A/N: Hello. :) I just saw "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" and I gotta say, it is a big step-up from the first movie. Of course, we still don't know what Riot had been doing for the past year since arrival on Earth, but I'll say this: it is really interesting to see the relationship between Cletus and Shriek in "that" context. Almost made me feel bad for Cletus. Almost… Anyway, I was also reminded of how the symbiotes' bonding actually worked prior to that, and I realized I haven't quite explained it. But don't worry. The concept would actually be central to this chapter in particular. That said, I hope you enjoy the new movie in some capacity, especially the mid-credit scene. ;)

Chapter 6: Family Meeting

Entry #8

So… I had some explaining to do. And it was far from easy to do it in the first place. But they did lose their mother from Drake, and they were just kidnapped and almost experimented on. I owed it to them. The trouble was how to do it. One would think it'd be so easy, but it was what they'd do when I told them that worried me.

Dylan, Sadie, and Billy were just watching me pace to and fro around the room, sitting on what was left of the couch from Riot's kidnapping. I was trying to work out what to say, but Spite didn't exactly make it easy.

Just tell them already. You've been pacing for ten minutes.

"They're kids, Spite. How exactly am I supposed to just tell them about what happened?"

They just saw a symbiote fight another symbiote, and one of them saw spikes shoot out of his hand. I think we're past that at this point.

"Well, what about Dora? They don't know what happened to her."

Apparently, Spite hadn't considered that.

Oh. Well, just tell them about me and the Symbiotes first. If they ask about Dora…

"Which they will…"

...I'll put it to them in as delicate a way as I can.

I didn't know if there's a way she could put it delicately, but the truth had to be told somehow, and I don't even have the guts to do it myself, apparently. Sadie reminded me of that as she spoke up.

"Wait, what happened to mom?"

Crap. I was so worried about what to say, I completely forgot they were watching me. I can't make any excuse out of it. We had to tell them. But first, we had to ease them out of it somehow… I took a deep breath slowly. Then, I turned to the confused children as I spoke.

"Kids… Before I get to that, I… should introduce you to someone who can tell you what's going on. She's also the one who saved you, so… y-you can trust her."

On that cue, Spite slowly went out of my back and showed her silver face to them. The trio looked at her in fear and worry, not that I'd blame them. But after a while, Spite broke the silence awkwardly. It was odd to see a symbiote so nervous.

"Everyone. This is Spite. My symbiote, and… my protector. Our protector."

"Uh… hi."

After a few seconds, Dylan went closer to her and looked closer to her, like he'd just seen a rare animal in an aquarium. Spite wasn't sure what to do about it, but I could tell she liked it. Dylan gave her another reason when he spoke.

"Thanks. For, uh, having our backs back there."

Spite made a smile, trying not to show too much of her teeth.

"You're welcome."

Sadie and Billy gave her a smile next. After a while, though, we got back to the matter of explaining everything. Dylan asked his question first.

"So, what exactly is going on right now?"

"More than you know. We're symbiotes, alright. But our race is called the Klyntar. Well, what's left of us, anyway. We used to coexist with our hosts peacefully. But over time, as we bonded with the wrong people, we became just as cruel as our hosts. And, unfortunately, Riot was one of them. And then, the Vanishing happened."

Sadie went closer to Spite as she asked a question of her own.

"Did it happen to you, too?"

"In a word: yes. There used to be a lot of us, but… when Thanos snapped his fingers, it nearly drove us to extinction. It killed most of the symbiotes, and it just killed some of our hosts, leaving us without a host. And without one, it was a matter of time before a lot of us died along with them due to starvation. Most of them were a part of Riot's team. And needless to say, he was pretty pissed. In trying to rebuild, he created new symbiotes. That's how I came to the picture, among a few others. And along the way, we found a ride here to Earth from one of the Life Foundation's rockets. But by that point, I had already gotten a mind of my own, and I wanted to stop conquering. Then, the Life Foundation caught us."

Dylan recognized what it meant. He saw a glimpse of their handiwork when he was captured, I assumed.

"And they experimented on you, right?"

"In a way. They were trying to figure out how we worked. That included Amanda and your mother, Dora Skirth. And when they saw what we did to their… guinea pigs, they were terrified. Whenever we try to bond with them, they're eaten from the inside-out, and then they die. Dora and Amanda tried to stop them by exposing his plans. To do that, they needed Eddie Brock. But something went wrong. And after that, Drake sicced Riot on Dora to kill her. He would've killed her, too, if I didn't arrive. I fought back and bonded with Amanda to keep him from harming anyone else."

After that, a small bit of silence hung in the air. But I saw Dylan's face. He seemed angry about it. Just like I was with Spite.

"But if that was true, why didn't you save her?"

Spite hung her floating silver head down. Spite's had it just as badly as the rest of us. I intended to remind Dylan of it when I interjected.

"Hey, go easy on her, Dylan. It wasn't any better on her, either."

But Spite spoke up to him in a solemn tone.

"I wanted to try. But the problem with bonding with a host is that it's a fifty-fifty chance for them to survive. Think of it like finding the right blood type for donating to another patient. If they don't match, they're incompatible. And when they're incompatible, they… Well, you get the picture by now. And I didn't know if I'd make it worse."

This was news to me. But looking back, it did make sense. There were a lot of failures that we saw in the Life Foundation, apart from Cletus Kassady. However, that made me realize something. There was also a chance that I could've died when Spite bonded with me back then. It was my turn to ask a question.

"Wait. So you're saying that when you bonded with me, there was a chance that… that I could've died?"

Spite turned her head to look at me with a sorrowful expression on her floating face.

"I was going to tell you before. But you've been through enough already. Besides, it worked out for the best, right?"

Hardly. I thought she was done keeping secrets from me. And yet, I was wrong. For a moment, I wanted to yell at her for betraying my trust. I wanted her to get out of me and throw her away, but the truth was, it wouldn't have mattered if the same thing could've happened to Dora because of her. And like it or not, it did turn out for the better.

If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have been this close, and I wouldn't have been able to save Dylan, Sadie, or Billy from those symbiotes. As long as they were alive, I don't think I would've cared about my life over theirs. A small smile crept on my face, but I wasn't aware of it.

"You know what? I guess we're both lucky."

Spite made a small smile back at me. Of course, I became concerned about our… guests.

"But… if that's true, how come you asked me to bring those other symbiotes here?"

When we got back home, I put them in the garage freezer, still inside their containers. Even then, I didn't know what Spite's plan was at all.

"Well, we obviously couldn't leave them back at the Life Foundation. Someone else would've opened the darn things. And we can't let them die, either."

Then, Billy walked up to us and asked a question of his own.

"So, if we got those symbiotes, would we have… been eaten?"

Spite and I looked back to Billy with a befuddled look. We weren't expecting the youngest of the trio to have remembered all that.

"Well, it's a 50/50 chance. They're still kids, by our standards, so it's not likely, but I wouldn't try bonding with them. It's still too risky."

Dylan laid back down on the couch with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling.

"That's too bad. We could really use them right about now."

I caught onto his tone. He sounded upset. The very instant I heard his words, it was pretty obvious where he was going.

"You really want to bond with a symbiote that could kill you, Dylan?"

Dylan didn't bother to look at me. I'm assuming it's because he couldn't stand to look at me since I failed to save his mother.

"Well, it worked before with Spite, didn't it?"

Spite had a right to disagree. And she did.

"I wasn't trying to bond with you that time. I was just protecting you."

"What am I supposed to do? Drake just killed our mom. You honestly expect me to let that go?!"

It didn't take long for me to see his face. Dylan was getting angry. He was sad, even, if those tears were any indication. And he had every right to be. I was like that with Spite when we first bonded.

"I know how you feel, Dylan. I really do. She was my best friend, too. But me, Spite, and Venom are the only ones who can stop Drake. Besides, I don't want you guys to die on my conscience. And I don't think she'd want you guys to die, either. So until this is over and done with, you're staying here and keeping Sadie and Billy safe. Got it?"

Play Alan Silvestri Music: "Totally Fine"

I held my hand around Dylan's face to wipe his tears away. I can tell he still didn't want to stay here. He knew how to take care of them, but he just… didn't feel right. I don't know if he was scared of losing me, too, or… or if he didn't trust me. But either way, I can tell he was still scared.

"Hey. It's gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay. Spite will make sure of that."

"How do you know?"

It was pretty obvious to me.

"Well, Spite can pretty much fix me up when I get hit, so…"

This earned a light laugh from Dylan and me. It was a good laugh to share between the two of us. I just hoped it wasn't the last.

"Just promise us you'll come back, okay? We don't want you to die, either."

I gave Dylan a hug as I held him around my arms and gently stroked his back. I had a hard time holding back my own tears from this.

"Don't worry. I promise we'll come back."

After a moment or two, Spite piped up.

"Uh, hate to interrupt, but we have a worldwide genocide to stop."

I had to stop hugging Dylan and let go as I let Spite coat my whole body. The trio still looked on in awe as I headed out to the door before I turned back to them. But somehow, it didn't feel right leaving them without letting them see my face one last time, if that scenario was likely to happen. Then, Spite seemed to have read my mind, because she opened up her "mask", letting my face be shown underneath it before I spoke.

"See you soon."

Then, my mask went away before Spite and I went off to confront Drake and Riot to stop them, once and for all. By all accounts, we should've turned back to them afterwards, but by the end of the night I'd be glad we didn't. Because as it turned out, not even Spite and Venom could stop Drake by themselves…

End Alan Silvestri Music: "Totally Fine (0:42)"

A/N: Hello. :) I'm sure you must be wondering what Dylan, Sadie, and Billy's roles could be. Well, either that or you guessed it. Anyway, as it implied, you can expect to see them in the next chapter. I hope you can look forward to the next chapter for the final confrontation.