Reticent Monsters (Ultimate Spider-Man - Cartoon)

Chapter 35: Misread Situations

Here we are! I'm very excited for this chapter, guys. Very excited. We're moving along! *does a giddy dance*

Just a little note, my writing gets kind of weird and has numerous convention errors and grammar, but it's all on purpose to fit the story. Hope you enjoy! :D

Peters POV

Peter almost couldn't believe his eyes when he woke up staring down at a street, while hundreds of feet in the air. It took a moment or two for him to realize why everything was upside and where he was before it hit him.

They were in Manhattan.

Possibly even more surprising, if the sun was anything to go by, was that it around midday. So used to being drawn out of sleep when it was dark, the sudden sunlight was startling.

The symbiotes lurked behind him, still withdrawing so that the cobwebs of his induced slumber faded. When he was wide-awake, they switched to watching him eagerly; he was under the vaque impression that they wanted him to see where they were at.

Under the protection of the symbiotes, everything outside was quiet, as if the entire world had been put on mute just for him. Not even the wind, usually buffeting him with their strong billows, couldn't make it past the impenetrable cover of his body. He couldn't feel the chill of being so high up, or the tug of the wind, but experience told him it was there. Just the same, he could imagine the traffic noise below so vividly, he didn't even need his ears to hear it. The music of the city was in his head, like a song downloaded into his brain, playing for him so he could hear each honk, screech, siren, and gust of wind.

For several long minutes he couldn't speak - and even if he had the ability to, he wouldn't know how to voice the splendor blooming in his chest.

He's been watching these buildings from afar for so long, only ever getting closer when he woke up, so it was absolutely surreal that they were finally here. With the symbiotes and their obsessive paranoia, he feared he'd never enter the city again.

But he was here, in Manhattan. He was so close to home he could taste the familiarity on his tongue. He was THAT much closer to New York, where Midtown and Queens resided. Just a hop, skip and jump away.

The burst of affection hit his chest so suddenly, and so intense, it made his throat choke. For - for weeks it had been nothing but walls, and whi-, and running, and pain, and now he was finally here. In one of his cities, his terrain, where he'd swung among these very buildings so many times before. It was overwhelming.

The symbiotes, however, converged on him quickly when tears welled in his eyes, fretting around in panic.

What issss wrong? Venom pressed, circling around his mind worriedly, like a parent fussing over a child.

Hosssst isss upsset, Carnage moaned woefully. We upsset hosst. We knew thissss wasss a bad idea.

Parasssites, Anti-Venom hissed at them reproachfully, though he was shriveling in guilt too. Hosst issss hurting.

~No, no,~ Peter projected on them quickly. He wasn't upset, he was just so...so happy.

Happy? Anti-Venom repeated as if it were a foreign term.

Yes, happy. Incredibly happy. Being back among something so familiar was calming. It was almost like stepping into his hometown after being gone for years. It was a feeling comfort and ease that could only be born through home.

Still, the symbiotes kept close to him, as if just to make sure. When he made no signs of being sad or angry though, they slowly eased up, and after several minutes they were preening happily amongst themselves. Smug and satisfied with what they've done.