Puss couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The landscape before him was a magnificent city of stars. Everywhere he looked, it was brimming with tremendous lights so vivid even the pitch black color of night couldn't fully shadow it in darkness. It twinkled and blazed with so many hot colors that made him think it was possible to have randomly teleported back to the spot of the wishing star. The only difference was the massive population of people loitering everywhere on the ground.
From where he's standing, the towering buildings far surpass even the highest towers of Far Far Away. Some by a mile, even. Several of them touched the skies and Puss couldn't remember when he had last seen something that high apart from the magic beanstalk that he, Kitty, and Humpty stole in order to visit the goose's lair that was nestled in the clouds.
Was this the city of giants, perhaps? On the other hand, the people down below looked astonishingly small from his perspective.
And upon further inspection, Puss realized that the towers were mostly made up of glass rather than the usual stone and wood. He finds it rather odd and wonders whether the people cared little about their immense and colossal homes if it's easily shattered by something. Maybe the glass was a lot harder to break and certainly far sturdier than he imagines it to be.
Something flew overhead.
Puss pulls down his sombrero at the sharp whistling sound that sharply pierced his sensitive hearing. When he looked up, he saw a very odd-looking dragon. Its form was slick and stiff. There were no scales on that thing, but its skin was something akin to moldy white with a smooth surface. It has a short and rigid tail sticking up, and the wings…why wasn't it moving? It glided the air and his emerald eyes followed it unnaturally. It navigated the skies, unlike any other dragon he'd seen before. And what kind of noise was it making? It didn't sound like a dragon. It felt more like a loud shriek.
Puss tries to examine the details more carefully and quickly gawks at the human-shaped windows on the dragon's side.
It had humans inside it. They weren't riding the dragon on its back, they were in 'it.'
How did that work? Did these dragons have a particular advanced type of magic?
Were they often used as a mode of transportation? Sure, he's ridden Donkey's dragon wife before (certainly not in that aspect) but not all dragons were like her that would have allowed random humans close by, let alone to ride it.
Suddenly, the surrounding shifts.
He finds himself on the ground this time and it was astonishing just how tall their glass towers were at this angle.
On the other hand, the lights proved to be more unbearable. It is simply everywhere. It blinked, it glowed, it was rapid and it slightly hurt his eyes. Did everyone here just manage to own a gigantic, magic crystal mirror and plaster it outside of their homes? Were every citizen living like royalty? Anywhere he turned, moving pictures flashed by, and whether it was about marketing, ostentatious letters, or any other pretentious display, the cat simply found it too overwhelming.
This entire place makes Far Far Away look like an obsolete town.
There was one odd thing, though.
Apart from the strange dragon he'd seen earlier, the city was only littered with humans.
There were no trolls, ogres, witches, or sentient animals that would have related to him. Hell—where were the fairy tale celebrities? Their posters? At least Ariel seemed to be getting a movie. Puss sort of found her underrated in Far Far Away. That tends to happen when you're being overshadowed by a bunch of land walker princesses.
There was one in particular that piqued his interest, though.
'MASKED MENACE STRIKES AGAIN'
Don't let his unregistered vigilantism fool you! Trust the cops who wear uniforms and not the guy who wears spandex!
A guy with a square mustache ranted in several, gigantic mirrors, slamming his fist down on a table as he went on another long rant about why the self-proclaimed hero needed to be put behind bars.
Puss watches him with skepticism, losing his trust at once at the mention of siding with cops.
"Oh, he cannot be serious, can he?" The cat scratches his chin gingerly, tilting his head in puzzlement over the achievements the vigilante obtained from the long list of heroic deeds the man was spouting, hoping to make it sound like an unforgivable war crime to everyone's ears.
"He stopped a train from going off the rails! Oh, for ogre's sake," Puss turned to a passerby, hoping to agree with him as he pointed his thumb toward the exaggerated news of accusations. "You people don't buy this crap, do you?" The man simply went about his day, ignoring the once legendary hero, alone and confused on the side of the street.
"...okay," Puss tried not to be awkward about it and let his eyes roam free for a while. The people's clothes were different. The towers were a lot more massive and were unlike anything he's ever seen. Too simple in design, but the structure it's made of was a peculiar one. The landmarks and pillars, on the other hand, were entirely unfamiliar to him.
"...this is definitely not Spain. Or Far Far Away on that matter."
He doesn't remember stepping foot in this place. What continent was he in any way? Everyone around him was too busy walking from point A to point B. There were several other humans that were too preoccupied with a small, rectangular object in their hands.
Puss begins to scratch his head in earnest under his hat.
"Am I dreaming? Or am I really here?"
His confusion grows as he lingers there, so he decides to walk around for a bit. Puss follows the people across the street when a screeching metal carriage almost gives him a heart attack. The tires scraped the ground as the snout of the car stopped a few inches near his face, there was a loud beeping sound that rattled his ears before a person poked his head from the side window.
"Are you an idiot?!" A man screamed at him with an accent he's never heard of before. "What are you doing crossing the street!"
"Me? An idiot?" Puss huffed, squaring his shoulders and jaws. This guy's audacity. "You are the one who is an idiota, Señor! Can't you see that I am walking here—"
He was cut off by another blaring sound that came from the guy's metal carriage.
"Well hurry up and get out of the way!" Puss covered his ears from its glaring noise. He was about to give him a piece of his mind when someone else replied in his place.
"The light's red! Jackass!" A person behind him shouted, carrying a plastic Starbucks cup with the words 'FlashAvidSpideyfan' scribbled awkwardly after two failed attempts by the barista. "But feel free to run me over if you think your insurance can cover my compensation—"
"You don't get compensation, asshat!" Puss looked back and forth between the two and figured that they weren't even aware of his presence. It was like he wasn't even there.
"Get moving or I will run you over!"
Another blare of his horn and Puss disappears from across the street. He stops near a lamp post with a person huddled in thick layers of jacket, and next to him, were old and dirty newspapers. He tries to imagine Perrito laying down on his stomach, feeling for his soft fur out of comfort, as well as Kitty's mere presence to calm his nerves.
'Deep breaths, Puss. Deep breaths. You can do it. Just listen to my voice…'
He holds the memory of himself and the canine tenderly, gulping down the slight rise of bubbling panic due to the overwhelming sensation the city was emitting.
'You're gonna let a random city overwhelm you just like that? Come on, ginger…'
He sees Kitty in his vision, her cool sapphire eyes reining him in, and along with Perrito's hushed voice, his rattled heart slows down. He takes one slow breath and sighs.
"This is not the time for me to panic," Puss whispered soundlessly, paw touching his chest as he looked around once more. "Veneno?" He softly calls out for the symbiote but it was like Venom wasn't even there. "El Veneno? Venom?" He stands up straight, patiently waiting for their grumbling, intimidating voice to come out to the surface but he is only left with silence.
"This is…Oh, this is bad," Puss folds an arm and hides his mouth behind a clenched fist. Not only was he lost, but he was also alone and for some odd reason, people couldn't see him. "Should I pray to the Gods and ask them to lessen my misery?" The cat huffs, shoulder sagging in tiredness. "Or should I just surrender myself to Muerte and let him take me for good..."
The second he thought of the wolf, Puss shivered. His fear of Lobo wasn't exactly over just yet. He overcame him at their duel from the Wishing Star, but if he appears again and early this very second, Puss wasn't sure he'll handle it smoothly as before.
He shakes his head vehemently, trying to rid his thoughts of the embodiment of Death, and turns toward the homeless man waving around newspapers for passersby to buy.
"Ey! Señorito!" The feline whistled, tucking two fingers in his lips to produce the sound to catch the man's attention, but not even a blink was sent his way.
Puss sighed.
"I am this close…to losing it," He blew at the mustard feather drooping from the front of his hat, his shoulders sagging once more. "It cannot get worse than this, can it?"
The lights emitting from the glass towers died so suddenly, leaving him and the people in total darkness. Based on their frenzied reactions and audible gasps, this was unprecedented. He could feel their panic continue to grow when a crack of yellow lightning formed. It took a vaguely human shape, and the towers started erupting by flashing lights once again, but this time, it flickered with no control. Now everyone was shouting and moving across the place.
"Seriously…" Puss muttered, rolling his eyes and now running on all fours. He couldn't just get a break, can he? "Me encantan las aventuras! But now…I am starting to see the comfort of a retirement home!"
It was a good thing he can freely rely on his adventuristic skills, or else, avoiding a stampede of ballistic sprinting from the crowd would have been a nightmare to deal with. The cat chose to climb a lamp post to get a better vantage point, away to keep from all the running altogether.
And then…he felt it.
It was like a tingle.
A connection somehow, like a magnet to someone's presence.
And apart from the chaos of it all, Puss managed to get a glimpse of another perspective where the wind raced past his face after leaping from the top of a massive building. It was like having two different views as if he was suddenly jammed inside another's body. His sight was cut in half. One, in his original perspective, in which he gets a limited view on top of the post he just climbed, which was on his right eye.
Second, his left eye showcased a viewpoint of the chaotic plaza he was in. They were coming from above, faster and faster as something exploded and caused a metal carriage to flip unceremoniously into the air.
If his calculations were right, then that car would head straight to him—
The people in his particular spot quickly fled from the scene. Puss desperately shook away the double perspective, confused and nauseated as his sight overlapped. When it finally corrected itself, he was two seconds away from being flattened like a pancake when a flash combination of red and blue jumped to catch it.
Only someone with supernatural and immense strength can disrupt its trajectory just like that.
Puss pried one green eye open after shutting them quickly in reaction to being hit. It was like the image from the mirror the man had ranted about before came to life. He watches as the figure rises with the metal carriage weighing on his back, flipping it then so casually on the ground that the car wobbles as it lands.
"That was a close one," The figure sounded like a guy in his early twenties. His physique was partly muscular, but not really to a point where he could be described as bulky. He was wearing a very tight suit with intricate web patterns decorating across an expanse of blue and red. On the center of his chest, was a big spider logo stamped in the middle. "Night's a bit late for pancake-flavored citizens. But hey! I'm more of a late-dinner-kind-of-guy and it would seem like you are too—"
He stopped talking all of a sudden, taking a good look over the innocent he just saved.
Puss flicked his tail awkwardly, peering down at him from on top of the post.
The connection was there, and it tickled the cat's brain like a magnet. He could feel the figure's skepticism bleeding through, his wide white lenses squinting as he tried to study him over.
"Huh," Puss wasn't sure if the guy's 'Huh' sounded confused or unimpressed based on the nonplussed tone he was hearing. "Do people dress their cats like Zorro and just leave them wandering around nowadays?" The cat watches him place a finger under his chin, tapping it lightly in thought. "Or do I need to call animal services on your owners?"
"Animal services?" Puss couldn't hold back his disdain, immediately sticking his tongue out and flicking a paw in disgust. "Do not ever insult me like that again!"
"Wait—Hold on—" The guy seemed taken aback, as if not expecting him to speak at all. "You can talk?"
"Esperar!…" Puss slammed a hand to his forehead, his eyes shrinking in realization. "You can see me!"
"Was that Spanish? Did you just talk in Spanish?!"
"Uh…Sí," Puss nodded, not really getting why the figure had such a jumpy reaction. "Am I…not supposed to?"
"Unless you're the real-life Garfield somehow…then no."
"Who is Garfield?" Puss asked curiously.
"A cat who talks."
"But I am a cat who talks!"
"This really shouldn't be surprising to me…" The figure muttered under his breath, staring at the ground for a long while as his hands settled to rest on the side of his hips. "A talking cat that speaks Spanish shouldn't really be the one to break my psyche like this…"
"Watch out, Spider-Man!"
Someone shouted from the crowd. Puss detected a blur of squiggly lines that was accompanied by a hyper-awareness that warned him of danger. Both he and the figure turned just in time for a tower of crackling yellow electricity directed their way, or more specifically, towards the spider's way.
The hero avoided the blast by somersaulting to the side, and the feline watches him take massive leaps in the air.
"Yo, Sparkles!" Spider-man called out, hands gripping the curved top of a post as he swung himself to perch in place. "What's with the fireworks? July 4th was a month ago! So, wrap it up!"
"Ah…didn't think I'd see you here," Echoed the malevolent being of sentient energy. It regarded the masked vigilante with a somewhat confused expression. "I thought you quit."
"I'm self-employed," The hero replied casually. "With you guys popping in 24/7 and me being understaffed, like always, it's a miracle to plan a long-needed vacation, you know?"
"So you've finally tightened your screws after going rogue last month, huh?" Electro crosses his arms, smirking as the hero falters in grim silence. "I saw some cracks in your friendly neighborhood persona last time. Did it feel good to unwind all that baggage, Spidey?"
Spider-man adjusted his stance so that he gets to sit down on his rear and his legs dangling below the post, it was like a picture of a kid spending some leisure time on top of a monkey bar.
"Would you believe me if I told you that a parasitic alien was controlling my body?"
"Sounds like excuses to me!" Electro laughs in denial, his form sizzling at the movement of his chest. "It's not too late to switch sides! Come on over and see for yourself!"
"Hard pass. Already had my character development…but thanks."
The spider-webbed a water hydrant and pulled. A silky thread arched in the air with the item as he swung it upwards to hit Electro. It was met by a powerful blast of energy in retaliation.
Puss left the lamppost by then, watching warily as the vigilante's suit got caught on fire after swinging past a wave of electricity that was directed to hit an innocent civilian.
"Agh!"
Spider-man crashed to the ground, and despite being injured in the fight, urged the person he saved to get away and be out of Electro's reach. Puss felt his sixth sense flaring as another flurry of yellow static threatened to come down on him. The feline raced as if he was the one being hit. He placed himself in front of the Spider, shutting one eye close as he tipped the end of his rapier in the direction of the super-powered criminal and hurled it in the air. His sword shot like an arrow, piercing through the barely tangible form of sentient energy.
Electro felt it like a weird sensation of something blunt phasing through his body. Nonetheless, whatever invisible force it was, was enough to freak him out and caused him to scarcely miss the hero. The blast had struck a police car in exchange, upturning it on impact and sending several cops partly in retreat.
"Araña!" Puss turned towards the masked vigilante, fist-raising in confidence. "Perhaps I can assist you!"
"Oh, so the outfit wasn't just for pictures then…" Spider-man coughed awkwardly, breathing in through the mild pain he went through after being electrically shocked.
"Pictures?" The cat repeated, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Well…" The hero tried to relax, ignoring a freaked-out Electro in the distance and the barrage sounds of pistols going off from a line of cops trying to hit him to no avail. "People usually dress up their cats, and sometimes their dogs, in these cute little outfits so they can take a picture of them on their phone and you know? Post on their Instagram or Facebook or whatever. But apparently, if my hunch is right, then you're practically Zorro 2.0."
Puss stared at him for a long while, the sounds of guns and electricity clashing in the background.
"You have no idea what I just said, did you?" Spider-man stated.
"You implied that I looked cute in this outfit," The treacherous blush of his cheeks betrayed him. Puss was not gonna lie. He was offended. Deeply, if he's able to say. "Do you think I just march around with this getup and make people fall for me?"
"...Don't you?"
"A long time ago, maybe! Things—Things have changed," The feline tried to hide a second wave of blush settling in his cheeks upon the thought of a tuxedo cat with intense and passionate sapphire eyes.
"For the record, I didn't know that you could talk before," Spider-man replied as if that explained everything. "I appreciate the help…but I've dealt with Electro in the past," Despite wobbling in his steps, the hero sought enough energy to stand firmly in place. He glanced back down at Puss as he flicked his wrist, getting ready to launch another web in the air. "I can handle this."
Once upon a time, Puss was not one to back down, nor was he passing up an opportunity to fight. But his confrontation with Death had made him cautious and careful with his last life. He's heard what this guy can do and he sounds experienced enough in battle.
However, there was something more at play here. The way he just randomly appeared in this bright and brilliant city, the sudden shifts in locations, the connection in his mind that lingered and made him feel the senses of the masked vigilante in front of him—all these questions and randomness the universe just dumped on his plate made him put an effort to at least discover its answers.
No. He will not walk away. There has to be a reason why this person could see and interact with him.
"Oh, I believe you, Señor! I handle fights by myself too, once upon a time!" Puss proclaimed, halting the figure momentarily. At least he got his attention. "Eventually, I got a team! And what I learned from then on, it isn't so bad. I promise you, I will not be a burden! In fact, perhaps we can make quick work of this situation and have it handled quickly, no?"
If he proves himself to be trustworthy, maybe then he's allowed to ask fairly important questions. He needs a navigator in this strange new city, and actions speak louder than words, anyway. Kitty would agree on that one.
"...man, I don't know," Spider-man scratches his head and quietly regards him with the benefit of the doubt. "I've never worked with someone before, nor that good at it. And you're like…the first ever talking cat I've ever had a conversation with."
"I believe you mentioned a Garfield earlier," Puss reminded him, unbothered by the mini-explosion a short distance away. "Was he not the first talking cat you've encountered?"
"I think I failed to mention to you that he was a comic character and not a real talking cat."
"What's a comic?"
Both of them felt the tremendous danger blaring through the webhead's senses as Electro's power surged. Spider-man looked alarmed then.
"Alright, break time's over. You see that thing on the center of Electro's chest?"
The cat's eyes wandered towards the metallic sphere embedded at the spot the hero was pointing. It was pulsing blue.
"It's giving him unlimited juice. Long story short, Octavius made renewable energy with that thing and it fell into the wrong hands, specifically Electro's if you can tell."
"...wait, Octavius?" Puss repeated, eyes widening in shock as his mind recalled a particular cat scientist he met not too long ago. Did the Spider mean him?
"Yeah, he's been dealt with already, so don't worry about it," Spider-man paused, noticing the cat's tense reaction but continued as to not stray away from the current problem. They needed to handle this ASAP. "The plan is simple. We get it off him."
Puss took a while to respond. The mention of Otto's last name made him hesitant and even more confused. There was a sense of deja vu going on and the figure had to snap his fingers to break him out of his thoughts.
"Hey, you still with me?"
"Uh…" The cat tried to clear his throat, embarrassed by accidentally zoning out. Perhaps he'll ask more about the Doctor's part in all of this after they deal with the Electricity guy. "We go after the thing on his chest?"
"Good ears. Okay, you try and distract him and I'll try to get close," Spider-man had long flung himself into the air before Puss could mention that he was the only person that could see him.
Well, so much for offering to help.
On second thought, he should have told him everything concerning his situation, but the timing of the attack and how soon they met under hazardous circumstances was clearly not on his side. Puss needed to move if he was worthy to help the spider hero and not act like a total fool. As he begins to run, he feels his sword brushing his boots and he's surprised to find it there stashed under his belt.
Didn't he just launch it toward the Electro guy?
"Hey! Antonio Banderas!" Spider-man called out, sharply evading a torrent of yellow static and squeezing past the tiny space between the two cars that Electro had flung towards him. "You okay over there?"
"Uh…are you referring to me?" Puss questioned back, shouting loud enough for the hero to hear.
"No!" Spider-man slides on his knees, his suit scraping the concrete ground as he leaned back tremendously to avoid another blast. It barely grazes his chin. "I was actually talking to another cat that happens to speak Spanish and sound exactly like the actor guy that played Zorro on the big screen!"
"Apologies, Señor! But I cannot tell if you are serious or not!" Puss turns on his heels, a plan quickly forming in his head. "I do not know any Señores like Banderas or Garfield!"
"Wait, really?" The hero sounded genuinely mystified as he webs a circular sewer gate off the street flooring and uses it as a shield against Electro's blast. "I thought you watched the movies, man!" Surprisingly, the small, round door held. "What, with your get-up and all!"
"I do not know any of their movies," Puss appeared from behind him, occasionally peeking past the hero's stature to get a glimpse of an opening before hurriedly ducking just in time as a surge of harsh energy almost clipped the feather of his sombrero clean. "But I do know of the Spanish splinter!"
"Uh…translation please?"
"Launch me straight to that Electro guy and you'll see!"
"That sounds incredibly vague and simple," Spider-man sounded doubtful.
"It is quick and effective! I assure you!" Puss releases his sword from his belt. "I just need to get that glowy thing off his chest, right?"
The hero's white lenses squinted over the presence of his tiny blade.
"Assuming your Spanish splinter works, what's your take on electric shock? Unless cats really do have nine lives and you'll probably brush off death like it's nothing."
"Uh…" Puss tried not to appear uncomfortable at the mention of Death and his former lives. It was still hard to think about that particular encounter. "I will be fine," He hoped his voice came out firmer than he imagined it to be, but the sound of an active electric current trying to fry them from all angles might just be louder. He sincerely doubts the hero would press further at a time like this. "When I launched my sword earlier, it passed through him."
"Passed through?" Spider-man repeated. "It passed through Electro?"
"Sí," The cat nodded. "But it still affected him. That's why he missed his shot earlier."
"...has this happened before?" The hero suddenly became serious. "Like you throwing things that pass through them?"
"...no, this is new," Puss answered him honestly. He brings his sword closer and upon finer inspection, the weapon was partially translucent as if the opacity has been lowered just a bit. He extended his examination towards his hand and surprisingly, the effect was the same.
Puss hoped this wasn't permanent because all the unanswered randomness he's been getting just seems to pile up each second.
"The thing you do with your webs," The feline pushes back his worry, trying to attend to the issue at hand. He can't afford to get distracted and mess up. Not now. "I think it's safe to assume that you have a good aim, no?"
"I'm starting to think that you're not from around here," Despite the mask, Puss could feel the hero's dubious look. Not that the cat could blame him. The poor guy didn't even know that magical animals like him existed in the first place. "Hang tight on my shoulder."
There was very little reason not to trust him and the feline quickly obeyed. He was careful with his claws not to tear all the way through the guy's skin, just enough for him to hold on as the Spider pushed on his knees, and sprinted with the shield on the front.
The blast directed at them splits, and Puss did not want to risk getting shocked this early and hid protectively against the back of Spider-man's shoulder.
"Ey! You're doing great!" Puss encouraged, beaming vividly at the hero's strength.
"As a shield or as a pot roast? Because at this rate, thanksgiving might come early," Spider-man huffed, launching to roll himself in the air and whipping a web to swing them around the side of Electro.
"Think you'll tire me out?!" The villain sent them a flurry of static that followed them like a guided missile, brilliant and dangerous sparks erupted behind them but the hero was skilled enough to dodge every hit, his sixth sense was doing godly work of predicting where to turn and where to go.
"I'm just getting started!"
"Now why did I ever ditch applying an electric nullifier in my suit is beyond me…" The Spider grumbled.
"Ha! You're a natural!" Puss commented vibrantly, a paw keeping his hat in place as one specific electric bolt surfed a few inches on top of it. "That was a close one…"
"Believe it or not, I would have died long ago if it weren't for my danger sense," They barreled roll in the air, momentarily leaving the metallic door flipping alongside them before retrieving it again as they took a sharp dive.
"Alright, that Spanish splinter of yours better work its wonders because this is it!" The hero declared as they neared an opening.
"Man, Who the hell are you talking to?!" Electro was giving him the stink eye but he was ignored in favor of tossing a circular sewer door in his direction.
"Hope you're a Zorro fan 'cause here's your signature!"
Maybe there was a chance he'll be able to tap the chest more firmly with a tangible material right underneath him. He soared with the metal hatch in the air, safe from the eyes of the crazed-powered villain. Whether the hero was aware that no one else could detect his presence was a mystery to the cat. Either that, or he's just really, really lucky. Maybe the Spider didn't want to risk his chance.
Puss prepared his sword, readying himself to thoroughly pick it aside only for something else to happen. The sewer door was the one to crash against Electro's chest, the cat missed performing his trick but somehow ended up taking the blue pulsing machine with him as he not-so-smoothly phased through the energy the man was radiating.
"Oh…" Puss has somehow failed…but successfully.
The gizmo beamed at his contact and the feline was quick to protect it in his hold when he crashed against the ground, his figure rolling three steps ahead as Spider-man took advantage of Electro's dimming power.
"You might wanna start paying your electric bill…" Two threads of the web had stuck to the villain's chest, the masked vigilante soaring above him, effortlessly pulling the criminal over an arch and aiming to slam him on the ground. "Cause your lights are about to go off!"
Spider-man, at the very least, held back just enough not to entirely damage him, fearing that without the battery powering him up, Electro might partially be vulnerable. Nonetheless, he hits the concrete floor without a second thought. The hero sprayed a silk net webbing that traps him in place before he could fully recover to consciousness.
"And that my friend, is what a Spanish cat would call…a Spanish splinter."
"Er, is it safe for me to admit yet that I may have miscalculated?" Puss breaks the Spider's mini celebration, gathering himself from the ground after his rough landing.
"Miscalculated how?" Spider-man tilts his head in confusion. "The plan worked. Spanish Splinter and all."
"For the record, it uh…sort of backfired," Puss cringes as he gives an awkward smile. "But apparently, luck seemed to have accompanied us on our side either way!" He quickly gestured to the small portable machine before hauling it in the hero's direction.
"Here, catch!"
"So, what we did wasn't really the Spanish splinter?" Spider-man hastily catches it in response, holding the makeshift renewable energy in one hand. "You really got me going there, didn't you?"
"Eh," Puss merely shrugged at him.
An NYPD officer approached the hero and the look that he gave him was a bit…questionable.
"We appreciate the help again, Spidey," The cop fidgets with his hat, clearing his throat and trying to appear unbothered for some reason. "We know you're pretty chatty but uh…do you normally talk to yourself for this long?"
"What? You're not going to ask me about Zorro over here?" He gestures his shoulder towards Puss but fails to notice the cat's grimace. "Didn't know you guys had a fluffy, talking mascot looking out for people."
"Mascot? What are you talking about?" The officer was only looking at an empty space in time square. "You sure Electro didn't fry your brain?"
"Uh…Señor," Puss clears his throat, getting Spider-man's attention. "I believe I forgot to mention to you this one important detail…"
Suddenly, the hero's spider-sense blared. Reality flickered and the image of New York disappeared from sight. Gone were the never-ending expanse of lights, the two were only surrounded by pitch-black nothingness. Puss jumped at the abrupt exhale the hero let out, his emerald eyes went to him worriedly, and found his suit drained of its usual color.
Spider-man was desperately trying to pry it off him.
"No—No—Not again!"
"Araña! what's wrong?"
The cat watches him wearily as he pulls the black fabric like he was ripping a part of his skin. It was uncomfortable to watch, even his own body feels dysphoric at the sight. He checks himself and realizes that he was back in Venom's get-up. But unlike the hero next too him, Puss only felt mild discomfort.
Spider-man grunts as the suit slapped back to his skin, sticking like glue. He hurriedly turns to the cat, head bobbing up and down as he inspects him carefully.
"...did you become its host?" The sharp tone of his voice didn't bode well with the cat.
Puss feels his own suit subtly moving around his skin like it was alive.
"Did you bond with a symbiote?!"
Before he could say anything, the hero gripped his shoulders tightly as he knelt to meet him at eye level.
"It's the only reason why you could have connected to its hivemind!"
"What—What are you talking about?" The feline stuttered. "Hivemind? What hivemind?"
"Listen to me!"
Puss couldn't understand the abrupt change in the vigilante's personality. But then again, who could blame him? He didn't have the slightest idea like the hero did and whatever was happening seemed to be out of his control, or their control, for that matter.
"It could be because of Venom or some other symbiote…but you need to unbond!"
The warning was genuinely coming from a worried place but Puss found himself shoving the thought away. Why would he let go of Venom? What reason could there be? He feels something gripping his chest, latching onto him for safety and protection the more the Spider spouted nonsense to his ears.
"I haven't been in contact with it for almost a month but I'm still being dragged to its exterior hive…" The hero murmured quietly. "These things—They're everywhere. And I don't mean it globally, in every crevice of the multiverse the symbiotes can appear. They bond to different hosts and sometimes each and everyone's consciousness can overlap. It's why you can see through a memory you don't really recall because you're actually seeing through someone else's eyes."
"Uh…does our interaction count?" Puss flexed his fingers but decided against adding up the information he's been given. "I'm not a math guy, but this feels more like a memory thing.
"...yeah, apparently this one is recent. I met a guy with a gray sweatshirt while wandering an alternate San Francisco last week. He was…a different version of someone."
Puss gives him a careful look. "...someone you know?"
"Yeah, and let's leave it at that," It was clear the hero didn't want to bring much attention to it. "You're probably new to this, aren't you?"
"The life-threatening situation? No," Puss shook his head. "But the thing you mentioned is…well, it is new. When I came to your city, it was unlike anything I have ever seen!"
"To be honest, as crazy as my New York is, we don't really get talking cats that often."
"Ah, except for a Garfield, no?"
Spider-man sighed. This is what he gets for pop culture references.
"...that aside, who is it that you bonded to?" His white lenses narrowed at the cat. "I know there's Shriek, Toxin, Sleeper…God, is it Carnage?"
"El Veneno," The feline answered, shrugging away his shoulders to make the Spider let go. "And for the record, they aren't as bad as you think. I mean, I can get by speeding past the first few hours…but their heart is in the right place."
Spider-man only shakes his head at him, disapproving.
"You probably just bonded with it, but take it from someone who experienced the nasty breakup in the aftermath," The hero taps his chest for emphasis, specifically the now white emblem logo of a spider. Puss wonders what sort of trouble he had gotten into, so he allows himself to listen despite the hissing sound in his head.
"It's only good at first. The way it gives you power, makes you feel like you're unstoppable even! All of that rushes straight to your head and eventually, you'll become so full of yourself—"
The cat gets a glimpse of his past life, particularly the eight that he had lost. Venom wasn't the cause of all that, it was his own greedy and selfish desire for an adventure.
"...soon, it will make you think that you won't need anyone in your life. That it'll be the only thing that you'll want until what remains of you is an empty husk of an asshole who thinks he's too good and too invincible for the world."
Puss frowns at that, not because he feared that Venom would reduce him to a definition of a jerk, but because he didn't even need a symbiote to become one in the first place. It was all him. The nine lives made him reckless. The title of a Legend was too big to fill, but apparently, too small to share. It was because of it he had left Kitty at the altar. Even his friends from Far Far Away barely had any explanation as to why he disappeared. It was because of it that Death himself had made it a priority to beat his skull and terrify the living spirit in him that he was not worthy of an ounce of life.
Venom may have partially been a thorn while trying to get along with Kitty and Perrito, but the symbiote looked out for him. If anything, Venom was more misunderstood and the talk they had, while he passed out on drugs, was surprisingly fulfilling.
"Look, it's not too late! You can still get rid of it through fire and sound—"
"I appreciate the advice, Araña…I really do," Puss nodded at his attempts at least, taking his words to heart in case the symbiote does overstep in the future. "But Veneno and I talked it out! And they listen surprisingly well, as a matter of fact."
"I—What?" It was Spider-man's turn to stutter. "Talked? You guys talked?
"Sí," Puss chirped at him, nodding the next second. The silence the hero gave him was unusual. "Have you not tried it before?"
"...oh, I tried," Spider-man mumbled darkly. "But it preferred trapping me into a cocoon the second I told it that it was over."
"Ah, yes…they do tend to lash out pretty quickly," Puss scratches the back of his head, wondering why the masked hero was staring back in disbelief.
"Dude, I'm serious. Venom is bad news!"
"Oh, I hear you. It's just that they're behaving themselves pretty well right now," Did he need to explain things more thoroughly? Whatever reason he tried to give to the hero, it only seemed to spur him in panic.
"You can't trust it!" Spider-man was adamant, pointing a finger at him. "Never, ever trust it! You'll never know when it's messing with your head!"
At this rate, Puss held his paws in defeat. He didn't mean to rattle him like that.
"Lo siento. I didn't mean to sound like I'm not taking your advice to heart—"
"Trust me, the only option is to unbond," The hero keeps shaking his head. There was no way around it. "It'll be hard to separate yourself from it when you're too deep in symbiosis. It was hard for me to untangle even with the use of super strength."
For some reason, that statement chilled Puss to the bone. He knew how strong the Spider was firsthand, so seeing him struggle would be like the equivalent of seeing Shrek struggling in battle. Despite being a family man, he knows his ogre friend was a formidable opponent.
"In case that happens, you have to rely on using fire and high-frequency noises to make it efficient. It'll be easier that way…"
"Uh, duly noted."
Despite the feline's reluctance, he was a bit glad to know that there are certain things to use against the symbiote. He still trusted Venom as of now, but he'll save that piece of information for later use in case things go south.
Both of them were left in silence until Spider-man's sixth sense blared once more.
"...I think this is where we part ways," The hero mumbled under his breath. "My last encounter ended exactly the same. Look, whoever your Venom is…just look out for yourself, okay? You'll never know."
Puss opened his mouth to say something but the surroundings shifted again, the hero vanishing from his sight as if the darkness swallowed him whole.
That wasn't fair. He didn't even get to say goodbye…or exchange numbers.
He knew for a fact that Perrito would love that guy. Kitty still has her trust issues but she'll eventually take it easy once she gets to know him more properly. Speaking of his friends, he direly misses them. Being displaced out of time and free-floating in between dimensions was something he'd wished not to experience again.
"Gah!" Puss screeches, overwhelmed.
His sight splits again but this time, he's seeing through hundreds and thousands of consciousness across the hivemind possessed. He recognizes the black tendrils decorating the edge of his vision, wishing that at least Venom was around but all he heard were a bunch of creepy synchronized hum that wasn't them.
Another host from a Venom?
One symbiote hissed from the abyss.
Their host is poisonous!
Another shrilled.
They always pick the most moral and heroic ones! They are poison to our kind. Why can't they choose someone like Kasady?
Because Venom is a loser. That's why.
The voices overlapped inside the cat's head like a never-ending echo that bounces from within a cave.
The red one is making quick work on that immortal.
Puss gets a flash of something crimson and sinister, perceiving an image of an underground sewer and feeling its lust for carnage. Whatever that thing was, it made his fur stand on end.
Good, because that pesky wolf is harder to tame! Do you think our creator can make a decent necro sword from his essence?
The overwhelming sensation cuts from there, it was like the feline was randomly dropped into a shadow dimension where the only source of light seemed to radiate from around him. Puss stood there in the vibrant ring of illumination, not sure whether to step out from it and be in the presence of whatever was lurking in the shadows.
Maybe Spider-man could have given him some tips about being dragged to a pitch-black planet because Puss isn't sure if he's ready for this kind of adventure. Seriously, what were those things in the dark? He could feel them slithering just a few steps ahead, his mind was new to this particular sensitivity and he found himself not liking it one bit.
His paw itches to grip the handle of his blade when one creature makes a move to come closer.
How cute. It wants to fight us!
It was then Puss realized that it was a symbiote. The connection was a lot like Venom's but unlike them, this one felt hostile and more alienated.
Its presence took a serpentine form due to a lack of a host, and in the placement of its eyes and nose, was a wide spiral symbol. It had the same monstrous teeth and elongated tongue lashing at him from outside the light. Puss did not think twice to unleash his sword right then and there, pointing the tip of his rapier at the alien and vehemently trailing its every movement.
There's nothing special about you, terran! Forcing a symbiosis on you would only poison us!
"Poison?" Puss arched an eyebrow at their statement. He watches the creature slither around him in a circle, quickly taking notice of their attentive boundary outside the light's reach.
You're a hero. One of the forces of good. You do not classify nor are compatible in inheriting the chaos our creator promised to spread!
"...no, I suppose I'm not," Puss spat at them. "If you claim to be an evildoer, know that I will stand against you and won't think twice in brandishing my sword in your direction!"
Are you threatening us with your butter knife?
Another one asked, inching more closely than the one he was conversing with. Puss makes an effort to look for Kitty's gatito blade only to realize that he had lost it when she had plunged the small cutter directly into the Goblin's eye.
The cat found himself missing it. It was Kitty's and she had sacrificed it to save him yet again.
He leveled his sword toward the two creeping symbiotes, not an ounce of fear on his face was present.
"Feel free to underestimate me! But know that I have fought the embodiment of Death and lived!" He was pushing it. He held long enough in battle, sure, but if it had lasted longer, he would have eventually fallen. Not that these beings should know, of course.
One symbiote laughed cruelly at him.
Death? The same one our creator is stealing the essence from?
His confidence quickly faltered.
"...what?"
His head ached at the sudden intrusion of thoughts as if someone was peeling off the layers of his brain and inserting a particular memory in. There was no time for him to panic when being greeted by the familiar ruby, red eyes of the wolf, and just like his connection with the hero, this one formed to link with his foe from the past.
Puss gasped once their minds joined at that instant.
And from then on, he felt fear. Deep, bone-chilling fear. But what's unusual was that it wasn't his own. This fear in particular stemmed from the unknown that had enough power to render him useless. He was an immortal, earning the title of a Horseman due to his importance in the universe but this being simply walked all over him.
Puss could feel his own chest tightening, his limbs straining due to being bound by the monstrosities that held the wolf in place.
If this was a Hivemind thing, did that mean that Death was also considered a host? Why else would he feel the same thing? Was this all because of Venom?
The connection spikes and Puss gets a front-row seat of the wolf's presence a short distance away. He was held down by this towering figure with long and snowy hair. It was gripping the wolf from under his snout and a skeletal hand manning the handle of a sword that was leeching off from Death's power.
While he didn't feel any significant thing towards el muerte, the cat knew it was wrong. Lobo may have caused psychological damage to him in the past, its lasting effects permanent, but his heroic nature simply pushed him to run and somewhat defend himself from whatever being that was torturing him.
"Lobo!" He shouted, tearing through the nasty crowd of rogue Kylntar residents. The light that surrounds him warded off their presence as he continued to run.
He didn't think the clashing of good and evil would be this literal rather than figurative all the way through.
He truly was a poison to them.
"Lobo!" Puss called out again, pushing his luck deeper to get the wolf's attention. "Muerte!"
He stilled himself as his panicked emeralds found his stricken rubies. Those eyes haunted him before, but the look of pure, unadulterated fear was such a tonal shift from the former bloodthirsty hunter that went after his last soul.
What the hell had caused him to be just as scared as he was during the chase?
"...Gato," Despite the weak tone, Puss heard him and his internal plea loud and clear in his head.
For some reason, the cat felt like he was drained of energy, just like the wolf was as his essence was being leeched off to form a formidable sword he's never heard of before.
The thing that rendered Death immobile made a move, and the cat's recent spread-out connection throughout the hive solely focused on it.
It was clear to him just like the darkness that surrounds them.
This was the King in Black.
"S-Stop!" Puss hurriedly called out, paw raised as if that would do something to an eternal being. "I-I demand you to stop!"
One powerful strike from its hand slammed the back of the wolf's head, shoving him down with a sickening crack. The cat hoped that immortals have stronger bones than regulars because that sounded too painful for his liking. The symbiotes all around him hissed in unison.
Puss had very little time to process that the King appeared in front of him. He didn't even blink nor saw him move. It was just unnatural down to the core.
He shared the same red eyes as the wolf, just as well as Venom's menacing teeth and sharpness altogether. His long white hair whipped intimidatingly despite the lack of wind, and there was a symbol that carved itself into his chest, partially akin to a spider but more mutated looking.
He was a being of darkness, shadow, and whatever malevolent definition of synonyms to describe him as.
He was the void, the abyss, the unreachable.
The King peered down at him with incomplete indifference and only a spark of intrigue.
Tell Venom that if they continue to blind themselves to the light, I will not hesitate to extinguish it.
Puss jumped back in response, leveling his sword to what anyone would consider a God. He fought Death before, what's another one to the list?
I do expect the delivery of the wolf to be handed sooner to me…
"I…beg your pardon?" The hero croaked out, unsure of what exactly it meant.
The Wolf. The Horseman. The manifestation of Death. He is placed at the core of your universe and I cannot drain him fully of his essence if he is within a boundary.
The light that surrounds him begins to dim and the symbiotes from the shadows slowly advance.
Puss tries not to panic and keeps his cool, sword unwavering toward the symbiote God.
Fail this, then not only will I come for them…but to you and to your light as well.
Kitty and Perrito quickly flashed through his mind.
The ring of light fades. It wasn't long until Puss was swallowed by the shadows, their cruelty drowning him in.
His green eyes open for the first time and he hungers for the light. His last memory before the alien took over hadn't fully settled in yet when their alarming voice almost cost him a brief heart attack.
Boots!
"Gah!" Puss scrambles out from his peaceful slumber, falling clumsily like a fool that's been surprised by their booming and talking alarm clock.
You are in perfect condition! We managed to devour a being that helped us speed up your healing process. But…your current vitals indicate that you are worried about something…
Venom's tone was laced with concern despite being formerly jovial.
Are you alright?
The cat held his chest as his heart hammered wildly against his ribcage. His mind was still reeling from the hivemind thing and for some reason, he could see a split vision of the wolf passing out in the real world, an image of a vulture and a wild boar with weapons sticking out was right beside him.
"His irises are white! And he's not moving!" The bird panicked loudly. "War! What do we do?!"
Puss shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the double perspective.
"...shit, Famie. It's Pestilence—"
"You cannot be serious!"
Boots? What's wrong?
Muerte wasn't looking too good, his black sclera drowns in white while his irises floated upwards. The bird continued to scream.
No…
There was a dawning realization from Venom, intense disapproval as their link was shared to another.
No! No! No! What have you done?!
Puss could feel Death's allergy, his sickness, and how weak he was. Then there was another presence, the one lurking down the sewers. The cat was slowly maddened from the shared connection.
"Veneno!" He calls out, his sight overlapping. "What is happening to me?!"
The scenery fades, and he sees el muerte in the darkness embracing himself as he shivers. He cracked open his eyes and his red meets his green. Puss shivered at the sensitive connection, only then Venom interrupted the silence by fuming loudly.
Why in the blasted universe did you just share our thoughts with that damn wolf?!