"Peter, watch your six!" Gwen warned as a few shots were fired in his direction. She fired a web to propel herself out of the way of Octavius's tentacles. She deftly ducked as one flew over her, right where her head had been. She did a roll to put some distance between them, then looked back, only to see Doc Oc's malicious grin.
The villain was about to attack once again, but got cut of by a blow to the chest. The girl in the black and white Spider-suit hopped into the air, landing an uppercut to the doctors chin before somersaulting back and ending in her fighting stance. She tossed her wavy brown hair over her shoulder and cast Gwen a brief glance. "Go help Peter! I've got Doctor Octavius!" she called out, her Spanish accent prominent in her voice.
Gwen nodded firing a web to propel herself up and over the tall buildings that surrounded them. Unlike other times they fought Doc Oc, the Oscorp in Anya's dimension was in a highly populated area, which meant they had to be extremely cautious of civilians.
Gwen scoured the streets to find Peter or anyone that she could be of assistance to, but with all of the skyscrapers in the way in was difficult to keep track of everybody. She flew up and over one building, letting her webbing balance her out and stopping on a ledge. From there she could spot Noir and Ben Riley fighting off a group of armed scientists on a street, down below, and a ways off from them was Peni who was using Sp//dr to try and defend herself against Scorpion. They weren't fairing too hot, but were still holding their own.
Gwen's head perked up a the sound of gunshots ringing throughout a street followed by screams and squeals. The heroine instantly bolted off in the direction of the noise until she made it to the source.
Cars were speeding away and people were running as fast as their legs could carry them which just added to the arising chaos. In the midst of the commotion she found Peter and Tombstone brawling it out, Peter frantically leaping around and attempting to disarm him, while Tombstone fired bullet after bullet at the man with a sadistic smile etched into his discolored, asphalt skin.
Gwen felt a familiar warning go off and she jerked her head to find a car barreling down the street toward a couple who were attempting to run away.
She instantly sprang into action, letting herself fall off the building and swinging low to the ground. She quickened her pace as the car neared and tackled the two young adults out of the way just as the car whizzed by. The couple gave her a quick thank you, which if she was completely honest, caught her off guard, before running away.
"Hey Stony," Gwen heard that annoyingly familiar voice speak, causing her to turn her attention over to the fight that was taking up the street. "My girlfriend has this moisturizer that works wonders," Peter leapt into the air and landed on a stop sign as Tombstone fired another round of bullets at him, "I could tell you where to get some. You might want it for all that... greyness you have going on over here here." Peter rubbed a hand along his mask in gesture then, shuddered in mock disgust, but that only seemed to enrage the mob boss.
Tombstone fired shot after shot, while Peter leapt from building to building. Gwen figured she should step in before Peter decided to open his mouth again.
The girl lifted her arms, held her middle and ring finger down, and fired two webs at Tombstone's hands, yanking the guns out of his grasp, before webbing them to the floor. She then flipped forward and landed a kick to the back of the villains head.
He let out an enraged growl as he spun back, swinging his arms wildly as he did so. Gwen jutted her head back as the villain threw a fist at her. She crouched then sprang up, landing an uppercut on his chin. The man stumbled, his hand coming up to cradle his jaw.
"Where did you come from?" he grunted as his gaze landed on her. His stance was wobbly. His body rocked back and forth balloon air dancers outside of gas stations. This fight was finished, whether he knew it or not.
Gwen tried not to let her eyes wander and keep Toobstone's attention on her as Peter crept up behind him. Peter tapped the villain on the shoulder, waiting for him to turn, before vocalizing a quick, "Peekaboo," before punching him square in the face. Tombstone stumbled about thee steps before tripping over his own feet and landing flat on his back.
Gwen fastened his limbs down with webbing before. turning to Peter with a quick roll of her eyes, "Why do you guys do that?"
One of Peter's lenses enlarged as he raised a brow, "Huh?"
"You and Miles. Why do you talk so much in fights?" She placed a hand on her hip, "It's kind of annoying."
Peter let's out a laugh as he put both hands on his back and arched it, inducing a few loud cracks. He lifted a finger to his head as if pointing at his brain, "It's strategic. It throws the enemy off guard."
Gwen shook her head with a groan, "It's stupid and just makes the enemy want to fight you more."
Peter shrugs, "Agree to disagree. I think it helps." A pause and then, "I also think it's funny to see them get all mad."
Gwen rolled her eyes. Of course he would say that. The girl took a few steps forward, looking back at Peter over her shoulder, "Let's go find the others. They looked like they could use the help."
Peter nodded in agreement, lifting his wrist skyward in preparation to fire a web. "Alright let's go- AAAAGGGHH!"
Gwen eyes widened when Peter screamed as his was dragged into the air, by Adrian, the man in the metal vulture suit. She instantly swung after them, though she didn't make much headway. The vulture could fly, while she could only swing.
"Why couldn't I have been bitten by a radioactive eagle or something?"
Gwen winced and shook the thought from her mind once she pictured the scenario.
"Actually, scratch that. That sounds painful."
The blond heroine tried her best to keep up with the vulture as his metal wind carried him every which way, throughout the skies, but she was quickly falling behind.
Peter struggled to pry off the talons that had latched around his arm, but it was no use.
"Having fun Mister Parker?" Vulture cackled. The man tucked in his wings spinning as he neared the ground, before spreading them out again. Peter cupped a hand over his mouth as vulture flew him into the corner of a building concrete breaking from the impact and landing in the streets.
"It's actually better than my first time flying," Peter spoke choppily through gritted teeth, "The first time I barfed on the lady next to me. You keep flying like this and you're in for a show."
Gwen grimaced under her mask. She did not want to see that.
The heroine fire two webs, using them to propel herself forward. That seemed to close the distance just enough for Vulture to be within her webbing range, so fire she did.
Her webbing landed on his left wing. Gwen used her weight to drag Vulture down and he spiraled out of control. He spared higher as he twisted and spun, Gwen hanging on to her web for dear life all the while. She tried her hardest to keep a grip on her web, but her fingers slipped and she was sent sailing through the air.
The girl flipped herself around just in time to stick a landing on nearby a rooftop. Her feet slipped out from under her and she landed on her back with a grunt. She peered up at Adrian Toombes who was casting her a sadistic smile from fifty feet overhead.
Vulture lifted Peter up with his talons, tightening them ever so slightly, just to induce a painful groan from the hero. "You remember this one. Don't you, Spider-woman?" he taunted as he held Peter a bit higher, like he was a trophy. His voice was filled with humor like this was some sort of joke.
Gwen grit her teeth.
"Tell me where he is!" Vulture demanded, "Or I'll drop him and you might not get so lucky this time."
Gwen could do nothing but stare up at the villain. She had no idea what to do.
The sunlight bounced off of Adrian's metal wings giving his face this radiant glow. It was almost angelic and Gwen hated the fact that he could look so serene while threatening to badly injure her friend.
Gwen's eyes darted around to the surrounding buildings as she calculated Peter's fall. Beneath him and Vulture lied a cluster of buildings. She might be able to fire enough webs to form a net to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Enough stalling!" He growled as he jerked Peter's wrist, causing him to yelp, "Where is the other Spider-man?!"
"If you think I'd tell you! You must be out of your mind!" She called up to him, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound.
Vulture's face twisted in anger before going bag to a grin, "Alright then, I guess you've made your decision, you little-"
Vulture let's out a pain-filled screech and Gwen's pupils dilate. Bolts of electricity encase his body and his body writhes. The young heroine panics as Peter falls from the villains grasp and prepared to jump, before Peter just stopped falling midair.
Gwen's jaw dropped. She squinted to get a better look at him in the distance. Do the laws of physics just not apply anymore?
Almost like a pendulum he was swinging toward her but was making to do so. There was only one thing that could mean.
"Miles," Gwen whispered, more to herself than anyone else. When Peter next to her landed on the rooftop she say that she was right. Miles appeared by the Man's side with an audible pop.
Gwen open her mouth to speak. What she was going to say, she didn't know, but Peter beat her to it.
"Miles, your not supposed to be here!" Peter roars, flinging his arms up in anger.
Gwen didn't know what to say. She was feeling so many different emotions right now.
Miles looks at him but says nothing. He turns his attention back to the vulture, who had flown down to them smiling wickedly. He brought a hand up to his ear, "The boy's here, Olivia," he listened for a second then nodded, "Anything for you."
"Back off, Toombes," Peter growled as he spun around. Gwen took notice of how he kept one hand pressed against his lower back.
Vulture cast Peter one last grin, before swooping in and tackling Miles to the ground. Miles was prepared for this however and flipped Adrian over, following up with three punches to the face. The blows busted the man's lip and Gwen could only gape as his head lolled back, his eyes shut, and blood trickled down the side of his face.
Gwen turned her attention over to Miles a shocked expression underneath her white mask. She reached a hand out toward him, "Miles?" she asked cautiously.
He turned to face her, completely silent. He stared into her eye for what felt like an eternity, this eyes of his mask narrowed into two small slit, until the sound of heavy thumps broke their attention.
Gwen looked to see Sp//dr, with Peni sitting in her compartment as usual, and beside them was Ham, twiddling his thumbs nervously.
"Ham you were supposed to distract Miles, not bring him to us!" Peter hollered, getting in the pig's face.
"That's exactly what I said," Peni chimed in with her arms crossed over her chest. Sp//der's face plate changed to one of disapproval. One eye seemed to be open more than the other, which was what Gwen assumed was the robot's version of a raised eyebrow.
"I know. I know. My bad," Ham mumbled as he looked down at the floor with a pout.
"Your bad? He could have been killed by that lunatic," Peter continued, sounding like a parent scolding a child. He turned to Miles a said, "Miles, you've gotta get out of here, before Oc comes."
Gwen can see Miles's fists clenched at his sides, and concern pools in her chest.
Four more pairs of feet land on the rooftop and all attention turned to them. The three all look out of breath from the fight.
Noir is the first to speak. "We held 'em off for as long as we could, but there's too many."
"I'm not even sure where she got all those people from," Scarlet pants.
"Miguel is fighting Doctor Octavius, but I'm not sure how long he can keep it up," Anya adds with a shake of her head.
Gwen's felt her spider-sense warn her and ducked just as a large object flies over her head. She winced as a crash ensued, followed by pained grunts.
"Speak of the devil," Noir spoke, looking down to the mess of tangled limbs that is Miguel and Miles.
"Get off of me!" Miguel barked, roughly shoving Miles aside.
"What do you mean?! You're the one that fell on me!" Miles argued, standing to to his feet.
"I didn't fall. I was thrown."
"Thrown?" Peni asked with a tilt of her head, "Thrown by whom?"
"Me," An ominous voice sounded, as four metal tentacles latched onto the building ledge. Olivia lifted herself onto the platform, her usual toothy smile making its way to her face. "Anyone want to go next?"
"Me!" Ham shouts, "Pick me!"
Olivia gave him a strange look. Gwen took her being distracted as an opportunity. She rushed forward, leaping into the air with her foot extended for a kick, but before she could make contact she felt the cold metal of Octavius's tentacles wrap around her leg. The girl yelped as her body was jerked back. She then found herself hanging upside down in front of the villainess's face, her jagged smile, holding nothing but humor and malicious intent. Gwen gave the woman her best glare.
"You're a feisty one," Olivia concluded, "I like you." The eyes beneath her goggles were trained on the girl, laughter practically dancing around in them.
The smell of lavender and rose invaded Gwen's nostrils. The girl couldn't help, but wonder how this psychopath was so good at picking out perfume.
"Get away from her!" an enraged growl sounded.
Next thing Gwen knew she was dropped to the ground, flipping her body over to land on her feet, as Olivia let out a shriek of pain. Blue sparks glided across her body as her arms swung around crazily.
"You little prick!" she howled as she tripped over her arms that flailed about, out of her control. The electricity raced around the electrical panel of her back.
"Everyone close in. We have her," Miguel ordered. The spiders did as instructed, all being careful to steer clear of the wildly swinging arms. "Alright, web her down!"
Instantly Doc Oc was being bombarded with webbing from all sides by the eight spiders. She grunted and growled as she attempted to free herself, but she was getting nowhere.
"I'll kill all of you!" she spat once the webbing on slot had ceased.
"We're waiting," Peter answered. He crossed his arms and stared her down impatiently.
This angered the villainess even more. She attempted to lunge forward at him, but the webbing kept her fastened down. She let out ragged breaths, clearly exhausted from her outburst.
"Did... Did we just win?" Miles asked, his voice sounding normal to Gwen for the first time that day.
"I think we did," Anya responds, her lips curling up a smile, "Qué va! Is it all over?"
"Not quite," came Olivia's response, that sinister smile creeping onto her face once more, "Adrian, let's get out of here!"
Gwen feels a gust of wind whoosh by her as the Vulture swoops past. His claws latch onto the doctor as he effortlessly pulls her out of the webbing. Adrian flashed them a self-satisfied grin, his busted lip still leaking a bit of blood.
"After them!" Miguel hollered. The spiders all rush forward, but halt when a green figure leapt into the path. The tip of it's long tail glistened from the poison dripping from it.
"Quédate atrás arañas insignificantes," Scorpion hissed, his tail swaying back and forth like that of a cat.
Gwen felt herself tumble forward as the ground beneath her began to quake. The other beside her followed suit, collapsing onto their knees. She could see Sp// dr out of the corner of her eye take a knee as well as Miguel placing a hand on the ground in attempt to stabilize himself, but her only ended up falling on his face. If this were any other circumstance she probably would have cracked a grin at that.
A portal tore a whole in the once blue sky. The buildings around them began to glitch, colors of black, orange, yellow, and pink flashing across them. A choir of screams echoed down the streets, while people no tried in van to seek shelter. The heroes and heroines were at the center of this madness.
"I'll be seeing you all again really soon," Octavius promised as Toombes, holding her tightly, neared the glowing spiral. She craned her neck to look down at the street below, "Takes care of our friends, here!"
With that she and Adrian fled through the portal. Scorpion cast the heroes a toothy smirk before following after them. The portal closed and the chaos came the an instant halt.
Gwen's head perked up at the sound of choreographed footsteps drawing near. She looked over to Noir who was peering over the side of the building where they stood. He turned to look a the bunch and shook his head, "We're not out of the woods yet, fellas."
All the heroes rushed over to see an army of scientists (around a hundred or so) rushing toward them. Each of them held an alien-looking gun in their hands.
"We need to get the kid out of here," Peter spoke up, swiftly turning to face Miles.
"What? No way am I leaving. Look how many of them their are!" Miles interjected, roughly pointing down to Olivia's army.
"Just go, Morales," Miguel growled, crossing his arms over his chest, "You weren't even supposed to be here. We don't need you."
"Actually we do. Miguel's ego is just too big to let him admit we need help," Gwen said as she fixed the man with a glare.
"I didn't say we didn't need help. I said we didn't need him."
Gwen's eyes narrowed on Miguel. He cast her a quick glance before he winced and shrank back, clearly thinking back to the black eye he received last time, that was most likely still prominent on his cheek.
Gwen cast Miles a glance. His hands had been balled up into tight fists and she could tell his jaw was clenched by the outline of his mask.
"Ignore him, Miles. You need to go," Peter said.
Miles looked between the two before speaking, his voice taking on that angry, strained sound once again. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Miles, these people will take you if they get the chance. I'm not gonna give them that chance," Peter reasoned.
"No, you just don't want me to get in the way. I can fight just as well as any of you!"
Gwen was taken aback by the boy's tone. Miles was always so happy, always making jokes. Him angry was a rare sight to see and she didn't like it. Miles wasn't supposed to be angry. He was supposed to be funny and laughing at his own dumb jokes. He was supposed to be stupid always wearing a dorky grin on his face. He was supposed to be... Miles.
"Nobody is saying that, Kid. I need you to listen. Get out of here," Peter said. Gwen could here the panic creeping into his voice as the footsteps and shouts of the army drew nearer.
"You're pathetic, Morales. Your presence is putting us all in danger. Just leave already," Miguel added taking a few threatening steps toward Miles.
"Stop, Miguel," Gwen hissed, "Your not helping."
"I'm not trying to. I'm trying to get this guy to leave."
"Silencio," Anya ordered the man. She turned to look at the boy, her long brown curls flew into her face from the action, "Miles, Peter is right. You leaving is what's best right now. Live to fight another day."
"They're up there! Get them!" Gwen heard from below, followed by many shouts of agreement and grunts as the men begin to scale the building.
She saw Peter tap a few buttons of his his goober, before a portal opened up beside them. He turned to the young hero, "Miles, go."
Miles said nothing, only staring Peter down, the eyes of his mask narrowed into a glare.
Peter cast Gwen a look that she instantly understood and she gave him a quick nod. Miles was going to be so mad at her, but at least he'd be alive.
Gwen planted her feet before sprinting forward. She headed straight for Miles, wrapping her arms around him, effectively knocking him off his feet and hurling them both through the gateway.
*******
The two spider-teens are dumped out the other side of the portal, both rolling along the gravel of another rooftop. The stars illuminated the night sky of Miles dimension and attempt to fill in the deafening silence.
Miles hastily scrambled to his feet darting pack to the portal. From her spot on the ground, Gwen quickly shot a web line at his foot and yanked him to the ground. Though he stood again rather fast, rushing toward the opening once again. Gwen made it to her feet, grasping his wrist tightly. Miles spun around and grabbed her hand in attempt to pry it off, but Gwen reacted faster. She jutted her right leg out, placing his behind the boy's feet and pushed herself forward. The boy tripped and landed on his back with Gwen on top of him.
The girl slipped his dimension hopper off his wrist and took a huge jump back, putting some distance between herself and Miles. The two teens watched as the portal in front of them closed.
Gwen let out a huge breath of relief, glad that the tussle was finally over. She turned her attention over to her friend who now sat on the floor with his legs crisscross and his shoulders slumped over in defeat.
The girl bit her lip, unsure of what to do or how to approach him. Eventually she sat down as well, a distance away from him and crossed her legs in a like manner. She gently pulled the mask from her face, letting her golden hair fall free. When the boy still didn't speak she decided to try and initiate. "Miles?" she asked without surety.
"This is just like last time."
His voice had caught her off guard.
"What do you mean?" she questioned in her most calm voice possible.
"This," he answered, his voice cracking with emotion, "It's just like last time- like the collider. You all left me... because you don't think I'm good enough."
"Miles, that's not true."
"Yes it is," He spoke, his voice hard as steel. His ripped his mask from his face with a huff, "It definitely is. None of you think I'm good enough; not Miguel, not Peter, not you, not... not my dad." His voice softened at the end and Gwen creased her brows together in concern. She watched as he hugged his knees to his chest and her heart suddenly felt like it weighed an extra ten pounds.
"Miles, look at me." The boy craned his neck to face her. "You're one of the most capable people I know. You saved the multiverse for crying out loud. You saved me and all of the others," Gwen said with a weak laugh, but there was no humor behind it, "The reason why I do this- why I wanted you not to wear the suit or to go fight, is because we know Olivia is after you and I want you to be safe. I need you to be safe," the girl looked down at her gloved hands, that she had clenched tightly, "I... I can't loose you Miles. Not like I lost Peter. I can't do that again."
The girl heard a bit of shuffling before she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her. She stiffened, but nervously tried her best to lean into the embrace. She felt a warmth form on her cheeks and prayed that Miles wouldn't see it. All of this physical contact made her feel queasy.
"I'm not going anywhere, Gwen."
"I hope not," she laughed humorlessly, "Otherwise I'd have to kill you myself."
Miles let out a breathy chuckle as he pulled away from her. Gwen looked into his chocolate brown eyes for a moment and Miles did the same. They just stared, but it felt normal.
"You're all I have. You know?" Miles spoke softly, so softly Gwen almost didn't hear. She really wished she didn't. It bothered her that two sentences from his could make her insides suddenly feel like lead.
Gwen felt... differently around him. She felt comfortable. She felt safe. Emotional sharing wasn't her cup of tea. In fact was more like a cup of liquor, making her want to vomit the minute the words left her mouth, but she was feeling so many emotions- so many unwanted emotions that had no right to be there- that she felt that she needed to vocalize, something.
"When I'm with you I don't feel so alone."
Gwen was prepared for him to give her a strange look. Maybe it's be one of pity, which she would hate, or maybe one of disgust. Maybe Miles would just laugh at her. Though she felt a wave of joy as he answered.
"I feel the same."
Gwen looked down at her hands. She had to get these feelings under control. She had to find a way to be rid of them. She looked back up to meet her friends eyes as he spoke, "I promise I won't leave you, Gwanda."
Gwen shook her head, "You can't promise that."
She looked at him in surprise when he only grinned and held out a hand to her, pinky outstretched, "Until the multiverse falls apart?"
Gwen let out a ghost of a laugh as gentle smile formed on her face. She reached out her hand, intertwining her pinky with his as a mutual promise was made between the two teens.
"Until the multiverse falls apart."