This chapter like the last ones were edited by Alaster Boneman. It's my story he just helps out.
Mania and Venom belong to Marvel comics, though these are our versions of those characters in an AU. This fan fiction just for fun and no profits are made from it.
XXXX
Previously on Venom
While on a most dire mission for his master to retrieve and deliver three of the five symbiotes currently on Earth to their secret hide out, Palace Oblivion in the eerie harbor city of Innsmouth Massachusetts. The demonic Knight, Nines accidentally crashed his car and lost two of the symbiotes he was transporting, Venom and Mania escaped into the Byzantium maze of tunnels located under the eerier town. The two aliens boned with the local teen Twins, Nathaniel and Andrea (Andi) Benton respectively.
Not wishing to displease his master Nine's confronted the two newly boned symbiotes with the intent to kill their host's and reclaim the aliens. After an intense battle Nathaniel now Venom and Andi now Mania managed to best the demonic knight after exploiting his crippling OSD.
However the twins could not relish this hard won victory as Nine's whom was mortally wounded in the fight, warned them that he, his fellows and their master the philosopher would be come for the symbiotes and promised the pair they would be destroyed.
Neon Venom
Chapter three: Learning more
XXXX
It had been a day since the excitement in the tunnels. Andi and Nathaniel were alone in their modest three story row house. It was nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding neighbourhood which was firmly middle class as those that lived here were neither particularly wealthy nor poor. Though the home the twins shared with their farther was in slightly better condition than its neighbours, the benefit of their father's modest construction and Architecture Company and the twin's artistic leaning's. The house had a relatively fresh light blue colt of paint over the brick and mortar, clean windows and a polished hard wood front and back door and a modest backyard.
Andi walked into her brother's room without bothering to knock and saw that he was bent over his old and battered wooden artist table, totally engrossed in his sketch book. Every now and again, a thin black tenderly with a few flicks of neon colouring would sliver out of his drape well worn hoodie which was up and over his head and pick up a pen, brush or other artistic implement and aid her brother with whatever he was drawing today.
Despite the fact she had her own partner, Mania. She couldn't help but be a little disturbed by how casually and quickly Nathaniel had gotten used to his own symbiote. Nathaniel was accepting the aliens aid without question as if two were lifelong friends, no more than like they were extensions of each other. 'It's only being a day for kay's sake.' Andi thought her brow creased.
As if roused by her concern, Mania 'spoke' to her. Though calling what the symbiote did speech or talking was perhaps an exaggeration as unlike her brothers symbiote Venom. Mania didn't talk so much as play mental charades. Inside Andi's mind's eye, an image of her costumed self, tilted her head and played back an image of earlier that same day after their father had left for work and left the twins a list of chores to do. Mania showed her using several tentacles to help with house work.
"Ya I know people in glass houses" Andi said blushing slightly in embarrassment 'but I don't use you to help with my acting do I?' She asked mentally.
Mania pressed an image of her host standing in a bright spot light on a wooden stage wearing beautiful dress, Mania's symbol a white spider sticked into the back of her dress. A crowd of people in the pews below the stage, all stood up and started throwing bouquets of flowers at her host while they canted her name. Mania then showed her walking down a red carpet a handsome actor on each arm, crowds of people waving and cheering as she walked into a movie she stared in, her name all in lights.
Andi shook her head 'I know you could help and I'm grateful for the offer but I want to get to that on my own merit.' She told her partner. Mania's mental image, nodded her head and faded away, a feeling of understanding washed over her.
"Nathaniel we need to learn more about Mania and Venom" Andi said refocusing on the task at hand. Her brother continued his scribing as if he hadn't heard her. Rolling her eyes she walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. Nathaniel practically jumped out of his set, Venom's tentacles dropping the half dozen pencils it had being holding as they slivered back into Nathaniel's body.
"Kay Andi!" Nathaniel swore as he flicked back his hood and took off the ear phones he worn underneath. He stared daggers at his twin sister. "You scared the shit out of me"
"Well I wouldn't have. If you didn't dial your head phones up to max" Andi stated crossing her arms over her chest.
He rolled his eyes "Whatever you say sis, it's not like you don't do the same thing when you're in a mood" Nathaniel fluffed, his brow creased. "What did you want anyway? I'm busy!"
'Too busy to help with the chore's' Andi thought to herself, Mania mental titled her head in confusion and replayed her assistant's with the core's her father had left her. 'Not the point, dad gave us both chores to do'. She shook her head. "I think we need to learn more about Mania and Venom"
"Like what?" Nathaniel asked as he started to pick up his spilled pencils and brushes.
"Like" Andi shot out a dozen small thin back appendages to gather up all the spilled items and place them in an old glass jar on her brother's desk. "Where do they come from who is this philosopher Nine's warned us about. Why does, Venom talk but Mania doesn't. You know the little things!"
Nathaniel pinched his brow. "We've being over this sis, Venom told us yesterday. The symbiotes came from outer space, the philosopher is the bad guy trying to catch them Mania can't talk because she's different what more do you need to know?"
Andi clapped her hands to her face and feigned being impressed "Oh wow that's supper insightful bro" said Andi. "Wait did you say that Mania is a girl"
"That's what Venom says" Nathaniel replies in a exasperated tone
"well that's awesome that space goo can be girls to" says Andi
then she will lose her left arm to be covered in the black goo then she gives it a fist-bump left her right arm. "girl power" says Andi
'Bit much?' Andi mental asked her symbiote. Mania's mental image nodded in agreement and retreated from sight. The clothing on her hosts left limbs returned to normal.
She nodded "How do we know what Venom's saying is true?" Andi asked
Nathaniel titled his head "You think he's lying?"
She shook her head "That's not what I mean, he might not be lying but he might not know everything and we can't take what he's told us for granted. The thing is we don't know him, we don't know why he would tell the truth or why he would lie, same with Mania." Andi told him firmly. "We can't take them for granted"
Nathaniel scratched his chin and started to paced the length of his room as he always did when he was thinking. "What we should do is research their story. Venom claimed he was a superhero in the heroic age then he was experimented on by the military." He told his sister relaying Venom's mental words, he had no wish for Venom to talk for himself like he did when they first bonded. That would only freak Andi out. Hell it freaked him out, when Venom did the head thing. It was really creepy.
'You humans are so judgemental' Venom said with a hiss, inside the confines of his young hosts mind.
"If what he's saying there is true there should be stories about what happened we can check to see if their true. Ditto with the military" Nathaniel continued ignoring Venom's mental intrusion.
She pursued her lips and held out her right arm, hand and palm up as her left gripped her elbow. "Well the military stuff is going to be harder to verify" Andi stated thoughtfully as she watched her bother pace "I think Kraken comics on hide street will have most of what we need on the hero side of things...maybe old Herbert West might have heard something he was in the Navy and served during the heroic age I think...Though I don't know where he's staying, he likes to move around the homeless shelters a lot...when I do my after school shifts at F.E.A.S.T this week I'll ask around..." She stated as she walked out of her brother's room and down hall way and then into the main livening area, Nathaniel fallowed her. She surged on a jacket and shoved her old ratty wallet and phone into her jean pockets. "We can split the cost of the comics and books."
Nathaniel checked his own wallet "Ahh I only have five dollars Andi, starving artist remember?" he pointed to his body, which was once thin but now thanks to Venom was on par with most athletes physic's.
"More like cheep artist" Andi growled as she pinched the bridge of her noise. This wasn't the first time she had to shoat her perpetually broke brother. 'How many times have Dad and I told him to get a bloody job? Kays tears' she breathed out letting her frustration go. "Okay you can pay for my bus ticket and I'll pay for everything else...like always" she told him holding out her hand
Nathaniel sheepishly gave her, his five dollars "I'll look on the web while you're gone."
"Good idea, I'll be back when I'm back" Andi told him casually as she opened the front door.
He held up is hand wordlessly beseeching her to wait "Andi, I don't suppose it's too much to ask to for you to bring back some food as well? I'm starving!" Nathaniel told her.
Andi shot her twin a baleful glare as she slammed closed the door.
"I think that's a no partner" Venom's head grew from his host's right shoulder.
"Ya think?" Nathaniel shot back sarcastically. "Come on, I'm sure there must be something in the fridge"
"hum... I hope so" Venom hissed as he slivered back into his host's body.
XXXX
Andi made sure to thank the bus drive as she steeped of the hovering transport. The elderly drive nodded and closed the door and slowly rejoined the steady stream of traffic. She spotted a homeless women not far from the bus stop, she thin and gaunt and wore a face concealing hood and clothing that was far to worn to offer any real protection against Innsmouths bitter cold weather. It was a common joke that Innsmouth didn't have sessions like the rest of the world, just degrees of bone chilling cold.
She walked over to the women and put what little change she had in her wallet into a large metal tin the stat in front of the homeless women. Mania was filling her head with a dull but pursuant buzz. 'Relax will you I've help homeless people out all the time when I do my after school work at F.E.A.S.T' she told her symbiote partner. "Sorry it's not more, I haven't being able to get cash out yet. But if you stay there I can buy you some food or something when I..." she trailed off as the homeless women looked up at her with blank hallow eyes.
Andi wobbled suddenly feeling numb, her brain went all fuzzy and time seemed to stretch out. She tried to step away from the homeless women to get away from her, there was clearly something not right about the tramp but her movements were sluggishly. She felt herself falling backwards as a wave of despair hit her like a tidal wave, she was vaguely aware of the world around her, the people walking to and fro going about their businesses ignoring her like she was invisible. The world seamed to turn grey as she fell to the cobbled stones. A shape detached itself from the passes by rushing over to her aid.
"Are you alright?"
"Ha...?" Andi murmured blankly as she felt the world rush in about her. She blinked she looked up at a young man about her age give or take a year. He had honey blonde hair, dark amber eyes and a tanned face that could easily belong to a model or movie star. He was stranding over her, his callus hand out stretched, offering. "How did I end up on the ground?" she asked as the fuzzy sensation lifted from her head like she had being drowning in cotton wool. She took his hand and slowly go to her feet but found her straight had not fully returned. 'I'll listen to you next time Mania' she assured the alien whom also like wise recovering from their stupor, the alien made a point to glare at her.
The young man surged "Don't know, I just left the Kraken's and saw you kind of space out and fall over..." He told the petty young women who was leaning on him, not that he was complaining. She was quite beautiful, she had short jet black hair save for a bang on the right side of her face that reached her neck, and her hair was also highlighted with splashes of blue and purple. She had startling pale blue eyes which were framed by long dark eye lashers and eye shadow. The only other makeup she seemed to favour was a dark lip gloss. She had several plan metal studs in her left her and upper lip.
The young women wore a worn long leather button up jacket which was purple on the inside, a dark greyish blue corset which did wonderful things to her cleavage which its cut favoured. She wore a dark blue belt and long grey skit, black tight geans and platform boots.
Andi feeling her straight slowly return looked back over her shoulder to were the homeless women had being sitting, the tramp had disappeared no more than that it was like she had never being there at all. Andi checked her wallet, her keys and phone all were accounted for and seemingly untouched. 'Even for Innsmouth that's not normal' Andi thought to herself, Mania's mental image nodded in agreement, she pointed a finger towards eyes and looked left and right. 'Agreed keep an eye out' she thought as her eyes drifted back to the young handsome man that recurred her, a little surprised, he hardly looked the type.
"We'll that's a coincidence and a half, I was just about to go in there myself..." Andi told the young man taking a moment to peek at his physic. She liked what she saw and judging by the way he struggled to keep his eyes off her cleavage he did too. Feeling reenergised she felt herself blush as she pointed to the fibreglass statue of the super heroine kraken that stood in front of the store. She was standing triumphantly with her hands on her hips wearing a tricorn hat and dark brown leather trench coat.
"Really...?" the young man asked nervously, "I've never seen you there before..."
"Oh do you have a problem with girls taking an interest in comics and geeky stuff?" Andi teased making sure to bat her eyelashes and press herself into the young man. She normally loathed playing the damsel in distress or the flirty girl but she felt she could make an exaction. 'He did save me, from whatever that was...plus he's hot as hell' she thought blushing, Mania clearly agreed with her sentiment as she gave mental thumbs up.
He shook his head vigorously "No not at all...I would...never...never..." he trilled off as the girl let a small giggle slip past her otheries serous face. "You're teasing me?"
Andi smirked "Oh Kay you are too easy..." she chuckled as she stood a little straighter her straight having returned. "Look in all seriousness, I'm new to all this stuff and you seem to know your way a comic story, help a girl out?" she asked pointing to his cloth bag which was filled with comics.
He crewed on his lip as he caught side of his father's car pull up in front of a small coffee shop on the other side of the road. "Love to but that's my dad" he pointed at the old bet up car and the rotund man that stepped out of it. "I have to stop him for eating that store out of house and home...my name's Alvin Carpenter by the way..."
Andi paused for a moment something about that name stuck her as familiar. "Wait you're not related to the Carpenter crime family, are you?"
Alvin scratched the back of his head "Not officially...look really got go...nice meeting you..."
"My name's Andrea Benton, by the way but most everyone calls me Andi" She told him he raced across the street rescue his father from a éclair. "Dam it I didn't get his number..." She pouted. She turned to look at the comic book store front and back towards Alvin who was all but dragging his father back to his car. "Maybe I'll have to become a regular patron here" she murmured as she walked into the store after watching Alvin and his clearly disappointed father disappear into the traffic.
XXXX
Andi breathed in as she walked through the front door of Krakens. As far as she could tell it hadn't changed that much since she had being here as a kid. Not that she was all that interested in comics and super heroes. The few times she had being here was mostly to shop for presents for one of her best friends, Amy who was a massive geek when it came to spider girl and the girl Hawkeye.
'Kay if she ever finds out about symbiotes, she'll flip her lid' Andi shook her head "focus...got a job to do"
The air inside the shop was slightly musty but not unpleasantly so, large plastic and metal figures of once great heroes filled glass displays. One of the larger statues closer to the entrance to the shop had a plank under it that read.
'Venom vs Spider-man, fatal collision '
The statue though calling it that was a bit disingenuous at it was more of a super sized diorama. Depicted a monstrously over muscled Venom standing over a tatted spider-man whom was trying to stop a car filled with screaming people from falling off a bridge. Thick black tentacles wrapped around the hero seemingly intent on crushing the life out of him while the hero was trying to save the people in the car.
"Venom negritude to mention, he was an dick" Andi murmured darkly as she took out her phone and took a picture as she had no intention of buying that stature, as it cost nearly five hundred dollars.
She walked though a pair of metal detectors and into the store proper, there were perhaps a dozen or so people inside, mostly men though there were at least three other women milling about the place. Towards the back of the store were a number of large tables had being set aside. Six younger men playing some kind of card game at one table, which littered with soda cans and chip packets.
One of the women she saw was eyeing some kind of large model box. The other two, mother and daughter by the looks of them were rifling through shelves filled with manga.
Andi left them to their perusing and walked up to the font counter ignoring the nearby shelves filled with comics, manga and rule books for a hundred different table top games. A slightly dishevelled older man wearing a featherless porcelain mask sat behind the counter. He looked up from a plastic tank he was inspecting and put it away.
"Good morning Miss and welcome to kraken comic's and collectable's, how can I help you?" the store clerk asked pleasantly.
Despite the fact even with his face conceding mask Andi could tell he had the innsmouth look bad, as what little skin she could see through his coverings was an ugly shade of greenish yellow, the distinctive scaly growth was clear even in the less than ideal light provided by the over head lighting strip.
"Hi sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you have any comics or biograhies on Mania or Venom, here?" Andi asked pleasantly
The man chucked with genuine amusement "We have more than a few Venom comics and biographies kicking around here miss. He was quite the poplar fellow back in the heroic age. You couldn't swing a cat without hitting him, cross over, tie in's, events. He was every were once upon a time" the man said then paused for a moment "Can't say I'm familiar with a Mania though, I think maybe that was one of the copy cat's that were all the rage back in the day, you know like diet Venom." He told her as he tapped at his computer.
Inside Andi's mind, Mania crossed her arms over her chest, turned her face and snorted in derision. 'Don't worry you'll have your day in the sun, what's the point of being famous if you can't share the wealth with people who helped you...not that I want that kind of help when I become a real actress...just saying is all you won't always be in someone else's shadow' Andi assured her alien ally even as she knew she did infect live in a shadow of someone else a family member no less.
The man rotated the computer screen on his counter around for her to see.
Sure enough there were hundreds of books with Venom plastid all over them. Going back all the way to the though there were nearly as many that weren't and it wasn't just the comics either. There were board games, video games, escape rooms and merchandise 'Kay so much merchandise' Andi thought her eyes going wide. Knock offs form combating brands, deconstruction's, re interruptions. Tell all tabloids, interviews with people who claimed to be hosts the works.
"Salt in the blood there is even biology book" Andi stated.
The masked man chucked "Sure is, between you and me it's mostly just wild speculation and sudo science, like those flat earths that were kicking around in the golden age of crime bounce of wack jobs. Few super heroes or villains sat down and gave people the ins an out...and when they did or people just worked it out, that's how you get things like the mutant cure, super serums that are more likely to kill you than give you powers, P dust or that terrain mist stuff now-a days." The man shook his head, disgust filling his voice "All that ends up happening is a Lota innocent's get killed"
"I remember reading about the mutant cure in history, I can't believe we tried whip out people because they just had funny skin, or had feathers instead of hair" Andi agreed
"Cure's plural, kid. What is history for your generation happen in my...more than one nut bag or government got it in their head that Mutant's would be the end of us or they were against kays will...humans don't need a lot of reason to hate." The man stated his voice once jovial had taken on a darker almost angry ton.
"Did you lose someone?" Andi asked gently
The man was quite for a long moment. He took a steadying breath "I'll say this much, there is a reason why I named this place after her." the man indicated an action figure of the kraken that state behind a glass display self on the other side of the desk. "She did plenty of questionable things but when it counted, when it really mattered she did the right thing and stood when others refused to...even if she didn't get to everyone in time the fact that she tried that matters."
Andi nodded "I thought she was pretty cool when I was a kid."
"That she was kid" The man chucked, his warmth and humour returning "But you were interested in Venom and Mania today right?"
"Yah" Andi nodded getting back on track "But I don't know where to start" she admitted sheepishly
He nodded sagely "We get to the meat of it...I'm guessed you, weren't a regular" The man asked. "What are you looking for roughly?"
Andi shrugged "I don't know...his origin story maybe both classic and one or two more recent retiling, some of the really important story's, maybe one of the more legit tell alls or interviews"
"Wait here ill fix you right up." The man stood up gaped a cane that looked like it had being carved out of drift wood, a metal kraken medallion was soldered into the hand rest. The man wondered of into the depths of his store, he returned twenty minutes later with about half a dozen trade paper backs, a hand full of single issues and a large novel length book and began sorting them into a two plies.
Almost all of them had Venom front and centre, though there were a few which featured and focused on other characters. A few of those titles that jumped out at Andi as the man sorted, Dark avengers, thunder bolts, Secret wars: diaries Venom, Secret wars: diaries spider-man. 'Again with spider-man...there must be some kind of history there' she thought. She picked up one and looked at it. "I think I saw on the news recently, something about a new spider-man"
The masked man looked up from his work for a "he'd have to be of the original is the still around he'd be in his seventies or eighties...cant to much web crawling when you should be playing bingo with the other old folks" He said with a chuckle as he returned to shorting though the books, seeing which one would fit in with the girls request but also wouldn't confuse her.
Andi nodded as she skimmed the titles the store clerk put aside from her. Under the skin, lethal protector, call of khull, brain eater, over loaded, fatal collision. There were even a handful of spider man books mixed in but there was only one book that seemed to focus on the other symbiotes. "I'm guessing Mania, never got her due?" she said with a grimace as the man put the single thin book on top of a dozen others.
The man looked up and tilted his head "Her?" he asked seemingly genuine confused as he lifted the book for her to see comic properly.
"Patriot comics: Proudly bringing its readers the true stories of courage and sacrifice from the Frontline. We have decanted ourselves to telling the true stories of those super Hero's and that have joined our violent armed forces. Enjoy this massive double feature. The impossible mission of weapon V: Spot light last stand of the Nathan Hale battalion." Andi said as she read over the cover
Under the overblown disruption were the photos realistic pictures of four male symboits and one female. Under each posing figure were their names Venom who's black body seemed to be mimicking practical military grade body armour, Toxin who was built like a line backer. His overly muscled top half was reddish brown his lower half was black. Dozens of tentacles snaked out of his torso. Carnage was slimmer than the previous two though he looked like he was made from flayed mussel, black veins snacked across his body., Mania was nearly a carbon copy of venom, though he had sharper claws and far more feral expression than Venom whom on the cover of this book had none, lastly was Scream whom was the only female team member. She was yellow and red with a mass of whip like hair, the symbiont hugged her form in all the right places.
"As far as I know Mania only had the one host, a dude...like I said before total copy cat its why he's barley got any of the spot light, maybe your thinking of Scream or she venom?"
"She venom...I thought venom was a dude" Andi asked as she gave the man back the Mania comic.
"Mostly" the man said surging "The symboit's don't really have genders like humans do, they just take on the host gender...that's all explained in Brocks Memoirs...though I don't put much stock in what he says in that book." The man indicted the single novel he had brought with him to the store counter. "He was on the way out when he wrote it, some real conspiracy stuff there."
"You've read it?" Andi asked.
"Once" the man admitted sheepishly "He goes on and on about how there was this massive military, government conspiracy that took the symbiote even though they knew he had cancer"
"Cancer why does have to do with an alien goo monster?" She queried as she picked up a venom book from the pile that seemed to be parodying the first alien's movie. It had a cheesy tag line that read. 'In space venom can you scream!'
"According to Brock the symbot's can cure cancer among other things..." He surged "But like I said I wouldn't put much stock in what he's got to say, the man failed at being a reporter and thought he could make a buck of the Venom craze when Jameson kicked him to the curve. When that didn't work well he did have Venom for a while and did a lot of bad shit"
"Maybe" Andi agreed "but even crake pots sometimes get things right" She pointed out
"And if I threw enough paster on the wall, some of it would stick" the man exclaimed with a chuckle. "Its your money...speaking of..." he trailed up as he scanned the books he put to one side at least those that fit the young women's vague guidelines. "That's two hundred and twenty dollars."
Andi whistled tunelessly as she dug her wallet out her back pocket, "Ouch there goes the new pricing I was saving for..." she trailed of as she fished out her bank card.
"I can knock thirty dollars, off if you open a subscription with us today." The man told her
"What would I get out of that?" Andi asked shrewdly. The man explained that she get a email news letter bi weekly, a loyalty/ membership card that would once filled in would take up to fifty dollars of any perches she made in this store. She would also get a subscription box that she could put any books or games she wanted in and a free three hundred mill drink and a single snack with any perches above fifty dollars. "Sounds like a good deal, would I get some credit for this lot?" she pointed at the books the masked man put aside.
"Most people forget to ask about that, when they first open up a suspicion with us, you're a smart one miss" He said complementing her guile "Officially no, we only start putting credit on your card after the 2ed time you come in here and buy from us but since you bought so much today and I like to reward people when they use what's up here" he tapped his skull. "I'll make an exception. I'll just need your details and what you might be looking to put in the box long term..."
XXXX
.
"Thanks for all your help, but there is one more thing, there was a man about my age that left here just before I came in, said his name was Alvin. If I gave you my number could you give it to him, he kind of helped me out on the street and..." She trailed off her pail face turning red.
"And he's not bad looking either is he?" The masked man stated good naturedly as he watched the young women fidget. "He gets that from his dad who was quite the looker back in the day if you believe that" The masked man told her with a throaty chuckle. "I know Alvin well he's one of my most loyal regulars...Sure I can do that for you miss Bention" The man told her as she handed him a scrap of paper with her number and address on it. "Ahh to be young and not look like something the fishing trollers would throw back."
Andi blushed as she took a small water drink and a seaweed health bar out of the stores snack fridge and settled down behind one of the tables set at the back of the store. The group of younger men were still playing their card game though one of their number had being set off to get more drinks and snacks from the fridge and waited behind the women and her daughter who were buying a few volumes of manga.
She fished weapon V book out of the cloth bag the store clerk had provided, she hesitantly opened its front page. The Clerk had told her this book was pretty much propaganda for a very pro military faction that had once being in control of the government sometime between the heroic age and the golden age. 'The blue nation' as it was nick named, Andi wasn't a very good student of history it was one of the few classes she didn't do well in but she read enough to know that they had done some petty questionable things.
She skipped past the credits and acknowledgements without thought and started reading the first page.
America the greatest nation to ever existed, born from the fires of two great revolutions.
'Yah this book isn't going to biases at all' Andi thought with a tired smirk as she continued reading.
Unlike all other nations that have shaken of the yoke of oppression America stands alone in its dictation to freedom and equality for all, the birth place of democracy!
"Innless you were, black, not a man or weren't straight than equality took a little longer, and the birth place of democracy...yeah the Greeks might have something to say about that" Andi murmured discarding to have as much fun with this as she could with this nonsense.
However that dictation and our greatness have earned our beloved nation and lady liberty many enemies both from within and without. To fight these vicious foes's our defenders must be equally as vicious and none are more so than members of weapon V.
The five valiant members of Weapon V are America's newest weapon in the never ending war on terrorism and the enemies of freedom!
After the death of the super villain Eddie Brock, the Venom symbiote was taken by long standing champions of freedom and justice, SHEILD.
SHEILD side by side with our government researchers worked tirelessly to find a way to put this alien to a higher purpose.
Thanks to the deduction our researchers we have not only tamed the symbiote to be used for the military but we have managed to clone the alien beast. What amazing Wonder weapons will the egg heads in the department of victory think of next?
"I don't know, maybe the red death? Kay knows what other insane weapons these maniacs whipped up!" Andi grimaced
This adventure is the true account of one of Weapon V's most successful missions and a proud moment for in the tenure of programme VR. When the team fought against a vicious Brazilian terrorist group called the militia they made every single true blooded American proud.
God bless our great nation.
Andi paused reading for a second, she was vaguely aware that there was a war between America and Brazil had one point but didn't really have much knowledge about it. She flipped the page and rolled her eyes. "Great more over blown propaganda, at least this time it has pictures"
Interspersed with the over blown narration, were screens of jungle, sickly looking man and women working the land as massive trucks carried away tunes of logs and as men with chain saws cut down trees that had stood since before the first colonial super powers had set foot on the new world. Armed men glared graded their pay masters machines and workers, a few of them shot at fleeing deer like animal.
The militia claim to be fighting for the livelihood of Brazilian farmers and to prevent American imperialism but don't believe their lies dear reader. They are really mercenaries fighting to further enrich the already wealthy Brazilian oligarchs and cattle Baron's at the great cost of planet Earth. The Amazon rainforest is one of the last large Forest on the world and creates majority of the world's oxygen.
If they want to call us imperialist's for wanting our children and ever man and women on this planet to continue breathing then we will gladly take on that insult of a title if it means we have a future.
Know dear reader this war is was not an act of imperialism but self-defence against those who would ruin the planet we call home. The Polish Patriots who fought against the militia and called upon America for aid fought for the whole planet. God bless America may our mighty savour damn all her enemies to the deepest circle of hell and in his wisdom he sent us the aliens to fight for the future of our planet.
The next page had a picture and brief descriptor of each member of Weapons V, whom were casually butchering a group of rage tag armed men and destroying their pay masters machines
Venom or rather, Tyrone Rex/Agent Venom as the book called the 'hero'. Who was leading the squad though the hell of battle, he was firing some kind large rifle in each hand as he vaulted over a burning logging truck and gunned down a few dozen men that were using near by farmers as human shields without harming a hair on the captives heads.
Sergeant Tyrone Rex also affectionately called T-Rex by his comrades-in-arms. Is that third generation Patriot comes and from a long line of soldiers. A veteran of the Soviet liberation war he served his nation with honour and distinction as a member of the reformed hallowing commandos just as his father and grandfather had before him. Tyrone had more than earned a honorable retirement but sadly he could not accept peace so long any enemy of the United States remained to threaten her.
His dictation to our great nation saw him not only became an agent of shield but put him on a short list of soldiers that would wield with the symbiote for good. To honour the organisation that gave him a second chance to serve despite his advancing age Tyrone would chose to call himself Agent Venom when he and other patriots were formed into weapon V. Natural such honour and diction saw Tyrone elected leader of the new strike force by his pears.
Tyrone's second in command is the level headed and responsible Cletus Kasady /agent Carnage.
Andi felt her stomach do a flip as she saw the red and black horror that was Carnage rip a militia man in half and throw torso and legs at two other foes. All the while he wore a mask grinning shark's teeth painted on it
Cletus has been in the fight against terrorists since he was ten. And heroically snitched on his parents. When he happened upon his abusive parents plans to enact a savage plan of terrorism, the young Cletus risked life and limb to warn the authorities. Thankful the young boy was able to convince local officials of his parent's plans and ensured that they rightly spent the rest of their lives federal prison to this day. However stoping one act of heroism wasn't the enough four young Cletus as when he became of age he joined the US army and like his friend and mentor T-rex joined Shield once his tour of duty was done. Few people are have motivated to fight terrorists as he does. Whenever the team raids a terrorist stronghold he makes sure to always go first to punish these monsters for their many crimes.
With out really understand why, Andi instinctively knew this was same Carnage that was responsible for the tragedy she had once heard about when she was very little. Maximum Carnage which was one of the worst super villain attacks in American history. "Mania, what happened?" she asked quietly
The alien pressed an image of carnage/ Cletus walking down a long winding path, at first he did good and helped many people but as the road stretched onwards and he bought more and more into the party's line. He started seeing enemies and terrorists around every corner even when none existed, by the time people noticed his growing mental distress it was too late. He saw everyone as an enemy every one as rotten to the core, deserving only of death.
"I'm sorry that happened to him..." Andi told her alien parent solemnly. She was no longer having fun with the comic, the grim reality of her current predicament sunk in for the first time. She vaguely recalled news articles of the massacre Carnage had committed it had given her nightmares for weeks. She wondered if the same thing would happen to her and Nathaniel, Mania tried to reassure her that it would but she was far from convinced. She all but skipped over the massive and brutish Toxin whom was using something called a SAW to mow down enemies and the only female member of the team whom seemed more super model than solider as her yellow and red hugged and exported her curves even more than Mania did as she trashed enemies about with her barbed hair and used a pair of sub machine guns.
At last Andi came to her own symbiote, Mania which even back then 'if this comic is as truthfully as it claims' she reminded herself, was the same colour as Venom. Mania seemed to be the team's sniper as he sat up in a water tower and careful picked off a enemies with unwavering accuracy with a long sniper rifle.
Peter Strauss agent Mania- Peter was already an accomplished soldier in his home country of Germany. Were he rose to the rank of Obstltn within the nations special forces. However he found himself unchallenged in the country with no enemies to fight. So Strauss immigrated to a nation at war so he could test his skills against an enemy then overcome them and prove himself better.
God truly favoured our great nation when he chose America as he quickly became one of the finest asset's the US military has ever seen in our fight against the terrorist hordes. Peter might not have been born in America but he has proven himself a true patriot.
Andi felt a little weird reading the file of the man whom had supposably bonded to Mania before her and had used the alien to killed people. She tried not to judge Mania too harshly for the association as she had a sinking feeling the alien had very little choice in the matter. However even with that in mind she felt disturbed that she had a killer living inside her. "I suppose that's why they say, context matters" she murmured quietly. "Ok ground rules, we're not killing people" she told her alien partner firmly.
Mania pressed an image of eggs, braking open over a frying pan.
She rolled her eyes, "I know that but we can at least try to get the same result without you know murder!" Andi snapped at the alien whom recoiled slighty at the anger her host showed. Felling she had gotten her point across she flicked through the next few dozen pagers of the comic.
Weapon V's had being issued an 'impossible mission' the rescue of five hostages from a remote prison camp deep behind militia lines. Despite intensely disliking the squad of killers she had to agree, a five person squad even if they were boned with alien goo monsters had to fight against nearly five hundred in unfamiliar terrain was a tall order.
The alien inside her head seemed to find the comics statement amusing, as she stuck up three fingers and morgue two large zeros out mental tentacles. "So more like three hundred, that's still a lot" Andi stated. Mania just surged as her host kept reading.
Getting to the part of the story were the soldiers of weapon V scouted it out the enemy camp. It was more of a poorly constructed shanty town that had grown around a old logging camp than a fortified position, though the militia had used some of the old tree trunks and sheets of rusting metal to make a tall if make shift wall with seeming one entrance and exit.
A couple of board centuries stood outside the gated entrance as their fellows milled about inside, none of them suspected they were being watched by the members of weapon V as they were seemingly to busy with their own petty concerns. A half dozen men were gambling, a two or three were extorting money from the scared locals, for the most part those station in the camp just looked board and or tried only a few of the younger soldiers seemed to be alert.
"This confirms what military intelligence discovered, the militia has a gaming tournament every Friday that most of the soldiers in this platoon go to compete in or watch. Leaving the camp significantly less guarded than normal. They only see two guards circling the camp." The word bubble above Agent Venom declared. The armoured symbiote whom crouched next to Carnage in the braches of a old weathered tree that over looked the camp. A pair of binoculars held to his suits eyes. "Mania, your green to go, keep it quiet"
The comic then showed a scene of scream and Mania sneaking up behind the two of the board teenage guards. Scream armed with a machete and Mania k-bar knife as one the reach forward and put a hand over the child soldiers mouths and either of the young boys could react, Scream and Mania had used their blades to slit the boys throats, the soldiers ragged their victims lifeless bodies into some tall grass.
In the next scene showed Agent Venom giving orders to his squad mates as they effortlessly infiltrating the camp, dispatching a few more young men with ease, whilst never alerting the other soldiers. "Scream you go to secure the hostages. Toxin and Mania, get into an ambush position. Carnage and I have a tournament to visit."
The next page showed a large group of some hundred or so Brazilian teenagers milling about a large dilapidated industrial building. Some were playing on old arcade cabinets, tvs and other gaming systems they likely stolen from local communities. Other older men and boys were playing cards.
Agent Venom and Carnage were waiting outside the door to the building's 2ed level.
"Do you see that T'rex?..." the word bubble above Carnage said with slanted weighting "We should just burn down the whole shrinking country...world would be better for it" He told his commander and mentor who as they braced outside.
"I feel the same way, Clet but we have a mission to accomplish" Venom told her firmly as he held up three fingers and then one by one closed them.
Carnage went through the door first. Venom fallowed less than a heart beat letter, guns at the ready. For a second everything in the room paused. A mixture of, surprise and disbelief filled every mand and teenagers as they stared dumbly at the two symbiote soldiers. The comic exposited that many of them had heard rumours of American commandos operating behind their lines but they never expected them to actually assault their small shanty town.
Carnage and Venom never gave the gaggle of confused soldiers the chance to fully process their sudden entrance as the two opened fire laying waste to everyone in the room. They seem to explode as they were hit.
Andi felt her stomach turn as she flicked through two more pages of on sided slaughter, some of the older milita soldiers had managed to rally and return fire or duck behind and old couch or bit of machinery but their resistance was measured in a span of heart beats. Soon only the Carnage and Venom, dead boys many not much older than Andi and her brother were littered the floor. They two 'hero's' scanned the area and checked over the bodies looking for any of the milita that survived. "Clear" Venom
"Clear" Carnage echoed as he dispatched a militia member that had being cut in half by machine gun fire.
One of member of the militia had survived he hid behind the counter in the adjoining kitchen. The boy's face was red with rage as he leaned out from his cover, Venom had his back to boys hiding spot.
An ugly scrawl filled the boys tanned features as a thought bobble appeared above his shaved head as he thought about the reward he would reap for killing the two yanky dogs who killed so many of his comrades. He took aim with a small hand gun only for wavy lines appear above venom's head..
The narrator explained "all symbiotes possess all of spider Man's powers including the spider sense" Agent Venom pointed the rifle behind his back and without looking fired. The shot hit the surviving militia member in the head killing him. "meaning no one can ever sneak up on a soldier of weapon V. They will always see them coming even if they can't see them with their eyes"
The Militia members that were in other part of the camp's had heard the shootout and ran to the building, each holding weapons ready for a fight. Unfortunately for them Mania and toxin were prepared. They ambushed them from behind just as they rushed into the make shift game room as their Venom and Carnage shot up to the roof on web ropes.
The Milita never stood a chance as they were caught ii between a hammer and a anvil, Venom and Carnage stuck from above with a combination of rifles, pistols and webbing while Mania and Toxin from behind. Mania sniper rifle popped heads like water melons, as Toxin fired a Saw in one hand and a grenade lunched in the other.
Three of militia whom had being on the other side of the came and dawn in by the fire saw the one sided massacure of their fellows and attempted to flee the camp in a jeep. Leeped a hundred feet into the air Toxin and landed with a bone shattering impact which crumpled the font of the car and luched the three fleeing men flying. One was impaled by on a branch of a tree, one was caught in Toxins hand and the other flew through someone's front window, the cheap glass cutting the man to ribbons.
"There is no escape for America's enemies no retreat there is only surrender or death" the Narrator declared as the Toxin dragged his prisoner kicking and screaming to his comrades whom stood in a lose semi circle as they were joined by scream and the five the five hostages all them in decent health and well enough to be taken to the extraction point and all but one of the terrorists have been exterminated.
"Scream, Mania you two are the most fluent in Portuguese, go to the commander office we identified before we came into this town and gather want Intel you can, we'll secure the rest of the town make sure there is no one left that might make life difficult" Venom said pointing to the one building in town that wasn't a ramshackle mess. It had likely being a office building for the lumber camp.
Scream and Mania returned soon after with a few brief cases full of hastily gathered papers and maps. "We need to bug out soon, Seems like one of the locals were able to get the word out. We go bogy's in coming a lot of them" Scream told her fellows
Before they left they would have to see if they could gather any intelligence on the militia. Scream and Mania the only members of the team that new Portuguese were looking for papers in the base commander's office. Most of it wasn't anything that would be that helpful.
But then scream saw something that made her interested. It mentioned Colonel_dead_body. she mentions is to the other members of the squad they appear shocked I can't believe what they've discovered.
"you mean the colonel_dead_body" ask Carnage excitedly
"I'm 85% sure its him" answered Scream
"This is big at last we got a solid lead on that jerk" ask Carnage excitedly. The others nodded.
Colonel dead body is the screen name for the head of the militias meme warfare department. 3 in 5 pro militia memes he is rumored to have a direct hand in. Taking him out would be very detrimental to the meme warfare department of the militia setting.
It would also send a powerful message that anyone who was a threat to America weather they picked used guns or key pad and mouse there was no were safe from them to get away with their evil ways.
He was one of the most short after targets in the entire south America campaign, the fact that Weapon had found a direct link and possible lead to the glorified internet troll was like mana from heaven.
Mania and Scream informed the others that the documents mentioned that he is visiting another camp not far from the extraction point. It isn't part of their original mission and it was an insane risk but the possible reward was to good to pass up, they cut single handily cut the head of the snake in one decisive strike.
"I'll take the hostages and the inform to the extraction point and really the change in plans to the brass" Scream sated as she put the five prisoners they had come to resure and the man Toxin had captured into one of the studier jeeps liying around the camp. "Once I'm done there, ill catch up with you guys but if you have a chance to get dead body, don't want for me." The yellow and red symboit women said before droving her commandeered jeep out of the camp
The document mentions that he is traveling near bases several miles behind the militia interview veterans to help him get inspiration for his memes. the document mentions that unfortunately he won't be able to come to this base but if they're willing to travel a couple miles they can meet him at a nearby base he was he is going to.
The soldiers of weapon v look at their maps and are able to see the root the terrorist is taken and they believe they can take him out before he reaches his scheduled engagement at the other base.
Venom, Mania, Toxin and Carnage took a couple dirt bikes and an ATV they found in the base and speed off to take out their target.
The last page of weapon V section of the comic, showed a nice limousine driving out of a far more fortified camp. It seems out of place if the dirt road it's going down. In the back of the car it's a 40 year old Brazilian man slightly overweight and wearing reading glasses. He had two heavy armed guards and he's bothering driven by a chauffeur in a nice uniform that has been slightly covered in mud from the twos recent adventures to militia Outpost in the rainforest.
Hearing a distant rumble of engines the chauffeur checked her mirrors. Then blinked as she saw what looked like four shield agents in weird uniforms one riding an ATV the other three riding motorcycles closing in fast. "American's!" she screamed as she guned the engine trying to put as much distance between her and the yankie dogs. However her efforts were for futile as before he can do anything more the one on the ATV pulls up his shotgun to chauffeurs window on the limousine and fires killing the chauffeur.
After dying their chauffeur slams on the gas and falls on the wheel making the car start to turn to the left. The car was about to go over a bridge that spans a ravine. The car misses the bridge and goes into the ravine. With a huge crash.
The members of weapon v look down at the crashed limousine. toxin fires a blast from his grenade launcher causing the car to explode leaving no doubt that the head of the militias meme warfare department did not survive the crash.
"God bless America, god bless the best job in the world" said Venom
Then it shows the four members of weapon v meeting up with scream and the rescued hostages at the extraction point. They board the helicopter that are taken back to the American lines.
"this ends the heroic story of weapon v America's newest defenders taking the fight to the terrorist horde" ends the narrator
xxxx
Andy closes the book she felt that she really didn't like it that much she thought maybe it was because she was a girl so she might not be into the war stories.
Andi slammed the book closed. "Yeah no thanks...I just hope some of these other one's are..." she tailed off as her watch phone started buzzing. its screen lit up and her eyes widen. "Police alert" she murmured as she opened the app.
Her father had insisted that she and Nathaniel install the app on the phones for their own safety. "Oh kay...that's...that were...dad" Andi sputtered brokenly as she watch a something she wasn't sure what the image kind of bleary, casually tossed police men and cars aside as group of masked me armed with guns ransacked a bank. The bank her father had being renovating for the last mouth. She got up from the table and rushed to the story clerk. "Can you hold on to these please, I need to go right now!" she stated roughly shoved her bag of books into the store clerks face.
She raced out the front door of Krakens and into a side street, she looked around to make sure there were no CTV camara's with a clear line of site. Seeing there weren't she allowed Mania's to envelop her as she dialled her brothers phone.
"Andi what's you need?" Her brother's voice came crackling over the phone line as She claimed the ally way and spotting a construction crane she shot out a web and swung over the lines of beeping traffic.
"Dad...in trouble at his work...turn on your police watch app..." she said painting as landed on a roof top and started sprinting with the speed of a cheater.
"I see" Nathaniel told her his voice sudden firm. "Meet your there"
"Good" Andi said as she hung up and Mania absorbed her phone and putting it somewhere safe.
On the street below man, women and children looked up and gasped as they caught glimpse of Andi as she sung between buildings and ran on roof tops.
"Kay is that a super hero?" one man asked
"Its kraken, kraken is back!" a younger women cheered fist pumping the air
"Doesn't look like kraken though" a teen boy responded
Among the gossiping crowd going seemingly unseen and unnoticed a homeless women wearing little more than rages hood stared upwards with blank empty eyes. She titled her head right and left and then seemingly vanished into mist.
