Marvel: Death Dealer-Chapter 134: Gwen’s New Justice

Despite all her big talk about lasting the whole night, Silvija tapped out at seven o’clock. Four straight hours of relentless motions, and her mind was toast, even if her body could’ve kept going. She could barely stay awake so he called it there.

He pulled the blanket over her and tucked it in around her sides. She immediately burrowed her face into the pillow, one arm flopping out blindly in his direction.

“Water…”

He filled a glass of warm water from the dispenser and brought it over. She tried to lift her head, only to drop it again.

“I can’t…” she said into the pillow. “I’m so useless right now, love.”

He wasn’t sure if this was real or just her way of milking the moment for maximum pampering. Either way, he wasn’t about to call her on it.

He slipped one arm under her shoulders, rolled her gently onto her back, and propped her up against his chest. The glass touched her lips; he tilted it slowly and steadily until she drank every drop.

When he eased her back down, she let out a satisfied sigh. “Go away now. Find your mistresses or whatever you call them.”

“That’s harsh.”

“Shoo. Shoo.” She made a weak waving motion with her fingers. “Let me rest.”

He turned off the lights. “Goodnight.”

He hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower, threw on a Hawaiian shirt and loose shorts, and opened the door. “Venom, come back.”

A few seconds later, Venom slithered out from under the door of the opposite room. It jumped on his hand and merged with his skin, forming a connection in a near-instant.

“The maaating prooocess…” Venom hissed. “Waaas it a suuuccess?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

His physiology was unlike any normal human at this point. Only time would tell if it worked out or not.

“Humans are weak. Our kind does not require maaates to reproooduce.”

‘Why don’t we decide that with a one-on-one battle?’

Venom fell silent, unwilling to lose face by admitting defeat and even more unwilling to fight Dante.

He snagged his phone off the nightstand. The stacked notification list on it left him baffled. People just loved texting him.

[Gwen: Felicia told me about your condition.]

[Gwen: Get well soon.]

He sent a reply right away.

[Dante: Where are you?]

The little typing bubble popped up immediately. She must’ve been glued to her phone, probably doomscrolling Ghost Spider posts on social media.

[Gwen: Oh my god you’re back.]

[Gwen: I’m in my room.]

He thought for a second and teleported to Gwen’s room. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Gwen was lying on her belly on the bed, legs kicking lazily in the air. She stared at her phone held in both hands, her face surrounded by blonde strands that escaped from her messy bun.

The soft sound of teleportation alerted her.

“Dante?” She scrambled upright and pulled her legs in to sit cross-legged. “You can’t just appear in my room. What if I wasn’t wearing anything?”

She was, in fact, wearing an adorable winter-night combo—loose gray pajama shorts and an oversized hoodie that had slipped off one shoulder.

He pointed at the blue flame-covered skull on her chest, below which SKULLFIRE was written in fiery letters. “That’s certainly a choice.”

She looked down and blushed. “My dad gifted it to me. He’s a big fan of yours.”

He didn’t know how to feel about his girlfriend’s dad idolizing him. It was just that absurd of a situation.

“Anyway,” he said. “Weren’t you disappointed I didn’t watch you change? What happened to that energy?

Her blush became deeper. “You’re making things up now!”

“Says the girl who was doodling my face in the middle of a lecture.”

“Don’t you dare bring that up again,” she groaned, covering her face with both hands for a second. “And seriously, no random room invasions. I’ll let it slide because you’re my boyfriend, but normal people would file a report.”

It seemed like she was trying to help, believing her boyfriend lacked in the common sense department.

“Every girl I know is already dating me, so…”

She stared at him deadpan. “Really?”

“Just kidding.”

He settled on the bed with his back against the headboard and both legs stretched out. She was in awe at how comfortable he became in her room like it was his own.

“So. How’s life? Things should be back to normal by now, right?”

“Still a total mess,” she admitted with a sigh. “We…”

She caught him up to everything that happened in the past few days. Felicia and Gwen attended endless lectures, went shopping together, went on patrols to fight criminals together, and helped each other in improving their costumes. These two had become best buddies, despite having completely different skillsets and personality.

“What about Harry and MJ?”

“It’s… weird with Harry… we haven’t seen him since that day. MJ has been distant.”

He could assume Harry was working on his villain arc. The Spider Totems needed their villains for their stories as their lives always had to have misery and pain. Who could be a better antagonist than the childhood friend, whose father died because of Ghost Spider’s friend?

“Forget about them. Let’s talk about you.” Gwen flipped onto her stomach again and rested her chin on the pillow, studying him with a raised eyebrow. “Do you need help with Selene?”

“What can you do?”

She raised a finger and pointed at him. A thin white tendril shot out and slapped his nose. He immediately flicked it away.

“I’m strong with the Anti-Venom suit,” she said, nodding. “Plus, I grew up around one of the captains. He made me good with analytical and detective work.”

“Impressive.”

“I’m way above-average in tech and science for my age. My webshooters and anti-symbiote fluid should be enough proof of that.”

He slow-clapped. “Gwen is outstanding.”

She poked his leg and chuckled. “You should feel honored to have me.”

“I very much do.”

“No, but seriously. Just give me a word. Mutants, monsters, whatever. I’ll drop everything for you.”

Her sincerity and conviction were heartwarming. A good-hearted person would never forget a debt.

“I’ve taken care of Selene already.” He set his hand over the back of hers. “But I’ll hold onto that promise for later.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Did you kill her?”

He thought about the black witch currently sleeping in Death’s realm. His cosmic girlfriend had volunteered to keep Selene safe until he needed her in Egypt. Selene’s act of killing Sharon in cold blood had given Death a personal reason to go against her previous neutrality.

“She is alive.”

She exhaled. “I wouldn’t be upset if she wasn’t. She’s pure evil.”

Gwen was becoming more flexible with morals. After all, she wasn’t Peter Parker, who could always prevail over the darkness. Peter always held on to the unshakable belief in the “with great power comes great responsibility” motto, which made him act as a protector rather than the judge of life and death.

He had trust in law.

Gwen, despite being the daughter of a Captain, had none.

She understood from experience that some people had no light in them. Keeping them alive just meant more people would suffer at their hands.

Gwen clenched her hand under his. “Emma isn’t some Mother Teresa, but she didn’t deserve that. It must’ve been awful.”

She knew from experience how helpless it felt watching loved ones slowly die.

He laced their fingers together. “She got her students back and took revenge on Selene. You can’t call that a bad ending.”

She pushed herself off the pillow and crashed into his arms, burying her face in his chest. Seeking his warmth more than anything else.

He put an arm around her waist and stroked her hair slowly. “What’s wrong?”

“I remembered this quote,” she mumbled against his shirt. “Life is like the sea. Some people bask in its calm… others get swallowed by the storms.”

“A beautiful quote.”

She squeezed him tighter. “I would’ve drowned without you. You changed my bad ending.”

“Feeling lucky some mercenary blackmailed you into cooperation?”

“A little.” She pulled back just enough to sit beside him again, leaning her head against his arm. “When will you kill Selene? I don’t want anyone else to go through what Emma did.”

“Her death would cause bigger problems. I’m keeping her alive until I deal with the rest of the mess.”

“Need backup?”

“Nah. You focus on your university and crimefighting. I’ll handle the god-level threats.”

Gwen was still in her rookie year, but she would be ready by the time bigger threats like Thanos emerged. Regardless of how strong Thanos was in this universe, he had no intention of letting Thanos get his hands on all Infinity Stones and wipe out half the universe.

“I’ll keep the streets clean then. Best I can with the time I have.”

He looked up at the ceiling. “You’ll have backup. Can’t have my girlfriend burning herself out.”

“Oh? Who exactly will help the one lone woman against every criminal in New York.”

“Jean, me, and Felicia if she is in the mood.”

Thanks to Emma Frost’s cunning business plan, being a superhero actually paid now. The merchandise sales for world’s first superheroes pulled insane numbers.

“Jean? That pretty redhead?” Gwen blinked, poking his ribs playfully. “Why are you friends with three gorgeous telepaths?”

“My immunity attracts them. The same way a flame attracts moths, I guess.”

“Why are they only chicks? There aren’t any male telepaths on the roster?”

His expression darkened remembering Charles Xavier. “He probably hates me.”

She burst into laughter. “I should’ve expected that.”

As they were chatting, she leaned her whole weight against him and closed her eyes. She wouldn’t do that if she wasn’t tired

He put a hand on her shoulder. His hand glowed gold as he scanned her body with Biokinesis. Gwen’s anatomy had diverged from baseline human in subtle but significant ways. Her muscle fibers were changed for explosive force. Her skeletal density had increased. And many more small changes that made her more efficient than ordinary people. The bodies of Spider-Totems were quite optimized for combat and movement.

And underneath all of it were signs of constant sleep deprivation. Two, maybe three hours a night at most, stretched across months. The small internal injuries from battles that should’ve healed during proper rest were still there.

He fixed her injuries first and normalized her sleep cycle so she wouldn’t have much trouble falling asleep.

“What are you—mmh?!” She let out an involuntary moan from the pleasant feeling in her muscles. Rather than indulging in it, she grabbed his wrist. “Why are you dusting off that power again?”

“I’m not allowed to?”

“Stupid. Look at your hair.” She squeezed his wrist with enough power to break an ordinary person’s bones. “Do you want to go full emo with white hair?”

“But this—”

“Denied. End of story.” She released his hand and gently punched his chest. “My first official request as your girlfriend.”

She stood firm, leaving no room for negotiation. The Anti-Venom creation had been a turning point for her life. Even though it saved her father, it left permanent guilt in her. She wasn’t about to go through that again.

“Sorry if I’m coming off as harsh,” she said with a wry smile as she tugged at a strand of his white hair. “I just… I don’t wanna see you lose more of yourself.”

“Fine.”

She stared at his face. “I trust that face as much as I’ll trust a gambler with my savings.”

“Gwennie, I know my body better than anyone.” He took her hand and gently kissed her knuckles. “I won’t let it get worse, I promise.”

“Talking like that is a foul,” she groaned and punched his chest playfully. Once he caught her hands, she looked up at him with a glare. “I’ll back down for you, but if I see one more white hair on your head… I’ll call on Silver Sable to whoop your ass.”

He thought back to what had happened in Silvija’s room. Only two of them knew who owned whose ass in the bedroom.

Accepting his silence as concession, Gwen stretched both arms above her head and arched her back, pressing her chest forward. The stretch pulled a moan out of her. “Well, I have to admit it feels rather refreshing. It’s like I had the best sleep of my life.”

“I help people and get scolded for it. There is no justice in this world.”

She smirked. “Justice died the day criminals like Norman were allowed free reign on an island.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“We’ll make it better.” Clenching her fist, she raised her arm. “Even if I have to dirty my hands with the blood of lowlives.”

Nodding at her, he checked his phone for the remaining unread messages.

[Felicia: Recover fast.]

[Felicia: I wanna go on a date.]

He mulled teleporting over on a whim, but decided against it. Her family reunion was quite recent. It would be better to let her have that bliss.

[Dante: Let’s hang out tomorrow]

He saw Gwen peeking openly at his phone. “Do you want to join?”

“Did you tell her about our relationship upgrade?”

“Not yet.”

“She probably knows already.” She hung her head, looking depressed. “If she calls me a traitor because of this, I… I might just—”

He leaned in and gave a cheeky peck on her cheek, catching her off guard. “The daughter of George Stacy has to walk with her held high. He is a hero.”

“You’re my hero.” She snagged his collar and yanked him, their lips meeting forcefully. “Then we’ll reveal it to Felicia tomorrow.”

“Together—”

She didn’t give him a chance to speak and sealed his mouth with a deep kiss. His hands rested on her waist before going down on her butt and gently squeezing. The softness beneath his fingers reawakened the fire that Silvija had tried so hard to put out.

“Dante…” She pulled out to moan his name and dove back in.

CREAK. The door let out a whiny sound as it opened wide.

“Gwen, I brought—”

Gwen broke the kiss like she had been caught red-handed on a crime scene, turning toward the door.

Dante glanced over without losing a hint of composure. Standing in the doorway was a young man around twenty with a lean and athletic build with warm brown skin, looking casual in a dark tee beneath a light jacket and skinny jeans. He had neatly cropped black curls and brown eyes currently wide with surprise.

“—cookies.”

Gwen slapped his hands away from her backside. “Miles.”