The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 61: Demon in Disguise
The two Oscorp workers were setting up the final parts energy reactor near the bay, over an elevated location directly above the machine, which was underwater.
"You sure this is safe?" asked one of them, who was significantly younger than the other, as he turned on the machine.
"Hey, as long as I get paid, I don't give two shits. Besides if this whole "Water Efficiency Project" whatchamacallit actually works, Smythe's gonna give us a cut too. So just put some effort into it," replied the first worker.
"Fair enough," said the younger worker.
All of a sudden, they heard the sound of something crashing.
"The Hell was that?" asked the younger worker.
"Probably one of them "superheroes" fighting. Trust me, I've seen my fair share of them," said the first worker, as he dropped whatever work he was doing, trying to make out whatever was happening in the pitch blackness of the night.
All of a sudden, a brown haired man ran out of some nearby bushes, with a look of terror on his face.
"Help me! Help me!" he yelled out.
"What's happening?!" asked the younger worker.
"A demon's chasing me!" screamed the terrified man. The older worker tugged at the younger one's arm.
"We gotta get outta here. Either this guy is nuts or whatever's chasing him is gonna come after us!" he said.
"But…we gotta help! And the reactor is on!" protested the younger worker.
"It ain't our responsibility boy! Now, come on!" replied the older worker, as the two of them started running away.
"No! Wait, please!" pleaded the man. All of a sudden, he heard a growling sound from the bushes.
"Oh God, no!" he screamed, as Spider-Man jumped out of the bushes. Only this time his eyes were much more narrow, and its ends almost seemed to be leaking onto his mask, which also seemed to be shifting, almost like some sort of ferrofluid.
"This is what people like you deserve!" shouted Spider-Man, in a deeper voice, as he kicked the man straight into the water, not noticing the reactor.
"Learn to swim, or drown," hissed Spider-Man, as he swung away.
12 HOURS EARLIER
During the hot afternoon, Peter stormed out of the elevator into the Daily Bugle office, clutching the newspaper in his hand. He walked up to Eddie's desk and slammed it down on the table.
"Dude, what?!" asked Eddie, startled as he turned around in his chair, only to face a fuming Peter.
"What the Hell is this?" asked Peter, forcefully pushing his finger on the newspaper, that read "Spider-Man: Fiend or Foe." Written by Eddie himself.
"Peter, I told you, all I wrote in the article were objective facts," reasoned Eddie.
"Facts?! You call this bullshit facts?!" shouted Peter, as he tore up the paper in front of him.
"Peter, what's gotten into you?" asked Ned, rushing to the scene.
"Shut up, Ned! This doesn't involve you," said Peter scornfully as he continued staring at Eddie in anger.
"If it concerns Eddie, it concerns me," said Ned sternly. Peter looked around and saw everyone staring at him. Including Carlie, who was sitting with Betty. Jameson wasn't at the office.
Peter looked at Carlie and then back to Eddie.
"You're gonna regret this, Brock," hissed Peter through gritted teeth, as he started to walk away. Just then, he turned around and snatched Eddie's phone away.
"Hey, what the-"
Before Eddie could protest, Peter checked his group chats, and sure enough, he was part of one called "Helping Peter."
Furrowing his brows, Peter handed the phone back to Eddie, who seemed to be half confused and half enraged at Pete.
"Peter, I'm serious, if there's something bothering you then just tell me," said Eddie.
"I wouldn't bother telling you. For all I know you'll write some article about Peter Parker," scoffed Peter as he walked towards the elevator. Before the elevator doors could close, Carlie rushed inside.
Just as the elevator doors closed, Eddie noticed that Carlie had forgotten her beanie.
"Wait, Carlie!" said Eddie, as he ran to get her beanie, but the elevator doors closed.
"Why'd you come?" asked Peter to Carlie, as they descended down in the elevator.
"Because I know that whatever's bothering you and causing you to get angry so much, whatever it is, you need to tell someone. And I'd like to be that person," said Carlie.
"There's no point. Besides I've got therapy tomorrow anyways. And Christmas is in a week, so I'll pray Santa gives me a good gift or something," said Peter sarcastically.
"Look, I know you and Spider-Man and close, and I understand that the article would've obviously pissed you off. But at the same time, I wouldn't say it's Eddie's fault completely," she reasoned.
"Right. I'll apologize to him later," said Peter.
"Even then, you don't seem that okay. Like worse than usual. Anything on your mind?" asked Carlie.
"Yeah, it's just….I don't know, it's Christmas, the happiest time of the year, and here I am, barely able to smile," replied Peter.
"Well, if you ever do need someone to cheer you up or just be around…" replied Carlie, as her fingers intertwined with Peter's. "You know I'm here," she finished.
"Yeah," said Peter. All of a sudden, he felt an overwhelming urge, a near unstoppable one. Unable to help himself, he wrapped his left arm around Carlie's waist and kissed her, and Carlie kissed him back.
"Woah," she chuckled. Peter pulled her closer and kissed her even deeply, and pushed her against the elevator door.
"Uh, Peter. I don't think we should do this here," she said, lightly giggling.
"Why?" asked Peter, as he went in for another kiss. But Carlie quickly pointed at the doors of the elevator, which were just about to open. Peter quickly pulled away as they both rushed out of the elevator.
"So, do we pick up where we left-"
Before Carlie could even finish, Peter swept her towards him with his left arm and kissed her deeply.
"Wow," she whispered.
Just then Eddie rushed down the stairs with her beanie.
"Hey, Carlie. You forgot your-"
As soon as Eddie set one foot inside the lobby, he noticed Peter kissing Carlie.
"Oh, hey Eddie," said Carlie
"You uh…forgot your beanie," said Eddie, barely whispering.
"Oh, just drop it over at ESU or something," giggled Carlie as Peter pulled her closer to him, subtly winking at Eddie as the two walked out of the building.
Eddie watched the two of them leave, as he started to boil with anger.
"Nope…not again," said Eddie, as he breathed deeply, walking back into the elevator.
"Come on, drive faster, you dumbass!" shouted the thug to the driver.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" yelled back the driver, as he tried to drive during New York's traffic at night.
"How the Hell did the driving business hire you?" replied the first thug.
All of a sudden, a figure in black jumped directly on the hood of the car. The car came to a screeching halt, as the first thug went flying out of the windshield, hitting his pelvis violently on the bonnet as he tumbled away. The driver was jerked ahead but was wearing his seat belt.
"At least you wore your seat belt, sadly that's not a "get out of jail free" card," said Spider-Man, as he grabbed the driver and ripped him off of the seat, holding him high up.
"No…no please! Please!" pleaded the driver, but Spider-Man slammed his back right down onto the edge of the bonnet with a sickening crack. The driver wailed in pain as he slumped onto the ground.
"You barely even bruised a few vertebrae, quit whining," said Spider-Man, as the first thug got back up on his feet. He screamed as he rushed towards Spider-Man.
Spider-Man sighed, as he ducked under the thug's punch, grabbed him with one hand and effortlessly threw him into a coffee shop.
"Order up!" said Peter, as he began to swing away, feeling weightless as he gained height with ease. He whipped out his phone and began to text MJ again.
PETER: I was just looking out for you…
He then noticed how his other 3 messages were all left on read. Sighing, he pocketed the phone and continued swinging, and just then the police scanner went off.
"Suspect known as Sin-Eater has been spotted at 10th and Cathedral. Suspect is armed with a sawed off shotgun, caution advised," said the cop via the scanner.
"That's nearby…" thought Peter, and just then a deafening gunshot rang.
"Oh God" thought Spider-Man, as he swung over to the scene. He saw the man in the purple sweater and green ski mask aiming the barrel of the shotgun towards a woman's face.
"Please…no…" begged the woman, tears streaming down her eyes.
"Sinners like you need to be put down," hissed Sin-Eater. Spider-Man landed on a lamppost.
"I could attack him from the back…what am I saying, the guy's wearing a freakin purple sweater and green mask. He's a goldmine to mess around with," though Spider-Man, as he landed in front of the Sin-Eater and the woman.
"I guess news spreads rather slowly near whatever hole you crawled out of, but Halloween was months back!" joked Spider-Man. Sin-Eater stared at him, aghast.
"You!" growled Sin-Eater.
"In the flesh! Now what say you let the pretty woman go? By the way, I'll send my number in a while," smirked Spider-Man, winking at the victim, who looked at him and then back to the barrel of the shotgun.
"I thought you were supposed to defeat sinners! It is evident that your form of justice is futile!" replied Sin-Eater.
"Yeah, except I don't walk around being a sloppier Jack the Ripper wannabe. Now, let her go," said Spider-Man, his eyes turning into more of a scowl.
Sin-Eater's eyes were red. "True justice is divine intervention!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger, much to the woman's dismay, as the shotgun shells went straight through her skull, painting the nearby surroundings crimson and splattering them with cerebral matter and spinal fluid.
"Oh for fuck's sake, look what you've done!" shouted Spider-Man sarcastically, as he webbed away Sin-Eater's shotgun.
As he rushed in to kick him, Sin-Eater ducked out of the way. He then kicked Spider-Man and started to slam his back with his fists.
Spider-Man kicked Sin-Eater's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Peter backflipped away as he shot two webs and catapulted himself towards Sin-Eater, who dodged out of the way again.
Sin-Eater grabbed the shotgun and reloaded it. As Spider-Man lunged at him, he pulled the trigger, as the ammo just grazed Peter's left side.
"AAAH!" yelled Peter, as he fell to the ground on his face. Before he could even get up, Sin-Eater started slamming his shotgun onto his back.
"You! Are! The! Ultimate! Sinner!" yelled out Sin-Eater, each word coinciding with every hit.
Peter's head started to throb, as he felt something take over him. He felt a sudden burst of adrenaline from his insides, and it seemed as if the hits started to slow down.
He started to remember memories, and all of a sudden they started fading away. Gritting his teeth, he felt more power surge through him.
"ENOUGH!" he screamed out in a deeper, more raspy tone, as multiple tendrils extended from his back and sides, completely knocking away Sin-Eater, along with his ski mask.
Spider-Man stood back up, a deathly glare etched onto his mask. The symbol on his chest seemed to stretch out even more around his back, almost as if it were clutching him tight.
The now unmasked Sin-Eater stared at him in horror. As soon as he saw his face, Peter stopped dead in his tracks. His face seemed so familiar, and yet he couldn't tell why. Peter seemed confused, as the tendrils retracted back into the suit.
"You're a demon…" he whispered in terror, his face contorting from one of anger to one of fear.
Sin-Eater grabbed his shotgun and ski mask and ran away from the scene, not even bothering to put on his mask as he raced away from the scene in horror, a look of panic plastered onto his face.
Peter seemed even more confused, as he noticed multiple onlookers filming him with his phone. Instinctively, he shot a web towards one onlooker's phone and pulled it towards him.
"Hey, what the hell?!" yelled the onlooker, as Spider-Man crushed it in his hand, staring at everyone else looking at him. All of them put their phones back inside their pockets.
"That's what I thought," said Peter, as he started to swing away from the scene, and back to ESU.
"Why did he seem so familiar? Maybe I caught a glimpse of him once when swinging around the city," thought Peter, as he reached a building. Just then, something caught his eye. He noticed a window open, and saw Mary Jane studying.
"It's almost 2 in the morning and she's still studying. MJ's crazy," he chuckled. Just then, his Spider-Sense tingled. He turned his head down to the street, and saw a man with a camera, looking at MJ's window. He started to take more pictures.
Spider-Man landed behind the man, and cleared his throat.
"Morris Bench, I presume?" asked Spider-Man. The man let out a yelp as he turned around, his camera in his hand.
Spider-Man webbed up the camera and pulled it towards him. Before Morris could even protest, Spider-Man kicked him to a wall and webbed him up.
"Let's see what our dear photographer has been up to," said Peter, as he started to scroll through all the pictures taken, which included pictures of Mary Jane studying, walking down the street, or even changing.
"And Jameson calls me a pervert," snickered Spider-Man. He turned back to look at Morris, rage filled in his narrowed eyes.
"Look, she's my girlfriend, okay? Since middle school!" protested Morris.
"Oh really, her girlfriend? So you weren't the one she was threatening to call the cops over? The only thing you are is a delusional fucking pervert," hissed Spider-Man, as he pulled out Morris' phone from his pocket.
He scrolled to his chat with Mary Jane.
"Ahem. "Stay away from me, Morris. This is your last warning." So this wasn't intended for you, or are you just brain dead?" asked Spider-Man.
"Look, she was my girlfriend in middle school! And she may not know it, but she still loves me!" replied Morris. Spider-Man jumped towards Morris, his face inches away from Morris.
"Listen to me, Bench. Mary Jane never "loved" you. The only thing you are is delusional. I mean, your phone's camera roll literally has 212 pictures of just Mary Jane. "Even if you both dated, she doesn't care about you anymore. So stay the Hell away from her," said Spider-Man, as he pulled the webbing off of Morris.
"Whatever, freak. MJ and I were meant to be together. No weirdo in some black latex suit is going to stop me," said Morris, as he started to walk towards his car.
Spider-Man extended his hand and stopped Morris from moving any further. He then grabbed Morris and threw him across the street.
"AAAGHH!" shouted Morris in pain, as he got back onto his feet again.
"Say that again," said Spider-Man. Morris tried throwing a punch, but Spider-Man grabbed his hand and threw him back onto his car.
"We are going to have some fun with you…" said Spider-Man, in a low growl.
"We? You're a monster! A demon!" shouted Morris, as he grabbed a small stop sign and hit Spider-Man across the face. Peter stumbled back but eventually regained his footing. By then, Morris got into his car and slammed into Spider-Man.
Peter tumbled away near a wall but quickly regained his footing, as Morris started to drive away.
Spider-Man swung behind him as the car swerved along the streets, as it started to drive near a bay. As Spider-Man chased the car, he started to web up the tires. Because of that, the car started to skid and flipped over, crashing near some bushes.
Spider-Man saw Morris wriggle out of the wreckage and run into the bushes. Peter followed him and saw him standing near the edge of a small elevation, and directly under him was water.
"Oh God, no!" shouted Morris, as Peter approached him, menacingly.
"This is what people like you deserve!" shouted Peter, as he kicked Morris into the water. He heard a splash.
"Learn to swim, or drown," he said, as he swung away, back to Empire State University to hopefully get some rest.
That morning, Peter woke up rather early, thanks to the loud knocking on his door.
As soon as he got dressed and opened his door, he saw Carlie standing in his doorway.
Before he could even say anything, Carlie kissed him. Peter stumbled back into his room, as Carlie quickly shut the door.
"Carlie, it's like 6 am," chuckled Peter.
"I know, but I couldn't wait for you," she chuckled, as she kissed Peter again, this time pushing him onto his chair.
"Besides, we've got about 2 hours before class," she continued, putting her arms around him as Peter chuckled. Just then, his phone started to buzz.
"You have got to be shitting me," said Peter, as he saw who was calling. It was Jean DeWolff.
"Can it wait? Give or take an hour?" joked Carlie.
"As long as you want," winked Peter, throwing the phone aside as he kissed Carlie again.
"Dammit! He won't pick up," said Jean.
"Well, this is important. We managed to id the Sin-Eater," said the detective.
"Voicemail's the best option for now," said Jean, as she let her call go to voicemail.
"Wait, Captain. Should we honestly tell Spider-Man about this?" asked the detective.
"What do you mean?" asked Jean.
"Well, he hasn't been acting himself, to say the least," reasoned the detective.
"I know it's not ideal, Detective Watanabe, but at the same time we ought to inform him. If anyone has any chance of catching him quickly, it's him," replied Jean.
"Got it," said Detective Watanabe, as she handed Jean the eyewitness sketch to Jean.
"Spider-Man, thanks to eyewitness testimonies, we've managed to identify the Sin-Eater. He was a rather lowlife, went off the grid a few years back…"
"His name's Dennis Carradine."
Well, a lot happened this chapter! As you can see, I'm slowly developing the rivalry between Peter and Eddie, and furthering Peter and Carlie's relationship. I also had Peter have his first encounter with Mr Morris Bench, and now the Sin-Eater has been revealed to be Dennis Carradine! Stay tuned for more!
In other news, school is reopening (online, of course) in about a week. I'm super excited, yet at the same time nervous. Other than that, nothing much. Loki is going really great, same for Superman and Lois, and the Flash just had its best episode in ages (Season 7 so far has been terrible imo). See you guys next time!
Marvel Nerd: Glad you caught that reference!
Fate-Be Changed: I did take inspiration from The Animated Series lol. Although I have tweaked his origins a little bit!
Geek4Life: Might add that in the next chapter!
SpideyXBC: Maybe once Black Suit Peter goes a little more off the rails?
Teller-Story: Really glad you liked that scene!
redbirds12: Glad you enjoyed! It's been a blast writing on Black Suit Spider-Man, and I will definitely be going deeper. Really happy you liked Jameson's tirade, and I'm definitely going to flesh out their rivalry!
I am The Voice: I feel it's kinda early to have Venom start talking to Peter already, especially since he's still impersonating a suit. Maybe a few chapters down the line!
Yours Truly,
Shadow Strike.