Time for something new!

I've been writing fanfiction for a truly long time, and it dawned on me not too long ago that not only have I never published anything in fanfiction that was for an anime, I never had even attempted to write something with arguably my two favorite characters in speculative fiction; Peter Parker/Spider-Man and one of his real arch rivals, Venom!

Of course I couldn't just do a straight up Spider-Man and Venom story. Thankfully my lovely significant other got me hooked on a rather famous television program called Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. And from my growing obsession with that, the news of a Venom movie, and a general desire to finally try to write my favorite comic book characters, this story was born.

For those of you who want a reference, this story takes place as a sort of "what if" directly after the 2016-2017 Venom mini-series. Also, Manhattan Special Victims Unit exists within the Prime Marvel Universe, so Earth 616.

Let me know what you think of these two chapters. If you like it, the story goes on. If not, I'll fine tune it until I get it right. Please critique and support as always.

Kind Regards,
Symbiotic

PS: For those of you who may read my other work, particularly in the Little Witch Academia fandom, just know I'm taking a break from that fandom for awhile because reasons. All of my plans for that fandom are still ago, just being pushed back for now.

This was a really bad idea.

"No, it wasn't just a bad idea," Peter Parker thought as he swung through the city. "This is a stupid idea."

The Web Slinger kept up his pace as he made his way through the city, chasing down the target that both he and the FBI were honing in on fast. They were going after one of the most dangerous enemies he had ever known. Perhaps more dangerous than The Green Goblin and his alter ego, Norman Osborne, depending on what lense the crisis was viewed through. He was even more dangerous than the Superior Octopus, Otto Octavius having taken up residence inside a partial clone of Peter himself that Octavius had continually tried to take him down in. But this enemy, perhaps greater than Osborne or Octavius, was personal.

It was yet another duel between him and the Venom symbiote.

It wasn't supposed to go down this way. The Venom symbiote, after years of trying to do nothing but kill Spider-Man, had supposedly changed for the better. Sure, it had taken up a role in San Francisco at one point as the "Lethal Protector", but it always had hatred for Peter and his alter ego throughout it all. That hatred had spread from host to host, and even the use of special serums developed by Norman Osborne didn't seem enough to truly suppress it. It was only at the behest of Flash Thompson that the symbiote had begun to change, through Flash's heroism with the Federal Government and his subsequent service with the Secret Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. But Flash had long been separated from the Venom symbiote, and it had become suspiciously quiet since then. Until it had taken up a new host in the thug that was Lee Price. And then things had gone back to the way that they always were.

At least it appeared that way.

The symbiote was now a monster again. It was going on a murderous rampage just as it had done with previous hosts years ago. It didn't appear any different to Peter, it was still the same inky black mass that had been a killer before and was going to stay a killer. At least that's what he knew it as.

Yet here he was, swinging after it in as part of a plan conjured up by none other than Eddie Brock. The most infamous host of the symbiote, Brock perhaps knew more of its inner workings than anyone else. He and the alien had taken vengeance upon and tried to kill Peter and his alter ego numerous times, tormenting his loved ones on an almost daily basis during the height of their battles. Eddie had long been separated from the symbiote, having taken up stints as everything from the symbiote doppleganger known as Anti-Venom to a tenure as the Venom symbiote's "grandchild" known as Toxin. But Eddie had been purged of Anti-Venom and Toxin was now deceased. Peter knew that Eddie knew more about the symbiotes and their inner workings than perhaps anyone else; save himself and maybe Flash. All of that was accumulated over the years of being bonded and going through everything from wanting to kill Spider-Man, being his partner against Carnage, becoming a vigilante, and going back to villainy again. If anyone knew the symbiote well and how to take it down it was going to be Eddie.

And Peter had to put his trust in him, which was certainly not the most confidence inspiring of ideas.

Before he could ruminate further he saw it; the exploding gas tanks, the fire, and in the middle of it all was the seemingly unhinged black and white monster that Peter had been fighting for years; Venom himself.

Peter quickly swung himself down toward the creature and went right after Price. The fire around him was consuming the space at a rapid rate, and Peter had to be careful that the symbiote, which was weakened by fire, was not going to try anything that he wouldn't be prepared for. The Venom symbiote, perhaps more than any Goblin or Doc Ock iteration than he had ever faced, was arguably the most unpredictable enemy he had ever faced.

"Hey there, Chuckles," Peter said. Underneath his mask he let gave a wry smile as he swung down toward his target. Before Venom could truly react Peter delivered a swinging kick from his webline, hitting the symbiote and its brutish host so hard it flung Venom out from the fire circling fire just before it encased them completely. He knew he had removed a threat to the symbiote by getting Venom out of the fire, but now he was more vulnerable to it in a fight. Still, this Venom didn't seem to be nearly as capable of a combatant as either Eddie, Flash, or any of the other hosts it had bonded with.

Venom turned towards him after being knocked backwards. "You," the monster snarled. "I'll kill you!"

"I?" Peter thought to himself. It had been a long time that the symbiote had referred to itself as "I". Usually that meant it had taken complete control of its host. Yet it had been some time since the symbiote wanted to do that, and the tone was different this time. It wasn't the symbiote that was declaring it would kill Spider-Man; it was Lee Price.

"Perhaps this plan would work after all," Peter thought. Maybe Eddie was crazy enough, crazy like a fox, that his idea would achieve the result they sought.

Venom charged at him at full force. Peter deftly avoided the assault as Venom began to lash out him. He easily evaded all of Lee's attacks, the strength of the symbiote not being nearly enough to hit him. Spider-Man was a much more formidable combatant against the dual life form that was Venom from when they first fought years ago. He was smarter, faster, and stronger since they had first met.

"I'll kill you before I let you chase me around for the rest of my life," Lee snarled as he continued his assault.

"Would you listen for second before you get to the brain eating?" Peter asked. He raised his hands and fired from his web shooters, aiming directly at the mouth of the symbiote and its host. As Venom ingested and found his mouth bound up by Spider-Man webbing Peter continued to dodge Lee's assault. It was then that Peter stood absolutely still and faced down the monster.

"I didn't actually come here to fight," Peter stated. He paused for a quick moment, thinking long and hard with what he was about to say. He couldn't believe he was actually going to let these words out of his mouth.

"I came for the suit."

"I want it back so things can be the way they used to be," Spiderman said.

The symbiote listened closely to the wall-crawler's declaration. "Back to the way things used to be," it said to itself. "To the way things used to be…"

The memories came back hard and fast. When Spiderman first freed him from the prison he had been put in on Battleworld. When he first made his way up the arms of Peter Parker and began the process of bonding with his mind. The elation that it felt when it realized that Peter Parker not only led an interesting life, the kind of life that would be highly entertaining to the symbiote, but also a shared bond. The symbiote appreciated the kind way its host treated it, and Peter had appreciated its powers. The two revelled in their shared strength, the power that came from the two of them being as one. All the memories of their times facing villains like Sabretooth, the Hobgoblin, and Black Cat before she had turned good. The feelings stirred up by Peter and Feliciag Hardy, they were at first foreign to the symbiote. It was the first time it experienced love from the human perspective. And through this experience it had some to realize it was in love with Spiderman. It wanted nothing more than to be permanently bonded with Spiderman.

But that wasn't to be. The symbiote had thought its actions were good. It had thought that going out and fighting crime without Peter's permissionwas a good idea. It was stopping the greatest scum of New York City and striking fear into the hearts of criminals all over the metropolis. But Peter had grown suspicious, and eventually with the help of Reed Richards it had separated the symbiote from himself. And nothing, not even a last ditch bonding to prove its love and need for Peter Parker, could bring them back together. Peter had warded the symbiote off with church bells, and it came to rest and recuperate in the rafters of Saint Peter's.

But that betrayal had seemed so long ago. The symbiote itself had changed. It wanted to be a hero. Flash, and to a lesser extent Eddie, had taught it that it was capable of good even when it was away from Spiderman. It was tired of being used as a weapon. It was tired of killing. It was tired of being dominated and used for villainy the way Lee had once was.

"Yes."

The symbiote began the process, unwinding itself from Lee's brain and nervous system. All at once the former Army Ranger turned crook felt the alien slipping away from him. And as it unwound itself the symbiote began to feel itself flooded with memories; memories of the seemingly lonely child that Lee once was. "Please," Lee pleaded from within. "Please don't leave me. I don't wanna be alone anymore."

And for a moment the symbiote stopped. For a moment it was quiet, hesitating as it witnessed the feelings and memories coming off it. And it strangely began to feel empathy, the same empathy it felt when it first saved Lee and saved him again when he was gunned down.

But in this hesitation other memories began to return. Memories of Lee brutally murdering his parents, memories of Lee gunning down innocent civilians during his military career, and of taking out hits for the various gangs he had come into contact since he left the Army. That killed all feelings of empathy within the symbiote, and it continued its exit from Lee's body, stating with spite that it knew the reason why Lee had killed his parents and that Lee was nothing more than a weak, hateful man who was far beyond redemption.

Lee could feel the symbiote further unwind itself. And as it left him, as it began to process of willfully separating himself from the man who had dominated it and used it as a weapon to gain control and take down his enemies, he made a declaration to the symbiote. "If you leave," he said angrily. "If you leave...I'll kill you!"

For a brief moment the symbiote tightened its grip on Lee, making the former Army Ranger gasp for air. "No, Lee," the symbiote declared. "You'll never kill anyone again."

And with that the symbiote began its final separation, the last of its tendrils unwinding itself from Lee and leaving him powerless upon the ground. It then made a B-line toward Spiderman. "That's it," Spiderman said happily. "Only a little closer. Then things can be just the way they used to be."

"A hero," the symbiote said. "We can be a hero again! Spiderman can be a hero again!"

And then the symbiote heard something, words muttered under Spiderman's breath. "I'm definitely going to hell for this."

"What?"

And before the symbiote could react it felt a deafening roar overtake the street. It wailed in pain, letting out a wretched scream as it tried to find the source of the attack that was rendering it so weak. Its body wretched in pain as it looked around and found the source. It was a man standing in a green shirt and a helmet holding a sonic rifle, one of the most hated weapons the symbiote had ever encountered. It was a weapon that had been used against it countless times, always with the intention of killing it, though usually it only succeeded in weakening it. And this sonic rifle was amplified to the max it possibly could be, sending out painful waves through the air that tore at the symbiote.

"No!" the symbiote screamed in agony. It continued to get bombarded by the sonic waves. "Why?! Why are you doing this?!"

The symbiote watched Spiderman turn to the men who had been firing the sonic rifle. They reached inside a large truck for something and handed it to Spiderman. The symbiote immediately recognized the object; it was a containment unit.

Spiderman had set up a trap. The symbiote had put its trust in Spiderman, in Peter Parker, the one it wanted to be with the most, and it was immediately betrayed.

"I hate you…I HATE YOU!"

And in the fury of the battle, as Spiderman moved in with the containment unit the symbiote took notice of something peculiar; an open manhole cover.

Without hesitation it made its next move.

Sirens and the slightly deafened rumble of Ford V8s broke through the night air of New York City. A black Crown Victoria whipped its way around the corner of the wet New York City streets. The blue and white lights of the cruiser spun, setting of flashes in the air as the car made its way closer and closer to its destination, and to the drivers' intended target.

It was a high stakes operation for detectives Dominick "Sonny" Carisi and Amanda Rollins. The Manhattan Special Victims Unit had been working overtime the past twenty eight or so hours in a high profile Amber Alert situation. Two days ago an eight year old girl by the name of Annabelle Westler had been picked up by what appeared to be the wealthy girl's personal driver from her ritzy NYC private school. But instead the driver did something far more nefarious.. He figured that kidnapping Annabelle Westler, the daughter of a powerful hedge fund manager, would result in a large payday. He had carefully staked out his plan, monitoring the girl's schedule so to see a weak point to get the girl when she was in school. The plan he hatched had gone perfectly.

What he didn't anticipate was Annabelle Westler having Type 1 diabetes and needing regular insulin injections to not fall into diabetic ketoacidosis. Now the stakes had been raised considerably. Her parents had done a good job keeping things relatively secret, as if they didn't want the world to know their daughter was afflicted with the condition. Now the kidnapper found himself up shit's creek without a paddle. Annabelle was increasingly within the throes of ketoacidosis. She was on the border of coma territory, barely lucid and unable to scream or say a word. And if this continued on any longer Annabelle would certainly die. The kidnapper only wanted ransom money, not the dead body of a child. A first degree murder charge was not something he wanted to deal with.

Rollins and Carisi had been in on the hunt for Annabelle from the get-go and were not about to let things slip up. When a local patrolman tracked the stolen Lincoln Navigator that the driver was using to drive Annabelle around in the entire SVU squad mobilized themselves with the help of the greater 16th precinct. Though it was intended to be a hostage negotiation there was the very real possibility that force would have to be the way they would rescue Annabelle Westler, and that was why every resource the Sixteenth Precinct could pull together was being brought to bear on this rescue.

Or so that was the plan.

As Carisi continued to drive toward the rendezvous point Amanda felt a vibration from her pocket. Reaching down she whipped out her smartphone and looked at it closely. It was a call from none other than her commanding officer, Lieutenant Olivia Benson. Amanda swiped left on the call and listened closely. Her lieutenant's words made her groan in defeat before she hung up on the call.

"What was that about?" Carisi asked.

"It was Liv," Amanda sighed. "We're not getting backup like we were supposed to."

Carisi had a dumbfounded look on his face as he tried to maintain his eyes on the road through the labyrinth of buildings that led into an old industrial park laden with several abandoned factories and decayed warehouses. "Why aren't we getting backup?" he said in a shocked tone. "We're dealing with a hostage taker holding diabetic child. What could possibly be more important than that in the city right now?"

"Liv said there was a helicopter crash uptown," Amanda said.

"A helicopter crash?" Carisi said in shock. "Are you serious? What the hell was that about?"

"Liv doesn't know anything beyond that Spider-Man was somehow involved," the blonde explained. "Isn't it just so fitting?"

"Yeah the night you and I gotta do a hostage negotiation we get no backup because that wall crawler had to take down a helicopter," Carisi said. "That's just great." He shook his head at the absurdity of the situation before looking back over at his partner. "Just our luck isn't it, Rollins?"

"Yeah, just our luck," Amanda replied with a forced smile and a shake of her head.

Carisi's agitation did lighten her mood a little, even if the situation still clearly sucked. This was the price though in living in New York City, a city seemingly overrun with superheroes and supervillains that constantly were jockeying with one another. Amanda was certainly glad that there were heroes who could keep New York safe from things that the NYPD couldn't protect them from. That didn't mean she didn't think that sometimes they were a massive nuisance and got in the way of some of her job. None of those heroes seemed to get more in their way than Spiderman, perhaps the most famous of all the heroes who resided in New York City. It seemed like if there was ever a battle with a super villain that was gonna hold up Rollins and the rest of SVU from doing their job it almost always was Spider-Man. Still, she remained rather ambivalent toward the web-slinger; unlike Carisi who almost religiously read the Daily Bugle and bought into the anti-Spiderman hype that J. Jonah Jameson liked to peddle.

Web-Slinger shenanigans aside Rollins knew that her and Carisi were still well equipped to deal with the hostage situation. Rollins had developed a strong ability to negotiate with hostage takers, exemplified by her confrontation with Holden March, where she had successfully freed several students the young man had taken hostage. Rollins still wondered about that day and whether she would have been able to get Holden out of the building alive rather than just in put him within the center of NYPD sniper's scope. It was one of many situations she frequently wondered and thought introspectively about since she had arrived in New York, perhaps though more than any other.

Rollins hoped that this would be an easy negotiation. Pass the money the crook wanted and get Annabelle Westler back. But nothing ever goes so easily, so Rollins tried to play out every possible scenario in her head. There was the possibility they were going into an ambush, that the kidnapper had backup who would gun them down for the money and take Annabelle away. There was the chance Annabelle was already dead without her insulin. There also was the possibility that Carisi and her might be able to bring the kidnapper to justice, which would really make her evening.

Eventually they stopped near the loading dock of a warehouse that had clearly seen better days. Parked there was the black Lincoln Navigator the kidnapper had stolen. Rollins and Carisi stopped their Crown Vic and shined their lights on the SUV, creating a perfectly illuminated space for the exchange to take place. Rollins and Carisi both grabbed their Glock 17 9mm handguns and loaded them with fresh seventeen round magazines. "I'll go to the trunk and get the money," the Staten Island native said. "You confirm he's got the girl and talk him up before I bring out the package."

Amanda nodded her head and got out of the car, hands at her sides to show that she wasn't a threat despite packing heat. "Hey," she called out. The Navigator continued to rumble in front of her. "We're here for Annabelle Westler."

The kidnapper poker his head out the window. He had a white lamb face animal mask over his face and wore what appeared to be a black leather jacket. Amanda remained composed. "You got the money?" the kidnapper questioned.

"You got Annabelle Westler?" Amanda questioned.

"Where's the money?" the kidnapper demanded.

"My partner is bringing it out right now," Amanda said. "Just get out of the vehicle, give us Annabelle, and you can go free."

There was a pause their exchange before the kidnapper rolled up the window of the SUV and shut it off. Keeping the lights on, he exited the Navigator and shut the door behind him. Rollins watched as he walked to the back seat and reached inside. He revealed to her a limp Annabelle Westler, her body hanging lifelessly and her eyes shut like she was in a deep sleep. Amanda took careful note of this but also remained anxious. She had to get Annabelle away from him and fast.

"You get the girl when I get the money," the kidnapper stated firmly. "And if you double cross me I won't hesitate to snap her neck."

"We don't mean any trouble," Amanda assured him, maintaining a straight face at his imminent threat. "But we have to get her to a hospital or she'll die. And if she dies then I am not letting you walk away from this."

"Then show me the money. Now."

"You want the money?" Carisi called out. Amanda watched as her partner walked up into the light with a gym bag containing $500,000 dollars. He walked in between Rollins and the kidnapper. "The money is right there. Now put the girl in that spot. You can take the bag and go after that."

The kidnapper stood still for a moment before walking up to the bag and setting Annabelle down. Once he did Carisi rushes up and held the ragdolling girl in his arms. He put his fingers on her neck as he held her up. "She's got a pulse!"

"Oh thank goodness." Amanda quickly sprinted her way over to Carisi's side and held up Annabelle with his help. But as she stood there she heard something very surprising.

She heard a struggle, the kidnapper's gruff voice cursing over something. Rollins looked over her shoulder and saw something she did not expect to see; the kidnapper had looked himself out of the SUV.

"I got a plan," Amanda said.

Carisi raised his eyebrow. "You're not gonna do what I think you're gonna do, are you?"

"Call a bus and then get Liv and Fin over here ASAP," Amanda ordered. She stood back up and turned toward the kidnapper, quickly drawing her Glock and aiming it at his head. "Down on your knees and put your hands up, now!" she ordered.

For a brief moment Rollins feared that maybe the kidnapper would pull a gun of his own. But much to her surprise he didn't do any such thing. Instead he bolted and began to flee the scene, sending Rollins' adrenaline spiking as she sprinted off in chase.

The kidnapper led her around the back of the warehouse before fleeing down an alley between two buildings. Amanda kept chase, maintaining a consistent distance as she breathed rhythmically to keep up the pace. She followed his every move in the chase, doing her best to close the gap as the kidnapper threw obstacles at her in the form of garbage cans and other debris as she kept up. Eventually she found herself closing the distance.

And then the kidnapper did something most unexpected. Seeing a possibility to evade Rollins' pursuit, he began to climb a chain link fence. Amanda wasn't having any of it. Doing her best Spider-Man impression, Amanda grabbed onto the fence and climbed herself. The kidnapper reached the top of the fence before jumping down towards a section of the Hudson River. The fence was rusty and was abrasive against Amanda's hands, but her police training and great physical condition let her scale the wall before jumping down to face the kidnapper.

Once down on the ground she continued to give chase, increasing her speed to keep up with the kidnapper. She began to gain ground on him, the distance between them closing with even greater haste. Amanda decided now was the time to use all of what she had to offer. Digging deep within herself, she burst forward and went to make her takedown on the kidnapper.

But as she made her final push toward the man who she was hellbent on taking down Amanda felt herself lose her footing. In her haste she didn't anticipate a pile of rocks beneath an embankment impeding her path. And before she could even try to right herself she fell face first into the rock pile, only breaking her fall with her hands as she landed on the mound of stones.

As the adrenaline slowed down within her Amanda soon began to feel pain, a sharp pain coming from her knee. The pain was particularly agonizing. It throbbed and smarted in ways Amanda hadn't felt in years. She was almost certain she had broken it somehow or torn ligaments; at least it felt that way. She grimaced in agony as she held her knee against her chest. Inwardly she cursed herself. Not only had she hurt herself but the kidnapper had gotten away. Her pursuit had been for nothing.

And then Amanda heard one of the last noises she could possibly want to hear; the sound of water flowing through a pipe. She looked up and saw the source, a drain of some kind that led from the sewers. She listened in agony as the water grew louder and louder as it moved down the pipe.

Amanda didn't even have time to mutter the word "shit".