Chapter Text
Peter stands alone in the empty apartment, stuck up in his room. He hadn’t allowed himself to process what was outside his door yet. A static image of the apartment the day May-
His phone is ringing. It’s MJ, again. He hadn’t meant to abandon her in the wake of what happened. He didn’t know why she was still calling, showing up at the apartment. Couldn’t she tell he needed space? That he was doing fine? Good, even? With all the work he had done as Spider-Man. The strength this black suit gave him, the endurance, he barely even needed to sleep. And the city needed Spider-Man. Every past roadblock, villain, or gang member that got in his way had been thrown in prison. A stronger, more permanent Spider-Man is what the city needed. If this is what May had to die for, he thinks she would have been proud. Her son was keeping the city safe.
His phone suddenly started playing audio, with a voice that rang through his head. “Good eveee to all the wonderful New Yorkers out there! Now, if anyone has any way to contact a Mr. Spider-Man, could you please let him know that we have a date at the old theatre? He’ll know which one, don’t keep the Masterrr of the Mystic Arts Mysteriooo waiting! Tah tahh Spider-Mannn!”
Peter felt like he was outside his body. He hated mysterio more than the others, the only one that had slipped from his grasp so far. He only seemed to get more difficult the stronger Peter felt, slinking out at the last minute with his illusions. And now he was taunting him. Peter reached at the window and the symbiote leaked out from him, grasping at the window sill and ripping him outside of the apartment, bathing him in his suit as he left.
His swings to the theatre felt fast and violent, lashing his tendrils out and pulling himself more than swinging. Only a few minutes past before he approached the front of the building, hurling himself at the facade while he encased himself in the back ooze.
SMASHH- Spider-Man suddenly appeared on the balcony, moonlight behind him as the destruction of his entrance shook the building.
“MYSTERIO!!” His voice boomed through the empty theatre, pulling himself further in to stand at the edge of the balcony, searching for a sign of life.
“The Spider-Man, ladies and gentlemen!” Mysterio’s voice echoed through the building as Peter watched the audience fill up with illusions cheering, looking back at the stage, Peter saw him, and wasted no time.
He instantly lashed out, throwing himself at the Mysterio on the main stage as the symbiote wrapped around his fist, a hit that would surely kill any normal person that went right through the man. The audience cheered.
“Oh wow! Not the young agile kid you once were! He really is a man now, relying on that strength! Now why don’t you listen before we get violent, hm?” He motioned to the hole in the wall, the audience following their focus on it before looking back.
Peter's head darted around, looking for his voice.
“Now, I don’t loooove what you’ve done with all my friends! It’s been so lonely in your web, why don’t we say hi to some old friends?!” Green smoke flooded the stage, leaking through the floorboards, blinding Peter.
His ankle was suddenly grabbed, flipping him upside down as he was yanked upwards, pulling himself out of the smoke, revealing Doctor Octopus.
“The Spider..” He said quietly, face to upside down spider face, before quickly lobbing him upstage, into the grip of the Rhino. Peter felt the pressure of Rhino’s hands instantly, squirming and wriggling. The audience cheered, Rhino responding as he squeezed. Silently, the suit flew from Peter and wrapped itself around Rhino as well, quickly phasing through his back and legs. Peter felt this. The unreality of this Rhino, the symbiote slid up those illusionary hands and the illusion crumpled into green smoke, letting Peter collapse onto the stage beneath him. The audience booed, their Rhino was gone.
“MYSTERIOO! WHAT DID YOU DO?-” The symbiote threw Peter's booming voice through the room, shaking dust off the balcony. OOo’s and Ahh’s slipped from the audience. Green smoke surrounded Doc Oc, revealing Scorpion, Electro, Vulture, and above them, Mysterio.
“I made some friends! A common goal can be very motivating.” Spider-Man stood up, looking at them and the audience behind them.
“I don’t know, you see what happened to Rhino? He seems pretty fake.” Thwip- Shooting a web at Electro, Spidey launched himself into the air, clinging to the roof. Vulture flung himself after him, flying right up, not stopping as he planned to take Spidey through the roof with him.
Sslinch- Peter’s symbiote lashing out, gripping itself around Vulture's chest as it stops all his momentum. The whirring of the flight mechanisms strained under the strength of the black ooze. He’s right there, Peter can see the fear on this man's face. He feels his grip tighten, the flight suit giving and bending underneath. Vulture starts screaming, and right as he does, poofs into green smoke under Spider-Man's grip. The audience erupts into cheers, as if even they know where it’s going.
Doc Oc, Electro, and Mysterio quickly came up to corner the predator, before losing him in the smoke and darkness. They look for a moment before Spider-Man, flying through the room, tackles Electro, pulling him back to the stage, and flowing the ooze over him. Electricity crackling, firing from the cracks of air he can see before he is encased. One strong squeeze, and he gives into green smoke.
The others don't miss this opportunity, Doc Oc pinning his chest down into the smoke that was Electro. Scorpions tail wrapping around Peter's legs as the two pulled, attempting to split him between them. Peter felt the pressure, felt how little he could move. Then the pulling came. He didn’t know if the symbiote could keep his body together like this, and it certainly didn’t feel like it. That- He hadn’t felt pain like this since they bonded, it was unbearable. He started screaming.
Noise poured out of his mouth as he felt his body being ripped apart, and it only exacerbated the feeling. Like a knife was cutting through every cell in his body, he was shaking, vibrating as the thing that kept him in one piece felt like it was digging a hole inside him.
“AAaaaHHHHHHHHH-” His screams filled and reverberated through the theater, only getting louder with each passing moment until something broke.
Peter felt a moment of freedom as scorpions tail slipped, with only a moment before it regained its iron grip. He knew it was his only chance, and focused every ounce of his body on freeing him. He screamed, feeling his vocal chords crack under the pressure, he felt his whole body lash out.
Peters head was spinning, he didn't feel trapped anymore. He felt- free. His eyes fluttered open and he saw the stage beneath him, his legs covered in his black suit as his hands were bare, his chest too, he, what? He looked around, seeing what he recognized as his suit strewn across the theatre, cutting through each and every illusion. Quickly, he spotted Mysterio. He was frantically attempting something, something Peter knew would not work. Not now.
It all gathered towards him, the black ooze sliding through the space to join Peter again. Building around him, protecting him. There was so much more now, Peter felt taller, stronger. He turned to Mysterio again and without thinking lashed an arm out, wrapping himself around the illusionist as he cowered, looking up at the hero.
“No no no I- Ha. I’m sorry, I no- No.” The ooze that gripped Mysterio slowly slid up the fishbowl, feeling it about to crack under the pressure. “NO! Please I- You don’t know what you’re doing!” The fishbowl cracked, revealing a scared man. Tears pouring from his eyes. “I AM NOT MYSTERIO. PLEASE IT- IT GOT OUT OF MY CONTROL”
Peter felt like he was feeding off of this fear, the desperation from the man under him. He felt his tongue slide out of his mouth, licking up Mysterio’s face, intoxicated by the power he had over him.
The beast whispered to Mysterio, “We don’t care.” And as the suit's mouth opened, the unhinged jaw took Mysterio in, quickly biting his head clean off.
The beast stood, center stage, holding the limp body. It tossed it down, headless where the fishbowl once rested. Leaping back to the top balcony, it left through the hole Peter left in the wall, into the rainy night.
It quickly found a belltower, looking out and over the city. Landing in it, Peter felt himself truly push through for the first time since he was screaming. Did he? Was Mysterio? What happened to him? He reached up to pull his mask off, looking at the dark mask in his hands as he did. What has he become? Did he kill-
“Wee killed him. Yes.”
“We? What do you- who is we?”
“Uss, Peter.” He could feel the voice coming from the mask he held, the eyes begging to be put back on. “We’ve kept you safe. Healthy, strong. You didn’t put all those villains away, we did.” Peter stepped back, bumping his back into the large bell.
“No. No no no. No, I did that. I put them away, I am Spider-Man. I don’t kill.”
“Ohh Peter. You haven’t done anything yourself since May passed.” Peters chest felt like it was caving in, “Noo, we kept you together. We kept Spider-Man alive. Wee saved the city. You neeed us.”
“No!” Peter threw the black mask out into the night, watching as it webbed the belltower and flung itself back, assimilating into the rest of the suit. “NO! No. I- what you’ve done to me. It’s not me. You don’t know me. God- Mj. I’m-”
“NO- PETER– We- We are The Spider. You need us more than you know.” Peter shook his head, pulling his hands up to hold it. What did he let happen? How did he let himself fall? He- He needed his friends. He turned, looking at the bell.
“How much of me is left? What else have you done to me?”
“We didn’t do anything we-” Peter saw the suit slinking up his face, attempting to bury him again. He tried to force it down, and it didn’t listen, wrapping his face until the mask covered him. “We are Peter Parker. Mysterio was in our way-”
“NNooo!” Peter reached and pulled at the mask, he felt it cling on, and ripped it off with all his strength. Piece after piece of black ooze coming off his face until he could see his reflection in the bell, his- His what? That- that was not him.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MEEE” She screamed, ripping at more and more of the suit as she struggled with who she saw. The black ooze was screaming in an alien sound, whining as it was pulled apart, trying desperately to stay with its host.
“We only ever hid it because you-”
“NOOO! YOU HAD NO RIGHT!”
“WE HAD EVERY RIGHT- YOU HATED IT!! AND WHEN MAY-” She screamed, throwing her fist into the bell.
“DON’T SAY HER NAMEE!” She hit it again, harder, causing the bell to chime and sound to vibrate his whole body, the symbiote writhing in reaction. Exactly what She needed. She slammed it again, screaming. “YOU ARE NOT ME-” The symbiote was screaming, begging to stop the sound as Peter pulled it off. She felt a head splitting headache, every cell in her body screaming as the symbiote was being ripped out and off of her.
Her body was overwhelmed with agony, forcing the alien out of her as it pushed through everything to ring in her mind, to plead. “We can give you what you want, what you need. Your body. We can change it.” Peter slammed her whole body against the bell, screaming herself to try and drown out the voice. She doesn’t need Anything. She fell to the ground, energy spent as she grabbed the suit from her chest, pulling it from her. Screaming as her body refused to give in. She felt the ringing of the bell turning her insides to mush, felt her muscles failing. She screamed again, pulling strength from a part of her she didn’t know existed and forced the symbiote off.
She fell onto her back, the cold air biting at her bare chest, legs. Her eyes closed, body shutting down. She knew staying here would kill her, the bell ringing until she died. Somehow, that was okay. She was dying knowing the truth. Having fought for herself.