Gwen Stacy stared at the circular portal spraying sparks. She remembered the wizard who stepped out of it all too clearly—wasn't he the guy she'd run into on the street? Back then he'd been with a one-eyed guy and they'd taken down the awful Kingpin together. The moment Gwen saw him, it was like finding her anchor; the panic in her chest finally eased.
Skyl told her, "Don't worry. I called in ten thousand Spider-Men to rescue you."
She stammered through sniffles, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to save that man. He's a villain."
"Don't apologize for being kind. The real fault is failing to protect kindness."
Noticing Gwen's curious glances toward the portal, Skyl explained, "This is a Marvel-grade portal. I learned it at Kamar-Taj. It works pretty well."
"A portal? Whoa, that sounds amazing. Can I use it to escape?"
"No problem. But I suggest you stay and watch Kingpin's nest get wrecked. That way, when you go home, you won't have nightmares."
Skyl stepped slightly aside, and a tall Spider-Man sprang through the portal and rushed right up to Gwen.
"Gwen! A-are you okay?"
"I'm okay, sir. Wait… do I know you?" Gwen was confused by the spandex weirdo in front of her.
He sounded even more anxious than she did—the hostage.
Like he'd lost something once.
"It's me, Pe— uh… wait. You don't know me yet. I'm Spider-Man." He turned to Skyl. "Does your world have a Spider-Man?"
"It does, but the kid's still in elementary school." Skyl pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't like the whole 'three generations of Spider-Men' thing. "So for now, nobody here even knows what 'Spider-Man' is."
"What?" "Wow." "That's a shame." "Hey, that's not good." A whole crowd of Spider-people behind the portal started grumbling—cowboy Spider-Men, Spider-Man India, Spider-Women, Spider-Cat, cyber Spider-Men, a chaotic zoo of nonsense.
Skyl raised a hand to shut them up. Spider-Men were like that—being a chatterbox was basically a built-in trait. "Alright. I brought everyone here to crack down on criminals, and also to offer you hard-up, broke civilian heroes a short-term gig with very generous pay."
A lot of Spider-Men who looked like they could barely afford dinner exchanged awkward looks and scratched their heads. That really was what had lured them in. It clashed a little with the 'no reward' hero principle, but Skyl was offering way too much. Never pick a fight with a wizard who can turn rocks into gold—he can buy his way into killing most enemies.
"Now listen. This is Clinton, New York—Hell's Kitchen. No need for introductions. Kingpin's most important lair is here. Some of you already have history with him, so you know he's pure evil and deserves to be brought to justice. But this time, the person he pissed off is me, so he's not getting off lightly. Consider yourselves here to help me out.
"My request is simple: subdue the armed men inside this building. Miss Stacy's father is already on his way with the police. Yeah—let him pick up a free major win. Miss Stacy, you really did turn disaster into luck. Pretty soon your father won't be just a small-time precinct captain anymore."
The Spider-Men sounded relaxed and cheerful. "You got it. Easy."
They surged out like a flood. In Gwen's terrified, fascinated gaze, they really did swarm the walls and ceiling like spiders—men and women, plus animal Spider-people like pigs and cats. It was insane.
The first Spider-Man—none other than the infamous Bully Maguire—reached out and tore a steel-framed door off like it was cardboard. He strutted out with all the swagger in the world, while the others flipped over the doorway and plastered themselves to the hall's walls and ceiling, rapidly infiltrating every corner of the fortress.
Gangsters in the corridor realized something was wrong and snapped their guns up. Before they could fire, webs exploded everywhere and went BIA—pinning them flat to the walls in a way you couldn't peel off.
"No—no—!" The gangsters screamed.
The Spider-Men saluted them. "Wash your ass and get ready for prison, buddy."
Skyl shouted after them, "Remember to let Kingpin get away. Let him run. Let him run far."
"Got it!" The Spider-Men's voices sounded like they were already echoing from a distant valley. Those superhuman weirdos struck out in every direction like electricity through nerves—fast as thunder. Wherever they went, nobody could stop them. They swept through the underground core of New York crime like a plow through a nest.
More Spider-people were still stepping out of the portal.
The Amazing Spider-Man scratched his head and awkwardly said goodbye to Gwen. "So, uh… I'm gonna go help. You stay here. Be okay, alright? Promise?"
"Okay… sure." Gwen still didn't understand what was happening.
Skyl added quietly, "Don't mind him. He lost you not long ago. I mean—he lost a you from another world."
A white-suited Spider-Woman walked up to Gwen, pulled back her hood, then removed her mask—
Revealing a face identical to Gwen's, just a few years older.
"Whoa. You're me?" Gwen blurted, then shook her other self's hand. "You look really—cool. Sorry, that's the only word I can think of. You're cool."
"Yeah. Cool." Spider-Gwen let out a small sigh. Being a hero was a heavy burden. She'd lost the person she loved, been hunted by her own father, misunderstood by the world, and nearly crushed between life and responsibility. The word she heard most was 'cool.' To normal people, Spider-Woman really was cool—but the price she paid for that word was enormous.
She looked at the version of herself who was just an ordinary girl, and smiled. "Try to be happy, sweetheart. That guy called Kingpin bullied you, right? Want to give him a little payback together?"
Gwen glanced at Skyl. He was smiling, so she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes."
Spider-Gwen scooped up her younger self and carried her along the walls and ceilings.
Their delighted shouts spilled out and mixed with the roar of hundreds—no, thousands—of Spider-people echoing through the underground fortress. Sound and vibration raced through concrete and steel; by the time it reached the surface, it was only a faint tremble. But up on Clinton's streets, sirens wailed, engines howled, and freshly fallen night was torn open by frantic headlights.
A police captain who'd learned his daughter was kidnapped by Kingpin became a cold, calm mad dog. Over the radio he ordered detectives across New York: bring your guns and storm into Clinton. Get NYPD ESU ready too. If negotiations broke down, hit the place hard and take his daughter back.
Never underestimate a father's resolve. If Kingpin couldn't produce his daughter tonight, then everyone was going down together.
At the same time, S.H.I.E.L.D. field personnel quietly gathered. A low-profile van stopped outside the entrance to Kingpin's lair. Inside, two top agents—Hawkeye and Black Widow—were fully geared up, slipping in to begin their own rescue operation.
Police cars clashed with gang lookout posts on the perimeter. From above, the streets around Kingpin's nest blazed with gunfire on all sides, like a burning ring of flame.
Manhattan glittered under the night sky. High above, the daughter of the Devourer of Worlds stood in the heavens, and a few hundred feet beneath her feet sat the city's beating center of evil.
Gali murmured, "I'll help you, Skyl. I can. I really can."
She took a deep breath to steel herself, then pressed a hand down toward the earth.
A vast blue column of energy blossomed from her palm and, in an instant, punched straight through the atmosphere.
The beam drove down into the ground like a glass cup pushed into sand, wrapping Kingpin's entire lair inside it.
"Hah—up you go!"
Gali clenched the energy column and heaved.
Manhattan shuddered violently. Billions of tons of earth ripped up from the ground. The underground fortress was exposed like an anthill torn open to the air—countless spandex-clad weirdos were swarming the floors, beating down gangsters in a completely one-sided fight.
Civilians, cops, and thugs who witnessed it all froze in shock.
"Oh my God."
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