Chapter 8: It's Good to See You Again
Alright, let's do this one last time.
My name is Peter Parker, and I was NOT bitten by a radioactive spider.
But she was.
Her name is Gwen Stacy, and she is the Spectacular Spider-Woman.
She was special.
She was special before she was bitten.
I was not.
The world saw her as a monster.
I did not.
She was my best friend, my only friend.
But she only let me see part of who she was.
I thought if I became special, she would let me in.
I could help her.
But she betrayed me.
She beat me.
She taunted me.
She murdered me.
But it saved me.
It tells me I am special.
It tells me I didn't deserve how she treated me.
It has become my friend.
I wanted to be like her.
She was a monster.
Now we are, too.
Nueva York - Earth 928
"Free at last!" Hobie lifted his arms as the group exited the quarantine.
"I am so ready for my own bed…" Jeff said, popping his back, "Miles in his own bed, and Emo in HER own bed."
"I wasn't that bad…" Gwen flushed but remained at Miles' side, holding his hand as they left the suite.
"It often times reminded me of the cries of a dying antelope being eaten alive by tigers," Peni stated.
"Not wrong, but that's messed up…" Jeff stated, glancing to the young Japanese woman.
"And don't get me STARTED about the snoring!" Peter B. threw up his arms. "I liked it better that first night when she had insomnia, all worried about Miles being mad at her."
"Hey! I do not snore!" Gwen stomped her foot.
"You tell them, my little buzzsaw," Miles smirked down at the shorter blond, which turned to a full grin at her glare.
"So, are you going to come over for dinner?" Miles asked his girlfriend to change the subject.
"I'd love to, but I'll have to take a raincheck," Gwen squeezed his hand. "I'm sure Dad will want to see me, and I was thinking of staying home and spending some time with him. Was thinking New York Pizza and a mobster movie. His favorites."
"Godfather trilogy is a good one," Miles noted.
"Trilogy? I was thinking of watching part IV. It only went three movies in 1610?" Gwen asked. "That's too bad."
"You're messing with me… you gotta be messing with me…" Miles stared.
"You'll have to come over sometime to find out…" Gwen smirked teasingly.
"Give me a call when you get home?" Miles motioned to his watch. "And tell Mr. Stacy I said hi."
"Sure, we'll chat later, ok?" Gwen started to pull on her mask but paused a moment. Before Miles could resist, she grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss, followed by whispering something she had only fantasized about saying. "Can't wait to see you again, lover."
Miles stammered and turned beet red as she pulled away and pulled on her mask and hood before activating her portal home and leaping through.
She hugged herself as she landed on the rooftop. It was nighttime on Earth 65, and a cold rain had seemed to be falling for a while. "No place like home…" she said to herself as she rubbed her arms. She adjusted her hood and fired a webline, even more anxious to get home and wrap herself up in one of Miles' jackets she had stolen borrowed.
Even in the rain, she loved to webswing, but her and her father's apartment wasn't too far, so it was a short swing. She climbed into the living room window. As he was in the know, there was no need to sneak around. "Dad, I'm home," she said, noticing the lights were off. "Dad, are you up? Dad?" She finally saw her dad seated in a chair facing the television
"Dad? What's up with the lights?" She asked as she pulled up her mask and approached her father. That's when she noticed what was on the TV, footage of Spider-Woman fighting the Lizard.
"Good to see you, Gwen. We're just watching some old home videos," a familiar voice spoke, causing Gwen's heart to skip a beat and her blood to run cold. "What? Who… who are you?" She asked as she rushed to her dad. She was both relieved and horrified. Her dad was alive but wrapped up in the same black webbing Miles used while possessed by the symbiote.
"Don't remember me… Gwen?" the familiar voice continued from a chair in the shadows. "Has Miles made you forget all about me? Your Armor, isn't it?"
"You came home alone? That is disappointing," the voice sighed. "I really wanted to meet Miles. My other half misses him so much."
"You can't be… you can't… he died… he died in my arms…" Gwen pulled on her mask and tried to pull the hardened webbing from her father.
"So you do remember. And I did die. You murdered me…" the voice taunted. "It saved me, Gwen. I owe it everything."
"Peter?" Gwen asked softly as the tall, lanky figure stood up.
"Not anymore," He replied in two almost demonic voices as the figure grew taller and his muscles bulkier. The monster stepped out of the shadows, resembling the black suit that had taken over Miles, but the white spider was twisted and corrupted, and where the mask should have been solid, there were edged lenses for eyes and a large, shark tooth-filled mouth with a long, slimy tongue lolling out. "We are something new."
Gwen lifted her arm to use her watch to call for help, but a black tendril shot out and consumed her arm before retracting. "We'll be taking that…" the monster said, holding up her watch in its fingers and absorbing it into itself.
"Peter, this… this isn't you…" Gwen tried to reach him. "The suit is messing with you, just like it did the other Peter and Miles. I know this isn't you."
"YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL!" Peter's voice screamed from the monsters' voice, "You never did… you never wanted to, just fit me into that nice little box, like you tried to do with your dad, my aunt and uncle, and everyone else in your charmed little life. This is on you. You made us. You chose Ned over me. Then, you beat me to death… you dumped all your anger, your poison, your… venom into me… so now…"
The beast grinned, "Now… WE ARE VENOM!"
Venom lunged at Gwen, and without a warning from her spider-sense, he caught her center of the waist and busted through the wall out into the street.
She barely caught herself with a webline and swung away, trying desperately to lead Peter away from her dad. The suit had to have full control now, and she had to find some way of contacting the others.
"Trying to lure us away from Captain Stacy?" Venom asked, coming out from nowhere and slamming her into a fire escape. "Don't worry, we won't hurt him, Aunt May or Uncle Ben. We will only hurt you, then we'll move on to Miles, Peter, Hobie, Pav, Miguel, Jessica, and on and on and on until there are no more Spiders anywhere to stop us."
"And if I stop you?" Gwen asked, pulling herself away from him and trying to swing. A gasp escaped her lips as he caught her by the ankle and threw her back down across an air unit on the rooftop.
"We know you can take more than that, Gwen," Venom sneered as she struggled to pull herself out of the damaged unit.
"Come on, Peter, fight the suit…" She threw herself at the monster, who easily sidestepped her. He caught her by the hood and threw her back along the rooftop.
"Who's Peter?" Venom asked, walking toward her as she pulled herself off the ground.
Gwen threw herself into a cartwheel and launched a barrage of attacks that sent Venom back on his heel. While the symbiote made her spider-sense useless, she still had the advantage of a smaller, faster frame than the bulky monster, and she used it to her the best of her ability, putting him on the defensive.
"Give my best friend back!" She yelled, landing a snap kick to the monster's face. "Already tired of Morales," the beast gave a fangy grin. She made herself forget what was inside that suit. If Venom got away with her watch, he could go anywhere he wanted before the Society caught on. S
He had to stop him here and now, even if it meant hurting Peter… again. As long as it didn't show her his face, she knew she could keep the pressure up.
She fired two weblines on either side of Venom's head and tightened them to zipline right into its face. And as she was about to release the mask slid back revealing a scared Peter's face. "Gwen?"
Gwen's lenses widened and she released her webs causing to her to fall against him. "Peter… Peter are you still in there?"
"It's me, Gwen…" Peter spoke softly. "You… made me like this." He finished by giving her a hard punch just below her ribs, air rushed from her lungs as white mask over her mouth turned red.
She tumbled and rolled away from him as Venom walked around her still wearing Peter's face. She managed to pull herself up to her hands and knees. But gasped when Venom kicked her hard in the stomach.
"Get up," Peter sneered as she curled into herself trying to catch a breath. "Get up and fight me. Like you did at prom."
"I didn't… know it was… you…" Gwen coughed, trying to breath.
"No excuses, you didn't give it one thought!" He kicked again hard enough to lift her into the air. "You didn't show an inch of mercy!" Peter's face contorted in disgust as he lifted her up by the hood. "You were everything to me, Gwen."
He punched her in the face hard enough to shatter one of her lenses. "I stood up for you to your dad, to everyone." Peter pulled her close. "I told them it wasn't about a thrill. I told them you weren't a danger or menace, that you were doing good. You were helping people, but no, you just wanted to have fun, and I paid the price. You brought this on yourself," he said, hitting her again, his knuckles sending blood and white fabric across the rooftop.
"I want to hear you beg for mercy, like I did." He got right in Gwen's dazed face. "I want to hear you beg for it..." She cried out when he slammed her against the brick wall of the taller neighboring building.
"I want you to beg for me to leave you alone, like I did… then, you know what I'm going to do?" He asked pressing her against the brick wall.
"You… didn't…" Gwen coughed, trying to pull at the hand gripping her. "I didn't… hear…"
"Don't remember?" Peter asked in amusement. "Let me give you a reminder…" He pulled back and then slammed her hard enough to break bricks. And with his free hand, he started throwing punches. "Oh, no you don't, you tried to hurt my friends! That's what you said, Gwen!" Her body jerked with every punch. "THIS ISN'T OVER!" He yelled as he punched her face and her chest and stomach rapidly, "UNTIL," he continued as he started punching her across her face, "I SAY IT'S OVER!"
"I…" Gwen coughed, most of her mask shredded from the punches, revealing her bleeding and bruised face. "I… didn't… I couldn't have… no… I only… kicked once…"
"No surprise a liar will lie…" Peter rolled his eyes and started to throw another punch as her hand finally fell weakly from his wrist. Gwen could only watch, too exhausted and hurt to do anything to protect herself anymore. The fist stopped inches from her face. Gwen only saw a slight hint of her Peter in his eyes for a moment before the gaze hardened and the Venom mask engulfed his face again. "We could finish you right here, right now," Venom leaned in, running his slimy tongue across the exposed skin of her shoulder and cheek, tasting her blood. "But we're not done playing yet…" Venom opened a portal, "Let's go say hi to the boyfriend."
Miles sat back in his chair in his room, working on another sketch of Gwen as he continued to contemplate giving Spider-Man a rest. His suit was ruined anyway, so it would be a good time to focus on Miles… as well as his loved ones.
"Dude… stop thinking third person," he said to himself, then rolled his eyes as he questioned which was worse, talking to himself or thinking in the third person. Before he could dwell on the subject, his watch went off. "Gwen texting already?"
"Meet me at the clock tower. I miss you already, My Armor," Miles read the text out loud. He opened his drawer and pulled out his webshooters and the original suit. It was far too small for him, but he could still use the mask.
Moments later, he was in the air, heading toward the bank. He landed on the over-reach and looked around, "Yo, Gwen? You here?" He asked, "Guess I'm early."
"M-Miles… run…" He heard Gwen's pained voice behind him and turned around to see Venom holding up Gwen by the hood.
"Good to see you again, old friend…" Venom gave a fangy smile as Miles took a step back.
"The suit?" He gasped before his eyes took in how badly Gwen was hurt. "GWEN!"
"It's me you want, let whoever you got in there go and come back…" Miles held out his hands to Venom.
"Oh, we don't want just you to hurt. We have a grudge against her, too, to say nothing of the other Peter Parkers across the universes," Venom replied.
"Let her go, or so help me…" Miles growled, taking a step toward the monster.
"Very poor choice of words, Miles…" Venom smiled and let Gwen drop from the tower. Miles gasped and threw himself after her. "See you both soon…" Venom snorted before opening a portal and walking through.
Miles caught her quickly and landed on a nearby rooftop. "Gwen! Gwen, wake up," he said, carefully peeling off her mask. Her bruised eyes slowly opened, and she smiled at him before he laid her head against his chest. "Gwen, stay with me."
"Not…leaving…" Gwen's weak voice spoke, "just tired…" Miles held her tighter. "I like this jacket… gonna take it next, I think…"
back at the Morales apartment, Rio had set a fourth place at the table after Miles told her he was going to meet Gwen. She was beyond happy that they had found each other at last, and maybe the scary moments will have passed. Her kids have had their fair share of them. As if on cue, a pounding on the door shook her out of her thoughts, but it wasn't a typical knock. It was desperate and almost sounded like someone was kicking the door.
Jeff came out of his study, and they both went to the door, with Jeff's hand on his sidearm. Rio gasped at the sight before her.
Miles in his street clothes and mask, breathing heavily while cradling a badly injured Gwen. "Mami… help… please…" he breathed desperately.
"Bring her," Rio swiped everything from the kitchen table and laid down a towel over it. Once Miles had her laid down, Rio turned to Jeff, "Take him to the living room, mi amor. I'll take care of Mija."
Miles numbly let Jeff pull him to the living room and sat him down on the couch. "Miles, what happened?"
"The suit… it's back…" Miles hugged himself. "It and whoever's wearing it did that to her…" he snarled.
"Easy, take it easy," Jeff said, placing an arm around his son, "Gwen wouldn't want you to fly off the handle."
"I'm not flying nothing until I know she's gonna be ok…" he said, glancing to see Rio rush back from the emergency kit she and Jeff smuggled together to help if something was to happen to Miles or one of his friends.
"Don't fight it by yourself, son," Jeff warned. "Trying to deal with it alone is what got us in our last mess."
"I can't ask the Society for help; it's already been in mine and Peter's heads. It's how it grows…" Miles said. "It knows me. It knows this is going to piss me off. There's no way this was a mistake. It's trying to push me, make me make mistakes… or do what it expects me to do. And going to get the other Spiders is exactly what it would do. I can't be me when I fight it. It knows me too well… I can't… I…" His eyes widened with realization, "I know who can help."
Almost an hour later, the two men still sat silently while Miles mused on his plan when the dining room door opened.
"Miles?" Rio walked into the living room, and Miles gasped at the sight of blood on her shirt.
"Gwen, is she…?" Miles shot to his feet.
"She'll be fine… she took a bad beating, but I got the worst patched up. Going to leave her enhanced healing to do the rest. I gave her enough medication to knock her out for at least 24 hours. That should be enough," Rio explained.
"I've got to go. I've got a plan… or at least a start of a plan." Miles adjusted his webshooters and grabbed his old mask. "Take care of Gwen for me, and call me if anything changes…"
"Mijo, stop," Rio said as he started toward the window. He froze and closed his eyes.
"I know you're worried. After what that thing did to me before… and what it did to Gwen… but I'm going to be smart. I'm going to get some of my friends, and we're going to take care of it for good this time."
"Mijo…" Rio spoke, and Miles cut her off once again.
"I promise I'll be careful, and I'll come back safe and sound, I promise," Miles closed his eyes tight, "I'll be here when Gwen wakes up."
"Miles!" Rio finally snapped, and he turned on his heel on instinct.
"Mami?" he asked, seeing her holding a box.
"Mija and I made this for you while we were in quarantine together," Rio said, holding it out to him. "We knew you were talking about taking a break… but we knew you wouldn't stay on the ground for long."
Miles opened it up to find a folded suit. Looking over the black and white material, his hand traced the large, red spider-symbol with purple highlights.
Can't stop me now
I said, "I got you now"
"Take it…" Rio said, and he pulled the material out of the box. "Seems appropriate, no?" Rio gave a small smile, "You going off to battle, bearing your senorita's colors?"
I'm right here
I'm at your door
Miles smiled and hugged his mom tight.
I won't leave
I want more
Not long after, a black and white blur shot from Miles' window, rushing towards the ground only to catch himself on a webline at the last second and yelling in excitement as he swung between two semis before launching himself high into the air again.
What's up, danger?
Yeah, what's up, danger?
Some people below the street cheered as he parkoured up the side of a building before launching himself into another swing.
Can't stop me now, yeah
I said I got you now!
Miles spun in the air and tapped his watch, sending messages to Peter B., Pav, and Hobie before firing two lines to zipline to the top of a building.
Come on, what's up, danger?
As he dropped in free fall on the other side of the tall building, he activated the portal function of his watch and typed in E-42, then fired two more weblines and launched himself into the portal.
Come on, I said "What's up, danger?"
Brooklyn, New York – Earth 42
Earth 42 wasn't that much different than 1610. The only real differences that Miles knew was the lack of Spider-Man and the fate of the Morales/Davis family.
Miles moved with purpose through the air toward Aaron's apartment and carefully opened the window to climb in. A synthetic voice spoke, "Spider-People just don't know how to knock?"
Miles turned to see the Prowler staring at him with his arms crossed. "No fun in that, yeah?" one of Miles' eye lenses quirked up as he asked.
"Guess not," Prowler said as his facemask disassembled and slid back from his face. "What's up, cuz? Still doin' whatever a spider can?" the two Miles's embraced and laughed.
"This isn't a social visit," Miles said to Prowler.
"Thought for a second you were trying to make me jealous wanting to show off your slick new suit," Prowler smirked. "It's kinda working, if it is. Your girl must love this one."
"She… she hasn't seen it yet," Miles said, pulling off his mask.
"Let me get you something to drink, and you can tell me what's up," Prowler said going to the kitchenette and opening a fridge. "Beer?"
"Are you old enough to drink that? We're the same age, right?" Miles asked.
"Is Spider-Man gonna web me up next to the police station for underage drinking?" Prowler asked, using the counter to pop a top. Miles raised an eyebrow when Prowler offered the glass bottle to him. "Just screwin' with ya, man," Prowler laughed, reaching in and pulling a bottle of chocolate milk.
"How'd you know I like this?" Miles asked, opening the bottle.
"I'm you, remember?" Prowler took a swig of his beer, "Now lay it on me. What's happening?"
"Gwen's hurt, and I need help taking care of the thing that did it," Miles said, noticing Prowler glance to his bedroom door that opened slightly when he mentioned Gwen. Instead, Miles proceeded to explain the symbiote and what had happened.
"So, we got some dude from your girl's dimension wearing a living parasite that knows how you and the old guy in the pink bathrobe think," Prowler leaned forward, "so instead of calling in an army of Spider-guys and gals, you come to me?"
"Would have been the last thing I would have done, figure it might throw him off," Miles shrugged, taking drink of his milk.
"You're crazy as hell, Morales," Prowler laughed, "but that shit might actually work."
"We could probably use Uncle Aaron's help, too," Miles said. "The more help, the better the odds."
"Yeah, bout that, he is kinda… indisposed for another couple weeks…" Prowler took a big, long drink of his beer, "Unc is on honeymoon."
"Oh? Who's the lucky lady?" Miles asked curiously.
"Mom…" Prowler said, and Miles' face fell. Prowler handed him his beer, and Miles took a swig. "Yeah, fam, that was my reaction, too. Least you're hearing about it and not finding them in bed. Sheesh…"
"Wow…" Miles handed the beer back to Prowler.
"Yeah, man, pretty sure Pop would come back and kick his ass good for this one, but… Mom's happy," Prowler said. "Anyway… I… might have someone who could be of help. My girl, see, she's… she's good in a fight."
"You found someone to put up with you?" Miles teased. "Yeah, yeah, and she'd probably take the whole sitch with your girl personally, too," Prowler glanced to the bedroom, "if she hasn't already. It's rude to eavesdrop on conversations…"
"She's here?" Miles asked, "I didn't mean to interrupt…"
"Chill, man, just… need you to promise me you won't freak out, ok?" Prowler said carefully, walking around the isle.
"Dude, I been thrown across the multiverse and met alternate versions of Spider-Man, and I'm currently talking to another me. There's nothing else that could shock me," Miles stated.
"Promise me, 'cause I know we always keep our promises," Prowler looked him dead in the eye.
"This big, huh?" Miles nodded, "I promise, I'll stay cool."
"Ok, ok…" Prowler sighed, "come on out, babe…"
The bedroom door opened, and out walked a girl in almost the same type of Spider-Suit as Gwen's but where Gwen's was black, hers was an oozing blood-red.
"Oh snap, you got with a Gwen variant?" Miles asked Prowler.
"Not quite…" the other Gwen said as she approached them. "Miles… my Miles came up with my costume name, Devil Spider," she said, pushing back her hood and removing her mask, letting shoulder-length hair tumble down as she shook it free, then opened her crimson eyes and glanced at Miles. Miles mouth slid open when he realized who was standing before him. "But… Friends call me Gwenith… It's… good to see you again, Miles…" she said awkwardly.
To Be Continued…