Gwendolyn POV:
The clearing was silent except for the faint hum of my armor. The nanotech mask rippled back across my face, retreating into my suit like liquid mercury until my features were bare. Blonde hair with black roots, tipped with pink, spilled free and my blue eyes locked onto the Gwen standing opposite of me.
Gwen's voice was stuck. Her own face stared back at her but I looked happier and clad in advanced armor. "Who… who are you?"
I smirked, tilting my head. "Just a Gwen with a super nerd."
The quip barely landed before shadows fell across the trees. Alchemax scientists poured in from every direction, their laser rifles raised, surrounding the group in a tightening ring.
Gwen's jaw flexed, mask shifting down over her face with a swift pull. "If you've got an army in that suit, better pull it out."
My smirk sharpened. "Well, I do have a boyfriend who moves at 1,056 miles per hour."
The moment the words left my mouth, a mechanical voice thundered across the clearing.
"NON LETHAL PARALYZER ENGAGED."
A black blur erupted from the treeline, streaking with neon orange, blue and cyan green. It weaved between the scientists like a phantom. Each time a blue light flashed, a scientist went limp, collapsing as if their strings had been cut. Rifles split in half with a hiss, metal edges glowing from invisible heat.
In less than ten seconds, the army of scientists was scattered across the forest floor. Unconscious, disarmed and defeated.
The blur slowed, unraveling into a figure clad in imposing black power armor streaked with the setting light of the sun. In his right hand he gripped a sleek, futuristic pistol that pulsed with energy. In his left, a glowing sword of cyan green crackled and hissed, its blade humming with contained fury.
[Image]
His spine was a glowing neon orange. With a spin, the armored figure sheathed the monomolecularly edged plasma katana onto the scabbard mounted across his back. The Dominator compressed, becoming more sleek and slid smoothly into the holster on his right thigh.
The helmet hissed. Plates folded back in segments, revealing a boy's face. Brown hair, sharp hazel eyes glowing faintly from the HUD's residual light. 18 years old. Serious.
Peter Parker.
Not their Peter Parker. But a Peter Parker all the same.
Peter B. Parker's mouth went dry. He had seen countless battles, villains in high tech suits but nothing of this level. His younger self was wrapped in armor so sci-fi it would make a sci-fi movie realistic, moving faster than he could even track. For a split second, Peter B. felt… old. Outclassed. And yet, beneath it all, he was impressed. Guess puberty hit this one with a tech budget.
Miles Morales stood frozen, his eyes bouncing between the sheathed plasma sword, the heavy armor and the nanotech suit Gwendolyn wore. Every inch of their gear pulsed with impossible tech. His brain screamed video game cutscene while his chest whispered real heroes. He had never felt smaller. But inside, a fire lit. If this was possible… maybe he could grow into something more. Maybe just maybe he could also be Spider-Man
Gwen's heart caved inward. Her knees threatened to buckle as she watched Peter remove his helmet, the same Peter she had buried beneath a ton of concrete in her own world alive again in another. His face was younger, sharper but the way his eyes narrowed with focus was identical. She swallowed hard, fighting the sting of tears in her eyes. Memories of laughter, of stupid inside jokes, of the night she had failed him all crashed through her like shards of glass.
Her spider-sense buzzed but she ignored it, clutching her mask tighter over her face. Not again. I can't watch him die again.
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