A/N: Hi everyone! The first 3 chapters of this story have originally been written by Dragonsrule18, presented in their fic of the same name. There were a lot of ideas I liked, so after that fic went on hiatus, I contacted the original author and they gave me permission to adopt it. Chapters 1-3 are primarily Dragonsrule18's work, albeit with some tweaks from me. My own work starts from chapter 4 (which is why I'm posting the first 4 chapters together), but the original author was with me every step of the way, helping me figure out the plotline and characterization.

Anyway! This fic is set primarily in "Spider-Man: The Animated Series", particularly the season 3 episodes "Venom Returns" and "Carnage", but I will be also taking inspiration from other continuities (mostly the movies though, but some stuff from comics too). I hope you like what I've done with the story! Oh, and just FYI, you can expect regular updates every week. Now, onwards!

Chapter 1: Alien Encounter

In which a date is interrupted.

The chaos of New York City seemed so far away for Brad Adrian and Leslie Gesneria, a young couple fresh out of high school who were enjoying their third date, relaxing on a picnic blanket under the stars in the woods outside the city.

Brad stretched out with his head in his date's lap as they watched the stars. He hoped that later in the night there'd be some action.

And soon enough he got his wish, but it wasn't the type of action he wanted.

The couple jumped as a bright blue flash of light flew over their heads, closer than any shooting star.

"Hey, look!" Brad exclaimed, pointing up to the sky.

"I see it. What is that?" Leslie asked but before her boyfriend could answer, there was a loud explosion nearby.

Brad leapt to his feet and grabbed Leslie's hand, pulling her along. She staggered and nearly fell on her face as her boyfriend ran in the direction the explosion had sounded.

"Um, shouldn't we be running away from weird explosions?" Leslie asked but Brad didn't seem to be listening as he dragged her through the trees and towards a clearing.

"It landed right here!" Brad told her, though Leslie could see the crater in the ground herself. "Let's see what it is! It might be worth something!"

"Or it could be very, very radioactive."

"Chill, Les, it's just a meteor. C'mon. Don't you want to see a space rock?" he asked.

Leslie sighed. "Okay, yes, I'm curious too, I admit it. But we gotta be careful."

They did live in New York, after all. Here, anything weird had a high chance of being dangerous.

"Geez, quit worrying. It's just a rock."

Brad picked up a stick, stepped closer to the meteor, and poked it.

But the object lying on the ground was no mere rock and Brad found this out the hard way. Gelatinous black tentacles shot out from the charred greyish object and latched onto the stick. Both teenagers screamed as the creature started to wrap around Brad's hand.

Too worried for her date's safety to think clearly, Leslie grabbed the ooze with her bare hands and tried to yank it off him.

And it worked, but a little too well as the ooze quickly let him go, only to latch onto her tightly. She could feel it, cold and slimy, crawling up her arm. She screamed and struggled, but it wouldn't let go.

"Brad! Help!" she shrieked.

But her boyfriend didn't have the courage Leslie had. He started to back away, then ran for his life, abandoning Leslie to her fate.

"Traitor!" she screamed, fighting desperately to break free.

Her struggles were fruitless. Inch by tarry inch, the creature pulled itself out of the rock and wrapped itself around her body, preventing any further movement. The pressure was more uncomfortable than painful, but Leslie was still terrified.

Whatever this thing was, she was completely at its mercy. What would it do to her? Dissolve her body? Eat her brains? Or just smother her in its horrible slimy mass?

Leslie kept screaming as it covered her from head to toe. Somehow, she could still breathe though, even as the ooze covered her mouth. It crawled over her face, blocking her vision for a second…

And then it was gone.

Leslie gasped, pressing her hands to her face, feeling only warm skin. The black ooze was gone.

She frantically looked around. Had it been there at all? Was it a hallucination? Had her so-called boyfriend spiked her drink?

Or was that slime inside her body and about to eat her internal organs?

Her heart raced. Cold sweat covered her body, making her shiver. And then she heard a voice, deep, distorted, and vaguely male-sounding.

"No! Wait, I mean, yes on the first part, no on the second! I'm not going to hurt you! Look, I'm sorry I did this, but please… It's an emergency. I really need help."