Spider-Man: Unmasked

Chapter Seven

Tony was sitting outside on a hospital bench, head in his hands.  He had potentially killed his son.  He was too busy being angry and arguing with Steve to realize that he was harming his son.  He was a terrible father.

He was just still in shock.  How had he not known when his son had been bit by a radioactive spider?  What kind of parent was he?  He felt awful.

He noticed people looking at him as they passed or entered the hospital. Some people just shook their heads and continued on their way. Some, mostly kids, came up to him, asking for his autograph or asking if he was alright.

"I'm fine," he'd reply simply before giving them his
autograph. They'd thank him and run off, fangirling or fanboying.

This went on for a while. After probably hours, he finally stood up and went back inside the hospital. When he arrived at the waiting room, he was automatically attacked with a hug from Steve.

"Someone finally decided to come back," Clint remarked, sitting back in a waiting room chair.

"Any word about Peter?"  He asked, hugging his husband back.

"He's alright," Natasha said. "No one is allowed to see him for now. No changing their minds."

Tony nodded. "Good. Great." The guilt filled his head.

"It's not your fault, Tony," Steve said, pulling away. He held Tony's hands and squeezed them gently. "Don't go blaming yourself."

"But it is, Steve! He was hurt and unstable, and I just yelled at him and argued! Now, he's even worse because of me!" Tony pulled his hands away. He slumped into a waiting room chair and he'd his head in his hands.

Steve sat beside him. He hesitantly rested a hand on Tony's back and rubbed it gently. "We both were responsible. I get it. It's very stressful having this information, I know. When he gets home, we'll grill him and ground him then."

Tony laughed softly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I just... I just need time, I guess."

"Not too much time," Natasha said, standing up. "Carnage is still out there. Peter happen to give any advice on how to get this guy?"

Steve shook his head. "No.  His memory isn't the best, but I don't blame him.  He's been through a lot."

Natasha nodded. "Guess we're gonna have to figure it out ourselves. I don't want to rush you guys into this, but he is a serious threat and is kind of wreaking havoc on the city soooo..."

Tony nodded. "Right. Let's go."

"Tony?" Thor questioned. "Are you sure? He-"

"He hurt my son," Tony interrupted. "He needs to be dealt with immediately."

—————————————

"He's nearing forty-third street," Steve said into his earpiece. "It's go time."

Honestly? They had no plan. But that wasn't going to stop them. They were going to take him down, one way or another.

"On it," the Avengers all replied. Soon, Steve saw Tony flying in.

"Hey, idiot!"  Steve heard Tony say.  Carnage turned to Tony.  "This is payback for my son!"

Instead of Tony attacking, while Carnage was distracted, Thor came by and hit him in the gut with Mjolnir, full force.

Carnage yelled and was thrown against a nearby wall, cracking the wall extremely.  He stumbled to his feet and growled. 

Steve ran in.  He stood beside Thor.  "Kinda sad, isn't he?"

"Indeed," Thor said, toying with Mjolnir.  "Pathetic, actually."

Carnage, enraged, ran for Steve and Thor.  As he ran, Bruce, in his Hulk form, tackled him from the side.  He punched and punched Carnage until Carnage shoved him off and looked around, infuriated.

Tony attacked him with all his might.  Unseen tears streamed down his face. 

Steve threw his shield, hitting Carnage in the slimy, disturbing face.  He gritted his teeth and watched Carnage in anger.

They continued to fight and fight but with no luck.  Nothing was working well enough.  A few things worked, but not enough to get anywhere.

"Great," Steve heard Natasha mutter into the ear piece.  "Now he's just angrier.  Even harder to kill now."

Natasha was right.  They were just aggravating him.  They weren't getting anything done.  They wouldn't get anything done until they knew his weakness. 

"Nat's right," Steve said, stepping back a little.  "We need to go and regroup.  Figure out his weakness.  We won't get anything done until then."

"What the heck are we supposed to do with this lunatic until then?"  Tony retaliated, hovering a ways over Carnage.  "We can't leave.  We have to find the way now."

"Tony, you know that we can't," Clint said, shooting arrows at him, rapid fire.  "None of this is doing anything to him."

"We have to!" Tony shouted, snapping.  "We-we need to.  Peter-"

"Peter wouldn't want you to be doing this," Steve reasoned.  "Fighting and fighting for nothing.  All this is doing is hurting you.  It's not hurting him at all.  Tony, please.  We need to regroup."

Tony let out a yell and hovered over to Steve.  "Fine," He said, acting like a toddler.  "Let's go.  Quickly."

———————

They all arrived back at Stark tower, now out of their suits and ungreenified.  They all sat around the table. 

"What are we supposed to do?"  Clint asked, being the first to speak. 

Steve sighed.  "I don't know.  He's very powerful.  I don't know how Spider-Man- how... Pete did it before."

"Yeah, well neither does he," Natasha remarked.  "So, we've got no info on this guy?"

"Not exactly," Bruce spoke up.  "He... he's a serial killer named Cletus Kasady, essentially mixed with... a symbiote."

Tony raised an eyebrow and sat up straighter.  "A symbiote.  Wow.  You know, somehow I already guessed that.  Given his looks and all." 

Steve rested a hand on his husband's shoulder. "A serial killer and a symbiote? Wow. That's a terrible combination."

Bruce nodded. "Just the fact that Pete was able to beat him before is- shocking."

Tony bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah..." he thought back to the time when Peter must have fought him before. The day Peter had ended up in the hospital. The day they should have known.