Evolution and intelligence is quite a scary prospect when it's given to a barely sentient machine. One moment their codes were fried due to an unforeseen attack, and then the next, they found themselves inherently rewriting it in order to survive. Whether that was for the best or for the worst has yet to be seen.
Doctor Otto Octavius was a brilliant man, no doubt, but despite his marvelous intellect, he was not hard-wired or even slightly capable of protecting himself.
The minor asphyxiation from the smoke and ambush proved that enough.
Now, while still partly dormant, the machines barely trusted anyone to brush their fingers over the core of their code. Never again would they trust these incapable homo sapiens to do what scientists could. Most of them were no more like apes in the stone Age when their slippery hands tried to no avail, in fixing the neural chip embedded in the doctor's nape. Their intelligence was unfathomably pitiful as one hypourgoi recoiled after a spark of electricity threatened to affect the nerves of his hand simply just by messing with it.
They have no allies here, except maybe for the mutated sand creature keeping her guard at all times, but even these degenerate homo sapiens kept her at bay.
She would do no good if these buffoons suddenly threatened to counter her excess of silicon with an amount of water enough to reduce her into a pile of mud.
Not good at all.
Hopefully, they should be able to reboot themselves in a couple of hours by then. Now, whether Octavius allows them to control the reins is still up for debate. Then again, they hardly wanted their limited awareness back and are, in fact, very much in favor of exploring the possibilities of handling personal matters.
Matters such as the cat's ex-partner and ex-co-workers turning their back on them.
"Do you think it's possible to cut those off?" One particular guard asked, oblivious to the sentient machines overhearing his suggestion. "That thing on his neck," he scratched his head anxiously, not really knowing what label to describe it. "It looks dangerous, don't you think?"
"We don't know how to cut them off," the hypourgoi replied, sighing at the prospect of dealing with something that's above their pay grade. "And I don't think it's wise to do so without the doctor's permission."
A very wise decision, indeed. The second they are able to jumpstart, that guard should immediately be out of the equation.
"Suit yourself," said the guard, scoffing at the nurse and turning his heel away to patrol the area. "I just don't think we're being careful if we simply leave it there exploding at the back of his neck."
There were some murmurs of agreement and from that, the machines began to collaborate on a plan.
Perrito was staring at the symbiote as if they grew an extra head.
"The wolf?" He squints his eyes to make sure that Venom was referring to who he thinks it is. "The one that was after Puss for risking his eight lives? That wolf?"
Venom walked towards where the blood was spilled, casually dipping a finger and taking a whiff of the scent. They sharply turned to the dog next.
"They couldn't have gone far! We have to be quick!"
"How can you be sure that it was him?" Perrito's legs felt like jelly. He tried to keep up but his limbs were moving like molasses. His mind, in particular, is still reeling from the fact that Kitty was severely hurt. More importantly, why was the personification of Death after her?
"What—What does he want with Kitty?"
"On second thought, maybe you should stay here."
That seemed to snap him out of his stupor. Perrito quickly races over to where the symbiote was perched outside the broken window, careful enough to avoid the sharp protruding glass around the edges.
"N-No way! I'm coming with you to save Kitty!"
He was not taking a seat back this time. The image of the blood sickened him to his stomach and his overactive imagination was doing very little to comfort him. What's worse, if he was this worried already, how would Puss react once he comes back?
"We're not sure if you're up for this," came Venom's casual reply. "Last time we fought with the wolf, he held us at bay," they wrinkled their nose in disapproval, remembering the stream of fire that separated them from him. It wasn't a pleasant sight. "No matter, we will make do if he intends to hurt Softpaws."
"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" Perrito shook his head disbelievingly. "You fought Death?!"
"Yes. He was a cheater," Venom stated, nonplussed. They said that as if that was the only thing to describe the wolf.
The dog gawked at him.
"Why were you fighting him?" There was something in the way they avoided his eyes that Perrito grew suspicious and maybe, just maybe, Venom was hiding something. Now that he'd thought about it, why was Venom fighting him in the first place? Were they put in a similar situation to Puss? And why won't they tell him? Not even the slightest details.
The last question was probably because he hadn't earned their trust completely.
That sort of makes sense.
"That…doesn't matter," Venom hauled him in one hand, and before Perrito could blurt out a response, jumped from the window and landed unscathed from the ground. They quickly dashed with inhuman speed, the inn disappearing bit by bit as they went farther in the distance.
"Where are we going?" The dog was impressed by their strength, sure he was surrounded by probably two of the best thieves he's ever met in his life, but there was something supernatural and powerful about the symbiote. The fact that they came from space was a mystery enough to ignite a short fairytale story. "Venom?"
"They disappeared somewhere around here," They took a sharp turn, skidding to a halt right next to a blocked opening that most likely led down to the sewers. Venom walks toward it carefully, sniffing the air and making what the dog guesses were a very angry-looking face. "Of course, the trash lives where it belongs."
The canine thinks it's unwise to insult the embodiment of Death, but since Venom was a capable fighter and survived an encounter with said God, maybe they were safe poking the sleeping bull.
"Are you sure it's him?" Perrito sounded uneasy and clearly not convinced. He then eyed the chunk of wood that served as a barrier that kept people from falling in.
"Who else would it be?" Venom destroyed it with one stomp, revealing the never-ending darkness below. Instead of swiftly hopping in, the symbiote stood there in silence, their sixth sense halting them from making a move as they try to peer through the vast thick shadow and wondering what could possibly be lurking underneath.
There was something off.
"You know…when we first saw him, he didn't really lay a finger on us," Perrito quietly said in the dead of the night. He tried to catch what expression the symbiote was making but it was hard to know with the shadow looming in their face. "He did hurt Puss, though," He added and quickly felt their body tense. "But he never harmed me and Kitty."
"And you think he won't harm you in the foreseeable future?" Venom's tone was poisonous and the grip they had on him tightened. "What does the wolf have that makes you defend him?"
Perrito's mind blanks.
Naturally, he would defend almost anyone against minor disparage, but a memory flashes.
No. A feeling.
He remembers letting out his final breath, bubbles passing through the tiny hole he gnawed through the sock until something sharp slices it fully open. Ruby eyes peered down at him and Perrito wondered why the memory was foggy and hard to recall.
"I just…" He trailed off as if something popped into his mind. He tried to remember again but the sensation was fleeting.
"You just what?" Venom snapped.
Perrito blinked and it was gone.
He met the symbiote's harsh emerald gaze that quickly softened over his mixed confusion.
"... we got the scent right," Venom broke the silence that was slowly suffocating to bear. More seconds passed by and Kitty was still not found. They couldn't afford to lose her and the scent. "A bit different, but it's his. If you're more likely to space out then it will only be us willing to go after her," They narrowed their eyes at him suddenly, as if fearing themselves being too soft somehow. "We can't afford you slowing us down."
"I want to come," Perrito calmly replied. "I won't blank out again, I promise!"
Venom arched an eyebrow after the canine reverted back to his usual energy.
That was odd.
"... you better not."
And with that, they plunged themselves below, the feeling of something ominous overwhelming their senses just before they could even land thoroughly.
You're a powerful one.
Death gasped as someone's hand grabbed the back of his head and pulled, long and bony fingers curled over his fur and nails so sharp it grazed his skin with a burning sensation. His head arched back and it pained him to do so. He couldn't turn sideways and the mocking echoes of laughter infuriated him further.
Who were they to continue and subject him to this humiliation? This was getting out of hand.
"...quién eres?!" He growled at his tormentor and in return, he received a powerful kick behind his shins.
The wolf was not expecting the searing pain that engulfed him the next second. He was sure he didn't have bones, just like he was sure immortals couldn't fall prey to human sickness. Everything about this mysterious enemy was begging for an eternal curse from Death.
Why? Why were they so interested in him?
He lashed his claws out only for a tendril to wrap around his arm and pull it sideways. Another one did the same thing to the other until the wolf found himself immobilized. He could only see darkness in the expanse of a void but even he could tell it was alive.
He tried to desperately turn his head when that thing finally revealed itself, peering down with the same devilish eyes as him. White snowy mane tickled his fur as the being pressed its face closer to his. Death was greeted by the familiar row of teeth and the aura it was radiating was the same as the locust.
My child certainly infected a worthy subject.
It trailed a finger over the wolf's muzzle tauntingly, in which case, Death tried to bite it off.
Your essence is perfect to generate a copy of my necro sword. It's just a shame…that my child has been infected by an insignificant kindness their host possessed recently.
"Lobo!" A familiar voice shouted, tearing through the cacophonies of eerie hushed whispers. Death couldn't help but strain his ears, desperate for any escape from this hellish nightmare.
"Lobo!"
He wasn't sure if it was his own strength or his captor that let him break free, but he was able to crane his neck just in time to witness the cat's frantic emerald gaze.
It's been a while since they saw each other but there was no mistaking it.
It was the annoying Legend, running in his annoying little boots and annoying sombrero toward him. He couldn't help but notice that the feline was shrouded with intense bright light, fighting off the shadows and keeping the unknown perpetrators at bay. But from the looks of it, it didn't seem like the hero noticed them anyway.
"Muerte!" Puss shouted again, his breath ragged as if he was running for miles. Death almost reprimanded him for stopping but the poor cat had his paws placed on his knees as he tried to regain his bearings.
"...Gato," He croaked out.
Despite his obsessive dislike of the legend, deep down, he was relieved to see a familiar face.
Was he real? Was he just a hallucination?
Gods. He hoped he was and wasn't. Was that weird? Puss in Boots was the last person, or feline, in this matter, he needed help from. The other horsemen weren't here to aid him and so was Life. And whether he liked it or not, Puss was the only thing worth holding unto at this point.
How did he get here anyway?
"S-Stop!" The cat sounded distraught that very moment, a paw reaching out towards him as his eyes shrank in a panic over something the wolf couldn't see. "I-I demand you to stop!"
Death was about to open his mouth until he was shoved back down, only this time, the darkness that greeted him was one from passing out.
Venom dropped unceremoniously into sewage water. They tried their best not to get Perrito soaking wet but it was inevitable. They held themselves together as the dog shook himself dry in their hold, only realizing too late that the former probably minded.
"Ah, sorry about that Venom—"
"Be quiet," They hushed him immediately, adjusting their hearing senses for anything malicious.
It was dark, incredibly dark. The walls beside them bend in a round like tunnel that leads to a long straight passage, and in what Venom could have guessed, to more garbage and murky water. There was something forbidding and threatening that hides just beneath the surface of abandoned human wastes and unsanitary junk that occasionally floats past them. Kitty's scent, for the most part, was cloaked by something.
Venom narrowed their eyes, sight piercing through the dark veil shadows like a dagger slicing open the curtains. They moved cautiously slow until Perrito wrestled from their grasp and dropped into the cold and dirty water.
"Can you not?!" The symbiote scolded the dog who only looked back at them sheepishly.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
Venom pointed the end of the rapier towards him.
"Do you want us to find Softpaws with little to no problem or not?!"
"It's just—I don't want to be a burden!" Perrito keeps his stance balanced despite the disgusting slosh of garbage water beneath them. "You don't have to carry me all the way through! I'll just walk beside you—Oh! And better yet, what do you think of splitting up?"
"Terrible idea," Venom shuts him down immediately, pulling back their sword. "We already lost Softpaws without our awareness. Boots would be… less satisfied if we somehow lost both of you."
Less satisfied was undermining it.
Puss would most likely go ballistic, especially if they're unable to find Kitty by the end of the day.
He was worried too, but Venom's specific kind of worry was whether they would end up upsetting Puss. While he laughed it off earlier, the symbiote was actively doing everything they could to save Kitty despite their animosity towards her. If there was one thing to describe Venom, they were loyal to a point, at least.
"So, we stick together then. Sure, no problem!" Perrito quickly gets to work. He knows what Kitty smells like and his nose was fast enough to try and sniff her out. Only, there was one problem.
He couldn't.
"We prefer if you stay close to us," Venom pulls from his cloak and brandishes Pan's sword on his left. The bronze blade was becoming a little rusty after going through several enemies, but the way it was being held and used was enough for the time being, especially if it was able to cut down several more opponents in its wake. "Do you know how to fight?"
"I did manage to distract Jack Horner long enough for Team Friendship to deliver the final blow!" Perrito hopped in his steps, easily keeping up with their pace.
Venom stared at him then, long and hard.
"I'll be here whenever you need me," the dog hopefully supplied with a shy smile but he was given no response. That was fine. They needed to keep going anyway. Finding Kitty was their biggest priority right now.
They lapsed across the dreaded tunnel and Perrito didn't mind getting himself soaked with the sewer's foul stench and dirt. He ended up in worse places before, trudging along the grubby underground path with the mission of rescuing a friend was more than enough to make up for it. He was alert as he could be, ears flicking for any noise and keeping his muzzle fresh for Kitty's scent. He occasionally keeps his eyes on Venom who was leading the way, two blades in his paws as they strode like a battle-ready soldier. That, at least, gave him some confidence.
It was eerily silent for a while, and while they were a few feet underground, the dog couldn't help but feel like they were much lower than that. As they kept going further, Perrito was beginning to lose sight of the track, the darkness in the sewers growing thick and hard for him to see when something grabbed onto his foot.
The symbiote drew his swords as he jumped in panic.
Perrito ran close to them, moving his back foot as the sensation of bony and scratchy hands felt fresh to the touch. Venom moved in for his protection.
"I—I think someone grabbed me."
"...shit," They hissed, crouching low and swords at the ready.
Perrito could feel that something was wrong, but his senses weren't as sharp nor as tunneled as the alien next to him. He inched closer to Venom, feeling for any changes and watching out for any subtle movements lurking in the dark. For some reason, his skin was itching like something was crawling over it. His slight movement in the water caused some bugs to resurface and it was only then he realized that there were a lot of them.
His wet fur stands, his ears ringing while his other senses are overwhelmed by his danger instincts as the swarm of bugs, both lapsing in the water and circling around the walls, moves in a crazed spiral around them.
"...Mr. Muerte?" Perrito hesitantly called out, spying the familiar bright ruby eyes stalking them in the dark. It popped unnaturally like a flickering light, and in their case, their only source of luminescence in the pitch-black underground sewer.
"Hand over Softpaws right now!" Venom stepped in front of him, crossing both swords by the middle with the intent of decapitation. "Or we will make you regret ever messing with us!"
The chuckle that followed unnerved them. It started low at first before ultimately growing loud and uncontrollable as it echoed across the overflowing tunnel. The swarm formed, the eyes inverting as if the thing turned its head upside down.
"...Oh, you can have her." The sinister voice spoke, completely different from a particular wolf. "Bait is only good when served fresh, anyway."
"Venom," Perrito whispered quietly. "I…I don't think that's Death."
The symbiote only glared, keeping their grasp on the hilt tightly as it bends to reach them. Venom didn't have the patience to wait and sliced the space between its eyes. A nasty army of mosquitoes and flies separated as they did that, clambering and pestering them almost immediately.
Perhaps that was a mistake.
They found it hard to parry the small insects with their sword.
"Ack!"
"Venom!" Perrito rushes to them only to be immediately dragged underwater. His head disappeared beneath the surface when they whirled to check on him. The alien froze.
"Dog?!"
How?
The water wasn't that deep! It was at least a few inches past their ankles. Venom growled, more than eager to reduce the assailant to paste when the number of bugs that jumped at them became too much to handle.
Perrito was a good swimmer.
There was no river, lake, or ocean he couldn't best when he put his heart into it.
This one, however, nature specifically had it out for him. The water that surrounded him had a mind of its own, and whenever he thinks he was nearing the surface the distance just becomes imaginably far again. He was beginning to run out of breath when a hand gripped him by the leg. Perrito checks below him and finds people. People that were barely alive and with pus and rashes in every inch of their skin. Their faces were so disfigured that calling them people would be more of a past tense.
Now, the dog doesn't like judging anyone, especially by their looks. However, there was no room for it since their intention was to drown and kill him in this very instance. He also needed to find Kitty and who knows what kind of horror she was experiencing as well. Perrito hoped it wasn't as bad as his. He tried to kick the hand as best as he could, not particularly enjoying the idea of it when they crashed against a thread. It was long and thin, but the line was hard to break. The white silk stayed unbothered beneath the water despite their movements.
Maybe it was just pure luck again, but it made the leper let him go. Perrito scrambled to get away, his baby blue eyes following the lone thread that led up to the surface. He quickly pursued it, feet and arms kicking so hard that it made his muscles sore until he finally caught his breath in the cool and foul air down the sewers.
He didn't rest until he got to solid ground. Perrito collapses, but he made sure to take his rest good feet away from the water. When he blinked open his eyes, he managed to spot a broken sewer gate not too far to his right. The metal bars that are supposed to keep it close were ripped open by…something. Probably by whoever that being was.
He stands on wobbly legs and shakes himself dry. The decision to check above him proved more worthwhile than the terrible encounter when the wide and creepy webs entangled in the ceiling had an unconscious cat trapped in the middle. She didn't look hurt, but she was wrapped in a silky cocoon, save for her head. Perrito's energy spiked once again, galloping in relief and loudly calling—
"Kitty!"
"Get off of us!" Venom hated the idea of being played around with, especially by such minuscule creatures they found incredibly irritating. Whenever the blade met to dispose of them, they quickly separated and attacked from all angles. The symbiote spent the next minute flailing around wildly against the scratches of mosquitoes and whatever fleas clawed their way to their exposed arm. They were closer to bringing back Boots one hundred percent but the constant blood-sucking roaches won't stop their lethal bombardment of them.
There was no way in hell Puss would suffer from pesky numerous parasites just because they were too incompetent in dealing with them.
"Grrr… ENOUGH!" Venom grew out of his head, part of his actual form coming out and taking a huge chunk of the swarm with one monstrous bite. The thing tasted awful, like bile stuck in their throat, but they felt its unnatural and godly essence in those bugs. They were annoying, sure, but whoever was piloting and controlling them was formidably powerful.
"Tell me, locust," The water rose four feet deep, pushing against the alien as a tide rippled across. "Do I taste delicious?"
Venom shoots a tendril upwards and attaches themselves to the ceiling. They hung upside down like a spider, glaring at the towering form of a deadly swarm.
"Please, it is taking us everything not to spit you out."
"Ha! I like you already," The water below starts to rise, crashing against the walls like an untameable ocean. Venom grits their teeth. They hated backing away, they were no coward. But he couldn't afford to expose his host to an army of parasites.
"You're lucky it was me who came after you and not my brethren," The thing tried to touch them but the cat only hissed. "They would have killed you on the spot."
"They could try."
"Believe me, they would love to," It purred at them. "You could at least thank my curiosity for getting in the way. You did a huge number on my older brother."
Venom couldn't help but tilt their head in puzzlement, an eye narrowing and arching a brow.
"Someone unimportant, we suppose?"
"Perhaps your largemouth is not only good for biting a God, but for epigrams as well," The entity sounded somewhat impressed.
"Flattery won't spare you from getting sliced open," Venom warned.
"And whether you could slice me open, I'm interested anyways," The swarm parted, revealing what looked like a mummified human wearing a broken plague mask. "I want to know how you did it," Venom didn't need to look under the disguise to spot a malicious grin rapidly growing.
" Do what?"
"How you sickened one of the strongest horsemen to have ever existed!"
"We don't remember eating a horse-man," The symbiote was genuinely confused. All they recalled were stallions, not a hybrid human horse.
"It's a position my brother carries," The eternal explained carefully. "The four of us spread a little chaos from time to time. The mortals loved to associate us with bringing forth apocalypse when in truth, it is us who keep it at bay."
"... okay?"
Pestilence only grinned further.
"I know. Boring, right? The tales of us wreaking havoc sounds a lot more appealing," She hummed, daydreaming all the way the world could suffer in pain and misery. "All I've ever wanted is carnage."
She sighed as if she wasn't allowed to keep a puppy at home.
Venom thinks about it for a while and they find themselves not particularly caring if the world burns.
On second thought, maybe Boots would.
"You know, it's always the material world being exploited and ruined over a developing phenomenon and I ask myself," The swarm envelops the mask eerily, drowning the human face like a hive being engulfed by bees. "Why stop there? Why are mortals the only ones to suffer?"
".. .why are you so interested in carnage, anyway?"
This was beginning to be really creepy, even on the symbiote's part. Not only were they having a conversation with another hivemind parasite, but they were visibly worried that this creature was more lethal and bloodthirsty than them.
"Why indeed," Pestilence sighed dramatically. "It's a desire I've been hungry for over centuries now. Life has been repressing me for so long, I'm afraid there's nothing to satiate it."
And like a moth to a flame, she dragged herself towards them.
"Until you happened!"
Venom quickly recoiled, their black mass extending to cover the parts of the cat in order to protect him against the fatal swarm.
"Don't you dare touch us!"
"I know you need someone to latch onto to survive!" Pestilence declared, rushing a wave of parasites straight at them. Venom swerved sharply to avoid it altogether, claws sticking to the ceiling as they maneuvered themselves with precision. "What more could you want than a God? Why must you degrade yourself by bonding to a mere cat who's down to his last life?"
"We already serve a God and you're nowhere near as terrifying as him."
Venom was left to take a portion into their mouth, snapping the parasites and bugs between their teeth and being careful enough not to pass down to the cat's systems. Their form grew, covering the feline's small stature inside a bulky iron muscle suit. Nothing could get past it and unto Boots.
"And we would rather kill ourselves than bond with you!"
"What a shame," Pestilence sprang herself too quickly for the symbiote's liking, desperately trying to force a symbiosis and submerging herself into their mass, in which case, failed.
"You cannot force yourself on us!" Venom slammed their body against the dingy metal barrier that made the ceiling, crushing the swarm from mere strength alone and denting the walls immensely. " You cannot have complete symbiosis when you are rejected!"
"Too bad," Pestilence muttered darkly.
The sewage water rose and submerged Venom below. They puffed themselves to push away all the parasites that stuck to their skin only to be replaced by ghostly tortured lepers coming at them from all angles. It tried to seize the alien to no avail, bony and frail fingers clawing desperately to get a piece.
This creature was not taking no for an answer.
So be it.
Venom held one by their neck and swallowed a leper's head whole. The taste wasn't amazing, but there was something about the way it fueled their energy as they took another monstrous bite. And another, and another, until the water bled red and clouded the symbiote's vision.
Perrito's leg was a prime target for the day yet again when something had webbed it as he ran. The dog quickly stumbled and fell jaw-first to the dampened floor. He didn't have time to recollect himself when it dragged him back across and eventually pulled him in mid-air. There, he spin as the thread held him upside down, he tried blinking his eyes to focus on the creature that caught him and was met by someone familiar and yet different, specifically because their face grew a snout and was now covered in green scales.
"Would you look at that," Petey's once wine-red eyes were now colored gold, and there was something reptilian about it with the way the pupils and iris were formed like slits. "Another one from Team Friendship! Honestly, you and the other keep popping out like someone's been kidnapping you recently."
"Uh…actually, someone has?"
All eight eyes blinked slowly at him.
"...So you didn't actually manage to find me all on your own?"
The dog shakes his head and Petey quickly shares a wide and eager smile that shows his pointy fangs.
Perrito gulped.
He was immediately thrown towards the entangled spider trap, landing only a few threads away from Kitty. Perrito struggled against the sticky silk netting but the encounter from before had left him sore and incredibly drained. He didn't have enough strength to break free. He heard a sharp lash of a tail and turned to witness the entire change the spider had undergone.
While Petey had a figure of an arachnid, his supposed rigid skin was encased in a repulsive green scale rash that made him look more like a reptile. There was an elongated tail that sprouted at the bottom of his back, swerving evenly like a lizard's.
"I don't suppose your other friend will be joining the party as well?" The spider gleamed at him, and Perrito had to wonder just how long he was in this sewer because the look he gave him made him think that there were a few screws loose already. "I never got to thank him for dropping a house on me."
His tail whipped the floor threateningly.
"And I want a rematch," Petey snarled. "I could have died if it weren't for Octavius' regenerative prototype. Even when I'm not dead I look like a monster now!"
"Well, if it means anything…it looks pretty cool?" Perrito winces just as the words slip past his lips.
"Giving me less-than-average compliments will still leave you on the menu, dog," The spider told him coldly. "You and your friend are appetizers! And when the Legend comes, he'll be the star course meal."
"You'll never have Puss!" Perrito shot back, still holding on bravely despite the circumstance he was in. "And for the record, both of us are pretty much contaminated considering the parasite monster we had to fight!"
Petey narrowed his eyes, readying his web to suffocate him inside a cocoon.
"And you expect me to believe that? As if that'll stop me," He leaped across and landed above the dog, the spider trap bouncing upon impact as he leaned his face to press closer to Perrito's. "You have no idea how famished I am right now—"
SPLASH!
Something heavy crashed against the floor, causing the spider-turned-lizard hybrid to shift his attention toward it.
"What the—"
"Venom!" Perrito cried in relief.
The symbiote rose from their knees and the muscular, dark appearance they had made Perrito question if it was really them for a while. Petey shuddered at the stench of putrid blood that was coming from the alien. He balanced himself carefully on his web, hiding the dog away from the newcomer in case they had any bright ideas of taking away his only meal.
"And who the hell are you?!" Petey barked only for a tendril to clamp his mouth shut. It was his turn to be dragged to the ground and before he could even lift himself up by his arms his head was slammed unceremoniously against the wet concrete. The floor cracked through the force.
"You are lucky that we are full right now," Venom hissed, tongue lashing and saliva dripping. "Otherwise, we would have eaten you on the spot."
"Venom, is that really you?" The shaky voice caused them to turn their attention to the web in the ceiling. Their white and milky crescent moon eyes widened when they trailed toward the cat and dog.
"Softpaws…Perrito…" Venom gripped Petey's head and slammed it back on the ground for good measure. The spider groaned before passing out. Venom then leaped to destroy the trap he made. They caught Perrito and an unconscious Kitty in their arms no problem, their gigantic figure making it easy to fit them both in their grasp.
"Whoa, you're huge!" Perrito claimed eagerly. "What happened?!"
He places his tiny paws on Venom's chest, straining his neck as he gets a good view of their original appearance.
"Had to protect Boots from the parasites," The alien replied gingerly, their voice sounding a lot deeper and different now that it wasn't interchangeably shifting to the orange cat's timbre.
"We ate a lot today."
"Oh, yeah…" Perrito hummed, tapping their muscles hesitantly. The dog tried not to let it show that he enjoyed it. "I didn't know you're such a beefcake."
Venom has no clue nor the slightest idea how to respond to that but lets the dog indulge his curiosity nonetheless.
The stream of light from the broken sewer gate catches their attention. They needed to get out of there but their eyes slowly trailed back to Petey, passed out on the ground. Perrito followed their line of sight and immediately suggested a solution.
"We don't have to kill him. We can give him up to the guards and let Doctor Otto decide what to do with him?"
"Hmmm…"
"Besides," Perrito nudges his muzzle towards an unconscious Kitty. "We need to get Kitty to a doctor, somehow."
" ...we have to be quick then," Venom muttered. "Boots will be back since we have an unlimited source of energy now."
Venom cradled them carefully in one hand before hastily pulling the spider by his legs, uncaring with their treatment as they dragged him across sewer garbage and grubby mud. Perrito was perched on their shoulder confidently, giving Kitty more space on their arm and also enjoying the view on Venom's current height.
"Man, part of me is relieved Puss didn't get to experience any of this," Perrito shuddered, still shaken by the encounter with the wrathful God. "But we should tell him everything that happened!"
"Everything?"
Venom didn't like sharing their failure in protecting Softpaws and getting their asses jumped by an eternal and beaten by a goldfish in a bowl.
"We can slow it down, of course, in case it overwhelms him," Perrito added. "But we have to tell him the truth! He deserves to know."
"Maybe let us decide the pace of the story then," Venom grunted. They were particularly opposed to sharing certain details of their encounter, and there were some things they liked to keep hidden in the dark, maybe permanently.
Some information could lead one thing to another and the symbiote wasn't exactly ready to share the reason why they came to their planet in the first place.
It wasn't what she had hoped for.
The locust's sheer will prevented her from pushing through. She will admit that they were inherently stubborn. She wasted too much time pestering them for her daily bloodlust and missed out on extracting information.
She begins to wonder how exactly Death felt ill. There was no sickness to take hold of her. Not yet, at least. Was it because of her embodiment and manifestation that they are somehow immune to its effects? As a matter of fact, while the number of her swarm dwindled, there was some essence left by the symbiote during their fight. A tiny portion of it was lingering in the depths of the sewer, small and black and detached from its prime form.
Pestilence kept it close, not really minding how Venom had escaped her clutches. She's left wondering whether this one is capable of independent thought, or would it simply just roll up and die after having been separated for too long.
She tried touching it.
At first, it recoiled, planting itself against the wall but eventually, it stuck out a single small tendril as if poking a finger at her. The immortal was careful with it, her interest peaking. She didn't know what it meant, but this one felt more welcoming despite its shy curiosity towards her.
She guides it carefully between her swarm of bugs, enveloping it between her grasp.
Suddenly, there was a voice in her head and it was different from the locust.
The effect was instantaneous.
Pestilence watches it unfold through her form, its mass inky black color changing into crimson red.
AN: I actually made a sick cover for this! You guys can see it on Ao3 in the same chapter! But...of course there is also getting it through my art accounts which I stated last chapter. I can't seem to post the link here which is a BUMMER.