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“Coming through!” Ruby called as she swung past a few pedestrians.
Most of them ducked out of the way, but at least one of them tried to snap a picture of her in all her spider glory.
Come on, that was Ruby’s job!
How else is she gonna pay the bills if someone else starts getting famous taking pictures of Spidergirl?
Crime doesn’t pay and all that, but stopping crime wasn’t exactly a monetarily rewarding job either.
Ah, right, stopping crime. That’s what she was doing. Silly her.
Ruby swung up as high as she could get, before straightening her body and diving down as fast as she could.
One quick web and all that downward force turned into forward momentum, sending her rocketing down the streets.
With a twirl, she dispersed the excess force and landed on the roof of a moving car. The getaway vehicle for a group of armed robbers.
“Guys, come on, it’s my day off,” Ruby complained.
One of the thugs inside rolled down the window to try to get his gun out, but Ruby leaned over and webbed his arm to the car door. The man on the other seat tried to do the same, leaning over so he could get an angle on her.
Her hand was already extended and ready to web him to the root of the car, but then she felt the all too familiar feeling of a web attaching itself to the back of her costume, followed by the whiplash of intense deceleration.
The concrete wall of a skyscraper met Ruby’s back, and she let out an exaggerated, “ouch!” at the impact, getting now properly stuck in the web.
Before her the getaway car was flipped over and into the air, almost barreling down onto the street before getting caught in a series of well placed webs.
Everything had been executed with a precision and grace that Ruby lacked, and only one other webslinger really had.
A figure in white and black landed in front of her with all the elegance of an olympic gymnast. It walked towards Ruby with a perfect posture, keeping its back straight even as it went from walking horizontally to vertically up the wall.
“Hey, Venom,” Ruby greeted awkwardly.
“Spidergirl,” they replied, coldly, “can you tell me what day it is?”
“Uh, Friday?" she tried.
“It’s your day off!” Venom growled, “what did we tell you about sneaking off to save the day like that?”
“That it’s irresponsible, unhealthy, and unsustainable,” Ruby droned off, having heard that lecture more than once, “and that I should be able to trust my partner to share the load.”
“Good,” they nodded. A wide toothy mouth formed on Venom’s mask, like their face had been split in half. They leaned in and a long tongue slid out and licked at Ruby’s face like an affectionate dog, “now promise you’ll trust us to handle things today.”
“I promise,” Ruby sighed.
“Good,” Venom answered, before jumping off and swinging away.
Leaving Ruby still very much attached to the wall.
“Uh, Venom?” she called, “babe? You can let me go now… Venom!?”
The next morning Ruby still felt sore from spending half an hour stuck to a hard wall.
Thankfully even Venom’s webbing dissipates over time, so she didn’t have to stay there all day waiting for the firemen to cut her free.
That would have been embarrassing.
She stretched a few times after getting out of bed, her back making an unpleasant noise in the process, before making her way to the apartment’s kitchen/living room/only room besides the bedroom and the bathroom.
It was there that she found her missing girlfriend… girlfriends?
She wasn’t sure. It had been a couple of months, but she wasn’t fully used to dating two entities sharing a single body. Not like that’s something she could have prepared for.
“Good morning,” she greeted, “someone was up late last night.”
Venom had been laying on the couch, checking their phone, only just now realizing she was there.
All their goopy monster bits had once again retreated inside their body, leaving only the familiar face of Weiss Schnee to greet her. “Oh sorry, we ended up on the other side of the park and had to websling all the way around.”
Right.
Swinging through low hanging trees was a terrible idea, and Ruby had found that out the bad way.
“Hey, as long as you two got enough sleep, it’s fine,” Ruby assured them as she walked over to the kitchen counter to start working on breakfast, “I did miss my cuddles though.”
“We promise we’ll compensate tonight,” Venom replied with a small smile.
“You better,” Ruby joked.
She hummed along to some half remembered song as she began to cook for the two of them. Though the breakfast she made could easily feed four, were it not for the fact that Venom needed to eat for two, and that Ruby had a habit of eating way more than she probably should.
Super powers meant a super metabolism, she guessed.
The entire time Venom stayed silent, just staring intently at their phone.
Even as Ruby served up their food, their eyes never moved from that screen.
“Alright, what’s wrong?” Ruby demanded, crossing her arms.
“What?” They asked, finally looking up at her, “there’s nothing wrong.”
“You haven’t commented on my humming, you haven’t tried to steal any food,” Ruby listed, “it’s obvious something got you down.”
Venom sighed and deflated, before sliding their phone her way.
It showed multiple notifications for unread messages from Winter Schnee. The preview of the latest message read that she would be visiting over the weekend.
“Hey, your sister is coming to town?” Ruby asked, cheerfully.
“Should be here tomorrow,” Venom replied, sounding downright depressed.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” she asked.
“We just… we don’t know if we can lie to her,” they answered, and Ruby finally understood.
“I get that,” she assured them, placing a hand on their shoulder, “lying to dad and Yang, and even you, was really hard on me too. I know it’s difficult to hide this stuff from the people you love, but it’s for their own safety.”
“No, you don’t understand!” They growled, teeth growing sharp and eyes turning fully black, “when you’re with them you’re still Ruby. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone else. How can we look into our sister’s eyes and pretend to be Weiss again?”
Oh , right.
Of course Ruby didn’t understand. She wasn’t the one who had to keep the mask on every moment of her life.
The transformation receded once again, revealing their anguished human face underneath. “Should we tell her?” They whispered.
Ruby was definitely not the person to ask that, considering how this whole symbiote thing started.
“That’s up to you,” she answered, “whatever you decide, I’ll be there with you.”
That did nothing to assuage Venom’s worries.
“What if she hates us?” they worried, “what if she only sees us as a monster?”
“Venom,” Ruby called, holding both of their shoulders and turning them to look her in the eye, “she is your sister, she loves you.”
“No,” they muttered, “she loves Weiss. She doesn’t know us.”
“Hey, I love Weiss too, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love Venom,” Ruby assured, giving their shoulders a little squeeze, “you may be a new person, but there’s still a part of you that is Weiss, but happier, more herself. Your sister has to understand that you love yourself more as Venom than you did as Weiss.”
Venom looked up at her, eyes holding back tears, “thank you, Ruby,” they answered, their voice quiet, “we think… we think we’ll tell her the truth.
“Okay,” Ruby nodded and kissed their forehead, “do you want me there with you for that?”
They seemed to consider that for a moment, before shaking their head, “no. This is something we have to deal with by ourselves.”
“Alright,” she answered with a smile, “now how about we have breakfast before all that food goes cold?”
Ruby had to admit she was a bit nervous.
Okay, more like a lot nervous.
Yeah, she had reassured Venom half a dozen times the previous day, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be worried about their safety. Especially when her sister was with the military, and her boss sure didn’t take too kindly to parahumans.
She still remembers getting shot at by one of Ironwood’s security robots, and she didn't want Venom on the receiving end of that.
So maybe she put on her Spidergirl costume, and maybe she stalked the sisters for a bit to make sure everything was fine.
And maybe she took a web ball to the stomach as soon as Venom realized what she was doing.
Plan B then. Trusting her girlfriend to know what’s best for them, to be able to open up to their sister, and defend themselves if need be. That meant giving them space, and letting herself relax and stop worrying so much.
Oh who was she kidding?
She was pacing around the apartment, checking her phone every five minutes.
At first it felt silly.
Winter was a caring and protective sister. She had loved Weiss with her entire heart, and she would love Venom too. Her loyalties to the general didn’t matter compared to her love for her family.
Then hours went by without a sign, and that nervousness began to take root again. What if Ruby was wrong? What if Venom was at risk? What if Winter saw splitting them apart as protecting her sister?
Crap.
Should she go look for them? Where would she even look? What if Venom came back while she was away?
More and more hours piled on, and Ruby found herself texting them. Just some simple check-ins at first, but the longer she went without an answer the more desperate her texts became.
This was bad. This was really bad.
Night was falling and there was still no sign of Venom.
Then there was a call.
Ruby nearly jumped from the couch when she heard her phone vibrate, stumbling over herself on her way to the counter where she left it.
It was an unknown number. She cursed, furious that some random bot was calling her when Venom could be in danger.
One touch and the call was rejected.
Then it rang again. Same number.
One more touch.
One more call.
Whoever this was they were really desperate to get in contact with… oh no.
In a panic she answered the third call and put her phone to her ear. “Venom!?”
There was a sniffle from the other side, “it’s… Weiss. Winter, she… she split us apart.”
The sounds of heavy marching boots echoed through the hallway of the military base. It was the sound of Winter Schnee keeping up with the brisk pace of her superior officer.
“Any results from the specimen?” General Ironwood asked, not bothering to look her way.
“None yet, sir,” Winter informed him, “it seems its biology is… incomplete without a host body. Besides its susceptibility to certain sound frequencies, our tests have been inconclusive.”
The stern man nodded, taking in the new information, before issuing his new command, “well, what are we waiting for? Set up the sonic disruptors so we can keep it in check, and find it a host body for further testing.”
Straight to the point.
Unfortunately she had thought of this already.
“About that,” she began, “the specimen has refused to bond with any other life forms since it was extracted. We assumed it had a preference for human DNA, but even our volunteers have not been able to bond with it.”
This time Ironwood paused, scratching his beard and he gave this problem further thought, “you mean it has refused every host except your sister?”
Even as Winter tried to contain her reaction, it was impossible to keep her eyes from widening at that thought. He couldn’t be implying what she thought he was.
“Sir… you don’t mean…”
Seeming to notice her internal conflict he placed a hand on her shoulder and reassured her, “I won’t ask you to experiment on your own sister. That thing will have to accept a new host eventually, or let itself starve to death.”
Winter couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped her at that. “Thank you, sir.”
“Now, speaking of Weiss,” he continued, “how is she holding up?”
Weiss.
God, Weiss…
Winter knew this was only the effect of the symbiote on Weiss’s psyche, but it still hurt her to see her little sister look at her with so much anger and hurt in her eyes. The idea that this creature had free reign to manipulate her like this for weeks, if not months, made Winter sick to her stomach.
“Weiss is still shaken from the experience,” Winter admitted, though the general could be spared the details on what that meant, “she had fallen asleep in my office not an hour ago. I should proba–”
She reached for her phone to message her sister, but she found that her pocket was empty.
Had she forgotten her phone somewhere?
No, she always kept track of those things. Besides last time she had looked at her phone she had been in her… office.
“You should probably check in on her,” Ironwood finished for her, granting her leave.
“Yes, sir,” she answered with a nervous nod, before turning to walk at an even faster pace towards her office.
Weiss wouldn’t have done that, right?
She wouldn’t just steal Winter’s phone.
Who would she even call?
But that thing had changed her. It had turned her into something different. Maybe Weiss was still under its influence somehow and was trying to become “ Venom ” again.
Venom.
The symbiote had not been subtle with its intent. Poisoning Weiss’s body and mind, turning her into this creature.
Winter shoved open the door to her office and then slammed it shut behind her.
Weiss looked up at her, Winter’s phone to her ear, eyes wide with surprise.
“I love you! See you soon!” Weiss blurted out, before finishing the call and tossing the phone aside.
“What did you do!?” Winter demanded, stomping up to the desk.
“Calling our– my girlfriend,” Weiss deflected, “why do you care?”
Winter pinched the bridge of her nose, “Weiss, you stole an officer’s phone, and made an unauthorized call from inside a military base. Do you know how much trouble you’d be in if the general was the one barging through that door?”
Weiss just crossed her arms and stepped away, “I don’t know. Can’t be much worse than what you already put me through.”
The resentment in her voice made Winter flinch, her own frustration diminished by her worry for her sister’s health.
“It was for your own good,” Winter argued.
“What!?” Weiss shouted, “to kidnap us? Rip us apart? And then lock me up in your office for hours? How is any of this for my own good?”
“ Us. ” The creature still had its grip on her sister’s mind.
“Weiss, that thing was using you,” Winter insisted, “it was a parasite.”
“I told you, they would never do something like that to me,” Weiss pushed back, “they care about me, they understand me. We were together because we chose to be.”
No.
No, that was absurd.
“That thing is an alien parasite, we have no idea what it could have done to you,” Winter continued, refusing to listen to her sister’s insanity, “how can you be sure this isn’t just that creature messing with your head?”
Weiss stepped forward and stared her in the eye, “because we chose each other. They chose me above anyone else, and I chose to let them in. We were both tired of being abandoned, so we chose to be together.”
Winter had to remind herself that this was just the alien’s influence, even if she didn’t doubt some of this came from Weiss’s true feelings. She had always struggled with loneliness, a struggle Winter had been less than successful at helping her with.
Could she really have been so dejected that she’d rather become a monster than stay alone any longer?
And the symbiote, though it was clearly echoing Weiss’s own feelings to trick her, why did it bother?
Unless the host was able to actively reject the bond, at least at first.
It also came for Weiss instead of anyone else?
Had her emotional turmoil made her an easier prey or perhaps–
“It chose to bond with you,” Winter repeated, “because you were compatible.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Weiss argued, “we understand each other.”
“No, Weiss,” she corrected, “you’re genetically compatible. It doesn’t have a preference for human DNA. It had a preference for yours specifically.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
Winter grabbed her phone and turned back towards the door, “it means I know the perfect test subject.”
The test chamber was a quiet, clean place. The glass that formed this square room was not only bullet proof, but also sound proof, as to keep the creature from escaping and the sonic disruptors from affecting the scientists outside. Meaning that, with the exception of the installed intercom, Winter was truly isolated from the outside world.
“Are you sure about this?” came the general’s voice through the intercom.
Winter knew he wouldn’t be able to hear her, so she simply nodded and stepped forward.
In the center of the chamber sat a metal canister containing the inky black blob that comprised the symbiote’s body. Their studies had shown it had very limited senses when not bonded, so it shouldn’t be able to tell it was a different person approaching it now.
Carefully she opened the canister and spilled its contents onto her hand.
The creature’s body was malleable, and yet far more solid than it first appeared, seeming to be able to tense and flex its body as necessary.
At first it simply hung from Winter’s hand, stretching itself down under its own weight. Then it reacted.
“My matching half.”
The creature began to pull itself up, its main body spreading itself over Winter’s hand and forearm like a glove.
“ I missed you. I was so lonely. ”
Its color began to change from black to white as it continued to climb over her body.
“ How I missed being us. ”
A sense of sadness and longing overwhelmed her, like a wave that swallowed over all of her other emotions.
“ No. No! The halves don’t match! ”
Then there was anger. Bright and burning .
“ What did you do to her? What did you do to Weiss!? ”
Winter fell backwards as the symbiote rippled and screeched. It was a terrible sound, and one Winter didn’t even know it was capable of creating.
The thing formed a large and terrible maw, easily half its body mass turning into sharp teeth.
“What did you do to Weiss?” the creature gurgled as it prepared to bite off Winter’s throat.
Why hadn’t the disruptors gone off? What was the general waiting for?
A whistle blew through the test chamber, and both her and the creature turned to look at its source.
It was… Spidergirl?
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” the masked vigilante said casually, “I was busy chatting up the general.”
She gestured back at the command desk, on which both the general, the scientists, and the armed guards found themselves webbed to.
“Now come here, baby girl,” Spidergirl called, “let’s get you back to your better half.”
What?
No!
What was she doing?
She couldn’t be doing this!
The symbiote did not share in her disbelief. It let go of Winter’s body and bounded over to Spidergirl, fusing itself to her costume with extreme ease.
Before Winter could respond to the shock, the vigilante had already webbed her way out of the room.
No. No!
She couldn’t let her get back to Weiss. She wasn’t going to lose her sister like that again.
She forced herself up to her feet and tripped her way out of the chamber. One look was all she spared to her trapped companions before the general commanded, “go!”
It was all she needed to hear.
Stopping only to grab her side arm, she rushed through the corridors of the base, more and more webbed up soldiers lining the walls.
The doors to the main entrance were flung open, the red forest that surrounded the base spreading out before her.
And Spidergirl ran ahead, getting ready to websling through the trees.
Winter took her shot, twice, but both times the vigilante dodged her bullets without even looking back. Before she could make a third shot, Spidergirl already swung into the woods.
She knew she could not catch up to her, not on foot, but in her desperation she still tried, hanging webs guiding her path.
Her body strained - even with her spectacular physical condition - as she tried to keep pace with the swinging hero. Having to vault over fallen logs and jump over ditches that Spidergirl simply ignored.
By the time Winter had caught up her lungs were burning, her muscles ached, but still she clung to her pistol and forced herself to step forward.
Weiss was waiting for them in a clearing, nervously twitching and pacing around. Winter wanted to approach her, but before she could take another step Spidergirl landed in front of her with her arms spread open.
“Missed us?” she asked.
Crap .
This was her last chance.
Winter had to stop her now before that creature could bond with Weiss again.
She steady her gun, aiming at Spidergirl. Just one shot. It was all she needed.
But if she missed, then Weiss…
Could she risk that?
Winter hesitated, and her chance was gone.
Weiss jumped into Spidergirl’s arms and pulled her into a tight hug.
The symbiote split itself free from the costume, before enveloping Weiss once again. Blacks and reds changed into whites and blues, matching Weiss’s usual aesthetic in a way that almost seemed deliberate.
There was a chuckle, then a laugh, then a cackle .
The creature pushed Spidergirl aside as it laughed louder and louder. Its combined voice echoing the words.
“ We. Are. Venom! ”
“What did you do!?” Winter shouted and stepped into the clearing, any attempts at subterfuge completely thrown aside.
Spidergirl jumped in to keep her away, arms spread protectively. “Wait, wait, wait. Give them a moment.”
Then the laughter died down to a childish giggle. Venom hugged itself, before jumping and twirling in place.
“We’re us again. We’re us again,” they cheered, the symbiote’s form retreating back into Weiss’s body, revealing a face that cried tears of joy, “oh, we missed being us so much.”
“What?” Winter asked, confused.
Weiss- no, the creature - stepped back fear clear in its face. Clear in her sister’s face.
Winter hated having to see her sister look at her like that.
“Hey, how about you let Venom explain themselves a bit?” Spidergirl offered, “they’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now.”
The creature carefully stepped closer, and Spidergirl stepped aside.
“Weiss really meant what she said,” it spoke, “we chose each other. We were alone and hurting and… and we thought maybe we could keep each other company. Keep each other safe.”
No.
No, that was a lie.
It was the symbiote’s manipulation again.
It had to be.
“And you took that away from us. You ripped us apart, forced us to be alone again, tried to trick us,” there was hurt in their eyes, and Winter had to convince herself that it wasn’t real, “but you’re still our sister.”
Her gun shook in her hands.
“When we came to you and told you who we were it was because we wanted to be with you,” it sounded almost pleading as it stepped closer to her, “we didn’t want to lie to you or hide who we were. You are our family, maybe our only real family, and we just wanted you to be able to love us the way you used to.”
That 's right.
The creature had outed itself to her on purpose.
Why would it do that? What could be the motivation for something like that?
Unless it…
“We know we’re not the Weiss you remember,” they continued, opening their arms to her, “but we still want to be your family. If you still want to be ours.”
…unless it was telling the truth.
Tears stung her eyes and her gun slipped from her grip, falling to the leaf covered ground with a thud.
Venom threw themselves at her, arms wrapping in a tight, almost desperate, hug.
“I’m sorry,” Winter whispered, arms slowly moving to hold her sibling, “I’m sorry I put you through all this.”
Venom leaned into the touch and assured her, “it’s okay. We just wanted our sister back.”