“Listen, I know how this looks, but let me explain.”
I raised my hands in a calming gesture before Penny could start executing me.
“A while ago, I read an article online about Dr. Cornelia Connors and her research into splicing human and lizard genes. I remembered it after we went our separate ways, so I decided to come here and see if I could find out anything useful. I didn’t bother you because I wasn’t planning to get involved in anything. I was just going to ask a few questions, leave, and tell you about it in the morning if I found anything important.”
“How was I supposed to know that the Lizard would show up here?”
Penny let out a loud breath as she slowly calmed down.
I’d gotten to know her pretty well during the time we’d spent together, and her mask wasn’t enough to hide her mood from me.
She was still unhappy, but not with me.
She was upset about the whole situation.
Her overprotectiveness made me a little uncomfortable.
I wasn’t used to being treated that way, but there wasn’t much I could do about it, at least for now.
Those were simply the rules of this world.
I hadn’t made them, and I probably wasn’t going to change them anytime soon.
Sure, I could throw a tantrum and start shouting about how strong and independent I was, but who would that actually help?
Things like that had to be proven through actions.
And that was exactly what I intended to do.
Besides, Penny wasn’t entirely wrong.
Today, I really had bitten off more than I could chew.
“Just be more careful next time,” she said.
“And take me with you, no matter how safe or insignificant you think the situation is. Remember what we agreed on? All our heroic activities are a team effort. You were the one who insisted that working alone was dangerous.”
“I’m sorry.”
I admitted defeat and pulled her into a hug.
Apparently, the storm had passed.
“Ahem.”
Gwen suddenly reminded us that she was still there.
“Guys, your little domestic dispute is adorable and all, but could we maybe talk about the actual problem?”
We settled down on the same rooftop where I’d left Connors’s bag.
The ambulance and police were already busy downstairs, so the laboratory was out of the question.
“Um… sorry, but who are you?” Parker asked awkwardly.
“Oh, this is Gwen…” I started introducing my new acquaintance, then stopped when I realized nobody had actually told me her last name.
“Stacy. Gwendolyn Stacy, but just call me Gwen.”
She came to my rescue and extended her hand toward Penny.
“I’m Pe… Spider-Girl. Nice to meet you.”
The superheroine shook her hand.
I couldn’t suppress an amused snort.
She’d almost introduced herself by her real name.
That was so Penny.
An absolute genius when it came to science, but incredibly awkward when it came to talking to people.
Unlike me, Gwen was kind enough to ignore Penny’s near blunder, although the slight twitch at the corners of her lips suggested she’d noticed it.
“Anyway,” I said, ignoring Penny’s attempt to give me a threatening look from beneath her mask and steering the conversation back toward something productive, “Gwen was Dr. Connors’s assistant. She can make a serum that should be able to turn her back into a human.”
“Wait a second. Turn her back into a human?”
Penny stared at Gwen as though desperately hoping she’d tell her this was all some kind of joke.
“You’re saying that huge lizard was Dr. Connors? One of the most brilliant scientists in the country turned into a dinosaur?”
“It’s true,” Stacy admitted with a sigh.
“Raven is telling the truth. Dr. Connors and I were researching the splicing of lizard and human genes. More specifically, we were trying to transfer the regenerative abilities of certain reptiles to humans.” Get faster updates on novelping dot com.
“The day before yesterday, we finally developed our first working version of the serum. Dr. Connors injected herself with it.”
“And you got the result you saw today.”
“Just like that? Without proper testing or long-term observation?”
Judging by Penny’s expression, her entire worldview was beginning to crumble.
That’s how idols were lost.
“Well, we did test the serum on mice first,” Gwen explained.
“The short-term results were excellent, but overall… yes, you’re right.”
She shrugged.
“Dr. Connors was more concerned about her injury than I had anticipated.”
“Fine. We could spend all night discussing how stupid it was to inject an untested serum into herself, but that isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
I looked at Gwen.
“Check whether you have everything you need to make the antidote.”
Stacy walked over to the bag and carefully began going through its contents.
“Yes. This should be enough. We can probably make several doses.”
She nodded a couple of minutes later.
A weight lifted from my chest.
I was pretty sure the girls felt the same way.
If we’d been missing even one ingredient, I had no idea where we would have found it.
There might have been more somewhere at the university, but I seriously doubted it.
Some of those components were far too specialized.
“Now we just need somewhere to work,” Penny said.
“I don’t think a rooftop is going to be suitable, and the police don’t seem particularly eager to let us back into the laboratory.”
“Why don’t we go to my place?”
Gwen thought about it for a moment.
“My mom is working tonight, so nobody will bother us.”
And that settled it.
We didn’t really have any other options.
Neither Penny nor I wanted to reveal our identities, and if we went to my house, my mother would be there too.
I’d also have to explain why I wouldn’t be home tonight.
We traveled using my powers, with both girls holding onto my hands.
Fortunately, I’d already confirmed that I could teleport more than one person at a time when I’d rescued the defeated guards.
Gwen absolutely loved the experience of “jumping” from rooftop to rooftop.
Penny, on the other hand, was much more restrained.
She’d already experienced my teleportation, and her own method of getting around was considerably more exciting.
She’d even offered to give me a ride sometime, but I had categorically refused.
I’d already compromised on plenty of things to make her comfortable in our relationship, but letting her carry me around was where I drew the line.
Unlike Penny and me, Gwen didn’t live in a private house.
She lived in an apartment building.
The apartment itself was small, but surprisingly cozy.
That wasn’t particularly common in this world.
Most housing here was designed with a man, all his wives, and their children in mind.
Still, places like this existed.
Single women had to live somewhere too.
So there was a good chance Gwen was living with a single mother as well.
We teleported into Gwen’s room, and I immediately noticed the posters hanging above her bed.
It was pretty amusing seeing female versions of famous rock bands.
Penny volunteered to assist Gwen, and the two girls immediately buried their noses in some notebook, trying to work out the formula for the antidote.
As for me, I did the best thing I could in that situation.
I stayed out of their way.
Of course, I’d asked Penny to help improve my knowledge as well, but that was mainly related to engineering.
I wanted to learn how to build various gadgets myself.
Obviously, I was still a long way from being able to do that.
Chemistry and biology, meanwhile, weren’t exactly within my current areas of interest.
It was humbling to realize that I was the dumbest person in the room.
Fortunately, I had other things going for me, and I wasn’t about to sit around doing absolutely nothing.
With Gwen’s permission, I borrowed her laptop and went online.
I managed to remember a few things, and if they turned out to be correct, I might be able to predict where the Lizard would appear next.
“We’re done,” Stacy announced after a couple of hours of work.
“We just need to buy some syringes with thick enough needles. Regular ones won’t have a chance of penetrating her skin.”
“And we need to figure out where she is,” Penny added.
“We have absolutely no idea where to look for her.”
I had a few ideas about that, but I didn’t get the chance to share them.
“I’m coming with you.”
Gwen’s declaration left no room for argument.
Penny and I exchanged a look.
Was she seriously doing this again?
She had practically thrown herself into the Lizard’s mouth at the university, and now she wanted to do it again?
Was she trying to get herself killed?
What worried me most was the knowledge that Gwen Stacy was supposed to die.
I wanted to prevent that.
The best way to do it was to keep her as far away from all this superhero nonsense as possible.
The only problem was convincing Gwen herself.
Judging by the look on her face, she was extremely determined.
“Listen… I told you that…” I began, trying to reason with Stacy.
She cut me off.
“You said, and I quote, ‘Without superpowers, there’s no way to deal with that creature.’ Right?”
Gwen suddenly jumped.
Her fingertips touched the ceiling, but instead of falling back to the floor, she simply hung there as if she’d been glued to it.
I could only stare at her in stunned disbelief.
As far as I could tell, Penny’s reaction wasn’t much different.
Gwen Parker?
Well, things were getting stranger by the minute.
If the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse could be trusted even a little, then in a world where Peter Parker received spider powers, Gwen Stacy was the one who died.
If Gwen received the powers instead, then Peter died.
But what happened if they both got powers?
Did universes like that even exist?
How many more times was I going to regret not memorizing every single Marvel comic?
“So…” I looked at her.
“Do you have a costume?”