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You could hardly believe your luck you’d gone an entire week without having to beat any bad guy’s ass. You’d had so much free time that you were able to finish up your most recent programming gig early and got a decent bonus for beating the deadline. That cute pair of pumps from the latest Jimmy Choo collaboration collection looked attainable.
Being a masked vigilante didn’t exactly leave a lot of time for a steady 9-5 job, so you used your CS degree as a freelance programmer.
It also didn’t leave a lot of time for personal relationships of any sort, you couldn’t even remember the last time you’d gotten laid.
A sigh escaped from your slightly chapped lips and cold air puffed around your face into the evening sky. It was early fall, and the nights were getting cold but you could take the elements better than most. Perks of your enhanced physiology you supposed.
You had decent life though and a few friends, your best being M.J. Watson who was also your roommate. She was the only "living" person that knew your secret. Even still it was hard to talk to her about what you did and the toll it was taking on you mentally. It felt like no one could really understand your plight.
Well, that was the case until last year’s adventure in another dimension. What an eye-opener that week had been. First off your earth was just one of many versions, parallel dimensions were trippy, and physics was not your forte. Second, apparently getting bitten by a radioactive spider and gaining superpowers wasn’t that uncommon in the grand scheme of the universe as you’d met half a dozen others with nearly identical backstories and abilities. God you’d never felt so seen, so understood. You’d loved helping Miles the sweetest kid ever come into his own as his universe’s Spider-Man.
Peter B. was several years your senior and had life chew him up and spit him out but kept going and could make you laugh like no one else. Y’all had just vibed instantly he even had his own version of M.J.
Gwen or Gwenie, as you had started calling her, was like the little sister you’d never had. Peni, Noir, and Hammy also warmed your heart. Swinging around the city with people who could keep up felt like a dream. A distant dream now you thought as you made your way thru the city.
At first you'd felt relieved to make it back to your dimension as the glitching had been hella painful. But after a few days back reality set in and you started to realize just how lonely you felt and how isolating your current circumstances were. You could feel a creeping numbness beginning to set in deep inside, someplace you preferred to ignore.
You’d been through so much already in life, having lost both your parents as a child, then your version of Aunt May and Uncle Ben in your early teens.
Your first and only love Harry Osborn had become the Green Goblin and died fighting you. Whilst the building collapse wasn’t your fault completely it’d left you pretty fucked up. Seeing the life drain out of the eyes of someone you love does that to a person. You were just a senior in high school when that incident happened. You’d guarded your heart ever since and stuck to drunken one-night stands with no strings attached. Not the healthiest habit for sure. Somedays it just felt like you were just going through the motions. But you had to stay strong and give everyone your best smile you were NYC's one and only Spider-Woman.
M.J. and her family took you in when you were seventeen and treated you like family but you could never let yourself truly feel at home with them.
You were glad to find out that Miles, Gwen, and Peni had families to go back to in their universes.
You meandered through the streets, thinking aimlessly about places to grab dinner until the familiar sensation of danger prickled your neck. Your spider senses were going off pulsating across your spine. It was close, fuck you weren’t dressed for this. You dove into an alley and dug into your backpack and pulled out an old Covid face mask and your zip-on hoodie. You were wearing a crop top tee that showed off your spider stomach tattoo with some high-waisted shorts and thick tights underneath with your fav black Converse. Not exactly the best fit for crime fighting but trouble waited for no one.
You shot a web out of your wrist and swung up onto a fire escape and stashed your bag. Adjusting your mask and putting up your hood you flipped and climbed until you’d reached the top of the apartment complex you’d been by in the alleyway. The buzzing sensation in your neck was starting to itch and freak you out due to its incessantness. Dammit, you firmly slapped your face with both hands. “Get your head in the game Violet!” The adrenaline started kicking in and you took off in earnest towards the sensation of danger.
Police sirens and flashing lights blinked in the distance, and you hopped on a nearby electric pole to get your bearings and scope the situation.
The sounds of crunching metal and yelling filled the air. Gunfire echoed and you winced as the sound stung your sensitive ears. Something dark and fluid moved in your peripheral vision a few yards away.
Your head snapped in its direction, and you shot a web pinning the creature down. You stepped closer and froze. “Eddie?” You croaked. “What the hell man!”. “I thought we had a deal. You stay in San Francisco and only eat "really" bad guys”. “New York is off limits” you seethed.
You’d met Eddie (Venom) a couple of years back and though didn’t agree with their methods had come to an agreement after a scuffle in Manhattan. Eddie and his alien maybe lover parasite thing, kept to the west coast and stayed in their lane. Eddie was a hot mess but a decent guy you'd even given each other contact information. You had similar goals after all, even if eating the bad guys occasionally after the fight was messed up.
You picked your battles carefully.
The sound of web tearing and snarling hit your ears snapping you out of your thoughts.
“Eddie…...?”
Venom shot forward barreling at you and slashed at the air wildly. You dove down and barely missed his claws. He stepped closer into view, and you pulled up on the balls of your feet turning to face him.
Then he glitched a distorted shriek and a flash of abstract colors and shapes filled your vision.
The buzzing pulsated in the back of your skull. Then it dawned on you this isn’t your universe’s Venom. As he approached, he let out a snarl, and drool dripped pooling on the tarmac of the roof. He was bigger and more animalistic than the Venom you knew, “Oh shit.”