Spider-Man: Nobody Home (18+)

Chapter 42: The Man Who Sold The World

Peter woke up to see that he was back at Titans Tower in the infirmary. He opened his eyes slowly, only for the lights to nearly blind him for the first few moments. His body felt cold, clammy, and weak. His muscles ached worse than they ever had before.

"Ssh, quiet!" He heard Starfire's voice whisper from behind where he laid in bed. "I do believe he is regaining consciousness!"

Peter groaned in pain as he lifted his head to see who was there, only to see the entire team sitting around him.

Everybody except Raven.

"Guys." He said with relief, slowly trying to sit himself up, only to wince in pain. "Ugh! My stomach." He groaned.

"Easy, dude." Cyborg said, laying him back against the hospital bed. "Let's not push yourself too hard."

"Ugh." He groaned again in pain. "What's... Happening to me?"

"That symbiote was like a parasite." Dick explained. "It seems that it has been stealing all of your nutrients the entire time it's been on you."

Peter groaned again as the sharp stinging pain in his stomach persisted. "Ugh! Yep. Yep, I can tell... So why didn't I notice till now?"

"We're... Not sure." Dick shrugged. "We were hoping you knew something about this thing... Anything at all."

Peter paused and looked off at that. He recalled everything he had done with that suit on and he was immediately filled with guilt and shame for his actions. His eyes whelled up with tears as he remembered the awful things he had said to Raven. He remembered the intense fury that flowed through him. He felt as if he wanted to rip the head off any foe he came across.

Peter hung his head and ran his hands through his hair with a stressful sigh.

"What have I done?" He sniffled.

"Peter..." Dick said as he knelt down in front of him. "We all make mistakes, what's important is that we LEARN from them."

"Oh, no we're WAY past that." Peter sniffled as he tried to get back up only for his entire body to radiate with pain.

"Come on, man." Cyborg insisted. "You NEED your rest."

"You saw what I became!" Peter snapped, nearly breaking down at this point. "How can I just pretend none of that ever happened?!"

The Titans were silent at that, the sight of his broken demeanor filled them with sorrow for their comrade.

"Nobody expects that from you." Starfire replied.

"It's just, WE'VE seen what this thing can do to you." Dick added with his arm around Starfire's shoulder. "We need to be ready if it ever comes back."

"Which means it's time to spill all that thing's dirty little secrets." Roy insisted as he pulled up a chair next to Peter. "So... On with the gossip."

"I don't know!" Peter stammered stressfully. "This thing is capable of WAY more than I ever could have imagined."

"Why don't you just start with when and where you got it in the first place?" Cyborg suggested.

Peter nodded as he searched his mind for the memory. "I-I guess it happened after I got sucked into... T-that... Place." As he recalled the yellow walls and buzzing lights a chill ran up his spine and he could hear the heart rate monitor attached to him begin to beat erratically. "No-no-no w-whats happening?"

"Woah woah woah!" Dick said as Peter doubled over, hyperventilating where he sat on the bed. "Peter-peter-peter, just breathe. Okay? You gotta breathe."