HARDWARE 113: The Brown Recluse (by Henry Thrun)
HPT: For the origin of the Brown Recluse, check out his mySpace page! http/ and I went to one of my little hideouts that I had throughout the city. I keep supplies hidden in them, like a laptop, jump drives, and my refills for my medication. It's nice having a mom who's a pharmacist.
These hideouts were also just big enough to sleep in. We planned on going to visit my brother, Samuel, in the morning. He just got back from visiting our parents in Minnesota and is living with me at my house. But that place is under so much surveillance now with everything that's happened to me, we decided to try and catch Sam on his way to class. He just started college this year and is majoring in theater. He's taking a small load of classes, though, because he's already been able to get parts in plays around the city. As a matter of fact, he's going to be performing along side Mary Jane Watson-Parker in his next show.
Toxin woke up in the middle of the night. "Jake!"
"Huh? What is it?"
"There's another symbiote nearby."
"Carnage!" I said in alarm. "It was only a matter of time." Symbiotes have the ability to track each other. Toxin, however, can also track people.
"No, it's someone else. Someone I don't know." We got up and Toxin covered me, getting ready for battle. We heard some trash cans get knocked over. A man with a symbiote costume walked into view. The symbiote was tan with a brown spider on the chest.
"Who are you?" I called out.
"Jake! It's Ben!" Ben Reilly, Peter Parker's clone! "You have to get this thing off me! It's draining me..." He continued to stumble closer.
Toxin and I approached. "Ben! Where did it come from?"
"It's a Venom spawn. I think it's dying and feeding off me to survive..." Ben fell to the ground. Toxin and I ran over and started helping him up.
"It's dying, Jake!" Toxin said. "We have to help it!"
"I know, but it's also taking Ben along with it. We're going to have to remove it and figure out how to..."
"I'm not going anywhere!" the symbiote hissed. It had taken over Ben and ripped out of our grasp.
"He sure seems spry for being on his deathbed," I said. "We have to separate them."
"NEVER!" screamed the symbiote. "You will suffer at the hand of RECLUSE!"
We dove out of the way as Recluse jumped straight at us. "I have an idea," I said as we got up and ran back to my hide out. I grabbed a jump drive with a Hardware design capable of producing all kinds of sounds. For the most part symbiotes are vulnerable to sonics, but Toxin has a stronger resistance than the others we know. With Recluse dying, I had a feeling he'd be easily affected.
I tried putting in the drive, but it wouldn't go into my head. "What's going on..." Recluse caught up to us and attacked, knocking the drive out of my hand and smashing us into the ground. We grabbed him and threw him against the wall. "I must not be able to download other stuff when we're bonded, Toxin." I picked up the drive. "Can you detach from me long enough for me to change to Hardware and use some sonics on this guy?"
"Jake, we have to help him!"
"Toxin, he's trying to kill us!"
"He's just scared. He's young and in bad condition. Let me talk to him."
"Ok, but hurry!" Recluse had gotten back up and again came at us, punching and kicking. Ben Reilly already had amazing speed and quickness, the symbiote just made him that much more of a threat.
"Recluse, wait!" Toxin called. "It's ok, we don't want to hurt you!"
"You want to take my host and let me die!" it yelled back.
"Ben!" I yelled. "You've got to settle it down!"
"I can't," Ben replied in a very weak voice.
"We can help!" yelled Toxin as we continued to dodge Recluse's attacks. "Otherwise your host will die and you won't be strong enough to find a new one."
Recluse stopped. "You're right. Can you really help me?"
"Hopefully," I replied. "We need to examine you. Dr. Curt Connors has equipment and experience with symbiotes, he can help."
"We have a problem," Ben said in a stronger voice. "He's in his Lizard form."
"Oh great..."
"And he has the Venom symbiote."
"WHAT? How did that happen? Mac Gargan is Venom now..."
"Beats me. That's where Recluse came from. Venom replicated while attached to the Lizard."
"So Venom's with the Lizard, Carnage is with Sledgehammer, and Toxin's with me. You symbiotes sure get around... How'd you know about me and Toxin, anyway?"
"You guys were all over the news. 'The guy who kidnapped Black Cat busted out of prison.'"
"Oh great..."
"Now what?" Toxin asked.
"We'll have to track down Connors and free him from Venom. And we'll have to do it fast. Who knows how much time Recluse has left." I turned to Ben. "Will you guys be ok together to help us out?"
"Yeah," Ben replied, still kind of faint.
"I guess we don't have a choice," said Recluse.
"Then let's get tracking!" said Toxin as we leapt into the air, spreading our wings to fly.
As Toxin and I flew and the Brown Recluse traveled with amazing leaps, I used a cell phone I grabbed from my stash and called Sam. I knew the call would be taped since the pro-regs had my brother under heavy surveillance, but they wouldn't be able to track us down the way we were traveling, anyway.
"Jake! We've been worried sick!"
"I'm sorry. Tell Mom and Dad I'm fine, ok?" I continued and filled in Sam on everything that had happened to me.
"I better let you go, we're not far from Venom now."
"Ok, just one question. You know how you have superpowers already?"
"Yeah..."
"It seems like we'd all be better off to have another superhero. Maybe I could bond with Toxin! What do you think?"
"Well, that's up to Toxin..."
"Could you make me fly like Jake does?" asked Toxin.
"Ummmm... I don't know..."
"Perhaps you guys will need a test run. I gotta go, Sam."
"Good luck, Jake, and God bless." Being a theater major, Sam has a knack for being dramatic.
We tracked Venom Lizard to Connors' laboratory. "I can sense him inside," said Toxin.
"So then he can probably sense us as well..." I replied.
"Sounds like we better take the offensive!" declared the Brown Recluse as he smashed through the front door.
"Recluse, wait!" Toxin and I ran in after them. We came to a large room. When Recluse got to the center of it, Venom Lizard dropped from ceiling and landed on top of him, scratching and clawing. He did sense us and was waiting.
"My spawns have brought me nothing but anguish!" screamed Venom as he continued to beat on Recluse.
"Then I will continue the family tradition!" shrieked Recluse as he leapt backwards into a wall, smashing Venom Lizard against it. As they both fought, Toxin and I sensed someone else in the room. It had to be Mac Gargan, who still reeked of Venom's essence. He was hiding under some furniture which we threw out of the way.
We grabbed Gargan and lifted him up. He looked pretty bruised and battered himself. "Ok, Mac. Why don't you tell us what's going on here..."
Gargan had a scared look in his eyes. "Venom started reproducing, but it was much more painful than when he had Carnage. We decided to try and get Connors to help us, take a look at Venom. We, we came here and Venom was in so much pain he went crazy!"
"You mean crazier than usual?" CRASH "Hurry up, before those two wreck any more important equipment."
"During a fit Venom jumped from me and latched onto Connors! When they bonded, Connors turned into the Lizard!"
"With Venom in a rage, the bonding triggered the transformation." SMASH "Toxin, we've got to stop those two."
"No sweat," Toxin replied as we dropped Gargan and jumped into the fight. Venom and Recluse were locked in a struggle and we knocked them both down.
"HOW DARE YOU!" screamed Venom as he grabbed our throat.
"SHUT UP!" screamed Recluse as he punched Venom AND punched Toxin and me.
"I'm gonna..." Toxin started to say, but then Venom whacked us with the Lizard's tail. "THAT'S IT!" And we charged in beating on both Venom and Recluse.
"Toxin!" I yelled. "We have to calm down! Recluse is eating away at Ben!"
"Up yours!" shrieked Recluse as he kicked us in the stomach. Toxin was really influencing me and I think I needed some more of my medication because...
"YOU SON OF A..." I screamed as Toxin and I stretched his arm across the room like Reed Richards and punched Recluse in the eye.
"DIE!" yelled Venom as he leapt at us. We caught him in midair and slammed him to the ground.
"WRETCHED CREATURE!" we yelled as we started pummeling Venom with punches.
"Stop!" called Gargan. "We need Connors alive!" Gargan wanted to get Venom back because he was starting to feel the wear after losing a bonded symbiote. The more messed up the hosts, the greater the bond with the symbiote and the greater the stress of losing it.
"QUIET!" I shouted as I grabbed Recluse by the leg and threw him towards Gargan.
"No, Jake!" replied Toxin, calming down. "He's right!" I stopped. We were breathing hard. The Brown Recluse and Venom Lizard were both out cold.
"Oh no... NO! What have I done!" I was afraid I had killed my friends Ben Reilly and Curt Connors. They both laid there in their symbiotes, motionless. I picked up the Lizard to check him out. Venom started oozing off him and he changed back to Connors. "He's breathing! He's still alive!"
Gargan ran up to Venom and boded with him once again. Venom let out a roar and flashed his claws. He then stumbled back a little and Gargan pulled back the symbiote mask, revealing his face. "No, Venom, we need their help," Gargan said. The symbiote, appearing very worn down from the fight and his illness, relaxed.
Curt woke up. "What the... Toxin?"
"It's me, Jake," I said as I revealed my face. "Do you remember anything?"
"Ugh... I remember being attacked by him," he said pointing to Venom.
"Doctor, we just need your help," Gargan said. "Something's wrong with Venom."
I set Curt down on his feet. "And his spawn, Recluse," I said as I walked over and picked up Ben. "He and Ben are draining each other dry. I think they're barely holding on..."
"Ok," replied Curt, "let me see what I can do..."
We got working really quickly. I laid Ben down on an exam table and Gargan lied down next to him. As Dr. Connors started taking a look at them, I started fixing as much lab equipment as I could. "Fortunately I have some experience working with symbiotes," Curt said, visibly still uneasy after the bond to Venom and the whole fight. "But this is new." He was looking at some tissue under a microscope. "The cells are acting abnormally."
"Any ideas what caused it? Is Toxin in any danger of catching it?"
"Just a guess, but it was probably the reproduction process. Apparently something was different this time and it put an extraordinary amount of strain on both symbiotes. If that's the case, you don't have to worry about it being contagious."
"Can we cure it?"
"It's going to take me a long time to come up with something. By then it may be too late..."
"Here, let me try. Toxin, can you go to Curt quick?"
"Jake, I don't think..."
"Ok, but just a second," and Toxin leapt from me to Dr. Connors. Connors then started turning into the Lizard again.
"Aw, great. Toxin, can you control and restrain him?"
"I'll try..." Toxin was fighting with the Lizard inside him. They started stumbling around, yelling and flailing about. When they got close to a door, I ran up and shoved them through. I quickly closed and locked it.
While Toxic Lizard was banging around the room, causing huge dents in the walls and door, I grabbed a USB cable and plugged myself into Connor's computer. I quickly analyzed the data he collected from studying the symbiotes. I then grabbed a hub, plugged several computers into that, and then plugged it into my head.
What a rush! I had data flowing back and forth through my head. With my control over the computers and using past knowledge I had stored, I was able to come up with a formula to cure the problem. I disconnected the hub and quickly started mixing chemicals.
"Look out, Jake!" Toxin yelled as he and the Lizard burst through the door.
"Toxin, re-bond with me!" I called as they came charging towards me. Toxin shot off the Lizard and onto me just as they were about to collide. Using the momentum of Toxin's transfer, at the same time we picked up the Lizard. He again turned back to Connors now that he was free from the symbiote.
I set him down. "Curt, I've got an antidote. You've got to help me prepare it."
"What?" he replied, again shaken up from what just happened. He stumbled over to the computers and looked at what I had done. "Jake, this is amazing! Do you have any idea what you've done here?"
"No time to admire it now..."
"World renown geniuses with supercomputers couldn't do this..."
"Fine, we'll do it ourselves," I said as I made a couple extra pairs of arms grow from Toxin. We got them all in motion mixing chemicals, adjusting temperatures...
"I'm sorry," said Curt. "What can I do?"
We finished and administered the chemical to the symbiotes. Connors again examined some tissue. "You did it, Jake! It's starting to stabilize!"
"I just hope it's in time to save Ben..."
Gargan sat up and Venom once again covered his head. "Ahhh. Much better!" He then turned and looked at us. "Toxin, please join us! Help us get revenge on Spider-Man!"
"Forget it, Gramps! You tried to kill me!"
"In that case, thanks for saving me and all," Venom stood to his feet on the table, "but I can't let you reject me like that!" He let out a roar and tried to jump from the table, but was restrained. "What?" He turned to see the Brown Recluse holding him back.
"Why did you guys give him the anecdote, anyway?" Recluse asked.
"I guess it's part of some stupid hero code or something," Toxin replied. Humorous as that was, I guess he was right. I also felt guilty for nearly killing Ben and Curt, so I felt like this would some how make up for it.
"Release me, kid!" screamed Venom.
"Cool off, Dad!" Recluse replied as he slammed him into a wall.
Venom got up ready to fight, but he looked at Recluse and us approaching, with Toxin's extra arms. "I'll kill you BOTH!" he screamed as he jumped out a window and retreated.
"Shouldn't we go after him?" asked Toxin.
"We can take care of him," Recluse said. "It sounds like you've got enough on your hands with those whole Civil War thing."
"Ugh, thanks for reminding me. But yeah, I'd really appreciate it. Just let me know if you need any help."
"Will do. And thank you for all your help. I owe you one." Recluse jumped to the window. "Thanks, Doc!" he called back as he swung out on his way.
"Yeah, thanks Curt," I said as I got ready to leave.
"Well, you did save me from that symbiote. I wonder what caused that condition with Venom and Recluse. Perhaps it's common among symbiotes... Well, you better get on your way."
"Thanks. Tell Peter I said hi next time you see him." We retracted the extra arms, created wings, and flew off.
"Toxin, I'm afraid this isn't going to work."
"What?"
"You and me. I have serious anger issues. Now that we're bonded, I'm afraid of the damage I'll do when I lose control. I nearly killed two friends tonight."
"Don't worry, buddy. We'll help each other out. It's not just you, Pat and Hybrid go through the same sort of thing."
"Yeah, I suppose..." I was still worried, but I agreed with Toxin. I popped in an extra does of my medication as we flew."
"Jake, where are we going, anyway?"
"The Xavier Institute."