Disclaimer: I do not own Venom
A/N: Hello, my adorable readers! Welcome back to a new chapter!
After so many months of waiting, they FINALLY released the trailer for Venom 2 and I could not be more thrilled. Seeing Carnage/Cletus Kasady on screen, along with Venom adorably prepping breakfast for Eddie, just sparked my inspiration. So, in honor of the trailer finally making it after so long, I decided to create an extra-long chapter. I initially thought of writing a teaser for what will happen to Evelyn when she finally does meet Cletus, but ultimately decided to save it for later.
Additional art will be posted on my DeviantArt account: X-KuroShiro-X
Enjoy and review!
Chapter 34: Parabellum
Evelyn March had never been one to stop and smell the roses, as the expression were. She had always been too preoccupied with her work to give her surroundings much if any thought and any moment she spent doing anything else other than work was a moment wasted in her eyes. There was too much to do for her, and she had always been determined to see it through until she was either killed or her lifespan expired on its own. She could never imagine taking a moment to breathe, to live, and now, she might never get that chance again.
At one point in her life, she wanted a future – perhaps a family to come home to at the end of the day, with children jumping into her arms and a partner who greeted her with a kiss as a sign of their unyielding affection towards her. A future like that, however, was taken away from her at such a young age and all hope of it ever happening was swiftly put into a coma. And now, she had managed to isolate herself from everyone in her life – her parents, her colleagues, even friends she shared fond memories of in the past – they were all gone. She had deliberately placed a field of ice between her and the rest of the world, in hope that neither party would be affected by the decisions and notions she chose to abide by for the sake of this barren field that was now her life.
But it didn't matter now. People were and would be affected either way, whether she chose it as such or otherwise. She had never been one to particularly dwell on regrets. What happened in the past stayed in the past, and she couldn't allow it to haunt her to the future, but it did. Everything she had hoped to achieve, and every mistake and decision she had made along the way now came crawling after her like a shadow not even the darkness could hope to extinguish. She would most certainly die sometime soon because of her mistakes, and if everyone had to pay for their sins, then she was already prepared to burn in Hell for hers.
Yet, as she walked down the pavement next to Eddie on the street in San Francisco, her thoughts swirling in her head, she couldn't keep herself from looking up at the stars that stood aligned in the dark sky. She could perfectly see the constellations from where she stood, as well as take note of several shooting stars that ran across the darkness like a firework in the night. It was as if she could see more than she could see before, with vivid details adding up to the euphoric sensation she felt swirling through her chest.
She stopped and looked around herself, and saw all the lights that had been lit in the city. It was as if the stars had escaped the sky and were now circling her. There weren't a lot of people around them at this time of night, but there were more than enough for her to count. Some were coming home from what she could smell from the distance was a bar or a party filled with alcohol, and others were just minding their business and going on about themselves without any notice to the rest of the world.
They were alive.
She was alive.
And Evelyn thought to herself, how could she have denied herself something so beautiful as life?
A wretched, cruel, marvelous, beautiful life.
"Why are we stopping?" Eddie asked as he noticed her trailing behind him, then his next words came to a halt. Evelyn's green eyes were filled with wonder he had never seen with her before. Such joy, masked only by the otherwise unreadable traits on her face. Like a newborn having just inhaled their first breath; like a parent looking down at their child with the kind of love no words or number could describe. She looked so … human.
As if coming back to herself, Evelyn shook her head and started catching up with him again.
"Nothing," she said dismissively, but Eddie couldn't deny the look in her eyes as she surpassed him.
After a couple of minutes worth of walking with nothing but silence shared between them, Evelyn decided to ask something that had been on her mind for a while. "Where exactly are we going, again?"
"My old workplace," Eddie answered and hugged his shirt closer to him to keep the cold at bay. "We have to leave those pictures we took there,"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"
"Because whether we die or not, then the LF is screwed either way." He didn't quite know what it felt like, talking about the possibility of dying with such nonchalance, but he didn't care about it. They were far too deep to go back, as they had been the moment they got involved in this shit. "It's not far from here, we'll be there soon,"
And true enough, not even ten minutes later, they were already outside of the large building that belonged to his ex-boss Jack. Things hadn't changed over the last couple of months since his absence; it was still the literal shithole where he was fired as it had been when he was still employed. The lack of lights inside indicated that there was most likely no one in there, but he had a suspicion that the security guard, Richard, would be there. They would have to find some way to evade him.
Before Eddie could come up with a plan, his phone suddenly started vibrating in his pocket. To his chagrin, it was Annie's name who popped up on the screen.
"Shit,"
He accepted the call, and Annie's voice came from the other side.
"Eddie, thank God. Where are you? I need to see you,"
"N-No, no, you can't see me,"
"Eddie, just tell me where you are, I'm coming to get you,"
"No, you cannot come anywhere near me, you cannot come near me right now,"
"It's all over the news. Dan's told me that March is with you. Are you alright?"
"We- We're fine, but we don't have any more time,"
"Any more time for what? Eddie, what's going on? Edd-"
With a heavy heart, he put the phone back down again, not even waiting to hear her reply because he knew exactly what she was going to say. He couldn't risk getting her involved in this. If the LF knew about her affiliations to him right now, he didn't doubt with an inch of his heart that they would be coming for her too. He had fucked her over enough as it was, and he sure as hell wouldn't be responsible for her death. He couldn't handle more blood on his hands than he already had coated on him.
"Who was that?" March asked as she caught up to him, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Brock!"
"It was Annie,"
"Weying? What has she to do with-"
"Dan already told her everything, about us, about the mess we're in right now,"
Hearing this, March's eyes grew with what he could only deem was concern. "If she knows, then-"
"She doesn't know about them," he cut her off without turning to look at her. "She can't know either. There's too much at stake,"
They stepped through the doors, and Eddie immediately recognized Richard standing there, about to ask them to leave, as was his job.
"Hey, Richard, hey!"
"No! You're not supposed to be here, Eddie!"
While Eddie tried his best to convince the guard to let them pass, Evelyn's gaze flickered to the elevator door then back to the two quarreling men. The guard might not have seen her, so if she played her cards right and stayed discreet, perhaps she could-
"NO!" Eddie shouted with panic and moved back. "You do not touch him, he's my friend!"
Whatever it was that Venom was telling him, it caused Eddie to enter a state of stress, and that was something they couldn't afford given the situation. Without a second to lose, she quickly grabbed Eddie by the arm as he was seemingly rambling to himself and pushed them both out of there before things escalated beyond a repairable point. She should have thought this through before they first entered; she should have expected this. Things were never as simple as they seemed, and yet she felt responsible for letting things go as they did.
"Damn it," she mumbled to herself and looked back at the guard, watching him walk away with no clue as to what was going on. It was easier that way; the less people knew, the better it would remain for them all. Still, the realization that too many people already knew came as a tremendous weight on her body. While they did not know all of it, they knew enough to be killed, and even the man Eddie had briefly spoken to for less than a minute was just another body added to the pile.
"Shit," Eddie breathed, uncertain of how to proceed. His head then turned to the top of a building, and he heard Venom speak once again.
"You want up? Why didn't you just say?"
The idea was ludicrous and dangerous, yet still, he considered it, and ultimately decided to go with it.
"I'm going up there," He turned to Evelyn as he felt Venom materialize on him. "You stay here and keep guard. I'll be back as soon as I can,"
"How will I be able to tell you if anythings-" But before she could finish, Venom had completely taken over and was now towering over her.
"See ya, Evelyn!" they said with a wink, and with that, they jumped up the building and started making their way to the top, shattering an occasional window that sent pieces of glass and debris down for her to dodge.
She rolled her eyes as she took a couple of steps back as not to get hit by the pieces.
"They have no regard for maintenance," she muttered with a sigh, then turned around to keep watch of the vicinity.
Almost everything that was shrouded in the darkness of the night appeared before her clear as daylight, making it apparent that Lasher's influence over her must have altered some of her senses. She could make out the sound of her heartbeat as if it was the bell from a distant tower, she could feel the cells in her body multiplying, count every single blood cell that was produced in her body.
She had not realized this until now, having been too preoccupied with what was going on around her to discover the changes from within, and as she looked down at her hand and watched the shade of Lasher's material crawl to the tips of her fingers, only then did she truly understand what it meant to be bonded with someone.
"Can you talk?" she asked aloud, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms, expecting some sort of reply.
There was nothing.
"Lasher," she asked, finally acknowledging their name. "Can you communicate?"
Again, there was nothing, but a sudden warm feeling sparked in her chest, as if saying "I am here,"
Evelyn pondered for a second what to do about the situation. She had communicated with Lasher before, somehow, but Venom stated that due to some kind of defect, Lasher was incapable of communicating like they did. She could perhaps make them write something on a piece of paper, but she didn't have one at her disposal. She had expected them to be at least able to speak in her head, as mad as it sounded, but for whatever reason, they failed to do such.
A way to communicate without using their vocals…
An idea came to her head. A technique she had been taught by her father years ago remained, and while she had rarely used it in the past, she was still able to recall it in vivid detail. Maybe she was a bit rusty from years of having neglected its use, but she could still exploit it to her benefit.
She tightened her hand into a fist and tapped it against the wall, waited a couple of seconds, then continued once again. The taps created a sentence, and if she could understand it, then there was a chance that Lasher could decipher it as well. Their minds and bodies were one with each other, so the possibility of communication between them was likely.
"A-R-E … Y-O-U … T-H-E-R-E?"
There was a minute of nothing happening, resulting in Evelyn debunking the hypothesis as a failure.
Then, her fist began to knock against the wall again, but this time, it was not her doing.
The taps created one answer:
"Y-E-S"
A smirk spread across her lips. "Do you understand me?"
Her hand began to tap on the wall again for an answer.
"Y-E-S … W-E … D-O"
"Good," she said. "This will make it easier for us to converse without needing pen or paper."
Her hand started tapping again.
"S-C-A-R-E-D?"
"Are you scared?" she asked, slightly confused as to what they were implying.
The tapping continued. "Y-O-U?"
"Am I scared?"
They were asking her whether or not she was afraid?
Afraid … it felt strange to be asked such a thing. Ordinarily, she would have dismissed their question and said something along the lines of "I have no time for fear,". Now, however, she thought about it. There was little use for lying when the recipient of her answer shared a mind with her, and somehow she doubted it would be Lasher she was lying to. Being afraid was a feeling she had tried to shield herself from for years, and while she had experienced concern or even downright distress here and there, for some reason, the word "Afraid" seemed fitting at the moment.
Yes, she was afraid, and she knew it as well as Lasher did. She was afraid. She had been afraid for so long of anything going wrong, only to try and convince herself of otherwise. Being afraid was something she could not afford, especially now more than ever, but there was so much that would go to waste should she fail now. The fear of failure was not an uncommon thing for her to feel, but this was different. This was a matter of global security. If she failed, then everything she had sacrificed, everything she had ever dared hope, everything she had ever loved … it would all cease to exist.
Drake was going to obliterate it all under the self-produced guise that it was for the good of all mankind. He was going to tear down their world – tear down humanity – for the sake of saving them from themselves.
Evelyn could remember a time where she would have sympathized with his plight, and she had for a time. Now, things have changed. She had changed. She was a caterpillar that had crawled its way through hell to a chrysalis, and now she was new; she had developed. She had been reborn, in more ways than one. She had entered a metamorphosis she thought she would never have been able to achieve, nor had she wanted to achieve it, yet there she was.
"I am," was all she said, not knowing whether the answer was aimed towards her or Lasher, but it was the same either way.
Evelyn reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. The battery was low, and she doubted it would last much longer, but there was still time for her to make one wrong right again… one she should have remedied long ago.
Opening her contact list, she scrolled through the restricted line of people until her eyes fell on one name that had laid undisturbed for months.
Rose March.
As she prepared to press the call button, her finger stopped itself abruptly.
Was she ready to do this? Was she prepared for what could happen if she saw it through? She was afraid, and that fear manifested itself as her inability to make the call.
Then, without her doing, her finger fell down on the image of the phone, and the sound that came with made her mental strength diminish with every second the beeping noises continued.
"Damn you," she whispered, cursing at Lasher whose only response was to fill her chest with more warmth, as if to say, "You need to do this,"
Hesitantly, Evelyn pulled the phone up to her ear and waited for what felt like hours until a painfully familiar voice came from the other side.
"… Evelyn?" Her mother's voice was as soft as it was doubtful. Her daughter had not called or answered any of her calls since last Christmas, so this had to be some kind of mistake.
"… Hey, mom." She could barely find the words, and the longer she stood there with her phone to her ear, the more she wanted to abandon the call and go crawling back to the dark she came from.
"Sweetie, it's been so long." Rose March's words sounded like they were on the verge of breaking into pieces. "It's … This … We weren't expecting you to call,"
"I didn't either," she said. "But … I just wanted to hear your voice again …" She hesitated for a moment before she said, "I miss you,"
"We miss you, too, sweetheart," Like always, her mother was welcoming her with open arms and forgiveness, even if she didn't deserve any of it. "How are things going for you? Are you eating well? Sleeping? I hope you're not forgetting to take care of yourself,"
"I'm fine, mom, but … There have been some things going on, and I haven't really slept well. Sorry." An uncharacteristic yet short-lived laugh escaped her mouth.
"Evelyn," came her mother's warning reply. "I've heard on the news that there have been some crazy things going on now in San Francisco, not to mention those horrid murder in Sacramento. I hope you're staying safe?"
"I am," she lied, and she was surprised by how long it took for her to conjure it up. "I'm fine, but … I don't think I can make it home in a while,"
Silence. Then, "I know you have a lot of work, but I'm happy at least … that you called,"
"So am I," Evelyn whispered. "And … I'm sorry,"
"Evely-"
"I'm sorry for … everything," she forced out of her, not noticing the way her eyes were beginning to hurt as she stood there, fist clenched around the phone as if it was the only thing keeping her from breaking down on the spot. "I'm sorry for never coming to visit. I'm sorry for never calling. I'm sorry for … what happened with David. I'm … so sorry, mom, for not being the daughter you and dad deserve,"
Years of keeping herself frozen under ice thawed during those few minutes she stayed on the phone; years of promising herself to grow stronger and more efficient – not to mention less human – kept crumbling down all around her, and while it hurt her so much that she would have preferred it if she drowned instead, the weight over her body diminished with each wall that came down.
"Evelyn," her mother began slowly. "What happened with David wasn't your fault,"
"But I could have-"
"There was nothing that could be done!" Rose March was keeping her tears from flowing down her cheeks, but the occasional sniff could not escape her daughter's notice. "David was dying, he was in pain. You saved him from that pain, and you saved us. Your father … what he said that day didn't mean anything. He was angry, yes, but he was grieving. Those words were cruel and unkind, but he didn't love you any less, and neither do I. I know you have been punishing yourself for years now, thinking you could have done something different, but you did what anyone with love in their heart would.
"Don't you dare stand there thinking about how you could have been a better daughter or a better doctor. Don't you dare think that you are undeserving of love and affection just because you shortened the inevitable. It's one thing to love someone to the point where you want to save them, but it's another matter when you love someone enough to end their suffering at the cost of yourself, and it's the strongest love of all.
"So, Evelyn Rachel March, stop hating yourself and do what you do best from now on. Save the world, but remember to save yourself just as much. Don't linger on what could not be helped. David … David loved you, your father loves you, and I love you. Remember that, and live on."
Evelyn was paralyzed where she stood, not feeling the air leave her lungs or the ground beneath her feet. Her mother's words continued to echo within the chambers of her body like a mantra. The words she had been dying to hear yet denying herself all these years came to her at last, and for the first time in so long, tears spilled from her eyes. Almost a decade's worth of tears poured down her cheeks and onto the pavement below, yet she uttered no sound.
"I'm so sorry, sweetie, but I have to go now. My shift's about to start,"
"Yeah," Evelyn answered, her voice completely monotone. "You have a good day at work,"
"If you can … please come visit us for the anniversary, and don't you dare skip another Christmas dinner, or I'll rent out your room,"
"I'll try,"
"Good,"
"Mom,"
"Yes, sweetie,"
"… I love you,"
"I love you, too, dear. Do be careful, and for the love of God, try to get some rest,"
She ended the call, and the phone dropped from her hand. Her knees buckled and she fell, feeling the heaviest she had ever been in her entire life.
Evelyn March cried.
She screamed out at the top of her lungs, the tears continuing to flow down her cheeks until the wet spots on the pavement could have been mistaken for rain. She cried until there was no more strength left in her body, yet she prevailed and continued even as it felt like she was on the verge of shattering into a thousand pieces. Her throat became hoarse, and her heart began to ache, but it didn't stop her.
For almost ten years, she had tried to convince herself that isolation and disdain from others had been appropriate for someone like her. She deserved their hatred for what she had done, and had even gone out of her way to ensure it. She had seen the way everyone looked at her when she entered the vicinity, heard their spiteful remarks, accepted their loathing with her head held up high. She would have contentedly allowed her parents to hate and disown her, for she knew she had earned their hatred the moment she decided to let David go.
That was her falling grace; the reason for her self-produced isolation all these years, the reason why she had decided to abandon her humanity. She was convinced that her humanity was at fault for what had happened, and by allowing it to cloud her judgement that fateful day, she had been cast out of Eden. She had abandoned ignorance for knowledge, at the cost of pain.
But her mother's words, her family's affection, and the forgiveness she had been provided with told her otherwise. Somewhere in the world, she was still loved, even despite everything she had done, there was someone still waiting for her to come home.
Home… Home was where her heart was, and her heart rested with humanity, and everything it stood for.
She had to preserve it, no matter the cost.
She could finally let go of the shackles that had contained her.
As she prepared to get back to her feet, she noticed headlights in the distance making their way towards the building. Several black cars were approaching her, and while they weren't necessarily from LF, they were obstacles nonetheless. She wouldn't kill them, not unless she had to, but she wouldn't let them stand in the way of what had to be done.
"Lasher," she said, not raising her voice in the slightest as she felt their warmth encircle her body. "It seems we'll be having company soon,"
Her hand tapped once more against the wall, leaving behind a message she would be sure to follow.
"L-E-T … T-H-E-M … C-O-M-E … T-O … U-S"
Eddie never heard the end of it inside the elevator, constantly listening as Venom reprimanded him for not "jumping like a man", but instead taking the elevator like a "damn pussy". They had done the work, left the phone (Along with a witty note) at Jack's office after generously shattering his window, so if anything, their mission was secured, but not their lives. All he could hope for now was that they'd be able to evade the Life Foundation long enough to get to that damn rocket, but what were the chances of that when the symbiote kept on spewing such nasty comments at him every other second?
As he stepped out of the elevator, he was instantly greeted with Evelyn waiting for him. He almost didn't notice the redness in her eyes.
"You were supposed to wait outside and keep the coast clear,"
"There have been some complications,"
She gestured to something behind her without looking over her shoulder, and that's when Eddie saw the soldiers gathering up around them, armed and heavy arsenals aimed directly at them. It was obvious that they were expecting less-than-normal opponents judging by how packed they were, and unfortunately on their side, they would most likely receive what they came for.
"They're not from the Life Foundation," Evelyn stated matter-of-factly, lacking any signs of being intimidated by the many bullets aimed their way. "So there's no need for killing them,"
"HANDS!" One of the soldiers shouted.
Eddie barely had time to react when red dots came over both him and Evelyn, and he instinctively raised his arms up in surrender while all the doctor did was aim a glare the soldiers' way, not lifting a finger to comply with their demands.
"Still," she sighed. "It is rather annoying,"
"ON THE GROUND! NOW!"
Eddie searched the room and saw several snipers lined up by the railings of the upper floors, which gave him a clear indication that they were outnumbered by far.
"What's the plan?" Evelyn asked indifferently, looking like she wasn't even bothered by the sight of the soldiers.
"Guys," Eddie began, trying to appeal to them in some sense of the word. "Y-You do not want to do this, trust me,"
"MASKS!"
"COPY!"
When all the soldiers put on gas masks without putting his words into consideration, Eddie already knew that this would end badly, but it looked like they didn't have much of a choice.
Sighing, he shook his head in disappointment. "Alright, have it your own way. Mask!"
"COPY!"
On cue, Venom took over, wrapping every inch of Eddie beneath their ebony mass until there was nothing left but razor-sharp teeth, tongue, and eyes for them to see.
Evelyn smirked. "Let's go,"
Likewise, the shape of what was once the doctor disappeared beneath the darkness that was Lasher, whose only distinguishable traits from the taller symbiote were their thin built, lack of a mouth and sprouting tendrils that were already stretching towards the many soldiers in their vicinity.
"What the hell are those things?!" One of the soldiers questioned in shock as the rest of them started firing at the alien entities, bullets flying everything in their futile attempts at damaging the creatures.
Venom snarled and licked their teeth as they took in each and every bullet with nothing as much as a puncture wound to their mass. It did little to harm them, and everything to piss them off.
A gas bomb was sent their way, but Venom quickly caught it in their grip and squeezed it like a ripe apple in their sharp claws, causing the gas to emit everywhere in the room and shroud everyone beneath a thick layer of fog that did the soldiers little more than to further keep them from their targets. Still, they continued to shoot at everything and anything they could lay their eyes on, not realizing that they were already at the mercy of the dark symbiote who remained within their line of sight.
Meanwhile, they remained oblivious to the other symbiote, who had proceeded to jump out of the fire and was currently scavenging around the building for the soldiers that targeted them from the heights.
Another bomb flew Venom's way, and they easily caught it between their jaws and proceeded to crush it like nothing. The gas seethed through their teeth and thickened around them, and the soldiers were at a loss of where their enemies were. Their strategy had been used against them, and now, they had no way of knowing where their designated targets were and how they were going to stop them.
"Hold your fire!"
They momentarily stopped shooting and searched around the fog for where the aliens were, but to no avail. They were in too deep.
"Flares!"
The room became a bright red as the flares were released, and that's when the wolf decided to reveal itself among the sheep.
"Anybody see him-"
Venom lunged at them, using the gas to their advantage, and picked each soldier like flowers in their field, ripe for the taking. One by one, they were all dragged into the mist and out of sight, leaving their fates intact but otherwise unknown by the rest of their squadmates. Like that, Venom easily finished them off, honoring the doctor's wishes of keeping them alive but amusing his own desire to wreak havoc where he saw an opportunity to do so.
They grabbed two more soldiers by the limbs, jumped up and slammed them both into the screens of the building, and allowed them to drop down without a thought of concern. Venom didn't know if they were dead or otherwise, but they were out of the way, and that was all that mattered.
As they landed on the ground again, they shifted around to where the rest of the squads were and growled, promising repercussions towards anyone who dared stand against them.
The hunt continued, and as Venom continued to finish off one soldier at the time with heavy delight, they remained unaware of a sniper that had caught them within his line of sight.
"Switching to thermo," said the Sniper and he scoured through the building with his thermo-vision, looking frantically for the enemy. "Seeking target,"
Unfortunately for him, he didn't take into consideration that the black symbiote wasn't the only enemy around.
Spotting the black creature from the heights, the sniper was prepared to shoot when he suddenly felt something wrap around him and promptly throw him from the height of the railing, rendering him unconscious from the fall. Before any of the rest of the snipers could hope to aim for their unseen assailant, much less aim for the one on the ground below them, each and every sniper from the heights were all suddenly coiled by something from behind them and promptly thrown from the railings and to the depths below, falling one by one like flies.
One of the snipers snapped his head to the creature was behind him, horrified at seeing only a mouthless creature glaring at him in return before he too was sent down to join the rest of his defeated teammates. None of them stood a chance against the alien who was hunting them down, its speed unmatched by the one on the ground beneath them to the point where they were they could have easily been mistaken for a glitch on a tv screen.
Within a minute, every soldier on the higher floors was on the ground, defeated, mostly unconscious, and ultimately out of their way. That was all that was required, and it was all they were going to see through by the wishes of their host. None were going to die; fractured, hurt, possibly maimed, but not dead. That was a line they would not let themselves cross.
Once Lasher was done with the soldiers on the upper floors, they subsequently jumped down to join their brethren finishing the ones that remained on the lower floors. Venom's unrivaled strength combined with Lasher's speed and agility made up for a tremendous duo, and while standing back to back, they didn't stop fighting until every enemy in sight was properly disposed of.
Lasher stretched their tendrils out for the ones that were too far away from Venom to reach and yanked them by their limbs and closer towards them. Then, Venom would grasp at the opportunity to lunge forward and effectively fight them down, doing whatever meant necessary to ensure their survival.
As much as Venom wanted to deny it, they couldn't look away from the fact that this hunt exhilarated them to no end. The power of having a host such as this and being able to make use of themselves to achieve a mutually beneficial goal was everything they had ever hoped to accomplish in the many millennials they had existed, and now that they finally had it, they never wanted the feeling to go away.
Seeing another line of soldiers gather up ahead, Venom smirked and turned to Lasher who was finishing a new row of enemies on the other side.
"Hey, Lasher!"
The dark-blue symbiote promptly snapped their attention back to their brethren, tilting their head slightly to the side.
"Ever heard of 'Leapfrog'?"
Lasher's eyes emitted with the confusion their lack of mouth couldn't express, but as the memories of their host playing that game with her brother dawned on them, Lasher quickly understood what Venom meant and got prepared to make the feat.
As Venom hunched slightly over with their back to them, Lasher leaped forward with such immense speed they appeared only as a blur by their opponents. They climbed on top of their brethren's back, and as Venom straightened up again, they jumped into the air by several impressive feet towards the line of soldiers their way and allowed their tendrils to sprout from almost square-every inch of their body.
Rows of razor-sharp appendages that resembled vines stretched towards the soldiers and wrapped themselves around each of their weapons before throwing them away and out of their reach. Lasher then proceeded to wrap themselves around the soldiers themselves, sending them flying into all kinds of directions already before they landed. Some were sent into walls, others were headed straight for glass, while the rest were scattered around like toys by a pampered child.
When they did land back on their feet, Lasher did not hesitate to take on the remaining ones with whatever strength still resided in them. Some soldiers went down with ease, others required more precision and skill, but the result was the same either way. By the end of it all, the soldiers were on the ground, unmoving, but their vitals were still pulsing with life.
Venom laughed out loud at the spectacle, visibly impressed and thrilled by the view of their brethren's sheer tactic and strategy. "I knew there was a reason I preferred you over the rest of Riot's morons!"
Lasher sent Venom what could only be described as a deadpan look of mild annoyance.
"Don't look at me like that! You know I'm right!"
The one-sided conversation didn't get much further before lights from other soldiers came into view, and both of the symbiotes quickly dodged away and into temporary hiding as they planned what to do next with their remaining enemies.
"I don't have eyes on them!"
"Where are they?!"
For a minute, only their heavy breathings through the masks could be heard echoing through the seemingly vacant room.
From the darkness, Venom grasped the chance and quickly made their way towards their next victims. Only a couple of bullets had the liberty of making their way to their target before Venom reached for their weapons and threw them back at the soldiers, sending a row of them flying back from the impact.
Finally being able to spot the alien hostile, the soldiers didn't waste the opportunity to finally do some damage.
"Flash grenade!"
When the bomb hit Venom, for the first time since they started fighting, the alien roared in agony as the bright beam momentarily haltered their movements. The pain was short, but there nonetheless, and it pissed them off more than it hurt them.
"Flash grenade!"
Another bomb hit them, and this time, it hurt for real. They could feel their bodily material extract itself from their host, resembling the way a human would lose its limb, only that it hurt them tenfold more.
More bombs were thrown their way, each taking damage and effectively rendering the symbiote, as well as its host, injured to some extent.
Shifting around to spot the source of their agony, Venom snarled at the hidden soldier located on the upper floors. If looks could kill, he would have already been dismembered.
Still hidden in the shadows, Lasher quickly caught on to the soldiers up above and crawled onto the walls in an effort to reach them before they could further hope to injure their allies.
However, one of the soldiers on the ground caught the movements within their sight.
"On the wall! The other one's there!"
The soldier on the upper floor sprang into action and threw a bomb at the thinner alien that was quickly making its way towards him. The bomb hit the pillar next to them, and while it didn't strike the alien directly as intended, the flash of light that came with the grenade caused the target to lose its grip on the wall and fall to the ground, shattering the floorboards beneath with its weight.
The thinner alien was slow in their movements as they tried to get back up to their feet, and that was enough to grant the soldiers enough time to fire aimlessly at them, further weakening Lasher from where they were hunched in a futile attempt to get to safety.
Pieces of their body mass were separating themselves from their host, and it wouldn't be long before the layer between the symbiote and the host severed, leaving the doctor underneath vulnerable and in danger. She wasn't quite as strong as Eddie, and while she made up for that with speed and strategy, it would not be a good thing for her to find herself surrounded by them on her own.
Growling in anger, Venom decided that the best course of action would be for them to gain the most attention. So, they charged for the enemies that were on the upper floors and threw them off the railing, successfully turning all heads to them instead of Lasher. While this would undoubtedly cost them more of their strength, Venom ultimately decided that it was worth the sacrifice.
After taking down the snipers, they further ascended to the ceiling rails, where the soldiers began to both shoot and throw grenades at them, effectively damaging Venom even further, but they could handle it. They only needed to get their attention away from Lasher long enough for them to heal up and come back.
Back on the ground level, true to Venom's intention, the soldiers had ceased their continuous assault on the other symbiote as they aimed their fixation back on the darker one. This granted Lasher enough time to recuperate and heal up their fresh wounds in seconds, and when they felt their strength return to them, they didn't waste time getting back into the action. These people didn't need to be killed – their host wouldn't allow any more blood to cover her hands, as the expression were – but that didn't keep them from doing what needed to be done.
Without a moment to lose, Lasher quickly leaped onto the wall and started crawling up to the ceiling rails, dodging as many bullets as they could on the way. The moment they reached the darker symbiote and got to the rail, they did a quick survey on their surroundings. There were far too many soldiers for them to handle down there, so a direct attack would be fruitless.
Then their eyes wandered to where they were seated, and an idea struck them, concocted from the vague memories of a building almost coming down on their host from the past. The longer they looked into the memory, the more the idea felt like a logical one, and they only looked long enough into her mind to recall a red-headed boy that filled their body with dread when they decided that they had the information they needed for the plan to work.
Gesturing to rails for the darker symbiote to see, a glee of joy spread across Venom's lips.
"Not bad," was all Venom said with amusement before they started to pull at the rails, loosening them enough for the entire structure to descend to the soldiers, which sent all of them into a state of disarray.
Venom turned to the other symbiote. "Let's go!"
With a curt nod from Lasher, the two symbiotes jumped down to the ground floor and started to fight off the rest of the squad.
The bigger symbiote grabbed one of the soldiers by the leg and started swinging him around like a rag doll, striking the teammates where they stood and then throwing the ragdoll into an opposing wall once his use had expired.
Lasher promptly reached for the remaining soldier and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him several feet from the ground before proceeding to throw him back until he made contact with one of his fallen companions. No one was left standing, not a single one, and Venom relished in the victory and roared up at the air, feeling like a king among their fallen enemies on a glorious battlefield.
That was, however, until one of the soldiers on the ground started firing at them.
At this sign of defiance, Venom reached for the man once his weapon was out of ammunition and held him up in the air. His jaws parted, revealing his teeth as he prepared to chomp down at the poor fool. This fighting had built up quite an appetite, and right now, perhaps this was a cause for celebration? What better way to do it than with a grand feast?
Before they could hope to put the poor fool out of his misery, Lasher quickly grasped at the bigger symbiote's arm, glaring at them with no intention of letting them indulge in their desires.
The darker symbiote snapped at their brethren, warning them not to interfere, but Lasher didn't move in the slightest. Their menacing glare promised punishment if they were to go through with it, and seeing some amount of green in the opposing symbiote's eyes, Venom's grip around the soldier lessened only slightly.
"No one dies," came Evelyn's cold voice from beneath the mouthless symbiote's hide. "No more deaths,"
"We need food," Venom protested, seeing no fault in his argument.
"No more deaths!" Evelyn shouted this time, her voice weakened under Lasher's exterior but sounded no less severe than it would in other circumstances.
While Venom had not a shred of doubt in their body that they could easily defeat Lasher with their current host, they did not want to threaten the woman underneath.
Back on Klyntar, Lasher was not among the strongest of their species, but they were not among their weakest either. Their main attribute had to do with their ability to adapt; to strengthen themselves from the traits from their hosts. Lasher was like – what humans called – a chameleon. They took the strongest from what they could and developed with each mind and body they inhibited and changed with it.
Venom was certain of their own strength, but if there was one thing they were not certain of, it was whether or not they would be able to defeat Lasher if they inhibited any of the determination and willpower Evelyn March possessed. Not to mention, he respected the doctor already far too much, and as large as their pride was, they did not want to tamper with her if they knew it was better to avoid it.
Skulking to themselves, the darker symbiote haphazardly dropped the soldier to the floor, knocking him unconscious from the fall.
As soon as the soldier made contact with the ground, a piercing scream that echoed from the entrance caused both symbiotes to snap their attention away from each other and to the stranger in the room.
Only, it wasn't a stranger.
It was Anne Weying.