Gwen sat at the dinner table with Nora and Trix, eating in silence. Nora, who had once been such a strong and dependable woman, looked completely broken. She was still beautiful and well-dressed, but her eyes had become almost empty, filled with nothing but depression, as if something had been ripped away from her.
And, technically, it had.
Her eldest son had run away after she reacted far too aggressively toward him. Of course, it wasn't fair to blame her. She had been in shock and hadn't even recognized her own son, which had made Alex quietly leave without saying another word.
The worst part was that Nora couldn't stop blaming herself. Her own son, someone who had always been incredibly kind and honest, had become a villain. He had robbed a bank, and now he was a fugitive.
It had already been almost four months since Alex had run away after finally snapping, and a lot had happened during that time. Strange men had come to the house several times to question Nora about Alex or where he might be. Everything inside Alex's room had been searched, but nothing had been found. Before leaving, the men handed Nora a card with a phone number, asking her to contact them if she ever heard anything about him.
They belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., an organization that dealt with all kinds of threats and villains... including Alex now.
Not long after Alex disappeared, Nora's struggle to find a job suddenly vanished because she had become known as one of Alex's "victims," while he was apparently committing one atrocity after another throughout the city.
Trix wasn't the cheerful and energetic girl she used to be either. She had become much quieter and more withdrawn. Alex had always been one of the pillars of their home. Even when the two of them argued, it was always playful and never truly serious. More than anything, he had always helped her in every way he could.
As for Gwen, she could only watch an entire family sink into despair because of a single person. The problem was that she wasn't doing much better herself. Alex had been one of the most important people in her life, a friend she had always treasured, and now he had drifted away and become something terrible.
The worst part now was that Gwen was completely alone. Peter was still in a coma, and there wasn't the slightest sign of improvement. The doctor had said that the best thing they could do now was pray that he would recover.
School had become the worst part of Gwen's day. Every time she looked toward the desks where her friends used to sit, a terrible pain filled her chest. On top of that, she still hadn't been able to return home because of the assassination attempt against her father, which had forced him to stop contacting her entirely for her own safety.
Gwen was living through the hardest days of her life. She even had to deal with bullying from the girls at school, but that was something she could endure. Every day she fought monsters and superhumans, so that kind of thing meant nothing to her.
So she simply stayed quiet.
At that moment, Gwen looked at Nora with a saddened expression as the older woman finished eating. Gwen had already finished her own meal and had also washed her dishes. She was just heading back to her room.
Deep down, she desperately wanted to find Alex and drag him back home. But after the last time she had met him, Gwen had fully understood the difference in power between them. Alex hadn't even considered her a threat, and he had even protected her identity from being exposed to the media.
Ever since that day, Gwen had not only continued fighting crime, but had also trained relentlessly so that one day she would be strong enough to bring Alex back.
Fortunately, she had improved tremendously. Before, she had struggled against certain kinds of villains. Now, those same enemies had become far easier for her to deal with, and fights that once pushed her to her limits barely challenged her anymore.
After changing into her suit for another day of patrolling the streets, Gwen jumped out the window and began swinging across the city on her webs. A small earpiece connected to the police frequency rested in one of her ears.
At first, she stopped a few petty crimes. Soon afterward, she had to break up a gang shootout that had erupted in the middle of a commercial district, forcing her to intervene and take down everyone involved.
However, just after finishing the fight, Gwen froze when she heard an emergency call over the police radio.
It was from the hospital where Peter had been admitted.
Without thinking twice, Gwen fired a web at a nearby building and launched herself toward the hospital with absolute urgency. It didn't take long for her to arrive, only to find a half-transformed lizard-like figure with a savage face standing beside a one-armed scientist who was desperately shouting at him.
"CALM DOWN, PETER! YOU HAVE TO CALM DOWN!!"
The moment she heard that, Gwen nearly stumbled. After looking again at the creature that was still transforming, she realized it really was Peter. Her friend was rapidly turning into some kind of monstrous lizard.
Without a second thought, Gwen fired countless webs at Peter, completely binding him before rushing toward the one-armed scientist. The moment she got close enough, she recognized him.
It was Dr. Curt Connors, the very scientist she had been interning under before the incident that had left Peter in the hospital.
Furious, Gwen grabbed Dr. Connors by the collar and lifted him off the ground as she shouted,
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO PETER, YOU BASTARD?!"
Still overwhelmed by the fact that he had transformed his favorite apprentice—the boy he had sworn to protect—into a monstrous abomination, Connors completely ignored the fact that Spider-Woman seemed to know Peter personally.
"I-I only wanted t-to save him... I-I swear... I n-never wanted this to happen!"
Gwen was furious. Peter was the last friend she still had by her side. Even if he had been lying unconscious in a hospital bed, he was still there.
Now she was only one step away from losing him too, and more than anything else, that thought filled her with absolute desperation.
Before the conversation could continue, Peter's transformation finally finished. He tore through the webs Gwen had wrapped around him and immediately began sprinting toward the center of the city, destroying everything in his path.
Seeing what had happened, Gwen immediately leaped into the air and began swinging between the buildings, chasing after Peter as he frantically ran through the streets. In his new lizard-like form, he looked far more confused than genuinely aggressive.
Desperately, Gwen chased after him, repeatedly firing webs at Peter in an attempt to slow him down. However, because of his newfound size, strength, and speed, her webs weren't accomplishing anything.
Growing even more desperate, Gwen fired a thick strand of webbing onto Peter and pulled with all her strength, trying to stop his momentum. Fortunately, she managed to bring him to a halt, but Peter immediately turned toward her with anger written across his face.
He grabbed hold of her web and yanked her toward the ground with strength that rivaled her own, catching Gwen completely by surprise.
Realizing she was about to crash into the pavement, Gwen released the web and performed an acrobatic flip, landing safely. Unfortunately, that only left her with a new problem—a furious lizard-like Peter charging straight at her.
Just as he was about to hit her, Gwen jumped out of the way, dodging his charge before firing a web directly into Peter's eyes to blind him. She immediately followed up with a punch aimed straight at his jaw, but just before the attack landed, the image of Peter lying unconscious in the hospital flashed through her mind, causing her to pull back at the last second.
Gwen couldn't get the image of her friend lying on the verge of death out of her head whenever she tried to hit him. It made her more and more anxious and less willing to fight because the enemy standing before her was someone incredibly important to her.
Unfortunately, Peter didn't care. He lunged at Gwen with his jaws wide open, ready to bite her, forcing Gwen to quickly jump to the side to avoid the attack.
Without giving herself time to think, Gwen finally struck Peter in the ribs with all her strength. However, she unconsciously hesitated at the last moment, preventing the blow from dealing the damage it should have.
Taking advantage of the obvious opening she had left, Peter lashed out with his newly grown tail, striking Gwen across the stomach like a whip and sending her flying.
Caught completely off guard by the blow, Gwen crashed into a wall before collapsing onto the ground in pain. She quickly pushed herself back to her feet and immediately fired a web, pulling herself away just in time to avoid another attack from Peter, who had become far stronger after his transformation.
Without wasting another second, Gwen unleashed a barrage of webs toward Peter to slow him down. It actually worked, as several strands struck his face, forcing him to stop and claw at the webs that had gotten into his eyes.
Seizing the opportunity, Gwen gathered the courage she had been lacking. She fired two webs onto Peter's body, pulled herself forward with them, and launched a two-footed flying kick straight into his chest.
The impact sent Peter hurtling backward from both Gwen's strength and the momentum of the attack, accompanied by a loud, unmistakable crack.
Despite taking the hit, Peter slowly stood back up, revealing that his chest had caved in. The sight horrified Gwen. Even though he no longer looked like himself, he was still her friend.
However, her fear that she had only made things worse vanished almost immediately as Peter's chest rapidly began returning to normal, regenerating at an absurd speed, almost as if it were inflating back into place.
"Damn it, Peter... couldn't you have been one of those easy villains for once?"
Seeing how bad the situation had become, and having no idea how durable Peter really was or what the limits of his regeneration were, Gwen decided it was safer to stay on the defensive and focus on capturing him.
The moment Peter charged, Gwen jumped back, preparing to fire another web.
But just as Peter was about to reach her, another giant figure suddenly appeared between them and delivered a devastating punch that launched Peter away, sending him crashing straight through a random wall.
"NO, PETER!!"
"Wait... Peter?"
The instant Gwen shouted, a familiar voice came from the giant who had punched Peter.
She looked up, only to find a familiar face staring back at her—four heterochromatic eyes wide open in surprise. Alex stood there, having jumped into the fight only to realize the monster he had just punched was actually his friend.
"YES, YOU IDIOT! THAT'S PETER!!!"
Gwen shouted furiously.
She knew it had been almost impossible for Alex to know it was Peter, but the shock she had just experienced had to be taken out on someone, and Alex happened to be the only target available.
"Holy hell... Peter really found one hell of a gym. I'd heard of gym rats before, but this is taking it to a whole new level."
Alex cracked a joke in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood after literally sending his friend flying and disappearing for months.
It didn't work.
Gwen still looked furious.
Seeing that, Alex wanted to say something else, but a deafening roar erupted from the direction where Peter had crashed. Instinctively, Alex almost launched a slash at him before stopping himself at the last second as he remembered...
That was Peter.
With the situation spiraling further out of control, Alex glanced toward Gwen, who was desperately trying to think of a solution. As both a leader and a genius, Alex quickly remembered something he hadn't thought about in a long time.
"Gw— Spider-Woman... I have a plan. I just need a little time to figure out how to use it."
Gwen stared at Alex for a brief moment before looking back at Peter.
She silently nodded.
Without another word, she rushed straight toward Peter, firing webs nonstop while doing everything she could to keep his attention fixed entirely on her, buying Alex the time he needed.
While Gwen distracted Peter, Alex took a deep breath and tried to remember how to activate those special fear pheromones.
The problem was...
He had absolutely no idea how.
Technically, they originated near one of his salivary glands and were somehow connected to his fangs. The doctors had even explained that he could disperse them into the air.
The only issue was that Alex had no clue how to actually do it.
He focused as hard as he could, trying to manipulate whatever instinct controlled them. The more he tried, the more impossible it felt.
It was like trying to move a phantom limb.
Especially since he had never once used the ability before.
Then...
A loud crash echoed from Gwen's direction.
Alex immediately turned around.
Peter was holding Gwen by the throat, lifting her high into the air as he slowly opened his jaws, clearly intending to bite her. Gwen desperately struggled to pry his hand away, fighting for air, but nothing she did worked.
Thinking fast, Alex charged forward and drove a full-powered punch straight into Peter's face.
The blow launched Peter backward and forced him to release Gwen.
She collapsed onto the ground, coughing violently as she struggled to catch her breath after having her throat crushed.
Seeing her like that, Alex realized there wasn't much choice left.
"Alright, Spider-Woman... looks like I'm going to have to get a little rough with him."
"If he won't stop the easy way..."
"I'll just have to teach him the hard way."
Gwen was about to ask what he meant.
Before she could, Alex charged Peter once again and slammed another punch directly into his face, making the mutated boy stagger backward.
'If I can't trigger fear chemically...
...then I'll do it the physical way.'
_________________________________________
Hey everyone! Just stopping by to let you know that I'm coming back in full force. I'm going to have a bunch of chapters ready on my Patreon, and this time there'll be quite a few—I promise at least five.
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