Riot had learned perfectly from Carlton Drake the art of weighing pros and cons—and the necessity of sacrifice.
Realizing that staying with the broken Drake would only make him weaker until he died at the hands of this unknown "kin," Riot had abandoned him without a second thought to embrace Cletus Kasady.
"AAAGH—!"
Screams erupted across the clearing. Mac Gargan, the assassin brothers, and Cletus were all howling as the alien parasites forced their way into their nervous systems.
As for Carlton Drake... he was screaming from pure agony. His chest had a hole the size of a dinner plate, and Riot's departure had left his frail human organs to fail instantly.
As Drake drew his final breath, three new symbiote monsters rose before Peter.
Yellow: codenamed Phage. Red: codenamed Scream. Green: codenamed Lasher.
Following them, Riot—now fused with Cletus Kasady—let out a manic, distorted laugh: "HAHAHA! New power! This is the real me!"
Riot pointed a jagged finger at Peter and barked at the other three: "All together! Kill him first, and I'll explain everything later!"
Phage, Scream, and Lasher had witnessed Venom's "death" and were already brimming with hostility. Combined with the arrogant, warlike personalities of their new hosts, they formed an immediate alliance. They encircled Peter, intent on tearing him apart and sharing the feast.
Riot swung his hands, which had transformed into twin giant axes. Phage unhinged his jaw, spitting highly corrosive acid.
Scream sent her wild hair lashing out like steel cables to bind Peter's limbs. Lasher turned his arms into whips, creating a series of sonic-boom cracks in the air.
Peter curled his lip in a disdainful smirk.
"If you're doing this just to make me feel less guilty about sacrificing you... well, mission accomplished!"
With that taunt, Peter vanished.
The three new symbiotes froze in confusion, but Riot—the veteran—was the first to react: "Above us!"
He leaped up to intercept, but Peter used Moonwalk (Geppo). In mid-air, he twisted his body with impossible grace, redirected his momentum, and flickered right in front of Phage.
One punch.
Phage was sent flying like a cannonball. Henry, the younger assassin brother inside, felt his chest cave in. If not for the symbiote's desperate repairs, he would have ended up exactly like Drake.
Scream's hair managed to wrap around Peter's wrist just as he landed. Thinking she had him trapped, she tried to yank him toward her.
Peter gave a dismissive chuckle. "Get over here!"
He flexed his arm, and Scream was the one who went airborne, looking absolutely terrified. She flew right into the path of Lasher's whip, taking the hit for Peter, before being backhanded across the face. The force of the slap sent her spinning like a top.
Just then, Riot landed behind him, his axe-arms descending with crushing force. Peter raised his right hand, shifting it into a razor-sharp blade at the last second.
He parried the strike at an angle, slicing off the axe-blade and a good chunk of Cletus's scalp in the process.
At the same time, he fired a web from his left hand, snagged Lasher's whip, and swung the green symbiote around like a giant fan until he collided with Riot. The two went tumbling into the dirt.
"Trash is trash. You change hosts, and you're still trash."
The battlefield fell into a ghostly silence.
One versus four.
One round, and Peter was untouched while all four of them were nursing serious wounds. Is this even fair? Mac Gargan and the others began to question their life choices.
Only Riot was different. Cletus Kasady was a psychopath who didn't understand fear. "Hehe... interesting... very interesting..."
Riot used his biomass to reel in his severed parts, pushing Lasher off of him as he stood shakily from the debris. He looked a mess, but his eyes were gleaming with manic excitement. "Your fighting style... I've learned it!"
Riot lunged again. This time, his movements weren't just raw power; they had a hint of Peter's own agility. The other three, seeing their leader move, shook off their shock and crowded in again.
Minutes passed. Peter stayed in the fray, letting them improve. He wanted to see how far their evolution could go. At first, they couldn't touch his cloak, but soon they were finding small gaps in his defense.
Peter was ready for another few rounds of "sparring" when suddenly, his body began to glow with a faint red light.
With a flash, the symbiote suit vanished. Peter stood there in his civilian clothes. The symbiotes froze, then broke into predatory grins. They thought their "kin" had finally run out of gas.
They had no idea that real despair was only just beginning.
"Tsk... transformation time is up."
Peter remembered that the Prototype Omnitrix had a safety timeout to protect the user's DNA. Ten minutes of use, followed by a few minutes of recharge.
"I wanted to play a bit longer, but since the watch is on break, I'll just have to... send you on your way now."
Peter reached for the Wizard Driver on his waist.
"Henshin!" "Flame Style, Please~!"
Riot opened his mouth to mock Peter's "feeble" human form, but the words died in his throat as the magical armor materialized.
The armor wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that Peter's hands and feet were now engulfed in roaring, high-intensity magical flames.
The four symbiotes felt their skin crawl and their instincts scream.
Oh no... this guy is a cheater! He's using fire!
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