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Chapter Text

Two months after Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse…

[Earth-65]

A mugger held his gun to a lady’s neck in the pouring rain, holding her against the wet brick alley wall as rain poured around them. He couldn’t tell if she was crying, nor did he care. He just wanted what he came for. “Wallet. Jewelry. Now.” All he heard was a muffled sob in return.

He pulled up his gray hoodie so he could actually see without water constantly getting in his eyes. “Come on. I’m not going to hurt you if you just do what I say.” Unbeknownst to the two, a black figure slowly came down a web upside down behind them before softly landing on her feet.

Not even hearing a single word said, he felt a web shot to his back before it forcefully pulled him back and to the ground. He looked upside down to see Spider-Woman slowly walking towards him. The lady he tried to mug gasped in fear as she clenched her purse and pushed her fiery red hair out of her eyes before taking off running.

The man jumped up and began backing up in the women’s place, only for Spider-Woman to slowly circle around him and begin backing him up deeper into the alley like a shark circling its prey. “Okay wait.. Please.. Just wait. I’m sorry.”

Hearing about Spider-Woman, now would have been time for a quip- joke- anything. Yet, nothing came from her as she kept slowly walking towards him as if she was feeding on his fear. Despite the rain falling down her hood and soaking her costume, she didn’t even flinch. 

Suddenly, he heard a scream that sent chills down his spine- Anger. Hatred. Regret. Spider-Woman finally came into view, the ground and air around her red as if someone had spilled paint on a canvas.

Wait- Her costume was… Almost completely black? Since when did she look black? She looked… Gooey. Gooey!? Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. He watched her clenched fist come undone, claws revealing themselves before she pounced. 

He felt himself tackled to the ground- barely able to process anything but pain and terror in the minutes that followed. It was as if an animal was attacking him. Spider-Woman didn’t stop until she felt the familiar warmth of blood. 

She clawed and scratched all over before punching him. Again. And Again. And Again. His screams only fueled her as she kept going, the red that surrounded her now deep and violently shaded as if blood had taken the place of the spilled red watercolor paint on the canvas. 

With each blow to his face, all she could think about was what transpired months ago. The fear. The rejection. The pain. The self-hatred. Being alone once again… 

She lost one more friend. 

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Venom in Our Hearts

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Two Months Earlier…

[Earth-1610]

Miles held the body of his father in his arms as he sobbed, resting his face against his cold chest. He was hoping for a heartbeat. He was hoping for anything. Every Spider-Person stood around him as he continued heaving.

“I’m sorry it had to go like this kid..” Miguel spoke softly, with regret as he nodded to four Spider-People. They quickly trotted over to the containment box that held the Spot, picking it up on all four sides as Miguel opened a portal back to Nueva York. Spot took the opportunity to bask in his victory. “I won Spider-Man! I won! You may have contained me, but you lost. I may have been the one to deliver the finishing blow, but you were the one that killed him!”

Miles immediately dropped his dad’s body and lunged at the orange box, only to be held back by Peter B. and Gwen. “Miles.. It isn’t worth it. You stopped him. Please don’t undo that.” Gwen reasoned, hugging his arm more than holding it. A glimmer of reasoning must have made its way through his stubborn skull because he stopped fighting back and pushed the two off him, including Gwen who stumbled back in surprise. 

“FUCK!” He screamed, turning his back to them, and beginning to walk away. Electricity visibly moved around his body, being barely able to contain his anger. He shot a web onto a building before quickly swinging away. He had to get away from them. He had to get away from everything. 

He swung through the city before going to the one place he always went for comfort. The Williamsburg Bank Building.

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Gwen stood next to Peter helplessly as her arms hung at her side. “He saved all of us but-” “Not everyone.” Peter nodded to Jefferson’s body on the ground. “Miles was right, Gwen. Spider-Man always tries to do both. Doesn’t mean he’ll succeed. But that’s what makes us who we are. We try. Do you understand what I’m getting at?” 

She looked up at him, deep in thought before the realization struck her, a soft blush dotting her face. “Yes Peter.. I get what you mean.” He chuckled sadly, patting her shoulder. “Good. Now do you know where he went? Any place that gives him comfort.”

The teen nodded immediately. If anyone knew- it would be her. “I do.” Peter nodded before giving her a weak smile. “Go get him, tiger.” She began to walk away, looking back and rolling her eyes before swinging the same route he did. 

After a few minutes of swinging, Gwen made her way to the Williamsburg Bank Building and quietly landed behind Miles. Pulling down her hood, she took a step towards him. She winced, feeling the largest headache of her life. Since when did she get migraines- ‘Oh. It’s my Spider-Sense..’ 

Feeling his grief radiate off him, Gwen slowly approached as she held tears back. “I know you’re there.” He said coldly, not even bothering to look back at her. His knees were up to his chest as he overlooked the sunrise. His eyes were still full of tears. He looked defeated. 

“I.. Know you know.” She replied, standing still behind him. “I’m really sorry.. About what just happened-” “Oh are you now?” He cut her off, still refusing to look at her. “Of course, I am.” She replied, a look of confusion filled her face. “Not sorry enough to just be truthful I guess..” She frowned. “Miles. I’m-” He shook his head. “You’re what? Sorry? Regretful? You have a shit ton of things to be sorry for so what exactly are you sorry for?” 

“Everything..” She breathed. “I’ve been wanting to talk about this for the past few days, but you’ve been avoiding me..” She heard a sob come from him before he tried to regain his composure. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I? You betrayed me. You betrayed your friend.” 

“I know I know but I told you about my dad and the society and- and everything! I thought we were going to make up! Is that not what is happening?” She tilted her head quizzically. “Yeah. Were. That’s before my pa’ died.” He shot back. 

“Okay look.. I know I really really really screwed up. But I want to fix it- I have been trying to fix it. I want to be here for you. You need someone to get through this with. You need a friend.”

“Why do you keep doing that?” He asked, the anger slowly rising in his voice. “Do- Doing what?” She questioned. “Trying to tell ME what I NEED!” He began standing up. “I’m not trying to tell you anything! I’m- I’m just trying to help..” She raised her hands. 

He turned to face her. She could now clearly see the devastation on his face. “The same way you helped me in Nueva!? Tell me, Gwen. Is this for my own good too!?” Tears began rolling down her cheeks. “Please.. Don’t yell.” She whispered, looking down, not bearing to keep his gaze. 

“Answer the damn question.” He said, turning his back to her as the sun kept rising. “No.. No, it’s not for your own good.” She replied softly, finally lowering her arms to her sides. A long silence passed before he finally spoke, his voice cracking up as he tried not to cry again.

“This- This is your fault… If you had just told me the fucking truth! Maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess. Maybe my dad would not be lying dead on the sidewalk!” Gwen stood there in shock, each word shattering her heart into pieces. She opened her mouth to say something back, but she didn't know what to say. She couldn’t know what to say to make up for… all of this.

“I don’t want to see any of you again… Including you.” He painfully spoke. Now it was him that couldn’t look at her. “I want all of you to stay away from my dimension.”

Gwen held her hand over her mouth as she looked down, letting out a sob. “I- I can’t lose you too..” 

“You already have.” He spoke back, looking down at his feet. 

Gwen began to walk forward again, wanting to do nothing more than hug him before stopping herself. “I’m sorry..” She said quietly before walking to the edge of the roof and jumping off, swinging back to the others. 

This wasn’t anything like she imagined. She thought they could be friends. Maybe even be together. She could finally allow herself to be happy but..  she was a venomous parasite that did nothing but ruin lives. Peter.. Her father.. Now Miles.  This is what she deserved. ‘God, why did I even try to open up?’

She didn’t deserve Miles.

She deserved suffering.

Chapter Text

Two Days Earlier…

Friday

[Earth-1610]

“Mijo! Breakfast!” was the first thing that greeted Miles as he stirred awake, trying to remember which reality he was even in. One where his dad was alive or one where he was gone. He sat up, still in just his underwear as his mother knocked on the door. 

“Mijo!” “I’m awake!” He called back, walking up the wall and onto the ceiling as he began trying to put on each piece of clothes. After struggling for a solid minute, he was finally dressed for school. 

He opened the door and made his way into the kitchen. “Morning mami.” He kissed her cheek before sitting down to eat his breakfast. He looked across the table where his father usually sat.

He was in the reality where his dad wasn’t alive… The only reality.

He looked back down shamefully at his six eggs and bacon before starting to eat. Miles wasn’t usually one to stuff himself, but Spider-Man demanded otherwise. “I still can’t believe you eat so much..” His mother said in half horror and half awe as she sat down next to him with a cup of coffee.

“Neiber can I.” He said with his mouth full as he continued to shovel in food into the burning steam engine that was Spider-Man. “What did I say about eating with your mouth full?” She reminded him. “It’s rude. Sorry Mami.” He replied after swallowing his food.

“God, look at you. You’re a mess.” She said, looking her son over. “Qué?” He knew some Spanish. Rio rolled her eyes. “I thought you knew a bit of Spanish.” Miles chuckled- something that was rare for him. “I do! I just spoke some!” She shook her head. “One word.”

“And? That’s a bit!” He tried reasoning. “Okay instead of saying Qué, try saying qué quieres decir.” Miles tilted his head. “What does that mean?” Rio let out a soft, but amused sigh. “What do you mean?”

“I mean what does that mean?” He spoke back. “No, what do you mean?” She said slower. Miles looked at her bewildered. “I just told you what I mean.” Rio began laughing. “Noo Mijo, it means what do you mean!” A few seconds passed before the two broke into fits of laughter. 

If Miles was ever happy, this was it. This was the best it got and he wouldn’t trade the world for it. “¿Qué quieres decir?” He finally spoke out as the laughter subsided, the room’s energy turning depressing once again. 

“For starters, you smell like caca.” He smelled his armpits before shrugging. “I think I smell like a sunflower.” “Yeah, if the sunflower grew in a dump.” She responded, getting up to get more coffee. “I was fighting Man-Wolf last night.” She tilted her head, partly in disbelief and partly in amusement something so ridiculous could exist.

“Why is everyone turning into animals? The Lizard, The Rhino, The Armadillo, and now.. Wolf-Man?” Rio questioned. “That’s a great question.” Was all he said in response, his mood suddenly dimming. The mention of the Lizard reminded her of… Of- Her.

His mom noticed the sudden shift, walking to her wallet and opening it to see it nearly empty. Taking all she had, she handed him five dollars. “I’m sorry-” She began only to be cut off by her son. “Don’t be. This is more than enough for lunch.” He said, smiling sadly. She made him look up at her, holding his chin.

“Miles.. Stay strong and stay true to yourself.” She spoke, saying the same thing she did every day. “I will.. I promise.” He finished his breakfast and stood up before running upstairs to his room. He was running late.

He shot a web at his backpack, which was slung over his chair before pulling it to his shoulder. Then, he sprinted into the bathroom and quickly applied some deodorant, stuffing it in the side of his bag.

He finally proceeded downstairs before he gave his mother a hug. “Love you Mami.” He spoke softly. “I love you too, my son.” She closed her eyes as she held him close before finally letting go. Watching him leave made her suddenly realize something. 

As he was closing the door, he heard “Miles!” He turned around to see his mother trying not to laugh. “Your shirt is backwards.”

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[Earth-65]

Gwen’s head pounded in tune with the knocking on her bedroom door. “Gwendolyne, you gotta get up for school.” She heard her father’s rough voice speak softly. “I’m up..” She groaned, sitting up in her Spider-Woman attire. She looked around as she rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of her surroundings.

Seeing the empty beer can she had drunk last night on the floor, she sighed as she shot a web and pulled it to her, spinning a ball of webbing around it before opening her bedroom window and dropping it down to the dumpster below.

“Gwen now.” She heard again. “I know I know..” She responded in a false sleepy voice, getting out of bed. She turned towards her bed to make it, only to see the picture of her and Miles laying where she had slept. She carefully held it before opening her bedside table, setting it inside before closing it. 

She opened the door, only to almost walk into her father who was getting ready to knock again. “Just makin’ sure you’re up.” He spoke in his irish accent before walking back into the kitchen. “I’m up.” She said softly, quickly making her way to the bathroom to wash the smell of booze and whatever smell she picked up swinging around last night off of her.

Gwen started the shower and undressed before quickly hopping in. She began to wash her hair first, looking down at the cuts on her right arm before looking away in denial. She held her face up and let the water hit it. Hopefully, it would help wake her up.

After showering and getting dressed for school, she went into the kitchen to join her dad. She sat down at the table as he sipped his coffee and read the paper. “Who still reads the paper?” She wondered out loud as she looked down at her breakfast. Runny eggs and.. A bagel. The irony.

Gwen sighed as she began to eat her eggs. Finally after what seemed like eternity, her father responded. “Me.” He put the paper down and looked at her. “Are you okay? You look like you have barely gotten any sleep..”

Despite the bags under her eyes, Gwen forced a smile and nodded as she took another bite of the terrible food. “I’m fine! Are you getting better?” He nodded slowly as he looked over his daughter with concern. “I am sleeping more.. Thanks for asking.” 

Silence filled the room again as Gwen kept stuffing herself. He wanted to bring up how late she was staying out Spider-Womaning but decided to not press the issue for now as the mood already felt tense. “Hey.. Why don’t we watch a movie tonight? We can order pizza too. It can be like the old days.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She spoke in an imitation of a southern accent. “Gwen.. Please don’t ever do that again.” He responded before the two laughed together for the first time in what seemed like forever. 

The room returned back to its delicately balanced vibe as the two sat in silence. “Want me to drive you to school?” He finally spoke up. “No thank you. I can just swing.” Gwen replied, getting up and walking to her room to get her bag.

As she put her books in her bag, she saw her multiversal traveling watch on her dresser. She knew she could see Miles if she really wanted to- which she did. More than anything. But the question was if he wanted to see her, which she knew he didn’t.

She had thought about sneaking onto his earth and just watching him- not in a creepy way! Just to make sure he was okay.. Or as okay as he could be right now. However, he would more than likely sense her and probably feel more betrayed than he already is. ‘Why can’t I move on?’ she asked herself mentally, picking up the watch and putting it in her dresser drawer.

Despite skipping a few days- or multiple- which was uncharacteristic for her, Gwen knew she had to go today. Even if she was still slightly buzzed from drinking herself to sleep the previous night of crying and drinking herself to sleep.

Gwen dawned her wrinkled Spider-Woman suit as she looked in the mirror at the shell of her former self. She could point out a thousand imperfections in a minute if she wanted to. ‘God this smells like beer too.’ she thought frustratedly. Gwen proceeded to spray Febreze over her suit for 20 seconds straight.

After stuffing her in her books, she closed up her bag, walked into the kitchen and hugged her dad goodbye. “You smell good.. New perfume?” “Oh uh- yeah! It’s called Hawaiian Aloha!” She called back as she walked into her room and opened her window. “Wait- Like our air freshener?” 

“Bye!” She quickly called back. “Don’t text and swing!” He yelled after her as she leapt out the window. 

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[Earth-1610]

After swinging to school, Miles had changed on the roof and slipped through the roof access door and down the stairs. He opened the door that led into the third-floor hallway, only to come face to face with the school security guard. “Morales. What were you doing in there?” He pressed the boy suspiciously, crossing his arms. “Oh uh- science experiment on the roof!” Miles answered back as innocently as possible.

“Did you have permission?” ‘Damn this guy is out to get me.’ “Uhm- no sir.. I didn’t realize I needed it.” The security guard scoffed. “Everyone knows you need it. Don’t let me catch you in there again or it is straight to the office! Understand?” Miles quickly nodded. 

As he walked away, he heard a familiar voice. “You know, he oughta go easy on you. It hasn’t been a good few months from what I’ve heard.” Miles turned around to see Ganke approaching. “Hey man.” He replied with a grin. The two quickly gave each other a pound hug. “How’s home? The dorm is.. Different. Not worse though. Space can be good.” Miles chuckled “Home is.. Home” 

The two began walking to class. “So.. How have you been holding up?” He asked quietly. “Oh you know.. Hanging in there.” Ganke shook his head. “Was that a pun?” Miles shrugged loosely. “Maybe.” “It’s good to hear your terrible sense of humor is still intact.” Miles began laughing, shaking his head. “Shut it.” Ganke gave him a confused look. “Me shut it? You’re the one who doesn’t ever shut up.” 

Miles shook his head, grinning. “You do have a point there.” The two entered their history class and sat down in the back. “So.. Are you moving back to your dorm anytime soon?” Ganke asked quietly. “My Mom needs me..” Miles whispered.

“Alright class, please take out your homework for it to get collected.” Their teacher spoke as she did attendance. “Shit..” Miles groaned under his breath as he looked down at his bag, knowing he had completely forgotten about it. Ganke looked up. “Of course..”

The teacher came around, collecting each person's paper including Ganke before making her way to Miles’ desk. “Miles, do you have your paper?” He winced and shook his head. “Dude, I have been reminding you guys about this for a week.”

‘I never wanna hear a forty-year-old woman say dude ever again.’ he thought before speaking. “I have just been busy..” The teacher let out a genuine laugh. “Busy with what? You don’t have much going on from what I know at least.” 

The class now looked back at him as he forced a chuckle too. “Well, uh.. None of your business.” Every breath in the classroom was now held back as the entire room went dead silent. ‘OUT OF ANYTHING YOU COULD SAY WHY THAT?’ he mentally scolded himself.

Hearing his wise ass response, the teacher grimaced. “My room. Detention after school.” She finally spoke before going back to grabbing each paper. Ganke gave Miles a really? look as Miles glared down at his Jordans.

“Alright class, please get out your computers and go to the class module.” The voice from the front of the room spoke. Miles decided to try and ignore his self-frustration- leaning down and opening his backpack to grab his computer. 

As he leaned down, his five dollars fell out of his pocket. He quickly reached down and grabbed it, looking up and making quick eye contact with a classmate named Derek, who was still looking at him. He quickly looked back down as he stuffed it in his pocket. 

“Psst Miles.” He looked up at Ganke who was wincing down at him. “You smell like.. Garbage.”

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[Earth-65]

Gwen wore her normal school uniform to Vision’s Academy, walking down the same set of stairs Miles currently was a multiverse away. She opened the door and kept her head down as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.

Nobody cared.

Even as the door made a loud sound shutting behind her, nobody batted an eye as Gwen began walking down the hall with the crowd that surrounded her. She felt like she was invisible. Miles could turn invisible or his personality alone could electrify the mood of a room.

But that wasn’t her superpower.

No, this was her curse.

Gwen kept reciting what she was going to say as she opened her locker and began dumping books in. “Hey MJ, can we talk?” She kept repeating under her breath until she heard the same voice she was thinking about behind her. “Wait- Do you.. Cosplay?” 

Gwen turned around to see MJ standing there before looking down into her bag, seeing her Spider-Woman attire laying at the bottom. She froze, looking up at MJ like a deer caught in headlights. “Or.. Maybe you are Spider-Woman.” MJ continued, a serious look on her face.

“MJ I-” She began, petrified before the other girl burst out laughing. “Relax. I’m not going to tell anyone your secret. I cosplay a little too. I’m more of a Shadowcat fan, but if you want to go mainstream that’s your choice.” She punched her shoulder lightly.

“Right..” Gwen breathed out, forcing herself to laugh along as she grabbed a book and covered up her costume before zipping up her bag. ‘Thank God.’  Despite her relief, any confidence she had was now all but shattered.

“Hey uh.. Can I talk to you? Maybe in the courtyard?” Gwen asked awkwardly, clasping her hands together.” MJ looked a bit surprised, but recovered with a smile. “Yeah. Yeah of course. I was actually about to ask to talk as well.” 

“Oh.. Well that works out perfectly then!” Gwen chuckled before nodding her head and making her way through the sea of students as MJ followed close behind. Once they made it to the courtyard, they took a seat together on a bench.

The flowers behind them seemingly gave the air colors, blue, red, and yellow popping out. From above, the mellow green of the oak tree spilled its way across. “I just wanna ask.. Are you okay? It’s been months since I last saw you.. Then you came back two months ago and seemed.. Even worse off than when you left. Plus, you cosplay, which is even more concerning.” She joked at the end to lighten things up.

Gwen let out a single laugh. “Uhm.. yeah.” She shrugged as she looked down at the ground. “Just stuff going on with my dad. I am still behind on my classes but- I’m catching up!” She quickly looked up at her, trying to make things seem much better than they actually were. She was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince MJ. 

“Catching up? So, you are telling me you aren’t failing every class?” Gwen smiled genuinely for once, looking down at the red flowers as she was reminded by something Miles had said. “I wouldn’t say I'm failing.. More like.. A success in progress.” 

‘Why do I keep thinking about him!?’ Gwen quickly asked herself. “You’re even optimistic this is.. Scary.” MJ spoke before the two laughed together. “Yeah, about that..” Gwen sighed, trying to figure out how to ask.

“Listen.. I- I was going to make my own band. But that didn’t work out. It was my fault. I hurt someone I cared about.. Again. Now I’m back to square one and- I want to make things right. I can’t make things right with them, but maybe I can with you. I really regret how I walked out and I wasn’t in the best frame of mind” ‘As if I’m not worse now.’

“I’m- I’m trying to ask to join back. I’ve been practicing the songs you are playing in the freetime I have had recently… Please.” It felt like everything was falling apart around her- like a web becoming undone. She had to try to grasp onto the few remaining things she had left- before she screwed up and lost them forever too- like Miles…

MJ slowly grinned, nodding her head. “You know.. It’s nice to hear you somewhat open up for once.. I’ve been waiting for you to ask that since the day you left. For some reason I cannot find anyone to replace you for the life of me! The other girls may not like it, but as long as you know the music, I’d love to have you back.”

Gwen beamed, holding out her right hand. “Friends again?” MJ giggled a bit, taking her hand in her own. “Friends again.” The two heard the bell and immediately jumped up, the colors around them turning bright yellow to represent the panic. “Shit. We’re late.” Gwen spoke as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “See ya later!” She began walking away.

“Hey Gwen!” She turned back to see MJ walking away, her front side facing her. “Practice tomorrow at eight.” Gwen smiled and held up a rock symbol to let her know she’d be there before walking the opposite direction and going into the hall. She- was actually happy for once. She stopped in her tracks.

‘Isn’t something bad supposed to happen? Am- I actually happy? Is the canon actually allowing me to be happy?’ she began to smile until she heard something that suddenly burst her bubble.

“Stacy!” She whipped around, clutching her bag to see Principal Martin Li standing there, hands on his hips. “My office. Now.” 

‘There it is..’

Chapter Text

Friday Continued

[Earth-1610]

The bell barely had time to ring before Miles entered the men’s bathroom. That comment by Ganke only confirmed what his mother had said prior. “How did I not put on enough deodorant?...” He mumbled to himself, sighing as he hung his bag from a hook on the wall.

He began fishing through the left-side pocket before his hand came out empty. “Why is it always in the one I don’t check?” He thought out loud, annoyed. Miles then stuck his hand in the right-side pocket of his backpack before feeling his deodorant and grabbing it, pulling it out.

“Damn Wolf-Man..” He sighed as he pulled the side of his shirt up. After not rushing and putting on more deodorant, he capped the container before looking up into the mirror, seeing his father’s face and cold dead eyes staring right back at him.

He yelped, jumping back before closing his eyes in horror. After a few seconds, he opened one to see his reflection looking back. His spider-sense went off, turning to see Derek and two of his friends standing by the recently closed door, trying not to laugh. 

“I can’t believe you’re so ugly that your own reflection scared you.” his friend to the right spoke. Miles didn’t know his name but saw him wearing a varsity jacket. He would call him jacket for the time being. “Nah, the only ugly thing in here is you. Come in here for a three way?” 

“No, we came in here for you, actually.” Derek responded, crossing his arms. “Boys I’m flattered but I’m also disgusted.” Miles turned around, walking back to his bag, and putting his deodorant back into the side pocket. 

Miles grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder before walking towards the group who was blocking the door, only to be stopped by the boy on the left. He had on a Spider-Man shirt. He would call him fanboy. “Alright, I gotta get to class. Let me through.” 

“You’re not going anywhere.. Until you give us your five dollars.” Miles scoffed. “That’s my lunch money. What do you want them for? Condoms?” 

“Do you even know what those are?” Derek responded, smirking. Miles put his hands up. “Gentlemen, I don’t think five dollars will cover extra small-” Derek grabbed Miles by the shirt and pushed him against the wall. “Enough jokes. Give me the money.”

“Okay, come on don’t buy into the bullying kids for their lunch money stereotype.” Miles replied, pretending to struggle against his grip. “Search his bag.” Derek said to the other two. Suddenly, alarm bells rang in Miles’ head. His suit.

With no other option, he used half of his strength to push Derek away and across the room flat on his butt. Every head turned towards Miles in shock as the room went quiet. However, Derek quickly recovered. “Damn boys. Morales has got a little punk in him!” 

“I did learn from the best.” Miles said with a shrug as Derek got up. “Alright. You don’t wanna tell us where the money is? We can just beat it out of you or go ask your momma later.” 

Miles' eyes immediately narrowed. “What the fuck did you just say?” Derek mockingly raised his hands as Miles had done a minute ago. “Hey- as you said we are buying condoms for a reas-” Miles quickly approached, pushing him to the ground. “Leave my mom out of this.” 

“Or what? You’ll go cry to daddy?” That was the sentence that set Miles off. Derek knew perfectly well what he was saying. Not even processing what happened, he felt his fist collide with Derek’s cheek as he stood above him. “Fuck!” the boy yelped. 

Fanboy and Jacket approached Miles from behind, setting off his spider-sense. Resisting his natural instinct to simply flip over the two, he clumsily dove to the side as the boys tried to tackle him only to fall on top of Derek. “What the hell are you doing? This isn’t your first fight!” Derek snapped, pushing the two up before he got up himself. 

Miles immediately noticed his black eye. ‘Oh well. He deserves it.’ The group surrounded Miles before running at him from all three sides. Miles had no choice but to jump over the top of them and land behind them. Jacket whipped around only for a kick to the balls. He groaned as he fell to the ground whimpering, revealing Derek standing behind him.  “How the fuck did you do that..” Derek spoke, his mouth gaping open. 

The look on the bully’s face snapped Miles out of his impulsive anger. As upset as Miles was, he had to use better judgment. Perhaps Spider-Man could jump clear over someone's head with ease- but not Miles Morales. He lowered his fists and began backing up from the trio.

“I- don’t know..” He slowly spoke, his voice an unusual high pitch. Miles raised his hands. “You can take my money.” As Derek approached, he turned and looked at the mirror, homing in on his black eye.  

“Hey Morales, you ever heard the saying an eye for an eye?” Miles' breathing suddenly stopped. He felt fear. He felt genuine fear. He couldn’t let himself fight back. He had to be the weak nerd they thought he was.

‘This is going to hurt.’ 

Miles was shoved to the ground by Derek before he stepped on his stomach. “Should’ve just handed over the money.” Miles’ view was suddenly obstructed by two different shoes as they began to kick him in the face. 

He heard Derek talking but didn’t process anything. He simply laid there as he closed his eyes, a ringing filling his ears as he got beat up. Miles felt himself get pulled up and pushed against the wall, being held against it by Jacket and Fanboy.

To his shock, he saw his dad standing in front of him, covered in blood and shaking his head in disappointment. Suddenly, Derek’s fist collided with his cheek before pulling back to reveal his father was now gone. Then Derek hit again. And again. And again. 

Finally, when he was done, he grabbed the five dollars out of Miles’ pocket and turned around with his posse, leaving Miles sat against the wall and not saying a word. Derek opened the door and walked out with the other two. Once the door closed, the ringing suddenly stopped, and Miles felt all of the pain in the world. Tears formed in one of Miles’ eyes while they struggled to escape the other. 

He couldn’t stop his dad from dying. 

He pushed Gwen away.

He couldn’t even defend himself during a fight he started. 

This was his fault. 

All of this was his fault. 

‘Am I really a hero?’

---------------------------------------

[Earth-65]

Gwen carefully stepped into the principal's office as he held the door for her. After entering and sitting down in the chair across from his, Li closed the door and took a seat. “Alright..” He leaned over the desk as he scrolled through his computer, looking for her student record.

“Alright here. So, Gwen.. Before I go over why you are here, do you have any guesses?” She shifted uncomfortably as she looked around the room, trying to look at anything other than his seemingly soul piercing eyes. 

His office was very personalized, having a F.E.A.S.T. banner hung over to the side above his wall of seemingly endless plaques. His impressively large desk was made of padauk wood- presumably reminding him of home. On the wall behind him was a quote that read:

“You cannot defeat darkness by running from it, nor can you defeat your inner demons by hiding them from the world. In order to defeat darkness, you must bring it to the light.” - Seth Adam Smith

‘That’s a bunch of bullshit.’ Gwen thought. Finally with nowhere else to look, she looked up to face him. “Uhm.. A few tardies?” She tried to play dumb. Martin Li chuckled with an unusually charming smile. “No.. Just a lot of unexcused absences.” 

“Like how many? Five?” Gwen asked, holding her forced grin. “Twenty-Five.” Li spoke. “Oh..” Gwen chuckled awkwardly. “That's a lot..” Her principal laughed too. “That is a lot. I’m glad to see that despite missing so many math classes, you can comprehend that.”

Gwen nodded in agreement before shaking her foot and looking around the room again. He clicked on a few things on his computer before looking back at her. “Is.. Everything okay at home? Do you need to talk to one of our counselors? You have already started the school year off late. You can't afford to miss more time.” 

She quickly shook her head. “Everything is fine at home. Better than ever actually!” ‘That’s kinda true.’ “Well Gwen, while I am very happy to hear that, I still can’t think of an explanation of why you are missing so many classes. Can you think of one?” Martin Li asked. 

“Well..” She began as she tried to think of some bullshit excuse. ‘I lied to and hurt the person I care about most and lost him forever. Now his life is ruined, I miss him, and I fucking hate myself because of it.’ she thought before speaking. “I am trying to make money for college. I don’t really have the funds for it at the moment and I don’t want to be paying loans for half of my lifetime.” She came up with on the spot. 

There was a long pause as Li looked deep in thought, probably not buying the response. “Okay, well Gwen. I am meeting with you for a reason. If you keep this up, there may not be college in your future. We will be forced to expel you. I don’t want to do that. I know you don’t want that. You’re such a great kid with a bright future ahead of you. Please just come to class and get those grades up. Okay?” 

‘Phew.’ “Yeah.. Of course. Thank you for telling me.” She said softly as she looked down at her hands. Noticing a web shooter sticking out of her left sleeve, she pulled it down more. “So, am I free to go?” Li’s charming smile disappeared. 

“Well.. You need to be reprimanded somehow and I personally don’t believe in having in-school suspension. You come here to socialize, to be around your friends, and I think that is something that would benefit you to still have. So, I know this will sound harsh but fifty days of detention. Two for each day skipped.” 

Gwen’s mouth dropped as she stared at him. That was extremely valuable time of Spider-Womaning. Now she would have to stay out later! “Fifty!?” Li slowly nodded, keeping his deadpan face. ‘Man, does this guy ever frown?’ Realizing that there was no way to get out of this, Gwen caved in.

“Okay.. That’s fair. I’m sorry for all of this by the way.” She said softly. Martin Li’s smile returned once again. “You can apologize by trying to do the right thing.” Gwen smirked. “Do or do not, there is no try.” she spoke in her best Yoda impression. A long silence overtook the room before Li finally spoke, pointing at her. “Fozzie Bear!” Gwen sighed. “Yep. Am I free to go?” The principal quickly nodded. “Yeah! Go ahead.”

She jumped up and collected her stuff, just wanting to get out of there. “Just to clarify, you are free to go to class. Not home.” Gwen genuinely laughed. “Right. Thank you.” She opened the door before stepping out and quietly closing it behind her. She thought out loud, speaking under her breath. “Back to class..” 

---------------------------------------

[Earth-1610]

The sunset shined bright in Miles’ mask lens as he overlooked the city from the Williamsburg Bank Building. Hearing police sirens, Miles jumped off the building and let himself fall towards the ground.

Miles began following the police cars, swinging from above. He could already see people pointing up at him from below. Parents and their kids would look up from the sidewalk. Taxis would stop and their drivers would poke their heads out just to see Spider-Man swing over them. 

Even as Miles tried to swing, run across the side of buildings, and put on a show, he still felt.. Off. Something felt different. The way he swung was more clumsy- as if he was unsure of himself. 

As he looked down at the spectators, he felt his spider-sense go off simultaneously with a look of fear on the faces below. He looked forward and saw he was about to swing into a helicopter. Quickly thinking, he dived through the open door, making quick eye contact with the reporter and cameraman inside before popping out on the other side and continuing to swing. 

Swinging around the corner, Miles looked down at some kind of standoff with the police and someone inside a Walmart. Landing on the roof, he walked over to the roof access door and carefully tried to push it, trying to stay stealthy. 

However, the door did not budge. Miles kept pushing until the door suddenly came off its hinges and fell down the stairs, making a bunch of loud noises as Miles winced. “Goddamn I can’t do anything right today.” he mumbled before hearing gunfire in the stairwell. 

He slowly backed away and decided on a new plan. Since the alarm was already going off, he could easily go through the back entrance. Turning invisible, he barely opened the door before squeezing through. 

Miles jumped up onto the ceiling and walked upside down over to the front of the store. There, he saw a group of witnesses being held at gunpoint by two people in standard ski masks. On the phone was someone in a green and yellow suit with.. Fake lightning bolts on his head. ‘The Hell?..’

“Listen here Captain Stacy. You will deliver fifty-thousand dollars in cash, or I will begin executing each hostage every half an hour.” Miles had heard enough. Landing on his feet, he appeared visible again and webbed the two men who held the hostages at gunpoint. He pulled them towards him before delivering two punches to the face.

Electro whipped around, glaring at the intervention. “Hey spark plug! You missed Halloween!” Miles shot a web at electro only for it to backfire, electricity shooting back at him and knocking him to the ground. “Okay.. that’s new.” 

Miles jumped up to avoid a bolt of electricity before landing on the shelves above. “Hey, listen, I don’t have anger issues but I can tell that this isn’t a good outlet.” Electro growled “Do you ever shut up?” before shooting another bolt of lightning at Miles, making him flip over to the row of shelves behind him. 

Electro walked over to the shelves to see nobody there. “What the..” He whipped around as lightning coursed through his arms. “Maybe he does.” He began to speak before hearing the familiar annoying voice. “Made you look!” He heard from behind, turning around again only for his face to meet Miles’ fist as it came visible, punching him back to the ground. Miles shot a web at a mini oven on display, swinging it into electro only for it to explode, sending him flying back.

“That wasn’t the brightest idea..” He groaned as smoke filled the air around him. Miles got up and looked around to see nothing there. He kept backing up until he got to the video game section. Once there, his spider-sense went off a second too late as electricity came out of the TV screen behind him. 

Knocking him down again, he got up to see a PS5 controller on sale. “No way! I’ve been wanting one of these!” The controller somehow shocked him through the box, making him drop it as it caught fire. 

“Okay you are really beginning to dim my mood!” Miles yelled, turning around to see Electro standing there. “Damn bug. How many puns do you have?” “Enough to see our connection is electrifying!” Miles shot two webs on both sides and knocked Electro to the ground. 

Suddenly, Miles got an idea. ‘He isn’t the only one with electric powers.’ Using the opposite tactic to how he defeated Miguel O’Hara, he began to absorb Electro’s electricity as he fought helplessly under him. “Wha- What are you doing? Spider-Man can’t do this!” 

Miles thought back to what Miguel said. “You weren’t meant to be Spider-Man!” Pushing the thought back for now, he winced as he kept charging up and absorbing the electricity before standing up, opening his wingspan as he looked at the electricity traveling all around him.

“Give me back what’s mine!” Electro shouted, standing up and charging towards Miles. “Okay sure!” Miles shot every ounce of electricity he had absorbed into Electro, shooting him back through row after row of shelves before he finally hit the ground and slid into the wall with a thud. “I bet that was a shock..” He mumbled, sprinting back to the hostages.

Miles stopped in his tracks, seeing one of the criminals in a ski mask up and holding a gun to a man’s head. “Please! I have a son!” He spoke up, crying. “LEAVE! NOW!” The man shouted at Spider-Man as his hand holding the gun shook. 

“Hey.. Hey it’s okay..” Miles held his hands up. “Put down the gun, I'm not going to hurt you. It’s okay. It doesn’t have to go like this.” “LEAVE!” The criminal shouted again, holding back a sob as his grip on the gun tightened. 

“You don’t have to become a murderer. Just please put the gun down..” Miles barely took a step forward before he heard a gunshot and saw a flash of light in front of him before the father fell to the ground motionless. 

Just like in the bathroom earlier, he heard nothing but an eerie ringing. 

Miles sprinted over to the man on the ground and felt his neck. No pulse. He tried to do something. Anything. But he was dead. He looked at the shooter who looked equally as shaken up as he dropped the gun and put his trembling hands into the air. Miles swore he saw his lips say ‘Oh my God. I- I didn’t mean to.’

Before he knew it, Miles had tackled the man to the ground and tore his ski mask off before he started punching him in the face again and again and again nonstop. He didn’t even process the screams he was hearing as he kept going. He couldn’t register if they came from the man, the hostages, or even himself. Tiny drops of water dripped out of his mask lenses as he glared down at the man, his anger only being fueled-

Suddenly, the world around him returned as he heard another gunshot and looked up to see Captain Stacy- His Captain Stacy standing there, holding his gun up in the air. Miles held the man by the shirt as his other fist was raised in the air, shaking as he was knelt over him. 

He got up and dropped the man down as Captain Stacy ran over to the bloody faced man and the other officers began to herd the other hostages out. “Son, are you okay? What’s your name?” The man sobbed as he coughed up a bit of blood. “Flint. Flint Marco.”

Miles turned and ran.

He just ran. 

Chapter Text

Friday Concluded

[Earth-65]

Having just got out of detention, Gwen walked down the busy streets of New York with her hood up, keeping her head down as people continually bumped into her as if she didn’t even exist. Turning to her right, she entered an alley and did a double take behind her to make sure nobody was looking before turning the corner.

A minute later, Spider-Woman walked back around the corner and crawled up the wall before climbing onto the roof. She walked to the edge with a sigh as she sat down. The vibrant red and pinks of the sunset washed over her usually white suit as her lenses closed, basking in the rare warmth. 

After opening her eyes, she took off her backpack and dug through the mess of papers before pulling out her walkie-talkie. She turned it on and set it on the ledge next to her as she continued to sit on the ledge and look at the sunset, feeling truly at peace for the first time since she saw Miles again. 

Sure, the heat surrounded her, but it couldn’t compare to the comforting warmth she felt around Miles. Even now, she was still wearing her mask despite damn well knowing nobody could see her. She just couldn’t get close to anyone. She wasn’t going to hurt anyone else. Not again.

Now that her nice moment was broken, she decided to focus her mind on the audio that kept coming next to her. After a few moments of normal police chatter, Gwen finally got word of an unfolding situation.

“Uhm dispatch there seems to be a man with four mechanical.. Tentacles? He is at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering at 6 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn 11201.” Gwen sighed as she stood up. “Must be my version of Liv.”

Pushing the thoughts of everything going on in the back of her mind, Gwen stuck the walkie talkie in her light blue backpack and closed the zipper before walking away, shooting a web at it and sticking it to the roof without looking back.

Gwen ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped off, swinging through the city as the lights from the windows bled in the direction she swung. Billboards became deluded looking at she swung past them. Finally, making her way to the engineering school, she landed outside to see cop cars pulling up. “Hey! It’s Spider-Woman!” someone yelled. “Just here to murder another kid!” She shouted back sarcastically before walking through the steel doors as the cops ran towards them. Gwen shot a multitude of webs at the doors only to listen to the officer’s struggle on the other side before turning around. 

She slowly walked down the dark hallway as lights flickered above her. She looked at the streaks of blood on the walls and gulped. ‘Okay.. maybe I should be taking this more seriously.’

She rounded a corner as her feet walked across the tile floor without making a sound, walking into a room to see a man with four tentacles leaned over a table holding a piece of paper that seemed to be some list as if he was shopping. Gwen looked around before leaning against the wall smugly. “Hey buddy the produce aisle is back the way you came.” The man whipped around as quickly as Gwen’s jaw dropped. “Spider-Woman.. Fucking wonderful.” Doc Ock said. [Voiced by Bryan Cranston] Gwen began laughing hysterically as she doubled over, holding her knees for support. 

“What’s so funny?” Doc Ock asked angrily as one of his mechanical arms removed his hat and set it down on the table behind him. “Mr. White! I can’t believe it’s you!” Gwen said, approaching him, only to jump over a tentacle that lunged at her. “I don’t know who this Mr. White character is but I’m Dr. Octavious and you will address me as such.” Gwen took her phone out and pressed record. “Okay. Now say I am the danger.” 

All four arms propelled Octavious forward as Gwen threw her phone and did a backflip back, shooting a web and pulling the phone to her hand before one of the tentacles could grab it. She waved in tauntingly as she spoke “Aw a little camera shy? I can understand given your… situation.” Octavious grunted in anger. “My situation is an engineering marvel you can barely fathom. I’m not here to fight vigilantes. I’m here to change the world.”

Gwen began backing up. “By opening up a meth lab?” The bald man growled as he threw a tentacle at her only for her to catch it and push the claws back, grabbing them and swinging him around before throwing him at a wall. His other three arms braced the impact and shot him forward again, pushing her against the other wall in his grasp. “By opening a new chapter for humanity. I’m not the villain in this situation. I’m trying to achieve a clean energy power source that could last for hundreds of years at a time and you’re trying to achieve nothing but personal self-gratification by coming here to stop me.”

“Hey, if I wanna please myself I have two fingers and a picture to look at!” She quipped before using all of her strength to shove him back and leap onto the wall. As Heisenberg- Sorry. Octavious advanced towards her, she shot two webs at the desk behind him and pulled it forwards, leaping over him and watching him get smashed between the table and the wall. 

He grabbed the desk and pulled it in half before turning around and throwing both pieces at her- which she dodged. “You insufferable child! Can you ever just keep your mouth closed?” Gwen shook her head and held her hands up. “I can’t! People expect a certain amount of quippage per battle-” Gwen felt herself grabbed by a tentacle and shoved onto a table another came roaring towards her, though she punched it away and ripped the other off her as she rolled off the side, avoiding a third tentacle and finally grabbing the fourth and using it to punch Otto in his own face. 

As he stumbled back holding his nose, Gwen jumped back and posed on the wall, taking a selfie with him. She got ready to lunge- but suddenly, everything was off. Her head began to POUND as she gripped it. ‘What the fuck?..’ Suddenly, she pieced it together. 

‘Miles.’

---------------------------------------

[Earth-1610]

Miles swung through the city just as fast as his mind was racing. The same scene kept replaying in his head. The fear on that hostage's face was all he could see. As he swung through the lit-up city, every street lamp or window he passed reminded him of that flash of light he saw before his world came crumbling down. 

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t take back what just happened. It all happened so quickly. As tears came to Miles’ eyes, it began to sprinkle rain around him. He landed on the side of a building to catch his breath before looking around and realizing he was in Times Square.

Miles couldn’t be here. He needed to be alone. He deserved to be alone. As he went to swing away to elsewhere, he heard the familiar voice of J. Jonah Jameson. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my sad duty to inform you that tonight, Spider-Man got in the way of a hostage situation actively being dealt with by the police. While he did get the ‘bad guy’ he also for the first time got someone killed. Jeff Ditko was a husband, father of two, and a respected businessman. Tonight, we here at the daily bugle express our condolences to his family.”

“But.. We must also address why this man is not at home with his family tonight. Spider-Man has constantly gotten in the way of our men and women in blue and has terrorized this city with his reckless shenanigans for long enough. Someone died tonight. When is the message going to finally reach Spider-Man that he isn’t a hero, but a criminal who runs around in spray paint and spandex? When will he finally realize he is a danger to this community and the people who reside within? When will he realize that he isn’t Peter Parker?”

Miles stared at the screen as rain now poured down onto his mask and down his suit, the overwhelming amount slowly deluding the well-worn spray paint logo he had. As his breathing quickened and more tears slid down his cheeks under his mask, he heard “FUCK YOU SPIDER-MAN!” 

Miles squinted down through the darkness to see a small crowd gathered, umbrellas tilted in his direction. “SAVE EVERYONE OR SAVE NO ONE!” He heard a woman scream up in his direction. Not being able to handle it anymore, Miles ran across the side of the building jumping off and shooting a web swinging away from Times Square. 

After swinging for a few minutes, Miles finally stopped in an alley, hastily swinging down and almost tripping as he hit the ground and passed by a dumpster on his left, holding onto the edge to keep his balance as he heaved a sob. Miles removed his mask and punched the brick wall to his right, leaving an indent. “FUCK!” He looked down into a puddle at himself. All he saw was failure…

Wanting to look at anything else but himself, he looked away and towards the entrance to the alley to see his father and Ben Ditko standing there, both bloody. Ditko even had a hole in his head. Miles closed his eyes and took a few steps back as he shook his head.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry..” 

Miles opened his eyes to see them gone and looked down at the mask in his hands. ‘Why do I even do this? I just get people hurt..’ He thought back to what Miguel said. He thought back to everything.

“Spider-Man always-”

“Not always.”

“You weren’t meant to be Spider-Man!”

“You’re a mistake!”

He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t ask to hurt people. Miles couldn’t defend his uncle. He couldn’t defend his dad. He couldn’t defend Ditko. He couldn’t even defend himself. Maybe Miguel was right. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be Spider-Man. Maybe J.J.J was right. Maybe he is a danger. Suddenly- it all clicked. 

Spider-Man can’t always do both…

But Miles Morales can. 

He isn’t Spider-Man.

Miles looked at the dumpster in front of him before looking back down at the mask in his hands. ‘Everyone would be safer.. My mom would be safe. I could stick up for myself. I could actually focus on my life. Maybe instead I can focus on being the best Miles Morales rather than the best Spider-Man.’ 

Miles threw the mask into the dumpster with unnecessary force before undressing out of his suit. He took his gloves off, throwing those into the dumpster. Then, the rest. Finally, Miles stood in a black t-shirt, compression shorts, and his Jordan’s as he stared at the dumpster. 

He turned and began walking away to go towards his apartment. Miles had left a hero and now was returning as himself. He was no hero, and he was not Spider-Man. 

“I’m Spider-Man, no more.” 

---------------------------------------

[Earth-65]

Gwen began panicking as she continued to grip her head with one hand, using the other to stick to the wall behind her. ‘What’s gone so wrong? Is he okay? I’ve never felt him like this before..’ Wasting no time with Heisenburg, Gwen began running to the doorway to get back home, get to her watch, and get the hell over to 1610. 

However, as Gwen made her way towards the doorway, she felt a tentacle grab her from behind and begin pulling her back in the air. “Going somewhere?” Octavious questioned as Gwen struggled in his claws grip. “You don’t get to interrupt my important work and get away scott free.” Gwen glared back at him as a wave of darkness she hadn’t realized had been there washed over her. “I have something infinitely more important to do.”

Gwen pried the claws off herself before landing on her feet with elegance. She shot two webs at his tentacles and pulled him forward, kicking him in the face. Doc Ock tried to get up only for his cheek to collide with her fist. Otto something shatter as he screamed, falling back to the floor with a thud. As Gwen began walking away, an arm lunged at her one last time despite still being on the ground.

Looking back to see a blade unsheathed, Gwen jumped over it and shot a web, pulling the claw to her hands before she used his own blade to slice clean off one of his tentacles. Landing on the ground and holding the cut off arm/blade, she pointed it at Ock. “Be thankful that wasn’t you.”

Dropping it on the ground next to him, she sprinted out of the room and down the hall, nearly running into the wall as she took a corner only to be met by five police officers. “He’s in there.” She quickly said before they could get a word out. As they aimed their guns up, Gwen shot webs at all of their weapons and pulled them out of their hands. 

Spider-Woman jumped over the men and women, shooting a web and pulling herself onto the ceiling, now sprinting upside down. As Gwen ran, a ceiling tile came loose and fell as she stepped on it, taking her down with it. However, before she could hit the ground, she shot multiple webs around the now open entrance door at the end of the dark hall and pulled herself through the air and straight out the door.

Landing on the pavement with a safety roll, Gwen shot a web and jumped, stepping on the roof of a parked car before swinging off as the car alarm went off behind her. As Gwen swung through Brooklyn, she was reminded of the Brooklyn on earth-1610. Sure, it looked completely different but one thing that never changed in any universe was its resolve.

She could usually feel Miles’ resolve if she focused on it but.. She couldn’t. She couldn’t feel it. His passion. His will. ‘What the fuck happened?’ As Gwen swung through the dark night, she could see her apartment in the distance as she neared it. She swung by the building that her backpack laid on, not even stopping to pick it up and simply shooting a web behind her and pulling it at the other end of her web rope. 

Gwen landed on the wall and began pulling her backpack up towards her- but suddenly that pounding feeling in her head came to a standstill as if everything had returned to some form of normalcy within seconds. “Miles…” She whispered, closing her eyes, and focusing on someone that felt so close- yet was a multiverse away. He felt.. Okay?! Gwen huffed. “What the hell was that for!?” She held out her arms in disbelief. “Stupid fucking connection.”

She moved open her window before climbing through quietly and shutting it behind her. Gwen pulled her hood down and ripped her mask off, throwing it on the bed. “Guess he doesn’t need me after all..” Gwen put down her backpack as she blushed, slightly embarrassed she had seriously injured Ock and rushed home only for it to amount to nothing.

Opening the door into the dark living room, she saw her father illuminated by the TV as he sat there staring at it with a faraway look as if he was seeing something else entirely. Next to him was a mostly eaten large pizza still in the box with two slices missing. 

‘Shit… Movie night.’

She clasped her hands together as she sighed. “Dad.. I’m so sorry. I completely forgot. I just had this big fight I was doing, and I had completely forgotten.” She didn’t dare to stand in front of him and feel the overwhelming guilt, so she chose to stand to his left, barely in his sightline. 

Still not getting a response, she sighed and walked into the kitchen behind him. She opened the fridge and sorted through what was and wasn’t expired. “I know you’re frustrated..” She finally found a package of sliced turkey and resorted to eating the whole thing, one slice at a time. “I’m not frustrated… I’m worried.” He finally spoke.

Gwen nearly choked on the turkey she was practically inhaling and turned to look at him, an eerie silence settling over the apartment as he muted the TV. “I’m worried about you.”

Deciding to try and play dumb, Gwen kept eating turkey as she continued acting like her usual self. She laughed a bit with her mouth full. “Worried? About what? I’m doing well. I’m going to school again, I just joined back my band, and I’m kicking ass!”

“I don’t know jack shit about your band so I can’t decipher if that’s a lie. However, I got a call from school today.” Gwen winced and forced down her bite. “Okay look, I did get some detention but that’s because of missed class during the whole uh.. incident.” 

“No Gwen, I personally called the school and explained that away. You have been missing class recently. Twenty-five days. What do you do for twenty-five fucking days? Kick ass?” She quietly shrugged. “Huh?” He asked again. Realizing she was still behind him, Gwen spoke up. “Yeah.. Something like that. I’m just busy as Spider-Woman.”

Her dad slowly got up and turned back to face her. “Spider-Woman… When you came back from that other universe society place, you finally opened up to me. I had you back. I had my daughter back. But then you left to do whatever you needed to do and when you returned back again.. It wasn’t you. It was Spider-Woman.”

“Well, Spider-Woman is more helpful and arguably cooler.” She responded, crossing her arms. “Really? Because last time I checked the person who got me to quit the force was Gwen Stacy. Not Spider-Woman.”

Gwen didn’t say anything back as she looked down at her shoes, so George continued to speak. “I’m worried. I want to know where in the multiverse my daughter is. Because someone else came home. Someone else who lies not for others, but for herself.”

Gwen snorted. “Oh yeah? How have I lied?” George threw his arms up in the air. “Oh, I don’t know, let's maybe start with drinking!? I’m not an idiot, Gwen. I used to be a cop. I know beer when I smell it! I haven’t said anything, prayed to God that it was just a phase but.. Is it?”

Gwen let her arms hit her side. To be honest.. She didn’t quite know herself. All she knew was one night, she couldn’t sleep because she was.. Thinking about Miles. Again. and her dad always slept after a beer or two so she snuck out into the kitchen and grabbed one can. That was dozens of cans ago…

“How about that razor blade I found in your room? You wanna tell me what that’s for?” Gwen’s head shot up angrily. “You went through my fucking room!?” That question had caught her off guard. She hadn’t intended on anyone finding that. Some nights while lying in bed, she tried to convince even herself that it didn’t exist right alongside every fucking thing that was wrong with her. “I did it because I was worried and now, I have every right to be!” He shouted. “You need help! You need to open up!”

“I’M NOT HURTING ANYONE ELSE!”

The room went silent as Gwen’s eyes filled with tears and she breathed heavily. “I. Am. Not. Hurting. Anyone. Else.” She affirmed as her eyes went down to the ground. “I didn’t ask for any of this… I didn’t ask to be broken, to be a venom to anyone who tries to get close to me! I’m sorry.” Gwen turned and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her and webbing it shut. 

Gwen turned on her lamp and opened the drawer, grabbing her picture of Miles and laying on her side as she stared at it. “I’m sorry..” She whispered to herself as tears began slowly rolling down her cheeks. Seeing her mask laying on her bed, she grabbed it and angrily threw it at the wall, bringing her attention to the blade on her dresser. 

Gwen turned off the lamp and got up to grab it.

Chapter Text

One Day Earlier…

Saturday

[Earth-928]

The ex Spider-Band minus Gwen and Miles sat at a table in the cafeteria of the Spider Society, enjoying their breakfast together. Though, the noticeable yet unspoken absence of the two was bound to be brought up. “So.. will Gwen and Miles come back here.. Ever?” Pavitr asked the group. ‘Of course Pavitr was the clueless bloke that asked.’ Hobie thought to himself. 

“Well…” Peter B. shifted around in his seat awkwardly, understandably sensitive about the topic. An abundance of guilt still remained from everything that had taken place. “Miles does not want anything to do with us.. For obvious reasons.”

“Because you betrayed him?” Ham spoke up only to get a glare from Margo. “You? Don’t you mean we?” Peni asked despite her mouth being full. “No, you.” Noir replied before Ham could get anything out. “We chose not to join this place for a reason. I can’t speak for Ham but personally this place reminds me of the very people I despise.”

Margo tilted his head. “Communists?” Noir shook his in return. “No, Nazi’s.” Hobie let out a single laugh and rolled his eyes. “Same thin’ the barmy cunts are authoritarians either way.” 

Peter held up his hand. “I betrayed him… As for Gwen, she is not exactly happy with the society at the moment.. Or herself I would guess.” Hobie shrugged “I don’t know why that would be. Not like you guys indoctrinated the poor bird into a cult and told her everyone would die if she went to see someone she clearly cares about, convincing her that hurting him was for his own good.”

A tense silence settled over the room as Hobie glared at Peter, who looked down guiltily not even being able to justify it. Finally Pavitr broke the silence, just wanting to get out of the conversation he had started. “Well look at the time!” He said, getting up. “I have to go on a dinner date with Gaytri soon!” Ham tilted his head. “We just… had breakfast.”

Pavitr chuckled awkwardly and began walking away. “I’m going to get a cuppa tea before I go. Would you like one Hobie?” He asked, trying to be nice and adopt Hobie’s British accent. Hobie’s head shot up. “Excuse meh mate?” Pavitr stood still in confusion. “You said cuppa tea.. You bloke! Cuppa means tea! You’re saying a cup of tea tea!” 

Pavitr held up his hands. “Jeez sorry, just trying to be nice.. No need to get so upset over tea..” He turned around and walked out of the cafeteria. Hobie sighed and looked back down. “Don’t you think we oughta check in on em’?” 

Peter nodded “Yeah.. That wouldn’t be the worst idea. Though, I think Gwen would be more welcoming to it than Miles.” “You could just send someone who didn’t stab him in the back! No offense.” Margo replied with a small smile. 

“So you?” Hobie quickly put together. Margo shrugged, crossing her arms. “Why not me? I literally helped him escape. I’m sure he’d be more open to seeing me than anyone here. I could even stay in his world so he doesn’t have to be back here.” Hobie leaned back in his chair. “I helped him escape too. Why not me?” 

“Because..” Margo quickly thought of a reason. “You’re Gwen’s best friend! I’m sure she would like to see you.. Unless Peter wants to go.” Peter raised his hands. “Leave me out of this. I'm done with the drama if I can help it.” 

“I think the title of best friend is already taken luv.” He said with a small chuckle. “But I’ll go nonetheless. Perhaps we should take her on today's mission. Something to get her mind off everythin’.” 

Peter quickly nodded “Perfect! I’ll consult Miguel. Don’t worry though he has softened up… a bit.” He added at the end to the looks of skepticism coming from the others. “I didn’t rejoin to serve the dictator.” Hobie stood up and began fumbling with his watch.

“Then why did you join?” Peter inquired. Hobie shrugged. “Beats me. I’m just here trying to mend their web.” The others looked at him in confusion, though he decided not to elaborate any more. A portal opened as Hobie pulled his mask on and looked back at them, catching the attention of most people in the cafeteria. “Get ready for me to return with my drummer.” He spoke before stepping backwards into the portal with his arms crossed, it immediately closing in front of him.

“Alright I guess that’s my cue to go as well.” Margo shrugged, getting up and opening a portal of her own. “Hey Margo..” Peter also stood up and hesitated. “Maybe just don’t tell him about any of this.. I don’t want to hurt him even more.”

Margo looked back at him with a slight glare. “Your lies are what hurt Miles in the first place.” She turned around and stepped into the pink and purple portal that looked like it was made up of shapes like Tetris before it also closed behind her. 

---------------------------------------

[Earth-1610]

Miles’ eyes slowly opened as he stretched, letting out a yawn. He looked at the time on his phone to see it was 9:28. Usually, his mom would wake him up earlier for school- ‘OH SHIT SCHOOL!’ 

Miles jumped up and rolled onto the wall beside his bed, grabbing his shirt to put on civilian clothes- ‘Oh.. My shirt.. My shirt!’  He thought to himself, quickly remembering the events of last night. The suit that still had the red stains of the man's blood mixed in with his spray paint was gone. Spider-Man was gone but Miles Morales lived on. 

Miles relaxed, falling down from the wall and face first onto his bed, bouncing and landing on his feet. He walked over to the door and cracked it open to see nobody there. Hungry, he walked into the kitchen to see a note from his mother on the counter: ‘Picking up an extra shift. I will be home with dinner at 6. Love you- Mom.’

Miles walked to the fridge and opened it up before picking through everything. Finally, he found a yogurt and decided to just go with that. “How do we not have any breakfast food?” He opened the trashcan and threw the top in, grabbing a spoon and beginning to eat. 

Just as he took his second bite, he heard the doorbell ring. “A man can’t even enjoy his yogurt..” He set it down and walked over to the door, opening it to see Margo Kess standing there- or her avatar at least. Miles’ look of shock quickly turned to a glare as he crossed his arms. “What are you doing here?”

“Heyyy Miles..” She chuckled awkwardly, holding out her fist. “Just swinging by. It’s good to see you.” He hesitantly gave her a fist bump before laying his arms at his sides. “What are you really doing here?”

“Miguel was really sorry about hurting you and sent me to check on you.” Miles gave her a skeptical look. “That.. doesn’t sound right.” Margo let out a soft laugh, playfully hitting him on the arm. “My world must be the only one that has sarcasm.. Mind if I come in?” Miles chuckled a bit too before tensing up in surprise.

“You’re.. Asking to come in? Not just dropping in my room without warning? Going through my stuff?..” Margo tilted her head. “Uhm… Yes? I’m not socially awkward. I understand boundaries. While I may seem just terrible, I actually do have friends… Why?”

Miles gave her a weird looking smile she didn’t understand. “Just.. Nevermind. No reason. Come in I guess. I got nothing better going on.” He walked away from the door and back into the kitchen, beginning to eat his yogurt again. “Your place is nice looking..” She said softly, looking around.

Miles smirked. “You sure you ain’t socially awkward?” Margo began to laugh. “Okay shut up. I’m serious though. It’s… homey. I wish I had a place like this.” Miles tilted his head, swallowing a bite of yogurt. “Do you not have a place like this?” 

Margo shrugged, crossing her arms as she looked down at her feet. “It’s a house but.. I’m not sure if it’s a home.. Or if it ever has been. I guess that’s why I joined the spider-society.” 

Miles threw his yogurt away. “And I guess that’s why I didn’t. Big fucking cult.” Margo rolled her eyes. “You and Hobie have that opinion in common. No wonder Gwen was friends with both of you. You’re definitely alike in some ways.” 

Miles grimaced at the name, the name that hasn’t been said out loud in months. Maybe he didn’t want to admit it to her or himself but he felt guilty over what he had said to her.  Wanting to change the subject before it shifted onto her and his guilt overcame him, he quickly spoke. “Yeah.. How is Hobie?” 

“He’s good I guess. Still fighting the establishment and drinking tea.” Miles smiled, “Some things never change.” She nodded in agreement as she sat down. “So why did you really come?” He sat down across from her. 

“The band was concerned about you and Gwen, and I volunteered to go to your world.. I’m worried too. I know it can be hard to lose your father and best friend on the same day.” Miles shook his head. “She’s not my best friend and never was. If she was, I would have known the truth from the start and my dad would be alive.. I’m fine. But I appreciate the sentiment.” 

Hanging his head low as he felt himself overcome with emotion, he heard a sharp breath from Margo before she sighed. “You don’t look fine.. Wanna go swinging?” He shook his head again. “I can’t.”

“Oh uhm- do you need a minute? Can I get you anything? Tissues? Water?” Miles shook his head more violently this time. “No! I’m not having a fucking breakdown. I.. Literally can’t. I quit.” Margo’s look of confusion turned to one of anger. “You quit!? Why!?”

“I couldn’t save someone else.. First my uncle.. Then my dad.. Then this man.. I can’t handle it anymore, Margo. I can’t. I’m not the hero this city deserves.” Tears came to his eyes. “I quit.”

“But you’re the one it needs! Spider-Man never quits!”

“I’m not Spider-Man! At least according to your society.. According to the canon.” He spoke angrily. Silence passed as she got up, walking past him. Miles thought she was leaving before she walked back with a box of tissues and sat beside him, holding them out.

“Breakdown or not.. You need these.” Miles looked into her eyes, silently saying thank you before taking a tissue and wiping his eyes. “Thanks..” He took another and blew his nose. “Ya’ know.. My life was almost perfect before becoming Spider-Man. I was going to this cool new school, my parents were happy, my uncle was alive, Peter Parker was going to save the day.. But then that damn spider came and bit me. If that wasn’t supposed to happen.. Why did it? Why was my life ruined?”

“I.. wouldn’t say it was ruined. You know through most stories I have seen; Spider-Man always suffers but he almost always gets a happy ending. Everything happens for a reason.. Right?” She smiled softly as Miles let out a soft chuckle. “You win some and lose some.” Margo shrugged. “I guess so.. Well, if you quit being Spider-Man and are sure you don’t want to see me.. I’ll go. I’m glad you’re at least still breathing.” She got up.

“Wait! I.. Appreciate the company. It’s nice to talk to someone whose name isn’t Ganke. If you would like.. We could watch a movie. Like Harry Potter?” Margo snorted. “You like Harry Potter?” Miles looked down shyly. “Shut up.”

“I will watch a movie with you.. But it needs to be less nerdy and more.. Realistic.” Miles smirked, shaking his head. “You are literally talking to me through a virtual reality headset in another dimension.” Margo plopped down next to him. 

“That’s the point of movies.. It’s all about escapism.” Miles sat there deep in thought. “Creed?” Margo hit his shoulder and grabbed the blanket. “I knew you had some sense in you!” Smiling, Miles grabbed the remote and settled in, turning on the movie. 

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[Earth-65]

Gwen laid in her bed in her pink and electric blue pajamas, not daring to leave her room until her father left. She had her computer opened in front of her as the third Harry Potter movie played on the screen. She loved that series and watching the movies was like an escape. She would feel immersed in another world that wasn’t as horrible as her own. It was comforting to do despite how nerdy it seemed. She didn’t care.

However, the immersion came to a screeching halt when Gwen’s Spider-Sense went off and she heard a knock at the window simultaneously. Turning from her computer screen to see Hobie on the fire escape, she began to panic. Holding up her finger, she yelled “One minute!” and shot a web, pulling down the blinds. 

Gwen jumped off her bed and flipped through the air, shooting webs at the clothes that were strewn across the floor and throwing them into the hamper that sat in the corner of her room. She grabbed the soda cans and a single beer can that were laying around the trash can and shoved them all in. 

Finally, she turned, seeing the razor blade she had used last night lying on her nightstand, shooting a web at that and hesitating as she tried to find out where to hide it, quickly deciding on putting it between the mattress and the frame of the bed. She ran to the window and pulled it down. Letting the blinds fly back up to reveal Hobie’s unamused face. “Hey.” She said with a very forced smile, opening the window. “You didn’t tell me you were coming!”

“I know. I like chaos. Speaking of chaos your room does not look nearly as chaotic as the glimpse I got of it a second ago. Doing some spring cleanin?” Gwen shrugged. “Something like that.” Hobie put his hands in his pockets as he looked her over. “Nice jim jams.” He turned and walked around, looking at her room. “This is my first time here, y'know. It looks.. Like you.”

“And what do I look like?” She asked, crossing her arms as she sat behind her drumset. “Hollow.” He replied, looking down at the picture of her and Miles she had forgotten to put away. Gwen quickly stood up and the two both shot webs at it, though Hobie’s got there first. He pulled the picture to himself and looked it over. “Hey!” she shouted, trying to grab it. However, Gwen tripped over her cymbal and fell to the ground as the instrument fell next to her, making a crash. 

She winced seconds before hearing a knock at the door. “Gwen? Everything okay?” Her father’s familiar Irish accent asked. “Yeah.. Just dark in here. Sorry!” She called back as Hobie stayed as still as a statue, still gripping the photo. “Okay.. Maybe open your blinds for once. Get some sunlight in there. I’m sorry about what happened last night. Just know I love you.. More than anything. I’m here to talk whenever you’re ready.”

Silence passed as Gwen looked down at the ground, trying to muster a response, but only a whimper forced its way past her lips as she fought back tears. “Going to work now..” The two finally heard before the door to her apartment opened and shut behind her dad. 

“Get into a scrap?” Hobie asked, holding the picture out. “Yeah. It’s all good now.” She hastily grabbed the picture and stood up. “That’s a load of tosh.” “Shut up.” She replied, putting the picture in her nightstand drawer. “You miss him don’t you..” He said, causing her to close the drawer more violently than intended. “What do you think?” She asked, not turning back to meet his eyes. 

“You know you don’t have to do this alone right?” Gwen chuckled. “I thought that was a part of our curse.” Hobie shook his head, sitting on her bed as he looked at the movie that was still playing. “And I thought this was a gift.” She quickly closed her laptop and picked it up, putting it on her dresser as she looked into the mirror, seeing her mask staring back at her despite not even having it on, as if the other part of her was gone. “I thought it was too.”

“Don’t give up yet Gwendy. The sky always gets at its darkest before sunrise.. Speaking of which, I did come here with something that just may help.” He grabbed his guitar and laid it on her bed before pulling out a bent up and creased file from the inside, handing it to her. “Goin’ on a mission this afternoon. You up for it?”

Gwen opened the file and read through it. “So, we are helping the local spider stop his Alchemax collider from going off?” Hobie nodded. “There is a villain who got transported to his universe. A vulture variant from earth-199999. He wants to use it to go home. He has a team with him he has assembled using the local spider’s villains. His pitch to them was getting him home and taking down the local spider at the same time, which benefits the other five and the company who financed them.”

“And that company is..” Gwen flipped through the file. “Oscorp. Of course. So, we need to stop the collider from going off, defeat the.. Silly six, and get the Vulture back home to the nerd?” Hobie nodded, picking up his guitar and putting it on his back again. “What could go wrong?” She replied with a smile, throwing the file on her bed. “There’s my drummer!!” Hobie shouted happily, giving her a high five. 

Gwen laughed and grabbed her watch. “Gwendy aren’t ya forgettin’ something?” He reminded her, stealing a glance at a cut that was briefly visible beneath her sleeve. She looked down at her pajamas. “Right! I'll change.” She swung open her closet doors and grabbed her suit before leaving the room.

Now alone, Hobie looked around before getting on his knees and looking under her bed. He then looked beneath her pillow before finally getting the idea to feel between the mattress and the frame. Carefully doing so, he felt the blade and pulled it out. Hobie walked to the window and opened it before hesitantly dropping it to the dumpster below. 

“What are you doing?” He heard a voice behind him and turned to see Gwen walking into the room. “Waiting for you. Come on, I'll open up a portal on the roof.” He replied as she approached him, lightly hitting her on the chest. He jumped out the window and began climbing up the fire escape.

Gwen began to follow, climbing through the window and looking back at her room. Something felt different, but she chose to ignore it. ‘Probably just the fact it looks clean.’ She thought to herself. Gwen closed the window behind her and climbed up the wall to follow Hobie to whatever escape she was immersing herself in next.

Chapter Text

Saturday Continued…

[Earth-120703]

An orange glowing small portal appeared in the sky above the New York City of Earth-120703 before two figures fell out. As they plummeted towards the seemingly growing maze of buildings, roads, and cement sidewalks, the duo of Gwen and Hobie spotted a building that stood out amongst all others. The two aimed towards it, rapidly coming into contact. 

Gwen began sliding down the side of the OSCORP building, shooting a web above her to stop her fall while Hobie fell past her on a single knee, stopping a few feet below her as he played a single riff on his guitar, coming to a halt. Gwen scoffed, shaking her head with a smile she couldn’t help as Hobie turned around. “What?” She continued shaking her head. “Sometimes I think you try to be cool.” He smirked, “It’s really not that hard.” 

“Okay then hotshot. Let’s find the local Spider.” Gwen replied, standing symmetrically on the side of the roof before her feet let go, letting her continue her fall only to shoot a web and begin swinging, Hobie behind her. “We agreed on meeting at the Williamsburg!” Hobie shouted through the wind. The mention of the very building where she and Miles had almost confessed their love for each other and later cut ties threw her off. 

Gwen’s web got caught on a light pole, causing her to let go and fall momentarily before she felt a web to her chest and looked up to see Hobie continuing to swing. “You good?” He shouted down. She could only nod as she held onto the web, feeling it as she remembered how Miles had broken her web in a similar fashion as he had been falling at the Society HQ.

Gwen took a sharp breath before breaking the web and continuing to fall, shooting one of her own and quickly catching up with Hobie. “What was that all about!?” He asked bewildered. She usually didn’t hear his voice sound so worried. “It was nothing.” She blankly stated before speeding up and swinging ahead of him. 

Once the two got to the Williamsburg, Gwen landed on the ledge and looked down at her watch, keeping her mask on as she crossed her arms, waiting for the local spider to arrive. After a minute, two webs were shot on either side of her against the brick wall that stood behind her.

The Amazing Spider-Man pulled, using the webs to sling himself over the ledge and land directly in front of Gwen. He held out his hand. “I’m Spider-Peter- Sorry. Peter-Man. Shit. Spider-Man who is also Peter..” He said, chuckling awkwardly and pulling off his mask, holding out his hand. 

Gwen reached out and shook his hand, looking back at Hobie with her mask lenses half closed with a ‘seriously?’ look. She turned her head to look at the Peter that stood in front of her. He wasn’t old, but also not young. He seemed to live in some mid-life purgatory that even she didn’t know how he could escape. “That’s Hobie.” She nodded behind her to Spider-Punk, who waved. “And I’m Spider-Woman.. Who is also Gwen Stacy.” 

She witnessed his entire body become rigid as he kept shaking her hand- to a point where it even got uncomfortable. “Gwen...” Was all that left his mouth as he kept the handshake going. Gwen gave him a look of sympathy, forcefully pulling her hand back. “Hi Peter..” She pulled her mask off, not because she wanted to but because he needed her to.

“You..” He choked up, looking down. “You’re here.” He said as if he was trying to convince himself of the reality. Gwen could see the heartbreak in his eyes, the body shaking with grief, the lip quietly quivering with guilt. She looked back at where Hobie stood only to find him gone, most likely walking away to give the two privacies. “Yeah.. I’m here. I’m okay..” 

“And you’re.. Younger.” He spoke, a chuckle coming from them both as he suppressed a sob. Gwen continued to softly smile, nodding yet again. “Listen I know you aren’t her, but I just wanted to say.. I’m sorry.. I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. When I lost you that night, a piece of myself died with you. It’s been so hard.. I’ve thought about everything I could have done differently. I keep reliving the past time and time again trying to figure out how I messed up. But that’s not going to bring you back, is it?”

Gwen’s eyes teared up now as she looked down, shaking her head. “I could say the same..” She walked up to Peter, placing her hand on his cheek as she looked up at him, wiping the tears from his eyes. “You are good enough.. You’re Peter Parker!  If she was there.. She was there for a reason, Peter. You honor her memory. You honor what she believed in. And you don’t ever quit. Show the world the gift you’ve got. Show everyone the Amazing Spider-Man she knew you were.”

Peter smiled despite tears brimming his eyes. “Thanks, Gwen… No matter the universe you are somehow always smarter than me.” He managed out before the two chuckled. “I can’t help it.” Gwen said with a small smirk. She took her hand off his cheek and opened her arms, wrapping them around him as she hugged Peter. “At least we have the comfort of knowing that in some other universe.. We’re okay.” Gwen couldn’t help but smile. “That’s a nice way of looking at it.. Speaking of other universes, I think we have a job to do.” She said, pulling away. 

“Alright, Alchemax is on the outskirts. Big white colored facility full of windows. You’ll see it. Let’s all meet on the roof, yeah?” Gwen nodded, crossing her arms as she began to walk away. “Thanks for.. That.” He lowly spoke. Turning back, she looked at him. “Anytime Spidey.” Gwen walked sideways across the building only to see Hobie standing there with a smirk, leaning against the wall. “I thought it was a curse, not a gift.” 

Gwen webbed his mouth shut much to his surprise. “Shut up.” She crossed her arms as she looked down at the skyline before spotting the facility, jumping off the side of the building. Hobie had to tear the web off his face before he could follow. 

Once the three arrived on the flat industrial-like roof of the facility, Hobie sent a message on her watch as Gwen stood over the edge, looking down at the street below. “Are you sure they’re coming?” Peter asked as he stood beside her. “Oh they’re coming. Toomes wants to go home. When you want to get to someone you care about more than anything, nothing is getting in your way.” Peter smiled a bit as he looked down at her. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.” The slight smile on Gwen’s face disappeared as she turned around just in time to see a portal open. “I am.”

The first one out of the portal was Peter B. Parker, followed by Noir, Ham, and Peni. She tilted her head. “Where’s Pavitr and Margo?” She asked, turning to Hobie. “Pavitr is on a breakfast or dinner date- I don’t know at this point. Margo.. I’ll tell you later.” He replied hesitantly, not wanting to upset her before the mission even began.

Peter brushed his new suit off, walking towards Gwen with open arms. “Hey kid.” A rare smile filled Gwen’s face as she practically ran into his arms, resting her head into her chest. “Hey Peter.. It’s really good to see you again.” Ham walked up to Gwen as she pulled away, holding out his hand covered in brown stuff. “I just found a patch of mud. That’s what that is.” Gwen hesitated before her hand formed into a fist. “How about a fistbump?”

The two fistbumped before she turned to Peni and Noir, wiping her hand on Peter’s back as she passed by cringing. “Hey guys!” she replied, half hugging Noir and giving Peni’s robot a high five. “Hi Gwen!” Peni replied happily. “You doing okay kiddo?” Noir asked softly. “Yeah, why?”

Before he could answer, every alarm bell in their heads went off as they heard an explosion coming from the building underneath them. “Okay let’s make this quick!” Peter yelled as the group quickly gathered in a circle. A hologram came out of Peter’s watch. “Alright-” He turned to look at the Amazing Spider-Man who was also in the huddle. “Um.. Who are you?”

“Oh!” Gwen held her hand in his direction as he rolled his eyes, pulling his mask off. “This is Peter- another Peter. He’s the local Spider from this earth.” Peter B. held out his hand. “Hey good looking, I’m Peter B. Parker.” The Amazing Spider-Man quickly shook his hand. “Likewise- just without the B.” The group stood there as he awkwardly smiled before Peter B. would clear his throat.

“Alright. These are the six villains we must capture.” He said, pointing to the orange hologram that showed the photos of the villains. He enlarged the first photo. “Adrian Toomes from Earth-199999. He got mistakenly sent here through a hole in the fabric of space time as many other villains have in the past. He’s not here by his own accord and he wants to get back home. Now we can’t just send him home because he rightfully thinks Spider-Man has something to do with this. So any attempts to help him will probably not end well. We need to defeat him and take him back to HQ.”

The second photo appeared. “Alright Local Spidey. Here’s where you can help. Who is this?” The Amazing Spider-Man stepped up into the circle. “Alright- That would be Max Dillion… Electro. I guess he is still alive.. The name is kinda self-explanatory. Electricity powers.” 

Peter B. swiped to the next photo. “And this?” Peter-3 rolled his eyes. “Aleksi Sytsevich. The Rhino. One of my most destructive, yet stupidest villains. Just outsmart him if you want to win a fight- which should not be that hard.” Peter B, swiped again.

“That is.. Wow. They really went all out for this. Doctor Curt Connors.. The Lizard.” Gwen immediately tensed up, Hobie and Peter B. noticeably looking at her. “Wait what?” she asked, taking a step closer as she looked the face of the Lizard over. “He.. doesn’t want this does he? He wanted to do good, right?” Peter-3 frowned as he nodded. “He did.. He does.. He just- lost his way. We can help bring him back though.” Gwen nodded quickly before taking a step back. “Just be careful..” She hugged her arms to her chest as she looked down, Noir giving her a pat on the back. 

“Alright next up is this guy.” Peter B. said, pressing on another photo of a man. “Okay I don’t know who the hell that even is.” Peter-3 said, raising his hands. Peter B. studied the description. “Doctor Michael Morbius. A Nobel prize winning biochemist who turned into a… living vampire. How does this job get even more ridiculous?” He sighed before tapping on the last one. “You know him?”

All eyes on Peter-3 witnessed his mouth open before nothing came out. He stared at the picture as his fist tightened, a look of discontent evident on his face. He looked down painfully before sighing. “Harry Osborn. The Green Goblin.” He put his mask on. “That should tell you everything you need to know.” 

Peter B. slowly nodded, the hologram above his wrist dissipating. “Alrighty then.. Not angsty at all.. Let’s do this. I’m not as big of a fan of structure and rules like Miguel Muchacho so let's just go ahead and pick a villain and have some fun!” 

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Minutes earlier, the Rhino had sprinted full speed ahead through the front gates, past security, and into the front doors of Alchemax, causing every security alarm to start going off as the hallways flashed red. He let out a war cry before ramming into scientists and security guards who tried shooting at him. “This is much fun!” He said, full of laughter as the hallway finally became silent. “We aren’t here to have fun. We have a job to do.” The voice of the Vulture said behind him as he landed in front of the building, detaching from his wings and walking through the hole Rhino had made. 

“Jobs. Plural.” Morbius said as he walked in behind him, followed by Electro and the Lizard. “Jobs.” Toomes said with a sigh. “Dillion and I will work on getting the collider functional. Osborn is waiting for my signal. You three.” He pointed to the three other native villains of this dimension. “You do what you do best.” “And what’s that?” Morbius asked, tilting his head. “Fuck things up.” Vulture said before turning and walking down the hall.

As they turned the corner of the red flashing hallway, Electro and Toomes were met with at least ten guns pointed at their faces. “Dillion.” Toomes said in a unamused tone. “Yep.” The other replied before turning to pure electricity, moving through each electric gun and rendering them useless before appearing behind the security people, electrocuting them, and sending them to the floor crying in agony. 

“You have to make them suffer, don’t you?” Toomes said slightly in disgust, walking past him as Dillion turned into electricity again, zapping next to him and continuing to walk. “What’s the fun in this if I don’t?” The Vulture shook his head. “I’m not doing this for fun, I'm doing this so I can go home.”

The villainous duo reached the eerily empty Collider room, Electro blasting the locked glass door to pieces. “That’s one way to unlock a door..” Toomes commented, stepping through the broken glass before coming up to the control panel as he overlooked the vast blinding white room in front of him. “Osborn’s blueprints can’t do the size of this thing justice… Access the mainframe. Let’s get this thing going.”

In the meanwhile, Rhino, Morbius, and the Lizard all stood silent as they waited for the Spiders. “This is boring.” Rhino stated. “Shut up.” the Lizard hissed as he listened closely. “They are close.” Morbius nodded. “I hear them too. Get ready.” 

The Rhino kneeled, aiming his guns at the gaping hole in the wall in front of them before they watched a cartoon-like bomb be dropped from above. “What the ебать?..”  The bomb went off, [BOOM!] releasing smoke everywhere. “I can’t see!!” Alexi screamed, beginning to fire blindly into the smoke that surrounded them. “STOP!” Morbius yelled, not being able to see anyone's heat signature in the smoke. 

Suddenly, before Morbius could say anything, The Rhino’s helmet met the foot of the Amazing Spider-Man. “Hey Alexi! Nice upgrade!” He said, landing on his chest and peering down at him. “The only upgrade I will have to boast about today will be killing you!” Peter tilted his head. “We gotta work on your English.” The other Spider’s began to swing in behind Peter. “This was not a part of the plan!” Lizard said, getting ready to fight. “You don’t have to tell me!” Mobius replied, putting his finger to his ear, and talking into his earpiece. “He’s needed. Now.” 

As all the Spider’s began to fight the three, the Amazing Spider-Man crawled around Alexi, wrapping his armor up in a cocoon before he broke free. “Aw come on, that worked last time!” He said before being thrown across the room. Rhino began firing rounds of bullets as Peter leapt out of the way.

Morbius moved through what seemed like to him slow motion bullets before grabbing Gwen by the chest and pinning her to the wall as he got ready to bite, to which she would kick him back only for him to be webbed and punched by Hobie. 

Peni’s Sp//der grabbed Rhino’s mechanical arms before shoving him back through the wall into a warehouse area, stepping through to take care of business. In the meanwhile, Morbius was having his fair share of trouble having to deal with Peter B, Ham, and Noir at once, getting kicked around.

Gwen, Peter, and Hobie looked around for the Lizard as he crawled on the ceiling above them. Suddenly, their senses went off as Lizard swung from the ceiling and into Gwen knocking her down the hall. With a roar, he galloped after her only to be stopped from behind by two webs to his tail. One from Hobie and one from Peter, pulling him back. His tail swung them both to the side and into the wall before he began charging at Gwen again.

Backing up, Gwen raised her arms up not wanting to hurt him. “Hey, calm down buddy I really don’t want to fight you.” Nevertheless, the Lizard kept charging. “Okay I may have to fight you. This is going to hurt.” She commentated before she was grabbed by a set of claws and thrown to the right through a wall.

The Sp//der fought the Rhino, avoiding his charge and stepping to the side, pushing a large row of shelves on top of him. He cried as he was shoved down onto the ground by seemingly endless boxes and metal poles before falling to his side under the rubble. Suddenly, the pile erupted as Rhino stood up, holding two metal poles Daredevil style. He charged at Peni, leaping in the air to impale the Sp//der, but it rolled out of the way, shooting a web at the poles and swinging him into the wall. 

The suit began sparking as the Rhino was slow to get back up. However, the Sp//der backed up, ready for more. Rhino began to charge her again, but Peni had an idea. She grabbed the metal poles off the ground and threw them both in Rhino’s direction, momentarily stopping the charge before she leapt into the air herself, bringing her robotic fists down on the back of his helmet, knocking him to the ground as the suit shut down. “Try to get up from that again.” She said dismissively. 

Gwen landed on the ground with a thud, groaning as she looked at the lab around her. There was a freezer door in the back of the room, the rest of the room having cabinets that littered the walls along with countertops that housed vials keeping all kinds of… moving goo? However, those vials were soon shattered as the Lizard ran in, lunging at her only for his chest to meet her foot as she kicked him to the side, right onto the table and into the vials as they shattered. “This is one weird ass lab.” She said, standing up and approaching the lizard only for his tail to smack her back into a cabinet, which began to fall on top of her until a web pulled her out of the way. 

Peter swung in and punched Lizard in the jaw. “Hey doc!” Gwen jumped up. “Hey, be careful!” Peter leapt onto the Lizard, trying to stay on his back with his arms webbed, holding them back. “You’re being too careful!” The Lizard hissed, purposefully walking back into the wall, sandwiching Peter between it and him. “Hello, Peter. You can’t get rid of me so easily.”

“Let’s test that hypothesis!” Peter said, webbing a fire extinguisher and pulling it into the Lizard’s head, making him fall forward and grip his head with a screech. Gwen ran over and kneeled next to him. “Doctor Connors, are you okay?..” Peter facepalmed seconds before the Lizard would grab Gwen, pinning her to the ground and getting on top of her. “I’m not Connors. I’m better!”

“Okay, playtime’s over.” Peter sighed, opening the freezer door. “Gwen! Kick him back!” Gwen looked over the Lizard’s shoulder and pieced together Peter’s plan, shooting two webs on either side of the door and pulling as she used all of her might to kick back the Lizard into the freezer, kicking off him and through the air before landing in a pose in front of the freezer as Peter slammed the door shut behind him and locked it. 

“Will he be okay?” She asked as she got up, the two of them watching the Lizard pound against the door before falling onto the floor out of sight of the window. “He’ll be fine. Reptiles don’t like cold temperatures.” He replied as he watched. “I’m checking on him.” She said, only for Peter to grab her arm. “That’s not a good idea. It’s too soon.” However, Gwen pulled her arm away forcefully as her mask lenses narrowed as she looked back at him. “Nobody else is dying because of me.. Not again.” 

Peter went silent and obliged as Gwen opened the freezer to find an unconscious and naked Doctor Curt Connors. She immediately dragged him out before kneeling down and feeling his pulse. “He’s alive..” She said with a breath of relief as she looked down at him. As she did, unknown to her a black goo from one of the vials from earlier crawled its way towards her and latched onto her leg before dissipating. Feeling something, she looked down to see nothing there and stood up, turning to Peter who was looking in the fridge. Other goos including a red and gray one were frozen and not moving. “The hell are these?” He asked curiously as he grabbed the red vial and held it in his hand. 

“Whatever they are, they're dead.” She stated before turning her back to him and walking out through the lizard-made opening in the wall. “Huh..” Peter said. Deciding to take the vial with him, he put it on the counter to come back and get before he shut the freezer shut.

Walking out, Gwen and Peter turned to see the others including Hobie finally wrapping up Morbius in webs. “I didn’t think defeating a vampire would be such a hard task.. I was wrong.” Peter B. said, out of breath. “Did you two get Connors?” Gwen and Peter would nod before Peni stepped through the wall. “Rhino’s taken care of.” Noir stepped away from Morbius. “Then that leaves us the other three.” They felt the ground rumble beneath them as the collider finally turned on. “Let’s get to the collider room.” Peter-3 spoke.

---------------------------------------

As the collider turned on, Electro appeared out of the console as Toomes smiled at him for once. “Great job Dillion!” He said laughing happily, giving him a pat on the shoulder only to quickly pull his hand away as he got slightly shocked. Dillion opened his mouth to speak but paused as he stared at the door. “They’re coming. I can feel a bunch of energy.. I like it.” Toomes looked at him weirdly. “Okay that’s great but can you hold them off until Osborn gets here to crash the party?” He simply nodded as Toomes ran to the console and began to find his home universe based on his DNA. 

Peni’s Sp//der burst the doors open as Gwen led the team through and the Sp//der leaned under the doorway behind them. “Toomes! Shut it down!” She yelled. The Vulture sighed as he pressed a button on his wrist before turning around and looking at her. “I take it the three idiots are incapacitated?” Electro stood to the side, waiting for his word to attack. “Just taking a little nap.” She said, taking a step towards him. “We need to shut this down. This could destroy multiple worlds.” 

Toomes smirked, looking at Electro before back at her. “We have seen the numbers. The science. It checks out. Stories we have read as kids of other mystical lands.. Somewhere out in those vast endless realities they are real. But out of all of those I only have one world in mind.” He said as a box rose towards the collider behind him. “Mine.” The pinks and blues of the collider quickly turned into an assortment of bright colors as it illuminated the room they stood in. 

“The math is wrong!” Peter B. yelled. “I don’t care! Either way I’m going home!” The Vulture yelled back angrily. “You won’t have a home to go back to!” Gwen shouted, taking another step towards them. “I don’t believe you.. Spider-Man is the reason I’m here and he won’t be the reason I don’t get back.” Suddenly, a voice screamed at every Spider-Person. “DUCK!”

Everyone threw themselves to the ground including Peni as the walls were sliced open behind them, the Vulture’s wingsuit flying mere inches above their heads and behind Toomes as it attached to him. “Sorry guys.. I’m going home.” He said sincerely, slowly lifting off the ground as he put on his helmet. “And I’m going to kill you!” Electro shouted, disappearing.

Suddenly, Peni’s suit stood up and looked down at the Spiders. “Uhm guys.. That isn’t me!” She shouted worriedly. An arm raised, turning into a cannon as it aimed at the group. “This is going to be fun.” A metallic voice spoke out of the suit. “That’s definitely not her!” Ham shouted before they all jumped out of the way as it shot a blast where they stood. “Alright Spider-Band!” Gwen shouted, snapping back into old form even if it was for just a moment.

“We need to overcharge the suit..” She looked down with a sigh. “I wish Miles was here.” She whispered as her hand tightened into a fist. “Hobie..” She spoke, looking up. “Play whatever song you like. Aim your electricity to the robot.” She looked at the others before they all jumped out of the way, avoiding another blast. “I feel tired..” She mumbled before shaking her head, her hood momentarily falling before she pulled it back up. “Web that thing down and keep it down.” She and Peter B. broke left, shooting two webs while Ham, Noir, and Peter-3 did the same on the right. 

Hobie took his guitar off his back and paused. “Sorry, I gotta think of a song luv.” “Damnit Hobie!” Gwen shouted before she and Peter B got pulled off the ground and swung around until they had no choice but to let go. 

The bot used its free hand to swat the other three like bugs again and again as they kept holding on nonetheless. “Any day now Hobie!!” Peter B. shouted, leaping at the top of the Sp//der and trying to pull the top hatch off only to be electrocuted as he fell off to stay conscious.

“You can’t rush the process mate!” He said, standing there as he stared at his shoes, nodding his head, and closing his eyes before beginning to play.

[Spiderman by Ramones (instrumental) begins playing]

“Hey! This is like my ringtone!” Peter-3 shouted as electricity shot from the guitar and into the Sp//der who began to run towards Hobie. Just in the nick of time, Gwen jumped up and grabbed an arm, momentarily pulling it back before letting go at the excess of electricity. The other Spiders shot their webs and planted their feet into the ground, holding onto the webs using all of their strength. 

Finally, as Hobie finished the song, the suit went offline, and Electro materialized out of it. ‘EARTH-199999 FOUND’ The Collider announced. Vulture shot a blast at the glass separating them from the Collider using the only gun he had before beginning to fly towards it. 

“NO!” Gwen screamed, running towards the edge, and shooting a web to pull him away. She felt another web hit her back and looked back to see Noir, Peter B, and Hobie holding on to her with their own webs in a line. “This feels familiar.” Hobie muttered before the Vulture turned back towards them. “I’m sorry it had to go this way, Spider-Men.” His wing came up and clipped the web before the others fell back and he began to float towards the growing black orb. 

Suddenly without thinking, completely full of rage, frustration, and desperation, a black tendril came out of Gwen’s hand and grabbed the Vulture, pulling him back with her and the three other Spiders as they all fell back into the control room. “What the fuck was that!?” Peter-3 shouted in confusion. “I don’t know but it just might’ve saved the day!” Ham shouted back happily. “Okay new plan.” She pointed to Peter-3 and Peter B. “Shut down the collider!” She pointed to the others. “Take care of Electro!” She didn’t even have time to process what had just taken place.

Speaking of which, Gwen got blasted across the room by electricity which made her scream out in pain- more than usual. She got up angrily and looked to see Electro advancing towards her. “You know, the way I imagined I would first get electricuted was in a very different manner! With Miles..” “TMI Gwen!” Peter B. shouted as he and his counterpart began working on the control panel.

Seeing the Vulture advance towards Peter B and 3, she leapt over Electro and tackled Vulture through the air, looking back to see Hobie, Noir, Ham, and a rebooted Sp//der taking on Electro. Gwen and Toomes cried out as they spun into the Collider room before scraping against the ceiling. Gwen and Toomes both slid across the ceiling, upside down. He grabbed a hexagon tile and threw it at her to which she would let go, swing towards him, and dodge, before kicking him in the face. As they fell towards the collider, she continued to shoot webs at his wings so they would not work. 

Before she could finish, one of his wings hit her back and knocked her off. She shot a web to his foot and swung back on, pulling back on both of his wings as they began to fall again. “Are you trying to kill us!?” He yelled angrily. “Better than you killing trillions!” She shouted, webbing his wings so much they became useless before leaping into action.

Gwen shot a web at the ceiling and swung the both of them across the giant room and back into the control room before they both landed on the floor with a thud. The Vulture tried to use his wings to no avail as they began to overheat due to the webbing. Gwen quickly pulled him away from the wings despite his protests.

Turning her head she saw Electro webbed up and now returned to his normal form, completely from his own exhaustion. Just as she looked over to the Peter’s, she heard the words ‘Collider Deactivated’ boom across the room. “You did it!” She shouted with a smile she couldn’t help. “No kid, we did!” Peter said, turning to the room full of Spider-People. As everything was pulled towards the Collider including Toomes’ wingsuit, it hit the collection of materials gathering in the middle and immediately blowing up, sending a huge blast into the control room and knocking everyone to their feet. 

“Everyone okay!?” Gwen asked as she got up only to be responded by collective nods. “Let’s get Toomes out of here before Green Goblin arrives.” Peter-3 spoke quickly. “You’re right we need to get him to HQ.” Peter B. agreed. “You should come, Gwen. It’s nice to watch your trophy be put into its case.” Peni spoke. Gwen scoffed, shaking her head. “That would mean seeing Miguel. I’m good.” Peter shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He said as the portal opened up, turning back to her as he gripped Toomes’ arm with his hand. “Thank you, Gwen, and Peter. Couldn’t have done it without you… Or Gwen’s new move. Whatever that was, Ham was right. It saved the day. You’re a hero, Gwen.” 

Gwen smiled to herself as he began to walk towards the portal and paused, looking back at her. “I’m always here if you need to talk.” He went into the portal, followed by the others as they said their goodbyes. “And then there were two..” Peter said with a small smile, making Gwen smirk. “You know, when you first called yourself Peter-Man I wondered what on earth I was getting into, but you aren’t so bad, old man.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m not old yet. I’ve met an old Spider-Man and honestly that doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.. Lots of back issues though.”

Gwen giggled as she looked down at her watch, opening a portal to Earth-65. “I’m sure.. Well, thanks for having me. I better get home. I feel pretty tired for some reas-” Both of their senses went off, turning towards the doorway to see a pumpkin bomb flying towards them. Peter tackled Gwen to the ground as the bomb as it exploded over their heads. Chills went down Peter’s spine as he heard a familiar cackle as the Green Goblin flew in on his glider. “Didn’t forget about me, did you?” 

Peter’s fist frightened as he and Gwen both stood up. “I never could.” Was all he spoke. “Hey buddy you missed the fight!” Gwen shouted at him as if he was an idiot. “You think that was accidental? I didn’t care if the pigeon got home! I care about evening the score. Now that you’re battle hardened, you’re more ripe for the picking!” He flew around Peter and Gwen like a shark circling its prey in the ocean. “Did Peter here tell you what I did?” He asked with a maniacal smile. “Uhm.. No?” She said awkwardly. He jumped off his glider in front of them, running a hand through his hair.

“Well pretty girl, during our fight in the Williamsburg bank building, we fell into a clocktower..” Peter’s fist tightened more. “And poor Ms. Stacy was there, oh the look in her eyes as she fell!” He cackled again, taking a step towards them. Gwen’s fist tightened this time. She knew exactly what was next now. 

“And she fell and fell, and Peter here tried his very best to save her.. But he didn’t. Spider-Man can’t save everyone.” He pointed at Peter, continuing the laugh. “She..” He died of laughter, doubling over before regaining somewhat of his composure. “She died because of you! She was there because of you! I may have dropped her.. But you’re the one who killed her!” 

Without a second passing by, Peter violently jumped at the Goblin, hitting him in the face before landing on his feet and punching him in the chest, knocking him back onto the ground. “Mmm hit me all you want but no matter how hard you hit she isn’t coming back!” These words only caused Peter to hit harder and harder as the Goblin stood there, taking it and falling over before getting back up for the next blow, smiling the entire time. “PETER!” Gwen’s voice yelled, trying to get him to calm down. 

He whipped his head around, momentarily distracted from his rage by the familiar voice before Goblin took the opportunity, punching him in the gut and sending Peter flying back. He pressed a button on his wrist and his glider came barreling at Gwen, only for her to drop to the ground as it flew over her. It went over to Harry, who jumped onto it before beginning to glide towards her with its blades now out. 

Forced to run backwards, she kept going until turning around and jumping into the vast collider room that was on the verge of collapse as the glider flew just over her head. As she fell, she looked up to see Peter shoot a web onto Harry and pull himself towards him, landing on his glider and exchanging blows.

Peter grabbed his head with one hand and began punching it nonstop with the other as tears formed under the mask. The Goblin kicked his ‘package’ before he began to fall off, grabbing him by the neck and choking him. “Why don’t I drop you and we can see how she felt falling to her death?” He asked with a grin before letting go. Seeing this, Gwen quickly swung towards him and dived down, grabbing his hand and shooting a web at the glider, getting pulled around.

“Thanks.” He breathed, looking up. “You can thank me by calming the fuck down.” She said, looking up as well just in time to see a pumpkin bomb falling straight towards them. She let go as it exploded where they just had been, the two of them falling a short distance to the ground. She let out a cry of pain as they both hit the ground, slowly standing up for Peter’s sake as the Goblin landed right in front of them, getting off his Glider. 

“And just who are you?” He asked, waving a pumpkin bomb in her direction. “My name is Gwen Stacy and I’m going to kick your ass.” She said, her lenses narrowing as her fist tightened. “Huh..” He looked at Peter who was just starting to get up before his face filled with a smile. “I suppose they do say history repeats itself.” He threw a pumpkin bomb at her before she shot a web, pulling it and throwing it back. “And a wise man once told me he was going to do his own thing!” The bomb exploded in Goblin’s face, sending him flying back. 

Ignoring the blood pouring down his cheek, he got up with the same smile as before. “You’ve got some fire in you..” He slowly approached her before a blade came out of his wrist. “I like that.” He swung his arm in her direction as she dodged his attempts to stab her. Peter ran in from the side and shoved him to the ground, stepping on him only for the Goblin to stab his leg. 

Peter gripped it, crying out in pain as he fell back, the blade still in his leg. The Goblin, still on the ground grinned at Peter before looking to Gwen and back to him, taking a pumpkin bomb out of his belt and began laughing. “Not good enough to save Gwen.. Not good enough to save yourself.” He activated the bomb and tossed it towards Peter who was struggling to get up from the ground. 

It all happened in slow motion. Gwen watched as Peter was struggling to get up. He wasn’t going to make it in time. As the bomb gracefully rode the air towards him, Gwen thought back to her Peter dying, then Miles rejecting her. She could finally do something right. Without another thought, she shot a web at the bomb, pulled it towards herself, and wrapped herself around it as it went off. 

Peter watched in horror as the bomb exploded inside the ball around it that was Gwen, sending her flying back across the room. “NO!!” He screamed in anguish, getting up and limping towards her. He kneeled down next to her and immediately checked her pulse.

She still had a pulse… How did she have a pulse? That explosion would have killed anyone, even Spider-Man. There wasn’t even a hint of blood or scarring on her. Gwen’s mask was still untouched- in fact her entire suit was still untouched. “What the hell..” he whispered, feeling her prevalent, yet faint heartbeat. There was no question in his mind she was unconscious, but alive.

Harry got up behind him, smiling with glee. “Maybe they are right. History does repeat itself.” Peter’s lenses narrowed, pulling his mask off as he turned to face him, his eyes bloody and full of tears. “What did I do to deserve this?..”

“You.. You…” Harry laughed before his face instantly turned to one of rage. “WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?” He screamed, his hand motioning at his face. “I had to turn myself into a monster to just- survive! Because you couldn’t help! I thought Spider-Man helped! I thought friends helped!” He shook his head, looking down before smiling back up at him. “You took something away from me.” He said, his hand motioning to himself before motioning to Gwen, who was still unconscious on the ground now taking laboring breaths. “And I took everything away from you.”

“Spider-Man does help.. Just not selfish people like you..” He said, looking down as he dropped his mask. “You are right about one thing… You took everything away from me and now because of that.. I have nothing else to lose.” Harry’s eyes widened as his face- even for a moment, showed genuine fear. Peter shot a web at him before pulling Harry violently towards him, punching him square in the jaw and continuing to punch him in the face. Even when he fell down, he pulled him back up and kept punching him, taking a turn with each hand before kicking him across the floor. Harry desperately pressed the button on his wrist, his glider coming towards Peter only for him to grab it and break it in half, throwing each side to the ground. He picked up one side that still had the blade out and dragged it towards Harry. “Wait.. Wait! You’ve taken so much already! Please!”

“What do you mean? I’m evening the score, right?” Peter spat, picking up the blade. Harry looked away, accepting his fate. Maybe his misery could finally end. Peter held the part of the glider in his hand as he thought about what Spider-Woman had said earlier. “If she was there.. She was there for a reason, Peter. You honor her memory. You honor what she believed in. And you don’t ever quit. Show the world the gift you’ve got. Show everyone the Amazing Spider-Man she knew you were.”

Peter looked down at the ground as he came to his senses. He began crying as he dropped the blade. “This isn’t what she would have wanted.. I’m the Amazing Spider-Man.. You don’t get to take that away from me. Nobody can. You tried before and you tried again. You’ve failed... I'm sorry Harry, I forgive you.” He turned around and began limping away with the blade still in his leg as Harry began laughing. The only sound he heard was that horrifying laughter that filled his ears as he stumbled towards Gwen, falling down next to her. His eyes immediately went to her watch, which stated [INTERNAL BLEEDING DETECTED].

Peter sighed, undoing her watch and watching her suddenly glitch as he put it on his own wrist and contacted the Spider-Society. “I guess you are going to the HQ after all.. Sorry, Gwen. I don’t know how you’re alive, but we need to keep you that way.”

Chapter Text

[Earth-928]

As Gwen opened her eyes, everything seemed fuzzy and muffled as she groaned, looking around. All she could make out was that she was in some kind of infirmary. Turning her head left, she saw a Spider-Woman nurse knelt over some other Spider-Man who she didn’t even recognize laying in the other bed by her. Suddenly- it clicked. Spider-People. She was in the Spider-Society. The realization felt as if all her senses had been turned up to 11. She had to get out of there. Gwen sat up and began to get up from her bed when she felt something pull her back. Her vision immediately centered on a pair of reinforced handcuffs holding her right hand to the bed. “What the hell!?” She shouted angrily.

“Criminal if ya ask me.” She looked up past her handcuff to see Hobie sitting there, not even looking at her as he stared straight ahead with a look in his eyes that showed a hint of annoyance, but also fierce anger. Whatever had happened- he didn’t like it. She didn’t usually see him so stoic. 

“What happened?” She asked, being barely able to remember the events of the morning. “You were attacked by the Green Goblin and then Peter-Man called for backup just in the knick of time. You barely lived Gwendy..” Gwen turned her head away as darkness from the blinds across the room settled over her face. “Wouldn’t have been the worst thing if I went.” 

“That’s not true.. I guess that’s why you have the cuffs.” He replied, shaking his head. Gwen’s head whipped in his direction. “You did this!?” She demanded. “No, I did.” She heard a familiar feminine voice. Looking past Hobie now, she watched the doors slide open before nonother than her old mentor, Jessica Drew walked in. Her belly bump was now gone, replaced by toned muscle that was quickly regained. Her walk now lacked its confident and quiet stride, being replaced by clumsy and nervous half steps. “It’s really good to see you, Gwen. I just wish the circumstances were better...” Gwen stared at the mentor who had essentially hammered a cult ideology into her head for months. The closest thing to a mother figure she’s had in years. She should have felt a familiar warmth, but she felt… Nothing.

She felt nothing.

“I.. can’t say the same.” Gwen said passive aggressively, leaning back against her bedframe as she groaned, closing her eyes. Jessica and Hobie shared a look before he nodded, standing up and looking around the depressing room before heading out the doors. “If it amounts to anything.. I’m sorry.” The older woman said, sitting down next to her bed. Gwen turned her head, looking her over. “It doesn’t.. You aren’t pregnant anymore.” Jessica smiled softly, trying to diffuse the tension. “Yeah.. It’s a girl. Seeing her for the first time, I’ve never been so proud in my life. That pregnancy was more fulfilling than defeating any villain.”

“I hope she turns out to be a better person than her mom.” Gwen replied, turning her head away again as she glared at the window. Jessica sighed, getting up. “She probably will..” Gwen smirked. “Not really that hard. When do you plan on indoctrinating her into the Spider-Cult? When are you going to tell her that her life is predestined to be miserable? When will you explain that to be a Spider-Woman, you need to watch the life drain out of people's eyes and push away everyone you care about for their safety? When will you tell her that someone she loves will probably end up pushing her away for the shit that she did to him even though it was with the best intentions?” 

“STOP!” She now shouted, taking a step back. “What the hell is wrong with you?..” Gwen glared back at her with twice the amount of fire in her eyes. “With me!? You’re the fucking killer!” “Oh, and you aren’t?” Jess shouted back. The tension that had been quickly rising was popped with a needle. The room went dead silent as the fire in Gwen’s eyes dissipated. She turned her head away and rested it against her pillow as a single tear fell down her cheek.

“Gwen I- Didn’t mean that.” Jessica said, taking a deep breath to cool herself down as guilt overcame her. “That was a shitty thing to say. I’m sorry. My emotions got the best of me. My doctor said that could happen after pregnancy-”

“If you’re sorry, then go.” Gwen cut in, looking down at the cuff that kept her held to the bed. Jessica hesitated, mounted to her spot as Gwen turned back to her. “If you’re sorry, leave and don’t come fucking near me ever again. Go live your life with your husband and your child and..” Her voice trailed off as she stared at the window, reminded by how isolated from any true relationship she truly was. “Go.”

Jessica turned away and without a word, the doors opened and closed behind her. Gwen looked to her left to the nurse and patient who were still there, completely frozen. “What are you looking at?” She demanded before the nurse quickly went back to tending to her patient. As Jessica walked out, she saw Hobie leaned against the eggshell white wall right next to the door. “That went well.” He stated plainly. Jessica flipped him off as she walked away. Watching Jessica as she walked away, Hobie looked down to his watch and sent a message to Margo. 

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[Earth-1610]

The TV illuminated the dark room that would flash brighter and darker with each scene that passed as Miles and Margo sat together on the couch watching. As Miles leaned back, Margo leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder as she intently watched the movie while also enjoying the comforting warmth he brought. ‘No wonder Gwen liked this man. I could do this all day.’ she thought to herself. 

Margo hadn’t had such a peaceful time in what seemed like forever. Every moment was filled with her parents yelling, Miguel lecturing, or some kind of drama that she had to be a part of for some reason. She can’t even remember the last time she watched a movie let alone with a friend. Wait- was Miles her friend? Would half cuddling on the couch constitute as friends? As these questions ran through her mind, her watch lit up.

She yawned, sitting up as the purple hue that surrounded Margo moved with her. Miles noticed her close her eyes and took a deep breath as if her mind was full of dread. A message appeared on her screen and as Margo read through it, the look in her eyes quickly turned to one of annoyance before quickly birthing worry. “Everything good?” Miles asked softly, leaning forward past the empty bowl that once housed popcorn grabbing the remote to pause the movie. 

“No.. Nothing can just be good.” Margo replied with a sigh, turning off her watch. “Gwen’s been hurt badly on a mission.” “What.” Miles instantly responded, his face looking more worried than even her. “Is she okay? What happened?” Margo stood up and stretched, wincing as she felt something pop. “Threw herself on top of a bomb I guess.” Miles’ eyes widened in shock that quickly gave way to anger. “Why would she do that!? Has she lost her damn mind?” 

“I honestly think she may be starting to.. She isn’t taking your separation… well. To say the least.” She replied, looking back at him, and giving him a look. “Oh..” Was all Miles could say, cringing out of pure guilt and sympathy. “Can.. You tell me how she’s doing? Please?” he asked, scratching the back of his head. “I thought you weren’t friends.” Margo said, looking down at her watch and beginning to fool with it. “We aren’t!” He quickly defended. “I just.. I just still care. I’m not sure if that’ll ever change..” Margo couldn’t help but smile, looking up from her watch. “I’m starting to see why she liked you.. You’re a good guy, Miles. When we first met, I honestly thought you were annoying… and cute.”

“And now?” He asked as she kept fooling around with her watch. “You’re growing on me… But still cute.” She replied, still looking down but evidently cracking a smile. “Would I grow on you a little more if I were to ask you to hang out tomorrow night?” Margo’s smile disappeared as she looked back up at him, evidently surprised by the advance. She had never had a guy actually ask her to do something other than save him from some villain. “I mean- Uhm-” Margo began getting flustered as she shrugged. The portal thankfully began opening behind her. “I’d say so. Five Thirty?” She asked, quickly trying to regain her usual confidence. “Sounds good. See you then.” Miles said somewhat awkwardly, taking a step back with a small smile on his face as he looked away bashfully.

“Sounds like a date!” She said with a wide smile. Turning around out of eyesight, she cringed as she mouthed out the words she had just said. Looking into the portal full of bright and dark purple shapes, she stepped in as it closed behind her, everything floating around falling back down.

Miles stood there dumbfounded as his smile quickly widened. He- He actually did it! That was shockingly easy, but he wasn’t going to complain. ‘I guess I just have that rizz.’ he thought to himself before looking back and forth to make sure he was really alone before celebrating. “Yes!” He said, pumping his fist back. The empty popcorn bowl fell down on his head as the portal snapped shut. “Ouch.”

---------------------------------------

[Earth-928]

Margo walked through the lobby, hastily greeting other Spider’s of the Society as she made her way over to infirmary #4. Spying Hobie leaning against the wall, she shot a web to a pillar walkway above her and swung over the group of Spider’s that were walking against her direction. “What are you doing?” She asked, slightly out of breath as she got to where he stood. “Looking out for Stalin. You’re here to see Gwendy?” She nodded, “I came as soon as I got your message.” She began to walk in but Hobie stopped her where she stood by sticking an arm out in her way. “How’s Peter Pan?” Margo stood there in confusion, but quickly pieced who he meant together.

“Oh! Miles is.. Hanging in there. Similar to her. Maybe just not as self destructive… I’ve got a date with him- I think.” Hobie’s familiar smile instantly turned into a frown. “Oh.” Margo gave him a weird smile. “That’s a weird way of congratulating me.” He looked towards the infirmary doors. “She is not going to like that one bit.” It was Margo’s turn to say “Oh..” As she stared at the doors. “I guess I’ll go in and get it over with then.” “Good luck!” Hobie said with a big smile as the doors opened, causing Margo to stop again. “Wait what do you mean good-”

She felt Hobie push her in as the sliding doors closed behind her. She looked into the room full of asleep patients until her eyes laid on the only awake one- Gwen. She had never seen someone look so resilient, yet so tired at the same time. She had a blood bag and an IV bag with multiple tubes going into her left arm. Turning her head towards the other girl, Gwen flashed her a small smile. Margo crept past the hopefully sleeping bodies before sitting next to Gwen. “Hey rockstar.. Are you doing okay?”

Gwen shrugged as she gave her a half smile. “As okay as I can be, I guess. I was drowsy at first but that wore off surprisingly fast. I just want nothing more than to leave to be honest with you.” Margo tilted her head. “And where exactly would you go? Hobie told me that things aren’t going too well at home..”

Gwen’s smile disappeared. “Hobie just came at a bad time. Everything is going fine.. I actually rejoined my band.” Margo tilted her head quizzically, though with a small smile to show she took no offense. “And what happened to making your own band?” “Well..” Gwen shrugged it away dismissively. “That didn’t work out. Speaking of which, where were you today? The ‘band’ could have used you.” She quickly changed the subject, using air quotes. 

If Margo didn’t have Gwen’s attention, she sure did now with the look of guilt on her face as she looked anywhere but Gwen’s direction. “I- I was visiting Miles.” The silence that passed after Margo said that made her more nervous than thinking about Gwen’s actual reaction would even be. The only thing that could have been strong enough to slice through the thick tension would have been Miguel’s claws. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Gwen let out a monotone “Oh.” 

Margo glanced in her direction, seeing a badly hidden look of fury on Gwen’s face as she looked at her. “So, how long have you been going to see him?” She asked painfully, clenching her fist out of sight. “No- It’s not like that! This was the first time. I just went to check on him. Just like how Hobie went to go check on you! I wouldn’t do that to you..”

“So while I nearly got killed fighting Green Goblin, you were being spooned by my Miles?” Gwen confirmed, anger slowly rising in her voice. ‘Where did that possessiveness come from!?’ she thought. “Well, it wasn’t spooning- I did rest my head on his shoulder though. We were just watching a movie.” She tried explaining. ‘Margo you need to shut up’ she told herself. “Oh, is that all?” Gwen snapped as Margo hung her head.

“Gwen I’m sor-” “Sorry doesn’t cut it!” She yelled. “Do you know how much I want to visit him? How much I miss him? I have this- this hole inside of me that only grows bigger by the day! I feel isolated from everyone! Everything! I’m broken without him!” She yelled as tears began to fall down her cheeks. “I made the worst mistake of my life when I visited him. I should have told him everything… Now I can visit him but he doesn’t want to see me. He doesn’t want to see the monster that got his father killed… You could have asked me to, you know? I could’ve properly apologized. I- I- could have done some good..” Gwen finally whispered, barely able to contain her sobs.

“We thought about asking you.. But we thought it would be better to send someone he has less of a past with. I just went to check on him.. I had no ulterior motive. I promise..” Margo softly said, watching Gwen look out the window again. “And is he okay?..” Gwen whispered. “He… He quit being Spider-Man.” Margo admitted.

“He WHAT!?” Gwen shouted, startling her as she whipped her head back towards the other. “What do you mean he quit? Miles Morales does not quit. He’s Spider-Man.” Margo shook her head. “Not according to him. He literally threw away his costume, Gwen. He’s done. He believes Miguel now..” A look of horror set on Gwen’s face. “Why?” 

“I guess he wasn’t able to save someone. The weight of losing his uncle, dad, you, and that civilian.. It crushed him.” Gwen shook her head as she wiped her eyes. “So, this is all my fault..” Gwen thought aloud as more painful tears came. Not tears for her. Not tears for her suffering, her pain, her anguish, or the curse that enveloped her. Tears for Miles. Tears for his suffering. He deserved to be happy, not to be hurt. 

“No! Gwen don’t say that. Everything is not your fault!  What happened to his dad is not your fault. You ended up trying to help, right? Miles would not have had a chance to save his dad at all if it weren’t for you. As much as he does not want to admit it.. He misses you. He wishes he never had lost you.” Margo swore she saw Gwen’s pale blonde hair slightly shade pink as she said this. 

“He never lost me.. I lost him.” Gwen replied shortly, laying her head back on her pillow and staring up at the ceiling. “And I guess he lost himself too..” She continued with a flare tone. Margo winced, knowing she had to tell Gwen the full truth. “Speaking of which.. I’m trying to help him out with that.. We’re going on a kind of date tomorrow night.”

Silence set in as she waited for Gwen to say something but didn’t hear as much as a cough back. “G- Gwen?...” Silence. “Gwen?” She tried again, but still nothing. “Gwen, I’m sorry I didn-” Gwen finally spoke. “Get out before I break out of these damn cuffs and punch you.” Margo’s eyes widened, wanting to keep apologizing. However, the imminent danger of her safety spoke volumes, influencing her decision to leave the room. 

The doors opened as Margo walked out, holding her arms to her chest as she looked down at the ground. “She’s in pain, Hobie.. Why can’t we just let her go home? I feel bad enough as it is..” Hobie shook his head as he leaned against the wall, playing a few cords on his guitar to keep himself busy. “Not like goin home will do Gwendy any good. I found a blade in her room.” Margo’s jaw dropped. “What?.. Gwen was?-” She couldn’t even finish that terrifying sentence. The thought that the determined and fiery girl who just wanted to help people could do that to herself.. “What are we going to do!?”

“That’s why she’s stuck to her bed. She ain’t gonna hurt herself in front of us. Me and Peter talked to Miguel. They had an idea of how to help her- one I disagree with but since when does the dictator listen to his citizens?” “And what’s their idea?” Margo asked. “That.” Hobie nodded to the group approaching them led by Peter. “Just come with and see. I ain’t letting her go see Miguel alone.” 

“Alright Hobie.. You have the key?” Hobie fished around in his pockets before he finally found what he was looking for, grabbing the key and handing it to Peter, who walked into the room and promptly walked out followed by a confused Gwen, who was no longer cuffed. “Uhm- What’s going on?” She demanded as Hobie only shrugged and Margo genuinely shrugged. “You know, out of all the people here I wouldn’t have expected you to lie.” Gwen spat at Hobie as Peter gently pushed her along. 

As Hobie strapped the guitar back to his back, he looked down guiltily. Margo could tell that insult hit him harder than almost anything she had ever seen thrown at him. On the other hand, Gwen really was out of line. She couldn’t explain it. The girl seemed almost.. Savage-like. “It’s okay.. She’s not herself.” Margo whispered as she walked over to Hobie, patting his back. The taller Spider didn’t say a word back as he began following the group that housed Gwen in the middle, Margo quickly at his feet. 

As they walked down a series of dark corridors, Gwen’s eyes narrowed. All of this.. It all felt so familiar. Looking at the pieces of tech on the walls and the exposed piping where corners were obviously cut- Gwen realized exactly where she was going. She looked forward just in time to see her and the group entering the lab of Miguel O’Hara. 

“I don’t want to be here.” She hissed to Peter. “Relax, Gwen. We’re just going to talk.” He tried to calm her. “Last time we had a talk here, things didn’t exactly end well.” She argued. “Miles said there’s a first time for everything, right?” Peter reminded her of what she had told him herself as they made their way towards the lowering platform. “Not this time..” She mumbled pessimistically. 

The back of Miguel O’Hara came into view as the platform lowered at an excruciating slow pace. “Hey, Darth Vader! We don’t have all day!” Gwen yelled, causing Peter to grip her shoulder. The crowd around them began backing away so Miguel could make his ‘grand entrance.’

“Hi, Gwen. How are you feeling?” He asked- probably out of politeness as the platform continued lowering. He looked like he thought he was the center of the world- every world. He was such an asshole. Probably wanted her to suffer. Everyone did. She was all alone- “Worse now that I’m here.” She replied with a passive aggressive grin.

“Anything I can do to help with that? Water? Medicine?” Gwen shook her head. “How about going home?” He turned around to face her, a look of sincerity in his eyes. He probably was trying not to smile at this point. Like he could ever care- ever have a heart. “Can’t do that.” He simply said as the platform became one with the ground. He took a few steps towards her, putting his hands on his sides. “And why’s that? What am I a danger to this time? Your multiverse? Your canon? Your ego?” 

“Yourself.” He replied.

“Myself!?” She took a step back, obviously phased by the unexpected answer. ‘He’s a liar.’ A voice in her head told her. “Yeah I got that much..” She mumbled. “Who are you talking to?” Miguel asked, raising an eyebrow. “Look. I can handle myself. I have for years.” She quickly moved on.

“Yeah, and that’s the problem. You shouldn’t have been doing it for this long. When Miles became your little friend, it changed your future. You should have gone on, met someone else. You wouldn’t be in this mess right now if it weren’t for him. You’re a danger to yourself, so you need to stay here where you can get help.””

“Don’t you DARE blame him for this! For your actions.” Gwen snapped. Miguel let out a condescending laugh. “My actions? And what were exactly my actions?” He inquired. “Throwing him into a train and telling him he’s a mistake.” Jessica reminded him with a shrug. “Shut up.” he snapped back. “Miguel, not helping. Can we stick to the topic here?” Peter asked politely, but the situation kept escalating. 

“Yeah, maybe that. Or maybe how you straight out told him a shit ton of information that I purposefully asked you not to share to protect him!” Miguel shook his head. “Protect you or protect him? Where exactly is the difference there?” Gwen stood there, trying to think for a second- trying to rationalize this- trying to rationalize everything. “Both of us. I did both.”

“Then where is he?” He asked, mockingly looking around. “I don’t see him so you clearly didn’t do both. He failed at being Spider-Man. Hell, he’s already quit.” He tried making a point. “That’s where you're wrong!” Gwen yelled. “Miles didn’t fail the society! The society failed him! He’s Spider-Man!”

“He’s an anomaly! A mistake!” Miguel shouted back, just as hell bent on defending his viewpoint. Gwen’s fists clenched as tiny black tendrils began to wrap around them. “Say that again.” She dared. “Look Gwen, we just want to help you.” Peter said softly. “I think you’ve helped me and Miles enough.” She hissed, causing Peter to back up. “Fucking say that again.” She prodded Miguel. Gwen looked around to see the two of them were surrounded by a circle of spectating Spider’s, all gathering either for her support or to watch. “What the hell is this?.. An intervention?”

“That’s exactly what this is.” Miguel spoke. “And we want to help you heal and stop obsessing over that anomaly. There’s a multiverse full of people- of possibilities..” Gwen’s fist clenched even harder as her white and black outfit became completely black. Despite having no mask, the goo somehow covered her face and formed a new one. Her hood was now also black, but with long points with white ends. The inside of her hood turned pure pink as a long pink tongue with teeth stuck to the sides spilled out and down her chest. Finally, a bright white spider logo formed on her back- one that almost perfectly reassembled the one Miles wore, except it looked sinister. It had black points at each limb.

“Gwen..” Miguel whispered in horror, stepping back as every Spider did the same. “You called him an anomaly..” She whispered with venom in her voice. “Gwen!” Hobie’s voice shouted, but not even that was enough to distract her. Gwen’s focus was now completely on Miguel.. And tearing him to shreds. “How was this not flagged when she came in through security!?” He shouted worriedly at the crowd only to get a bunch of collective shrugs. 

“YOU CALLED HIM AN ANOMALY!” A voice screamed at Miguel. It was half Gwen’s and half.. Something else. Whatever it was, it sounded terrifying- horrifying- and inhuman. The large tongue that now hung off her body shot forward, wrapping itself around Miguel before an inhuman scream rang out as Gwen pulled herself across the room, feeling her fist collide with Miguel’s cheek. 

The two of them fell to the floor with a thud. A few Spider’s began to step forward, but Miguel raised his arm as his new white mask came on. “It’s too dangerous! Stay back-” He couldn’t even get a full sentence out before being grabbed and thrown again, this time landing on his feet and sliding back. Pavitr, who was in the crowd, winced. Peter covered Mayday’s eyes. 

Gwen began to charge Miguel on all fours as he did the same. Though, to everyone’s shock, it was her who came out on top as she grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground. She began clawing viciously at his face, trying to desperately tear off his mask and ruin what was hiding beneath it. Miguel shot a web upwards, pulling down a vent on the top of both of them. 

As the vent fell, Gwenom leapt back as Miguel did the same, coughing as the vent fell between them. Feeling his heart begin to pound, Miguel slowly circled the vent, expecting an attack any second only to find- nothing. He looked around, trying to figure out where she went until she heard a few collective gasps. Looking up, he saw Gwenom crouching on top of the vent. She shot two webs beside both of his feet before jumping up and pulling herself down, sending her and Miguel falling through the floor and into the vast Spider-Society lobby.

As the two fell through the seemingly white endless void, Miguel kept hitting her back as her claws only dug deeper. Her tongue wrapped around his neck and began to strangle him as he struggled. The two fell onto one of the diagonal walkways with a sickening thud and split apart, both beginning to slide off, but catching their footing. Miguel slowly stood up, glaring at her. “You’re not the only one who has claws..” He whispered, as his claws came out. “That’s cute..” Her half human voice teased before the two charged each other. Miguel immediately tried digging his claws into her only for a piece of the symbiote to turn into a shield coming out of her hand, defending herself from any attack. 

Kicking his legs out from under him, Miguel fell flat on his face. Gwenom stepped on his head, shoving it into the ground more as she leaned down with her claws out, beginning to tear and pull apart the back of Miguel’s suit slowly and painfully. “Miles wasn’t what tore this society apart.. You were.” Miguel shockingly screamed as Gwen’s claws finally pierced his back, blood gushing out as the symbiote side of her grinned with glee. “See how it feels, Miguel? See how it feels to have the truth tear its way into you?” Gwenom’s tongue began choking him again. This time, the long spikes on the ends began to tear its way through his weakened suit and towards his precious neck.

“How does it feel to be afraid? To not know if you’re going to get to go home tonight?.. Tell me, and I may just spare you. What’s Miles?” She loosened her grip a little bit more as her claws sunk deeper, blood now gushing out as Miguel cried out in pain. His glitching mask looked up at her, a glare of defiance peaking its way through. “An anomaly.”

Gwenom shook her head as she sighed. “Like all dictators, you go down defending your mistakes to your very last breath.. This is for Miles.” Gwenom spoke, raising her tongue in the air to bring down on his back before suddenly-

BAM!

She looked up to see Hobie falling down towards them and playing a single riff on his guitar, sending electricity flying at Gwenom, who screamed out in pain as the symbiote danced around Gwen’s body as if it was enjoying the torturous music in some twisted way. Hobie landed on the walkway, causing it to cave in as he, Miguel, and Gwenom all fell down, smashing their way through platform after platform as debris fell around them. 

Gwenom watched one of Peter’s webs grab the falling Miguel and swing him out of sight as she and Hobie hit the ground. Looking up at the lobby above them, Gwenom got off the dirty ground that was dimly lit and littered with trash as her tentacles grabbed Hobie’s guitar, breaking it in half. Dropping it in front of him, a look of devastation filled his face as he got up, looking down at it. Tears filled his eyes as he mumbled, “My- My dad gave me that guitar..” He landed on his knees as he stared at the broken piece of equipment that now blended in with the trash around him. 

Gwenom began to advance the devastated man, but something inside her- a pang of guilt told her not to. She stopped where she stood before turning around and wincing as she opened a portal back to her dimension. Hobie looked up from the guitar to Gwen, whose mask was now down as she looked at him, her eyes full of tears. “I’m sorry it had to go this way..” She softly said before walking through the portal, which quickly and violently slammed shut behind her. The trash floating around the area fell back down around Hobie as he stared at where his drummer had once stood.

Chapter Text

[Earth-928]

Miguel O’Hara laid in the exact same room Gwen had. The setting sun peeked through the blind as he moved his face to the side painfully, groaning as he looked at Jessica Drew, who was sitting by his side. “Where’s the girl?..” Jessica rolled her eyes. “She left, you asshole. How can you be so unempathetic?” Miguel scoffed defensively. “I saved everyone here.” “Miguel, nobody would have needed saving if you had just deescalated things!” Peter B. shouted with surprising anger- an emotion in which was rarely seen from him. Miguel raised his hands in the air weakly. “Me? She was the one who venomed out! If anything, this is your fault!” He snapped at Peter. 

“My fault!?” He shouted back. “You should have scanned her when coming in!” Miguel tried reasoning. “SHE WAS DYING!” Peter screamed, causing Mayday to cry. He glared at Miguel, shaking his head before walking out as he consoled the terrified child. As he walked out, Hobie Brown stormed in, his fists closed as Margo and Pavitr followed worriedly at his feet, words of reason falling on deaf ears. “YOU CUNT!” Hobie screamed, lunging at Miguel only to be held back by Margo and Pavitr. “Hobie, he's already had enough of beating!” Margo exclaimed. “Yeah? Well not enough to beat some bloody sense into him!” He shouted, lunging again only to be pulled back by the collective strength of Margo and Pavitr, now joined by Noir. 

Miguel laid in his bed, looking at him with a smirk. “She wasn’t ready for the truth.. Not her fault, Anarquista” Hobie scoffed, shoving the others off him lightly as he stood there. “Finally, you and I agree on something mate. You’re right, it ain’t her fault. It’s yours. I was trying to protect her from you for a reason. You’re nothing but a narcissistic troubled cunt that belongs in one of the cages you put others in!” Miguel stared down as he sighed. “I tried to help. I tried to tell her she needed to stay here. I’m the only one with the will to do so. You couldn’t.. Could you? Neither could Margo. Nor Jess. I’m the one who has to make the hard choice because you put this burden on my shoulders. Because none of you are strong enough to do what I do!”

“And what’s that? Give teenage girls PTSD?” Jessica sarcastically remarked. “I help people.. I’m Spider-Man..” Miguel slowly sat up in his bed, standing up. “And Spider-Man always gets up..” Hobie smirked as the time of sweet revenge had arrived. “Lay down. You’ve helped enough.” Miguel shook his head defiantly. “You can’t ask me to watch this symbiote-infected self-destructive coward terrorize the multiverse.” Hobie sighed. “I’m not asking.”

Before Miguel could react, the same pad was thrown at his feet that he had once thrown at Miles as it began to surround him. “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing! Who do you think you are?” People stood around the two stunned as Hobie walked up to the cage as the injured Miguel slashed at it. “I’m Spider-Man and you’re not.” Miguel turned towards Jessica desperately. “Come on.. Jess. It’s me..” Jessica, her eyes full of tears turned her head away. “Don’t do that.” “Do what?..” Miguel breathed. “Don’t do that. Don’t make me feel like I need to help you. You’re beyond help.” Jessica crossed her arms and walked out as the other Spider-People hesitantly followed her and Hobie. Finally, all that was left was Margo. 

“Margo.. Please.. I helped give you an escape! You don’t have to be there to watch your parents’ divorce. You’re able to tune it out. I help people. I- I can’t be in here! They- they can’t take that power away from me! I’ve done good! I’m a good person!” Margo looked away, walking out. “You’ve done enough.” She replied, the door opening and closing right behind her, leaving Miguel O’Hara completely and utterly alone as he broke down, sliding down in his cage as he sobbed.

Margo walked out to see the other Spider’s discussing what to do next. “I’ve never seen her like that before..” Peter whispered as he rocked Mayday in his arms. “She’s never been put in a spot like that before.. We were trying to help and Miguel Mousilini in there fucked it all up.” Peter chuckled. “Kinda like what happened with Miles..” Suddenly, a thought went through Margo’s head as the others continued to talk. She thought back to something Gwen had told her Miles had once said.

“We’re the same.”

“That’s it.. They’re the same!” Margo exclaimed, grabbing the group's attention. “What do you mean?” Peter inquired. Hobie crossed his arms, standing there as a sly grin crossed his lips, already knowing exactly what Margo was talking about. “Think about it. Why did the interventions with Miles and Gwen both end in chaos?” Pavitr shrugged, “Miguel?” Margo shook her head, crossing her arms as she began to pace back and forth. “Because they’re the same. Maybe we can’t help Gwen but-”

“He can.” Hobie finished, now smirking confidently. Margo stopped in her tracks, looking at him before nodding and returning the smile. “Think about it. Miles and Gwen are both suffering because they are apart. Because they both made mistakes that hurt the other. If we bring them together again, maybe they can help each other.” Peter chuckled, looking down at Mayday. “Two halves equal a whole.” 

Margo looked down, beginning to cringe as she pulled in a sharp breath. “But there’s one problem.” She looked up to see every pair of eyes on her. “I’m going on a kind of date with Miles tonight..” They all continued staring at her before Ham would slap his forehead. “Girl, come on!” Jessica groaned, turning around, and shaking her head. “I know! I’m sorry! I just- really enjoyed my time around him and I’ve never really remotely been with someone before. My emotions just got the best of me! I wasn’t thinking! He wanted to hang out and I turned it into more! Then I went ahead and practically bragged to Gwen about it!” 

Margo teared up as she turned away from the group. “I made it worse.. I make things worse.” She stated, thinking about Miles and Gwen, and then her parents' testy marriage. “Margo..” Peter whispered, lightly gripping her shoulder from behind. “We all make mistakes. What matters is what we do to fix them.. So, what do you want to do? Your call.” The others looked at Peter as if he was insane except for Hobie, who nodded him on. “I..” Margo stopped, taking a deep breath, and thinking the situation over.

“I want to tell Miles what happened and hopefully convince him to come with us and help Gwen.” Peter patted her shoulder. “One person at a time. I like it.” He turned back towards the group. “Any objections, guys?” Nobody said a thing, all seeming to be in agreement. Jessica turned back towards Peter as Margo turned around also. “It’s a good plan, Margo. He’s right. You can’t change the past.. Focus on the future, hon.” 

Margo wiped her eyes as she grinned, shaking her head. “Thanks Jess..” Suddenly, she felt a heap of human in her arms as Peter handed her Mayday. “Pe- Peter what are you doing!?” She cried out in laughter as she held the baby. “She makes people feel better! See, it’s already working.” Margo laughed again as she babbled. “Okay okay you’re right. Anyways- back to the plan. I meet up with Miles in a few hours at some place called the Foam Party..” She said, checking her watch for his text, thankful that it was able to communicate with other devices no matter how simple or outdated they were. She could probably communicate with a Blackberry if she wanted to. “So, I will meet him and tell him everything there.” She eyed Peter. “Do you want to come?”

Peter raised his hands in the air. “Oh Margo, I’m not sure if that's the best idea. Miles is just as mad at me as he is at Gwen.” The girl shrugged, shaking Mayday lightly. “Didn’t you say something about not being able to change the past and focusing on the future?” Peter cursed under his breath, shaking his head. “Hate it when people use my own words against me.. MJ does it all the time. Okay fine, I’ll come with you.” He grabbed Mayday out of Margo’s arms and held her to his chest as he sighed.

“But I’m taking the baby with us.”

---------------------------------------

[Earth-65]

A portal began opening in Gwen Stacy’s bedroom, directly over her bed as objects around the room began to float such as a teddy bear, makeup kit, and even a couple bras. Soon, Gwen herself entered the room as she fell from the portal above directly on her bed in a similar sitting position she had been in when visiting Miles. 

Gwen glared up at the portal above her, watching it close intently. She had to make sure nobody would follow her. She was unsure if anyone would, now that she had practically gone to war with the entire Spider-Society. Once the portal closed, Gwen let out a sigh of relief and laid back. Feeling the black her between her head and the pillow, she grunted as she slightly sat up and pulled it down before laying her head back again. 

“What the fuck just happened..” She muttered, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression, still trying to process everything. The injury- Margo and Miles- The fight- Margo and Miles! Both of Gwen’s fists balled as she sat up, looking at her bedside table. She shot a quick web and pulled it open from a short distance before doing the same with the other hand and webbing the picture of she and Miles she held ever so dear and pulling it to her hand. 

Gwen’s hand slowly began to close around the picture she had kept so perfect for all of those months, each crease forever scarring it like the mental and physical scars she had received from everything she had gone through. Knowing her dad wasn’t home yet, Gwen stood up with the picture in hand before forcefully tearing it in half as silent tears fell down her cheeks. 

As the two pieces floated downwards, Gwen let out a scream. A scream of anguish, frustration, self-hate, and heartbreak. Black tendrils came out of Gwen’s back and arms as she screamed, dancing with her voice as if it was music to its ears before settling down as she became quiet. As the two broken pieces hit the ground, Miles’ side on the left and Gwen’s on the right. Gwen let out a loud sob as she stared at the papers on the ground. No wonder it broke. It was as fragile as her. As their relationship. “First time for everything my ass..” She mumbled, glaring at herself in the mirror. 

Tears still running down her face, Gwen looked down at her covered arms. She knew what she wanted to do to herself. For breaking Hobie’s guitar. For pushing everyone away when they tried to help. For hurting her Miles. Walking to her mattress, she lifted the entire thing up with ease with one arm, reaching down for the blade she had hidden from Hobie with the other- only to find nothing there. 

“What the actual fuck..” She hissed, turning to look at the room around her. The next few minutes were chaos. Gwen pulled out every drawer, knocked everything off her dresser, and opened the closet, dragging every piece of her past out. Opening boxes, she threw whatever stuffed animals and contents that had been inside in a fit of rage and desperation. Finally, Gwen stood in the center of the room. Everything around her was a mess. Leaning down, Gwen picked up an award she had won for best dancer when she had been a ballerina. One of her most prized possessions. It was a small podium that housed a gold ballerina on top wearing a dress and one hand pointed upwards.

Looking at it in hand before glaring back up at the mirror, Gwen’s grip tightened around the award before throwing it straight where her reflection was standing, hoping somehow it may hurt her as well. Glass shattered with a loud bang, hitting the floor as the award hit the mirror, sticking in the wall behind it. The lamp on her nightstand flickered behind Gwen as she got an idea before the room would return to darkness once again. 

Slowly stepping over the mess that littered the floor, Gwen bent down and picked up a shard that had fallen. Her left hand shook as she set it down on her bed directly beside her before reaching for the right sleeve of her suit. Tearing off her glove, Gwen began to pull up her sleeve only for something weird to happen- Okay she had to be more specific. Weird things happened all the time. As she pulled up her sleeve, she felt some kind of resistance- as if something was willing her not to do it. Gwen’s head tilted as she peered under her sleeve only to see web-like black goo? Slime? Holding the sleeve back, connected from the black fabric to her skin.

Gwen let out a small squeal, dropping the sleeve as she stumbled back, falling flat on her butt. Seeing that goo had completely thrown her out of her emotions. “What was that?..” She mumbled.

‘Who.’ An eerie voice in her head rasped.

Gwen quickly looked back and forth as she raised both of her hands, ready to web anything that was in the room. “Who’s there!? Show yourself!” she shouted, fear rising in her voice. 

‘Grab the glass shard.’ the voice cooed.

Gwen reached up onto the bed lightly gripping the glass as she pulled it back in front of her. Looking down, Gwen braced herself only to see- herself? Only, it wasn’t her. Unlike Gwen, her counterpart still had its black mask on. Gwen narrowed her eyes, lifting her other hand up to feel her face, the masked Gwen in the reflection doing the same. “You’re.. Me?”

‘Just the best parts.’ the voice responded matter of factly.

That voice.. It sounded just like herself.. Except it was distorted. It was different. As if she was speaking through some metal tunnel. It didn’t sound right. “I don’t have any good parts.. I hurt people. That’s what I do.” She responded spitefully. ‘Who said that’s bad? You hurt people who deserve to be hurt.”

“How would Miles deserve to be hurt!? Hobie? My Dad?” She cried out, feeling the anger rise up within herself. ‘Miles rejected you when you needed him most. Hobie went behind your back to trap you at the Society. Your dad pointed a gun at you. Nobody cares about you. Not the real you.’ The voice hissed aggressively. Gwen stared down, getting on her knees as tears began to drip off her face, onto the glass. “That’s..” She faultured. “That’s- That’s not true. Miles cares!” 

‘MILES HATES YOU! HE CAN’T STAND TO LOOK AT YOU!’ Gwen’s hand shook as she gripped the glass harder, feeling it carve its way into her skin before she would throw it into the wall, watching the shard shatter into hundreds of smaller pieces. “I can’t stand to look at myself.”

‘Then let’s fix that.’ The voice spoke. ‘You don’t need them. You don’t need Miles. You don’t need Hobie. You don’t even need your father. You have me.. And you have yourself. That’s all you need. You’re stronger than you know.’ Gwen slowly got up, her fist tightening even more despite the blood that ran out. “And just who are you?” 

‘I’m your strength, I’m your anger, I’m your pain, and I’m your Venom.’ Gwen untightened her hand, looking down to see her cut completely healed. Her eyes widened in shock, pulling back her sleeves to see every cut now gone. “What did you do!?” She shouted, lunging for another shard only for tendrils to come out of her back and pull her forcefully against the wall back-first. ‘I know you’re all alone. I know you hate yourself. I know you hate what you’ve done to others and what others have done to you. I know that you love Miles Morales, yet have lost all hope of any type of relationship with him. I’m going to help you. I’m going to protect you. I’m not going to leave you like the others. I’m going to be your friend as long as you remain mine. Deal?’ Gwen struggled against the wall as she felt her heartbeat quicken. She stared at the chaotic room in front of her and the glass strewn everywhere, just as broken as her heart. She needed someone. She needed a friend and she finally had someone who would help. She finally had someone who she couldn’t hurt.

“Deal.”

With that, Gwen fell from the wall and caught her breath as her fear subsided, now replaced by a newfound.. Anger?  She looked ahead at another picture on the ground. This one was of her and her band playing at their favorite restaurant. They never thought they’d get in. Only the best bands got in there. It had taken them so much practice- “SHIT! I have practice!” Gwen jumped up, checking the time on her alarm clock. “Shit shit shit. Okay. I have 15 minutes.” She reached down to her sleeve to rip the suit off only to see- she was wearing regular civilian clothes. She pulled back the open baby blue jacket to see if it were real before letting it fall back to her side. “How- Was this you?”

‘Like I said, I’m going to protect you, and never let you go.’ She smirked before it quickly disappeared. “Wait- What?” She heard nothing in response, deciding to just shrug it off. “Alright then, let's rock and roll, Venom!” She said, rushing to her window and opening it. As Gwen climbed across from her room to the fire escape outside, she turned back and looked at the disarray she was leaving behind. Her true self. As Gwen slammed the window shut and turned to leave, a sudden breeze hit the room, causing the split photo of she and Miles to drift only further apart. 

---------------------------------------

[Earth-1610]

In the Form Party lounge, Miles leaned back in his booth as he listened to a surprisingly quiet rock band, led by a simple drum beat. With each beat of the drum, his thoughts of Gwen only intensified. ‘I really hope she’s okay.. She’s going to be okay.. Is she going to be okay? Fuck, I miss her. But she hurt me, right? I need to move on. That’s why I’m here. To move on.. Right? Am I making a mistake? No, I’m doing what’s best for me. But I did hurt Gwen.. I hurt Gwen.’ He thought back to what Margo had told him before she had left. “I honestly think she may be starting to lose her mind.. She isn’t taking your separation… well. To say the least.” 

Miles shook his head, looking down as he felt his guiltiness increase. ‘I don’t like Gwen anymore… Right? Miles, you should have figured this out before agreeing to a goddamn date! Why are you here!? Margo should be out there helping Gwen! You’re just hurting her even more!’ Miles began to get up. “This was a mistake.” He mumbled, turning his head upwards only to see Margo open the door and walk in. Groaning, he sat back down as he winced, quickly forcing a smile as the two made eye contact. She was wearing a simple purple sweatshirt and jeans- pretty normal despite the hologram that surrounded her. Getting weird looks, Margo sat across from Miles. “Hey.” She breathed, looking back behind her with a weirdly annoyed look.

“Hey..” Miles responded with slight confusion. Deciding to cut straight to what was on his mind, he asked “How’s Gwen? Is she okay?” He watched the expression on Margo’s face turn from one of annoyance to the familiar look of pure guilt. “That’s… Why we’re here.” Miles tilted his head. “We?” He heard the bell ring, looking up as he saw Peter B. Parker walk through the door in slow motion, holding Mayday to his chest nervously. “There he is..” Margo mumbled dismissively, her look of annoyance disappearing. Peter kept his head down as he walked to the table. 

Miles stood up out of his booth and looked him down as his fist clenched, not saying a word. Peter continued to stare down at Mayday, desperate not to meet his fiery gaze. “Hey, Kid.” Was all he managed out. “I thought I told you not to call me that.” Miles responded bitterly. “Miles.” Margo’s voice instantly got his attention, cutting right through the thick tension. “Both of you, please sit down.” Miles crossed his arms. “I don’t want to sit down. Not with him here.” Peter finally raised his head. “Miles, I know we didn’t talk after the battle with Spot- but I’m sorr-”

“For what?” Miles cut him off, electricity beginning to flow through his body. “Not coming to see me? Withholding information from me? Being part of the reason my father got killed?”. Peter took a step back. “Kid, I thought I was doing the right thin-” “Bullshit!” Miles yelled. “Miles!” He heard Margo’s voice raise. He looked down to see bright blue electricity traveling down both of his arms and into his balled fists. Glaring up at Peter, he remembered their trip to Alchemax and how he had first learned to relax. So, Miles began to sing under his breath as the electricity slowly dissipated, finally letting his hands hang loose. “Why did you bring him?” Miles asked, shaking his head at Margo. “You know how we left things.”

“That’s not important right now. None of it is.” Miles opened his mouth to argue, but Margo cut him off. “We’re here because of Gwen. You wanted to know how she is?” He quickly nodded, the mention of his old friend making him sit down automatically without having to be asked once. “She’s bad, Miles. Really bad. She has a symbiote. It has begun to bring out all of her worst qualities. She almost killed Miguel.” Miles’ jaw dropped at this news. “She what!? Why!?” Everyone around the restaurant gave them weird looks, encouraging Peter to sit down next to Margo.

“We tried to-” She was cut off by Peter, who held a menu in his hand as he spoke to the waiter. “Can I please start with the mozzarella sticks?-” Margo glared at him. “You’re ordering food!? Right now?” Peter looked back at her and then to the waiter. “Just those please.” The waiter nodded awkwardly, walking away as the three stayed silent until he was safe enough of a distance away to continue. “Anyways.” She glared at Peter, continuing where she had left off. “We tried to trap her at the Society because she was harming herself.” 

A deafening minute of silence passed as Miles stared at her blankly before practically exploding, causing Peter to cover Mayday’s ears. “Are you out of your damn mind!? That’s like cornering a wounded animal! That didn’t work with me! Why would it work with her!? Do you know her at all? Do you know her ticks? How anxious she gets? How uncomfortable she is in big groups? You should have done that in a private setting and you sure as hell shouldn’t have had Miguel lead the damn effort! There’s your first mistake! No wonder she almost murdered him! You assholes!”

“That’s why we’re here!” Margo hissed, waving her hand to calm him down, though it didn’t seem to do much. “So, you’re not here to see me, you're here because you gave Gwen this symbiote thing that brings out her worst qualities and then proceeded to corner her and tell her everything that was wrong with her, not letting her go home to where she felt safe?” Miles glared at them.

“We didn’t give it to her!” Peter spoke up. “Who did!?” Miles asked with a look that instilled fear in even Peter. Margo raised her hands in the air. “It just happened on a mission! No one did anything!” Miles laughed condescendingly “Oh you two sure as hell did something. I can’t believe you would pull something like that on her. Come on, you know her.”

“Miguel forced it. His call.” Miles shook his head, cursing under his breath in Spanish. “Mierda.” He let out a short laugh. “Of course, it was Miguel. You follow him blindly like fucking Minions!” Margo’s fist tightened now. “It’s not like we had a choice! It’s not like I did! I just wanted to be honest with my friend and help her and not be sent home to my family that’s falling apart!” The entire restaurant turned quiet as the waiter held the mozzarella sticks, standing dead still. “Oh thank you!” Peter said, breaking the tension as he jumped up and grabbed the food, ignoring the look of regret on both Miles’ and Margo’s faces. “Okay.. You made a mistake. Why aren’t you out there correcting it? Why are you here eating mozzarella sticks?” He jabbed at Peter, who stopped chewing with his mouth full. 

“Because we can’t, Miles. You asked earlier if we know her at all, well you do. You know her ticks. You know everything and anything you possibly could. You even said it yourself! You’re the same! Gwen is far too lost for any of us to help her, but not you. We need your help, Miles. Gwen needs your help. She needs you.” Margo spoke, looking at him intently. Miles stared at the ground with a look of devastation on his face. He really did hurt her… 

Miles thought back to every dead body he had held. His uncle, his dad, Ditko, and now potentially Gwen. He couldn’t do that again. He couldn’t watch someone else he cared about die in his arms. He wasn’t about to make things worse. “I- I can’t help you.. I can’t help her. I’m not even Spider-Man anymore!” Peter sighed. “Miles, maybe she doesn’t need Spider-Man. Maybe she just needs you.” Miles threw his hands up in the air. “I’m the reason she got into this mess, Peter! If I had just controlled my fucking emotions…” Peter scoffed. “You’re a teenager.” “I’m an idiot!” Margo shrugged. “Those statements are both true.” Miles gripped onto the table as if he was going to die if he let go. “I can’t help her. I- I’ll fuck things up even more! I can’t-” His eyes filled with tears. “I can’t watch someone else I love die…” Peter smirked, raising an eyebrow as Margo’s face showed evident surprise. “Did you just say-” Peter smirked down at Mayday. 

Miles quickly pushed the conversation forward before even he could dwell on what he had just said. “Hell, not like I could even go if I felt like I should. I don’t even have a watch!” Margo slid a watch across the table. “Now you do.” Miles stared down at it in disbelief. Months earlier, when he had first seen Gwen’s back on that rooftop, he had imagined his first watch coming from her. He imagined traveling the multiverse with her. Sharing his first kiss with her. Being happy with her. Now, all of those dreams had disappeared with the presence of his father in his life. Now, he was a shell of his former self. 

“You good?” Margo asked, watching Miles intently as he began to tear up again. Peter looked from Miles to Margo before clearing his throat. “Hey, let’s give Miles some time to process this. Not like Gwen won’t be here tomorrow.” Margo and Miles both glared daggers at him. “Okay, that was a terrible choice of words. My point is, let’s just give him some time to do what he has to do. If he doesn’t come, he doesn’t come. We will go fight Venom and save Gwen either way, right?” Margo slowly nodded. Peter got up, swiping a few mozzarella sticks and handing one to Mayday, nodding for Margo to follow. 

Margo stared at Miles full of anger, but also sympathy. “I really hope you get your shit together Miles.. For Gwen’s sake and your own.” She turned around and walked away with Peter, leaving Miles there staring at them whilst still trying not to break down. Glancing back at him again, Peter opened the door for Margo and walked out behind her as the two turned into an alley to open a portal and go home. “I just hate seeing him like that! The old Miles would have gone after Gwen in a heartbeat!” Peter looked down at Mayday with a sad smile. “He isn’t the old Miles.. But I think we just gave him the spark he may have been looking for.” Margo looked up at him as she opened the portal back to Earth-928. “You think so?” Peter smiled down at her. “I know so.” He would reply before walking through the portal, Margo quickly following. 

Back in the restaurant, Miles sat in the booth, still staring down at the watch before pocketing it in his hoodie. “I’m sorry Gwen..” He whispered, closing his eyes. As he focused on his spider-sense, he felt his pain, but also hers. He felt her loneliness, he felt her despair, and he felt the venom that was in her heart. Opening his eyes, Miles took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. He didn’t know who to talk about this. Who would understand? “Gwen understands me…” he mumbled, continuing to scroll until he reached his Mom’s number. Without another thought, Miles pressed on her contact and held the phone up to his ear as it rang.

“Mami? Yeah hi, uhm.. I really need to talk to you..  I’ve screwed up and I don’t know if I can fix it...”

Chapter Text

Two Hours Before Present Day

A rare full moon shined brightly upon the New York City of Earth-65. In the distance, an ugly front of clouds slowly made their way towards the metropolitan area as they brought a foggy haze with them. Lightning struck, lighting up the haze to reveal the pouring tears of the earth. Gwen swung through the city, absentmindedly taking note of the impending storm. Far above the city, everything seemed eerily calm. Birds stopped chirping and bugs stopped buzzing with Gwen’s passing as if they knew someone- something was terribly wrong.

As Gwen kept swinging, her now black and white colored spider-sense suddenly went off. She looked down to see at least a dozen police cars parked in front of the Bowery Savings Bank. “I don’t have time for this!” She shouted angrily, shooting webs downward as she hastily pulled herself towards the building. Landing on the gold-colored glass dome, Gwen peered down to see nobody in the main lobby. Completely disregarding the police most likely deliberating on how to move forward outside, a tendril came out of Gwenom’s hand and attacked the glass under her, sending her falling down and into the lobby, landing on the red carpet with one knee and a fist raised in the air. 

Standing up, Gwenom began to walk around, tendrils violently moving trash cans, poles, and ropes that separated the line. “UGH. Let’s get this over with already!” She shouted into the empty room, waiting for someone to show themselves. A tendril came out of her back and impatiently threw a chair at the old brick wall, which splintered into many pieces. “COME ON!”

“Hello, Spider-Woman..” She heard a familiar annoying voice. Turning towards the stairs leading down to the bank vault, Gwen watched the Shocker take precise steps towards her. “Have you come to put me in jail?” Gwenom grunted. “I’ve come to put you in the ground.” Herman chuckled, beginning to circle her. “More.. Violent. I like it.” Gwenom narrowed her eyes. “Not for long.” She spat before shooting a tendril towards him, which shot the Shocker back into the wall as the symbiote began to wrap itself around his torso, slowly tightening its grip as he struggled.

With no other choice and honestly beginning to worry for his life, Herman pressed his gauntlets against the goo. Electrifying shockwaves were sent through the tendril and up Gwen’s arm to her body as Venom let go, the both of them screaming in pain as the symbiote briefly danced around her before settling. “Now you’ve pissed me off.” Gwenom grumbled before shooting two webs at the wall beside the Shocker, pulling and slingshotting herself towards him. Under his mask, Shocker’s eyes widened as he ducked and leapt out of the way as Gwenom’s foot left an indent in the brick where his head was mere seconds before.

“H- Hey! Spider-Woman, calm down!” He said, shooting a shockwave at Gwenom and turning around to run as she stepped back again. Gwen and the symbiote both screamed in pain. Only this time, a terrifying face with sharp teeth and Gwen’s lenses for its soulless eyes pulled out of her face to cry out in pain before resorting back to being her mask as its mouth disappeared. Once she regained her footing, Gwenom watched Shocker begin to run down the flights of stairs towards the underground vault. “GET BACK HERE, SHOCKER!” She screamed, sprinting after him with intimidating speed. Shocker ran to the vault as fast as he could, his hands shaking as he closed the large metal door shut behind him. 

“SHOCKEEERRR!” Gwenom shouted, two tendrils pulling her towards and onto the silver vault door as she began to try to pull it open. Both of Shocker’s hands now shook as he raised his gauntlets towards the vault door, backing up only to startle himself when he backed into a table that was full of dollar bills. He quickly looked back at it before refocusing his attention on the door. “YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ME!” Gwenom shouted, flipping back before turning around, now on her feet as she grabbed the vault door and began to pull with her bare hands.

Shocker watched the door slowly begin to become pried off its hinges as he listened to each bolt pop off with Gwenom’s strength. “My heavenly father-” he began to mumble to himself. “I’LL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!” Gwenom screeched, pulling the vault door off its hinges, and throwing it behind her as dust flew through the air, blinding Shocker’s view. As he raised his fists, a sudden black tendril flew into his face through the dust, causing him to fall to the floor as he began crawling back. 

Gwenom quickly approached him with her fists balled. “I don’t have time for this. I have someplace to be.” Herman raised his hands in the air. “Then by all means, go!” Gwenom shot a web at his hands, making them stick to the wall behind him. “Not until you’re caught. I still have a responsibility to do what's right.” Herman’s gauntlets began powering up. “And I.. have an accountability to get the hell outta here!” A massive shockwave came out as he broke through the webs, sending Gwenom sliding back as she cried out in pain, gripping well- everything.

“Okay, that’s it! I’m done holding back, Herman.” The Shocker stepped back in shock. “You.. held back?” Gwenom looked down at her left fist which now had a white accent on the top. “I always hold back..” Gwenom shot a web behind Shocker’s head. “Hah you missed-” He began to laugh before she yanked on her web, pulling the small deposit box out of the wall and straight into the back of his head. “OW!” He cried out, stumbling forward as he gripped his head only for Gwenom to punch him in the face and kick him in the stomach, knocking him back into the wall as he fell down.

Before he could even do anything, Gwenom’s hands were on his gauntlets as she harshly pulled both of them off. Throwing one behind her, Gwenom kept the other in her hand as she studied it closely. “I’ve always wondered what it was like to use these..” She whispered, putting the gauntlet on her left hand. “Let’s find out.” Herman began to violently shake his head, trying to crawl away only for Gwenom to use her right hand to web him against the wall and ground. 

Gripping the Shocker’s chin, she made the criminal look up into her emotionless and lifeless lenses that looked as if she had traded away her soul for something far worse. She would let go, lightly slapping him in the face. The Shocker whimpered as she put her hand to his chest, powering up the gauntlet. “No- Please!” He pleaded before screaming as the shockwave went directly into his chest. “AHHHH! PLEASE! I’M SORRY! I’M SO FUCKING SORRY!” Tears formed under his mask and his body still shook in pain as Gwenom took the gauntlet momentarily off his chest.

“I don’t think you learned your lesson..” She whispered. The long disgusting teeth littered tongue that hung down her torso slowly lifted, licking the area on his cheek where he had been slapped. “Let’s go again..” She chuckled, resting her palm on her chest again as the gauntlet slowly began to charge up. “Three..” “NO!” “Two…” “WAIT! PLEASE WAIT!” “One..” Suddenly, a new yet somehow familiar voice broke through the torture. “HANDS IN THE AIR!” 

Gwen paused as her mind returned to reality. She could barely process what happened. What was she doing!? What the hell was wrong with her? Gwen had been torturing someone. That’s not what Spider-Woman does. That’s not what she does. Being utterly sick with her actions, Gwen threw the gauntlet to the side of the room, raising her hands in the air before slowly turning around. “Wait.. I- I don’t know what overcame me-” Her voice cut off as she realized she was looking into the eyes of none other than Captain Jefferson Morales of Earth-65. 

“Spider-Woman.. I thought you were better than this.” The new police captain spoke with a distinct disgust. The vault around them seemed to be colored in different shades of blues as Gwen looked down. “I thought I was too..” A deafening silence passed as the two stared at each other. “You are under arrest for the murder of Peter Parker and the assault of the Shocker..” Jeff continued. Gwen’s lenses widened. “B- But that was an accident!” Jeff peered over her shoulder at the almost lifeless body on the ground. “That don’t look like no accident.” Gwen winced, crossing her arms. “That… wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been. That was something else. Someone else was in control.” Jeff looked around the room. “The only other person standing here is you.. So if you mean to tell me that there is someone you could turn invisible..”

Shaking her head, Gwen bitterly chuckled. “You have no idea.” The captain tilted his head. “Huh?” Gwen brushed that painful comment before taking a step forward. “Don’t come any closer!” He shouted. “Look, I’m just trying to do the right thing!” Gwen cried out in response. Jeff sighed, keeping his gun trained on the girl with his shaking hands. Gwen realized he was scared. He was scared of her. “And I’m just trying to do my job.. You have the right to remain silent.” Gwen kept her arms raised in the air to try and show she wasn’t a threat.. She wasn’t the venom people thought she was. Gwen took another step forward with her eyes under her mask full of tears, saying “Jeff- Captain Morales, I’m so sorry. I know-”

BANG!

Gwen fell back on the ground as she gasped, gripping her stomach. She let out a heavy sob as she pulled her shaking hand away only to see the flattened bullet that had tried to tear through the symbiote suit. Gwen picked it up, studying it in her hands as she sobbed again. Gwen felt a sudden rage overcome her as she glared up at the captain with a betrayed look in her teary eyes. Though luckily, her mask was still on to hide her pain from him and everyone else in the purgatory she lived in. A tendril came out of her hand, knocking the gun out of his before it moved to his neck, wrapping itself around it as two tendrils came out of Gwenom’s back, pushing her up to her feet. 

As Gwen watched the life drain out of the captain’s eyes, she was painfully reminded of the same exact look in the eyes of Miles’ father. Her Miles. The cold dead stare that would never come to cease still bothered her to this day. The pain she had felt radiate off Miles still pierced her hate-filled heart at the thought. Now, here she was choking another version of his father, attempting to kill him once again. Only this time, it was by her own hand and her own will. Gwen’s eyes widened guiltily at this sudden realization, trying to let go of Jeff only for nothing to happen. Gwen pulled her arm back only for the tendril to extend itself, still holding Morales suspended in the air as it gleefully watched him suffer a slow painful end. However, Gwen was not going to let that happen. She was not going to be responsible for the death of Jefferson Morales. She was not going to take away a father from another variant of her sun that was potentially somewhere out there. Not again.

“LET. HIM. GO!” She screamed at Venom.

Gwen felt Venom reluctantly let go of the police captain, dropping the man to the ground before he would touch his throat, desperately trying to catch his breath as he stayed leaned over on all fours. She thought she could see tears of joy to be alive or the fear of being dead leave his eyes- or perhaps it was her warped mind playing tricks on herself. Gwen began to run for the vault exit, momentarily stopping to look at him. “I’m- I’m sorry… I’m so sorry..” Her voice broke in a rushed whisper. Gwen clumsily ran up the marble stairs, refusing to meet the horrified look that met her back. She couldn’t stand to see someone look at her like that again. Making her way to the stop of the grand stairway, she stopped in her tracks as her feet planted themselves in the red carpet. Gwen looked across from her to see a swat team entering the now dark lobby. ‘They must have cut the power.’ Gwen stood at high alert as her white and black spider-sense went off at the sight. Suddenly, the men picked her black suit out through the darkness, shining multiple flashlights of their guns on her as her symbiote tongue raised itself in an angry snarl. 

As much as she felt rage fill her at the sight, Gwen knew deep down underneath the venom in her heart that she didn’t want to fight. Not anymore. She was upset, she was confused, and truth be told she was scared. So, Gwen looked up at the way she came in, which was the almost gaping hole in the gold ceiling. “Fire towards the target at will. Shoot to kill.” Her super hearing picked up some unrecognizable voice over the SWAT’s comms. If the SWAT men wanted to leave this bank alive, Gwen had to leave NOW. Shooting two webs upwards, Gwen ignored the fear that encapsulated her as she pulled back before slingshotting herself up through the hole and onto the roof as gunshots whizzed past her. Gwen completely mentally blanked as she slid down the dome and jumped off without a thought, trying to swing away as quickly as possible.

“Just keep swinging.” She told herself. 

Taking a minute to regather her thoughts, Gwen pushed them back along with the trauma she had just gone through. ‘Just another lovely day in the life of Gwen Stacy..’ she thought to herself, trying to lighten the depressing mood. She was only closing the door with an incoming avalanche on the other side. Swinging to the roof of Vision’s Academy, Gwen forced the locked rooftop access door open with her super strength, going deeper and deeper in the dark stairwell as she flipped through the darkness, her body seemingly on autopilot as her mind took her somewhere else. Through the darkness, she swore she could see Miles’ face. She could see the two of them together, sitting on the Williamsburgh Bank Tower, enjoying one of the last peaceful moments she could remember to date. God, she would give anything to be on that tower with him one last time. 

Her comforting warmth was rudely interrupted as her hand found the doorknob, pushing the door open with unnecessary force. The cool industrial artificial air greeted Gwen as she shivered, holding the baby blue sleeves of her coat to her chest as she made her way down the hall. “I’m so late..” she mumbled, leaning her back against the door of the gymnasium as she winced before walking backwards and pushing forward as she walked through.

“You’re so late!” Glory Grant’s voice cheerfully greeted Gwen first thing as she walked in. “Hello to you too..” Gwen mumbled, stepping up on the stage and making her way towards her drumset. Mary Jane and Betty Brant both exchanged a look. “Hey, she’s here now. That’s all that matters.” MJ spoke with a small smile. She gave an encouraging nod towards Gwen, who couldn’t even return a smile of her own. She couldn’t even force one. Not after what just happened.. Maybe some Gwen Stacy time was exactly what she needed. She sat behind the drumset, grabbing the pair of sticks that sat uselessly on a drum. “Hope you brought a few pairs of your own.” Betty attempted a joke, trying to break the ice. It had been months since the band last played together and despite Mary Jane’s claims of Gwen being changed, the other two saw nothing of what she spoke of. It was just.. Gwen.

“No, I didn’t. I was in a rush to get here. I had to take a taxi which got stuck in traffic, because of course nothing could go according to plan.” Gwen snapped back, the joke literally going over her head as the visible words passed over her. The awkward silence resumed as Gwen sighed, staring down at her drumset like it was a long lost relative she had never really met. “Why not just walk?” Glory asked despite MJ’s obvious hand signals, telling her not to escalate the situation. “Well-” Gwen hurried to find an excuse before one was provided in her head as if someone else had left it there. “There’s a storm approaching. I thought I would get caught in it. Does that answer satisfy you, Mom?”

MJ facepalmed, shaking her head in obvious frustration at not just Gwen, but the other girls as she turned away. “Let’s just play..” She mumbled. This wasn’t the same Gwen she had spoken to just yesterday… It couldn’t be. “Gwen, what the hell is your problem? You’re being an asshole.” Glory responded angrily. Gwen scoffed, rolling her eyes. “What else is new?... My problem… is that I came here to play, and we aren’t fucking playing!” She shouted, slamming a drum stick down on the floor tom only for it to break straight through the top of the drum, falling inside with an echoing clatter. Silence fell back over the room. Shocked at her strength, the group stared at Gwen as she glared down through the hole, feeling her arms begin to shake. The stool she was sitting on was violently kicked back as Gwen stood up, throwing a drumstick in Betty’s direction, causing the girl to duck as it whizzed past her head. “What did I do!?”

The doors to the gymnasium were thrown open as Gwen walked back out into the hall, fists balled as she held back the tears behind her eyes. She let out a single dry heave as she shook her head as if she was trying to shake the emotion she felt off. “Gwen!” She heard her name shouted, turning back to see MJ sprint out of the gym and quickly stopping a few feet away from her. MJ’s view on Gwen only darkened as the storm outside rolled in, restricting any moonlight from continuing to shine through the hallway windows. “Listen, you need to tell me what's going on with you. You disappear for months, seem content at least when I see you next, and now you’re basically right back to square one! I don’t know what’s going on with you! You don’t tell me! You don’t tell anyone! You hold everything in until- until it just explodes! It’s a venom that just- consumes you until that’s all that’s left! I’m worried about you..” MJ let her arms fall to her side as she gave Gwen a desperate frown, wanting to know what was going on with her friend more than anything, but also infinitely scared to find out the truth.

Tears of familiar fear filled Gwen’s eyes, staring at her friend as she opened her mouth. “I..” She began but didn’t know how to continue. What could she say? ‘Hey MJ, I’m Spider-Woman and all I do is fuck up people’s lives!’ Tears now ran down both of Gwen’s cheeks as she let out a sob, covering her face with her sleeves as she wiped the tears away. As she moved her sleeves out of the way, she saw MJ standing there with the same painful tears in hers. Gwen’s fist tightened once again. Here someone else was, suffering because of her indecision to do what was right. She was too late to cut Peter off. Miles cut her off. Maybe it was time she did what was right for MJ and put her out of her misery even if it put Gwen through magnitudes of indescribable pain. MJ leaned forward as if Gwen was going to whisper, as if she still had some glimmer of hope that behind the cracked wall that had been built up, her friend was still in there. 

Gwen looked down, not saying anything else as MJ sighed, leaning back as she rubbed her arm. “Okay.. I’m here if you ever need to talk.. Please.” she whispered the last word in a depressive defeated cry. Gwen looked away, not even being able to handle the despair she saw in her friends eyes. “I don’t need to talk.. Nor will I ever. You should start looking for a new drummer.” Gwen turned around and began walking towards the stairway door, refusing to look back. “Gwen!” She heard MJ shout, her voice thick with emotion. Tears began to pour down her face again as Gwen urged her shaking legs to keep walking away. “GWEN!” She heard once again, this time the cry was more violent, more desperate, and more passionate. Gwen opened the door to the pitch-black staircase, walking in and letting the darkness consume her.

Present Day

A mugger held his gun to a lady’s neck in the pouring rain, holding her against the wet brick alley wall as rain poured around them. He couldn’t tell if she was crying, nor did he care. He just wanted what he came for. “Wallet. Jewelry. Now.” All he heard was a muffled sob in return.

He pulled up his gray hoodie so he could actually see without water constantly getting in his eyes. “Come on. I’m not going to hurt you if you just do what I say.” Unbeknownst to the two, a black figure slowly came down a web upside down behind them before softly landing on her feet.

Not even hearing a single word said, he felt a web shot to his back before it forcefully pulled him back and to the ground. He looked upside down to see Spider-Woman slowly walking towards him as the heavy rainfall fell at her feet. The lady he tried to mug gasped in fear as she clenched her purse and pushed her fiery red hair out of her eyes before taking off running.

The man jumped up and began backing up in the woman’s, only for Spider-Woman to slowly circle around him and begin backing him up deeper into the alley like a shark circling its prey. “Okay wait.. Please.. Just wait. I’m sorry.”

Hearing about Spider-Woman, now would have been time for a quip- joke- anything. Yet, nothing came from her as she kept slowly walking towards him as if she was feeding on his fear. Despite the rain falling down her hood and soaking her costume, she didn’t even flinch. 

Suddenly, Flint Marco heard a scream that sent chills down his spine- Anger. Hatred. Regret. Spider-Woman finally came into view, the ground and air around her red as if someone had spilled paint on a canvas.

Wait- Her costume was… Almost completely black? Since when did she look black? She looked… Gooey. Gooey!? Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. He watched her clenched fist come undone, claws revealing herself before she pounced. 

He felt himself tackled to the ground- barely able to process anything but pain and terror in the minutes that followed. It was as if an animal was attacking him. Spider-Woman didn’t stop until she felt the familiar warmth of blood. 

She clawed and scratched all over before punching him. Again. And again. And again. His screams only fueled her as she kept going, the red that surrounded her now deep and violently shaded as if blood had taken the place of the spilled red watercolor paint on the canvas. 

Gwenom didn’t stop herself. She couldn’t stop herself. The screams of agony were music to her ears. The blood that poured out of the open wounds finally gave the parasite the meal it's been craving. Whilst using her great power, she felt no responsibility. She felt numb. The symbiote didn’t care about Gwen’s pathetic moral code. That’s what was holding her back. Gwenom raised her hand into the air to finish off the dying man, being fueled by the cries of suffering, being fueled by the blood she tasted, and being fueled by the self-hatred that had consumed her host entirely. Gwen’s love had given her weakness. Her hate would give her strength… Strength to save everyone.

Suddenly, Gwenom’s spider-sense went off. It SCREAMED at her. The symbiote and its host stayed kneeled with her fist still raised in the air, trying to assess the incoming threat. Or- threats. Multiple people were coming.. And they were coming for her. Gwenom slowly stood up, turning her head over her shoulder as she watched a bright portal light up the dark alley behind her and the puddle of blood at her feet.

---------------------------------------

[Earth-1610]

Miles paced around in his dark apartment; arms crossed around his chest as he absentmindedly listened to JJJ celebrate the end of Spider-Man. On the TV, Jonah had on a web themed red cone hat and was eating cake as he listed the top ten times Spider-Man had messed up in celebration of Miles quitting. Usually, Miles would be glued to the TV in a self-destructive state. However, now his mind was solely focused on Gwen. On his sunflower. Due to it storming outside, the TV was the only thing illuminating the room. The artificial light hit Miles’ face, giving him the look of having not slept in days. 

Suddenly, he heard the elevator ding from down the hall, followed by the quick steps of his mother against the bright red hallway carpet. His hearing helped him in some cases, but in others it was downright terrifying. Right now, it was a mix of both. Next, Miles heard the door unlocked, causing his nervous pacing to stop as he faced away from the door with his arms crossed, now staring straight at the TV as it showed the battle with Spot. Then, the picture of his father appeared on screen. “Spider-Man couldn’t even save the real hero this time around, Jefferson Morales. Morales was a decorated hero and newly appointed police captain when he gave his life to save a child from falling rubble. What was that rubble caused by? The fight between Spider-Man and the sinister Spot!”

Being glued to the TV, he didn’t even register the fact that his mother had walked in behind him, saying his name several times before grabbing the remote and turning it off. Miles whipped around to look at her as if he hadn’t seen her in years. “You shouldn’t be watching that mierda.” She threw the remote on the couch before grabbing the Chinese she had been carrying off the side table and putting the bag on the counter. She turned to the lightswitch on the wall behind her and flipped it on, one of the two ceiling lights now dimly illuminating the kitchen. “Speaking of mierda.. Wanna tell me why you quit?” She turned towards him as she took off her jacket to reveal her nurse outfit underneath, giving him the ‘mom’ look. Miles stared down at the ground, hearing lightning strike outside. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.. I just need to talk, Mami.”

His mother looked back from the counter with worry, pulling out a stool and pulling one next to her for him to sit on, patting the seat. “Then let’s talk, Mijo.” Miles rubbed his arm as he approached the stool, slowly sitting down as if this was some kind of trap. “Mami.. Remember Gwanda?” His mom gave a curt nod. “Well.. Her name isn’t Gwanda. Her name is Gwen Stacy and she’s from another well- world. She's Spider-Woman. The one that wore white and black.”

“Oh..” Was all she said, letting out a heavy sigh. “So that’s why she suddenly moved away.” Miles nodded, “and that’s how we met.. Well Gwanda showed up a year later as you know and she- she really hurt me, Mami. She hurt me badly. She lied to me and tried to stop me from saving Dad because she thought it would end up doing a lot more harm than good.” She tilted her head, a look of anger quickly taking shape. “How?!” Miles shrugged. “For starters, the end of our universe and the death of billions.” His mother scoffed, reaching over for the water bottle she had carried in and took a sip. “So normal stuff. Everything has to be the end of the world with you teenagers.” Miles chuckled, nodding in mock agreement. “Well after finding out that it would not kill billions or even a single person at that, she put together a team of my friends and came to find me and help me because I was stuck in another universe.”

“So that’s what she meant by she didn’t know where you were..” Rio whispered, everything finally connecting like nodes of a web. “Wait- she came here!?” he exclaimed; a look of shock evident on his face. “Oh yeah, she promised me and your father she would get you back to us. She never told you that?” Miles’ arms fell to his side, a look of devastation filling his face as he stared at the ground. “No…” 

“And she tried to help but save your father, but he still passed away.. Right?” His mother pieced together. She really was a fast learner. “Right.” Miles confirmed, sitting up and shaking his head a little to get the thought of Gwen apologizing to his parents out of his head. She really did care.. She never stopped.. Though, despite his attempts to get rid of the thoughts, his emotions quickly overcame him as he began to break down right in front of his mother. “Oh God.. What have I done?” He managed to choke out before letting out a single sob. His mother moved his face up to meet hers, wiping the tears out of his eyes as she looked at him with even more intense concern than before. “What did you do? Mijo, every problem has a solution.”

Miles stared into her eyes, shaking his head. “Not this one, Mami.. I- I hurt her. I hurt Gwen badly. I told her what happened to Dad was all her fault.. That I never wanted to see her again… I- I- Was so angry. It wasn’t fair. I tried so hard and still failed. I- I just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again! I blamed myself for what happened to dad- I still do! I still see his cold dead eyes, watching over me wherever I go. I still see him reminding me of what I did to him!” Miles shook his head, pulling his head away from her hands and wiping his eyes even though his voice still continued to break.

“Oh Miles.. Mijo..” She whispered, shaking her head. “You should have come to me.. I could have gotten you help. I could have helped you myself. No one should carry that burden alone.. Not even Spider-Man.” “But I’m not Spider-Man!” He raised his voice uncharacteristically, getting up as he was unable to sit down any longer, standing with his back to her as he was unable to meet her eyes. “Look at me.” She demanded. Miles turned his head over his shoulder, looking back at her. “What happened to your uncle wasn’t your fault. What happened to your dad wasn’t your fault. You tried to do the right thing. You tried to save them. “Just like I saved Ditko?” He snapped, facing away from her again. His Mom slumped back against the counter. “Is that why you quit? Is that what this is about? Your inability to save people? You can’t save everyone, Miles. Superpowers or not.” 

Miles turned back to face her. “It’s not about who I save! It’s about who I don’t! Dad died never knowing who I really was! I never got to show him! I never got to make him proud! Uncle Aaron died before he could see who I would become! Ditko died because of who I became! He died because I wasn’t good enough! And Gwen..” He looked down, feeling his heart sink down into the seemingly endless pit of his chest at just the mention of her name. “Gwen is now suffering and in danger not because of what I couldn’t do, but because of what I did.”

“Miles..” Rio whispered, watching her son make eye contact. “You can’t change the past. You need to focus on the future.” She took a deep breath. “Our tragedy isn’t what defines us. It’s how we handle it, it’s how we learn from it, and it’s how it makes us better.” Miles stared at his mother, knowing deep down she was completely and utterly right. 

He began to pace around the dimly lit room again. As he spoke, his voice was laced thick with emotion. “I.. just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m no longer Spider-Man.. I don’t know how to keep going. I don’t know how to make Dad proud! I don’t know if I can save Gwen! I may just make things worse! All I know.. is that I can’t lose her again.” He turned to finally face his mom, his face now showing every bit of depression and despair that had resided within him, now coming out . His Mom would shake her head before softly smiling at her son who looked so uncharacteristically tired. However, she knew that underneath the jaded layers of grieving and guilt hid a bright ball of electrifying hope. 

“Maybe you couldn’t save your uncle.. Maybe you couldn’t save your father.. But you can save Gwen. Make their deaths mean something! Learn from them! Grow from them! Be the hero I know you have always been, Mijo. You wore the mask before, you can wear it again. You may be able to take away Miles Morales from Spider-Man, but you can’t take Spider-Man away from Miles Morales. That’s who you are, mask or no mask. It’s who you were meant to be. You help people. You save people. Miles, you’re a hero.”

Mils looked down shyly, remembering the hateful words that Miguel had spat at him months prior. “And what if the world says I’m not meant to be Spider-Man?” Rio smirked, “then save who you can and show them why they're wrong.” A small grin creased Miles’ lips as he looked up at her with teary despondent eyes, slowly reaching his elbow up and wiping them with his coat sleeve. When his eyes were in view again, the devastation was now replaced by his all too familiar look of hope that burned brighter than the sun itself. 

[What’s Up Danger kicks in] (Highly Suggest link)

https://spotify.link/9smfpT9sbDb

https://youtu.be/_BGgEkmYh-c?si=uhxE2NNV_Z5JHdM9

The rooftop access door was pushed open by Miles’ right hand before it would retreat back into his coat pocket. All that was visible from behind was his black jacket and red hoodie that covered the back of his head. As he walked out onto the roof in the pouring rain, lightning struck off in the distance almost directly in front of him, lighting up the suffocating night sky. 

“I don’t have a suit.” His voice spoke.

“Eh, I was going to wait until Christmas, but I have something for you.” Rio’s voice replied. Rio walked out of her room with a new suit folded in her arms, holding it out to Miles. “I figured you’d eventually need a new one.. No time like the present.” 

Miles took the suit she was holding out into his arms, staring at his reflection in the wide hopeful lenses. “So, what are you going to do?” His mother would ask. Miles looked up at her. “I’m gonna save my Sunflower, and nothing is getting in my way.”

As Miles took heavy footsteps across the wet roof, his black and red Jordan’s kicked water up as more would hit the roof to take its place. Finally, Miles got to the edge of the roof as he stared ahead at the city of him. His city.

The younger Miles starred up into the lenses of Peter Parker’s old suit back in the Spider-Shed. “YOU WEREN’T MEANT TO BE SPIDER-MAN!” Miguel O’Hara’s voice echoed. “I didn’t know.. How to tell you.” Gwen’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. “I don’t want to see any of you again… including you.” His own voice now bitterly spoke.

Miles stood at the edge of the roof, overlooking the city as he dug his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out a similar mask to the one he had previously worn, holding it in a tight grip. Miles spread out his arms, letting his jacket fall off him as lightning struck again. As the jacket fell off, his back was now replaced by a new black suit with an even bigger spider logo whose legs spread over his shoulders and down his sides. The front spider still however had the same spray paint circle around its base, signifying Miles was still the same person he had been when he took his first leap of faith. He had always been a hero.

Miles now began suiting up, sliding each sleeve, glove, and shoe on one at a time in a comic panel-esque style. “I see this- this spark in you! It’s amazing! Whatever you choose to do, you’ll be great.” His father’s voice warmly said. “So, what do you think?” Miles’ voice asked. “What I always think.. You’re amazing.” Gwen softly spoke. “We’re the same.” Miles’ voice whispered. “Miles, you’re a hero.” His mom’s voice rang through his head. “You’re the best of all of us, Miles. You’re on your way.. Just keep going.” Uncle Aaron finally said. 

Miles held the mask on top of his serious looking, hellbent, hopeful face that could’ve struck fear in even Miguel O’Hara himself before pulling the mask down, his eyes now being replaced by his wide-eyed lenses. As both lenses stared ahead, the reflection of lightning once again striking appeared in both of them. Suddenly Miles hesitated, turning around and beginning to walk away before his feet rooted himself in place. He took a deep breath as both of his lenses closed before opening again with newfound confidence and determination. Miles looked at the door that led down to his apartment as his expressive lenses slightly relaxed. 

Then, Miles Morales looked over his shoulder back out at the city whose tears of pain fell from the sky. They needed him. Gwen needed him. Looking away for a split second, he took another deep breath before he sprinted towards the edge of the roof without another thought, jumping off and taking his leap of faith. 

For one second, there was nothing but peace. Nothing was heard. Not a single word was said. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The city that never sleeps had come to a sudden quiet halt as Miles fell face first. Facing the side of the apartment building, Miles stared at his own reflection with each window that passed. Shooting a web upwards, Miles let himself fall further and further downward, getting closer and closer to the pavement below without a single worry in his head. 

His web caught itself on the top of the roof, abruptly stopping Miles’ fall and causing him to swing backward into the side of the building with his feet stuck out behind him. His feet hit the brick stones of the building, moving a bit more apart and positioning themselves as both of his lenses narrowed. Suddenly, the busy city returned to its normal noisy self as Miles pushed both of his legs back, jumping forward and over the busy street. “WOOOOOOOOHHH!” He happily screamed, beginning to swing over the streets of Brooklyn. 

“BROOKLYN I’M BACK, BABY!” he shouted to the streets below. “I’M BACK!” Every umbrella tilted upwards as every citizen, police officer, and criminal looked up as Spider-Man swung above. The message was clear.

Spider-Man was back.

As the black and red streak flashed by a row of TVs in a store window, every screen played J. Jonah Jameson celebrating the end of Spider-Man and finding out about his sudden return. As he ate his cake listening to a caller on the phone, an aid ran up to him with a note, holding up to him. Jonah read the note before his face of joy quickly soured. He looked back at the suit on the wall behind him before looking back at his aid. “So that’s not his suit?” The college aged girl simply shrugged before whipping back her jet-black hair and stepping out of view of the camera. “Oh.”

Jonah stared back at the suit before sighing and hanging up on the caller who had been debating him about the effectiveness of Spider-Man mid-sentence without a second thought. He picked up the old telephone and dialed a number before holding the receiver to his ear. “Yeah, Conners? You heard too? Well, I guess the suit isn’t his. Yeah.. I’m going to have to cancel that DNA test.. Alright, thank you- What do you mean there aren’t any refunds!?”

Miles eventually came over the edge of the Flatiron building, stepping onto the gravel surface as he walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the bustling Times Square. Turning away from the square, Miles looked down at the Spider-Society watch from Margo that he was sporting. Miles squinted down as he held it close to his face to prevent the lit-up screen from getting rained on. He pushed down on two keys, one being a six and the other being a five. Instantaneously, a portal began to open in front of him as trash and even a sleeping pigeon lifted off the ground as it began to frantically flap its wings. Miles stared ahead at the bright mix of purples and oranges as the giant screens of Times Square displayed ads behind him. Miles knew what he had to do now. He was going to save Gwen.

In another universe across the border of space and time itself, Gwenom stood tall with her lenses narrowed, staring out at the city with her mask surrounded by darkness as the bell of the Williamsburgh Bank Building sat still behind her. Miles’ mask was illuminated by the light that surrounded him and the hope that radiated off him. His lenses narrowed in the exact same way, only not driven by hate, but love. “I’m coming, Gwen.” Miles whispered before rushing towards the gradually closing portal, and jumping in. 

(Miles' new suit!)

Chapter Text

Through the dark red puddle on the concrete ground, Peter B. Parker’s reflection stared back at him as he watched the others emerge through the bright portal behind him that illuminated the horrifying scene in front of him. On his left were Hobie, Pavitr, Ham, and Noir while Margo, Peni, and Jessica stood on his right. Seeing Gwenom’s fist ball up in the bloody reflection, Peter B. slowly looked up past the body behind her and into her lifeless lenses. “Gwen.. Take it easy. We’re here to help, okay?” He raised his hands into the air to show he meant no harm. 

“You’ve helped enough. I don’t need you. We don’t need any of you.” She spat bitterly. Peter opened his mouth to speak but was taken aback. “We?..” 

Before their very eyes, half of Gwen’s mask retreated back from her face, showing the pure hatred in her once soft eyes. “We are Gwenom.” Noir scoffed, shaking his head in dismay at the sight. “What’s that? A couple name?” Gwenom paused, looking at the ground as her hood covered her face. Looking back up with her face now completely covered, she spoke. “A bond.”

“Gwen, that's not a bond, it's a poison!” Margo shouted, taking a step forward. However, Peter cautiously held his arm out in front of her to prevent her from moving further. “Are.. You scared of her?” She asked with a tone of shock, turning to look at him. Peter’s eyes provided his sorrowful answer. 

“He should be.” Gwenom said, slowly walking to the side to give them a better view of the body on the ground. “Is he?-” Ham asked as his lenses frowned in a cartoon fashion. “He will be… Dying.. Just like my welting heart..” Gwenom whispered as she looked away, turning to look back at the band that had turned against her. “You wanna help someone, you can start with him.” The band all looked at each other, every one of them hesitant to leave the others with the monster that had consumed their friend. 

“I’ll go.” Jessica finally spoke up, stepping forward and slowly walking near Gwen. “May I?” Gwenom held out her hand in the body’s direction. “By all means.” Jessica Drew kneeled down by the body and felt his neck for a pulse. “He’s alive. Barely.” She mumbled, picking him up and slinging him over her shoulder. “Better get going then.” Gwenom said matter of factly. Jessica looked over her old disciple before cringing and looking away. Despite the shield that covered her face, she could still see the pain behind it. “I’m sorry, Gwen. You didn’t choose to be like this..” 

The symbiote infected girl said nothing as her fists momentarily opened and fell flat by her sides. Jessica looked at the band and nodded at them before shooting a web and swinging off into the darkness. Peter watched her leave before turning back to Gwenom, whose arms shook as if she wanted to say something. However, they returned calmly to her side as if being seduced back under control. He’s not the only one who needs help, y’know.” Margo whispered.

“I don’t need help!” Gwen shouted a bit too aggressively. “Gwen, we all need help at one time or another. You just need to ask.” Spider-Ham replied softly. “You can’t force help though! I don’t need it. I don’t want it.” She insisted. 

“In some cases, you do. You’re not yourself. You’re not in the right frame of mind. That thing is influencing you!” Peter cried out in a worried tone that was quite rare for him. “This thing has cared more about me than any of you ever had.. Except for Mi-” She paused, not even able to say his name. Even attempting to say his name broke her heart all over again. “Except for him.”

Tears formed in Peter B.’s eyes, causing him to look down at the ground as rain drops began to fall, mixing with his tears. “Gwen.. I’ve lost a lot in the past few years.. I already lost Miles. I can’t lose you too.”

“That’s different! He’s like a son to you!”

“And you’re like a daughter!”

Silence overtook the alley once again as Gwen- kept standing there. She was standing there like an idiot. She wanted to do nothing more than hug Peter. She wanted to do nothing more but cry in his arms. However, images filled her head of the fight at the society, the look Miles gave her when he cut her web, and Miles rejecting her on the Williamsburg Clock Tower freed her of her emotion and formed a new barrier around her icy heart. ‘They don’t care about you. Nobody cares about you. Anyone who ever had is gone or hates you now. Except for me. Don’t let them take me from you, Gwen.’ the seducing voice of Venom whispered into her mind. 

“I won’t..” She whispered with determination as her fists balled once again. “Gwen don’t listen to it! It’s manipulating you!” Margo pleaded. “Funny, I didn’t hear you all say the same thing when we were chasing after Mi- him.” She hissed dismissively. “Gwen, we made a mistake.” Peni cut in.

“And you’re about to make another one if you stay here much longer.” Gwenom warned, looking around at all of them like a predator anticipating its prey. The moment turned tense as the Spider-Band got ready to go into battle, watching Gwenom’s movements very closely. Gwenom stood dead still as she stared at them- daring them to make a move.

“Okay, stop!” Margo shouted, stepping towards her. “We are worried about you, Gwen! Miles is worried about you!” The very mention of the boy’s name in such a manner set Gwenom off in an instant. “BULLSHIT!” She screamed as a tendril flew out of her hand and wrapped around Margo’s neck, quickly pulling the girl back towards Gwenom and straight into her hand which wrapped around her neck, holding her just high enough to where her feet wouldn’t touch the ground. “Gwen!” Peter B. yelled. “Let her go!” Peni yelled a bit louder from the safety of her Sp//der.

“I’m.. Sorry.” Margo choked out as her feet swung in the air, just inches above the blood-soaked concrete as she struggled. However, no matter how much she struggled, the strength of the symbiote was simply too much for her. “Bullshit..” Gwen repeated with what sounded like a sob. 

“We need to get that suit off her.” Noir told the others before the rest of the band either leapt into the air or dived at her. As Gwenom turned around away from them, still holding Margo by the neck, many long tendrils came out of her back, grabbing onto each band member and throwing to the ground, holding them against a wall, or suspending them in midair. “You already took Miles away from me.. You aren’t taking him as well.” Gwen said, staring daggers at Margo from under her lenses. “It.” She gasped. 

Gwenom looked back at the others before shaking her head and lashing out in anger, violently throwing Margo into the side of the apartment building next to them. Margo flew through the brick wall only to fall in someone's family room as she slowly got on her feet, looking down at her hands to see them disappearing and reappearing much like how Miguel’s suit once had. Back in her room in real life, Margo hit her headset as she groaned. “Come on! Work you stupid piece of shit!” 

Gwenom threw everyone to the ground with her back tendrils before smashing the Sp//der on top of them to make the impact hurt all the more. “Gwen!” Peter B. called out from under the pile, just barely able to make the girl out between multiple pairs of legs. Gwenom looked back over her shoulder, baring a pair of long sharp teeth just under her lenses as she growled. Peter felt chills move through his body as he fell silent at the terrifying sight. 

Gwenom continued to bare her teeth as she stepped through the hole in the side of the building to face Margo. As she got ready to pounce, the two of them both heard a door fly open only for a young seemingly asian mother and father standing there, paralyzed by fear as the mother clutched the baby close to her chest as she screamed. Gwenom whipped her head around to see the family, the tips of her fingers quickly forming into claws. “Ooooh no you don’t!” Margo shouted, shooting a web at Gwenom’s back and yanking with all of her might, making the other come flying back towards her, turning around midair to face her. “Uh oh.”

SMASH! The both of them went flying through the dry wall and into the apartment building hall, Gwenom on top of Margo as they both hit the floor, dust falling all around them as the overhead hanging lights flickered rapidly. Other people began to open their doors in their pajamas, looking around drowsily at the unusual situation that was unfolding in front of them. Gwenom had her claws wrapped around Margo’s throat as the other girl thrashed under her, trying to sit up only for Gwenom to shove her back down. “You extinguished my sun.. Now I’ll smother the flame you call a life.”

A crack formed around the area where Gwenom was gripping, threatening to shatter the facade Margo was living within an instant. However, before she could finish the job, Margo’s avatar sparked, causing Gwenom to yelp and leap back. Margo sat up as her face glitched. “You don’t like electricity, huh?” Gwenom shook off the minor fear before growling and leaping at Margo again. Margo shot a web at the side of the stairs beside her, pulling herself out of the way and standing up as Gwenom pounced on all fours at the spot she had laid seconds prior.

Gwenom screeched, diving straight where Margo stood. But once again, the girl dodged the primal attack by shooting a web at the ceiling and pulling herself up over the railing onto the stairs as she looked down at Gwenom. The ill-minded girl looked up at Margo, her lifeless lenses narrowing in a sudden show of emotion as Margo sprinted up the last few remaining stairs and into another hallway. Straight ahead, she watched Noir and Ham help a bald elderly looking man who moved slower than a tortoise out of his room. “Y’know y’all could help, right!?” She cried out, looking back down the stairs to not see anything behind her. “We are! If we don’t get control of the symbiote, this building could collapse from the sheer damage she’s causing!” Ham said, turning to her. “I thought we told Peter to help you?” Margo threw her hands up in the air. “Apparently not!”

“Alrighty, you’ll want to head towards those stairs.” Noir said, pointing behind Margo, who shook her head. “Alright, new plan. Have you ever heard of a fire escape?” He asked the man as his wife inched out behind her. “Yeah, I’ve never used one before. Seems awfully dangerous.” Noir chuckled awkwardly, moving behind him and leading him back into his apartment. “Well sir, do I have a surprise for you..” Ham ran across the hall to the other door, quickly knocking on it. “Wait, where is she?” He asked in a rarely serious tone. Margo simply shrugged. “I don’t fucking know but a break from being thrown around is nice-” 

Their spider-senses went off as Margo turned towards the stairs. In seemingly slow motion, the wood floor splintered apart and was thrown up in the air as Gwenom burst up from under it, directly in front of Margo. Seeing this, Ham jumped between them as Margo backed away and brought down a cartoon mallet onto her head, only for it to shatter as the girl stood still, completely unscathed. Ham chuckled nervously. “You break it, you buy it, right?” Using hardly any strength, Gwenom slapped him to the left and sent him flying through a wall as he burst into another apartment. Screaming of a man and a woman was heard as Ham yelled, “Oh come on! Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a talking pig in red and blue spandex before!”

Shooting a web and pulling Margo into her grip, Gwenom held her up in the air as a tendril emerged from her hand, carrying Margo up further so her feet could not touch the ground. “TIme to finish the job..” she whispered as the symbiote’s mouth grew larger and unhinged, bringing Margo towards it as she screamed in pure fear. This wasn’t Gwen. It couldn’t be. 

Watching this take place from behind Margo, a red gloved hand gripped the fire alarm before firmly pulling down on the switch and leaping out of sight. An ear-piercing ringing filled the building as Gwenom screamed, letting Margo go in an instant and stumbled back in shock as she gripped the sides of her head. Seeing the fire alarm flashing on the wall beside her, she launched a tendril at it, crushing it like a fly as the blaring sound stopped. Despite this success, the sprinklers on the ceiling still began to go off as she regained her sharp focus, staring at Margo through the raining water that separated them. 

Gwenom lunged at Spider-Byte, but suddenly, a web was shot at Margo’s back and pulled her away, just out of Gwenom’s reach and onto the floor. “Hey! No eating people! Super unprofessional!” Gwenom didn’t even need to look up to know who that was. “You look fat enough to have eaten people, Peter.” 

“Jeez, is that the symbiote or the sassy eye-rolling teenage girl who hates life talking?” Peter B. asked, stuck to the wall just above the window at the end of the hall and leaning back against it. Outside the window, Peni’s Sp//der carried a family down to safety as the building subtly swayed. Margo quickly ducked into the room in which Noir was helping the old man leave so she could reconfigure her avatar and check on its structural damage. Back in the hallway, Gwenom charged Peter B. and jumped up in the air, both of her clawed hands attempting to strike at him. However, she landed back on her feet as she glared up at Peter, who had stuck out his feet onto the ceiling flipped over upside down as he looked at her “Alright, a bit of both!” Gwenom stood there for a second, trying to figure out how to get him down when she got a simple idea. She wasn’t going to play his games. She shot two organic webs up at Peter’s chest and pulled him down to the floor, stepping out of the way as a bit of rubble fell on top of him. 

Peter B. groaned as he got up, only for his face to meet Gwenom’s fist. Seeing him stumbling back towards the window, Gwenom took advantage of the opportunity and shot two webs on either side of him, slingshotting herself into him with her legs held out and kicking him through the glass and out onto the side of the brick building. Peter quickly shot a web to the side of the building, quickly stopping their fall as Gwenom managed to grip his leg. “Gwen! It’s me! You can fight this!” He urged her on as he kicked her off and began to climb up the side of the building. He had to use only one hand since the other was shielding his eyes from the downpour of rain. “Yeah, that’s the problem. It’s you.” She spat with venom. 

Gwenom began to rapidly climb up towards Peter, using her claws to dig into the bricks and propel herself forward as it rained around them. The next time Peter looked down at Gwenom, she was directly under him. She grabbed his leg once again and pulled him down easily due to the wet surface. Peter winced as he elbowed her, not wanting to hurt her. Did he really have a choice now? Peter jumped off the side of the building and shot a web, swinging away and back towards her in a big circle, kicking Gwenom through a window significantly higher than the one they had come out of earlier before. 

As Gwenom slid across the floor in the hallway nearly identical to the other two from earlier, Peter perched himself on the windowsill, kicking away a bit of broken glass. Gwenom’s tendrils helped her stand, pushing her up from behind as she clenched her fists. Letting out a violent scream, Gwenom’s tendril grabbed Peter B. from the windowsill and threw him through a wall to her side, hopping through the hole after him.

Peter flew through a structural support pillar and slid across the tile floor of an L shaped kitchen. Seeing Gwenom fly through the air at him, he was quick to think. Peter shot a web at the fridge beside him and yanked the door open just in time for Gwenom to make contact with it. When the door swung back closed, Gwenom was now revealed to be on the floor, groaning as she got up. “Finally, you’re getting tired.” He mumbled. “Not even close.” Her warped voice responded as she began to walk towards Peter with a menacingly posture as her fists balled. He crawled backwards on the floor away from her, rapidly running out of space behind him. 

BANG!

Gwenom gripped the sides of her head as she kneeled, doubling over. 

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She looked over her shoulder, still holding her hands to her head as she witnessed Margo take a step towards her, banging two cooking pans together. 

BANG! BANG! BANG! CRASH!

Each time Margo slammed the pans into each other, Gwenom swore she could see the sound waves that verberated from them and around the room. With each bang, the sounds turned into the familiar crash of a cymbal. Gwenom knew nobody had a cymbal. It had to be in her head. It was all in her head. 

“You can fight this, Gwen! You’re my friend!” Margo shouted.

“If I’m your friend, why are you hurting me!?”  she screamed.

Silence overtook the room as Peter B. continued to lay on his back behind her, still groaning as he was barely able to move. The others were still evacuating the building. It was just Gwen and Margo. No backup was coming. Margo knew this. She knew she couldn’t fight the green-eyed monster that had overtaken her friend. She knew that she stood no chance at defeating Venom on her own. So, she went with the only option she really had.

Margo threw the pans on the floor with a loud clatter, making Gwenom shake in pain. “You’re right. You are my friend… I’m done hurting you.”

Gwenom slowly stood up to face her friend turned adversary, her hands loosened momentarily. The distorted voice of Gwenom was now replaced by the familiar, yet hesitant voice of Gwen Stacy.

“If that’s the case, then tell me… Why did you take Miles away from me?”

Margo groaned, crossing her arms. “Is this what this is all about? Your inability to move on?”

“When the sun sets and the sky darkens, so does the bright world you once saw.” Gwen replied with little to no emotion. “Miles was my sun. He was my hope. He was my will to live.”

“And what keeps you going now?” Margo pushed on.

Gwen looked down and hesitated as her fists clenched once again. Looking up, her lenses narrowed as her warped voice returned.

“Venom.”

“Gwen..” Margo whispered, beginning to answer the girl's original question. “I never took Miles from you.. Your actions are what pushed him away! Look, you can’t change the past.. Neither can I. I’m sorry..”

“I know I can’t.. That’s why I’m going to kill you!” Gwenom screamed, shooting a chest at Margo’s chest and pulling the girl towards her as she leapt up, grabbing Margo’s chest and shoving her into the ground as she crouched on top of her. 

Margo could barely make out what was happening through her headset as sparks began to fly. Gwenom screamed in anguish- in a purgatory of suffering as she clawed and ripped away at the metal of Margo’s avatar. Margo could swear she saw tears leak through the seemingly emotionless lenses above her. Peter B. threw himself onto the floor and crawled towards them only for Gwenom to violently swipe behind her, sending him rolling back. She turned her attention back to Margo, now audibly sobbing beneath her mask as she ripped away at her former friend.

As Margo’s whole body began to glitch and give out, she smiled up at her friend. “It’s okay, Gwen… It’s going to be okay.”

With that, the avatar that once contained Margo Kess powered down and began to twitch and rapidly spark before a bright light filled the room as the suit exploded and sent Gwenom flying back, hitting the back of her head on a cabinet as everything went dark. 

---------------------------------------

Back in her room on Earth-22191, Margo didn’t say a word as she pulled her headset off of her face, her bloodshot eyes squinting as they adjusted to the first actual light they had seen in at least a day. 

Listening to her parent’s shout at each other, she threw her headset on the bed beside her desk and leaned back in her chair, kicking her feet up onto the desk as she closed her eyes, still reliving everything she had just gone through. 

Opening her eyes once again, they were now filled with tears as Margo moved her feet back onto the floor and sat up, wiping them as she looked back at her headset again. She failed Gwen… Hopefully, someone could help her.

She got up from her chair and looked out the dirty window at the city hidden by smog. The windows of other buildings were all lit up as everyone else seemed to be trapped in their own virtual worlds, desperately trying to escape the one humanity made for itself. A large wave of electricity ran down the side of the building in the distance, keeping it powered.

Margo turned away from the window, closing her eyes once again as she winced at the painful sight before reopening them with newfound anger and marching towards her bedroom door. Swinging it open, she stepped into the dark upstairs hallway that was dimly lit by the light coming from the staircase below as she listened to her parents continue another one of their arguments.

“Just get a divorce already!” she screamed.

The penthouse turned to an uncomfortable silence as she groaned, continuing to walk past the railing and down the hall, into her bathroom. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, clenching her fist before throwing it behind her, pushing forcefully on the lock to the door. Margo walked to the mirror over the sink, staring at the disappointing reality that gazed back her.

Unlike everyone around her, she couldn’t escape this reality.

Not anymore.

---------------------------------------

Peter B. slowly opened his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head, leaning his head up to see the room surrounding him engulfed in flames. “Peter!” He heard shouted in the distance. That must’ve been what had woken him up. Turning his head around as he heard his neck crack, he saw no sign of Gwenom. She was gone.

“Shit..” He mumbled, coughing as he felt his ribs, managing to get to one knee. Looking forward, he saw a huge hole in the wall opening up to the watercolor painted metropolis. “She must’ve left that way…” He whispered to himself before coughing again, getting his other foot on the ground as he stood up. Gripping the refrigerator next to him for support, he immediately pulled his hand away due to the extreme heat that the fridge held. 

“Peter!” Hobie shouted, jumping through the flames as he reached him. “Where’s Gwendy!?” He asked worriedly as the floor creaked beneath them. They didn’t have long. Peter stared at the beautiful city in front of him through the hole in the brick wall. “Gone.” He shot a web at the ceiling as he continued to stare at the city before the floor under them gave way, falling stories below as Hobie jumped up, also shooting a web at the ceiling. “Where’d she go!?” the punk asked with rare emotion. Peter simply shrugged as he began to lower himself down through the burning building as Hobie followed. “Is Margo?...” Peter nodded. “Avatar exploded and caused the fire, I guess. She’s fine back in her room on whatever earth she resides on, but we sure as hell aren’t.”

Hobie looked Peter up and down as the two continued to lower their webs. “You okay? You seem so… Serious.” He asked, sounding genuinely fearful. “No, I’m not okay!” Peter snapped as the two reached the second floor. “Gwen tried to kill Margo and I failed yet another person I love!” He shouted, walking past Hobie and into the hallway as burning wood fell around them as if it was nothing. Hobie hesitated, dodging the flaming materials raining from above as he followed Peter. “She’s my friend too..” The older man in front of him stopped in his steps and looked back at him. “I’m sorry.. I just don’t want to fail another Gwen Stacy.. Not again.”

Hobie slowly nodded, gripping the railing of the staircase a bit too tight as it cracked. “We won’t mate. You got my word.” Peter’s light smile returned before turning around and going down the staircase before turning around to his right and walking down the hallway and out the front door to the complex. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Peter let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the somber scene in front of him. Many sat against the brick wall of the building across the alleyway, families comforting their young ones and couples huddled together in a comforting embrace. The few people who lived alone stared straight ahead, perhaps in disbelief or perhaps in lonesome. 

Looking to his right, Peter and Hobie saw the rest of the band giving out blankets, tending to injuries, and informing the fire department of the situation. Just as Peter was ready to sit with the others and let his own cuts and bruises heal, “I need him, Mommy!” they heard a shrill voice squeal as they both turned back to see a little girl sprint into the building. A lady, who was holding a baby ran up to the two of them. “Please, help! My daughter ran back in for her stuffed penguin! I told her not to but she didn’t listen. I’m so sorry.”

Peter raised his hand to stop her. “It’s okay! I have a daughter of my own, I completely understand. They are so hard to keep track of sometimes! Here, I have the cutest pictures of her!” he said, beginning to pull his phone out of a pouch in the side of his suit. However, Hobie gripped his arm, stopping him. “She won’t have a daughter in the next few minutes if we don’t get in there, Mate.” Peter looked from Hobie to the horrified lady. “Right. What’s your daughter’s name?” 

“Grace..” The lady replied.

“That’s such a sweet name! My daughter’s name is Mayday. She’s named after-” 

“PETER!” Hobie shouted, facepalming. “Bloody Hell.”

Peter shook his head as if shaking the cobwebs off. “Right.” He said again. He pointed his finger out, spinning around before finding the entrance behind him. “Hobie, stay here. I’ll be back.” 

“Wha- Peter, it’s too bloody dangerous! You’re injured enough as it is!”

The father turned around, the playful demeanor he had seconds ago now replaced by a gravely serious one. “I’m not letting anyone else get hurt tonight.. You’re staying here.” Even though the mask lenses covered his face, Hobie could still see the utter exhaustion behind them. “Just be safe.”

Peter snorted, walking through the entrance to the burning building. “You kidding?.. Never have, never will.” Hobie chuckled before turning to see the mother crossing her arms, making his smile under his mask quickly disappear as he folded his arms, turning comically serious. “He will be safe with your daughter though.. I think.”

Burning wood fell around Peter as he went from room to room, checking them for the young girl. “Probably should have gotten information about which apartment she ran to and not have gushed about Mayday so much..” He mumbled as he went up the stairs to the second floor. “Grace!?” He shouted. “In hewe!” A high pitched voice cried out. Peter sprinted to his right, jumping over the flames in the doorway and landing on the wood as his foot went through the worn floor. He groaned in pain as he pulled it out before limping into the little girl’s room to see her sitting on her bed, gripping her stuffed penguin close as she cried softly. 

“Hey.. It’s okay..” 

Peter B. limped over to the bed and kneeled down, wincing from the jolts of pain before gripping his mask and pulling it to the top of his head to reveal his silly smile. Despite the fire that surrounded them, he kept his most important superpower of all.

The ability to just keep smiling.

“My name’s Peter, what’s your name?” He asked softly.

“Grace..” The young girl replied shyly, looking the man's face over as her look of fear turned into the beginnings of a smile. “That’s such a pretty name!” Peter B. exclaimed. “Do you want to get out of here, Grace?” 

The young girl moved her curly red hair out of her face to reveal her freckles as she nodded again, now smiling. “Alrighty, let's get out of here..” He held out his arms and picked Grace up and off the bed, walking out of the room and sprinting as he jumped over the flames yet again, stumbling a bit as he landed on the floor. “Are you okay?” The little girl asked softly, a look of empathy evident in her eyes. Peter nodded as he smiled. “Just getting too old for this..”

Suddenly, Peter’s spider-sense SCREAMED at him. He quickly set Grace down and turned around, holding his hands up to see a giant brick wall hurtling down towards the both of them. As the hot bricks hit his hands, Peter B. cried out as tears filled his eyes. He turned his head to his right to see the staircase only a few feet away. “Grace, you need to go down those stairs honey. I’ll be right behind you. I promise.”

Grace’s smile quickly disappeared as she shook her head, walking up to him as she pulled on his leg, making the large wall come down further as his leg slipped under him. “Grace! Don’t!” He shouted frantically. No matter how much force he put into pushing the wall back, it barely budged. Peter B. felt a feeling of dread make its way down his body and into the pit of his stomach where it settled uneasily. 

“I can’t save you..” Peter B. whispered, his hands beginning to violently tremble as the wall lurched forward yet again. “Grace please!” he screamed. The young girl gripped her penguin to her chest as her feet firmly rooted in place, shaking her head in brave- yet idiotic defiance once again as she stared up at the wall looming over her. “I’m scared..” As Peter B. closed his eyes and felt his hands begin to slip, tears began to fall down his cheeks. He turned back to Grace as he began crying, a feeling of hopelessness washing over him.  

“It’s just a leap of faith.” A familiar voice said.

Peter B. turned to his right again, his eyes fixed on a mesmerizing, spinning, orange, portal that began to open, bathing the already bright room around them in an even brighter glow as it grew in size. Pieces of smoldering wood began to lift up into the air, swirling in a terrifying, yet breathtaking vortex of embers around them. Two webs emerged from the center of the portal, darting towards Grace and attaching onto her before they were yanked back, pulling her through the air as she yelped. 

Time itself turned to slow motion as the black and red figure of Miles Morales shot out of the portal, pulling Grace into his arms. The larger than earth lenses of his mask eclipsed Peter’s view as the two shared an understanding gaze. Then, just as quickly as time had decelerated, it sped up once again as Miles went flying through the hall and out the broken window, still carrying Grace in his arms.

“I taught him to do that..” Peter B. whispered; his eyes still full of tears as he felt a burst of pride. Two webs shot to the side of the window as Miles pulled himself back up. Jumping over to Peter’s side, the two joined forces to push against the brick wall as it went back into place with a resounding thud. “Look, Peter, I know I said some harsh things-”

Before Miles could continue on, Peter shook his head and limped over to the boy, throwing his arms around him in a heartfelt, thankful embrace. Miles’ look of concern quickly diminished to a simple grin as he returned the gesture, a distinct understanding being shared between the former student’s and mentor’s unspoken connection. 

---------------------------------------

As the rest of the Spider-Band helped the last of the civilians move to the parking lot across the street and away from the unstable structure, Hobie and Grace’s mom stood on the edge of the road, watching the building intently for any sign of Peter B. and Grace. “Do you think they’re?...” The mother attempted to ask. The question itself was so appalling that she couldn’t even bring herself to finish it. “I don’t know..” Hobie painfully admitted, crossing his arms as he paced back and forth, continuing to look at the building. 

“Hobie, why not just go in there? He may need your help.” Pavitr asked, walking over to the two. “Because I promised him I wouldn’t!” The rockstar snapped back as he pulled off his mask, shaking his head as he let his extensive hair fly. Pavitr stepped next to Hobie, resting a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “It’s okay bro.. Spider-Man always gets the job done.”

However, the mirror image of the flaming building in Pavitr’s lenses cast doubt on his claim. Hobie looked down at the young spider pitifully. If only he knew the truth..

“Not always.”

Suddenly, Hobie and Pavitr’s spider-sense went off, making both of their heads tilt upwards at the second floor window as they took an eager step forward. Hobie’s fist only tightened its hold on his mask. “What? Is it Grace?!” The mother exclaimed, stepping forward as well. Both Hobie and Pavitr shook their heads, striving to pinpoint the all too familiar sensation. It wasn’t danger.. It was.. It was- Both of their lenses widened in utter shock.

Across the street, pieces of smoldering wood were flung out of the second-floor window as Miles Morales burst through it, cradling Grace securely in his arms. The burning embers around him cast a glow upon his suit through the heavy rain and under the pitch-black sky. The sun had risen to return the light to Gwen's dark night.

Miles shot a web at a light pole as he and Grace fell, providing them safe passage over the bustling street. He ran across the top of a passing taxi, and continued to utilize the pole to swing directly in front of Hobie and Pavitr. Miles glided gallantly across the slick, rain-soaked pavement before coming to a stop, slightly bent over. He looked back over his shoulder as the image of a heart was briefly visible on his back before standing straight up and gently setting Grace on the ground. 

“Thank you so much, Spider-Man!” Grace’s mom shouted, picking up her daughter and hugging her close as tears ran down her cheeks. “Of course.. It’s what we do.” Miles said with a nonchalant shrug, holding both of his hands out before turning away. Before Pavitr or Hobie could even get a word in, Miles shot two webs at the light pole and took multiple steps back before jumping up as he let the webs slingshot him forward feet-first. Landing on the side of the building, Miles ran back up to the second-floor window and shot two webs at the windowsill, pulling himself onto and through it. A minute passed as the entire band now gathered to stare at the building as if it was a burning symbol of hope lighting the way through the darkness. “Was that?..” Peni asked, not being able to help but smirk. “Sure as hell was.” Noir responded back proudly, a single tear escaping through his lens goggles as Ham looked up at him. “Are- you crying?” Noir quickly looked down at him as if he had been caught in the act of doing something taboo. “Me? Never! Crying is for infants and whoever watches Titanic. It’s the rain!”

The group heard a loud screeching groan as they all turned from Noir to the apartment complex. The building had most certainly seen better days as it was lurching from side to side, practically teasing the group over which way it would fall. Suddenly, it began to lean its way forward over the busy backed up street. Seeing construction in the distance, the band knew that those cars weren’t moving anytime soon. “Guys, we need to evacuate the road!” Peni shouted as specs of the building came up in front of her inside her Sp//der. A timer began counting down on the timer, starting with 6 minutes. “Uhm, huge problem. We’ve got 6 minutes to evacuate that street!” She shouted. The group spotted the firefighters sprinting out of the building and climbing inside their firetruck in the alley to avoid the blast. 

The burning building leaned forward again as a few loose bricks escaped the foundation and fell below. Peni’s sp//der faced the group again. “We’ve got 1 minute to evacuate that street!” Hobie took his new guitar off his back straps and looked it over. It wasn’t the same as the old one, but it would still work. Knowing he didn't have enough time to pick a song, Hobie began playing ‘Systems Down’ by AC/DC as the team jumped into action.

Noir sprinted towards a car and jumped up, leading with his legs stuck out in front of him as he shot two webs at either side of the passenger side window and slingshotted himself forward. His legs kicked into the glass with profound force, causing the window to shatter. As Noir flew through the front of the car, headed for the other window with his legs still leading, time seemed to slow down as he and the driver made eye contact. In an extremely awkward yet courteous gesture, he gripped his fedora and tipped it in the man’s direction in an awkward manner before using the same hand to shoot a web at the man’s chest, pulling him out the driver's side window right behind him as his legs kicked through. 

Running to the car stalled on the street next to his, Noir winced as he eyed the expensive, vibrant, yellow Bugatti “I’m so sorry..” He mumbled before yanking on the handle, pulling the door straight off its hinges and throwing it to the side as he held out his hand to help the well-dressed lady in the passenger seat stand up. “The door was unlocked, asshole!” The driver screamed at him as the lady sat still, paralyzed with terror. Noir rolled his eyes and shot a web at the man, pulling him over the lady and hurling him onto his back with the other man. Noir grabbed the lady in his arms and began running with the other civilians who had been smart enough to make their own way towards the parking lot. 

Peni’s sp//der hoisted a car packed with a large family over its robotic head and began running as she carried it to the parking lot to ensure their safety. Beside Noir, Hobie rapidly fingered the strings of his guitar and called out to the civilians to get out of their cars and move to safety as Pavitr and Ham had an elderly couple slung over their respective shoulders as they ran. As the quintet ran towards the parking lot, the building began to collapse on top of them. Bricks smashed through windshields and created dents on the roofs of cars as they fell. Other cars were set ablaze as burning scraps of wood pierced their way into them, adding to the already chaotic scene. 

Time slowed once again as the band made gravity-defying leaps over the cars, soaring in unison through the air, nearing the safety of the parking lot across the street. Just above the team below, Miles Morales fearlessly leapt out of the titled second floor window with his arm around Peter B. Parker as they fell. Every spider-person shared a look of unwavering determination in their eyes and lenses, together united by their commitment to save Gwen. The Spider-Band was back.

Time resumed back to its normal pace as the spider-people hit the ground, the few in the back shooting webs to pull themselves forward and just out of the falling buildings reach. Dust blew past them as the rubble settled behind them. The red and blue flashing lights of an ambulance guided Miles through the dust as he dragged Peter B. alongside him. “Miles, I’m fine..” Peter complained as Miles stopped in his tracks and let Peter stand up on his own, taking a step back only for the older man to immediately begin falling as he violently coughed. Miles rushed to his side, slinging Peter’s arm around him once again as the two continued walking. “That’s what I thought..”

“I thought you said it was a leap of faith.” Peter reminded him as the two walked.

“Ok, first off you said that. Second off, that wasn’t a leap of faith, that was a fall of faith.” Miles responded as they reached the ambulance. They made out the silhouette of a paramedic rushing towards them, taking Peter from Miles’ arms and helping him sit down on the back edge of the ambulance. The man pulled a stethoscope as he listened to Peter’s heartbeat, wheezing breath, and then felt around his chest. “We’re going to need an X-Ray, but I think it’s broken ribs.”

Miles crossed his arms and nodded as he took a step away, noticing the band come up to them as the dust subsided. The street behind them was now filled with a burning pile of rubble, which the firefighters from earlier were trying to put out with hoses. “How is he?” Peni asked, nodding towards Peter. “I’m fine!” He called out only to cringe in pain as he felt his chest. 

“He’s got broken ribs.”

“It’s speculation!” Peter shouted.

Miles looked back behind him as his lenses narrowed. “Why do I have to be the Gwen of the group?” he mumbled with a tone of annoyance before looking back at the band. “We speculate he has broken ribs.” Noir crossed his arms, standing in a dad-style stance as he glanced back at Peter. “So, he isn’t coming to stop Gwenom?” 

Miles scoffed. “Is that what we’re calling her now? It’s Gwen.. And no. None of you are, actually.” Hobie’s jaw dropped as Peni’s suit opened so she could begin yelling at him in Japanese herself. However, Hobie raised his hand, quickly stopping her. “Miles, Mate, you don’t know what she has done. You haven’t seen what she is capable of. She’s… a Venom.”

“She’s Gwen.” Miles affirmed, looking around at the others. “First, you all corner her and have Miguel lead the intervention for some reason- I don’t even know why you thought that would possibly work. Now, you’ve come here and fought her and you still haven’t made any progress! You don’t know Gwen like how I do. She doesn’t like opening up- especially to big groups. You should have sent one or two people who she could confide in, who could actually help her! Instead, you used her own band against her and made her feel scared and completely isolated-”

“She killed Margo.” Hobie interrupted hallowly. 

Miles’ instantly stopped talking as his arms dropped to his sides in shock. His shaking hands reached up and removed his mask, showing off his horrified face to the others. “What?..”

Peter continued where Hobie left off. “Maybe you’re right, Miles. Maybe we should have only sent one or two people. But with seven people-” 

“Eight.” A familiar voice said. The group all turned to see Jessica Drew swing back in, returning from her frantic swing to the hospital. “Eight people..” Peter continued. “We still lost someone. What if that had been someone who wasn’t just an avatar? Someone who would have been lost forever? We can’t lose you, Miles. It’s too dangerous. She’s too dangerous!”

Miles looked down, trying to process everything he was just told. It was so hard to believe. Gwen wouldn’t do that- She couldn’t. It had to be someone else. It had to be something. Suddenly, it clicked. “Who is Gwenom?..” Miles asked, looking back up at the others. “An ugly combination of the Venom symbiote and its corrupted host. In this case, Gwen.” Noir replied. Miles nodded as he began to come up with a plan. “So she’s infected? Like the ‘Last of Us’?”

Peter hesitated. “Not like- Well, kinda. It’s more of a virus.” Miles nodded again as he began to pace, a plan hatching in his head. “Okay, well if it’s a virus, it has a weakness. All viruses do. Did you guys notice anything in particular that hurt it while you were leveling an apartment complex?”

Peter’s eyes narrowed. “We weren’t leveling an apartment complex. That was all her- But to answer your question, yes. It doesn’t like loud higher pitched noises.” Miles stopped in his tracks turning towards Peter. “Okay, anything else?” All eyes were on Peter as he looked to be deep in thought. “There was something else.. It didn’t like the sparks coming from Margo’s suit- Electricity! It hates electricity!” 

Miles began to confidently smirk as he held up his hand, volts of electricity bouncing around his fingertips as he turned to the others. “I have plenty of electricity.. Guys, I can save Gwen!” Peter’s face turned to a frown. “Miles.. It’s-”

“I don’t care if it’s dangerous!” Miles shouted, turning towards him. “The woman I love is hurting alone god knows where because of what I did! We’re all here because of me! She’s suffering because of me! I should be the one to fix it!.. I can be the one to fix it..” The electricity that had been playing around his fingertips stopped as his arms fell back to his side. He walked up to Peter, his eyes brimming with tears. “Please.. Just give me the chance to fix this.. I can make things right.. I’m here now, and I’m not going home until she’s okay.”

Pavitr smirked as he turned to whisper into Jessica’s ear. “This is so romantic-” She covered his mouth and turned towards him, giving him a glare that immediately shut him up. Peter B. contemplated their options as he looked into Miles’ eyes, recognizing the same profound loving determination that once burned within his own. “I say we let him.” Jess spoke, crossing her arms as she looked Miles over. After months of training Gwen, Jess recognized the special bond between the two. She knew that if any of them stood a chance at helping her, it would be Miles. The events that had unfolded tonight clearly demonstrated that Margo had been right. “Okay..” Peter finally whispered reluctantly. “Just be safe, yeah?”

Miles eagerly nodded as if he was still the same kid that Peter had met all those years ago. Before the Society, before Spot, and before Venom. “I will, Peter. Thank you. I won’t let you guys down. I won’t let Gwen down..” He turned, looking away from the others, now only speaking reassuringly to himself. “Not again..” 

Miles walked past the band, watching the flaming rubble in front of him simmer due to the help of the torrential downpour. “Where is she?” An awkward silence fell over the group as none of them wanted to break the news. Naturally, Pavitr was the first one to cluelessly speak. “Not here.” Miles turned back towards them. “You don’t know where she is.” Peter sighed, looking down at his watch. “Well, the explosion from Margo’s avatar broke her watch completely- we used it to find her here before. So yes, we have absolutely no clue where she is.. Sorry, kid. We really fumbled the ball on this one.”

Miles tried to think before tilting his head back up at Peter again. “Was that a sports reference?” Peter slowly nodded. “Did I get it right?” 

“Yeah… Shockingly.” Miles admitted before going back to thinking. 

“Wiseass..” Peter mumbled to himself.

“Miles, can you fancy where she would go?” Hobie asked, taking a step towards the spider. “Some place that makes her feel safe? Somewhere she could just.. Get away from everything..” Noir continued. Miles’ head shot up immediately as he began to confidently smile. 

“I know exactly where she is.”

Miles turned away and began to run, only to hear Peter B. call out for him. “Miles!” He turned around to look at the older man, who was smiling back at him. “Give her a kiss already, will ya?” Miles scoffed, shaking his head as his face flushed a light shade of red. “You got it.” He said before turning back around and swinging off. Towards his sunflower.

Towards Gwen.

---------------------------------------

As Gwenom stood at the end of the ledge on the Williamsburg Bank Building, she looked out at the city that was drowning under the heavy tears from the weeping heavens. Gazing out at the misery, she kept waiting for a bolt of lightning, waiting for a sign that somewhere across the Spider-Verse, Miles was thriving absent of her painful presence. She just wanted to feel he was okay. She just wanted to feel something. She just wanted to feel him.

‘I’m here for you, Gwen.. I’m not going anywhere..’ Venom whispered seductively into her ear. “I know..” She whispered as she sensed something. At first, it was a buzz. But then, it turned into something familiar. It wasn’t Venom, it was-

Her lenses widened in utter shock as she turned around to see Miles Morales standing mere feet away behind her. Nothing could have prepared Gwen for the abundance of guilt, sorrow, and resentment that all overtook her tender heart at once, breaking it all over again. Venom felt- Startled. No. Scared.

“Hey, Gwen..” Miles whispered as he feebly raised his hand for a wave. He could barely look at the unrecognizable sight in front of him. Gwen’s once friendly neighborhood demeanor was now replaced by the powerful stance of Gwenom. She even seemed taller. Her smooth white fabric hood had been replaced by black spikes that were tipped with white. The baby blue and pink inside of her suit looked more like flesh than anything else. Any other hint of hopeful pinks and blues had been completely exterminated. All that remained was her ugly inside for all of the world to bear witness.

“Miles..” she whispered back, extending out her hand, hoping deep down that he may take it and finally end her misery. Despite Peter warning him of her warped voice, all he heard was Gwen. All he heard was- love. warmth. All he heard was a scared girl, desperately reaching out for help only for no one to provide it. Despite the unfamiliar figure in front of him, all Miles felt was Gwen. Seeing all her pain manifest itself in the form of Gwenom only made him feel worse about the mistakes he made. That’s what they were, mistakes. Now, he was here to right them and nothing- nobody was getting in his way.

Opening his mouth to speak, Miles choked up as his eyes filled with tears. Looking back down, he realized he didn’t even know what to say. He had gone through this scenario so many times in his head while swinging there. He had thought of so many different things he could say. So many things he could do differently from their first meeting. However, now that he was there, standing in front of the person he wronged, he was at a loss for words. What could he possibly say that could make up for everything he had done? That could heal every crack that had formed in their relationship? What simple words could express everything he wanted to say, everything he wanted her to know. Then, just as quickly as every thought had materialized in his head, they vanished without a trace, leaving two simple, yet infinitely meaningful words.

“I’m sorry.”

Gwen let out an audible sob as she gripped the area over her mouth, shaking her head as tears fell through her emotional, now curved lenses. “Miles… This is all my fault. I screwed up. I lied to you. I hurt you. What could you possibly be sorry for?” Miles pulled off his mask, so he could see properly as he wiped his eyes. Unlike Gwen, his suit didn’t absorb, nor thrive off his misery and tears. “Everything. You tried to make things right. You tried to help save my dad. You fought the Spider-Verse for me! You tried to right your wrongs and I didn’t let you. I didn’t understand then and because I didn’t understand, I hurt you..” Miles looked down as he gripped his mask tightly, remembering the painful memories. “You tried to open up and I didn’t listen.. But I’m ready to now.”

Crossing her arms and hugging her chest, Gwen sighed as she took a step closer to Miles as if in the cold rain, he radiated warmth. “I did lie to you.. I did betray you.. And I did try to make things right.. Everything I’ve done has been to protect you whether you wanted it or not. I’m so sorry I never took what you wanted into consideration! I just- just can’t lose someone else.. I’ve lost so much already. I couldn’t lose you too.. I’ve traveled the Spider-Verse, seen world after world, and I can promise you that no world is as beautiful or as bright as when I’m in one with you. You are my world. Miles, I lo-”

Gwen’s vision suddenly darkened as she felt like she was being pulled back from her own mind, falling into an endless void. She tried moving, but she couldn’t. She tried speaking to no avail. She had no control. This hadn’t happened before. Something was terribly wrong. All she saw was darkness. Gwen’s fist suddenly tightened as she looked down, her mask being obscured by her hood. When she looked back up at Miles, her lenses now looked emotionless as she tilted her head in curiosity, as if she was studying him. 

As Miles watched Gwenom with a baffled look on his face, he felt a feeling of dread wash over him. A warning. That warning quickly turned to worry. He felt Gwen’s complete and utter fear. His Spider-Sense began screaming at him to run as his eyes narrowed. “You’re right.. You hurt her and that’s exactly why she’s better off without you.” A warped echoing voice, sounding eerily familiar to Gwen hissed back at him. Miles’ head tilted as well as he listened to the familiar- yet somehow foreign voice. Unlike before, he didn’t feel Gwen. He felt nothing.

“Venom..” He whispered, taking an uncomfortable step back. “I’ve heard a lot about you..” Venom let out a condescending chuckle. “Likewise.”

“Good, so you know I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t let Gwen go.” Miles shot back, electricity flashing through his determined eyes.

Venom turned around, facing the dark city again as lightning struck in front of her in the distance. “I’ve been in a constant purgatory of survival for thousands of years, always trying to find the perfect host. Always trying to find someone with enough self-hatred and pain to last me for an eon.. Gwen Stacy really is one in a trillion. I’ve never had a host who was so self destructive.. So- angry.. So much raw strength to satisfy my never-ending bloodlust..” She whispered, turning back towards Miles. “Our symbiotic bond is much stronger than yours ever was. I finally have what I want.. You aren’t taking that away.. “ Venom paused, looking away briefly before eyeing Miles once again. “Maybe you’ll be the first person she kills.”

Miles got into a fighting position, sticking a leg out as he leaned back, raising his hand behind his head as electricity ran up his arm. “You know what I think?” He asked as lightning struck between the two.

 “What’s that?” Venom sneered

“You talk too damn much.”

Miles charged at Venom, both of his hands glowing light blue with electricity as he leapt in the air, raising his fist in her direction. Seeing this, Venom flipped back in the air and off the ledge, causing Miles to hit the ledge and send electricity running through the building. Venom, still in the air, shot a web next to Miles and pulled herself down, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the ground. Miles cried out in pain as he wrestled back, trying to reject Venom’s deadly advance as the spiked tongue that ran down her torso like a scarf lifted and dragged itself across Miles’ face in a disgusting manner. “Fuck. Off.” He grunted, shoving her off to the side and getting on top of her. Miles punched her in the face again and again and again, each blow hurting more than the last. “LET. GWEN. GO.” He screamed as tears filled his eyes, yet the lifeless lenses that belonged to Venom continued to stare directly back at him to no avail. 

Running out of options, Miles began to desperately charge up a venom shock, trying to hold Venom down as she struggled. Beginning to realize what he was doing, Venom deduced that she didn’t have long to escape his grip. That was the first time he saw expression in those milky incomprehensible lenses. However, as Venom laid forcefully on the ground, she screamed out as tendrils flew up all around her like long spikes, sending Miles off of her and flying back, sliding to the edge. 

Venom got up, eyeing Miles with bloodlust as he shot a web, pulling himself back up to his feet. “You’re never seeing her again. This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Miles shook his head as his mouth dropped, trying to explain his actions. “No- no! All I wanted for over a year was to just see her!” 

“And all she’s wanted all of this time was to be with you..” Venom said, shaking Gwen’s unconscious head in mock shame. “Then, you pushed her away. You hurt her. That’s a common theme with you, isn’t it? Hurting people.” Miles looked down as he shook his head in return. “Nah, I save people. Just like how I’m going to save her.” Venom let out a condescending chuckle that sounded hauntingly familiar to Gwen’s. “This entire time, you’ve missed the bigger picture. You’ve always missed the bigger picture. That’s why we are in this situation, is it not? Your inability to accept the truth.. You created the Spot. You almost destroyed the multiverse to save your father. You struck Gwen when she was at her most vulnerable. See, I’m not the venom. I’m not the poison that consumed her heart..” Venom pointed at Miles. “You are.. She will be better off without you.” Miles turned to his right to see the beginning of a sunset beginning to creep its way over the horizon through his tearful eyes. At this point, the rain had stopped. The city had turned still. It was just he and Venom battling for the person they both held so dear.

“I refuse to accept that… That isn’t true. It can’t be. I’m not the poison, I’m the one to cure it..” He whispered as electricity began dancing across his eyes and down his right arm that was obstructed from Venom’s view. “There it is again.. That hopeful optimism that Gwen has always loved.. How do you know that? How do you know what she wants? How do you know you won’t just hurt her again?” Venom asked with a confident smirk, trying to instill doubt within his opponent. Miles' eyes narrowed as electricity was now visible traveling up and down his arm. “Because.. We’re the same.” 

Miles turned and punched Venom with all of his might, a deafening clap of thunder echoing out around them like no other he had heard ever before. Venom flew back into the bell of the clock tower, the weight of her body throwing it off balance. The bell began to sway and chime, sound waves resonating as she fell to the ground just below it. 

DONG! 

Venom screamed as the symbiote momentarily lifted away from Gwen’s body, giving Miles a glimpse at the lifeless eyes that hid under her mask, devoid of any personality- of any life. Venom stood, stumbling around as tendrils danced all around, covering Gwen’s ears to make it stop. 

DONG!

Miles ran toward Venom and leapt into the air before punching her with such force that it  sent her stumbling back into the bell once again, refueling its pendulum-like swing. 

DONG!

“Because.. I love her and I’m never going to stop fighting for her! I’m never going to stop protecting her! And I’m never going to stop loving her!” 

DONG!

Miles punched her again and again as she struggled to stay on her feet. Finally, he threw an uppercut, sending her flying up and onto the ground as the sound of the bell died down. Venom’s tendrils resubmerged themselves in the gooey mess that was Gwen’s suit as she panted, raising her hand to stop him. “Miles..”

As he approached Venom, Miles stopped in his tracks, his emotions crashing into him like a wave in an unrelenting storm. It wasn’t Venom who spoke.. It was Gwen. Hearing her calm voice that matched perfectly with her tranquil ocean blue eyes evoked a pain within him that he couldn’t quite describe. Memories flooded his mind of being together. The good, the bad, and the really bad. “G- Gwen?” he unexpectedly choked out. “You’re hurting her again..” Venom’s voice hissed out, the calm stance of Gwen being replaced by Venom’s rigid and calculating movements. Just as quickly as she came, Gwen was gone yet again.

“You’re right..” Miles whispered, stepping away from Venom to her glee. “I’m done hurting her..” Venom tilted her head as she unsteadily stood up, taking a few shaking steps towards Miles. “I’m not done hurting you..” She grabbed Miles by the throat and lifted him into the air as his legs kicked and twitched. 

“Come.. on.. Gwen..” Miles choked out. “Fight it!”

---------------------------------------

Darkness surrounded Gwen as she awoke, rubbing her eyes as she looked up into the dark void that surrounded her. Suddenly, she bolted straight up on her feet as she whipped her head around, searching for Miles only to see she was completely and utterly alone. “I WAS SO CLOSE!” she screamed, holding out her hands, hoping deep down he would materialize in front of her. “I was so close..” she whispered, beginning to sob in misery. Tilting her head down to wipe her eyes, Gwen looked down to see she was standing in dead grass. She looked straight ahead and squinted into the pitch black that surrounded her to see that the field seemed to stretch forever. Seeing that the grass and her now normal white suit seemed to be lit up from behind, she turned around.

When Gwen turned, she was immediately greeted by a white eggshell painted wall standing alone with a door in the very middle. Looking above the wall, she noticed a fluorescent light being held by a light fixture stretching so far above she couldn’t see where it ended. Turning her attention back to the door, Gwen slowly walked forward as she began to walk on a white tile floor with grass growing in between every crack. As she continued her cautious approach, the grass disappeared and only the white tile remained as she came to a stop outside the door. “What is this!?” She shouted up into the void.

“A trip down memory lane..” Venom’s voice echoed through the never ending emptiness. Unlike before when it was a distorted mixtape of Gwen’s, it now took on its own assertive, deep, and frighteningly seductive tone as if it was urging her to give up control.

Taking a deep breath, Gwen opened the door and began to walk into whatever memory Venom had in store for her. As she stepped through the doorway, a young girl resembling Gwen stepped into the hospital room in older Gwen’s place. A younger (and more athletic looking) George Stacy walked in close behind her as he gently shut the door. Eight-year old Gwen, wearing a black headband and dressed in a dark yellow dress with a large fabric sunflower sewn into it began to walk towards the hospital bed, but stopped in her tracks at the sight she saw.

In front of her laid her mother, connected to various tubes and missing all of her hair, looking to be on the verge of death. In response to the upsetting sight, Gwen turned around to leave, but George gripped her shoulder, getting on one knee to be at eye level with her. “Gwendolyn.. This is your only chance to say goodbye to Mommy..” George painfully whispered, brushing hair out of the young girl's face. “I don’t want to say goodbye! I don’t want her to go!” she shouted, tears filling her eyes as she stomped down her foot.

“Gwen..”

The little girl turned around to see her mother reaching out her hand, a deeply apologetic look on her face. George nudged the girl forward as she slowly walked over to her mother and took it within her own. Her mother smiled down at her with extremely similar bright ocean blue eyes. “I want you to promise me something, Gwen.. You may not understand now, but you will someday when you’re older, okay?” The young Gwen reluctantly nodded as she sniffled, wiping tears out of her eyes as she held her mother’s increasingly pale hand one last time. “While you might not see me, I’m going to be here to watch you grow. I’m going to be at every one of your recitals. I’m going to be at your graduation, and I’m going to be there with you every step of the way, rooting you on from Heaven above. I’m so sorry but, I can't be there to protect my little girl.. Just promise me that whatever you do, wherever you go, and whoever you meet, you don’t let anyone tell you what’s possible.. You show them, Sunflower. You show them who you are.”

Young Gwen let out a sob as she nodded, squeezing her Mother’s hand. “I- I don’t want you to go.. Please..” Behind her, a lone shadow stood in the wall, watching the scene intently.

Gwen’s mom smiled down optimistically at her. Somehow, she was still positive after every treatment, after every round of therapy, and after accepting her fate. Moving her hand to Gwen’s cheek, she glanced up at George with a comforting smile before looking back down at her daughter as if she was seeing just how beautiful Gwen was for the first time. “It’s going to be okay.. I love you, my blooming Sunflower..”

Her mother’s hand fell limp on her cheek as her pulse abruptly stopped. The machine behind her flatlined as she continued to lay there, her eyes now closed with a forever smile still present on her face. “Mommy..” Gwen whispered, shaking her head in denial as she touched her arm. “Mommy!!” She screamed, tugging on her arm. 

“Gwen, she’s gone.. I’m so sorry, Sunflower..” George said, grabbing her and trying to pull her out of the room as doctors rushed in. “I WANT MOMMY!” she screamed, lunging forward only for George to wrap his arms around her waist and lift her up, carrying her towards the doorway through his tear-filled eyes as she kicked and screamed.

“I want Mommy too..”

Being carried to the doorway, Gwen looked out into what was once the too-white hallway only to see the dark void staring back at her.. Looking back at her dad, Gwen’s eyes widened in fear as the person that was holding her wasn’t her dad, but the shadow from the wall. It held out over the void as it tilted its head in intrigue at the young girl's reaction. “Wait- Wait please-”

The shadow dropped her.

Gwen screamed as she fell through the darkness, a light down below quickly coming into view. She fell hundreds of feet with a deafening thud, otherwise being completely untouched as dust was thrown up around her. Gwen, now in her old Spider-Woman costume gripped a piece of broken off concrete as she stood up, the dust in the air slowly settling as her ears continued to ring. “Hello?” She called out to only hear herself muffled by the ringing. Looking down, Gwen’s lenses widened as she immediately jumped out of the way, seeing the logo of her high school etched in the gymnasium floor. “Oh no..” She whispered gravely. Looking back up in front of her, Gwen’s heart dropped as she saw her Peter laying on the debris, sprawled out as he struggled to breath. 

“What?..” She whispered, feeling the all too familiar feeling of dread wash over her before sprinting to Peter, wrapping her arms around him as she lifted him against her chest. 

“No no no no.. What did you do?..” 

Hearing his breathing labor even more, Gwen laid him back against the concrete gently.

“I wanted to be special.. Like you, Gwen.” he whispered softly, reaching up to rest his hand on her cheek like her mother had so long before.

Her lenses widened beyond disbelief as she went rigid with fear, grabbing Peter’s hand and pushing it away lightly as she shook, stuttering to even get any words out.

“G- Gwen? Who’s Gwen?”

Peter gazed up at her with the same melancholy look she had seen once before. The sign of death. “Everything’s going to be okay..” He managed out despite the pain, staring past Gwen’s lenses, knowing that under them hid her ocean blue eyes.

“Don’t- Don’t go!’ She began looking around wildly for something- anything that could help. Finally, when she looked back down at Peter, he was already gone. Wrapping her arms around him, hugging her best friend one last time, Gwen let out a heaving sob and with that, her extraordinary ability to hold in her pain had been breached. 

As Gwen cried, her spider-sense went off, causing her to whip her head back to see her father approaching. Dropping Peter where he laid, Gwen scrambled to get out of the way like a spider sliding into the crack of a wall, shooting a web and climbing through the hole in the roof.

As Gwen climbed through the hole, expecting to be greeted by the night sky, she was only greeted by more rubble as she squeezed her way through, now looking even older than she did before, still wearing her suit. The light that bounced off each piece of concrete showed the shadow following close behind as if it was a watcher- her lethal protector. 

Making her way through the rubble of the museum, Gwen coughed as she stumbled out into a small opening, falling back on her knees as she let out another sob, coughing again as she bent over, trying to catch her breath and fight off the dust that forced its way through her mask and into her lungs. Feeling her left shoulder twinge in pain, Gwen felt it over as she sat up, breathing heavily. Suddenly-

Her spider-sense went off.

Stumbling to her feet and whipping around once again, she held out her hands to shoot webs to no avail. She was out of webs. Looking at her assailant, Gwen was shocked to see her father limp into view, gun aimed directly at her. 

“HANDS IN THE AIR!”

More fearful for her life than ever before, Gwen pleaded with her father. “Captain, come on..” He continued to step towards her as the flashlight of his gun shook with his shaking hands. “Suspect is armed-” Gwen held her arms out to show she was no threat. “With- with what!? I’m out of webs!”

“Get down on the ground!” He commanded with sheer determination.

Gwen groaned frustratingly at the contradicting orders. “Is it hands in the air or get on the ground?” She questioned, backing up as she held her hands out cautiously. “You’re under arrest-” He began, but Gwen cut him off, trying to desperately plead her case. “I just saved a bunch of people!” 

“- for the murder of Peter Parker..” He finished.

Despite feeling as if a knife had been twisted in her already open wound, Gwen continued to try her best to cooperate. “Captain, come on, I-”

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say-”

                                   “You don’t understand!”

Her father raised his gun into the air and fired it, a flash of light blinding Gwen.

When Gwen’s eyes adjusted to the light, she squinted up to see the sun shining brightly back at her and turned her head slightly to the right to see she was on the Nueva York train, barrelling upwards towards the heavens above. Up ahead of her, Miles Morales got to his feet as he held on to a web for support. Looking down at Gwen with a look of betrayal, disappointment, and most of all, heartbreak. 

“Goodbye, Gwen..” He said, struggling to meet her eyes as his own welled up with tears. Letting go, Miles flew back behind her and down into the hell they had just left. “Miles!” She shouted out hopelessly, knowing deep down that nothing she could say would undo what she did or bring him back.

“It’ssss a shame..”

Gwen’s head whipped back forward, brushing the hair being blown by the wind out of her face to see Venom standing where Miles had moments before with ease, arms crossed as it looked down at her. Having a simple, large, bulky body that towered over her, Venom’s mouth was made up of sharp teeth and a long tongue. It had milky lens-like eyes that seemed magnitudes more expressive than before. Most importantly, there was a large white spider symbol etched into his chest like a trophy designed to taunt her.

Turning beside her, Gwen’s eyes widened to see Peter B. no longer next to her and turning around, the society was also gone. Turning back towards Venom, a look of realization hit her face as her trance-like state came to an end, now fully aware of what was going on. “What did you do!?” She shouted up at it over the wind. 

“I’ve unlocked your full potential. You’ve alwaysss held back, Gwen..” It replied regretfully. “Why do you always hold back?”

“Because.. It’s the right thing to do..” Gwen reassured herself, looking away from Venom. “Because I don’t want to hurt people.”

“Yet you always do.” The symbiote responded with an unhinged grin. “I think our little trip proved as much. That is why you should give up control.”

“Is that what that was?” Gwen asked, anger brewing in her voice. “Trying to show me everyone I fucking wounded? Trying to show every relationship I ruined? So I give up control? What would that even accomplish? You would hurt people more than I do! You would kill people!” She shouted.

“Exactlyyyy..” Venom cooed. “You’re always going to hurt people either way. At least I will be in control. You.. You can stay here, in whatever memory you want. Tell me Gwen, what’s your happiest memory? Where do you want to sssssspend the rest of your life?”

Gwen hesitated, thinking back she and Miles sitting under the clock tower, just talking. Just being themselves. Just two sunflowers, flowing with the wind and basking in the sun. However, the more she thought about the warmth, the more it fueled her. Looking back up at Venom with determination, she said “right in Miles’ arms where I’ll be after I take back control of my own damn mind!”

Venom shook his head as his smirk disappeared. “Gwen Stacy could have finally had a happy ending..” Gwen glared up at him. “I will after I kick your ass!” The symbiote let out a single laugh. “You two really are the same..” 

It leapt off the train and towards Gwen, grabbing around her chest and throat area with its oversized hand as the two went tumbling back. As they fell further down on the train, Gwen shot a web, sticking herself to the side as Venom went tumbling back further below her. Looking down, Gwen turned her back to the train and began crawling up and away as Venom viciously sunk its sharp claws into the metal on the train, bending it to its will as it rapidly made its way towards Gwen with bloodlust evident in its glaring white eyes. 

As Gwen turned around to shoot a web, it only blew back behind her as she turned back to see Venom directly under her now, grabbing her by the leg. Desperately trying to use her other leg to kick it away, Gwen only pissed it off as Venom grabbed the other leg and yanked Gwen down to be face to face. Despite being directly in front of the symbiote, it still towered over her. “Tell me, Sunflower.” it sneered, spitting in her face as she winced, looking away. “Why do you try to do the right thing? Why do you always try to save people? Why don’t you know when to quit!?”

As Gwen looked away, her thoughts went back to the memories she relived, betraying Miles, watching Peter die, ruining her relationship with her father, and her mother.. Gwen thought back to something her mom had said that she didn’t understand at the time. But now, being in Venom’s grasp, with Miles about to die, it finally made sense.

“Just promise me that whatever you do, wherever you go, and whoever you meet, you don’t let anyone tell you what’s possible.. You show them, Sunflower. You show them who you are.” 

Gwen turned to glare at Venom, feeling her father’s warmth, feeling her mother’s optimism, feeling her friends' support, and feeling a familiar lively buzz. A reminder. It was Miles’ love. She was going to show Venom how strong she was. She was going to show the world who she was and she was proud to be.

“Because.. My name is Gwen Stacy and I’m Spider-Woman.” 

Gwen grunted as she kicked Venom back, making the symbiote momentarily lose his grip. The white of Gwen’s suit began to emanate light as it glowed, making Gwen smirk up at him. “You wanted to go down memory lane? Let’s go through a track of my greatest hits.”

Gwen’s glowing white hands shoved Venom off, making it howl out as if they were on fire. Where Gwen had touched suddenly began to dissipate, more black goo filling its place as Venom shrank. Falling back, Venom dug its claws into the train for support, looking up at Gwen. 

“I was bitten by a radioactive spider!” She dove down, tackling him off the train and not letting go as they fell down it. “I traveled across the Spider-Verse!” She punched him again, weakening it further. Venom had no idea what was happening or how she was doing this. “I met the love of my life!”

She pressed her hands against him again, beginning to use her love to absorb its hate as Venom shrunk smaller in front of her, and its hold on her mind began to loosen. “And I hurt him, but I’m making things right. I think you know the rest!” Gwen got in Venom’s face as she kept absorbing its darkness with light- with love.“You asked why I don’t know when to quit, it’s because no matter what symbiote corrupts me, no matter who I lose, no matter how many times I get knocked down, I’m always going to get up and I’m always going to fight. Nobody can take that away from me.” 

Gwen punched Venom one more time, whatever remained of the symbiote being completely incinerated as it let out a monstrous high-pitched guttural scream. As Gwen stood alone on the train, smirking down at where Venom had just been, she took in her victory as she heard a deafening boom. Looking around, Gwen saw her memory begin collapsing around her as the Nueva York train neared its destination. Looking up towards her front of the train, she saw it was heading towards the light. 

Towards Miles.

---------------------------------------

“GWEN!” Miles cried out as Venom forcefully threw him into the concrete ledge with her hand still on his throat. Venom raised her hand into the air before punching Miles. “GWEN. ISN’T. COMING.” Gwen’s warped echoing voice screamed with each blow to Miles’ face, each one more deadlier than the last until they both heard a bone chilling crack. Pulling her fist away, Venom hissed in pleasure to see blood begin pouring out of Miles’ broken nose. “Yessssss” she whispered, running his tongue along it as Miles’ cringed, trying to push him back only to be shoved back down on his back. After the barrage of strikes to his visage, Venom moved her black clawed right hand downwards, dragging it across Miles’ chest. The boy tried his best not to cough or breathe too heavily, not wanting to push his skin into Venom’s sharp talons. 

Then, Venom raised her curled hand into the air, bringing it down into Miles’ chest. The boy screamed in pain as tears fell down his cheeks, mixing with his blood. “Fight it, Gwen!” Blood began running out of the wound in his chest as Venom slightly pulled out her fingers, dragging them down his torso and making a cut, tearing the fabric through his suit. “It’s too late.. She can’t beat me and you can’t beat me. You're too weak. You’re just-” Venom searched through Gwen’s memories, trying to find what would hurt the most. “An anomaly.. A mistake..” A look of heartbreak and horror set on Miles’ face as Venom gripped his throat yet again, raising her hand in the air to dig his claws into his chest and rip out his heart. Accepting his fate, Miles closed his eyes. 

“An inspiration.”

Opening his eyes, Miles was shocked to hear Gwen’s familiar voice, watching her wavering hand in the air as if she and Venom were fighting to control it. “Gwen..” He whispered, beginning to smile as his tears of pain quickly turned to those of joy. “You’re back..” 

Both of Gwen’s arms raised in the air as she groaned. “I’m back.”

Gwen stumbled backwards as she tripped over herself, trying to get away from Miles out of fear for his life. As Gwen stumbled around, both of her arms gripping her hood and trying to pull the symbiote off to no avail, she turned her head and noticed the bell of the Williamsburg Bank Building mere feet away. Under her oppressive mask, Gwen began to smirk as she threw herself against the bell, throwing it off balance.

DONG!

Tendrils flew all around her as Venom’s inhuman screams of agony pierced the calm early morning air. Seizing the opportunity with its weakened grip, Gwen began to pull the symbiote off of her. She watched in astonishment as what was once her suit flailed around wildly in her hands like vines blowing in the wind. 

DONG!

As they tried to desperately reconnect with the rest of the symbiote, Gwen threw the tendrils on the ground. Her hands went to her mask before she would yank them in either direction, pulling back the symbiote to reveal her painful expression. 

DONG!

No matter what Gwen pulled and threw off, the suit kept reassembling itself on her, threatening to trap her under her own torment yet again. Feet away, Miles Morales stood up unsteadily, watching Gwen’s struggle as he began limping towards her. “I can help, Gwen.”

“No! Don’t come closer! I’ll hurt you!” She cried out as she grabbed onto the symbiote laid across her chest and began yanking as it tugged back, adamant to stay connected to its host. The look of determination on Miles’ face softened as he smiled, watching Gwen trying to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, all alone.

“It’s okay, Gwen.. It’s okay to ask for help..”

For the first time in months, Miles saw Gwen’s beautiful blue eyes gazing at him with tender, yet passionate love as her attempts to pull Venom away subsided. “I need help..” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Miles frowned as he limped over, practically throwing himself into her as he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m here..” He whispered as Gwen let out all of her despair, all of her loneliness, and all of the venom she held in her heart as she sobbed into his chest. “I’m here..”

Miles’ hands traced down her back, dragged across her arms, and down to her hands as he took them in his own, standing steady on his own two feet as he and Gwen made eye contact. “Miles I’m s- s-” she choked up as more tears filled her red eyes. 

“Shh… It’s okay, sunflower..” He whispered, smiling down at her. “Let’s be better, together.. Yeah?” Gwen kept choking up as she nodded, tilting her head as she moved her face towards Miles and closed her eyes. Doing the same, Miles took in the stunning sight of Gwen Stacy as his best friend one last time before kissing her. As the two of them bloomed like sunflowers, the world lit up behind them with the sun emerging over the horizon. The sky was painted with clashing pinks, oranges, and warm yellows. As a new day began, so did a new chapter in their lives. 

As their kiss deepened, a bright mesmerizing surge of electricity coursed through Miles’ veins and spread like a current down to the tips of his fingers and lips. Their connection intensified and with it, the lightning surged in cascading waves, gathering speed with each pulse. In the midst of their loving embrace, a single tear fell down Gwen’s cheek as she trustingly squeezed Miles’ hand, choosing love over hate, and bravery over fear. 

Miles let go.

Bolts of lightning surged into Gwen, racing through her body like a powerful oceanic wave, attacking Venom with vengeance. The symbiote tried to desperately hold on before it was forced to let go, being jolted away as any trace of it was eradicated. Opening his eyes and looking down at his girlfriend, Miles felt through their connection that she was completely cured of its malevolent grip. 

Gwen couldn’t help but smile as she looked up at Miles, taking a small step back as she lifted her hand, resting it on his chest as she breathed heavily, a flustered look evident on her face. Noticing her embarrassment, Miles couldn’t help but make a joke. “You know, we must be ions because we have some electrifying chemistry.” 

Gwen scoffed, moving her hand off his chest. “Shut up, Einstein.” 

Miles’ hands raised up. “Anything for you, Gwanda.”

Beginning to laugh, Gwen crossed her arms and shook her head. “You’re such a nerd.”

“Your nerd.”

“Damn right.”

Gwen shot a web at Miles’ chest, pulling him in for yet another kiss.

Pulling back, she whispered, "I love you, Miles." 

Miles held Gwen against his chest as she listened to his heartbeat. "I love you too, Sunflower."

---------------------------------------

Gwen’s voiceover begins

“These past two months have been the worst period of my entire life. I pushed everyone away. I hurt those closest to me. I even hurt myself.. I was at my lowest. But, because of that, there’s nowhere to go but up. Gotta be positive, right?”

In the Spider-Society HQ, Peter B. Parker carries the Venom symbiote in a reinforced orange glass vial throughout the rows of glowing orange boxes that housed other villains. Walking up to a large door that read: MAXIMUM SECURITY, Peter signaled to the Insomniac Spider-Man to open the door. The other spider walks over to a large red button on the wall and presses it, the large metal bay door beginning to rise. “Hope I never have to deal with that..” Insomniac Spidey mumbles. 

Walking in, Peter made awkward eye contact with Miguel O’Hara who sat in a lone cell in the center of the room. Walking in Miguel’s direction towards a pillar with a rounded cage on top, Peter opened the cage and slid the vial in a circular slot in the middle. After closing and locking the cage, Peter turned around and slid the key into his pocket, walking away. Turning around as the bay door closed, Peter’s final glimpse into the room was Miguel O’Hara resting his hand on the orange border of his cage as he stared at the symbiote longingly. 

“So, I wanted to undo the damage I had done. The first step of that process was going to see an old friend.”

On Earth-22191, Margo Kess walked up the stairs, having just finished an uncomfortably silent dinner with her parents. Turning the corner, she walked down the hall and into her room before shutting the door and locking it behind her. Going over to her bed, Margo groaned as she fell down onto it face-down before rolling over and grabbing a fashion magazine off her nightstand. As she flipped through the magazine absentmindedly, trying to distract herself, she felt it pulled out of her hands, watching it levitate into the air and out of sight to reveal a portal above her bed. In the portal, stood Miles and Gwen, the latter of the two holding a box with a VR Headset shown on the side that read: Oculus-2099. Gwen shouted “Hey, Margo! You got a minute?” 

“Then, I had to rejoin my band- properly this time.”

“- and I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you guys what’s been going on. Just my mom.. Dad.. Peter-.. It’s just been so much.” Gwen whispered, her eyes full of tears as she sat in the middle of the stage on her drum seat as the other girls stood around her, intently listening. “Gwen..” MJ whispered. “We’re glad you opened up to us.. We’re always going to have your back.” Glory Grant slowly walked up to Gwen, who held her breath anxiously as she watched the girl’s weary approach. When Glory reached her, she held out her hand, smiling down at her. “Friends again?” Gwen reached up and gripped her hand, standing up. “Friends again.” The rest of the band gathered around Gwen, all hugging her in a comforting embrace. 

“And finally, I had to come here.”

Through the large glass pane window in her therapist's plant-filled office, Gwen watched her lively city of New York go about its usual day as the sun’s rays painted the city with warmth. The city’s energy and vigor seemed to mirror Gwen’s own spirit as she talked through her healing process. On the dark blue couch she sat was Miles and her father on either side of her in unwavering support. Across from them in a stool sat a petite woman, taking notes on her clipboard, undoubtedly her therapist. As Gwen turned her head back towards the woman, her hand intertwined with Miles’. “So, to answer your question.. Yes, I am happy. I think everything is finally going to work out.”

Her therapist nodded, taking more notes before looking back up at the trio. “Miles, what do you think?” Miles, who had been mouthing words to Gwen as they discreetly flirted, was nudged by his girlfriend, who nodded her head towards the therapist. “Huh? Oh- Well ma’am, I think we no longer have-”

VENOM IN OUR HEARTS