Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Chapter 82: Unseen Forces

Peter was on the offensive, his fists flying with all the force he could muster, but every strike seemed to pass right through the figure's form, as though he were striking smoke. Each time his knuckles hit the black, tendril-covered body, the figure seemed to absorb the impact, twisting with fluid motions, avoiding Peter's blows with eerie precision.

"Who are you?!" Peter shouted, frustration bubbling up inside him as he narrowly avoided a swipe of the symbiote's tendrils, which lashed out with terrifying speed. He could feel the venomous pull as they neared him, the sickening sensation of something foreign trying to drag him in.

"I told you," the figure's voice came again, robotic and cold. "I'm the one who will ensure the symbiote's success. You're just a distraction."

The figure moved like a shadow, too fast for Peter to track. With every step, the tendrils coiled and twisted around him, and before he could react, one of the tendrils shot out and wrapped around his ankle. He was yanked off his feet and slammed into the hard floor of the laboratory with a sickening thud.

Peter's breath escaped in a sharp gasp as he scrambled to push himself back up, pain flaring through his body. This wasn't just any opponent—this was something entirely different, and it was starting to feel like the odds were stacked against him in a way he couldn't outfight.

The figure stepped closer, his dark presence looming over Peter like a cloud of dread.

"I've seen your kind before," the figure continued, his voice growing colder. "You're predictable. Your powers, your emotions—they're all so… human. So weak."

Peter gritted his teeth, pulling himself to his feet with every ounce of strength he had left. He couldn't let this creature—this shadow—take him down. The people he cared about, his family, the city, everything was on the line. He couldn't afford to fail now.

"Not today," Peter muttered to himself. "I won't let you win."

Just as the figure lunged forward, tendrils shooting out to wrap around him again, Peter used the last of his momentum to swing his body out of the way. The tendrils missed, and Peter, taking advantage of the opening, launched himself into the air, flipping across the room and landing on a high platform. He shot webs in rapid succession, creating a net of webbing to trap the figure's movements.

But to his horror, the figure merely melted through the webs as if they were nothing more than paper, the black substance shifting with unnatural fluidity. The creature was impossibly fast, and Peter had no idea how to stop it.

Then he heard a familiar voice—Harry's voice—crackling through his earpiece.

"Peter, get out of there! It's a trap! You're not ready for this!"

Peter's heart skipped a beat as he realized Harry must have been monitoring the situation from a distance. But Harry's warning only made Peter more determined. He had come too far to back down now.

"I can handle this, Harry," Peter shot back through the comms, but his voice lacked the confidence he usually had. "I have to stop this thing now."

The figure smirked as he saw Peter's growing frustration, knowing all too well that Spider-Man was in over his head. But then, something unexpected happened. The figure's body began to convulse, a spasm of black tendrils, as though the symbiote inside him was reacting to something.

"Not again…" the figure muttered to himself.

Before Peter could react, the man collapsed to the ground, his form twitching violently. A high-pitched screech echoed from within him, the sound distorted and almost inhuman. The tendrils shot outward, uncontrollably, as though the symbiote was rebelling against its host. The dark figure writhed, his body contorting in pain. It was as if the symbiote—no, the creature itself—was trying to break free from the man who had been controlling it.

Peter stood frozen, watching in confusion as the figure transformed before his eyes. The symbiote's dark mass began to swell and spread outward, turning into something entirely different. What was once a human figure was now an amalgamation of black liquid and feral energy, its form twisting into a monstrous shape. The creature's eyes, glowing with an eerie green light, stared straight at Peter.

"You should've stayed out of this, Spider-Man," the creature growled in a voice that was both familiar and foreign, the blend of the symbiote and the man who had once controlled it creating an unsettling tone.

Peter's blood ran cold. He had seen this before. The twisted form of Venom had haunted him in the past, but this—this was different. This was something new. And the creature before him was no longer just a mere tool of Oscorp—it was a fully realized weapon, one that was alive, intelligent, and terrifyingly powerful.

"Venom?" Peter asked, his voice unsure. The creature's form wasn't like Eddie Brock's, and yet, the sensation was hauntingly similar. Something primal in the back of Peter's mind screamed that this wasn't a coincidence.

"No," the creature snarled. "I am Erebus."

Peter's eyes widened. Erebus. He had never heard of such a name before. Was this a new symbiote? Another one of Oscorp's twisted experiments?

"You've heard of Venom, yes?" Erebus continued, as though reading Peter's thoughts. "Well, this is the evolution of that failure. This—" Erebus gestured to himself with a wave of tendrils "—is the future. Stronger. Smarter. A true weapon."

Peter clenched his fists. This wasn't just a fight for survival anymore. This was a fight for everything. This creature, this Erebus, was the next level of danger, and he couldn't let it out of Oscorp's grasp.

"You've made a mistake," Peter said, determination setting into his bones. "You're not the future. You're just another monster."

Erebus chuckled, a deep, guttural sound that made the hairs on the back of Peter's neck stand up. "We'll see, Spider-Man. We'll see who is the monster and who is the hero. You'll soon learn just how small you are in the grand scheme of things."

With that, Erebus lunged toward Peter, his tendrils stretching out, aiming to crush him into the floor. Peter barely had time to react, his body twisting and flipping out of the way just as the dark tendrils slammed into the ground, creating a crater where he had just been standing.

Peter's heart raced. This is bad. Really bad.

He knew he couldn't fight Erebus the way he'd fought Venom. This creature was faster, stronger, and far more unpredictable. And Oscorp had more like him. How many more symbiotes had they created?

"Harry, I need backup!" Peter yelled into the earpiece, the urgency clear in his voice. "I can't take him down alone!"

End of Chapter 82