Chereads / The Fantastic Spider-Gwen / Chapter 2 - Page 6-10

Chapter 2 - Page 6-10

PETER

Hey, hey! What?

GWEN

Get out, I need to change.

She pushes him out of her room and locks the door.

PETER

Could've just told me.

Gwen walks to her full-body mirror and holds the two shirts to her chest, trying to determine which looks best. An old band shirt underneath a nice red sweater, or a cute bear shirt she got from Japan a while ago.

Outside, Peter sits down on the couch, his hands neatly planted on his knees.

Gwen opens the door, showing Peter the outfit for their date. The red sweater over the band shirt.

PETER

(Mumbling)

It looks nearly identical

GWEN

What was that?

PETER

Oh, you look beautiful!

Gwen smiles, takes Peter's hand and pulls him off the couch.

INT. OSCORP, MUSEUM - AFTERNOON

Gwen and Peter view the exhibits in the Oscorp museum. A hologram of NORMAN OSBORN plays, talking about a 'lizard project'. A crowd of people surround the hologram. Peter joins in.

NORMAN

Have you ever wondered why it is Lizards are able to grow back limbs but humans can't? Well, so have I. That's why I've started experiments for the 'lizard project'. A way to give people like amputees another chance to have what they lost. A way for soldiers to quickly recover mid battle. Here, I'll show you a quick demo.

Gwen grabs Peter's wrist and drags him away as the hologram projects a three-legged mouse.

GWEN

Come on, let's look at something more interesting.

PETER

More interesting than human-lizard hybrids?

Gwen drags Peter to the 'historical' section of the museum. Inside the room is everything you'd expect from a science museum, previous experiments, unused prototypes, that sort of thing. In the center is a glass cylinder with a blue tint. A few people are inside, but that's about it.

Gwen runs straight to a pair of devices near the exhibit's entrance.

GWEN

Cool…

The items are nothing flashy and about the same size as a watch.

Peter walks over.

PETER

What you found?

GWEN

I don't know, but the description is cool. "A small rappel device that wasn't able to make it out of the prototype phase. The plan was for a small, but strong, grappling hook to fit inside and launch out and act as a more portable grappling hook."

PETER

We could've used one of these a few years ago.

GWEN

Yeah, maybe we would've actually made it to the top.

PETER

Imagine if we watched the sunset while sitting on the edge of the cliff.

GWEN

Why didn't you suggest that for our date?

PETER

I'll save it for another time.

Gwen rests her head on Peter's shoulder for a moment.

GWEN

Good…

There's a short silence.

PETER

Wanna go check out the big thing in the middle?

Gwen turns around and looks at the glass cylinder.

GWEN

Sure!

The couple walk over to the glass and look closely. At first they don't see much, just some webs, until...

WHAM, a spider, the size of Gwen's palm, jumps at them, hissing. Peter and Gwen jump, and Gwen lets out a squeal. Peter laughs.

PETER

Jesus, big spider.

Gwen crouches to the ground with her hands by her head. She stands and takes a deep breath.

GWEN

So observant, Pete.

They look back in the tube and see a whole bunch of bright colored spiders scurrying around the webs. Peter looks down at the bronze plaque displaying the information.

PETER

Look, "A containment unit for various species of spider. If any seem unfamiliar, that's because they are all genetically modified to possess various traits and abilities. The colors don't have any significant meaning or purpose, other than to distinguish them from others."

GWEN

Does it mention 'Jumpy' anywhere on that?

PETER

No, nothing about what "various traits and abilities" they have. There's not even, like, an index or anything.

Peter rummages around his duffel bag and pulls out an old Polaroid camera.

Gwen gasps.

GWEN

You still have the Polaroid I gave you for your birthday?

PETER

Of course, why would I not?

Peter also pulls out a foldable tripod.

PETER (cont'd)

I wanna get a pic of us together, like we usually do.

He walks away to set up the camera. Meanwhile, a small pink and white spider squeezes through a tiny gap at the top of the cylinder and descends from the ceiling from a web.

The spider drops down onto Gwen's shoulder and crawls on her back. Peter finishes setting up the camera and is about to start the timer.

The spider crawls onto Gwen's hand and bites her. She winces, and slaps the spider. It falls to the ground, dead.

PETER (cont'd)

Okay... Ready?

Peter pushes the button on the top of the camera and runs over to Gwen, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Gwen looks up at Peter as he looks at the camera. Just before the photo is taken, Gwen lifts herself on her tip-toes and kisses Peter on the cheek. He tries to hide a smile.

Peter and Gwen walk over to the camera and take out the Polaroid. Peter waves it in the air.

PETER (cont'd)

If you told me you wanted to kiss for it, you could've said before.

Gwen giggles while clinging to Peter's arm. Peter packs his equipment.

The two walk away.

PETER (cont'd)

Where do you wanna get food?

GWEN

I don't wanna go yet, let's eat here and look around some more.

PETER

Okie dokie.

INT. SUBWAY, TRAIN - EVENING

Gwen rests her head on Peter's shoulder, her eyes closed.

She suddenly begins to sweat. Peter puts his hand against her forehead and checks her temperature.

PETER

You're really hot, are you feeling alright?

Gwen smiles.

GWEN

I know I am.

PETER

Seriously, you're sweating. Like, a lot.

Gwen wipes the sweat from her forehead and inhales deeply.

GWEN

I'll be fine, Pete, really. It's probably just the train.

PETER

But it's freezing.

Gwen fidgets in her seat. A fly buzzes next to Gwen and Peter. Gwen snatches it out of the air, between her finger and thumb. Her pupils dilate in her blue eyes.

She snaps out of her trance and lets the fly go.

PETER (cont'd)

Why did you do that? Better question, HOW did you do that?

Gwen buries her head deeper into Peter's chest. Her clothes dripping with sweat.

PETER (cont'd)

Okay, we're gonna get you home as soon as possible.

Peter rubs Gwen's shoulder.

The train comes to a stop, Gwen and Peter get up and go to leave. Gwen uses a pole for stability, but finds herself unable to let go. After a few tugs, and a pull from Peter, Gwen pulls the pole off and the couple stumble out of the train and onto the platform.

Gwen looks at the pole in her hand, confused.

PETER (cont'd)

You never told me you were THAT strong.

Peter gets up and helps Gwen too. Gwen opens her hand, the pole still sticks. She shakes her hand a little and the pole falls, her hand makes a succussion POP sound.

Peter looks just as confused as she is. They look at each other for a second.