AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hi everyone, and welcome to 'The Secret Wars of Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson'! This adventure is a follow-up to one of my stories published last year, 'Gwen Stacy: The Sensational Spider-Woman', which in turn is based on the comic 'What If...? Dark: Spider-Gwen', set in a reality in which Peter Parker died instead of Gwen.
Originally, I had planned to do a more traditional straightforward spider-adventure for a sequel to 'Sensational Spider-Woman', but I began to come up with various ideas for an alternate version of 'Secret Wars', and I realised that this year is the 40th anniversary of the original 'Secret Wars' comic, so I have written this tale partly to mark the occasion.
Since there has already been an official novelisation of the original story, I have opted to write my version mainly from the point of view of Gwen and Mary Jane, who largely replace the roles of Peter Parker and Julia Carpenter, who do not appear in this take of the tale. I have also opted to largely ignore any subsequent retcons done to the story since it was first published in 1984, whilst also adding in some changes of my own. In particular, I've come up with a new variation on the Alien Costume origins, making the Symbiote more benevolent in nature, and thus establishing a more positive bonding with its first human host.
This is probably my most ambitious fanfic yet, with a higher number of written words than in any of my previous stories, and I shall publish it in weekly instalments, beginning with this short prologue. I hope you all enjoy reading it.
Many appreciated thanks to jettmanas, who kindly did the fantastic cover art for this story.
This fanfic is directly based on the original 'Secret Wars' comic by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. All characters and concepts are owned by Marvel. This story is purely written for entertainment purposes, with no copyright infringement intended.
Her name was Gwen Stacy. To her closest friends, she may appear a fairly ordinary young lady, but in truth, she was very far from ordinary, for she lived a double life, fighting crime as the Sensational Spider-Woman!
It had been three years since Gwen had gained superpowers and taken up the spider-mantle, in order to honour the memory of her late boyfriend, Peter Parker, and in that time, she had had many adventures. In her duel identity of Spider-Woman, the attractive blonde-haired woman had made new friends in the superhuman community, such as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Jessica Jones, the private detective and super heroine known as 'Jewel', whom Spider-Woman had first met during a confrontation with a villain known as the Purple Man. Along the way, Gwen had fought crime in the streets of New York, saved folks in distress, and even gotten involved in adventures with the other heroes, such as helping the Avengers and the Thing foil the schemes of the mad titan Thanos in outer space!
Since she had first became a crime-fighter, Gwen had kept her duel identity a closely guarded secret, known only by a few, including her best friend, Mary Jane Watson. With MJ's support, Gwen continued her career as a superhero, whilst also maintaining her job at Empire State University, where she now worked as a Doctor of biochemistry. The kind of escapades that Gwen had gone through as Spider-Woman, such as her recent battles with a new villain named the Hobgoblin, might have made her civilian life seem quite tame in comparison, but she loved her work on studying cellular regeneration in the labs, as well as holding lectures for eager young students.
At the moment, Gwen was taking a welcome pause from her biochemistry work, as the University Summer break had started just a couple of days ago, giving her a bit of breathing space to focus on her other job. It was fair to say that being both a superhero and an expert on biochemistry was not the easiest life to live, but it certainly was not a dull one, and Gwen had come to love the thrill and excitement of being Spider-Woman. Indeed, one of her favourite things in life now was web-slinging her way high in the air and past the huge skyscrapers of New York, whilst making her usual patrol around the city, keeping an eye open for trouble.
THWIP!
"Man, this never gets old," grinned Spider-Woman, as she fired another web-line and swung around the top of the Chrysler Building, clad in her now recognisable red-and-white spider suit with a light-blue hoodie jacket and knee-high dark navy-blue leather boots. Landing on the side of the building, she stopped to catch a breather, her eyes glancing downwards at the sight of the streets far below. Spider-Woman marvelled at how tiny everything looked from where she was perched, with all the vehicles and people looking like tiny dots and lines. It helped make her realise just how vast the world was and how fragile life can be.
The screech and wail of sirens from below abruptly broke Spider-Woman out of her reverie, and as she looked down, she saw a series of police cars and fire engines speeding urgently down the road, in the direction of Central Park.
"Sheesh, never a quiet moment in this city is there?" sighed Spider-Woman, as she fired a web-line and swung after the emergency vehicles to find out what the problem was. As the park came into view, Gwen could see from her position what all the drama was about.
"Omigosh!" exclaimed Spider-Woman, as her eyes spotted a huge circular structure, like a futuristic version of a Roman colosseum, standing right in the middle of the Sheep Meadow, its metallic and unusual design making it look like something out of a 'Star Wars' movie. It was so huge that it could easily be seen by anyone above street level for miles around.
Gwen had no idea where this weird building had come from, but she fully intended to find out. Swinging through the air on her web-lines, she easily overtook the speeding police cars and reached the park before they did. Bounding from tree to tree, Spider-Woman made her way deeper into the park, her spider-sense buzzing more and more as she got closer to the source of the disturbance. As she passed through a final clump of trees and bushes, her eyes widened in sheer disbelief as she found herself staring at the gigantic construct, which reminded her of a giant, futuristic version of Stonehenge.
"Golly!" breathed Spider-Woman. "I've no idea where this thing came from, but something tells me this is no movie set! I wonder what it's purpose is?"
As Spider-Woman was musing over all this, her spider-sense's buzzing was becoming more intent, almost painful, as if to warn her to turn on her heels and run away. But Gwen's scientific curiosity was getting the better of her, as she was sure this structure was extra-terrestrial in nature, and something about it seemed to be calling to her, urging her to go in.
"Ah well, since I'm here, I might as well check this thing out and find out what all this is about," sighed Spider-Woman, as she noticed some kind of archway set into the structure.
Trying her best to ignore her growing sense of foreboding, the young super-heroine swung herself forwards on a web-line and went right through the archway. Without warning, there came an awesome flash of light, and when it had cleared, Spider-Woman had vanished off the face of the Earth!
At around the same time, Mary Jane Watson was in her apartment, busy scrolling through some notifications on her phone regarding any new modelling or filming work in New York that she might be interested in doing, before she was due to set off and meet up with Gwen Stacy for coffee. Just as Gwen had come to enjoy her work as both a scientist and a superhero, Mary Jane loved the work that came her way in the film and fashion industries.
Brushing from her face a strand of her long red hair, which she now tended to wear curled, MJ spotted one ad offering employment for a modelling gig by the fashion designer, Roderick Kingsley.
"Hmm, I think I might skip that one," mused MJ, recalling how Gwen had advised her that Kingsley had been involved in some pretty shady deals in the past.
Mary Jane smiled a little, thinking how glad she was to have Gwen as a friend. Ever since Peter Parker's death, the two girls had become best friends, especially since MJ told Gwen that she knew her true identity as Spider-Woman. Although MJ could tend to worry about the danger that Spider-Woman put herself in, she did also feel some envy for the exciting life that Gwen led, and sometimes, Mary Jane wished she could have that same kind of thrill, and the chance to help people in need. She also wished she could have someone close to share her own life with, but she never had the courage to go ahead with that kind of commitment.
Glancing at her watch, Mary Jane's eyes widened as she realised the time. "Goodness! I better get a move on or I'll be late for coffee with Gwen!"
MJ jumped to her feet, and proceed to get herself ready. She had just slipped on a jacket and was about to head for the door, when there came a dazzling blaze of light that engulfed the apartment. When it had cleared, the apartment was deserted. Like Spider-Woman, Mary Jane Watson had been transported off the Planet Earth and sent to a distant galaxy, where the biggest, most exciting and terrifying adventure of all was about to begin...
NEXT TIME: THE WAR BEGINS