At the sound of the voice, Peter's body went still.
"Who said that?"
"We did," the same voice replied. This time, it almost sounded like … like him. Even stranger still, it also seemed like it was coming from inside his own head, as if his mind was somehow conjuring the words.
"What are you?" he asked.
"Your new best friend, Peter."
Slowly lowering his gaze, Peter glanced at the now black and white glove over his hand, the webbing pattern gone. His heart began to race as a terrifying realization dawned within his mind.
"The ooze they talked about..."
"Yes," the voice replied, "that was us. We found you that night when you came to help those who brought us here, and we have been joined to you ever since."
"Joined to me?" Peter questioned.
"Yes," the voice again answered. "It is how we survive."
Peter's mind raced to catch up to the implications of his predicament.
"We hear your questions," the creature said, producing a shudder down Peter's spine as he realized not even his private thoughts were safe from it. "We assure you, there is no need to fear us. We are now in what your kind calls a symbiotic relationship. Your fighting, your activities have helped us to thrive again, just as we have helped you possess greater speed, strength and energy than you have ever known before."
As his mind slowly started to clear up after the initial shock, the symbiote's words brought Peter's mind back to the last few days. He hadn't even really thought about it much at the time, but it was all starting to make sense now. His ability to bounce back so quickly after such a late night the other day, his being able to save the woman and the girl earlier when he thought there was no way he'd make it … all of it had been because of this thing. But what about everything else? The lack of recognition on his part when M.J. was around, his blow ups with her, Eddie and Jonah …
"You made me say those things to them?" he questioned.
"We only reacted to the emotions and feelings you already had," the symbiote explained.
"No, that's impossible!" he insisted. "I would never behave that way towards M.J!"
"Wouldn't you?" the creature asked. "You wanted to help your friend, but she had to come put her needs over your own."
"Stop!" Peter shouted. He then turned and shot his arm forward to fire a web, only instead of turning his wrist over and lowering the usual two fingers to the trigger of his web shooters, he instead made a fist, lowering it just slightly. Still, somehow, webbing blasted out of it. The stuff appeared the same as his own traditional webbing, only slightly thicker.
"Did... did you do that?" he asked.
"Yes," the creature answered, "much more useful than having to make a fluid you fear might run out, don't you think?"
Peter offered no response verbally or otherwise, instead only staring at the web clutched in his grip. He slowly walked up to the edge of the building before pulling the line tight again and leaping off. After making his initial swing, he shot out the same hand in a lowered fist as before. Sure enough, another web shot out of the white patch covering the center of the hand, landing on a building further away than his own web shooters could reach too.
"Okay," Peter said as he fell into a steady swinging rhythm. "I'll admit, I could get used to this."
"And there is so much more we can offer you now that you are aware of us," the symbiote added.
Now that he was aware-
Grabbing onto a nearby flagpole, Peter halted his swinging.
"Wait, why DID you hide anyway?" he asked.
"Once we bonded to you, it didn't take long for us to become aware of how you could react if you witnessed us bond to you right away," the creature explained. "We had hoped to have more time to properly demonstrate for you what we could do first before we revealed ourselves."
"Okay," Peter muttered, "that makes sense, I guess." He was confused; surely, he must have had several more questions, but Peter found his brain to suddenly be a bit foggy. He struggled to focus, as if something was pulling his attention away from them... or something.
"Now, why don't we go for another..."
"No, wait," Peter said, clasping his head as he fought to regain control of his mind. "We... how are you doing that? One moment we were talking about M.J. and the next we're just swinging across the city like nothing happened?"
"Our needs do not concern her," the creature spoke up.
"What?" Peter questioned. "No, YOUR needs don't concern her, but mine do, and we..."
Oh no.
"See, our bond is slowly becoming more permanent," the symbiote spoke up. "Don't worry; we only want what's best for you."
"What's best for me?" Peter challenged. "Trying to make me push away the people I love is what's best for me?"
Firing another web, Peter took off again. He couldn't do this; he had to get this thing off. But where could he go? If he went back to his apartment, there would still be the problem of containing it and disposing of it afterward. Then again, the same would be true if he did it somewhere more public, and on top of that, there could be others around.
Suddenly, Peter began to feel pressed all over his body, as if he was being squeezed by a trash compactor.
"What are you doing?" he asked. It took most of his strength just to fire another web.
"Helping you," the creature replied insistently.
"THIS IS NOT HELPING ME!" Peter shouted. He tried to fire another web, but his arm gave out as he did so, leaving him flailing in the air, grasping and trying to tug at the parasite on his body, even as he had no sense of direction anymore. Suddenly, he slammed against something, and a loud gonging sound rang out, causing the creature to shriek loudly.
"What happened?" Peter said as he recovered from the impact. As he stood up, he realized that he'd landed inside the bell tower at Our Lady of Saints Church. He'd hit the bell itself, which rang out a second time, causing the alien to shriek worse than last time, even partially detaching it from him in places before it quickly relatched.
"Wait... the vibrations," Peter said, the proverbial light bulb clicking in his head. "You react to loud sounds from higher sonic frequencies; that's why you had me destroy the weapon they were using back there."
"Y-yes," the symbiote replied, seemingly still weak. "They hurt us... make us weak..."
"Well, how about some more then!" Peter shouted as he struck the bell again, causing it to ring loudly once more. The symbiote shrieked again, seemingly starting to detach even more. Peter grabbed the parts he could and pulled hard, desperately trying to rid himself of the creature. The bell rang again, further aiding him in his struggle with the creature.
"Come on," Peter said through gritted teeth as he pulled and tugged. "Get off!"
Suddenly, the creature reattached itself despite the third bell ringing.
"Wait, what?" Peter questioned. "How did you do that?"
"You didn't think that you could get rid of us so easily, did you?" the symbiote explained. "You didn't just want to be rid of us; you wanted to hurt us, but that only brought us together even more."
The creature then shot parts of itself out to the edges of the tower, attaching them there before lifting Peter up.
"What are you doing!?" he cried out as the ooze seemed to produce a cocoon, enveloping him even more.
"We're going to take a little trip," the symbiote replied. "Some place where we can show you why you really need us."
Next thing Peter knew, he was in a completely dark, black environment, without even the faintest light to illuminate anything around him.
"Where am I?" he questioned.
"We are inside your head," the creature spoke up, and it was slowly becoming more and more eerie to Peter that the thing was essentially taking on his voice, albeit a little lower in tone. "We thought this might be the ideal place to prove to you that we are the only ones you will ever need."
"I will never believe that," Peter insisted as he looked around for some physical evidence of the creature. "I have a lot of people in my life that love me and need me."
"Is that so?"
Peter almost jumped as he felt hands on his shoulders. He turned to see that creature had manifested itself behind him, appearing in the new black and white design it had made his suit into. It was only there for a moment though, as the environment around them changed, taking the appearance of one of the floors of the Daily Bugle.
"If he's going to take the law into his own hands, then he clearly needs to do something different."
Turning to face in front of him, Peter saw Eddie standing there, his words an echo from earlier that day.
"Is this someone who loves you?" the symbiote said as it skulked around to Peter's side, gesturing towards Eddie. The man was still talking, though it was as if someone had pressed a mute button on him.
"Eddie's been going through a hard time," Peter argued.
"Yes, and we remember how much you've done for him, how you've supported him during this difficult time," the symbiote explained. "You have done nothing but help and protect him, and then he goes on and tries to spew out libel against your good name."
"He doesn't know that I'm Spider-Man," Peter countered.
"And what about this?" the symbiote questioned, gesturing towards Eddie once more. Peter turned to his friend again.
"You know, maybe if Ol' Spidey had actually taken things up a notch or two, your first girl would still be alive."
Just like before, Peter grabbed Eddie by his shirt, pinning him to the wall.
"HOW DARE YOU..."
Catching himself much quicker this time, Peter spun around, stumbling over to a nearby desk. He covered his face with his hands in shame.
"We remember your anger in this moment, and it was completely justified," the symbiote explained, its voice sounding more and more like a literal devil whispering in Peter's ear. "Your so-called friend took one of your worst moments and used it against you. He wanted to hurt you, Peter; does that sound like someone who cared about you?"
Peter wanted so badly to lash out at the creature, to spew out some argument that would prove its point wrong... only it didn't feel wrong. Eddie really had said those things; he'd really dug deep into Peter's past to insult him in the way that he knew was the worst way to do so.
"Your friends, the people you love will never value you in the way that you do for them," the symbiote said, coming next to him, "not like we will."
"Get away!" Peter yelled, jerking himself away from the creature. "My aunt would never do that, and neither would Mary Jane."
"That's right," the creature said, turning its head and appearing as if it was contemplating some big mystery. "Mary Jane, the woman you love, the person you want to spend the rest of your life with."
The symbiote then walked up to Peter, grabbing him firmly on his shoulders.
"And how did that work out for you last time?"
It then dived down with him, the scenery changing again as it did. His momentum soon picked up even more, and next thing Peter knew, he was falling through the clock tower on that fateful night, with Gwen Stacy several feet below him.
"No, I can save her this time," he said. "I have to save her!"
Shooting both wrists forward, Peter shot webs out of each. Once the strands made their way out a little way, he shot a second strand from both shooters, then a third, then a fourth. He'd thought through this moment several times before; if he could just grab onto her faster while also stabilizing all her major joints, he could do it.
He could save her.
A web connected, then another, then another. He was running out of time, but he needed another couple to attach still. He then noticed a bar coming up on his left side... was it the one he'd grabbed on before? No, it had to be higher up, which meant he needed to grab it. The webs that had attached themselves would have to be good enough. Reaching out, Peter grabbed the bar, his body's downward momentum coming to an abrupt halt as he dangled. The webs in his hand stiffened, halting Gwen's momentum.
Had it been enough though?
Attaching the web to the metal he was holding onto, Peter then dropped down the last several feet, landing right next to Gwen. Just as before, she appeared unconscious, though her body was straighter than before.
"Gwen?" he said as he placed one hand underneath her, detaching the webs from her with his other one. "Gwen? Come on Gwen, wake up. It's me, it's Peter. I saved you this time, I had to have saved you..."
Sitting down, Peter took her limp form in both arms now. He delicately placed his hand on the side of her head for a minute before removing it. As blood began to trickle from her nose, it all hit him like a freight train: even if he had done everything right this time, it hadn't mattered. This was still just a memory and nothing more; Gwen Stacy was still dead. Yet, that didn't stop the tears from burning in his eyes as they formed.
"NOOO!"
"She did love you, truly," the symbiote's voice spoke up as Peter remained clutched to her. "Yet, you still lost her. Let us not also forget that her death was not because of you, but because of one who also had professed to be your friend but sought to hurt you when you didn't give him what he wanted. Harry was his name, I believe."
Peter's face almost felt like it was burning due to the extreme emotions that he was feeling: sorrow and anger at being made to relive Gwen's loss, yet also a sadness at the reminder of this pattern that had gone on in his life.
"Also, let us remind you that this is not the first time that someone you lost someone you love to death."
Darkness enveloped Peter again. When his surroundings illuminated again, he was in a dimly lit sidewalk in Queens. He looked around, searching the area for what he was supposed to remember. Then, he heard a gunshot. Spinning around in the direction of the noise, it quickly dawned on him.
Uncle Ben.
"No," Peter muttered as he broke into a sprint. He quickly came upon the scene, his uncle lying lifeless on the ground just as he'd remembered, blood slowly coming out of the bullet wound in his gut. He sank to his knees, the weight of all the memories he was reliving slowly taking their toll on him. He laid his head over his Uncle Ben's body, beginning to weep bitterly. His heart felt like it was about to be crushed by the freshness of all the loss he'd sustained over the years. Ben, Gwen, his parents...
Peter eventually rose from his position, resting on his knees and the back of his legs, his eyes remaining closed as the grief continued to soak onto his being like a sponge drenched in water.
"Don't you see, Peter?" the symbiote said. "Your life is a tragedy. The people you love betray you, and even those who love you back will be taken from you in this life. No matter what you do, you will always end up alone."
Peter opened his eyes, peering up at the symbiote, who stood over him, a black and white backdrop surrounding them now. The creature reached out its hand.
"But not with us. We are the only ones who will stick with you to the end. Join us, Peter. Nothing will be able to destroy our bond and think of all the innocent lives we could save, lives that you never could have saved before. Join us, and you will never be alone ever again."
A tug of war raged inside Peter's mind; his whole being feeling like it was being pulled in opposite directions, ready to be snapped in half. He still had people that he loved, like May and Mary Jane. At the same time, he had already lost so many people, and he always feared losing even more every day. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could come back from something happening to them. Perhaps the symbiote was right.
Slowly extending his hand, Peter forced it from his side. Still, even now, there was a hesitation in him, like something or even someone was trying to hold him back. Thin, black tendrils extended from the symbiote's hand, slowly making their way to his own to meet him. Peter's mind raced as they drew closer together. Was this really the right choice?
"Excuse me."
The sound of the familiar voice drew Peter's gaze.
"Uncle Ben?"
Indeed, it was him, or at least it appeared to be. The man came alongside him.
"I know I didn't raise a quitter, did I Pete?"
Peter looked down in shame.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Ben," he said, "it's just that I don't want to face another loss like you or Gwen. I don't know if I can come back from something like that."
"Peter," the man said, kneeling alongside him and putting a hand on Peter's shoulder. "No one expects you to be able to simply act like nothing bad has happened to you, but you can't let the bad overtake the good."
"What good?" the symbiote questioned, drawing Peter's attention back to it. "All you've ever known is heartbreak and betrayal, and that's all you'll ever know unless you join with us."
"What good?" another familiar voice echoed. Peter followed it to his other side to see none other than Gwen Stacy, wearing the same green jacket and purple outfit from that fateful night. Peter rose to his feet as she came alongside him as well. She turned to address the symbiote. "So, all the memories we created together our pointless, are they?"
She then turned to Peter.
"Come on, I think your uncle and I need to remind you of some things."
Gwen taking him by the arm and Ben by the shoulder, they escorted Peter out of the darkness and through a bright light. When their surroundings clarified again, he found that they were all at a tiny ice cream shop in Queens. Peter saw his eleven-year-old self with his aunt and uncle, ice cream cones in each of their hands as they sat at one of the red picnic tables. They all had smiles on their faces.
"You remember this?" Ben asked.
"Of course," Peter said. "You and May used to take me out here as a kid every semester that I made the all-A honor roll back in elementary school. You guys always used to debate about whether vanilla or chocolate was better, and whether nuts should go in ice cream at all."
Peter walked up closer to the two of them, squatting by the side of the table so that he could listen to the conversation.
"Ben Parker," May exclaimed, "you are not going to take this boy to a monster truck rally!"
"Why not?" Ben questioned, his hands outstretched as he appeared beside himself. "Those kinds of things are like a rite of passage for a young man like our boy here!"
"There are way too many weirdos getting drunk there," May insisted. "Anything could happen, and that's not a risk that I'm willing to take."
"Oh May," Ben replied, waving his hand at her dismissively. "Look, our boy is a bright, brilliant genius who's going to change the world one day, but even he needs a little culture sometimes!"
"If it's culture that he wants, he can go to a museum or something," May said, "and that's final."
Peter found himself chuckling and his heart warming at the sight of this old conversation. He then watched as the three got up and left, walking off towards the car to head home.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure your aunt never did forget me for taking you anyway."
Peter let out a huff.
"Maybe that's why she says that I get my stubborn streak from you." He turned to his uncle, who gave a look of acknowledgement. He then turned to Gwen, who walked past him, taking him by the hand. The scene around them transitioned again in a flash, this time leading him to a rooftop high above most of the city. Peter looked ahead of him to see himself and Gwen sitting opposite one another, tucked away from the prying eyes of the world on a terrace. They were sitting on a blanket, with candles lit on the corners nearby.
"This was just a couple weeks after your dad died," Peter muttered.
"Mhm," Gwen said. "I'd woke up from a nightmare about him, so I called you."
Peter continued to look on at the memory of the two of them sitting mostly in silence and occasionally snacking.
"I remember I accidentally woke May up," he said. "She ended up helping me make the PB&J sandwiches to bring along."
"You were there for me," Gwen said. Peter then felt her hand underneath his chin slowly rotating his face until their gaze met. "But now you have someone else you need to be there for."
Peter looked down, his mind contemplating her words.
"Remember what I always told you, Peter," Ben said, coming along Peter's right side. "The lady's always right."
Peter let out a light huff. She was right, they both were.
Suddenly, the symbiote sprung down in front of them, the scene immediately turning to near total darkness again.
"Sure, you could be there for them," it explained. "But what good would it do you? All that matters is that you will lose them in the end, but you will never lose us."
The creature reached out to grab him by the arm, but this time, Peter shoved him away.
"You might be right; maybe I will lose them all one day," he said, his voice more authoritative than before, "but I would rather spend one more minute with them than be with you forever."
The symbiote just glared at him.
"Fine," it said. "But your resolve doesn't matter anymore. Even now, our bond grows deeper. Do you really think that you can escape us?"
Peter turned to his uncle and Gwen, both gave him nods and smiles of approval. He then turned to face his enemy.
"I guess we'll find out."
Reaching up, Peter pulled his mask down over his head, his traditional red and blue suit now over him.
"Alright you oily alien psychopath, let's go!"
The creature responded by flinging its arms forward, large tendrils shooting out of it. Not even hesitating, Peter ran forward to meet his challenger head on, leaping and flipping out of the way of the things that would subdue him. When he got close enough, he leapt forward, drawing his fist back. He tried to strike a blow to the symbiote, who leapt off to Peter's right before springing back, attempting to get on top of him. Recovering quickly, he instead grabbed the creature by the arms, leaning back and kicking it up into the air.
Moving back to his feet, Peter fired webs at the symbiote, only for it to do the same. The strands came together, with both forces behind them yanking hard in their own direction. This only served to launch both sides closer together. As he drew near the alien, Peter quickly became entangled in a grappling contest with the creature, the two of them struggling against one another as they fell freely. After much struggling and attempting to strike at one another, he managed to drive his knee into the alien's midsection, sending it flying. Working quickly, he fired webs to bind it.
Quickly shooting another web, he quickly swung over to it, kicking it in the gut. Bounding off and somersaulting backwards, Peter landed in front of the being, where he proceeded to land blow after blow to it with his fists. He struck it everywhere, in the head, the chest, the face, all of it. When it finally seemed weakened, Peter drew himself back, firing two webs and pulling them taught, backing up. Just as the creature looked back up at him, he released his webs, shooting them forward and delivering a blow with all his might square into the creature's chest, sending it flying away, tearing it from the webs.
"NOO!" its voice echoed as it faded out of view. The scene around Peter soon shifted from one of darkness to one of bright light. He turned back to see his Uncle Ben and Gwen coming up behind him.
"Thank you both," he said. "I couldn't have done this without you."
"It's what we're here for, kiddo," Ben said, offering a loving, fatherly touch to Peter's shoulder. Gwen then came up to him, placing her right hand on his left cheek.
"Just remember," she said. "What makes life precious is that it ends, but what makes it special is the journey there."
Bursting from the cocoon, Peter collapsed back onto the hard concrete floor of the tower's rooftop.
"No, it won't end this way!" the creature cried out from within his mind. "We won't allow it!"
"It doesn't matter what you will or won't allow anymore," Peter said, rising and moving over towards the bell. "What matters is that you're not spending one more minute on me."
Peter then struck the bell with his fists, producing a powerful blast of sound. The creature shrieked, coming looser than ever before, allowing Peter to begin tearing through it more easily.
"Stop!" it called out, "you can't do this!"
"Yes, I can," Peter affirmed, the red and blue pattern starting to reveal itself again as he tore the creature off him. "You don't just feed off me being Spider-Man, but you feed off all the negative feelings, emotions and memories that I've ever had. The thing is, I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. I'm sorry, my friend, but this just isn't working out between us anymore."
Suddenly, Peter found that he didn't have to tear anymore, the creature completely disconnecting itself from him. Another gong from the bell rang out, causing it to nearly break apart again. He shot a web at it, but it managed to slip between the cracks.
Peter let out a sigh. The symbiote had gotten away, but the good news was that it was likely weak now that it was no longer bonded to him. It might not even survive after this experience. Still, he would come back to make sure when he'd figured out a proper means to contain it if he indeed found it. But right now, none of that was important.
The only thing that was important was that he was free.
Wow, that was a lot. Hopefully my chapters will be back to a somewhat normal length, or at least a consistent one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Thank as always to all who read and support this series, or anything I do on here really.
Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!
"Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler." Proverbs 6:5