Disclaimer: I only own the stuff I made up; the rest belong to the rightful owners.

Warning: This is a DARKFIC.

Extended Summary

David Dante, the man behind to sadomasochistic Spider-Man mask, is now attending Empire State University with his friends, Felicia Hardy, Eddie Brock, and Cindy Moon. The four of them form a pack to protect New York City when the time comes and to not go after each other. As they settle into their new life, a new enemy with the ability to corrupt and manipulate negative energy emerges. After taking over the criminal underworld, they plan to take over New York City. The four antiheroes must now take on the entire criminal underworld if they want to take down Mr. Negative. Still, all of that is much easier said than done, especially when an identity-stealing chameleon and the world's deadliest hunter get involved.

David Dante/Spider-Man: An emotionless antihero with spider-like powers.

Felicia Hardy/Black Cat: A cat burglar with bad-luck powers.

Eddie Brock/Venom: An aspiring journalist with a parasite.

Cindy Moon/Silk: A lonely girl with spider powers.

Martin Li/Mr. Negative: A businessman with a positive outlook and negative inner turmoil.

Sergei Kravenoff/Kraven the Hunter: A big game hunter in peak physical condition.

Recap of Previous Stories

David Dante is a psychopathic boy who gets bitten by a super-spider at high school.

His love interest is Felicia Hardy, his best friend is Eddie Brock, his psychiatrist is Barton Hamilton, and his parents are Jim and Misa Dante.

The day after getting bit, he discovers his powers.

He puts his powers to the test by challenging three professional fighters.

He becomes involved in an office robbery and although he intervenes, he spares the robber from death.

His father, Jim Dante, became a casualty of David's choice to spare the criminal.

David Dante becomes Spider-Man with the motive to kill violent criminals during active crimes.

His reputation quickly spreads around New York City. He saves innocent people and kills violent criminals. Some people call him a hero while others call him a murderer.

Spider-Man meets Black Cat and enters a romantic relationship with her.

His psychiatrist, Barton Hamilton, becomes the Green Goblin.

Spider-Man and Green Goblin play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.

The Green Goblin is defeated.

David Dante embraces his life as Spider-Man.

One year later, Spider-Man is hunted down by the FBI led by esteemed FBI agent Otto Octavius.

Octavius gets four mechanical arms welded onto his body to help with the capture of Spider-Man.

Misa Dante deduces that her son is Spider-Man but holds no animosity toward him.

David devises a complex plan to defeat Octavius and the FBI once and for all.

As part of the plan to defeat Octavius, he gives up becoming Spider-Man for five months before returning to the role.

David reveals to Felicia Hardy that he is Spider-Man and that she is Black Cat.

He defeats Detective Octopus and resumes his life as Spider-Man.

On Christmas the next year, Spider-Man battles against the Hobgoblin, Scorpion, Prowler, Miles Morales, Ben Reilly, and Cindy Moon.

A symbiote lands on earth and bonds to David, bringing out an even DARKER side of him.

Spider-Man uses the symbiote to his advantage and kills Scorpion, Prowler, Miles, and Ben.

After putting his mother in danger, David realizes what the symbiote is doing and devises an extremely complicated plan to prove his innocence when he is arrested.

He depowers Cindy Moon using a formula created by the Hobgoblin before having the symbiote bond to Eddie Brock.

Spidey kills Hobogblin and Walter Hardy, Felicia's father, just after he discovered his secret identity.

Spidey now has a new ally on his side working with him on the police force, Yuriko Watanabe.

David continues being Spider-Man.

Earth-119164

July 2023

Chapter 1-1

Graduation day, every high schooler looked forward to it. To regular humans, it was an achievement, a celebration of finishing high school, and no longer being prisoners of the school system. The first thought for all of them was 'happiness', happiness that they don't have to sit down in a class forty hours a week to learn stuff they barely had any interest in. And then the aftertaste was bitterness and annoyance. Annoyance that they now have to work for a living and pay bills. And for those teenagers walking alongside me who got their girlfriends pregnant, they were already fathers and had already made plans and arrangements to get good jobs for when they graduate.

"Edward Charles Brock Jr."

Eddie Brock approached the podium, shook hands with the principal, and took his photo before stepping down.

Me, David Dante, I could care less about graduation day. To me, it was just another day. If this is something every high school goes through then why make a big deal out of it? It's like when someone is getting a promotion and they throw a big party. They should focus more on the fact that the person now has new jobs and responsibilities, not the fact that there would be a mier in the common area.

"David Dylan Dante."

David smiles mischievously before accepting his diploma, shaking hands with the principal with the tightest grip he could manage before taking his picture.

However, I do see a benefit from graduating from school. By finishing high school, I can now work Spider-Man full-time, which means plenty more opportunities to kill criminals. Well, somewhat full-time.

"Felicia Sarah Hardy."

Felicia Hardy followed suit and copied the actions of her previous classmates.

Empire State University loved the scores I made on the SATs, so much that they wanted to offer me a full scholarship to their campus, which was perfect because that means all expenses were paid, which makes life easier for me and my mother financially.

"Cindy Moon."

Speaking of which, since I passed my SATs and got into ESU on a scholarship, my companions also aced the SATs to. Eddie Brock, Felicia Hardy, Cindy Moon…

"Ryan Blake Thorton."

… assholes…

"Anne Carol Weying."

…and the loved ones of my companions.

All of us were going to ESU so we can be close and study together. This was good because in times like these, it's better to have allies than enemies.

It's been over three years since I became the malicious Spider-Man and things are only starting to escalate. As much as I dislike the idea of having an accomplice, I understand that no man is an island. If I'm put in a situation where I can't move, an enemy can kill me. It's happened before with the several past supervillains I fought so it's easier to have a partner-in-crime to protect me when I need protection.

Yes, it may be a hassle making sure to stay on their good side so they don't hang me out to dry but in the long run, it will be worth it.

"Midtown High, congratulations!"

The Midtown high students wearing black gowns threw their caps into the air. David screamed at the top of his lungs, confident that the sounds of his screams would be drowned out in the crowd of screaming. After he retrieved his cap, he ran out of the stadium and met up with his mother, Misa Dante, who was crying tears of joy.

"Davey," she sobbed and hugged her son. "I'm so proud of you. I can't believe my only baby has already graduated high school."

"I have you to thank for," David replied. "If it weren't for you and Dad raised me right, I never would've gotten here. I am proof that you did a good job parenting me."

This made Misa sob even more and she hugged her son again.

After everything Mom has done for me, nurturing me, and caring for me, she deserves to feel good.

David looked in the corner of his eye where he saw a couple of familiar faces. It was his grandparents, both maternal and paternal.

After Misa pulled David to meet his relatives, he looked at his maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather.

If what Mom said is true then my ASPD was inherited from my grandmother and grandfather. I don't really care where I got my lack of empathy from; it's just there so no point in pondering where it came from. But I will admit that I am interested in my grandparents. They're both in their sixties and they managed to live out their entire lives as psychopaths, successfully hiding their true selves from society and becoming successful people in their own way.

David approaches his grandmother, Misaki Myers.

One thing that struck me as odd is that both my Mom and my grandmother have Japanese names yet neither one is Japanese. When I asked Mom about this, she said it was because, in WW2, her grandfather fell in love with a Japanese woman named Mikasa. After Mikasa died, dear ol' great-grandpa met another woman and named their firstborn after Mikasa to honor her and her untimely death.

Honestly, if you want to give a white person a Japanese name, then that's your problem, not mine. To me, a name is just a title, something to address you. It's nothing more than air passing through the air from your mouth. It's skills and actions that matter. Your name could be Motherfucker for all I know and you could prove to be the strongest person in the world of WWE.

Actions TRULY speak louder than words.

"David," Misaki addressed him. "You're looking good in your cap and gown."

You should see me in my other outfit.

David tipped his cap to her. "Thank you, ma'am. Did you find good seats in the crowd?"

"My ass hurts from sitting for an hour."

"You may have had an uncomfortable one hour but there's still twenty-three hours in a day to make up for it."

"I'm going home and sleeping."

"Sure thing."

David went to his paternal grandfather, Seth Dante.

"The event is over, so we should get on with this," Seth rolled his eyes.

David nods. "Yes, but if we're all about keeping appearances, then we need to stall just a tiny bit longer. I'm sure ten or twenty more minutes of that phony smile won't kill you."

"True." He put his hand on his back. "But life has been unkind to me, especially since I just turned sixty-seven last month."

"If you're going to use an injury or something to get out of something, make sure's it not generic and something unique only to you; if it happens to everyone then people around you expect it. But if it's something unique to you, they may be slightly worried."

"Let's not forget who taught you that."

"Dear Dad did."

Seth smiles. "My son taught you well, just like I taught him well."

"Yes."

David turned back to see Eddie with his family/ However, unlike most of the students here that were taking pictures with their family and smiling, Eddie was mostly staying clear of his father. David recalled the conversation he had with Eddie last year on Christmas, how Eddie admitted that he and his parents may have patched things up over a disagreement but their relationship was still somewhat strained. So, after chatting with his parents with what looked like to be the necessary time allotted, Eddie went to hang out with Anne and her family.

Ryan, the bully in his class, was wasting time taking pictures. He was standing in the middle of the resting area with his little sister on his lap and his nanny taking pictures. Ryan was whispering something to his little sister before bouncing her on his knees.

Then, David spotted Felicia and Cindy with their families, each one hugging their parents (or parent in Felicia's case) and playing with their little brothers.

Okay. Now that everybody is done catching up with everything, it's time to get serious.

"So," Misa began and pulled David's hand, "do you want to stay a little longer or do you want to get going? Our reservation is in two hours but I figured we can make leave early to get dressed.

"I just have to talk to someone before I go. I should only be about five or seven minutes." Before his mother could say anymore, David walks over to Eddie and taps his shoulder. He whispers something in his ear before patting him on the shoulder and smiling.

He moves over to Felicia and waits patiently for her to put her little brother down. David snuck up on her and hugged her from behind.

"Congratulations," he whispered in her ears. "Felicia, you're no longer held down by the school system; now you're being held down by the social system." He smiles and nips her earlobe. "Let's be held down by this system together."

Felicia shrugs and turns and plants a kiss on David's lips. "I agree. But why did you come over? Are you here to claim me in front of everybody?"

"As much as I want to, I'm here for another mission. You know Operation: C we've been discussing for the last few months?"

"Yeah."

"Now that we're all out of school, it's time to enact it."

"I agree," Felicia nods. "Location."

He whispers the location in her ear.

"We're all counting on you, David. Our lives and identities are in your hand so if you fuck up…"

"I have contginecenies, Felicia. I think things through."

He removes himself from Felicia's grasp and moves over to Cindy.

As soon as she sensed his presence, Cindy's shoulders tensed up and she sent her little brother back into the arms of her parents. She smiled at her parents before turning to David, her smile vanishing and her face becoming emotionless.

"David. What's up?"

David smiles at her. "I just want to catch up with you, make sure that everything is okay." He gestures for her to follow him, which she does. They head over to a giant statue and began whisper-talking there.

"So… Cindy… how's your S job going?"

"I got my powers back."

"I knew you would. Are you ready to resume your S career?"

"I am."

David smirks. "Meet me tonight. I have something I want to show you. To… give you." His smirk evolves into a smile. "I want to make it up to you after having your powers vanish from you."

"What is it?"

"You'll have to wait and see. Meet me at this location. Wear your uniform and remember, I'm only there to talk."

"To build trust?"

"Are you going to come after me?" David asks, feigning innocence. "Try and take down my SM roleplay with your S play?"

Cindy rolled her eyes.

David moved in on her. "Look, Cindy, I'm going, to be honest; I find you to be extremely exquisite. I love everything about you, especially your delicate hair." He licks his lips. "I've seen enough movies to know how this goes: you're going to resist but eventually, you're going to give into my charms. It may take weeks, hell, even months but let's skip all of that. Let's fuck. Right now."

Cindy flinches. "Sorry, but today is 'No Fucking Cindy' Day."

He shrugs. "Eh, worth a shot."

"What would you like? For this thing or whatever you're trying to talk to me about?"

David smiles once more. "I would much rather have you with me or against me. Now, meet me at this location at eight o'clock on the dot." He whispers the location in her ear.

"Okay. But the first sign of trouble… I'm-"

"Surrendering?" David laughs. "Smart woman you are."

Cindy clenches her jaw and licks the back of her teeth before opening her mouth to sigh carefully.

"No fighting," she swore.

"That's right. Fighting a battle you know you'll lose is just stupid. Taken a page out of my book." He looks back at his mother. "Alright, well, I gotta get going but I'll see you tonight."

"You too."

David stops. "What are you going to tell your parents when you leave tonight?"

"That I'm visiting friends."

"Or lovers," David smirks again. "You're eighteen, they got no legal right over who you can fuck."

"Please…" Cindy hisses, "Not here." Her eyes dart around the civilians and the graduates surrounding them. "Please… no sex talk."

"Alright. I see it makes you uncomfortable so I will stop." He winks at her. "See you tonight, Cindy."

Later that Night

When everything was all said and done, when everyone made their dinner reservations, it was time to enjoy their new life. David pulled on his Spider-Man suit and he snuck out the window and web-swings across town. There was no need to sneak out with his mother knowing his identity and everything but it brought him a kind of guilty pleasure. He contemplated telling his mother about his plan but decided that since she already knew his identity, keeping her in the dark about what her son does in the dark would be better. If she were to be questioned, she would have full deniability about everything that happened, and hell, if she was skilled, then she could successfully lie her way out of knowing Spidey's real identity.

I trust Mom, she has my back. In return, I will have her back.

Spidey swings from building to building and eventually lands on a rooftop with a garden. It was the apartment building David, Felicia, and Eddie used last year when making a plan against the Hobgoblin in their final battle.

David had taken Cindy here on an unofficial date some months ago and he was confident that Cindy would remember the location.

Spidey landed on the rooftop and climbed inside the building. As expected, Eddie Brock and Felicia Hardy were here, in their alter ego - Venom and Black Cat - each one armed to the teeth with experience, ready to pounce when told. But now was not the time.

"Keep a low profile," Spidey tells them. "Silk's spider-sense is far more advanced than mine, which means that she'll sense you even before she steps foot in this place. So, instead of hiding, stand passively and unassuming. I promised her that I won't hurt her so if the two of you show no signs of meaning her harm, then she'll be less likely to attack."

"Sssure thing," Venom hissed.

"I've always loved a submissive partner," Black Cat purred.

Spidey nodded. "Yes. But for now, let's make sure this goes right."

Once Venom and Black Cat assumed passive positions, Spidey waited patiently outside, and five minutes later, Silk arrived on the rooftop, donning her old outfit from before except this one wasn't made out of webs.

Silk looks up at Cindy, her red mask covering the lower half of her face. "Spider-Man."

"Please, my enemies call me Spider-Man; call me Spidey."

Silk looks at the open window. "What's going on in there?"

Spidey keeps his head still as he looks at her. "How are you feeling, Cindy?"

Silk tilted her head. "Just get to the point, David, and tell me why some girl in a catsuit and why… why VENOM is in that room." She folded her arms over her chest. "I'm being very patient right now. To be honest, I arrived here thirty minutes earlier and scoped the place out and it took me fifteen minutes to comprehend that Venom of all people was in that room. I thought you said that you killed Venom."

"This is what I wanted to talk to you about." He leaned forward. "Cindy, I did kill Venom. I did kill the man who killed Miles Morales and Ben Reilly."

Well, the guy I framed as their killer.

"Let me explain something; Venom is… well…. I would explain but actions speak louder than words. Come with me."

Silk hesitated. When Spidey took her hand, she took it back. Spidey looked at her, narrowing his eyes behind his mask.

She's on guard. ARMED guard. I have to tread carefully around her.

"Cindy, if I knew that the Venom in that room was going to hurt you, then I wouldn't have brought him here. I'm going to bring you to him. If you want, I will be right behind you."

Silk closed her eyes. After remembering something, she opened them. "The man who led me into the bunker said something similar. I'm not going into small enclosed rooms."

"Then maybe I should bring Venom out here. That would be better."

I'm curious about something; did her Silk-sense alert her of Venom's presence or did Venom manage to bypass her? Venom can bypass my spider-sense because he bonded to me and he bonded to Silk as well. I have a feeling that Silk can't sense Venom anymore than I can.

Spidey walked to the window, stuck his body halfway through, and Venom threw his hand out. Instantly, the symbiote attached itself and bonded to Spidey, turning him black once more.

Hello, New York FUCKING City!

Without wasting any more time, he thrusts his hands out and the symbiote jumped onto Silk's body and bonded to hurt.

Her costume turned wholly black and turned her red mask white. She stumbled back before her eyes opened.

Yes, just like we discussed with Venom; in the event that Silk is less than trusting, I have the Venom symbiote bond to Cindy, feed her its memories, and show that Venom only attached to Eddie Brock AFTER the man who was wearing the symbiote involved in Reilly and Morales's death dying.

"Eddie?" Silk gasped. "What the fuck? Eddie Brock?"

Spidey smiles behind his mask. "Yes, Eddie Brock is the current host for the Venom symbiote. As you can see from the memories, Abraham Copeland was the man possessing the Venom symbiote and he was the one who killed Ben Reilly and Miles Morales."

"Oh my god," Silk gasps breathlessly. "Oh my fucking god." She puts a hand over her mouth. "Eddie Brock is Venom? Venom…"

"Venom is an alien with a biology that requires him to consume human brains to survive. Chocolate works good, like coffee does to keep a person awake but at the end of the day, he needs human brains to survive."

Silk breathed heavily into her gloved hands and closed her eyes, still needing time to comprehend everything going on around her.

"I killed Abraham Copeland," Spidey assures her.

Yes. I used the Venom symbiote to pose as Scarlet Spider to sneak into his cell, snap his neck and use his body as a puppet so I'm not really lying but I told Venom what memories to reveal to her.

Silk carefully removed her hand from her masked mouth and looked Spidey dead in the eyes. "Oh my god." She put a hand on her heart. "I just can't believe that Venom is an alien. What the hell? What if he decides to go rogue and flee back to his planet and bring back a mothership of aliens?"

The black in her costume vanishes and returns to her original color. "What happened?"

"I did," Black Cat purrs as she climbs out of the window. "I used my bad luck powers on the Venom symbiote to make him vanish from your body."

Silk's eyes widened. "Felicia Hardy?"

"Venom send you my identity through his memories?"

"He did," Silk nodded. "Man, in just ten seconds, I already knew the identities of the current Venom host and this cat burglar I've never heard of." He looks up. "Is this…"

"I used this to figure out Hobgoblin's identity. Venom's power is overpowered." Spidey holds his hand out. "May I have Venom back?"

Silk looked around. "But, I-"

Black goo leaped from her chest and landed back on Spidey. He turned around, the goo jumped on Black Cat, who then turned toward the window and the goo launched through and reconnected with Eddie Brock once more.

"I'm going to explain everything to you," David claimed.

"You got five seconds before I leave."

"These are your teammates, should you want to be part of my team."

"Your team," she repeated.

"Yes. The case I tried to make earlier was that no matter how strong or capable you are, there will always be someone better than you, someone you can't beat by yourself and that applies to both of us so we need more than just the two of us." He paused. "We need them."

Venom and Black Cat stepped into view.

Silk flinched.

"As you saw from Venom's memories, yes, Felicia Hardy is Black Cat and she is a cat burglar. However, she has the ability to induce bad luck in her enemies, making her extremely versatile when dealing with enemies. In exchange for helping us out with her bad luck ability, she is to only steal from people who either deserve it or who can afford it." He gestures to Venom. "On the other hand, this alien has a certain kind of biology that requires him to consume human brains but he has a lot of abilities in his skillset, including body manipulation and control. With him, he could pose the appearance of anyone in order to give us alibis. In exchange for giving us alibis, he will consume the brains of violent criminals."

Silk folds her arms. "And where do I sit in this team of antiheroes?"

"You're the fastest, most agile one in the group, which means you can be extremely useful. All we ask is that you be part of this team; you do not have to kill if you don't want to. In exchange, nobody in this group will attack any group members and when one needs help, we will all be there for them, no matter what." He steps forward. "And as a bonus, we will protect each other's family." He held out his hand and the black goo left behind from Venom leaped out and landed on Silk's open palm.

"What's this supposed to do?"

"It'sss a piece of usss," Venom answered. "We can track any part of usss anywhere in the world. If you want to protect your family, put a piece of usss on each of your family and it will act like a tracker. If they are in danger or have been kidnapped, we will know and we will ressscue them."

The black goo seeped into Silk's gloves and vanished from sight.

"We want you to be part of our team, Cindy," Black Cat suddenly spoke up. She took a step forward and blocked Spidey's path. "The four of us swinging around this city, we can have some fun." She puts a hand on Silk's cheek. "Be honest, Cindy, being a superhero isn't all that is cracked up to be, especially when you hide your identity. You have to hide a piece of yourself from your family to keep them safe so you can never have a real bond with them but with us... you'll never be alone again, Cindy."

David tilts his head up.

Looks like I'm not the only one who knows what words to say to get what I want.

"No," Silk refused, "I can't, I can't do this. This isn't right; all three of you are fucking criminals. Criminals! Why should I let any of you walk away? And how do you know I won't go to the authorities and reveal your identity?"

"We have contingencies," Black Cat answered, "but we would rather you be on our team. Think about it; if all we gave two craps about what was destroying this city, why would we give our identities to you? It's because we wanted to show you that we are humans like you and we want you on our team. Trust, that's what our identities being revealed are all about. Trust. We won't hurt you, Cindy, or your family. We all have family and we wish to keep them safe too. And we make sure the only people being punished are bad people.

"Besides, don't you want this world to be safer for your parents and little brother?" She leans forward. "What happens when you're out, superheroing or whatever and some supervillain kidnaps your little brother? You have no idea where to find him but with this symbiote tracker we gave him, you'll know automatically. If you're not going to be part of our team, then at least keep the tracker for good measure." She puts a hand on her own chest. "Trust me, speaking from experience, there's no worse feeling in the world than letting someone die, knowing you could've saved them."

"Yesss," Venom agreed.

Silk kept her eyes averted and looked down to the ground. After some pondering in her head, she looked up at Felicia in the eyes. "Okay."

"'Okay' what?"

"This team... as long as it doesn't turn on me, I'll be part of your team. But only that I have your word you won't hurt my family or betray me."

"We won't," Spidey spoke up after being silent for a while. "We promise."

Feeling brave and sensing that no one was watching, he pulled his mask off over his head, becoming David once more. He carefully pulled the front of Silk's mask down, revealing her shocked expression. David turned to Felicia and kissed her sensually on the lips. Once he was done, he turned towards Cindy and kissed her.

David pulled his mask on, becoming Spidey once more.

Cindy looked at Felicia with her mask slowly being pulled back up with her eyes half-open. "You're not upset about this?"

"Not too upset," Felicia admits. "Besides, you're very pretty, Cindy."

Cindy's face turns red. "Th-thank you."

Venom grinned and laughed. "Nice."

David smirked under his mask.

I've done it; I've assembled my special spider team to help me control New York. It would be inevitable that I get allies at some point and what better team than a spider-themed team? The four of us acting together... we are gods.

It looks like life after high school is getting interesting already.