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Location: Manhattan, New York

Time: 2215 (10:15 PM)

Date: 12/21/2020

"Spider-Man?"

Both Harley, enveloped in his new symbiote suit, and his idol, THE Amazing Spider-Man, stand in the warehouse that Harley calls home.

"What are you doing here Venom? I thought you were with Flash and the military?" Spidey questions, his stance that of a man ready to pounce should he have to. "Flash and I separated after he gave up the hero life. I have been traveling ever since." Venom's more grovely and hoarse coming through, using Harley as a medium.

Spidey clenches his fist.

"And this man is your latest victim to your control? What's your plan you ink-faced freak?" Harley could sense the pain and offense that Venom took to Spidey's words, so he took control. "I'm no victim of his, we're both in this together. I chose to accept Venom, and we do this as a team, not one of us controls the other." He says, pointing his finger towards Spider-Man, whose eyes are now wide open. "He let you speak, he didn't do that when he was in control…"

"Like I said, we both control the suit, neither of us dominate the other." Harley says, putting his hand down. "Anything else I can help you with Spider-Man?"

The web-slinger stands in awe, then smiles under the mask. "Not tonight. But I do have a proposition for you."

"Oh?" Harley and Venom both say, surprised.

"Yeah. I'm going on patrol tomorrow around 12, starting at The Daily Bugle. Want to meet up? I can show you the ropes of this whole hero thing."

Internally, Harley is screaming from glee, but does his best to keep his composure. "I appreciate the offer Spider-Man. I'll see you at 12." Spider puts his hand out for a handshake, which Harley and Venom return in kind.

Spidey nods, letting go and running and swinging into the night, leaving Harley and Venom to their own devices.

Harley just takes a breath, smiling, with Venom joining on the joy, his emotions transmitting to his host's brain. "So you seemed both nervous and excited to see Spider-Man, got some history with him?" Harley asks, turning on the lantern.

'I've faced Spider-Man a few times in the past with other, more violent, hosts. They treated me like a weapon. Left me with their anger and hatred for Spider-Man, making me a monster. But, Spider-Man used to be one of my hosts, and he lost his way because the owner before him was insane, a trait he passed to me.' All Harley could do was listen to his partner, trying to understand everything as best as possible.

"My last partner, Flash Thompson, was a military member. He and I were part of a project called Agent Venom, trying to use me as a military asset when I was required. That nearly drove me insane, being contained to that glass cylinder of a prison for months on end. But eventually, we moved our missions to space, protecting the galaxy with other heroes. When we returned to Earth, he soon gave up the hero life, wanting to have a quiet existence. He was the best host I had. Until now…"

Harley smiled, pulling his hood over his head, keeping warm. "Thank you Venom. I hope I can meet your expectations."

Venom sends positive vibes through him, but holds confusion. "Why not get new clothing?"

Harley begins to laugh. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't have any money. Which means no food and no clothing." He says, eyes focusing on the fire. Soon he is enveloped by Venom and his clothes are replaced by thicker and better material sweats. "Woah, thank you V."

"V?"

"Yeah, is that alright if I call you that?" Venom contemplates before grunting in confirmation. "I like it. Is it time for sleep now?"

Harley nods, yawning. "Yeah. Tomorrow morning, we'll see if we can scrounge up some kind of food. Then meet Spider-Man for patrol." The man curls into his ragged blanket, closing his eyes, letting sleep take over him.

Harley's Dreams

"Uh doctor, one of the spiders is missing from its block." A man whose face isn't being shown. "Hm, must have been taken out for further testing. Anyways, before we move on, does anyone have any questions about our Arachnid research section?"

"Yeah, why study spiders? They're just 8-legged freaks that crawl up walls." A very low tone and buff teenager says. "Well you see…" The doctor starts to explain the research to the kid, while a spider lands on the first child's hand.

The boy watches with keen interest, the dream focusing on the spider biting into the child's hand, causing him to shake his hand, the spider flying off. The dream tries to refocus onto the child's face, but all it can see is a pixelation, not clear enough to see the individual.

Morning, the next day

"Aaah!"

Harley wakes up in cold sweat from the dream, looking around him to see if the previous day was real. He checked his clothes, and he still had the new sweats Venom gave him.

"V? You there?"

No answer came for a few moments, only to be met with a groan of awakening. "Good morning Harley. Is it time already?"

"Yeah, sorry to interrupt. But we've got to get some food." The unkempt man stands up, dusts himself off and starts to lightly stretch, sore from the previous day. "Got any ideas? You've been around New York more than I have."

"What about that corner bodega Teo's? Their sandwiches are delicious." Harley thinks for a second. "I'd love to, but again, no money. Maybe someone didn't like one and they have some in the trash." V chuckles. "Hopefully."

Harley walks to the door and lets the sun's rays hit his face. "Wait, where is Teo's?"

"Harlem, why?"

Harley starts to have a coughing fit. "Harlem?! There's no way we can get to Harlem in less than 3 hours without a car."

"You forget, you can swing now."

"..."

Harley facepalms and summons the suit. "Alright, you're gonna have to lead me through this. First time doing this myself."

"Of course. Now, first, crawl up this building." V says, very matter of fact like. "This one? Alright." He puts his hands on the wall, then one foot.

He sighs deeply. "Moment of truth." Harley puts one foot on the wall, then 'steps' up, moving his other foot to the wall, and his hand up, sticking. "Haha, it's working!" Harley exclaims, starting to repeat this the whole way up till he reaches the top of the 5 story warehouse. "This is crazy V! Now what?"

"Now, aim your wrist towards a building and bend it down to fire. Hold it down to keep attached to the web. Swing the mid length, then aim your second arm to the next location, and once you've swung the full length of your first line, unclench your fist, and swing with the second web. Repeat this over and over. That's swinging 101."

Harley stands a bit stunned at the amount of info just thrown at him. "Alright, lets try this out. Hope I do this right. Can't afford a broken nose." He shakes his limbs out and aims his wrist towards the first building, shooting the web and watching it attach. "You only live once!" Harley yells as he jumps off, swinging half way, launching the second one, and using that one to keep momentum.

"Wooooooohooooooo!" He yells, looking down at the ground beneath him, the people walking around, some looking up to see the new web-slinger. "Hello New-York!"

From below him, he can hear a couple of the people yelling and cheering for him.

"Go Spidey!"

"Love the new look!"

Harley laughs and smiles. "V, I think being a hero is going to be awesome."

"Indeed. Now, I'll lead you to Teo's and we'll get to the Bugle." Venom says, working as Harley's internal compass the rest of the journey.

Atop The Daily Bugle

"That sandwich was delicious, who throws away a perfectly good turkey sub? Insane." He says, licking his fingers, the suit's mask covering his face back up just as Spider-Man lands on the roof next to him."

"I see you actually showed. Means you've gotten used to swinging, good, you'll be doing a lot of that today. Today, we're patrolling Manhattan, mostly the inner areas, but occasionally the outer parts of the city need to be checked too." Spidey explains, showing him a map of the route.

"While we're swinging, I'll explain more about this job. We may meet with some other friends. Depends on how well you do."

Harley nods and stands up. "Sounds like a plan Spider-Man. Hey that rhymes." He quips, earning a chuckle from Spidey. "You'll learn to do that with time." He playfully punches his shoulder before stepping to the edge backwards.

"What're you doing?"

"Sometimes, in this job, you gotta take a leap of faith." Spider-Man explains before jumping backwards and flipping enough so that his head is aiming for the ground, waiting until he's about 50 feet up before shooting his web line and begins swinging.

Harley takes the step up to the edge, looking over, seeing that this 30 story building is a much bigger challenge. "Okay, just a leap of faith, okay." He balances himself on the edge, heels hanging off the ledge, and takes a deep breath.

"You've got this partner."

"Thanks V."

Harley grins, and jumps off, getting a good amount of air before diving headfirst down towards the bustling streets.

"Alright V, let's go!" Harley shoots out a web line, catching him and he starts to swing. This time, though, he swings to the top and lets go, getting air time and then shooting another line as gravity pulls him down, getting as much momentum as possible. He keeps this process up and soon catches up with Spidey.

"There you go man, you're getting it!" He exclaims to Harley, the two keep swinging through Manhattan, with the experienced hero telling the newbie about some of the other villains and how to track them if they show up.

Hours pass and the two sit back atop The Daily Bugle, this time both indulging in a foot long sub.

"Dang. This is what your buddy Paul does daily?" Harley exclaims. Spidey just laughs and nods. "Yup. Every single day. Best sandwich place in Manhattan." Spider-Man crumples his trash up and takes Harley's trash as well.

"Look, I wanted to apologize about yesterday. I shouldn't have judged you or the symbiote preemptively, and aggressively at that. I'm sorry."

He reaches for his mask and takes it off, showing his face, causing Harley's suit's eyes to go wide.

"My name's Peter…"

"Parker!" Harley exclaims, covering his mouth in surprise.

Peter looks at him, now confused. "You know who I am? How?"

Harley laughs, letting his mask fade away. "Hey Pete, how's it going?"

Peter's eyes light up in surprise and joy, pulling Harley into a hug. "Harl, I thought you left New York, I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"I'm sorry Peter, but I had to keep moving around. Didn't want to let warm beds be taken by me. So I settled down in that warehouse you met me in last night."

Peter backs up to arms length. "Why didn't you try to contact me?"

"Didn't want to bother you. Knew you'd be a bigshot journalist and scientist. But I never expected Spider-Man!"

"Well, tell you what, I've been running a tech company for a while called Parker Industries. I can rent you an apartment for a year, even give you a housing allowance."

"Peter I couldn't take the mon…"

"Only if you promise to work with me in the lab." Peter adds at the end.

Harley thinks, and nods. "Okay, I'll take it. Thanks Pete."

The CEO just smiles. "Not a problem. Get your stuff from the warehouse and here's the address." He hands Harley the building and number to the apartment. "Key will be under the rock. I'll see you tomorrow at the lab."

Harley nods, Peter pulls his mask back on and swings off into the evening.

"Thanks Peter. Second chance."

"He's a good person. He'll take good care of us." Venom says, causing Harley to smile.

A few more hours later, Harley has brought his stuff to the new apartment, laying in the bed, slowly drifting to sleep.

1 AM, 12/22/2020

A loud clattering comes from the living room, both Harley and Venom wakeup, the suit covering him, running towards the sound.

Standing in the living room, in her leather outfit, part of it ripped and tattered, is the Black Cat.

"Felicia?"

The woman turns to the voice, surprised.

"Spider?"

Harley pushes the suit off, leaving him in his underwear. "Felicia, I thought you were on assignment!"

She starts to cry, falling into his arms. "Harley! Help me!"

"Help you with what?"

Before she could answer, she falls unconscious in his arms.

"Felicia? Felicia!"

And that's where we'll end it for this chapter folks. The two knew each other! How you may ask, find out next time, in the next chapter of The Hero of the Alley. Please don't forget to leave a comment and review, all the support is welcome. Thanks guys, see you next time.