Symbiosis: Chapter 8

Eddie's Pizza, 4:13 PM

Peter's POV

I glanced at my watch for the fourth time in two minutes, and I could tell it was already ticking Gwen off. Every single one of us had arrived on time at Eddie's Pizza, except for Y/N.

"Peter, stop that. You're gonna make me freak. Look, I'm wondering where Y/N is too but its not like you're gonna be talking to him much. If anything, I promised him that I'd keep you off his back. He really doesn't wanna see you, so help me keep that promise?" Gwen whispered, nudging me with her elbow.

I sighed in defeat, and nodded. I knew that Y/N and I weren't exactly on speaking terms, but that didn't make me worry any less. Since we'd been here since 3:30, and this was supposed to be lunch, we decided to not wait up and order, so that we didn't eat too late. I still ordered a pepperoni pizza for Y/N, knowing that was his favorite, so that he still had something when he arrived. If he even did.

A few more minutes passed, and Y/N finally walked into the restaurant. My eyes widened when I looked at his face. He had a black eye, and multiple bruises around his face. I was about to ask what happened when MJ beat me to it.

"Oh my god, what happened?!" She said as she stood up to face him. Y/N just stood there silently, breathing heavily. He looked somewhat indifferent. He sighed deeply and finally spoke up.

"Some of Flash's friends ganged up on me as I was on my way here. They were angry at how I had threatened Flash the other day. They got a few good hits in, but I fought them off." He replied, sitting down next to MJ and Harry, and furthest away from me. I looked away. I didn't want him to catch me staring.

"You ok?" Harry asked softly, placing one of his hands on Y/N's shoulders.

"Yeah, totally. This'll go away in a few days, don't worry." Y/N replied. I was shocked at how he seemed so indifferent that the school jocks tried to beat him up, but then again, he wasn't exactly himself, was he?

"Well... we ordered you a pizza. You were late so we just assumed you'd like pepperoni." Harry said, grabbing the spare pizza from the middle of the table and putting it in front of Y/N, who just nodded and muttered a thanks.

As we were eating, Y/N was mostly silent, simply focused on eating while the rest of us talked. Every now and again I noticed him glance at me briefly before looking away with a face that I could only describe as disgust.

Surprisingly, he finished before everyone else despite getting here last. A few more minutes passed, and I glanced at Y/N again. As I did, I see him make a weird face, and stand up abruptly. I could see very small tendrils forming in the back of his neck and cheeks.

"Gotta use the bathroom." He said quickly before running off. I was about to follow him when Gwen placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me, giving me a look that said don't.

I sighed deeply and simply waited for him to come back. Five minutes later, he came back and sat down as if nothing happened.

"You alright? Did you get another of those attacks?" MJ asked quietly as he sat down in his spot.

"No, no it was nothing. I guess eating that much pizza that fast made me feel uneasy." MJ narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but decided not to push.

Later, we left the restaurant and headed down to Central Park. We spent some time wandering around and talking about any topic that was brought up, but Y/N didn't say a word for the most of it. He kept glancing at me over and over, but always looking away with that same confused look on his face.

It made ME feel confused. I didn't know if he was thinking about talking to me or if he was just repulsed by me at this point.

Eventually, we settled down by some benches as the sun began to set, and stars began to speckle the sky.

We just kept talking to pass the time, until my spider sense flared up like crazy. Something was wrong, very wrong.

I looked over to Y/N, who had suddenly fallen on his knees, gripping his head. But my spider sense had never reacted to these attacks before, so that couldn't be it. Still, that didn't stop me from rushing to him along with the rest of my friends. My spider sense flared up even more, and I slowly backed off, trying to focus. I looked around, but saw nothing that could be a threat.

That was when Y/N perked up suddenly, regaining focus. He stared at the ground with a very confused look, until his eyes widened. As he did that, my spider sense got even closer, screaming out in warning, and before I could say it, Y/N screamed out.

"RUN!" He shouted out as a metal arm hit him from the front, sending him flying. We looked at Y/N's body in shock, and I looked back at the source. It was none other than Doctor Octopus himself.

"Scatter now, children. I do not wish to hurt all of you. I only have one target in mind." The mad scientist commanded, but none of my friends moved.

"Like hell we will. What do you want with our friend you monster?!" Harry shouted accusingly. The villain simply threw his head back, laughing.

"Me, the monster? Oh no no no. I've come to take the monster away." Doc Ock replied with indifference.

"What do you mean? He isn't a monster, he's our friend. Get away!" MJ said.

"Oh but you misunderstand, little girl. It's not your friend that's the monster, it's what's inside him." Doc Ock said.

MJ simply looked confused. "What do you mean what's inside him?"

"Silence! I do not need to answer to you, pathetic weaklings! Move! NOW!" Octavius shouted, using his arms to force us out of the way, thankfully using little force. We were helpless to do anything as the villain closed in on Y/N, raising one of his arms to attack him.

Y/N was only managing to get back up before another metal arm struck him, sending him flying again, and hitting a tree. We all screamed out in horror. I could see blood dripping down from his mouth. And there was nothing I could do without revealing my identity as Spiderman, putting everyone I knew at risk.

"So this is where the alien ran off to? What a pathetic choice for a host. Still, the tracker did it's job, so no harm is done." Doc Ock taunted as he moved closer to Y/N. He was just barely managing to stand back up.

"Hm, still alive? And standing? Impressive, but I'm afraid not for much longer..." The villain said coldly as he readied to launch his arm again. I was readying my webshooters when I saw the arm lurch forward, and all my friends screamed out in terror.

CLANG!

I opened my eyes and looked back to Y/N to find that he had caught the arm with his hands, holding it in place. He had an enraged look in his face, and the black tendrils in his across his face and neck were showing in full force, but Y/N didn't seem to be affected by them this time.

"What? No! Impossible!" Doc Ock shouted before attacking with a second arm. Y/N let go of the first arm with his left hand, using it to catch the second, holding both of Doc Ock's arms with one hand each, resisting their force.

I looked back at my friends, and they were all confused by the sudden strength. I looked back at Y/N.

That's when suddenly the tendrils got bigger, and the familiar black ooze of the symbiote slowly covered Y/N from head to toes, forming the black suit. Right as that happened, I heard the deep voice of Venom scream out.

"WE... ARE VENOM!"