New York — The Connors Laboratory — Day
A few minutes later, Peter finally arrived at the Connors' laboratory. Without wasting any time, he quickly walked around the building until he reached a small corner hidden from view.
It was the perfect place to avoid attracting attention. He immediately removed his mask, carefully folded his suit, put his web-shooters back into his backpack, then changed back into his civilian clothes.
Once he was certain that nothing could reveal his identity, he zipped up his backpack, took a deep breath, and walked around the building to reach the main entrance.
He pushed open the laboratory doors with hurried steps, still trying to make it look as though he had run all the way there in an attempt to make up for being late.
At the back of the room, Gwen was talking with Curtis and Martha Connors. Standing beside them was a young man Peter had never seen before.
The moment Gwen looked up, she noticed him.
— "Hey! Peter!"
Her face immediately lit up. Without the slightest hesitation, she ran across the laboratory to meet him near the entrance.
Her excitement was so obvious that it almost made Peter forget how late he was.
— "Hey, Gwen! Sorry again for—"
— "Forget about being late! Peter... you're not going to believe this!"
Her excitement was contagious. Peter frowned slightly, intrigued.
— "What am I not going to believe?"
— "While we were on our trip to Paris, some kind of parasite from outer space crashed onto Earth. The Connors received it for study, and they think it's a symbiote!"
For a moment, Peter completely forgot about being late.
His eyes widened in surprise.
— "A symbiote? Seriously?! And we're actually going to get to see it?"
— "Yep!"
— "Oh, awesome!"
The mere thought of being able to observe an extraterrestrial lifeform was enough to awaken Peter's scientific curiosity. Yet Gwen still seemed to be hiding something.
Her smile grew wider with every passing second, as though she couldn't wait to reveal another surprise.
— "But that's not all! There's something else that's really going to shock you!"
Peter looked at her curiously.
— "Really? What is it?"
A mischievous smile appeared at the corner of Gwen's lips.
— "Don't you mean... 'Who'?"
Peter stood there for a moment, confused. His gaze shifted from Gwen to the two scientists, who also seemed to be struggling not to laugh.
Then it naturally returned to the mysterious young man standing a few feet behind them.
As though he had been waiting for this very moment, the young man calmly walked toward them.
Gwen immediately stepped aside to let him through, still wearing that same intrigued smile.
The two young men soon found themselves face to face.
The stranger was slightly taller than Peter. He stared at him without hesitation, wearing a strange expression that Peter struggled to understand. It wasn't simply arrogance.
Nor was it merely contempt. His gaze seemed to blend the two... as though he took genuine pleasure in watching Peter's every reaction.
Meanwhile, Peter felt increasingly uncomfortable without really understanding why.
— "Uh... hello?"
The moment those words were spoken, Gwen, Curtis, and Martha exchanged subtle glances before letting out a quiet laugh.
None of them said a word, as though they were patiently waiting for Peter to finally understand what was happening.
— "I don't understand why Gwen and the Connors seem so amused by this, but this guy... I don't know why... he makes me uncomfortable."
The mysterious young man finally smiled.
A subtle smile.
But one strange enough to instinctively fill Peter with a terrible feeling.
— "You've really grown since then."
Peter frowned slightly.
He desperately searched his memory for that face.
Nothing.
— "I'm sorry... but I don't understand. Do we know each other?"
The young man's smile didn't fade.
On the contrary.
It seemed to grow even wider.
He had only spoken a few words...
And yet, something about his attitude was already making Peter feel that this encounter was going to end very badly.
— "…Does... the name Emma ring a bell?"
Those few words were enough.
Time suddenly seemed to slow down around Peter. His entire body froze almost instantly.
His breath caught in his throat, and his gaze faltered. Beside them, Gwen watched the scene without understanding a thing.
— "Emma...? Who's that? Another friend of Peter's?"
For several seconds, Peter was unable to say a single word. His face went from confusion... to doubt... to deep thought... until every piece of the puzzle finally fell into place.
His expression changed completely. The warmth that usually defined him disappeared entirely.
His eyes darkened, and his jaw tightened. At that exact moment, he wanted only one thing:
To hit him.
To hit him with everything he had.
In nothing more than a whisper, almost as though he still refused to believe what he had just realized, he finally spoke his name.
— "Eddie... Brock..."
Eddie slowly walked toward him until there was almost no distance left between them.
He tilted his head slightly and leaned close to Peter's left ear, as though he wanted only him to hear what he was about to say.
— "So after Emma, it's Gwen now, huh? Not bad, little brother. I'd say you've really got good ta—"
He never got the chance to finish his sentence.
Peter's fist flew instantly.
Although he pulled the punch at the very last moment, it still struck Eddie square in the face with enough force to send him stumbling backward several steps before he finally lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor.
A thin stream of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
For a fraction of a second, Peter clearly caught a glimpse of a smug smile appearing on Eddie's face.
Then...
It disappeared immediately.
As though it had never existed.
In an instant, Eddie replaced that expression with the look of a completely stunned victim.
A deathly silence fell over the entire laboratory.
The Connors, just like Gwen, stood frozen, unable to understand what they had just witnessed.
— "Peter!"
— "What on earth has gotten into you?!"
Without thinking for even a second, Curtis and Martha immediately rushed over to Eddie. They knelt beside him, visibly shaken by what had just happened.
— "Are you alright, Eddie?!"
— "Oh no, you're bleeding!"
A few feet away, Gwen remained completely motionless.
Her eyes constantly shifted between Eddie and Peter, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed. She couldn't find the words. She didn't know who to help, or even what to think about a situation that made absolutely no sense to her.
But one thing frightened her more than anything else.
The look in Peter's eyes.
Never...
Never had she seen him with an expression like that.
All the warmth that usually defined him seemed to have completely vanished. His jaw slowly tightened, his fists remained clenched, and an almost tangible hatred could be seen burning in his eyes.
He was no longer the kind, awkward boy she had known for years. For one brief moment, she almost felt as though she were standing before a complete stranger.
Meanwhile, Eddie slowly raised a hand to his mouth before looking at the blood that had stained his fingers.
He got back to his feet without the slightest hint of urgency, then gave the Connors a small nod to thank them for their concern.
— "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Connors... but I'll be fine. I'm used to it. Peter has always been like this."
The moment those words were spoken, a deep silence settled over the laboratory.
No one had expected such an answer.
The Connors instinctively exchanged confused glances, while Gwen remained frozen.
Even Peter felt a flicker of surprise cross his mind.
That answer...
He had absolutely not seen it coming.
Eddie calmly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth before looking back up at Peter.
A faint, almost melancholic smile appeared on his face.
— "Looks like you still haven't managed to control your anger... have you, little brother?"
To everyone else, that smile looked sincere.
It gave the impression of a sad, almost nostalgic man who had reunited with someone he cared about—someone who still couldn't free himself from his old demons.
But Peter knew that expression.
He had seen it before.
He knew exactly what it was hiding.
Beneath that seemingly kind exterior hid a manipulator capable of turning any situation to his advantage.
And the more Eddie spoke...
The angrier Peter became.
Beside him, Gwen frowned slightly.
— "What...?"
— "Control his anger...?"
— "…Son of a bitch."
Eddie immediately noticed the confused looks beginning to appear around him.
He realized he had just gained the upper hand.
So, without wasting a second, he continued his performance with almost frightening naturalness. His face darkened slightly, and his voice became softer, almost guilty, as though he sincerely regretted what he had just said.
— "Oh... they didn't know? I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't have—"
He never got the chance to finish.
Peter suddenly lunged toward him.
In a fraction of a second, he violently grabbed Eddie by the collar of his jacket before lifting him slightly off the ground with both hands.
Several objects resting on the nearby tables rattled from the force of the movement.
Once again, the laboratory fell into stunned silence.
Even Eddie's eyes widened slightly, surprised that Peter had reacted so quickly.
— "Peter!"
— "Peter! Let him go!"
Despite hanging by the collar of his jacket, Eddie remained astonishingly calm.
He watched Peter for a few moments before letting an amused smile spread across his face.
— "Wow... you don't look like much, but those scrawny little arms of yours are actually pretty strong."
Even in a situation like this... he kept joking.
Or rather... provoking him.
Every word seemed carefully chosen to push Peter a little further.
The result was immediate. Peter's breathing grew heavier and heavier.
His hands tightened even more around Eddie's collar. His eyes were literally burning with rage.
— "What are you going to do now? Make me out to be the crazy one... the villain? Just like you did before?!"
In response, Eddie kept that same unbearably calm smile. His voice remained steady and almost affectionate, as though none of this were truly serious.
— "Peter... calm down, alright? Remember what I used to tell you when we were kids. When you're angry... remember to breathe."
Those few words were the final straw.
All the anger Peter had been holding back since the beginning exploded at once.
— "STOP DOING THAT!"
— "PETER!"
Rage had now completely taken over his mind.
With every passing second, he came closer to making the very mistake Eddie had been trying to provoke from the start.
His arm had already begun to draw back. His fist tightened even more.
He was about to strike.
But at the very last moment, two arms suddenly wrapped themselves around him from behind.
Gwen had rushed over to him. She held him tightly against her with all the strength she had, as though she wanted to stop him from sinking any deeper.
Her voice was trembling.
She sounded as though she were on the verge of tears.
— "…I don't know what's going on... but please... calm down. I don't recognize you..."
Peter finally caught sight of Gwen's face.
Her eyes were glistening, almost filled with tears. She didn't look angry, nor disappointed... only devastated. As though she no longer recognized the boy she had known all these years.
That single sight hit Peter with full force. All the rage that had consumed his mind only seconds earlier suddenly collided with an emotion far more painful: shame. An overwhelming, almost suffocating shame.
He had frightened the girl he loved. Even worse, as he slowly lifted his eyes, he met the gazes of Curtis and Martha Connors. They, too, looked completely shaken. For almost an entire year, they had welcomed him into their laboratory, trusted him, and always regarded him as a calm, polite, and kind-hearted young man.
Yet, in the span of only a few seconds, he had revealed a side of himself that no one had ever seen before. His anger hadn't disappeared. It still burned deep inside him with exactly the same intensity.
But now it was accompanied by a guilt so crushing that it tightened his chest and made it almost difficult to breathe.
His fingers, which had remained tightly clenched around Eddie's collar for several long seconds, slowly lost all their strength. Without saying a single word, Peter gently lowered him back to the floor before completely releasing his grip. An almost unreal silence settled over the laboratory.
No one dared to speak. No one moved. Even the faint humming of the scientific equipment seemed to vanish beneath the suffocating tension. Peter stood motionless for a few moments, his breathing still uneven, before turning once again toward Gwen.
Their eyes met. Tears still shimmered at the corners of hers, and the sight pierced straight through his heart. He wanted to explain everything to her. To tell her who Eddie really was.
To tell her why hearing nothing more than his name was enough to awaken a hatred he had believed buried for years. He also wanted to apologize. To tell her he was sorry. That he wasn't the person she had just seen.
The words rose to his lips... but none of them managed to break through the barrier created by his anger. Unable to hold her gaze any longer, he simply lowered his eyes.
With a heart heavier than it had ever been, Peter slowly turned around and walked out of the laboratory, leaving behind completely bewildered Connors... and a Gwen who couldn't begin to understand what had truly just happened.
A few feet away, Eddie watched the door close behind Peter. For a brief second, a subtle smile curled at the corner of his lips before disappearing just as quickly. He quietly savored what he had just accomplished.
He hadn't needed strength.
He hadn't needed violence.
A few carefully chosen words had been enough to reopen wounds Peter had believed had healed long ago.
Watching Peter completely lose control, collapse beneath the weight of his own anger, and leave consumed by that hatred seemed to give him an almost disturbing sense of satisfaction. To him, this meeting was only the beginning.
Yet, deep inside the laboratory, another witness had been watching the entire scene as well. Confined inside a massive empty transparent containment tank, the Symbiote had silently observed everything since the beginning of the day. At first glance, its black mass appeared completely motionless, but as Peter walked away, slow ripples began spreading across its entire surface.
The living substance contracted, pulsed, then relaxed with an almost organic rhythm, as though the strange creature were thinking... or analyzing what it had just witnessed. Gradually, part of its body began to reshape itself.
Its outline became sharper... more human. A chin appeared. Then a jawline. Hair. The contours of a face continued taking shape with almost unsettling precision, until they revealed the features of Peter Parker. Through the thick glass wall, the Symbiote now seemed to be staring at the door through which the young man had just disappeared.
As though, in the laboratory's absolute silence, the mysterious creature from the depths of space had just made its choice. Without anyone noticing... the Symbiote had found its perfect host.
TO BE CONTINUED.