gwennie | closed action starters ][ deerington

[ By now, most of the crowd has cleared in some combination of shock and fear, screams and shouts to escape and call for help ringing in the back of his head. Peter makes an attempt to dodge out of harm's way, but with the intoxication of whatever it is in the air, his spider-senses feel sluggish and he's forcefully pulled away from the astonished Someone and forced to the ground in a daze. ]

-- wha -?

[ He's got almost zero time to think, running entirely on instinct and adrenaline at this point, and his hands go up to shield him, wrists pointed upwards. Sorry Big Pete, but this is kind of a life or death situation and he can't not use his powers if he's going to get out of this situation in one piece - and hopefully get everyone else out of here safely.

Someone get help! a voice cries from somewhere behind him, but Peter's focusing his attention on his attacker whom he (unfortunately) recognizes immediately. He webslings that knife out of her hand so it sticks to the ceiling, out of reach. ]

Gwen. [ He swallows. ] Gwen, that is you, right? I can help you. I can - just let me know what I can do. We don't have to do this.

[ Whatever this is.

He really doesn't want to have to web her up. ]

I knew it.

[ see, in any other context, seeing peter use his webshooters would have been exciting, she would have been kind of flattered that he's trusting her with his secret, and happy that he's his world's version of spider-man. that he's not at risk of being in the same situation her peter was. but in this, she's just too mad to read into it as any other way than him keeping a secret from her, like he lied to her about something. which isn't.. true, of course it's not. but here we are.

she growls her frustration over losing her weapon so quickly, but she doesn't seem too concerned about it, just annoyed ]

You can't help me. You can't even help yourself.

[ her reflexes are quick too, aiming a web at his ankle to try and keep him stuck right there at her feet, and yeah, that would be gwen stepping forward and attempting to stomp down on his chest, and sliding it up to push against his throat. she doesn't even look that phased by it, just determined as hell to hurt him. ]

Gwen --! [ Her name is choked out at around the same time that his heart-rate starts to go up like, real fast. This isn't good, this isn't good at all; if anything, it's getting scary. And it's getting too real to be a comfort.

He shifts his gaze to their surroundings, mostly looking for a way out of this without hurting her, but also to make sure that the party-goers have left. And yeah, most of them have left the room by now, a chaotic herd headed for the exit doors to leave them to their fight - solo. ]

Gwen, stop! [ He tries to swallow but she's got her foot at his throat. ] This isn't you!

[ Or is it? Who knows? How well does Peter really know Gwen? ]

[ she's not exactly smiling while peter struggles around the force of her foot against his throat, but she looks a little amused, sure. it's not as satisfying as shoving a knife somewhere painful and watching him struggle, but it's close. she's got time.

or.. not, because one of the last stragglers in the crowd bumps into her on the way out, and luckily for peter she steps out instead of her weight shifting on the foot over his neck. and now she's distracted too, turning to properly punch the hell out of the poor idiot who crashed into her. hard enough to knock him out, sending him crumpling to the floor. which is also kind of satisfying, and it's got her distracted for a long moment, but her attention gets brought back to peter soon enough ]

Where were we-?

[ rhetorical question! she drops to crouch next to him, her hand shooting out to try and grab his neck this time, maybe. unless he's got some annoying plan to get out of this. she isn't really thinking any steps ahead, she's just obsessed with the need to hurt him. ]

[ Yeah, no.

Fool me once and all that - Peter seizes the opportunity presented to him to slip out from Gwen's grasp, rolling away and getting to his knees in a similar crouch, some paces away from her.

His eyes flick briefly to where the party guest had been left beaten and unconscious. He's not moving, which is a little concerning, but he'll check on him later. He hates that he's completely exposed here, naked without his mask or his familiar spider-suit. It's Peter Parker with spider powers, not Spider-Man. ]

I'm not - [ Ugh. This sucks. ] - I'm not gonna ask you again, Gwen. You've gotta stop this. You've gotta snap out of it!

[ she huffs a laugh, hands out at her sides like she has claws, and honestly? she could, if she asked venom to make it so. she doesn't yet though, because they're still at the fun part- the chase. ]

What're you gonna do, Pete? Fight back? Everyone will see what you're doing, everyone will know your secret. [ she knows it means something to him, where her own secret identity doesn't mean much for here anymore. meanwhile, yeah, the whole symbiote thing she definitely wanted to keep under wraps, but that doesn't seem to matter to her right now either. she darts for him, but it seems kiiind of like a cat playing with a mouse. nothing too intense. but also still mega frickin' rude ]

I don't wanna fight you.

[ Okay. That cuts a little deep, which reminds him that Gwen knows a hell of a lot more about him than he does about her. That imbalance had never bothered him much, especially now that he's beginning to accept the fact that there may be an infinite number of worlds out there, each with a spider-person of their own, but at this very moment in time? It kinda smarts a little knowing that she's got this on him, and she's using it like a weapon. A very effective one at that.

Peter leaps up, aiming his webshooters for her limbs to slow her down with a quick release of webbing - thwip thwip thwip! - while his feet stick to the ceiling. ]

You treated your Peter like this back home?

[ well. there goes the whole "playing with her food" mindset.

he brings up peter and a fresh wave of anger hits her, something almost a little genuine beneath this brainwashed version of herself, and it's enough that she doesn't even say anything, ripping through his webbing quicker than she might normally be able to with just her normal powers and not this like- mega-evolution of gwenom on her side. she yells as she shoots both of her webs at him, but it's not just webbing that moves towards him, there's also a stretch of black that follows the path, her symbiote reaching for him too, intent on ripping him down from the ceiling and slamming him onto the floor ]

You don't get to talk about our Peter!

[ oh. sup, gwenom. ]

Ah, crap. [ He should've known it was kind of a sensitive topic of conversation. Well, he did know. That's kind of the thing - he knew and he'd wanted to see what it would do if he mentioned him.

Apparently? Nothing good.

Peter manages to push off the ceiling, using the momentum in his legs to dodge the attack - what the hell was that?! - and land on his feet behind her. He sends another blast of webbing, kind of wishing Karen was around right now, but no - it's just him, it's just his analogue webshooters here, to tie her arms down to her sides, moving around her with as much speed as he can afford himself. ]

Okay, okay. [ Thwip! Thwip! ] So your Peter's off-limits. Fine. [ Thwip! ] But what did I do to get you so mad at me?

[ some of those webs are seemingly caught and ..absorbed by that black blur that never seems to stop moving, but some hit their marks, and she rolls her eyes because oh my god ]

Does there always have to be a reason? Maybe I just want you dead. Sorry, pumpkin. [ so she can't get near him with him moving around so much, that's fine. she'a taking another look at that table of weapons, where most of the stuff is already gone, but there's still some goods left. she shoots a web and whips one of them back to her hand - a machete! it's short, but pretty lethal looking. she can work with this. especially because it makes it easy to cut through the lines of web he's managed to land, and ] No more games.

[ she moves faster than before, now literally just sprinting for him. and sure, bigger weapon means he has a bigger target to try and hit, but she's ready for it now, the blade out at her side until she thinks she's close enough to take a swipe at him, aiming across his torso, or at his arm if he tries to actually shoot her with more webs. she's almost- rabid. out of control. it really is a shame he doesn't know her well enough to see through it yet. ]

Did you get that line out of the Supervillain's Handbook? [ That honestly hurts to hear, but like hell is Peter going to let her know that. Hence the jokes. Hence the ol' spider-quips, which make him feel a whole lot more like himself.

A lot less afraid.

Not unafraid, obviously, because this is seriously terrifying, but less so. At least until her movements become quicker, frenzied, almost harder to track were it not for his spider-abilities, because then he's just trying hard not to lose his cool. ]

Don't you know that thing's super outdated?

[ He mostly manages to dodge the swipes at him, but he's a little slow to miss the swipe at his arm when he aims another line of webbing at her. The machete cuts easily through the fabric of his shirt, drawing a line of blood from his skin.

Ugh. Crapcrapcrap.

He pulls back fast enough not to lose his arm. ]

Can we just put down the big murder blades and have a normal conversation?

Shut up!

[ no, apparently, they can't.

she actually laughs when she catches his arm, like it's thrilling, that she hurt him, and man oh man she's going to feel hideous about this when it's all over. but for now she's just continuing to pursue him, only looking beyond him for a split second to see where they're at, where she can corner him. they're close to the edge of the ballroom, which is good. she can trap him there, if he doesn't realize just how close they are. the problem, though, is that they're also right by the door. but so what if he wants to take this outside? she's got her webshooters, and venom. trapping him won't be a problem.

she's just not ready to give up the chase yet ]

Edited 2018-12-31 03:59 (UTC)

So, that's a 'no' then?

[ Peter isn't too sure what he should be doing from here, because the webbing isn't working, and he's only (unsurprisingly) angering her further with his provocations, and he can't go on forever, but a room with her choice of weapons might not be working for him.

Of course, there's the town which is full of people so that's a no-go, but where else could he lead her to? The forest? There's a wooded area, he knows that from his time camping out there ... maybe he could make sure that they take this fight away from any possibility of anyone getting caught in the crossfire. And then he'll figure the rest out as he goes.

It's not a great plan, but he's never fought a friend possessed before, and he's never fought whatever the thing is possessing her either.

He flits and hops around her, shooting his webs, low-key herding her towards the exit doors without making it obvious. ]

You sure you don't wanna take a break? I'm feeling kinda thirsty, myself!

Already? Oh, we feel bad for the world you're from.

[ she's shooting webs of her own, but they're not so much at him as her just trying to predict where he might step next, trying to trip him up. they're getting close to the doors, which she only half realizes, but all she can think about is if they're outside and she needs to swing to get to him, she'll need both of her hands. so with another growl she throws her weapon at him, hard, ready to burst through those doors if that's where he leads her ]

C'mon, Spider-Man, fight us.

I'd really rather not.

[ Okay, to the doors they go -

He leaps up - back towards the ceiling - and dodges the very sharp, very deadly projectile coming straight for him, half-watching the way it pings off the wall, and falls away somewhere close by.

But as he dodges, he quickly shoots another line of webbing and catches it with the other hand like an acrobat. He bends his legs and then kicks at the exit doors with as much of his strength as he can muster, practically launching himself towards them like a cannon-ball. They practically explode open, allowing the cool winter air to quickly fill the space of the dance room.

Out he goes, not wasting any time. ]

Hey, you ever heard that really old nursery rhyme about the Gingerbread Man?

[ gwen doesn't think to use her webs like that, she's just sprinting, as fast as she can. her vision's red, at this point, the world askew in a way that's similar to when gwenom takes over, but not exactly. she doesn't realize this, though, there's really no part of her brain that's fighting against how she's behaving, like she can when the symbiote is getting the best of her. there's nothing there but rage, and something kind of like hate, too.

the cold air doesn't do anything for her, she's more focused on making sure both of her webshooters are fired up so that as soon as she gets out into the open space outside of the venue she can-

she...

can...

what was she doing? what is she doing?

the symbiote is still there, crawling dark over her features, but she more or less stumbles to a stop, tripping up. like she just walked through some kind of mist left as a trap by mysterio. or maybe like walking out of that kind of mist. she drops down to her knees, mostly because she can't breathe. she can't even really see straight.

oh, god. ]

Please, stop. Stop.

[ her eyes squeeze shut as she uses one hand to pat down her pockets, trying to remember where she put her phone. her headphones. she knows she has them, she always carries them, just in case. but her hands are shaking and she can't catch her breath and she can't really figure out how to calm down enough to just get her damn headphones on so she can play her music and shut gwenom out. it's the only way she knows how to control it.

but it's been so long since this has happened to her, over a year, and she's panicking, for sure. she can't even remember what happened, what she just did. all she knows is that there's still a cloud over her vision, making the world seem dark, and scary, and this isn't- her.

what happened? what did she do?

she hears footsteps, distant, but she knows her senses are all haywire if the symbiote is translating it all for her. she waves a hand out, voice trembling ]

--Get away, I'm fine, please don't-

[ His initial question had a great punchline, too, but the moment he manages to make some headway from the dancehall, Peter realizes that something isn't ... quite ... right.

It's got him dialing back towards the place he'd escaped from with cautious steps, his sleeve still torn, a stain of red speckled along the jagged hem of the fabric. The cut itself looks as though it's already begun to heal, skin stitching back together in an angry line, but otherwise he looks a little tired but not hurt.

He's careful not to make any sudden movements, and he's braced for another trick, in case this is a trick, approaching at a safe distance from where Gwen is collapsed to her knees. ]

Run, run as fast as you can. [ He says slowly, without too much feeling, like he's reciting a line from a paper. ] You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man.

[ He stops before he can get too close, fingers still at the ready of his webshooters. If she's still possessed, it's not safe to stay here. ]

That's how it goes.

[ this isn't happening. this isn't happening. this isn't happening.

except that it is happening, or it already happened, and this is her brain catching up in the aftermath. but the aftermath of what? she peeks back behind her, trying to see where she came from, and the way the doors behind her are burst open shows that yeah, okay. she just left there. but why can't she remember? usually, with gwenom, she remembers what she did, even if she was just there for the ride, watching in horror. but this is... different.

and that muffled voice is definitely peter's. which.. should be comforting. but it's not. at all. she doesn't scramble away, but she moves to sit on her butt, moving back away from him a bit, eyes squinted like she's relearning her spider-senses again ]

What? [ what. not just that she can't hear him clearly, but what the hell is he talking about? her head hurts. the reality of things will click, eventually. she's not really looking at him yet, doesn't notice his hands ready to shoot, how defensive he looks. she's still processing, still so damn mad, and she doesn't know why ] We- [ focus. her teeth are gritted tight. ] You need to get away from me, we're not- I'm not- [ the symbiote isn't reaching out, but it's still moving over her skin, like it's trying to figure out what to do. or trying to fight against gwen's determination to push it away. ]

You need to tell me what's going on.

[ Something about her voice sounds different, more Gwen than whatever it had morphed into before while spewing death threats in his direction. It doesn't have him releasing any of the tension keeping his shoulders taut, or his hands braced on his webshooters, but it's something.

He latches onto it. ]

Is this like, a Deerington thing?

[ It's a pretty valid question, on account of stranger, more nightmarish things happening in the past months. Maybe she ate something weird at the party, or she touched the wrong person, or she smelled the wrong flower. ]

Are we ready to stop the 'murder your friend Peter' train here?

It's nothing.

[ it was obviously not nothing.

when gwen finally looks up at him she's still squinting, a little, her eyes not as dark as before, but it's still there, just a touch. that red glow hasn't faded out. the inky black spiders are sliding out of view though, clearing her face, making her clothes look normal again.

murder your friend peter makes her look more than a little horrified, though ]

No. [ she already did that once. oh, god. stop, brain. stop. c'mon. focus. peter's right there in front of her. not- not that peter, her mind isn't playing tricks. but. ] I mean, yes. No. I'm not- Did I hurt you? [ she tries to get to her feet but it's slow going, even as her heart hammers in her chest. ] Tell me we didn't- I didn't hurt you, I'm-

[ she's having a this moment, her peaked emotions giving gwenom something to feed on even while she tries to gain back control. it's a mess. oh, god, peter wasn't supposed to ever, ever see this side of her ]

It's not a Deerington thing, Peter, I'm so sorry- What happened? What happened?

You seemed - um. Like, really pissed off at me for some reason? Did I do something to you?

[ With a little more light, it's easier now to see the thing that had possessed her slowly start to fade away. He remains wary, of course, he's no dummy, but his questions are for Gwen now; they're for Gwen again.

He studies her from where he's standing, rooted to the spot. ]

After what just happened, you can't really expect me to believe that that was nothing.

I don't know, I can't remember. [ he asked her if he did anything, but she doesn't- think so? she doesn't even remember seeing him tonight before right now. she rubs the heels of her hands into her eyes, huffing a breath. get it together, stacy.

she finally braces her hands on the ground so she can pick herself up, and it's getting easier to chill out. sort of. easier to push the symbiote to the back of her mind again, at least, and her face doesn't look so different anymore. her eyes are wet, but she's not really crying. just- overwhelmed. her eyes drop to his sleeve almost right away though, the red stained there ]

Did I hurt you?

[ she asks again, because that's- unacceptable, and unforgivable, and she takes two steps towards him before she stops herself, hands out at her sides. oh, god. ]

You probably didn't do anything. I mean, it's not your fault. No matter what just happened, it wasn't your fault, okay? [ she thinks back to her miiiild freak-out when she met the other peter parker, how her emotions got the best of her, jumped to threat and liar instead of friend. maybe something- no. she never just forgets what made the symbiote so mad it could take over like that. ]

What's going on, Gwen? What happened to you? What was that thing?

[ Peter refuses to believe that the aggressive creature is somehow Gwen. It's too ... different, too alien somehow.

He doesn't move, even still, even when Gwen takes two steps forward before pausing, herself. But he wants to go to her for some reason; he wants to be there for his friend. He's just got a few too many questions (and some prior experience) not to play it cautious for now. ]

Have you heard of a thing called Venom, where you're from? It's a symbiote. [ she's just gonna up and say it, because if he has heard of it, it'll explain it all without her actually having to explain anything. however ] It's okay if you haven't. I know things are different for all of us.

[ she can't take her eyes off of his arm, though. the blood stained on his shirt. god. ]

I was bitten, that wasn't a lie. But someone took my abilities, and this- thing was the only way I could get them back. And normally, we're fine. It's fine. But if something makes me feel really mad, or really sad, it- reacts. Everything kind of blurs. [ she's babbling, looking down at her hands ] We've never lost control like that. I don't think it was- [ she's looking around now though, finally putting some pieces together ] Where did everyone-? Is this because of me? Did I attack anyone else? [ people are sitting outside, cradling injuries. most people left behind just look really freaked out. ] This isn't- normal, whatever this was. We always remember.

[ gwen stop saying "we" ]

[ Peter shakes his head, 'no', suddenly feeling a little self-conscious about the tear in his sleeve and the cut on his arm. The skin's already more or less healed itself, stitched itself back together, leaving an angry raw welt behind. It's no big deal though, and Peter shifts his movement, arms crossing over his chest to hide the cut. ]

Did you always have that thing? I mean, that sounds like a very Deerington-specific thing. And like ... yeah, I know we don't really know each other that well but -

[ 'But I don't remember you ever going full on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho on me' is what he thankfully doesn't say. But he thinks it! Sort of. Well, he thinks it before he feels bad about it, and keeps his mouth tightly sealed. ]

I don't think you hurt anyone else, no. I mean, I know you didn't, so - like. It's okay, Gwen. It's okay. It's over now.

Not always. I didn't have it when I was here the first time, but it's been about a year since we- bonded. [ it's obvious she doesn't love that word, but that's what it is ] It's definitely something worthy of this messed up little town, but it's not. There are people in my version of New York that create crap like this. Try to replicate the genetics of people with powers. It's so stupid.

[ stupid and dangerous, yeah. he folds his arms and she looks away finally, and she still feels so on edge, like her nerves are raw and sensitive. it's- a lot. telling peter about this is a lot. she never wanted to tell anybody about it here. or back home, either. she told her closest friends and her dad but that was it. nobody had to know about the symbiote, or how it gave her her powers back. but- there's that. and no, she doesn't know this peter that well, but luckily she knows in her gut that she can trust him with it.

and it's not okay, especially if this place can mess with her control over it, but she doesn't have it in her to argue with him about it. she pushes a hand through her hair, which just makes her bangs kind of messy, but whatever. whhaaaatever. ]

I don't- I wanna stay here and help, but I don't think I can go back in there. There's something really messed up about that room. [ based on two very very different encounters she's had now, yikes. but it's obvious she doesn't want to just leave, it goes against every bit of her that wants to help people ] I should go. I can't risk it.

[ Peter gets it.

At least to some degree. There really is something unsettling about that room, about the whole party that'd occurred, about the loss of control in there. But he doesn't have a ... a symbiote? Is that what Gwen called it? Yeah, he doesn't have one of those things bonded to him, so between the two of them, maybe he's in better shape to help.

He nods. ]

It's okay. [ He repeats. ] I got this, you just - just go home and like, take a breather.

[ She knows who he is now, and they're probably gonna have to touch base on that, but - for now, it'd be good to do the hero-thing. It's familiar. And in the weirdest way, safe. ]

[ she nods, but there's still so much hesitation there, like she's mentally talking herself into actually leaving, because she absolutely, totally is. ] I'm sorry, Pete. [ for literally everything that just happened. but she nods again before heading back towards the building, just a couple of steps at a quick jog before she shoots a web up at the roof. she pulls herself up that way, at a run because man. man. she has to get out of there before she does anything else incredibly stupid. ]

Edited 2019-01-13 23:05 (UTC)

closed action starters ][ deerington

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