Halloween....
A wonderful time of year where everyone dresses up, scares each other, and tries to get the most candy. The city of New York was in full bustle as many parties were going on while children were trick or treating. Anywhere you turned, you would see someone scary or maybe a beautiful princess. 

And sometimes Halloween can bring out the most terrible monsters of all.

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"Would you look at that? I've never seen anything like it!"

The two police officers from earlier chapters parked their car at the edge of the alleyway. Brian, the younger cop, whistled loudly as the older cop, Doyle, shook his head. Blood was evident on the walls, dripping down slowly and pooled down to the mass of mangled body parts. They were getting too used to seeing these bodies scattered all over the city at this point. The two were still on the Venom case after all, tracking down all these symbiont scums.

Brian leaned down and grimaced. "What could've done something like this? Certainly not Venom, we've seen the stuff he does."

Doyle came behind him, taking a few pictures. "Well when you've done this job for as long as I have, you start seeing familiar patterns with various killers. In fact, ever since Spider-Man and all his friends have started protecting the city, there's been a rise in murders and kidnappers." He had to turn his head away. "It doesn't get easier, this job."

"I can attest to that." Brian stood up and fixed his hat. "We should take these pictures back to HQ and see what they can get from it. If it is one of those symbiotes, they can tell us."

Doyle got in the driver's seat and turned the car on. "Time will only tell if Spider-Man can deal with this infestation. I just hope it doesn't escalate into a full on invasion."

The car drove off, leaving the bloody corpse behind. From up top the building, a piercing laugh rung out. Carnage looked down at what he'd done and licked his lips gleefully.

"Now THAT'S what I call a murder!" He joked, leaning over the ledge with a grin. "I told you this would be a fun night babe!"

"You did promise me a good Halloween, but is this what we're going to do all night?" The sound of heels clicking on the ground was heard as a woman came into the moonlight. She had long silky black hair, ghostly pale skin, and wore a revealing black jumpsuit.

Carnage stroked her cheek in a loving manner. "Now Shriek, I will fulfill my promise. By the end of the night, we will have killed Spider-Man and Venom once and for all!"

Shriek smirked, taking the affection. "I can deal with those two. After all, we need to get our revenge on them for locking us in that asylum!"

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Meanwhile, in a certain apartment downtown, there were problems that had arisen.

"I can't believe I waited till the last minute to get a Halloween costume and now they hardly have any!" Vivi complained, looking up different costumes online. "Everything for females are either sexy monsters, sexy jobs, or sexy in general!"

"I fail to see the problem here Vi. Don't you want to look cute?" Ravage asked her host, popping out her shoulder to look at the screen. "I , for one, would prefer if you just went as us for a change."

"Of course you would suggest that. I want to be something different for a change, not the personification of sexy like society wants females to be." Vivi closed her laptop and leaned back in her chair. "Wonder why it's harder to look cute instead of older nowadays. This sucks..."

Ravage rolled her eyes before using a tendril to grab the cellphone nearby. She noticed several texts and tapped on the button.

"Hey first world problems, your boyfriend is fighting Spider-Man again." Ravage said, showing her the texts. "Mania texted in the group chat that she and Venom were going to get a pumpkin, but got blocked by webhead."

Vivi rubbed her temples. "I swear if I didn't love that man..." She got up from the desk and let Ravage take over her body. "Let's just go get them and be back in time for movie night." She let out a sigh, then shrugged. "Toxin wanted to go trick-or-treating tonight, so maybe he'll come along with us."

"Should we invite the others? I heard Riot is throwing a big party for the symbiotes." Ravage commented, making a web line for them to swing on as they leapt out the window.

"If we deal with Riot, I think I'll barf. He's so annoying..." Vivi said, looking around the city. "Where did Mania say that they were at?"

"Somewhere around the skyline of Manhattan...she wasn't specific."  Ravage pointed out before catching sight of a familiar cloud of dust. "Ooh, looks like we made it here early for once. Venom hasn't even flexed a single muscle yet!"

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Venom growled as he hit the brick wall hard from the last kick. Spider-Man just had to show up at the most inconvenient moments. It was such a great Halloween day, it started out with the traditional getting a pumpkin from the patch out of town. Andrea was unseasonably happy and ready to get dressed for the party she was going to later that evening. Eddie had promised Vivi he would take her out for a night on the town while letting Toxin experience his first Halloween with a host. Even though Max didn't want any part of this, he was willing to go for his partner.

So he and Andrea let the symbiotes take over, terrorized rowdy teens at the patch, and got a rather large pumpkin. The second they got back into the city, Spider-Man kicked him into the side of a building, nearly smashing the pumpkin he was carrying. To make matters worse, he had that Spider-Gwen and Kid Arachnid with him as well.

Currently, Mania was fighting with Spider-Gwen and Kid Arachnid while he was holding off the Spider himself.

"Nice costume Venom, did your mommy make it for you?" Webhead taunted, hanging upside-down in front of him. "Love what she did with a couple of bedsheets, really captured your ugliness."

"For once can you tell we aren't doing anything evil today? All I have is a pumpkin!" Venom shouted, throwing a punch towards him. Spider-Man dodged, landing a few meters away. "What do you think we're going to do with a pumpkin?"

"I dunno, maybe make some pie?" He shot a web into Venom's eyes, making him screech. "You probably had something planned for tonight if you were out with Venom Jr. over there."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME SPIDER?" Mania hissed, jumping out of the way of Kid Arachnid's venom stingers.

"She's right to be angry Webs. Mania is a girl." Spider-Gwen said, trading some more blows with the female.

"Wait...I thought symbiotes were asexual?" Kid Arachnid asked in confusion. "Or am I thinking of slugs?"

Before either of them could reply, a loud boom was heard, knocking the five of them backwards. Standing over them were the duo of Shriek and Carnage, the latter having a wide grin on his face.

"Hey daddy..." Carnage said towards Venom, slinking closer to him. "How have you been? Where's that girl of yours with the Ravage symbiote?"

Venom gritted his teeth and stood up. "Is this just my unlucky day or something? First Spider-Man, then you and this-" He stopped, recognizing the woman who stood beside him. "Wait a minute, is that Shriek? How did you break out again?"

Shriek jabbed a thumb at Carnage who smirked. "Had some help from red boy here. He's quite the charmer."

Mania gagged a bit. "Carnage is nowhere near charming nor is he handsome."

"SHUT UP COPYCAT!" Carnage shouted, tendrils spiking on his body. "At least I'm not some deadbeat clone!"

Spider-Man, Kid Arachnid, and Spider-Gwen just stood there while the symbiotes and mutant bickered. Ravage landed behind them, utterly confused at what was going on.

"Can someone catch me up to speed on who the heck that woman is and why Carnage is with her?" She asked, startling the teens.

"Your guess is as good as ours. One moment we're fighting Venom, next thing we know it that KISS wannabe and Carnage just pop out of nowhere." Spider-Gwen pointed out.

"Her name is Shriek, a highly unstable mutant that can generate sonic booms and sound blast." Spider-Man informed them, shaking his head. "The last time those two were together it took me, Venom, and Black Cat to take them down."

Kid Arachnid's eye holes widen at this. "They're that tough? Oh man we are screwed!"

Ravage rolled her eyes as she strutted forward to stop this confrontation from escalating any further. As soon as she stood between the dividing sides, she shot webs on all their mouths.

"You..." She glared at Venom and Mania who both slunk back in shock. "Were supposed to be back three hours ago! We have a Halloween night on the town tonight and Mania has a party to go to. Get your butts home and get ready. While you're at it, grab that extremely large pumpkin you dropped over there!"

Mania nodded rapidly and grabbed the pumpkin in her haste to get away from a mad Ravage. Venom was about to say something to her, but shut his mouth at the glare she was giving him before swinging after Mania. Carnage looked as if he was about to follow him, but was stopped short by Ravage.

"And as for you, I don't want you bothering us tonight. I want a nice night without fighting, scrapping, or anything you two usually do every night. It's been two weeks since we had a calm night. Can't you cut it out for one night?" Ravage pleaded, almost desperate for some form of humanity from the murderer.

"Who are you to dictate what we do tonight?" Shriek snapped, her eyes narrowed at this female. "We're bad guys, we do what we want. I bet I could kick your butt right here and now."

"I feel as if we should intervene." Spider-Man said, before getting stopped by Spider-Gwen. "Why are you stopping me?"

"You've never seen an angry Ravage, and I forgive you for not. Me and the girls witnessed this the first time we saw her so we might want to move." Gwen said, pushing the boys out the way. "Let's just go see a movie and grab some candy for tonight."

"Sounds good, anywhere but here!" Kid Arachnid agreed, not wanting to see the aftermath of what would happen.

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Toxin chomped down another lollipop, making Max rub his temples. The symbiote was having a great night trick-or-treating with his buddy and the rest of the family. They were all dress up as different periods of time. Vivi found a nice looking flapper dress and completed it with a feather boa and a hat. Eddie wore a disco suit he had found at one of the nearby stores and an afro. Max wore a WWII pilot jacket and even had a helmet on his head.

"Can you not do that on my jacket? I'll be sticky for a week and this is my only good jacket." He complained, his symbiote buddy giving him a toothy grin.

"But it taste so good! That last one had chocolate inside it while the other one had a pink substance inside!" Toxin dug his face into the pillow sack to see if there were more. "I'm eating till I pass out!"

"I almost went with Andrea to that party, but I'm stuck with you, Eddie, and Vivi walking around and getting candy like a child!" Max groaned, looking at the couple behind him. "Oh and by the way, what happened to Carnage and his girlfriend?"

Eddie shuddered, not trying to make eye contact with a content Vivi who was hanging on his arm. "I don't want to remember that right now. For the moment, I just want to spend time with you guys and get some chocolate for Venom."

"YES! ALL OF THE CHOCOLATE!" Venom exclaimed inside him, anticipating his haul.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Enjoy tonight Venom, for when I arrive, you'll be the one suffering forever!"

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!