I DON'T OWN SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN OR STOKED
The festival had come and gone, and the groms were on the bus bound back to the hotel. Peter's mind was still confused about what's going on between Fin and himself, but decided it didn't matter and the pair chose to sit together. Lo, Reef, and Broseph were scattered around the bus, while Emma was sitting in the seat behind the drivers seat, with her arms draped over Johnny's shoulders. Peter had earlier learned that Emma and Front Desk guy had hooked up after hearing them talk. Parker realized his luck had been uncustomary good and they had left before he and Fin decided to have some fun of their own. The bus was passing over an empty bridge when there was a loud thud on the roof. Parkers instincts took over and he commanded everyone to the ground. Everyone that didn't know his secret looked at him like he was a loon. Before Parker could explain himself, a black tendril broke through the window he had been just been sitting by. Everyone was screaming while Parker was pulled out. He had landed on the roof, facing Venom. The bus skid harshly to a stop and everyone was pooling out, all of them confused on what was happening.
"Why can't you leave me alone?!" Parker yelled.
"Because you don't deserve it, Bro." He responded in that horrible stereo voice. He started running at Parker, claws slicing the purple metal as he approached. Peter jumped to the drivers side, opposite the way Peter's newest friends were, but Venom grabbed Parker's leg and swung the smaller one at them. They moved to avoid being hit. Venom followed the hero and was attempting to deliver a punch. Parker realized the only thing keeping him alive was the increased agility that came with the spider bite. He jumped back up and used as much strength he could muster, which was only enough to force Brock's head to the side. Parker moved to add a second punch to his attack, when Venom pulled him into a hold.
"Run!" Peter yelled. They were shaken out of their shock and ran for the fight. Peter was swinging his limbs wildly, trying to ensure his survival when Venom started talking again. Venom pulled one razor sharp claw close to Parker's throat, prepared to destroy his previous friend. Venom was stopped by a hard piece of fiberglass to the head. Instead of Fin walking away, she had picked up Parker's board that fell off the back when Venom crashed the roof and was swinging it through the air. He just knocked it out of her hold and turned his face back to the object of his hatred.
"We're not going to kill you." Venom said, "She is."
"No!" Peter yelled. But Brock already flung a piece of the symbiont. Fin was trying to rip it off her, but only gave it a pathway to her hands. Parker tried to break free of Eddie's grip, but Venom had Parker in a headlock. He kicked back against Venom and jumped at Fin. Her head was the only thing not covered in the black goo.
"Peter, help!" She yelled, eyes wide with terror. Peter was closing in on her when he was knocked into the bus. Venom trapped him in a web connected to the bus, forcing Parker to watch the scared look pass over her face.
"Fin!" He yelled. As the symbiont Fin was getting closer, Parker repeated himself in the hopes she could break past it's control. She was only a few feet from showing the world what his insides looked like in daylight, when he closed his eyes and prepared for the stinging.
"Peter! Wake up!" Fin said. Peter opened his eyes and found himself inside the bus, waiting for every body else. She had taken the window seat and Parker was finding it was impossible to ignore the hand she had placed on his chest or her other hand resting on his leg, close to his crotch. She looked down and realized what he had thought. "I'm starting to think Lo might be right about you." In response, he lightly hit her on the shoulder and offered a smile. "Okay Parker, what's up?"
"You remember a while back when Colonel Jameson landed that shuttle with an organism on the hull?" Peter asked, and began the story of Venom. He didn't want to worry her and made a painstaking effort to tell her as much about Venom and the dream he could without letting her know about how it ended. By the time Peter had finished telling how he had separated Eddie from the symbiont and Brock's subsequent trip to a mental asylum, the other groms had joined them on the bus. The trip followed the path they had in Peter's dream, and the teen had his muscles tensed in case he would need them. As they got closer to the hotel, Fin fell to asleep. Now openly secure in Peter's arm. Looking down at the blondes comfort made Peter relax. They were content until they passed a mall that Lo insisted on stopping at. They went on and the two stayed in their positions, they both tensed when they saw that Lo was dragging Sally Avril behind her. They noticed that Grant, Rand, and Kong were following behind, but now as they got closer, Peter noticed that Sally was clutching a hat tightly against her head. They got on the bus and explained some of what happened in the store. How the groms had seen Sally with hair and made her honor her deal. As payback for trying to go against her word, Lo "suggested" she show the hotel what she looks like in daylight. She ripped Sally's hat off to show off the blonde stubble. Sally squealed as she pulled the hat back over her head. The other populars were promised some grindage. As much as Peter loved the idea of them getting even with them, and did he love that idea, he wasn't looking forward to riding with them.
"I'm sitting there." Kong told Peter. Parker was getting out of the seat when Fin put her hand on Peter's shoulder and turned to Kong.
"Sorry, I didn't see your name." Fin quipped.
"Get out of the seats, now." Kong commanded.
"Kenny." Gloria warned from the side. He looked at her and left after giving Parker a look full of hatred. Peter was worried about Kong, but the worries paled in comparison to the nightmares. He and Fin returned to their positions, unaffected by the daggers coming from the populars. They lost track of time and were soon pulling into the hotel, the sun dropping past the horizon. Peter was letting the people behind him get out and enjoyed the feeling of Fin being close to him. Sally was walking past, with Lo leading her outside the bus.
Sally got in his face and said, "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate you?"
"Geek, loser, social order destroyer, egg head, puny Parker, and stinky Pete." Peter counted off with his hand as he went. "Nope, I think 'I hate you' is new." She groaned and let herself be pulled away.
"Stinky Pete?" Fin asked. Peter meant to keep that one away, but guessed that he wasn't paying attention.
"Long story short? Be careful where you preform your costume changes." Fin laughed at what he was implying, he normally would've been more embarrassed, but found her laugh to be disarming. They brought their bags back to the staff house. After Parker had hid his bag up in the attic, his phone rang. He had received a message from the hotel to get to the lobby. He did as instructed and as soon as he walked in saw that while the populars, the other groms and Johnny were waiting close to the Front Desk, all the older employees were around the outer perimeter of the lobby. "Got any idea what's going on?" Peter asked his friends.
"No clue, bra." Broseph responded. At that moment Mr. Ridgemount walked out of the elevator. The man kept walking, until he was standing with the groms.
He looked around the room and said, "I called you all here to commemorate the hard work of a certain employee. We're here to celebrate Peter Benjamin Parker." He announced.
Everyone applauded and Peter couldn't help but rub the back of his neck nervously. "I-I don't deserve this."
"Of course you do." James Ridgemount said and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, "You deserve this and so much more, Bro."
"Eddie?!" Peter yelled. Before anyone could react to anything, Peter threw a punch at the man and sent him across the room. Ridgemount landed hard against the metal doors, leaving the doors bent. The groms and populars were frozen to the spot.
"Parker! What did you do to my dad?!" Lo yelled, attempting to get to the fallen man. "Let me go!" She screamed as Peter grabbed her hand. A stereo laugh started coming from the man as he got up. He was losing height, but his build increased. The black suit he was wearing was growing to cover the visible skin. Once the black covered his head, white appeared over where his eyes were and a white spider emblem showed up on his chest. A large mouth ripped open to reveal teeth that looked like it belonged to an animal and a snakes tongue.
"How? I gave you the gene cleanser. The symbiont was forced underground!" Peter stated.
"Yes, and it would've worked if wasn't the strength of our hate. But really, we should thank you. The gene cleanser gave us some new abilities." Venom said.
"Everyone, get out of here." Peter said to the groms, they were running to the front doors when every one of the employees morphed to lion like forms covered in black and sharing the same type of mouth as Venom has.
"No go." Rand said. Peter was scanning the lobby, silently calculating the best ways to get his friends to safety.
"New Plan: get behind the desk!" He said. None of the others, not even Sally objected to Peter taking the leadership and went behind the desk. Meanwhile, Peter was standing in the middle. Venoms army was attacking him, but mostly trying to get past him to the teens hiding behind the desk. Peter had pulled away every stray venom that had closed in on his friends, each one scratching and biting him wildly. He tried to push some of them, but soon discovered they possessed venom's strength. While he was fighting, Parker was also noting his advantages. So far the only advantage he could see was they were mindless, but he also realized that he would have the scars to remind him of the event for a long time. Soon all the venomed employees were surrounding him and he decided it was time for him to put his plan into action. "Hold onto something!" He instructed the others. Shortly after yelling, he preformed a flip and landed on the front desk. He launched himself off the table and was flying over the horde of venom creatures. The others thought he was leaving them, until they saw him sailing straight for the oversized fish tank. Peter used his super strength to break a hole and flooded the floor. The mindless creature weren't prepared for the sudden rush and were all knocked over. Seeing their opening, the teens ran as fast as they could for the door, Parker following close behind. They got out and were stopped short by Venom. Peter saw his enemy and jumped at him. He was throwing punches wildly and was quickly thrown hard against the hotel wall.
"Peter!" Fin yelled, taking a few steps closer. Venom looked at the blonde and his fist was moving away from Parker when he kicked his foot straight into the villains jaw.
"Go! I can handle this." Parker instructed her. She ran to the staff house, while Peter kept Venom distracted. Fin knew she would just get in the way of Peter at that moment and did the only think she could think of to help; get his web shooters. She pushed herself past her limits to get to the staff house. She met her friends on the way to the staff house and together they continued.
"What the heck was that thing?" Broseph asked, hunched over trying to catch his breath.
"Since when was Parker able to do all that?" Kong asked.
"That thing was Venom, one of Peter's old enemies. He could do that for a little over a year now." Fin explained as she pulled a chair under the door leading to the attic. Everyone was too shocked by what they were being told, and they were doubtful that one of their best friends was a superhero.
"No way that loser can be a superhero. Why would Parker be unpopular if he was Spider-Man." Sally began her tirade.
Fin was concentrating on the task ahead and tried to get the door open, but found it was heavier than she had thought. "A little help?" Rand got on the chair, while Fin got a second chair for Kong. Together, the football players inched the door open, until a smaller person could fit through. Fin went in while the football players kept it open. She dropped from the ceiling, with something no one could believe they were seeing. It was a bag made from white ropes. But what really caught their attention was the red and blue suit they had seen in the newspapers and at Lo's penthouse after her attempted kidnapping. With their attention on the Spider-Man suit, no one noticed a black glob jump out from the opening. Their attention was only pulled away when they heard a scream. They followed the scream to see Kong was growing the same black material as everyone else at the hotel. Soon the football player was another venom creature and was approaching the others, moving slowly and tracking all of their movements, as if he was an animal on a hunt. Suddenly the door burst open and Parker was inside. Kong charged at Parker, which Peter dodged by jumping off the wall and was running to where he saw his suit.
"Kong? Actually that's a good look for you." Peter said, dodging to the side, with the bag in his hand. He had on his web shooters, and switched to offense. He webbed Kong's legs and slung him to the side. While he was down, Peter shot more webs and spun him in several revolutions, scaring the others back. He released the web to make the venom creature fly out of the staff house. Parker followed the creature out, in time to see him getting back up. Parker ran faster than any of them have seen at the creature, he met the creature with a powerful kick to the jaw. Once he was in the air, Peter webbed Kong in the tree, with a smirk on his face.
"You enjoyed that way too much." Fin said.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Peter said. Fin was about to quip back when Lo came up.
"After all the time I spent kissing up to meet Spider-Man, and neither of you told me it was you." Lo said.
"It was my secret. I made her promise not to tell anyone." Peter defended.
"Why didn't you tell us bra?" Broseph asked.
"How about we continue this later. First I have to save all the employees." No one was able to argue with that point. Peter got the bag he dropped during the fight and switched into the suit.
"Everyone is in danger and your taking the time to put on a suit. What's the point? We all know who you are." Johnny said, crossing his arms.
"After separating Eddie from the symbiont for the second time, I created a special function to stop him. But you guys will have to stay back. If any of those creatures come back, then you'll have to use these." Peter told them, handing each grom and Rand an air horn.
"Why did you—" Reef started.
"I've been having nightmares about Venom returning for a while." Peter said and walked to the door.
Before he could, Fin blocked it. "Why are you leaving us behind, we could help."
"And put you guys in danger? There's no way I could forgive myself if any of you got hurt." Peter said, placing a hand a gloved hand on her chin, earning a blush from the girl.
"What's safer than being with a guy that can literally see danger coming from a mile away?" Johnny asked.
"Actually, Venom doesn't set off my spider sense." Peter heard laughter and saw it was coming from Reef.
"Spider sense? Dude, where do you come up with these names?"
"Not important. Stay inside and use those if you see any Venom creature." Peter said before jumping over Fin and started web swinging back to the hotel.
"Come on, we have to help him." Fin said. She was stopped short by Grant's hand on her shoulder.
"Peter's Spider-Man. He can take care of himself."
"No, we have to help." She said, yanking her hand away. Suddenly, Fin got an idea, "Front Desk, is there a way to play a loud sound over the hotel intercom?"
"Yeah, but we'd need to get to the Front Desk." Johnny replied.
"Great, lets go." She said.
"Gloria is right, Parker can take care of himself." Johnny reasoned.
"You don't get it! Peter told me he has always had trouble fighting Venom." All the others became worried at the new information.
"If a superhero has trouble taking down a baddy, then how are we supposed to help?" Broseph asked.
"Parker said the symbiont has sensitive ears." Fin said, holding one of the air horns to emphasize her point. "And with how many people are enslaved by those nast globs, we'll need all the horns."
"So you want us to ignore the superhero's advice and go into a nest of blood-thirsty creatures when only one gives that hero trouble?" Reef asked.
"You're right." Everyone looked at her, surprised of what she was saying. "It only takes one Venom to give him trouble, but his only advice was to stay here. Look around, how much safer do you think we'll be in a confined place then on the move." No one liked the idea of walking into a swarm of hostile alien creatures, but the idea of being sitting ducks wasn't appealing either.
After searching the staff house for flashlights, The group left for the hotel. Fin was at the head of the formation, with Reef and Broseph at the sides and behind her, guarding Johnny in the center. Falling behind was Rand. The rest were without flashlights and were between the sides and Front Desk guy. As they were walking, the teens were darting their lights and eyes around the area wildly, and for those with air horns had their fingers at the ready to blast the air horns at a moments notice. Suddenly, there was a sound in the forest on the right. Each teen snapped at the sound and slammed their fingers on the air horns. The lights passed over the woods and the only movement came from a few scared squirrels. Startled but unharmed, the teens continued with their eyes continuously scanning the area ahead. After what felt like an eternity, they were getting close to the front doors. They got closer and saw the lights out.
"Brilliant Betty, we're out here where any of those creatures can get us. I say we go to the whale bus and bail. Who's with me?" Reef said with his hand in the air.
"If the powers out, then what do you think the chances are that the bus is still drivable?" Reefs arm dropped and many of the others expressions dropped. "Does anyone know how to restore the power?"
"Yeah, I do." Broseph responded.
"Dude!" Reef grumbled under his breath.
"Okay, then here's what we do. Broseph, Rand, Lo, Gloria and I will go to the basement to turn on the power while the rest of you get ready to blast the sound through the intercom once the power comes on." Fin planned.
"Have you never seen a horror movie? You never split up." Reef said.
"In case you haven't noticed, this isn't a horror movie."
"You do realize that the hotel is full of monsters, right?"
"Whatever, we don't have much choice. If we all go down to activate the power then walk up than the creatures would know where we are or could knock the power back out." As much as everyone hated it, they couldn't argue with the blonde surfers logic and continued. In the enclosed place, the teens trepidation doubled and those with flashlights were throwing the light around the room almost too fast to see anything.
Fins team continued to the stairs for underground. Broseph and Fin took to either side of the group, looking for any sign of the venomed employees. As they walked, the only sound they could hear was their own footsteps, which was scarier than if they heard any growling. Based on the story Peter told her, Fin knew anything in a symbiont suit would posses amplified versions of his powers, including wall crawling. She was watching the ceiling when they all heard a hissing sound. They all slammed on the air horns before they could swing the flashlights over the area where the sound came from. After the scare, they realized the chances of the creatures coming was increased. The lights coming from their flashlights were scaring up shadows. Lo was the one took the lead, since she knew most about the hotel out of all the others. "It should be right around..here." She said.
"Okay, get to work Broseph."
"I don't see the switch." He responded.
"You don't know how to turn it back on?"
"Guess not." Broseph said, rubbing his neck the same way Parker did. Before anyone could do anything else, they heard a loud crash. The teens turned to the sound and replied with their own air horns and flash lights turning to the source.
"Is it really you dude and dudettes?" Kahuna asked.
"Kahuna? How did you not get turned into one of those Venom creatures?" Emma asked.
"I was down here meditating when they attacked, they don't like the vibrations that come from my gong." He said, holding a miniature gong in one hand and a mallet in the other.
"Well it's a good thing your here. We need you to turn the power back on." Fin explained.
"On it." The teens kept their flashlights trained on him as he was resetting the system. After a few minutes, the lights switched on.
"All right!" Everyone was cheering when five of the venomed employees showed. They all sounded their individual noise makers while walking away, making sure to never take their eyes off the threats. Without warning, some black tendrils swiped away their equipment. "Run" someone said. Regardless of who said it, they all took off at full speed.
The front desk group was in the lobby, waiting for the others to get the power up for the intercom. They knew Fin was wrong about this being a horror movie. And if there's one thing about horror movies that all of them knew was that monster, or monsters in this case, tended to show up when the teenagers thought they were in the clear. Each of them stood close to the front desk, ready to hide if, no when, the monsters attacked. "This is stupid, we should just call the cops and get out of here." Sally commented.
"I'm with the kook." Reef said "The cops will be able to handle this better."
"We can't leave Fin and the others." Emma said.
"Okay, the Betty and I can go to the bus." And without any further discussion, the duo left the building. Several minutes after they left, the lights snapped on.
"They did it!" Johnny yelled as he swung Emma up in a hug. He placed her on the ground and was patching into the sound system when they heard screaming. Both turned to the stairs, and saw Fin and Broseph running ahead of several venom creatures.
"Now would be a good time to blast the intercoms!" Broseph yelled. Unfortunately for them, the venomed creatures had got too close to Johnny front desk and destroyed the PA system.
After leaving his friends at the staff house, the safest place he could think of, he swung to the hotel. Peter didn't have any idea where his arch nemesis could be and had to hope that Venom wanted a fight enough to show up. While crawling on the outside of the building, Peter got his wish when he was pulled up by a web on his back. He stopped in the penthouse, with Venoms snarl visible in the little light that flooded in from the moon. "Like our new home? Ridgemount practically begged to give it to us."
"It's nice, but the maid service will have their work cut out for them after this." Peter said, shooting his webs at the coffee table. He pulled it to them and made Venom crash to the ground. While down, Peter jumped at Venom and unleashed a flurry of punches as he landed. Venom snapped up, grabbing Peter by the neck. Spider-Man thought Venom would try to collapse his air way. Before the hero could blind his enemy with a web, he was thrown the tv and felt the glass pierce his back. Peter jumped out of the way in time to dodge a charging Venom. While overhead, the villain swung his fist back and sent him flying at the opposite wall, Venom turned to look at Parker, prepared to attack. Peters "surprise" was battery powered and couldn't do many times, so he decided to save instead of using it then, he blinded Brock with web in his eyes, then jumped overhead and used two web lines he shot at the ground to kick Venom out the terrace. The two were falling through the air, the wind zipping past them as they were getting closer to the ground. By this time, Venom ripped the web off his face. He rotated so that Spider-Man would be the one to break the concrete. In an attempt to save himself, the hero shot a web at the building. They both crashed through the lobby door and into several Venom creatures. "Fin?! I told you to stay at the staff house."
"A friend of yours we presume. Any friend of Peter's isn't ours." Venom said, charging at Fin.
"No!" Peter yelled as he pressed the button hidden on his belt. As soon as the button was depressed, a piercing sound rang through the air. Venom, who was only a few feet from his target, collapsed to the floor with his hands clasping to his ears. The symbiont was starting to tear and revealed Parker's old friend. Peter shot a web at Brock, then spun to stick him to the wall. With the alarm still blaring, Peter webbed the symbiont to the ground. With his enemy down, Peter pressed his belt to stop the ringing. The venomed employees who were also writhing at the edge of the perimeter fell to the floor.
"What's going on?" Fin asked.
Before Peter could respond, Brock started laughing. "We set up a fail safe incase you did manage to separate us. If we don't come together again, then our partner will drain these people dry of life force. He should be joining us shortly." Just as the words left his mouth, there was a shrill roar coming from the front door. Rushing forward was a symbiont, a red one that appeared more savage than Venom.
"Fantastic. Make sure the symbiont doesn't bind to anyone." Peter said before leaping away.
After Peter left Brock said, "He'll never beat Carnage. You thought we were bad? By the time Carnage gets done with him, Peter will be begging for him to end it. If you're really Parker's friend then you will release us."
Fin cringed at the other symbionts chosen name and knew the new one could and would kill Spider-man in the most gruesome way either of them could come up with. Brock would be the only one able to stop it, but he wasn't offering to save Peter, but was offering him a quick death. She looked at the symbiont and saw it had an appearance of shrinking. "I already know this will come back to bite me on the butt." She said as she ripped off the web from the symbiont, but instead of letting it crawl to the other Venom half, she grabbed it and pulled it to her. The next thing she realized, she was standing at the Office. Except the sky was red and the place was devoid of all life. Even the water was still.
"Did you actually believe you could just use our power? To save Parker?" The symbiont asked.
"Either you help me take down that freak in red or die from no hosts."
"Do you hate Carnage?" It asked with a smirk.
"Yes." Without hesitation.
"How about shocker and the enforcers?"
"Yes!"
"Your hatred is delicious." The world flashed and Fin found herself standing in the hotel lobby.
"No! You can't choose her over me. She's friends wit—" Brock said before Fin shot a black web over his mouth.
Peter left the building and met the red symbiont. He realized he couldn't stand another fight and knew he would have to reactivate the siren to survive. All he could do was hope there was enough battery in his pack for him to win the fight. As he got close enough, Peter released his web line and sent his leg into the symbionts face. The creature grabbed his leg a few inches from impact and swung him in to one of the trees. Peter felt pain in his side and knew that if his ribs weren't broken before, they were now.
In a shrill roar, the red creature charged at Peter and yelled "DIE!"
"Hey, you can talk." Peter said. When the creature got close, Peter pressed the button on his belt for the siren. Carnage grabbed its head, but it still ran. Peter jumped over its head, but was thrown to one side by tentacles that were coming from its back. "So much for that plan." He said to himself. Carnage sprinted at Parker, now on all fours, and started slashing down. Peter was dodging and countering when he saw a black spec coming from the sky. "Great, I was starting to get bored." Peter said sarcastically. He was surprised when the figure kicked Carnage.
"Looks like you could use some help." The figure got up allowing Peter a better look at it and saw instead of Brock the symbiont had formed around a girl a few inches shorter than him.
"Fin?!" Peter's mask eyes shot open "Get rid of the symbiont!"
"I came here to help you."
"I got it. Just go before the symbiont starts taking over."
"You don't know anything about Carnage. And unless being a punching bag was your plan, then you didn't have it. I have your powers and no trouble getting around."
"You have to get rid of it now!"
"I can keep control long enough to help."
"You want to help? Evacuate the others and whatever you do, don't turn into a she-venom."
Fin realized he was right and figured she could help by spreading the knowledge, "This one hates fire."
Carnage came back and Peter shot several web compacts to draw its attention. 'Fire? Why couldn't it be weak to water?' Peter thought. 'How am I supposed to..unless..that could work.' "Hey big, red and ugly, let's play a little game of follow the spider."
"DIE!" It responded.
"Dude, its no fun if you don't banter back." Peter said as he leapt from branch to branch. It didn't take long before he got back to edge of the hotel. "Come on Red, don't tell me you couldn't keep up." Peter said, looking into the forest. He was kicked in the stomach and soon found himself on the beach with Carnage using his razor sharp claws on Peter. Spider-man shot a web into the creatures eyes, then delivered a powerful blow to its chin. With Carnage disabled, Peter ran into the changing room outside the lobby. "Come on flammables." Peter said before ripping each locker open. He found a few sticks of deodorant and was about to give up when he found several colognes and deodorants in one locker. "Thank you, Reef." Peter opened his web shooters to integrate the flammable material. His plan was now only two pieces short.
"DIE!"
"Just the guy I needed to see." Peter said, moving in time to dodge some more claw swipes. Peter knew he was getting further from the place he needed to be and switched to offensive by webbing up the fallen pieces of metal. Carnage put up its arms to block the blows and allowed Peter a chance to get back. He couldn't waste any of the new web fluid and was forced to run to the DR. The creature was closing in on him quickly and caught him just as they made it to the kitchen. "Checkmate Screamy." Peter said, forcing his knees into the creature and off him. He started shooting the webs wildly at the creature. Carnage broke out just as Peter was about to ignite the webbing. It launched itself on Peter and was placing more scratches on him. It had a formation on its face that resembled a smile, as if it was enjoying the pain it was inflicting on the hero.
"DIE!" It raised its claw, ready to deliver a fatal cut to the hero's jugular vein.
"Not Today!" Carnage was blasted off by a black web line. The shot was joined by several more lines at the other symbiont until it could no longer move. The next second Fin revealed her face as she was helping Peter to his feet. "I can't believe you feel like this on a daily basis."
"Fin? I told you to get rid of the symbiont."
"And if I did, then you would've been killed." Fin fired back.
"I could've handled it."
"You're unbelievable. You don't have to do everything alone!" Fin yelled.
"Yes, I do. The people around me always end up getting hurt."
"I'm wearing the suit that you yourself said gave the wearer amplified versions of your powers."
"The same one that takes over people's minds." Peter responded.
"It's not doing any–Oh, I get it. You want to be the hero. You can't stand not being the only one with powers."
"Fin, thats the symbiont talking. You have to get rid of it." Peter said as calmly as he could with his hand on her shoulder.
"You know what—!" She started before she saw a pair of bloody claws popping out of Peter's stomach. He collapsed to reveal Carnage. Fin let loose a roar and formed the mask back. She started punching the creature wildly. The claws that raked the suit didn't even make the grom flinch. She picked up Carnage and threw him in the open furnace, then webbed the metallic door shut. She ignored the smell of burning flesh and the animalistic cries while she ran to Peter's side, willing the mask away. She saw how bad his wound was. She was about to run for medical supplies when she felt something hit her wrist. Looking down, she saw it was one of his webs.
"Carnage." Peter gasped out.
"I took care of him." To illustrate it, the sound of screams and scraping metal ended.
"Fin, you..didn't."
"He deserved it!" She snapped.
"The symbiont." Fin realized what he was talking about. She had just killed someone. She started pulling on the black material when the mask formed again and she lost control of her body. She found herself back in the Office, only this time it was covered in black webbing running from every direction.
"We let one person escape. We won't let another get away." The symbiont walked from the woods, in the same form Fin had been in reality.
"Let me out! I need to save Parker." Fin said, before throwing a punch at the symbiont. The symbiont grabbed her fist and squeezed until she was forced to her knees.
"Without us, your weak. We hold all the power." The symbiont said releasing her hand and turned to the sky. Fin followed its gaze to a wide web in the sky. The black switched to the perspective Fin had back in the kitchen. Peter was holding his stomach and hobbling away. The view shifted and she realized the symbiont was chasing Parker. It knocked him into the lobby. The view blacked out again from a web shot covering the eyes. The world was recovered to see Parker was still retreating. "Poor Parker. He has been weakened by all the others and will now be killed by his new girlfriend. Too bad he rejected us." The symbiont said after webbing Spider-Man's feet to the ground and positioned itself with its claws at Peter's throat.
On the outside, Peter tried to tell Fin how to break free of the symbionts grasp, but she was still coming, with her claws leading. 'She can't hear me. There has to be something. Like that.' He thought before Fin stomped on his chest and knocked the air out of him. He shot a web and pulled an item to him that made the symbiont eyes to shoot open. He was holding an air horn. He pressed the button and the symbiont moved its hands to protect its ears. "It feeds off anger and hatred. Focus on the good." Peter told her. The symbiont snatched the noisemaker away and countered by throwing him into the wall.
"That was unpleasant." It said after breaking the horn. Peter screamed as the symbiont stabbed him in the shoulder. "Our current host wanted to end your suffering. But now we think that we can have a little fun first." It moved its claw up, primed for another attack. The symbiont brought its arm down, ready to end Spider-Man's career. The claw stopped a few inches from Peter's throat and pulled away. The symbiont started moving wildly over its host until Peter could see her. He shot a web at her and separated the pair. He shot a web over the symbiont and started to pull it.
"No, tell me where to drag it." She said, taking the end of the web.
Peter normally wouldn't let anyone else close to that glob, but all the sores were taking their toll on him. Still, he could follow her. "Take it to the furnace." She paled, remembering what she had done while wearing the symbiont.
Peter saw her reaction and said, "I can do this alone."
"No. I have to do this." They made it to the furnace and Fin froze. Peter took the web pack and threw it in. He closed the door on the screeching mass and saw that Fin was starting to weep.
"I'm sorry for what happened." Peter said, his hand on her shoulder.
"I killed someone." Fin said.
"No, the symbiont did." He said.
"Symbiont or not, it was me who threw him into the furnace."
"If only I could tell you the guilt goes away. But I promise I'll always help you as much as I can." Peter was surprised when she pulled him into a hug. She pulled back when he flinched.
"Sorry, let's get back to the staff house and I'll patch you up." Once they arrived, Peter revealed the wounds for Fin to apply first aid. "So what are you going to do now that none of the others remember your secret?"
"What are you talking about?"
"A side-effect of the venomization is memory loss." Peter was surprised by the news, but had already decided what he was going to do.
"I'm going to tell the other groms." Peter said.
"You sure? There won't be another memory wipe."
"Yeah, I'm sure." Later when the groms arrived, Peter did as he said and this time he relished the looks of surprise etched on each ones face when he clung to the ceiling. Then the ones they had when he told them about the attack, leaving out the part of his injuries. When he finished, they promised to never tell anyone. But Lo was still furious the super hero she was looking forward to meeting was actually the boy she still thought of as a pervert.