Arc Four. Chapter Ninety-Nine. The Choice

There was a quiet knock at the door of Gwen's home. "uh, I know you are having a moment but Peter, you need to make a choice." Liv had come over while Peter could see Curt standing nervously at the table, hovering over Gwen.

Peter stood and helped Felicia to her feet, "shouldn't you ask Fel, I mean, if anyone's" but Felicia batted him on the shoulder.

"Peter Parker, don't you fucking dare. Gwen and I are dating but she loves you more than me. I might not like it but shit, I love you more than her so we're even. So no, you are the one," she took a deep breath, "if anyone makes the big decisions it's you. We all know and agree to that, so no, go, please."

"It's not all bad Peter but we, we can save either Gwen, Poison or maybe both but at a cost." Liv was twidling her hands, and glancing over at Curt nervously. Peter knew that there was no good news coming.

"Both, no questions," but Liv shook her head.

"It's not that simple I'm afraid. The anti-venom is killing Poison, who in turn is killing Gwen. If we separate them we save Gwen, but Poison will die. If we cure Poison, the method will probably either kill Gwen outright or leave her crippled, and we can't save Poison separate from Gwen, being unbonded will kill her as well."

Peter frowned but Liv explained, "radiation, Poison will survive but well, you know what radiation will do to Gwen," and Peter nodded.

"And the third?"

"You won't like it."

"I don't care Liv, what's the third?"

"We enhance her, Curt has formula."

Peter growled, "the Lizard formula? So we save her by turning her into the same monster he is?" Peter now knew why Curt was looking apprehensive, it was the one solution they had no control over, and they had no idea what it would do to Gwen.

"The regenerative effects of the formula will cure her Peter, it's just the side effects we don't," and she paused, her eyes misting up, "we can't wait. Please, make a choice."

"Do it. We deal with one problem at a time, if we save one the other will hate us for it, we save both or neither." Peter made up his mind.

"Um, there is something else we can do to maybe stave off the side effects." Liv looked hopeful.

"A blood transfusion, from you to Gwen. Your blood cells have been supported by the symbiote cells. We know the symbiotes you produce see you as a source of power and if you're immune to the anti-venom a transfusion may help Gwen."

Peter shook his head, "I don't care if it's a million to one, hell, if you asked for a kidney to save her I would. A little blood is nothing."

Felicia hugged Peter from behind, "Just Peter? I can, I'm enhanced as well," she asked but Liv shook her head.

"Your symbiote might fight Gwen's dear, plus you're the wrong blood type, we can use Peter's blood as he's a universal donor. We also don't have time to separate out the healing cells, it needs to be a transfusion, and it needs to be now." and Felicia hugged Peter more.

"Right, get her prepped and whatever you need Doc," Peter grinned, "finally playing doctors and nurses again huh?" And Liv laughed,

"be serious dear, but maybe later" and she winked at him.

Liv, Felicia, and Peter made their way to the coffee table, Gwen was still and pale as she lay on it, and Curt wiped her forehead with a damp cloth. He sighed as Peter grabbed a chair, and took off his top. "I don't have to tell you Mr Parker how much this will hurt, but remember, as your own transformation was painful, you did recover." Peter shrugged, he couldn't remember his transformation but as he was at Oscorp one minute and home in bed the next, he hoped Gwen would stay unconscious for it.

Liv wrapped a rubber hose around his arm, and with deft practice inserted the cannula into his arm, into an IV bag where it slowly began to fill, and then into Gwen's neck, securing them with tape. While Peters was hooked into the vein on his arm, Gwen's was on her jugular, the transfusion needing to head to her brain first before her heart.

"We, uh, also need Ms Hardy. You may need to hold her down as she may get violent." Curt warned them, remembering the blood and flesh of his first transformation. He never knew who he had attacked or even if he killed them. Only that he awoke with a fist full of bloody flesh and a coppery taste in his mouth.

Huntress spread herself over Felicia and she stood at the head of the table while Curt prepared the injector gun with a cartridge of the pale blue formula.

"Are you ready?" And Liv nodded letting the blood flow from the drip and then down into Gwen's neck.

Where the new blood met the old, her skin turned a healthy pink colour but soon black veins appeared, "now Curt, now, the blood is reacting too fast."

Curt pushed the injector against the other side of Gwen's neck and as the gun hissed the vial emptied. "Now all we can do is wait".

The quartet waited and watched as Gwen lay motionless on the table, only the shifting of Peter every now and again broke the still silence of the warehouse. MJ was still working on the prep for her movie and they hadn't expected her back for another week.

To Peter, it seemed that Gwen was simply sleeping and he felt a lump in his throat as he remembered the diner. He was tired of this happening. Of them refusing to train more and after this, once Gwen recovered. he needed to get them all into shape and capable of defending themselves properly.

Gwen moaned softly and the group jumped. She groaned once more and twisted on the table, her shoulders rocking back and forth. Slowly a black ooze began to make its way out of her pores, sliding down her body and pooling around her belly button. Curt raised a hand, "wait, it's just the serum working," but he moved away as the ooze formed a terrifying face and it screeched at them.

Liv and Curt reeled back while Peter and Felicia let their own symbskin slip out. Huntress grew her talons and stood, still but coiled, ready to pounce if the symbiote proved hostile.

Free ussss, it hissed.

"Poison?" Peter asked,

freeee ussss, it hissed again, and Venom could tell that this wasn't Gwen's symbiote, he had no idea how a second symbiote had appeared but here it was,

shit, he thought. They didn't have a containment cell or anything suitable to hold a symbiote, and it's not like they could just let it wander the streets of New York.

Liv extended a hand but Venom grabbed her wrist, "it's fine dear, honest. If, if it saves Gwen then anything, for any of you, anything," and after touching her belly the symbiote threw itself onto Livs hand, and small tendrils worked their way up her arm.

Gwen stopped twitching and her colour returned to its healthy pink. Curt checked her pulse as the red and black oily symbiote spawn began to cover Livs body, she quickly removed as much clothing as she could, knowing not to fight the creature but to welcome it.

"She's fine Peter," he said and Venom nodded, knowing he meant Gwen.

Liv suddenly stood in her chair as the symbiote made its way up to her neck and began to latch tendrils over her face. Turning she felt the last of her clothing dissolving under the symbiotes tendrils.

"You," she pointed at Curt "Leave!" and Curt took a step back,

"uh Peter?" And Venom nodded,

"It might get messy doc, you should do as the lady says, this isn't your fight."

At the word fight, Curt blanched. Liv had explained that young symbiotes, newly spawned, could be violent and as he really didn't want to face any of them. Even the Lizard was still shivering in his mind, he grabbed a coat from Peters home and made a quick exit.

The ooze had completely covered Liv, and she stood in front of her chair, the slick oil-like surface of the symbskin glistening, it squirmed and tendrils reached out before pulling back, eyes formed and extra arms and limbs branched out before returning back into the main body once more.

The eyes mimicked Venoms, slick white crescents and the face mask slip into a wide grin, full of razor teeth. "Yes, Yes. We are free!" the skin hardened and began to take on a more matte finish, a deep red colour, like the fresh dripping blood from the needle in Venom's arm.

"We are free from the Poison, we are free from the Gwen," she spoke softly, staring at her hands as each finger elongated and became razors.

Venom crouched into a fighting pose and she stood back stunned, "no, we do not want that, yes, we do not," and he watched as the symbskin oozed and shifted over her. "We want to fight the nice way," and Venom shook his head and stood, holding a hand out to stop Huntress from attacking.

"What do we call you? and is Liv okay?" he asked. The symbskin had finally solidified. Her skin was a deep blood red colour, with a huge black spider motif stretched over the front, arching up and covering her face. It had changed and now, unlike Venoms crescent eye shapes, the black covered her whole face, extending up onto the top of her head and ending in what looked to be two horn shapes.

"We are Ravage, and oh yes, that is what we want with Peter, with Venom, and the Liv wants too." and her symbskin rippled, revealing Liv's naked chest and groin to them, and four arms split from Ravages back, each with a smooth rounded end, "what we want with all the pretties we love."

"No, Ravage, no." Peter knew exactly what she wanted to do, and with three girls and one guy, four was definitely not the magic number. "If you love Gwen then we save her first okay?" and while the limbs retracted back into the symbskin, Ravage was still there,

"We understand, but you owe us, Peter."

"Fine, fine but save Gwen first." Peter really didn't want to do either, fight or fuck right now, not while Gwen was still in danger.

Ravage tutted, "the Gwen is fine, we took the nasty and became it, she's sleeping, but her and the grumpy one will live."

"Grumpy one?"

"She snarled and called us stupid. 'Go away go away' she shouted as we killed her, but it wasn't until you came and made us whole we were forced out."

Peter frowned, "Wait, anti-venom is made from symbiotes?"

"We were, but now we are more. Now we are you and you are us, and we will be good and proper and behave." The skin slowly slid back and Liv was left standing there,

"Oh damn Peter, wow, you never said, oh damn," and Liv ran her hands over her body, "I never, even the harness, oh wow." Liv was buzzing from her symbiote high. She constantly ran her hands over her body, touching the symbskin and feeling it between her fingers, giggling and biting her lip in glee.

"Liv, I know it feels good but you need to rain it in, everything is sensitive right now, please don't get angry."

Liv laughed. "Angry is not what I'm feeling dear, and Ravage is right, you will owe us later. But, let's see how Gwen is doing. Um, where did Curt run off too?"

"Oh, he's still outside, maybe grab some clothes and I'll go get him."

Liv looked down, she was naked and with some concentration and persuasion the normal blue jeans, green sweater, and lab coat she wore wrapped around her, Livs eyes sparkled as she watched Ravage morph into clothes. "oh that is so neat,"