(Here's the sequel to Electrifying Emotions. I'll think of some other shit to write here later. This story will be longer than the previous one... just to let you know.)
The night sky darkened the city, as rain poured down onto the streets of Queens, thunder clapping as lightning struck in the distance. On an empty highway, a single truck road into the off ramp, now officially entering the city. Inside were two men: the passenger and the driver. The driver took a sip from his drink while the other guy continued to chew his gum, looking out the window out of boredom.
The windshield wipers were constantly moving as rain continued to pour down onto the truck and Queens. The two sat in quiet as the only sounds were the engine, the constant rain pouring down from the sky, the windshield wipers doing their work, and the radio playing music.
-eeeeeel! It's all I need to get to where I'm going-
The truck drove down an empty street, splashing water from the gutters onto the sidewalk. They managed to drench a kid wearing a hoodie with his hood over his head and his hands in his pockets. The kid in question got drenched with water, whom immediately screamed in fear as he ran away behind the corner. For a brief moment, a light shined on his face, revealing that he had a star shaped scar on his face while yellow electricity emitted from his body.
The truck continued on with it's route as it approached a building, the logo covered by the thick rain and slight fog. It eventually backed up to a garage door, with said door opening; after it opened, several armed men walked out of the building, as the truck officially parked in the driveway.
At that moment, the garage door opened, prompting some of the armed men to head inside to grab it's contents. Shortly after, the men came walking out the back of the truck, carrying boxes of unknown contents. Finally, a single figure stepped out of the truck. Said figure appeared to be a woman of an athletic build while she wore silver leather clothing, as well as silver hair that was put in a bun. Her entire clothing was silver. Silver boots. Silver gloves. Silver headband. Silver everything, and all leather as well.
The woman walked into the garage bay, meeting some other armed men that were revealed to be inside. At that moment, the sounds of footsteps could be heard as a person approached said woman.
"Silver Sablinova." the person greeted, appearing to be a male thanks to the voice alone.
"I prefer if you call me, Silver Sable." Sable replied in a slight, Eastern-European accent.
"I assume everything went well, yes?" asked the man.
"There were slight complications regarding the bridge toll but… you don't need to worry." Sable replied as she grew a faint smile. "Everything is accounted for, Mr…" she lingered on, indicating that she didn't know his name.
"Just call me… the Big Man." the man replies.
Thunder clapped at that moment as lightning struck down onto the Earth.
The morning sun hit a window of an apartment, shining it's rays inside the room the window belongs to. Inside was a small bedroom with many accessories and decorations scattered around the area. An iMac with a wireless mouse sat on top of a desk with a Senpai Dozer bobble head from Payday 2 next to it.
Over by the other side of the room was an open closet that was filled with many dark colored clothes, mostly hoodies and baggy T-Shirts, as well as a single leather jacket inside; a pair of boots and several dark colored sneakers could be seen lazily scattered and thrown inside at the bottom of the closet.
A desk sat at the end of the bed, with a flat screen TV on top of it so that way the TV was directly in front of the person watching it. There was a bookshelf at the far end of the room with one of the boxes in the shelf was titled "Zombie Outbreak" visible. There was also a "in case of emergency, break glass" attachment on his wall with what appeared to be a flare gun inside. Next to the emergency case was a poster of Stranger Things nailed to the wall.
Finally, a person was sound asleep in their bed, their face turned towards a wall while they were covered by dark blue sheets. An Illuminati poster was tapped over the bed while above the bed was a hook with a strap dangling off it for some reason. There was a small desk next to the bed with a TV remote and a cellphone on it, along with some antidepressant pills and Melatonin pills as well. At that moment, an orange tabby cat jumped on the bed and began nudging the person underneath the sheets, prompting them to wake up while groaning in the process.
The person underneath the sheets was revealed to be Shane Hertz, whom began to pet the cat that began nudging his face with her nose.
"Hey, Emerald." he said in a tired voice. "Here to wake me up, huh?"
Emerald meowed as she began to purr loudly before she snuggled up against his face, laying on his chest while she rested her head against his cheek. Shane laughed as he began to pet his cat before kissing her repeatedly.
He began to get out of his bed as Emerald jumped down, rubbing up against his bare legs. His nighttime uniform was revealed to be a baggy gray T-shirt with several stains on them, black basketball shorts and black socks. He stretched his entire body, waking himself up and preparing to start the day.
About fifteen minutes later, Shane already took a shower and walked back in his room, wearing a towel over his private area. He walked to his drawer and grabbed a pair of boxers before slipping them on. He took off his towel and hung it behind his door, before heading over to his desk to spray on some deodorant on his body.
He walked over to his closet and picked out a set of clothes he would wear for the day. His clothing consisted of a white T-shirt with the words "Color blind people won't get this joke", followed by a color blind test with the dots that spelt out "I hate color blind people". He wore a worn out black BURTON hoodie over it as well as baggy black jeans, sporting white sneakers underneath. He grabbed his signature gray beanie and placed it over his head.
Now dressed for the day, Shane exited his bedroom with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He walked into his living room where his father was watching the news.
"'K, I'm leaving, dad." Shane announced.
"Oh, wait, hold on." his dad said as he placed his coffee cup on the table. He got up from his seat as he walked up to his son, placing both hands on his shoulders. "Stay safe out there, alright?"
"Yes, I hear you." Shane replied.
"I mean it, Shane." his dad continued. "I just want you to be safe. You're the only thing I have left in my life."
Shane sighed tiredly. "I know. I know." he responded. "But look, I gotta go. Otherwise I'm gonna be late."
"Alright." his dad said. "Sorry to stop you… I love you."
"Love you too, dad." Shane said as he made his way to the door exit.
"And look both ways before crossing!" his dad let out his final shout as Shane closed the door.
Shane walked down the sidewalk wielding his backpack that was lazily slumped over his right shoulder, a carefree expression on his face as he chewed mint gum. He walked passed a group of three young adults, all having sketchy appearances. They all looked at each other before nodding, silently agreeing on something before they began stalking Shane.
He continued to walk down the empty sidewalk with the same carefree expression on his face. That is, until he turned his head to the right to see a building under construction. However, this was all a decoy as he was really spying on the three thugs that were tailing behind him in the corner of his eye. He rolled his eyes as he turned to head down an empty alley to lure the thugs away from the public.
Sure enough, the thugs followed Shane and were now alone with him; Shane stopped walking and stood there, facing the opposite direction of the thugs.
"You know," he started out. "if you guys are trying to get away with a mugging with a possible murder, don't dress like you're about to commit both crimes. Wise advice from a kid who grew up in 4 cities in two different countries across the globe. You guys suck at tailing victims, you know that right?"
"Looks like we have a wise guy on our hands." said the leader of the thugs.
Shane widened his eyes in disbelief. "Did you really just say 'wise guy on our hands'?" he asked. "What year do you think we're in? 1933?"
"Keep smart talking us and soon you'll end up dead in this alley, bitch." the second thug threatened.
Shane turned around, having a quite calm expression on his face despite the situation he was in. "Did your mother not love you?" he asked. The three thugs were all taken back on how cool, calm, and collected he was being at the moment. "Like, I understand that parental figures must've been a tough time in your guy's lives, or maybe you hung out with the wrong crowd or something. Point is, I don't care. Why? Because I'm better than any of you and will always be better than any of you. As far as I know, I'm more successful than you guys in this point of my life, and I'm only a Junior in high school. I want to take a guess one which year you dropped out. I want to say that the first one dropped out during Freshman year while the other two bozos dropped out in maybe their Sophomore years, or probably didn't attend high school at all. Am I right? Genuine question though, am I right, like I really want to know if I'm right or wrong here."
The leader of the thugs grew a scowl as he charged at Shane with murderous eyes; he rose his fist in the air, prepared to lay down a powerful punch. Before he could even make contact with Shane, a black slimy tendril emerged from behind Shane's back, quickly gripping tightly around the thug's wrist, causing him to yelp in pain. Shane suddenly grabbed the thug by the throat, choking him a bit as he glared at the thug straight into his eyes.
At that moment, black slime covered Shane's entire body as he transformed into something big and monstrous. The other two thugs looked up in fear as they backed up a bit. Shane completely transformed into a huge, black slimed covered monster with huge blank white eyes and razor sharp teeth with a long, pointy, saliva covered tongue as it maliciously grinned at the thug leader.
You dare prey on an innocent teenager for your own greedy desires? The monster asked in a low, devilish voice. Pathetic. We will eat your limbs piece by piece until you're just a torso and a head before we bite off your entire head, leaving you as just an armless, legless, faceless thing, rollin' down the street. Like a turd, in the wind. Do you feel me?
"What the… HELL are you, man?!" the thug shouted.
The monster grinned even bigger as it got closer to him.
Call us… Venom… The thug gulped in fear as his breath got shaky and rapid. For your information, we are quite hungry. We did not eat what you humans call breakfast. So… you will do.
At that moment, a gunshot was heard as a bullet penetrated Venom's neck. He stood there as he turned to the person who shot him, unfazed by the bullet. There he saw the other two thugs holding up a gun and a knife in their hands. Growling at them, Venom threw the leader toward a wall, knocking him to the ground.
Venom immediately grabbed thug who shot him and quickly crushed his entire hand, causing him to scream out in pain. Afterwards, he lifted him up by his arm and threw him so hard against the ground that his entire arm ripped out of his body as well as left a huge crater in the ground with the dead thug lying in it. He carelessly threw the arm away before he turned to the third thug with the knife in his hand.
The thug dropped his knife and began to make a run for it; however, he was suddenly stopped when a black tendril wrapped out his body and was quickly pulled back into the alley. Venom grabbed the third thug and lifted him into the air before slamming him down onto his knee, completely breaking his back as a loud SNAP could be heard in the alley.
Venom dropped the corpse of the third thug before he turned to his first victim, the leader of the group. Said leader was trying his best to get up, only receiving minor injuries as he was thrown towards a wall. He got up in a wobbly state, trying to balance himself. However, because of his current condition, he was immediately grabbed by Venom whom laid a hand on his shoulder.
The leader looked up to see Venom giving him a toothy, malicious grin.
Now, Venom began. where were we?
The leader began to silently cry as his mouth trembled; Venom licked his lips as he opened his mouth and chomped down onto the head of the thug, ripping it completely off his body. Venom swallowed the head before he eventually retreated back into his host, returning control back to Shane Hertz.
Shane blinked rapidly before his head shook a little bit, as he was just woken up from a trance. He looked down to see the several deformed corpses of the thugs around him. However, his carefree, calm expression retained as he shrugged it off. He began walking out of the alley casually, as if nothing happened.
"Did you have to go overboard with them?" Shane asked no one.
They were a threat. Venom's voice could be heard inside his head.
"They weren't a threat, they were just hooligans." Shane told him. He suddenly smiled a little bit. "But, I gotta admit… that was cool."
Thank you.
"No problem, dude." Shane yawned into the back of his hand. "Alright, so… I'm late as it is. So that means no more street snacks, got it."
Understood.
"Glad you do." Shane replied. "Don't worry, we'll eat later today at lunch and we're having what I'm gonna get. Today is Taco Tuesday and I am hyped for some steak tacos. I think that's a good enough compromise, right?"
As long as we eat, I can't complain.
"It's better than my liver." Shane nonchalantly said. "Alright, so what's a walk to school without a little bit of music so I'm gonna need you to shut up now, alright?" Shane said as he placed his earbuds in his ears.
Do not ever tell me to shut up ever again or I will eat your kidney, do you understand?
"Yes, daddy." Shane sarcastically said.
What was that?
"Yes, sir." Shane corrected himself.
That is much better.
Shane quickly typed up a song into the search bar of the app he was using before pressing play. A cool rhythm guitar with drums could be heard at the beginning, prompting Shane to dance a little bit as he walked down the sidewalk.
Venomous
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
Since I was born
"Heeeey, Shane!" exclaimed a hot dog vendor as Shane walked passed.
"Hey, wassup, Percy." Shane greeted as he shook hands with him. "You good?"
Percy nodded his head as Shane continued to walk down the street; he nodded his head in rhythm as he walked down the sidewalk, passing by a man playing a guitar at the corner of the street with a case filled with money.
And now it's alright, it's okay
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man
Down the sidewalk, a prostitute stood at the corner, slightly swaying her butt around as she turned around, seeing Shane approaching. She put on a seductive smile as she bent over to flirt with the teen.
"Hey, baby." she said in a seductive voice. "You wanna have a good time?"
Shane ignored her attempts as he walked passed her, continuing to bob his head to the music. He began to mouth to the music with a slight smile on his face.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
He approached a crosswalk as he began crossing it, almost getting hit by a car in the process. The car suddenly stopped as Shane backed up a bit, holding his hand out to warn the person behind the wheel. Thinking nothing of it, Shane continued to walk down the crosswalk as the car drove away, throwing an apologetic wave in the process.
Shane slightly adjusted his beanie as he walked through a construction site, passing a teenaged girl his age who made no eye contact with him. As he was a curious teen, Shane turned his head to see the girl's thick butt through her sweatpants, swaying almost angelic as she walked away from him.
The girl turned her head, making eye contact with Shane as if knowing he would look. She gave a seductive and flirtatious smirk as she winked at him. Shane chuckled to himself as he nodded his head at her in a greeting; she waved back at him in a flirtatious manner as the two continued on with their day.
Well now, I get low and I get high
And if I can't get either, I really try
Got the wings of heaven on my shoes
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose
Shane turned the corner, almost running into a bicyclist along the way but swiftly moved out of the way just in time, as he continued on with his walk. He nodded his head at a stranger he knew, greeting him with his head nod; said stranger waved at him as he drank his cup of coffee.
You know it's alright, it's okay
I'll live to see another day
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man
Shane stopped by a newspaper stand, looking into it and reading the latest article from the Daily Bugle.
WHO IS SPIDER-MAN?
Shane blinked his eyes as he gave the newspaper article a blank look, thinking nothing of it. He left the stand, running late as it is, as he placed his hands in his pocket and continued to give off his carefree expression. He could care less about Spider-Man's identity.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
Shane turned the corner, heading down an alley between two apartments. There he approached a dead end, which took the shape and form of a brick wall. Thanks to the Venom symbiote inside his body, Shane used his enhanced abilities to easily jump over the 8 feet wall of brick, landing swiftly on the other side, doing a roll to break his fall. He dusted off some dirt off his clothes as a few bystanders look at him with surprised expressions.
Shane wiped his upper lip, having an itch on it, as he wrinkled his nose, feeling mucus running inside. He swiped some hair away from his face as he continued to walk down the sidewalk. Afterwards, he came across a group of people waiting at a crosswalk. Without hesitation, Shane walked through the busy road as the red hand light was still shown at the crosswalk sign.
As he was halfway through the crosswalk, the light changed into a white man, however Shane was almost across at the time. Living in New York, some people tend to know how to navigate through the busy city and to get to their destination as fast as possible. Shane was one of these people.
Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah
Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I'm stayin' alive
Shane turned the corner and began walking through a basketball court, several kids occupying as they played a game of basketball. Shane wasn't even paying attention when he stopped in place, letting a kid run past him; afterwards, he took a huge step forward, a kid barely missing him from behind.
Shane heard the ball bouncing his way as he extended his hand, grabbing the ball. He dribbled the ball in place as he turned around, looking at the hoop on the other side of the court. He dribbled the ball some more before he threw the ball; the basketball went through the hoop net, creating a nice SWISH sound.
The players all cheered as he Shane fist bumped a few of them before waving them goodbye. He exited the basketball courts as he began jaywalking across the street, not even looking if there were any cars coming his way.
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
Music loud and women warm
I've been kicked around since I was born
He continued to walk down the sidewalk before he looked up, seeing New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swing overhead. He thought nothing of the spandex hero as he continued to walk down the sidewalk, letting out a huge, tiresome breath of air he didn't know he was holding in the process.
He adjusted his earbuds as he felt they were falling out of his ears; at that moment, up above, a huge branch suddenly fell out of a tree and began falling directly towards the unsuspecting Shane.
And now it's all right, it's okay
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man
However, he didn't move nor care about the branch heading his way for some reason. Instead, black slimy tendrils emerged from his back and grabbed the falling branch before snapping it in two. Shane retained his 'don't care' expression as he blinked nonchalantly while the two pieces of the same branch was dropped to the ground; the black slimy tendrils retreated back into his body as he continued to walk down the sidewalk.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
Finally, after a long journey, Shane found his way to Midtown School of Science and Technology, with the school bell ringing in the distance. He didn't care about running or jogging to get to class on time, as he thought he had enough time. Oh how he was wrong.
He lazily yawned as he wiped some hair away from mouth, passing a parked school bus before he jaywalked across the street. Shane jumped over a high fence and landed on the other side, doing a roll once again to break his fall. He bobbed his head to the song he was listening to again as a smile grew upon his face.
Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah
Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
I'm stayin' alive
He took out the earbuds in his ears and placed them in his jacket pocket as he approached the front doors of the school. He grabbed the handles and pulled on them, only to find out that they were locked afterwards.
"Locked." he said to himself. "And there's a guard inside, so we can't smash through."
Is it mandatory that we have to attend school?
"Of course it's mandatory." Shane. "I can't, like, NOT go to school, otherwise I'll look suspicious. If I don't go to school unexcused my dad is gonna think I'm off doing drugs somewhere like Parker. He tends to overthink simple situations a lot."
We could try climbing through the window.
"And immediately get caught?" Shane asked. "No, no. Bad idea. Worst idea in the book. Why would you even suggest that?" Shane suddenly looked up at the roof, an idea forming in his head. "We could try up." he suggested.
Inside the school, Mrs. Warren was in the front of the class while her students took their seats. Cindy was sitting next to an empty seat which belonged to a former student and a former friend of hers.
"Now, class," she began. "I just want to remind you all that it has been officially one month since… Max stopped attending school and sadly passed on."
"Kaboom." Flash whispered, referencing Electro's supposed 'death'.
"He was a student with great potential and with a brilliant mind as well… However, life works in funny ways and unfortunately for Max, he was involved in a terrible accident that not only changed him and turned him into a supervillain, but as well turned him insane… We all know how he went and how Spider-Man saved the day."
In the back, Michelle and Peter glanced at each other, smiling a bit before paying attention back to their teacher up front.
"I just thought it was an appropriate time to remind you all that we lost a soul in our class. He was a student, a classmate, and as well as a friend to some people." Mrs. Warren said; Cindy looked down in sadness in the process. "He will be missed…" A moment of silence passed through the air before she spoke up again. "Alright, well let's continue on from yesterday, shall we? Who here can tell me-"
At that moment, a black figure jumped towards the window, scaring everyone. They all turned to see the black figure climbing up the wall before disappearing above the window. Every student sat there in scared silence, trying to comprehend what just happened just now.
"You all saw that, right?" asked Ned out loud.
Venom climbed to the top of the school before the symbiote retreated back inside Shane's body, giving him control once more. Shane blew a breath of air as he approached an air vent, getting an idea upon seeing it.
"How do you do in tight spaces?" Shane asked Venom.
The school hallway was dead quiet, not a single sound was heard. That is, until the air vent was forced open, the opening dangling from the ceiling. At that moment, Shane climbed down and landed on the ground, falling a little bit on his butt before he regained his composure. He stood back up, wiping dust off his clothes as a tendril emerged from his back and closed the vent opening behind him.
"Woo." Shane said aloud. "That was exhilarating."
Back in Mrs. Warren's class, everyone was gathered by the windows, trying to see if they could spot the figure that they thought was still clinging on the wall.
"Do you see it?" asked Betty.
"I don't see anything." Ned replied.
At that moment, the classroom door opened, prompting everyone to turn around to see Shane walking in, having a smile on his face.
"Sorry, I'm late." Shane apologized. "I got mugged in alleyway."
"What?!" Mrs. Warren exclaimed as everyone else grew wide eyes in shock. "Are you alright?!"
"Yeah, I'm alright." Shane replied. "Spider-Man saved me and all that shit."
Michelle turned to Peter, giving him a quizzical look; Peter, in response, shrugged, having no idea what Shane was talking about.
"Why're you guys gathered together at the window?" Shane asked. "What? You see Iron Man or something? Maybe a cool bird… A flying turd."
"We saw a monster climb up the wall." Abe responded.
Shane gave his friend a deadpan look. "Yeah, okay." he responded in an emotionless voice.
"Alright, students," Mrs. Warren called out. "let's get back to our seats. Whatever that thing was is gone now so let's get back to the class at hand, shall we?"
Everyone returned to their seats as Shane made his way to the back of the class as he sat at the very back alone with no partner. "I thought I told you to be more careful?" Shane whispered.
Apologies.
"Alright, class," Mrs. Warren spoke up. "let's continue on from yesterday. Who can solve this equation on the board?"
Shane looked up, seeing the familiar equation he once solved. "Didn't I just answer that same equation last month during Decathlon?"
"No one asked you, Shane." Flash called out from the back.
Shane's suddenly gave Flash a monstrous, toothy grin, scaring the rich jerk in his place. Mrs. Warren stared at Shane with a careless and tired expression on his face.
"I'll pretend I didn't see that." Mrs. Warren said to herself. "And Ned, stop playing World of Warcraft while I'm teaching."
Ned continued to tap repeatedly and violently on his keyboard, more focused on the video game he was playing instead of the class at hand.
"Ned?" Mrs. Warren called out once more.
Ned continued to ignore her and continued to play his video game, prompting her to sigh in annoyance and exhaustion. Ned suddenly stopped playing his game as he looked up at the class' teacher.
"Sorry, I had to kill this hacker so he wouldn't steal all of my weapons." Ned explained.
"You have time to play games at home." Mrs. Warren replied. "Right now, you're in Physics class. Speaking of Physics class, there's an announcement I want to make."
"Didn't you already make an announcement?" Michelle asked from the back of the class.
"Yes, but this one actually involves about the class." Mrs. Warren replied. "Today, I'm assigning you in pairs to work on a project about velocity, and by assigning you in pairs, I mean 'I'm assigning you in pairs'. You don't get to choose your partners for this. I'm sorry."
"No, you're not!" Shane exclaimed from the back of the class.
"For that, Shane, I'm assigning you a partner I know you don't like." Mrs. Warren said aloud. "Shane, you are partners with Peter Parker."
"Huh?" questioned Peter as he turned to Shane.
Shane as well gave a quizzical look at the teacher, baffled as to why she thought he didn't like Peter. "But I uh- I don't- I have no- Okay." Shane stopped himself before he could ruin anything.
"Good." Mrs. Warren said in a satisfied tone.
Why does she think you do not like this kid?
"Uuuuuuuhhh…" Shane looked up at the air as he tried to think of an answer.
Peter was shown walking in the hallways carrying a stack of books while trying to navigate through the crowded hallways. At that moment, Shane walked from behind Peter and smacked the stack of books out of his hands, leaving the disguised web slinger to pick them up as Shane walked away.
Peter unwrapped a sandwich at the lunch table, about to take a bite out of it. Shane suddenly appeared out of left field and tapped on his shoulder before stepping in the other direction. While Peter turned to see who tapped on his shoulder, Shane came from the side and stole his sandwich and began eating it.
"Hey!" Peter shouted in anger as Shane walked away.
Three closed bathroom stalls were shown as Peter walked into frame, heading to the far left one by the wall. He closed the door and at the same time, Shane opened up the other stall and walked out, but not before throwing a balloon full of water behind him, striking Peter directly.
The sounds of shoes squeaking followed by a loud bang and Peter's grunts and groans of pain could be heard. Suddenly, Peter's arm slipped from underneath the stall as he groaned in pain some more.
Back in the present, Shane continued to look up in the air, still baffled at the situation at hand.
"No idea." Shane finally answered.
"And finally, Ned you will be paired with Michelle." Mrs. Warren finished. "Is everyone happy with their assigned partners?"
"No." Abe said aloud, eyeing Flash from across the room.
"Good." Mrs. Warren ignored him. "Your project sheets are on your desk so get with your partners to come up with a plan. I'll be at my desk if anyone needs anything."
Everyone got up from their seats to head to their assigned partners, either willingly or unwillingly. Shane stayed at the back of the class, not feeling like moving at all. That and Michelle was at the desk next to him, and Ned was on his way over there. So it would make sense for Peter to head to the back of the class so he could sit near his best friends.
He saw it as an absolute win.
Shane continued to read whatever he was reading on his phone, which was a Reddit page titled r/therewasanattempt. Through the corner of his eye, he could see Peter walking up to him and taking the empty seat next to him.
"Sup, Parker." Shane greeted.
"Hey, Shane." Peter greeted back. "Sooooo… Ready to start this project or are you not happy with me as your partner?"
Shane turned to face his partner. "Peter," he began. "you flake at anything at any given chance in the day, you have zero artistic training, you have no skills in anything whatsoever and you never have anything interesting to say. I would say you're overqualified to even be in this class." Shane gave him a reassuring smile.
Peter looked at him with a confused expression, baffled as to what he meant and said. "Thank you? I think." he replied in a questionable tone.
"Anyway, shut up, and take a look at this." Shane said as he showed Peter his phone.
Peter looked at the image on his phone, confused as to what he was looking at. "What is this?" he asked.
"That, my indolent idiot, is a Sopwith Camel." Shane started to explain. "Standard issue of the British Royal Flying Corps as well as the Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force used by the Western Front Allies during 1917 of World War 1. Stop manufacturing these things in 1920."
Peter looked at him with confusion in his eyes as well as a raised eyebrow. "What's your point?" he asked.
Shane lowered his phone as he got closer to Peter. "My point is, alright, this is my point…" Shane spoke. "We do a presentation talking about how flying aircrafts have evolved throughout the years and talk about how they improved their speed and acceleration. We can talk about various points in time when they started making planes and reference when they were used, whether in war or to travel the globe… fly into buildings- Point is, we can create a timeline of when these aircrafts were made and talk about how science and technology improved their overall velocity."
Peter looked at him with impressed eyes, genuinely impressed at Shane's, the one kid who was the weirdest out of anyone in the school, brilliant idea.
"That's… actually a really good idea, Shane." Peter said, smiling at him.
Shane smirked at him as he began tapping the side of his head. "Black guy ta-"
"Yeah, I know." Peter interrupted him. Shane gave him a disappointed look afterwards. "So, do you wanna work tonight or-"
"I'm actually busy tonight." Shane interjected.
Busy with what?
"You know, feeding you." Shane whispered as he looked slightly to the right.
Peter raised an eyebrow at Shane's odd behavior, wondering why he was talking to himself. "Oooookay?" Peter wondered out loud. "Uuuuuh, so what about tomorrow night?"
"I'm free tomorrow." Shane replied.
Are you sure you do not need to "surf the web" tomorrow night?
"Shut up." Shane said a little too loud.
"I didn't say anything." Peter said, feeling hurt.
"Not you." Shane replied in a harsh tone. "Yeah, we'll work on it tomorrow. Does six sound good?"
"Uh, yeah." Peter replied.
"Good, cuz that wasn't up for debate." Shane replied. Peter raised an eyebrow at him. "Now, you can go to your little power ranger friends over there while I keep to myself over here because frankly no one ever wants to hang out with me, I kind of accepted that fact a long time ago." Shane said quickly, taking a huge breath of air.
Peter looked at him before turning around to head to his friends, leaving Shane to himself. He sighed in relief as he leaned back in his chair, resting his feet up on the table.
"I think that went well." Shane said to himself.
That went as bad as it could get, Shane.
"Who asked you?" Shane replied. "You're just an alien symbiote living inside my body that I picked up at San Francisco."
I think I might know why people do not want to hang out with you.
"Really?" Shane asked in a sarcastic manner. "Mind telling me as to why people don't want to hang out with me?"
Do you mind if I impure you with 600 million years of alien wisdom then?
"Of course. I'm all ears." Shane replied in a happy manner.
Try.
"Uh-huh."
Harder.
"Yeah…"
Not. To be a dick.
Shane left his mouth slightly open as he retained his dumb smile, shocked at Venom's answer. "Oh." he simply said.
Peter approached Michelle's table, where his best friend and girlfriend were at, talking about their current project. "Hey, guys. What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing." his girlfriend replied. "Just talking about the project."
"MJ says she wants to do a presentation on how fast a body can fall when dropped off the Empire State Building." Ned explained.
Peter turned to his girlfriend with a slightly concerned expression. "Wwhyyy would you suggest that?" he asked cautiously.
"Because when I was little, I saw a man commit suicide by jumping off the Empire building." Michelle explained casually.
"Jesus, MJ." Peter said in a horrified expression.
"What, I didn't say I liked it." Michelle replied. "I was 6! I was traumatized! I still am!"
"Well that's good to know." Peter said.
"Yeah, good to know that our MJ has feelings." Ned says out loud.
"I'm Peter's MJ, I'm not yours." Michelle retorted.
"Aww." Peter said in a happy tone.
"Yeah, but I'm saying 'our' as a whole." Ned clarified. "Like, we're your only friends… Well technically I'm your only friend and Peter's your boyfriend."
"Yes, but there's still 'friend' in boyfriend." Michelle replied.
"True. True."
"Speaking of death, have you guys heard about the recent murders happening all over the city?" Michelle spoke up.
From across the room, Shane looked up from his phone after hearing the word "murders" come up.
"Yeah, I heard." Ned confirmed. "I heard that their heads were ripped off their bodies."
Shane lowered his feet off the table as he sat in a proper form, taking one earbud out of his ear so he could listen more clearly.
"I heard that they're happening all over the city. Like, in really sketchy places, like, back alley's, crack houses, even the local gangs have taken a mighty death toll." Michelle responded.
Shane leaned in closer, trying to get a better hear of the conversation.
"They're mostly men, too, I heard." Ned adds on. "It's rarely ever women and never any children."
"Well that's good." Michelle says.
"Peter, why aren't you on top of this?" asked Ned.
"Be… cause I wasn't aware until now." Peter replies. "Are you guys serious?"
"Yeah, we're serious!" Michelle exclaims. "How have you not heard about these murders?"
"Being I'm busy most of the time!" Peter defends himself. "I can't keep track of everything that happens in the city. There's only one of me!"
"And only one gruesome serial killer." Michelle replies.
"How do you know it's only one guy?" Ned asks, turning towards her. "For all we know, it could be a whole gang doing this, what with the amount of bodies and everything."
Shane turned around, having a slightly concerned expression on his face.
"Oh crap." he whispers to himself.
"Because I know the M.O. of the killer." Michelle replies. "The unsub has the same M.O. as the same killer that was in San Francisco."
Ned's eyes widened, as did Shane's in secret.
"You don't mean-" Ned begins to say.
"Oh, I mean…" Michelle smiles knowingly as she nods her head. "The San Fran Demon is in New York."
"AW CRAP!" Shane suddenly shouts at the top of his lungs, standing up at lightning fast speeds.
Everything went quiet in the classroom as all eyes were on Shane, whom stood in the back of the class awkwardly, flashing a nervous smile.
"As in… 'aw crap' I gotta take a… a crap." Shane tried to make up an excuse, nervously chuckling a little bit. Mrs. Warren gave him a deadpan expression, which only made Shane even more nervous. "Do you mind if I uh… take care of… my business?" he asked, pointing to the wall.
"Make it fast." Mrs. Warren replies as she returns to her magazine. "Wouldn't want you messing up my classroom."
"Yeah, like what happened last month with Ma- Ma- Ma- Ma- Flash." Shane stuttered, almost heading to sensitive territory.
Flash gave him an offended look as Shane quickly sped across the classroom. As he approached the door, a symbiote tendril came out of his chest and opened the door for him, going unnoticed by his classmates. Once the door was closed, everyone returned to what they were doing. Only Peter, Ned, and Michelle gave each other quizzical expressions, wondering why Shane was suddenly acting weird.
"We are screwed!" Shane shouted inside the bathroom, pacing back and forth while hysterically freaking out.
We are not screwed!
"Yes, we are!" Shane replied back angrily. "I didn't know there was a name for us back in the west coast?! Did you?! The San Fran Demon! There was an M.O.- WE have an M.O.!"
You need to stop freaking out!
"No!" Shane shouted back. "I have every reason to be freaking out! If people start connecting the dots, then they're gonna realize that WE were in San Francisco at the time! They're gonna realize that the murders started happening when WE came back!"
A kid in a stall was curled up on the toilet, head planted on the wall as a scared expression was plastered on his face.
"WE messed up! WE. MESSED. UP!" Shane continued to shout.
"I don't feel safe." the kid whimpered.
"And what about the law enforcement?" Shane asked. "If those pigs realizes- No, no, finds out about the connections, we are D-O-N-E FU-"
They will not find out.
"How do you know?!" Shane asked angrily.
Because over the course of my time here on this world, I have come to realize that the police in your world are lazy and unmotivated.
"Yeah, that was the west coast PD." Shane explained. "Here in the east coast, they tend to take things much more seriously."
Because of a different coast?
"No, because New York is filled with all kinds of crime." Shane explained. "Murder. Trafficking. Terrorism. The police need to take these crimes seriously, otherwise it'll turn into a war zone!"
At that moment, a kid entered the bathroom, prompting Shane to quickly turn his head to him. At that moment, his face semi-mutated into Venom's own face, giving off a horrific face that could only be born in a horror film.
"GET OUT!" Shane shouted in a low, devilish voice.
The student immediately ran out of the bathroom, almost slipping in the process. The sound of a door closing could be heard as Shane continued on with his freak out.
"I don't know what to do." Shane says, freaking out a bit more. "I don't think I can keep this… keep YOU a secret anymore. We should've stayed back in San Francisco! Why did we come back here?!"
You are not helping either of us by freaking out, Shane. So calm down and let me deal with this.
"Let you deal with this?" Shane asked in bewilderment. "You're the one hiding in plain sight! My personal life- No… My ENTIRE life in danger! We gotta stop with the late night feedings."
We both know that if we stop feeding on live meat, then I will be forced to eat your internal organs for survival.
"Yes. Yes. Yes. I know. I know. I know." Shane repeated. He heavily sighed as he grabbed his face in tiredness. "What if we came up with a compromise. Maybe we change up how we do this in a different way."
Like eating the entire body?
"Oh, God, please don't even suggest that." Shane said in disgust. "I'm okay with biting scumbag's heads off but I draw the line at consuming the entire body."
Then I do not see a compromise that we can agree on, Shane.
"I know! That's the problem!" Shane shouted. "If we continue on like this, we'll get caught. If we change it up a notch, you'll eat my liver. Either way, I am SCREWED!"
WE are screwed, Shane.
"But just a minute ago, you said we weren't! What changed your mind?!" Shane angrily asked.
You… You did, Shane.
Shane let out an exasperated sigh as he grabbed his face once again. "Look, we'll deal with this later." he said in a tiresome voice. "I just want to get through the day… We'll do one more night of feeding and then after that, we call it off. Lay low for a while. You can sustain your hunger on tater tots and chocolate from now on until we find a solution. Nothing ever lasts forever and eventually, opportunities come knocking on your door… You just gotta figure out which one you want to let in."
That was very sentimental. I'm not gonna lie.
"Thank you." Shane says as he smiled a bit.
I hate sentimental.
"Okay, I'm gonna purposely blast heavy metal again tonight." Shane threatens as he makes his way to the door. "That sound good?"
NO!
The sound of the bathroom door opening and closing was heard afterwards, as the entire bathroom went dead quiet. At that moment, the kid in the stall opened up the door, peeking his head from behind the corner.
"You still here?" he asked, thinking Shane was still in the bathroom.
(Oooh boy! What a start huh?... I don't know. I don't want to get too cocky.)