-Hours After Peter's Meeting with the Ancient One-
Peter found himself wandering through the streets of New York in his Bloodborne Persona, complete with his Crimson Oni-Mask, which he had made using his branch of sin.
It was high noon and golden light rays broke through the clouds as Peter flew through the looming skyscrapers lost in thought.
Using his new abilities to soar through the sky, he wanders the destroyed streets of New York, watching as people go about their day, trying to return to some form of normalcy by picking up the destroyed pieces of their city.
Just like them, he had his own pieces to pick up, unlike them though none of his pieces could be described as normal. His life was way beyond that at this point.
He needed some time to gather his thoughts after his conversation with the Ancient mystic arts user. They had more to talk about as he wandered the halls of the New York Sanctum but nothing they talked about answered any of his lingering questions and although he remained with the Ancient One to check up on little Kelly McGrath there was nothing he could for her at the moment, he couldn't get too close or his presence would disrupt the final stages of the spell.
He would have to wait awhile before she woke up on her own before approaching her so rather than worry over what was beyond his control he decided to go out to clear his head.
As it were, the responsibility of raising Kelly McGrath now fell on him with the ancient one helping out whenever she could, she made it clear that Kelly was his responsibility and his alone when the kid got better and he wasn't sure how he was going to go about doing that just yet. Not to mention all the other stuff he had planned. I'll figure something out…Eventually, it can't be that hard to raise a child… A super-powered child with the mind of an AI…yeah…it can't be that hard…right?
Regardless he found one good thing to help distract him from all that for the moment, Cypher pinged Spider-woman's location on one of the many towering cranes near the Empire State Building. She was just sitting there probably enjoying the view or something, he could relate, there was something about looking at things from a bird's eye view that made the sunsets and the city all the more majestic.
It was almost like she was waiting for something.
Peter found her sitting at the edge of the crane with her back to him, she had her mask on her lap, and there was something awkward about the way she sat, like she was sitting on pins and needles waiting anxiously for something.
Peter lowered himself with fleeting steps like walking down a staircase on the air using gravity as a platform, he made sure to be as silent as possible, he wasn't even a few feet from stepping the crane before she spoke.
"Hey Pete, You're Here." Gwen Stacey didn't turn around to know arrived.
" It's that weird spider sense of yours, isn't it? It's pretty cool, mine's better though. I don't know where you've been but you would not believe the day I had." Peter stepped onto the metal hand of the crane as he ran his fingers through his hair
"But, on the flip side… It's ah, good see you back in one piece, you know I met a pretty wizard lady who said you'd be back a little later the this, she pretty chill, I'll introduce you to her if you like, she's got this whole wise magic teacher thing going on too, she might teach you some neat tricks if you want." He walked forward to sit next to her but her words stopped him short.
"Don't, don't come any closer." Gwen sniffled before wiping something from her face.
Was she crying? Peter stopped short. "Hey, are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" she said harsher the she intended but Peter got the memo, there was that awkward air again, like there was something else going on and he suddenly felt like he was the one walking on pins and needles.
Peter opted to say nothing and observe her for a moment. He watched as she pulled her mask over her face and turned to face him, it was only then that he noticed it, she kept herself at a distance from him almost as if she found some comfort in the physical space between them and she was almost on full alert, watching him like someone who was ready to fight.
Her spider suit to was different, it had a few neon blue highlights and a futuristic edge to it, it didn't help that all of Cypher's raiders were going off like crazy in his head space asking him permission to scan her new suite, speciously the odd looking watch on her right hand but Peter decided against doing, it was only fair, she had her secrets and he had his.
And he promised himself he wouldn't resort to using Cypher on her.
"You sure? Did I…Did I do something wrong?" Peter cautiously took a step forward but as he did Gwen raised his hand to stop him.
"Did you...do something wrong?… I don't know, did you?" Gwen took a steady breath and clenched her fist. "A lot of people died Pete, You're out here cracking jokes with me like nothing's wrong. That's not normal."
"Yeah, You probably the alien invasion on your way back from wherever you've been." Confused at her choice of words Peter decided to fill her in just in case it wasn't blatantly obvious that Earth was attacked by aliens. " Look, it's pretty crazy alright, I know that. A lot of people died, but people die every day, why are you suddenly bringing that up?"
Peter shrugged nonchalantly.
He tried to work passed the awkward air that surrounded them but Gwen still kept her guarded stance and serious attitude. " Besides what's that got to do with me? I pretty saved the city you know."
Gwen took a moment to look at Peter, really look at him before answering in a solemn tone, like she was resigning herself to a certain realization. " You don't see it, do you? I was trying to rationalize my way through it before but I can't do that anymore. You have changed…Something really is wrong with you."
Peter suddenly lost his playful manner, his tone took and attitude took a drastic turn. "Okay… what the hell is your problem? You're not making any sense right now Gwen…Where did you go? What happened to you?" Peter sighed in frustration." Can you just tell me what's wrong?."
"That's just it. YOU'RE THE PROBLEM PETER!" Gwen's sudden outburst shocked Peter into silence. "You're the one that's not making any sense, nothing about you makes sense anymore…None of this makes any sense. I'm trying to make sense of this too."
"Then talk to me, I'm here for you too"
Gwen took in a deep and frustrated breath before releasing her balled-up fist. "I didn't think about it…I never really thought about it at that time when you said you died and came back. I didn't understand what you meant by that. I thought it was metaphorical, like your very own form of rebirth. To be honest, when you passed it off as a joke I thought you were messing with me to get even, just a cruel joke to hurt me in the heat of the moment. I was afraid to accept it for what it was. The truth. I couldn't even begin to imagine what something like that would do to a person, what it would do to you… Peter, you died and came back and you kept coming back. I killed you. I'm a murderer and I murdered my best friend."
Peter felt a sense of unease at her confession. " A lot of things happened that night. You didn't know it was me. If you did I'm sure you would have tried to save me. It's alright, I don't blame you, like I said I'm over it.
Gwen had her head down as she confessed her thoughts. Peter tried to reason with her but Gwen shut him down.
"Well, I'm not. I kept thinking about it over and over again. I met a few people who helped me figure things out. I've made friends, family even. Ironically though, a lot of them remind me of you but that's beside the point. I'm going something to ask you a question and I want you to answer me honestly." She said before she tilted her head up and looked into his eyes through her narrowed bug-eyed lances.
"Sure, ask away, I've got nothing to hide," Peter replied.
Gwen took a deep breath before in preparation for what she wanted to ask him.
" Peter" She began. " When you died, what brought you back?"
Black miasma bleed out of Peter's form invisible to the eye. Peter's bandages manifested in tens and bonded together into sharp-edged blades, each one shooting towards Gwen from every angle in a flash of speed. Peter didn't have the chance to react, thankfully he didn't have to, they stopped inches away from her face and body.
His restriction saved her, his bandages couldn't harm her for the simple fact that she was human.
He didn't remember summoning them, they acted on their own. Was this the will of the entity in him or his? He wasn't sure.
Peter played her question off though, even though he didn't know the answer to that question yet." I don't understand the question, I already told you, It's my power, It's who it works."
Gwen sighed softly." I thought you'd say that. That night, what you said, do you still plan on killing people? You said you wanted to save your family, do you have to kill people to do that?"
"Yes, I do. The ones I'm gonna fight aren't the average super villains you know. Their bad, terrible people who do messed up stuff. If they die it's only cause they deserve it. " Peter willed his bandages away with a thought.
"If that's how it's going to be then I guess you were right, We can't be friends anymore. What you're doing isn't right." Gwen looked away from Peter." You know, I saw you fighting the aliens when I got back. It was only for a moment, You didn't care about anything or anyone around you. You tore them apart, one after another obliterating everything in your way. Watching you like that terrified me Pete, the things you did. That's why I know we can't go back to the way things were. You're not the Peter I knew, not anymore."
"People change," Peter stated.
" Don't I know it," Gwen replied. She turned him and declared seriously. " I know what you're gonna do and I'm going to stop you."
Peter smiled behind his mask and hit his fist into his open palm. "If that's how it's going to be then sure why not. I can live with that. If you want you can try stopping me right now. "
Gwen raised her arms in response. " Yeah, I'm not that stupid, your way stronger than me at this point. I'm not looking to get my ass beat right now but I will stop you just so you know. It's a warning."
"Consider me warned. I think I'll enjoy this game of good vigilante vs bad vigilante." Peter joked. " Hey, hypothetically speaking, if there was something in me. What would you know about it?"
"Essentially nothing, nothing concrete, I just know about it, that's it." She shrugged. " But I know it's bad, real bad. I know you don't want to tell me about it but try to understand, that thing inside you, it's not your friend, it's not helping you, it's changing you Peter, and not in a good way."
Peter took a step forward. " And who told about it?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Gwen smiled behind her mask.
"Try me." Peter challenged her.
" Well, you did." She chuckled mildly.
"I did? What does that even mean? I did? I think I'd remember telling you about me." Peter asked confused at her answer.
"That's all I'm' gonna say. You'll figure it out eventually." Peter could tell she wouldn't say anymore no matter how he asked.
" Okay." Peter let a breath as he tried to get his thoughts in order." You sure you wanna do this, I'm not gonna stop until I get my family back."
"I'm sure. I'm going to stop you." Gwen declared. " Maybe not now or tomorrow. But eventually, I'll stop you."
"Fine. Good luck with that hero." Peter retorted.
"Fine." Gwen turned to leave. "See around Peter. "
She jumped off the crane and swung away leaving a confused and troubled Peter behind.
This would be the last time Peter would talk to Gwen in the coming months. A few days after Peter learned of the death of Cpt. Stacy of the NYPD, Gwen's father.
….
Gwen swung away from Peter as fast as she could, if she stayed with him any longer she might have broken down in front of him. He didn't want to do that.
Her watch beeped to life as she swung through the streets.
"That was very brave of you. Not many people would be willing to face their father's killer like that." A voice said from the watch.
" I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell him." Gwen replied softly.
"It's alright you did enough." The voice reassured her. " What we're doing is for the greater good. That thing inside your Peter consumed thirteen alternate realities to remake this one. Peter might not know it, but what we're doing will save him. You've seen what he becomes… Seven months, all you have to do is keep track of him for seven months. That will be our window into your world. After that leave him to us. The Spider Society will take care of the rest."
-Chapter end-
A/N - Apologies for the wait, it's exam/assessment weeks and a lot of other stuff happening so I couldn't update for a while.
Also I just watched some of the new Marvel shows and movies some of them gave me an idea. I had to rework the whole plot of the story to fit this idea in and it took me a while.