ALL NOVEL Chapter 11
Chapter 11
After the sudden realisation that Gwen had to catch up on four different sets of homework, she finished her lunch with the girls before heading home and getting started. She sat at her desk in her room until two the next day to ensure it was all finished. Luckily, she didn’t have to worry about not getting enough sleep through the night, her spider powers coming in clutch at that moment.
By the time she finished, she was tired—not physically, mind you, but mentally. So she had a nice sleep after calling Jean and Petra to wish them both a good sleep and saying they would see them tomorrow. And that led her to now: eating breakfast with her Dad, who was giving her an odd look. She didn’t mind or know what it was about and continued eating her cereal.
“So, May tells me that you're in a relationship with Jean and Petra?”
*Cough* *Cough*
Milk somehow found its way to dripping from her nose as she coughed heavily at the surprise attack from her father. “Hey, I ain’t judging or anything; I don’t know what’s cool for kids these days.”
Wiping her nose and her face, Gwen cleared her throat before replying. “I don’t care whether it’s cool; I love them both. And that’s it.”
George stared at his daughter for a long moment. He could see the changes in her already. She seemed almost like a different person from who she was just a week ago, and she seemed to mature into an adult suddenly while he wasn’t looking. “I’m sure that you do, and I support that. But don’t think I didn’t notice you cramming in on your homework last night. I’ve never seen you not on top of it, and I don’t want this relationship to affect your future negatively. I see one slip-up in your grades; I’m pulling the plug. And that’s final.” He said sternly.
Gwen couldn’t even be mad at her father. After all, it made sense and was also something she agreed with. She wanted to enter ESU with Petra and Jean so that she would try her best, even without her father's input and encouragement. “Of course, Dad, I agree, so you don’t have to worry. I’ll make sure to keep on top of it.” George smiled at her words before checking the time.
“Well, I’m off. Have a good day at school.” He stopped for a moment. “Are you planning to stay at Jean’s again tonight, or can I expect you to be home?”
Gwen pondered it for a moment. “You can probably expect me home. I’ll probably end up at Jean’s most Friday and Saturday nights; apart from that, I may go out for an evening with the two of them now and then. I’ll text you if there are any changes in plans.” Gwen said goodbye to her father and hugged him before he was out the door.
A few moments later, Gwen was also out the door. Waiting for a couple of minutes, Petra left her house and looked spectacular. According to her phone call yesterday, after Petra and Gwen came home, Aunt May went shopping with Petra. It was something that they had planned to do together, and they spent quite a lot on a new wardrobe and essentials, along with getting her hair done. “You look stunning, Petra.” Gwen couldn’t help but say, much to Petra’s enjoyment. Taking her by the hand and pulling her into a kiss before the two of them walked off towards school.
On the way to school, Gwen couldn’t help but remember her conversation with her father. Many things were going through her head, and she decided to let Petra in on them. “Petra, what do you think about how things are currently with you, Jean, and me?”
Petra considered it for a moment. “I like it. I love both you and Jean,” she said with a happy smile. Gwen was delighted for Petra. Now that she looked back on it, she could see the difference between her smile and the one from a few days ago. There was actual happiness in her eyes, and she now moved with a certain… comfort that was not there before.
“Mmn, me too. I thought that at some point, we would want to get a place to live and any others that may join us.” Gwen said. She loved her father and enjoyed spending time with him, but she felt like she was finally starting to grow up and wanted to spread her wings more. She was still only 18, so she could hardly be considered a proper adult yet, but she was at that stage where she wanted to start making the appropriate steps to become an adult.
“Oh. that would be nice; I can already imagine it,” Petra said after a little while. “But, all of that would need quite a bit of money. I can sell some of my photos for cash, but I don’t have much saved up only a few hundred dollars. Well, we will also all be living in the girl's dorms at ESU, so we will be able to see each other often then.”
“I won’t deny that, but if we were going to be making each other scream like we did the other night, a place for ourselves might not hurt,” Gwen said, making Petra blush. She was probably one of the more vocal of the trio.
Petra also started to think about the future more now that they were on the topic. “Hey, Gwen, you said your System can buy anything with those points. Doesn’t that mean you can exchange points for real money and maybe even the apartment?”
Gwen was starstruck by that fantastic idea. She quickly pulled out her phone and opened the store so Petra could see it while they walked to school. Quickly typing in just ‘money,’ Gwen quickly found the exchange rate between the two currencies: 1 YP = $50.
“1 YP is worth 50$. That’s insane.” Quickly looking at her amount of YP and seeing that it wasn’t a very round and nice number at 37695, she spent 695 YP and exchanged it for $, which left her $34,750 richer than she was a moment ago. She reached into her inventory and was surprised it wasn’t there.
[It’s all done online; you have the money in your account.]
“Won’t that look suspicious to others if that amount of money just appeared out of nowhere?”
[Leave that to me.]
Gwen raised her brow before checking her online banking app, letting Petra look as she opened it up and was happy to find that her bank number had increased to $35,325. “Holy shit.” Petra couldn’t help but say as she looked at the number. Petra and May had never been short of money. Her aunt and uncle had made some suitable investments earlier in their career that made them well off. However, seeing someone casually ‘make’ almost 50K in a few button presses was entirely different.
“Holy Shit indeed.” Gwen couldn’t help but agree with Petra’s words. Suddenly, getting a job and working, which had always been her objective, seemed so… inconsequential now. She even had to pause in their walk and take a seat to adjust to the sudden change in her life. All the other things could be accepted somewhere in Gwen’s mind: the store, the powers, the Yuri-ness of everything. But being able to spawn money from nothing like this was something else entirely, for some reason. She felt like she had only been looking at the small picture of things; she had been playing vigilante, not much yet, mind you, when she could have been doing so much more. She took a deep breath to stabilise herself and think about things. She enjoyed being a vigilante and helping people and wanted her time to swing from building to building. All that mattered in the end was that she was enjoying herself.
She took a deep breath and felt somewhat stabilised, though it was a significant change in perspective for her. Being someone who had to ask her father for money when she went out, or waiting until her birthday or Christmas to get cash in a card from her grandparents, and then suddenly being able to put 35K in her bank casually was an odd feeling that she didn’t quite know how to describe.
Now, her options had just opened up: she could travel more, buy things for her girlfriends, and help her father and Aunt May into early retirement. Suddenly, these things that seemed like distant dreams were at her fingertips. But most of all, she now felt free of a burden she didn’t even realise she was carrying. Money was something that everyone needed in the modern age; whether you were rich or poor, it was something that the more you had, the better position you were in. Then again, many people say that ‘money can’t buy happiness’, but she was feeling pretty happy right now, so…
“Let’s get going, Petra.” She eventually regained her steps and took Petra by the hand as they continued to school. Gwen was still thinking about everything that had happened and how much she could casually change YP into money like it was nothing. She still had 35000 YP, and that times 50 is $1.75 million. It was an amount of money that she had never even really thought about getting her hands on, and now it was at her fingertips. But that’s not even the real kicker. She’d had these powers since Thursday night; it was Monday morning. It was insane.
The question was, is she making the most out of her powers to make more Yuri Points? The answer was an obvious no. If she decided to publish a Yuri book and made sales from that, she’d get both money and Yuri Points at the same time, theoretically. They arrived at school before Gwen even knew it, only to realise they never looked at the available apartments in the Yuri Store. Deciding to check it out later, when they were together with Jean, they headed off to their first lesson, Physics.
“How are you feeling today, Petra?” Gwen couldn’t help but ask. She knew what kids their age could be like, and Petra also knew. The sudden change to her gender would raise questions, and even their friend group didn’t know yet.
“I’m a little nervous. I'm more worried about our friend's reaction than anything else. Other’s opinions matter a lot less than theirs.” Petra answered after a couple of seconds of thinking.
“Mmn, that’s fine. I don’t think any of them would judge you for it, and I also think they’d support you. I honestly feel quite lucky to have such a group of friends,” Gwen said after a moment of thought. They were walking through the hallway and seeing me with her. A lot of people looked like this was a new student or something. They were going to be in for a shock, though.
Entering their classes, Petra and Gwen sat next to one another in their usual seating plan, and it was only now that people started to spot the similarities between Petra and Peter that they knew. Everyone was keeping to themselves for the most part, maybe trying to be polite, but Gwen and Petra had enhanced senses, and they could tell they were already gossiping. A few theories were that she was Peter’s long-lost sister; others hit the nail on the head and said sex change.
Harry Osborn, who sat diagonally in front of them, leaned over and whispered in a low voice. “That’s you, huh, Pete.” He said, after analysing her for a few seconds. “Congrats? I think. Unless it was an accident?” He said after seemingly going through some mental loops. Both Gwen and Petra giggled at his silliness, and most of Petra’s fear and anxiety were swept away as if they had never been there in the first place.
“It’s Petra now, and thanks, Harry,” Petra said with a happy smile. She felt her friends would accept her, but she still had that lingering fear. It was one of the reasons that she didn’t ever talk about it to her friends in the first place.
“So, how did it happen? If you don’t mind me asking, I always thought it took months or years of work and special medicine or something. I never really looked into it, so I don’t know.” Harry asked as he couldn’t help but be curious.
“Well, let’s just say that I had a lucky encounter. I’m not sure what else to say other than that, to be honest.” Petra said after a moment of consideration and realising that it was true that she had a lucky encounter; it was her best friend.
Harry noticed Petra didn’t want to discuss it and backed off in understanding. He didn’t want to overstep his bounds about the topic. “Hmm, fair enough.” he nodded in understanding despite still being somewhat curious. “How long have you wanted to change? I’m not going to lie; I never got that vibe from you.” He said, and he couldn’t help but feel bad. Peter was his best friend, and he had heard how hard it could be going through something like this, and yet Petra seemed to have done it all without his friend's support.
“It’s been about three or four years since I’ve started thinking about it. Honestly, I already had plans to start the treatment when the summer started, but like I said, I had a lucky encounter.” Petra seemed to notice something in Harry’s expression, and it took a moment to figure out what it was. “Don’t make that face. I decided to keep it a secret; even Gwen didn’t find out until Saturday, and we’ve been neighbours and childhood friends for as long as I can remember.”
Harry looked over to Gwen, who gave him a wry smile. “It’s true; I never had the slightest clue about it.”
Despite their quiet voices, most of the class had quietened down, trying to learn more about what was happening, so quite a few were already in the know. And well, in a high school, rumours can spread faster than the plague, so it wasn’t surprising that almost the entire school knew about it by the time break came around. However, that wasn’t the only rumour in the school going around.
More precisely, something that affected the larger world made its way onto television, stealing everyone’s attention from school work and jobs all around America—the Grand Prix De Monaco. The news covered how Talia Stark participated in the race. Still, it was interrupted by a man wielding electrified whips and then proceeded to have an epic fight with said man after getting her Iron Woman armour on. This happened yesterday when Gwen was busy with her homework and was a little behind on the current news.
Petra, Gwen, and Jean were all in the cafeteria, joined by their friends, who were all watching the news on Gwen’s laptop. The rumours had already reached everyone else by the time break had started, and everyone was quick to congratulate Petra. Gwen seemed right about that, and everyone here was cool. Though, she couldn’t help but wonder if Jean had something to do with it, the fact that they weren’t bothered by anyone during the whole break and the fact that everyone seemed just to gloss over such an event seemed a bit unnatural, but she wasn’t going to complain about such a thing.
By school's end, Petra had been confronted about it only twice. Once, it was by Flash and another guy who tried to hit on her. Flash gets a harsh scolding from Gwen, while the guy is politely rejected when Petra says she is into girls. Overall, it was a casual day for something that could have been quite chaotic. After school, Petra and Gwen decided to do some web swinging as Petra had yet to try it, so she took her out for the evening.
After kissing Jean goodbye, they left school and approached an alley quite close to the school. Gwen used her inventory function to suit them both up, and it was Petra’s first time in the suit. The red and blue colours were flashier than Gwen’s, but Gwen couldn’t help but think that the outfit suited Petra quite well. “Have you decided on a hero name yet, Petra?”
“Spider Woman,” Petra said instantly. “It’s just what Yuri said on the computer when opening my gift box, and it stuck with me.”
“Fair enough, Yuri also picked out my Ghost Spider name.” Gwen agreed that Yuri had a talent for picking out names. “Right, before we get started on this, there are some things to keep in mind,” Gwen said as she started walking up the wall, Petra following a step behind her. “Firstly, you have a lot of strength. And I don’t mean that lightly. Be careful about pulling your punches, especially as you get used to it.” Petra nodded in understanding; she’d already broken one door handle at home and accidentally squeezed the toothpaste too hard, making it go everywhere this morning.
“Secondly. Your spider-sense, if it’s telling you to dodge, don’t doubt it. It’s already saved my life once or twice. It will also allow you to know when others are in danger.” Petra nodded in understanding, already getting used to the feeling quickly. “Third and finally, have fun. It is awesome to swing around New York.” They had already reached the top of the building, and Petra was looking down. Despite being her first time up this high, she couldn’t feel any fear in her body; she was just excited about what would come next.
“Do you want to just dive into it, or want a quick lesson on web-swinging?” Gwen asked.
Petra stayed silent for a moment. “I don’t think I need a lesson. Do you have any tips, though?”
“It’s all about momentum. As long as you think about it like that, it becomes no different from a normal walk in the park. Another tip: just let your instincts guide you; that worked for me.” Gwen said, watching as Petra nodded before jumping off the side of the building and following behind her not a second later. Just like with Gwen’s first dive, Petra waited until the last moment before she shot off with the help of a web, carrying all the momentum from her fall. Hearing the excited screams of her girlfriend, Gwen couldn’t help but join in as her excitement was infectious.
It didn’t take too long before the two heard the sounds of sirens down the way. A look at one another was all that was needed before they went off in the direction of what seemed to be a car chase through the streets of New York. It was Gwen’s first car chase, as well as Petra’s. Knowing she hadn’t encountered this situation before, Gwen reminded Petra to be cautious.
Arriving at the scene, Gwen was surprised that it was a full-on shoot-out from the back of an armoured van that was shooting at the pursuing cops. This was something new to her; she’d been in a couple of situations with guns, but there had only been a couple of bullets fired, and they were aimed at her. This was on another scale altogether. Connecting Petra’s suit with her communications, Gwen and Petra decided on a plan of action.
Gwen decided it would probably be best to stop the car, as they’d already been crashing into civilian vehicles to move them out of the way. Gwen wanted to make sure that the number of casualties was kept to a minimum. Dropping on top of the truck, she walked to the front, where she leaned over the side and grabbed the man behind the wheel before pulling him out, catching him in a web of her making so that he didn’t go splat at the high speeds.
Slipping in through the car window, she slammed her foot on the brakes just before the truck could crash into anything else. With the truck stopped, the men in the back were confused but knew that if they wanted to escape, it would have to be on foot; unfortunately, Petra was waiting for them and quickly entered combat with them. She focused on using her webs to bind and disarm them, not entirely confident in not accidentally killing someone until halfway through the fight as she became more comfortable. Gwen had exited the vehicle by this time and was spectating from the roof to ensure that Petra was safe.
It was quite an event. Making sure that everyone was tied up and nobody was dead, Gwen did have to give one of the men a small healing pill to make sure that he didn’t die, but apart from that, everything went pretty well. After ensuring the carnage had stopped, Gwen and Petra stayed behind, helping anyone in an unfortunate situation due to the criminals.
They had to pry one or two car doors open to let the trapped inside out and ensure they were safe. On top of that, Gwen ensured no cops were hit and was happy that they were terrible shots from start to finish. Gwen wasn’t entirely sure of the back story, but some of the cops' murmurs gave her a pretty good idea. A prison break occurred, and they somehow got hold of this truck and the guns inside.
Gwen and Petra parted from the scene quickly after hearing the news. Gwen quickly dived into her visor and tracked what information the police had acquired. They didn’t take long to go off to the next scene. Carnage seemed to have become commonplace in the area, with convicts running on the streets and making a mess of things pretty quickly.
Gwen knew that this would be quite a big event and that her father was probably going to be home late, so she knew that she had some time before she needed to be home; with that in mind and a quick conversation with Petra, who also assumed that Aunt May would be late at the hospital, they decided to help out as much as they could.
—
Petra and Gwen arrived in front of their houses four hours later and 13000 YP richer. It was already eight pm, and they spent most of that time beating the crap out of criminals sending them to the police for arrest, saving civilians and sometimes taking them to the hospital when needed. It turned into a whole event that tired the crap out of both of them. They just wanted to get home and sleep but knew they wouldn't get to bed too early because their spider senses were pinging in front of their houses. Sensing that both George and Aunt May were at Gwen’s house, they quickly decided on a plan of action. Knowing that both of us sucked at lying, especially to our parents, we decided to come clean about everything. Even the Yuri Powers. What was the point if she couldn’t tell the two people who had raised her and trust them?