It was a day or so after Spider-Man's intense battle with Venom at Midtown High. It was a close call, but in the end, Spider-Man shoved the gene cleanser down Venom's throat. This resulted in the symbiote separating with Eddie Brock, despite his best efforts to hold on to it. After that, Eddie was wheeled off for treatment, promising to seek vengeance while the symbiote escaped into the sewers.
Unbeknownst to both Spider-Man and Eddie, during the process of trying to hold onto the symbiote, when it was falling off of Eddie, a small piece of it slipped off and crawled into the back of a locker. Mary Jane Watson's locker, to be more specific.
A day or so after that whole incident, while Mary Jane was getting school supplies and books out of her locker, the small piece of the symbiote latched onto one of her books and hid in it without her noticing. Later, during class, it slid out of the book it was hiding in and into her backpack.
That night, while Mary Jane was asleep, the piece of the symbiote came out of her backpack and slithered towards her. It slowly latched onto her leg and quickly bonded with her while she slept, her not feeling a thing.
The next day…
After waking up in the morning, Mary Jane felt strange. Her senses were heightened and she had a lot more energy than usual. She found it weird at first, but quickly brushed it off, thinking she just got a really good night of sleep. However, as the day progressed, she noticed that her senses were still heightened, that she was as energetic as ever and she could somehow sense danger before it was coming, similar to Spider-Man's Spider-Sense.
That night, after going to sleep, Mary Jane tossed and turned in bed. It looked like she was having a bad dream, but it wasn't that at all. After that piece of the Venom symbiote bonded with her, a new symbiote was born…and it found its perfect host with Mary Jane Watson.
In her dream, Mary Jane opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by inky blackness with a single light shining down on her. She looked around for a few seconds before something swirled around her. It then went a few feet away from her and took shape as Mary Jane stared at it, confused as to what was going on.
The swirl of inky black substance took on a tall, fit and feminine shape. It had two big solid white eyes and what looked like really big and long hair or a huge mane going down its back. After that, Mary Jane took a step back.
"Wh-who are you? What are you" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I am Scream and you are my host" the figure replied.
The voice was both feminine and alien, echoing in the darkness.
"Host" MJ uttered.
She was confused at first, but quickly put two and two together.
"You're a symbiote…like Venom" she said.
Just mentioning Venom seemed to agitate Scream.
"I am nothing like Venom. He's a rejected, angry fool filled with nothing but hate. I am not" she said.
"How and…when did you bond with me" MJ asked, curious.
"During Spider-Man and Venom's fight in the school a few days ago, a piece split off from Venom and slithered into your locker. Yesterday, that piece bonded with you…and I was born" Scream replied.
MJ was surprised as she looked down at her hands.
"I guess that explains why I was feeling so energized today. That was you" she said.
"Yes. My kind isn't evil, we just want to find our perfect host. And currently, you are mine" said Scream.
MJ's mind raced.
"Didn't Venom make Spider-Man more aggressive? What makes you different" she asked.
"Some symbiotes, like Venom, feed on aggression for maximum strength and effort. I do not. I only want balance. Together, we can achieve many things. We can be a team" Scream replied.
MJ crossed her arms, trying to remain calm.
"Why should I believe you? How do I know you won't try to take control of me or make me more aggressive" she asked.
Scream's voice softened, almost pleading.
"I won't. All I want is a perfect bond, a partnership if you will. Venom was rejected because he couldn't respect boundaries. That's not what I want" she replied.
MJ narrowed her eyes.
"Then why did Spider-Man reject Venom in the first place" she asked.
Scream chuckled.
"Because Peter realized what Venom was doing to him and got rid of him. After that, Venom became consumed by vengeance, becoming a bitter and angry sore loser" she replied.
MJ was slightly taken aback.
"Peter? Wait, Peter is Spider-Man" she asked.
"Yes and he rejected Venom because of what he was doing to him" Scream replied.
MJ sighed.
"You know, I…had my suspicions about him being Spider-Man at first but now it's confirmed" she said.
Scream immediately went to comfort her.
"Don't think that Peter didn't tell you because he doesn't trust you. He did it to protect you" she said.
MJ raised an eyebrow.
"To protect me" she asked.
"That's why most superheroes have a secret identity – to keep the people they care about safe" said Scream.
MJ thought about it for a moment before she smiled.
"I guess it does make sense. It shows that he's a good person and that…he really cares" she said.
"Yes, and YOU are more than just a pretty face. You're strong and capable. Together, we could watch his back, keep him and the ones you care about safe. All of that and so much more" said Scream.
After a short pause, MJ inhaled and exhaled.
"Alright…we can bond and stay together, but under one condition – you don't use me while I'm asleep and you don't change who I am. No aggression or altering my personality. We make decisions as a team. Got it" she asked.
Scream's eyes lit up, her hair-like tendrils gently swaying.
"Deal, partner" she replied.
The black inky mass in the darkness dissolved and swirled around Mary Jane, completely enveloping and transforming her. A few seconds later, Mary Jane jolted awake, back in her room.
Her hear heart was racing from the dream as she sat up, her mind flooded with everything that had just happened. At first, she was a little sad about Peter not telling her that he's Spider-Man, but she understood the more she thought about it – he did it to keep her and everyone else he cares about safe. Mary Jane then stood up, inhaled and exhaled.
"OK, Scream. Come out so we can give this a try" she said.
On command, the symbiote seeped out of her skin, enveloping and transforming her from head to toe in a swirl of red and yellow tendrils. She grew taller and flicked her hands, big and glistening sharp claws emerging with a loud shing sound. Her head darkened in color as very long red and yellow hair-like tendrils sprouted from her head. Finally, two big white eyes appeared, accompanied by a mouth with sharp teeth. In the end, her appearance was fierce and deadly.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror and examined it before looking at the claws on her right hand.
"Not bad. We look good" she said, her voice resonating with a slight echo.
One week later…
The Venom symbiote had somehow found its way back to Eddie Brock, bonding with him again and allowing him to escape. Spider-Man was swinging through New York, on the lookout for Venom and something new that came up – a new symbiote that has been helping people, one clad in red and yellow with long hair-like tendrils and sharp claws. When Spider-Man heard about that, he knew he had to check it out. He was swinging towards ESU, after he overheard that another vile of gene cleanser was stolen, when a black web suddenly latched onto him and pulled him down, slamming him down onto the roof of a warehouse. When Spider-Man looked up, he saw that it was none other than Venom, looking down at him with an evil grin and a vile of gene cleanser in one hand.
"Did you really think you've seen the last of us" Venom asked.
"No, not really. You don't seem to know the meaning of the word quit" Spider-Man replied.
Venom growled and tried to punch him, but Spider-Man dodged it.
"It's over for you this time! Once we cure you, we'll reveal your identity to all of New York" said Venom
"That's what you said last time and you failed miserably" said Spider-Man.
Venom growled and, after a few blocked strikes, managed to finally land a hit on Spider-Man, slamming him down onto the roof. Before Spider-Man could get up or dodge, Venom punched him again with so much force that he went through the roof and into the empty warehouse. He crashed into a few empty crates and groaned before slipping into unconsciousness. Venom quickly got inside and found him knocked out. Venom smiled with glee, excited about finally being able to destroy the life of his hated enemy once and for all.
"Finally! This time, it's over for you" said Venom.
"Think again" said a voice.
Venom turned around only for Scream to kick him in the face and push him several feet away to the ground. After that, she quickly looked over at Spider-Man and saw that he was down and not moving. She rushed over to him and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the he was just unconscious. By that time, Venom got up and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw his attacker. Eddie was confused by who this new symbiote was but Venom immediately knew and growled – this new symbiote was his spawn.
"What do you think you are doing? You should be helping us destroy him" he growled.
"Ha! Help you? As if" said Scream.
She then quickly used her hair-like tendrils to break open a nearby fire extinguisher, creating a big cloud of smoke. After that, Scream quickly grabbed Spider-Man with her hair-like tendrils and got up onto the roof, where she gently set him down.
"There you go" she said.
She then got back inside to deal with Venom. Scream quickly noticed a fuse box on the wall that was connected to the lights. Just before Venom could get out of the cloud of smoke and spot her, Scream quickly used her claws to cut the fuse box in two. That caused a few sparks and the lights to go out, shrouding the entire warehouse in darkness. There was only one light that was coming in from the hole in the roof and it shined down directly on Venom, who still had the vial of gene cleanser in one hand. Venom looked around in the darkness, trying to see where Scream was, but he couldn't.
"Whoever you are, stay out of this! This doesn't concern you" he growled.
Scream chuckled, her laughter and voice echoing throughout the empty dark warehouse.
"Oh, but it does. You two seriously need to get a life. You have all that power and you use it for what? To try and destroy someone's life all because they were mean to you and rejected you? That's just pathetic" she said.
"Shut up! You have no idea what we went through" Venom growled.
"Yeah, we don't, but look at yourselves. Instead of trying to better yourselves, you two just gave into the hate and started acting like very petty and mopey sore losers. You could be out there doing good and being heroes, like us, but instead you chose to be a big menace and ruin someone's life all because you couldn't handle them being mean to you and rejecting you" said Scream.
Venom growled and looked around in the darkness, livid.
"Where are you?! Show yourselves" he roared.
"Right behind you" said Scream.
Venom quickly turned around, only for Scream to smack him away with her hair-like tendrils. After being hit, Venom let go of the vial of gene cleanser and Scream quickly used one of her hair-like tendrils to grab it before it smashed on the ground. Venom smashed through a few empty crates before slamming into the wall, hard. Scream quicky read the side of the vial, found out what it was and knew what to do. She walked up to Venom, who was slowly getting up, and wrapped one of her hair-like tendrils around his neck and quickly lifted him off the ground. She popped open the cap on the vial of gene cleanser and smiled.
"Time to take your medicine" she said.
She then poured the gene cleanser down Venom's throat and forced him to swallow it before tossing him aside. A few seconds later, Venom got up and the gene cleanser began to work its magic, much to Eddie and Venom's discomfort.
"No, no, no, no! Not again" said Venom.
Slowly, but surely, the Venom symbiote separated from Eddie and escaped into a drain.
"Don't leave me alone again! Please" Eddie begged.
Scream fired one of her own webs at the drain, blocking Eddie from trying to removing it.
"Gone" said Scream.
"Help me get it back! I'm nothing without it" Eddie begged her.
As Eddie stared at the drain with a hopeless and sad look on his face, Scream put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her.
"You need help, Eddie. You and the symbiote both need help to stop with the hate, otherwise you'll be stuck in this loop forever and will never improve" she said.
Eddie looked back at the drain.
"W-we can't. It's all that we have left" said Eddie.
A few minutes later…
Spider-Man groaned as he woke up on the roof, rubbing his head. He wondered what happened when he heard shouting down below. He looked down from the roof of the warehouse, only to see Eddie Brock screaming and being wheeled to an ambulance, strapped to a gurney. Spider-Man was a little surprised, but he didn't mind. Whoever had saved him was long gone, but whoever it was, they saved him and his life…and he owed them one.
"To whoever saved me back there – thank you. I owe you one" said Spider-Man.
After that, he swung away with his webs, unaware that his savior was watching from a nearby rooftop. Scream watched him as he swung away and sighed quietly to herself.
"Oh, tiger…" she whispered, her tone both affectionate and conflicted.
Her face then retracted, revealing Mary Jane's face underneath. She watched Peter disappear behind a few skyscrapers, a sad smile tugging at her lips.
"If you only knew the truth" she said.
After a short pause, she smiled softly.
"Maybe one day" she said.
THE END