I found myself running through the streets again, trying not to focus on the missing posters surrounding me, my face looking back at me at every turn, reminding me that Eddie was lying to me. I heard the sound of metal hitting the ground behind me and turned to see the man in the red suit that Eddie's article had mentioned. I stood dumbstruck as I looked at him. He was real? The suit pulled back to reveal the man, Tony Stark, that Eddie had mentioned. Sirens began sounding in the distance and he looked uneasy.

"Kid, I need you to come with me." I backed away a bit, not sure who to believe anymore.

"C'mon, the police are on their way, and it's me or them."

"Aren't the police good?"

"The people they work for aren't and they are not here to help you right now, you need to trust me." He held out a metal hand the light of the police cars began to appear shining on the buildings. I grabbed his hand without thinking and he pulled me close to him and took flight. I closed my eyes and held him tightly, not wanting to see how high up we were.

It didn't take long for him to land as we flew through an open window in one of the top floors of a building. I was visibly shaking, and he let got of me, giving me a moment to check my surroundings. When I looked back at him his suit seemed to be gone, showing a much less intimidating figure then I was expecting. He was short and toned but not bulky, a vast different from Eddie's hulking figure that I had grown accustomed to.

"Do you know where you are Peter?" I knew that I should, and an odd sense of familiarity was present, but I still shook my head.

"You're at the Avengers headquarters. We've been looking for you for a while now, everyone has. I'm just glad that I got to you before anyone else did." He smiled at me but there was still a sadness in his expression, as if he wanted to get closer to me but couldn't. Did I know him? He definitely knew me.

"Why is everyone looking for me?" He poured himself a scotch as he listened to me and poured a glass of water for myself.

"Do you know what mutants are?" I shook my head again, happily drinking the water he gave me as I became light-headed from everything he was telling me.

"Mutants are people who are born a bit different from the rest of us. They have powers that nobody else has, and the government was getting scared of these people. They were worried that they would rise up and that no one would be able to stop them because of their strength."

"Am I one of these people?" I looked down at my hands as if they would look any different and he chuckled lightly.

"No, you aren't, but they think you are. Peter you have special powers too, it's just that yours come from a different source. This means that they are still threatened by you though." I was still confused as he tried to explain everything to me, and decided it would be easier to stay quiet until he was finished.

"The government decided to get rid of the mutants, and they also decided that they wanted to get rid of you. They captured most of them and decided that before killing them, they would see if there was a way to remove their powers first. Some worked but most didn't, but their methods had side-effects. Some became paralyzed, others lost one or more of their senses, and you lost your memory." Why would Eddie not tell me this? I felt an anger growing in my chest as a stranger told me everything that my own partner refused to.

"But you still had some of your powers, so you got out. Confused and lost you disappeared, and we've been looking for you since. We found clues here and there but every time we almost got you, you disappeared again. But, after your helpful phone call to the police station we knew who had you. Eddie Brock. Otherwise known as Venom."

"Wait, wait, Venom?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"What does that mean?" He sighed and sat down in a chair and motioned that I should sit in the one opposite him.

"Do you know what a symbiote is?" Eddie's articles appeared in my head again.

"They latch onto a host?"

"Yes, exactly. Symbiotes, or the symbiote since we don't have any others around that we know of, attached to Eddie. This has given him a lot of powers though, like strength and speed, agility, but it has also changed him on a deeper level. Symbiotes take over their hosts mind and enhance and tweak their personalities. I don't think Eddie was a bad person so the symbiote is trying to do good, but it goes about it in the wrong way and hurts and kills a lot of people Peter. Eddie doesn't have complete control over this, and his affection for you had led to the symbiote to become territorial over you. We tried to talk to him to try and help you, but we couldn't." I tried to process everything he was saying. Was this why Eddie wouldn't tell me? Would the symbiote not let him? And if he was so aggressive why was he never violent towards me?

"What does, uh, Venom look like?" He leaned back in his chair and shrugged, taking a sip from scotch.

"Kind of human, with black skin and white eyes. He also has big claws and teeth." The thing in the alley that found me was Eddie. He was the one who knocked me out and brought me back. A strange screeching noise came from the window and Tony stood, pushing me behind him. A black figure came in through the open window and stood before us, teeth bared, and claws bent.

"How nice of you to join us Venom." Tony's voice was calm, but I could hear his heartbeat speeding up.

"We're only here for Peter." His voice was much deeper then Eddies and his chest seemed to vibrate with the sound.

"I know, but you can't have him. He's here now and I'm going to help him."

"Help him?" His chuckle was so deep it was barely audible.

"Help him how exactly? Take away his powers and leave him defenseless? Or perhaps kill him quickly so the cops don't have to."

"Taking away his powers is the only way they'll leave him alone, even you know that." Tony's grip on me grew tighter as he held one of my arms.

"How do you know they will leave him alone once his powers are removed?"

"They only want the mutants, they won't care about him once they're gone."

You're lying Stark, we can hear your heartbeat." Venom stepped closer to us and Tony began stepping back, myself following with him.

"Didn't work so well for the rest of your friends, did it? The tower seems awfully unguarded. We guess all your friends are gone now, aren't they?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Toy was raising his voice which only led to Venoms mouth growing wider in a type of demonic smile.

"Give him to us, Stark, we know how to protect him."

"And how's that, huh? Keeping him locked in a basement by himself, not telling him anything, lying to him, taking advantage of the fact that he has no idea what you've done to him before this!" Venoms smile was gone now, and a snarl seemed to come from his throat.

"We are clearly doing a better job of protecting him then you did with any of your friends. Peter belongs with us!" He seemed to be becoming hunched, his stance becoming aggressive as Tony's suit reappeared.

"You don't stand a chance against us Tony!" Stark pushed me back into the wall, taking his own defensive stance.

"We have powers that you can only dream of!" Venom took the first swing, pushing Tony to the floor with ease and he only seemed to increase with size the angrier that he got, his liquid skin moving with anticipation.

"We have strength that not even your Hulk could muster!" Tony managed to get up but was thrown again.

"We have speed and agility that your Black Widow could never achieve!" Tony stayed down when came and stood over him.

"Even your beloved Captain wouldn't have stood a chance against us!" He was hunched now, his hand ripping Tony's helmet off and drool running from his tongue to the man's face.

"We want to look at you when we destroy you Tony. We want to see you feel everything that you put us through. When you tried to break our bond, to make us normal, you only mad us stronger." Venom looked at me now as I cowered in the corner, my eyes unable to look away from the scene unfolding before me.

"Did he tell you that Peter? Did he tell you that we were his own test subject to get rid of the powers that the government was so scared of? Or did he fail to mention that he was just as scared as them?" Tony was going bright red and struggling to breath as the hand that had ripped off his helmet held his throat.

"I-I was try-trying to help you, Eddie." Venom screeched in response and drew his face closer to Tony's.

"We are no longer Eddie, we are Venom! And you believe only in personal gain, you were not trying to help us, you were trying to help yourself! You have always been an arrogant and narcistic man, Eddie knew it when he was a reporter and we have only cemented the knowledge now." Tony was crying now, barely able to breath past the clawed hand around his throat.

"You ripped us apart Tony. You ripped us apart and put us back together over and over again. You caused us unimaginable agony, not to help us, but to help yourself. You knew we had more chance of survival then your precious Avengers, we were your unwilling test subject so that you could destroy them next! we are glad that you are still alive though, Tony Stark, because we don't think we could ever forgive ourselves if we never got to see the pain in your eyes when we destroy you." Venoms mouth seemed to unhinge and stretch wider and I stood quickly, running up to him and jumping onto his back.

"No! Please don't!" He was frozen for a second as I held onto him, shaking and crying, and Tony lay hyperventilating underneath him. Venoms mouth closed more, and the hand on Tony's neck loosened slightly. I came down from his back and he looked at me confused.

"This is not a good man, Peter."

"I-I know. I think I know. But please don't do this. You're a good person, I know you are, you can handle this differently, please." My hands were still lingering on his arm and he stood and stepped back from Tony. I helped Tony up who was coughing heavily, and pulled him to a chair, helping him sit down and recover. The door leading to the room suddenly splintered before us a group of heavily armed men came in, unnoticed amongst all of the commotion. Venom came up to me and pushed me behind him, screeching at the men.

"Put your hands in the air!" Venom grabbed the man that spoke and flew him across the room where he now lay unconscious and indented into the wall. I took cover and the men began to fire at him, but his skin just seemed to move with the bullets as he continued to grab the men, tossing them around as if they weighed nothing. More men came in now carrying metal poles. They began to hit the poles together, the sound echoing in the room and Venom screeched in pain this time, and his skin seemed to shake. I covered my own ears, the noise ripping my head apart. They continued the onslaught of sound and I could barely make out Venom as he continued to shrink until Eddie lay before them, unconscious, with no sign of the symbiote. Tony smiled from another corner of the room where he must have gone for protection.

"I'm glad you got my call boys."