A mass of black, viscous sludge burst from Eddie Brock's shoulder blades.
It twisted upward, forming a monstrous face with jagged teeth and enormous white eyes, grinning inches away from him.
Eddie nearly stopped breathing.
"What the hell are you?!"
The creature's mouth stretched wider.
"My na is Venom. And your body belongs to now."
Eddie stared at it in horror, his stomach turning violently.
"You... you just..." He pointed shakily at the creature. "You used my body to bite soone's head off."
"I needed nutrients," Venom replied casually.
Then its grin widened even further.
"And honestly? He tasted pretty good."
"Jesus Christ...!"
Eddie doubled over imdiately, retching so hard his throat burned. He jamd two fingers down his mouth trying to force himself to vomit, but nothing ca out.
Venom had already digested everything.
The realization nearly broke him.
He'd eaten a human being.
"Listen carefully, Eddie." Venom's voice dropped lower, sharper. "If you want to stay alive, you're going to help stop Riot."
The symbiote's massive maw hovered over him like a living nightmare.
Eddie folded instantly.
"S-stop him how?"
His voice trembled.
If this thing expected him to start eating people regularly, there was absolutely no way he was agreeing to that.
Venom narrowed his eyes.
"If Riot escapes back into space, he'll return with an entire symbiote invasion force. Earth becos their feeding ground."
Eddie blinked.
Then blinked again.
Nothing about the creature in front of him scread "hero."
"You seriously expect to believe you're betraying your own species to save Earth?"
The entire situation sounded insane.
Venom looked offended.
In truth, the symbiote's motivations were far less noble.
On his howorld, Venom was considered a loser.
Weak. Unimportant. Disposable.
Compared to Riot, who held genuine status and authority among the symbiotes, Venom was practically nobody.
But on Earth?
Earth was comfortable.
Food was plentiful.
Life was exciting.
And strangely enough, Venom had started to like Eddie.
He didn't want Riot arriving with an army and ruining everything.
Unfortunately, Eddie remained unconvinced.
After several failed attempts to explain things, Venom lost patience entirely and forcibly dragged Eddie toward the Life Foundation to stop Riot personally.
As for Lasher and Agony...
Well.
One had already died.
The other had vanished.
anwhile, Drex Valen had already finished his preliminary analysis of Lasher.
The results were disappointing.
Lasher simply wasn't very impressive compared to Riot or Venom.
After thinking briefly about the symbiote the Ancient One had taken away, Drex put on the Dark Knight Armor and headed straight for the Life Foundation.
Carlton Drake, the Foundation's owner, was one of the youngest self-made billionaires in Arica.
Brilliant.
Charismatic.
Ruthlessly ambitious.
He had founded the Life Foundation at twenty-four and transford it into a technological empire spanning multiple industries.
As a child, he'd been the kind of prodigy parents compared their kids to.
As an adult, he beca academia's golden genius before transitioning seamlessly into high-level corporate power.
Today, however, his luck had officially run out.
His laboratories had been infiltrated.
Illegal human experintation had leaked to the public.
His entire empire was starting to crack apart.
The mont Drex arrived at the facility, his x-ray vision imdiately locked onto Riot.
Then he watched the symbiote bond itself to Carlton Drake.
Only after the fusion completed did Drex finally enter.
"Dark Knight...!"
Drake's expression changed instantly.
But Riot's influence had already begun affecting his mind. Confidence surged through him, swelling into outright arrogance.
Drex Valen was a genius admired across the world.
Which naturally ant countless people envied him too.
Carlton Drake was one of them.
And now, with this new power inside him, he suddenly felt unstoppable.
Then Drex casually whistled.
The sound transford into a concentrated ultrasonic burst.
Riot shrieked instantly and tore itself away from Drake's body.
Drake froze.
"...What?"
A gray blur shot toward Drex.
Riot lunged at him like a starving predator.
The symbiote could sense it imdiately.
This host was perfect.
If it bonded with soone this powerful, it would beco unstoppable.
Then Drex raised one hand.
Fire exploded across his palm.
Riot slamd to a halt mid-charge so violently it nearly flipped itself backward before desperately retreating into Drake's body again.
Drex smiled behind the helt.
Interesting.
Riot's reactions were significantly faster than Venom's.
Stronger too.
That matched the original tiline.
Venom had spent most of their fight getting brutalized and only barely managed to survive.
If Riot hadn't insisted on reaching the launch shuttle, Venom never would have beaten him.
Riot's body could morph into virtually any weapon imaginable.
Blades.
Spears.
Axes.
Combined with superhuman speed, strength, and reflexes, it was a terrifying combat organism.
The mont Drex extinguished the flas, Riot attacked again.
Both arms transford into massive bladed weapons and slashed directly toward him.
Drex caught them one-handed.
Effortlessly.
"Pointless," he said calmly. "Against the Dark Knight Armor, you're barely a threat."
Drake quickly began explaining Drex's background to Riot.
The armor's technological level was absurd.
Global scientists still couldn't reverse engineer even a fraction of it.
The gap between Drex and the rest of the world felt closer to a century than a few years.
Riot listened carefully.
Then reached a conclusion.
Drex Valen was a far superior host compared to Carlton Drake.
If the armor could sohow be neutralized...
The possibilities beca endless.
"I just realized sothing," Drex said suddenly.
Riot stiffened.
"You're terrified of fire and ultrasonic frequencies."
The next instant, high-powered sonic waves flooded the room.
Riot convulsed violently.
Its weakness had been exposed almost imdiately.
Even while writhing in agony, the symbiote couldn't help recognizing Drex's intelligence.
This human was terrifying.
Completely helpless against the sonic assault, Riot was eventually frozen solid by Drex's cryogenic breath and sealed away.
As for Carlton Drake...
Before leaving, Drex used a subtle psychic suggestion on him.
Sell the Life Foundation's assets.
Transfer the proceeds to Blade Technology Industries.
Then turn himself in to authorities.
There was already more than enough evidence to destroy him anyway.
Back in the laboratory, Riot floated in the center of a specially designed zero-gravity chamber.
Repulsion generators lined the reinforced vibranium-reinforced glass walls, preventing the symbiote from making physical contact with anything.
The Black Queen monitored the containnt room twenty-four hours a day.
Drex reviewed the completed biological analyses for both Lasher and Riot.
Then he carefully extracted tissue samples from each.
His real interest wasn't just studying symbiotes.
It was creating one.
A symbiote combat suit.
Not for style.
For insurance.
If he ever faced a serious magical threat, having a living symbiote layer capable of absorbing the first wave of damage could beco incredibly useful.
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