I was in my basement putting the final touches on my helmet, the silvery surface now a matte-black with deep crimson accents inlaid into the runic tapestry of concentric circles, symbols and ancient scripts.
It gave the helmet a very occult-like look for those not in the Mystical magical know.
"Hey Nex can you monitor the city for Spider-Man?"
[Can do… are you going to do some hero stuff with our friendly neighborhood spider?]
"Nah, not really, I need to show him the error in his ways, y'know? Give him some martial tips and what not..."
[You just want a punching bag to test your new muscles.]
I gave her a mischievous grin. "Nooo… never, Peter's a good guy, a little cursed — so it's my duty to help the sorry spidery son of a shield agent."
[Yah, whatever you say~]
Not an hour went by until Nex chimed in.
[Found ya spider-suited vigilante — they're on 50th and Bayard stopping a bank robbery. Also, crime-rates across New York has increased massively since the Avengers' decided to implode.]
"Hmm… That makes sense, thanks Nex. Can you also keep an eye out for any other spandex wearing vigilantes? Try to focus on the Hell's Kitchen area."
[Gotcha.]
I opened a space door to my roof, bringing out Lilith and launching into the sky. The bike rippled with magic, a wave of cloaking and illusion spells washing over me as I rode into the sky.
At just below subsonic speeds, I arrived in minutes.
I hovered in the air, glancing down at the chaos below. I could see shattered glass, cars flipped over and the sounds of gunfire crackling through the bank building.
I stored Lilith, immediately dropping into a free fall, my casual clothes vanished — replaced by my Master robes and newly finished helmet. The scream of the wind drowned out as my HUD bloomed to life. My vision filled with red text and a number of supplemental data.
I pulled on the Force to cushion my fall — though the impact would've killed a normal human, my serum enhanced physique took it easily.
I landed in a half-kneel, shattering the pavement below me as I touched down. I stood slowly, ignoring the nearby gasps of surprise. Civilians pointed and exclaimed at my sudden appearance — Who? Another robber? A monk? Whats with the helmet? They murmured.
I strode into the bank, stepping over a number of unconscious balaclava wearing robbers, noticing that they were all in pretty bad shape, alive—but barely—I saw broken arms, crushed knee caps and dented faces.
Jesus Christ Peter, I mean, I'm impressed—but damn. I didn't think he was capable of this…
The ceiling shuddered, florescent lights flickering as cracks began to spread above me.
I took a single step backwards just in time to witness a robber get ground-smashed from the second floor to the first. His fearful screams cut short as his spine cracked into the floor just before.
Wow.
I glanced up, peering up at the cloud of dust and debris falling through the hole to the second floor.
"Goddamn Spider-Man!" I shouted up at the hole, my voice coming out as a digital growl. "I see you're not pulling your punches anymore… huh?" My voice caught in my throat as a figure dropped down.
"Spider…Man?" A feminine voice replied.
A figure dressed in a black and white spider suit with a hood stepped out from the cloud of smoke.
What the f—"Gwen?!" I unintentionally muttered, barely a whisper, a wisp of wind pushed out of my lungs by sheer stupid surprise.
She tensed, her fists clenching as she dropped into an amateur fighting stance.
"W-what?? Whatdidyou say?!" She stammered out in quiet hiss, her super-human hearing catching my mutter in perfect clarity.
… shit.
I coughed, "WHEN?!" I screamed aloud, "—WHEN are you going to fight me Spider-Man!?" I finished, quickly taking an exaggerated fighting stance. I even grunted aggressively to really sell it.
"GaahH!?"
Gwen just stared at me, her large white masks' eyes narrowing at me.
"No. Terrible even — not buying it. Who the hell are you and how do you know me?!" I could feel her confusion and fear through the Force pulse in reaction to her identity being so easily seen through.
I sighed, dropping my stance and grasping my forehead in exasperation.
"My bad… I thought I was meeting Spider-Man, not—" I waved a hand at her. "Spider-Woman?" I asked.
"Ghost-Spider." She corrected, still stance'd up.
"Ghost-Spider, good choice, way cooler than Spider-Man." I complimented.
Gwen nodded, "Right? If I went with Spider-woman it would've implied the wrong—NO! Don't you try and distract me! Who are you!" She shouted at me.
The sounds of sirens began to fill the air behind us. I flipped a thumb to the arriving police cars.
"We should probably change location…"
Gwen narrowed her eyes even more at me, then gave me tentative nod of agreement.
The two of us jumped out of the building, ignoring the orders to freeze, making for a nearby alleyway. I watched as Gwen climbed, leapt and swung off railings, wall-jumping between the alleyway with the grace of a seasoned acrobat.
No webs? Guess she hasn't made her own slingers.
I easily matched her pace even without wall-climbing powers, using the Force to step off a nearby wall I launched myself into the air gaining multiple stories in a single stride.
I landed on the ledge just as Gwen arrived. She gave me a surprised spider look, as if she didn't expect me to keep up.
I looked over my shoulder and down at the cops swarming the area below us.
"Let's keep going." I said leaping towards another roof.
Gwen just groaned before following me.
After ten minutes of roof hopping we eventually found a rather desolate spot.
I turned to Gwen, seeing her arms crossed and foot-tapping with expectation. She raised a single hand at me. "So?"
I scratched the back of my neck, only to feel the cold metal of my helmet.
"First of all, sorry for saying your name aloud. That's my bad."
Gwen scoffed. "Ya think? You think this mask is for show or something?"
I shook my head, internally debating how I should handle this. I could technically just portal away. Vanish without a word, leaving her questions and concerns unanswered.
I swayed as I thought, pacing a little with my hand on chin. Her eyes tracking me as I did so.
Why the fuck is Ghost-spider even here? Isn't this the MCU? Isn't Gwen supposed to be like, just a scientist or something? First the X-men now Ghost-spider?
Is Miles going to show up as well? I mean I left the spiders at Oscorp for this exact reason—but I didn't actually think more Spider-people were gonna show-up outta the woodwork.
"Did you get bit at Oscorp?" I asked her, still pacing.
Gwen's head tilted, her eyes narrowing even more, anymore and they'd be closed.
"Now how do you know—that?"
"Internship?" I asked, adding fuel to the fire. Gwen gave me a slow, reluctant nod. I stopped pacing, turning to her. "Would you believe me if I said I won't tell anyone who you are?"
A wave of anger wafted off her through the Force. "Guess not…" I muttered.
"No shit." She replied with a harsh, grating tone. "Now tell me before I beat the shit out of you."
I stared at her, my visor eerily still. Then I chuckled, which only served to piss her off even more.
Without warning Gwen launched at me, fist blurring as it approached. But it was too obvious, far too telegraphed for my super-human reflexes to fall for.
I tilted my head, letting her fist fly by. Gwen spun into a sweep that I dodged with a lazily raised leg.
Her hand slapped against the ground as she used it as a pivot point to spin into another kick. I raised another lazy hand, deflecting a kick as if it wasn't strong enough to dent steel.
To Gwen's credit she didn't relent. Attacking me with no reservations, especially after she saw how easily I blocked her kick.
I heard her grunt through her teeth, hands flying towards me as she gave up trying to land a hit for a brutish tackle.
I twisted, letting her fly by me like I was some sort of matador. I could feel the frustration ebb off her, increasing with each failed attack.
She flipped and spun, tried to drop-kick me, even went for a Chun-li style combo.
After five minutes of me easily dodging by a hairsbreadth she slumped to the ground, her chest heaving with exhaustion.
I walked over, my figure looming over her as she stared into the sky.
"Fuck you." She cursed through heavy breaths, making me chuckle.
"Gotta do better than that, Ghost-Spider." I said with a playful tone. Gwen groaned, trying for one last desperate slap at my ankles. I just lifted my leg, letting her hand fly by.
"Really? Out of all all your attacks that was your worse." I admonished. Gwen just moaned in indignation, before slamming her fist into the roof, cratering the ground.
For a moment it was silent.
Then Gwen slowly lifted herself onto her ass, before pulling her knees to her chest and sinking her head into her legs.
Then she started crying.
What?
I felt her anguished confusion through the Force, a throat-burning scent of salted tears that made me wince as it hit me. A fear crept out of her, crawling up my spine like… well like a spider.
What did I… what do I….
I sighed, the weight of her tears pulling me into crouch beside her. I sat, crossing my legs and sitting an arms length away from her.
"Gwen." I whispered.
Her head twitched at hearing her name again, her anger pulsing as she lifted her head from her knees, barely showing me the tears staining her mask.
"What?" She hissed at me.
I lifted a hand up, flicking through a few motions to conjure an opaque dome around us. Gwen tensed as she witnessed the display of magic, but didn't move.
I grabbed my helmet and lifted it off my face, letting my long black hair fall to my shoulders.
Her large white spider eyes widened in surprise as she stared at my face. I saw her mask subtly shift as she opened her mouth, a tense silence between us.
"...who the hell are you?"
Bruh.
I couldn't help but drop my head with a defeated chuckle.
"For real? Thats fucked up y'know—we have like, three classes together at least."
Her head tilted, and I could practically see the gears shifting within.
"Huh… wait, you do kinda look familiar--uh, Rasin? Ricky? Ronald?" She muttered trying to recall my name.
I couldn't help but give her a pained look, my voice laced with devastation.
"Fucking—Ronald?" I hissed at her, cupping the sides of my head in pure disbelief.
"It's Riven!"
She put her hands up in surrender. "Sorry! Yeah, I remember now—but you can't blame me we've never talked!" She defended herself.
"Ronald? Bloody Ronald?!" I muttered under my breath like a mad man, unable to let the slight go.
Gwen chuckled, snorting a little before cupping her mouth in embarrassment.
I grinned at her, feeling the Force shift into relief — a minty refreshing scent.
I scratched the back of my head, feeling my long hair between my fingers. "Again, sorry Gwen, I really didn't mean to—"
"It's fine." She said, swatting away my apology. "You showed me your face, that's good enough for me—now I got dirt on you so we're even." She finished with a visible vicious grin.
I shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you want…" I looked around, seeing the sun beginning to set in the distance.
I hummed, feeling a hunger building in my stomach. "You wanna grab a bite to eat? My treat, as compensation for pulling you through this whole fiasco."
She titled her head at me, swaying slightly as she thought. "Mmm… sure! But I get to pick, and you're paying for anything I order!~" She said with a devious tone.
I sighed, shaking my head.
Nat was right… pretty woman are definitely going to get me killed one day, or at least, murder my wallet.