Chapter 2: A Taste of Venom

"Hey, Uni! Take these papers and file them." I heard Noire call me into her room and handed me a stack of papers that went over my head. I had trouble keeping the papers balanced as I walked to the filing room. As soon as I entered the room, I tripped and lost my balance. "Ah! Oh, damn…" I sighed as I cleaned up my mess. I heard Noire's voice reverberate in my head, taunting me. "Wow, Uni! You really can't do anything right!" I gritted my teeth at those imaginary words, hating her for what she didn't say.

I filed the papers, double and triple checking them. After I was done, I headed back to Noire's room. "So, how did I do?" I asked, trying to force a smile. "You were slow. Try not lollygagging next time. Lastation depends on it. Also, you're done for the day." She coldly stated. "…Okay…" I glumly walked out of the room.

'What does it take to earn her approval?' I asked myself in my head. I proceeded to the balcony to contemplate. "Why am I always so slow…" I started crying, as I knew I would never get her approval. "…I hate her… I'm always too weak, or too slow…" The tears started falling more rapidly as I remembered her words. 'You're slow. You wasted too much time. Try not being so slow next time.' Just then, at the apex of my sobbing, I saw a shooting star. My awe at the meteor had overtaken my sadness. It somehow reassured me that everything would be alright. A bit of dirt had risen up at the impact site, which piqued my curiosity.

Happier now, I bolted down to the front level of the Basilicom and out the doors into the deserted Lastation streets. I made a break for the impact location, sprinting past various factories and housing to the city gates. I climbed through the tiny hole a dogoo had made to attempt entering the city. The jagged edges of the hole ripped my skirt and scraped my elbow, drawing a tiny amount of blood.

Outside, I ran to the impact to find a small, shiny, almost wet-looking black rock. "Maybe Noire would like this." I picked it up with a smile and ran back to Lastation in a hurry. I flung open the Basilicom's doors and hurried up the stairs. As soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I felt tired and sick all at once. Dragging my feet, I went to my room and laid down for the night, with the rock still in hand.

I awoke in a pitch-black area with nothing but a weak flashlight. Picking the flashlight up, I started forward and immediately ran into a wall of black goo, with the same luster as the meteorite. "Agh! Hey! Get off me!" I tried to pull away, but it kept sucking me further in. My mouth was being filled with the black ooze, and it went black. When my vision returned, I was in Lastation's suburban area. I felt heavier, more muscular than normal. Shaking my head, I moved forward only to be spotted by a man who screamed, "MONSTER!"

'Huh?' I thought as I moved closer to him. 'Hey, I won't hurt you!' I tried to say, but only a "Hunger…" came out. He fell down and tried to crawl away, but it was no use. "Eat him!" I heard a voice in my head.

"Huh? Who are you?!" I demanded angrily. "That doesn't matter right now! If you don't eat him, we'll both die!" The voice commanded. Following its requests, I grabbed him with some sort of tentacles and "ate" him. "Good, kid. You're getting the hang of it." It 'complimented' me. I looked down at the corpse in utter horror as I leaped away. The last thing I remembered that night was landing on the Basilicom's roof and letting out a loud roar.

The next morning…

"Uni!" I faintly heard Noire's voice. "Uni, are you okay?!" She asked me, with intense worry. "Yeah, I'm fine." I groggily told her. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She hugged me tightly, almost choking me. "Ow, Noire, you're kinda choking me." I let out. "Sorry. But Uni, what were you doing out so late? You look terrible!" She exclaimed. I explained it to her as best as I could, leaving out the part about me turning into a monster. "Interesting. Do you still have the rock?" She inquired. I looked around and it was nowhere to be found. "Where is it?! Argh!" I growled in frustration as I searched the area for it.

"Yoohoo! Hey, genius!" I heard a voice. It was the one from last night! "Wow, that your sister? She's HOT!" I could hear it drooling in my head. "SHUT UP, YOU BASTARD!" I screamed. Noire looked at me, worried. "You okay, Uni?" "Yeah, I'm fine." I assured her. 'I'm in hell…' I thought to myself as the voice returned. "Hey, I'm hungry. You have any chocolate?" It asked me internally. "No, you pervert." I told it off. "Geez, who pissed in your cereal? It was just a question." The creature said in a worried voice. "Well, you made me EAT someone, and you looked at my sister sexually, so you can starve for all I care!" I yelled at it in my head.

"Hey, you don't feed me, we both die. You want that?" The voice said convincingly. "Okay, okay. You win. But DO NOT come out or speak in my head unless you're needed. You do, and I will kill you." I threatened the voice. "Fine, you got a deal." We both came to an uneasy agreement. "This is the start of a beautiful relationship!" It exclaimed. "Shut the hell up." I growled at it internally. "Hey, Uni! It's time to go inside!" Noire called for me. "I'll be right there!" I followed after her. "She's got a nice ass-" "Shut up." I cut it off before it could finish. "Hey, what should I call you?" I asked it.

"You can call me… Venom." It replied. I felt uneasy about this entire situation, but decided to go along with it until I could find a way out.