Chapter Nine: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
LOCATION: The Batcave,Gotham City, 11:27pm
The nights were often long in Gotham City, espiecially for it's caped crusader, Batman. However, what he was working on had been the culmination of a months-long investigation. Countless hours of research, clue-hunting, interrogations, at last Batman had the anwser... Unfortunately, it was exactly what he did not want it to be. Ever since Batman and the rest of the league had found their protoges in the rubble of Project Cadmus, he had been trying to learn more about what had happened that night. While he had always been suspicious of Cadmus, he never imagined that they were making living weapons, or experimenting on humans. Yet they had done both, making artificial monsters known as G-nomes, and of course cloning Superman to use for unknown purposes, The Superboy. The biggest unknown to come from that night was Eddie Brock, and the creature that had fused itself to him, the Symbiote.
Eddie had been at his highschool in New York when he was exposed to a sentient creature known as the Symbiote. This creature was a goo-like substance which was being taken to a secret research facility. In an attempt to escape captivity, the Symbiote fused itself with Eddie, bonding to his nervous system. Unwilling to let the Symbiote escape, it's captor rendered Eddie unconcious and took them both to Cadmus in Washington D.C. Eddie was unaware of how long he had been at Cadmus. At first, he thought it had been no longer than twenty-four hours, when in reality he had been missing for over a month. Another concerning discovery, Eddie's only living family member, his father, had died merely six days after Eddie was reported missing. He had died in a car accident, yet Batman knew that this was all too coincidental, and he didn't believe in coincidences. He had been investigating every detail of Eddie Brock's abduction, from Cadmus, to his father's death. Unfortunately, aside from Dr.Desmond's personal log,there was very little information on what exactly transpired during the month of captivity. The log itself mostly contained info on the Symbiote itself, and how it bonded to Eddie, not much on what had happened during the month. Acknowledging that the month was a dead end for now, Batman shifted focus over to the car accident. The timing was of course suspicious, but that in and of itself wasn't enough to prove foul play, that would take detective work. The wreckage from the crash had been dispossed of by the time he was investigating, but by some chance it could be found in a junkyard. Batman had torn the car apart, searching every square inch for signs of tampering. In the wheels, he found an unknown residue. He had taken the residue back to the Batcave and was now analyzing it, hoping he would find a match with something in his database.
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Robin was returning from patrol, it had been a boring night-well, relative to Gotham anyhow.- only a few crimes: a mugging, two attempted robberies, and a drug deal. No appearances from the rougues gallery of supervillains and psychopaths that operated in Gotham. Nights like these were rare, but not entirely unheard of.Looking around the batcave for his mentor, he found him at the Bat-Computer, his calculation software on the screen. It didn't take long for Robin to figure out what he was working on. "So, do we finally have anwsers with the Brock Case?" The boy wonder had been invested in this case on a level that was almost equal to Batman. Even though they had met under trying circumstances, Robin had come to call Eddie a friend, and if there was any way they could get answers, then Robin would get them. As he drew his eyes to the screen, Batman's test finally came back with results... and they weren't good.
"Analysis of the material I found in the wheels of Eddie's father's car is conclusive. It's a 100% match for the webbing used by the League of Shadows assassin, Black Spider." Batman said. The computer then changed to a simulation of the crash, and played as Batman continued speaking. "It would seem that Black Spider had been waiting in a spot alongside the road, and fired a web ito the wheels of the car when he was in range, causing the driver to lose control and crash... but that's not the worst of it."
The simulation continued, showing Eddie's father crawling out of the car and away from the wreckage. "As bad as the wreck was, I've calculated only a 4.9% chance of it resulting in instant death. The body was cremated almost as soon as it arrived at the nearest morgue, supposedly due to a severe miscomunication, but this webbing proves that the so-called accident was an assassination. The body being cremated most-likely means there was evidence of foul play that someone had ordered to be covered up... Black Spider murdered Eddie's father."
-
As the simulation ended, Robin didn't know what to say. This just kept getting worse, first Eddie's time missisng went from one day to over a month, and now his father had not died in an accident, but had actually been murdered. "But I don't get it... Eddie said his father hated him, they barely spoke to eachother, why would Cadmus have him killed?"
"I was wondering that myself, but during this investigation, I made a surprising discovery. It had been forty eight hours from the time Eddie went missing that his father noticed something was wrong. Eddie had gone missing on a Friday evening, so the school had no idea he was gone. Monday morning was when his father got the call that he didn't show up to school. His father apparently spent the entire day driving around looking for him, even went to the houses of everyone in the school's journalism club- which Eddie was a member of -to demand answers. When none of them knew where Eddie was, his father went to the police to report him as missing. He then spent the next six days looking for Eddie, even asking the neighborhood to help him look, putting up fliers and the school even scheduled an event to raise awareness. My guess is that Cadmus had been monitoring Eddie's father, and didn't like all the attention that was being drawn to Eddie's disappearance. So they decided to silence his father. Shortly after his death, everyone gave up the search, deeming Eddie dead, and a joint memorial was held for the both of them." Batman wished that he had better news, but he wasn't surprised at this, given Eddie's situation he had expected tragedy.
Proccessing that information, Robin had one question. "So, what do we do now?"
"I'm not ready to close the investigation on the month Eddie was missing, but for now I'm out of leads. So I need to do the hard part... I'm going to tell Eddie what happened to his father."
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The Next Morning: LOCATION: MT.Justice, 10:00 AM.
"RECOGNIZED: VENOM, B-05"
After spending another morning training with Wildcat's intense regimen, Eddie was ready to rest and enjoy some down time. Which is why he openly groaned when he saw Batman waiting for him in front of the Zeta tube. At first, he thought Batman had a mission for him.
"Okay, pleeaase tell me whatever this is can wait? I mean I just got done fighting for survival in Hell's boxing ring, I don't think I can handle a mission right now."
"It's about your father."
...
...
Eddie had not been expecting that, but his expression quickly shifted from one of shock to one of distain. "What about him?" He asked coldly.
"Eddie, I understand that you and your father did not have a good relationship, but I think it's important for-" Batman tried explaining what he had learned, but Eddie was in no mood to talk about his father.
"No, you don't understand. My father hated me since the day I was born. He blamed me for everything bad in his life, and nothing I did was ever good enough for him. Everything I did to gain his love was spit on, and to top it all off, the worst day of my life was probably the best day of his, so I never want to talk about that man again! EVER!!"
Batman waited for a few seconds, allowing Eddie to get his rage out of his system. He briefly considered not telling him this information at all, but he knew from experience that these kinds of things needed to be out in the open, secrets were not good in a situation like this.
"Eddie, your father's death was no accident... he was murdered."
...
At the utterance of those words, Eddie froze. His fiery rage had instantly ceased, pure shock now replacing it.
"W-...what?" He asked, his once raging shout now barely a whisper.
Batman spent a considerable amount of time explaining everything that he knew to Eddie. Including how his father has been searching for him for six days before his death.
Eddie was barely processing this, it was all just too much. But he was able to ask one question.
"How long have you known?"
Batman was quick to respond. "I finished your father's death investigation last night. I thought it would be best to let you have a normal start to your day before telling you this."
Eddie was feeling so many emotions, the Symbiote felt all of them. But beyond that, the Symbiote was concerned. It had never felt these kinds of emotions from it's host before. 'EDDIE...'
Ignoring its concerns, Eddie continued questioning Batman.
"Do you know who did it?"
The Dark Knight paused. He knew that telling Eddie who did it would possibly result in him seeking vengeance. But he had to give the young man a chance. When Robin had learned who killed his parents, Batman had similar worries, only for him to be put at ease when Robin showed mercy. It was similar for his own parents' murderer, Joe Chill. Keeping this a secret would only make things worse.
Batman motioned for Eddie to follow him to the cave's central computer. When they both reached the computer, Batman activated it and pulled up the Justice League's super-criminal database. Batman pulled up the file on the murderer in question.
"This is Eric Needham, A.K.A: Black Spider. He's an assassin, under the employ of a worldwide network of assassins known as the League of Shadows. He has no metahuman abilities of his own, but wears a high-tech battlesuit to compensate. The suit grants him enhanced reflexes, and a minor increase in strength. He is also able to produce a web-like adhesive which is strong enough to support up to 600 pounds of weight. Out of all the possible killers, I narrowed it down to Black Spider when I discovered the same webbing material that Needham uses in the wheels of your father's car. the most logical conclusion I've come to is this: After you were taken, Cadmus kept a watch over your father and anyone else who might have noticed your disappearance. When your father started raising awareness of your disappearance, Cadmus decided to take action by silencing him. The League of Shadows has been known to operate for just about anyone, if the price is right. And given their resources, Cadmus no doubt had enough money to pay for one of their best operatives"
Eddie just stood there, staring at the image of Black Spider.
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3 Hours Later, MT.Justice
"RECOGNIZED: Robin,B-01. Kid Flash, B-03."
"What did I tell you, Rob? Never a boring day in Central City." Kid Flash looked over at his friend.
"You said things would be eventful, but I wasn't expecting four supervillains to rob Central City Bank at once! The Top, The Trickster, Heatwave and Captain Boomerang!" Robin's tone was loud, but not quite upset. Perhaps a bit of adrenaline was still in his system.
"Yeah, but since Flash takes down the guys in Central City so often, they team up every now and then to try to get a numbers advantage. Too bad for them, even with four versus three they were totally outmatched!"
Robin smiled. "Yeah, that was fun, I'll give you that. Maybe I should visit more often."
"That reminds me. Why did Batman have you leave Gotham? I know you two usually only do nights, but this seems odd... well, odd for Batman anyhow." Kid Flash inquired.
Robin grimaced, he knew that this was gonna come up sooner or later, but he was moreso dreading the whole team learning what he learned last night. In a serious tone, Robin responded. "He had something important that he needed to take care of before nightfall. He sent me off to do solo work because he wanted to handle it alone."
As the two walked further into Mt. Justice, Kid Flash probed further into his friend's behavior. "Geeze, if it's got you in that bad a mood just talking about it, it must be pretty-" Kid Flash stopped talking as he and Robin got within eyesight of the cave's supercomputer, which had been violently destroyed. Next to the wreckage was Batman.
The two teens ran up to the dark knight. "Batman! What happened?" Robin asked, yet he had a feeling he already knew.
Batman looked at Robin and Kid Flash. "A training excercise gone wrong. It would seem that Venom still needs to work on restraint."
"You don't say? I thought Superboy was the angry one, but now I guess we gotta watch out for two rageaholics." KF quipped.
Batman knew that Wally would unintentionally make the situation worse, so he quickly thought of a distraction. "Kid Flash, I need you to join Superboy and Miss Martian on a last-minute mission in Star City. Rendezvous with them and wait for Green Arrow at the coordinates I've just sent you."
At that moment, the pda on Wally's arm beeped, showing him where to go. "Got it, you coming Rob?"
Before Robin could answer, Batman spoke. "No, I need to speak with Robin about work in Gotham... privately" Adding a signature Bat-Glare at the end of the sentence, Wally got the message and took off, leaving the cave.
Now that they were alone, Robin dropped the clueless act. "So judging by the pile of junk formerly known as the cave supercomputer, I'd guess he didn't take the news well?"
Batman stoicly frowned. "It's worse than you think"
Start of Flashback
Eddie stared at the computer screen, at the image of the man who murdered his father. "Black Spider" he spat the assassin's codename out.
The Symbiote did not like the feelings it sensed in it's host, they made no sense. 'EDDIE, WHY ARE YOU FEELING SO...CHAOTIC? I THOUGHT YOU WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR FATHER, WHY DOES LEARNING THIS UPSET YOU TO THIS DEGREE?'
The blonde didn't bother communicating with his thoughts, he didn't care if batman heard him argue with the Symbiote. "Because he was MURDERED. That changes things!"
'HOW? FROM THE DAY WE MET, I READ YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS. YOU SAW YOUR FATHER AS SOMEONE WHO WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, AND YOU FELT THE SAME TOWARDS HIM. WHAT DOES THIS NEWS CHANGE?'
Eddie was growing agitated. "Look, I don't need to hear a lecture on human emotion from anyone, least of all you! My father dying in a car crash, living his life as if nothing happened, that was one thing. But hearing that he tried looking for me and was killed for it? That makes it different!"
Despite Eddie talking as if it was obvious, the Symbiote still didn't get why Eddie went from icey to livid in a few minutes. 'BUT I STILL DON'T-'
Eddie groaned in frustration. "Look, I'll say this as slow as I can so you can keep up. That man on the computer screen, Black Spider... he MURDERED... MY FATHER!!"
*PING*
Eddie froze, in that instant his brain felt like it was on fire. He and the Symbiote behan screaming in agony.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!"
They fell to their knees, The Symbiote forming around Eddie defensively. However this form was different. Instead of the body armor, this was almost a silhouette of Eddies normal figure, a loose texture, the symbiote was unstable and thrashing with Eddie.
Batman ran over to the two, but was careful not to touch them. He had no idea what waa happening, and for all he knew, touching them in this state could be fatal. "Eddie, can you hear me? Eddie... Venom, say something!!"
Unbeknownst to the dark knight, Eddie and the Symbiote were trapped in their mental subconscious. Both of them were having visions- no, these were memories!
-
They were viewing the interior of Cadmus. The Symbiote and Eddie couldnt see themselves, only Dr.Desmond and some other man.
"Alright, we're ready to begin the test Mr.Needham. Whenever you're ready, bring it out."
Needham... this was the Black Spider! But this didn't make any sense. Why would Eddie be remembering this? Unless...
Needham made a grunting sound, as the Symbiote emerged from his body, forming to match his battlesuit, but instead of purple with red eyes, it was now black with white eyes.
That clinched it. This wasn't one of Eddie's memories from Cadmus, it was one of the Symbiote's, from before they even met.
"Okay doc, now what?" Asked Needham
"Just try to shoot a web like you would with your armor." Dr.Desmond answered
Needham pointed his arm and flexed his wrist, but nothing happened. This pissed him off.
"Come on you stupid goo, work!"
Suddenly, the Symbiote threw Needham against the wall.
"I AM NOT GOO! I AM A LIVING CREATURE, AND I WILL NEVER BE YOUR WEAPON!!"
Despite it's protests, Desmond was not deterred. He put something in hos ears, before pressing a button on the wall.
"Oh, is that so?"
A horrible sonic noise flooded the room, causing pain to the symbiote, forcing it to seperate from Needham. Desmond then collected the Sumbiote, placing it back in a container. Once the Symbiote was secure, Desmond turned the sonic noise off.
"My apologies for any discomfort Mr.Needham, it would seem the Symbiote still needs adjustments."
Needham shook his head. "Whatever, I'm getting tired of this, you said I was getting this weapon months ago! How long until you fulfill your end of the deal?"
"I assure you, before long you will have unbelievable power, just be patient. You can help me discipline the Symbiote if you would like."
Desmond hooked up the containment cylinder to a device, then began shocking the Symbiote with intense electricity. The Symbiote saw Desmond and Needham sneering at it, and Dubilex in the background, his horns glowing red as the memory ended.
-
Venom felt pure unadulterated rage. In his animalistic form, he carged at the supercomputer and tore it apart with sharp claws. "Black Spider! Destroy Black Spider!"
Batman tried to pry Venom off the wreckage, only to he launched away by a mass of black goo.
"OOF! Venom, snap out of it! Don't make me hurt you!" Pulling put a batarang, Batman aimed and threw the weapon.
Venom jumped out of the way, and looked at Batman as if saying "you missed".
A few seconds after impact with the wreckage, the Batarang lit uo, and emited a high pitched sonic blast.
Venom shrieked in pain, but before they could react, they were kicked in the face by Batman. This seemed to be enough to make the Symbiote withdraw, revealing an unconscious Eddie.
End of Flashback
Robin was beyond floored. "Forgive me but holy shit! Where are they now?"
"In the infirmary, although Eddie regained consciousness shortly after I brought him there. He told me about the Symbiote's lost memory, and the intense rage they both felt. He's speaking with Black Canary now, who's doing her best to determine his mental state. As of now, no one outside of the League and you knows what happened, and it should stay that way until we know more, is that understood?"
Robin frowned, but nodded. He wasn't fond of keeping secrets from his team, but he understood why he had to this time. The team might lose trust in Eddie if they heard he went psychotic. He just hoped Eddie would be okay.
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LOCATION: Mt Justice Infirmary. 3:45 pm
Black Canary had been talking to Eddie for roughly an hour now, and she wasn't sure what concerned her more. Hearing that Venom went berserk, or the fact that Eddie as an individual seemed completely unbothered by what he had learned in the past five hours. She was almost positive he was suppressing his feelings, but there wasn't much she could do to prove it. Although, thankfully, he admitted to feeling guilty for attacking Batman, and expressed remorse for destroying the supercomputer. But he acted blasé over the intense rage he was feeling mere hours ago.
Despite only working with the team for a short time, she had learned that you can't force a teenager (or really anyone for that matter) to come to terms with their feelings on another's schedule. Eddie and the Symbiote would have to do this themselves. Canary did tell Eddie that he would be suspended for three days to get himself together. While he seemed agitated, he did not argue with her. Canary left the infirmary, and left Eddie alone. Alone with his thoughts.
'Black Spider... if we ever find you... YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO US.'