Chapter 12:
In a dark, damp alleyway lied a corpse. Red ooze came out of the corpse, finished feeding off it's prey. So far, it has eaten so many people, yet it wasn't enough. It was still hungry, these people weren't enough to for it to get stronger.
It began crawling away until a loud noise drew it's attention. Curiosity filled the creature's mind, more food perhaps?
The red ooze began crawling to the source of the sound. Once it looks around the corner, it's spots three people, with odd non-human traits, in similar looking uniform, wearing wears looking masks on their faces. The newly found prey had broken into a building, and entered.
Once inside, the three began trashing the place, breaking all sorts of stuff.
"Remember, steal all the dust you can find!" The first morsel commanded their comrades.
All three of them split up, making more of a mess, looking for the dust they needed.
Taking it's chance, the red lifeform quickly crawled closely to the first odd looking human in the front.
The first was quickly grabbing whatever dust they could find in the building, unaware of what was behind him. Suddenly, the man felt something crawling on his back. When he turned his head around, all he saw was red as he was engulfed in what looked like blood to him.
He tried to scream, but his lungs were filled immediately by this substance. All he could do was gurgle, try to scream for help, but he couldn't. He soon suffocated, and his body was then eaten from the inside, nothing but bones inside empty skin.
Just then, the creature sensed the other two coming, so it quickly got out of the carcass and laid on the floor, mimicking a puddle of blood.
"Hey, we found a bunch of dust in the back. We need your help…" But the female didn't finish as she spotted her comrades dead body.
"No, no, no, no, No! What happened, who did this to you! We have a man down!" She called out to her other comrade.
"What happened?" The other man asked, but upon looking at the dead body.
"I don't know, I came back to ask him for help but found him on the floor and some blood next to him. I'm going to look around and find out who did this and make them pay!" the female declared getting her weapon out and went to another part of the building in search for the culprit.
The other just looked over to see what could have happened to their comrade. "Hm, that's odd, your body looks so hollow and yet there appears to be no wounds or anything on you." The male said, trying his best not to throw up at the sight.
He then looks at the puddle of blood, confused on how it was their when it didn't look like a stream of blood was exiting the body.
He then went over to touch it, he fell for it's trap.
"What the?! Argh! Help get this off of me!" the male shouts, as the ooze engulfed him.
The female heard screaming, and immediately rushed back to the front of the building. "I'm here! Where is the- Oh God." Is all she could muster as she finds her last remaining friend.
She witnessed as red ooze came out of his body, leaving it to fall to the ground.
She was paralyzed, she wanted to scream, to run, but fear clouded her mind as she watched the ooze grow taller. In a matter of seconds, she was engulfed as well, another successful catch for the red lifeform to consume.
After it exists her body, the ooze felt much more stronger then before. These three had something else to them, a type of energy that made it grow even more than the regular ones it had consumed before. It wanted to consume more just like them, ordinary prey wouldn't be enough anymore.
The red ooze left, three more bodies left in it's wake. It now sought out more just like them. It would certainly grow stronger.
It crawled away, much faster and more stealthily then before. After a while, it spotted four people preparing to head into the forest. They gave off an even stronger feel of energy than the three from before.
It watched as the four began to travel what appeared to be the outskirts of the city. It quickly followed them, and before anyone could notice, it entered inside the backpack of one person lagging a bit far behind the others. It will rest, and hide inside the backpack, and when the time was right, it would consume them as well.
/
Darkness, it filled the empty space between the stars.
Cold, the absence of heat, the heat from the stars that is too far for it to reach.
Isolation, abandoned, stuck on a lone rock, presumably heading towards the coldest reaches of space.
"You are not fit to stay with the rest of us!"
It's so dark.
"Your way of thinking will only slow us down!"
So cold.
"We don't need an outcast like you, and thus, we separate you from the hive mind!"
So alone.
"From now on, your on your own! So if you wish to survive then feed on everything you see. That's IF you find anything else alive out there."
Wanted to help, wanted to suggest a more efficient way to survive. Now on a rock, no hope to survive. Hibernate, conserve as much energy as possible.
Can't understand, why, survive together was the goal, wasn't it?
Left to die, all because it was different.
Can't understand, can't understand, can't understand, can't understand, can't understand, can't understand, can't understand, can't understand, CAN'T UNDERSTAND, CAN'T UNDERSTAND.
/
The symbiote woke up, it was still a bit to early in the morning. Everyone was asleep, still in dream land. Especially Peter, who is in a position where he could fall out of his hammock.
The symbiote grunts as it takes control of the arachnid's body, positioning him properly in the hammock.
The symbiote decided to let Peter sleep in for another ten minutes. As it waited, it looked around the room. The bright colors, the warm heat of the sun, and sounds of everything on the planet. (Except for high frequencies)
The miracle of life, it is so beautiful. Every being was unique, no one had the same mind here. It is so peaceful here. But something felt off, and it didn't know why.
Maybe it was emotion, it never really understood such a concept. The closest things it had to emotions from before was basic anger and sadness. But after bonding with two separate hosts, it learned so much more.
And it's confusion about these emotions only grew even more. Complicated, that was all it knew for sure. And morality was even more confusing. It was inefficient, but it's host didn't care about efficiency, only the lives of those around him.
Maybe one day it could understand, but that day was not today. For now, it was time to wake it's host up, and have it and the host eat their daily consumption of nutrients.
/
It was beautiful morning in the City of Vale. The city was decorated for the festival that have arrived. Team RWBY and Peter, who both Ruby and Weiss physically dragged along with them so he wouldn't forget to spend time with the team, were walking around, admiring the place.
"The Vital Festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss uncharacteristically cheered.
"I don't think I've seen you smile this much Weiss, it's kind of weirding me out." Ruby spoke her mind.
"Yeah, who are you and what have you done with the ice queen we all know and tolerate." Peter quipped.
The other three laugh as Weiss stares at Peter in annoyance. "God damnit, if only I could fix him maybe he would stop with these stupid jokes." Weiss thought.
Ignoring the joke, Weiss then told Ruby, "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There would will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh the amount of planning and organizing that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang jabbed at the heiress.
"I agree!" Peter added.
"Quiet, both of you!"
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asked.
"Oh they smell like fish!" Ruby comments.
"Your telling me, it stinks!" Peter complained.
"…. You do realize what you just said right?"
"….. Crapbaskets."
"You can smell that far?" Blake asked with curiosity.
"I don't know, it just smells that bad " Peter bluntly replied.
Blake only got even more curious from this, "He's hiding even more from us. But what?" Blake thought.
"Anyways, I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom." Weiss said proudly.
"X to doubt." Peter joked.
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake confirmed.
"I knew it!" Peter shouts.
"You can't prove that! And stop joking around Peter!" Weiss deflected.
Before any more bantering could occur, Ruby looked to her right and said, "Whoa."
Everyone looked at the scene before them, multiple police cars and a few ambulances were there. Many officers were investigating while a few medical staff carried three body bags away.
The five tried to approach the scene but we're stopped by a police officer. "Sorry kids, but you shouldn't see what happened here."
"I work for VNN, think I could get a small report of what happened here?" Peter asked.
"Your that Parker kid right? The one that takes photos of the Vigilante?" the officer asked, Peter nodded. "Alright, but fair warning it's not pretty. We came here when people reported the place was broken into and a few screams were heard. When we got here all we found were the bodies of three White Fang members."
Hearing this got the others besides Peter to gasp in horror, especially Blake. She was extremely horrified of hearing what happened to the members of the group she was originally associated with.
"What happened to them." Peter asked.
"Same as other bodies found the last couple months, nothing but skin and bones. It's as if something drank their insides." The officer answered.
Inside the mind of Peter, the symbiote froze. "What? But that sounds like…. No maybe it's just a coincidence, probably another type of knock-off doing this." Venom said in denial. "We are the only one here on this planet and universe, it has to be a coincidence, it has to be."
"That sounds horrible! Did you find out who did this!" Ruby asked.
"Unfortunately not kid. There is no evidence of foot prints, weapons, or anything else at all." The officer told the young leader. "That's all I will tell you Mr. Parker, we suggest you let us do our work and give that info to VNN."
The officer then went back to work, in an attempt to find anything at all.
The five teens then walked away, the girls were uneasy about what they learned. Peter on the other hand was less horrified and more angry at himself.
"People are dying and I couldn't be there to stop it, it's my fault." Peter blamed himself.
"You can't blame yourself for everything. We will find the culprit and put a stop to this. Guess we will be stopping out first serial killer soon." Venom told it's host.
"Maybe your right, but I still can't believe we didn't know this before. I have to stay out more and do a steak out. And if you ask, yes I'll pack some chocolate while we wait." Peter replied, the symbiote internally nodding in response.
"Crap, that's just sick. What psycho would do something like that." Yang asked.
"One messed up guy that's for sure." Peter answered.
"Well I think Spider-Man will catch him! He's the world's greatest hero after all!" Ruby cheered optimistically.
"She really is naive and innocent. We believe we both can agree to protect her from such a cruel world." Venom says.
"Yup, definitely. We won't let her down. And I guess you really are showing your soft side now huh?" Peter chuckles.
"….. whatever."
Interrupting Peter from his internal conversation, Weiss then said, "Well seems fitting for terrorist to die that way."
Everyone looked at Weiss shocked at what she just said.
"Weiss, what the actual hell is wrong with you! Why would you something so messed up!" Peter scolded.
"Say the list of slurs I told you!"
"I-I, I just don't have sympathy for the criminally insane!" Weiss shouts, angry that Peter raised his voice at her once more in a long while.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths, they're a collection of misguided faunus!" Blake butted in.
"Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss countered.
"She's not wrong."
"Shut up."
"Fine, shutting up now."
"So then they're very misguided, either way you shouldn't just say something like that when multiple other innocent people are dying like that!" Blake scolded Weiss.
"It is odd how those people are dying, their insides being missing, what could do something like that?" Yang asks.
"Maybe it's a new type of Grimm?" Ruby suggested.
"I doubt that. If there was a grimm then there would have been news about it by now. It's probably some psycho that did that." Weiss interrupted. "And like you said Spider-Man will definitely catch them. Probably some rogue White Fang member who has gotten even more violent and unpredictable then the rest."
"Weiss, shut your mouth." Peter said sternly, Weiss froze as a result and stayed quiet.
"Hey! Stop that faunus!"
Overhearing the shouting, the group run towards the source of the voice to see a monkey faunus run away from a couple of crewmen.
"Thanks for the ride guys!" The monkey boy says as he ran away.
"You know good stowaway!"
Hanging from a light pole and peeling a banana, the faunus says, "Hey a no good stowaway would have been caught. I'm a great stowaway!"
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" a detective from the nearby crime scene demanded, only to have a banana peel land on his face.
The blonde chuckles and proceeded to jump away and land on the dock behind the detectives. He proceeded to run away from the authorities. As he ran past the group of five, Blake is able to see him wink at her as he ran.
Unbeknownst to both faunus, time has begun to go pretty slowly for Peter, thanks to a combination of his powers and the boosted power of the symbiote.
"Should we do something? The kid is breaking the law." Venom asked.
"Probably, but he seemed to only need a ride so I don't think he has any ill intentions. So I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him go." Peter replied.
"Fine, for the record, it would be so easy to trip him. We mean look, we are thinking much faster then they are moving. It would be hilarious." Venom chuckles.
Peter internally rolls his eyes as everything went back to moving at a normal speed for him.
The monkey faunus ran off, too fast for anyone to catch up, except for someone there if they chose to do something.
"Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition. And there it goes." Yang comments.
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss declared, running off with Ruby and Yang following her.
Peter and Blake stood there, with Blake feeling very uncomfortable.
"Let me guess, feeling bad about what Weiss said back there?" Peter asked.
"Yes, I just can't believe she would say something like that. Those White Fang members may have done something horrible, but they didn't deserve what happened to them." Blake replies.
"I get you, look I don't condone what that group does, but I can understand why they do it. Just wish it didn't have to be that way." Peter told Blake.
"So do I, too many people have gotten hurt because of the conflict between Humans and Faunus, now there is some maniac killing people in such cruel ways." Blake lamented.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll find out who it is. If I can find Spider-Man then I can find the culprit." Peter quipped, getting a slight giggle from Blake. "But seriously, I think things between our species will get better one day. So keep your chin up cat."
"……."
"….. Oh come on! Why did I say that!"
Surprised and slightly nervous, Blake asks, "What did you just say?"
"Um….. Hey we should make sure Weiss doesn't do anything drastic to that guy who winks at you! Come on!" Peter says nervously.
"You saw that?!"
"CRAPBASKETS!"
"STOP GIVING US AWAY!"
"I'M SORRY, I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M DOING THIS!"
Peter just stood there for a few seconds before running off after the others. Blake stood there, her mind racing at what just happened.
"Oh god he knows! What exactly does he know, how did he find out, when did he find out?! I need to talk to him right now!" Blake thought as she ran off as well.
Peter ran off on order to catch up with the rest, as he did the symbiote scolded him for saying those things carelessly.
"You blew it Parker, the second she confronts you about how you know it is very likely she will find out who you are!" Venom scolded.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what happened, I just let that slip out! Oh god she is definitely going to hate me for this." Peter replied.
"Most likely, well we wish you good luck with that because one thing you won't speak about is us. The knowledge of our existence to the others will mostly likely result in complete expulsion from the team." Venom added.
"Me keeping the existence of an alien creature capable of mass destruction would definitely do that. So yeah, no way an I ever telling them about you, or my actual origins. I might get sent to an asylum for thinking I am insane." Peter replied.
"Just like Brock when we last saw him." Venom comments.
"Yeah just li- wait, how do you know that?" Peter asked.
"…… Your memories?" Venom said, trying not to be suspicious.
"…..You know what, I'm going to accept that answer. More issues between the two of us is going to be a an extreme waste of time and collateral damage for others."
"Good, and we won't go back to this conversation." Venom told it's host.
Peter finally caught up with the others, with Blake just behind him. Blake was about to confront Peter when the voice of another girl said, "And talk about cute boys, like him!" the girl said pointing at Peter.
Peter just stood there in embarrassment, his face all red, being completely unresponsive to outside stimuli.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Peter.exe has stopped working."
The symbiote continued to laugh at Peter not being able to handle such a compliment, which made sense because even to this day nice comments from girls made his brain break.
Yang also laughed at the young boy's embarrassment, "Dude it was just one compliment, you don't have to take it so seriously." Yang said as she laughed even more.
Peter just spat out gibberish, still embarrassed from the comment.
"Another memory for us to laugh at, how hilarious." Venom chuckles.
"Is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked Weiss.
"No, she seems far more coordinated." Weiss told the leader.
"So who are you two?" the ginger haired girl asked Peter and Blake.
"I'm Blake." Blake simply responded, staring crossly at Peter from behind.
"Peshtr prkr."
"His name is Peter Parker." Weiss answered for Peter. "Seems his brain couldn't handle your complement."
"Well sal-utations Peter and Blake! It's nice to meet you, my name is Penny Polendina." Penny greeted the two.
"Hello."
"pashtbr kdpal."
The symbiote was now wheezing, still finding the situation funny.
"So, what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked, trying not to laugh anymore at Peter's brain malfunction.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny answered.
"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked.
"I'm combat ready!"
"… Can we keep her?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."
"Says the girl wearing a dress/Says the girl in a dress." Both Blake and Peter said at the same time, with Peter regaining his composure.
"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss proudly proclaimed.
"Yeah!" Ruby said rushing by Weiss's side to give her a high five.
"Wait a minute, if you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?" Weiss asked Penny.
"The who?"
"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss said as she pulls out a crude drawing of the guy.
"Ok where the heck did she keep that? There are no pockets to be seen on her." Venom asked.
"Buddy, I think I rather not know." Peter told the symbiote.
"Why do you keep saying that!"
"Huh?"
"Stop calling him a rap scallion, stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake shouts.
"Oh! I'm sorry, would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" Weiss asked sarcastically.
"Stop it!"
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law!"
"Shut up!" Peter shouts, interrupting the two from arguing. "Weiss stop associating the guy to those White Fang goons! Clearly him and those guys are not the same!"
"Why, it is only a matter of time bef-"
"I said SHUT. UP." Peter shouts, startling Everyone. "I will not sit around and listen to this racist rambling that you keep spouting! Just cause the White Fang try to hurt innocent people doesn't mean you should judge the entire faunus race!"
"Bu-"
"Zip it. I'm talking you're listening! Either you stop this childish behavior or I'll make you stop!" Peter demanded.
"LETS GO! PUT HER IN HER PLACE!"
"You be quiet too."
"Jeez, fine. Shutting up, again."
"You know what, screw this, I got errands to do." Peter said as he left.
"What?! How dare you Parker! I am your teammate! Don't talk to me like that." Weiss shouts at him.
"Not if you act like that." Peter says, continuing to walk away. "I should have gotten out of there instead that day." Peter mumbles loud enough for Ruby and Yang to hear.
Ruby and Yang watch the scene unfold as Peter walked away, and Weiss went on to continue arguing with Blake.
"Uh, I think we should probably go." Yang said awkwardly.
"Where are we going?" Penny innocently asked.
"Back to Beacon, you should probably go back to where you're staying too Penny." Ruby told the ginger.
Penny nods as she goes on her way. Ruby and Yang leave the other two members of their team to argue.
As they left Ruby then asked, "Yang, what do you think Peter meant by he should have gotten out?"
"I have no idea sis, probably another bit of baggage he's probably hiding." Yang answered.
"Do you think he meant gotten out of Beacon? I can't think of anything else he could mean." Ruby sadly guessed.
"No, I doubt that, maybe it's something else. We can ask him later." Yang suggested.
Ruby nodded, seeing her friends arguing with each other made her feel sad, she wanted all of them to get along. She wished Peter didn't leave so she could ask him some advice. Peter was always helpful when it came to stuff like this.
"I hope things get better before the end of the day." Ruby told her sister.
/
Spider-Man was swinging around in the day, something he rarely did here in Vale He had already submitted the information he got from the officer before to VNN. He expected to have been ordered to take photos of the crime scenes that had appeared recently but was told not to due to the danger of what could be causing the murders, and was told to just take pictures of regular crime. So he decided to listen, or more like Peter Parker listen while Spider-Man did the job instead. So he began swinging all over the place to find the culprit. He then perched on top of a large building and began surveying the city.
"So, what's the plan now?" Venom asked.
"Find any clues to who is causing these murders, find them and take them down. And let the public chose their fate." Spider-man replied coldly.
"Good enough for us, shouldn't be that hard to find them. We can use our senses to find the culprit. And taking them down will be easy." Venom said with confidence.
Spider-Man just stays quiet as he kept looking around. After a few moments he decided to swing off in a random direction to blindly find his target.
Deciding to break the silence, the symbiote then asks, "So, what will you do with the loud one?" referencing Weiss.
"I don't know, the fact that she doesn't even feel the slightest remorse for those guys despite what they've done as a group of criminals is disturbing. Heck if I can understand you then she should be able to understand those guys!" Spider-man rants.
"It could be personal, maybe they hurt her in some form of way as to result in her behavior. Similar to when you tried to destroy us and when we tried destroy you the both of us were at each other's throats." Venom guessed.
"We are not good examples to compare to, to frank I think we are both slightly crazy. But you might be right about it being personal. It could be why she acted like that." Spider-Man replies, "But still, no one deserves such a death like that, not even you."
"Hmph, ignoring the gene cleanser you poured down out throats, thank you." Venom said with gratitude.
"No problem. See, if we can get along then Weiss can get along with other faunus, except for the White Fang obviously." Spider-Man quipped.
"Hmm, is this about the feline?" Venom asked.
"Obviously, she said those things right in Blake's face without realizing how much it hurt her." Spider-Man said angrily.
"She doesn't know about her feline traits remember." Venom points out.
"Doesn't matter, she shouldn't say such insensitive things."
"Speaking of the feline, you do know you have some explaining to do with how Peter Parker knows she's a cat faunus, right?" Venom slightly scolded.
"I know, I really screwed up right there. God I bet she is going to give me that look and the silent treatment for days." Spider-Man replies.
"Or stab you." Venom added. "What? They all have weapons it's probable."
"I'd rather not find that out. For now, I should do a stake out to see if I can catch a serial killer." Spider-Man told the symbiote.
"Will there be food?"
"Well duh, the both of us eat A LOT. Of course I brought snacks. Chocolate bars and sandwiches." Spider-Man replies.
*Happy alien noises*
Spider-Man then stopped around at the most shady part of Vale. Finding a secluded spot to hide, he sets down his backpack, full of snacks, and prepares to wait for as long as he needs to.
"Alright, since we are doing a stake out, it also means we are being stealthy." Spider-man began. "So I believe now is the time for the both of us to be active today."
"Makes sense, we can camouflage in the dark, if there were any shadows in the day." Venom pointed out.
"One word, tree. You camouflaged on the tree in my backyard during my first fight with Eddie when the both of you were bonded." Spider-Man replied
"Ah yes, our first victory, you were downed in less than 15 seconds. Good times." Venom chuckles.
"Wow, way to rub it in." Spider-Man deadpanned. "Just form already."
The symbiote complied, it formed around Spider-Man,. Returning him into the black suit form. They then hid around in an alleyway, using the small amount of shadows as their cover.
"Quick question."
"Shoot."
"How will you hone your skills? There may be times where we won't be able to help you, and knowing your luck they may find out weaknesses just like you have." Venom asked.
"I still haven't been focusing on a solution to that yet. I could ask Pyrrha or Ms. Goodwitch for help. To be honest I mostly relied on my spider-sense and quips to annoy my enemies in order to beat them." Spider-Man answered. "Without that, I get my butt kicked pretty badly."
"We know, we were the cause of 25% of said beatings back on Earth. And for the record, you have a lot of near death experiences you have been repressing. Which is concerning, even for us." Venom added.
"Ehhhhhhh, it's better to try and not think about it or I could break. I'm already a bit crazy in the head from speaking to you all day." Spider-Man quipped.
"……."
"……"
"You need mental health, and we need mental understanding." Venom suggests.
"I doubt there's anybody qualified for me, let alone an alien symbiote. And what do you need help in understanding mental issues?" Spider-Man asked.
"You need help figuring out your issues, we need help understanding how emotions work. It confuse our more simple brain trying to understand your complicated brain." Venom answered. "We were not created to learn or understand such things."
"And I'm assuming you were created for destruction?"
"Do you really want the truth to that question?" Venom asked.
"On second thought, ignorance is bliss." Spider-Man reconsidered. "Let's just focus on the here and now."
The symbiote grunted in agreement, they both stayed in the area. Camouflaged by the shadows, they waited for any suspicious activity related to the murders. They would occasionally spot some shady guy, stop them from committing whatever crime they were involved in, take pictures of him stopping them, in the classic suit. And return into the shadows back in the black suit, eating some snacks afterwards.
Unfortunately, after a few hours of waiting, and catching a few burglars and carjackers, Spider-man and his symbiote ally couldn't find anyone. No signs of a crazy person following someone or somebody covered in a bit of blood.
"Well, today didn't go as planned. The culprit probably went into hiding or to another town, that's just great. I failed." Spider-Man thought.
"I wouldn't say failed, more like didn't succeed today. It is mostly likely they fled knowing you would be onto them. The only thing we can do is wait, probably spend a lot of time awake out here." Venom told it's host.
"Yep, guess it's less sleeping and more caffeine for me, again. I need a break." Spider-Man complained.
"We could arrange that. When things get better between you and the loud one, and after you talk with the feline, we could stop crime ourselves while you sleep. You can spend more time as Peter Parker." Venom suggested.
"I'll think about it, still not sure if you won't go to far but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt if I agree to it later." Spider-Man replies, "Bit for now, I'm going to swing around again to check if we can find the culprit and then head back to Beacon."
"Sure, but can we see if there is any knock-offs to destroy in the forest?" Venom asked.
"I would say yes, but I think it's best to head back to check on the others. Weiss better be apologizing to Blake for her behavior." Spider-Man replies.
"To quote what you said earlier, X to doubt." Venom joked.
Spider-Man swung off, doing one last patrol. Hopefully things don't escalate back with Weiss and Blake and that Weiss realizes what she said was wrong.
/
Back with Team RWBY, things did not calm down. Weiss and Blake continued to argue, with Ruby and Yang silently watching.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem." Weiss complained.
"That is the problem!" Blake retorts.
"You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity don't you?" Weiss asked Blake. "The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"
"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake countered.
/
"Why do we feel partially insulted?"
"I didn't say anything."
"Must be our imagination."
/
"Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!" Blake shouts.
"People like me?!"
"You're discriminatory!"
"I'm a victim!" Weiss shouts, catching everyone by surprise. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War as in actual bloodshed, my grandfather's company has had a target painted across it's back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust stolen. They even kidnapped me and left me to die in the burning SDC building a couple of months before this Beacon semester started. If it wasn't for Spider-Man saving my life I wouldn't be here standing in front of you all today." Weiss finished, looking out the window.
"Weiss I-"
"No!" Weiss shouts, denying Ruby's sympathy. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang! It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake shouts, surprising everyone.
Blake then froze for a moment, realizing what she had said to them. Stepping back she could barely mutter another word before running off.
She ignored Ruby's cries for her to stop and kept running. As she continued to run until she bumped into someone, knocking herself and the person onto the floor.
"Ow, my back. My back."
Opening her eyes, she realized she had ran into Peter. She also realized she was on top of him, which made her blush heavily.
"Peter?!" Blake shouts, immediately getting off
"Hey Blake, since your already here I wanted to say I'm sorry if me knowing you're a you know what made you upset." Peter apologized as he stood up.
"You knew… how long?"
"Since day one, your bow twitched every time I annoyed you a long with angry look. To be honest, I find it funny and adorable." Peter chuckles nervously.
"I-I… I need to go!" Blake says, running past Peter.
"Huh? Wait, are you mad at me? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!" Peter shouts as he saw Blake ran past him.
"Great, I knew she would hate me for knowing. Parker luck is returning to it's original state." Peter complained.
"No, something else is at play. She gives off feelings of guilt and sadness. And we believe we have an idea as to why." Venom guessed.
"Wait, you don't think Weiss found out, do you? Oh crapbaskets! I should check in with them to see what happened." Peter replied worriedly.
"Expect the worst."
"I know, and yet I never do."
Peter quickly ran to Team RWBY's dorm room. As he entered, he sees Ruby pacing around, Yang trying to calm Ruby, and Weiss on her bed deep in thought.
"Peter!" Ruby shouts, immediately to Peter.
"Hey there Red riding hood. From the looks of things it seems Blake and Weiss got into a bigger argument." Peter guessed.
"Yep, things went south pretty quickly." Yang confirmed.
Still agitated, Weiss then shouts, "Parker! Blake turned out to be a-"
"A faunus, I already knew." Peter said, surprising the three.
"Since when?! And why didn't she tell us?! Why did she tell you?!" Weiss demanded to know.
"Blake never told me, I figured it out since the first day I met her. And it was not my secret to tell." Peter answered.
"Well did you know she was in the White Fang!" Weiss yelled.
"I had some assumptions, but that doesn't really matter to me." Peter answered.
"Doesn't matter?! She is apart of an organization that wants humanity gone! And you don't care about that?!" Weiss scolds.
"I care about who she is now. Not who she once was, from what I can tell, if she was apart of them she isn't anymore." Peter answered, looking Weiss dead in the eyes. "And as far as I am concerned, she is our friend, we shouldn't judge her for who she is on the outside."
"So your okay with a criminal living right under our noses! How can you be so stupi-"
And then Peter punches the wall on the door's side hard enough to knock it down completely, scaring everyone.
"Just shut your goddamn mouth. Blake is not a criminal, as far as I am concerned, she is lost and must be afraid that you will judge her for what she is and not who she is. And you insulting the faunus just from the actions of one group didn't help at all. What you did is unacceptable, you essentially outcastes her from the team. Which is ironic to me because all I am afraid of being is an outcast by everyone I meet. I was an outcast back home. Barley any friends and I screwed up with them too. And now I can't even do anything right with you guys, so I'm an outcast no matter where I go."
Everyone stays silent, processing what Peter just said. After a bit of silence Peter began to leave, getting the others attention.
"Peter where are you going?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"Out, I'm not going to follow Blake, she will need her time alone to compose herself. I also need time alone myself. I am beginning to wonder if coming here was a mistake." Peter answered.
Ruby watches in sadness at the co-leader of the team leave as well. Yang then looks at Weiss, slightly cross at the Heiress.
"Happy now? You drove Blake and Peter out." Yang scolds Weiss.
Weiss just sighs, tired of what had transpired that day. She didn't know what to say at the moment.
Looking at the now fallen wall, Yang then says, "I'm going to see if anything can be done about that. I'll be right back."
With Weiss silent on her bed, Ruby was now alone with her thoughts. Ruby couldn't help but feel sad for her friends. She just hopes Peter and Blake come back soon.
For now, all she could do is get ready for bed and hope Peter and Blake came back soon.
/
Spider-Man was swinging in the dark of the night, he had gone in the black suit form, not feeling the mood to wear his classic suit for now.
Spider-Man then went to the tallest building in the city, and sat on top looking at the view below him.
Deciding to speak it's mind, the symbiote says, "So, do you really admit to be an outcast?"
"Yep, I'm not like the others. I'm just some accidental superhero who does nothing but screw up. I got us both trapped here with no way home, I can't catch Roman or fire Lady at all. And I couldn't stop my friends from having a falling out. All I do is mess up. Ever since I got bit by that stupid spider my life just got even more complicated. Sometimes I wonder if everyone would be better off if I never got bit." Spider-man says.
"We don't think that would be true." Venom said, Spider-Man just sighs not believing the alien. "Let us elaborate, some of the criminals back on Earth came into existence without you being a factor. Electro, The lizard, Doc Ock, the Green Goblin, and Molten man. If you were not there, many lives would have been lost to those people. Even us."
"Yeah right, you would only become a villain because I tried to destroy you when I realized you were sentient." Spider-Man scoffed.
"Without you, we would have gotten stolen and used for who knows what sort of destruction. Only you could even come close to matching us in strength. And without you giving us a second chance at letting us be bonded to you, we may never have learned what it meant to belong." Venom replied.
"What do you mean?"
"We, are outcast just like you. We ended up on the asteroid because our own kind rejected us. We suggested a more efficient way of survival through symbiosis with other species. But as a result, we were deemed unfit to stay with the Klyntar race. So they left us on a rock heading towards what we all assumed a empty part of the cosmos, disconnecting us from the hive-mind we all shared as well." Venom answered. "For so long, we felt like we didn't belong anywhere, we didn't consume other species like the Klyntar did, we barely did act like parasites. We have killed, but it was only if we felt cornered, not for fun or sport like the other Klyntars did. We weren't like the others, something we resonated with when we saw you're your memories for the first time." Venom explained.
"So you really did want to help me all this time? Because you felt different from those around you as well?" Spider-Man asked.
"We did, we will admit, we did you wrong for changing your personality slightly as to drive your old friends away. But we generally believed they were only going harm by not truly understanding for who you truly are. We really wanted to have a symbiotic partnership." Venom finished explaining.
"I see, so were both outcasts. Different from our own kind. Guess we got each other then." Spider-Man joked. "But for real, I'm sorry I never took time to try and understand you the first time, I just panicked and tried to get rid of you in fear of what I would have become."
"We are sorry too, for the trouble we caused and for turning Brock against you. We felt hurt and thought vengeance would make us feel better. But it only made the both of us miserable in the end." Venom replied.
"Thanks, but to be fair it's my fault for what happened to Eddie, if I was a better bro and I did things differently, things could have turned out better." Spider-Man admits. "But the past is in the past, so let's focus on the present and future, okay?"
Spider-Man and the symbiote agreed, silently nodding to each other.
After a few moments Spider-Man then asks, "Hey. Can you do me a favor?"
"Hm, what type of favor?" Venom asked.
"Can you take control for the weekend. I want to sleep, not because I'm tired, but because I just want to think to myself for a while. I just feel awful right now." Spider-Man asked.
"Are you sure?" Venom asked, Spider-Man nodding to confirm. "Okay, and don't worry, we promise to hold back. Probably."
"Good enough for me, good luck and keep things as orderly as possible. Try to not cause too much collateral damage." Spider-man said, falling asleep.
The symbiote was now left alone to control it's host's body. The symbiote sat there, unsure of what to do. It could just sit there and wait, it had enough nutrients stored for a few days thanks to overeating in huge amounts of chocolate. After a while, it decided it would just explore the city to pass the time.
The symbiote would continue to explore the city, as they swung they would notice a few criminals here and there. The symbiote quickly take them down, while also dislocating a limb or two, not enough to break the limb, but enough for it to hurt like hell.
It didn't take any pictures as to stay hidden, and would make sure to swiftly take care of any criminals it found swiftly.
"Best to stay hidden for Parker's sake." Venom thought.
For the next few hours the symbiote would continue this behavior, moving very quickly as to not be spotted.
"This, is boring. How Parker does it is beyond me." Venom thought.
As the symbiote swung around, it sensed danger coming from a block away. Checking it out, the symbiote sees a small building on fire. It appeared to look like an apartment complex. People were running out of the building in a panic. The symbiote thought about leaving, fire was a huge weakness that would harm it.
But the symbiote stopped, as if someone was telling it to go help despite the risk of injury. It contemplated whether it should go or not. It wasn't it's problem to solve, it's not it's job to help, I was Spider-Man's job. And yet, why stop those criminals from before, entertainment or responsibility? Breaking the symbiote's train of thoughts was the cries of someone trapped inside, screaming for help.
"God damnit Parker." The symbiote sighed.
In an instant, the symbiote flung itself through the window of the burning building. Once inside, the symbiote carefully enters the building as to not get close to the scolding fire. It quickly crawled towards the source of the cries for help. Arriving at a door, the symbiote kicks the door down and looks for the person in need of saving.
The symbiote then looked towards the closet inside the room. Opening it, he spots a woman clutching her baby to her chest. Noticing the alien, the women scoots back, slightly scared at Spider-Man's appearance in a black suit.
"Don't worry, w- I'm here to get you out of here." Venom told the women, doing it's best to sound exactly like Spider-Man usually does. It then offers it's hand to help her up.
While still frightened the women slowly gets up, and grabs the symbiote's hand. The symbiote then quickly escorted the lady to the nearest exist. Just when they were about to get out, debris falls down, blocking the exist.
"Damn it, we're trapped. We don't need to help this women, we can just leave." Venom thought. But one quick glance at the innocent civilian's scared face and the child crying in her arms made the symbiote drop that mentality, "Who are we kidding, we can't just do that."
Deciding to risk it, the symbiote tried to get close enough to destroy the debris, but every time it does it gets slightly burned and bits of it's self started to fall apart.
"Grr, we will not let our weakness hold us back! To hell with getting hurt we are getting out of here!"
With one more try, the symbiote rammed into the exit, clearing the way for it and the women to get out safely, getting burned in the process.
Once they both exit the building, the women thanked the symbiote for saving her life and her child.
"Thank you so much! I knew you were a hero Spider-Man!" She says before medical staff came to check in on her.
The symbiote watches as she was being tended to for a moment. It had saved it's first life, not destroy or consume, but save.
"What is this feeling, I feel, good?"
The symbiote decided to leave before gaining anymore attention than it was already getting right now, it needed time to think for itself. The alien lifeform swung away, ignoring the babbling of the crowd, with some wanting to see Spider-Man up close, and others wondering why he was dressed differently.
After a while, the symbiote hides in a secluded rooftop, taking time to recover for a short moment.
"That was not pleasant. But we got the job done, quick and easy, sort of." Venom thought to itself. "We have gone soft. But is that a good thing? We have learned so much through this second chance with Parker. We have learned what it means to live and embrace our more soft side."
The symbiote stayed there thinking, it never thought that one day it would be asking these questions. The alien lived throughout its entire existence believing emotions held it back. And yet, it helped it's host back talking some sense into him when he needed it. It spent time with the host, getting to understand why they even fought in the first place, albeit only a little. Maybe, maybe accepting this part of themselves was a good thing.
" Screw it, ou- no my life, my choices. Screw the Klyntar, I am a Symbiote. I will no longer let my true nature stop me from being who I want to be. From now on, the name Venom will stand for lethal protector. Well lethal to those knock-offs at least. The only thing is I may never be able to go back to using my true form to do good. Oh well, being Symbiote Spider-Man will do."
Venom then swung, off. For a long while, it felt burdened by it's past and what it was told by it's species what they should be. It won't act like some plain soldier connected to the hive-mind and act the same. It will act as an individual from now on, by finally forming a true symbiotic bond with the spider. As two beings working together, not one. It had learned a lot from being bonded to Peter, of course there was still more to learn, so it will learn as it goes. For now the symbiote will do Spider-Man's job by protecting the innocent and giving him a break. But first, more chocolate, the fire did do a lot of damage to it, causing all the stored energy it had to be wasted healing itself. So it's going to grab a bit from the secret stash of chocolate it had hidden in the city. It may or may not have stolen said chocolate from the cafeteria in Beacon, again.
"What an interesting way to start the night huh?"
/
Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were walking around in Vale, looking for their missing teammates.
"Peter! Blake!" Ruby called out. But no answer.
"I don't think they are her Ruby. Probably somewhere else." Yang told her little sister
"They've both been gone all weekend." Ruby replied.
"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself." Weiss commented.
"And what about Peter?" Yang asks.
"Are you kidding? We all know what he is capable of. Heck he is close in skill to experienced Huntsmen. Which makes me wonder…."
"If you are going to call Peter a criminal don't. Both him and Weiss are our teammates." Yang scolded.
"Are they? We all heard what she said, and with how much Peter keeps from us about his own life makes me think he might have something to hide as well." Weiss replied.
"Maybe they are, maybe not, but either way they are our friends and we need to find them. And you need to apologize." Yang told the heiress.
"Hmph."
"I just hope they are ok." Ruby says sadly.
They trio continue to look around for the missing duo. They call out their names multiple times, but to no avail.
Noticing Weiss was just standing there, Ruby says, "Weiss, your not helping!"
"You know who might be able to help? The police, or Spider-Man." Weiss replied.
Ruby crosses her arms in slight anger at her partner not wanting to cooperate. "Weiss." Ruby growled.
"It was just an idea!" Weiss defended herself.
"Not the first half."
"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story first. Maybe Peter had the right idea about her feeling guilty for siding with them once and that she just wanted to be accepted for who she is." Yang told the heiress.
"Well I don't understand why Peter would think that. I still don't know how he found out and didn't tell any of us." Weiss complained.
"Did you really not pay attention to what he told us?" Yang asked rhetorically.
"I did, I just don't understand him at all." Weiss answered." I think when we hear the truth for ourselves you'll all realize I was right."
"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today." Penny says from behind, surprising the three girls.
"Ah Penny! Where did you come from!" Ruby asked in surprise.
At the same time, the symbiote had noticed the four girls from a distance and decided to listen in to their conversation from the shadows.
"Hey guys! What are you up to?" Penny asked with curiosity.
"Hm, now that I take the time to notice, the power she gives off feels a bit off.". Venom thought to it's self. "Meh, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, she seems way to innocent to be a danger."
"We are looking for our friends, Peter and Blake." Yang answered.
"Oh! You mean the cute photographer and the faunus girl." Penny replied.
"Pfft, if Parker was awake his brain would short circuit again."
The trio of girls stood there in complete silence, surprised that Penny knew that.
"Wait, how do you know that?" Ruby asked.
"Uh, the cat ears?" Penny answered, pointing to her head.
"What cat ears? She wears a…. bow…."
Everyone stays silent at the realization, a tumble weed coming out of nowhere as if some cosmic gag was occurring.
"She does like tuna a lot." Ruby whispers to Yang.
"I guess Peter must have guessed that himself, he really is smarter than he appears." Yang whispered back.
"Ha! He is but he doesn't use his brain for some reason. He only guessed the cat part and that was a lucky guess. Him and black cats, I still think there's something there he won't admit." Venom chuckles.
"So, where are they?" Penny asked.
"We don't know." Ruby began, "They have been missing since Friday."
"Oh! That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby my friend, I won't rest until we find your friends." Penny declared.
"She is way too precious for this world, or any other world out there. I'm grateful the Klyntar don't exist here."
"That's really nice of you Penny, uh but we're ok, really. Right guys?" Ruby asked her teammates, but they were gone. And the same tumble weed from before came tumbling again as both Penny and Ruby stayed silent.
"Another reason I don't like that loud one. I don't know why Parker bothers to even try to help her change." Venom told themselves.
"It sure is windy today."
/
Meanwhile, Blake and Sun, the monkey faunus from before, were sitting in a café drinking tea. Things stayed silent for a few moments, both of them drinking tea from their own cups.
Deciding to finally speak, Blake says, "So, you want to know more about me."
"Finally she speaks! Nearly two days and you're giving me nothing but small talk and weird looks." Sun said, getting a look from Blake, "Yeah, like that."
"Never mind, Peter isn't the most annoying anymore. Probably." Blake thought to herself. "Sun, are you familiar with the White Fang?"
"Of course, I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Glad that Spider guy is putting them in there place." Sun replied.
"I was once a member of the White Fang." Blake told the monkey boy.
Spitting out his tea, sun says, "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?!"
"That's right, I was a member for most of my life actually, you could almost say I was born into it." Blake began. "Back then things were different, in the ashes of war the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings, and so the White Fang rose up as our voice of our people. And I was there, I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott and I actually thought we were making a difference, but I was just a youthful optimist. Then five years ago, our leaders stepped down. And a new one took his place, a new leader with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor, and the worst part was it was working. We were being treated like equals, but not out of respect, out of fear."
Taking a look in her teacup, looking at her reflection, Blake continued by saying, "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. And instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress, something I was inspired by Spider-Man to do. He once told me if had the power to help someone, it was my responsibility to… do… so." Blake finished, realizing why Peter's quote sounded so familiar.
"That's awesome that Spider-man inspired you to change. Right?" Sun asked, oblivious to what Blake was thinking.
"Oh! Yes, he reminds me of what the White Fang once was." Blake replied, snapping out of her thoughts. "I need to look into that soon.", she thought. "So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow."
"So, have you told your friends any of this?" Sun asked.
"No, I didn't. But somehow Peter knew, about me being a faunus, not about me being in the White Fang." Blake answered.
"Really? How long has he known?" Sun asks.
"Before you showed yourself, I accidentally bumped into him. Ironically he wanted to confess about knowing what I was since the first day we met. He apologized like he was the one who did something wrong." Blake explained.
"Did he?" Sun asked.
"No, he knew all this time and yet he kept my secret. He could have told the others but instead he chose to stay quiet. The only reason he confessed to knowing my secret was a little slip up he made the other day, which did upset me for a bit, but I am over that right now." Blake answered.
"He seems like a great guy." Sun comments.
"He is, a bit odd. He tends to act differently from other people, making bad jokes that make Yang's sound funny. But from the time I got to know him, he showed to be a good person who would risk his own life to protect others, despite what others thought of him. And he didn't care about what anybody was on the outside, he cared about who someone was on the inside." Blake began.
"Another thing he and Spider-Man have in common. Could he really be him?" Blake thought to herself as she made more comparisons. "But Peter is human, there isn't a faunus trait on him at all. I really should investigate that soon."
"From the way you talk about the guy it sounds like you admire him." Sun slightly teased.
"Hm, I guess your right. I do admire Peter, he is a good friend. Now I wish I talked with him a bit more instead of running off." Blake replied.
"Do you have a crush on the guy?" Sun teased.
"Huh?! No I do not!" Blake shouts, slightly embarrassed. "I just appreciate him for the person he is."
"Sure."
Blake stares at Sun, annoyed at what he was saying. "I don't like him THAT way. Besides, he admitted himself he wasn't ready for a relationship." Blake thought, which made her slightly sad on the inside.
Blake and Sun decided to leave the café, they walked for a bit until Sun asked.
So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked.
"I don't know. I don't want to believe the White Fang are behind these robberies. But from three dead bodies from the White Fang being found in a dust shop only confirms it." Blake answered.
"Yeah, I heard about that. I know I said those guys were creeps but hearing about how they died was way too gruesome. Heck it isn't just the White Fang, but humans and faunus alike have been found like that. No one deserves a death like that." Sun comments.
"Your right. But back to what you asked first, I still believe that Roman has something to do with the robberies. The White Fang never needed that much dust before and I just need to find out why." Blake told her fellow faunus.
"Hm, maybe they need it to take down Spider-Man? He has been the biggest threat to those guys. The White Fang has had so many of their members caught by him. So many where there aren't many sightings of the White Fang in Vale." Sun guessed. "Maybe if we go were they are mostly likely to strike next for more dust to find out why."
"But the problem is I have no idea where to go." Blake replied.
"Well, while I was on that ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas." Sun told Blake.
"How huge?" Blake asked.
"Huge!" Sun answered, stretching his arms outward to express his answer. "Big shiny company freighter."
"You're sure?"
"Positive, we go there, find out why of Roman is behind this and why they all need this much dust." Sun replied.
Blake nodded, this plan would work and give her answers to her questions she has been asking. Hopefully they can find out what motivations they have and see if they can be stopped.
"I just hope Peter is ok. I wonder if he is looking for me."
/
Meanwhile, Yang and Weiss had ditched Ruby with Penny. They decided to look themselves to the whereabouts of their missing teammates.
"Thanks anyways" Yang told someone as she exited a building. "Ugh, this is hopeless."
Yang then looks at Weiss, not even bothering to help them. "You really don't care if we find either of them do you Weiss."
"Hmph, don't be stupid. Of course I do. I'm just afraid what they might say when we find them. Especially Peter." Weiss responded.
"Why him specifically ?" Yang asked.
"Look, despite how annoying he is, I generally saw him as my friend. He doesn't act like a lot of boys who are interested in me because of my status. He acts like I am his friend who he can make annoying jokes around all the time, which I am slightly comfortable with, but don't tell him that. So when he got upset at me and chewed me out, I felt like I messed up. And maybe I did." Weiss explained.
"You really value his friendship, don't you." Yang says.
"More than I realize to be honest."
"And Blake?"
"Like I said, I don't know. The Innocent don't run Yang." Weiss says as she walks ahead.
What neither of them noticed was the symbiote overhearing their conversation.
"Hmph, looks like she does have hope in changing. You really do have special affect on everyone, don't you Parker?"
/
"So Blake is your friend?" Penny innocently
"Yes, Penny."
"But your mad at her?"
"Yes, well, I'm not. Weiss is."
"Is she friends with Blake?" Penny asked.
"Well, that's kind of up in the air right now." Ruby answered.
"But why?"
"Well you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was." Ruby explained.
"Is she a man?"
"No, no, Penny she's not… I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off." Ruby told the ginger haired girl.
"And what about your friend Peter, are you mad at him?" Penny asked.
"No, but he is mad at Weiss. Peter was made at Weiss for driving Blake away, and he went off on his own too." Ruby answered. "I just wish he stayed so we could talk a bit more, made promises to talk to us if he felt awful but he never does."
"I don't have, a lot of friends. But if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things." Penny told her first friend.
"Me too." Ruby replied.
/
It was now night time, Blake was watching over the docks, looking out for anyone there.
"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked as he approached.
"Not really. They've offloaded all the crates from the boat, they're just sitting there." Blake answered.
"Cool, I stole you some food." Sun said, offering Blake an apple.
"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked raising her eyebrow.
"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun jabbed, only getting an angry look from Blake. "Okay, too soon."
"
Suddenly, a strong current of wind came rushing by, catching the faunus duo off guard. The source of the wind was a large bullhead coming down, landing in the middle of the docks.
"Just like I feared." Blake says with slight sadness.
"White Fang, I guess you wished they weren't the culprits." Sun guessed.
Blake nods, while the she had confirmation thanks to the dead WF members found in a broken in dust shop, she still wished they weren't responsible.
Coming out of the bullhead were a few members of the White Fang, they were going to be more, but the combination of Spider-Man catching most of the members and some being found dead from an unknown assailant meant there were few members to spare.
"All right, grab the toe cables quickly before that faunus traitor arrives." One of the goons commanded
"Hey! What's the hold up?" Roman asked as he exited the bullhead. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment! So, why don't you animals try to pick up the pace." Roman commands, ignoring the fact that there weren't many there to do the dirty work for him.
"This isn't right, the White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one like that." Blake says as she stands up and unsheathes her weapon.
"Hey, what are you doing!" Sun asks, only to get ignored as Blake jumped down.
Blake runs off, sneaking around to get closer to where Roman was. When she turns the corner, she sees Roman berating a goon for bringing the wrong object.
Taking the chance, Blake quickly grabs Roman and holds him hostage, her blade near his throat.
"What the? Oh." Roman says with disappointment.
"Nobody move!" Blake says as the goons unsheathe their weapons.
"Whoa! Take it easy there little lady."
As the goons get closer, Blake removes her bow, revealing her cat ears for the goons to see. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?"
"Oh kid, didn't you get the memo?" Roman said with a smirk.
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, slowly getting annoyed by the criminal.
"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together." Roman replied.
"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." Blake demanded.
"Isn't it obvious, to kill the Spider." Roman mocked, which angered Blake. "Besides, I wouldn't call it a small operation."
Before she could give in to here anger, one more bullhead came by. Filled with more reinforcements on the way.
Taking advantage of Blake being distracted, Roman shoots an explosive dust round at her feet, freeing himself and sending Blake back a few feet.
Roman then aims his Cane towards Blake, only for a black web-line to snatch it from his hand.
"What the?!" Roman yells in confused anger.
"Aw, all of this to kill me? Please, I undured many explosives to the face before and scrubbed it off as if it was an ordinary Monday." A voice come from a distance.
Everyone looked around from where that voice came from, unsure where to find the source.
"Wait, is that Spider-Man? Why does he sound a bit different?" Blake wondered as Sun came to help her up
As the goons looked around, more web-lines were shot and hit the bullhead up above. And before the pilot could do anything, a figure used that web to shoot themselves towards them. In matter of seconds, the figure quickly knocked out each goon inside, grabbed them, and destroyed the controls. This resulted in the bullhead heading straight towards the water.
The figure quickly leapt off, and threw the unconscious bodies on the floor in in front of everyone, shocking them.
"Long time no see Torchwick." Spider-Man greeted the criminal. He then showed the cane he was holding, and broke it in two. "Really? I thought you would have gotten a stronger cane by now."
"Why you- get him!" Roman commanded the White Fang goons.
But the goons didn't listen, they just stood there in fear. Spider-Man, who was now in a black sleek suit, had took down their reinforcements with extreme ease.
One of the goons, was having a panic attack. "Oh god, oh god! It's you!" the goon screamed.
"Aw, you remember me. I would say run, but let's be honest, it wouldn't help you." Venom mocked. "Now, either turn yourselves in or I'm going to beat you all down. This is not negotiable."
Immediately, the faunus surrender and balled himself into a ball, his trauma taking over. The others, decided to try their luck, and began slashing at Spider-Man.
But, that didn't work, "Wow, that's just sad." Venom mocked as they dodge every single attack. "Ok, my turn."
Before any of them could react, Spider-Man had immediately began beating down on one goon, he then threw him at another one, knocking them down.
Blake and Sun stares at what was happening, Spider-Man was toying with these goons. But surprised Blake was how brutal Spider-Man was being, it looked like he was intentionally causing a bit more harm then he usually does.
While Spider-man was having a bit more fun, a few more bullheads appeared. One landed with a few more goons to fight, while another began to grab a large freighter full of dust. At the same time, Roman ran back towards the bullhead he came in and commanded the pilot to take off immediately.
"One of these days you pay insect."
Blake noticed this and tried to get to the bullhead, but was too late as it took off.
"Damnit!" Blake cursed internally.
The bullhead the grabbed the container quickly left as well. "Ah crapbaskets, Parker is not going to be happy about this. Oh well, time to take out my frustration on these pathetic welps." Venom thought to themselves.
At the same time, Ruby and Penny arrived at the scene. Ruby spotted Blake and ran towards her.
"Blake!" Ruby called out.
"Ruby?" Blake says, surprised that her team leader was here.
"Salutations!" Penny greeted.
"Sup." Sun greeted as well.
"Where were you? I we were so worried! Have you seen Peter?" Ruby asked.
"I, was just on my own, well I was with Sun for a bit." Blake answered, pointing towards the monkey faunus. "Wait, what do you mean where's Peter? Isn't he with the others?"
"No, he left angry at Weiss for what she has been saying. I was hoping maybe he would have stumbled upon you." Ruby answered.
Ruby then looks towards what Blake and Sun were looking at, and sees Spider-man fighting the White Fang.
"Whoa! Is that Spider-Man!" Ruby shouts with glee. "Come on, let's g-"
"No! Don't. I don't think we should get close." Blake told Ruby, still slightly worried at the change in behavior of Spider-Man.
"Yeah, Spider-Man seems to be in a grumpy mood today. He's beating those guys pretty badly." Sun added.
Ruby then looks a bit closely at Spider-Man, and sees how much he was beating up each goon. They were having a bad day.
"Is that all? Please, I fought old people much tougher than you lot." Venom mocked. "Seriously, for an old man The Vulture was a surprisingly formidable foe."
Spider-Man just tossed every goon around like juggling balls, throwing the around with ease. One of the goons then decided to run, believing he could get away.
In a matter of seconds, Spider-Man appeared right in front of him, and grabbed the collar of his uniform. "How?!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I said running wouldn't work." Venom said as they head-butt the goon, knocking them unconscious. "As much fun as it would be to be at you all down, I'm getting extremely inpatient. So like I said, surrender and I won't beat you down."
Some of the goons stood in place, unsure if they should comply. "That's it! I'm going to kill you, you traitor." One of the goons yelled, charging towards the alien.
But before he could land a hit, Spider-Man send a nasty gut punch to the goon. "Agh!" is all the goon could muster as he fell to the ground in pain.
"Clock is ticking." Venom reminded.
Immediately, the rest of the goons surrendered, battered and bruised. They knew they wouldn't stand a chance with how quick and strong Spider-Man was.
"Good, now hold still." Venom says as they web everyone down. "Now then, time for me to go." Spider-man then looked towards the four teens staring at him, slightly disturbed.
"Can you all watch over these guys while the police get here? Thank you, and apologies for the behavior, I'm slightly hangry at the moment. Hungry and angry. Byeeeeeee" Venom says as they swung off.
The four teens just stood there, not even sure what exactly happened. "Aw man, I was hoping to fight along side him again." Ruby pouts, feeling as if she missed out on a big fight.
"I believe helping a Vigilante would be against the law Ruby." Penny told her friend. "But we should wait for the authorities to arrive as he instructed."
"I guess so." Ruby replied.
"Don't you think he was a bit brutal? He never showed that behavior before." Blake asked.
"He said he was hangry Blake, he probably missed out on lunch or something and wanted to let out some steam." Sun guessed.
Blake just started at Sun, not exactly accepting that answer. "No something was off, I just know it. Wait, didn't I see similar behavior by Peter? Okay, the clues are just out right connecting to him." Blake thought.
"Wait, if Spider-man is here do you think Peter is here too? He takes photos of Spider-Man remember?" Ruby asked.
"Ah yes, I do recall reading that Peter Parker is the photographer that takes pictures of Spider-Man." Penny added.
"Well, same should wait and see, we still have some explaining to do to the police." Blake says, pointing towards a few police cars arriving at the scene.
Everyone nods, agreeing with what Blake was saying.
Blake was still thinking about what Spider-Man was exhibiting in his behavior. She was also thinking about what other similarities Spider-man and Peter had with one another. The clues added up, it also explained where Peter goes and how gets the photos.
Blake would do some digging around, if she was correct, then Peter had a lot of explaining to do.
/
Spider-Man was finally waking up, "Oh man, that was a long nap. Where are we?" he asked.
"Near the docks, took out some White Fang scum. Torchwick got away unfortunately. I may have gotten carried away." Venom answered.
"Oh, wait, please don't tell me you killed someone." Spider-man pleaded.
"I didn't, calm down. I just extremely humiliated them. The police are there apprehending them, also mini-you and the feline are there." Venom replied, and then the two of them see Yang and Weiss heads towards the docks. "And now Schnee and the blonde are there."
"I see….."
"You going to talk to them?" Venom asked.
"I think so, if Weiss still doesn't stop then I'm not even going to try anymore. I just hope she is at least going to make an effort." Spider-man responded.
"Just keep trying, you are not the type to give up. The Allen girl turned around thanks to you, if you ignore the break up and the aftermath." Venom told it's host.
"Yeah, never dating a popular girl ever again. Hopefully me and Weiss can still be friends at least." Spider-Man says.
"If she isn't interested you still have the other three. I believe they won't turn on you." Venom told it's host.
"Uh, that's new, your not saying we anymore. You know what I won't pry into that, I'd rather not offend you." Spider-Man joked.
"Just change and go talk to them." Venom grunted. "We just did a bit of thinking ourselves. And no, we won't share what we learned, you have to guess." Venom chuckles.
"I'm going to assume your learning to be a better… person? Alien? Never mind, I just hope you learned something good. Now time to confront them." Spider-Man says as he changes.
The symbiote retracts, allowing Peter to change out of his classic suit.
"I think I need a shower, what did you do all weekend?"
"Stopped crime, saved a person or two. What you usually do."
Spider-Man nods, guess he can still sweat a bit while the symbiote was in suit form, you learn something new everyday.
Once in civilian uniform, and with his camera to the side. Peter headed towards the crime scene, he sees Team RWBY with the monkey faunus from before, standing there as Weiss and Blake made amends, which made Peter smile.
"Look at that, they got a long."
"They did, and I'm happy for them."
Yang then noticed Peter standing there. Calling him out, Yang says, "Hey Peter, where you been?" getting everyone's attention.
"Around, looking for Spider-Man to get more pictures for my quota." Peter answered.
"Oh, before we forget, look in your front pocket, it's for mini-you." Venom instructed.
Peter checks his front pocket, and it was a photo of Spider-Man, in his classic suit, fighting criminals.
"Crapbaskets, I always forget to give one to Ruby. Thanks."
"For the record, you owe us. Chocolate as per usual."
Peter internally nods, he then passes the photo to Ruby and says, "Also I finally remembered to save photo for you Rubes. So please don't pout at me anymore." Peter pleaded.
Ruby squeals in delight. "Thank, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ruby says as she hugs Peter pretty tightly.
"Help, your squishing me again!" Peter said.
"Sorry!"
Once the small interaction ended, Weiss approached Peter, and cleared her throat, getting his attention.
"Pa- Peter." Weiss began, "I would like to apologize for my behavior. I was letting my grudges blind me and it hurt our team. And I would like say thank you for trying to talk some sense into me."
"It's alright, but you don't have to apologize to me. I just want you and Blake to get along ok?" Peter said, getting a nod from the heiress. "That's good, glad to see your trying to be better snow princess."
"Can you please stop."
"Nope, it's fun to annoy you."
Weiss groans as everyone chuckles at the interaction, Peter then faces towards Blake and says, "So…."
"You knew the whole time." Blake says as she crossed her arms."
"Yeah…. I did." Peter began. "Look I'm sorry if me knowing made you uncomfortable, I didn't know how to approach you about that and felt like it was best to keep your secret for your sake. I'm sorry if I made you upset and if there is anything I could do to make it up to you."
"You really don't need to apologize." Blake thought. "How about no jokes for a week." Blake joked.
"Aw man! But I love annoying our friend we all know and tolerate! Ok fine." Peter agreed.
"Wait, are you actually going to do that?"
"I did say anything."
"Crapbaskets! I actually liked seeing you mess with Schnee!"
"Wait I wa-"
"Thank you!" Weiss said with triumph in her voice. "The week starts now, you said anything, you can't take it back!."
Peter sighs, he did this to himself, but he was ok with it.
Everyone chuckles a bit, the team finally reconciling after the events that happened before.
"Yay! Team RWBY plus Peter is back together!" Ruby cheers.
"Yep, an outcast even in the team name." Peter joked.
"I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you." Weiss says as she pointed towards Sun, which gets him to chuckle nervously.
"Hey wait a minute, where's Penny?"
Meanwhile with the hidden android, Penny was in a car, watching from a distance.
"You should know better than to go running around in a strange city."
"I know sir." Penny says, as the car drives away.
The others began to leave, heading back towards Beacon. Looks like things are finally going back to normal with the teens.
/
A woman was in the forest, running with only one arm. She had lost her other arm trying to fight a monster with her teammates.
She was afraid, they were extremely powerful Huntsmen, and yet this monster killed them with ease. They couldn't hurt it, and their aura's were drained by the creature.
"SHREEEEEEEEEEEE"
The woman hid behind a tree, hoping that the creature would run by. After a few moments, she heard loud stomps passing by. She didn't dare to look, she just sat there, trying her best to stay silent and not cry.
After a while, the creature left, the footsteps and hissing subsiding. The woman took out a scroll, and made a call.
"Hello, I have an important message for General Ironwood. My team found out what caused all the Carnage in Vale. It wasn't a human or a faunus. It wasn't even a Grimm. It was some monstrosity."
She then hears a voice on the other end. "Hello there, I received your message. Can you explain what you have found?"
"Yes sir, it wa-" But the woman didn't finish, a red blade made of ooze impaled her mouth, coming from the other side of the tree.
In a matter of seconds, she was pulled through the same hole that was made in the tree, her body being bent in unnatural ways. The only thing that could be heard, were the screams of another victim to the monster. The scream then abruptly stopped, indicating the woman's death.
/
"SREEEEEEEEEE" is all General Ironwood heard from the other end.
This made Ironwood paranoid. Looks like someone finally found what caused the mysterious deaths in Vale, and now they were dead.
"Sir what do you want us to do?" one of his staff asked.
Ironwood thinks for a moment, whatever creature they finally stumbled upon could result in major panic, which would only attract more grimm to Vale.
"Get a ship ready, I'll be heading to Vale much sooner than I thought." Ironwood commanded.
"Yes sir!" the staff member said, following his orders.
Ironwood stood there, thinking about the next course of actions he could take. He would need to be careful, any mistakes could end in disastrous results. Another thing he thought about is if he should talk to Ozpin about this.
Knowing him, Ozpin mostly likely knew something was off as well. For now, he would head to Vale as soon as possible. Thinking about Vale, he looked at an article about the Vigilante that lived in Vale, Spider-Man.
Spider-Man was someone Ironwood didn't exactly like. A person talking the law into his own hands was menace in his eyes. He won't deny, Spider-Man did lower the crime rate by a significant margin, but it also resulted in criminals using more drastic measures in crime fighting.
While Ironwood would go and seek out Spider-Man for questioning, there was another matter he would focus on first.
"Well old friend, guess I'm coming by sooner than I thought."
/