LOS ANGELOS
THREE YEARS AGO
A young boy leapt off the wall of an alley way, garbage and trash lied around it as Adrian had on jean shorts and was wearing his white shirt as a mask. He was fighting three gang members, they were covered in dark black tattoos all over their bodies holding knives. They all had Los Cuarenta Ladrones and the number 40s on their bodies. The boys skin was tan like theirs be kicked the knives out of their hands before leaping over one of the larger ones he grabbed a trashcan and like Captain America he through it like a shield into the walls making it bounce off into each three of them before the boy dropped down pulling his shirt down over and running around the corner as he heard police sirens.
He dropped down to a set of cardboard boxes that had three two kids under it "Ven en su caja fuerte." He said in hispanic to them as they ran out them.
"Even at a young age, you strove to do the right thing, admirable." Professor X and Spider-Boy were hovering over the older LA. Following Adrians younger and tanner self, running through Los Angelos. They watched other younger versions of Adrian fighting crime. Usually street thugs, drug dealers, pimps and other street crimes. "Just don't like bullies." Adrian said his mental self-wearing his Spider-Suit.
The two of them were following his younger self "This was before your final conflict with the Los Cuarenta Ladrones, Forty Thieves." Professor X taking them back further. They saw images of the gang Los Caurenta Ladrones gang, seeing them they all had on multiple tattoos with matching masks.
"They were the henchmen to the King of Thieves, first Supervillian LA, well for a little bit anyway until I learned LA was controlled by the Pride." Spider-Boy said to him as they saw the images of Adrian fighting the gang.
"At first, they were just a gang, but when Los Ladrón Rey showed up it got worse." Adrian replied to Professor X. They showed Adrian walking through late night LA neighborhood with what appeared to be other kids, in shimmering motion "I moved around a lot in the neighborhood, living at the Rodiguez's house a lot." Adrian said as they saw him walk out when suddenly he saw a group of Forty Thieves gang. They crashed into a house and rushed in taking everything. Suddenly a giant man with two golden hand guns walked out with a red Green bandana on his head and mouth in a mask with the word REY on his chest with a crown around it. Two people were brought out of the house and the man shot him. "You had to do something?" Professor X said.
Adrian nodded "Most people I hung around with had stolen, not like mega weapons or banks, they just took stuff they needed, most of the time." Spider-Boy said as they flew into another memory. Adrian crashed into a giant warehouse where the Forty Thieves shot AK-47s at him, a shimmer of movement from the memory.
"But the Los Cuarenta Ladrones, weren't stealing from banks or labs." Spider-Boy said as the warehouse was full of stolen stuff, and people "They stole from the people who couldn't go to the cops, who couldn't fight back."
Professor X and Adrian watched as his younger self dodging bullets with ease "You decided to end this?" Professor X asked as they Spider-Boy and the King of Thieves fight through a burning building with the same shimmer as before from the memory.
"But the Los Caurenta Ladrones gang was never the same after your battle?" The Professor said seeing memories of Adrian watch LA disappear. "And the King of Thieves?" the Professor said as he saw an image of Adrian standing at a bus station that read 'Chicago.' The younger Adrian was getting on the bus before looking back one last time, "He left." Spider-Boy said.
Suddenly the memory all went black, "Ah I see the symbiote doesn't want me to see." Charles said looking to Adrian "What?"
"If the symbiote has healed your body, it could try to heal the mind of troubled memories, Wolverine is very similar in this aspect." Professor X said as he brushed by the symbiotes black and red vine like fauna. "Your saying I'm doing this, or are you trying to look deeper?" Adrian asked.
"This is your mind Adrian, the symbiote is feeding on your aggressive thoughts amplifying them to try and defend itself and you." Professor X said as Adrian looked at the violent symbiotes grasp reaching around his brain. Adrain took a deep breath and pressed his hand to the symbiote it latched onto him and started to crawl up his arm as it devoured him. The boy started to pull away "Remain calm Adrian, I am here." Professor X said putting his hand on his shoulder and the other on his own bald head to. The symbitoe halted up Adrians arm and started to retract opening a doorway of the symbiotes own making.
Professor X looked down at Adrian who took the first step in and the second he did, he floated. Both Charles and Adrian started to fall into the darkness, "Where are we?" Adrian asked as Professor X looked around the blackness as they moved through it. "Hmmm it could be your most basic subconscious, or…" Suddenly two big red eyes cracked open "We are in the symbiotes mind."
The two red eyes looked down on them, "It can see us?" Adrian asked "I believe it can also understand us, can't you?" Professor X asked the symbiote.
"You do not belong here." The symbiote said with a deep rumbling voice, Adrian remembered it from when the Avengers, both teams, tried to save him. "What are you talking about, this is my mind, my body you don't belong here." Adrians snapped at it his anger through his words making the entire darkness shake and crack open with red "Peace Adrian, he was referring to me." Professor X said getting between him and the symbiote. "You are a telepath, the strongest one we know." the symbiote said to Professor X and Adrian.
The mutant leader locked eyes with the monster "Than you know why we are here?" Professor X asked it, "You wish to remove me, to separate us." The symbiote growled at him "We're going to rip you out!" Spider-Boy yelled at the symbiote who started to crack and rumble.
"How can you rip me out, I am you!" The symbiote said as its tentacles shot out and latched onto Adrian, "No!" Spdier-Boy cried out as the symbiote started to wrap around him consuming him turning him it, it. "Adrian, remain calm, focus on my voice you have to focus on my voice." Professor X said as they dark liquid like alien creature consuming them both. "No… no-no-no get out, get out, GET OOOOOOUUUUUUTTTT!" Adrian screamed.
Adrian and Professor X crashed back into the room with Adrians body already half consumed by the symbiote covering half of his face and growing. Professor X had his hand on the boys shoulder literally "Fight it Adrian, you need to fi-gyahh!" Spider-Boy shoved the Professor off him with one hand turning into a massive tentacle and pinning Professor X to the wall.
"Professor!" the door burst open with the X-Men rushing into the room still wearing there pajamas, "Wolverine get the professor, Beast, Colossus restrain Spider-Boy." Cyclops said barking orders and the rest following "Sorry about this kid." Wolverine said still in yellow and blue spandex before slicing drawing his claws. He sliced the tentacles right off, Adrian led out a half scream and half symbiote roar as the Beast and Colossus who was in his metal form grabbed him as Cyclops kept his shades trained on Adrian. The symbiote covered Adrian thrashed and kicked "Petyr, Hank stop your scaring him." Professor X said as Kitty and Emma helped him up "We're scaring him?" Kitty asked.
The symbiote howled as it covered up Adrians entire face except his left eye, it stopped when it sniffed the air, and so did Wolverine. Suddenly the X-Men looked to the door was the eight legged spider dog, Fang. It pounced right onto Adrian and started to bite and tear at Adrian "What the hell is that." Kitty said "His dog." Wolverine said pulling the wolf of but it turned around and tore out Wolverines throat "-ggaa-dyumt" Wolverine gasped out as his healing factor started to heal.
Fang dropped down and ran over to Adrian "Get it away from him." It started to tear and rip at the symbitoe clawing it away into pieces of alien infestation. "It started to rip at the piece on his face before Adrian's symbiote covered hand tore it right off yelling as he did. The more he started tear the more it started to recede into his body his whole body bleeding from ripping it out. The X-Men watched as he sat there breathing hard gasping for air "What the hell just happened." Kitty gasped.
Professor?
Professor X looked up hearing his mind.
Again…
Later, the X-Men were gathered around a metal meeting table in the lower levels of the Mansion, "What you all just witnessed will not be uttered to the students, you are the only ones who witnessed what happened tonight." Professor X said as the X-Men all looked at one another "Professor with all do respect, you should have told us that the boy had the Venom symbiote inside his body." Beast asked the Professor.
"He doesn't just have the venom symbiote in him, he has both." Wolverine said his throat fully healed "There are more than one?" Cyclops asked with Emma next to him "Black one is the big one, red one is the skinny one." Wolverine replied to him "There both bad." Wolverine added to everyone, with everyone glaring at him. "So how long will he be staying?" Kitty asked Professor X. "As long as he needs to." He replied "Are you kidding me, we already have enough problems with only 186 mutants left on the planet and we decide to harbor a federal fugitive carrying two alien parasites that tend take over there host bodies and become monsters and go on murderous rampages." Emma Frost said to the entire room.
Cyclops was standing next to her "What I think Emma is trying to say is we need to be smart about this, we're here to help all mutants who struggle with who they are."
"He may not see it that way." Wolverine said under his breath.
"But Professor, we need to put the safety of the students first, our students." Emma said ignoring him, "We aren't turning the boy away." Cyclops said trying to mediate both sides "But we should have discussed this, all of us." Cyclops added looking at Wolverine and Professor X.
Charles Xaiver pressed a button on his chair "By all means lets, we are the foremost experts in helping young people who are struggling with these uncontrollable powers, broken homes, from societies that hate and fear them from misunderstanding, what else is there more to talk about Scott?" the Professor X said back to him.
ONE HOUR LATER
"How you feel in there?" Wolverine asked Adrian knocking on his head as the two of them walked down into the lower levels of the X-Mansion, they walked into a room where Beast was wearing a white lab coat "I'll live." Adrian said as he walked up to a metal observation table sticking out of an X-Ray machine. sat down on the table he was wearing a blue shirt and dark grey pants "Luckily we have so many clothes left in the lost and found we we're able to get you out of those ruined rags." Beast said walked over with a medical tray.
He set the tray down on a small table "If you could please remove your shirt, we could begin the X-Ray." Beast asked him, Adrian nodded and slipped the shirt off and Beast saw his scars "My word…" Beast whispered seeing the scars from Carnage, from Ms. Marvels chase, from even Avengers.
Adrian laid down on the table "Now you won't feel a thing." Beast said to the boy as the table went into the machine "Heh." Adrian said to himself "Is something wrong?" Beast asked him "No, it's just I'm getting an X-Ray, at the X-Mansion, from the X-Men." Wolverine and Beast looked at one another and Beast started to snicker with Wolverine smirking "EXactly." Wolverine said, "Now let us eXamine, this eXtraterrestrial parasite and see what plan we must eXecute." Beast said playing on with the alliteration.
"I eXpect its extra ugly." Wolverine said making Adrian snickered "Venom is a good eXample."
'If you utter one more alliteration with X in it I will rewire your brains so that you can't remember how to sound the letter.' The voice of Emma Frost in their minds.
In another room, Professor X, Cyclops, Emma Frost and Colossus were standing "Thank you Emma." Professor X said from his chair as a screen appeared in front of them. It showed an X-Ray of Adrian's body as Beast examined him.
"As you can see Professor he has the same abnormalities that Spider-Man possesses, his bones are stronger and so are his muscles." Beast said as they examined his bones and flesh under the skin, they started to look deeper and see that coiled around every nerve, every bone and every inch of muscle was this pulsating set of second nerves, they were pulsing with red and black through his veins and flesh. "The symbiote has clearly bonded to the boy here, here and here." Beast said looking at a screen with Wolverine that showed the center of the symbiote wrapped around Adrians heart and up his spine.
The x-ray finished and started to retract Adrian who got off the teable and saw the same screen the X-Men were looking at in different rooms. "You mean that's been inside me since last year?" Adrian asked Beast "Yes, it appears to have joined with all your organs, including your brain." Beast said as Wolverine and Adrian looked at it with the others.
A door opened next to them and the rest of the X-Men walked in behind Professor X, "Which explains how it was able to resist our advances." Professor X said as they looked at the X-ray, "So it's taking over my mind?" Adrian asked him "Not exactly." Beast said looking at the symbiote.
"It has connected to the brain." They zoomed in onto his brain where the alien monster had latched onto "Here at the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls fear and aggression." Beast explained looking at it "The two times we saw it, the symbiote amplifies this part of the brain to protect itself, instigating fight for flight."
Spider-Sense!
Suddenly a loud alarm rang, and Spider-Boy leapt up to a wall hearing it looking around "What is it, are we under attack, Shield, star?"
"Calm yourself Adrian." Professor X said looking up at him, "Its just the morning bell."
Bell… oh yeah it's a school
The boy dropped down, "Oh yeah…" he sighed as he looked at the symbiote, "Hank, please leave me with Adrian, you have a poetry class to teach don't you?" Professor X said as he looked up at the symbiote "But Professor what about your class?" Cyclops asked.
"Emma would you please substitute for me?" Xaiver asked her "Happily Charles." She replied as the X-Men started to leave the room one by one, except Charles and Logan. "So, what do you think?" Adrian asked the world wide head of mutantology. "I think you need to rest." Professor X said down to him "I'm not tired." Adrian replied.
I haven't slept since New York, honestly a nap wouldn't be out of the question.
Professor X scratched his chin looking at the X-ray, "Wolverine will you escort Adrian back to his room, I'll shield his presence here so the students don't know." Xaiver said "Come on lil'bub." Wolverine said opening the door waiting for Adrian to follow.
Adrian walked out of the lab, and headed back up through the building of mutants, Wolverine walked next to him with various students and teachers waving and greeting him but were un able to see Adrian.
When they were in a hallway with nobody in it, Wolverine spoke "Professor will probably be up after he's done studying the symbiote." Logan said as they came to his door "Good, the sooner I get this stuff out the better." Adrian said holding his hand up curling it into a fist. Adrian reached for the door when Wolverine stopped him "You sure you're not tired?" Wolverine asked "I feel fine, but you guys are the doctors." He said heading into his room.
Professor?
"Yes Adrian." The voice of Professor X was heard in his head as if he was speaking right into his ear, He walked into the room shutting the door behind him to see Fang on the bed looking up at him.
I wanted to tell you something…. Something I wasn't sure about it.
Adrian walked toward the bed and climbed into it pulling his blanket apart, and laying down "Yes my boy?"
Despite all of it, barely remembering how this… this thing got inside me.
He felt his hand over his chest, where the Symbiote appeared to be growing
I remember one thing, I remember a word… a name… its name…
Adrian held u his hand looking at it, feeling the Symbiote coursing through his veins "Ruin."
THE NEXT WEEK
"AGAIN!" Adrian yelled panting hard and covered in his own sweat. he was wearing a dark blue shirt with a yellow X on it in a yellow circle. His legs were covered by a pair of grey sweat pants with both feet free and each of his web shooters on.
He was standing in the middle of the X-Men's danger room. The remains of holographic training simulations started to fade away. With broken machines being cleaned up "Command accepted, replaying Wolverines Private training simulation, level five."
Suddenly the rooms simulation system rebooted and three hulking sentinels appeared.
Adrian saw the one in the middle hold out it's arm and charge up a laser using it as a cannon. He dodged the laser and bounced off the walls dodging the others blasted smashing into the robots. He ripped off one of the sentinels arms and through it at another before attaching the one in the middle.
Up above Wolverine was sitting in the danger rooms observation room, a cooler with some beers sat next to him. Logan had a beer in hand he sipped. He watched the boy fight the sentinels when the door opened. Emma Frost walked in her white cape flowing behind him "I see you two have been busy." She said to Wolverine as he finished his beer.
"Locking a kid up in a room with all that pent up anger ain't good for a boy his age, even I know that Frost." Logan said at the danger room controls as Emma watched the training simulation. "I never took you for the parental type." Emma said smiling.
Wolverine took another beer "I know you don't." He said opening the beer as Emma glared at Adrian.
"He shouldn't be here." Emma suddenly said crossing her arms.
Logan stopped his drinking, "He isn't a mutant." She added.
"Close enough." Wolverine said putting his beer down as Adrian finished off the rest of the sentinels "Has he told you that?"
Logan ignored her as the spider boy finished off then simulation.
After a while Adrian walked out of the danger room, "Good going kid." Wolverine said "Beast is going into over time for this." Logan said back to him as they walked into the other hallways. "Professor said he was ready for another round if you are." Adrian stopped for a moment, "I'll be right up." Adrian replied.
I've been here a week now, the sessions I have with Professor X are difficult.
He walked through the lower quarters of the X-mansion toward a locker room, he took off his clothes the eleven year old boy already sported the scars of someone who looked like he went through hell and back. He tossed his clothes to the floor heading to the shower. He had bruises, cuts, and even laser burns from the danger room, but nothing that would cause him great pain.
I have back into all the stuff I've been through, trying to find what the symbiote is latching onto. The Professor says that its latched onto painful memories, memories that I don't want to remember, like how when you see someone break something or hurt themselves we flinch away.
He got into the shower and turned on the hot water, his cuts sealed up, his bruises faded and his burn scars lightened. Hot water ran down his face drenching him with warmth, and steam.
Living on my own, when the Sinister Six captured me, Carnage, trying to escape the Shield Hellicarrier, and when I lost J-
Adrian suddenly saw the blood red eyes of Ruin and black fangs "GYAH!" Adrian suddenly through is fist into the metal shower wall crashing through it. The water burst through onto him knocking him over and onto the floor near the drain. He watched the blood sink into the black holes of the drain, like little bits of himself falling into nothing.
….
The water sprinkled on top of him as blood ran from his knuckles. It mixed with the drain before he finally got out, he headed to the first aid kit and took it off the wall and started to wrap his hand around it.
It's like I'm reliving every terrible day of my life.
He got out of the lockeroom after his hand was bandaged and he was wearing new clothes, a dark grey X-men zip up hoodie and dark pants to replace his old sweaty ones. He walked barefoot toward the elevator that took him back to the main floor.
No one knows I'm here, my dad and the Avengers on his side do, but I can't talk to him, not even with the professors telepathic abilities cause they aren't sure or not if Shield has telepaths on the payroll.
He walked into the hall of students with no one watching him, no one even noticed him. He saw some of the Hellions, Julian and Rockslide, even Surge and some of her friends he raised is hand at them when he stopped. The older kids walked by not even noticing him.
Forgot, Professor X is hiding me, making it so no one even sees me when I walk around, talk about hiding in plain sight, just so long as they don't touch me.
Adrian continued down the hallways when he heard a very loud "OW!", he walked by the open doorway to one of the larger rooms to see a bunch of the students gathered around a girl. She had was of African descent, she was wearing a wakandan dashiki shirt without sleeves mostly orange with greens, reds and black designs. Dark black high cut pants covered her legs with white shoes covered her feet. Her black hair was held back in long braids coiled together, dark brown skin with amber eyes a slender face and full lips.
ONE YEAR AGO
PUBLIC ELEMNTARY SCHOOL 616
Adrian was in school head against the desk, he was wearing his mets hat with a grey shirt and khaki cargo pants on his legs. He was groaning through his teeth as the teacher kept rambling on. "Mrs. Wilson, we have a new student for you." Adrian raises his head seeing a new girl walk in. She was wearing very different clothing than anyone in the class. She had on a long dress that was more of a baggy shirt to Adrian's eyes.
In fact she wearing a similar red, green, and black dashiki, it has enteric designs and symbols sown into it, and it reached down to her knees and a matched red, green and headband holding back wild black hair. "Everyone this is our new classmate Ze-Zeeniby Bombvaynay?" The teacher says struggling with the new girls name "My name is Zeinalla Bomvana." She says coldly with a thick accent of someone not from the US and for sure not from New York.
"Thank you Zee- Zeinalla." The teacher says trying to correct her mistake and not embarrass herself anymore "Do not strain yourself madam, my name is clearly one you aren't use to hearing and I hope one you don't need to use often." Adrian could see the Teacher get annoyed "Well why don't you take your seat than."
The new girl took the only seat available and that was next to Adrian and shot him a glare with daggers in her so eyes they would make wolverine look uneasy. "What are you staring at?" She hissed at him.
"Nothing." He said back frowning at her "Well you seem to be looking at something." She replied annoyed.
Adrian wasn't backing down either "Yeah, just a big pile of nothing." He said before he felt his spider sense flare.
Regret in three, two, one…
PRESENT
XAIVER INSTITUE
You have got to be kidding me, I'll take Carnage again over her.
Adrian frowned seeing the girl again, she was standing in the middle of what looked like a hardcore gym class of dodgeball. A green scaled reptile boy with spikes on his head and left arm which was more lizard than human. He was wearing a red sweatshirt with jeans and appeared to be a bit older than both Adrian and Zeinalla "What was that for?" the boy said shooting up around the other mutants "What was that for?" he snapped.
Zeinalla, the only Wakandan in our entire school, back when I went to school, super smart and super arrogant as I remember, never stopped talking about how great Wakanda was compared to the rest of the world.
"I'm sorry, I thought the point of this barbaric game was to dodge the ball." She said holding up a red rubber ball.
Wait is she a mutant?
The X-boy got into her face "You thought it below the belt you little homo sapien bit-" before he could finish his sentence Zeinalla shot the brunt of her palm into his face and swung her foot behind his grabbing his arm and throwing the lizard boy over her shoulder throwing him across the floor right toward Adrian.
Nope, still just a bit-WHOA
Adrian instinctively caught the boy, suddenly the reptile boy looked up to see him and so did the other Mutants and girl.
Crap
Meanwhile, up above in Professor X's office, Charles Xaiver was sitting at his desk across from a dark skinned African woman with pure white hair wearing unique head dress, she wore a long white gown with a silk corset with jewels around her neck, arms and more. "Thank you for letting me return to the School Professor." She said to Charles who smiled at her "Storm, Ororo this place is and always will be your home, even if you are the Queen of Wakanda."
The goddess of the weather, sighed "If only it was that simple of a title, T'Challa is doing his best to help the mutants in Wakanda as so many other countries are having superhuman registration acts." She said back to him "Nothing we haven't weathered before." Professor X said back to her getting up and looking out the window at a set of Sentinels keeping watch on the school "After M-Day, we still need to be careful." He said, "Does that include holding fugitives." Ororo asked him.
"Logan told you didn't you?" Charles asked her "It was Emma actually." Ororo said walking up next to him "Emma and Scott think we are playing a dangerous game harboring him, yet I fear they have forgotten what the sign on the front of the school says."
Ororo snickered "Gifted youngsters." Charles nodded before turning to her "He's a lot like you Ororo, he grew up fending for himself, looking out for other kids who had no homes, using his gifts to survive and even more." Charles said.
She put both hands behind her back "Would you like me to talk to him?" she asked "No, I have it well in hand, he is doing quite well with our sessions and…. Oh no." Professor X said looking around annoyed "What is it?" Storm asked the professor "I'm afraid my dear Storm, my spider sense is tingling."
Down below in the gymnasium another dodgeball game had erupted in the gym, "GET HER!" Adrian was throwing dodgeballs left and right at Zeinalla on one team and her on the other. She flipped and dodged just as good as throws and he, hers.
Long story short, last time I was here I won a lot of dodgeball games, also my first day of school I ended up creaming Jack in dodgeball so everyone wanted me to play and lastly I really want to hit something.
Zeinalla flipped over the dodgeballs as she hurled them back at him, "Now I know how you were able to beat them at dodgeball, Parker." She snapped at him but when she said parker it sounded like 'Pawker'.
When she arrived, after she punched me I mean, made me play dodgeball against her and since I had to keep the whole superhero stuff to a down low I took a lot of punishment to the face from her arm that day.
"I beat you cause you suck." He snapped back at her, she caught herself on one hand before scooping up a ball and throwing it at her. It flew so fast it blew her hair back as she dodged it by an inch. Her hair braids and free flowing hair brushing it with the force. He in fact through the ball so hard it richocheted off the back of the wall like a cannon ball and hitting Zeinalla in the back of the head.
Her face smacked into the ground with a loud thunk, making everyone make a groaning sound.
Crap.
Adrain and the other kids rushed over to her seeing another one of them down making them all panic, when Adrain got close his spider sense flared.
Man if I killed her I'll be in so much-
He back flipped away as Zeinallas arm shot up to try and grab him "I KNEW IT!" Adrian snapped at her, before the two could start fighting again a massive gust of wind shook the entire gymnasium "What is the meaning of this." Both Storm and Professor X rushed into the room, Storm literally flew with commanding wind around her.
"Zeinalla what are you doing?" Storm snapped at her "You know Storm?" Adrian asked suddenly "That's none of your business." She snapped at him barring her teeth like fangs and Adrian returning the look in kind.
"Enough!" Storm thundered literally with lighting rising from her white hair and both eyes as gray as storm clouds, all of the students and children stopped instantly at the sheer power of the mutant goddess, "Thank you Ororo, now if you would all return to your studies." Professor X said using his telepathic abilities to make all the students in the room to turn and leave the room as if nothing had happened with blank expressions on his face "Now…" Professor X said looking at Adrian "Care to explain this?"
ONE YEAR AGO
PUBLIC ELEMNTARY SCHOOL 616
"Oh, now I understand." Professor X said inside of Adrians mind, the two of them were both in his mind looking at Adrians memories. Professor X was standing with Adrian still wearing the X-men hoodie. They were over Adrians schools blacktop with Adrian holding a bag of ice over a swollen left eye "I swear to Thor if you call her my girlfriend I'll let Ruin take me over." Adrian said arms crossed as they watched both memories of Franklin and Jack making fun of Adrian not to hurt but just as friends do. "On the contrary Adrian, I've spent some time watching children grow, you and Zeinalla are both very strong willed individuals regardless of gender and when two strong egos come into contact it usually leads to conflict." The professor said as they watched Adrian get up and drop the ice pack showing his big black eye.
He and the other boys headed over to a round of dodgeball being played, Zeinalla was moving with such speed and some could say even grace against the other school kids mostly boys with a crowd of girls behind her cheering.
She chucked a dodgeball like a pro league pitcher right at one boy who barely dodged but it was heading straight at Adrian who caught it with one hand.
He and her locked eyes or for Adrian his good eye as the other was almost swollen shut, "I have never understood this countries fascination with this game." Professor X said as they watched the dodgeball game, and more memories.
"hmmm, I see." Professor X said as they watched memories of Adrian leaping out of a bathroom window with Zeinalla down below in the school entrance heading to a car as everyone else left the school at the end of the day. "See what?" Adrian asked as they showed an Image of Adrian and his dad fighting the Rhino again in Central Park Zoo.
"Nothing my boy, we should resume the focus of our cession, I believe its time we return to the day it started." Professor X said as the memory changed to show the past.
It was outside the school, Spider-Boy was fighting Carnage without any restraint tearing apart the street and cars around them. Adrian's mental-self tensed up seeing it curling his hands into fists as a vein started to pop. He looked down at his hand to see the dark black and red symbiote start to take hold "Remain clam, Adrian." Professor X said and Adrian's mental-self took a deep breath and the symbiote retracted from his hand letting him uncurl the fist.
"I wasn't so calm during this." Adrian grumbled as they watched the battle "On the contrary, when you told me of this you said all you focused on was stopping Carnage, often when we are pressed or our adrenaline is rushing we have a heightened sense of things, that combined with your own gifts increased that ten fold." Prfoessor X said as the battle stopped and they walked around the image of Carnage stabbing Adrian "Here, that's when he first infected you." Professor X said as they jumped forward to all the times Adrian had fought and gotten angry.
"Hmm, it seems the more you fight and the more you are enraged it grows stronger." Professor X said as Adrian looked at his memories "Don't suppose you know where a certain green guy wit ha similar problem is?" Adrian asked him.
Professor X hesitated for a second, "… No." he replied until the memories vanished "I want to look further into your childhood Adrian, before New York if we might.?" He asked respectfully "If you think it will help, but Professor?" Adrian asked him "Do not worry Adrian, if we go to deep and it puts two much straing on your mind I will end it, I have wolverine in the next room just encase."
Adrian looked at him stunned "Oh yeah, your in my mind." His astral projection said as they went deeper into his mind. "The reason for this Adrian is because this symbiote, this Ruin is feeding on these memories to stay locked into your mind, like a lion or hyena returning to a watering hole." As Professor X and Adrian walked through the hallways of his mind each door an experience Adrian could see the actual things Professor X was descrbeing.
They jumped back to the strees of LA, Adrian was sitting on a roof top wearing a longsleeved shirt and shorts with bike helmet on and elbowpads. "Hmmm, what are you doing?" Professor X asked looking to see that Adrian wasn't wearing any shoes."
Adrian let out a groan, "Can we please not watch this, I was trying to see if I could make my body make its own web by jumping off a building."
Professor X scratched his chin interested "And?" he asked as they watched Adrian leap off the building and hold his hands out trying to shoot webs but nothing happened accept for Adrian crashing into a dumpster, "Hmmm interesting." Professor X said again before they jumped to another, but before they left Professor X noticed a shimmer next to Adrian.
They appeared in another memory, this time at a beach, Adrian was wearing a pair of basketball shorts as he fought underneath a pier of some kind against aquavillian. They were wearing a dark black and yellow wetsuit with a giant shark fin on the back of the head which was black going down the center of the suit with stripes on the outside yellow part "Tiger Shark if I'm not mistaken."
"Yeah, I went to the beach one day and saw him snooping around the pier as some bigshots were on top, he had a bomb I think." Adrian said as he remembered a scene in his mind where Adrian was wrestling with a shimmering Tiger Shark one on one who was holding a large package of C4. "How did you manage to defeat him?" Professor X asked as he looked at the shimmering part starting to see a pattern.
They watched as Adrian was thrown against a large pillar under the pier "Well LA isn't like New York Professor, sometimes I had to, you know…" he said as Tiger Sharks attacked the version of Adrian in the memory who used his spider sense to strike first and smash his fist right into Tiger Sharks crotch making the man crumble. "And the bomb?" Professor X asked looking at it still clutched in Tiger Sharks claws. "Had to move, stole a ski jet and took out into sea." Adrian some how managed to ride a much larger Ski jet than him off the coast of Miami before throwing it into the water before an Explosion erupted sending him and the Ski jet into the water "Just wasn't fast enough, not sure how I survived, or how Tiger Shark got away?" Adrian said as Professor X and him watch sinking into the water the memory fading until Professor X noticed a pair of winged feet paddling toward them "How indeed." Professor X said until the memory changed to so Adrian resting under the pier with Tiger Shark gone, but not the shimmer.
"Hmmmm there it is again." Professor X said as he looked at the shimmer freezing the memory "What is?" Adrian asked looking at him "Your memories, of when you were in LA, this strange shimmer keeps appearing." Professor X said pointing to it.
Adrian looked at it too "Well didn't you say the Symbiote was feeding off it?" Adrian asked "I did, but than the memory wouldn't be here anymore if it was feeding on it." Professor Xaiver said rushing his hand through the shimmer like it was water "But this, its almost as if its trying to h-" Professor X shot his hand back as the shimmers suddenly exploded into the symbiotes spikey like form "Hide something." Professor X said as he held his hand out and the symbiotes spikes started to shrieked making Adrian grab his head and fall to the floor of the shiner "What are you doing?" Adrian begged as he tried to get up.
Professor X moved closer making the Symbiote start to crumble even more "These shimmers, there is something the Symbiote is doing to your mind Adrian." The memory started to fracture breaking apart like glass as all the other memories exploded with the symbiotes conduit shooting out spikes to try and stab at the Professor but the second he got close they would retreat or harden "Adrian, stay close to me?" Professor X asked the boy who stood up next to him as a spherical shield around them stopping the spikes and tentacles that tried to grab Adrian but the second he got next to him he was okay.
"Whatever it is the Symbiote is doing in these spots is a strong source for it." Professor X said as he focused in on all the memories with the shimmers "No…. no stop." Adrian said as Professor X held out his hands making the black and red spots crumble crack open "What is this?" Professor X asked him.
"We need to stop." Adrian said looking at the shimmers "Not yet Adrian, if this is the source we need to know why to help you."
Symbiote pieces were broken away and the shimmers started to fade, the image of Adrian running through LA as a kid showed a pair of feet next to him, "No…" he wasn't alone as he fought the 40 thieves, or when he jumped off the building "No, stop…" , fought Tiger Shark and more memories surrounded by the shimmers starting to reveal another person, another kid.
"Who is this?" Professor X said as the image showed another boy, the same age as Adrian with Blonde hair and green eyes with the same face running and leaping over the buildings together.
The memory ended snapping them back into Professor Xaivers office at the chair, both of them fell back into their chairs Adrian sweating hard before bowing his head "I see…" Adrian heard Professor X said as his eyes watered up.
"I see, you were alone before you found your father, but you weren't always on your own." Professor X said as Adrian thought of the boy "No, it's the reason I left LA." He said shaking his head "He died saving you didn't he?" Professor X asked him and Adrian nodded "I can see how a memory like that could cause such emotions." Prfoessor X said getting up "I'm sorry about your twin brother Adrian." Professor Xaiver said walking over to him.