--Discontinued -- A Revenant [Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider x OC]

Arc 1: Chapter 3

Midtown High was just like every other public school in America: large and mostly pointless. That's how he viewed it before, and his opinion had only grown more dismal since his escape last night.

He crouched atop an apartment complex across from the school, searching for his target. He finally found him, sitting at a lunch table next to.. no, this couldn't be right. He stood, backing away from the edge of the building. Why was she sitting with him? Why was he sitting with Twenty-Nine's old friends? Oscorp truly had no bound, using Norman's son to influence his old friends.

He sat down against the roof access door, as his breath grew shaky and uneven. Even just seeing her, sitting with him created endless scenarios in his head, none of them good. His already conflicted feelings about everything just became.. more conflicted.

He wasn't one of them, he wasn't a flesh-sack anymore. But he had their emotions, their thoughts, their feelings. He still loved her, and cherished all those nights, all those school projects, all those movies they watched together. If he could go back, he would. But things were different now, whether he liked it or not. And he would kill everyone who had a hand in making him into this monster.

He rose, before turning away from the school. He decided to wait, until Harry was in a secluded area, away from Twenty-Nine's friends. For now, he would pay a little visit to the board of directors.

——— - — - ———

"So I was thinking, it's been a year since the accident." Of course Peter would bring it up, they were so close. "We should at least visit his tombstone, right? I'll pay for the flowers and everything."

"Don't worry about it, Pete. I'll cover it." Harry didn't seem like he was going to argue or back down, so Peter conceded.

"I think it's a nice thing to do. It's been a few months since we last went, and he was our friend." MJ said, looking in her direction.

"He was more than our friend." She whispered, not looking up.

"What?" Miles asked, craning his neck down to look up into Gwen's shut eyes.

"I-If you don't want to, I don't blame you. I know how close you were. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's fine." She lied. Her voice was shaking, and a tear ran unchecked down her face. Miles went to put his arm around her, but Harry stopped him, shaking his head solemnly.

"Here, I'll get you guys another round of milks. Come help me carry 'em, Miles." He stood up, walking into the cafeteria towards the lunch lady. Once they were inside and Miles was right next to him.

"I get you were trying to comfort her, Miles, but that's not the way to go about it when the topic is him."

"Sorry." Miles shrunk a little, embarrassed.

"Your intentions weren't bad, but your methods were. How much do you know about them?"

"About Gwen and-"

"Mhm. How much do you know?"

"I know they were really close friends, but that's about it. I really didn't talk with him much."

"He was an.. interesting kid, to say the least. They didn't show it in public much, but they were, y'know.."

"Dating?" Miles seemed a bit disappointed, but his emotions were quickly masked. "You can say dating, we're not little kids."

"Yeah, they were dating. So I don't think you should be all 'there there, Gwen, I'll comfort you in my arms' with her." They had gotten the round of milks, as they rejoined the table. Miles handed Gwen her milk, which she drank melancholically.

"Did you guys hear about the break in at Oscorp Lane last night?" Harry changed the subject, glancing Gwen.

"Oh, yeah, my dad was one of the responders." Miles responded, nudging Gwen. "Was your dad there?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he was. Came back home last night and just went straight to bed. Didn't want to talk about it, it was apparently that brutal."

"I heard that a bunch of Oscorp workers died brutally, like some animal killed them." MJ added, as Peter chuckled awkwardly.

"Guys, can we not talk about death while we're eating?" He asked sheepishly, ashamed to have such a weak stomach.

The lunch bell rang, as MJ jokingly hit Peter on the shoulder.

"Well, Tiger, I guess we can continue talking about it in P.E., can't we?"

——— - — - ———

He climbed, and climbed, and climbed for what felt like an eternity. Oscorp tower was huge, nearly 100 floors tall, with the board of directors meeting at the very top. By his count, he had two floors left. His claws and feet were incredibly versatile, making this climb easy, but repetitive. Finally, when he reached the top, he flipped in, feet kicking the glass in. Immediately, screams ran through the penthouse suite, as he interrupted the brunch the fat cats were having. There were families here, like that would dissuade him.

Two guards charged him, their last mistake. He backhanded one into a table, before he stabbed the other in the chest with his hand. He raised the man up off the ground, before dropping him as his hand returned to normal. Flipping a table for the hell of it, he dodged a swing from a chef wielding a large knife. He grabbed the chef's head, running through the fishtank that sat as a decoration piece. Water spilled out, as fish flopped on the floor. He dropped the chef, picking up the blade and throwing it into a charging guard. That left five. They started shooting at him, so he ducked down into a crouch behind a table.

They advanced, so he uppercut the table, hitting one guard in the head and knocking him down. He was hit from behind with a chair, making him stumble. He pumped his fists as his body turned into smoke. He grabbed the man who hit him by the base of his skull, before slamming his head into a table. He kept advancing towards the group of executives trying to get into the elevator.

Two men tried to hit him at the same time, so he sidestepped one, grabbing the attacker's hand. He let the other man hit him, hurting his hand. Still holding the man's wrist, he turned back, to face both of the men. The man's arm twisted in a funny way, as Twenty-Nine put up his arm to block another hit. Breaking the man's elbow, he then dropped him and backhanded the other guard in the head.

Another tried to punch him in the face, which he caught, throwing the man to the side while snapping his neck simultaneously. He turned his hand into a blade, slicing a man's throat, before kicking him into a table.

The final two posed more of a challenge than all the others combined. The big guy tanked a hit to the chest, as the shorter man snuck behind Twenty-Nine. The robo-man reared back to take out the big guy, but the smaller man grabbed his arm. Once the big guy recovered from the first punch, he swung again, as the shorter man let go. The strike staggered Twenty-Nine, as a chair to the back of his knees put him in a kneeling position. The big guy pulled out a pistol, shooting him in the head, causing him to disintegrate into a dark cloud of ember and smoke. That left the guards confused, until Twenty-Nine appeared in a cloud behind the big guy, grabbing his gun hand, making him shoot the other guards that still stood.

Snapping the neck of the large guard, he let the body drop, but held the pistol in his hand. He felt a gunshot hit his back shoulder plate. He turned his head slowly, to see a woman holding a pistol, now intensely afraid. He turned fully, before raising his pistol and firing. She didn't handle the shot as well as he did. A large group of people crowded into the lone glass elevator, leaving behind two execs.

"No, don't you know who I am?" One exec asked, as they were backed against the glass. "Who we are?"

"I do. That's why I'm here." He picked them both up, their necks firmly in his hands. He tossed one through the window, letting him fall, as he held the other now dangling.

"What the hell are you?"

"Death." He snapped the neck of the last skinbag on the penthouse room. Releasing his grip, the body fell, landing atop the glass elevator. He grabbed the cable that held it, suspended, before he turned his hand into a blade and severed it. And in one fell move, he took out the board of directors, save one: the CEO. He looked up at the security camera, his glowing eyes seemingly piercing the camera.

"You're next, Norman. Count your days."