A/N: ❗️Warning❗️Death will be mentioned in this chapter. Read at your own risk.

Gwen can only stare in horror as she dropped to her knees. Her hands shook and she can feel herself tremble uncontrollably as she felt smaller compared to the garden

Her heart pulsed against her chest aggressively and it felt like it wanted to get out of her chest. She heaved heavily and clutched onto her sweater and tried to regular her breathing but the way the shadows were towering over her, made her do otherwise. 

She felt hands on her shoulders and gasped, snapping out of her flashes. She slowly turned around to see Adrien frowning at the flowers and glancing at her softly, rubbing her shoulders. 

"Do you know what they are?" he asked, seeing as she started calming down. 

She looked down to her wrist and back up to meet his eyes and sighed. She sat on the ground, hugging her legs. 

"I...can't say."

Adrien's eye twitched. Is she serious right now? She almost had a panic attack seeing around them. She knows what this is. Why can't she say?

"Gwen," he spoke sternly but Gwen stood up, shaking her head. 

"If I tell you, you won't believe me," she grabbed her backpack, taking out J.A.N.E.T.

"Why not? Gwen, you're scaring me," Adrien grabbed her hand. 

Gwen stopped and hunched down in shame. She slowly dropped to the ground, taking him with her. 

"I didn't want to tell you..." she whispered. "Not about this..."

He frowned and urged her to go on. Gwen shook her head and grabbed her phone. She sighed and looked him in the eyes. His eyes widened as he saw the way her eyes glowed slightly blue. 

"Adrien...I'm not who you think I am," Gwen started, refusing to look up at him. 

Adrien frowned more, "What do you mean?"

Gwen swallowed bile that burned her throat. She's not even sure if she should say or just make something up. She doesn't want to bring anyone's problems. Especially Adrien. He's innocent. He just figured out she's Ghost-Spider.

"Adrien. I'm...from another universe."

He blinked owlishly at her. Once. Twice. He later frowned and deadpanned at her. "Stop making stuff up and tell me."

"I'm not, idiot!" she slapped his head, making him wince and rub his head. 

"I'm from Earth-065. This is Earth-011. I accidentally arrived in your universe. Well...more like forced to be here," she awkwardly rubbed her nape, looking away from him. 

She couldn't believe she was saying this. She's supposed to be telling this to Ladybug and Chatnoir! Not this boy!

"Wait, are you serious?" He frowned, seeing her uncomfortable. 

Gwen groaned, grabbing her phone and placing it in a hologram. His eyes widened as he saw several spheres in different sizes and colors. He grew more confused as Gwen started swiping to a certain sphere. 

"How do you think I got higher technology or how my powers came to be?" Gwen glanced at him. 

Adrien's eyes were still focused on the sphere before looking back at her. He bit his lip in thought before asking the question. 

"How did you get your powers?"

Gwen sighed softly, turning off her hologram. "I was on a field trip and I was accidentally been bitten by a radioactive spider giving me the power to cling onto objects, have super-strength, agility, quick healing abilities, and have higher sensing abilities."

Adrien's eyes widened at the information. That could explain her ability to fight. He frowned further. How did she get here? Is she from another universe? That doesn't make sense in the slightest. 

Before he can ask, Gwen stood up and sat near the flowers. She placed a hand delicately on the flower, looking back at Adrien. 

"In one of the universes I encountered, there is a place where a higher technology exists. These flowers belong in a place called Wakanda. People would use these heart-shaped herbs to make technology, medicine, and weapons of all kinds. In fact, one of my close friends made my suit with this kind of vibranium.

"But back with Robostus, he messed up my suit and my only device that can help me go back home. I just didn't believe that there was any vibranium here."

Gwen took out her phone and got a full model of the mountain to show. Her eyes widened as she realized that this place wasn't a mountain at all. It was a meteor that crashed into this small island. But as years passed by, it slowly became a mountain. As it was a rounded mountain, it piqued people's interest and made a resort on the island. 

Gwen frowned as she remembered the time two men were smoking out of the purple stems. She shivered as she realized that they have been using the vibranium as a drug. 

"And someone is using it as a drug," she whispered, looking down at the flowers. 

"A drug?" he blinked seeing how tense she was. "Is it bad? Like really bad?"

"This vibranium, when consumed, gives people the ability of enhanced speed, agility, strength, and durability. It can be too much for a person, killing them in a few minutes. Who could be selling people that?" she wondered out loud. 

Adrien wasn't sure how to answer her questions. These plants sound dangerous. He frowned further and spoke up. "Wait, if you have been using a suit that is this," he pointed at the flowers. "How come your powers disappeared?"

Gwen nodded at his question, "That is a great question I can't answer. The flowers aren't making me weak. There's something in here that is messing up with my powers. But we can focus on that later, I have to get you out of here."

Adrien nodded and goes to pick up her backpack when he heard her stop in her tracks. He glanced back and can see the glint in her eyes. He knows she has an idea and he doesn't know how to feel about it. 

"Gwen?" 

Gwen grinned at him, snatching her backpack and laughing. "I'm an idiot," she laughed. "I can make my suit here!" she grinned. 

Adrien blinked owlishly before tilting his head in confusion. "Huh?"

Gwen ripped out her suitcase from her backpack, dropping it on the ground. She grinned as she put in her 5-letter password and smirked as the suitcase started to whir to life. 

Adrien's eyes widened as the little suitcase turned into a full machine with a hologram screen in the middle. 

"What is that?" he curiously walked over, looking over the machine. Gwen grinned, leaning on her machine. "It's a fabricator. It can analyze, design, and construct basically anything. Just made it a few nights ago."

He gasped in awe, playing with the settings, and frowned as he saw a model on the screen. He glanced at the girl and gasped. 

"Gwen...this is insane."

Gwen chuckled and started grabbing a few herbs, cutting them and only gathering the seeds, placing them inside the machine. Adrien can only stare in awe as Gwen expertly played with the screen and used the seeds and leaves to create her suit. 

His eyes widened even further as the suit started to make itself.

Excitement filled the girl's veins as she enthusiastically watched it all played out. How the thread started to slowly split through thin pieces and attach them to the suit. 

She also made sure to start a few devices like her headband and her bracers to make her suit work again and paint it to her choice.

As she made all this happen, Adrien couldn't help but be entranced by the place and all that she does. He saw as Gwen sighed and sat on the ground as the machine. He decided to have more answers and sat next to her. 

Gwen glanced at the boy next to him and brought her knees to her chest and hugged it. She was worried. All of this could have put so much into the boy's head and stayed silent and waited. 

"You can ask me anything, I won't interrupt."

"Is your name really Gwen?"

Gwen choked and laughed, "Yes. My name is Gwen Stacy. I am the daughter of a police officer in Queens, NY. I fought crime and brought justice in the city."

Adrien glanced at her, "How did you get here?"

Gwen sighed, leaning her head on her knees, and turning to him. "After my best friend passed away, I...I have been blamed for his death. Everyone was after me, including my dad who didn't know I was Ghost-Spider then. A man," she frowned, getting his attention. 

"A bad man tried to have me work for him and tried to get rid of all distractions. In doing so, they tried to kill my dad but I saved him. A few days later, I encountered someone who worked with the man.

"I refused to work for him and he shoved me to your universe. I'm not sure what his intentions are for bringing me here but it made my goal to build a machine for me to be able to travel through universes.

"I wanted to tell Ladybug and Chatnoir and ask them about some of the heroes that live in this universe but a friend said they were extinct. There is no information about them. There would usually be a counterpart of someone I know. Hell, I even checked if there was a counterpart of myself but I didn't find anything.

"And so...I don't have anyone to help me go back home. I need to know if my father is all right. Away from that man. But if I go back, I'll still be considered a criminal," she sighed, closing her eyes. 

Gwen stayed still nervously as it got quiet. She didn't know what the boy was thinking and she refused to look back up at him of worry of being accused as a liar. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her back comfortingly and checked. 

Adrien had his eyes on her all this time and saw the softness in his eyes. Adrien sat closer to her and pulled her in a hug.

"Our friendship is real, right?" he frowned, knowing the answer. 

She chuckled, shaking her head, "To be honest with you, I didn't want connections. Hell, I even wanted to get Ladybug and Chatnoir to help me but it was a bust. But you," she chuckled. "You couldn't stay away and I couldn't stay away either."

"Do you really plan to leave?" he whispered, tightening his hold on her.

"I have to," she frowned, leaning on his hug. "I have to clear my name."

He frowned, feeling a pang on his chest, hurting him slightly. She's leaving any time soon. What made him think it would be his chance to be with her?

He hummed in understanding before chuckling. "My best friend is a superhero. Not an ordinary one but from another universe that doesn't rely on magic tools."

Gwen laughs, shaking her head. "Thanks for hearing me out. You're the second person who knows."

"Second?" he looked down at her. "Who's the first? Do I know them?"

"Gertrude? You know that lady who pulled my ear when we first met?"

Adrien's eyes widened in recognition and nodded. They both stopped as they heard a bing from the machine and looked at each other. 

The suit was ready. 

Gwen grinned and stands up, helping the boy up too. She goes to walk towards it when she felt a shiver on her spine. Her spidey senses may be failing her at the moment but she can feel something close. 

Closing her fabricator shut, she dragged it with her backpack and moved to the shadows. Grabbing Adrien's wrist, they hid inside the cave. Adrien was confused and goes to speak but Gwen made his back lean against her chest and cover his mouth as she waited. 

They weren't alone. 

There were three large men walking toward the garden. Gwen frowned as they all had purple markings on their faces like claw marks. She frowned even further as one of them looked around and picked up one of the flowers with his gloves and started to smoke. 

Adrien shuffled to her side and took a closer look as the man hissed in pain and dropped the flower in a bag the other was carrying. 

"These are a pain! They burn! And the boss wants them?" the guy shook his hand to relieve the hot pain. 

"Don't question it. These things are making money to pay for your dinner, idiot."

"Whatever. I still feel itchy for smoking one by the way. My lungs are burning the hell out of me."

Gwen's suspicions were correct. They were selling the flowers but why? 

"Yeah, but those flowers healed your illness, didn't it?" the third man crossed his arms. 

"This shit is killing me too for all I know!" the other exclaimed, huffing as he picked up more flowers and put them in a bag with a hiss. 

"Who are those guys?" Adrien whispered. 

Gwen shook her head, taking a closer look at them. She can tell their breathing irregularly from here. She can also hear them panting in exhaustion. This isn't good. They're selling these to other people too. 

Gwen glanced down at Adrien and nodded for him to get behind her. Checking her web-shooters were in check, she draped her hoody to cover her face and climbed up the wall over the men. Adrien blinked owlishly as Gwen expertly assessed the situation and crawled towards the men. 

Gwen frowned as the man's glove started to burn off, burning his skin. She had enough and webbed the man towards her into the darkness. The man screamed as Gwen made him stuck to the ceiling of the cave and webbed his mouth shut. 

She dropped down and kicked the other's foot under him, making him fall in a yelp. She jumped the other and punched him to the ground. 

She moved away in time for the second to start firing his rifle at her. She flipped around and webbed his chest and threw him against the wall. As he hit the wall, he fell to the ground and got stuck with the webbing. 

Gwen pants and stands straight, walking to the unconscious man. 

"You...die..." the man groaned, sitting up. 

Gwen's eye twitched, "Um, me...live...?"

Adrien sweatdropped and stayed in the shadows as Gwen handles the situation. 

"Great party, by the way," Gwen joked as she saw the men getting frustrated by the webbing. "I guess my invitation got lost in the mail. But can I ask what the theme of the party was, again? I can't recall."

"Go to hell."

"That's not nice."

Gwen saw as the man kept his mouth shut and sighed, webbing the man to the ground and going to the other one stuck on the wall. She saw him start to sweat. She had a feeling it didn't come from nervousness if anything. His face-scar was glowing more. 

"What did you do to yourself? Have you been consuming these herbs?" she questioned. 

The man only glared at her. Gwen huffed, going to her bracer and placing it on her blasters. She aimed at the man as a blue light shined on him, making him wince at the brightness. 

"Speak," she glared at him, nearing her blasters to him. 

The man gritted his teeth before screaming out in pain as purple smoke filled his eyes and mouth. Gwen's senses flared drastically making her step back in worry but the man screamed more as his body glowed purple. 

Like a domino, the man on the ground also screamed as the purple mark on his face glowed brighter and brighter. She shook her head in disbelief and jumped to the ceiling, dragging the man into the cave Adrien resides in, pushing them far away. 

It was a small moment of silence when an explosion corrupted everything around them. "Run!" Gwen screamed.

The floor crumbled in pieces as she fell into the abyss. She can hear Adrien's screams and attempted to go after him but saw that she dropped her web shooters and she was falling more and more. 

She felt deja vu from this moment. The way the darkness was swallowing her whole, dragging her more and more into the nothingness. She was tempted. Really tempted and closed her eyes. 

She gritted her teeth and landed on one of the boulders, jumping herself up towards Adrien. She dug her nails to basically crawl her way up but as she neared closer to the dark, her power completely failed her. 

Giving her the last chance to see a glimpse of blonde far before her back made contact with the ground.

🕸🕷🕸

"Gwen! Gwen!" Adrien screamed but no answer came from his best friend. He visibly trembled as there were no signs of her. His lips trembled as he held back a sob. He shook his head in denial. She's not dead. She can't die. Not like this. 

He looked around and saw the whole ground was gone. No flowers remained and there were signs of the explosion but no body remained. He gritted his teeth. He glared and raised his chin. 

"Plagg! Claws–"

Adrien stiffened as a gun was placed on the back of his head. He raised his hands cautiously but the man Gwen saved earlier shoved the gun at his head. 

"You're going to tell me where that girl is," the man growled as blood dripped on his eyes from the explosion. 

"I don't know where she is," Adrien states but the man screams at him. 

"Where is she?! If she's not dead there, I'm going to kill her myself, starting with you!"

Adrien took deep breaths, helping himself in keeping his composure. The man is holding a gun and he can't transform in front of him. Adrien looked around to find a way to distract him but stopped as he saw something in the corner of his eyes. 

Gwen's web shooters. 

It was at the very edge. He bit his lip as the man ushered him to go over to the edge to see if he can see Gwen but he didn't see her anywhere. He closed his eyes in regret for losing his best friend like this. 

Just when she trusted him in telling him everything. 

Near them, a boulder fell from the ceiling alerting them both. Adrien took that chance and kicked the gun from the man's hands before diving down, grabbing the web shooters. 

As he grabbed it, he placed it on his dominant wrist as it wrapped itself comfortingly. Adrien ignored the man's shouting and jumped off the edge and into the abyss. 

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Next Episode: Hiraeth ♥

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Published: August 13, 2022

Word Count: 3260