UCLA, 10 PM.

"Awww, not gonna come?" Chloe asked as she slipped on a pair of patent heels.

Chelsea turned herself around on her chair and shook her head. "Just a bit busy tonight. No worries, I'll have my own fu-"

"Alright Chels, nite!" Her roommate called out before strutting out of their dorm for yet another party off campus.

As Chelsea heard the door lock shut, she let out a heavy sigh and turned back to her computer to chip away at her schoolwork. Despite taking a day off with her roomie at Disneyland, she really needed to concentrate and get stuff done before her upcoming gymnastics tournament against NYU (New York University) next week.

But... Something kept gnawing at her... Something that kept her awake for days...

Her hands froze and rested on her keyboard as she bowed her head towards her desk and thought back to the gift store. She could vividly recall the suit in the mirror. It's inky black texture and the odd thrill of being caught in public with such a salacious skin tight 'cosplay'.

After a minute of meditating on the thought, she reached over to minimize her word processor and opened a new tab in her web browser. She hesitated for a second but slowly typed in: Spiderman.

Over five-hundred million results came back featuring an assortment of comic book, television, and movie heroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, after scrolling through the results, she still couldn't quite find what she was looking for. She didn't necessarily want to find pictures of Spiderman or his colored suit; she wanted to find pictures of hers.

So she edited her search and entered: black Spiderman.

Surprisingly, she saw results for more than just a monochrome version of the costume. In fact, she found an entire alternative universe featuring Miles Morales, a biracial teenager, that donned a similar attire and had his own storyline.

"Well, at least there's some diversity in the franchise..." Chelsea thought to herself as she moused back to the search bar.

She tweaked her search for the last time and added "suit" to the end of her last search and...

"Bingo," she murmured.

As she scrolled through an endless stream of results she eventually stumbled upon a phrase that she hadn't come across before.

"Venom," she whispered; like a girl reciting a little prayer.

"Sounds kinda... dangerous," she giggled to herself as she got out of her chair and tip-toed towards her closet. She wanted to know if it was true. If what she had all along was more than just a pair of comfy leggings. Perhaps something straight from the movies.

She swung her closet door open and stood on her tippy toes to spot a balled up mass of her special attire on her top shelf. As she reached over and grabbed the cuffs of its silky veneer, she felt a chill run down her spine and little goosebumps form along her arms. Her curiosity was at its peak and she wasted no time tugging at her sweatpants and letting its baggy material fall to the floor. With a quick hop, she slid into her lucky leggings and rubbed its warm texture against her soft palms.

Once its smooth mesh snapped onto her waist, she sauntered over to her chair and scrolled through some pictures until her eyes landed on an artist's rendition of what she had envisioned. It showcased a person who was fully encased in a body suit from the top of its head down to its legs. She traced its smooth hairless head and focused in on the pair of slightly sharp crescent-shaped eyes. Her gaze trailed its form and saw a large spider insignia that was stretched across its ripped torso. She zoomed in on its hands and noticed a pair of rectangular-shaped bands that were etched into its fabric just like the ones that she swore seeing at the end of her Disney ride.

"Venom..." She whispered again. Only this time something new happened.

She felt something stir along the surface of her leggings and quickly backed away from her chair. Chelsea looked down and saw a cascade of dark ink drip from its cuffs towards her ankles. She backed herself onto her bed and watched as its mesh material glided along her peachy skin and merge into larger tendrils as it approached her feet. Chelsea let out a slight giggle as she felt the material her pink soles and squish in between her toes; properly securing itself with the right amount of padding and protection for any upcoming stunts. As she wiggled her toes between the gooey fluids, her digits were absorbed underneath a pair of rubbery boots that seamlessly connected with the rest of her leggings.

While admiring her slick boots, she didn't immediately notice a different set tendrils crawling up in the opposite direction. The symbiote took advantage of her choice of loungewear, a loose crop top, by enveloping her exposed belly button and torso with relative ease. When it reached her bosom, the ooze tore her top into pieces without any hesitation and encased itself around her now perky mounds. Both the sudden sensation of being caressed and sounds of her clothes ripping into shreds caused Chelsea to yelp aloud and shift her attention towards the mass that continued to travel up towards her neck. From her vantage point, it almost looked like being in a horror film; consumed by a thick alien-like substance. But unlike other works of fiction, this alien ooze kept her oddly calm as it comforted her through her first conscious transformation.

She lifted her arms out in front of her and watched as ebony strands danced across her biceps and arms towards her fingers. Chelsea could feel a tingling sensation descendent from her shoulders as the substance empowered her being with its unique chemistry. And once the tips of her fingers were wrapped in its strands, she closed her eyes and instinctually clutched her fists as she felt a surge in strength pour down upon her being. It felt relaxing. It felt exhilarating. It felt like she was a new person.

When Chelsea reopened her eyes she saw the world in an entirely different way. Not only was her vision sharper but she also felt the world around her in a different way. It was almost like the suit provided a sixth (or even seventh) sense that made her feel more attune to her surroundings. She hopped off her bed and waltzed over to a mirror that revealed her newly completed form. An expressionless head stared back with an ominous pair of eyes and lack of a visible mouth, nose, or even ears. Her torso was adorned with a white spider symbol that stretched across her full perky s that swayed with even the slightest movement. Her once soft mesh leggings had now gained a new glossy finish that complimented each inch of her well-trained legs. And it all connected together as one package without a single stitch or seam visible anywhere on her body. She fell captivated by her outfit and did a little twirl on the tips of her toes to see all that she was blessed with.

She took a step back and walked back to her bed and brought her hands towards her face. From what she read online, Spiderman was supposed to have superhero strength and she wanted to see it for herself. She bent herself down and grabbed onto the side of her bed and effortlessly lifted up her bed frame and mattress with one swift motion. She thought back to when she first moved into the dorms and how it was a pain to lug the furniture around. But now, she had access to all of its legendary strength and abilities to do whatever she pleased.

"Speaking of abilities..." Chelsea thought to herself as she looked out her windows to see the glimmering lights of DTLA.

As her eyes caught the glow of the city, she harkened back to the robot at the park and how it soared through the air with relative ease. But unlike the fully scripted and choreographed stunt-bot, Chelsea's pride as a gymnast in her new suit drove her to see if she could do what she saw. She turned to her window and propped it open before looking around and down and at the ground. She knew it wasn't late enough to avoid being seen through the hallways but she also wasn't immediately comfortable with taking a leap of faith out the window. She stuck her hand out and rubbed against the outer wall and realized that she had a sturdy grip on the siding. She thought for a moment and then checked again to see if there was anyone remotely nearby that would spot her. With the coast clear, she used her other hand to help prop herself into the ledge and then carefully position herself into a climbing position.

"Woah this is cool~" She whispered to herself as she carefully crawled down the side of her dorm like an experience rock climber. The tips of her tacky fingers and the outsole of her footwear clung on as she navigated herself between the columns of the building and windows to other dorm rooms.

As she approached the ground, she hopped off the wall and did a simple backflip onto a patch of autumn leaves that littered the ground. She landed with her two feet perfectly planted on the ground and with her hands up as if she finished one of her routines.

Now that she was outside, Chelsea habitually dusted off her hands and carefully snuck her way through the campus and towards a building that she knew had a decent view of the city. As she tried to evade other students and security, she noticed a distinct clapping sound that followed her. She froze for a second and realized that she was unintentionally making the sound due to her suit's 'augmentations'. She felt her face redden and wished to herself that she could be a bit more discrete. Suddenly, she felt the bottom half of her suit tighten and deflate its padding to reduce its size around her waist and hindquarters.

"Huh, I wonder what else thing this could do..." She thought to herself as she hopped up another wall and crawled up the side of the Health Sciences building.

At the top of the building, she stood tall as a cool breeze blew through her taut limbs. Even on a somewhat cool night and meters up high, her suit did an amazing job at keeping her warm and cozy like an industrial strength windbreaker. She looked around and saw a faint reflection of herself with the moon rising over head and a semi-clear runaway that stretched from one end of the building to the other. It reminded her of the obstacle courses that she encountered during training and gave her an itch to see how agile and nimble she was in this new form.

Chelsea pressed her feet into the concrete surface and steadied herself with the cushioned material underneath her feet. Through her mask's eyes, she set her sights on a little flagpole at the other end of the walkway and counted herself down.

"3... 2... 1..."

On "Go", her foot pushed into the roof and left behind a little dent as she swiftly dashed forward. The world around her began to slow down as she felt herself run along the edge and vault over weather vanes and smokestacks that littered the roof. Near the end of her runaway, she turned her body diagonally and used her left hand to bounce herself off the wall and make a sharp turn. She propelled herself over the remaining obstacles and landed with a heavy thud next to her goal post.

Chelsea felt her momentum suddenly shift as she stopped on a dime and looked back to see little traces of smoke and dust still whirling in the wind behind her. As she caught her breathe, she noticed a tingling sensation spread over her head as tendrils from her mask parted her face and concentrated itself beneath her jaw. In doing so, her hair released itself from its confined enclosure and gently blew along with the wind. With her face uncovered, she instantly felt the cool fall breeze sting her exposed skin while the rest of her body suit continued to keep her warm. While she appreciated the extra air after her marathon, Chelsea wished she was still under its cover to prevent herself from freezing her face off. And in a matter of seconds, her head was veiled once again behind an expressionless mask. She smiled behind her re-woven mask and turned towards the city skyline. Somewhere out there was her roommate who was having just as much if not more fun without her...

After a moment, she felt an itch run along her wrists and went about scratching a particular spot atop a white patch until suddenly a strand of jet black webbing shot out and stuck itself onto the roof of a nearby tall building. She stepped forward towards the edge of her building and looked across Wilshire Boulevard with a slight trepidation. While she wasn't afraid of heights, she was understandably nervous about following the other end of her strand through the air. But the symbiote continued to mentally edge her on until she gulped down hard and tugged on her makeshift string.

"Here goes nothing..." She said aloud and flung into the air with her suit's webbing anchoring her trajectory across Hollywood.