A/N: Hey, we're back!
I know it seemed that Symbiote was abandoned, but I was busy with other projects and college and all that. I am currently filming a movie that I wrote and working on an original novel, but in the spirit of Endgame, Symbiote is back for regular updates! As a reminder, the events of Endgame are not canon in this story for obvious reasons. This one's a little shorter because it's just introducing what will happen in part two.
Here we go! Venom!Spidey is back!
The time that seeps through the seconds of Peter's face transforming to that of a big teethed monster came just as quickly when he disappears, the large entity zooming in the opposite direction of the alley. It is large and strong and straight up scary, and nothing like Spider-Man. Nothing like Peter Parker.
"No!" MJ cries out, ignoring the stinging from the cut on her knee and running in the same direction with all of the power in her body, her watery eyes focused on her friend disguised as a black creature, her legs carrying her with all of their might.
"MJ, wait!" Ned calls to her, the skin of his face drained of color and replaced with a paleness that she has never seen on him before. The crack in his voice is what broke her, for she falls onto the ground, wincing at the contact of her injury with the pavement, crashing her face into her palms.
Ned quickly slides beside her, trying to contain his own heavy breathing, placing a hand on her shoulder. The touch of her friend snaps her back into reality, and she turns her face toward him, horror in her eyes. However, unlike Ned, it isn't fear.
"Holy shit, MJ," he says, allowing himself to sit all the way, turning his glance from her to the wall that the deformed version of Peter was staring at only moments ago.
"Fuck!" she yells, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"What…was that?" he whispers to her, his voice trembling.
"I told you, I tried to tell you," she whispers back, "Something is inside of him. That's not Peter."
"How could this have happened?" he says.
"I don't know Ned, I don't know," she tells him.
"How can you not know?" he stands up, turning around to her, "You knew something was going on. How can you not know?"
"Because I just don't. I'm sorry," she sighs, turning away from him. "I didn't get that far. Not fast enough."
"We weren't fast enough," Ned's eyes began to water, "I wasn't fast enough. Oh God, how could I not have known? How could I do that, MJ?"
"Ned, it's okay," she attempts to console, "You couldn't have known."
"No, it's not okay!" he exclaims, "Peter's my best friend! My brother! How could I not have seen this in him? What kind of brother does that make me?"
MJ stands up, facing him. "Ned, you listen to me. You couldn't have known. You know Peter more than anyone else, and that is still true. But some things are even beyond that."
"Then how did you know?" he asks.
"Because…" she sighs, and it was in this second that she begins to feel fear. Her stomach drops, and her skin becomes blanketed by goosebumps. "Because I look at him. I look at him differently than you do. I'm always looking. It's always him."
Ned doesn't seem to understand, his breathing growing stronger and his fists clenching. "I didn't know."
His voice cracks at the last word and then he begins to choke, and then, he begins to cry. MJ hadn't seen Ned cry before, for he was always in such a content state. It was an odd sight, and she didn't like it at all. It burned her to her core.
Michelle Jones isn't a very affectionate person. She hadn't grown up with it, and she was only now starting to figure out how it worked. Nevertheless, she takes her friend into her arms and he melts into the comfort, allowing him to shed his tears – tears in terror for his best friend.
"How will we get him back? Can we even get him back? Is he…gone?" Ned whimpers.
"I don't know how we can get him back," she says, "But I do know that we will. We will do everything in our power to save him, okay? I promise."
He wipes his tears, moving to look her in the eyes. "You really think so?"
"Of course," she responds, "Because we both care about Peter. A whole bunch. It isn't going to be easy, but it's going to be possible. It has to be."
"Okay," he says, beginning to return to a normal state. "I trust you."
MJ forces herself to give him a smile of encouragement, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry…for snapping like that. I just, couldn't," Ned turns to the ground.
"Don't apologize," she replies, "We both shed tears tonight. And for that reason, we are the ones with the power to bring him back. It's going to be us. I know it."
"We have to call Happy," he says, "He needs to know what we saw. He deserves to know."
"How do we know they won't hurt him?" MJ asks.
"They would never. They love Peter too," he assures, and although her suspicions remained, she nods.
X
Peter runs as fast as he can through the night, hiding behind the shadows of the alley ways and far away from any people. To his luck, the city was quiet tonight, and the moon was hidden, depriving them of light. The darkness is addicting; the darkness is safe.
His speed is stronger than before, and he never knew that he would feel so much power. He remains in Venom's form, allowing the symbiote to take control. Despite this, he feels more control than he had ever felt before, clenching his fist to feel the wind flow through his grasp, allowing hiks feet o hit the floor without a single feeling.
"We cannot run forever," Venom tells him, "We need refuge."
"There's an abandoned warehouse on 36th," Peter replies, "I can take us there."
Finding the building, Peter jumps inside through the window, not wincing from the broken glass, sliding to safety.
He rests his back against the wooden wall, taking a second to soak up the adrenaline. He transforms into Peter wearing the black suit, his pupils enlarged and contained by darkness. This makes him smile.
"You've fallen in love with the power," Venom tells him, "I can feel it."
"I've just never felt so strong before," he says, "So undefeatable. I can feel the world between my fingers – I can feel myself crushing it."
"You didn't want to crush the world before, did you?" Venom asks.
"I want to crush him," Peter smirks dementedly, "I'm going to crush him to pieces. Pieces. I'm going to make it slow and painful, I'm going to make him sorry. Sorry for what he did to Tony."
"And I will grant you this wish," Venom tells him, "As long as you keep me as your host, we will catch Mac Gargan. We will make him suffer."
Peter smiles at the thought, focusing on his fingertips and how they move. Clenching them tightly, imaging it as Mac Gargan's neck in his grasp; imagining crushing him.
"We can go to Poughskeepie tomorrow," he says, "Where I went before. Where he's from. We can go check out that club I went to, because I know they know him. They have to. I was just a kid before – but not 'll answer to us."
"Surely they will," Venom tells him, "Or they won't like what comes next."
"Oh, they'll be sorry alright," Peter says, "He'll pay for what he did. Even if it kills me."
X
Happy's car pulls up to the alley where the two teens sat, worry in his eyes.
"Hurry, get in!" he tells them, and they jump into the backseat. "You saw Peter!"
"Oh my God, Happy!" Ned exclaimed, "So we were following him, right? And then his voice was all deep and stuff and his eyes were dark and it was like really scary and then I started thinking whoa what if he's possessed by a demon or something but that's all crazy, right? And then, you won't believe what happens next. Are you ready?"
Happy groans, pulling over the car. "Yes, kid. Can you get to the point?"
"This head came over him, it was black with big white eyes, and it had these humongous teeth, and this long tongue hanging out of them. I thought I was going to die."
"What are you trying to say?" Happy asks.
"We're trying to say that Peter has something in him, and it could come out if it wants. It looked like a monster. It took control of him," MJ explains.
Happy sits in silence, trying to comprehend what he had been told.
"He called himself Venom."
"Okay kids, hold on tight," he tells them. "I'm going to have to make a call."
"Rhodey?" he says over the phone, "I met up with the kids. We've got a situation."
Happy is white as a ghost as he explains, his hand beginning to shake when he hangs up the call. He turns the key back into the ignition.
"Are we going to meet the Avengers?" Ned asks.
"Definitely not," Happy answers, "You two are going home."
"What?" Ned interjects, "We're the ones who find him and actually saw the thing and we have to sit out?"
"It's too dangerous," he says, "We have one missing kid – we don't need three. Let the adults handle this one and I'll let you know when we've found him.
"No disrespect sir, but you're full of it if you think I'm going to sit back while you guys go find my best friend when he's in danger!"
"Ned," MJ nudges him, whispering, "It's okay. I have a plan."
"Give me your address, Ned. I'm not going to ask again."
Ned sighs and gives it to him, trusting MJ.
The rest of the ride is silent, until they arrive at Ned's home. The two are quick to exit the car, and as soon as they're out, Happy is zipping in the opposite direction.
Ned and MJ sneak up to his room, Ned locking the door behind them.
"So," he says, "What's your plan?"
"We don't need the Avengers. They hardly know Peter. They're not going to know how to find him the way we do. Ned, you're one of the smartest people I know. We're going to put your skills to use to track him down, and then, we'll bring him home. Peter's still in there. We can talk him out of it. We can get rid of that thing. I just know we can."
Ned is quiet for a moment, contemplating her words. "You're right. We can do it."
"Better get us some Mountain Dew, because it's going to be a long night. We've got a lot of planning to do."
X
It had been awhile. Since he came here.
His footsteps feel as if they're in slow motion, as if he was making himself crawl forward, making himself push through his fear. What is his fear of, exactly? Is it of judgement? Of failure?
No. It was of reminding himself what he had done.
He hasn't been the same since he heard the news. Since he realized that he never got the chance to say goodbye. Since he realized that Tony died believing that he hated him, when that was far from the truth.
And for that, he started to hate his own self. He hadn't only failed the team, but he had failed a friend.
Taking a deep breath, Steve Rogers took the doorknob of Avenger's headquarters into his grip, turning it and going inside.
"Steve?"
Natasha runs up to him, concern in her eyes, cupping his chin. She almost winces when she looks into the blues of his eyes, for she has never seen him have so much sadness.
"Hey, Nat."
Rhodey approaches as well, holding out his hand. "Good to see you, Cap."
Steve nods in reciprocation, walking forward. "So, where's the kid?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Bruce calls from the other room.
At that moment, Happy walks in, urgency on his face. "Bruce, look for anything on a black monster with big teeth and a long tongue. That's Peter."
"I'm on it," Bruce says, heading to the computer.
"So, something's inside of him?" Steve asks.
"It seems to be that way," Rhodey says, "But we believe we can save him. It's new, and nothing has really happened yet. He's an Avenger now; it's our responsibility to bring him back."
"It's more than that, why we have to bring him back," Steve says, "I wasn't here before. But I'm here now."
The Avengers look at him sympathetically.
"Because I'm not going to let us lose another Avenger again. I'm not going to let Tony down. Not again."
