Gwen from Earth-65 woke up at home, still unable to fully process everything that happened yesterday. She felt like calling the Peter from the other world to ask if all of it was true.
She hesitated for a moment, then actually placed the call.
To her surprise, the phone actually connected. She heard the familiar, but long-unheard, voice of the short-haired Gwen on the other end: "Uh, hello, this number belongs to Gwen, 65-Gwen?"
"...Why '65'? My height isn't 165 centimeters."
"Because your Earth is designated 65, determined by the vibrational frequency of the Multiverse, though I doubt you'll understand that."
Looks like Peter confirmed I'm the Gwen of this world, the so-called Earth-65.Speaking of which, they kept mentioning Earth-616 yesterday; that must be their Earth.
Short-haired Gwen was thinking this when she suddenly heard a slightly jarring female voice: "Peter? Who are you talking to?"
Oh, no wonder it sounded off; that was her own voice, processed through the phone.
She asked, surprised, "Wait, you two live together?"
"Uh, yeah, same room, not the same bed," Peter Parker from the other end explained. "We're staying on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier right now. I don't know if you've seen the rooms on those carriers online, but they're tiny. Triple bunks. Soldiers are all squeezed in there. I'm going to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. today to switch us to a different room; it's inconvenient, and Gwen isn't comfortable."
Uh, I didn't actually need the explanation...
After a brief silence following Peter's explanation, Peter suddenly asked in return: "I'm guessing you're not a superhero right now, right? There's a lot of news about Spider-Woman, but not many stories about her doing good deeds."
"...Yeah, I'm not a superhero. Are you disappointed?"
"No. Like Uncle Ben used to tell me, as long as you don't use your powers to do bad things, that's fine. Using them for money, or for fame, that's everyone's personal choice." Peter explained to the short-haired Gwen. "The real issue is that you don't know what to do right now, is that right?"
"Yeah, it's been like that ever since you... I mean, my Peter passed away. You two really are different. Even though you have the same face, your personalities are worlds apart. If he could have been as upbeat and confident as you, maybe, maybe none of that would have happened."
After another moment of silence, Peter Parker from 616 offered a suggestion: "If you need it, I can take you to meet Uncle Ben and Aunt May—the Uncle Ben and Aunt May of this world."
For a moment, short-haired Gwen considered accepting the offer, but after a brief hesitation, she shook her head and refused: "No, let's not. I can't accept that offer... not yet."
"If you ever need anything, I'm here. Just call me."
After hanging up the phone, short-haired Gwen got ready for the day. Just as Peter said, Spider-Woman wasn't a hero. She was just a high school student who gained spider-powers and accidentally caused the death of her best friend. She didn't know what she was supposed to do.
As for visiting Aunt May and Uncle Ben...
She didn't know how to face them. Short-haired Gwen had visited the Parker house once and saw that Uncle Ben and Aunt May had collected every piece of evidence they could find on Spider-Woman. In that moment, Gwen was terrified. She felt that Uncle Ben and Aunt May were hunting her, seeking vengeance for their nephew.
She didn't dare go to the Parker house anymore.
What difference would it make, even with the Peter from another world there? Would they forgive her? Gwen could tell herself over and over that the Lizard at the time didn't look like Peter, that Peter had lost his mind, that she might have died if she hadn't fought back, and that she never meant for him to be so severely injured.
"Lying to myself is one thing, but I can't lie to Uncle Ben and Aunt May..."
The crestfallen Spider-Gwen picked up her backpack and headed for school. She chose to use her powers, swinging through the sky to soothe her heart. Suddenly, she felt a profound sense of foreboding. Her Spider-Sense was blaring like never before. Short-haired Gwen looked around, bewildered, then saw a figure descending from the sky.
"What in the world is that thing?!"
It was a bald man with an evil, almost disgusting grin, wings of dark green stretched out, swooping toward Spider-Gwen.
"Time for a showdown, Spider-Woman!"
On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Peter was unaware of what had just happened. After hanging up, Gwen walked in, asking curiously, "Were you talking to the short-haired me?"
"Yeah, she called to chat."
"That's early. I should just be waking up right now."
Gwen muttered her dissatisfaction but noticed Peter was deep in thought and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
"I was thinking..."
"Hm?"
"If both your phones have the same number, who would answer if I called it?"
Gwen: ...
That's what you were thinking about?
Gwen sighed, realizing a blind spot: even though the month was the same, the Gwen Stacy of this universe and her peers (excluding Silk) were a year older than those in her world.
While the two of them were pondering different, mundane things, someone knocked on the door. Peter assumed it was Carter coming to find him about something, so he opened the door, only to find someone he never expected to see in his wildest dreams.
"Hello, Peter. Long time no see. Though, in your universe, we just met yesterday."
The man outside was Harry Osborn. He looked weathered, significantly more robust, and clearly more trained than the 616 Harry.
Peter, surprised, invited Harry in and asked, "Hello, Harry. I believe this is our first meeting, even though I just saw you yesterday in my world."
"That's normal. I heard you're investigating the Lizard, and I happen to have some information. I also wanted to ask you something," Earth-65 Harry said, looking at Peter. "You know who Spider-Woman is, right?"
"You want to find Spider-Woman to avenge your friend."
Harry didn't speak, he just nodded.
"Do you really believe J. Jonah Jameson when he says Spider-Woman killed Peter Parker?"
"What else? Who else could it be?"
"She's Gwen."
Peter cut Harry off with a single sentence, then pressed further: "Do you truly believe that Gwen Stacy killed Peter Parker?"
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