A/N: So, sorry it's been a little longer than usual for updates, but I'm finishing up on the school year so these past weeks have been crazy. Plus, exams are incoming but I found a little spare time tonight to write, so... enjoy!
Also, I will mention that I'm using AO3 as my primary platform to upload this (the story is available both here and there), which is why the updates here come in bulks of chapters. It's because I write consistently there, and then I remember to transfer all the newer chapters unto here.
Symbiosis: Chapter 9
When Peter looked back at where Y/N had been standing, his eyes met the all too familiar look of the black suit around his friend. As he did, he heard a horrible scream coming from what seemed like Y/N's and the symbiote's voices combined into one.
"WE... ARE VENOM!" The infamous catchphrase filled the air as Venom continued to hold back Doc Ock's arms with his own, preventing themselves from being crushed. As he watched, he noticed something particular about Y/N and the symbiote. The black suit looked a lot like it did back when he had been the one bonded to the alien. It was a normal size, thin and athletic, like it had been when he wore it. He supposed it was just that Y/N was smaller compared to Eddie Brock, and that translated into the Venom form, but the gnarly fangs and tongue were also nowhere to be seen. It was just the plain black suit, with the almost iconic white spider on the chest and back.
Peter snapped out of his thoughts when Venom roared and threw back Doc Ock's arms with all his strength, sending them back and knocking the villain of balance, following up with a hard punch against Ock's chest, sending him flying back. The madman only barely caught himself with his robotic arms, preventing some pretty serious injuries.
Watching this, he knew this would soon evolve into a fight of super-powered proportions, and collateral damage was imminent. That was something he learned spending his teenage years growing up as a superhero. He had to get his friends out of the area before they were caught in the crossfire. Then, he had to suit up and help his friend, even if there was a chance Venom wouldn't be happy about it. He wasted no more time, rushing to where his friends were. They had all hidden together behind some trees, rocks and bushes, watching the fight in horror.
"Guys, we have to get out of here now! I don't want us getting caught in the fighting!" Peter said quickly, worry filling his voice.
MJ made a confused expression, as if saying what the hell?
"Peter, that's seriously what you're thinking about right now? Y/N is Venom?! That's what's been wrong with him all along?" MJ said, exasperated.
"I know, I know, It's crazy. But we have to get out of here before we all get hurt!" Peter replied, equally exasperated.
"Well, technically, that doesn't exactly look like Venom. That just looks like black suit Spiderman. There's no fangs or-" Ned spoke up before being interrupted.
"Not important right now Ned!" Gwen said. Everyone was just as freaked out as they were frustrated with each other. Peter knew he had to get them to calm down, fast.
"Guys! GUYS! Can we focus right now! We have to get out of here you know?" Peter shouted at no one in particular. The sounds of angry Venom-y growls and mechanical whirring reminded him that violent fighting was occurring right behind them.
"Pete, we can't get out of here! Even if Y/N's bonded to Venom, he's still our friend. And he doesn't have any sort of superhero experience- Doc Ock's gonna kill him if we don't do anything to help!" Harry pointed out.
"I know! I don't plan on ditching him! But we're just civilians as it is, we won't stand a chance if we try to help out on our own." A boulder flew right over their heads and crushed a nearby tree, followed by angry screaming, as if to emphasize the danger of the situation. "The best thing we can do now is make sure we stay out of harm's way and call for help as soon as we're clear!" Peter said, and his friends finally nodded in understanding.
"OK Pete, lead the way then." Gwen said, and Peter nodded. He started leading them through some trees, staying out of the fight and heading out of the park. Everything was going fine until Doc Ock crashed into the tree the group was walking past, cracking it, but not bringing out. The group screeched out in surprise, and the villain's head snapped to them.
"You... you annoying little bra-" The villain said as he stood up and raised his arms at the teenagers, but was cut short when Venom rushed in and kicked him away.
"STAY AWAY FROM THEM!" Venom said, and Peter could still recognize the hints of Y/N's voice in there. Before Venom followed after Octavius, they looked back at their friends, and softly nodded before firing a "web" and continuing the fight.
"OK let's move!" Peter said, motioning for his friends to follow him out of the park. Once they were safe, Peter spoke up.
"Alright guys, we're good here, but we need to split up. Gwen, your dad is a cop, call him and tell him what's going on here. If we get the police here it's gonna be a lot of pressure on Ock. MJ, Harry, you stay with her and make sure the cops are on the way. Me and Ned will try to contact Spiderman, and see if he's on his way to the park to help out." The others didn't question it, simply nodding. Once Gwen's group was walking away, Peter and Ned rushed into the nearest alley.
Peter quickly threw his bag on the floor and wasted no time in taking off his clothes, save for his boxers, and grabbing his Spider suit from the bag. He put on the suit, pressing on the spider insignia to make it fit, and handed Ned his bag.
"That's so cool! I thought it was all saggy and weird and then it all just fit into place! That's the first time I've seen you put it on!" Ned said with geeky excitement, almost forgetting what was at stake.
"Yeah yeah it's cool. Look, I'm gonna go to the park and help out Y/N. I need you to take care of my bag while I'm gone. Try to find Gwen and the others, and if they ask where I am, just tell them I had to rush off to contact Spiderman."
"But Venom hates you. What if he attacks you when you arrive?"
"I know he does, but Y/N doesn't. And I know it's possible that he might, but I'm helping out either way. No matter what that is still Y/N, and it's my responsibility to make sure he makes it out alive." Peter said, and Ned nodded so solemnly.
"OK, just stay safe out there, alright?"
Peter could tell Ned was worried, but he had no choice. He had the power to help out his friend, so it was his responsibility to do so. He nodded back at his friend, and fired a web, slinging his way full speed towards the park.
Meanwhile, at Central Park
Venom looked back at Doc Ock, who had recently just crash landed on his back. They watched as their friends made it out of the park, so they knew they were safe, which meant they could focus on the fight. Y/N was extremely nervous and confused, but he figured it would be better if he just played along and asked questions later. Still, he was fighting Doctor Octopus of all villains, and he didn't have any superhero experience. Or any real fighting experience, really. However, Venom did, so he mostly followed the symbiote's lead.
Venom swung over towards Octavius, attempting to pull themselves at the ground with webbing and slamming into the villain. However, Ock saw this coming and grabbed them with one of his arms, spinning them around and then slamming them down unto the concrete. Ock raised an arm and slammed it down unto Venom, snatching them in the process and wrapping the arm around them, squeezing hard.
"I was upset to find out you'd already found a new host, Venom. But thankfully for me, you chose very poorly..." The villain taunted, causing the symbiote's eyes to narrow in annoyance.
"Wrong." Venom said as two black tendrils shot out of their body, stabbing the arm and spreading inside of it, cracking it from the inside and disabling it. Doc Ock's grip fell loose as the arm collapsed to the ground, and Venom landed safely.
"Why you arrogant, little, pathetic-" Octavius shouted, clearly furious at the tampering of his arm, but was quickly cut off as Venom landed three quick punches and finishing the combo with a hard kick, sending the villain flying back.
"You talk too much." Venom taunted. Doc Ock reached for his earpiece, talking through it.
"Vulture, Shocker. You're up!" He sent the message as Venom closed in. Before Venom could move closer for an attack, the Vulture tackled him, following up by hitting them with one of his wings, knocking them to the ground. Before they could get up, two sonic beams hit them from behind. Y/N squirmed and screamed in pain as the frequency caused Venom to slowly peel off of his body, exposing him. He got up on his knees, gripping his ears in a vain attempt to stop the ringing.
"AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH! ENOUGH!" Y/N screamed as the symbiote suddenly lashed out like a bomb, firing tendrils in all directions, hitting the three villains and knocking them to the ground simultaneously.
The symbiote gathered itself and started rebuilding around it's host's body. As it did, Venom looked much bigger than before, and by the time the symbiote had materialized around Y/N's head, a big mouth with sharp fangs had formed, complete with the familiar, gnarly tongue.
"Congratulations, now you've made us angry!" Venom roared, getting in a fight stance, preparing for the worst as the three villains got back on their feet.
Everyone was ready to resume the fight when Spiderman landed right next to Venom.
"Hey there Venom. Now you're looking extra venom-y." Spiderman quipped, but still getting in a fighting stance, also preparing. Venom and Spidey got back to back.
Venom only snarled in annoyance. "Spiderman..." He snarled, and the voice was almost entirely the symbiote's this time around. If anything, it was a good sign that Y/N didn't feel the same way the symbiote did.
"Yeah yeah long time no see. Look I know this isn't making either of us happy, but we're gonna have to work together here."
"Fine."
The villains wasted no more time in charging forward.
Venom took on Doc Ock and Shocker, while Spiderman dealt with the Vulture.
Initially, Venom held their own against the pair of villains, but Shocker's sonic blasts proved to be highly advantageous against the symbiote, revealing Y/N's bloodied face as the symbiote peeled off from him slightly.
Doc Ock followed up, swinging his arm against Venom, hitting them hard, and causing them to crash against a fountain, breaking it. The symbiote quickly formed itself around it's host again, swinging back into the fight. However, Venom didn't stand much of a chance against the pair, who took advantage of the symbiote's weakness to pummel Venom into the ground.
"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" Spidey said sarcastically, noticing Venom's situation, firing two electric webs into Doc Ock's chest, and pulling the villain towards him.
"Venom! Take on Shocker! His blasts are powerful against you but he's still the weakest link!"
Shocker became desperate once his backup was busy, firing sonic blasts frantically as Venom rushed to close the gap. The symbiote quickly webbed a pair of nearby manhole covers to him, using them as shields against the blasts. Venom got close to his enemy when one of the blasts knocked a manhole cover from his grip. Undeterred, the symbiote slammed the remaining cover unto Shocker, stunning him, and punching him in the gut.
However, Shocker quickly recovered, and punched the giant three times with his gauntlets. The impact would have been enough to send a normal human flying right through through a bus, but Venom was only sent back a few meters. Regardless, Shocker took advantage of the distance to unleash two sonic beams right at the alien.
However, Venom held their composure, closing the distance between them and Shocker. The villain's eyes widened as they quickly gripped the Shocker's wrists, crushing the sonic gauntlets under the force, and following up with a headbutt. Shocker was knocked down unto the ground, but before he could recover, Venom grabbed his leg and swung him over his head, slamming him down unto the ground, leaving the villain knocked out in a crater.
Shocker was out, now they only had to worry about Vulture and Ock. Venom rushed back to the fight, finding Spiderman dealing with both villains. "Spiderman! Keep Octavius distracted, we'll deal with the Vulture." Venom shouted, and Spidey nodded in agreement. He quickly swung away from the pair, turning around and firing two webs, sling-shotting himself into Octavius, separating him from his teammate.
As Venom saw this happen, he wasted no time, leaping at the Vulture, who was already weakened after fighting Spidey, tackling him mid-air and making them both crash land unto the ground. Vulture quickly tried to use his wings two gain distance, but Venom fired two large webs at the villain, anchoring him. "You're not going anywhere!"
Seeing this, Vulture instead tried to tackle Venom, managing to get some good hits in with his wings, until Venom grabbed one of the wings before it hit, bending it violently and pinning Toomes under their weight. Adrian tried desperately to break free, but ultimately his resistance was nothing when compared to the symbiote's size. Venom pummeled Toomes into the ground. His suit took some of the force from Venom's punches, so the symbiote opted for a different strategy.
Venom grinned wickedly. "These look important." He said, pointing at the Vulture's wings. Venom wasted no time, clawing at the wings, cracking one of them to the point of malfunction, and tearing the other one of right from the hinges. When they saw that the Vulture's wings were useless, they punched the villain hard on the head one last time to knock him out.
Now only Octavius was left. Spiderman was currently dealing with him. The fight was interrupted as Venom swung into the villain, stopping next to Spiderman.
"How do we deal with him?" Venom asked.
Spiderman stopped for a moment to think.
"His arms are fused to his body, but they're still connected to his mind through a neural interface. That's how he moves them. The interface has a sort of key on the back of his neck. If we rip that out, we disable his arms."
Venom nodded, and charged ahead. "We'll keep him occupied. You reach for the key!"
Doc Ock had no time to react as Venom tackled him. Octavius retaliated with a hard hit across the symbiote's face with one of his arms. The impact staggered the half-alien and knocked them off. Spidey swung in, webbing Ock's arms together, and getting a kick in before sticking to the villain's back, reaching for the key.
"Get off!" Octavius shouted, grabbing Spiderman with one of his arms and flinging him away. "I've had enough with the both of you!" He said furiously, pummeling Venom with his arms mercilessly as Spidey recovered. Venom roared angrily, finally blocking one of the attacks, grabbing the arm firmly and tearing it off, then swinging it like a baseball bat to send the villain flying. Now Doc Ock only had two functional arms left.
Peter recovered and fired a web at Ock, flying in with a kick and rolling away. After that, Venom rushed in and tackled Octavius, tying up the two remaining arms with webs, and holding him up. Spidey quickly came in, reaching for the key and ripping it off. "What are you doing! No- AAAGH!" Doc Ock screamed as the socket cackled with electricity for a bit before fizzling out, and the arms fell down to the ground, lifeless. After this Venom dropped the villain down to the ground.
Peter looked around him. Vulture and Shocker were out of the fight for sure. Vulture's wings were cracked, and Shocker lay in a crater where he had been slammed by a very angry Venom. He looked back at Doc Ock, only to find that Venom was grabbing him by the neck, lifting him up again. The disabled arms limped, hopelessly hanging off the villain's body. Venom looked furious, and Peter knew this couldn't possibly end well.
"You will pay for what you've done today. You threaten us, you try to steal ME from my host, you threaten to kill us and our friends, and you put everyone in danger... If we ever see you again, we will eat both your arms, and then both of your legs, and then we will eat your face right off your head, do you understand?" Venom said angrily, tightening his grip on Octavius' neck for emphasis.
Doc Ock simply looked back at the symbiote with a blank expression, refusing to give up anything, taking the situation with dignity.
The symbiote's eyes narrowed in anger, and he raised his free arm, sharpening his fingers into claws. "On second thought..." He was about to drive his claws into Doc Ock's chest when a web hit their arm. Venom looked back at the source, finding the web connected to Spiderman's arm.
"Do not do this Venom. Even with everything he's done you cannot just kill him!" Peter confronted the symbiote, and he could tell that his words only made the symbiote angrier. Venom dropped the villain to the ground, and walked over to the hero, getting uncomfortably close.
"This scum threatened my host, threatened ME... He threatened us with certain death, all for his selfish desires. He put innocent people, our friends, in danger. There is no reason why he should be allowed to live. There is no reason why he deserves to live! If we simply let him live, he'll only hurt more people. We should be ending him, NOW!" Venom roared, but Spiderman stood his ground. He could tell that by the way Venom was speaking, and what he was suggesting, that the symbiote was fully in control. It was as though Y/N had been forced to take the back seat, and this was all the symbiote speaking. He supposed it made sense, and Y/N could use a brief moment to think and catch up with what was happening. Still, it didn't make things any less unnerving.
"I know what he's done, but you can't kill him. It's wrong! Everyone deserves a chance to live."
"He's a monster, we will end him."
"No, you won't."
"We aren't asking, Spiderman."
"I'll stop you, if I have to." Peter could almost feel the tension rising around them. He could see Venom's rage bubbling up, and it was clear that his more villainous side was emerging.
"That will be a big mistake."
"No. It will be the right thing to do. I'm not letting you kill Octavius, and if I have to, I'll stop you." Peter said firmly, and he could nearly pinpoint the instance Venom snapped.
"If you won't help us get rid of his pest..." Venom stopped for a second, baring his fangs menacingly.
"THEN DIE!"
