Chapter Text
Gwen was walking across San Francisco and her closed lips curved upright when she realized something. Despite being a former multiverse guardian, she never bothered to travel beyond New York or any dimension. That irony was a realization that her whole view of being a superhero was just thinking about the small picture.
However, there were several reasons why she didn’t leave New York very often. The main reason was that most cities in California were not designed for web swinging. Other reasons were the different weather temperatures and the frustration of memorizing every part of her new environment again. As she walked to the bank, she wondered if Manhattan slang helped her get by…stupid idea. O.B. never mentioned whether she should inform certain people she was born a New Yorker, it was common sense to reveal as little information about her origins as possible. Walking into a bank, she waited in line. Checking her phone, she scrolled through pictures of every person important in her life.
That made her think of her newfound way of isolation. Nobody remembered her, and the term ‘nobody’ included the Spider Society. She tried concealing her anger at the new consequences.
Is this the result of me constantly leaving my home?
Then it was her turn to for the ID photo. As she walked in to fill in some forms, the bank employee was baffled with Gwen’s reluctance of filling in her name.
Everyone she knew forgot about her, but not the nonpowered version of her that was already in her grave. So to avoid the misunderstanding of attempted identity theft, she wrote Dove and then Barren. As she had her picture taken, she was so glad she could shift her hair in a different style.
After that, the bank staff woman eyed the picture, “Dove?”
“My father wanted to name me after his grandmother” Gwen was not lying with that answer, it was none of the bank staff business. “Can I have my ID now?”
“Ma’am, you will have to wait for at least two days until the ID is ready or the more convenient option is—”
“EVERYONE START KISSING THE FLOOR!” A man yelled out in an intimidating tone as he used a rifle gun, shooting the ceiling. Everyone panicked and lay their front on the floor screaming and saying they didn’t want to die.
Gwen was surprised that San Francisco civilians weren’t acting like this was the regular activity that New Yorkers instantly predicted a vigilante to appear and fight the criminals. This meant San Francisco had a concerningly small number of superheroes in their areas. The blonde slowly sneaked to the staff room. One quick shift into her vigilante uniform and she camouflaged so she could pretend to come in from the front windows.
“Hey, fellas!” She called as she webbed two large guns off half the thugs’ grasp. She then created a large web made wall so that innocent people weren't caught in the crossfire. “Didn’t think I’d be smart enough to block easy hostages, did you?” She quipped as she attacked the men. A few punches and webbing them to the floor, she picked up one of their guns and was about to break it in half when a woman cleared her throat. Ghost Spider gasped, “Uh…you decided to be fashionably late, Miss…?” She motioned for the costumed woman with the red tiara like band and red witch costume.
“Wait don’t tell…you’re…Crimson Witch!” Ghost Spider clicked her gloved fingers as she guessed. The woman was displeased and raised her glowing red hand. Ghost Spider’s feet lifted off the ground with the rest of her body.
“The name is Scarlet Witch” The woman corrected in a European accent. “You are about to be brought to justice”
“Ah seriously?! I just stopped a bank robbery!” Ghost Spider stated and Scarlet Witch looked at the gun the spider was holding as well as the large webbed wall that trapped innocent civilians on the other side.
Ghost Spider immediately dropped the gun when she started noticing the misunderstanding. “Okay, the wall…I did that so these bozos wouldn’t use innocent people as hostages!”
“…Sure…” The witch slurred to show she was unconvinced. She was ready to perform a spell that could teleport Ghost Spider into the police department.
The spider shot her web fluid right at Scarlet Witch’s face, who made shocked ragged grunts. Ghost Spider was freed from the telekinetic grasp and easily made a low slide past the sorceress, and began swinging away.
Atlas Foundation
White Fox was at a meeting with the other Atlas agents. Jimmy Woo was discussing the mysteries of murders at Fisherman’s Wharf.
“A serial killer on the loose?” Silk (Cindy Moon) guessed.
“Close, but it is not human, the victims were covered in bite marks” Jimmy Woo answered.
“And their heads are missing” Lin Lie (Sword Master) pointed out.
“Since we know it could have never been a normal carnivorous animal, it has to be something supernatural” Luna Snow figured.
“We have a lead, since there is only one man eating creature who used to be a villain and is now a self-proclaimed hero” Jimmy swiped up a holographic digital screen of Venom.
“Well, it would make sense. No other man eating monster would bite off a person’s head and leave the rest of the body in the streets” Pearl agreed.
Later that night, the Atlas Agents, Wave and White Fox noticed Eddie Brock walking with a girl who was shorter and concealed her head with a white hooded jacket. “Who is the girl walking with him?”
“We can ask him when he is in for interrogation” White Fox planned. Then they both hopped off the rooftop and followed the two. The girl Eddie was with whispered something in his ear and he nodded. They went into a public sales market and then disappeared. They couldn’t enter as they would never find them. White Fox used her fox senses to smell Eddie close by.
“Find something fox?” Wave asked.
“Yes, pier 39”
Running to the area, Wave was pulled up on the ankle by a rope substance, and dangled on a lamp post. White Fox was surprised and then kicked by an individual. Lifting herself up she found the one responsible for the attack.
Ghost Spider sighed, “Should’ve known other heroes would try to interfere, then again, I was not expecting a fox and…who is that one?”
“Step aside Ghost Spider, we need to bring Venom in for questioning” White Fox said sternly.
Ghost Spider just stared, “You know me?”
Wave used her ability of water manipulation to cut the web string and quickly shot a part of water at the spider who dodged on time.
“Water?! Seriously?” Ghost Spider kept dodging incoming water splashes. “Venom is innocent! He’s after the actual culprit!”
Wave managed to grab her inside a water tube and moved her to them. White Fox furrowed her lenses.
“What do you mean Venom did not kill those people?” She questioned. Then something broke through the ship steel wall, all three women ducked and then looked at the individual. Ghost Spider was unintentionally released from the water trap and ran to the woman that landed on the pier. The woman had pink green hair, pinkish purple tights and a one piece body suit, bat-like wings from her back and sides of her head.
Wave attempted to strike the woman and White Fox narrowed her eyes as she recognized the winged woman.
“Morrigan! The succubus!” The kumiho realized, “Wave! Don’t let her—,”
Morrigan flew to Wave and grabbed her by a chokehold. She began to absorb her soul when Ghost Spider shot a web at the demon’s eyes. Groaning in annoyance, she let go of wave before pulling the web off her face. The water manipulator gasped while White Fox and Ghost Spider charged Morrigan.
White Fox punched and Ghost Spider kicked her legs. Ghost Spider managed to web her down. The succubus made an inhuman snarl.
“You fools! How dare you interfere with my work!” She said as she used her magic blasts at the three girls.
Wave used water to shield herself, Ghost Spider shielded herself and White Fox with her web shield. Morrigan used an uprooted attack which was spikey blast from below her enemies and all three heroes were struck, falling on their backs in pain.
“Your souls are just begging to be taken, since you are all unconscious I’ll have a feast”
Then Venom jumped up from below, straight through the wooden pier and roared with monstrous fury. Morrigan was ready to strike until Wave managed to summon water to splash her face. Venom took advantage by attacking. White Fox tried picking herself up and noticed Ghost Spider also getting up. The two girls made a distance eye contact until the Kumiho told her to go. She went to help Wave up.
“And that’s what happened, Venom was not responsible for those murders” White Fox concluded as she gave debrief on the whole mission last night.
Mr. Lao hummed in thought, “Are you sure of that? The masked girl with the hood is recently new, which makes her unpredictable”
“Well we should not worry about her right now, a succubus would not just decided to murder random people at a pier” White Fox was saying this in hopes the Atlas members would leave Ghost Spider alone. Mr. Lao was staring at White Fox in thought.
“Fox is right, something bigger is going on here and we need to investigate this matter” Jimmy Woo decided. “And if it is too big to handle then we would probably need the Avengers”
When Jimmy Woo ended the meeting, Mr. Lao called White Fox to speak to her in private. The Kumiho and the dragon were not exactly close friends who trusted each other. In a sense, their relationship was the opposite.
“Mr. Lao, I did not do anything wrong” White Fox spoke first and Mr. Lao hummed.
“Do you know the hooded vigilante?” He asked. White Fox shook her head and Mr. Lao was unconvinced.
“The way you were quick to take her side and defend her says otherwise” He stated out of his observation. “You need to tell me whatever crucial information you have about her that could justify her actions”
“I don’t know much, now I have to head to my chambers as I have too much paperwork” The kumiho excused herself and walked off.
Later that night, Ami Han stared out into the city view from her temporary room in a hotel. She had an urgent mission to attend tomorrow. She hoped Gwen was going to stay out of trouble if she wasn’t going to run into her again.
Little did she know was that this would be false.