633Sorry for the update gap. Ironically the quarantine forcing me to stay indoors actually lowered my desire to write :/ Oh well, you'll all probably be glad to know that we're actually pretty close to Endgame. If things go according to plan then this should be the second to last chapter with the next one being the finale. After that we can do the Far from Home sequel along with making the Spider Army vs Thanos side-fic.
Hopefully this doesn't come across as too rushed. I figured 20 chapters is enough considering this was a request fic that I didn't plan to go as far as it did.
"This is the place?"
Peter looked around in wonder at the lobby of the Dyne corporation building in awe. It looked different from the Starktech building. Less sleek with some actual wood and with some actual, personalized flair compared to the grayer, metallic tones of the (former...) Avengers tower. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a sight like it but it never stopped being impressive.
If there was one thing he could appreciate in this place - besides the obvious - it was just how interesting the technology was. Most of it was the same, but some of it was different. No nanites like the way Mr. Stark and Wakanda developed them, but over here they were already working on using that size changing stuff (apparently called Dyne Particles instead of Pym) the Ant Guy had to try and cut down on transport costs.
"Hey, Pete, less gawking and more walking." Gwen poked his side. They were both dressed casually with Gwen sporting a black band shirt, a baggy green hoodie, jean shorts and a pair of dark chucks. Peter himself wore a gray sweater, khakis and some sneakers Gwen bought during their last outing. Apparently Ms. Van Dyne wasn't a fan of 'stuffy dress ups', to use Gwen's words. It was why she never attended parties and always stayed in her lab.
"Coming." He nodded and followed after Gwen, keeping a tight grip on the backpack slung over his shoulder. He insisted on bringing his costume over despite Gwen's assurances that there was no safer place in the city. Force of habit, he guessed. Gwen didn't need it considering her tagalong.
Gwen managed to set up a meeting with (surprisingly) no fuss, though it did take a few days. The plan was they'd drop the suit and webshooters off and, assuming they didn't get kicked out immediately, they ask for a favor with the data. If she didn't...well, they still had the Web Warriors, but it would've been better if they kept it 'in-house'. Peter felt guilty enough considering all they were doing to bring him back home.
Besides, it was clear Gwen needed this. All those days waiting it was obvious that Gwen wanted to see Ms. Van Dyne again to apologize for what happened between them last.
The receptionist beamed them in (after asking for Gwen's autograph 'for her kids'...) and soon enough they were standing side by side on the elevator heading to the top. Again Peter found himself looking out of the see-through doors to the floors they passed. If he didn't love Gwen he would've said something about waiting so long before taking him somewhere like this.
He looked back and frowned when he saw her fidgeting in place, her eyes slanted down at the floor while she wrung her hands together, "Hey..." He reached a tentative hand out and held both of hers in his. She finally looked up and gave him an uncertain look, biting her lower lip in a way that would've looked adorable at any other time, "It's going to be alright." He did his best to smile comfortingly. She was always there to pick him up so he needed to return the favor.
"I...I dunno, Pete." She chewed harder on the pink lip, "What if she just kicks us out? For all I know she'll be right there on the other side of that door and tell me she doesn't wanna talk and we should just leave the costume. I already-"
"Hey," he said again, firmer this time, "We won't get anywhere if we don't try, right? And she did invite us over here. From what you've told me about her she's not the type to do that just cause she wants a suit and some webshooters back." Admittedly those were some really impressive webshooters. Assuming she didn't kick them out he would've loved to talk shop with her on the exact mechanics.
Gwen finally cracked a small smile just in time for the doors to open with a small ping. The design of the floor matched the design of the lobby, a mix of metal and wood that gave it a more earthen feel compared to the sci-fi, 30th century one he was used to, "Sorry for not coming out to meet you," a woman's voice came from the wall-mounted speakers, "I'm in the middle of something. Just come up to the lab, would you? You should still remember where it is."
"Huh...she seems relaxed," Peter said.
"That's how Wasp is," Gwen replied, her smile turning wry. Being invited inside and not being told to just dump the stuff and go seemed to cheer her up at least slightly, "Come on, follow my lead."
Peter did just that, making sure to take note of the halls they passed. Back home Mr. and Mrs. Stark added personal touches to the top of Stark tower. Some paintings they both liked, old suits (with all the tech stripped out, of course) propped up against the walls in funny poses...just things to make it look like home. Idly, he wondered if they put up things like their daughter's - Morgan's - drawings or art projects.
The lab reminded him more of what he expected. While it still had a touch of personalization, the most obvious one being the nearby speakers blaring a classical tune he couldn't place, it was filled to the brim with tech from the recognizable to the utterly obscure. He halfway expected to find a pair of shrink rays lying around in place of the dismantled repulsor gauntlets.
"One sec." Ms. Van Dyne said, still looking through her microscope. She was an older woman with a full head of gray hair trimmed into a neat, short cut. What little of her face he could see showed someone who, despite getting up their in years, had managed to age gracefully. Her mouth was curled up in a slight smile and she hummed softly in tune with the music.
Gwen stood there awkwardly, arms crossed behind her back while she tapped her foot on the floor. Peter was torn between staying next to her or taking a look at some of the inert experiments when Wasp suddenly spoke up, "Yes...!" She pulled back from the microscope with a big grin and he finally saw her grey eyes. Seeing her in full, he wondered why Gwen could ever feels scared about coming here.
"Uh..." Gwen said, cause what else could she say?
"Hm? Oh, sorry!" She laughed under her breath and straightened her labcoat to look just a bit more presentable, "I didn't mean to keep you both waiting. I was in the middle of an experiment and things looked so promising that I lost track of time." She laughed again. Immediately Peter knew he was meeting a kindred spirit, "Oh, but we should probably talk somewhere else, hm? This place isn't really the best for chatting."
And so, before either of them could really say anything, Wasp led them to what he could only assume was a guest room. They sat side by side at the table in the center of the room while Wasp sat across from them. Peter sipped at his soda awkwardly and gave Gwen a sideways glance. She was quiet, still holding tightly to the costume and webshooters she'd stuffed into a small bag on her lap.
"S-So..." Gwen started, sounding just a little too high pitched, "H-How have you been, Wasp?"
"Same old, same old. Still trying to make the Dyne particles more cost efficient to make them more feasible for commercial use." She took a sip from her cup of tea (fancy) and hummed, "And you? I've seen that website you and Spider-Man put up. This is him, I'm assuming?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Peter sat up straighter in his seat. She reminded him of Aunt May.
"Ma'am? I guess that's appropriate considering my age but I'd prefer Wasp or Jan. Though I'm not sure if the former's appropriate considering I'm retired. It's part of the reason why I decided to 'invest' in Gwen here."
"S-Speaking off..." Gwen fiddled with the bag's zipper before suddenly pulling it open. She it on the table and faced it towards Wasp, "I...I brought the suit and webshooters back, like I said. Uh...sorry for being so late."
"Hm? Oh, right, you did say that. Truth be told I almost forgot." She set her cup of tea down and looked down at the bag. The suit and webshooters were immaculate - Gwen made sure to launder it twice and clean up the years of gunk from the shooters. Figured it was the least she could do and that it'd make a good impression, "I see you took good care of them."
"Ahaha, yep. Totally. Always did." Liar.
"But, why bring it back?" she looked back up at Gwen with a curious look, "You told me before that your new symbiote functions as decent enough replacements but wouldn't it be better to keep them both just in case? Can never hurt to be prepared."
"That is, um..." She looked at Peter and and, after taking a deep breath, continued, "We actually came here to ask you for a favor. We found out something about the guy who was bombing the city dressed like a fucked up Force Officers cosplay." Power Rangers. Weirdo dimension, "The thing is we need something high tech and we can't exactly buy a supercomputer from a store, so-"
"So you wanted to ask me if you could borrow mine." Gwen pursed her lips and nodded, "Okay? Is that all?"
"...Huh?" Gwen blinked at the older woman owlishly.
"If you wanted to use my computer you know you could've just asked, right? You didn't have to concoct this plan to bring the costume back just so we could meet up. I didn't give them to you with a return clause."
"But I..." She gripped the edges of her chair. Peter squeezed her right shoulder reassuringly and she managed to find her voice again, "The last time we talked, the things I said..."
"Where you said the only reason I cared about you was because I was egotistical and wanted to relive my glory days? I remember." Even Peter winced at that. It sounded way worse than Gwen made it sound, "But I also remember it was shortly after your best friend died and the entire city called you his murderer. Did you honestly think I would hold a grudge considering the circumstances?" She actually did look sad at that. Wait, no, that was disappointment. Even worse.
Gwen winced again but managed to avoid looking away, "Weren't you hurt?"
"Of course I was, but so were you and it was pretty clear you were just looking for ways to cut me off. You think you're the only one whose done that? I made my fair share of mistakes after Hank passed." She smiled sadly and looked down at the suit, "I gave you that suit because I believed in you. And I was right. Anyone else would've decided the city wasn't worth saving but you kept going through all the scorn and insults they hurled at you. You kept being a hero when they said you murdered your best friend."
"Still, I'm really sorry. You were just trying to help."
"There's nothing to apologize for, Gwen. Really the only thing I'm miffed about is that it took you so long to finally call, but still I'm glad you're doing well. Now, as much I'd love to catch up more you came here to investigate. So..." She stood up with a smile, "Come on, let's start investigating."
"Wait, what about..." Gwen gestured to the stuff bunched up in the bag.
"Keep it. Like I said, they didn't come with bring-back guarantees. Even if you're not using them now just consider them a present. Now come on, you said you wanted to investigate, right?"
"Y-Yeah..." Gwen zipped up the bag and, for a moment, her mouth curled up in the brightest grin he'd seen on her all week.
"Told you it'd go great." Peter bumped his right shoulder to her left.
"I know, you were right." She held his right hand and squeezed briefly, "Wasp's great but I just...it's been hanging over me for years, you know? I didn't think she'd just brush it off like-" she snapped her fingers, "-that. I said some really fucked up shit."
"She trusts you, and there's a good reason for that."
"Pff, kiss-up..." Her grin was joined by a slight blush that he definitely wanted to see more of. Maybe later when they were alone, "So, it's your turn. You're gonna have to sell your AI friend there."
"Right..."
Wasp took them to a room to a wide room that looked straight out of a comic book. It was sparse save for a door that led to a side room and a big computer that took up the majority of the wide space. Peter blinked up at the screen and bit his tongue to make a comment about it looking straight out of Dexter's Laboratory (which was probably Mandark's Worskhop or something over here). He'd gotten so used to holographic screen that seeing an actual monitor was surprising.
"So how's this going? You've got a USB stick full of incriminating data?" Wasp asked cheekily.
"Actually, yes." He pulled the USB and a laptop out of his bag, "Uh...but there's something else too. There's a lot of data here so if we try to search manually it'll probably take us weeks to actually get anywhere. So...I have someone who could help." He pulled the laptop open and faced the screen towards.
"Greetings, Ms. Van Dyne. My name is Karen," her smooth voice echoed from the speakers. Thank God they bought a new one; the last thing they needed was her sounding like those creepy AI's cause of a bad sound system, "I am Peter's onboard suit A.I. A pleasure to meet you."
To her credit Wasp looked only mildly surprised at that, "An artificial intelligence, hm? I suppose the proper question would be asking where exactly you came from, especially considering you're in the hands of a Superhero."
"I was created by Tony Stark, but not the one from this dimension." Wasp raised both eyebrows at that, "Oh, were you not informed? Peter and I are not native to this dimension. We arrived here a few months prior due to the machinations of a madman who wished to exterminate half of all life in the universe. Me and Peter are both eagerly looking forward to returning the favor and, to quote Gwen, 'shove that shiny fucking glove up his ass till he-'"
"Oh-kay, I think she gets it!" Gwen shouted, her face slightly red, "Look, the point is Peter thinks Karen can sift through the data faster but she needs just a bit more processing power than what a laptop can do."
"Meaning you want me to give an artifical intelligence unrestricted access to the thing I use to record all my research, experiments and many, many things that an unrestricted A.I shouldn't have access to?" she looked at them both skeptically.
"Well, when you say it like that..." Peter muttered.
"I am not asking for unrestricted access, Ms. Van Dyne. I am well aware of the dangers of unrestricted A.I after the Ultron incident." Again with those raised brows, "Oh, judging by your expression it seems like the name has some meaning to you. Odd given that there has been no mention of such an entity in any of the news broadcasts we've seen."
"There's a good reason for that." She sighed and crossed her arms before walking over to the side door. She pressed her palm against a scanner and Peter blinked stupidly when he saw the room on the other side. It was small, barely the size of a broom closet, with nothing in save a singular table and...
...
Was that a toaster on top?
Gwen was the first to break the silence, "Uh..." she said, very smartly as she'd say later. Peter just kept quiet and looked at it. What did it mean? Was it like one of those abstract milk paintings he saw a couple of years ago? Was he supposed to find some hidden meaning in the-
"Foolish woman! Come to beg for mercy now?!" The toaster said.
...
The toaster said.
"What the...fuck?" Gwen said.
"That is Ultron, an A.I that my dearly departed husband accidentally created." He couldn't tell if she was tired or amused at the toaster's continued rants of vicious vengeance, "It planned to destroy the world. And it probably would have if we didn't stop it."
"But...why is it in a toaster?" Peter asked, completely ignoring how it promised to kill Wasp last so she could see the broken world before she died.
"It was pretty hard to keep him from going anywhere cause he'd just upload copies if we screwed it up. Eventually we managed to confine him to that toaster and he's been there for, oh, about two decades now? The entire room's blocked so no signals can come in or out and there's a killswitch so the entire room explodes if it ever manages to do more than just sit there and rant. Second it even gets a single bar it's going up in flames."
"The world will burn! Burn in fire!"
"Seems a bit risky. Why not just, you know, scrap it?" Gwen asked warily.
"You shall be next, little girl. When I burn the world you'll be next to Wasp when she dies!" it seethed.
"Wanna make sure that there's no other failsafes out there before I do something. For all I know he's got some killswitch that'll crash the internet if the last program ever gets cut off completely." She shrugged, "So far I haven't found anything, but I figured it was better safe than sorry. Last thing we need is a killer A.I running around like we're in the Eradiactor."
"Terminator," Peter corrected automatically. They both ignored him.
"Still, if I haven't found anything by the end of the year I'll take your advice." Wasp looked to Karen, "You can see why I'm wary about letting an artificial intelligence have access."
"Yes, very much so." Karen hummed, "But this doesn't change anything. All I want is to help Peter and Gwen find out the truth about these masked bombers. You are free to impose any and all restrictions on my programming if it'll help put you at ease. So long as I am capable of analyzing the data that is all I need."
"...Alright." She nodded and closed the door, cutting off the genocidal toaster's promises of fiery vengeance, "Give me a few minutes to set up some countermeasures and we should be good."
"I appreciate the sign of trust. Oh, and if you wish I could help you in finding any failsafes Ultron may have in the future. Assuming that's alright, of course."
"One step at a time, Ms. A.I." Despite her words the older woman did manage a small smile. Progress?
Karen spent the next couple of hours combing through the data. Wasp and Peter checked in occasionally but they weren't much help to an A.I that could think faster than light. So instead they spent that time talking amongst themselves. Gwen and Wasp caught each other up on what they did with Peter occasionally chiming in and talking shop about tech.
"So the nozzles have a Dyne particle variant?"
"Mmm-hm. I mixed that with a little something secret so what it does is it simultaneously alters and enlarges the moisture particles in the air so Gwen's webbing can have variable sizes and higher tensile strength. The first prototypes had flaws where the biocables either didn't have enough durability to actually hold anything or they fizzled out after, hm, I'd say three feet? Not very effective."
"Huh, so how do the particles not run out?"
"That's actually another thing. You see when I was-"
"Oh my God, I am instantly regretting introducing you two." Gwen put both hands against her face and made an exaggerated groan.
"Hey, it's not my fault you never tried to figure out how this stuff worked!" Once Ned found out who he was it didn't take them long to start picking his suit apart. If it wasn't for that Karen wouldn't even be here.
"You disabled the training wheels protocol without Mr. Stark's knowledge or consent," Karen chimed in 'helpfully', "If you recall it led to a lack of efficiency for you. Perhaps Gwen is correct to trust the creator knows best. If she had attempt to modify the webshooters without guidance it is quite possible she would've broke it beyond repair."
"Uh...I can't tell if you're calling me dumb or not." Gwen crossed her arms.
"I am not, and if it seemed so I apologize. Personally I think you're very sensible, especially in your choice in men."
Peter palmed his face and groaned. She never let up on that. Wasp chuckled under her breath and looked between the three of them, "I'll admit some surprise at how...personable your A.I is. Ultron was convinced in the need to destroy the world and his personality molded all around that goal. I can't tell what yours is. Were you programmed to be a matchmaker?"
"May as well be..." Gwen muttered.
"Not specifically. My stated purpose is to aid in Peter's growth as Spider-Man. Given my placement in the suit the role was meant to be in the context of combat and tactical support, but two years prior he talked to me about his attraction to his first crush Liz Allan. I decided that helping him in that regard would only be conclusive to his growth as wel. And it has. Besides, he and Gwen make a cute couple and I'm sure their future children will be adorable."
"Karen..." Great, now he was blushing.
"Huh. You're...unique, aren't you?" Wasp said.
"I like to believe so. Uniqueness is considered a positive descriptor despite the occasional use for mockery." The screen suddenly changed, "Pardon me for interrupting the enjoyable conversation, but I have finished the scan."
"What do we have?" Gwen stood up, eyes focused and expression grim. The mood in the room shifted down to something chilly when diagrams and blueprints suddenly popped up on the screen.
"According to these schematics the Tony Stark of this dimension has been creating weaponry that are a close match to the ones used by the Goblin Terrorist." One of the schematics widened to cover the entire screen, "The bombs, gliders and armor are close replicas but there have been efforts made to strengthen the destructive power. No doubt to ensure that the narrative of the terrorist was more easily achieved."
After that it was more and more damning evidence. More plans, more blueprints (many of which had personalized notes that reminded him far too much of the Mr. Stark he knew); just more and more and more. By the end of it Peter's hands were shaking and he probably would've done worse if Gwen hadn't put a calming hand on his shoulder.
It was all there in black and white. His plans to frame Osborn for the attacks and have him and Gwen 'discover' it later to put his competition out of business, his plans with the Lizard serum and how he infected Gwen's friend to make the perfect scapegoat...
Hell, there were even some comments on how lucky he was that nanites just fell right into his lap without having to do anything. He was the biggest gift horse Stark ever could've gotten.
Peter shut his eyes tightly and gripped the sides of the table with shaky hands. That was it, wasn't it? He'd fucked up completely. He was so desperate to see Mr. Stark again that he ran to the closest replacement he could get. And now he just gave nanotech to a psychopath who didn't care if people died in false flag bombings as long as it meant Oscorp went down the drain.
"Peter..."
"We have to stop him," he said, cutting Gwen off, "We have to..."
Karen spoke up, "Peter, I suggest you-"
The screen abruptly went dark. They all looked at each other worriedly and Wasp immediately started typing, "What happened? The system should-"
"Knew something was missing." They all looked back up the screen and Peter glared at Tony-at that bastard. He looked calm as can be, dressed in an immaculate suit with that half smile he always had. Judging from what little of the background Peter could see he was sitting in his office, "I mean I knew someone would hack into my systems eventually, but you? Really? Didn't know you had it in you, Underoos."
"How did you get into this system?" Wasp asked.
"How'd ya think? I leave a little present on my data. If you wanna access it without pinging every server I own there's a little trick ya gotta do. I got alerted a few minutes ago that there was an unathorized copy floating around so I decided to investigate. Lo and behold, here you three are." He leaned back on his chair, "Gotta admit, this is a surprise. Last thing I expected was for you two to run to Wasp."
"Cut the bullshit." Gwen sneered, "We know what you did, Stark. The 'Green Goblin' that's been running around? Infecting Harry? You're going to pay for that."
"That's assuming you three make it out alive." The casual way he said it - without any care like discussing the weather - felt like a punch in the face. Even now seeing someone with Mr. Stark's face saying that hurt, "But I do have an alternative."
"...An alternative?" Peter asked, barely above a whisper.
"Yep, real simple. Delete the data and we forget this ever happened. Osborn's already tanking and I don't even need you two to bust him now. All I gotta do is wait for him to get arrested and it'll be like nothing ever happened."
"And where does that leave these two?" Wasp crossed her arms and looked up at him, face unreadable.
"They go back to being the Heroes for Hire or whatever it is they're doing. I'll be busy with my new defense contracts so we'll have to cut our little meet-ups short. Sorry about that." He looked right at Peter as he said that, "But hey, I walk away getting what I want and you three make just pretend it didn't happen. We all get what we want, no fuss. And hey, maybe we do our thing again when I think I can trust you. How about it?"
"Trust..." Peter laughed. It was soft and hoarse but it was enough to get the older man's attention, "Haha...go to Hell." He glared up hatefully, "We're going to make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars!"
He sighed, "Saw that coming. Oh well, can't say I didn't plan for this. Sorry, kid. I really did like you."
The screen shut off just in time for both their spider-senses to blare, "Get down!" Gwen screamed. She tackled Wasp to the ground just before the wall and screen in front of them exploded outward.
While Gwen went down Peter went up. His spider-sense blared again and he flipped to the side to avoid the spherical bomb headed straight for him. The pumpkin-shaped explosive whizzed past him and smacked against the door leading to the toaster's closet, blowing it to pieces.
"Ahahahaha, yes! My vengeance is nigh! Now you'll all-"
Another bomb landed right next to the table and blew it up, cutting Ultron reign of destruction short.
His suit. Peter webbed the backpack up and frantically grabbed for the onesie while Gwen shoved Wasp out into the hallway, "Alright, assholes, let's play." She shifted into her suit and yanked the first figure - another one of those Goblin bots - decapitated it with a spinning kick. The next one tried to tackle her only for her punch through its torso in a single hit.
Peter grabbed one of the thrown bombs and tossed it at a cluster of converging bots before jumping down to grab his laptop, "Gwen, we can't stay here!" It was too cramped and he barely see anything through the smoke and rubble.
"Go on ahead! I'll keep these guys busy while you suit up!"
"You better be right behind me!" He jumped to the hallway and put his suit on frantically. Thankfully it didn't take more than a few seconds, "Come on, come on..." he connected the laptop to his mask and activated the AI system, "Karen, are you there?!"
"...es...ter."
"Karen?!"
"Yes, Peter." Her voice was staticky but at least she was talking in full words, "Apologies, I didn't see the safety measures. I was careless."
"Nevermind that now." He dropped the now-useless laptop and flipped back. The wall next to where he was standing burst from another explosion and another bot showed up. This one looked different. While the other Goblintrons had a certain crudeness to them this one looked sleek, all smooth edges and silver sheen. The eyes of Peter's mask narrowed and he lowered himself into a crouch.
The bot flew towards him. Peter expected bombs but instead two lasers shot out from his pals. He dodged the fiery beams and webbed it in the torso before pulling himself towards it.
The kick to its face told him two things: First, it definitely wasn't a bot if the hint of a human eye through the cracked faceplate told him anything. Second, it was definitely different if the way the damage healed itself was any indication.
"Nanotech. It appears this world's Stark has managed to replicate it," Karen said.
The bot - human - growled and charged towards him. He dodged the first two blasts but a third managed to hit him in the shoulder. The sudden knocked the wind out of him and it was enough distraction for the Goblin to charge and pin him against the wall. Peter grit his teeth and saw the black and white blur swinging close.
He pulled both feet back and kicked the guy straight in the gut. He was pushed back hard just in time for Gwen to him in the side of the head and knock him off his glider, "Hey, catch!" He webbed the glider and, after a quick spin, threw it right into stupid, shiny face. Again he stumbled back and Peter shot two lines of web at both his sides. Peter pulled back then suddenly shot forward like a catapult and kicked him straight him in the face.
Neither of them were dumb enough to think it'd be enough to stop him.
"Come on." Gwen nudged her head and swung down the hall with Peter following right behind her. They couldn't stay in one place; even now he heard the sounds of more bots coming after them. Thankfully those didn't have nanites, "Wasp said she's evacuating the building. We gotta make sure that these assholes don't go after them."
"Distraction, huh?"
"Expected any different?"
"Nope. Let's do this."
They rounded a corner and Peter clung to the edge of the turn. Two more bots showed up and he shot a tazer web straight to its neck, causing it to spasm uncontrollably "Incoming!" Karen activated a pumpkin bomb on its chest and he threw it at its buddy before webbing them to the wall. Three more bots rounded the corner just in time to get caught in the explosion.
Across the hall, Gwen split another bot that exploded through the roof before grabbing its glider, "Hey assholes, catch!" She threw it straight ahead at the charging Goblintron. The glider impaled it clear through the chest and pinned it against the wall.
"Let's keep moving!" Peter shouted.
They went around the maze of hallways, thinning the horde of bots when they could, till his spider-sense suddenly pinged.
Gwen's didn't.
"Gwen-" His warning was cut off when the nanotech goon from earlier crashed through the left side windows, shattering glass and concrete as he went, and tackled her hard enough to destroy the wall. Peter swung in after him and found her being choked against the walls of the lab where they were before, "Let go of her!" He jumped into the bastard's back and started wailing on him.
He managed a couple of hits before he suddenly flew again - using thrusters on his boots instead of a glider - and almost scraped him over the wall before he let go, "Peter, should I activate our remaining nanotech?" Karen asked.
"Yeah. Anything else you can do to help?"
"Not until we can scan the exact makeup of the nanotech he's using. It's been modified."
The nanotech covered the entirety of his suit. The Goblin goon looked down and he could see practically see the guy's look of surprise, which must've only gotten worse when four metallic spider legs jutted out of his back.
Peter swung up in a full attack. The Goblin goon managed to grab the first two arms but couldn't stop the remaining pair from impaling him in the shoulders, "I took a sample, Peter. Unfortunately I can't analyze fast enough for it to be useful in this fight."
Peter headbutted him before Gwen webbed the goon's feet and slammed him to the ground, "Enough!" he shouted for the first time. His voice sounded distorted. His gloves and visor lit up and Peter shoved the spider arms in front to block the next barrage of lasers.
Gwen ran along the ceiling, the laser from the visor chasing after her, then jumped right behind him. Keeping the laser trained at them both wasn't an option and ultimately the goon turned around to focus on Gwen.
Peter was on him immediately, punching with both his real and spider arms and taking away as much of the nanites as he could with every blow. No matter how different it was he knew for a fact they weren't infinite. Just like Mr. Stark's they had to run out eventually.
It took a few blows but eventually the damage on his shoulder didn't heal. Gwen webbed his torso and headbutted him just before he turned around and focused his attention back on Peter, "This guy's all yours!" She jumped and kicked him hard in the chest, blowing off more of the armor, and Peter followed up. Two spider arms focused on his thruster boots, two on the repulsor gauntlets and finally his actual ones hit his head till there was barely any metal left.
The guy stumbled against the wall. Still breathing, but the bruises would stay a while. Gwen crouched down in front of him, mask peeling back, and sneered, "I recognize this guy. He's Treece, one of Stark's thugs for her." She webbed him to said wall then stood back up, "I think we need to pay Stark a visit."
"Yeah, we should check if Wasp and the rest are okay then-"
Both their phones rang. Peter clicked the side of his mask while Gwen pulled hers out of her 'pocket'. It was Mary Jane, "Hey, are you two there?"
"We're here, MJ. What's going on?" Gwen asked.
"Good, knew it wasn't you." She sighed and fiddled with something on her phone before a message popped up, "Might wanna check this out."
They both opened a message and balked. It was a livestream of another Goblin attack, except this time there two new additions: Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. They led the charge, doing as much damage as they could while the Goblins chucked bombs behind them.
"What the fu..." Gwen muttered.
"It...It must be Mysterio," Peter said, "Remember those holographic projectors that had us on them? This must be part of his plan. Kill us both here in Dyne tower then pin the bombings on both us and Norman Osborn."
"Except we're not dead yet." The mask covered her face again and she cracked her knuckles, "Come on, Pete, let's show this fucker that two Spiders can do."
"Right behind you, Gwen." They both jumped out of the broken window, neither of them noticing Peni's message on their portal watches that the time heist was commencing.
Spider-Gwen and Spider-Man vs EVIL Tony Stark next chapter. Not gonna lie, very much not looking forward to it due to my hatred of writing fight/action scenes. Can't wait to go past that so we can have more shenanigans in the MCU with Gwen (and possibly other Spiders) have to play the role of unwilling visitor.
Well, see you all next time for the exciting (yeah right) conclusion of Two Spiders on a Web.
Side Note - A lot of people seem to want Tony to survive but we can't exactly have the Far from Home plot, especially Mysterio and EDITH, with him alive. So as much as people might want funny family dinners with Tony telling Peter how proud he is for bagging an older woman I'll tell you all right now it's rather unlikely for Tony to survive unless, I dunno, readers throw a revolution for it to happen. Sorry.
Question:
1. What do you guys wanna see in the MCU sequel? While the Far from Home plot with Gwen tagging along is already set I was wondering if you guys might be interested in other stuff before the Europe trip. I recall someone suggesting Gwen and Peter meeting the Defenders (particularly Daredevil due to high comedy potential), for example.
2. More of a curiosity, but assuming for the mini-fic we go for the route of the Spiders gathering the stones...who do you guys think should be the pair sent for the Soul stone? Cause that's the one stone you can't cheese and get without losing something...
Review Answers:
Tellemicus Sundance - Cause the 'one Spider trapped' could get boring? Having a group could allow for different dynamics and more spontaneous interactions.
RedHood001 - Carnage MJ isn't any darker than SpOck or Noir, and there's comedy potential of a darker hero being stuck in a relatively light setting.
Titan616 - Sadly, Peter being smart didn't stop his hack from being tracked.
KingKiger - Just saw your offer, sorry. Wanna PM me instead? :)
davidashton2099 - Not sure. I can't really write the Avengers since I've never written for that fandom... :/
SerpentDevourstheMoon - De-age Gwen? Not likely. Besides, the age gap is three years and Peter is legal. It's not the end of the world that Gwen's a bit older than him.
Ak33x - Not written yet? I'm not even done with this fic...
gamer85 - Welcome :)
