Chapter 30 - Alternative Reality

I ended up staying in my apartment building a little longer than I expected, so Gwen had already been in the letter for several hours. When I remembered that, I decided to ignore the fact that Felicia Hardy was my neighbor, at least for now.

"System, equip Spider-Gwen character card."

At that moment, the blue sparks I had seen earlier began to fly out of my chest, and Gwen's form began to materialize in front of me. First, I saw the outline of her beautiful body, and a few seconds later, Gwen appeared fully dressed in her black and white costume.

She opened her eyes and looked around the room, frowning almost immediately.

"Sniff, sniff... what is that smell?" She shook her head, brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, and then walked over to the window with determined steps.

I frowned. "Smell? What do you mean?"

Immediately, Gwen looked around, found herself, and with a smile on her face, went to the window and stuck her head out. Her eyes lit up as she saw the golden sunset and the city that was more orderly than her own.

"I'm definitely in another world, aren't I? An ordinary person probably wouldn't notice it so easily, but I know New York very well... Also, this world smells... different. I can't explain it, but it doesn't have the same density as where I come from." She turned her head towards me with an incredulous smile.

I frowned and took a deep breath, trying to feel at least a little of what she was describing. The air seemed the same to me as it had always been - a mixture of New York pollution, but to Gwen, who had been born and lived all her life in the other universe, the change was perhaps more noticeable.

"Maybe it's the cleaner air... or something." I said.

Gwen continued to look outside and then climbed onto the windowsill. "Maybe I should go for a walk. See what this town is like."

At that moment my heart jumped in my chest.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't even think about it!" I said, grabbing her by the hood of her costume.

Gwen stopped and turned around with a confused look on her face. "What? I was just going to look..."

I let out an exasperated sigh and let her go. "You can't just leave like that. There are other heroes here and even... there's a Spider-Man."

That last part seemed to really get her attention. Her eyes widened. "A Spider-Man? Not a 'Spider-Woman' like me?"

"Here, in this world... Peter Parker is Spider-Man." I revealed.

Gwen stood motionless as she tried to process what I had just said. Her eyes showed pain and happiness at the same time. She climbed down from the window and walked all the way back into the apartment.

"Peter... Peter was my best friend. In my world... he... died." She swallowed and turned her face away, as if to hide her watery eyes.

My throat tightened. I knew her whole story, with her Peter dying.

"I'm sorry, Gwen... I really am."

She nodded and looked straight ahead again. "No, I'm actually glad to hear it. Of all the people I've known, Peter was the one who most deserved to have the powers I have, because I know he would make a great hero."

"I'm sure he would... We can still go outside, but first you'll have to change your clothes." I said pointing at her costume.

Gwen lowered her eyes and let out a short, slightly nervous laugh.

"Eh... I guess you're right. It wouldn't be a good idea to walk around like this. Do you have any idea where I could get some normal clothes? I'm sorry, but you don't look like the kind of man who would keep other women's clothes in a drawer in his closet."

"Hey! Maybe I would!"

"Do you?"

"Well... no, I don't, but I might. Anyway, I can do it for you." I said, and then I thought: 'System, I want a set of women's casual clothes. Nothing much.'

[55 card points were deducted.]

Then, out of nowhere, a set of women's clothes appeared in my hand. Simple, practical, and perfectly suited for Gwen.

She looked at me as she took the clothes I held out to her. "Wow, that was... efficient. I'd ask you how you did it, but you'd say it was 'complicated', wouldn't you? So where's your bathroom?"

I pointed to a door off the small kitchen. "Over there. Make yourself at home."

She started toward the bathroom, but stopped before opening the door, looking over her shoulder with a playful smile. "And don't even think about following me or spying on me, okay?"

I blushed immediately. "I wouldn't do that. You can rest easy, Gwen."

She laughed quietly and went into the bathroom.

The truth was, as much as I tried to keep my composure, it was hard to ignore the fact that Gwen Stacy was here, with me, in my apartment.

Two minutes later, I heard the bathroom door open. Gwen came back into the room, dressed in casual clothes: a white t-shirt and dark jeans that fit her perfectly.

"So how do I look?" She turned once to show off her full appearance.

"You look great."

She smiled, but frowned. "Something's bothering you, isn't it? You can tell me, I'm a good listener."

I sat down on the sofa and she sat next to me. "Well, I guess I'm not so good at hiding things..."

"I don't think you're bad, but you remember that I'm good at analyzing people, right?" She said, referring to our conversation at the karaoke.

"Gwen, I have a feeling something big is about to happen." I told her, remembering the 'first test' notification I received when I completed my first main mission. "And before anything happens, I need to prepare myself. I need to get stronger."

"Get stronger? I can help you with that, we just need to train."

"That's a hard invitation to refuse, but I'm afraid that's not exactly what I mean. The power I have... the cards... to develop my skills, I need to go through unusual experiences, specific events that can only happen in certain worlds."

"Unusual, like what? Are you like a writer who needs inspiration?"

I laughed, a little awkwardly. "That's more or less it. Only instead of inspiration, I need these 'experiences' to unlock new cards. It seems that every world I visit offers me something unique."

Gwen approached and took a seat next to me on the sofa. "That sounds... kind of lonely and... distant."

"Maybe a little. Well, I was a little lonely at first, but you've made things less lonely. Your world was the first one I visited, and after this short break I'm taking, I want to go to another one to see what I can find and how I can help. I'm not a professional hero, but I guess I like helping others."

"That's very sweet, Lucas."

"Thanks, I guess."

Later, as we walked down the street to a corner diner for some pizza, Gwen looked out the window at all the people walking quietly down the street and whispered:

"Lucas, can I order for you?"

"Of course."

"I know this may be another selfish request of mine. Can you take me to see other worlds? I'd like to see more and more. It's all very fascinating. This one is very similar to mine, but it's also different. If there's a spider-man and a spider-woman, how many more spiders can there be?"

At that point, I shook my head in denial. "Peaceful worlds are fascinating. But not all realities are like this one, Gwen."

"What do you mean?"

"Heroes exist to save, to avert, to prevent. But when the heroes' efforts are no longer enough, worlds fall. And it's to one of those worlds that I intend to go next time. The greater the risk, the greater the reward."

Yes, that's what I intended. If I decided to use my Omniversal Anime Travel Ticket, which allowed me to stay in an anime world for seven days, I probably wouldn't be able to learn how to use Blood Manipulation properly in time for my first test, which was less than 36 hours away at the moment, so it was best for me to try to get more cards and more card points to make myself stronger.

"I still want to go with you," Gwen said, which made me look at her.

"You don't understand, Gwen. I'm talking about worlds where almost everything is over."

"And you think I can't handle that? I'm sorry, I don't know if you realize it, but I can take care of myself."

I raised my hands in surrender. "Okay, okay... If you insist, you can come with me. It'll be good to have an ally in a dangerous world."

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