Zivon: A foreign substance that acts like a parasite can be a curse but, in rare instances, it can be a blessing.
DAM: That rings true for Venom, the nemesis of Spider-Man, and Alex Mercer, the Blacklight Virus bio-weapon.
Hazzamo: He's DAM, that's Zivon, and I'm Hazzamo, and we're here to look at their weapons, armor, and abilities to decide who would win a Death Battle.
Zivon: After a rough upbringing, Eddie Brock had landed his dream job as journalist and was pursuing the serial killer known as the Sin-Eater. However, Spider-Man caught the real villain, Eddie's source being nothing more than a liar.
DAM: And, as a lie bigger than Deflategate, Brock was fired and forced to divorce his wife. He then begins to work toward getting revenge on Spider-Man, exercising to help him with his stress. Then, his chance of glory came.
Hazzamo: When Spider-Man freed himself of the symbiote by banging on a church bell, and clung to Eddie as its new host, giving him powers on par or greater than that of Spider-Man. Most importantly, he gave him the knowledge of who Spider-Man really was.
Zivon: He then set out to make Spidery's life a living Hell, pushing him in-front of a subway train without triggering his spider sense, tormenting his wife, and finally contronting and revealing who he was.
DAM: Venom is defeated and his symbiote appears to die later on, only to break him out but create Carnage in the process. No wonder his wife left him, he gets one thing going, and creates a being strong enough to kill him and Spidey at once.
Hazzamo: He continues to attack Spider-Man on and off until he loses the symbiote altogether, becoming Anti-Venom and Toxin. But, we're here to focus on Venom alone.
Zivon: While Brock was lifting, he could life 700 pounds as a human. This was added to thanks to the symbiote carrying him some of Spider-Man's power as well, meaning he can lift slightly more than Spider-Man. Additionally, the symbiote can heal vast amounts of wounds he sustains, though it has limits.
DAM: He also has superhuman stamina and durability, wall-crawling, web slinging, form weapons or use globs of the symbiote to attack his foes freely, has his own spider-like sense, can shapeshift or camouflage himself with either clothes or make him seem invisible, and has venous fangs.
Hazzamo: Brock has proven himself as an anti-hero and villain, he incapacitated Sandman with a single bite, is immune to Spidery's spider sense and the Penance Stare of the Ghost Rider, so much so it knocked the Rider out, has survived being underwater and in toxic gases for extended periods with no ill effects, survived a plague that should have killed it, and took out an entire group of beings with superhuman abilities called the Jury.
Zivon: While he is an impressive speciment, he is not infallible. His biggest weakness, like Carnage, is sonic blasts and intense heat.
DAM: Like a teenager with no parents home, he can also expend to much of his webbing, which his suit is made of, and weaken himself significantly, the suit needing time to regenerate as a result.
Hazzamo: Plus, while he is supposedly superior to Spider-Man, he is still constantly beaten on an average basis, rarely does he ever triumph over the spider. And, like Carange, his healing factor can only do so much.
Zivon: Finally, Eddie had cancer when he was stuck with Venom. If Venom were to leave, Brock's health would deteriorate rapidly and he'd die as a result. He's even so attached to it, early on, that the sonic blasts or being separated at all could kill him. Keep in mind, we're using Brock in his Venom stage, not Anti-Venom where he was healed entirely or Toxin where he's the strongest of all the symbiotes.
DAM: He's still one big, bad son of a bitch, and you know you're bad when you can fuck with Spider-Man and get away without him sensing you.
"You may call me Venom, for that's what I'm paid to spew out these days!"
Venom:
Name: Eddie Brock
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 260 lbs.
Weapons and Abilities:
Weapon Projection
Goo
Superhuman Strength, Speed, Agility, Reflexes, Stamina, and Durability
Accelerated Healing Factor
Camouflage
Shapeshifting
Suit density, muscle mass alteration
Web generation
Spider Sense mimicry
Wall-crawling
Feats:
Has survived underwater and in toxic gas for extended periods with no harm
Superior to Spider-Man in numerous inherited categories
Incapacitated Sandman with one venomous bite
Immune to spider sense and Penance Stare
Symbiote absorbed a plague virus to save Brock, who was unharmed
Defeated the entire Jury
Weaknesses:
Sonic Blasts
Extreme heat
Healing factor has limits
Suit can overuse webbing
Removal of suit can kill him in one way or another
Zivon: After an upbringing that left him apathetic to anyone and anything, Alex was found to be an aspiring aptitude for science. His life of mistreatment and destitution was behind him when he was hired by Genetik.
DAM: However, the main thing he did was make the Blacklight virus, which could turn you into a monstrous, ugly killing machine or a shape shifting super being, even more potent. However, hippies and the government got all pissy, and a military unit was purging scientists as a result to cover this up.
Hazzamo: So, Mercer kept a vial of the virus on him and, when he got caught, he smashed it on the ground. This caused a viral apocalypse in Manhattan, Mercer was shot and fell into the liquid contents of the vial.
Zivon: However, he didn't stay dead, he was one of the rare beings who could use the virus as a weapon. It reconstructed his body, cell-by-cell, until he was a Prototype. This took away his organs and bones, so he was no longer susceptible to injury or death by these means. Plus, he no longer needs to eat, sleep, or maybe even breathe.
DAM: Mercer found he could heal instantly from bullet wounds and consume people to gain their memories and looks, making him a master of deception. If I were him, I'd find Brad Pitt, consume him, and then bang the shit out of Angelina.
Hazzamo: Now a full-fledged monstrosity of science, Mercer could form his arms into blades, whips, and increase their muscle mass and damage, hands into claws and hammers, and create shields and armor around himself to protect against gunfire, though the shield can be broken my missiles or tank shells and the armor only lessens damage.
Zivon: It also gave him more of what DAM called the "superhuman works", strength, speed, agility, durability, and endurance. His senses are also greatly enhanced, as he can see farther than the visible spectrum and hear the outside world even when in a thick building, he can even see the infected and in infrared.
DAM: He's a tough bastard, too. He's defeated the army, made the Blacklight virus 1,000% deadlier, is a scientist years ahead of his nearest colleagues, instantly healed from a slit throat, can throw and cut through 60 ton tanks, killed the Supreme Hunter, and was reduced to almost nothing by a bomb and regenerated after consuming a crow.
Hazzamo: As the bomb could have destroyed all of New York City, with a land area of 305 square miles, it has a destructive area greater than 69 times that of the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which registered in at 15 kilotons. This blast would register in at over 1.039 megatons.
Zivon: While a difficult foe to fight, Mercer is still not perfect. He is a sociopath, his mental health degrading further until he is ultimately killed by a much more stable James Heller.
DAM: Certain parasites can also hinder his abilities, but only allow him to keep his strength and speed, everything else is basically lost.
Hazzamo: And, as shown, he has trouble fighting other Prototypes, even with his immense skill set.
Zivon: Finally, Mercer can only be killed in one of two ways, either he is completely vaporized or he is consumed by another biomass.
DAM: Just looking at how he can tear through so much shit with ease, it's kind of hard to believe this guy isn't untouchable.
"One virus, three weeks, millions dead...and I was there. My name is Alex Mercer, and my work is almost done."
Alex Mercer:
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Weapons and Abilities:
Consume and Shapeshift
Claws
Blade
Whipfist
Muscle Mass
Hammer Fist
Armor
Shield
Superhuman Strength, Speed, Agility, Durability, Stamina, and Senses
Infrared and Infected Vision
Feats:
Defeated the Army and Supreme Hunter
Made the Blacklight Virus 1,000% deadlier
Years ahead of his closest colleague with his work
Can heal instantly from all manner of wounds
Can throw and slice through 60 M1 Abrams Tank
Survived a New York City-leveling bomb
Weaknesses:
Sociopath
Trouble fighting other Prototypes
Certain parasites impair many of his abilities
Can be killed by being disintegrated entirely or being consumed
Zivon: Alright, these combatants are set, let's settle this debate once and for all.
Hazzamo: We have Venom, the Symbiotic Spider Squasher, and Alex Mercer, the Blacklight Slaughtering Machine.
DAM: It's time for a Death Battle! Also, stick around after the fight where we answer the question of an age-old request between one of these fighters and his most sought-after foes and why we chose this fight over that.
Manhattan bustles with vehicles and sidewalk traffic, the city basking in the noon sun. The peace ends with at a stoplight intersection, cars suddenly springing up into the air before being strung up in a thick, black web-like substance. Atop the web stood a maniacally laughing man in a black suit, his elongated tongue flailing around over his teeth. His laughter came to an abrupt end, his suit sensing impending danger. His suspicions were confirmed when a black, metallic-looking spike shot from the ground, Venom leaping from the strand of webbing he stood on. Venom landed on the ground, on one knee and propped on a hand, looking across the way at a man in a black coat and hoodie, a massive bent arm encased in black cloak, radiating out in a massive jut of claws. "Who are you, Freddy Kruger?! Who are you to ruin my fun and act like a big hero?" the symbiote called out, wagging his jagged finger in the man's direction.
Alex looked on, his face blank and emotionless, blandly replying, "I'm here to kill you and take your powers."
"Ha, just try and touch me, fool!"
FIGHT!
Alex slams his fist into the ground, a black path shooting ahead as a series of spikes jutted up not far behind where the blackness snaked ahead. Venom leaped back, tucking and back flipping onto his web of cars, the symbiote letting out a chilling laugh as he shot a strand of web out at Mercer, striking the surprised Prototype in the chest before hauling him in. Mercer flew through the air, sailing right into Venom's fist, socking him in the stomach and taking the wind from his chest. Mercer sailed back, his descent halted when a spike from the trail he created burst through his chest, the Prototype's breath getting shallow has he reached for the spike. Venom's maniacal laughter never ceased, even as Mercer smiled, his spike trail disappearing in an instant, letting him stand on his own feet. He swung his arm back and let a tendril fly at Venom, the whip wrapping around Venom's chest, pinning his arms, and reeled him in. Mercer brought back his hammer fist and smashed it into Venom's face, sending the villain flying back into his web, making it collapse to the ground, every car crashing in and piling on him. Mercer smiled at the destruction, quipping, "Come on, is that the best you got, you oversized pansy?"
As if on cue, the cars went flying in all directions, Venom standing tall with his arms raised up high, roaring in anger. He aimed his hand at Alex and shot a stream of webbing at him, not stopping until Mercers entire chest, arms, and abdomen were engulfed in a thick layer. Venom went sprinting for Alex, slamming his hand into the Prototype's face, pushing his skull into the concrete with such force his head sunk into it like a pillow. Venom, throttling Mercer, lifted the bounded Prototype off the ground, opening wide before sinking his teeth into Mercer's throat. Venom drew back, sitting and waiting for his foe to die, but he was immediately displeased to see the wounds close rapidly, Mercer not even fading a bit. With a growl, Venom turned and threw Alex at the nearest skyscraper, the Prototype sticking like a ball of gum to a pane of glass. He looked down to find Venom scaling the wall on all fours. Venom was soon eye-to-eye with Alex, Mercer staring carelessly into Venom's mad eyes, as if bored by the whole situation. "Why aren't you dead?!" Venom roared.
His question was met with Mercer's blade-like arm slicing through the webbing, Venom staring in amazement at the large blade. Jumping on the opportunity, Alex flung his blade back across Venom's neck, slicing his throat wide open. The symbiote held his throat, the wound slowly patching as Mercer tore himself free of the web, throwing himself at Venom and sending them both careening towards the Earth. Venom responded by shooting a quick splat of web into Mercer's eyes, blinding him as he struggled to tear it away. Venom grabbed Mercer by the shoulder, turning him around so he fell to the ground first, and began to bash him over the jaw and stomach. Finally, Mercer managed to free his eyes, his hand extending out into a massive paw with claws, and hooked it into Venom's stomach, the symbiote howling in pain. Mercer switched positions, his arm growing massive as he brought it back, unleashing a swing that nearly knocked Venom's jaw off, the appendage barely dangling by a strand of flesh on his left side. The symbiote went to work as Alex brought his fist back and slammed it into Venom's chest, visually caving it in several inches, the symbiote coughing blood from his gaping maw, the lower jaw slowly being brought back. Mercer brought his arm back once more, the dense structure thinning into a blade, and swung it down, splitting Venom's head in two right down the middle. Mercer kicked the symbiote off his claws, readying and landing on hes hands and knees on the ground. His descent created a web-like pattern in the cement from the force he crashed into it, but he arose to his feet unharmed. He looked over at the cleaved villain not far away, surprised to see him sitting up, strands of the suit pulling its head back together, Venom laughing, "Come on, is that how hard your husband hits you? I've taken worse from mosquitoes, blade boy. Give me your best shot."
Alex continued to watch as Venom got to his feet, the symbiote getting larger and thickening itself around its host. Soon, Venom towered over Mercer, nearly twice his height and charged at the Prototype, his fingers now sharp and claw-like. Mercer brought his blade back and swung it as Venom drew near, his fists raised above his ahead, and sliced his abdomen. However, he had barely cut through a fraction of the suit, goo from the suit spewing out like blood all over Mercer. Mercer's blank disgust soon turned to horror as the goo began to crush him like a massive python, much of it entering his mouth and working its way into his body, his midsection expanding like a balloon from the influx. Venom threw his fists down on Mercer, crushing him into the cement in a nice divot. Mercer's gut exploded, the black good flying from his stomach along with his blood, covering Venom's legs and stomach, the symbiote absorbing both back into itself. Venom slowly began to shrink back down, observing the crumpled Prototype, his stomach a round hole and his eyes blank and distant, the look of pain still plastered to it. "You didn't even try, did you?" Venom hissed.
"No, I didn't." Mercer replied, catching Venom off-guard with his sudden resurgence of life.
Venom slung another web at Mercer, the strand flying limply off his body and snapping off, falling to the cement and disintegrated before the newly-risen Mercer's feet. "What...what the hell!?"
Venom looked at his hands, the symbiote slowly sloughing and falling off dead, revealing his palms. "What is going on!?"
"That little suit of yours is organic, isn't it? Well, it just got itself a nasty virus," Mercer taunted, looking at his bladed arm, "I bet you know what happens when you get a virus on your computer. You get a new one. I'm willing to bet you don't have more suit. So, by my guess, it's a race against time to kill me before I kill you when you lose that suit. So, like you said, big guy, give me your best shot."
Venom roared in fury, sprinting at Mercer and tackling him into the ground, mounting him and pounding into his face with his fists. With every swing and contact, more of the suit began to fall, quickly exposing more of Venom's human hands. Venom threw himself away from Mercer, looking at his hands as the suit slowly regenerated, Mercer looking on while seated and saying, "Well, what do you know? It can fight my virus for a bit. Let's see if that lasts."
Venom shot up to his feet, shooting a web behind him and sticking it to a car, swinging it around at Mercer. The car collided against him, exploding and engulfing Alex in smoke and flame, Venom once again laughing. His laughter ended when he saw Mercer standing even still, his arm now a protective shield masking him. "That's it, I'm through playin' around!" Venom shouted, growing once more.
Suddenly, a black substance radiated out of Mercer, flailing wildly before taking shape, encasing him in an impressive suit of armor. The two charged one another, locking hands, Venom's engulf Mercer's. However, Mercer was easily pushing Venom back, manhandling the giant. Venom tried to heave him forward, but Mercer kept advancing, his hands turning to claws and impaling Venom's. The symbiote winced in pain, scooting back under Mercer's force before he lifted him off the ground together, swinging him high up in the air and over back onto the ground, crashing him into the cement back-first, shattering his armor. Venom turned and shot a web at two buildings at the end of the street, the web connecting the two and bristling with barbwire-like protrusions. Venom flung Mercer at the strand of wire-like web, shouting, "Head's up!"
Mercer flew face-first for the web, quickly redirecting himself so that he hit it with his feet. The web held firm, acting like the string of bow and bend back, loading him up as he stretched out his arms, claws aimed at Venom. The web recoiled, rocketing Mercer back into a shocked Venom, the Prototype skewering through the symbiote like a human spear, half his body having flown threw Venom. Venom looked down with shock at the wound, his hands grabbing Mercer by the waist and extracted him. Mercer, however, had switched to dual blades, holding his arms out wide as Venom yanked him free, the symbiote ripping itself in two as its halves toppled in opposite directions. Mercer stood, coated in blood and gore, and walked over to the dying villain. He watched as the symbiote attempted to bond the halves, Mercer ending that transaction with a smile as he lifted the halves up in both hands. "You're gonna be a good meal for me."
With that, Venom was engulfed in Mercer's dark matter, screaming as he was slowly absolved by the Prototype. Alex looked at his hand, forming it into the same gesture as Venom had done, a black web-like fluid hurling out and sticking into a building. With a smile, he swung up to it, clinging and climbing up the sheer surface.
K.O.!
DAM: Holy shit, that was awesome! But, two inevitable questions, how could he absorb Venom and what would happen if the symbiote took over him?
Zivon: While the Venom symbiote is a great asset, it is nothing compared to what Alex Mercer is, he's outclassed in nearly every conceivable way. Venom may be able to run over 200 miles an hour, Mercer can run up a building's wall, making him significantly faster. Venom may be able to create perfect camouflage, but it's useless against someone who can see in infrared. Since Spider-Man can lift 10 tons, Venom has barely added to that, making Mercer at least six times stronger. While he can wall crawl and web sling, Mercer can also crawl walls with the aid of his claws or just full-blown sprint up them and move around even faster with his whip fist. Plus, everything in Mercer's arsenal is designed to tear men in half, if Venom wasn't thickening his symbiote, he'd suffer the same fate. If he was, he would be unable to heal from such massive trauma since his healing factor has limits. On the topic of healing factors, Mercer's is exponentially faster, as he can heal from bullet wounds in seconds, even take missiles, while Venom can't. Mercer came back from a nuclear bomb all but obliterating him, Venom could do nowhere near as much damage to do this, taking out one possible way of killing him. He can also match Venom making himself larger by encasing himself in armor, making him damage resistant and stronger as well. Venom also has no way to defend himself as well as Mercer at any range, he's taking damage with every hit he takes, while Mercer can shield himself or use his armor. Venom also is in danger of expending too much web in this fight, while Mercer has absolutely no chance of being over-expended or losing his powers. Plus, while Venom's venom can kill people, it won't affect Mercer as he is just a virus, and, while parasites can hinder his powers, those are specifically altered to do so, the venom would not. While Mercer won't be able to utilize extreme heat or sonic blasts, he has more than enough in his arsenal to damage Venom so badly he can't heal. Venom has no real weapons other than his strength and other things he gained from Spider-Man, while Mercer is a whole caliber above him, equally on-par with Carnage in terms of destructive capabilities, and, since Carnage is far too much for Venom, he's easily being overpowered and taken down by Mercer. Finally, while Mercer is weak to other beings similar to Venom, Venom is nothing like a Prototype and not going to be able to take over him if given the chance. Mercer is basically a living virus and any attempt the symbiote would make to possess him would fail. Since viruses consume any form of matter, the symbiote would just be devoured. Plus, if Venom got Mercer's blood on him, the virus would infect him, and the symbiote would die as a result of trying to protect its host, like the plague Styx gave it. And, just to boot, Mercer could just absorb Venom's biomatter from his webbing or good, since it is the same material, and he'd be able to gain Venom's knowledge and figure out a way to use his greatest weaknesses against him instantaneously.
Hazzamo: What can I say? Mercer outclassed Venom in terms of powers, weaponry, and composition.
DAM: Looks like Venom was just half of the man Mercer is.
Zivon: The winner is Alex Mercer.
Next Time on Death Battle:
A three-headed, two-tailed, dragon-like creature unleashes a thunderbolt on the King of the Monsters...
Vs...
A large, vicious dragon looms from a horde of gold, roaring and unleashing a stream of flames.
DAM: Now, how about that match we talked about? Here, we're going to answer the age-old question: Alex Mercer versus Cole McGrath, who wins and why did we choose Venom instead?
Zivon: The main reason we chose Venom over McGrath is that Venom is very similar to Alex in terms of power and make-up. The other reason is that Cole is even less of a match than Venom. He may have electric abilities and, arguably, range, but Mercer takes every other category. He's faster, again because he can run up a building and outpace cars with ease. He's tougher, he can tank shells from a tank, rockets, or survive an explosion that could level New York City, Cole can be killed by enough conventional gunfire or one direct RPG. Finally, he's just got way more weapons, has way more and much harder defenses, and is way more unpredictable. Sure, Cole can fly, but the whip fist will take care of that. Cole has electricity, but that isn't going to be enough to completely destroy every last bit of Alex that exists, let alone sufficiently hurt Alex beyond the realm of just pissing him off. Plus, and most importantly, he can't heal as quickly from all manner of wounds like Alex. In the end, Alex would reign supreme with relative ease compared to a fight with Venom. We hope we answered that question in a rather brief summary, any discrepancies? Why, email the author, of course!
DAM: Hey, fuck you! Don't forget to tune in next time for King Ghidorah versus Smaug. Don't forget, either, to support this, my other works, me, and my co-workers, and cite your DAM sources!