Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...
"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school," Pyyrha said.
"What? Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around! Y'know, practical jokes!" Jaune denied.
"He's a bully," Ruby shot with furrowed brows.
"Atrocious; I can't stand people like him," Pyrrha said in disgust.
"He's not the only one," Blake said with a similar look.
"I've unfortunately known people just as bad, and even worse," Peter noted.
"Who cares what the world thinks? Don't let people like Cardin Winchester choose who you are. No one can do that but you." Velvet looked up at him with a surprised and confused look, but after a moment smiled at him.
"Hey, back off, Cardin! Don't you ever get tired of this?" Peter defended.
"Don't think you're so tough, Parker. Why you defend a nobody like Jaune Arc is beyond me, but you three need to remember the pecking order around here." Cardin snapped
"Enjoying the show, Cardin?" Peter remarked.
"Wait till Goodwitch hears about this! You, Jauney Boy, will be out of Beacon if I blow the whistle and show her that recording!" Cardin exclaims.
"Y'know, Cardin, you should really remember the pecking order around here. That being said, here's my ultimatum;" Peter then picked up Cardin with only one hand and held him over the edge of the roof.
I could drop you. Or, I could tell Ozpin that you tried to blackmail another student for personal gain. You would be on the first airship out of Beacon at best. And that's without mentioning anything about your several assaults and accounts of racism. So, do I make myself clear?"
"Parker…" He deeply growled, clenching his fists and digging his fingernails into his skin.
"You did this? You're the reason Mary Jane is dead?!"
"H-Harry?!" Peter cried. "N-No! I didn't do this!"
"It might as well have been! You didn't stop him! You're the legendary Spider-Man! You're supposed to be a hero and you didn't save her?!" Harry Osborne exclaimed.
"What kind of problem?" Reed asked the Sorcerer.
"When that collider tore a hole in reality, it sent a multiversal wave through our world. It didn't just open one tear, it opened multiple," Strange answered.
"Wait, so you're saying more of our people got pulled through?" Tony asked.
"It's unlikely every tear found a target to pull in, and I'm still investigating the occurences."
"So who got pulled through?" Reed asked. Strange hesitated for a moment.
"I'm not sure yet. The important part is that we get them all back to our world as soon as possible. The longer Spider-Man and the others stay there, they can alter that reality in dangerous ways."
Peter sat alone in his dorm, trying his best to think of anything besides his past, his long gone friends and family. But he couldn't. He was in a rut he couldn't claw his way out of. He sighed as he buried his head in his hands. I'm hopeless…
"You said Ozpin assigned you to look after us," Weiss continued, "So it stands to reason that, when you need it, we should look after you as well. It's our, well… responsibility, as you put it."
"Peter, please. We want to help you, even if it's just like this," Ruby pleaded. Peter looked at her and saw the insistence and emotion behind her eyes.
He watched, fuming, as the two teams entered a movie theater together. "Parker…!" He then punched the corner of a building out of rage, breaking apart the stone.
He left his fist there, using it as an anchor point as he tried to compose himself. Then he felt liquid run down his knuckles. Am I bleeding? I didn't feel my aura break. He pulled his hand away from the wall and inspected it. He thought he saw blood, but it was dark out in an alleyway, it could be anything.
Then the liquid began to move on its own. Once it came into the moonlight, Cardin could tell it wasn't blood. It was a black ooze-like substance, and it was moving rapidly up his arm. Cardin yelped and tried to pull the substance off, but it then began to spread up his other arm at an even faster rate. "Get off!" He kept trying to pull it off, but it soon enveloped both of his arms and began to spread across his entire body; down his legs, up his back, and creeping up his neck. Cardin soon lost his ability to move, and the black substance covered his eyes.
The Defenders of Remnant
Chapter 10: The Symbiote
Luke entered Junior's in a full suit and tie, ready but not enthusiastic about another shift running security for the information broker's nightclub. As he entered through the front doors, the two men outside nodded to him, which already told him something was up. When he was blasted with the lights and sounds of the dance floor, Luke made his way over to Junior at the bar, where Mr. Knight also made his seat. What the hell is Spector doing here?
"You better have something for me tonight, Junior," Mr. Knight said.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Junior replied. "Tonight another Dust shop got hit by the Fang, no supers stopped them. Some undercover cop followed them to an abandoned restaurant. He assumed it was their hideout, and called for backup to strike the place. Then the cop reported he heard gunfire and screaming from inside. He stormed the place himself to find the faunus all mauled up, like a freakin' gorefest."
"And how long ago was this?" Knight asked.
"Coroners and detectives are still on the scene right now. Guess you missed your chance to squeeze info out of them."
"Maybe. But whatever is tearing apart White Fang doesn't need to make its way to innocent people." Mr. Knight then set a few Lien bills on the counter. "Thanks, Junior."
He's no Crawley, Steven said in Marc's head, But he does get the job done.
I'd personally take Crawley.
Junior looked up to see Luke approaching, and a smile grew on his face and he put his arms up in a gesture of welcome. "Ah! My bulletproof man!"
"Ah, crap…" Luke said under his breath.
"Saw the news report last night, Cage. Looks like I have a bona fide hero under my employ!" Junior said.
"Don't make a big deal out of this. I only work for you for the money," Luke replied.
"But you work for me nonetheless," Junior said. Luke then turned to Mr. Knight.
"What are you doin' here?"
"Following up. I'm trying to track the White Fang's movements, and who better to help track criminals than a criminal?" Mr. Knight answered.
"Information broker," Junior corrected.
"And did he actually know anything?" Luke questioned.
"Apparently, cops found a cell of them 'mauled up'. Whatever's turning White Fang into mincemeat doesn't need to reach anyone else traveling the night." Mr. Knight then stood up from his barstool. "If you wanna get out of that suit and into your street clothes, meet me at the crime scene." Mr. Knight then left the nightclub in a hurry. Luke just shook his head before turning back to Junior.
"Anyways, I'm just here to clock in. How long am I working tonight?" Luke asked.
"Go with him," Junior said.
"What?"
"Luke, I know you don't wanna be here. You can come in tomorrow. If something's out there eating people, you should stop it. Even if it's with that weirdo's help."
Luke thought for a moment and nodded. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, Junior."
"I try when I feel like it. I'll send you a full night's pay and then some when you come in tomorrow. Good luck." Junior then turned away from Luke to deal with another attendee while Luke made his way out of the club.
"Jesus Christ…" Jessica muttered as she, Luke and Marc stood among what remained of the White Fang members. There were nine corpses strewn across the place, five of which were headless.
"What the hell woulda done this?" Luke asked.
"It can't be a Grimm," Marc replied, "Grimm fight like animals, and don't eat their victims. And their heads aren't exactly rolling around here. Whatever decapitated those five did so for food. But it's human enough to fight like one." Marc looks around and sees one of the stone pillars with a hand-shaped mark on the stone. "It's strong enough to do that. And that sure looks like a humanoid hand. A very big one at that."
"So whatever we're looking for is huge and superhuman," Jessica remarked. "Great."
"You both have super-strength and he has unbreakable skin, I think you'll be fine," Marc replied.
"And I break just as easy as you do," Jessica said.
"If I broke easy, I'd be dead," Marc stated as he kept inspecting the crime scene. He then saw scratch marks on the wall next to a door to the kitchen. "There." Marc approaches the carved area and inspects it closely.
"Damn, this thing must have massive hands to make a scratch mark that wide," Luke commented. Marc ignored him and continued into the next room, where he saw the kitchen also torn to shreds. Signs of a chase. He saw the same claw marks stretch across the entirety of the right hand wall to the exit outside.
"There weren't nine White Fang, there were ten. One got away while his friends were slaughtered. Whatever killed them followed him out."
"Look, I don't wanna chase handprints and scratch marks all night," Jessica groaned. "Let's get this over with." Marc nodded and opened the back door, to show a wrecked alleyway, and a long streak of blood leading to the end of the alleyway, all the way up to one last headless, bloody corpse. "Yeah, great job on the lead Spector."
"I thought you were supposed to be a private eye, look closer," Marc replied as he approached the end of the alley, seeing thin streaks of blood go over the wall of the alley. Marc climbed and leapt over the wall to see a trail of blood drops across the street into an abandoned apartment complex. Jessica and Luke climbed over the wall as well and saw the same sight.
"Is this entire part of town just made up of abandoned buildings?" Jessica questioned.
"It's helped the criminal element," Marc replied. "And whatever killed them must be hiding out up there."
Cardin crumpled into a corner of one of the rooms of the abandoned apartment complex, pulling his legs to his chest as he was violently shaking, his breathing as heavy as steel. "W-Wha…. What the hell did I just do…?" He whimpered.
What did WE just do, you mean, a voice in his head said. No, not his head, the voice reverberated in his entire body. He could feel it moving inside him.
"W-We…?" Cardin muttered.
Yes, we. Because that's how this works. There are no designated drivers on this trip, Cardin.
"Then why couldn't I do anything?!" Cardin cried.
Because I was still in the driver's seat. Because there is only one seat, for now. I wanted to show you what we could be capable of.
"We freakin ate people! Those damned White Fang!"
Correct me if I'm wrong, the voice countered, but they are terrorists, putting innocent lives at risk. And your future occupation is to prevent that, right?
"H-Huntsmen… protect the people… of the kingdoms… but that doesn't mean I want to eat skulls!"
Technically, I ate them. My kind feeds off a chemical called phenethylamine, found in the brain.
"And just what the hell are you?!" Cardin exclaimed.
My true name is unpronounceable in your language. However, you may call me… Venom.
"S-So… Venom… what are you gonna do now? Eat my brain and go along your happy way?"
No no, Cardin. I wouldn't do that. You are more important than you realize.
"How am I important to you?" Cardin asked.
My species, the Klintar, are symbiotes, and part of our survival is binding ourselves to compatible hosts. Without one, we die in a very short time. And that fact that you are not yet dead yourself means you are my ideal host.
"Woah woah, I didn't sign up to be a host for some alien parasite!"
Parasite?! Venom exclaimed. Then a portion of the black symbiote came from Cardin's body, sticking out and forming a face with elongated, big white eyes and two rows of sharp teeth. "I am no parasite! And believe me, boy, I would rather not be stranded from my own world on yours, but here I am, and here we are. A bond has been formed. And now we need each other to survive."
"How do I need you?" Cardin questioned.
"Tell me, Cardin, what is your darkest desire? Is there someone you hate, with a passion? Someone you wish you could get the better of? Someone you want to break?" Venom asked. Cardin hesitated to answer, nothing coming to mind at the moment, his mind still a haze. Then he remembered; the one man who brought him to his lowest.
"Peter Parker." Cardin answered.
"With you and I together, Cardin, we can make this 'Peter Parker' suffer for what he has done to wrong you. I can grant you the ability to take what you want, so long as we work as one. So, what do you say?"
Cardin thought hard for many long moments, while Venom patiently waited for the young man's answer. Finally, Cardin looked at the face of the symbiote. "Alright, fine. With your help, Parker will get what's coming to him."
"Good, good. Now, we must begin planning. It doesn't hurt to-" Venom paused, confusing Cardin.
"What is it?" Cardin asked.
"Someone is here. Searching for us after our handiwork no doubt."
Cardin sighed. "Take over. But if they're not White Fang, we're not killing them. Is that clear?"
Venom growled in annoyance. "Fine." Cardin nodded, then the black substance that was the symbiote enveloped him again.
Marc kicked the door open to the next floor. "This has to be the one he's on. The blood didn't go any higher. Same drill, room by room, and if you see something, call it out."
"We know the drill, we've done it for five floors," Jessica remarked before pushing past Marc to continue searching. Marc shook his head before he and Luke also started searching.
Luke entered what seemed to formerly be a children's bedroom, with a destroyed crib resting in the far corner of the room. Luke shook his head. "Man, people used to live here. What drove them out?"
"Who knows?" Marc replied from another room. "Maybe it's as simple as there were simply better opportunities, or perhaps the criminal element simply made this part of the kingdom their own, and didn't want any encroaching on their land. Whatever happened, it doesn't matter now. There's no one left here to care."
"You're a real cheerful guy, aren't you?" Jessica remarked from her own searching place.
"Yeah, a real Mr. Rogers kinda guy," Marc replied, half-joking and even cracking a smirk under his mask as he went from one room to another. Luke turned away from the destroyed crib and exited that apartment entirely and moved to the next one over. It wasn't off any better than the one he was just in. He searched each bedroom in the apartment, and nothing, before finding himself back in the living room, where he looked out the window into the city of Vale, and all the similarly abandoned buildings in this part of the city, and beyond to the shining lights of the prosperous, lived in part of the city.
I guess some things are the same everywhere you go, Luke thought to himself. He then saw movement in the reflection of the glass, and turned around only to be met with a backhand by a hulking black figure, the blow so strong it made his head ring and he stumbled backwards into the wall. The figure threw another punch, but Luke caught the blow with both hands, surprised by the struggle he had to put up to even up. But before he could do more, the monster's other hand connected with his face, stunning him and cracking the wall behind him. Venom then kicked Luke through the wall entirely, sending him falling below and landing on the pavement, shattering it on impact and leaving Luke out cold.
What happened to no killing? Venom asked in a mocking tone.
"He was bulletproof, I'm sure he's fine," Cardin replied. Then two moon darts entered his back, and he quickly turned to face both Jessica and Mr. Knight. "You stay away from me!"
"You should've thought of that before you sent my boyfriend through a wall," Jessica remarked before rushing forward and throwing a punch, which Cardin/Venom tried to block, but it sent him backwards out of the same hole he created. Jessica and Marc traded glances before Jessica approached the edge. "Luke! You alright?!"
Then the symbiote's massive hand gripped Jessica by the skull, and he lifted her up as he climbed back into the room. Marc drew two billy clubs from the inside of his suit. "I didn't like that very much," Cardin said before throwing her through a wall into the next apartment, rendering her unconscious as well. He then turned his attention to Marc, who narrowed his eyes and rushed the symbiote. Cardin swiped at him, but Marc slid below the attack and stuck both of his legs with his clubs. However, it had no effect, and Cardin quickly stomped on his chest, pinning Marc to the ground.
"Jake, I could use some aggressive help here!" Marc called to his other personality, but just like before, no help came. And before Marc could call out again, the symbiotes fist came down on him, and his entire world went black.
"Ugh!" Nora whined. "This food better be good!"
"Nora," Jaune said, "I get that the movie sucked, but at least try to enjoy the food?"
"You have nothing to worry about, Nora. Weiss took me here the first day of school, and I've come back a lot since, and trust me, it's good," Peter assured Nora.
"I'll hold you to that," Nora replied with an accusatory tone. Instead of taking booths, the two teams and Peter took two adjacent circular tables, with Team JNPR at one, and RWBY and Peter at the other.
"Speaking of that night," Weiss said, "When we stopped those White Fang at the Dust shop across the street, Peter, you knew that bulletproof man that's on the news."
"What?!" Nora exclaimed, causing her teammates to flinch from her volume. Over the course of the past few weeks, Nora had taken interest in the superheroes who were calling Vale their home, Luke Cage in particular thanks to his trademark unbreakable skin.
"Nora," Ren said sternly to quiet her down.
"You kinda put me on the spot with this one, Weiss," Peter said. Weiss simply shrugged.
"Well, you introduce me to someone who turns out to be a bulletproof superhuman, the question is raised about how you know him."
"Did you forget the part about everyone having a semblance?" Peter replied. "His… is an enhancement of his aura. It collects the kinetic energy of projectiles and stores it as his own energy to exert, at the cost of his aura."
"Hey, that's like your semblance, Yang!" Ruby said.
"What's Yang's semblance?" Peter asked.
"Oh, yeah mine is kinda similar. Whenever I take a hit, I can give it back twice as hard. I basically get stronger the more I get hit," Yang answered.
That's a scary thought, Peter thought to himself, images of a fellow Avenger coming to mind.
"So, Nora, you're interested in these new heroes?" Blake asked, giving a side glance to Peter, who just shakes his head.
"Oh yeah! All the masks and powers and stuff, it's so cool! Like stuff right outta comic books!" Nora said enthusiastically.
"Nora, again, we all have powers, remember?" Ren reminded his teammate.
"Yeah, but this is different! Y'know?"
"I get what she means. These guys aren't fighting like normal hunstmen or huntresses," Ruby said. "They don't use weapons, and they have very unique semblances."
"They also seem to act on their own," Pyrrha added.
"They're vigilantes," Weiss said. "Huntsmen are supposed to act within the law or on mission orders. But these people act out of turn, even if it is to protect citizens and stop crimes."
"I think you just came full circle with that, Weiss," Yang said.
"If they didn't 'act out of turn', Weiss, many members of the White Fang would still be at large. I'd say they are doing much more good than harm by being quote unquote 'vigilantes'," Ren added. "Besides, who's to say they are even Huntsman?"
"Yeah, if these other guys are anything like Luke, they're just normal people trying to do the right thing," Peter agreed, trying to keep up the oblivius image.
"In my opinion, that's even worse," Weiss replied. "That's why people train to be Huntsmen, or join the police. Striking out on their own with no formal training or credentials is both unwise and illegal."
"Someone's been paying attention in Murdock's class," Yang mocked her.
"Clearly not enough, though," Blake said. "There's also the people's arrest, and the idea that every citizen should have the right to protect their homes even without credentials. If anything, this kind of behavior is encouraged. Besides, it's not like they go out looking for trouble. But stopping it when you see it is the right thing to do." Peter couldn't help but smile at Blake's defense of the heroes.
"Yeah, and it's definitely not for publicity," Jaune added. "I mean, that Spider guy barely stuck around for reporters."
"A sign of a guilty man, I'd say," Weiss accused.
"You just won't let up on that, will you?" Peter asked in an annoyed tone.
"And what's your opinion on these vigilantes, Parker? You can't take them seriously, can you?"
"Actually, I can. I think they're good people doing the right thing, and given the state of this place, maybe we could use more of them," Peter answered, much to Weiss's chagrin. Pyrrha and Blake both gave Peter approvign smiles.
"I couldn't agree more, Peter," Pyrrha stated.
"Am I really alone in questioning this?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, yes you are," Ren answered. Weiss growled in frustration.
"Hey, hey, let's not let this argument ruin our night, okay?" Jaune intervened. "Let's just have a good dinner, and enjoy being with friends."
"I couldn't agree more, Jaune," Pyrrha chuckled.
"Speaking of which, when is our food getting here?!" Nora whined. "This is taking forever…"
"It is taking a while. It's been almost twenty minutes since we ordered," Ruby agreed.
"I'll see what's going on," Peter volunteered before stepping away from the table and going to the front cashier, only to find a line of other people at the front, asking the same query Nora was concerned with. I guess business is slow all around, which means something's not right. Peter quickly snuck around the cashier and into the kitchen. He was surprised to find no one inside, as if the place had been abandoned in an instant. Peter was surprised, and started to look around, noticing it wasn't just an "up and leave" situation. Pans were dropped, flames were still on, and the smell of burning food filled Peter's nostrils. There were, however, no signs of a struggle, meaning the staff had to have left of their own volition. But why would they leave? Peter got to the far side of the large kitchen before he saw claw marks on the walls. But before he could analyze it further, all of the light's went out, leaving Peter in total darkness. He immediately raised his guard, hoping he could count on his spider-sense to alert him. The room was quiet, not a peep to be heard, but he knew something was in here with him. But where?
Then a voice right behind him filled his ears. "Hello, Parker."
"Y'know, Peter's sure taking a while," Yang said.
"Yes, he really should have been back by now," Pyrrha agreed.
"Maybe we should go look for him," Ruby suggested.
"Guys, it's a restaurant, not a warzone. I'm sure he's just fine," Jaune said. Almost immediately after Jaune finished speaking, Peter was sent through the wall from the kitchen and slammed
into another wall before dropping to the ground. "My big mouth…"
"Peter!" Ruby called to him as both teams of huntsmen and huntresses leap out of their seats. As Peter tries to recover, Venom stomps through the hole in the wall, causing all of the bystanders to run away in fear.
"Oh crap…" Yang muttered.
"That's not good," Blake said.
"No kidding, Blake," Jaune replied sarcastically before drawing his sword and gripping his scabbard, which expanded into his shield. Peter groaned as he slowly got to his feet and held his ribcage.
"Damn, that hurts…" Peter said as he looked up at Venom. "Guess you got dragged along with us too, Eddie."
"Who the hell's Eddie?" Venom replied.
"What?" Peter questioned in confusion. Venom growled and started to rush towards Peter, but didn't make it far before Yang's right fist connected with his jaw and sent him flying into the wall across the restaurant.
"Hands off, ugly," She quipped, before quickly going to Peter. "You alright?"
"Could be better. But you all need to get out of here and make sure to get civilians as far as you can."
"What are you talking about? We gotta fight this thing together!" Yang replied. Pyrrha threw her shield at Venom, but the symbiote quickly caught it and threw it back towards the Huntsmen, but Peter leapt up and caught it, landing down on his feet before throwing it right back, jamming right into Venom's right leg, which forced a howl from the creature's mouth.
"Well, if we're gonna fight it, we can't do it here, it's too cramped," Weiss said.
"Weiss is right, this is a deathbox if we stay in here. Get outside, now!" Peter ordered. Most of the Huntsmen complied, but Nora and Yang stayed with him inside. "What are you doing?"
"We're not stupid," Nora answered. "You wanted us out of the way. Besides, we're the bruisers, we can beat this thing down."
"It's not that simple-" Peter started before Venom quickly closed the distance between them, and swatted Peter through the window outside, sending him and shattered glass into the street. Soon, Nora and Yang followed. Venom then leapt out into the street and growled, baring his sharp teeth and extending his long, curving tongue.
"What is this thing? Some kind of Grimm?" Weiss asked.
"No, it's more dangerous. Which is why I'll handle it while you all go!" Peter exclaimed as he got back to his feet.
"What are you going on about?" Weiss replied. "We're not leaving you with this thing. Besides, we're huntsmen. We can handle ourselves."
"He's right, y'know," Venom snarled as he started to approach them. "You might want to run back to your school grounds, girls, because I'm gonna have my fun with Parker." Blake didn't hesitate to transform her weapon into its firearm form and fire several shots at the symbiote, making him shield himself with his arm.
"If you want him, you'll have to go through us," She stated.
"I'd be happy to oblige," Venom replied before sprinting to the huntsman, immediately closing distance and swatting Jaune and Peter away easily. Yang and Nora both tried to attack him from opposite sides, where he sidestepped and let them hit each other, sending each other flying. He, however, moved onto a white glyph on the ground, and his bottom half became entrapped in ice. Venom looked up and growled at Weiss who had her rapier pointed at him, which must have created the glyph. Ruby dug her scythe into the ground, and she, Ren and Blake fired continuous Dust rounds at him. Venom screeched before breaking the ice and scurrying out of the line of fire. The four of them, including Weiss, all began to fire following Venom's path, but he quickly curved around leapt at Weiss, tackling her and winding her on the pavement, and in the same instant, backhanded Ren into a nearby wall, shattering his aura and knocking him out. Ruby attempted to attack Venom with her scythe, but the attack was caught in the massive hand of the symbiote, bringing a look of fear to the young huntress's face. Blake rushed to stab Venom while he was distracted with Ruby, but Venom grabbed her wrists with his free hand before the attack made it to its target. He then lifted both huntresses up off the ground and planted his foot down on Weiss, pinning her to the ground and slowly applying more pressure, forcing a painful groan from the heiress's lungs. Venom cackled and slammed Blake into the ground, breaking her aura and cracking the street below her. Ruby spun off her weapon and kicked Venom in the eye, stunning him and making him let go of the scythe, which let her break off and back away, rejoining Pyrrha and the recovered Nora, Yang and Peter. Venom turned around to stare down all five of them. His teeth formed an evil smirk as he stomped on Weiss, shattering her aura as well, the sound of her aura's glass-like breaking mixing with the cracking of ribs.
"Weiss!" Ruby cried to her teammate.
"I told you all, you need to go!" Peter exclaimed.
"Peter, we're not going to leave you with this thing!" Pyrrha denied.
"One by one," Venom snarls. He picks up Blake by her neck and lifts her to his level. "Eyes, lungs, pancreas. So many snacks, so little time." Pyrrha quickly transformed her spear into a rifle, and fired, nailing Venom in the eye and making him drop Blake, who grunted on impact with the ground. The four huntresses then all brought another storm of gunfire onto their adversary. Pyrrha then saw Blake's weapon, Gambol Shroud, on the ground next to her. She quickly put her palm out, a black aura covering it. The same black aura covered Gambol Shroud, and with one pull of Pyrrha's arm, the blade shot up from the ground and lodged itself into Venom's back, causing him to stumble and howl amidst the storm of Dust Rounds. Pyrrha then did the same for Gambol Shrouds sharp sheath, lodging into the opposite shoulder blade, then Weiss's rapier, Myrtenaster, into one of his legs.
"Your semblance… is magnetism?" Peter asked in surprise.
"Polarity, and is this really the time?"
"Fair enough," Peter agreed. "Alright, fine. Pyrrha and Ruby, keep the assault up. Nora, when you have an opening, charge him. I'll do the rest."
"Got it," Nora nodded. Ruby nodded and kept firing Dust rounds from Crescent Rose, while Pyrrha used her power to wield anything metal in the area to use as projectiles for Venom. Any time the symbiote tried to move, Pyrrha boxed him in again.
Now may be a good time to flee, Venom said to Cardin.
"NO! I want Parker!" Cardin exclaimed.
And right now, we're at a disadvantage. At this rate, we will be defeated, and you will be exposed. So for now, if you wish to succeed, we must retreat!
"Rrrg… fine!" Cardin growled before shaking off all of the weapons lodged in him and moving quickly in the opposite direction to escape.
What, he's leaving? Peter thought. The Huntresses started to follow, but Peter stopped them. "No, stop. Let him go. We'll deal with him later. For now, let's get everyone else back to the school. They're banged up pretty bad."
"He's right, we should check up on our comrades," Pyrrha agreed before sheathing her weapon and attaching her shield to her back. She then ran to Jaune, who was just coming to. Ruby and Yang went to Weiss and Blake, and Nora went to Ren. Peter, however, stayed where he was, looking after where Venom fled.
This is a very, very bad sign… who else could be here?
"You sure you're alright?" Yang asked Weiss as they were settling into bed.
"I should be fine," Weiss replied. "I just need to be careful on those high strikes for a few weeks."
"And what about you, Blake?" Ruby asked.
"I'm fine, just sore. Ren and Jaune are alright too," Blake answered.
"What even was that thing?" Yang questioned.
"I don't know," Weiss said, "But Peter seemed to."
"Yeah, and he seemed to want us as far away from it as possible."
"Clearly for good reason. Look what it did to you guys. He was trying to protect you. It's his job, remember?" Ruby defended Peter.
"He's also keeping secrets," Weiss rallied. "Friends aren't supposed to keep secrets." Blake slightly looked down at this statement. "Right Blake?"
Blake quickly looked up. "Oh, um… I'm sure Peter had his reasons. And like Ruby said, he clearly had our safety in mind. We can't blame him for that."
"Well, I intend to find out what he's hiding. If we're supposed to trust him, he shouldn't keep vital information from us!" Weiss proclaimed.
"Weiss, everybody has secrets. Let Peter have his," Yang said.
Blake looked back down, thinking to herself.
Peter tossed his jacket aside and kicked his shoes off before sitting at his desk, thinking about the day's events. How was Venom here? He wasn't present at the collider. And the symbiote didn't seem to recognize Eddie Brock's name at all. Was it not his Venom? Did the tear in universes pull in a different Venom from a different Earth? One that had never bonded with Eddie Brock? If so, who had it bonded with, and what did they want with Peter Parker?
He was broken from his thoughts when his Spider-Sense went off. "If you wanted to come in here Blake, you could've knocked."
Blake stepped through the window and into Peter's dorm room. "You recognized that thing today. What was it?"
Peter just sighed and spun his chair around. "An alien symbiote called Venom. Its species needs a host to bond with to survive. It somehow also got pulled here."
"Somehow?" Blake questioned.
"My world's Venom wasn't at the collider. And even then, I don't think it's my world's Venom. He didn't recognize Eddie Brock's name, and he didn't have my symbol on him," Peter clarified.
"So, what, it's somehow another world's Venom?" Blake asked.
"It has to be. Which doesn't tell me how it got here, or who's hosting it."
"So we have an unidentified symbiotic alien. You just keep making things more insane by the day, Peter Parker."
"So is that all you wanted to know?" Peter asked.
"No. I understand why you hide the things you do, you have a history. Just like me. That's why I hide almost everything about myself, even from them. Because I think they wouldn't understand," Blake said.
"Blake, I told you, I would tell you, but right now-" Peter started to deny.
"Peter. Like I said, we both hide everything about ourselves from even our closest friends. We both have bloody histories that still give us nightmares at night. Neither of us can look those left we trust in the eye and tell them what's inside. Because once the horrors start, they don't stop. Is this sounding familiar?" Blake said. Peter was taken aback by her bluntness, and by her accuracy. But he couldn't. He just couldn't.
So why was he wanting to, almost immediately upon mutual understanding?
"So you want to know more about me?" Peter asked.
Blake nodded. "And in return, I'll do the same; tell you my life story, and how it brought me to Beacon."
Peter spent long moments in deep thought, and Blake remained silent, letting him take his time to formulate an answer. "Alright." Blake felt a small sense of victory, and even a little excitement surprisingly, though she couldn't tell why. "But not tonight. Everyone needs to decompress from tonight, and I have some things to think over. I'll call you when I'm ready."
Blake slowly nodded. "Sleep well, Peter." Blake then went to the window and put one foot on the sill before glancing back at Peter. "You know you're not alone." The two traded glances for a brief moment, that mutual sense of understanding felt between the two, before Blake turned away and leapt out the window. Peter rubbed his eyes and laid his head back.
What are you doing, Peter?
Updated Cast Entry
Cardin Winchester/Venom