บท 27: Live 14½ (Gwen's Dream)
" " - Talking
' ' - Thoughts
[ ] - Skill/Images/Stat Increase
∆ - Typed Chat
(" ") - Mind Speak
★★★★ - Holographic Screen
Please let me know if you see any errors or comments on your thoughts.
You can skip this chapter, but it does provide a few more clues.
I should have a third chapter come out later today.
•^•°^°•^•°^°•^°
-New York City, Midtown Highschool-
Midtown Highschool the home of the Tiger.
Nestled in the bustling borough of Queens, New York City, stood a colossal institution of learning, renowned as one of the largest schools in the area.
Within its sprawling campus, a vibrant tapestry of exceptional educators and students thrived, each possessing their own unique talents and aspirations.
Among them, a remarkable young student named Gwen Stacy emerged as a true standout, a beacon of academic brilliance, and a harbinger of a future that shimmered with boundless potential.
During one of her science classes, however, Gwen Stacy found herself in an unusual state - sound asleep.
This was a stark departure from her usual attentive and engaged demeanor.
Midway through the science class, Mr. Warrens, the astute teacher, couldn't help but notice Gwen Stacy's unexpected slumber.
Determined to bring her back to the realm of wakefulness, he mustered his voice and let out a resounding shout.
"Ms.Stacy!"
"Huh?" Caught off guard by the sudden shout, Gwen jolted awake, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to regain her bearings.
The immature students surrounding her, as was their usual inclination, erupted into laughter, finding amusement in her momentary lapse.
"This is a first for you, Gwen. Are you not getting enough sleep?" The black-haired man asked with concern.
"Ah...no. I'm sorry, Mr.Warren." She shook her head. "I honestly don't even remember when I laid my head down."
"Alright then. Don't let it happen again. You're our star student, after all," Mr. Warrens admonished, his tone tinged with a mix of frustration and disappointment. He continued, his voice carrying a hint of annoyance, "I would say Mr. Parker was one as well, but as you can tell by his empty desk... he is not here."
"You'll speak with him, right?"
Gwen, taken aback by Mr. Warrens' comment, stammered in response, "Ah... Y-yes! I will talk to him about his continued absence." Her voice wavered with a touch of awkwardness as she let out a nervous laugh.
"Good..." Mr.Warren nodded before addressing the class. "Now, class, turn your books to page 332. This may be your last year at Midtown High, but you still have much work to be done."
"Uuggh!" A unified sigh resonated through the room, yet they dutifully flipped open their textbooks.
They do not want to get on his bad side, which, unfortunately, was easy to do.
Soon after, though, a teenager with short brown hair came rushing into the room, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"Oops! I'm sorry. I... um, missed the bus?" The teenager apologized, sounding a bit unsure of himself.
"Please take a seat, Mr. Parker," Mr. Warren said, his lips forming a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Thank—"
"We will talk after class."
"Damn it..." Peter grumbled quietly, his frustration evident as he trudged towards his desk sluggishly.
Peter Parker, the other standout student at Midtown High, however, unlike Gwen, didn't enjoy popularity. In fact, he was frequently subjected to bullying by Flash Thompson, the star football player.
Although the bullying happened less frequently recently, Peter's perfect attendance took a nosedive.
One had to wonder what had happened to him, or perhaps they were just witnessing the live performance of "Revenge Of The Nerds." or something similar.
However, Gwen knew his secret.
Peter Parker is...
Spiderman.
Of course, that was a secret. Otherwise, he would have become the most popular boy in NYC.
Fortunately, unlike Flash or any other hormonal boy, Peter was responsible.
'A bit too responsible.' Gwen thought with a wry smile.
A closer look at him, and one could tell that he wasn't getting a lot of sleep. She even noticed a few bruises on his arm.
'I seriously need to have a conversation with him about the importance of taking breaks...that absolute dork.' She sighed inwardly, then managed a fleeting smile when he greeted her with his trademark goofy grin.
'Of course, getting him to do that is next to impossible...' Gwen rolled her eyes as she focused on the class. It may be their senior year, but that doesn't mean she could slack off.
The class continued without a hitch, but as time went on, strange things started to happen.
It was like a glitchy video game.
The people around her began to flicker in and out of existence like digital entities experiencing technical hiccups.
At first, Gwen believed she didn't get enough sleep, but then...
"Gwen, wake up."
She started to hear voices.
"Gwen, wake up!"
The voices were loud and distorted, resembling the deep growls of an angered beast.
"Wake up, Gwen!"
Soon what started as a typical day turned into a nightmare.
Colors started to fade.
"Please open your eyes!"
People started to disappear.
And then spiders...
A vast multitude emerged, not merely in the hundreds but in the thousands. Arcanids of diverse forms and proportions converged, their glowing red eyes fixated on her as they advanced toward her position.
If this was a dream, then Gwen wanted to wake up now!
She stood up from her desk to run, but then she was stopped by a hand.
"Gwen, what's wrong?"
It was Peter.
"Peter! Something is wrong! This is all wrong!" She screamed. "We have to get out of here!"
"Why would we leave?" Peter asked, perplexed. "Aren't you supposed to be... well, dead?"
"What?.." Gwen came to an abrupt standstill, her entire being frozen as she absorbed the audacity of Peter's inquiry. It seemed utterly unbelievable, impossible even.
How could she be dead if she could still...
"Why... why can't I breathe?" A sudden panic seized her as she found herself gasping for air. It was as if a suffocating sensation had engulfed her, as though she had somehow forgotten the very essence of breathing.
"See, someone like you has nothing to fret about. After all... I am here." Peter's eerie grin stretched across his face, but there was an unsettling glitch in his appearance, causing him to flicker between a gray-haired older man and a grotesque, green goblin-like creature.
"Y-you're not Peter! Who... who are you?!" she shouted, straining to free her hand.
"Me?!" The imposter tilted his head slightly.
"I am your everything! You belong to ME, Gwen Stacy!! HAHAHAHAHA!" His words trailed off as he erupted into raucous and uncontrolled laughter, consumed by his desires.
He had waited for so long...and now he will finally obtain what is his!
Fury started to boil within Gwen, causing her teeth to clench tightly. 'How dare you!... How dare you say that with his face!'
Unbeknownst to her, a radiant aura infused with hues of red and green enveloped her form, and within moments, the suffocating sensation dissipated completely.
"You'll be mine forever, Darli—"
*𝙋𝙖𝙝!*
In a surge of instinctive fury, Gwen's hand shot out like a rocket, delivering a powerful backhand that connected squarely with the imposter's face, knocking him away.
"I...don't belong to...ANYONE!!"
The imposter stood frozen in disbelief, clutching his throbbing cheek while locked in an intense gaze with her penetrating eyes.
In that same instant, the spiders abruptly stopped, stopping their swarm as if they were scared of something.
"No... this isn't how it was meant to be! T-this wasn't supposed to happen!" His voice quivered with a blend of frustration and urgency as the imposter revealed its true form—an abhorrent green beast, its figure adorned with oversized ears and menacing claws.
Their yellow eyes could only gaze in terror, realizing their grave mistake in underestimating the woman they had presumed to be an effortless prey.
*Crack...Crack...*
"Now... you're going to spill every last detail," Gwen scowled, punctuating her words with the audible crack of her knuckles, leaving no room for doubt about what she would do.
"And I mean every last detail."
For some reason, Gwen felt powerful, and with that strength came a confidence that could move mountains.
It was a high, and she didn't want to come down at all.
All while this was happening, a watchful eye looked on as they continued to weave their hidden web.
^•°^°•^•°^°•^°
:Main Universe:
6/25/2023
-Onboard The Arg0-
*Beep Beep*
"The human known as Gwen is starting to wake up." The ship's computer said, noticing the woman's eyes started to flicker through its sensors.
"Damn it... why can't they sleep longer," Aphrodite groaned, momentarily halting her task to inspect the human in one of their healing pods.
[Image]
Validating the computer's information, she proceeded to push a solitary button on the pod, resulting in its opening.
Shortly after that, Gwen's eyes snapped open, and she promptly jolted into an upright position, emitting an audible gasp.
"Where!?—Oh."
"Welcome back to the realm of the living," Aphrodite remarked sarcastically, her lips twisting into a smile that lacked any genuine warmth. The android was a lot of things, but she wasn't a fool...when it came to attraction.
It may be faint, but she knew something was there between Gwen and her captain.
"Um...where am I?" Gwen wasn't quite sure of what she did to earn such animosity, so she decided to ask a question to break the ice sort of...
'I don't know why I can never get along with other girls...' She inwardly groaned.
"Wait...where are my clothes?" She asked, noticing the lack of her clothing. Almost immediately, she covered herself with her arms as a faint blush appeared across her face.
Her eyes dart around to make sure Emil wasn't around and...
'Wait, why am I thinking of him?..'
"You're still aboard the Arg0. You collapsed after being bitten by a spider. Your clothes were obstructing the process, and considering your... growth spurt. They wouldn't have provided a comfortable fit," Aphrodite explained, her voice matter-of-fact.
"Furthermore... the captain is absent," the android added, the words dripping with a discernible trace of disgust.
"Oh..." Gwen muttered, feeling herself relax slightly. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, where is he?..." She inquired.
"Earth."
"Can you perhaps...take me to him? After I get something to wear, of course."
"..."
*Beep Beep*
"Remember the captain's order." The ship's computer said.
"Fine..."
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