Arthur parked the car a short distance from Gwen's house, letting the engine purr softly before turning it off. The sky was already beginning to darken, and the streetlights cast golden halos over the damp asphalt.
Gwen unbuckled her seatbelt and looked at him with a gentle smile.
"You don't have to walk me to the door, Arthur."
He let out a short laugh, resting his arm on the steering wheel.
"I appreciate that. I'd rather not be interrogated by your father because of her…" he joked, nodding toward Saeko.
Gwen laughed, shaking her head.
"Good night, Saeko. See you tomorrow."
Saeko, who'd been looking out the window with her usual bright, alert eyes, leaned forward.
"Bye, Gwen! Sleep well," she answered cheerfully, waving with almost childlike enthusiasm.
Gwen returned the wave and got out of the car. Arthur waited until he saw her reach the door—always careful, always making sure she was safe.
"Dad…" Saeko said suddenly, her tone more serious.
"Yes?" Arthur asked, confused.
"My watch has enough charge for me to go back…" Saeko replied.
"So it's time, huh? Gwen's going to be a little sad you didn't say goodbye." Arthur chuckled softly.
"I will be too, but if I stay longer in this era, I might end up affecting the future. Maybe things have already changed because of my presence here…" Saeko said.
"All right. Let's go home—you're about to eat the best lasagna of your life." Only then did Arthur start the car again and drive away.
As much as he wanted her to stay, he couldn't allow it to damage the future.
A few seconds after the taillights disappeared down the street, the quiet of the neighborhood was broken by something entirely different.
From a nearby alley, a massive silhouette emerged from the darkness, slow and dragging. The figure revealed itself as a humanoid lizard over two and a half meters tall. Tattered pants clung to its muscular, scaly legs, while a ripped and grimy white lab coat swayed with each movement. Its reptilian eyes locked onto Gwen's house, watching from afar, unmoving.
After several long seconds, the creature retreated back into the darkness of the alley, vanishing as if it had never been there at all.
—xXx—
Meanwhile, Gwen entered her house and found George settled on the couch, completely absorbed in a book. He was so focused he didn't even notice the door open.
Gwen walked quietly, almost on tiptoe, and stopped beside him, leaning curiously. What he was reading surprised her more than she expected.
She smiled.
"Dad, I'm back," she whispered.
"Gah!" George jumped, turning abruptly. When he saw his daughter's mischievous grin, he shut the book immediately, as if he'd been caught doing something forbidden.
"I just wanted to see what kind of books you've been reading. I was trying to find a topic we could talk about," George said.
Gwen smiled sincerely.
"If you're enjoying it, keep reading. I won't make fun of anything. Besides, Arthur's books are really good… except for that one, Project Eden. That one is painful to read."
"Wait—Arthur's?" George frowned and opened the book again. Only then did he notice the author's name on the title page.
"Huh… I've got to admit," he said, scratching his head, "the kid has more talent for writing crime dramas than for teaching a cop." A bitter expression crossed his face as he recalled Arthur's self-defense classes at the NYPD.
Gwen chuckled softly.
"I know that all too well…"
She remembered recently asking Arthur to teach her how to fight. She got beaten. BADLY. Saeko still teased her about it to this day.
At that moment, Helen came out of the kitchen wearing a floral apron and carrying a casserole dish. Her face lit up when she saw Gwen.
"Oh, sweetheart! You're back!" Then she glanced around. "But… where's Arthur?"
Gwen choked on her own breath.
"Unfortunately he couldn't come today," she replied with the most natural smile she could force. "He's taking care of his daugh— cough! —his niece!"
Helen narrowed her eyes.
She stepped closer, leaned in, and whispered:
"You were about to say daughter, weren't you?"
"N-no! Of course not!" Gwen answered far too quickly. "I just… used the wrong word. Happens. Totally normal. Anyway, what's for dinner?"
Helen raised an eyebrow, unconvinced, but let it go.
—xXx—
Some time later, the three sat down to eat. The table was peaceful, the atmosphere warm, the smell of home-cooked food filling the house.
George watched the news while eating. It didn't take long for reports about Spider-Woman to appear.
He opened his mouth to say something, but gave up. He didn't want to mix work with dinner.
However, in the middle of the meal, his phone rang. George's expression shifted the moment he saw who was calling: a coworker from the precinct.
He answered.
The anxious voice on the other end came immediately:
"Captain, there's been an incident at Empire State University!"
"What did you say?!" George's expression hardened instantly at the report.
He turned to his daughter with a seriousness that made Gwen's stomach tighten.
"Gwen… did you see Peter today?"
She blinked, confused by the heavy atmosphere.
"I did, this morning. Why? What happened, Dad?"
George took a deep breath, his voice weighted with genuine concern.
"Something serious happened to him. To be precise… it happened to him, Dr. Curt Connors, and the entire lab."
—xXx—
Empire State University.
The campus, usually filled with students carrying books, coffees, and urgency, was now drowned in tension. The wind blew against the yellow tape surrounding one of the research buildings, making it flutter like a living warning that something terribly wrong had happened there.
The lab entrance looked like a crime scene from a movie: officers carried tactical weapons, searching every corner; forensic cameras flashed rapidly; investigators exchanged information in low tones. The metal doorframe was partially crushed, as if something—or someone—had passed through it without the slightest concern for physical barriers.
On the other side of the tape, a black sedan pulled up. George stepped out first, posture firm, seasoned by years of difficult calls—though he never got used to involving his daughter in them. Gwen got out next, her face tense, unsure of what awaited her.
The officer guarding the perimeter recognized the captain immediately.
"Captain Stacy," he said, lifting the yellow tape to allow them in. "Go ahead."
His gaze crossed Gwen's, and he gave her a polite, familiar smile. He'd known her since she still needed a booster seat in the car.
Practically everyone here had. Gwen had grown up surrounded by officers, patrol stories, and precinct conversations. The NYPD was a kind of second family.
As soon as she stepped past the tape, Gwen felt her stomach knot. She already sensed some things before even asking Peter.
She spotted a man sitting near the wall, surrounded by two officers who were failing to get any coherent answers out of him. His white lab coat was wrinkled, dusty, and stained with chemicals. His eyes were vacant, his breathing uneven, his hands trembling as if holding something heavy and invisible.
Curt Connors. Peter's mentor. The brilliant geneticist whose mind always seemed a few steps ahead of the rest of the world.
Gwen walked toward him, her heart racing.
"Dr. Connors… are you all right?"
He lifted his face slowly, as if the simple movement required effort.
"Oh… Gwen. You're here too."
His voice was hoarse and broken—not just from shock. There was guilt there. A crushing amount.
When he noticed George standing behind her, he tried to compose himself.
"Captain Stacy."
George, as always, went straight to the point.
"Dr. Connors, I need you to tell me exactly what happened here."
But Connors didn't answer immediately. He looked away, squeezing his hand. He seemed on the verge of breaking down again.
Before he could speak, one of the officers handed George a dossier.
"Captain, this is everything we've gathered so far… but, well… the situation is strange. Very strange."
George flipped through the pages, and as he read, his expression shifted from professional curiosity to personal concern.
Connors finally broke the silence.
"It's all my fault…" he murmured, voice cracking. "Everything that happened is because of me. I… I never should have left Peter alone in the lab. I should've taken him with me. I should have…" He stopped, crushed by guilt, running his hand over his face as if trying to erase reality.
George handed the file to his daughter.
Gwen hesitated for a second, but he insisted with a firm nod.
She knew only officers were supposed to have access to reports like this… but she also knew being the captain's daughter opened certain doors.
And as soon as she began reading, a cold shiver spread through her chest.
The report explained that Oscorp had terminated funding for Connors's project. Unsatisfied with the lack of "satisfactory progress," they demanded immediate return of all data, samples, and equipment.
Connors and Peter did everything they could to stop them.
But nothing worked. Oscorp's agents took everything—or almost everything.
There was more.
Before losing the project, Connors had achieved remarkable results in animal testing… but he had never tested the serum on humans.
That was when Gwen realized her hands were trembling.
The report stated that while Connors was away trying to stop the full confiscation of the data, Peter took one of the vials and injected it into himself.
He did it alone. With no witnesses. With no one there to stop him.
When Connors returned to the lab, he found only destruction: shattered equipment, glass everywhere, deep claw marks on the walls…
And among the ruins, he saw something that froze his soul.
A massive reptilian silhouette dragging itself toward the emergency exit, disappearing into the sewer system.
The last line of the report delivered the final blow:
According to Dr. Connors's description and partial camera footage…
the humanoid lizard was Peter Parker.
(End of chapter)
A/N: I'm going to ask this now because it's practically New Year's and I need to get this weight off my conscience. What do you guys think of this fanfic? Is it better or worse than the previous one, Multiverse Login System?
My sincere wish was to create something better than before.
Remember that this is a very serious matter for me. I know there were quite a few people dissatisfied with the quality of the previous version, but I also know there were many who really liked it.
I want you to leave reviews with your honest opinion. Depending on the level, I might consider finishing this fic much earlier than expected and do a second release of the previous version (obviously it would be at least 5 chapters per day until it reaches where it was before), obviously corrected, because there were many strange errors, that I can't deny. Of course, the Nier Automata arc would be included, but done in a different way, and all my plans for this version would be migrated to the other one.
Note: It wouldn't be a rewrite, just a reupload of the corrected chapters.