"So, ya sure you are up for this?" Hobie said as he checked over his gear one more time, making sure everything was fully loaded and in place.
Gwen, who had heard the question four times now, nearly snapped at him before taking a calming breath. She didn't have the right anymore to get angry with him. She'd showed that she needed to be asked that question… after all she had gone through and how she had handled things.
So instead she shut her eyes, steadied herself, and replied, "I have to be."
"Right… though I'm not quite sure why we are going?" He cast a side-eye glance at her. "Chris ain't gonna want ya there. This is his little rebellion and considering what he said about you-" And it made her wince that his tone took on that judgmental lilt to it. He wasn't happy with what she and Jessica had tried to do… she wasn't happy with herself but every time she tried to defend herself she stopped… because she knew she couldn't defend herself. Didn't deserve to defend herself. That defending herself and her actions had led to these problems in the first place. "-well, he ain't gonna want ya there."
"I know," Gwen said as she made sure her shoes tied just right.
"And… we ain't going to defend that pillock Miguel…" now his tone had a hint of warning.
"No," Gwen confirmed. "No."
And she hated that he didn't believe her.
That he had every right to not believe her.
That at this point she wasn't for sure if she could believe herself.
'I want to believe that I won't side with Miguel,' Gwen thought, tendrils of fear wiggling just under her skin. 'But I don't know what will happen when I get there.' She could see herself jumping at his commands, falling back into old patterns.
It was her greatest fear: Miguel or Jessica would demand she do something and some... switch… in her head would flip and she would snap back into being the solider who didn't question their orders. Who tried to rip children from their homes. Who watched as heroes screamed for their loved ones, trying to save them, while she just stood there and watched without a care.
'Who had no problem betraying the only person that understood me because Miguel O'Hara demanded it.'
So instead of getting at Hobie for asking her that she instead focused on making sure her suit was situated properly.
"Ya know," Hobie said slowly, letting every word slowly drip off his tongue like honey, "they tell ya a lot of things about being a hero… but they never mention the friction rashes."
"Tell me about it," Gwen muttered as she reached down and, in a way that would have made her Aunt Gertie screech at how 'unladylike' she was being, grabbed at the fabric between her legs and gave it a tug. "Honestly I'm shocked my dad didn't figure out sooner I was Spider-Woman considering how much baby powder I was going through."
That made Hobie snort. "And then there are the marks of your waist from the elastic digging in."
Gwen smirked. "I don't have that… but I do get it around the shoulders where my costume digs in." She reached down and adjusted her shoes. "And the stink…"
"You really don't want to compete with me there," Hobie said, gesturing at his boots.
But Gwen shook her head. "These might look dainty but in order to make them thin enough for me to stick to walls I had to get material that… point is, these things lock in sweat like you wouldn't believe." She let out a huff of annoyance. "I had to learn how to do laundry and had to begin buying the strongest detergents I could so I could kill the smell. Not even on my clothing… they were stinking up the washing machine…"
"Fine, fine, you win," Hobie said. "You are the most disgusting." Under his breath he said, "probably have a towel lying around that you use to scrub between your toes-"
"EW!" Gwen exclaimed in disgust. "I change in the bathroom… most times right in the shower. Wash up right away."
"That why you always ran to the loo as soon as we got back here?" Hobie teased. "I thought it was your itty bitty bladder."
"Hahaha," Gwen said sarcastically. But soon things grew quiet as the two heroes focused on getting their costumes on. "Nothing… nothing is ever going to be the same again, is it?" She finally said. "We're never going to go back to roommates who fight over who has to do the dishes, are we?"
"…no Gwendy, I don't think we will." And he sounded so… resigned at that. "Just like you won't be able to look as Jess the same way ever again. Blinders have been ripped off."
"Yeah," Gwen admitted, refusing to voice the biggest spider in the room: things would NEVER be the same with her and Miles again. Late at night, when she'd been so utterly alone and not knowing what would happen to her she used to dream about going to Miles' Earth. Of finding him and asking for his help. Getting set up at his school. Helping him carry the load of being Spider-Man. Maybe…
Well, she saw now that they were just that: dreams. Ones that would now never come true.
Because… how could she ever hope for any of that when she'd taken his trust, his faith, his friendship, and ground it into the dirtunder her heel?
"You aren't doing this for you," Hobie told her and Gwen started, wondering if she had said any of that aloud. "This isn't about revenge, Gwendy. This isn't about wanting your pound of flesh. We can't be focused on the hurt they caused us. Or even what they did to Miles. That's… that's in the past. You and me? We can't ever make up for being too slow. But what we can do is make sure there isn't another Miles."
And that simple fact… that was all it took to break through the logjam that was here conflicting feelings and worries and concerns.
That they had to go to go back to Nueva York. Had to face down the Society and Chris Chase and anyone else that they might find… and stop them all from hurting the next Miles.
Gwen yanked on her mask so hard she nearly ripped it.
"Let's go," she said and Hobie had his own mask on.
Spider-Woman and Spider-Punk were going to war.
~MC~MC~MC~
"So uh… this is really bad, ain't it?" Spider-Ham said as he saw the portals opening up and the ships pouring into Nueva York's airspace. They weren't S.H.I.E.L.D.… no, they had the letters A.R.M.O.R. upon them though the logo was rather similar. And all around them were figures flying in or leaping out of the portals closer to the ground, ready for a fight. There were so many different heroes that looked vaguely familiar to him, Noir, and Penny yet were also… different.
X-Men only their uniforms were replaced with 19th century suits, each with a golden Z-Pin upon the lapels. Even the women wore suits, with some having dress bottoms while others were full on suits.
A 1920s magician who let out a laugh as he landed and began to use his magic to turn off alarms.
A roman gladiator with a familiar looking shield who called for the heroes to begin splitting up and searching other parts of the city.
A hulk who was dressed in Italian renaissance clothing, all clearly built for his massive frame.
It was utter madness.
"I… I think this is really bad," Peni said, still shaken by the message that had played on her phone moments earlier.
"Like Pearl Harbor all over again," Noir murmured.
Ham snorted. "Good on you for not being derogatory there."
That caused Noir to lean back in shock. "I would never use such language! Just because there are some pale faced bastards running around in sheets doesn't mean all of us are in the Klan."
"Okay, okay,geez!" Ham said quickly. "Sorry for assuming the worst! But ya have to admit… your time wasn't exactly progressive."
"Which is why I work so hard to be kind to all." Noir paused. "Except the Nazis."
"Yeah, fudge those guys," Ham stated.
The three watched as the invasion continued on. It was… less explosive than they had been expecting. In fact it seemed more like a massive arrival of people from a cruise ship than an army coming to invade. They moved with military precision, yes, but they weren't blowing things up or terrorizing the innocent.
"So who is this 'Spider-Chaos', by the way?" Noir asked even as he shifted to move the two out of the eyeline of the invading heroes. "Sounds like he's some cockeyed thug who went to the wrong side of town."
"…I think he means he's a bad guy," Ham said even as they saw some Skrulls land and begin running about. Skrulls dressed in Asian-looking robes but still.
Peni opened her mouth to spout off just who Spider-Chaos was… only to stop.
'He's a menace. A criminal who believes that he knows better. Somehow he's found a way to negate canon events and as such believes that he can do whatever he wants. He runs around kidnapping children and leaving their universes to burn.'
That was the Spider-Society's official stance on Chris Chase.
But… that didn't make it true.
"Spider-Chaos comes from a world where Time Travel is the norm. Because of that canon events aren't really a thing for him and he believes they aren't actually real. The Society has run into several times when he's gone to collect children-"
"He kidnaps little kids?" Ham said, glowering at that.
"I… I don't know if that is true or not," Peni admitted. "Miguel and Jessica and Ben say that he kidnaps kids but…"
"But what?" Noir pressed.
"I've run into people across the Multiverse who swear he's a savior. That he's helped them out. But he didn't want anything in return, even when they offered it to him. He just… wanted to help."
She frowned at that.
'When did just wanting to help people become a crime?' she thought even as a small voice in her mind whispered, 'When it wasn't Miguel O'Hara or the higher members of the Society giving the orders.'
"Well," Noir said, rolling his head one way and then the other, "I suppose its up to us then to find out if he's the real article or if he's just some mobster's cheap knockoff."
And with that he fired off a webline and swung off.
"Ya know, sometimes I only understand half of what that guy says," Ham commented.
"…and?"
"Nothing. Just that I only understand half of what he says." Ham shot out his own webline and Peni stood there for several moments before she activated SP/DR's remote retrieval device. It took a moment but her mech quickly swung by, pausing just long enough for Peni to leap inside before taking off once more.
~MC~MC~MC ~
Earth-1610
"You sure about this?" the criminal said as he looked at the toy store's front window. "Don't seem right."
"What, you want to rob a bank or something?" his partner complained. "Come on you dickless wonder, this is the perfect place to rob!"
"Marsha, we talked about the name calling-"
"For fuck's sake, no real names!" the female robber said even as she got out the small hammer. "Listen, this place has far less security than a bank. We'll be in and out a lot quicker. And they can't trace Lego sets. You know how much money these fucking things bring on eBid? Just some of those huge Star Trek ones will have us set for weeks. We go in, grab what we can, throw them in the trunk, and then get the hell out of here before anyone is the wiser. Now I need you man up and ready the moment I shatter the door."
"Right… right." The man began to bounce in place. "I am ready… I am ready…"
"That's what I like to hear," Marsha said as she raised the hammer up…
…only to blink when she found it plucked from her fingers.
"Listen, I get it," a cheerful voice said from behind them, "there are some really cool sets up there. Me and my friends have been eyeing up that treehouse one for a LONG time!"
The two thieves turned and stared at the intruder. She was just… a girl. Maybe 15 or 16 years old. A touch on the heavier side… not overweight but thick. And she wasn't ashamed of her curvy form, the way she held herself proved that. She had on a brown leather jacket with fur collar, spandex underneath, a large furry… thing… sticking out of the back of her jacket that reached above her head, and a headband and mask combo with little cute fuzzy ears on top. She had large front teeth that she exposed to the world when she smiled and eyes that danced with bemusement.
"But come on… you need to do what I do and ask for that for your birthday!"
"Marsha…" the male robber said slowly, weirded out but the strange girl.
"What? You're afraid of the fucking furry? Man up!"
"Come on, do you have to insult me?" her partner whined.
"I agree," the intruder said, tilting her head. "That isn't polite at all!"
"Yeah, she gets it!" the male burglar declared.
Marsha rolled her eyes and pulled out a gun. "Well, you two can talk about it in the afterlife-"
The female robber screamed when a squirrel suddenly leapt down and bit her hand, causing her to drop the gun. Another two squirrels suddenly appeared and snagged it, happily running away.
"What the fuck?" The male robber said while Marsha clutched her hand to her chest. "What the fuck are you… some kind of Squirrel Girl?"
"First off you need to watch your language," the young woman said. "Second… I like it. Squirrel Girl. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!" She flashed a pleased little smile. "So as thanks I'm only going to knock you out and NOT shatter any of your bones!" And with that she grabbed their heads and slammed them together before either of the crooks had a second to react. "And done is done!" She pressed her finger to her Bluetooth. "This is Doreen. First off I am changing my codename to Squirrel Girl. Second off the robbery on Fifth Street has been stopped, Lookout."
"I'm not a big fan of that name," Ganke complained. "Can't I have something better?"
Franklin let out a laugh as he joined in. "Sorry man! We need something that is copyright friendly… Squirrel Girl works by the way."
"Yes!" Doreen cheered, doing a little fist pump before looking down at the criminals. "ooooh. I think I smacked them too hard. Someone mind calling the cops for me?"
"For you or on you?" Amadeus Cho teased.
"I… Val, let go! You have your own Bluetooth! God!" There was a scuffle even as Doreen leapt up, grabbing onto some bricks and scurrying to the rooftop. "Okay, Val said she thought we all should have been committed a long time ago but I think she misheard you, Amadeus."
Doreen heard Ganke roll his eyes. "Alright, enough chatter. I have reports of a potential domestic abuse case. Who is closest to 5th?"
"I'm about 10 minutes away," Lunella stated. "Devil and I could get there a bit quicker if you redirect some traffic."
"I'm only three minutes away," Khamala chimed in. "You're welcome to join in, Moon Girl!"
"Thanks!" Lunella said. "We might but I think Devil and I need to deal with something first. Ganke, you get anything on a cop hassling a homeless man near 10th?"
"No but take a look anyway."
As they discussed what to do next Doreen got to the top of the toy store's roof and looked down, smiling when she saw the police lights flashing and quickly headed off. Tippy Toes had left the gun by the robbers' unconscious forms so it would be easy enough for the police to put two and two together. While she was pretty sure she wouldn't be arrested she really didn't want to stick around and find out.
Leaping to another building she switched to a private channel. "Franklin, Valeria, how goes it with that multiverse portal?"
"Not good," Franklin admitted. "Its easy to get to the Negative Zone but ending up anywhere else…"
Val chimed in. "That's how you get zombie versions of our parents."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Franklin complained. "And why they thought we'd be happy with them biting us and turning us into the undead as well I will never understand."
"To be fair the brain would begin to rot rather quickly. Its just fat floating in water."
"Thank you for that lovely image, sis," Franklin said and Doreen could practically see him sticking his tongue out at her. "But seriously, Doreen, we're working on it. And when we get it figured out we're getting Miles back."
"I hope so," Doreen murmured. "I hate the idea that he is all on his own… hold up." She frowned as she landed on the roof of an apartment building. "I see a Spider-Man."
"Miles?" Franklin asked.
"If it were Miles she would have said 'Miles', dingus."
"You're the dingus!" Franklin Richards snapped and Doreen merely shook her head as the two youngsters bickered. For being super geniuses the Richards siblings did act their age… in that they acted like little kids when fighting.
"Guys, I'm keeping the line open. Be ready to assist. I'm at the corner of Washington and Rogers Street."
"Copy that," Val said, instantly snapping into serious mode.
"Describe what you see. Or who." She could hear Franklin's grimace in his words.
"They look like a Spider but… different. Odd outfit. Hair is visible… dreadlocks or just a lot of curls. Hard to tell. But they are just standing there… wait, they are waving at me." Doreen broke into a jog and called out, "Hi!"
"Ah, hello there!" the Spider, who had a thick Indian accent, said happily. "Are you a hero? I hope you are a hero. I don't want to fight a villain today. But I will for I am Spider-Man!"
Doreen though shook her head. "Not a villain but you aren't Spider-Man."
"Well, on my world I am!" the figure said. "You can call me Pavi… are you friends with Miles?"
"MILES?!" Franklin exclaimed. "He knows Miles?" Doreen winced and tapped the Bluetooth twice to remind Franklin to be quiet. "Sorry."
"I'm hailing everyone," Valeria stated.
Doreen didn't respond, focusing instead on the Spider. "I'm Miles' friend, though he doesn't know I'm a superhero… I kind of just started after he…"
"He was hurt, yes," Pavi said sadly. "But do not worry! We are getting him help! Me and my new friends!"
"New friends?" Doreen asked. "Who?"
"Us," a woman said and Doreen turned to see-
"Mrs. Parker?" she whispered, staring at the most famous widow in all of New York. Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man, had been married and after his identity had been revealed to the world upon his death there wasn't anyone who didn't know of Mary Jane Watson-Parker, his widow. The great love of his life.
And there she was, standing on the rooftop, dressed not as Doreen was used to seeing her in the papers in her black dress and large hat but instead in silver and black armor that had etching in the metal that resembled her husband's suit.
"Hello," Mary Jane said. She took a breath, clearly steadying her nerves, before saying, "Young Lady-"
"Squirrel Girl," Doreen stated. "No hyphen."
"Right," Mary Jane said with a smile that quickly disappeared. "I am part of a… Council. One I just joined but their task is protecting Spider-Men. And right now… we need to prepare your world."
"Our world? Why?"
But before Doreen could answer… dark voids began to open up in the sky. Over the Bluetooth she could hear her friends crying out in surprise. And on the streets below all, good citizens and evil criminals, all stopped what they were doing. Pavi stared up, the eyes on his mask going wide as he whispered, 'not again' but Mary Jane remained firm, face utterly stony as she spoke.
"Because the Spot is returning."