16 The Strengthening Dilemmia

I thought I would write a 2 to 2,5k word chap again, but I am horribly sick. I've coughed three times while writing this damn sentence too. I've managed to pump out 1500 words so enjoy it.

***

[ Help ]: Peter jolted from his seat, startling Dr. Connors.

"I apologize, but it is an emergency. I have to leave. NOW!" he explained, stuffing his notes and other valuables in his backpack before slinging it on. "I am very, very sorry, sir, but I have to go."

Dr. Connors' confused expression morphed into one of seriousness. "You need a fast ride back home?"

Peter thought for a moment before nodding. Getting a taxi would be a hassle.

"Go on then. Run," Connors nodded, taking out his phone and dialing a number. "I'll make sure security doesn't stop you. They'll give you a ride too."

"I owe you, sir," Peter waved to the Doctor, to which he snorted.

"The world owes you, Peter"

***

The elevator he once thought was pretty fast now seemed to be moving at a snail's pace as his heart beat faster.

'Why was...no HOW is Gwen in trouble? Even if she met one of her common enemies, she should be able to curb-stomp them easily. Most of her villains would fall like a deck of cards before her strength. Only the likes of Morlun could have a fighting chance,' he thought in confusion before a tiny hint of fear crept into his heart. 'It's not the Inheritors, right? Did it start this fast? FUCK!'

The moment the elevator opened on the ground floor, he dashed out, making the receptionist jump.

"Hey! You're supposed to sign out!" she called out after him but was stopped by a security guard who was on his phone.

"It's fine. He's cleared," he confirmed.

Peter ran towards the exit where a security guard outside motioned towards his car before getting in.

He was let through all the security checks, which spoke to Dr. Curt Connors' sheer reach in the company, and quickly jumped into the backseat, opening the door before him.

"Where to, sir?" the guard inquired, starting up the car that let out a large rumble.

"123 Main Street, Forest Hills," Peter said, wearing the seatbelt in the back - a habit born from that traumatic memory. "Just follow my directions; I'll point out the destination to you."

"Sure," the security-cum-driver shrugged before pressing down on the gas pedal.

***

"It's that house right there," Peter pointed at the place he now called home after driving for ten minutes at speeds that would've most definitely gotten them caught. Fortunately, once the police saw the Oscorp logo on the security vehicle, they promptly ignored them.

'For once, corruption did something good.'

Once the driver stopped the car, he immediately exited, running toward the door.

"Thank you, sir!"

"No problem, just doing my job."

He almost fumbled the keys, but he unlocked the door, grabbed Ben's car keys and ran back out, locking it once more.

'Thank TOAA that Uncle Ben hates driving,' he sighed in relief, jumping into the driver's seat, turning on the car, and revving its engine.

He exited the driveway with a fury, speeding through the lanes with just enough speed to not get caught. As every second ticked by, he thought of worse and worse scenarios. Nobody could possibly truly hurt Gwen unless superhuman villains teamed up on her. Even then, she usually lost because she held back her enormous strength.

Thankfully, he knew Gwen wouldn't call him to help her fight, as he'd get eviscerated within seconds. Thus, it was easy to assume that he wouldn't be in much danger - unless someone faked Gwen's voice to lure him in. But who would do that? Mephisto? That was the only person he could think of with any reason to target him. Osborn perhaps? But he didn't think Osborn was the Goblin yet, but even if he was, he could merely blow up his house.

'Well, I'd be dead if any of those scenarios happened,' he thought morosely, putting on a black glove with a single hand while driving. He then flailed around the side of the seat he was sitting on.

'Ah! found it.'

His hand reached down into a hidden holster and found Ben's Glock 19. It wasn't protection, as it would do jack-shit to most supervillains but he felt secure knowing it was around.

If anyone tried anything funny, he'd give them a taste of sweet, sweet freedom.

Well, at least, he would try his best.

***

He took five long minutes to reach Gwen's alley which almost felt like an eternity. The alley wasn't far from the Forest Hills stadium - he could see police sirens and ambulances in the distance, his improved eyesight working wonders.

He parked on the relatively empty 23rd street, leaving the car with the gun in his pocket. Walking briskly, he kept a vigilant eye on the ground - sure enough, as he reached the edge of the street, he discovered tiny droplets of blood on the concrete. His pace quickened even further as he followed the trail, purposefully stepping on each droplet. After all, forensic techniques were quite advanced.

'She's hurt that bad?!', he thought in trepidation. 'Just what did she fight?'

The tiny droplets of blood slowly grew, leading him to a relatively tiny space between two buildings marked by a bloody handprint. He pulled out his gun and used the back of it to rub off the blood fingerprints, erasing the easiest, and most used form of identification. He didn't bother with the blood, as it would become forensically inert within four hours with the current temperature and exposure to sunlight.

He then slipped through the gap, coming face to face with what he'd feared.

An unconscious Gwen wearing a black suit lay splayed on the concrete, her bloody hands clutching her hip. She was still dressed in her Ghost-Spider outfit and a long piece of what looked like rhino hide lay beside her. Even her wound looked like she narrowly missed a goring.

"Damn!" Peter growled to himself, picking up Gwen in a princess carry and running out of the alley with the Rhino hide draped across his shoulder. Luckily, her healing factor had already clotted her wound - even the exposed flesh showed signs of healing.

'She shouldn't be knocked out from just this,' Peter thought furiously as he ran to his car, the girl in his arms weighing almost nothing. The enhanced muscular growth was working wonders. 'Why could Rhino knock her out? Did she get jumped? Better to ask her when she wakes up.'

He ran to the car and carefully placed her in the backseat before getting into the driver's seat and driving home.

***

Peter looked at the clock that read 5 p.m. and turned back to the unconscious, unmasked Gwen on his couch. Her lean torso was carefully bandaged while he removed her hoodie and covered her with a blanket. He hid the aforementioned Ghost-Spider clothes as she probably wouldn't want her identity leaking if her dad decided to barge in. He merely bandaged her up as her healing factor was already doing most of the work.

But the thing that interested him the most was the black suit. Perhaps it was a random piece of clothing Gwen picked up or it may not be, but the KP symbol with eight tentacles growing from behind it caught his eye.

"I have so many questions for you, Gwen," he muttered under his breath before slipping on his lab coat and pulling out one of her samples from the refrigerator.

'Why on earth are you not as strong as you should be?' he thought in confusion. The news had already reached his ears as the video of a giant Rhino-skin-wearing behemoth charging through numerous innocent people had wormed onto the internet. There was an enormous digital uproar as superheroes were almost a myth.

The Fantastic Four were dismissed as an urban legend, the Supreme Leader of Latveria being able to do magic was propaganda while Spider-woman and the Shocker were touted as gifted engineers with powerful exoskeletons and shock gauntlets respectively. But when a 6'5" mountain of muscle runs through civilians while dressed up as a Rhino and shrugging off bullets, there is no denying it.

'The Rhino seems just as strong in the comics but Gwen isn't. What else in the universe is different?' he frowned to himself, beginning another DNA sequencing with the NGS method to make sure of something.

While annotating the differences between his and her genome, he was too busy working on the serum to bother diving too deep into her DNA. Of course, he identified the sections that coded for her strength, agility, and the like, but he simply didn't have the time to satiate his inner scientist. But now...he needed to see whether there was something wrong.

He didn't think he could blame her lacking strength on it being a different timeline as most Spider Totems - humans mixed with spider DNA, were quite strong to keep the Web of Life intact.

The reads of the DNA were quickly generated within half an hour and he went to work, decoding it to deduce if something looked off. Another half hour passed before he could spot anything worth mentioning and it was not good.

"Fuck...this is a headache."

***