"Lemme get this straight. You want to form your own group to do what the Justice League won't, and you want me to speak with Talbot to have you guys approved?"
"Yep. That's exactly what we want."
Shortly after the fiasco at the bank, and the subsequent public bashing of Superman, Eddie and Venom caught up with Sean after one of his meetings. Then they hung out like any normal friend would do, like eating and drinking at one of the company's pubs (of course, Eddie requested for a chocolate sundae on Venom's behest), chatting about their personal lives before going to Sean's office to consult about forming a team of anti-heroes and a few villains with overall good intentions to finally put a stop to the senseless bloodshed the Justice League are unwilling to end.
"You think they'll accept the invites?" the tendril with Venom's face asked.
"From what Talbot told me, the last time these guys were hired by the government as a 'Suicide Squad', it was because they were told to." Sean explained. "I doubt that's ever happening again now that Waller and her guys at Cadmus grew a conscience."
"Good. I don't want to be experimented on again." Venom muttered.
"You think that telling them that this team's bomb-free, 'no killing innocents' policy will win them over?" Eddie asked.
"Unlike Arkham or Cadmus, this is a special rehabilitation program that'll make sure these guys won't try anything to harm the public again." Sean said. "While my military team delivers the files on the metahumans that will be joining this new team of yours, I'll try to contact Talbot to get his okay."
Eddie smiled as he got up from his seat. "Well, Sean, it's been nice catching up with you. I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
He was about to walk out the room when he heard Sean calling him.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"We're going back to Gotham." Eddie said. "We got a rent to pay and more heads to bite off."
"And some tater tots to heat up." Venom added.
"Actually, I got a place for you, where you don't have a rent to pay!" Sean said. "And it's much closer to both here and Gotham."
Eddie and Venom looked at each other and then at Sean before they came to their agreement.
"Alright. As long as it keeps us under the radar, there's not a thing to worry about." Eddie said.
The Watchtower, Above Earth
The room was silent as the members of the Justice League stood at the table in the center.
Nine of the founding members, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the Martian Manhunter, all settled down for the matter at hand.
"So, Bats, what'd you call us here for?" the Flash asked.
"We have a new vigilante with a 'take no prisoners' attitude on our hands, neither human nor metahuman." Batman said as he turned on the screen on the large computer in the room, showing images of Venom from back in San Francisco a year before.
"The hell…" John Stewart muttered, as this is also his first time seeing this creature as well.
"He goes by Venom." Batman said. "He's made himself known in Gotham a week ago by killing two men attempting to assault a woman at night. Since then, there has been a large pile of bodies growing in Gotham, all of them known criminals, while normal criminals are left hospitalized."
"Do you have any leads on this Venom?" Hawkgirl asked.
"Just a few hours ago, as Superman told me, he stopped Intergang from robbing one of Global Tech's main banks in Metropolis. One of the hostages was able to record the incident." Batman said as he pressed on a few keys before the computer played a video of Venom's assault on Intergang at Global Tech's bank.
The others noted the brutality Venom displayed while fighting Intergang, such as tossing them around, thrashing them, and slamming them into different sections of the bank.
"That's going to take more than a few months for those people to recover." Hawkgirl said.
"What we wanna know is… where did he come from, and what does he want?" Green Lantern spoke up.
"Batman, do you have the footage of the incident in San Francisco?" Superman asked.
Batman acknowledged his words with a nod and pressed on a few more keys before the other video started to play, which was also in San Francisco a year before.
Where Venom made himself first known. The video was not long - only a few minutes.
What they saw was a man sprawled on the streets next to his crashed motorcycle with the car that hit him parked in front of him and a bald man kneeling next to him. The only problem was that they couldn't see the injured man's face, which was something they would get into later.
Suddenly, a large black hand sprouting from the injured man's arm grabbed the bald man by the neck, as a black mass soon began to spread across the injured man's body, and the sounds of bones rearranging could faintly be heard as the man stood up, and the whole room watched as he grew taller and muscular until the head was the last to form a familiar grinning face.
Venom.
"Eyes. Lungs. Pancreas." he rumbled. "So many snacks, so little time."
The majority of the League felt their skin crawling.
What freaked them out more was the long tongue that slithered out of his open mouth and left a trail of saliva across the man's face, which was soon interrupted by another man firing his shotgun at the creature.
What came next nearly made their hearts stop.
Venom threw the bald man aside and engulfed the other man's head into his wide maw, sinking his teeth into his neck before tearing his head off and sending the body flying into the streets.
That nearly caused the Flash to throw out his lunch.
The video ended as the police fired their weapons at the creature, who jumped from on top of a car and onto a building before disappearing to another block.
Once the footage was over, Batman turned to the League, "The men were identified as top security members for the Life Foundation." the screen brought up an article about the company. "A year ago, the company had stumbled upon one of their shuttles that crashed in East Malaysia containing four parasitic lifeforms called symbiotes. The crash was caused by one of the creatures that escaped containment and kept itself hidden for a good six months, while the other three were brought back to the Life Foundation for study."
"So, Venom's an alien?" Green Arrow asked. "That's typical."
"The Life Foundation has long since been revealed to be running illegal experimentations by snatching several homeless people off the streets to see how the creatures interact with their hosts." Batman explained further. "The CEO, Carlton Drake, believed that the symbiotes were the key to humanity's survival and the next step to our evolution. Two of them died while bonding to their own host due to their incompatibility, while the third, Venom, escaped and latched onto a host of its own."
"How were you able to get all this?" J'onn J'onzz asked.
"I've hacked into the company's security systems and had been monitoring its activities," Batman replied. "But with the amount of security defending the company, there was no way neither of us could interfere."
"Anything else on these symbiotes?" Superman asked.
"I was able to capture security footage of the fourth symbiote that killed half of the staff in the control room and was able to send it here for us." Batman said.
Typing on a few more keys, the screen showed footage of the Life Foundation's control room for the shuttle.
Standing in the middle of the room was Carlton Drake, who suddenly turned and shot a grey tendril out to stop a man's hand, and a similar mass began to form all over his body before it morphed into a creature similar to Venom, except it was grey in color and had red veins, was much larger, had sharper claws, and a more lizard-like head with similar white, jagged eyes that stared down the shaking man.
What came next shocked them all.
A long blade formed on the creature's right hand before impaling the man into the wall, and then turning to face the fleeing humans. The creature's hands formed into large scythe-like blades before it swung them across the room, and the blades extended nearly through half of the room as it sliced up a few staff members running for the door and a few of the petrified employees, while the others were able to flee the room alive.
The footage ended as the creature retracted its weapons before running and leaping out the window.
"Drake had bonded with this kind of symbiote to aid it in bringing back more of its kind with the new shuttle. Venom was able to put a wrench in their plans and destroyed both them and the shuttle, and he has been traveling from city to city with his host ever since." Batman said, turning the screen off before showing numerous videos of Venom being a "hero". He even did the classic "saving the cat in a tree" schtick, making Wonder Woman smile as she saw the anti-hero pat a child on the head after giving the cat back before jumping onto a building and climbing up and away.
"So he's hijacking some poor sap's body and making him bite some heads off against his will?" Black Canary deduced.
"He's been referring to himself as 'we'. That must mean that the host must've bonded with the lifeform willingly." Superman stated.
The statement drew looks of shock, horror and outrage from the League members.
"How can somebody join some body-snatching parasite willingly?!" the Flash gawked. "They are not supposed to enjoy this!"
"The media made it clear that he's hunting those he deems irredeemable." said Superman. "We're going to have to bring him in."
"So you're proposing we send him to Arkham?" asked Green Lantern.
"No, not Arkham." replied Batman. "We'll have to put him somewhere where a League member will have an eye on him at all times once we separate both the parasite and the host. But in order to do that, we'll have to wait until he strikes."
He wouldn't tell anyone, but he was a bit unnerved of the creature.
Possessing strength that nearly surpasses Bane's and a voracious appetite for human flesh similar to Killer Croc's was what worried him.
"Does he happen to have any weaknesses?" J'onn asked.
"That's the issue, we don't know," Batman replied. "The Life Foundation had most of their documents on the symbiotes on lock and key."
"Well, that complicates things." Green Arrow commented.
"We can discuss how to contain him once we actually have him." said Hawkgirl, standing up. "Right now we should be asking what he's going to do next."
"He'll most likely be laying low, waiting for the next super villain to attack. Once he does we'll have to get there before he kills them and apprehend him." replied Batman.
"Do you think we're just overlooking the facts?" Wonder Woman asked, having oddly been quiet during the meeting. "People are calling him a hero for going this mile to protect them."
Of course, being an Amazon, she found Venom's methods to be agreeable, but with the League keeping her brutality in check, she couldn't be allowed to cross that line again.
"That doesn't change the fact that he's a killer." Black Canary retorted. "How long until he focuses on random civilians?"
"Do you think it's a bit harsh?" Green Arrow spoke up. "You all saw that video, right? I know Barry said nobody's supposed to be enjoying having an alien attached to them, but he just saved one of the banks of a multi-billion dollar corporation and was able to get the kid's respect."
"Are you defending someone who defended a killer?" Superman interrupted him with a glare.
"I'm just saying! The kid's done a lot for the world, and besides, we can't do anything against him now that he's got an alien for a friend." he paused as he stared at the Man of Steel. "No offense."
"Who's the guy who posted the article?" Black Canary asked.
Batman was able to zoom into the screen to see the name of the publisher of the article.
"Eddie Brock."
"Of The Eddie Brock Report?" Wonder Woman asked. She had garnered a deep respect for the reporter for his dedication to expose real life issues that the world must focus on.
"He was able to leak the evidence of the Life Foundation's crimes through unknown means." Batman explained. "He might be able to lead us to Venom."
"Why would he want to do that?" Wonder Woman asked. "This man has done a lot for the world with his reports. You obviously haven't read his articles on the recent increase of the crime rates in Gotham and Metropolis that must be taken care of."
"Are you saying you want another Venom supporter to cause a pandemonium?" Green Lantern asked incredulously.
Wonder Woman was about to argue, but she paused, not wanting things to get even more heated. Even though she wasn't nearly against his methods, she'll probably try her best to convince this Venom to cease the bloodshed.
Superman sighed as he realized they weren't getting anywhere at the moment. "That concludes the meeting for now until we have a solid strategy. For now, just make sure you keep your eyes and ears open. If any of you find Eddie Brock, tell him that we need information on Venom. If you encounter Venom, call for backup immediately."
Outskirts of Metropolis
It was nighttime as the cab arrived at a white house that had a striking resemblance to a mansion, almost out of city limits. Eddie got out of the cab and hands the driver the money before walking towards the house.
"Damn, that place is huge." Eddie whispered as he noted the structure of the house. "And we're not even rich yet."
'Better than living in a small confined space.' Venom muttered as Eddie stepped towards the front door.
The moment the door opened, he was met with a sight that nearly turned his face red.
"Oh, Jesus."
In front of him was a pale skinned, half-naked woman with black hair wearing only a pink bra and panties. She was checking around the house while he was looking at her bags.
"Um…" Eddie said.
"Oh. I didn't expect you to arrive early." the woman giggles and she played with her breasts to tease him. "What? You've never seen a beautiful woman naked before?"
Eddie continued to chuckle awkwardly at the display before him.
'Now I see why you and Sean got along so well.' Venom teased as the girl took out a form.
"Sean wants you to sign this to make it official."
"Alright, then." Eddie said.
He took the form out of the girl's hand and walk over to the table before signing his name on it. Once he finished, he hands it back to the woman as she walked out the door.
'Is she going to keep streaking down the road?' Venom asked.
Eddie's eyes widened as he ran outside to see the girl driving off in a red car. He scratches his head for a moment before shrugging and then entering.
The interior looked tidied without a speck of dust in sight, and there were stairs leading to a second floor of the mansion, and there were halls that led to a kitchen and the living room.
'You think Sean will send us some more naked girls to this place?' Venom asked as Eddie walked towards the living room. 'Might as well be the best surprise for both of us!'
"Come on, you're going overboard." Eddie said as set his belongings down in the living room. "Life's full of surprises. You'll never know what'll hit you the next moment."
"Hi, Eddie."
Eddie let out a high-pitched yelp as he turned to face the speaker.
"Annie! It's you!" Eddie gasped.
The blonde attorney laughed in amusement as she sat on the couch. "Who were you expecting? Santa Claus, or Mrs. Claus for that matter?"
Eddie chuckled at her response. "So, uh… that chick back there… you didn't happen to, uh…"
"No, we just talked." Anne cut him off. "She told me how you and Sean got along when you were kids, and how he wanted to make the world a better place, and how many girls he's dated all at once. That was when she decided to go 'greet' you, right after she stripped in front of me."
'Okay, now we'd hit that!' Venom hissed with excitement at the prospect.
"So, what's your gooey roommate been up to?" Anne asked.
Almost a week after the fight with Drake and Riot, she had told Eddie that she knew Venom had survived, but told them that it wouldn't change their relationship, and decided to let the symbiote butt in with them, much to Eddie's discomfort at the time.
"Nothing too special." Venom replied as he formed into the tendril from Eddie's shoulder. "Aside from meeting interesting new people… and eating them."
"Typical." Eddie chuckled as Venom retracted back into him.
They heard the sound of a ring to which Eddie grabs the remote to answer the call on the television. Then the image of Sean in his office appeared on the screen.
"Hey, how is the place? I know that you experienced one of my girls naked." Sean said.
"That was not what I've expected to see." Eddie said. "Aside from one of my exes being here first."
"Oh please. I didn't hear you complaining when I brought girls home naked." Sean said.
Eddie was looking through the refrigerator to get something to drink. He popped open a can of orange soda and he walks back to the television.
"That's because you brought home cougars." Eddie said as he took a sip.
"What? Did you complain when Eddie brought an alien with him?" Anne joked as Sean chuckled.
"I wouldn't complain if Eddie brought in alien girls." he joked.
'Yes! Please promise us we'll hit that too!' Venom begged eagerly, but Eddie ignored him as he focused his attention on the screen.
"Well, let me give you a tour of the place." Sean said.
The television starts to move, prompting Eddie and Anne to start following after it. Sean was showing his friends the layout of the place. He had shown them the indoor and outdoor pool, the hot tub, gym room, indoor basketball court, basement filled with a built-in bar, lots of bedrooms, garage, and the escape passages. Eddie was amazed to see that this place has everything that he needs.
"Everything is yours including the money in the vault." Sean told him.
"Okay, thanks for the tip." Eddie said as he left the room.
'Eddie?' Venom asked. 'Did you just hear him?'
"Yeah, gyms, pools, huge stacks of money. I think we can handle this place." Eddie shrugged off as he went into one of the rooms to get settled in for the night.
Anne only stood outside with an amused smirk as she silently counted down Eddie's reaction.
3.
2.
1.
Eddie came back as fast as he could and came face to face in front of the television.
"SAY WHAT?!" Eddie yelled.
"Well, my company has been making some large amount of money from all the inventions and new tech. I knew that some of the banks couldn't hold all of my money, so I built four houses to store it." Sean said.
"So... basically, we're rich now, right?" Eddie asked.
"You could put it that way." Sean replied with a shrug.
Eddie looks at him for a moment, then he smirks.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that," Eddie said.
"Have to, no. Wanted to, yes. Don't make me beg." Sean said.
Eddie just chuckles to himself, knowing that he could never resist Sean's offers.
"Well, alright. If you wanted me to have it, then I'll take it." Eddie said.
The doors burst open in the background and two little girls, one with blonde hair in braids and another with raven hair in two pigtails burst in.
"Sean, are you done with work yet?" The blonde girl asked. Sean chuckled before ruffling her hair.
"Yeah, Sarah. I'm just about finished."
"Hi, Eddie!" the raven-haired girl greeted the reporter through the screen.
"Hey, Dawn." Eddie said kindly. "Nice to see you two again."
"Hi, girls!" Anne greeted.
"Hi, Anne!" the girls waved back at her.
"I like your hair today!" Sarah commented.
"Can you do it like mine soon?" Dawn asked, making Anne giggle.
'If I had a heart, these two would already melt it.' Venom commented towards the girls, who obviously didn't hear him as he was in Eddie's head.
"Go to the car. I'll be there in a minute." Sean said.
"Okay." The twins said, running out of the frame.
"Cuter than ever, right?" Sean asked, making Eddie and Anne chuckle. "Before I go… thanks, Eddie, for helping me out." Sean said.
"Thanks, and make sure you check my articles tonight." Eddie said as a beep on Sean's phone was heard.
"One sec." Sean said before pressing on a button. "Yeah, Vic?"
"Sir, Talbot's here for your… program." Vic said, pausing for a moment.
"Copy that." Sean said before ending the connection with Vic and turning back to Eddie. "Okay, I have to go. I'll call you back once Talbot and I finish talking about your little program. See ya, guys."
The television turned off as it moved back over to the wall.
"So… you're thinking about forming your own League?" Anne asked.
"Might take some time, but we'll find some recruits soon." Eddie said as Venom formed into the tendril out of his shoulder.
"Maybe we can recruit some girls Eddie keeps fantasizing about!" Venom insisted gleefully. "We can start with that Poison Ivy girl from Gotham. Or that ice chick, Killer Frost. Or even Huntress!"
Anne stood there with her mouth open.
"How the hell do you come up with these?!" Eddie scolded.
"I'm in your head, remember?" Venom laughed as Anne regained her composure.
"…You know, now that you mention it, with all those hormones and not enough power, you might need other women to satisfy you." Anne spoke up, shocking both Eddie and the symbiote.
"Say what/Say what?" Both host and symbiote asked at once.
"You mean… you want me to start sleeping with other women?" Eddie asked.
She sighed as she walked towards him. "I know you have a big heart. I love you, Eddie, always. I'll never leave you again, but that heart of yours is too big for one woman to handle, I enjoy everything about our relationship, even with Venom and his tentacles around me."
They both looked down to see Venom had a tendril wrapped possessively around her waist and keeping her close. "I'm onboard with the idea of you sleeping with other women, maybe involve me, as long as you remember to come back to me. Maybe you can end up in a threesome with me and Poison Ivy. Knowing Venom, you two could make a good match."
The thought of that nearly made Eddie's jaw drop to the floor and Anne grinned in amusement. "Does the thought and image of a sexy blonde and an incredibly sexy, redheaded, plant-controlling woman, naked, sweaty, and on either side of you after a hot night turn you both on?"
"It would if I had any kind of anatomy." Venom muttered.
"W-Well, you and Poison Ivy are… I mean, You… Well…" Eddie stuttered, but Anne silenced him with a kiss of reassurance.
"Don't worry, Eddie. You'll get that thought and dream if you land Ivy or any other super-powered chick as a girlfriend." she said with a smirk before closing the gap between them. "Do remember, I'm the chick of this arrangement. Do not leave me out of anything as well as the chick you are sleeping with… Or I'll yank off what makes you twitch and Venom won't be helping you." she threatened with mirth on her eyes but there was seriousness in her tone that made him nod with a light gulp.
"…Scary." Venom said before retreating back into his host's body.
"Deal."
"By the way, nice job bashing the Boy Scout." Anne complimented.
"Hey, somebody's gotta take out his dirty laundry." Eddie commented before he headed towards one of the rooms to get some rest, but stopped to see Anne still standing behind him.
"Did, uh… did Sean give you your room yet?"
"Yeah. And you're in it." Anne said playfully as Eddie turned beet red at that.
'Life's always full of surprises, isn't it?' Venom teased, using his host's words on him.
Eddie just ignored him as both he and Anne entered the room before they plopped onto the bed.
"Night, Annie."
"Night, Eddie."
"Goodnight, Venom." they said in unison.
'Goodnight.'
Eddie turned off the light before shifting closer to Anne as they both drifted off into dreamland.
'If you see me in one of your wet dreams, don't blame me.'
"Aw, shut up!"
Next time: The First of Many
What do you know? Eddie's rich, he and Anne are back together again, and it seems that Venom has quickly developed a soft spot for Sean's twin sisters, while he starts teasing Eddie's love life, which will soon grow into something big.
The next chapter will have Eddie meeting Wonder Woman, and then seeing her again as Venom, and will find a way to convince her to join his side of justice and teach her to no longer hold back, and will later bump into another ex (you'll have to wait to find out, though), while the Justice League goes on the move. Keep your fingers crossed, readers, because soon, the formation of the new team is at hand. Peace out!