Next to no posts from the last chapter, hopefully this one does better 
Okay, gonna say this right now: I do not even come close to living up to the setup I had in the last chapter, so apologies for that right off the bat. I'm more interested in the aftermath since, while Carnage himself is a flat villain, the effects of his direct and indirect actions means the characters can't just go back to 'business as usual' after the arc ends.
Apologies as well for a certain action at the end if you find it BS, but I do try to justify it in the AN.
On a lighter note, I checked the previews for the new Miles Morales comic and it was confirmed that it's not Lana who joins the Sinister 6 but rather her mother Lori. There's just one problem: Lori looks identical to her daughter barring hair color :/ They even gave her the same freaking costume.
Seriously, just look at the covers which feature Lana and the new one with Lori and tell me they're supposed to be 20 years apart.
Be sure to answer the questions at the lower AN if you can It affects the next chapter. I'm actually wondering if you guys want me to to go write for Tangled Webs, Road Back or even Twisted Reflections given that this is the arc end. It's been a while since those got updated.
Chapter 78: Irreversible
Well...this was awkward.
Kate tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and looked to the passenger seat. Spider-Man sat quietly, face pressed against the window without a single word spoken ever since they'd left the apartment. Normally she had to deal with overly chatty passengers rather than the opposite, but right now the stifling quiet made her wish she'd picked up that weirdo in the pink suit and the double katanas again.
She turned the car on the road and clicked her tongue when she she saw the traffic, "Fuck me..." Spider-Man gave her a brief sideways glance before quickly focusing on the light rain outside again. Kate sighed and resisted the urge to slam her head on the horn. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck in a traffic jam with the world's most depressive superhero - and that was before he got his arm cut off.
15 minutes of traffic and mindnumbing silence later and she was ready to tear her hair out, "Come on, what the hell?" She smashed her hand on the horn again; always helped to do her part for the growing noise pollution problem. At this rate it would've been faster if she just walked.
"...Doing that won't help."
"Oh, he speaks! I thought you lost your tongue, too." The joker was in poor taste, but in her experience that got people talking more. Spider-Man raised an eyebrow at her before he quickly pursed his lips and turned away, "Hey, c'mon, no need for the pouty face. I'm just...just say something, would ya? The silent treatment's kinda creepin' me out here." He wasn't talkative even at the best of times, but this was another kind of creepy altogether.
"What do you want me to say?" he asked back, tone clipped, "It's a nice day out? Maybe we should go to the park after the rain lightens up? I'm sure my missing arm, Gwen's breakdown, Lana's head injury and all those people dead in the hospital will be fine. I'm sure we don't have to worry about that crazy murderer still running around probably gutting everyone in a 5 mile radius."
"Hey, I said talk, not forget about everything," she snapped, "I- look, I dunno what you guys saw in that hospital, but you need to-"
"I don't
need to do anything, Bishop. I'm-"
"Acting like an asshole." She turned to a less crowded street and sighed. It'd take longer to get there this way but at least the honking traffic was gone, "Look, I get it, things are fucked right now, but snapping at the people who are trying to help you doesn't solve jack. I just wanna make sure you're alright."
"I'm fine. This ain't the first time I lost an arm, remember?"
Yeah...she definitely did. Except last time they just had to deal with a few ninjas, not someone (or something...) that could singlehandedly take out Gwen, Spider-Man and Striker/Bombshell/Whatever her hero name was all by its lonesome, "...Hey, look, not to be a wet blanket here but maybe Gwen's right? I mean you might not give a fuck, but you
did lose one of your arms. Maybe sit this one out?"
"Not a chance, Bishop. Not after what it did..." He looked down and scowled.
"You talking about Gwen or that little surrogate sister of yours?" She pointedly ignored the glare he gave her. It just made it more obvious, really, "...Look, they'll be fine. Gwen's alright and your sis is gonna recover...I mean this entire thing's fucked right now, but we can push through it. It's what heroes do."
"I'm not a hero..."
"I heard about your retirement, but that really doesn't change much. I mean you're going after that thing right now when you can just sit on your ass, so that's pretty heroic in my book." She rounded the next corner, "And hey, Bombshell's pretty tough. Remember when we got bombed? She pushed me out of the way when she noticed the damn thing and she took more of it than I did. She'll get through this, too."
"...And Gwen? She just lost the kid."
"That I don't know. I don't really get the whole symbiote thing; Janet's notes weren't very clear on that." She punched his uninjured shoulder lightly, "So come on, cheer up. We'll get whatever it is you're looking for at your apartment, we'll take this guy down and then we'll get some tacos while trying not to go insane. Same old, same old."
He looked like he was halfway to replying before his head suddenly snapped up and his eyes narrowed. Kate never got a chance to ask him what was wrong before something landed on the hood of the car.
The first thing she noticed was the pulsating red skin quickly followed by the long, jagged teeth and the oversized tongue licking its lip sync. It looked humanoid, though that might have just been her mind playing tricks on her, "Hold on!" She slammed her foot on the brakes and the thing flew back, slamming against the closest wall with a dull smack, "Shit, what the fuck is that thing?!"
"Looks like the thing at the hospital." He pulled out his pistol and shot the next two that tried to clamber through the cracked window. Kate winced and pulled her head back at the flecks of blood and flesh that hit her face, "Drive!"
"I got it!" She pulled back the stick and slammed her foot in reverse. She could hear them all around her now; dozens of growls and screams coming out of fucking everywhere and grabbing at anyone they could reach. She counted at least two dozen through her window swarming the streets, each of them looking as grotesque as the last, "Shit, where the fuck did they come from?!"
"Don't feel like stopping to ask!" He slammed the butt of the gun at the next one that tried to climb through the side window before shooting it right between its eyes. Once again they were covered in blood and viscera and Kate gagged, "You got anything here that can get these bastards off?"
"Like what? This is a muscle car, not the Starkmobile!" She put her foot on the pedal and did her utter best to ignore the sound of bones breaking under the wheels when she ran over one of the monstrosities. That'd be in her dreams the next couple of days, "Look, just keep quiet and let me drive, yeah? This ain't my first-"
"Look out!"
Monsters she was expected, but a crashing car was another thing entirely. Kate didn't even have time to brace herself before the burning deathtrap collided with the left side of the car forced it upside-down.
The next few seconds were a mix of shattering glass and crunching metal followed by the smell of blood and smoke. Kate blacked out briefly and by the time she woke up again she came face to face with her bloodstained face looking back at her from a cracked mirror, "Ah..." She sucked in a pained breath and looked around painfully, "...Spider-Man, you okay?"
"Just...peachy..." came his weak reply. He looked just as fucked as she felt, but at least he was still conscious, "We need to get out..."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." She fumbled for the seatbelt and fell down onto the roof with a wince, Spider-Man following after her soon after. Yup, those were definitely cuts on her arms. Last time she decided to skip on ballistic cloth sleeves to save a few pennies, "Come on..." She grabbed his shoulder and nudged her head to the cracked windshield, "We gotta crawl outta here. You should be good at that, right?'
"Do you ever stop the dumb jokes?"
"Not till I'm dead." She gave him a weak smirk and kicked at the window. The glass shattered with a single hit and they crawled out,
'Ah, shit, that smarts!' She hissed at the stinging pain that ran up her forearms and bit her tongue to keep from screaming. After this her next costume was covering her from head to toe.
It took a few seconds but they eventually managed to crawl their way out of the wreckage. They were bruised, beaten and bloody, but they were alive. So all in all it could've been worse, "Fuck me..." She looked back at the firebird and grimaced at the burning heap of scrap metal, "Hope the insurance covers that..."
Spider-Man didn't reply. The superpowered vigilante kept himself from falling on his face with his remaining hand and spat out a bloody wad of saliva. His face was covered in cuts and his hair was matted to his head with blood. She didn't need a mirror to figure that she looked the same way.
His head snapped up just before another couple of the monstrosities stalked towards them, "Shit..." Kate looked back at the trunk of the car and grimaced. Her bow was there, but she didn't have time to get it and make a shot; especially not in the condition she was in. Next to her Spider-Man fumbled for his gun only to find his pocket empty. He must've left it back at the car.
The pair of uglies didn't get far. They barely managed two steps before a dark blur passed through them both and they found their heads rolling on the floor with the rest of their body following soon after.
"Wha-"
"You alright?" She blinked up at the figure who offered her a hand. His voice was rough and she couldn't make out his face underneath the patchwork mask, but considering he was talking and not trying to chew her face off she'd take it.
"Yeah, I guess." She accepted the offered hand and looked past him. Their other rescuer - a dark haired teenager with blue streaks in her hair - pulled Spidey up roughly and looked around the area again, "You saved our asses back there, thanks."
"You're not out of the woods yet, girly," the young woman said. Despite the situation she had a faint smile on her face, which was more than a little creepy, "You might wanna get indoors 'fore any more of these bastards decide to continue their buffet plan."
"Wait, we're-"
"We have to go, Bishop." Spider-Man grit his teeth and and pressed a gloved hand to the freshly bleeding stump. It was a miracle he was still conscious given the amount of blood he was losing, "Back to my apartment, remember?"
"Okay, Spidey, I really don't think sticking to plan's the smart play here. Spider-Woman's right - you gotta stay the hell out of this."
"...Spidey?" The masked stranger stared at Spider-Man, his expression unreadable, "...You're Spider-Man? The one on the news?"
"Yeah? What's it to ya?" He spat out another smattering of blood and exhaled deeply.
"...Nothing." He shook his head and turned back to her, "Look, you need to leave. Now."
"I-"
"If you wanna stop that thing then you need to help me," Spider-Man said again.
"Okay, why? What the hell is at your apartment that you think you can stop this?" she snapped back. She'd seen stubborn before, but he was really getting on her damn nerves with this shit, "Just stop with the freaking pronoun game and spit it out!"
"A suppressant. The one for the Lizard serum." He knelt down and picked up the discarded pistol, "Symbiote's made out of serum, or at least it's supposed to. One injection of that'll hurt more than anything else we throw at it."
"That's it? Dude, S.H.I.E.L.D has cabinets full of suppressant! We don't need to go back to your place for that!"
"How much you wanna bet they can even get close to that thing to inject it? I've seen what that thing can do. I could barely get close and I can turn invisible; I ain't holding my breath and hoping the spooks can do any better." He took out a bloody mask from his jacket pocket and draped it over his face clumsily, "Look, help me or don't but I'm still going. You wanna try your luck fighting these new things then you be my guest!"
"...Fuck, fine!" She shut her eyes briefly and picked up her bow and whatever arrows she could salvage, "Let's just do this before I change my mind!"
"Huh, well good luck to that, you two idiots." The dark haired girl rolled her eyes, "Come on, Partner, let's-"
"We're coming with you." His partner gave him an incredulous look and he shook his head, "Look, if the kid's right then he has a way to put down the clown that's leading this circus. Sooner we do that the sooner people stop dying and the sooner you get paid. Win-win, right?"
"If you say so." She sighed and looked to them both, "Lead the way, then."
The streets were chaos and hard to navigate, which wasn't helped by the fact that they were carrying enough injuries between them to gore someone thrice over,
'God damn it.' Kate pulled back the bowstring and ricocheted an arrow against the wall so it impaled one of the monsters in the head before it could jump towards a frozen mother of two, "Get outta here! Hurry!"
"Nice shot." Shadowcat - or at least that's how she introduced herself - whistled lightly.
"Thanks, I've been practicing-"
"Now isn't the time for holding hands, partner." The masked man - MM for short - said. Between the two he was definitely the biggest enigma - acrobatic without a doubt and a crack shot too, but beyond that she had no clue if he had powers like that partner of his, "...Hey, kid, you alright?"
"I'm fine..." Spider-Man leaned against the wall for a couple for a couple of seconds before he quickly pushed himself off. His injuries were getting worse; suppressant or no he wasn't going to stay conscious much longer if they kept going like this, "Just focus on those monsters."
They made it to the apartment eventually and she actually managed to save some of her arrows thanks to their unplanned bodyguards. Spider-Man crashed through the door and stumbled inside, a tiny pug immediately running towards them and wincing when it saw the puddles of blood coming from his master, "Not now, boy..." He staggered past the dog towards what she assumed was his room.
"...Nice place." MM said, looking around the modest furnishings with a soft whistle.
"If you say so." Spider-Man grabbed a board with what looked like a string theory of Murdock's associates and threw it to the ground without a care. Before Kate could ask what the hell he was doing he punched a hand through the wall and pulled out a small box covered with dust, "...Still here. Some good news, at least." He emptied the contents onto a nearby table. A diary, a single suppressant and-
"Why do you have a syringe of lizard serum?"
Spider-Man looked up at her with narrowed eyes and sneered, "I stole it. Hill's been injecting me every week so I decided to keep one for a rainy day...this is one of those days." He gestured to the stump covered in bloodsoaked bandages, "It's the only way I'm gonna be in fighting shape."
"Fuck, I knew you were hiding something!" Kate hissed, "We already have a thousand monsters running around, we don't need another!"
"I'm immune, remember? You've seen me infected before."
"Yeah, I saw the pile of ninjas you left behind if that's what you mean! You inject that thing and you might lose control!"
"Guess it's a good thing you're here, then. You think I'm going insane then put me down."
Before she could argue more he uncapped the syringe and stabbed the needle into his neck. MM"s posture hardened while Shadowcat raised an eyebrow and materialized her claws on her hands again. Kate couldn't do anything but nock and arrow, the tip aimed right between his eyes. She really hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she couldn't afford to be soft here.
Seeing his arm grow back was grotesque, to say the least. Kate pursed her lips and resisted the urge to turn away when the new limb punched through the bandages, the flesh a mix of pale skin and green scales. The rest of his wounds healed just as quickly with the cuts, bruises and gashes disappearing and leaving nothing behind save a few traces of dried blood.
He didn't scream at all. She wondered if that was a good or bad thing.
Kate nearly let the arrow loose when she caught sight of a reptilian right eye through the lens of his mask, but when she blinked his irises were normal again. She could only hope that was just a paranoid delusion on her part.
"...You still alive in there?" Shadowcat asked.
"Rrghh...yeah." His voice sounded rough, but hell he was speaking with actual words so she took that as a good sign, "...Fine." He stood up shakily and grabbed an extra glove from a nearby cabinet, "...Thanks for helping us. We're-"
Whatever heartfelt thank you he planned was interrupted by a sudden beep. Kate pulled out her PDA from her tapped the cracked screen. They really built these things to last, "...Group call?" Almost no one contacted her this way; not since she left S.H.I.E.L.D, at least. She shared a brief look with the three other occupants of the room and quickly accepted the invite.
The holograms took up most of the room. Seeing Gwen on one end was alright enough, but having Director Carter and Captain America on the 2nd line while She-Hulk and Janet shared the 3rd comm was a bit of a surprise.
"Good, you replied." Director Carter's gaze lingered at them, "I expected to see you with Mr. Parker, Bishop, but Shadowcat and our newest operative are a surprise. Not an unpleasant one, though, considering the circumstances."
"Yeah, I'll bet." Shadowcat crossed her arms, "Hell's going on here, Peggy? I thought we stopped Crime Master to prevent this kinda thing?"
"It's a symbiote," Janet answered for her, "It has to be given what we've seen of it. From what I could gather the host somehow managed to spread pieces of it around, create thralls from people and control them like puppets."
"It doesn't matter what made it; no matter what people are dying out there! We need to get out there now!" She-Hulk said.
"I still don't get where it came from..." Gwen muttered, "Jan said that if anyone else tried to use a symbiote they'd die because of the radiation. Someone had to make this thing, right?"
"Presumably so," Director Carter replied, "Right now, however, we have no inkling on who that might be-"
"You're lying."
All eyes with the exception of MM turned to Spider-Man. Even through the mask Kate could practically feel the death glare he was throwing at S.H.I.E.L.D's leader, "...You know where that thing came from. Spill it."
"What are you-"
"...Spider-Man's right." Gwen said, her voice soft, "He...He can tell when someone's lying because of his spider-sense. So that means-"
"Peggy." Captain America gave the other soldier a piercing stare, "Are they right? You know where this monster came from?"
A moment of stifling silence passed before she eventually nodded, "Yes." She took a deep breath and frowned, "A branch of S.H.I.E.L.D used Professor van Dyne's research notes to create a replica of the suit, one that didn't fall under the same weakness of killing the host such as the one Spider-Woman currently has. A few days ago it got loose and it must've found this host now."
The silence that followed was painfully brief. Hearing Gwen's scream that came soon after made her wish it lasted longer, "What the- you made that thing!?" She heard something crack followed by a muffled voice in the background, "What the fuck?! Do you have any idea how people died?! Webster..." She sucked in a strained breath and shook her head, "Fuck..."
"You had no right to use my research like this!" Janet said, her voice equally loud and angry, "I gave you that research as a failsafe, not so you could use it to create living weapons like S.I.L.K planned to do! You-"
"Enough!" Captain America's shout caused all the dissenting voices to stop, "I'm just as shocked as you both, but we need to focus! She-Hulk is right - right now people are dying out there while we argue and point fingers! Once this is all said and done we can pass blame and what we have to do, but at this moment we can't afford to! Everyone shelve your resentment until after this is finished!"
"But-"
"I understand you have no reason to trust me or S.H.I.E.L.D, Spider-Woman, but we honestly didn't intend for the suit to lose all sense and bond with this mass murderer." Director Carter said, "You can condemn me afterwards, but right now you need to listen-"
"Go to hell." Spider-Man scoffed and pocketed his still-lit phone, "You want us to clean up your mess, right? I'm going after that thing but I ain't playing along to your tune, 'Director'. I'm going to make sure there's nothing for you to recover."
"Spider-Man-"
That was as far as she got before Spider-Man disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
This was fucked.
Those three words ran through Gwen's mind on repeat as she swung over the city, her movements sluggish and automatic. S.H.I.E.L.D made the symbiote...all those people dead, Peter and Lana nearly joining the pile and losing Webster - their fault. The director tried to distance themselves, claimed that they planned to use the symbiote for the greater good and all that, but right now it just felt like an excuse.
On one hand she could see it, but on the other hand it just felt like a load of crap. The Director claimed that it was all the host's fault, but some of comments she heard from that 'new operative' she referred to kinda put a damper on the suit being docile like Webster (mostly) was. If this thing was bloodthirsty from the word go then all her excuses were a pile of bullshit.
Her thoughts were cut off when she heard a panicked scream from below. Two of the thralls were inching their way towards a couple of teens, a boy and girl who didn't look a day over 14. Gwen felt a burst of anger and she swung down, smashing the first one through the concrete with her foot, "Get away from them." The tongue-like scarf wrapped itself around the second one's neck and threw it through the wall of the closest building.
"Sp-Spider-Woman!"
She ignored their panicked cries and picked them both up, "Hold on!" She swung them to a nearby high rooftop. It wasn't the best solution, but it was the best she could do to buy them some time, "Stay here and try not to gather attention! Someone will come get you!"
"But-"
The young man's protest was interrupted by another scream. Gwen gave them another warning before she swung to the source. She heard them: dozens of screams in all directions and she couldn't save them all no matter how fast she was. For every young mother with a baby or grandfather with his grandkids she saved she there were two others that she couldn't get to in time.
'Faster, have to be faster!' She dumped the the family of four on the gathering group. She was running out of roof, "Come on, come on..." she tapped the headset she was given and did a mental cheer when someone answered, "This is Spider-Woman, there's a crowd of people gathered in the Beta Hardware building in downtown. They need a pick-up, now!"
"Spider-Woman?" the S.H.I.E.L.D agent asked back, "Uh...orders from Director Carter were to search for the prime symbiote host-"
"And I'm telling you to save these people! Ask Captain America, she'll back me up!" It was a gamble, but fuck it she wasn't going to just let them slide by considering they were at least partly responsible for this entire clusterfuck. Without letting the agent get another word in she cut off the connection and went back to saving as many as she could. She just had to focus on the people she could actually save...
She didn't know how much time passed, but by the time the agents arrived to extract them people had to stick to together to make sure they didn't accidentally fall off the roof. It was uncomfortable, but the web covering she made at the very least ensured that no one would go splat on the ground and none of the thralls could punch through without a fight.
She was about to swing to another part of town before she received another call, "Who is this?"
"Spider-Woman." Captain America...well, she could still trust her, at least. She was definitely as surprised as the rest of them were at this whole symbiote copy thing, "We need to regroup; I'll send the coordinates to your phone."
"What? But there's still people-"
"I understand, but we've found the main spawning point. It's where most of the corruption is spreading from. Don't worry about the people - from what I gathered Spider-Man's group along with a few others are placing them as a priority. We need to-" There was a brief sound of a scuffle before she continued, "Damn it, get over here now! Hurry!"
Gwen took one last glance at the people being gathered into the hovercrafts before she nodded and swung in the direction of the given coordinates, saving anyone along the way. This was a nightmare, but they had to push past it. They didn't and New York was going to turn into that psychotic bastard's playground.
The 'spawning point', such as it was, turned out to be a S.H.I.E.L.D facility that looked like it was overgrown with symbiote biomass. Gwen felt her own suit shifting uncomfortably across her skin and grit her teeth. Being here felt like she was constantly being bombarded by nails on a chalkboard,
'Pull it together, Gwen...' She took one last glance at her PDA and swung over again.
The rest of the group were already there by the time she arrived. She-Hulk picked up one of the bigger thralls and slammed it headfirst through the concrete while Janet shrunk and weaved in-between the groups, shooting electricity at the base of their necks.
Gwen jumped into the middle of the brawl and webbed a charging group of thralls that nearly attacked Kate, "Watch your back, Hawkeye!" She threw the assorted symbiote spawns against the wall and winced slightly at the cracking sound. They were already dead, Janet confirmed it before they even left, but it was still uncomfortable to think about. These were just innocent people who had the misfortune of being turned into these...things.
"Thanks!" Kate nocked another sonic arrow and aimed it at a cluster of thralls. Gwen grimaced when the high pitched noise reached her ears, though it was a small evil compared to having the symbiotes dissipate and leaving the damaged corpses behind, "I'm running out of arrows here, guys...gonna have to start recycling soon."
Cap threw her shield and knocked out three of the thralls in one go, "Focus, everyone!" She recovered the shield and pointed to the facility entrance, "According to the scans the source of the corruption's inside."
"Why don't we just bomb the building?" Kate asked, "Think we're a bit past collateral damage at this point!"
"Scan's show the thing is moving. Bombing the building won't work since the source is underground: we're gonna have to lure it out." The look Cap gave her didn't give her much relief, "This is where you come in, Spider-Woman."
"Wanna be more specific, Cap?"
"Your symbiote, it's responding to the the biomass, isn't it?" Janet asked. Gwen could only give a quick 'yeah' in-between all the thralls charging at her, "It's trying to assimilate you, the same way it absorbs everything else to create these thralls. You're gonna have to go to the entrance and lure it out. From where we can destroy it and cease the production."
Gwen webbed another one to the floor and turned to Janet, "Uh, okay, any idea
how I'm supposed to do that?"
"That's going to be up to you, Gwen..." She enlarged herself to her normal height and panted, "We'll try to buy you as much time as we can, just go!"
'Oh...fuck.' Gwen took a deep breath and swung towards the entrance, the shaking and writhing of the suit growing worse the closer she got. It felt like she was being ripped away again back at that hospital, "Come on..." She smashed half a dozen thralls together and tried to ignore the feeling of abject disgust coursing through her, "Come on, you fucking asshole, get out here!"
A roar came from beneath. She got its attention.
The shaking was subtle at first, but it didn't take long for the earthquake to reach them all. The thralls stopped their attacks and roared, each of them trying to scream over the other. Gwen didn't have much time to contemplate on how horrible the ungodly cacophony was before her spider-sense rang and the ground split open.
The...thing that came out of the underground could best be described as a blob covered by jagged teeth with fat tentacles that served as limbs. Each of the thralls charged towards it and with each of them it assimilated it grew larger and larger, "Wha..." She looked down at her hands and her eyes widened when she saw the suit being drawn to it as well.
Janet zipped past her and fired, causing the blob to scream in its distorted 'voice. Kate followed her lead and fired as many of her arrows as she could at whatever she could aim at, "Missile strike's on the way, but we have to keep it from burrowing again!" Cap shouted.
Ignoring every voice inside her heard telling her otherwise, she jumped high and kicked the thing as hard as she could. She didn't know if the thing could hurt, but it wouldn't stop her from trying, "It's not yours!" She kicked again and forced it back, the blob colliding with the building and cracking the already damaged surface, "You hear me?! It's not yours to take!"
She ripped away chunks of the flesh with her bare hands and crushed them between her fingers. The creature screamed again and again, which only served to make her angrier. He had no idea if this thing was alive but it was killing everyone around it to turn them into monsters. Either way she was going to make it pay.
She was so engrossed in it that she almost missed Cap's next shout.
"Spider-Woman, get back!"
A pair of strong arms wrapped around her mid-section and she was pulled away from the monstrous blob just before she saw missiles in the air, "Hold on, everyone!" She just barely saw Cap and Kate on the amazon's other arm before she jumped, Janet flying after her just as quickly. Gwen's eyes remained trained on the missiles and they stayed there until the rockets made impact.
The explosion that followed was deafening, but the heat that came after was what really drew her attention. Gwen shut her eyes tightly and bit her tongue to keep from screaming. It was just the aftereffects, but it felt like she was being baked inside an oven. Her eyes remained shut until a few more jumps and she felt the cool air hitting her skin again.
When she opened her eyes she was on solid ground again and there was nothing left of where they were fighting but a small crater in the middle of the street, "...Holy shit," Kate mumbled next to her. Gwen could only nod dumbly. She'd seen stuff like that on videogames and internet videos before, but being at ground zero was something else entirely.
"Did...Did we win...?" she choked out.
"...Not quite." Janet wiped her forehead and put her hands on her knees, "There won't be any more thralls made, but the ones loose on the rest of the city are still being controlled by whoever has the symbiote." She shook her head, "If my theory is right then the thralls will only be stopped when the prime symbiote host is destroyed."
As if on cue their PDA's and phones started beeping again. Gwen took it out of the 'pocket' and was immediately met with Cindy's face on the other side, "Okay, I dunno what you guys did, but these guys are going fucking berserk! I mean even more than usual!" An explosion came from behind the other spider hero and she cursed, "I need help r
ight now! They're going to overrun the safezones the police set up!"
"We have our orders, then." Cap looked at each of them in turn. It was clear by her voice that she was exhausted, "Everyone go to the safezones and try to keep them from being overwhelmed. Now that we don't have to deal with a production line we might actually be able to survive their attrition attacks."
"Right-"
"Except you, Spider-Woman." The older woman looked her in the eye, "I want you to find the symbiote host. It's clear by what happened down there that the other symbiote is drawn to you somehow so it's possible that this could work the other way around. Find the host and put and end to his connection to the rest of the thralls. We'll defend the safezones to the best of our abilities till then."
"...You're asking me to kill him, aren't you?"
Cap's eyes narrowed and she nodded, "I know you don't want to, but you've seen the carnage he's done already. If you can find a way to disrupt the thralls without killing him then by all means, but if not then don't hesitate. You know what's at stake. End his life if you have to, Spider-Woman..or else this city's going to crumble."
"God damn it..."
Peter tightened his grip on the motorcycle's handlebars and weaved through the chaotic streets. At the rear-view mirror he caught at least a dozen of the monstrosities, all of them slobbering and eager to get their hands on him. The damn things were idiots; a few bullets thrown their way and they chased after him like dogs to a bone.
Which made it easy to lead them into traps like this.
The white drone flew overhead and bombarded the entirety of the street. Peter grit his teeth and tried to keep the bike balanced, "All of them were caught in the blast," Moon Knight's voice rang in his ear. He allowed himself a small smile and looked back. The streets were on fire and wrecked beyond reasonable repair, but at least those monsters were gone. He'd consider that a win.
"This is too slow!"
"Rrgh..." His right arm spasmed and he slowed the motorcycle down. He knew there'd be consequences for injecting himself with the serum without the suppressant, but knowing didn't make dealing with it any easier. Even now he saw the scales that dotted his arm and the voice at his head grew more and more frequent. Goading him to attack, to maim, to kill.
"Hey, kid, we're regrouping a couple of blocks away," Bullseye said.
"Y-Yeah, I'm coming." He clenched his hand and started up the bike again. This was the best they could do - saving pockets of people and luring away the monsters by turning themselves into bigger targets. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best they could do considering they didn't have the spooks on their side.
The street was mercifully deserted, though that didn't give him much relief, "Hey, kid." Bullseye gave him a mock salute, his smile obviously forced. They'd barely been at this for an hour and it was obvious they were all flagging: Bullseye was favoring one leg, Felica had cuts all over her arms and legs, Castle was covered in blood and viscera and Moon Knight's costume was in absolute tatters.
They couldn't last much longer.
"...What happened to the people?" He dismounted from the bike and a burst of pain ran up his right leg. Lizard serum or no he was starting to feel the pressure.
"They're with DeWolff's squad 5 blocks down..." Castle muttered. The oldest vigilante sat with his back against the wall, his carbine held close in a vice-grip. Considering his injuries he would've have been surprised if he couldn't actually stand up anymore, "I'm not sure how much longer they can last. We're killing as many of them as we can but more keep coming."
"This is a fool's errand." Felicia growled, "We can't save these people. For every one of those monsters we kill a dozen more rise up to take their place. If we keep going like this then we're all going to die."
"Leave if you want to, kitty cat, but we're stayin'." Bullseye crossed his arms and laughed.
"Can it, Bullseye. There's no point in arguing." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to Moon Knight, "Moon Knight, any luck finding the the one who started all this?"
"I've had sightings, but it's difficult to tell one of these creatures from the other. The thralls are extensions of the host's will..." The moon worshiper tapped something else on his gauntlet just before Peter's phone rang, "I've reduced the number to three locations, but they're far apart from one another that you need another way to narrow the area to a singular one."
"Fuck..." Peter looked down at the addresses and scowled. These things weren't even close to being within spitting distance of each other, "Alright, we need to-"
Spider-sense.
He was almost forced on his knees from the intensity of the blare. Turning to the source, a chill ran down his spine when he saw the the horde charging down the street towards them. He counted tens and dozens of them easily, each of them even more manic than they were before. Peter forced himself up and reloaded his guns. Not much ammo left, but he'd make it count.
"We're the last thing between those things and the cops and civs...this gonna be our last stand, kid?"
"Guess we'll see." He tossed one of the pistols towards Bullseye and pulled Castle into a shaky stand. The sharpshooter was a better shot than he could ever hope to be, but he always had a distaste for guns. Hopefully this one time would be the exception, "Everybody either stay here or go to the rooftops. Fight or don't fight...your choice."
He didn't wait for their answer. Instead he took aim and shot as many of the damn things as he could,
'Heads and eyes only.' He reloaded the gun and shot again. Felicia and Moon Knight moved to the rooftops to try and divert some attention, which left him, Bullseye and Castle on the ground. Still, he knew it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.
The horde was on them in a heartbeat. Peter dodged the clumsy swipe of the first monstrosity and shot it point blank. At his side Bullseye and Castle did the same, though in the latter's case the claws swiped through the surface of his body armor instead of missing entirely.
His spider-sense was getting overwhelmed. Peter let out a pained cry when one of the monsters cut through his back,
'God damn it!' He slammed it to the ground with his right hand and crushed its skull like a grape. It was getting harder and harder to keep the Lizard's voice out,
'Die, damn you! Die!' He ripped the jaw off another and ignored the scratch it made to his face. They'd all pay for that.
The horde showed no signs of stopped. Peter was forced on his knees and Bullseye and Castle weren't much better,
"Let me out! I can kill them all!" He clenched his right hand and growled as the scales began to spread,
"You'll die if you don't! You-"
"Get down!"
The bright light that came from overhead was unexpected, but at that very second he embraced it. As soon as the light hit the ground scores of the creatures were blown back. The lightshow was quickly followed by an orange sphere that fell into another thick crowd of the monsters and blew them apart, giving them a much-needed reprieve from the onslaught.
"What the-"
His head tilted up and he was torn between anger, worry and fear when Lana landed next to him with Osborn not far behind. The ex-terrorist was dressed in an all-covering set of high-tech armor and he stood atop a glider, which contrasted rather heavily to Lana who wore a thick jacket and a leather mask that did little to hide the purple bruises on her face or her bloodshot eyes.
"W-What the hell are you doing here...?"
"Saving your ass, looks like!" Lana tried to smile, but she couldn't manage it for more than a second before her face knotted in pain again, "Oh, God, face still feels like I got hit with a sledgehammer."
"You shouldn't be here! You should be-"
"Spider-Man, I don't think now's the time for lectures," Osborn interrupted, "Peter threw a glare his way and the armored prick gestured to the scattered horde, "I met your friend on the way over here. Look, Shadowcat filled me in. You wanna stop this guy? Shadowcat and his partner are trying to lure him to a smelting factory on Carson avenue. Tell Gwen to come with you if you want, but if you really think that suppressant can work then go for it. S.H.I.E.L.D tried to inject him and they failed; maybe you'll have better luck."
He didn't know what to say. A thank you? A curse? In the end he made do with a nod followed by a report to the rest of his teammates, "None of you better get yourselves killed..." His gaze lingered on each them and went to Lana last, "...Lana-"
"Just go, okay? We'll have time for the mushy crap later."
"Right...later."
The factory was thankfully abandoned by the time he got there, though it didn't help his nerves any. Gwen crouched at one of the opposite rooftops, the 'scarf' moving to and fro in a disjointed tune while her eyes shifted from calm to jagged every few seconds. Peter took a deep breath and jumped to the same roof, landing on the hard concrete with an obvious thud. No need to surprise her.
Gwen's head snapped up immediately. At first when their gazes met her eyes calmed, though that was short-lived. Her attention shifted to his right arm and her eyes widened again, the tips of her fingers turning into claws again, "What the...Peter, did you-"
"Surprised you didn't notice it during our conference call." He clenched both hands and kept his gaze leveled. This wasn't the time for making excuses, "We can get into an argument if we live through this."
"I-"
His spider-sense was both a relief and an annoyance, "They're here." He took out the suppressant from his pocket and nodded, "Distract the host and expose any part of his skin. I'll sneak up behind him and stab him with the suppressant. With that down you should be able to to take him down, alright?"
"I...alright. Just be careful, Peter."
"You too, Gwen."
The inside of the factory was overwhelmingly hot, though right now that was a blessing. Peter crouched close to a vat of molten metal and let it slow the temperature build-up that came with his invisibility. It was less than he'd hoped, but he'd make do,
'Come on...' He rolled the syringe between his fingers and kept an eye on the entrance. He only had one shot at this.
He didn't have to wait long. Gwen already stood at the center of the factory and soon enough Shadowcat and her partner phased through the upper walls, "Hope you're ready, Spider-Woman!" she cried.
As soon as she said that warning the metaphorical floodgates opened. The host charged through the gate with a pack of its 'babies' behind it. Peter caught sight of a pale woman dressed in leather who stuck out like a sore thumb in the group, though he didn't pay too much attention to her. The host was the priority.
It wasted no time. With a mad cackle it charged towards Gwen, teeth and claws and tongue bared for all to see, "Hah, I knew this was a party!" She dodged his attack and attached herself to a wall, "I gotta wonder, though, what's with the choice of venue? I mean there's a wide open city out there for us to play around with! What's the point of gettin' all stuck in a hotseat like this?"
Peter tightened his grip on the syringe and let himself fall, weaving in-between the monstrosities as soon as he was stable. Shadowcat and her partner seemed to be handling themselves well enough, though he couldn't help the sudden feeling of suspicion he had when he saw the guy in the trenchcoat fighting. It was way too familiar.
His thoughts were interrupted when Gwen suddenly scratched through the host's mid-back. Shelving any hesitation he ran towards the monster and stabbed the syringe right at what little exposed skin he could get to.
The pained yell that followed was practically music to his ears, "Wh-What the hell did you do?!" The monster's jaw slackened and he looked down at his hands, the red flesh shifting in a chaotic rhythm. Gwen, noticing his momentary distraction, immediately grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the other side of the factory away from his 'children'. It was up to her now.
"Cletus!"
Any thoughts of the next part being easy were quickly dashed when the dame he was with screamed. At first it was just loud, but it quickly turned deafening and the three of them that remained on the lower floor were forced onto the ground. She was either unaware or uncaring that her scream destroyed all the remaining monstrosities around her.
It wasn't just the pain from the loud sound that disoriented him but rather what came afterwards: anger, resentment, hate, spite and whatever negative thing he could think of. Tears ran down his face and it took all his willpower not to scream until his voice grew hoarse.
Everything came to the surface all at once. Memories of being tortured by Cindy's monstrous counterpart, all the abuse he'd taken ever since he got dropped into this madhouse, the futility of putting people in prison when they just escaped...he'd tried his best to keep the negative feelings suppressed, but right now he found it almost impossible to ignore them. It wasn't fair; did he do anything to deserve any of it? Hadn't he tried his best to help people despite everything?
Peter almost managed a stand before Shadowcat's partner tackled him to the ground, hands wrapped around his neck hard enough to choke him, "You don't deserve it!" He raised a hand weakly and tried to say something, but all that came out were strangled gasps, "I lost 5 years! You didn't lose anything and you get to play hero! Do you even care about Aunt May and others?!"
"Wh-What-"
"You're no hero!" He ripped away his mask and Peter saw a faint reflection of his bare face on the other's goggles. His face was bloody and bruised, but that paled in comparison to the scales that ran up the right side of his face and and the yellow slit that made up his right eye, "Look at you! Nothing but a monster! What makes you think you can just put on a mask and steal my life?!"
He finally managed to reach a hand out and he ripped off the other man's mask in turn...and he immediately wished that he'd done anything but.
The face that greeted him was crazed, his eyes bloodshot and his mouth practically frothing in a rage. Still, all the insanity and rage in the world couldn't mask who he was - Spider-Man, the real one, the one who lost his life after 5 years of torture.
The one whose life and memories he stole.
He was 'saved' when Shadowcat slashed his...
Spider-Man's back. Peter choked and held his sore throat with a grimace. The dame was the source of it
, 'Don't die yet...' The two partners were scuffling on the ground, clawing, beating and doing their utter damndest to hurt the other. A bitter, resentful part of him almost wished they did. Then he'd be the only one left between them...
No, not like this...
It took all his willpower to charge the madwoman and tackle her to the ground. Her expression of surprise was brief and it was quickly replaced by a shriek of pain when he brought his fists down her face, "Shut up!" He covered her mouth and nose in a thick net of webbing and continued punching, ignoring the feeble scratches and kicks she gave in response. If he killed her then it'd be all over.
By the time he was finished his gloves were stained completely red and her head barely resembled something that resembled life. Peter scrambled back from the corpse and looked down at his bloodstained hands. He'd killed before: knives, guns...but beating someone to death with his bare hands was something else entirely. He could have blamed it on the serum like that time in the alley, but he would've been lying to himself.
"Kid..."
A hand touched his right shoulder, but it was anything but comforting. Peter looked up and was again face-to-face with...with
him. His cheek and jaws were sporting deep gashes and one eye was swollen shut, though he was recognizable all the same, "...Who are you?"
"I think you know that already..."
He did, but hearing it from the man himself was something else entirely. His partner was still kneeling on the ground, though he couldn't muster in it to worry too much since (somehow) her wounds were either already gone or nearly so, "I guess so..." His head tilted up when he heard Gwen's voice, "...We're not out of danger yet. I...I gotta go see Gwen-"
"It's suicide to follow her-"
"Leave if you want, I'm staying here."
Without waiting for a reply he stood and made his way to the upper levels.
"Don't make me do this!"
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. When she put on the mask she promised herself that she'd never let anyone die, not as long as she had the power to stop it. After what happened with Peter, after she'd gotten careless, she couldn't cross that line again. Dealing with bastards like Murdock had pushed her to her limits but even then she'd kept true to her morals.
Now she wasn't so sure.
"I ain't makin' you do anythin', darlin'! This is all you!" The host chuckled and charged at her again, his momentary lapse in confidence completely forgotten. Gwen leaped back and eyed the morphed handaxe, "Admit it, you wanna be just like me! Killin' whoever you think deserves it and hell, they can't even stop ya! Your a freak like me; ya want to kill and no one can say otherwise!"
"Shut up!" She charged and stabbed him right in the gut with a sharpened tentacle, which earned her a muffle scream of pain, "I'm
nothing like you! You're a fucking murderer! I'm a-"
"A hero? Heh, keep tellin' yourself that!" He sliced off the embedded tentacle and grinned, "I see it in yer eyes, girly. You
love the power the ol' suit gives ya, you love lording it over everyone that you can do things they can only dream of! Ain't no shame in admittin' it!"
She didn't scream this time. Her hands morphed into claws and she sliced his right arm away, earning another scream of pain that he tried to muffle before she slammed him to the ground. He was playing it tough, but the suppressant was giving him hell and he was getting weaker by the second, "I'm giving you one last chance. Give up and I'll make sure you go to prison..." She placed the claws near his eyesockets, "Or else I'll do something I don't want to."
His response was to try and slice her neck open. Gwen dodged the clumsy strike and, before he could stand fully, kicked him hard in his mid-section.
The host fell over the railing and barely managed to hold on with his remaining hand to avoid falling into the vat of molten metal below. Gwen looked down at him and, through his peeling mask, saw the face underneath. The spark of recognition was brief, but it was there.
The serial killer at the hospital. The one who smiled at her and told her he was a fan even while he was butchering an innocent doctor, "You...?" She was too late to stop him from killing then and she was too late now...and yet despite it all, despite Captain America's words and what he did and would continue to do, she was still tempted to pull him up. Spider-Woman -
Gwen Stacy - didn't kill.
...Not until today.
Before she could change her mind she sharpened her hand into a blade and sliced through his wrist. The bastard's eyes widened like he couldn't believe she actually did what she did, but his shock was short. He landed on the molten metal with a loud crash and the screams that followed were louder than everything else she'd ever heard in her life. She wanted to turn away, to cover her ears and pretend it wasn't happening, but she knew she had to finish the job.
She grabbed the cover of the vat and slammed it on top of the container. The mass murderer's screams worsened and he tried in vain to punch through the metal, but she made sure to hold it down. Eventually his screams faded and there was nothing left but the sound of the machinery around her.
It was done. He was dead...it only took seconds.
Gwen stumbled down the walkway briefly before she fell on her knees and cried, her voice coming out in choked sobs. She'd killed someone...a part of her still couldn't accept it and stubbornly pretended it was a dream, that this entire thing was all an entire nightmare. Another part of her couldn't believe how easy it was; a minute ago that bastard was alive and the next there weren't any traces of him or the symbiote.
"Gwen...Gwen!"
A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders tightly and pulled her close. She smelled blood and ash, but right now she didn't care. His presence was far better than dealing with it alone, "I...I killed him...I killed him..." This shouldn't have felt so wrong. She didn't have a choice - even Captain America told her it was the the right option - but it did little to sooth her nerves.
"I know...I know..." Peter tightened the embrace and nodded, "Gwen...you saved everyone...you saved the city...it's alright."
She saved the city - all those people alive because that monster was dead...so why did it feel so bitter? She took a deep breath and reached for his right hand hesitantly, "Stay with me...please."
He held onto her hand and didn't answer. It was good enough for her.
Yeah...warning right now: the next chapter is gonna be angsty as shit. I mean Gwen just killed someone and Peter just found out what the deal was with Spider-Man, so they've got very little to be cheerful about. I'm still deciding on who's going to be the primary POV character (I'll switch around, but I want a main), especially since both of their problems are rather glaring.
Anyway, sorry if Gwen's decision seems massively OOC, but honestly Carnage is a no-win situation - this dude is too strong to be properly contained and heroes always sparing him never fails as them coming across as weak-willed, 2-dimensional moralists who care more about their own values than the people they try to protect. Here Gwen chose to kill to protect all the people she saved since the life of even one innocent person is not worth sparing Kasady.
The ending with Noir was also a tad different. Originally he wasn't supposed to find out that Spider-Man was the original and he assumed that he was just one of Teresa's spider society friends. Here Shriek's madness scream caused them to expose their innermost negative feelings and so he was outed pretty easily. This changes things pretty massively since he wasn't supposed to find out till way later.
Oh, and a last apology for the lacking 'oomph' of the city-wide arc. It was still pretty Gwen and Noir focused. Like I said I care more about the aftermath of this, especially since Carnage's killing spree is going to breed a lot of problems for metahumans unless SHIELD does damage control. That and Gwen's idealism and faith in SHIELD is massively shaken because of what they did with Carnage.
Questions:
1. I have three people who Noir can talk to apart from Gwen in the next chapter and I want you guys to decide which one: Teresa Parker, George Stacy or Harry Osborn. Each person has a different focus - Teresa talks about the mystical BS and Noir asking if she knows who he really is; George Stacy focuses on the aftermath trauma of Gwen killing someone along with George directly asking just what exactly is between Noir and Gwen and if he wants to stay in Earth-65; and Harry's is about the whole 65-Peter thing and just how separate Noir and he are.
Pick your poison, I guess.
2. Are the character relationships easy enough to buy? I don't mean characters like Felicia or Moon Knight who don't care about Noir and just wanna use him, but rather the actual intimate relationships. The timeframe of the story is extremely short - For example Noir only knew Gwen for 4 months, he knew Lana for 2 etc etc and yet the story portrays them as weirdly close despite such a short timeframe. Is this reasonable for everyone?
