In just a few minutes, the villain named Ice Dude was defeated.
The nearby crowd cheered upon seeing the criminal taken down.
"Who is she? I'm so curious!"
"You could just ask her name!"
"But what if she just leaves right away?"
As the people were at a loss for words, she shouted loudly,
"I am Spider Gwen!"
"Huh?"
The whole crowd looked at the girl standing on the utility pole.
"I said, I am Spider Gwen!"
She didn't need to repeat herself...
"Oh! Thank you, Spider Gwen! If it weren't for you, we would've—"
Spider Gwen raised her hand as if to say, "Stop talking."
"I, the warrior of hell, the guardian of the underworld... have a duty to protect the people of Earth! So you don't need to thank me! Because I am Spider Gwen! The warrior of hell!"
"..."
Okay, is this girl a bit... too childish?
"Goodbye, people of New York!"
She shot out a web and swung away, leaving the crowd utterly bewildered.
"...Wow, she acts just like my teenage son."
"Teen heroes are something else—superpowers and a mask bring out a whole new personality."
"And she calls herself Spider Gwen? I hope that's not related to her real name, right?"
Meanwhile, I stood there, taking off my glasses and rubbing my face.
"Now I realize... My universe doesn't seem all that serious, does it?"
Though he said that, for some reason, the outer god inside him didn't respond.
"...Why aren't you saying anything? I thought you'd have a comment ready."
[...Hmph, nothing. I just can't believe Gwen is here. Trouble's coming.]
"Huh? Why?"
[Idiot, have you forgotten? A universe can't have two Spideys. Her being the Spidey of this universe means you're going to die, because you're Peter.]
"...Are you worried about me?"
[Huh?! No! You've got it all wrong! You dummy dummy dummy!]
Then stop acting like that, okay?
"Worried about what? I have you, and you made a promise to me."
[...Hehe, you're right! What's that Gwen compared to me? Canon event? What's that? With me here, you're blessed by all your ancestors! Gahahaha!]
"Yeah, yeah..."
And so, I went home with the sound of cheerful laughter ringing in my head.
***
"Oh, Peter! How's it going?" Uncle Ben asked as soon as I got home.
"Uh?"
"Don't 'uh' me! I'm talking about your girlfriend!"
"???"
Huh? Since when did I have a girlfriend?
"Uh, no? I went out because I wanted to come up with some ideas."
"What? So you don't have a girlfriend?" Both Uncle Ben and Aunt May looked at me, disappointed.
Come on, let's put my love life aside for now. I haven't even met MJ yet, and neither has Harry, so how could I have a girlfriend?
"Sorry for disappointing you both. I'm heading to my room."
"Hey, hold on! You haven't even had breakfast yet!"
"Isn't it a bit late for that?" I glanced at the clock.
"Late or not, a growing teenager still needs nutrition and isn't allowed to skip meals!" Aunt May reminded me.
"...Okay."
So, I ate breakfast and then went to my room.
Aunt May looked at the empty plates, slightly surprised.
"Peter ate a lot today, didn't he? That's great!"
Aunt May and Uncle Ben might just be angels sent down to live as humans...
I closed my room's door and took out a pen to jot down on a piece of paper.
[What's that? A plan to cause chaos?]
"No, I'm writing down ideas for a game I thought of while heading home."
[Oh! No wonder I sensed you thinking all sorts of random stuff.]
"...Alright! Now I just need to turn this idea into a game!"
But how? I don't know how to code...
"Hmm, maybe I'll head to Harry's place to borrow his computer and watch some tutorial videos."
[Sounds like such a hassle. Wouldn't it be faster to just cause chaos in the world?]
"Dear Mr. Outer God, what about your promise?"
[Ughhhh!! Fine! Don't bring it up again!]
So, I grabbed a hoodie, shorts, and sneakers, then left my room.
As I went downstairs, the TV Uncle Ben was watching was showing the news, talking about a hero who called herself Spider Gwen appearing.
I glanced at the TV, and Uncle Ben noticed me, saying,
"What's up, Peter? Heading out again?"
"Yeah... Has that hero on TV really appeared in New York for the first time?"
"Well... Actually, she's been in the papers before, right around the time you were unconscious."
"...?"
Why does this feel off? Does it have anything to do with the Spider-Verse?
[What? You're thinking about her again?]
"No."
[You're totally thinking about her! Just because she's your girlfriend in a few other universes, huh?! You player!]
"You're acting like you're in love with me or something. It's hard to imagine."
[Nah, are you crazy? Me, in love with you? I'm only interested in causing chaos in the human world! There was this Austrian painter who did a great job at that! Too bad he's dead.]
"Ugh, you're giving me a headache!"
I opened the door, stepped outside, and called a taxi.
...Wait, I have superpowers now, don't I?
So, I looked around, saw no one, and climbed up the wall.
Reaching the rooftop, I looked at the skyscrapers and then at my hands.
"...Here goes nothing!"
Putting on a mask and pulling up my hood, I shot out a web.
...
Swinging on webs was really tough at first—almost fell if I wasn't careful.
But honestly, traveling like this is insanely fast. In just a few minutes, I was already close to Harry's place.
*If I keep this up, I'll get the hang of it in no time.*
Thinking to myself, Peter happily continued swinging.
But right after, his spider-sense kicked in, letting him feel something shooting toward his web.
Lacking experience and not yet knowing how to use his spider-sense properly, the bullet severed his web completely.
"?!"
Losing balance and still not used to this, he free-fell, his brain not catching up in time to process.
*What's happening??*
I looked to both sides, then realized I forgot to shoot another web. So, I quickly shot webs at the buildings on either side, stopping myself mid-air.
"Phew... Who shot that?"
Then he noticed a figure standing on a rooftop, carefully observing him.
"You... You're Spider Gwen, aren't you?"
A misunderstanding? Do I look like I have a girl's figure?
"Buddy, I don't think my body's as slender as a girl's. In fact, it's developing quite nicely."
"I'm Spider Killer, and I hate spiders, so I'm going to kill you, Spider Gwen!"
"...Are you deaf or something?"
[I told you, Peter Parker's always got bad luck.]
***
Peter isn't wearing a spider mask or anything; he's wearing a face mask, you know, the kind we all had to wear during Covid.
And this fanfic isn't a harem—there's only one female lead. I won't say who she is, though I've dropped plenty of hints in the previous chapters, lol.