Gwen Stacy felt as though she had fallen into an endless nightmare. First, she discovered that her boyfriend was Spider-Man, New York City's famous superhero. That should have been cool, until her boyfriend's dangerous double life dragged her into this endless nightmare.
The dream consisted of scattered fragments. The images were blurry, the logic unclear, and it was hard to piece them together completely. Yet the terror and despair of being there remained unforgettable. She could vividly recall the Green Goblin's hideous face, his terrifying, hysterical laughter echoing endlessly in her ears.
She remembered being thrown from the top of a bridge. She remembered the sensation of weightlessness, as if she were falling forever, as though some irresistible force had dragged her into a bottomless abyss. The hopeless darkness swallowed her whole, even swallowing her voice. She could not even scream.
It was like a horror movie she could not turn off, except she was the lead. She relived the nightmare in her mind again and again until, after what felt like a century, the cycle abruptly stopped.
Gwen groggily opened her eyes, the lights so bright that she could barely keep them open. She instinctively squinted, and once her eyes adjusted, she saw a girl slightly older than herself, with dark red hair, a smooth white forehead, and a pair of clear, luminous eyes.
"You're awake," the girl said warmly. "Do you feel all right? My name is Wanda. This is..."
Without warning, the blonde clone girl's right hand shot out from beneath the covers like lightning and clamped around Wanda's throat. Her monstrous strength squeezed so hard that Wanda could not breathe at all. Wanda opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She could not even focus enough to use Chaos Magic to fight back.
"Wanda?" Pietro's voice came from outside. He knocked twice, then pushed the door open, only to see the clone girl choking his sister.
Without a moment's hesitation, Pietro vanished from where he stood. A whirlwind swept through the room in less time than it took to blink, and clone Gwen seemed to take an invisible heavy punch, involuntarily releasing Wanda as she was flung away.
But Gwen was agile. She twisted around and planted one hand against the floor, her slender arm suddenly exerting force and launching her entire body toward the ceiling. Her rounded feet clung upside down to the ceiling as she stared blankly yet warily at the twins below.
Wanda clutched her throat and coughed violently while Pietro raised a hand protectively before his sister. Gwen's inverted body leaned forward slightly, and Pietro bent into a slight crouch. Both sides were on edge, like fully drawn bowstrings, ready to clash at any moment.
Gwen pushed off with her feet, shooting away from the ceiling in an all-out pounce. But the instant her feet left the ceiling, she froze in place, as if someone had pressed a pause button. Strange dark green ripples surrounded her body, holding her fixed in midair. Her limbs felt bound, unable to move.
The others turned around and realized that Michael had somehow appeared in the doorway. He wore a black trench coat and held a transparent Magic Circle between his fingers.
"I was only gone for three minutes, and you already made this much trouble," Michael said as he walked forward with the Magic Circle in hand. "Do you remember what I said about getting along?"
"She was trying to kill Wanda!" Pietro said.
Gwen gritted her teeth, her muscles tensing as she tried with all her strength to break free of the magic's restraints. Her body trembled faintly from the effort. Michael shifted his hand and made a releasing gesture. Gwen was immediately sent flying backward through the air as if struck by a heavy hammer, smashing hard into a wall before falling to the floor.
She slowly climbed to her feet, her beautiful blonde hair hanging in disarray. But she did not attack again. She only looked at the people before her with blank confusion. Pietro stepped forward, about to make another move, but Michael stopped him with a raised arm.
"She was just confused. She hadn't fully woken up yet," Michael said, looking at Gwen. "But you're much clearer now, aren't you?"
Gwen did not answer. She merely huddled cautiously in the corner, looking back and forth between the three of them like a frightened rabbit.
"She's scared. She doesn't understand what's going on," Wanda said softly as she recovered and stepped forward. "I can feel it. She needs help."
A string of rumbling sounds came from the girl's stomach at the perfect moment.
"And food," Michael added, slipping his hands back into his coat pockets as he turned to Pietro. "Do you still have anything to eat?"
"Uh, I think there are still some sandwiches in the fridge."
"Excellent. I hope you don't mind sharing them with this young lady," Michael said. "We can talk while we eat."
"Who are you!? What are you doing in my room?" Peter shouted as he leaped in through the window.
It was no wonder he was so upset. If you came home one day and found someone who looked exactly like you in your bedroom, you probably would not be too relaxed either. Yes, the person in the room looked exactly like Peter. He wore the blue T-shirt Peter often wore, along with Peter's favorite pair of light gray pants.
Interestingly, the shock on the other person's face did not seem any less than Peter's.
"You broke into my room, and you're asking who I am?" T-shirt Peter shot back. "That's my question."
"Fine, whoever you are. Let's see if this helps you start talking!"
Peter suddenly threw a punch straight at the other man's face. But blue T-shirt Peter tilted his head and dodged, then lowered himself into a sweeping kick aimed at Peter's legs. Peter took half a step back to evade it, then immediately pressed forward and drove a wind-whistling punch toward the other man's temple. Blue T-shirt Peter blocked with one palm and swiftly reached for Peter's throat, only for Peter to grab his wrist just as quickly.
In those brief exchanges, their reactions and speed were evenly matched. Peter gripped the other's wrist while the other in turn held Peter's extended fist. After just one exchange, they had locked each other in place, as if fighting their own reflections.
In fact, at such close range, when they looked into each other's eyes, it felt like staring into a mirror. From head to toe, each saw another version of himself.
After roughly a dozen seconds of stalemate, footsteps sounded on the stairs outside the door.
"Peter?" That was Aunt May's voice. "Are you home?"
Oh no!
Peter began to panic. He could practically imagine Aunt May's reaction upon seeing two Peter Parkers who looked like twins fighting in the bedroom. Maybe she would go into shock on the spot, or perhaps trigger some terrible heart condition.
But to his surprise, when he looked directly into this other "Peter's" eyes, he saw the exact same panic and worry in them.
"Peter?"
Aunt May came up to the second floor and knocked on the bedroom door several times, but no one answered. Still, she was certain she had heard something moving upstairs. After thinking for a moment, she pushed the door open.
She saw her nephew standing in the middle of the bedroom, filthy and disheveled, with bruises all over his face, dirt covering his clothes, and a large hole worn through one knee of his jeans.
"Oh my God, Peter!" she cried in surprise, rushing forward and touching her nephew's face. "What happened to you?"
"I, um... fell."
The old woman looked him over suspiciously from head to toe.
"A very bad fall," Peter added, rubbing his head. "I rolled down the slope behind Mrs. Christina's house..."
"Oh my God. I'll go get the first-aid kit."
"No, Aunt May, really. I'm fine. I mean, I'll be fine after resting a little. It's actually not as bad as it looks."
"All right, then." Aunt May sighed and lovingly stroked his head. "Be more careful where you're walking next time."
"Yeah, I will."
"Then go do your homework first." Aunt May stepped out of the room. "I'll call you when dinner is ready."
"Okay. Love you, Aunt May."
The door closed from outside, and Aunt May's footsteps gradually faded down the stairs. Peter let out a long breath, then turned around. The other Peter had already climbed back in through the window—he had been clinging to the wall outside while Peter was talking.
"All right, then," the two Peters said as they looked at each other. "Where were we?"
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