Symbiotes and Surprises
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment
Peter Parker's alter ego, Spiderman, climbed a high—rise at lightning speed. It had been nearly a week since he had, by chance, happened upon that experiment his father had been working on when he died. The suit had done amazing things for him; he was faster, stronger, better in every way. He found he even had a greater passion for fighting the evildoers of the town. It was as if the suit, originally a beaker of black goo, had known exactly what he would need and had given it to him.
He remembered it as if it were yesterday. He and Eddie Brock had been exploring their father's lab, looking for any remaining fruits of their combined labor. The search had proved fruitless when Peter's Spider—Sense went off. However, this was different. It wasn't the normal forewarning of imminent danger; it was a sort of curious call for attention towards a plain wall.
As Peter explained his eerie feeling that something was there they had missed, Brock answered him with skepticism, saying, "Parker, you and I have been friends for a while now, but this is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing here! We have searched the entire lab for over three hours and not found anything! You can stay if you want, but I have a story to write. Unlike you, I have a good, regular job!" Brock left in cynicism. He had always liked Peter, but Peter was becoming more an unknowing lunatic than a good, intuitive friend.
Meanwhile, Parker approached the wall his Spider—Sense had warned him of. He started to knock upon it and found that it was very thick, with the exception of one small circular area. Peter wondered, why would something be hidden so well, and why by my father? Wouldn't he want me to find out about it? Peter struggled with the decision about whether or not so just bust through the hollow circle and discover the hole's contents. It would not be difficult at all; he was Spiderman and could simply kick through the circle; he might even be able to kick through the rest of the wall for that matter. Arriving at a decision, Peter decided that some things, perhaps, are not meant to be found, and started to walk away. But as he was walking away, something kept lingering in his mind. Something that told him that what was behind there was worth the time and effort of finding out.
Peter walked back towards the faux wall and took a solid stance in front of the hollow section. Then he jumped and smashed his foot through it, hearing the cracking of wood and, secondly, the shattering of glass. Peter pulled his foot away to look for injuries, but his boot had shielded him from that. Putting on a glove to protect his hand, Peter reached into the hole, instantly noticing that the hidden wall was actually a large freezer. Feeling around inside, Peter found a small, frozen object, in the shape of an Erlenmeyer flask, and pulled it out. In his hand, Peter found a small, black, conically shaped block of ice. Black ice? My father went to all this trouble for a little block of black ice? Peter pulled the glove off and let the block of ice sit in his hand. It wasn't even cold like a block of ice should be; that was cool. Wow, maybe he invented some sort of coolant or something. This is awesome! I bet this has some sort of power—
But before Peter could finish speaking, the block of ice melted instantaneously. Spilling out over his hand and onto the floor, Peter reached for his jacket to try and wipe the black substance, now a goo, off himself. But, the more he wiped, the more difficult the goo was to get off his hand. It was almost as if it was resolidifying on his hand. Shortly, the goo left on his left hand became a thin, stretchy layer that was impossible to move. Okay, this is a problem; this goo won't come off and I need to be going.
Suddenly, as if on cue, the part of the goo that had dripped onto the floor started inching its it way toward Peter's feet. Peter, in a panic, started running towards the door. However, when a cold, wet sensation suddenly covered his lower arm, he stopped to look at it. In shock, Peter saw that the black stretchy film had crept up his arm and was dissolving the t-shirt he wore. Peter screamed when the other half of the goo reached his feet and dissolved his shoes and pants as it crawled up his body. Crawled? A thing? It was alive? Peter watched in horror as the substance kept moving across his body. Pawing at the black substance, Peter only succeeded in getting the substance on his right hand. As crawled up towards his head, the substance began to bubble and shake violently. The motion knocked Peter to the ground, forcing him to succumb to the mess. The messy substance started to expand, forming a large mass of man and black goo that simply looked like a large heap of random shapes. Peter reached a black arm out of the mass, as if struggling for a last moment of life. This must be what my father hid this from me for! That black ice was some sort of acid and I have going to be eaten alive! Why couldn't I ignore my Spider-Sense just once? At that point, the arm fell back into the heap. Suddenly, the heap receded, seemingly to nowhere, and left Peter's motionless body lying on the floor of the lab.
Wake up, came a voice from out of nowhere. Peter imagined he was dreaming.
Wake up, Peter, said the voice again. Still unconscious, Peter played along with the dream. Peter got up and saw that he was still in the laboratory.
Now get us out of here! said the voice with a certain sense of panicked urgency. Guessing that he had some person with him that he had just saved from the clutches of danger, Peter ran from the laboratory.
Turn left! came the voice again. Peter obeyed and found the entrance to the lab from whence he came. Peter stumbled out the door. Don't stop now; keep going! The voice guided him. Peter kept running.
Suddenly Peter was thrown to the ground. Hitting his head on the pavement, Peter regained consciousness and saw that he really had just run from the lab, with the only difference being that where the lab had once been, there was now a huge explosion. Flames engulfed the building. Peter watched in horror as sections collapsed, windows exploded, and doors erupted into flames. Realizing his plight, Peter looked down at his hands. Apparently the black substance hadn't been a dream either. But he wasn't dead; in fact, his head didn't even hurt from the impact with the ground. Looking at his wrist, Peter found that his watch was gone. Figuring that it was well past midnight, Peter shot a web line towards town; it was going to be a long day.