Do you Want to be a Hero or not? Pt 1

OOC: Joint Post between Winters & Megumichi

Gwen stood, full spider regalia, in what had to be the largest living room she had ever seen. “Wow.” She commented softly to herself. Only JUST realizing she got dropped in the middle of someone’s home uninvited. Honestly, she had been so caught up in the moment of her first mission she had completely forgotten basic manners. Well. Too late now.

“Hello? Anyone home?” She asked clutching the blanket awkwardly. “How do you not get lost in this place!” She murmured.

Heh, that stupid asshole had actually thought he could snatch the high score away from her. Her! The master of gaming who...really didn’t like this game very much. But she wasn’t gonna let her throne go so easily! Her hands were practically flying across her keyboard, her eyes glued to the screen and her fingers simply knowing their place. This was her fucking life. Who even knew this game? Urg, she did, and she wouldn’t be able to get this sleight out of her head anytime soon unless she just kicked ass. Best way to kick her teenage insecurities back into submission without actually having to break her legs trying to kick her own ass. Just pretend the zombies had Theo’s face on them, and her loss rate was obviously 0%.

Speaking of Theo, JESUS CHRIST THERE WAS ANOTHER PERSON IN HER HOUSE. Was this gonna become a regular occurrence or something? She really hoped that it was a burglar this time. That way, her master plan would work. “Take the valuables and fuck off!” she yelled, going back to her video game and hoping that someone was on the cusp of shooting her in the head. That would be so much more merciful than having to deal with more of Theo’s cronies. Their attempts at pep talks were somehow even worse than death. No one in their right mind enjoyed being guilt-tripped into doing something. Dumbasses.

“W-what!? No! NONOO! I’m not here to rob you!” Gwen said quickly trying to find the source of the disembodied voice. “I brought your blanket back!” The young teen said holding it up like a shield. “Please don’t hit me or anything …” She said. “… I come in peace! Swearsies!” Gwen added pausing near the room with the shattered door. “Wow … she wasn’t kidding when she said she broke the door down.” She ogled peering over the blanket at the remains of what was left of this poor girl's door.

Oh. Well, that was a little less irritating. Meant they’d be getting less lawsuits shoved up their asses as well. That blanket was a cool blanket. She would have totally charged them for snatching up one of the best blankets she’d ever owned. Plus the door. Mum was not happy about the door, as unexpected as that was. The problem was that the woman seemed a little...off. Probably didn’t like superheroes barging in and trying to drag her into Tony’s shoes. God, she loved her mom, but she also got smothered by her quite consistently. How was this slightly-less-of-a-prick goon gonna treat her behind her back? Probably like a damn idiot, and that was more than enough reason to just want these portals to stop opening within the tower. They weren’t entitled to enter the tower simply ‘cause it’d been used by their parents at one point. DID THEY NOT KNOW WHAT KNOCKING WAS?

“Great. Throw it.” She didn’t reach out a single arm to catch it with. It was a blanket, not a piece of glassware. Besides, she had a zombie tower defense game to humiliate. “That all you need? If so, can you tell Theo to STOP BREAKING AND ENTERING?” Did she ever emphasize her distaste for that entitled witch? Cause it really needed to be emphasized. Her home was not some portal hub. Hell, any earlier and they might’ve jump-scared her maths tutor. Actually, no, she wished that had happened. Then she’d have something to laugh about. She’d heard that tutor complaining about her to her Mum. About how she “didn’t pay attention and disrespected her and waah waaaaaah.” The dough still rolled in, so what did she care? She just didn’t understand dogshit.

“Throw it … anywhere?” Gwen chirped confused. The girl seemed very engrossed at the moment in her game. “Yea sorry about the just showing up. Kind of got the impression it was the only way any of us could actually talk to you. When Sam and Niko came to talk to my Mom they actually knocked on the door but then Niko outed me to my mom like right then and there! So that didn’t go over well! To be fair they didn’t break anything but they were just awful trying to convince my mom. Totally crash and burn. Much like what happened here it seems. I’m babbling sorry this is all new to me and is it me or is very dark in here?” Gwen took a break realizing she had gone on one long run on sentence. Okay, she was just nervous as hell now. The girl … oh god, she didn’t remember her name?! Was she told! CRAP! Damn it! She was given a mission and it had just started and she was totally botching it! This ship was SINKING!?

“I’m Scarlet Spider!” Gwen added randomly. Smooth Gwen. Because if showing up via a portal in a costume didn’t speak crazy enough but randomly spouting your hero name … double the point there. Thank god for the mask at least she couldn’t see how red Gwen had gotten.

Seriously, what in the hell was she on about? Couldn’t she see that Clarisse was busy? For the love of god, these people truly were nutters. Why else would they get so riled up about the label? Whatever, something about...her mum? God, it was too all over the place for her to just nod at confidently. She didn’t want to listen to her ramblings again either, so she was stuck on a response. She just kinda took the silent approach to responsiveness. Shit, she really wasn’t making any friends he-wait, what the fuck? She didn’t want any of these people as friends! Shut up, little social voice in her head that insisted that she was a stuck-up little piece of trash who couldn’t be satisfied by anyone no matter how nice they were unless they were 2D and highly idealized. To that voice, she said ‘suck a dick’.

Scarlet Spider. Like Spiderman? Crap, she actually knew who that was. Probably just cause one stupid girl in a chatroom had shared her “fanfiction” about saving him from the Exodus and marrying him. She’d quit that trash heap pretty swiftly. God, she didn’t want to think about cringy writing. She just wanted to play the damn game. “That’s nice. Can you leave?” Don’t try to pester her. Don’t try to pester her. For the love of the Virgin Mary, don’t even think about it. She just wanted to use her oh-so-high iq on killing zombies!

Maybe Gwen had hyped up the daughter of Stark to be less … abrasive. Of course, she doubted she was the picture of someone walking the footsteps of Spider-Man would be. Pot Kettle Red and Blue and all that.

“Sure.” Gwen said a little dejected. Okay, there was a SMALL part of her that had hoped for a bit more of a reaction than get the fuck out. Did ANY of the Avengers have this problem? Gwen didn’t want the answer to that.

“I mean you sound pretty SURE … with random costumed folk just … ripping holes in time and space and appearing in your living room … that you have ZERO interest in the whole hero thing. But just so I can say I at least tried … are you even remotely interested in joining the new Avengers?” She asked meekly. To be fair Clarisse was coming off strong and Gwen was just a kid with dreams of grandeur. She was far more used to being told what to do than being in charge. That and the gross opposition Clarisse was putting up. Gwen was glad she wasn't throwing shit at her or threatening to call the cops.

Aw crap, she almost made Clarisse feel bad for her with that tone. Almost. Until she started spewing the usual bullshit about superhero work, albeit in a less pushy manner than the previous propagandists that’d shoved the concept down her throat. Admittedly, she didn’t hate this girl. She was mild enough to not be as aggressive as Theo or as...whatever his royal highness was. She really couldn’t tell: he hadn’t let on much. As bland as he came across as. There, perfect description of her feelings towards him. Still, she’d been fed up with people thinking that it was her responsibility to run around in a hunk of metal and blast things years ago. No one had to say it out loud for her to come to that conclusion. Mom might as well have called her Tony Stark, for all the difference it would’ve made to her reputation in the public eye.

“For the love of...you know what? Lemme give you something to relay to Theo and her stereotypical ragtags. I’m. Not. Superpowered. If she wants a new Tony Stark, go find someone with some brain power to fulfill that role. I have no obligations to HER FUCKING COPYCAT GROUP. Tony Stark 2.0 my ass.” The final sentence was muttered, laced with pure bitterness. She wasn’t superpowered, and she would never be superhero material. She couldn’t even hold down a position within the traditional education system. People just didn’t seem to believe that she could function at all, and she was fine with that assumption. ‘Cause it was thorough reassurance to her that the moment she showed any free will, people would reeeee at her and switch their story up. She wasn’t about to buy into their expectations simply cause ‘OMG you’re Tony’s kid that’s amazing have you seen the Iron Man suit’ NO. Besides, red was an awful color. It always seemed to be showing off.

“Well, to be honest, I have no idea what she wants you for. I mean are you crazy smart like your old man or mom?” Gwen asked scratching her head. Gwen wasn’t sexist enough to think Ms. Potts wasn’t any less intelligent for running Stark industries after her husband vanished. “If you’re not interested there is no convincing you otherwise, but if you’re saying no because you think we are looking for Tony Stark … that's kinda dumb and myopic.” Gwen said thoughtlessly. “Sorry!” She said clamping her mouth shut. “Just well I’m just saying … that saying Yes for the right reason is just as important as saying No for the right reasons …” Gwen tried to amend. “ … If the hero thing is something you really don’t want I will totally respect that. Theo may be a bit odd but she isn’t wrong, something is coming, I believe that much. So join if YOU want to. But don't turn it down thinking you’re in some way defying the mythical shadow of Tony Stark. Hero thing ain't for everyone.” Gwen said her hands up defensively.

Yeah, that statement would have been improved by not asking that question. She would’ve just accepted the possibility of a backhanded insult due to its honesty. She had been waiting for these people to make a criticism of her that she considered valid for ages after all the bullshit Theo had thrown at her. “...Well, that depends on whether you buy into the IQ bullshit or not. Personally, I think they made the test way too easy.” Conclusion: she wasn’t smart. The vast majority of people were just prone to acting really stupidly. She sure as hell wasn’t gonna make any great contributions like Einstein or Mozart. Wait, was Mozart actually a genius? Eh, whatever. Classical music was boring.

Y’know what wasn’t boring? Pissing her off. She physically froze up, completely ceasing to play the game altogether. Her little pixel man met a grisly end, but she did nag the high score pretty damn easily. That didn’t really matter as much to her anymore. Gwen...she almost seemed sincere. Maybe she wasn’t projecting standards upon her. But the person who sent her...she almost certainly was. Clarisse wouldn’t buy into the sugarcoating that people tried to apply to their feelings. “You know what I want, Scarlet Spider?” She spun her chair around, staring right into the girl’s eyes with an empty smile. A rather tired, bitter smile. “I want to defy his shadow. I want to crush the world’s hopes into dust and make them stop copy-pasting him onto me. I don’t know whether you’re as stupid as most of the world is, but your boss sure as hell ain’t a smart cookie. So please, stop bullshitting me. Especially on things you’re ignorant to.” She was aware of the plea that snuck out of her throat. She just wanted people’s feelings served up on a platter. They were too strange, too unpredictable. It stopped her from having to read into this crap.