Don't let the bastards get you down, oh no
Don't let the assholes wear you out
Don't let the mean girls take the crown
Don't let the scumbags screw you 'round
Don't let the bastards take you down

-Bastards; from Kesha

There are a lot of things in Maria's life she'd like to forget. When she was nine, she wanted forget the toll her parents' divorce took on her and her brother. At thirteen, she would've given anything to forget about her brother's suicide. At sixteen, Maria would've done anything in her power to forget the abuse her stepfather enacted on her and her mother. But she couldn't forget those moments. By remembering them, Maria knew she could be stronger. She could use the sadness, the helplessness and the anger, to make herself into a better, stronger version of herself. That was the plan. That was the promise she made herself. That promise changed drastically when she turned twenty-five.

Maria remembered, at twenty-five, being in a very bad spot. She'd been laid off from her job, she was behind on bills and rent, her boyfriend left her. . .nothing was going right. Her world felt like it was imploding, and nothing she did was making a difference. Until she was approached by a well-dressed man. This man offered her the "opportunity of a lifetime". All she had to do was sign some paperwork and leave with him. Maria would get paid, of course, but that would be afterward.

"What exactly would I be signing up for?" Maria had asked.

"That's confidential," was his answer. "But, if you want to know more, all you have to do is sign this paperwork. Then you'll come with us and everything will make sense."

It was weird, but Maria felt as though she had nothing left to lose.

So she signed the paper.

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *

An old looking factory. That was what the outside looked like. An old, abandoned factory. But on the inside. . .it was something else entirely. There was strange medical equipment, the walls and floors were so white it was almost blinding. Some of the open areas were designed to look like hospital rooms. Almost, at least. It was weird. Maria couldn't make heads or tails of it. The whole factory smelled of cleaning fluids, the lights let out a dull buzzing sound, and the beeping and whirring of the machinery made Maria's head hurt. She couldn't stand it. Not one bit.

"I hope you understand how important your contribution is to our study." An older man was circling around Maria, his beady, piercing eyes studying her closely. He had her change into a hospital gown, her clothes folded neatly in the corner of the small room she was in. In reality, Maria felt extremely exposed. She didn't know exactly what she was going to be doing, and that made her worry. The paperwork she had to sign didn't explain much, even when she read it over a couple more times, she couldn't find any clues as to what she'd be doing.

"And what is that exactly?" Maria asked. "I haven't really been told what I'll be participating in."

"What you'll be participating in is a very exclusive trial," the beady-eyed man stated. "You will be exposed to a very rare experiment of ours. If your body accepts it, you'll be paid in full. If your body rejects it, then you will not receive your money."

"What're the side effects if my body rejects it?"

"Organ failure if it's severe enough. Fever and difficulty breathing if it's somewhat minor."

That made Maria sick to her stomach. Organ failure? If she continued with the procedure, she'd risk having organ failure? How was that, at all, safe? Even if Maria felt she had nothing else to lose, the thought of potentially dying because of some unknown procedure wasn't worth it.

But when it came to the subject of money. . .

At that point, she felt like she couldn't refuse.

Maria had to continue with what she signed up for. There was no turning back. No matter how weird and uncertain the whole thing was, no matter that it was being held in some factory, Maria had to go through with it. She owed herself that much.

"Do you want to proceed?" The beady-eyed man looked like he was trying to hold back a smirk. That made Maria feel even more sick. Was he hiding more information from her?

"Uh. . .yeah." Crossing her arms over her chest, Maria gave a hesitant nod. "I guess."

"Follow me, then."

Maria swallowed thickly and did just that. She followed the man out into a hallway, where she was led to an elevator. It looked a bit old, maybe even poorly put together, but it was better to not say anything.

When the beady-eyed man pressed the "down" button, Maria felt her heart hammer in her chest. What would she find on the lower level? How was there even a lower level? The factory itself didn't look like it was capable of holding more than one floor. So that had Maria wondering how long it's been occupied from the inside.

A "ding" from the elevator caused Maria to snap from her thoughts. She saw the dingy doors open and show a small inside. She and the man had to squeeze in just to fit. He had to really reach over to press one of the buttons, which had Maria feel even more uncomfortable. She just wanted it to be over with. She wanted to survive the procedure and get paid. That's all that mattered to her.

Try and stay calm, okay? she thought. You'll be fine as long as you stay calm.

It was easy to think that way, right? To try and convince the body to stop panicking, to be as cool and collected as physically possible? But it wasn't easy to actually follow through with something like that. Maria wanted to show that she was above fear, that she was above uncertainty and anxiety. She didn't want the workers to think she was weak. She'd undergone worse in her life. She was drowning in dept and all the emotional turmoil from her childhood; some secret testing facility wasn't going to be anything different. Maria would leave unharmed, unaffected by any organ failures or other problems.

Sadly, the elevator ride itself felt like it went on for an eternity. The closeness Maria felt to the other man made her skin crawl and her throat dry up. The air was stale and hot. Why did Maria think listening to those men and signing those papers was a good idea? So far, it felt like a damn nightmare.

When the fuzzy ding of the elevator rang out, indicating the arrival at the destination, Maria couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief. The doors opened and revealed a somewhat poorly lit hallway. It was at that moment Maria's heart dropped and her chest tightened.

What in the hell did she get herself into?

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *

Maria wasn't sure which she hated more; the hallway, or the anticipation. Her blood was rushing to her ears, her heart hammering so hard against her ribs it made her chest ache. She could only imagine the kinds of things she'd witness, the kinds of things she'd experience. But Maria had to make a promise to keep herself in check. She couldn't afford to lose her cool, not yet. She could save that for later.

"I can't say how much it pleases me to know that you're willing to give this a try." The beady-eyed man walked a bit in front of Maria, his hands folded behind his back. He didn't attempt to look back at Maria as he spoke, which made her feel an even bigger wave of emotions. "We've been rather unlucky in subjects lately. This will be very helpful for us."

"I'm glad I can help," Maria stated, hoping to keep her voice steady.

"Your service for our cause will certainly help give us the data we'll need to move forward." The chilling tone in his voice didn't go unnoticed. In fact, it sounded like he was making no attempt at hiding it.

"Hopefully it all turns out well."

"Yes, I hope so, too."

The rest of the walk went on in silence. Maria tried to find a way to distract herself, to keep her mind off of everything that was happening. There were a lot of things she didn't quite understand, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of that.

Just. . .focus on other things, okay? Try not to worry about this guy, or this place, just keep yourself calm and look around. Familiarize yourself.

It wasn't a bad idea. Not at all. If Maria could get a good idea on the layout of the facility, then she'd be able to have an easier escape if necessary. Of course, her body would have to accept the procedure first. She couldn't attempt any escapes if her body was failing. So Maria chose to look at everything around her. She saw that the entire hallway was made of concrete. It was a bit chilly down there, but Maria had to wonder if it was because of her own discomfort that she was feeling a bit chilled.

There were a few doors here and there, but no windows or way to peer in the other side. On top of that, it was oddly quiet on the lower level. Far too quiet compared to how the upper level was.

"You will be in this room right here." The man motioned to a large metal door near the end of the hall. There was a keypad off to the side, where he quickly typed in a code and opened the door.

Furrowing her brows, Maria took a second to look around before stepping in. She really couldn't believe what she was seeing. The room was large, with a big glass window off to the far side of the room. In the center of the room, on some kind of foundation, was a glass and metal container. It didn't look natural at all. The light that shone in the room reflected oddly on the container, which had Maria's skin crawl.

"Ma'am," the beady-eyed man said. "Are you okay?"

"I. . .uh. . .yeah," she said. "I'm fine."

"Well, then you should probably go in."

Hesitantly stepping in, Maria took her time, wanting to take in every bit of the room. When she was far enough inside, the door came to a heavy close behind her, causing Maria to jump. The sound of the lock clicking into place sent her heart racing.

"Ms. Lopez, listen very carefully." A man's voice, thick with a German accent, came over a speaker, causing Maria to gasp. She frantically looked around, her eyes very briefly catching the speaker before going to the glass. She couldn't see anyone on the other end, which had her blood run cold. "If you go to the center of the room, you'll see our specialized containment unit," the voice went on.

Maria looked over at the container, swallowing thickly as she did. She couldn't imagine what was in it. She didn't want to imagine what would be in it. It honestly frightened her. And despite every bit of her wanting to resist, Maria chose to walk over to the containment unit. When she peered at it, her brows furrowed and her throat closed up. From what she could see through the glass, there was some kind of mass inside. The mass didn't have a definitive shape. Maria couldn't tell if it looked kind of like unnaturally colored water or some kind of gelatinous-watery combination. All she knew was that it looked unnatural and it was moving. As far as Maria could tell, nothing was moving the containment unit from the outside, so there was no way the thing on the inside should be moving.

"Very good, Ms. Lopez. Now just stand still, okay?"

"What?" Maria turned her head, her voice trembling a little. "Why do I. . .?"

Before she could finish her question, she heard a hissing sound. Snapping her head back to the container, Maria let out a surprised yelp when she saw the thing inside start to move outward. It was able to move itself out of the container and onto the ground. Maria stumbled back, watching as the thing quickly made a beeline in her direction.

"What the hell is that?" she screamed. "What is that?"

"Ms. Lopez, please, it's best if you keep still," the voice stated calmly.

Pressing herself against the nearest wall, Maria felt her heart pounding against her ribs, her breathing becoming erratic as her head started spinning. She watched that thing continue to move towards her. It looked like it was extending parts of its body to grip the ground and keep itself in the right direction. When it was less than a foot away from her, before she even had the chance to move, Maria felt something grip onto her ankle. Looking down, she saw that the mass had extended itself so it could wrap around her ankle, its grip tight and unwavering. Maria tried to get it off her leg, moving her leg or even by scratching at it, but it wouldn't budge. In fact, the second her fingers came in contact, it latched onto them, too.

That was when Maria started to feel what the mass was like. Her adrenaline was still pumping strong, telling her to do whatever was necessary to get that thing off, but she was starting to pay attention to the mass's texture. It was thick, constantly moving in on itself. She wanted to say it felt oily and watery at the same time, contradicting the gelatinous structure she thought it had. But whatever that thing was, it had intelligence and it knew exactly what it wanted.

"Oh God, get this thing off me," Maria whimpered. "Please."

The German man didn't say anything over the speaker. Which meant she was either alone or he was content to just sit back and watch.

Quickly, the mass wrapped its entirety around Maria's hands and wrists. The grip it had on her was so strong, she could barely move her fingers a millimeter. Moving upwards, the mass attached itself to Maria's chest, laying heavily on her. She could feel it seep through her hospital gown and onto her skin. It was cold for a second, causing her skin to break out into goosebumps. For a moment, the mass didn't move. It just laid on her chest for a moment, as if testing the new surface. After a minute, it extended itself outward, narrowing a little as it came close to Maria's face. It gently touched her bottom lip before retreating back to its original form. Not even a second later, Maria felt it seep into her skin.

That was probably the most horrifying feeling ever. The coldness she felt from it seemed to get absorbed into every fiber of her chest, before quickly spreading throughout her body. But just as quickly as the coldness appeared, it disappeared. Instead, Maria felt a whole new wave of sensations. She went from feeling hot to cold, from dizzy to nauseous — it was the strangest thing she'd ever endured. It felt like her skin was becoming too sensitive, the light were too bright, the overwhelming silence was too loud, the air was too disgusting. Nothing felt right. Breathing became difficult, her head was spinning, her muscles started to feel a bit weak.

"I don't. . .," she rasped. "What did you do to me?"

She blacked out after that.

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *

"How are her vitals?"

"Stable, sir."

"And the Symbiote?"

"It seems to be adjusting well."

"How long should we keep her here for?"

"Until we have finished our tests. We can't risk losing the host or the Symbiote."

"Of course, sir."

"I should send the report back in to Mr. Pierce. Keep a close eye on her, tell me if anything changes."

"Yes, sir."

(A/N):

First off, I'd like to apologize for how long it took to get this chapter up. I know it may seem a bit sloppy, but I thought it would turn out better in my head. Isn't that how it usually goes, though?

Anywho, I saw the movie 'Venom' recently, so I got mad inspired to write a kind of MCU/'Venom'-ish kind of story. And by 'Venom'-ish, I mean there are going to be Symbiotes in the story. Not actual Venom.

So, I know that Symbiotes aren't necessarily in the main Marvel movies (i.e. 'Iron Man', 'Captain America', etc.), but I thought it'd be a good idea to at least try it out. I don't know how this story will turn out, but hopefully it's somewhat decent.

Nothing in the MCU, or Sony, since I think Sony still owns the rights to the 'Venom'/Symbiote franchise, belongs to me. All I own are my OCs, my subplots, and the laptop I'm typing on. If you've got ideas for OCs or subplots, be sure to PM me or leave a review. I'll add them in as soon as possible.

Also, how many of you have heard about the whole Mark Ruffalo getting "fired" by the Russo brothers? Apparently, it happened when he "revealed" the title for Avengers 4 on Jimmy Kimmel. But the whole thing was censored out, so who knows? I doubt he's been fired, since I think his contract with Marvel is already up. But I'm also curious on what the title is for the new movie. I've heard it's 'Avengers: End Game', 'Avengers: Annihilation', 'Avengers: Disassembled' — and those were just a few I've seen floating around the internet. But from what I can tell, 'Annihilation' seems to be the possible title, according to a lot of people. I don't know. What do you guys think?

And one final thing before I wrap this up, word is going around that Avengers 4 is taking place 5 years after 'Infinity War'. That seems crazy to me, but I guess it could make sense in a way. If it does take place 5 years after the snap, then it could show everyone who fought (and survived) against Thanos dealing with the aftermath of what happened and the people they lost. If you've got any thoughts on the time skip or on Avengers 4's title, then leave a review. Only if you want.

Be sure to leave a random fact, too, if you want. It could be new or old; it's up to you guys.

Thanks, guys!

Keira Mariano