"Wow, this has got to be the smallest, tiniest, most adorable Venom I've ever seen. Somebody hasn't been eating well."
Peter poked at the symbiote with one finger, but it was wrapped so tight in webbing it couldn't twitch.
"Hey, Peter, I just had a crazy idea..."
Veyric stared at the trapped glob of black and slowly extended his open palm.
"Veyric, wait!" Peter grabbed his arm. "Don't get close to that thing. It'll latch onto you. It could eat your brain!"
"I know." Veyric met his eyes and nodded. "But this is a world of superheroes. Everyone can fly or punch through walls. With a normal human body, I'm dead weight. I'll slow you down."
Peter's face twisted with reluctance. "I really don't think this is a good idea..."
He leaned in close, cupping a hand over his mouth. "In my experience, that thing is not friendly. It brings out the worst in you. Trust me, I learned that the hard way."
Veyric knew the history. In Peter's own world, Venom was a straight-up villain. The two had briefly merged into the black-suit Spider-Man, and the symbiote had dragged every dark impulse Peter had buried right up to the surface, unleashing the infamous "Bully Maguire." Peter had eventually ripped free, but the symbiote latched onto Eddie Brock instead, putting both Peter and Mary Jane in danger.
But Veyric had also seen the standalone Venom films. He knew the symbiote wasn't evil at its core. Of all the symbiotes, Venom had the best shot at genuine coexistence with a host.
If he wanted to survive in this world, the risk was worth taking.
"Peter, I hear you. But humanity's almost extinct. Venom has no other food source left. That might be exactly the foundation we need for a peaceful partnership."
"What if it's already infected? What if it's zombie Venom?"
"Then I'll cure it the same way I cured you."
Privately, Veyric was hoping it was a zombified symbiote. Purifying it should net him another experience point.
Peter scratched his head, studying the resolve in Veyric's eyes.
"If you're really not comfortable with it, do me a favor and grab some steel pipes. Use the same trick you used on Venom before." Veyric pointed toward the door.
He was referencing the iconic scene from Spider-Man 3 where Peter exploited the symbiote's weakness to high-frequency sound and forced it to retreat.
Peter's face lit up. "That's not bad, actually."
He fired several more layers of webbing over Venom, sealing it tight, then bolted out of the pharmacy. One swing later, he vanished from sight.
Minutes passed before he returned, arms full of steel pipes.
Peter planted them in a staggered row just inside the doorway, then fixed his stare on the black mass squirming inside its web prison.
"Listen up, pal. You try anything funny, and I start playing the drums."
He raked one pipe against another. A piercing metallic screech filled the room.
Inside the webbing, Venom rippled and shuddered with the sound wave, vibrating like a living speaker cone.
Then Peter pulled a small knife from somewhere and handed it over.
Veyric took it, sawing through the dense webbing until he'd carved a small opening. He drew a long breath and extended one finger.
The black mass sensed living flesh. It surged to life, racing up his fingertip and climbing his hand in an instant.
Every muscle in his arm locked tight. A prickling, buzzing pain crawled from his wrist to his shoulder. Whether it was the Durability upgrade or the symbiote's weakened state, the sensation felt more like getting a tattoo than being mauled. Nothing compared to Spider-Man's bite.
[Ding...]
[New hero cured by host detected: Venom!]
[Notice: Successfully cured Venom. +1 Experience Point]
Yes!
His reaction was subtle enough that Peter didn't notice the symbiote had been zombified at all.
Then something squirmed behind his ribcage. A miniature black head pushed out from his chest, no bigger than a fist, sporting a row of tiny white teeth.
"Hey, I heard you talking trash about me, Parker!" Venom bared its teeth at Spider-Man, voice like gravel scraping stone. "I oughta throw sand in your eyes!"
Peter raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. His right hand drifted sideways and "accidentally" knocked against one of the steel pipes.
CLANG!
The metallic ring echoed through the pharmacy. The tiny Venom on Veyric's chest puffed up like a startled cat, its body writhing and shaking.
"Oops. Hand slipped." Peter shrugged, wearing the satisfied grin of someone who knew exactly what he'd done.
"Watch your hands!" Venom shrank back inside Veyric's body, howling with rage. "You arthritic eight-legged freak!"
Veyric patted his own chest, soothing the furious symbiote.
"Alright, alright. You two lovebirds can flirt later. As possibly the last non-zombie beings on the planet, I suggest we focus on the common enemy."
He glanced down at the dark veins faintly visible beneath his skin. "One thing, though, Venom. Why are you so small? You look like a baby xenomorph."
The symbiote's voice dropped low.
"Eddie... my old partner. He got targeted by that guy with the nice ass and the shield."
Captain America. Veyric knew exactly who he meant.
"He cut off Eddie's hand with the shield. I was bonded to that hand when it happened. I escaped in the chaos, but... what you're looking at is just a fragment. A piece of the whole."
Veyric tested this, willing the symbiote to form its combat suit. The coverage couldn't extend over his full body.
It could manage partial reinforcement: a massive black fist when he threw a punch, armored plating on one leg when he needed to run. Piecemeal, but functional.
Even that much was a massive upgrade over bare fists.
When Venom slid down toward the wounded right calf, it let out a disgusted click of its tongue.
"Spiderweb? This is the most revolting bandage I've ever seen. Blech!"
Without waiting for permission, it devoured every strand of residual webbing. Then it secreted more of its own black matter over the wound. The deep gouge Peter's teeth had left sealed shut in seconds, flesh knitting together fast enough to watch.
"This is what Venom can do?"
Veyric ran his hand over his calf. Moments ago it had been gushing blood. Now the skin was smooth, unmarked, without so much as a scar.
"You're welcome!" Venom flashed an oversized grin. "And in return, Veyric, could you maybe find me some chocolate?"
"If we pass a convenience store when things are safe, absolutely."
"Yesss! You're the best host in the world!" The symbiote's gravelly voice rang with genuine cheer. It swiveled toward Spider-Man. "Way better than my ex-ex-host!"
"Oh, I'm sure your ex-ex-host was a very handsome fellow." Peter twirled a pipe between his fingers, then "fumbled" it.
CLANG.
Venom vanished inside Veyric's chest like a bullet.
"You're the WORST host in the world, Parker!"
"You two are unbelievable. I don't even want to imagine what happens when Deadpool joins the mix..." Veyric spread his hands in defeat, feeling for all the world like a grade-school teacher breaking up a playground fight.
Spider-Man plus Venom. Life was about to get very entertaining.
"Let's find somewhere to hunker down for the night. We can figure out our next move in the morning. Either of you locals have a recommendation?" Veyric asked.
The system deserved a thorough look, but that could wait until they had walls around them and a door that locked.
Peter thought for a moment, something flickering behind his eyes. "Follow me. I know a place."
He launched a web line and swung into the dark. Veyric wrapped Venom around his good leg, using the enhanced limb to bound forward in powerful, loping hops.
Within minutes, the pharmacy stood empty behind them. The two figures melted into the Manhattan night.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, a lean shadow dropped from the rooftops without a sound, landing in front of the abandoned pharmacy.
He wore a battered black leather coat. A silver blade strapped to his back. His flattop haircut looked sharp enough to have been carved with a razor.
Even in the dead of night, the sunglasses stayed on.
In his fist, he held the mask Spider-Man had left behind. Dried blood still clung to the fabric. Veyric's blood.
He raised it slowly to his face and inhaled, savoring the scent like something precious. The fragrance sent a tremor through him, something deep and primal stirring behind those dark lenses.
Then a blade sang free of its sheath. One slash, and the steel pipes embedded in the ground fell into neat segments.
His gaze locked onto the direction the two had gone.
"I will... find you..."