Symbiotes amplify, and even extreme-ize, the host's emotions. At the same time, the host's personality, especially that of the first host, greatly influences the symbiote itself. This is a characteristic of the symbiote race, which no symbiote can evade.
Venom had previously been very at ease because he trusted his host completely, and also because Peter had never displayed too much emotion.
Until this time.
Unlike all previous enemies, this damned Goblin King was pure evil, evil that spared no expense, evil that cared absolutely nothing for anyone's life. Thus, Spider-Man grew furious, a fury unlike any before, and stimulated by the symbiote, this rage reached unprecedented heights.
Can you imagine a person, from an altitude of thirty or forty meters, using a single web strand to yank an entire utility pole from the ground, lift it into the air, and then aim a powerful home-run strike at the enemy—an enemy who had been brainwashed and modified?
At least, Venom had never imagined it.
Not to mention Peter's firm "Of course I know" in response to the phrase, "This isn't your fault."
The Ghoul who was struck and sent flying was caught in a web and hung from another utility pole, encased like a cocoon. Another Jack O'Lantern, pursuing the first, intended to finish off the failure with the pumpkin bomb in his hand but was immediately seized by the pouncing Spider-Man.
Then, then...
Spider-Man crushed the pumpkin bomb in the enemy's hand just before it fully exploded. At the same time, countless symbiote tendrils extended from his back, crushing all the bombs on the Jack O'Lantern's waist. The incomplete explosion of the flames scorched his arm, burning off the symbiote tendrils.
Next, he punched the Jack O'Lantern's stupid, fire-glowing pumpkin head, shattering it instantly. Then, he tossed the Jack O'Lantern aside, like throwing a dog, and covered him with thick webbing.
Among the scattered New York citizens fleeing the battle, some of the braver ones secretly watched the fight, witnessing a terrifying scene that reminded them of the symbiote frenzy two months prior.
From Spider-Man's back, countless symbiote tendrils extended like spider legs, directly sticking to the walls of the buildings on both sides. This fixed Spider-Man high above the street, like a spider weaving a giant net with black, viscous biomass, waiting for the flies to fly right into it.
"Hahahaha, you're trying to stop me with a symbiote that's afraid of fire?"
The Goblin King, sounding as if he'd heard the funniest joke ever, commanded his Goblin legions to charge Spider-Man from both the front and back. However, all they received was the frantic attack of the symbiote tentacles. These tentacles acted like layer upon layer of shields; they had to break through them to hit Spider-Man.
But Spider-Man wasn't waiting for them to come.
When the massive symbiote web forced the Goblins to start throwing bombs to breach it, Spider-Man, whose suit had turned completely black, darted out from some corner. His right arm transformed into a sharp blade, piercing the body of a Gray Goblin and slamming him onto the ground. Then, three sharp spikes extended from his back, piercing the bodies of three pouncing Goblins before flinging them into a restaurant nearby.
The people taking shelter inside the restaurant were terrified by the sight. Some, looking at the "corpses" on the floor, couldn't help but sob.
"Why are you crying! I didn't kill anyone!"
They heard Spider-Man's roar and saw the wounds on the men's bodies wrapped in symbiote-like biomass, as well as their low moans of pain.
As for the few remaining tendrils still hovering behind Spider-Man, an explosion erupted, severely scorching the symbiote appendages. The symbiote dropped off and fell onto the ground.
"Are you okay, Venom?"
[A little painful, but I'm fine. I should be the one asking. Are you okay?]
"Couldn't be better. Ten down, thirteen to go."
Looking at the large group of Ghouls surrounding him, the eyes of the black suit glowed with unprecedented ferocity: "It won't take long to finish this."
One fire ball after another burned in the street above. Peter passed through the flames, his symbiote-enlarged claws gripping the large pumpkin head of a Jack O'Lantern, then covering him with the symbiote before smashing him heavily onto the ground. At the same time, Peter's entire arm was rapidly scorched by flames, briefly losing the protection of the symbiote.
But this did not prevent him from punching another Ghoul in the head, ripping off the ugly Goblin mask while simultaneously tearing off the opponent's belt and tethering it to the enemy's glidder to pull them as far as possible to a safe distance.
Some Ghouls found a clever way to deal with Spider-Man: they detonated the advertisements on nearby rooftops and threw them at Spider-Man. As they laughed and threw bombs, J. Jonah Jameson's billboards became descending fireballs, burning away the boring, giant web.
Spider-Man's response was to smash the ownerless vehicles on the road directly onto these guys. Of course, there was no need to worry about their lives; they had been injected with the Green Goblin serum and wouldn't die as long as their pumpkin bombs weren't detonated.
Could he avoid detonating them?
Even Peter could only say he would try his best. These Goblins completely disregarded their own lives, or rather, the Goblin King behind them disregarded their lives. They had attempted several times to rush him with a self-destruct bomb, or one person would hold him down while another tried to kill both the restraining Ghoul and Peter.
This kind of behavior was unstoppable.
He grew even angrier, until the last Ghoul fell to the ground.
"It looks like our Spider-Man has achieved final victory! Hooray! A victory surrounded by corpses! The good news is that it seems not many innocent citizens were killed, perhaps. Oh, and he saved a few people—how lucky. It seems next time I'll have to improve my formula and leave fewer survivors."
The Black Suit Spider-Man's dark face was the only response to his boring, rotten joke.
"Alright, alright, it doesn't seem fun at all. So, I've prepared a little gift for you at the end. After all, all these small fry have attacked you; you need a little challenge, right?"
"You've taken care of 22 Goblins! Spider-Man! Now there's only one left!"
The Goblin King did not specify what the last one was, but Peter had already seen it.
It was a green Goblin walking through the flames.
It was a Green Goblin.