Hello everyone!
As promised, I'm back with another chapter! This chapter's a bit longer than the first one, and introduces a familiar character from 'Across the Spider-Verse!'
I hope you're all enjoying the story so far!
Adventure in the Spider-Verse: Part Two
Earth 50101:
Pavitr 'Pav' Prabhakar finished his quiz early, leaning back in his seat and glancing around as the other students struggled to answer questions on Biochemistry. The teenager, having a gifted mind, was at ease, knowing he had gotten another perfect score.
The fifteen-year-old lived in the city of Mumbhattan, and for the past four months, he had been the one and only Spider-Man. A masked hero with the powers of a spider, he swung around the city, stopping criminals, feeding stray dogs, and snacking on dosa on the top of skyscrapers. He found the job incredibly easy and fun, and he still had enough time to hang out with his girlfriend, Gayatri.
Glancing out the nearby window, Pav quickly straightened up when he saw a large, black figure scaling a nearby building. The thing reached the rooftop, looking around, then ran off, leaping across the gap to the other building and disappearing from view. Definitely suspicious.
"Professor Yadav?" the teenaged hero asked, raising his hand. "May I use the-"
"Go ahead, Mr. Prabhakar," the man replied tiredly, waving him towards the door without looking up from his book. "Take the pass with you."
The teen got up, turning in his quiz before grabbing the pass, stepping into the hallway. Making sure no one was around, he quickly sprinted to the ground floor, heading towards the cafeteria. Darting past some surprised lunch ladies, he made his way into the alleyway, quickly pulling off his uniform to reveal the red-and-blue superhero suit underneath, complete with a dhoti and metal armbands. Pulling a mask from his back pocket, he put it on, running a hand through his hair to make sure that it was still perfectly styled.
"Okay, good to go," he muttered to himself, shooting a web at the rooftop and quickly pulling himself up to the nearby rooftop.
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Eddie and Venom had made their way to the center of the city, climbing a tall blue building before stopping at the top, looking down at the crowded, chaotic streets below.
I hate heights, I hate heights, Eddie was muttering in Venom's head. Hurry up and look, will you?
"THIS ISN'T SAN FRANCISCO," Venom said, surveying the crowds of people. "THIS DOESN'T EVEN SEEM LIKE AMERICA..." He tilted his head. "THOSE HUMANS AREN'T SPEAKING ENGLISH, AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE DIFFERENT."
Maybe we can go down now? the boy asked, his metaphorical eyes shut tight. If we're not in San Francisco, does that mean that light circle thing was a portal?
"A PORTAL?"
Like in comics and cartoons.
"WE KNOW WHAT A PORTAL IS!"
But they're not supposed to exist in real life... It's hard to think this high up! Can you take us down now?!
The symbiote scoffed at his friend's fear. "YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A SCARED LITTLE-"
The symbiote stopped abruptly, straightening up and frowning. He got a strange feeling... like a chill running over his body. It wasn't something he had ever felt before.
What is it? Eddie asked, feeling the shiver as well.
"WE... WE DO NOT KNOW," the alien replied. He started to turn around. "THERE'S SOMETHING-"
Venom was suddenly struck hard in the side, throwing him off the roof of the building. Eddie screamed as they fell through the air, the crowded street quickly getting closer.
Before the symbiote could hit the pavement, something hit him in the chest, turning his fall into a swing. Flying back up, he landed on another rooftop, rolling several feet before hitting an HVAC unit. The alien seeped back into his host, leaving the teenager wincing in pain.
"Ow..." Eddie muttered, rubbing his head. "What... Wh-What WAS that? That didn't feel like that... that weird fritz thing that happened earlier."
NO, IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE, Venom agreed.
"But wha-"
"Woah! You're just a kid?!"
Eddie looked up to see one of the strangest individual crouched on the edge of the rooftop, staring at him. The person wore a bright red-and-blue skintight outfit, with a white motif of a spider on his chest. He had a mask covering his face, with well-kept brown hair brushed to the side, and his large white eyes were wide with shock. He also had a weird apron thing around his waist.
"A kid that can turn into a monster," the masked individual continued in an accented voice, and Eddie was surprised to hear that the stranger didn't sound much older than him, like one of the seniors from his high school. "This is a new one for me!"
"Wh-Who..." The boy stared at the stranger in shock, wondering what was going on.
WHO THE HECK IS THIS GUY? Venom demanded.
"Who are you?" the teenager managed to ask.
The masked guy's eyes somehow widened even more, making Eddie wondered how a mask could be so expressive. "You don't know who I am?"
"I don't even know where I am right now," Eddie retorted. "And I keep-"
The piercing pain suddenly returned, making the boy cry out in pain and fall over, writhing as his body glitched and fritzed uncontrollably.
MAKE... IT... STOP! Venom roared in the teen's mind.
The masked stranger jumped to his feet and ran to Eddie's side, looking at a loss for what to do.
"What's going on?" the stranger yelled. "Why do you look like an old, broken TV screen?"
SHUT UP! A black tendril shot out of the boy's chest, hitting the masked individual in the face and sending him flying off the roof.
"V!" The pain suddenly stopped, and now back to normal, Eddie jumped to his feet and ran to the edge of the roof. To his shock, the masked teenager wasn't still falling. "What the- Where'd he go?!"
SEARCH US, the alien replied.
"Why'd you knock him off the roof?!"
IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!
Suddenly remembering his fear of heights, the boy quickly backed away from the ledge. "What... What if he... I don't know-"
"I'm not dead."
Yelping, the young teenager spun around to find the masked stranger standing behind him, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?" he asked, looking down at Eddie. "What are you? You're making my Spidey-Sense go haywire."
"How did you... What's a Spidey-Sense?"
"That black goo monster I saw earlier doesn't seem friendly, and if people get a look at him..." The masked teen shook his head. "Gotta figure out what to do... Is this whole 'scared kid' routine just an act?"
"No, I really don't-"
"Better safe than sorry."
The older teenager suddenly flexed his wrist, and something small and white shot out of his wrist, hitting Eddie in the arm and pinning it to the rooftop ledge. Glancing down, the boy was shocked to see heavy webbing, unlike what a spider would make, covering his hand. He tried to pull it free, but to no avail.
"V?" the boy asked nervously.
WE GOT THIS, the alien replied as the black ooze quickly covered the boy's body. Venom was quickly able to rip the webbing aside, glaring at the stranger.
"EDDIE IS NOT THE ONE YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT," he growled, baring his sharp teeth. "BUT ALLOW US TO ENLIGHTEN YOU!"
The symbiote leapt forward. The strange teen quickly leaped out of the way, flipping through the air and sending another web strand at the monster, hitting him in the eyes. Hissing, Venom quickly ripped it off in time to see a foot coming towards his face. He quickly caught it, slamming the teenager against the rooftop while his other hand grabbed him in a chokehold.
V, don't hurt him! Eddie yelled.
"TOO LATE FOR THAT," Venom replied, squeezing the masked stranger's neck. "HE ATTACKED US FIRST!"
The older teen's free foot suddenly kicked up, hitting the alien in the jaw and making him let go, staggering backwards. Next thing he knew, he had tripped over the building ledge and was now plummeting towards the street once again.
VEE!
Getting an idea, the symbiote shot out a black tendril from his wrist, hitting the side of the building. Turning his fall into a swing, he ended up swinging straight through the window of the office building, sending glass flying. People looked up from their computers, ducking and screaming as Venom crashed into a cubicle.
"AAAUGH!" Everyone in the room quickly scattered, heading for the exits as the alien slowly got to his feet.
Okay, I'm taking over again, Eddie ordered.
Venom growled, and Eddie felt like the symbiote was rolling his eyes. "YEAH, BECAUSE THOSE THREE TAEKWONDO CLASSES YOU TOOK AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER ARE GONNA HELP YOU AGAINST A GUY STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE ON US!"
Maybe we can convince him not to fight us?
The masked teen suddenly swung in through the hole in the window, kicking the alien with both feet and sending him flying across the room, taking more cubicles with him. He hit a wall, cracking it and sliding to the floor.
"LIKE I SAID, TOO LATE FOR THAT."
Grabbing an overturned water cooler, Venom chucked it at the older teenager, who nimbly dodged out of the way. He also dodged the desk chair and piece of debris the alien threw at him, at one point jumping onto the ceiling, before shooting more webbing at the alien and pinning him to the wall. Again and again he shot out more and more webbing, finally securing the large symbiote against the wall.
"RAAURGH!" Venom roared at the teen, who had leaped onto an overturned desk, perched nimbly on the edge. The alien tried to pull himself free, but the webbing was too strong, and he was still recovering from that kick.
That's it! Take a break, dude, Eddie snapped, and the black goo sank back into the younger teenager's skin, causing the webbing to now hang loosely around him. He was still trapped, however; the webbing was sticky, and while it was bendable, it felt strong like steel.
"Okay, maybe we can chill out for a minute?" the boy asked. "Sorry about my friend; he's a bit overprotective."
SO US SAVING OUR ASS ALL THE TIME IS NOW BEING OVERPROTECTIVE? Venom snapped.
"Shut up, you're not helping!"
"Who are you?" the masked stranger demanded, eyes narrowed. "What are you? One second you're a monster, the next you're a kid, and then you're fritzing and phasing uncontrollably!"
"I don't KNOW!" Eddie tried to pull his limbs free, with no success. "I don't know what's going on! I was in San Francisco ten minutes ago, but then this portal things showed up-"
"A portal?" the older teenager asked incredulously, tilting his head a little. "And you're from America?"
"Yes! Look, I'm only fourteen, and I'm just trying to figure out how to get home! I don't know where I am, or how I got here, or if I can even get back before my dad kills me!"
"Okay... But how do you explain the gooey black monster?" A thoughtful expression came over the older teen's masked face, and Eddie once again wondered how a mask could be so expressive. "Is it some sort of parasite?"
"PARASITE?!" Venom's head shot out of the teen's shoulder, ripping at the webbing holding the boy back. "WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN, PUNK?!"
"Dude, calm down!" Eddie shoved the head back down. "Sorry about him; he's a bit sensitive about that word. About a lot of things, actually." A tendril whacked him in the back of the head. "OW!"
"I'm sorry, this is all very confusing," the masked stranger said, running a hand through his hair. "And I need to wrap this up quickly; I have Calculus soon."
"Well what am I supposed to do?" the boy snapped, fear growing in his chest. "Just stay here while you finish school, hoping I don't fritz out of control?"
The older teen jumped to his feet, now scratching his chin. "Definitely a challenge..." He looked up. "That fritzing you do happens randomly, right?"
Eddie nodded. "Right."
"I'll just have to keep a close eye on you, then. Make sure you don't cause a scene in front of anyone else."
"In front of- Wait, what do you mean? Where are you taking me?"
[][][]
"So, you're chaperoning a new student, Mr. Prabhakar?" Mrs. Ahuja asked suspiciously, looking between the two boys. "And he seems rather young... should he be in this class?"
"Well, he's one of those super-geniuses," Pavitr replied, grinning at the middle-aged math teacher. "But he's VERY shy and not good at making friends, which is why I was asked to help show him around!"
The woman arched an eyebrow at him, then turned to the younger boy. The American definitely looked nervous, unable to meet her eye. And the uniform he was wearing seemed too big for him; he'd have to see a tailor sometime soon, as uniforms must fit, but she would overlook this fact today.
"Very well, Mr. Prabhakar," the teacher said. "Mr... Brock, was it? You can sit together."
"Thank you, ma'am," the older teen replied, leading Eddie to two seats in the back of the room.
"This isn't going to work," Eddie hissed as he slipped into his seat, tugging at the too-large-shirt that Pav had given him. "And V agrees with me."
"Trust me, it will," Pavitr whispered back.
"And if I fritz out during class?"
"I'll think of something."
"That's not reassuring," the American muttered.
THIS IS LAME, Venom muttered angrily. IT'S A HOLIDAY BACK HOME, BUT IT'S SCHOOL HERE!
I mean, it IS a Tuesday, the boy thought, accepting the hand-sheet that the girl in front of him had passed back. But yeah, kinda strange that people in India still go to school in the sum-
Eddie's train of thought cut off as he noticed the date in the top corner of the page. If it was correct, today wasn't July 4th... and it wasn't even the 1990's. But rather 2023.
V? Are you seeing this?
YES.
I guess that explains why there's school today, the boy thought as Mrs. Ahuja started the class, oblivious of the horror that had come over the 'exchange student' and his host.
Let's go!
I kind of hinted at this in the last chapter, but it looks like Eddie and Venom have ended up in Indian Spider-Man's universe! He was such a great character in the movie, funny and finding the whole Spider-Man job easy! In this version, he hasn't met Miguel or Spider-Society yet... Maybe Eddie and Venom are the reason he meets them?
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! More Spider-people (and possibly other individuals) will make appearances in the future! Until then, I hope you all have a great day!
-aggiefrogger