The next morning, Peter found himself awake about an hour earlier than normal. He'd struggled to sleep much in the night anyway, so he'd opted to just get up and get on with the day. He briefly considered going for a quick morning patrol but opted against it, deciding to just get ready, have a rare decent breakfast and wait out in the hall for Mary Jane. He was eager to talk to her this morning, mostly to hear more about how things went with Gayle the night before. Peter felt he could use the distraction, something positive, to take his mind off Eddie and the scene he'd stumbled upon the night before.

After he'd gotten changed and downed two bowls of oatmeal and some fruit, he grabbed his things and promptly exited his apartment to wait for M.J. In the wake of everything that had happened with the symbiote, Peter was determined to make up for some of the time he'd let go by that he felt should have been time with his fiancé, starting this morning. He knew that she understood what had happened and had likely moved past it, but he wanted to make doing so as easy as possible for her.

Within a few minutes later, Mary Jane emerged from her apartment. When she locked eyes with Peter, a surprised but pleased expression took over her face.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile. "What a nice surprise; it seems like usually I'm the one waiting for you."

"Well, get used to it, because this just might be the new normal," he replied as they greeted one another with a kiss.

"Hmm," M.J. pondered, "we'll see what your primary-colored other half has to say about that, but I'll allow my hopes to come up just a little."

"Fair enough," Peter concluded with a mild chuckle. The two then began to make their way down, opting for the stairs over the elevator.

"So, tell me more about how things went with your sister last night?" Peter asked as they began their descent.

"It still feels almost like a dream," M.J. explained. "I was even more nervous heading in there this time than before. I was just waiting for her to turn around and walk right back in as soon as she saw me."

"Did you play hardball with her like you talked about?" Peter inquired.

"Yeah," M.J. replied.

"Looks like your instincts were right then," Peter pointed out.

"If Gayle ever had a fault, it was how stubborn she could be," M.J. explained. "In my experience, you had to give it right back to her, but in a way where it didn't seem like you were trying to one up her. If she picked up on that at all, she would only dig in and hold her ground even more."

"Not like anyone else we know," Peter teased. M.J. gave him a knowing look before bumping shoulders with him playfully.

"It's still hard not to feel like I just got lucky though," she explained. "Also, it's not over yet; I still don't know what I'll find once I get her case looked at again, if even that part can happen."

"I'm sure Anne can pull some strings once she's better," Peter encouraged her.

"It might not make a difference, since she was tried in Montoursville," Mary Jane explained. "I have to believe that she's innocent though. It sounds like she hit some desperate times, but I can't imagine her going as far as stealing something, I just can't."

"I'm sure that you're right," Peter concurred. To be fair, he had seen many examples over the past fourteen years or so of what can happen when people get desperate. He wasn't about to point that fact out though, and besides, if M.J. believed in her sister's innocence, that was enough for him.

The couple eventually made their way out of the building and to the bus stop, where M.J. finally brought Eddie up.

"Don't worry," she said as the bus pulled up. "He'll come out of this," she said as the bus slowed to a stop.

"How do you know?" Peter questioned.

M.J. placed her hand on his cheek.

"Because he has you."

They gave each other a quick kiss before M.J. got on the bus. Peter watched it drive away, waiting until it had already rounded the corner before finally turning around and starting on his way to the Bugle. He kept his eyes ahead as he walked, but his mind remained more restless. He wanted to believe what M.J. was saying, he really did. It was just hard after everything he'd seen that he could just snap out of it, especially what had happened last night. At the same time, his fiancé and her sister were living proof that much longer tensions could at least begin to be reconciled, so he tried to lean on that fact.

Finally, Peter came to the street across from where the Bugle was, the building standing tall among many others in the area. The light wasn't favoring pedestrians just yet, so he waited patiently, trying to distract himself with happier thoughts. For instance, he and M.J. still needed to decide on a cake for their wedding still. He tried to imagine what it would taste like when she inevitably smashed it in his face, hoping that she was prepared to get it right back.

Suddenly, Peter felt a strong shove against his backside, catching him off guard. Almost instantly, a car blared its horn at him as he momentarily locked eyes with the driver. In a quick decision that overrode some of his protective instincts, Peter just barely got up enough to get his feet off the ground, causing him to skid over the vehicle's hood as it collided with him, sending him over it and causing him to crash into the hard concrete road.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay!?" the driver asked as he came out, rushing to Peter's side. "Are you hurt?"

Peter's mind raced to come up with an answer.

"I don't think anything's broken at least."

"Thank goodness," the man said, breathing a sigh of relief. "You really need to be more careful."

"Yeah," Peter replied, still stunned by the whole thing. "I'll do that."

People then began walking across the street, indicating that it was the pedestrians turn to cross. Peter remained still as the crowd passed him by though, looking around as he tried to figure out what had just happened. It had really felt like someone had pushed him with obvious intentional force, but that should have been impossible, as his spider sense always gave him a heads up. There were few certainties in his life, but his spider sense being right was one of them. Someone or something had definitely hit him though, but again, how could that be possible?

As the crowd had nearly finished, Peter made his way to the other side of the street, still confused as to what had just happened. Maybe he was wrong and had simply tripped? That didn't make any sense either, since his powers essentially made it impossible for him to lose his balance or stumble by mistake. It seemed the more likely option though, if he could even call it that.

Whatever the case, Peter had a hard time shaking the bizarre feeling even as he walked into the Bugle.

By the time noon struck, Peter was more than ready for lunch. He hadn't even realized how behind he'd been in making sure that pictures were ready for various upcoming stories due to his taking significant parts of days off recently. It had felt all morning like Robbie or someone else was reminding him of something that they needed that, realistically, he should have either had done or been much further along now. He'd been lucky that pretty much all these things pertained to stories or events that had been planned out and not a hot news story that had just come out on those days. Still, time had been of the essence, and as a result, he'd likely gotten what normally would be five hours of work done in four.

All that to say, it was a relief for Peter once he finally got out of his desk and away from his computer. He quickly made his way to the elevator and out of the building before someone could catch him with something else. He promised to meet May for lunch back at the house; after how he'd likely freaked her out the other night, he'd been trying to see her as often as his schedule allowed, if for no other reason than to assure her that he really was okay.

Opting to try and save time, Peter found a nearby dark alley once outside the Bugle and quickly changed into his Spider-Man outfit, securing his street clothes in a spare bag he'd kept nearby. He then set off, swinging across the city, heading towards the bridge back into Queens. He waited the whole time for an interruption to come in the form of a runaway vehicle or window washer dangling from a ledge, but fortunately for him, he made it to the bridge without interruption, hitching a ride on top of a bus to save web fluid for a bit.

Occasionally, people would wave at him in the cars that passed, especially kids, and he had no problem in returning the favor. Even those little interactions meant a lot to him, as they reminded him that there were still people that were on his side and believed in him, even after the disaster that had been pretty much all his public appearances while the symbiote had been hitchhiking on his costume. Peter still knew that he had a long way to go to gain back a good portion of the city's trust though, something that he was starkly reminded of when occasionally some people traded friendly waves for obscenities.

On top of all that, the incident this morning still lurked in his brain. Even if someone or something had bumped into him by accident, his trusty sixth sense should still have given him a heads up. He'd occasionally tried to think back throughout the morning about a time when his spider sense had failed him, but he'd come up with nothing. It had never failed to protect him from even slipping on discarded trash in the street, so what was up with it now?

As he entered Queens, Peter opted to try and put all that in the back of his mind as he leapt off the bus and made his way to another quiet, isolated spot to change back into his normal clothes. He then made a quick trek over to the familiar Forest Hills neighborhood and to his childhood home, trotting up the stairs. He had just raised his fist to knock on the door when, as he peered through the glass door, Peter caught sight of the place... and it was a mess.

Letting himself in, Peter looked around at the disaster the house was. The furniture had been torn up and toppled over, pictures and home decorations were lying on the floor, and there were even a few holes in the wall. His mind began to race; his spider sense hadn't gone off since he entered the place, but then again, it might not be the most dependable thing today. Still, whoever did this looked as though they had already come and gone, which caused Peter to begin to fear the worst.

"MAY!?"

Peter raced up the stairs, calling his aunt repeatedly. Fortunately, he soon found her sitting at the end of her bed, an expression of shock covering her face, making her almost appear in a daze.

"Hey," Peter said as he gently stepped into the room. The last thing he wanted was to startle her when she was likely already traumatized by what appeared to be a home invasion. She didn't respond though, not even looking at him even as he came closer.

"May," he said softly as he slowly got in front of her. "Hey, look at me." Peter could now see the spots from where tears had been streaming down her cheeks; her eyes still looked like they could produce even more as well. She finally managed to look at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he gently ran his hands along her upper arm, trying to reassure her. His aunt offered several quick nods, but appeared to still be holding something in. He asked if whoever did this had been here when she was, but his aunt shook her head. She then lifted a folded piece of paper in her hand, offering it to him.

"I think it's for you," she said, fear gripping her voice. Taking the paper from her hand, Peter unfolded it, finding a short note, with little spider symbols drawn all around the words.

"Even a superhero needs a mother, don't you think... Spider-Man?"

Peter's heart threatened to drown in a sea of terror as he read the words. There was no alternative to what this could mean: someone had figured out who he was and had sent him a clear message that they knew who his loved ones were too. His mind scrambled to refocus itself as he fought to keep a cool head. He could tell that his aunt was worried; if she saw how concerned he was, it would only make it worse.

"Okay, um... we need to get you somewhere safe," he said, keeping as calm as he could. "Is there anyone you can stay with; a friend from work, someone from bridge club or something?"

"Yeah, but Peter..."

"I know," he said. "I'm worried too, but I'll be a little less worried and more likely to be successful in catching whoever this is if I know that you're safe. I'll help you pack some stuff, but first, I need to make a call, okay?"

"Just... just promise me, that you will be careful," May urged him. "Who knows how much whoever wrote this knows about you."

Peter nodded before stepping out of the room, getting out his phone and immediately dialing M.J.'s number. He tapped his foot anxiously as he waited.

"Come on," he muttered under his breath. "Pick up..."

"Hey," his fiancé finally answered. "What's going on?"

"Someone knows that I'm Spider-Man," he stated. "They ransacked May's house and left a note for me."

"Oh my goodness, is she okay?" M.J. asked.

"For now, yes, but she's not safe right now, which means that you aren't either," Peter explained. "Can you stay with either Liz or your dad for right now without telling them the full extent of what's going on?"

"Yeah, absolutely," M.J. reassured him. "Liz and I were already planning on meeting for a little bit this evening to discuss bachelorette party ideas; I'll just pretend that I'm getting a call that the water's down in the apartment or something."

"Okay, good," Peter assured her. "I'll come pick you up to make sure that you get there okay after you close up."

"Alright," M.J. replied. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Peter answered with a sigh. "There are a lot of people that this could be, so I'm really going to have to do some digging on this."

"Just be careful," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too."

As the last customer left for the evening, M.J. went to work on closing the store for the night. Her conversation with Peter earlier that afternoon rushed to the forefront of her mind after she'd fought so hard to keep it in the back all day. She was scared for herself, but she was scared even more for Peter. She could still hear the fear in his voice when they'd spoken on the phone; he'd sounded calm, but she knew him well enough to tell that he was afraid.

Mary Jane went to the back room to go count inventory before shutting down. Just as she reached for her device, the lights in the room suddenly went out. She froze, her heart suddenly racing. She listened carefully for the sound of someone else in the room. When her ears were met with no sound at all, she allowed herself a chance to relax a little and began to feel her way through the room in the general direction of where she knew the light switches were.

"Don't move," came a sudden deep, almost growly voice from the darkness. M.J. froze again at the words. She could hear footsteps now, and she slowly turned her head in the direction that they seemed to be coming from. She slowly reached for her wrist, gently activating the special devices Peter had given her. With any luck, she could bind this person long enough at least for Peter to get there.

Making her move, she blasted in the direction of the figure. It sounded like it hit, but the individual seemed to still be moving towards her, her attempt having not slowed him down at all. Out of the shadows came a mostly black figure in a costume that looked loosely based off Peter's, only it was mostly black with white eye patches and a large white spider encasing most of the chest area. It then flexed its large muscles, tearing the fluid off itself with seemingly minimal effort.

"Who are you?" she asked, a feeling of dread coming over her. This was feeling all too familiar. The person didn't answer, instead slowly strolling into the only spot in the room that at least had somewhat decent lighting. As he did, another feature suddenly took shape: a large, inhuman smile that displayed unnaturally large teeth.

"Hello, Mary Jane."

Peter opened the door to M.J.'s store, strolling on in.

"M.J?"

Instead of a voice, he was greeted by the sound of what sounded almost like whimpering. He followed the sound, making his way into the back room. There he found M.J, who was curled up against a shelving unit, staring at the unit ahead of her. As he came up to his fiancé, Peter also noticed that she was trembling almost uncontrollably.

"M.J?" he repeated, slowly reaching out to touch her. As soon as his hand made contact with her arm, she jerked back.

"GET AWAY!" she shrieked. After a few seconds, however, her expression softened as she recognized him, though the clear horror and terror remained even as she threw her arms around him, possibly shaking even worse than before as she did. He took some time to reassure her, letting her calm down a little before asking any questions.

"What happened?" he finally asked as he still held her arms for reassurance. Her grip on his own gave Peter the impression that he might be all that was holding her up right now.

"S-somebody showed up here," M.J. stammered out. "H-he had a costume, l-like you, but it was black and white, and he was b-bigger, bulkier-looking, and he had huge teeth..."

Mary Jane fought to recompose herself; as Peter gave her the time to do so, a horrifying realization dawned on him.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"He said that he wanted you to meet him in the Financial District," M.J. replied. "Only he talked funny; he referred to himself as 'we' and 'us' all the time. He, or they, or whatever it was said that it had something to show you."

Yep, that confirmed it.

"Peter, what is happening?" M.J. asked.

"Come on," Peter said, "I'll explain once we get you out of here."

As Peter made his way into the Financial District, he still couldn't believe what was happening: somehow, not only had the alien symbiote that had previously bonded itself to him survived, but it had ensnared another human being as its new host. Now, it was seemingly back to take revenge on him, tormenting all his loved ones in the process. He needed to find this thing, separate it from its host and destroy it once and for all this time.

He scoured the buildings, but he saw no signs of the black ooze. The creature had not been very specific in its instructions that it had given Mary Jane to pass onto him, leaving only the general area to search. As he continued his hunt, Peter's mind returned to his fiancé, specifically the condition that he'd found her in at her store. He'd never seen her in such a state before; M.J. was normally calm and collected in the face of opposition. She had even seemed to bounce back from her kidnapping experience quickly, but the alien had clearly gotten to her. Peter could still picture her wide eyes, the terror in her voice, how shaky she was...

Peter was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of someone crying for help. He hated to press pause on his search for the symbiote, but he couldn't turn a blind eye, so he made his way down to the alley in question, discovering a woman in the process of being mugged, calling for help. Working quickly, he sprang into action.

"What did I tell ya, boys?" Montana spoke up from his team's perch. "Cause a little trouble, and the spider will come."

"It all seems a bit anticlimactic, given how our last fights went," Fancy Dan replied as they three of them watched Spider-Man quickly dispatch his opponent before turning his attention to the woman. Montana then pulled out his rifle, raising it up.

"Remember what we talked about," Ox spoke up.

"Yep," Montana assured him. "Aim for the woman. Ol' bug down there might have some kind of special danger sense, but he's also a protector. Let's see if he doesn't just jump right in front of this here bullet to do just that."

Montana had just raised and aimed the rifle when, suddenly, he felt himself being lifted into the air and spun around.

"Back off! Spider-Man belongs to us!"

Montana then went flying, smacking onto a fan covering on the rooftop, hitting his head as he did. He struggled to get up, his senses still fighting to recover from the unexpected onslaught. When he finally did make it to a standing position though, he looked over and noticed his cohorts both lying on the roof, seemingly unconscious. Except, their eyes appeared to be open...

Something smashed into the fan behind him, causing him to stumble down. Montana turned around to see a large, bulky, black and white clad monster, with large teeth and a long tongue sticking out. It picked him up by the top of his head, snarling at him as it did.

"No!" he cried out as it drew him closer. "No!"

Once he was sure that the woman was okay, Peter made his way up to the roof where he'd heard the commotion. When he arrived, he found a horrific scene: the Enforcers, dead, their bodies scattered about throughout the place. He strolled along as he observed the brutality before him. The ninja guy and the brute appeared to have had their necks snapped, while the whip guy was lying on top of one of the roof's fans, a large piece of metal impaled through his chest.

Who could have done this?

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Peter spun around to see none other than Eddie Brock, who'd emerged from behind the doorway entrance to the roof.

"Justice, true justice," the man continued, strolling around the impaled body of the group's leader before walking straight up to Peter.

"Y-you did this?" he asked. "Why? How?"

"Same way you could have, Peter."

Peter's heart nearly stopped.

"Oh, don't worry, old friend," Eddie continued, "we'll keep your secret safe... at least for now."

"...We?" Peter questioned, all but praying that this wasn't going to where his mind, despite swimming through the consequences of this whole revelation, seemed to be connecting the dots toward.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Eddie spoke up, taking Peter's wrist. "We haven't introduced you to our better half yet! Forgive our rudeness, and please, call us..."

The symbiote then emerged from within Eddie, overtaking him rapidly as his grip grew tighter.

"VENOM!"

Next chapter: the confrontation.

Thanks as always for your faithful support! Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways." Proverbs 3:31