Avenging Justice 2:

Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday

Part XXIX

Earth, New York, New York City

Edward, "Eddie," Brock stumbled in a drunken stupor through the streets. He was not having a good week. First the little upstart, Peter Parker, returned from wherever he had disappeared to. Second, he found that Eddie had made a mistake with a story. Then J. Jonah Jameson had fired him, for the simple mistake.

It was the serial killer, Sin Eater, story. Brock had revealed the identity, and as a result the man had been savaged by an angry mob. Peter Parker though, brought in photos proving Sin Eater was a different man altogether. Even worse, Spider-Man had captured him, shortly after showing back up. As a result, the Daily Bugle had to run a retraction, and the legal team was fighting off a lawsuit.

All because the newly clad black suited Spider-Man had made him look bad. Brock was sure he'd found the right guy. If only Spider-Man had come to him, he could have salvaged this whole mess. How, he wasn't sure, maybe running a story where both were in on it, or this new Sin Eater was doing a copycat of the original guy.

Eddie's attention was drawn to the skyline, as a dark shape flipped through the open air. He cursed Spider-Man, and whatever he was up to. If he had any power, he'd bring the Wall Crawler to justice, and make him beg for mercy. The venom in that thought made him want to try anyway, but Spider-Man had already gone, leaving Eddie Brock alone. So, instead he went on his way, hoping to find some clarity at the nearby church.

He needed her. Her soft flesh, and the blood running through her veins. Even at night, he could see the warm blood, just below the surface. She would join the others, men and women of all shapes and sizes. He took something from each one. This was how he got the name of the New York Ripper.

He made himself known, and she ran, just like he was waiting for. Ahead the street was being worked on, she'd have to go down the alleyway. He'd already stopped it up, his van sealing the exit. Everything was going to plan, and he reached into his coat, pulling out the gleaming knife.

The Ripper delighted in seeing her panic, and she tried to scream. He was quick though, and a quick punch to the gut robbed her of the ability to scream. He pushed the knife towards her throat, her fear pheromones filling his nostrils. The Ripper smiled, his perfect gleaming teeth, and accentuated the threat. He pushed the knife in, just keeping it from break the skin, but it would hurt.

What surprised him, was the eyes of his victim widening in shock even further. She was scared, but not of him, of something behind him. Except he knew there was nobody there, he'd set up this trap perfectly. Still, he had to check, because he had lost her focus. He still kept the knife pressed against her neck, and turned, only for him to be surprised too.

Big white swept eyes bobbed on the wall nearby, and then grew as they came at him. The Ripper felt his arm being thrown back, and he heard a loud pop. Pain flooded him, as his now dislocated shoulder screamed at him. Then came a forceful punch that sent the Ripper somersaulting through the air. He couldn't feel it, but his jaw was obliterated, and would take three plastic surgeons to even get functional again. The last thing he saw, was Spider-Man in his new black suit.

Spider-Man turned towards the woman, and not without a knife to the neck, she screamed. He moved forward, and it was then that she was able to touch the little device in her pocket. A loud screeching siren blared all across the alleyway, and Spider-Man screamed in agony. His black costume seeming to struggle, sending up bits and tendrils, as if an amorphous thing was lashing out against the sound. The would-be victim took this opportunity to run, the whole time looking back. She made it safely to her apartment, and her next call was to the police.

Peter awoke on the ground, in a cold alleyway. How had he gotten here? Also, why was his head ringing? He remembered going to bed, there were things he had to do early in the morning. He also hadn't gone to bed in his new costume, which only added to his dread. He'd had some experiences like this since coming back, his picture and stories in the news, but him not remembering doing them.

"We are protectors," came a voice in his head, and it was then that Peter knew it was time to be leaving.

He spring boarded off the nearby walls, just as police sirens filled the air. Shooting a line of webbing, he left the severely beaten Ripper behind, while his mind raced. Was he losing his mind? Was this part of what the spider had imparted unto him? Or had his mind just snapped and now he had another personality, like the Hulk?

"No, you are not going crazy," the voice came back.

Peter was trying not to panic, "Who are you, how can I hear you in my head?"

"We are partners, we protect," the voice said again. "That was not a good man, so we stopped him. There is so much to see in this world."

Peter changed course, trying to find anywhere to catch his breath. He felt something trying to restrict him, like they didn't want him going in the direction he was headed. That made him want to get there even more. His mind was racing, and he was trying to figure out how this had happened, just as his left hand refused to move.

Struggling, he twisted and sent out his right arm again, swinging off on a hastily shot webbing. He overpowered whatever was holding the left arm hostage, and used it to quickly zip to a nearby sanctuary. The sooner he got to a place where he wasn't suspended in the air, the sooner he could take stock of the situation.

"Stop fighting, we are meant to be," the voice said. "Since Battleworld, we've done good things, saved innocents."

Peter felt his spine turn to ice, "Wait, you're the suit?!"

"Symbiote, and you are my host, a powerful one," the voice came back. "We are bonded, and we can protect those of this world."

Peter, tried removing the suit, "Sorry, buddy, but I prefer my clothing not to speak back to him, or talk at all for that matter."

Try as he might though, the suit would not come off. He ripped and tore, but the suit just reformed. All the time he slowly started to feel panic taking over. He needed to get it off, then he needed to investigate this. Was it dangerous? Well of course it was, it had taken his body out for a stroll while he was asleep! Not to mention, if the harmed man in the alley was in indication, it wasn't pulling his punches. He knew that hitting a regular human with his full strength was likely to cause irreparable harm.

"Relax, we are better together," the voice said. "Together we are more, and we need each other."

Peter screamed, "No! You can't say this after hijacking my body, now leave, get off of me!"

"In time, you will come to accept us," the voice said. "We can not leave you."

In frustration, Peter swung out and his hand hit something metallic. The booming bong of the bell pushed him back, and made the other scream in pain. On a hunch, he kicked the bell again, and it began to ring as the bell rocked back and forth. Each wave of sonic energy made the other scream, and Peter found himself able to rip the suit off in large chunks.

Then just as he had it completely removed, the suit rose up to reattached, and he hit the bell again. This time the creature fell, screaming down the whole way, leaving a very tired, and sore Peter Parker, wondering what his life had turned into. He was about to follow, when he felt a cool breeze on places that should be covered up.

That was how Peter found out, without the suit, he was standing buck naked in a church bell tower. Biting back a curse, he leapt away, got his bearings and headed back to his apartment. The whole way, he tried to stick to the shadows, and made it back with little trouble. There were at least two or three people up, that saw a naked man leaping from building to building, but this was New York, they weren't phased.

Eddie was praying, when he heard the bell go off. It wasn't time for them to be ringing that, at least for another forty-five minutes. With the ringing becoming incessant, Brock went to investigate. The door to the bell tower burst open, and the caretaker ran out, as something oozed out. He put himself between the ooze and the keeper, and it leapt up. Eddie caught it, but soon found it surrounding him.

Along with it came a voice, "Hate Spider-Man, need you."

"Funny I hate Spider-Man too, he ruined my life," Eddie said, surprised to meet something else that hated the Wall Crawler as much as he.

The voice came again, "We will kill Spider-Man!"

"I'm okay with that," Eddie answered back. Already he could feel strength flooding into him, as well as "seeing" things going on around him.

The bell tower keeper gasped, "What are you?"

"We are Venom," answered the newly transformed Eddie Brock. "We're here to protect you, and destroy Spider-Man!"

Accentuating this, Venom leapt away, leaving the keeper very scared and very much immobile. Meanwhile the night swallowed up the larger form for Venom, pure black with a stylized white spider, plastered across this chest and back. The last thing the Spider would see, would be their toothy maw, and his symbol being worn by someone who deserved it.

However, their revenge would need to wait, a mugging was going on beneath them. The next day, a report of two Spider-Man attacks would be in the papers. Both would be brutal, but only one was lethal. The mugger would end up missing his spleen, and his head. Meanwhile his potential victim would hear the large form call itself, "Venom." However, J. Jonah Jameson ran the story as a Spider-Man story.