There was an explosion.
There were screams.
There was pain.
That was all Gwen could comprehend at the moment. She couldn't see anything over the cloud of dust and piles of debris that covered her body. She tried to shift her weight, but that only resulted in the rubble to create more pressure on her back and for a sharp pain in her right arm to catch ablaze.
Gwen let herself whimper, because she knew there was no one around to hear it. She was alone. How did this even happen?
As she mulled over the past... how ever long ago it had been, her eyes widened.
"Miles."
She remembered it all: The look of horror and fear on his face, the pain in his eyes that was so tremendous that he couldn't even walk. The worst part was his screams. Gwen didn't think she'd ever forget those screams.
"It's all my fault."
If she had payed more attention- if she had been quicker Olivia never would have captured her and Miles wouldn't have felt the obligation to come save her. He never would have had to go through that. He never would have felt that pain. He never would have...
What if he was dead?
Gwen choked back her tears.
He couldn't be dead. Why couldn't it be her?
Her breath trembled. She can't lose him. She can't! If she lost another friend...
Gwen stared at the chunk of metal that was mere inches from her face. She eyed her reflection in it, but all she could see was a bloodied, broken girl, who couldn't do one thing right- who spent every waking moment saving people only for those people to hate her, maybe even more than she hated herself. She could save all these people, but as soon as it was someone she cared about- that actually meant something to her- she was powerless.
She gave one more violent heave in attempt to free herself, though that didn't fair well. The rubble only shifted and that was when Gwen realized.
"I can't move my arm."
Great. Just perfect.
She was never going to get out of there.
The girl let out a bunch of ragged pants as she tried to lift her right shoulder, to remove the blocks of concrete from her arm. There was a light rumble, before it came an inch or so off the ground. Quickly, she retracted her arm into the small pocket under the rubble that she resided in, having to bite her tongue to not scream at the agony it made her feel.
Gwen had no idea how much air was in the small pocket that she resided in. Did people even know that someone was down here? Probably not. Judging by the sound of Olivia's plan all the other spiders would have bigger things to worry about and a fear pooled in Gwen's chest.
What if she didn't make it out of this?
She'd rather not think about it. Instead she focused on slowing her breathing to steady pace.
"Gwen?!"
Her eyes snapped open. Did she just hear...
"Gwen?!"
That was Peter's voice. She was sure of it.
"Peter!" she called her voice burning her throat, "I'm here! I'm trapped!"
"Gwen? Where are you?"
The girl felt frustration claw up her chest, "I'm underneath the decimated building, Peter!"
She could hear the sound of muffled voices before he yelled again, "Alright, hang tight! We'll get you out!"
Gwen heard a rumble and exhaled in relief as the weight on her back became less and less. She lifted up her uninjured arm to shield her face at the last of the metal and concrete was lifted off of her frame.
She looked up and could help but smile small at the sight of Sp//dr holding as huge slab of concrete over it's head. Darkness surround them from what was left of the room they her in, though the glow of Sp//dr's face plate lit the small area that they resided in.
"Gwen!" Peni cheered, "You're okay!"
"More or less." the girl replied, dusting some debris off of her clothes.
A pair of arms lifted her from the rubble and she was met with the masked face of Peter.
"Oh Gwen, I'm so glad your- oh my!-" Gwen rose a brow at Peter's expression. He had a hand cupped over his masked mouth.
"What?"
He shook his head, "I don't think your arm is supposed to be facing that way."
Gwen only rolled her eyes, not daring to look down at the source of her pain, "Yeah, you think?"
"Guys we found her," Peni spoke into her intercom, "You can call off the search."
"What about Miles?" she couldn't help but ask.
Peter's demeanor seemed to fall at her question, his shoulders slumping forward as his eyes darted to the ground. It seemed he was using all of his willpower to keep a straight face. "Well, let's just get you-"
"No, don't try that," Gwen ordered. Her voice was strong, but her eyes were full of fear, that Peter saw instantaneously, "What happened to, Miles?"
"Gwen, look. Now's really not the best-"
"Stop!" The blond wailed, giving Peter a forceful shove with her good hand. The man stumbled a few steps. Gwen glared back up a Peter as her eyes took on a glassy look, "Peter, tell me if he's okay."
Peter stayed silent.
"Is Miles okay?!" she screamed, moving in to about a few inches from the man's face.
Peter didn't answer.
Gwen ran a hand through her hair with a huff, before sinking the ground and cupping her forehead.
The girl felt a pressure being placed on her shoulder and glanced up to meet Peni's sympathetic eyes gazing at her from her spot inside Sp//dr. "We don't know if he's okay. We just know he's not dead."
There was another word threatening to leave her mouth. Gwen knew it, but Peni bit her tongue.
Yet
This couldn't be happening. Why was this happening?
It was as if the universe just wanted to slap her in the face. It didn't just want to tell her that she wasn't good enough as it taunted her in her thoughts and dreams. No, it had to prove it to her- give her evidence and then laugh in her face. It wanted to prove to her that no second chance would be enough. Gwen Stacy's best friend always dies and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Where is he?" Gwen asked.
"He's at May's place," Peter responded, his eyes flickering from her face to the ground, "She used to be a nurse."
"Then let's go."
"Yeah, while we're there we can get a splint for your arm." Peni sounded, but Gwen didn't care about herself at the moment.
Suddenly, she yelped as she was lifted off the ground. Peter picked her up bridal style. "You can't swing with that arm. I'll take you there," he spoke, "Just make sure to cover your face."
Gwen stretched her hood over her face to hide it from any camera they may pass by. She felt air whip by her as Peter swung off.
All she could hear were screams- frightened, pain filled screams. There was chaos going on in the streets below and Gwen had no idea what it was.
"What has Olivia done?"
Gwen shifted uncomfortably and that resulted in Peter clutching her tighter. "Don't remove your hood," he mumbled.
Gwen obeyed his instruction, listening to the bone chilling cries for help the sounded throughout the city.
Finally the came to a halt and Peter set her down. She pulled back her hood, running a hand through her tangled hair. She caught sight of Anya, Porker, Ben, and Noir all sitting around on the couch in May's living room, eyes glued to the TV screen that displayed the news.
Gwen couldn't be bothered to look at it.
"Gwen, what happened to your arm?!" Anya asked immediately, shooting up from her spot.
"That doesn't look quite right," Porker winced.
Gwen ignored their questions, "Where is he?" she asked, her voice demanding and answer.
"He's down with May and Miguel in the Spider-lair," Anya announced, "Miguel is having Lyla use that whiz-bang future technology to try to save him."
Ben rose a brow, unimpressed, "Whiz-bang future technology?"
Anya shrugged, "That's what Noir had called it."
"Do you know how he's doing?" Peter asked, stepping forward with a frantic look on his face.
Noir shook his head, "They haven't come back up."
Gwen felt herself deflate.
He had to be alright.
"He'll live."
Gwen's head snapped over the source of the voice. She found May leaning against the back doorway, her arms crossed.
Gwen had never been so happy so see her.
"He lost a lot of blood," the woman continued,"And strength, and he had an infection in his leg."
Gwen grit her teeth. She knew that would happen.
May smiled small, "It may be a bit tough for him to walk, but he'll be alright."
"Oh thank you," Peter breathed, a lazy smile forming on his face as he practically collapsed onto the couch.
"Gracias a Dios," Anya muttered a hand coming up to cup her cheek.
"Yeah I knew he'd make it!" Peni grinned as she gently pet her robot's head.
Gwen only smiled wider as Porker climbed, Ben's shoulder and began to hop up and down, much to the man's annoyance.
The girl couldn't even begin to describe how happy and relieved she was at this moment.
Peter stood from his spot, going over to give May a side hug, "Thank you, May.
"Don't thank me," she smiled, "He wouldn't have recovered as well as he did without Miguel's tech."
Gwen took a pause at this, "Wait, why didn't you just take him to Miguel's dimension then?"
Just as the words escaped her lips Gwen let out a groan as a glitched racked her body. She fell to the ground, suppressing a scream as her broken arm hit the floor. She clutched it with her good arm as she bit her tongue.
"Gwen!" Peni shrieked as Peter lifted her from the ground. A compartment opened in Sp//dr's side and Peni reached in pulling out and extra goober. She tossed it to Peter and the man caught it easily, before slipping it on her left wrist.
May gasped at the sight, "Your arm. I'll be right back. I'll get you something to brace it." She dashed out of the room.
"We've got two people that are pretty badly injured," Noir stated. He shook his head as he tugged his hat further down his head, "I don't know how we can win this fight."
Gwen bit her lip in thought, "What exactly are we fighting?"
She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer. From what Olivia said about this... Venom, he didn't sound like a walk in the park to take down.
"It's a version of Venom," Peter explained,"He's a villain that I've fought in my dimension."
"But a way worse version," Peni continued, worry taking over her features, "His time in the dimension rift seems to have... mutated him. He can travel dimensions at will and he's a lot smarter. He seems to be bringing every version of himself here to create an army."
"Then why are we still here?!" Gwen asked her incredulously, "Shouldn't we hide out in Miguel's dimension... or maybe even yours?"
"None of them are safe," Anya spoke up, her gaze turned toward the ground, her curls covered her face, "This isn't just happening here. It's happening in all of our dimensions... We still don't know how many this is affecting."
"I think It'd be better if I just showed you," Peter said, walking to the front door. He turned the knob and pulled it open, looking at her and pointing up at the sky, "Take a look."
Gwen slowly made her way toward the door. Her lips parted in surprise at what she saw.
There were inky black splotches practically raining from the sky. They would hit the ground or crash through windows and latch onto any person that happened to be around them. It enveloped the peoples' bodies as it took on a human-like shape. It looked horrendous with it's piercing white eyes, jagged teeth, and long, snake-like tongue. It's oily black skin was dark as night and it's disgusting smile was enough to send a chill down the girls spine.
This was chaos. This was an invasion- a planned, hostile takeover.
If they didn't stop this. This would be the end of all of their worlds- of all their dimensions.
Never taking her eyes of the dastardly sight, Gwen breathed out, "Holy sh-"
"Shock," Peter cut her off staring solemnly at the disaster unfolding in the sky.
Gwen glanced at him before looking back at the sky dusted with inky black splotches. Fear overtook her features as she watched.
"Yeah... holy shock."