Chapter 26:
Peter yawned as he began to wake up, he opened his eyes slowly to look around the room. It was still slightly dark, the sun was barley coming up in the horizon, indicating that it was extremely early.
"Huh, I thought I'd wake up late after I stayed up late telling them about taking down Tombie and Silvio." Peter thought as he scratched the side of his head.
He looked at each of the girls, each one of them still sleeping peacefully, smiling as he did so.
"I'm glad to have meet them, I should do something for them as thanks." Peter thought.
"Can you try and think your sappy thoughts more quietly, I'm trying to sleep." Venom demanded.
"And how would I do that? Can't exactly control the volume of my thoughts like I would my voice." Peter deadpanned.
"Sure I can, I do it a lot so you don't hear all of my thoughts." Venom grunts.
"Of course. But still, I really should do something special for them though." Peter said once again.
"Just cook them breakfast or something and let me sleep." Venom grumbles.
"Not a bad idea, oh! I can try and make them wheat cakes, just like Aunt May always did for me." Peter said as he got up quietly, forgetting to put on more clothes as he heads to the kitchen.
"………What have I done."
Peter entered the kitchen and began to grab whatever he needed to make breakfast, or attempt to make it.
"Ok, I got the flour, the butter, molasses, eggs, milk and this other stuff. Now what was the first step?" Peter asked himself.
"Parker, are you sure this is a good idea?" Venom asked, fully aware of Peter's cooking, or lack of, skills.
"I got this, I've seen Aunt May make wheatcakes dozens of times. And didn't you say you were going back to sleep?" Peter responds.
"Remember Thanksgiving? Remember the mess you made?" Venom asked.
"Oh yeah, the same day I fought you and Eddie for the first time, how could I forget." Peter said sarcastically, "Besides, that was different, I was trying to cook multiple things at the same time. I'm just making simple wheat cakes."
"I see you won't let that go, which is understandable. But be honest Parker, when has cooking ever ended up well?" Venom deadpanned.
"Besides Thanksgiving, name one time." Peter replies.
"One time you wanted to make eggs, you burnt the pan. Another, you tried making mac and cheese, you burnt the pasta. And then a few weeks ago, you tried making noodles for everyone. And somehow, you burnt the water!" Venom listed off.
"I said one, and I don't know how to explain the last one, must have been a faulty pot!" Peter tried to defend himself.
"Sure, the POT was faulty."
"Ah, stop bothering me, I'm making wheat cakes, and I will make them without any mistakes." Peter declared.
"Whatever, I won't be surprised if you burn down the dorm." Venom huffed.
And thus, Peter began to make the batter, which ended up a bit thick. He tried to make it smoother by adding more milk, which made it too runny. He then added more flour, and for the most part got it the way he wanted it to be.
But of course, there was batter everywhere.
"Ok, that part's done, now to cook the batter. Wait, was I supposed to heat up the stove first?" Peter asked himself.
"Yes, yes you were. Seriously, why do you suck at cooking?" Venom mocked its host.
"And what does an alien that has only eaten like a wild beast know about cooking? None, no knowledge, now let me cook." Peter retorts.
After heating up the stove and buttering up the pan he was going to use, he placed the batter in huge globs of a circle, too big. And then he first let one side burn, and let the other side be too undercooked on the first batch of wheatcakes.
"Okay, timing was off, no biggie. I'll just make another batch, I have some spare batter left." Peter then tried to make another batch, and to his credit, they were less burned, but still needed to cook a tad bit longer.
Peter decided to try one of them, and while the outside was cooked well, the inside was gooey. "Okay, maybe a little more time, but I almost got it."
"You are almost out of batter, and the kitchen is a mess. Is it still worth it trying again?" Venom asked.
"In my opinion, yes. Let me make a bit more batter first." Peter replied.
Peter made more batter, which in result made an even bigger mess than before. There was practically batter all over the floor and the counter, he even had batter all over his face and shirt. Petter than tried to make a third batch of wheatcakes, and then they got burned.
Despite these failed attempts, Peter was still determined to make breakfast, so he made a fifth batch. He poured the batter on the pan, did his best to time the flips, and successfully made the wheatcakes.
Peter then took one, and bit into it. "Hey! I think I got it, tastes just like Aunt May's too!" Peter cheered.
"Let me try, while I can taste what you can taste, I bet it's blinded by nostalgia. So give it." Venom jabbed at Peter. Peter reluctantly let the Symbiote come out and eat the rest of the wheatcake. After a couple of seconds, Venom says, "Okay, you managed to make a decent pancake."
"First of all, it's a wheatcake. And secondly, decent, please this is good cooking right here." Peter said proudly, the symbiote just giving him an unimpressed expression before retracting back in. "Okay, now to make even more, enough for four growing huntresses and one growing meta with an alien parasite." Peter said as he proceeded to make more, without burning down the kitchen by some miracle.
/
The girls were sleeping, very comfortable in their beds. Just then, Blake started to wake up, being the first to notice a smell coming from the kitchen.
"Huh? What's that smell?" Blake groggily asked as she stretched out her arms. "Hey, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, do you all smell that?" Blake asked as she called out to her teammates.
"Five more minutes please." Ruby groaned, until she smelled it too. "Hey, what is that smell?"
"Smells like, pancakes? Is Ren cooking pancakes?" Yang asked as she got up too.
"No, the smell isn't coming from JNPR's room, it smells like it's coming from our kitchen." Blake said as she sniffed the air again.
"Wait, where's Peter?" Weiss asked, getting everyone's attention towards Peter's hammock. 'Oh no, don't tell me that dolt's cooking!" Weiss complained.
'What's so bad about Peter cooking?" Ruby asked.
"Well, he somehow burnt water while heating it up for noodles Ruby. Weiss pretty much banned him from cooking." Yang reminded her little sister. "No offense to Pete, but he doesn't have any cooking skills."
"Why are we just talking about it when we should stop him! I swear he better not burn down the entire dorm." Weiss shouts as she rushes towards the kitchen, the others following her.
Weiss then opens the door and shouts, 'Okay Peter, you better not hav-" But Weiss stops mid-sentence, the other girls looking at the same thing she was looking at.
What they saw was Peter, still in his sleepwear covered in batter, placing multiple plates of what they thought was pancakes with syrup on the table, one of the plates having more than the others.
"Oh, hey gals, I made us wheatcakes." Peter said as he spotted the girls. The girls then looked towards the stove and counter, and see a huge mess of batter, bowls, and spoons all over the. Seeing that they were looking towards his mess Peter then says, "I'll clean that up, sorry about the mess." Peter chuckles nervously.
"Well, at least you didn't burn down the place." Weiss grumbles.
"Hold on, did you say wheatcakes? Is that what you call pancakes?" Yang asked.
"No, wheatcakes is a slightly different thing, made with wheat if it isn't obvious. It's my aunt's recipe. I made it from memory, thought I cook you guys some as thanks for looking out for me." Peter replied.
"Aw, that's so sweet! You made us your aunt's breakfast, I bet she would be so proud of you." Ruby said, finding this action very endearing. "Can, we eat them?"
"Well duh, that's the whole point of making them. Now if you excuse me, I got to clean myself up first. Go ahead and dig in if you want." Peter said as he left to change his clothes.
The girls then sat down in front of a plate each, Ruby sat down in front of the one with more wheatcakes.
"So, think they taste good? They look perfectly fine as far as I can see." Yang said as she picked up a fork.
"I don't know, they could be undercooked on the inside." Weiss said as she poked a wheatcake with her fork.
"Let's give Peter the benefit of the doubt here, he looked like he worked hard to make us these as thanks. Besides, if he made these like his aunt did for him, then he must have put a lot of love into making these." Blake told the heiress.
Each one of the girls cut a piece of wheatcake with their utensils, and slowly took a bite, Weiss being a bit more reluctantly than the others. After taking the first bite, they were surprised with how good it tasted.
"Whoa! It tastes pretty good!" Ruby said as she started to gobble each wheatcake down.
"Slow down Ruby or you'll choke, but yeah, these tastes pretty good." Yang agreed as she started eating as well.
"I have to say, Peter did well in making these, although it looks like he took a while trying to make these." Blake agreed as well as she started to eat too. "What do you have to say yourself We-"
The other three then look towards the Heiress, who showed that she was really enjoying the breakfast Peter had made for them. Weiss then opened her eyes to look at the three of them staring at her, her face getting a bit red in embarrassment.
'Um, ok, I'll admit, they aren't half bad." Weiss finally spoke.
"Sure, not half bad." Yang said as she smirked at Weiss, the Heiress ignoring her as they all returned to eat their food.
A couple moments Peter came back, full dressed and cleaned. He then walks towards them, noticing Ruby had taken his plate. He just shrugged internally and sat at the empty seat with the last plate of wheatcakes.
"So, what do you all think?" Peter asked as he begun eating, wanting to know their opinions.
"It's great! These wheatcakes taste wonderful!" Ruby cheered, almost finishing her plate.
"Yeah, I think I can see we honestly didn't expect you to make these this morning, or not even burn the kitchen down." Yang admitted.
"I will admit, you burning down the kitchen was the first thing I thought when we smelled this from our bedroom. But I will say these aren't awful." Weiss commented.
"That means she loves them, I can tell she's lying." Venom told Peter, seeing past Weiss's comment.
"Like you do?" Peter jabbed.
"...Never compare me to her, ever again." Venom said in a serious tone, Peter just eye rolling in his mind at the symbiote's response.
"They taste delicious Peter. Although you could learn not to make such a mess though." Blake told the arachnid.
"True, if you guys want, I can make these for you all every morning." Peter said, which got Weiss to perk up a bit.
"You wi- I mean, maybe if you make less of a mess, we might let you do this again." Weiss says, trying to hide her excitement of having this breakfast again.
"Sure, whatever you say snow princess." Peter said as he quickly ate, the others finishing their food as well. Peter then got up and says, "Okay I have a mess to clean, and then I have web shooters to repair." Peter said as he got up and begun to clean up his mess.
"Oh! Don't forget to let me help, I have a bunch of designs and blueprints that could make then even better than before." Ruby said, exited to help Peter with his web-shooters.
"Sure, but you should all get ready for the day, can't exactly go anywhere in your pajamas." Peter pointed out.
"Same could be said about making food in your pajamas." Yang joked, "Come on gals, no peaking Peter."
"Hey! Does it look like I have a death wish, I survived this long I ain't risking it now." Peter quipped.
"No peaking!" Weiss shouts as she pointed a finger at Peter.
"You guys aren't going to let me live it down, dang it Jaune, spilling that secret." Peter mumbles as he continued to clean up.
Peter then heard the symbiote trying to not to laugh out loud for some reason, "What are you laughing at?"
"Irony, pure irony, but I won't tell you exactly why. Just guess." Venom started to laugh, knowing exactly why it was doing so. It knew the girls secret with a pair of binoculars.
"Fine, keep your secrets, besides you might just be messing with me. Why don't you just go eat your chocolate you stashed in my backpack. No scarring the girls." Peter commanded the symbiote to do. "I'll be out there in a moment to get my backpack anyway."
"Fine, I was getting hungry and your liver was looking scrumptious at the moment." Venom said as it left Peter's body to head towards the bedroom.
The Symbiote quickly went inside the backpack and ate a bunch of chocolate bars. It then poked it's head out, looking to see if Peter had returned yet. After a few moments, Peter came out and picked up the backpack, the symbiote jumping onto him and retracting inside his body. Peter looked through his bag, making sure he had his notes for remaking his web-shooters and web formula. At the same time, Ruby came out of the bathroom first, exited to help Peter rebuild the web-shooters.
"I'm ready! I have my notebook rights here! I even have designs for a new suit too!" Ruby shouts with excitement as she grabbed her notebook.
"Can't wait to see them, is it just new designs for equipment or a new suit all together?" Peter asked.
"Both, come on let's go!" Ruby said impatiently.
"Alright, alright." Peter chuckles, he then shouts, "Me and Rubes will be in the science lab re-making my web-shooters! We'll be back later." Peter called out to the others as he and Ruby left.
As they left, the other three came out the bathroom, all ready for the day. "Man, never seen Ruby this excited. Then again, it must be a dream come true for Ruby to work with a superhero." Yang chuckled.
"You know, it is still hard to believe he is a real-life hero, I'm expecting to suddenly wake up from the alarm clock and snap me back to reality sometimes." Weiss says.
"Would you want to?" Yang asked.
"Hm, despite the crazy parts about him, from him being some type of superhuman to him having an alien parasite, no, no I would not." Weiss replied.
"So, you are fine with the whole truth about him?" Blake asked.
"Him being Spider-man and being from another world, yes. The alien no." Weiss answered. "Now if you excuse me, I have some planning to do." Weiss said as she took out a bunch of notebooks from a drawer.
"What type of planning Weiss cream?" Yang asked, getting a deadpanned look from Weiss due to the nickname.
"Studying, thinking of ways to train for the Vytal Festival, and training for Peter." Weiss replied.
"That seems like a good idea." Blake complemented Weiss's planning.
"Why? Pete seems like he does somewhat okay with his powers, besides he has his Spider-sense thing to warn him of danger." Yang said, thinking that Peter was alright when it came from his skills.
"Well for starters, his Spider-sense is the exact reason why I think he needs training. He relies on that warning to danger to fight well. What happens if he isn't able to use it or something bypasses it? He'll be practically helpless." Weiss explained, "So I think doing some real training would benefit him well, he could be an excellent fighter if he learned more than just using his powers."
"I agree, while he does well against the common crook, people like Roman and apparently Cinder could give him trouble since they have more experience. Combine his powers with skillful fighting and he could easily take them down." Blake agreed, her thoughts quickly turning to someone else she knew.
"That logic sound solid. And plus, us training Pete could be practice dealing with big bads as well. If there's a time Pete needs help and the alien goo can't help him, then we'll be there to have his back." Yang said with a thumbs up.
"There is something that I don't understand about that creature." Weiss added, "We all remember the other one, right?"
"Do you need to ask? That thing was just awful, I don't want to say this around Ruby, but that thing gives me nightmares." Yang shuddered
"I think we can all assume that it gave everyone nightmares. But what exactly are you getting at Weiss?" Blake asked.
"Well, it was practically indestructible, it showed no signs of slowing down, nothing was hurting it, not permanently, and recovered from hug blows very quickly. It wasn't until Peter and the parent broke out and slowly broke it down for fire to finally destroy it." Weiss began, "What I don't get is why those the alien does not show similar traits like it's offspring?"
"Well for one, we saw its full potential from Peter's memories, I think in order to be like that is for it to takes it's true form." Yang guessed, "But I feel like not using that form should leave it with more energy to help Pete so I can see what you guys mean."
"Hm..." Blake began to think, why is it that the alien was so inefficient with handling it and Peter's survival, it didn't make sense. Suddenly, Blake remembered something, "Negative emotions."
"Come again?"
"Think about it, back when Peter was unconscious and the alien took control, it itself said it was using its own anger at Peter's decision as fuel to keep going. Not only that, when it was stuck with Peter's brother Eddie, it said that it used their own anger to use that form to torment him."
"That, that makes sense, it did admit to using anger as an effective fuel when it explained to us of its existence." Weiss began to put the pieces together, "But Peter isn't like that, despite everything he is more optimistic, and he doesn't hold any anger or hate in his heart."
"If you ignore the sadness that he carries, then yeah, that makes sense. So, is there a way to make it run on more positive emotions? It could lead to it changing too, dealing with our problem of another potential monster rampage." Yang added.
"But how do we do that? It doesn't seem like it would agree to doing something like that anytime soon." Weiss huffed.
"Peter and Ruby, those two are the more positive of us all. We already know that Peter's own personalities have made some changes to its behavior. Hanging out with those two in the same room with it could lead to a positive outcome. Besides, remember the one thing we can use to negotiate it with?" Blake asked
"Chocolate." all three girls said at the same time.
"It still baffles me how a creature with an anatomy that seems far beyond impossible uses chocolate as a food source." Weiss told them her thoughts.
"Well, better than the alternative." Yang told the heiress, "While I don't like the idea of that alien hanging around Ruby"
"None of us do, not even Peter." Blake said, Weiss nodding in agreement.
"Her and Peter could teach that thing to be a better alien. Besides, as long as Pete's there than I'm willing to give that plan a shot." Yang finished.
"I don't think Peter is leaving any of us alone with it for even a few minutes." Blake told her partner.
"He lets it roam the school's vents. Where it could cause a panic if anybody sees' it." Weiss deadpanned.
"And yet it has stayed hidden from us the entire time, we only found out of its existence because Peter was in danger and needed a way to get back to him. Which that alone gives some form of clue that it's possible to turn it from a monster to a... less scary monster? You get what I mean." Yang told the Weiss.
"Fine, for now let me just plan a training course for Peter, something that all of us can teach him individually." Weiss said as she returned to her notebooks.
Blake and Yang looked at each other and nodded, deciding to do their own tasks they had for the day.
/
Peter and Ruby were deep in their work in making brand new web-shooters. They had used Peter's old designs as the basis to start off with before improving them using Ruby's new designs. Peter had to admit that he was impressed with Ruby's engineering. Then again, he should have known since she built her own weapon. Right now, they were focused on integrating dust within the web shooters, which would allow Peter to shoot out webs with different types of dust suited for any occasion.
At the same time, Ruby would occasionally flip to a page with a design for a new suit for Spider-man, "What about this one Peter, this would look great on you."
Peter took a moment to look at the design, seeing what appeared to be a black suit with a red hood and red cape. "Sorry Rubes, like I said no capes, just not my style. I prefer red and blue."
"But why no capes? Other superheroes wear them." Ruby pouted.
"First of all, I have never seen any other superhero in my life, kind of. And two, I'm not a comic book superhero." Peter said before sneezing, "Excuse me."
"I bet if there were other superheroes in your world then would wear capes too." Ruby responded
"Well, if there were others, maybe they would. But as for me, no capes, besides, I did wear one this one time. It got stuck on everything, which reminds me, how come yours doesn't get stuck or grabbed at all?" Peter asked.
"I know how capes work, and I'm very lucky." Ruby grinned, feeling proud of herself.
"Sometimes I wonder if you two aren't secretly related." Venom grumble.
The Symbiote was outside of Peter's body and was occupying a small fish bowl nearby. Where it got the fish bowl no one knew. The alien lifeform was currently chewing on a few chocolate bars it had been given by Peter.
"Ignore the alien goo, they are just trying to mess with us." Peter said, not bothering with the lifeforms banter.
Ruby just stared at the Symbiote, eyes, filled with curiosity.
"What are you staring at?" The Symbiote asked.
"Are you really just a pile of living goo?" Ruby asked.
"I can confirm, they are a pile of living goo Ruby." Peter answered for the Symbiote, "Why do you ask."
"So no brain, heart, lungs, or anything?" Ruby asked.
"Nope, nothing, hell my teeth and tongue don't technically exist either, I can manipulate my biomass to make them. So yeah, I literally have no organs." Venom replied.
"So if you are really living ooze, how does that work. Everything has a brain or something at least, if not then nothing can actually be alive. So how are you alive?" Ruby asked.
"A question I wish there was an answer to. Seriously, the closest thing that the Symbiote could be like to a living thing would probably be amoeba. But those things have a nucleus at least, which is like a brain for a cell." Peter guessed.
"Does it have a nucleus then?" Ruby asked.
"One, not a thing. Two, I'm right here, I can answer. And three, I just have genetic material, but it isn't all stored in one place, it is my entire biomass." The Symbiote answered.
"Technically, that makes you closer to a virus or something. Because no living organisms is made of only genetic material." Peter jabbed at the alien lifeform.
"I am not a virus! I am an intelligent living being with complex thoughts and somewhat understanding of emotions!" The Symbiote shouts.
"And that's where this confusion comes in. Only organisms that are multicellular and have complex nervous systems can have those traits. But you don't have any of that. Your biology makes no freaking sense." Peter replied.
"Well, your DNA doesn't make sense too! Your genetic structure shouldn't work in the first place too!" The Symbiote retorts.
"I know, I shouldn't exist either, along with other metas." Peter replied.
"What do you mean by that Peter?" Ruby asked.
"Ok, did you take a look at what my DNA looked like back there?" Peter said as he pointed towards the microscope in the back.
"Yeah, all of us did after reading the whiteboard you had here. We originally came in here looking for you." Ruby said, remembering that night.
"And do you remember what my DNA looked like?" Peter asked.
"It looked, strange. Strangely, it looked a bit like spider webbing." Ruby recalled.
"Well, the strands coming off the double helix was the DNA I got from the spider bite. DNA is very delicate, either removing anything or adding more can cause some serious damage. Technically, by how my DNA is structured, my body should be degrading, and I should look like some monstrosity or something."
"But you don't, you seem fine to me!" Ruby said, not wanting Peter to see himself that way.
"Exactly, I'm not just fine, I'm more than fine, I basically evolved. And that's not including radiation." Peter said.
"Radiation? What does radiation have to do with anything?" Ruby asked.
"Parker's blood emits small amounts of radioactive energy. And radiation usually destroys DNA. But instead, not only is Parker perfectly fine with the small traces in his blood, but his blood emits said radiation." The Symbiote answered for Peter.
"Like they said. And don't worry, the radiation in my blood is in very small amounts so you don't have to worry about anything bad happening to you if stay near me. And as long as you wash any of my blood of me thoroughly and not get any inside your own body then you should be fine." Peter added.
"Gross! How would we even get your own blood inside us!" Ruby shouts in slight disgust. "But wait, if radiation does destroy DNA, then how is your blood fine and even making it?"
"I have no idea Rubes, another mystery of myself even I haven't solved. But the answers will come to me one day. How about we finish with my web shooters?" Peter asked, wanting to finish making them.
"Okay." Ruby said, finding the new information about Peter confusing and interesting.
A little while later, Peter and Ruby finally finished the web-shooters. "And done, still needs testing with dust but at least you can shoot your webs now." Ruby said with a smile.
"Thanks for the help Rubes, would have taken me a while by myself. We can fully test the dust later." Peter thanked the team leader. "Say, wanna try them on?"
"Yes! Can I?" Ruby immeasurably jumped up in excitement.
"Yep, here put them on like this." Peter said as he helped Ruby put them on her wrists and began to guide her. "Okay, now stretch your arm forward."
"What do you want to shoot webs at?" Ruby asked.
"Hold on give me a moment." Peter said as he looked around. He then went to grab a sheet of paper and draw target onto it. He then approached the alien Symbiote and placed it on the aliens forehead, "Here, aim for the paper."
"…….This is my life right now." The Symbiote deadpanned, wondering what choices led to this outcome.
Peter then walked back to Ruby and continued to guide her, "Okay, so place these two fingers on the pressure button, and double tap to release. Make sure you double tap if you just want to shoot a web ball."
"Like this?" Ruby said, as she used the web-shooters and successfully shot out a web ball, although it missed and hit the wall instead. "So cool!"
"There you go! Now try and aim, look ahead, lock onto the target in your head, and go!" Peter said, Ruby adjusting her aim as she shot another web ball, which hit the Symbiote's eyes.
"You missed." The Symbiote grumbles.
"Sorry!" Ruby apologized
"Okay, third times the charm, you got this." Peter patted ruby on the shoulder as he encouraged her to try again.
Ruby looked carefully at the target, and aimed. She then shot out one more web ball and successfully hit the piece of paper on top the Symbiote's head.
"I did it! I did it! This is awesome!" Ruby cheered as she jumped up and down multiple times in excitement.
"Good job Ruby, you learn quickly. It took me a while to learn to use them. I had a lot of encounters with power lines." Peter chuckles.
"Swinging in the air must be the best feeling ever though right? I can only imagine flying through the air." Ruby said as she took off the web shooters and gave them back to Peter.
"It's the best feeling ever, the freedom of swinging in the air, feels liberating." Peter told the young Huntress.
"That was after Parker had to get rid of his fear of heights." The Symbiote added, chuckling as it removed the paper of it's head.
"Oh, how did you overcome that fear?" Ruby asked.
"Well, I climbed the tallest building of my home city, and I just, took a leap of faith. I jumped off of it and took a moment to be in the moment before swinging away. It helped me get over my fear and really enjoy swinging around." Peter explained.
"Whoa, that's so crazy but so cool! Although the others might not think so." Ruby told the vigilante.
"Yeah, especially Weiss, she would definitely scold me for that." Peter replied. The Symbiote was about to open its mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Peter who said, "No! I told you already, no!"
"Huh?" Ruby said, confused by this small interaction.
"Don't worry a about it, just some past conversation about Weiss. Symbie here really despises her."
"She sucks!"
"Don't say that, maybe if you gave her a chance you could get along?" Ruby said to the alien.
"I'd rather die!"
"Ignore the alien goo." Peter sighed, "Come on, now that we're down for the day, I wanna see what the others are up to, I'll just make shift a suit for now until I make the official one."
"Aw man, I really wanted you to make one like the ones in my drawings. Hey, think they have any ideas you might like for a new suit?" Ruby asked.
"Hm, you know what, let's ask them. Maybe they got some ideas, I could do with a slight style change in my next suit. But I still want to go with red and blue." Peter responds.
"Let me guess, nothing wrong with the classics?" Ruby giggled.
"Hey, don't did the threads, I like red and blue." Peter said as he put away the tools they were using.
The two of them then tidy up and grab their stuff, the Symbiote quickly going back inside Peter's body. Once done, the both of them left back to the dorm.
/
"We're back! And my web shooters are done thanks to Ruby over here." Peter said as he and Ruby entered the room.
"Yeah, and I even got to use them, it was so cool!" Ruby said with enthusiasm in her voice. "But we both need help from you all with one more thing."
"And what would that be Ruby?" Weiss asked as she looked up from her notebook.
"A new design for a Spider-man suit!" Ruby answered, getting everyone's full attention.
"A new suit? You mean you aren't going to make the same suit again?" Blake asked.
"Not really, more like adding a bit to the suit. I'm still sticking with the good'ol red and blue. I just want to see if you all have any ideas for a few slight changes in design." Peter explained.
"So just to be clear, same color scheme and base design?" Yang asked, Peter nodding in response, "That's a shame, I have a bunch of ideas that would have made you look better."
"Sure, you do." Weiss said, having a good idea what Yang's ideas were, "But it is a shame, a new color would look wonderful on you."
"Let me guess, besides already knowing Ruby wanted me to go with red and black. You would have all said yellow, purple and black, and white?" Peter asked as he pointed at each one of them by their respective colors.
"That obvious?" Blake asked.
"Well, everyone here does have a thing with using colors. My motif is based off the spider that bit me." Peter admitted. "But yeah, no color or huge design changes. Just a couple small changes here and there. Think you all can help me come up with something?"
"Hm, I believe so, girls.." Weiss said, getting a nod from all the others, "Time to go shopping."
"Wait hold on, I said i needed help coming up with something small, why are you all saying go shopping?" Peter asked nervously.
"I believe looking at the latest styles can help us find inspiration for your new suit. When we are done, we will have plenty of ideas to start off with." Weiss explained.
"So, I'll just wait for you all here right, I can get some stuff ready until you get back." Peter said, hoping they wouldn't drag him with them.
"Nah, you're coming with us, besides, we should get you new spare clothes after you tore up your previous ones again, and I need another scarf remember?" Yang said.
"Don't worry, we won't go anywhere inappropriate, just to look at the latest fashion, nothing else." Blake reassured him.
"Although you would like to go to the other sections, wouldn't you?" Weiss asked.
"I can't here you la la la la!" Peter said as he closed his eyes and covered his hears as he tried to get out of this, the Symbiote jumping off as it headed towards the vents.
All the girls drag Peter, taking him with him so they can all find some form of inspiration for Peter's new suit. As Peter tried to hold onto the door as the girls tried to grab him, Peter shouts, "Symbie help, I don't wanna go!"
"You asked for help with your new suit, deal with it, byeeeeeee." The Symbiote said, waving a tendril to say goodbye as they laughed at its host being dragged away.
As Peter was being dragged away against his will, Jaune pokes his head out the door of his team's door. He then looks in time to see Peter be dragged away in the distance.
"Jaune help me!" Peter cried out as he disappeared around the corner.
Jaune just stood there in pure confusion, soon shrugging it off assuming Peter was probably going to do something the girls wanted him to do against his will. Although he was a bit sympathetic, knowing exactly how Peter felt in this situation.
"What was that noise?" Ren asked, poking his head out as well.
"I think Pete might have gotten kidnap by the girls for something, sounded like he didn't want to go." Jaune answered.
"I see, well, I understand his pain." Ren said.
"So do I Ren, so do I." Jaune replied.
/
"Time for some shenanigans." The Symbiote laughed mischievously as it crawled through the vents.
The first thing the Symbiote did was head towards the cafeteria, and eating all the chocolate it could grab. There was more, but it was too risky to continue eating all of it as it senses some staff nearby. Once full of more chocolate, the alien lifeform crawled through the vents to its next destination. Team CRDL's dorm. Looking through the vents, it could see all four boys just lounging around, playing videogames or eating snacks, homework all over the floor.
Seeing as no one would be paying attention, the alien lifeform spit out a small bottle looking vial. It then quickly tossed the bottle to fall out of the vent unnoticed by the ruffians. The bottle hits the floor, the liquid spilling out. A few moments later, the boys sniffed the air and smell something very unpleasant.
"Argh! Ok, who was it this time! Who ripped one out?!" Cardin yelled at his team.
"Hey, it wasn't me! It's probably Russel!" Sky pointed at his teammate.
"Nuh uh! It was probably Dove! He's always eating the weirdest combinations of food!" Russel retorts.
"It's not weird it's art! You all just don't understand my culinary genius! I bet it was you Cardin!" Dove deflected the blame on their leader.
"Oh, I know you didn't just blame me!" Cardin shouted in anger.
And thus, chaos ensued as the boys all began fighting each other. The Symbiote just watched, wishing it had a snack to eat it as it watched this play out.
"Now this is quality entertainment. That's what you all get, vengeance for my pudding!" The Symbiote laughed on the inside as it continued watching.
Eventually, the alien lifeform got bored of watching the fighting and crawled back deeper in the vents. The next destination it had was the staff's break room. Once there, it looked through the vent to see Oobleck there by himself, reading Peter's history book that he had lend to the doctor.
"Psst, psst, caffeinated human."
"Huh? What's that? Who goes there?" Oobleck asked as he looked around the room quickly, eventually finding the vent with the symbiote in it, "Ah! Why if isn't the hidden alien within our walls. What could you possibly be here today?" Oobleck asked non-chilantly.
"One, may I have that chocolate muffin you have there. And two, you finished with Parker's history book?" The Symbiote asked, using a tendril to point towards said objects.
"Why certainly, I assumed this was a chocolate and coffee muffin, but I was mistaken. And here you go, I finished reading a while ago, I was merely reading it again to study Parker's history much more thoroughly." Oobleck replied as it hands the Symbiote the objects, eating the muffin while just stuffing the book in its biomass.
"If I may ask, was there any reason you came to pick up the book yourself?" Oobleck asked.
"Meh, just bored, felt like doing something while Parker and his team go shopping. And I was hungry." The Symbiote answered.
"I see, well, carry one, you shouldn't get caught by the public." Oobleck said as he left the symbiote alone, going to grab another cup of coffee for himself.
"Weirdo, I can understand Parker surviving drinking so much coffee, but how does he survive? Meh, questions for another day, or not." The Symbiote shrugged off, deciding to leave to do something else.
The next and final stop was Team JNPR's room, which meant it was time to steal Nora's chocolate chips, again.
Once it arrived, it looked through the vents, it looked to see the newly formed couple that was Jaune and Pyrrha studying together, both trying hard to not stumble over each other's words. On the other side, was Nora who was balancing a pencil on her nose while Ren did his best to get Nora to study.
"Now, I could go in stealthily like I always did, it's an option. But they all know I exist so I can just go in not needing to keep my existence secret anymore. But then again, that wouldn't be fun." The Symbiote thought to themselves, "You know what, stealth is optional, and I choose the opposite!"
Suddenly, the vent lid pops off, flying to the ground with a thud, getting everyone's attention.
"What was that?" Jaune asked, startled by what just happened.
"Hold on, it appears, the vent lid fell off. Must be faulty screws." Ren assumed, taking a moment to look at the lid before looking up at the vent. "Wait a minute..."
"Boo." The Symbiote said, poking it's head out the vent.
"Ahh!" Jaune screamed, jumping into Pyrrha's arms, "How long have you been in there?"
"No idea, just been roaming my territory." The Symbiote replied, referring to the vents.
"Is there any reason you decided to pay us all a visit?" Pyrrha asked as Jaune got back on his feet.
"I want to play a little game." The Symbiote responded ominously.
"What type of game?" Ren asked cautiuosly.
"Oh! Is it a fun game? Filled with fun activities?" Nora asked.
"Depends, how do you feel about defending a certain item? Say, a bag of chocolate?"
"What?" All four teens asked in unison.
"Chocolate heist!" is all the Symbiote shouts as it plopped itself onto the floor and crawled towards their kitchen.
"Wait a minute, my chocolate chips! Stop that alien goo!" Nora shouts as she chased the alien.
"Well, guess we should help her?" Jaune said nervously, the others sighing as they agreed.
And thus, began a game of all four of the teens chasing a sentient puddle of goo around their dorm. The Symbiote first hoped to the left, dodging an attempted capture by Ren with a small cup. Pyrrha the looked around for anything made of metal, she then spotted a couple empty of cans of soda lying on the floor. She used her semblance to lift said cans and throw them at the alien, which failed to anything as the symbiote kept zig and zagging to dodge them. Suddenly, Nora shouts as she jumped right at the alien lifeform, she missed of course she the Symbiote jumped away.
However, this allowed Jaune to catch the Symbiote, holding the alien in his arms, albeit a little grossed out on how the alien felt to the touch. "Uh, you lose?" Jaune said to the alien.
In response, the Symbiote spit out Peter's history book, hitting Jaune in the face. This caused Jaune to drop the alien, him and the others surprised by this action, along with questions on where the book came from. They only got even more questions as the Symbiote stuffed the book into its biomass, the item suddenly disappearing.
The Symbiote was about to crawl away, but it noticed that it was surrounded by the young team.
"No where to crawl, you are never getting my chocolate chips!" Nora proclaimed, thinking they had won this game.
In response, the symbiote formed a tendril, a hand forming at the tip. The alien then used the hand to form what looked like a peace sign before completely disappearing.
"Holy crap it disappeared, where did it go?!" Jaune asked in confusion.
"So, it can turn invisible, that's an interesting ability." Pyrrha complemented.
"I believe we already saw that ability in Peter's memories, albeit it once in a tree." Ren recalled.
"We must find it! I won't lose another opportunity for chocolate chip pancakes!" Nora shouts, running all over the place in search for the alien intruder.
The teens searched all over the place, looking high and low for where the Symbiote could be. Of course, they couldn't find it anywhere due to the alien using its perfect camouflage to avoid them and head towards a cupboard in the kitchen. The Symbiote laughed to itself as it watched them look everywhere except the kitchen. A few minutes later, all four of then stopped looking, failing to have found it.
"Ok, I give up, I can't find it nowhere." Jaune sighs.
"Keep looking, I won't lose this game!" Nora told her leader, refusing to give up the search.
"Wait a minute, wouldn't the alien have already gotten to the chocolate by now?" Pyrrha pointed out.
Everyone stood there in silence before they all head towards the kitchen. Nora was the first to arrive as she immediately opened the cupboard where she stored her chocolate chips. She and everyone starred at the site of the Symbiote just waiting there, next to an empty plastic bag.
"I win." The Symbiote said with a mischievous grin as it crawled away, back into the vents. "I'll be back next week again for another round!" everyone heard the Symbiote laughed as it disappeared into the vents.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Pete owes me chocolate chip pancakes!"
/
Right now, Peter wished he wasn't here, waiting at a store filled with the latest of fashions popular among his peers. He never really did understand fashion.
"I just wanted a few suggestions for the suit, not a freakin fashion tour or whatever this is." Peter thought to himself as he was sitting on a bench.
Right now, Peter was waiting as the girls were looking at different styles of clothing that they found appealing, What should have just been a small little tour to just get a few ideas eventually turned into a small shopping spree as they looked at some clothing, liked the look, and bought the clothes. And now, Peter was sentenced to holding all their stuff.
"This is karma isn't it, karma for all the mistakes I have ever made throughout my life. Now I'm wishing the explosion did kill me again." Peter though as he had a grumpy expression on his face.
This face of his didn't go unnoticed, Yang had stopped looking around as she looked at Peter. The blonde approached him and said, "Liten up Pete, this is supposed to be fun."
"For the rest of you, not for me. All I asked was for a few suggestions, not for me to catty everyone's stuff on a shopping spree for stylish clothes." Peter deadpanned.
"Don't be like that, besides you're a pretty muscular guy, you should have no problem carrying everything for us." Yang complemented Peter in hopes to lift his spirits.
Embarrassed by what Yang said, Peter replies, "Please don't say that its embarrassing." His face slight red.
"I'm just teasing you, no need to be serious about it." Yang laughed, "But come on, don't tell me none of this is giving you any ideas at all."
"Nope, I don't understand any of this. I always saw fashion as odd and a waste of time." Peter replied.
"I guess you really don't get fashion then." The voice of Weiss said as she approached the two, "Then again, you are a boy so that makes sense."
"That's right! He is a boy!" Yang realized.
"Wow, took you that long to realize, did you think I was a girl?" Peter quipped.
"Is there something wrong with that?" Weiss said as she gave Peter look.
"No ma'am."
"Ahem, like I said, he's a boy. We should be looking in the guy's section of fashion! Come on!" Yang said as she dragged Peter along.
"Huh, that makes sense." Weiss said. She then went and signaled for Ruby and Blake to join them.
The group of five eventually arrived at the fashion section for guys. The four girls then looked towards Peter, Ruby then asks, "Anything look interesting to you?"
Peter looks at the clothing, as he looked at each one, he could only gain a look of confusion on each style. He then says, "Yeah no, not feeling any of this, can we go now?"
"Ugh! It's pointless, you might as well just remake your old suit the way it was before if you don't get any ideas." Weiss groaned.
"I'm sorry! I just don't get this type of stuff, like why does anybody find this appealing?" Peter said as he pointed towards am outfit without sleeves.
"Well to strut our stuff, make us look good. Come to think about it, everything you wear is pretty baggy, you don't show anything at all." Yang said to the vigilante.
"What, like you do?" Peter replied.
"Oh, so you've been checking me out huh?" Yang said as she smirked, biting her lip.
"That is not what I mean at all!" Peter almost shouts.
"And what about Blake, her outfit is pretty tight, and Weiss does show off her legs a bit." Yang continued.
"Yang!" Blake and Weiss shout at the blonde.
"And I have reached my limit! Nope, nope, noppity nope! I am going out to eat, later!" Peter said as he placed the girls' stuff down carefully and left extremely quickly.
"Hey, come back, I was teasing you!" Yang laughed.
'I'm going to go after him, so he doesn't get lost. And I think I'm kind of tired of looking at clothes too." Ruby said as she followed Peter.
"Ok, have fun on your date!" Yang called out to Ruby as she left.
"Yang! Stop!" Ruby pleaded as she left.
Yang just laughed, finding this too funny. She then looked at Weiss and Blake, seeing the looks both of them were giving her, "What?"
"Congratulations, you made it extremely uncomfortable for everyone." Blake told her partner.
"Yes, and something tells me you are trying to give him ideas." Weiss added.
"Oh, come on, it was funny, he wasn't denying anything. Maybe he finds us attractive and is too embarrassed to say anything. Maybe my teasing could give him motivation to shot is shot at one of us huh?" Yang said, getting no response from the two, "So-"
"You are carrying all our stuff for all your teasing." Both girls said in unison.
"Oh phooey."
Back with Ruby, she quickly caught up with Peter and asked, "Hey, can I join you, I'm pretty hungry too."
"Sure, just as long as you don't follow Yang's example back there." Peter responded.
"Don't worry, the last thing I want to do is act like Yang. So, where do you want to eat?" Ruby asked.
'I'm feeling burgers and milkshakes." Peter told the leader.
"Aren't you on a diet?" Ruby reminded him.
"Yeah, and like I said to Yang and Blake, I will not make it easy." Peter joked.
Ruby giggled at Peter's humor, which made them feel better from enduring Yang's teasing. The red duo soon ended up at a section of the small shopping mall that served exactly what Peter wanted to eat. Both teens got their orders, with Peter getting a simple cheeseburger and strawberry milkshake. Ruby on the other hand, got just a basket of fries a chocolate milkshake, and a large chocolate chip cookie.
As they were eating, ruby then asked, "So, you weren't expecting the day to turn out like this right?"
"No, I thought we would all be in our dorm just brainstorming a few ideas a couple changes for my suit, not going out clothes shopping for "Inspiration". What about you, were you having fun like the others" Peter asked in return.
"I mean a bit, I do like some of the clothes, but most of them, well, like you said, reveal a bit too much." Ruby chuckles nervously. "So, is there any reason why you wanted to change the look for your suit?" Ruby asked.
"Well, don't get me wrong, the classic look is alright. But I feel like I have gone through some changes during my time here. My suit is like a representation of who I am, an extension of myself, kind of like how your weapon is an extension of you." Peter explained.
"Oh! Yeah, I get it. You want to change the look a bit to represent yourself here after all the change you went through, that makes sense." Ruby understood, "So, did you get any ideas at all?" Ruby asked.
"Not from this little adventure of ours no, but I do have a few that I've been thinking about for a while now. Not sure if they're good ones though." Peter replied.
"Why don't you show me, maybe all you need is a bit more confidence in yourself. Besides, you made your first suit yourself so maybe your new ideas won't be that bad at all." Ruby asked, curious on what Peter had thought of.
"Um, sure, but t's going to have to wait till we get back alright? Can't risk anybody seeing." Peter told Ruby.
"Okay, let's hurry up and finish so we can go. We also need to find the others, hope Yang has stopped with her weird teasing." Ruby responded.
Peter nodded as they finished their meal, throwing away their trash as they left. They soon meet up with the other three, with Yang carrying all their stuff. Yang tried to convince Peter to hold everything for her, but everyone was still a bit salty about here teasing so they had her to continue to hold everything for them, which made Yang slightly grumpy for a bit. Eventually, the teens arrived back to their dorm, heading inside the room and setting everything they bought to the side.
Peter then went to grab a notebook from a drawer, he then turns to the girls and says, "While I got nothing from the little shopping trip, I do want to show you guys something. It's a combination of prototype designs I had when I first made my suit, and newer ideas I never really bothered completing."
Peter then showed the girls the drawings, they all took a few moments to look at the different options that Peter had thought up on his own. The first one had a larger spider emblem on top of the chest, the top legs spreading out onto his arms, and a few black lines along his legs and feet as well. The second design had the spider emblem covered in white, with white patches found around the hands and feet, and had a slightly deeper shade of blue.
The third designs was a bit like the first design, only it had black instead of blue. There wasn't much to the third one, which made it unappealing to everyone except Ruby for obvious reasons. And finally, the last design had a pure red jumpsuit, with only a blue sleeveless hoodie with a small black spider emblem on it, the only the white lenses on the mask with no web patterns anywhere on the suit.
"I know they don't seem that good, but that's just what my head could even come up with." Peter told them.
"Actually, they don't seem that bad, these seem modest. Although the last one feels less formal and more, how do I say this..." Weiss tried to come up with what to say.
"Makeshift, but personally, looks rad to me." Yang complemented, "Although, this one doesn't fit you at all, to gothy, feels like something Blake would wear."
"I am not a goth, but I agree with Yang. Red and Blue suit you well, so these two designs would suit you well." Blake said as she pointed at the first two designs.
"I was hoping for the third one, but yeah, these two look great. They aren't awful, you did a good job with these Peter." Ruby complemented Peter.
"Thanks, I guess, like I said fashion isn't really something I'm aiming for, it's more about the symbolism. So, which of these two should I go for?" Peter asked the girls.
Suddenly, they all heard something plop out of the vent. The teens look to see the Symbiote approach, they then watch as it formed a head and spit out Peter's history book.
"You're welcome." Is all the Symbiote said as it crawled towards its host and entered his body.
"Uh, thanks I guess." Peter said as he held the book with one hand, small amounts of saliva and black ooze dripping from it. "Hope you stayed out of trouble.
Before anything else could be said, Nora barged into the room and pointed at Peter, "You owe me chocolate chip pancakes!"
"Of course." Weiss groaned, knowing exactly what the alien lifeform did that would make Nora upset.
"Nora!" The voice of Ren called out.
Nora pouted as she left, but not before pointing at Peter one last time and saying, "Pancakes."
"So that just happened." Yang said.
"Anyways, besides the fact I owe Nora because of the Symbiote's shenanigans. What design should I go for?" Peter once again asked.
"Me!"
"You are grounded!"
"Damnit!"
"How about we put it to a vote?" Blake suggested, "The one with the highest vote wins."
"That sounds like a good idea, but maybe we should ask team JNPR for their vote too. Just so we don't end up with a tie." Ruby agreed.
"Sure, let's go ask em." Peter said as he left to team JNPR's dorm, the team wanting their vote as well.
/
"Are they finished?" Ironwood asked.
"Yes sir, the androids have been completed and ready for their first field test." Pietro replied.
In front of the two, was a small group of fifteen androids, which looked like mechanical versions of the web-head himself. Pietro pressed a button, which activated each one, the eyes of each droid turning on as the visors showed red beady eyes on the machines. They were all silver, with the activated eyes being the only source of color on them. They made mechanical noises as the rocket boosters on their feet and back activated, ready to move.
"Excellent, you did well Pietro, when I give you the call, you discreetly send them out to take care of our problem. Until then, take a break and rest." Ironwood told the good doctor as he began to leave.
"Thank you, sir, I'll be awaiting your next order." Pietro said as the general left.
Pietro then looked at the advanced machines he had made for the general. This, this didn't feel right. From what he has heard about the vigilante was nothing but good. And from knowing exactly who the arachnid was, he only felt guilty about making machines to kill who was essentially a child. The only reason he even agreed to make these was the potential alien threat that resided inside the boy. But even then, the only alien threat that appeared was from the one that the general fought and failed to defeat, the red one.
Pietro, deep down, knew that trying to destroy the alien, by killing the child, would essentially be poking a sleeping bear. But he also knew there was no way in talking to the general.
"James, I understand the threat that we need to face. But isn't there any other way to deal with it without harming the boy?"
"I understand your concerns my dear friend, but the threat we are facing at this moment is too grand to just take caution. The only action that ensures the safety of everyone is to destroy the alien, and if that includes killing Peter Parker, then it's a sacrifice we must make. You understand, don't you?"
"I, I do sir, I'll get right on it."
Pietro couldn't help but feel sick from thinking about it. This was someone's child, somewhere out there, is a mother, father, or any other guardian that had raised this boy. And as a father himself, he couldn't bear to take that away from someone. But there was nothing he could do, he had his orders, and he knew that Ironwood had reasons for his decisions, after all it was for the safety of the kingdoms.
But still, he didn't like it.
He wanted to program the machines to only separate the alien from the Peter, but the general had been there to have the machines program to kill them both, believing the alien had compromised the boy. So no, there was nothing he could do.
Pietro turned off the machines, saving their power for when Ironwood orders him to unleash them. As Pietro passed each machine, he stopped and looked at one, starring at it for a few moments.
'No, it's risky, but...maybe." Pietro said to himself.
Alone with his thoughts, fifteen androids, and unbeknownst to him, a ginger haired girl peeking from around the corner, having been kept in the loop, with the directions to keep a close eye on their target, she too, didn't like what Ironwood wanted her father to do.
/
Hey everyone, just wanted to say that I want to know what suit should Peter have from here.
If it isn't obvious the two options are the Marvel Rivals suit, and the PS4 suit.
I might do a coin flip, but if you guys want, I can receive your votes in the PM's and see what I will choose from the number of votes.
Before I go, I wanted to thank some of you for giving me a couple ideas while writing this story.
They can be found as the ones commenting the most on the comments.
I could right the names but I feel lazy rn lol.
Anyways yeah, if you want to vote just send me a PM and I'll read them all to see which gets the most votes.
And if not, the coin flip will decide.
Thank you for reading and peace out, see you next chapter.