Above the city, Gwen sits beside me on a ledge as we gaze across the river into Long Island. Her life feels entwined with mine, whether we're fighting crime together or enjoying peaceful moments like this.
She's helped me send a few multiversal drifters back home. An octopus-like creature with multiple human arms and a PhD. Another symbiote user with a scorpion tail whose name I guessed on the first try. An overly flirty thief whose comments toward me showed how possessive Gwen can be. I'm lucky to have her.
I get along with her dad. Being a cop, he's rigid but polite and I can talk to him about older bands that my own dad always gushes about or makes me listen to. He doesn't mind me staying over sometimes which is how I discovered Gwen trained in ballet. It explained that little quirk I love about her where she randomly stands on the points of her toes whether doing mundane things at home or fighting crooks.
MJ intimidates the crap out of me but she lets me sit in on their rehearsals, even play some of their songs while strumming my bass next to Gwen.
Gwen snaps me out of my thoughts when she asks, "If you had to play another instrument, what would it be? Oh, and it can't be drums!"
Having banned my obvious choice, I think about it a bit and say, "Piano."
Gwen laughs. "Suits you, Cornball."
"Same question, back at you."
Gwen smiles cheekily and I just realize it when she answers, "Bass."
I scoff and grab her as she squeals, giggling.
"I told you it couldn't be drums! You literally said 'same question'!"
After settling down, I ask, "What do you wanna do? After high school?"
"Dad'll probably send me to college but, preferably, The Mary Janes'll become famous. You?"
"Dunno," I answer. "What do you think I'm good at?"
"Well," she says, "You've got a good eye, evidence being present company, of course. Maybe something artsy like photography? Could also be The Mary Janes' roadie, even a backup bass player or vocalist?"
I laugh. Then something prods at my thoughts. The way Gwen stares at Havoc's portals. "What was it like… when you were in that other universe?"
Gwen's eyes widen at my question before she remembers. "Right, the memories. Dangerous, for sure, with the risk of glitching out due to cellular decay but, honestly, it was a blast. I got to meet other Spider-people like me. Even helped teach one how to use his powers. Became… friends with him." She shakes her head with a chuckle, trying to brush it off. "Which of my memories do you have in your head anyway?"
"Just intense ones. Um, getting bitten by that spider, learning about your powers, Peter's death, getting sucked into a portal and landing in… Miles' universe."
Gwen bites her lip and turns her gaze away from me. "Oh, I see…"
"Your memories," I say, placing a hand on my chest, "I feel them here. You push them away, distract yourself, but I know that your connection with Miles is… special. I notice the look on your face whenever we send drifters back to their universes. Honestly, I didn't know how to feel about it at first, otherwise I would've brought it up right then and there. Gwen, I think the only thing I care about right now is you living your best life. I can help you see Miles."
She looks at me, her eyes shocked with confusion. "W-why?""
"I don't want to be just a distraction for you, Gwen. I don't want you to be with me thinking 'What if?', ya know?"
Gwen grabs me by the cheeks, kissing me hard. "You're not a distraction, Coryn. You're here and I'm here with you."
I nod in her grasp, a smile breaking out. "You and me, Gwen."
Coryn, another unfavorable is arriving, Havoc says as Gwen's attention turns to it as well.
Havoc tracks the pulse to an old industrial factory in Midtown. As silently as possible, I pry a window frame off the wall. Gwen slides in first and I follow, our footsteps quiet. There's rumbles and clangs. Someone is calling for help.
"Hey! I'm down here!" the voice, strangely familiar, calls out.
"Think they're friendly this time?" Gwen whispers.
"Dunno, better play it safe."
We follow the voice to the main level. It's too dark to see detail without power here.
A stocky silhouette turns to us. "Oh, thank you! I just appeared here outta nowhere and don't know where I am!"
"It's alright," I say, approaching with caution, Gwen following close, "we can get you home."
"I'd rather look for the closest Alchemax but mind telling a guy where he is first?" the stranger asks, his voice sending me on edge for some reason. Then he steps into a stream of moonlight and my veins run cold.
He looks a little older than ours but there's no mistake. It's Ned.
Ned's gaze turns to Gwen. "Wait, that suit… You're not Peter Parker. No, not the one I know."
"Know?" Gwen asks.
"Yeah." Ned laughs, the sound grating on my ears. "Where I'm from Peter Parker is the one and only Spider-Man. But you could say that he owes it all to me."
"What do you mean 'owes it all to you'?" I say, my voice widening the lenses of Gwen's mask.
"Well, in my world, Spider-Man credits his 'good heart' to a strong sense of responsibility and knowing what it's like to be the little guy. Petey knows our… roughhousing… in school made him stronger. I gave him character."
"You call beating on the little guy 'giving them character'?" Gwen asks, annoyance spilling into her words. "You made him think school was living hell!"
The memories of what Ned did to me start to fester from scars I thought had closed. All the beatings. All the embarrassment. Hav tells me, Coryn, calm yourself.
Ned's lips crook into a smirk. "Ah, from your reactions, I must be in this universe too. Tell me, did Pathetic Parker turn into something better here too?"
Coryn, do not let him goad you.
"No… he's gone," Gwen mutters.
Ned nods, almost amused. "I see." Then he turns his eyes my way. "You, the taller one, you're awfully quiet." He scrunches his face, thinking. "Do you and I have some history here too?"
"We do," I say, the words terse.
"And? Did I make you better too?" He says, his hand pressing the back of his neck. A green glow emits, circulating under his skin. The sound of bones cracking echoes through the empty factory as his body enlarges, green scales covering him entirely. Through the fangs of his reptilian, he spits, "Or you gonna die like Pathetic Parker did here too?"
The next moments are a blur. My body morphs but I'm not asking Hav like usual. I see fangs and spines and my hands ache from bashing something over and over. Another voice calls out to me while my own is contorted, sounding inhuman.
"Coryn!" Gwen shouts as I feel my body pulled back by her webs.
I'm flailing, my hands a mass of symbiote fangs and hardened shell covered in green blood. My eyes focus. I'm above Ned's lizard form, beaten nearly to a pulp. The realization that this was my doing cuts through me.
Back to normal, Havoc says with relief, reverting my suit.
Gwen reels me back. I fall into her arms and she grabs me tight. My breath steadies, heartbeat slowing to sync with Gwen's as I stare into her eyes. "You're okay," she says, her voice like soothing notes.
Ned glitches and mutters a laugh. "You're just like me. Using your power to let off steam."
This isn't the Ned of our world. This is just an even more cruel and callous version of him.
I step towards Ned, my mask unraveling. Gwen reaches out to me but I give her a look to let her know I'm alright. A piece of Havoc detaches and detects where this Ned is from before forming a portal.
"No. I'm nothing like you, Ned," I say. "I don't need this kind of anger anymore. And this world doesn't need someone like you in it." I grab him by his tail and hurl him back into his universe before the portal crumbles to dust.
"Thank you," I say, looking over my shoulder to Gwen, "For stopping me."
I feel a thump against my back as her arms wrap around my waist. "Of course. What do you always say? It's you and me, Coryn."
"You know, it wasn't fighting against bullies that made me want to become Havoc," I say, turning to face Gwen who has removed her mask. Her cheeks are flushed, brows furrowed from worry. "It was you. The memories of yours that I unexpectedly gained. The feeling you have saving people. Those pushed me to do the same. So I'm sorry you had to see that side of me."
Gwen leans upward and flicks my nose.
"Ow! What the?!"
With that gentle smile that always melts me, Gwen says, "I would've done the same to him. You just got to it first."
"Dad said he can't make it today but he'll take you to the firing range another time," Gwen explains after checking her phone while we're nuzzled together on her bed.
"No worries," I say, "Well, a little bit worries, actually, 'cause it's your dad and he's a cop."
"A good cop too," Gwen says, a bit deflated, "Still on the manhunt for Spider-Woman…"
I pull her in tight. "It's okay. Give him time. Find the right moment to tell him." Then I laugh. "Or spring it on him like I did you, then bolt outta there."
She rolls her eyes with a smile and another message dings on her phone, from MJ this time. "Left Cornball's bass by your drums so you two can do your usual 'jam sessions' before next show."
"Can't wait," I say, smirking.
Gwen blushes and remembers something, reaching for a box under her bed.
"What's this?" I ask, taking the box into hand.
She beams. "Happy birthday."
I open the box and am floored. "Gwen, are you serious?" I ask, chuckling in disbelief. Inside is a gleaming pair of webshooters. She deserves all the kisses, I swear.
"This way, you can save on Havoc's, uh, mass, I guess, while swinging."
She is a good one, Corny, Hav compliments in my head.
"Try 'em on," she says.
Their cool metal wraps around my wrists, my fingers resting upon the trigger like a reflex.
Gwen continues, "Double-tap to activate the web… w-wait don't do it no-!"
A stream of web erupts from the device, smacking against the ceiling.
With a nervous laugh, I say, "Sorry… got excited."
"Pfft." She cackles. "Alright, clean it up and get your suit on. Let's go out."
She doesn't need to ask me twice and it's not long before we're freefalling between buildings. It's a different technique from using Havoc to travel but it makes me feel all the more connected to her.
"You're a natural!" Gwen calls out through the turbulence. "Catch!"
"Catch what?"
She lands against my body, legs wrapped around my waist. "Me."
I laugh as the words naturally fall out. "I love you, Gwen."
She turns her head away a moment, maybe in embarrassment. But she meets my eyes again and says, "Love you too, Cornball."
Corny, another portal.
For real? On my birthday? Where?
A surge of dread curls through Havoc. In front.
Bright blue hexagons thrum with energy, shifting to orange. I can't stop our trajectory. With a deep and low boom, Gwen and I crash through its surface. We tumble together, my arms holding her tight, grunting every time we skip across the cool metal floor until we come to a stop.
"You ok?" I ask her, disoriented from our crash landing.
Gwen coughs. "Yeah, just, ya know, got the wind knocked outta me. Where are we?"
"Dunno," I say. Looking around, the interior of a large spire with panoramic glass windows. There are holographic signs all over, beams that intersect across the open air. It feels… futuristic.
"This doesn't feel right, Coryn," Gwen says.
"It's okay, we can handle this."
Havoc shouts, an unusual desperation overtaking it. Make a portal now!
Without hesitation, I grab a piece of Havoc and toss it to the ground. Energy whirs as the symbiote piece stretches to form the portal. Then glowing red trails latch on and tear apart the frame that disintegrates.
I feel adrenaline pump through me as the hairs on my skin stand at complete attention.
From a platform above, a person drops down to our level. A muscular man covered head to toe in a blue suit with bright glowing red markings. He approaches.
Havoc is tense with dread and that's not something I've ever felt from it since we bonded.
With a clear voice, the unknown man says, "LYLA, which one of them is the Spider-person?"
A small image of a woman flits about the man's head, her voice oddly chipper, "Is that anyway to ask for a favor?"
"I wasn't asking," he interjects, turning his head toward Gwen and me, "Right?"
We nod our heads.
"I'm pretty sure you did," I say.
"Totally was a question mark at the end there," Gwen says.
LYLA laughs. "See told you, anyway, it's the one in white. Byee."
The man stops a fair distance before us, his stance ready to strike. "You, Spider-Woman, I'm guessing," he says to Gwen, "Step away from the symbiote. I'll take it from here."
"I'm not going anywhere until you explain who you are, where we are, and when we are!" Gwen shouts.
"Why isn't it ever just easy," he sighs, his mask digitizing away to reveal a scowling face. "Alright, here's your context. You're in the year 2099, this is Nueva York, and my name is Miguel O'Hara, this world's Spider-Man." Then he points to me. "And you're the anomaly I've been looking for."
