Spider-Gwen 3 || The Fall

Venom || Gwen Stacy

"We all gotta' pay for something, we all gotta' kill for nothing"

-Money, The Warning

Several blocks of the city were empty as rows upon rows of Oscorp soldiers trudged through the snow-covered roads, each one of them geared up in case this little negotiation went sideways. A block away was Otto Octavius, his normal arms folded over his chest while his mechanical ones snapped in the air, impatiently waiting for this discussion to go down.

But they weren't the only two parties that would be present for this exchange.

Ducked behind the counter of an abandoned coffee shop were Gwen and MJ, waiting for the meeting to begin with bated breath.

"You went all-out with the gadgets this time huh?" MJ asked, eyeing Gwen's bag as the blonde smirked in response.

"It's been too long since I fought with my brain." Gwen said, her gloved hands reaching into the bag and picking up every small gadget she'd invented over the past 48 hours to make sure they were still there. "I figured that, if I'm going to take on a mad scientist, I might as well fight fire with fire."

Miles's speech on Gwen continuing to embrace her heroism, despite her lack of superhuman abilities, had stuck with her-and it had pushed her to really test the limits of her intellect. Her usual web-bombs and sonar emitters were in the bag, along with a few new objects that she was going to test out.

Gwen's hand lingered on one of the newer inventions-something that resembled a handgun more than the other spherical objects. She worked a lever on the new invention, opening an ammunition chamber that was filled with small oblong devices rather than bullets. This tool was going to be the key to defeating Otto... provided that Gwen got a clear shot at his microchip. She had helped design his arms, and she was going to be the one to undo the invention.

MJ seemed impressed yet clueless, blown away by the high-tech weaponry that was in her friend's backpack. "You're going to put Tesla out of business some day." She smiled, nudging Gwen with her elbow as a gesture of support.

"And you're going to be the most sought-after rock musician on earth after today." Gwen retorted, nodding her head behind the two women at MJ's bass guitar and amp that they had brought. "What band wouldn't want a bass player who sings AND happened to take down a highly dangerous monster?"

MJ smiled and shook her head, looking modest and embarrassed as her red curls tossed about her face. "I'm going to get too big of a head from listening to you, Stacy." She chuckled, sitting on her heels as she stayed mostly hidden along with Gwen behind the counter. Gwen had asked MJ if she would be willing to play a role in this dangerous endeavor, humbling herself with the knowledge that she needed help more than ever. MJ had agreed without hesitation-even when Gwen had dropped the news that she was now powerless, the redhead had not been fazed. They had always been in everything together, and this would be no exception.

"So..." Gwen spoke again, rolling her shoulders as she took advantage of the little time for small talk the two friends had left. "...You and Ganke-"

"OH MY GOSH!! Gwen, you have to see this meme he texted me the other day-" MJ giggled excitedly as she fished her phone out of her pocket, then pulled up a meme from Ganke. It was captioned 'Oscorp when they get beat by a bunch of college kids' and featured a picture of an actor seated in a chair with a highly frustrated and tired expression on his face.

"Oh, um... that's Steve Carrell, right?" Gwen asked.

"You-what-you-" MJ spat, giving Gwen a look of playful disdain. "That's Michael Scott, Gwen!! Have you seriously still not watched The Office?"