"You certainly have a way with women!" Venom muttered as Spider ducked under the swing of a sword. Spider didn't want to agree with his symbiote partner, but Venom didn't have four female villains trying to kill him.
"Not funny, Venom!" Spider said he stopped the sword between his hands and snapped it in half. The blonde Kravinoff stumbled, and Spider flipped over her only to have Scorpia try and impale him on her tail. Spider's hands shot up and barely stopped the tail in time.
"You're going down, bug!" Scorpia screamed.
"You first, sweetheart." Spider taunted before spinning Scorpia by the tail and throwing her off the rooftop.
"Scorpia!" Electro cried before growling in outrage at Spider. Electricity surged around her hands and she released a massive bolt of lightning at Spider.
"Is that all you can do, Sparky?" Spider mocked as he dove under the lightning.
"Shut up, you annoy-mmph!" A web covered her mouth, catching her off guard. Electro brought her hands up to her mouth and tried to rip the web.
"That's better. You too damn loud, Lightningbutt..." Electro's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she burnt the web off with a snarl. "Crap..." A smashing noise came from behind him, and Scorpia appeared with an angry look in her eye. "Double crap!" Kraven stepped forward with knives in each hand while Beetle aimed her hands at him, ready to fire an energy beam. A sigh escaped Spider as he prepared for the fight before him.
"I hate Mondays..."
"I'm sure you do, but today is Thursday." It was official. Venom was no longer allowed to joke.
"Hold still, Mary Jane. I need to tweak the gauntlets a little more." Paul said as he made some last-minute adjustments.
"Hurry, Paul!" Mary Jane said as she watched the ongoing battle on the rooftop. After calling Paul, she called Miles and Gwen, who were on their way.
"These gauntlets need precise fine-tuning Mary Jane! If I'm off by even a little bit-" A crashing noise interrupted Paul, and the two looked to see Spider-Man on top of a nearby taxi, his body crushing the cab's roof.
"Oooowww..." Spider groaned as he looked up to see Kraven descending from the sky, a knife in her hand ready to impale him. Spider flipped backward and landed in a crouch just as Kraven stabbed through the taxi. "Almost got me there, blondie." Spider taunted with a smirk behind his mask.
Kraven glared at Spider, growled in frustration, and retched her knife out the roof.
His spider-sense went off and he narrowly dodged an energy beam. The beam grazed the side of his face, and Venom hissed in discomfort.
"Not a fan of that woman!"
'Sorry buddy.' Spider mentally said to his partner as Scorpia descended upon him with her sharp tail at the ready. The metal appendage lashed out, and Spider grabbed it with both hands. With all his strength, Spider lifted Scorpia off the ground, spun her through the air, and slammed the villain into the ground hard enough to leave the pavement cracked. Kraven took her chance and lunged at Spider, but he caught her mid-air.
"Tired of everyone trying to stab me!" Spider growled as his eyes narrowed at the struggling huntress. "The hell did I even do?"
"You put Beetle's father in a coma!" The huntress replied, and Spider brought her eye level.
"Boo, freaking hoo. Last time I checked, Tombstone started it when he tried to kill me!" Spider shot back fiercely.
"Then we're just returning the favor..." Kraven said as his spider-sense went off, and he tossed Kraven in front of an energy beam aimed at him. The blonde huntress let out a shriek of pain and crumpled to the ground unconscious.
"Damn it, Beetle, I told you Ana was too close to do that!" Electro voiced as she and Beetle landed on the ground.
"And like I said, Electro." Beetle barked as she zoomed at Spider. "I. DON'T. CARE!"
Beetle was usually a levelheaded woman. She had to be in their line of work. The Syndicate was to be the step up in villainy. But Beetle was now blinded by Janice Lincoln's love for her father, a father whom Spider had beaten to within an inch of his life. A father that she wanted to deal with herself. Now love twisted to anger and every bit of that anger was pointed at the wallcrawler.
Spider cared very little for Beetle's rage. Tombstone was an asshole who got what was coming to him. And if his daughter wanted to throw a temper tantrum, then he would just have to put her in time-out.
Beetle fired her energy beams at Spider, who flipped over the flying woman. He fired a web line at her back and held on as she flew through the air at high speeds.
"Screw this!" Electro muttered as she went to slink away. If Spider-Man and Janice wanted to kill each that was on them. Before she could dart away, a fist smashed into the side of her face, and MJ stood triumphantly over the downed villain.
"Told yah I could take her." Mary Jane smirked at the wide-eyed Paul who still hadn't finished his "updates''.
"Nice one, MJ!" MJ looked to see Spider-Man, and Ghost Spider landed in front of her. "And you got the rest of the Syndicate too!"
"That wasn't me. That was-" Beetle flew by them with Spider still holding on to his web line. His arm extended, and symbiote whip latched to the ground, forcing both Spider and Beetle to crash into the ground.
"Damn it," Beetle said as parts of her suit came off her. Her helmet was cracked, and she forced off her head to reveal the tired and teary-eyed face of Janice Lincoln.
"Rrrr..." Spider growled as he slowly stood up and faced Janice. One side of his mask had been ripped off, and his eye glowed ominously.
"Whoa..." Miles said, surprised as Spider looked at the gathered group. His eyes softened when he looked at MJ, and Spider approached her when he noticed Paul standing in the background. It was like a switch went off in his head, and he stepped back as Venom quickly concealed his eye.
Memories assaulted him, and Spider became lost in it.
Spider-Man stood there with his mask off and a stunned expression as he looked at Paul standing there with two small children. MJ looked away from Spider-Man with a sad look in her eyes.
"Things have changed, Peter..."
Paul glared at Peter. "The kids are scared Mary Jane."
Peter ignored him, focusing on the kids. Their fear of him was obvious. They wore dirty clothes and huddled around Paul like he was their savior.
"Who... Who are they?"
"They're my family Peter."
One sentence was all it took to crush Spider-Man.
"I told you Spider..."
They stood there in an awkward silence, separating them from each other. MJ was wearing a torn white and red dress, and the events of the Hellfire Gala were fresh in their minds.
"Wolverine will be ok, MJ." Spider-Man comforted her with a hand on her shoulder. "His healing factor will-"
"I know, Peter." MJ cut him off.
"Oh." Peter awkwardly replied. "Good. That's good." He looked at her again, noticing she was still just as beautiful as ever. Spider-Man banished that thought knowing nothing good could come from it.
"What are we doing, Peter?" Mary Jane asked angrily as she turned and faced Spider-Man.
"Talking is what I think the kids are calling it." Spider-Man joked awkwardly, and MJ glared at him in frustration. "I'm sorry, MJ. Look how about we go and get a coffee and-"
"You know I can't do that, Peter."
"Why? Because of Paul?" Spider-Man asked incredulously. "Why can't we just talk like old times? Do you really love him so much you won't even talk to me?"
"Damn it, Peter, this isn't about you!" MJ replied fiercely. "It's about responsibility. I thought you would understand something like that!" Mary Jane stormed away, leaving Spider-man there in stunned silence.
"They're just gonna hurt you again!" A figure in a solid red symbiote suit roared from behind him, shattering the memory.
Spider dropped to his knees with his hands on his head. Every memory felt like a punch to the jaw.
"Fool..." Spider muttered as he raised his head and glared at the sky. "I'm just a damn fool!"
"They're the fools!" The figure in red said as he appeared out of the darkness. The suit twitched as the figure placed a hand on Spider's shoulder. "But I understand the loneliness and the anger... Let me deal with the punishment they deserve."
"What are you?" Spider asked with trepidation. Did no one else see what he saw? Was the red figure just in his head?
"Come now, Spider..." The red symbiote pulled back to reveal a face identical to Spider's. "I'm you!"
"RRRAAAAHHH!" Spider roared as the symbol on his chest glowed an angry red. His eyes burned with energy, and he slammed his fist into a nearby car.
"You've had your turn in control! It's time I took the wheel!"
Spider snarled as the energy became violent around him. He tried to fight it. But how could you fight a part of yourself? Especially a part that you agreed with?
"That's it, Spider... Let me take..." Spider felt his mind slipping away, and he dropped to his knees. Venom reacted to its host struggle by violently lashing out with symbiote tendrils. "CONTROL!"
"What's going on?" Ghost Spider shouted as Spider panted in exhaustion. The symbiote tendrils receded into the suit and Spider looked at them with narrowed eyes. A chilling laugh escaped him and Ghost Spider and Spider-Man looked at him in surprise.
"Free..." The voice that came from him was different. It was still Peter, but more... wild. "I'm finally free!" He had been trapped for so long. First, he had been trapped in the Great Web, then in Spider's subconscious. He had barely been a whisper, a shadow of his former self. But now he was free. Free to do what he did best.
"Does he sound different?" Spider-Man asked Ghost Spider nervously.
"MJ, you and Paul stay back. Something isn't right with Pete..." Ghost Spider said with apprehension.
"Nothing is ever right with him," Paul muttered with disdain. Miles and Gwen both shot him annoyed looks, and MJ grabbed Paul by the arm.
"Have you finished the updates on the gauntlets?"
"They should be good to go. I managed to limit the probability-"
"Help me put them on Paul," MJ didn't have the time to hear his explanation. Peter looked at them with contempt, and she needed to be ready. She was worried about him and his mental state.
"Well, you two wronged this body, I'm willing to let that slide for now. But I need to have a word with those two!" The cruel voice coming from the original Spider-Man was unlike anything Miles or Gwen had ever heard, and as he pointed to Mary Jane and Paul, the two Spider-totems knew he meant trouble.
"Alright, boss, I think you need to-Whoa!" Miles yelled in shock as Spider grabbed and threw him into a building. A sadistic laugh erupted from Spider as he turned and faced Ghost Spider.
"Just because I don't have a problem with you doesn't mean I'll allow you to get in my way!" He saw what the King saw and knew what the King remembered. And he was angry. Angry that this Parker had been used and abused. Angry that Parker allowed them to treat him like this. Angry that they got in his way! "Get out of my way. I need to have a word with the lovely couple behind you."
"No. You're acting insane-"
"Insane?" He grasped Ghost Spider by the shoulders. "I'm perfectly sane, girlie." His head shot forward, headbutting Ghost Spider and leaving her dazed and stumbling.
Miles slowly rose to his feet in time to see Ghost Spider take the headbutt. The younger spider threw himself at Peter, who caught him by the neck.
"I gave you two the chance to leave. Now you'll pay for it." Peter said menacingly.
"MJ... Run..." Miles muttered as Peter slammed him into the ground. He shifted his gaze to Ghost Spider. A symbiote tentacle emerged from his arm and smashed into Gwen's chest, sending her flying into a parked car.
"Now that's taken care of..." Peter growled as he looked for MJ and Paul. He laughed as he followed after them. "It's been so long since I've had a chase!"
Spider awoke in a suspiciously familiar bed. The room looked as if a teenager lived there. Clothes littered the room along with numerous tools and gadgets. All of it looked familiar to Spider.
"Where am I?" Hair covered his eyes, and he realized Venom wasn't with him. His wild appearance looked out of place in the homely room.
Spider stood up from the bed and walked around the bedroom. On a nearby desk was a familiar picture.
"This is... This my room..." Spider said in realization. The picture was the same one of him with the older couple, and a feeling of longing filled him. The older man. He was important. But why?
"With great power come great responsibility." A voice from the doorway said, and Spider spun around to see an older man. He had greying brown hair, and an easy smile rested on his face. "A wiser man than we could ever hope to be told us that once. And for the rest of our lives, we lived by that creed."
"Who... Who are you?" Spider asked hesitantly.
The man looked at Spider. "C'mon, kid. Don't you recognize yourself?" The older Peter crossed his arms and smirked as Spider's eyes widened in shock. "Welcome to your mind kid! Make yourself at home!"
In his universe, he had been an apex predator that heroes and villains feared alike. A monster that hunted freely. A loner who had lost everything important to him. Except for her. She possessed a belief in him that he had never had in himself. They were two orphans with the world against them. And then the world took her from him.
His rage threatened to burn his world, but now he was here with a cheap imitation of his MJ standing before him.
"Peter, you need to stop what you are doing!" Mary Jane said cautiously as her gauntlets fired up. She hesitated to use them, but Peter acted more erratically than ever. It was like a different person was attacking her. "I don't want to hurt you!"
Their attempt at escaping him was amusing. Those gauntlets of hers granted her the power of flight. It made the chase more enjoyable and allowed him to understand the symbiote attached to him. It wasn't his old partner, though. Nothing could ever replace his old partner!
"Hurt me!" Spider-Man shouted as he landed in a crouch in front of them. The chase had ended on a rooftop. "That's funny coming from you. Hurting me is all you're good for!" A web shot from his wrist and snagged Paul. "Now excuse me, but I'd like to exchange words with Paulie here!" Spider-Man pulled Paul forward, causing the other man to let out a startled yelp as he came face to face with the angered Spider.
"Oh god..." Paul muttered as Spider-Man's eyes glowed ominously.
"So you're the worm that took her from me." Spider-Man snarled venomously. "It's horrible how low your tastes are in this world, MJ."
"Peter put him down." Mary Jane said as her gauntlets glowed. "And what do you mean by your world?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Spider-Man replied as his hand tightened around Paul's throat. "Now how should I kill you, Paul? Break your neck? Suffocation?" Spider-Man noticed a bridge in the distance. "Perhaps an ole goblin classic! Note to self. Find Norman Osborn after this!" It didn't matter what world it was, Spiders didn't tolerate Osborns.
"You're not Peter, are you?" Mary Jane asked with fear.
"That's not very nice..." The symbiote peeled back to show the cocky smirk on his face. It was Peter, but he was different from before. His eyes seemed darker, full of malice. "Maybe you should ask yourself if you're really Mary Jane Watson because the MJ I loved would never settle for this waste of air. I mean, really, this is the asshole that stole you from me?"
"No one stole me." Mary Jane replied defiantly.
"Then it was you!" Spider-Man accused as the symbiote rippled with anger. "You betrayed me!" He threw Paul off the roof much to Mary Jane's shock and Spider surged forward. Mary Jane activated her gauntlets and allowed a combination to take place. Pink energy shields emerged from the gauntlets, and she brought them up in time to block a punch from Spider-Man.
"Nifty trick," Peter muttered. "But your luck is about to run out!" His fist hit the shield again, and the energy rippled.
Mary Jane's arms ached from the blow, the symbiote powered Peter's strikes, and she pushed him away.
"Is that all the fight you have Jackpot?" Peter taunted savagely. This fight was just getting started.
"You're... You're me?" Confusion filled Spider as he looked at the older version of himself. "I really am crazy..."
"You're not going crazy, kid." The older Peter said with a grin. "You're just dealing with alternate versions of yourself."
"Yeah, because that makes so much sense!" Spider shouted sarcastically. "So the other voice in my head is also me?"
The older Peter looked at him sadly. "That's correct. I'm not the only Peter Parker rescinding here..." The older Peter walked out of the room, and Spider followed. "You don't remember it, but you had to choose between life and death. By accepting to live you also accepted the light and dark side of the web. I'm the light..."
"And he's the dark." Spider finished, and Peter nodded. "How the hell did you two get inside my head?"
"We volunteered, actually. You were on the brink of death, kid!" Spider remembered the pain, but he didn't remember choosing anything. "We were dead, kid, stuck in a sort of limbo... Separated from our loved ones due to the Web. And then we were given an opportunity." Peter looked at Spider with hardened eyes. "We were allowed to aid you and Venom, and we didn't hesitate."
"But why would some lunatic try and help me?"
"Take note, kid. He's not evil. He's just angry. His world wasn't kind to him while he was alive. And right now, he's taking his anger out on the people who have hurt you the most."
"MJ..." Spider said.
"Correct." The older Peter confirmed as he led Spider to the living room. Peter took a seat in a recliner while Spider stood standing. "And he's using your symbiote to do it." Peter grabbed a remote and turned on the TV situated in the corner. It turned on to show MJ barely holding her own against...
"No!" Spider grabbed the TV to see that it was himself attacking MJ. He turned to Peter and frowned. "How do I stop this?"
"It's your body kid," Peter said as he sipped whiskey from a glass. "Only you can stop this. He's feeding off your memories. Your anger."
Anger. What else was he supposed to feel? He had been betrayed by the person he trusted the most, abandoned by friends and allies alike, and tortured by memories that didn't even feel like his own.
"I know you have suffered Peter-"
"Don't call me that!" Spider snarled, and the older Peter drained the rest of his drink. Spider refused to be Peter Parker! Being Peter Parker is what got them into this mess in the first place.
"There's that temper of yours rearing its ugly head. Control it Spider before it controls you." Peter warned. A silence filled the room as Spider contemplated Peter's words. Was he right? Was he just a puppet on strings?
"What would you advise?" Spider asked. "Forgiveness isn't an option."
"Never said forgive kid."
"Don't make me regret catching you," Miles muttered with one hand gripping Paul's shirt. He and Ghost Spider finally recovered from the beatdown Spider-Man had put on them just in time for them to catch the falling Paul. He didn't like the man, but Miles didn't have to like the man to save his life.
"That damn psycho threw me off a roof!" Paul exclaimed.
"Shut up!" Miles and Gwen snapped, and Paul wisely did what he was told. A savage roar broke through the night, and Miles and Gwen landed just in time to see Peter striking MJ's energy shields. The energy rattled under his blows, and Miles knew they needed to at fast.
The younger Spider-Man shot a web at his possessed mentor, catching his arm and electing a frustrated growl from Peter.
"I told you two to stay out of my way!" Spider-Man spat. The energy of the web that flowed through him felt their connection and status as totems. He didn't want to hurt them.
"You should know by now that us Spiders have a problem with listening!" Ghost Spider said as she tried to kick him. Peter raised his arm to block the kick, but this gave Miles an opening to strike him with an electrically charged punch to his ribs. Electricity surged through Peter, and a pained scream escaped him.
Paul took his chance to run to MJ, who finally ran out of time on her gauntlets. The pink energy shield dissipated, and her arms fell to her sides, exhausted. Sweat ran down her face, and she looked at Paul tiredly. "We need to get out of here."
"NO ONE'S GOING ANYWHERE!" Peter howled as the symbiote lashed out at everything around him. Red energy surged around the symbiote-clad hero, and Peter's strength threw Miles and Gwen away. "Not until my rage is satiated!" They would pay! The lover who abandoned him. The false friends!
"That's enough..." His eyes widened behind his mask and the red energy slowly faded as the voice in his head became stronger. "I'm taking back control!" He dropped to his knees.
"NO! They deserve this! You know it too!" Peter screamed.
"You're probably right..." So he agreed with him. Good. "But the thing is... I don't ride bitch, especially in my own body!" Pain filled his head and a scream of anguish erupted from him. He slammed his fist into the ground at the unfairness.
"You got lucky this time! I'll listen to my King!" Spider-Man glared at Mary Jane. "He'll never forgive you!" He spat the words out venomously and Mary Jane flinched at his words. It felt like a dagger had been stabbed in her chest. With those final words, Spider-Man collapsed and darkness took over.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Venom muttered as he tried to control Spider's unconscious body. The symbiote felt like it was in a daze, unable to recall the last few hours due to the other personality taking over. Before he could escape with Spider, a beam of repulsor energy smashed into his chest.
"-You're not going anywhere you little monster.-" Iron Man said as he flew over the roof. The rest of the Web Warriors followed and surrounded the downed Spider. '-Sonics activate-" A piercing sound erupted from Iron Man's suit and Venom spasmed in pain. The symbiote tried to push through and save his friend but without Spider's energy to empower him, Venom succumbed to the noise and collapsed.
"You damn idiot!" The red symbiote-clad doppelganger roared in Spider's face as Peter sat in his chair, sipping his whiskey. "They abandoned you to die, and you forgive them!?"
"I will never forgive them." Spider shot back sternly. "I just don't want them dead. There's no point in that." His memories were still a mess, but he remembered enough. The shock and the sadness. The emptiness as everyone put distance between themselves and him, the loneliness as he fought battle after battle with no support. But he wouldn't be defined by it. Not anymore. Peter Parker was alone, but Spider had a partner he could rely on.
"They'll betray you again! Say it's for your own good! Oh, the lies they'll tell themselves." The other Spider muttered.
"Then we'll just have to be prepared." the older Peter said with a smirk. "And the best way to be prepared is by getting to know each other." Spider looked at his two counterparts and sighed. Who better to trust than himself?
"My name is Spider. Some people..." Spider glared at the older version who smirked goodnaturedly, "Having said that my true name is Peter Parker, but I... I don't really feel like Peter Parker. At least not yet..."
"That's a damn good start, kid." Old Peter said with a kind smile. "My name is Peter Parker, and for more than fifty years, I was the Amazing Spider-Man. I think I started in '62 and fought the good fight to my dying day."
"Christ, you're old. Getting bored over here, old man." The darker version taunted.
"Old but still able to kick your ass chump." Old Peter challenged with a smirk.
"Enough," Spider said with a frown as he looked at the darker version. "So what's your story? It has to be something special for you to have that award-winning personality."
The red symbiote peeled away to show a younger version of Peter, possibly early twenties if Spider had to guess. "My name is also Peter Parker, but you two pricks probably already knew that. I was also known as Spider-Man, but unlike you two beacons of goodness, my morals were a bit looser. I wasn't really a hero. I was a survivor."
"What's with the symbiote suit?" Spider asked curiously.
"This was the last thing I wore when I died. It was my partner. My... My friend." Parker said hesitantly like he wasn't used to using the word. "His name was Spider as well." He could feel the longing in the younger Peter's voice, and Spider even understood it. If anything happened to Venom...
"Wait, where is Venom?" Spider realized that he was still without his symbiote.
"Keep that thing on lockdown," Tony ordered sternly. Venom struggled in his glass container. The symbiote hissed at Tony in displeasure, and the urge to fry the little bastard came over the billionaire. "Hopefully, Pete will finally return to his senses now that this little parasite has been removed."
'Parasite!' Venom mentally roared.
Spider had fallen unconscious after the battle, and Venom had attempted to get them out of there, but the symbiote was just as exhausted as his wearer. And then the cavalry showed up in the form of Iron Man and Madame Web. Venom had been separated from his partner, while Spider had been placed in an observation cell.
Madame Web looked at Tony as he fiddled with the Iron Man helmet. She still wasn't sure if the symbiote was completely at fault for Spider-Man's recent attitude. The energy she had felt in him was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was primal and powerful, and at the moment, dormant. This was the Great Web personified.
"I'm going to check on Peter," Julia said to Stark with some distaste. The Iron Avenger treated the situation like Peter was a teenager caught sneaking alcohol out of his parent's liquor cabinet. There was more at work here, and Tony was too arrogant to see it.
"How do we still work with him..." Julia muttered as she approached the observation chamber containing Peter. The original Spider-Man had been out since his rooftop rampage and had been completely still all evening. He was back to wearing his ripped and torn red and blue suit without the symbiote bonded to him. She turned to the Avenger, who was standing guard over his cell. "Any changes?"
"Not a single sign of movement in three hours, Julia," Hawkeye answered with a shrug. His bow was on his lap, and his mask was off. Clint glanced at the unconscious Spider-Man. "They're not really being fair to him, yah know..."
"What do you mean, Clint?"
"I've worked with the guy more than a few times Julia. Yeah, he's a chatterbox and more annoying than anyone I've ever met besides maybe Deadpool, but at the end of the day, the guy is one of the good ones. Hell, more bad shit happens to him than anyone, and we just threw him into a cell-"
"Observation chamber."
"Julia, don't bullshit me. This glass is made to be as hard as steel." Clint said with a frown. "You don't put somebody behind it to observe them."
Julia sighed but agreed with Clint's point. Peter deserved better than this treatment and Clint wasn't the only one to point this out. Mary Jane and Jess threw a fit over it but conceded when Tony reminded everyone that Peter was volatile and angry at the moment.
Peter stirred from within the cell and she placed her hand on the glass. What was bothering his mind at the moment she wondered. Without even realizing it, Julia was pulled into Peter's mind. Flashes filled her mind. Flashes of blades and bullets, blood and bone. Excruciating pain and overwhelming fear. Flashes of life and death. Julia cried out in alarm as the visions overwhelmed her. Peter's eye snapped open, glowing red with power and he shot off the bed.
"Where's my damn suit!" Spider growled with intensity. "Where's Venom!"
The symbiote reacted to his partner's call and thrashed in his glass container. Tony examined the symbiote and almost shrieked in surprise as the symbiote shattered the glass.
"That's not possible!" Tony exclaimed. He had designed that container with the same glass the observation chamber was made out of. Tony failed to notice the red glow around the symbiote, and Venom hissed in displeasure. "You're not going anywhere, you little bastard!" Venom growled at Tony before disappearing down the hall in a frenzied slither.
Spider punched the cell with enough force to rattle the glass and glared at Hawkeye and Madame Web.
"Take it easy, Parker. That glass ain't-"
Spider launched another strike on the glass, and small cracks began to form, Hawkeye rethought his stance on the glass and grabbed his bow.
"He's stronger than before," Julia muttered in surprise.
"Julia, you might want to get out of here," Hawkeye said as he readied an arrow.
"I'm not leaving you here with him, Clint," Julia said as the cracks began to expand across the cell. Spider continued to hit the glass, desperate to escape from his cell.
"WHERE." Another strike to the glass and the cracks expanded. "IS." The cracks began to form a shape around Spider. "MY." Hawkeye pulled back on his bowstring and aimed for Spider. "SYMBIOTE!" A spiderweb of cracks formed around Spider who furiously smashed his fist into the glass.
"Right here!" The inky black form of Venom shot through the air just as Spider's last punch broke through the glass. The symbiote wrapped around Spider's hand and extended over his body before climbing up to his face. He landed in a crouch with his head down.
Hawkeye released his arrow, and Julia watched it fly through the air. Spider's hand shot up and snatched the arrow just as Venom finished forming his mask over his eyes. The red eyes glared at Hawkeye and Madame Web, and he snapped the arrow.
"Now that wasn't very nice..." Spider growled as he stood up. Hawkeye quickly grabbed another arrow from his holster, but Julia put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Good. You're starting to catch on. Now stay out of my way!" Spider warned as he ran past them.
"Why'd you stop me?" Hawkeye asked with a frown as they watched the escaping form of Spider.
"You saw what he did to the cell. And your arrows aren't exactly fragile either." Julia said as she picked up the broken arrow. Clint grabbed the arrow from her hand and inspected it. "We need something that will hit him where it hurts.
"Then it's a damn good thing I have these sonic arrows for just the occasion." Hawkeye returned as he held up the trick arrow.
'It's good to have you back, partner.' Spider said to Venom mentally as he ran through Stark Tower.
"Let's get the hell out of here before that Metal One appears!" Venom replied to Spider, who raised an eye in curiosity.
"Metal One?"
Something slammed into Spider, and the Spider-totem went flying across the Avenger's headquarters, slamming into a wall.
"-I didn't want to fight you Spider-Man-" The robotic voice of Iron Man said as he aimed his repulsors at Spider. "- But it seems I'm out of options -."
'So that's the Metal One.' Spider thought with a frown as he looked at Iron Man. As always, it seemed he had vague recollections of the hero hovering before him. None of the recollections were good.
"Be careful, Spider. That suit is capable of painful things." Venom warned as he remembered the sonic noise that Iron Man unleashed on him. It was safe to say the symbiote didn't like the Iron Avenger.
"Get out of my way..." Spider growled as he rose to his feet, anger radiating from him.
"-Can't do that webs.-"
"Wasn't asking." Spider lunged at Iron Man, slamming his fist into his face plate. Spider followed it up with another strike that Iron Man was too slow to react to. Iron Man stumbled back with static in his vision.
"-DAMAGE TO SENSORS-"
"-I'm well aware!-" Iron Man snapped as he fired a repulsor beam that Spider was forced to jump over. The arachnid hero expertly flipped around to avoid the energy beams before firing a condensed ball of webbing at Iron Man's face. The webbing blocked Iron Man's vision and allowed Spider to move forward and kick him in his chest with enough force to send Stark falling back. Iron Man groaned in pain and ripped the webbing from his faceplate.
Before he could stand up, Spider grabbed the back of Iron Man's suit and threw him across the room. Something animalistic was coming over Spider, a need to establish who he was. Perhaps it was the craptastic day he was having or these fools trying to separate his partner from him, but Spider was done with the interruptions from those who didn't understand.
A tingle went through Spider's mind, and he dived out of the way of a shield thrown at him. The shield bounced off the walls and returned to the hands that threw it.
"Peter, you need to listen to us." Spider turned his head to see a man dressed in an odd outfit. He was a dark blue suit with a white star on its chest, blue combat trousers, red boots, and red gloves. A blue mask covered his head, and his blue eyes were locked on Spider. Spider felt that he knew that man and even respected him highly. But right now, he and his companion were standing in his way.
Standing with him was one of the most beautiful women Spider had ever encountered. Long flowing red framed her face, and her cold blue eyes were staring a hole through Spider. She was wearing a skintight, black leather bodysuit that clung to her curves in all the right places and highlighted her rather impressive cleavage. If Spider was a lesser man, she would have distracted him. And like the man, Spider felt like he knew her.
"Grrr..." Spider growled in irritation. "I'm tired of this. I don't know who you people are, but you keep getting in my way!" Neither of them looked like they would go down easily, and Spider prepared for the fight ahead of him.
Nothing would stop him anymore. There would be no more distractions. There would be no Peter Parker to hold him back.
And another chapter down. This time we see Spider deal with the Syndicate, and he discovers the voices in his head are him! Now unified in their mission, the three versions of Spider-Man come to an uneasy truce.
The attack on MJ and Paul was directly based on the issue of the Amazing Spider-Man where the Spider-Goblin attacks them. I only hope that it made more sense than what Zeb Well's gave us. The Spider-Goblin is an okay concept but is also pretty much a ripoff of the Batman Who Laughs, which is in itself an overused villain. I love Batman, but even this was a bit much. And we all knew that Wells wasn't going to commit to the idea. It was just another muddled idea that was thrown into a muddled storyline.
The other Peters that now reside in our hero are based on two of my favorite alternate Spider-Men. There is of course the Peter Parker of Spider-Man: Life Story which follows Peter Parker from 1962 all the way to the present day and the Spider, a twisted dark sociopath that was first seen in the Exiles. This Spider is not the exact evil Spider-Man from the comic but does take a large inspiration from it. Old Pete is pretty cut and dry. Both of these versions will help shape the reborn Peter Parker. Into what exactly well you'll have to stick around and find out.
In other news, The Eight Deaths of Spider-Man continues and is kind of disappointing. The artwork is decent enough, but the latest issue is killing it for me. We'll just have to see what the next issue brings before I make any final judgments. Maybe it can turn around but I wouldn't hold my breath.
As always, I own none of this. Not a damn thing. But seeing how Marvel screws up everything, I think I should start a petition to save Spider-Man and fire Nick Lowe. Seriously fuck that guy. Terrible editor.