Spider-Gwen || Caught in a Web

True Betrayal || Gwen Stacy

"Give me violence, kill the silence"

-S!ck, The Warning

Above New York City, a canvas of orange and pink rolled for as far as the eye could see, signaling the sun's descent below the horizon. Lights were beginning to flicker on in the city below as the community prepared for nighttime, but one of them was not quite done with her day yet.

Gwen Stacy, clad in her signature crime-fighting suit, was perched on the building across from Oscorp tower, her eyes focused on the ventilation at the opposing building's top. This evening hadn't been the first time she'd sat here and thought through how exactly she was supposed to get in there and find a way to stop Dr. Connors... but every time she tried to talk herself into actually going for it, she couldn't bring herself to do the deed. Her insecurity and anxiety had been at an all-time high for weeks now, and it didn't mix well with the emotions of having to take down a man she'd looked up to for a long time.

But today, everything felt different... Gwen could think clearly. And she was done shirking her responsibilities.

The young woman sprang to her feet and sprinted towards the building's edge, diving off of it and sailing through the air towards Oscorp tower. She stretched her arm out, pressing her middle and ring fingers to the web shooter on her wrist and watching the slick line of webbing stretch to the top of the tower. With a mighty heave, Gwen pulled forward, barreling through the air as the roof came closer and closer.

Just before landing, she stretched her legs out, letting her feet make contact with the roof before tucking and rolling forward. Gwen let her body roll forward a few times, then planted her hand out to stop her momentum and snapped her head to attention. Before her was a large metal box, the outer section of the roof ventilation system. She took a deep breath, then removed the grill before slipping inside. Here goes nothing...

As Gwen pulled the grill back into place, she looked over her shoulder, studying the spinning fan that blocked her entry into the vents. Gwen shot a string of webbing at one of the blades, holding it in place before sticking it to the wall beside her. The thin line trembled, evidence of the fan fighting to spin once more. Before the web could snap, Gwen dropped down past the fan, her mint green ballet shoes making a graceful thump as she made contact with the floor of the vents.

"Okay..." She mumbled to herself, pulling her phone out of the backpack slung over her shoulders. "...Which floor would the serum testing be on?" Gwen pulled up some information on Oscorp Tower, searching for anything that provided a layout of the building. Soon she found what she was looking for-37th floor. She slipped her phone back into her backpack before crawling forward, navigating the maze of vents as the chatter of scientists packing up for the day sounded from beneath her.

Tension would spike every time she felt her hand or foot press against the flimsy metal beneath her, making some commotion that Gwen thought would end her mission prematurely. But not once did it overtake the sounds coming from the rooms beneath her. Once she knew she'd reached the ventilation above the 37th floor, she started paying closer attention to the grates she'd crawl over, scanning the rooms as best she could for any signs of the serum testing area. The nervous tension was turning to anticipation quickly, making Gwen's heart hammer against her chest as she prepared herself for whatever the moment would turn into.

A few turns through the vents and passes over grates revealed nothing helpful, just a bunch of scientists typing away on computers as the infrastructure of Oscorp chugged along. The rapid beating of her heart began to slow down... had she made a wrong turn? Was she on the wrong floor? Gwen grunted in frustration at herself, and began to turn around-but a sound made her stop. Dr. Connors's voice.