Happy New Year, everyone!
My apologies for the delay with this chapter! But I'm glad to FINALLY have the last chapter of my Spider-Verse Arc! And in this one, we finally get to meet some new characters that are like our own Eddie and Venom, but different in... a few ways!
I hope you all enjoy!
Adventure in the Spider-Verse: Part Four
Earth-928:
After emerging on the other side of the portal, Eddie's eyes had to adjust, and he stood there blinking for a few seconds. Then, his eyes widened as he took in the large space in front of him.
A large, long hallway spread out ahead of the teenager. Much longer than a football field. With its metal walls and ceiling, he thought of a space ship. The whole place was dimly lit, save for the dozens, if not hundreds, of orange lights coming from either side. At first, Eddie thought they were large lights, but then he saw that they were see-through, and saw the different figures slouching or sitting within them.
They're cells, the teenager realized, gasping as he saw a hulking figure in gray armor sitting in the container nearest him.
"Woah!"
Pavitr, the British Spider-Man, and Spider-Wolf had stepped through the portal behind Eddie, the latter checking his bracelet's holo-display. The Indian Spider-Man looked around with wide eyes, just as in awe as Eddie was.
"Stupid gadget," the werewolf muttered. "We ended up in the 'Rhino' area instead."
"Rhino?" Pavitr questioned.
"All Spider-People have villains, and there are certain ones that appear in each universe. You've got your Vultures, Green Goblins, Electros, and your Rhinos."
"That... That explains the horn," Eddie said, still gaping at the large man with a horn on his helmet. The man scowled at him, flipping him the bird before turning away from the group.
"So this is where you keep the baddies?" the British Spider-Man asked, taking off his mask to reveal an older teen with a wild afro of hair and more piercings than Eddie had ever seen on anyone.
"Yes, and the 'Symbiote' section is located-" Spider-Wolf stopped short after noticing his colleague's unmasked face. "Hobie! Masks are supposed to stay ON!"
"How come?"
"How come- To keep your identity safe!"
"But you already know my identity, bruv," the British punk rationalized, scratching his cheek. "And you just said my name, so that kinda makes the mask worthless. Yeah?"
If wolfmen could blush with humiliation, Eddie was certain that the superhero was doing so right then and there.
"But- B-But-" the werewolf sputtered.
"We're all from different universes, so it don't really matter if we know each other's identities. I mean, we're all on the same side, supposedly, so what's the point of secrecy? Sounds like something a fascist would do." As if to make a point, he turned to Pavitr and held out his hand. "Name's Hobie. Hobie Brown. Also known as Spider-Punk."
"Pavitr Prabhakar!" the Indian teen replied, taking off his mask and shaking the other Spider-Man's hand. "I'm Spider-Man, but since most of us are Spider-Man... I guess I'll be Spider-Man India! Representing my country and all that!"
"Nice hair, by the way."
"I'm glad somebody noticed! The secret is coconut oil and-"
"MASKS!" Spider-Wolf growled, looking ready to tear his fur out.
"Why do you even care?" Eddie asked. "It's not like we don't know what you look like under your mask. You look like a wolf, right?"
"It's the principle of the-" The werewolf superhero looked between the trio, growling again. Seeming to give up, he yanked off his mask, revealing (to no one's surprise) a wolf head.
"Good show, good show," the Spider-Punk said, clapping his hands. "First step of fighting the power!"
Spider-Wolf rolled his eyes, teeth bared in annoyance.
"Let's just get this one home," the werewolf stated, turning to look down the long hallway of cells. "Spider-Byte?"
A figure appeared out of nowhere, now standing next to Spider-Wolf. She looked like another Spider-Person, but she looked like she was a hologram instead of a real person. Her whole body was made of a blue and purple glow, and the edges seemed to warp like an old television. The girl herself looked to be about Eddie's age, with her hair pulled back into a low bun, and a futuristic-looking superhero costume that reminded Eddie of a Power Ranger uniform.
"Welcome back, Wolfie," the girl said happily, a digital tablet appearing in her hands. "Looks like you prevented an Incursion, and LYLA says that universe is stabilized." She turned to Pavitr. "Looks like you're the Spider-Man from that universe..." She turned to Eddie, looking surprised. "And... You're the Eddie Brock LYLA picked up?"
"And you're.." Eddie stuck out a tentative hand, which went right through the holographic girl's head.
"Spider-Byte," the girl replied, ducking away from his hand. "And can you not? I may not be here in-person, but it's still rude."
Eddie quickly pulled his hand back. "Sorry."
WE DON'T LIKE THIS PLACE, Venom commented in the boy's head. WHAT IF THIS IS A TRAP, AND THEY'RE JUST GONNA LOCK US UP?
We'll be fine, Eddie assured him, but he wished the symbiote hadn't brought that up. What if this WAS a trap, and he and his friend were about to be shoved into one of these cells? He took a step back when the Spider-People turned to him.
"You didn't cuff him?" Spyder-Byte asked.
"I wanted to," Spider-Wolf said, frowning at the teenager. "But Hobie insisted he could handle it, so I think I'm gonna leave it up to him to get this Brock to the Go Home Machine without anything going wrong." He pulled his mask back on. "As for me, I'm gonna head to the Commissary and get a raw steak. Try not to screw up, new guy."
And on that note, the werewolf stalked off down the hallway, vanishing between a row of people dressed in gray armor of various designs.
"Must have a coupl'a fleas on him or somethin'," Spider-Punk wondered. "Byte, care to show us the which-way to the Go Home?"
"Sure, but you'll have to wait a little bit before you can send Eddie home," the holographic girl said, starting down the hallway as the others followed. "We had 15 Mysterios appear in one universe, and it took a while to round them all up. Jess wants them gone as soon as possible, but after that, you guys can use it."
As they walked up the hallway, Eddie stared at the electric cells on either side of them, watching as the occupants slowly changed. The rhino-themed costumes turned into ones of various animal furs, their owners muscular and menacing-looking. They soon gave way to a group of people with robot arms sticking out of their backs, the claws at the end snapping at the Spider-People as they passed.
"How many villains do Spider-People have?" Eddie asked as Venom stuck his head out of his shoulder to get a better look at the caged individuals.
"A lot," Spider-Byte replied. "Thousands of alternate universes means thousands of villains. Good thing most dimensions have a Spider-Man or Woman in them! But within each universe, there's at least four dozen different villains, give or take."
"And this whole place is just a giant team-up of all these different Spider-People to help fight bad guys?"
"Yeah. Basically, a little over a year ago, tears started appearing between universes, dropping villains in other universes. They stay too long, and the universe destabilizes, and everyone dies. Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of this universe, came up with the idea of a Spider Society, and we've been working to save the Multiverse since."
"MULTIVERSE?" Venom repeated. "WE'VE HEARD OF THAT BEFORE. BACK ON OUR PLANET, HOSTS OF OTHERS SPOKE OF IT'S EXISTANCE."
"And you're just now bringing it up?" Eddie asked.
"IT DIDN'T SEEM IMPORTANT BEFORE NOW. PLUS, YOU NEARLY WET YOURSELF WHEN WE CHOSE YOU AS OUR HOST, SO WE FIGURED YOU COULDN'T HANDLE THE MULTIVERSE."
"I did not wet myself!"
The symbiote snickered. "COULD'VE FOOLED US!"
"Your Venom's a lot chattier than mine," Spider-Punk spoke up, ambling along with hands in his vest's pockets. "Bloke that's my Venom, Eddie Brocke - that's with an 'e' at the end of Brock - just screams half the time like some jacked-up metal rocker." He grinned. "Jokes on him, though; I'm an ACTUAL heavy metal rocker in my free time, so I'm used to nonsensical yelling!"
ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAUUUUUUURRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
A sudden, ear-splitting roar cut through the hallway, and everyone but Spider-Punk slapped their hands over their ears. Venom, hating the loud noise, quickly sunk back into Eddie's shoulder, shuddering as his host grit his teeth in pain. When it ended, a ringing silence filled the space.
"Not again!" Spider-Byte walked over to a nearby cell that towered over the others around it. "C'mon, big guy! Screaming'll only make everyone hate you!"
"Uh, we already do, so it's a bit late for that," a new voice spoke up.
Eddie, looking up at the large tank, gaped. A full-size Tyrannosaurus Rex stood in the glowing red cell, looking very large and very real. It looked like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, but this one, the teen noticed, was all black, save for a white mark on its chest and wide, white eyes.
"It's a..." Eddie couldn't finish the sentence.
"Welcome to the Symbiote Section," Spider-Byte said, as the rest of the group took in the surrounding cells.
There were at least six other cells besides the one with the dinosaur. The one nearest the beast held a thirty-something man in a Hawaiian shirt, swimsuit, and flip-flops. His face needed a shave, and he looked tired, given the dark circles under his eyes.
"Huh," the man said, looking at Eddie without sitting up from his slouched position. "You kinda look like me when I was a kid. Clothes and all."
"He IS you, idiot!" This came from a woman pacing around her cell. She was tall, cool, and if looks could kill, her steely eyes would be deadly weapons. She was dressed like a business woman in a black blazer and skirt, her nails painted a blood-red.
"I know that," the man answered without looking at her. "We all are, kind of." He looked up at the dinosaur. "Hey, Lizard-Head. Wanna shut up so some of us can get some shut-eye?"
The dinosaur growled in reply, scraping its head against the side of the cell and making the energy field flicker.
"So you're another Eddie Brock," the woman stated, looking the teenager up and down with an unimpressed gaze. "You're not a Web-Head, that's for sure." She brushed a stray hair out of her face. "I'm Edwina Brock. Editor-In-Chief of The Daily Trumpet newspaper."
"It's The Daily Bugle where I'm from," the man muttered.
"So... You're supposed to be me?" Eddie asked, walking up to the woman's cell. "But... you're not a guy. And you're Editor-In-Chief of a newspaper?" He was kind of jealous, and wondered if he could become more than a Journalist someday.
Her eyes narrowed. "You're saying a woman can't be an Editor-In-Chief?"
The teenager quickly back-tracked. "No! I just meant-"
"Clearly, you're more like Beach Bum over there," she commented, jerking her head towards the slouching man. "And here's a lesson for you to take back to your world."
Black goo quickly covered the woman, making her taller and more muscular. Seconds later, the Edwina/Venom symbiote stood in the cell, with long black tendrils for hair, and a lean yet muscular body.
"JUST BECAUSE WE MIGHT BE A WOMAN," she said, holding up her hands, "IT DOESN'T MEAN WE DON'T HAVE CLAWS!"
"Yay, Woman Power," Beach Bum Eddie said, fist-pumping the air. "Just like Anne; so strong, so independent."
A black sludge head poked out of the man's shoulder, forming itself into a familiar alien face.
"WE STILL SAY WE CAN GET ANNE BACK," the other Venom said. "WE CAN EAT DAN, MAKE IT LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT-"
"Vee, we are NOT eating Dan," the man replied, rubbing his face. "And how would we make someone getting eaten look like an accident?"
"WE CAN BLAME IT ON WOLVES."
"Wolves in the city?"
"WELL EXCUSE US FOR TRYING TO THINK OF SOMETHING!" the alien snapped. "WE KEEP FORGETTING NOT TO EXPECT MUCH FROM YOU, SINCE WE'RE THE BRAINS OF US TWO!"
"Someone say brains?"
Eddie turned to another cell, shocked to see Bebop from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. The craziest thing was that the mutant warthog actually looked like a 2D animated character, looking very out of place in the 3D environment. The only difference from the cartoon was that the guy's mohawk and sunglasses were black.
"We could go for some brains," Bebop said, licking his lips. "We ain't picky about what kind, but Toitle brains are da best!" Black goo covered his head, making his piggish face look more terrifying, especially with the mouth of sharp teeth and various piercings.
A loud screech came from another cell, and Eddie turned around to see a black cat stalking around the small space, hissing and spitting with annoyance. Long black tendrils wriggled from its back, occasionally hitting the cell walls.
"CAN SOMEONE TELL US WHEN WE CAN GO HOME?" A Venom symbiote stood in another cell, dressed in what looked like a baseball uniform, complete with helmet and cleats. "WE HAVE A GAME TO WIN, AND IF GRIMM'S TEAM MAKES IT TO THE SERIES AGAIN, WE'LL EAT EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM!"
"How come they keep talking about eating people?" Eddie asked Spider-Byte.
"It's common with every Brock Symbiote," she replied. She looked at him, confused. "Have you not eaten anyone before?"
"Of course I've never eaten anyone! I mean, not that I know of." He looked at his friend nervously. "V?"
"WE'VE NEVER EATEN A HUMAN," the alien symbiote replied. "NEVER WANTED TO, EITHER. BIGGEST THING WE'VE EVER EATEN IS A SHEEP."
"Please don't remind me," the teenager groaned, wincing at the memory. "I was coughing up bits of wool for a week! Good thing no one at that petting zoo noticed anything!"
"A Symbiote not wanting to eat people?" Spider-Punk shook his head with amazement. "I mean, it's a big Multiverse, so I guess that's possible!"
"I mean, there isn't a spider-themed superhero in my world, either. Not one that I know of, anyway."
"IF THEY'RE ONE OF US," the Bebop Venom spoke up, pointing at Eddie and Venom, "HOW COME THEY AIN'T LOCKED UP?"
"YEAH," Baseball Venom added, eyes narrowing at the teenager. "DOESN'T HAVE HANDCUFFS, EITHER." A large, black bat materialized in his hands. "DOESN'T SOUND FAIR." He hit the cell, making the red energy field flicker.
"WE SHOULD BE THE ONES TO DECIDE IF IT'S FAIR OR NOT!" Another cell held a Venom symbiote that looked like a judge, complete with black robes and a powdered wig. He held up a gavel. "WE WENT TO HARVARD LAW, AFTER ALL."
"So did Elle Woods," Beach Bum Eddie spoke up.
"ELLE WHO?"
"Quiet, everyone!" Spider-Byte yelled, waving her hands. "This Eddie's a special case, so we're gonna be sending him home first."
Venom-Cat shrieked angrily, the Dinosaur Symbiote roared, and the other imprisoned symbiotes started yelling, demanding to be sent home too.
"JUST SEND ALL OF US HOME!" The Edwina Symbiote paced in her cell angrily. "WE'VE BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS!"
"THE FOOD HERE SUCKS!" the Bebop Symbiote growled, slamming his fist on the cell wall. "EVERYTHIN' IS SHAPED LIKE A DAMN SPIDER! EVEN THE FRIES! AND NO BRAINS!"
"WE AIN'T MISSIN' OUR GAME!" Baseball Symbiote yelled.
Beach Bum Eddie was the only guy who didn't yell, getting to his feet and waving Eddie over. Seeing that the other villains were more focused on the Spider-People, Eddie walked over to the man's cell.
"Vee and I have been here the longest, and honestly, the food's pretty good," Beach Bum said. He looked Eddie up and down. "This is freaky, though. You look EXACTLY like me when I was a teenager."
"What do you do?" the teenaged Eddie asked, noting the man's casual appearance. "You're not homeless, are you?" He was hoping that this wouldn't be his future.
"Nah, I'm a Journalist. Used to be an Investigative Reporter, but I got fired." He looked down at his clothes. "Vee and I actually were on vacation after fighting this Carnage guy, and then-"
"Let me guess, you ended up in another universe?"
"Yeah. We were there for a little bit, but then we got sucked into this one. And the Spider-People quickly brought us here." He shook his head. "I'm not a villain, I don't think. I pay my rent on time, I don't park my bike in Loading Zones, and I only let Venom eat bad guys."
"Yeah... I'm still not a fan of the whole 'eating people' thing." Teenaged Eddie looked at the other cells. "How much longer are they keeping you all here?"
The man shrugged. "Dunno. I mean, I'm not complaining. Besides the neighbors, the place isn't that bad. Vee gets kinda antsy sometimes-"
"WE ARE NOT BEING ANTSY!" Beach Bum Eddie's Venom poked out of his shoulder, frowning at his host. "WE JUST WANT TO STRETCH OUR LEGS EVERY NOW AND THEN! AND YOU LAYING AROUND ISN'T HELPING!"
"I'm just conserving my energy, Vee."
"HA! AS IF!" The alien rolled his eyes. "WE'RE NOT SAYING YOU HAVE TO BE HYSTERICAL LIKE THE OTHERS, BUT STOP BEING A PUSSY. A LAZY PUSSY!"
Beach Bum Eddie groaned tiredly. "Just let me get some sleep."
"WE DON'T WANT TO SLEEP!"
"Just shut up for one, you stupid Parasite!"
Teenaged Eddie and his symbiote flinched, and Beach Bum's Venom froze, gaping at him. Then he swung his head around, whacking his host in the nose. A sickening crunch quickly followed.
"OW!" The older Eddie Brock held his hands to his face, wincing loudly. "Seriously?! Breaking my nose AGAIN?!"
"OH, THEN LET US FIX IT!" The man's nose snapped back into place, and the blood stopped flowing. There was a few moments of pause, and then- "NOW LET US BREAK IT AGAIN!" And the symbiote swung around to break his host's nose again.
"Oh-kay," the teenager said, stepping away as the man and alien in the cell started to argue, just as loud as the other prisoners. He didn't like all the arguing and complaining, even if he and his own Venom did that often. "I wanna go home now."
"YEAH, LETS GO," his own symbiote agreed.
Eddie turned back to the Spider-People and their captured villains. The arguing had died down, though Hobie was still exchanging some choice words with Judge Venom, and Eddie heard the words "fascist" and "bureaucratic" being thrown around.
"Let's get you two out of here." Spider-Byte had appeared next to Eddie, her hologram form flickering a little. She looked agitated. "I'll put in a word with Miguel to get this batch of Symbiotes out of here."
"This batch?" Eddie asked. "Does that mean there are MORE-"
"Yeah, in the other hallways. But since these ones are looking to murder, we should really get going."
"Okay." Eddie turned to Pavitr. "Coming, dude?"
"Probably not," the teenaged superhero replied. "Hobie was going to take me to Miguel, see if I could join the Spider Society." He grinned. "It sounds like a good idea!"
"Oh, okay!" Eddie held out his hand for the other teen to shake. "Thanks for helping V and I out when we ended up in your universe."
"Not a problem, man! Maybe we can hang out again, if we ever find ourselves in the same universe!"
"Maybe. I think I'm a little too homesick for more inter-dimensional travel!"
"Yeah, my stomach still feels a little queasy after our trip here!"
Eddie followed Spider-Byte up the hallway, past other cells filled with various villains of all shapes, sizes, and eccentric costumes. At the very end was a chamber surrounded by dozens of monitors. A platform stood in the middle of the chamber, and Spider-Byte directed the teen to stand on the platform.
"Okay," she said, as several holographic doubles of her appeared at various screens, typing on keyboards and pressing buttons. "Now, this next part looks... a little scary."
The boy's apprehension grew. "Scary?"
"Just the sight of the machine makes most villains panic, so there's nothing to be afraid of. And you must stay on the center dais until the gravity shuts off, no matter what."
"YEAH, CAN WE JUST HAVE ONE OF THOSE BRACLET THINGS INSTEAD?" Venom asked, his head pocking out of his host's shoulder.
"No can do, sorry. Only those Miguel say so can have one. Even I don't have one, but that's also because my physical body is in another dimension. I'm here via Virtual Reality."
"Virtual what?"
"You'll learn about in 20 years, probably." She pressed a button. "Okay! Go-Home Machine is up and running! Stay still!"
A low whirring sound sounded over Eddie, and he looked up.
"What the-"
A many-legged machine seemed to crawl down from the ceiling. The mechanical legs seemed to stretch and move like a giant spider, and the teenager felt a thrill of fear as it descended over him.
"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE," Venom said, making his host take a few steps towards the edge of the platform.
"No! We can't move, remember?"
"DOES THIS THING LOOK LIKE IT'S GOING TO TAKE US HOME? WE NEED TO-"
The machine's legs shot down on either side of the platform, cutting of the friends' escape. It started to move its legs around, drawing what looked like several threads around the dais. But in-between the threads, brightly colored lights streamed. Moving quickly, a colorful kaleidoscope of color appeared around the teenager and alien, encasing them in a dome of light.
"... Woah," Eddie whispered. He felt his feet lift of the ground. "WOAH!"
The lights around him brightened, making him squeeze his eyes shut, and then-
[][][]
"What the- EDDIE!"
Eddie opened his eyes, staring up at florescent lights. He was laying on something lumpy, and as he slowly sat up, he saw that he was laying on a fallen shelf of candies and chips. The setting was familiar, as was the woman who ran over to him.
"EDDIE!" Mrs. Chen slipped on a bag of chips in her haste to run over. "Are you alright?! Where did you- HOW did you- LOOK AT THIS MESS!"
"I... I'm sorry, Mrs. Chen." Eddie slowly got to his feet. "I didn't mean to... leave, like I did."
"What happened?" The shop owner looked at him with shock. "You were sucked into the freezer a few minutes ago, and now you're-"
"TWO MINUTES?" Venom asked, poking his head into view. "WE'VE BEEN GONE LONGER THAN THAT."
"Gone where?" Mrs. Chen put a hand to her heart. "You scared me out of my mind! If this is some alien thing-"
"Not an alien thing," the teenager promised, picking up a crushed chocolate bar. Venom's head whipped around and grabbed it. "I'll pay for that. And V and I'll help you clean up, too, while I tell you what happened.." He looked at the nearby window at the darkening sky. "We better hurry, though. We don't wanna miss the fireworks."
This was a pretty fun chapter to write, having all these different variants of Eddie and Venom! Most are based off of comic or fan arts I have seen/heard of, though the Bebop one is from my love of TMNT! And, of course, Beach Bum Eddie is the one from the Sony movies (though I'm afraid I didn't do too good a job with writing them, which is something I'll have to fix in upcoming chapters).
I am thinking it would be interesting to write more with Eddie and Venom meeting other variants, and even bringing back some Spider-People as well! It's a big multiverse out there, so one can only imagine what comes next. In the past, I've gotten suggestions for chapters from you readers, and I may have to take a look through them to see what I can write a chapter about!
In the meantime, I hope to get more fan fiction chapters written this year, and not just for this story! Thank you all for reading this story, please R&R, and I hope you all have a good day, and a Happy New Year!
-aggiefrogger