"So what exactly are we supposed to be doing here?" Gwen asked Miles as they stood atop a tall building in earth TRN579, Ben Riley's universe, both dressed in their respective spider-suits. It was a chilly autumn day and Gwen wished she had put a jacket on over her suit. The occasional wind gust did not make it feel any better.
This earth looked pretty much the same as Miles's universe, aside from the billboards displaying ads for movies Gwen had never heard of, like 'The Revengers' displaying a ragtag teams of superheroes dressed in medieval looking clothing. Another movie was the 'Women in White'. It showed three women, all wearing wedding dresses and each posing with a gun in their hand.
Gwen smirked. She'd definitely want to see that.
The sun had already begun to set, lighting up sky with a red-orange hue.
"What do you mean? We just have to warn this Ben guy about Olivia," Miles stated with a shrug, "Easy."
Gwen quirked a brow at him. "Right easy," she began with an eye roll, "We just have to find one guy in a city of over nine-million people and be like, 'Oh hey, Benny. Nice to meet you. We're just two people from other dimension's with the same powers as you. Crazy, right? We came to warn you about this insane octopus woman who might destroy the multiverse. You know, normal stuff'."
Miles scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips, "Well, when you put it like that..." Miles cast his eyes down to the side.
Gwen sighed, "Sorry, I'm just frustrated."
Miles only smiled boyishly in response, "It's no biggie."
Gwen's took notice of when his stare locked on something about twenty feet beneath them.
Gwen followed his eyes over to a Jumbotron displaying a news reporter. She had fair skin, dark blue eyes and wavy, light brown hair. In the corner of the screen was a photo of a red and blue blur. Gwen wouldn't have known what it was if it wasn't for for the caption below it that read, "Scarlet Spider spotted in just south of Queens." Gwen squinted at the screen.
"That photo is so blurry that even Bigfoot would be ashamed."
She turned to Miles upon hearing his voice, "We could wing it?" he suggested with a shrug. A dorky grin broke out onto his face, "Or we could swing it?" He held his hands out toward her as he mimicked shooting a web and making a 'Thwip. Thwip' sound effect.
Gwen shook her head and turned away from him a small smile forming on her face, "Let's go, dummy." She raised her wrist off to the horizon, before firing a web line and swing in the direction of Queens.
"Oh come on," she heard Miles holler from behind, "That was good."
Gwen only kept swinging. She released her web a let gravity pull her down, before firing another and doing a quick somersault in the air. She was glad her mask hid the smile on her face.
That was probably one of the worst jokes Gwen had ever heard. It reminded her of the Einstein joke Miles made when she first met him.
She looked over her shoulder mid-swing to find Miles trailing closely behind her. A challenging smirk appeared on her lips, "Race you there, Spider-boy."
*******
Ganke nervously played with the hem of his shirt. He stood outside of Liz Allen's dorm room in plain, grey shirt and a pair of jeans that was nicer but, he hoped didn't make it look like he was actually trying too hard to dress nice. He had his fist raised to the door but, stood frozen in place. After talking to Liz at lunch over the past week he found that she lived in Brooklyn like he and Miles did. She might have lived of the richer side, but whatever. Since all students go home on the weekends he thought it might be nice if he walked her home.
Of course he was planning on having Miles there with him, though his Spider-man obligations got in the way. Still, he'd be fine. It wasn't like Liz and he didn't know each other. They were friends... right? She sat with Miles and him every lunch last week. That had to mean something.
Ganke still couldn't seem to muster up the strength to knock and he was glad the hall was empty, because he was positive he looked stupid with his fist raised in the air, five inches from the door.
The boy took in a deep breath. He didn't need Miles's help to talk to Liz. He's great at talking to girls.
He was fine.
He was confident.
He was cool.
He was... lying to himself.
Ganke let out a defeated sigh, before turning to walk back to his dorm. Just as he did, to his horror the door opened and out stepped Liz Allen with her roommate.
Ganke internally winced. How was he gonna get out of this?
"Oh Ganke, hey," Liz greeted with a small waved, failing to mask the surprise in her voice.
"Hi, Liz," he replied.
"So um, what are you doing here?" she asked. Of course that would be the first thing she says. It would be a lot easier to tell her if her roommate wasn't right there staring at him like he had three heads. Her roomate seemed nice enough at first glance. She had dark curly hair, similar to the texture of Miles's, though it fell just past her shoulders. She had ginger colored skin and a silver nose ring that stuck out like a sore thumb. He was pretty sure Liz had mentioned that her name was Barbara. Even if she was nice, her presence still just made him more nervous than he already was.
"Come on Ganke, think! What would Miles do? Actually, definitely don't do what Miles would do."
"I'm gonna go," Barbara announced, much to the boy's relief. He wasn't sure how much more awkwardness he could take. The awkward stuff was more Miles's thing, "See you Monday, Liz."
"Bye, Barb," Liz called after her friend as she disappeared down the hallway. She faced Ganke again. "So whats up?" She wasn't asking in an accusatory way. She was just simply asking. She had an easygoing smile on her face at the sight calmed Ganke down a bit.
He could do this.
"You had mentioned that you lived in Brooklyn a few days ago and since I live there too I thought maybe... you'd wanna walk together. Miles would have come, but he was... y'know busy." He was surprised how easily the words seemed to flow from his mouth. He tried to gauge her reaction, but he was never too good at reading people.
He watched as her eyes widened then narrowed, before finally softening as a smile made its way to her face. "Yeah, okay," her voice was just a whisper. She cleared her throat, "Well, let's go." She walked ahead of the stunned boy then turned around to wait for him.
Ganke had to blink a few times to bring himself back to reality.
"Was it really that easy?"
He grinned speed walking to catch up with her. He tight his grip on his back straps as he cast a glance at the girl beside him.
Maybe he was good with girls.
*******
"So, this is the spot?" Miles questioned as they arrived at the area where they had seen the latest Scarlet Spider sighting.
"Yeah, and lets hurry up and find him. I'm freezing." Gwen said through clenched teeth as another wind gust blew past the two young heroes
Miles chuckled nervously, "I totally offer you my coat but, y'know... I'm not... really wearing one right now."
Gwen was glad he couldn't see her smile at his awkwardness under the mask. Miles scratched the back of his neck nervously, which was a habit of his Gwen was starting to find more and more cute.
Gwen shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking like that. She and Miles were friends and that was all she wanted. She knew that if she let anyone get too close, she'll end up getting hurt.
Miles suddenly pointed down to a familiar red and blue dressed figure on a rooftop about four buildings down. "I found him!" Miles yelled, startling the figure.
The new spider themed hero's head snapped over to them and the eyes of his mask narrowed. He sprang into the air, shooting a web line and hurling himself toward the two teenagers.
He landed on the roof with a thud, his glare fixed on the two. "Who are you?" he growled
as he took on a defensive stance.
"Calm down man. We're here to help you," Miles stated as he held up his hands and took a few cautious steps toward him.
Gwen flexed her fingers, ready to defend herself if Ben attacked.
"I bet you're one of Jackal's spider clones." Scarlet Spider began to circle the two like a predator would stalk prey, before lunging at Miles. The boy held up his hands in a cross motion in hopes of protecting his face.
Gwen reacted quickly, shooting a web at the assailants foot and yanking him to the floor.
"Look, just hear me out," Miles persisted. The Scarlet Spider turned his head toward Mile and tense silence fell over them. Gwen felt as if the air was so thick you could stack blocks of cement on it.
Miles took in a wavering breath and Gwen knew he had no idea what to say. His eyes darted every which way as his brain stuttered and scrambled for the right words. He glanced at Gwen hopping she could help, but she wasn't sure how to word it either. Finally his masked eyes locked with Ben's as the he stood to his feet, awaiting an explanation.
"We're not evil clones..." Miles started. He paused for a moment in thought, "We're just two people from another dimension with powers like yours. We came to warn you about this insane octopus woman who might destroy the multiverse."
Gwen blinked.
"He did not just say that."
In an instant the Scarlet Spider lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Miles's torso as the two went sailing off the roof. Miles let out a girlish scream as he dropped to the ground.
Gwen eyes widened and she scampered to the edge of the roof hoping that Miles hadn't broken his back. She found both Miles and Ben Reilly crouched down and ready to fight.
She dragged a white, gloved hand down her face and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Miles, you're an idiot."