Ghost Spider: Origins

Chapter 2: Portals

Gwen coughed and blinked the dust out of her eyes. The wall where her window had been was now a giant gaping hole, dropping straight down.

Gwen grabbed at her bed and hauled herself up, wincing. Her head throbbed and she could feel her bruised ribs. Luckily, she seemed intact besides a small cut on her forehead. She was lucky she hadn't been shredded by flying debris or shattered glass.

When it finally dawned on her, Gwen looked to the door, but it was blocked by stray rubble. She could hear yelling and running in the hallway, but she wouldn't be able to get through the door. The fire alarm blared through the building as she tried to think of an escape route.

Gwen crawled tentatively towards the gap in the wall and looked out. She noticed some helicopters approaching the building and news and rescue vehicles crowded the streets below.

"Help! Help, I'm trapped!" she screamed as loud as she could. She waved her arms madly and a searchlight found and targeted her from the ground.

Suddenly, she noticed a ring of golden sparks appear in mid air. A shadowy figure sped out of it, riding on some sort of glider. The figure launched objects at the nearest neighboring building, the side erupting in explosions.

Screaming increased and the crowds below began to panic. Gwen realized that her chances of being saved were slim. She had to do something.

Gwen shuffled clumsily over to her desk and started frantically rummaging in the drawers for the self defense/survival kit her Dad had gifted her a few years back. She thought there might be some rope or flares that she could use.

Her search was interrupted by a piercing sting on her hand. She winced and looked to the pain. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was. The spider from her school project was clenching the flesh of her hand with its mighty pincers.

She frantically tried to brush it off and back into the damaged container. By the time she'd succeeded, a voice interrupted her.

Gwen whipped around and saw the shadowy figure in the gaping hole in her wall. He wore a green armor suit with a hideous mask. He rode on some sort of high tech hoverboard that levitated the creature just out of the opening.

Without warning, the man snatched Gwen into his arms. She screamed and kicked, but he held tight and glided into the air.

Then Gwen noticed three more figures pursuing her kidnapper. They were all dressed in red and blue suits with strange masks. They weren't quite flying, but they seemed to speedily sail from building to building with the ability of a trapeze performer as they trailed Gwen's captor.

"Help!" Gwen cried. Her head was spinning and she felt dizzy. Her spider bite throbbed painfully.

"Quiet, girl!" her captor snarled, twisting his hold on her roughly to one hand. Using the other he hurled two of those strange spherical bombs towards the assailants.

His glider stopped in midair and he released Gwen. He yelled, "Catch this, Spider-Man!" and resumed his escape. With an arm motion, a sparky portal opened up for him and he disappeared inside, laughing maniacally.

Time slowed down and Gwen felt her heart beating in her ears as she sailed toward the ground. She closed her eyes, bracing for the impact, but it didn't come.

An incredibly strong arm was wrapped around her waste, holding her to their body. Gwen peeked at who her rescuer was. It was one of the masked men.

As that crazy man was apparently gone, the three masked characters swung up to rest on the fire escape on the side of a red brick building.

One of them cursed, "damn it, he got away."

Gwen felt her body trembling despite no longer free falling.

The one who had saved gently grabbed her arms and pleaded, "Miss, are you ok? What's your name?"

The shock and the pain were overtaking her. All she could say before she blacked out was, "Gwen. Gwen Stacy."