in the woman's hand. "Look. I know you want to do the right thing. But you really don't know what that is, do you," Other Gwen asked, tucking the sword into its sheath on her back. She walked towards the throne, and Mania's feet had begun moving without her meaning to.

"Thanos, but from a universe where he won. No idea what that's supposed to mean, he's my least favorite. Dr Doom but… well, look at him! The Starbrand, Iron Fist, Spirit of Vengeance, Sorcerer Supreme… how'd he even get all of that? Nazi Cap- I hate him, I keep him around to make sure no one writes him again. What an awful idea, I hope no one ever hires Nick Spencer again. I'm rambling, sorry. DormamMephisto, because they thought combining them was a good idea. Maestro- gross. Franklin Richards- I don't think I need to explain Galactus' helmet or Kang's Time Chair, he kinda just gets those on his own when he's old enough. And- hi Doreen!" Other Gwen waved excitedly at the only other woman in the room who rolled her eyes and shook her head, her expression betraying incredible sadness.

"Gwen, why am I here," Mania pushed, trying to get Other Gwen back on track. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be back with Gwen, trying to save her!

"Because the execs thought they'd sell more books if you felt conflicted or something? I dunno, I just work here," Other Gwen said with a shrug. "We're all beholden to the profits, Soulfire. I just… nudged the execs to do things that'd put me at the top," she explained hollowly. Mania wasn't buying it, and the large white eyes on her otherwise featureless face narrowed as she waited for the older woman to explain herself.

"Letting dozens of different writers do whatever they want to the characters, all of them trying to make their own mark on the Marvel landscape and doing things that contradict something that'd been established before. All of them repeating stories or stepping over past events of old stories to make their own new stories… It was frustrating to read. You pick up a comic ten years ago and pick one up today and the characters are mostly the exact same but the history is all wrong. What do you mean Cap is a Nazi and was always a Nazi? What do you mean Thanos is still doing all of this to get into Mistress Death's pants like she isn't already madly in love with Deadpool? It just… This way is better. Stories have finality. They have an impact. When a change happens, it sticks. Current events don't retcon past ones. Killing off or resurrecting a character is an event. People are invested in comics now more than ever before. Even DC started following our model…"

Mania had spent enough time around Gwen to know when she was hiding something. When she was painting a picture with words to distract you from what she didn't want to say. Some things about people just didn't change. It took every ounce of courage and will in both Andi and Mania to walk past Other Gwen, their eyes locking with Squirrel Girl's. Doreen Green was one of the most trustworthy people Mania had ever met. She wouldn't lie. "What… happened?"

Squirrel Girl's honey brown eyes seemed unfathomably dark as she searched Mania's for… something. Her shoulders slumped as she seemed to be unable to find it. She reluctantly reached her hand up and took Mania's in her own before getting up from her seat and walking out of the throne room.

"Guys! Guys wait!" A blast of fire hot enough to make Andi flinch and her symbiote scream in agony shot from Squirrel Girl's hand. The air around it sizzled and exploded, creating a shock wave that forced Other Gwen to deflect with her sword. She was pushed back into the group of villains that quickly rose to their feet, ready to attack the two women that'd assaulted their leader. "Calm down, calm down, I'm fine guys. You wanna beat someone up so bad, punch Nazi-Cap, it's what he's here for," Other Gwen mumbled, picking herself up off her feet and dusting herself off. "I get the message, this is a you two thing, not a me thing. Go for it."

The two women, a symbiote and a squirrel left the room without so much as a glance behind themselves. Mania followed a couple of steps behind Squirrel Girl for what felt like an eternity. The sound of their footsteps carried far along the black, shifting hallways. Each step brought them deeper and deeper into pitch black nothingness, yet the light never seemed to dim despite leaving the lit room behind them. One step too close to either wall seemed to anger the tendrils, causing them to snap at her. She hated every minute of this. Only when Mania felt like she'd go mad from the silence did a voice finally cut through it. But it wasn't Doreen's.

"There've been 9 Civil War events," the squirrel chittered, its tail bouncing for every step Doreen took. "The first two… as far as we know, those were genuine. But the rest were all Gwenpool. It wasn't her fault at first. She just… things just kept happening around her. It was why we still tried to see the good in what happened. But then… Then she started making them happen on purpose."

"Gwen? She… look, I know Gwen… does things but she wouldn't-"

"You don't need to stand up for her." The squirrel's chitters took on a sadder tone as it groomed itself. "We just need you to listen."

We? Only now did Mania realize that Doreen hadn't said a word yet. The woman was normally incredibly talkative. Why wasn't she-

"She can't. Gwen… when it was discovered Miss Marvel was a Mutant, Gwen decided no one would miss the Inhumans so she… Doreen can't speak or she'll destroy everything. One of Gwen's ways to keep Doreen from beating her," the squirrel explained. Doreen nodded in wordless agreement. "It keeps Doreen from talking her out of this."

"Out of what? What is Gwen doing?" Mania couldn't keep the suspense any more. It was killing her. She needed to know. The hallway seemed to open up between words, and they walked into a large, open room. There was nothing but a couch and an impossibly large window. They were in space, floating above the earth, that much she was sure. But an earth she didn't recognize. There were billions of little pink drones floating above the atmosphere, painting a giant G over the planet. The sight made her stomach turn. How had Gwen done this?

"Don't lose your lunch yet." The squirrel climbed down Doreen's body and hit a button on the throne. The window closed shut and the chair turned to face the opposite wall. Thousands of little icons filled the screen. Each had a name. Iron Man. Thor. Punisher. Elektra. Deadpool. Graviton. Carnage. Foggy Nelson. Betty Ross. Mania really didn't want to find out what would happen if she hit one of those icons.

The squirrel did it for her.

Spider-Man was laying spread eagle on a medical table, electrodes stuck to his head and temples over his mask. He twitched in his sleep, fists clenching and unclenching, his muscles flexing every few moments as if he were fighting in his dreams. Just as quickly as he'd appeared, he was replaced by Dazzler. Who was replaced by Ghost Rider. Who was replaced by Senator Kelly. Who was replaced by a blonde woman who looked so much like-

"What did she DO?"

"She gathered them all. Everyone. Every hero, every villain, every single one of their friends and family across every universe. They're all here. She feeds them events that they experience. The comic gets written. The narrative gets followed. Earth is safe. The universe is safe. But…" The squirrel chittered in its sad way again, watching as Koi Boy, Brain Drain and Chipmunk Hunk crossed past them. Mania watched Doreen's tail stiffen, her fists clench and her eyes grow watery. Clearly friends of hers. "The drones on earth scan for signs of new stories and bring them here so we can influence their origin-"

"This can't be everyone. This doesn't make any sense! What about- I don't know, the Guardians of the Galaxy! They're out in space she-"

Rocket Raccoon. Star-Lord. Gamora. Drax the Destroyer. Groot.

"That one version of Thor! The horse head one-"

Beta Ray Bill.

"What, did she go around the whole damn universe collecting people," Mania shouted, punching the wall closest to her as hard as she could. Doreen nodded as if that'd been exactly what Other Gwen had gone around doing.

"She started off small, using Civil Wars and Incursions to have people go… missing. Then as she gathered more people she got her hands on people and artifacts that could help her overwhelm even stronger people. She jumped into other universes, she took people hostage, she assembled the Infinity Gauntlet… She took down Thanos faster than we could." The squirrel nuzzled Doreen's cheek, who'd been silently crying during the explanation.

"Why didn't you stop her," Mania hissed, her body shaking as she fought to keep from retching onto the floor. Doreen turned away, unable to look at the younger woman anymore. "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?"

"Alright, don't blame them now." Other Gwen, back again. Clearly they'd run out the timer on her letting them run around her base unimpeded. "Doreen did her best to stop me but I just didn't fight her. She can't beat you if you don't fight her," Other Gwen chuckled as if it were the most obvious solution in the world. "Now if she fights me she starts another Civil War. That's why we're besties. Tippy Toe's got the Mind Stone- you probably haven't even asked why you can understand the talking squirrel. And Squirrel Girl's got the Power Stone, all of the Inhuman's powers and the Phoenix Force, so there's literally nothing she can do without starting the Infinite Civil War. Cool name, right? I figure the 10th one should be huge! I figure we'd finally call the guys over at DC and we'd get to see if Sentry or the Big Blue Boy Scout is stronger."

"I'm not letting you do this," Mania hissed, her fists clenched as she watched Other Gwen fidget with her sword. The Symbiote was screaming again, squirming and desperate to get away from the weapon.

"You can't stop me, Andi. You can't stop us. Because let's be real, you won't do the one thing you need to do to stop it all from happening." Other Gwen's sword glowed a deep red, a bright flash traveling down the blade before coming together at a red gem in the hilt of it. As the flash faded, a hospitalized Gwen was left in her wake. "All-Black is a really cool sword, isn't he? Well, he's kinda edgy I guess, All-Black the Necrosword, it's a hell of a name. But look! The Reality Stone!"

Andi let her ramble, her eyes locked on what Other Gwen had conjured up. Another Gwen, currently sleeping on a hospital bed. She wasn't this Other Gwen. She was her Gwen, of that much Andi was sure. Hooked up to a dozen machines all focused on keeping her alive. Andi hated seeing her like this. She knew in her heart that she'd do anything to fix this.

"Let me die, and we can avoid all of this. It's easy." Other Gwen said with a shrug. "But then our crossover run is over. You might live on, but I probably won't. There's no reason to resurrect me and write me in another comic after this. And I'll never be able to-"

"Stop coming to me."

"Huh? You gotta speak up, Soulfire, I-"

"Stop coming to me. Stop… interfering with my life. Leave me alone. I don't want your help or your advice. Just fuck off!" Her Hell-Mark glowed brighter than the sun as she narrowed her eyes at Other Gwen.

"But Andi we're having so much fun with this story-"

"No! No, I'm not! Send me back home and leave us the fuck alone," Mania shouted, pushing the fake, hospitalized Gwen away as she walked towards Other Gwen.

"No, I didn't mean you! I meant the readers! You know the sales are all that matters-"

This wasn't Gwen. Not her Gwen. That much was obvious. Gwen would never put the sales above her friends. Above the heroes she cared so much about. Mania had had enough.

The punch connected and knocked Other Gwen off her feet, and she landed on the throne.

"Oh… You shouldn't have done that."

The ground slithered and shifted under their feet before thousands of the goopy tendrils began to glow. They covered the window facing earth, joining into a large mass that snuffed out all of the light of the sun. They formed a Hell-Mark. Her Hell-Mark. And crawling out from the center of it was-

"run." Squirrel Girl's voice had barely been a whisper, but it'd been powerful enough to blast apart the entire wing of the station they'd been in. The destruction was astounding, practically vaporizing the entire station in front of Squirrel Girl and rocking the entire space station back a few hundred feet. Air rushed out of the hole she'd created and out into space, but the tendrils formed back together just as the women inside were being sucked out into the vacuum. They wrapped around Tippy Toe and Mania and Gwenpool and Squirrel Girl, holding them in place tight enough to restrain every ounce of their power. Well… every ounce that they were exerting. Gwenpool seemed relatively pleased about what was happening despite the blood gushing from her lip.

"Soulfire, is that you? You're always so cranky after waking up, let me get you some tea!"

Mania struggled against the tendrils, desperately clawing away at them while the black clad woman picked herself up off the floor and dusted herself off. Purple eyes met white and Mania's blood ran cold. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. Her presence was oppressive. Overwhelming. It blanketed every single thought and snuffed them out individually faster than she could come up with new ones. All that remained was the desperation to run. To leave! To get as far away from here as she could.

Soulfire's hand reached up and gently caressed Mania's face in a way the younger woman never would've guessed in a million years she was capable of. Gentleness didn't look endemic to this woman. Andi could feel Mania peel away from her face, revealing the panicked desperation of the girl underneath. The symbiote just couldn't stand to be touched by-

"Like looking in a mirror?" Andrea Benton smirked as she watched her younger self desperately struggle against the tendrils holding her in place.

Andi was positive she was going to pass out. It felt like she hadn't taken a breath in days. Her muscles ached and her body felt like it was going to rip itself apart fighting against her older self. She needed to-

"Mrs. Poole! Mrs. Poole, we can't let you go in there!" The doctor she'd been talking to, Officer Grey and Himawari were holding Andi back just a few feet away from the door of Gwen's recovery room. She'd been dragging them down the hallway as they dug their heels into the linoleum desperately trying to stop her. She couldn't even remember leaving the room they'd been in.

Had… had everything just been a dream?

No… no it wasn't.

And all she had to do to stop it was to… let Gwen die.

"Get OFF of me," she shouted, yanking her arms free. She grabbed the doorknob and pushed her way inside.