two sided | peter parker

IX | threatening

『threat·en·ing| adj. | showing an intention to cause bodily harm』

"IT'S LIKE VENOM. I-IT'S LIKE A SYMBIOTE." Tony had trouble trying to explain it to Peter without freaking him out. I mean, Venom was his arch-enemy, even if he was now deemed okay and only ever worked on Eddie's command. "L-Like Venom? How? I thought you said it mentioned injections!" Peter was incredibly confused, chocolate eyes trained with worry.

"A symbiote. A symbiote-virus mixture. It's something I don't even recognize. We already contacted Eddie and as it turns out, he was knocked out last week and woke up in the middle of the alley. Claimed he got mugged and such, as you usually do in any city, but who's to say that the attacker didn't do something more? Maybe they took a part of Venom and. . . mutated it?"

Tony thought, pacing back and forth and voicing his thoughts to the confused senior as he stood in a mixture of his hero form and his 'Peter Parker' form. He looked at the syringe closely, his spider vision helping him slightly as he focused on it specifically. On it, dots of red were scattered around the inside part of the glass. The boy tilted his head up instantly.

"It's red, but Venom's black. Is this really a mutation?" Peter pondered, tapping the syringe while Tony crossed his arms with a slight nod. He chewed on his bottom lip shortly before letting go of it and sighing. "I'm positive. Besides, Bruce and I came up with a general sketch on its form, or how it actually works. It's like Venom, but since it's a virus, it isn't as detachable. It's well thought out."

Peter's mind clicked, a sad expression etched across his face. "It's red and like Venom. Do you think it's possible someone's trying to recreate Carnage?" Tony's eyes widened in shock and pure horror. His pacing had sped up, the tugging at his sleeves increased as he muttered relentlessly. "Entering through the bloodstream, red colored, mutated deliberately."

He listed the endless options, only ending up with a curt nod as an answer. "I guess so, kid." Peter's eyes grew into saucers just at the thought of something that dangerous being at the hands of someone else and now freely wandering the streets God knows where. It scared him even more to know that someone tried to do this. Their intentions were to recreate him.

Tony glanced at Peter, tucking his sunglasses away with a stern look. "Now, here's where you listen to me." Peter's head immediately whipped to look at his mentor, a defiant refusal escaping his lips, only gaining another glance from the Stark. Instantly, his voice jumped a few octaves and he spilled an apology before trying to elaborate.

"I mean, you told me to keep out of the whole Vulture ordeal and I didn't, and I got him! Also, I helped you back during the Civil War thing. Not to mention the Infinity War and you gave me an entirely new suit, practically egging me on to continue this whole superhero job!" Another look. "Not that I'm complaining, this suit is absolutely wonderful; it really is."

He licked his lips, eyes cascading over Peter's small form compared to his taller and more manly one. The boy backed up slightly, struggling to grasp his determination and avoid putting his head down like he usually does at Midtown High. Instead, a hand fell upon his shoulder, followed by some soft words.

"I trust you, Peter. I really do. I also trust you to make the right decisions. This entire Venom-virus thing is out of control, and essentially out of hand. I'd rather you do your regular routines and not get caught up in this for now. Not until we can take whatever the fuck that is down, at least." His vulgar cursing reminded the boy that he wasn't being scolded, but being told instead.

Brown eyes a concoction of fear, worry, confusion, and above all else, defiance; Peter held his head up high and gave an affirmative nod. "I-I can do that. I-I just don't want to be kept out of this like I'm a kid." Tony's eyes narrowed, the man uncrossing his arms only to cross them again out of the loss of comfort. "You won't be. As long as you act responsibly, that is."

Peter beamed slightly, the Stark patting his shoulder again with a soft chuckle and a small smirk. "Now, get out of here. You have some stolen bikes to recover and buses to stop, don't you?" The nerd laughed softly, waving and yelling gratefully at his mentor before sneaking out of one of the windows as soft thwips filled the air.

Meanwhile, the air back at Y/n's apartment was absolutely unbearable. Chip had just decided to accidentally leave his cookies in the oven, unbeknownst to Y/n, causing the home to be filled with the musty and gray odor of smoke. Not enough to set the alarm off, but enough to cause some discomfort.

It wasn't the soft, roasting-marshmallows-by-the-fire or the feeling of a fireplace on a cold winter day while reading underneath a blanket, all curled up. It was the ugly, foul smelling smoke that practically drenched the entirety of it and everything in it. Y/n had already been sure to close the doors of their rooms, preventing the smell of smoke to inhabit there as well.

Lingering and disgusting her, Y/n coughed slightly as she opened the windows and let the smoke roll out in light gray curls. She moved back from the windows, heading into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Sipping from it moments after, she waited for Chip to come back from the supermarket; they were running out of orange juice, a huge necessity to him.

Blinking, a small growling sound rose in volumes as she continued to venture towards the windows after setting her glass down. With perplexed eyes, she looked down at the array of cars and city sounds booming from the outside. The growl didn't sound anything like that. Shaking her head, she presumed that she was merely thinking things before reaching over.

Her hands landed on the rims of the window, ready to pull them down. It was quickly covered with a cold, slick feeling, belonging to hands that weren't her own. Instead, it was the same green eyes she'd known to memorize before a midnight blue substance covered his face, sharp teeth popping out after and a menacing tongue.

Sharply, the thing threatened and barreled into the apartment, making Y/n take a few steps back. "I am Midnight."