Vought International wouldn't let it go.
As for that—
Ian didn't care in the slightest.
He flew through the night sky at an unhurried pace.
The firelight from Vought International had already vanished at the edge of his vision. He flew over several blocks, lowered his altitude, and landed on the roof of an apartment building. Beneath his feet was a gray waterproof layer, a little soft and a little cool when he stepped on it. He walked to the edge of the roof, crouched down, and looked down at the street below.
The street was quiet, the lamps lit, with few pedestrians around. Across from him stood a residential building, warm light glowing behind its windows.
The window on the left side of the second floor was open, its curtains swaying faintly in the wind. A desk lamp was on inside the room, and a girl was sitting at the desk, several books spread out in front of her, a pen in her hand.
"Oh, old friend. Sure enough, you're here too."
Gwen Stacy. The Gwen on this timeline was an ordinary high school student. No mutated spider had bitten her, and Ian's radiation had not altered her body.
She was just an ordinary girl, going to school, doing homework, living the same kind of life as countless others her age.
"Today's problems are really hard." The girl wore a gray hoodie, her hair tied into a ponytail. Sometimes she stopped to twirl her pen; sometimes she turned her head to look at the night view outside the window, then turned back and kept writing. She was deeply focused, occasionally flipping a page, occasionally crossing out a line and rewriting it.
There was a mug on the desk, steam rising from the liquid inside. She picked it up and