Author's Note: So now, we are finally at the events of the Season 1 finale. Congratulations to me.

First of all, when I heard that Inside Job was cancelled, I was utterly shocked. It baffles me how such good shows can just end so abruptly. So while I may be sad at that, I will not get me down. For you see, now, I am free to do whatever I want with that we have now. And trust me, I've got plans.

Since we're at the end of Season 1, I'm going to take a break from this story for a while. I'll be back someday. Just you wait.

Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.

"Let me get this straight, Robo-Reagan." Reagan said. "You survived our fight at the museum, you broke in and stole the Unspoken File, you hacked Bear-o, you tricked us into fighting each other, and now, you have a symbiote?"

"Her name is Scorn." Robo-Reagan's symbiote retreated back into the robot copy's body. "And what can I say? She's a real knockout."

"How is that possible?" Reagan asked. "Symbiotes can only bond with organic hosts."

"That used to be the case." Robo-Reagan said. "You see, after our last encounter, I managed to take a piece of the Venom symbiote and use it to make an entirely new one. A simple reconstruction allowed it to be able to bond with machines. Not only that, but this old girl is completely under my control. No annoying voice in my head like Brock's."

"Hey! I'm not annoying!"

"Would someone mind telling us what the eff is going on?" Rand asked. "Why do I have two daughters? Tamiko and I agreed that one was enough."

Venom looked at Reagan. "You didn't tell them?"

"It's not exactly work-related." Reagan said. "You see, I built myself a robot boyfriend, but he went behind my back and built a robot copy of myself, only with ten times as much confidence as me. She disappeared after we fought her as the Smithsonian, but now, she's here."

"Great. We're going to be killed because of Reagan's love life." Myc said.

Reagan rolled her eyes before confronting her robotic counterpart. "Why are you here? Why'd you steal the Unspoken File?"

"It's quite simple, really." Robo-Reagan said as she pulled up the file in question. "I want what you want, Reagan: power. The only difference is I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Bear-o."

On command, Bear-o's eye lit up and projected a compilation of videos which Robo-Reagan then presented.

"After recovering from our museum brawl, I hacked into the Cognito security cameras to keep an eye on Reagan. When I saw that JR was going to make her be the CEO in his place, I found my chance to strike. So that night, I broke into his office to steal the Unspoken File. Bear-o was there and tried to stop me, but it didn't really take much effort to hack into his brain and sync it up with mine. After that, I just laid back and watched the dominos fall."

"But why?" Eddie asked as Venom revealed his face. "What could you possibly gain from any of this?"

"You know, it's lucky you're cute." Robo-Reagan said. "You see, I knew that once you learned that the suspect had to have had department-head clearance, you'd all go on a paranoid frenzy and exhaust yourselves. Now, all I have to do is destroy you all and take Reagan's place as CEO of Cognito Inc. With my robotic power plus the Scorn symbiote, we'll be crushing the other secret societies within a month."

"Damn, she's wildly ambitious." Gigi said.

"You won't get away with this!" Reagan said.

"Why does everyone always say that?" Robo-Reagan asked. She held out her arms and the purple symbiote grew on them giving her large claws. "Now, who wants to die first?"

"I don't negotiate with terroroids!" Glenn said as he pulled out a missile launcher. With a pull from his finger, a missile flew out toward Robo-Reagan. However, Bear-o stood in his way allowing the missile to blow up at him instead.

"Holy shit, he did it! Glenn was useful!" Myc cheered.

The celebration was short-lived. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Bear-o was left standing without a scratch on him. Robo-Reagan stepped up from behind him with a cocky smile.

"Dad, did you make Bear-o indestructible?" Reagan asked.

"What? Kids are always breaking shit."

"Oh, right, Rand's here too. Which reminds me…" Robo-Reagan said extending her claws. "I'm killing you two, asshole!"

"What?" Rand asked. "Hold on! I've got nothing to do with Cognito anymore. Sure, I've got some shares saved up, but killing me won't get you anywhere."

"Oh, this is personal." Robo-Reagan said turning her smile into an angry scowl.

"Not so fast!" Eddie said changing completely into Venom. The alien beast jumped toward Robo-Reagan, who then changed into Scorn. While the two tossed each other around the room with Scorn having the advantage most of the fight, the real Reagan approached Bear-o.

"Bear-o, I'm giving you new orders." Reagan said. "Lock Robo-Reagan's influence out of your system."

Bear-o projected a screen. It had the word "ACCESS KEY" followed by a blank space ready to be typed in.

"An access key? Eff." Reagan muttered trying to remember the password.

"Try 'password123'." Brett suggested. "That's what I use for all my passwords." That made all the coworkers groan.

"Why do we even have the NSA when you make it so damn easy?" Myc asked.

"Dad, we need to take Bear-o out of the equation." Reagan said. "What the hell is the shutdown code?"

"I don't know. I let you set it when you were eight because of the two of us, you seemed like the responsible one."

"Seriously?!" Reagan asked angrily.

The conversation was interrupted when Venom was thrown back at the crowd. He gave an exhausted groan before retreating back into Eddie, who shared the pain.

"Oh, no. Eddie!" Reagan gasped helping him up. "You okay?"

"He'll be fine." Scorn stepped up. "I've got plans for him. But as for the rest of you…" She raised her claws and slashed at the group, but they all dodged and scattered around the hidden office.

Once in cover, Eddie shook himself awake. "Did we win?"

"Not yet, Eddie." Reagan said.

"Sheesh, why don't you two just cut the sexy-talk crap and put a sock in it?" Myc cried out.

"Hey! We don't need that talk from you, fungus-brain!" Eddie retorted. "At least I remained loyal to Reagan while you all refused to listen to reason!"

"A lot of tension in the room," Brett said, "But how dope is it that none of us were the mole? The gang is back."

"You mean the one that was Battle Royale-ing each other 20 minutes ago?" Gigi asked.

"All it took was months of constant near misses with the apocalypse for us to fall apart." Andre said.

"Normally, violence makes me horny," Glenn said, "But this is too much."

"I need to do something less toxic with my life," Gigi said, "Like run Michael Jackson's estate."

"You guys are quitting on me?" Reagan asked.

"We don't need you low-IQ backstabbers anyway." Rand said. "Team Ridley can take it from here."

"And me." Eddie said. "I'm with Reagan too."

"You? What can you do?" Rand asked. "In case you haven't noticed, you got your ass handed to you by that psychopath."

"Hey! I may not be smart, but I can still do this!" Eddie reached over to Glenn's missile launcher and jumped out of cover. He aimed it at Scorn and pulled the trigger.

The missile launched, but at the same time, Bear-o stepped right in the way. The explosion created a smoke cloud that gave everyone time to escape. Glenn, Gigi, Myc, and Andre raced out through the room door while Eddie, Reagan, Brett, and Rand jumped into an open vent and crawled right through. By the time the smoke cleared, all that were left were Bear-o and Scorn who then changed back into Robo-Reagan.

"Bear-o, you go after the idiots who worked for Reagan." Robo-Reagan ordered. "I'll chase after my inferior original. Regroup with me after the deed is done."

"Bear-o will always care for you, new master." Bear-o said offering a hug, but Robo-Reagan pushed him away with a Scorn arm.

"No, Bear-o! Keep your effing hugs to yourself!"

Finally reaching the end of the vents and into a dark hallway, Eddie heard Venom's voice in his head while the others recomposed themselves with him.

"What happened? Did we win?"

"No. Robo-Reagan really knows how to handle her symbiote." Eddie said. "What do we do?"

"Okay. Let's look at our troubles." Brett said. "First, we've got Reagan's robot double with a zillion weapons in her arm and a hundred times more confidence. There's also the symbiote she made to bond with machines. And she's hacked Bear-o who we now know is indestructible."

"Shit's pretty effed." Rand said.

Reagan sighed. "Let's think. There's got to be a way to handle every last problem."

"Too bad we can't stop them all at once."

Venom's words suddenly inspired an idea. Eddie gasped when it hit him. "Why can't we?"

"Why can't we what?" Reagan asked.

"What if there's a way to take out Bear-o, Robo-Reagan, and Scorn all at once?" Eddie asked.

"Cute, Brock, but let the geniuses handle this." Rand said.

"Dad, let him explain." Reagan said. "Continue."

"Well, you heard Robo-Reagan. She synced herself up to Bear-o, who can be shut down. If we shut Bear-o down, would that cause a shutdown on Robo-Reagan too?"

Reagan thought about that. "Well, at the very least, an improper shutdown to a linked network could cause some software damage. It'll disorient her long enough for us to finish her off."

"Well, look at you being the genius, Eddie."

"So all we need to do is shut down Bear-o." Brett said.

"Oh, shit." Reagan said. "I just remembered the flaw in that plan. I need the password to shut Bear-o down, and I can't remember shit what it is."

"I've had a lot of blackouts, kids." Rand said. "Trust me when I say the baggage is still there somewhere."

"Is there any sci-fi type of way to access your childhood memories?" Brett asked. "You know, like Inception or that South Park episode that was a parody of Inception."

"Wait. I got it." Rand said. He went around the corner and entered a dark-dusty lab. Inside, there was a chair and a headset at the back. "Back in the 80s, I built a helmet to access Ronald Reagan's memories whenever he came down with a case of 'quiet dignity'. We called it Project Jellybean which is what he called his dementia pills."

"Wow. For once, Rand's doing something that doesn't make me want to strangle the life out of him."

"Would it still work?" Reagan asked.

"In theory," Rand said, "But we'd need a whole tank of full of psycho-conductive fluid to restart it."

"We could use Myc's new tank." Eddie said. "I saw him use it a lot before the whole mole fiasco became a thing, so it must be full of memory juice."

"Good thinking, Eddie." Reagan said. She gave her lover a kiss on the cheek which made Rand roll his eyes.

The four snuck into the memory lab where the new tank was set up. Reagan and Rand were already in skin-tight suits as they hooked the memory helmet to the machine.

"So I get to see your memories, Reagan?" Eddie asked. "That sounds like fun."

"I can't wait to relive all our dopest moments in your brain with your fully exonerated father." Brett added.

"Take a hike, you two." Rand said. "You're not coming."

"What?" Reagan asked. "Dad, why can't they go with us?"

"Sweetie, I know you and Brock are effing and Brett's your emotional support dog, but they can't go in. I don't trust Brett because he tried to get me eaten by sharks."

"What about Eddie?" Reagan asked. "He was on our side."

"Too risky. The fluid is chemical-sensitive, and the symbiote bonded to Brock could contaminate it."

"Oh, I'm calling bullshit!"

"But what can we do?" Brett asked.

Eddie looked down. He had an idea, but he needed to be sure since it was something he was bound to regret. Then, he made up his mind and spoke up.

"Brett, you stay here and monitor Reagan and Rand. I'll go after Robo-Reagan."

"What?" everyone asked at once, including Venom.

"You really want to fight her again?"

"Of course, I don't want to fight her again." Eddie said. "But she's going to be searching this whole building for us. At least this way, I'll buy you enough time to find that shutdown code."

"Throwing yourself to the hyenas while we alphas get to safety. I like that plan." Rand said.

"Eddie, you don't stand a chance against Robo-Reagan, even before she got a symbiote." Reagan reminded holding onto his arms.

"I know, but I won't let her harm you." Eddie said. "Don't worry. Venom won't let her kill us."

"I'll certainly try my best."

Reagan gave a proud smile before pulling herself up to kiss Eddie on the lips. He returned the kiss for a long moment before they separated.

"Take care of yourself." Reagan said.

"You too." Eddie returned running out of the lab. "You ready, Venom?"

"No. But if I wait until I'm ready, we'll already be dead. So let's go kick some metal ass."

The Venom symbiote crawled over Eddie while he was running. When he completely covered him, Venom was the one who was running looking for his enemy.

Scorn had been searching from one hallway to another after her targets. She searched each office scaring any workers who she came across, but there was still no sign of Reagan, Rand, Eddie, or Brett.

Her search finally ended when Venom appeared at the far end of the hallway. Scorn smiled at him. "Well, look who's here. I was hoping I'd run into you."

"Bring it on, ho-bot! I'm sending you into the scrapheap!" Venom ran at Scorn ready to fight, but he stopped when the Scorn symbiote retreated and Robo-Reagan stood instead.

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy. I just want to talk." She said.

"You? Talk? HA! How do I know you're not trying to get me to let my guard down for a sneak attack?"

"As demonstrated in the surveillance office earlier, I don't need a dirty trick to kick your ass." Robo-Reagan said. "Just let me talk to Brock."

Venom growled before giving her what she wanted. Eddie stood before her with a skeptical look.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you." Eddie said. "Because so far, you've given me twenty to do so."

"Would you really kill me, Eddie?" Robo-Reagan asked. "After all, I am a copy of Reagan. Just, you know, better."

"You wish." Eddie said. "And don't think just because you have Reagan's hot look that I won't tear you to bits. I'm not falling for that cliché. You are trying to kill us."

"No, I'm trying to kill them." Robo-Reagan corrected.

"Them?"

"Reagan. Brett. Those idiot assholes. Especially that meddling Rand. But not you. Certainly not you, Eddie." She walked clover and stroked her finger on his chest. "Did you know that Reagan was interested in you since before I was made?"

"She was?"

"Yep. She was too infuriated by you to see it." Robo-Reagan circled around him, but he never broke his eye contact with her. "And when I was made in her image, I was interested in you too. And the more I saw you and Reagan go closer, the more interested I was."

"So what?" Eddie asked. "You want to steal me away from Reagan just because she likes me? Kind of petty if you ask me."

"Well, at first, my interest in you because it was imprinted in me, but ever since I made a successful bond with Scorn, I became my own woman. And now, I want you all to myself." She lowered her hands to cup Eddie's ass. He quickly moved himself away with a blush in his cheek. But as he turned, Robo-Reagan noticed a tent in his pants and smiled at it.

"Pervert."

"Hey! Two girls want me. That's kinda hot." Eddie said. "But anyway, there's no way I'm going to be your sex-toy, Robo-Reagan."

"Except you won't just be a sex-toy." Robo-Reagan said. "If you agree to join me, you get to reap in all the benefits of the new world. After I take over Cognito, I will do such a good job, I will join the Robes in record time. But the moment they let me near them, I'm going to use Scorn to infect them with whole new symbiotes, all under my command. From there, the infection will spread to the other secret societies; the Illuminati, the Reptoids, the Atlanteans, the Catholic Church, and even the Juggalos. With the influence made by my symbiotes, I will have full, complete control of the world. I will truly be its ruler. And you know, every queen could use a king."

"So you want me to rule the world with you?" Eddie asked.

"Why not?" Robo-Reagan asked. "Think about it. Your life has been shit from your dead mom to your crappy dad to your failed engagement to your failing career. And now, you're playing Guinea pig because of your bond with Venom. Don't you think it's about time that one thing in your life goes right? After everything you've been through, world domination must be the break you need."

Eddie was about to argue, but his memories flashed back to all his horrible experiences in the past. He looked sadly remembering the belts his father attacked him with, the ring his fiancée threw at him, the evictions he was given, and even the recent memories.

Robo-Reagan grabbed him gently by his shoulders and pulled him close. "What do you say? Isn't it time to reap your rewards?" She pulled herself to kiss him, but Eddie's hand was raised to stop her. He pushed her away and looked at her with determination.

"No. You say after everything, I needed a break. And I deserve rewards. Well, I have all that. After years of abuse and failure, I finally got my break, and her name is Reagan Ridley!"

"You tell her, Eddie!"

"Sure, my life sucked! And hell, it sucks even now! But I will not eff things up with Reagan like I did with Anne! I don't need to rule the world, because for now, she is all the world I need! And right now, she needs me! And I'm going to help her by eliminating her unstable copy!" On that, Venom crawled over his body and stood before the angered Robo-Reagan.

"Fine. If you won't be my king…" Robo-Reagan shot out her arms and let Scorn cover her whole body. "Then you'll just have to be my sex-toy!" She roared and raced after Venom who ran back at her.

The two clashed in the middle of the hallway and crashed through the floor when they went back down. They found themselves back at the atrium where they both fell in the shark-infested water. Both monsters wrestled until they kicked each other away. A shark tried to attack Venom, but he grabbed it and rode on its back. He guided it right at Scorn who turned her fingers into claws and used them to stab the shark from underneath. Venom used this chance to kick Scorn away. He then swam forward to tackle Scorn back above the water. He then swung her by her ankle and sent her crashing right through a wall.

Venom entered through the hole he made when suddenly, Scorn appeared out of the debris dust and grabbed him by his throat. She then slammed him down through the floor sending him crashing through. She then jumped down and landed both her feet on Venom's chest. The impact caused even more floors to break beneath until they stopped at a subterranean level.

Scorn grabbed Venom by his throat again and punched his face a lot. Venom managed to free himself by sinking his teeth into Scorn's arm. She yelled and let go, which gave Venom the chance he needed to tackle Scorn and run right through five walls. After the fifth, he slammed her down. He was about to sink his claws into her chest when she dodged and countered with a sleeper hold. Scorn wrapped her purple arms around Venom's throat squeezing the breath out of him.

"Time to go to sleep, Brock!"

"Never!"

Venom shot an elbow at Scorn's gut to get her to let him go. He then grabbed her by her shoulders and threw her over to the nearest room. He went in after her, but was met with a kick from both of her feet. He crashed right into the next room.

When Venom recovered, he gasped as he recognized the room he was in. It was the same lab where he left Reagan, Rand, and Brett. The Ridleys were still in their tank along with Brett. Venom would have questioned why he was in there, but he was interrupted by Scorn who jumped on his back and slammed his face down.

"So this is where they are." Scorn got off Venom and approached the tank. "Now to gut them like fish!"

"NO!"

Venom returned to his feet and attempted to stop her, but he was stopped when black cables quickly surrounded him and tightened around his body. He looked back and saw that he was tied up by Bear-o.

"Good work, Bear-o." Scorn said before turning back to the tank. "Just keep him there while I eliminate the original Reagan, her stupid friend, and her asshole father."

Venom struggled as best as he could, but he couldn't break free from the cable's grasp. All hope seemed lost when Scorn raised her claws over the thank. That is, until…

"Hey, Shitty Ruxpin!" Everyone stopped and looked at the doorway where Alpha-Beta was. He was perched on top of robotic spider-legs. "When I'm done with you, you'll be playing banjo in a strip-mall pizza arcade."

"Bear-o's perfect endgame," Bear-o said, "Where a kid can be a kid."

"What are you doing out?" Venom asked.

"We let him out!" Behind Alpha-Beta, Glenn, Gigi, Andre, and Myc stood triumphantly. Gigi threw a bladed earring right at Bear-o's cables freeing Venom.

"It seems like the best way to fight a giant robot." Glenn said.

"You will pay for your hubris, bear!" Alpha-Beta declared as he began grappling with Bear-o.

"NO!" Scorn returned to try and slash Reagan's tank, but Venom grabbed her from behind and threw her in a German suplex. The impact shook the whole lab while Venom straddled on top of her. He wailed on her with wild punches until she grabbed his neck with both hands and pushed him to the glass tank. She hit it with him again a few more times cracking the glass more and more until…

CRASH!

The glass shattered into pieces and all the fluid spilled out with Reagan, Rand, and Brett spilling out with them. Reagan and Rand woke up first coughing up fluid. Reagan looked at her dad angrier than she has ever been.

"You literally effed with my head?! Screw, Robo-Reagan! I'll kill you myself!"

"Oh, so you finally remember." Scorn said tossing Venom to her side. "Now, you see why it's personal between me and him."

"What? You remember?" Rand asked.

"Of course, I remember, idiot! You had Bear-o helping you! I saw those memories when I hacked into him!"

"And you're mad at me over it?" Rand asked. "You're just as ungrateful as the real Reagan! All friends do is hold people back!"

"HOLD THIS BACK!" Venom shouted as he tackled Scorn to the wall. As they hit it, both symbiotes had a partial separation from their hosts to fight each other. While they did that, Eddie and Robo-Reagan had their own fist-fight in the middle of the symbiote bath. Obviously, the robot won and knocked Eddie right out of the mess separating him from Venom.

Without Eddie, Venom's form destabilized and he was at the mercy of Scorn who bonded back with Robo-Reagan. She slammed him down to the floor a lot hearing his shrills with each hit.

"Reagan, tell me you got the password!" Eddie shouted.

"I… I didn't! I'm sorry!" Reagan shouted. At the time, Alpha-Beta had lost to Bear-o and the coworkers jumped at him trying to gang up on him. "Without that code, there's no way for any of us to make it out of here!"

As if on cue, Brett gasped as he woke up. He shot himself up to look over at Reagan. "Cletus! Reagan, the password is Cletus!"

"Wait… Cletus!" Reagan gasped. "That's the password! That's what I forgot!"

"WHAT?! NO!" Scorn yelled. She ran after Reagan, but Eddie jumped right at her to slow her down. Thankfully, it was enough.

Reagan approached Bear-o and had him pull up the holo-screen for the password. "Enter access key C-L-E-T-U-S! System override!"

The password caused Bear-o to power down. At the same time, as she removed Eddie, Scorn began to glitch. She fell to her knees as the symbiote was slightly removed. Robo-Reagan's head was revealed yelling in agony as electrical sparks flew out of her. Eddie jumped to Venom and rebounded with him. After regaining his form, he towered behind Robo-Reagan who looked back at him in fear.

Robo-Reagan didn't even get the chance to scream before Venom slashed his claws and ripped her head off her body, which collapsed flat on the floor. The Scorn symbiote tried to crawl away, but after throwing Robo-Reagan's head, Venom grabbed it and consumed it. Once it was gone, Venom gave a disgusted groan.

"She did not taste good."

After everything was calm, everyone celebrated. Venom slithered back into Eddie who was greeted by Reagan and her thankful kiss. After it broke, all the coworkers grouped up and congratulated them.

"Hey, guys." Reagan said. "I thought you weren't coming back."

"So did we." Gigi said.

"But hey, if we quit every time you yelled at us, this shit would have been over a long time ago." Andre said.

"You may be assholes, but you're our assholes." Myc said.

"And that's the patriotic truth." Glenn said.

"Glad to hear that." Eddie said. "By the way, Reagan, where'd you come up with a password like 'Cletus'?"

"Oh, right. That reminds me." Reagan turned angrily towards Rand. "I can't believe what you did to me. I knew you were an asshole before, but this is beyond a new level for you."

"What? You're not still mad about that, are you?" Rand asked unapologetically.

"OF COURSE, I'M STILL MAD! I ONLY JUST LEARNED ABOUT IT TWO MINUTES AGO!"

"Whoa! What's going on?" Eddie asked. "Reagan, I know you're mad at your dad, but what is it about this time?"

"The worst thing ever." Reagan answered. "Cletus is the name of a friend I made in elementary school. Cletus Kassidy. He was weird and a little creepy, but after we became friends, he was able to soften up. We were making each other happy. I made a real, genuine friend… and my SHITSTAIN OF A FATHER ERASED HIM FROM MY MEMORY!"

"He did what?" Eddie asked while everyone shared his shock. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Okay. Let me explain." Rand said. "We all know how brilliant Reagan is. She's way beyond anything grade school can give her. She was ready to skip many grades all the way up to high school. But unfortunately, Cletus got in the way. Reagan had no idea what she was doing. She was willing to stay in the kiddy schools just to stay with her weird friend. And I couldn't afford her to do that. So I did what any good dad would do: mess with her memory."

"You erased Reagan's childhood friend just because she was above grade school?" Gigi asked.

"No lie, that's pretty effed up." Myc said.

"No. What's really effed up is his real reason behind it." Reagan said. "My dad was afraid of JR plotting behind his back, so he needed an insurance policy in case he needed to get back into Cognito. And that insurance policy was me. He didn't erase Cletus to help me reach my potential. He did it for his own selfishness."

"I did it for the Ridley empire." Rand said. "How many omelets would there be if no eggs were broken?"

"Reagan's not an omelet. She's your daughter. And you meddled with her brain." Eddie said angrily.

"Stay out of this, you moron." Rand demanded.

"Hey! No one calls Eddie Brock a moron but me!" Reagan shouted.

"And me."

"Jesus, Reagan. Look, there are special people like us who should run the world. And then, there's normies like Cletus and Brock who deliver our pizza and fight our wars. Haven't you seen The Incredibles?"

"I don't give a flying eff about The Incredibles!" Reagan shouted. "I want you out of my life!"

"Yeah! I'm with her!" Eddie agreed.

"We both are."

"Oh, come on, Brock. You're really going against me on this one?" Rand asked.

"Just ten seconds ago, you called me a moron. What have you ever given me besides judgy comments?"

"I gave you Venom. Remember? I'm the one who sent you his way. Without me, you wouldn't have bonded with him."

"Oh, please." Eddie rolled his eyes. "That was an accident, and you know it."

"Was it, though?" Rand asked confidently. "Don't you think it was a crazy coincidence how the guy I sent to Cognito Inc. that day was the only person within a million kilometers who was a compatible match with the symbiote?"

Everyone stared with shocked expressions.

"Saaaaaay what now?"

"Wait." Eddie said. "You're telling me you got me and Venom to bond… on purpose? Why?"

"Easy. I needed Reagan's love to get me back into Cognito Inc. But after the whole robot president incident, I kinda lost some points with her. Thankfully, after a long night of drinking, an idea came to mind. I needed to reactivate the symbiote study. So with the backup data I had on the alien, I hacked into the government census for medical records of the perfect match. And wouldn't you know it, the man who matches that description happens to be a struggling and desperate journalist. I called Brock up and sent him Venom's way."

"But… But how did you know I'd find Venom?"

"Remember that keycard I made for you. The one that I told you was 'all-access'?" Rand's words triggered Eddie's memories of that card. That it didn't really open every door, just every door that lead to the alien room. "Yep. That's right. That keycard was actually meant to lead you through a series of rooms that would eventually lead you to be bonded with Venom. I figured that since it was originally my project, JR would have to rehire me to study it and I would be one step closer to getting my power back. But instead, he outsourced it to my daughter. So much for that plan."

Everyone stared at Rand with the most shocked expressions. Eddie could even feel the surprised reaction coming from Venom inside of him. He could feel his anger deep inside and shared it. He looked and saw Reagan have the same reaction and let her rant at him.

"So let me get this straight. You erased my only friend from my memories. You sabotaged my projects. You trick Eddie into bonding with an alien you studied. All for your twisted gain?!"

"Okay, all right. I effed up." Rand said, though his face didn't show any sign of remorse. He then picked up a memory gun. "But we don't have to dwell on it. Why don't you let me… HEY!"

Reagan swatted the memory gun from Rand's hand and sent it flying across the room. "No, Dad! You crossed the line back at elementary school, and you just kept getting further away from it. Well, guess what. I don't need you. I'm done."

"But sweetie…"

"Don't 'sweetie' me. You've got 24 hours. Pack your shit up, or I'm dumping it in the Potomac. The mole is neutralized, so now, I'm officially the boss around here. Which means you are never ever setting foot in this building or my life again." Reagan activated a robot arm which grabbed Rand and dragged him out of the lab.

"This is a mistake! You need me! I'll be back!" Rand's yells disappeared as he disappeared into the distance.

"That was hardcore." Eddie said. "Right, Venom?"

Venom's head emerged from Eddie's shoulder. "Yeah. I mean, I would have preferred to eat his head, but I guess this is a close second."

"Thanks, guys." Reagan said. "Now, I'll see you all tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" Glenn asked.

"My first real day as boss."

Eddie had fully embraced the new day ahead of him. For the first time since coming to Cognito Inc., he had no dislike at all for the company or the shadow government. He just stood in front of the main office whistling to himself.

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Eddie asked.

"I mean, didn't it bother you? That Rand manipulated our meeting?"

"Eff Rand." Eddie replied. "All I'm getting out of this is the fact that I got good friends and a brilliant girlfriend… I mean, if we're at that level."

"I'd say we are."

Eddie was surprised at Reagan who approached him with a model of the new company. "Oh, Reagan. You… Wait. Did you say we are?"

"You dummy." Reagan chuckled. "I saw the security tapes. Robo-Reagan offered you to join her in ruling the world, but you chose me. If that's not a clear indicator of where our relationship is, I don't know what is."

"She's got you there."

"So what do you say?" Reagan asked. "You ready for us to be official? Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Eddie smiled. "Yes. But on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I get to be the boyfriend."

Eddie and Reagan shared a heartfelt laugh at that. They looked at each other afterwards proud to be officially dating.

"So you ready to make history?" Reagan asked. "As soon as I log into my new office computer, the first thing I'm going to do is to add you to the payroll."

"Finally." Eddie cheered. "Let's do this."

The couple entered the office. Everything was looking up.

But then suddenly, five holographic figures appeared in front of them. They were suspicious people in black robes and golden masks.

"Who are they?" Eddie asked.

"The Black Robes. They're the guys who run the entire shadow government, all secret societies." Reagan explained before turning to her superiors. "I am honored that you have chosen me to helm Cognito.

"There's been a change in plans." One of the Robes said. "We have received a report that you have used Cognito resources to build yourself a date."

"What?" Reagan asked in surprise.

"Yes. This not only is a blatant abuse, but it seems to have endangered the company last yesterday."

"You mean, Robo-Reagan?" Eddie asked. "Sirs, with all due respect, that situation was out of Reagan's control."

"Nevertheless, she abused Cognito resources, and as such, we feel that Ms. Ridley may not have enough responsibility to be CEO."

"Responsibility?" Reagan asked in disbelief. "Are you seriously keeping JR?"

"JR will not be returning to his previous position. Our report says that while you were making your robot date, it happened under JR's watch. You're too valuable an asset to be harshly punished, so you will remain in your position. But as for JR, he's been black-sited and sentenced to Shadow Prison X."

"But if it's not Reagan or JR," Eddie said, "Then who would you put in charge of Cognito?"

"We've reverted to the one who filed the report to us. A man with the most experience and shares of the company."

"Shares of the company?" Eddie asked before realizing. "Oh, no! No way!"

Reagan shared his fearful surprise. "You can't mean…"

The office chair turned revealing the new CEO: Rand Ridley. He cleaned himself up and wore a new, black suit.

"Hey there, Jelly Bean." Rand greeted.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!"

"The Shadow Board has spoken." The lead Robe said before ending the call.

Once they were gone, Reagan confronted Rand angrily. "How could you do this to me? You sold me out!"

"Sorry, kid. It's still Team Ridley." Rand said. "It's just, you know, I'm the team captain now."

"Oh, we'll see about that." Eddie growled angrily. He was about to change into Venom when he noticed a metal tube above him with the X labeled on it.

"Nuh, uh, uh. If I see you going Venom to try and kill me, it's off to Shadow Prison X for you." Rand said with his finger hovering over the button.

"You're such a cheat." Eddie said pulling Venom back.

"You mother-effer!" Reagan shouted.

"Call me whatever you want. But soon, you're all gonna have to get used to calling me boss." Rand chuckled. "Have a good day." He turned his chair turning his back to them.

"I hate him. I really hate him." Eddie growled.

"Now, I really regret not eating his brain."

JR was dragged to his new home, a cold, gray cell. The guards threw him in while he wore nothing but an orange jumpsuit. Once the door behind him slammed shut, he pounded on it angrily.

"Let me out! This is a mistake! I shouldn't be here!"

"Blah, blah, blah. That's what they all say."

JR turned around to hear the source of the strange voice. Right next to the two wooden beds, there was someone else. He was laying his back on the floor with an open magazine covering his entire face.

"Oh, eff you, pal. Do you know who I am?"

"Why? Did you forget?" The stranger chuckled. "Look, buddy, I don't care who you are. Just stay out of my way and we'll get along swell."

"You don't understand. I should be running the shadow government by now." JR said. "But all that is ruined because of that backstabbing, heartless, selfish son of a bitch, Rand Ridley."

The stranger's head shifted up a bit. "Rand Ridley, you say? And what's your connection with him?"

"Where do I start?" JR asked. "All I know is that my ex-partner threw me under the bus and ruined me!"

"Ex-partner?" The stranger finally sat up and removed the magazine from his head. "So you used to run Cognito?"

"Um… Yeah. Why? Do you know the place?"

"Let's just say you're not the only one Rand screwed over." The stranger said. "I stand corrected. It looks like we'll get along swell either way. So how's about… I help you out of here?"

JR dilated his eyes. "W-What? Really? How?"

"You let me worry about that? I only have one thing to ask of you in return. Once you're out, you let me out as well."

"Um… Okay. I'll do anything to get out of here." JR said shaking the man's hand. "So… what's your name?"

The skinny stranger chuckled before brushing his shaggy, blood-red hair. "My name is Cletus Kassidy."

"Oh. Uh, nice to meet you, Cletus Kassidy." JR said nervously. "So… what's your plan for after you get out of here?"

JR didn't even see it coming, but in a blink, the edge of a knife was pressed against his cheek. He shook in fear feeling the blade close to cutting his cheek. He had no chance to do anything but to stare at his cellmate's deranged eyes.

"Don't go asking too many questions." Cletus said pulling the knife away. "But I will tell you this. When I get out of here, and I will… There's gonna be carnage."