Arc One. Chapter Two. Changes

He stared at the permission slip in his hand, Aunt May had already signed it and as he handed it over to the guard they gave it a quick scan and then handed it back.

Peter Parker, Age 18.

Senior Year Photography Project.

Document and Photograph Work Placement for Oscorp.

Was printed on the guest pass and, having clipped it to the lanyard, hung it around his neck. Peter stood waiting with the rest, taking quick snaps of the building. He'd been handed an Oscorp camera and had to hand it back at the end of the tour. Once they had scoured and verified that he hadn't taken a picture of anything secret, it would be downloaded onto a memory card and sent to the school.

It was fascinating being in Oscorp, Harry had told Peter a few times what the place was like and Peter had been promised a tour by Harry's dad, Norman, for years now. This time, with school pass in hand and camera strapped to his neck, he was seeing the working bustling lab that was the beating heart of Oscorp.

Sure, Peter had to follow Gwen and Flash around as the suck-ups and sycophants pointed and made fun of the "nerds" but he didn't care. Flash's parents were on the board and Gwen had been interned here for the past year already. She was smart, plus Flash had been trying to get into her pants forever. Peter often wondered if part of Flash's imagined slight against him was his friendship with the three most popular girls in the school. MJ, Gwen, and then Felicia, his co-chair on the Math team.

It was tough, watching someone dumber than a pet rock, slide into a job and a life Peter would have killed to get, but he couldn't, he wouldn't feel sorry for himself. He had the best grades in class, even higher than Gwens and even if Harry talked a lot of hot air, Peter knew he was trying to get him an in with his Dad.

As the first part of the tour wound down they were headed towards the food court at the bottom of the building again. Flash and the rest of the football team, unimpressed by the science, sat on the tables and laughed at the passersby, even they could recognise the boss's son and gave them a wide berth.

Peter was enjoying his lunch, a bottle of apple juice and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, made and packed by May when he felt the splash and heard the laughter. Flash had launched a soda at him, shouting "oops!" While he and his cronies laughed, Peter was soaked. Pouring the dark sticky liquid from his lunch box, wiping himself down as best he could, Peter swore under his breath and headed towards the toilets to clean off.

He swore at the mirror in the bathroom, knowing he only had 6 more months of Flash's bullshit before he was free. He had his own life after school planned and Flash wasn't a part of that, even if he had to take a lesser internship at Hammer Industries to avoid him. He had no hope of one at Stark Industries, people from all over the world gave up well-paying jobs just to work there, a high school kid had no chance.

As he mopped the soda from his clothes and washed his face, he never noticed the thin web dangling above him, and the faint tickle at the back of his neck as the strangely coloured bright red and blue spider landed on him. As he straightened up he felt something on the back of his neck and as he brought a hand up to find out what it was, he felt a sharp pain where he felt the itch. Gasping for air as the sudden electric jolt shot through him, he crumpled to one knee, finding his legs going weak and all feeling going from his hands. Struggling to stand he feebly reached out towards the door, hoping, praying someone would hear his attempted cries for help.

He struggled weakly as he felt someone tugging at his clothes, and he was sure someone said his name over and over but he couldn't focus, everything was so bright and so loud. He was sure someone took his things, rummaging through his clothing. He felt something wet splash on him and it didn't even register he'd been sick.

"Fuck, get him outta here. If Osborn sees him we're screwed," and Peter felt the rough hands of a few people pick him up and then the bright glaring light of the outdoors. He was hoisted and thrown into the trash at the back of the building, struggling to rise. Through half-opened eyes, Peter began to try and make his way to the street. Falling several times he gasped and groaned as he found his body unresponsive. He knew there were people around, he could hear the heavy thudding of their footfalls and as he tried to call out for help his tongue was numb and his voice came out slurred.

"Hey, Kid?" Peter's mind was still reeling, nausea and cramps causing his body to tense and curl up. He was too far gone to reply. Pain, nausea, bright pulsing light all assaulted his senses, and wherever he was, the smell was horrendous. Like raw hot garbage being fried in faeces and puke.

"Yeah, he's a tweaker, tag 'em and bring him in with the rest."

A cold liquid seemed to pour into his veins, bringing relief to the nausea and agony of the world. Peter hoped someone had found him, taken him to get help, and not one of the various gangs he had heard of, taking kids from the street to sell.

Peter was manhandled onto a table and he tried to fight back. Something inside him told him this was wrong, that he needed to escape, but his muscles screamed at him when he tried to move. His skin felt raw and every fibre of the hospital gown he'd been made to wear was like sharp knives against his skin. Each breath filled his lungs with a cloying scent of the woman, he could smell her fragrance and it wasn't perfume. She was excited and it was almost palpable, a thick taste on his tongue.

Peter knew all his senses were going wild, even the voices he heard were distorted as if underwater or screeching in high pitches. The lights of the room burned like stars and he had to keep his eyes closed, even seeing the bright stripes slip past as he was wheeled somewhere. A smell of disinfectant penetrated both nostrils and he hoped this was a hospital.

He felt a sharp prick on his arm and the world went black again.

"Okay, Okay. Test subject 15 Gamma, Alien Subject Sigma. Bonding test in 5. 4. 3. 2 and 1."

They had taken the boy, stripped him from the foul-smelling and mismatched clothing, disinfected him and checked him for any serious illness. The procedure went better on the less doped up subjects and while a mess, this one seemed to be younger but healthier than most. Poor bastard, the tech thought as he strapped him to the table, doesn't even look 20.

The nameless technician flicked a switch and watched as the glass-reinforced box slid open. The test subject instinctively crawled its way towards the unconscious boy, flowing like pudding over the smooth panel designed, when activated, to keep it securely held.

Cameras and scanners of all types recorded the interactions between the boy and the alien, hoping to unlock the secrets of the bonding, hoping to finally report a successful integration of symbiote and man.

Flowing over and under the robe, the alien finally covered the young boy's scrawny body. It began by hooking microscopic tendrils into his brain and nervous system, attaching itself to the host it had been granted in a symbiotic relationship. The boy's eyes flickered as it began the joining process.

Watching the monitor the technician studied the various screens, recording the boy's heart rate, neural activity, and body temperature. All these would spike as the alien attempted to take control, then if the joining was successful level out. So far all joining had killed the host, their heart rate hitting 200 bpm and neural activity, bursting the delicate blood vessels in their brains. This would be trial 64, all homeless men, women, and now a teen.

The symbiote paused, something was wrong, something was pulling it from its natural position of resting on the host's outer body and pulling it into its cells, shredding and decomposing its own body.

Unseen a chemical reaction began in Peter's cells. His DNA was already breaking down, being reformed and as the alien symbiote sought to cover and merge itself into his body, the chemical reaction spread to it. Its DNA was being broken down and reformed with the boys, host and symbiote, into one organism. The symbiote screamed in agony as it was digested by the enzyme, struggling to remain whole, seeking a place to hide within the new host's body but there was nowhere. It began to pump a toxic chemical into the host, hoping to kill it before it could kill them both. As long as it survived they would live and get their revenge. Even then the chemical was absorbed, changed and as its toxin began to affect its own cells, it screeched in agony.

As the monitors reacted to this development the technician watched with boredom. The kid wasn't going to make it as his heart rate and EEC began to hit critical levels. Normally the symbiote would begin to detach from the host, leaving the now dead pile of flesh for him and his colleagues to dissect, to figure out where it went wrong. This time he watched with rapt attention as the alien seemed to flow into the boy's body.

He began to spasm and the body of the stick-thin teen seemed to bulge, something wriggling under his skin. The tech scowled, was the alien attempting to eat the boy? That was new, most of the time they either attempted a joining or melted the body, he'd never seen a joining like this and as he checked the monitors, he watched in amazement.

He'd seen it all before this. If the body was too badly drugged up the creatures just killed the host rather than attempt a joining. The worst ones just melted as the symbiote flowed over them as if they were offended by the offering of tainted meat. He had seen it too often to be bothered, it just meant he needed a bucket to clean the room rather than the usual autopsy and paperwork a fresh death brought.

Did it want younger fresher meat than had been provided? Reaching for his intercom "Ma'am, this time is different, the alien seems to be reacting to the younger body"

After a brief pause. "Monitor closely, report once the procedure is finished."

Making sure each camera was on, making sure each device was recording fully, the nameless tech watched in amazement as first the boy's heart rate slowed, then his brainwave activity returned to normal, and finally, the seizures or whatever was happening had come to an end. Unlike the other times, even the training video they had been made to watch at the first successful joining, this was completely different. The symbiote had been absorbed into the boy, rather than covering his skin on the surface it was hiding internally.

The thermal cameras had noted that the symbiote had completely assimilated into the boy's body and his now taut wiry muscles glistened with a sheen of sweat as if he had been working out.

The tech shook his head, he needed to get laid after this. Lusting after some kid didn't give his image any favours, young yes, but this boy was a one-way ticket to jail.

Turning away from the monitors, his hand was inches away from the intercom when the thump against the glass made him jump in his chair. Turning he saw the boy stood staring at him with eyes black as pitch. Winding up a punch, he thrust his arm through the glass shattering it and covered them both in broken pieces. The tech had time to let out a strangled scream as the creature reached for him with a black clawed hand.

"WE ARE VENOM!"