Peter brought Mary Jane to Harry's door.
Bang, bang, bang!
"Harry! Are you there?"
*Click—*
The door opened, and Harry greeted Peter with a wide smile, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Come in—I've been waiting for you!"
Harry stepped aside like a gentleman and invited them in.
Peter and Mary Jane entered without suspicion. As they looked around at the interior, they couldn't help but admire it.
"Harry, you seem to be recovering well."
"Thanks to you, I'm in great shape!" Harry said, exchanging a smile with Peter.
The three of them sat down and quickly fell into conversation, reminiscing about trivial things from the past and the happy moments they had shared.
Whenever the topic turned to the times Peter had been bullied or beaten, Harry would always be the one who stepped in to clean up the mess. He had fought anyone who dared to pick on Peter.
As the conversation reached that point, Peter's eyes filled with nostalgia.
Harry poured each of them a glass of red wine. "Vintage '84—don't just gulp it down."
He teased Peter, and Mary Jane covered her mouth as she laughed, making Peter lower his head shyly.
As Peter and Mary Jane raised their glasses, a strange light flickered in Harry's eyes—at times unbearable, at times cruel. In the end, it settled into something cold and still as he watched them intently.
Mary Jane had just finished her glass when her cheeks flushed instantly. Her lips parted slightly as she murmured, "This wine… it's good…"
Then she collapsed, unconscious.
Peter's expression changed immediately. As he realized something was wrong, his head began to spin and his eyelids grew heavy. No matter how slow he was, he knew something was terribly off.
"Harry… you…" He pointed at Harry with a trembling hand, his words slurring, unable to form a complete sentence.
"What's wrong, Peter—my good friend?" Harry stood up, his expression twisting into something ferocious as he kicked Peter's chair aside.
"You really are my best friend!" Harry grabbed Peter by the collar, his eyes filled with madness. "I stood up for you countless times. I fought those bastards who bullied you. I was there for you when you were at your lowest—I helped you every time you needed it!"
"My father—Norman Osborn—treated you like his own son. He even told me he'd arrange a position for you at Oscorp after you graduated. I was happy about that… I really was."
Harry slammed Peter against the wall and lifted him off the ground.
"But what about you? Did you think we were still best friends when you killed my father?!"
He hurled Peter across the room. Peter crashed through the glass door and slammed onto the floor outside.
Harry stepped on Peter's chest and grabbed him by the throat. "Spider-Man? What a noble name. As disgusting as the name Peter Parker!"
He punched Peter hard, then grabbed a wine bottle from the table, smashed it, and drove the jagged edge toward him.
Fortunately, Peter's enhanced physique allowed him to endure the drugged wine. He weakly twisted his body and barely avoided the strike.
"Harry… listen to me…" Peter staggered to his feet, trying desperately to explain.
"I don't believe you anymore!" Harry kicked him in the stomach, sending the weakened Peter stumbling onto the balcony, nearly tumbling over the edge.
Pressing the advantage, Harry grabbed Peter by the throat again, trying to throw him off.
Peter's face flushed red as he struggled to breathe, glaring at Harry with equal ferocity.
"Just die, Peter. I'll take good care of Mary Jane and Aunt May."
At the mention of those two names, something flickered in Peter's eyes. A faint black substance began to writhe beneath his skin. In an instant, the symbiote burst through, engulfing him completely.
"What the hell?!"
Harry had never seen Venom before and had no idea what a symbiote was. Shock flashed across his face, and his grip loosened instinctively.
*Boom!*
Peter, now consumed by Venom, lashed out with a furious punch, sending Harry flying. He crashed through a wall, which collapsed and buried him beneath the rubble.
"RAAAGH!"
Peter roared like a beast, his white eyes fixed on Harry as he stalked toward him step by step.
He dragged Harry out of the debris and lifted him like a ragdoll. His right hand morphed into a sharp claw, poised to deliver a fatal strike.
*Crash!*
Glass shattered as a golden laser struck Venomized Peter, blasting him off the balcony.
Renzo had arrived.
He had seen Harry attacking Peter on the monitors and rushed over, but he hadn't expected such a chaotic scene.
"What happened here?!"
Harry's elderly butler rushed in as well. Seeing the destruction—and Renzo hovering in the air—he panicked.
"Protect them!" Renzo shouted before shooting out of the room after Peter.
Renzo caught up with him high above the city, contacting Dr. Otto along the way, his focus locked entirely on Peter Parker.
"Damn it!"
Trouble seemed to follow him everywhere.
He sliced through Peter's webline with a laser, grabbed him from behind, and tried to carry him away from the city.
"Stay still!"
Venomized Peter thrashed violently, clawing at Renzo. In the struggle, he accidentally touched the Mind Stone embedded in Renzo's forehead.
A strange sensation surged through Renzo's body. His grip faltered, and both of them plummeted from the sky.
"Ugh…" Renzo clutched his head. Something felt wrong—his system needed recalibration. But Peter gave him no time to recover.
A claw coated in black liquid tore across Renzo's chest, sending him flying. He slammed into the front of a moving truck and crashed onto the sidewalk.
"ROAR!"
Peter had completely lost control. The symbiote now dominated him entirely.
In a flash, Venomized Peter closed the distance, grabbed Renzo's legs, and began slamming him violently into the ground.
The beating continued across multiple streets, nearly one-sided, causing widespread destruction.
*Boom!*
Renzo was hurled onto the Brooklyn Bridge, forcing traffic to screech to a halt. Drivers stared in shock at the monstrous figure crashing down, some thinking it was another drone accident.
"This bastard… doesn't hold back at all…" Renzo muttered as he struggled to his feet.
Venomized Peter landed in front of him again.
"Maybe 'loser' suits you better," Renzo said dryly.
Peter lifted a car and hurled it at him. A flash of laser sliced the vehicle clean in half.
A massive black fist followed, punching straight through Renzo's body.
"—!"
At the same moment, Peter's own body was impaled on a metal railing. Renzo seized the opportunity, grabbing an abandoned vehicle and smashing it down onto Peter, pinning him against the bridge.
"Can you calm down now?!"
Renzo snapped, clearly angered. If not for their relationship, he would have already thrown Peter into the sea, consequences be damned.
Seeing no movement beneath the wreckage, Renzo stepped forward—
A black portal suddenly opened beneath his feet, swallowing him whole.
"Jie jie jie! Peter! Peter Parker!"
Eddie's manic laughter echoed across the bridge. He smashed open a car, dragged out the driver, and bit off his head.
"Human brains taste awful."
His long tongue flicked over his teeth as he stared at Peter's face—so similar to his own—and grinned wildly.
"But Spider-Man's head? That must be delicious."
Eddie lifted the wreckage and grabbed Peter by the throat.
"Heh… Peter Parker. A nobody—unwanted, unloved!" He slammed Peter's head into the bridge and punched him repeatedly.
Then, he tore the symbiote from Peter's body and devoured it.
"RAAAGH!"
Eddie trembled with exhilaration, as if intoxicated by the power.
"Poor Peter Parker…"
His claws hooked into Peter's tattered clothing, barely hanging together after the fight.
Just as Eddie moved to finish him, Renzo returned and struck him, sending him flying off the bridge.
"You actually dumped me in a red-light district?!"
When Renzo had fallen through the portal, he'd landed in the middle of an… intimate scene. If he had a human face, it would've been burning red.
Actually, it already was.
Furious, he fired a barrage of lasers at Eddie, keeping him at bay—like a brutal clash reminiscent of Superman versus Doomsday.
Renzo hurled cars one after another, but Eddie tore them apart effortlessly.
Soon, they clashed head-on.
Eddie punched Renzo in the head, but Renzo didn't budge. Instead, he grabbed Eddie's skull and unleashed the Mind Stone's power point-blank.
Eddie screamed as his already grotesque face twisted even further.
"AAAGH!"
Black runes flickered across his body.
Sensing danger, Renzo tried to retreat—but Eddie grabbed his arms.
"Take this!"
A blast of black magic erupted from Eddie's mouth, striking Renzo directly.
The force was overwhelming. With his arms restrained, Renzo had no way to evade it.
"—!"
He tried to retaliate, but the Mind Stone's power faltered against the dark magic. The sensation was suffocating, like something foul choking him.
*Crack!*
Two mechanical arms suddenly shot up from beneath the bridge, clamping Eddie's jaws shut. The unstable energy exploded inside his mouth, blasting his head apart.
"Otto! Watch out!"
Dr. Otto barely had time to smirk before tendrils burst from Eddie's body and ensnared him. Renzo seized the moment, slicing the tendrils apart with lasers and pulling Otto to safety.
Hovering in midair, Renzo stared at the distorted creature that was no longer truly Venom.
"Where's Peter?"
"I sent him away. He's safe," Otto replied.
Relief washed over Renzo.
"Then we end this—now."
Otto nodded grimly.
Golden energy gathered at Renzo's forehead. With a flash, it shot forward like a divine spear, tearing through the air toward Eddie.
Eddie didn't dodge.
Instead, he raised his hand and traced a circle. A black portal opened, swallowing the blast.
Moments later, a building in the distance exploded and collapsed.
"Bastard!" Renzo snarled, immediately understanding.
"Jie jie jie! Don't blame me—that's your doing!" Eddie taunted.
Enraged, Renzo abandoned ranged attacks and charged into close combat.
They fought across the bridge, into the sea, and back again.
"Ha!" Renzo drove Eddie high into the sky with a powerful strike, then followed with a laser blast that sent him even higher. He surged upward, delivering a crushing punch.
Eddie's symbiote mask flickered, but he grabbed Renzo's cloak, drove his knee into Renzo's abdomen repeatedly, then wrapped the cloak around Renzo's neck, tightening it.
He was trying to strangle him.
A fatal mistake.
Renzo wasn't human—he was a machine, and even the cloak was part of him.
The cloak vanished instantly.
Eddie's grip slipped—and in the next instant, Renzo's fist smashed into his head, launching him skyward.
Below them, a Daily Bugle helicopter hovered, broadcasting the battle live. The reporter inside spoke excitedly, oblivious to the danger above.
*Boom!*
Eddie collided with the rotor. The impact sent him flying—and crippled the helicopter. Smoke began pouring from the engine.
"Ahhh!"
"Help us!"
The reporter dropped her microphone in panic. The cameraman nearly lost his footing. The pilot struggled desperately, trying to steer the failing aircraft away from the city.
Too late.
Whoosh!
Renzo shot through the cabin. In a blink, he emerged holding the reporter at the waist and the cameraman over his shoulder.
The pilot, trembling, still fought to guide the helicopter away from populated areas.
A webline suddenly shot in from afar, wrapping around him and yanking him out just before the crash.
Peter.
He secured the pilot to the bridge, his expression still feral. Then his strength gave out, and he nearly collapsed.
Otto caught him just in time.
"Thank you… Dr. Otto…" Peter said weakly. "I think… I did something… wrong… didn't I…"
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