Disclaimers
All characters appearing in Marvel Comics and Gargoyles & Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Company. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are not authorized by the copyright holders.
All characters appearing in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series are copyright by Murakami Wolf Swenson, Inc. All other TMNT related characters are copyright IDW comics. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holders.
All original characters are the property of Celgress.
Agent Venom Licensed to Kill – Prologue
By
Celgress
Abandoned House on the South Side of Chicago early November, late afternoon
A special ops agent was slammed through a rickety wall by a group of three inky bluish-black tendrils raising a cloud of dust on impact, while his follows sought any cover they could find from their enraged target. In spite of its black and steel coloration their heavy armor was reminiscent in design of that deployed by the infamous Guardsmen of the supervillain prison known colloquially as the Vault located in Colorado. Pulses of sizzling hot plasma flew about some of them impacted with their intended target a huge black brute with wide white crescent eyes, a mouth full of gleaming green slime dripping fangs and a white stylized spider on his freakishly broad chest. In fact the thing's entire body was almost cartoonish in how swollen with thickly corded muscle it had become.
"Insects you'll never stop us." The hulking beast called Venom growled in his strange multi-tonal yet guttural voice. "We are invincible!" It roared unbelievably increasing in size in front of their startled eyes as it ranted and raved. Soon its four foot long tongue wagging head and massive shoulders brushed the ceiling of the cobweb infested room.
"Enough," Special Agent Bishop said entering the fray. He was dressed in his typical ensemble of black business suit and dark sunglasses. Spuriously, or perhaps not knowing the man in question, given the gravity of the situation his usual calm demeanor held sway over his grime face. "I don't have time for such empty bravado."
Agent Bishop reached into his suit coat pocket and produced a small clear plastic disc apparently composed of some type of gel. He threw into Venom's gapping maw. The monster stopped dead in its tracks. Five seconds later Venom was on the filthy floor clutching his head in pain. He glared up at Agent Bishop.
"What, have, you, done, to, us?" He said his speech slurred.
"Call it a factory reset beastie." Agent Bishop said his voice even.
The Black Ops Guardsmen cautiously gathered around their leader. They watched in rapt fascination the spectacle which unfolded in front of them over the course of close to four minutes. Slowly, unbelievably Venom's mini-hulk like form thrashed around growing ever smaller as it did. When the episode concluded Venom's unnatural, enormous bulk had not only vanished he'd also lost his fang filled mouth and the razor sharp fingertip claws.
"Bring him." Agent Bishop ordered turning to leave.
The nearest pair of Black Ops Guardsmen hesitated unsure what they should do. Normally they'd obey their leader's orders without question; however this was a rather unusual situation, one which was extremely unpredictable and thus volatile. Glancing back over his shoulder when he realized no one was following behind him dragging their incapacitated guest Bishop pursed his lips.
"I assure you they have been rendered quite harmless, at least in the short term. Now hurry before they recover. I will not repeat my orders again, comply." Agent Bishop commanded.
"Yes sir." One of the two Black Ops Guardsmen said. The pair picked up the unconscious Venom and along with the others fell into line behind Bishop.
Undisclosed Location sometime later, time of day unknown
Venom groaned. Rubbing his head he unsteadily got to his feet. It didn't take him long to determine he wasn't on the streets of Chicago any longer, his home for the past few months. Ever since it had all gone terribly wrong, since he's lost control and once again done things better not thought of. Those events were best left forgotten, along with most of his past. He saw he was in some type of holding cell composed primarily of metal with a single door blocked by narrowly spaced high voltage electrostatic bars. They hummed loudly a constant reminder of his current predicament.
"Sleeping Beauty awakes it's about time if you ask me." Agent Bishop said appearing on the opposite side of the enclosure. His sharp features bathed in the constant glow blue-white glow of the buzzing bars. "I was beginning to think I'd overdone the reset intensity and you'd remain in a perpetual coma."
"Assume I have you to thank for my current prisoner status, right?" Venom said then took pause.
He hadn't referred to himself in the singular since before the X-Men's "cure" had worn off. Flash Thompson was ecstatic. Once again he was in control of the nano suit! Sure there was a persistent, nagging voice in the back of his head egging him on but it was no longer so powerful that it overwhelmed his sense control of worse yet of self. He was free! He could be his own master again.
"Why have you given me back control over my suit?" Flash asked rolling back his face mask from around his head. He wanted to see his mysterious with his own, unaided eyes.
"One simple reason," The sunglasses wearing pale blonde haired man that was called Agent Bishop said. "We need an individual such as you Flash Eugene Thompson originally of Cider Falls, NY, aka Venom."
"Who are we?" Flash said.
"My name is Special Agent Bishop current assignment acting Director of SHIELD." Agent Bishop explained. "Certain high ranking officials in the Federal Government, of this country and several of our allies, who would prefer to remain nameless, have authorized me to create a team comprised of super beings of questionable moral fiber but unshakable patriotic loyalty. Once created this organization shall be known as Hammer. Our intelligence assets have identified you as one such reliable being. A being that not only has great power but will not hesitate to get his hands dirty when necessary"
"How dirty are we talking?" Flash said genuinely intrigued by Bishop's words.
"Right down filthy, if need be." Agent Bishop said. "In return we offer you complete immunity from any and all criminal prosecution regarding crimes committed while in service to the state, along with any you might otherwise commit 'accidentally'." Bishop put special emphasis on his last word making it abundantly clear he meant it to apply in the loosest sense possible.
"What if I decline?" Flash said.
"Then you rot away in the Vault or some other containment facility for the rest of your life, or until we find a way to forcibly separate the nanites from your and reduce any lasting after effects upon your physiology to negligible levels, your call." Agent Bishop said.
"When you put it that way, I'd be a fool to refuse." Flash chuckled.
"Exactly," Agent Bishop said. "Welcome aboard Agent Venom, officially licensed to kill."
"I wonder." Flash said a few moments later. Now on the other side of the bars he strolled down a nondescript metal corridor next to Agent Bishop while being flanked by a group of Black Ops Guardsmen.
"What," Agent Bishop said ceasing his forward progress. He looked at Venom. Flash had by this time restored his head encompassing mask.
Venom who had done likewise, along with the troops, continued. "How far does my restored control extend. Can I fully customize my suit's outward appearance? I never cared for the general look I inherited from my hated rival Spider-Man, the suit's first wearer. I never could make any meaningful changes of a lasting nature, no matter how hard I tried."
"Let's find out, shall we?" Bishop urged.
"Let's," Venom said.
Concentrating hard Venom's form vibrated visibly for about twenty seconds until his wide white crescent eyes filled with the same inky bluish-black as the rest of his costume. Next the white spider symbol on his back seemingly evaporated replaced by solid inky bluish-black material. Finally the spider symbol on his front shrunk somewhat until it covered only the top half of his torso and its color faded to a pale blue that matched the thin crescent shaped outlines surrounding his eye pieces. The entire effect was a more streamlined, stealth originated uniform befitting a black oops agent of his caliber.
"Very nice," Venom said glancing down at himself and then looking over his shoulder at his back.
"Indeed, it is far more fitting considering your newly adopted role." Bishop said. "Come it is time to receive your first assignment, excited my friend?"
"I can hardly wait." Venom said cracking his gloved knuckles loudly. A whole new world lay open before him a world of darkness, violence and risk. A world where he'd be pushed to his limits and perhaps beyond, he could barely contain his excitement.
To Be Continued
Author's Note –
This series takes place in the continuity of the shared universe already comprised of Small Town Spider-Man, Gargoyles Time's Changeling and Miwa the Fifth Turtle. I don't plan any immediate crossovers, along some of the characters from the aforementioned series might eventually show up in this story, so you can enjoy this story as a standalone.