Chapter Text
Chapter 7: One More Day
“Alright, people, let’s start at the beginning, one last time. My name is Lilith, and for the last few millennia, I’ve been a succubus under the service of my master the high demon Mephistopheles.
“But for the better part of this week, he gave me a new job. I’ve become the new Gwen Stacy.”
“The one and only… Spider-Woman.”
Mephistopheles smiled as he looked down as Gwen Stacy mourned on the grave of Miles Morales. He knew what was coming and the second she pricked her finger on the contract, he snapped his finger and reality began to change.
As the changes made everything shift, he took the frozen Gwen to the Davis/Morales apartment. He shifted her outfit to that of the prowler and turned his evil eyes to Rio Morales. “Just to make things interesting…” he shoved his clawed hand into Rio’s abdomen, and soaked Gwen’s glove with her blood.
He faded away from the home to let the game play out as it would. And snapped his finger, allowing his servant Lilith to appear. As she appeared over the city, she began to take the appearance of Gwen Stacy before her Spider-Woman suit began to form around her. It finished just as she reached the top of the tall buildings and began swinging toward where Spider-Man was chasing the Prowler through the alleyways.
She caught up to them as Prowler and landed between her and Spider-Man and shoved her into the wall. “Try to touch him again, Prowler…”
As expected, Prowler seemed to start having a panic attack as she was face to face with Spider-Woman, and it did little to keep her excitement and pride at her new role from growing. “I know I can be intimidating, but I’ve never had a villain have a panic attack at me.” she said, planting her hand confidently on her hips.
“GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” Prowler screeched as she began slashing at Spider-Woman.
‘Oh crap…’ Spider-Woman thought as Prowler pinned her against the wall. This looked like it was going to be a short stint… But to her amazement Spider-Man kicked her away.
“Miles…” Prowler whimpered at the raging Spider-Man. She pulled something from her belt and threw it on the ground causing a smoke cloud to form around her.
Spider-Man started to go after him, but Spider-Woman grabbed his arm. “Miles! Your mom!” She said, and he turned quickly to her. He pulled his mask up, and Spider-Woman sucked in a breath. Mephisto had given her a copy of Gwen’s memories, but the memory of those brown eyes didn’t give the real thing justice. ‘Beautiful…’ she thought as she looked into his heartbroken and angered eyes.
“G-Go, I’ll meet you,” Spider-Woman said, and Miles nodded and pulled his mask back down before leaping into the air to swing back toward his home.
“I saw that… Don’t forget yourself, Lilith,” Mephistopheles appeared beside her, “Or should I call you Gwenith?” He smirked at her.
“Whatever. He’s just not hard on the eyes. You did give me Gwen Stacy’s memories to work with,” Lilith rolled her eyes. “She has it bad for him.”
“Go to him; keep him passive and under control,” Mephisto said lifting up the original Gwen Stacy’s goober wrist band in his hand, “With this, I can finally finish what I started with O’Hara.”
She nodded and took to the air, swinging over the ambulance taking Rio to the hospital. She tried to shake the disgust at what happened to her. Mephisto was after the Spiders. Hurting Rio was almost overkill for what had happened to Miles Morales.
To better place her in the role she was assigned to play, Mephisto had granted her Gwen’s most recent memories involving Miles Morales. The available ‘memories’ brought conflict in her mind about this whole thing.
He had barely been Spider-Man over a year. To bring him back to life just to use as pawn in his much bigger plan just wasn’t going over well for Lilith. She was glad he was given a second chance at life.
Lilith was so lost in thought she didn’t even realize she had arrived at the hospital and was sticking to the side of the building. Along with her memories, Mephisto also granted her Gwen’s Spider-Powers as well, including the odd connection between her spider-sense and Miles’. She closed her eyes and reached out through her Spider-Sense. It took a moment to find Miles’ ‘ping’ and began crawling down the wall toward it. As she got closer she reached down to the communicator goober on her wrist that Mephisto duplicated from the real one he took from the real Gwen, pulled up contacts and found the list titled ‘Spider-Band’ and clicked SOS, then added ‘Miles’ mother has been hurt, help find villain’. A moment later a message came through from ‘Peter B’ saying they’d organize and be there first thing in the morning. Then ‘take care of our dude’ came through. She smirked to herself at how easy this was so far before closing the goober’s app.
She was glad to find the window open and crawled inside. Seeing Miles sitting there holding his mother’s hand pulled at her heart.
“Why is this happening…” Miles spoke softly, before giving her glance, “If you say Canon Event, so help me…”
“I won’t, Miles,” she said and moved to stand behind him. She had meant to just place her hands comfortingly on his shoulders, but her arms seemed to snake around his shoulders on their own. “I’m here for you, like I always promised.”
“We have to find the Prowler,” Miles said, not taking his eyes off his mother.
“And We will, I’ve already made the call. Peter’s bringing the gang tomorrow morning to start the search.” She felt the tension in his shoulders and an unwanted concern washed over her. As seemed to be the theme, her hand came up to remove her mask. She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Miles’ cheek. “You need to go home and rest. It’s what your mother would want, Miles.”
“I know… it’s just… I’m worried…” He said shaking his head.
“There’s nothing more you can do here… come home and we can recharge. Then we’ll start the hunt tomorrow, ok?” she said, and then her mouth moved faster then her brain. “You’ll beat her, just like you beat the Spot and everyone else we’ve faced.” Her eyes widened as soon as the words left her mouth.
“Right … just like how I beat the Spot… how I beat… how did I…” panic rose in Lilith’s chest as Miles began to fight the mental blocks Mephisto placed in his mind.
She leaned down closer and whispered in his ear as her eyes began to glow red. “You beat him… that’s all that matters..”
“I beat him… that’s all that matters…” Miles repeated almost numbly, “Yeah… you’re right… I need to be rested to find her…” he said getting up.
“Wait, I’m coming with you,” Lilith said as she started to follow behind him, “Your dad’s at the station, and you shouldn’t be alone.”
The swing to the Davis/Morales home was quiet and uneventful, and as expected when Spider-Man and Lilith climbed into his bedroom window the home was empty. Jeff Davis was probably starting the search for Prowler. This thought amused Lilith even more. Poor, dear Gwen. She glanced to Miles who was seated on his bed staring at his mask. Probing the memories she was given, Gwen Stacy deserved to be hunted. It’s the least she deserved for betraying Miles.
Lilith shook her head, ‘where did that coming from?’ She asked herself, before turning her attention to the young hero worrying over his mother.
“She’ll be ok, Miles, you’ll see. She strong,” She said sitting own next to him.
“Gwen…” Miles spoke up.
“Yes, Miles?” She gave him her full attention.
“Why did you lie to me about the whole Spider-Society?” Miles asked, “And about the whole thing with me being an Anomaly?”
“You’re NOT an anomaly!” She didn’t know why but hearing him call himself that sent her into an instant rage. “And… I didn’t because I was stupid… I was stupid and selfish.” She glanced away, disgust at Gwen Stacy filled Lilith’s heart at how she was too frightened to be there for him. A coward like her didn’t deserve someone like Miles. Lilith glanced at Miles’ handsome face and thought of what would happen if Gwen somehow made him realize what was going on. He’d die. And something within her would not, could not allow it.
Before either realized what was happening, Lilith cupped his cheek in her hand and pressed her lips to his.
“Gwen?” He asked in confusion when she broke the kiss.
“I… I’m sorry,” Lilith said feeling an unfamiliar sense of shyness. “I just… I couldn’t help it. I don’t want to run away from what I’m feeling…” she silently added ‘like the real Gwen always did’.
“Miles… You don’t have to be strong all the time, I know you’re tired,” Lilith said stroking his face as memories that didn’t belong to her flowed freely in her mind. Almost all of them focused on the young man just within her arms reach. Gwen’s memories were so overwhelming, Lilith couldn’t stop herself again. She wrapped Miles in her arms and kissed him again, and after a moment hesitation returned the kiss with just as much passion. They hadn’t even realized they had changed position to laying on his bed till they broke for air.
“Uh… Gwen?” Miles pulled back and blushed furiously. “Not that… it’s not that I’ve NEVER done ANYTHING, but… I just… uh…” Lilith place a finger on his lips.
“Shh, let me take care of you…” She smiled before kissing him again.
Almost an hour later, Lilith had found one of Miles’ jerseys and pulled it on to get some air from the window without putting on too much a show to anyone who might have a view inside. A mischievous smile crossed her lips when she looked up to see Gwen looking directly into the window.
“You’ll never hurt him again, Stacy,” Lilith whispered as she sent a glowing eyed glare back to her.
Lilith smiled in contentment when she felt Miles come up behind her and hug her, “You do know how to take a man’s mind off things, babe,” he said kissing the side of her neck.
“I dunno, Miles,” She flashed a grin toward Gwen, before turning in his arms to hug him back. “Maybe I need more practice?” she said, giggling as he pulled at the jersey, knowing Gwen was watching. ‘Let me show you how to do things right, Stacy…’ she thought as she could imagine the look on Gwen Stacy’s face.
---
“Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!” Lilith cursed herself, swinging through the city. She had her two days ago. Right in her hands. She could have taken care of it once and for all. Sure, it would have pissed off Mephisto, but any threat to Miles would have been gone.
“You just had to get cocky, didn’t you?” She growled to herself as she swung angrily between two buildings. “WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“’oi, not gonna find ‘er blowin’ ‘our top like that, know it?” Hobie Brown, the Spider-Punk, swung beside her. “Wha’ got ‘ou shook, luv?”
“Don’t call me that,” Spider-Woman sent a death glare to the rocker. “I’m FINE.”
“Shoutin’ oi fine, def says ‘ou fine,” Hobie quirked an eyebrow under his mask, “We got plenty of searchin’ for Prowla, why don’tcha go have a pot o Coffee with ‘oi old man, eh? Do ya some good.”
“I’m going to find her, and I’m going to gut her right in the middle of the street and use her head for the hood ornament on a crash test car!” Spider-Woman seethed.
“OK, then, you def going home for a breatha,” Hobie grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to the nearest rooftop. “Go home, Gwendy. ‘ou no good all hot and bothered, right?” she turned to verbally rip Hobie, but he had already opened the portal and shoved her in, “Take a break, we’ll be ‘ere when you wake up.”
Lilith landed in Gwen’s bedroom. She slammed her fists on the ground and half shouted in frustration. If Stacy finds him before she could find Stacy, and Miles remembers, she’d lose him. The idea of Mephisto killing him just to get at Stacy made her skin crawl and her teeth grind. She wasn’t sure when it shifted from following Mephisto’s orders to wanting to protect Miles, but it was there and she was rolling with it. He didn’t deserve to be a pawn. Not by the Spider-Society and not by Mephisto. And Lilith was ready to fight both for him.
This was honestly the first time Lilith had found herself in Gwen Stacy’s bedroom. And she was kind of surprised at how… girly it was. She was expecting something a bit more Emo. But everything down to the messiness was her. All her. All Gwen Stacy. And it caused Lilith’s anger to boil. The white of her Spider-Woman costume began to change color to crimson, reflecting the hatred she held for the original owner, and her gloved hands began to form larger claws.
“GRAAAAAH!!” She bellowed like a wounded animal and began slashing and destroying everything that even remotely reminded her of Gwen Stacy, imagining it was Gwen herself she was ripping apart. The rampage spilled from Gwen’s room into the living room and kitchen, laying everything to waste. “I’ll kill you… I’LL KILL YOU!!!” She screamed as she flew across the rooms, a scarlet blur of claws and teeth.
“GWEN!” Lilith froze and slowly turned her crimson gaze on George, who stared at her in horror. “Gwen? What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
Her arm extended the length of the room, and the massive claw encircled George Stacy’s neck. He gasped as the tear-filled, crimson eyes of his daughter’s face stared back at him. “Go back into your room and go to sleep.”
She let him go, and he dropped to his feet, almost robotically stood up and walked into his bedroom. With a growl, Lilith turned and went back to Gwen’s bedroom, grabbed the drum set and threw it against the wall in a final fit of rage. With the busted drumhead, a few hidden items fell out.
The vermillion hue of her eyes dissipated back to blue when she recognized them. She sat down slowly on what was left of the bed and picked up a polaroid photo of Gwen and Miles, smiling and happy. Next was a journal. Part of her screamed to leave it, but she opened to see so many drawings, all of Gwen with Miles’ signature at the bottom of each. Tears filled her eyes. She didn’t even know she knew how to cry. “…not fair… it’s not fair…”
Before the rage could overtake the sadness again, her goober on her wrist beeped. “Oy, Gwen! Prowler spotted!”
Lilith stood up and glared forward, willing her form back to a more acceptable human shape. “May the best Gwen win…” she said, opening the portal and leaping inside.
---
Once she arrived in 1610’s New York, she had to admit she was a little impressed. The level of devastation around the bank she blew up was rather high bar for someone who’s only been a villain for a few days’ time.
She first spotted Pavitr having a conversation of all things with the Prowler, but she was well aware he was simply buying time. Time enough and distraction enough for Lilith to swing in and double footed swing kick her across the devastated street.
“It’s over, Prowler,” Lilith growled as she landed in front of the struggling Gwen. “I won’t let you touch him. He’s mine.”
“I’m tired of running,” Prowler’s synthetic voice spoke as she climbed to her feet, glaring hotly at Lilith.
“‘Bout time, it’s all you’ve ever done,” Lilith said in amusement. “Run from Peter, run from your dad, run from Miles, run from the Society. It’s all you’ve ever been good at. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad that Miles honestly thought you two were the same.”
“Why are you mad?” Lilith asked, greatly amused when Prowler trembled in anger. “I’m the Spider-Woman you always wanted to be. I’m actually like Miles. I’m a hero. I’m there for him. I held him in my arms while he worried for his mother. I put him first. He loves me.” Lilith placed a hand on her chest, “I make him happy. And I would never betray him. I would never do him like you did. So, why do you keep fighting? I’m giving him what you wanted for him!”
“I want… my life back…” Prowler growled before leaping toward Lilith. “GIVE ME MY LIFE BACK!!” She shouted as Lilith caught her and rolled across the ground.
“NO! I WON’T LET YOU DESTROY WHAT I’VE DONE FOR HIM!” Lilith grabbed Prowler and kicked her back, “I WON’T LET YOU HURT HIM AGAIN! I WON’T LET ANYONE HURT HIM AGAIN!”
Prowler landed on her feet and leapt back toward the white clad Spider and managed to grab her by the mask, jerking it off her face. “Give… me… my… LIFE BACK!” Prowler yelled throwing a punch that Lilith dodged and counted with an uppercut to her chest.
“NO! I’M HAPPY!” Lilith screamed as pure insanity began to take a grip on her, “I’M FINALLY HAPPY! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ETERNITY I’M HAPPY AND I WON’T LET YOU OR ANYONE TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!”
HE DOESN’T LOVE YOU,” Gwen screamed back, grappling with her, “HE THINKS YOU’RE ME!”
“I AM YOU! JUST THE ONE HE DESERVES!” Lilith yelled back, before someone grabbed both of their shoulders and shoved them to damaged wall segments and webbed them both up.
Both women turned their heads to see Spider-Man standing there looking at them passively.
“Miles…” Lilith pleaded, “Why did you do this? She’s the villain! It’s me…”
“Define ‘me’…” Miles asked, not removing his mask.
“Miles… It’s me…” Lilith began to panic as raw fear ran through her. This couldn’t be happening; this COULDN’T be happening… “It’s me, baby. It’s me, it’s your Gwen… Spider-Woman… please, baby, it’s me… it’s really me…”
Miles didn’t even acknowledge her begging as he turned toward Prowler and slowly walked toward her. Gwen held her breath as he approached. He reached up and removed the helmet, and Gwen shook her head to keep her hair away from her face. “Who… who are you?” Miles asked.
Lilith couldn’t tear her eyes away as tears now flowed freely down her face “Tell me, who are you?” Miles pressed, focused entirely on Gwen’s face.
“Don’t listen to her!” Lilith begged, straining against the webbing, “She’s a liar! She lied to your face! She lied to you and betrayed you! Over and over and over! She let you…” her eyes widened as she registered what she said. ‘oh, no. no. no. no.’
“She let me what?” he asked Lilith before turning back to Gwen, “You let me what? What did you let me do?”
Gwen’s own eyes began to fill with tears. “You let me what? Gwen?”
Lilith closed her eyes and glanced away from the scene.
“I…” Gwen said in a very small and weak voice, “I… let you … die.”
Miles pulled off his mask and rubbed his face. “How… how did I die?” “MILES! PLEASE!!” Lilith cried one last time, begging him to stop.
“You saved everyone…” Gwen replied softly.
“DON’T! HE’LL COME FOR YOU! HE’LL KILL YOU! I CAN’T LOSE YOU, PLEASE, MILES, PLEASE,” Lilith fought and struggled to break free. “I LOVE YOU! I REALLY TRULY LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!”
“Why haven’t you told me till now…” He asked softly to Gwen, the fact Miles was completely ignoring her was breaking Lilith’s heart.
“I didn’t know… how to tell you…” Gwen closed her eyes tight, not wanting to meet his gaze like this again. She was right back on train in Nueva York again, feeling small and ashamed.
“MILES!” Lilith’s eyes began to glow like rubies again, and the white of her uniform bled crimson as she tried to break free. “ALL OF THIS… IT’S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!”
“It’s… for your own good…” Gwen repeated, taking her back to when she said the same thing to Miles on the train. Pure rage flowed through her as she readied her claws and tore out of the webbing. With a primal scream, she dove toward Lilith, intent on killing her right there.
Lilith couldn’t get a word in edgewise as Gwen started trying to cave in her face. “YOU DON’T GET TO DECIDE THAT! YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT! YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as she unleashed anger she didn’t even know she’d bottled up. “I DON’T GET TO DECIDE THAT! I DON’T HAVE THAT RIGHT! I DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT!! I … I don’t… I don’t…” She collapsed before the battered Lilith and began to cry. “I don’t have the right… I don’t deserve it… I don’t deserve him…” She gasped between sobs. If anything else was said, it was lost as Lilith faded into unconsciousness.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been out, but she knew she was still restrained and could hear rainfall.
“That… went well…” Lilith said to herself. Suddenly, her spider-sense went insane, causing her to spasm against the webbing. Flashes of images appeared before her eyes. The Spider Society Headquarters, Lord Mephisto, Spider-Man Noir being held down by Miguel O’Hara. Her eyes widened with the next set of flashes. She watched Miles fall, Gwen on the ground, dragging herself to him, blood everywhere.
“MILES!” She shrieked as she extended her red, clawed hands to break free.
She quickly typed in the E-928 in her goober and fired a webline into the portal that opened before her, zip-lining into the multiverse.
She landed gracefully and broke into a run to the Headquarters central hub. Lilith skidded to a halt at the scene in the hub. In the center, by a large stone obelisk connected to the multiverse computer system, Mephisto stood feeding off energy coming through the artifact.
Spider-Man Noir was struggling against Spider-Man 2099, who was standing as if a statue. And at Mephisto’s feet laid Miles and Gwen.
Miles was on his back and Gwen on her side with her hand clinging to his, both lying in a large puddle of blood.
“Ah, my faithful Lilith, nice of you to join us,” Mephisto smiled at the masked Lilith.
“That’s new…” She said, slowly walking toward Miles and Gwen, but kept her face towards her lord to give the appearance of looking at the Obelisk.
“Our friend Miguel actually did too good of a job,” Mephisto sighed, “the despair of 280 Spiders would be even too much for me to withstand. So, I had to apply a filter.”
Lilith stopped before Miles and Gwen. Neither were breathing. Miles at least had his eyes closed; Gwen’s were locked on Miles’ face, but the pale blue orbs had lost all life.
As if reading her mind, Mephisto chuckled, “She wanted out of her contract, so I accepted her exit from the agreement.” He smirked as Lilith went to her knees beside Miles. “It wasn’t personal. Just business.”
Ignoring him, she pulled up her mask and lightly kissed Miles on the lips. Then, she reached over and took Gwen’s cold hand, which clung to Miles’ and gave them both a squeeze. “You win.”
She looked into Gwen’s lifeless eyes and willed her to hear her words. “I’m going to finish this for you both. And… if it goes like I want, you’ll have another chance. Run with it, Gwen. Never let him go.”
She glanced back to Miles’ face and touched his cheek, “I love you, Miles. These few days were a dream come true… take care of each other.”
“Lilith?” Mephisto asked, unsure of what she was doing.
“No,” She said, pulling on her mask, “My name is…” She fired twin zipline webs and caught him right in the jaw with her foot. “Spider-Woman.”
While he was dazed, she fired another webline, swung around at full speed and caught Miguel in the chin, sending him tumbling backwards.
“Noir!” Lilith yelled, landing beside him, “Get Miles and Gwen out of here.”
“But they’re…” Noir turned toward her.
“Trust me, I’m going to make this right,” she said, nodding toward the two as Mephisto climbed back to his feet. “GO!”
Noir nodded and tipped his hat before he took their bodies under his arm and dashed from the base.
“Where are you, AHHHH!” Mephisto turned toward Noir but arched backwards in pain. He turned back to see Lilith perched on the Obelisk, crushing it. “STOP IT!”
“I’d rather watch you burn yourself to death on your own despair,” Lilith shook her head. “You made a mistake making me Gwen Stacy.” She said, breaking more parts of the obelisk. “Don’t you know Gwen Stacy always falls for Spider-Man?”
She watched as he went to his knees, screaming over the unfiltered emotions overwhelming him. “You like making deals. Let’s deal.”
“You traitorous bitch!” Mephisto growled, glaring at the Spider. He struggled a few more seconds before taking a deep breath. “I’m listening.”
“I want this one in stone,” Lilith said, “Your freedom in exchange for:
1: Miles and Gwen, healed, healthy and safe.
2: The holds you have on the Spider-Society, gone.
3: I want you to never even look in any of their general directions ever again. You leave them alone. Forever.”
“…Deal…” Mephisto growled in barely contained despotic rage.
“In stone!” Lilith stared back, trying to ignore the pain building in her burning arms.
“FINE!” He snapped his fingers and a stone tablet appeared on the ground next to the obelisk.
She pushed down and altered the field, releasing the demon lord. “Too bad you never mentioned yourself, Lilith. Good luck surviving the obelisk.” Mephisto said as he faded away.
“Now to finish this…” she said as she began to hammer away at the obelisk, releasing wave after wave of explosive energy. “Little more and… THERE!” She said as it began to tremble, about to explode.
She pulled off her mask and took a deep breath, then blinked when she felt a webline attach to her chest. She followed it to the main entrance.
Gwen had fired it and was being held by Miles from the gravitational effects of the exploding obelisk. Lilith locked eyes with Gwen and shook her head as she broke the webline. “God, you’re a pain in my ass. You won. Now go and be happy, both of you, if only for one more day…”
Miles managed to pull her around the corner as the explosion rocked the base.
Miles, Gwen and Noir rushed in to see the devastated ruins of the central hub. “She… she sacrificed herself for us?” Gwen asked, stepping forward.
“You surprised she ended up being a hero?” Miles asked, looking toward the crater where the obelisk once stood. “She was a copy of you.”
“Heads up, people,” Noir said as some rubble shifted, and Miguel sat up rubbing his head as his mask retracted from his face.
“Lyla, where and when are we?” He asked and blinked when he noticed Miles, Gwen and Noir, “And who are these people?”
“Miguel?” Miles tilted his head.
“Is that a spraypainted Spider-Man suit? Nice colors,” He said before glancing to Gwen, “You got a hood on yours. Trendy.”
“I think he has amnesia,” Noir leaned forward. “What year is it?” he asked pulling open an eyelid.
“Uh, 2099?” He blinked.
“Daddy!” a five year old dashed in from seemingly nowhere and tackled him around his neck.
“Love you too, Gabi, but give daddy a second. He’s… not sure what’s going on…” Miguel replied.
“Since when have you ever known what’s going on?” a woman stepped past them and took the little girl from him so he can get up.
“Gee thanks, Dana…” Miguel shook his head. “I’m Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man from the year 2099, and I’m not sure how my family and I got here. but that’s not the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me. This is my wife Dana and our daughter, Gabi. Dana, Gabi, this is Spider-Man, Spider-Man and … Spider-Girl?”
“Woman,” Gwen rolled her eyes.
“Right, sorry,” Miguel shrugged, “So care to fill me in?”
“Didn’t they?” Gwen asked as she and Miles looked at Noir.
“The other Gwen’s deal…” Noir nodded, “Clever…”
--- EPILOGUE---
Alright, people, let’s start over. New beginnings time. My name is Gwen Stacy. I was bitten by a radioactive spider and became what I thought was the one and only Spider-Woman. I became a hero, lost a best friend, joined the Spider-Society and then… lost another best friend. But after I made a deal with the literal devil, and got a huge, complicated mess with it, I got him back. And a lot has changed in the process…
“I’m not accepting your resignation,” Jessica Drew said, tearing up the paper Gwen had given her.
“Are you kidding?” Gwen’s eyes widened.
“Nope. Miguel’s stepped down from leadership, which is more than for the best since he doesn’t even remember being the leader. Dr. Parker, Sorcerer Supreme, did some tests and he thinks he was being manipulated by Mephisto since before the Society was even formed. Said the demon was holding his wife and kid as a teether or something, whatever that means. So, we’ve all decided instead of one high commander, we’ll have a leadership council,” Jessica said, giving Gwen a wink. “And we want you on it.”
“Me?” Gwen squeaked.
“You.” Jessica nodded.
“Who else is on this council?” Gwen asked.
Jess sat back in her seat, “Me and you, Peter B. Parker, Noir, Pav, Ham, Peni, and Hobie.”
“Hobie Brown? Mr. ‘I hate organized government’ Hobie Brown?” Gwen blinked in surprise. “How?”
“Surprised me, too,” Jess shrugged, “Peter B., Noir and Ham talked to him, and he said he’d give it a try. Also said he’d call us a bunch of ‘self-mythologizing wankers’ if he thought we deserved it. Can’t say we haven’t thus far. So, there we go. We do have one more open spot.”
“Is it… is it for?” Gwen asked, looking at the second invitation Jess held out to her.
“You wanna go ask him?” Jess smirked.
---
“Miles…”
“What are you doing,” Miles sighed, Standing on the edge of the clocktower.
“Trying to make you feel guilty…” She said, giving the biggest puppy dog eyes she could. “Is it working?”
“Do you not remember what happened the last time I went there?” Miles grunted, crossing his arms.
“First time I went there, I was chased by every single stinking Spider-Man in reality, including a cat, a Wild West gunman, and a T-Rex.” Miles hammered his fist into his palm, “A T-Rex, Gwen.” He shook his head, “And I don’t even want to talk about the actual last time I went there.”
“It’s different, Miles; things have changed,” Gwen said hopefully, “You’re practically a legend now.” She held out the invite to the Spider Society Council and a goober. “We need you, Miles…”
“No…” Miles turned his back. “I don’t want to be on that council.”
Gwen looked down, genuinely hurt and sad this time, but blinked in surprise when a webline grabbed the goober and pulled it back. He fixed it on his wrist.
“I’m not gonna go on no active role, but I’ll do part-time.” He pulled on his mask and started to fall backwards off the clocktower, “Need help, give me a call.”
She stepped forward and watched him swing away, smiling lovingly as she watched him go.
Yeah, there are all kinds of Spider-Men, Women, and Creatures out there. And all of them are great, each following the principle ‘With Great Power, There Must Always Come Great Responsibility.’ Some of the greatest heroes to ever step up to a challenge. But… there’s one that’s different. One that has risen above. In my eyes, he’s always been Amazing. Miles Morales…
The Ultimate Spider-Man