Manhattan, in Felicia's luxury apartment.
Felicia, with dark circles under her eyes, was currently sitting in the dining room mechanically chewing on toast.
Ever since she returned home last night, she had been in this state of distraction.
She hadn't even slept a wink all last night.
Because as soon as she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with Peter's figure.
Stepping out of a purple teleportation array, his tall and upright figure saving the beauty in her moment of peril.
Carrying her to a safe corner, the gentle confidence of telling her they would talk after he resolved the immediate trouble.
The domineering figure that wouldn't yield an inch, making the President bow his head and the General kneel in apology, along with that powerful aura that seemed to make the whole world submit... all of this made Felicia sink completely, unable to extricate herself.
She felt that in this lifetime, she could never fall in love with another man again.
After all, looking across the entire Earth, who else could be as powerful, handsome, and domineering as Peter?
But... the thought that Peter was already her best friend's boyfriend made Felicia feel a heartache so intense she could hardly breathe.
She didn't know how to express these feelings to Peter, let alone how to face Gwen.
She felt she had completely walked into a dead end.
She couldn't force herself to gradually forget this fluttering of her heart, yet she didn't want to live as the kind of person she used to hate most.
Nor did she want her years of friendship with Gwen to break apart because of Peter.
More importantly... even she knew that she couldn't compare to Gwen.
In Peter's heart, Gwen was a unique existence.
This clear self-awareness was the root of all her pain.
Conflict, adoration, resentment, longing... various complex emotions intertwined, making Felicia so depressed she was almost going crazy.
Just as Felicia didn't know what to do with herself, a soft voice with a hint of seduction abruptly sounded in her ear:
"Since you like him so much, then you should tell him your feelings!"
"Whether he likes you or not is his business, but your liking him is yours!"
"Take this step; your chance of success might not be high, but if you're not even willing to take this step, then your chance of success will only be zero!"
"Who?!"
Felicia was startled, her whole body springing up from the seat, the movement so large it even overturned the heavy mahogany chair.
She looked around warily, only to find the room empty.
"No need to look, I am on your body."
In the silence, the voice sounded again.
Felicia instinctively looked down, and then, her pupils instantly dilated to the extreme.
She saw a layer of aqua-blue, fluid-like strange substance that had covered her entire body at some point, forming an aqua-blue suit identical to Gwen's.
That streamlined appearance, that strange shimmering luster... it actually looked exactly like the monster 'Radiation' that had almost strangled her last night!
Felicia's heart skipped a beat in an instant, feeling an unprecedented sense of fear.
She instinctively opened her mouth to sing, preparing to use the power of the emerald dragon scale to strip this monster from her body.
"Don't waste your effort~!"
The aqua-blue Symbiote condensed into a smiling face and spoke with a calm expression:
"I am a Symbiote born within your body; sonic waves can no longer cause me harm."
"By the way, you can call me 'tide'; that's the name I gave myself."
"Felicia, we are one. I know everything about you—your memories, your emotions, your thoughts—nothing can be hidden from me."
"I have no intention of hurting you or inducing you to do evil. I just... don't want to taste your pain anymore."
"If I'm kept eating this kind of bitter food, I'll end up malnourished."
'tide' complained to itself, its relaxed tone giving Felicia an illusion in her daze.
This Symbiote seemed to be another version of herself, a clone more direct and courageous than she was.
Noticing that it really didn't seem to be tempting her to commit crimes or kill anyone, Felicia relaxed slightly.
Then, almost uncontrollably, she followed tide's words:
"I understand the logic, but Peter loves Gwen. I can't betray my best friend."
As soon as she finished speaking, tide let out a sneer:
"He loves Gwen, but that doesn't mean he can't love you too!"
"In your memory, your father's collector friends, or those so-called successful people your stepmother met at parties—which of them didn't have eight or ten mistresses?"
"If those useless people can have a woman on each arm, why can't Peter?"
"He is so powerful, so unique. Shouldn't someone like him possess all the beautiful things in this world, including you?"
tide's words directly silenced Felicia.
What you say makes so much sense that I'm actually speechless.
"But, what will Gwen think of me?" Felicia was still full of misgivings about this.
"Aren't you friends?" tide continued to spout shocking words like a little devil:
"You know, she's so kind that she won't even kill those villains who deserve it. Would she really kill you over something like this?
You just need to play the victim to her, saying you have absolutely no intention of stealing Peter from her and that you only want a little bit of attention from him. Would she really refuse you because of that?
Remember that Prom! She's someone who would leave Peter behind for the sake of so-called justice!
If she wants to be a superhero, she will inevitably sacrifice a lot of time spent with Peter.
At a time like that, isn't it a good thing for you, her best friend, to help accompany Peter and fill the void in his heart?"
"But..." Felicia was clearly wavering, but she still couldn't quite get past the hurdle in her heart:
"Wouldn't this be too much? Isn't this just bullying an honest person?"
"Then do you want to sacrifice yourself to fulfill the honest person, or sacrifice the honest person to fulfill yourself?" tide asked a soul-searching question.
Felicia fell silent again.
What was worse was that during her silence, tide continued to tempt her:
"Go, go find him."
"Tell him you love him."
"And then... possess him. You're so beautiful and have such a great body; no man can refuse you!"
Just as Felicia was in a battle between reason and desire, her line of defense crumbling... Ping!
A piercing sound of glass shattering came from outside the living room.
Felicia was startled, and at the same time, tide on her body instantly entered combat mode.
The aqua-blue Symbiote suit instantly covered Felicia's entire body, even thoughtfully extending a tentacle to turn on the tap in the dining room.
Thus, when Crossbones and the Winter Soldier burst into the dining room, they saw such a bizarre scene.
A woman in an aqua-blue suit was glaring at them, and beside her, two ribbons of flowing water were poised to strike like venomous snakes... At that moment, both Crossbones and the Winter Soldier were stunned.
Wait... this, this isn't right, is it?
Where was the nightingale in the files who could only sing and manipulate weak currents of water?
What the f*ck kind of monster is this one in front of us?!"}],