A Terrible Fight is a Fight with Yourself

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***

Wild Earth.

Unknown how long after the mutation.

He escaped. Escape was the only thing occupying his thoughts at the moment.

Hunger. Desire to mate. Loss. Some kind of fear.

All of this hid behind one known need.

To escape.

To find a secluded hiding place.

Hide.

To rest.

He climbed the stone cliff, literally digging his sharp claws into the rock and climbing up. He didn't care about subtle manipulation, just clinging to the surface, he craved destruction, his instincts drove him.

With its six limbs covered in thick grey fur, it climbed up and let out a womb-like growl, announcing itself as the new alpha predator.

The confidence in his strength made him forget the fear that had consumed his mind for a second.

Chewing, and Spider-Monster realised he was hungry. Very hungry.

Releasing his web, he set off in search of prey.

As he flew through the ancient jungle, fragments of memories of recent events flashed through his mind as if they did not belong to him: after Sauron's attack, he began to change, his arms grew thick fur, the moment his jaw erupted with huge stingers, he finally lost control, giving dominance to the monster inside him. His true nature.

Still, images of the past surfaced in his mind, making him lose himself. Family faces, loved ones, tragedies that had happened. It was very overwhelming and Spider decided to shut it all out.

The battle. The hunt. Prey. Food. That's all that matters now.

The mutant spider moved as if it had always been part of the jungles of the Wild Earth, sprawling leaps with a great deal of energy put into them, webs through which he felt vibrations, claws digging into trees, leaving his pheromones on the bark and letting everyone else know who had recently passed through here.

Landing between two large flora, Spider began to weave his net, creating a huge silk trap for his future victim, who, judging by the vibrations, was very close.

Finishing the net, the mutant crawled up into a tree and watched from the shadows to see who would fall into this trap.

With a loud stomp, a huge lizard appeared on the field. Memory obligingly suggested the name - Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The predator walked a few metres and fell into the trap set by Spider. Immediately, the dinosaur let out a womb-like growl, not understanding why it couldn't move.

As soon as the mutant felt that the victim was caught he jumped down from the tree. Seeing the strange creature, the lizard roared, but the Spider threateningly clucked its chewing jaws and began to growl back.

Pointing all its limbs at its prey, the monster unleashed a stream of webbing at the T-Rex. For several minutes, the spider braided around the lizard, and the lizard could only growl helplessly. At the end of the hunt, as he was about to begin his feast, another loud roar was heard.

The spider turned and saw another large lizard. Only it was much bigger than Rex, with longer legs and a growth. Spinosaurus. A memory prickled.

There was no trap, and the creature was clearly calling for a fight. With another cluck of its chewing jaws, the Spider raised all six of its arms and displayed its claws. The dinosaur promptly lunged at him, which Totem did as well. The prehistoric lizard tried to bite half of the mutant's body off, but the monster calmly dodged thanks to its instincts and its premonition.

Leaping sideways away from his opponent, Totem slashed the dinosaur's skin with his eighteen natural mini knives. Stretching his fingers, and showing off his claws again, Spider repeated the lunge, leaving another deep cut. Spinosaurus roared furiously, his opponent was too fast and ferocious, strong and tireless. The alpha predator of the past contemplated escape.

But Spider wasn't about to let anyone go. Letting out another womb-like growl, the Totem raised its arms and out of each limb, from the side of its wrists, came a long stinger nearly three times the length of its claws.

The spider jumped up and pointed its palms with four sharp spurs straight at the Spinosaurus' muzzle.

The lower limbs dug into the side of its neck. The middle pair grabbed the swollen maw, holding the fangs and cutting through the inside. The upper paws sunk their clawed stingers into the dinosaur's skull, the right hand sliced through the eye socket and the lizard let out a horrible roar of pain.

The spider continued to thrust its limbs in until the predator's body began to slump sideways, ten seconds later the dinosaur finally stopped moving.

The spider totem raised its arms to the sky and roared triumphantly, clawing at the dinosaur.

The mutant looked back and saw that the spider cocoon containing the still-living dinner was completely intact. The T-Rex seemed to have decided to give up and was completely unresisting its impending fate. It was worth devouring, if only out of pity.

However.

The spider once again looked at the Spinosaurus corpse with its six red eyes. There was enough meat here that would soon go rotten.

Approaching the carcass of the dinosaur Spider opened its mouth, from which immediately began to flow thick white saliva. A couple of seconds later, a stream of neon-green natural acid, which is a kind of solvent, shot out of additional mouth cavities. This is how spiders dissolve food for later consumption.

The acid stream dissolved a sufficient portion of the meat and the spider gnawed into the processed flesh, proceeding to feast.

***

Settlement.

Ka-Zar.

The god of the hidden jungle stood on a rock outcrop and gazed into the distance.

Two days had passed since his squad had freed the members of his tribe who had been kidnapped by symbiotic monsters. Alas, not all had returned from the battle.

For a second, the blond man shuddered. That picture still stood before his eyes.

After all, he had gone up to Sauron's castle among the first. The Spider had most likely gone to reconnoitre, as his new comrade was nowhere to be seen. After the last warrior of the squad climbed the cliff, he led his men to storm the enemy's fortress. To their surprise there was absolutely no resistance. On their way they met rare groups of three or four symbiotes and managed to deal with them, Spider had thoughtfully left the drums at the entrance to the castle.

After a time, they reached the prison cells and freed the tribe members imprisoned there. Several of his men said that Spider-Man was here and, they thought, had gone looking for Shanna. Ka-Zar left the squad to lead the men out and travelled up to Sauron's fiefdom. He knew where to go, for he had been there before.

And what was the chief's surprise when he saw a pteranodon flying swiftly out of the laboratory.

- M-monster, HE'S A MONSTER! - shrieked hysterically and flapped his wings and flew away.

Before Ka-Zar could be surprised, he heard a terrifying furious growl and a high-pitched maiden's scream. It was the voice of his beloved.

- Shanna! - The blond man ran swiftly into the room, but immediately froze.

The picture before his eyes truly horrified him. His wife was chained to the wall and was desperately struggling in her restraints, trying to free herself. But that wasn't what was horrifying, it was the reason why Shanna was thrashing around in a true fit of terror.

In the centre of the room a man was undergoing a horrible metamorphosis. Judging by the costume and the six arms, it was Spider-Man.

But now he was convulsively screaming, and at times the scream would break into a roar. The hero had grown nearly three times his size, tearing his costume in many places, the fabric from which hung incoherently in shreds all over Spidey's body.

Most of his body was covered with grey, stiff fur, his fingers transformed into three outgrowths, with a claw at the end of each.

Right before the hidden jungle god's eyes, the skull of Spider-Man, the jolly alien who had taken a liking to almost everyone in his tribe, had deformed into a hideous elongation. The mask on his face ripped as huge bony stingers erupted from his skin.

- Run," Spider-Man shouted in a voice that was no longer his own, and then, a moment later, he gave an animalistic growl.

Ka-Zar was used to shocking images in the Wild Earth. And even though this one was one of the most shocking, he ran over to his wife, who was watching in horror at the change in the man turning into a beast. He released her hands and began to chop the thick chain around his neck, the blond man was stabbing so concentratedly that he didn't notice the Spider go silent.

When he was done, he and Shanna turned together towards the silent growl.

A horrible spider-like monster appeared before their eyes: it was completely covered in stiff short but thick fur and stared at them with several pairs of its red beady eyes, each one progressively smaller than the previous one.

The beast's mouth opened menacingly and revealed several rows of sharp teeth, on each jaw, from which white thick saliva also began to drip.

The monster took a step and Ka-Zar reflexively raised his knife, though he wasn't at all sure he could handle such a monster. It was a pity there was no way to take Zaba with him.

However, instead of attacking, the beast took a step and stopped as if pondering. In the next second it raised its head, roared loudly, and ran swiftly towards the exit, sweeping away everything in its path.

Ka-Zar sighed, snapping out of his memories.

Annoyed by the circumstances and racked by his own guilt, the blond wandered to the only place where he could find peace of mind. The people he met on his way greeted his leader with joy, for almost all of them, with few exceptions, had returned home, but Ka-Zar paid no attention to them.

At last the blond man reached the isolated row of huts and entered the most luxurious of them. Inside was his wife, Shanna sitting in a wicker chair breastfeeding their three-month-old son. Hearing a rustle, the woman was about to cover herself, but realising it was her husband, continued feeding.

The blond man walked over to his family and stroked his son's head.

- How are you? - The man asked caringly.

The blonde raised her bright blue eyes to him, fear flowing in them. She hadn't forgotten that nightmare yet.

- 'It's bad, but I'll get through it,' Shanna looked lovingly at her son, 'for his sake.

After watching her family in peace, Ka-Zar felt sick again.

- It's my fault," the chief wiped his eyes.

- Favourite?

- He told me, warned me what could happen, how dangerous the changes happening to him were," the blond man said quietly. - He wanted to go to the temple for a cure, but I talked him out of it, asked for help, and now one of the greatest warriors I've ever known has turned into a monster.

- It is not your fault," Shanna tried to support her husband, "but Sauron's.

- No, it is entirely my fault, because of me the Spider was caught in the crossfire. I have a duty to right the wrong," the chieftain looked at his wife gravely.

- What do you intend to do, Ka-Zar? - Shanna frowned, looking into her husband's eyes.

- He has changed because of me, and I am the one to treat him. At dawn I will go to the shrine and find that cure.

***

24 hours later.

The Spider Monster was nestled in the centre of a huge web he had woven. He had stumbled upon a safe and deep cave a few days ago, and had stayed in it. It was a dry place where the Spider spread his webs. For most of the day he listened to the vibrations of his web or hunted.

Suddenly, the mutant opened all six of its eyes.

The monster fumbled and clutched at his skull.

Images began to flash through his mind.

Scraps of past memories, but most importantly, knowledge - Spider needed to move towards the ancient temple.

The monster jumped out of his cave and flew in the direction his Sense pointed.

As he moved, he encountered herds of dinosaurs, which had managed to become his neighbours in this environment, but at times became prey as well. For now though, he was just moving on.

And so he finally reached the right place. And it seemed that this time he wouldn't be able to just pass by.

A pack of small toothy creatures nested in front of the temple climb, these creatures had been the most annoying to Spider in days, during the hunt. Velociraptors.

Finally the dinosaurs smelled the monster, and one of them let out a long roar.

In the same second, all the adult members of the pack gathered and surrounded the stranger, eleven of them.

The spider threw up his arms and let out a web. With the silk from the lower pair, he entangled two of the dinosaurs. With the threads of his middle limbs, he grabbed three of the creatures and, unwinding them, threw them back into the trees. With his upper arms, he drew several of the lizards to him and broke their necks in two movements. In this way he eliminated more than half of the enemies. Most were frightened by the way he had massacred their tribesmen, but for one, what had happened was cause for a desperate dash. With a loud roar, the velociraptor flung itself at the monster, seeking to sink into its flesh, but the totem was too agile and anticipated the attack.

Dodging, Spider grabbed the dinosaur's hind legs and held it firmly with his lower limbs, with his central ones he held the clawed feet of the creature, and with his upper arms he held the reptile by the head, completely securing the enemy who was trying to bite and convulsing.

The monster turned to the dinosaurs and under the attentive gaze of the velociraptors, tore off the head of their kin, almost completely ripping out the spine. The spider let go of the headless dinosaur carcass and tossed the head towards the reptiles.

The velociraptors squealed and scattered.

With a beastly snicker, Spider began to climb the giant stone steps to the top of the ancient temple. Once upon a time, rituals of blood sacrifices were performed in this very place.

However, the monster felt a certain call. His target is inside.

The spider stepped inside, and a space of dark corridors spread out before him, but Totem could see just as well in the dark as he could in the daytime.

Climbing the wall, the mutant crawled forward. For a while he surveyed the dusty cave entrances from afar, indulging his cautious instincts, but finally he went where the sensors in his head were pointing.

As soon as he got closer, the heavy stone wall began to move aside.

With a slight sniff, the monster stepped inside. The room, unlike the dark corridors, was lit by dim lanterns with blue bulbs.

When Spider was in the centre of the room, the light became much brighter and something moved near the far wall.

The mutant watched as a plastic cell rose from beneath the stone floor. Inside, there was an unconscious red something and it reminded Spider painfully of those symbiotic slugs.

Meanwhile, a sound reminiscent of electricity came from the flask and the red one twitched.

The symbiote opened its eyes after an indeterminate amount of time.

- What the fuck, where the fuck am I!!!?

The symbiotic mass glassed over, revealing a skinny pale face with crazy blue eyes and red strands.

- You bitches explain who dared to imprison Cletus Cassidy! - screamed the man. - Who the fuck decided to die at the hands of Carnage?!

The symbiote host went into a frenzy, and the alien mass went into motion, tearing the shackles off and lashing the chamber with various symbiote-created edged weapons.

- That's better," Cassidy announced, kneading a stiff limb.

Spider growled as he watched Carnage, feeling the threat and anger directly directed at him.

- What?" the redhead turned his head, "and what the fuck are you?

The Totem responded with a threatening clack of its maws.

- Wait," Cletus' eyes flashed with recognition, "Parker, are you Parker?

The man snapped his fingers.

- It's you, the red one can feel you, what happened, did you change your hair? Or is it those giant bone growths?

The Spider only growled again.

- Got it," Cassidy returned the symbiotic cover to his face, "let there be Carnage! - the symbiote announced shrilly.

The opponents lunged at each other.â

Carnage formed two axes from the symbiotic tissue of his hands and tried to chop the Spider, simultaneously releasing several symbiotic tendrils and trying to bind the enemy with them.

The Totem himself shot out a web, fending off the symbiotic strands, blocking the axes' lunge with both hands and slicing through the symbiote's torso with his remaining limbs.

- Unfair, unfair! - Cletus roared, jumping back, "You weren't this strong last time we fought. Furious, but not strong," the serial killer pondered aloud.

The Spider himself, at this time, threw back the detached symbiotic mass. Somehow Totem felt that this enemy was not to be toyed with and must be dealt with as quickly as possible.

- Once again there was silence. Did I also take away your sense of humour that time? - Cletus said with a smile. - You know, okay," the man raised his palm, "that time you were more with the other guy and we didn't get to have a heart-to-heart talk," Cassidy pointed at each of them in turn with his palms. - I just want you to know that the idea of hitting you through your son came to the symbiote, but when he told me that it was possible to destroy you with your own pussy," the maniac's gaze, which had seemed reasonable only a second ago, changed to manic again, "I didn't hesitate for a second.

Carnage laughed. The monster only clenched his palms tighter and prepared to lunge, studying his victim.

- Oh, you should have seen the look on his face: "Benji, son, wake up," Cassidy laughed again, "hilarious.

The mutant lunged at the symbiote again, trying to focus on his inner senses. The symbiote itself jumped back and again released a wave of symbiotic tentacles at the Spider. The monster cut them with its claws, but the waves concealed the pointed symbiotic tendrils.

Passing the tendrils under Spider's legs, Carnage thrust them into his foe's back.

The monster roared as it was lifted up on the peculiar symbiotic hooks.

- Oh yes, the sounds of agony, how I missed it!

The symbiote laughed and the Monster felt an uncontrollable rage.

- Look, I don't know how you found me in Acapulco, I escaped from New Ravencroft over a year ago, but I'm glad I'm going to be able to take you down," Kasidy said as he ranted, not sensing the Spider's energy. - Though I guess in this state, I'll only ease your suffering.

The totem clucked its munchkins threateningly and began to glow.

- What?!

The bioelectricity energy literally burned the Carnage's outgrowths. The monster didn't waste a second, as it approached, it grabbed the symbiote that tried to jump back with its four limbs and released all the energy from itself.

The power of the bioelectricity was so great that the symbiote began to bubble and was literally burned off Cassidy's body.

- No! How is that possible?! - The homicidal maniac convulsed, the bioelectricity paralysing him. - It's impossible! I am Carnage! I am invulnerable! Did you hear that?! I am destruction itself! Я...

Cletus' screams stopped, however, as Spider stepped up and flattened his skull with a strong kick of his foot.

With the death of his enemy, the Monster's sense of unease let go. The Sense pricked in his head again, and he turned round. On a dais, at the end of the room he and Carnage had not had time to reach, a flask gleamed brightly.

In a few leaps, Spider was at the top. He was about to grab the object, but suddenly realised.

Poison. Destroy it! It's poison! Death!

The monster was about to cut the vial, but couldn't. Suddenly a black substance burst out of it and it enveloped the body.

"Sorry it took so long, Bearer," came a quiet apologetic voice in Spider's head. - "But I'm here now."

The monster growled and roared as it tried to get out, and Raj quickly grabbed the flask with a symbiotic dipstick and poured its contents into the mouth of its mutated host before it escaped the symbiotic shackles.

The drug created by Dr Maria Crawford had begun to take effect.