Disclaimer: I do not own Spiderman, Venom, Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, or any of the major characters in the movies They all Belong To MARVEL. I am responsible for the new and improved Venom. Also I'm proceeding under the assumption that Venom never found out that Peter Parker and Spiderman are one in the same.

CHAPTER THREE

REUNION

Spiderman swung down alternating hands swinging on his web down Main Street. The street blasted by below him seeming to be a black river filled with large odd colored fish. He was on his way to the empire bank that was located a couple of blocks down the street. There was a bank robbery in progress and he was on his way to kick some ass. He let out a whoop of pure exhilaration as he swung down his feet almost touching the street before pulling himself up thirty feet into the air again. The bank came into view visible by the halo of police cars it had acquired. Spiderman executed a tricky maneuver shooting his feet up into the air and performing a back flip before landing on the roof of the bank right next to a skylight that looked down upon the main bank floor. He peered through it for a second surveying the three masked men standing around half a dozen tied up bank workers. All of the masked men had vicious looking guns, automatic no doubt. He sighed and then opened the skylight and crawled through staying on the ceiling of the lofty room. He could hear two of the men talking something about making a few demands of the police officers outside. He laughed softly to himself. These things always ended up the same. The men involved in the back of a cruiser on their way downtown and the police reverently thanking him Spiderman for once again saving the day. He became aware of how cocky and conceited his thoughts sounded. He shook his head and then returned his attention to the hostage situation taking place on the floor.

While he watched another masked man came running out from behind the bank counter looking very sweaty and strained carrying two very large black trash bags that appeared to be very heavy. He reached the three men guarding the hostages and dropped the bags with a loud thump. The man who had looted the safe said something in a gusty out of breath manner and then they were all yelling at each other, waving their guns. Spiderman took advantage of the diversion and dropped down behind the three guards. The man who had carried the bags eyebrows went up and his eyes widened. The other three started to turn but Spiderman knocked two of their heads together and they dropped their guns making loud clanging noises on the tile floor. The third man finished turning around and opened fire with a gun that Spiderman now recognized as an Uzi. Spiderman backflipped and dove up onto the ceiling where he shot a string of web hitting the man's gun. He wrenched it out of his hands catching it. He launched off of the ceiling and landed on the man's shoulders. He hit him on the head with the gun just hard enough to knock him out but not hard enough to kill him. The man dropped like a rock.

The last man was running backwards aiming carefully. He fired a short burst from his Uzi catching Spiderman in the leg. He went down onto one knee hissing in pain. Tears filled his eyes under his mask. He stood up again and ran toward the man dodging and rolling to avoid the rain of bullets. He tackled the man and punched him four times in the face until the man lay still. Spiderman stood up wincing at the sharp blast of pain in his leg. He was relieved the bullet had only grazed him or he wouldn't be walking right now. Just then the police burst in yelling.

"FREEZE NOBODY MOVE!!! GET ON THE FLOOR NOW!!!," Spiderman jumped onto the roof and crawled out of the skylight. He took off into the day swinging into the distance.

Mary Jane was struggling with the damn door that still hadn't been fixed. She shoved and pushed and suddenly it swung in and she fell…right into Spiderman's arms.

"Peter, you scared me," she said as she pushed past him and started putting down grocery bags on the table.

"Sorry. You sounded like you were having trouble with the door. Thought I'd Help," he laughed lightly.

She glanced at him and smiled.

"Take off that costume. I want to have breakfast with my boyfriend Peter, Not Spiderman,' Spiderman laughed again and went to the dresser and began changing. He came back to the kitchen area three minutes later dressed in a pair of khakis and a blue polo shirt. Mary Jane kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I'm making pancakes. I hope you like them,"

"Oh, I love pancakes. You make the best," She laughed at that and then set about putting the ingredients together. After a second of thought Peter got up and started helping her. She tried to push him away at first and then just laughed and gave him directions.

Half an hour later they were sitting at the meager table eating pancakes. Mary Jane was talking about her new boss at the little Jazz Café she sang at and Peter was dazedly listening to her. All of a sudden the police radio on the side table crackled and a hazy female voice began talking.

""We have a disturbance on Lincoln Avenue. Hostage situation. The captor is extremely muscular wearing a black suit. Officer Craig says it looks like a Spiderman suit but with no lines. Captor appears to have the same abilities as Spiderman but with some black crap, instead of web. Captor is unarmed but extremely strong. Should be considered armed and dangerous nonetheless. Requesting all units on the scene. "

Peter felt his stomach drop 3000 feet. Mary Jane who had been listening to recognized the description also having been the subject of an attempted coup against Spiderman that had ended the life of their friend Harry Osbourne.

"He died. How can he be back?" Peter could only shake his head.

'I don't know but I have to go try to help. It's not right to not go try to help that hostage," Mary Jane turned white.

'No Peter you almost died last time you went up against him. Harry helped you beat him and died for it. If you try to face him alone…I can't lose you Peter. I Love you,"

'M.J. I have to go it's what Spiderman does. I can't just sit here and let that person die How would the city see me then,"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY'D THINK. I CAN'T LOSE YOU," she screamed at him He shook his head and then stood up.

"I have to go. I couldn't live with myself if I stayed here,"

"Peter, please," she begged breaking into tears.

"I'm Sorry. I have to. I'll be back I promise. You won't lose me. M.J."

She put her head on the table and cried. He sighed and kissed the back of her neck. Then he changed into Spiderman and swung out the window.

Twenty-four blocks over on Lincoln Avenue Venom stood inside a small one room flat building and grinned at the man bound and gagged with the black substance that made up his webs.

"He should be here soon. That's good for you. It means you get to live…a little longer," He laughed the sound appearing to the poor man's ears as alien and inhuman. Venom's extremely good hearing picked up a small thump sound. He smiled.

"it's nice to see you came Spiderman. I want to finish this fast. I have things to do," Spiderman (who was crouched in a shadow on the ceiling) gasped as Venom turned and looked up. The thing that had been Brock was now ten times more terrifying than before. All of the sliver web lines that he had sported had vanished leaving just black. His muscles had swollen to incredible proportions.

"What are you Brock?" Venom hissed in anger upon hearing his name.

"Don't ever call me that. Brock isn't my name anymore. MY NAME IS VENOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," he screamed it. The boards in the building shook and rattled with the force. A cloud of dust fell from the ramshackle wood ceiling.

Spiderman's heart was beating twice its normal speed as he tried to come up with attack plan's that would work on this brute that Venom had become.

"I see you noticed my...improvements. I suppose I can take a few minutes to explain before I obliterate you. You see when you blew me up during our last encounter the particles of my pathetic human body and the particles of the wonderful gift you gave me were blown apart and the molecules were spread out around the city. It took my consciousness seven months to locate them all and get them into a whole again. The strange thing is that when I made myself whole again. There were particles of something else that melded with me to. Particles I had not noticed and these alien particles improved me and changed me beyond my wildest dreams. The result was, as you can see, very well," Venom laughed icily. Spiderman cautiously dropped to the floor never once taking his eyes off of Venom. Venom grinned stretching the large slit that ran from ear to ear where his mouth was.

"it's great to be on equal footing Isn't it Spiderman?"

"Venom, let this man go he hasn't done anything to you,"

Venom grinned and hissed. He turned around and backhanded the man across the cheek with his massive hands. The entire left side of the man's face caved in with a sick crunch and his head whipped around, his neck snapping with a dry crack. He uttered one strangled cry and then lay still. Spiderman yelled in rage and dove at Venom. Venom laughed.

"THAT'S RIGHT SPIDERMAN. SHOW ME YOUR ANGER. SHOW ME YOUR HATE!!!!," v\enom swung his hand at Spiderman knocking him aside like a fly. Spiderman flew across the room and hit the wall with a grunt. He crumpled to the ground and shakily began standing. His chest hurt like crazy where Venom had struck him. He shot two strings of web at Venom's legs and pulled…and pulled…and pulled nothing happened. Venom bent over and grasped the two strings attached to his legs. He pulled…hard. The unprepared Spiderman flew across the room Superman style and struck Venom in the chest. Spiderman grunted again and fell at Venom's feet. Venom kicked Spiderman who flew across the room slamming full blast into the wall for the second time. He felt tears well up in his eyes at the pain. He stood up shakily again and shot web at the ceiling and pulled himself up onto the roof. Venom picked up a crate and threw it at Spiderman on the roof. Spiderman dodged it, Venom threw another, and another. Finally the third one struck Spiderman in the stomach. He gasped as all of the air left his lungs. He dropped from the ceiling and hit the floor landing on his back. Venom laughed icily again and walked toward the prone figure. Spiderman was laying on the floor gasping like a fish out of water. Venom stopped over him and hissed his extra long tongue snapping at the air. His razor teeth glistened as a ray of sunlight hit them. He drew back a leg and kicked Spiderman once in the side of the head. Spiderman saw a flash of whit overtake his vision then it blinked out like a television turned off. Venom stared down at the seemingly lifeless figure.

"Good Night Spidey," He laughed and then jumped up attaching to the ceiling. He punched a hole in the wooden roof and crawled out onto the ceiling and launched himself away into the day. Venom moved so fast that the police on the ground missed his departure.

On the floor in the building Spiderman gasped and started breathing slowly but remained unconscious. The side of his face was already discoloring a violent purple color.