The Man in Spider-Man part 2
Ya know, most people around my age tend to have their own things to worry about. An average 18 year old would most likely be more concerned about studying for an upcoming test, asking the person they like if they will go out with them, you know the typical everyday kind of thing. Me however, well...
Venom: I am the poison to both Carlos Ortiz and Spider-Man! I am VENOM!
I have to worry about the embodiment of a supernatural curse from another world that is about to consume me and might go after my friends and family in the event I fail. So yeah, I know this isn't a competition or anything but I think I have it worse. Anyway where was I...?
Oh yeah I remember, I was about to be crushed and possibly eaten by Venom!
So yeah, there I was getting the worlds worst case of athletes foot in history, I was exhausted and Venom had me pinned down, it wasn't fair that not only was I still kind of tired from my earlier fight with both Cinder and Raven, now I had to go against someone that knew almost every move I was going to make!
Venom: I see that you're still not giving up, why don't we make things a little more interesting? What do you say?
Carlos: I say, eat taser webs!
I used the opportunity to shoot some of my electrical webbing at his leg, luckily for me the voltage was more than enough to cause him pain as he jumped off of me and backed away. As I got up again I began to laugh at how dumb I've been.
Carlos: Ya know it's kind of sad, here I am going up against you in my mind and I completely forgot something important that could turn the tide in my favor.
Venom: And just what are you talking about, there is nothing you can do to change the outcome of our battle. You will still die by my hands, that is the only outcome that awaits you!
Carlos: Sorry to disappoint you, but that's where I disagree. We're in my mind, which means...
In that instant I moved too fast for even Venom to be able to track me, I was suddenly behind him with my back towards him and the moment he turned around his body began to react as he felt the impact of several strikes attacking his body. He fell to the ground in pain as I faced him with a confident look in my eyes.
Carlos: ... we play by my rules.
Meanwhile, everyone else was still busy learning all that they could about our life back on Earth. After a few minutes they had pretty much learned a great deal about the two of us, that also included how we knew about Remnant before our arrival as well as some of the events we had to go through.
Jaune: So they did really know about everything, the fall of Beacon, the White Fang attack, why didn't they try and stop it?!
Everyone could see how mad Jaune was, he still hadn't let go of Pyhrra's death, in fact most of us still felt the effects of that night but for him it was still lingering in his mind.
Madame Web: I understand your concern Mr. Arc, but you must understand that the nature of their curse prevented them from interfering with certain events.
Jaune: Are you saying that Pyhrra's death was one of these events, that out of all of us she was the one who was meant to die?!
Madame Web: Would you feel any better if it was someone else instead? What if it were another one of your teammates, or your friends, or your teachers? Would their sacrifice make you feel better about any of this?
Jaune could only stand there in silence as he thought about her words. He knew that Pyhrra's death was something that shouldn't have happened and yet he knew deep down that he wouldn't wish for anyone else he cared about to have to suffer that same fate.
Madame Web: I understand you are still in great pain after losing someone close to you, but do not think for a moment that the boys didn't try their best at altering what they could.
Using the Great Web she showed everyone images of the fight at Beacon Tower as Cinder and Jonathan fought one another while Pyhrra was being evacuated in the Rescue armor Jonathan had secretly implanted in her body.
Madame Web: As you can see Jonathan did create a plan in order to save Ms. Nikos during her battle, unfortunately his curse began to take over and he was soon overwhelmed by the manifestation of his darkest self.
The image changed as it showed Jonathan's mental battle with Ultron. They saw how during their fight the curse began to physically take over his body as Ultron began to overpower Cinder.
Ruby: That's pretty scary, I can't imagine what it must have been like to lose control like that.
Blake: I can.
They all looked at Blake as she explained that night when Venom took over. The web showed them those images as I lost myself to my anger and nearly killed Adam before I stopped myself before I went too far. It was especially painful for them to see when I tried to so hard regain myself only to be stabbed by Adam's blade.
Yang: So that's what happened that night, that explains some of the nightmares he had when he stayed with us at our house.
Madame Web: The night Beacon fell wasn't the only thing they couldn't stop. The argument between Ms. Schnee and Ms. Belladonna during your first semester is another example.
Weiss: So we were always meant to do that?
Madame Web: Yes, and because of it the two of you were able to gain trust between one another despite the troubles both of your species had to face.
Yang: What about all that we went through together, what would have happened if they didn't help us back then?
Madame Web: I can assure you that things would have gone much differently. For instance, that night when Blake ran away from Beacon she would have tried to fight Rhino on her own which would have resulted in her being hospitalized and unable to continue her goals of using her talents for the betterment of mankind.
Blake: Really?
Madame Web: Indeed, not only that but without Jonathan's help Iron Monger would have prevailed in his attempt to overthrow Roman Torchwick and the result during the first Grimm invasion of Vale would have been a success. He already had plans to design his own weapons using Dust, however without someone with intricate knowledge of the technology they had stolen they would have designed something far more dangerous and unstable.
Ruby: So they did change things for the better?
Madame Web: Yes, I know that it may seem like things haven't been easy for all of you, but all of you are much stronger than when you began your journey and you know what is at stake. Now that you are aware of the truth will you continue to fight along side the champions chosen by the Maidens, or will you abandon the battle in pursuit of a normal life?
They all looked at one another as a silent agreement was shared between them.
Ruby: Madame Web, when we learned the truth about what's really going on we made the decision to continue to fight. We chose this life because it meant protecting the innocent and fighting for a better future for everyone. I think I speak for all of us when I say that nothing has changed. We will continue to fight, for as long as it takes.
Sun: There's no way we're giving up now, we'll do whatever we can to keep going.
Madame Web: A wise decision, you've taught them well Ozpin.
Ozpin: Thank you, now we just have to wait for Carlos to return to us. How much longer until he completes his trial?
Madame Web: Why don't we take a look?
She focused her abilities and the web showed me and Venom fighting one another, the area we were in began to change and soon the two of us were now fighting on the SHIELD Helicarrier.
Blake: Is that Venom?
Ruby: He looks like he's really strong, but it looks like Carlos is handling himself just fine.
Yang: I recognize that symbol, it's the same as the mark on his back. So that's what Carlos sees as his dark side?
Madame Web: Correct. Venom is considered to be the opposite to Spider-Man, it's only fitting that Venom is his opponent if he wants to remove his curse.
Weiss: He seems to be struggling against him, isn't there anything we can do to help him?
Madame Web: The only thing we can do is wait. After all, thanks to all of the battles he has experienced as well as his knowledge of Spider-Man's previous battles, he is more than ready to face this challenge.
So far I was doing okay, Venom had me on the ropes for several moments but I started getting used to his attacks. Once we began trying to get some solid hits on each other we backed away and I noticed that the location changed and we were now on the Helicarrier.
Carlos: How did we get here?
Venom: You can thank me for that, you're not the only one who can manipulate the rules to his advantage.
My spider sense began to ring as Venom seemed to melt through the floor, once he disappeared I felt the whole place shake as I almost fell off, once I got my balance I turned behind me as I heard something about to approach me.
Carlos: ( gulp ) That better not be what I think it is.
Sure enough it was a giant black tendril that almost flattened me if I didn't move out of the way in time. As the tendril retracted I saw a giant arm grab on to one side of the carrier as another grabbed onto the deck as a giant five-headed Venom appeared before me.
Carlos: I knew it! I was hoping this wasn't going to happen!
Venom: Are you scared little spider? Surrender now and I promise to keep you from suffering.
Carlos: Over my dead body.
Venom: As you wish.
I ran towards him as the slime that dropped from him began to form into various Grimm. As several Beowolves and Ursai charged at me I focused on dodging their attacks while I did my best to get to Venom as soon as possible.
Carlos: Get off me! Get off! I said get off me you little freaks!
Venom: Having some trouble there? If you can't handle a few Grimm how can you handle tougher enemies like Salem? I bet even someone like Adam Taurus is too much for you to handle.
Carlos: What was that?!
Venom: You heard me. You are weak, always have been and always will be.
Having enough of this I did my best to fight back but I got overwhelmed. I started thinking about how much I've grown, how much I experienced and all the friends I made. I wasn't alone, and I wasn't about to let any of them down.
Carlos: ( Come on Carlos you can do this! Just break through! One. More. Time! )
As I pushed back with all my strength the Grimm backed away as I was no longer in my Last Stand suit, now I was in my own Symbiote suit. The nearest Ursa charged at me as I simply shot a tendril at it and slammed it to the other Grimm behind me.
Carlos: Venom, get ready for a world of pain!
( Quick note: the black suit I'm referring to for this is the one from Marvel's Spider-Man animated series. Obviously you can imagine a different one if you wish. )
The remaining Grimm didn't stand a chance as I easily overpowered them one by one, the stragglers began to merge together into a symbiote berserker as it ran towards me with intent to kill. I jumped into the air and pulled myself with one of my tendrils towards it as I grabbed it by the throat and began beating it senseless, with one last punch that cracked to floor I made it disappear in a heap of black smoke as I faced Venom again.
Carlos: That all you got?
Venom: Hardly.
As I took my stance I felt my spider sense warn me of an attack from one of Venom's multiple heads, as it tried to eat me I dodged to my right as I blinded it with my webbing before I rushed to the head in the center.
Venom: Not so fast!One of the other heads grabbed me with its tongue as it threw me high into the air, as I fell I did my best to dodge several of its tendrils trying to stab me, I focused on my instincts to help me avoid the giant heads that wanted to eat me for a midnight snack. One of the heads managed to get to me and before it could swallow me I used my talons to rip it apart from the inside as the head burst into smoke.
Carlos: Sorry about that, but spiders are not on the menu tonight. Can I interest you in something with a little more heat?
I imagined my fists covered in flames as I rushed at Venom while dodging his tendrils, as I did I also started cutting them down with my talons as it caused him intense pain.
Venom: You'll pay for that wall crawler!
Carlos: Tell me something I don't already know.
As he tried to crush me with his giant fists I used my newly enhanced speed and accelerated vision to easily avoid them and confuse him with some decoys.
Venom: Hold still insect! You will fall by my hand if it's the last thing I do!
Carlos: You're more than welcome to try! But I won't make this easy for you!
As the extra heads tried to eat me again I jumped off each one until I got to the one in the center, I stuck my hand inside it so I could pull out Venom and threw him over the edge as I jumped after him. During our free fall I changed back to my earlier suit as we landed at an empty building under construction. Venom was able to land safely on his feet as I did the same before we fought one another again. Blow for blow we kept going as we traded punches and threw each other around, Venom was then able to grab hold of me as he punched me through the floor.
Venom: Time to die, Spider-Man!!
As I landed I noticed some large metal poles as I remembered what I could do to beat Venom. As he jumped down I webbed up one of the pipes and hit him hard enough to crash onto the floor. As he was getting up I grabbed another pole and hit them against another to create a sound strong enough to cause him severe pain. I then took the poles and stuck them into the ground as I grabbed more and made the sound stronger. Venom tried to attack me but I grabbed another pole to smack him in the face as I kept going. After surrounding him I grabbed one more as I hit all them to create a prison of sound that continued to tear him apart.
Carlos: It's over Venom. I hope we never meet again.
I imagined my guns as I focused as much of my aura as possible with fire dust infused, one pull of the trigger and Venom was soon engulfed in flames. After several seconds his remains burned until there was nothing left of him.
As I began to sigh in relief I felt this rush of cold surge though my body, the feeling was more intense where my mark was and little by little the feeling began to disappear as I started to get sleepy. When I opened my eyes I was back at the Vault and I saw everyone was happy to see me.
( Blake's pov )
As we waited for Carlos to come back we noticed the mark on his back began to glow with an eerie black glow. It seemed to respond to him defeating Venom in his mind, the mark began to evaporate as it left his body. He began to stir as we all ran towards him, when he woke up I could see it in his eyes, there was a sense of accomplishment and peace, as if a great burden was finally removed from him.
Carlos: Hey everyone, did I miss something?
He tried getting up only to stumble forward, Ruby and Jaune held him up as he was exhausted from his recent event.
Jaune: How are you feeling?
Carlos: Tired. I feel like I could sleep for days.
Madame Web: I think you've more than earned some rest.
Carlos: Thanks again for your help Madame Web, I couldn't have done this without you.
Madame Web: I disagree, you were the one who continued to fight despite the odds, this victory was brought to you because of your strength and perseverance.
Carlos: Thank you. So is Jonathan going to be alright? You mentioned that this will remove his curse as well.
Madame Web: Indeed, since the two of you have made the power you both received your own the two of you are able to receive the benefits of the trial even if only one of you was responsible for the curse's removal.
Carlos: You mean how our abilities were enhanced?
Madame Web: Correct. The night you regained your powers, and the night Jonathan had his fight with the Fall Maiden your abilities had fully merged with your souls. Observe.
We all looked at the web as we saw both of their images as their aura surrounded them in an image of their heroes.
Madame Web: This is proof that the two of you are worthy to bear the names of your heroes. Take pride in knowing that you are true heroes.
Carlos: I will.
Madame Web: Now I must take my leave. I wish you luck on the rest of your journey.
She then disappeared and we began to walk back to the house the others were staying in. As Carlos was taken to one of the spare rooms to rest I asked Yang to step outside with me for a moment.
Blake: Yang, we need to talk.
Yang: About what?
I have been mentally preparing myself for this, ever since I first learned about what happened I have been trying to figure out what to say.
Blake: It's about Carlos, I know what you did when he was staying with you.
She looked a little nervous but at the same time she seemed like she was ready for something like this to happen. I guess she knew that this was something we couldn't avoid and that it was better to get it over with as soon as possible.
Yang: Alright. So what do you want to know.
Blake: Are you in love with him? I want you to be honest with me.