The pain arrived half a beat late.
As if his brain had granted him a few merciful seconds of clarity, just long enough to watch his own right hand, the one still clutching the key, tumble through the air and hit the floor like something that had never belonged to him.
The cut was impossibly clean. Smooth as a laser burn.
Then the agony crashed in like a tidal wave.
"AAAGH!"
Veyric collapsed, clamping his left hand over the stump. Blood jetted from the wound, painting the relatively clean floor of Peter's bedroom a vivid red.
The shadow had fully dropped from the ceiling now. Morning light slanted through the window, and Veyric finally got a clear look at his attacker.
A signature black leather coat, though "black" was generous. The coat was stiff with layers of congealed corpse grease and dried blood, shellacked into something almost chitinous. In one hand he gripped an ornate silver sword, its edge refracting a cold, lethal gleam in the dawn light. A thread of Veyric's flesh still clung to the blade.
His trademark sunglasses were shattered on one side. But the face was the worst of it. The left cheek had rotted away entirely, baring blackish-purple muscle tissue underneath. His mouth was torn open all the way to the ear, as though someone had grabbed the corner of his lips and ripped.
"Blade... Eric?"
The name left Veyric's mouth before he could think. His stomach dropped.
A zombified Blade.
One of the Marvel Universe's deadliest close-quarters fighters. The Daywalker, half-human, half-vampire. Even turned, his combat instincts hadn't dulled a fraction. No wonder the ambush had been flawless, the first strike surgical in its precision.
"Meat... fresh meat..."
A wet, grinding growl rose from Blade's throat, the sound of rusted metal scraping against itself, dripping with a hunger that raised every hair on Veyric's body.
There was no recognition in that eye. No intent to communicate. The silver sword rose again, its edge angled straight for Veyric's neck.
"Veyric!"
A thick black tendril erupted from the stump of his wrist, coiling around the blade just in time.
"Dammit, he's strong! I'm basically a preemie right now!" Venom snarled through gritted teeth.
The symbiote splintered into several tendrils, fighting to pin the weapon down, but zombie Blade's strength was something else entirely. It wasn't the virus alone. The Daywalker Physique carried its own monstrous power.
Blade held the sword one-handed. A single press of his wrist, and Venom's defensive web shrieked with the sound of tearing tissue.
THWIP.
A strand of webbing shot through the window, lashing around the blade and wrenching it sideways at the last possible instant.
The sword screamed past Veyric's right ear, the wind from it shearing off a few strands of hair before the edge buried itself in the wall behind him, carving a gash deep enough to see structural bone.
Half a second slower and it would have taken the top of his skull clean off.
"Veyric! Get back!"
Spider-Man vaulted through the window, tucked into a forward roll, and landed in a defensive crouch between Veyric and the Daywalker.
"Hey, Eric, buddy!" Peter tried, hands raised. "Easy! Do you remember me? It's Peter!"
A bestial roar was the only answer.
Zombie Blade torqued his wrist, using the rotation to shear through the webbing. The silver sword traced an afterimage through the air, slashing for Peter's throat.
Peter twisted aside and fired several webs at once, aiming for the limbs, but Blade's combat skill was extraordinary, his speed terrifying. His body contorted at angles that defied anatomy, slipping every strand with ease, and the backhand follow-up came as a vicious downward chop.
CLANG.
The room was too small. Nowhere left to dodge. Peter caught the blow on his forearm. A chunk of the spider suit sheared away, blood seeping from beneath.
"This isn't working! Close quarters is his domain!" Peter hissed through clenched teeth. "Veyric, run!"
"Run where?" Veyric let out a bitter laugh and dragged himself upright against the wall.
His face was chalk-white. Venom had sealed the stump, but the blood loss had already turned his legs to rubber. Dark spots swam at the edges of his vision.
And Blade's target was clearly him. Peter could buy time, but not enough.
One shot. That's all I've got.
Veyric sucked in a breath. Something reckless flickered in his eyes.
"Hey! Daywalker!" he shouted at the fighting blur. "You want to eat me? Come and get it!"
He willed Venom to loosen the seal on his wrist, and blood sprayed free.
The smell of it flooded the room in an instant.
The effect was immediate.
Zombie Blade froze mid-swing. That clouded eye locked onto Veyric like a targeting laser. A rapid, gurgling pant rattled in his throat.
"Meat... blood... mine..."
He abandoned Peter entirely and launched himself at Veyric with speed that bordered on teleportation.
"Veyric! NO!!" Peter's hand shot out, webbing flying, desperate to pull him back.
Too late.
A wave of stench hit Veyric's face. Weight slammed into his shoulder, and then it felt like a row of steel spikes being driven into his flesh.
Blade's fangs sank deep into his shoulder. The tearing agony nearly dragged him under.
"Ngh... AAAH!"
Veyric bit down so hard his molars creaked, clinging to consciousness by sheer force of will.
This is the only chance.
One swallow of his blood. That was all Blood of Light needed.
And then it happened.
Blade's entire body seized as though an electric current had torn through him. The savage gnawing stopped dead. A strangled, anguished whimper escaped his throat.
"HRRGGHK!!"
He released Veyric and staggered back, both hands clawing at his own neck.
Torrents of black blood erupted from his mouth, hitting the floor with a hiss as it ate into the wood. His body convulsed violently. His fingers raked at his own skin, scratching as if something were writhing beneath the surface.
The rotted half of his face began to heal at visible speed. Fresh skin crept over the exposed blackish-purple muscle, and the tear that ran from his mouth to his ear slowly knitted shut.
"Is that..." Peter stared. "Eric, he's... he's coming back!"
Veyric pressed his left hand against the bite wound on his shoulder, managing a weak grin.
"That's what my blood does."
"The delivery method's just... a little R-rated."
[Ding...]
[New hero successfully cured: Blade!]
[Notification: Curing Blade grants 1 Experience Point]
[Notification: Talent "Daywalker Physique" now available for purchase]
Eric's agony lasted close to a full minute.
When it ended, the trembling stopped. The clouded eye cleared, sharp and lucid. The other eye, hidden behind the broken lens of his sunglasses, came into view as the shattered frame slipped away. Deep brown. Unmistakably human.
Eric braced both hands against the floor, chest heaving, dragging in air like a drowning man who'd finally broken the surface.
"I... what is..."
He stared down at his blood-soaked hands, his voice scraped raw, barely audible.
"I'm back? That... the endless hunger... it's gone?"
He licked his lips on reflex.
His head snapped up. His gaze swept the wrecked room and landed on Veyric, slumped against the far wall, drenched in his own blood.
Eric's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
"What... have I done?"
His voice shook. Those newly clear eyes filled with disbelief and a self-loathing so raw it looked like it might swallow him whole.
"I bit you... I nearly..."
"It's fine," Veyric rasped between coughs. "Still breathing. Welcome back to the human world, Mr..."
Before he could finish, Eric lurched to his feet and stumbled backward.
His gaze lingered on Veyric for one agonized heartbeat. Those deep brown eyes held pain, guilt, and something close to the edge of self-destruction.