Chapter 72: I Want to Become…

Without warning, the symbiote fired several webs toward Peter. He tried his best to deflect them, but their incredible adhesive strength quickly got the better of him. Several strands latched onto his body and, with a violent pull, the symbiote dragged him straight toward itself.

The creature immediately tried to land several punches, which the teenager narrowly dodged before retaliating without hesitation with a powerful right hook. Yet the monster avoided the attack as well with frightening speed, almost as if it had sensed it coming before Peter even struck.

Peter found that particularly strange.

— "I know it can replicate my abilities… but does that include my sixth sense too?"

Determined to test his theory, Peter prepared to throw a devastating punch and charged wildly toward it. But it was only a feint. At the very last moment, he dropped to the ground and attempted to sweep its legs out from under it.

As expected, the symbiote reacted immediately and prepared to dodge… but that, too, was another feint. Planting his arms and hands firmly against the ground, Peter suddenly launched himself like a rocket and drove both feet straight into his symbiotic double's stomach.

— "No! It probably just has extremely developed sensory abilities!"

But the symbiote wasn't about to let him get away with it so easily. It reacted almost instantly, grabbed Peter by the legs, and violently slammed his body into the ground. After the impact, it immediately released him and rushed toward Uncle Ben, but Peter stopped it before it could reach him.

Despite the violence of the blow he had just taken, the teenager was still conscious and more determined than ever to win, with or without his equipment. He firmly grabbed the symbiote's leg with both hands and, still lying on the ground, absolutely refused to let it move forward.

— "LET GO OF ME! I'M GOING TO KILL THAT MAN! THIS IS ALL BECAUSE OF HIM!"

— "IN YOUR DREAMS! YOU'RE NOT TOUCHING HIM!"

Peter quickly got back to his feet and leaped onto the symbiote before it even had time to react. The creature immediately tried to trap its host with its black webs, but they were destroyed the very second they reached the young man, who managed to slice through them with astonishing ease. Now directly above the monster, Peter unleashed his fury, striking it again and again at terrifying speed.

The symbiote struggled furiously, desperately trying to push Peter away and break free from his grip, but nothing worked. The few blows it managed to land, along with the symbiotic blades it formed to pierce him without trying to kill him, were barely enough to make the teenager flinch.

And as the seconds passed, the symbiote's body seemed to disintegrate before his eyes. Peter then began violently tearing away the last remaining pieces of the creature with his bare hands.

— "S-STOP! DON'T DO THIS! WE ARE—"

Peter didn't let it finish. He brutally grabbed its symbiotic face, which mirrored the appearance of his own mask, ripped it off, and tore it in half.

Then, after a brief moment of silence, he spoke in a calm voice filled with deep contempt:

— "No… we are nothing. Not now… not ever."

After a few moments, Peter slowly stood back up, his gaze instinctively shifting toward where his uncle stood. Ben hadn't moved.

He was still standing there, watching Peter with a gentle expression of pride. No words were exchanged between them, but Peter didn't need any. From the simple look in his uncle's eyes, he understood perfectly everything he was feeling.

Yet Peter still had something he wanted to tell him. A smile appeared on his lips as he began walking toward him… but suddenly, everything disappeared.

The void swallowed him one final time and, after a few moments immersed in absolute darkness, Peter finally opened his eyes. This time, he was back in reality.

When he awoke, Peter was wearing his civilian clothes again. The symbiote was no longer on his body and had completely disappeared. Still shaken by everything he had just experienced, he took a deep breath before slowly getting back to his feet.

That was when he noticed that the sun had finally returned to shine over New York City, bright, radiant, and warm. Looking up at the sky, Peter thought back to his conversation with his uncle, and a gentle smile naturally appeared on his face.

— "I want to become the kind of person people can count on. I want to make sure others don't have to go through the tragedy and loss our family went through. So, as long as I'm Spider-Man… I'll do my best, Uncle Ben."

At the same time, taking advantage of the return of the beautiful weather, Gwen stepped out of the restaurant she had been in. She made her way through the streets of New York to head home, her face still marked by deep thought.

TO BE CONTINUED.