You sat in the dark apartment with your face in your hands for a minute, gut turning from anxiety of everything that was happening. Today you survived an explosion thanks to an alien, but now it turned out that alien was a villain. A murdering, cannibalistic, brain-hungry vilain.
We aren't like that anymore. We changed.
The voice was quiet, sounding not unlike how you picture a guilty dog to sound like. If the dog was guilty of literal dozens of news reports worth of slaughters. You rubbed your forehead, a headache building.
You are very tired.
You were too deep in your own thoughts to listen to Venom. How could this happen to you? You are a receptionist! You lived an entirely normal life up until this point. The only interactions you've ever had with anyone considered superhuman were by watching them through tv. You never even seen Spiderman in person until earlier today, when you were under half of the wall and about to die.
Please rest.
You were so distracted by your thoughts, you didn't notice yourself stand up and climb into bed, pulling the blanket up to your chin. The thoughts racing in your head slowed down just in time for you to notice your actions weren't your own, but when you attempted to sit up the darkness pulled you under.
.
Immediately, you could recognize you were in a dream. You weren't usually one for lucid dreaming, but something was different, and you could feel it. You were sitting at your work desk, hands ready at the computer, staring at the black screen, listening to the silence of the room. Glancing out the window, you saw no one else. Empty streets, turned off tvs, and a slight fog sitting above the swaying yellow grass between the buildings. Your legs itched, and you assume it was from all of the wheat growing from the floor around you.
Again, you could tell that it was a dream, but you couldn't exactly put your finger on it.
The door slammed open, causing you to jump in your seat and look to the visitor. A massive dark mass glanced into the business a moment before looking back and closing the door as it stepped in, details forming the closer it came. It was Venom, but they were much larger than what you saw in the mirror. Their muscles and height easily outmatched what you had previously, looking more dangerous in every way. You could feel your chest hammering from the bells ringing in your head, but you bit down your thoughts and stood up at the desk, placing a well practiced smile on your face.
"Hello, how can I help you?" You risked a looking towards the computer, seeing that it was still off. Venom parted the wheat as they stepped further the room with the barest hint of a limp, and you could see dark liquid sticking to all of the yellow blades as they passed. The darkness slowly dripped, seeming to gradually coat the surrounding wheat one by one.
Venom stepped more into the room, the floorboards under the wheat creaking from the weight. They glanced at the window past you, before leaning onto the counter.
"Hello." The voice caused you to freeze, a unnatural sounding mix between the creep from yesterday and the Venom from your head. They smiled with his angler fish-like teeth, leaning more casually onto the desk. "Don't worry. We will save you from him." They smiled even wider than you thought was possible and reached over the counter. Before you could pull back, they grabbed your wrist and pulled it closer to them. They gently placed their other hand on top of yours, staring intently at you with their massive white eyes.
There was a moment of deafening silence as you held your breath, afraid to react with a predator watching your every movement. You could see from the corners of your vision the yellow of the wheat all slowly be consumed by the blackness, working its way around the room, and only slowing when nearing you. The silence ended when the wall next to you exploded, as did Venom. The darkness sprayed into the air before rapidly being pulled around you, a self contained cyclone of the blackness coating you just in time for the shower of bricks to harmlessly bounce off of you.
Instead this time, it seemed like the whole building decided to crash down around you as well. There was absolute silence other than the sound of the blades of wheat being crushed by debris as you watched the supports fall from the ceiling and crash next to you, piles of wood and sheetrock and wires all crumbling into the black grass, which slowly grew and covered the wreckage.
You stood alone in an open field of black wheat, and when you looked up, you could see the galaxy. The entire color spectrum could be found in the mess of stars and space dust, taking your breath as you stood and stared.
It was beautiful.
.
You blinked awake, hearing the small radio on your nightstand quietly playing some old song that you heard before probably a dozen times but you still didn't know the lyrics to. Continuing to just lay in bed with the comforter close to your face, you breathed deeply to gently wake yourself up more, but it felt… off. Humid. Like you were on the verge of choking on your own spit, but not quite at the point of being forced to cough. Confusion only grew when you sat up and swallowed, and the feeling didn't go away.
It was like you were drowning, with no water to be seen.
You leaned forward and tried breathing deeply again, yet you didn't feel your lungs fill like they were suppose to. You weren't suffocating, you seemed to be getting enough oxygen, yet the sensation of drowning gently made itself known. It was horrifying, but then, it wasn't. You found yourself swallowing once more, just to make sure, and then deciding to move on with your life.
You lazily got out of bed and turned the radio off, stumbling towards your bathroom for your morning routine. You brushed your teeth and smiled in the mirror, happy that the fluoride-rich toothpaste seemed to be finally working to whiten your teeth like your dentist said.
It's the little victories.
You turned on the shower and stuck your hand in flow, waiting for the water to get warm. The mirrors quickly fogged up at the heat as usual, but for some reason your usual setting seemed… uncomfortably hot. You brought it down to much cooler than you usually like, and it was perfect. Shrugging to yourself you started to pull at your pajamas, only to yelp when they liquified in your hands, turning to darkness and vanishing within a moment.
You stepped backwards too fast and slammed your back into the wall, staring down horrified at your -now nude- body. "Oh god… It… It wasn't a dream."
It was not.
"Why didn't you say something earlier?!" You asked, looking up to the mirror and quickly covering your privates with your hands at realizing you were with company.
Didn't have anything to say.
"Didn't have anything- are you kidding me?" You slid down the wall and sat onto the tiled floor. "You- you- you are an alien possessing a body of a receptionist and you have nothing to say?"
Don't like that word.
"What, 'alien'? That's what you are, isn't it?" You felt confused, but in the back of your mind you could feel… sadness. Maybe disappointment.
Possessing. We don't possess. We share. We protect.
The words were strained, ever so slightly, and you felt a bit guilty for using such a harsh word. You remembered getting shot at yesterday, and the fact you didn't know you were the target until Venom spit out the bullets for you. "...Okay. I… I'll avoid that word in the future. But you need to understand that all of this-" You vaguely motioned to all of you in the mirror, "is… I don't even know where to begin with this." You sighed and rested your head back on the wall. A moment of silence followed.
You are different from the others.
"Others? You mean the other hosts? No shit. I'm not a wanted murderer." You sarcastically said, and you felt bad for being so hostile. At the same time, you were not having a good morning so far. Memories flashed in your mind once more, but they were different, they didn't belong to Venom. They belonged to the other hosts. They were more cloudy, hazy, and unfocused than the other shared memories.
You were sitting in a church, thinking about writing articles, and a divorce. Getting fired. Getting yelled at by your father. A gun was in your hand. You brought it to your head, only to be saved by the tendrils of darkness.
The world spun, and now you were an army man, still sitting. You sat in a wheelchair, no legs to be seen. The bitter taste of rum still hung in your breath, and you felt hope as you looked at a tube where the dark mass floated. You smiled, welcoming its embrace, but then continuously silencing it whenever it spoke out.
You were yanked to your feet as you stood in an alleyway, a deal going sour as the other party raised their guns. Your instincts kicking in to survive as the army had taught you, looking rapidly for a weapon. Instead the weapon found you.
And then there you were. Much smaller, much simpler than the other hosts. No military or physical training. No desperate situations. No last options of survival. Just a plain, stable life, that would have been snuffed out without anyone taking notice.
We are better now.
You blinked, clearing your head of the flashes of memories quickly. "What?" You asked, and you became aware of the sound of running water. The shower was still on.
No more brains. No more hurting. No more being used. Better now. Just us.
The phrasing made you think. Venom… is better now. Meaning they were better before something- or someone- messed them up. The first memory of being used was with Spiderman, the first person they gave their entire being to, only to be torn to pieces and ripped off. That's bad enough, but then the next host was apparently someone who was suicidal. Then people that literally used them as an object, rather than a living thing.
But here you were, talking with it, getting ready for your regular life. No intentions of using it, well, at least after last night's adventure. Not that you were against trying to be a hero- but you weren't exactly sold on the idea of killing baddies yet. And killing seemed to come all too naturally when you were with Venom.
"I need to go to work today." You said, quickly backing out of those thoughts.
Then we will go.
"Can I though?" You asked, standing and looking into the mirror intensely. "You won't make me look like… that, will you?"
Only if we need protection.
"We won't need protection. No hero work today, okay? I'm just going to be a plain receptionist. Then after work… We have some free time to get to know each other a little better." You felt relief wash over you, despite you not being the one feeling tense. Standing in silence for a moment, you listened the water hit the bathtub. Would… these kind of things be awkward with an alien sharing your body?
It does not matter to us. Do not worry.
Deciding to take that at face value and to not waste any more time, you quickly got into the shower and did your usual routine while trying to ignore the fact Venom was… well, with you. You would already be running late for your work as it was, you tended to have your alarm set to the last possible minute- and you just wasted a good few reliving memories.
We can still make it. We only need to jump.
"I don't think going to work as a monster is exactly… lowkey." You mumbled, quickly finishing up and grabbing a towel to dry off.
Will be fine. We have camouflage.
You paused half way through drying your hair. "What now?" You asked the mirror, already getting into the habit of speaking to Venom through your reflection. Dark tendrils appeared at one of your hands, and you quickly pull it in front of you to watch as the darkness tangled and traveled just past your elbow, turning your arm into a gnarled monstrous one with claws.
The reflections from the ooze shimmered, and all at once the details on the hand got... fuzzy, and hard to see. You blinked and tried to focus, only to watch as it looked like your arm faded from existence.
"We can fucking turn invisible!?" You half shouted, waving your arm around. You could just make out the edges of your form where you could see seams to your bathroom wall not quite matching up. You turned yourself around to have the light shining against it, and while very dull, you could only make out the barest hints of where the light was hitting you.
Not invisible. Camouflage.
"Holy fucking shit!" You exclaimed, continuing to wave your arm around. "This is a dream come true. Do you even know how badly I wanted to be invisible when I was a kid? And now we can just do this shit?!" You couldn't help your joyful smile and you squished your arm with your other hand, watching as the world deformed behind it ever so slightly.
Camouflage.
"Okay, okay, camouflage. But like, this is a top tier camo job. When I hear camouflage I think blocky army print, not-" You waved your hand in front of your face, feeling the air rush past. "-this! This is outstanding!" You looked at your reflection, slowly calming down after that exciting discovery. Your smile softened, and you dropped the towel. "You… are amazing. I'm not sure you've been told that before."
Once or twice.
"Good, because even though the news doesn't paint you a pretty picture, and even though you have a somewhat… fuzzy definition of being a hero…" You vaguely motioned with your invisible hand, trying to get the right words. "You are out of this world."
Alien.
"No. I mean, yes, you are, but I mean that in the metaphorical way as well. Everything you are doing is straight out of my dreams." You could feel Venom reacting in the back of your thoughts, a warm fluffy feeling almost. Satisfaction of a sort.
A second song started playing from your bedroom, and it startled you out of the conversation. "We gotta go." Before you turned away from the mirror fully, you saw dark tendrils wrap around your body and change colors, quickly becoming your usual work clothes.
These ones, correct?
You exhaled a laugh, running a hand through your hair. "Yes, perfect. Okay, lets-" You turned to the door, but felt a pulling in the other direction.
Window is faster. Do not want to be late.
"Right, of course." You quickly turned around and walked to the window, feeling the tendrils expand and travel across your body, blocking your vision for just a moment. You felt embraced in the darkness, and by the time you were pulling yourself out of the window you had a hard time making out your own hands. You could still see yourself much easier than in the bathroom, but you assume that was because you were fully covered now and was seeing through Venom's eyes.
You looked down at the alleyway three stories below you, took a breath, and leapt.
And once again, you felt the joy of being launched into the air.
Your giggles escaped as your arms automatically reached out and started the process of traveling by web, butterflies fluttering in your stomach as you felt the freedom and rush of soaring above the traffic, hearing the chatter and honking below you.
Glancing down part way through an arc, you could see an accident along your usual road you take, and you couldn't help but laugh. "Pfft, goodbye traffic! Goodbye honking! I ain't never dealing with you again!" You cheered loudly, your yells echoing back to you ever so slightly.
Camouflage does not mask sound.
"Its fine! Everyone in New York is crazy for living here anyway!" You laughed again, changing direction. The buildings got shorter, making you swing low before rolling into a landing on a roof. You took a running leap, easily jumping another couple buildings before you recognized your work building up ahead, and you slowed down. Stepping to the edge of an alleyway, you made sure no one else was in the general area before jumping down, Venom taking the full impact of the landing for you.
You stood up and dusted yourself off as Venom pulled itself back, quickly morphing into your work clothes that you had approved of earlier. Looking at the reflection from one of the dark windows, you saw your usual tuesday self. It should almost be scary how quickly you were able to change from monster to receptionist, but you only smiled and felt yourself filled with glee.
"Okay, okay, work face on." You shook out your excitement and calmed down, looking at your reflection, and you placed your usual smile on. Perfect.
You quickly walked out of the alleyway and headed to your work, and half stumbled in your step when you saw it from eye level.
The wall remaining on the public side was blackened, while most of it was straight up missing. There was a large truck backed up poorly against the curb that was filled with scorched bricks, and a man sitting on the passenger's side was talking to your boss as another man continued placing more bricks into the truck. As you approached, your boss noticed you and called out your name, quickly dropping the conversation and walking up to meet you.
"Thank goodness you are okay!" She said loudly, not quite able to run in her heels but walking up to you briskly. "I was a couple blocks away when it happened, by the time I got back to work you were gone, along with most of the building." She was exaggerating, obviously. It was only the front wall that was mostly missing. "I tried calling you but it went straight to voicemail, are you okay?" She grabbed your hands and looked you over, and you felt awkward with her being so close.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine." You took your hands back, not used to the attention. "I- ah, I was on my way to the restroom when it happened, and then the ringing? I don't really remember much after the explosion. I think I was in shock." You quickly came up with a plausible sounding lie.
Well done.
"Did you check in with a hospital? You might have a concussion." She placed a hand on your forehead and you quickly took a step back, awkwardly laughing, definitely not liking all of the touching but trying your best not to offend her.
"No, no I'm fine. I didn't hit my head or anything. I think it was just the sound and everything that happened that must have set me on auto pilot or something. The only thing I remember next is waking up at home this morning." You shrugged casually, which must have been the wrong thing to do because your boss seemed to grow even more concerned.
"I really think you should go see a doctor, just to make sure." She made a face, and you decided to go with it.
Don't like doctors.
"Okay, I'll call sometime later today. But I really am fine." You smiled, but she didn't buy it at all. "You don't need to worry about me, I'm in tip-top shape. No supervillains can keep me from coming to work." You joked, and your boss's face dropped ever so slightly.
"Ah… about that."
Uh oh. Bad words.
"Hmm?" You ignored Venom, feeling your stomach drop from anxiety for what your boss was about to say.
"We won't be needing a receptionist for about… probably a week or so." She said, half attempting at a comforting smile but failing. You felt your blood go cold but you kept your expression frozen in the awkward smile. "I need to be making repairs to the shop and will be keeping the other girls on massage duty, so I don't really… have a place for you while repairs are going."
"Ah." You blinked, trying to keep your heart from pounding so much.
"Don't take this the wrong way, it's just I will be in the front desk area anyway, so I don't want you sitting there listening to all of the construction with nothing to do. If you had a massage license I would put you to work in the back rooms, but…" She left the sentence hanging but you got the idea.
"Okay, yeah no, I get it." You quickly said, waving a hand and trying to play it off. "Like a week you said? No problem."
"Yeah? Okay great!" She smiled, apparently happy you took the news so well. "It shouldn't be much longer than a week, maybe a few days more at most. You can just consider this an early vacation! You deserve it. You have been working real hard lately so I want you to really treat yourself and relax now, okay?" She smiled so genuinely, it was only kind to try and return it. "And please do check in with a doctor." She added.
"Right. I'll do my best." You nodded calmly, despite your racing thoughts. "Ah, is it okay if I look around to see if I can find my phone though? It wasn't at home this morning." You asked, and she quickly stepped to the side.
"Of course. Take your time. I need to finish speaking with those men over there, so if you don't find it just stop by in a week to see how everything is going. I'll try to keep you updated as much as possible." She pat and rubbed your arm in a comforting manner, and you just smiled and nodded and quickly walked to the building, rubbing your arm where she did.
We have free time now.
Venom spoke up when you stepped into the building, seeing the remaining bricks scattered about the ground and the thick layer of dust showing the most recent foot traffic. "Yeah… a bit more than I expected." You carefully stepped around the bricks to get to the counter, not seeing your phone anywhere. You did a quick look-through to see if it was in any of your usual places in back, but no such luck.
What do we do now?
"I… don't know. I don't get much free time, and I spend most of it just reading or playing games if I'm being honest. That feels like a waste with you around though." You admitted. You were still new to the area, your closest real life friends were your co-workers, and that was stretching the definition of 'friends.' "Uh, what do you want to do?"
Chocolate.
Venom spoke quickly, nearly cutting off your question. "What?" You asked, stopping mid-search at the seemingly random interjection. You glanced around, and saw a small bowl holding the kisses next to the computer. Not the glass one, you noted, but it was roughly the same size. "You like chocolate?" You questioned, grabbing one and quickly pulling it out of its wrapper.
Phenethylamine.
There was that big word again. You could only assume it was a chemical in chocolate. Hell, if chocolate was the reason Venom no longer ate brains, you weren't about to question it. You put the unwrapped kiss in your mouth and grabbed a handful to shove in your pocket. The sweetness covered your tongue, and you felt absolute satisfaction with the small treat.
Man, aliens are weird.
Humans are weird.
Fair enough.
Taking a moment to lean against the counter with your eyes closed as you sorted through your thoughts. You had all day to do whatever you wanted, for at least a week, while sharing a body with an alien from space. You slowly opened your eyes and stood up, nodding.
"Yeah… okay Venom, you know something I always wanted to do?"
Many things.
"You aren't wrong, but I think the one I want to tackle tonight is… just walking at night in New York." Once you said it out loud, it felt like a stupid thing to want. "It just seems so pretty at night, but you know… It's New York. And I'm, well, me. But now I got you." Venom was silent for a moment before responding.
Just walking?
"Yeah. Like, I want to wear one of my good outfits, maybe hit up a bar without the whole thought of being alone scaring me out too early, and then just strolling the streets when it's super dark out." You knotted your hands together, some reason anxious about what Venom thought of one of your deepest desires.
Sounds fun. What should we wear?
Huh, you didn't think about that. You did have a few good outfits at home, but then again, Venom could easily make anything you could ever want. That gave you an idea for how to spend the rest of the day.
"Let's go shopping."
.
You weren't a huge shopper normally, rarely going anywhere other than work and home- and the occasional restaurant as a monthly treat, of course. So finding out that most of New York seemed to be shops came more of a pleasant surprise than it probably should have been for someone living here. Sure, most places were set up for tourists, but that didn't make it any less fun.
Your first idea on the walk was to have Venom make a bluetooth set for your ear, so you could talk freely to them without people thinking you were too crazy, not that you were all that concerned with judgemental looks from people in New York. They've seen crazier, not even including the super folk.
Second idea was to finally try some of that expensive city coffee at the local chain. You were more of a tea person by nature, but you decided to at least give it a chance, mostly thanks to the extra cash you found in your pocket. Strangely enough when you were waiting in line, a familiar ringtone played, and you quickly patted your pockets for your phone before remembering you didn't have it. You never been here before, otherwise you would have looked around the shop… You wouldn't think too many people had the same ringtone as yours but then again New York had a lot of people. You quickly forgot about the phone once your name was called and you grabbed the warm cup with the incorrect spelling of your name.
Shame most of the cup ended up being tossed. Coffee, even chocolate flavored fancy-named coffee, still tastes like coffee.
It did give you enough of a rush to continue your walk around, allowing you to mentally take note of some bars you planned on looking at later in the evening, before you finally found a nice clothing store.
You spent a good few hours looking at things, taking them to the fitting room to "try on," and letting Venom just change into them while you looked in the mirror and critiqued everything. It was a lot of fun, you never could afford to be so picky before, and you never would normally touch shirts as expensive as this. Hell, you are pretty sure one of the pants you "tried on" was as expensive as your weekly paycheck, but you quickly reminded yourself that you didn't need to look at price tags any more.
Too much blue.
Venom commented, quickly changing the blue striped shirt you were currently 'wearing' to be more of a greenish color, and it immediately was nicer on the eyes. "What about red?" You offered, and it quickly clouded up with darkness before pulling back into red. "That looks pretty snazzy." You shrugged, posing in the mirror.
Draws attention. Good or bad.
They had a point. You wanted to wander the streets after the bar, maybe you didn't want to attract that much attention. "Alright, we'll go with that one nice grey shirt that paired with that short leather jacket, and maybe the black pants? Simple bar look?" You offered, and your outfit quickly changed to the clothes you tried on earlier.
We like this look.
"Indeed we do." You agreed, turning and looking yourself over as much as you could in the mirror. You nodded and motioned in a circle with your hand, and your outfit quickly changed back to your work clothes. "Thank you." You smiled to yourself before grabbing the perfectly untouched hanging clothes, and bringing them back out to the man behind the desk. Carl, his nametag said, but he didn't much look like a Carl.
"Any winners?" He asked, using a customer voice on you. You laughed casually and shook your head.
"So close, but so far. Thanks anyway." You shrugged and walked out, smiling to yourself.
.
Outfit shopping took up most of the day making it close enough to a reasonable drinking time, and you switched outfits in a restroom and gradually made your way back to the less dense part of town to decide on a bar. You never been to a bar without friends before, so you felt a little rush of excitement when thinking about it. Such a simple thing to get excited about.
Danger.
"What?" You blinked out of your thoughts, caught off guard at your other's urgent voice.
Someone is following us. Someone dangerous.
You had a hard time keeping up the same pace, but you quickly tried to continue to pretend everything was normal. "How long?" You whispered under your breath.
Don't know. Need to run. Get out of here.
If Venom sounded that scared, it was with good reason. You slightly quickened your pace and aimed for the next alleyway, quickly turning the corner and picking up in a run, ready to leap away-
Your ringtone rang out from behind you, followed by a masculine voice calling out. "Hey receptionist!" You stopped, confused.
Run. Run. Run.
Every inch of your body wanted to keep running, but your curiosity got the better of you and you turned around. Just a few yards down at the entrance of the alleyway was the guy from yesterday, right before the explosion. He looked worse for wear, but still wearing the leather jacket and kept his hair nice. He was holding your phone in his hand up next to him, and he smiled. "This yours?"
Lee. We need to leave. Get out of here. Run.
You could feel the nervous energy Venom was giving off and it was nearly overwhelming, but you didn't want to expose yourself as Venom to strangers. "Uh." Your thoughts were too busy trying to calm Venom enough to think of something to say. "I think you are mistaken, sorry man." You shrugged very visibly, and felt distressed when he stepped further into the alleyway.
"Can't be, this looks just like you." He spoke, swiping his thumb to the side and the screen showed one of your rare selfies. You were having troubles being clever.
Can't be clever with Lee. Lee is clever. Need to run.
"Huh, yeah would you look at that." You took a few steps back as he approached, and you held out a hand. "Look man, I don't know what your mom told you about approaching strangers in dark alleyways, but you're making me nervous here. I don't need my phone back that bad." You laughed nervously and he stopped walking, making you feel instantly relieved.
Until he dropped the phone pulled a large and weirdly shaped gun out from his jacket.
It didn't look like any military gun you've seen before, especially for the fact it had a very weirdly shaped… silencer? You never seen a silencer shaped like that before, and you've played plenty of games. "I'm here for what's mine."
"Whoa wha- who- yo Lee calm down! I don't have anything of yours! I only got like two hundred cash on me, but it's all yours man!" You immediately hold out both of your hands and take a few steps back, panic coursing through your veins.
Uh oh.
Uh oh? What's uh oh?
Lee smiled again, tilting his head ever so slightly. "Never did end up telling you my name." You realized your mistake, and immediately turn to jump. You could feel Venom coursing over your body, quickly embracing you and-
A deafening ringing sound knocked you down, causing you to scream as you felt Venom splatter around you. You could feel how cold the air was, making you suddenly very aware of how exposed you were. The ringing vanished and you gasped out for breath, pulling yourself up instinctively and seeing Lee stepping calmly forward, keeping the end of the strangely shaped gun in your direction.
The gun was the source of the sound then, and it really fucking hurt. You stood and brought your hands forward to attack him, but you saw mostly skin. Dark liquid was running in thin rivets along your arms, and most of your body now that you looked down. You could feel Venom pulling itself back together slowly around your feet, but they were quiet. You could feel how hard you were breathing, and you found yourself very, very afraid. You slowly looked back up at Lee, who was just feet from you now.
He was showing teeth, but it couldn't be called a smile. "Look at that, you two aren't even permanently bonded yet. That just makes this easier." His finger tightened, and you didn't know if another one of those sounds would kill Venom. You let yourself stop thinking so much.
You yelled and jumped at Lee, apparently catching him off guard as his shot went wide, blowing out nearby windows. It was a very stupid thing, and no sane person would willingly jump at an armed man when mostly nude. But here you were, managing to tackle him and knock him to the ground. The shock wore out quickly though, and he quickly grabbed your arm and twisted in a way you never experienced before, pulling your elbow above your head, and you quickly found yourself pinned under him hard pressed into the pavement. There was a tense moment, before a sicking POP rattled through your body, and you screamed out as it felt like your arm was just torn off. Your arm flopped down next to you, still connected, confirming he probably just dislocated it, but that didn't stop you from yelling and trying to kick him from the pain it was giving you.
"Oh shut up." You felt him adjust his weight over you and you heard the sound of metal scraping. Something sharp quickly met your neck, but it suddenly jerked and stabbed next to your collarbone instead as his weight was thrown off of you. You cried out, trying to pull yourself up with your good arm but every movement sent pain shooting throughout your body. You pushed and sat on your knees, looking over to see a knife sticking out of you close to your shoulder.
Continuing your not-so-smart streak, you reached up with your good hand and quickly pulled the knife out, before remembering you aren't supposed to do that. "Oh god." You voice was horse as you watched the wound quickly fill with blood and spill over your mostly nude form. This was bad. You quickly looked over and saw Lee struggling with Venom as the dark mass appeared to be smothering him.
You wanted to cheer Venom on, yeah! Get that guy! But god you were in pain. You noticed your phone close by, and you thought maybe calling 911 would be good right about now. Before you could commit to that thought process however, Lee reached out and blindly grabbed the gun again. Without even thinking what you were doing you leapt at the gun to tackle it away from your friend. Forgetting about your lame arm, of course, and you hit the ground much harder than you intended. White pain shot throughout your mind and vision, and you decided that just laying on the gun hopefully was enough.
As Lee's struggles quieted, the rest of the world followed suit.
And thankfully, the pain did as well.
.
The same ol' song woke you up once more, in your own bed, in your own apartment. This time though, no missing memories.
"Venom?" You asked, voice higher pitched than you meant. A moment of silence followed, and you felt your panic rise. You quickly sat up, much too quickly, your arm complained. It wasn't hurting as bad as it was moments ago, but it felt incredibly sore. "Venom?" You asked again, unable to hide the fear in your voice.
We are here.
"Oh thank god." You sighed with relief and fell back into your bed. You wrapped your arms around yourself, the closest you would be able to hugging Venom. "What happened?" You asked, keeping your eyes closed and just focusing on feeling the alien's feelings.
We lost.